"this"
Lu Yijian and Sheng Du opened their eyes wide. They thought their son was going to die, but they didn't know that this was not a big deal at all.
"As for Lü Gongchuo, his problem is the most serious."
Zhao Jun looked around at the crowd and said sternly, "The other three people collected a banned book, so they should just be fined. It's a minor offense. But Lü Gongchuo is so audacious. He's using Lü Yijian's name to get people promoted everywhere. He's greedy for power, stealing official positions, and selling titles. He deserves severe punishment."
Lu Yijian's newly-raised hopes were dashed again. He stared blankly at Zhao Jun and said, "Hanlong, please give me some leniency for this little favor of mine."
"Duke Fugu, how should Lü Gongchuo be sentenced?"
Zhao Jun ignored him and asked Li Di.
Li Di first glanced at Lu Yijian, then bowed and said, "According to the Song Dynasty Criminal Code, any supervisor who accepts bribes and perverts the law will be punished with a hundred strokes of the cane, one foot long, one additional lash for each piece of leather, and fifteen pieces of leather will be strangled."
Lu Yijian felt as if his heart was being squeezed.
But the next moment, Li Di said, "It's just that this case is complicated, maybe we should discuss it a little bit."
"What's complicated about it?"
Zhao Jun was puzzled.
"First, after investigation, it was found that Lü Gongchuo did not help people get promoted for money. His family was already wealthy, so he did not care about money. He was mainly helping relatives, friends, and classmates for personal gain. The level of bribery was not high, he only accepted some gifts."
Li Di said, "Secondly, Lü Gongchuo resigned from his position as a historian several years ago. He never held any position as the head of any of the supervisory offices, nor did he have the power to actually transfer officials. He simply relied on his connections as Lü Yijian's eldest son to instruct officials at the Court of Judicial Review to assess and promote others. He himself did not actually abuse his power, so it's difficult to convict him of accepting bribes and perverting the law."
Lü Gongchuo was previously a compiler in the Historiography Institute. Later, Lü Yijian was in charge of compiling the national history. In order to avoid suspicion, Lü Gongchuo resigned from the position of compiler in the Historiography Institute. Historically, he did not take up an official position again until after Lü Yijian's death.
In other words, Lu Gongchuo currently does not actually hold an official position.
The way he helped others get promoted was by greeting his father's students and former officials, asking for favors, and intervening in the court's examinations and promotions. So when we really look into Lu Gongchuo's crimes, it does not seem that he accepted bribes and perverted the law.
It's like if a businessman has a good relationship with an official and acts as a broker to help the other official get promoted, it would be difficult to accuse the businessman of corruption and abuse of power.
However, in later generations, this crime was defined as the crime of accepting bribes by abusing influence.
If the amount is large or there are other serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention and shall also be fined.
If the amount is huge or there are other serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years and shall also be fined.
If the amount is especially huge or there are other especially serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than seven years and shall also be fined or have his property confiscated.
In this case, Lu Gongchuo basically falls into this situation.
"Then how should we judge it?"
Zhao Jun frowned.
Li Di thought for a moment and said, "He should be convicted of dereliction of duty and sentenced to one year in prison."
"Is selling official positions and titles so easy?"
Zhao Jun scratched his head and said, "To be honest, the death penalty is indeed a bit harsh. I personally think that as long as there are no serious consequences, the death penalty is not necessary. But buying and selling official positions only results in a year in prison. Isn't that a bit unreasonable?"
"If the dean thinks it's not feasible, then just add a few more years."
Li Di smiled.
"We'll discuss this matter later. We'll then discuss his specific punishment. Anyway, he won't be let off lightly."
Zhao Jun waved his hand and said, "However, Lü Yijian allowed his son to buy and sell official positions, treating state power as a joke. How should he be punished?"
Lu Yijian's heart suddenly rose again.
Li Di said, "According to the investigation in this case, Lü Yijian was not aware of this matter. It was all done by Lü Gongchuo. He can only be regarded as a poor parent."
"Then I'll fine him one year's salary."
Zhao Jun said in a deep voice, "Lü Gongchuo was lucky in this matter because he wasn't a current official. But everyone should still take this as a warning and take good care of their own children and don't cause trouble for themselves."
"good."
Zhao Zhen clapped his hands and laughed, saying, "Lü Gongbi, Sheng Shenfu, and Zhang Yuxi will have their salaries fined, while Lü Gongchuo's punishment will be discussed later. So it is."
Even if this matter is determined, there are definitely more officials involved than just Lu Gongchuo. However, they must be held accountable. For example, those officials who were greeted by Lu Gongchuo, and others who colluded with Feng Shiyuan, or hid banned books, or bought and sold other prohibited items, must all be investigated strictly.
Lu Gongbi, Sheng Shenfu, Zhang Yuxi and several other senior officials involved in the case were relatively lucky. They were just collecting banned books, which was not a big deal in Zhao Jun's eyes, so they were dealt with leniently.
But others like Cheng Lin, Li Zhang, Lu Gongchuo and others have other illegal activities, so they should naturally be punished more severely.
Those with minor crimes will be dealt with leniently, while those with serious crimes will be punished severely.
This is also Zhao Jun’s sentencing standard.
He will not be shown leniency just because the sons of Lu Yijian and Sheng Du are among them.
What Zhao Jun didn't expect was that since Lu Gongchuo was not a public official, he could not be considered to have committed corruption and abuse of power, so he could only be given a lighter punishment.
This is unexpected.
But one year in jail for selling official positions and titles was too light a sentence. He could only discuss the specific sentence with Li Di afterwards.
This is also in line with the legal fairness that Zhao Jun insists on!
Hearing his words, Sheng Du couldn't believe it. His son was just fined?
Not even to the point of resignation?
Although Lu Yijian was sad that his eldest son had to go to jail, he was lucky enough to have saved his second son.
He first glanced at Li Di in surprise, then stood up, bowed earnestly to Zhao Zhen, and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace!"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com