"Ladies and gentlemen, how will this case be decided?"

"How else can you judge, even when you are an auxiliary minister, you dare to assassinate, of course, you will be beheaded all over the house!"

"I heard that Master Li is a star in the sky, and there are gods to protect him, otherwise this time it will be more auspicious."

"Although Scholar Li is young, he is the mainstay of our Ming Dynasty, and it would be a pity if he was killed like this."

"Do you think they're going to be beheaded?"

"Attacking and killing the auxiliary ministers of the dynasty is like a rebellion, and it will definitely be beheaded by the whole family!"

"Alas, it's a pity for the old and young women and children in their family!"

……

The people gathered outside the hall were talking in private, and the assassination incident caused an uproar in Ningbo Mansion, who would have thought that those smugglers would dare to kill important officials of the imperial court for their own selfish interests.

"My lord, the hour has come." Soon after, a young official dressed in the uniform of the Customs Department bowed his hand to Ma Xianglin and said.

Hearing this, the officials in the lobby who were talking in a low voice immediately stopped and looked at Ma Xianglin, although Ma Xianglin's official position was the lowest among the officials on the scene, but he represented Li Hongyu, so those officials were still a little afraid of him.

"Take someone to commit it!" Hearing this, Ma Xianglin closed the case file in his hand and put it aside, and then slapped the startled wood and shouted loudly.

"Might~~"

As the startling trees fell, the officials of Ningbo Prefecture Station standing on both sides of the hall suddenly shouted in a long tone while holding the water and fire sticks in their hands.

The noisy crowd outside the lobby soon fell silent, and people knew that the trial had begun, so they all craned their heads and looked in curiously.

"It's coming!" A moment later, there was a slight commotion in the crowd outside the hall, and the captured merchants were taken to the court by the sailor soldiers.

Although the expressions of those businessmen were very haggard, if careful people paid close attention, they would show that except for the round-faced middle-aged man who walked in the front, the rest of the businessmen did not have much panicked look in their eyes, but had a trace of calmness.

The round-faced middle-aged man is naturally Tian Gaofeng, and his status and prestige in the Ningbo Merchant Gang are second only to Chen Mingzhi, and after Chen Mingzhi became the imperial merchant of overseas trade, he did everything possible to squeeze out Chen Mingzhi in order to become the leader of the Ningbo Merchant Gang.

The main purpose of Tian Gaofeng's push to assassinate Li Hongyu this time was to consolidate his position in the Ningbo Merchant Gang, and he finally became the leader of the Ningbo Merchant Gang, and he would sit back and watch the Ningbo Merchant Gang collapse because of the imperial court's overseas trade.

For this reason, Tian Gaofeng did not hesitate to take the biggest adventure in his life, and planned the assassination of Li Hongyu at the risk of his life.

He believes that as long as Li Hongyu dies, the overseas trade of the imperial court will not be able to take place, after all, the field of overseas trade is now all supported by Li Hongyu, and although Ran Xingrang is a concubine, he has no part in speaking in the court.

Moreover, Tian Gaofeng thinks that even if Li Hongyu is assassinated this time, he will definitely leave Jiangnan and return to the capital, after all, high-ranking officials and magnates like Li Hongyu must cherish their lives and do not want to die in Jiangnan without explanation.

It is a pity that the facts show that everything is just Tian Gaofeng's imagination, and Li Hongyu not only was not deterred by the assassination, but used thunderous means to counterattack.

Before this public trial, Tian Gaofeng still had illusions in his heart, believing that the people of the Customs Department did not have evidence of his participation in the assassination, and the reason why he was arrested was just the speculation of the Customs Department, and as long as there was no evidence, he would stubbornly resist to the end.

But today, when Tian Gaofeng was in the public trial, he saw Lu Hai and other people involved in this matter, no one, no more, no less, and he was suddenly shocked in his heart, which means that the Customs Department did not arrest people for no reason, but had conclusive evidence of the crime.

Because the people who participated in the plot that day were all arrested by the Customs Department, Tian Gaofeng thought that someone must have accidentally leaked the news, which led to the current situation, and he couldn't help but feel very annoyed.

He once told him not to leak it to anyone, but some people just took his words as a deaf ear, and as a result, it caused a big disaster, and the people in the government learned the news.

Although the situation is very unfavorable, Tian Gaofeng still has a trace of luck in his heart, he does not believe that Lu Hai and others will confess, so he is ready to resist stubbornly and make a last stand, resist death and not admit guilt, even if he dies, he will not let the Customs Department find out this case, making it an unsolved case.

"Lord Qiqi, the prisoner has been brought!" After bringing Tian Gaofeng and the others to the lobby, the officer in charge of escorting the sailor officer bowed his hand to Ma Xianglin and said in a deep voice.

"I've seen the presiding judge, my lords." Tian Gaofeng, Lu Hai and others stood in front of the hall and bowed to Ma Xianglin and the officials of the jury, they all donated their fame, so they did not need to kneel when they saw the officials.

Later generations often criticized the corruption of the Ming court, especially the greed of the emperor, with the fact that the Ming Dynasty sold officials and donated fame in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

The privileged class of the Ming Dynasty occupied a large amount of land that did not pay taxes, and the richest Jiangnan commercial tax could not be collected because of the obstruction of the Jiangnan civil official group.

The officials on the jury in the hall looked at Tian Gaofeng and the others expressionlessly, except for the newcomer Patrol Yushi, the rest of the officials all knew Tian Gaofeng and others, who were the bosses of the Ningbo merchant gang, and they had some friendships to a greater or lesser extent.

Friendship is friendship, and now that Tian Gaofeng and others are involved in the assassination of Li Hongyu, the officials at the scene are afraid of them, and it is naturally impossible to help them speak.

"After all this time of reflection, are you willing to confess?" Ma Xianglin glanced at Tian Gaofeng and the others in the lobby and asked coldly.

"Back to the presiding judge, we are all law-abiding citizens, we will raise a lot of money every year to repair bridges and pave roads, etc., and will never do anything that violates the laws and regulations of the imperial court.

Tian Gaofeng had already prepared, and after hearing this, he bowed down and replied that he had made up his mind to resist to the end, and he would not admit his guilt no matter what.

"Before leaving, the scholar had confessed that if the imperial court's overseas trade had just started, he would not want to witness the bloody scene, so this assassination incident would only punish the evil, threaten not to prosecute, and give those who repent a chance."

Ma Xianglin naturally knew that Tian Gaofeng would not compromise easily, and this case was a matter of his net worth and life, so he quietly looked at Tian Gaofeng and the others in front of the lobby and said, "Fate is now in your own hands, and you decide what to do." ”

Hearing the words "only punish the evil, coercion and never prosecute," the people gathered outside the hall suddenly made a commotion, and the officials who heard the trial in the hall also showed stunned expressions on their faces.

But then again, only Li Hongyu can forgive those criminals, and the assassination of court officials is an out-and-out crime in all dynasties, like rebellion, this is no longer a personal matter, and the court will severely punish them.

Li Hongyu is both an auxiliary minister of the imperial court and a victim of the assassination, which allows him to handle the case in a measured manner, and there will be no criticism from the outside world.

Tian Gaofeng looked at Ma Xianglin with a stunned expression, his eyes were full of shock, and his face became extremely ugly.

The "evil" in Ma Xianglin's mouth obviously refers to Tian Gaofeng, and the idea of assassinating Li Hongyu was put forward by him and actively promoted, he is not "evil", who is?

Lu Hai and the others suddenly lit up when they heard this, they were still worried that Ma Xianglin's words last night were false, but now it seems that they are doing this too much, since Ma Xianglin dared to say such things in public in the lobby, then what you told them last night was naturally true.

After the initial stunned, Tian Gaofeng came back to his senses, and cold sweat couldn't help but ooze from his forehead, realizing that his situation was extremely bad:

If Lu Hai and others believe Ma Xianglin's deception, then the consequences will be unimaginable, I hope Lu Hai and others will not be so stupid, so easy to be deceived by Ma Xianglin's rhetoric.

At this moment, Tian Gaofeng naturally didn't believe that Li Hongyu would really let go of those "coercions", everything was just a trick by Ma Xianglin, and his purpose was naturally to make them honestly confess their crimes.

In fact, Tian Gaofeng didn't want to believe that Ma Xianglin's words were true, because that would make the situation unfold in a direction he didn't want to see.

"Have you thought about it, are you willing to confess your crimes?" Ma Xianglin saw that Tian Gaofeng and the others were silent, so he slapped the startling wood in front of him hard, looked at them and shouted in a deep voice.

"Lord Qiqi, we have been wronged, I hope that my lord will give me justice."

Tian Gaofeng gritted his teeth, and took the lead in opening his mouth and arched his hand to Ma Xianglin and said, "The scholar is merciful in his heart, but the assassination is not trivial, once we confess the crime against our will, we will become sinners through the ages, and I hope that the adults will forgive me and arrest the real culprit!" ”

When Ma Xianglin heard this, a sneer suddenly flashed at the corner of his mouth, Tian Gaofeng's last sentence was obviously said to Lu Hai and the others, warning Lu Hai and the others not to believe what he said before, and to carry it down with him.

"This official now gives you a chance, if you now know to repent and confess your sins, this official will forgive you for your guilt according to the words of the scholar, otherwise you will be severely punished!"

It's a pity that Tian Gaofeng is a bad move, Ma Xianglin glanced at Tian Gaofeng, Lu Hai and the others and said coldly, "This official reminds you that there is only one chance, and there is no such shop in this village!" ”

After listening to Ma Xianglin's murderous words, the originally tumultuous scene suddenly quieted down, and the people who were talking in a low voice outside the lobby stretched their necks to look at Tian Gaofeng and the others, wondering how they would choose.

Unlike the curious people, the officials in the hall showed disapproving expressions, thinking that Ma Xianglin was still too young, you must know that Tian Gaofeng and others are people who have been on the market for half their lives, how could they give in because of his words? It seems that today's court trial will be difficult to use a heavy punishment.

Ma Xianglin sat firmly in Diaoyutai at this time, not worried about the next interrogation at all, he had already settled Lu Hai and others in advance, and the next thing was just to perform a scene, when it came to the trial, it was naturally Li Hongyu's chess trick!

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