Judge of the Song Dynasty

Such shocking words! Is he serious about undermining the foundation of our dynasty? A mere bookseller?

Even Wang Anshi, who had always supported Zhang Fei, felt utterly baffled.

This didn’t add up at all! Han Qi, Fu Bi, and other esteemed scholars and officials were equally perplexed.

Is the foundation of our dynasty truly so fragile? Although they knew Zhang Fei was prosecuting under the crime of “bewitching the masses,” the charge was very flexible. It could range from a minor offense involving a small sect gathering for meditation in the dead of night to a major crime like inciting rebellion with heretical statements.

Strictly speaking, undermining the foundation of the dynasty far exceeded this charge.

Lu Gongzhu, after a long pause, sternly warned, “You, a mere pen-in-cap, should not speak nonsense here. How could a bookseller undermine the foundation of our dynasty?”

Indeed, such matters should not be spoken of frivolously!

Given Zhang Fei’s past deeds, Lu Gongzhu issued only a verbal warning.

After all, he was someone who dared discuss ancestral law.

Zhang Fei immediately responded, “Prefect, I am not fearmongering. As Han Feizi, the Legalist forefather, once said, ‘A thousand-mile dyke can be destroyed by an ant hole.’ Therefore, though this matter seems small, if left unchecked, it could indeed undermine the foundation of our dynasty.” Hearing Zhang Fei’s resolute words and his reference to Han Feizi, Lu Gongzhu asked, “Explain how this could undermine the foundation of our dynasty.”

Xu Zhiqian silently handed two documents to Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei took one and said, “I have historical records here to present to the prefect.”

The clerk immediately took Zhang Fei’s documents and presented them to Lu Gongzhu.

Upon reading them, Lu Gongzhu was astonished, “Wang Mang’s New Policies?”[1]

Wang Anshi’s heart skipped a beat, and he became alert.

New policies?

Is he going to insinuate something? Or is this young man trying to help me secretly?

He was both anxious and expectant.

Han Qi and the others were equally curious. How did a case of illegal printing connect to Wang Mang’s New Policies?

Could this have something to do with Wang Anshi? At this juncture, mentioning new policies was indeed alarming.

Then Zhang Fei said, “Yes! This historical record primarily concerns Wang Mang’s currency policies.”

Wang Anshi and Sima Guang were even more intrigued.

They were very familiar with these policies, but how did they relate to the case? An illegal printing case, connected to the foundation of the dynasty and Wang Mang’s New Policies—it was indeed bizarre.

Zhang Fei glanced at the documents, then said, “Wang Mang’s currency reform essentially involved issuing new coins with a nominal value far exceeding their actual value.

According to the principle of survival of the fittest, inferior goods naturally can’t compete with superior ones. But in reality, the overvalued new coins drove out the pre-existing full-value five-zhu coins.[2]

Has anyone considered why this happened?”

Fu Bi and Wang Anshi almost simultaneously said, “Inferior coins drive out superior coins in the market.”

In other words, it was bad money driving out good money, known as Gresham’s Law in modern economics.

Zhang Fei nodded with a smile, “You are correct, Academician Wang. This phenomenon was pointed out by the Western Han scholar Jia Yi, and Wang Mang’s New Policies only emerged a century later. This proves it was not an isolated case but a recurring phenomenon.”

Lu Gongzhu curiously asked, “But how does this relate to this case?”

Zhang Fei replied, “Since it’s a phenomenon, it applies not only to currency but to any matter.”

At this point, Xu Zhiqian silently handed another document to Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei opened it and said, “There was a case during the Xianping period that illustrates this point—the case of chickens stuffed with sand. Some unscrupulous merchants stuffed chickens with sand to increase their weight and sell them at higher prices. Initially, only two or three merchants did this, but within a month, the entire market had no chickens without sand, even village women followed suit. It wasn’t until the government imposed strict laws that the practice was stopped.”

The Northern Song was very strict about food control, especially in Bianjing. Injecting water into meat earned sixty strokes of the cane. Spoiled meat led to a year of exile, and poisonous meat resulted in the death penalty.

Lu Gongzhu nodded, “I am aware of this case.”

Zhang Fei said, “If this applies to currency and chickens, why not to poetry and prose?”

Many people suddenly understood.

So he was trying to prove this point all along.

One had to admit, it was a very clever angle. No one had thought of this beforehand.

It was indeed painstakingly crafted.

Lu Gongzhu pondered and said, “The two should not be conflated. Currency and chickens are commodities, but poetry and prose are not. They are the refined pursuits of scholars. Even if illegal printing proliferates, poetry and prose will not decrease. Bookstores will have more books.”

Zhang Fei countered, “The prefect is mistaken. If illegal printing proliferates, there may be books everywhere in the market, but poetry and prose will certainly decrease.”

Lu Gongzhu asked, “How so?”

Zhang Fei explained, “As I mentioned earlier, illegal printing can bring significant trouble to the true authors, damaging their reputation and even leading to imprisonment.

If illegal printing becomes rampant, it will cause various problems for scholars, who will then choose to keep their works private, sharing only with friends to avoid being pirated.

This situation is already occurring.”

At this point, he glanced around, and many officials nodded in agreement. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on novelFirｅ.net

Zhang Fei continued, “Many fine works will be buried in obscurity, which would be a great loss for our Song Dynasty.

As poetry and prose decrease, booksellers, in pursuit of profit, will falsely attribute inferior works to famous scholars, leading to inferior works driving out superior ones.”

Wen Yanbo whispered to Fu Bi, “Isn’t he talking about you, Lord Fu?”

Fu Bi hurriedly replied, “My humble works are not worthy of the public’s view and have nothing to do with illegal printing.”

He sighed, “But I do know some friends who chose to keep their works private because of piracy.”

Wang Anshi remarked, “What a clever young man, using this argument to win the case. It’s truly unexpected!”

He himself had studied this phenomenon, mostly from a financial perspective, and never expected to hear this theory in court, articulated so perfectly.

Sima Guang nodded, “And explained so appropriately!”

This phenomenon had already occurred. Some scholars valued their manuscripts highly, and many current booksellers produced shoddy copies filled with errors, causing scholars pain. Some prominent scholars only shared their works with friends and did not publish them.

This was considered a personal choice, but if it became widespread, it would indeed be alarming.

Zhang Fei turned a page and read, “Perhaps we will part from the illustrious times of poetry that we live in and enter an era of literary decline.”

Our Song Dynasty’s culture shouldn’t fall to such a level!

Many officials felt Zhang Fei was exaggerating.

“However!”

Zhang Fei continued, “Our dynasty’s foundation is built on governance through civilization. Emperor Zhenzong once said, ‘Within books, there are golden houses; within books, there are beauties.’ Therefore, our literary masterpieces are far superior to those of previous dynasties and have great educational value for future generations.

Conversely, if these masterpieces gradually diminish, it would signify the erosion of our foundation of governance through civilization. If this isn’t undermining our foundation, what is? Although the content of this poetry collection is harmless, illegal printing surely falls under the crime of bewitching the masses.”

“Well said!”

A venerable voice exclaimed.

Lu Gongzhu turned his head to see an elderly scholar among the audience.

The elderly man’s shout was met with nods of approval from other scholars.

Many applauded at the door! This argument was truly perfect for them as scholars.

They were pleased with every word.

Hmm.

This young man wasn’t as despicable as rumored.

But Lu Gongzhu found himself in a difficult position. Zhang Fei’s argument was sound, and illegal printing had indeed caused such issues. Many of his friends had often complained, but convicting someone of such a severe crime based on this argument alone was inappropriate.

Yet he couldn’t find a reason to overturn Zhang Fei’s argument.

Though Zhang Fei’s argument might exaggerate the issue, he cited a classic example: a thousand-mile dyke destroyed by an ant hole.

And the scholars and literary giants present clearly supported Zhang Fei’s view.

Though they were merely observers, their reputation and status had to be considered.

However, in Lu Gongzhu’s view, this was a civil case. The bookseller had no malicious intent, and the verdict shouldn’t be excessive. After careful consideration, he said, “Though this act may threaten the foundation of our dynasty, my investigation shows that the bookstore had no intention of harming the state. They printed books for personal gain.”

He paused, looking around, and continued, “Zhang San cited the case of a scholar losing his position over a poem. I will use the same example: if a careless word or act leads to a fatal consequence, this does not benefit our dynasty’s foundation or the scholars.”

Many officials nodded lightly.

After observing for a moment, Lu Gongzhu continued, “Therefore, I declare that Gathering the Capable Bookstore’s illegal printing of Su Shi’s poems damaged Su Shi’s reputation and interests. Though it constitutes bewitching the masses, it was an unintended mistake. Given the law’s lack of clarity on illegal printing, I temporarily exempt him from corporal punishment and only require him to compensate Su Shi’s losses, the amount to be determined later.”

According to the crime of bewitching the masses, the minimum punishment was sixty strokes of the cane. But Lu Gongzhu deemed this excessive and, citing the law’s lack of clarity, temporarily exempted the punishment.

Such verdicts were common; otherwise, why would legal commentaries exist?

Han Qi, Fu Bi, Wang Anshi, and others nodded.

If judged as undermining the foundation of the dynasty, it would be a capital offense.

No doubt about it.

But that was clearly incorrect.

No matter what, it wasn’t a capital offense.

The scholars also accepted this. After all, Lu Gongzhu didn’t overturn Zhang Fei’s argument and acknowledged the crime.

Lu Gongzhu asked Zhang Fei, “Zhang San, do you have anything to say?”

All eyes were on Zhang Fei.

Given Zhang San’s earlier demeanor, he would likely be dissatisfied. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have prosecuted under this charge.

But Zhang Fei stood up and respectfully said, “I accept the prefect’s judgment.”

Xu Zhiqian was stunned, looking at Zhang Fei in surprise.

That’s it?

This isn’t what you said!

Wang Anshi and Sima Guang exchanged glances. Though the verdict was reasonable, Zhang Fei’s reaction felt anticlimactic.

Was it a strategy to ask for more and settle for less? As the plaintiff, Su Shi breathed a sigh of relief.

Enough! Enough! If it had been a capital offense, he would have intervened, as he had the right.

But fortunately, it didn’t come to that.

[1]Wang Mang was the usurper of the Western Han dynasty, but his short-lived dynasty was overthrown and replaced with the Eastern Han dynasty.

[2] ‘Zhu’ was a measurement of weight, so five-zhu coins refer to a specific kind of coins of a certain weight.