Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 393 Trial of Sun Chuanting

"Clang clang clang!!!"

In the twelfth lunar month of winter, the sound of gongs and gongs woke up all the villagers in Huang Village, Shuntian Prefecture from their warm bedding.

With drooping eyelids, the pillars of every household rushed to Huangdian, which is the nominal village official's office.

There are more than 9 natural villages in Daming, and there are more than 7000 in Beizhili.

Since the eighth year of Apocalypse, Yumajian’s Huangdian has settled in more than 7000 natural villages in Beizhili. There are two people in the Huangdian, one is responsible for purchasing goods and the other is responsible for guarding the store.

These two people are actually the village officials of various natural villages, responsible for simple tax collection, goods sales and news notification.

Such a combination is currently only arranged in Beijing and five provinces including Beizhili, Shanxi, Liaodong, Shaanxi, Hexi, and Jiugang.

If there is no accident, such an arrangement will be carried out three years later in Yingzhou, Jiaozhi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and other places where the gentry are less powerful.

They exist to break the rule that the imperial power does not go to the countryside, and to convince the common people, apart from the necessities trade in the imperial store, what they need is to actively promote the policy of benefiting the people.

There are many policies that benefit the people, but the ones that really make people listen to them are actually policies about future generations.

The reason why the villagers of Huang Village hurried to Huangdian after being woken up was also because the Huangdian had released rumors a month ago.

The imperial court wants to promote official education in Beizhili, and this time the official education will be very cheap, and only need to pay less than a hundred books for books every year.

Although the people of Ming Dynasty have been deceived by the Ming court many times, since the first year of Tianqi, most of the policies announced by the court have benefited the people, especially for the people in the north, allocating land for disaster relief is a real thing.

Therefore, it may not be easy to say about other places in Ming Dynasty right now, but the people in the six northern provinces of Beijing have great trust in the imperial court's policies.

Among the six provinces in Beijing, Shuntian Prefecture, which also belongs to Northern Zhili, has the most trust in the imperial court's policies, because they are the first group of people to divide the land.

In just a quarter of an hour, the male owners of more than 200 households in Huang Village gathered at the village official's office.

In front of the village official's office, more than 200 male villagers came with their own benches, and the people in charge of the propaganda were two village officials named Zheng and Liu.

At this time, the two were standing in front of a large wooden sign, writing and drawing. Although they knew that many villagers were illiterate, they still wrote the relevant policies and the specially marked "80" number.

In order to facilitate illiterate people to buy things, prices in Arabic numerals are often posted on the shelves, and many villagers have long been aware of the meaning of Arabic numerals "1-10".

"Eighty? What?"

"Isn't it the cost of books?"

"Is it 80 Wen or [-] taels?"

"How could it be 80 taels? Who can afford 80 taels?"

"It's also..."

The villagers of Huang Village began chatting in a hurry, and Zheng Village Officials and Liu Village Officials also finished writing everything.

Village official Liu struck a gong, and all the villagers in Huang village immediately shut up, while village official Zheng also yelled loudly:

"Okay! I won't play tricks with you, and I'll go home and sleep early after I finish talking!"

As he spoke, Zheng village official pointed to the number "80" with a wooden stick, and said loudly:

"You all know about the official school, so I won't explain it. I'll just pick a few things and talk about them with you."

"First, the official school starts to register on the first day of the first month of the tenth year of the apocalypse, and the registration deadline is on the first day of the second month. If you can't apply, then the school will officially start on the first day of the third month."

"Our Huang Village has been moved to Qinghedian. The official school in Qinghedian has been cleaned up, and there are eleven other villages that have been drawn along with us, namely..."

Village official Zheng briefly introduced where Huangcun belongs to and where the official school goes to study, and then announced:

"This official school is restricted by the imperial court to be under the age of 15 and over seven years old. Normally, the official school is from the first day of February to the middle of June every year for the first semester, and the second semester is from the middle of August to the end of the twelfth lunar month. The rest of the time is summer vacation and winter vacation... ..."

Village official Zheng said, and wrote down the numbers "2-6" and "8-12", and then said:

"However, this year is the first year. In the first year, I will study one month less in the first semester, that is, from the first day of March to the middle of June."

"Simply put, it means studying for nine months a year and taking three months off for a total of five years. During the five years, only [-] wen for books will be charged each year, but be careful!"

Having said that, Zheng village official reminded:
"You all know that our village is fifty miles away from Qinghedian, right?"

"Our village is far away, and other villages are far away, so government schools can provide accommodation. Although the accommodation is free for students, they have to pay for food and drink."

"Needless to eat, you pack your own rice for your children to recite to the official school, and the official school will issue meal tickets."

"As for the food, you don't have to worry about it. The government school has its own field, and the children in each village take turns cooking. Each village only needs to produce poultry and livestock."

"Our Huang Village has been divided into three male and female pigs, and one hundred male and female poultry. We will discuss this later."

"In addition to these, the money for the paper and pens and inks of your own dolls must be paid by yourself. The paper and pens and inks are on the shelf at the village official's office, which is [-]% cheaper than the market price outside."

"You don't have to worry about not being able to see your child for a few months. People in the government school said that last semester there are Qingming, Shangsi, Dragon Boat Festival, and Qianqiu Festival. Each festival will be held for three days."

"In the next semester, there will be Double Ninth Festival, Winter Solstice, Cold Clothes Festival, Laba Festival, Kitchen God Festival, and Longevity Festival. Each festival will be held for three days. There will be ten festivals in total each year, for a total of 30 days."

"That can't be done!" Zheng village official hadn't finished speaking, an old man in the village stood up tremblingly:

"Didn't you only study for eight months?!"

"It's a combination of work and rest. By the way, let them come back to see you..." Zheng village official said helplessly, but some people in the village said:

"What to look at, see the end of the year, it is true that studying hard and getting fame will bring us happiness!"

"This is the order of the imperial court, if you can't do it, you can go to the private school by yourself!" Zheng village official was also annoyed, and waved his hand to send someone to study in the private school.

When he said this, the villagers became quiet. After all, going to a private school costs a few taels of silver a year, and looking at the current state, the government school is just a waste of some rice and wheat, eighty-style books, and some money for paper, pen and ink.

Seeing that the villagers were silent, Zheng village official continued:
"All school-age children have to go to the official school for five years. This is a mandatory regulation by the imperial court. Don't blame us for reporting if anyone doesn't go."

"Besides, after five years of studying, if you don't want to continue studying, the court will arrange work."

"Work? What kind of work?" Some people became curious, and the Zheng village official waved his hand and said:

"Anyway, it's better than you guys in the field, so you can earn six or seven taels of silver a year."

"That's not bad..." The man happily sat back, and Zheng village official shook his head helplessly seeing their virtue, and then divided the six pigs and two hundred chickens and ducks.

Two hundred chickens and ducks were produced from each household, and the six pigs were collected by the remaining people and village officials.

The village government still withholds half of the village's taxes every year. Although there are only a few hundred catties of rice and wheat, it can be scraped together.

In short, a group of people got together and divided the matter in half an hour. Some people didn't want to hand in, and they were immediately attacked by other groups.

The things were almost assembled, and the village official Zheng announced that they would drive the livestock to Qinghedian on the first day of February, and they hurriedly left.

They stayed in the village for more than a year, and they knew whether any family had children, so they all signed up on the spot.

What they did was a scene that was being staged by many village officials in Beizhili. Villages and towns, large and small, signed up one after another. When they signed up, the trial in Sichuan finally started.

When crackling firecrackers and fireworks bloomed all over the country, on the festive day of the first day of the first lunar month, Sun Chuanting was arraigned in the chief secretary's yamen.

In the yamen hall, officials from the six divisions gathered together, with more than ten people on the left and right, and four tables were placed in the hall.

Zhou Yanru sat on the highest seat, and below him were Wen Tiren, Lu Wenzhao, and Li Yongzhen.

The officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate are responsible for questioning the crimes, the officials of the Ministry of Criminal Justice are responsible for recording, and the officials of Dali Temple are responsible for sentencing. The whole process is simple and clear.

Sun Chuanting walked into the yamen auditorium, unable to sit down, but could only stand in the middle in common clothes.

After he walked in, the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate questioned Sun Chuanting based on the criminal evidence collected in the past few months:
"Sun Boya, you have committed three crimes..."

"The first crime, you know that the gentry is guilty, why don't you report it to the third division, but act arbitrarily and kill Li Gongsheng and others without authorization?"

"Second crime, although the gentry is guilty, why did you ransack your house without authorization?"

"The third crime is to privately mobilize the guard battalion. Have you ever thought about the consequences?"

The people sent by the Metropolitan Procuratorate were all Gu party officials, and the Gu party officials were controlled by Zhou Yanru. Therefore, Zhou Yanru gave Sun Chuanting face and only convicted him of three crimes. ten.

"Sun Boya, please defend yourself..."

Zhou Yanru looked at Sun Chuanting in the hall, and made a gesture of invitation, and Sun Chuanting bowed back, and then said:

"First, report to the three divisions for at least ten days. Things may change if things are delayed, but I hold Shang Fangjian and order to kill Li Gongsheng and other lawless gentry."

"Secondly, the gentry is guilty, and the crime can implicate the three clans. Since the implicated, it is natural to search the house."

"As for the third crime, the mobilization of the Gongwei battalion is a last resort. The reason is that the Chengdu soldiers and magistrates and government servants are corrupt. If they are mobilized, someone must inform them."

Sun Chuanting explained one by one, and it can be seen that after more than four months of rest, he has recovered a lot of mind, and he is not as decadent as before.

Only in the face of his self-defense, the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate still need to further inquire about the conviction:
"Although the three rules are reasonable, the law is not merciful. If the court ministers act arbitrarily like you, then what's the use of the rules?"

"If no one obeys the rules, won't the court be turned upside down?"

Having said that, the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate turned around and bowed to Zhou Yanru:

"The presiding judge, the lower officials think that although Sun Chuanting did not overstep, he did not act in accordance with the rules of the imperial court, and the crime of overstepping is inevitable."

After all, the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate sat back in their seats, and Zhou Yanru also looked at the officials of Dali Temple, and asked according to the procedure:
"According to the Law of the Great Ming Dynasty, how to convict a person who acted presumptuously?"

"According to the "Law of Officials", to change the law without authorization, it should be sentenced to death..." The Dali Temple official bowed in response, but he continued:

"However, Sun Boya has made great achievements as an official in the court, and this action is all related to the common people. In addition, the people in Sichuan Province have recently pleaded for mercy, so the punishment should be reduced."

"The six of us discussed that we should be dismissed from official positions and distributed to the people."

The people in Dali Temple belonged to the Yanshan sect, and they had been displeased with Sun Chuanting for a long time. Even if they couldn't kill Sun Chuanting, they would make Sun Chuanting suffer.

They went to Sun Chuanting's official positions. Although Sun Chuanting was fine, he would have no salary after the two dismissals.

"This... is the sentence too heavy?" Zhou Yanru frowned, he wanted to keep Sun Chuanting from dismissing him.

"I have been convicted lightly..." The Dali Temple official did not back down, but insisted on speaking.

If Chengde was there, they might be forced to submit to Chengde, but now that Chengde is not there, the Yanshan faction does not need to give face to other parties.

"Sun Boya, do you still need to defend yourself?"

Zhou Yanru glanced at Lu Li Yongzhen, Wen Tiren, and found that neither of them spoke.

Obviously, there was nothing wrong with dealing with the two of them.

The only one with an ugly face was Lu Wenzhao, but after all, it was a joint trial by the six divisions, and the Yanshan official from Dali Temple was right. Although he felt uncomfortable, he couldn't find fault.

Zhou Yanru would not take the blame for the crime, so he handed over the issue to Sun Chuanting.

Based on his analysis of Sun Chuanting's character, if nothing else happened, Sun Chuanting would plead guilty, because standing in this classroom for one second longer is an insult to him for one second longer.

"I plead guilty!"

Sure enough, Sun Chuanting pleaded guilty, and Zhou Yanru felt relieved.

When this sentence came out of Sun Chuanting's mouth, no one could blame him, after all, he didn't force Sun Chuanting to say it.

"In this case, then..." Zhou Yanru looked at Wen Tiren, and was about to hand over the tricky handling of the conviction to him, but Wen Tiren was not stupid, and directly said to the officials of Dali Temple:

"Since Governor Sun said so, I respect this old man, and ask the officials of Dali Temple to judge..."

Wen Tiren talked about Governor Sun, and it was extremely shameless. After all, even Zhou Yanru and the others only called Sun Chuanting Biao, because he didn't have any official position at the moment.

In this way, knowing that the other party has no official position and still complimenting him so much, it is equivalent to an older official giving a "leader" to a young civilian on the side of the road.

Except for him, Zhou Yanru couldn't do this kind of shameless thing.

Moreover, he also pushed the conviction to the officials of Yanshan in Dali Temple, because he knew that the decision was given to the officials of Yanshan, and they would definitely convict.

"The next official takes orders!" Sure enough, the Yanshan official accepted the hard work, looked at Sun Chuanting with a dark heart, and read out grandly:
"Sun Chuanting, the criminal official who made changes without authorization and messed up the law, should be sentenced to death."

"However, Nianru has made great achievements as an official in the court, and this action is all related to the common people. In addition, the people in Sichuan Province have recently pleaded for mercy, so the crime was reduced and the punishment was sentenced. The administra- tor yamen must no longer use the power of a courtier!"

The Yanshan official of Dali Temple humiliated Sun Chuanting severely, especially asked him to move out of the Yamen immediately, and emphasized that he could not use the power of courtiers.

That is to say, Sun Chuanting can no longer take the horse-drawn carriage at the post station, and can no longer rest at the post station for free, and everything needs to be paid out of his own pocket.

In Sun Chuanting's opinion, this was what he should do, and he didn't even bother to do it, but it was a bit humiliating for Yanshan officials to say it.

"Sun Chuanting, step back, there is no need to salute."

Zhou Yanru saw that the verdict was handed down, so he hurriedly asked Sun Chuanting to leave.

Because if he didn't speak up, then let Sun Chuanting take the judgment himself, according to the "Law of the Ming Dynasty", Sun Chuanting, as a grassroots citizen, needs to kneel down to accept the order.

Perhaps watching Sun Chuanting kneel down, Yanshan officials would feel very comfortable, but Lu Wenzhao and Li Yongzhen would feel slapped in the face, and Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren would also take the blame for humiliating Sun Chuanting.

For people like Zhou Yanru, he is the only one who makes people take the blame, and it is impossible for anyone to make him take the blame, so he deliberately made a favor.

"In that case, Caomin bid farewell!"

Without any hesitation, when Zhou Yanru was making the steps, Sun Chuanting bowed and turned to leave, avoiding the humiliation of kneeling.

Dali Temple officials saw it, and although they were angry, there was nothing they could do. After all, Zhou Yanru had spoken.

"Get someone to supervise him, don't let him take out the things that belong to the yamen."

Although there was no way to humiliate people in the hall, the Yanshan official still spoke loudly and sent someone to monitor Sun Chuanting.

Everyone could hear the humiliation in his words, but few people persuaded him.

The Yanshan faction is a rising star, and a huge number of people enter the officialdom every year. There are more than [-] officials in the Ming Dynasty, and [-]% of them are from Yanshan.

Fortunately, although their political views sometimes disagree with the Qi Palace, they still have to rely on the Qi Palace in general. After all, Zhu Youjian gave them the opportunity to study and become officials.

Therefore, even though they wanted to vent their hatred, it was impossible for them to send someone to make trouble deliberately. At most, they would humiliate Sun Chuanting as they did now.

It can also be seen from this point that although Yanshan officials are powerful, most of them are young, and under their youthful vigor, they don't think about the consequences at all.

Gu Dang, who was also governor of Sun Chuanting and lost most of the officials, was not as impulsive as they were. No matter how much they hated Sun Chuanting, they still knew that Sun Chuanting was only going down for a while, and sooner or later he would ascend to a high position. revenge.

"Biography Liu Yuyou, Pan Shiliang!"

Perhaps thinking that the incident was not big enough, the Yanshan officials of Dali Temple began to publicize it at the gate, and the targets of the publicity were Liu Yuyou and Pan Shiliang.

Zhou Yanru and the Gu Dang officials from the Metropolitan Procuratorate looked at them one after another, but they were calm and sneered in their hearts.

The words of the eunuchs have been spread throughout the six divisions. The king of Qi asked Zhou Yanru to seek the country first, while the gentleman seeks the country, and the villain seeks his life. Isn't this a disguise for Zhou Yanru to be a villain and clean up Liu Yuyou and Pan Shiliang? up?

Since King Qi said so, it meant that Liu Yuyou and Pan Shiliang couldn't live. Since they couldn't live, they had to die.

Therefore, Yanshan officials in Dali Temple were waiting to watch the show, waiting for Zhou Yanru to pronounce the death penalty on Liu Yuyou and Pan Shiliang.

Not only they were watching the play, but also officials from the Ministry of Criminal Affairs of Wen Tiren's faction, Lu Wenzhao from Jin Yiwei, Li Yongzhen from the inner court, and others were all watching the play.

It's just that they think they can go to the theater, but Zhou Yanru is not going to let them go to the theater.

Soon, Liu Yuyou and Pan Shiliang, dressed in civilian clothes, appeared in the hall, and the two stood upright in front of the officials of the Sixth Division.

The reason why they are not timid is because they know that the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate are all officials of the party.

Naturally, they also knew that King Qi wanted them to die, but the people who questioned them were from Gu Dang, so Gu Dang's people would naturally not kill them.

"Liu Yuyou, Pan Shiliang has thirteen crimes..."

The Gu party official of the Metropolitan Procuratorate stood up, and the old god said:
"First, the lack of strict governance has led to corrupt officials in all provinces in Sichuan."

"Second, dereliction of duty, causing Chengdu military commanders and yamen servants to commit crimes."

"Third, the crime of not being investigated has never been reported to the Sichuan Imperial Horse Supervisor, Jin Yiwei and the gentry in collusion to embezzle the army's farmland."

"Fourth, the disaster relief is not good, and the disaster victims are scattered in various governments, causing the people to live in dire straits, and the people are in trouble."

"fifth……"

A piece of incriminating evidence was told by the people of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, seemingly asking for guilt, but actually exonerating the two of them.

After all, it is all about the lack of ability of the two, but not about corruption and conniving the gentry.

From the beginning to the end, it was said that the two were dereliction of duty and lack of ability, which led to the collusion between the people below and the gentry.

These two people obviously colluded the most with the gentry, but these two people seem to have become two unlucky people who have nothing to do with various things.

Such a statement of guilt is obviously not from the hands of ordinary Gu party officials, but...

The Yanshan officials from Dali Temple and the Zhejiang Party officials from the Ministry of Punishment glanced secretly at Zhou Yanru, who was sitting in a high position, and Li Yongzhen couldn't help but also glanced at him.

The only two who could hold back their anger were Lu Wenzhao and Wen Tiren.

It's just that Lu Wenzhao was holding back, and Wen Tiren was already snickering.

After all, Wen Tiren was sophisticated, and as soon as Zhou Yanru's interrogation came out, he knew what the other party wanted to do.

The death penalty not only chills Gu Dang's heart, but also makes Gu Dang hold him accountable.

Convicted of living, and lost the face of His Royal Highness King Qi, it is hard to say who will join the cabinet next time.

Both left and right offend people, so why not make the matter bigger, the crime is bigger, but the sentence is smaller, and the matter is bigger, which will cause headaches for the people above.

Zhou Yanru took advance as retreat. If these crimes were handed over, and punished according to the "Law of Officials" in the "Law of the Ming Dynasty", the punishment for the crime could be light or severe.

The downside is that none of the items are serious, and there are certain repetitions in each item, at most it is down to six levels.

The important thing is that the things involved are marked behind each crime, which looks very serious and can be severely punished.

The problem came out, such a thing as a joint trial between the six divisions had never happened in the history of the Ming Dynasty. As the sixth division judge, if Zhou Yanru himself sentenced to aggravated crimes, it would be a bad start for future generations.

Naturally, he can't open this kind of head, so report the thirteen crimes and let the above judge, this is what he wants to do.

In doing so, Zhou Yanru is completely innocent, and it will not appear that he is incompetent.

If he can think of such a method, the people above will naturally know his ability when they see it.

As for why Zhou Yanru handled the matter properly, but Wen Tiren still snickered?This is Wen Tiren's cleverness.

What Zhou Yanru did would not make people feel that there was a problem, but he threw the problem to the six ministries above, the cabinet, the emperor, and the king of Qi to deal with it, which was essentially intensifying the party struggle.

In the final analysis, the problem will become a three-party competition between Gu Dang, Qi Wangfu, and the inner court. As long as the Zhejiang Party shows weakness, it can reap the benefits of fishermen.

If the Gu Party falls, the Zhejiang Party can take the opportunity to cultivate itself.

As long as Gu Dang and Yanshan can't use it, then King Qi needs to use Zhe Dang, and Wen Tiren can jump out to attract attention, and then show his loyalty to King Qi.

Thinking of this, Wen Tiren couldn't help feeling happy in his heart, picked up the teacup and made tea, and took a sip.

On the other hand, the Yanshan officials in the hall heard more and more things were wrong, and finally realized that Zhou Yanru had made things beyond their scope of authority, and then couldn't help but look at Zhou Yanru.

They only saw the presence of the old god Zhou Yanru, and before they could speak, Zhou Yanru raised his hand and said after the interrogation by the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate:

"This matter can be big or small, but no matter how big or small, it is beyond the scope of the Sixth Division."

"How about this, the six divisions will play their own performances, and submit them together with the copy, and let Wan Live, His Highness, and Mr. Gu Ge make decisions."

"Old fox..." Hearing Zhou Yanru's irrelevant words, everyone cursed in their hearts.

Everyone can see that Zhou Yanru is completely a dead friend and a poor Taoist, and he insists on making matters worse.

It's difficult to explain things, so how should I explain them?

It's very simple, if you make the matter bigger, to the point where you can't be the master, then you don't have to explain it.

But the problem is that to make things bigger, the people above must not be unhappy. This difficulty is beyond everyone's imagination.

It just so happened that Zhou Yanru figured it out, so he chose to make things bigger and stick to the rules.

His set will undoubtedly die before this year, because the emperor, King Qi, and the cabinet all need obedient people to do things, and he is not listening to any side at the moment.

But it just so happened that due to Sun Chuanting's "unruly" behavior, this year's political situation in Ming Dynasty was turbulent.

Gentlemen and officials, they were all waiting and watching, wanting to know whether the rules of Ming Dynasty were still useful, and why Sun Chuanting survived despite not following the rules.

Naturally, at such a time, if a law-abiding incident occurs and a law-abiding official appears, then this matter will become the focus of all parties.

This matter has been brought up, and it has become bigger, but if it is handled well, then the shaky rules of Daming will be settled down again.

When the rules are established, the gentry will feel at ease, and so will the officials, and they will be at ease, and there will be fewer things in the temple, and the emperor, King Qi, and the cabinet will be satisfied and happy.

Therefore, in this situation where the rules are shaken, there is no need for any capable people on the temple at this moment, and there is no need for people who can solve the problem.

What the temple needs, what the emperor needs, and what the king of Qi needs is a man who abides by the rules like Zhou Yanru.

Knowing the rules and obeying the rules, this is the greatest ability...

(End of this chapter)