The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

In the early morning of the next day, Luzhou City woke up early in the morning breeze. Apart from starting a day's life, the ordinary people in the city also had one more thing in their minds; It was unremarkable at first, but there were dozens of fights and fights on the street every day, which attracted much attention because it involved Su Ji's young master and the magistrate's office.

From the time of Chen, one after another, people came to hang around in front of the government office, looking for a good place to watch from the sidelines; approaching Si time, the front of the lobby of the Luzhou government office was already blocked, and nearly seven or eight hundred Luzhou residents gathered in front of the hall. There are not many places to watch, and the only ones who are eligible to enter the lobby to watch are the family members of the people involved in the case, except for Li Chong and other officials. Those who didn't see them crowded and squeezed in, until the crowd was so crowded that the people were yelling and cursing, if it wasn't at the gate of the government office, they might have started beating each other long ago.

Everyone in the Su family appeared on the stage except Mrs. Wang who was kept in the dark. They were arranged to stand in the area inside the lobby early on, and on the opposite side were several presidents of the chamber of commerce. With what identity to occupy a place in the lobby.

At that time, the servants walked around the hall with killing sticks in their hands, and forced the crowded people back a few steps by dancing with sticks in their hands. They drew horizontal lines with yellow mud powder, and the head of the squad wearing a high crown shouted: " The magistrate is about to be promoted to the hall, please keep quiet and be careful not to crowd and make noise. Anyone who makes loud noises will be dragged into the lobby and punished with a [-]-stick stick. Anyone who crosses the yellow line will be punished in the same way. All folks and elders can hear clearly. Don't blame me for saying that Not in advance."

The people did not dare to disobey the government's order, and those standing in the front row hurriedly lowered their heads to check the distance between themselves and the yellow line. Even if they were still half a step away, they still took half a step back just to be on the safe side.

The yamen servants returned to the two sides, and the team leader gave a long cry: "I am promoted to the hall..."

The two rows of yamen servants beat the ground with sticks, making rhythmic 'duk-duk' sounds, and shouted in unison: "Wei...wu..."

At the side door of the lobby was a government servant with a tall brocade curtain. A group of people came out in a single file. The person in front had a long face, black beard, sunken cheeks and small eyes. Wearing a black veil, wearing high white-soled high boots, he walks with his chest up and his head up, looking extraordinary. This person is Zhu Shiyong, the prefect of Luzhou.

Following behind are the team members of Tongzhi, Fucheng, Chief Bookkeeper, Shiye, etc. It can be said that such a small case is gathered together, which can be said to be extremely important.

Zhu Shiyong took square steps to the lobby office and stood still, a pair of small eyes slowly swept down the hall. Wherever he looked, the original "buzzing" of the people suddenly stopped, and the official authority was really not small.

Zhu Shiyong lifted up his official robe with satisfaction, and Shi Shiran sat down under the large plaque of "Mirror High Hanging". He sat down, and behind him, the Tongzhi, Fucheng, and Zhuzhu sat down behind their respective cases. No seat, stand beside the magistrate at any time.

Zhu Shiyong slapped the gavel, coughed and said: "The case of Su Jin, a young man from Luzhou, beating Zhu Tianshun, a talented scholar from Luzhou, is now going to trial. You and your family members are not allowed to make noise. Anyone who violates the law will be dealt with in court. "

The yamen servants shouted in unison: "Mighty..."

The shouting stopped, Zhu Shiyong shouted: "Bring the plaintiff and the defendant to court."

The yamen servants brought out Su Jin and Zhu Tianshun, who had been waiting in the side room, and ordered them to stand still in the hall. Seeing that Su Jin did not kneel down, Zhu Shiyong's expression sank and he shouted: "The accused Su Jin, Why didn't you kneel when you saw me?"

Su Jin bowed his hands and saluted: "The grassroots Su Jin has seen the magistrate, dare to ask if the magistrate will try this case today?"

Zhu Shiyong frowned and said, "Don't you know that this prefecture is the magistrate of Luzhou? Of course I'm the one who will try in my lobby. I ask you why I don't kneel, and why do you ask me this? Do you want me to teach you first?" How do you respect the magistrate?"

Yan Biyun, Li Chong, and others who were listening around were secretly anxious. Su Jin was caught as soon as he came up. He has no official status and no fame, and it is a crime not to kneel when he sees an official. If Zhu Shiyong uses this to punish Su Jin with ten sticks, no one can refute that he is using public affairs for personal gain.

Everyone was worrying about Su Jin's ignorance, only to hear Su Jin salute again and said: "My lord, please calm down, the grass people are doing this for your sake, your lord shouldn't be sitting in this hall to try cases today, so you can't pay your respects."

"Shut up..." Zhu Shiyong was furious, this kid was talking nonsense, and actually said that he shouldn't be trying the case in this hall, it was extremely rude.

"Come here, beat the prisoner Su Jin with twenty sticks to punish him for contempt of the court and his reckless speech." Zhu Shiyong shouted.

Two yamen servants shouted and stepped forward, grabbed Su Jin's arm and pressed it to the ground. Everyone in the Su family turned pale in shock, but there was nothing they could do; Crazy, actually messing around in the lobby, isn't this looking for a draw?Originally, it took a lot of thinking to move his board, but now he pouted his butt and sent it to the door.

Su Jin laughed loudly and said: "It turns out that's true. The laws of the imperial court are like a decoration for the prefect. It seems that the prefect is the god of Luzhou. The grassroots will be punished if they can't finish their words. It's like a bright mirror hanging high. Hahaha."

The surrounding audience turned pale with shock. Su Jin's words directly pointed out that Zhu Zhifu had broken the law, and even put a big hat on Zhu Zhifu for disrespecting the laws of the Song Dynasty.

Zhu Shiyong was furious, and wanted to order Su Jin to be severely punished immediately, but hundreds of pairs of eyes stared at him, and Su Jin vaguely put a big hat on him. If he beat him forcefully, he would be angry, but It ends up being a crowd talking, saying that he is using power to oppress others, so it doesn't look good if it spreads.

Zhu Shiyong suppressed his anger and said with a sneer: "The criminal Su Jin, you must explain what you said today to the official, and let it be clear and reasonable, otherwise you will not be able to get away with the crime of slandering an official appointed by the court. "

Su Jin stretched his arms, straightened his clothes and said, "May I ask you, who is this so-called plaintiff?"

Zhu Shiyong thought in his heart: This kid really can pretend to be stupid. Listening to his meandering tone is worth adding ten boards later.

"The plaintiff, who are you and why are you here, tell him." Zhu Shiyong decided to cooperate with this kid first.

Zhu Tianshun's face was still wrapped with a white gauze. Since the part where Su Jin patted him was on the face, the injury was not serious, but the wound area was not small. A white gauze could not cover the wound, so the doctor had to wrap it around his head back and forth. After counting, only the eyes, nostrils and mouth are left outside Zhu Tianshun, looking like a zombie.

"I, Zhu Tianshun, sue Su Jin, a troublemaker in the Luzhou government, for committing murder on the streets, trying to control the common people to death. Please forgive me." Zhu Tianshun thought he was smart and added the words that Su Jin wanted to control him to death, trying to make things worse.

Su Jin chuckled and said, "Mr. Zhu, you have to be careful what you say. What you said just now is suspected of false accusation. We will settle this account later. Let me ask you now, what is your relationship with the magistrate in the hall?"

Zhu Tianshun didn't know what he meant, so he looked around in a daze to ask for help, but he couldn't lie about this matter, the whole city knew that he was the son of the magistrate's yamen, so could it be possible to deny that he is the seed of the Zhu family now?

So Zhu Tianshun said honestly: "The magistrate is my father, you kid is asking endlessly about irrelevant things, do you want to delay and wait for someone to rescue you? Let me tell you, you are going to die today."

Su Jin clapped his hands together and said, "The yamen's tone is so loud." Then he turned his head to the crowd outside and said, "Fathers and fellow villagers, testify, this man just said is the son of the magistrate, right?"

Everyone didn't know what he was going to do, but the words were the facts they saw with their own eyes, and they all said: "I have heard it all."

Su Jin turned to Zhu Shiyong and said, "I don't know if the magistrate has any objection to what Mr. Zhu said?"

Zhu Shiyong was full of anger, this kid seemed to be a character in the lobby, talking nonsense, he slapped the gavel and said: "What kind of tricks are you talking about, if you keep talking, I will no longer Forgive you."

Su Jin stuck out his tongue and said: "It seems that my lord admits that I have a father-son relationship with this Mr. Zhu, so I will recite a passage below, and I ask the magistrate to learn from it."

Without waiting for Zhu Shiyong to speak, he recited aloud by himself: "The prison officer has a relative relationship with the prisoner, including those whose in-laws are in the fifth service, and those whose in-laws are above great merit. , all must listen to the call. The prison officials and the prisoners... and teach teachers, and they are the governors, governors, and county magistrates of the headquarters...all must listen to and change. The prison officials and the prisoners... and have enemies Those who are suspected must be listened to and exchanged."

Most people were confused, but this remark was like a thunderbolt to the ears of several officials in the hall. A man of medium build in the crowd in the hall also nodded slightly, smiled and said nothing.