The First Auxiliary Road from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 1100: Dialogue with Chu Zhi (Part )

"Follow it all?"

Sheng Yuan looked at Chu Zhi and saw that her face was full of determination and she didn't look like she was acting, so she nodded slowly.

"You are right. The ancient sages taught that punishing without teaching is cruelty. Compared with those confused people, you are the most clear about it. However, there is no provision in the law that explicitly forgives those who make mistakes out of ignorance."

Chu Zhi's eyes had just lit up, but after hearing what Sheng Yuan said, they gradually dimmed. She leaned her forehead against the railing and murmured in a low voice: "Yes, if ignorance is used as an excuse to reduce the punishment, how many people in this world can be bound by the law?"

Sheng Yuan didn't expect Chu Zhi to change so much. After getting the fairness she wanted, she became so peaceful and stable.

"Chu Zhi."

Hearing Sheng Yuan's gentle call, Chu Zhi raised his head in confusion.

Sheng Yuan's eyes lightly swept over the red mark on the other person's forehead, and whispered: "You want to be flexible, but it may not be realistic. Although your actions have not been completed, if it were a normal mistake, maybe a few strokes of the cane, or a lesson, would have been enough to let it go.

But you attempted to surrender to the enemy but failed to launch a sneak attack on the post station. If this is investigated, you will be charged with treason, and I am afraid that exile will be the lightest punishment."

Chu Zhi's face turned pale, bit his lip and nodded slightly: "... Zhi is the mastermind, and they were deceived by Zhi. I think the punishment can be reduced."

"Well, have you heard of the word atonement?" Sheng Yuan looked at her for a while, then suddenly changed the subject.

Chu Zhi, who was a little slow to react, looked at Sheng Yuan blankly, his lips trembling slightly, as if he was very puzzled.

"I am speaking literally. You don't need to make any inferences."

"Use money to buy off sins?" Chu Zhi blinked, stammered a few words, and then laughed out loud, "No, no, no... Although I don't have much contact with you, I can see your character." "Haha, you don't need to flatter me like this." Sheng Yuan chuckled and shook his head, "But you are right, the atonement I'm talking about is not using money to buy off sins, but a resolution passed by the court cabinet. Soon, the Ministry of Justice will work with the Dali Temple and the Censorate to jointly formulate guidelines and send them to the prefectures, counties and districts.

Well, as for the specific meaning... you should know that the current "Great Chu Law" states that there are five levels of punishment, namely flogging, caning, imprisonment, exile, and extreme punishment; the first two items, flogging and caning, are actually beating with a bamboo stick, the only difference is the size of the bamboo stick.

Regarding this kind of corporal punishment, court officials generally believed that there was no need to omit it. Letting the punished people feel pain would help them remember.

As for the final death penalty... the three judicial departments will repeatedly review the cases recommended for death penalty in various places until the Ministry of Justice confirms that the case file is correct and the Censorate reviews and confirms that the Ministry of Justice's judgment is appropriate, and then the Dali Temple will finally make the final decision.

So, it is conceivable that capital punishment has nothing to do with atonement.”

Chu Zhi listened carefully to every word Sheng Yuan said, although she didn't know why such a big shot would say these to her.

"It seems that the sentence for Zhi and his brothers and sisters should be between imprisonment or exile." Chu Zhi, who wanted to analyze every word of Sheng Yuan, looked at Sheng Yuan suddenly when he heard the last sentence, "So, the new policy of the three judicial departments mentioned by the adults should be implemented between these two punishments, right?"

Chu Zhi saw Sheng Yuan nodding in approval, but he was not particularly excited, he just sighed helplessly: "Zhi and his brothers and sisters are all untalented people, I am afraid they don't have the capital to redeem themselves."

"Don't worry. Since the court is going to implement it, then all those punished must be able to repay their debts." Sheng Yuan gestured for her to listen. "Since there is no need for money to pay off the debt, what can be used to pay it off is just labor, knowledge, skills, ability, effort, etc."

"Labor? Isn't that the same as imprisonment and exile? Imprisonment and exile both involve hard labor and corvee labor, the only difference is that the former is done locally, while the latter requires exile to a border area." Although Chu Zhi was not very well educated, he had his sister force him to read several law books, so he had some understanding of laws and punishments.

If she was not calm at the moment and had no urge to argue, she would probably complain that the court had nothing to do.

"Yes, you know a lot." Sheng Yuan nodded. "The labor force is indeed not a new addition, but it has been expanded on the original basis. As the court's maritime trade prospers, the business of the caravans is becoming more and more diverse, so the demand for laborers to go out to sea with the team has also increased. However, the common people are very resistant to the corvée labor at sea. On the contrary, the better food and long sailing period of the caravan are more attractive to those sentenced to prison."