At the gate of the county government office, a man beat the drum of grievance.
Not long after, the yamen servant Zhao Quan came out and shouted: "You... stop knocking, what's your name, what's the matter with you?"
"Little Liu Dalang, I want to file a complaint!"
"Sue? Who should I sue?"
"Sue Confucius!"
"What?"
Zhao Quan was shocked, Confucius Mansion, let alone an ordinary commoner like you, even if the officials of the imperial court came to the Confucius Mansion, they must behave themselves and be respectful, and they would still ignore you, so you have been kicked in the head by a donkey.
How dare you come to the county government to sue Confucius?
Crazy!
"I'm telling you, don't look for trouble. This is the county government. The county magistrate is busy and has no time to joke with you!"
Liu Dalang shook his head and said seriously: "I'm not joking, I just want to sue the Confucius Mansion!"
"You... are you damn full of food, or are you tired of living? Do you know who the Kong family is? They are the Duke of the country at that time, you are a mud-legged person, suing the Duke of the country,
Do you think you won the lawsuit?"
Liu Dalang's attitude was very firm: "If you don't sue, you win, and I will sue too!"
Zhao Quan had no choice but to take the paper and said: "Okay, just wait!"
Liu Dalang was waiting at the gate of the county government office, and soon, Zhao Quan came out.
"The county magistrate has said that there is no evidence for what you said, so go back quickly!"
"I have witnesses and physical evidence!"
"That won't work either, leave quickly!"
Liu Dalang still insisted: "No, I want to file a complaint!"
Zhao Quan stood in front of him, tried to calm down his mood, and then said earnestly: "Do you know that the county magistrate's surname is Kong, and he is the nephew of the current Yan Shenggong?"
Qufu County is different from other counties. The magistrate here is hereditary from the Confucius family, and his rank is higher than that of ordinary magistrates, being the sixth grade.
It can be said that it is not that Confucius’ Mansion is in Qufu, but that Qufu is in Confucius’ Mansion.
Unexpectedly, Liu Dalang was still stubborn: "What about the Kong family? He is the county magistrate and a local official. He has to make decisions for the people. The Kong family robbed my family's land. I want to sue..."
"Damn you, are you looking for trouble? If you don't leave, I'll give you a beating first!"
Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Quan cursed and drove Liu Dalang away.
However, just a moment later, the drum of injustice rang again.
"Damn it, we're not playing anymore, are we!"
Zhao Quan thought Liu Dalang was back again, so he walked out angrily, only to find that it was another person who was playing the drum this time.
"What's the matter?"
"Complain!"
Zhao Quan felt nervous for no reason and asked: "Who should I sue?"
"Sue Confucius!"
Zhao Quan:......
"Wait!"
Zhao Quan took the petition, went to the inner hall, and presented it to the magistrate.
Kong Chengping, the magistrate of Qufu County, was Kong Yanjin's nephew. When he saw the paper, he couldn't help but frown.
"There is something wrong with you, why is there another one?"
Zhao Quan thought to himself, I didn’t ask them to come...
Kong Chengping crumpled the paper into a ball, threw it in Zhao Quan's face, and cursed angrily: "Get out!"
Zhao Quan didn't dare to say no, so he quickly picked up the paper and walked out of the inner hall, then vented his anger on the person who complained.
However, not long after this man left, the drum of grievance rang again...
Within one day, five people came, all complaining to the Confucius Mansion.
The charges were varied. Some said that their land was occupied by the Confucius family, some said that their mother-in-law was robbed by the Confucius family, and some said that their father was captured by the Confucius family and tortured to death.
Kong Chengping, the county magistrate, almost went crazy. In the end, he had to order Zhao Quan to guard outside. If anyone complained again, he would be fired away without asking the reason.
Two days later, someone from Jining Prefecture came and asked Kong Chengping to come and discuss something with the prefect.
Because Kong Chengping is different from ordinary county magistrates, let alone the Jining magistrate, even if the Shandong chief envoy comes, he must be respectful.
Therefore, if you have anything to do, you need to ask for it, not a summons.
Kong Chengping didn't know what was going on, so he got on a carriage and arrived at Jining Prefecture from Qufu County.
Luo Jindong, the prefect of Jining, was a Jinshi for six years. During the period when he took office in Jining, he was conscientious in his work. Although he had no achievements, at least he did not have any major incidents.
However, this time, he frowned and had a sad look on his face.
Kong Chengping didn't know why, so he asked: "Why did the magistrate summon Kong?"
Luo Jindong sighed first, then took out a stack of papers and said, "It's really strange. So many people sued Yan Shenggong in one day. What happened?"
Kong Chengping was stunned. The people he had driven away came to Jining Mansion to complain?
Are these unscrupulous people so audacious that they even jumped to the next level to file a complaint?
"The magistrate doesn't know anything. It's just a few unreasonable people from the countryside who are making trouble. Two days ago, these people went to the county government to complain, but Kong Mou kicked them out."
Luo Jindong said nothing, took out another book and pointed at it.
Kong Chengping was a little confused. When he picked it up and looked at it, his heart suddenly tightened.
This is "Da Gao"!
The so-called "Great Edict" was compiled by Emperor Taizu himself, who sorted out some typical corruption and other major cases and released them to the whole country in the form of edicts to warn officials not to make the same mistakes again.
This thing is very cautious. Hundreds of Lingchi, owl leaders, clansmen, and tens of thousands of people were punished. Those who were punished were mainly corrupt officials and powerful people who harmed the people. The punishments were extremely harsh, completely beyond the limits of "The Ming Dynasty"
Sentencing Standards of the Law.
For example, long-abandoned punishments such as cutting off the feet, cutting off the toes, removing the knees, and castration have created unprecedented punishments such as cutting off the hands, chopping off the fingers, and picking the tendons. There are also some punishments that can be performed on one person, or hundreds of people can be killed in one incident.
People, in short, the cruelty of various punishments is beyond your imagination. There is nothing that Lao Zhu would not dare to do.
In order to popularize the "Great Edict", Zhu Yuanzhang once issued an edict: "I issued this edict to indicate misfortunes and blessings. All officials and people, all kinds of people, have this copy in every household. If you are guilty of the crime of moving to exile with a cane, you will be reduced by one level for each time, and there will be no
Every time a person is added one level, his subjects will observe it carefully and take it as a warning."
The general meaning is that if someone commits a crime, as long as you can produce the "Da Gao", the crime will be reduced by one level. On the contrary, if you cannot produce it, the crime will be increased by one level!
However, the most despairing thing is the stipulation in the "Da Gao": regardless of the common people or officials, as long as they commit a crime, the local people can go to Beijing to complain with the Da Gao in hand. The Da Gao is the road guide. Anyone holding this book will go to Beijing.
Anyone who complains will be allowed to pass without hindrance. Anyone who obstructs his or her family will be put to death.
In the 19th year of Hongwu, Guo Xuan'er, a citizen of Jiading County, was bullied by the local county officials, so he and others went to Beijing to file a complaint with the "Da Gao" in hand. When they passed by Chunhua Town, they were met by the local inspector He Tianguan and
Ma Dewang made things difficult for them, and Ma Dewang not only ridiculed them for not being able to see the emperor, but also asked them to hand over their travel expenses.
This incident reached the ears of Zhu Yuanzhang, and the consequences were that Ma Dewang had his head displayed in public, and He Tianguan had his feet cut off and put in the yoke to display to the public, and he issued an edict: "Anyone who dares to do this in the future will be punished accordingly."
Kong Chengping looked at the somewhat shabby "Da Gao", his face turned blue and white, and he was speechless for a long time.