Poverty Alleviation in Qin: A Sky-High Review of "I Am the Female Prime Minister of All Time&qu

As night deepened, the county government hall remained brightly lit.

When the six bandits were brought in, the ropes binding them had not yet been untied.

Some people had their heads down, some were glancing around erratically, and some were muttering something under their breath, as if trying to bolster their courage.

Cao Can made them kneel in a row on the ground, then stepped aside and stood still.

Song sat behind the desk, a blank bamboo scroll spread out in front of him, and charcoal sticks resting on the edge of the inkstone.

The man who reported the crime stood on one side of the hall and recounted the entire process of being robbed and kidnapped.

The local militia presented a list of the stolen goods they had collected: several strings of coins, several bags of grain, and several bolts of cloth, scattered on the ground in front of the hall. Beside them were broken hemp ropes, their rough edges clearly indicating that they had been hastily torn.

The mother and daughter had been resting in the side courtyard and were not present, but they had already given a brief statement.

Song listened and took notes quickly without looking up.

After asking her questions, she put down the charcoal and turned her gaze to the bandits: "How many households did you rob? How many people did you kidnap? Did you kill anyone?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the bandits began to shift blame onto each other, each saying something in turn.

Some say the money was divided up by others, some say the idea wasn't theirs, and some say they just followed along and didn't do anything.

But as the questions were asked more and more, the answers started to fall apart, with more and more contradictions appearing. Some people spoke softer and softer, while others simply shut up and didn't answer, as if they felt that they couldn't make up a story no matter how much they tried.

Song listened for a while, but his patience was completely worn out.

"Then we'll handle it according to the gang theft law."

As soon as she finished speaking, the bandits below looked up at her, as if they hadn't yet realized what her words meant.

Song Ye looked down at the bamboo slips and read them aloud one by one: "If five or more people steal together, regardless of the amount of the stolen money, their left toe will be cut off, their face will be tattooed, and they will be sentenced to life imprisonment on the city walls."

"Those who abduct innocent people shall be tattooed, have their noses cut off, or have their left toe cut off, and shall be sentenced to life imprisonment on the city walls." As she spoke, she glanced in the direction of the man clutching his groin. "Those who plunder the people and rape women on the spot shall, according to Qin law, be executed in the marketplace."

"The two ringleaders were executed in the marketplace, while the other three had their left toes cut off, their faces tattooed, and their noses cut off, and were sentenced to life imprisonment."

"The document will be submitted to the Sishui Prefecture government for review tonight, and the approval will be to carry out the execution immediately."

Chopping off the left toe: This was a form of corporal punishment in the Qin Dynasty.

Facial tattooing: a form of punishment in which characters are tattooed and inked on the cheeks, leaving a permanent mark of shame.

Chengdan: The most severe form of penal confinement in Qin Dynasty, male prisoners were forced to build city walls and perform hard labor for years, with no chance of being pardoned.

The bandits finally seemed to realize what was happening—

Some began to struggle, while others crawled forward a couple of steps on their knees, crying out, "Sir, spare our lives!"

"I was forced into it!"

"They made me do it!"

The sounds mingled and jumbled around in the hall, but were eventually suppressed by Cao Can and Fan Kuai, who were standing nearby, and were not raised again.

Song looked at them and suddenly felt that it was absurd.

These people showed no mercy when looting, no hesitation when kidnapping, and no remorse when preparing to commit violence.

Now, standing below the hall, he acts as if he is the one who has been wronged.

A bunch of idiots.

After confirming that everything was correct, Song also handed the interrogation document to Zhang Liang, who was standing to the side: "Make a copy. According to Qin law, the ringleader of a gang of thieves who kidnap and humiliate women can be sentenced to dismemberment. However, Qin law stipulates that the local county magistrate can sentence them to public execution. Dismemberment must be reported to the prefectural court for review and approval."

She paused for a moment, then said, "Make a copy of tonight's interrogation document and send it to the Sishui County government office as soon as possible for the prefect to review and approve."

"Before the approval is issued, the person should be imprisoned and kept in jail, and no food or water should be given to them."

They're all going to the Western Paradise anyway, so let them go hungry before they die.

After all, food is very precious.

Zhang Liang took the bamboo slip, lowered his eyes, and replied, "Yes."

He then turned around, walked to the side table, sat down, spread out a new bamboo scroll, and began to copy it.

The shouts from below gradually subsided.

Some people were still sobbing, while others seemed resigned to their fate.

Cao Shen and Fan Kuai dragged the animal out like a dead dog.

Song stood up, not glancing at the people below again, and turned to walk towards the side door.

At this moment, she was extremely grateful that although the Qin Dynasty was strict with its Legalists, it had zero tolerance for its criminals and those who raped women.

It's a pity we can't send them all for sterilization.

Xiao He stood there and watched her walk away before turning around.

Only he and Zhang Liang, who was copying documents, remained in the hall.

Xiao He walked over, glanced at the bamboo scroll written by Zhang Liang, which already had several lines of text, and urged, "Hurry up, I'll send someone to Sishui County soon. The prefect approves quickly, I reckon we'll receive a reply tomorrow."

Zhang Liang hummed in agreement, his carving knife never stopping.

...

Over here, Song also walked through the corridor, thinking about how to arrange more manpower at the suburban post station tomorrow, so that this kind of thing would not happen a second time.

Although they arrived in time and prevented the situation from getting out of control, this incident should serve as a wake-up call.

Several plans were still swirling in my mind: suitable personnel, rotation frequency, and how to maintain patrol density without increasing the burden on the people...

As he was thinking, his gaze swept across one side of the courtyard wall and landed in the direction of the study, where he paused for a moment.

The study light was still on.

Song raised an eyebrow, changed direction, and walked towards the study.

The door wasn't closed tightly, leaving a crack. She gently pushed it open and saw Lü Zhi sitting behind the table, her head slightly lowered, the bamboo slips in her hand half-open.

The candlelight fell on her profile, stretching the shadow of her eyelashes long and casting a thin, curved line above her cheekbone.

The girl was so engrossed in watching that she seemed to have lost track of time.

Song took two steps closer, his gaze falling on the familiar characters on the edge of the bamboo slip, and he paused slightly.

She recognized him.

This is a diary entry I wrote when I first arrived in De'an County.

At that time, Song had no idea where the world would push her, or whether she could stand firm in this world.

When I wrote it, I never thought anyone would read it, let alone that it would be exhibited in a museum by future generations, so that countless descendants could read it word by word.

Lü Zhi raised her head, meeting Song Ye's gaze. She remained calm. "How did things go?"

"Not bad." Song Ye sat down next to her, his voice tinged with fatigue. "We arrived in time and caught them all."

After hearing this, Empress Lü did not press further, but instead asked, "Are you hungry?"

Song nodded: "Hungry."

"Let's go eat."

"it is good."

After she finished speaking, she stood up, and the two of them walked out of the study side by side.

The lanterns under the eaves cast long shadows of the two people, one tall and one short, as they slowly moved forward on the blue brick floor.

The night breeze swept through the courtyard, causing the bamboo curtain to flutter briefly before returning to its original state, as if making way for the tranquil night.

......

The next day at noon, the prefectural government's reply was delivered to the county court as scheduled.

The prefect of Sishui reviewed the case very decisively, neither rejecting it nor adding any further comments, only affixing a vermilion official seal with the four short characters: "Approved for execution."

Song Ye had just finished his lunch. He took the bamboo slip and read it through. His expression was calm. He turned to Xiao He and instructed, "The execution will be carried out this afternoon. Pass down the order to parade the prisoners through the streets as a warning to the public."

Xiao He was taken aback: "The execution is to take place today?"