The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 309 Volume Ayun Case

The imperial examination in the third year of Jian'an was still held in the Jianzhang Palace built by Emperor Wu of Han.

There were 5,000 scholars from Guanzhong, 2,000 scholars from Liangzhou, 3,000 scholars from Yizhou, 3,000 scholars from Bingzhou, and the number of scholars from Jingzhou reached a terrifying 7,000.

For an examination of this scale, the only option is to continue to call in the army to maintain order.

Liu Xie could only thank Emperor Wu of Han and be glad that he built the Jianzhang Palace so large, otherwise it might not be able to accommodate so many scholars to take the exam at the same time.

So Liu Xie decided that next time when he passed by Emperor Wu of Han’s Maoling Mausoleum, he would burn more paper money for him…

"Your Majesty, are you going to take part in the imperial examination this time as well?"

Cai Yan was holding Yi An and seemed eager to try.

"We have to go and see what other problems there are."

"Mr. Cai, you are not allowed to go. You just gave birth to a child, you need to rest well. You can't jump around like Bai."

Dong Bai's physique is really scary.

Liu Dong was born on the first day, and on the second day she took Liu Xie to climb Mount Taihua.

Liu Xie:?
After much persuasion, Dong Bai was allowed to stay for the confinement. Even so, Dong Bai still acted up from time to time, shocking everyone in the palace.

When Cai Yan heard that the emperor was not going to take her with him, she pouted.

But in the end, Cai Yan considered that she was weak after all and not as tough as Dong Bai, so she gave up the idea.

"Your Majesty, there is one more thing."

When Cai Yan talked about this, worry appeared between her brows again.

"It's about the new bride, Zhen."

Liu Xie couldn't help but frown when he heard this: "Zhen Mi? What's wrong with her? Is she doing something presumptuous?"

"What is your majesty thinking about?"

Cai Yan stretched out her finger and poked Liu Xie's ribs: "What I mean is that Your Majesty should be gentler to Zhen."

"I went to visit her yesterday and found that her body was covered with blue and red marks."

"Your Majesty, Sister Zhen is so beautiful and has such a well-proportioned figure that even a woman like me would be tempted by her. How could you bear to use such harsh means?"

"..."

Liu Xie felt a little aggrieved: "I was too lenient, and she is not happy..."

"What is this that your majesty is talking about?"

"If you don't believe me, we'll be together next time. Just watch carefully."

Hearing "together", Cai Yan poked Liu Xie's ribs again: "You are so unruly!"

After helping Liu Xie straighten his collar, Cai Yan instructed him, "After the imperial examination is over, Your Majesty, please remember to give me a copy of the test paper."

"no problem!"

Liu Xie assured Cai Yan, but then a sly smile appeared on his face: "But this time, even for Master Cai, it may not be that easy!"

"..."

Seeing the smile on the emperor's face, Cai Yan knew that the scholars who participated in the imperial examination this time might be tricked to death by the emperor...

Naturally, Liu Xie did not go alone to take the imperial examination this time.

Guo Jia, as well as two "repeaters" Sima Yi and Yang Xiu, were also dragged to the examination room by Liu Xie.

"I have to check to see if you two have regressed since you were with me."

Sima Yi and Yang Xiu knew that they had no chance of getting a ranking, but when they thought of Zhuge Liang's participation in this imperial examination, they both decided to compete with him.

Guo Jia didn't want to go at first.

But what can we do if the emperor forces us to do so?
Moreover, the emperor specifically said to Guo Jia: "This time, many talented people gathered for the imperial examination, but Fengxiao was unwilling to go. I guess he was afraid that he would be outdone, right?"

Knowing that the emperor was trying to provoke him, Guo Jia still couldn't help himself and decided to go to the examination hall with the emperor.

The examination hall was under martial law this time, and General Wei Dong Cheng was in charge.

Dong Cheng knew that the emperor would also attend the imperial examination, so he did not dare to slack off. Therefore, even though there were a large number of scholars, it was still completed perfectly without any major problems.

The candidates took their seats.

Zhong Ming asked the question.

Pang Tong, Xu Shu and others took a deep breath and tried to calm themselves down.

Even Sima Yi and Yang Xiu, the two "re-cooked meats", took a long time to adjust themselves before they calmed down.

The second imperial examination of the Han Dynasty begins!
The first ten questions still require dictation.

What is different from the previous session is that in addition to laws, the ten questions also tested some content about the classics of pre-Qin philosophers.

Naturally, everyone can recite the words of Confucius.

But this exam also tested "Mencius" and "Xunzi".

There are even "Guanzi" and "Han Feizi".

These questions were not too difficult, but they inevitably led some scholars with ulterior motives to speculate, could it be that the emperor no longer intended to respect Confucianism?
Although the questions became more diverse and the number of questions increased, the quality of the candidates this time was obviously higher than that of the previous session. After all, everyone basically got marks for the first ten dictation questions.

After Xu Shu finished writing the first five questions, he turned the paper to the back. According to the experience of the first imperial examination, the last five questions are the most important!

as predicted!

Just the first question gave Xu Shu a toothache.

"There is a girl in Qingzhou named Ayun."

"She was only 28 years old, graceful, beautiful and affectionate. Ayun lost her father when she was young, and her mother also died of illness a few years later. Before Ayun finished her mourning period, her uncle coveted money and, despite Ayun's objections, forced Ayun to marry a man named Wei Ada."

"Wei Ada was ugly, and Ayun was very dissatisfied with her son-in-law because he was ugly. In order to get rid of this marriage, Ayun decided to take a risk - on a dark and windy night, Ayun took a kitchen knife and quietly came to Wei Ada's house. While Wei Ada was sleeping, Ayun picked up the kitchen knife and chopped at Wei Ada. Wei Ada was awakened and subconsciously turned over and blocked with his hands, and a finger was chopped off. Ayun saw Wei Ada woke up, and was shocked and scared. He dropped the kitchen knife and ran away."

"Afterwards, Wei Ada reported the incident to the police, who quickly identified Ayun. Ayun was terrified and took the initiative to admit his crime."

Now the question is, how to sentence?

"hiss!"

This question... is so disgusting!

Because as he read the title, Xu Shu immediately thought of a law in the Jian'an Code -

"Evil and rebellious behavior means beating and murdering grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters, grandparents, husband, husband's grandparents, and parents. The sentence is immediate execution!"

Ayun’s crime can actually be regarded as murdering her husband, which is “evil and treasonous”, so she should be sentenced to death!

but……

There is another law in Jian'an Law:

If children decide on their own to get married during the period of mourning for their parents, this is called "unfilial".

Moreover, according to Han law, a formal wedding ceremony must be held and within three months of marrying, the wife must worship at the main temple of her husband's family to be considered an official couple.

Ayun was forced to be betrothed to Wei Ada by her uncle, and at most they were only engaged and exchanged marriage invitations. They could not be considered as husband and wife, so it could not be considered as "murdering her husband."

According to this logic, when Ayun was engaged, "she had not yet taken off her mourning clothes, so she should be treated as a mortal"! The engagement was invalid, so it was not a matter of murdering her husband, so she could be spared from death!

But the judgment is not over yet.

According to the Jian'an Code, "Anyone who murders another person shall be sentenced to three years in prison; if he has injured another person, he shall be strangled; if he has killed another person, he shall be beheaded."

But considering that Ayun surrendered himself... According to the law, "If a murderer has caused injury and he surrenders himself after questioning, his sentence will be reduced by two levels from murder." "If he surrenders himself, he will be exempted from the death penalty and his sentence will be reduced by two levels."

In other words, although Ayun injured Wei Ada, because he surrendered himself, he should be counted as "three years in prison for all murderers."

But this is just an idea.

Xu Shu was thinking, whether Ayun’s behavior could be considered as surrender?

If negligent injury or murder can be exempted from the crime caused, if the person originally intended to kill someone, but failed to kill and injured the person, this cannot exempt him from the crime caused, right?

For example--

"A got into a fight with someone and beat him so hard that his nose started bleeding. A was sentenced to fifty lashes of the cane. B wanted to kill someone and pushed him into a well, but the person was not hurt at all. B was also sentenced to fifty lashes of the cane. One was convicted of wounding someone, and the other of attempted murder, but the verdicts for both were the same. Such a verdict is obviously unconvincing!"

And it was obvious that Ayun intended to kill Wei Ada at the beginning, which obviously cannot be sentenced according to the ordinary "surrender circumstances".

"Hiss! Why is it so difficult?"

Even Xu Shu began to sigh, let alone others.

Even Sima Yi and Yang Xiu looked at the emperor with resentment, as if they were wondering where the emperor came up with such a disgusting question.

But Liu Xie remained unmoved.

Maybe on the test paper, this is just a question.

But now, these scholars who take part in the imperial examinations all want to become officials.

In the future, they will always encounter cases in their respective jurisdictions that are ten or a hundred times more complicated than those on the test papers.

If they can't even answer the questions on the test paper, how can they face the real people under their rule?

And this question itself has no correct answer.

This question tests the scholars' understanding of the nature of law.

And more importantly, the ultimate purpose of this question is to interrogate these scholars - which is greater, etiquette or law?
If Ayun was to be executed, it meant that "the order and chaos of a country are subject to propriety" and the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues should be the core of the law.

If they wanted to absolve Ah Yun of his guilt, it would mean that "arguing and litigating cannot be resolved without propriety; where propriety is abandoned, punishment is adopted."

Like the "Dong An Killing His Neighbor Case" in the previous imperial examination, this question is actually still exploring the relationship between etiquette and law.

However, this question is obviously a bit obscure. Unless one is extremely smart, extremely simple, and has not yet entered the officialdom, it is probably impossible to figure out the essence of this question.

At least……

Liu Xie saw Guo Jia answer this question very quickly...

Guo Jia quickly answered this question and immediately turned his attention to the second question -

"Please describe the fertilizer mix in detail and write how you think the fertilizer should be improved?"

no……

Guo Jia, who had been feeling smug, was immediately petrified.

If it was about the ratio of Wu Shi San, he would know it, but for this fertilizer... he really didn't know!!!
(End of this chapter)