Chapter 527: Chaos in the Courtroom

The two quickly changed clothes and went to the large meeting room inside the Thirteen Forts. This place was normally used by civil affairs officials to organize farming meetings for the nearby forts, so it could barely fit these hundred-plus people.

Chen Xin, Liu Minyou, and Mo Huaiwen squeezed into the far left of the front row, a spot that drew no attention yet still offered a clear view of the platform. Seated squarely in the middle of the platform was a young Dengzhou official — the very judicial officer Liu Minyou had brought from Dengzhou for this trial run. His name was Tang Shengdian, a graduate of the Wendeng Academy, though his specialty had actually been liquor-making, and he had initially been in charge of distilled liquor production.

Although Tang Shengdian was a scholar out of the Wendeng Academy, he was built like an ox, had a fiery temper by nature, and was quite meticulous in management. He quickly stood out and entered the Civil Affairs Department. Liu Minyou deliberately promoted the new generation of civil affairs officers, and Tang Shengdian, who was quite capable, now served as Liu Minyou's third assistant — a candidate for future Deputy Director of Civil Affairs, with very bright prospects.

This man belonged to the School of Mind at the academy and was an extreme advocate of the jury system, which was why Liu Minyou had selected him to take charge of this matter.

Tang Shengdian wore a black Civil Affairs Department short jacket and sat on the platform with great composure. The audience below had not yet finished entering, and the scramble for seats was chaotic and noisy, rather like a vegetable market. Tang Shengdian sat leisurely by himself, occasionally lifting his teacup for a sip.

The meeting room was rather narrow, with small stools placed to save space. Those entering feared being left behind and fought each other for good spots. In several places shoving and arguments broke out. The fort instructors maintaining order strode over with military canes and bellowed a command, and those people instantly quieted down. These fort instructors often commanded even higher authority than the fort chiefs, because military law was enforced during reserve soldier training, which was far harsher than the fort chiefs' punishments.

After a long period of commotion, the hundred spectators finally finished entering. The loud clamor ceased, but a buzzing murmur of discussion continued. By now the criminal was already detained outside the door awaiting his appearance, and the jury members had not yet entered.

Chen Xin sat on the small stool at the far left and looked around. The fort households behind him were all discussing among themselves; no one noticed that the number one and number two figures of Dengzhou were right beside them. He glanced again at Tang Shengdian on the platform, turned his head, and whispered to Liu Minyou, "I always thought common law was just the jury. Seeing Tang Shengdian sitting up there today, now I want to know — since there's a jury, what exactly does the judge do?"

Liu Minyou spread his hands. "I'm not too clear on the details either. Roughly speaking, in a mature system, the judge is supposed to explain the law to the jury, and after the jury decides guilt or innocence, Tang Shengdian is responsible for sentencing. But our laws are currently a blank slate, so during the court session he's only responsible for maintaining order."

Chen Xin tilted his head and said, "Just handling that little bit — that hardly counts as an official post."

"There's one more thing. When the jury's conclusion clearly deviates from common sense and the spirit of the law, he can veto the verdict and then reconstitute the jury."

Chen Xin gave an "oh." "That means he has the duty to supervise the jury. Then who supervises the judge? He could keep vetoing indefinitely until he's satisfied himself."

"That requires another method. I haven't figured it out yet. A judge cannot veto verdicts indefinitely. If there are repeated vetoes, a higher authority should come to conduct a review."

Chen Xin scratched his head and said, "Turns out I was oversimplifying. The system seems like it'll be very complex. Right — no lawyers?"

Liu Minyou said matter-of-factly, "None! Today is only the first trial run, and there are no laws either. There are litigation tricksters everywhere, of course, but those people clearly aren't truly helping with lawsuits — they just act as go-betweens, helping clerks collect bribes. They'd be useless to bring in."

Chen Xin shook his head. "Having lawyers wouldn't be right either. If every little matter required a court session like this, it would be far too cumbersome, and even specially appointed judicial officers couldn't handle it all. I think the efficiency is extremely low — worse than having the fort chief decide cases."

"For minor crimes, summary procedures can be used — no need to hold a court session every time — but the prerequisite is having precedents to follow. Fort chiefs deciding cases can barely cope for now because our territory is small and easy to manage. But what happens when it grows larger? Will the fort chief turn into a hybrid of county magistrate and clan head?"

"I'm talking about right now..." Chen Xin was about to retort when two reserve soldiers escorted the criminal up. He was a young man. Chen Xin took one look and felt something was off — the two reserve soldiers somehow seemed awkward no matter how he looked at them. Only then did he recall that he didn't even have police. Back in Weihai they had once set up patrol teams, mainly to deal with the large influx of refugees from Dongjiang. Later, after the reserve soldier system was established, they stopped setting them up, so the ones escorting people were all reserve soldiers.

Several shouts of abuse rang out from among the fort households. A few fort households stood up, extremely agitated. A commotion stirred through the room. The instructors maintaining order pointed their canes at those people and barked orders for them to sit down.

Tan Shansheng stood at the doorway and said angrily to the shouting fort households inside, "Before you entered, you were told that no noise is allowed inside. Say another word and I'll beat you out with the canes."

The room instantly fell completely silent — even the sound of coughing vanished. Liu Minyou was long accustomed to this. Although most Civil Affairs Department officials were of the bookish, frail type, anyone who had served in the forts had a more explosive temper, because without some force of presence there was simply no way to keep the fort households in line.

Chen Xin, accustomed to giving orders, paid no mind to Tan Shansheng's words and leaned over again, wanting to speak.

Liu Minyou raised his index finger to his lips and shushed. "Did you hear that? Say another word and you'll be beaten out with the canes." Chen Xin grinned, sat properly to wait for the court session to begin, and meanwhile sized up the criminal.

The criminal was already bound tightly with ropes. This man was a fort household from the Fifteenth Fort of Aoshan Guard. A batch of fort households with family members working in the cotton mill had already relocated to Changyi, and the vacated slots had been given to newly arrived refugees. This man was one of the new arrivals. In less than a month he had been stealing and robbing everywhere, and in the second month he killed a man during a robbery at the Twelfth Fort. Originally Chen Xin had said to only test civil matters, but after consideration Liu Minyou still handled a homicide case. Chen Xin didn't mind either, as long as no military-related cases were handled.

After the criminal was in place, the nine jurors filed in one after another. What surprised people was that among them was a woman, around forty or so. A wave of involuntary whispering rippled through the fort households. The woman, however, showed not the slightest stage fright; after entering she looked around in every direction.

In the minds of the fort households, a jury could be seen as something like a village clan council, but a woman participating was startling. Aoshan Guard in particular was commercially backward and its local customs were relatively conservative, unlike Wendeng and Dengzhou, which were more open.

Chen Xin turned his head, wanting to ask, but seeing that Liu Minyou was watching intently, he held back and said nothing.

A sharp crack rang out from the platform — Tang Shengdian had struck the gavel. Silence fell below. Tang Shengdian slowly began, "Today the court hears the case of Zhang Erniu, who robbed and killed Wang Laotun at the Twelfth Fort, as well as the matter of his elder brother and mother concealing the criminal at the time of his arrest. Now this official shall first question Zhang Erniu on the circumstances of the crime. After listening, the several juror-folk shall deliberate together and determine whether Zhang Erniu is guilty or not guilty. If guilty, this official shall then consider how to sentence according to law."

"Guilty!"

"A life for a life!"

"Waist-cutting!"

"Death by slow slicing!"

Those agitated fort households below stood up again. One of them pulled off his shoe and hurled it at the criminal's back. Chaos erupted once more in the room. Chen Xin sat there grinning, mouth open, head tilted up watching the excitement.

Tang Shengdian struck the gavel. "Guilty or not is for the jury to decide — even I don't have the final say. What are you few yelling about? In consideration that you are relatives of the deceased, this first offense shall not be punished. Anyone else who creates an uproar or hurls abuse shall receive thirty heavy military canings and a fine of one tael of silver per person."

Chen Xin noticed two clerks off to the side taking notes and leaned over to ask, "Will this be the way noisy spectators are handled from now on?"

Liu Minyou said, "This is supplementary. Note it down for now; it can be adjusted."

Chen Xin covered his mouth and chuckled quietly. "It feels like Tang Shengdian is running a triad lodge meeting." Liu Minyou shot Chen Xin a glance and said nothing.

After those people settled down once more, Tang Shengdian said to Zhang Erniu below, "Now then, Zhang Erniu. Of these nine people seated up here, do you recognize any? If any bear a grudge against you, you may request a replacement."

Zhang Erniu, still bound at the hands, lifted his head. A fierce, vicious look flashed in his eyes. He glared over at them and said, "Yes, I request replacements."

"Which person? Point them out."

"Replace all nine."

"Then tell me — what are all their names, where do they work and what do they do, and how do you know them?"

Zhang Erniu tilted his head back and said, "Don't know. I just want them replaced."

Tang Shengdian didn't even use the gavel; he slapped the table with his palm. "You mother's — I just made it clear to you: only those you know can be replaced. It's not up to you to replace whoever you want. Even I can't replace them if I wanted to — how does the likes of you get to do so?"

Chen Xin lowered his head and laughed. Liu Minyou knew he was laughing at this civil affairs officer's style, but Tang Shengdian had no idea Chen Xin had slipped in. He only knew Liu Minyou was present. In the Civil Affairs Department on ordinary days, Tang Shengdian's manner was exactly like this — whenever something came up he would roar like thunder. Liu Minyou had not been too pleased with it at first either.

After laughing, Chen Xin leaned over and said, "You chose this man well. Every department needs someone like this. Your leadership artistry is growing more and more refined."

At that, Tang Shengdian dropped the matter of replacing people and said to Zhang Erniu, "Describe the course of events on the day you robbed and killed Wang Laotun."

"What's there to describe? I robbed him of a packet of sugar, that's all. He tried to hit me with a stick, so I killed him with one slash of my knife."

"What this official wants you to state is: when and where you killed him, where the knife came from, how many slashes you made, and what you did with the stolen goods. Every detail must be recounted clearly."

At that moment the woman in the jury seats stood up. "What's there left to say? This murderous wretch deserves to be hacked to pieces — he should be beheaded. He should be killed right now. Drag him out and chop his head off — chop it several times over."

A wave of cheers rose from below. Tang Shengdian turned his head and glanced at the woman. "This official has not finished the trial. I told you all earlier: wait until I finish questioning before it's your turn to deliberate. When you're done, have one person state the conclusion and reasoning. Who gave you permission to stand up and spout nonsense?"

A stocky man on the jury beside her suddenly said, "Exactly. I've remembered it all — the my lord gave instructions many times. Everyone else kept quiet. It's always you old Tang family folk who stir up trouble."

The woman let out a shriek. "Butcher Zhang, since when is it your turn to talk? Who's stirring up trouble? You still haven't returned the betrothal gifts you owe me, and you dare say I'm stirring up trouble? I'll fight you to the death today..."

The woman lunged over and clawed wildly at Butcher Zhang. Chaos erupted again on the platform. Several instructors rushed over to pull the two apart. Zhang Erniu roared with laughter from the defendant's spot, and the fort households below shook the room with laughter and cheers.

Chen Xin was also clutching his stomach laughing. Liu Minyou's expression, however, was very grim — a proper court trial had turned into a vegetable market.

After great difficulty the two were pulled apart. The woman was still raging. "Butcher Zhang, you swallowed my son Gou'er's betrothal gifts. If you don't return them, I'll come here tomorrow to file a complaint and let everyone judge what's right."

Butcher Zhang's face had been clawed with several bloody scratches. He cursed back, "Judge all you want. Our old Zhang family isn't afraid of you."

After another bout of chaos, order was finally restored. Tang Shengdian issued a warning to Butcher Zhang and the woman, then separated them and seated them apart. The court session at last resumed.

Zhang Erniu still refused to recount the course of events, so Tang Shengdian questioned him step by step. After half a shichen the questioning was finally complete. The several jurors had little to deliberate; they directly produced a guilty verdict, the reasoning being that a life must pay for a life. This outcome had long been expected. Tang Shengdian sentenced him on the spot to beheading, and the fort households below clapped and cheered again.

But Zhang Erniu was not yet escorted away. Instead he was forced to kneel at the doorway. Several reserve soldiers then brought in two more people — an elderly woman and a sturdy middle-aged man whose features bore some resemblance to Zhang Erniu.

That elderly woman's face was full of misery, her clothes tattered and her complexion haggard. At the doorway she spotted Zhang Erniu and couldn't help crying out, "My son!"

The ferocious Zhang Erniu instantly shed the viciousness from his eyes, lowered his head, and called out "Mother."

Tang Shengdian said loudly, "What follows is the matter of Zhang Erniu's mother and elder brother harboring Zhang Erniu. On the day the village chief was searching for and arresting Zhang Erniu, they hid him outside the village, delivered food and drink to him every day, and even prepared to gather money and grain to send him into flight. That is what we will now try."

Zhang Erniu, on the ground by the doorway, bellowed, "You damned bastards still want to try my mother and my brother! I alone did the deed, I alone will answer for it. You're not allowed to drag my family into this. Even as a ghost I won't let you off..."

At a single command from Tang Shengdian, two reserve soldiers stuffed a wad of cloth into his mouth. Next came the opening procedures again. These two were relatively cooperative, answering every question very quickly, and their answers matched what they had originally confessed. After the questioning, Tang Shengdian once again recounted the case to the jury, explaining the process very clearly. After the jury finished deliberating, one person stood up — it was precisely the woman who had been brawling earlier.

"This goes without saying — definitely guilty," Chen Xin said quietly to Liu Minyou. "But the sentencing will be a bit of a test for Tang Shengdian."

The woman coughed once, then said loudly, "We hold that this old mother is not guilty! And her brother is not guilty either."

Chen Xin drew in a sharp breath. The village households below were also quite silent; this conclusion caused no commotion.

Tang Shengdian said, "State the jury's reasoning."

The woman said, as if it were only natural, "This is her own child. No matter how many faults Zhang Erniu has, he is still the flesh she carried in her womb for ten months and bore. She raised him for ten or twenty years. What mother doesn't want her own child to find a way to stay alive, to one day establish a family and career and provide for her in old age and see to her funeral? Knowing full well that killing means paying with one's life, of course a mother would give him a way to live. This is only right and proper. I am a mother myself. Besides, the person killed wasn't this old woman, nor was it this Zhang Daniu. This matter isn't exactly right, but it isn't exactly wrong either. Therefore, she is not guilty."

From the village households below came a burst of clapping and cheers. Liu Minyou turned his head and said to the stunned Chen Xin, "You guessed wrong."

Before Chen Xin could speak, the woman who had just spoken said angrily, "All right, everything's been tried. Butcher Zhang, let's not wait until tomorrow. His Lordship is here today, and all the fellow villagers are here too. Let's have them judge the matter of the betrothal gifts right now."

"Judge all you want! You think I'm afraid of your Tang family? Your family ruined my daughter's reputation — I still want your family to pay compensation..."

The scene instantly descended into chaos again. Chen Xin shook his head and said to Liu Minyou with a smile, "It seems your judicial pilot project will likely be very difficult and very long — at least far more complicated than my army. Just watching it gives me a headache." (To be continued...)