Marco was stunned when he heard this, then glanced at the dejected Barnes who was following behind the horse, and lowered his voice and said, "Then didn't we wrong him?"
"No." Jintong yawned, "It has been clearly investigated before. The serfs below are indeed forced to work overtime for free in the farm. We are just taking them back to face trial this time. Don't think too much. "
Seeing that Ma Ke still looked troubled, Golden Boy made an exception and said a few more words, "I don't think those serfs did anything wrong. They must not be as motivated to work in the farm as they are to work in their own fields, because the former are working for free." , the food harvested by the latter belongs to themselves."
"How can it be for nothing? Those lords also provided them with shelter and land on which to make a living." Marco said stubbornly, "The two parties have entered into a contract and they should strictly abide by it."
"That's right, but the contract doesn't stipulate that you have to work harder on the farm." The golden boy waved away the two buzzing flies in front of him.
"But the contract..."
"Mako, Marco," the golden boy also became a little impatient, "relax, this is human, they always think about themselves first, this is our nature, you should not blame them for this. "
"But in this case, the owner of the farm will suffer a loss."
"Yes, but what does that have to do with us, we are Saturday believers, we are the referees, and our job is to make sure those commandments are followed.
"How to make those serfs work well is a problem that the owners of those farms should consider, not us. They cannot think of challenging the precepts and the majesty of my Lord whenever they encounter problems.
"They have such big heads on their necks. They are not just used for eating and licking women's breasts. They should be used occasionally."
Golden Boy and Marco took Barnes back to the Inquisition, and then someone went to Teacup Castle to invite Thomas, who was supervising the construction of the rammed earth wall.
The captain of the guard did not resist after seeing the referee of the tribunal, nor did he lose his temper because of his status. He even stopped the two guards beside him who were about to draw their swords.
Then he apologized to the referee in front of him.
The latter remained calm, "It's not surprising, we are the most unpopular people in Luye."
"It's just that those fools don't understand the importance of the Inquisition."
"No, no, no, I take this as a compliment. If everyone is happy from the bottom of their hearts when they see us, then it must be that we didn't do our job well." The referee said with a strange smile.
“Sir Thomas, according to our investigation, serfs are forced to work unpaid overtime in a farm in your fief.
"Really? I can swear to my ancestors and my lord that I have no knowledge of this matter. In fact, I have been staying at Teacup Castle recently, responsible for the construction of the outer city wall, and it has been almost two months. There is no time to return to the fief." The guard captain argued.
"The trial of the relevant persons involved will be held in the court before sunset in the afternoon. Do you have time then?
"Don't worry, we will not let a sinner go, nor will we wrongly accuse a good person." The referee said.
"Of course, I can go back with you now." Thomas said immediately.
"Great, thank you for your cooperation."
After the referee finished speaking, he did not move his steps, but said to the captain of the guard again.
"I noticed that you just mentioned that you have been responsible for the construction of the city wall for two months, and you have not returned home once during this period. Do you think Miss Yin Leya, who arranged this work for you, is forced to work overtime? , or have made such hints with the help of their own identity."
"No, no, no, I strictly abide by the commandments and have five days off and two days off. We don't work for two days a week. The reason why I didn't go home is because I have been honing my sword skills in the training ground." Thomas He quickly explained.
"Well, I hope you enjoy your time off, Lord Thomas."
"the same as you."
The trial regarding the farm's forced serfs to work overtime without pay did not last too long. In fact, after Barnes was brought to the tribunal, the fat steward was almost paralyzed with fear and said everything he should and should not say. He said it all at once.
He admitted that he had given the overtime order, and that he had ordered the serfs to underreport their working hours by four days in the hope that they could work longer on the farm.
The reason is also very simple. He hopes to perform well in front of the knight's wife.
Because Thomas had only been a formal knight and owned a fief for a short time, there were not many people around him who could help him manage the territory. Not content with being just a steward of a farm, Barnès wanted to go one step further.
As a result, his momentary greed led him to make a big mistake.
The tribunal later interviewed several other insiders, and their statements were similar to those of Barnes.
At this point, the tribunal could finally conclude that Thomas was innocent in this matter, and announced the punishment for Fat Controller Barnes on the spot.
He needed to go to the fields of the serfs who were forced to work overtime by him and work under the supervision of the Inquisition.
Work on each plot of land for four days until all rest days you owe are paid off before you can be free again.
When Barnes heard the verdict, he rolled his eyes and passed out.
He had just been forced by the golden boy to go to the fields to harvest crops for an afternoon, and he deeply experienced the hardship of labor. His old waist could hardly stand up straight, and his hands were covered with blood blisters from the wear and tear.
Barnes has been a housekeeper at the farm for more than thirty years. He has worked for two families and three lords. When has he ever suffered such hardship?
And this is just the beginning. There are more than thirty serfs in Thomas's farm. If he works on each farm for four days, he will have to work until winter.
After doing a simple calculation, it’s not surprising that Barnes was frightened and fainted.
His wife and son petitioned the tribunal, hoping to pay someone to do the work instead of Barnez, and were even willing to work twice as long on each field.
But they were all rejected by the tribunal.
Thomas then stood up again and said that he, the lord, was also responsible for the mistakes made by Barnes, and he was willing to pay four silver coins to each of the serfs.
His generous move was unanimously praised by the Saturday believers who were watching, and the trial ended in a harmonious atmosphere.
Of course, most of the time things don't go that smoothly.
However, with the support of Miss Rabbit, coupled with the strong prestige established by Shuangxiujiao in Green Field, and the occasional cooperation of Black Dog Guard, the work of the referee can often achieve a satisfactory result.
As a result, subsequent incidents of forced overtime at Greenfield were effectively curbed.
