After the cabinet meeting that day, Zhu Youjian returned to the harem. After having a simple lunch, he went to Concubine Tian and Concubine Yuan to visit their two young sons, Zhu Youjian took Wang Chengen back to the Ganqing Palace again.

It is late summer and early autumn, and the annual death penalty award has arrived.

Zhu Youjian’s task today is to re-examine the suspected death penalty cases that were difficult to decide after the trial of Dali Temple, the Ministry of Justice, and the Inspectorate, and then give a corresponding decree. This decree is regarded as the final ruling.

It has to be said that among the past dynasties, the legal system of the Ming Dynasty was the most fair and detailed, especially when dealing with the death penalty issue, the Ming emperors of all dynasties attached great importance to the review and review of death penalty cases to ensure that no one's life was vain.

The death penalty in the Ming Dynasty was divided into two forms: "rear decision" and "autumn decision".

If crimes such as treason and major rebellion are punished immediately. If a death row criminal in other circumstances is considered fair and legal after being reunited by Dali Temple, he will be imprisoned and executed after the autumn.

In order to strictly prevent local officials from abuse of the power of life and death, the Ming Dynasty's law made strict regulations on this.

"Any prisoner who is sentenced to death and executed without waiting for a reply to the repaid shall be executed with a stick of eighty rod. If the repaid has been reported, the person who is sentenced to three days will be executed after hearing the repaid shall be executed for three days. If the three days deadline is not over and the sentence is not completed, each stick of sixty rods will be held."

This strict review system has encouraged relevant officials to verify in accordance with the law, enhance their sense of responsibility, and has played a positive role in avoiding the occurrence of more unjust, false and wrong cases.

There are two strange cases in front of Zhu Youjian today. The officials of the Three Judicial Courts and Xue Lian, Wei Shichun and others who were judging this are endless. After reaching an agreement, the relevant documents were sent to the palace, waiting for Zhu Youjian to make the final decision.

The first case was born in Shaoxing Prefecture.

Li Jinsi, a native of Shaoxing, was a juren. He was elected as the position of Wujiang County Magistrate at the end of last year. Just when he was about to take office, his mother died of illness. Li Jinsi buried his mother in the ancestral tomb, and he also resigned from the position of county magistrate and vowed to be filial for three years.

Unexpectedly, at the beginning of this year, Li Jinsi's mother's tomb was stolen late at night. Not only did the coffin open, but his mother's remains were abandoned in the wilderness, and all the gold and silver utensils buried in it were taken away.

You should know that in ancient times, when digging people's ancestral graves was a huge thing, and it was an act that would be despised by thousands of people.

According to the Ming Dynasty Law, if someone digs out his ancestral grave, he should have traveled three thousand miles and served for 20 years. If even the coffin is opened, he will be sentenced to hang.

However, because the incident was late at night, the tomb robbers did not leave too many clues, which led to the delay of the case for more than a month. Li Jinsi repeatedly went to the yamen to urge him with his rich connections in the local area, but it was fruitless.

Finally, Li Jinsi decided to investigate the case himself.

Shortly after offering a huge reward of 100 taels of silver, a local villager came to the door to secretly report that Han Si, a rogue from his village, was a major suspect. He often digs the tombs on weekdays and is a habitual criminal. Recently, Han Si has been spending money even more, as if he is a fortune. This kind of money with a suspicious origin should be related to the theft of Li's mother's grave.

After receiving the report, Li Jinsi immediately went to the yamen to inform him. The Shaoxing Prefecture constable then dispatched to arrest Han Si and found several hidden gold and silver objects in his home. After Li Jinsi identified it, they were identified as the burial objects in his mother's coffin. Therefore, the case that had been hanging for more than a month was finally solved.

After the case was solved, Li Jinsi did not break his promise. In front of everyone, he presented a hundred taels of silver to the provider of the major clues and repeatedly expressed his gratitude to him. This move also attracted warm cheers from onlookers.

Since the case has been solved, the rest is to be punished according to the law, but unexpectedly, there were twists and turns on this issue.

Feng Jinfu, the Censor of the Shaoxing Censor, finally seized the opportunity to retaliate because he had had a feud with Li Jinsi at a banquet held by local gentry.

Therefore, on the day of the case, Feng Jinfu said that although Han Si robbed the tomb and opened the coffin, it was because his family was poor and had no support and needed money to support his mother. If he was sentenced to death, it might lead to his mother's failure to serve in his later years. Therefore, he was finally sentenced to travel three thousand miles and served 20 years of labor.

Li Jinsi, who was listening to the case, immediately had a fierce quarrel with Feng Jinfu. He was familiar with the Ming Dynasty law and was extremely angry at Feng Jinfu's behavior of incompetent Han Si, but in the end he ended in vain. Feng Jinfu insisted on the original sentence and left. Han Si was temporarily detained in prison for the Censorate of the Execution and Censorate. In a few days, he would be moved to a place in northern Shaanxi.

Li Jinsi was unwilling to let Han Si go, the scumbag. Then he used his local connections in Shaoxing to put pressure on Feng Jinfu through various relationships, trying to change the original sentence and instead sentence Han Si to death.

But Feng Jinfu was also determined to make Li Jinsi ugly. After facing various persuasions from his colleagues such as the prefect, the magistrate, the prosecutor, etc., he still insisted that he was acting according to the law and that no one had the right to change the results.

After two consecutive days of hard persuasion, Li Jinsi finally gave up the persuasion of Feng Jinfu. Li Jinsi, who was thinking about avenging his mother, couldn't sleep day and night. Seeing Han Si about to be escorted by a servant, Li Jinsi, who was extremely sad and angry, decided to take revenge on his own.

On the night when Han Si was about to go on the road the next day, Li Jinsi spent a lot of money to bribe the relationship and secretly entered the prison with the sharp blade. When the prison head and the prison guard pretended to be drunk, they stabbed Han Si to death and cut off the level.

Early the next morning, Li Jinsi carried Han Si's head and, under the shocked and puzzled eyes of passers-by, came to Shaoxing Prefecture's office with a calm expression. After receiving the letter, he brought Li Jinsi into prison with complex feelings such as regret, sympathy, and praise.

After this incident spread, it caused a huge sensation in Shaoxing. Local gentry jointly wrote a letter to Shaoxing Prefecture to plead for Li Jinsi, requesting Shaoxing Prefecture and the Censorate to give Li Jinsi a lighter sentence and must not be sentenced to death.

But Feng Jinfu, who was angry and embarrassed, withstood the tremendous pressure from all parties, still sentenced Li Jinsi to death for intentional homicide.

When the Third Department held the case, Ling Yiqu, the Minister of Dali Temple, Li Xian, the Right Censor of the Censorate, and Liu Xiancai, the Left Minister of the Ministry of Justice, expressed his attitude, believing that although Li Jinsi avenged his mother and Han Si should be punished for his crimes, Li Jinsi had no right to openly deprive others of his life.

The three believed that if everyone had a legitimate reason to kill someone but was not guilty, the court's laws would be seriously harmed and the normal order of the entire society would be seriously threatened. Therefore, Feng Jinfu's trial and judgment of the case were very correct, and it also represented the principle and dignity of the court in maintaining social order. This point is extremely important.

However, the nobles who were named Xue Lian, the Marquis of Yangwu and Shi Chun, the Bo Wei of Xuancheng, believed that Han Si was the first to do evil, and Li Jinsi, as a son, killed the enemy who robbed the tomb and opened the coffin. This was a righteous act of demonstrating filial piety. Not only should it not be sentenced to death, but should be promoted and commended in a high-profile manner to effectively deter evil people and promote the Ming Dynasty's concept of governing the country with filial piety.

After reading the specific details of the case and the transcripts of each person during the trial of the three departments, Zhu Youjian fell into deep thought.

The most fundamental reason why this case has caused strong responses from all walks of life in the local area is that Feng Jinfu's unfair judgment of the case. If Han Si was arrested and Han Si was sentenced to death strictly in accordance with the law, Li Jinsi's extreme actions would not have occurred, and the local public opinion in Shaoxing would not have been so turbulent.

Zhu Youjian was not sure why Feng Jinfu decided the case like this, but judging from the results of the case, Feng Jinfu was obviously incompetent. He held high power but was unfair in his hands, which was the easiest to cause harm to society. Such people could no longer stay in important positions.

The bloodiness shown by Li Jinsi in this case was actually something Zhu Youjian admired very much. Unexpectedly, a literati from a juren would choose the most intense means to fight back after suffering great shame and unfair judgment. From the perspective of filial piety, Li Jinsi's behavior is understandable.

A nation lacks passion is extremely dangerous. Although this behavior is not worthy of advocacy, this spirit cannot be suppressed.

And a social scum like Han Si should have been sentenced to death after the case. Although he died at the hands of his enemies, it was also considered a retribution for the crime.

After a long period of careful consideration, Zhu Youjian mentioned that Zhu pen and wrote a comment on the file: Li Jinsi killed the person who should have died, and his behavior was self-defense, so he was sentenced to not guilty and was immediately released and returned home. After his mourning period expired, he went to the Imperial College for further study.

Feng Jinfu decided to be unfair in this case and was dismissed from office to Guanglu Temple. His vacant position was appointed by the Ministry of Personnel.
Chapter completed!