Chapter 365: How to Judge

Hearing Erhu say this, those Soldiers did not know how to respond, because they had never anticipated such a result. Furthermore, they were people of the Ministry of War; Xiong was their top boss, and the boss's son was also their acquaintance. They also knew that, barring any accidents, Shaoyin and the others would enter the Ministry of War in the future, but now, an accident had occurred.

As a boss, Xiong was very qualified, and he was also the most powerful Soldier in Huaxia, so no Soldier hoped for anything to happen to Xiong. But now it was the King's order; Xiong had been removed from his post, and his son was to be arrested. Xiong was very important to them, but the King's order was more important.

They only hoped the King would deal with it leniently. Right now, apart from them, no one else knew what had happened. If it were handled quietly like this, there should be no problem.

However, they had to arrest the three children. There was no need to tie them up; with just one word, Shaoyin and the others walked obediently in their midst. There was no resistance, no pleading, and the whole way was silent.

Although Xiong appeared calm and composed on the surface, he was struggling internally. He knew that Baifeng would certainly not kill him or Shaoyin and the others, but he would definitely not let them off easily. As the first family in the ruling class to commit a major crime, how this was handled would determine the intensity and rules of law enforcement in the future.

Baifeng was actually also suffering. If he didn't punish them, he couldn't answer to the herdsmen, and in the future, the ordinary Citizens would lose trust in their government. But if he did punish them, there had to be an appropriate level of intensity. If it were too heavy, the government officials would hate him and gradually turn away from him. If it were too light, it wouldn't have a deterrent effect, and in the end, it would make them feel that given their status, killing one or two people would only result in a painless punishment, so what was there to fear!

Shaoyin ran wildly all the way to the office area. The guarding Soldier saw Shaoyin coming alone and felt a bit surprised, but he truly did not see any Soldiers escorting him behind him. So, he cleared his throat and followed the procedure, asking: "What are you here for? State your purpose!"

Shaoyin consciously pulled out his little Dajian, handed it to the table, and then said in a calm tone: "I am Shaoyin. I have committed a crime and have come to surrender to the King."

The two guards couldn't help but raise their eyebrows upon hearing this. There was such a thing? The two sides looked at each other, and one of them said to Shaoyin: "Wait here quietly, I will go report it!"

When Baifeng heard that Shaoyin had come to surrender, he breathed a slight sigh of relief. As long as he understood that he had committed a crime, it was easier to talk; at least there was a reason not to deal with it too harshly. And Xiong finally had an expression, anxiously turning his head to look behind him.

Subsequently, at Baifeng's signal, Shaoyin was brought in. After he entered, he immediately knelt down. Without looking at his father, he said directly to Baifeng: "King, I am guilty, please punish me! However, my younger brothers are innocent. They are ignorant and were implicated by us. The root cause of everything is me. Please punish me alone and spare my younger brothers."

Baifeng turned his head and shouted angrily: "Shaoyin, you have such great audacity! Are you relying on your father being a high-ranking official in the Ministry of War, and relying on your father's and my favor toward you, to be lawless! Now you have actually committed such a great crime, causing one person and four dogs to not only die miserably but also not even have their remains collected! Now you actually dare to shield your brothers. What, do you think you have four heads on your neck, enough to take the blame for everyone?"

Xiong's fists were tightly clenched, his heart aching. Shaoyin hurriedly continued to look up and argue: "King! It is not so. All these mistakes were caused by me. They are all children and don't understand anything; they were tricked by me. It was me, too greedy and daring, who wanted to take a close look at the horses and wanted to tame a horse, so I snuck into the Horse Farm. They didn't have such thoughts, so all of this is our fault!"

Baifeng's anger was real; after all, his own people had paid the price of their lives for a child's curiosity. But he needed to take many aspects into account, otherwise, this country could not be ruled.

Baifeng was quite satisfied with these words from Shaoyin; this way, it would be easier for him to act when punishing.

Baifeng did not ask Shaoyin again, nor did he ask Xiong, but instead had the Phylum of the Gate summon the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Agriculture was the victim, the Ministry of Justice was the judge, and he himself was the presiding officer and the final judge.

After all parties arrived, Baifeng said: "You all already know about the incident that happened today. Now the main culprit has surrendered, so I have summoned you to judge this case."

The court was not very formal. Mu represented their side as the victim, but in the current scene, he could not possibly demand that Shaoyin be killed. In the end, he was actually in the same group as Xiong; they were of the same class and the same interest group.

Mu stood up first and stated their losses, but did not say what kind of result he wanted, tossing the ball to the Ministry of Justice. The people of the Ministry of Justice were relatively straightforward; this was also carefully selected by Baifeng. Law enforcers and judges must be upright.

The Minister of Justice, Yan, said in a tone without any fluctuation: "Huaxia law stipulates that those who kill must pay with their lives. For manslaughter, judge according to the circumstances: for severe cases, kill and compensate for losses; for medium cases, five hundred lashes, compensate for losses, and be made a Slave for five to fifteen years; for light cases, two hundred lashes, compensate for losses, and be made a Slave for one to five years."

However, Yan did not explicitly state how to judge it. This question still had to be decided by Baifeng; the key point was what degree should be set.

Baifeng was thinking, and the others were also waiting for Baifeng's decision. Finally, Baifeng returned to his seat and sat down, then said to the Shangshu Department and the Ministry of Justice: "I have discovered again today that our laws are not perfect. Today, we will make some additions; you record them."

The people of the Shangshu Department and the Ministry of Justice received the order and immediately picked up blackboards and notebooks to start writing. Yan just listened; naturally, his subordinates would record it.

"In our laws, there is no provision for how to deal with children who break the law. You also know that children do not understand the consequences; it is more out of curiosity, not aimed at harming others or the country. I call this 'no capacity for civil conduct.' Currently, the common marriage age in our Huaxia is fourteen. We will use this age group as the limit. Below fourteen, depending on the severity of the circumstances, punish lightly or do not punish, with the parents or guardians serving the punishment on their behalf.

Furthermore, there is the matter of how to punish the parents. Besides lashing and fines, if the parents are workers or farmers, they shall perform corvée labor; if they are officials, they shall be demoted by one rank or more. We will discuss the specifics later."