Northern Song Dynasty Revitalization Strategy

Chapter 288

During the period of Empress Wu Zetian of the former Tang Dynasty, Xu Shuang, the father of Xu Yuanqing from Xiayu, Tongzhou, was killed by Zhao Shiyun, the county captain of Xiayu.

Xu Yuanqing changed his surname and name, and worked as a servant in the post station.

Zhao Shiyun happened to live in this post house. Xu Yuanqing killed his father and then surrendered.

Regarding this case, many people in the court at that time believed that Xu Yuanqing's revenge for his father was an act of filial piety, and he should be pardoned for his crime.

Empress Wu Zetian at that time also thought so.

Chen Zi'ang, who was in charge of picking up relics at the time, wrote the "Revenge Proceedings", in which he believed that according to the law, anyone who committed suicide without authorization would be punished with death.

Later, more than 100 years later, Liu Zongyuan held different opinions on this. In order to refute Chen Ziang's claim, he wrote the "Refutation of Vengeance".

He fought a battle between Guan Gong and Qin Qiong with Chen Ziang.

This period of debate is a typical example of the dispute over etiquette and law in history.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a woman named Zhao E whose father was beaten to death by Li Shou, a bully in Jiuquan County.

Zhao E's three brothers all wanted to take revenge, but Li Shou took strict precautions.

Soon the three brothers died of a plague at the same time.

Hearing that all the male members of the Zhao family had died, Li Shou was very happy, and the guests at the banquet thought that there was only one weak woman left in the Zhao family, so there was nothing to worry about.

Zhao E was filled with grief and indignation, so she bought a knife and sharpened it at home every day, preparing for revenge.

One day Zhao E saw Li Shou and killed him on the spot.After beheading Li Shou, Yixian surrendered himself.

As a result of the handling of the Han Dynasty, which ruled the world with filial piety, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty personally decreed that Zhao E was pardoned, and in the name of the first of all good filial piety, Zhao E was also canonized as a filial daughter and a martyr daughter as a reward.

But Xu Yuanqing of the Tang Dynasty was finally chopped off by Chen Ziang, who had never seen the ancients before and who would not come after.

Even Empress Wu Zetian was persecuted by Chen Ziang's tactics and could not issue a decree to forgive Xu Yuanqing.

These two cases represented the progress of the legal system from the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, but in the Song Dynasty, it became a troublesome matter again.

Zhou Wei stood up and said eloquently: "Dong Cheng's mother, Mrs. Liu, when she was propping up the window on the second floor, the fork pole fell and hit a bully of the Qinglong gang—Qin Wu."

"The bully Qin Wu had a dispute with Dong Cheng's mother Liu Shi, and then, in a fit of anger, Qin Wu broke into Dong Cheng's house in the dark and killed Dong Cheng's mother Liu Shi."

"This case happened in the sixth year of Xuanhe. At that time, Kaifeng Shaoyin Yanying tried it. Later, when the Jin people besieged the city, Yanying fled to the south, and there was no news after that."

Zhao Huan nodded, this happened two years ago, and now the young Yin of Kaifeng Mansion is Li Ruoshui.

"Li Fu Yin, did you bring the case file?" Zhao Huan asked.

Li Ruoshui stood up and said, "I have thoroughly investigated Qin Wu's matter again. At that time, Qin Wu bribed Yan Ying, arrested a random young man and killed him, and the case was closed."

"That is to say, it was indeed Qin Wu who instructed and killed Dong Cheng's mother Liu Shi?" Zhao Huan asked.

Li Ruoshui nodded and said, "The people involved in the case have been detained, and all members of the Qinglong gang have been taken away by Li Dazai. They dare to call themselves dragons in Bianjing, they are crazy."

Zhou Wei looked at the old things clearly enough, and continued: "Some time ago, when the commercial tax system was reformed, Dong Cheng's family had a bakery stall, and the tax was handed over to the tax inspector. This was originally a matter of national law."

"But Qin Wu got used to domineering, so he collected the tax money from Dong Cheng's stall again."

"Dong Cheng's old hatred was not resolved, and a new hatred was born. At that time, Dong Cheng carried a knife hidden in his sleeve and found the melon stall where Qin Wu was. Dong Cheng angered Qin Wu with a few words on the grounds that the melons were not ripe. "

"Dong Cheng stabbed a total of seven times, and each knife was a fatal wound. Dong Cheng, who killed Qin Wu, sat in front of the booth instead, waiting for the arrest of the police."

This was the case that caused Zhou Wei a great headache. It was very clear and simple. According to the usual practice, in Song Dynasty, revenge for parents was a matter of course.

Although this kind of thing is inevitable in "Song Xingtong", killing for life is inevitable, but in terms of specific judicial operations, blood relatives are often punished lightly.

Li Gang stood up at this time and said: "Officials, Dong Cheng's matter can be divided into two parts. The first part is the essence of Qin Wuyou killing Dong Cheng's mother. The second part is Dong Cheng's response to the business tax reform. Qin Wu has a new conflict."

"King Xiang once said that the ruler and his ministers are all in prison, and father and son are in prison. There is no upper or lower, and there is no crime if there is a relationship between relatives."

"So I implore the officials to grant an amnesty to Dong Cheng for his crimes."

"Seniors and others." The ministers also said at the same time.

In addition to the matter of abolishing King Kang, the entire court surprisingly reached a consensus on the matter of Dong Cheng's revenge.

But at this time, Zhao Huan, who was sitting on the dragon chair, looked at the ministers in silence, without saying a word.

Weiwei sighed on Wednesday, this is where the difficulty lies.

According to the law of the Song Dynasty, the murderer pays with his life, and Dong Cheng must be sentenced to death.

Moreover, Dong Cheng still committed crimes for the sake of commercial and tax reform, and still took the name of righteousness to avenge his parents. No matter how you look at it, his crimes can be forgiven.

As long as Zhao Huan issued an edict, his crimes could be forgiven, but this edict could not be invited for a long time.

"What did Dong Cheng say?" Zhao Huan didn't answer Li Gang's question directly, but asked elsewhere.

Zhou Wei thought for a while and said: "Death with resentment, people's justice, conviction of crimes and justice, the common sense of the king, why dare you steal your life to violate the public law?"

【History Translator: My mother died unjustly, and the grassroots know it well, but if a crime is committed, it should be dealt with fairly. 】

Zhao Huanduan sat on the dragon chair and looked at the courtiers. This is Song Dynasty.He always felt that Song Dynasty was turning back the wheel of history on the way of national law.

"How does Zhou Shaoqing think the judgment should be made?" Zhao Huan asked.

Originally, Dali Temple was responsible for the trial in Xing Prison, and the criminal investigation department was responsible for the investigation. Now this sentence should be decided by Zhou Weiwei.

"According to the system, it should be Dong Cheng's death penalty, which is an unforgivable crime." Zhou Wei said, but he continued: "But I think his crime is forgiven! It's in the name of righteousness."

Zhao Huan asked, "Tell me the reason for forgiving him."

"Examining its straightness, originality and seeking its integrity, then the use of punishment and rituals is completely different. What is it?"

"If Dong Cheng's mother was not guilty of public crimes, then Qin and Wu's punishment would only use their personal grievances to fuel their officials' anger and abuse innocent people.

"However, Dong Chengneng regards it as a great shame to wear the sky, and it is a courtesy to put one's sword on one's shoulders. He deliberately planned to attack the enemy's chest, restrain himself, and die with no regrets. This is observing the etiquette and doing righteousness."

"The deacon should be ashamed, and there is no time to thank him, so why punish him?" [Note 1]

Zhao Huan shook his head, thinking that Dong Cheng was innocent this Wednesday, just like Li Gang, not to mention that Dong Cheng was guilty, and Da Song wanted to thank him.

Zhao Huan suddenly thought of a sentence, Confucianism violates the law with propriety, and chivalry violates prohibition with martial arts.

　Note 1: The Chinese translation of Zhou Wei’s Memorial is as follows: At that time, if we could examine the authenticity of the case, find out the right and wrong, and deduce the cause of the case, then the application of criminal law and ritual system could be clearly distinguished.why?If Dong Cheng's mother did not commit any crime stipulated by the law, Qin Wu killed him only out of his personal grievances, displaying his gang's prestige, cruelly punishing innocent people, and the state officials did not punish Qin Wu's crimes, The law enforcement officials didn't bother to ask about this matter, they lied to each other and covered up, and turned a deaf ear to the cries of grievances; Dong Cheng, however, was able to regard it as a shameful shame to tolerate the mortal hatred, and regarded it as a shame to never forget to avenge his father's death. Conforming to the etiquette system, finding ways to stab the enemy's chest with a weapon, firmly restraining yourself with etiquette, even if you die without regret, this is exactly the act of observing and practicing etiquette.The law enforcement officials should feel ashamed, and it is too late to apologize to him, so why should he be executed?
　　
　
(End of this chapter)