Under the wooden platform, at the gate of Jingzhao Mansion, there was only one person sitting there, the Emperor Huang Laosi.
The distance was not far away, and the people all listened with their ears perked up to hear no one was making any noise. The four words of the bloody handprint reached Huang Laosi's ears word for word.
Blood handprints are a very common routine. No matter Ma, Zhai, Tao, or the monarchs and ministers in the audience, they don't have much feeling about this routine, even if Fu San said that these are the bloody handprints of more than 200 common people.
.
The Dachang Dynasty had been in existence for so long, and some people who had no way out were forced by local officials to go to the capital to complain. Most of the people were illiterate, so they had to print their fingerprints or palms. In order to express their grievances, they would print them with blood. This kind of thing is simply
It shouldn’t be too common. For example, the people in a certain county or village became impatient, and finally sent representatives to the capital to complain, and then... when they arrived at the state capital, they were basically stopped, and they were stopped hard, and they died in the end.
Even if he is dead, he still wants to complain, the fire... no, the carriage can't even get on!
In addition, many local officials, fighting openly and secretly, also play this trick, letting their own family members pretend to be ordinary people, and then deceive the real local people to press fingerprints with blood, which may actually be chicken blood or duck blood, and finally go to Beijing.
Find Liubu Jiuji Temple, and do some more work to get rid of the opponents in the officialdom.
In short, Fu San took out this bloody handprint and did not cause any sensation.
The third brother's expression remained calm, as if he had expected it. Chu Qing also stepped up the steps and stood behind Tao Shaozhang.
He is not a jury, but he can stand anywhere, which is against the law, but no one says anything and pretends not to see.
After all, he was one of his own. Although Ma Rui didn't care about the bloody fingerprint, he still asked loudly: "Why are there 291 villagers in Lizhou Niu, Baping, Zhou and three villages pressing this bloody fingerprint? Is there any grievance?"
, what does it have to do with the Xunyang Dao Zhou family?"
"Two hundred and ninety-one villagers pressed bloody fingerprints just for the sake of pressing them."
Ma Rui was stunned, and Zhai Xiu slapped the table: "You are talking nonsense, and there is no grievance. Why do you press this bloody fingerprint? Why do you press it for the sake of pressing it?"
Zhai Xiu is quite particular. The implication is that if you just take a bloody handprint, you won't get away with it. At least you can dictate what the Zhou family has done this week and why the people have to take the bloody handprint.
Fu San closed his eyes slightly, fell into silence, and remained silent for a long time.
This must be Fu San. If it had been anyone else, Ma Rui would have scolded him a long time ago. The monarchs, ministers and so many people are watching, so you are pretending to be serious.
"Grass people...don't know what to say."
Fu San opened his eyes, which were red and extremely angry. Besides anger, there were other colors.
Chu Qing sighed silently.
Ma Rui, Zhai Xiu, and Tao Shaozhang all held their breaths. They saw that Fu San was not acting. His eyes were full of anger, anger and grievance. An inexplicable grievance was intertwined together, creating a...
An indescribable color.
"The young master knew that the Zhou family was bullying the people. He first ordered Wang Tongtong of Qianqiying Xiaoqi to secretly visit Xunyang Road in Lizhou. The south of Lizhou City is close to Niu, Baping and Zhouzhou Village, but it is only more than 20 miles away. The grassroots said,
Let the grassroots go because..."
Fu San paused and continued: "Because most of the Cao people who joined the army came from the three villages. The wolf-catching army Mo Dao camp, with 27 people, all came from these three villages. There were also many troops from the other six camps.
Coming out of these three villages, the common people were thinking about going and asking if the Zhou family had ever insulted the villagers in these three villages.
I just... went."
Ma Rui nodded slightly: "What happened after you left?"
"After I went there, I saw a soldier who was disarmed. His name was Li Zhui. This year, seven out of thirty, he had his arm broken in the battle formation. He was discharged and returned to the field. I told Li Zhui that I heard that the Zhou family poisoned three villages. Li Zhui
He just nodded, with tears streaming down his face, and I said, my young master made the decision for him. He cried and shouted, and ran into the village, shouting, and the common people chased him. After half of the chase, he ran away among the dilapidated low houses everywhere.
Nearly a hundred villagers came out, most of them were old, weak, women and children. Li Zhui told the villagers what I said. The villagers all knelt on the ground and pressed bloody fingerprints. They rushed to press, biting their fingers and rushing to press."
"Why do you press it? What kind of injustice is it?"
"Grass people, I don't know."
Ma Rui was dumbfounded again and looked at Fu San, feeling that the third brother was playing with him.
I don’t know what grievance is, but I’m pressing bloody fingerprints there?
Zhai Xiu was so angry that he turned to look at Chu Qing with a questioning look on his face. What's going on?
Huang Laosi under the wooden platform frowned.
According to the third brother's strength, it's impossible. This is too amateurish. It's okay to make up a crime.
"The villagers said that as long as the common people dare to complain, and as long as the Zhou family can be convicted, they will press the bloody fingerprints, let alone press the bloody fingerprints, which means death. They all dare and think it is worth it. The ordinary people asked, what exactly did the Zhou family do?
What kind of outrageous thing happened, the people couldn't tell, they just cried, bit their fingers and pressed bloody fingerprints."
Ma Rui also came to his senses: "What is the reason why the Zhou family has deceived the people to this extent?"
"The common people don't know, but the common people only know that the greatest injustice in this world is to be speechless, that is, not being able to say it, not being able to say a word. Thinking about it, mentioning it, makes life worse than death, and thinking about death, oneself
Death, or death that harmed them, but they couldn't do it, and they couldn't even say it. After hearing the news, villagers from two other villages came, grabbing the ground with their heads, holding bloody fingerprints,
It is also impossible to express their grievances. Needless to say, the common people can see and feel their grievances. All that is left is their cries, but these cries cannot leave Lizhou.
They couldn’t cry out of Beijing, or even out of the village where they were.”
Zhai Xiu's expression changed drastically: "You mean, I have so many grievances that I can't speak out, there are so many that I can't speak out?!"
"I don't know the grievances of the people, but I know Li Zhui's grievances. During the battle, he lost one arm, but when I saw him, he had lost both arms."
"What does this mean?"
"The common people don't know, so the common people sue the Zhou family."
"Is it related to the Zhou family?"
"Common people, sue the Zhou family."
"The villagers in the three villages and their grievances are all related to the Zhou family?"
Fu San repeated again: "Common people, sue the Zhou family, the Zhou family, and Zhou Lang."
Ma Rui was stunned: "Take Zhou Lang with you!"
The government officials below looked at each other. How could they know who Zhou Lang was? Fortunately, Jiang Yuesheng had already asked Tan Ma to escort Zhou Lang over.
He is about fifty years old, with a square head, big ears, and fair skin. At first glance, he looks like a pampered person. His hair is disheveled, and he has no scars on his body, but he looks dirty.
After being brought up and kneeling next to Fu San, Zhou Lang didn't cry out for injustice or call you "Sir", he just knelt there like a zombie.
Ma Rui patted the gavel again: "Raise your head!"
Zhou Lang raised his head, his eyes were dull and his voice was extremely hoarse: "I... common man, plead guilty."
Ma Rui turned around and looked at each other in confusion with Zhai Xiu. What is this? He confessed without even asking?
Tao Shaozhang frowned and said, "What crime do you admit to?"
"What crime..." Zhou Lang lowered his head: "We all admit it."
Zhai Xiu was so angry: "I confessed without even asking. What crime did you plead guilty to? If I say you raped a civilian girl, do you also admit it?"
"recognize."
"What a bastard. I said that you have invaded property. Do you agree?"
"recognize."
"Okay, accept it." Zhai Xiu was angry: "Then I said that you bully men and dominate women, do you accept it?"
"recognize."
"Killing people and stealing money, do you agree?"
"recognize."
"Selling official rations, do you agree?"
"recognize."
Zhai Xiu was so angry that he laughed back: "How dare you admit the major crime of beheading and reselling weapons!"
"recognize."
"Nonsense!"
Zhai Xiu was so angry that he suddenly looked at Fu San: "Do you know about these crimes?"
"The common people don't know."
"You bastard!" Zhai Xiu said with anger on his face: "Commander Chu, what's your explanation?"
Chu Qing frowned: "Master Zhai, what do you mean?"
Zhai Xiu lowered his voice: "Could it be that he was beaten into submission? Why did he plead guilty before trial, admitting to any crime? That's it. Fu San, who sued him, didn't know anything. He didn't even know what crime he was suing for. It's just that
Zhou Lang admits all his crimes, Chu Qing, what do you think of me, the Minister of Punishment!"
Before Chu Qing could speak, Tao Shaozhang slapped the table with a "pop" sound, pointed at Zhai Xiu and cursed: "Zhai, how dare you slander my brother-in-law and execute him to extract a confession?!"
Chu Qing: "..."
Zhai Xiu almost spit out a mouthful of old blood. What did I say? Who is slandering whom?
The monarchs and ministers in the audience also whispered to each other, "We have seen each other for a long time, what is this? Chu Qing is too bold. This is obviously saying that he is not paying attention to everyone. It is a crime and he can just admit it, but he can't even sue."
Zhou Lang's Fu San didn't even think about what crime he wanted to accuse him of, so he just wanted to let Zhou Lang do whatever he wanted and plead guilty to any crime?
Seeing that Zhai Xiu, who had always been fair, was about to fall out, Zhou Lang opened his mouth and knelt there, his eyes still dull.
