Northern Song Dynasty Justice

Chapter 32 Play Rigorously!
Selling your wife?

Xu Zhiqian, who had been investigating this matter, couldn't help being astonished when she heard about the charge.

She is like this, let alone others.

There was an uproar outside the door.

Where is this going!

It took a long time for Mr. Lu to come to his senses, this was completely beyond his preparation last night, he slapped the gavel several times, asking for silence, and after the sound of people at the door disappeared, he asked: "What did you just say? Selling your wife?"

Zhang Fei nodded and said: "Yes, Li Sixi sells his wife. According to my Song law, he should be imprisoned for two years and sentenced to fifty rods. Reduced prison sentence by one year."

"Wait! You wait first!"

Mr. Lu waved his hands, and said: "You have completely confused me. According to Li Si's confession, both husband and wife agreed to pay the principal with their wives. How could there be such a crime as selling their wives?"

Although the Song Dynasty is a patriarchal society, there are also some laws that protect women. For example, the crime of selling a wife in this play, the wife can be sold, but it must be voluntary and the procedures are complete.

Of course, as a vulnerable group, in many cases, they have no way to resist.

But standing above the court, of course, the law is still the main thing.

Zhang Fei said: "According to my dynasty's household marriage law, the criterion for judging whether two people are married is to accept the ceremony as the standard. I don't know if Xiaomin is right?"

To accept a levy is to make a betrothal gift. As long as this step is completed, the two parties will be legally husband and wife, rather than a wedding.

This is why in Ayun's case, the crime of evil and treason was first judged, because at that time the Wei family had already offered the land as a dowry gift, and both parties had signed a good contract, but it was later overturned by Xu Zun's filial piety. .

Lu Gong nodded and said: "You are quite right, it is stipulated in this way."

Zhang Fei said: "According to Li Si's situation, the principal is the dowry gift. When this contract takes effect, it will be the ceremony to complete the levy. Mrs. Zeng is Chen Yuteng's wife."

Lu Gong nodded again: "You are right."

Zhang Fei said: "But Li Si hastily married Mrs. Zeng to Chen Yuteng before Chen Yuteng's appointment. This is of course a crime of selling a play."

Lu Gong's works were misled by Zhang Fei, he nodded first, and immediately said: "No! Chen Yuteng only married Mrs. Zeng after signing the compensation contract. There is nothing wrong with that."

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "Signing a contract does not mean that the contract is effective immediately, because the contract has a characteristic, that is, it has a strong timeliness itself, and it cannot be counted by the date of signing. Please compare the two contracts .”

Lu Gong immediately compared the two contracts of borrowing and repaying.

He also heard Zhang Fei say: "The first contract stipulated that the repayment date was on the [-]th of June of that year, while the second contract was signed on the [-]rd of June of the following year. There was a difference of [-] days. , and as far as I know, Chen Yuteng took Mrs. Zeng home that day."

After careful comparison of Lu Gong's works, he shook his head and said: "You are not right. Although it was more than ten days in advance, the contract is also very clear. I am willing to use his wife Zeng to pay off the principal owed. Naturally, it will take effect on the same day. .”

Zhang Fei shook his head and laughed: "No! No! This sentence can only mean that Li Si agreed to this transaction, but it is not time-sensitive. For example, today I, Zhang San, would like to marry Mrs. Xu, is it possible? Said, I have married Mrs. Xu into the family today? Of course I can't get it. And the contract doesn't specifically state that it will take effect immediately."

Xu?Xu Zhiqian rolled her eyes when she heard this, and cursed secretly, this apprentice is really hateful!
Mr. Lu nodded slightly and asked, "Then when do you think it should take effect?"

Zhang Fei replied: "This is a contract involving loans, so when it will take effect, it should not be judged based on the simple statement in the contract, but should be judged based on the benefits generated by the contract."

Lu Gong wrote: "Chen Yuteng has never asked Li Si for the principal."

Zhang Fei said: "What Xiaomin is referring to is not the principal, but the interest. Please refer to the Xiangfu county court records for the magistrate. Among them, the interest pursued by Chen Yuteng is calculated until June [-]th. In other words, the first loan The timeliness of the contract will end on this day."

Lu Gong directly shook his head and said: "Although there is a difference of twelve days, there is nothing wrong with calculating the interest in this way."

Regarding the interest of Li Si's contract, since it is limited to one year, it is calculated on a monthly basis, and if it is less than one month, it is calculated as one month. Last night, Lu Gong specially reviewed this point. The difference of more than ten days is not enough. To overturn Xiangfu County's judgment.

"There is nothing wrong with that calculation."

Zhang Fei nodded with a smile, and suddenly changed the topic, "Dare to ask the magistrate, in this case, how do you judge that in the next twelve days, the principal will not generate any interest?"

Lu Gong pondered for a while, and said: "It's really difficult to judge, because no matter whether it is the third day of June or the fifteenth day of June, the interest remains the same, and you can't tell which day it is calculated on?"

Zhang Fei immediately said: "Of course I can."

"Really?" Duke Lu asked, "Then how do you judge?"

Zhang Fei laughed and said: "That's how the contract was written! Since Chen Yuteng pursued the interest in it later, it is enough to infer that the second compensation contract did not immediately terminate the first loan contract. The two are not a substitution relationship, but a relationship. A co-existing relationship, or a complementary relationship.

Although it is less than one month, it is calculated as one month, but we must understand that the interest is generated every day, not the interest for the entire month generated on the first day of each month.Regarding this point, I have enough evidence to prove that many debt contracts are terminated by the creditor party early. In this case, it is usually counted on the current day, not less than one month, which is calculated on the basis of one month. Interest is accrued daily. "

Lu Gong listened and nodded slightly.

This is not difficult to understand. If less than one month is counted as one month, it is only to protect the interests of creditors, but the generation of interest is based on the number of days.

Zhang Fei went on to say: "Since the interest is calculated on a daily basis, at the same time, the second repayment contract did not terminate the first loan contract, and after that, Chen Yuteng pursued the interest for the whole year, and the interest was generated from the principal. , then of course the repayment date should be counted on June [-]th."

If it is less than one month, the calculation is based on one month, which is based on the premise of the termination of the contract. If there is no termination, and there is no special explanation, and the interest is calculated in full, then naturally it will be calculated according to the date on the contract.

Mr. Lu nodded slightly and said, "It should indeed be counted on June [-]th."

Since the second contract was a trap, Chen Yuteng did not mention the interest, and it was even more impossible to terminate the first debt contract directly.

Since there is no explanation, it will naturally have to be calculated according to the statute of limitations of the first contract.

Zhang Fei continued: "Since the principal is the betrothal gift, the levy period should take effect on June [-]th of that year, but Li Si sold his wife to Chen Yuteng on the third day of June. This is definitely a drama." The crime of selling."

The onlookers at the door were all dumbfounded.

Including Xu Zhiqian, they had heard the matter very clearly until now, but they were even more confused. If the fight continues like this, Li Si's crime of selling a play is really settled.

The crime of prostitution is very clearly stated that selling a wife must be carried out under the condition that both parties are voluntary and the procedures are complete, otherwise it will be regarded as prostitution.

Obviously, Li Si sold his wife to Chen Yuteng without going through the whole procedure.

Lu Gong carefully looked up the materials again, and thoughtfully said: "As for these two contracts, I have to re-examine."

Zhang Fei directly interrupted Lu Gong's words, "Just now the prefect has repeatedly confirmed that there is no problem with these two contracts, but now the prefect thinks there is a problem with this contract?"

"My officer..."

Lu Gongzhu suddenly realized that the debate just now was a trap to lure him to confirm that the contract was correct, but at the same time he felt very puzzled, you were invited by Li Si, why did you sue Li Si for jail, this gourd sells what medicine.

But Lu Gong's work is also experienced in many battles. He knew that there must be more to come, so he suddenly looked at Li Si and said, "Li Si, can you plead guilty?"

Li Si hurriedly said: "Xiao Min pleaded guilty."

Lu Gongzhu immediately said: "Come here! Take Li Si into custody first."

Immediately, two yamen servants came up and took Li Si down.

Suddenly there was another discussion at the door.

Many scholars accused Zhang Fei one after another.

Er Bi's reputation is not very good, and from this look, he knew that Zhang Fei was definitely bought by Chen Yuteng, and it was another kind of drama.

It's really chilling!

The sympathy for Li Si flooded for a while.

Many people shouted loudly, complaining about Li Si's injustice.

Injustice!
But Mr. Lu knew that the matter was not that simple. He was actually testing Li Si when he asked that question just now. Seeing that Li Si confessed his crime so readily, they must have colluded long ago.

So he decisively stopped the noise at the door.

Sure enough, when the crowd died down, Zhang Fei immediately took out two more pleading papers and said, "Xiao Min sued his wife Zeng for the crime of leaving without permission and Chen Yuteng of Xiangfu County for taking his wife on behalf of Li Si."

Xu Zhiqian's eyes lit up, and she said excitedly: "It's really a good move to treat him in his own way."

There was another commotion at the door.

Compared with the timeliness of the contract, they know better what to sell, what is to go without authorization, and what is to take a wife.

Seizing a wife is best understood as snatching someone else's wife.

As for leaving without authorization, it means that the wife abandons her original husband and follows another man.

Obviously these three are contradictory.

Only two of the three crimes can exist at most, and it is impossible for the three crimes to coexist.

Either the wife colluded with Lao Wang, or the husband colluded with Lao Wang. It is impossible for three people to be guilty at the same time.

This is simply contradictory!

Before reading the pleadings, Mr. Lu said: "Since Li Si committed the crime of selling a play, how can we talk about his wife's crime of leaving without authorization?"

Since it was Li Sixi who sold his wife, the wife should be the victim, why did she become the defendant!

Zhang Fei said: "Zeng Shi voluntarily committed himself to others before completing the ceremony of accepting the levy. This is clearly a crime of leaving without authorization. In the same way, Chen Yuteng also committed the crime of taking his wife."

Lu Gong, who has tried countless cases, was also confused by Zhang Fei this time.

According to the common sense, it is impossible to co-exist with acting and going without permission, but the law does not stipulate this. The law only explains what is selling and going without permission.

So if you look at it separately, Zeng did commit the crime of leaving without permission, because she left her husband on her own initiative and went to marry someone else without completing the collection.

Because Li Si didn't drive her away at that time, but was eager, tearful, and full of reluctance.

The same is true for Chen Yuteng. He married someone else's wife without completing the collection. Of course, this is considered to be taking a wife. Although there is no resistance among them, it does not mean that this is legal.

After thinking about it for a long time, Lu Gong's works can be regarded as clear. In the final analysis, on the effective date of the contract, they all thought that they had completed the legal procedures, but because Chen Yuteng pursued the interest afterwards, all this became illegal , because the date of this transaction was set on the fifteenth of June, but the behavior happened earlier on the third day of June, so how could it be legal, and who among the three would be spared.

At this moment, both Lu Gong and Xu Zhiqian understood why Zhang Fei asked Li Si to go to Xiangfu County to sue the officials, and why Zhang Fei wanted to sue the contract for being illegal. Very legal.

As long as the contract is legal, the whole transaction is not.

Of course, if the three of them acquiesced, it would actually be considered legal, and the government would not pursue it. The key now is that Li Si didn't admit it. He thought he was breaking the law. If he broke the law, the other two would naturally break the law too.

But it seems a little unreasonable to really want to be sentenced like this. It is only twelve days away, and then three people are sentenced to felony. Li Si and Zeng are still victims. This seems inappropriate!
If found guilty, in addition to imprisonment, have to accept the cane.

The punishment is very severe.

After all, it's about etiquette.

Lu Gong wrote very cautiously: "Since this case still involves Chen Yuteng and the Zeng family, I have to investigate thoroughly before making a judgment. Retire!"

(End of this chapter)