The rise of the poor

Chapter 2098 Mentioning people

"I am Xue Tao, the prefect of Jinhua. Where is the governor's special envoy? What urgent business do you have? Please come and see me."

Soon, Xue Tao, the prefect of Jinhua, lifted his official robe and hurried to the gate of the government office. The voice had already arrived before he arrived.

"I, Liu Mu/Ruofeng, pay my respects to the prefect." Liu Mu and Ruofeng saluted with their fists.

"Mr. Prefect, this is an order written by the governor himself. Please have a look. The governor said that this matter is of great importance and extremely urgent. Please read it and then execute it." Liu Mu took out an official document from his arms, handed it to Jinhua Prefect Xue Tao with both hands, and conveyed Zhu Ping'an's instructions.

The situation was so urgent that Jinhua prefect Xue Tao did not dare to delay and immediately responded to the order from Liu Mu.

Open and read.

"Jinhua prefect Xue Tao, listen to my order. Immediately hand over the Japanese chieftain Wang Zhi's mother, wife, and son who are imprisoned in Jinhua Prison to Zhejiang Army Battalion Commander Liu Mu and Ruo Feng for pick-up. No mistakes!"

After reading it, the Jinhua prefect immediately accepted the order, "Your humble servant, Jinhua prefect Xue Tao, obeys your order."

"Where is the chief of the criminal department? Come, call him here quickly." The prefect of Jinhua immediately ordered someone to call the chief of the criminal department of Jinhua.

Soon, the person in charge of the torture chamber arrived.

"Hurry and take the two generals to the prison to identify the true identities of Wang Zhi's mother, Wang, his wife, Wang Zhang, and his son, Wang Qiong. Take them out of the prison and hand them over to the two generals. There must be no mistakes!" ordered Xue Tao, the prefect of Jinhua.

"Yes, sir." The head of the torture chamber accepted the order.

Soon, Liu Mu, Ruo Feng and six Zhejiang soldiers followed the head of the criminal department to the Jinhua prison.

"Generals, please come this way. The three prisoners held here are Wang Zhi's mother, Wang, Wang Zhi's wife, Wang Zhang, and Wang Zhi's son, Wang Qiong." The head of the criminal department led Liu Mu, Ruo Feng and others to a prison cell, pointing to an old woman, a middle-aged woman and a child about ten years old held inside.

The old woman, the middle-aged woman and the child imprisoned in the prison became nervous and scared when they heard people outside calling their names. The middle-aged woman held the child in her arms and looked outside with vigilance and fear.

They were very scared and couldn't stop shaking.

Ever since Wang Zhi became a pirate, they lived in fear every day. They dared not spend the money that Wang Zhi sent secretly, nor did they dare to wear silk or satin, nor eat the most delicious food, for fear of being suspected. However, there is no wall that is impenetrable, and finally Wang Zhi's crime of being a pirate was exposed. As expected, they were implicated, arrested by the government, and thrown into jail, where they were locked up for more than five years.

After being thrown into prison, they became even more worried, fearing that they would be taken out of prison and executed one day.

After all, Wang Zhi was a pirate, and his entire clan was to be executed. They were all Wang Zhi's closest relatives, and there was no way they could escape.

They are not afraid of death, but they feel sorry for the children.

The child was so innocent, a five-year-old kid who had just celebrated his tenth birthday in prison and didn’t even have a bowl of longevity noodles.

He is still so young and has not seen the colorful world outside.

Now, when the old women and the ladies saw the jailers outside and the fully armed Zhejiang soldiers, they thought that the day of identification and execution had come. They could not stop feeling fear and trembling, and their tears could not stop flowing.

"Do you have a letter of identity? Please do not blame me for having too many things to do. The governor has repeatedly told me that this is a serious matter and I cannot make the slightest mistake."

While looking at the three people in the prison, Liu Mu clasped his fists and said to the head of the Jinhua Prefecture's criminal department.

"Of course. The identity files are in this prison file room. Wait a moment, I'll go get them." The head of the prison waved his hand and went to get the identity files of the three people.

Soon, Liu Mu got the identity files of the three people and read them carefully. Wang Zhi's mother, Wang, Wang Zhi's wife, Wang Zhang, and Wang Zhi's son, Wang Qiong.

etc.

That's not right. Wang Zhi's wife is Wang Zhang, and Wang Zhi's son is Wang Qiong. How come Wang Zhi's wife is Wang Zhang, not Wang Zhang? !

How come Wang Zhi's son is Wang Qiong instead of Wang Qiong? !

"Wang" and "Wang" are two different surnames. Is there something wrong? Could it be that they arrested the wrong person?

Liu Mu looked at the identity files of the three people and saw their surnames. He felt something was wrong and suspected that Jinhua Prefecture had arrested the wrong people.

"Sir, why is Wang Zhi's wife called Wang Zhang and Wang Zhi's son called Wang Qiong? They don't have the same surname as Wang Zhi?"

Liu Mu realized something was wrong and immediately raised questions to the head of the Jinhua Prefecture Criminal Division standing nearby.

"Oh, General, you don't know that Wang Zhi's real name is not Wang Zhi. Wang Zhi's real name is 'Wang Quan', and his nickname is 'Zhi'. His surname is 'Wang' instead of 'Wang', so his wife is Wang Zhang, and his son's surname is 'Wang' instead of 'Wang'. He became a pirate, and in order to avoid being discovered his true identity, he used his mother's surname 'Wang' and used his nickname 'Zhi' as his name, calling himself 'Wang Zhi'."

The head of the criminal department of Jinhua Prefecture explained to Liu Mu.

It is actually easy to understand why Wang Zhi changed his name and surname, using his mother's surname "Wang" as his surname and his nickname "Zhi" as his first name.

The "Great Ming Code" strictly prohibited overseas trade. It stipulated that anyone who privately carried prohibited items such as iron goods, copper coins, satin, silk cotton, etc. to sea, as well as anyone who traded with foreigners, would be executed. It also prohibited the private construction of ships with two masts or more.

Of course, the punishment for colluding with the Japanese to become pirates was even more severe. Not only would the main offender and accomplices be executed by slow slicing, but the nine generations of the main offender and accomplices, including grandfather, father, son, grandson, uncles, brothers, nephews, cousins, grandfather-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law, and even household servants, all of whom were over the age of sixteen would be executed.

In order to avoid being implicated, fake Japanese people like Wang Zhi and smugglers all tried every means to conceal their true identities. Fake names and fake places of origin were common practices. There were even many who used nicknames to the outside world. Not a few even gave themselves a Japanese name.

Throughout history, how many criminals would use their real names, let alone being a pirate, a crime punishable by the execution of nine generations of the clan.

After hearing this, Liu Mu clasped his fists and thanked, "Thank you very much, sir, for clearing up my doubts."

"You're too polite, General." The head of the criminal department of Jinhua Prefecture bowed in return.

Liu Mu continued to verify the identities of Wang Zhi's mother, Wang, Wang Zhi's wife, Wang Zhang, and Wang Zhi's son, Wang Qiong.

After verifying the file, Liu Mu asked the head of the Jinhua Prefecture Criminal Court, "Please provide a single room for me. I want to ask them a few questions alone."

"There happens to be an empty cell not far away. You can interrogate him there, sir." said the head of the torture chamber.

So Liu Mu brought Wang Zhi's mother, Wang Zhang, Wang Zhi's wife, and Wang Qiong, Wang Zhi's son, to empty cells respectively, and asked them about their names, addresses and other personal information as well as Wang Zhi's information in a friendly manner.

After verification, it was confirmed that the three people were indeed Wang Zhi's mother, Ms. Wang, Wang Zhi's wife, Ms. Wang Zhang, and Wang Zhi's son, Ms. Wang Qiong.

So Liu Mu and Ruo Feng went through the relevant formalities and took the three people out of the prison. (End of this chapter)