Qin Official

Left-handers, also known as "left-handers" in ancient times, were considered unlucky in the West. Although China also believes that the right hand is the "forehand", it does not overly discriminate against left-handers.

Nowadays, the fact that Heifu is left-handed makes the confessions of Huyang Pavilion Chief, merchant Bao and others self-defeating.

Of course, the presiding judge Xi did not believe it easily, and he specifically asked Heifu to come forward and write his name on a wooden tablet.

You may not believe it, but the Qin State, which has always been said to be a "foolish people", has the highest literacy rate among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period. Although Shang Jun burned all poems, books and other things, he set up a "study room" to train specialized legal practitioners, which was equivalent to higher education.

In addition, small officials in the countryside are also required to be literate. If the pavilion chiefs and local residents cannot read or count, how can they compile household registers and arrange corvee services for the country? On this basis, it is also said that "the law is the teaching and the officials are the teachers." Shang Yang once said: "If the officials and the people know the law, they all ask the judges. Therefore, all the officials and people in the world do not know the law." It is required that officials must learn from the people Popularize the law. The joy in front of me was doing this job when I was young, receiving people who came to visit Dharma every day. After the people finished asking questions, the judge had to write down what they asked on a wooden board, cut it in half, file one half as "Legal Questions and Answers", and let the people take back the other half as evidence. In this way, it was spread from ten to ten and hundreds of people. Not only did the law become deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, but some smart people also had channels to learn the law.

Heifu didn't know many seal characters, and could only write a few hundred. He knelt down on the ground with a pen in his left hand, and wrote four small seal characters "Heifu is not guilty" squarely on the wooden board. There is no longer any doubt about this matter. If he was right-handed, the word would have been distorted to an unknown place.

The businessman Bao, who had been talking nonsense just now, suddenly collapsed. He sat down on the ground with an ashen face, like a puddle of mud.

Afterwards, under Xi's sharp and repeated cross-examination, merchant Bao repeatedly confessed to the fact that he had confessed to Huyang Ting Chang and perjured himself.

After opening a gap here, Xi successively captured the three pavilion soldiers. They all confessed that they were only lying because they were forced by the pavilion chief and the robber.

In the end, Qiu also confessed to the stolen goods, leaving the chief of Huyang Pavilion speechless and speechless.

He never expected that he would lose on the simple difference between left hand and right hand.

It's already too late to retract the confession at this time.

At this point, the truth of the two cases came to light. After a brief summary with the officials, Xi Zai began to "jū" in the hall, that is, to read out the verdict.

This time, Hei Fu once again saw the meticulousness of Qin's laws. Almost every crime had a corresponding punishment.

The first to be convicted were the three thieves.

Pan, the bearded thief, committed the "crime of death" for escaping from military service, and the "crime of robbery and murder" for multiple robberies and murders. Based on the latter alone, he was definitely sentenced to death. For both crimes, Pan will be sentenced to zhé. After being sent back to Jingling County where he was born to confirm all crimes, he will be executed in public. The body will be divided and beheaded, and the first body will be hung for public display... Just think about it. That scene made Heifu's scalp numb.

The other two Chu thieves had better luck. They just did not meet the "group robbery" requirement for five or more thieves, and because they were not from Qin, the government could not determine their previous identities and crimes. The two also said that they had never killed anyone. Extraordinary. Therefore, according to the ordinary treatment of "death of another country" and "theft crime", tattoos are regarded as Cheng Dan. It is conceivable that there are two more prisoners in the civil engineering works in Nanjun, and the chance of being redeemed as common people is not great.

After that, it was the turn of everyone in Huyang Pavilion to judge their guilt.

"Huyang Pavilion Changzhen, as a government official fighting for food, should have held a two-foot wooden slip to preach laws and orders to the people under his rule, but he knew the law and violated the law. He wanted to steal and defraud rewards, and falsely accused Wu Heifu of hurting someone. Three crimes. At the same time, I will serve as a kun and tattoo, and guard the border! But if I think he has a title, I will remove the third-level title to compensate for the crime, change it to a kun, redeem the tattoo, and serve the punishment of ghost salary."

Huyangting Changzhen knelt on the ground and listened blankly to his verdict.

He inherited his father's title as soon as he came of age and became a respected "hairpin", but he still wanted to move up a level to reach the fourth level of "no change". In that case, he would be exempted from the annual penalty forever. The battle of the moon...

So a few days ago, he trained the pavilion soldiers in Huyang Pavilion and went out to arrest thieves, but he always had no results. Until that day, when he heard that the merchant Bao came to report the crime, he was overjoyed, but he was unwilling to be beaten by two young men Wu Jie, which made him very unwilling.

It was also Zhen who was eager for quick success and instant gain. He was confused for a moment and listened to Qiu's instigation to steal, so he planned to seize the merit and defraud the reward. Unexpectedly, he dug a big hole for himself and got involved in a lawsuit. The person who tried the case was still the selfless Xi.

After the incident, his family also quietly helped him to make arrangements, but in Qin, at least on the surface, no one dared to openly accept bribes and bend the law for personal gain. Qin's laws clearly stated in black and white what could be done and what could not be done. Countless people Qin officials, who have been influenced by the law since childhood, are also watching!

But in the end, they found a crack: they bribed the clerk who delivered the meals, passed on the information, and coerced the merchant Bao into coercing him into retracting his confession and making false claims. As long as he denies that he has taken credit and defrauded rewards, and then proves that Heifu is guilty of beating an official, this trial will be won!

But who would have thought that before Xi could investigate carefully, the lies they had concocted would be defeated by Heifu's clever cross-examination.

Zhen, who has always been proud of herself, was overturned in the hands of a lowly soldier, Wu Qian!

Nowadays, every word Xi announces sounds like a doomsday knell to Zhen’s ears!

Kun means shaving one's head, tattoo means tattooing on the face, and tattoo means one can redeem the crime with money. Ghost salary means going to the mountains to collect firewood, which is also a kind of hard labor...

For Ting Changzhen, who is only in her twenties and whose life has been smooth, this is an unacceptable result!

"I don't accept it!"

As soon as she heard the verdict, Zhen blushed and started shouting.

"I don't accept it, I want to beg for help!"

Begging is a unique review system of the Qin State. If the parties are dissatisfied with the judgment, they can request a review within the statutory time. The county will notify the county magistrate of the case. If they are still dissatisfied with the trial of the magistrate, they can continue to beg for justice and go to the court. The final trial of Xianyang Tingwei will be carried out by the Supreme Court for a period of three months. In this way, unjust, false and wrong cases that were temporarily neglected by counties and counties will have the opportunity to be redressed by the Tingwei. The most famous one is the first year of the Qin Dynasty. At that time, a musician named Dao was falsely accused of stealing cattle. He refused to accept the case and begged repeatedly. Finally, it was discovered that it was an unjust case, and all the careless county judges were punished.

"Are you sure you want to beg?" Xi asked.

Zhen stiffened her neck and said, "Not bad!"

Xi closed the bamboo slip on which the handwriting was still wet, and looked down at Zhen.

"Do you think my judgment was wrong?"

"Do you think you were still wronged?"

"Do you think the county magistrate and the court lieutenant will be merciful to you?"

Xi's series of questions were like thunder exploding in Zhen's ears. His lips turned pale and he murmured: "I don't dare, it's just that this punishment is too severe..."

"Do you think the punishment is too severe?"

Xi sighed and said: "If you hadn't had a title of Shangzao or above, you could offset the crime a little, but the punishment would be heavier! And do you know that if the begging fails, according to Qin law, you will be punished by one level! Then the punishment will be even higher If it’s serious, it might mean torture or beheading!”

Only then did Zhen feel disheartened. He knew that the facts of his crime were conclusive and his testimony was full of loopholes. He was also exposed in court and recorded in the love book. Even if his family had powerful hands and eyes, and they could sue the county or Xianyang, there was no possibility of overturning the verdict, so he bowed his head and said: "I plead guilty, and I don't dare to mention begging again..."

After Huyang Pavilion Chief pleads guilty, it will be easier for the remaining people.

As one of the principal offenders, Qiu bought the stolen goods and went to guard the border for "false accusation and crime of rebellion" plus "crime of reward fraud". He still had to shave his head, because he was just a civil servant and could not repay his crime, so he was assigned to guard the border. It might take a long time before he could return to his hometown, which was even worse than the chief of Huyang Pavilion.

The three pavilion soldiers are accomplices. Kun has been a Chengdan for three years. At least he does not have to leave his hometown. When his hair has fully grown, he will be almost free. The three people hurriedly nodded in gratitude, feeling that this was already a huge mercy.

The merchant Bao was similar. He was punished for "false accusation" and "fraudulent crime" at the same time, and was sentenced to Kun Dan for five years. When the merchant was taken away, he cried with snot and tears, saying that he had known this was the case. You shouldn't have perjured yourself for the pavilion chief and others.

In short, after reading the verdict, everyone in the hall confessed their guilt and were horrified.

Hei Fu looked at the miserable appearance of these people and felt extremely relieved.

He now feels that the charge of "false accusation and false accusation" is really good. Anyone who falsely accuses you and is found guilty will have to bear the same punishment as the false accusation. For example, if someone falsely accuses you of murder, but there is no evidence, and eventually the case is lost, then you can wait to be beheaded. Therefore, in the Qin State, although there are rewards for reporting rape, you must think twice before filing a complaint.

With this law, Heifu seemed to be wearing an anti-injury armor. After winning the lawsuit, all the blame was returned to the false accuser. So, the six people, although the punishments were not the same, all suffered from head shaving and imprisonment. .

What does it mean to reap the consequences? What does it mean to be trapped in a cocoon? What does it mean that those who harm others will eventually harm themselves?

This is!

But this sense of pleasure was quickly diluted by the harsh reality.

Heifu did not expect that these people would be sentenced to such a severe sentence when he blocked the road to complain. He was so cold and ruthless that he once again saw the harshness of Qin's law.

"This is the result of stepping on the red line. No matter how many years of hard work and carefulness you have in the past, if you accidentally violate the law, your life will be ruined." Qin Law stipulates that people who have committed crimes cannot be appointed as officials. The Huyang Pavilion Chief Although he was exempted from some punishment by virtue of his title, he basically had no chance of officialdom in this life.

When Hei Fu was sighing, Xi called him and Ji Ying to come forward, and they quickly came out.

Xi closed the verdict book, took another slip from the official's hand, and said calmly: "After I have punished you, it's time to reward me."

Upon hearing this, Heifu and Ji Ying looked at each other, and they both saw the joy in each other's eyes!

After fighting the lawsuit for so many days, I finally waited for this moment!