The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

Anlu County connects Xiapu in the south and Sui and Tang in the north. It is a major transportation route in Nanjun, so there are frequent boats and cars all year round. In addition, there are many floating populations, including merchants entering the city to trade, people selling rice and grain, and soldiers serving in the north.

But no matter how many people are waiting outside, the time when the city gate opens every day is still based on sunrise.

However, there are always exceptions. On the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month, at dawn, before dawn, the south gate of Anlu County was opened in advance.

In the night, the official in black clothes and black crown drove the car first and galloped out, and there were two people in the car behind him.

"Isn't that Le from the county prison?"

The county soldier guarding the city gate yawned and said. Under the light of the torch, he recognized at a glance that the clerk driving the car was Le, a subordinate of the county prison official.

The prison official is the chief officer of the prison department, responsible for litigation and prison matters, while the prison clerk is a petty official under him. The prison official is stationed in the county town, and when encountering a case, he will generally send the prison clerk to the scene of the case to handle it first.

So before dawn, Le used the emergency certificate to open the city gate and hurriedly led people out of the city. The county clerks speculated that there must be another case in another place...

"This year is really not peaceful." The county clerk couldn't help but sigh.

They guessed correctly. At the time of "Ren Ding" last night, when the night curfew just started, Le, who was on duty in the county prison, was sleeping soundly on the table, but was hurriedly awakened by the jailer, saying that there was a guard from another place knocking on the door outside, and there was an urgent case to report...

Le was awakened from his sweet dream. He wanted to let the guard who didn't know the rules stay in Shuli for a good night, but he remembered Doctor Xi's nagging that "official business should not be delayed overnight", so he had to ask someone to open the door with an unhappy face and let the guard who reported the case in.

The one who came was someone he knew, Ji Ying, the postman of Huyang Pavilion.

After Ji Ying stuttered and told the story, Le's sleepiness disappeared immediately!

He realized that this matter involved anonymous letters, gang tomb robbery, and village officials stealing, which was a big case!

The matter was of great importance, so Le did not dare to act on his own, so he hurriedly sent someone to invite his superior, the prison official Xi, to come.

Xi had a day off today and was resting at home, but he soon came to the county prison. He did not listen to the oral statements of Le and Ji Ying, nor did he interrogate the public official Qu Ji involved in the case. Instead, he first reviewed the hastily written letter by Huyang Pavilion Chief Hei Fu, which contained a brief account of the case.

The "Miscellaneous Internal History" of the Qin Law stipulates that officials must use written form to ask for instructions, and oral requests are not allowed!

Xi is a person who pays attention to legal procedures. After all the procedures are correct, he began to question the criminals, analyze the case, and give instructions.

"The incident is urgent. It is too late to ask the county lieutenant to send troops to help after dawn. Le, you drive quickly, take Ji Ying and a prison guard, go out of the city gate to Huyang Pavilion, and ask the people in Huyang Pavilion to help you control the prison gate of Chaoyangli, and then ask them to confess their crimes and the hiding place of the tomb robbers. After dawn, I will personally lead the county soldiers to catch them all!"

Xi handed the exit certificate to Le, and Le took the order and left. When he really left the city, it was already dawn...

...

"Prison guard, is this case serious? The prison official was so solemn just now that I didn't dare to say anything."

The car was moving very fast and bumpy. Ji Ying held the railing of the carriage tightly and asked carefully.

"Don't say you dare not speak. When the prison official spoke, we dare not breathe. If we say something wrong by accident, we will be punished to copy 20 bamboo slips. Who is willing..." Le secretly complained in his heart.

The last time they met, Ji Ying was still the plaintiff in the case, but this time, he was already a postman, and they were all civil servants in the system. So Le didn't have to hide it, and he smiled while driving: "Yes, this is probably the first major case that the county prison has received since the beginning of October!"

Let's not talk about the rare anonymous letter, nor the scandal of colluding with thieves as a prisoner, just talk about those tomb robbers. Le clearly remembered that a few days ago, the county issued a document, and the county magistrate claimed that tomb robbery in Nanjun was too rampant and must be dealt with!

The ice is three feet thick, and it is not a day's cold. Tomb robbery in Nanjun has a long history, and it is not just in recent years. It can be traced back to the story of Wu Zixu digging the tomb of King Ping of Chu and whipping his corpse three hundred times. The most recent one can be traced back to more than 50 years ago, when the Qin general Sima Cuo entered Yiling and burned the tombs of the ancestors of the Chu State...

In the war of changing the owner of Jianghan, many tombs of the Chu kings and Chu nobles were destroyed by the Qin army, and many burial objects flowed out. The tomb robbers who took advantage of the fire made a fortune. They got greedy and started to dig up the tombs of Chu nobles all over the country.

Although if you ask yourself, Qin officials like Le, who were born in the common people, would gloat over the tombs of those Chu nobles and say "good job!" But tomb robbing is a crime against heaven and earth and is clearly prohibited by laws. Destruction during war is one thing, and protection in peacetime is another. No matter whether the tombs are of Qin people or Chu people, they should be caught and severely punished.

Now, only a few days after the county documents were issued, a tomb robbery case occurred in Anlu. If the case can be solved, it will be a great thing for the Anlu Prison. If it cannot be solved and the tomb robbers escape, they will be reprimanded by the county and their merits may be deducted...

"I am afraid that I will be a step too late and let the tomb robbers escape..." Le thought so.

As they were talking, the sky gradually brightened. When the sun completely jumped out of the east, the carriage driven by Le and his men also arrived outside the Huyang Pavilion...

What a coincidence, the pavilion chief Heifu had just changed his clothes. When he heard the sound of carriages and horses outside, he walked out of the pavilion, bowed to Le and said with a smile: "Ling Li, long time no see!"

"Heifu, now is not the time to be polite."

Le jumped off the carriage, and before he could return the greeting, he pulled Heifu's arm and hurriedly said: "The prison official has already known about your request. This case is very serious, and he specially sent me to deal with it. You quickly go and ask the pavilion guards to gather and select weapons, and set off with me in a moment."

Heifu grinned: "Gathering, where to go?"

"Of course, to catch thieves and robbers!"

Le arranged as a matter of course: "You and I will go to Chaoyangli first, take down the prison guard there, interrogate him, and pry out the hiding place of the tomb robbers from his mouth, and then..."

After that, Le remembered something and began to encourage Heifu: "Speaking of which, although Heifu is an official for the first time, he is experienced and clever. He not only found a way to find the anonymous writer, but also concealed the real reason for his arrest, so as not to arouse the suspicion of the prison guard in Chaoyangli."

He patted Heifu on the shoulder and smiled: "Now, you have completed what you should do as the head of the pavilion. Next, you just need to follow the instructions of the county!"

Le has a good heart. He thinks that Heifu has encountered such a big case just a few days after taking office. Even if he is brave and knows the law, he will be at a loss. Hearing that he will be in charge of this case and be responsible for formulating the arrest plan throughout the process, Heifu should be relieved and relieved, right?

However, Heifu just looked embarrassed.

Le spoke too fast, leaving no room for man to speak. Heifu opened his mouth several times but didn't find a chance to speak. He could only listen with a helpless smile.

"Alas, I just hope that the prison guard there hasn't become suspicious and escaped yet, and I hope that he knows where the thieves are hiding... Although I came here before dawn, it's still a little late. I'm afraid that the thieves are cunning and have dug the tomb and ran away overnight."

After Le finally finished speaking, Heifu opened his mouth to speak.

Unexpectedly, Dongmen Bao, covered in blood, rushed out of the door and shouted: "Heifu, I have tied up the tomb robber and the prison guard in the yard!"

Hearing this, Lingli Le, who was encouraging Heifu, suddenly became very strange.

"Heifu, could it be that you..." Le looked at Heifu with a stunned look.

Heifu could only bow to Le and said, "Officer, I didn't have time to tell you that I caught all those tomb robbers, including the Chaoyangli prison guard... overnight! I caught them all with evidence, not one was missing!"

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