Chapter 1091 Inspection of Cells
Jingnan Cell is located outside the southwest Yimen of Jingnan County Government Hall. In fact, in ancient times, the cells at the grassroots level were basically located southwest of the Yimen of the County Government. There were only a few county government cells. The cells are located southeast of Yimen, but they are also in the "south" direction of the county government. For this reason, the ancient prison was commonly known as "South Prison".
Zhu Pingan put away the sign-in book and took Liu Mu and Liu Dadao to the Jingnan cell together.
In order to better understand the situation of the cell and the prisoners, Zhu Pingan called Zhang Danian, the prison warden, on the way.
Actually, it would be more appropriate to call Dian Shi Li Da, who is in charge of public security and criminal matters. However, Dian Shi Li Da asked someone to take leave today and did not go to work. Zhu Ping'an had to call Zhang Danian, the prison official.
The prison cell in Jingnan County is a masonry structure with a cell wall nearly five meters high and a two-story courtyard wall that looks old. There are iron caltrops tied on the wall, a watchtower, and two cell doors. Guards patrol the cell. Security is tight.
"Zhang Dianli, how much area does the prison occupy? How many cells are there inside?" Zhu Pingan asked Zhang Danian, the prison official.
“Going back to the county, our Jingnan County Prison covers an area of about six acres and is divided into two courtyards: internal prison and external prison. The external prison holds temporary and short-term prisoners, and the internal prison holds serious criminals. There are two courtyards inside and outside. There are 68 cells and prison cells in the prison, including 35 men’s cells, 20 women’s cells, 3 water cells, and the rest are prison cells and torture cells,” replied Zhang Danian, the jailer.
Zhu Pingan nodded and stepped into the outer prison.
After hearing the news, the prison wardens and others rushed over and knelt down to salute. Zhu Pingan waved his hand and asked them to stand up.
When entering the prison, the first building is the Prison Temple, which is dedicated to the prison god who manages the prison and is also the prison's patron saint.
There are two prison gods enshrined in the Jingnan Prison Temple. One is Gaotao from the late primitive society. Because he was appointed by Shun as the official in charge of criminal law and created the prison, it later became a prison. God; the second one is Xiao He, the prime minister in the early Western Han Dynasty. Because Xiao He once served as a jailer and later helped Liu Bang establish the legal system of the early Han Dynasty - the "Nine Chapters Law", so he was also revered as the God of Prison.
On every first and fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, the prison will hold worship activities at the Prison Temple to pray for the blessing of the Prison God. When wardens and supervisors take office, they will also come to worship the prison god. Zhu Ping'an followed the local customs when he went to his hometown, and he also offered a stick of incense when he entered.
After leaving the Prison Temple, Zhu Pingan first went to the outer prison.
As soon as he entered the outer prison, Zhu Pingan felt as if he had entered a vegetable market. There were too many prisoners in the cell, and it was almost overcrowded. It was as if Jingnan Prison had become the most suitable place to live in Jingnan County. . Not a single cell inside was empty, and every cell was filled with prisoners. On average, there were no less than ten prisoners crammed into each cell, and the smallest cell was crammed with five prisoners.
What's going on?
Isn’t there a mountain of cases piling up in Jingnan? ! Why are there so many prisoners in this cell? !
Zhu Pingan was stunned by the many prisoners inside.
"My lord, I am wronged, I am wronged."
"I have not committed a crime, let me out."
"Please, sir, please let me out. I have an old man above me and a young man below me. I am the only labor force in the family. Without me, how can the family survive? It's almost time to harvest the rice. How can they, the orphans and the widowed mothers, harvest the rice?" Ah."
"Guan Gu, let me out again. It’s drought and floods, and there’s no harvest in the fields. We’re all going to do it”
When the prisoners in the prison saw someone coming in, especially when they saw Zhu Pingan in official uniform, they all became angry and grabbed hold of them. Fences may cry grievances, plead for mercy, or simply vent insults.
"Be honest! Do you want to be whipped again?!"
The jailer stepped forward with a whip and swung the whip several times at the most noisy cells to shock the prisoners. , to make it quiet.
"Why are there so many people in the cell? What crimes have they committed?" Zhu Ping'an turned to ask the warden Zhang Danian and the accompanying jailers.
"Go back to the county. Most of these prisoners are resisting the payment of taxes because they failed to pay taxes. There are about a hundred of them."
Zhang Danian, the prison official, replied.
In ancient times, money and grain taxes accounted for a large proportion of fiscal revenue, so the management and punishment of taxes were relatively strict. For those who refused to pay taxes or resisted paying taxes, the county government could indeed arrest them. Serve as a warning to others.
Zhu Pingan nodded when he heard this, then took two steps forward and approached the cell with the largest number of people and the biggest commotion just now.
Several jailers wanted to show off in front of Zhu Pingan and carefully protected Zhu Pingan as if facing a formidable enemy.
Zhu Pingan waved his hand and stepped forward.
"Why were you put in prison?" Zhu Ping'an asked in a gentle manner.
“I didn’t pay taxes.” The prisoners in the cell replied with different voices, their attitudes were either cautious or full of resentment.
“But we didn’t refuse to pay on purpose. Last year there were droughts, floods, and pirates, and all the rice was destroyed. We paid all the old grain at home, but it was still not enough. I really There is no other way.”
"That's right. Natural and man-made disasters have come. There is no harvest in the fields and there is not enough food to eat. How can we pay taxes?"
"Our village has not encountered pirates and Japanese pirates, but because our village is on the river Downstream, floods flooded all our villages. Whether it was dry fields or paddy fields, all the crops in the fields were soaked. It’s rotten and not a single grain of grain has been confiscated.”
“Huh, the word official means both words. The drought and floods are so serious. There are not many people left, and you officials are not here to provide relief. Everyone is very proactive when it comes to raising taxes, and they don’t care whether the people live or die. If they don’t pay the taxes, they will arrest them.”
"Sir, I don't accept it. It's not our family that didn't pay taxes in the village, so why should I be arrested alone? I am the only labor force in the family. My mother is old and has inconvenient legs and feet. My mother-in-law's body is weak. Only children can run away. It’s time to harvest rice now. What will happen to our family without me?”< br>
The prisoners replied in a variety of ways, all with the same meaning. Floods and droughts occurred frequently last year, and pirates and Japanese pirates broke out in some villages, resulting in a serious reduction in crop production. It was even reduced to the point where there was no income, which resulted in them not being able to pay taxes and being imprisoned.
So, Zhu Pingan understood clearly after listening to the prisoners' explanations. In order to have a clearer understanding, Zhu Pingan went from prison to prison to learn about the situation. The situation was similar to the first prison, with minor differences.
After learning about the external prison, Zhu Pingan went to the internal prison. The outer prisons were overcrowded, and the inner prisons were also overcrowded.
In addition to overcrowding in the outer prisons, some prisoners who have not paid taxes are locked outside the inner prisons, and more prisoners are due to the backlog of cases. Because there is a backlog of cases and delays in trial and processing, suspects are kept in jail. For every case piled up, a suspect is imprisoned. Old prisoners are piled up without trial and processing, and new prisoners are imprisoned. , the number of cases accumulates, which leads to an increase in the number of prisoners in internal prisons, and eventually leads to overcrowding.
If officials do nothing, the people will suffer.
Zhu Pingan was deeply moved and made up his mind. (End of chapter)