Shen Ming stroked his goatee and said with a smile, "Everyone, please sit down. This is unprecedented. If the county lord does this, I'm afraid some people will gossip."
Fang Yun nodded and said, "Thank you, Chief Shen, for reminding me. The trial is suspended. I will report to the Ministry of Justice of Jing State and the Holy Court of Justice as the county magistrate, and use Ning'an County as a pilot to carry out legal reforms!"
As Fang Yun spoke, he began to write the letter.
Whether it was Xia Jingen and Yu Bachi who supported Fang Yun, or the other officials who opposed Fang Yun, they were all stunned, wondering if Fang Yun was crazy.
Fang Yun is now taking the palace examination!
What is the concept of the palace examination? It is the best Jinshi of the human race this year competing for the top prize in ten subjects. There is no room for carelessness. No one can make legal changes at this time. If they do, they will only change some minor things.
Because if the reform fails and causes huge consequences, one will be disqualified from the palace examination, let alone compete for the top spot.
Shen Ming, on the contrary, looked delighted. Fang Yun had made a huge mistake!
Yu Ba Chi, who was dressed in a blue scholar's uniform, stood up hastily and said, "Master Xu Sheng, please think twice."
Fang Yun stopped and looked up at Yu Bachi, his eyes were as gentle as water and as warm as jade.
“This county has been planning this for a long time and has its own sense of proportion.”
Yu Bachi was stunned when he looked at Fang Yun, because he saw a great power in those eyes, a power that seemed to allow one to remain unmoved even in the midst of the collapse of the sky and the crack of the earth, and to remain calm even in the undercurrent of magma.
Yu Ba Chi sat down silently.
Fang Yun held the official seal in his hand and wrote two identical documents, "Prison Litigation Books", with his mind.
Criminal cases are called prisons, and civil cases are called lawsuits.
Long before the palace examination, Fang Yun had already figured out how to strive for the top grade in the "Criminal Justice" subject.
Comprehensive use of later laws is not only counterproductive, but also goes against the law of development. Therefore, Fang Yun decided to take it step by step. During the palace examination, he did two things well. One was to rationalize the interrogation and promote de-criminalization. The other was to clarify criminal cases and civil cases and to entrust the trial of civil cases to the prefect rather than the county magistrate.
These are the general trends of history. As long as we do these two things well, the rating of the Criminal Justice Department will definitely be very high!
As for other changes, Fang Yun plans to take them step by step and not be too aggressive.
Fang Yun quickly wrote the "Book on Criminal Law" with his mind, explained his views and the direction of reform, and asked the Ministry of Justice and the Criminal Court to set up Ning'an County as a pilot area. He also asked them to send people to monitor and record the changes to safeguard the legal system.
After sending the letter via carrier pigeon, Fang Yun raised his head. At this time, the officers had already brought the tables and chairs. Xia Jingen and two other legal advisors were sitting on Fang Yun's right hand side, with pen, ink, paper and inkstone ready to record the trial.
"Snapped… "
Fang Yun slammed the gavel and said, "Bring the plaintiff and the defendant!"
Fang Yun read through all the books and found that the term "plaintiff" had appeared in the Yuan Dynasty of the ancient Chinese nation, and was also mentioned in some legalist books in the Shengyuan Continent.
These two words were easy to understand. Everyone was stunned at first, but soon understood, especially the two Legalist scholars, who nodded instinctively. These two titles were more neutral than words like "victim" and "criminal", and they felt that this Fang Xusheng was extraordinary.
In Shengyuan Continent, common people bow to their officials instead of kneeling when they see them.
Two middle-aged men in silk robes entered the hall, bowed respectfully, and said in unison: "Hello, Master Xusheng!"
"Who is the plaintiff? Please tell me your name." Fang Yun looked calm. Even though this was his first time trying a case, he was not at all nervous.
"I, Zhang Youde, greet the Lord Xusheng!"
Fang Yun looked in the direction of the voice. The person who spoke was a middle-aged man in his thirties, wearing a neat silk cloth suit, which was better than ordinary cotton clothes. However, the clothes were not shiny and were only half-new. Fang Yun's eyes fell on the man's belt and fingers. There was only a jade pendant hanging on the belt. Apart from that, he did not have any accessories, which was not luxurious.
Fang Yun then observed the man's complexion, breathing, eyes, etc. This is the famous Five Hearing Method of Judging a Case, which involves observing the man's words, expressions, breathing, hearing, and gaze.
In the Zhou Dynasty, this was a method of solving cases, but later it was only a basic skill for solving cases and could not be used as a basis for judging cases.
Fang Yun nodded and said, "Plaintiff, please explain the reason."
"Yes, sir! This man is Liu Quan. He borrowed fifty taels of silver from me and said he would pay me back in three months. But now it's been half a year and I haven't received a penny! I didn't want to force him too much, but the price of grain has risen recently. My noodle shop is not doing well and I need money urgently, so I had no choice but to sue him in the county government. Please make him pay me back."
Fang Yun nodded. Every spring and summer, grain prices would rise to varying degrees, and would not fall back until after the autumn harvest. In addition, this year, due to the military operations in the north, grain prices had risen even more sharply.
"What do you have to say?" Fang Yun looked at the other person.
Liu Quan said with a sad face, "Your Excellency, I have no other choice. I lost a lot of money due to poor management, so I borrowed fifty taels of silver from Zhang Youde. After paying off the debt, I still have thirty taels left. I heard that fans sell well in spring and summer, so I used the money to order one hundred exquisite folding fans for sale. But as the weather changes, the leaves of the one hundred folding fans became damp and stained due to poor storage, and I can't sell them unless I replace the leaves. But where can I get the money now!"
Fang Yun nodded again. After observation, he found that Liu Quan's clothes were tattered and not well-groomed. He was obviously in trouble. Apart from sadness, there was no other sign of abnormality. There was nothing special about his heartbeat or breathing. He was telling the truth.
Combined with the confession Fang Yun had read and the description of the two people by the people in the torture room, it was basically concluded that Liu Quan had just suffered a disaster and did not want to pay back the money.
Fang Yun looked at Zhang Youde and said, "Do you believe what Liu Quan said?"
Zhang Youde said helplessly: "Of course I believe what Liu Quan said, otherwise I wouldn't have waited for half a year before suing him."
"I read in the lawsuit that Liu Quan is willing to give you the fan for twenty taels, and then spend half a year to collect ten taels. Don't you agree?" Fang Yun asked.
Zhang Youde said with a bitter face: "I don't know how much this fan is worth. Even if it is valuable, I don't know how long it will take to sell it. I went to the pawnshop to ask, and these fans can only be pawned for five taels of silver at most. How can they be worth twenty taels? I'm really short of cash!"
Fang Yun looked at Liu Quan again and asked, "Do you have anything else that can be used as compensation?"
"Your Excellency, after I suffered losses in business last year, I pawned everything that needed to be pawned, and my family is now penniless. I can't mortgage my children and my house, can I?" Liu Quan said bitterly.
In Shengyuan Continent, parents can sell their children to wealthy families to serve as maids or servants for several years, or even sell them to brothels.
When Fang Yun heard this, he understood the sinister intentions of Zuo Xiang and his gang.
This case is very typical. Fang Yunruo sentenced Liu Quan to force him to use his house or children to compensate Zhang Youde, causing the Liu family to be broken up. Although this makes sense in terms of the law and he is a good county magistrate in accordance with the Legalists, he is definitely not a good county magistrate in accordance with Confucianism, let alone a good county magistrate for the human race.
If Fang Yun favors Liu Quan and causes Zhang Youde to suffer losses, he will gain a reputation for being "benevolent" on the surface, but this will be illegal and he will inevitably be criticized by the legalists. What's more, if Zhang Youde's family gets into trouble because of the loss of this money, Fang Yun's reputation for being "benevolent" will also disappear.
"These bastards." Ao Huang cursed in a low voice.