The magistrate of Xianghe County can handle such matters as trying cases and deciding the law on his own. Why should he come to the Mandarin who is no match for him in Xianghe County?
The reason is that Mazhi County is notoriously cunning and the case is very difficult.
If the case cannot be handled quickly, the officials involved will be fined according to the law and the relevant regulations of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
That is to say, if one case is not decided, the penalty will be one year, and if five cases are not decided, the penalty will be five years.
In order to avoid being fined and affecting their performance appraisals, officials usually use three flexible methods to handle cases.
The first is to reduce big things to small things and small things to nothing.
That is to say, no case is filed.
If there is no case, why should we try it?
The second is to downplay the nature of the case, such as trying murder as manslaughter and assault as assault.
In this way, the case can be settled quickly and conveniently, and the nature of the case can also be reduced.
Otherwise, if there are always bad criminal cases during his tenure, wouldn't it mean that the county magistrate's leadership is incompetent and his reputation has been ruined?
The third method is the simplest, fastest and no brainer, that is, no matter what the case is, regardless of the merits, the old rules will be followed and the case will be closed hastily.
In short, officials are resorting to all possible means to avoid being held responsible for the backlog of cases.
However, this so-called soul demon case is quite complicated. It may involve witchcraft and cults, or it may involve the people's rebellion against the Qing Dynasty and the restoration of the Ming Dynasty. The stakes are so important that this small seventh-rank official in Mazhi County really dare not make a judgment on it.
If the trial goes poorly, it will be a small matter if you lose your official title, but it will be a big deal if your head is taken off.
Looking across hundreds of miles of Xianghe, no matter whether he is in office or registered, there is no leader who is higher than the deputy level of the third-grade department.
What's more, this leader is still an authentic Manchurian.
Naturally, Lord Jia Jia, the Minister-in-Chief of Dongling and the Minister-in-charge of the Qianfeng Battalion, who was entrusted with commanding the military and civilians to fight floods in Xianghe, became the best person to handle this case.
If the review is correct, everyone will be fine.
If the trial is wrong, it has nothing to do with Mazhi County.
Jia Liu, who was loyal to the Qing Dynasty, did not know the small thoughts of Mazhi County. With hatred for demons and deep feelings for pigtails, he went directly to the county government office for trial without changing his clothes.
He wanted to see if science could defeat God, or if God could overwhelm science.
No matter where the state or county government office is, there are three halls.
The Third Hall and the Second Hall are located behind the Yamen. These two places are responsible for hearing civil cases. In order to better protect the privacy of the parties, they can not be made public, that is, the public is not allowed to watch, and there is no need to stand in three or six rooms.
Of course, it is also more convenient for the county magistrate to weigh the pros and cons and administer justice.
Criminal cases must be tried in the lobby, and the presiding officer must be neatly dressed. The third shift and the sixth shift must also stand on duty as usual, and they are open to the public.
Firstly, it demonstrates the ability of the officials who are investigating the case, and secondly, it is also a legal education for the people.
"Sir, this case is complicated. Should it be tried behind closed doors?"
Before the official opening of the court, Maghi County suggested that the case should not be made public and that officers should be sent to drive away all the people who came to watch after hearing the news.
In order to avoid some shocking things coming out in the trial.
Jia Liu was unhappy. It was the first time in his life that he went to court to hear a case. What was going on without an audience?
Without an audience, what kind of opera would you be singing?
Without readers, what kind of book would you write?
The Mandarin wanted to make it public, and Mazhi County did not dare to disobey the order, so the gate was opened, allowing the people to pour in and watch.
I don't know whether the people hated the monster too much or were too afraid, but thousands of people came.
There were people standing outside the lobby, and the street outside the Yamen was also crowded with people. The queue could probably stretch for two or three miles.
There was a lot of discussion about all kinds of bizarre soul-calling cases.
There was a lot of talk, and even before the trial started inside the yamen, hundreds of frightening soul-calling cases had already occurred outside.
But most of them are "You heard", "Did you know", "My uncle's four boys"
Neither the place where the case occurred nor the parties involved are clearly identified.
According to what these people said, at least several hundred people died in Xianghe County this month. However, in fact, except for a dozen normal deaths, the county government has been idle.
Ignorant people are spreading rumors, and scholars also say with profound expressions that it is true. Many people are panicking in broad daylight. From time to time, they feel their backs to see if they have been affixed with charms or signs.
I'm thinking about cutting off my braids when I get home to keep myself safe.
In the yamen, Jia Liu, a third-rank official, was definitely not polite to the seventh-rank magistrate. He sat directly on his chair as the county magistrate, picked up the gavel tree and made a "bang" sound, ordering the demon to be taken with him.
Soon, the two demons were chained and taken to the court, while "powerful" background music played.
Under the "mirror hanging high", Master Jia Jia was somewhat unexpected.
Because the two demons brought up were actually one old and one young.
The old man is sixty years old, his hair and beard are all white, and he has very few teeth left in his mouth.
The little one looks like he is only seven or eight years old, and he is still young.
Young and old all have one thing in common, that is, their braids are gone.
The magistrate's mighty voice and the sound of the beating of the torture stick scared the old and the young to their knees on the ground, not daring to raise their heads and all trembling.
No matter how you look at it, you don't look like a monster.
Jia Liu was interrogating the case for the first time, and with so many spectators watching, he definitely couldn't accuse the innocent, so he turned around and asked the magistrate: "Is this the monster you caught?"
"Yes, it's a demon!"
Machi Prefecture is very sure.
"How to confirm?"
Jia Liu had doubts about this.
"Sir, these two grandsons are behaving strangely. They have lost their braids, and spells were found on them."
Mazhi County said that the yamen asked the old man what the talisman was for, and the old man said that as long as the talisman was attached to a person, the person would be possessed on the spot and become like a fool. After seven, seven and forty-nine days,
Will die.
"Is it?"
Jia Liu still didn't believe it. He was stunned and asked the old man if he could draw talismans and whether this talisman could really take away people's souls.
"It's unfair, sir!"
What Mazhi County didn't expect was that the old man changed his confession on the spot and said that the talisman was a peace talisman he had prayed for for his grandson from a Taoist temple, and it was not a charm that could enchant people's souls at all.
Jia Liu was unhappy. He took another shot and asked, "Then why did you admit that this spell can summon souls?"
The old man looked frightened: "Sir, if the common people don't say this, they will be beaten to death."
Jia Liu looked at Mazhi County, who also looked embarrassed, and then looked at Chen Captou, who had successfully arrested the person.
Capt. Chen was also anxious: "Sir, don't listen to this monster's sophistry. I've never beaten them before!"
Jia Liu didn't ask whether he had been tortured for the time being. He just asked someone to take the talisman found from the old man's body and look at it. As a result, nothing could be found.
So I changed my thinking on the case, approached it from another angle, and asked the old man where his braids had gone.
As a result, the old man said that he had heard that there was a ghost-calling demon causing trouble recently, and he was afraid that he would be called as a ghost, so he cut off his and his grandson's braids.
"Ignorance and sheer absurdity. There is no magic in the world. It's just you who scares yourself!"
The truth of the case can basically be judged at this point. It was the government officials in Xianghe County who caused chaos. However, in order to popularize the law and popularize science so that the people would no longer be afraid of the rumors, Jia Liu actually walked out of the lobby with the so-called talisman and raised his voice.
A group of people said: "In the bright universe, where did the monsters come from, and where did the magic come from! The matter of calling souls is purely a rumor, and the people must not believe it."
However, the expressions on the people's faces told Mr. Jia Jia that they still believed in God.
Helpless, Jia Liu chose the simplest way to refute the rumors.
He slapped the so-called talisman on his back, then turned it around three times in front of everyone, then stood still and proudly said to the people: "Did you see this? This is called
The soul charm does not work. What does this mean? It means that the soul-calling thing does not exist at all. It is just a rumor spread by a small group of people. The purpose is just to make the people feel insecure and then achieve their ulterior motives. In this regard, I
The officials hate it deeply, and please the people don’t do it.”
As he was speaking, Master Jia Jia suddenly stopped moving and looked straight ahead.
The crowd was in an uproar, and the people standing in front shouted "Yeah" and hid behind, while the people behind them even ran away frantically outside the Yamen.
"grown ups?"
Maghi County didn't know what was going on, so he hurriedly walked to the Mandarin and called out to him, but he called twice and the Mandarin didn't respond. He just stared in front of him like a fool.
After realizing something, Ma Zhixian was also shocked: "It's bad, my lord has been awakened!"