Chapter 156 Seeking Justice
Zhongmu County is one of the dozen counties under the jurisdiction of Kaifeng Prefecture.
In "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", after Cao Cao failed to assassinate Dong Zhuo, he fled here and was captured alive by the county magistrate Chen Gong.
Chen Gong admired Cao Cao's move. He not only defended Cao Cao, but also followed Cao Cao with his seal.
This section also makes Zhongmou County well known to many people.
However, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" had not yet appeared at this time, and Zhongmu County was just a small, unknown county.
In the Houya of Zhongmu County, the newly appointed magistrate Sheng Changbai was having breakfast when he suddenly heard the sound of drums and stopped moving his hands.
"Master, where is the sound of drums coming from this morning?"
Li Fu, Sheng Changbai's long-time follower, said a little strangely.
"Someone beat the drum to complain." Sheng Changbai put down his chopsticks, took out the handkerchief and wiped his mouth.
"Beat the drum to complain?"
Li Fu was stunned at first, then quickly reacted and said: "I will prepare official uniforms for the young master."
This was the time when he followed Sheng Changbai to take office. , the first time someone beat a drum to express grievances, I didn’t react at first.
Someone beats the drum to complain, and the county magistrate Sheng Changbai will definitely take over the case.
Not long after, Sheng Changbai changed into his official uniform and went to Qianyamen.
As soon as they arrived at Qianya, the magistrate of Zhongmu County hurried over.
Seeing Sheng Changbai coming over, he said anxiously: "Sir, someone has come to beat the drum to complain and sue the Zhou family."
"What are you suing the Zhou family for?" Sheng Changbai asked.
"Sue the Zhou family for invading his family's land." said the county magistrate.
"Yes!" Sheng Changbai nodded slightly when he heard this, and clenched his hands in his sleeves tightly.
Although Zhao Xing issued an order for county magistrates to complete the land survey in the county, Sheng Changbai was not in a hurry to implement it after taking office.
But first, we used various means to win over some officials and initially gained a firm foothold.
The magistrate of Zhongmu County was the first to turn to him.
As the highest official in Zhongmu County besides the county magistrate, it stands to reason that the county magistrate should compete with the new county magistrate for power.
But the magistrate of Zhongmu County was completely ignored by the former magistrate. Even after the former magistrate was arrested, he could not control the situation in the county.
Therefore, after Sheng Changbai took office, he simply observed him for two days and then turned to Sheng Changbai.
This is also the reason why Sheng Changbai was able to establish a firm foothold in just seven or eight days.
Now that nearly one-third of the month given by Zhao Xing has passed, the matter of clearing the land has become urgent.
However, as soon as this was implemented, it encountered obstacles.
It's not that the officials are uncooperative, but they have measured some land and the results are consistent with what is stated in the land deed.
However, according to the information Sheng Changbai asked Li Fu to secretly inquire about, there is a situation of hidden fields in Zhongmu County.
Some land deeds say it is ten acres, but the visual inspection shows that it is more than ten acres, and the measurement result is exactly ten acres.
Obviously there was something wrong with the person who measured it, but he still got the same result after changing a batch.
Although the measurement of acres is supervised by officials, it is still ordinary government servants who do the work.
These government officials are all locals, and the landlords and gentry have been operating in Zhongmu County for many years, so it is normal for them to do this.
There is no use in dealing with these yamen servants, because he is an official, and he can only deal with yamen servants.
But those landlords and squires may be dealing with the family members of the government servants.
He needs an entry point to let those government officials see his determination. Only in this way can those government officials see the situation clearly.
He thought hard and couldn't think of any good solution. Unexpectedly, when he was dozing off, the pillow came.
Seeing that Sheng Changbai's expression was dull after hearing the news, the county magistrate reminded him in a low voice: "Sir, this Zhou family is not simple. There are people in the family who serve as magistrates elsewhere, and they are also related to some officials in the DPRK."
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"This is better." Sheng Changbai said.
"Huh?" The county magistrate was stunned, not understanding what Sheng Changbai meant.
Sheng Changbai had no intention of explaining, so he went all the way to the county government hall and ordered someone to bring the plaintiff over.
The plaintiffs are a father and son. They are in ragged clothes, have rough and dark skin, and are very thin. At first glance, they can be seen as ordinary people.
"Old man, I am the magistrate of Zhongmou County. What grievances do you have?" Sheng Changbai asked.
Sheng Changbai has a majestic appearance, and now he is wearing official uniform and sitting in court, showing his majesty without anger.
A flash of fear flashed in the eyes of the old man and his three sons, and they knelt down with a thud: "My family used to have more than ten acres of land, and we could barely make ends meet. Five years ago..."
The old man put himself The grievances were told in detail.
The thing is very simple. His family’s field borders the Zhou family’s field. Five years ago, there was a flood in Zhongmou County. When the flood receded, it was discovered that the field boundary monument between his family's and Zhou's fields had been washed out by the water.
Field boundary monuments are things that determine the size of the fields. If they are washed out, they must be dug into the soil again.
But this thing has to be measured and hammered in by someone from the government, otherwise there will be disputes.
After they contacted the government, the government indeed sent people to re-measure and dig in the field boundary monuments.
However, the field boundary monument moved a lot from its original position to his family's field.
According to that location, their family's more than ten acres of land would be reduced by half. Naturally, the old man and his family didn't want to do it, so they found the government again.
But the government said that there was no problem with the measurement and ignored it at all. What was a good ten acres of land has turned into seven or eight acres, and now I can't even sell it.
Because their land deed is for more than ten acres, but in fact it is only seven or eight acres. Even if he sells it according to the actual size, others will not want it because they have to pay taxes according to the size of more than ten acres.
"Old man, what you said is only your side of the story. I need to take someone with you to measure your family's land and confirm it by reading the land deed." Sheng Changbai said.
“Thank you, Mr. Qingtian!” The old man’s family was very excited and kept kowtowing.
Sheng Changbai quickly stopped them and asked Li Fu to summon the government officials and take the government officials and the old man's family to their village.
The old man also went home and took the deed to the field and showed it to Sheng Changbai.
After hearing the news, many people in the village followed and watched the excitement from a distance.
After reading the land deed, Sheng Changbai asked someone to find all the boundary monuments of the old man's field. He visually measured the size, frowned slightly and said, "Measure it and see how big it is."
"Yes!" The accompanying Yamen servant took the order and quickly started measuring.
"Jiang County Cheng, look at how big this land is?" Sheng Changbai said.
In fact, there is no need to measure at all. According to the positions of several field boundary monuments, this land does not exceed ten acres at most, but the land deed says 16 acres.
"Lord County Magistrate, this...this..." Jiang County Cheng didn't know what to say for a while.
"I remember Jiang County Cheng has been the county magistrate in Zhongmu County for seven or eight years, right? Have you heard of this?" Sheng Changbai asked.
"I...I..."
He must have heard of it, but he had not told Sheng Changbai before.
In fact, there were many such things, but he never told Sheng Changbai about any of them.
Those officials in Zhongmu County who turned to Sheng Changbai were only doing it for their own interests.
There are some things they are willing to say, and some things they are not.
Sheng Changbai waved his hand and said: "Okay, let's not talk about this matter. Could you please Jiang County Prime Minister to supervise it personally? I don't want to see that there is more than ten acres of land, but it is measured to be less than ten acres. "
Jiang Xiancheng's expression changed for a while, and he gritted his teeth and said: "Yes!"
He understood that when Sheng Changbai asked him to supervise, he was actually asking him to express his position.
He turned to Sheng Changbai before, but he only knew Sheng Changbai's identity, felt that he would stay here for a short time, and was willing to cooperate with his work.
But he doesn't want to get involved in things that affect his own future or are more troublesome.
At this time I had to make a choice.
It won’t take long to measure an area of less than ten acres.
After a while, Jiang County Cheng came back and reported: "Sir, according to the measurement, there are only more than seven acres and less than eight acres."
Sheng Changbai nodded with satisfaction: "So, the Zhou family Is the land occupation true?”
“Sir, someone is coming,” Li Fu reminded.
Sheng Changbai looked along what Li Fu pointed at, and saw a group of people in the distance walking towards this way.
These people are all young and strong, and there is a sedan among them. I don’t know who is sitting in it.
"Sir, the Zhou family should be here." Jiang Xiancheng said.
"It came quite quickly." Sheng Changbai said lightly.
Jiang Xian Cheng saw that Sheng Changbai did not speak anymore. He just looked in the direction of the person and said nothing.
After a while, this group of people came closer. After the sedan fell, a fat man in his forties or fifties came out.
"Haha, I went out to inspect the farm. I heard that Magistrate Sheng was nearby, so I came here to pay a visit." Zhou Rang stepped forward with a smile, bowed his hands, and wiped his sweat with a handkerchief.
He was already very fat, and now it was summer, even though there were two maids behind him constantly encouraging him, he was still sweating profusely.
“It’s so hot now that Zhou Yuanwai went out to inspect Zhuangzi. He was really thoughtful.” Sheng Changbai said lightly.
Zhou Rang didn't know if he didn't hear the sarcasm in Sheng Changbai's words, but he still smiled and said: "It's almost the autumn harvest, isn't it? My whole family relies on this little land to support us, so naturally we have to pay more attention to it. By the way, I don’t know why Magistrate Sheng is here? If there is anyone who can help, I will definitely not refuse.”
“It’s just right for you to come here. You are still the defendant, but the evidence was insufficient before, so I did not summon you. Now that the evidence is sufficient, I will send someone to summon you even if Zhou Yuanwai is not here," Sheng Changbai said.
"Oh?" Zhou Rang said with a surprised look on his face: "I usually abide by the law. The county needs to build bridges and pave roads, and I donate a lot. How come I am still a defendant? There must be some misunderstanding. ”
Sheng Changbai pointed to the land that had just been measured and said: "According to the land deed, there are sixteen acres of land here, but the field boundary monument is less than eight acres. The field boundary monument was washed out five years ago, and was later measured and put in again. The owner of the land sued Zhou Yuanwai for occupying their land. I wonder what Zhou Yuanwai said? "
"Is this true?" Zhou Rang said with a surprised look on his face: "The fields are all managed by Zhuangzi. I have never heard of this matter, but since Magistrate Sheng said it, there is no way it is false. Although I am not at fault, I cannot make things difficult for Magistrate Sheng. The magistrate can have enough acres of land measured and the land plowed again. "Boundary monument."
"No!" Sheng Changbai shook his head and said: "This matter is obviously the fault of the county government, how can I let Zhou Yuanwai take responsibility for it? I will ask someone to measure the Zhou family's land. The officer took out the land deed and showed it to me. As long as there is no problem with the number of acres of land, it has nothing to do with the Zhou family."
Zhou Rang's face darkened when he heard this, and he said, "Magistrate Sheng, it was just a matter. It’s a small matter, why make it so complicated. Since he said he is missing a few acres of land, I will just give it to him, and the Zhou family is not bad at it.”
After saying that, Zhou Rang looked not far away. The old man said calmly: "Is this the plaintiff? Do you think what I said makes sense?"
"Executive member Zhou, you..."
Sheng Changbai was a little angry. When handling cases, the government pays attention to the individuality of the people and not the officials.
Normally speaking, this peaceful solution is naturally the best.
But he still wanted to use the topic to his advantage.
Zhou Rang was obviously threatening the old man just now. If the old man accepted it, how would he use the topic next.
Before Sheng Changbai finished speaking, the old man said loudly: "Although the old man has never read a book and does not understand any big principles, he also knows that he cannot take what is not his. The old man just wants to seek justice!"
(End of this chapter)