The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 903 Exiled to Siberia
No matter where we are, no one does not desire peace, tranquility and happiness.

Judge Bao Rui (whose courtesy name is Hai Zheng) loudly announced the official start of the trial.

Prosecutor John Bowe ordered the Peace Troopers to present evidence.

In full view of the crowd, a large stack of letters, documents, and trial records were brought up by the soldiers and divided into several parts and distributed to the presiding judge, clerk, and citizen representatives.

"Please turn to the third piece of evidence and read it carefully."

The sound of flipping pages could be heard in the courtroom.

After a moment, John adjusted his glasses, looked up and said to everyone: "A narrative about the attack that occurred in Kaiyuan on May 1728, 5 and thereafter in the eighth year of Jingyan."

John Bowie raised his voice: "It is the famous '515 Incident'. If the court agrees, I will read the next part of the report."

Bao Rui nodded to the prosecutor, indicating that the latter could continue.

John flipped open the top page of evidence and read aloud in court: "On the morning of Wednesday, May 5th, the citizens of Kaiyuan awoke to find their city in chaos. According to many eyewitnesses, someone sneaked into the city that night and set it on fire. In the morning, people saw anti-war notices posted in prominent locations on the streets. The notices threatened that anyone who dared to participate in the war against Europe would have their entire family burned. This chaos did not attract much attention. Since the war between Da Qi and France, similar notices had been seen every now and then. They were from an underground organization called "Save Tianxin City". In short, everyone was used to it."

The prosecutor looked around. Everyone in the courtroom was listening attentively with bated breath. The prosecutor continued:
"But this time, I mean, if we want to assess the extreme importance of this incident, this arson killed three Kaiyuan citizens, including a five-year-old girl. In addition, ten houses and buildings were damaged... As mentioned earlier, it was the prelude to a series of atrocities carried out by the organization to save Tianxin City. The Suoyi Guard and the Daqi judicial police conducted a detailed and extensive investigation into the incident that day. The main intelligence providers included arrested members of the organization, such as "Living Yama King", Hei Lu Fuxiao, Zheng Enjin, as well as Kaiyuan County Magistrate Tang Zheyuan, several Kaiyuan citizens, and Korean national Jin Dahe. Based on the various evidence and intelligence currently available.

According to the confessions of members of the Tianxin City rescue organization, Marshal Jin (the defendant Jin Ning) and his confidants, a total of eight people, passed by the outside of Kaiyuan City that day and accidentally entered the moat. Because of the cold weather, they had to take off their clothes and light a bonfire. As for posting anti-war notices, it was to protect the military and civilians of Kaiyuan and there was no malicious intent.

The courtroom was in an uproar. The confessions of Heilu Xiaofu and others were like a bomb dropped into deep water, instantly stirring up a huge wave. The victim's family members cried out hysterically:

"Nonsense!"

"You have to use torture! He won't confess without torture!"

Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, Bao Rui looked up at Wu Zhongguo who was sitting next to him. Wu Zhongguo said loudly:

"The state has repeatedly warned against the use of torture, let alone forced confessions! Even the Imperial Guards must abide by the law!"

However, the crowd still refused to give in:
"Deal with the thieves! We must use torture!"

"Killing is the only way to appease the people's anger! Kill!"

"If you don't use torture, people will torture you later!"

A family member of a Kaiyuan victim broke free from the soldiers and was about to rush to the defendant, but was pulled back by Secretary Annan at the critical moment.

The family members sat on the ground and said angrily:
"You damned Kingsning! Free your grandma! I'm going to burn you to death today! Avenge my daughter!"

Kingsning looked at him with a smile, and after a long while he said, "The cause of liberation will always face difficulties. These are the growing pains of development, the necessary price to pay..."

"I'm going to kill you!"

Before one problem was solved, another one arose. Several middle-aged women who had just arrived in the audience started shouting again.

"Kinsning, where are my eggs!"

"You promised to send eggs, where are the eggs?"

It turns out that these were the poor people who had participated in Kingsning's speech event before but did not receive any eggs.

The whole crowd roared with laughter. Bao Rui's face turned pale. He didn't want to get entangled with these fools. He raised his hammer and hit it hard, shouting:

"Adjournment! Court will resume in half an hour!"

Standing in the dock, Kingsning always looked around with contempt, not afraid of the countless sharp and almost murderous gazes from those around him.

Taking advantage of the gap in the news, Ye Xiao approached Jin Ning and said viciously: "I'm waiting to collect your body and pile up the flesh piece by piece."

Kingsning took a breath, but still retorted:
"What connection do I have with all this? Besides, the emperor advocates caution in killing. Without evidence, do you dare to kill me at will? Do you still have the law? I am a citizen of Da Qi! I want to apply for the most basic protection of my rights!"

Ye Xiao got angry and swung a fist, but was immediately pulled away by the two pacification soldiers next to him.

Kingsning covered his injured mouth and nose, facing the row of foreign businessmen and reporters, and howled hysterically:
"Hitting someone! Killing someone!"

~~~~~~
Half an hour later, the court continued its session.

Prosecutor John Bowie continued reading:

In the eighth year of Jingyan, the war between Qi and France reached a fever pitch, and desertions began to increase. A witness told us that Kingsning, the leader of the Tianxin City Rescue Organization, now standing in the dock, often announced his plans of action at home or in public. He argued that if we didn't resist and fight for our rights, everyone would be his (Liu Fan's) slaves forever. Truly strong measures must be taken...

Next came the signing process, where the defendants were forced to sign their names (Kinsning was eventually pinned to the floor by three strong pacification soldiers who pressed their fingerprints).
The defense attorney conducted cross-examination and asked Kingsning questions.

The lawyer asked: I heard that before you were arrested, you had promoted a lot of remarks to subvert Da Qi, and even published them in a book. Are these true?

Kingsning replied: "I simply published a few articles I liked and showed them to a few like-minded people. As for accusations of promoting subversion, that's a fabricated accusation. In short, I'd rather leave the answer to the questioner, as I can't give a definitive answer."

The lawyer asked: "According to the laws of the Great Qi, you must give an answer. May I ask whether you personally directed the riots in Kaiyuan, Tieling, Qinghe, and other places? Or was it someone else who led them?"

Kingsning replied: I only provided them with some assistance at the time, and I was unaware of other matters. I also don't know what they were going to do later.

Q: What kind of help specifically?
Answer: Explain the war situation on the front line so that they can have a deeper understanding of their own country.

Question: Are you planning to gather strength to overthrow the Great Qi? I must remind you that your former subordinate, the Living King of Hell, has already reported part of the truth to the judge. Can you take responsibility for what you have said?

A: I don’t know what you are talking about?
There was an uproar all around.

Bao Rui once again announced a temporary adjournment of the court, as the presiding judge needed to listen to valuable opinions from all parties on the trial.

First of all, Bao Rui believed that Kingsning and others took the opportunity to cause chaos, and thousands of innocent citizens died as a result of them. Their crimes were extremely serious. On the issue of sentencing, Bao Rui advocated that Kingsning be sentenced to death and executed immediately.

Deputy Prime Minister Nian Gengyao's opinion: According to the laws of the Great Qi Dynasty, this person should have been beheaded long ago, so why is there still this trial?

Annan's clerk's opinion: Kingsnin should be exiled to Siberia, and let him work hard to dig potatoes before winter comes, just like everyone else. The next step will be decided based on the number of potatoes he digs. If the number is less than the average standard, he can be shot on the spot.

The opinion of Wu Zhongguo, the commander-in-chief of the Suoyi Guard:

Stop talking nonsense and leave no one behind!
Inspector John is the only judge among the many judges in the Tianxin City trial who argues that the defendant is not guilty.

His minority opinion, which runs to over 3,000 pages in the court record, includes the following key points:
There is no "crime of joint conspiracy"; the arson in Kaiyuan is excusable; the crime against peace is the result of the court's ex post facto law; according to Da Qi law, an individual who is a political persecutor and criticizes the government does not constitute a crime; the defendant clearly has an intellectual disability, and the recent chaos in Tianxin City was the defendant's self-defense rather than a riot, which is the legendary crime of passion...

Taking into account the destructive impact caused by the defendants and others, he suggested that Kingnin and others be exiled to Siberia.

(End of this chapter)