Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 261 Baili Dutaigu (5)

The Han army was amazed at how Xia Guoying lived and worked in peace and contentment, and asked about many novel situations. Under Zhao Xingde's instruction, Jin Changtai explained each of its facilities to them in detail.

"After the first batch of people arrived here, they immediately planned this cell area." Jin Changtai smiled and introduced it to the generals of the Han army.Then he pointed to an open space, where a mountain collapse probably happened before. Go to prison in this open space and suffer from the sun and rain." He said with a hint of pride, "I always respect the rule of law. Whenever the territory is expanded and the soldiers and civilians live in thatched huts, the first thing to be built is the court and the cell."

"Doesn't the prisoner run away and cause 'chaos'?" someone asked.

Jin Changtai shook his head, and said with a smile: "There has never been such a thing as escaping." Wang Hengzhi shook his head slightly. The village is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and a wall has been built on one side.Besides, even if he escaped, the world is in trouble outside, and human life is as cheap as grass, it would be better to draw a prison in the summer camp.In broad daylight, there is no need to suffer any harassment.On the open space on one side of the "prison", there were three wooden stakes, on which were hung rough masks of ghosts and gods. Wang Heng frowned and asked, "Is this for shaman sacrifices?" Jin Changtai said with a dumb smile: "No, this is the courtroom where prisoners are interrogated."

"Court?"

"Yes," Jin Changtai said with a smile, "we are newcomers to our battalion, and we dare not set up new rules at will, so we invite people with high morals and prestige among the common people to discuss the various crimes and punishments in Liaodong and bring them together into one This book is called "Liaodong Customary Law". After that, as long as there is a suspicion of committing a crime of "rape", seven good citizens can be selected at will, and they will be convicted and punished according to the "Liaodong Customary Law". , those who steal will cut off their hands, those who rape will be castrated, and those who commit the most heinous crimes will light sky lanterns, etc. Although there are some differences from the original laws of my court, they have finally won the hearts of the people in this side. Because the power of the rule of law has been returned to the people, So there are only wooden judges in front of the hall, and the sergeants are responsible for maintaining order."

"Is that so?" Wang Heng smiled slightly, "I thought that the Xia Dynasty would call themselves the upper kingdom, and we would think that we Liaodong people were too barbaric."

"Where, where," Jin Changtai waved his hand, "One side's water and soil support one side's people, and one side's people have their own customs." He paused, then smiled, "This punishment is nothing more than a pair of shoes, and the local custom is the feet. There is no reason to cut one's feet to fit one's shoes. Not only that, every trial case is recorded in detail, and in the future when a case is judged, if not all the people here agree to a referendum, the conviction must not be different from the previous one to show justice."

"Carved wood for officials, painted land for prisons, the rule of the three generations is nothing more than this." "Exactly, exactly."

All the generals of the Han army nodded in agreement.For the Liaodong Han'er, it was always a dilemma whether to be attached to the Xia State in the south or the Song State.Although the state of Song always claimed to be rich and prosperous, its various red tapes were completely different from Liaodong, and even regarded it as a barbarian.However, under the system of the Xia Kingdom, the local military government was strong, and the administration was adapted to local conditions. Liaodong was returned to the Xia Kingdom, and the Han generals at the top maintained their authority, while the people below lived a accustomed life.Therefore, although Han'er is close to Song State, his heart is closer to Xia State, so he made an ally with Xia State with all his strength.

Zhao Xingde frowned beside him, letting Jin Changtai explain with complacency.Although he felt that these local punishments in Liaodong were a bit cruel, they were more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.The people all support him.And Xia Guocheng system, except for the crimes related to the country involving treason, treason, spies, and tax evasion, the punishment for ordinary crimes of "rape" all respects local customs and is determined by the law. Even the local government cannot interfere with the jury conviction of good local citizens.

"The gangsters are 'treacherous', and some things are ambiguous. Will the people randomly selected wrongly wrong the good people?" someone asked.

Jin Changtai didn't answer him directly. He smiled slightly, pointed to the woodcut official and said, "These judges have also tried dozens of cases. In the end, it is judged by the selected seven good citizens, and the rest of the people can watch. Up to now, none of the people has said that we have dealt with it unfairly." He said with a half-smile: "There is nothing in the first place, where is the dust?"

Wang Hengzhi nodded, and secretly wrote down this system, planning to follow it when he went back.This "There is nothing in the first place, where is the dust." In a word, the key point of the righteous way, whether it is punishment or conviction, has no direct relationship with the court of Xia Guo. Even if the people want to complain, they can't find trouble with the court of Xia Guo .On the contrary, when the good people in charge of judging clearly deal with unfair situations, the imperial court can use other systems to intervene and use the method of referendum to correct it, fulfilling its own name of justice.Thinking of this, Wang Hengzhi became suspicious again. This good method has been practiced in the Xia Kingdom for a hundred years, why is it still not used in the Kanto?After thinking about it for a while, Wang Hengzhi cursed himself inwardly. He was really stupid. If the Kanto system was changed, all the masters sitting in the court would become woodcuts. They went up to the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and down to the prefectural and county yamen. There are much fewer reasons to accept filial piety, can everyone drink the northwest wind?

He was contemplating the gains and losses here alone, when he suddenly heard the exclamation of the people beside him, and saw dozens of large pottery pots lying flat on the ground, each of which could feed hundreds of people.It's a pity that most of them look like they haven't been used for a long time, and a lot of dust has accumulated on the bottom of the pot, and there are even tender green grasses protruding.

"When the cottage was first built, these big pots were used to make rice. It was not until more than a month ago that each family started to work separately." Jin Changtai laughed.After admiring the general of the Han army, he followed him to the field.Under the leadership of sergeants, men and women are all involved in heavy work such as logging, mining, blacksmithing, and charcoal burning. Planting vegetables, feeding pigs, picking medicines, and tanning furs are busy all day long, and some women even take care of the sheep in the camp.Now the sergeant's extra income mainly comes from logging and iron smelting.Under the guidance of Zhao Xingde, the iron smelting plant has been continuously expanded, and now it can smelt more than 5 catties of iron every day, and every catty of good iron smelted can be sold for [-] yuan in the Central Plains, or in exchange for [-] liters of grain.The price of logging and the ordnance department has not yet been negotiated, but Li Sihai promised to fight for the eighth battalion with all his strength.

The Xiaguo farm family was in trouble, and the Xiaguoying suspended the collection of [-]% of the annual income of the shady households by the sergeants. Unless necessary items, all the income of the farmhouse belongs to themselves, so these women are responsible for their vegetable gardens, fields, and production. Extremely caring.

Jin Changtai smiled and said: "Be careful with your steps. If you trample on the crops, it will be a big deal for the aunts to spill them." He was the first to walk among the field ridges. Behavior, follow suit.

Jin Changtai was about to continue to introduce the land system of Xia State to the generals of the Han army when Liu Zheng suddenly ran over from the Chinese army tent.According to the military law, there is no urgent need to run in the camp, and Jin Changtai's face suddenly sank.Liu Zheng ran up to Jin Changtai, without hesitation, Bing said: "Jin Sima, General Zhao has an order, everyone go back and discuss the matter." He looked at Wang Hengzhi and the others with strange expressions on their faces, and said, "Bao The Communists in the state have blocked our logging access to the sea, General Zhao asked everyone to go back and discuss countermeasures."

Wang Hengzhi and all the generals of the Han army glanced at each other, and hurriedly followed Jin Changtai to Zhao Xingde's tent, where a large map of Liaodong was already hung up.Zhao Xingde was turning his back to the tent door, and made a big red cross in Baozhou, which controls the Yalu River going out to sea. He heard the sound behind him, turned around and smiled, "*** people are beyond their limits, and dare to cut off my camp. It seems that it is necessary to punish them for the passage of the Yalu River to the sea."

"Punishment?" Wang Heng thought that Zhao Xingde was a little arrogant.This Baozhou used to be an important coastal defense town of the Liao Kingdom. Since the rise of the Jurchen, the people of the Liao Kingdom have shrunk their power. It seems to occupy this area west of the Yalu River.The people of the Liao Kingdom were actually pushing their boats along the way, thinking that instead of leaving this land to the Jin Kingdom, it would be better to give it to the Japanese.It is said that the Liao general who was the last to evacuate also extorted thousands of shi of grain from the Japanese before sailing away and handing over the complete Baozhou city defense to the Japanese.The Japanese army stationed in Baozhou has some strength, and it is backed by the mother country, so although the Han army covets Baozhou, it has not made any moves.Zhao Xingde has less than a thousand troops under his command. Although he has engulfed many people, he has not made any large-scale expansion of the army.Even if he hastily coerces tens of thousands of strong men to besiege Baozhou, I'm afraid that his army's morale will collapse before a few of the Japanese soldiers in the city die.

He coughed and said in a deep voice: "General Zhao, there are priorities. The lord of the alliance is about to start an attack in Suzhou. We must attack Kaizhou as soon as possible to attract the attention of the Liao people. Can we put aside the matter of Baozhou for a while?" put."

With a smile on his face, Zhao Xingde said firmly, "No." He looked at the generals of the Han army around him, and explained, "This channel for logging to the sea is extremely important to our army. It's already June, so we can't wait any longer. , after autumn, the river will freeze, and if it is delayed for a year, I can't watch the people drink the northwest wind." He put his hands together and said with a smile. The chief is no different.

"However, the city of Baozhou is strong, how can it be conquered in a short time," Wang Heng said with an angry expression on his face, "We can't delay the battle of Kaizhou because of small losses."

"Baozhou is indeed a strong city, but unfortunately, it was built in the wrong place." Zhao Xingde said to Jin Changtai with a slightly cold face, "I got the news that Li Xiaowei was furious because the Yalu River waterway was cut off by the Japanese. Go out to sea in a small boat in advance. It is estimated that within ten days or so, the people of Baozhou will have a taste of the taste of strong ships and sharp guns. We must act quickly and fight against the fourth battalion in Baozhou."