Two honest officials, Cao Benshu and Liang Tingxin, guarded the blacksmith shop for several days and did not see anyone setting fire to the house.
Officials from the Quzhou Prefecture Court came to notify Fan that the court was about to begin.
Cases involving murder must be heard in public, that is, the public can observe.
The preliminary hearing of this case was held in Xi'an County Court.
The trial was adjourned several times, and the initial witness testimony pointed to Feng Risheng deliberately pushing the person downstairs.
But at the last trial, the witness testimony completely changed. The deceased was not killed intentionally by Feng Risheng, but by Feng Risheng's followers. Feng Risheng only punched the deceased twice, and it was not a deliberate beating. It was just a drunken quarrel. He paid the deceased some money. The family will take care of it. The attendant committed manslaughter and was sentenced to exile in Taiwan.
Due to active compensation, the deceased's family did not appeal.
In ancient China, there was not only appeal, but also a death penalty review system.
Only serious crimes such as treason are sentenced to "execution", but it is not direct execution. The crime is first submitted to the Ministry of Criminal Justice for trial, then to the Metropolitan Procuratorate for review, then to Dali Temple for review, and finally to the emperor for approval.
There is also a kind of "prison execution", commonly known as execution after autumn.
Before execution, the prisoner can appeal. Even if he does not appeal, he must submit it to the Ministry of Punishment for review and finally to the emperor for his signature.
From a system perspective, every death row prisoner in ancient China was beheaded after being signed by the emperor. In practice, of course, this was not possible. Basically, the Ministry of Punishment and the Cabinet only had to go through it. Otherwise, if they encountered a negligent emperor like Wanli, they would be beheaded. All death row inmates in the world can laugh to death.
After Zhao Han reformed the judicial yamen, the death penalty review system was still retained, but there was no need to alert the emperor and cabinet, the Ministry of Punishment, and Dali Temple could handle it on their own.
Only if the lawsuit goes all the way to Dali Temple will the emperor and the cabinet come forward.
On this day, Dai Wenmeng and Mei Zhuyou dressed up in disguise and went to the hearing in civilian clothes. It was Dai Wenmeng's idea to persuade Fan to plead guilty and reverse the case. He wanted to see how the local officials would deal with it.
Chen An walked over to them and sat down, whispering: "We can't get hold of the officials, and the witnesses have been bribed." Fan didn't want to withdraw the complaint, so the Zheng family went to contact the witnesses and wrote testimonies for them to collude with each other. Even if it can be proven that the Zheng family bribed witnesses, it still cannot find any loopholes in the lawsuit. The local judge’s decision, whether it was last year or today, must be completely legal and legal.”
Mei Zhuyou sighed: "Officials are not stupid, they like money, and they like their own heads even more. The Zheng family is domineering and can be caught at a glance. But the local officials may only be able to catch a few minions."
Chen An said: "If we arrest the Zheng family, we will definitely turn out the officials."
"So what if I confess?" Dai Wenmeng sneered, "Officials don't admit their accounts and say they were slandered. How can we produce evidence of their crimes? His Majesty said that we, the honest officials, are most afraid of arresting officials indiscriminately without evidence."
If there is no evidence, the integrity officer can arrest people randomly, which is no different from the Jinyiwei, and it is the Jinyiwei when he has the greatest power.
Mei Zhuyou said: "The only ones that can be arrested now are the officials in charge of project bidding, the officials who helped the Zheng family bully the market, and the jailers and jailers in the prison. The other officials can be completely dismissed."
Dai Wenmeng reminded: "Don't forget the mayors, village chiefs and farmers' associations outside the city!"
"Yes, these people deserve to die," Mei Zhuyou said through gritted teeth, "especially the presidents of the farmers' associations. Your Majesty formed the farmers' association to stand up for the farmers, but now they have become an accomplice in exploiting the farmers."
"Poof!"
Justice Bao Shouyue clapped the gavel: "Bring the plaintiff in!"
Fan was brought to the dock of the court, and murder suspect Feng Risheng was brought there immediately.
Feng Risheng was smiling all over his face. He was white and chubby. He seemed to have eaten well during the past few days in detention.
The clerk stated the case and the first witness was brought on stage.
That's a restaurant manager.
"Were you present when Shu Shouyi was killed?"
"Be present."
"What time is it?"
"After the Lantern Festival last year, it was the 18th day of the first lunar month, about noon."
"State what you saw and heard."
"At that time, the poor people were at the counter. They heard from the waiter that a fight broke out upstairs, so the poor people planned to go upstairs to break up the fight. But it was Shu Shouyi who drank too much and bumped into Mr. Feng who was returning from relieving himself... Feng Risheng. I don't know who cursed first. They The two quarreled and then started fighting... Feng Risheng was drunk and was knocked to the ground. Feng Risheng's follower Feng Yun, filled with righteous indignation, also struggled with Shu Shouyi. Both of them were drunk, and during the scuffle, Shu Shouyi was pushed He fell downstairs and died."
"Did you see with your own eyes that Feng Yun pushed Shu Shouyi downstairs?"
"The common people have seen it with their own eyes."
"Isn't it recommended by Feng Risheng?"
"Feng Risheng was beaten until he was lying on the ground."
Several witnesses came to court one after another, and the content they described was almost exactly the same.
Immediately, the autopsy report was submitted, which revealed that he had indeed fallen to death, with multiple injuries all over his body, and the back of his head was also broken.
Everything is clear, and the first-instance judgment last year is upheld!
Moreover, this case has been tried twice, and the family of the deceased still has one chance to appeal, which is to go to the provincial court in Hangzhou to file a lawsuit.
If the provincial court also rules in this way, then we can only go to Dali Temple in Nanjing to complain.
Alarming Dali Temple will definitely alarm the emperor!
Feng Risheng was acquitted in court, suddenly turned around and looked at Fan, pinched his neck and smiled at Fan.
Mrs. Fan was frightened and trembled. Thinking that there was an imperial envoy behind her, she suddenly felt emboldened to cry: "It's unfair! The bullies colluded with corrupt officials to force the common people to death!"
When the people who came to hear the trial saw Fan's miserable appearance, they all whispered to each other.
"quiet!"
Bao Shouyue slapped the gavel and said, "Leave the court immediately. If you dare to act violently again, you will be regarded as disrupting the court!"
Seeing this situation, Mei Zhuyou was very unhappy: "Judges at the prefecture and county levels can only rule on a wrongful conviction, and at most they will be demoted or dismissed. The sentencing officers at the two levels can at most neglect their duties when deciding the case. Something went wrong. What's the point of letting them lose their official positions? If we don't throw them into jail, our trip will be in vain!"
"Let's meet up for a meeting tomorrow, maybe there will be new clues." Dai Wenmeng said.
The next day, ten anti-corruption officers met, and the remaining two anti-corruption officers protected the blacksmith and his wife.
Feng Yue smiled and took out his small book, opened the record and said: "We are going to catch another big fish. Liu Anyong, the governor of the government, guess whose relative it is?"
"Who is it?" Everyone became alert.
Feng Yue said: "Liu Anyong is from Luling County. This guy has a good background. He is the younger brother of Liu Anfeng, the Minister of Household Affairs!"
Everyone took a breath, it was the relatives of the Conglong heroes again.
Liu Anfeng successively served as the governor of Ganzhou, the envoy to the left of Jiangsu, the left minister of the Ministry of household affairs, and the minister of the Ministry of household affairs. Due to his outstanding ability and outstanding political achievements, he was promoted rapidly.
When Chen Maosheng was in Ganzhou, he personally handled the political work of farmers, and Liu Anfeng gave a lot of assistance.
Not only was Liu Anfeng appreciated by Zhao Han, but he and Chen Maosheng were also close friends.
Feng Yue added: "This Liu Anyong is not only Liu Anfeng's clan brother. Moreover, he has his first wife in Luling County, and he also secretly raised an aunt in Quzhou Prefecture. This aunt is none other than Zheng Hongyi's concubine niece!
"
"How did you find out about such a private matter?" Mei Zhuyou asked.
Feng Yue said with a smile: "I heard from Magistrate Huang that she asked Liu Anyong to investigate the river embankment, but Liu Anyong concealed the fact that the river embankment was cutting corners. These days, I have been following Liu Anyong and found that he goes to a place every two days.
I pretended that I wanted to rent a house there and asked around the neighbors. I got the news from the maid in Liu Anyong’s outer room!"
Dai Wenmeng clenched his fist and said, "This man can be arrested!"
Regarding officials taking concubines, it is just like gentry taking concubines. As long as there is no trouble, the officials will not bother to investigate and punish them.
Liu Anyong was even more careful and did not take concubines, only keeping concubines.
This guy obviously didn't dare, because officials were strictly prohibited from taking concubines in the place where they performed their duties, not to mention the Datong court, and even the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming court clearly stipulated that after taking office, officials were not allowed to marry or take concubines in the local area, nor were they allowed to purchase land and build houses in the local area. This was because they were afraid that local officials would collude with the gentry!
The same is true in the New Dynasty of Datong. The court turned a blind eye to those who took concubines as officials. If you dared to take concubines or keep extramarital affairs in the place where you were employed, once discovered, you would be dismissed from your post, or severely investigated.
Mei Zhuyou said: "No wonder Quzhou's officialdom is rotten. It turns out that Liu Anyong, the governor of the government, is the key figure. Liu Anyong is the younger brother of Liu Anfeng, the Minister of Household Affairs, and he also adopted Zheng Hongyi's niece as a concubine. One of Zheng Hongyi's sons is
Another son of a doctor of the Ministry of Finance is married to the grand-niece of Mr. Li Ge. Liu Anfeng, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, is also a close friend of Chen Maosheng, the Minister of Rites. We all know that Chen Maosheng, the Minister of the Ministry of Etiquette, is His Majesty’s right-hand man!”
Dai Wenmeng asked: "Is the house where Liu Anyong raises his wife big?"
Feng Yue shook his head and said: "It's not very big, it's just an ordinary house. According to my guess, with Liu Anyong's caution, it is possible that the house has not been transferred."
"Continue to investigate this Liu Anyong!" Dai Wenmeng ordered.
As the prefect, Huang Fei suddenly wanted to inspect the housing situation in the city and personally retrieved the archives of the entire city's housing. In order to avoid alerting the enemy, he only said that he would carry out a housing project and provide houses similar to those in Nanjing to civilians who had no houses to live in.
Build low-rent housing.
The information about that house was quickly found. The name of the owner of the house was Liu Qi. The file showed that he was a local, but the household registration information could not be found at all.
Then another thing was found out: Liu Anyong and his wife had given birth to a son.
Everyone continued to keep an eye on him, and it took half a month to get new clues.
A confidant of the Zheng family quietly went to the house with something bulging in his chest.
Feng Yue deliberately drank and pretended to be drunk. He stumbled and bumped into the man. He felt that the man was hiding silver coins in his arms.
Check that guy again, he comes from a trading company.
This trading company has an iron ore mining license. It was originally a reward from Zhao Han to those who had rendered meritorious services. However, as the integrity officers went into the mountain to inspect, they found that this trading company had crossed the border to mine and even occupied the land of the people in the mountain.
"When it comes to land policy, this matter has become a big deal!" Dai Wenmeng exclaimed.
Mei Zhuyou said: "Are these people crazy?"
Dai Wenmeng said: "You can't grow much food in the mountains, but you can make money by mining iron ore. After the Zheng family took over the land of the mountain people, they asked the mountain people to help dig the mines. The mountain people can get wages, and they can also receive food compensation from the Zheng family."
As for those who died in the mining accident, they can only admit that they are unlucky. If you do this, no people will come to the city to complain."
"What happened to the guy who sent money to Liu Anyong?" Mei Zhuyou asked in confusion.
Dai Wenmeng said: "I guess it's the dividend from the mine. Liu Anyong is too cautious, and he can't even trust the Zheng family. The monthly dividends don't dare to be deposited in the Zheng family's bank account, nor in Datong Bank, so that the Zheng family can directly
Send the money to the outer house. It is estimated that every year and a half, he will send his confidants to quietly transport the money back to his hometown in Jiangxi."
Mei Zhuyou said: "It involves land policy and involves so many senior officials in the DPRK. I suggest that we let His Majesty know about the matter."
Dai Wenmeng said: "I will write a letter and you will take it back to Nanjing in person."