White-robed Minister

Chapter 147-0145 [Xu Laohu's Public Trial]

At this time, Xu Lai was in a state of being assigned to investigate cases, which was equivalent to leading a special task force from the prefecture to the county to investigate cases on the orders of the prefect.

"How about Magistrate Wang preside over the trial?" Xu Lai asked politely.

County magistrates can only adjudicate cases involving imprisonment or less, while cases involving imprisonment or more severe sentences, even if tried, must be transferred to the prefectural government.

Magistrate Wang Chunzhong can adjudicate cases involving illegal lending.

Wang Chunzhong naturally declined.

After much back and forth, Xu Lai's special investigation team took the lead in the trial, while the three local county officials sat in the audience. Wang Chunzhong was in charge of taking the interrogations.

The purpose of questioning is to prevent wrongful convictions. After the facts have been clarified, officials who did not participate in the interrogation will verify the prisoner's confession.

If the prisoner then cries foul and recants, the case must be retried.

"Clang clang clang!"

Several officials walked along the streets of the county town, banging gongs and shouting, "Tomorrow at dawn, Judge Xu will hold a public trial of Wang Daochen and his son in the main hall of the county government. All citizens are welcome to attend and observe!"

In ancient times, entertainment options were limited, and trials were generally not conducted in public. It would be quite interesting to have officials publicly try cases.

Immediately, some busybodies spread the word, calling on their friends and arranging to watch the trial the next day.

Meanwhile, the landlords in various townships of the county also received the news one after another, and immediately sent their trusted confidants to guard outside the city overnight. When the city gates opened at dawn, they immediately went into the city to check the situation at the county government office.

On the day of the public trial, while the officials were still on their roll call, the streets outside the county government office were already packed with people.

"Don't push, don't make a scene! The trial will begin at Chenzheng, and you can only enter at Chenchu." The officials and servants stood ready with sticks in hand.

The streets were noisy, but after being stopped by the officials, people began to chat and laugh.

"Selling wontons!"

"Steamed buns, big and cheap steamed buns."

"Gum filling, gum filling!"

"Dried fruit, dried fruit made from various kinds of fruits."

Street vendors appeared carrying their wares on shoulder poles, calling out their wares to attract customers. Bored and well-off people bought food to eat and have fun.

Around 7 a.m., officials began to let the people in.

"No pushing or shoving! Those at the back, don't push or jostle, go in one by one!"

"Ouch, someone stepped on my foot."

"My shoes! My shoes were stepped on!"

'

The trial was held in the main hall of the county government office. A temporary fence was set up at the entrance of the hall, and ordinary people were only allowed to stand outside the fence to watch.

As time passed, the number of onlookers grew.

The open space outside the lobby was packed with people.

Some people stood outside the county government gate, unable to get in, but reluctant to leave, calling out to those inside to help pass on a message.

Finally, about fifteen minutes before dawn, Xu Lai appeared in the main hall with his officials.

The guards standing at the fence repeatedly shouted "Silence!"

Once all the judges, including Xu Lai, were seated, he announced, "Let's drink!"

The constables standing on both sides of the main hall shouted in unison, "All personnel in the yamen are safe! Move the desk!"

A large, long legal document was carried to Xu Lai and placed in front of him, with writing brushes, ink, paper, gavel, and other items arranged one after another.

The trunk was also carried over; it contained the legal documents and other items.

The military advisor did not come to the county this time, but his deputy did, and at this moment began to read the indictment.

"Bang!"

Xu Lai shouted, "Bring the plaintiff, Chen Xiaoyi, to the court."

"Bring the plaintiff, Chen Xiaoyi, to court!" a bailiff shouted.

Chen Xiaoyi was taken to the main hall and made to stand there and recount what had happened.

It was said that his family's loan receipts had been forged, his grandfather had been beaten to death by officials, his grandmother had died of grief, and all of their land had been seized by wealthy families. All of this filled the people in the audience with righteous indignation, and they all shouted for the perpetrators to be severely punished.

"Bang!"

"quiet!"

The area outside the main hall became extremely noisy, so Xu Lai had no choice but to have the officials reiterate the order of the trial.

Xu Lai glanced at the IOU and said, "The middleman of this IOU, Chen Gang, is dead. Bring Chen Gang's eldest son, Chen Xu, to the court."

Chen Xu was quickly brought up.

In Song Dynasty courtrooms, both plaintiffs and defendants stood; kneeling during court proceedings was unheard of. Kneeling was only observed at the end of the trial when the accused confessed and accepted punishment.

The objects of worship are the law and justice!

After the officials verified Chen Xu's identity, Xu Lai asked, "Take a close look at this IOU. Is the signature of the middleman on it your father's handwriting?"

An official brought over the IOU, and Chen Xu glanced at it before forcing himself to say, "It was signed by my father."

He knew the IOU was fake, but dared not admit it. Nor did he dare say it wasn't his father's signature, otherwise he would offend the Wang family.

Xu Lai then asked, "Were you present when the IOU was signed?"

Chen Xu shook his head: "I wasn't there, I don't know when the IOU was written."

After the confession was written, Chen Xu stepped forward and affixed his seal.

Then Wang Shun, the witness to the IOU, was summoned to court.

"Wang Shun, is the witness signature on the IOU yours?"

"Forehead----"

"Yes or no, tell me quickly!"

"Yes."

"Tell me the truth about how you acted as a witness."

"At that time, Chen Niu (Chen Xiaoyi's father) fell ill. Selling more than ten acres of land to treat his illness was not enough, so he wanted to borrow money from someone to treat his illness."

Chen Gang acted as a middleman, connecting the family with the eldest son of the Wang family to borrow money. The eldest son of the Wang family then asked me to be their witness.

Just then, Chen Xiaoyi shouted, "He's talking nonsense! My family didn't borrow any money!"

"Bang!"

Xu Lai slammed his gavel: "Chen Xiaoyi, you are not allowed to speak freely when you are not being questioned. If you dare to do so again, you will be punished for shouting in court!"

Chen Xiaoyi's face flushed red with anger, a lump of breath stuck in his throat.

Wang Shun signed the statement after verifying it.

Xu Lai then said, "Bring the borrower and the person who wrote the contract, Wang Tonglu (Wang Dalang), to the court!"

When Wang Tonglu arrived at the main hall, he saw a large crowd of people outside and quickly raised his hand to cover his face.

After verifying his identity, Xu Lai asked, "Wang Tonglu, are you the signatory and lender of this IOU? Is the signature yours?"

"Yes," Wang Tonglu replied.

Xu Lai then asked him about the loan process, and his account was similar to Wang Shun's, suggesting that they had colluded several years ago.

After Wang Tonglu signed his confession, his father, Wang Daochen, was interrogated again.

Xu Lai asked, "Your son lent money to villagers, using their land as collateral? Were you aware of this?"

"I don't know," Wang Daochen said.

Xu Lai sneered: "Unaware? You're the head of the household. The borrower used the land to settle the debt; you're the real beneficiary. How could you not know?"

Wang Daochen said, "Those land properties were not transferred to my name and were hidden by my son, so I was completely unaware of them from beginning to end."

Wang Tonglu was shocked and hurriedly cried out, "Father, you can't—"

"Shut up!" Wang Daochen snapped.

Xu Lai was furious: "How dare they obstruct the presiding judge's interrogation on the spot and intimidate the person being interrogated from giving a truthful account of the case! Ten strokes of the cane, execute them immediately!"

Wang Daochen was terrified. He was over sixty years old; how could he withstand ten strokes of the cane?

Immediately, officials stepped forward, pressed Wang Daochen onto a bench, pulled down his pants, and prepared to spank him.

Among the onlookers outside the hall, there were a few young women and married women who covered their eyes to avoid looking at the buttocks.

Wang Daochen cried out in terror, "You can't hit me! My cousin is the prime minister, my other cousin is—oh dear!"

Xu Lai cautioned, "Don't kill him."

It's not fun to kill someone on the spot.

"Slap slap slap—"

With each blow, the executioner's skill was remarkable; the flesh was torn open but the bones remained unharmed.

"father!"

"Don't hit my father!"

Wang Daochen's other sons also came to watch the trial today, and they are standing outside the hall at this moment.

Upon seeing their father being beaten so badly that his buttocks were bruised and battered, the sons all shouted in protest.

"The prisoner's son is here!"

"He looks shifty and sneaky; he's definitely not a good person."

"Pooh!"

"You still have the nerve to come here."

,

The people around their sons despised them.

It's a physical act of contempt; some ordinary people are already spitting on it.

These people in the county don't care how powerful the Wang family is in the countryside.

Xu Lai asked Wang Tonglu, "Was your father aware of the loan? Did you conceal any farmland from your family?"

Wang Tonglu hesitated, as admitting his father was unaware would mean taking all the blame.

Moreover, it was very easy to be caught lying, since the rent from those hidden fields was all sent to his granary. Officials could easily interrogate a few servants and tenants, and a beating would make them all confess.

Looking at his father, whose buttocks were still bleeding, Wang Tonglu was in a dilemma. Telling the truth would be unfilial, while lying would be useless and even more serious.

"Bang!"

Xu Lai shouted, "Confess the truth!"

Wang Tonglu closed his eyes and took the blame: "My father was unaware of it; I did it all by myself."

Xu Lai smiled and said, "Very good, very filial. Let's check the statement. If it's correct, then sign it."

Wang Tonglu signed the document and then pressed his fingerprint on it.

Xu Lai said, "This case is unclear, and it's difficult to determine whether the loan agreement is forged in the short term. Let's leave it for future investigation."

what?

The people watching the trial, especially those in the front rows, could hear Xu Lai speaking clearly.

What a corrupt official!

After a long hearing, they said they couldn't figure it out and would investigate it later. They called us in to watch the trial, and this is how they handle it? We've already gone all out, and this is what they give us!

Immediately, the crowd outside the hall erupted in uproar.

"Bang bang bang!"

"quiet!"

The officials shouted at the people for a long time before finally calming them down.

Xu Lai added, "Whether the IOU is forged is unclear at the moment. But it is a clear fact that the Wang family used the IOU to take more than 20 mu of land from the Chen family to pay off their debt."

Xu Lai asked the official in charge of sentencing, "What is the punishment for illegally lending money at usurious rates?"

The sentencing officer loudly announced: "According to the Song Dynasty Criminal Code, lending with a monthly interest rate exceeding six percent or with interest exceeding the principal is illegal. In this case, the principal of the loan agreement is ten strings of cash, and fifty-four strings must be repaid within two years. The interest is several times the principal."

"The loan agreement is hereby declared invalid, and the land used to offset the debt shall be returned to its original owner. The lender shall be sentenced to twenty strokes of the cane and displayed in chains for one month! The intermediary, witnesses, and those who wrote the contract shall be punished equally!"

These words caused an uproar among the people.

For the vast majority of them, this was the first time they had ever heard of this law.

So, the interest on a loan can't exceed the principal? How can a loan agreement be invalid if the interest exceeds the principal?

Xu Lai is educating the public about the law.

Both caning and cangue are sentences below imprisonment, so there's no need to report to the prefectural government; the sentences can be pronounced and carried out now.

Before the verdict was announced, Xu Lai strictly followed the procedures, having Wang Chunzhong take the lead in recording the interrogation.

All those being interrogated can now plead their innocence and recant their confessions.

When Wang Shun heard that he, as a witness to the IOU, was also to be flogged and put in a cangue, he panicked. But he dared not recant his testimony, because if he did, the charge would become that he conspired with the Wang family to forge the IOU.

Although Wang Shun didn't understand the law, he could guess that forging a loan agreement would definitely be punished more severely than borrowing money at usurious rates.

Similarly, Wang Tonglu dared not recant his testimony, otherwise it would be considered a forgery of the loan agreement.

Xu Lai's intention was clear: whether the IOU was forged was far too difficult to ascertain. So he simply decided not to investigate, but to directly rule it as usury, declare the IOU invalid, and still have to return the land to Chen Xiaoyi.

Different processes, same result.

Xu Lai pronounced the verdict in court: "The criminal Wang Tonglu illegally borrowed money at a monthly interest rate exceeding six percent, with the interest amounting to several times the principal. His crime is heinous and warrants a severe sentence. This judge hereby declares this loan agreement invalid, and the land used to offset the debt shall be returned to Chen Niu's son, Chen Xiaoyi. The principal offender, Wang Tonglu, shall be sentenced to twenty strokes of the cane and displayed in public in a cangue for one month! Accomplices Wang Shun and Chen Gang are guilty of the same crime. However, since Chen Gang is already dead, he will not be prosecuted. Execute immediately!"

When the verdict was announced, the people cheered and applauded.

Xu Lai said to the executioners, "Don't beat him to death, he'll have to wear a cangue and be displayed for a month."

This time it's not a spanking, it's a back spanking!