I was the emperor in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 161
After being slapped on the bench, Qi Erlai was honest now, covering his buttocks with his hands, kneeling on his knees with his teeth bared, tilting his head to let the beads of sweat on his head slide to the ground.

"Brother... The elder is on the top, Xiaomin Qi Erlai, 32 years old this year, there is a wife and two boys in the family.

Normally, she makes a living by pulling boats at the Yazui Wharf of the Chongnanfang Canal, but now Nan Meiyu owes money to Xiaomin, and Xiaomin came here to ask for money, which led to a conflict. "

What Qi Erlai said in the phone call still sounded like that, but Liu Hong wanted to vent his anger on the emperor, so he slapped the hall wood again immediately with beard and stare.

"I asked you to sign up, why waste so much talk, come here, and give this troublesome man another twenty sticks."

Hearing that he was about to be hit by the bench again, Qi Erlai raised his head in horror, stopped covering his buttocks, and covered the ground with his hands, begging for mercy:
"My lord, please forgive me, my lord, please forgive me."

The arresters who didn't reach out before didn't care so much, their hands were itching.

He pressed Qi Erlai to the ground again, and the two policemen picked up the bench and greeted Qi Erlai's buttocks.

"Liu Xianzun, my son still has some miscellaneous matters, why not try the case first?"

Liu Hong stroked his two-rooted beard, and was watching the Erlai being punished with great interest, when he heard Li Tian's words, he subconsciously stood up:

"Master Zhu, is there anything else to do?"

Asking casually, Liu Hong looked at Qi Erlai who was screaming and hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop, and there was another loud bang.

"Where is the plaintiff?"

The shopkeeper of Anji Teahouse had already guessed that Li Tian was a big man, but he didn't expect that he was so big that the county lord had to be careful in his service.

Hearing the words at the moment, he didn't let Xiao Er come out, he got out from the crowd in person, raised his robe and knelt down:
"Reporting to Liu Xianzun, I am reporting to the official."

"Why report to the official, tell me the truth."

"Yes."

Responding respectfully, the shopkeeper of Anji Teahouse stood up, clasped his fists in both hands, pointed at the cracked tea table beside him and said:
"I'm the shopkeeper of Anji Teahouse. There are two reasons for reporting to the official. One is that this guy made a big disturbance in my Anji Teahouse and disturbed the tea customers. The other is that this guy threatened to take the two sons of Zhu Nan back to Chongnanfang for lynching. .”

Speaking of this, the shopkeeper gave Qi Erlai a sideways look, and made a look of drawing his sword to help when he saw the injustice:
"Xian Zunrong said that I have opened a teahouse on Chengshou Street for more than ten years, and the tax is paid every year.

I will also donate money to the workshops and government offices, and what I despise the most is Qi Erlaizi, a bastard who relies on his own numbers and power to act recklessly. "

Liu Hong didn't rush to speak when he heard the words, he took a deep look at the shopkeeper, thinking secretly in his heart,

Although all yamen are willing to donate money from merchants, this kind of money is not something anyone can donate if they want to. It seems that the backside of Anji Tea House is not simple.

Withdrawing his mind, he gave a faint acknowledgment, and looked at Qi Erlai, raised two eyebrows again, and shouted angrily:

"Unauthorized punishment is a felony of second-class exile in my Ming law. Qi Erlai, I will ask you what the shopkeeper reported, is it true?"

It is true that private punishments are imposed by the common people as serious crimes, but what constitutes private punishments has not been elaborated in the laws of all dynasties since ancient times.

There is no other reason, and the law has no rules, so its power is unpredictable.

This is the basis for the government to freely interpret the law, and it is also the capital for officials to exercise power.

Although Qi Erlai is illiterate and has never seen the world, he knows that this kind of crime cannot be confessed no matter what. Once he admits it, it will be over.

"My lord is clearly aware, Xiaomin is just a boat tracker, how can he be capable of lynching."

Liu Hong didn't expect Qi Erlai to be quite smart. Knowing that he started from his identity as a tracker, he pursed his lips and turned to look at the shopkeeper of Anji Tea House.

"Treasurer An, you said that Qi Erlai set up punishment privately, do you have evidence?"

"Naturally there is."

Thinking about how likely he would be to kill Qi Erlai directly this time, the shopkeeper of Anji Tea House winked wildly at Xiaoer who was at the side, clasped his fists and said:
"Your Majesty of the county can report, and I have witnesses."

"Where are the witnesses?"

"My lord, Xiaomin testified that Qi Erlaizi himself said that he would take the two eldest sons back to Chongnan Fang for torture."

As soon as the waiter from Anji Teahouse came out to testify, Qi Erlai was startled and angry, and immediately became impatient, his hands clenched into fists, and his whole body was trembling with anger.

"Fart your mother, don't wrong me, I never said that I would use torture."

After finishing speaking, Qi Erlai hurriedly kowtowed to Liu Hong again:

"Master Qingtian, Xiaomin and the shopkeeper of Anji Teahouse have a bit of a festive relationship. This kid is the second child of Anji Teahouse. You can't believe what he said, sir."

"When it's time for you to defend yourself, I will ask you, who allowed you to speak privately, come here, give me..."

"Liu Xianzun, my son testifies that the tea case was broken by Qi Erlai, and he never said that he used torture privately."

Li Tian thought it was interesting to hear Liu Hong say that he wanted to be promoted on the spot. He has been in the Ming Dynasty for so long, but he has never seen how the county magistrate below judges the case with his own eyes.

But after watching it patiently for a while, Li Tian got annoyed.

Qi Erlai is an unscrupulous hooligan, and the shopkeeper of Anji Tea House is not a fun thing, and because he is here, Liu Hong will not judge the case honestly, and wants to clean up Qi Erlai for himself without a few words. Exhale.

Li Tian interrupted Liu Hong's speech in public, everyone gasped, and looked at Li Tian in horror, thinking that the elder must be angry now.

Even the shopkeepers Nan Meiyu and Anji, who had always been sure of Li Tian's extraordinary status, were stunned in astonishment.

To actually sweep the Eldest Master's face like this, is this Eldest Master Zhu really confident, or is he just going to climb up when he is given a stick.

When Li Tian opened his mouth like this, Liu Hong's heart fluttered suddenly. Does the emperor think that he judged the case too slowly, or does he want to convict shopkeeper Anji along the way?

After careful consideration in his heart, Liu Hong made up his mind, looked at the shopkeeper of Anji Tea House and said in a very bad tone:
"A small merchant, how dare to use the hand of this official to seek selfish motives? Come, give this false witness to this official and give him twenty sticks."

There was another yell, and shopkeeper An Ji also knelt on the ground, paralyzed beside Qi Erlai.

As soon as I came out today, I got rid of my hand addiction twice. All the arresters were in a good mood, but Liu Hong was more and more entangled now.

People like Qi Erlai are very talkative. If he is really asked to do it, he will not dare. A character who really dares to use lynching will pull boats for a living at the pier.

What does the emperor mean?

Frowning fiercely, Liu Hong just felt puzzled, that's all, let's judge first.

"Qi Erlai, I don't want to pursue the issue of private punishment, but it is a fact that you smashed Anji Teahouse. I ordered you to pay Anji five taels of silver to make up for the loss. Are you convinced?"

(End of this chapter)