Chapter 287: Birth of the Public Justice System |
It should be said that Emperor Zhao Xu’s idol had always been Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin. Although Wang Anshi had once suggested he change his idol to the sage kings Yao and Shun, the matter of idols was highly subjective and very difficult for others to change.
Zhao Xu’s talents naturally could not compare to Li Shimin’s, but since he worshipped Li Shimin, his ambitions need not be stated—he wanted to grasp both civil and military achievements.
Currently, the civil governance side was abundant with talent, with Sima Guang and Wang Anshi present.
But what about military achievements?
The Song Dynasty’s military system was designed to be extremely complex, with various departments checking and balancing each other in a web where pulling one thread would affect the whole body—this was very difficult to change.
As with Lin Fei’s previous lawsuit, many problems within the Three Military Divisions had already been exposed, but the result was that nothing came of it.
Moreover, if Zhao Xu were to drastically reform military administration and expand armaments, the neighboring Liao and Western Xia were not fools. If you expand your military, could it be to suppress bandits?
It would definitely be aimed at us.
They certainly would not let Zhao Xu have his way.
This separation of military and police reminded Zhao Xu of something.
Previously, military and police were not separated. Public security, traffic, and other administrative matters were mainly managed by the Imperial Guards, which concerned the emperor’s safety. The constables had a very limited scope of involvement and limited capabilities as well.
Sima Guang’s suggestion to separate military and police was to change their nature, but what Zhao Xu was thinking was to split the entire Three Military Divisions’ Imperial Guards in two, bypassing the Three Military Divisions system to secretly train an elite force with overlapping attributes.
But he could not speak of this openly, because there were still many ministers in court who were content with the status quo, and the resistance would be enormous.
It happened that the public justice system consisting of the police, the prosecution, and the court was proposed by Zhang Fei, so he wanted to use Zhang Fei as cover for his deception.
This caught Zhang Fei somewhat off guard, because when he proposed the police, the prosecution, and the court system, it was entirely to serve domestic affairs—he had not thought of this aspect.
After all, he was not in that position, and being an outsider, he could not personally feel the oppressive pressure that Liao and Western Xia exerted on the Song Dynasty.
After Zhao Xu left, Zhang Fei heaved a heavy sigh.
This idea placed an even heavier burden on the public justice system.
This should not have been the responsibility of the public justice system.
But such were the circumstances—there was no other way.
Suddenly he heard a clear voice: “Did His Majesty come to see you about Young Master Wang’s matter?”
Zhang Fei looked up and saw Xu Zhiqian looking at him with concern.
He then heard Xu Zun beside her say: “This Cavalry Commander is, after all, a commander of the Three Military Divisions. You must be cautious.”
Zhang Fei was startled. “Cavalry Commander?”
Xu Zhiqian asked: “Wasn’t His Majesty here about the Cavalry Commander’s matter?”
How could the father and daughter have imagined that Zhao Xu had not come about this matter at all—Emperor Zhao Xu did not have such leisure time.
Therefore, they both assumed he must have come about Cavalry Commander’s matter.
Disturbing the emperor would certainly be quite troublesome.
But before leaving, Zhao Xu had instructed Zhang Fei that this matter should be known only to heaven, earth, you, and me—it absolutely could not be leaked, otherwise it would cause a tremendous uproar.
“Yes, of course it was.”
Zhang Fei nodded.
Xu Zun asked: “Then how do you plan to handle this matter?”
Zhang Fei smiled: “We can only act according to law. If we don’t have legal backing, how could we possibly be a match for the Cavalry Commander? This still depends on how he responds.”
Xu Zhiqian asked anxiously again: “Then what does His Majesty mean?”
“His Majesty’s meaning is…” Zhang Fei had to improvise: “Don’t punish too severely.”
Xu Zun made a sound of understanding: “So His Majesty plans to intervene personally?”
Not punishing too severely meant there would still be punishment. He estimated that even Cao Ping would not dare to impose punishment—only the emperor could intervene personally.
Zhang Fei shook his head and smiled: “This matter doesn’t require His Majesty’s personal intervention. Academician Sima will help me hold the line. I’m just a runner—even if I can’t impose punishment, I don’t lose anything. But Academician Sima will definitely not let this matter slide.”
Xu Zun’s eyes lit up, and he stroked his beard with a smile: “That’s true indeed. Sima Guang has really gotten a great bargain!”
The matter had escalated to this point and directly concerned Sima Guang’s judicial reforms. This was why Sima Guang, seeing Zhang Fei success, hurried to find the emperor.
This matter absolutely could not go wrong now.
After returning home, Zhang Fei took a bath and then lay down on his stomach.
“Ouch! Gentle, gentle, it hurts a bit.”
“Is this pressure okay?”
“Just like that, oh oh… Those bastards really hit hard.”
Gao Wenyin sat on the edge of the bed, gently massaging Zhang Fei’s arms while saying, “You said there was no danger, but it’s only been a few days and you’re already injured.”
Zhang Fei turned his head and smiled, “My lady speaks too seriously. How can this count as an injury? I’m just finding an excuse to have you massage me.”
Gao Wenyin lightly patted his back and scolded playfully, “You’re in this condition and still trying to act tough.”
“It’s not that bad!” Zhang Fei shook his head. “Actually, it’s my fault for having such delicate skin. You don’t know—there was a patrol constable who got it worse than me, but he was completely fine. After getting beaten up a few more times, I won’t be like this anymore.”
He was really quite optimistic about it.
Gao Wenyin chuckled softly, “What, you want to get beaten up again?”
“Sigh, living in this world, bumps and bruises are inevitable.”
As he spoke, Zhang Fei suddenly turned on his side, propping his head up with one hand. “But I promise you that there will be no danger to my life. You can rest assured.”
A blush spread across Gao Wenyin’s serene face. She avoided Zhang Fei’s gaze and gently patted his arm. “Quickly lie back down, let me massage you some more.”
“Thank you for your trouble.”
Zhang Fei immediately lay back down, then heard Gao Wenyin say softly, “You promise.”
“Mm.”
While the beaten Zhang Fei was living quite comfortably, Wang Chao, who had done the beating, was now restless with anxiety.
“Cavalry Commander, please rest assured. We will definitely give you our full support.”
“Thank you all for your support. In the future, Wang Chao will definitely bring his unworthy son to pay his respects at your homes.”
“Then we’ll take our leave first.”
“Take care, gentlemen.”
After seeing off his guests and closing the gate, Wang Chao closed his eyes and sighed heavily, his face full of worry.
At this moment, his wife approached. “Husband, this is already the third group of guests. It’s clear that the court ministers all support you. What are you still worried about? Quickly send someone to release our son.”
“What do you understand?”
Wang Chao’s expression changed, and he snorted angrily. “Are they here to support me? They want to use me and my son as their tools. Don’t you think about it—this is just a trivial matter, but it has alarmed the Ministry of Punishments, the Court of Judicial Review, the Imperial Treasury, the Three Financial Bureaus, and even the Imperial Military Commission. If I really listened to them, it would be like putting our entire family over a fire to roast.”
Lady Wang said anxiously, “Then husband, do you mean that our son… he can’t be saved?”
Wang Chao shook his head. “It’s not that serious. I just need to think about it more.”
News of this matter immediately spread throughout the capital. That very evening, batches of officials came to the Wang residence, constantly encouraging Wang Chao not to be afraid—this was originally the Imperial Guard overstepping their bounds. They told him to have the military patrol office release his son, and they would give him support in court.
This was actually just an insignificant small matter, but occurring at this sensitive moment, it became highly significant.
If Wang Chao got his son released, it could directly break through their defenses in one move. It would be enough to show that the rules established by the military patrol office—well, we don’t have to follow them.
There would definitely be more people causing trouble in the future.
The difficulty with the legal system was that it was extremely easy for people to break through. One small breach could make all previous efforts come to nothing.
It would have been better if they hadn’t come. Wang Chao had still been considering it, but once they came, Wang Chao was even more afraid to act rashly.
With such a big show of force, what were they trying to do? How could Wang Chao not be frightened?
However, on the second day, Emperor Zhao Xu suddenly ordered that the firefighting service be transferred out of the Patrol Inspection Office to establish a Fire Defense Constabulary.
This name was Zhang Fei’s suggestion.
The reason given was that the Patrol Inspection Office’s work had become more complex, and they were afraid it would hinder the fire patrol’s execution of duties. Fire situations were of paramount importance and could not be neglected.
If there had been no follow-up, this would have been a very reasonable arrangement.
Unfortunately, there was a follow-up.
At the same time, the Patrol Inspection Office would be reorganized as the General Police Bureau and would no longer be subordinate to the Three Military Divisions, but would report directly to the Chamber of State Affairs.
The patrol constables were also officially renamed as police officers.
With this change, the Patrol Inspection Office transformed directly from a military institution into an administrative institution, subordinate to the highest administrative department.
However, Cao Ping would serve as the first General Police Commissioner.
Although the institutional nature had changed, the commanding officer still came from the leadership of the Three Military Divisions.
It was clear that this arrangement was layered in nature.
Additionally, the Prosecution Office was formally established, with Su Shi serving as Deputy Prosecutor, temporarily managing the Prosecution Office.
This was a major development. How had it not gone through deliberation? Emperor Zhao Xu’s reasoning was that these were all suggestions from Sima Guang, part of the judicial reform encompassing police, prosecution, and courts.
This matter had been deliberated long ago and was not a sudden decision.
Of course, it had little to do with him personally, and he was not trying to make any particular statement through this.
Emperor Zhao Xu was quite slippery in his maneuvering.
But this came too suddenly, and the ministers could not react in time.
What exactly was going on?
So they all ran to find Sima Guang. At this moment, what were you trying to accomplish with these actions? Were you helping us, or what?
Sima Guang had long anticipated that the emperor would say this, and he had already thought of a response strategy.
At the Court of Penal Review.
“Gentlemen, please don’t get agitated. Allow me to speak.”
Everyone immediately quieted down and looked at Sima Guang.
Sima Guang said, “Why has this vehicle license matter thrown the capital into such chaos? In my view, it’s because the Three Military Divisions conduct business without any proper procedures, acting recklessly, resulting in this mess. Now that the General Police Bureau is subordinate to the Chamber of State Affairs, such incidents will absolutely never happen again.”
After hearing this, everyone felt it made great sense. Previously, they had been unable to control this matter, and one reason was that the Three Military Divisions reported directly to the emperor, making it very difficult for them to intervene.
If it fell under the Chamber of State Affairs, they would have much greater influence.
Li Zhan urgently asked, “Then this vehicle license registration…”
Sima Guang sighed, “This vehicle license registration must certainly be implemented, and not only implemented, but done beautifully.”
Everyone immediately stared wide-eyed at Sima Guang again.
What did he mean by this?
Sima Guang explained, “His Majesty accepted my suggestion because I assured His Majesty that matters of reform should rightfully be handled by our Chamber of State Affairs, and our Chamber of State Affairs will do better.”
Everyone looked at Sima Guang suspiciously.
Wasn’t this tantamount to selling out their interests in exchange for his judicial reform?
Liu Shu stepped forward and said, “Gentlemen, Academician Sima also has good intentions. The key point is that we couldn’t stop it beforehand anyway. Since we can’t stop it, why not change it ourselves? This way everyone has some control, and we won’t act recklessly like those military officers.”
Everyone looked at each other.
They could only blame themselves for not stopping it beforehand. They could only ensure that such incidents wouldn’t happen again in the future. Managing things themselves was more dignified.
It was certainly better than being managed by the military patrol stations.
However, Wang Chao became depressed.
After sleeping one night, the military patrol stations no longer fell under his jurisdiction.
This…
This was a major problem.
Now that it had fallen into Sima Guang’s hands, could it still be salvaged?
He was anxious!
He was truly anxious!
So he hurriedly ran to Recorder Lane.
“If you had come one day earlier, this humble citizen would have been helpless. But now, this humble citizen can guarantee that the young master will not face any criminal punishment nor bear any charges. At most, he will need to pay some compensation and offer an apology.”
Li Guozhong said with a smile.
Wang Chao was immediately overjoyed. “How do you mean this, Chief Li?”
Li Guozhong asked, “Do you know about the government decree that the court just issued?”
Wang Chao nodded. “Of course I know about it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come here.”
Li Guozhong said, “The court’s decree has created a huge loophole in this lawsuit.”
“What loophole?” Wang Chao asked curiously.
Li Guozhong said, “Previously, the actions of the patrol stations were improper and unjustified. The court had not clearly stipulated whether military patrol stations could erect warning signs, and which areas fell under cavalry jurisdiction versus infantry jurisdiction.
Under these circumstances, the young master, as the son of the cavalry commander, acted in an understandable manner. This is the government’s responsibility, so naturally the young master cannot be blamed.”
Wang Chao listened with only partial understanding and asked again, “Are you confident about this, Chief Li?”
Li Guozhong nodded. “I am absolutely confident.”
Wang Chao breathed a long sigh of relief. “Then I’ll trouble you, Chief Li.”
After Wang Chao left, Li Guozhong immediately went to the back courtyard, where he saw a young man sitting and savoring fragrant tea.
“Thank you for your guidance, Brother Zhang San.”
Li Guozhong said with cupped hands.
“Chief Li, you’re being too polite.”
Zhang Fei stood up and smiled. “However, a master can only lead the disciple to the door – cultivation depends on the individual. After this lawsuit, more spoiled rich kids will come to you for legal help in the future. Whether you succeed will depend on yourselves.”
Legal Aid Office.
“Su Shi?”
Fan Chunren looked with surprise at Su Shi, who was dressed in official robes. “Why are you here?”
Su Shi smiled. “I’ve come to notify Mr. Fan that regarding the Wang Qun case, our Prosecution Office will shortly file charges on behalf of the General Police Office, so we won’t trouble Mr. Fan.”
Fan Chunren suddenly stood up and said excitedly, “I am the prosecutor. You’re only a deputy.”
Su Shi smiled. “But sir, you are not yet.”
Fan Chunren was stunned, then frowned. “Su Shi, don’t come here causing trouble. You don’t understand this case.”
Su Shi directly handed over the official document and cupped his hands. “I’m truly sorry. This is the duty of our Prosecution Office.”
Fan Chunren gripped the document tightly, the corners of his mouth twitching continuously.