When Yang Zhiyuan heard this, he knew that Sun Zhaoyuan would judge fairly, and immediately said: "The lower officials will definitely tell what they know, and they dare not hide it." At that time, I hope that Lord Sun and I will make the decision. ”

After speaking, Yang Zhiyuan went.

Sun Zhaoyuan returned to the governor's compound, thought about the matter, sorted out the joints, and came up with a plan to rectify the Longdu Mansion first.

Yu Yin Qiao had already returned, and when he saw Sun Zhaoyuan frowning again, he ignored her, so he was disheartened and went to bed early.

A few days later, the Longdu Prefecture reported that dozens of villagers starved to death, and the official document of Yang Zhiyuan, the county commander of Nayue County, arrived at the state government, and the six of them discussed together, and they all said: "This is a major civil case, dozens of lives, the stakes are important, it must be verified by a good life, and the relevant people will go to the state capital to try the case in person." And the six members of the state government all went to the trial, so that it was safe. ”

So Du Qiang, the governor of Longdu Prefecture, Yang Zhiyuan, the county magistrate of Yuexian County, Deng Qiang, a major landowner, and representatives of the family of the deceased went to the state government.

On that day, Sun Zhaoyuan sat in the hall, and the political envoy Yao Yungui, the general Ma Rushan, the picket envoy Jiang Chao, the criminal governor Jiang Sheng, and the sacred scholar envoy Tan Jiaxing also sat in the deputy trial position in turn to try the case.

Sun Zhaoyuan said: "Bring Du Qiang, Yang Zhiyuan, Deng Qiang and representatives of the deceased's family to the front of the hall. ”

Several people heard the report from the junior official and immediately entered the lobby.

As soon as a few people came in, Sun Zhaoyuan immediately recognized that the representative of the deceased's family was Tu Da, who had stopped in Longdu Mansion that day to avenge his grievances, Tu Da came in and saw Sun Zhaoyuan in the hall, and he did not show that he had seen Sun Zhaoyuan before, but just knelt down to see it.

Sun Zhaoyuan said: "The following people, get up." He instructed the little official to take a chair and let Du Qiang and Yang Zhiyuan sit down.

Sun Zhaoyuan said: "Du Qiang, you come first, what is the cause of this incident, and why dozens of lives have been caused." ”

Na Du Qiang said: "This matter is all the fault of the inaction of the county order of this Yue County. A few months ago, Tujia Village, Yue County, was busy with farming and preparing for the winter, but he didn't want to, Deng Qiang, a big landowner, gambled, went to the gambling hall to gamble, and lost all the money, so he owed the villagers of Tujia Village two months' wages. The matter was reported to the county government of Yuexian County, but Yang Zhiyuan did not open a warehouse to help the people, and allowed dozens of villagers in Tujia Village to starve to death. This incident happened today, and it is also an ugly thing in our Yunxi Prefecture, so please ask all of you to pursue the responsibility of Yang Zhiyuan, the county commander of Yue County, and don't let this inactive official continue to be an official and harm one party. ”

Sun Zhaoyuan said: "Deng Qiang, why don't you lose early or late, you prefer to gamble after the winter harvest, and lose other people's wages, how do you let these villagers survive the winter?" ”

Deng Qiang was weak-hearted and said: "I also hope that Lord Sun will forgive his sins, the villain's wife was seriously ill in those days, and she didn't get better every day, and she was upset, so she went to the local gambling house to seek comfort, but she didn't want to, and in just a few days, she lost all her belongings, so that she couldn't pay the wages of the local villagers." Although the villain is at fault, but according to the law, he just owes people money, although the villagers behind him have died a lot, but it is not the fault of the villain, and I hope that Lord Sun will see it. ”

When Tu Da heard this, he immediately gritted his teeth, looked at Deng Qiang, and said: "You bastard, you usually deduct the wages of our local villagers, and sometimes you still don't give it, I knew that these villagers, if they cut off their money, they would definitely starve to death, that is, you came up with this treacherous plan to murder us and let us die, so as to set an example." So you deliberately strung up with the casino owner, saying that you lost all your property, so you didn't pay your wages, and if something happened in the future, the government couldn't hold you accountable. ”

Sun Zhaoyuan said: "Who is in the hall?" How can you insult others in court? ”

Tu Dadao: "Lord Sun is above, Xiaomin is a villager of Tujia Village, because he saw the tragic death of his relatives, so he was furious, please forgive Master Sun." ”

Sun Zhaoyuan said: "This official also knows that you are wronged in your heart, but you said that people deliberately colluded to say that they lost money, but there is evidence, and above the court, you can't wronged a good person." ”

Tu Dadao: "After the incident, this Deng Qiang is still living in his luxurious mansion, and his concubines are all serving in front of him, and he usually eats and wears as usual, how can he say that he has lost all his property, and with your food and clothing expenses, he can already settle all the wages he owes, how can the villagers in my village starve to death." ”

Deng Qiang had already thought about his answer, and said: "This is because I am an old acquaintance with the owner of the gambling house, and he temporarily borrowed me to live in my house, and he usually spent money on food and clothing, and he also lent me money to support me." ”

Sun Zhaoyuan saw this situation, and he had already seen the matter clearly, turned his head and asked Yang Zhiyuan again: "These villagers have no food, why don't you open a warehouse for relief?" ”

Yang Zhiyuan said: "According to the law of the imperial court, if you want to open a warehouse to help the people, it must be a natural disaster to comply with the law of the imperial court. ”

Sun Zhaoyuan said: "Then why don't you think of other ways to help the villagers, let the villagers starve to death, and you can't escape the involvement." ”

Yang Zhiyuan said: "The lower officials have already reported this matter to the prefect Du Qiang, and asked Du Qiang to allow the lower officials to use the official to pay the arrears in advance, but Du Qiang did not allow it, saying that it was the worship of the imperial court officials, how could they be misappropriated at will." In the county government, there is no money left, and it is really impossible to move it. So I can only arrest this Deng Qiang to inquire, let Deng Qiang raise money by himself, to save the villagers, but I don't want to, Deng Qiang and Du Qiang have a very good relationship, Du Qiang said that this matter is a civil debt, how can he be arrested at will, and it is not in line with the law, so the matter has been dragged on until the villagers starve to death, and it has become this tragedy. ”

Sun Zhaoyuan said: "In this matter, you are also handling it in accordance with the laws of the imperial court, and you are also governed in accordance with political affairs and reported to the prefect, so there is nothing wrong with it." This matter is very strange, from the perspective of all aspects alone, there is nothing wrong, but it has become a civil tragedy, Lord Yao, Lord Ma, Lord Jiang, Lord Jiang, Lord Tan, what do you think of this matter? ”

Yao Yungui said: "This matter is indeed as Lord Sun said, from the perspective of all links, there is nothing wrong, Deng Qiang owes money, but it is only a debt from the people, Yang Zhiyuan's county government has such a major event, he is difficult to get rid of, but he reports to his superiors in a timely manner in accordance with the laws of the imperial court, so he also has his authority." If we report this case to the imperial court, no one is responsible, after all, this is a major case involving dozens of lives, and the imperial court will be furious and reprimand us for not being able to govern it. According to the opinion of the lower officials, if you really want to find someone who admits punishment, or because of this county order, you have not found the best way to deal with it, and you will miss the opportunity and cause a tragedy. Xia Guan agreed with Du Qiang, the governor of Longdu Prefecture, to remove Yang Zhiyuan from public office and report to the imperial court, which was the best disposition. ”

Jiang Chao said: "The people owe money, this villager is also responsible, if you owe you money, you can go to Deng Qiang, live in his house, eat in his house, why did you fall into the field of starvation, if the court asks, the villagers of Tujia Village naturally have something to do." If Yang Zhiyuan is disposed of, it is good to report the villagers to the court if they don't know how to work. ”

Jiang Sheng said: "What the two adults said is that the county order and the villagers do not know how to be flexible and do not understand affairs, if the county order is generous, the villagers have a debt and a master to find Deng Qiang first, and it will not come to this point, so Yang Zhiyuan will be dismissed, and then the mistakes of the villagers will also be reported to the court, and finally Deng Qiang will be ordered to repay all the silver owed, and the matter can be closed. ”

Tan Jiaxing said: "Although I am not in Longdu Mansion in this matter, I know the roots, and I would like to ask Master Sun permission for me to ask these people a few questions?" ”

Sun Zhaoyuan showed a smile on his face, immediately put it away, and said with a straight face: "Lord Tan, if you have any questions, just ask." ”

Tan Jiaxing asked: "Tu Da, let me ask you, why in your village, all the villagers have no land, and only by helping this Deng Qiang do long-term work can they live?" ”

Tu Dadao: "It turned out that all the villagers' land in our village was sold to Deng Qiang before, and the villagers didn't know how to make a living, so they had to work for Deng Qiang for a long time to have something to eat." ”

Tan Jiaxing asked: "Why is there no other way to live, and you have to sell the land to Deng Qiang?" ”

Tu Dadao: "I don't want to wait for the small people, but once the seeds given to the villagers by the Du Governor's Mansion did not survive, and the whole village had no food to eat, so only by selling the land cheaply could we pass that level." ”

Tan Jiaxing asked: "Yang Zhiyuan, is what Tu Da said the truth?" ”

Yang Zhiyuan said: "The officials know about this matter that the seeds given to the whole mansion by the Du Governor have not blossomed and survived in the past year, so the land in this mansion has been collected by big families like Deng Qiang, including the land of Tujia Village. ”

Tan Jiaxing asked: "So the situation in the rest of the counties and villages in this province is similar to that of Dujia Village, if this big landowner has no money to pay wages, there will be many incidents of starvation death?" ”

Yang Zhiyuan thought for a while and said: "What the Holy Scholar Envoy said has never been thought of by the lower officials before, but I think it is the truth, if the big landowners in the whole province are like Deng Qiang, for some reason, if they don't pay their wages, then a large number of people in the whole government will starve, and even it is not impossible for the people in the whole province to starve all over the place." ”

Tan Jiaxing looked at Sun Zhaoyuan and said: "Lord Sun can hear it, this is what the lower officials think, a Deng Qiang has made a village of people die, if there are a hundred and ten Deng Qiang in this house, then it will be repaid, once the people in this state capital can't receive wages, have no money to spend the winter, and starve everywhere, I and a few others are dismissed from their posts and asked for the crime is also unforgivable, so the lower officials want to come, although the Tujia Village incident is a big case, but only Tujia Village is treated, but it only treats the symptoms but not the root cause, and the fundamental way to cure it is to let the people of this house have a way to live, so it is feasible." ”