[Infrastructure] After being mistaken for a god

The history of the "River God Trial" in Kuta City ended after the last such "River God Trial".

In the end, fifteen male members of the Grigor family who had repeatedly committed crimes and committed heinous crimes were tied hands and feet and thrown into the Tigris River.

Herod stood by the river, with doubts on his face, and asked, "Didn't you say that the river god favors them every time and will always let them back?"

He turned his head and turned to the rest of Grigo's family: "Would you like to go again and ask the river god of the Tigris River to see what's going on?"

There were only young people left in Grigor's house, all shivering like chaff, lying on the ground, telling the truth.

"My lord, it's really not...the river god favors our family, it's really...we were forced to learn to swim since we were young. As long as you don't tie our hands and feet, if you throw us into the river, They all... can come back!"

Herod looked disbelieving, turned his head and asked seriously: "Have you really...haven't seen the river god?"

"What kind of river god is there?" The rest of the little Grigors were trembling with fear, and they dared not tell the truth, "It was said by the ancestors, who claimed to be a person favored by the river god, and he could do whatever he wanted, anyway. Others accuse us of escape..."

"These liars..."

In fact, in the city of Kuta, there are not many real enemies of the Grigo family, and most of the rest are clutter attached to the Grigo family.But now seeing such a majestic royal court official like Herod come to liquidate this "swimming family", it is natural to turn to Herod.

As for the "secrets" about the Grigor family, many of them were leaked by these "fools", which allowed Herod to finalize the final method against the family in the shortest time.

Yi Nan stood beside Hammurabi and watched coldly.

She also seemed to be slowly realizing that the current Herod was somewhat different from the Herod she had just met—the one in front of her was calmer, more cunning, and more ruthless.

Herod is becoming more and more like a law enforcer who can see through the truth of the world without any emotion and only has justice in his heart.

But this kind of Herod seems to be somewhat different from what Inan expected.

At this time, Herod faced the remaining males of Gregor's family and said in a deep thought: "Since you can't find the river god, it proves that there is no so-called 'river god's trial' in this world, right? ?”

The young Grigors nodded frantically together—they were different from the older generation, and they didn't have so many sins on their hands.Now they can only hope that the official in front of them will announce that "there is no river god".

"Then, I, Herod, the royal ceremonial officer, according to the judgment made by King Hammurabi, judge the ownership of the property involved in your family and the punishment you deserve. Do you accept it or not?"

"Take it, take it—"

If you don't accept it, you will go to see the river god immediately. Who dares to refuse it?

"As a matter of fact, all the family members who were involved in the murder case and should pay for their lives either died of old age luckily, or they just went to see the God of the River. You are all responsible for the property."

"I judge you to return the seized property to all the sufferers, even if they have moved out of Kuta - of course, the officials will record the population migration in the Kingdom of Babylon. They will help you pay back..."

Seeing the exchange of glances between the young men, Herod immediately raised his voice again: "Are you willing or not?"

The little Grigors lay down on the ground together: "May, may—"

It doesn't work if you don't want to.

"In addition to this, there is one more thing. If you can do it, the previous crimes of your family can be written off. The whole family will not be reduced from Avelu to Valdu and Amtu."

The people of the Grigor family were also very worried that they would be punished, which would lead to a sudden drop in social class and reduced them to slaves, and they would really be unable to stand up forever.

"You need to visit all the cities and villages along the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, and use your personal experience to explain to people that the 'Judgment of the River God' does not exist."

This is a big project, even though the Grigor family has a large population, everyone works separately.It will take years and months to visit all the cities and villages in the Mesopotamia.

But if this is done, they don't have to be deprived of their identity and become slaves, and the little Grigors are still happy.

"We can do it, we can do it!"

"You must explain to the world that the 'Judgment of the River God' is invalid. Only the honorable King Hammurabi and the officials who serve the king can bring true justice to the world."

"Yes, yes, we understand, and we will definitely explain it to the world!"

The young people kowtowed and promised that even if they were on the road all their lives, they would bring this sentence to every corner of the Kingdom of Babylon.

"It's almost there."

Herod flicked off his ceremonial black robe, walked away slowly, and went to take notes on the clay tablets prepared for him by the king's guards.

Hammurabi looked up at Yinan's face, "Do you feel better now?"

Yi Nan nodded and smiled, knowing that none of his thoughts escaped the eyes of the old king.

Indeed, Herod's subsequent arrangements made Inan feel much more comfortable.

After being humiliated and beaten by Prince Samier, Herod changed somewhat, becoming more silent and sharper.But Yinan not only hoped that Herod would become a sharp knife, she also hoped that this knife could be recycled.

Human beings formulate rules to restrain and make society more stable, not just to punish someone after making a mistake.

Therefore, it is impossible to maintain the justice of the whole society only by relying on a sharp knife-wisdom is also needed.

After Herod severely punished those evil Grigors, his attitude towards the remaining accomplices made Inan see this kind of wisdom.

She is very proud of it.

Hammurabi saw it too.

The elderly king supported his chin with his hands, looked at Yinan with his cheeks, and said softly, "Miss Ishtar, if I had met you 30 years ago, I would have proposed to you; if I had met you 20 years ago, I love you, and I must beg you to condescend to be my 'mistress'..."

Inan glared at him.

"Now I don't dare to think about anything!" The old king closed his eyes helplessly.

He even had a little feeling that "one person can win the world", but he also knew very well that it is impossible for any of his sons to get the woman Ishtar.

— This is really annoying.

After leaving Kuta, Hammurabi's king continued to march north.

Along the way, Herod followed the king, and every time he arrived in a city, he would set up a temporary "Gate of Justice" to resolve disputes for the locals, as he did in Kuta.

He dealt with many, many complaints. Herod recorded each complaint and the final result on a clay tablet, and fired the clay tablet in the pottery yard he found in Inan, keeping it as an "unchangeable" record. .

These pottery plates piled up and became uncarryable luggage.Hammurabi simply ordered people to send these pottery plates directly back to Babylon first, and store them as archives.

When Herod handled complaints, he increasingly followed "principles" instead of Hammurabi's original "jurisprudence". check.

The farther away from Babylon, the more variety and variety of cases Herod encountered. Unlike the Babylonians, they always drink and fight, and have disputes over trade.

Outside of Babylon, the complaints that Herod encountered included a large number of marriages, inheritances, debts, employment, leases, gossip... Among them, there were quite a few complaints about marriage and the relationship between men and women.

Herod mostly used Sumerian customs in this area to help determine - he reasoned that the Sumerian family life was relatively stable and less disputed.

This was recognized by Hammurabi.Although Hammurabi himself was an Amorite.

In the marriage life of the Sumerians, women had a relatively high status and retained more property rights in marriage, allowing them to have sufficient resources to raise their children.

At the same time, in Sumerian families, girls also received a higher level of education—this is said to be related to the custom of the holy advocacy thousands of years ago.Thousands of years later, there are no more sacred prayers in temples, but most Sumerian families still maintain the tradition of teaching girls to read and write.

Hammurabi, remembering his restless harem, affirmed these customs.

So Herod recorded all the customs of Sumerian marriage and family life according to his memory, and handed them to Hammurabi for review.

After Hammurabi confirmed it, according to Inan's suggestion, he gave these provisions a formal name called "customary law"-meaning that these laws were all derived from "customs".

"At the beginning, your sister Eligal asked the king whether the customs must be followed?" Hammurabi said to Yinan with a smile, "Now the king has the confidence to say that the customs do not have to be followed, but since It has become a 'customary law', it has become a law promulgated by the king, and it must be followed."

Yi Nan nodded in agreement, but he knew in his heart that these "customary laws" were still a small step away from "statutory laws", but they were already very close.

Herod didn’t know anything about these discussions. He was like a high-speed rotating machine. His daily work was to inquire, record, judge, record, and then return to inquiring, repeating the cycle.

In contrast, everyone who accompanied Hammurabi on the tour looked like they were on vacation.

Even King Hammurabi was ashamed of himself: "At Herod's age, the king could not be as diligent as he is."

In Inan's view, Herod was more than just being diligent—he simply had obsessive-compulsive disorder, and he had to deal with all the complaints at hand before going to rest.

Can this not be hard work?

Herod stayed up all night again that day, and went to sleep for a while when it was early morning.Hammurabi ordered that the doors and windows of Herod's house be covered with thick woolen blankets.

At noon, only to hear a scream from Herod's room, the young ceremony officer woke up and realized that something was wrong. He scrambled out and ran back to his post, only to see King Hammurabi and Inan In his original position, helping him deal with the people who came to complain.

"Herod, Miss Ishta said, you are too busy with business to stop and think."

Hammurabi said with a smile, "Today the king is here to help you deal with these disputes. Just sit and think about it."

Herod looked up and looked at the woman standing behind Hammurabi with puzzled eyes.A sly smile appeared on the woman's face.

Herod frowned, stood still, and began to think.

"Why are there so many disputes here?"

"People came to complain to Wang yesterday because of fighting and seeking revenge, and in a blink of an eye they came again today."

"Is the punishment of 'homogeneous revenge' too cruel? They are all the king's subjects. Break one's leg today, break that's leg tomorrow, and continue like this. No one will do the work in the farmland, and the workshop The craftsmen here can only look at their work and sigh... In the long run, will there be no one in the king's land who can pay taxes?"

"I blindly pursue absolute justice, but in the end, the strength of the kingdom was actually weakened, and I failed to fulfill my duty to the king?"

"..."

Inan walked away from Hammurabi, approached Herod, and asked quietly, "What did you think of?"

Herod stammered as if tongue-tied, "Stop and think about it... indeed..."

——It is indeed different.

Herod turned his face away and didn't dare to look at Yi Nan, thinking that this woman was really his magic star.

"Then let me tell you a story!" Inan Lahirod went under the shaded awning and handed him another glass of water: It seemed a bit too silly to just stand in the sun in a daze.

"Once upon a time, there was a strange kingdom. The kingdom's commerce was very prosperous, but the countrymen had a problem: they liked to deceive customers when they sold goods to people they didn't know. This caused countless disputes."

"Seeing this, the king of the Kingdom of Strange issued a decree called 'Buyer Beware'①."

"The buyer beware?" Herod frowned, "Are you really right?"

Yi Nan was not angry when he asked such a straightforward question, and said with a smile, "Yes, it's called 'buyer be careful'."

"The law of the strange country is like this. As long as the transaction is in the strange country, the buyer must know in advance that the seller is unreliable, so the buyer must be careful to beware of the seller's fraud."

"If the buyer is successfully deceived by the seller, it means that the buyer has not fulfilled his duty of care. The buyer has no chance to complain, and the complaint will not be successful."

Herod frowned after hearing this, and said after a long time, "But this—it's not fair!"

It is the seller who is obviously cheating!

Yi Nan continued to smile slyly: "But later, when we traded in the strange country, there were really no disputes."

Herod was taken aback: "Why?"

Yi Nan elbowed him: "Think for yourself!"

Herod opened his mouth blankly and looked into the distance.There are locals who are feuding with each other. You grabbed my collar and I grabbed your sleeve, and they came to Hammurabi.

"So... there is no dispute?"

"I see!" Herod exclaimed suddenly. "The strange country doesn't think about justice at all. Its king just wants to end the dispute."

Although it is obvious that the seller is cheating, the buyer will do everything possible to be cautious and avoid risks when he knows that he has no rights.In case of a real loss, the buyer can only hold his nose and eat the loss himself, and be careful next time.

There is nothing "fair" about this law at all, but it works.

"Stop disputes... Another purpose of the king's decree should be to stop disputes." Herod said loudly.

"If the king's decree can be remembered by everyone and its consequences, then as long as they are rational people, they will try their best to avoid it and avoid being punished."

Yi Nan looked at the young man in front of him who was constantly rubbing his hands excitedly and walking up and down.

She knew Herod had come to his senses.

The significance of the existence of law is not only to maintain justice, but also to maintain social order and prevent crime.

Those who have committed crimes needless to say, justice should be done and crimes must be severely punished.But the existence of the law can make those who are malicious and ready to take action have scruples. The law is meaningful for the maintenance of social order.

If everyone knew that breaking the skull of their enemy meant that they would die soon-then they would at least think twice before going to smash the skull of their enemy.

If human nature is good, the existence of law can prevent goodness from being blinded by temporary evil thoughts.

If human nature is inherently evil, the existence of law can promptly curb evil when it breeds and prevent it from becoming a reality.

Herod apparently had it all figured out.

He forced himself to suppress his excitement, his fists clenched and relaxed, clenched, and then relaxed.

If this method can really work, then he will not have to face endless punishments every day with his scalp numb, he will not have to face the tears of remorse from ignorant criminals, and he will not have to worry that no one in the king's land can pay taxes. ...

Herod walked around twice, turned his face, took a deep look at Inan, nodded gratefully to her, and then walked towards Hammurabi.Kneel down in front of the king, and then speak out her thoughts in an orderly manner.

Hammurabi was an excellent statesman. After Herod finished all the suggestions, Hammurabi immediately understood the mystery, clapped his hands and laughed, and said to Herod: "The king grants you all the authority you need. And just let it go!"

What Herod did next was exactly what Inan thought—propaganda, that is, legal education.

He asked the royal palace guards to gather the administrators of the city, the heads of the villages under his jurisdiction, and the patriarchs of the big families. plate.

Herod summoned almost all the literate people in the city.

He ordered them to pass the contents of the clay tablet to all residents of the city and its surrounding areas as soon as possible. "No matter what method you use, after three days, I will send people to the countryside. If there are still people who do not know the contents of this clay tablet, the entire city will be punished with [-] shekels of silver."

Inan heard all these words behind Herod, and thought that this is indeed a good way.For the sake of money, the people here must not dare to neglect.

Sure enough, three days later, when King Hammurabi left the city, even the children playing on the side of the road knew the revenge principle of "an eye for an eye, an eye for an eye".

When I heard several seven or eight-year-old children ignorantly recite Hammurabi's decree: "If a married woman cheats on a married man and conspires to kill their partner, they will be executed." ②

Herod suddenly felt very embarrassed again: Is this kind of universal education coming too soon and too hastily?

Yi Nan saw the cute expression on Herod's face, which alternated between red and white. She couldn't help laughing, and comforted Herod: "Next time, we can think about ways to classify the content and spread them separately. Isn't that all right?"

Herod nodded somewhat ashamedly, but he also formulated a detailed plan in his heart:

Divide all the decrees into several major categories and pass them on to different people as needed: adults and children, men and women, farmers and small handicraftsmen, Avilu and Mushchinu...

Of course, this first requires a complete set, a complete set of laws - that is, laws.

Hammurabi, who was inspecting the kingdom, drove all the way north, and after crossing the Tigris River, he came to the northern border of the Kingdom of Babylon.

Along the way to the north, Yinan began to see more and more scenes of soldiers and horses.Teams of soldiers came and went neatly, carrying spears, bows and arrows, all of them looked serious.

Yi Nan was a little surprised: "Hittites, are they so powerful?"

Hammurabi turned to her and asked, "Are you afraid?"

Yinan shook his head and put on a tall hat: "With the king here, what am I afraid of?"

Hammurabi immediately laughed and accepted her compliment.He pointed out casually: "The difficulty in defending the Kingdom of Babylon lies in that the entire border, except for some mountains and forests in the west and two big rivers in the territory, is completely a great plain."

"The Hittites have cavalry, and they move like the wind. Once they speed up and go south, they will be very difficult to stop."

Yinan thought for a while and said, "In my opinion, although your territory is located on the Great Plains and lacks natural boundaries and barriers, this means that your opportunities are as great as your threats."

Hammurabi laughed even louder: "How do you get all these ideas in your pretty little head?"

In the distance, Herod was communicating with the local officials. He heard Hammurabi's laughter from a distance, and couldn't help turning his head to look this way.

"If you were a man, the king would be very wary of you." Hammurabi stopped laughing. "But you are just a little girl. Now the king really only hopes that you are the king's own daughter."

After the gossip, Hammurabi said awe-inspiringly: "You are right, if the king is 20 years younger... no, it doesn't need to be 20 years old, as long as he is ten years younger, the Hittites will definitely be able to do it. All in the bag. What are the Hittites? Are they more powerful than the Akkadians before?"

Hammurabi's pride remained the same as before, but he still had to consider the current practical issues.

"It's just that in the past two years... the source of soldiers, the source of soldiers is indeed a problem..."

The old king put his hand over his forehead.

Yinan: It turned out that what the king was worried about was the manpower and the source of soldiers.

At this moment, there was a sudden noise in the distance, someone shouted and someone ran.

Not long after, the captain of the palace guard came to report to Hammurabi, saying that some Valdu escaped with the help of a freeman, Avelu.All have been caught.

"Oh?" Hammurabi's two long black and thick eyebrows suddenly slanted up.

"Since everyone has been caught, there is nothing to say. The king's judgment has always been merciless when it comes to runaway slaves." Hammurabi shouted loudly.

"Valdu was executed in public. Averu, the freeman who helped escape, save him a little dignity and hang him in the house."