The Jingnan prison cell is located outside the southwest ceremonial gate of the Jingnan County government hall. In fact, in ancient times, most grassroots prisons were located in the southwest of the county government's ceremonial gate. Only a few county governments had prison cells located in the southeast of the ceremonial gate. However, they all belonged to the "south" direction of the county government. For this reason, ancient prisons were commonly known as "Nan Prison".
Zhu Ping'an put away the sign-in book and went to Jingnan prison cell with Liu Mu and Liu Dadao.
In order to better understand the situation of the cells and the prisoners, Zhu Ping'an called Zhang Danian, the warden of the prison, on the way.
In fact, it would be more appropriate to call Li Da, the Dianshi who was in charge of public security and criminal cases, but... ... Dianshi Li Da asked for leave again today and did not report for work. Zhu Ping'an had no choice but to call Zhang Danian, the clerk of the criminal department.
The prison cells in Jingnan County are made of brick and stone. The prison walls are nearly five meters high and have two layers of walls. They look very old. There are caltrops on the walls, guard towers, and two prison doors. The prison is patrolled by jailers and is heavily guarded.
"Officer Zhang, how much land does the prison occupy? How many cells are there inside?" Zhu Ping'an asked Zhang Danian, the officer in charge of the prison.
"My Lord, our Jingnan County prison covers an area of about six acres and is divided into two courtyards, the inner prison and the outer prison. The outer prison holds temporary and short-term prisoners, while the inner prison holds serious criminals. There are a total of 68 cells and jailer rooms in the inner and outer prisons, including 35 male cells, 20 female cells, 3 water prisons, and the rest are jailer rooms and punishment rooms." Zhang Danian, the clerk in the punishment room, replied.
Zhu Ping'an nodded and stepped into the outer prison.
Upon hearing the news, the prison guards and others rushed over and knelt down to pay their respects. Zhu Ping'an waved his hand and asked them to stand up.
When you enter the prison, the first building you see is the Prison Temple, where the Prison God who manages the prison, as well as the patron saint of the prison, is enshrined.
There are two prison gods enshrined in the Jingnan Prison Temple. One is Gao Yao from the late primitive society, because he was appointed by Shun as an official in charge of criminal law and created prisons, so he later became the prison god; the second is Xiao He, the prime minister in the early Western Han Dynasty, because Xiao He used to be a prison guard and later helped Liu Bang establish the legal system of the early Han Dynasty - "Nine Chapters of Laws", so he was also revered as the prison god.
The prison would hold a worship ceremony at the Prison God Temple on the first and fifteenth day of every lunar month, praying for the protection of the Prison God. Prison guards and supervisors would also come to worship the Prison God when they took office. Zhu Ping'an followed the local customs and lit a stick of incense when he entered.
After leaving the Prison Temple, Zhu Ping'an first went to the outer prison.
As soon as he entered the outer prison, Zhu Ping'an felt like he was in a vegetable market. There were too many prisoners in the cells. It was simply overcrowded, as if Jingnan Prison had become the most suitable place to live in Jingnan County. There was not a single empty cell inside. Every cell was filled with prisoners. On average, each cell had no less than ten prisoners. The smallest cell had five prisoners.
What's going on
Isn't there a mountain of cases in Jingnan? ! How come there are so many prisoners in this cell? !
Zhu Ping'an was stunned by the large number of prisoners inside.
"My Lord, it's unfair, it's unfair."
"I have done nothing wrong, let me go."
"Please, sir, please let me go. I have parents and children to take care of. I am the only laborer in the family. How can my family survive without me? The rice harvest is coming soon. How can they, an orphan and a widow, harvest the rice?"
"You bastard, let me out... There are droughts and floods, and the fields have no harvest. We have..."
When the prisoners in the prison saw someone coming in, especially when they saw Zhu Ping'an in his official uniform, they became extremely angry and grabbed the bars, either shouting their injustice, or begging for mercy, or simply venting their insults.
"Behave yourself! Do you want to be whipped again?!"
The jailer came forward with a whip and cracked it a few times on the cells where the most noise was made, in order to frighten the prisoners and make them quiet down.
"Why are there so many people in the cell? What crimes have they committed?" Zhu Ping'an turned his head and asked the clerk Zhang Danian and the accompanying prison guards.
"Reporting to the Magistrate. Most of these prisoners are because they did not pay taxes or resisted paying taxes. There are about a hundred of them."
Zhang Danian, the clerk in the criminal department, replied.
In ancient times, taxes and levies accounted for a large proportion of fiscal revenue, so the management and punishment of taxes were relatively strict. Those who refused to pay taxes or resisted paying taxes could indeed be arrested by the county government to serve as a warning to others.
Zhu Ping'an nodded when he heard this, then took two steps forward and approached the cell with the largest number of people and the most violent noise just now.
Several prison guards wanted to show off in front of Zhu Ping'an, and they carefully protected him as if they were facing a powerful enemy.
Zhu Ping'an waved his hand and walked forward alone.
"Why were you thrown into jail?" Zhu Ping'an asked gently.
"We didn't pay taxes." The prisoners in the cell responded in different voices, some cautiously and some full of resentment.
"But we didn't mean to refuse to pay. Last year, there was a drought, a flood, and pirates. All the rice was destroyed. We paid all the old grain at home, but it was still not enough. I really had no choice."
"That's right. Natural disasters and man-made disasters have come. The fields have no harvest and there is not enough food to eat. How can we pay taxes?"
"Our village did not encounter pirates or Japanese pirates, but because our village is downstream of the river, the floods flooded our entire village. Whether it was dry fields or paddy fields, all the crops in the fields were soaked and rotted, and not a single grain of food was harvested."
"Hmph, the word 'official' has two mouths, with heads on the top and bottom... The drought and floods are so severe, so many people have died, and you officials haven't come to provide disaster relief. But when it comes to collecting taxes, you are very active, and you don't care about the lives of the people. If they can't pay the taxes, you will arrest them..."
"Sir, I don't accept it. I am not the only one in the village who didn't pay taxes. Why do you arrest me? I am the only laborer in my family. My mother is old and has difficulty walking. My wife is weak, so the children run away. The rice harvest is about to start. If I am gone, what will happen to my family?"
... ...
The prisoners replied in unison, all with pretty much the same meaning. Last year, there were frequent floods and droughts, and some villages were plagued by pirates and Japanese pirates, which caused a serious reduction in crop yields. Some villages even suffered from zero harvests, which made it impossible for them to pay taxes and they were thrown into jail.
That's right, Zhu Pingan understood everything after listening to the explanations of the prisoners. In order to understand more clearly, Zhu Pingan went to each cell to learn about the situation. The situation was similar to the first cell, with minor differences.
After learning about the outer prison, Zhu Ping'an went to the inner prison. The outer prison was overcrowded, and the inner prison was also overcrowded.
In addition to the fact that some prisoners who had not paid taxes were locked up in the inner prisons because of overcrowding in the outer prisons, more prisoners were locked up because of a backlog of cases. Because of the backlog of cases, the suspects were locked up in the prisons. When a case piled up, a new suspect was locked up. Old prisoners were piled up without being tried, and new prisoners were locked up again. The more cases piled up, the more prisoners there were in the inner prisons, and finally it became overcrowded.
If officials do nothing, the people will suffer.
Zhu Ping'an was deeply moved and made up his mind.