Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 238 0233 [Prefect trial]

Zhizhou Zhu Ming, general judge Li Daochong, military recorder Song Ning, manager Huang Gui, judicial officer Li Yang, and investigation envoy Wu Mao, six people gathered to discuss the case.

The confession was not limited to that of Zeng Xiaosu, but also the confessions of many officials, as well as the confessions of Han Shun and Zou Sanniang.

Although it came from fatigued interrogation, it was nothing in ancient times. The point is that these confessions can correspond to each other.

"They committed a murder, how could they tell it easily?" Li Daochong first questioned.

Zhu Ming said with a smile: "How did you tell it? Don't need to ask Li Dajuan. The criminal Zeng Xiaosu raped Feng Shi and bribed a monk. I have sent people to arrest the monk and bring him to justice. There are also the bones of Feng Shi, the maid, and Han He. They have also sent people to look for it and dig it out. The reason why Li Dajuan was brought here today is because one of the officials involved in this case is working as a procuratorial officer in your General Judgment Office."

Li Daochong looked at the confession again, and said angrily: "Since the evidence is convincing, let him be arrested."

Checking the text officer is a very important position for civil servants, and it is not easy to rush to the general judgment hall to arrest people.If Zhu Ming dared to do that, the impact would be worse than the seizure of gold, and it would be like completely tearing his face off with Li Daochong.

Had to say hello in advance.

Although Li Daochong was very upset, there was no need to get involved in the murder case, at worst, he would be promoted again.

Zhu Ming also said: "This case has the approval of the Criminal Division. Once it is re-tried, it will be of great importance. Therefore, I propose that the chiefs of the state should have a joint trial. The power of review is in the Siliyuan, and Huang Sili is the presiding officer. I and everyone Jun jury trial this case, Li Judiciary assisted, and Wu Zhi envoy recorded it."

Huang Gui quickly suggested: "Since it is a joint trial by the state officials, the prefect should be the presiding judge. Although I have the right to review, I dare not make too much of it."

Zhu Ming immediately looked at Wu Mao.

This cowardly and honest man has already made up his mind to fight against the treacherous party, but now that Li Daochong is sitting in front of him, he has suffered from weakness again.

After being glared at by Zhu Ming, Wu Mao could only bite the bullet and say, "It is true that the eunuch should preside over the trial."

Ju Ming asked Judiciary Li Yang, who joined the army: "What does Judiciary think?"

Li Yang is purely transparent in the officialdom. He only provides the judge with a legal basis when sentencing, and usually does not have any actual power.Immediately no one would be offended, and he replied: "Since it is a joint trial, the prefect can also be the presiding judge, the grand judge can also be the presiding judge, and the recorder and the manager can also be the two."

Song Ning, who joined the army as a recorder, said: "The prefect has just arrived and is not familiar with Jinzhou. I think Li Dajuan should preside over this case."

Huang Gui immediately turned back: "If it is according to my job, you and I should preside over the trial. If according to my official position, the prefect should preside over the trial. May I ask Song Lushi, what is the basis for the presiding judge?"

Song Ning was speechless, no matter from which point of view, it was not the turn of the general judge to preside over the case.

Zhu Ming smiled and looked at Li Daochong.

Li Daochong curled his lips, he understood what Zhu Ming meant.

If the case is closed quickly, it can only deter those subordinate officials.However, Zhu Ming insisted on procrastinating, calling everyone to discuss, and what kind of joint trial was going to be held. This was to take the opportunity to gain authority among the officials.

The right to review the case rests with Huang Gui, and Huang Gui's resignation of the presiding judge's qualification must be handed over to Zhu Ming, and Li Daochong has no objection at all.

"Since you have no objection, the case will be tried immediately after the bones are found," Zhu Ming said with a smile, "At that time, all the officials will be invited."

Li Daochong quickly said: "The officials have their own government affairs, so there is no need to waste their time."

Zhu Ming waved his hands and said, "Otherwise, for such an important case, all the state officials should be present, and look at the faces of these old officials, so that they can wake up and not be deceived in the future."

Zhu Ming intends to show his prestige in front of all state officials, so that everyone can honestly watch him judge the case!
Li Daochong smiled and said: "It's just an unjust case, a retrial is enough, there is no need to make such a big show."

Zhu Ming immediately gave in: "Then extend an invitation to all the officials. Those who are willing to come and watch can come, and those who don't want to come don't have to."

Now that we've talked about this, who dare not come?

If you don't come, you won't give Zhizhou face!

A few days later, several corpses were dug up, and officials at both the prefecture and county levels went for autopsies, and each produced an autopsy report.

Zhu Ming also sent people to spread the word inside and outside the city, inviting the people to watch the trial.

"Master, the surname Zhu has no good intentions. Officials, subordinates, and common people all attended the scene, and saw him overturn the injustice case with their own eyes. How much prestige will he have in the future?" said the attendant, "After this case, who still remembers Mr. Zhu? Everyone only knows that there is Zhizhou, but they don't know that there is General Judgment."

Li Daochong was so angry that he slapped his thigh: "He takes all the rationality and law, so what can I do?"

The attendant said: "I still have to write a letter to Xiao Cai Xianggong (Cai You), either to transfer the surname Zhu from Jinzhou, or to transfer Xianggong from Jinzhou. This person is too powerful, and he is also Xianggong's immediate boss. It's hard for him to do things in the same place."

Li Daochong was making money in Jinzhou, not to fight against anyone.

What's more, Ju Ming is surrounded by the emperor, so it is impossible to fight against him.

Just as the personal attendant said, either Zhu Ming or Li Dao Chong should be transferred away, otherwise their plan of corruption would be delayed.

After much deliberation, Li Daochong found that there was really no better way, so he wrote to Cai You again.He admits that he is... Well, it is not considered to be a confession, but he is too lazy to fight with Zhu Ming, and his pursuit is to make money as fast as he can.

……

On the day of the trial of the case, due to the effective publicity and the scandal, it attracted the attention of a large number of people.

The venue for the trial was in the lobby of the Siliyuan. Nearly a thousand people gathered early in the morning, and some people came sporadically from outside the city.

Even the state school was closed for one day, and the state school professor brought scholars to watch the excitement.

Wang Jia was in charge of leading people to maintain order. He said to the crowd: "The prefect has an order to select 20 people and stand outside the lobby to watch. The rest must stand outside the gate and not step over the gate. Draw lots!"

Several officials in front of the yamen, each holding a wooden box, asked the onlookers to draw lots.

There are a total of [-] small pieces of paper, only [-] have the word "Jin" written on them, and the rest are all blank.

The common people didn't expect this to happen, and they were happy to draw lots.The state scholars also pushed forward frantically, intending to try their luck.

A wealthy businessman grabbed a blank piece of paper and immediately shouted: "Buy a spectator spot for fifty cents, let me know if anyone is willing to sell it!"

"I want to buy it too!" said another rich man.

The deal was really a success, and the officials in front of the Yamen didn't bother to take care of it.The farther to the back, the more expensive the quota, and it became 160 liters on the spot.

It can only be said that Golden State is really poor.

If you want to change it in Yangzhou, it is estimated that you can get 500 Wen.

Of the 17 spectator spots, [-] were wealthy households, and most of them were bought with money.

Dai Chengsi is both a businessman and a recruiter, he bought a place with money, and went in with everyone.I thought I could only stand outside the lobby, but a handyman brought chairs and placed them at the entrance of the lobby to ask them to sit down.

"I heard that many were arrested, but I don't know how many will be killed today."

"The new prefect wants to show his prestige when he takes office, maybe more than five people will be killed on the spot."

"If you kill five, you will be fined more than 100 guan."

"Hundreds of money, what is it worth to the prefect? ​​Only by killing a lot can we gain power!"

"..."

These wealthy businessmen came to the hearing, not only interested in the case, but also guessing how many Zhu Ming would kill today.

Beating into tricks is not allowed in principle, but it is acquiesced in execution.

Moreover, relevant laws have been specially formulated. When an official kills a prisoner or witness when trying a case, it should be regarded as manslaughter.Calculated on the basis of five catties of copper for the usual money, if one person was killed by mistake during the trial, a fine of 120 Guan can be exonerated from the crime.

It is already very kind of Zhu Ming to make his subordinates tired of interrogation, he could have beaten him to death.

"Officials take their places!"

The state officials entered the lobby one after another, and even the state principal was there, filling both sides of the lobby.

The judge, Li Daochong, sat first on the left.

Wu Mao, the branch envoy, sits first on the right, and he is responsible for recording the trial process.

The recorder joins the army and the manager joins the army, sitting on the left and right of the main seat, they are the assistants of the presiding officer.

The judiciary joins the army and sits alone in a corner. He wants to provide a legal basis for the sentence.

"The eunuch is promoted!"

Ju Ming strode out from the inner hall and sat upright at the main seat.

"Shout Tang Wei!"

"Wei~~~~Wu~~~~"

The Yacha held a water and fire stick in his hand, and the stick kept hitting the ground, shouting in unison.

The hearing people, including Dai Chengsi, were instantly overwhelmed by Tang Wei's aura, and they all sat up straight and waited solemnly.

Zhu Ming patted Xingmu fiercely, and said, "Bring the appellant, Zeng Xiao, to court!"

Zeng Xiaoduan was led to stand in the hall, bowed to Ju Ming, and was immediately verified by the tolerance.

In the trial of the Song Dynasty, neither the plaintiff nor the defendant need kneel.

There are two wooden boards in the yamen, one is called "Ci Li Pai", where non-urgent cases are filed, and officials receive the complaints to choose a date for court hearing.The other one is called "Qupai". If you have an urgent case or a major grievance, you can lodge a complaint here and wait, and the officials will arrange a trial as soon as possible.

Both the plaintiff and the defendant "stand in court" during the court session, instead of kneeling and participating in the whole process.

But there are exceptions. In the surviving "Song Gaozong Shu Xiaojing Ma Hezhi Drawing Book", in the painting there are two prisoners being interrogated, one kneeling and the other standing.This confuses historical researchers, wondering what happened to the man kneeling.

Zhu Ming asked, "Where is the complaint?"

"The indictment has been received." Huang Gui began to read the indictment. The general content is: Sue his cousin Zeng Xiaosu, raped his wife and maid, and colluded with subordinate officials to falsely accuse his mother.

Zhu Ming said: "Bring the prisoner Zeng Xiaosu to court!"

Zeng Xiaosu was dragged up, this guy was already full of sleep, but his legs went limp from fright, and he collapsed directly under the hall.

Facing the questioning, Zeng Xiaosu could only tell the truth, and pleaded: "Feng's death was unintentional, and I strangled her to death by mistake."

Zhu Ming said: "Even if you killed Feng Shi by negligence, could the Queen Cui Cui, the servant, be dead by negligence? Your confession said that you were worried about her reporting, luring her to steal property and elope, and then tricking her into your house to kill and bury her body. People, present the evidence!"

The Yachai brought a box, which was the bones of the maid.

Zhu Ming asked: "According to your confession, this corpse was dug out from your backyard. The clothes it was wearing were not completely decomposed, and many witnesses identified them as the ones worn by Queen Cuicui, the servant queen. The jewelry was also confirmed to be the copper hairpin worn by Wang Cuicui during his lifetime. Bring witnesses Zou Sanniang, Zeng Kuo, He Lin, and Grandma Li!"

The four witnesses came to court, and they were all acquaintances of the servant girl during her lifetime.

They identified the clothing and jewelry on the bones, all of which they said belonged to the deceased.

Immediately, they brought along Zeng Xiaosu's concubine and maid.They were frightened and did not dare to hide anything, saying that that night, they were ordered not to leave the house and only heard noises from the yard.It seemed that someone was digging the soil, busy for two or three quarters of an hour.

Then another servant was brought up, and the servant confessed that Zeng Xiaosu asked him to find a hoe one day in advance, saying that he wanted to plant flowers and trees himself.

Zeng Xiaosu was completely paralyzed, and then plucked up the courage to beg for mercy: "Falsely accusing my aunt of adultery with his servant Han He, and then killing Han He to silence him afterwards, this was not my original intention, it was forced by my father-in-law! Brother's property, but those properties are worth a thousand guan. I gave two to three thousand guan to the subordinate officials in the prefectures and counties. Those subordinate officials are the bad guys, please forgive me!"

Occupying the cousin's property was really not premeditated.

In order to make peace, Zeng Xiaosu was extorted too much money by the subordinate officials, and even occupied his cousin's family property without getting back the money.

Zhu Ming said: "Don't worry about the subordinate staff for the time being, bring that monk to court!"

A middle-aged monk was brought up and told the truth in fear.He knew that Zeng Xiaosu was going to rape a woman, but he provided Zeng Xiaosu with a meditation room, and even helped watch outside, and only received five copper coins as a favor fee.

The onlookers were furious upon hearing this, how precious a woman's name is, and it was betrayed by five copper coins.

Next, bring out a bunch of subordinate staff.

There were two masterminds, seven accomplices, and more than a dozen accomplices with varying degrees of participation.

The two masterminds each got more than [-] guan.The seven accomplices received goods ranging from thirty guan to four hundred guan.The rest of the accomplices, some even received only a few pennies, and were treated to a few drinks, helping the mastermind to do things out of affection and power.

After these guys went to court, they knew that it was difficult to escape, so they bit each other.

Put all the blame on the two masterminds.Some said they didn't know they had killed someone, and some said they were persecuted.

Furious, the two masterminds began to tell other cases, as if to drag everyone along the road.Even the Yacha who was holding a water and fire stick in the hall was accused of committing a murder case, and the Yacha was so frightened that he knelt down on the spot to argue.

Zhu Ming frowned and said, "All of this has been recorded. We won't go to trial today. We will only go to trial for this case."

The trial lasted until noon, everyone was hungry, and Zhu Ming had no plans to adjourn the court.

Several subordinate officials from Xicheng County, as well as Zeng Xiaosu's father and brother, were all brought up to try them for forging contracts and usurping family property.

In addition to witnesses, Ju Ming produced a large number of physical evidence.

Even the forged deeds were made to be identified by the clerks—this thing was not burned, and it has been kept as a serious deed until now.

After the trial was over, the judiciary joined the army in full swing, holding a copy of "Song Xingtong" and flipping through it repeatedly.Finally, he gives the verdicts of all those involved, along with the legal text of those verdicts.

Zhu Ming announced in court: "The prisoner, Zeng Xiaosu, raped and negligently killed his sister-in-law, raped and seduced other people's concubines, instigated servant Han He to falsely accuse his aunt, colluded with subordinate staff to kill Han He, colluded with father and brother to forge official contracts, Cousin's family property. Committed ten heinous crimes, unforgivable crimes, and cannot be redeemed according to the law. Combined punishment for several crimes, sentenced to beheading, and handed over to the procurator Siqiu for beheading!"

"it is good!"

The [-] spectators outside the auditorium burst into applause.

Although I didn't see the scene of beating someone to death on the spot, today's trial was particularly exciting.The witness and material evidence is very complete, and all kinds of testimonies can be matched, and there is nothing that can be questioned.

Moreover, Zeng Xiaoduan is also considered a wealthy family, and his experience made the audience feel very involved.

These wealthy households who came to listen more or less had the experience of being blackmailed by subordinate officials.Sentencing Zeng Xiaosu to death is already very satisfying, and the next step is to wait for the punishment of the subordinates.

Soon, Zeng Xiaosu's father and brother were punished accordingly.

Bribing officials to cover up crimes and occupying other people's property are nothing.The real felony is that they forged land deeds and house deeds, which is called "crime of forging official documents and seals".The crimes were counted and punished, and each was fined 150 sticks and exiled for [-] miles.

Zeng Xiaoduan was ordered to return all the seized property.

As for the subordinate officials, the two masterminds were sentenced to beheaded, and the seven accomplices were sentenced to be hanged.The remaining accomplices were sentenced to two years in prison and exiled for a thousand miles.

There is also that Zou Sanniang, who found out the adultery but did not report it, and faced the government's trial of the murder case, she did not tell the truth.According to the law, he should be guilty of the same crime as an adulterer and needs to be imprisoned for one and a half years.Thinking that he was persecuted by others, and he still had a young son to raise, so that he could be spared from prison and compensate the suffering master some money (the two parties discussed in private).

That monk assisted Zeng Xiaosu to rape women, and also received benefits, provided him with a place, and guarded the door for him.Sentenced to death by hanging!
Zeng Xiaoduan's mother was falsely accused of unjust murder, and all five counties in Jinzhou posted notices to clear up the charges and restore Zeng Xiaoduan's imperial examination qualifications.

"Leave the hall!" Zhu Ming said, "All the judgments and punishments will be read out for the common people to know."

Zeng Xiaoduan had tears streaming down his face, knelt down and kowtowed and said: "The prefect has nothing to repay the great kindness, and I will never forget it in this life and the next life!"

Zhu Ming said: "Get up quickly, you are also a scholar, from now on you should study well and be a man."

Zeng Xiaoduan knocked his head hard several times, his forehead was bloody.

The clerk took the verdict and ran to the street to read it out on the spot.

Every time I finished reading one, it attracted bursts of applause.

Those wealthy households who listened to the whole process also left briskly. After they returned home, they had to tell their relatives and friends.

What happened today is enough to talk about for a whole year.

Zhu Ming strode out of the lobby and led his entourage to the street.

The common people gave way one after another, and warmly sent the prefect away, and some people shouted "Master Qingtian".

"I want to sue!" Suddenly, a commoner shouted.

"I want to sue!"

With a smile on his face, Zhu Ming said to Liu Shiren: "For those who sue, you help them write the complaint."

The faces of many subordinate officials changed drastically.

Some people have already rushed home to get money. As long as they didn't commit a murder, they can use the money to settle in private. Don't make trouble with Zhizhou!

In this poor place of Jinzhou, I have been the principal of the state for several years. Seeing that countless people respect and trust Zhizhou, I can't help feeling sad: "As an official, you are really a role model for my generation!"

Ju Ming's prestige was established by the retrial of an unjust case.

The officials were all shocked, the officials were all intimidated, and the common people loved and trusted him.

In the vacant official positions, except for the subordinates of the general judge, the rest of Zhu Ming can be filled.Next, we will try a few more cases and replace all the important officials with our own people.

Then you can stop. There are hundreds of subordinate officials at the state level and many officials in Xicheng County. It is impossible to change all of them. After all, they have to rely on these people to do things.

Of course, it cannot be condoned.

You have to set some rules, and those who act honestly according to the rules, except for major cases, can forget their past crimes.If you don't follow the rules, you will settle the old and new accounts together!

(End of this chapter)