The Ming Dynasty: Starting with bandits, it swept across the land.

Li Chengye said to Han Sanhu, who was standing beside him:

"Sanhu, go to the county jail and bring out those landlords and gentry. We'll hold a public trial right here in front of the county government office and see how many evil deeds they've committed."

Let the people gather here to watch, and we'll adjudicate their cases on the spot, allowing those with grudges to seek revenge and those with grievances to get justice.

"Okay!"

Han Sanhu responded and left.

Luo Dai, standing to the side, asked Li Chengye with some curiosity, "Brother Li, didn't you say you wanted to win over the people? Why did you suddenly decide to interrogate them?"

"I've thought it over. What we're asking for is the support of the people, not the hearts of these gentry and officials."

In this world, nothing boils down to justice. Debts must be repaid, and murderers must pay with their lives.

If we can handle these two things properly, the people's hearts will naturally be won over.

Li Chengye said.

Luo Dai nodded in agreement, finding it reasonable.

"That's true. Back in the border army, which of those generals could have been fair? Even if the pay was less or slower, the brothers could have persevered." Liu Ye chimed in, "But the lord's servants can live a life of luxury, while we, the border patrolmen without connections, can only eat sand. How can anyone accept that?"

Soon, Han Sanhu and his men brought six or seven landlords and gentry to the county government office.

The petition drum at the entrance of the county government office was also beaten.

The soldiers shouted messages throughout the city:

"Today, Your Honor will preside over the court to fairly judge right and wrong! Those who have been wronged will seek justice, and those who have wronged will avenge themselves!"

Although the city's residents were still not completely at ease with Li Chengye and his gang, they had indeed not seen them breaking into homes to rob in the past few days.

A few daring individuals peered out and, seeing that a trial was indeed being held in front of the yamen, they curiously gathered around.

With these leaders, it wasn't long before a large, dark crowd gradually gathered in front of the government office.

Sun Kewang and Cheng En each held a whistle stick and stood on the left and right sides in front of Li Chengye's desk, pretending to be "Wang Chao and Ma Han"; this time, Li Chengye truly played the role of "Bao Gong".

The first person brought up was Wang Chongyi, who lived in the south of the city.

He owned several shops in the city, including a silk shop, an inn, and his boat at the ferry dock.

The first plaintiff that Li Chengye brought in was one of his shop's employees.

When the young man first entered the courtroom, he was timid and dared not speak. It was only after Li Chengye promised to stand up for him that he mustered up his courage.

When Wang Chongyi was first brought from the prison to the county government, he was also afraid. But seeing the way the clerk looked, he became bolder and straightened his back. However, when he saw Li Chengye's stern face, he suppressed the mockery that was about to show on his face and dared not say a word.

Seeing Wang Chongyi's behavior and noticing Li Chengye's strange expression, Sun Kewang, who was on the left side of the chopping board, swept his cudgel across Wang Chongyi's knees with a "thud," and Wang Chongyi knelt down.

Sun Kewang, mimicking the tone of a constable, rebuked, "The county magistrate hasn't even spoken yet, and you dare to be so frivolous? Are you disrespecting the magistrate's authority?"

Wang Chongyi had unspeakable suffering in his heart, but dared not open his mouth.

Seeing his master, whom he usually treated like a god, kneel down like this, the waiter grew bolder and spoke out about his grievances:

The initial agreement was a three-year apprenticeship, after which she would receive a monthly salary. However, it has now been four years, and Wang Chongyi still says that his skills are not yet proficient enough to graduate and that she needs to work for another two years.

Previously, when his mother was seriously ill and wanted to borrow some money from the shop to help her, Wang Chongyi refused, saying that he had not yet completed his apprenticeship. In the end, his mother could not be saved.

At this point, the man burst into tears.

The people listening in the courtroom whispered among themselves, saying that Wang Chongyi was a scoundrel.

The shop assistant added that Wang Chongyi usually sold inferior fabrics as high-quality ones, passing off coarse cloth as fine goods to people who didn't know their value.

Upon hearing this, the crowd, which had been whispering, suddenly erupted into a clamor, cursing Wang Chongyi for being immoral.

At this moment, someone in the audience shouted that he had transported cloth for Wang Chongyi's family and that his wages had not yet been paid.

Li Chengye asked Wang Chongyi, "Is this true?"

Looking at the indignant crowd below, Wang Chongyi was somewhat stunned. His smile vanished completely as he argued, "It was agreed that the settlement would be made every six months...it hasn't even been six months yet, how can it be settled?"

Li Chengye pressed further, "But that person said the earliest payment was seven or eight months overdue. How do you explain that?"

He immediately pronounced his verdict in court: "I hereby sentence you to pay double your wages; as for your refusal to lend money to your partner to save your mother, you shall be given thirty strokes of the cane!"

Wang Chongyi said with a mournful face, "Sir, you have already confiscated all the money in my house, where would I get the money to give him?" He then argued that the beating was unfair and that he did not know the inside story at the time.

At this moment, the waiter spoke up:

"Sir, I know there are still things hidden in the basement of his shop's storeroom that haven't been searched."

Upon hearing the shop assistant say that something was hidden under the warehouse, Wang Chongyi's expression changed drastically, and he immediately started cursing at the shop assistant.

"You heartless wretch! I've fed and clothed you for so many years, and this is how you repay me?"

"I'm eating the moldy, stale rice from your rotten warehouse," the waiter finally couldn't bear it anymore. "Even dogs wouldn't eat it, yet you're feeding it to us. We get up before dawn every day, before the roosters even crow."

Li Chengye waved to stop the two men from cursing, then ordered his assistant to lead people to the warehouse he mentioned to retrieve something, where they unearthed a large jar of silver.

Then, in front of the crowd, he paid double the wages to the porter who was demanding his wages, and then had Wang Chongyi beaten with thirty lashes.

After the fight, Wang Chongyi collapsed to the ground.

With Wang Chongyi's initial move, the people saw that Li Chengye was truly dedicated to solving the case, and the crowd became genuinely excited.

Gradually, seeing those once dignified and respectable figures now like stray dogs in the courtroom, the pent-up resentment in people's hearts was released.

After this round of questioning, it turned out that Wang Chongyi, who was at the beginning, had the lightest crime. He had only withheld wages and obstructed someone from saving their mother.

Among the other wealthy and powerful families, quite a few were involved in murder for their wealth.

Li Chengye showed no mercy; if a crime was proven, he would behead the person on the spot at the yamen gate and display their head in front of the gate.

One of the cases is quite typical.

A landlord forcibly bought his tenant's daughter for only five bushels of grain, and then stubbornly argued that he had "settled the debt" and drawn up a contract. According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, it was all in black and white, so how could it be considered abduction of a woman?

The peasant woman who came to complain said that after her daughter was bought, she thought she would live a good life, but after only four or five days, she was wrapped in a tattered straw mat and thrown into a mass grave.

She only found out from a fellow villager who worked as a servant in the manor. When she arrived at the mass grave, she found that her daughter had been eaten by wild dogs and was now just a skeleton, mixed in with other bones and indistinguishable from the rest.

Upon hearing this, Li Chengye said directly:

"You have your 'Great Ming Code,' and I have my own human justice."

In this world, no matter how convoluted the legal provisions are, right is right and wrong is wrong.

Anyone who can distort the truth by nitpicking words—take them out and behead them.

This time, Luo Dai personally took action; he also deeply hated this scumbag.

After his head was cut off, it was also hung at the entrance of the county government office.

In the end, out of the seven people who were interrogated, only one survived.

At this point, someone suggested that they should just behead both of them, since they had committed numerous crimes anyway.

Li Chengye shook his head and said, "Forget it. Although we didn't follow the law exactly, but rather sentenced him based on similar moral principles, since the sentence has already been handed down, and his crime doesn't warrant the death penalty, then it doesn't warrant the death penalty. Lock him up."

Seeing that he said this, no one else dared to say anything more.

Han Sanhu then took Wang Chongyi back to the prison and locked him up.

Some people who were exonerated because of this public trial, such as the shop assistant and the peasant woman, knelt down in the courtroom for a long time, kowtowing and calling out "Your Honor, the Upright Official."

Li Chengye felt that he was starting to enjoy the feeling of being the master of the people.

When Wang Chongyi was taken back to prison, Yu Shideng saw his miserable state and couldn't help but ask, "What happened? Why are you the only one who came back? Where are the others?"

Lying on a pile of straw in his cell, Wang Chongyi said, "I'm lucky. The others... they've all lost their heads."

He then recounted the public trial that had taken place at the yamen gate to Yu Shideng, Su He, and Li Hongjian.

Upon hearing this, the group of people all felt a chill run down their spines.

Yu Shideng couldn't help but say, "How dare these bandits treat the gentry so cruelly? Aren't they afraid of death? Aren't they afraid that the Ming army will come and crush them to dust?"

Upon hearing this, Suhe couldn't help but retort, "So much for the Ming Dynasty soldiers... We're prisoners now. Besides, they were just bandits who rebelled long ago."

After these words were spoken, everyone fell silent.

"I think these people are like rabbits with short tails; they won't last long. Throughout history, which rebellion that mistreats the gentry has ever amounted to anything?" Yu Shideng seemed to have figured something out and said confidently, "Even when Emperor Taizu raised his army to resist the Yuan, he treated the Yuan scholars and intellectuals with courtesy. Otherwise, why would the Earl of Chengyi serve Emperor Taizu?"

At this moment, Li Hongjian interjected, "But I heard that Emperor Taizu sent someone to Liu Bowen's hometown, saying that if he didn't come out of seclusion, he would kill his entire family?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Shideng glared at him angrily, and Li Hongjian realized he had spoken out of turn and awkwardly shut his mouth.