"Twenty-seven years now, on the order of His Majesty's relocation, Xiang Liang and his family have entered the customs for eight years. Living in Liyang, willing to be the head of Qian, he has always kept to himself, his younger brother Xiang is entangled in killing people and escaping, Liang Yuan is thousands of miles away, nothing has been heard, and now he was suddenly arrested, isn't it wrong? Xiang's protégés and former officials are all over the Chu land, and if they are not guilty and brought to justice, they will only make the people of the East China Sea frightened, and they will also cause trouble for their brothers. Therefore, in the opinion of the younger brother, Xiang Liang does not have to sit together, but he can be acquitted, and the heart of the Xiang clan is ......"

In the thirty-fourth year of Qin Shi Huang, in early July, a letter from Xianyang was placed in front of the case of Sima Xin in Liyang.

"Keeping to yourself?"

Sima Xin sneered: "Xiang Liang was arrested for only three days because of his brother's murder against the officials, and he was able to buy people, and he interceded with me through Cao Ji, who was a prison official in Xianyang, it seems that he has been in Guanzhong for eight years, and he has managed a lot of contacts......"

When Qin Shi Huang first merged the world, he issued a migration order, so that 120,000 families in the land of the six countries moved into Guanzhong and placed them in various counties.

As the great clan of Chu State, the mainstay of the anti-Qin resistance, the Xiang family was naturally taken care of, Xiang Yan and Xiang's eldest son died in the war, and it was the turn of the second son Xiang Liang to be the master of the house, so he was forced by the Qin army to move into Guanzhong with his nephew "Xiang Ji" and live in Liyang County.

But the Xiang family is very large, Xiang Liang used the pretext of dividing the family as an excuse, and after the fall of the Chu State, he divided the clan and family property, so the Xiang family was divided into two, part was taken by him to Liyang, and the other part, under the leadership of Xiang Yan's young son Xiang Tang, continued to stay in the lower phase.

Now eight years have passed, Xiang Liang, who was light and righteous in the past, seems to be completely silent, intoxicated with wine, and his favorite thing to do is to feast and drink, not only in Liyang County, but also in the entire Guanzhong Six Nations immigration circle, but also famous.

On the other hand, Xiang's emaciated camel is bigger than a horse, with a large number of manors and fields, when the whole south set off a cane planting boom, Xiang, like Zhao, Jing, and Qu, also opened some brown sugar workshops, but unfortunately before the money invested in it was returned, the imperial court nationalized the sugar industry, and Zhu's money was wasted, and the imperial court became more and more dissatisfied......

During the rebellion of Qidi Zhutian, if it weren't for the tens of thousands of troops of Qin Shi Huang and the imperial court in Pengcheng Town, I am afraid that even Chu would be reversed, which is also the reason why the emperor ordered that no soldier or soldier should enter Qi, first, to deter Chu Wei, and second, to let people with ill intentions see that the Qin Dynasty can easily press this restored "Qi State" back into the coffin by relying only on the garrison of Qidi!

But a wave of unsettled waves, the chaos of Qi was decided, Qin Shi Huang then had to use troops against Baiyue, in Chu to recruit young and strong into the army, Chu people have always felt that the south is a ghost, go to death and life, so there are a large number of soldiers who fled in violation of the order, and now the three places of East Chu, West Chu, and South Chu are full of people fleeing from Yang.

More than two months ago, Donghai County received a report from Xiang's enemies, saying that Xiang Tang had fled in hiding and placed them in the manor......

When the Qin officials wanted to take people to search the Xiang manor, they were obstructed by the Xiang family, and a conflict broke out, an official was killed, and more than ten people were killed and injured by the county guard!

Shocked to hear this, Donghai County immediately dispatched county soldiers and surrounded the Xiang Mansion in Xiaxiang County, only to find that the house was empty......

Xiang Tang knew that if he killed the Qin officials, the government would not give up, so he dismissed the clansmen and fled with the guests.

Chu is full of mountains and rivers, it is easy to fall into the grass, the government can only control the city, and there is nothing to do about the robbers in the wilderness, but the monk can't run the temple, Xiang Tang is out, but the entire Xiang family's mansion property has been seized, and Xiang Liang, who is still in Xianyang, is also arrested by the government.

Although the Xiang family was once wealthy, but now, it is just one of the thousands of powerful people, and the central government did not take it to heart, and the court commander ordered Liyang County to try it on its own......

However, in response to this case, the Liyang County government is still controversial, Xiang Liang is indeed the head of the Xiang family, but he has moved into Guanzhong for many years, and he has only exchanged letters with the prime minister, and has never returned, and there is no evidence that Xiang Liang was instigated to harbor the fugitive and kill the Qin officials.

And the characterization of this case is also problematic, if Xiang Tang's crime is considered to be "murder, Jiangyang", then Xiang Liang, who separated from him, will not be implicated, when acquitted, but if Xiang Tang is judged to be "rebellion", although Xiang Liang does not belong to the "three clans" of father, mother, and son, but as a brother, he will also be punished.

Before the trial officially began, the activities in the back began to begin, Xiang Liang was rich and wealthy, and he was good at making friends, Sima Xin's brother-in-law Cao Jiao, who had been a small official in Liyang for a period of time, and Xiang Liang met, and later Cao Zhi went to Qi County to be a prison official, and had dealings with Xiang's family.

Later, with the help of Sima Xin, Cao Ji returned to Guanzhong again and served as a prison official in Xianyang, but he did not forget his old friendship, and after getting Xiang Liang's request, he planned to pull him along......

"I don't know how much money he charged?" Sima Xin thought so.

Unlike Guanzhong, where the criminal law is stricter and officials dare not openly embezzle and accept bribes, now, the Qin officials who are released to serve as officials in the hometown of the Six Kingdoms, who are not earning a lot of money when they go to the locality?

Times have changed, and honesty and simplicity are no longer mainstream, the heart of one person, and the heart of tens of millions of people. Qin loves luxury, people also miss their families, His Majesty the Emperor has taken the lead in overhauling the palace, how can the officials below be honest?

Naturally, they did not dare to openly withhold the taxes handed over to the imperial court, but they did not take less from the local powerful clans.

What Sima Xin is thinking about now is that if this case has not attracted the attention of Tingwei and let Liyang County try it on its own, he may be able to turn a blind eye, after all, Xiang Liang did not commit a crime, but was just cheated by his younger brother.

The Xiang family has a lot of money, although the old nest was taken away by the Donghai County government, and the clansmen also fled in all directions, but as long as Xiang Liang is fine, some benefits can definitely be taken out......

After thinking about it, Sima Xin finished the day's work and returned home, but unexpectedly, his wife told him that in the living room, there was a guest who came from afar and wanted to meet Sima Xin, saying that it had brought him good news.

"Where did that guest come from?" Sima Xin didn't care too much and asked casually.

"I heard that it is from Jiaodong."

Sima Xin's wife, Cao, served hot soup, but her husband choked, coughed and wiped it, and didn't bother to change his clothes, so he scolded: "Why didn't you say it earlier? So he hurried to meet the guest.

He can't forget, who is the feudal official in Jiaodong?

Seven years ago, Sima Xin, who was still a minor official in Xianyang Prison, took over a case: a honey merchant in Nanshi sued a sugar seller from a foreign country from Nanjun......

In the end, Sima Xin administered justice for the sugar sellers in Nanjun and cleared their innocence, but in fact, he did this to curry favor with Qin Shi Huang's close minister: Heifu.

After this incident, Sima Xin had a friendship with Heifu, although he did not give a direct return, but a few years later, Sima Xin was promoted by Tingwei, from a hundred stone prison officials, to a four-hundred-stone Liyang Cheng......

Of course, Sima Xin knew that this was a blessing to whom.

Now, Heifu is already a two-thousand-stone official, and he is only one step away from being a marquis, and he must have something important to send someone to see at this moment!

After meeting the guests and having a secret conversation, the black man's doorman took his leave, and when Sima Xin returned to the bedroom, his wife asked him what had happened.

Sima Xin had a straight face and said to his wife:

"Write a letter to tell your brother Cao, this time, I can't help him!"

……

A few days later, after a rigorous trial, Sima Xin of Liyang gave the final verdict to Xiang Liang's case:

"Xiang Tang harbored the fugitives, killed the officials and rebelled, and his people fled, but his brother Xiang Liang and his nephew Xiang Ji should sit together, and now these two people will be reduced to prisoners and sent to Helan Mountain, Beidi County, to serve the punishment of Si Kou!"