The two hurriedly changed their clothes and arrived at the large conference room in the Thirteen Forts, which was mainly used for civil officials to organize the nearby Tunpu Tunpu Tun Meeting, so they could barely fit more than 100 people.

Chen Xin, Liu Minyou and Mo Huaiwen mixed to the far left of the front row, which is not noticeable, and can still be seen clearly on the stage, there is already a young Dengzhou official sitting in the middle of the stage, he is the judicial officer brought by Liu Minyou from Dengzhou for this trial, he is called Tang Shengdian, he came out of Wendeng University, but his major is to learn to make wine, and he was first responsible for the production of distilled spirits.

Although Tang Shengdian was a literati from Wendeng University, he was tall and big, hot-tempered on weekdays, and quite meticulous in management. Liu Minyou deliberately promoted the new generation of civil officials, and Tang Shengdian is quite capable, and now serves as Liu Minyou's third assistant, and is a candidate for the post of deputy civil chief in the future, and his prospects are very promising.

This person is a school of mind, and he highly respects the jury, and this time he was selected by Liu Minyou to be in charge of this matter.

Tang Shengdian wore a black civil department short, sat on it very calmly, the audience below has not finished entering, grabbing seats and competing for seats, quite a bit of a vegetable market feeling, Tang Shengdian sat leisurely by himself, and took a sip of tea from time to time.

The conference room is relatively narrow, all the small stools are placed to save space, the entrants are afraid of falling behind, competing with each other for a good position, there are a few places where there are pushing and arguing, several tunpu instructors who maintain order carry military sticks over and shout, those people suddenly become honest, these tunpu instructors often have a higher prestige than the tun chief, because the reserve army training is carried out military law. The punishment is much harsher than that of the tun chief.

After tossing and turning for a while, a hundred spectators finished entering. The loud noise was gone, but the buzz continued. At this time, the criminals were already waiting outside the door, and the jury had not yet entered.

Chen Xin sat on the small bench on the far left and looked left and right, several tun households behind him were discussing by themselves, no one noticed that the first and second people in Dengzhou were beside him, and then looked at Tang Shengdian on the stage, turned his head and whispered to Liu Minyou: "I always thought that the common law was the jury, and today I saw Tang Shengdian sitting on it, I just want to know, since there is a jury." What the hell is this judge doing? ”

Liu Min spread his hands, "I don't know too much about the details, roughly speaking, if it is a mature system, the judge should explain the law to the jury, and Tang Shengdian is responsible for sentencing after the jury determines whether he is guilty or not, but our law is blank now, so he is only responsible for maintaining order when the trial is in session." ”

Chen Xin tilted his head and said, "Just take care of this matter, then it's not called an official." ”

"One more. That is, when the verdict of the jury is clearly contrary to common sense and the spirit of the law, he can overrule the verdict and then reconstitute the jury. ”

Chen Xin sighed, "It is equivalent to his duty to supervise the jury." Whoever supervises the judge, he can deny it until he is satisfied. ”

"That requires another approach. I haven't figured it out yet. It is not perpetual for a judge to reject a verdict, if it is repeatedly overruled. There should be a higher level to carry out the verification. ”

Chen Xin scratched his head and said, "It turned out to be simple. It seems that the system will be complicated. By the way, no lawyer? ”

Liu Min said as a matter of course, "No! It's only the first time it's been piloted today, and there is no law. There are litigants everywhere, but those people are obviously not really helping the lawsuit, but only threading the needle in the middle, helping the officials to collect benefits, and it is useless to come. ”

Chen Xin shook his head and said: "It's not right to have a lawyer, if everything has to be held like this, it will be too cumbersome, and a special judicial officer can't manage it." I think it's very inefficient, and it's better to judge the case. ”

"For minor crimes, there are summary procedures available, and there is no need for a second court session, but only if there are cases to follow. The tun chief's judgment can barely cope with it now, because our territory is small and easy to manage, if it is big, what will we do, will the tun chief become a combination of the magistrate and the patriarch? ”

"I just said ...... now" Chen Xin was about to refute, two reservists escorted the criminal up, it was a young man, Chen Xin looked at it and felt that something was wrong, how to look at the two reservists were awkward, then I remembered that I didn't even have a police, I used to set up a patrol team in Weihai, mainly to deal with a large number of refugees from the Dongjiang River, and then after there was a reserve system, it was no longer set up, so the detainees were all reservists.

There were a few shouts and curses from the tunhu, and several tunhu stood up, very excited, and there was a commotion in the room, and several instructors who maintained order pointed sticks at the people and ordered them to sit down.

Tan Shansheng stood on the opposite side of the door, and the scolding Tunhu said angrily: "Before entering, I told you that you should not make a sound in the venue, and then I will beat him out with a stick." ”

The field was immediately completely quiet, and there was no coughing sound, Liu Minyou was also commonplace, although most of the officials of the Civil Department were weak types, but those who had served in Tunpu had to be hot, because there was no momentum to suppress Tunhu.

Chen Xin was used to giving orders, and he didn't care about Tan Shansheng's words, and continued to come over and want to speak.

Liu Minyou raised his index finger and shushed on his mouth, "Did you hear it, if you say it again, you will beat it out with a stick." Chen Xin grinned and sat down waiting for the court to begin, looking at the criminal.

The prisoner had been tied up by five flowers, this person was in the Aoshan Wei 15th Fort of the Tunhu, there was a group of tun households working in the cotton factory, had moved to Changyi, the vacated place was given to the new homeless, this person is the new arrival, less than a month to steal everywhere, in February in the 12 Fort robbery killed a person. It turned out that Chen Xin said that he would only experiment with civil, but Liu Min still handled a homicide case after thinking about it. Chen Xin didn't care either, as long as he didn't do it if he was involved in the army.

After the prisoners arrived, the nine members of the jury came in one after another, and strangely enough, there was also a woman among them, about forty or so, and the tun couldn't help but whisper again. The woman was not frightened at all, and when she came in, she looked east and west.

In the hearts of the households, the jury can be regarded as a family meeting in the countryside, but it is surprising that women participate, especially in Aoshanwei, where business is backward and the people are relatively closed. Not as open as Wendeng and Dengzhou.

Chen Xin turned his head and wanted to ask, seeing that Liu Minyou was looking seriously. He held back and did not speak.

There was a snap on the stage, and Tang Shengdian slapped the shocked wood. There was silence below, and Tang Shengdian slowly spoke: "Today's trial of Zhang Erniu's murder of robbing and killing Wang Laotun in Twelve Forts, as well as the fact that his brother and mother hid the crime when he was arrested, now the official first came to ask Zhang Erniu about the crime, and several villagers on the jury listened to it and discussed it to see if Zhang Erniu was guilty or innocent. If he is guilty, the official will look at how to produce a sentencing pen. ”

"Guilty!"

"Murder pays for life!"

"Cut in half!"

"Ling Chi is executed!"

The agitated tunks below stood up again, and one of them took off his shoe and threw it at the prisoner's back, and the field was in chaos again. Chen Xinle opened his mouth and looked up at the excitement.

Tang Shengdian was shocked, "If there is a guilty jury, it doesn't count, Lao Tzu doesn't count, what do you call out, I think you are relatives of the deceased, this time the first offense will not be punished, and then there are noisy beaters who will be severely punished with thirty military sticks, and each person will be fined one or two silver." ”

Chen Xin saw that there were two clerks next to him who were recording, and leaned over and said, "Will you deal with noisy listeners like this in the future?" ”

Liu Min said: "This is additional. Write it down and then say it, you can adjust it. ”

Chen Xin covered his mouth and said with a low smile: "I feel that this Tang Festival is opening an underworld incense hall." Liu Minyou glanced at Chen Xin and didn't speak.

After those people calmed down again, Tang Shengdian said to Zhang Erniu below: "This, Zhang Erniu." Do you know any of these nine people sitting on it? If there is a grudge against you, you can ask for a replacement. ”

Zhang Erniu was still tied with his hands. He looked up with a fierce look in his eyes, and said after looking at it fiercely. "Yes, I'm asking for a substitution."

"Which person. Point it out. ”

"All nine have to be replaced."

"Then you tell me what their names are, where they are doing, and how do you know them?"

Zhang Erniu raised his head and said, "I don't know, Lao Tzu just wants to change." ”

Tang Shengdian didn't need to be shocked, and slapped it on the table, "Your mother, Lao Tzu just made it clear to you, only those who know can be changed, not what you say can be changed, Lao Tzu can't change it if he wants to, and you can't come when it is your turn." ”

Chen Xin lowered his head and smiled, Liu Minyou knew that he was laughing at the behavior of this civil official, but Tang Shengdian didn't know that Chen Xin had mixed in. He only knew that Liu Minyou was present, and when he was in the Civil Department on weekdays, Tang Shengdian's style was like this, and he roared like thunder when something happened, and Liu Minyou was not very satisfied at first.

Chen Xin came over after laughing and said: "You have chosen this person well, every department needs to have this kind of person, you are becoming more and more capable of leadership." ”

At that moment, Tang Shengdian didn't talk about changing people, and said to Zhang Erniu: "Tell me about how you robbed and killed Wang Laotun that day." ”

"What is there to say, Lao Tzu just robbed him of a bag of sugar, he wanted to beat Lao Tzu with a stick, and Lao Tzu killed him with a knife."

"What the official asked you to say is when and where you killed it, where the knife came from, how many knives you killed, and what you used to do with the things you robbed, and you have to tell you everything in detail."

At this time, the woman in the jury stood up, "What else do you say, this killing is a person who has received a thousand cuts, he should be beheaded, he should be killed now, he will be beheaded if he is dragged out, and he will be cut a few more times." ”

There was a cheer below, Tang Shengdian turned his head and glanced at the woman and said: "The official has not finished the trial, I have already told you, and it will be your turn to sum up after I finish asking, and when I finish asking, I will find someone to say the results and reasons, who let you get up and talk nonsense." ”

A stout man from the jury next to him suddenly said, "That's it, I remember it, my lord has ordered it many times." Everyone doesn't speak, your old Tang family is just going to produce some moths. ”

The woman screamed, "Butcher Zhang, when is it your turn to speak, who is the moth?" The dowry you owe to the old lady has not been repaid, and you dare to say that the old lady is a moth, and the old lady fought with you today......"

The woman rushed over and grabbed Zhang Tuhu, and there was chaos on the stage, several instructors rushed to drag the two away, Zhang Erniu laughed in the trial seat, and the laughter and cheers of the audience shook the sky.

Chen Xin also covered his stomach and smiled, Liu Minyou's face was very unsightly, and a good trial was like a vegetable market.

finally pulled the two apart, and the woman was still angry and said: "Butcher Zhang, you swallowed my dog's dowry, and if you don't hand it back, the old lady will come here tomorrow to complain, and let everyone comment on it." ”

Zhang Butcher was scratched with a few bloody cuts on his face, and he also scolded: "Comment on reason, my old Zhang family is not afraid of you." ”

After a while, order was restored, and Tang Shengdian warned Zhang Tuhu and the woman, and then separated the two from each other, and the trial finally continued.

Zhang Erniu still didn't explain the process, Tang Shengdian asked him step by step, and after half an hour, he finally finished asking, and the jury had nothing to discuss, so they directly came to a guilty conclusion, on the grounds that murder pays for life. This result was predicted, Tang Shengdian was sentenced to beheading on the spot, and the tunhu below applauded again.

But Zhang Erniu was not escorted away, but was pressed to kneel at the door, and several reservists brought in two more people, one was an old woman, and the other was a man in the prime of life, and his eyebrows were somewhat similar to Zhang Erniu.

The old woman had a bitter face, her clothes were shabby and her face was haggard, and when she saw Zhang Erniu at the door, she couldn't help but shout: "Son! ”

The fierce Zhang Erniu suddenly changed the anger in his eyes, lowered his head and called his mother.

Tang Shengdian said loudly: "The following is the matter of Zhang Erniu's mother and eldest brother harboring Zhang Erniu, when the day was searched for Zhang Erniu, he hid him outside the city, sent food and drink every day, and prepared to scrape together money and food to send him to escape, and the following will be tried." ”

Zhang Erniu roared loudly on the ground at the door: "You fucking still have to judge my mother and my brother, I do things alone, I am not allowed to implicate my family, and I will not let you go if I am a ghost......"

Tang Shengdian gave an order, and the two reservists blocked his mouth with a ball, and then it was the beginning of the procedure, these two people were more cooperative, and the questions they asked were answered quickly, which was the same as what they had explained at the beginning. After the questioning, Tang Shengdian retold the jury again, and the process was very clear. After the jury had finished deliberating, a person stood up, and it was the woman who had just been fighting.

"Needless to say, there must be guilt." Chen Xin whispered to Liu Min, "But the sentencing is a bit of a test for Tang Shengdian." ”

The woman coughed and said loudly, "We think that this lady is not guilty!" His brother is not guilty. ”

Chen Xin took a breath, and the tunhu below was also quite quiet, and did not cause a commotion because of this conclusion.

Tang Shengdian said: "Tell me the reason for the jury. ”

The woman said as a matter of course: "This is her baby, Zhang Erniu is not a thousand ways, it is also the meat she gave birth to in October, raised in one or two decades, who doesn't want her own baby to have a way to live, and start a family in the future to support her own retirement." Knowing that he wants to kill people to pay for his life, of course the mother has to give him a way to live, which is natural. I'm a mother, and besides, people aren't this old lady or something, and it's not this big cow or something, this thing is not right, nor is it wrong, so there is no crime. ”

There was a burst of applause in the tunhu below, and Liu Minyou turned his head to Chen Xin, who was in a daze, and said, "I guessed wrong." ”

Before Chen Xin could speak, the woman who spoke said angrily: "Okay, it's all over, Zhang Butcher, let's not go tomorrow, this adult is here today, and the villagers are also here, now let them evaluate the truth of the dowry." ”

"Comment, I am still afraid that your old Tang family will not succeed, your family will ruin my daughter's reputation, and I still want your family to compensate......"

There was a sudden commotion in the field, Chen Xin shook his head and smiled at Liu Minyou: "It seems that your judicial pilot will probably be very difficult and long, at least much more complicated than my army, I will have a headache for you." (To be continued......)