GBP Chapter 70: Each person should be flogged twice!
Chapter 70: Each person should be flogged twice!
When Magistrate Yang Shaofeng, having changed into his scarlet official robes, arrived at the main hall of the Ningyang County government office, the constables, who were already lined up on both sides, simultaneously banged their water-and-fire sticks and shouted in a deep voice, "Majesty!"
Magistrate Yang looked at the entire county government hall with disdain—the decoration was dilapidated, there were only twenty yamen runners with disabilities on both sides of the hall, and there was not even a clerk to record the case files. He, the magistrate, had to personally conduct the trial process this time.
With a slight pursing of his lips, Yang Shaofeng slammed his gavel and shouted, "Who is this person, and who do you wish to accuse!"
The dozen or so gentry below the hall, of varying ages and attire, looked at each other. Finally, one of them stepped forward, bowed to Magistrate Yang Shaofeng, and said, “Your Honor, we wish to sue a group of unruly people in Ningyang County for seizing our land while we were away.”
Someone took the lead in crying out for justice, and more than a dozen other local gentry followed suit, shouting, "Yes, they have seized our land. Do they think we are weak and easy to bully? We beg you, Your Honor, to do us justice!"
"Make them give the land back!"
"And my yard! I don't know which bastard took over my yard to raise chickens and ducks, and now the whole yard stinks. It's an insult to civilization!"
"The land outside my home in the city is now piled with pig and chicken manure. I beg you, sir, to do us justice!"
"..."
Listening to the grotesque complaints and grievances of the local gentry, Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but feel curious. He beckoned to the constable who had brought the news earlier and asked in a low voice, "Didn't these people... try to find out what was going on?"
The constable shook his head slightly and honestly replied, "Your Excellency, I don't know either."
Yang Shaofeng felt a slight disappointment. After gesturing for the bailiffs to return to their positions, he slammed his gavel down again and shouted at the group of local gentry, "Men, give each of these scoundrels who have shown contempt for the court twenty strokes of the cane!"
According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, counties could decide on the punishment of caning themselves; punishment of flogging was reported to the prefecture or state for a decision; punishment of penal servitude or exile was sent to the provincial authorities for a decision; and death sentences were reported to the Ministry of Justice of the imperial court for review.
In other words, the idea that county magistrates in movies and TV dramas would casually arrest people and have them flogged is pure nonsense, but the practice of Magistrate Yang dragging someone away and whipping them twenty times is entirely in accordance with the regulations of the Ming Dynasty.
Limpy Wu chuckled and immediately ordered a group of yamen runners to come and tie up the people. Ignoring the pleas and struggles of the dozen or so gentry, he simply followed Magistrate Yang's orders, tied up the dozen or so gentry, and then took them to the open space outside the main hall to whip them.
After each person received twenty lashes, more than a dozen local gentry were left with tattered clothes, bloodstains on the whip marks, and exposed flesh, looking as miserable as could be.
After the execution was over, Lame Five had more than a dozen local gentry arrested and taken back to the main hall. He then bowed to Magistrate Yang and said, "Your Excellency, the execution is complete!"
Yang Shaofeng grunted and looked at the dozen or so local gentry who were screaming in pain, saying, "Now you can answer my questions one by one?"
The local gentry who had been the first to speak stepped forward again, enduring the pain in his body, and replied, "Yes, we commoners know we were wrong."
Yang Shaofeng then chuckled and asked, "I ask you, what is your name, where do you live, who do you sue, and what troubles you?"
The gentryman answered honestly, “Your Honor, my surname is Liu, my given name is Liu Hongchang, and I live in Liumiao Village in the west of the city. I am suing a group of unruly people in Liumiao Village. They have not only occupied my house, but also seized the farmland passed down from my ancestors. Now they have openly planted crops on it. I can no longer return home and cannot cultivate my land. I beg Your Honor to do me justice!”
Magistrate Yang secretly curled his lip, thinking to himself that this nonsense was only meant to fool those uneducated idiots under Emperor Zhu Chongba. He had been well-read in his previous life and had spent many years on the internet, so how could he not know what kind of people these gentry were?
Putting aside everything else, let's just talk about Liu Hongchang's name. According to the rules of the Yuan Dynasty, uneducated commoners were only allowed to use numbers as names. They could either use their birth order in the family, such as Zhang San or Li Si, who were the third or fourth children in their families; or they could use the sum of their parents' ages, such as Liu Sanshier, whose parents' ages added up to thirty-two. Of course, Liu Sanshier could also be called Liu Siba, and Zhu Qiqi could also be called Zhu Sishijiu.
People like Liu Hongchang, who had proper names, either secretly chose them because they intended to rebel against the Yuan Dynasty, like Xu Da and Chang Yuchun, or they were well-educated and held official positions, or they were respected local gentry who could speak up for the Yuan Dynasty officials.
Magistrate Yang Shaofeng couldn't immediately determine which situation Liu Hongchang belonged to, but it couldn't possibly be the first one, because someone who harbored rebellious intentions against the Yuan Dynasty wouldn't have fled with his family and valuables when the Ming army came, leaving behind only an empty house that no one cared for.
After silently criticizing it to himself, Yang Shaofeng chuckled and asked, "Do you have any proof?"
Liu Hongchang nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice, shouting, "I have proof, I have proof! It's right here in my arms. I beg you, sir, to have mercy and let the officers untie the ropes binding me!"
After receiving a signal from Magistrate Yang, Limpy Wu untied the rope. Liu Hongchang then took out a thick stack of land deeds from his pocket, handed them to Limpy Wu, and bowed to Magistrate Yang, saying, "Your Honor, this humble subject has land deeds here. Please take a look."
Yang Shaofeng took the land deed from the lame man and then looked at the other gentry and asked, "Is what you are saying the same as what Liu Hongchang is saying? Do you also have land deeds like him?"
The local gentry, who had just been whipped, looked at each other. Finally, one of them stepped forward and bowed to Magistrate Yang, saying, "Your Honor, what I am complaining about concerns a house in the city. It is different from what Liu Hongchang is complaining about. However, I also have a deed to the house in my possession. Please take a look, Your Honor."
Then another local gentry stepped forward and replied: "Your Honor, my complaint is the same as Liu Hongchang's. I also have the land deed in hand. Please take a look, Your Honor."
After the local gentry took out their land deeds and handed them to Lame Wu to present to Magistrate Yang, Yang Shaofeng only glanced at them a few times before frowning slightly and asking, "These land deeds and house deeds of yours were all given to you by the Tartar government—do you intend to use the Tartar land deeds and house deeds to sue the people of my Great Ming for encroaching on your land?"
As soon as Magistrate Yang Shaofeng finished speaking, the assembled gentry were dumbfounded.
No, this is a family heirloom, you know? A family heirloom!
What does it matter whether your dynasty is the Yuan or the Ming?