Early the next morning, as soon as Fan Jin arrived at the yamen, he saw that several files had been placed on his official case. All of them are old files accumulated in the Criminal Department, and without exception, all of them are homicides.

There are more than 40 Jinshi who have come to the Criminal Department to observe politics, and it can be said that there is not a single one who is interested in this kind of old file. Although the Guanzheng Jinshi belongs to the intern, he is also a Jinshi class, and he can be awarded an official after the expiration of the Guanzheng period, and the current officials of the Criminal Department are colleagues, because in terms of identity and status, they are different from the intern students of later generations. Even if these members of the criminal department are not easy to assign them to do this and that casually, more often it depends on the consciousness of the parties.

The Jinshi of the Wanli period did not like to do practical things, and their ideal was to be admitted to the Hanlin Academy as a Jishi, and after a few years, they were appointed as reviewers, and they were not interested in practical work. All kinds of general work are regarded as the work of the talents, and the scholars disdain to do it. In addition, there are some secrets in each ministry that cannot be known to outsiders, and many things are not something they can participate in. It is because these jinshi are mostly looking for a place to sit down in the criminal department, take something to look at casually, and then they are trying to find ways to find people to make friends and relationships, and take the opportunity of watching politics to expand their contacts, at most, they take the current case files to take a look at them, and make some sighs in the local judgment. There was only one Fan Jin who looked down at the file.

According to Fan Jin's observation, it was found that when the criminal department reviewed the file, it was like that, and generally did not overturn the existing local verdict. After all, they were not at the first scene, and what they got was only second-hand evidence, and relying on this kind of evidence to overturn the existing verdict is not conducive to local work, and it is not objective, so as long as the following conclusions are not too outrageous, the criminal department will confirm that they will not look for trouble.

The only exception to this is in homicides.

At present, the criminal department of the Ming Dynasty, although it is not mentioned to abolish death, it has emphasized careful killing. There is no way to decide cases at the local level, and the criminal department cannot interfere, but all judgments in autumn will be strictly reviewed, and if problems are found, they will raise questions with the local government, and if they cannot give a reasonable explanation, they will not approve the death penalty. Even if approved, the execution date will be postponed as far as possible in order to allow the convict to live longer. It is precisely because of this that Lotus and others dragged on from the first year of Wanli to the third year of Wanli before killing. And this is still the result of the high arch instructions, otherwise this case does not know when it will be decided.

The original Fan Jin also had a lot of slander about this kind of cautious killing attitude, thinking that its efficiency was too low and it delayed time. But at this time, it seems that they are beginning to support this attitude. People can't be resurrected after death, and people's lives are at stake, with the current rate of unjust, false and wrongful cases in the Ming Dynasty, coupled with the compromises that had to be made due to the pressure from all sides, even a file like Lotus can be called a mountain of ironclad evidence. If you don't kill carefully, I don't know how many unlucky eggs will come out every year.

With Hou Shouyong's support, Fan Jin's investigation became smoother. He didn't go to investigate the old case with great fanfare, but just found one or two officials, and asked about the old things in a casual chat. Those officials didn't dare to offend him, so naturally they had a word to say, and they had a more comprehensive understanding of the news.

After Zhou Shichen was killed that day, it was the soldiers and horses of the five cities who caught the people first, and the prisoners sent were tortured and bruised. Since the Ming Dynasty recognized the justification of torture, this situation was not unusual. The confessions of those people were not questioned because of this, but instead became one of the most admissible pieces of evidence by the presiding judge, Weng Dali.

The relatives of the Zhou family are all majestic in the world, and a new emperor is not as good as before, and the Zhou family is no exception. By the time of Zhou Shichen's generation, the Zhou family had decayed so badly that it no longer had the prestige of the emperor's relatives. But it is precisely because of this that they regard decency as extremely important, and they are always eager to borrow some things to make trouble and regain their former decency. After Zhou Shichen was killed, the clan elders of the Zhou family took the lead in making trouble, and they wanted to make a big deal about it, so as to ask the government for more compensation, and even shocked the heavens.

At that time, Mu Zong died, the court was in chaos, and no one had time to entertain the Zhou family. With the previous confession and the instructions of the first assistant, Weng Dali's subsequent attitude is actually not difficult to imagine.

Every time a few people go to court, they will be beaten half to death, and they will confess at that time, but they will regret and cry out for injustice when they backhand. Weng Dali refuted the existing confessions many times because several people even believed that these were three tricky people, and there must be a problem, but he was determined to kill. Therefore, in the submitted chapter, the three people are characterized as extremely heinous crimes, and not killing them is not enough to anger the people, Wanli had just ascended the throne at that time, and he did not understand everything, and he did not have the ability to deal with problems. The beheading instructions came from Gao Gong on behalf of the Son of Heaven, but in the name of the emperor.

According to the information inquired by the prison of the Criminal Department, several people kept complaining about grievances after entering the cell, but they refused to take money to settle it. Since it was confirmed before, Zhou Shichen had just made a fortune, and he had one hundred and fifty taels of silver at home. No silver was found at the scene of the crime, and only a few taels of silver were found in the Wang family, and most of them must have been in the hands of these three people. In order to get the money, the prison guards inevitably used some means to torture and plunder, but no matter how they did it, the three people just couldn't get the money.

When the government dispersed in the evening, Fan Jin did not go back to Zheng's shop, but went to Hou Shouyong's residence. As soon as the master and apprentice sat down, Hua Zhengfang asked his concubine to send a pot of noodle soup, and the three of them sat in a group, each with a bowl of noodles and a plate of pickles.

Hua Zhengfang looked bad, seemed to be sick, and sat there coughing vigorously. But the conversation was very interested, and he talked eloquently: "Yushi doesn't eat geese, and we can only eat noodles during the matter." In fact, it's good to eat noodles, when I was in arrears, I was sent out of breath pepper, which is said to be brought back from overseas by Sanbaogong during the Yongle period, where can I still use it? Don't talk about noodles, you can't even get gruel back. ”

Hou Shouyong said with a smile: "What Brother Hua said is not true, the younger brother later heard that the Wanshun South Goods Store in the outer city is willing to accept your pepper, and the price is not low, but you refuse to deliver." In the end, half sold and half given away, and sold to a vendor who went into the city to receive the goods. ”

"Wanshun's young owner killed people, and the sentence was an autumn decision. The family bought pepper for several people, and what they wanted was nothing more than to buy the life of the young owner. Buying my pepper is to gag my mouth so that I don't come to ruin their good deeds. Joke! What is done in the matter is the errand of bad people and good deeds, if they are allowed to do whatever they want, then what does the old man mean by this official? In the end, it was I who stared at this case to death, and only then did I sentence the murderer to death, and the death or life was not changed to beheading. If I spend someone's eyes, can a few taels of silver and a few grains of pepper stop it? ”

Hou Shouyong said: "At that time, Hua Lao had no choice, he borrowed a Beijing debt, and those people urged him very tightly, in fact, he also wanted Hua Lao to sell a friendship in business." As a result, Hua Lao would rather pawn his belongings than show favoritism, which is really a model of selflessness in the country. ”

Hua Zhengfang said with a smile: "Fortunately, your teacher came to rent a house, and I had the Sichuan capital you sent, so I was relieved." Otherwise, that level is really difficult. But it's not good, but it's okay. At such an age, I have never been afraid of anyone, and the only person who is afraid in my heart is that I am sorry for my conscience and the divine sheep on my body. My generation is all the people's fat and people's ointment, and in the case of my meager income, it is also dozens of young and strong farmers who have worked hard to earn it. If we don't care about our own work, how can we be right about the blood and sweat they shed in the field? To be a man, you always have to have the right conscience. I know what you're looking for, good lookup! It's long overdue! The old man has acted as a man all his life, and his conceit is worthy of his heart. Only in the case of Zhou Shichen, I am ashamed. ”

At this, he shook his head, a look of embarrassment on his face.

"At that time, Lao Yu had just been transferred to the Criminal Department, everything was not clear, and the division was not as good as Weng Rushen. At that time, the criminal department gave Cao Yingjia in the matter, and Weng Rushen had a teacher-student friendship, but he was the first to look forward. Although I pointed out all the doubts in this case, they insisted that the three men be convicted of the murderers. I have been on the book, the stone sank into the sea, everyone's thoughts were on the new monarch's accession to the throne, the stability of the court, and no one cared about the people's life. If it wasn't someone from the Qingyun Hou family who died, but a small person who was promoted to the fight, he wouldn't even be interested in discussing it. At that time, Cao Yingjia also asked me to talk to my face, killing people to pay off debts and paying money, this is justice. As long as there is this justice, there will be other justice. He is in the middle of the matter, and from him he agrees that this case is no problem, and I can't help it. ”

Hou Shouyong said: "Now Cao Yingjia is the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, and when Guan Luo can become a minister, he will most likely take over the thorn qing." I still remember that when I went to check the prison and saw Wang Kui's appearance, Rao was a pro-people official for more than ten years, and I had been to the prison more than once. I never thought that there were such embarrassed people in the world. ”

Hua Zhengfang said: "Yes, so you are in the prison of the Criminal Department, talking with people for more than an hour, this is not like your master and apprentice." I like to talk to people about things in a restaurant, but you are in prison. ”

"At that time, if I was in the criminal department, I was afraid that it would be the same as me. After asking, I vowed to get justice for them. When he returned to Yali, he immediately went to this chapter and asked for a suspension of the execution and a retrial of the murder of Zhou Shichen. This case is full of doubts and the evidence is flawed, how can we conclude that they are murderers based on torture and confessions?"

"I said back then that this chapter wasn't going to be useful." Hua Zhengfang shook her head and said, "Zhang Jiangling's eyes can't see such a small case. When you go up in this chapter, he will only ask the opinions of Dali Temple, the Criminal Department, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Cao Yingjia's official position was raised by this case, how can he allow people to overturn this case? It is inevitable that the evidence in this case is ironclad, and there is no way to make it easier. Although the Metropolitan Procuratorate likes to make trouble, it also has to be divided into specific things, Weng Dali is a senior of Shilin, and he has really lost face, and he may not have a good reputation in Shilin. What's more, whoever overturns this case will be held responsible, and if the Zhou family makes trouble again, he will go out to fight the thunder, who wants to cause this trouble? I've been on this chapter a few times, and I've been talking about it, and it's all like being thrown into the sea, and no one cares. In the final analysis, Zhou Shichen is dead, and the Zhou family is a relative of the group of troublemakers, everyone has a bad opinion of them, as long as they don't make trouble, everything else can do, and no one cares about their justice. As for the three lotus, they are all ordinary people, and their justice is just like that. On the contrary, it is Weng Dali's face and responsibility on his body, which is what really matters. ”

"Because they didn't want to get into trouble, they could only watch the heads of the three people fall to the ground in the end. People say that the gossip is clear, the official pickets hundreds of officials, and asks for the people's lives. But in fact, there are times when not only can they not ask for the people's lives, but even if they do protect the lives of the people, they are not able to do it at all. ”

Fan Jin said with a smile: "I understand what the two of you said, everyone hurry up and eat, don't let the noodles get cold." ”

Hua Zhengfang said: "It doesn't matter if the face is cold, as long as people's hearts are hot, they are not afraid of anything." If the heart is also cold, it is really difficult to do. Thinking about it, the old man is not in good health, his brain is not bright, and he does not have much merit in fame, but he has lived at this age, and there are many people who have seen it, and he can be regarded as well-informed. Today's scholars are not as stupid as us, everyone is very smart, they know where their future is, and what they should do to make their lives better. There aren't many people like you anymore. Your division commander and I can't do much other than eat a bowl of cold noodles here and complain. But when we look at the miserable appearance of those families, the blind old woman has become crazy, pulling people to cry out all day long, and the widowed mother with hard work has seen her son's head fall to the ground, dying of grief, and we can't let go of it in our hearts. What's more, on the day of the execution of the prisoner, there were people in the crowd laughing! This is clearly not taking the government in our eyes, not taking the court in our eyes, and not understanding this case, we are sorry for those people, and let the real murderers laugh at our incompetence! ”

"Someone is laughing?"

Hou Shouyong said: "Yes." At that time, I went to the Dharma field to give them a gift, which was to do what I could for them. As a result, it was seen that at the time of the execution, someone was laughing. The people like to be lively, and they laugh when they watch killing, and I have seen this kind of thing, so it is not surprising. But the laughter of those people is different, it is not the laughter of ignorance after seeing the excitement, but the ridicule and contempt...... Contempt for the government. ”

"Teacher, why don't you check it out?"

"I want to check as a teacher, but what can I check? It's not illegal for people to laugh, and I can't arrest them and interrogate them. As for the follow-up after the fact, there is no one to use, and there is no benefit in the criminal department's quick arrest, there is no limit, and it is better to expect them to investigate the case than to expect the criminal to turn himself in. ”

"What is the teacher's impression of those people?"

"There are three people in the group laughing in the court, some of them are carrying tools for killing pigs, and there are blood stains and oil stains on their clothes, so I am sure that there must be butchers among them, and if you want to investigate this case, you have to start from this level."