Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 125 Bizarre Murder Case
Jia Chuan was also in a bad mood. He had originally thought that upon returning to the capital, even if he didn't wait to be ennobled like Wu Bing, he would at least be the envy of everyone in the capital, with officials vying to associate with him and his door bustling with visitors.

He knew that Zhu Zhanji would not reward him with a high-ranking official position, and Jia Chuan did not want it either, but he should at least be rewarded with a house and some gold and silver. Once the matter of the Prince of Han was settled, he would be sent to a lucrative post outside the capital.

Jia Chuan even considered whether he could use his posting to a post outside the capital to exchange for a chance to go to Zhangde to see Prince Zhao. As for the marriage, Jia Chuan felt that Gao Yunduo had already changed her attitude towards him, so this matter did not necessarily need Zhu Zhanji's approval. He could take advantage of the opportunity to stay at Gao's house to show his abilities more, and at the same time, he could first get some real money and fixed assets before confirming the relationship.

But plans never keep up with changes. Jia Chuan was forced by the King of Han to hide in such a place, and he could only bring Old Zheng with him. No wonder he was in a bad mood.

Thus, just as Zhao Guang was disdainful when they first met, Jia Chuan was equally indifferent; a mere county magistrate was no longer worthy of Jia Chuan's attention.

But the small shoes that followed ignited Jia Chuan's fighting spirit. He thought that he had never failed in his battle against the prince in Le'an, so wouldn't it be an easy task for him to deal with a mere county magistrate?
When Jia Chuan reported for duty, the autumn grain collection had already come to an end, but there were still some who had not paid in full. Zhao Guang assigned the arduous task of collecting the taxes to Jia Chuan. Originally, this should have been the responsibility of the county magistrate, but instead, constables and yamen runners would go to collect the taxes. Zhao Guang said that the county yamen was short-handed and only gave Jia Chuan two yamen runners to accompany him. He also instructed the household registration office to tamper with the fish-scale register. When Jia Chuan collected the taxes according to the yellow register, it caused the villagers who had already paid to threaten suicide and even claim that they would go to the county magistrate for justice.

Jia Chuan realized he had been tricked and went back to the county government to confront Zhao Guang. He wanted to tell Zhao Guang about his "great achievements" to intimidate him, but then he remembered that he was now Song Sheng, a young man with no connections who had entered the system based on his academic performance.

After recalling this incident, Jia Chuan's initial surge of enthusiasm subsided. Xian County belonged to Beizhili, and he didn't know anyone there. Was he supposed to go to the capital to find someone to file a complaint?
How should I file this complaint? Should I say that I was bullied by the county magistrate?
At this moment, Zhao Guang, in a fit of anger, smashed a teacup in the middle of the room and roared at Jia Chuan, "You can't even collect the tax quota set by the founding emperor? Have you read the classics and forgotten everything you've learned?"

Jia Chuan was speechless. The classics? He hadn't read them much, and what he had read, he had long forgotten. He wanted to say that this had nothing to do with dogs.

Old Zheng advised him, "Just bear with it, there's no one who can help you right now."

Jia Chuan realized that his previous success was not solely due to his abilities, but rather because of the opportunity he had encountered Zhu Zhanji when he left Huangluling.

He won at the starting line, which gave him the opportunity to use the experience he had accumulated in his previous life.

Right now, he's using someone else's name. Without that powerful backer, he's still himself, but he's no longer himself.

When Jia Chuan thought of Han Xin and Goujian, those were the only two people he could think of. He felt that he should restrain himself and be more patient, because when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head.

What's the old saying? Most talented people are among the common folk, they just don't have the opportunity to show it. What's a little hardship? There are even those who never get a chance to shine in their entire lives.

Little did Zhao Guang know that he held a grudge. Seeing Jia Chuan greet him with a smile, he thought it was a perfect way to intimidate the young man and make him fearful. But he was not satisfied. He felt that stopping there would not teach the young man a lesson. He had to teach him a full lesson.

When Jia Chuan arrived in Xian County, no one offered him lodging. He had to stay in the county government office, which should have been better than the clerks' quarters. It was a small, separate courtyard. At first, it was fine, but after a few days, not only were there no hot meals, but even the charcoal was scarce. Old Zheng wasn't a coroner yet, just Song Sheng's old servant. The old servant had experience, and among his luggage was a small red clay stove. He went to the market and bought a hand warmer, two more quilts, some vegetables, meat, rice, pots, pans, and other necessities...

Zhao Guang was angry. He was making things difficult for this young man named Song Sheng so that he would come to him in person to apologize. But a change in attitude was not enough. He wanted to see Song Sheng cry his heart out, repent and change his ways, and then produce something... That's how he got there back then.

Seeing that they had money to buy this and that, but didn't know to send it to him, Zhao Guang felt that his guidance was not enough.

Jia Chuan maintains a serious and responsible attitude towards his work. Although he has been transferred to several positions in the past six months and has not yet completed his internship in any of them, he still tries his best to meet the standards of an intern and learn more about the new positions.

Jia Chuan learned that according to the "Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty," the county magistrate could handle cases involving punishments of caning or less. On this particular day, he encountered a case of chicken theft. The chicken thief was caught on the spot and escorted to the county government. Jia Chuan then sentenced the chicken thief to twenty strokes of the cane according to the law he knew.

Upon learning this, Zhao Guang approached Jia Chuan with the "Regulations for Criminal Interrogation," pointing to a clause that read, "Anyone who steals livestock shall be imprisoned in cangue for three days," and questioned Jia Chuan: "Did Magistrate Song accept a bribe from this man?"

Jia Chuan explained, "Chickens are poultry, and they are slightly different from livestock..."

"Does that mean poultry isn't considered livestock?"

Jia Chuan retorted angrily, "Are you trying to nitpick with me?"

"I was just following the rules."

"You actually know how to follow the rules? Can you even write those four words? How many people are imprisoned here? Is it that the magistrate can't find which page of the regulations should be followed in handling the case?"

Zhao Guang also became anxious and claimed that he would report to his superiors the truthfully that Magistrate Song was not handling the case according to the law and was suspected of accepting bribes.

Jia Chuan was not afraid of going to higher authorities, so he waved his hand and said, "Do as you please. You'd better report it to the capital and see if they investigate you or me!"

Zhao Guang was so angry that his beard trembled. Hadn't he already admitted his inferiority? Why was he suddenly being so defiant again?
Zhao Guang was puzzled, but Jia Chuan then gave up and acted as if he didn't care. Arguing with Zhao Guang became a daily occurrence. Zhao Guang even found fault with Jia Chuan's clothes: "Is the cloud pattern on the trim of Magistrate Song's clothes a violation of regulations?"

Having interned in so many places, Jia Chuan had some understanding of clothing in the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang had extremely strict regulations on clothing, with strict distinctions made over the materials, patterns, and designs of clothing for different social classes. Anyone who went beyond these regulations would be punished.

Zhao Guang expected to see Jia Chuan plead desperately after being frightened, but Jia Chuan stubbornly asked, "Are you blind? This is a plain cloud pattern! You chased me to my residence to check in the middle of the night. Are you bored or do you have a problem with the Ministry of Personnel transferring me here? Or... do you not have enough concubines in your harem?"

Zhao Guang was so angry that he shouted that Song Sheng would never be able to wear official robes again.

...Although Jia Chuan was not afraid of Zhao Guang's complaint, no one would be happy to live like this every day. He only hoped that Zhu Zhanji could deal with his second uncle soon before the New Year.

Jia Chuan couldn't understand how the uncle and nephew could still sit still after things had come to this. He had been in Xian County for over a month, but there had been no news from the capital. It was clear that Zhu Zhanji had not yet made a move, and Zhu Gaoxu was also staying put. Could it be that they also valued the end of the year here and would wait until after the New Year to discuss everything?
With this unhappiness in mind, Jia Chuan took Old Zheng out on the morning of the 28th of the twelfth lunar month and met several villagers who had come to report a case but were chased away by the yamen runners.

Originally, Jia Chuan didn't want to cause trouble. The day after tomorrow was New Year's Eve, and if it were a case of petty theft, he would have advised the person to go home. But after hearing this, he hurriedly went to the back of the county government office to find Zhao Guang. He accepted the case!

The person who reported the case said that there was a small hill on the edge of their village, and on the hill was a small temple with a Buddhist hall, two nunneries, and a low-ceilinged small kitchen. Two elderly monks, who were in their twilight years, lived there chanting scriptures all day long and were indifferent to worldly affairs.

On the day before the Lunar New Year, two wandering Taoist priests came to the village and asked to stay at the small temple. Many villagers, including adults and children, followed the priests to the temple.

When they returned, they told those who hadn't gone that the first time they met the ox-nose monk, he encountered the old bald monk. The old bald monk refused to let the ox-nose monk stay overnight, and the ox-nose monk had to plead and beg before he was allowed to enter the temple.

This incident was treated as a joke and was talked about in the village for a day.

This happened on the day before the Lunar New Year. In the following days, the Taoist priest was not seen leaving the village. Mischievous children guarded the mountainside every day, but no one left. On the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, some villagers felt something was wrong. They had not seen any smoke rising from the small temple for several days, so some people boldly went to the temple and knocked on the door. No one answered, so they climbed over the wall and entered. They searched the temple inside and out, but there was no one there.

Yesterday, some children playing at the foot of the mountain discovered that the cover of a dry well was missing. The well cover was made of straw mats by the villagers and weighed down with large stones to prevent children from falling in.

A few brave children ran to the well and peered inside. They were terrified and screamed, calling for the adults in the village. But no one dared to pull the corpse out of the well. However, one of the braver children peered inside and said that there was more than one corpse, and the one at the top was a Taoist priest.

The villagers sought out the village head. They all knew that reporting the case on this day would be useless, but the village head felt that even if it was useless, not reporting it would be a sin. However, it was already getting late, so the village head decided to send someone to the county government to report the case early the next day.

……

After listening to the villagers' vivid and engaging speech as if it were a storyteller, Jia Chuan went to the back of the house to find Zhao Guang; he had to investigate this case.

Zhao Guangzheng was discussing his grandson's marriage with his wife and had no time to deal with Jia Chuan. He didn't even want to see him. Jia Chuan was clamoring to go to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor. No one knew how many lives were at stake, but Magistrate Zhao didn't even plan to look into the case. By the time he wanted to investigate after the Lantern Festival, it would be too late.

Jia Chuan was very anxious at the time. He cherished himself very much, but when faced with such a case, he still couldn't control the excitement in his chest. He felt like he was wound up, ready to go.

He knew his threats had no deterrent effect whatsoever; how could a local official leave his post without permission? Even if he were sealed off, he would still need the county magistrate's approval to leave. Besides, what use would Song Sheng be in the capital? Why would Zhao Guang be afraid?
However, Zhao Guang still met with Jia Chuan, and Jia Chuan then realized that in Zhao Guang's eyes, the county magistrate 'Song Sheng' was harmless, and that the most interesting thing was to be able to tease 'County Magistrate Song' during the New Year.

So, following Zhao Guang's lead, Jia Chuan made a bet with him: he would solve the case before New Year's Eve, but Zhao Guang had to give him men and a donkey.

When Zhao Guang heard that the bet was New Year's goods, he initially disagreed. His family had far more New Year's goods than the master and servant. Jia Chuan quickly said, "Besides the New Year's goods we've already bought, the cash I have on hand that I can use to buy New Year's goods will also count."

Zhao Guang readily agreed, but he didn't consider whether he should check how much silver the county magistrate currently had.

The three constables who were chosen to follow were not happy. They made sarcastic remarks and insults all the way. Since the magistrate did not take this new county magistrate seriously, the constables, who had been working in the yamen for many years, had a habit of bullying newcomers. With the magistrate as an example, and being called out to be exposed to the cold wind on the 28th of the lunar year when they were supposed to be on holiday at home, the three of them initially complained in hushed tones. But seeing that County Magistrate Song did not react, they became bolder.

They rode donkeys to the scene of the crime together with the villagers who reported the case. Jia Chuan asked a lot of questions along the way, but the villagers who came to report the case did not climb over the wall to enter the small temple and did not know much. Jia Chuan was more focused on the case and did not hear what the three yamen runners behind him said at first, but he heard it later.

Upon reaching the village entrance, Jia Chuan dismounted his donkey. Several villagers said they needed to report to the village head, so Jia Chuan ordered his servants to tie up the donkey and tried to follow the villagers into the village. However, in the blink of an eye, the villagers had vanished. Jia Chuan could only slowly walk into the village with Old Zheng.

It's no wonder Old Zheng complained. They could have ridden the donkey for a while longer, but Jia Chuan insisted on walking. Old Zheng thought Jia Chuan was punishing the three constables, but that's not how you punish someone. If anyone should be punished, it should be the two of them riding the donkey while the constables follow on foot.

Jia Chuan had no time to think about how to punish the yamen runners. He was following the route the two Taoist priests took into the village. He wanted to see how many households they would pass by along the way and why they had to stay at the temple.
……

Jia Chuan and Old Zheng walked for a while in the cold wind before they saw the village chief leading the villagers to greet them. Jia Chuan didn't even know where they had come from.

The village chief's expression was not genuinely pleased, probably because he hadn't expected anyone to actually come to investigate on this particular day.

The neighborhood chief really didn't expect that there were officials who were truly dedicated to doing their jobs well.

Jia Chuan exchanged a few simple pleasantries with the village head before asking them to lead the way. The village head suggested they go to his house for some hot water first, as it was colder up in the mountains. Jia Chuan waved his hand and said no need. The group then headed towards the small temple on the mountain.

On the way, Jia Chuan got a few more clues from the village chief. First, there were four cups of water on the table in a nunnery in the temple, and two Taoist priests' bundles on the table. There were more than 20 taels of silver in the bundles. The village chief said that the villagers were simple and honest and knew that such windfall was not acceptable, so they kept the silver. The village chief also praised his achievements in education.

The hill is right next to the village. Although it's called a hill, Jia Chuan thinks it's just a dirt slope without any steps. But even if it's a dirt slope, it's still a slope that's fifty or sixty meters high, so it will take some time to climb.

(End of this chapter)