Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 93 Who's wronged? There's no injustice! You're making baseless accusations; who knows what kind of injustice you might suffer later!

According to regulations, Ming Dynasty officials were not allowed to leave their posts without permission, nor were they allowed to buy houses or marry in their place of office. Of course, these were just regulations. In the later period of the Ming Dynasty, the commodity economy flourished, and the Lijia system and the household registration system became virtually defunct. Even ordinary people could go to the city to work, and unregistered people roamed the country.

Lu Xiang-sheng redressed wrongful convictions for the people of Daming Prefecture. Some cases could be decided by him as the prefect, while some serious cases would be submitted to the Ministry of Justice.

Normally, appeals, retrials, and reversals of judgments only required local officials to submit official documents, without Lu Xiang-sheng needing to make a personal trip. However, his documents disappeared without a trace, receiving no response for a long time. Having previously served in the Ministry of Revenue, Lu Xiang-sheng knew the nature of these Beijing government offices and officials, so he decided to personally go to Beijing to oversee the matter.

He wasn't wearing his official robes and was dressed simply, almost unable to enter the Ministry of Justice. He only managed to get in after submitting his official token and seal. Being a fourth-rank official, and dealing with such a thorny matter as appealing a wrongful conviction, the Vice Minister of Justice, Zhang Shenyan, received Lu Xiang-sheng.

Lu Xiang-sheng inquired about the progress of the appeal he had submitted regarding the wrongful conviction. Zhang Shen-yan was completely bewildered, having no recollection of the matter. However, instead of summoning his subordinates to inquire about the situation or search the files, he calmly said, "Prefect Lu, I truly admire your dedication to advocating for the people."

To be honest, I would like to help you, but my job in the Ministry of Justice is only to handle appeals from all over the country and adjudicate serious local cases. For crimes punishable by exile or less, my ministry can make a final judgment. But for more severe sentences, the case must be sent to the Court of Judicial Review for review, or even petition His Majesty for a personal decision.

Take your case of overturning a wrongful conviction, for example. It should have been submitted to the Court of Judicial Review (Dali Temple). The founding emperor clearly stipulated that the Court of Judicial Review is the authority "responsible for reviewing and overturning criminal cases." Your petition was submitted to the wrong department, and it's perfectly normal that my department couldn't reply promptly.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng remained unmoved and stubbornly said, "Minister Zhang, don't try to fool me! What kind of local official submits a petition directly to the Court of Judicial Review? Doesn't it all go through your Ministry of Justice first? If the Ministry of Justice can't make a decision, it will naturally be transferred to the Court of Judicial Review for review. If I were to submit it without authorization, you would then accuse me of not knowing the rules!"
We are both officials in the same court, and it is our duty to speak out for the people. I hope that the Vice Minister will put in extra effort to properly handle these dozen or so unjust cases against me. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me, and I will fully cooperate with your department in the investigation.”

Zhang Shenyan had a bit of a headache, but said, "Very well, we will handle this as quickly as possible. Prefect Lu, please return to your residence. Once this matter is settled, my department will prepare an official document and send it to Daming Prefecture by fast horse to inform you."

Lu Xiang-sheng shook his head and stood still, saying, "I am not in a hurry to return to my residence. I hope that Vice Minister Zhang will take immediate action. If there is any need for assistance, I may do my best to help."

"Sigh! Are you pretending to be ignorant, or are you really clueless? If I tell you to go back to your residence, then go back. Why do you have to make things difficult for me? The Ministry of Justice has a mountain of work to do, how can we possibly finish it all so quickly?"

“I can’t worry about that! You’ve come all this way, you must deal with this immediately! If you keep making excuses, I’ll file a complaint with the Censorate against you, and I’ll also write to His Majesty about this matter!” Lu Xiang-sheng threatened.

Zhang Shenyan was furious and retorted, "How dare you act like this! I have treated you with courtesy and respected your dignity, yet you turn around and accuse me? You claim you are innocent, so you think you are? Could it be that you have taken money from the criminal's family, which is why you are so eager to overturn the case! Furthermore, these old cases are lacking in both witnesses and evidence. How easy is it to overturn them? Some have already been executed, and others have long been exiled. If you forcefully overturn the cases, where will you put the face of the imperial court?!"

“Only by upholding fairness and justice can the court gain the people’s trust. If the case can be overturned and the injustice redressed, the deceased can have their reputations restored, and the government should provide compensation to their families; the corrupt officials who embezzled and perverted the law should be punished; and those still serving their sentences can have their punishments reduced or waived. Aren’t these all just basic principles?” Lu Xiang-sheng insisted. “Just for a few commoners, you’re going to implicate so many officials?! If you act like this, how will officials in the country dare to judge cases and enforce the law in the future? Will you be satisfied when the people complain and you refuse to take their cases on your behalf?!”

"Since you insist on being serious, I will make things clear with you today. Did you request permission from the court before leaving your post in Daming Prefecture and going to the capital on your own? If you dare to impeach me, I will impeach you. Who's afraid of whom?!" Zhang Shenyan said.

“If Vice Minister Zhang wants to impeach me, he may do so. But you must first settle this case for me. Once it’s over, I will not impeach you, nor will you need to go to the trouble of submitting a memorial. I will write a letter and submit it to you, accepting my punishment,” Lu Xiang-sheng said.

Zhang Shenyan stared blankly at Lu Xiang-sheng, having been tormented by him to the point of exhaustion. He said weakly, "Wait here! I can't make this decision myself; I must inform Minister Feng!"

After a short while, Minister of Justice Feng Jia arrived, his face also very grim. He said to Lu Xiang-sheng in an annoyed tone, "You people are really...! If you truly cared about the people, why didn't you make more oversights when judging cases in the local areas? Now that you've made a mistake, you come to my Ministry of Justice to cause trouble!"

Do you know how many people and how much public funds my ministry has had to expend to retry these cases? If all officials in the world acted like you, my Ministry of Justice might as well just lock its doors and stop handling affairs altogether!

“I only took over the seal of Daming Prefecture last February. These wrongful cases were the result of accumulated problems during the tenure of my predecessor.”

"How could I not know that overturning this case would trouble the officials of the Ministry of Justice with their efforts? But for those unjustly wronged commoners, this matter concerns their lives, their reputations, and is of paramount importance. I implore you, sirs, to consider the suffering of the people and, with great difficulty, to seek justice for them." Lu Xiang-sheng bowed deeply and said.

"For cases punishable by imprisonment or less, the Ministry of Justice can handle them for you; if the crime is more serious than exile, it must be transferred to the Court of Judicial Review for review; if it is a wrongful death sentence, it must be reported to His Majesty for a final decision."

"At that time, it's hard to say whether His Majesty will praise your loyalty or resent your troublemaking. It might even jeopardize your future! You've become a prefect at such a young age, with a bright future ahead of you. You should be focusing on gaining experience and skills. Why bother with these things to attract attention? Do you really want to take this step?" Feng Jiahui said earnestly.

“I have absolutely no intention of seeking fame or fortune! As the prefect, it is my duty to clear the names of the people and redress their grievances. If I cannot even protect the innocence of the people under my jurisdiction, how can I face this official hat and call myself a public servant? These injustices concern the lives and honor of the people. Even if I lose my career, I will definitely appeal to the end for them!” Lu Xiang-sheng said firmly.

Feng Jiahui shook his head helplessly, and then drew personnel from the thirteen departments of the Ministry of Justice to specifically re-examine the wrongful conviction case in Daming Prefecture. They made all sorts of excuses and exaggerated the difficulties, but under the personal supervision of the Minister, the matter was resolved that very day. The evidence for overturning the verdict had already been collected by Lu Xiang-sheng when he submitted the official documents, and the right and wrong were clear at a glance.

(End of this chapter)