latelenovela Chapter 214 Great Qi Dynasty 15
Chapter 214 Great Qi Dynasty 15
The night deepened, and the open space in front of the government office hall was brightly lit. Runners busily erected bamboo poles and set up a makeshift tent. Inside and outside the government office, officials, under the direction of the Crown Prince, meticulously prepared the venue for the public trial. The Crown Prince stood in front of the hall, his expression solemn and his gaze determined.
The Crown Prince said to his trusted aide, Lin Shidu, "Lin Shidu, this public trial is of great importance. We must ensure that everything is carried out in a safe manner. You will personally supervise the detectives and have them notify the people everywhere as soon as possible. Don't miss a single corner."
Lin Shidu bowed and replied, "Your Highness, rest assured. I will go and supervise the matter immediately."
Mu Chen and Mu Yang stayed beside the prince, never leaving his side to prevent assassins from taking advantage of the chaos to kill him.
Soon after, the detectives, armed with gongs, struck them in the silent night air. The clear gong sounds echoed throughout the town. Constable A shouted, "Fellow townspeople, tomorrow in the government hall, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will personally preside over the public trial of the corrupt official Li Chunfang. Everyone is welcome to attend and witness justice being done!"
People opened their windows, stuck their heads out and talked about it.
[Did you hear that? His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to personally interrogate Lord Li! That's Lord Li. I heard he was the one who withheld our disaster relief grain.]
[I heard it, I heard it. That's His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. He wouldn't dare to interrogate an official of such rank.]
The next day, before daybreak, a huge crowd of people gathered at the government office, eagerly awaiting the start of the public trial.
The Crown Prince, clad in a magnificent apricot-yellow crown and robes, sat in the main hall. His gaze swept across the dense crowd below, and he spoke in a resounding voice, "Fellow villagers, we have gathered here today to expose the crimes of the corrupt official Li Chunfang and to bring justice to all. This prince will never tolerate any corrupt official who perverts the law!"
The police escorted Li Chunfang to the court. Li Chunfang lowered his head with a complicated expression.
The prince shouted sternly, "Li Chunfang, do you admit your guilt?"
Li Chunfang raised his head slightly and replied with forced composure, "Your humble servant... Your humble servant does not know what crime you have committed."
The prince sneered and said, "You are so ignorant of your crime! Then listen to the testimony of these witnesses and see what crime you have committed!"
The first witness was the son of the accountant. He walked into the hall and said in a trembling voice, "Your Highness, I am Zhang Nan from the south of the city. My father, Zhang Shoude, used to work as an accountant under Lord Li.
When the dam outside the city was washed away last month, my father felt that something was going to happen, so he found an excuse and sent my mother and me back to our hometown.
Before leaving, my father called me aside and told me about his hidden account book. Less than two days after my mother and I returned to our hometown, we heard the news that my father had died suddenly.
In the days that followed, although my mother and I were protected by our old family, we also encountered several assassination attempts. If it weren't for the timely rescue by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, my mother and I would have probably joined my father in the underworld."
At this point, Zhang Nan couldn't help but burst into tears in the lobby.
After hearing this, the people booed angrily.
The second witness was County Magistrate Wang, an official who had worked with Zhang Nan's father. He stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Highness, I, Wang, personally witnessed Li Chunfang instructing Zhang Shoude to embezzle disaster relief funds and divide the spoils among himself.
He even threatened us that if we dared to reveal even a little bit, he would take our lives."
The prince frowned and said in a deep voice, "Li Chunfang, do you have anything to say?"
Li Chunfang remained silent, his expression becoming increasingly nervous.
The prince waved his hand, and the accountants and shop owners came forward, spread out their abacus, and began to check the accounts.
These accountants and shopkeepers were temporarily summoned from shops in the city in order to prevent officials from protecting each other.
And the on-site audit also means the same thing. Is there anything that cannot be done in front of the people?
Since we need to check the accounts, we should do it on site. There are so many eyes watching, so we should strive for fairness and justice.
The scholars on the side held the verified account books and read aloud.
Scholar A read out, "The granary east of the city spent 500 taels of silver, but only 300 were actually used. The whereabouts of the remaining 200 are unknown."
Scholar B continued, "A total of one hundred carts of disaster relief supplies were distributed, but fifty were actually distributed, and the remaining fifty were secretly sold by Li Chunfang."
When the people heard this, they were outraged and accused Li Chunfang of crimes.
Seeing this, the prince reassured everyone, "Everyone, please be patient. I will definitely give you a fair judgment."
To accommodate the people who had come from afar, the Crown Prince made special arrangements for accommodation and food. He instructed his subordinates, "Pass the word out: All the people who come to listen to the hearing must be properly accommodated and ensure they have adequate food and lodging."
The subordinates took the order and carried it out quickly.
At the same time, the prince solemnly declared at the public trial: "If any fellow villagers have suffered an injustice, please come forward to appeal, and I will personally uphold justice for you!"
At the long tables on both sides of the public trial, students from the academy were writing furiously, drafting petitions for the people who came to file complaints.
Student A asked gently, "Old man, please speak slowly. We will record your grievances one by one."
The old man said gratefully, "Thank you very much, young man. If it weren't for the help of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and all the students, we ordinary people would have nowhere to seek redress for our grievances."
Student B said to a woman, "Don't worry, sister. We will express your demands accurately and ensure that you will be treated fairly."
After three days of intense reconciliation and trial, the final verdict was announced. The Crown Prince publicly pronounced: "Li Chunfang has embezzled disaster relief funds and misappropriated public funds. These crimes are extremely serious and must be punished by death. All his property must be confiscated to compensate the victims."
After hearing this, the people cheered and praised the prince's wise decision.
The Crown Prince stood up and said with a firm gaze, "This public trial is not only to punish corrupt officials, but also to warn all officials not to test the law. I hope that from now on, there will be no more corruption in Jiangnan, and the people will live and work in peace and contentment!"
After doing all this, we will wait until 3:15 tomorrow afternoon for Li Chunfang to execute all the guilty officials.
The reason why Li Chunfang was not beheaded in public today was because the person who would be pushed onto the guillotine and beheaded in public tomorrow was not the real Li Chunfang himself, but a carefully arranged substitute.
This was also the solution that the prince and Mu Yang had discussed before.
Li Chunfang has leverage over Prime Minister Yu. If he is escorted back to the capital directly to await the Emperor's personal decision and punishment, it can be imagined that during this long escort, Prime Minister Yu will definitely send numerous assassins to take Li Chunfang's life at all costs to eliminate future troubles and silence him.
Therefore, after careful consideration, the prince and others came up with the idea of using a substitute to take the punishment on behalf of Li Chunfang in order to confuse the enemy and ensure that nothing would go wrong.
As for the substitute, he was also a death row prisoner, but was sentenced to be executed later in the year.