Chapter 724 - The Trial
"The Luo family dominated Sanliang Market for generations, acting as local emperors here. Why can't we do the same?" Shi Zhiqi said. "Our people will certainly do better than these traditional gentry bullies!"
Of course, indigenous personnel trained in modern administrative skills would certainly outperform self-interested clan magnates. But traditional society was a typical "acquaintance society"—the outsider label wasn't easily removed. Some families might have lived locally for two or three generations and still be considered outsiders by locals.
Outsiders were excluded from local social networks, rarely trusted by locals. Their words naturally carried less weight. Being few and weak, their interests were often bullied and encroached upon.
In a major city like Guangzhou, things might be better. In semi-closed rural society, outsiders peacefully controlling local power was very difficult.
In twenty-first-century China, "outsider" still carried pejorative connotations—let alone the far more closed society with almost no population mobility of the seventeenth century.
Without support from local magnates, how to establish their own people with sufficient authority was something Wen Desi had been contemplating.
Now the local magnates and gentry who had resisted them had been annihilated. Most were killed; the rest were either already hanged or about to be. According to established guidelines, these people would be "cleared"—the document's euphemism for "executed."
Those who had narrowly escaped death—including their clansmen, distant relatives, guards... anyone who had received their patronage and counted as beneficiaries—would be entirely relocated to Lingao for "resettlement." The Civil Affairs People's Committee would disperse and resettle this population across Hainan Island.
After these measures, Sanliang Market's "elite class" would be completely swept away. Newcomers with sufficient capital and strong capabilities could easily establish authority locally.
...
Deep in thought, he dozed off half-reclined in his chair. When he woke, it was fully light. Wen Desi remembered today's town-wide assembly. He quickly sat up and called for his orderly to bring water for washing.
The assembly didn't require his personal presence—specialized Civil Affairs Committee transmigrators would handle it. Wen Desi sat in his temporary office, reading the rapidly accumulating reports and requests on his desk.
Captured militia, guards, and gentry servants needed screening. The general principle was to punish those with public grievances and release ordinary people on the spot. But who had public grievances versus private vendettas was a tangled question. Since early morning, people had been sneaking to headquarters with "accusations" and "complaints," or delivering anonymous letters. The civil affairs team had brought indigenous personnel specifically to handle such matters.
The town-wide assembly at the threshing ground went smoothly. Wen Desi found this unsurprising—any assembly held at bayonet-point would go smoothly, especially after a hundred-odd people had just been hanged. The assembly elected several liaison officers responsible for maintaining public order, handling aftermath, and assessing "Reasonable Burden." Among them were Innkeeper Chen, a small rush-mat dealer named Li Cunfa, and the abbot of the town's only temple—Monk Daoliao. Daoliao presided over a hereditary temple with modest temple property. Fortunately, being the only temple in town, Daoliao handled all supernatural-related services, earning enough for him and his few disciples to live on.
These three worked under the civil affairs team's direct supervision. Wen Desi ordered five hundred taels of silver and several hundred shi of rice allocated as operating funds. Existing community organizations were restored—the fire brigade reopened; the watchmen resumed their rounds. Those whose homes and property had been destroyed in the fighting received relief rice. The civil affairs team also planned to distribute relief silver.
"I'm truly surprised," said Ji Xin, the arbitration tribunal representative responsible for inspecting and handling the task force's legal matters, seeing this temporary organization already functioning. Innkeeper Chen handled security; Li Cunfa managed economics and Reasonable Burden; Monk Daoliao managed corpse collection and charitable relief for the poor. Everything was quickly becoming orderly. "Before coming to Guangdong, I worried natives would fear government retaliation and refuse to publicly volunteer as liaison officers."
In traditional Chinese society, local notables stepping up to maintain order after war wasn't considered "collaboration." It even earned praise for "protecting the homeland." Such people were typically local gentry and magnates whom the government had always relied on for grassroots governance. Naturally, when authorities returned, they wouldn't punish such behavior. Among them were genuinely public-spirited righteous people, but also despicable opportunists seeking to exploit the situation for personal gain. Circumstances varied greatly.
For now, the transmigrators had no choice—most locals hadn't yet developed basic trust in them. They could only use those who stepped forward voluntarily. Whether these people were capable and honest could only be evaluated through practice.
With local liaison officers, civil affairs work proceeded rapidly. The team began collecting and burying corpses, providing relief to the poor, hunting escaped "enemies," and repairing buildings damaged by artillery—both private and public. The former particularly—the Element Council did largely accept the concept of inviolable private property. At least when it didn't conflict with the Council's or Empire's interests.
Liu Deshan's residence, being heavily damaged, was among the first listed for repairs. A squad of marines carrying tools and pushing carts of building materials arrived at the Liu residence in force. Liu Deshan had just attended the threshing ground assembly that morning. While he knew his life and property were temporarily safe, he remained worried about the upcoming "Reasonable Burden." When assessed, it would probably be no small sum.
While worrying, this group suddenly appeared before his house. Liu Deshan assumed the crop-heads had come to confiscate his property. These tools were probably for digging up floor tiles and tearing down walls to find "hidden treasure." He was so frightened he couldn't move.
"Sir, we meet again." The leader was the same Australian who had come to his house the day before. He smiled and waved his axe—nearly making Liu Deshan wet himself. "We keep our word. We're here to fix your house."
"This... um... ah..." Before Liu Deshan could react, marines swarmed into the courtyard. Someone immediately removed the threshold his clerks had hastily nailed the day before, pushed in a modified wheelbarrow loaded with bricks, tiles, and lime. Others nimbly set up ladders and climbed to the roof. Others went straight to the clerks to borrow buckets, preparing to mix mortar. Seven or eight pairs of hands started repairs at once.
Liu Deshan stood dumbfounded. In his understanding, soldiers were all idle layabouts and good-for-nothings—genuine "official bandits." Not robbing or killing was already considered strict discipline. An army that made reparations for damage and personally helped repair houses was absolutely unheard of.
"Who knew such people existed!" Liu Deshan exclaimed repeatedly. He quickly ordered someone to boil water and brew tea.
"Sir, we're out of old tea..." a clerk said. "We used it all yesterday."
"Idiot! Brew the good tea!"
While Liu Deshan fussed over tea, Innkeeper Chen cursed and led his group to the Bureau. The "Bureau" the sergeant mentioned was the former Militia Bureau—originally a temple that had been refurbished. With many rooms and spacious halls, it made excellent office space. After breaking through on October 26th, the squadron had established its command center here.
The group was brought to the Bureau. A large courtyard nearby now served as temporary detention. Room after room was packed with dejected faces.
The three of them were separately escorted to a courtyard that had been the Bureau's main hall—where committee members had held their private courts to "try cases." Any "suspicious person" captured by militia in Sanliang and surroundings, or any unfortunate who had offended the masters, was brought here for harsh interrogation. Besides lacking a yamen's formal plaques and insignia, it had everything—magistrate's bench, torture implements, everything.
This now served as the temporary military court for hearing cases. Tribunal representative Ji Xin had been trying cases since morning—mostly local commoners accusing former magnates and gentry. Some claimed they had caused deaths; some accused them of abducting women; some accused them of seizing property... an endless variety. Some came openly with written complaints begging for justice; others sent anonymous notes secretly. These materials now filled a table behind the court.
Some cases no longer needed trial—the defendants had died during the assault or been hanged that night. Complaints against Luo Tianqiu were especially numerous, the charges "complete with all five poisons." Ji Xin thought: this man was truly a textbook "bully landlord."
Though trials weren't necessary, Ji Xin still had indigenous clerks organize the materials and especially collect sufficient witness testimony—this would be valuable propaganda material later!
Defendants still alive were brought in order for trial. This mode of trial—no legal basis, no court evidence, relying only on both parties' word-against-word debate—made Ji Xin uncomfortable. He had to rely on his own common sense, knowledge, principles, and even intuition to make judgments.
Ji Xin didn't believe "poor people are naturally good; rich people are naturally bad." He knew very well that when new rulers arrived, many would try to seize others' property to change their own fate. False accusations and exaggerations would certainly be common at such times.
So he paid special attention to fairness. His frequently stated principle was: "That a person is guilty doesn't mean every accusation can be piled on their head." This clashed with Xu Wen's "Iron Fist of Public Security" faction and the pragmatists' "Law Is a Tool" theory.
"Liaison Officer Chen has brought several militia instructors." Someone reported. "They deny everything."
"Oh." Ji Xin nodded. "Of course they deny it." He was quite displeased with the Element Council's order to execute all militia instructors, considering it potentially indiscriminate killing. But this was a high-level decision he couldn't oppose.
"Bring them in for questioning." He moved aside the completed case files on his desk and opened a new one.
Qingxia and the other two were brought into the hall. The setting rivaled a county yamen in scale, but the hall was nearly empty—no fierce-looking yamen runners, just three or four crop-head-looking figures. The one in the center was a strapping man, six-and-a-half chi tall, square-faced, thick-browed, large-earlobed, with very fair skin—looking very official indeed. Probably a high-ranking crop-head.
Qingxia quickly pulled Jiang Suo down to kneel.
"This humble woman Chunxia kowtows to Your Honor—"
"No need to kneel and kowtow. Stand and speak." The strapping crop-head said. He appeared affable, unlike the fierce officialdom of typical magistrates. Qingxia felt slightly reassured.
"Thank you, Your Honor."
"No thanks needed." This Australian actually smiled. "What's your name? Where are you from? What's your profession?"
Qingxia answered each question, saying only that they were traveling equestrian performers, not daring to mention they had been militia instructors. She said they were being falsely accused because the innkeeper had tried to extort their horse and property.
"Your Honor, please discern the truth! We are performing artists, wandering everywhere, complete outsiders. How could we be militia instructors here?" Qingxia knew flat denial was her only chance at survival.
Ji Xin nodded, examining the three. The woman speaking was about twenty, tall and well-proportioned with large natural feet—clearly trained in martial arts. The young man beside her was sixteen or seventeen, short but sturdy. The other woman was in her early thirties, somewhat attractive but pale and unsteady—apparently ill.
These three, called militia instructors? Indeed hard to believe.
"Sir!" Innkeeper Chen immediately jumped forward. "These three definitely served as militia instructors and fought against your people! If you don't believe me, ask the captured militia—some surely recognize them!" He pointed at Qingxia. "This woman even had an affair with Luo Tianqiu!"
Qingxia's face flushed crimson, furious beyond words. As a woman performing publicly, her chastity was constantly suspected and discussed—so she was especially sensitive about it, tolerating no misunderstanding. Her virgin body being groundlessly slandered, she almost rushed forward to seize Innkeeper Chen. Only the gleaming crop-head bayonets restrained her fury. She turned and knelt, kowtowing once.
"This humble woman is certainly still a virgin with no connection to Lord Luo! This Innkeeper Chen is spewing blood from his mouth! Please, Your Honor, investigate clearly!"
Seeing this woman's intense reaction, Ji Xin knew she spoke truth. He glanced at Innkeeper Chen's smug expression. Though jurisprudence didn't concern itself with personal impressions, their contrasting behavior inevitably affected his judgment.
Regardless of whether these three were militia instructors, Innkeeper Chen clearly had ulterior motives. The attempted horse extortion might well be true.
"Qingxia! Whether you're a virgin is irrelevant to this case." The crop-head behind the table seemed quite displeased that the matter had inexplicably veered to "virginity." He told Qingxia: "Stand. Innkeeper Chen claims you served as militia instructors and fought in battle. Is this true?"
"Reporting to Your Honor—absolutely not!" Qingxia denied firmly. "We perform equestrian tricks—all flashy moves with no substance. How could we train militia?"
Seeing Qingxia's instant, complete denial and firm attitude, Innkeeper Chen feared the Australian might believe her. He quickly added: "Sir, they're all skilled martial artists! If you don't believe me, ask the townspeople. This woman's archery is extraordinary—she can shoot coins from a hundred paces. Luo Tianqiu specifically hired her to train the militia in archery..." He pointed at Aunt Jiang. "This woman throws knives, and her leg still has yesterday's wound! If she wasn't fighting militia, where would a bayonet wound come from?"
This was undeniable hard evidence. Qingxia momentarily had no counter-argument.
"Is what Innkeeper Chen says true?"
"Reporting to Your Honor! We humble performers practice martial arts—some skills for earning our living is nothing unusual. That doesn't automatically make us militia instructors."
The Australian then asked Aunt Jiang: "You're wounded?"
Aunt Jiang didn't dare answer, unsure whether to admit or deny. But she had limped in supported by Qingxia—impossible to deny. She whispered: "This humble woman is indeed wounded."
"How were you wounded?"
Qingxia quickly answered: "Reporting to Your Honor! She was accidentally stabbed by this humble woman during practice."
"Sir! They're lying!" Innkeeper Chen hadn't expected this young woman to have become so polished, calmly trying to explain everything away. Furious—no longer caring about the horse, but feeling utterly humiliated—he quickly produced the inn's guest register.
"Sir, please look." He pointed to names in the ledger. "This group arrived three months ago with eight people. They stayed at my inn until half a month ago when they moved to live at the Luo ancestral hall. The ancestral hall isn't an inn—and Luo Tianqiu was no charitable man. Why would he let them live in the ancestral hall for free? Your Honor can easily verify this!" He continued smugly: "And now only three remain! Where's the old man? Where's the other man? And the three children—where are they all?"
Ji Xin listened, realizing Innkeeper Chen spoke truth. He nodded silently and asked:
"Is what Innkeeper Chen says true?"
(End of Chapter)