Chapter 214: The Situation Looks a Bit Grim, But It's Still Under Control

Qian Changle, his heart brimming with excitement, turned to the third page of the exam.

Three large characters met his eyes: Legal Questions.

Qian Changle's brow furrowed slightly.

This was his weakest area.

The thirty volumes of the Great Ming Code, a dazzling mass of over a hundred thousand characters, were as vast as the ocean. Unless one came from a family of clerks, who would ever read the entire legal code?

What was more, even if he had wanted to read it through, he had no way to do so.

Even Master Wang did not possess a copy of the Great Ming Code; he had wanted to borrow one to study, but there was nowhere to borrow it from.

Qian Changle nervously read on.

The first section was legal interpretation. Five questions in total, two points each, for a total of ten points.

Among unpardonable crimes are the "Ten Abominations." Name seven.

This... who would be so bored as to memorize the Ten Abominations for no reason?

Qian Changle could only rely on the scraps and fragments he had picked up from operas, storybooks, and village gossip, desperately scouring his mind for any related terms.

Plotting rebellion, great sedition... unfilial conduct? unrighteousness? great irreverence? And then what?

Qian Changle shook his head, suppressed the panic rising in his heart, and continued reading.

Among crimes of corruption are the "Six Types of Illicit Gain." Name four.

This was even more hopeless — crimes of corruption were actually divided into six types?

Qian Changle, a farmer's son, stared blankly; this had completely exceeded the bounds of his knowledge.

These past ten-plus days of crash preparation had not touched upon this part at all.

Qian Changle's brow knotted into a tight frown.

He could see that these questions were all extremely basic.

Just like the classics questions before them, they were all questions that anyone with even a cursory familiarity could answer. And yet, if you hadn't read it, you simply hadn't read it.

By his rough estimate, out of ten points, he might only manage four or six.

Ah well, better than nothing.

Qian Changle sighed, let his gaze skip past these questions, and looked ahead to the next section.

II. Case Questions (20 points)

This section made his scalp prickle even more.

Two case studies, the problem statements dense and packed, full of Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Wu, and the like.

A rough glance showed them all to be intricate civil disputes and legal precedents — two questions in total, each worth a full ten points.

Qian Changle's heart sank bit by bit.

He had, through a thin thread of goodwill at Master Wang's place, borrowed that copy of the Regulations for the Adjudication of Penal Cases.

But how desperately short those ten-plus days of exam preparation had been?

He had poured all his energy into the classics and arithmetic; as for this legal book, kept only "in case of need," he had merely skimmed through it without digesting the contents.

Now that the moment of "need" had truly arrived, he realized just how vague and unclear the things he remembered were.

Clinging to a sliver of hope, he read on carefully.

This county has implemented new commercial tax policies, assessing new taxes on shops within the city.

Government student Wang, whose family rice shop was found to have evaded taxes in previous years and was required to pay back taxes and follow the new system, nursed a grievance. He then spread talk that "the new policies rob the people of their livelihood, the officials are driving the people to revolt," gathered a mob of over a hundred, surrounded the county yamen, and hurled filth, paralyzing yamen operations for a time.

Question: How should this case be classified? Under what laws should the principal offender Wang and his followers be punished?

It was over.

Those two words slammed heavily into his heart.

Sentence him to death for plotting rebellion? That seemed a bit excessive.

Or sentence him to exile for "fabricating rumors to delude the masses"? Could it just be a flogging?

Qian Changle felt his mind go completely blank at that moment.

The question looked utterly familiar, but he had not the slightest idea how to answer it.

Was he really going to stand here and watch helplessly as he threw away a full twenty points? Then the advantage he had built up earlier would vanish without a trace!

He couldn't accept it! He couldn't accept it!

Qian Changle gritted his teeth and looked at the second question, and only then did a faint glimmer of light finally rekindle in his eyes.

Years ago, Zhang San, a commoner of a certain county, urgently needed money and sold eight mu of ancestral farmland by contract to a member of the local gentry, Li, for the original price of twenty-five taels of silver.

The contract clearly stated "never to be redeemed or supplemented," but at the time, the formalities for transferring tax and corvée obligations were not completed.

Four years later, Zhang San, citing that "land prices have risen in recent years and the original sale price was too low," demanded a supplementary payment of eight taels of silver from Li. Li flatly refused, stating that "in black and white, the contract is clear and the price was sufficient," and that the matter should not be revisited.

Zhang San then sued at the county yamen, claiming that the original sale was in fact a "conditional sale" and that by local custom a supplementary price could be sought; Li produced the contract as evidence, pointing out that it was clearly and unequivocally an "absolute sale."

Question: How should this case be adjudicated?

This question!

A sharp gleam instantly burst from Qian Changle's eyes!

He remembered this question! He remembered it with perfect clarity!

Precisely because of what the village head had said back then, beyond reviewing arithmetic and the classics, he had paid particular attention to all content involving land property and tax obligations. He had read this very case about "conditional sale" and "absolute sale" in the Regulations for the Adjudication of Penal Cases three times over!

He remembered it crystal clear: the regulations stated plainly that for land transactions, within five years, a supplementary price could be sought, but no more than three times; for those exceeding five years, supplementary price claims were not permitted!

In this case, "four years later" fell exactly within the five-year period! And the key to the judgment lay in that phrase "the formalities for transferring tax and corvée obligations were not completed"! This was ironclad proof of a "conditional sale"!

Although Li held a contract stating "never to be redeemed or supplemented," under the principle that state law supersedes private contracts, Zhang San's claim for a supplementary price ought to receive the support of the county yamen! A surge of wild joy welled up in his heart, and Qian Changle could barely restrain the impulse to seize his brush.

Wonderful! The earlier classics and arithmetic were only the fundamentals; these legal questions were where the real separation would happen!

Five points might not seem like much, but five points gained on the legal questions — how significant was that!

Most of the candidates sitting this clerk selection exam would be ordinary sons of ordinary families like himself. He had never read the Great Ming Code, and the others would not have read it either. And how many of them, like him, had been lucky enough to chance upon the Classified Penal Precedents? That was the gap!

Qian Changle felt a slight easing in his heart. He was about to turn to the next sheet of the examination paper, to look at the later questions first and set his mind completely at ease.

But the moment his fingers were about to touch the page, his movement froze.

A name had flashed through his mind like a bolt of lightning.

Hai Rui! Hai Qingtian!

He remembered now — in the annotations to that very penal precedent in the Classified Penal Precedents, he had seen the name Hai Rui!

At the time, he had even read that passage several extra times because of Hai Qingtian's great reputation!

Now the text of that annotation surfaced before his eyes with absolute clarity.

During his tenure in office, Hai Rui had encountered this very case, yet his judgment had been entirely different.

Lord Hai held that in any transaction of farmland, if the parties did not go through the yamen, did not pay the deed tax, and did not transfer the tax and corvée obligations, then the contract itself was flawed.

If the seller sought a supplementary payment, the case should be adjudicated as "without a deed": the land should be revalued, and the seller should even be permitted to redeem it at a higher price!

This was not because he failed to understand rural custom or past established practice.

His true purpose was to force all private land transactions to go through official yamen channels, to pay taxes and be entered into the registers, thereby eradicating the abuses of concealment and tax evasion! How treacherous!

A rush of cold sweat instantly broke out down Qian Changle's back.

He had very nearly fallen into the examiner's trap!

The reigning Son of Heaven was vigorously pursuing new policies, and their very core was the comprehensive survey of farmland and the verification of the tax base.

On the surface, this question tested one on a farmland dispute; in truth, it tested the candidate's understanding of "past malpractices" and the choice he would make!

If one judged by the standard statute and answered "permit the supplementary payment," that would only barely pass.

But if one could extend the reasoning to this precedent of Hai Rui's and illuminate its deeper meaning of "forcing deed tax compliance," only then would one truly have answered to the Emperor's very heart! That would be the answer worthy of full marks!

Qian Changle let out a long breath of stale air. That flash of insight just now had been too terrifying — the back of his robe was nearly soaked through with cold sweat. But at least he had thought of it!

These five points — he had them firmly in hand!

He steadied his nerves, and with the relief of one who had survived a calamity, he turned to the fourth page of the examination paper.