Chapter 353: No Mercy
Zhao Xing withdrew his hand and looked at Shulan.
Shulan is usually gentle and weak, but at this moment she looks a little angry, which makes her look even more adorable.
Shulan felt uncomfortable being looked at by Zhao Xing and lowered her head.
Zhao Xing put his arm around her waist and pulled her slightly, and Shulan fell into his arms.
"You look quite cute when you're a little angry right now." Zhao Xing lifted Shulan's chin and said with a smile.
"I didn't... um..."
Just as Shulan was about to explain, her mouth was blocked.
After a moment of silence, he put his arms around Zhao Xing's neck and responded.
"Your Majesty, don't..."
Shulan half-undressed, held Zhao Xing's hand, and said with a pleading look in her eyes: "Jing Jie'er is still here, I'll wake her up soon."
Zhao Xing gasped, regained some of his senses, and picked up Shulan.
"Then go outside!"
Carrying Shulan to the outer hall, Zhao Xing sent all the maids away.
"Your Majesty, how can we do this here? It's still daytime..."
"It's okay, just hold on. I've told you no one will come in."
Shulan didn't dare to refuse Zhao Xing. She looked at him with tender eyes and turned away shyly...
Half an hour later, Zhao Xing left Shulan's bedroom feeling refreshed.
Speaking of which, the empty hall does have a unique feel to it.
…………
It was almost evening when the palace examination ended. The scholars left the hall in an orderly manner, and the eunuchs came forward to collect all the answer sheets.
Han Zhang and others returned to Zhizheng Hall with their answer sheets.
"Sir, how should we mark the papers since the emperor has set the questions like this?" Hu Zhongyan frowned.
The other few people also looked embarrassed when they heard this.
Although there were no standard answers in the palace examinations in the past, they always had a standard for judging, first looking at the literary talent and the core idea of the article.
In fact, not only the candidates would guess the topics, but the examiners would also guess Zhao Xing's intentions when marking the papers.
After all, Zhao Xing will randomly check the answer sheets of the palace examination.
However, the questions Zhao Xing asked this time did not have fixed answers, and there were several options.
They also didn't know what answer would satisfy Zhao Xing.
Han Zhang heard this and said, "Wait a moment, I will go and ask the official for instructions."
…………
"Your Majesty, the Grand Chancellor requests an audience!"
In the Imperial Garden, Zhao Xing was taking Minglan for a walk when Sanshui came over to report.
"It seems that the palace examination is over. Let's let the prime minister come over." Zhao Xing said.
"Your Majesty, I will return to the palace first." Minglan bowed.
"Well, be careful." Zhao Xing nodded.
There isn't much government affairs to do today, so I have a rare chance to relax.
Minglan bowed and left with Xiaotao and several of her personal maids.
Zhao Xing watched Minglan go away, then went to a pavilion not far away and sat down.
After waiting for a while, Han Zhang came over under the leadership of Sanshui.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!" Han Zhang bowed.
"Sir, why don't you mark the answer sheets and come to see me?" Zhao Xing asked, waving his hand.
"Your Majesty, the questions in the palace examination are very different from those in previous years. I wonder what standard should be used to determine the rankings," said Han Zhang.
"Sit down, sir."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Han Zhang thanked him and sat down. Zhao Xing smiled and said, "My Lord, if you were to answer the question I asked, how would you answer it?"
"Your Majesty, if I were to answer the first question, A's father was angered to death by his stepmother, and A avenged his father by killing his stepmother. He should be sentenced to exile," said Han Zhang.
"Why?"
"Although it is unethical and unfilial for a son to kill his mother, the premise is that the mother was not his biological mother but his stepmother. A killed his mother to avenge his father. Although it is illegal, it is excusable, so he should not be sentenced to death!"
"Yes." Zhao Xing nodded, without commenting, and said, "Go on, sir."
"For the second question, although the county magistrate was partial and bent the law, he does not need to be held responsible for A's death. We only need to find out how much he has embezzled and if there is no other similar incident, he should be punished according to the crime he committed," said Han Zhang.
"Go on!" said Zhao Xing.
"Question 3..."
Han Zhang stated his answers and reasons for each question.
After listening to the answer, Zhao Xing said, "The other questions, your answers are the same as mine, except for the third question, which I do not agree with."
The third question asks if there is no one to take care of the parents of the death row inmates, and asks them to serve their parents before they die.
After the government approved it, when the death row prisoner was serving his parents, the imperial court happened to issue a general amnesty, and this person was not included in the amnesty.
In ancient times, when there was a general amnesty, all death row prisoners except those who had committed the most heinous crimes were pardoned.
Looking at it this way, it seems that this question is somewhat contradictory.
actually not.
This question does not specify the crime committed by the death row inmate. The standard answer should be to first confirm the crime he committed to see if it is one of the "unforgivable" crimes.
If it does not belong, then it is eligible for pardon; if it does belong, then it naturally cannot be pardoned.
However, Zhao Xing set a trap for this question. He first asked if the parents of the death row prisoner had anyone to serve them, so he asked the emperor to serve them.
This situation existed in ancient times. In ancient times, filial piety was the guiding principle for governing a country. If a death row prisoner had no one to serve his parents, he would be allowed to go back and serve them before he was executed as an exception.
However, necessary surveillance and supervision will be carried out.
Everyone has compassion, and the parents of death row prisoners have no one to take care of them, especially in ancient times when filial piety was paramount.
When most people see this question, they don't think much about it and answer that they can be pardoned, thus ignoring whether the death row inmate meets the conditions for "pardon".
However, Han Zhang's answer ignored this point and said that the parents of the death row inmate had no one to take care of them and should be pardoned.
In fact, Zhao Xing was somewhat dissatisfied with the answer to the first question.
The questions Zhao Xing asked were not explained in great detail in order to leave room for traps.
In the first question, A avenges his father because his father was angered to death by his stepmother.
But he did not say whether it was the father's fault or the stepmother's fault.
In fact, the correct answer to this question for Zhao Xing should be to figure out the faults of both people before he can judge whether A should avenge his father.
But this answer does not hold water in ancient times.
In ancient times, talking back to one's parents was a serious crime, and if parents beat their children to death, they were not guilty if it was an accident, but if it was intentional, it would not constitute a capital crime.
That's why he didn't say anything.
"I think whether this death row prisoner can be pardoned depends on whether it complies with the law, not whether his parents have someone to serve them," said Zhao Xing.
Han Zhang was silent for a while after hearing this, and then said, "Your Majesty, the law is nothing but human nature!"
"You are wrong, sir!"
Zhao Xing shook his head and said, "Law is nothing but human feelings. It means that when designating laws, we should fully consider people's morality and emotions, rather than considering other factors when using the laws we have formulated."
The law can never be absolutely fair.
In Zhao Xing's opinion, various factors need to be considered in detail during the formulation process, but no emotional factors should be mixed in during the use process.
Once emotional factors are involved, it will also give people room to take advantage.
In this way, the law becomes almost meaningless.
To give a simple example, if a person commits a capital crime, but because his adopted parents need him to support them, can he be released and allowed to earn money to support them?
No matter how pitiful the family of a death row inmate is, it cannot offset the crime he has committed.
Once it can be offset, the families of people who commit capital crimes in the future will probably all have this kind of template.
"The rest of the questions will be based on what the prime minister said, and the third question will be based on what I said. If the answers are the same, the one with a clearer explanation will be preferred." Zhao Xing said.
(End of this chapter)