My Apprenticeship to Uncle Jiu: I Was a Warlord in the Republic of China

The old woman cried when she heard this, "I am Wang Li, my husband died early, and I have been living with my son Wang Daniu for many years."

"But just a month ago, he was beaten to death by the servants under the order of Qian Wuyou, the third son of the Qian family. When the old woman went to his house to seek justice, they also broke her leg. Mayor, please help me!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Li had his men find Qian Wuyou, who was only 13 years old, and the servant who had done the attack and asked, "Do you recognize the person the old man pointed out?"

The servants and Qian Wuyou immediately shook their heads and denied it.

Seeing this, Jiang Li asked Wang Li, "They don't plead guilty. Old man, do you have any witnesses or physical evidence?"

Wang Li cried, "I have no physical evidence, but many people in the town saw my son being beaten to death. They are all witnesses."

So Jiang Li asked loudly, "Is there anyone among you who is willing to come forward to testify?"

There was a commotion among the crowd but no one stood up.

Wang Li cried and begged, "Fathers, please be kind and say something. I beg you."

Then she knelt on the ground and kowtowed. Seeing this, Jiang Li immediately had someone help her up, and then said loudly, "Not doing what is right is unrighteous. The unrighteous should be punished with the same crime as the perpetrator."

"If I find out one day that this is indeed true and someone concealed it, I will regard it as an accomplice of the murderer and be guilty of the same crime."

After saying that, he fired another shot into the air.

"Now I ask again if anyone is willing to do the certification."

There was an immediate commotion in the crowd. It was a crime even if one did not testify.

After a while of discussion, an old man stood up and said, "I am willing to testify. I saw with my own eyes that Third Young Master Qian ordered Zhang Mazi to beat Wang Daniu to death."

Seeing that there was a witness, Jiang Li immediately snorted coldly and said, "Since this is true, those who knew about it but did not report it are accomplices. I will only count myself. If the person who knew about it does not come forward, I will execute him and Qian Wuyou together."

"One"

"two"

"three"

...

Before Jiang Li could continue counting, more than twenty people immediately stood up from the crowd and pointed at Qian Wuyou and his thugs.

At this time Jiang Li asked again, "Qian Wuyou, why did you order people to beat Wang Daniu to death in the street?"

Qian Wuyou knew he couldn't deny it, so he said arrogantly, "I didn't kill him. My Wangcai just bit him that day, and he dared to kick it, so I ordered people to beat him up. Who knew he was so weak that he died in just a few hits."

At this time, Wang Li asked in disbelief, "You killed my son just because of a dog?"

Qian Wuyou said nonchalantly, "He is the one who can't handle the beating. At most I can just compensate you with some money."

Jiang Li suppressed his anger and said, "If I heard correctly, it was your dog that bit Wang Daniu first, and he kicked your dog after being bitten, and then you had him beaten to death, is that right?"

Qian Wuyou said unconvincedly, "It wasn't just one kick. He kicked three times, and one of them missed."

Jiang Li was speechless at this time, and immediately said to the people present, "Did you hear the whole story? How do you think we should deal with it?"

Everyone whispered when they heard this, but no one dared to speak out.

Jiang Li turned to Jiang Youyi and said, "What is the crime for instructing a servant to kill someone according to the Qing Dynasty Law?"

Jiang Youyi immediately opened the Great Qing Code and read: "In the Great Qing Code, instructing a domestic servant to kill someone in the street is considered intentional homicide.

"And the Qing Dynasty Code, Criminal Law, Human Life stipulates: "Anyone who murders another person shall be beheaded."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Li didn't care how he struggled or how the Qian family members cried and begged for mercy. He just asked him to sign and then ordered the main culprit and accomplices to be executed in front of everyone.

After a few gunshots, "Bang, bang, bang."

There was a moment of dead silence at first, and then thunderous cheers broke out.

This was exactly what Jiang Li wanted. Killing him decisively showed his determination. As for the fact that Qian Wuyou was only thirteen years old, he didn't care. He, Jiang Li, didn't accept the fact that the bad guys killed the good guys but still had a chance to mend their ways.

And it was after this burst of gunfire that all the victims seemed to have a backbone and immediately pointed out the crimes of the Qian family.

They committed robbery, disregard for human life, exploitation of tenants, land annexation, usury, extortion, hoarding, lynching, abducting women, evading taxes, and colluding with the government. In short, they did almost everything they could.

After the final round of identification, only three or four of the Qian family's thirty thugs were found not guilty, more than a dozen were sentenced to ten years of reform through labor, and the remaining dozen or so were all executed by firing squad.

In the end, more than twenty members of the Qian family and their thugs died, and more than forty were sentenced to one to twenty years of forced labor. The children, who were only a few years old, were raised by the concubines and children who had not committed any crime.

Part of the Qian family's property was used to compensate the victims, another part was left to the women and children of the Qian family, and the last part was naturally confiscated.

Naturally, after a strict interrogation, the group of bandits killed more than 20 people, and the rest were sentenced to labor camp prisoners. Only a few new members were acquitted.

...

After two days of clearing the accounts, they obtained a total of 7,000 dollars, 11 kilograms of gold, more than 30 houses and shops, 800 acres of fertile land, more than 180 cattle, sheep, pigs, donkeys and other livestock, jewelry, jade, antiques and some other items. Finally, they obtained more than 100,000 kilograms of various grains, and more than a dozen guns and hundreds of rounds of bullets.

At this time, Jiang Li was sitting in the ancestral hall of Qianjia Town, looking at this list and exclaiming, Wow! The property of just this one landlord could feed an army of a thousand people for more than a year. It is easy to imagine how many bad things they have done over the years.

The gentry and wealthy families standing in the ancestral hall were terrified. Not only had so many people been killed just now, but Jiang Li also asked them to report the amount of land properties in their families and the income of their shops.

Jiang Li finished reading the list in his hand and said, "I won't say much. I have a rough idea of ​​how many fields and shops there are in the town and how much income they have. From now on, you will have to pay a tax whether you are farming or doing business."

"And I promise, as long as you don't break the law, I won't pursue the past. But if anyone doesn't give me face, don't blame me for turning hostile!"

Then he asked everyone to retreat.

Jiang Li said to Jiang Youyi, "The Qianjia Town Security Team, the Qianjia warehouse, and the guns seized from the bandits make a total of 61 old-style rifles."

"I will leave you thirty men, and you will recruit another hundred men and train them into a team that can be used. Can you do it?"

Jiang Youyi said in embarrassment, "It's not enough to have these broken guns, and there are only more than 2,000 rounds of bullets. I'm afraid it's not enough for training alone."

Jiang Li said, "Don't worry about that. I won't take away the Qian family's food. I can also leave you ten more Mogansinas. I can also transfer the bullets to you. You just need to train the soldiers for me. Can you do it?"

Jiang Youyi said solemnly, "I will ensure that the mission is completed."

Then he was asked to recruit new soldiers.