Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 334: The Mermaid and the Aunt, the Little Mermaid and the Pear

"Why is this?" Ren Yuan was slightly shocked by the scene before him.

"They say 'gentleman fish and aunt, little mermaid and pear'?" The old fisherman scratched his head and said, "They also say that merchants are one of the 'five poisons'. In short, all the bad things in the world are caused by them, and everything will be better if we stop doing business."

As he said this, he kindly reminded Ren Yuan and the others, "So when you enter the city, don't mention anything about buying or selling. If the police hear you, they will arrest you. Not only will they fine you to the point of bankruptcy, but you will also have to do hard labor."

"..."Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. They had originally planned to give the father-in-law some money, but now they gave up the idea to avoid causing trouble for him.

~~
After entering the city, I found that the atmosphere in the city was indeed very depressing, and I couldn't find anyone as talkative as the old fisherman.

The people didn't talk much, but they hardly spoke either. Ren Yuan and his companions had no place to eat or stay, and they were dumbfounded for a moment.

"Prince Yuzhang really relied on harsh laws to establish his authority in Guangling City." Ren Yuan couldn't help but sigh.

"Now I finally understand what it means to have money but it's useless." Yang Zhong smiled bitterly.

"So you're right not to come." Chen Baxian teased Yang Zhong, "This kind of environment is simply fatal to you."

"Yeah, I can't spend money even if I want to." Yang Zhong said helplessly, "Will this suffocate me to death?"

"Hahaha, you are still the one with foresight!" Ren Yuan and Chen Baxian also laughed. The laughter of the three echoed in the quiet street, attracting the attention of passers-by, and they quickly distanced themselves from these crazy people.

"However, Prince Yuzhang's ban is not entirely useless. At least since it prohibits business, there will be no foreign population." Chen Baxian laughed again.

"Money is useless anyway. We shouldn't pick up things on the road and shouldn't lock our doors at night." Yang Zhong also laughed.

"Anyway, I didn't pick up a penny." Ren Yuan said slowly.

"Isn't this nonsense? Money is always money. How many days can Prince Yuzhang stay here?" After Chen Baxian finished speaking, several people nodded and laughed again.

"Hey! What did you say?!" Unexpectedly, this time he got into trouble. A group of pedestrians surrounded him aggressively, grabbed Chen Baxian by the collar and asked, "How dare you curse the prince and say that his laws are useless?!"

"What I meant was 'not completely useless'." Chen Baxian said helplessly, "That's exactly the opposite of what you meant."

"Don't come on, do you think we are stupid?" The leading man said in a muffled voice, "Aren't you saying that our prince's decree is wrong?"

"If you say so, I have no choice." Chen Baxian said helplessly.

"Okay, he admits it! Take him to see the official!" Several people pushed Chen Baxian and looked at the tall and strong Ren Yuan and others vigilantly.

Ren Yuan and Yang Zhong stood by and watched, the latter even making a "please do as you please" gesture.

The passers-by then felt relieved and pushed Chen Baxian to the county magistrate's office.

There were two or three hundred prisoners in shackles sitting or kneeling in front of the yamen's eight-character wall.

Two or three hundred people in shackles crowded the entrance to the yamen, looking quite shocking.

The shackles on their necks weighed 100 to 200 kilograms at the heaviest and 50 to 60 kilograms at the lightest, which bent their necks and hunched their backs.

At this time, the men led Chen Baxian to the gatehouse, where several men dressed as officials were sitting and interrogating the prisoners who had been sent there earlier.

Seeing that another person had been sent in, the foreman sitting at the door asked, "What has happened this time?"

"Report to the squad leader, this man slandered the prince." Several men told the officer what had happened, "And he admitted it!" "Good, good, keep up the good work." The squad leader nodded with satisfaction, and gave them two tickets of unknown use, and the men left happily.

"Give this big guy a heavier yoke." The squad leader ordered his men to lift a heavy yoke weighing 100 kilograms and put it on Chen Baxian.

"No, you haven't even tried me yet, and you're putting me in the shackles right away?" Chen Baxian said with his eyes wide open.

"It's for your own good that you won't be tried. Your crime can be serious or minor," the squad leader looked at him and said, "If it's proven, you'll lose your head and you'll have to be tortured again."

"Put on the shackles obediently and squat over there." The officer then lifted the heavy shackle and put it around Chen Baxian's neck.

"I don't accept it!" Chen Baxian shouted, "I want to see the governor to seek justice! If you don't let me see the governor, I will go to the prince to complain!"

"How dare you!" Upon hearing this, the squad leader's face changed and he glared at her, "We are all carrying out the prince's order, do you understand?"

Then he ordered his men, "Change him to one weighing 200 kilograms."

Ren Yuan then stepped forward and said to the squad leader with a stern face, "I am your governor."

"Hey, Lord Governor, why are you here?" The bailiffs could not resist his magical power of "all is fair in war" and hurriedly stood up to greet him.

Ren Yuan nodded calmly. "What's wrong with this person?"

"It's nothing. I just complained and was brought here. We are going to put me in the cangue and put me in public according to the governor's order." The squad leader nodded and said, "So that the prince can see that we are doing our job seriously."

"No one was arrested? Just for complaining?" Ren Yuan asked with a frown.

"There's nothing we can do. All the criminals have been arrested and beheaded. Now everyone is behaving themselves. If you have any problem, you have to hold it in and go home to relieve yourself." The squad leader said with a wry smile:

"There is really no one to arrest now, and we can't let the prince see us idle, otherwise he will fire us all. We can only let the people suffer..."

"Good fellow..." Ren Yuan finally understood. It turned out that Xiao Zong was conducting a utopian experiment on his own territory.

Then he asked, "The government office is so big, why do we have to hold trials in front of it?"

"Isn't it you who always says that work should be done right now?" the foreman said with an apologetic smile.

"Who is this for?" Ren Yuan asked again.

"Your Highness." The squad leader laughed and said, "Didn't you say that Your Highness rides in a carriage around the streets all day? He can't see us trying cases in the government office, so he asked us to move to the gatehouse."

The subordinate beside him smiled and added: "If you don't give instructions, just tell them when someone asks. Isn't this called an open trial, fair and honest?"

"Did I say that? Then I am really a talent." Ren Yuan was speechless for a moment. He swallowed his saliva and ordered: "Bring the files of those people outside. In Guangling City, are there so many criminals every day?"

"Hey." The squad leader hurriedly brought a stack of papers. "Please take a look, sir."

"Let me have a look." Ren Yuan took it and had a look. This file was shockingly simple - on each page, there was only the prisoner's name and crime, as well as the punishment measures... basically, it was a medium, large, or extra-large wooden or iron shackle, with the shackle length ranging from three days to half a month.

Ren Yuan looked carefully at the crimes of the prisoners. Some were accused of quarreling in the street, spitting, cursing, and urinating and defecating in public.

I couldn't hold it in anymore after seeing the last one. Doesn't this mean that the princes are allowed to defecate anywhere, but the common people are not allowed to defecate anywhere?

(End of this chapter)