Qin Official

Hearing that Hei Fu wanted to ask for advice, Xi turned around completely, looked at Hei Fu's heavy purse, and said with a smile, "Oh? Could it be that he is confused about the amount of the reward?"

Just now in the county prison hall, in addition to announcing that Hei Fu was promoted to Shangzao, Xi also announced the rewards to everyone in Huyang Pavilion.

In this case, although there were six thieves, they were from four Qin and two Chu, and they did not kill anyone or steal property, so it still could not constitute the crime of "group robbery". Except for the leader of the tomb robbers, "Zang", who is a criminal on the wanted list and is worth 20 taels of gold, the three Qin tomb robbers are each worth 7 gold. The dead Chu tomb robber and the young Chu man Xing were each worth 2 gold because they were foreign thieves.

Therefore, the total reward for the tomb robbers is 45 gold.

This time the bounty is divided, unlike the last private bet with Yuan Bai, where Heifu has the final say. Instead, the government divides the bounty into several shares based on the merits of everyone in Huyang Pavilion.

As the director of the pavilion, Heifu single-handedly contributed to the success of the arrest of the tomb robbers. He made great contributions and received 20 gold!

The East Gate Leopard who begged for the robbery participated in the battle to capture the tomb robbers. He was also the deputy of the Pavilion Department and received 7 golds.

Xiao Tao and Li Xian also participated in the battle, and each received 5 gold.

Although Ji Ying is a postman, the anonymous letter incident happened because of him. In addition, he was rewarded with 4 gold for his merit in reporting the crime.

Yuliang also participated in reporting the crime and was rewarded with 3 gold coins.

Even Pu Zhang, the father of the pavilion, received 1 gold for guarding the pavilion when everyone was out.

After dividing it like this, everyone in Huyang Pavilion got some money and everyone was happy.

Of course, the small Anlu County does not have much gold storage. The so-called gold taels are more of a currency measurement unit with a large denomination. When actually distributed, the equivalent of half a tael is still given.

In addition, there is also a reward for capturing the anonymous letter writer Qu Ji, and two concubines. Heifu and the others claimed that they did not need a concubine and asked for money at the market price, so they were given another 8,600 yuan. Heifu received only 4,000 yuan, and the rest of the money was divided among everyone in Huyang Pavilion according to their contribution in finding the letter writer.

So, adding the two together, Heifu got a huge sum of 15,520 and a half taels! A thousand coins and a basket (běn) is enough to hold fifteen baskets...

One tael is 24 baht, half a tael is 12 baht, and one baht is 0.65 grams. A Qin half-tael coin weighs about 8 grams.

There was a huge pile of money in front of him, weighing more than one hundred kilograms. Hei Fu's wallet could only hold more than four thousand, and the rest had to be transported back to Huyang Pavilion by hiring an ox cart.

Hei Fu had no objection at all to the distribution of the reward money. He came to see Xi for other reasons...

Heifu cupped his hands and said, "I'm still a little confused about Gongshi Quji being fined the top three for submitting a letter anonymously, and I want to ask the warden in person!"

…

"Gongshi Quji?"

Xi was stunned for a moment, looked at Heifu and said, "You personally arrested this person according to the crime of writing a letter. Do you have any doubts?"

Heifu considered his tone and said: "Although Quji committed the crime of writing a letter and should be punished according to the crime, he did not write the letter to falsely accuse or slander, but to report the crime. Without Quji's report, the subordinates would never have been able to After catching all the thieves and Qu Ji was brought to justice, he confessed to the crime and actively assisted us in solving the case. I wonder if there is anything in the law..."

"Is there any law that can reduce his culpability?" Xi guessed what Heifu wanted to say.

"Yes." Hei Fu responded.

He considers himself a man of conscience and sympathizes with being punished for his illness. Because Heifu felt that Qu Ji was not at fault in this matter. In addition, Qu Ji had a pregnant wife at home and his family was not wealthy, so he felt even more sorry.

Xi Que said: "Hei Fu, do you know when the crime of throwing letters was decided?"

Heifu shook his head and said he didn't know.

Xibian said: "This law was formulated at the beginning of Shang Jun's new policy, which set the laws for our country. At that time, the treacherous people saw the strictness of the law, so they tried to write anonymously, slandered everyone, insulted superiors and subordinates, and did everything they could. , causing the law to be disrupted for a time. So Shang Jun ordered that all complaints reported by anonymous posters would not be accepted. Before the anonymous posters were caught, they could not even open them and read them. Once the anonymous posters were caught, they would not be accepted. He’s going to be punished severely!”

Heifu suddenly realized that this law had such a historical origin. Since then, the Qin State had been strict with anonymous reporting letters. Even those who were "fearful of thieves and did not dare to report and submitted anonymous letters were all true" considered it as "this Although the love is very light, the wind of criticism cannot last long." He should still be caught and punished.

Qin's actions may indeed have had the effect of "blocking the source of false accusations and eliminating the path of treachery and deception", so that those who made false accusations and slanders would not dare to make mistakes. But Heifu still felt that this kind of treatment was a bit harsh and one-size-fits-all. He wanted to know if the State of Qin had regulations similar to those of later generations. If the criminal actively assisted the police in the investigation, might his guilt be reduced?

However, Xi broke his fantasy. In Qin's laws, there are only three situations that can reduce the guilt of crimes. One is the "Minor Protection Law" that has only appeared today, because most young people are incited to commit crimes, and there are no Criminal liability.

Secondly, the penalties for negligent crimes are lighter, mainly for officials. The penalties for unintentional violations and intentional neglect of government are completely different.

The third is to surrender and reduce the punishment. Qin Law stipulates that anyone who flees with borrowed public property and voluntarily surrenders will not be punished as theft, but as a fugitive.

Among them, there is no exemption option suitable for public servants.

Heifu was silent for a moment. After a while, he said softly: "In the way of being an official, doesn't it mean that an official should be judged and rewarded and punished, and no crime should be innocent?"

"It's not up to you and me to decide whether or not Qu Ji is guilty or not."

Xi frowned and repeated his mantra: "Only judged by the law!"

"There won't be any mistakes or rigidity in the law?" Hei Fu was a little dissatisfied. At this moment, there was an irreconcilable contradiction between the rewards given to anonymous whistleblowers in later generations and the punishments imposed by the Qin Dynasty.

"Even if there is a mistake, it will have to be changed by Xianyang, the Tingwei, the Yushifu, and the king. You and I only have the responsibility to execute it and have no right to criticize the law!"

Xi lowered his face and lectured Hei Fu: "Laws are the order of the world and the appearance of everything; officials are where the people's lives depend."

"Heifu Pavilion Chief, you are a Qin official. You only need to act in accordance with the law and do not have undue sympathy! Now that you have solved a major case as the first pavilion chief, you will have a bright future. I hope you will remember " As it is said in "The Way of an Official", be careful, do not follow your words, and do not misinterpret the laws and regulations again and give birth to false ideas!"

After saying that, Xi nodded towards Hei Fu, waved his sleeves and left.

Heifu also knew that this was because he was naive. He heard in court that minors could reduce their crimes, and thought that there were other aspects of human warmth and flexibility in the laws. Unexpectedly, he bumped into the cold laws. and the stern-faced Qin official.

Xi's words made him sober up a lot. Although Qin Lu gave him some surprises from time to time, this was still the distant ancient times. He would rather punish mistakes than let them go. This was Qin Lu's thinking.

"If I were the one who made the laws..."

This idea suddenly popped up in Heifu's mind, but it quickly sank down again.

Even if he is in a high position and can intervene in the formulation of the law, can he eliminate all errors and inflexibility? I seem to have said in a legal class in my previous life that the crime of anonymous writing was not abolished until the Republic of China. It was only in the 1990s that anonymous writing was recognized and encouraged...

If the legal provisions of later generations are transferred out of thin air, but cannot change the productivity and social form, I am afraid it is just a castle in the air.

It was too early for Heifu to say all this. He could only put away his doubts and continue to obey the system.

However, the police handled the case in accordance with the law, but arrested both the bad guys and the good guys. The bad guys certainly deserved their punishment, but did the good guys deserve to be punished in vain? At this time, as a police officer, what should I do if I have no control over the law?

Heifu squeezed the heavy money bag on his body, made up his mind, and strode towards the County Sikong Official Office.

The public servant was fined 4,000 yuan for his illness. Because he could not pay the full amount, he was taken to County Sikong and asked to repay the fine with labor. After all, he might not be able to return home within a year and a half. This pair of people For that warm little family, it was a devastating blow.

Heifu couldn't convince himself and turned a blind eye to this!

When he stepped into the county Sikong official office, he saw Ji Zheng shivering and about to sign his name on the labor service document...

"Gongshi Quji!"

Heifu shouted loudly and stopped Quji. Quji turned around and stared at Heifu with a group of other officials.

He walked over and put the heavy bag of money on the table, making a clattering sound.

"Qu Ji, make a contract with me now!"

Hei Fu patted his money bag and said with a smile, "I'll lend you these four thousand dollars!"