Although Meng Anwei finally succumbed to Shen Yichen's power, his movements were still grinding and he looked reluctant.

After descending the hillside, as we got closer to the group of refugees gathered at the river bend, an unpleasant smell hit our nostrils.

And unlike the victims on both sides of the canal who would take the initiative to gather together and cry for help when they saw officials coming, the victims here didn't move much, looking at Shen Yichen and others with dull eyes, their expressions filled with despair of waiting for death.

Perhaps their experiences during this period made them understand that they were abandoned and abandoned, destined to have no way of survival.

Not far away, Meng Anwei stopped next to a large vat, and then said with a troubled expression: "Return to Qian Xian, this is the porridge shed built before."

Shen Yichen didn't reply, but came directly to the big vat, leaned over and looked inside.

In later generations, we saw scenes of corrupt officials providing disaster relief on TV. No matter how thin the porridge cooked in the porridge shed was, it still looked like rice soup.

Shen Yichen didn't see any trace of rice in this big vat. There were all kinds of unknown weeds and bark floating in the dark dirty water. She didn't know how Meng Anwei had the nerve to say that this was a porridge shed. of.

"Is rice porridge cooked in here?"

Step by step, Shen Yichen felt that his anger had been suppressed to the extreme. Compared with well-known traitors like Wang Zhen in the imperial court, local officials who were close to the people were called real cannibals!

"This... maybe this is..."

After hesitating for a long time, Meng Anwei actually admitted it bravely.

I have seen shameless people, but I have never seen such shameless people.

Shen Yichen said no more, picked up a broken bowl on the ground next to him, scooped out a bowl of "rice porridge" from the vat, handed it to Meng Anwei and said.

"Meng County Master, since this is rice porridge, I would like to ask you to try it. How does it taste?"

Faced with Shen Yichen's words, Meng Anwei showed a smile that was uglier than crying and replied: "Qian Xian, this is just a low-level official's incompetence. When he returns to the county government, he will definitely urge the warehouse and the squire to transport grain. "

"I want you to taste it. Can't you understand the human language?"

There was a stern look on Shen Yichen's face, and there was no longer any false politeness.

When he saw Shen Yichen's face, Meng Anwei trembled in fright and said in a begging tone: "I know my mistake, and I hope Qian Xian will forgive me."

"Excuse me? Then you have to ask the people here in Yanggu if they agree."

Shen Yichen sneered, then winked at Cang Huotou and the others.

The Fujian miners understood this. They had already suppressed their anger towards Meng Anwei and immediately stepped forward to control him.

At the same time, Miner Wang Neng pinched Meng Anwei's chin open, took the bowl of "rice porridge" from Shen Yichen's hand, and drank it down.

"County Lord!"

Seeing this scene, the officials in Yanggu County were all shocked.

Literary people value face and integrity. After all, Yanggu County Magistrate is also a county official of the seventh rank. To be so humiliated in front of his subordinates and the people under his rule, Shen Yichen's move is really a bit arbitrary!

Even if he is a censor in the imperial capital, he only has the power to punish him. How can he deal with a lower official without trial?

After drinking a bowl of "rice porridge", Meng Anwei immediately lay on the ground and retched. At the same time, this scene finally gave the desperate victims of Hewan a different picture in their eyes.

"What happened? The county magistrate was punished?"

"Who is this young official, and why do you dare to treat the county magistrate like this?"

"The red official robe is said to be a high official. Could it be that the imperial court sent someone to rescue us?"

"Didn't it say that Duke Zhuangyuan came to Shandong to control floods? Could it be him?"

The victims of the Hebang disaster talked in low voices, and some people even struggled to gather around.

If you haven't been deceived too many times and have hope of life, who would be willing to wait for death?

Now there is finally a different scene, and a different official has arrived, and maybe there will be a different result!

After retching the sewage he had poured down, Meng Anwei staggered up from the ground with the help of the county magistrate.

I saw him yelling in a stern and cowardly manner: "Shen Yichen, a scholar can be killed but not humiliated. I am an official of the imperial court, what right do you have to humiliate me!"

"Even if I risk my life for this matter, I will definitely report to the court for impeachment!"

Hearing Meng Anwei's threatening words, a cold smile appeared on Shen Yichen's face.

Shen Yichen was not afraid of Meng Anwei jumping in, but he was afraid that he would hold back and not find a chance to punish himself.

"According to the Ming Dynasty Code, the maximum punishment for scolding envoys and officers in charge is one hundred. If the official is separated by three ranks, a hundred catties of shackles will be used."

"You just called Shangguan by his name. What crime should you be guilty of!"

The laws of the Ming Dynasty have strict punishment provisions for insults. Among them, scolding envoys refers to situations where envoys are sent out under the orders of the imperial court but are insulted by local officials.

Shen Yichen is the censor of Qiandu, and he was ordered to go out to Shandong to control floods, which just fits this rule. Moreover, the county magistrate is a seventh-grade local official, and the censor of Qiandu is a fourth-grade Beijing official, even if we don’t take into account the difference between Beijing officials and foreign officials. , also separated by three grades.

In other words, when Meng Anwei just called him by name, he could be punished for up to a hundred people with a hundred kilograms of shackles and a staff!

Meng Anwei was frightened when he heard Shen Yichen's accusation.

He did not remember that there was such a clause in the "Law of the Ming Dynasty". After all, most literati and officials spent their whole lives memorizing the Four Books and Five Classics. Who would read the Law of the Ming Dynasty if they had nothing to do?

Normally when the county government adjudicates a case, sentencing can also be left to the general magistrate or the master's staff, and the county magistrate only needs to convict the person.

What Meng Anwei didn't expect was that a noble man like Shen Yichen could memorize the "Da Ming Law" by heart. It was outrageous!

With a body like his own, let alone a 100 or 50-year-old man with a shackle, he could be beaten to death. Meng Anwei would definitely not be able to avenge his crime.

"Shen Qianxian, what you are doing is public revenge and private revenge. I am dissatisfied with this!"

"Tell me, what is my personal grudge against you?"

Facing Shen Yichen's rhetorical question, Meng Anwei opened his mouth, but found that he couldn't explain why.

But what frightened him was the last sentence.

"Having said that, I am just avenging my personal revenge, so what? Take it!"

Without any evidence, if Shen Yichen killed his subordinate, he would definitely be held accountable afterwards.

Now that we have a handle, if we don’t use it now, when will we wait?

To be honest, Shen Yichen didn't expect Meng Anwei to be so presumptuous. Maybe it was his young face or his gentle appearance before that made him relax his respect for Shangguan!

After Cang Huotou and others listened to the order, they pushed Meng Anwei to the ground without saying a word. On the other hand, Wang Neng took a killing stick from the county government officer and prepared to start the cane punishment.

And when he passed by Shen Yichen, he heard a cold instruction: "I want his life."

This sentence was not only heard by Wang Neng, but also by his aide Bian He who was very close at hand.

He warned in a low voice with a solemn expression: "Proprietor, calling Shangguan by his name is not a severe punishment. If you beat him to death, it will be very troublesome!"

According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, insulting a superior official can indeed lead to a hundred punishments. But if we really look into it, calling him by his first name is the most disrespectful, and it is not enough to be insulted. Shen Yichen has already punished him up to the upper limit.

Meng Anwei can be taught a lesson, or even dismissed from his post on the spot. If he is beaten to death on the spot for this crime, it will cause trouble for Shen Yichen himself.

Bian He is different from Shen Yichen in that he has rich experience as a local staff member. A mere seventh-grade county magistrate dares to contradict the censor so boldly. Either he has an extremely tight chain of interests, or he has a powerful backer behind him.

It's best not to give someone a handle on something like this.

"Until he dies, he will not be able to build the trust of the people of Shandong, let alone make the local corrupt officials fear him."

Shen Yichen only saw numbness and despair in the eyes of these victims. What kind of desperate state of mind could this be?

Seriously speaking, my mission to Shandong is not to provide disaster relief, but to control floods!

Water control cannot be done by one person. It is necessary to call on the people of Shandong to overhaul water conservancy and adopt a plan of dredging, blocking and dredging to achieve success.

Without the trust of the people, no one will respond to the call, and there will be no people to carry out projects such as dredging and diversion of rivers, building embankments for flood control, and digging ditches.

There is only half a year left before the flood period next summer and autumn. If we want to reverse this situation and gain the trust of the people, we can only use Meng Anwei to "behead him to establish trust" and calm the people's resentment.

Of course, the consequence is that your actions may become a weapon for political opponents to attack.

And how can things in this world go as planned?

What Shen Yichen can do now is to be worthy of heaven and earth, worthy of all sentient beings, and worthy of his own heart!

"Wang Neng, Meng Anwei must die!"

"I understand, little one."

Seeing Shen Yichen so determined, Bian He could only stop talking.

Wanting to compare the prosperous career path, Shen Yichen once again chose the common people!

Feeling Shen Yichen's true attitude, Meng Anwei finally realized that something was wrong, and a sense of fear arose in his heart.

"I am aware of my guilt. I beg Shen Qianxian for mercy. I beg Shen Qianxian for mercy!"

The wailing sounds for mercy echoed throughout the river bend, alarming the victims who were like walking zombies.

It wasn't until this moment that they finally believed that the superior county master was going to be punished. The young official in scarlet robes in front of them planned to plead for the people!

As soon as the board went down, Meng Anwei's begging for mercy instantly turned into a roar like a slaughtering pig. At the same time, the Yanggu County officials present had bloodless faces and sweating profusely, and their bodies could not help but tremble.

Because just from this tactic, they understood that Shen Yichen was not trying to scare people, but was here to kill him!

There were two methods of cane punishment in the Ming Dynasty: "Strong on the outside and light on the inside" and "Light on the outside and heavy on the inside". The former seemed to be a very heavy blow, but in fact it was applied to the buttocks, and the bruises were just superficial wounds.

The latter is just to hit the waist. If it is hit with a stick, it does not appear to be bloody, but it will actually break the bones and damage the internal organs. With the medical conditions of the Ming Dynasty, let alone a hundred sticks, ten sticks will definitely kill you.

The honorable person of a county, the seventh rank official of the imperial court, can die with just one word.
To be continued...