Playing to sell your wife?
Xu Zhiqian, who had been investigating the matter, couldn't help but look shocked when she heard the accusation.
This is true for her, not to mention everyone else.
There was an uproar immediately outside the door.
Where is this going?
It took Lu Gongzhu a long time to come back to his senses. This was completely beyond his preparation last night. He shot several times in succession to ask for silence. After the sound of people at the door disappeared, he asked: "What did you just say?" Playing to sell your wife?"
Zhang Fei nodded and said: "Yes, Li Si sold his wife in a play. According to my Song Dynasty law, he should be apprenticed for two years and punished with fifty sticks. However, I kindly ask the magistrate to read it before Li Si surrenders and pleads guilty. If he can be lenient and avoid his punishment with a stick, One year reduced sentence.”
"Wait a moment! Just wait a moment!"
Mr. Lu waved his hand and said: "You have confused me. According to Li Si's confession, they both agreed to use their wives to pay for the principal. How can they be guilty of selling their wives?"
Although the Song Dynasty was a patriarchal society, there were also some laws to protect women. For example, in this play, the wife could be sold, but it must be voluntary and the procedures were complete.
Of course, as a vulnerable group, in many cases, they have no way to resist.
But when standing in court, of course the law is still the main thing.
Zhang Fei said: "According to our court household marriage law, the criterion for determining whether two people are married is the payment of gifts. I wonder if I am right?"
Accepting the levy means giving a betrothal gift. As long as this step is completed, the two parties will be legally husband and wife, rather than focusing on the wedding.
This is why in the Ayun case, the crime of treason was initially pronounced, because at that time the Wei family had already given away the land as a betrothal gift, and both parties had signed a good contract. However, this was later overturned by Xu Zun, who said that he must observe filial piety and not get married. .
Mr. Lu nodded and said, "You are right, that's the rule."
Zhang Fei said: "Based on Li Si's situation, the principal is the betrothal gift. When this contract comes into effect, it will be the completion of the ceremony. Zeng is Chen Yuteng's wife."
Mr. Lu nodded again and said, "You are right."
Zhang Fei said: "But Li Si hurriedly married Zeng to Chen Yuteng before Chen Yuteng hired him. This is of course a crime of selling out."
Mr. Lu was led astray by Zhang Fei. He nodded first, and then said immediately: "No! Chen Yuteng only married Zeng after signing the compensation contract. This is not wrong."
Zhang Fei smiled and said: "Signing a contract does not mean that the contract is effective immediately, because the contract has a characteristic that it is extremely time-sensitive and cannot be calculated based on the date of signing. Please compare the two contracts. .”
Lu Gongzhu immediately picked up the loan and return contracts and compared them.
He also heard Zhang Fei say: "The first contract stipulated that the repayment time was June 15th of that year, but the second contract was signed on June 3rd of the following year, with a difference of twelve days. , and as far as I know, Chen Yuteng took Mrs. Zeng home that day."
After careful comparison, Lu Gongzhu shook his head and said: "You are wrong. Although it was more than ten days in advance, the contract is very clear. I am willing to use my wife Zeng to repay the principal owed. Naturally, it will take effect on that day." .”
Zhang Fei shook his head and smiled: "No! No! This sentence can only mean that Li Si agreed to this transaction, but it is not timely. For example, today I, Zhang San, would like to marry Xu, can I? Say, I have married Xu into the family today? Of course I can't get it. And the contract didn't specifically state that it will take effect on that day."
Xu? Xu Zhiqian rolled her eyes and cursed secretly, this scoundrel is really abominable!
Lu Gongzhu nodded slightly and asked: "Then when do you think it will take effect?"
Zhang Fei replied: "This is a contract involving lending, so when it will take effect, it should not be judged based on the simple statement on the contract, but should be judged based on the benefits generated by the contract."
Lu Gong wrote: "Chen Yuteng has never asked Li Si for the principal."
Zhang Fei said: "What the common people are referring to is not the principal, but the interest. The magistrate please read the records of Xiangfu County Hall. Among them, the interest pursued by Chen Yuteng was calculated until June 15th. In other words, the first debt The validity of the contract does not end until this day."
Lu Gongzhu shook his head directly and said: "Although there is a difference of twelve days, there is nothing wrong with calculating the interest this way."
As for the interest on Li Si's contract, since the time limit is one year, it is calculated based on monthly interest. If it is less than one month, it will be calculated as one month. Last night, Lu Gongzhu specially reviewed this point. The difference of more than ten days is not enough. To overturn the judgment of Xiangfu County.
"This calculation is indeed correct."
Zhang Fei nodded with a smile and suddenly changed the topic, "May I ask the prefect, in this case, how do you judge that the principal will not accrue interest in the next twelve days?"
Lu Gongzhu pondered for a while and said: "This is indeed difficult to judge, because no matter whether it is calculated on the third day of June or the fifteenth of June, the interest remains unchanged, and you can't judge which day it is calculated on?"
Zhang Fei immediately said: "Of course I can."
"Really?" Lu Gongzhu asked, "Then how do you judge?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said: "That's how the contract was written! Since Chen Yuteng later pursued the interest, it is enough to infer that the second compensation contract did not immediately terminate the first debt contract. The two are not a replacement relationship, but a relationship. A coexistence relationship, or a complementary relationship.
Although it is less than one month, it is calculated as one month, but we must understand that interest is accrued every day, not that the entire month's interest accrues on the first day of each month. Regarding this point, I have enough evidence to prove that in many debt contracts, the creditor chooses to terminate it early. In this case, it is usually counted as one day instead of less than one month. It can be seen that, Interest is accrued every day. "
Mr. Lu nodded slightly after hearing this.
This is not difficult to understand. If a month is less than one month, it will be counted as one month. This is only to protect the interests of creditors, but the interest will be calculated based on the number of days.
Zhang Fei continued: "Since the interest is calculated on a daily basis, at the same time, the second compensation contract did not terminate the first debt contract, and then Chen Yuteng pursued the interest for the whole year, and the interest was generated from the principal , then the repayment date should of course be June 15th."
If it is less than one month, it is calculated as one month, which is based on the termination of the contract. If there is no termination, and there is no special explanation, and the interest is calculated in full, then it will naturally be calculated according to the date on the contract.
Lu Gongzhu nodded slightly and said: "It should indeed be counted as June 15th."
Since the second contract was a trap, Chen Yuteng did not mention interest matters, and it was even more impossible to directly terminate the first debt contract.
Since there is no explanation, it naturally has to be calculated according to the statute of limitations of the first contract.
Zhang Fei continued: "Since the principal is the betrothal gift, the collection period should take effect on June 15th of that year, but Li Si sold his wife to Chen Yuteng on June 3rd. This is definitely a joke. The crime of selling.”
The people watching at the door all looked confused.
Including Xu Zhiqian, they understood what happened now, but they were even more confused. If the fight continued like this, Li Si's crime of selling out the drama would really be confirmed.
The crime of selling in a play clearly states that selling a wife must be carried out voluntarily by both parties and the procedures are complete, otherwise it will be regarded as selling in a play.
Obviously, Li Si sold his wife to Chen Yuteng without completing the entire process.
Lu Gongzhu carefully checked the information again, and said thoughtfully: "I have to re-examine these two contracts..."
Zhang Fei directly interrupted Lu Gongzhu's words, "Just now, the prefect has repeatedly confirmed that there is no problem with these two contracts. Does the prefect think there is a problem with this contract now?"
"My officer..."
Lu Gongzhu suddenly realized that the argument just now was a trap to induce him to confirm that the contract was correct, but at the same time he was very confused, you were invited by Li Si, why did you still sue Li Si and go to jail? This gourd was sold with What medicine.
But Lu Gongzhu was also experienced in many battles. He knew that there must be something more to come, so he suddenly looked at Li Si and said, "Li Si, can you plead guilty?"
Li Si hurriedly said: "Xiaomin pleads guilty."
Lu Gongzhu immediately said: "Here comes someone! Take Li Si into custody first."
Two government officials immediately came up and took Li Si down.
The sound of discussion suddenly sounded at the door again.
Many scholars criticized Zhang Fei.
The reputation of Erbi people is not very good. At this glance, it is known that Zhang Fei has definitely been bribed by Chen Yuteng. This kind of drama is happening again.
How chilling!
Sympathy for Li Si suddenly overflowed.
Many people shouted loudly and complained about Li Si's injustice.
What an injustice!
But Lu Gongzhu knew that the matter was not that simple. When he asked just now, he was actually testing Li Si. Seeing that Li Si confessed so readily, they must have colluded long ago.
So he decisively stopped the noise at the door.
Sure enough, after everyone had died down, Zhang Fei immediately took out two more papers and said: "On behalf of Li Si, a small citizen accuses his wife Zeng of committing the crime of leaving without permission, and Chen Yuteng of Xiangfu County for taking his wife."
Xu Zhiqian's eyes lit up and she said excitedly: "It's really a good trick to treat the other person in his own way."
There was another uproar at the door.
Compared with the timeliness of the contract, they know better what it means to sell a play, what it means to leave without permission, and what it means to seize a wife.
Wife-taking is best understood as snatching someone else’s wife.
As for leaving without permission, it means that the wife abandons her original husband and marries another man.
Obviously these three are contradictory.
Only two of the three sins can exist at most, and it is impossible for all three sins to coexist.
Either the wife colluded with Lao Wang, or the husband colluded with Lao Wang. It is impossible for three people to be guilty at the same time.
This is so contradictory!
Before Lu Gongzhu read the petition, he said: "Since Li Si is guilty of selling a show, how can we talk about the crime of leaving his wife without permission?"
Since it was Li Sixi who sold his wife, the wife should be the victim, why did she become the defendant!
Zhang Fei said: "Ms. Zeng voluntarily committed herself to others before completing the ceremony of accepting the conquest. This is clearly the crime of leaving without permission. In the same way, Chen Yuteng is certainly guilty of stealing his wife."
Lu Gongzhu, who has tried numerous cases, was also made dizzy by Zhang Fei this time.
From a common sense point of view, it is impossible to co-exist with selling a show and leaving without permission, but the law does not stipulate this. The law only explains what selling a show is and leaving without permission.
So if we look at it separately, Zeng did commit the crime of leaving without permission, because she took the initiative to leave her husband and marry someone else before completing the tax collection.
Because Li Si didn't chase her away at that time, but instead his eyes were filled with tears and he was full of reluctance.
The same is true for Chen Yuteng. He married off someone else's wife without completing the registration process. This is of course a wife-taking. Although no one resisted, it does not mean that it is legal.
After thinking for a long time, Lu Gongzhu finally figured it out. In the final analysis, they all thought that they had completed the legal procedures on the effective date of the contract, but because Chen Yuteng later demanded interest, all this became illegal. , because the transaction date was set on June 15th, but the behavior occurred on June 3rd in advance, how could it be legal, and who among the three could be spared.
At this moment, both Mr. Lu and Xu Zhiqian understood why Zhang Fei had asked Li Si to go to Xiangfu County to sue the officials, and why he had just accused the contract of being illegal. The purpose was to get the government to prove that the contract was illegal. Very legal.
As long as the contract is legal, then the entire transaction is illegal.
Of course, if all three of them acquiesce, it is actually legal and the government will not pursue it. The key now is that Li Si refuses to admit it. He thinks that he has violated the law. If he breaks the law, the other two will naturally break the law.
But it seems a little unreasonable to sentence them like this. It's just twelve days later, and then three people are sentenced to felony crimes. Li Si and Zeng are still victims. This doesn't seem appropriate!
If found guilty, in addition to jail time, he would also have to be punished with a cane.
The punishment is very severe.
After all, this is about etiquette.
Lu Gongzhu said very cautiously: "Since this case also involves Chen Yuteng and Zeng, I have to investigate clearly before making a judgment. Retreat!"
