My life skills in Daming Liver

Xiong Yue died.

In Su Ze's room, there was also the tea leaves given by Xiong Yue when they met for the first time in the county school that day.

Su Ze thought again of that day in the county school dormitory, when everyone talked about "returning to the original heart", Xiong Yue bluntly said that his goal of studying was to "seek fame".

As a classmate from the county school, Xiong Yue is a tea farmer in Mount Wuyi, and he is considered the best of the four. Every time he goes to the city, he will bring some small gifts for everyone, and he studies very hard.

But such a person died suddenly.

A sad expression flashed across Su Ze's face, and he immediately asked Lin Qingcai to sit down, and asked, "How did Xiong Yue die?"

Lin Qingcai showed a sad and indignant expression on his face: "The county government said that he slipped and fell into the water."

Hearing Lin Qingcai's tone, Su Ze knew that there was something inside. He asked, "How did Xiong Yue fall into the water?"

Lin Qingcai said slowly: "Brother Chen said that there is something hidden behind this case. The Xiong family filed a lawsuit, but it was suppressed."

Su Ze immediately understood, no wonder Lin Qingcai hurried over, he stood up and said, "Let's go to Xiong's house!"

It was almost evening when the two set off from Changningwei and arrived at the Xiongjia Tea Garden at the foot of Wuyi Mountain.

There is a taboo of not paying condolences at funerals after noon. At this time, a white cloth was tied on the door of Xiong's house, and the door was deserted, except for the sound of sobbing.

Su Ze also ignored these taboos, straightened his clothes, stepped into the gate of Xiong's house with Lin Qingcai, and saw the mourning hall at a glance.

Why are there two coffins?

Su Ze and Lin Qingcai hurried over and saw Xiong Yue's mother in filial piety, sitting on the ground crying and burning paper money.

Chen Chaoyuan was wearing the clothes of the guests and was helping the geotechnical workers. When he saw Su Ze and Lin Qingcai, he immediately greeted them.

"Brother Su, you are finally here."

Su Ze and Chen Chaoyuan saluted, and quickly asked, "What happened to Brother Xiong?"

Chen Chaoyuan pointed to Xiong Yue's mother who was burning paper money and said, "Brother Su, let's meet the old lady first."

When the Japanese invasion was not serious last time, Hai Rui said that Xiong Yue's mother was ill, so he temporarily dropped out of school and went back to take care of her mother.

Su Ze and Chen Lin also bought some medicines to nourish their bodies, and went to visit Xiong Yue, who had met his mother.

Unexpectedly, after only one month, Xiong Yue was already dead.

Xiong Yue's mother's hair was all white, and she was so emaciated that she was beyond human shape. Su Ze said quickly: "Madam, Su Ze is here to pay respects to Brother Xiong."

Only then did Xiong Yue's mother turn her face away, and when she saw Su Ze, she quickly stood up, Su Ze supported her and said, "Old Madam, wait until I pay homage to Brother Xiong first."

When Su Ze walked to the coffin, Chen Chaoyuan, who was in charge of the guests, shouted, "Condolences!"

Su Ze bowed to the coffin according to the etiquette system, and saw the tablet on the other coffin next to it read "the spirit of my late husband Xiong Gong Mao Cheng Gong", and was shocked again.

After expressing condolences to the two coffins, Su Ze walked up to Xiong Yue's mother and asked:

"Madam, Mr. Xiong?"

The Duke Xiong that Su Ze asked was naturally Xiong Yue's father, and Xiong Yue hadn't married yet, so the "first husband" on the coffin just now was naturally set by Mrs. Xiong.

Xiong Yue's mother burst into tears and said: "After Yue'er died, his father was also irritated. The county government failed to bring the lawsuit. After bringing the body back, his father invited Yue'er to the local court and arranged Yue'er's death. Afterwards, he took the medicine and left."

Lin Qingcai said hastily, "My condolences to the old lady."

Su Ze looked at the two coffins in the mourning hall. The Xiong family was originally a well-off family, but the father and son died one after another. He asked Lin Qingcai to tell the truth about the case, and Su Ze felt the injustice from it.

Su Ze cupped his hands and said, "Madam, is there a lawsuit from the county government?"

Xiong Yue's mother took Su Ze's hand and said, "Su Xianggong, Yue'er often mentioned you when he was studying in the county school, saying that you are a capable scholar!"

After saying this, Mother Xiong took out a lawsuit from her body, handed it to Su Ze and said, "This is the lawsuit that his father asked the county lawyer to write after Yue'er died."

Su Ze took it over, and the lawsuit was an indictment to the yamen, which stated the reasons for the lawsuit. Su Ze soon saw that the lawsuit was against a gambling house in the county government.

Flying Tiger Casino?

Su Ze didn't hear Xiong Yue mention this gambling house, nor did he hear that Xiong Yue had a bad habit of gambling?

The content of the lawsuit is very clear. Xiong Yue went to Feihu Casino on the afternoon of October 2 to find out the theory of the casino, but he didn't leave Feihu Casino that day. After sunrise the next day, Xiong Yue's body appeared in Fujian Province. On the edge of a tributary of the river.

Su Ze closed the pleading paper and asked, "Why did Brother Xiong go to Feihu Casino?"

Xiong Yue's mother sobbed and said, "It's all his father's fault. If he hadn't gotten into the bad habit of gambling, Yue'er wouldn't have gone to the gambling house to argue and killed himself!"

Xiong Yue's mother was about to collapse, when Chen Chaoyuan walked over and said:

"This pleading paper was written by my elder brother who is a lawyer. Let me tell you why."

It turned out that Xiong Yue's father, Xiong Maocheng, had contracted the bad habit of gambling in the county town, and owed hundreds of taels of silver in the gambling house, and he was still a usury who returned nine out of ten and thirteen out.

When Father Xiong was looking for a way to raise money, he happened to encounter the matter of Wuyishan changing tribute to silver.

At the meeting to discuss the proportion of silver discounts, Yuanwai Cai, who presided over the meeting, took out the IOU of the gambling house usury.

It turned out that this Feihu gambling house was owned by Cai Yuanwai's family. Cai Yuanwai negotiated with Xiong's father with the IOU and set an annual tribute of 50 taels of silver for his family's tea garden, so that the usury loan could be written off.

In addition, Cai Yuanwai also said that after five years, the amount of tribute silver can be renegotiated, and then it will be shared according to the amount of tea produced by each family.

Father Xiong was also desperate, so he agreed to Cai Yuanwai's suggestion on the spot, signed the deed to bear the tribute and silver share, got the usury IOU, and burned it on the spot.

But two months ago, the moneylender from Feihu Gambling came to the door again, and presented the same IOU again, demanding that Father Xiong pay back the money.

Xiong's father was pressed for debts, so he had to confess to his wife and son that he owed money from gambling and why he had to bear fifty taels of tribute a year. Xiong's mother was so angry that she became ill.

But since he had assumed more tribute money, this account should be written off, and the gambling house sent someone to collect the debt, so Xiong Yue first came to Cai Yuanwai to argue.

But Mr. Cai didn't see anyone outside, so Xiong Yue could only find Feihu Casino, and then what happened on the pleadings happened.

Su Ze's "Criminal Law" skill also has Lv1. He also has an understanding of the judicial procedures of the Ming Dynasty. The court will definitely accept a lawsuit that involves human life. He asked, "Human life is at stake. Didn't Baizhi County hear the case?"

Mother Xiong said: "The county government took the pleadings and the shopkeeper of the gambling shop, but they released them soon. The county government said that Yue'er fell into the water by mistake, and asked us not to make false accusations at will, and returned Yue'er's body. We will be buried as soon as possible."

Su Ze asked angrily, "Is there any county government who is willing to settle?"

Mother Xiong took out another document with the seal of the county government. Ganjie is the county government's case closure notice. Su Ze saw the Ganjie document written by Baizhi County himself.

As a result of the processing, it was determined that the Xiong family was a false accusation, and the case was abandoned. However, Nian lost his son at the Xiong family and will not be held accountable.

However, it is also determined that the IOU in the hands of the gambling house is invalid, and Feihu Casino is not allowed to continue to collect debts from the Xiong family.

Seeing the way of dealing with the 50 boards each, Su Ze already had a preliminary judgment in his mind.

This is a typical Ming-style judgment in Baizhi County. Both parties will hit 50 boards each, and try not to let vicious criminal cases appear in their own jurisdictions.

Homicide is a major case, and the trial procedures for homicide cases are complicated, and both parties may appeal to the government for retrial.

The judgment of the homicide case had to be reported to the yamen of the Ministry of Punishment of the imperial court and the yamen of the provincial inspectorate. If the criminal was to be executed, it still needed the emperor's and even the cabinet's instructions.

Therefore, the Ming officials' judgments on these cases are all in the hope that major events will be reduced to minor matters, and they must not be turned into murder lawsuits.

Su Ze saw Father Xiong Maocheng's signature and affidavit on Gan Jie's document, so he knew that the result of the settlement was negotiated between the county office and Father Xiong.

Ganjie is the closing document, which must be signed by both parties of the prosecution and the defendant.

Baizhi County probably persuaded Xiong's father to cancel the usury of the gambling house, and the case was closed by mistake and drowning.

After Xiong's father finished handling the case, he was ashamed of his family and his wife, and committed suicide after arranging his son's funeral.

After reading Gan Jie, Su Ze pulled Chen Chaoyuan and said:

"Brother Chen, what's the inside story of this case?"

Chen Chaoyuan's elder brother was a litigator who assisted in writing the pleadings, so naturally he also assisted the Xiong family in the lawsuit.

Chen Chaoyuan took Su Ze outside the mourning hall and said:

"My clan brother is helping the Xiong family with the lawsuit. This case is actually two cases."

"One is Father Xiong's IOU. The officials in the punishment room judged that the IOU held by Feihu Casino was written by Mr. Maocheng himself, so it is true."

"What about the IOU that Cai Yuanwai presented at the tribute meeting?"

Chen Chaoyuan said in a low voice: "It should be fake, but Father Xiong burned it on the spot."

Su Ze understood now.

Things should go like this:

Father Xiong became addicted to gambling and owed usury at Feihu Casino.

At the meeting discussing the distribution of tribute silver, Cai Yuanwai took a fake IOU and asked Xiong's father to sign the contract. The Xiong family tea garden distributed more tribute silver, and the debt of the gambling house was cancelled.

Father Xiong agreed to Yuanwai Cai's suggestion and burned the fake IOU on the spot.

The gambling house brought real IOUs to collect debts, Xiong Yue went to the gambling house and Cai's family to reason, but Cai didn't see any customers, so Xiong Yue went to the gambling house and died.

The Xiong family sued the gambling house, and the Baizhi County made such a harsh judgment to cancel the debt of Xiong's father, but he refused to let the Xiong family pursue the life lawsuit again.

Su Ze slapped the case and said: "Human life is at stake! The county government has closed the case so hastily!"

Chen Chaoyuan sighed and said: "Mr. Maocheng is responsible for this case. He burned the fake IOU on the spot at the tribute silver meeting that day, and the agreement with Cai Yuanwai was also a verbal agreement. The deed of tribute silver did not state that the Xiong family The reason for the fifty taels of silver a year."

"My clan brother also found other tea garden owners who attended the meeting, but none of them were willing to testify to the Xiong family."

"That is to say, there is only the testimony of Mr. Maocheng, and there is no evidence for the matter of paying more tribute to pay off the debt?"

Chen Chaoyuan nodded and said, "That's exactly the case. There is no basis for what you say. The Cai family doesn't need to come out to respond to this alone."

Chen Chaoyuan said again: "Mr. Maocheng is confused. He signed the willingness to agree to close the case in order to cancel the gambling debt, but he felt sorry for Brother Xiong's suicide. This leaves the old lady. How can he keep the tea garden?"

Su Ze nodded, eating out of households is quite common in ancient and modern China and abroad, mother Xiong certainly cannot keep the family business by herself.

Su Ze clenched his fists, walked up to Mother Bear and said:

"Madam, what are you going to do with this case?"

Mother Xiong lost her son and then her husband. She was already skinny and skinny. She wiped her tears and said, "The old woman is left alone, so what can I do? Just wait for the funeral of the deceased husband and son to be completed, and I will close my eyes and wait for death." That's it."

Su Ze said: "Old Madam, we are Brother Xiong's classmates, and we are still here, this case can't just be left alone!"

Mother Xiong looked at Su Ze, and Chen Chaoyuan said: "Brother Su, Gan Jie has already signed the contract. Now that Mr. Mao Cheng has passed away, it is very difficult to turn this case over."

Su Ze said: "Gan Jie has already signed, but there is still a case pending. Mr. Cai forged an IOU to deceive Mr. Maocheng into paying more tribute. This case has not yet been clarified."

Chen Chaoyuan immediately understood Su Ze's meaning. Since there was no way to file the case from Xiong Yue's death, he should file the case from another place.

As long as the case is established, the cause of Xiong Yue's death can be investigated according to the facts of the case, which means the case can be overturned.

Chen Chaoyuan quickly said with a bitter face: "But this case must be sued in person. Mr. Mao Cheng has passed away, how to sue?"

Su Ze said: "Mr. Mao Cheng has passed away, and the old lady can sue."

Chen Chaoyuan immediately said: "The county government will definitely not accept it."

Chen Chaoyuan has assisted his clan brother as a lawyer for many years, and he also knows the law of the Ming Dynasty.

Women in the Tang and Song dynasties filed lawsuits, but the Daming law went backwards, stipulating that women were not allowed to file lawsuits.

Using the terminology of modern jurisprudence, women in the Ming Dynasty were not independent subjects of legal responsibility and could not file lawsuits.

Although Su Ze's criminal law is only Lv1, the basic procedure is in his heart. He said: "In the "Law of the Ming Dynasty", women are not allowed to sue, but if I can sue the old lady, then I can submit a paper to the county government. gone."

Chen Chaoyuan quickly said: "Brother Su, no!"

"The accuser and the accused are guilty of the same crime in the law of the Ming Dynasty! If the case fails and the other party turns the accusation into a false accusation, brother Su will also be implicated, and the county examination will be held next year. If he bears the guilt, he will not be able to participate in the imperial examination. !"

Suing is tantamount to a system of litigation representation, because women are not independent subjects of legal responsibility, so they cannot initiate litigation.

But the Ming Law also stipulates that as long as someone serves as a complaint, a lawsuit can be filed.

The complaint bears the same responsibility as the plaintiff. For example, if Su Ze made the report of the bear mother, the county magistrate who tried the case would inquire about the case. Ze to bear.

That is to say, suing is tantamount to being tied to the accused person and bearing legal responsibilities together, so that the woman can go to court as an independent legal subject.

Su Ze shook his head and said, "I'll have someone investigate it first, and then go to court when I'm ready. Brother Chen, please introduce your clan brother."

In addition to being used for women, the complaint system is also used in lawsuits against raw workers and officials.

Because the law of the Ming Dynasty can't use torture on these people casually, so please sue.

This system is weird and unreasonable. This chapter in the next chapter will talk about the significance of this system.