There was nothing more to say, so they hurried to the county office.
The petition had already been submitted, but they still had to wait for the people from Xicheng Village to be brought in. By the time they arrived, the county magistrate had not yet taken his seat in the courtroom, so they had to wait outside for a while.
Luo Dayong led them to Jin Shiyé’s office to sit down. Jin Shiyé read the petition aloud and asked Xie Yan, ” Mr. Xie, is there anything incorrect or missing in the above?”
Xie Yan had memorized the petition and there were no errors or omissions.
In the petition, Lu Yang had discussed it with him many times. The three uncles of the Xie family and the village chief Zhang Dashi must not be spared, especially Zhang Dashi and Xie Sicao.
These two individuals were the cause and source of the problem, and the accomplice who aided and abetted it. Otherwise, the mother and son would not have suffered so terribly.
Other villagers, even those like Shazhu and Erxi’s family who had caused a big commotion, should not be arrested and punished. The villagers could be incited to follow the crowd. They had already backed down and were willing to speak well of Xie Yan. If one of them were arrested, the other villagers would be filled with anxiety, and might be incited by Xie’s relatives and Zhang Dashí’s family to turn against them.
They waited in the guardhouse for nearly half an hour before the constables who had gone to Shangxi Village early that morning returned with the captives.
There were also villagers from Shangxi Village who had come along, mainly relatives of the Xie family and Zhang Dashi’s family. There were also the families of Shazhu and Erxi.
This group dared not enter the yamen, but they were curious, so they lingered around the front and back courtyards, peering in.
The courthouse was quiet, and although they didn’t make a sound outside, they could faintly hear some words.
Scholars with official titles did not kneel before officials. The rest of the people knelt.
Lu Yang and Zhao Peilan were still waiting in the waiting room, awaiting summons, and did not go to the courthouse to crowd in.
Xie Yan understood the rules better, so after bowing and paying respects, he simply waited for Magistrate Zhang to ask questions. The four people kneeling below the dais were shouting random cries of innocence, disrupting the courtroom. One of them was beaten with three sticks and became quiet.
He had heard Xie Yan’s name before. Xie Yan had taken the examination to become a scholar, and one of his papers had been written by Zhang himself, who had graded it.
As the county magistrate, Zhang was responsible for governing the livelihood of the county, and cultivating talent was also part of his political achievements. However, he rarely interfered with matters at the county school because cultivating talent was too difficult. Relying on this was like relying on one’s ancestral tomb to emit green smoke.
Like himself, who had also entered officialdom through the imperial examinations, he understood the difficulty and did not place too much importance on the title of scholar.
He never expected that the county’s only promising young talent would nearly be ruined by others.
He didn’t expect it, nor did he say he wouldn’t cultivate him. It was truly outrageous.
Looking at Xie Yan’s tattered cotton robe, he was neatly dressed but his clothes were in tatters, showing no trace of a scholar’s demeanor—it was truly pitiable.
He let Xie Yan speak first.
Xie Yan was the one who submitted the petition, so he “filed the complaint” first, then watched how these troublesome villagers would plead their case.
This was something he had been preparing for since before the New Year, so Xie Yan couldn’t help but think about it. He had gone over it in his mind countless times, and now that he was in the courtroom, his eyes welled up with tears, and he began to cry.
Xie Yan bowed again, his voice choked with emotion: “I must thank the imperial court. Under Magistrate Zhang’s capable governance, I am able to receive some silver and grain each month, allowing my mother and me to have food to eat. Otherwise, we would have been driven to death long ago!”
These were empty words; that little silver and rice was nowhere near enough to support two people.
However, he was willing to flatter him, and his sincerity was genuine, which Magistrate Zhang enjoyed hearing.
Xie Yan continued, “I didn’t want to come to the magistrate’s office to complain and bother you with these trivial matters, but I had no other choice. Our fields are gone, our silver is gone, and many of our belongings have been seized. I dropped out of the county school, but I still wanted to continue studying to become a juren and repay the village, bringing honor to the county. But they even seized my tuition fees! If they treat me, a scholar with an official title, this way, how must they treat the other villagers? They don’t even fear reporting to the authorities, and they told me to come forward. I truly have no other options!”
The injustices he had suffered were clearly laid out in the petition, each item a charge of wrongdoing. Having him repeat them was for the benefit of others.
Xie Yan’s flattery was all over the place, but it somehow managed to elevate Zhang Da Ren.
He said, “Today, when I came to the court, Your Honor allowed me to speak of my grievances. I realized there is justice in the world, and my heart is at ease. I had seen them act so arrogantly and had no hope this matter would be resolved, so I came to try my luck. Magistrate Zhang, please take my side!”
A seasoned bureaucrat like him wasn’t fooled.
These troublesome villagers didn’t respect him as the county magistrate, nor did they respect the imperial court. They thought they could bully the scholar and the villagers.
He was a high-ranking official; how could he not handle the case impartially?
He let the defendant speak first and asked the village chief, Zhang Dashi, ” Do you know about Xie Sicao causing trouble at the funeral hall and forcing the widow and orphan?”
Zhang Dashih was sweating profusely. He had already thought it through at home. As soon as Xie Yan and the others moved, he secretly contacted Xie Laoda and Xie Laosan. No matter what, he had to first shift the blame onto Xie Sicao.
He said, “I was deceived too! He came to me back then, crying and complaining, saying his older brother had died and he had no way to claim the fields his brother owed him! Seeing how pitiful he looked, I thought the Xie family still had some assets, so I took his side!”
Little did he know that the three Xie brothers were united against outsiders. They were like branches of the same vine and hadn’t been swayed by Zhang Dashi’s scheming.
They all turned on Zhang Dashi, saying that it was Zhang Dashi who had abused his minor authority as village chief to pressure them, demanding money for his services. If they refused, he threatened to send their sons to perform the harshest corvée labor. They had no choice but to agree!
Zhang Dashi was shocked. He had indeed acted tyrannically in the village.
He denied it: “You’ve taken the silver and the fields, you’re eating good food and living a good life. Now you’re blaming me? Did I force you to enjoy the good life? If I forced you, why wouldn’t I live a good life myself?”
The Xie brothers remained adamant, claiming that over the years they had borne the stigma, but all the benefits had gone to Zhang Dashi.
Zhang the official looked at the petition and listened as they accused each other.
It was now clear that while Zhang Dashi might not have taken the money, he had certainly condoned and participated in the corruption. He had no way to defend himself and only claimed he hadn’t taken the land or silver.
The abuse of his minor authority to oppress the villagers was also clear, and he dared not say more.
Zhang Da Shi was stripped of his village chief position, and a new one would be selected at a later date. He was first detained in the county jail to await further disposition.
This was the common way the county office handled such matters. Once someone was in jail, their family would find a way to scrape together the money.
Regardless of the crime, unless they were stripped of their skin, they couldn’t expect to leave unscathed. Since there was no sentence or execution, no one dared to speak ill of the county magistrate.
Seeing that Zhang Dashi had been imprisoned, the Xie brothers fell silent.
Zhang the Magistrate had his own way of interrogating. He asked Xie the eldest, “Do you know about your brother’s disturbance at the funeral hall?”
This was the same question he had asked Zhang Dashi earlier. If answered poorly, one would already be in prison.
Xie the eldest had no choice but to turn around and betray Xie Sicao.
By betraying Xie Sicao, his crimes were sealed.
Xie Sicao blamed Xie Laoda.
He also mentioned Lu Yang leading a group to raid and destroy property, and forcibly seizing fertile fields.
Zhang looked at Xie Yan, who said, “Our two families have conflicts, but it’s not as he described. If our family could stand on its own, how would we have ended up in such a desperate situation today?”
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