White-robed Minister

Chapter 143 0141 [If Judge Xu is not satisfied, this case is not over]

As a member of the inner quarters, Bu Chao was not allowed to enter the government office according to regulations.

Although no one would care about this, Xu Lai still strictly followed the rules, not allowing Bu Chao to go to the government office, but instead sending him to the streets to investigate the people's conditions.

Xu Lai only asks Bu Chao to run errands for very important matters, such as helping to deliver letters during last year's investigation.

Today is different.

The emperor issued a document resembling an edict of self-reproach, ordering officials throughout the country to investigate wrongful convictions. Bu Chao had been given a specific task a few days prior: to bring anyone who cried out for justice into the examination hall.

"This is Judge Xu," Bu Chao introduced.

Chen Xiaoyi immediately knelt down with his hands clasped, pleading, "Please, judge and decide!"

Xu Lai put down the case file in his hand: "Only after a trial and conviction will a criminal kowtow and confess. Is this your way of admitting guilt? If not, stand up."

"I'm innocent." Chen Xiaoyi was so frightened that he hurriedly stood up.

Xu Lai said, "Sit down and tell me your story."

Chen Xiaoyi dared not sit down and said standing up, "My name is Chen Xiaoyi, and I live in Guantang Village, Guishan Township, Yucheng County. My family used to own two or three hundred mu of land. When my grandfather divided the family property, he received several dozen mu. My father had three brothers, but they all died before reaching adulthood, leaving only my father and aunt. My aunt married and took two mu of land with her, so in this generation, only my father is left—"

Although the boy was a bit long-winded, he was extremely articulate and could quickly explain his family situation.

"When I was eight years old, my father also died of illness. Two years later, my mother remarried and moved to Chuqiu County. Only my grandfather, grandmother, and I were left at home—"

"When I was a year old, Master Wang insisted that when my father was ill, he had borrowed a thousand strings of cash from him for medical treatment. With interest compounded, he owed me more than forty strings of cash—"

"My grandfather said that my family didn't borrow any money at all. We sold more than ten acres of land to pay for my father's medical treatment, so why would we borrow from Master Wang? But Master Wang produced an IOU and forcibly seized my family's land to pay off the debt."

"My father-in-law went to report it to the authorities, but he was beaten by the officers and died that night when he got home. My mother-in-law also died of anger—"

Xu Lai listened carefully, then picked up his pen and asked, "Borrowing ten strings of cash, and repaying forty-odd strings in two years, is that right?"

Chen Xiaoyi quickly retorted, "My family didn't borrow any money!"

"Is that what Master Wang said?" Xu Lai asked.

Chen Xiaoyi nodded.

Xu Lai wrote down four words: illegal lending.

According to the Song Dynasty Criminal Code, the maximum monthly interest rate shall not exceed 6%, and the final interest shall not exceed the principal.

No matter how egregious the usury practices may be, in Xu Lai's case, the law must be followed. Borrowing ten strings of cash and repaying more than fifty strings two years later exceeds the legal limit stipulated in the "Song Criminal Code."

"Do you still have that IOU? After Master Wang seized the land, did he return the IOU to you?" Xu Lai asked again.

"Yes, it is." Chen Xiaoyi carefully took out the IOU from his pocket.

The IOU has been soaked in water and is damaged, and some of the handwriting is illegible.

Chen Xiaoyi quickly explained, "The Wang family sent people to seize the land and threw the IOU on the ground. It was raining at the time, and the IOU got wet, so I've kept it until now."

Xu Lai examined the IOU carefully and asked, "Who is this middleman named Chen Gang? I'm asking about his identity."

Chen Xiaoyi said, "Chen Gang was my neighbor; he died of illness last year."

Xu Lai then asked, "Where are the witness Wang Shun and the scribe Wang Tonglu?"

Chen Xiaoyi said, "I don't know Wang Shun. Wang Tonglu is the son of Master Wang."

Did they beat anyone when they were seizing the land?

"They hit him. My grandfather was kicked and fell to the ground. My uncle and cousin tried to reason with them, but they were beaten with sticks by the Wang family's servants."

"Have you been living with relatives for the past few years?"

I live at my uncle's house.

"Can you read?"

"I know some characters, but not many. Two years ago, I became an apprentice carpenter and learned about a hundred characters from my master."

"Wait."

Xu Lai personally helped Chen Xiaoyi write the complaint and had him sign it. Then he called Zhang Kongmu over and said, "Take him to see the military advisor."

"The emperor issued an edict encouraging the redress of wrongful convictions in various regions, so his overstepping of the law this time will not be punished."

According to the law, any citizen who files a complaint outside their jurisdiction, or any official who accepts the complaint improperly, shall be punished with forty strokes of the cane.

However, by the mid-Northern Song Dynasty, this situation gradually relaxed, and during special periods, appeals beyond the jurisdiction of the court were permitted.

Now is a special period permitted by the Emperor!

As a judge, Xu Lai had no right to personally investigate cases unless the prefect appointed him to do so.

This case would either be sent back to Yucheng County for review by the county magistrate, or it would be reviewed by the judicial officer of the prefectural government. After these officials reviewed the case, it would be handed over to the judicial officer for sentencing, and then it would be handed over to Xu Lai for review.

Xu Lai then said to Bu Chao, "You stay with Chen Xiaoyi these days, and make sure he doesn't get beaten to death by some scoundrel during the trial."

"yes!"

Unable to personally preside over the case, Xu Lai had no choice but to submit a memorial to the imperial court.

First, we request the imperial court to lower the threshold for writing legal documents.

Currently, only officials, scholars who have passed the imperial examinations, and those who have passed the provincial examinations, as well as government-approved bookstores, are authorized to draft legal documents for ordinary people. This has resulted in extremely high fees for drafting legal documents, which many ordinary people simply cannot afford.

Second, we request that the court not hold the writer of the complaint accountable.

Sometimes, when a lawsuit is lost and the authorities determine it to be a false accusation, the person who wrote the complaint is also held accountable. This leads to a situation where, in many cases, no one is willing to write the complaint at all.

Especially in criminal cases where the defendant is very powerful, firstly, the punishment for false accusation is very severe, and secondly, people are afraid of offending the defendant, so much so that it takes dozens of coins to get someone to write a complaint.

Don't complain about the price; they're taking a huge risk to help you write the complaint.

Third, he requested that the court cease evaluating officials based on the number of lawsuits they filed.

For example, when the Provincial Judicial Commissioner Shen Qi wrote Xu Lai's annual performance evaluation, the "education" category was based on the number of lawsuits. If a region saw a significant decrease in lawsuits that year, then the chief official, deputy, and staff officer would be credited for their role in education.

The logic is bizarre: Look, no one here has filed a complaint, which means they are all law-abiding citizens.

This has led many local officials, especially county magistrates, to find ways to raise the bar for litigation and prevent ordinary people from filing lawsuits. In this way, they reduce the number of lawsuits and highlight their achievements in education and civility.

In ancient times, county government offices even had places similar to mediation rooms. Unless it was a serious criminal case, they would not file a case first, but would mediate first, using a combination of deception and intimidation to force the plaintiff to withdraw the lawsuit.

"Zou Liyuan, this is the complaint personally written by Judge Xu," Zhang Kongmu said. "Judge Xu also said that the Emperor has decreed that local authorities should redress wrongful convictions. During this period, anyone who appeals beyond the proper channels will not be punished."

"understood."

Zou Tu, the military advisor, reluctantly accepted the complaint, realizing he was in for another busy day.

really!

When Zou Tu received the complaint, he discovered that it was a case from several years ago, and that it also involved the Wang family in Yucheng County.

He was unable to investigate the case in the prefectural city, so he had to accept the case first and transfer the document to the magistrate of Yucheng County, ordering him to conduct a preliminary investigation and trial.

Two days later, Wang Chunzhong, the magistrate of Yucheng County, received the official document and met with Bu Chao and Chen Xiaoyi who had rushed over.

After asking Chen Xiaoyi a detailed question, Wang Chunzhong told him to leave temporarily and wait to be summoned at any time.

Then he summoned the registrar and the county constable to discuss the matter.

Registrar Nie Guanqun felt like the sky was falling: "How did the investigation turn to the Wang family again? It's a case from several years ago, how can it be so easy to investigate? But this is a complaint personally written by Judge Xu, we must find out the result."

The previous registrar of Yucheng was sent away by Xu Lai, and he is now a landlord at home after being dismissed from his post.

County Lieutenant Zhang Yuan said, "The investigation document sent by the Military Advisor was first received by Clerk Li Simin. I'm afraid that Master Wang has already learned of it by now."

The three previous clerks of Yucheng County were implicated in the case of the expropriation of property, and Xu Lai had caused two of them to be exiled and one to be imprisoned. But the newly appointed clerk was also a local, and his family had been officials for generations. How could he not be related to the local powerful clans?

Wang Chunzhong thought for a moment and said, "First check the household registration and land tax register. Send people to find out the defendant's family situation."

The county constable and the registrar exchanged a glance, both understanding that the county magistrate was about to get serious.

Three days later, the preliminary investigation results were placed on Wang Chunzhong's desk.

That wealthy man, surnamed Wang, is named Wang Daochen. He is sixty-four years old this year. Twenty years ago, he divided his family property with his brothers, and he owns more than 0 mu of farmland.

He had a cousin who was a deceased prime minister. He also had a cousin who worked in the imperial academy. Another cousin was a transport commissioner. And a younger cousin was the third-ranked scholar in the imperial examination two years before him.

More than a dozen other clansmen hold official positions, but their positions are not particularly prestigious.

As for Wang Daochen's own family, they were not very successful. He didn't even pass the imperial examination to become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations), and neither did his sons.

"His family's taxes are incorrect!"

Wang Chunzhong pointed to the household registration certificate and said, "Chen Xiaoyi's father sold more than ten mu of land to Wang Daochen for medical treatment. Wang Daochen then seized more than twenty mu of land from Chen Xiaoyi's family to pay off the debt through a promissory note. However, Wang Daochen's household registration certificate remained unchanged."

The household registration certificate is not simply a household registration booklet.

This thing comes in two copies, one for your own use and one for the government.

In addition to family member information, detailed information about family assets will also be provided. This includes the quantity, location, and grade of land properties, as well as details of land sales and purchases.

Wang Daochen took away about forty mu of land from Chen Xiaoyi's family through purchase and debt settlement, but this was not reflected in the household registration documents at all.

Without needing to investigate anything else, Wang Daochen's three crimes could already be confirmed: illegal lending, concealing land ownership, and evading land transfer taxes.

The next day, Wang Chunzhong, accompanied by his officials, Bu Chao, and Chen Xiaoyi, personally went to Guantang Village in Guishan Township to conduct an investigation, and summoned the township elders and the village head.

"Which fields belong to your family?" Wang Chunzhong asked.

Chen Xiaoyi said, "There's one right ahead."

The group arrived at a wheat field.

Wang Chunzhong said to the village head, "Who is cultivating this land? If the owner and tenant cannot be found, it should be confiscated as ownerless land."

Just then, Wang Daochen appeared, supported by his son.

"My lord, this is my family's land," Wang Daochen explained. "Back then, we were greedy for petty gains and didn't go to the government office to transfer the ownership."

Wang Chunzhong said, "Private land transactions through deed are punishable by caning at the very least. The land transaction is invalid, and the deed is returned to Chen Xiaoyi. Chen Xiaoyi, this land is yours now. Identify all the other lands your family owned before."

Chen Xiaoyi was overjoyed: "There's more ahead!"

By this time, many villagers had come to watch the spectacle. Wang Chunzhong shouted loudly, "Who still has land that has been sold or used to pay off debts without the government's permission? You can point it out today, and this county magistrate will return it to you."

The villagers looked at each other, wanting to come forward and identify the suspect, but fearing retaliation from Wang Daochen.

Seeing that the villagers dared not step forward, Wang Chunzhong then said to Wang Daochen, "Bring out the white deed you used to buy the land back then, and all those involved in signing the white deed—the guarantors, the middlemen, the brokers—will be punished according to the law!"

Wang Daochen said with a smile, "My lord, it's almost noon. Why don't you come to my house for lunch first?"

Wang Chunzhong said in a low voice, "Old Master, I really have no choice but to accept the complaint, which was personally written by Judge Xu. We'll skip the meal; you need to think carefully about how to deal with Judge Xu. If he's not satisfied, this will never end."

Wang Daochen was stunned and stood there, not knowing what to do.

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