"People in this hall, are you aware of your guilt?" A scream broke all the silence. The policemen suddenly woke up from their memories and looked up. There was a man wearing ancient official uniforms with black sand on his head sitting there.
On a large chair, a wooden tube on the left side of the table is filled with orders. On the right side is a gavel tree, and above the head is a large plaque with four characters: The mirror hangs high.
Standing next to them were a group of ancient government officials holding water and fire sticks, wearing government uniforms. Although they did not look good, they were still very powerful in this environment. The memory just made these policemen feel resentful, but in this strong
Under the visual impact, the resentment in my heart was suppressed.
"What's my crime?" All their unwillingness turned into a retort, and all their resentment was vented almost simultaneously in this rhetorical question. Together with the farmer, they stared at the people in front of them with angry eyes.
"Bold! Zhang, whose ancestral home is X Village, X County, had a quarrel with his wife Zhang today, and got angry and killed someone. Now that there are witnesses and physical evidence, how can you defend yourself?" The people in the hall fell again.
The farmer's eyes were full of amusement.
"I don't accept it!" The farmer struggled, and this sentence expressed everyone's feelings.
"Okay, let's pass on the witnesses."
The official in the hall sneered, and as soon as he finished speaking, the government officials had brought him up. The farmer looked back and saw that the people who came were his neighbor and the bully who killed his wife. The bully walked up to the hall and treated the official in the hall.
After a salute, everyone clearly saw the eye contact between the bully and the official. They were not real farmers, so they naturally knew what was going on. The bully must have bribed the official, and the farmer's neighbor was also bribed by them.
The bribe became a false witness against the farmer.
Sure enough, what the farmer's neighbor said this time was very different from what he said to the farmer before. The protagonist in the story became a farmer. The farmer suddenly had a quarrel with his wife in the morning, and he was angry.
Jixia directly killed his wife, then took care of the situation at home, making it look like an outsider had broken into the house, and then held a hatchet and prepared to blame others for the incident.
The policemen were very angry when they saw this. Originally, they should have watched everything from the perspective of bystanders, but they didn't know whether it was because of that memory or some other reason. At this time, they actually felt like they were farmers.
When he saw the neighbor slandering him, he wanted to rush over and kill him, and he even wanted to eat the flesh of the bully next to him alive.
But the farmer was alone, and there was no evidence to prove his innocence at this time. The bully colluded with the officials, and the only witness defected under coercion and inducement.
The farmer now had a hundred words to say but couldn't explain clearly. The final verdict came down. The farmer was charged with murder and was sentenced to be executed at the market street tomorrow at noon. When he was dragged down, he looked at the expressions of several people in the hall.
The reluctance and sadness and anger in my heart are even more difficult to describe.
When he was about to be executed, the farmer knelt on the guillotine and cursed loudly, cursed the injustice of heaven, cursed the unreasonableness of the world, cursed the corrupt officials, cursed the villain ancestors, cursed the human heart of the world, some people discussed it, some ignored it, but that official
At the command, the executioner raised his sword high and lowered it in an instant.
Just when everyone who was possessed by the farmer thought that everything was going to end, the scene paused for an instant, and a voice recalled in their ears: "Do you want to use legal principles to protect fairness in this world?"
Everyone roared and responded at the same time almost at the same time. They said the same answer: "I think!"
"good!"
The voice sounded again, and the scene in front of them changed in an instant. When they opened their eyes again, they were already sitting on the chairs in the lobby. They became the officials sitting in the lobby reviewing the case.
The person kneeling was the farmer who had just been imprisoned after his newlywed wife was killed. The farmer's eyes full of resentment were staring at him, as if he was the one who killed his wife.
Standing next to the farmer were the bully who did all this, and the farmer's neighbor. They all grabbed the gavel almost at the same time, preparing to smash it directly into the bully's face.
But the moment the gavel was raised, a new memory appeared in their minds.
This official was the only son in his family. In order to seek fame, he only focused on the scientific examination. However, he failed many times and almost spent all the family's savings. He wanted to give up, but his wife, children and mother at home asked him to insist on taking the exam again. This time
, he lived up to his family's expectations and passed the exam in one fell swoop. However, there was no one in his family and no background to back him up, so he could only be assigned to this remote place to be the chief official of a county.
Although he is the chief official, there are many powerful local gentry. As a chief official, he can't control much. In the past, he only had books and scriptures. After he became the county magistrate, he naturally wanted to do something. At least to protect the stability of the people, he was worthy of this position.
Unfortunately, the world is full of twists and turns. Only after he became a county magistrate did he realize that it was not easy. The squire had a wide network of contacts, and everyone in the yamen had already been bribed by the other party. How difficult was it for him to uphold justice?
Although he was unwilling to do so, he finally made concessions and turned a blind eye to many things, only to gain some support. He was not unaware of the bully in the hall, but the power in the bully's family was extraordinary.
, even if he is the head of a county, there is nothing he can do.
Take this
Only then did the county magistrate realize the difficulties of the county magistrate. Although he became a county magistrate and exchanged some support with the squires through transactions, he did not accept many gifts. Some cases could still be handled impartially, but his salary as a county magistrate
It is indeed not high, and the expenses for the family are quite high. Although the wife earns some money from weaving, she is still living in poverty. Five days ago, my mother fell ill at home, and the medicine was quite expensive. Although many doctors were able to find a solution, the family's financial resources were limited.
It was difficult to support her. Seeing my mother's health deteriorating, the misery in my heart was even more unbearable.
During these days, the young and old in the family have been in sorrow. He is also a son of man. Seeing this, he secretly hates himself for being incompetent. But at noon today, the bully in the hall came to the door with money and silk, and even offered to take responsibility for the family.
The county magistrate was very angry at the time, but the bully had no scruples. After calming down, he knew that he could not do anything to the bully, considering that his mother was seriously ill at home.
, finally agreed. This county magistrate is also a straightforward person. Once a matter has been decided, the bad guys will carry it out to the end, which is why the scene in the court today happened.
The policemen were originally very angry with the county magistrate. Now that they learned about his situation, they felt less angry. They looked at the farmer in the hall with his eyes full of struggle and his hand holding the gavel raised in the air.
, It doesn’t matter if it falls, it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t fall, everyone fell into a struggle for a while.
If this gavel is thrown out, my mother will definitely have no medicine to cure her, so she can only lie on the bed and slowly wait for death. If this gavel falls and the farmer is found guilty, he will die unjustly. Although his mother
You can live, but how can you live with this conscience?
Confused, struggling, time stopped at this second, and everyone kept wandering in the whirlpool of struggle.
If you help a bully, get a favor, and use the power of the bully's family, you will become the backer of the rich and powerful. From then on, your family will be prosperous, and promotion and wealth will be just around the corner, but your conscience will not be at ease. If you help a farmer, your mother will die, and your conscience will be at ease.
, but it is impossible to fulfill one's filial piety on one's knees. After this incident, it will be even more difficult to become an official.
This is the heart-breaking question Bi'an asked them - if you were in charge of legal principles, what would you choose?
Is it legal principles or human relations? Is it future or conscience?
Although the protagonists of this decision are these policemen, it is also Bi An's choice. It asks whether the legal principles of this world are more important or personal relationships are more important. It asks whether fairness is more important or the future is more important. This question affects people's souls.
The torture is a torture of the beliefs of these police officers.
At this time, Bi An's face no longer had the look of being playful with Lin Mo just now, it was all solemn and solemn. He was waiting, waiting for these people's final decision.