Chapter 844 A Dream of Youth 376
The spring day was bright and beautiful. The roadside flowers and trees were lush and green, and the wind carried the fragrance of flowers and grass. The jingling of bells under the eaves of the carriage and the fresh scent of flowers and grass wafted into the carriage through a corner of the curtain that had been blown open, mingling with the fragrance of ink.
Qingxu ground the ink. This carriage was specially made, very stable, and not bumpy at all, making it convenient for Xie Ning to work inside.
Looking up, Qingxu saw Xie Ning reading a letter, his brows furrowed. She glanced at the white cakes in the basket beside him and smiled at Xie Ning.
“Girl, that young lady Bu Bu is quite amusing, she actually brought you this white cake to coax children. However, I heard that Luzhou white cake is also called 'hundred-year cake.' If a new member is added to the family, the host will steam several baskets of white cake to entertain the guests on the baby's first birthday, wishing the baby a long and healthy life. It is a good omen.”
Distracted, Xie Ning also focused his attention on the white cake. It was as white as snow with a red dot in the center. It was soft and elastic, sweet and tender, and melted in the mouth with a refreshing taste.
"Bu Bu is a young child with a pure heart." This white cake must be one of her favorite foods.
Although he was momentarily distracted, Xie Ning quickly focused his attention back on the contents of the letter. This letter was sent by Qiu Xiaoniangzi from Yizhou, who knew that Deng Yin was coming to Luzhou to find Xie Ning, and then asked Deng Yin to bring it.
Besides showing concern, he also told Xie Ning about a case: the case of a husband murderer.
In Yizhou, there was a woman who lived with her widowed mother at her parents' home. Later, her widowed mother passed away, and during the mourning period, her uncle arranged for her to marry a man as his second wife. The woman was unwilling, but the wedding date had already been set. In order to get rid of this marriage, she slashed the man more than a dozen times, but each slash avoided vital organs, only severing one of his fingers.
According to the law, murdering one's husband is a crime punishable by death.
The local magistrate also made the same judgment, but after the judgment was reported to the prefectural government and reviewed by the prefect of Yizhou, he believed that the woman was not yet married, but was on the day of betrothal, and had not yet removed her mourning for her mother, so she should be treated as an ordinary person.
Not long ago, Yan Xi issued a new decree that those who attempt to murder but fail and cause injury can have their punishment reduced if they surrender to the authorities.
Therefore, according to the newly issued decree, the woman's sentence can be reduced by two degrees, sparing her from death and avoiding hanging.
The case has now been submitted to the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review. Qiu Yu's letter was twofold: first, to ask Xie Ning for his opinion on the case, and second, to subtly remind Xie Ning of the current political landscape in the capital.
Xie Ning pressed the button on the letter and didn't reply for the time being; this case was probably not that simple.
Yan Xi has only been on the throne for a year and still insists on the new laws, which has aroused dissatisfaction among many people, especially the Empress Dowager and the old party.
Her own power in the court was no match for hers, and the imperial power was severely hampered.
We were still too hasty.
Qingxu pursed her lips and opened the small incense burner to change the sandalwood incense. Xie Ning hadn't had much rest in the past year, with letters from all over the country falling onto her desk, all of which she needed to deal with.
He also had to supervise the battle and discuss strategies against the enemy with Xu Hongying. Xu Hongying was not good at using tactics on the battlefield, while Xie Ning had been reading military books every day since he was in Hedong, so he was better than Xu Hongying in this aspect.
Moreover, the gunpowder produced by the Military Equipment Bureau proved very useful during this campaign to quell the rebellion in Sichuan. However, there were also many aspects that needed improvement, and Xie Ning had to design and modify them one by one based on the actual combat situation.
If gunpowder is the spear, then city walls are the shield.
Xie Ning is currently on the offensive, but one must consider the long-term implications before taking any action. She still needs to think about how the city walls can better defend against gunpowder attacks.
Xie Ning had already begun to think about this problem when the Northern Jin army attacked the capital, and he even went to the Ministry of Works to consult several officials with experience in building city walls.
Then, the design was gradually improved step by step during the suppression of the rebellion in Sichuan.
In fact, Xie Ning's design for the city wall was very rough. She mostly had ideas, but because of her lack of knowledge in architecture, she was unable to consider some external factors.
So when she returned to the capital, she still had to go to the Ministry of Works for advice. Her father was there, and she had visited the Ministry of Works many times before when she was designing textile machines, so she was very familiar with the place.
Xie Ning didn't expect that after returning to the capital, she would hear the news that Xie Wangzhi was going to be transferred, and the place of transfer was Luzhou, which she had just left.
Xie Ning broke free from Chen Wanniang's embrace, her eyes wide with surprise. "Father, you've been demoted?"
"Nonsense!" Chen Wanniang tapped Xie Ning's forehead in an annoyed tone.
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