Chapter Thirty-One: Power Is Like a Boat, Carrying Men to Life or Death

County Magistrate Li Yi frowned.
"Master Gu, are you stealing my lines?"
"What evidence do you have?" Li Yi asked.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Li Yi. "I ask that the Magistrate order someone to drag the wooden boat from the pond into the court."
Li Yi glanced at Gu Zhengchen in confusion, then shifted his gaze toward the seemingly composed Wang Fugui, ordering his bailiffs to fetch the boat.
It was not difficult to retrieve the small wooden boat.
When the boat was placed in the court, Wang Fugui examined it. Seeing nothing amiss, he felt relieved. "Master Gu, how does this count as evidence?"
Gu Zhengchen pointed to the boat and said sternly, "I have made inquiries. This boat belongs to the Wang family. Outsiders, fearing the Wang family, dare not use it without permission. In the spring of the second year of Hongwu, the Wang family paid to purchase the pond from Master Liu, and subsequently bought a batch of fish fry, ducks, and geese to raise there. This is true, is it not?"
"Is there anything wrong with buying a pond and raising some fish?" Wang Fugui retorted.
Gu Zhengchen shook his head, his gaze cold. "Raising fish would hardly mask the stench of a rotting corpse at the bottom of the water. It was the ducks and geese that truly served that purpose!"
Wang Fugui scoffed. "Nonsense."
Li Yi struck his gavel. "Master Gu, I fear this does not constitute evidence."
Gu Zhengchen nodded slightly and pointed to the small boat in the court. "Magistrate, this boat is covered in bloodstains. Does that count as evidence?"
"Blood?" Li Yi stood up to take a look. Although the boat was somewhat dirty, at a glance, there was no blood to be seen.
The County Assistant, Jin Dache, stepped forward to examine it closely and shook his head at Li Yi.
"Where is the blood?" Li Yi’s expression darkened.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Wang Fugui, bent down, picked up the boat’s mooring rope, and gritted his teeth. "This rope hasn't been replaced in years; if it weren't so thick, it would have snapped long ago. I wonder if Master Wang has noticed that this rope is covered in brownish-black stains? But this is a white palm-fiber rope—where would such stains come from? When you were washing the blood off the boat that night, you must have forgotten to wash the rope along with it."
"Coroner!" Li Yi called out immediately.
The coroner stepped forward, took the rope, examined it carefully, and replied to Li Yi, "It is indeed blood. As for whether it is human or otherwise, it is impossible to determine."
Wang Fugui hurriedly said, "It was likely splashed on there when slaughtering ducks and geese. Besides, the Wang family doesn't watch the boat every day; if someone else used it, what does that have to do with us? This cannot prove that I murdered Gu Ping."
Li Yi shouted with authority, "While this evidence alone may not be enough to prove you murdered Gu Ping, it matches the testimonies of Deng Quan and Huang Lin, and is sufficient to prove that this specific boat was used to sink the body!"
Wang Fugui stubbornly refused to admit it. "This is nothing but a frame-up. You officials just want to extort the wealthy and line your own pockets, don't you? If that’s the case, why not just state how much money you want instead of putting on this act?"

County Assistant Jin Dache barked, "Insolent!"
Wang Fugui remained unbothered. "If the Magistrate has no other evidence, two pairs of lips alone are not enough to convict me."
Li Yi glanced at Wang Fugui. It was clear that this fellow intended to resist to the end and never confess.
*Gu Zhengchen, do you see? In the future, you may face even trickier situations. When there is no physical proof, how will you respond?*
*This time, I will teach you.*
*One day, when you become a court official, you must be a champion for the people!*
The gavel sounded once more.
Li Yi said in a deep voice, "Take Wang Fugui into custody for now. Summon the Wang family steward, Wang Zhi, and the servants, Wang Er and Wang Liu."
A look of panic flashed across Wang Fugui’s face. "Magistrate..."
"Take him away!" Li Yi commanded.
Shortly thereafter, the steward Wang Zhi and the servants Wang Er and Wang Liu were brought into the court.
Li Yi said sternly, "Gu Ping was murdered and his body sunk in the pond. You must surely know about this?"
Wang Zhi, Wang Er, and Wang Liu were anxious and kept claiming they knew nothing.
Li Yi looked at the Chief Clerk, Sun Ang. "Tell them the laws of the Great Ming!"
Sun Ang handed his brush to a scribe, cleared the papers from his desk, and said solemnly, "The *Code of Laws: Human Life* explicitly states: whoever commits murder and initiates the plot shall be beheaded. Accomplices who contribute to the act shall be strangled. Those who do not actively contribute shall receive one hundred strokes of the heavy staff and be exiled three thousand *li*. Before you speak, think clearly: did you assist Wang Fugui in the murder that night? If you did, you will be strangled. If you did not, it is one hundred strokes and exile!"
Cold sweat broke out on the three men. They turned to look for Wang Fugui, but he was no longer there.
Li Yi struck the table with a loud *thwack* and roared, "The District Clerk Huang Lin and the commoner Deng Quan have both seen the scene of the murder that day, and they saw who helped Wang Fugui sink the body and who fetched the stones! Will you confess now, or are you waiting for the torture to begin? Speak! Did you assist Wang Fugui in the murder and body disposal?"
Wang Liu, terrified and losing his composure, blurted out, "Yes, it was Master Wang alone! I only helped move the stones; it has nothing to do with me! Magistrate, have mercy!"
Once these words were spoken, the truth came to light.
Wang Liu did not want to die; one hundred strokes and exile were better than being hanged.
With one person confessing, the other two dared not hide the truth. They all knew the District Clerk, who was present at the scene and had already confessed; why wait any longer? Since Wang Fugui was the one who actually killed him, let him face the consequences.
Gu Zhengchen watched County Magistrate Li Yi, secretly astonished.
Is this the method of a Magistrate?
Combining psychological pressure with absolute authority!
He managed to get all three to confess, using ambiguous wording that led them to believe the case was already airtight and the evidence irrefutable.
Once their confessions were recorded, they pressed their thumbprints on the documents.

After reviewing them, Li Yi pressed further, "When Gu Ping was murdered, did he have any valuables on him?"
Wang Zhi replied, "Gu Ping only had three hundred copper coins on him. We didn't take that money; the Master took it. Afterward, the Master gave us twenty taels each and told us to forget about it..."
Li Yi nodded slightly and summoned Wang Fugui back. "Chief Clerk, show the Master the testimonies of these three."
Seeing that he had been betrayed, Wang Fugui slumped down, utterly despondent.
According to the Great Ming Code, even without physical evidence, if there are enough witnesses and their testimonies are consistent and cross-corroborate each other, it is sufficient for a conviction.
Moreover, Wang Zhi and the others had revealed that the stones used to sink the body were still at the bottom of the pond, and that Wang Fugui had exerted such force during the murder that the stones had cut his palm; the scar on his hand was clear proof.
This trial was swift, decisive, and efficient, giving Gu Zhengchen a true glimpse of the formidable power of an official.
This is power!
I, too, want to sit in that chair and wield the official seal.
One word spoken, and all must obey!
Gu Zhengchen longed to enter the Ming officialdom; he longed to grasp that power.
The Hongwu dynasty was like an ocean, filled with countless raging waves.
Power was like a boat, carrying people through life and death.
It could sink to the ocean floor.
Or it could ferry one to the other shore.
Gu Zhengchen wanted to see that great man who had founded the two-hundred-seventy-six-year legacy of the Ming Dynasty; he wanted to see his imperial statecraft and his blueprint for the world!
Li Yi closed the case, sentencing Wang Fugui to beheading, and Wang Zhi and the others to one hundred strokes of the heavy staff and exile three thousand *li*. He ordered the Chief Clerk to draft the official report to be sent to the capital.
The authority of a Ming County Magistrate only extended to the light and heavy floggings.
Crimes of penal servitude and exile required reporting to the Prefecture level for adjudication.
As for the death penalty, it had to be sent to the capital to be decided by the judicial departments, and after review, submitted to the Emperor for final approval before being sent back to the locality for execution.
In the Ming Dynasty, a Magistrate could not simply order someone taken out and beheaded after the trial.
The power of life and death rested solely with the Imperial Court.
More specifically, the lives of all under heaven lay at the tip of Old Zhu’s brush!