I will never be Renzong

Chapter 229 Rule of Law
In the Chongzheng Palace, after Cheng Lin, the Chief Prosecutor of the Kaifeng Mansion, finished talking about the case of Wang Qixiong, the son of Wang Mengzheng, Zhao Zhen couldn't help frowning deeply.

Because this case is well-organized and the main responsibility is clear. At a deeper level, Wang Qixiong ordered his slave to beat the old soldier Wang Er to death, and at a deeper level, it means that Wang Qixiong had an argument with Wang Er, and then ordered his slave to teach Wang Er a lesson. Then during the teaching process, the strike was too heavy, so that Wang Er died.

But no matter which one, it seems that Wang Qixiong's crime is not small, because the Song Dynasty was a dynasty that focused on human rights.

In the Tang Dynasty, a complete system of slaves and maidservants appeared, which was divided into two categories: official and private.

Most of the official slaves are confiscated criminals.At that time, it was stipulated that the capital officer of the Ministry of Punishment of Shangshu Province should be responsible for supervision, and if there were lawsuits about slaves and maidservants, the capital officer would also handle them.Although most of the official servants and maidservants are assigned to the Si Nong Temple, they are supervised by the capital officials, and the servants and maidservants belonging to the departments such as the palace supervisors and pastors are also allocated by the Si Nong Temple.

In order to ensure that the unpaid laborers they possessed could continue to serve them, the feudal rulers, in addition to providing food and clothing for officials and servants, also provided medicine from the Taichang Temple to reduce losses caused by premature or excessive deaths of servants and servants.

In the society of the Tang Dynasty, in addition to a large number of official slaves, there were also a certain number of private slaves. The source of private slaves in the Tang Dynasty mainly came from poor people who sold themselves due to cruel feudal exploitation or were forced to sell themselves. The children of poor people who were plundered and sold.Since slaves and maidservants are private property, they not only cannot enjoy the law of predestined relationship and exemption, but also "be tied to the master", and everything is disposed of by the master or handled according to the "slave law".Since slaves and maidservants are the same property as cattle and horses, they can be bought and sold at will. This not only loses personal freedom, but also loses personality.

However, due to the wars of the Five Dynasties, the population of the Central Plains dropped sharply. Therefore, after the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, in order to protect the population, strict management was also carried out on slaves and maidservants.

There were no servants in the Song Dynasty, that is, domestic slaves, and domestic slaves were generally items equivalent to livestock.

The Tang Dynasty had a system of low status for slaves and servants. If you were accidentally born into a lowly family of slaves, not only would your life be over, but your descendants would all be lowly slaves.

In the Song Dynasty, there were no humble slaves. The slaves in the Song Dynasty were mainly hired slaves. Legally, they were not untouchables, but free people.

In the Chongzheng Hall, Zhao Zhen remained silent for a long time, because Wang Qixiong killed not only a Song civilian, but also a retired soldier.Although this soldier was forced to retire, he is a soldier after all.

Over the past few years, Zhao Zhen has been deliberately or intentionally improving the status of soldiers, removing tattoos, raising military pay, ten-year military service system, and preferential treatment for veterans, etc.

So after Cheng Lin told the case to Zhao Zhen, Zhao Zhen was also very embarrassed, so he looked up at Cheng Lin and asked, "Cheng Lin! If according to the law of the Song Dynasty, Qi Xiong instigated his followers to beat the old soldier to death, what should be the crime?"

Cheng Lin replied respectfully: "When you go back to the official's house, if you instigate others to beat others according to the laws of the Song Dynasty revised in the fifth year of Tiansheng, if the victim is not disabled but has skin trauma, then it is a minor crime. Generally, you will be imprisoned for three months and fined The money is 10 guan, and it is enough to compensate the victim for medical expenses.

But now Wang Qixiong instigated his entourage to beat Wang Er to death. According to the laws of the Song Dynasty, he should be sentenced to death and executed. As a result, Wang Er's internal organs were injured, and he died in the end.Although Wang Qixiong didn't intend to kill Wang Er, after all, it is a fact that his subordinates beat Wang Er to death, and this cannot be changed. Therefore, the minister considered it carefully, that is, Wang Qixiong was jailed for 30 years and fined 500 guan. "

Zhao Zhen glanced at Cheng Lin, frowned and said, "Cheng Lin! Did the Queen Mother summon you?"

There was a flash of panic in Cheng Lin's eyes, and then hurriedly said: "Go back to the official's house! The Queen Mother has indeed summoned the ministers!"

"What did the Queen Mother say?"

Zhao Zhen asked.

Cheng Lin bowed and said: "Back to the official's house, the Queen Mother said: Wang Qixiong was not the one who murdered, it was his servant who killed the old soldier."

"Then how did you say it?"

Zhao Zhen asked.

Cheng Lin replied: "The minister said to me: slaves have no reason to do it themselves, and instigating it is the same as committing it themselves!"

Zhao Zhen replied: "I ordered Jin Yiwei to investigate. Wang Mengzheng has been doing a lot of activities for this matter, and even spent most of his family's wealth, but when he came to you, Cheng Lin, he obviously kicked on an iron plate. Cheng Lin, you are very sorry." Not bad, I was not disappointed."

"Eating the king's salary, sharing the worries for the king, besides, as the Kaifeng judiciary, in charge of the criminal laws at the feet of the emperor, how dare I dare to favoritism, if my officials in the Song Dynasty are all practicing favoritism for this, then the laws of the Song Dynasty are a piece of waste paper. If there is a reason for the case, it can be dealt with according to the circumstances, but the law must not be touched."

Cheng Lin replied respectfully.

"Okay! If the officials in charge of the criminal law in my Great Song Dynasty are like Cheng Qing, then my Great Song Dynasty can have laws to follow, laws to abide by, violations to be strictly enforced, and violations to be punished!"

Zhao Zhen replied.

"There are laws to abide by, laws must be followed, law enforcement must be strictly enforced, and violations must be punished!"

Cheng Lin muttered in a low voice, and then said: "Officials! Although these sixteen-character mottos are short, they are sobering. I believe that these sixteen characters should be embedded in the Ministry of Punishment and even in various places. The official office of the Ministry of Justice, thinking that it is in charge of the standards of criminal law officials!"

Zhao Zhen smiled and said: "This is a good idea. Cheng Qing will go back and write a letter and hand it to the Ministry of Industry. I will ask the branch of the Ministry of Industry to speed up the process."

"The officials are wise!"

Cheng Lin bowed hurriedly.

Zhao Zhen thought for a while and then said: "Your handling of Wang Qixiong's case was fair, but I think it is still a little light, because Wang Er who was beaten to death was not an ordinary person, but a veteran who retired from the army. As early as In the third year of Tiansheng, I have formulated various treatment for veterans, and now Wang Qixiong instigated the slaves to kill the veteran Wang Er, and should be severely punished!"

Cheng Lin couldn't help frowning, and hurriedly replied: "I don't know how the officials plan to deal with it seriously!"

Zhao Zhen thought for a while and said: "If it is according to what I mean, it will be executed after the autumn, but considering that Wang Mengzheng is the only son, and Wang Er's wife is already pregnant, so I decided to exile Wang Qixiong to the Taiwan government and eradicate all other things. En Yin, I will never be hired, and I will compensate Wang Er's wife with a thousand guan. Considering that Wang Er has no relatives alive, Wang Er's wife will be taken care of by the palace!
It is the fault of the father that the son does not teach. Wang Mengzheng cannot escape the blame. He was appointed as the governor of Zhejiang Road and demoted to the prefect of Wenzhou, just to make an example! "

(End of this chapter)