Chapter 73: Juvenile Protection Law?

On the twentieth day of the twelfth month of the twenty-first year of King Zheng of Qin, the days-long rain and snow finally ended. Under the winter sun shining over Anlu, the temperature began to rise, and the commoner-farmers who had been holed up at home avoiding the cold the past few days all started venturing out. Topping their idle chatter was, naturally, the "Chaoyang Hamlet Official Colluding-with-Bandits Grave-Robbing Case" that had shocked the entire Anlu County a few days ago!

Inside the Anlu county jail, after consecutive days of interrogation by Prison Clerk Xi, this case had basically been settled and drawn to a close...

In this case, Lake Sun Pavilion Chief Heifu had single-handedly uncovered the truth behind the anonymous letter, followed the clues, and captured the grave robbers along with the hamlet official scoundrel Bowu. As a key witness, he had been summoned to the county seat for several days running to take part in the case hearings.

During the interrogation, Sir Xi performed as steadily as ever, precisely following the statutes of Qin law and meticulously unraveling every thread. The criminals broke down under his relentless questioning and confessed their crimes one after another; even those who stubbornly refused to admit guilt bowed their heads before the dense mountain of evidence.

Among them, the most heinous crimes belonged to the grave-robbing ringleader who had taken the false name "Chang" but whose real name was "Xing."

According to Xi's investigation, this "Xing" was originally a Gongshi from Jiangling County in Nan Commandery. He had robbed Chu tombs in Yiling and Jiangling multiple times. After being reported, he abandoned his family and fled to Xinshi County. After hiding in the Xinshi mountain forests for several months, Xing changed his name, calling himself "Chang," and began organizing a new grave-robbing gang. They hid by day and crept out by night, plaguing many tombs in Xinshi and Anlu, with the Duxin tomb in Anlu being their biggest job yet...

Of Xing's several accomplices, apart from the youth Xing and that dead unlucky fellow who were Chu people, the rest were all Qin people — either fugitive wanderers like Xing or poor locals from nearby. These three Qin men were ultimately all sentenced to "Tattooing and Wall-Building" for the crime of "Grave-Robbing," meaning their faces would be tattooed and they would join the Anlu County labor construction brigade, with no fixed term — it was permanent...

As for Xing himself, as the organizer of this grave robbery, his crimes were more severe. In addition to "Grave-Robbing," he also had charges of "Wandering Abroad," "Repeat Offender," and "Instigation." With multiple crimes combined, he was finally sentenced to one of the more brutal punishments in Qin law: dismemberment by chariot!

Dismemberment by chariot was also called "huan." Later ages commonly called it being torn apart by five horses. No lengthy explanation is needed to understand what a terrifying punishment this was. And unlike the "exposure punishment" that Heifu had seen applied to the murdering thief he captured before — where the body was dismembered for humiliation only after death — dismemberment by chariot meant having one's body torn apart alive before a great crowd...

Even though Xing was a vicious thug brazen enough to wear dead men's clothes, faced with such a cruel punishment, his face was still ashen white and his eyes stared blankly. And the misfortune did not stop with him — even his parents, wife, and children would all be reduced to bondservants.

After finishing the sentencing, Xi had someone summon the youth "Xing," the one Heifu had pulled up from the tomb pit.

What followed was the part of this trial that made Heifu click his tongue in wonder the most. For the first time, he learned that, as it turned out, the Qin state actually had a juvenile protection law!

Xi first questioned Xing again on his place of origin and age. Xing claimed to be from E in Chu, living in Xiakou, and that his parents had died in the floods the year before last. Left with no one to rely on, he had been lured by a fellow townsman who gave him food, crossed the river with him into Qin's Anlu, and was forced to join the grave-robbing gang.

Xing said he was fourteen. Xi did not believe him. He said: "In the sixteenth year of the present king, it was first decreed that Qin males register their age, with seventeen sui as adulthood for household registration, and fifteen sui for females. You are a Chu person; this official has no way to verify whether your place of origin and age are true, and can only judge by the old precedent, by height. A male of six chi five cun, a female of six chi, is considered an adult and called an adult male or adult female. Those not reaching this height are minor males and minor females..."

As he spoke, he had a jail clerk bring out a "Qin ruler" for measuring height and tested him on the spot. They found that Xing's height was not yet six chi — that is, around 1.3 meters — so he indeed counted as a "minor male," a juvenile.

This made things much easier.

When his several accomplices were sentenced to face-tattooing and wall-building, and Xing was even sentenced to dismemberment by chariot, Xing trembled in terror. He felt only that this Qin county jail courtroom was far more terrifying than the depths of a tomb, and that his own chances this time were grim...

But when Xi announced his sentence, Xing was overjoyed beyond all expectation!

"Xing, though he took part in the grave robbery, acted under duress and was incited by others, and his height has not reached six chi; he shall be punished lightly. He is sentenced to labor at the Hidden Office. Upon reaching adulthood, he may be granted commoner registration and become a Qin subject..."

The so-called "Hidden Office" was a special institution in Qin, a government handicraft workshop used to take in those left with the remnants of punishment. Those released after serving their sentences with good conduct and their families, or victims of wrongful convictions who had suffered physical punishments and could no longer find a place in society, would all be assigned to the Hidden Office. There, they could do work that was not too heavy and have food to eat.

It could be said that the status of the Hidden Office fell between commoners and slaves.

Compared to the horrifying dismemberment by chariot, this was an extremely light punishment. Xing immediately kowtowed repeatedly, thanking Xi for his mercy.

"It is not I who showed you mercy."

Xi's face held neither joy nor worry. He said flatly: "It is the law and ordinances that are meant to be so..."

At this, not only was Xing overjoyed beyond expectation, but even Heifu gained new insight. So in Qin, a juvenile incited to commit a crime bore no criminal responsibility; or if criminal responsibility was pursued, it was reduced in punishment.

And inciting a juvenile to commit a crime — even if only inciting them to steal ten qian — would be punished by exposure execution! This was also one of the reasons Xing was sentenced so heavily.

Heifu could not help but sigh. In later ages, those scoundrels who incited juveniles to crime, maimed children's bodies, and made these children steal and beg near train stations — even when caught, they would only be sentenced to a few years, neither light nor heavy. Far too light.

To prevent crime, start with the children — the thinking of Qin laws and ordinances was very clear. And giving juveniles lighter punishment could also be considered a rare glimmer of humanity amid the cruel Qin legal code...

Of course, if a juvenile committed a serious crime, such as murder, the law would not forgive. But executing a juvenile in public was still something Qin law did not permit; they had to be confined until their height and age were sufficient, and then given the due punishment.

After that, Quji, the Gongshi of Chaoyang Hamlet who had sent the anonymous letter, was sentenced to a fine of three suits of armor, equivalent to over 4,000 banliang coins.

Watching Quji's worried, miserable expression after he gave thanks for the mercy, Heifu felt a little uneasy. Quji was probably the only truly innocent person in this case. He had reported it anonymously out of a troubled conscience, only to end up like this.

Heifu had thought he would be pardoned and have his sentence reduced like the youth Xing, but in the end, he was not, simply because Qin law imposed a blanket punishment on anonymous reporters with no precedent for reduction or exemption.

As for that hamlet gatekeeper Bowu, who had abused his office and colluded with the grave robbers, he too was heavily punished. He himself was sentenced to face-tattooing and banished to Qianzhong Commandery for border defense. All the money and silks gained from the stolen goods were confiscated, and his family members, for knowing but not reporting, were also punished with wall-building and grain-pounding...

This was still because Bowu held the "Shangzao" rank, which offset part of his culpability. Otherwise, he might not have escaped death.

Heifu had seen a similar situation once before, but this time, he did not need to feel indignant that the "Shangzao" rank could reduce punishment.

Because after the trial concluded, the county immediately announced the rewards for the Lake Sun Pavilion group's capture of the criminals and recovery of the stolen goods!

First, the outstanding Pavilion Chief Heifu's rank was elevated from Gongshi to Shangzao!

The moment the reward was announced, the Lake Sun Pavilion group all offered congratulations to "Shangzao Heifu," but Heifu only cursed inwardly...

"I finally leveled up!"

"Prison Clerk! Please wait!"

That day, just past sun-decline (1 to 3 PM), Xi finished his work and, wearing his xiezhi cap, walked out of the county jail's main hall, only to hear someone calling after him. He turned his head and saw it was Heifu, just promoted to Shangzao.

Gongshi and Shangzao could be conferred at the county level. The procedures for Heifu's rank promotion to Shangzao had already been completed, and the brown hair ribbon atop his topknot had been replaced with an earthen-red wrapping cloth that enveloped the entire topknot — this was the mark of a "Shangzao."

Zao means to accomplish. The so-called Shangzao meant having an accomplished mandate from above. People of this status could basically all serve as minor officials. As a Rank 2 title, although Shangzao still had to perform corvée labor, their allotted fields and homestead increased, and they could command two servants. Most importantly, if they broke the law, as long as it was not rebellion, murder, or defection, they could offset part of their culpability.

Heifu took a few steps to stand before Xi, bowed with clasped hands, and said: "Heifu's two rank promotions are entirely thanks to the Prison Clerk's impartial enforcement of the law and fair rewards and punishments. Heifu here thanks the Prison Clerk!"

Xi, still his old self, shook his head and said: "I have said before, if you must thank something, thank the laws of Qin. Do not thank me. We Qin officials merely act according to the law, nothing more."

Heifu assented obediently, then, with some hesitation, added: "There is one more matter. Heifu has a doubt in his heart and wishes to ask the Prison Clerk in person..."

PS:

Regarding Qin gold, let me go over it once more.

The "Book of Han - Treatise on Food and Money" records: "When Qin united the realm, currency was of two grades: gold, denominated in yi, served as the upper currency; copper coins, of the same quality as Zhou coins, bore the inscription 'Banliang' and weighed as the inscription stated."

Qin used gold as the upper currency and copper coins as the lower currency; there was actually also a middle currency, which was cloth.

Gold had two units of weight, one being the yi, the other the liang. For example:

"Legal Answers to Questions": For capturing a fugitive Wall-Builder, what is the reward? The reward should be two liang.

Translation:

For capturing a fugitive Wall-Builder, what is the reward? The reward should be two liang of gold.

If these two liang were so-called "brass," that would be utterly ridiculous, because a Qin liang weighed only 15.6 grams, a banliang 7.8 grams. Rewarding 30 grams of copper for catching an escaped convict — equal to four wen coins? I doubt any government would be that brainless.

The two liang here can obviously only be gold. One liang of gold was equivalent to 576 coins, a very high value.

(End of chapter)