At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 247: Officials must distinguish right from wrong
The tragedy of exterminating a family is definitely considered a heinous crime no matter what era it is placed in.

Although people's lives are like grass in troubled times, it only refers to those on the battlefield and princes like Dong Zhuo, Li Jue, Guo Si, and Yuan Shu.

Those who are truly determined to compete for the world, such as Zhou Qi, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and Liu Bei, have relatively complete laws for the people under their rule.

Otherwise, how could the people be willing to live under their rule if they had no sense of security?
What surprised Zhou Qi the most was that he had looked through the county government files for the past year, but he rarely saw murder cases, let alone massacres.

But now, as soon as Zhou Qi arrived in Yundu, such a bad incident happened, and he couldn't help but feel suspicious.

Zhou Qi's face darkened slightly, he looked at Magistrate Yundu and shouted in a deep voice: "What on earth is going on?"

Even though it was already the cold winter, Magistrate Yundu's forehead was still covered with beads of sweat, and he said with a slightly trembling voice: "It should be a conflict between neighbors."

Zhou Qi snorted coldly, his eyes were as bright as lightning, and he stopped talking nonsense and led people directly to the house that was destroyed.

He wanted to see why the people under his rule were so violent and ready to exterminate families!

When Zhou Qi and others arrived at the scene of the crime, many people had gathered outside, many of whom were pointing and whispering inside.

Zhou Qi first inspected the scene and found that the deceased were a middle-aged couple, an old woman in her 60s, and two children aged five or six.

After a little inquiry, Zhou Qi learned about their interpersonal relationships. The five people were grandmother, father, mother, son and daughter.

Things are also very clear.

That is when the murderer burst into the victim's home with a knife and first hacked to death an old woman who was sunbathing at the door and two children who were playing.

After hearing the screams, the couple hurried out to check, and happened to be face to face with the murderer.

The murderer struggled with the man who picked up the stick, chopped off the stick and hacked him to death. Then he chased the woman into the bedroom and chopped her to the bed.

Zhou Qi took a closer look and found that the victim's family was quite well-to-do, with not only cattle but also a bullock cart at home.

For families in this era, having these two things can definitely be regarded as a free farmer living a better life.

After investigating the crime scene, Zhou Qi went to the murderer's house next door.

Just as I walked to the door, I looked at the cow dung that was not close to the door, and I couldn't help but frown slightly.

After walking into the yard, I found that the place was relatively dilapidated and the house was very small. Moreover, based on the messy appearance of the house, it could be seen that the murderer probably lived alone.

Based on the placement of things and common items in the house, Zhou Qi could also deduce that the murderer was not Han Chinese.

What surprised Zhou Qi most was that there were actually some Chitose, also known as peanuts, in the warehouse of the murderer's home.

To know.

This thing was not cultivated much in the Han Dynasty, and the yield was not high. Ordinary families simply could not afford such a luxury product.

After conducting a detailed investigation of the murderer's home, Zhou Qi turned to Magistrate Yundu and asked, "Has the murderer been caught?"

Magistrate Yundu said hurriedly: "He has been caught and is being detained in the county government office."

Zhou Qi waved his hand and said: "Return to the county government office!"

After returning to the county government office, Zhou Qi directly interrogated the prisoner and shouted sternly: "Prisoner Agu, do you know the crime?"

Agu is indeed not a Han, but a Jiangxia Man. He has no relatives at home and still lives alone.

Most of the Jiangxia barbarians previously lived in the Dabie Mountains in the eastern part of Jiangxia. Ever since Zhou Qi captured Jiangxia with a false attack on Guo and made Zhou the captain of Jiangxia County, the Jiangxia barbarians who had been entrenched in the Dabie Mountains for many years began to be gradually moved to various counties.

Agu was one of the relocated Jiangxia barbarians.

Due to the sworn friendship between Zhou Cheng and the leaders of the Jiangxia barbarians, and the various policies formulated by Zhou Qi, the Jiangxia barbarians who were moved to various places also received preferential treatment from various policies.

Just like Agu, even though he is alone, he owns twenty acres of land.

If you farm well, your life will be good.

Unfortunately, compared to the Han people who have farming skills engraved in their genes, Jiangxia Man is better at fishing and hunting, so most of the family's twenty acres of land are rented out, leaving only a little for their own cultivation.

Agu looked at Zhou Qi, who was sitting on the main seat, with doubts on his face, and asked, "Who are you? Why isn't Magistrate Zhou here to interrogate me?"

When Magistrate Zhou next to him heard this, he immediately shouted sternly: "Don't be so presumptuous, this is the superior official of this county magistrate!"

Since Zhou Qi had confessed in advance, County Magistrate Zhou did not disclose Zhou Qi's identity.

When Agu heard this, he curled his lips and said indifferently: "You guys, officials protect each other, and you favor the Han people in everything you do."

"If you dare to act bravely, that family member was killed by a certain person."

Zhou Qi's expression condensed slightly and he shouted: "So, you are pleading guilty?"

When Agu heard this, he pointed at County Magistrate Zhou and snorted coldly: "If someone is guilty, it should be Magistrate Zhou who neglected his duty first!"

Magistrate Zhou was shocked and angry, and was about to scold him, but was stopped by Zhou Qi.

Zhou Qi asked: "Why did you say this?"

"Do you know what crime it is to slander court officials?"

Agu sneered and said: "You have already committed a certain death penalty, so why are you afraid of the crime of slandering the officials of the imperial court?"

"What's more, I don't even bother to slander such a dog official who doesn't distinguish between right and wrong!"

Zhou Qi narrowed his eyes slightly, turned his head and glanced at Magistrate Zhou, only to see the magistrate was sweating profusely and whispered: "General, don't listen to what this unruly man says!"

Zhou Qi was noncommittal and continued to ask: "Why do you say that County Magistrate Zhou neglected his duty first?"

At this time, Agu finally changed his indifferent expression, and instead showed a look of resentment on his face, saying: "A certain person managed to get the seeds of Chitose and planted them in the field. I thought that after harvesting this year, I would keep them as seeds for next year." Farming.”

"I never thought that just when the chitose seeds were ripe and ready to be harvested, I discovered that there were far fewer chitose seeds in the field."

"Later, I stayed on guard one day and night, and finally caught the thief who stole the things. It was my neighbor Wu Er!"

When Zhou Qi heard this, he couldn't help but frown slightly. He didn't expect that there was such grudge between the two.

He pondered for a moment, and then said: "Since you have stolen the stolen goods and caught Wu Er, have you sent him to the county government?"

Agu said angrily: "Of course!"

"When Wu Er was caught by a certain person, he wanted to escape, but he was knocked to the ground by a certain person and dragged directly to the lower county government office. I hope the county magistrate can make the decision for me."

"I never thought that instead of punishing the thief, the county officials would say that I intentionally injured Wu Er. If the other party pursues the case, I will have to pay compensation."

"The county officials asked me and Wu Er to sign a document of understanding."

When Agu said this, he couldn't help but get angry and said: "How can there be such truth in the world?"

"A thief was caught and sent to the county government. Instead of punishing him, the county officials forced me to sign a document of understanding."

"Even the county officials told me that the dozen thousand-year-old seeds that Wu Er pulled out were not worth much. There was no need to hurt the feelings between the neighbors. Instead, they asked me to give those thousand-year-old seeds to Wu Er!"

"I was so angry that I refused to sign a document of understanding, so the county officials refused to let me leave because the matter had not been resolved."

"The weather was bad at the time, and I was busy harvesting Chitose seeds. If I delayed my time, wouldn't I suffer heavy losses when the rain came down?" "In desperation, I had no choice but to sign a document of understanding!"

Dian Wei, who was standing nearby, glanced at Magistrate Zhou very sharply after hearing this.

Such a confused official, so indifferent to right from wrong, if Dian Wei were in Agu's position, he might have killed all the county officials as well.

Zhou Qi, however, thought more and didn't say anything more, but continued to listen.

"I never thought that after this incident, Mr. Wu would have a grudge against me and deliberately drove a wooden stake at the entrance of the two houses to tie up the cattle."

"The cow poops and pees in front of a certain house every day. The smell is so bad, but the other party never cleans it up or takes the cow away."

"A certain person cut down the cow in anger, but Wu Er reported it to the county government. The county officials thought that I had intentionally hurt the cow, and not only fined me to serve two months of corvee, but also made me pay compensation to Wu. Two huge amounts of money!”

In ancient China, the status of farm cattle was equivalent to that of protected animals in later generations. No one was allowed to kill or harm farm cattle without any reason.

Especially during times of war, in order to increase food production, the protection of farm cattle is even stricter.

Normally speaking, only if a farm cow actively hurts someone, it can be slaughtered after reporting it to the government. In other cases, killing a farm cow indiscriminately is a direct violation of the criminal law.

Of course, compared to the Tang and Song dynasties, the laws on slaughtering cattle in the Han Dynasty were looser. Cattle that were too old to continue farming could also be killed.

only.

Under Zhou Qi's rule, laws similar to those in the Tang Dynasty were adopted. Even cattle that were old, weak, sick or disabled could not be slaughtered casually.

Only cattle that have injured others, or died of natural causes or accidents can be slaughtered.

Therefore, farm cattle are now properly protected animals. It is precisely because Wu Er knew this that he dared to deliberately use cattle to disgust Agu.

Agu injured the farm cow in anger, which happened to fall into Wu Er's way, so he was severely punished by the government.

Zhou Qi asked: "Then you held a grudge and found an opportunity to slaughter Wu Er's whole family?"

Agu shook his head and said: "Although I am angry in my heart, I still have some sense after all. I know that today's good days are hard-won, and I am unwilling to commit such crimes."

"However, Wu Er went to great lengths. Since then, he has tied the cattle at the door of my house every day, making the door of my house stink."

"Someone asked Wu Er to tie the cow somewhere else, but he didn't listen."

"I no longer dared to hurt the cow, so I had to report the matter to the county government. However, the county government officials were very conciliatory and asked us to understand each other."

"He also said that farming cattle is beneficial to the people, and I should be more tolerant!"

At this point, Niu Er was extremely angry and shouted: "That's not my farm cow, why should I be more tolerant?"

"To this day, we had another quarrel, and Wu Er was sarcastic and sarcastic to me."

"After I returned home, I became more and more angry. I finally lost my mind and took a knife to kill Wu Er's whole family!"

Hearing this, Dian Wei couldn't help but feel happy secretly.

He was originally a ranger and liked to fight injustices. Naturally, he felt that Agu had been greatly wronged and that he deserved to destroy Wu Erman's family.

"Don't roar in court!"

Zhou Qi looked at Agu, who was gradually losing control of his emotions, but suddenly slapped him in shock and shouted sternly.

Zhou Qi didn't ask any more questions, but said to the county magistrate: "Go and get the files from the past year, and I'll take a look at them."

Only then did Zhou Qi remember that when he was looking through the files, he had indeed seen the files on Agu's injury to the cow.

However, there is no record in the file about Wu Er stealing Chitose and tying the cow in front of Agu's house.

as predicted.

Zhou Qi rummaged through the file again, but never saw the last two things. He immediately asked Magistrate Zhou: "Why is there no mention in the file of Wu Er stealing Qiantaizi and tying the cow to Agu's house?" thing?"

County Magistrate Zhou quietly wiped away his cold sweat and then said: "Because both parties signed a document of understanding, these two incidents are ordinary civil disputes, so they were not recorded in the file."

Zhou Qi couldn't help but be surprised when he heard this.

There are too many trivial matters among the people. If every matter was recorded in a file, a lot of manpower and material resources would be consumed.

Generally speaking, after both parties issue a document of understanding, the case will be dismissed and will no longer be recorded in the file.

Without thinking, Agu shouted: "I don't want to sign the document of understanding for both things. But if I didn't sign the first time, the government wouldn't let me leave."

"I'm worried that if it rains, I won't be able to collect Chitose in time, so I'll have to sign."

"The second time I had time, I didn't even think about signing the document of understanding from beginning to end, but the county officials made the decision privately and signed the document for me."

When Zhou Qi heard this, he turned to look at County Magistrate Zhou and asked, "Is this the case?"

Magistrate Zhou hated Agu very much at this time, but he did not dare to be presumptuous in front of the general. He could only defend himself: "I do know these two things."

"The first thing I asked Agu to sign was the document of understanding for three reasons."

"First, the two are neighbors. If they really get into trouble, it will also affect their future relationship."

"Secondly, Agu said that Wu Er committed theft, and he believed that the last time Chitose in Tanaka was stolen was also done by Wu Er."

"But Wu Er said that he did not steal, but just pulled out two thousand-year-old seeds to see what they looked like, and he wanted to plant them next year."

"Generally speaking, pulling up two crops in someone else's field in the countryside is indeed not considered theft."

"As for the last field theft, it was also committed by Wu Er, but there is no evidence and it is impossible to convict him."

"Third, it is true that Agu injured Wu Er. If he is really investigated, the county government must enforce the law according to regulations, which will inevitably delay Agu's harvest of crops."

"Therefore, we not only tried our best to persuade Agu to sign the document of understanding, but also secretly threatened Wu Er with the theft in order to prevent Wu Er from pursuing the matter of being injured by Agu, so that Wu Er gave up on holding Agu accountable."

"From Agu's point of view, we seem to be favoring Wu Er, but in fact the government just wants to resolve the conflict."

Zhou Qi still frowned and asked: "Then Wu Er tied the cow in front of Agu's house. Why didn't this matter be resolved?"

　This chapter is based on the author's time travel experience. The first one was when he caught a thief and sent him to the police station, but he did not injure the thief.

　　The police officers were like this. They not only asked me to give the sweet potatoes stolen by the thief to the other party, but also forced me to sign a letter of understanding. If I didn't sign, I wouldn't be allowed to leave. I was in a hurry to go to work and had no choice but to sign it.

　　The second one was the parking incident at the garage door. I put up a sign indicating that cars were parked in front of the garage. The woman who parked at the door of my garage often didn’t even leave her phone number. In the end, it was so bad that the whole community knew about it. When we got to the patrol room, I He was also intimidated by police officers, who made him use all his words as if he was interrogating a prisoner.

　　Anyway, I won't fall for their tricks and won't let go. The other party has no choice but to kick me out directly, even if the matter is resolved.

　　The funniest thing is that the woman who often parked in front of my garage and blocked the fire escape actually felt that she was right from beginning to end.There was only her car parked on the entire road near the garage door, and it was as big as her face.

　　Anyway, the patrol does not distinguish between right and wrong when handling cases, it is just a matter of fairness. Even if you are reasonable, as long as the matter is not resolved quickly according to the patrol's wishes, I will find a way to deal with you first.

　　Let me reiterate, the above is the author's experience of traveling through time and space, please don't take it for granted.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)