The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

On the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month in the 21st year of the reign of Qin Wangzheng, the continuous rain and snow finally ended. Under the shining winter sun, the temperature in Anlu began to rise. The soldiers and farmers who had stayed at home to avoid the cold in the past few days also began to go out. The headline of their chat was naturally the "Chaoyang Village Officials and Thieves Grave Robbery Case" that shocked the entire Anlu County a few days ago!

In the county prison in Anlu County, after several days of interrogation by the prison official Xi, the case was basically settled and the curtain fell...

In this case, Heifu, the head of Huyang Pavilion, discovered the truth of the anonymous letter and followed the clues to capture the tomb robber and the village official Bo Wu. As an important witness, he was summoned to the county for several consecutive days to participate in the trial of the case.

During the interrogation, Lord Xi continued to perform normally, accurately following the terms of Qin law and unraveling the mystery. The thieves were defeated by his continuous questioning and confessed their crimes one after another. Even those who refused to admit their crimes bowed their heads in front of the dense evidence.

Among them, the grave robber leader who pretended to be "Chang" and whose real name was "Xing" was the most heinous.

According to Xi's investigation, this "Xing" was originally a public official in Jiangling County, Nanjun. He robbed Chu tombs in Yiling and Jiangling several times. After being reported, he abandoned his family and fled to Xinshi County. After hiding in the mountains and forests of Xinshi for several months, Xing changed his name and called himself "Chang" and began to reorganize the grave robbery gang. They hid during the day and sneaked at night, causing trouble to many tombs in Xinshi and Anlu, and the Dou Xin Tomb in Anlu was the biggest crime...

Except for Shao Nian Xing and the unlucky guy who died, Xing's several accomplices were all Qin people, either fugitives and wanderers like Xing, or poor people nearby. These three Qin people were finally sentenced to "tattooing for city days" for "grave robbery", that is, tattooing on the face, joining the engineering operation team of Anlu County, and there is no prison term, it is permanent...

As for Xing himself, as the organizer of this tomb robbery, his crime is more serious. In addition to "grave robbery", there are also "Jiang Yang", "recidivism", "instigation" and other crimes. He was sentenced to the cruelest punishment in Qin law: chariot dismemberment!

Chariot dismemberment is also called "Huán", which is commonly known as "five horses dismembering a body" in later times. It doesn't need much explanation to understand how terrible this punishment is. Moreover, it was different from the "crucification" that Heifu had captured before. That was a humiliation after death, but the chariot was torn to pieces in public, and the body was torn to death alive...

Even though Xing was a daring villain who dared to wear the clothes of a dead person, he was still pale and his eyes were dull when facing such torture. It was not only him who was unlucky, but also his parents, wife, and children, all of whom would become slaves.

After the verdict was announced, Xi asked someone to summon the boy "Xing" who was pulled out of the tomb by Heifu.

Next, this was the most amazing part of this trial for Heifu. He knew for the first time that Qin had a law to protect minors!

...

Xi first asked Xing about his hometown and age again. Xing claimed to be from Edi, Chu State, and lived in Xiakou. His parents died in the flood the year before last. He was helpless and was tempted by a fellow villager who gave him food to cross the river with him to Anlu, Qin State, and was forced to join the tomb-robbing gang.

Xing said he was 14 years old, but Xi did not believe him. He said, "In the 16th year of the king, the age of Qin men was first recorded, and 17 years old was considered an adult, and 15 years old was considered an adult for women. You are from Chu, and this official has no way to check whether your place of origin and age are true. I can only judge by height according to the old rules. Men who are 6 feet 5 inches tall and women who are 6 feet tall are considered adults, and are called big men and big women. Those who are not this height are little men and little women..."

As he said this, he asked the jailer to bring out a "Qin ruler" for measuring height, and measured it on the spot. It was found that Xing's height was less than 6 feet, which is about 1.3 meters. He was indeed a "little man" and a minor.

This is much easier.

When several of his accomplices were sentenced to face tattooing and imprisonment, and Xing was even sentenced to being torn apart by a chariot, Xing was trembling with fear. He felt that the county prison court of Qin was much more terrifying than the depths of the tomb, and he was afraid that he would be in danger this time...

But when Xi announced his verdict, Xing was overjoyed!

"Although Xing participated in the tomb robbery, he was forced and instigated by others, and his height was less than six feet, so he should be punished lightly. He will be punished to work in the Yinguan, and when he reaches adulthood, he can be granted the title of a scholar and become a Qin citizen..."

The so-called "Yinguan" is a special institution in Qin, an official workshop for accommodating people who have been released from prison after serving their sentences. Those who have performed well and their families, or victims who have been tortured in unjust, false and wrong cases and can no longer find a place in society, will be arranged to Yinguan. There, they can do not-too-heavy work and have a meal.

It can be said that the status of Yinguan is between common people and slaves.

Compared with the horrific chariot torn apart, this was a very light punishment. Xing immediately bowed his head repeatedly to thank Xi for his forgiveness.

"It's not me who forgives you."

Xi's face was neither happy nor worried. He said lightly: "It's the law that should be so..."

Not only was Xing overjoyed, but even Heifu had learned something. It turned out that in the Qin State, minors who were instigated to commit crimes were not criminally responsible; or although they were held criminally responsible, their criminal responsibility was reduced in punishment.

And instigating minors to commit crimes, even if they only instigated them to steal ten coins, would be punished by crucifixion! This is also one of the reasons why Xing was sentenced heavily.

Heifu couldn't help but sigh. In the future, those villains who instigated minors to commit crimes, mutilated children's limbs, and made these children steal and beg near the train station, even if they were caught, would only be sentenced to a few years, which was too light.

The idea of the Qin State Law is very clear: to eradicate crime, start from childhood, and the lenient punishment for minors is a rare brilliance of humanity in the cruel Qin Law...

Of course, if a teenager commits a serious crime, such as murder, the law will not allow pardon, but the execution of a minor in public is still not allowed by the Qin Law. He must be imprisoned until he is tall enough and old enough before being punished accordingly.

Then, Quji, the official of Chaoyangli who sent the anonymous letter, was sentenced to a fine of three Jia, equivalent to more than 4,000 half a liang of money.

Seeing Quji's sad face after thanking him, Hei Fu felt a little sorry. Quji was probably the only innocent person in this case. He anonymously reported the case out of a guilty conscience, but ended up like this.

Hei Fu thought he would be forgiven and reduced in punishment like Shao Nianxing, but he didn't in the end, because the Qin Law imposed a one-size-fits-all punishment on anonymous reporters, and there was no precedent for reduction.

As for the Li Jianmen Bo Wu who robbed the tomb and colluded with the tomb robbers, he was also severely punished. He was sentenced to tattooing his face and was sent to Qianzhong County to guard the border. All the money and silk obtained from the stolen goods were confiscated. His family members who knew about it but did not report it were also punished to work as city laborers...

This was because Bo Wu had the title of "Shangzao", which offset part of the guilt, otherwise he might not have escaped death.

Hei Fu had seen a similar situation once, but this time, he did not have to be indignant about the fact that "Shangzao" could reduce the punishment.

Because after the trial, the county immediately announced the reward for the people of Huyang Pavilion for capturing the thieves and getting the dirty stuff!

First of all, the title of Hei Fu, the pavilion chief who performed well, was promoted from Gongshi to Shangzao!

At the moment of hearing the reward, everyone in Huyang Pavilion congratulated "Shangzao Heifu", but Heifu only cursed in his heart...

"I finally got promoted!"

...

"Prison official! Please go slowly!"

Just after the day's loss (13:00 to 15:00), Xi finished his work and walked out of the main hall of the county prison wearing a Xiezhi on his head, but heard someone calling him from behind. When he turned around, it was Heifu who had just been promoted to Shangzao.

Gongshi and Shangzao can be awarded at the county level. Heifu's promotion to Shangzao has been completed. The brown hairband on the top of his head has been replaced with a reddish-brown scarf, which wraps up the whole bun. This is the symbol of "Shangzao".

Zao means success. The so-called Shangzao means that there is a destiny from the upper level. People of this status can basically be used as minor officials. As a 2nd-level noble, Shangzao still had to serve, but he received more land and houses, and could command two servants. Most importantly, if he broke the law, as long as it was not treason, murder, or desertion, he could offset part of the crime.

Heifu walked a few steps to Xi and bowed, saying, "Heifu was promoted twice, all thanks to the prison officials' impartial law enforcement and fair rewards and punishments. Heifu would like to thank the prison officials!"

Xi was still the same, shaking his head and saying, "I have said that if you want to thank someone, thank Qin Law, not me. We Qin officials are just doing things according to the law, that's all."

Heifu nodded in agreement, and then said hesitantly, "There is one more thing, Heifu has doubts in his heart, and I want to ask the prison officials in person..."

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