Chapter 2635: Legal Popularization Style Lawsuit (Part 4)

When formulating the relevant laws, the Law Society had been forced to make certain compromises with the commercial customs of the seventeenth century, issuing judicial interpretations that accommodated the practices of this era.

From a strictly legal perspective, many of these commercial habits were difficult to justify as entirely reasonable. But they had persisted for years upon years, becoming deeply ingrained in people's hearts. The Law Society was powerless to sweep them all away at once. So apart from practices that obviously violated common sense, offended public order and good morals, or constituted monopolistic behavior, most commercial customs received tacit approval.

Adhering to this principle, Liang Xinhu rendered the following judgment:

"According to folk commercial custom, a landlord may unilaterally dissolve a contract only in cases of unpaid rent, unauthorized subletting, violations of public security, and similar circumstances. When a house rental contract is established with a fixed term, neither party may declare the contract dissolved except under conditions stipulated within the contract itself, barring the exceptions already noted. This derives from the very nature of contracts. Our nation's rental customs have always respected the lessor's ownership rights. If a tenant commits acts that violate the contract or endanger public security, the contract should naturally be dissolved—this requires no further discussion. However, if the tenant has not violated the contract, the landlord cannot unilaterally dissolve it. To do otherwise would not only be impermissible under legal principle, but even measured against custom and human feeling, there is absolutely no justification."

After the explanation concluded, the Naturalized Citizen Clerk announced for all to rise. Liang Xinhu picked up his gavel and brought it down heavily for the second time: "In summary, the Plaintiff's litigation request has legal basis, and this Court gives its support. According to Article 231 of the Great Song Senate Contract Law and Article 144 of the Great Song Senate Civil Procedure Law, judgment is rendered as follows: First, the Defendant Zhang Cai is ordered to restore the house rental contract relationship with Plaintiff Chen Sanli. Second, within ten days of this judgment taking effect, Defendant Zhang Cai shall pay Plaintiff Chen Sanli one Yuan in back rent plus accrued interest, calculated according to Delong Bank's average loan rate. Any party with monetary obligations who fails to fulfill payment within the designated period shall pay double interest on the debt for the period of delayed performance, in accordance with Article 255 of the Great Song Senate Civil Procedure Law. Court costs of four fen shall be borne equally by Plaintiff and Defendant."

When the judgment concluded, the Defendant's face still showed an unconvinced expression, while the Plaintiff appeared satisfied. Among the crowd of observers, someone whispered. Zhang Jiayu faintly caught the words: "These Australians judge lawsuits in such a confusing manner!"

From Zhang Jiayu's understanding, Shopkeeper Zhang had already done everything benevolent and righteous—he'd returned the rent. Even refusing to rent again couldn't really count as breach of contract. This Chen Sanli, on the other hand, pestering and refusing to let go, was obviously a troublemaker (Diao Min). If it were up to Zhang Jiayu's temper, the man deserved forty strokes of the rod first "to correct the folk customs."

The cases that followed were mostly similar—trivial matters, chicken feathers and garlic skins. The largest was merely a trade dispute worth less than a few Yuan. Some of Liang Xinhu's judgments Zhang Jiayu found reasonable and well-rendered; others he disagreed with. But overall, he maintained a relatively positive attitude toward the Australians' justice system. Reasonable or not, every judgment followed the law articles. And Liang Xinhu's command of those articles was obviously masterful—when citing them, he plucked the relevant passages from memory with ease, enunciating each word with crystalline clarity. This must be what they meant by "professional." Yet even as Zhang Jiayu admired this, he secretly felt some contempt: Liang Xinhu, noble as a Senator, had thoroughly mastered the Way of Book Clerks (Xu Li)—truly willing to lower himself...

The cases proceeded one by one. Some were simple enough to be settled in three sentences, with relevant legal documents issued on the spot. Compared to the old yamen trials that dragged back and forth for ten days or half a month, requiring many people to "testify," this efficiency was far more convenient. Besides the money needed to hire someone to write the complaint and the litigation fee, there were no inexplicable "Customary Fees" (Gui Fei) to pay. For common folk, this was genuinely a good thing.

After presiding continuously for more than two hours, Liang Xinhu grew tired. He let Yuchi Gang take over the bench and went back to rest—though not completely. He kept one ear on the trial proceedings through the loudspeaker, making occasional notes in his notebook.

Lecturing on law articles and cases couldn't compare to the rapid improvement gained from personally presiding over a trial. Among all cadres in the Senate system, judicial cadres were the hardest to cultivate. Yet they couldn't simply let them "intern" unsupervised either. Justice wasn't only about "human lives being Heaven's concern"—on a social and moral level, it served to set the tone for society. The impact of a single precedent on the entire social order was incalculable. This was why Liang, Shen, and the others still insisted on "hand-holding" guidance even now.

Huang Shi hadn't come to seek a divorce, admittedly, but there were quite a few similar cases involving women's and children's rights—matters that in the past would have been dismissed as family disputes. Liang Xinhu tried these with particular emphasis. One was a property dispute case. An elderly man without sons had only daughters. In his old age, his daughters and sons-in-law had taken turns caring for him until his death. But after he passed, a clan nephew, with the support of the clan elders, had seized all the old man's property. The daughters and sons-in-law had come to sue, requesting its return.

Naturally, their decision to bring suit had also come from "guidance by a higher hand." Whenever Liang Xinhu arrived somewhere to hold court, he always wanted to create a few "typical cases."

Such property disputes had existed under Great Ming rule as well. Generally speaking, officials would render judgment by "mixing mud"—compromising—allocating a portion of the property to the daughters and sons-in-law while the lion's share went to the nephew or other clan relatives. But this time, following the Civil Code, the daughters as direct relatives inherited all the property. Never mind a clan nephew—even a biological nephew couldn't inherit.

When the judgment came down, the entire venue erupted. Even Zhang Jiayu was shocked. In his view, when an old man died without sons, his property passing to clansmen was the natural order of heaven and earth. If the daughters and sons-in-law had shown filial piety during his lifetime, sharing some movable property with them was in keeping with heavenly principle and human feeling. Besides, these families weren't destitute. Wasn't this ruling just encouraging outsiders to devour extinct households (Chi Jue Hu)?

Over these past days, he had begun to sense that the Australians harbored enormous hostility toward the old clan system. Whether by encouraging women to divorce (or at least attempting to), or through judgments like this property case, they were declaring to the common folk: the Senate did not recognize the clan's dominion over its members' persons or property.

Anyone who had read a few books of the Hundred Schools of Thought could understand where the Australians' hostility toward clans originated. No wonder the local gentry wanted to be their enemy. Zhang Jiayu's mood at this moment was complicated. Deep down, he had come here as an "undercover." The Australians' "acting against the tide" (Dao Xing Ni Shi) would only make the "enterprise" he and his allies carried out in secret run more smoothly. Those fence-sitting households with "rat heads pointing both ways" would surely understand who their true enemy was once they saw the Australians' style. And yet, the Australians spared no effort in protecting the common folk's interests—to say they deeply embodied the Way of "Ren" (Benevolence) was not excessive.

The circuit trial proceeded like wind and fire, becoming known to everyone within ten li and eight townships. Zhang Xiao wanted precisely this effect. On the third day, before dawn had broken, a specially assembled search team was already packed and ready to depart.

"Jiayu, you'll follow the team as well." Before they left, Zhang Xiao suddenly sent someone with this order.

Zhang Jiayu hadn't known about this arrangement. Hearing that he was to accompany the search inspection, he couldn't help but panic inwardly. He knew very little about Chen Ziren and the others' plans. He wasn't clear what arrangements had been made here in Jiujiang. When Zhang Xiao had previously mentioned suspicions about the Zhu clan secretly manufacturing gunpowder, he'd already suspected this was a "Gunpowder Bureau" arranged in secret by Chen Ziren and the others.

Although no contraband had been found during that search, Chief Zhang obviously still suspected the Zhu family. Zhang Jiayu had wanted to warn Chen Ziren and the others, but he himself was constantly at Zhang Xiao's side. His every word and act fell under the eyes and ears of these Kun thieves. Acting rashly wouldn't save anyone—it would only put himself in danger first. Besides, they hadn't found any contraband anyway.

Now the Australians suddenly wanted to conduct another search. Who knew what spider silk or horse tracks—what clues—they had uncovered this time? If they found something incriminating and implicated his circle of teachers and friends, wouldn't that ruin everything...

In an instant, a dozen thoughts churned through his mind. But at this moment he could only force himself to appear calm, acknowledging the order repeatedly.

Arriving at the camp, he saw that the Batto Unit (Ba Dao Dui) assigned to protect Zhang Xiao had already assembled. Zhang Jiayu had been at Zhang Xiao's side long enough to know that this unit normally served as peripheral guards for the Senate. Gathering them for a mission like this meant something significant was happening.

He spotted Director Mo Yu of the Jiujiang Market Police Station among them—was he leading the team? But looking again, the man giving commands wore an ordinary "cadre suit" with no markings or badges. His background was impossible to discern.

Yet whether Mo Yu or Batto Unit Corporal Matsumura Uemon, both treated this man with deference, clearly subordinates before a superior.

Zhang Jiayu studied him. The man was in his early thirties with an unfamiliar face—not one of Zhang Xiao's attendants, nor a local cadre. But his expression was capable, his eyes bright and alert. Though not particularly tall or imposing, his movements revealed strength and precision. Obviously a practitioner with martial arts training.

This must be one of those "Zheng Bao" (Political Security) agents Zhang Jiayu had heard about. Though he didn't fully understand what the term meant, he knew this was the Australians' Depot Guard (Chang Wei)—their spy agency, specializing in investigating and arresting various rebels and dissidents. Even Senators, noble as they were, often showed fear at the mention of "Zheng Bao."

Last time they'd searched the Zhu household, Mo Yu had led the team. This time, the Depot Guard itself had sent someone to supervise. They must have obtained critical intelligence.

He watched Zhang Xiao exchange a few low words with the man. The agent shook his head repeatedly, but Chief Zhang seemed to insist on something. After a while, the man finally nodded...

While Zhang Jiayu was trying to decipher this pantomime, Hening approached, carrying a set of Australian clothes.

"What's this for? I'm not used to wearing—"

Even for the sake of his undercover mission, there were two things he absolutely refused to do: shaving his hair and changing his clothes.

"You fool! This mission requires traveling by land, not by boat! Wearing that loose gown and cloth shoes of yours, you'll be ankle-deep in mud the moment you step on a field ridge! You won't even be able to walk!"

(End of Chapter)