Former Spanish Governor of the Philippines Aguna, Justice Juan Ferrero, former Archbishop of Manila Benavides and other senior officials were being escorted through the crowd to the public trial venue at the pier.
Many of the onlookers around were family members of the victims who had been picked up from various places in Fujian by ships specially sent by the Chinese Company. They were furious and ignored the rows of guard soldiers on both sides of the road to stop them. They kept throwing stones, eggs or various garbage at the victims. These Spanish prisoners.
"Kill them."
"Behead. Behead."
"Can't let them go. Beasts."
The angry curses and the throwing of all kinds of garbage made these more than a hundred Spanish prisoners miserable. Suddenly, a young woman in plain clothes broke away from the guards and jumped directly on the body of the former Governor Acuna. She beat and kicked him and said with tears in her eyes: "Give me my husband's life. Give me my husband's life. You made me a widow at the age of 16. You..."
On both sides of the prisoner team, angry family members of the victims broke through the barriers, rushed to the Spaniards, and started fighting. The entire team was in chaos for a while.
It was not until the cadets from the military academy arrived and drove the crowd away with their muskets that the prisoners could continue to move forward.
The Dutch were arranged in the auditorium south of Pier A. They sat with a group of Portuguese, Spanish businessmen, Catholic missionaries, etc. This was the mistake of Lin Xiao, who was in charge of arranging the venue. He had long forgotten that the Dutch were The Protestants thought they were all from Western Europe, so they arranged them all together. The Dutch felt uncomfortable all over. They sneered at each other with this group of Catholics and did not say hello.
Opposite the foreign auditorium and on the site to the north of the pier, most of the owners of the Chinese company - shareholder representatives, shopkeepers, employees, various businessmen, etc., including the main members of the company's board of directors.
Tens of thousands of onlookers gathered at the edge of the city facing the dock. The front area was separated from the crowd by the infantry brothers of the escort. There were about a thousand family members of Manila victims and related family members of more than 30,000 victims. There are people all over Fujian and even all over the country. It is impossible for them all to come to Taiwan. These thousands of people are mainly from Haicheng and Quanzhou.
A high platform has been set up on the pier. Yin Feng and a group of judges are about to board the high platform to preside over the public trial.
Amidst the noise of the crowd, Yin Feng suddenly stepped onto the high platform alone. Twenty sailors below the stage blew the conch, the unique tool of the China Company to convey military orders.
"Woooo..."
"The ship's owner. It's the ship's owner."
All the tens of thousands of people suddenly fell silent. All the members of the escort team who were on guard at the scene raised their guns and saluted at the same time. They shouted loudly: "The great commander-in-chief Wan Sheng."
Jiang Zhili, the prefect of Quanzhou, and Li Daiwen, the county magistrate, who were specially invited here, looked at each other. They both felt very embarrassed. They came here to formally appoint Yin Feng to the inspection position of the Taiwan Inspection Department. Originally, such a small position was appointed. There is no need for them to come in person. They can just send a general judge or a master. Or the incoming inspector can rush to visit them. But Taiwan is a place that is nominally newly added to the imperial territory. It is under the jurisdiction of Quanzhou. Governor Xu Xueju They were asked to go to Taiwan for inspection. They had no choice but to come across the sea.
They are not used to it. People here lack respect for their two parents. Although many immigrants from Quanzhou are used to kneeling down to them, many bosses of Chinese companies do not take them seriously at all. Although they respect them on the surface In fact, they all kept a respectful distance from each other. The guards in black uniforms did not pay attention to them at all. When the prefect Jiang Zhili was walking around out of curiosity, the guards guarding the company headquarters even pointed their muskets at them. . Firmly refuse them entry.
Now, as soon as Yin Feng appeared, the whole place fell into silence. This shows who the people in Taiwan really fear.
Yin Feng didn't speak. He looked around and raised his right hand to signal. The sound of the conch trumpet echoed in the audience again.
The next scene made the Dutch and other foreigners in the southern gallery gasp; it was completely a show of force by the Chinese company.
Last night, Yin Feng received a message from Yu Anfu, the head of company intelligence in Macau and the director of the Macau Department of the Military Intelligence Department: The Dutch attacked Macau again. They were repelled by the armed forces of the Chinese Company and the Macau Portuguese. Yin Feng immediately thought of The Dutch suddenly came to Taiwan this time. The purpose was definitely not that simple; therefore, he arranged a military parade before the public trial overnight.
The Third Infantry Regiment that participated in the Battle of Manila selected 300 soldiers. The Navy selected 200 Sailor Musketeers. They walked into the venue neatly to the rhythm of the military drum and the conch horn. Everyone wore thick-soled leather shoes. .500 people stepped hard at the same time, making the ground tremble; they shouldered flintlock muskets with shining bayonets on their shoulders, wore bullet belts, and hung black grenades on their waists. They exuded the aura of those who have been on the battlefield. Some were murderous. They passed by the high platform one by one and saluted Yin Feng. At the same time, they threw down dozens of Spanish royal flags captured in the battle and hundreds of broken matchlock guns captured in the battle. When these were fluttering in the past, When the Spanish royal symbol at the top of Manila was thrown to the ground, all the Spaniards present lowered their heads. The Portuguese looked away in embarrassment. The Dutch were whispering there excitedly.
Although the soldiers of the escort passed by the high platform in silence, the fanatical looks in their eyes said everything: Yin Feng is their leader.
Suddenly, a shout broke out from the silent crowd: "Captain Wan Sheng."
Suddenly, shouts like a mountain roar and a tsunami thundered through the entire dock area. This place has now become a victory ceremony to celebrate the victory over the Spaniards.
Jiang Zhili, the prefect of Quanzhou, and Li Daiwen, the county magistrate, looked at each other awkwardly again; they both knew the current strength of the Zhonghua Company. Although the official news reported by Fujian to the court was that the pirates were defeated in Penghu, and a large number of pirates were recovered and recruited. But the actual situation is They both knew it very well.
After the military parade, the main senior figures among the Spanish prisoners were escorted up one by one and lined up in a row under the high platform.
Several members of the escort team came to Jiang Zhili and others. On the surface, they said respectfully: "Your Majesty, my captain, please come to the stage to review the case.
Jiang Zhili and Magistrate Li Daiwen looked at each other awkwardly again. Magistrate Li Daiwen stood up helplessly and said: "The Taiwan Inspection Department is currently under my jurisdiction. Let me go..."
The Inspection Department of the Ming Dynasty was equivalent to the police station of the Public Security Bureau. It had certain powers of law enforcement and trial, but it was limited to general public security cases. Yin Feng finally took care of the face of the court officials and invited the county magistrate to serve as a "juror".
The form of trial was still the traditional Chinese way. Yin Feng knew that he lacked understanding of the implementation of ancient laws, so he temporarily invited Zeng Qi, who was familiar with the law, back from Luzon. Therefore, the actual presiding judge was Zeng Qi.
In history, five major legal systems have been formed around the world. This is the concept of the so-called "legal system". The Chinese legal system is one of the five major legal systems in the world. The other four are: civil law system, Anglo-American legal system, Islamic legal system, Indian legal system. In the world before Yin Feng traveled through, both the Indian legal system and the Chinese legal system had completely disintegrated. Chinese law had become a hybrid of the civil law system and other legal systems. In the era of the Ming Dynasty. The Chinese legal system not only affects the entire Chinese society, but also has an important impact on the legal systems of Japan, North Korea and Vietnam.
The civil law system is mainly based on civil law and is based on strict logical codes; the Anglo-American legal system focuses on strict procedures and is centered on precedents; the Islamic and Indian legal systems are centered on religious classics. The Chinese legal system is based on criminal law As the center, it pays attention to ethics and hierarchy. The most significant feature is that administrative agencies also handle justice. From the time when Li Kui wrote the "Book of Laws" in the Warring States Period until the last feudal code "Qing Dynasty Laws", criminal law was Mainly, it also covers civil, administrative and litigation aspects. This mixed codification form of all laws lasted throughout the feudal era. It was not changed until the revision of laws in the late Qing Dynasty in the early 20th century.
Although Europeans at this time were still influenced by religion, the influence of Roman law and civil law was deeply rooted in people's hearts. They did not agree with China's legal system where the chief executive and judges were integrated. However, Yin Feng was in this trial The concept of evidence first was introduced. Spaniards’ crimes were testified by witnesses and proved by facts. This has somewhat changed the traditional Chinese law enforcement agencies’ tendency of “confession first” in trials.
The first day of the public trial actually turned into a meeting of accusations and complaints. The cries of the victims’ orphans, widows and brothers and sisters of the victims. The angry statements of those who survived the death made the people in the venue excited. Yin Feng was studying journalism. Professional. He knew how to control the direction of public opinion. He successfully made the people in the audience completely immersed in their deep-rooted hatred for the Spaniards. It made the Westerners present on pins and needles. The representatives of the Ming Dynasty court and government officials were very embarrassed.
Veteran Chen Di watched all this with concern. In his opinion, Yin Feng's move was entirely to gain popularity for himself to offset the impact of surrendering to the government.
During the half-month trial, only a few dozen Spaniards were found guilty. They were quickly beheaded in accordance with Chinese tradition. Their heads were hung on the fort at the top of the city for public viewing.
On this day, An Heping accompanied the Taiwanese Jesuit Bishop Baradas to see Yin Feng. Baradas pleaded with him: "...there are three Jesuit monks among the prisoners. I know that you have great feelings for Jesus." I will be very friendly. I hope you can show extra mercy and pardon these Jesuits. They were involved in the murders not intentionally. They were just for self-defense..."
"Do you have evidence to prove this?" Yin Feng interrupted the bishop: "As long as you can prove that they only killed people in self-defense. I can use my influence to save them from execution. But they must accept other punishments."
"God bless you. You are so kind. For the sake of our Jesuits helping you open schools to educate students, can you just release them? I know you have the right to decide everything here."
Yin Feng sneered: "Mr. Bishop Baradas, I formulated the rules and regulations of China Company. I also abide by these rules and regulations. I announced on the first day of the public trial that all criminals must go through a fair and reasonable trial. Convicted. You need say no more. I will never release the Jesuits without reason. Unless they are found not guilty."