The so-called penal flail is a flail, which is a relatively common penal tool. It is two thick wooden boards, firmly clamped around the neck, the weight of the flail is at least fifteen catties, at most fifty catties, sixty catties, and it is pressed on the shoulders for a long time, which causes poor blood circulation, and the shoulders are also pressed to be extremely numb, and if there is nothing to cushion, the wooden flail will wear out the skin, bleed pus, and even be flailed to death.

The heavier the crime committed, the heavier the flail.

When Li Sanjian saw the dozens of catties of flail on the tomb robber (shēn), he felt a little unbearable, so he ordered someone to remove these torture tools.

Stealing the tomb of the deacon's minister (xué) will be punished by death according to the Song law.

Whoever steals without a rod shall have no wealth, and shall be imprisoned for two years; Whoever gains wealth for money and hurts others dies. Holding a rod without wealth, flowing three thousand miles; Whoever gains five thousand dollars dies; Those who hurt others will die.

In other words, anyone who steals more than 5,000 dollars or items worth 5,000 yuan will be sentenced to death.

The value of the funeral goods that stole the cemetery of Chen Xinghua's father and son has already exceeded 5,000 yuan, so these tomb robbers in front of Li Sanjian are very likely to be sentenced to death, that is, how to die, these tomb robbers have also been detained on men's death row, and they will be beheaded after being examined by the Criminal Department.

Although Li Sanjian always thought that Song Xingtong's punishment of thieves was too severe, and he was a little unbearable for these tomb robbers in front of him, Li Sanjian had not yet come up with any way to forgive them and reduce their punishment, so as to avoid being sentenced to death.

Li Sanjian is in charge of criminal proceedings, he can't know the law and break the law, right?

But even if these tomb robbers were certain to die, Li Sanjian couldn't bear to suffer them again, so Li Sanjian ordered people to remove the torture tools.

"Push the officials to be fair." Hearing this, the head of Zheng Cell hesitated and persuaded: "This kind of death row prisoner deserves death, remove the torture equipment... Whether... Inappropriate? ”

"Remove the torture tools, is it possible that you are still afraid that they will run away here?" Li Sanjian said without a table (qíng).

When the prison keeper heard this, he took out the key and untied the heavy wooden shackles on the shoulders of the tomb robbers.

"Sinner Liu Er, thank you, master." Liu Er kowtowed desperately and thanked him.

"Are you convicted?" Li Sanjian then asked.

If they repent of their sins, will the punishment be mitigated? Li Sanjian secretly pondered.

"Sinners are convicted." Liu Er hurriedly replied when he heard this.

However, Liu Er pleaded guilty, and some of the tomb robbers did not admit their guilt and still wanted to deny it.

"What did the villain steal? What kind of royal law did the little ones commit? One of the tomb robbers, a man named Sun Qing, asked.

"Bold, you wait to steal the tomb (xué), the official sent someone to capture it on the spot, and dare to quibble?" Li Sanjian slapped the shocked wood and asked loudly.

"Big Master!" Sun Qing was not afraid, looked up at Li Sanjian and asked, "Catch the thief and take the stolen goods, catch (jiān) and take the double, what did the little ones steal?" Why did the eldest conclude that the little ones had stolen the things in the tomb? ”

Li Sanjian, Wu Miaoshan and others blocked the tomb robbers in the tomb (xué), and the tomb robbers were indeed captured before they could steal the burial goods, which was also unexpected by Li Sanjian.

"Haha" Li Sanjian laughed instead of anger when he heard this, and pointed at Sun Qing and scolded: "What are you doing sneakily going to the cemetery in the middle of the night?" What is it if it is not stealing? I also dug a hole (xué), is it difficult to go to the shade? ”

Li Sanjian is really angry, he has the heart to forgive them, if he confesses his sins and repents, maybe he can reduce his sin by one degree, maybe he will not be executed, but they are still quibbling?

"The weather is hot (rè), the little ones just go to the cemetery to dig a hole to enjoy the shade, and the big master can convict the small ones of damaging the tomb (xué) at most, but not the small ones for stealing." Sun Qing said.

Anyway, it's all death, and there may be a way to live in the end.

"Such (jiān) cunning thieves are really rare." Li Sanjian looked at Zheng Fangqi and Zeng Gongming and said with a smile.

Li Sanjian and others did not take the stolen goods on the spot, were they too anxious at that time? Li Sanjian said secretly in his heart.

"Li Tuiguan, use the torture, they can't be allowed not to recruit." Zheng Fangqi said to Li Sanjian.

Torture? The punishment is not yet level, Li Sanjian secretly said in his heart, he is the champion and the first, can't he still argue with such a small thief?

Under torture, there is the possibility of torture and torture, and Li Sanjian does not approve of the use of torture unless it is absolutely necessary.

So Li Sanjian shook his head slightly and said: "What are the pickaxes, shovels, hammers, ropes, chisels, sacks, candles, bamboo sticks, bamboo baskets, wooden poles and other things that you carry are for?" Isn't it a tool for committing crimes? ”

"And the Feng Shui Compass." Zeng Gongming added.

Feng Shui compass disks are a must-have for tomb robbers to observe directions, feng shui, and so on.

Li Sanjian nodded and stared at Sun Qing and said, "These alone can determine the capital crime, do you still have to quibble?" Do you have to send someone to search for stolen goods? Besides, what do you people do in peace? As the saying goes, if you don't want people to know, unless you don't do anything, can't the official really find out what you are doing in Er Waiting? ”

"Stolen goods are easy to handle, just get some funeral goods." After all, Zeng Gongming has been a official for several years, and he still has some experience in prisons, and the method of forcibly planting stolen goods will also be used in many cases when it is really impossible to find stolen goods (qíng).

"This..." Sun Qing was speechless, sweating down, but the forcible planting made Sun Qing still indignant.

"Quick move!" The surrounding cells shouted loudly.

"The evidence is conclusive, and you dare to quibble? Stubborn and stubborn, the sin is added to the first degree. Li Sanjian then said coldly.

There are many kinds of death sentences, including hanging, beheading, waist beheading, and so on, among which waist beheading and death are the most cruel, and the death by a thousand knives is extremely bloody and brutal.

At the same time, it also divides whether the family is implicated, and if the family is convicted of a felony, the family will also be exiled, and the wife will be separated and the family will be destroyed.

"Brother Qing'er, you stubborn donkey, do you want to kill me with a thousand knives?" Liu Er is older and has more experience, and Li Sanjian obviously wants to reduce their guilt when he talks about it, but if Sun Qing provokes him, then the crime will become more and more serious.

Li Sanjian ordered the people to remove the shackles from them (shēn), which showed that he had a merciful heart.

So Liu Er pushed Sun Qing, and then kowtowed heavily and said, "Master, the sinner pleads guilty and surrenders to the law, and he doesn't dare to quibble anymore." ”

"Isn't this the end soon?" Li Sanjian nodded with satisfaction when he heard this, and instructed Zheng Fangqi and the others: "You go out first, and the official has something to ask them." ”

Although Zheng Fangqi and the others were full of doubts when they heard this, they still respectfully retreated, and at this time, only Li Sanjian and his henchmen Shan Kui, Xu Biao, and Zeng Gongming were left in the torture room.

The magistrate has a private matter and needs to ask the tomb robbers, how dare they get to the bottom of it?

At this time, the tomb robbers only removed the heavy shackles, the chains on (shēn) were not removed, and the brave Shankui and Xu Biao were still in the torture room, and Li Sanjian was not worried that they would jump over the wall in a hurry.

"Why don't you be a good man, but you have to be a thief?" After Zheng Jiaotou and the others were removed, Li Sanjian took a sip of tea and asked slowly.

"Big Master!" Liu Er cried when he heard this: "The little ones were originally farmers, and there were still some thin fields at home, but due to natural disasters, the crops failed, and the small ones really couldn't survive, so they sold the thin fields (jiàn), for the sake of livelihood, for the sake of the family's chewing, they violated the royal law, and the little ones really had no choice." ”

Fuck, it's like that again, and it's a land annex? Li Sanjian said secretly in his heart when he heard this.

The Song Dynasty "did not suppress annexation" and "did not establish the land system", and allowed land annexation to be free and freely.

As a result, a large amount of land is concentrated in the hands of a small number of Haoqiang, eunuchs, and families, and the powerful and eunuchs adopt such means as forced buying and selling, usury, and so on, causing a large number of peasant households to lose their land and become unemployed vagrants and displaced people, and the gap between the rich and the poor is very serious.

In addition to being able to find a proper livelihood again, the rest of the homeless and homeless people are thieves or beggars.

Therefore, the prosperity of the Song Dynasty is only the appearance, and under its appearance are countless filthy, miserable, (bī) good for prostitution, (bī) good for thieves.

"Doesn't the government care about you landless people?" Li Sanjian sighed in his heart and then asked.

"Official? The government will only demand taxes and oppress us. Sun Qing replied indignantly.

"No matter what, you can't be a thief." Li Sanjian nodded and said, "This official sees that you also have a lot of strength, why don't you work hard to live?" Selling coolies, bitter is bitter, but it is at ease. ”

Land annexation, the government's inaction, the matter (qíng) is too complicated, one or two sentences are not clear, the reason is not clear, Li Sanjian does not know much about this, even if he does, according to Li Sanjian's current (shēn) position, there is nothing to change, there is nothing to be done.

Moreover, the land annexation also involves the palace, if you don't pay attention to it, you will touch the head and bleed, and when you are not in charge of the world, you must not touch this matter, Li Sanjian said secretly in his heart.

"The little ones are convicted, please forgive the big ones." Liu Er and the others kowtowed desperately together when they heard this.

"Forgiveness of sins is impossible." Li Sanjian shook his head when he heard this: "This official is the person who is in charge of punishment, how can he know the law and break the law?" However, the official is also out of poverty (shēn), and depends on his mother for his life, and his mother often instructs him to be merciful to people and things, so this official remembers that you (shēn) are poor and poor, and Xu Er and others are people who surrender themselves, criminals, and surrender to make statements, and they should be reduced to the second degree. ”

If the capital crime is reduced to the second degree, it is a cane or a prison sentence, and at most it is exile, and Liu Erren and the others can be saved from being executed.

It is said that Liu Er's tomb robbers were captured by crawling out of the tomb (xué) by themselves, and it is not an exaggeration to turn themselves in. However, if you have committed the ten heinous sins, then it is not so easy to turn yourself in.

Of course, after Li Sanjian is released from prison, he will have to submit it to the Criminal Department for approval.

However, this kind of matter (qíng) is generally subject to the prison break of the Kaifeng Prefecture and will not be dismissed.

"Little ones, thank you Lord Qingtian for saving your life." Liu Er and the others were overjoyed when they heard this, and they lay on the ground and kowtowed desperately.