The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

But Xi said: "Shi Wu Heifu captured the Qin murderer Pan and a Chu thief, and he should be rewarded with 9 taels. Ji Ying captured a Chu thief and he should be rewarded with 2 taels."

Ji Ying found something wrong when he heard it, and asked hurriedly: "Sir, don't you get 14 gold for every person captured alive?"

"No." Xi shook his head and said: "The law says that if you capture a group of thieves, you will get a reward of 14 taels. That's right. But Pan and others are less than five people, so they don't constitute a group of thieves. This has been said before. The law also stipulates that if you capture a murderer in your own country, you will be rewarded with 7 gold. As for foreign thieves, no matter they are dead or alive, they will only be rewarded with 2 gold..."

"So that's it!" Heifu suddenly realized that it seems that Qin law is not only very detailed in punishment, but also very stingy in rewards. Sure enough, the reward money is not so easy to get, and doesn't this mean that foreigners are worthless?

But in this way, the rewards they received were reduced a lot. Heifu was not only a little bit hurt, but also felt that these thieves had to die. Why did they have to die in four people?

What he didn't know was that the crime of group theft was only counted against Qin people. Even if 10 Chu people and 4 Qin people were thieves together, it would not constitute the crime of group theft...

At this time, Xi asked again: "Do you still have doubts?"

"I do!"

Before Heifu and Ji Ying could answer, a loud shout came from the hall. The bearded thief Pan, who had already confessed his guilt, struggled to get up from the ground, carrying his shackles and protested: "I said I was worth 14 gold, why is it halved now!"

This made people laugh and cry. Heifu looked at Pan helplessly, while Xi was used to seeing this kind of prisoners. With a wave of his hand, the jailer took the screaming Pan away. What awaited him was to return to his hometown for public display and cruel execution.

Even after being dragged far away, Pan's voice still echoed in the county jail: "Heifu, you promised to let me see the gold! It was 14 gold! I don't accept it, I don't accept it!"

Heifu was stunned. When a man was about to die, the last thing he thought about was this matter. I really don't know whether to mourn or sigh...

It's a pity that Pan didn't get to touch the gold until he died!

Xi coughed and Heifu came back to his senses.

"Your reward will be collected today after I report it to the county magistrate and county magistrate, but..."

Xi looked at Heifu, thinking.

The law said that in any interrogation of a case, the confession must be heard and recorded first, and the interrogated person must be asked to speak voluntarily as much as possible. Even if you know there is a lie, don't question it immediately, and record the doubts first. When both parties have nothing to say, the judge will question them one by one according to the doubts.

For so many years, Xi has been trying cases according to the procedure of "listening - questioning - explaining".

But today was different. Although he knew that the confessions of Huyang Pavilion Chief and Merchant Pan had big problems, he did not point them out, intending to expose them all at once in the end. Unexpectedly, Hei Fu used flexible questioning to make those people reveal their flaws, so he didn't have to bother...

If Hei Fu was a student who studied law in the school, or an official who had been engaged in interrogation for many years, Xi would not be surprised, but Hei Fu was just a soldier who could read a little, and there was no official in his family, which made people feel surprised.

"This boy is a promising talent. If he was born as a son of an official, I would have wanted him to study law in the school."

So Xi said earnestly: "Heifu, I see that you are good at martial arts, can write and read, and speak properly when questioned, but you are just a soldier. It's a pity."

"Thank you for your praise!" Heifu heard Xi's appreciation for him and said hurriedly: "I also hope to contribute to the country, but I have no title."

Xi smiled and said: "The title is not difficult to obtain. Now is an opportunity."

Heifu was stunned: "What opportunity?"

"You don't know?" Xi looked at him strangely and explained: "Capturing a murderer alive is equivalent to beheading one level! You can get a reward of 7 taels, or be granted a title."

"Is that so?" Heifu looked at Ji Ying. That day, Ji Ying told him how much reward he could get for catching a thief, but he didn't mention the title.

"I also heard about it from the village clerk, but I only remembered the reward." Ji Ying scratched his head. In fact, this makes sense. Although the Qin State advocated that officials popularize the law to the people, no matter how much popularization, the common people still have only a partial understanding.

Xi pointed out to him: "If you are willing to give up the 7 taels of gold, you can be promoted to a public official. Are you willing?"

As soon as this was said, Hei Fu, who was a little disappointed that he had lost most of the reward, was overjoyed.

He never expected that the coveted title would be within his reach at this moment!

This account is not difficult to calculate. Although the money can be obtained immediately, it will be spent in a year or two. The title is a stable job. Although there is not much income in a short period of time, the land given by the government alone, the grain grown over time, is more than seven gold-although like in later generations, the ownership of those lands is still the state, the person is not allowed to buy or sell, and has to pay heavy taxes every year.

After a brief thought, Hei Fu immediately bowed and said, "Thank you for your advice, I am willing to get the title!"

...

When he walked out of the main hall of the county prison, Ji Ying's mouth was almost crooked with laughter.

Although his misunderstanding of the law led to only 2 gold in the end instead of the 14 gold reward, but when it was exchanged for more than a thousand half-liang coins, it was still heavy in his bag. The coins were strung together with a thread, and they jingled when he walked, which sounded extremely pleasant...

"So much money, if converted into food, is enough for me to eat for more than half a year."

He couldn't help but look at Hei Fu who was walking in front of him with gratitude, and as soon as he walked out of the hall, he bowed to Hei Fu fiercely!

"Ji Ying, what are you doing?"

Hei Fu also had a reward of more than a thousand yuan in his bag. He hurried to help Ji Ying, but Ji Ying did not get up. Instead, he said with emotion: "I, Ji Ying, know my own ability. Thanks to Brother Hei Fu's support, I can catch thieves with you and get these rewards."

"Besides, if Brother Hei Fu had not exposed the perjury of the dog pavilion chief and the profiteer in the court just now, I am afraid that I would have been shaved and reduced to a prisoner..."

When Ji Ying thought of the beating he had received, Xi's ruthlessness, and the heavy sentences of the people involved in the case, he shuddered and was terrified.

"Thinking about it this way, Brother Hei Fu, you are my savior!"

As he said this, he bowed his head heavily to Hei Fu!

Hei Fu sighed in his heart that although Ji Ying was talkative, he was not very thoughtful. The reason why he shared the credit with him at that time was that he considered that one person could not escort three thieves. What happened afterwards further proved that Heifu's decision was correct. If Jiying had not been given credit at that time, it is hard to say that he would have been coerced and bribed by the head of Huyang Pavilion and testified against himself during the interrogation...

Human nature is evil and selfish. This is the fundamental basis for Shang Yang to establish the laws of the Qin State, and it is also a fact. Heifu was reborn as a human being, and lived in the Qin State with detailed and strict laws. He had to be careful with every step, so how could he not be more careful?

But now, Jiying completely regarded him as a benefactor, which is also a good thing.

Hei Fu finally pulled Ji Ying up, patted the dust off his body, and said with a smile: "We are brothers, why be polite? In the next month, you and I will serve as night guards in the county, and we need to support each other."

"That's right..."

Ji Ying then remembered something, looked at Hei Fu's head and smiled: "I haven't congratulated you yet, you are a nobleman, this is a good thing! From now on, you are a nobleman!"

Hei Fu also became happy, and touched his head. The black cloth wrapped outside the bun, representing the identity of the common people, had been taken off and replaced with a brown scarf.

Just now, Hei Fu witnessed the swift and decisive work of the Qin government. He had just said that he intended to become a public official, and then Xi asked someone to send the results of today's trial and rewards to the county temple and hand them over to the county magistrate and county lieutenant for review.

It turns out that the titles of Gongshi and Shangzao are determined by the county government where their native place is located; the titles above that must be reported to the county; those above the rank of Dafu must be reported to Xianyang.

The work of determining titles must be completed within three days, otherwise the county lieutenant in charge will be removed from his post.

Because the government had just issued a document to confirm Heifu's identity two days ago, and the procedures were complete, it only took an hour for the county lieutenant to approve it:

"Shiwu Heifu captured a murderer and thief, which is equivalent to beheading him, and he can be awarded one level of title and be granted the title of Gongshi!"

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