"Dong dong dong dong dong..." The sudden drum beat broke the silence of the Kaifeng government office, causing the hands of Xue Yuanpeng, the general judge who was writing a letter at the desk, to tremble. He almost failed to draw a document. After thinking about it with a frown, , he suddenly realized that the drum sound came from the grievance drum at the yamen door!
This made Xue Tongpan's face look even more surprised. Suddenly someone would beat a drum to complain about injustice for no reason. We must know that in real history, the drum of grievance outside the government offices of various states and counties cannot be beaten by any common people with grievances. The imperial court has its own laws and the government has its own rules. Such behavior that can alarm the surrounding areas can only Only when there are serious criminal cases such as murder and banditry can they be beaten, instead of like in later film and television works, where minor disputes have to be beaten and grievances are made. Then local officials will not be able to free up their hands to do other government affairs. .
What's more, it's already the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, and the government office is about to be closed due to the New Year. In addition, this is still the Kaifeng Mansion under the imperial chariot. There are countless government affairs on weekdays, so how can it be possible to accept the complaints from the people? Woolen cloth.
Just when Xue Yuanpeng put down his pen and was about to send someone outside to inquire about the situation, a police officer hurried over: "Xue Tongpan, several people suddenly played drums outside, saying that there was a huge grievance to be brought against them. The official report, the governor’s intention is for you to judge.”
Hearing this, Xue Yuanpeng's brows furrowed even more tightly, but he could not go against his superiors' wishes, so he nodded and said: "Then let them bring the relevant people to the government office for questioning." According to the Song Dynasty government According to the law, the governor of a place does not have to personally intervene in the case, but it is his subordinate general judge who actually investigates and handles the case. Therefore, Bao Zheng, the governor of Kaifeng in the Renzong Dynasty, was not always as discerning as mentioned in the story. The reason why he was called Qingtian by later generations was because of his selflessness and his fearlessness in speaking out against the powerful.
After a while, several common people were escorted by several officers to the front of the official hall. After seeing Xue Tongpan sitting above him and feeling the strong aura coming from here, these people shouted and fell to their knees. They all shouted: "Master Qingtian, please take the initiative to redress our injustice!"
But Xue Yuanpeng's eyes didn't stay much on them. Instead, they fell on another young man who came in with them, because after this man came in, he didn't panic like ordinary people when they saw an official. Instead, he seemed relaxed and just like him. It's like going to a restaurant to eat.
After looking at the young man for a while, he patted the gavel gently and said: "Who are you, and why are you beating drums and harassing me outside my Kaifeng mansion? If you dare to do this if there is no serious grievance, don't blame me for being ruthless. !" In order to prevent those who came after him from following his example, he still had to say these words.
The common people were frightened by this, and all their expressions changed, revealing expressions of shock. Some of them subconsciously turned their heads and glanced at the young man who was still standing calmly behind. It was obvious that this man was their backbone.
The young man did not disappoint them. He immediately took a step forward, cupped his fists and saluted, saying: "Xue Tongjian's words are wrong. Since there are people coming here to complain about their grievances, the most important thing you should do as a court official is to ask for your grievances instead of using such words." Use words to scare me."
"Who are you?" The young man's words made Xue Yuanpeng realize more and more that this person was unusual, and he asked solemnly.
"I, Sun Tu, am just an ordinary person with great injustice." Sun Tu replied in response to the other party's scrutinizing gaze.
"Are you a lawyer?"
"No, I just want to seek justice for these innocent people who have been wronged." Sun Tu said again: "Besides, the government has never explicitly stated that you cannot help people redress their grievances if you are not a lawyer."
Sun Tu... Xue Yuanpeng silently recited this familiar name in his mind, and then he remembered it. Wasn't the boy who made a big fuss in the Hubu Yamen a few months ago named Sun Tu? This made him immediately swallow the reprimand that came to his lips, because as a member of the officialdom, he already knew what kind of backer he had behind him, and he did not want to follow in the footsteps of the Ministry of Revenue official.
As his thoughts turned around, he suppressed his dissatisfaction and spoke again: "I want to ask you, wait, what kind of injustice do you want to hit the drum of injustice outside my Kaifeng government office?"
After Sun Tuchong nodded to the common people, these people just calmed down and started talking in a hurry: "This official, I am wronged, my son was killed two years ago..."
"Sir, my daughter has been silent since she entered the Zhang family three years ago. I'm afraid she has been poisoned by them a long time ago. Please ask Qingtian to avenge me..."
"Official..."
Each of these people talked about their grievances, which made Xue Yuanpeng, who was sitting above, unable to hear them. He was stunned again: "Don't wait for such confusion. Let's talk one by one!"
Sun Tu glanced at these victims who were obviously timid and sighed secretly before saying: "Xue Tongpan, why don't I come down here and explain to you the grievances they suffered." After the other party bowed his head, he Then he pointed at one person and said: "This second Cheng, his wife was invited by the Zhang family to be a needleworker three years ago, but she never came out again; this Wang Jia, his daughter was a maid in the Zhang family." , the results never came out again; and Ge Si, his family’s land was taken away by the Zhang family two years ago. As a result, although he had the land deed, the government refused to recognize it, and instead broke one of his legs. , I almost couldn’t even save my life.”
As Sun Tu designated a person to tell his grievances, that person showed a sad look on his face and kowtowed to Xue Yuanpeng again, asking him to give him justice. In the blink of an eye, all the seven or eight grievances involving human life or property were finished. Sun Tu then clasped his fists and bowed and said: "Please ask Xue Tongpan to redress their grievances and bring justice to the people of the world."
Only then did Xue Yuanpeng finally understand something, and he narrowed his eyes and looked at Sun Tu: "Sun Tu, is the criminal you are suing just one person? Who is the Zhang family you mentioned?"
"Xue Tong has made it clear that the Zhang family we are reporting to is indeed the same family. They are the family of Zhang Bingcang, the household doctor who just submitted his resignation to the court. They are the ones who bully men and dominate women outside because they are officials. This has led to countless Innocent people's families were destroyed!" Sun Tu puffed up his chest, looked back at the other party, and said clearly every word.
Xue Yuanpeng's face became more serious. Sure enough, Sun Tu came here with a purpose, just to deal with Zhang Bingcang! Thinking of his status as attached to Tong Guan, Xue Tongpan even guessed that Tong Guan was behind all this. This was his attempt to kill his political opponents!
Zhang Bingcang had already resigned because of the cases involving his two sons, but now Tong Guan still refused to give up and actually wanted to take this opportunity to beat him to death. This was something Xue Tongpan, who was also a civil servant, could not agree with. However, the other party brought out so many cases and brought all the victims in front of him, but he found it difficult to help him out, because even he himself would be implicated if he was not careful.
So after being silent for a while, Xue Yuanpeng could only say with a cold face: "Although what you are reporting is shocking, it is only one side of the story after all. I ask you, do you have any conclusive evidence for these things?" Although this is a question. Those people were suffering, but his eyes were still fixed on Sun Tu.
There was a sarcastic smile on the latter's face. These officials really did their best to protect each other. Isn't it the government's job to find evidence? Why did they ask about it? This is not partiality. What else is partiality
But fortunately, he had been prepared, otherwise he wouldn't have brought everyone to Kaifeng Mansion to beat drums and complain!