Chapter 447

On the 25th day of the fifth month of the year of Bingxu, Tongren Province looked no different from any other day. Everything was the same as before. For the petty officials who had spent their entire lives in Tongren Province's yamen, there were only two things that were new.

First, the magistrate did not rise to the yamen. Although it was said that their local magistrate often did not rise to the yamen, what was special was that today, someone had risen to the yamen on his behalf. If the Emperor did not attend morning court, there would not be any ministers who dared to attend morning court on his behalf. It was the same for the local officials. But now, there was such a person. This person had broken the centuries-old custom of Tongren Province, and that person was County Supervisor Yu.

Usually, when something like this happened in a chieftain's territory, it meant that the latecomer had taken over. Now that something like this had happened in Tongren, it meant that the Yu Clan, which had existed in Tongren Province for 400 years, had the power to suppress the Zhang Clan, which had been rooted here for more than 500 years.

The other thing was that, for Tongren Province, the Torture Court, which had always been as dispensable as an appendix, had now sprouted like an old tree and was glowing with vitality. Today was the day the Torture Court was released, and the Torture Court had actually received three complaints!

In the densely populated cities of the Central Plains, receiving only three complaints on the day of release was a good sign that would make the officials in charge of the judiciary wake up laughing in half a month. Although there was a saying among the people that "even death is not a crime against the officials", in reality, there were still many people who filed lawsuits. As a result, every day on the day of release, the officials would use a ruler to measure the number of complaints they received.

Because there were too many complaints, and the complaints were often lengthy, often thousands or even tens of thousands of words. Even a trivial matter could be described in three to four thousand words, and then used another three to four thousand words to express anger, sorrow, or grievance. As a result, the officials in charge of the names of the punishments had no choice but to order that the complaints had to be concise and not exceed 500 words!

But in Tongren Province, it was already a miracle for the Torture Court to receive three complaints in the past three years. Now, they had received three complaints on the same day of release. It was as big as the news of County Supervisor Yu temporarily acting as the magistrate in Tongren.

The "Day of Appeal" was the day when the yamen would receive complaints. Generally speaking, only serious criminal cases such as murder and injury could be filed at the yamen at any time. Ordinary civil lawsuits were not accepted and could only be filed on a set day. Generally, starting from the first day of the lunar month, there would be a Day of Appeal every five days.

Today was "Release Day", and the Torture Court had received three cases. When there were too many complaints, the officials would first read through all the complaints and focus on the plaintiff and the defendant for questioning. Ye Xiaotian saw that there were only three cases, so he went straight to court and started with the first complaint.

This was a case of a "commoner suing an official". A merchant sued a low-ranking tax official for extorting bribes, and then molesting his wife.

According to the rules, a commoner suing an official would be punished with 30 strokes of the cane. But the yamen could not be unreasonable. Of course, there was a need to respect the hierarchy, but such a rule was clearly harboring a criminal. If the benefits of the complainer were less than the price of 30 strokes of the cane, then wouldn't the commoner not dare to file a complaint?

It must be known that Zhu Yuanzhang was born into poverty. Although he eventually became the representative of the ruling class, deep down he still saw himself as a commoner. His favorite thing to do was to encourage the commoners to sue the officials. If they felt that the officials had broken the law, he would even allow the commoners to tie up the local officials and bring them to the capital to file a complaint. The courier stations along the way would also provide free food and drink.

Therefore, in order to protect the etiquette system of "commoners suing officials" and "subordinates suing superiors" from being punished with 30 strokes of the cane, the commoners spread falsehoods and came up with the rule of rolling nails on the wooden plank to sue the emperor. In fact, there was an additional condition.

That is, the 30 strokes of the cane were not to be punished before the trial, but to be delivered first. If the trial was completed and it was proven that the "commoners suing officials" or "subordinates suing superiors" were true, then the thirty strokes of the cane would not be needed. Only if it was proven that he had made a false accusation would he be punished with an additional 30 strokes of the cane.

Today's case, after Ye Xiaotian's trial, was determined to be a false accusation. The minor tax official was a newly appointed tax official, and he was very serious in his work. The merchant was a famous scoundrel in the workshop, and he had always evaded taxes. Because he was a troublemaker, the other tax officials did not want to make things difficult for him.

Unexpectedly, he ran into this new tax official who refused to let him go. The scoundrel merchant could not deny it, so he wanted to make a false accusation and confuse right and wrong. Ye Xiaotian saw his wife's flustered expression, which was somewhat abnormal, so he and Li Qiuchi played the same tune and bluffed her into telling the truth.

Now that the case was clear, Ye Xiaotian ordered his men to drag the unscrupulous merchant away to be punished with a wooden plank. Taking advantage of this time, he quickly skimmed through the other two complaints. He discovered that the second complaint was a normal complaint, while the third one was actually a major criminal case. It was not delayed until the date of publication, but it happened to happen today.

Ye Xiaotian only read half of it before he slapped the table angrily and said, "Such a wicked young man, he really deserves to die!"

Li Qiuchi said, "Why is Dongweng so angry?"

Ye Xiaotian threw the complaint back to him and angrily said, "Look at this yourself, they are really a bunch of beasts! No, they are worse than beasts! "

Li Qiuchi looked through the complaint and quickly skimmed through it. He nodded his head and said, "This kind of behavior is indeed indignant to both man and god."

Ye Xiaotian angrily said, "This kind of treacherous and evil person, I will not let him get away scot-free! Let the court begin immediately! "

Li Qiuchi pointed to a spot on the complaint and reminded him, "Dongweng, did you see this person's identity clearly?"

Ye Xiaotian calmly nodded his head. Of course he saw it. The identity of these beasts really made him feel that it was somewhat troublesome, but he did not want to let these people off just like that. He was just about to give the order to begin the court, when the young manservant from County Supervisor's room slipped in and stood at the side of the main hall, beckoning to Advisor Li.

Li Qiuchi walked over and listened to him say a few words, then he returned to the desk and whispered to Ye Xiaotian, "Dongweng, County Supervisor Yu has an important matter to ask of you, please ask Dongweng to come over immediately."

Ye Xiaotian was slightly startled. Li Qiuchi pointed to the side room. Ye Xiaotian saw that the young manservant was still waiting, so he nodded his head and ordered, "Flog that unscrupulous merchant thirty times and drive him out of the main hall. The tax department will demand payment of all the taxes he owes. The other two cases will be postponed for two hours and will continue the trial in two hours! "

Finished speaking, without waiting for the soap servants to beat a retreat, Ye Xiaotian flicked his sleeve and went behind the screen. There was another door behind the screen. The young manservant hurried over and led Ye Xiaotian out of the punishment hall, all the way to the courtyard where the Deputy Magistrate was.

The Deputy Magistrate was the deputy of the prefectural governor and a special official similar to the Imperial Censor. His status was special and noble, so the Deputy Magistrate yamen was almost the same size as the place where Magistrate Zhang handled government affairs. The only difference was that Magistrate Zhang's court was located on the central axis of the yamen.

Ye Xiaotian walked into County Supervisor Yu's detention room and bowed, "This lowly official greets County Supervisor Daren!"

Yu Junting smiled, "Imperial Judge Ye need not be so polite, sit down and talk."

"Thank you, Daren!"

Ye Xiaotian retreated a few steps to the side and sat down on an official hat chair. Only then did he raise his head to look at Yu Junting. He saw that Yu Junting was looking at him with an amused expression. Seeing Ye Xiaotian raise his head, Yu Junting smiled, "This lowly official called you for a chat, did it affect your work?"

Ye Xiaotian bowed slightly and said, "This lowly official has just finished a case. Before the next hearing date, there are only two cases waiting to be tried, so it doesn't matter. I just don't know … what instructions does County Supervisor Daren have for summoning this lowly official to see you? "

Yu Junting said, "Nothing much, it's just that … the punishment hall hasn't had a commoner come to court for many years. Not long after Imperial Judge Ye took office, you were able to open up the situation, making our Tongren Province punishment hall no longer just a decoration. This lowly official is very pleased. I called you here to understand the affairs of the punishment hall."

On the way here, Ye Xiaotian had been guessing why Yu Junting was looking for him. Yesterday, Yu Junting had just "forced the abdication" and angered Magistrate Zhang. Today was the first day that he was acting as the magistrate, and he had come looking for him without rhyme or reason. Could it be that he wanted to use him as an example to establish his authority?

Ye Xiaotian became vigilant. Weighing his words, he introduced the current situation of the punishment hall to Yu Junting. Towards the end, he suddenly remembered the special identity of the criminal who had just taken over the major criminal case. His heart couldn't help but be moved. Maybe the person who solved the problem was right in front of him.

Ye Xiaotian took the opportunity to say, "Today there are three cases, two civil and one criminal. As for this criminal case, after this lowly official has finished the trial, I still need to consult the County Supervisor. Since the County Supervisor is asking, this lowly official will first consult the County Supervisor, so that when the trial begins, I will have a clear idea. "

Yu Junting originally wanted to exchange some pleasantries and then change to the main topic. He didn't expect that Ye Xiaotian would take it seriously and actually report the case to him seriously. Yu Junting quite enjoyed Ye Xiaotian's respectful and cautious attitude. He changed to a more comfortable sitting position and said, "What is it? Say it!"

Ye Xiaotian said in a low voice, "There is a young thug who accidentally met a commoner girl from Sanli Village in the north of the city. He loved her beauty and often pestered her. Just the day before yesterday, the young thug was drunk and thought of that commoner girl. He gathered a group of hoodlums and rushed to Sanli Village on horseback. They broke into the house and beat up the parents, causing them to be seriously injured and unconscious. Then they gang-raped the commoner girl. When the villagers heard the news, they rushed over and the young thug and his group fled in panic. Today, a villager entered the city and coincidentally recognized a passerby as one of the debauchees. He was captured and brought to the yamen to complain. "

This case itself wasn't difficult, so why did Ye Xiaotian need to consult him? Yu Junting's heart was alarmed. He lightly knitted his brows and looked at Ye Xiaotian suspiciously, "What's so strange about this case that you need to consult me?"

Ye Xiaotian said word by word, "This Young Thug is a person of great status, so he has the right to be exempted!"

An ominous premonition suddenly rose in Yu Junting's heart, "It can't be that he's a descendant of my Yu Clan, right? All these years, I've always been strict with my clan's descendants. Could it be … could it be that a descendant of my clan dared to be respectful in front of me but did such a thing behind my back? "

Ye Xiaotian said, "This young thug is the son of a peasant!"

Yu Junting suddenly stood up and said in shock, "The son of a peasant?"

Ye Xiaotian nodded and said, "That's right! That peasant … is surnamed Zhang! "

"Surnamed Zhang, Zhang Tushe?"

Yu Junting came to a sudden realization. After thinking about it carefully, he came to another realization.

Tushe might not be the Zhang Yi Zhang Tushe who had already led troops to Tixi. Zhang Yi was someone with a status similar to the "premier" of the Tongren Zhang family, so his authority was very heavy. And the direct brothers and uncles of the chieftains were all Tushe. Since this Tushe was surnamed Zhang, then he must be Magistrate Zhang's brother or uncle.

Yu Junting was the first to understand. He suddenly understood Ye Xiaotian's difficulty. Chieftains and peasant families enjoyed special privileges. If it wasn't a family of equal status, but a native under the rule, even if they were beaten to death, they would only be fined a bit of money. It was against the rules to punish them.

The second realization was that she thought she finally understood Ye Xiaotian's intentions. It turned out that Ye Xiaotian didn't submit his sincerity to her yesterday not because he didn't want to submit to her, but because he cared too much about his face. He felt that submitting his sincerity would be too submissive. Now he was beating around the bush and using the method of making things difficult for the Zhang family to show his loyalty.

Otherwise, how could there be such a coincidence. A case happened the day before yesterday, and coincidentally, the criminal was caught today. It was likely that the case had happened long ago, but because it involved the Zhang family, Ye Xiaotian didn't dare to punish them. Now that he saw that the Zhang family had lost their power, he wanted to hug her thigh. That's why he made the painful decision to use this as a proof of his loyalty.

Yu Junting despised Ye Xiaotian's character in her heart, but her face was full of smiles. She walked to Ye Xiaotian's side and gently lifted Ye Xiaotian's chin with her ivory fan. She said sweetly, "Ye Xiaotian, you've really put in a lot of effort. But, I admire your slyness and shamelessness, hee hee … "

Ye Xiaotian's face was blank, "Even though in this yamen full of old and corrupt people, someone as young and handsome as me is considered a rare fresh peach, but … What does County Supervisor Yu mean by this? Even if it's flirting, shouldn't it be me lifting her chin? Who the f * ck is the real man here? "