Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 319 Unified Law Code
Fear can eventually crush anyone, let alone a child with only a little bit of cleverness.

In the somber atmosphere of Yuntai Pavilion, young Liu Ye was completely terrified by the scene and even lost control of his bladder on the spot. He was then taken away by several eunuchs.

However, even an adult would likely suffer a mental breakdown if surrounded by a group of high-ranking officials discussing whether to sentence them to death, with the majority supporting the death penalty.

However, Liu Ye was ultimately not sentenced to death.

Given Guo Tu's consistent style of doing things, Liu Ye should have been killed in order to uphold the new laws that were being drafted.

After all, apart from the emperor, no one could make Guo Tu back down even a step. Even the Three Dukes dared to speak out against him.

Moreover, most cabinet ministers also favored the death penalty; no one was willing to jeopardize the credibility of the new laws being revised by the court for the sake of an unknown member of the imperial family.

Unexpectedly, Xun You, who was not well-versed in the law, keenly grasped a questionable loophole in Guo Tu's argument.

That is the sentence in the edict of Emperor Guangwu in the eleventh year of Jianwu: "Of all things under heaven, humans are the most precious. Those who kill slaves shall not be punished less severely." How should the word "punish less severely" be defined?
The laws of the Later Han Dynasty allowed for the payment of fines, reduction of punishment by noble titles, or reduction of punishment based on past merits according to the "Eight Deliberations" method.

So, do the special provisions in the law that specifically protect children under the age of ten fall under this category of "reduction of punishment," and are they included in the scope of "reduction of punishment" prohibited by the edict of Emperor Guangwu?

Guo Tu was speechless for a moment. Xun You's question hit the nail on the head: the definition was indeed too vague.

In the past, with the "Spring and Autumn Annals Adjudication" system as the main approach, these details did not need to be examined in detail. However, now that the "Spring and Autumn Annals Adjudication" system has been abolished, we must be careful with every word.

Fa Yan, the Left Supervisor of the Court of Justice who had been listening in silence, calmly excused himself to go to the restroom, and hurried out of the palace, heading straight for the archives of the Court of Justice where judicial files were stored.

Relying on his memory of past cases, he quickly searched through them and finally found a similar precedent that could be used for reference.

During the reign of Emperor Xiaozhang, the nine-year-old son of a powerful family in Kuaiji Commandery beat an old servant to death as a joke, and the officials reported that he should be executed in the marketplace.

At that time, Zheng Hong, the former Grand Commandant who was then just a supervisor, based his argument on the "Second Year Laws and Ordinances - Complete Laws" which stated that "those who commit crimes and are under ten years old shall be pardoned; those who commit murder shall be sentenced to hard labor in the city." He believed that children under ten years old were not yet mentally developed and "could not distinguish between life and death," and therefore did not understand the seriousness of death. (Note 1)

Ultimately, Zheng Hong ordered the powerful man to pay the old servant's family 15,000 coins in compensation and to whip the man 30 times as punishment for his failure to educate and supervise the young child.

The judicial system of the Later Han Dynasty was based on written law, supplemented by case law.

Especially when dealing with complex cases, we will prioritize searching for similar past cases as the basis for our judgment.

These cases were called "Judgment Cases". At the beginning of each year, the Court of Justice would select cases judged by the imperial court and local authorities in the previous year, compile and organize typical cases, and officially record them in "Judgment Cases" after approval by the emperor, so as to serve as a reference for future judicial trials.

As for Liu Ye's case of killing his servant, considering that the servant himself had committed numerous evil deeds and was guilty of multiple serious crimes such as murder, rape, robbery, and territorial encroachment, and that Liu Ye was personally escorted to Luoyang by his biological father Liu Pu, it can be barely considered as a confession.

Based on the decision-making criteria provided by Fa Yan, and with the emperor's willingness to give Liu Ye a chance, Guo Tu, who had initially been adamant, was finally persuaded.

Therefore, the final judgment referred to the old case in Kuaiji County and, based on the "Second Year Laws and Ordinances - Complete Laws", which states that "if a person is guilty and is less than ten years old, he shall be pardoned; if he commits murder, he shall be sentenced to hard labor in the city." Liu Ye was sentenced to hard labor in the city.

The Second Year Laws and Ordinances, Section 2, "Chengdan refers to the management of the city; Chun refers to the processing of rice. Both are performed for five years, and completed for four years."

This "age" does not refer to the length of imprisonment.

In the Later Han Dynasty, the "Chengdan Chun" was a lifelong form of forced labor. The "Wan" in "Wan Si Sui" means to be exempted from shaving one's head, beard, and other corporal punishments and tattooing. The "Si Sui" means that one must perform high-intensity forced labor for the first four years.

After four years, they will be assigned to work with slightly lower intensity.

However, since the labor service locations were mostly in remote border counties with extremely harsh environments.

Regardless of the risks of acclimatization problems and raids by the northern and southern barbarians, the intense labor in the first few years alone was enough to kill many people.

Even if they survive the initial period of intense labor, few people can live past ten years due to the long-term hardship of life and work.

However, government slaves sentenced to hard labor could theoretically redeem themselves and regain their commoner status by paying a fine after the initial period of intense labor ended.

Even poor people who couldn't afford to redeem themselves had the opportunity to receive a "general amnesty" from the imperial court and return home.

However, those who were pardoned and returned home either had already lost their wives and children or found that everything had changed. Even if they returned home, few of them were able to live out the rest of their lives in peace.

As a member of the imperial clan, Liu Ye would not stand idly by even if his father, Liu Pu, was unwilling to pay for his redemption. Liu Yu, the Minister of the Imperial Clan Court, would not stand idly by.

However, today's sentencing of Liu Ye touched Liu Bian, making him realize a serious problem that had long been ignored by the court.

The legal system of the Han Dynasty was extremely chaotic.

Liu Bian's eyes flashed with a complex light, and he suddenly raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the officials in the hall before finally settling on Guo Tu. He said in a low voice, "Gongze, let's put the drafting of the new laws on hold for now." As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Qing silently withdrew from the Yuntai Pavilion and returned to the inner palace. Guo Tu, however, was startled and looked up at the emperor, thinking he had misheard. But he saw that the emperor's gaze was also fixed on him.

The new law, which changes the slave system from "selling oneself into servitude" to "employment," has been painstakingly compiled over nearly three months by officials from the Court of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, the court officials who are well-versed in the law, and scholars from various regions who study the "Greater Du Law," "Lesser Du Law," and other legal texts.
Propaganda efforts have already been launched in various regions, yet the emperor himself wants to halt this matter?
Seeing the confusion and bewilderment in Guo Tu's eyes, Liu Bian simply shook his head slightly and asked in a deep voice, "Gongze, what is the legal punishment for stealing more than 660 coins of government grain?"

Guo Tu pondered for a moment, and although he did not understand the meaning, he still replied: "Reporting to the country, the Second Year Laws and Ordinances on Theft states: If stolen goods are valued at more than 660 coins, the person shall be tattooed and sentenced to hard labor in the city."

Liu Bian then pressed on, asking, "What if it's the government rations prepared for the postal workers that were stolen?"

Upon hearing this, Guo Tu's pupils suddenly contracted, and a look of understanding flashed across his face. He lowered his voice and slowly replied, "The Nine Chapters of Law, Stable Law, states: If the value exceeds 500 coins, it shall be abandoned in the market."

That's the crux of the problem!
During the nearly four hundred years of the Han Dynasty, there was actually no comprehensive written legal code; its basic legal framework was composed of multiple "laws".

The core is the "Nine Chapters of Law" formulated under the supervision of Xiao He, the prime minister in the early Han Dynasty. Subsequently, new laws were continuously added to supplement and refine it, such as Shusun Tong's "Bangzhang", Empress Gao's "Second Year Law", Emperor Xiaowu's "Shenming Law", "Zuoguan Law", "Zhoujin Law", Zhang Tang's "Yuegong Law", Zhao Yu's "Chao Law", and so on.

However, these laws did not replace or abolish previous laws, which led to the continuous superposition and coexistence of laws, resulting in conflicting judgments when different laws were applied to the same type of crime.

For example, the punishment for the crime of "stealing official property" is different in the "Theft Law" and the "Stable Law". The "Theft Law" punishes according to the value of the property, which is a general law, while the "Stable Law" punishes according to the nature and quality of the property, which is a special law.

However, in judicial decisions, there is no clear principle that "special laws prevail over general laws." Officials can selectively cite legal provisions and "case comparisons" based on their own understanding or even preferences, ultimately leading to a large number of cases of "different punishments for the same crime."

Over the course of nearly four hundred years, the various laws, decrees, regulations, and standards inevitably contained numerous repetitions, contradictions, or ambiguous definitions. The sheer volume of these laws and regulations, coupled with their mutual discrepancies, made it difficult for officials to accurately grasp and apply the law, resulting in chaotic law enforcement and a proliferation of wrongful convictions and miscarriages of justice.

Guo Tu gradually understood the emperor's intentions. The confusion in his eyes was instantly replaced by a burning light, and his breathing became somewhat rapid. He looked at the emperor excitedly, and his voice trembled slightly as he asked, "Does the state want me to do what the late Minister of Works, Duke Zhao of Chen (Chen Chong), did?"

In the sixth year of Emperor Xiaohe's Yongyuan reign, his fifth-generation ancestor Guo Gong died of illness while serving as Minister of Justice. The position of Minister of Justice was succeeded by Chen Chong, who later became Minister of Works.

When Guo Gong was alive, he discussed with Chen Chong that the laws of the Han Dynasty at that time were numerous, complicated, and often repetitive or conflicting. He had been planning for a long time, but he passed away before he could submit a memorial. Chen Chong, who succeeded him, submitted a memorial to Emperor Xiaohe, stating that "there are 610 articles for crimes punishable by death, 1698 articles for punishment (shaving one's sideburns), and 2681 articles for redemption or less," totaling 4989 articles.

This does not include the more than 80,000 "decision ratios" for death penalty, imprisonment, and atonement used for case law guidance!
With the support of Emperor Xiaohe, Chen Chong began a comprehensive review, revision, and cleanup of the laws.

However, edicts issued by emperors throughout history that were not included in the written law were not included in the scope of the cleanup. For example, Emperor Guangwu's edict protecting servants. In addition, there were frequent natural disasters for several years, and he was suppressed by the powerful general Dou Xian. Furthermore, Chen Chong's own stance of protecting powerful families made the work of deletion and sorting only half-hearted, or even extremely unsuccessful.

The final result was merely a rough reduction of the total number of legal provisions to 3000, of which 2602 were atonement clauses with labor as the result of the sentence. Most of the deleted clauses were death penalty and torture clauses, and a large number of death penalty clauses were changed to atonement clauses. The "decision ratio" still retained 13472 death penalty clauses, more than 11000 torture clauses, and more than 3000 atonement clauses.

"Atonement," as the name suggests, allows one to pay off a sin by paying money.

This essentially provides a legal way for wealthy and powerful families to evade severe punishments. The rich can bribe officials to cite specific "case studies" during sentencing, thus reducing the severity of serious crimes or even exempting them from punishment.

Just like the way Liu Ye's case was judged today, so much so that ordinary people ridiculed it as "laws are like silk threads, judgments are like a net."

"No!" Liu Bian shook his head decisively and said, "Chen Zhaogong's actions are half-hearted and he is very selfish. I will not accept him."

Liu Bian abruptly stood up, left his throne, strode over to Guo Tu, and sat down on the ground.

"If we're going to do this, we're going to see it through to the end!"

"I want to eliminate the coexistence of multiple laws and unify the legal code! If there are any additions, subtractions or supplements to the laws, they should all be made to the original laws, and no new supplementary laws should be established."

"As for the 'rule of law'... from now on, past precedents shall only be used for reference and shall not be directly cited to make a judgment!"

Liu Bian gazed intently at Guo Tu, then suddenly reached out and tightly grasped Guo Tu's hands. His voice was low yet filled with determination as he said, "Gongze, you are capable of leading the way for me. Let us, ruler and subject, be of one mind and accomplish this unprecedented great undertaking together."

Guo Tu's eyes instantly welled up with tears, his lips trembled violently, and his throat tightened, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't utter a single word.

However, the desire he wanted to express was clearly conveyed through the force with which he clasped hands with the emperor.

A unified legal code! (Note 2)

The unification of laws was no less important to Legalist scholars than the unification of the empire was to emperors!
This matter, in particular, was the unfinished work of his fifth-generation ancestor, Guo Gong!
Building on past achievements and forging ahead into the future, we will unify the legal code!

This perfectly hit the sweet spot for Legalist scholars!
If this matter is successfully accomplished, a hundred years from now, when Shang Yang and Han Feizi meet him in the underworld, they will have to kowtow to him twice and respectfully call him "Lord Guo"!
Guo Tu abruptly pulled his hands out of the emperor's grasp, rose resolutely from his seat, walked to the center of the hall, prostrated himself on the ground, and kowtowed heavily, striking his forehead with a glaring bloodstain. His eyes were bloodshot with excitement, and his voice was hoarse as he said, "If the nation fails, I request to be torn apart by chariots!"

-

Note 1: Volume 648 of the Criminal Law section of the *Taiping Yulan* quotes the supplement to the *Kuaiji Dianlu*: "When Zheng Hong was an inspector, a young boy in Kuaiji killed a government slave. The officials reported that he should be executed in the marketplace. Zheng Hong objected, saying, 'The boy is only nine years old and has not yet begun his studies. He cannot distinguish between life and death. His sentence should be reduced to death.' He then ordered the boy to redeem himself from the punishment, compensate the slave for 15,000 coins, and flog the father thirty times." (This is also mentioned in Pei Songzhi's *Annotations to the Records of the Three Kingdoms*, *Book of Wu*, *Biography of Yu Fan*, which quotes the *Kuaiji Dianlu*.)
Note 2: The first legal code in history that did not use multiple laws in parallel but instead unified the legal code was the Yonghui Code, compiled by Changsun Wuji during the Yonghui era of Emperor Gaozong of Tang. It was based on the Zhenguan Code and combined with the Kaihuang Code and the Wude Code. Together with the accompanying Commentary on the Code, which explains the meaning of the legal provisions and answers questions and doubts, it is called the Tang Code Commentary.

(End of this chapter)