Jia Yujing of Red Mansion

Chapter 137 Sitting in court to hear the case
Jia Qiong was punished, but he himself was not affected at all.

The Emperor's Sword has not been taken back, and the Jinyiwei bodyguards have become legal personnel.

The next day was April [-]th, which happened to be the day when the county government announced the announcement.

At this time, the county government must open its doors, and the county magistrate must sit in court to hear cases.

If people have any grievances, they can come to the Yamen to complain at this time.

At other times, the county government generally does not accept cases.

Unless it is a very vicious case that must be dealt with immediately, such as a murder case or something.

This is because the county magistrate has too many things to take care of, including money and grain, criminal names, public security, anti-theft, education, water conservancy construction, and encouraging teachers to teach farmers and mulberry trees.

All these are the responsibility of the county magistrate. If you sit in the government office every day to review cases, there will be no time to deal with other official duties.

Jia Qiong came to the county government office very early that day and sat down in the lobby in high spirits. The waiting staff had already stood in two rows holding water and fire sticks.

Jia Qiong sat behind the public case and was shocked.

"Ascension!"

"Wei~wu~"

The gate of the county government office opened, and a group of people cheered and rushed outside the lobby. There were people who wanted to complain, but more of them came to watch the fun.

Watching the magistrate judge the case is an important "entertainment" activity for the people in this era.

"If anyone has a complaint, please bring it to court."

After completing a set of procedures, the Yamen led the two people to the lobby.

One of the two people was dressed as a market trader, and the other was a farmer in ragged clothes, holding a sheep in his hand.

The dispute between these two people had just started, and there was not even a complaint.

"Who is kneeling in the hall, and why have you come to complain?"

The person leading the sheep said: "My lord, my name is Liu Da. My baby wants to marry my mother-in-law. The family has no money, so I took a sheep to the city to sell it for money."

This man insists on claiming that the sheep belongs to his family, and wants to steal the sheep! "

Another person shouted: "Master, I am wronged. My name is Hu Chun, and I am a butcher who sells meat.

This small sheep had just been bought from the market and was about to be slaughtered by the butcher.

This old man stole my sheep while I was not paying attention. When I caught him, he refused to admit it. He also wanted to bite me back and asked the great master to make the decision for the villain. "

"You're talking nonsense, this sheep was raised by me. When did it become your family?"

"You're talking nonsense. This is what I paid for."

……

Jia Qiong slapped the crowd and shouted: "Quiet! No noise in the lobby!"

Liu Da, I want to ask you, you said this sheep is yours, do you have proof? "

"This sheep is just raised by me, what kind of certificate do I have?"

Jia Qiong asked again: "Hu Chun, you said you bought this sheep. Where did you buy it? Is there anyone who can prove it?"

"Sir, the little one bought it from the street. The man sold the sheep and left after selling it. He didn't know the little one either."

Jia Qiong said: "Both of you said that this sheep is yours, but you have no proof. Even the gods can't judge this matter.

It's useless to say more. Let me hear the verdict.

Liu Da, if you want money for your son to marry your mother-in-law, this sheep official will award it to Hu Chun and ask him to give you half of the money according to the market price. "

Liu Da became anxious when he heard this and shouted: "This is such a stupid sheep..."

Jia Qiong was stunned and shouted: "If you dare to yell in court again, I will slap you twenty times in the face first!"
If you say the sheep is yours and show the certificate, I will immediately change the sentence.

If not, just handle it accordingly and don’t mess around. "

Liu Da was too frightened to speak. Jia Qiong asked again: "Hu Chun, are you willing?"

Hu Chun said as if he was resigned to his fate: "This case is indeed difficult to solve, even if you are young, you can spend money to buy a lesson.

Now a big sheep costs seven cents, so I'll just give this old man 350 cents. "

Liu Da was afraid of being beaten and did not dare to argue loudly anymore. He whispered: "This sheep is pregnant with a lamb. I asked about it when I came here. It can be sold for one more silver."

Jia Qiong originally wanted to wait until the two left the court, then send someone to follow them secretly to see their reactions after they returned, and then determine whose sheep belonged to them.

Now when I heard that this was a pregnant ewe, I immediately knew it.

He shouted angrily: "Hu Chun, you are so brave, how dare you deceive me!"

Hu Chun was startled and said quickly: "Master, please don't be angry. I forgot for a while. I will just give this old man an extra fifty cents."

Jia Qiong sneered and said: "Hu Chun tried to misappropriate other people's property, but he still dared to quibble when he came to court. He will be punished with a higher penalty for not repenting. He will be whipped twenty times and pay double the sheep's money to Liu Da, as a warning to others!"

When Hu Chun heard this, he was so frightened that he started crying: "It's unfair, sir, I really bought this sheep..."

Jia Qiong snorted coldly and said: "If you dare to roar in court again, you will be beaten twenty times more."

When Hu Chun heard this, he immediately did not dare to shout.

Jia Qiong then asked: "I want to ask you, how much did you spend to buy this sheep?"

"The villain spent eight pieces of silver."

Jia Qiong sneered: "You are a butcher, why would you spend an extra penny to buy a pregnant ewe?
Will the meat of pregnant ewes be more expensive? "

When he said this, he was shocked and shouted: "If you don't recruit me from the truth, do you want me to punish you severely?"

Hu Chun was speechless when questioned and could only admit his guilt.

Liu Da led the sheep and the silver, and burst into tears with excitement. He kowtowed to Jia Qiong several times before leaving with great gratitude.

Jia Qiong tried his skills and easily solved a small case, which attracted applause from the people watching in the hall.

Soon the second complainant was brought in again, this time it was another trivial case.

Jia Qiong glanced at the petition and figured out that on the day the woman Bai married her husband's family, before the wedding, her husband Zhao Yongren died in an accident.

The only remaining members of her husband's family are a widowed father-in-law and a brother-in-law who is [-] or [-] years old.

Bai didn't want to be a widow, so she secretly ran back to her parents' home and wanted to remarry.

Naturally, the husband's family was unwilling to do so. They went to Bai's house many times to cause trouble, insisting that the girl should keep her integrity and go back to take care of the housework.

The two families refused to give in to each other, so they went to court, and Bai filed a petition for "peace and separation."

This is a civil dispute and is not expressly stipulated in the law. The county magistrate can decide according to his personal preference.

Jia Qiong did not hesitate and was about to pronounce the verdict.

At this time, Master Lu, who was in charge on the side, coughed lightly, came up and whispered: "Sir, as usual, you don't need to take this kind of case. You can just ask them to go back to Li Zheng to negotiate."

Jia Qiong understands what Mr. Lu means. There are no clear provisions in cases like this. The public is justified and the mother-in-law is justified. It is not easy to judge, and the number is extremely large.

Therefore, the yamen may not accept cases such as family conflicts, neighbor disputes, and property division.

Just ask the complainant to go to Li Zheng directly, and the clan elders can negotiate and resolve the issue.

However, Jia Qiong still planned to make the decision himself. He knew Master Lu had good intentions, so he gave him an approving look and asked him to go back.

"Ms. Bai's husband died before they had sex on their wedding day. She has thoughts of remarrying. I think this is a reasonable request.

The official has pronounced a verdict that the Bai family is allowed to reconcile and remarry on their own, without the Zhao family being able to stop her.

The two families returned their respective betrothal gifts and dowries, and they had nothing to do with each other ever since. "

"Master Xie Qingtian..."

Jia Qiong wrote the verdict on the complaint and ordered both parties to retreat.

The Bai family was very satisfied with the verdict, but the Zhao family and his son were naturally dissatisfied.

But they were ordinary people with flat heads, and their arms couldn't twist their thighs, so they could only walk away in frustration.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the two father and son walked out of the county government gate, they were stopped by a middle-aged scribe.

"Zhao Si'er, do you want your daughter-in-law Bai to come home?"

"What's the use of thinking about it? The county magistrate has already sentenced it."

"If the sentence in Chang'an County is unfair, you can sue it to Jingzhao Mansion, the Ministry of Punishment, or the Metropolitan Procuratorate."

Zhao Si shook his head like a rattle, "If you don't go, don't go. Li Zheng told us that complaints can only be filed at the county government office.

If you go to the Yamen to complain, you will have to be beaten first, so we don't want to go. "

The scribe smiled and said: "Don't be afraid, it's just twenty slaps in the mouth.

I have a way with those yamen, and I will let them beat these twenty mouths gently to ensure that you are fine.

And as long as you listen to me and file a complaint, I will give you 20 taels of silver.

One mouth in exchange for one tael of silver, do you think it's a good deal or not?

And I can also help you write a lawsuit, so you don't have to say anything when you get to court. I will fight the case for you, and I'm sure you can win. "

Zhao Si was very excited when he heard this, "Really? As long as I file a complaint, you will give me 20 taels of silver?"

"Of course, if you don't believe it, come with me and file a complaint now. I will give you money when the complaint is submitted."

The Zhao family father and son could not withstand this temptation, so they immediately agreed and left with the middle-aged scribe.

(End of this chapter)