Jiangning Mansion Ya, Yaqian Street.

At this time, the crowd was surging, and the Jingshan Pavilion and Shenming Pavilion next to the gate of the government were crowded with people.

The sage said, "If you hear a lawsuit, I, the Jews, will also make it impossible to litigate."

Confucianism believes that the absence of litigation is the ideal state of society, and the fewer lawsuits, the more simple the people are and the people are easy to govern.

If there is a sour Confucianism who sees the crowded scene in front of the gate of Jiangning Mansion today, it is inevitable to sigh that the world is declining and the people's hearts are not ancient.

However, the people of Jiangning who gathered in front of the gate of the government at this time were not the bitter masters and defendants who came to fight the lawsuit, but the good deeds who came to see the excitement after hearing the news.

And the reason why there are so many people watching the excitement is because the trial of the government today is extraordinary.

Three days ago, Sun Zhigao, a student member of Youyang County, took advantage of the dark night and high wind to sneak into Liu's courtyard to steal, stealing jewelry, calligraphy and paintings worth about 1,000 taels of silver, and was caught red-handed by the owner of the house when he escaped over the wall.

Of course, this is just a public statement by the government, and there is another version circulating in the market:

Sun Zhigao had an affair with Song Xi'er, the favorite concubine of Governor Liu Xun, and the two were in a hot relationship, and often had private meetings in the courtyard where Song Xi'er lived. Three days ago, Sun Zhigao climbed over the wall in the middle of the night to meet his lover privately, but he happened to be bumped into by Governor Liu's subordinates and caught him.

Of the two arguments, the people naturally prefer the latter, and the scandal involving the governor of a province is really exciting to think about.

At this time, the prefect Shen Du had already risen to the hall to ask questions, the officials were on crutches and fire sticks, shouting Tang Wei, and Sun Zhigao, who looked haggard, was escorted to the lobby wearing shackles and shackles.

In the face of the heavy interrogation in the hall, Sun Zhigao didn't say a word, just stood in place, drooping his head, his eyes full of despair.

After he was sent to the government by the Liu family, he had already been interrogated several times, and he told him what he knew.

But after the government sent someone to investigate, it was found that Dong Lihua did not have a maid named Ming'er around her at all, and Dong Lihua had never even seen Sun Zhigao's face, let alone had a tryst with him.

In this way, Sun Zhigao's self-defense is a lie, but when he broke into someone's house at night, many servants of the Liu family testified, but it was true.

As for the stolen goods, although the Liu family deliberately planted them, there was a confession drawn by Sun Zhigao himself, and he stole it if he didn't steal it.

Sun Zhigao burglarized, the situation was clear and understood, the human and material evidence was complete, and the government interrogation was just a process, and after Shen Du finished asking, he wrote down the verdict.

"Sun Zhigao burglarized and stole a number of jewelry, calligraphy and paintings, worth about 1,000 taels of silver, he didn't know how to be polite, righteous and shameless, and he was a county student in vain, with a hundred canes and 3,000 miles!"

After reading out the verdict, Shen Du took out an official letter from his sleeve: "Sun Zhigao, this is the official document of Jiangnan Xuezheng to remove your talent and fame, from now on, you will be just a commoner, and you will inevitably be punished when you see the official!" ”

After saying that, Shen Du threw the order on the ground and shouted: "A hundred rods, give this house a hard beating!" ”

In the public court, the two burly officials swept the water and fire sticks in their hands towards Sun Zhigao's feet, and before Sun Zhigao could react, he fell to the ground.

The two officials picked up the water and fire sticks and hit Sun Zhigao one by one, and the flesh and blood immediately flew sideways.

It took only 20 canes from 100 rods to beat Sun Zhigao to death, and Shen Du finally signaled the official to stop, and said to the criminal master on the side: "Take the prisoner to the prison." ”

Sun Zhigao's legs were broken at this time, and he was dragged away by two servants, and his legs were dragged to the ground crookedly, leaving a long blood mark.

"My son!"

There was a mournful cry outside the door, and an old woman rushed out of the crowd and rushed towards the dying Sun Zhigao, who was the grandmother.

The Shen Du in the hall slapped the hall and shouted: "If anyone disturbs the public court, he will be whipped ten times and expelled from the court." ”

At that moment, several officials set up their grandmother, and the grandmother sat on the ground crying and shouting, but she didn't dare to go any further, so she could only watch Sun Zhigao being dragged down.

After the trial and retreat, the grandmother was kicked out of the palace, she stood at the gate wiping her tears, and refused to leave for a long time.

The official guarding the gate was so annoyed that he reminded him: Your son is about to be exiled, instead of standing here crying and crying, it is better to quickly find a way to dredge it, so as not to let your son die on the way to exile.

After some explanations from the officials, my grandmother realized that exile is not just about living in a different place, but about the possibility of death!

However, it is not impossible, according to the rules, exile can be replaced by two years in prison.

Unlike later generations, Da Zhou basically did not have the punishment of imprisonment, and the detention of prisoners was only temporary, and it was impossible to stay locked up for many years.

The reason for this is that at this time, the food reserves are limited, and the common people are hungry and full, so how can they raise prisoners to eat and drink for nothing in prison?

In that case, wouldn't it be a beautiful thing to go to prison, and everyone would rush to get to jail?

Of course, there are compromises.

The government does not care about food, and the prisoner can solve the problem by himself, that is, he can go to prison at his own expense, although he still does not get personal freedom, but at least he can avoid the pain of exile.

It's just that it is difficult for ordinary people to get this kind of treatment, and only those who are rich and powerful can dredge up and down, so that the government can open up the network.

The grandmother got the guidance of the officials, and finally stopped doing useless work at the door of the government, wiped away her tears and went home, ready to ask her daughter-in-law Sheng Shulan for money.

But when she got home, she found that Sheng Shulan had already returned to her parents' house to save her relatives. The grandmother ran to the Sheng family to find someone, but she didn't see Sheng Shulan, and it was her in-laws Sheng Wei who came out to talk to her grandmother.

When Sheng Wei heard his grandmother's request for the Sheng family to pay for Sun Zhigao, he sneered and directly took out a complaint.

The grandmother's mother was illiterate, so Sheng Wei read it to her word by word, it turned out that this was a complaint asking Sheng Shulan to reconcile with Sun Zhigao, and the complaint counted the grievances suffered by Sheng Shulan after marrying into the Sun family, as well as all kinds of evil deeds done by Sun Zhigao's mother and son.

My grandmother's food and clothing over the years have been Sheng Shulan's dowry, and she has long been used to it, so naturally she will not agree to leave, but will beat her back, and she has nothing to say about Sheng Shulan's marriage to the Sun family for so many years.

Sheng Wei didn't argue with her, only said that if he didn't get along, he wouldn't pay for Sun Zhigao to dredge up, and let Sun Zhigao die on the way to exile.

Seeing Sheng Wei's resolute attitude, the grandmother knew that he had made up his mind to break with the Sun family, but for Sheng Shulan's dowry, the grandmother still refused to show any timidity on her face, and the two parted unhappily.

As a result, it didn't take long for the Yamen to send news that Sun Zhigao would be exiled to Qiongzhou, a bitter cold place, and his grandmother panicked, hurriedly ran to Sheng's house, and agreed to Sheng Wei's request.

A few days later, the grandmother took He Lishu to visit the prison, crying and explaining to Sun Zhigao the current situation of their mother and son.

Although Sun Zhigao was full of reluctance, he also understood the truth that the situation was stronger than people, so he could only sign with hatred and agree to make peace with Sheng Shulan.

Sheng Wei got what he wanted, and finally agreed to come forward to find the prefect Shendu, and commuted Sun Zhigao's exile of 3,000 li to two years in prison.

So far, Sheng Shulan has successfully reconciled with Sun Zhigao, and has recovered all the dowry, so that she can start a new life.

And Sun Zhigao not only lost his proudest talent fame, but also had to squat in prison for two years, even if he came out two years later, without Sheng Shulan's dowry, their mother and son could only return to their previous poor life.