Three Philosophical Questions for Travelers

Chapter 36: Enter the Weepers

Chapter 36: The Mourners, Upper

What are you afraid of?Haiwen frowned and quickened his pace.

There were quite a few people on the road who followed the sound to watch the excitement. When these people saw Hai Wen coming, they all slowed down and followed him.There were more and more people, from three or five to a dozen or so, and then a large group.

Some people whispered, some pointed, and sometimes there was a burst of exclamation or laughter from the crowd.He hadn't given his inauguration speech for a long time, but he killed people, repaired houses, and got a new police force. People in Wild Horse Town already knew that he was the new mayor.

Hai Wen walked in the front with a gloomy face, thinking in his heart: They want to see how I handle this matter, or rather, they want to see a joke.This is the first time I've dealt with trouble publicly, and the results, good or bad, will affect people's first impressions of me as the new mayor.

"My lord, I don't like the attitude of these people." Fasnat scanned the crowd with icy blue eyes, his expression indifferent.

"If you want to be a righteous soldier, you have to get used to them, and even love them."

"Why?" he asked, "I protect civilians only for the sake of responsibility and honor, why do unnecessary things?"

This matter cannot be explained clearly in a few words, so he can only say to Fassnut in the tone of an elder: "My child, you are still too young, and you will know in a few years."

The blue-eyed Fassnut didn't speak, but pouted like a child.

They came to the Crooked Neck Tree and saw a large group of people gathered under the tree, and the crying of a woman came from the crowd.Haiwen stopped in place, not knowing what to do next, but the eyes behind him pushed him forward.

He bit the bullet and walked up.Fassnut cleared the way for him, "Get out of the way, get out of the way, the mayor is here!"

The crowd erupted for a while, and then gave way. Hai Wen passed through the crowd, and saw a woman with disheveled hair sitting on the ground, one sleeve was ripped off, her shoes were lost, and her face was covered with bruises. Dirty tear stains.There were several people from the police team around, maintaining order. The deputy captain of the police team, Jon, squatted beside the woman, as if he was talking to her before.

Haven asked the man, "Jon, what's going on?"

Jon said: "Lord Mayor, this woman said she was the old captain's wife, and she came here to ask for an explanation. I can't help this kind of life-seeking, you should think of a way. This..."

While he was talking, the woman suddenly screamed: "Ahh!" Then she rushed towards Hai Wen.The woman bared her teeth and claws as if she wanted to eat him, Haiwen was startled, and subconsciously hid back.The young Fasnat quickly stood between the two of them, pushed the woman away, and said, "What are you doing?"

After being pushed like this, the woman leaned back and fell to the ground in embarrassment.She didn't get up at all, and rolled on the ground, "You killed my man! You killed me too, you killed me too!"

Everyone panicked after such a commotion.It's easy to say that it's easy to deal with a crime, Haiwen can arrest him according to the law, and this thing doesn't break the law, so you arrested her like this?Haiwen had a headache, and he didn't expect to meet this kind of master who cried, made trouble, and hanged himself.Haven will not be soft on the wicked, but this kind of thing cannot be simply defined by good and evil.

It's not impossible to give this woman a big label of "disturbing the law and order", but if that's the case, I'm afraid the audience will not be satisfied, and the image of the new mayor will be damaged.What's more, Haiwen himself can't make it through psychologically.

Hai Wen had to give everyone a reasonable answer.

He thought about his wording, and said, "Ma'am, your husband has committed the following crimes before." Haiwen pointed with his fingers, "He used to blackmail merchants, get into fights, formed cliques to disrupt public order, and raped- Violent women. Yesterday - I took office as the mayor of the town, and I wanted to pay for his crimes one by one, but he violently resisted the law and threatened me, a law enforcement officer. To sum up, his crimes are unforgivable. So I ordered him to The law is being executed, and you are hanging here to warn the world. As a family member of a death row prisoner, you should obey the law. I can donate some pensions to you in my own name to ensure your normal life in the future. But if you continue to make trouble, I will Arrest you for disturbing the peace."

The shrew yelled, grabbed the shoe and threw it at him, but Haven dodged and the shoe hit Jon's leg.Jon yelled, "Bitch!" and swung his hand to hit the woman.Haven yelled, "Stop!"

He picked up the shoe and gave it to the woman, saying, "Ma'am, there is no mercy. It is the truth, and I beg your condolences." Then he took off his hat.After this, the crowd was much quieter.

However, the woman didn't appreciate it. She wiped her dirty face with her hands and said, "My lord! Don't think I'm stupid! Of course I know that if I commit a crime, I will be punished, but if I commit a crime, I will be tried." Ah! When the court comes to the trial, there must be witnesses and physical evidence, and the family members must be on the sidelines. Afterwards, they can also invite respected elders or bachelors to defend. You are a judge, dare you say that you don’t know? But how did my man die? What?" She pointed at Haiwen, gnashing her teeth and shouted, "You stabbed him to death with a single fucking knife! You dog officer who received a thousand knives, you kill people if you say so! Oh, I don't want to live It's gone!" She lay on the ground and cried again.

The crowd began to murmur again, their eyes surrounded Haiwen, he felt his scalp tingling, and he kept breaking out in a cold sweat.Then a boy with a high-pitched voice hid behind the crowd and shouted: "Dog officer!" A child stole the shrew's shoes from the ground and was about to run, but was tripped by a drunkard with a beard. The child cried. When he got up, the onlookers were giggling.

Fassnut scanned the crowd with ice-blue eyes and whispered, "My lord, I can't like them."

Hai Wen was in the crowd of strangers, feeling lonely and powerless for a while.The woman was still crying, and the noise was wearing out his patience and annoyed him.He couldn't help cursing in his heart, wishing for a violent law enforcement to settle the matter.

At this time, Jon cursed a few words, and then murmured: "Fuck you! I will satisfy you if you kill me!" He was about to draw his knife, and Haiwen was stunned for a moment, and a strange thought came to his mind : Just let Jon kill her, that's fine too.

But when Jon did pull out the shining knife, he woke up immediately, "No! Stop it!" he yelled.

But Jon's knife had already slashed, and the woman screamed, and the crowd burst into exclamations.

the mourners

mourners,

Jon's blade reflected the afternoon sun, and the sunlight shone into Haven's eyes, making him dizzy.Then he heard the clang of metal, the second cry of the crowd, and the woman's terrified cry.

He rubbed his eyes and saw that the blue-eyed boy was holding Jon's knife in its scabbard.

The former captain of the inspector team, Jon Olissanda, was a tall and burly man. He was half a head taller than Haven and a head and a half taller than Fassnut. It's wire-like body hair.However, the boy was stronger and faster than him. He pushed Jon's knife away with the scabbard without any effort, and said, "My lord told you to stop."

Jon was startled and angry, and said in a deep voice: "You kid... mind your own business!"

Fassnut didn't answer, his blue eyes looked away, apparently ignoring Jon's question.This made the ex-inspector team leader very angry. He was about to grab Fasnat with his hand, but Haiwen quickly held his hand and said, "Don't be like a child." Then he said to the woman: " Ma'am, I think it's about the same, what do you think?"

Haiwen thought that Jon could frighten the shrew, but she yelled instead: "No! I want to ask for an explanation! You unscrupulous judge, you not only kill yourself, but also allow your subordinates to kill! I can see I understand, you are all in the same group, you are all shit in the same pit!" When she said this, she began to swear, the shrew was so fluent in swearing, her head and face were like a volley of crossbows, and Haiwen couldn't say no speak out.

This woman obviously came prepared.Haiwen thought to himself, what she said before did not seem like a woman could say it. 90% of ordinary women in this era are illiterate, and there are really not many people like her.And how could she be so courageous?Ordinary people would have run away if they were scared by Jon, so why would they dare to swear here?

The more Hai Wen thought about it, the more something was wrong—why didn't she come to cry when I killed the captain of the guard that day, but came only after a day?Wild Horse Town isn't that big, so things like murder can spread within a short time.What's more, the person who killed was a "celebrity".

And... does the captain of the guard really have a wife?In Judge Haven's memory bank, that guy seems to be a bachelor.

Thinking of this, he suddenly realized—someone deliberately got me here.

Probably little Charles was playing tricks.

Haven asked Jon to listen to him, and asked him in a low voice: "Do you have the impression that the captain of the guard has a wife?"

Jon froze for a moment, then said, "There should be... yes?"

What do you mean by "Is there?" Haiwen stared at him and asked, "Is there?"

"I don't know about his wife. We don't know each other very well..." Jon hesitated, "My lord, do you suspect that there is something fake here?"

"I'll try her."

Then Haven suddenly shouted: "Enough! I ask you, are you really Rambo Jenny's wife?" (Rambo Jenny is the real name of the captain of the guard.)

The woman froze for a moment and said, "Yes! I'm not, are you?"

What he said caused the people around him to burst into laughter again, but Hai Wen ignored the others, and continued to ask: "Then where do you live? When did you marry her? Who is in the family? How much property do you have?"

The shrew turned her face to the side, rolled her eyes up and said, "Our family lives behind the well in the north of Mustang Town; I married him last year, but this bastard married me with two pigs, and asked me to give birth to him." My child; it's just the two of us at home, as for the property... why do you ask this?"

Damn this woman is really well prepared!Haiwen frowned, thinking to himself: I have to make some serious predictions.

"Then let me ask you, do you know how many eggs your man has?"

After saying this, the onlookers couldn't stop laughing, and a man with a duck voice shouted: "He has eight eggs, hahahahaha——!" Then someone laughed and fell to the ground.

But the woman couldn't laugh anymore, her eyes rolled around, and she took a peek at the corpse hanging from the tree out of the corner of her eye, as if she could count how many eggs her man had through her pants.

"I asked you something." Haiwen was not joking, he said very seriously, "Answer me, aren't you his woman?"

The woman's face was wrinkled, as if constipated, "Men... there must be two." She said hesitantly.

"sure?"

The woman nodded and said nothing.

Haiwen laughed, raised his voice, and said, "She's wrong! The captain of the guard has only one egg!" Hearing this, there was a new climax of the crowd's laughter, and the wave was higher than the next. wave.There are more and more people watching the excitement, and the three circles inside and outside are full of water.But the woman's face became more and more ugly. She pointed at Hai Wen and shouted, "How do you know how many eggs my man has? Have you ever slept with him?"

Haiwen spread his hands and said, "I went to a brothel with him. At that time, we bought a girl together. He was in front of me and behind me. I saw with my own eyes that he had only one egg." After saying this, he felt his face swell It hurts.People couldn't stop laughing, and Fasnat, who had always been indifferent this time, let out a chuckle.

"You...shameless!" The woman's mouth opened and closed, unable to speak.But Hai Wen chased after the victory and said: "Then ma'am, I don't understand. As his woman, how could you not know about such things?"

"I, I..." She suddenly bounced like a rubber ball, and suddenly said: "Oh, oh——! Otherwise, I wonder why my man can't get hard all the time, so this is the fault! Damn it, if it weren't for this, I would have given birth to many children for him long ago."

"So that's the case." Haiwen looked at the crowd around him and said, "Do you all understand?"

The people around were surprised, and they all muttered, the woman forced a calm look; Jon and Fasnat whispered a few words and then laughed, the boy nodded expressionlessly;

At this moment, Haven said to the woman, "I lied to you."

The woman was taken aback, "What?"

"I didn't go to a brothel with him, he didn't lose eggs, and he was fertile, because he once got a girl from the next village pregnant and refused to admit it-you don't even know that, It seems that you are very dereliction of duty as a wife." Hai Wen sneered twice, "So you are not his wife at all—Jon, Fassnut, take this shrew down for me."

"Yes!" The two held down the shrew, one left and one right, and the shrew still wanted to slap her, shouting something like "wronged" and "forgive me".But this time the crowd was on Haven's side, and people yelled at the woman, and spat at the woman, and children picked up mud and threw it at her; Scolded with the crowd.Other police were keeping order before the angry crowd tore the woman apart.

An old man with red eyes shouted: "Hang her! Hang the liar!" Then a woman in a ephedra turban said: "Cut her in half!" The crowd cheered.People unanimously demanded that she be sentenced to death. This has always been the habit of Mustang Town. As long as people are willing to see the death penalty, the judge will not be stingy—small crimes turn into big ones, and big crimes turn into death.

The woman wailed and begged for mercy, saying, "Forgive me, my lord, it was not I..." and Jon punched her in the face, knocking her unconscious.

Chapter 37: The Last Farmer

Chapter 37: The Last Farmer

The people shouted for the death penalty for the liar.

"Silence!" Haiwen shouted, "This woman is indeed guilty, but there are laws to follow in how to punish her! Her crime is at most classified as fraud, and the law convicts her according to the amount of fraud; and she attempted to commit fraud, so there are other means of punishment." .Jon, Fasnut!"

"Have!"

"Tie her up and put her in prison. Order her to work every day and serve a one-year sentence. Those who perform well can be released early."

However, this cannot satisfy the desire of the mob, they love to watch the death penalty and severe punishment, which is the repertoire of Mustang Town.People shifted the target of the attack to Haven.

Just like the last time Isrit was rescued, people threw stones at him, pointed at him, scolded him, and spat at him.Haiwen has been a clown in front of these people for a long time, he was finally annoyed, he stood on the stone steps under the crooked neck tree, and shouted loudly: "Criminal law is a means to protect the law, not a show for you! Today- You make fun of the people on the execution ground, and the people who die unjustly on the execution ground will be you, or your family members!" This was not enough to deter the crowd, so he snatched a knife from a policeman and stuck it in on the hanging corpse, and then shouted: "Don't think I'm joking with you! Anyone who tramples on the law will have to pay the price - he is an example!"

The dead body dangled from the tree, oozing black and foul-smelling sap.The crowd exclaimed for a while and then quieted down. Hai Wen nodded and said, "It's over, let's go!" At the same time, the police began to drive away the crowd, and the crowd quickly dispersed, leaving only a few good things behind. Just stood not far away and continued to watch the play.

Haiwen ordered people to take the prisoner away, and then said to Jon and the others: "If this kind of thing happens again in the future, remember not to do it lightly. If it does, it will prove to be true and not good for us."

Jon didn't take it seriously, and said, "My lord, that bitch deserves it, I'll kill her and it's over."

"We are the police, not bandits." He turned his head and said to Fastnott, "It's very important to be famous. Force is indeed an effective way to solve the problem, but before that, we must have righteousness. Otherwise, the police will If you become a bandit, we can no longer manage this town. Now I am trying to restore the former mayor's reputation, so please don't add to my troubles."

"Yes, my lord." Fastnot said first, and then Jon also drooped his face and said, "Okay, it's all up to you."

After doing this, he returned to the Yizheng Hall.The old Ramon is commanding the team to repair, patch and repaint the walls; the loud voice of the red brick can be heard from upstairs, as if it is repairing the big clock above; Notice.

Haiwen looked through the files, and found that the finances were basically at a loss in the past few years. Without the support from the Charles family, the Mustang Town would not be able to survive at all.And this also caused the Charles family's power to be unprecedentedly large, so large that it could almost overthrow the mayor.Agricultural tax is the main source of finance, but in fact, most of the money went into the pocket of the mayor; after that, the handicraft industry and retail industry were not developed, and the little money earned was enough to repair a well or a symbolic house. Or give people some tattered clothes.

The accounts are also a bad account, in short, a mess.

Haiwen thought to himself: I not only want to feed the farmers first, but also make them rich.I hope Gellite and their expedition team can bring back some good news.Just growing crops is not enough. There is a large area of ​​land to be developed around Wild Horse Town. Gerrit once said that there are many strange fruits in the forest, and she often eats them when she lives outside.Maybe there is something suitable for farming here?Potatoes, peanuts, soybeans... None of these things are in Judge Haven's memory.The oil used here is lard, and vegetable oil seems to have not appeared yet.

There are business opportunities aplenty here.He thought to himself, if all these things can be produced, Mustang Town will definitely prosper.

Then he arranged the recruitment. He told these people: "You also go to Linzhen to post some notices. It is best to recruit some blacksmiths and stonemasons. If you meet a master in this field, you must invite him. ,money is not a problem."

This is all for infrastructure construction. The upgrading of the primary industry is too slow, and it takes half a year to sow and reap.But if the bridge and road to Eagle Head City can be built, the money will come rushing in.

At dusk, he announced that the Yizheng Hall was closed and told everyone to go home.Afterwards, everyone left and locked the door, leaving two people on the night shift.When he came out of the Yizheng Hall, he suddenly had a sense of déjà vu, as if he had returned to the days when he went to work.

He shook his head and returned home.

As soon as he entered the door, a servant said to him: "My lord, all the farmers have replied. Except for Master Wayne who refused to attend the meeting, everyone else must come."

"Master Wayne? Why doesn't he come?"

At this time, Fatty Vandry's voice came from not far away, "My lord! This is so annoying!" He walked over while talking.

This guy seems to be getting fat again?Hai Wen looked at Fan Drye's stomach shaking three times and thought to himself, dare I love my guy better than prison?

Fandry stood leaning against the wall, before he could speak, he sighed, "My lord, this Master Wayne looks down on us!"

"How do you say that?"

"I heard from the guy we delivered the letter that he read the letter in person and tore it up when he was done. What did he say..." His expression turned ugly, obviously the words were not pleasant to hear.But Haiwen didn't care, he said, "It's okay if you repeat it in full."

So Fandry said: "He said, sir, you are a young boy who can only fuck women and can't be the mayor. He also said that if you want to see him, you can come to the door yourself, and don't trouble the old man to come all the way."

Haiwen recalled in his heart: Master Wayne, the farmer with the most land and the oldest seniority.About 60 years old, but with a strong body and a bad temper.

Haiwen said: "In this case, you can write a letter for me, and you must say all the good things you have to say; after that, you will bring fifty gold coins, two bundles of good cloth, and a bottle of old wine. Master Wayne sent it. Remember to find a guy who can talk and have a thick skin, and be sure to invite him to me."

The fat man's face was ugly, his face was wrinkled like a rotten pear, "Sir, do you have to invite him? Why?"

"I can't say that yet, Van Derry."

"You would rather be insulted than invite him... this..."

"If we want to achieve great things, we have to endure a moment of shame."

The fat man froze for a moment when he heard him say "a big deal", looked at Haiwen hesitantly, but didn't speak.

"what happened?"

"No, my lord. I just think gold coins are a disaster. How about I exchange them for some silver coins and send them to him? It seems too much!" His face was full of smiles, and the flesh on his face wrinkled.

"Okay, you have been wronged. I will reward you when I come back."

The fat man smiled and said, "What are you talking about, my lord? What are you wronged? Can you still be wronged as a prison guard? Don't worry, I will definitely take care of this matter." After saying goodbye, Fan Deli went to find a pen and paper to write. Believe it.Hai Wen stood in the corridor for a while, thinking to himself: Eleven farmers, if he doesn't come, there will be ten of them.Counting Charles, me, and the smiling cat, there will be thirteen people in total.

This number is just right.