typeface
large
in
Small
Turn off the lights
Previous bookshelf directory Bookmark Next

Section 180 Trials

 Chapter 180: Trial of the case

"Gentlemen like the Luo family can control Sanliang City for several generations. Why can't we be the local emperors here?" Shi Zhiqi said, "Our people can only do better than these traditional local tyrants and evil gentry!"

Of course, indigenous personnel who have been trained in modern administrative management skills will definitely do better than the self-interested large-scale gentry. However, ancient society is a typical "acquaintance society", and the label of migrant households is not easily removed.

.Some families may have lived in the local area for two or three generations, but in the eyes of local people, they are still outsiders.

Migrant households are excluded from the local social network and are difficult to be trusted by local people. Of course, talking is useless. Because there are few people and weak power, their interests are often bullied and misappropriated.

If it were in a metropolis like Guangzhou, the situation would be even better. In a semi-closed rural society, it is difficult for outsiders to peacefully control local power.

Chinese in the 21st century still has a derogatory connotation for the word "outsider", let alone the 17th century when the social environment was much more closed and the population was almost non-mobile.

How to settle down one's own people and gain enough prestige without the support of large local households was a question that Wen Desi had been considering.

Now the powerful local gentry who resisted them have been wiped out, most of them have been killed, and the rest are either hanging on the gallows or about to be hanged. According to the established action guidelines, these people will be "purged" - this is the document

A euphemism for "execution" in

Those who were lucky enough to escape death - including their clansmen, distant relatives, servants... These people have received some favor from them, and they are also vested interests, so they will all be moved to Lingao to wait for "resettlement". The Civil Affairs People's Committee will

These populations were separated and resettled throughout the Hainan Island area.

After these measures were completed, the "powerful class" in Sanliang City was completely wiped out. New arrivals can easily establish authority in the local area as long as they have sufficient funds and strong work capabilities.



While thinking about it, he half-reclined on the chair and fell asleep. When he woke up, it was already completely light. Wen Desi thought that today was a town meeting. Wen Desi quickly sat up and asked the orderly to come in and pour some water.

He washes himself.

Of course, there was no need for him to personally take part in the convening of the conference. There were dedicated elders of the People's Committee for Civil Affairs to come forward. Wen Desi sat in the temporary office, reading various reports and requests for instructions that quickly accumulated on his desk.

The captured country warriors, servants and servants of the gentry need to be screened. The general principle is to punish those with public anger and release them on the spot. However, who has public anger and who just has private hatred is a complicated matter.

, since early this morning, there have been more and more people sneaking into the headquarters to "accuse", "complain" and submit anonymous letters. The civil affairs team specially brought a group of indigenous personnel to deal with such matters.

The town meeting at the threshing floor went smoothly. Wen Desi thought this was not surprising. How could a meeting under bayonet not go smoothly, let alone the 100 people who had been hanged from yesterday to today. The meeting

Several liaison officers were recommended by the government to be responsible for maintaining law and order in the town, dealing with the aftermath and approving the collection of "reasonable burdens". Among them are the inn owner Chen, the owner, and Li Cunfa, the owner of a local small straw mat shop. The last one is a local

Monk Dao is the abbot of the only temple. The temple he presides over is a descendant temple. The temple property is not much. Fortunately, there is only this temple in this town. Dao takes over all the business related to the non-material world. The income is almost enough for them.

A few disciples can live a good life.

These three people worked under the direct leadership of the Civil Affairs Group. Wen Desi ordered to allocate 500 taels of silver and hundreds of shi of rice to the Civil Affairs Group as expenses. At the same time, some of the original public welfare organizations in the town were restored first. Water to put out the fire.

The meeting reopened, and the watchmen who had been hiding began to work again at night. People whose houses and property were burned down during the fighting also received relief rice. Later, the civil affairs team was planning to distribute more relief money.

"It really surprised me." Ji Xin, the tribunal representative responsible for inspecting and handling the legal affairs of the task force, saw that this temporary team was already in operation. Shopkeeper Chen was responsible for public security, and Li Cunyou was responsible for the economy and reasonable burdens.

The monk managed the charity affairs of collecting corpses and relieving the poor. Soon everything became in order. "Before I came to Guangdong, I was afraid that the local people would be afraid of government retaliation and would not come forward if they openly recruited liaison officers."

After the war, the practice of powerful local people coming forward to maintain local affairs is not considered "surrendering to the enemy" in traditional Chinese society. It is even praised as "protecting the country". Most of these people are local gentry and wealthy, and they are the original members of the government.

Of course, the grassroots rulers who rely on their collaborators will not be punished for their actions when they come back later. Of course, among them, there are upright people who sincerely serve the people and are eager for justice. There are also some who try to gain profits and prey on the people.

Despicable villain, the situation is very complicated.

At this moment, the elders have no choice - most of the indigenous people have not yet established basic trust in them, so they have no choice but to use these people who take the initiative to do things. As for the quality of these people, they can only be slowly examined in practice.

Already.

With the local liaison, the civil group's aftermath work was carried out quickly. The civil group began to collect and bury corpses, provide relief to the poor, hunt down "enemies" who slipped through the net, and repair buildings damaged by artillery fire: private and public. Especially the former -

―The Senate still agrees with the concept of inviolability of private property to a certain extent. Of course, this is on the premise that it does not hinder the interests of the Senate and the empire.

Liu Deshan's house was among the first to be put on the repair list because it was severely damaged. A team of sailors carried tools and pushed carts full of building materials to Liu's house. Liu Deshan had just attended the threshing floor in the morning.

Although he knew that his life and property were not in danger for the time being, he still had doubts about the "reasonable burden" in the future. When this amount is apportioned, it will probably be a large amount of money.

Just when he was suspicious, this group of people suddenly appeared in front of his house, making Liu Deshan think that the thieves were coming to speculate on the house. These tools were probably intended to dig up floor tiles and tear down walls to find "secrets". For a moment, they were so frightened that they could not move.

.

"Master, we meet again." The leader of the team was an Australian who had been to his house yesterday. He smiled and waved the ax in his hand, which scared Liu Deshan so much that he almost peed his pants. "We will keep our word and help you."

Here comes the house repairs."

"This... um... ah..." Before Liu Deshan could react, the sailors rushed into the yard. Someone immediately tore down the threshold that Liu Deshan's guys had hastily ordered yesterday, and filled the purple electric bricks with bricks and lime.

The wheelbarrow was pushed in, and some people quickly set up ladders and climbed up to the roof. Others simply asked the waiters to borrow buckets to mix lime and make mud. One by one, they started repairing the house in a hurry.

Liu Deshan was shocked to the point of being stunned - in his mind, all soldiers were idle, lazy ruffians, bachelors, out-and-out "official gangsters". If they didn't rob or kill, they would be considered strictly disciplined. After such a fight,

It is unheard of for the army to come to compensate the people for their losses during the war, and to come to help repair the houses in person.

"I never imagined that there are such people in the world!" Liu Deshan praised repeatedly and quickly asked someone to boil water and make tea immediately.

"Sir, the old tea is gone..." the waiter said, "the old tea was all used up yesterday."

"Asshole! Make tea!"

While Liu Deshan was making tea, shopkeeper Chen cursed and led a group of people to the office. The office the corporal mentioned was the original Tuanlian Office. It was originally a temple, but it was renovated into an office after being abandoned. The houses inside

There are many, and the hall is spacious, which is very suitable for office space. The detachment set up an office here after breaking the stronghold on October 26.

A group of people were sent here. There was a large courtyard next to the office, which was now used as a temporary detention center. The rooms were filled with people, all of them looking sad.

The three of them were escorted alone to a courtyard. This turned out to be the lobby of the public office. It was also the place where the members of the Tuanlian Office set up a private court to "trial cases". All Xiangyong obtained "suspicious items" in Sanliang City and surrounding areas.

"Characters" or those unlucky ones who offended the gentlemen would be taken here and tortured. Except for the plaques and ceremonial guards found in the Yamen court, all public cases and instruments of torture were available.

This place is now temporarily used as a temporary military court to hear various cases. Ji Xin, the representative of the arbitral tribunal, has been hearing various cases since the morning - most of the cases are filed by local people, and the targets are mainly powerful wealthy families in the past.

Some came to accuse them of forcing people to die, some came to accuse them of robbing women, and some accused them of taking property... all kinds of things. Some came to deliver petitions in person to express their grievances, and some secretly sent anonymous posts. These

The materials are now piled up on a table at the back of the courtroom.

In fact, there is no need to try some cases because the parties involved were already dead when the stronghold was breached or were hanged that night. The case against Luo Tianqiu was much more special, and the charges were "all five poisons." Ji Xin thought this

Ren Zhen is a typical "bully landlord".

Even though there was no need for a trial, Ji Xin asked the indigenous staff to sort out all the materials, especially to collect enough witness testimonies - this would be future propaganda materials!

The defendants were still alive, and they were arrested and interrogated one by one according to the procedures. This trial model, which had no legal basis and no evidence in court, and relied only on the parties to argue with each other, made Ji Xin very uncomfortable. Because he had to rely on

Use your own common sense, knowledge, ideas and even intuition to make judgments.

Ji Xin does not believe in the theory that "poor people are born good and rich people are bad". He knows very well that when a new ruler comes, many people will use this to plunder other people's property to change their own destiny. Make false accusations and exaggerate.

Things like this must be commonplace at times like this.

Therefore, he pays special attention to the fairness of the trial. The theory he often elaborates is: "Just because a person is guilty does not mean that all charges can be pinned on his head." This is consistent with the "*** Iron Fist Theory" headed by Du Wen.

It is incompatible with the "law is a tool theory" promoted by pragmatists.

"Liaison officer Chen has detained several rural teachers." Someone reported, "These people don't admit it."

"Oh." Ji Xin nodded, "Of course people won't admit it." He was very dissatisfied with the Senate's decision to execute all the rural teachers, thinking it was suspected of killing innocent people indiscriminately. But this was a high-level decision.

He couldn't object to the matter.

"Bring it here and ask." He said, taking away the completed case files on the table and opening a new one.

Qingxia and the other three were taken to the court. The scale of the scene here was no less than that of the county government, but there were no people in the court, and there were no vicious government officials. There were only three or four thieves. The one in the middle was six and a half feet tall.

He is a strong man with a square face, thick eyebrows, big earlobes, and very white skin. He looks very official. He is probably a high-ranking official among the thieves.

Qingxia quickly pulled Jiang Suo to his knees.

"Chunxia, ​​a folk girl, meets the master——"

"There is no need to kneel down and kowtow, stand and speak." said the strong man Kunthi. He looked kind and cheerful, not as fierce and powerful as ordinary officials. Qingxia felt a little relieved.

"Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome." The Australian actually smiled, "What's your name? Where are you from? What do you do for a living?"

Qingxia told them one by one. She only said that her group was a horse racer and did not dare to say that they had ever been a rural teacher. She only said that she was framed because Boss Chen tried to seize their horses and property.

"Master Mingjian! We are artists who work in various places, and we are outsiders. How can we be the brave teachers here?" Qingxia knew that the only way to survive was to insist that this was not the case.

Ji Xin nodded and looked at the three people. The woman in the middle who spoke was in her twenties, tall, well-proportioned, and had big feet. She had obviously practiced martial arts. The young man next to him was 16 or 17 years old.

Short and strong; there is also a woman in her early thirties, somewhat pretty, pale and unable to stand, as if she is ill.

It is really unbelievable to say that these three people are rural teachers.

"Chief!" Boss Chen jumped out immediately, "These three people have indeed been teachers of Xiangyong and have fought with the chiefs. If you don't believe me, you can ask the Xiangyong who were captured. Someone must know them.

!" He then pointed at Qingxia, "This woman has an affair with Luo Tianqiu!"

Qingxia's face turned red and she was extremely angry. As a woman working as an outside artist, her chastity was always the subject of suspicion and discussion, so Qingxia took this very seriously and could not tolerate any misunderstanding by others. She

The virgin who kept her virginity like a jade was slandered for no reason. At that time, she was about to rush up and grab shopkeeper Chen. Only when she saw the thief's bayonet was she restrained her anger. She turned around and knelt down and kowtowed.

"The girl is indeed a virgin and has nothing to do with Mr. Luo! This boss Chen is spitting blood! Please take a closer look!"

Seeing this woman's expression so intense, Ji Xin knew that she was telling the truth. He glanced at Shopkeeper Chen, with a proud look on his face. Although law does not talk about personal impressions, the performance of these two people was still

Inevitably, Ji Xin was left with likes and dislikes.

Regardless of whether these three are teachers from Xiangyong or not, shopkeeper Chen obviously has ulterior motives. It is possible that he wants to take advantage of the opportunity to blackmail the horses.

"Qingxia! Whether you are a prostitute or not has nothing to do with this case." Kun Thief, who was sitting behind the desk, was probably very dissatisfied with the inexplicable twist of events to the issue of "professor". He said to Qingxia, "You and

Get up. Boss Chen said that you were once a rural teacher and even went into battle to fight. Is this true?"

"Reply to the master, this is absolutely not the case!" Qingxia categorically denied, "We are just racing horses and selling solutions. We are all just showing off our skills. How can we coach Xiang Yong?"

When Boss Chen saw Qingxia's resolute attitude as soon as she opened her mouth, he was afraid that the Australians would believe her words, so he quickly added: "Chief, they all have real skills. If you don't believe me, you can send someone to ask this town."

The common people. This woman has excellent archery skills and can shoot money from a hundred steps away. Luo Tianqiu specially asked her to teach archery to the village warriors..." He pointed at Jiang Niang again, "This woman can throw knives, and she has a knife on her leg.

I got a red wound yesterday! If I wasn’t helping Xiang Yong fight, how could I get a red wound?”

This was a flaw that could not be denied. Qingxia didn't know how to defend herself for a moment.

"Is what Shopkeeper Chen said really true?"

"Reply to the Master! Folk girls and others are people who sell martial arts and practice martial arts. It is not surprising that they can make a living by doing martial arts for some time. We cannot insist that if folk girls and others have mastered martial arts, they must be local brave teachers."

The Australian asked Jiang Niang again: "Are you injured?"

Jiang Niang didn't dare to answer. She didn't know whether to say yes or no. But she was limping because Qingxia helped her in, so she couldn't deny it. She could only whisper: "The civilian girl is indeed injured."

"How to get hurt?"

Qingxia hurriedly said: "Go back to me, master! He was accidentally stabbed by a civilian girl while practicing martial arts."

"Chief! They deny it!" Shopkeeper Chen didn't expect that this young woman would be so sophisticated now, calmly trying to shirk the matter completely. He was furious - at this time, he no longer cared about the horses, but

Feeling that he had lost face greatly, he quickly took out the inn's bill.

"Commander, please see," he pointed to the names on the account book, "this group of people arrived in this town three months ago. At that time, they were a group of eight people. They lived in our store until they left our store half a month ago.

They moved out and moved into a group house in the Luo family ancestral hall. The ancestral hall is not an inn, and Luo Tianqiu is not a kind-hearted person. How could they be allowed to live in the ancestral hall for no reason? You will know this as soon as you ask me!"

He said proudly, "And now there are only three people left! Where is the old man? Where is the man? There are also three children, where have they gone now?!"

When Ji Xin heard this, he knew that what shopkeeper Chen said was true. He nodded silently and asked:

"Does Shopkeeper Chen mean this?"


This chapter has been completed!
Previous Bookshelf directory Bookmark Next