Chapter 1173 Public Opinion Position

Good things go viral, and bad things spread thousands of miles. Various gossips about the Tongsheng Wharf fire spread throughout Hangzhou City within one day. In addition to the Hangzhou Government Office in charge of local administration, the Zhejiang Chief Envoy Office located in the city, according to the inspection

The three major yamen of the Envoy Division and the Du Commander Envoy Division also received the news one after another. However, these yamen, either out of caution or disdain, did not promptly clarify some "rumors" from the outside world. Regardless of whether it was

Whether it was due to bureaucracy or other reasons, this relatively slow response undoubtedly contributed to the fermentation of the entire incident.

The day after the fire broke out, the Hangzhou government office received a joint complaint submitted by Lin De, a businessman from Ningbo Prefecture, and local injured merchants. Because there were so many direct victims of the fire, the team that submitted the complaint was extremely vocal, with nearly a hundred people in total.

Many. And this team led more people to participate in the onlookers, forming a crowd of onlookers on three levels inside and outside the government office.

The purpose of Linde's appearance was not just to submit a symbolic complaint, but to make the matter as big as possible in the public opinion field. Therefore, he did not go to the Yamen gate to hand over the complaint and settle the matter. Instead, he first made a statement to the crowd of onlookers.

gave a rather inflammatory speech.

"Dear fellow villagers, I am Lin De from Ningbo Prefecture. Yesterday there was a fire at Tongsheng Wharf outside the city. Most of the more than 20 people who were killed were crew members working for me. These people have no bad deeds in the past and should not

In response to this bad retribution, although both the Hangzhou Prefectural Government and the Qiantang County Government sent people to the scene to investigate the case, they deliberately ignored the numerous evidence inside and outside the fire scene and avoided talking about the case! The loss of money is a small matter, but the lives of more than 20 innocent people are a big deal.

!I submit this petition today to sue the perpetrators who seek wealth and murder, the police officers who failed to handle the case, and the Yamen who covered up the truth! Even if justice and morality cannot be found here, I will use this method to put the fire out of the fire.

Tell the people of the world the truth and we will not let them die unjustly!"

Every word Lin De pointed to was that the Yamen was concealing the truth about the fire, but he deliberately did not explain the so-called truth because he knew that the relevant rumors had spread in and outside Hangzhou according to the predetermined plan. The more he did not explain it clearly,

, the more people will think that those rumors are true, and he is deliberately not mentioning the Haihan camp he is backing, in order to gain more sympathy points first.

Linde's performance obviously had a good effect, and the people present immediately started talking, thinking that Linde's experience was really the result of suppression by unspeakable forces. If there really was a shady story as he said, then more than 20 people in

Those who died in the fire probably have little chance of getting justice.

However, in this case, Linde still submitted the complaint despite knowing that the complaint would be fruitless. This behavior obviously has a tragic meaning, and he may be accused by the government of "spreading rumors to cause trouble".

He has made it very clear that this is not to recover financial losses, but to avenge the innocent people who died unexpectedly. This is very admirable.

The Hangzhou government office obviously would not accept such an unruly complaint, so not long after the government officials took the complaint in, they returned it to Lin De and asked him to leave immediately to avoid a large number of people crowding the door and obstructing the government office.

Being selected by the relevant departments of Haihan to carry out this task, Linde's acting ability has undoubtedly received sufficient recognition and trust. Even in the face of the yamen's scolding, Linde still did not give up and continued to perform an infectious play.

Jing. He walked up a few steps at a time, stood next to the government servant who was originally condescending, and shouted to the onlookers: "Everyone has seen, this is the attitude of the government towards victims! No one cares about the people who were killed yesterday.

Those innocent people, they just want to cover up the truth!"

Linde's accusation immediately received a response from the public, and several of his associates scattered among the onlookers responded one after another, and began to deliberately speak loudly and instructively to incite public sentiment.

Making trouble at the entrance of the Hangzhou government office must have exceeded the tolerance of the government. Seeing that the people were getting more and more agitated, the government office quickly took countermeasures. Several people came out and dragged Lin De in. The remaining

The people below were responsible for dispersing the onlookers. Suddenly there was no leader, and the spectators quickly dispersed. However, the news that "the government office arrested the victim who submitted the complaint" spread throughout the city.

The news spread, making many people who originally suspected that the government was involved in the fire case more confirmed their suspicions.

Of course, the Yamen government will not be stupid enough to actually imprison Lin De, the suffering master. It just wants to disperse the onlookers and take the opportunity to beat Lin De who does not know how to promote. Of course, Lin De is arranged to go to the Yamen as the suffering master.

The porcelain scandal was actually a link in this string of painful schemes, and with Wang Yuan as an insider in the Yamen, even if Lin De was temporarily detained, he would not suffer any loss in prison.

In fact, Lin De managed to escape after an hour. Neither the prefect nor the people below wanted to leave this hot potato in the yamen. They knew to some extent that the current wind direction outside was very unfavorable to the government, so they detained the victim.

This will only make the rumors from the outside world even more unpleasant. Apart from offering kind words to Linde and hoping that he will not continue to fan the flames, there is no more effective countermeasure that can be taken for the time being.

Linde had received the advice early on, so he cooperated very well. Anyway, he talked about people and ghosts, and continued to spread conspiracy theories after leaving the yamen. In addition, more than 20 businesses also suffered considerable losses in the fire, almost all of them.

Many of the prominent figures in Zhejiang's business community have official backgrounds of varying degrees. Once these people became convinced of Linde's statement, the influence they had on public opinion in Hangzhou was far greater than that of Linde alone.

One man show.

That night, these merchants even jointly held a banquet in Hangzhou city. On the one hand, they washed away the bad luck for Linde and maintained the existing cooperative relationship between the two parties. On the other hand, they also created a platform for him to speak out again, so that he could have the opportunity to promote more

"Inside information" has been made public. For these victims, they still need to live in Zhejiang, under the noses of the Ming Dynasty officials, so many people cannot stand up and speak out out of scruples, which is exactly what Linde needs.

An "outsider" comes to stand up for everyone. In addition, as long as the trade relationship with Haihan is maintained, it will not be too difficult to make back this loss in the future. If you do something like giving timely help now, you can work with Haihan in the future.

Han may get more discounts when discussing business.

While Lin De was spitting at the banquet and accusing the government of inaction, Han Zhengshan, who was investigating the case, was looking at some new evidence found today with great distress. The yamen responsible for cleaning up the fire scene found them in the wreckage of the ship and the warehouse.

Weapons suspected of being murder weapons - two standard waist knives that were installed in large numbers by the Ming army. Although this evidence is not enough to prove that the Ming army was involved in this murder and arson case, and the method of leaving the murder weapons at the crime scene is quite framed.

Suspicion of setting up the crime, but such clear evidence cannot be ignored, and it must be included in the case handling report.

If that's all, that's it. People who went downstream along the Qiantang River to look for clues reported that more than ten miles downstream from Tongsheng Pier, someone had witnessed a ship without a flag in the early morning after the incident.

The Cangshan boat left the river bank, and there was more than one witness, all of whom were local farmers who got up early to work. This is undoubtedly a very important clue. If it belongs to the Ming navy patrolling the river, it must have raised a flag on the mast.

, and the timing of this intentional concealment of identity is a bit too coincidental.

Small warships like the Cangshan Ship are deployed at various guard posts along the coast from the Qiantang River to Hangzhou Bay. If someone from the military was really involved in the crime, Han Zhengshan knew that it would be difficult to pursue the case with his own authority. He would have to turn the case over

It was handed over to the Jinyiwei Yamen, which can investigate the whole world.

Han Zhengshan reported the progress of the case to Wang Yuan overnight and asked for instructions on whether to take the initiative to hand over the case. However, Wang Yuan asked him to first send personnel to the garrison camps along the river to request assistance in the investigation to find out where the sailboat without a flag was sent.

.

This is undoubtedly a very difficult task for the police officers under the government. The possibility that the military will cooperate with the investigation on this matter is very low, even with official documents and warrants issued by the Hangzhou government.

Han Zhengshan could only boldly make a request: "Sir, could you please ask the Dusi Yamen to issue a cooperative investigation report? This may make the investigation much easier."

Wang Yuan sighed and said: "Why don't I know this truth? It's just that this matter has obviously involved the local garrison. If you want the Dusi Yamen to help, you must inform the entire case. What if the news leaks from them? I'm afraid

The news has already spread before you leave Hangzhou. It’s better to try it yourself first, and if it doesn’t work, try other methods!”

When Han Zhengshan saw his boss insisting, he had no choice but to do it. Wanting to investigate the military's patrol attendance information in the name of Liumen was indeed against the rules from a procedural point of view. If the military did not cooperate, Han Zhengshan would be in trouble.

Can't let it out.

What happened next was exactly as he expected. All the police officers sent to various health stations were turned away. Especially those health stations who had already learned about the arson case at Tongsheng Wharf were unwilling to cooperate with the Hangzhou government.

To investigate the matter, Han Zhengshan told the government officials who came to visit him to bring out official documents from Zhejiang Dusi before they could accept the investigation. It was not until two days later that the government officials who had encountered difficulties in various places returned to Hangzhou one after another, and Han Zhengshan had to feed the information back to Wang Yuan again.

There.

Of course, Wang Yuan was mentally prepared for such a situation. He asked Han Zhengshan to check the garrison at the guard station. He had no intention of gaining anything from this approach. After all, the mysterious Cangshan ship that appeared on the Qiantang River was not affiliated with this company.

Any nearby military camp was brought by the Haihan people from a place in Taizhou in the south. After the performance, they left Hangzhou Bay with the sailors who had ascended to heaven. Even if they turned the area around Hangzhou upside down, they would never find it.

That ghost ship.

As a result, the handling of the case was delayed for two days. It was the army that was not cooperating, and the government was not responsible for the investigation. And in just a few days, the rumors of the Tongsheng Pier fire in Hangzhou have changed from "a fire" to "a fire".

It turned into "arson", and the original casualties of more than 20 people were also rumored to be that the government deliberately reduced the number of casualties in order to avoid taking responsibility. In fact, there were more than 100 casualties. Speculations about the identity and purpose of the perpetrators have become increasingly

It became clear that all the evidence found during the investigation pointed to the Ming army.

There are even some rumors that sound very reliable, saying that the subordinates and family members of Yu Pingfeng, the Zhejiang commander who disappeared for no reason in Hangzhou last year, put the blame on Haihan. After a long period of planning, they used

The army carried out this murder and arson case. It is also said that the person responsible was actually Ma Yue, the commander of the Haining Guard who died at sea in Hangzhou Bay last year. This person has been colluding with overseas Japanese pirates for a long time. Last year, he was only exposed by Haihan.

Okay, after his identity was exposed, he faked his death and escaped. This time he colluded with Japanese pirates to raid the Haihan fleet outside Hangzhou to avenge his loss of office. It is also said that Liao Xun, a member of the Jinyiwei family who also disappeared in the middle of last year, was responsible for the arson.

The man behind the scenes also used dozens of experts from Jinyiweinan Town Fusi, with the purpose of attacking Haihan and preventing him from entering Zhejiang through trade means.

These rumors are all well-founded and seem reasonable at first glance. They are in line with several incidents that have occurred along the coast of Zhejiang in the past year. The perpetrator in the rumors does have a grudge against Haihan and has every motive to do this.

Such a crazy behavior.

Of course, the most critical point is that the protagonists of these rumors have all disappeared from the public eye for a long time, and it is impossible for them to stand up and prove their innocence. With these accusations being placed on their heads, they have repeatedly spoken out to defend themselves.

There won't be any chance.

As the saying goes, it is easy to spread rumors, but it is difficult to refute them. In just a few days, rumors spread all over the city of Hangzhou, and the government's credibility also declined sharply. Moreover, rumors began to circulate in the market that the Sansi Yamen would have financial ties to Zeng and Haihan.

The merchants who came and went were punished, causing the merchants to panic, and some collaborators who were still on Linde's side quickly drew a clear line with him. Linde was also a bit dumbfounded. The rumors would ferment to such an extent. It should also be Zhoushan Island.

It was a situation that the leaders who planned this incident did not expect. But now that it has reached this level, the next drama should also take place.

On the seventh day after the Tongsheng Pier case, Linde once again went to the Hangzhou government office to file a high-profile complaint. This time there were many more people watching than before, but there were only a few people willing to stand up and support him.

Not much left. And once again, the complaint he submitted was returned without any surprise, and the yamen's reply was, "The case has been transferred to the Criminal Investigation Division for investigation." Apparently, the game of kicking the ball started.
Chapter completed!