The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

The patrol officer of Yushui Township was named Wu. Because he was the third in line in his family, everyone called him Shuwu.

The patrol officers, like the township officials and the three elders, were all township-level officials. Their ranks were higher than those of Heifu, the head of the pavilion. Their annual salary was 100 stones, equivalent to the director of the township police station. Their duties were almost the same as those of Heifu, the head of the pavilion, except that they had the task of organizing the training of the township guards.

Although the head of the pavilion was directly under the county lieutenant system, the patrol officers were one level higher and were also equivalent to the superiors, with the power to guide the pavilion department. So when Heifu took office in December, he went to the township and met Shuwu specifically.

At that time, Shuwu encouraged him a lot and pointed out some matters that needed to be paid attention to as a head of the pavilion as a senior, so Heifu had a good impression of the patrol officer.

Later, the letter-writing tomb robbery case was directly intervened by the county. The township only sent Shuwu to inquire about the situation and participated in the seizure of the property of the prison gate in Chaoyangli. Since the beginning of spring, no major incidents have occurred in Huyang Pavilion. Even petty thieves are afraid of Heifu's name and dare not commit crimes in the jurisdiction of Huyang Pavilion. Since there is no official business to be handed over, the two have no intersection.

Until one day in late March, Shuwu suddenly came to Huyang Pavilion...

"I didn't know that the patrol was coming, and I didn't welcome it from afar. The officials are guilty!"

Heifu was learning archery with Xiaotao in the backyard at the time. When he heard that the patrol was coming, he hurried out and bowed before Shuwu entered the door.

Shuwu was in his forties, with a square face and two black beards on his chin. He looked very kind.

He helped Heifu up and took a look at the brand new scarf on Heifu's head. His eyes were ambiguous, but he said with a smile: "I am not your superior, don't be polite."

Heifu welcomed Shuwu and two township officials and a middle-aged man of unknown identity into Huyang Pavilion, and asked everyone in the pavilion to come over to pay their respects, and asked Pu Zhang to quickly make some hot soup to quench their thirst.

Shuwu was invited by Heifu to sit in the main seat of the small hall. While picking up the wooden slips on the table and flipping through them, he smiled and said, "I also came to Huyang Pavilion when the previous pavilion chief committed a crime last year. At that time, I just felt that it was a bit shabby and messy. Since Heifu took office, this pavilion has really taken on a new look."

After a few polite words, he said seriously, "If I had nothing to do, I wouldn't come here. Since I'm here, it's official business. Pavilion Chief Heifu, you just solved a big case in winter, but the pavilion department has been safe and sound since the beginning of spring. I guess you are too idle and tired. So, I'm here to send you a case on behalf of the township!"

Hearing this, Heifu looked at Lixian who was sitting with him. Lixian once told him that all the cases assigned by the township were actually not easy to handle. If it was a simple case that was easy to make merit, the patrol and township pavilion would have taken it over by themselves long ago. Only those that were difficult to handle would be assigned to the pavilion department. Once they were messed up, they would suffer in the end.

Having said that, as a pavilion chief, he had to complete the case, otherwise he would be dereliction of duty.

Heifu could only bite the bullet and ask Shuwu what the case was.

Shuwu clapped his hands and asked two township pavilion guards to bring up the middle-aged man in his forties who looked honest. Judging from his dress, he should be from a middle-class family...

The man saluted Heifu carefully and called himself "Ju", a soldier from Yushui Township.

"I dare to tell you, Pavilion Chief, the story is like this..."

It turned out that two years ago, Ju's 14-year-old only daughter went out to pick mulberry leaves, but she didn't come back. After searching all relatives and neighbors, she couldn't be found. Ju reported the case to the township patrol. The patrol took it very seriously and asked the nearby pavilions to search for her, but there was no result. In the end, they could only conclude that she was "lost".

But Ju would never believe it. It was okay for a 4-year-old to be lost, but how could a 14-year-old girl get lost in broad daylight? He suspected that his daughter was kidnapped!

But he had no evidence. It was a special period when Qin and Chu had a rift, Anlu had thieves, and Nanjun was on alert. The village had no time to send people to help him find his daughter. So Ju could only give up in disappointment. He had only one daughter in his middle age. He doted on her and it was impossible for him to raise her again. He could only cry with his old wife at home.

Unexpectedly, two years later, a few days ago, Ju learned about his daughter's whereabouts from a peddler who came to Huyangting to sell daily necessities with a shoulder pole!

Ju said: "The peddler is my neighbor. When he came to Huyangting Blind Mountain to do business, he saw a woman in the village who looked like my daughter. After seeing him, he opened his mouth to speak, but was covered by several people and pulled back..."

Afterwards, the village official there seemed to warn the peddler that the woman was just a lowly slave concubine bought from the human market, and he should not take it seriously or talk nonsense.

This is an attempt to cover up the truth. After returning to the village, the peddler immediately told Ju about the incident, and went with Ju to find Shuwu to appeal for justice, asking him to send someone to save his daughter.

"Are you sure that the peddler saw your daughter?" Heifu asked.

"Absolutely correct! I have been neighbors with the peddler for more than ten years, and he watched my daughter grow up!" Although Ju was still a little hesitant, this was the only glimmer of hope he had found in the past two years, so he insisted!

"This is a bit troublesome." Heifu thought secretly in his heart, and glanced at Shuwu who seemed to be smiling, and began to understand why he pushed this case to himself, because this was not only an old case, but also involved human trafficking.

In today's world, human trafficking exists, but it is also divided into legal and illegal, and its forms include "peaceful sale", "snatching sale" and "plundering sale".

"Hemai" is a common slave trade in Anlu County. Prisoners of war from the six countries, barbarian men and women, wives and daughters of criminals, etc. can all be traded as slaves between the government and private individuals, but there must be a deed and a minor official of the government to testify.

"Luomai" refers to buying and selling ordinary civilians or their children through various deceptive means such as threats and inducements. This is the same as the trafficking of people in later generations. The Qin State strictly prohibited soldiers from selling their children and daughters. The flow of population and place of origin can only be controlled by the government! So it can only be traded privately.

"Luomai" is what we usually call kidnapping, kidnapping people and then selling them.

"Hemai" is still legal, but "Luomai" and "Luomai" are illegal acts strictly prohibited by the government, especially "Luomai", which is more serious in nature.

According to the case described by Ju, his daughter should have been abducted and sold. The government strictly prohibits this behavior. Those who can report the crime of "abducting people" or "luo people" will be rewarded with ten taels of gold. This is probably why the peddler reported the case to the authorities immediately after returning.

"If it is really looting, it would be a big case, Heifu Pavilion Chief, since Blind Mountain Village is under the jurisdiction of Huyang Pavilion, and you have a reputation for being capable, the township will give this case to you! If you can handle it well, the county will definitely reward you!"

Shuwu gave Heifu a high hat, but Heifu knew that it would be difficult to handle this case.

If it was a neighboring village, it would be fine. Through the letter of tomb robbery, each village has already been respectful to him.

But Blind Mountain Village is the only village in the jurisdiction of Huyang Pavilion that Heifu has not inspected. This place is deep in the hills and gullies, and it takes four or five hours to walk to it. As the saying goes, poor mountains and bad waters are full of unruly people. The people there are fierce and it is the most difficult area to govern. All the previous pavilion chiefs had turned a blind eye to the blind mountain. Now, Shuwu wants Heifu to take people to find the kidnapped woman. Isn't this stirring up a hornet's nest...

He hesitated a little, but Ju bowed again and said emotionally: "I have no sons, only this one daughter! I have raised her with great difficulty for more than ten years, hoping that she would marry a good family, but she was kidnapped by thieves. In the past two years, my wife and I have lost our appetite every time we think of our daughter. We live like a walking corpse. We never beat or scold her. I really don't know how much suffering she has suffered in that poor mountain. I only ask the pavilion chief to take me to that place to have a look. If she is really my daughter, if we can really save my daughter, I am willing to spend all my money to serve her!"

As he spoke, he bowed to the ground, and his forehead was red.

"Old man, please get up quickly." Heifu hurriedly helped him, but Ju knelt on the ground and insisted that Heifu agree!

Now that the matter has come to this, Heifu can no longer refuse, and can only grit his teeth and take on this difficult case...

"I promised you, old man, that I will help you find your daughter!"

...

After leaving the colt at Huyang Pavilion, Youjiao Shuwu took two township pavilion guards back home. On the way, a young pavilion guard asked in confusion: "Youjiao, since there are rewards for rescuing the kidnapped and sold, or catching the buyer, why do you hand this case over to the Huyang Pavilion Chief?"

"Don't ask if you don't understand!" Another pavilion guard kicked his young colleague and winked at him.

Shuwu rode in front on his horse and did not answer, but in his heart, he was very clear about his purpose.

This case is not as simple as it sounds. Not to mention that the road to Blind Mountain is far away, it is basically a place that the government cannot control. The people there are fierce, and there are more men than women. In the past, there were rumors of buying and selling women as wives, but the township was out of reach, so they could only pretend not to know.

This tacit understanding has lasted for many years. The village officials in Blind Mountain will also protect the families who buy and sell women. Now, I am afraid they have noticed it. If they can't find the person at the place, they will be in vain. If they continue to investigate without evidence, they may be bitten back and end up being falsely accused...

After knowing these inside stories, Shuwu threw this difficult case to Heifu.

Heifu didn't know that although he didn't do anything wrong, he had offended Shuwu.

In that "letter-to-tomb robbery case", because he was afraid that the Chaoyang village officials had colluded with the village, Heifu reported it directly to the county town for caution, and led the guards to catch the tomb robbers in one fell swoop, leaving no small fish for others.

Afterwards, although Shuwu did not say anything, he was a little unhappy that a major case had been missed right under his nose. He often told his trusted village soldiers that Heifu "did not know how to behave".

"Let Heifu, the head of the pavilion, continue to perform. Isn't he very capable, appreciated by the right lieutenant, and praised as a righteous man by the county people? It's time to let him have a taste of what it feels like to mess up a case! It's not that easy to be a pavilion chief!" Shuwu sneered and sped up his horse forward...

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