Several major events occurred in the week after the castle was captured. The first was the establishment of the temporary government of Arano Town, with Chen Hansheng becoming the real mayor. The administrative staff mainly came from Chen Hansheng's work group, and of course also absorbed a small number of more cooperative locals.
The second thing was that the interim government burned all the serf contracts of the baron's family. It also established the Alano Farm, Alano Forest Farm, Alano Mine and other business enterprises, and turned the adult laborers who were willing to sign the contract into employees of the Tower of China.
These serfs became contract workers, and most people still didn't understand what was going on. In their opinion, they just changed their masters. But some smart people have already discovered the difference. It seems that they will no longer go hungry because of poor harvests when they receive wages
The third thing was to prepare for the public trial. In order to let most people understand what a court is, the mutual aid association and women spent several days popularizing basic legal knowledge to the people in the town. Some smarter townspeople were even able to name a few articles of the Criminal Law. However, what they heard was naturally a popularized and simplified version of the Criminal Law.
The collection of witnesses and evidence took a lot of effort. Although Chen Hansheng was not well educated, he had a principle in mind: no matter what he did, it was best to have a formal appearance at the beginning so that it would not go astray easily later. Although the form of the public trial itself carried a lot of contemporary color and was gradually banned in his world, it was undoubtedly a huge improvement here.
For the townspeople of Arano, the significance of such an event goes far beyond understanding the law. It also makes them understand that the nobles and wizards who are usually high and mighty are not born noble. There is a force that can judge them, and they must be responsible for their actions like everyone else.
On that day, a high platform was set up in the small square in front of the Baron's Mansion, on which was the trial area. Below the platform was the audience area, where most of the townspeople gathered to listen to the public trial of the "evil forces" in Arano Town.
Chen Hansheng stood in the waiting area, and the guards around him detained more than a dozen defendants. Although today's trial process includes court investigation and court debate, unless there is a major turn of events, the fate of these people has basically been determined. And in order to achieve better results, all defendants will be sentenced in court.
Still wearing the restraint ring and with his hands handcuffed behind his back, Ackley watched Hahn being taken to the dock, his expression mixed with uneasiness and confusion. "Master Chen! Is this your answer? Are you really not going to consider my proposal?"
Chen Hansheng's expression was very calm: "No, your proposal is very interesting. But it is not a bargaining chip for me to do business with you. No one can escape the judgment of the law."
Ackley glanced at Ruth behind him and said, "She is a woman, and her injuries have just healed. Should she also accept such a trial?"
Chen Hansheng said, "Everyone here has clear evidence to prove their crimes. You still remember the interrogation two days ago, right? We didn't wrong you, did we? You have to pay the price for what you have done, and so do they. After the verdict, if you want to cooperate with us on the matter of Alvita Town, we can talk again."
"You're not willing to accept my deal, and you still expect me to cooperate with you?" Ackley said angrily.
"I think you'll make the right choice when the time comes."
While the two were talking, the prosecutor had already made the charges against Hahn: "... Hahn forced Irene to have sex with him while she was cleaning the room for him. As Irene resisted fiercely, Hahn strangled her neck, making it difficult for her to breathe and eventually she died..." In order to take care of the local people, the words used in the court were deliberately simple and popular.
"What's going on? I said Israel did it!" Ackley shouted anxiously, "Why did it become Hahn?"
"Didn't you hear Hahn admit it when the presiding judge asked him?" Chen Hansheng pointed at the court.
"How is it possible? How could he admit these things? You forced him to do it!"
"Of course there is evidence, he just can't refute the evidence." Chen Hansheng said calmly.
Soon, the court called witnesses, including the maid who was in the next room at the time, the guard who helped Hahn dispose of the body, and the knight who heard Hahn bragging about it to his friends.
Piece of evidence after piece gradually framed the matter in terms of the crime process described by the prosecutor.
As the evidence emerged, the townspeople who were listening to the trial became more and more angry. Some people kept jumping out to curse Hahn, some demanded that he be hanged immediately, and some even picked up stones on the ground and threw them at the defendant. Among them was Doris, who was standing at the front of the audience. After the presiding judge warned them many times to no avail, he had to send the guards to remove the most outrageous ones from the audience.
"Look, is there any evidence here that you think is fabricated?"
Ackley knew what happened, and the testimonies of these witnesses basically matched up perfectly with what he knew. He couldn't say anything about it.
However, he didn't expect that this was just the beginning. The prosecutor brought up four or five more cases in a row, three of which were murders. Even Ackley didn't know that his fourth brother, who was usually quiet at home, was such a violent and cruel person in the town. In one murder case, a woodcutter's load scratched Hahn's horse's leg, and he cut open his stomach with a knife. This incident was seen clearly by everyone on the street, and there were seven or eight witnesses alone.
During the final stage of the court debate, the defense lawyer's defense was weak and flimsy. Before he could say a few words on the cross-examination of the witness's credibility, his head was almost smashed by a stone flying from the gallery.
It was the defendant's final statement stage. Hahn said with regret, "Yes, I did all this, but I want to ask Lord Chen to forgive me. I thought about it for a long time in prison. This is not my fault alone. It is the fault of the entire aristocratic circle. They have taught me since I was a child that people are different, some are nobler than me, some are not as noble as me, and civilians are not considered people, they are just our tools. So, I am just a naughty child who destroyed a tool. I never wanted to kill a truly thoughtful and powerful person..."
Once these words were spoken, the audience was once again in an uproar. If Chen Hansheng had not immediately sent more people, Hahn would have been beaten to death on the spot by the crowd. The court had to use militia to surround Hahn.