The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Chapter 283 "Suzhou White Dragon Temple Incident"

"Rent a chair, a stool, three stools, and a pot of tea." A villager got a cart of small stools from nowhere, and burned a tiger stove next to it, and put a black clay pot on it. Boiling tea.

Some people are really willing to rent a stool to listen to the newspaper and directly turn the newspaper stand into a small teahouse. However, more people are reluctant to part with the money and find a stone or spread some miscellaneous materials on the ground. Sitting directly on the ground with tangled grass leaves.

Shi Youfu didn't want to spend more money. He found a round stone and sat down with his legs in his arms. He asked the people around him, "Have you read the fourth edition now?"

The people around me were also waiting to hear "The Case of Judge Di" in the novel section of the fourth edition. Hearing this, he replied: "I am reading the current review of the third edition, which will be here soon."

With the popularity of live newsstands, people in Suzhou are now very familiar with the Suzhou Xundao, and they have probably figured out how the Suzhou Xundao is organized.

As we all know, the first page of "Xun Bao" talks about the recent important events in the entire Ming Dynasty and even overseas. The second page is Suzhou news. The third page is usually commentator articles. The fourth page has some entertainment content, especially It is the content of serialized novels and is the favorite of the common people.

The gentleman who was reading the newspaper on the stage couldn't help but smile when he saw a large group of people gathered under his desk.

He was originally just an ordinary tanci artist in Suzhou Prefecture. There were many famous tanci performers in Suzhou Prefecture. Since he was not a famous actor, he could not even enter the prefecture for normal performances. He could only earn a living in the suburbs outside Suzhou Prefecture. Because his income was not fixed, he took the job of working as a live newspaper nine days a month. Unexpectedly, because of this job, he suddenly became a familiar face in the east of Suzhou City. It has a regular audience and even received many invitations to perform at weddings and funerals from people in the east of the city.

After he finished singing a commentator's article about the tax on mulberry silkworms this autumn and read the advertisement aloud, everyone in the audience showed expectant expressions on their faces. Those who came to listen to the newspaper on the first day were all regular listeners of the Suzhou Xunbao Yes, you all know that after this commercial, you will read the fourth edition of the novel.

"Don't argue. Didn't you hear that this is a report written by Wang Jianyang? Wang Jianyang is the owner of Zangjianlou, the author of "The Case of Di Gong", and the report he wrote may be interesting."

"..."

"Why did you change the section? I even took a break from work earlier to rush here. Isn't this a mess?"

Everyone was surprised: "Huh? Isn't it time to talk about "The Case of Di Gong"?"

While everyone was talking, Mr. Tanci on the stage had already started singing Wang Wenlong's report. The report began by introducing what happened that day in front of the White Dragon Temple in Suzhou.

"Master of the Hidden Sword Tower? What report did he write in this issue? Is this issue of "The Case of Di Gong" gone?"

In Suzhou, Liu Cheng's tax collection has long aroused dissatisfaction among the people, especially when Wang Wenlong interviewed the two people and introduced the situation of the two people who were oppressed: the father died at home, the mother remarried, the grandmother and the grandson were bullied, and even Even when I was buying water chestnuts, I was bullied, and the price was more than 10% higher than others.

But today's situation is different from usual. After reading the advertisement, the gentleman turned to the next page of the newspaper: "Today's fourth page is a series of printed reports. The author of "Suzhou White Dragon Temple Storm" is a special contributor to Suzhou Xunbao Editor-in-Chief Wang Jianyang.”

A few words described the image of the old and the young as a vulnerable group. At this time, Wang Wenlong quoted the interview content and introduced the situation of the two former White Dragon Temple members being bullied by the tax supervisor, which instantly resonated with everyone.

When an interview with a guard soldier was quoted as saying that the tax inspector kicked over the stall, pushed the old lady to the ground, and beat the child, the audience was already indignant. When they heard that the Suzhou Weavers Guild and the Cao Gang worked together to steal the tax The prisoner arrested him and sent him to the Yamen. Everyone cheered again.

Then Wang Wenlong wrote about the situation of these tax inspectors being sent to the Yamen. When he heard that the Yamen immediately released them, they also went to take revenge on the old and young couples. Everyone's original joyful mood was suppressed again. An article clearly explained the whole story of the White Dragon Temple incident. Finally, Wang Wenlong also introduced the relevant legal provisions.

Ancient China had its own set of laws, known as the "Chinese legal system" in history. It was not only used by the Central Plains dynasty, but also became the legislative thinking of Vietnam, Korea and other regions deeply influenced by Confucianism during this period.

The main feature of the "Chinese legal system" is the "unity of etiquette and law", using the Confucian principles of ethics as the guiding principle of the law and the basic basis for conviction and sentencing.

Some of the principles are quite special, such as the "principle of respecting the elderly and caring for the young", which reduces the sentences of old and young criminals and provides special care to young and old victims. Another example is the principle that "it is not a crime to hide from each other while living together", which holds that the level of punishment for relatives and friends to hide from each other should be one level lower than for other relationships in which they hide from each other just because of interests.

These laws are deeply influenced by the Confucian standards of the Three Cardinal Guidelines and Five Constant Rules. For example, principles such as "living together and living in seclusion" are obviously inapplicable in later legal systems. However, sentencing principles that protect vulnerable groups such as caring for the elderly and caring for the young are concepts that transcend the times.

The White Dragon Temple incident is absolutely untenable in the Chinese legal system. First of all, it violates the requirement of "respecting the elderly and caring for the young." Wang Wenlong can find many examples of relevant penalties. Emperor Wanli recently also specifically targeted The tax superintendent issued an edict asking them not to harass the poor people.

At the end of the article, the article introduces several recent conflicts with tax supervisors in Susongchang Town and other places, as well as the protests against this by middle school students in Suzhou Fuxue, and also quotes Wei Dazhong's passionate essays.

After reading this article, everyone was already talking about it.

The young man who just introduced the situation to Shi Youfu couldn't help but comment: "The imperial list of tax collection is obviously a fight against human power!"

Shi Youfu was also very angry after hearing this. He quite agreed and said: "That's right, it's just a dog taking advantage of people's power. Didn't you listen to what was introduced in the article? A few months ago, when the Holy Emperor was dealing with the Yunnan matter, he had already issued an order saying that the emperor's list of taxes could not be collected. They should collect money from the orphans, the old and the weak, but they just want to make things difficult for this couple, why should they carry the imperial list? It is true that they use the imperial list to suppress the people."

"Haha, if you don't take money from the young and old, who will? Do they have the guts to take money from the big boss in the city?"

"These damn tax inspectors should all die!"

"The county government is not a good thing either. When the weavers catch someone, they let him go within a day. The young and old are retaliated, and they don't help people to get justice."

"I think this world is over!"

Everyone was talking a lot and the crowd was furious. Mr. Tanci and his disciples who were watching on the stage were a little scared.

This gentleman was afraid of being harassed by the tax inspectors and eunuchs. Even when he was familiar with the content of today's broadcast, he didn't think about it when he saw this report. However, Suzhou Xunbao issued a request that they must read according to the content of the newspaper, otherwise they would not be given. Money, so newspaper reporters have no choice but to do so.

After Mr. Tanci finished reading this article, he even forgot to read the advertisement. He quickly turned to the next page and read the content of the novel, hoping to attract the attention of the audience with the novel. However, the audience below had already started talking, even if Even "The Case of Di Gong" could not affect their anger.

(End of this chapter)