Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 633 The Upright Official (Part 1)

Just as Yuan Keli had predicted, the Ming army in Zhenjiang encountered no resistance during its southward advance. After finding suitable guides, the Ming army's marching speed increased dramatically, proceeding as smoothly as if it were a troop redeployment within the territory, easily covering sixty li a day. With this unimpeded momentum, Yuan Keli's troops completed the entire journey from Yizhou to Anzhou in less than six days.

Upon arriving in Anzhou, Yuan Keli spent an entire day inspecting the local warehouses and city defenses. During this time, he publicly flogged several grain officials and military officers, and opened the granaries to distribute grain, ensuring the local garrison had a hearty meal. This quickly established his prestige and stabilized the situation. However, after everything was done, this high-ranking official regretfully discovered that besides continuing his inspections, he seemed to have nothing else to do. He couldn't continue south, nor did he want to remain idle, so he returned to his old profession, serving as a judicial officer in Anzhou Prefecture. In this way, he could also learn about the people's conditions.

The first day's demonstration of authority was remarkably effective, so when the sign was put up the following day to "clear up backlogged cases," the people of Anzhou flocked to the scene. Since this imperial envoy, acting on behalf of Heaven, wielded divine authority and could even depose the king, what case wouldn't he dare to bring?

Soon after taking the court, Yuan Keli realized that the saying "Anzhou is in turmoil" was no exaggeration—seizures of land, murder for profit, and forced prostitution were rampant, with powerful figures and rebels emerging one after another. Often, before the imperial edicts for the previous case were dry, another grievance would arise from the courtroom. On the busiest day, Magistrate Yuan handled twenty-six cases in a row. However, handling twenty-six cases a day was indeed limited by his energy, and could not possibly cover all the grievances in the city. Since the plaque for "Clearing Backlogged Cases" was first hung up, the inns and taverns around the government office were already full.

It is certainly not a bad thing for the public to seek justice, but under this litigious atmosphere, there is a growing trend of false accusations.

"This is your land deed?" Yuan Keli raised his head, picked up the paper, and looked at the ragged man kneeling below. Beside this man knelt another man, who was obviously well-off but incongruously dressed in tattered clothes. They were the plaintiff and defendant in this "land dispute case," respectively.

Behind them, in the open space, stood a crowd of people from Anzhou and even neighboring counties. These people weren't just there to watch the spectacle; many were determined to shout "Injustice!" right there in the hall. Some had even crammed on how to pronounce those two words in Mandarin.

“Zheng the scoundrel. Guardian Yuan asks you, is this your land deed?” The person in charge of recording was Liu Yingyuan, the former deputy envoy for the Emperor’s Birthday. Yuan Keli remembered him and even had some goodwill towards him, so after their reunion in Dingzhou, Liu Yingyuan had always served as Yuan Keli’s interpreter and accompanied him.

"Yes!" Lai Zi Zheng kowtowed to Yuan Keli with considerable air of authority. "This is my land deed!"

"Are you sure?" Before Liu Yingyuan could translate, Yuan Keli asked himself, and he was even speaking in Korean dialect.

Yuan Keli has been in North Korea for more than ten days. During this time, he has come into contact with many North Koreans and is beginning to grasp the dialect.

“I’m certain!” Lai Zi Zheng shouted.

"You're talking nonsense!" the well-to-do man in tattered clothes retorted in court. "That land has been cultivated by my family since the time of Emperor Mingzong. You son of a bitch, a grandson of an outsider, what kind of dog-shit land deed do you have?"

"Then produce the land deed!" Lai Zi Zheng seemed certain that the other party couldn't produce the land deed.

"My lord, please see the truth! I did have a land deed, but during the Japanese invasion, my father died, and my house was burned down by the rebels. How could I possibly find any land deed?" the well-to-do man cried out in protest.

*Smack!* The gavel slammed down.

"Silence!" Yuan Keli shouted, continuing in Korean, "Answer the questions as they are asked! If you interrupt again, you'll be slapped!" Yuan Keli's brows furrowed deeply. Despite the notice posted on the bulletin board that no interrupting was allowed and that answers should be given according to the questions asked, some people still ignored it and roared in court.

In any case, the gavel temporarily served its purpose; both the plaintiff and the defendant lowered their heads, and the discussions outside the hall quieted down a bit.

“Zheng the scoundrel. I ask you, what year is this Zhengde 19th year?” Yuan Keli said this in Chinese again.

Lu Wenzhao, sitting next to Yuan Keli, raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. Liu Yingyuan, who was in charge of translating, also immediately noticed the problem, but he still translated as usual: "Zheng the scoundrel. The court asks you, what year is the nineteenth year of Zhengde on this land deed?"

Lai Zi Zheng was clearly taken aback. "That was during the reign of King Jungjong."

“Master!” the portly man immediately protested. “My family only moved to Anju during the reign of King Myeongjong, and his family also came to live with us in the early years of King Seonjo. How could they possibly have a land deed from the reign of King Jungjong!”

"Hehe, King Zhongzong is King Mingzong's father! That piece of land was cultivated by my family before your family moved here, but your family just seized it! Master, you must take it." Lai Zi Zheng looked at Yuan Keli with a smug smile, but saw a pair of almost icy pupils.

"Guards, slap him! Give him ten lashes!" Yuan Keli slammed the gavel.

"Yes!" A Ming soldier who looked very tall and strong stepped forward, grabbed Lai Zi Zheng by the collar, and slapped him twice.

“And the defendant!” Yuan Keli shouted again.

"Yes!" Another tall and strong Ming soldier stepped forward.

"No, no!" The portly man couldn't understand Yuan Keli's orders in Chinese, but even a primitive man could understand the gesture of grabbing his collar and slapping him.

"Shut up!" The soldier didn't know anything about the case, nor did he care who was innocent or not. Anyway, he had orders from above, so he just had to roll up his sleeves and beat the soldier.

Snap, snap.
The clear sound of a slap was more effective than the harsh thud of a gavel; soon, the only sound in the courtyard was the slapping.

After ten slaps, both the plaintiff and the defendant had swollen faces. The portly man who had spoken first was particularly bad; his lip was split and bleeding.

“Tell them,” Yuan Keli looked at Liu Yingyuan, “if they dare to interrupt again, this hall will have someone use a rod to discipline them.”

This wasn't the first time Liu Yingyuan had seen Yuan Keli order both the plaintiff and the defendant to be tortured, but every time he witnessed such a scene, his heart would involuntarily race. "The slap just now was only a warning. If you interrupt again, Master Yuan will have you flogged."

Both sides were so frightened that they dared not even interrupt, let alone respond.

"You scoundrel Zheng! Emperor Wuzong Yi only reigned for sixteen years, where did this nineteen-year figure come from!" Yuan Keli slammed down his gavel and slammed it heavily against the date at the end of the land deed. "Furthermore, this paper is far too new. Almost a hundred years have passed since the third year of the Jiajing reign, and there was a Japanese pirate raid twenty years ago. Yet this land deed of yours, not only is it not damaged, but even the edges of the paper show no signs of wear. Tell me honestly! Who helped you write this land deed!"

"You scoundrel Zheng! Zhengde didn't have nineteen years, only sixteen. You couldn't even forge a proper deed. Besides, it's been eighty years since King Jungjong passed away. It's impossible for your land deed to be completely undamaged. Who wrote this forged deed? Confess now!" Liu Yingyuan's retelling slightly diminished the intensity of the interrogation, but the content of the question itself was enough to intimidate the treacherous accuser.

Lai Zi Zheng trembled, and trembling with him was a man in clean linen clothes standing at the front of the crowd. In contrast, the well-off man who was the defendant laughed, revealing a mouthful of bloody red teeth.

Snapped!
Yuan Keli put down the land deed and slammed it down with the gavel. "Guards!"

"Present!" The two Ming soldiers who had just slapped him stepped forward simultaneously. The plaintiff and defendant trembled with fear.

"Strike!" Yuan Keli pulled the command token from the wooden bucket and threw it in front of Lai Zi Zheng. This time, Yuan Keli didn't specify how many strikes to give. One command token represented ten strokes of the cane.

"Yes!" the Ming soldier who had slapped him shouted, then stepped forward and held down Lai Zi Zheng's arms. Afterward, two Ming soldiers holding long wooden sticks walked to Lai Zi Zheng's buttocks.

"Injustice! Injustice! Injustice!" Before Lai Zi Zheng could finish his third cry of "Injustice," he was beaten into a scream of agony. Lai Zi Zheng was unlucky; he wasn't the first to make a false accusation, but he was the first to be beaten in court. In fact, false accusations had been made since the day before yesterday, but Yuan Keli had only sentenced people according to the law yesterday and the day before. Today, Yuan Keli decided to crack down on this trend of litigious and false accusations, and Lai Zi Zheng became the "chicken that got killed."

After ten lashes, Lai Zi Zheng could no longer feel his buttocks; he only felt that his trouser legs were a little wet and his whole body ached.

"Is he still awake?" Yuan Keli asked the two soldiers holding Zheng Laizi down. "If he's passed out, splash him with water to wake him up."

The two soldiers picked up Zheng Laizi and glanced at him. "He's still awake."

"Then ask him who wrote this fake land deed for him," Yuan Keli said to Liu Yingyuan.

"Who helped you write this land deed?" Liu Yingyuan nodded and relayed the information, then threatened, "If you don't tell me, you'll get beaten again!"

Zheng Laizi flinched and struggled to point behind him: "It was Steward Li! It was Steward Li who instigated me to falsely accuse the master, and he also made me write this land deed!"

Hearing the reply, "You traitorous dog!" the portly defendant's blood boiled, and he turned around, momentarily forgetting the slaps he had just received. However, the pain on his face quickly reminded him.

"Bring him up!" Yuan Keli pointed at Butler Li, glancing at the defendant as he did so. If the defendant really started shouting, Yuan Keli would have someone slap him. Even if his anger was justified.

Two Ming soldiers standing near the door responded to the call and moved, and Steward Li was so frightened that he knelt down on the ground.

"No, it wasn't me! No, don't arrest me! I'm innocent, I'm innocent, I'm innocent!" Steward Li shouted in Chinese, but was still forcibly dragged into the hall by Ming soldiers.

"Slap him! Give him ten slaps!" Yuan Keli was relatively gentle; he didn't immediately resort to harsh punishment on the newly arrived suspect. He simply followed the usual courtroom protocol and ordered someone to slap him.

"Yes!" The Ming soldier supporting Steward Li on the left immediately responded, then smiled and winked at his comrade.

The soldier closed his half-open mouth, rolled his eyes, and finally reluctantly used both arms to support Steward Li.

"Raise it higher." The soldier who had snatched the cushy job swung his arm, but complained that Steward Li's face was too low, making it difficult to exert force.

"Tch." The fellow soldier spit out a breath between his teeth, but still did as he was told.

"Don't knock him out, I still have to question him." Yuan Keli's voice drifted over.

"Yes!" *Slap!*

Whether the soldier listened or not is unclear, but the first slap split open the left corner of Steward Li's mouth. Then, the soldier slapped him with both hands, quickly exhausting most of his energy.

"What's your name?" Yuan Keli asked Butler Li.

"Li Kaishou." Butler Li spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Li Kaishou." Yuan Keli moved the gavel aside and held up the land deed. "Did you write this?"

"No, it's him!" *Slap!*

Li Kaishou instinctively tried to defend himself, but was interrupted by Yuan Keli's gavel. "You answer what I ask! If you dare to utter any more nonsense, I'll use this." Yuan Keli put down the gavel and raised a command arrow.

Li Kaishou shrank back in fright.

"Did you write this?" Yuan Keli asked again.

"It was written by a villain." Li Kaishou spat out another mouthful of blood, and both sides of his face were visibly swollen.

"Are you the mastermind?" Yuan Keli asked again.

Li Kaishou had just opened his mouth when Yuan Keli interrupted him with a raised hand.

"Confucius said, 'To kill without teaching is cruelty.'" Yuan Keli stared coldly at Li Kaishou. "Let me warn you first, the royal decree is hanging on the flagpole. I can cut off your head directly. You'd better think carefully before you speak."

Li Kaishou trembled with fear, but still said, "I am not, I am really not the mastermind."

"What benefits did he promise you?" Yuan Keli asked.

“His daughter,” Li Kaishou said. “Lazy Zheng said that as long as the extortion of land goes through, he will give his daughter to my son in marriage.”

“You’re Park Kwang-hee’s housekeeper, you’re literate and speak Chinese. You’re even more well-dressed than your master. Do you really need to resort to this method to find a wife for your son?” Yuan Keli immediately questioned.

“My lord! My son suffered from a fever when he was young, which damaged his brain. I have tried every possible method to cure him, but it has been to no avail.” Tears streamed down Li Kaishou’s cheeks. “Now, all our savings are gone, and we can’t even afford a doctor. I only have one son, and I wanted to marry Lai Zi Zheng’s daughter to continue the family line.”

"Has your son arrived?" Yuan Keli asked, looking at the crowd below.

"I can't come. I've been bedridden for the past few years." Li Kaishou began to sob, and blood in his mouth gushed out of his nose.

"Has his daughter arrived?" Yuan Keli frowned and glanced at Lai Zi Zheng.

“Here it comes,” Li Kaishou pointed back. “It’s been standing right next to me all this time.”

"Bring her to the hall," Yuan Keli ordered.

(End of this chapter)