Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 568
Zhu Youjian returned to the harem after the cabinet meeting that day. After having a simple lunch and visiting his two young sons at Concubine Tian and Concubine Yuan, Zhu Youjian took Wang Chengen back to the harem again. Qianqing palace.

It is now the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, and the annual death penalty approval day has arrived.

Zhu Youjian's task today is to re-examine the suspicious death penalty cases that are difficult to decide after being tried by the three jurisprudence divisions of Dali Temple, the Criminal Ministry, and the Procuratorate together with Gong, Hou, and Bo, and then give a corresponding order. Deemed final.

It has to be said that in the past dynasties, the legal system of Ming Dynasty was the fairest and most detailed, especially when it came to the issue of the death penalty, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to the review and review of death penalty cases to ensure that Will kill anyone at will.

The death penalty in Ming Dynasty was divided into two forms: "Li Jue" and "Qiu Hou Jue".

For example, crimes such as treason and treason will be punished by judging. For other cases of death penalty, if they are considered fair and legal after being compounded by Dali Temple, they will be imprisoned and executed after autumn.

In order to strictly prevent local officials from abusing the power of life and death, the Daming Law specially made strict regulations on this.

"Any death penalty prisoner who executes without waiting for the report to be repeated shall be given eighty sticks. If the report has been reported, the sentence shall be executed after waiting for three days. If the three-day period is not expired and the execution and those who exceed the limit are not enough, the staff shall be given six sticks each. ten."

This strict review system has enabled relevant officials to conduct inspections in accordance with the law, enhanced their sense of responsibility, and played a positive role in preventing more unjust, false and wrongly decided cases.

There are two rather peculiar cases before Zhu Youjian today. The officials of the three courts and the jurors Xue Lian, Wei Shichun and others are arguing endlessly about these cases. After a consensus cannot be reached, the relevant documents are sent to the palace. Waiting for Zhu Youjian to make the final decision.

The first case occurred in Shaoxing Prefecture.

Li Jinsi from Shaoxing is a juren. He was elected as the county magistrate of Wujiang at the end of last year. When he was about to take up the post, his mother died of illness. Li Jinsi buried his mother in the ancestral grave and resigned as the county magistrate himself. One post, vowed to observe filial piety for three years.

Unexpectedly, at the beginning of this year, the tomb of Li Jinsi's mother was stolen in the middle of the night. Not only was the coffin opened, but even his mother's remains were thrown into the wilderness, and all the gold and silver vessels buried with him were taken away.

You must know that in ancient times, when people paid special attention to the aftermath, digging people's ancestral graves was a big deal, and it was an act that would be cast aside by thousands of people.

According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, if you dig someone's ancestral grave, you should travel three thousand miles and serve 20 years of hard labor. If you even open the coffin, you will be hanged.

However, because the incident happened in the middle of the night, the tomb robbers did not leave too many clues, which caused the case to be delayed for more than a month and could not be solved. Li Jinsi went to the yamen many times to press him with his rich connections in the local area, but to no avail.

In the end, Li Jinsi decided to investigate the case himself.

Not long after offering a huge reward of 100 taels of silver, a local villager came to inform him that Han Si, a rascal in his village, had serious suspicions. In the recent period of time, Han Si spends money even more extravagantly, as if he made a fortune. This kind of suspicious wealth should be related to the theft of Li's mother's tomb.

After Li Jinsi received the report, he immediately went to the Yamen to inform him, and then the Shaoxing government police quickly dispatched to arrest Han Si, and found several hidden gold and silver artifacts in his home. After identification by Li Jinsi, he determined that these were his mother's coffin As a result, the general case that had been suspended for more than a month was finally solved.

After the case was solved, Li Jinsi did not break his promise. In front of everyone, he handed over 100 taels of silver to the provider of the important clue, and expressed his gratitude to him for the gift. This action also aroused enthusiastic enthusiasm from the onlookers Bravo.

Now that the case has been solved, all that is left is to be sentenced according to the law, but unexpectedly, there will be twists and turns on this issue.

Feng Jinfu, Shaoxing's procuratorial envoy for punishment and punishment, finally seized the opportunity for revenge this time because he had an affair with Li Jinsi at a banquet held by the local gentry.

Therefore, on the day of sentencing, Feng Jinfu argued that although Han Si robbed the tomb and opened the coffin, it was because his family was poor and needed money to support his mother. Flow three thousand miles, and serve 20 years of hard labor.

Even though Li Jinsi, who was listening to the trial, had a fierce quarrel with Feng Jinfu, and he was very angry at Feng Jinfu's behavior of indulging Han Si, who was familiar with the law of the Ming Dynasty, but in the end it came to nothing. Feng Jinfu insisted on the original sentence and threw up his sleeves And then, Han Si was also temporarily detained in the prison of the Procuratorate, and he was about to flow to a place in northern Shaanxi in a few days.

Li Jinsi was unwilling to let Han Si, a scumbag like this, use his local contacts in Shaoxing to put pressure on Feng Jinfu through various relationships, trying to change the original sentence, and instead sentenced Han Si to death.

But Feng Jinfu was also determined to make Li Jinsi look bad. Faced with all kinds of persuasion from the prefect, the judge, and the officials, he still insisted that he acted according to the law, and no one had the right to change the result. .

After trying to persuade Feng Jinfu for two consecutive days to no avail, Li Jinsi finally gave up on persuading Feng Jinfu. Li Jinsi, who was only thinking about avenging his mother, couldn't sleep day and night. Jinsi decided to take revenge himself.

On the night when Han Si was about to go on the road the next day, Li Jinsi secretly entered the prison with a sharp knife after spending a lot of money to buy a relationship. He opened the prison door while the cell boss and jailer pretended to be drunk, stabbed Han Si who was sleeping soundly to death and sent him to prison. Cut off the head.

Early the next morning, Li Jinsi carried Han Si's head, and under the astonished and suspicious eyes of passers-by, he came to the Yamen of Shaoxing Mansion calmly and surrendered. With complex emotions such as regret, sympathy, and admiration, Li Jinsi was put in prison.

After the news spread, it caused a huge commotion in Shaoxing. The local gentry jointly wrote to the Shaoxing government to intercede with Li Jinsi, asking the Shaoxing government and the procuratorate to give Li Jinsi a lighter sentence, and he must not be sentenced to death.

However, Feng Jinfu, who became angry from embarrassment, withstood the huge pressure from all parties, and still sentenced Li Jinsi to death for the crime of intentional homicide.

During the joint trial of the case by the three divisions, Ling Yiqu, Minister of Dali Temple, Li Xian, Youdu Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and Liu Xiancai, the left servant of the Ministry of Punishment, expressed their attitude that although Li Jinsi avenged his mother and Han Siqi should be punished for his crime, Li Jinsi has no right to blatantly deprive others of their lives.

The three believed that if everyone had a legitimate reason to kill and was not guilty, the court's laws would be seriously jeopardized, and the normal order of the entire society would also be seriously threatened. Therefore, Feng Jinfu's hearing and verdict on this case were very correct. It also represents the principle and dignity of the imperial court to maintain social order, which is extremely important.

However, the nobles headed by Yangwu Hou Xue Lian and Xuancheng Bowei Shichun believed that Han Si did evil first, and Li Jinsi, as a son of man, killed the enemy who robbed the tomb and opened the coffin. This is a righteous act to show filial piety , not only should not be sentenced to death, but should be publicized and commended in a high-profile manner, so as to effectively deter the wicked and promote the concept of ruling the country with filial piety in Ming Dynasty.

After reading the specific details of the case and the transcripts of the speeches of the three divisions, Zhu Youjian fell into deep thought.

The most fundamental reason why this case has aroused strong repercussions from all walks of life in the local community is that according to Feng Jinfu, the inspector general, the judgment of the case was unfair. If Han Si was arrested and sentenced to death in strict accordance with the law, Li Jinsi's radical actions would not have happened. , The local public opinion in Shaoxing will not be so turbulent.

Zhu Youjian didn't know why Feng Jinfu decided the case in this way, but judging from the results of the case, this Feng Jinfu was obviously incompetent.Holding a lot of power but dealing with things unfairly is the easiest way to cause harm to society. Such people can no longer remain in important positions.

Li Jinsi's bloodiness in this case actually made Zhu Youjian appreciate it very much. He did not expect that a scholar of Juren background would choose the most drastic means to fight back after suffering great humiliation and unfair judgment. From a public perspective, Li Jinsi's behavior is justifiable.

A nation that lacks blood is extremely dangerous. Although this kind of behavior is not worth advocating, this spirit cannot be suppressed.

And Han Si, a social scum, should have been sentenced to death after the incident. Although he died at the hands of his enemies in the end, it was considered a well-deserved retribution.

After a long period of deliberation, Zhu Youjian took up a Zhu pen and wrote a comment on the file: Li Jinsi killed the person who should have been killed. His behavior was a legitimate self-defense, so he was acquitted. After the expiration of the filial piety period, he entered the Imperial College for further study.

Feng Jinfu decided that the case was unfair, and he was dismissed and transferred to Guanglu Temple. The vacant position was appointed by officials selected by the Ministry of Officials.

After putting down the vermilion pen, Zhu Youjian got up to relieve his body, took a few sips of green tea from the jade bowl, and then returned to the throne, picking up another dossier that also caused controversy.

　Thanks to Venus for the graphics card, Ark o0, your shallow smile, the authentic brother Meng, the egg cake robber, and the governor of Feng Ye for the rewards. I wish all book friends all the best in 2020!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)