Rule of law
Chapter 95: Rule of Law
After officials from various prefectures and counties in the Central Plains took office, the people gradually began to return to their normal lives. Those who took advantage of the situation to fish in troubled waters and rob others were all sentenced to the maximum sentence after being caught.
Those criminals who originally had some connections in the local area were still clamoring at first, but after seeing with their own eyes that their backers were also entering the dungeon one after another, they began to behave themselves.
The personal soldiers sent to various places to serve as minor officials also trained the newly recruited constables every day. Everyone improved rapidly and became more motivated to catch people.
When Chu Huaibei went to Fengjing, he brought the sweet potato seeds with him and directly grew the seedlings in Fengjing to facilitate the later distribution of the seedlings.
There were another thousand troops stationed in various places. When the potato seedlings were distributed, everyone was well behaved and no one dared to snatch or make a scene to ask for more.
Under the serious tone of the guards, he was as obedient as a chicken.
"Which village?"
"Wangjia Village."
"What's your name?"
"Wang Dazhuang."
The personal guards stood at the front in armor, checking the list according to the information of the visitor, and putting a tick behind the name if it matched.
"Take a bundle yourself. Has the village chief taught you how to plant it?"
"Yes, I have taught you that."
"Okay, next one."
Within half a month, we worked overtime to distribute all the potato seedlings to the people.
The personal guards could choose not to wear the simple robes of the minor officials and continue to wear armor. This was the freedom Chu Huaibei gave them.
Most of the personal soldiers still wear armor to work in the government office every day. This method is most effective against well-established families.
The former ruffians began to mend their ways and were forced to farm.
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"Sir! County Magistrate! County Magistrate Zhang!"
The constable rushed into the county government gate while running and shouting.
"What's the matter? Oh my god, tell me slowly."
The county magistrate, who was already over 70 years old, began to have a headache because of the soul-calling cries of the prisoner.
"Sir, there's a fight going on in Maojia Village! Everyone in the village is fighting! We don't have enough manpower to separate them!"
The constable originally heard someone report that there was a fight in Maojia Village. Thinking that the problem should not be serious, he took three brothers to check it out.
But what he didn't expect was that the whole village was divided into two factions and fighting each other, which was beyond the ability of the three brothers to stop. He immediately ran back to inform the county magistrate.
"These guys are trying to break my old bones."
"Take my warrant and ask the Zhenbei Army to come over. I, an old man, will be there soon."
"Yes, sir, I will go right away."
The constable took the warrant, went to the stable, led the only old horse, jumped on the horse and ran towards the place where the Zhenbei Army was stationed.
"Hey, now that you're all here, we don't have to send anyone to notify them. Come with me to Maojia Village."
When County Magistrate Zhang saw four men in armor coming to the main hall to find him after hearing the commotion, he admired them in his heart, thinking that they were worthy of being the prince's men, as they took the initiative to come out to help at the slightest commotion.
By the time the personal guards and the elderly Magistrate Zhang arrived at Maojia Village, the Zhenbei Army had already taken control of everyone in the village.
County Magistrate Zhang took a quick look at the two groups of people. There were about ten people lying on the ground, motionless, and it was unknown whether they were dead or alive.
The women all had disheveled hair and bruises on their faces, while the men had bruised faces and noses, and they were holding up their bodies with a look of pain on their faces.
For the first time, County Magistrate Zhang was thankful that he had sharp eyes and could see everything clearly.
Standing between the two groups of people, he still didn't recognize the village chief.
"What's the matter? How dare you fight like this? Do you all want to go to the county jail?"
"Sir, I am the head of Maojia Village. This is not our fault. It was those outsiders who started the trouble."
Village chief Mao, whose face was beaten like a pig's head, stood up and answered.
"You're conflating right and wrong in front of the adults and slandering them! It was you who cut off the irrigation water first, so we're here to argue with you."
"What do you mean by cutting off the water source? Don't talk nonsense. We have never done that. Everyone is watering the stream. The stream is so small. It's not normal for the water to run out."
"You're still quibbling. It was you who blocked the water flow upstream with huge rocks!"
"What proof do you have that we did it? I told you that you deliberately placed the boulder there so you could cause trouble. You outsiders have been hostile to us for a long time!"
"You despicable villain!..."
"Alright, everyone, shut up."
After listening to a few words, County Magistrate Zhang guessed what was going on. The two sides had been holding grudges for a long time, and now it was the sowing season, and this incident happened, so they let out a fuss.
"Go check the stream they mentioned and see if there's any sign of it being cut off."
"Go to Gaojia Village next door and call all the villagers over there."
County Magistrate Zhang ordered the constables around him to take orders and do their work immediately.
An hour later, people from the next village had gathered and the constables who went to check the water source confirmed that there were signs of a giant object blocking the stream upstream.
"Today, I am here to hear a case. If you have any grievances, please speak up and I will handle it impartially in front of everyone."
"Let's start with your Gaojia Village."
The personal guards went to the nearest civilian's house and brought a stool for Magistrate Zhang to sit on. He was afraid that the old man would get sick again when he returned to the yamen if he stood for too long.
The people in Gaojia Village had heard the rumors a long time ago, but no one dared to come and mediate. All the men, women, young and old in the village joined in the fight, and whoever was pulled in would be in the wrong.
I didn’t expect that the county magistrate would ignore the affairs of Maojia Village and come to seek justice for them first.
While everyone was still considering, a thin woman rushed to Magistrate Zhang and knelt down to kowtow, regardless of others' obstruction.
"I beg you to redress my grievances. My youngest daughter, Juan'er, was abducted into marriage by the Gao Dalang family from our village a few days ago. She hasn't been seen in ten days. I just couldn't find Juan'er in the crowd."
Gao Dalang stepped out and knelt before Magistrate Zhang.
"Sir, I have found a matchmaker to formally propose marriage to the Wu family and have also given the betrothal gifts. Since the mother and daughter accepted the betrothal gifts, doesn't that mean they agree?"
"That's not forced marriage!"
"Sir, I rejected the matchmaker when he came to my house, and I didn't accept his betrothal gift. What's more, I didn't even see the betrothal gift!"
"Of course not, sir. I sent her a stone of grain. There should be some left now. Send someone to her kitchen and you'll know."
Widow Wu was thin and had eyes that were frighteningly large. When she heard Gao Dalang's words that distorted right and wrong, she became so angry that her eyes became bloodshot.
"That's not a betrothal gift at all. That's the grain I borrowed from your father a while ago!"
"What belongs to my father is mine, so why can't it count? Didn't my father say at the time that there's no need to pay it back, not even the grain, but of course the people!"
"You are a family of heartless people, bullying my orphans and widows!"
"Where is my Juan'er? Why isn't she here? Give Juan'er back to me!"
"Everyone, be quiet. Go to Gao Dalang's house to see if Juan'er is there. Bring her over."
County Magistrate Zhang listened to the testimonies of the two calmly, without making any judgment, and decided to find Juan'er, the focus of the case.
The detectives picked up a man from Gaojia Village and asked him to lead the way, and quickly rushed to the village.
"This is Gao Dalang's home."
The man who was forced to lead the way was panting heavily and speaking while holding onto the fence outside the yard.
"You wait here and don't run around."
The detectives stood outside the door and did not push it open immediately.
"Okay, I won't run away. I'll wait here for you gentlemen."
Everyone then pushed the door open and checked every room, but they didn't find anyone.
Everyone looked at each other, and the leading constable hurried out and pulled the villagers at the door to ask.
"Where is your home? Lead us there."
"Ah? There are no Tibetans in my family!"
"We're not looking for anyone, we're thirsty and want some water."
The constable spoke slowly and calmly, as if he was just thirsty.
"Oh, please follow me, my home is over there."
The villagers led the constable back to their home, scooped out five bowls of water from the small tank in the kitchen, and handed them to the constable one by one.
The leader finished drinking the water, returned the bowl to him, grabbed a hemp rope in the yard, and tied up the man who had packed up the bowl and turned around to leave.
"Hey, gentlemen, why are you tying me up? I haven't done anything wrong."
The villager was tied from head to toe by the three men and asked unwillingly while lying on the ground.
"Oh, just lie here quietly."
After the leader finished speaking, he waved his hand and asked the five people to separate and search house by house starting from his house.
"Boss! Boss! Everyone, come quickly!"
Hearing the shouts, the other four people quickly rushed in the direction of the sound.
In the cellar, I saw a naked girl with her hands tied behind her back. Her exposed skin was covered with blue and red marks. Her hair was disheveled, her cheeks were red and swollen, and there were bloodstains at the corners of her mouth.
The person is already cold.
"brute!"
The youngest constable couldn't help but curse.
"Go inside to find a bed and quilt, and put the person on the cart."
"Yes, Boss."
When the villagers saw the detectives pushing a cart covered with a quilt, their originally stiff necks instantly softened.
When the people of Gaojia Village saw them coming from afar, they found that the villagers who had been caught to lead the way had been tied up and were still pushing a cart. The expressions of some of them changed drastically.
"Sir, the man was found dead in the cellar."
Widow Wu's kneeling body suddenly fell to the ground.
Among the outsiders in Maojia Village there was a traveling doctor. His treatment depended entirely on luck, but he was good at waking up a person who had fainted from anger.
"Go back to the county government office and call the coroner."
"Yes, sir!"
After a murder occurred, the constable did not dare to delay. He pulled the old horse that was unwilling to run anymore and urged it to go back.
After wasting so much time, the few people from Maojia Village who were lying on the ground pretending to be corpses began to move their hands and feet gently.
"Sir, please help me!"
After waking up, Widow Wu knelt down and began to kowtow. After a few kowtows, her forehead began to turn blue.
"I will uphold justice, so please stop kowtowing."
County Magistrate Zhang couldn't bear to see Widow Wu crying.
Gao Dalang, who was kneeling beside the villagers, pinched the hem of his clothes and forced himself to calm down when the villagers were tied up and the cart appeared.
After the autopsy, the coroner found that the deceased had been beaten for several days and the cause of death was a broken cervical spine.
No one from the two villages was surprised by this; there was only indifference and pity.
"Gao Dalang, the person was found at your house. Do you have anything else to say?"
"Sir, I locked her in the cellar just to starve her for a few meals. Who knows how she died?"
"Who gave you the right to detain others at will?"
"Sir, how can you say she is someone else? She is the wife I married."
"Who among you attended Gao Dalang's wedding banquet?"
County Magistrate Zhang looked at everyone present.
"Since no one got to enjoy the wedding banquet, how can you prove that you married her and not just robbed her?"
"Well, I'm planning to hold the wedding banquet next month."
"He's still trying to argue. He openly raped a woman and beat her to death. He's completely lawless. Come, tie him up and bring him back to the government office. Behead him tomorrow at noon."
"Sir, sir, I feel wronged. Why am I not considered a daughter-in-law? This is the rule in this village!"
Gao Dalang struggled and cried out for justice when the constables were tying him up.
When Gao Dalang's parents saw that their son was about to be beheaded, they ignored the obstruction of the constables in front of them, struggled desperately to break free from the shackles, and crawled to their knees in front of the county magistrate.
"Sir, sir, this is unfair. This person is truly my daughter-in-law. No one wants her to die."
"Sir, if you don't believe me, just ask. This is how people in this village marry their daughters-in-law!"
The old couple hugged their son and cried loudly.
County Magistrate Zhang swept his eyes over the faces of everyone present.
"Are they telling the truth? You can get married without a matchmaker, a betrothal gift, or a wedding banquet? Then this person will be yours?"
The two village chiefs answered with courage.
"Sir, this is how it is in the countryside. There's nothing fancy about it."
"Sir, hasn't the betrothal gift been given? One stone of grain is considered a lot."
As soon as Village Chief Gao finished speaking, he was glared at by Village Chief Mao. What the hell are you talking about? How can you say that?
"Isn't that grain borrowed? How can it be considered a betrothal gift?"
"Sir, these outsiders are not worth going up!"
Village Chief Mao closed his eyes in despair. His face was so swollen that it was hard to tell whether his eyes were open or closed.
"Arrest everyone within three generations of Gao Dalang!"
"Sir, this is none of our business!"
"Sir, I'm wronged. I really didn't know anything about this!"
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"Shut up!"
County Magistrate Zhang had a gloomy face and looked intimidating without even getting angry.
"Okay, now it's your turn in Maojia Village. Does anyone have grievances to redress?"
Several outsiders stood up at once.
"Sir, my daughter was also forced to marry in this way!"
"Sir, my daughter was beaten to death by Village Chief Mao's nephew!"
"Sir, my youngest son stole eggs from Mao Dayong's house and was beaten to death!"
·······
All these things happened together and broke out together, leading to the village-wide fight today.
The coroner was diligently performing an autopsy. Five outsiders had been beaten to death, all wounded by clubs. When it came to the man from Maojia Village, he cried out as the coroner pressed on him and rolled over to avoid him.
All five people pretending to be corpses were identified at once, leaving only one real corpse.
The stranger on the opposite side was obviously even angrier.
County Magistrate Zhang brought all the people from the two villages back to the yamen and interrogated them for a whole month before he was able to sort out all the major and minor events.
In general, the locals gang up on outsiders. Outsiders often bring their families with them, with fewer than ten people in total. When faced with a problem, they are no match for the entire village of people with the same surname.
County Magistrate Zhang wrote a memorial detailing the entire matter and sent it to the Prince of Zhenbei.
As far as Chu Huaibei knew, this kind of thing happened to some extent in villages with newly migrated people, but it had never escalated to the level of a village-wide brawl.
Sitting in the study and thinking for a while, Chu Huaibei decided to use severe punishments in troubled times and abolish all the laws that were originally vague and whose sentencing depended entirely on the subjective consciousness of officials.
However, before that, she issued a decree: ten households were grouped into a group, and a collective responsibility system was implemented, with mutual supervision within and outside the group. If definite evidence of a crime was found, it could be reported to the local government office, and the reporter would receive a corresponding reward based on the severity of the incident.
But if the government investigates and finds it to be a false accusation, all members of the group will be punished.
Liang Song was then officially appointed as the Minister of Justice, in charge of important cases throughout the country, and at the same time organized the drafting of laws and the establishment of new bills.
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