Rebirth: From being expelled from the imperial court to becoming a high-ranking official

"Since it was the middle of the night, how do you know I had it destroyed? As for the servants, that is their business, what does it have to do with me?"

Li Yun's face still looked bad and her tone was cold and hard.

Gao Yu said angrily: "Your family's servants have nothing to do with you?"

"What's wrong with my family slaves? They are living people. I don't care what they do outside."

Gao Yu was so angry that he almost died.

Qin Yunhe sighed inwardly. These scholars were really not good at talking with others. Every time they tried to speak, they were blocked by Li Yun and could not say a word.

Even so, he still pursued Li Yun and his brothers and reported them.

I really don't know what to say to them.

"Mr. Gao, do you have any evidence to prove that the crops were destroyed by Li Yun or his servants?"

Speaking of this, Gao Yu became even angrier: "Sir, I heard it from Mr. Liu..."

Liu Laoguan was shocked when he heard this and said hurriedly, "No, no, I didn't say that. Uncle Li has always respected the scholars, how could he let people destroy Scholar Gao's crops?"

Gao Yu was furious: "Mr. Liu, if I had known you were such a treacherous person, I would not have saved you."

Qin Yunhe, who was sitting on the official seat, was completely speechless about these scholars.

Lin Chan and others made many accusations, but did not provide any useful witness evidence.

Not to mention that Mr. Liu was obviously appeased by the Li family, even if he hadn't, he would still have to rent the land from the Li family. And his granddaughter is now in the Li family, can he say anything wrong about Li Yun?

"Mr. Gao, can anyone prove that it was the Li family that destroyed your crops?"

"Sir, except for my family, all the land nearby belongs to Li's family. He even built thatched huts for the tenants in his fields. Apart from his family, no one else would go there."

This is not evidence either.

Qin Yunhe had no choice but to ask: "Tell me the cause and effect of the conflict over the ridge."

Gao Yu was still a little unwilling to accept it, after all, disputes over ridges were common disputes between neighbors. However, he really couldn't find any other witnesses to prove that Li Yun destroyed his crops, so he had to give up.

"Sir, this is what happened. My family has about ten acres of land next to the Li family. Every year when we cultivate and repair the ridges, the Li family likes to push the ridges into the neighboring fields. At the beginning, I argued with them, but Li Yun said that it was the tenants or farmhands who did it, and then repaired the ridges a little further back. Later, as it happened more and more, Li Yun began to get impatient, and sometimes his farmhands would scold us and drive us away."

At this point, Gao Yu's chest heaved, with a look of humiliation on his face. It was obvious that the farmhands had indeed cursed him very harshly.

"Later, Li Yun came to me and said he wanted to buy my land and merge it with his, so that it would be more convenient for him to farm and I wouldn't have to worry about him always driving his ridges towards my field.

Originally I thought this wasn't a solution and I was quite annoyed, so I would sell it to him if the price was right.

But the price he offered was unfair, so we didn't reach an agreement in the end. Since then, his farmhands have become more aggressive and have been blatantly repairing the ridges on my land. After several failed attempts at argument, they even resorted to violence.

I really had no other choice but to report to the county government. However, the magistrate casually sent the case to the village elder to make the decision. The village elder then tried to reconcile the two sides and then casually sent me away.

I couldn't stand it anymore, so I went to the county government to report it.

Although I knew that the Li family was on good terms with the county magistrate, I thought that the county magistrate was the father of the county and would not openly take sides in such a matter. As a result, the county magistrate simply ordered Li Yun to repair the ridge and left it alone, but Li Yun continued to do as he pleased.

It was not until later that the magistrate openly imprisoned us in order to protect the Li Yun brothers that I realized that the magistrate and the Li family were in cahoots. "

Tian Zongyao originally thought that he should just hide aside and try not to attract attention.

Since the inspector was willing to protect him, it would be fine as long as no one mentioned him in the hall. But who knew that Gao Yu suddenly turned his attention from the dispute with the Li family over the field ridges to his imprisonment of several successful candidates in the imperial examination.

"Gao Xiucai, don't talk nonsense. I just kept you in the prison temporarily because I was afraid that something might happen."

"Keep us in the detention center temporarily? We all have meritorious service, and even the inspector cannot keep us in the detention center. Why do you want to keep us in detention?"

Tian Zongyao broke out in sweat again and quietly looked at Qin Yunhe's reaction.

In fact, Qin Yunhe was also quite troubled by Gao Yu's sudden mention of the magistrate detaining them.

Qin Yunhe saw that Gao Yu, Lin Chan and others had no actual evidence to support their accusations against Tian Zongyao.

The little that has happened so far is not enough to do anything to Tian Zongyao. Even if he is temporarily dismissed, I am afraid that in the end he will be demoted at most, or even fined...

There is really no need to scold him in class at this time.

Qin Yunhe originally wanted to deal with the Li family's matter first and then find a way to investigate Tian Zongyao.

When Tian Zongyao saw that Qin Yunhe just frowned and didn't react much, he immediately became more certain of what he was thinking.

"Your Excellency the Inspector, please allow me to report that this matter was indeed handled improperly by this humble official, and I also wanted to avoid causing more trouble."

Gao Yu and the others saw Qin Yunhe's reaction and obviously felt that the inspector was intentionally protecting the magistrate, so their expressions became a little strange.

Qin Yunhe smiled bitterly in his heart. These people couldn't possibly think that he had received some benefits from the county magistrate.

Thinking of this, Qin Yunhe couldn't help but glance at Gao Yuan who was standing outside the hall listening to the trial.

If he came in Gao Yu's place, what would he do?

Of course, this thought only lasted for a moment. Qin Yunhe said in a deep voice: "County Magistrate Tian, ​​don't you know that gentry cannot be tortured or detained? Moreover, Gao Yu and others are students of your county. As a county magistrate, where do you put your students? Where do you put the law?!

At this moment, I have to deal with Brother Li Yun's affairs, and I will judge your crime later."

"Yes, yes." Tian Zongyao looked terrified, but he felt more at ease in his heart.

Although Gao Yu and others were still not satisfied, they didn't say anything in the end.

Qin Yunhe asked: "Gao Yu, can anyone prove that the Li family's long-term workers drove you away and insulted you?"

"Yes. The temporary workers I hired can prove it. They arrived today."

Qin Yunhe nodded: "Did the Li family's long-term workers drive you away and hurt you?"

If you are injured, you can still be held accountable.

Gao Yu hesitated for a moment, then said aggrievedly, "No injuries."

Qin Yun understood clearly.

After all, he was a scholar, and the farmhands probably only dared to threaten him. It was impossible for Gao Yu to fight with them. He would probably just run away as soon as they threatened him.

In comparison, the element of humiliation is stronger.

"Summon Gao Yu's hired servant to the classroom."

Soon Gao Yu's employees were brought up, and after questioning, their statements were consistent with Gao Yu's.

The situation was exactly as Qin Yunhe had thought. It was really too humiliating for a scholar.

Otherwise, perhaps Gao Yu and others would not have repeatedly reported the Li Yun brothers.

The Li Yun brothers probably knew that they would not be punished for the dispute over the ridge, but the matter of Liu Laoguan's granddaughter's interest discount was more troublesome, so they did not speak up afterwards.

After asking all the questions, Qin Yunhe asked Mr. Liu: "Mr. Liu, who in the Li family was in charge of the loan, debt collection, and using your granddaughter to offset the interest?"

Judging from the age of Li Yun brothers, their father should still be alive. I wonder who is in charge of these matters.

Mr. Liu had a bitter look on his face and didn't know what to say, so he just secretly glanced at Li Yun's brothers.

Li Yun's face was cold and hard, and she gritted her teeth and said, "I'm the one who makes the decision."

Qin Yunhe said: "The granddaughter of Liu Laoguan was sentenced to return to her own family. According to the law, those who use private debts to take away other people's wives, concubines and children will be caned 100 times. Those who privately lend money or pawn property, no matter how many years or months, can only return the principal and interest. Those who violate this will be caned 40 times."

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Let me say here that the penalties are all based on those in the Qing Dynasty.

I was puzzled when I saw many cases in the Qing Dynasty where people were beaten with 80 or 100 sticks. How many people would die if they were beaten with this kind of stick? Later, I learned that starting from the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, people used to calculate the punishment based on a 40% reduction and then remove the decimals. For example, 80 sticks were only used for 30 strokes.

Although the regulations of each dynasty vary greatly, they all basically consider that if the person is beaten to death, it is no different from the death penalty, so each dynasty has its own regulations to avoid this situation as much as possible. (Except for the abnormal court caning in the Ming Dynasty, which was a special case)