After the theft case, the next step is a smuggling case.
"Whoa... whoa!"
Five strong men were brought up, all wearing heavy shackles and shackles, which kept making noises as they walked, and they came to the lobby, standing without kneeling, with a look on their faces that showed no fear of life or death.
It is clearly written in the file that these five are all from Guanzhong. The leader of the black-faced man is Wei Baichuan, who is nicknamed: Lightning Knife, good at martial arts, riding and shooting... The other four are: Lin Daxi, Zuo Xiaoping, Niu Runtu and Jiang Youdao.
The crimes committed by the five people were: smuggling a large amount of salt, resisting arrest with weapons, and injuring many police officers!
Smuggling salt is a long story.
The Ming Dynasty, like all previous dynasties, implemented a salt monopoly policy.
First, the imperial court set up salt fields in various salt-producing areas across the country, where salt farmers would refine the salt, and then the Salt Transportation Department would collect the salt.
The imperial court then sold the salt yin to merchants, who used the salt yin to extract salt from the Salt Transportation Department, and then transported it to designated areas for sale at official prices. They were not allowed to cross regions or raise prices to avoid disrupting the market.
Such a policy is beneficial to the country, businessmen, and ordinary people.
Since it is beneficial, why are there still people selling private salt?
The problem is the price of salt!
During the Hongwu and Yongle periods, salt cost eight cents per pound, and the common people could afford it, so they didn’t have to worry about eating salt.
However, as time went by, the Ming court became more and more corrupt and extravagant, with reduced income and increased expenditures, leading to a serious financial crisis. In order to increase revenue, the court began to increase the price of salt and squeeze the money out of the common people.
During the Tianshun and Chenghua periods, salt rose to fifteen cents per pound.
During the Zhengde and Jiajing periods, salt prices rose to twenty cents per pound.
By the Tianqi and Chongzhen periods, salt prices had risen to thirty cents per pound, more than three times the price at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and this was only the official price.
In fact, in order to line their own pockets, corrupt officials and businesswomen colluded with each other to continuously drive up the price of salt, so that the price of salt on the market was several times, more than ten times, or even dozens of times higher than the official price.
The common people simply cannot afford such a high price, and salt is a necessity of life. What should we do?
The only option is to smuggle it.
As a result, tens of thousands of smuggling teams appeared on the land of the Ming Dynasty, ranging from a dozen people to hundreds of people, and Wei Baichuan and others were one of them.
They obtained salt from the salt households in the Huamachi area, then smuggled it across the mountains to the Guanzhong area and sold it to ordinary people at low prices.
More than half a month ago, when five people were selling illicit salt in Huazhou, they were discovered by local police. After a fight, the five people were outnumbered and all were captured alive.
Zhizhou-Ding Buqun was busy making frauds and responding to inspections at the time, and had no time to deal with the matter, so he put the five people in a cell.
Now, this case has fallen into Qin Feng's hands.
After reading the file, Qin Feng asked, "Do you know that the law of the Ming Dynasty stipulates that anyone who sells more than one hundred kilograms of smuggled salt will be decapitated?"
"of course I know!"
"If you know it, why do you still break the law?"
"Hmph, the price of official salt is so high that ordinary people can't afford it. How can they survive without selling private salt?
Don't talk nonsense, dog officials. It was all done by the five of us. If you want to kill or behead, you have to do whatever you want. Twenty years later, we are five good men again! "
…
Regarding the matter of selling illegal salt and injuring an official, the five Wei Baichuan people confessed, and there were complete witnesses and material evidence. This case did not need to be tried at all, and the verdict could be pronounced directly. But how to judge?
Qin Feng thought for a moment and made a decision.
"The five of you sold a huge amount of smuggled salt, resisted arrest with weapons, and injured many government officials. In accordance with the laws of the Ming Dynasty, I have sentenced you to beheading.
Xiong Da, take these five people out of the city, find a remote place to behead them, and then dig a deep pit to bury them! "
When making the verdict, Qin Feng quietly glanced and made a gesture.
Xiong Da is following Xu
For a long time, he understood in an instant. After receiving the order, he led a small team of soldiers to escort the five Wei Baichuan people out of the lobby and the city gate, and soon came to a remote forest.
Then the shackles of the five people were removed and they were pushed to the ground in preparation for execution.
Just when Nazhi was about to raise the knife, Xiong Da suddenly held his stomach and shouted: "Ouch, it hurts so much. I must have eaten something bad... You guys watch here, and I will wait until I can come back easily before executing the execution."
"Hey, wait for me, I'm hungry too!"
"I'm also hungry. Does anyone have some toilet paper and can you lend me some toilet paper?"
"I came out in a hurry and didn't bring any extra toilet paper. Just pick up a few leaves and make do with it!"
"Get out of here, this is a pine forest!"
…
In an instant, Xiong Da and a group of soldiers disappeared deep into the woods.
Faced with this situation, the five people from Wei Baichuan, who thought they were certain to die, first looked at each other, confused, and then reacted, jumped up from the ground, and ran as fast as they could...
The five people ran all the way, covering a distance of seven or eight miles. They were sweating like rain and panting like cattle. After making sure that there were no officers and soldiers chasing behind them, they collapsed on the ground, panting heavily.
"Huhu... we are not dead, not dead... haha!"
"It's God's blessing. Just when the execution was about to be carried out, those stupid officers and soldiers suddenly got upset and ran into the woods without even leaving a guard. We were able to survive this death, haha!"
"Bah, you stupid thing, God bless you, there is a noble person secretly helping you, otherwise the five of us would have gone to the Palace of Hell to drink tea!"
As the leader, Wei Baichuan was much smarter than the other four people. After a little analysis of the matter, he understood it instantly.
As for the nobleman who secretly helped, it was General Qin in the lobby.
Otherwise, it would be enough to escort the five of them directly to the execution ground and behead them. Why go all the way to the woods outside the city?
How could it be possible that more than a dozen officers and soldiers were all sick of their stomachs, and not even a single guard was left behind.
This was obviously a deliberate attempt to let the five of them escape!
The question is, I am not related to the Qin general, and I did not bribe him with a lot of money, so why did I let myself and my four brothers go?
I can’t figure it out!
However, as a Jianghu person, what matters most is repaying life-saving kindness. I remember this kindness and I will repay it sooner or later, even if I sacrifice my life!
Thinking of this, Wei Baichuan stood up, clasped his fists in the direction of Huazhou City, and then continued on his way with his four brothers, and soon disappeared.
…
As for Qin Feng, the backlog of cases continues to be tried.
The third case: Four rogues molested a decent woman in the street, and even touched her a few times... The criminals were treated on their hands, and one of each of the four rogues' hands was cut off to see if they would dare to do bad things in the future. !
The fourth case: The rich man committed loan sharking and forced people to take lives... One life was worth one life. The rich man was executed and the family of the deceased was compensated with two hundred taels of silver.
…
Long story short.
There were hundreds of cases, large and small, accumulated in Huazhou. It only took Qin Feng five days to complete the trial, and he decided impartially and resolutely.
As a result, the social atmosphere in Huazhou improved instantly.
The rich men no longer dared to bully others, and the scoundrels did not dare to cause trouble. They all put their tail between their legs and behaved themselves. The common people were proud and had smiles on their faces.
A few days later, the new magistrate of Huazhou arrived.
His name is Song Zhili, forty-two years old, from Pingyuan County, Shandong Province. He was a Jinshi in the second year of Tianqi. He previously served as the county magistrate of Shaanxi-Hanzhong Prefecture-Hanyin County.
Because he had performed his duties fairly well and had some political achievements during his tenure, he was recommended by Yang He, the governor of the three sides, and was promoted to the post of magistrate of Huazhou with the approval of the Ministry of Personnel.
When Xinzhizhou arrived, Qin Feng immediately made the handover. Without saying anything else, he just took Song Zhili for a walk around the south gate.
On the south gate tower, there is a row of unrecognizable human heads that have been pecked by crows. Among them is Ding Buqun, the former magistrate who was beheaded with a blunt knife for corruption!
Past experience guide for the future!
…
Huazhou state annals record: On October 28th, the fifth year of Chongzhen, Song Zhili, the governor of the state, took office. During his tenure, he was conscientious and fair, and did not dare to commit any corruption... Gao Sheng left office four years later, and Huazhou The common people lined up and presented Wanmin umbrellas and Wanmin flags to show their gratitude!
Later, someone asked Song Zhili why he had been an honest official throughout his life, and he replied: Without him, he often dreamed of General Qin at night, so he did not dare to make a wrong step!
