Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 389 Jury System (Special thanks to book friend 2021…0300/Brother Glasses for the monthly ticket!)
Chai Zongxun paused and continued:
"The construction of various state highways across the country that started after the New Year has started as scheduled and in full.

With the strict military discipline and powerful firearms of our Great Zhou army, I expect that the war with the countries in the Starry Sky Sect world will not encounter any major setbacks as long as the court guarantees sufficient supplies for the army at the front!

It is sufficient for the national treasury to maintain a silver reserve of more than 100 million taels.”

After everything was settled, it was almost noon.

After retiring from court, Chai Zongxun walked to Baoci Hall and had lunch with Empress Dowager Fu, the second empress, and twelve concubines.

The two empresses and twelve concubines present all gave birth to princes, and Empress Shengyi, Diwu Chaolu, Noble Concubine Yi, and Concubine Du Xiuyun each gave birth to a princess.

These fourteen concubines can be said to be the most beloved women of Emperor Chai Zongxun.

After Guo Ling'er gave birth to the prince, Chai Zongxun had conferred the title of Earl on her father Guo Shouwen.

After Liu E gave birth to the prince, Chai Zongxun conferred upon her mother, Lady Yan, the title of a second-rank imperial lady. Because she was a widow living in Sichuan, he granted her a house in Bianjing and brought her to live there.

After waking up from a nap, Chai Zongxun walked to Huangji Hall to handle government affairs.

A memorial from a fellow townsman in Tongzhou caught Chai Zongxun's attention.

This memorial was written by local celebrities to praise Qian Ruoshui, the Tongpan of Tongzhou, for his wise judgment of cases.

Qian Ruoshui served as the Tongpan of Tongzhou. The governor was impatient and narrow-minded, and made many inappropriate decisions based on conjecture.

If Ruoshui persisted in arguing but could not achieve his goal, he would say, "It's time for me to accompany you to pay the redemption money again."

Soon, the idea was criticized by the court and superiors, and both the governor and the magistrate were fined.

The governor apologized to Qian Ruoshui, but soon he was back to his old ways. This had happened many times before.

In September of the 29th year of Kaixi, a little maid from a wealthy family ran away. No one knew where she went and she had not been seen for several days.

The maid's parents reported the case to the provincial governor, who ordered the registrar to investigate the case.

This clerk once tried to borrow money from a rich man but failed, so he felt resentful.

So people speculated that the rich man and his sons had killed the slave girl together and thrown her body into the water, but the body was never found.

Some of these people were convicted as the main culprits, while others were convicted as accomplices. According to the law, all of them are sentenced to death.

The rich man confessed because he could not bear the torture of being whipped and tortured.

The recorder reported the matter to the governor, who, after reviewing the case, found nothing unusual and believed that the true circumstances of the case had been uncovered.

Only the judge Qian Ruoshui was suspicious of the matter and left the case unsolved for several days.

The clerk came to Ruoshui's office and ridiculed him, saying:
"You accepted the rich man's money in order to save him from death? Now even the governor has agreed to the verdict, why don't you agree?"

Qian Ruoshui smiled and said:
"Now that several people have been sentenced to death, several lives have been lost, and the body of the maid has not been found, why don't we keep the case for a few days and take a closer look at their confessions?"

Qian Ruoshui kept the case for nearly ten days. The prefect urged him to make a judgment many times, but he did not give in.

More than ten days later, Qian Ruoshui went to see the governor, and after sending everyone away, he said to the governor:

"The reason Ruoshui delayed the case was that I secretly sent people to look for the maid, and now she has been found."

The governor was greatly surprised, so he called the maid to meet her parents, and it turned out to be their missing daughter.

The governor was ashamed, so he released the rich man and his relatives who were imprisoned in the death row. The rich man went to the governor's house to thank him and stayed for a long time, saying:

"Without your gift, my clan would have been wiped out."

Zhizhou Road:
"It was the gift of Judge Qian Tong, not mine."

The rich man went to Ruoshui's hall to discuss the matter, but Ruoshui closed the door and refused to let him in, saying, "The governor got it on his own initiative, what has it to do with me?"

The governor wanted to report Ruoshui's achievements to the emperor because he had redressed the wrongful deaths of several people. Ruoshui refused, saying, "Ruoshui only wants justice to be done and people to be saved from wrongful deaths. It is not my intention to have my achievements reviewed."

He was praised by the people of the state at that time. After the local celebrities learned about this, they reported it to the emperor.

After reading the memorial, Chai Zongxun pondered for a moment and then summoned the Minister of Justice Li Fang.

In a moment, Li Xin arrived from the six ministries in the front yard of the imperial palace.

After the greeting, Chai Zongxun showed Li Xin the memorial from the local celebrities of Tongzhou and said:
"Lord Li, when I ordered Grand Tutor Wang to revise the Great Zhou Criminal Code, I specifically wrote in the law that emphasizes "innocent until proven guilty". In this case, the maid did not see the body. How could the recorder of the same state conclude that the rich man killed the maid?"

Li Fang hesitated for a moment and said:

“Your Majesty, according to the folk custom in each state, if a person disappears without any signs for more than a month, it is usually assumed that the person is dead, but it is difficult to find the body.

In this case, the rich man was tortured into confessing, so the Tongzhou clerk could sentence the rich man to death."

Chai Zongxun pondered for a while and realized that with the current technical means, it would be extremely difficult to find a missing person.

However, with current investigative methods, it is not realistic for the government to not use criminal punishment on a daily basis.

So how can we avoid the situation where trial officials listen to biased opinions and make a single decision on whether a suspect is guilty or not?
In a flash of inspiration, Chai Zongxun thought of the "jury" system in his previous life.

Some people believe that the jury system originated from the "jury court" in ancient Greece, while others say it originated from the jury system of criminal courts in the Roman monarchy and republican periods.

There are also more recognized ones, such as the provisions on the trial by twelve elders in the laws of the Anglo-Saxon King Æltred and the neighbor investigation jury system in the Duchy of Normandy during the reign of the Frankish emperor.

In short, no matter where it originated, it is obviously much more accurate and easier to achieve for many people from different social classes to jointly determine whether a suspect is guilty than to rely on wisdom and justice on a single official.

Chai Zongxun immediately told Li Fang about the idea of ​​the "jury system".

When Li Fang heard this, he agreed very much and said:

"Your Majesty, Holy Ming!
As the saying goes, "Listen to both sides and you will be enlightened, listen to only one side and you will be in the dark", especially when it comes to judicial matters, which often concern the reputation and life of one or more people!

With your Majesty's "jury system", at least it can be guaranteed that there will be no personal revenge by law enforcement officials. Compared with an official deciding the life and death of a suspect, it is much fairer. "

A few days later, Chai Zongxun discussed the establishment of a "jury system" with his important ministers during the morning court, and the idea gradually matured.

On the second day of the second month of the 30th year of Kaixi, Chai Zongxun ordered the "jury system" to be written into the "Da Zhou Criminal Code". The specific details are as follows:

First: The trial of major cases must involve the participation of a jury and the presiding judicial officials.

Second: The jury will consist of nine members, randomly selected from all walks of life among the local people, and the process will be supervised by the people.

Third: When trying a case, more than half of the jury members must find the defendant guilty for the official's guilty verdict to be valid.

Otherwise, the defendant cannot be found guilty and the case will be submitted to the Dali Temple, which will serve as the highest court of justice and make the final judgment.

(End of this chapter)