[Infrastructure] After being mistaken for a god

"Did you and Herod discuss what happened before the 'Gate of Justice'?"

The more Hammurabi thought about it, the more he felt that things were not simple.

Miss Ishtar and Herod knew each other early on. If the two of them had designed this drama early on, they wanted to manipulate the royal family and help Herod build popularity. Her business has made thousands of merchants and craftsmen become her fans...

If this is the case, none of Hammurabi's incompetent sons can compete with these two!

Hammurabi looked at the young woman in front of him, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that she and Herod were a wonderful couple, very well matched.

He no longer concealed it, and simply made his words clear.

"No!" Yi Nan replied with a smile, but what she said next made Hammurabi's face change.

"If I had known in advance that Prince Samiye would whip and humiliate Herod in public, the prince's leg would have been broken long ago."

"You—" Hammurabi held his breath, and was so angry that he almost couldn't even speak.

"How dare you despise the kingship like this!"

After Hammurabi finished speaking, he suddenly realized that he was alone in the summer palace with this extremely "dangerous" Miss Ishtar in front of him.This young lady, no palace guard can resist it.

"I didn't despise the kingship." Yinan sat upright and leaned back, keeping a distance from Hammurabi, lest the other party feel too oppressed and nervous. "Prince Samiye does not represent kingship."

Hammurabi was even angrier when he heard the words: "You still dare to quibble, 'The prince breaks the law and the people are equal to the crime'. You said this too? Now the whole Babylon knows."

Yinan finally suppressed his smile.She said solemnly: "The prince broke the law, and he must commit the same crime as the people."

Inan became serious, his bright face immediately became holy and solemn, and her eyes even made Hammurabi dare not look directly at her.

It should be noted that Hammurabi was the king of the Kingdom of Babylon. In his early years, he conquered east and west and brought countless city-states around Babylon into the territory of his kingdom.

Why would the king of Babylon feel stressed under the watchful eye of a young woman?

I just heard Yi Nan say word by word: "In this world, only the king can enjoy the kingship granted by the gods."

"Except for the king, all are common people."

Hammurabi lowered his head, chewing on this sentence carefully, the more he thought about it, the more reasonable he felt.Under the king, there must be something to bind his princes.Otherwise, these princes will fight each other in the future, and which prince would even dare to challenge his position as Hammurabi...

Hammurabi shuddered: This kind of thing was not uncommon in the city-states in the Mesopotamia.

But he felt unwilling again.

Because the young woman in front of him gave him a feeling: as if the power in his hands was given to him by this woman.

"So, since the king holds the royal power in his hands, can he do whatever he wants?"

Inan stared closely at Hammurabi, and suddenly smiled softly.

Her smile was no longer the sweet smile before, she seemed to have seen through everything, her smile actually made Hammurabi blush.

"My respect, the king of Babylon, you have been on the throne for so many years, don't you know if the king can do whatever he wants?"

Hearing what she said, Hammurabi felt sweat on his forehead.

He has been in charge of the Babylonian kingdom for more than twenty years, and he doesn't understand the subtleties of it: as a king, everything needs to be cautious; all classes, occupations, men, women, and children in the country...everything has a stake in it. If you take care of it, there will be trouble if you don't pay attention.

In fact, Hammurabi didn't even dare to levy taxes casually, fearing that something inappropriate would cause domestic turmoil.

The Kingdom of Babylon also had border troubles: the Hittites in the north had always coveted the rich and prosperous Babylon, and the Hittite cavalry were always on the border.

As long as Hammurabi wanted to maintain the Babylonian kingdom, the Babylonians would not become slaves to others, and the royal power in his hands could not be a tool to satisfy selfish desires.

King, you must not do whatever you want.

Everything this girl said was good.

But Hammurabi is having a hard time with face.He was speechless by a little girl, and even had to admit that every word the other said was correct.

Where does this put his old face?

Unexpectedly, the smile of the woman in front of her gradually turned back to bright and charming. Her eyes were bright, as if she was looking at an elder, she looked up at Hammurabi, and asked in a low voice: "Do you think About Prince Samier, Herod made you very uncomfortable?"

Hammurabi nodded, and he regretted it after nodding—how could he admit the king's thoughts so easily?

"But since Prince Samiye has already been punished, do you actually think there is no harm in punishing the prince?"

Hammurabi finally restrained himself from nodding.

But in his heart, he had excluded Prince Samier from the heir's consideration.Such an immature prince, coupled with his corrupt reputation, made Hammurabi feel disgusted with him.

But the corners of Yinan's lips were raised, and she could see through Hammurabi's mind—the majestic king of Babylon would actually struggle repeatedly over the issue of face.

She thought for a while and asked Hammurabi, "Do you plan to go on tour recently?"

Hammurabi was taken aback, and asked back, "How do you know?"

Hammurabi tours the kingdom every year.The king has not toured his territory this year.

"Would you feel better if you took Herod with you on your tour and kept him out of sight of the Babylonians for a while?"

Hammurabi thought about it and thought it was a good idea.

Herod presided over the "Gate of Justice", this courtesy has been mentioned first among the royal officials; if Herod is allowed to serve the king on tour, this treatment is actually reduced back, which is regarded as a minor punishment and a major commandment.At the same time, Herod's departure from Babylon also allowed other royal officials to take over his duties, so that the Babylonians could also build the same trust in other officials.

Besides, Hammurabi did miss the days when Herod was always by his side, always at his beck and call.

So, Hammurabi nodded: "This is indeed a good idea, I will arrange it."

I saw Miss Ishtar's eyes sparkling with excitement, she clapped her hands and said, "I also just want to go around Babylon to see if my pottery and glass business can also set up workshops in other places... Can you take me too?"

Hammurabi was amused and angry at the same time. What was he thinking just now? ——This one in front of you is just a smiling little villain!No matter what she said, it sounded good and reasonable, but the result was to satisfy her own wishes.

But Hammurabi looked at the expectant little face in front of him, and the words of refusal were stuck in his throat, unable to speak at all.

Forget it—just treat it as a princess married to Egypt and stay by your side now!

Hammurabi made a decision in the summer palace, and a few days later, he set off from the summer palace, crossed the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, and inspected the northern border of the Babylonian palace northward.

After Herod heard the news of the tour, he sorted out all the cases he had decided at the "Gate of Justice" before, and summed up a few simple and easy judgment principles, which he handed over to his colleagues.

But this does not seem to be enough to resolve the daily strife of the Babylonians.

The Babylonians were also very disappointed when they heard that Herod the Great would go on a tour with the king.

"Lord Herod is not here, who will uphold justice for us?"

"Well, there are some cases, let's wait until the king and Lord Herod come back."

Therefore, when Herod saw Miss Ishtar in the procession traveling with the king, his eyes were calm - and there was no gratitude.

Inan greeted him with a smile.

She didn't need Herod to thank her.

But she had to pull Herod out of Babylon so that he could see the bigger world, the whole Babylonian kingdom.

She wanted Herod to see the real life of different classes in the whole kingdom, and to inspire him to think about what the truly unshakable law should look like in this society-not just customary law, not just case law, but facing the whole society. All classes of society, fair law.

The king of Babylon began to go on a tour, and Yinan's team followed behind the king, like a tour group eating and drinking.

Her entourage includes: Apu, who is in charge of taking care of her daily life; Abu, who is in charge of external liaison in business; four craftsmen, two of whom specialize in glass and two who specialize in ceramic tiles.In addition, there are coachmen and grooms.

They traveled with the king of Hammurabi.Wherever he went, Hammurabi went to inspect the defense and local people's livelihood, and Yinan took Abu and the craftsmen to sell business and find partners.

When Hammurabi finished his inspection and set off, Yinan and the others hurriedly followed.

For this group of "followers", none of Hammurabi's followers were unhappy, and none of them disliked it.

The first reason is that the supplies that Yinan and the others occupy: food, drinking water, spare parts for carriages, etc., are all calculated according to the market price, and they are used for a fee. small gift.

Who wouldn't be happy to earn some extra money?

Another invisible reason is that King Hammurabi's temper is much better, and he would lose his temper at every turn when he was on tour before.Now that Miss Ishta, the flower of interpretation, can turn Wang's anger into joy with just a few words, this makes Wang Jia's entourage a lot easier invisibly.

Everyone was therefore grateful to Miss Ishtar who accompanied her.

Except for Herod.

Because Herod would cast a puzzled look at Yi Nan, as if doubting the purpose of Yi Nan's accompanying.

Once Herod met Inan again in the king's team, and he couldn't help showing doubts in his eyes again.

Unexpectedly, Yinan smiled and mouthed to him, Herod blushed immediately, his body trembled slightly, his eyes were full of embarrassment, he turned his face away and dared not look at her again.

Yi Nan mouthed two words to him: "Mistress——"

This is the first time the two of them have seen each other, and Herod suspects Inan's motives.

But it turned out that Inan was not even interested in marrying the prince, and Herod's unfounded suspicions were even more groundless.

So Yinan used this to mock Herod, and Herod was also ridiculed and blushed.

On the contrary, Hammurabi looked at the two men, and finally couldn't bear it any longer, and asked Yi Nan, "How did you get angry with Herod? How could you make him so angry? Tell me, let the king learn from you." "

It is indeed a skill to be able to annoy Herod, the always solemn and expressionless official of the royal family, into such a state.

Yinan said with a smile: "It's really nothing. I just laughed at him. What he did with 'Gate of Justice' in Babylon doesn't apply outside of Babylon. He got angry and ignored me."

Hammurabi turned his face away and said with a smile: "You child is becoming more and more lawless. You used to laugh at the king, but now you even laugh at the king's officials."

"Herod, the king can't just watch you being laughed at like this. In this way, in the cities that the king inspects later, during the king's stay, you can resolve disputes for the local people and uphold justice in the name of the king."

Herod hurriedly saluted and accepted the job.

After Herod left, Hammurabi turned to Inan and said helplessly, "Is this what you want?"

Yi Nan nodded cheerfully, thinking that Hammurabi's old father's face was so cute, he really wanted to stretch out his hand to pull his beard.

Unexpectedly, Hammurabi lost his breath in one sentence, coughing and panting again.Yinan helped him caress the vest for a long time before Hammurabi returned to normal and said with emotion: "I'm old, I can't accept my old age."

"But with you here, Wang's trip is indeed much more comfortable than before!"

Humans are more ruthless than grasses and trees. Yi Nan felt Hammurabi's love for her, and naturally he took good care of her in return.She is sincere, and Hammurabi can feel it too.

King Jia went west along the Euphrates, crossed the river at Sipar, and then went north to the Tigris River.

In a small city called Kuta, Herod was authorized by King Hammurabi to preside over the local and built a temporary "Gate of Justice".

King Hammurabi did not reveal his identity, but was accompanied by Inan, watching with cold eyes.Hammurabi wanted to see for himself how Herod would uphold justice for the local people now that he had no clay tablets that recorded previous "jurisdictions".

Unexpectedly, after waiting for a long time, no one in the city of Kuta complained about injustice to Herod.

Is the order of this city really so good?

Inan helped Hammurabi to sit under a roadside gazebo, handed Hammurabi a glass of warm water, and whispered, "I can't see it all."

She observed secretly on the way here, and felt that in the city of Kuta, some people were particularly flamboyant, while others shunned them—it didn't seem like the world was fair and everyone lived and worked in peace.

But no one is willing to sue and testify, let Herod or King Hammurabi "administer justice" for them.

Inan thought to himself, now is the time to test Herod's ability.

Herod first sent more than a dozen palace guards to stop passers-by on the street, explained his intentions, and asked them if they had encountered or heard of any injustice.

These passers-by, who looked like ordinary residents, waved their hands frequently, saying only: "No, no, there is nothing unfair."

Herod began to ask them about their names, status, occupation, and family members in detail... These people immediately began to talk, rub their feet, and find excuses to slip away.

Obviously someone pretended to be a "passerby" and wanted to fool Herod and King Hammurabi.

Herod had to ask the palace guards to find some "true passers-by".

"True passers-by" can also be found, but they are all confused by Herod's question: "Administer justice? Isn't it enough to have a river god?"

This time it was the turn of Herod, Inan and Hammurabi to stare: River God?Can the river god also solve the case?

"That's right, the God of the Tigris River will destroy Grigo's house this time..." The "true passer-by" stopped suddenly when he said this, and said to him, "Anyway, I have to go."

"The god of the Tigris River? What kind of allusion is this?" Yinan asked the Babylonian king beside him.

Hammurabi frowned and said, "I didn't expect that such an ancient custom is still followed by people."

The River God Trial is an ancient and simple way of judging.

If one person accuses another of a crime, the accused person is thrown into the river in the presence of the local elders.If he is not drowned, then the man has passed the test of the river god and is proven innocent.The plaintiff must withdraw the suit.

The "true passer-by" somehow revealed to Herod the principle of maintaining "justice" in the local area, and revealed a name: Grigor.

That night, Herod went to the local archive warehouse where all the clay tablets of the contract were kept, and stayed overnight.The next day he returned to Hammurabi with red eyes and "answers".

"House Gregor," replied Herod.

"In the past 30 years, about [-]% of the land and real estate transfers in this city were transferred to the Gregor family. Another [-]% of the slave transactions were slaves sold to the Gregor family."

"If the transactions in the city of Kuta have been conducted according to the principle of fairness, it is impossible for this to happen." Herod concluded.

In a very short period of time, the wealth of Kuta City quickly concentrated in this "Grigo Family".So much so that when King Hammurabi came to this city, this family deliberately wanted to confuse the public, blindfolded Hammurabi's eyes, and blocked Hammurabi's ears.

Yinan looked at Hammurabi, and saw that Hammurabi was resting his chin in thought.

So Yinan said with a smile: "It doesn't matter what Gregor is, the pot is in the pot, as long as the city of Kuta can pay taxes to the king on time, wouldn't it be fine?"

Herod glanced at Inan, but said nothing.This is a complete insight into her aggressive intentions.

But Hammurabi shook his head: "No, no, it must not be like this. On the king's land, there cannot be a large amount of wealth monopolized by the same family in an entire city."

"Herod, go, find out the secret between the Grigor family and the river god. Whatever it takes."

"Yes!" Herod saluted Hammurabi and turned to leave.Before he left, he glanced at Yi Nan, and there was faint excitement in his eyes.

Hammurabi sighed, and looked back at Yinan: "You little guy, do you have a hundred minds?... So you are finally satisfied?"

Not only Herod, but Hammurabi also saw through Inan's intentions.

But what made King Hammurabi make up his mind was his consideration as the king of Babylon.

"If the king allows the Grigor family to grow up, then the city of Kuta will no longer be the city of Kuta in the Kingdom of Babylon, it will become the city of Kuta in the Grigor family."

"However, what you said is indeed true." Hammurabi sighed, "In the past, the king never paid attention to this when he was on tour. No one stopped the king's chariot and complained in the street, so the king felt very comfortable on this journey. .”

"Now it seems that the king is far from being able to let 'justice' spread to every corner of the Babylonian kingdom."

Yi Nan whispered in his heart: Yes, you need laws, codes, and judges...

Hammurabi stretched out his hand and frowned: "But Herod is the only one beside the king! I really can't bear to leave him in Kuta."

Yinan: ...?Hammurabi was going to keep Herod in Kuta to administer justice?Is this overkill?

Only to hear Hammurabi chuckle: "How about it, can't bear it?"

The old king immediately coughed a few times, raised his face, and enjoyed the blush on Yinan's face quite happily.

As it turns out, all it takes to control a city that abides by the principles of "Judgment by the River God" is an ancestor who is exceptionally good at swimming.

This is the case of the Grigor family in Kuta. Thirty years ago, the ancestors of the Grigor family gave birth to a good swimmer, the old Grigor, who was proficient in water. It won't sink to the bottom.

It just so happened that an elder brother of the Grigo tribe encountered a dispute over property rights and was "tried by the river god".So the elder brother asked old Gregor to help him pass the test safely.

Then, the members of the Grigor family discovered that the gods can be deceived. As long as the swimming skills are good, the river god can't stand me.The whole family started to think differently, and in the future whenever there was a "Judgment of the River God", Old Grigor would appear on the stage.

In the past 30 years, this family has gone through various trials, some seized property, some killed and wounded opponents, some raped slaves... But those who came forward to testify against the Gregor family were defeated in the end. Come down.

Before his death, Old Grigor left his last words, asking future generations to master water skills.Children in their family are thrown into a large bucket of water as soon as they are born, to learn water skills.

In this way, Grigor's family became a tyrant in Kuta City, who want wind and rain.The Kutas were either attached to the Grigor family or moved elsewhere in the Babylonian Kingdom.The city of Kuta seems to be a small country, and Grigor's family seems to be the real king.

These facts allowed Herod to fully investigate in one day and one night.

On the third day after Hammurabi arrived in the city, in the morning, Herod asked the palace guards to invite several heads of the Grigor family, as well as the people of the whole city of Kuta. Herod spoke.

"Everyone, what we need to conduct today is still a 'River God Trial'."

Herod announced loudly.

When he said this, the old King Hammurabi and his traveling companion Miss Ishtar were sitting nearby to watch the ceremony, and their expressions remained unchanged.This gave Herod great confidence.

"In the content of the 'River God Trial', there are a total of 73 cases of taking property, 46 cases of wounding, and [-] cases of forcibly occupying other people's private rooms and forcibly marrying other people's daughters."

This is exactly what Grigor's family has been "judged by the river god" for 30 years.

The Grigors, who had been brought to the Tigris by the king's guards, were not afraid to hear this.They are good swimmers who have been tempered by the water of the Tigris River since they were young. Even if they are "judged" a hundred times or a thousand times in front of the river god, they will not be afraid.

"Since the river god favors you so much, it shouldn't be a problem to tie up your hands and feet and let you go to see the Tigris river god, right?"

Before starting the "Judgment of the River God", Herod made an understatement.