Shandong, Qufu.

At the gate of the county office, a man sounded the drum of injustice.

After a while, Zhao Quan, the official of the government, came out and shouted, "You...... Don't knock, what's the name, what's the matter?"

"Little Liu Dalang, I want to sue!"

"Complaint? Sue whom?"

"Sue Confucius!"

"What?"

Zhao Quan was shocked, Confucius Mansion, don't say that you are an ordinary commoner, even if the officials of the imperial court arrive at the Confucian Mansion, they must behave in a proper manner, be respectful, and people still love to ignore it, your head was kicked by a donkey, and you dare to come to the county government to sue Confucius?

Crazy!

"I'll tell you, don't look for trouble, this is the county office, the county magistrate is busy, I don't have time to joke with you!"

Liu Dalang shook his head and said seriously, "I'm not joking, I'm just going to sue Confucius!"

"You...... Are you fucking fed and fed, or are you impatient, do you know who the Kong family is? That's when the grandfather of the country, you are a mud leg, sue the grandfather of the country, do you think you will win the lawsuit?"

Liu Dalang's attitude was very resolute: "If you don't sue, I will sue!"

Zhao Quan had no choice but to take the paper and said, "Okay, you wait!"

Liu Dalang was waiting at the gate of the county office, and soon, Zhao Quan walked out.

"The county magistrate said, there is no evidence for what you said, go back quickly!"

"I have witnesses, physical evidence!"

"That's not going to work, let's go!"

Liu Dalang still insisted: "No, I want to sue!"

Zhao Quan stood in front of him, tried to calm his mood, and then said earnestly, "Do you know that Lord Zhixian's surname is Kong, and he is the nephew of the current Yan Shenggong?"

Qufu County is different from other counties, the Zhixian here is hereditary of the Confucian family, and the grade is higher than the general Zhixian, which is the sixth grade.

It can be said that it is not that Confucius is in Qufu, but that Qufu is in Confucius.

Unexpectedly, Liu Dalang still had a tendon: "What about the Kong family, he is the magistrate of the county, the local parent official, he has to make decisions for the people, the Confucian government robbed my family's land, I want to sue ......."

"You fuck, look for trouble, if you don't leave, Lao Tzu will beat you up first!"

Without waiting for him to finish speaking, Zhao Quan scolded and drove Liu Dalang away.

However, only a moment later, the drum of grievances sounded again.

"Damn, I didn't play anymore, did I?"

Zhao Quan thought that Liu Dalang was back again, and walked out angrily, only to find that it was another person who was beating the drum this time.

"What's the matter?"

"Sue!"

Zhao Quan was nervous for no reason, and asked, "Sue whom?"

"Sue Confucius!"

Zhao Quan: ......

"Wait!"

Zhao Quan took the paper, came to the inner hall, and presented it to the magistrate.

Kong Chengping, the magistrate of Qufu, is Kong Yanjin's own nephew, and when he saw the paper, he couldn't help frowning.

"There's something wrong with you, why do you have another one?"

Zhao Quan secretly said in his heart, I didn't let them come......

Kong Chengping crumpled the paper, threw it on Zhao Quan's face, and scolded angrily, "Get out!"

Where did Zhao Quan dare to say half a word, hurriedly picked up the paper, and fled as if he had to get out of the inner hall, and then vented his anger on the person who complained.

However, not long after the man left, the drum of grievances sounded again......

In one day, five people came, all of whom sued Confucius.

The charges are also varied, some say that their own land was occupied by Confucius, some say that their mother-in-law was robbed by Confucius, and some say that their father was captured by Confucius, tortured to death.

The magistrate Kong Chengping was about to go crazy, and finally had to order Zhao Quan to go outside to guard, and if there was a complaint, he would just blow it away without asking the reason.

Two days later, someone from Jining Mansion came and said that he was inviting Kong Chengping to go, and the prefect had something to discuss.

Because Kong Chengping is different from the ordinary prefect, not to mention the Jining prefect, even if the political envoy from Shandong comes, he must pay three points of respect.

Therefore, everything needs to be invited, not summoned.

Kong Chengping didn't know what was going on, so he got into a carriage and came to Jining Mansion from Qufu County.

Luo Jindong, the prefect of Jining, was an orthodox Jinshi for six years, and during the period of his inauguration in Jining, he was also conscientious, although he had no merits, at least there was no major incident.

However, this time, his brows were furrowed, and his face was sad.

Kong Chengping didn't know why, and asked, "What did the prefect summon Kong?"

Luo Jindong sighed first, then took out a stack of self-written papers, and said, "It's really strange, in one day, so many people sued the Holy Father, what is going on?"

Kong Chengping was stunned, those people who dared to drive away ran to Jining Mansion to complain?

These Diao people are really bold, and they even overstepped the level to sue?

"The prefect doesn't know anything, it's just that a few rural people are making trouble unreasonably, two days ago, these people went to the county government to complain, and they were kicked out by Kong."

Luo Jindong didn't say anything, took out another book, and pointed at it.

Kong Chengping was a little puzzled, picked it up and looked at it, and suddenly his heart tightened.

This is "The Great Message"!

The so-called "Great Message" was compiled by Emperor Taizu himself, sorting out some typical corruption and other major cases, and publishing them to the whole country in the form of an edict, warning officials not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

This thing is very cautious, and there are hundreds of people who list Ling Chi, the head of the owl, and the clan punishment, and the number of people who have abandoned the city is less than 10,000. The punishment for those killed was extremely severe, which completely exceeded the sentencing standards of the "Da Ming Law".

Like what kind of long-term waste punishments such as foot cutting, toe chopping, knee removal, castration, etc., creating unprecedented punishments such as cutting off hands, chopping fingers, and picking tendons, and there are also several punishments at the same time, or killing hundreds of people in one thing, in short, the cruelty of all kinds of punishments, only you can't imagine, no one Lao Zhu dare not do.

In order to popularize the "Great Message", Zhu Yuanzhang once issued an edict: "I am out of the edict, showing good and evil, all officials and people, all people, etc., every household has this book, if you commit the crime of flogging with a cane, each subtract one, and add one grade to each none, and the subjects where you are located, familiarize yourself with it as a warning."

Roughly speaking, if someone commits a crime, as long as you can take out the "Great Message", you can reduce the crime by one degree, otherwise, if you can't take it out, you will be guilty of one more crime!

However, the most desperate thing is the stipulation in the "Great Message": whether it is a common person or an official, as long as they commit a crime, the local people can enter Beijing with a big letter to complain, and the big letter is the road guide, and those who see this book in Beijing to file a complaint will be allowed to go unhindered, and if anyone stops, the whole family will be executed.

In the nineteenth year of Hongwu, Guo Xuaner, a citizen of Jiading County, was bullied by the local county officials, so he went to Beijing with others to file a complaint with the "Great Message". As the two passed through Chunhua Town, they were harassed by local inspectors He Tianguan and Ma Dewang, who not only ridiculed them for not being able to see the emperor, but also asked them to hand over the travel expenses.

This matter reached Zhu Yuanzhang's ears, and the consequence was that Ma Dewang showed his head to the public, and He Tianguan was cut off with a flail to show the public, and ordered: "Whoever dares to do this in the future will be guilty of the same."

Kong Chengping looked at the somewhat shabby "The Great Message", his face was blue and white for a while, and he couldn't speak for a while.