Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 471: Troubling the Gentry and Local Celebrities
Before Li Dagui left, someone outside was beating a drum to complain. Jia Lian's expression suddenly became serious. Finally, someone came to complain. Today, we must defend the people!
The three shifts of yamen runners in Dengzhou Prefecture have been very diligent recently. They have to be diligent. Losing their jobs is a small matter, but losing their heads is a big matter.

As soon as the drum sounded, the yamen runners immediately took their positions, but saw a man who looked like an old farmer kneeling in the hall, holding the petition in both hands.

Jia Lian immediately went to the court, and Big Li also stood in the crowd to watch how Lord Jia would try the case in public.

The clearer a person's mind is, the more he can see from the trial process.

"Who is here in the hall and why are you complaining?" Jia Lian stepped inside, sat down, and asked loudly.

"Here is the complaint. I am He Wangcai, a commoner living in Changshou Village. I am suing Zhou Chun, a local gentry, for forcibly abducting my daughter and then hanging her in the woodshed. I am so angry that I am here to file a complaint. Please, sir, redress my injustice!"

The bailiff took the complaint and presented it to Jia Lian. Jia Lian read it carefully, put it down and picked up the order: "Come here, bring Zhou Chun to the court!" The bailiff received the order and set off immediately, heading straight for Changshou Village.

While the bailiffs were waiting to arrest the man, Jia Lian asked He Wangcai to explain what had happened.

According to He Wangcai, he has a daughter who is sixteen years old. The father and daughter depend on each other for survival. However, because the girl is pretty, several matchmakers came to propose marriage to her, but none of them succeeded.

Zhou Chun, a local gentry, also took a fancy to her daughter and proposed to take her as a concubine in order to forgive part of the debt owed by He Wangcai.

Last year, when there was a shortage of food, He Wangcai borrowed a dou of millet from Zhou Chun. At the end of the year, when the autumn harvest came, he repaid three dou of millet with interest. However, Zhou Chun's housekeeper said that the three dou of millet was only part of the interest, and He Wangcai still owed Zhou Chun five dou of millet.

Zhou Chun used this matter to threaten He Wangcai, saying that if he could not pay back the five dou of millet, he would use his daughter to pay off the debt.

He Wangcai naturally refused and tried to reason with the man, but was beaten by the housekeeper and the servants and became bedridden ever since.

While He Wangcai was recovering from his injuries, Zhou Chun took advantage of his daughter being out and sent the housekeeper to kidnap her home. The girl was locked in the woodshed. After fighting for the rope, she found she could not get out. Not wanting to be humiliated, she took the rope and hanged herself in the woodshed.

After the incident, Zhou Chun said that his daughter was depressed and committed suicide, and it had nothing to do with Zhou Chun. He Wangcai struggled to hold the funeral. Zhou Chun asked the housekeeper to bring people to the house and forced Zhou Chun to press his fingerprints and use five acres of land from his family to pay off the debt. Even after this, he still refused to give up and wanted to kill He Wangcai. With the help of his neighbors, He Wangcai escaped at night and complained.

Jia Lian waited for him to finish speaking, looked at the people outside, and signaled the yamen runner to bring a straw mat for He Wangcai to sit down and rest, and asked the yamen runner to bring him a bowl of water. Knowing that He Wangcai had not eaten and had used the money to hire someone to write a petition, he asked someone to bring him two steamed buns.

The onlookers were talking about it a lot. It was the first time they saw someone stuttering during a trial.

Although it was not intentional, Jia Lian still hoped that the people could see all of this and spread it.

It would have been fine if he had not come to Dengzhou, but since he is here and has this opportunity, he would naturally kill a few gentry and restore law and order.

Upon learning that it would take a whole day to go to Changshou Village and back, Jia Lian announced that he would temporarily adjourn the court session, allowing He Wangcai to stay and Zhou Chun to be brought for retrial tomorrow.

With this beginning, someone came to complain again. This time it was a fisherman who went out to sea to catch fish and sold them in the market, but the fishing bully forced a low price on the fisherman. The fisherman refused, so the bully and his men beat him up, and the fish were also taken away.

This one is closer, so Jia Lian immediately sent someone to capture the fishing tyrant Deng Hu.

After being brought to justice, the fisherman Deng Hu continued to argue, saying that the Dengzhou fish market had always been like this, with a unified purchase price every day, and that there was no forced buying or selling. It was the fisherman who was slandering him.

Jia Lian didn't waste time talking to him and directly ordered people to beat him with 20 boards. After that, Deng Hu became honest and said that it was true and asked Jia Lian to forgive him. Jia Lian sentenced Deng Hu, the fishing tyrant, to exile to the new province in the Western Regions for bullying and market manipulation, forced buying and selling, and violent robbery. This kind of person should be sent to that kind of place to cause trouble.

After these two cases, someone else came to complain, and it was still a case of local tyrants bullying others. As usual, Jia Lian didn't care about anything and beat the powerful party first. If they honestly admitted their guilt, he would be fine. If they were dishonest and still insisted on being stubborn, he would continue to beat them.

Li Dagu, who was in the crowd, was dumbfounded when he saw Jia Lian's style of judging cases. How could an official judge a case like this? Aren't they afraid that the unruly people will make random complaints and wrongly accuse the good people?

He didn't know Jia Lian's true thoughts. In this era, the productivity of anyone who could have a certain amount of wealth was destined to be full of sins. There was no point in talking to them. Even if they were wronged this time, there were still cases that had not been wronged before.

At the end of the day, Jia Lian tried five cases and dealt with five gentry and powerful people. They were all in Dengzhou City. The people were boiling with excitement about this guy. This guy was really a great judge who was not partial to the gentry at all.

Zhou Chun was brought here by Senior Tian Hei. He also wanted to stay in the inn. Because of his achievements, he dared to make requests.

Jia Lian asked the yamen runner who came to report the news, "Did you accept the bribe from the other party to speak for him?"

The yamen runner knelt down immediately out of fear: "Mr. Zhou is a juren, and he should always be treated kindly."

Jia Lian then let him go and said, "I have even put the prefect of Dengzhou in jail, and I dare not ask any more questions about him, let alone a mere scholar. Moreover, this man is a serious murderer. Take my order and throw him into jail. He will be brought to trial tomorrow."

Zhou Chun was still waiting for a reply. As a juren, he was indeed treated preferentially and should have been allowed to stay at an inn, but he happened to meet the unreasonable Jia Lian. When the yamen runner came back and told him about Jia Lian's arrangement, Zhou Chun shouted and wanted to see Jia Lian.

In the end, Jia Lian did not come, but a team officer from the Shenjiying came with three people. Without saying a word, they pinned him down, tied his limbs like a pig, stuffed his mouth with rags, and carried him away on a pole. The yamen runners were all dumbfounded. Juren was a big shot in the city, and could go to the Ministry of Personnel to apply for an official position. Zhou Chun was in his early fifties, and he looked well-maintained, and looked like he was in his forties.

This person was being carried away with his hair disheveled and looking extremely miserable.

The team officer also told the runners: "Remember, if anyone disobeys next time, deal with them in the same way."

"Sir, you are a foreigner. We are natives of the village. How dare we do that? This is a scholar."

The team officer smiled and did not force the yamen runners to bow their heads. With them here, he was not afraid that these guys would not behave themselves.

There were three other prisoners in Zhou Chun's cell. They were thrown to the ground. Zhou Chun, whose buttocks were hurting, sat up and looked at the three prisoners in the dim light. They looked familiar. Isn't this the prefect?
The three prisoners were like idiots, not reacting at all when someone came in. Especially the prefect, who kept repeating, "I'm so stupid! I'm so stupid!"

Thinking of the rumors he had heard recently, Zhou Chun's heart sank to the bottom. He was afraid that he would not be able to get through this time.

Thanks to the big mouths of the yamen runners, the news that the scholar Zhou Chun was arrested and thrown into jail spread throughout Dengzhou City in just one night.

The people were very excited about this guy and came to watch the trial early in the morning.

Jia Lian was not idle. He was entertaining the villagers of Changshou Village. With the villagers as witnesses, it was difficult for others to find fault. The incident happened in Zhou's family. The villagers were not blind or deaf. Comparing their statements, the case became clear. These villagers were naturally brought by Jia Lian after he sent a letter to He Wangcai's neighbors. They saw the yamen runners taking Zhou Chun away with their own eyes, and the villagers became bolder. Seven or eight people were willing to come to testify.

This shows the people's simple sense of justice and values.

The next morning, outside the Dengzhou prefectural government office, people were crowded waiting for the trial to begin.

Jia Lian was very satisfied after seeing this. This was exactly the effect he wanted. He took advantage of the recent period to severely punish the local gentry. There were really few good people among these people.

Jia Lian sat down, picked up the gavel, and slammed it hard: "Identify the plaintiff and the criminal!"

He Wangcai came out first and repeated yesterday's speech as usual. After Zhou Chun came out, he put on the attitude of a juren and bowed to Jia Lian and said, "Sir, I am Zhou Chun. I am a juren and the court has given me preferential treatment. However, the people below do not respect this rule. This is a disgrace to the society. Zhou Chun is here to seek justice."

The title of Juren does have preferential treatment, and Zhou Chun started talking about this. The people outside were worried about this. They were afraid that Jia Lian, the inspector, would really favor Zhou Chun. After all, officials protect each other, and the people are not stupid. They see and hear the same thing.

Jia Lian laughed and said, "You are a juren, right? I have appointed you as the inspector of Zhilu and granted you the imperial sword. You can do whatever you like. For those below the third rank, they shall be executed first and then reported to the emperor. The prefect of Dengzhou is in prison waiting to be executed. You want me to treat you better? Come here, write and write."

In front of everyone, Jia Lian quickly wrote an official document, took out his seal, stamped it, and handed it to the family general beside him: "This is the document to dismiss Zhou Chun from his official position. Send it to the Ministry of Personnel to remove him from the list."

After doing this, Jia Lian turned around and asked Zhou Chun: "Are you satisfied with this preferential treatment?"

Zhou Chun collapsed to the ground, and the people outside cheered, "Good! Great Lord!"

Jia Lian announced Zhou Chun's crime in public. Zhou Chun lay on the ground. After listening to Jia Lian's words, he struggled to get up and said, "Sir, his daughter hanged herself. It has nothing to do with me. Besides, I was not aware of the arrest and took her into the mansion. I only found out later that the incident had already happened. I am offering you a set of clothes as a token of my appreciation."

After hearing this defense, Jia Lian sneered, "Do you take me for a three-year-old child? In front of this imperial envoy, you confuse right and wrong and confuse the public. Congratulations, you have one more charge of disrespecting the imperial envoy. Come, bring a witness!"

As the people of Changshou Village came on stage, they all spoke out against Zhou Chun's crimes and testified for He Wangcai.

Zhou Chun threatened the villagers, and Jia Lian said directly: "I didn't ask you to speak, slap your mouth!"

The yamen runners didn't dare to step forward, but the soldiers of the Shenjiying didn't tolerate him. They stepped forward and slapped him in the face. They didn't stop until they slapped him more than ten times.

Zhou Chun was so beaten that he couldn't speak and could only slur his words.

After the villagers testified, Jia Lian announced the verdict. The criminal Zhou Chun, as a scholar, read the books of sages, but did not think of repaying his hometown. Instead, he bullied people and exploited his fellow villagers. In the case of He Wangcai, he forced people to death, refused to repent, and argued in court, which was aggravated. Zhou Chun was called a scholar, but in fact he was a beast in human clothing, not worthy of being a human. Now this official makes the following verdict, ordering Zhou Chun to return the land he had occupied from He Wangcai and the villagers, and to compensate He Wangcai with fifty taels of silver. The criminal Zhou Chun is sentenced to death and will be executed in the autumn.

In the previous cases, Jia Lian really didn't kill anyone, and only one person was exiled, Deng Hu, a fishing tyrant. The others were sentenced to pay compensation and beatings. This time, he was sentenced to death. Zhou Chun was completely lying on the ground, and he had no strength to stand up.

The verdict in this case caused a stir among the people and gave them courage.

In the following three days, Jia Lian tried cases one after another, which caused a huge sensation. He dealt with more than a dozen gentry in succession, including a murder case, and Jia Lian sentenced them to death again. By the time the reply from the capital arrived, Jia Lian had punished two juren, five scholars, and thirteen local tyrants. These people were either beaten up and compensated the victims, or exiled. The worst two were sentenced to death.

The whole Dengzhou Prefecture was shaken by Jia Lian's trial, and the people applauded and praised him, saying that he was an honest and upright judge.

In cases involving land and usury, Jia Lian was particularly ruthless, demanding not only compensation for the land but also money.

The gentry of Dengzhou complained bitterly and gathered together to discuss how to deal with this inspector who did not follow the rules.

The result of the discussion was that there was no solution. Jia Lian's situation was too special, so they could only give up and wait until he left.

Some gentry were not convinced and went to Jinan overnight to use their connections to sue Jia Lian.

Naturally, this kind of people made a wasted trip. When all the connections they found out that it was Jia Lian, they all drove him away.

I am just a clay Buddha crossing the river now, how can I have the energy to care about these things?

When Wu De and Lin Guang learned about what Jia Lian had done in Dengzhou, they were helpless and could only pretend to be deaf and dumb and wait for him to have enough fun.

Unexpectedly, Jia Lian was not satisfied enough to leave, so the two of them did not wait for him, but instead received the transfer order from the court first.

One of the brothers went to Guangxi to serve as the governor, and the other went to Shaanxi to serve as the prefect. In other words, both were demoted.

They did not suspect Jia Lian of something secretive, but they just thought that the emperor was dissatisfied with them.

The two could only blame themselves for their bad luck and bad fate, and could not blame others. Who caused a case involving internal treasury to occur among their subordinates?
Along with the decree came the successor to the prefecture of Dengzhou. Jia Lian looked and saw that he was an acquaintance.

Who is it? Lin Ping.

This guy was lucky. When he returned to Beijing to report on his work, he was promoted to Tongpan, but not to the position of prefect.

Unexpectedly, such a thing happened in Dengzhou Prefecture. Coincidentally, Lin Ping was in the capital. I don’t know if it was because of Jia Lian’s relationship, but the Ministry of Personnel directly appointed Lin Ping as the prefect of Dengzhou, a fifth-rank official.

Jia Lian didn't expect that it was Lin Ping who came and brought a reply from the capital.

When old friends meet, it is natural to have a banquet and drink together.

Talking about his years as an official in other places, Lin Ping was full of emotion. He repeatedly said that he was able to come to Dengzhou to serve as the prefect because of Jia Lian. If Jia Lian had not been in Dengzhou, he, a classmate and friend, would not have had the opportunity to come to Dengzhou.

According to Lin Ping, everyone in the Ministry of Personnel is hoping that Jia Lian will leave Dengzhou as soon as possible and stop making trouble here and causing any big trouble.

(End of this chapter)