Judge of the Song Dynasty

Zhang Fei had initially felt lost and afraid when he had heard about Ayun.

He couldn’t make decisions on his own in this case. Even if he wanted to give up the case, Wang Anshi wouldn’t agree. If he hadn’t consulted with Wang Anshi beforehand, Wang Anshi would have requested a postponement in court.

Fang Yun would still be in danger.

It was Xu Zun’s words that enlightened him.

This was a lawsuit, not a court debate or traditional power struggle.

Since it was a lawsuit, it was purely a legal matter.

Legal matters had to follow legal precedents. If they were in violation of ancestral law, it didn’t matter – they could admit the mistake, change the name, change the wording and that would suffice.

Wang Anshi naturally agreed.

This was practically a guaranteed win, as lawsuits usually carried some risk.

Moreover, they could use this opportunity to recruit young officials who truly supported the reform effort into the new Reform Planning Commission. True loyalty showed in times of adversity. Follow current novels on novel⟡fire.net

When times were good, everyone wanted to join you, but those willing to support you in times of crisis were truly trustworthy.

“Brother San, what does this mean?”

Fan Li stared at the contract in confusion.

The Reform Planning Commission hiring Bianjing Law Firm to litigate with the imperial court? This…

He had never encountered such a situation, hadn’t even imagined it possible.

Zhang Fei smiled, “Isn’t it written clearly ? Can’t you read?”

“Of course I recognize these characters, but…” Fan Li scratched his head until it nearly bled. When the characters were strung together, he couldn’t understand them. He asked, “How should we handle this lawsuit?”

“How? That depends on how they want to fight their case,” Zhang Fei smiled. “We’ll respond accordingly. I plan to take it slow with them. For a thousand-string lawsuit, if it ends too quickly, people will think we’re scamming them.”

Take it slow with them?

Fan Li drew in a sharp breath – things seemed to be escalating.

Could they really do this? Zhang Fei knew this was difficult for him and said, “Don’t be afraid. We’re helping His Majesty fight a lawsuit. Though the opponent is formidable – the imperial court itself – life is short. If we don’t seize this chance for glory, we’ll have lived in vain!”

Fan Li considered it – helping the emperor litigate with the imperial court.

This…

This was truly exciting! Zhang Fei suddenly asked, “By the way, how’s business at the firm?”

Fan Li paused, then sighed: “How could it be good? To be honest, we’ve never done this kind of business before. On good days we can earn several thousand strings, but on bad days we don’t earn a single coin, not even one customer.”

Zhang Fei frowned and asked, “How’s the recruitment going?”

Fan Li sighed, “The same.”

Zhang Fei’s brow furrowed deeply as he sighed, “This won’t do if it continues!”

He was litigating to help develop the firm, but every time he took on a case, business would drop. If this kept happening, who would dare come here?

They would be scared away.

The key was that Zhang Fei couldn’t offer much more.

Once Li Guozhong and others developed their tax calculation business, they would quickly steal away these clients.

Though they were weaker, they were more stable.

Fan Li said dejectedly, “What can we do?”

You’re playing such a risky political game, who would dare come? People just want to calculate their taxes, but end up offending most court officials. His Majesty might protect you, but who would protect them? The risks don’t match the benefits!

Zhang Fei glanced at Fan Li, thinking that these wealthy merchants and city residents were all very shrewd and skilled at following the political winds, making them extremely unstable clients. Now that their foundation wasn’t solid, they couldn’t rely on them. They needed to develop a stable base to avoid these roller coaster situations. A stable base…

After pondering for a while, he told Fan Li: “I’ll handle this, you focus on recruiting.”

Fan Li asked, “Shouldn’t you be handling the lawsuit?”

Zhang Fei replied, “That’s just a minor issue.”

“…?”

But Fan Li didn’t need to feel inferior about this. His fear and lack of understanding were natural and reasonable.

Because the vast majority of court officials also didn’t understand and didn’t know what to do next. Previously in such cases, the basic procedure was for censors and remonstrators to submit memorials, then the chancellors would step in, cite classics, analyze pros and cons, provide arguments and evidence, ultimately forcing the emperor to retract his decree.

That was fine! But now this process was obsolete.

It was useless.

To counter this process, the emperor had just one response: you say the Reform Planning Commission is illegal?

Then let’s go to court! If you win in court, we’ll change it! You speak with such certainty and confidence, surely you’re not afraid of court proceedings!

This left the censors and remonstrators unable to act.

At the Court of Penal Review.

“His Majesty is the sovereign of the nation, yet he resorts to such underhanded tactics. It’s truly laughable. If we cannot stop this in time, we fail as his subjects!”

Fan Chunren roared in anger.

Sima Guang glanced at him and said, “Censor Fan, mind your words.”

Liu Shu hurriedly said, “In my opinion, this must be Wang Anshi misleading His Majesty, causing him to act so contrary to tradition. But we cannot let Wang Anshi succeed. If this continues, there will be no national law, no family rules, and chaos will ensue.”

Wen Yanbo looked at Liu Shu and said, “Did you not understand earlier? His Majesty wants to settle this through the judicial system.”

Fan Chunren said, “Actually, we’re not afraid of going to court, it could be one way to resolve this. But what’s the use even if we win? His Majesty will just change the name and continue. It’s pointless.”

Sima Guang looked at them and said, “Then perhaps we should let it go. In my opinion-!”

“How can we let it go?”

Fan Chunren interrupted him, “If we set this precedent, things will get out of hand. His Majesty will be able to do whatever he wants, with no one to stop him.”

Sima Guang had wanted to say that they weren’t in the right on this matter – after all, Wang Anshi hadn’t even begun his reforms yet, he had only established a temporary institution. Continuing like this would only make things worse.

It would be better to wait until the new laws were proposed. If the new laws truly benefited the country and people, how could they face remaining in court?

But at this point, it was impossible to persuade them to back down.

This had become a struggle between imperial and ministerial power. If they compromised now, it would severely damage the power of the censors.

Not only would Fan Chunren and others disagree, even if they agreed, the other ministers wouldn’t accept it. Giving up power that they already wielded would be like regurgitating what they had already swallowed.

It was too difficult to accept.

After thinking for a while, Sima Guang said, “But His Majesty has made it very clear – if you disagree, you can only continue through legal channels. There is no other way.”

The emperor was being so open-minded (arrogant) – if you disagree, sue me.

What good is it just having more voices?

You can only sue him.

Fan Chunren was about to say this was meaningless – he could just change the name!

Wen Yanbo raised his hand to stop him and asked Sima Guang, “Sima Guang, if we win, can we use the case as precedent to override statute? If we can establish precedent, we can prevent His Majesty from constantly changing names to push this forward.”

Sima Guang thought for a moment and nodded, “In principle, this should be possible, since there are almost no written laws regarding this matter.”

Wen Yanbo nodded slightly and said, “In that case, let’s have another lawsuit, since our previous victory wasn’t entirely fair.”

Sima Guang seemed hesitant. Wang Anshi had Zhang San behind him, who had created this precedent system – how could he not have thought of this?

But he couldn’t say this out loud, so he looked toward Fan Chunren and the others.

Fan Chunren hesitated for a while and said, “We’re not afraid of going to court, as long as we can stop His Majesty from acting on his whims.”

Liu Shu suddenly asked, “But where can we file the lawsuit?”

This question immediately stumped everyone present.

Yes indeed!

Where could they file it? They themselves were the highest ranking judges of the Song dynasty.

If it weren’t the emperor on the other side, they could have already ruled in their own favor.

Above these judges was only His Majesty.

If they petitioned the emperor, with the emperor as defendant – wasn’t this circular?

This…

After much thought, Sima Guang said, “We can only petition His Majesty to temporarily establish a court and appoint someone to hear the case.”

Liu Shu asked again, “Who should judge it?”

The judges were all here.

Should we judge it?

The other side wouldn’t agree!

Wen Yanbo sighed, “It seems we can only ask Lord Fu to step in again.”

However, this seemed to be just their wishful thinking. Most officials were unwilling to resort to legal proceedings again. We already won! It was the emperor and Wang Anshi who played unfairly, using such rogue tactics. If we go to court again, wouldn’t we be falling right into their trap?

The imperial court was in an uproar over this.

They demanded the emperor call a full assembly of the imperial court for debate.

Emperor Zhao Xu maintained his law-abiding attitude: if you’re alleging illegality, you should pursue it through legal channels. Or are you suggesting that I should be the judge? The emperor’s attitude left them very frustrated.

He was being very accommodating, open, fair, and just!

Wang Anshi had just one response to the public: I’m too busy to debate with you, for legal matters, please speak to my pen-in-cap.

But Chen Shengzhi, who jointly managed the Reform Planning Commission, was very nervous about this.

He had never seen this kind of approach either.

At the Chamber of State Affairs.

“Anshi, can we continue like this?” Chen Shengzhi asked anxiously.

Wang Anshi sighed: “Brother Chen, tell me honestly, what have I done wrong? Are they justified in causing such an uproar?”

Chen Shengzhi nodded in agreement and said, “They are indeed being unreasonable, but continuing like this isn’t the solution.”

Wang Anshi said, “But if we engage in their chaos, we won’t accomplish anything. His Majesty has entrusted us with reform and innovation, not arguing with them. Besides, I’ve already commissioned Bianjing Law Firm to handle these issues. We need to hurry and prepare for the new laws.”

Chen Shengzhi said, “How can we implement new laws when this matter hasn’t been resolved?”

Wang Anshi said, “Of course we can! Legally speaking, the court hasn’t ruled that our Reform Planning Commission violates ancestral law, so we certainly have the power to implement new laws.”

Chen Shengzhi was completely puzzled.

We can do this?