***
In the Wuying Hall of the Xianyang Palace, Sima Kai was reporting on the affairs of the royal elementary school to Qin Mu. After his father's reminder, he set up an irregular inspection system to prevent the elementary school from falsely reporting the number of students and withholding school funds.
With limited funds, it was impossible to further improve the supervision mechanism. Qin Mu was quite satisfied that he could do this.
"Your Majesty..."
Before Sima Kai finished speaking, there was a sudden drumbeat outside. Sima Kai was stunned, but Qin Mu was calmer. He waved his hand gently at him and ordered the eunuch in the hall: "Xiao Bao, go and see who is beating the drum."
"Yes, Your Majesty." The young eunuch named Hong Bao hurriedly left the Yingwu Hall, then trotted out of the door of the palace.
Qin Mu then stood up and said to Sima Kai, "Come, follow me and see who is beating the drum."
There is only one possibility for hearing such drum sounds in the palace, that is, someone is beating the drum to request information.
Following the old practice of previous dynasties, the Qin Dynasty hung a drum for reporting to the court on the left side of the palace gate and assigned someone to guard it, allowing the people who had serious grievances to beat the drum and appeal to the court.
According to regulations, once the drum for reporting was sounded, the emperor had to go to court immediately no matter what he was doing.
During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty, there was a record: Mou Hui, a citizen of the capital, beat the drum to report that his family slave had lost a mother pig, and the emperor ordered to give him a thousand coins to compensate for the loss.
This passage means: There was a man named Mou Hui in the capital who beat the drum to report that his family slave had lost a sow. Emperor Taizong of Song personally investigated the case and ordered a thousand coins to compensate Mou Hui for his loss.
Such trivial matters had to be reported to the emperor, and no matter what the emperor was doing, he had to go to court immediately to hear the case. This was of course not acceptable.
Therefore, the Qin Dynasty added some regulations: cases involving non-human lives, serious corruption and crimes, and extremely unjust and tragic cases were not allowed to be reported to the court.
In other words, if the drumbeat is sounded, it must be a serious case.
Outside the Meridian Gate, a woman in her forties was beating the drum for reporting crimes while shouting in a sad voice, "Your Majesty, it is unjust, it is unjust..."
The sound of the drums and the cries of grief attracted the people of Chang'an to come and watch. It was the first time that the Xijing drum was beaten.
In addition to being curious, ordinary people also really want to know whether this drum is useful or not, and whether the emperor will personally intervene and judge cases and redress grievances for the people after the drum sounds.
The people who had gathered around were talking about this, and the official guarding the drum came forward and said something to the woman. Then, a young eunuch from the palace ran out, asked the official guarding the drum something, and then took the woman to the court.
Ordinary people could not follow in. But they gathered outside the palace and refused to disperse. Instead, the crowd grew larger and larger...
The woman was brought into the palace. Looking at the majestic court hall, her face showed both anxiety and a hint of hope.
Qin Mu changed into court clothes and soon went to the palace. The ministers accompanying him and the chief officials of Xijing all rushed to the palace one by one.
The young eunuch Hong Bao brought the woman into the palace. She was wearing coarse cloth, which looked a little thin in this cold winter. She was dusty and looked haggard.
As soon as she entered the hall, she immediately knelt down and bowed, saying, "I... I, Yang Liu, kowtow to Your Majesty. Your Majesty, I am wronged! I am wronged..."
When the woman bowed, she burst into tears and sobbed uncontrollably.
Qin Mu raised his voice and ordered Hong Bao, "Xiao Bao, bring the person forward."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
After the eunuch brought the woman closer, Qin Mu glanced at the reactions of the ministers in the palace, and then slowly said, "Ms. Yang Liu, where are you from? Do you know that if you don't have a serious grievance, you will be punished for rashly knocking the drum to report it?"
"Your Majesty, I know that I have suffered a great injustice. I hope Your Majesty will help me..."
"Okay, don't cry yet. Explain the case to me from the beginning. If there is really a serious injustice, I will give you justice."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you for your help. This is what happened. I live in Linyao Village, Xia County, Pingyang Prefecture, Shanxi Province. On July 16 this year, a woman named Xia Niang from my neighbor's house was raped and killed by someone who broke into her home at night..."
The woman sobbed as she spoke. The case was not complicated. The sixteen-year-old girl named Xia Niang was raped and killed by someone who broke into her home. The mother of the murdered girl smelled a strange noise and rushed to her daughter's room first. She saw a dark figure climbing out of the window and fleeing towards the Yang family next door.
The next day, the Xia County official who received the report found the murder weapon, a blood-stained dagger, in the back garden of the Yang family based on this clue.
Based on this, they determined that Yang Guan, the only son of the Yang family, was a major suspect in the crime, so they took Yang Guan back to the county government for interrogation.
During the interrogation, the magistrate Guan Pei learned that Yang Guan had always been in love with the deceased Xia Niang because of her beauty, and had asked a matchmaker to propose marriage. However, Xia Niang's father disliked Yang Guan because he had lost his father at a young age and his family was poor. In addition, Yang Guan had a bad reputation and had occasionally committed petty thefts, so he rejected the Yang family's proposal.
A month before Xia Niang was murdered, her father had arranged for her to be married to a young scholar from the next village. The man had already given the betrothal gift and the marriage was set. They were planning to get married on an auspicious day in the spring of next year. But at this time, someone broke into her house, raped her, and then murdered her.
County magistrate Guan Pei believed that Yang Guan had a motive for committing the crime, and the murder weapon was found in the grass in the backyard of his house.
However, Yang Guan refused to admit that he was the one who broke into the house and killed people, so Guan Pei used severe torture. Finally, Yang Guan could not bear the torture and admitted that he killed Xia Niang.
But when he heard that the magistrate was going to sentence him to death, Yang Guan changed his confession in court, saying that he was forced to confess.
Yang Guan's mother, the woman who came to file a complaint, also insisted that her son had not left home on the night of the incident. She also insisted that her son was born afraid of blood and would not even dare to kill a chicken, so he would never kill anyone.
Magistrate Guan Pei tortured Yang Guan again, and Yang Guan could not bear it and once again admitted that he had killed the man. However, he soon changed his confession. This cycle repeated.
Yang Liu was eager to save her son, so she also reported the case to Pingyang Prefecture. After reviewing the case, the Pingyang prefect upheld the original verdict.
Yang Liu was dissatisfied and went to the Shanxi Provincial Surveillance Office in Taiyuan to appeal.
Since human life was involved, Shanxi Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Lu Bingwen did not dare to be negligent. He sent people to Xia County, investigated the crime scene, and reviewed the case files. In the end, he upheld the original verdict of Xia County Magistrate Guan Pei.
In despair, Yang Liu fainted on the roadside and was rescued by a passerby, who told her that the emperor was in Xijing and she could go there and beat the drum to appeal for justice. This is how the scene today happened.
After Yang Liu said this, she wept and fell to the ground, crying out for justice: "Your Majesty, my son is innocent, innocent. Please, Your Majesty, help me!"
Seeing her crying with tears of blood, it was really sad. It's really pitiful to see the love of parents in the world!
Qin Mu sighed and said, "Ms. Yang Liu, this case involves human life. I cannot just listen to your one-sided story and issue an order to release your son without guilt. But don't worry, I will immediately send someone to Xia County to bring the relevant witnesses and evidence back to Chang'an, and then re-examine the case. If your son is really wronged, I will definitely give you justice then."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty..." When Yang Liu said this, she fainted.
Qin Mu asked the young eunuch Hong Bao to take people to carry Yang Liu away for treatment. After placing her in a safe place, he asked Sima An and others in the palace, "My ministers, what do you think about this?"
Sima An replied: "Your Majesty, it is difficult to jump to conclusions based on just Yang Liu's one-sided statement."
Sima An kicked the ball back gently. Qin Mu didn't take it seriously and said, "In that case, let's send someone to Xia County to retrieve the case files and evidence."
Qin Mu returned to the imperial study and immediately called Huang Lianshan over. After dismissing his attendants, he asked, "Is there really no evidence to prove that Yang Guan was responsible for this case?"
Huang Lianshan replied carefully: "Your Majesty, no. But from the current evidence, Yang Guan is indeed the most suspicious."
"It's good that there is no further evidence. When Yang Guan and the relevant witnesses and evidence are transferred to Chang'an, you will immediately investigate the case with all your strength. First, spread the news in the Linyao Village area that the murder of Xia Niang has been found to have another murderer and Yang Guan has been acquitted. See if there is anything unusual."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
****************************
Please vote for recommendation!
Please vote for recommendation!
.(To be continued..)
...