Because the ancient system was not so perfect, the government was actually very personalized. The image of the government, as well as the work style and efficiency of the people within the government, mostly depended on the boss of the government.

From the series of things that just happened, it can be basically confirmed that the owner of this government is definitely a diligent and strict official.

Otherwise, with Zhang Fei's image and attitude, he might have been driven away before he even took out the paper, let alone that the yamen officer would have found Liu Hai immediately to receive the paper.

You must know that today's government does not serve the people, but serves the emperor. It is more about ruling the people. This is a completely different concept.

This is indeed the case. Xu Zun, the magistrate of Dengzhou, has always been fair, strict, upright, and very diligent. He already served in Dali Temple and was an official from the capital. He was sent to Dengzhou as the magistrate the year before last.

Because the Tang Dynasty was in chaos due to local military envoys, the Northern Song Dynasty was very concerned about local governance.

The title of "Zhizhou" or "Zhixian" means "temporary supervisor". After one year, he will have to return to Beijing to take up his post. With this arrangement, an intricate network of influence cannot be formed in the local area, which is tantamount to strengthening the centralization of power.

Xu Zun, who had just approved the official release of Zhang San, did not give himself a short vacation. At this time, he was sitting at the table, carefully reviewing the confession in Ayun's case.

But Xu Yuan, the chief clerk standing next to him, had a worried look on his face.

Judging from the facts of the case, this case was just a very simple murder case. It took less than a day for Ayun to go to court and plead guilty, so the Penglai County captain quickly closed the case.

But it has been delayed for several months now.

It turned out that the case involved human life and was judged to be a crime of treason, one of the four ten evils, which generally refers to the murder of a close relative, and the murder of a husband was naturally among them.

According to the law, beheading can be imposed, but Penglai County does not have the final right to make a final decision, because according to the legal system of the Song Dynasty, this must be reviewed one by one by the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Court of Punishment before a final judgment can be given.

Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment saw the case and immediately approved it without any doubts.

However, when the verdict of this case fell into the hands of Xu Zun, Xu Zun believed that the verdict was unfair.

Because Ayun's mother passed away a year ago, which means that Ayun is still observing filial piety, so according to the laws of the Song Dynasty, marriage is not allowed during the period of observing filial piety.

Xu Zun took this as an excuse to protest to Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment.

The first time, Dali Temple ignored it and continued to uphold the original verdict.

Although there is this law, there are etiquette and laws among the people. Among the people, during the mourning period, it is just said that no wedding will be held, but marriage and betrothal (betrothal) are allowed.

According to the law, as long as the man has paid the tax, the two are husband and wife.

Xu Zun protested again. This time he even criticized the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment. As officials, we should abide by the law, not the unwritten rules of the people. The law clearly stipulates this. As law enforcement, you

Personnel must know the law and break it.

This time at Dali Temple, the Ministry of Punishment finally gave up on the crime of treason and sentenced Ayun to murder and wounding, and he was hanged according to law.

However, Xu Zun only approved the official document to release Zhang Fei, but did not pass the final judgment of Dali Temple. He obviously still had doubts about this.

Xu Yuan, the chief secretary who had been following him all the time, felt that Xu Zun was going too far, so he advised: "Now that Dali Temple has taken a step back, why don't the magistrates just accept it when things get better?"

Xu Zun frowned when he heard this and said: "Although the verdict of Dali Temple no longer mentioned the ten evil crimes, it still sentenced Ayun to murder and injured him and sentenced him to death by hanging. This still requires death."

Xu Yuan found it funny and said: "But there is no problem with this charge. Ayun had the intention of murder, but he failed to commit it. It should be considered that he was injured because of the murder."

Xu Zunxiao asked: "When I discussed the ten evil sins with you, how did you say it?"

Xu Yuan pondered for a while and said: "Xiaoguan said at that time that although the law does not allow marriage during the mourning period, the people also have etiquette to follow. They just don't hold weddings, but they don't object to marriage and accepting the levy. The Wei family has already accepted the levy.

The relationship between the two should be husband and wife, so Ayun's murder of Wei Ada is murder of her own husband, which is a very evil crime."

Xu Zundao: "Yes! At that time, you said that it was impossible to exempt the ten evil crimes, but now Dali Temple has not mentioned the ten evil crimes again. This is not the tolerance of Dali Temple, but that Dali Temple also knows that this verdict is unconvincing.

, so the verdict was changed to murder with injury. Having said that, if I didn’t appeal at that time, wouldn’t it be an unjust case?”

Xu Yuan was speechless for a while. These heinous crimes and murder are both death. The difference is that murder of a husband is punishable by beheading, while murder is punishable by hanging.

Is there a big difference?

Is it very unfair?

He estimated that Dali Temple was too lazy to argue with Xu Zun. After all, this guy was a habitual offender, so they took a step back.

Xu Zun glanced at Xu Yuan and saw that he was still dissatisfied, so he said earnestly: "You must remember one thing, the law can kill people, but it can also keep people alive. However, once this person's life is gone, there is nothing left for him to do."

Therefore, when we review cases, we must try every means to give the prisoner a chance to live, so that we can try to avoid unjust, false, and wrongful convictions."

Xu Yuan glanced at his boss helplessly. Obviously, he did not accept Xu Zun's idea.

At this moment, Liu Hai, the Muke who specializes in delivering papers, suddenly appeared in front of the door.

"Reporting to the magistrate, someone just broke into the Yamen to file a complaint."

He used the word "break" to describe it, which shows that he was very unhappy with Zhang San, because breaking into the Yamen was already a crime and could be punished with a cane as a warning.

However, Xu Zun thought that since he had gone to the Yamen to file a complaint, it must not be a small case, so he immediately asked: "Do you have a complaint paper?"

"Yes. But!"

The bangs were slightly hesitant.

Xu Zun immediately asked: "But what?"

Liu Hai said: "But but!"

Seeing his hesitation, Xu Zun said impatiently: "Send the paper in."

"yes."

Liu Hai didn't dare to say anything and quickly handed over the paper.

Xu Zun took it, and when he saw it halfway, he couldn't help but look surprised. He was here to sue me for his feelings, and he was even more curious. He looked directly at the place where the signature was signed, and immediately said in surprise: "Is it him?"

Xu Yuan saw Xu Zun looking strange and asked curiously: "Who complained?"

Xu Zun smiled bitterly and said, "That's the Zhang San who was just released."

"Zhang San?"

Xu Yuan asked in surprise: "Is there any hidden secret in this case?"

Xu Zun smiled and said: "It's not because of this case. No, it has something to do with this case."

Xu Yuan didn't understand what he heard and asked again: "I wonder who he is suing?"

Xu Zun couldn't laugh or cry and said: "That's me."

"!"

This was really rare. Xu Zun was a little excited. He had never been sued by anyone in his life.

The sense of anticipation was immediately heightened.

A quarter of an hour later.

When Zhang Fei was escorted to the court, there was no "mightiness" expected, nor was there any talk of the Yamen lining up to beat him with sticks.

Xu Zun didn't even wear official uniforms. He just sat in the court in regular clothes. In addition, there was Xu Yuan, the bookkeeper, a clerk in charge of recording, and two burly officials.

boom!

"Who is here?"

Xu Zun slapped the alarm and shouted.

Although he is not wearing official uniform, his momentum is not reduced at all.

However, Zhang Fei replied in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Zhang San, a small citizen, has seen Zhizhou."

Xu Zun immediately shouted: "How dare you Zhang San to slander me."

Zhang Fei replied: "Everyone in Dengzhou knows that the Zhizhou knows everything and is honest and upright. How can the common people dare to slander the Zhizhou?"

You have said all these good and ugly things, so what do you want to do? Seeing that Zhang San was so cowardly, Xu Zun felt uncomfortable for a moment and simply asked: "Then you can tell me how I am preying on the common people. If there are half

To put it bluntly, I will never take mercy lightly."

Zhang Fei immediately asked: "May I ask Zhizhou, can you prove that Xiaomin has nothing to do with Ayun's case and is innocent?"

Xu Zundao: "If this were not the case, how could you be standing here? We have already found out about this matter. You really have nothing to do with this case."

Zhang Fei said: "It means that the common man has been in jail for three months for no reason."

Oh, it turns out that he came here for this. Xu Zun's expression softened a bit, and he said: "Then I can't blame you. Who made you say nothing at all? You couldn't even say your own name clearly. What's more?

In addition, there are witnesses who saw you and Ayun hugging each other, shouldn't I be suspicious?"

Zhang Fei nodded and said: "Given Xiaomin's state at that time, it is natural for Zhizhou to suspect Xiaomin, but in the end it was just Zhizhou's suspicion. There was no evidence to prove that Xiaomin was involved in the case, and Ayun did not mention it either.

Xiaomin, based on this, Xiaomin has indeed been in jail for three months for no reason. Not only has he been tortured mentally and physically, but he has also lost his livelihood for three months. For Xiaomin, the loss is immeasurable.

of."

Xu Yuan, the chief clerk, felt that this boy was a little open-minded, and said with displeasure: "We are just doing things in accordance with the law, and we have made no mistakes. Moreover, you yourself also have a lot of responsibilities, so you can't blame others."

This actually involves a very key legal thought issue, that is, the presumption of guilt and the presumption of innocence. After thousands of years, the law is based on the presumption of innocence. As long as there is no conclusive evidence, it is innocent.

But now there is a presumption of guilt, and there is only one theory of "the crime is less serious than the doubtful", which means that if there is any doubt, the punishment should be given lightly, rather than the benefit of the doubt going entirely to the defendant. Therefore, it is very reasonable and reasonable to detain Zhang Fei, as long as he is not confused.

Officials will do this.

Because in reality, the government does not have the financial and material resources to support the presumption of innocence.

If you don't take him into custody, what if the suspect runs away? Song Dynasty doesn't have a Sky Eye system, so where can he find it?

Zhang Fei nodded and said: "What the chief clerk said is true, but assuming that Zhizhou intends to punish the people and make them go to jail for several months, will there be any change in the result and process? The answer is no. Zhizhou
To be continued...