A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 1043: The Bianjing Trial in Progress

October 8, the 21st year of Xuantong in the Great Xia Empire

After three days of preparation, the trial was held in the Shangshu Province Hall in front of the imperial palace.

In the center of the hall were the three elected chief judges.

They are the chief judge, Su Junhao, a doctor of Chinese studies and law and a senior criminal lawyer.

The juror was Gong Yechen, the president of the Bian Jing Law School and a scholar.

Juror, Bian Jing's great lawyer, scholar Tao Junxian.

Among these three, Su Junhao is a neutral person who only studies the law.

Although Gong Yechen was dissatisfied with the government, he was a royalist.

Tao Junxian hates the system and is a total anti-monarchist.

There were thirty people who were invited to the stage and had the right to vote.

These thirty people included soldiers, scholars, officials, businessmen, ordinary citizens, college students, and factory workers, covering almost all walks of life in Bianliang.

There is also a prosecutor and a defense attorney.

The prosecutor spoke for all the citizens and was Cao Yang, a famous lawyer and scholar in Bianliang.

However, compared with Tao Junxian, he does not seem so radical, but rather has a deep understanding of the law.

The other person who defended the emperor was Song Ziqian, the then Minister of Dali Temple.

In addition, there were soldiers from the Palace Guard standing nearby, and Bai Yuzhe was among them.

This kind of trial was somewhat rare in Bian Jing, and it was obviously learned from the West.

Although there were such courts in ancient Daxia, they were immature and had not formed a system.

Soon, Emperor Bai Ya, accompanied by two soldiers, walked slowly to the trial seat and sat down.

The moment Bai Ya appeared, it was obvious that most of the people in the seats stood up and bowed slightly.

Some people even became so excited after seeing Bai Ya that they almost fainted.

Bai Ya also greeted him kindly, as if he was not the one who was about to be judged.

Wait until everyone is here.

The presiding judge Su Junhao knocked on the small bronze bell hanging on the table, "Ding ding ding!".

"quiet."

Then Su Junhao stood up, motioned for everyone to stand up, then looked at the document in his hand and read it carefully:
"Now I will read out the basis of the court. According to the Provisional Constitution of the General Assembly of All Bianjing People, in the name of the people of Bianjing and all citizens, the Emperor Bai Ya of the Great Xia Empire will be put to public trial..."

"Now, the order of the court is…"

"The court has finished reading, everyone may take their seats."

As Su Junhao walked down, everyone including Bai Ya sat down one by one. Surprisingly, except for the voices of those sitting on the chairs, no one was whispering.

Because they know that this trial is destined to be recorded in history. Those who can participate in this trial are destined to leave their names in history, or to become infamous?

Seeing that no one was talking nonsense in the courtroom, Su Junhao was very satisfied. This was the perfect court he had imagined.

"Ding~" a series of melodious and crisp bells rang.

"Now, please ask the prosecutor to read out the charges against the defendant."

Cao Yang immediately stood up, nodded first to the judge, then to the thirty citizens in the public seats, and finally looked at Bai Ya who had been calm, and then became passionate.

"Based on what actually happened, the crimes committed by Emperor Bai Ya and his evil government and military are:

First, the crime of waging war of aggression against weak countries at will;
Second, he condoned his cruel officials and arbitrarily deprived others of their lives without trial;

Third, he wantonly exploited and oppressed the Principality, causing the citizens of the Principality to suffer unspeakably;
Fourth, violating the ancestral teachings, creating false pretenses, and increasing taxes and levies;
Fifth, not caring about the lives of soldiers and throwing them into the battlefield as expendable materials;
6. The wanton exploitation of factory workers has resulted in an increase in production accidents every year, a crime of ignoring life;

Seventh, living a corrupt life, competing with the people for profit, ..."

"How can we allow such an evil emperor to sit on our throne after committing so many evil deeds? We must break the shackles and remove this huge mountain of the emperor from our heads."

The one who rang the bell was Gong Yechen, the juror. He said uncomfortably:

"This is a trial court, not your pulpit. Please do not spread ideas that are irrelevant to this case in court, or you will bear the consequences."

Cao Yang snorted awkwardly and said, "Judge, I have concluded my statement."

Su Junhao nodded, then looked at Bai Ya, who was wearing glasses and carefully reading his crimes, and asked, "Your Majesty, do you plead guilty?"

Bai Ya didn't say anything, and Su Junhao didn't urge him, just waiting for him to take a closer look.

The juror Tao Junxian sitting on the right was somewhat dissatisfied and was about to ring the bell to remind them, but was stopped by Su Junhao.

"After all, the emperor is old and his eyesight is not very good. We should understand that."

Tao Junxian then frowned and retracted his hand.

A long while passed like this. The place was completely silent. Everyone was waiting for Bai Ya to finish reading the long list. There were a total of thirty-eight crimes, and under each one, there were countless corpses lying.

Finally, Bai Ya carefully took off his gold-rimmed glasses and looked towards the court.

"Your Majesty, do you plead guilty?"

"If that's the case, then I accept it."

"Wow!" As Bai Ya said this, the whole audience was in an uproar, and the audience seats were stirred up.

“Ding ding ding” “Silence. Silence.”

Finally, Su Junhao maintained order in the field and asked Bai Ya hesitantly:
"Your Majesty, are you aware of the consequences you will bear if you admit your guilt?"

Bai Ya finally smiled at this time, a smile that seemed like relief: "Of course, it's nothing more than death."

There was noise again.

"Your Majesty!" A noble in the audience could not help but stand up and shouted with tears in his eyes.

"Silence." Su Junhao once again maintained order. "Well, since His Majesty the Emperor has no objection to the crime and has admitted the crime, I hereby declare,"

"Wait a minute, I object, I have something to say." Everyone looked and saw that it was Song Ziqian who had been silent.

"Does the defense attorney have anything to say?" Su Junhao did not refuse.

"I think innocence needs explanation, and guilt needs explanation even more, otherwise it will be difficult to give the public a convincing explanation."

Su Junhao thought about it and agreed: "Indeed."

"Then, Your Majesty, may I ask why you plead guilty?"

Bai Ya remained relaxed and replied with a smile:
"All these crimes were committed by the government and military of Daxia, one by one, one by one, and no one can deny it."

"As the emperor of the Great Xia Empire, the crimes they committed are naturally equal to the crimes I committed."

"Similarly, if the people are treated unequally, it means that I am treated unequally. If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight. This is what my ancestors told me."

"These years, I have been thinking about defeating the people of Xizhou and opening up tens of thousands of miles of land for the people of Daxia."

"But I didn't expect that I still underestimated the willfulness and intelligence of the people of Xizhou, which led to a tug-of-war between Xiaoxiyang and Beiyinzhou, forming a meat grinder."

"Not only that, but they also neglected the domestic situation, which led to corrupt officials running rampant and treacherous officials in power."

"The number of people who died because of these things is more than the hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the battlefield. My crimes have left countless bones. How can I stop them?"

"Daxia has been ruled for more than 220 years since Emperor Taizu. If you can really save Daxia and help the country and the people, what does death mean?"

"You have helped me, so that I can still face my ancestors with dignity."

At this point, some people in the audience seats were already crying.

"Your Majesty, what have you done wrong? You just want Daxia to be better. The ones who are wrong are the corrupt officials, treacherous ministers and cruel officials."

"Yes, the ones who are wrong are the corrupt officials."

"That's right. We have seen what the previous emperors did. Your Majesty is fine."

At that moment, more than twenty of the thirty people in the public seats were inclined to Bai Ya.

At this time, the prosecutor Cao Yang stood up and asked:
"You said that these have nothing to do with you. I would like to ask, are you the emperor of Daxia, and are they the ministers you chose?"

"Without your approval, how could they mobilize a single soldier to go to war with Xizhou, and how dare they suppress the people in the metropolis and cause bloodshed."

"You are the emperor of Daxia, and you control the Embroidered Uniform Guards that monitor all nations in the world. Even in the countries of Xizhou, there are spies of the Embroidered Uniform Guards."

"I don't believe you're totally unaware."

This question made half of the people in the audience react and they started to discuss it.

Bai Ya remained silent.

Just when Cao Yang was feeling elated and thinking he had won, the juror Gong Yechen suddenly asked curiously:
"Yes, such a big thing has happened these days, why is it that we only see the Tiqisi but not the Xiuyiwei?"

"If the Embroidered Uniform Guards were here, how could Your Majesty be captured by us?"

This sentence not only shocked the thirty citizens, but also the imperial guards Bai Yuzhe and other soldiers from the Palace Guard who were guarding the court.

Yes, what about the Embroidered Uniform Guard?
They had been in the palace for a long time and knew very well how powerful the Embroidered Uniform Guards were and how they were almost omnipresent.

"Your Majesty, aren't you going to explain?" Su Junhao asked.

Bai Ya shook his head and said, "There's nothing to explain."

After saying that, he raised his head and looked in the direction of the side hall. At this moment, a side door happened to be open, and the sunlight coming in from the window made that half of the hall bright.

That was where the prosecutor Cao Yang was, but it was a little dark over here.

"The ancestors of the Bai family once said, 'If the Bai family is not king, the world will be for the public.' They also said, 'Carry firewood for China, don't be stingy with your life.' They also said, 'Advance when you should advance, retreat when you should retreat, and avoid greed.'"

"Now the people are awakening, the Chinese are thriving, and they dare to speak out and be disrespectful. Although they are blocked by the West, they are also places that have never been reached in the past."

"He wore the crown and ascended the throne, and was called the emperor and the ancestor. He worked hard for half his life and toiled for half his life. He was passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years, and his name spread through the ages. He was the emperor who was not a king."

"Life is like this, clan is like this, country is like this, nation is like this, what else do you want?"

After saying that, Bai Ya closed his eyes and said no more, looking exhausted.

Seeing this, Su Junhao whispered to the two people beside him, and after receiving a reply, he said loudly:
"Gentlemen, those who agree that the emperor is guilty, please raise your hands to vote."

"Please put it down."

"Those who agree that the emperor is not guilty, please raise your hands to vote."

"Please put it down."

"Ding Ding Ding!"

"Everyone please stand up. The court will now announce the verdict."

"According to the Provisional Constitution of the General Assembly of the People of Bianjing and the Provisional Court of Bianjing, regarding the trial of Bai Ya, the Emperor of the Great Xia Empire, after deliberation by the court and a show of hands by thirty citizens, the current results are as follows."

"... In the end, it was determined that Emperor Bai Ya's merits outweighed his faults, so he was exempted from corporal punishment and was instead imprisoned in the Song Palace in Bianjing. He is still the emperor of the Great Xia Empire and still enjoys the basic rights of an emperor."

"The court has finished reading."

"The temporary court in Bianjing is now officially closed."

"Ding ding ding."

After saying all this, Su Junhao walked out of the judgment table, came to Bai Ya, crossed his hands, palms down, placed them on his chest, bowed slightly, performed a simple daily greeting, bowed his head and sang:
"Long live the emperor."

"Long live the emperor."

Bai Ya finally opened his eyes and looked at all the people in the hall who bowed their heads and saluted, including Cao Yang and Tao Junxian who insisted on the system without a monarch, and the soldiers in front of the palace who had been imprisoning him.

"Ah, you guys really don't know how to respect the elderly. Why don't you let the old man take a break?"

After that, he slowly stood up and said, "Go back to the palace. I am tired."

(End of this chapter)