After getting off the court, Du Zhongxiao stretched his waist and looked at the officials who came out of Donghua Gate, and he was in a trance for a while. I have been an official for 14 years, and I am only in the court class today, and as soon as I enter the court, I am the middle of the imperial history, which really makes people feel a little unreal.

There is nothing to do in today's pilgrimage, just some trivial things, and it is still morning when the pilgrimage meeting ends. On the streets outside the city, stalls selling all kinds of food were everywhere, and many officials and subordinates bought food there.

Du Zhongxiao had already had breakfast, took his subordinates with him, bypassed the imperial city, and went back to the imperial history platform in front.

As soon as he entered the official hall, Ye Xiang, the chief bookkeeper, stepped forward and arched his hand: "Zhongcheng, when you went to the court, there were people in front of you who handed over the paper. The lower official didn't dare to slack off, accepted his paper, and waited here, waiting for Zhongcheng to go down to court. ”

Since the current emperor ascended the throne, he has also taken care of the procuratorial envoys, specializing in the difficult cases that are not accepted by the civil Dengwen Drum Institute and the Dengwen Procuratorate. This was originally a political arrangement, a measure taken by the emperor to contain the empress dowager back then, and due to the harsh conditions, it could not be collected several times a year.

Du Zhongxiao sat down after arriving at the case and took the paper to watch. This is a case from Ye County, and the person who submitted the complaint said that his family was originally an indigenous family of Ye County, and there were more than 100 acres of land not far from the city. Because there was a small river in the land, which flowed into the Li water to the south, it was robbed by the powerful. Because my father insisted on refusing to sell the land, because he was dry this year, he fell into their trap, and they made false IOUs and killed his father. The family, old and young, because of this incident, almost all the family was destroyed. Now he is left alone, and he came to the capital to complain. However, neither the Dengwen Drum Institute nor the Dengwen Inspection Institute received the certificate, so they could only sue the Imperial Historical Tower.

After reading it, Du Zhongxiao put the paper on the case and did not speak for a while. Ye County is under the supervision of Bai Ting, and what happens there, Du Zhongxiao will not feel strange. However, this case, Zhizhou doesn't care, the prison is not investigated, and the Dengwen Drum Court and the Dengwen Procuratorate do not accept the certificate, it is not that there is a problem with these yamen. Rather, it can be seen from the pleadings that all the evidence does not support the complainant. Even the pleadings are written like this, why did the yamen of the imperial court waste manpower and material resources to investigate the case?

Seeing that Ye Xiang was still standing aside, Du Zhongxiao said, "What do you think of this case?" ”

Ye Xiang arched his hand: "This complainant, judging from the pleadings, has been in the capital for two months, and he has been sued everywhere, and no one pays attention to him." The reason why I came to Yushitai must have been because I heard that Xianggong was the new Zhongcheng, so I came to give it a try. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Don't care about him, I just ask you what you think of the case?" Does the Taiwan Academy want to accept his case? ”

Ye Xiang stopped for a while, and thought for a while before he said: "How dare you say such a thing as a lowly official?" Whether to accept it or not, but Zhongcheng decided with a word. Generally speaking, if it is not a shocking case, the Dengwen Drum Institute and the Dengwen Procuratorate will not accept it, and we should not accept it. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Everyone thinks so, so it's going to be accepted." There is nothing to do at this time, you go and bring the complainant to the official hall, and I will ask him personally. Since I am also the prosecutor, how can I refuse to accept this kind of situation and manage this kind of case? ”

Ye Xiang was born as a official, worked in Yashitai for many years, and became an official. This kind of old official is the most sleek, and he is more familiar with the affairs of the yamen in the capital than anyone else. Listening to Du Zhongxiao say that he wanted to take care of it, he didn't talk much, said goodbye, and went to bring the complainant into the official hall.

Du Zhongxiao tapped the paper on the desk, thinking about the matter in his heart. The complainant in this case is so persistent, from Jingxi Road to the capital, after being frustrated, he still persevered, and he must have been wronged. It's just that whether the case is as stated in the pleadings is also questionable.

That place in Ye County, since he built a railway supervisor there has been seven or eight years now, and after many developments, it is the place to make a fortune. In such a place, there are bound to be many economic cases. Coupled with the shortage of officials, there will inevitably be many bad things among the people. In terms of paper, it is really common for local tyrants to collude with officials to kill a small landlord and embezzle land. The difficulty in this case is that the people who do the work have clean hands and feet, and the documents should be complete, and there is no fault in the documents. For officials, this kind of case is a suspicious case, which can only be put aside and left alone.

After a while, Ye Xiang brought a person in, stepped forward and arched his hand: "Zhongcheng, this person handed in the paper, and he was still waiting outside the door, not far away." ”

Du Zhongxiao looked at the person who made the paper, he looked like he was in his teens, and his body was thin. His hair was a little unkempt, and his face was gray, and he couldn't see what it was. There is only a pair of eyes, looking at himself, a little afraid, and a little stubborn.

Du Zhongxiao said: "What's your name?" Where are you from? If you want to tell me something, tell me more details. ”

The man stepped forward and knelt down, kowtowed two heads and said: "Xiaomin Baixian, a native of Ye County, Jingxi Road, has lived in the west of the county for several generations, and his family has more than 100 acres of fertile land. Since the construction of iron prisons around the area, the number of households has increased, and my family no longer grows rice and wheat, but hires people to grow vegetables. Because of the family's land, a river in the middle is crossed, and there is a lot of difference between the upper and lower terrains, and they are favored by the wealthy families in this county, and they want to buy land to open a Laoshzi factory. This land is my family's food and clothing, how can Daddy sell it to him? The dispute has been around for a long time. There was not much rain this spring, and the vegetable field could not be planted for a while, and Daddy was anxious. Because Ye County has been prosperous all these years, Daddy was heartbroken, so he borrowed money and bought a pumping machine. How did he know that the borrowed money was from Jian Yuan's family, and he teamed up with the county bookstore and officials to change the IOU, and a hundred guan became more than a thousand. My family has all the money to buy a pump, how can I pay it back? They persecuted them in every possible way, but my father just didn't recognize it, and he was taken to the county government several times. In the end, those people were impatient and murderous, so they killed my father under the pretext. Since Daddy's death, the family has been poor, and he was used by Jian Yuan to collect more than 100 acres of land, saying that it was to repay the outstanding loans. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "If such a method is rough and kills people, won't the magistrate ask?" ”

Bai Xiandao: "Those people colluded with the local officials, and the documents were all done, even if the local officials interrogated and only checked the documents, how could they find out?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "You said that your father was killed, this is a life lawsuit, how dare you be sloppy?" ”

Bai Xian said: "They strangled my father, but they said that they hanged themselves, and there is no witness, how can they find out?" ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "As you say, this case is neither undocumented nor materially evidenced, and it is a headless case." In this case, as long as the formalities for the purchase and sale of land at the local level are complete, the magistrate will of course not bother. ”

Bai Xiandao: "My family has more than 100 acres of good land, although I used to grow rice and wheat only for food and clothing, I have been growing vegetables in the past few years, but I can make money." A pumping machine is only 200 yuan, and my father borrowed 100 yuan, and he has already set aside money to buy seeds and hire people. They changed it to a thousand, bought a pump, and where did the rest of the money go? Since they were collecting debts, my family has not been able to eat, and it is difficult to come up with dozens of dollars. ”

The pumping machine was made by the iron supervisor in recent years, driven by a steam engine, and many large farmers on Jingxi Road bought it. With this thing, it is very convenient to not worry about the lack of water in the field. At the beginning, it was more than 100 guan, but because it sold well, it rose to 200 guan this year. More than 100 acres of land, if you grow all vegetables, it is a little difficult to buy a pump, and it is not uncommon to borrow money. In two or three years, you can earn back your capital, but you can't lose money.

The only doubt in this case is why a thousand yuan was borrowed. Just to buy a pumping machine, it doesn't actually cost so much money, and the Bai family has savings. It can only be thought that a solid family like the Bai family is less than this number, and they can't clean them up.

Du Zhongxiao thought about it again and again, and said: "Although this case is serious, there are many doubts. In this way, I'll check it first, and if there is a hidden secret, I will give you an edict. You are in the capital, where do you live now? I'll send someone to inform you of the progress. ”

Bai Xian snorted for a while before he said: "Back to the official, the little one has nowhere to live in the capital, so he will find a corner and rest at night." ”

Du Zhongxiao said to Ye Xiang: "You go out to rent a house and let him rest in peace, and the house money will come out of the minister's money." By the way, for daily food and drink, the same money is paid from the minister's money, and he is settled down first. ”

Ye Xiang said yes, and according to Du Zhongxiao's instructions, he took Bai out first.

Watching the two of them leave the official hall, Du Zhongxiao took the paper over and looked at it again, thinking in his heart. Judging from what he asked just now, as well as what Bai Xian answered, this case is indeed suspicious. The biggest doubt is why the Bai family would borrow a thousand yuan. Although there are many rich people in Ye County, a thousand yuan can indeed be lent out with more than 100 acres of good land as collateral, but the Bai family can't use it.

Although the government also recognizes borrowing money and writing IOUs privately, there are many troubles. Generally, I go to the bookstore and use the deed paper I bought, which is equivalent to paying stamp duty and has the function of notarization. In this case, the Bai family's IOU was written in the bookstore, and it was precisely because of this that the government did not accept his pleadings.

Thinking about it, Du Zhongxiao was a little embarrassed for a while. Ye County is hundreds of miles away from the capital, and he can't check it himself, so it's a little difficult to do it for a while.

Standing up, Du Zhongxiao paced a few steps behind the case, and he couldn't make a decision for a while. If this case is reversed, those who handle it will be punished more or less. Ye County Magistrate, Baiting Prison Zhilin, Jingxi Road Tidian Prison, Dengwen Drum Courtyard, Dengwen Procuratorate, it is said that one of them can't run. Du Zhongxiao has no friendship with these officials, and as the emperor of the imperial history, he doesn't have to care about them. When a new official takes office, if he handles the case himself, it is also a kind of prestige. It's just that this case is really difficult.

The safest way is to approve your own opinions, hand over the pleadings to Jingxi Road for punishment, hand them over all the way, and let Ye County check them again. But what's the use of that? There is obvious collusion between local officials and the people, and no further investigation will find anything.

After thinking about it for a long time, Du Zhongxiao finally made up his mind. When the new official takes office, he still has to burn three fires, and through this case, let people know that he is not a reserve in the imperial history, but to really do things.