Chapter 764 – Crime of Destroying Military Marriage

Fu Fu tailed Fu Yizhuang quietly, planning to wait for a deserted spot to teach him a lesson and avenge the humiliation of years past. Suddenly realizing his military haircut was too conspicuous—anyone would recognize him as a servant of the leadership—he took advantage of a moment when the street was empty to pick up the discarded, trampled straw hat and pull it on, then resumed his stealthy pursuit.

Fu Yizhuang, completely unaware that someone was coming to settle accounts, marched ahead with his hoe on his shoulder. Fu Fu picked up a sturdy stick along the way and shadowed him silently—he had learned a bit of reconnaissance in the army. When Fu Yizhuang reached the irrigation canal, where trees blocked the view and no one was around, Fu Fu lunged unexpectedly from behind. He swung the stick and landed a solid blow on Fu Yizhuang's back, instantly knocking him flat.

Fu Yizhuang had never expected an ambush. Before he could cry out from the ground, seven or eight more blows rained down on him hard. He yelped, "Hero, spare my life!" but it was no use. His assailant said nothing, just kept laying down a barrage of strikes. Yizhuang screamed in pain and scrambled on hands and knees to escape; Fu Fu kicked him viciously in the leg, and with a loud cry Yizhuang rolled into the drained irrigation ditch, stuck fast in the mud.

Watching Fu Yizhuang flail and wail in the muck, Fu Fu felt his malice vented. Before anyone could arrive, he slipped away quickly—if he were caught and reported to the Political Office, it would be a major disaster; beating up a civilian was a serious breach of discipline.

Fu Yizhuang had taken a beating for reasons he couldn't fathom. He struggled out of the mud with great difficulty and had to beg help to get home. Most villagers just watched the spectacle; no one much cared who had beaten him—the Fu Yousun family had once been the village's richest and had plenty of grievances with the locals.

Xu Ke returned from Meiyang Village to the Law Society club and immediately set about organizing the trial. Because this case needed to be thoroughly "political," even this trifling matter had become a focus of the House of Elders. Not only the military, but various other systems had weighed in with their opinions.

After fully canvassing the elders' views, the Legal Society concluded that while the case met the Great Ming Code standard for conviction, the specific charge should be "destruction of a military marriage," not "adultery."

"We must prosecute on the charge of destroying a military marriage, not 'adultery,'" emphasized Dong Shiye, presiding judge of the East Gate Market Summary Court. "Criminalizing ethical violations does not accord with the direction of legal development. Through this trial, we must instill a new jurisprudential concept in the populace."

"Destruction of a military marriage" was a brand-new concept for the common people. In ancient times, soldiers had extremely low social status; introducing the concept of "protecting military marriages" would play a significant role in elevating that status.

Some raised the issue of retroactivity. "Destruction of a military marriage" was a clause of the Marriage Law, but the Marriage Law hadn't been promulgated yet—and even if it were promulgated now, the offense occurred before the law. Prosecuting under the transmigrators' marriage law would imply that their laws were retroactive, which would throw the Law Society into chaos when copying legal precedents.

If the case were tried as destruction of a military marriage, but jurisdiction had to be established under the principle of lenity to the older law (using the old law if the new law imposes a heavier penalty or if the act was committed before the new law), they could only prosecute for adultery under the Great Ming Code. The maximum sentence under the Code was "ninety strokes."

If they ruled that way, the military elders would never agree. Furthermore, everyone felt that failing to introduce the crime of "destroying a military marriage" would severely discount the "reforming customs" effect.

After considerable debate, they finally reached a consensus: the charge would indeed be "destruction of a military marriage." As for the Marriage Law, it had to be promulgated immediately.

"Besides the Great Ming Code, we can also cite the Australian-Song Code!" Zhou Dongtian said. "We won't say we just wrote this Marriage Law. We'll say it has always existed in the Australian Song, and since Lingao is now part of 'Australian Song,' the Australian-Song Code has jurisdiction."

It was a stretch, but to make the logic robust, it was the only way.

Regarding the specific verdict, Xu Ke believed that for a case bridging the transition of judicial systems and paving the way for new laws, a compromise verdict was appropriate—especially considering the need to balance the emotions of some elders against the need to steadily establish the legal system.

"From the standpoint of social effect, a trial that preliminarily embodies the judicial system of the new state is meaningful. Thus we need to apply certain institutions from the future Code of Criminal Procedure to this trial. As for sentencing, personally I feel death or life imprisonment with hard labor is too heavy. Furthermore, an overly absolute sentence would be detrimental to future legislative work—wouldn't a prison term plus mandatory relocation plus post-release local supervision be more appropriate?"

"We have no objection, but the naval military side seems to be taking a very hard line," An Xi said uneasily. "Chen Haiyang and Ming Qiu don't have strong specific views, but some of the lower-ranking elder officers are fired up, and supposedly General Secretary Wen supports them."

"General Secretary Wen hasn't expressed an opinion in any official setting," Dong Shiye said. "He just made some private remarks like 'should've shot the adulterous pair on the spot.'"

"That certainly sounds like a man of passion…" An Xi said.

Zhou Dongtian snorted. "That 'Great Lord of the Blue Sky,' 'the stubborn magistrate,' 'wise leader' nonsense is the most damaging thing to the judiciary!" He stood up and shouted, "We are a new dynasty with a new atmosphere. But the collective legal consciousness cannot be changed overnight. It requires a process of propaganda and education. At the same time, by penalizing relevant behaviors through judicial practice, we demonstrate the guiding function of law. I absolutely do not accept the military's view on sentencing for this case. Since we are to act according to law, let's honestly stick to the sixteen-character policy: There must be laws to follow; laws must be followed; enforcement must be strict; violations must be prosecuted. We must absolutely not act on impulse or play games like 'uttering words that become law.' That's a hidden danger! A landmine!"

Dong Shiye coughed. "There's no need for excessively heavy sentencing. Just classifying it as a crime is enough to make a normal person think with their big head when the little head gets gorged with blood. I think a sentence of three to seven years is sufficient—especially given the 'fine reputation' of Fu Youdi's place. Risking three to seven years of hard labor just for a screw… I think most normal people would think twice. As for death or life imprisonment, it's completely unnecessary. First, soldiers have low status in this time-space; no one would help them if their wives got cuckolded. Establishing the precedent of 'destruction of a military marriage' is enough to raise their social status. Second, the concept of chastity among the common poor of this era is far less intense than among the upper and middle classes. Finally, even if they really cared, we don't need to compromise with local customs—are we supposed to respect things like drowning people in pig cages just because a clan patriarch says so? We need them to accept our ideology, to respect and fear our institutions of violence, to feel that even a three-month sentence is a lifelong disgrace. Ideological work, public opinion—all must be mobilized. We should seize this chance to clearly distinguish ourselves from the old world, making the locals realize our advanced nature and the old world's backwardness." Dong Shiye finished in one breath, panted, and took a sip of tea. "Also, I'd like to know which is the prosecuting organ? When did the Senate establish a procuratorate? Is the Tribunal handling both prosecution and trial? Having the prosecutor and the judge in the same department seems inappropriate."

"That's not an issue," Ma Jia said. "Doesn't the Political and Legal Affairs Commission manage everything anyway?"

"I think the police department could temporarily exercise the prosecutorial function. In the early days of the PRC, public security handled prosecution; only later, when things normalized, was the procuratorate established. Given Lingao's current situation, from a resource-saving perspective, letting the police exercise prosecutorial power works."

Ma Jia considered. "Let's table that for discussion. Right now, this case has little to do with the police; having them prosecute isn't suitable. I think we can set up a prosecutor system."

"Independent Counsel's Office?"

"Right, that's the idea," Ma Jia said. "It could be permanent, or we could adopt a one-person-per-case system—appointed before indictment, stepping down after conclusion. Saves manpower. Right now we have too many latrines and not enough asses."

"Since we've started building a judicial system, the prosecutorial system should be established. Especially given the ancient legal system that doesn't separate criminal and civil matters, establishing a state prosecution system is very significant," Ji Xin said. "Also, I propose establishing a legal practitioner certificate or the like. Anyone who obtained a law degree or similar qualification in the old time-space can apply to serve as prosecutor, lawyer, or judge. That way, even if they don't work within the Tribunal system, they can appear in court to handle cases anytime. Otherwise it's easy for people to pick holes—after all, it would be legally baseless."

The Law Society was, after all, just a club. Letting members outside the Tribunal system serve as judges, lawyers, or prosecutors had no institutional basis. So Ji Xin suggested formalizing it. He also proposed: to embody the authority of the new socialist rule of law and impress the concept of "procedural legality" on the natives, judicial procedures should mimic modern litigation procedures—judge, clerk, prosecutor, public defender. Not one could be missing. The whole process had to be followed.

"Agreed. Procedural legality is a fundamental concept of modern jurisprudence; we must instill it in the naturalized citizens," Xu Ke expressed his agreement. "This isn't formalism."

An Xi asked, "Do we need to wear wigs?"

"In a place like Lingao, if you want to wear a pound of wool on your head, I have no objection—but I'm not wearing one," Dong Shiye said lazily.

"Robes can be considered, but skip the wigs; I don't care for the smell of the English," Ma Jia said. "To be honest, I find even robes too hot."

(End of Chapter)