hsntnovel Chapter 2356 The Problem Given by Wang Xuance
Chapter 2356 The Problem Given by Wang Xuance
When Li Shen heard Pei Ziyu's flattery, he immediately burst into laughter.
She is not a confidante, she wants to be Justice Bao.
After feeling proud, Li Shen picked up another file.
"Song Zhi, seventy-nine years old, occupied three feet of his neighbor's land to build a house..."
"Who's Song Zhi?"
After reading the file, Li Shen looked up. There were only two old men left. One of them, an old man with a cane, stepped forward.
Before Li Shen could ask any questions, he confessed his guilt directly:
"Your Highness, Prince Ji, I plead guilty and accept the punishment. I am willing to return the land and pay the ransom, and I will never commit this crime again."
Um?
"Are you admitting your guilt now? You won't defend yourself? Don't worry, I'm fair and strict, and I'll give you a chance to argue.
As long as you can convince me, I will not pursue your guilt.
What do you think? Feel free to speak up if you have any grievances. "
When Li Shen heard Song Zhi confess his guilt, he was stunned at first, and then he immediately tried to persuade Song Zhi.
If you confess your crime like this, won't it fail to show my talents?
Li Shen felt that he had the potential to be Bao Qingtian.
After hearing what Li Shen said, Song Zhi became even more frightened. Was Prince Ji going to punish him like he did to Ma Siyuan?
Thinking of this, Song Zhi quickly bowed and saluted:
"Your Highness, Prince Ji, I have a terrible illness. I hope Your Highness will show mercy and spare me because of my age.
I plead guilty and accept the punishment. I am willing to pay ten strings of cash as compensation to my neighbor. I beg Your Highness Prince Ji to show mercy."
Song Zhi was frightened and cried. He only had one son and could not withstand Prince Ji's torture.
"This...you should at least give some explanation." Li Shen was speechless when he saw this. An old man actually cried in front of him.
"Well, never mind. Go and pay the ransom. Remember not to do it again next time. And, by the way, fifty strings of cash."
Li Shen waved his hand, but still imposed a heavy fine. Normal ransom would not be so high.
But Li Shen knew that a few hundred coins and a few strings of cash were not a lot of money for these merchants.
That's why Li Shen asked for fifty strings of cash.
"Yes, yes, I accept the punishment." Although it was a bit painful, Song Zhi still nodded in agreement, saluted and walked out.
"So what's next..."
"Your Highness, Prince Ji, I plead guilty and accept the punishment. I promise I will never make the same mistake again. Please have mercy on me, Your Highness."
Before Li Shen could even get the file, the last old man had already confessed. He bowed, his body trembling.
"You plead guilty too?" Li Shen was extremely surprised.
Under Pei Ziyu's guidance, Li Shen found the file and read it through, but found that he had not done anything extremely evil.
Just some really disgusting things.
"Well, since you accept the punishment, I'll give you fifty strings of cash as ransom. If you do it again, it will be doubled. Beat your son. Go ahead."
Li Shen waved his hand impatiently. He felt no sense of accomplishment at all.
Picking up another file, Li Shennian said:
"Zhang, Zhang? What kind of name is that?"
"Your Highness, this file is about the thefts committed by two children from the Zhang family. They are locals, from a poor family, and their father died young, so they don't have names."
Pei Ziyu said from the side.
"No name? What to call someone without a name?" Li Shen was a little curious. How could there be someone without a name?
"Your Highness, we usually call him Zhang Da, and the younger one is called Er Wa."
Pei Ziyu explained.
"Your Highness, many children from poor families don't even have names. They just have code names."
Knowing that Prince Ji was high and mighty and ignorant of the sufferings of the common people, Wang Xuance leaned over and spoke softly.
Not many ordinary people go to school, and even if they want to, many family members will not agree because they cannot afford it.
The price of a piece of paper was enough for them to buy rice. And when a child went to school, the family lost a labor force.
How can we choose names when we grow up and can’t read? We just call them whatever we want.
Li Shen really didn't know that there was no such thing as no one in his time.
He thought that even if he had no education, he could ask a local educated person to come up with one. Isn't that what they show on TV?
Village chief or something like that.
At worst, seven little flowers or a big cow will do, but there is really no name.
Li Shen continued to check, and it was clearly written that the two children were brother and sister. Their mother was seriously ill, and the eldest son wanted to do something for his mother out of filial piety.
In his opinion, at least let his mother have a good meal.
But they were poor, with nothing at home and no money. Seeing their mother getting thinner and thinner, the two children were extremely worried.
Finally, the eldest son decided to take a risk and steal the merchant's money to prepare a sumptuous meal for his mother.
The matter was simple, but it stumped Wang Xuance.
If it was ordinary theft, they would be punished directly, but these two children did it out of filial piety and wanted to give their mother a good meal before she died.
The laws of the Tang Dynasty emphasized compliance with propriety, and filial piety happened to be propriety, which conflicted with the order of national law.
Wang Xuance didn't dare to decide whether etiquette was more important than law or law was more important than emotion.
This matter is likely to be reported to the higher authorities, setting a precedent.
That's when he asked Li Shen to come over and let him make the decision, and also threw this burden to Li Shen.
Li Shen also frowned after reading it. If it was for personal reasons, Li Shen would express sympathy and he could even give some money.
But he is a prince and he has to uphold the laws of the country. Theft is against the law. If there is no punishment, where is the law?
Frowning, Li Shen turned around and looked at Wang Xuance, meaning, is this how you become the Chief Secretary?
Isn't that a bit too much? You let me make the decision on such a big matter?
Wang Xuance looked straight ahead, as if he didn't see Li Shen's gaze.
"Ah." Li Shen sighed and turned his head, "Are those the Zhang brothers and sisters?"
Among the five children, there is one girl and the rest are boys.
At this time, the little girl and the boy beside her came out.
"Greetings, His Royal Highness Prince Ji." The two children's movements were very unfamiliar, and it seemed that they had learned them from the people in front of them.
They knew that the man before them was an important figure, very big, bigger than any noble they had ever met.
"Zhang Jia Dalang, did you steal other people's property?" Li Shen asked.
"Yes, my lord."
This matter has been investigated clearly long ago, and they have all confessed. Li Shen asked this question because he was actually thinking about how the punishment should be.
"By the way, how old are you two?" Li Shen asked.
"My lord, I am thirteen years old and my younger sister is seven." The eldest son of the Zhang family replied, and it could be heard that he was a little scared.
The scene of Prince Ji beating someone just now was still vivid in his mind.
"You are already thirteen years old?" Li Shen asked in surprise after hearing it.
The two looked very thin. Li Shen felt that they were both less than ten years old. He didn't expect that the older one was already thirteen.
Then he felt relieved. Their family was poor and they must have had no food to eat, so it was normal for them to be thin.
Thinking of this, Li Shen felt a little uncomfortable. Such thin people and children could not be seen in Chang'an City.
(I watched some unhappy videos, so I wrote the above content to vent my feelings.)