Chapter 166 Punishment (1)
Song Zhenping is twenty years old now, but all his past life he has lived for others.
He couldn't imagine what the meaning of his existence would be if something happened to his younger brothers and sisters.
The fat black boy was stunned for a moment when he saw Song Zhenping suddenly burst into tears.
He just thought he was in trouble, so he quickly sneaked to his young master and didn't dare to say anything more.
Zhao Tingduo, dressed as a soldier, did not say a word, but just watched silently what happened in the Song family.
Song Zhenping really couldn't stand it.
During this period of time, he has been trying his best to find ways to make himself capable and responsible.
But everything that happened was still more than he could bear.
Song Liyun also felt helpless and could only comfort him kindly: "Brother, as long as we are all okay, it's good. Everyone has their own way of living and their own strengths. You can't expect yourself to do everything well."
Half a year ago, Song Zhenping was a young man who had never even left the village and was worried about half a piece of coarse grain steamed bun.
Now not only do you need to accept the treasure bag and heavenly book, you also have to ride a war horse, experience murder and arson, and watch those people bleed to death.
It's good enough that he can persist in this kind of thing that tempers his mind and challenges his moral bottom line.
The distance between them would cause anyone to collapse, let alone a young man like Song Zhenping who had just come into contact with the world.
Song Zhenping was so happy when he first started living a good life, but now he is so miserable.
He wanted to become powerful all of a sudden.
I never thought that everything I come into contact with now may be something that an ordinary person will rarely encounter in his lifetime. It is not so easy to achieve.
He has his own strengths and strengths, but he just doesn't use them in the right place.
Now that the people caught in Tianxiang Tower need to be dealt with, although the whole matter is under the supervision of Captain Luo of the garrison, the Song family, as the victims, also needs to be present.
Song Liyun comforted Song Zhenping and asked him to stay and do what he could.
For example, cleaning up damaged items inside and outside the house and comforting Xiao An.
He followed Captain Luo to the Suijin Guild Hall to deal with the matters of the rice storekeeper and the tax collectors in the county government office.
The Suijin Guild Hall was once again packed with people.
This time, Captain Luo sat at the top, with Old Man Zhang and the frightened Tax Collector Sun sitting on both sides.
Xue Zhuang, Hu Qing, and the victim Song Liyun stood further back.
Kneeling on the ground in the middle were the heavily tied-up shopkeeper Mi and several men disguised as yamen runners.
Except for one person who was hacked to death by Han Ming and one who was scratched by Hei Jin, Manager Mi and the other eight people were all captured.
He pretended to be an official to deceive merchants, broke into private homes with ill intentions, and was caught red-handed. He was punished for multiple crimes and there was no way he could defend himself.
However, if you want to punish someone, you have to go through the procedures first, and you can't just "wrongly accuse" someone.
At this time, Shopkeeper Mi had lost his initial arrogance. He knelt on the ground and cried tears and snot.
"Master Baihu, there must be a misunderstanding here.
"Mr. Xue agreed to sell the vermicelli to Tianxianglou, but he broke the contract and sold it to someone else. I was so angry that I came here to ask about it."
Shopkeeper Mi knew that he could not escape being punished, so he could only put aside the matter of those "yamen runners" and talk about the contract with Xue Zhuang first.
This changed the charge from impersonating an official to a business dispute.
"Misunderstand!"
Seeing that he was still quibbling, Captain Luo was so angry that his eyes bulged out, and he slammed his hand on the table, making the teacups clink. "Well, since you mentioned a contract, then tell me one by one.
Show me your deed, and I'll clear your name."
When Manager Mi heard that Captain Luo wanted the contract, he was stunned.
He had torn up the contract when he threatened Xue Zhuang. Now that Captain Luo wanted to see it, he certainly wouldn't be able to produce anything.
Captain Luo saw that Shopkeeper Mi was just dumbfounded and clearly lying, so he got furious: "You're playing me for a fool! Come on, give him ten military sticks first. Let him learn a lesson and understand the ruthlessness of military law."
A soldier immediately took out a wooden club thicker than his arm. Shopkeeper Mi's face turned pale and he said, "Captain, I am a commoner, not a soldier. I cannot be subjected to military law."
If such a thick wooden stick hit him, he would have broken his back if he was hit by it, as he was not one of those rough soldiers.
Captain Luo snorted coldly, "Who said I can't use military law? I don't believe that if you make a mistake in Suijin Town, I won't be able to punish you with my military stick."
Shopkeeper Mi no longer dared to be stubborn. Seeing that the soldier only knew how to act arrogantly, he quickly pleaded with Sun Wuming beside him, "Mr. Sun, please save me. You saw the contract when Mr. Hong filed a complaint. It clearly states that Shuijin Town must sell 1,000 kilograms of vermicelli to Tianxianglou every month, and it is not allowed to sell it to anyone else."
He blinked desperately at Sun Wuming, trying to escape.
Sun Wuming's face turned pale at this time. He was in a difficult situation and could hardly save himself, so how could he dare to speak for Manager Mi?
But after accepting the money from Hong Jingtian, I can't just sit there without saying a word. As for whether it will be useful or not, I'll just leave it to fate.
He could only stand up and grumble, "Captain, when Hong Jingtian came to the county government office to report the case, I casually took a look at the deed, and it seemed... probably... there seemed to be this sentence..."
Although the Wu Dynasty valued civil officials over military officials, and civil officials looked down on military generals, Sun Wuming was just a low-ranking official, not even an official. In front of the sixth-rank military officer Bai Hu, he had to call himself a low-ranking official.
Upon hearing Sun Wuming's testimony, Captain Luo's mouth twitched, and he looked at him in disbelief. "Did I hear correctly? After the plaintiff reported the case, you didn't even take the important physical evidence and let the plaintiff take it himself. You didn't even take a closer look. Is this how you judge a case? If you want to shield someone equally guilty, I'll punish you with my military stick."
Sun Wuming's face turned from pale to blue in an instant, and he sat down straight and dared not say another word.
This was indeed a violation, and he deserved to be beaten up by Captain Luo for any reason.
A wise man never suffers a loss in front of him. He cannot afford to lose his life for those fifty taels of silver.
Shopkeeper Mi was dragged out of the guild hall by the soldiers, his pants were pulled down, and he was pushed into the street and beaten.
The arm-thick wooden stick made a dull sound when hitting the flesh and had no deterrent effect at all. After only two hits, the shopkeeper Komi's pig-killing-like screams stopped abruptly and he fainted.
In the military camp, executions are carried out by comrades, and the key is to be quick, accurate and ruthless. After the beating, it's over without any humiliation.
Therefore, there was no custom of pouring cold water on him to wake him up before beating him, but instead he was allowed to faint and suffer less pain.
The two soldiers didn't care whether Manager Mi was unconscious or dead. They beat him with ten sticks and dragged him back to the yard.
At this time, the unconscious Shopkeeper Mi fell heavily to the ground like a bag of rice. He looked uninjured, but his soft legs showed that he was seriously injured.
Captain Luo was used to seeing bloody heads and had no interest in beating people.
He looked at the men in blue-gray uniforms kneeling beside Shopkeeper Mi and asked, "Sun Wuming, are these yamen runners?"
Sun Wubai's face was blank: "No!"
(End of this chapter)
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