Do you know: I should be fat and you should be thin!

The people pointed and whispered, wanting to see how Magistrate Zhou would handle the situation.

"quiet!"

Zhou Ning slammed the gavel down!

Two rows of yamen runners struck the ground with water and fire sticks, creating an atmosphere of solemnity.

"Listen up, Scholar Zhang! You have six months to appeal to the Yangzhou Prefecture, which governs this county. The prefecture will appoint officials to retry the case! If you are still dissatisfied with the Yangzhou Prefecture's review result, you can appeal to the Provincial Judicial Commissioner of the Inspectorate. In this way, the case will be tried in another prefecture by officials from a neighboring prefecture! I would like to ask you, having read so many books, have you ever learned the meaning of being a man without integrity? A large cart without a linchpin, a small cart without a linchpin, how can they move? You may be shameless, but the people of Tianchang County still have dignity! Don't go out and say you are a scholar from Tianchang County, I can't bear the shame! A dignified man is less courageous than a woman! Guards! Take him away!" Zhou Ning roared.

"good!"

"What you say is true, sir!"

"Exactly! The woman admitted it, but he won't!"

"The adult did a good job scolding him!"

The people burst into applause!

The last of the two yamen runners stepped forward at the same time and dragged away the dispirited scholar Zhang!

"Zhang San!" Zhou Ning said.

Zhang San replied, "Yes, sir!"

"Although this dynasty does not criminalize voyeurism, such behavior is wrong. If it happens again, I will punish you with public flogging! Do you understand?" Zhou Ning asked.

The punishment of flogging was divided into five levels, increasing progressively from ten strokes to fifty strokes.

The instrument of torture was a three-foot-five-inch-long bramble cane, and the target of the punishment was the buttocks. However, the punishment could be waived by paying copper coins, with the redemption amount ranging from one to five catties.

Zhang San repeatedly agreed.

Zhou Ning, following the law, issued a ruling to Zhang Xiucai, giving him time to appeal. Li was temporarily imprisoned, and her sentence was postponed until a review was conducted, after which she and Zhang Xiucai would be executed together.

The Judgment Document is a special legal document established by the Great Zhou Dynasty for concluding civil cases involving marriage, land, and corvée labor.

It contains a complete record of the facts of the case, the applicable legal provisions, and the reasons for the judgment, which can be used by higher-level government officials to quickly verify the case details during a review.

Zhou Ning drank a cup of tea and rested for a while!

"Summon the plaintiff to court!"

A middle-aged man walked into the hall, knelt down, and said, "Your Honor, I am Li Qingshan from Li Village, a carpenter. I want to accuse my neighbor, Li Sansi, of stealing my chickens!"

Zhou Ning thought to himself, "What kind of cases are these? Will someone else accuse my neighbor of touching my dog ​​tomorrow?"

"Stand up and speak! Tell me the whole story of the case from the beginning!" Zhou Ning said.

Li Qingshan stood up and said, "Sir, I am Li Sansi's neighbor, our houses are less than ten feet apart. My family used to have four roosters, eight hens, and thirteen chicks. His family also had three roosters, six hens, and nine chicks. But a month ago, I lost one hen and gained one rooster. His family gained one hen and lost one rooster. He must have stolen my hen and returned my rooster. I have witnesses who can prove the number of chickens in our houses before the loss! Please, sir, do justice for me!"

The common people, who weren't very bright, were completely bewildered by what they were being told.

"Summon the defendant, Li Sansi, to court!" Zhou Ning announced.

Li Sansi, who looked somewhat hunched over and was nearly sixty years old, slowly walked to the hall and said, "This humble servant, Li Sansi, greets Your Excellency, the County Magistrate!"

"Someone, please give Li Sansi a seat!" Zhou Ning ordered.

Upon hearing this, a yamen runner ran to the inner hall to fetch a chair.

The people were abuzz with discussion: why was the defendant given a seat?

Li Qingshan exclaimed urgently, "Sir, he is the defendant!"

"Silence! I know he is the defendant, but he is also an elderly man! Our Great Zhou Dynasty governs the world with filial piety, and since Tianchang County is under my jurisdiction, I must set an example for everyone. From now on, before a verdict is reached, any elderly person with mobility issues will be given a seat in the county government office! Everyone is welcome to supervise me!" Zhou Ning shouted.

The people were talking a lot.

The yamen runners moved a chair over, and Li Sansi thanked them and sat down with their help.

"Li Sansi! I ask you, Li Qingshan has accused you of exchanging his hen for a rooster. Do you have any defense to offer?" Zhou Ning asked.

Li Sansi said, "Sir, I'm innocent. I just bought the hen from the street after saving up enough money, and the rooster... I'm not feeling well, so I made soup with it."

Li Qingshan said anxiously, "Sir, he's lying! If you're going to eat chicken to nourish yourself, you should kill a hen. He's an old man, how could he eat a rooster every day? I went to his house with the neighbors on the day the chicken went missing, and there was no trace of blood from killing the chicken, nor any sign of chicken meat or chicken soup."

Zhou Ning said, "Bring the witness to the court!"

A man approached; he was their neighbor. He said, "This humble servant, Li Jun, greets you, sir!"

"I ask you, Li Qingshan said you can prove the number of chickens between the two families before, is that true?" Zhou Ning asked.

Li Jun said, "Yes, sir, I can testify. I count my own chickens every day, and because chickens often fly to other people's houses, I also keep track of the situation at Li Sansi's and Li Qingshan's houses every day."

Zhou Ning asked, "On the day Li Qingshan lost the chicken, were you with him at Li Sansi's house?"

Li Jun said, "Yes, I will accompany you!"

Zhou Ning asked, "No blood, no chicken meat?"

Li Jundao: "Yes!"

Zhou Ning said, "Li Qingshan, I ask you: When you went to find Lord Li, did his family kill any chickens? Did the number of chickens in his house remain the same?"

Li Jun's heart skipped a beat.

Li Qingshan exclaimed in surprise, "Yes...there were definitely chickens killed! But there's no problem with the number they had."

"How dare you! Li Sansi! Li Jun! Do you two know your crimes?" Zhou Ning slammed his gavel and shouted.

"My lord, I am innocent!" Li Sansi said.

"My lord, what crime have I committed?" Li Jun asked guiltily.

Zhou Ning said, "This is clearly a series of crimes! Mr. Li! You must have discovered that Li Sansi bought hens, so you swapped your own rooster for Li Qingshan's hens, then went to Li Sansi to buy another rooster to replace your own, and killed the swapped hen. So your numbers are correct, yet you killed chickens! Li Sansi's family doesn't see any meat, but they have extra hens and fewer roosters! Li Sansi! Am I wrong?"

Li Sansi stood up from his seat, knelt down, and said, "My lord, I know I was wrong. But I only made money from selling the chickens; I didn't steal or kill any!"

"But you're protecting a criminal, so you should be treated as an accomplice! Mr. Li, what else do you have to say?" Zhou Ning asked.

Li Jun said bitterly, "Sir, your foresight is truly remarkable; I am convinced. I instructed Li Sansi before buying the chickens, and that's why he kept the matter a secret. I accept the punishment!"

The laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty clearly state that stealing or killing small private livestock such as dogs is punishable by eighty strokes of the cane. However, since chickens are less valuable than dogs, the basic punishment for stealing chickens is usually ten strokes of the cane!

Zhou Ning ruled that Li Jun should compensate Li Qingshan with one hen and three chicks, and that he should be flogged ten times in court!

Li Sansi knew about the incident but failed to report it, so he compensated Li Qingshan with a chick!

After the trial was completed, Zhou Ning signed and filed all the confessions and judgments.

With today's business concluded, the yamen runners below the court struck the retreat drum three times, and Zhou Ning announced the adjournment of the court.

After leaving the court, Zhou Ning went to the Reflection Hall in the government office to review and verify the case files to avoid any misjudgments or oversights.

"Ning Lang, a letter from Grand Tutor Yu will arrive soon."

......