Zeng Juan breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Agui had nothing to do against him. Li Ziyu is now the "leader" of their group. Now that his career is prosperous, he must protect his feathers. Agui and Li Ziyu have a very close relationship, and being regarded as Li's "personal" is actually a very bad thing.
Zeng Juan was thinking about how to mention this to Li Ziyu when he came back, but the topic in the store turned from Yuan Shuzhi to tomorrow's public trial.
The public trial was held in Haipi outside Zhenhai Gate where the public sacrifice ceremony was originally held. The place was large and could accommodate many people, and the river beach was a good place for executions.
"I heard that the prisoners will be executed on the spot after the public trial."
"For such a big case, I heard that there are thousands of people involved in the case! At least half of them must be killed! If they kill, the river beach will be filled with blood!" Wang Da, who runs a delicatessen, started to get excited when he said this, " With one command, hundreds of people's skulls rolled down, and the river turned red!"
He was dancing with joy as he spoke, and his face turned red with excitement.
Some people also said that Liu Dafu planned to drive all the prisoners into the river and drown them alive. This immediately aroused controversy. What if some of the prisoners were very good at water? Someone said that they must have sent a boat to watch. If they saw someone who was good at swimming, they would poke him with a spear. Others say it would be better if everyone had a bag of rocks tied around their necks. The fight made my face red and my ears red, and I was frothing at the mouth.
"It is said that the Australians are going to carry out artillery execution this time! Tie the prisoner to the muzzle of the cannon and fire it! It will explode to pieces and destroy both body and soul!"
"I heard from our neighbor's brother-in-law - his cousin works as an errand for the Australians - it's dog fighting! It means catching hundreds of dogs, starving them for three or four days, and then pushing the prisoners in and letting the dogs bite them..."
"Twenty-four!" Someone immediately shook his head, "Hundreds of hungry dogs? Where can we get them in a minute and a half? I have accurate news. A kind man from the Five Immortals Temple came to deliver tribute fruits to my family, saying that Australia People must use secret techniques and use lightning to strike down prisoners on death row..."
Then someone else said that Liu Dafu was going to go on a killing spree on the river beach and kill all the captured Guandi Temple troops from top to bottom - because that was what they did in Qiongzhou Prefecture in the past, so everyone who went there was Said there were no beggars there...
"How can Australians be so stupid? Although the Guandi Temple people are hateful, most of them are just a bunch of wretches. This is probably a pattern where the culprit will be punished and no threats will be taken."
The speaker was a middle-aged man, wearing a Dongpo scarf on his head, a lotus root tie and straight skirt, and foundation soap boots on his feet. He was drinking at the table with two young men. He seemed to be a scholar from a well-established family. , at least a student.
Such a person's words naturally have weight, and everyone's eyes will turn to him. Someone said: "According to this gentleman, the Australians will not go on a killing spree tomorrow?"
The middle-aged man took a sip of wine calmly and said slowly: "If the Australians want to go on a killing spree, more than ten people will be sentenced to death today - in my opinion, they will be killed tomorrow." , I’m afraid I won’t be able to kill many.”
Now everyone was even more excited. Wang Da loudly said: "This is a case of witchcraft. If it is revealed in front of the big..., it means killing everyone and annihilating the nine tribes!"
The middle-aged man chuckled and said calmly: "You must have gone to hear the trial today. Did you ever mention the word 'witchcraft'?"
At this mention, Zeng Juan also remembered that although "using evil magic" and "making evil medicine" were mentioned many times during the trial of the case, the word "witchcraft" was never mentioned from beginning to end!
"...I dare not say whether the Australians are implicated in the punishment of the Nine Tribes, but even the crime of witchcraft in this dynasty does not implicate the Nine Tribes. I think the Australians are definitely not like this."
He said "this dynasty" when he opened his mouth, and everyone lost their temper for a moment. However, everyone was concerned that he probably came from a respectable family and did not dare to accuse him of saying something wrong.
Zeng Juan couldn't help but said: "Sure enough, there is indeed no mention of witchcraft today. The ten or twenty crimes on which everyone was convicted are all irrelevant."
"That's it." The middle-aged scribe nodded, "Australians themselves are not willing to touch the word 'witchcraft', so how can they use it to create a big prison?"
"So, wouldn't tomorrow's public trial be of little interest?" Some people were disappointed. For the people in the Middle Ages, torture was the best viewing item, a rare sensory stimulation in the ordinary and difficult life.
"That's not necessarily the case," said the middle-aged scribe. "Since the beginning of time, the Australians have had many methods that their predecessors have not practiced. I wonder what new tricks they will do this time."
While Chajuli was discussing, a similar discussion was also going on in the city hall.
"Shen Jian, Liang Yuan, you did a great job today!"
In a conference room of the city government, Liu Xiang patted the two of them on the shoulders while speaking.
Liu Xiang did not attend the trial today - not because he did not have time, but to give the people of Ming Dynasty the concept of "judicial independence."
Traditional Chinese justice is that there is no separation between justice and administration, and the county magistrate can grasp them. If Liu Xiang appears at the trial, even in the auditorium, everyone will have the impression that "Prefect Liu is the highest person in charge of the case."
Although he did not attend, he listened to the entire process through a wired phone in the city hall. He is very satisfied with the trial work, which can be seen from the fact that he changed the name of Shen Ruiming from "Xiao Shen" to "Shen Jian".
"Wherever, we have only done some minor work, but the comrades of the Guangzhou Police Department have a harder time. The burden is too heavy to arrest so many people at once and to provide confessions."
Liu Xiang praised the two of them a few more words, and then asked how to deal with these criminals.
"This matter is easy to handle. After the public trial and sentencing are over, the condemned prisoners can be hanged on the spot or in a few days. Whether the prisoners are left to you to do hard work or sent to Fu Youdi to open stones, it is also a matter of watching You need it." The law on the execution of penalties has long been clearly stated, but Shen Ruiming was just following the script at this time.
Liu Xiang hesitated for a moment and then spoke: "According to the feedback from observers, the people are very angry about the harvesting and cutting of raw materials and the people in Guandi Temple. Hanging alone may not satisfy the people. I think appropriate cruel punishment can help Suppressing the current rampant crime situation can also let the people of Guangzhou breathe a sigh of relief. Do you think this is the truth?"
This is not the first time Liu Xiang has mentioned this, and he has made no secret of it: vicious social cases should be executed by torture, such as being broken into a car, being tortured, or being burned.
Shen Ruiming knew very well that Liu Xiang would do something like this sooner or later. The latter was not necessarily based on a simple view of justice, but was more of a means of stabilizing social order. Not only did Liu Xiang have this request, he and Liang Xinhu also received anonymous or signed letters from Lingao. In addition to requiring severe punishment, various execution methods were also attached. There are those who demand electrocution: the most supportive people; there are those who demand that the condemned prisoner be immersed in aqua regia from the feet up; there are those who demand execution with dogs or cannons; there are those who demand "sitting on stakes" and some want to restore the ancient customs, and it is recommended to do it in Zhenhai Outside the door, the corpses of executed prisoners were mixed with loess and gravel and piled up into hills to build a "Beijing Temple"... and so on. It is simply a masterpiece of the history of torture and imagination in the world.
Before Shen Ruiming came to Guangzhou, he had already reached a conclusion with Ma Jia and others.
"Mayor Liu and everyone here. I understand your feelings very well. Like you, I also deeply hate the actions of these scumbags. Not severely punishing them is not enough to make the people angry."
"But," Shen Ruiming paused, collected his thoughts and then said: "But the law pays attention to predictability, which means that the punishment must be constant. Today we tortured this group of people to death, what will happen in the future? Is it a wilderness? Do you have to pull a wire to get an electric chair every time or find a group of dogs to share the meal? Comrades, this is an issue related to the legal authority of my Senate."
Liu Xiang thought to himself, don't play this trick in front of me, and said: "I understand what you said. I don't deny that governing the country according to law is important, but these are extraordinary times, and we cannot stick to these rules. As long as we can crack down on Just commit the crime. Besides, isn’t it also an expedient measure to prepare for a public trial?”
"Although it is an expedient measure, our "Anti-Rebellion Law" clearly states: 'Court trials and people's public trials are legal trial methods recognized by the Senate and the People's Supreme Court.' The fancy execution method you mentioned , but there is no basis for it in the laws enacted by the Senate."
Liu Xiang's face became more and more ugly, thinking that this law was not created by your judiciary's lip service! What does it mean to add a few temporarily? Just as he was about to organize his words to prepare for a counterattack, Shen Ruiming spoke again:
"Mayor Liu, I think your boss mainly wants to suppress criminal activities and stabilize the order of Guangzhou city? I have an idea that can achieve results without violating the law." Shen Ruiming gave up.
"Okay, okay, let's talk quickly." Liu Xiang said angrily.
Shen Ruiming looked at Cui Hantang on the side and spoke: "Last time, Taoist Cui took the lead in holding a public sacrifice in the name of 'to save the lives of the people who died in Guangzhou City and to pray for the living people of Guangzhou City'. The effect was very good. It can be seen that the influence of religion on medieval society The common people have a great influence. This time when the prisoners are executed, Taoist Cui can also hold a 'curse ceremony'."
Liu Xiang was silent after hearing this, and Shen Ruiming continued: "Mayor Liu, there is an old saying, 'People are not afraid of death, so how can they be afraid of death?' No matter how cruel the punishment is, it will never scare people. As far away as The crackdowns in the early Ming Dynasty, as well as the campaign-style crackdowns a few decades ago in old time and space, have proven that crime cannot be controlled by relying solely on harsh punishments. A two-pronged approach is necessary. In particular, the shaping of social psychology is very important. At the moment, our capabilities are limited. , the level of social development is very low, instead of going through a thankless task of doing something that is not available, it is better to prescribe the right medicine through the common superstitious psychology of the people."
ps: Official account Lingao Qiming
Lingao Qiming book fans base
The braggart’s message board;
Introduce and sort out important figures and event information;
Showcase the style of the Lingao community and a traveling exhibition of outstanding fan and material works;
Organize online or offline gatherings of elders from time to time;
a word, senat popusque agn
