Zhu Pingan visited Yao Lao’s house for nearly an hour, nagging and asking for advice on the situation of Dayao Village and several nearby villages, Yao Lao knew everything and Zhu Pingan got a lot of first-hand information.
After leaving Yao Lao’s house, Zhu Pingan continued to visit two more villages before returning to the county office.
Through the visits, Zhu Pingan strengthened his resolve and once he returned to the county office, he ordered the magistrates to raise the court.
“It’s almost the end of the afternoon, why is the court suddenly being raised? Has the young county honourable gentleman taken the wrong medicine?”
“If you don’t know how to be a magistrate, why don’t you just stop doing it, it’s already this time of the day, and you’re still ascending the hall? It’s a joke.”
“What’s going to happen to Little County Honour?!”
A group of officials at the county government office received the notice of ascending the hall, and each one of them slandered Zhu Pingan in all sorts of ways.
“Let’s see what Little County Honour is going to do, and we’ll improvise.”County Minister Zhang so instructed the crowd.
The Six Houses of Suxu and the others understood and followed behind County Minister Zhang and Master Yao, rushing to the lobby one after another.
“Warden Zhang, notify the prison wardens to bring all the prisoners in the prison who have not paid their taxes to the lobby.”
Zhu Pingan took out a “Execution” sign from the sign cylinder and gave it to Liu Mu, who then gave it to Zhang Dainian, the official of the punishment room, and ordered him to notify the prison wardens to bring all the inmates who had not paid their taxes to the main hall.
The prisoners who have not paid their taxes will be brought to the hall! There must be a hundred or ten of them!
What is the young magistrate doing?
Zhang Dianliang received the warrant and did not immediately carry out Zhu Pingan’s order, but subconsciously looked at Zhang Xiancheng.
The County Minister nodded his head imperceptibly, and only after receiving the tacit approval of the County Minister did Zhang Dianliu lead the order to go to the prison.
Zhu Pingan squinted his eyes, taking in this scene in his eyes, his heart was clear, and he did not react on his face.
After the departure of Magistrate Zhang, the group of Xu officials in the lobby exchanged words and the lobby was filled with their buzzing voices. They didn’t understand why Zhu Pingan had to bring all the prisoners who had not paid their taxes to the lobby and judge them? There was no need for that, they were arrested for not paying their taxes, ah, they had already been through the hall. But why did the young governor want to bring them to the lobby again? Trial again? Playing the fool?
Or do you want to torture them, beat them severely with a stick, torture them, and order them to pay their taxes?
If you really torture these prisoners who don’t pay their taxes, it might be possible to force some of them to pay their taxes.
You don’t say, this is really not a bad method.
Tsk, tsk, tsk, really did not expect ah!
He is still a scholar, he looks simple, thick and gentle, not very old, but I didn’t expect his heart to be dark and cruel!
If he really want him so whole, maybe he can really let him force part of the people to pay back taxes and grain. This is more or less also counted as a bit of performance after he took office ah, this can not, can not let him plot to succeed.
When County Minister Zhang thought of this, he couldn’t help but raise his head to look at Master Yao who was at the side.
Master Yao’s heart was in the right place, and he instantly understood Zhang County Minister’s look, smiled slightly, and whispered to Zhang County Minister, “Brother Zhang, don’t worry. The Daming Laws have a ban on the crimes of the people, strictly prohibit officials from abusing penalties, only to meet the four conditions ‘committed a felony’, ‘evidence of stolen evidence to understand’, ‘disobedience to confess’,Only when four conditions were met, namely, ‘committing a serious offence’, ‘having evidence to prove it’, ‘not accepting a confession’, and ‘making a clear case’, could a criminal be punished. Chenghua years of officials with more strict provisions: in addition to human life cases, robberies, the rest of the case prisoners can only use the whip. If you need to use quite stick, clip stick, brain box, branding iron and other instruments of torture, must be played at all levels. If the governor violates the law and uses torture, he will be punished for the crime of entering and leaving the country. If he wants to use torture to force taxes, we, as court officials, naturally can’t sit back and watch the county magistrate go against the law, abuse the penalty, and bully the people.”
County Minister Zhang, after being reminded by Master Yao, immediately put his heart down, and the two of them looked at each other with a smile, everything was in the air.
Soon enough, Duke Zhang led the prison guards and escorted more than a hundred prisoners who had not paid their taxes and grain to the lobby.
The number of prisoners was too large for the lobby to stand, and a portion of the prisoners stood outside the lobby, being guarded by the jailers and magistrates.
“Kneel down!”
The magistrates and jailers ordered the prisoners to kneel.
“Mighty!”
The two rows of yamen under the public hall struck the killing stick with great force, shouting mighty, and the public hall was suddenly solemn.
“Grassfolk/sinners pay homage to the Great Master of the Magistrate.”
The crowd of prisoners trembled in both stocks, and one by one, they fell to their knees, their hearts were apprehensive, not knowing why the magistrate was escorting them through the hall again, but a strong sense of foreboding enveloped them, making it as if they were about to go to the guillotine.
“Get up.”
Zhu Pingan sat on the high hall and raised his right hand, ordering the prisoners to rise.
The crowd of prisoners rose in fear and trembling, their two strands trembling as they waited in fear for an unknown fate to befall them.
“You are all prisoners who have been imprisoned for failing to pay taxes.”Zhu Pingan looked at the crowd of prisoners and slowly said.
Opening the door and drawing the dagger, this is about to use torture to force taxes, right?
County Magistrate Zhang and the others turned their eyes towards Zhu Pingan, ready to wait for Zhu Pingan to use torture and decisively dissuade him in accordance with the Daming Laws and other laws and regulations, so as to prevent Zhu Pingan’s plot to use torture to force taxes from succeeding.
“Big master governor, we are not intentionally not paying taxes, really can not get together taxes ……”
“Last year’s harvest was not good ……”
“We really don’t mean to resist the tax, my mother-in-law is sick, and the grain has been sold to buy medicine, Zhi County Great Master ……”
A kind of prisoner could not help but anxiously explain.
“Silence!”
The yamen knocked on the ground with a killing stick and ordered the prisoners to be quiet.
All of them looked towards Zhu Pingan, waiting for Zhu Pingan’s next action.
The ritual room official and the punishment room official had been instructed by County Minister Zhang and Master Yao, and had already raised half of their arses in vain, waiting for Zhu Pingan to order the use of torture to force the tax, so they became the head of the crowd, quoting the provisions of the Daming Law and the Chenghua Laws and Regulations, to stop and oppose Zhu Pingan.
In the midst of the public’s attention, Zhu Ping An got up from the hall and looked towards the prisoners under the public hall.
The inmates were in fear and trembling, and they had a feeling of impending catastrophe.
The pupils of County Superintendent Zhang and Master Yao contracted slightly, their eyes were fully focused on Zhu Pingan, and the butts of the Ceremony Room Warden and the Penalty Room Warden were lifted by another third in vain, with only a little bit of their butts next to the chairs.
“You are all prisoners who have been imprisoned for failing to pay taxes.”
In the midst of all the attention, Zhu Pingan followed up on this sentence from earlier and continued on, “You are also sons, husbands, and fathers in your families, you also have families with parents, wives, and children, and you also have to live. It is now nearly September, and it will soon be time for the early rice harvest. In order not to delay the farming season, and for the sake of your parents, wives and children at home, this official hereby permits each of you to go home for the autumn harvest, however, when the autumn harvest is over, you must return to the prison at the first opportunity to report for duty. Now, you can all go home.”
Ha?
What?
As soon as Zhu Pingan’s words fell, County Minister Zhang, Master Yao, and the Six Houses of Suxu all looked at Zhu Pingan in shock.
Unbelievable!
Could not believe!
Zhu Pingan …… him, he …… him this is really risking universal condemnation! He has eaten a bear’s heart and leopard’s gall, right? Does Zhu Pingan know what he is doing, releasing more than a hundred prisoners to go home for the autumn harvest? In the history of the world, there has never been a governor who dared to do such a crazy thing! He, Zhu Pingan, doesn’t want to do it, does he?
County Minister Zhang sucked in a breath of cool air, stretching out his trembling fingers to point at Zhu Pingan, his eyes staring so wide that they were about to stare out of their sockets, his mouth open, so shocked that he could not make a sound.
In fact, the most shocked were not them.
Rather, it was the prisoners under the lobby who were trembling with fear and trembling with apprehension, waiting in fear for the catastrophe to come.
A group of prisoners who originally thought that their lives were in danger, did not expect to hear the decree that Zhu Ping An was going to release them to go home for the autumn harvest, and each of them simply could not believe their own ears, could not believe that the governor was going to release them to go home for the autumn harvest?
Is this true?
This is a great joy!
The prisoners pinched their arms, felt the pain of the bones, Fang believe that this is the truth, the governor really want to let them go home to autumn harvest, incredibly happy, many prisoners are even excited to cry.
“Qing Tian Daoliang ah, thank you Qing Tian Daoliang.”
“Don’t worry, Grand Master, we will definitely return to the prison on time after the autumn harvest. If anyone dares not to return to the prison, I, Da Niu, will be the first to spare him!”
“We will definitely return to the prison to report after the autumn harvest, and whoever doesn’t return will be cut off from their children and grandchildren and will not be allowed to die.”
The crowd of prisoners were kneeling on the ground, incoherently thanking Zhu Pingan, and one by one, they swore that they would return to the prison after the autumn harvest.
