"Pa!" Ji Zhifu patted the gavel, and the surrounding area suddenly became quiet. He looked at the three people kneeling under the hall and asked, "Do you know your guilt?"
After all these confessions have been made, how can one still remain innocent of the crime?
Mr. Ning and the two young men quickly lowered their heads and said in unison: "The villain knows his crime."
"Now that you are guilty, I will pronounce the sentence."
Two young boys were sentenced to one year of hard labor for arson and wounding.
Hard labor usually involves breaking stones in quarries. Ordinary people get paid, but those who do hard labor don't get paid. If they don't do well, they will be whipped.
As the person who instigated the servant, Mr. Ning had two options: one was to compensate the owner of the tea mountain and serve one year of hard labor, the other was to be exiled for three thousand miles and not be allowed to return to Jiangzhou City for ten years.
After doing hard labor and paying compensation for losses, this person will be able to come back after a year of hardship. If he is exiled for three thousand miles, he will basically die.
The people of the Ning family did not expect that the magistrate would give such a severe sentence and that he would have to do hard labor with him.
Mr. Ning said without thinking: "I will pay money, I will pay money."
It's only four thousand taels of silver. A skinny camel is bigger than a horse, so the Ning family can still get it. Although they still have to do hard labor, at least they can save one life.
The road to exile is very difficult. If you are not physically strong or have a tough life, few people can make it to the end. Many times, when a group of exiles reach the place of exile, only one-third of them are left.
.
Mr. Ning has no confidence that he can survive, and the Ning family has no confidence in him either.
Mr. Ning also said: "Our Ning family will pay for the loss."
"Ms. Shen, do you know how much your tea mountain has been lost?" Mr. Ji looked at Shen Wan and asked.
Shen Wan nodded: "Yes." She took out the list she made last night.
"Read it to the Ning family."
"Okay. Ahem..." Shen Wan cleared her throat and read loudly: "There are a total of 30,000 tea trees and 5,000 flowers and trees on the tea mountain. Although only half of them were burned, the rest were smoked.
If the fire breaks out, I guess nothing will happen, so all the 30,000 tea trees and flowers and trees will have to be compensated."
The Ning family "..."
They didn't expect that compensation would be given like this.
Mr. Ji nodded after hearing this and said, "It is indeed worthy of compensation."
"Wait a minute..." Mr. Ning stretched out his hand and said, "If I remember correctly, there are only more than 10,000 tea trees on our Ning Family Tea Mountain."
"There are only 10,000, but after I bought it, I bought 20,000 tea trees and 5,000 flowers and trees to plant on the tea mountain." Shen Wan looked outside the court, "Everyone in the tea mountain village can testify."
Hearing what Shen Wan said, the people in Chashan Village said one after another: "Yes, we can testify."
Village Chief Bai walked to the court hall, knelt on the ground and said: "Chashan Village Chief Bai Shan paid a visit to the prefect. The villagers in our village were hired by the Shen Dong family to help take care of the tea mountain, pick tea, and make tea. After the Shen Dong family bought the tea mountain,
It is true that 20,000 tea trees and more than 5,000 flowers and trees were planted, as all the villagers in my village can testify."
Mr. Ji nodded, indicating that he already knew and believed what he said. He raised his hand and said: "Village Chief Bai, please get up!"
"Thank you, sir." Village Chief Bai thanked him and stood up.
Mr. Ning was speechless and took a small step back.
Shen Wan continued: "When I originally bought the tea tree, it was twenty cents per plant. Including the original tea trees, I calculated the price of the tea tree. Thirty thousand tea trees and twenty cents per plant, that is six hundred taels of silver.
.”
Mrs. Ning nodded to Mr. Ning. The tea trees were only 600 taels of silver, and the flowers and trees were only 5,000 taels. They probably only cost a few dozen taels of silver. They couldn't even pay a thousand taels of silver.
The faces of the three Ning family members all showed joy. They liked this method of compensation very much.
Shen Wan did not miss the joy on the faces of the three of them. Looking at the large sum of money that she was about to count, a sneer flashed in her eyes and she said to her heart: There will be times when you cry.