Qin Official

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"The noise in the interrogation prison should be flogged (chī)!"

Before Heifu could answer, the fierce-looking official opened his eyes and pointed at Ji Ying. Then the two military officials on standby in the hall came over and pushed Ji Ying to the ground!

"The villain just has a case to explain..."

Ji Ying screamed that he was wronged, but every step of the way was correct. Nu personally took the bamboo board and whipped him on his back and buttocks!

Heifu closed his eyes helplessly and listened to the bamboo board ringing ten times and Ji Ying yelling ten times before the temporary punishment was over.

Good guy, the defendant was not beaten, the plaintiff was beaten first, but this can only be blamed on Ji Ying's own talkativeness.

Beating is the lightest corporal punishment. Apart from the pain of the skin and flesh, it will not cause major damage. After the beating was completed, Xicai asked Ji Ying what case information he wanted to provide to the government.

Ji Ying became honest now and stated exactly what the thief Pan said that day.

After hearing this, Xi nodded and looked at the thief: "Pan, is this really the case?"

"That was just nonsense on my part." Pan, however, was still lucky and denied it categorically! Because he knows the consequences of killing people.

"Well, since you don't admit to any other crime, let's hear what this is."

Xi opened a bamboo slip in front of him and read: "In September of the 20th year of Jiayin, the Prime Minister of Jingling County dared to sue the Prime Minister of Anlu County..."

This is the love letter replied by Jingling County. What follows is a long list of Pan’s crimes, including that he was drafted into the army several times when he was young and participated in the war. However, he was reprimanded for being inactive in fighting. After returning to his hometown, he spread negative remarks and was punished. The neighbors reported him, so he was punished as a garrison soldier and sent to the north to guard. However, on the way north, he wounded the escorting personnel, robbed armor and weapons, and fled into Yunmengze.

After that, Pan also tried to sneak back to his hometown and fled with his wife and children, but was stopped by his neighbors, and Pan injured others again and escaped.

"How dare you say now that you have no other sins?" Xi's voice became stern. Seeing that all his old stories were exposed, Pan lowered his head in frustration and admitted these sins.

Xi's voice softened again, as if he already knew everything about Pan: "I know all of your crimes. The reason why I don't expose them is to see if you have the intention to admit guilt... For example, Were you also involved in the home invasion, murder and robbery case in Xiaoheli, Jingling County half a year ago? The love letter from Jingling County said that the appearance and figure of the murderer described by the survivors of that case were exactly the same as yours!"

His happy face changed at every turn, and he threatened: "If you don't recruit me from the truth, I will punish you!"

Different from the top ten tortures of the Qin Dynasty that later generations imagined, Qin's interrogation was based on collecting evidence and questioning as the best methods. The criminal was not tortured until he was really stubborn. However, in the eyes of the officials, this was already The best way to do it.

Pan was just depressed, but now he was shocked. He bowed his head again and again, and told all the sins he had committed, as if pouring beans.

It turned out that he was responsible for two lives and had participated in five or six robberies, but the money he robbed was not much.

It's a pity that the Qin State judged the case, but no matter how much money you robbed, what matters is your criminal heart! Even if it's just a penny, even if it's rope or mulberry leaves that aren't worth a penny, it's still considered theft! Not to mention killing people.

However, murder is not the most extreme crime. The most serious crime in Qin's criminal law, besides treason, is robbery by several groups.

Next, Xi asked Pan's two accomplices to state their names, origins, and crimes one by one. The result was surprising. They turned out to be Chu people who fled into Yunmengze from Jiangnan (Hunan) of Chu State. There were three people in total. They only teamed up with Pan this summer.

Now there was some trouble. Although Xi had known about this for a long time, he still frowned.

Qin's laws only apply to Qin's counties and counties, but not to Chu. As a result, the origin and crime of the two Chu thieves cannot be verified, and they can only be judged according to convention.

At this time, it was Heifu and Ji Ying's turn to appear. Just like before, they first stated their names, identities, and place of origin.

Xi Ze repeatedly confirmed with them that there were only four thieves seen at that time?

"There are indeed only four of them." Heifu now admires Xi very much. The entire county prison main hall has become a stage for his performance. He is as sharp and capable as any judge in later generations who has received professional training!

"According to the law, since there are less than five people, it does not constitute a crime of gang robbery."

Xi stroked his beard and said to the officials: "Write it down, Pan and others are not considered a group of thieves and can only be punished with ordinary crimes of robbery and murder."

In this way, the course of this case and the nature of the crime were clearly clear, but it was not over yet. Xi's eyes turned to the two men and asked about the process of capturing the thief.

Ji Ying seemed to have forgotten about the beating he had just received, and started talking happily, especially bragging about Hei Fu's deeds of beating three thieves by himself and seizing the sword with his bare hands. Ever since he recognized Hei Fu as his brother, Hei Fu's abilities seemed to have become his own, and he was proud of them.

Ji Ying was not good at anything else, and he had a knack for gossiping and bragging. When he got to the exciting point, the clerks who had been recording the interrogation process stopped writing and listened attentively.

Xi still did not interrupt Ji Ying. After he finished speaking with a dry mouth, he turned his head and asked Heifu, "Is that so?"

Heifu had no choice but to bite the bullet and said: "Although the words are a bit exaggerated, they are generally good. The villain is indeed one against three. However, Ji Ying also fought with another thief for a long time. If it weren't for his help, I would have been on the roadside." dead body."

Xi nodded and did not believe it rashly. He asked the three thieves again and saw that they had no objections, so he turned his attention to Ling Shi "Nu".

It turns out that Nu's responsibilities are not only to maintain order in the court, but also include autopsy and on-site inspection work, which is equivalent to the forensic doctor of later generations. Qin governs the country with Legalist ideas and strives to be precise in everything. When he was sent to interrogate three thieves the day before yesterday, Nu had already recorded the thieves' wounds one by one and submitted the inspection report "Yuan Shu".

"Chu Pirate A has a blade wound on the outside of his left ankle. It is horizontal and 9 inches long. It is the mark of a dagger scratch. There is a bruise on the abdomen, which is the mark of being hit by a heavy punch. Chu Pirate B has a blade wound on the outside of his right leg. Longitudinal, 4 inches long and 1 inch wide, the wound is smooth, it is the mark of a dagger being pierced, and the rest of the body is uninjured..."

After reading the injury certificate, Xi knew that Hei Fu was not lying. The place where he hit the thief matched the depth of the wound. Then he said with surprise on his face: "Looking at your young age, you are so brave." Spirit and skill."

Hei Fu was still shocked that the Qin State's inspection system was so advanced that it was comparable to that of later generations of forensic doctors, but Ting Xi asked him, "Who did you learn your martial arts from?"

He secretly thought something was wrong, his enemy-catching fist was not something from this era. Seeing Xi was like a Virgo with obsessive-compulsive disorder, and there were always flaws, so of course he didn't dare to talk nonsense, so he could only find a dead man as a shield.

Hei Fu said: "It was taught by my late father. He once served in the army, performed meritorious service by beheading, and was honored as a nobleman. He also collected firewood in the mountains, fought with wild boars, and learned a set of boxing skills, because he was the most favorite among the three sons. I, so it was only passed to me..."

What a liar! If I remember correctly, the one that Cheap Daddy loved most was his youngest son "Jing", who was the younger brother who went to the military camp with Hei Fu in history. But Heifu has now practiced lying without revealing any flaws. Anyway, the cheap dad has been dead for several years. No matter how capable Xi is, can he still ask questions about ghosts?

Sure enough, Xi frowned. Although his intuition told him that Heifu did not tell the truth, he did not find anything suspicious, so he stopped pursuing it and only said to the clerks in the hall:

"Remember, the three thieves must have been captured by Hei Fu and Ji Ying. Next, it is the case of Huyang Pavilion Chief..."

He looked at Hei Fu: "Hei Fu, you previously accused Huyang Pavilion Chief of seeking robberies to steal credit and defraud rewards, but are you still insisting now?"

Heifu handed over his hand and said, "The government encourages reporting of adultery, but even villains insist on reporting themselves."

Xi made a serious face and said: "The chief of Huyang Pavilion is an official who fights for food in the government. Do you know that if you falsely accuse an official, if you are found guilty, you will have to falsely accuse him and be severely punished!"

There was no way out now. Hei Fu raised his head and said, "The villain knows, but the villain only stated his grievances and did not dare to hide them."

"Okay." Xi nodded and signaled to Nu Hele: ​​"Bring Chief Huyang Pavilion and others up! The two cases must be tried together within today!"

Following a burst of footsteps, everyone in the Huyang Pavilion was taken away from the hall, including the thin Qiu Thief and the three pavilion soldiers. When they came to the hall, they all stared at Hei Fu, with resentment beyond words...

The head of the Huyang pavilion with a horse face walked at the end. As soon as he entered the hall, he looked around and found the merchant Bao who was standing aside as a witness. He looked at him with eyes. After Bao nodded timidly, Huyang The pavilion chief was relieved.

He turned to look at Heifu and sneered secretly: "Xiao Zhuzi, when I'm cross-examined, I'll leave you speechless and unable to understand myself!"

…

PS: For the interrogation process, question and answer process, and the judge’s final explanation in this chapter, please refer to the "Closed Clinic" Interrogation Rules.

Also attached is a translation of Yunmeng's Qin bamboo slips "The Death of a Thief":

The body of a man was lying on his back south of a certain house. There was a blade wound on the left corner of the man's head and two blade wounds on his back, both longitudinal, each 4 inches long and 1 inch wide. The middle of the wound was concave, like the mark of an axe. There was bleeding all around, contaminating the head, back and floor. The rest of the body was uninjured.

He was wearing a single-cloth jacket and a skirt. The back of the jacket was equivalent to a wound. Two places were cut by a blade, and the back and skirt of the jacket were stained with blood.

There is a pair of Qin-style hemp shoes on the west side of the corpse. One is a little more than 6 steps away from the corpse, and the other is 10 steps away from the corpse. The shoes are just right for the corpse to put on. The ground was hard and there were no traces of the murderer. The deceased was a middle-aged man with white skin, 7 feet 1 inch in length, and 2 feet long hair. There are two old scars on the abdomen treated with moxibustion...

After reading it I felt like I needed to calm down.