The gate of the Criminal Department is heavily guarded. The high stone steps, the majestic lintel, the solemn guard of honor, and the two lions overlooking the ground all demonstrate the majesty of the highest judicial office.
A few commoners approached timidly, looked at the yamen servant standing with a knife, and said with some fear: "Master... sir, we have been wronged, and we want to sue!"
A yamen servant gave them a sideways look, and said angrily: "Go, go, get out! This is the Ministry of Criminal Justice. You are waiting for Xiaomin's case, and you deserve to go to court here? Go find your Baozheng and Lichang for mediation. Otherwise, go to the county government to file a complaint."
A commoner said in a low voice: "Master the official, the little people are suing us for Baozheng. In the county... there are people in Baozheng, and they don't accept our complaint."
"Get out, get out, don't accept cases here, this is the criminal department, understand? I'm sorry you don't understand, get out immediately, or you will be punished!"
The officer was very impatient, the scene in front of him happened every day, there were always some ignorant people who didn't understand the law, and they ran to the Ministry of Criminal Affairs because they were caught in a trivial matter, thinking that his case could be handled here, and what's more, Some small people said that they wanted to complain to the emperor. At first, they thought it was funny, but after a long time, it only made people feel bored.
"Come on, take your time, what are you doing? Those who know this are the Ministry of Punishment, but those who don't know think it's the Palace of the King of Hades!" The yamen servant took a look and locked the palm of the door, and said helplessly: "My lord, this is the Ministry of Punishment..."
Ye Xiaotian said: "Nonsense, I don't know if this is the Ministry of Punishment? Isn't the Ministry of Punishment the place where lawbreakers are punished? Hmm? At this door, is it up to you or me? Who am I? I am the head of the Ministry of Punishment. Door, why are you talking so much nonsense, go away!"
Several yamen servants retreated to the side helplessly, and rolled their big eyes at Ye Xiaotian's back.
Ye Xiaotian went up to meet him with a smile on his face, and said to the common people: "Fellow townspeople, what grievances do you all have?"
…
Half an hour later, Rui Chuan, Shangshu of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, sat stunned behind the case, and the servants standing on both sides with sticks lowered their heads, shrugged their shoulders, trying to hold back their laughter. A group of common people gathered around the case, complaining about their grievances.
A young man with a mole on his face said angrily: "Master Qingtian, I am wronged! I never peeked at her Widow Liu taking a bath, how could she accuse me of being indecent, and spread rumors everywhere to ruin my reputation! I I haven't married a wife yet, isn't this cheating on me?"
A woman who was over thirty years old and still charming said: "You didn't peek? How dare you say you didn't peek? If you lie, you will kill the whole family! I was taking a bath in the room at the time, so I opened a small window, and when I looked up I saw you looking around outside with mischievous eyebrows."
The young man with a mole said impatiently: "Don't talk nonsense? I was climbing a tree to hunt dates, and someone peeped at you. Master Qingtian, there are two trees in my yard, one is a jujube tree, and the other is also a jujube tree." Jujube trees can bear dozens of catties of jujubes every year, and the jujubes are crisp and sweet... "
Widow Liu interrupted: "You still say you're not lying? It's only been a few months, and your jujube tree is already bearing fruit?"
The young man with a mole was speechless: "I... I... That's right! I was in a hurry, and I made a mistake. My family grows loquat trees!"
Widow Liu said: "Okay, if you have the ability, you can transplant two loquat trees with fruit to your house now. My lord, he is lying, you can tell when you send someone there..."
Another person said: "I said you two don't bother the old man with this matter, what's the matter with him just looking at you, and there are a lot of meat. My big man, you should handle my case first, our family has raised it." A big fat pig, which has been raised for three and a half years, has a fat head and big ears, and its stomach is slumped to the ground. In the end, it was stolen by a wicked animal... "
Another person became impatient, and said: "You are still here to bother the old man with this little shit of yours? My old man, I..."
"Why can't I bother the old man with this matter? I heard the person who talked about ancient times say that during the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Great Song Dynasty, when the people lost their pigs, they would beat the Dengwen drum, go to the Jinluan Hall, and sue the imperial court. The emperor Taizong Received the case. Emperor Taizong didn’t find the pig, so he paid him out of his own money. No matter how big the official of the Ministry of Punishment is, he can’t be as big as the emperor, right?”
"You are talking about the Great Song Dynasty, not our Great Ming Dynasty. Go, go, go on your own, sir, the case of the villain is such a thing, my old father is taken care of by me and my brother Yes, it was originally agreed to rotate every month.
It is March now, and my old father is at my brother's house, next month is April, and I should take care of him. But when the contract was first signed, the villain forgot about the leap month, and it turned out that it will be April soon. The villain remembered that there are two Aprils this year, so wouldn't I have to raise it for an extra month? Xiaomin discussed with his brother that this boudoir, Siyue, will be raised by herself for half a month, so he won't do it... "
Rui Chuan was so angry that his beard was raised, and suddenly he grabbed the gavel and slapped it: "Shut up! Shut up, everyone! This is such a mess, come on, give me all these people Get out! Immediately ask Ye Xiaotian, the handle of the door, to come see me!"
※※※
Rui Shangshu stared at Ye Xiaotian, and sneered again and again: "The head of the punishment department? Huh?"
Ye Xiaotian humbly said: "My lord, the next official is to hold the door firmly!"
"Hmph! Didn't you make it public by yourself, saying that you are the head of the criminal department?"
Ye Xiaotian said with a dry smile: "My lord, that's a subordinate bragging about the door guards, don't take it seriously."
Rui Shangshu gasped for a few breaths, and said, "Ye Xiaotian, you are sincerely against me, aren't you?"
Ye Xiaotian said in surprise: "My lord, where do you start with this?"
Rui Shangshu roared angrily: "Who are the people you let in just now? Huh? Just go to the county government office for such trivial cases, and you can find the village chief Baozheng to solve them!"
Rui Chuan became more and more angry as he spoke, and picked up the gavel and patted the table: "This is the Ministry of Criminal Justice! The Ministry of Criminal Justice! It's not a big case that has gone through the sky. Is it my turn to take action? If my majestic Criminal Department even peeps at widows taking a shower, The Li family has lost a big fat pig, and the Wang family has taken over the walls of the Zhao family, so I will be exhausted to death!"
Ye Xiaotian murmured: "Ah! So that's how it is! I came from a small place and didn't know the rules. When I was in Hu County, I took all the trivial cases. I thought that the Ministry of Punishment was the same, as long as it was a complaint. can come in."
Rui Chuan said angrily: "Come in? Why come in? Remember, our criminal department won't accept cases unless the emperor ordered a special trial! Remember? If you dare to let me in tomorrow Idlers, I will not spare you!"
Ye Xiaotian hurriedly said: "Yes, yes, I will remember it, I will never do it again, I will never do it again!"
Rui Shangshu snorted coldly and walked away.
Ye Xiaotian came out of the signing room on tiptoe, Hua Yunfei and Mao Wenzhi who were waiting in the corridor rushed up to meet him, Hua Yunfei said with concern: "Brother, are you alright?"
Ye Xiaotian proudly said: "What's the matter? The people from our small place have little experience, but they just did something stupid, so why would he not ask for an order to dismiss our officials because of such a trivial matter? Hehe , he can mobilize us, but we can't be avoided, anyway, we are also the official appointed by Yubi Zhupi! He doesn't like it, let me go back to Hu County, hehe!"
…
The next morning, the signing room was deserted and deserted. Rui Shangshu drank all the tea, and no one came, so he couldn't help but get up in amazement. He walked up and down the signing room with his hands behind his back, and said to himself: "It's strange, why is it so leisurely today, and no files have been transferred."
Rui Shangshu was wondering, when he heard a long follower shouting at the door: "Master Zhang, Minister of Dali Temple, here~~~"
Rui Shangshu turned around in surprise, and saw Dali Temple Secretary Zhang Ziyuan walking in angrily. Rui Shangshu immediately greeted him with a smile, cupped his hands and said, "Haha, what kind of wind is it today, that it brought you Mr. Zhang here?"
Zhang Ziyuan said angrily: "What wind? Of course it's the majesty of your Ministry of Punishment!"
Rui Shangshu was stunned, and wondered: "Master Zhang, where did you start with this?"
Zhang Ziyuan hadn't spoken yet, when he heard the attendant at the door roll his name again: "Master Pei, the Zuodu Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, arrive~~~"
Rui Shangshu looked up and saw Zuo Du Yushi Pei Tianci walking in with a sullen face, Rui Shangshu hurriedly stepped forward to greet him.
Rui Shangshu cupped his hands enthusiastically and said, "Pei Zongxian, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Pei Tianci said coldly: "Milord Min, what happened to your Ministry of Punishment? I am the person sent by the Procuratorate to transfer the file early this morning. I was blocked by your people from entering. What's the matter? Can someone come to the door in person?"
Rui Shangshu was startled, and said: "How could it be? Zongxian Pei, there must be some misunderstanding here?"
Master Zhang of Dali Temple sneered and said: "Misunderstanding? What is the misunderstanding? Our Dali Temple is the same. We have a big bowl of closed doors from your Ministry of Criminal Affairs, saying that unless the case is hand-picked by the emperor, it will not be accepted! Ha! I can't think of your Ministry of Criminal Justice. It turned into Jin Yiwei, only handling the emperor's case?"
"for this I… "
Rui Shangshu hesitated and didn't answer why, when the attendant at the door said loudly again: "Master Yin Xiao of Yingtianfu, come~~~~"
Rui Shangshu stood there blankly, staring blankly at Ying Tianfu Yin Xiao Shiqi walking in. Xiao Shiqi was a big fat man, probably walked too fast, sweating profusely, panting for breath. Rui Shangshu said dryly: "Master Xiao, could it be that you came here because the police from Ying Tianfu were blocked by our Ministry of Punishment?"
Xiao Shiqi said angrily: "So you know it too? That's right, I, Lao Xiao, came here for this. I said Rui Shangshu, what's the matter with you? I have some urgent documents from Yingtianfu that I want to forward to your Ministry of Punishment. I was sent back by your people for no reason, what the hell are you doing, old Rui?"
Rui Shangshu was silent for a while, then suddenly strode out of the signing room, stood on the porch, took a deep breath like a long whale sucking water, and roared in the direction of the door angrily: "Call me that damn head of the punishment department, Ye Xiaotian..."