The arrival of Jiang Nanqi and the others made this small courtroom suddenly a little chaotic. The judge and the clerk had both taken classes in the study class of the Dongfang County Law College that he had led by Jiang someone, so how could Mr. Jiang not recognize his dignity? Therefore, at this moment, they stopped the trial and welcomed Jiang Nanqi and his entourage.

However, Jiang Nanqi did not plan to visit the cramped and cramped room, on the contrary, he was very interested in the foreign prisoners who were kept outside. The prisoners were dressed in rags, and some of them even had only a few rags on their bodies, and they looked miserable. Most of them were sent by the villagers, and a few were arrested by the police, but without exception, they all looked hungry.

The men were escorted by the patrol officers of the villages to the police station in the city, and after the police station signed for the receipt, the bailiff was notified to come and collect them without interrogation. The bailiffs dragged them to the open space outside the courtroom in a prison cart with iron cages, and at this time they were all sluggish, and it was evident that some of the village patrol officers had not given them good care during their detention. They were ragged, their hair was unkempt, they were infested with parasites, and they were in a poor mental state. What's more, they are hungry.

Outside the prison van, a chubby child was holding a meatloaf in his hand and munching on it in front of them. He ate so well that his cheeks bulged, and a prisoner who was so hungry that he could not stand it put his hand out of the iron cage and begged the child to give him something to eat. The child hesitated, only to see him eat the largest piece of meat in his hand, and then reluctantly handed the remaining half of the meatloaf to the prisoner. The prisoner immediately took the meatloaf in his hand and devoured it. Of course. He is also more righteous. I didn't forget to give a little bit to my companions.

Most of these people have been beaten. Many people have blue noses and swollen faces, and they haven't eaten for at least two days and nights, so they are in a bad state. Some lay motionless in the prison vans, some were crying quietly, and some were feebly praying for food from the onlookers. Jiang Nanqi sighed deeply, then turned to Master Liu and asked, "According to the prison management regulations, these people should be treated well from the day they were detained in the village-level detention cell. At the very least, they should be given plenty of food. But what I saw here, they were hungry, they were beaten, they were dying. Is that how you treat the law? ”

Master Liu's face flushed, and then he muttered: "Master Jiang doesn't know, some food has been allocated from above, but there are a lot of prisoners recently, and it is completely insufficient. The Yihe Patrol Court had just left Changshan Fort this month and went to Ningjin Fort, and the lower officials had sent someone to chase after him and ask for instructions. However, Dean Wang said that there was a fixed amount of prisoner rations every month, and it was not advisable to increase them without authorization. Let's figure it out for ourselves. Xia Guan also asked Lord Larsen of the local grain depot to borrow some grain, but Lord Larsen said that the procedures were complicated and there was no precedent, so it was not appropriate to lend us grain, so he ......"

Jiang Nanqi glanced at him and understood the difficulties of these low-level petty bureaucrats, so he didn't say anything more. They may really not have enough food, or maybe they themselves are greedy for it, but it doesn't matter, the reality is that not everyone in the prisoners has enough to eat, especially when the number of prisoners is growing explosively.

"Don't you even have an Italian translator here?" After thinking about it, Jiang Nanqi asked again, "They can't even defend themselves, this is not the legal process we need, this is unreasonable." President Liu, now you send someone to find the Lord of Qin Castle, and say that I need to find two Italian translators. Go ahead, he'll agree. ”

In other words, there are really a lot of Italian immigrants in China today, accounting for almost 10% of the population, and some of the Italians who immigrated early in the early days still have a pretty good level of Chinese, and there is no problem with using them as translators. Sure enough, President Liu soon brought two Italian immigrants over. Both of them were veteran Italian immigrants, one was from Tuscany and was a patrolman; One from Palermo, a small grain and oil merchant, quickly figured out what they needed to do and then began to cooperate with the court in questioning the prisoners who had been captured.

"He said he had come from La Plata across the Uruguay River, where they would give two riyals to some ferrymen, and then they would be able to sneak over by boat. They traveled hundreds of leagues along the open steppe to the east bank, sometimes for days and nights without finding anything to eat; The three-toed ostriches, foxes, jackals, and so on on the road ran away when they saw them, and they did not have the strength and tools to hunt in order to fill their bellies; Sometimes it rained for several days, and they were soaked and choked with cold, and many of them fell ill and died on the way. ”

"The roads are full of swamps, and in many places there are no roads at all. Sometimes when it rains heavily, they have to wade through waist-deep puddles or mud ponds. Their clothes or shoes were often rotten, they had no place to start their fires, they had little place to rest, and the few Spanish immigrants in that land were not friendly to them, and many refused to allow them to rest on their farms. Even if they were sometimes allowed to rest in some of the same cold, damp gloomy huts, they would be drained of the last few rials by the Spaniards. ”

"There are places where there are almost no people, but it's much better than if you meet the Charua. The barbarians will kill you and take the last bit of what you have, and they will have little mercy for outsiders, only hatred. They made their way on their way avoiding the Charua, often resting on the damp meadows. They can't find anyone to complain, they can't find anyone to complain, no one cares about them, they can only encourage each other. Sometimes you will encounter hordes of gaucho bandits in the wild, and you will have to take off your hat and bend down to salute them. These despicable gauchos have no interest in the poorer than them, but if they happen to be in a bad mood, you are likely to be humiliated. ”

These people are chattering mainly about what happened to them along the way. The two Italian immigrants were interpreting and had relatives at the same time, but fortunately, they had come here secretly by boat at a great price, and they had not suffered such a big crime. However, seeing that their fellow villagers have experienced so many hardships and tribulations along the way, they are also excited for a while, it is really not easy!

However, Jiang Nanqi heard something else from these people's accounts.

"The Spaniards also began to colonize east of the Uruguay River?" He asked, noting that the men's accounts mentioned stopping at the Spanish settlers' farmhouses on the way.

They said that there were indeed some Spanish immigrants along the way, but it seems that the Jesuit missionaries managed to get them, and they had nothing to do with the Kingdom of Spain. And there weren't many of them, and they often had to walk for days before they came across a few lonely Spanish farmhouses standing on the grasslands. After questioning them carefully, the patrolman replied to Jiang Nanqi.

This is a piece of information that should be taken seriously. Jiang Nanqi secretly paid attention, decided to find a few more people to verify later, and then sent someone to report to the Executive Committee that the Spanish claws had officially extended to the area west of the Uruguay River, and all preparations must be made.

The ensuing interrogation was nothing new. It took a long time for two Italian immigrant translators to figure out the crime committed by the first man: he had stolen a few sweet potatoes to satisfy his hunger. Unfortunately, he was discovered by the villagers, who were weak from having eaten for two days, and were soon chased by the villagers and beaten up before being taken to a detention cell in the village.

Others committed similar crimes, ranging from stealing food, clothing, and even livestock. There are no vicious cases of murder and robbery that have been circulating among the people for a long time, and there is no bitter lord to accuse them, and they themselves have not admitted to committing such evil acts. In fact, if you think about it, what violent crimes can a few "travelers" who have been starving for a long time and are in very poor physical condition, and who walk with straight hair and flowing legs? It's really hard to imagine.

"All 32 people have been tried, and they are basically some minor thefts. In accordance with the spirit of the Ministry of Justice and the Executive Committee, they will be placed in labor camps for forced labor reform, mainly for the construction of nearby railways and settlements. They will receive two sets of work clothes, up to three meals a day, a dry and comfortable wooden house, a salary of five cents a day, and the most basic medical care. Master Liu, the judge of the Xiayihe Fort Court, stepped forward and reported to Jiang Nanqi, "The sentence for everyone is one year. During this year, they also have the opportunity to learn Hanyu Pinyin and writing, which is actually a preferential treatment. Compared to their dark life in La Plata and halfway through, this is simply their paradise. ”

"Don't comment on these poor people in such a frivolous tone, Judge Liu." Jiang Nanqi suddenly turned to look at the thirty-year-old Ming immigrant, and then said in an aggravated tone: "In fact, they have only committed some very minor crimes, but now they need to pay the price of a year of freedom, and it is actually us enslaving them." I don't want to comment too much on some of the policies of the state, but for now, we should have pity and respect for them. I remember that you also employed a couple of Italian homeless people at home, and they created great economic benefits for you. The decent life you can maintain now is largely dependent on them, and you should be grateful to them for that, not so cynical. It's not their fault that they're so poor, they're just unlucky, don't they have labor? People who love to work should not be so poor! (To be continued......)