Qin Official

But Tingxi said: "Shiwu Heifu captured Pan, a murderer and thief from Qin, and a thief from Chu, and the reward is 9 taels. Ji Ying captured a thief from Chu, and the reward is 2 taels."

When Ji Ying heard that something was wrong, he hurriedly asked: "Sir, don't you get 14 gold for every person you capture alive?"

"Otherwise." Xi shook his head and said, "The law states that if one person is caught in a group of robbers, the reward is 14 taels, which is correct. However, there are less than five people in Pan and others, which does not constitute the crime of group robbery. This matter has been mentioned before. The law also stipulates that if one is captured, the reward will be 14 taels. A domestic murderer and robber will be rewarded with 7 golds. As for foreign robbers, regardless of life or death, they will only be rewarded with 2 golds..."

"So that's it!" Hei Fu suddenly realized. It seems that Qin's law is not only very precise in punishment, but also very careful in rewards. Sure enough, rewards are not so easy to get, and doesn't this mean: foreigners are not valuable? .

But in this way, the rewards they received were invisibly reduced. Not only did Hei Fu feel a little hurt, these thieves were so desperate, why were there only four of them?

What he didn't know was that the crime of banditry only counts Qin people. Even if 10 Chu people and 4 Qin people commit robberies together, it does not constitute the crime of banditry...

At this time, Xi asked again: "Do you still have any doubts?"

"I have!"

Before Hei Fu and Ji Ying could respond, a loud shout rang out from the hall. The curly-bearded thief Pan, who had already confessed his crime, struggled up from the ground, protested with his shackles on his shoulders: "I was promised that I was worth 14 gold, how can I reduce it now?" Half done!”

This made people laugh and cry. Heifu looked at Pan helplessly, while Xi Ze was used to seeing this kind of prisoners. With a wave of his hand, the warder took the screaming Pan into custody. What was waiting for him was to return to his hometown to show off to the public. Brutal execution.

Even after being dragged far away, Pan's voice still echoed in the county jail: "Hei Fu, you agreed to let me see the gold! You agreed to 14 gold! I don't accept it, I don't accept it!"

Hei Fu was stunned. When a person is about to die, the last thing he thinks about is this incident. He really doesn't know whether to mourn or sigh...

It's a pity that until his death, Pan could not touch gold!

A happy cough brought Hei Fu back to his senses.

"Your bounty can be collected today after I inform the county magistrate and county magistrate, but..."

Xi looked at Hei Fu, thoughtfully.

The law states that in any interrogation case, the confession must be listened to and recorded first. Try to let the person being questioned speak automatically. Even if you know there are lies, do not question him immediately. Record the doubts first. When both parties have nothing to say, the judge will ask questions one by one based on the doubtful points.

For so many years, Xi has tried cases according to the procedure of "listening - questioning - explaining".

But today was different. Although he knew that there were serious problems with the confessions of Huyang Pavilion Chief and Merchant Pan, he did not expose them and planned to expose them all at the end. Unexpectedly, Heifu actually used flexible questioning to let those people reveal their flaws, so he didn't have to bother...

It would not be surprising if Heifu was a disciple who had studied law in school, or an official who had been engaged in interrogation work for many years, but Heifu was only a literate soldier, and there was no official in his family. I was surprised.

"This boy is a talented person. If he were a child of an official, I would have wanted him to enroll in the law school."

So, Xi then said sincerely: "Hei Fu, I see that you are good at martial arts, you can write and read, and you speak appropriately when questioning, but you are just a soldier. It's a pity."

"Thank you for your praise, sir!" Heifu heard Xi's admiration for him and said hurriedly: "I also hope to contribute to the country, but I am suffering from the lack of a title."

He said with a smile: "The title is not rare, now is an opportunity."

Heifu was stunned: "What kind of opportunity is this?"

"You don't know?" Xi looked at him strangely and explained: "Capturing a murderer alive is equivalent to beheading one level! There is a reward of 7 taels, or one level of knighthood."

"Is that so?" Heifu looked at Ji Ying. It was Ji Ying who told him that day how much reward he could get for catching a thief, but he didn't mention the title.

"I also heard it mentioned by small and medium-sized officials in the countryside, but I only remembered the reward." Ji Ying scratched his head. In fact, this makes sense. Although the Qin State advocates officials to educate the people about the law, no matter how popular the science is, the small people among the people The common people are still ignorant.

Xi pointed out to him: "If you are willing to give up those seven taels of gold, you can upgrade your title to a sergeant. Are you willing?"

As soon as he said this, Heifu, who was a little disappointed at missing most of the reward, suddenly became overjoyed.

He never expected that the title he had dreamed of would be within his reach at this moment!

This account is not difficult to calculate. Although the money can be obtained immediately, it will be spent in a year and a half. The title is an iron rice bowl. Although there is not much profit in a short period of time, the food grown on the land given by the government alone is worth more than seven gold over time. Although, like later generations, the land ownership still belongs to the state. I am not allowed to buy or sell, and I have to pay a heavy tax every year.

After thinking for a moment, Hei Fu immediately bowed and said: "Thank you for your advice, Mr. Hei is willing to get the title!"

…

When Ji Ying walked out of the main hall of the county jail, he almost smiled.

Although because of his misunderstanding of the law, the imaginary reward of 14 gold coins ended up being only 2 gold coins, but it was still heavy when it was converted into more than a thousand and a half taels of gold and put in the bag. The money was strung with strings. The strings jingled as he walked, sounding extremely sweet...

"This much money, converted into food, would be enough for me to eat for more than half a year."

He couldn't help but look gratefully at Hei Fu who was walking in front. As soon as he walked out of the hall, he even bowed to Hei Fu!

"Ji Ying, what are you doing?"

Hei Fu also received a reward of more than a thousand dollars in his robe. He hurriedly went to help Ji Ying, but Ji Ying couldn't afford it. Instead, he said with emotion: "I, Ji Ying, know what I am capable of. Thanks to Brother Hei Fu's support, I Only then can I be honored, and I can catch thieves with you and make meritorious deeds, and get these rewards."

"Furthermore, if Brother Heifu hadn't revealed the perjury of the pavilion chief and the profiteer just now in the hall, I would have had my head shaved off and become a prisoner in the city..."

Ji Ying shuddered and was frightened when he thought about the beating he received, the ruthlessness of Xi, and the heavy sentences meted out to those involved in the case.

"Thinking about it this way, Brother Heifu, you are my savior!"

As he said that, he gave Hei Fu a heavy nod!

Hei Fu secretly sighed in his heart. Although Ji Ying was talkative and nice, he actually didn't have much heart. The reason why the credit was shared with him was because one person could not escort three thieves. What happened after that further proved that Heifu's decision was correct. If Ji Ying had not been given credit at that time, it is hard to say that he would have been coerced and induced by the Huyang Pavilion Chief to testify against him during the interrogation...

Human nature is evil and selfish. This is the fundamental basis for Shang Yang's establishment of Qin's laws, and it is also a fact. Hei Fu was reincarnated as a human being and lived in the Qin Kingdom with meticulous and strict laws. He had to be careful every step he took. How could he not be more careful?

But now, Ji Ying completely regards him as his benefactor, which is also a good thing.

With great difficulty, Hei Fu pulled Ji Ying up, patted the dust on his body, and said with a smile: "Brothers, why are you so polite? In the next month, you and I will have to serve as guards in the county seat, and we have to support each other. "

"That's right..."

Ji Ying then remembered something. He looked at Hei Fu's head and smiled and said, "I haven't congratulated you yet. This is a good thing! From now on, you will be a knight!"

Hei Fu also became happy and touched his head. The black cloth wrapped around his bun, which represented the identity of the Guizhou soldier, had been removed and replaced with a brown turban.

Just now, Hei Fu once again witnessed the vigorous and resolute manner in which the Qin government acted. He first said that he intended to become a public official, and then he asked people to send the results of today's trial and rewards to the county temple and hand them over to the county magistrate and county captain for review.

It turns out that the titles of Gongshi and Shangzao are determined by the county government of the place of birth; those with higher titles must be reported to the county; those with doctorate and above must be reported to Xianyang.

The work of discussing the title must be completed within three days, otherwise, the county lieutenant responsible for the matter will be removed from his post.

Because the government had only issued documents confirming Hei Fu’s identity two days ago, and the procedures were complete, so it only took an hour for the county captain’s approval to come down:

"Shiwu Heifu captures a murderer and thief, which is equivalent to beheading to the first level, and can be rewarded with a first-level knighthood, and he will be crowned as a nobleman!"