blogombal Chapter 1679 Witness Testimony.
Chapter 1679 Witness Testimony.
Seeing the concerns of several people, Changsun Wuji spoke to comfort them.
"Duke Zhao is right, don't worry, as long as you tell the truth, I guarantee you will be fine.
You must trust the court and His Majesty."
Ma Zhou also followed suit.
Censor Wang also turned around, looked at the few people, and said softly:
"Just tell me what you said to me. Don't worry."
"Yes."
Several people finally made up their minds and nodded, and one of them said:
"In reply to your words, I grow cotton in Xizhou. At first, His Royal Highness Prince Ji asked us to grow cotton.
The price offered is also relatively high, and the profit is much higher than that from growing crops.
But later, the price offered by Prince Ji's Mansion became lower and lower, and finally it was only 30% of the previous price.
The little people work hard for a year, but what they get in the end is not enough to feed the whole family for a year.
Someone in the tribe suggested selling it to other nobles, so that the price could be higher and we could survive.
But the tribal leader disagreed and warned us that if anyone dared to sell it to others, he would not be polite to us.
Some people refused to accept and in the end their entire family was killed.
The little people were all scared and didn't dare to disobey. In recent years, people in our tribe have only been able to eat half full all year round.
Some elderly people in some families starved to death, and the suffering was unbearable.”
When talking about this, the man shed tears. I guess someone in his family must have starved to death.
"Is what you said true?" Ma Zhou frowned. If this was true, it would be really insane.
"Every word I say is true. If I say even a single lie, I am willing to be punished."
The man bowed and assured.
"Okay, what about you guys?" Changsun Wuji looked at the other people again.
At this moment, another person stood up, bowed and said:
"My Lord, I used to be a craftsman in the Xizhou workshop. Since the shopkeeper Wang Yan took over the workshop,
The working hours in the workshop increased by 50%, and we were not paid. We were not allowed to go home, and the entire workshop door was closed, so we were not allowed to enter or leave at will.
There were also many guards and supervisors from Prince Ji's palace in the workshop, who either beat or scolded the craftsmen.
If you don't do something right, you will be whipped and you won't be allowed to rest at all.
There were even some female workers who were bullied by Wang Yan, and many people died in the workshop every year.
And they will go out and trick some people into coming in to continue working for them, and the cycle will repeat over and over again.”
After this person finished speaking, without Changsun Wuji having to speak, a merchant spoke first:
"I am a merchant who travels between the Western Regions and Chang'an. Once, when I was passing through Xizhou, I stopped there and was seen by Wang Wencheng, the chief treasurer of the Prince Ji's Mansion in Xizhou.
He took a fancy to my goods and wanted to buy them.
Originally, I could sell it anywhere. If I sold it in Xizhou, I could save some money, so I gave a cheap price.
Unexpectedly, Wang Wencheng disagreed and offered a very low price.
Of course I couldn't sell it, but the next day when I left Xizhou City, I was stopped by Wang Wencheng and a group of guards from Prince Ji's mansion.
Not only did they rob my goods, they also beat me up. If it weren't for the patrolling soldiers passing by,
I'm afraid I've been beaten to death by them."
"Didn't you report to the police at that time?" Ma Zhou asked at this time.
The merchant immediately replied:
“I reported it, but a local official said that they couldn’t handle it at Prince Ji’s Mansion and that I needed to go to Chang’an City to file a complaint.
But I have long heard that no one dares to offend Prince Ji in Chang'an City, and that he is deeply favored by Your Majesty.
If a commoner like me were to sue a prince, we would undoubtedly be seeking our own death.
In the end, the official who took my life said that I should just consider myself unlucky. I thought so too. At least the person was still alive, so I let it go. "
The merchant's explanation was very reasonable. According to the law, one had to appeal to higher authorities one level at a time. Appealing to a higher authority beyond one's authority would result in punishment, usually by caning.
Tell the prince that no matter whether it is the county magistrate, the governor, or even the governor, they will all consider it seriously.
If an ordinary person sues, the case will basically not be accepted. It is not worth offending the prince for an ordinary person.
Therefore, if they wanted to file a complaint in Chang'an City, it would be considered as appealing to a higher authority and they would be punished with caning.
In their view, Chang'an City was Prince Ji's territory, and if they filed a complaint in Chang'an City, they would probably be beaten to death before they could even get to court.
Everyone present could understand why this businessman ended up with nothing.
"Your Highness Prince Ji, the witness' testimony has been completed. Does Your Highness Prince Ji have any objection to this? Do you plead guilty?"
Changsun Wuji looked at Li Shen.
"Ji...Ji...His Royal Highness Prince Ji."
After hearing what Changsun Wuji said, several people looked at Li Shen as if they had seen a ghost, and their bodies trembled like sieves.
They didn't expect that King Ji was right in front of them, and they had just been accusing King Ji.
"Ordinary." "Ordinary."
Several people couldn't help but kneel down, and it was obvious that they were all terrified.
The main reason was that Prince Ji's reputation was spreading widely in the outside world, especially in some remote areas, where the rumors were even more outrageous.
For example, when the news reached Xizhou, they all said that the King Ji of the Tang Dynasty was an evil ghost, extremely vicious, and ruthless in his actions.
The kind who kills people if they don't agree with you.
Coupled with what they encountered in Xizhou, they were even more certain that Prince Ji was an evil person.
Now they have accused King Ji in front of him, so how could King Ji forgive them?
"Your Highness Prince Ji, please forgive us. We were wrong."
Li Shen spread his hands, meaning that this has nothing to do with me and I haven't said anything yet.
Wang Yushi and others were also helpless. The common people had limited opportunities to meet officials, let alone the extremely noble prince.
Li Shen bared his teeth, squinted his eyes, and his voice became kind, and he smiled at a few people:
"Hehehehe, it doesn't matter. How could the king blame you? Hehehehehe."
It's just that Li Shen's tone might be too gentle, and his words are a little out of tune, coupled with his hehehe laugh,
He made people look as sinister as possible, and frightened several people so much that they kowtowed repeatedly, cried bitterly, and almost peed their pants.
"Your Highness Prince Ji, why are you doing this? Are you trying to intimidate the witness?" Censor Wang asked with a gloomy face.
Li Shen was also helpless. Wasn't he friendly enough? He was already lowering his status by smiling at the people.
"Wang Yushi, are you blind? Didn't you see that I was very easy-going in talking to them? Didn't you see that I just smiled?"
In order to prove himself, Li Shen also smiled at Censor Wang.
"Alright, Your Highness Prince Ji, let's get down to business. The witness has just made a confession. Do you admit it?"
Changsun Wuji didn't want to be disrupted by Li Shen's nagging, so he asked again.
"What do I admit? If these few people say something, it's true. If I go out and find someone to say that the Wang family is planning a rebellion, can it be taken seriously?
Duke Zhao, tell me whether what I said is right or not." Li Shen looked disdainful.
Want to bring him down? Dreaming? Li Shen's main point is to deny it.
(I checked some information and found no record of people being beaten before suing officials. It only records that people who appealed to higher authorities would be caned.
The Tang Dynasty especially encouraged people to file complaints and advocated that people use the law to protect their own rights and interests.