Yuan Congdang Case in Song Dynasty

A case should be a dispute between the parties: at the end of Song Renzong, Han Qi learned of a case in Xiangzhou (now Anyang, Henan Province): three gangsters robbed together, but the villagers dispersed them together. The resentful bandit leader and his two men agreed: "Whoever comes to rescue in the future will be killed first." A few days later, three gangsters robbed another family and found nothing, so the gangsters caught the old woman at home and beat her severely with a stick, forcing her to hand over her property. The old woman couldn't stand the pain and began to cry loudly. When the neighbors heard the crying, they came to the bandit leader and said, "The old woman has no money. It's no use beating her. If you go on like this, you will only kill her. " However, when someone came, a gangster immediately pulled out a knife and stabbed his neighbor to death. Subsequently, the case was quickly solved, and three gangsters were arrested and sentenced to death. After Song Shenzong acceded to the throne, Wang Anshi was highly valued, and a new law was introduced, which stipulated that any official in charge of criminal trials could be promoted to a higher level as long as he could find out that the cases tried by the trial court, Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment were illegal and unfair. This provision greatly mobilized the enthusiasm of criminal judges, and everyone looked through the previous files to find flaws. Zhou Qing, the post-official of torture room in Zhongshu, saw this old case in Xiangzhou, and immediately found a treasure. He thought, "In this case, the bandit leader ordered his men to kill those who came to save people. The bandit leader is the principal offender, and the perpetrators only obey orders and kill people, which is an accessory. After the arrest, the guilty attitude is good, and the sentence should also be reduced. However, the judicial officer of Xiangzhou sentenced him to death, and the Ministry of Punishment did not refute it. This is a typical case of' missing' who committed a misdemeanor but was severely punished. " Zhou Qing appealed the case to Dali Temple, but Dali Temple officials did not agree with Zhou Qing's point of view, saying: "The bandit leader said that someone came to save him, so he killed him first, which showed that someone had a gun and threatened the safety of the bandits. The victim in this case came to persuade with good intentions and didn't fight the gangster with a weapon, so the murderer killed him not according to orders, but out of his own will, so he was not an accessory. There is nothing wrong with Xiangzhou sheriff. " Dali Temple thinks there is no problem in this case, so it rejects the appeal. Zhou Qing once again called on the newly appointed officials of the Ministry of Justice. This time, the punishments thought Zhou Qing was right, which made the officials of Dali Temple refuse to accept it. The background at that time was that Zhou Qing was recommended by Wang Anshi to work in torture room Hall of Zhongshu, and he was a member of the new law circle. At the beginning of the new law, some provisions of criminal law met with fierce opposition from ministers such as Wen Yanbo and Lu Gongbi, and they argued with Wang Anshi in front of Song Shenzong. Finally, Song Shenzong adopted Wang Anshi's suggestion. However, the old and new forces have thus planted the seeds of resentment in their hearts. The two sides are fighting over the old Xiangzhou case. Some officials reported that Pan Kai, the judicial officer of Xiangzhou, bribed officials of Dali Temple with property and wanted to bend the law. Originally, Pan Kai heard that Zhou Qing was picking on this old case. He was afraid of being convicted, so he asked an old acquaintance in Beijing to intercede. Chen, who was in an old temple with him, wrote back and asked him to solve it himself. So Pan Kai tried his best to come to Beijing, trying to buy off the officials of Dali Temple and calm the matter down. However, when he met a bad guy, his money was cheated by fellow villagers and a few petty officials under Zhongshu, and he didn't spend it on the officials of Dali Temple at all. After the incident was revealed, Pan Kai was accused of bribing more than 3,000 strings of money. The case was handed over to Kaifengfu for trial. After the trial, there was no evidence that the officials of Dali Temple took bribes, but Chen's reply to Pan Kai was sealed up. Because Chen is Wen Yanbo's brother-in-law, Dali judge Wen's uncle, and Wen is the son-in-law of Prime Minister Wu Chong, involving many court ministers, the case was handed over to Yushitai Department. At the same time, Dou Ping and Zhou, the detail officials of Dali Temple, who had strongly opposed it, were both jailed on suspicion of accepting bribes, and together with Chen, they were kept in an open-air wooden cangue for nearly two months. But they never found evidence of bribery. Cai, the remonstrator in charge of this case, was also recommended by Wang Anshi and is the backbone of the new party. Under his strict examination, timid Chen was forced to admit against his will that he had greeted his nephew Wen for this matter. After listening to Wen's words, Prime Minister Wu Chong also attached great importance to this matter. Cai was overjoyed. He discussed with his colleague Deng Runfu and wanted to impeach Prime Minister Wu Chong on charges of favoritism, but Deng Runfu, who had never liked his behavior, refused. Deng Runfu immediately wrote that the case was unjust imprisonment, and two courtiers, Dou Ping and Zhou, had been treated unfairly, so they should find out and close the case as soon as possible. Song Shenzong was very surprised, so he ordered people to check it carefully. Therefore, a special working group composed of several other protesters questioned a prisoner. However, because the prisoners were afraid of retaliation by the prison guards, they dared not tell the truth and did not detect the scars of torture. The evidence is against Deng Runfu. Cai did report to Song Shenzong: "Deng Runfu has always been attached to power. Chen asked my nephew Wen and Fu to intercede, and also implicated Prime Minister Wu Chong. He didn't want to pursue it, so he asked to close the case early. " Hearing this, he was furious and thought that Cai was really a loyal minister, while Deng Runfu cheated in person. Therefore, Deng Runfu moved to Fuzhou on the charge of "playing untrue things and insulting words". Next, Cai really put Wen Jifu in prison. After the trial, Wen Jifu was forced to admit that he had greeted his father-in-law Wu Chong and Dr. Wu An, Wu Chong's son, who was the judge of Niu Qun. Cai had locked Liu Guanjin up in torture room and was forced to confess. Wu an once greeted him. Wu' an was interrogated again, and he confessed that Liu said hello ... In the second year, more than a dozen officials involved were demoted, fined and suspended. Wu' an was demoted and appointed as the supervisor in charge of grain tax affairs. Prime Minister Wu Chong took the blame and asked Song Shenzong to resign. Even Zhou Qing, the initiator of this case, was downgraded. And Cai did think that the handling of Wu An was too light, and he joined other admonishers to impeach him several times. Song Shenzong couldn't take it anymore, so he stood up and said, "It's very common for children to be asked by their relatives and have to agree. What is the need to treat them as felonies? You pointed the finger at Wu Chong. What is the purpose? " Song Shenzong returned the impeachment paper to Cai Que, but they dared not say more. A game between old and new forces has just come to an end.