It wasn't until after the Mid-Autumn Festival, when it was in mid-September, that Lu Jin's reputation among the people finally stopped completely, just because the people had a new focus.

It's not the autumn harvest, it's the autumn duel!

The golden autumn of September is not only the harvest season, but also the time when the heaven and earth are slaughtered and make people feel cold. At this time of year, the end of the year of death row inmates has arrived.

Like many dynasties since ancient times, although the death penalty of the Ming Dynasty is full of tricks, including beheading, waist beheading, Ling Chi and so on, it can still be divided into two categories - beheading and beheading.

If we want to make an analogy with the sentence of the later generations, the death penalty is the immediate execution of the death penalty, and the death sentence is the death sentence with a reprieve. However, unlike later generations, as long as the beheading of prisoners at this time is not an amnesty decree issued by the Son of Heaven, it is impossible for them to change from death to living crimes, but they will live for a while longer, and they will be executed in the autumn, which is for the autumn execution!

Although the local people of Hangzhou live and work in peace and contentment, and it is one of the few wealthy state capitals in the country, there are still many crimes, and there are more than a dozen people who have been sentenced to death in a year. As soon as the middle of September arrives, these people will be brought before the people and punished with the sword.

This year is no exception. Moreover, in order to educate the people under his rule, before such executions, the government, especially the Yamen of the Inspectorate Division, will also publicize and popularize the laws of the Ming Dynasty to warn the public.

In the past two days, while the Inspectorate was setting up the execution platform, there were already officials preaching around the city. For ordinary people, watching the murder of criminals has also become the most discussed topic after their tea and dinner, and there are people whose relatives suffer from tuberculosis in the family are still trying to buy the executioner and get some people's blood to dip the steamed buns back to treat the disease.

Different from the enthusiastic discussion of the people, in the days before the autumn decision, several relevant yamen were busy, not only according to the yamen of the inspection department, but also the government office, especially in the general judgment hall responsible for matters related to criminal prisons, at this time, it was also busy, and there were constantly various relevant official documents in and out, which needed Lu Jin's confirmation.

After Lu Zhen was idle for a while, he was completely busy in the past few days. It was only then that he understood that human life is as big as the sky, and that executing several prisoners with one knife is not just a matter of throwing a bamboo stick in front of the execution table and shouting to kill, but also a lot of meticulous paperwork that needs to be done to avoid any mistakes.

The day after tomorrow was the day of execution, and it was not until this evening that the matter at hand was completely over. After handing over the last document to Xie Yao in front of him, asking him to send it to the prefect for seeing, and finally to the Yamen of the Inspectorate, Lu Zhen put down the brush and breathed a long sigh of relief.

Seeing this, Su Wenqian brought him a cup of tea, and then said, "My lord, it's not too early, if you feel tired, you can go home and rest first." Now that you're done, you don't have to stare at it. ”

Lu Zhen smiled a little tiredly, then stood up again, moved his hands and feet that were a little stiff from sitting for a long time, and then said, "Don't be busy going back now, let's go around death row." ”

"Huh?" Su Wenqian glanced at him with some surprise. This adult is really concerned about doing things, he has been to the prison several times before, but he didn't expect that today, he once again put forward such an idea. However, since the boss had made up his mind, he couldn't disobey, so he immediately went out to make arrangements.

So when Lu Zhen came to the cell located in the northeast corner of the mansion, several guards there were already waiting obediently outside, and when they saw him arrive, they stepped forward to salute one after another.

Lu Zhen smiled on his face, waved his hand to let everyone get up, and then said to the cell leader Lao Li: "Lao Li, nothing has gone wrong in the dungeon recently, right?" Especially those prisoners who are destined to be executed in the autumn, the time is coming, they don't have any unusual behavior, right? ”

"Don't worry, my lord, these people are very watchful, and nothing can go wrong. And those death row inmates are even shackled to their bodies, and even their mouths are tied with strips of cloth, so they won't let them have an accident before they eat that knife. Lao Li nodded hurriedly and replied. As the general judge of the government office, Lu Zhen can be regarded as the biggest official he can come into contact with, so he naturally does not dare to slack off in the slightest.

Lu Zhen smiled with satisfaction, and then pointed to the closed entrance of the cell: "This official wants to go in and take a walk, and you can also tell me about the situation of those death row inmates by the way." ”

"Yes!" Lao Li hurriedly agreed, beckoned his brothers to open the entrance, and then personally carried a lantern and walked in front, leading Lu Zhen to go down.

The dungeon wasn't too deep, but after descending more than a dozen steps, it reached the bottom, and then there was a stone walkway that was not too short. On both sides of the corridor, there is a cell every other zhang, and there are only two or three torches illuminated in the entire dungeon, which makes the environment here look dark and incomprehensible, and there is a feeling of ghostly atmosphere.

And what makes ordinary people even more unbearable is the strange smell here. It was a disgusting smell that had been unventilated for many years, and the stench of the prisoners and the smell of some unknown pests and rats that had rotted after death, fermented in a humid environment.

Lu Zhen still remembers that when he first came here, he was almost so smoky by the smell that he fell to the ground. But even if he is wary now, after coming down here, he still feels a little uncomfortable, and it takes a long time before he can speak: "The environment here is really not good, it's time to ventilate." ”

The guards of the cell who accompanied him down had to laugh in response, but they didn't take it to heart. The prison cells of the official mansions in the world are actually almost the same, which one is not bad in the environment? It's the prison of the Criminal Department, isn't it the same as insects and ants all over the ground, and the smell is stinking? How could the government create too good living conditions for prisoners?

Lu Zhen only subconsciously muttered, and then walked forward. As they passed through the locked cells, a few others reached out and shouted that they had been wronged. However, they were soon beaten back by the guard with the knife with the sheath, and after a reprimand, they did not dare to mess around again.

Lu Jin's footsteps didn't stop, and he didn't have the heart to care about the situation of the prisoners here, and asked them if they had really been wronged and came in. At this time, there are naturally those who are wrongfully imprisoned, but more of them are guilty of their own crimes and are taken down on the spot. Lu Zhen didn't want to be a baogong, and he didn't have the energy to defend them one by one, so he didn't care much, just went all the way in.

Soon, the corridor reached the bottom, and in front of it were three slightly smaller cells with only one prisoner. This can be regarded as special treatment, you must know that in the cells on the left and right just now, there are as few as three people in them, and as many as five or six people. Compared to them, this is a luxurious single suite in a dungeon.

However, if the prisoners were to choose, they would rather squeeze into the outer cells, because these cells were death rows, and they were for prisoners who had committed serious crimes and were about to be beheaded.

Because it has gone deep into the bottom of the corridor, there is no light from the torch here, and it can only be lit by the small lantern in Lao Litou's hand. Lu Zhen stretched out his hand and took the lantern, carried it to the cell, and tried to shine inside, and saw three cells, three death row inmates lying or sitting, looking really nothing unusual.

While Lu Zhen swept his gaze from the three of them one by one, Lao Li Tou introduced in a low voice: "This is the bandit Sha Tong who has been rampant in Jiangnan for many years, there is a fake name Kill Tongtian, he is a guy who kills people without blinking, and the government has killed three servants in order to take him; This is called Hu Jiao, because his wife committed adultery with someone, in a fit of anger, he not only killed the pair of dogs and men, but also set fire to them, causing two innocent people to die; And this ......" pointed to the last person, Lao Li's voice obviously hesitated: "He is Chang Wenyu, the son of the Chang family, because he quarreled with him, he actually killed people on the street, and when he was arrested by the government, he also resisted and killed a messenger, so he was convicted of death!" ”

Lu Zhen had already heard him introduce the situation of the three people when he came before, and he also looked through the relevant case files after he went back, so he was not too surprised to hear the charges of these three people at this moment. It's just that he held the lantern and kept sweeping it over the three of them, and finally his eyes fell on the body of Chang Wenyu, who was curled up in a corner.

After staring at each other for a while, Lu Zhen also squatted down, picked up a lantern and shone his exposed hands and feet, but were tightly locked in shackles. After some careful scrutiny, he finally stood up and let out a long sigh of relief.

"My lord, what is this?" Seeing him behave like this, Lao Li Tou felt a little nervous in his heart, and couldn't help but ask.

Lu Zhen handed the lantern back to his hand and said casually: "It's nothing, I'm just worried about what happened to this Chang Gongzi, so it's better to take a closer look." You have done a good job, as long as this incident is over, this official will ask the prefect for your credit. As he spoke, he reached out and patted the other party's shoulder.

This intimate gesture made Lao Li's bones lighten in an instant, and he said with a smile: "This is all what the small one should do, and the adult has an overreputation." "It would be great if I could get the appreciation of this judge, maybe I could be transferred out of this hellish place.

Lu Zhen didn't say anything more, and left the dungeon with an unpredictable smile.

Soon after, the news that Lu Zhen had visited the dungeon was already known to Xuan Cheng, and during this time, he had been paying attention to the other party's every move.

But after getting this news, Xuan Tongzhi just smiled disdainfully: "Everything has been settled, he Lu Zhen is ten more times, and a hundred times the dungeon is useless." Just wait for the day after tomorrow, and completely drive him out of Hangzhou City in one fell swoop. In that case, Gonggong Wu also has an explanation, maybe I can change from the position of the second official to the official seal in one fell swoop! ”

@@@@@

I apologize first, my mother suddenly felt unwell in the morning and was sent to the hospital and has been busy until now, so the update has been delayed until now。。。。。

Later, I will work hard to code words in the evening, and I should be able to catch up with the second shift today。。。。。