After the hour, the sun has been getting higher, and the warm autumn sun shines in the open space in front of the Yangzhou Mansion, so that many people gathered here do not feel a kind of lazy feeling. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

Like the yamen of various prefectures and counties in the Ming Dynasty, every day when the case is announced, a group of people will gather in front of the yamen of Yangzhou Prefecture. Of course, not all of them came to fight lawsuits, and many of them were litigators who made a living by helping people write pleadings or instructing them on how to win lawsuits - this was the profession of lawyers that was admired by the mainstream public in later generations, but hundreds of years ago, it was the most unpopular and was called a lawyer. The so-called eating of the plaintiff and the defendant refers to these litigants.

Although the government yamen always explicitly forbade these guys to meddle in lawsuits, the literacy rate of the people in this era is too low, and lawsuits are inevitably handed over, as for talking to the officials, it is not something that those timid people can do, so in many cases, the yamen has to do these lawsuits.

Now that the atmosphere of the Ming Dynasty has long been eroded, the government has turned a blind eye to these things, allowing the litigators to peddle business at the yamen, but they don't know it.

However, the "business" of the government office here today is quite light, and it has been open for more than an hour, and only a few people come to the government for comment, and they don't even use those lawsuits who think they are clever to come up with ideas. Out of boredom, several litigants could only gather together to say some gossip about the Zhang family's short Li family to kill time.

At this time, from the long street in front of him, a white-headed old man who was still neatly dressed walked by. I saw that his face was full of indignation, and his eyes were fixed on the gate of the government, judging from the experience of these lawyers, this person must have a grievance and need to appeal to the government, which made their spirits suddenly lifted.

Then, the atmosphere that had been quite harmonious just now was also swept away, and everyone looked at the old man with some expectation, hoping that he would come over and ask for a price. Looking at the way he dresses, he is a sensible person, and he must understand that he has to find himself and others to fight a lawsuit. Some people have already made calculations in their minds, seeing how to reply, what price to pay for what case, and so on.

But to the surprise of all of them, the old man did not glance at them, but came directly to the yamen. Then, something even more frightening happened.

Originally, seeing that he ignored himself, there was a litigator who had not been open for a few days and wanted to take the initiative to talk to him and solicit business. Unexpectedly, the old man walked directly to the drum standing by the yamen of the mansion, and without saying a word, he picked up the drumstick hanging beside it and struck it hard.

The loud sound of ......the drum suddenly came out, and the faces of the litigants changed, and the fellow who had already walked in front of the old man saw this, and immediately turned his footsteps, and walked back without looking back, much faster than when he came.

As for the other lawyers, they were also looking at the old man with surprised eyes, feeling that he was either really wronged or crazy. To put it bluntly, they have been touting business in front of this government for some years, but they have not seen this beating of drums or grievances two or three times.

In the film and television works of later generations, the drum of grievances in front of the yamen of the county government is always beaten by the people who shout grievances, as if they are playing 110 with everyone, as long as there is any trouble and dispute, they will come to beat the drum. But the reality is by no means the case, at this time, the drum of injustice is not something that can be beaten casually, and it cannot be moved at will unless it encounters a major case such as murder, robbery or rebellion, otherwise the person who beats the drum will be severely punished by the government.

Now that the old man is beating the drum, the matter is completely big, and the matter will soon spread throughout the city. This kind of big thing, no matter how bold these litigants are, they don't dare to mix with it.

Sure enough, after only a few knocks, several serious-looking officials rushed out, and after stopping him from continuing to beat the drum, they took him to the yamen.

"This ...... Didn't you hear anything big about the city lately? Why did you make such a fuss? ”

"yes, let's ask someone about it then." The litigants became harmonious again, and gathered together to discuss and speculate about the incident......

The old man was soon taken to the second hall of the yamen, where there were already two rows of officials with solemn expressions, carrying water and fire sticks, and Yao Qingzhi, the prefect who was also solemn, sat behind the case above. After he picked up the shocking wood in his hand and slapped it hard, the officials shouted with great majesty.

It seemed that he was frightened by this hall, and after entering the hall, the old man's face became a little pale, and he just stood there stunned. Until the messenger who brought him in kicked him in the back and whispered, "Don't kneel yet!" He knelt down as he said, and then kowtowed to the prefect.

"Who is kneeling in the hall, and why is the drum beating?" Yao Qingzhi asked.

Although someone had taught the old man how to speak more than once before, the nervousness in his heart still made him hesitate a little when facing the high-ranking prefect master, and he said after a while: "Little old man Xia Zhi, my family has opened a Xia family pharmacy in the city...... Because there are a few ancestral cures, business has been good. I don't think just two months ago, there was another Lai Kee pharmacy next to my pharmacy.

"Although the face of Na Li Ji Pharmacy is bigger than my family, and there are more medicinal materials than mine, but in terms of business, it is not as good as my Lao Xia's. I don't want them to have bad intentions towards us because of this, and they have found people to disturb our daily livelihood several times, not to mention, and people have come to the store to ask me about the compatibility of the ancestral recipes of the Xia family......"

Speaking of this, tears flowed from Xia Zhi's eyes, and his voice trembled even more: "My son Xia Cong naturally refused to hand over the prescription that my pharmacy relied on for a living, and he had several disputes with them. I didn't expect ...... I didn't expect the people of this Li Ji Pharmacy to be extremely fierce, and actually found a few idlers to smash my pharmacy a few days later, and also seriously injured my son, and finally half a month ago, he actually ...... "Later, everyone present knows what the result is without thinking about it."

When Yao Qingzhi heard this, his brows furrowed: "There is such a thing?" Since someone is doing such evil, why didn't you, as a sufferer, report to the official earlier? But after half a month? Well? ”

Xia Zhi immediately called Qu Lai: "The eldest lord is wronged, although the little old man was not in the pharmacy at the time, he immediately reported to the official after the incident." However, the county yamen who reported it did not pay any attention to this...... After Xiao'er had an accident, Xiao Lao'er was unwilling to complain again, but he didn't want to be framed by the county government, saying that my hard-working child was beaten and killed after arguing with someone on the street, and it had nothing to do with the Nali family pharmacy. not only refused to accept Xiao Lao'er's petition, but also beat Xiao Lao'er and expelled him from the yamen...... Please also ask the eldest master to make decisions for the little old man! With that, he kowtowed to the Yao Governor's Mansion again, tears welling up.

Although the surrounding officials had this skin, they were also from poor backgrounds, and when they saw that he was miserable, they also sympathized greatly. At the same time, he was also very dissatisfied with the practice of the county government, and felt that the old man was too wronged, no wonder he would come to beat the drum and voice his grievances at all costs.

Only a few nimble minds suddenly turned their minds: "Isn't the Li family pharmacy he mentioned a shop near the east gate?" I heard that the owner of that family is Li Xinyin, but he is from Huating County, and it is said that he has a close relationship with the Xu family......"

After thinking of this layer, the faces of the officials changed slightly, once the matter involved the Xu family, it was impossible to judge it according to common sense. No wonder the county government will end up with such a confused verdict, and this bitter lord has now thrown the problem to his own adult, what should the adult do?

In the minds of almost everyone, with the consistent style of their own adults, there will definitely be a procrastination trick when such things happen, and they will not get too involved in this case, and at the same time, they will no longer embarrass the old man who lost his son in front of him.

But the result was a great disappointment to the officials in the hall who thought they knew the prefect, if they had any. I saw that after being stunned for a moment, Governor Yao suddenly picked up the startled wood and slapped it down, reprimanding: "It's really unreasonable!" Reckless of human life, dereliction of duty! Since the county government doesn't care about this case, I, the prefect, must give you justice! Someone ...... coming."

Hearing the greeting of the prefect, the following officials suddenly became a spirit, and immediately two people stepped out: "Here!" ”

Simply and neatly, Yao Qingzhi took out a fire stick from the lottery holder on the case in front of him and threw it hard: "You quickly go to the east gate to find the Li family pharmacy, and bring all the people in charge there to the official, there must be no mistake!" ”

Although they were puzzled, several servants still subconsciously picked up the fire sticks on the ground, clenched their fists in agreement, and strode out. Naturally, when they arrived outside the hall, they would still call some colleagues to go and fetch people together.

And the first scribe under the prefect was also stunned when he saw that he ordered to take people without thinking. Then he reminded in a low voice: "My lord, the Li family pharmacy is Li Xinyin's property, you have to bring him ......."

Without waiting for the other party to finish speaking, Governor Yao waved his hand impatiently: "Hugh is noisy, in front of the national law, everyone is the same, how can he Li Xinyin be an exception." Since this official is a parent, he should be the master of the people. How can the government tolerate such a gangster! ”

When the scribe saw the adult's statement, he immediately didn't dare to make a sound, but he had a more strange feeling in his heart, this adult of his own family had taken the wrong medicine, why is his temperament very different from before?

And Na Xia Zhi was greatly moved, and while calling him the master of Qingtian, he once again kept kowtowing to the prefect who was high above......