Chapter 1867 - Out with the Old, In with the New (Part 3)

By now Shen Ruiming had his thoughts in order. When Liu Xiang called his name, he immediately stood up. Liu Xiang waved a hand: "Sit down and speak. We're all comrades here."

"I've just arrived and don't know much about local conditions..." Shen Ruiming began modestly. "Speaking purely in judicial terms, I also plan to follow the principle of 'divide in two, treat differently.'"

By now he had his entire draft prepared and spoke fluently: "My 'divide in two' means separating upper and lower levels for judicial processing.

"Specifically, for the middle and upper echelons of the Guandi Temple faction, we arrest a few major cases, recent cases—ensuring complete witness and physical evidence, proper judicial procedures, public trials and sentencing—making them ironclad cases with impeccable process and evidence. For the lower ranks, we adopt the Ma Xiwu trial method: on the premise of understanding the truth of the matter, we conduct summary trials based on public opinion."

These words coming from a Law Society member made the Elements rather uncomfortable. The legal establishment's keynote was "rule of law," and they had always detested public opinion manipulating or influencing trials.

Seeing the puzzled expressions, Shen Ruiming explained: "The so-called Ma Xiwu trial method involves: first, going deep into the grassroots, conducting investigation and research, and earnestly understanding case circumstances; second, respecting mass opinions—that is, considering public opinion; third, making litigation convenient for the masses with simple procedures and informal processes; fourth, upholding principles, acting according to law, and being clean and just.

"The first and fourth points need no elaboration—'take facts as the basis, take the law as the criterion.' The second point emphasizes 'respecting mass opinions'; the third focuses on simplifying litigation procedures.

"Everyone knows we're in the 'winning the kingdom' phase and lack qualified legal talent. If the Guandi Temple faction cases were to go through proper judicial channels completely, the evidence-gathering phase alone for so many people would require enormous manpower and resources. As for the trial process—it would drag on forever. Moreover, many of the criminal acts involved don't actually meet the legal standard for sentencing. At most they fall under public security penalties..."

His words immediately earned Mu Min's nod of agreement.

"But it's obvious that for years the Guandi Temple faction has harassed and extorted Guangzhou citizens, with extremely bad effects. If legal provisions prevent us from bringing these people to justice and punishing them publicly, we won't achieve the propaganda effect of the trials."

Ultimately, the final purpose of these trials was "propaganda." Without a simple, clear result that satisfied the masses, the propaganda effect would be greatly diminished.

"So for the lower ranks of the Guandi Temple faction, our judicial procedures don't need to rigidly follow legal process. We can use simplified procedures, adopting a format similar to mass assemblies. At the assembly, we have victim masses eagerly take the stage to expose and pour out their grievances, then conduct the trial. This approach, first, follows public opinion; second, in the heated atmosphere, many victims who previously dared not speak or had doubts will come forward to expose, enabling many old cases to be unearthed—ensuring that those with blood debts and public grievances don't slip through the net. If we strictly followed legal procedures, these cases would simply sink without a trace."

Shen Ruiming's advocacy for the Ma Xiwu trial method was not a whim. In practice, the judicial department had already applied certain principles of this method in circuit court trials. Given current social conditions, the Executive Council possessed comprehensive legal codes and legal concepts but lacked the legal talent capable of implementing these concepts. Comprehensive rule of law was merely theoretical.

Therefore, in judicial practice, they tried to apply the simplest, most understandable laws, simplified provisions, and in some cases used "reason and sentiment" rather than "legal principle." Liu Bang's success with his "Three Laws" worked on the same principle: after war and chaos, with scarce resources and unsettled hearts, the simpler and faster the rules of the game, the better.

Moreover, the political, economic, and cultural level of this timeline was relatively backward; the common people's educational level and litigation capability were very low. Simplifying the litigation model reduced litigation costs for the masses and helped diminish their fear of going to court.

Liu Xiang nodded repeatedly as he listened. This reasoning suited the taste of the administrative personnel. Everyone suddenly warmed to this judicial Element who had suddenly arrived in Guangzhou to handle major cases, feeling he was "not the same type as Ma Jia and his people." After the meeting, Liu Xiang kept Shen Ruiming behind for a private talk.

Liu Xiang first congratulated Shen Ruiming on his promotion to Chief Prosecutor. Then he turned to official business. Shen Ruiming took the hint, lavishly praising Guangzhou under Mayor Liu's governance as "completely renewed, with great progress inside and outside the city."

Courtesies finished, they got to the point. Liu Xiang's topic: he wanted Shen Ruiming to find a way to link the gentry to the sorcery case.

"...One could say the sorcery case is connected to quite a few of Guangzhou's gentry. However, the leads the police have mostly connect only to the Guandi Temple faction. How to extend that line to the gentry—as Chief Prosecutor, can you come up with a plan?"

Shen Ruiming felt cold sweat on the back of his neck: Mayor Liu wanted to launch a major persecution!

Still, he agreed with using this sensational case to severely punish the gentry. After all, with a sorcery case like this, the Executive Council held the moral high ground. Any gentry who sank in this case would never recover—as long as the evidence was solid, no amount of time could wash away the stain.

However, if even the police hadn't found sufficient evidence, expecting him—a prosecutor who hadn't even taken office—to fabricate charges was too unreliable. He thought for a moment:

"First, I believe our external messaging should downplay the words 'witchcraft and gu sorcery.'"

"Why?" Liu Xiang was puzzled.

"Because the charge of 'witchcraft and gu sorcery' doesn't exist in our criminal code. Convicting on that basis would be contrary to law." Shen Ruiming said. "Looking at the Mao Family Inn case, the main charges involved are: intentional homicide, kidnapping, human trafficking, unlawful detention, intentional injury... These charges exist under both Ming law and our criminal code. From the perspective of rule of law and legal education, we should emphasize the cruelty and ignorance in the case rather than making a big deal of 'witchcraft and gu sorcery.'"

"That makes sense." Liu Xiang nodded, then suddenly asked, "Do we have a *** crime?"

Shen Ruiming started, thinking the Mayor's mind moved quickly. He said, "There's no *** crime as such, but we do have ***—isn't that enough?"

"The problem is we still need evidence..." Shen Ruiming shook his head. "Trials focus on actions, not intentions. Even if Guangzhou's gentry harbor intentions of opposing the Executive Council, the evidence currently found doesn't rise to the level of conspiracy to overthrow the Council. Only by proving they participated in the Mao Family Inn case can we bring them to justice."

"So there's no way?"

Seeing Liu Xiang's expression darken, Shen Ruiming quickly said: "Not entirely impossible. This requires further evidence collection—witness or physical, as long as there's evidence, we can manage." He emphasized the words "witness testimony," then continued: "If these people generate enough public grievance, stir up a storm of public opinion, launch mass-movement-style mass exposures, dig up historical old accounts, old blood debts..."

Before he finished, Liu Xiang was already shaking his head: "I've thought of this! But among them are a few households that are so-called 'families of poetry and propriety,' with subtle methods and excellent reputations! The lower and middle classes have all been deceived by them. If we try movement-style liquidation, it might be too forced."

One thing Liu Xiang didn't mention was that the Liang family on his blacklist had always presented itself in Guangzhou as a "friend of the Australians." Now, barely half a year after liberating Guangzhou, using social movement tactics to fabricate charges and forcibly topple them would smack of "burning bridges after crossing." This would be detrimental to future national conquest. So he particularly cared about "lawfulness and legitimacy."

Seeing Liu Xiang's furrowed brow, Shen Ruiming understood his difficulty and offered comfort: "Rest assured, within the existing legal framework, we will certainly cooperate well with Guangzhou's municipal government. After all, this counts as the Ministry of Justice's first shot on the mainland." The implication was that he would form a united front with Liu Xiang, resolving any problems together through communication.

The two discussed coordination and other matters further. Shen Ruiming didn't mention specific trial methods, and Liu Xiang didn't ask—that was internal business for the Guangzhou court, left for Shen Ruiming and Liang Xinhu to handle. As he was about to leave, Shen Ruiming suddenly remembered something and turned to ask Liu Xiang: "The judicial work for this case requires one more person. I personally hope for a female Element—even part-time would do. The next step is to launch recruitment and training of naturalized judicial staff in Guangzhou, which could attract female natives to participate. Do you have any candidates?"

Liu Xiang thought for a moment and said, "Zheng Shangjie is busy with commercial consolidation lately, and Mu Min has cases piling up like mountains. It seems they can't help."

"I see." Shen Ruiming was a bit disappointed. After thinking, he said, "I recall Zhang Yunmi is working as your secretary? Could she help?"

The reason Liu Xiang hadn't mentioned Zhang Yunmi was that he felt she was too young and feared she couldn't handle such a major case: "Is that appropriate? She's still so young. This case is full of dark aspects—the pressure might be too much."

"Ah, it's fine, she's not a child anymore. Besides, as an Element, she should experience major situations. If there are any problems, I'll handle them." Shen Ruiming appeared quite magnanimous.

Liu Xiang suddenly grew wary: could this fellow have designs on Zhang Yunmi? Although Shen Ruiming was 1.85 meters tall and appeared to have some muscle, compared to those Germanic types who exercised daily, he still didn't measure up.

Actually, Shen Ruiming preferred voluptuous Western women; he had no interest in the petite type like Sister Zhang.

After much deliberation, Liu Xiang found nothing objectionable in Shen Ruiming's argument and was unwilling to rebuff him at this moment. He agreed to the request.

(End of Chapter)