Liu Laosan died.

Because he was quit by the landlord, he was desperate, jumped into the Linhai River, gave away his life, and also caused a storm.

The suicide of a tenant is not a big deal in Jiangnan. Tenants are already struggling at the bottom of society, and most of them have toiled all their lives, and in the end, they have no roof on the top or an inch of land, so they have to wrap a straw mat and bury it in the ownerless mountains and forests, often leaving usury that can never be repaid for future generations. If they ever married a wife and had children, and they brought up their children.

Therefore, the tenants and poor households who cannot endure the long and hopeless suffering and choose to die will not be less at any time.

But when the Great Song Dynasty was still alive in the past, there was rarely a mess. Not to mention that the tenants can't think of committing suicide, even if they really let the clansmen of the big families kill them, most of them can also turn big things into small things. At that time, the countryside was really firmly controlled by big families such as Yimen Fang and Yimen Du. These clans could not deal with the Mongols, but they were still very effective in maintaining the localities and controlling the poor at the bottom.

In addition, the reason why this control is very effective is also because there is no strong opponent. Most of the great families of the Southern Song Dynasty existed in the model of "Yimen", and due to the existence of two factors, "no separation of families" and fair educational opportunities, the cohesion of Yimen was very strong. The tenants they controlled, or the few poor landlords in the countryside, were all scattered and could not fight against them at all.

If Chen Dexing can recognize the privileges of the Yimen, maintain the imperial examination system, and continue to let them control the population and land in Jiangnan, the Jiangnan region will be peaceful. However, Chen Dexing abolished the imperial examination. He also used the war to deprive Jiangnan Yimen of the land and tenants to the greatest extent. It can be said that it has violated the core interests of Jiangnan Yimen. At the same time as smashing the Yimen forces in the south of the Yangtze River, it also destroyed the rural ruling order formed in the Great Song Dynasty for 300 years.

As for the local forces of the sergeants and military households that Chen Dexing single-handedly supported. At least at the moment, Jiangnan is still very vulnerable, after all, they have just risen. It can't be compared with the Yimen clan that has existed for hundreds of years.

Fortunately, after the family was smashed by Chen Dexing, there was also a division. A considerable number of them cater to the new era, or become blessed and prepare to go to India as a special Brahmin; or was admitted to the Heavenly Dao Academy; or as a local servant; Or they were recruited by Chen Ming's education department or the Heavenly Daoist Sect, and they are now being trained, and they will become teachers or Taoists in the future -- there are actually quite a lot of ways out, at least no worse than the original five or six hundred Jinshi in three years.

But there are still some people, like Fang Sixiucai Fang Kesi in Linhai County, Taizhou, who chose to confront! And the way they confronted, of course, was to incite the people.

They're talented. First of all, of course, it is a gentleman who does not use his hands.

……

In Linhai County, Taizhou, outside the gate of the Taizhou Judge's Yamen, there is a corpse that has been soaked in the river and turned a little white, which is Liu Laosan's corpse. Around this corpse, there was also a group of figures dressed as crop men kneeling in the dark. There were also a few people in the front row who wore linen and filial piety, and they were also kneeling on the ground. They are relatives of Liu Laosan, including two elder brothers, two sons, and three nephews. and Liu Laosan's wife, all kneeling there and crying.

Fang Sixiucai also came to the Taizhou Judge's Yamen, but instead of kneeling, he stepped forward and beat a leather drum placed at the Yamen—this was struck when people complained about their grievances. This judge's yamen here. It's actually a court. Chen Ming's adjudication system and administrative system have been separated, and adjudication is a relatively professional job that requires specialized training. The judges, who are well acquainted with the laws of the Ming Dynasty, are in charge.

And it was Xu Ziyuan who was the judge in the Taizhou Judge Hall. He was originally Chen Dexing's secretary, and all the laws of the Ming Dynasty had to be sent to the imperial court many times during the formulation process. Let Chen Dexing look at it. Xu Ziyuan, the big secret, naturally has to look at it carefully a few times first, find out the key points and key contents, and mark them well. Then send it to Chen Dexing to see. Sometimes the legal clauses sent below are half-literary and half-vernacular, and Xu Ziyuan has to change them to full vernacular, add punctuation marks, and then send them to Chen Dexing to see.

It is not that Chen Dexing does not understand classical Chinese, but Chen Dexing requires that all legal provisions, documents, orders, and notices must be in the vernacular, and there must be no ambiguity. It is necessary to let the common people and the big-headed soldiers who have little culture understand it as soon as they hear it, and don't write gorgeously and confusedly, let alone quote scriptures as if they were taking the Jinshi to make a fuss.

Because of this experience, Xu Ziyuan is very familiar with various laws and regulations of the Ming Dynasty, including the Criminal Law, Commercial Law, Civil Law, and Trial Regulations, Patrol and Arrest Regulations, etc.

Therefore, after the establishment of the Taizhou Judge's Office, he became the chief judge, and the presiding official was the judicial trial of Taizhou.

However, unlike the busyness of the courts in later generations, Xu Ziyuan is in charge of the Taizhou Judge's Office, which is an unusually idle yamen, and most of the time there will not be a single case to be tried throughout the day. Because the common people are not used to going to the yamen to ask the official to call the shots, if there is any dispute, they are willing to find those righteous men who live in seclusion in the countryside to be the masters and say a fair word. And business dealings are maintained by reputation, profiteers all promise money, and contracts are not signed, let alone seek government ruling. Unless there is a lawsuit, the big drum at the entrance of the judge's hall will not be beaten.

……

"Liu Sheng, the grass farmer, sued Li Sanfa, the owner of the military household in Linhai County, for being rich and unkind, and forced his father Liu Decai (Liu Laosan) to death, and asked the master of Qingtian to make the decision for the grass people!"

The yamen of the judge's hall was wide open, and there were a large number of bitter masters wearing linen and filial piety kneeling beside Liu Laosan's body in the main hall, and there was also a Fang Si Xiucai wearing a Confucian shirt. He came to speak for the Liu family, the sufferer -- according to the "Trial Regulations," the defendant and the plaintiff can ask the lawyer to speak for him, and the lawyer does not hold the card at the moment, that is, anyone can do anything.

An errand officer from the judge's hall took the pleadings written by Fang Sixiucai and handed them to Xu Ziyuan, who was sitting behind the public case, with both hands.

Xu Ziyuan took the paper and read it carefully, the handwriting was neat, the writing was good, the scriptures were cited, and the head was the Tao, if it was taken to the imperial examination, most of them would be able to pass the exam. But a lawsuit is not better than an article, you have to be reasonable...... Oh, it's not about reasoning, it's about law!

For the rich and unkind...... This is not illegal! The law of the Ming Dynasty does not stipulate that if you have money, you must be benevolent. And to this death...... There is no such article in the Ming Law. In the criminal law of the Ming Dynasty, there are only three life lawsuits for murder, manslaughter, and assisted suicide, and there is no such thing as forced killing. If that Li Sanfa caught Liu Laosan's wife and children and forced him to commit suicide, it could be considered murder. If Li Sanfa cheated or robbed Liu Laosan of all his property, Liu Laosan couldn't think of committing suicide for a while, and he would be sentenced according to the crime of fraud and robbery, and the circumstances would be particularly serious.

But quit the tenant...... It's completely legal! The landlord can quit the tenant, the landlord can take back the house from the tenant, and the creditor can collect the debt. Even if a person is killed, as long as it is not the landlord, the landlord, the creditor, or the hired murderer, it has nothing to do with the landlord, the landlord, or the creditor.

So according to the law of the Ming Dynasty, this Liu Laosan died in vain!

But so many people gathered at the yamen...... looks like they are all indignant, I'm afraid I don't give that Li Sanfa a little bitterness, this matter is difficult to settle!

It turned out that Xu Ziyuan was still an official who understood politics very well, and knew that the Ming Dynasty's roots in Taizhou were not deep, and now he asked for peace and tried not to make any popular uprisings.

"Liu Sheng," Xu Ziyuan thought for a moment and asked with a frown, "Your father threw himself into the water?" ”

This Xu Daqingtian actually wants to lead the case to murder! He knew it was best to give these bitter farmers a little relief. Therefore, he can only grieve Li Sanfa and sentence him to exile to the New World for the crime of manslaughter.

"It was Li Sanfa who was forced to die!" Liu Sheng gritted his teeth and said.

When Xu Ziyuan heard it, it seemed that there was a play, and he hurriedly asked: "What the official asked was Liu Laosan throwing the water himself, or asking someone to throw it into the water!" ”

"This ......" Liu Sheng frowned tightly, he didn't see the scene of his father throwing himself into the water, this question is not easy to answer.

"Official, Liu Laosan threw himself into the river because the land he cultivated was taken back by the landlord and he was desperate." Fang Kesi, the "chief lawyer" on the side, replied for Liu Sheng at this time.

Xu Ziyuan looked at Liu Sheng and asked softly, "Is that the case?" ”

"That's how it should ......"

Xu Ziyuan was silent for a moment, looked at the black peasants outside the yamen, gritted his teeth and asked, "So...... Liu Laosan and Li Sanfa have a grudge in the past? ”

"There is no vendetta." Fang Kesi interjected again.

Liu Sheng also replied truthfully: "There is no grievance...... That Li Sanfa is mostly in the military camp on weekdays, and he does not have a house in the village, his family lives in Duqiao Town, and he has no contact with my family in the past. ”

There is no grudge, and there is not much to ...... This means that Li Sanfa had no motive to kill.

Xu Ziyuan looked at the dead man on the ground again, and he had already experienced the work in the yamen. There were no injuries on his body, and there were no signs of his clothes being torn. It doesn't look like he's killed. This case is very clear, Li Sanfa is rich and unkind, and Liu Laosan is bankrupt and throws himself into the water. Li Sanfa is not a good person, but he did not break the law. Liu Laosan's brain cramped, and he died in vain, although it is sympathetic, but as a judge, Xu Ziyuan can't be convicted because Li Sanfa is rich and unkind, he just sentenced Li Sanfa to be guilty, and he had to deny it to the East Zhejiang Provincial Judge's Office.

"Since that......'s the case," Xu Ziyuan shook his head, "In that case, the official will pronounce the sentence according to law...... In the case of Liu Sheng suing Li Sanfa for being rich and unkind, forcing Liu He to die, because Liu He did commit suicide, Li Sanfa's resignation was also in accordance with the law, so it ...... The case was inadmissible. ”

Inadmissible?

Liu Sheng and the Liu family kneeling in the hall were suddenly stunned, everyone was dead, and the government actually ignored it, is there any reason for this? (To be continued......)