Roland was studying the power grid layout of the residential area when he learned of this. After listening to Carter's report, he put down the quill and sighed lightly. Although he knew that such a day would inevitably come, he still felt a little helpless when it happened. After all, the requirement of strictly prohibiting the sale of food without permission had been repeatedly preached, and some people would still take risks for such a little money. Obviously, for the first case of this type, it is natural to be sentenced to a heavy sentence.
In addition, improving all kinds of laws as soon as possible, and then recruiting specialized legal officials to interrogate the cases must also be on the agenda. After all, after the city is built, there will only be more and more crimes, and he has no time to act as a judge all day long. job.
The trial was finally decided to be held in the castle hall.
Roland also recruited Barov, the chief executive, to the castle to jointly try the crime of smuggling food.
In the hall, the two arrested suspects were kneeling on the ground, with pale faces and dull eyes, as if they had never experienced such a battle.
After Roland took the throne, he cleared his throat and said, "Tell out everything you have done. Any concealment or lies will make you more guilty."
"Yes, yes, my lord," as if awakened from a dream, the two of them scrambled to tell the story of the grain trade, especially the serfs, shouting almost hoarsely, "His Royal Highness, Lord Lord! I know I am guilty. , but if you don't sell these wheat... I really can't live! Those officials don't buy wheat according to your request at all, and I have no way to do it!"
The whole case was very simple, and Roland had already figured it out by the time he heard it.
In order to stabilize people's hearts, the grain purchase limit set by the city hall at that time was slightly more than the actual consumption, so the townspeople who bought the maximum amount every month would always have a small amount of wheat left. Pike, who lives in the sixth district, caught a glimpse of a business opportunity. He ground the extra wheat into semolina, mixed with some wild vegetables he picked, and dragged it into the market to sell fragrant pancakes. It turned out that the sales were not bad— This is also another major function of the convenience market. Only the staple food is limited to the trade, and the chickens, ducks and eggs raised by the townspeople can be sold on their own.
This business can bring him several silver wolves every month, but there is only so much wheat left. If you want to expand the scale, you have to eat and diet. So Pike set his sights on those serfs who didn't sell all the food to the city hall. After several inquiries, he contacted "Gold", and then there was this smuggling thing.
However, the last sentence of the serf made Roland frown. Is there a city hall involved here
He looked at Barov, who leaned over and said in a low voice, "The Ministry of Agriculture is in charge of the acquisition work, and the minister is Seni Dali. It should be unlikely to make such a mistake. You can also call him over and ask. ask."
Roland nodded and asked his guards to call the Minister of Agriculture to the castle.
Seni Dali quickly rushed to the hall. After he performed a standard knightly salute, he asked His Highness what his intentions were, and his gestures still had the demeanor of a knight of the original wolf family.
The prince recounted the unknown aspects of the case, "Have you refused to buy the grain of the serfs?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, the situation is like this," Seni replied without hesitation, "According to your instructions, after the bumper harvest, we did not suspend the purchase work, but gradually lowered the purchase price according to the quality of the wheat. In a month or two, the price is almost the same as the original price.”
He paused, then continued, "But after the winter, because most of the serfs lacked suitable storage places and moved from the original shanty houses to the temporary settlements, the quality of the wheat dropped significantly. We can often check when purchasing. So the price was reduced by 20% to 30% compared to the beginning. Most of the serf's food was damp and moldy, and it was almost impossible to store it, so the price I gave was 20% of the harvest time. ."
"There is no difference between 20% and not buying, Your Highness!" the serf shouted, "I have been in the field for a year, and the things I grow can only be sold at this price, which is more ruthless than the black street! You are not talking about grain Will the price remain the same?"
"That means paying on time, idiot!" Barov scolded displeasedly, "Do you think no one knows the real purpose of your hoarding of wheat? If there is a problem with the food supply in the small town, I am afraid that you will be three or four times the price. It can be sold!"
The case has now been fully clarified, but the result surprised Roland a little. He thought it was just a simple smuggling of food, but he did not expect that a black-hearted food case would be involved later. Parker clearly knew that the quality of this batch of food was low, and still agreed to pay 50% of the price. I bought it many times at the same price, and it is estimated that I didn’t care whether the moldy wheat was edible.
What the serf committed was undoubtedly a felony, but the sentence of the townsman Pike made it difficult for Roland to decide. He had heard from the scrolls about the life of the poor. When these people were short of food, let alone moldy brown bread, even tree trunks and grass blades could be used to satisfy their hunger. It is precisely because of this that the book has repeatedly emphasized that it is a great thing to allow all the subjects to eat wheat. Pike, who was also a poor man before, probably didn't realize it was a crime to make oatmeal from poor quality grains.
After discussing with Barov for a while, Roland finally made a ruling.
He stood up, looked around the audience, and said solemnly, "I have sentenced—two people are guilty! The serf violated the prohibition and sold grain without permission, and knowingly committed the crime, plus one more crime, and sentenced to ten years of mine labor. If the follow-up performance is good, it can be reduced as appropriate. years of service."
"Pike, a small town resident, also violated the ban and used inferior wheat to make pancakes and sold them to other townspeople. He was punished for both crimes. In addition to ten years of hard labor, he was fined three times the income of the pancakes. The above sentence will be executed immediately!"
The two of them froze and collapsed to the ground involuntarily.
The prince then instructed Seni, "Write this matter into a notice, hand it over to Barov for review, and then publicize it. I want all the people to understand the cause and effect of this case, and prevent this kind of thing from happening again."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
After the trial, Roland called the chief knight to his office, "I heard that the arrester this time is Vader again?"
Carter nodded, "It's just that they went a little too far this time. They took off their police uniforms to arrest people. During the escort, they were reported by the public as a fight. I will warn him."
"It's not necessary, in fact, you should praise him well," Roland said, rubbing his chin. Isn't this a plainclothes policeman? He knows how to be flexible and has experience in arresting criminals. He used to be a patrol member, and he knows a lot about the forces of the underworld. He is a natural inspector.
When the time is right, let him be recruited into the Security Bureau, Roland thought to himself, Nightingale was missing a man.