1
律令者，有司之所守也。 太祖以來，其所自斷，則輕重取舍，有法外之意焉。 然其末流之弊，專用己私以亂祖宗之成憲者多矣。
Statutes and ordinances are the province of the bureaucracy to enforce. From the time of Taizu onward, when emperors ruled on cases themselves, their weighing of severity and mercy often carried implications outside the letter of the law. In later times, however, the abuse of that discretion often meant acting on private whim and overturning the established statutes of the founding emperors.
2
乾德伐蜀之役，有軍大校割民妻乳而殺之，太祖召至闕，數其罪。 近臣營求頗切，帝曰：「朕興師伐罪，婦人何辜，而殘忍至此！」 遂斬之。
During the Qiande campaign against Shu, a senior army officer cut a civilian woman's breast and killed her. Taizu summoned him to court and enumerated his crimes. A courtier pressed eagerly for leniency. The Emperor said, "I raised armies to punish wrongdoing—what had this woman done to deserve cruelty like this?" He had him executed at once.
3
時郡縣吏承五季之習，黷貨厲民，故尤嚴貪墨之罪。 開寶四年，王元吉守英州，月餘，受贓七十餘萬，帝以嶺表初平，欲懲掊克之吏，特詔棄市。
Local officials still followed the corrupt practices of the Five Dynasties, extorting goods and oppressing the people, so the penalties for graft were especially harsh. In Kaibao 4, Wang Yuanji served as prefect of Yingzhou and within little more than a month took bribes exceeding seven hundred thousand cash. Because the far south had only recently been pacified, the Emperor wished to make an example of grasping officials and issued a special order for public execution.
4
陝州民范義超，周顯德中，以私怨殺同里常古真家十二口，古真小子留留幸脫走，至是，擒義超訴有司，陝州奏，引赦當原。 帝曰：「豈有殺一家十二人，可以赦論邪？」 命正其罪。
Fan Yichao, a commoner of Shanzhou, had killed twelve members of his neighbor Chang Guzhen's household out of private spite during the Zhou Xiande era. Guzhen's young son Liuliu had fortunately escaped. Now Yichao was seized and brought before the authorities. Shanzhou reported that an amnesty should absolve him. The Emperor said, "Can a man who slaughtered twelve people in one family really be pardoned?" He ordered the proper penalty applied.
5
八年，有司言：「自三年至今，詔所貸死罪凡四千一百八人。」 帝注意刑辟，哀矜無辜，嘗嘆曰：「堯、舜之時，四凶之罪止於投竄。 先王用刑，蓋不獲已，何近代憲網之密耶！」 故自開寶以來，犯大辟，非情理深害者，多得貸死。
In the eighth year, the authorities reported, "From the third year to the present, edicts have commuted capital sentences for a total of 4,118 persons." The Emperor kept a close eye on criminal justice and pitied the innocent. He once sighed, "In the age of Yao and Shun, even the Four Evildoers were punished only with exile. The sage kings used punishment only when they had no alternative—why are the laws of recent times so tight?" From Kaibao onward, most offenders facing death unless their crimes were extraordinarily heinous in motive and effect had their sentences commuted.
6
太平興國六年，自春涉夏不雨，太宗意獄訟濫。 會歸德節度推官李承信因市笞園戶，病創死。 帝聞之，坐承信棄市。
In Taiping Xingguo 6, drought lasted from spring into summer, and Taizong suspected that the courts were overburdened with cases. Around the same time, Li Chengxin, a judicial aide on the Guide military commission, beat a gardener in a market dispute, and the man died of his injuries. On hearing of it, the Emperor had Chengxin executed in public.
7
初，太祖嘗決繫囚，多得寬貸。 而開封婦人殺其夫前室子，當徒二年，帝以其凶虐殘忍，特處死； 至是，有涇州安定婦人，怒夫前妻之子婦，絕其吭而殺之，乃下詔曰：「自今繼母殺傷夫前妻子，及姑殺婦者，同凡人論。」 雍熙元年，開封寡婦劉使婢詣府，訴其夫前室子王元吉毒己將死，右軍巡推不得實，移左軍巡掠治，元吉自誣伏，俄劉死，及府中慮囚，移司錄司案問，頗得其侵誣之狀，累月未決，府白于上，以其毒無顯狀，令免死，決徒。 元吉妻張擊登聞鼓稱，帝召問張，盡得其狀，立遣中使捕元推官吏，御史鞫問，乃劉有姦狀，慚悸成疾，懼其子發覺而誣之，推官及左、右軍巡使等削任降秩，醫工詐稱被毒，劉母弟欺隱王氏財物及推吏受贓者，並流海島，餘決罰有差。 司錄主吏賞緡錢，賜束帛。 初元吉之繫，左軍巡卒繫縛搒治，謂之「鼠彈箏」，極其慘毒。 帝令以其法縛獄卒，宛轉號叫求速死，及解縛，兩手良久不能動。 帝謂宰相曰：「京邑之內，乃復酷如此，况四方乎？」
Earlier, when Taizu reviewed prisoners, he had often shown mercy. When a Kaifeng woman killed her stepson, the statute called for two years' penal servitude, but the Emperor, finding her conduct vicious and cruel, ordered her executed; Now a woman in Anding, Jingzhou, enraged at her stepson's wife, cut her throat and killed her. The Emperor then decreed, "From now on, stepmothers who kill or injure their husbands' children by a former marriage, and mothers-in-law who kill their daughters-in-law, shall be tried like anyone else." In Yongxi 1, a Kaifeng widow named Liu sent a servant to the prefectural court to accuse her stepson Wang Yuanji of poisoning her. The Right Army Patrol could not prove the charge and handed the case to the Left Army Patrol, who tortured Yuanji until he confessed. Liu soon died. When the prefecture reviewed its prisoners, the Judicial Recorder's office took up the case and largely uncovered a false accusation, but months passed without a resolution. The prefecture reported upward that, with no clear proof of poisoning, Yuanji should be spared death and sentenced to penal servitude. Yuanji's wife Zhang beat the Petition Drum. The Emperor summoned her, learned the full story, and at once sent a palace envoy to seize the original investigators. The Censorate found that Liu had been carrying on an affair, fell ill from shame and fear, and, afraid her stepson would expose her, had framed him. The judicial aide and the Left and Right Army Patrol commissioners were demoted; the physician who falsely claimed poisoning, Liu's uterine brother who had concealed the Wang family's property, and clerks who took bribes were all exiled to island penal colonies; others were punished according to their roles. The chief clerk of the Judicial Recorder's office was rewarded with cash and given bolts of silk. When Yuanji was first imprisoned, the Left Army Patrol bound and beat him with a torture called the "rat-on-a-zither," inflicting extreme cruelty. The Emperor had the same method applied to the guards. Writhing, they screamed for a quick death. When they were untied, their hands could not move for a long while. The Emperor told his chief ministers, "If it is this cruel in the capital, what must it be like everywhere else?"
8
端拱間，虜犯邊郡，北面部署言：「文安、大城二縣監軍段重誨等棄城遁，請論以軍法。」 帝遣中使就斬之。 既行，謂曰：「此得非所管州軍召之邪？ 往訊之乃決。」 使至，果訊得乾寧牒令部送民入居城，非擅離所部，遽釋之。
During the Duanhong era, when barbarians raided the frontier, the Northern Frontier Command reported that Duan Chonghui and other military supervisors of Wen'an and Dacheng had abandoned their posts and fled, and asked that they be tried under military law." The Emperor sent a palace envoy to execute them on the spot. After the envoy had left, the Emperor said, "Might they not have been summoned by the prefectural army that commanded them? Go and inquire before you decide." When the envoy arrived, inquiry showed that a Qianning dispatch had ordered them to move the people into the walled town—they had not deserted their posts—and he released them at once.
9
咸平間，有三司軍將趙永昌者，素凶暴，督運江南，多為姦贓。 知饒州韓昌齡廉得其狀，乃移轉運使馮亮，坐決杖停職。 遂撾登聞鼓，訟昌齡與亮訕謗朝政，仍偽刻印，作亮等求解之狀。 真宗察其詐，於便殿自臨訊，永昌屈伏，遂斬之，釋亮不問，而昌齡以他事貶郢州團練副使。 曹州民蘇莊蓄兵器，匿亡命，豪奪民產，積贓計四十萬。 御史臺請籍其家，帝曰：「暴橫之民，國有常法，籍之，斯過也。」 論如律。 其縱捨輕重，必當於義，多類此。
During the Xianping era, a Three Departments army officer named Zhao Yongchang was notoriously brutal. While supervising transport in the south, he committed many corrupt acts. Han Changling, prefect of Raozhou, investigated and reported him to transport commissioner Feng Liang. Yongchang was sentenced to beating with the rod and suspension from office. He then beat the Petition Drum, accusing Changling and Liang of slandering court policy, and forged a seal and fabricated petitions in Liang's name seeking to have the case dropped. Zhenzong saw through the fraud, interrogated him personally in a side hall, and Yongchang confessed and was executed. Liang was released without further inquiry, while Changling was demoted to deputy military commissioner of Ezhou on another charge. Su Zhuang, a commoner of Caozhou, stockpiled weapons, harbored fugitives, seized people's property by force, and amassed illicit gains totaling four hundred thousand cash. The Censorate asked to confiscate his household property. The Emperor said, "For violent bullies the state already has regular penalties—to confiscate their households would go too far." He was sentenced according to statute. Their loosening or tightening of punishment always had to accord with principle—many cases were like this.
10
凡歲饑，強民相率持杖劫人倉廩，法應棄市，每具獄上聞，輒貸其死。 真宗時，蔡州民三百一十八人有罪，皆當死。 知州張榮、推官江嗣宗議取為首者杖脊，餘悉論杖罪。 帝下詔褒之。 遣使巡撫諸道，因諭之曰：「平民艱食，強取餱糧以圖活命爾，不可從盜法科之。」 天聖初，有司嘗奏盜劫米傷主，仁宗曰：「饑劫米可哀，盜傷主可疾。 雖然，無知迫於食不足耳。」 命貸之。 五年，陝西旱，因詔：「民劫倉廩，非傷主者減死，刺隸他州，非首謀又減一等。」 自是，諸路災傷即降敕，饑民為盜，多蒙矜減，賴以全活者甚眾。 司馬光時知諫院，言曰：「臣聞敕下京東、西災傷州軍，如貧戶以饑偷盜斛斗因而盜財者，與減等斷放，臣竊以為非便。 周禮荒政十有二，散利、薄征、緩刑、力、舍禁、去幾，率皆推寬大之恩以利於民，獨於盜賊，愈更嚴急。 蓋以饑饉之歲，盜賊必多，殘害良民，不可不除。 頃年嘗見州縣官吏，有不知治體，務為小仁。 遇凶年，劫盜斛斗，輒寬縱之，則盜賊公行，更相劫奪，鄉村大擾，不免廣有收捕，重加刑辟，或死或流，然後稍定。 今若朝廷明降敕文，豫言與減等斷放，是勸民為盜也。 百姓乏食，當輕徭薄賦、開倉振貸以救其死，不當使之自相劫奪。 今歲府界、京東、京西水災極多，嚴刑峻法以除盜賊，猶恐春冬之交，饑民嘯聚，不可禁禦，又况降敕以勸之。 臣恐國家始於寬仁，而終於酷暴，意在活人而殺人更多也。」 事報聞。 帝嘗御邇英閣經筵，講《周禮》「大荒大札，薄征緩刑」，楊安國曰：「緩刑者，乃過誤之民耳，當歲歉則赦之，憫其窮也。 今眾持兵杖劫糧廩，一切寬之，恐不足以禁姦。」 帝曰：「不然，天下皆吾赤子也。 一遇饑饉，州縣不能振恤，饑莩所迫，遂至為盜，又捕而殺之，不亦甚乎？」
In years of famine, desperate men often banded together with clubs to raid granaries. By law they faced public execution, but whenever such cases were reported upward, death was usually commuted. Under Zhenzong, 318 commoners of Caizhou were found guilty, all facing death. Prefect Zhang Rong and judicial aide Jiang Sizong proposed beating only the ringleaders on the back and sentencing the rest to ordinary beating. The Emperor issued an edict praising them. He sent envoys to tour the circuits and instructed them, "When common people lack food, seizing grain to stay alive is one thing—they must not be sentenced under the full bandit statutes." Early in Tiansheng, the authorities reported a case of grain robbery in which the owner was injured. Renzong said, "Robbing grain in famine is pitiable; robbery that injures the owner is detestable. Even so, they were ignorant people driven by hunger." He ordered their sentences commuted. In the fifth year, drought struck Shaanxi, and an edict followed: "When commoners raid granaries, if the owner was not injured, commute death; brand them and register them in another prefecture; if they were not the chief plotter, reduce the sentence one more grade." Thereafter, whenever any circuit suffered disaster, edicts followed, and hungry people who turned to banditry mostly received compassionate reductions—very many were spared to live. Sima Guang, then in the Remonstrance Bureau, said, "I have heard that an edict went out to disaster-stricken prefectures in Jingdong and Jingxi: when poor households steal grain because of famine and thereby steal property, they are to receive reduced sentences and release. I believe this is unwise. The Zhou Rites list twelve famine policies—dispersing profit, lightening levies, easing punishments, employing labor, lifting prohibitions, removing market duties—all extending generous favor to help the people; only toward bandits and thieves does policy grow stricter. In famine years bandits multiply and harm good people—they cannot be left unchecked. In recent years I have seen prefectural and county officials who did not understand governance and strove for petty kindness. In bad years, when people robbed grain, they would leniently release them; then bandits operated openly, robbed one another, and villages were thrown into chaos. Inevitably there followed widespread arrests, harsh punishments, death and exile—only then did order gradually return. If the court now issues an edict in advance announcing reduced sentences and release, that is encouraging people to become bandits. When the people lack food, the state should lighten corvée, reduce levies, open granaries, and extend relief loans to save them—not leave them to rob one another. This year floods have struck the metropolitan region, Jingdong, and Jingxi on a vast scale. Even with severe punishments to suppress banditry, we still fear that at the turn of spring and winter hungry people may gather in unrest beyond control—how much more if an edict encourages them. I fear the state will begin with lenient benevolence and end in cruel violence—intending to spare lives yet killing more people." The memorial was noted. The Emperor once attended a Classics lecture at the Erying Pavilion on the Zhou Rites passage "in great famine and great pestilence, lighten levies and ease punishments." Yang Anguo said, "Easing punishments applies to people who erred through mistake; when the harvest fails one pardons them out of pity for their destitution. When crowds take up arms to raid granaries, to pardon them all alike will probably not suffice to restrain crime." The Emperor said, "That is not so—all under Heaven are my children. When famine strikes and prefectures and counties cannot relieve them, driven by hunger they turn to banditry—then to capture and kill them, is that not excessive?"
11
仁宗聽斷，尤以忠厚為主。 隴安縣民誣平民五人為劫盜，尉悉執之，一人掠死，四人遂引服。 其家辨于州，州不為理，悉論死。 未幾，秦州捕得真盜，隴州吏當坐法而會赦，帝怒，特貶知州孫濟為雷州參軍，餘皆除名流嶺南。 賜錢粟五家，復其役三年。 因下詔戒敕州縣。 廣州司理參軍陳仲約誤入人死，有司當仲約公罪，應贖。 帝謂審刑院張揆曰：「死者不可復生，而獄吏雖廢，復得敘官。」 命特治之，會赦勿敘用。 尚書比部員外郎師仲說請老，自言恩得任子，帝以仲說嘗失入人死罪，不與。 其重人命如此。
In his hearings and decisions, Renzong especially prized loyal generosity. A man in Long'an county falsely accused five civilians of banditry. The district captain arrested them all; one died under torture and the other four confessed. Their families appealed to the prefecture, which refused to hear them and sentenced all to death. Soon Qinzhou captured the real bandits. The Longzhou officials should have been punished but encountered an amnesty. The Emperor was furious and demoted Prefect Sun Ji to military aide of Leizhou; the rest were dismissed and exiled to Lingnan. He bestowed money and grain on the five families and exempted them from corvée for three years. He then issued an edict admonishing prefectures and counties. Chen Zhongyue, judicial aide of Guangzhou, by mistake caused a death. The authorities assessed him with a public-service offense for which redemption was due. The Emperor told Zhang Kui of the Court for Review of Punishments, "The dead cannot live again, yet though a prison clerk is dismissed he can be restored to office." He ordered special punishment; even if an amnesty came, he was not to be restored to office. Shizhong Shuo of the Ministry of Revenue requested retirement, claiming entitlement by grace to appoint a son to office. The Emperor refused, because Shuo had once by mistake entered a person into a capital offense. Such was his regard for human life.
12
時近臣有罪，多不下吏劾實，不付有司議法。 諫官王贄言：「情有輕重，理分故失，而一切出於聖斷，前後差異，有傷政體，刑法之官安所用哉？ 請自今悉付有司正以法。」 詔可。 近臣間有干請，輒為言官所斥。 諫官陳升之嘗言：「有司斷獄，或事連權倖，多以中旨釋之。 請有緣中旨得釋者，劾其干請之罪，以違制論。」 許之。 仁宗於賞罰無所私，尤不以貴近廢法。 屢戒有司：「被內降者，執奏，毋輒行。」 未嘗屈法以自徇也。 知虢州周日宣詭奏水災，有司論請如上書不實法。 帝曰：「州郡多言符瑞，至水旱之災，或抑而不聞。 今守臣自陳墊溺官私廬舍，意實在民，何可加罪？」
At the time, when court favorites committed offenses, they were rarely sent to clerks for investigation or handed to the legal authorities for sentencing. Remonstrance official Wang Zhi said, "Circumstances vary in severity; principle distinguishes intent from negligence—yet if everything is decided by imperial fiat with inconsistent results, governance is harmed. Of what use are the penal officials? I ask that from now on all such cases be handed to the legal authorities for judgment according to law." An edict approved the request. When court favorites made personal requests, remonstrance officials rebuked them at once. Remonstrance official Chen Shengzhi once said, "When the authorities decide cases involving powerful favorites, they are often released on secret imperial orders. I ask that those released by such orders be impeached for improper solicitation, judged as violation of regulations." This was approved. Renzong showed no partiality in rewards and punishments and especially would not set aside law for the well connected. He repeatedly admonished officials, "When you receive a secret imperial order, memorialize and hold it—do not carry it out at once." He never bent the law to indulge himself. Zhou Rixuan, prefect of Guozhou, falsely reported a flood. The authorities proposed sentencing under the statute for untrue memorials. The Emperor said, "Prefectures report omens readily enough, yet when floods and droughts strike they sometimes suppress the news. Now this prefect reports inundation of official and private dwellings himself—his intent is truly for the people. How can we punish him?"
13
英宗在位日淺，於政令未及有所更制。 然以吏習平安，慢於奉法，稍欲振起其怠惰。 三班奉職和欽貸所部綱錢，至絞，帝命貸死免杖，刺隸福建路牢城。 知審刑院盧士宗請稍寬其罪，帝曰：「刑故而得寬，則死者滋眾，非『刑期無刑』之道。 俟有過誤，貸無傷也。」 富國倉監官受米濕惡，壞十八萬石，會恩當減，帝特命奪官停之。
Yingzong reigned briefly and had not yet been able to reform governmental orders. Yet because officials had grown accustomed to peace and were slack in upholding law, he wished slightly to rouse their indolence. He Qin, a third-rank attendant, had lent out his unit's transport funds and faced strangulation. The Emperor commuted death and exempted beating, branding him and registering him in a Fujian penal fortress. Lu Shizong, director of the Court for Review of Punishments, asked to lighten the sentence. The Emperor said, "When intentional crimes receive leniency, executions multiply—that is not the Way of 'punishment aims at no punishment. Wait until there is negligence through mistake—then commutation does no harm." The supervisor of the Fuguo granary accepted damp, spoiled grain and ruined 180,000 piculs. An amnesty would have reduced the sentence, but the Emperor specially ordered removal from office and suspension.
14
熙寧二年，內殿崇班鄭從易母、兄俱亡於嶺外，歲餘方知，請行服。 神宗曰：「父母在遠，當朝夕為念。 經時無安否之問，以至踰年不知存亡邪？」 特除名勒停。 四年，王存立言：「嘉祐中，同學究出身，為碭山縣尉，嘗納官贖父配隸罪，請同舉人法，得免丁徭。」 帝憫之，復賜出身，仍與注官。 九年，知桂州沈起欲經略交趾，取其慈恩州，交人遂破欽，犯邕管。 詔邊人橫遭屠戮，職其致寇，罪悉在起，特削官爵，編置遠惡州。
In Xining 2, Zheng Congyi of the Inner Hall Honored Class learned only after more than a year that his mother and elder brother had both died in the far south and requested mourning leave. Shenzong said, "When parents are far away, one should think of them morning and evening. To go so long without asking after their welfare, until more than a year passes without knowing whether they live or die—is that permissible?" He was struck from the rolls and suspended. In the fourth year, Wang Cunli memorialized, "In the Jiayou era, having passed the examination for classicist origin, I served as district captain of Dangshan and once paid the authorities to redeem my father's offense of penal registration. I ask that, like examination graduates, I be exempted from corvée and levies." The Emperor took pity on him, restored his examination status, and still granted him an office appointment. In the ninth year, Shen Qi, prefect of Guizhou, sought to pacify Jiaozhi and seize Ci'en prefecture. The Jiao people then overran Qin and invaded Yong and Guan. An edict declared that border people had been slaughtered in vain and that Qi alone was responsible for bringing the invaders. He was stripped of office and rank and registered in a distant, harsh prefecture.
15
復讎，後世無法。 仁宗時，單州民劉玉父為王德毆死，德更赦，玉私殺德以復父讎。 帝義之，杖、編管。 元豐元年，青州民王贇父為人毆死，贇幼，未能復讎。 幾冠，刺讎，斷支首祭父墓，自首，論當斬，帝以殺讎祭父，又自歸罪，其情可矜，詔貸死，刺配鄰州。 宣州民葉元，有同居兄亂其妻，縊殺之，又殺兄子，強其父與嫂為約契不訟。 鄰里發其事，州為上請，帝曰：「罪人以死，姦亂之事特出葉元之口，不足以定罪。 且下民雖無知，固宜哀矜，然以妻子之愛，既罔其父，又殺其兄，戕其姪，逆理敗倫，宜以毆兄至死律論。」
Blood vengeance had no place in later law. Under Renzong, Liu Yu of Shanzhou—his father had been beaten to death by Wang De. After De received amnesty, Yu privately killed him to avenge his father. The Emperor approved his conduct morally; he was beaten and placed under registered supervision. In the first year of Yuanfeng, Wang Yun of Qingzhou—his father had been beaten to death by another. Yun was young and could not yet take revenge. When he was nearly of age, he stabbed his enemy, cut off a limb and head to sacrifice at his father's tomb, and surrendered. By law he faced execution, but the Emperor found his circumstances pitiable—he had killed his enemy to honor his father and had surrendered himself—and commuted death, branding him and assigning him to a neighboring prefecture. Ye Yuan of Xuanzhou had a coresident elder brother who violated his wife. He strangled the brother, killed the brother's son, and forced his father and sister-in-law to sign a pact not to sue. Neighbors exposed the matter and the prefecture memorialized upward. The Emperor said, "To punish with death—the charge of adultery and disorder rests solely on Ye Yuan's word and is insufficient to convict. Moreover, though common people deserve pity, for love of his wife he deceived his father, killed his elder brother, and destroyed his nephew—against principle and ruining human relations. He should be judged under the statute for beating an elder brother to death."
16
紹聖以來，連起黨獄，忠良屏斥，國以空虛。 徽宗嗣位，外事耳目之玩，內窮聲色之欲，徵發亡度，號令靡常。 於是蔡京、王黼之屬，得以誣上行私，變亂法制。 崇寧五年，詔曰：「出令制法，重輕予奪在上。 比降特旨處分，而三省引用敕令，以為妨礙，沮抑不行，是以有司之常守，格人主之威福。 夫擅殺生之謂王，能利害之謂王，何格令之有？ 臣強之漸，不可不戒。 自今應有特旨處分，間有利害，明具論奏，虛心以聽； 如或以常法沮格不行，以大不恭論。」 明年，詔：「凡御筆斷罪，不許詣尚書省陳訴。 如違，並以違御筆論。」 又定令：「凡應承受御筆官府，稽滯一時杖一百，一日徒二年，二日加一等，罪止流三千里，三日以大不恭論。」 由是吏因緣為姦，用法巧文寖深，無復祖宗忠厚之志。 窮極奢侈，以竭民力，自速禍機。 靖康雖知悔悟，稍誅姦惡，而謀國匪人，終亦末如之何矣。
From the Shaosheng era onward, factional prosecutions arose in succession, loyal officials were driven out, and the state grew hollow. When Huizong succeeded, he pursued outward diversions and inward indulgence in pleasure, levied without measure, and issued inconstant orders. Thereupon men like Cai Jing and Wang Fu were able to deceive the ruler, pursue private ends, and overturn statutes and institutions. In Chongning 5, an edict said, "Issuing orders and making law—the weighting of severity and leniency, granting and taking away, lies with the ruler. Recently special edicts have been issued, yet the Three Departments cite ordinances as obstructing them and block execution—thus routine official duties check the sovereign's authority. To monopolize life and death is kingship; to benefit and harm at will is kingship—what need for regulations and ordinances? The gradual advance of ministerial power cannot go unheeded. From now on, whenever special edict dispositions arise, if there are pros and cons, set them forth clearly in memorial and listen with an open mind; if anyone blocks execution with regular law, judge it as great irreverence." The next year, an edict declared, "For all crimes decided by imperial brush, appeal to the Department of State Affairs is not permitted. Violators are judged as violating the imperial brush." Regulations were also fixed: "For offices that should receive the imperial brush, delay of one period—one hundred blows; one day—two years' penal servitude; two days—one grade added; maximum offense—exile three thousand li; three days—great irreverence." Thereby clerks seized opportunities for corruption; legal craft grew ever harsher, and the ancestors' spirit of loyal generosity was lost. Extravagance was pushed to the limit, the people's strength was exhausted, and they hastened calamity themselves. At Jingkang they knew repentance and executed some traitors, yet unworthy men still schemed against the state—in the end nothing could be done.
17
高宗性仁柔，其於用法，每從寬厚，罪有過貸，而未嘗過殺。 知常州周擅殺人，帝曰：「朕日親聽斷，豈不能任情誅僇，顧非理耳。」 即命削籍。 大理率以儒臣用法平允者為之。 獄官入對，即以慘酷為戒。 臺臣、士曹有所平反，輒與之轉官。 每臨軒慮囚，未嘗有送下者，曰：「吾恐有司觀望，鍛鍊以為重輕也。」 吏部員外郎劉大中奉使江南回，遷左司諫，帝尋以為祕書少監。 謂宰臣朱勝非曰：「大中奉使，頗多興獄，今使為諫官，恐四方觀望耳。」 其用心忠厚如此。 後詔：「用刑慘酷責降之人，勿堂除及親民，止與遠小監當差遣。」 當建、紹間，天下盜起，往往攻城屠邑，至興師以討之，然得貸亦眾。 同知樞密院事李回嘗奏強盜之數，帝曰：「皆吾赤子也，豈可一一誅之？ 誅其渠魁三兩人足矣。」 至待貪吏則極嚴：應受贓者，不許堂除及親民； 犯枉法自盜者，籍其名中書，罪至徒即不敘，至死者，籍其貲。 諸文臣寄祿官並帶「左」、「右」字，贓罪人則去之。 是年，申嚴真決贓吏法。 令三省取具祖宗故事，有以舊法棄市事上者，帝曰：「何至爾耶？ 但斷遣之足矣。 貪吏害民，雜用刑威，有不得已，然豈忍寘縉紳於死地邪？」 在徽宗時，刑法已峻，雖嘗裁定笞杖之制，而有司猶從重比。 中興之初，詔用政和遞減法，自是迄嘉定不易。 自蔡京當國，凡所請御筆以壞正法者，悉釐正之。 諸獄具，令當職官依式檢校。 枷以乾木為之，輕重長短刻識其上，笞杖不得留節目，亦不得釘飾及加筋膠之類，仍用官給火印。 暑月每五日一洗濯枷杻，刑、寺輪官一員，躬親監視。 諸獄司並旬申禁狀，品官、命婦在禁，別具單狀。 合奏案者，具情款招伏奏聞，法司朱書檢坐條例、推司錄問、檢法官吏姓名于後。 各州每年開收編配羈管奴婢人及斷過編配之數，各置籍。 各路提點刑獄司，歲具本路州軍斷過大辟申刑部，諸州申提刑司。 其應書禁曆而不書，應申所屬而不申，奏案不依式，檢坐開具違令，回報不圓致妨詳覆，與提刑司詳覆大辟而稽留、失覆大辟致罪有出入者，各抵罪。 知州兼統兵者，非出師臨陳，毋用重刑。 州縣月具繫囚存亡之數申提刑司，歲終比較，死囚最多者，當職官黜責，其最少者，褒賞之。 舊以絹計贓者，千三百為一匹，竊盜至二貫者徒。 至是，又加優減，以二千為一匹，盜至三貫者徒一年。 三年，復詔以三千為一匹，竊盜及凡以錢定罪，遞增五分。 四年，又詔：「特旨處死，情法不當者，許大理寺奏審。」 五年，歲終比較，宣州、衢州、福州無病死囚，當職官各轉一官； 舒州病死及一分，惠州二分六釐，當職官各降一官。 六年，令刑部體量公事，邵州、廣州、高州勘命官淹係至久不報，詔知州降一官，當職官展二年磨勘，當行吏永不收敘。 德慶府勘封川縣令事，七月不報，詔知州、勘官各抵罪。 九年，大理寺朱伯文廣西催斷刑獄，還言：「雷州海賊兩獄，並係平人七人，內五人已死。」 帝惻然，詔本路提刑以下重致罰。 十二年，御史臺點檢錢塘、仁和縣獄具，錢塘大杖，一多五錢半； 仁和枷，一多一斤，一輕半斤。 詔縣官各降一官。 十三年，詔：「禁囚無供飯者，臨安日支錢二十文，外路十五文。」 十六年，詔：「諸鞫獄追到干證人，無罪遣還者，每程給米一升半，錢十五文。」 二十一年，詔官支病囚藥物錢。 舊法，刑部郎官四人，分左右廳，或以詳覆，或以敘雪，同僚而異事，有防閑考覆之意。 南渡以來，務從簡省，大理少卿止一員，刑部郎中初無分異，獄有不得其情，法有不當於理者，無所平反追改。 二十六年，右司郎中汪應辰言之。 詔刑部郎官依元豐法，分左右廳治事。 二十七年，詔：「四川以錢引科罪者，準銅錢。」
Gaozong was benevolent and gentle; in applying law he always favored leniency—commuting when possible and never over-punishing with death. Zhou, prefect of Changzhou, killed someone on his own authority. The Emperor said, "I hear cases daily in person—could I not punish as I please? I look only to what is unreasonable." He at once ordered him struck from the rolls. The Court of Judicial Review generally appointed Confucian officials who applied law fairly. When prison officials entered audience, he admonished them against cruelty. Whenever censors or judicial clerks reversed wrongful convictions, he promoted them at once. Each time he reviewed prisoners in court, none were sent back down. He said, "I fear officials will watch and wait, forging cases to adjust severity." Liu Dazhong of the Ministry of Personnel returned from a mission to Jiangnan and was made Left Bureau remonstrance official; the Emperor soon appointed him vice director of the Palace Library. He told chief minister Zhu Shengfei, "On his mission Dazhong raised many prosecutions; to make him a remonstrance official now—I fear the realm will take it as a signal." Such was his loyal generosity of mind. Later an edict declared, "Those demoted for cruel punishment are not to receive hall appointments or posts among the people—only distant minor supervisory assignments." During the Jianyan and Shaoxing era, bandits arose throughout the realm, storming cities and slaughtering towns until armies were raised to suppress them—yet many also received commutation. Vice director of the Bureau of Military Affairs Li Hui once reported the number of armed robbers. The Emperor said, "They are all my children—how can they be executed one by one? Executing two or three ringleaders is enough." Toward corrupt officials he was extremely strict: those who took bribes were barred from hall appointments and posts among the people; those who violated law by embezzlement had their names registered at the Secretariat; if the offense reached penal servitude they were not restored; if it reached death, their property was confiscated. All civil officials on salary appointments bore the characters "Left" or "Right"; corrupt offenders had them removed. That year, the law for truly executing corrupt officials was strictly enforced. He ordered the Three Departments to gather ancestral precedents. When someone memorialized an old-law case of marketplace execution, the Emperor said, "How could it go that far? Simply sentencing and dispatching them is enough. Corrupt officials harm the people; harsh punishment is sometimes unavoidable—yet how could one bear to put gentry-officials to death?" Under Huizong, penal law was already severe; although the rod-and-cudgel system was once fixed, officials still followed heavy analogies. At the beginning of the restoration, an edict ordered use of the Zhenghe progressive-reduction method; from then until Jiading it was not changed. From the time Cai Jing held power, all imperial-brush measures that had damaged correct law were rectified. For all prison implements, duty officers were ordered to inspect according to the formulary. Cangues were made of dry wood with weight and dimensions marked on them. Beating rods were not to retain nodes or be reinforced or decorated. Official fire seals were still required. In summer, cangues and fetters were washed every five days, with one officer from the Penal and Judicial offices rotating to supervise in person. All prison offices reported detention status every ten days; ranked officials and titled ladies in detention had separate reports. Cases requiring memorial set forth the facts and confessions; the legal office wrote in vermilion the cited statutes, the investigating office's interrogation record, and the names of examining officials at the end. Each prefecture annually registered persons assigned, registered, detained under restraint, and slaves, and kept registers of sentences to assignment. Each circuit's judicial-intendant office annually reported capital sentences in its prefectures to the Ministry of Justice; prefectures reported to the judicial-intendant office. Those who failed to record detention calendars, failed to report upward, memorialized cases not according to form, cited statutes incorrectly, gave incomplete replies obstructing review, delayed capital review with the judicial-intendant office, or failed to review capital cases causing sentencing errors—all faced punishment. Prefects who also commanded troops were not to use heavy punishments unless deploying armies to battle. Prefectures and counties monthly reported prisoner numbers to the judicial-intendant office. At year-end, officials in districts with the most deaths in custody were demoted; those with the fewest were rewarded. Formerly, when calculating stolen goods in silk, 1,300 cash counted as one bolt; theft reaching two strings brought penal servitude. Now further lenient reduction was added: 2,000 for one bolt; theft reaching three strings brought one year penal servitude. In the third year, an edict set 3,000 for one bolt; for theft and all cash-based offenses, thresholds increased by five parts in succession. In the fourth year, another edict declared, "When special edicts order death but circumstances and law do not warrant it, the Court of Judicial Review may memorialize for review." In the fifth year, year-end comparison showed Xuanzhou, Quzhou, and Fuzhou had no prisoners who died of illness in custody; duty officers each advanced one rank; Shuzhou had illness deaths reaching one in ten; Huizhou two and six tenths in a hundred; duty officers each were reduced one rank. In the sixth year, the Ministry of Justice was ordered to assess cases. Shaozhou, Guangzhou, and Gaozhou kept detainees for extremely long periods without reporting. Prefects were reduced one rank, duty officers' merit review was extended two years, and handling clerks were never restored. Deqing investigated a Fengchuan county magistrate's case and did not report for seven months. The prefect and investigating officials each faced punishment. In the ninth year, Zhu Bowen of the Court of Judicial Review hurried to conclude cases in Guangxi and reported, "Two Leizhou sea-bandit cases both involved seven ordinary people; five were already dead." The Emperor was moved to pity and ordered heavy punishment for the circuit judicial intendant and below. In the twelfth year, the Censorate inspected prison implements in Qiantang and Renhe counties. One Qiantang heavy rod was five and a half cash too heavy; one Renhe cangue was one jin too heavy, another half a jin too light. County officials were each reduced one rank. In the thirteenth year, an edict declared, "Detained prisoners without provided meals receive twenty cash per day at Lin'an and fifteen on outer circuits." In the sixteenth year, an edict declared, "When key witnesses summoned for interrogation are found innocent and sent home, each stage of journey provides one and a half sheng of rice and fifteen cash." In the twenty-first year, an edict ordered official payment for sick prisoners' medicine. Under old law, four Ministry of Justice bureau directors divided into left and right halls—some for detailed review, some for petitioning redress—colleagues with different duties for mutual checks. Since the crossing south, striving for simplification, the Court of Judicial Review had only one vice director and Ministry of Justice directors had no division—when cases missed the facts or law missed reason, there was no mechanism to reverse and amend. In the twenty-sixth year, Wang Yingchen of the Right Bureau spoke of this. An edict ordered Ministry of Justice directors to follow Yuanfeng law and divide into left and right halls. In the twenty-seventh year, an edict declared, "In Sichuan, offenses judged by paper money notes are equated to copper cash."
18
孝宗究心庶獄，每歲臨軒慮囚，率先數日令有司進款案披閱，然後決遣。 法司更定律令，必親為訂正之。 丞相趙雄上《淳熙條法事類》，帝讀至收騾馬、舟舡、契書稅，曰：「恐後世有算及舟車之譏。」 《戶令》：「戶絕之家，許給其家三千貫，及二萬貫者取旨。」 帝曰：「其家不幸而絕，及二萬貫迺取之，是有心利其財也。」 又《捕亡律》：「公人不獲盜者，罰金。」 帝曰：「罰金而不加罪，是使之受財縱盜也。」 又：「監司、知州無額上供者賞。」 帝曰：「上供既無額，是白取於民也，可賞以誘之乎？」 並令削去之。 其明審如此。 且於用刑，未嘗以私廢法。 鎮江都統戚方以刻剝被罪，宰臣陳俊卿言內臣有主之者，帝曰：「朕亦聞之。」 乃以內侍陳瑜、李宗回等付大理獄，究其賂狀，獄成，決配之。 乾道二年下詔曰：「獄，重事也。 用法一傾，則民無所措手足。 比年以來，治獄之吏，巧持多端，隨意輕重之，朕甚患焉。 其自今革玩習之弊，明審克之公，使姦不容情，罰必當罪，用迪於刑之中，勉之哉，毋忽！」 三年，詔曰：「獄，重事也。 稽者有律，當者有比，疑者有讞。 比年顧以獄情白於執政，探取旨意，以為輕重，甚亡謂也。 自今其祗乃心，敬於刑，惟當為貴，毋習前非。 不如吾詔，吾將大寘於罰，罔攸赦。」 六年，詔：「以絹計贓者，更增一貫。 以四千為一匹。」 議者又言：「犯盜，以敕計錢定罪，以律計絹。 今律以絹定罪者遞增一千，敕內以錢定罪，亦合例增一千。」 從之。 臨安府左右司理、府院三獄，杖直獄子以無所給，至為無籍。 七年，詔：「人月給錢十貫，米六斗，每院止許置一十二人。」 時州縣獄禁淹延，八年，詔：「徒以上罪入禁三月者，提刑司類申刑部，置籍立限以督之。」 其後，又詔中書置禁，奏取會籍，大臣按閱，以察刑寺稽違，與夫不應問難而問難，不應會而會者。
Xiaozong devoted himself to ordinary cases. Each year before reviewing prisoners in court, he ordered authorities to submit case records several days in advance for perusal, then decided and dispatched. When the legal office revised statutes and ordinances, he always corrected them personally. Chief minister Zhao Xiong submitted the Chunxi Classified Statutes. When the Emperor read taxes on mules, horses, boats, ships, and contracts, he said, "I fear later ages will reproach us for taxing boats and carts." The Household Ordinance read, "For extinct households, permit giving the family three thousand strings; for twenty thousand strings, obtain imperial instruction." The Emperor said, "Their family unfortunately became extinct—only at twenty thousand strings do we take it. That shows intent to profit from their property." Again the Arrest of Fugitives statute read, "When government agents fail to capture bandits, fine them." The Emperor said, "To fine without adding guilt is to let them take money and release bandits." Again: "Circuit intendants and prefects who supply tribute beyond quota are rewarded." The Emperor said, "Since tribute has no quota, this is taking openly from the people—can we reward it to encourage more?" He ordered all struck out. Such was his clarity and scrutiny. Moreover, in applying punishment he never set aside law for private ends. Qi Fang, metropolitan commander of Zhenjiang, was punished for extortion. Chief minister Chen Junqing said inner attendants were behind it. The Emperor said, "I too have heard." He handed inner attendants Chen Yu, Li Zonghui, and others to the Court of Judicial Review, investigated their bribery, and when the case was complete sentenced them to assignment. In Qiandao 2 an edict declared, "Prisons are weighty affairs. If application of law tilts once, the people have nowhere to turn. In recent years, prison officials have craftily manipulated cases and arbitrarily adjusted severity—I am greatly troubled. From now reform lax habits, judge with clarity and impartiality, let wrongdoing hide in no sentiment, let punishments match guilt, and employ the mean in punishment—strive and do not neglect!" In the third year, an edict declared, "Prisons are weighty affairs. Delay belongs to the law; judgment belongs to precedent; doubt belongs to deliberation. In recent years officials have merely reported case details to the chief ministers, reading their intentions to set severity or leniency—a practice utterly devoid of principle. From now on, devote yourselves wholeheartedly to the law, treat punishment with reverence, hold proper judgment above all else, and do not repeat past abuses. Disobey this edict, and I shall impose severe punishment from which none shall be spared." In the sixth year, an edict declared, "For embezzlement calculated in silk, raise the threshold by one string. One bolt of silk was set at four thousand cash." Memorialists also argued, "For theft, convictions under the edict are calculated in cash, while those under the code are calculated in silk. Since silk-based convictions under the code are now raised by one thousand at each step, cash-based convictions under the edict should likewise be raised by one thousand." The proposal was approved. At the Left and Right Judicial Review offices and the three prefectural prisons of Lin'an, cudgel supervisors and prison guards went unpaid and sank so low as to become unregistered drifters. In the seventh year, an edict ordered ten strings of cash and six dou of rice per person per month, with no more than twelve staff allowed in each prison." As detention in prefecture and county prisons dragged on, in the eighth year an edict required circuit judicial intendants to report to the Ministry of Justice, by category, all cases of forced-labor offenders or above held three months or more, and to keep registers with deadlines for enforcement." Later, another edict required the Central Secretariat to keep detention records, submit them for comparison, and have senior ministers review them to detect delays at the judicial offices and improper questioning or joint deliberation.
19
淳熙初，浙西提刑鄭興裔上檢驗格目，詔頒之諸路提刑司。 凡檢覆必給三本：一申所屬，一申本司，一給被害之家。 紹興法，鞫獄官推勘不得實，故有不當者，一案坐之。 乾道法，又恐有移替事故者，即致淹延，乃令先決罪人不當，官吏案後收坐。 至是，所司請更定死罪依紹興法，餘依乾道施行，從之。 其後，有司以覆勘不同，則前官有失入之罪，往往雷同前勘。 帝知其弊，十四年，詔特免一案推結一次。 於是小大之獄，多得其情。 二廣州軍獄吏，畏憲司點檢送勘之害，凡有重囚，多斃於獄。 臣僚以為請，乃詔二廣提刑司詳覆公事，若小節不完，不須追逮獄吏，委本州究實保明； 遇有死者，必根究其所以致死。
Early in the Chunxi era, Zhexi Judicial Intendant Zheng Xingyi submitted standards for forensic inspection, and an edict ordered them promulgated to every circuit judicial intendant office. Every re-inspection had to produce three copies: one for the subordinate office, one for the intendant's office, and one for the victim's family. Under Shaoxing law, if an interrogating official failed to establish the facts and judgment was improper, the entire case was held against him. Under Qiandao law, fearing that transfers and replacements would cause delay, officials were told to decide the defendant's case first and hold the responsible officers accountable afterward. At this point the responsible office asked that capital cases again follow Shaoxing law while all others follow Qiandao practice; the request was approved. Afterward, since a differing re-investigation would expose prior officials to charges of excessive sentencing, they often simply copied the earlier findings. The Emperor saw the abuse, and in the fourteenth year issued an edict granting a one-time exemption from the single-case liability rule for investigation and conclusion. After that, large and small cases alike more often reached the truth. In the Two Guang circuits, prison clerks feared the harm of judicial commissioners' inspections and referrals for investigation, and many serious prisoners died in custody. When officials memorialized on the matter, an edict ordered the Two Guang judicial intendant circuits to re-examine cases; if only minor details were incomplete, prison clerks were not to be pursued, and the home prefecture was to verify and certify the facts; Whenever a prisoner died, the cause of death had to be thoroughly investigated.
20
三衙及江上諸軍，各有推獄，謂之「後司」。 獄成決于主帥，不經屬官，故軍吏多受財為奸。 光宗時，乃詔通曉條制屬官兼管之。 廣東路瘴癘，惟英德府為最甚，謂之「人間生地獄」。 諸司公事欲速成者，多送之，自非死罪，至即誣伏，亟就刑責以出。 五年，臣僚言之，詔：「本路諸司公事應送別州者，無送英德府。」
The Three Palace Guard corps and the armies stationed along the Yangzi each maintained their own interrogation prisons, known as the "rear offices." Once a case was closed, judgment rested with the commander alone, bypassing subordinate officials, so military clerks often took bribes and abused their power. Under Emperor Guangzong, an edict required subordinate officials versed in statutes to share supervision of these offices. Guangdong was notorious for miasma, but Yingde Prefecture was worst of all—it was called "a living hell on earth." Offices seeking quick closure often sent cases there; unless the charge was capital, prisoners would falsely confess on arrival and accept punishment at once to escape. In the fifth year, after officials raised the issue, an edict declared, "Official cases in this circuit that should be transferred to another prefecture must not be sent to Yingde."
21
至寧宗時，刑獄滋濫。 嘉泰初，天下上死案，一全年千八百一十一人，而斷死者纔一百八十一人，餘皆貸之。 乃詔諸憲臺，歲終檢舉州軍有獄空?禁人少者，申省取旨。 嘉定四年詔：「以絹計贓定罪者，江北鐵錢依四川法，二當銅錢一。」 江西提刑徐似道言：「檢驗官指輕作重，以有為無，差訛交互，以故吏姦出入人罪。 乞以湖南正背人形隨格目給下，令於傷損去處，依樣朱紅書畫，唱喝傷痕，眾無異詞，然後署押。」 詔從之，頒之天下。 五年，詔三衙及江上、四川諸軍，以武舉人主管後司公事。
By the reign of Emperor Ningzong, criminal justice had become ever more abusive. Early in Jiatai, 1,811 capital cases were submitted empire-wide in a single year, yet only 181 ended in execution; all the rest were commuted. An edict then ordered all circuit judicial commissioners, at year's end, to report prefectures and military districts whose prisons stood empty or held few detainees, and submit the cases to the ministry for imperial decision. In Jiading 4 an edict declared, "For embezzlement calculated in silk, iron cash north of the Yangzi would follow Sichuan practice, with two iron cash counted as one copper cash." Jiangxi Judicial Intendant Xu Sidao said, "Forensic inspectors treat light wounds as grave, deny what is plainly there, and swap errors back and forth, enabling clerks to corruptly convict the innocent or free the guilty. He asked that Hunan's front-and-back body diagrams be issued with the standards, that wounds be marked in vermilion on the diagram at each injured spot, that the wounds be called out aloud, and that signatures be affixed only after all present agreed." The request was approved and promulgated throughout the empire. In the fifth year, an edict required the Three Palace Guard corps and the armies on the Yangzi and in Sichuan to put military examination graduates in charge of rear-office business.
22
理宗起自民間，具知刑獄之弊。 初即位，即詔天下恤刑，又親制《審刑銘》以警有位。 每歲大暑，必臨軒慮囚。 自謀殺、故殺、鬥殺已殺人者，偽造符印、會子，放火，官員犯入己贓，將校軍人犯枉法外，自餘死罪，情輕者降從流，流降從徒，徒從杖，杖已下釋之。 大寒慮囚，及祈晴祈雪及災祥，亦如之。 有一歲凡數疏決者。 後以建康亦先朝駐蹕之地，罪人亦得視臨安減降之法。 帝之用刑可謂極厚矣，而天下之獄不勝其酷。 每歲冬夏，詔提刑行郡決囚，提刑憚行，悉委倅貳，倅貳不行，復委幕屬。 所委之人，類皆肆行威福，以要餽遺。 監司、郡守，擅作威福，意所欲黥，則令入其當黥之由，意所欲殺，則令證其當死之罪，呼喝吏卒，嚴限日時，監勒招承，催促結款。 而又擅置獄具，非法殘民，或斷薪為杖，掊擊手足，名曰「掉柴」； 或木索?施，夾兩脰，名曰「夾幫」； 或纏繩於首，加以木楔，名曰「腦箍」； 或反縛跪地，短豎堅木，交辮兩股，令獄卒跳躍於上，謂之「超棍」，痛深骨髓，幾於殞命。 富貴之家，稍有，動籍其貲。 又以趁辦月樁及添助版帳為名，不問罪之輕重，並從科罰。 大率官取其十，吏漁其百。 諸重刑，皆申提刑司詳覆，或具案奏裁，即無州縣專殺之理，往往殺之而待罪。 法無拘鎖之條，特州縣一時彈壓盜賊姦暴，罪不至配者，故拘鎖之，俾之省愆，或一月、兩月，或一季、半年，雖永鎖者亦有期限，有口食。 是時，州縣殘忍，拘鎖者竟無限日，不支口食，淹滯囚係，死而後已。 又以己私摧折手足，拘鎖尉砦。 亦有豪強賂吏，羅織平民而囚殺之。 甚至戶婚詞訟，亦皆收禁。 有飲食不充，飢餓而死者； 有無力請求，吏卒凌虐而死者； 有為兩詞賂遺，苦楚而死者。 懼其發覺，先以病申，名曰「監醫」，實則已死； 名曰「病死」，實則殺之。 至度宗時，雖累詔切責而禁止之，終莫能勝，而國亡矣。
Emperor Lizong had risen from common life and knew firsthand the abuses of the prisons. As soon as he took the throne, he issued an empire-wide edict on merciful punishment and personally composed the Inscription on Judging Punishment to warn those in power. Every year at the height of summer, he held court to review prisoners. Except for premeditated murder, intentional murder, brawling that ended in death, forging seals and paper notes, arson, official embezzlement, and military officers who bent the law, all other capital sentences were commuted one step: death to exile, exile to forced labor, forced labor to beating, and lesser punishments to release. He did the same in deep winter, and likewise when praying for clear skies, for snow, or in response to omens of disaster or blessing. Some years saw several rounds of clemency in a single year. Later, because Jiankang had also been an imperial residence, its convicts were granted the same reductions as those at Lin'an. The Emperor's mercy in punishment could scarcely have been greater, yet prisons throughout the empire were unbearably cruel. Each winter and summer, edicts ordered judicial intendants to travel their circuits and decide cases, but they feared the duty and passed it to vice-prefects; when vice-prefects refused, it fell to clerical staff. Those to whom the work was delegated were mostly men who abused their authority to extort gifts. Supervisory commissioners and prefects abused their power at will: if they wanted a man tattooed, they ordered the grounds for tattooing entered; if they wanted him dead, they ordered proof of a capital offense fabricated; they shouted at clerks and guards, set strict deadlines, supervised forced confessions, and pressed for closed cases. They also set up illegal torture devices: some broke firewood into clubs and beat prisoners' hands and feet, a method called "dropping firewood"; Some used wood and rope together to squeeze both sides of the neck; they called it "jaw-clamping." Some wound rope around the head and drove in wooden wedges; they called it the "brain ring." Some bound victims face down on their knees, planted a short hardwood post, braided their legs together, and had jailers jump on top—called "leap-the-pole." The agony pierced to the bone marrow and nearly cost victims their lives. For affluent families, the slightest pretext was enough to trigger confiscation of their assets. They also levied fines in the name of meeting monthly supply quotas and supplemental ledger contributions, punishing offenders without regard to the gravity of their crimes. As a rule, officials skimmed one part in ten, while underlings extorted ten times that much. Serious sentences were supposed to be referred to the regional judicial inspectorate for review, or forwarded to the throne for a ruling—county and prefectural officials had no legal authority to put people to death on their own. Yet they often executed prisoners first and accepted punishment afterward. Statute law contained no general provision for shackled detention; counties and prefectures used it only as a temporary measure against banditry and violent crime, holding offenders whose crimes fell short of exile so they might mend their ways—for a month or two, a season, or half a year. Even indefinite detention was supposed to have limits and provide food. By then local governments had grown savage: the detained were held without time limit, denied food, left to rot in jail until death released them. Driven by private malice, they maimed limbs and kept people shackled in constabulary forts. Local strongmen also bribed officials to fabricate charges against commoners, then jailed and murdered them. Even civil disputes over marriages and household matters ended in detention. Some starved to death for lack of adequate food; Some, unable to buy relief, were tormented to death by clerks and guards; Some perished under torture when both sides in a lawsuit paid bribes and officials made them suffer for it. Fearful of exposure, officials filed illness reports first—calling it "supervised medical care"—when the prisoner was already dead; They labeled it "death from natural illness" when they had in fact murdered the victim. By Duzong's reign, despite repeated stern edicts forbidding such abuses, nothing could stem them—and the dynasty fell.
23
詔獄，本以糾大姦慝，故其事不常見。 初，羣臣犯法，體大者多下御史臺獄，小則開封府、大理寺鞫治焉。 神宗以來，凡一時承詔置推者，謂之「制勘院」，事出中書，則曰「推勘院」，獄已迺罷。 熙寧二年，命尚書都官郎中沈衡鞫前知杭州祖無擇于秀州，內侍乘驛追逮。 御史張戩等言：「無擇三朝近侍，而驟繫囹圄，非朝廷以廉恥風厲臣下之意，請免其就獄，止就審問。」 不從。 又命崇文院校書張載鞫前知明州、光祿卿苗振于越州。 獄成，無擇坐貸官錢及借公使酒，謫忠正軍節度副使，振坐故入裴士堯罪及所為不法，謫復州團練副使。 獄半年乃決，辭所連逮官吏，坐勒停、衝替、編管又十餘人，皆御史王子韶啟其事。 自是詔獄屢興，其悖于法及國體所繫者著之，其餘不足紀也。
Imperial prisons established by edict were originally reserved for rooting out grave treachery; for that reason they were rarely invoked. Initially, when officials broke the law, senior figures were usually remanded to the Censorate prison, while lesser cases went to the Kaifeng Prefecture or the Court of Judicial Review. From Shenzong's reign onward, ad hoc tribunals appointed to investigate under imperial order were called "commissioned investigation courts"; when the Secretariat took charge, they were called "examination courts." They were disbanded once the case concluded. In the second year of the Xining era (1069), Shen Heng, director in the Ministry of Justice's revenue bureau, was assigned to try Zu Wuzhe, former prefect of Hangzhou, at Xiuzhou. An imperial attendant was dispatched by relay horse to seize him. Censors Zhang Jian and others protested: "Wuzhe served as a close attendant through three reigns, yet he was suddenly thrown into prison. That is hardly how the court teaches officials to value honor and shame. We ask that he be spared confinement and questioned only." The court did not comply. Zhang Zai, a proofreader of the Hall for the Veneration of Literature, was also assigned to try Miao Zhen, former prefect of Mingzhou and Minister of the Imperial Household, at Yuezhou. The trials concluded: Wuzhe was convicted of misappropriating official funds and borrowing government hospitality wine, and was demoted to vice commissioner of the Zhongzheng Army; Zhen was convicted of maliciously framing Pei Shiyao and other misconduct, and was demoted to vice training commissioner at Fuzhou. Half a year passed before the cases were resolved. More than ten implicated officials received punishments ranging from suspension and replacement to supervised exile—all of it set in motion by Censor Wang Zishao. From then on, imperial prisons proliferated. Those cases that violated statute and implicated the nation's integrity are recorded here; the rest need not be set down.
24
八年，沂州民朱唐告前餘姚主簿李逢謀反。 提點刑獄王庭筠言其無迹，但謗讟，語涉指斥及妄說休咎，請編配。 帝疑之，遣御史臺推直官蹇周輔劾治。 中書以庭筠所奏不當，?劾之。 庭筠懼，自縊死。 逢辭連宗室秀州團練使世居、醫官劉育等、河中府觀察推官徐革，詔捕繫臺獄，命中丞鄧綰、同知諫院范百祿與御史徐禧雜治。 獄具，賜世居死，李逢、劉育及徐革並凌遲處死，將作監主簿張靖、武進士郝士宣皆腰斬，司天監學生秦彪、百姓李士寧杖脊，並湖南編管。 餘連逮者追官落職。 世居子孫貸死除名，削屬籍。 舊勘鞫官吏並劾罪。 李士寧者，挾術出入貴人門，常見世居母康，以仁宗御製詩上之。 百祿謂士寧熒惑世居致不軌，且疑知其逆謀，推問不服。 禧乃奏：「士寧贈詩，實仁宗御製，今獄官以為反因，臣不敢同。」 百祿以士寧嘗與王安石善，欲鍛鍊附致妖言死罪，卒論士寧徒罪，而奏「禧故出之，以媚大臣」。 詔詳劾理曲者以聞。 百祿坐報上不實，落職。
In the eighth year (of Xining), Zhu Tang, a commoner from Yizhou, accused Li Feng, former registrar of Yuyao, of plotting rebellion. Judicial inspector Wang Tingyun held that there was no evidence of treason—only slander involving personal attacks and reckless fortune-telling—and recommended banishment. The emperor remained skeptical and sent Jian Zhoufu, a direct investigator of the Censorate, to take up the case. The Secretariat deemed Wang Tingyun's report inadequate and impeached him as well. Wang Tingyun, terrified, hanged himself. Under interrogation, Li Feng implicated Shijiu, a training commissioner of Xiuzhou and member of the imperial clan, the medical officer Liu Yu, and Xu Ge, a judicial investigator in the Hezhong Circuit. An edict ordered their arrest and confinement in the Censorate prison, with Vice Commissioner Deng Wan, Vice Director of Remonstrance Fan Bailu, and Censor Xu Xi assigned to hear the case jointly. The case concluded: Shijiu was granted death; Li Feng, Liu Yu, and Xu Ge were put to death by lingchi (slow slicing); Zhang Jing, assistant director of the Directorate of Palace Buildings, and Hao Shixuan, a military examination graduate, were cut in two at the waist; Qin Biao, a student of the Astronomy Bureau, and the commoner Li Shineng were flogged and banished to Hunan under supervised exile. Others implicated in the case were stripped of office and rank. Shijiu's descendants were spared execution but removed from official registers and expunged from the imperial clan rolls. Officials who had earlier handled the investigation were impeached and punished as well. Li Shineng practiced occult arts and moved among the great houses. He often visited Shijiu's mother, Lady Kang, bearing poems composed by Emperor Renzong. Fan Bailu maintained that Li Shineng had led Shijiu astray toward treason and suspected he knew of the plot. Under interrogation, Li Shineng would not confess. Xu Xi memorialized: "The poems Li Shineng gave were genuinely composed by Emperor Renzong. To treat them now as evidence of rebellion—I cannot assent to that." Fan Bailu, noting Li Shineng's former friendship with Wang Anshi, tried to fabricate charges and attach seditious-speech counts to secure a capital sentence. Li Shineng was ultimately sentenced only to exile. Fan Bailu then accused Xu Xi of deliberately exonerating him "to curry favor with powerful ministers." An edict ordered a full investigation: those who had perverted justice were to be reported to the throne. Fan Bailu was found guilty of submitting false reports to the throne and dismissed from office.
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若凌遲、腰斬之法，熙寧以前未嘗用於元凶巨，而自是以口語狂悖致罪者，麗于極法矣。 蓋詔獄之興，始由柄國之臣藉此以威縉紳，逞其私憾，朋黨之禍遂起，流毒不已。 紹聖間，章惇、蔡卞用事，既再追貶呂公著、司馬光，及謫呂大防等嶺外，意猶未快，仍用黃履疏高士京狀追貶王珪，皆誣以「圖危上躬」，其言寖及宣仁，上頗惑之。 最後，起同文館獄，將悉誅元祐舊臣。 時太府寺主簿蔡渭奏：「臣叔父碩，嘗於邢恕處見文及甫元祐中所寄恕書，具述姦臣大逆不道之謀。 及甫，彥博子也，必知姦狀。」 詔翰林承旨蔡京、吏部侍郎安惇同究問。 初，及甫與恕書，自謂：「畢禫當求外，入朝之計未可必，聞已逆為機，以榛塞其塗。」 又謂：「司馬昭之心，路人所知。」 又云：「濟之以粉昆，朋類錯立，欲以眇躬為甘心快意之地。」 及甫嘗語蔡碩，謂司馬昭指劉摯，粉昆指韓忠彥，眇躬，及甫自謂。 蓋俗稱駙馬都尉為「粉侯」，人以王師約故，呼其父克臣為「粉父」，忠彥乃嘉彥之兄也。 及甫除都司，為劉摯論列。 又摯嘗論彥博不可除三省長官，故止為平章重事。 及彥博致仕，及甫自權侍郎以修撰守郡，母喪除，與恕書請補外，因為躁忿詆毀之辭。 及置對，則以昭比摯如舊，眇躬乃以指上，而粉昆乃謂指王巖叟面如傅粉，故曰「粉」，梁燾字况之，以「况」為兄，故曰「昆」，斥摯將謀廢立，不利於上躬。 京、惇言：「事涉不順，及甫止聞其父言，無他證佐，望別差官審問。」 乃詔中書舍人蹇序辰審問，仍差內侍一員同往。 蔡京、安惇等共治之，將大有所誅戮，然卒不得其要領。 會星變，上怒稍息，然京、惇極力鍛鍊不少置。 既而梁燾卒於化州，劉摯卒於新州，眾皆疑二人不得其死。 明年五月，詔：「摯、燾據文及甫等所供言語，偶逐人皆亡，不及考驗，明正典刑。 摯、燾諸子並勒停，永不收敘。」 先時，三省進呈，帝曰：「摯等已謫遐方，朕遵祖宗遺志，未嘗殺戮大臣，其釋勿治。」
The penalties of lingchi and waist-cutting had never before Xining been applied even to arch-criminals and notorious malefactors; from this case onward, men condemned for rash and disrespectful words could face the harshest punishments on the books. The imperial prison arose when men who held the reins of state used it to intimidate the official class and settle private scores. Factional strife followed, and its poison spread without end. During the Shaosheng reign period, Zhang Dun and Cai Bian dominated the court. Having already posthumously demoted Lü Gongzhu and Sima Guang and banished Lü Dafang and others beyond the mountains, they were still not satisfied. Invoking memorials by Huang Lü and Gao Shijing, they posthumously demoted Wang Gui as well—all on the fabricated charge of "plotting against the Emperor's person." Their accusations gradually reached Empress Xuanren, and the emperor was deeply unsettled. At last they opened the Tongwen Hall case, intending to put to death the entire Yuanyou-era old guard. Assistant Director Cai Wei of the Imperial Granary memorialized: "My uncle Shuo once saw at Xing Shu's home a letter Wen Jifu had sent to Shu during the Yuanyou period, laying out in detail a treasonous conspiracy by disloyal ministers. Jifu was the son of Yanbo; he must have known the full extent of the plot. An edict ordered Hanlin Chancellor Cai Jing and Vice Minister of Personnel An Dun to conduct a joint inquiry. Earlier, in a letter Jifu sent to Shu, he had written: "When mourning ends I ought to seek a provincial posting; my plan to return to court is still uncertain. I hear they have already turned this to their advantage, heaping obstacles in my way. He also wrote: "What Sima Zhao intends is plain to every passerby on the road. He also wrote: "With their allies in place and their clique arrayed around them, they mean to make a victim of me for their own satisfaction. Jifu had once told Cai Shuo that "Sima Zhao" meant Liu Zhi, "Fen-kun" meant Han Zhongyan, and "this slight person" meant himself. The popular name for an imperial son-in-law was "Fen Marquis"; because Wang Shiyue was one, people called his father Kechen "Fen Father." Zhongyan was the elder brother of Jiayan. When Jifu was appointed to the Capital Office, Liu Zhi memorialized against him. Zhi had also argued that Yanbo ought not be removed as chief of the Three Departments; as a result Yanbo was given only the title Grand Mentor Concurrent with State Affairs. After Yanbo retired, Jifu served as acting vice minister and then as compiler turned prefect. When his mourning period ended, he wrote to Shu asking for a provincial post and filled the letter with angry abuse. Under interrogation, he insisted that "Zhao" still meant Zhi, that "this slight person" referred to the Emperor, and that "Fen-kun" meant Wang Yansou—"fen" because his face looked powdered, "kun" because Liang Can's courtesy name Zhizhi treated "kuang" as elder brother—accusing Zhi of plotting a deposition harmful to the Emperor. Jing and Dun argued: "The case turns on treasonous language, but Jifu had heard only what his father said, with no other corroboration. We ask that another official be assigned to conduct the inquiry. An edict then assigned Secretariat Drafter Jian Xuchen to conduct the inquiry, with one palace eunuch sent along. Cai Jing, An Dun, and their allies pursued the case together, intending mass executions, but never managed to pin down the heart of the matter. A celestial anomaly intervened and the emperor's anger eased somewhat, but Jing and Dun redoubled their efforts to fabricate the case and would not relent. Liang Can soon died in exile at Huazhou and Liu Zhi at Xinzhou; many suspected they had not died naturally. The following May an edict declared: "On the testimony of Wen Jifu and others against Zhi and Can, the accused are already dead and cannot be cross-examined; the prescribed penalties shall be formally applied. The sons of Zhi and Can were stripped of office and permanently barred from official appointment. Earlier, when the Three Departments submitted the proposal, the emperor said: "Zhi and the others have already been exiled to distant posts. Following our ancestors' example, I have never put senior ministers to death. Drop the matter."
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初，元祐更政，嘗置訴理所，申理濫。 元符元年，中丞安惇言：「神宗厲精圖治，明審庶獄，而陛下未親政時，姦臣置訴理所，凡得罪熙寧、元豐之間者，咸為除雪，歸怨先朝，收恩私室。 乞取公案，看詳從初加罪之意，復依元斷施行。」 時章惇猶豫未應，蔡卞即以「相公二心」之言迫之。 惇懼，即日置局，命蹇序辰同安惇看詳案內文狀陳述，及訴理所看詳於先朝言語不順者，具名以聞。 自是，以伸雪復改正重得罪者八百三十家。 及徽宗即位，改正元祐訴理之人。 右正言陳瓘言：「訴理得罪，自語言不順之外，改正者七百餘人。 無罪者既蒙昭雪，則看詳之官如蹇序辰、安惇者，安可以不加罪乎？ 序辰與惇受大臣諷諭，迎合紹述之意，因謂訴理之事，形迹先朝，遂使紛紛不已。 考之公議，宜正典刑。」 會中書省亦請治惇、序辰罪，詔蹇序辰、安惇並除名，放歸田里。
During the Yuanyou restoration, an Appeal Review Office had been set up to rectify wrongful convictions. In Yuanfu 1, Censor-in-Chief An Dun memorialized: "Shenzong worked tirelessly to govern and reviewed cases with care. Yet while Your Majesty had not yet assumed personal rule, disloyal ministers set up an Appeal Review Office and cleared every conviction from the Xining and Yuanfeng eras—shifting blame onto the previous reign while collecting gratitude for themselves. I ask that the case files be reviewed to recover the original grounds for conviction, and that the original sentences be reinstated. Zhang Dun hesitated, and Cai Bian pressed him by accusing him of divided loyalties. Alarmed, Dun set up a review bureau that same day. He ordered Jian Xuchen and An Dun to scrutinize the case files and identify everyone the Appeal Review Office had cleared on charges of disloyal speech toward the previous reign. Thereafter, eight hundred thirty families who had been exonerated through the appeal process were convicted again. When Emperor Huizong ascended the throne, the Yuanyou-era appeal reversals were themselves reversed. Remonstrance Official Chen Guan memorialized: "Aside from charges of disloyal speech, more than seven hundred people had their Yuanyou appeal victories overturned. If the innocent have been vindicated, how can officials such as Jian Xuchen and An Dun, who engineered the reversals, escape punishment? Prompted by senior ministers, Xuchen and Dun shaped their findings to fit the "restore the legacy" agenda. Treating every appeal as an affront to the previous reign, they kept the controversy alive. Public opinion demanded that they receive the penalties the law prescribed. The Secretariat joined in calling for Dun and Xuchen to be punished. An edict stripped Jian Xuchen and An Dun of their ranks and sent them home.
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靖康初元，既戮梁方平，太傅王黼責授崇信軍節度副使，永州安置。 言者論黼欺君罔上，專權怙寵，財害民，壞法敗國，朔方之釁，黼主其謀。 遣吏追至雍丘殺之，取其首以獻，仍籍其家。 又詔賜拱衞大夫、安德軍承宣使李彥死。 彥根括民田，奪民常產，重斂租課，百姓失業，愁怨溢路，官吏稍忤意，捃摭送獄，多至憤死，故特誅之。 暴少保梁師成朋比王黼之罪，責彰化軍節度副使，行一日，追殺之。 臺諫極論朱肆行姦惡，起花石綱，竭百姓膏血，罄州縣帑藏，子姪承宣、觀察者數人，廝役為橫行，媵妾有封號，園第器用悉擬宮禁。 三月，竄廣南，尋賜死。 趙良嗣者，本燕人馬植。 政和初，童貫使遼國，植邀於路，說以覆宗國之策，貫挾之以歸，卒用其計，以基南北之禍。 至是，伏誅。 七月，暴童貫十罪，遣人即所至斬之。 九月，言者論蔡攸興燕山之役，禍及天下，驕奢淫佚，載籍所無。 詔誅攸?弟翛。
In the first year of Jingkang, after Liang Fangping was put to death, Grand Preceptor Wang Fu was demoted to vice commissioner of the Chongxin Army and exiled to Yongzhou. Critics charged that Fu had deceived the throne, abused his power, enriched himself at the people's expense, subverted the law, and ruined the state—and that he had been the architect of the northern frontier catastrophe. Agents were dispatched in pursuit; he was killed at Yongqiu, his head presented as proof, and his estate seized. An edict also ordered the execution of Li Yan, Defender-in-Chief of the Guard and commissioner of the Ande Army. Yan had confiscated private farmland, stripped people of their holdings, and imposed crushing taxes. Unemployment and outrage filled the roads. Officials who crossed him were hauled into prison on trumped-up charges—many dying there in fury. For this he was singled out for execution. Junior Guardian Liang Shicheng's collusion with Wang Fu was exposed. Demoted to vice commissioner of the Zhanghua Army, he was pursued and killed after only one day on the road. Censors denounced Zhu Shi for launching the Flower and Stone Convoys, bleeding the people dry and draining prefectural coffers. Several nephews held high military commissions; servants ran rampant; concubines bore noble titles; his gardens and furnishings rivaled the imperial palace. In the third month he was exiled to Guangnan; soon afterward he was executed by imperial order. Zhao Liangsi had originally been Ma Zhi, a man of Yan. Early in the Zhenghe reign, when Tong Guan was sent to Liao, Ma Zhi waylaid him with a plan to destroy his own country. Tong Guan brought him back and eventually adopted his scheme, setting the stage for the catastrophe that divided north and south. At this juncture he was put to death. In the seventh month Tong Guan's ten crimes were publicly enumerated; agents were dispatched to behead him on the spot. In the ninth month critics charged that Cai You had launched the Yan Mountain campaign, bringing disaster on the empire, and had indulged in arrogance and debauchery unmatched in the historical record. An edict ordered the execution of Cai You and his younger brother Cai Xiao.
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高宗承大亂之後，治王時雍等賣國之罪，洪芻、余大均、陳沖、張卿才、李彝、王及之、周懿文、胡思文並下御史臺獄。 獄具，刑寺論芻納景王寵姬，大均納喬貴妃侍兒，及之苦辱寧德皇后女弟，當流； 沖括金銀自盜，與宮人飲，當絞； 懿文、卿才、彝與宮人飲，卿才、彝當徒，懿文當杖； 思文於推擇張邦昌狀內添諂奉之詞，罰銅十斤：並該赦。 上閱狀大怒，李綱等共解之，上亦新政，重於殺士大夫，乃詔芻、大均、沖各特貸命，流沙門島，永不放還； 卿才、彝、及之、懿文、思文並以別駕安置邊郡。 宋齊愈下臺獄，法寺以犯在五月一日赦前，奏裁。 詔齊愈謀立異姓，以危宗社，非受偽命臣僚之比，特不赦，腰斬都市。 詔東京及行在官擅離任者，並就本處根勘之。 淮寧守趙子崧，靖康末，傳檄四方，語頗不遜。 二年，詔御史置獄京口鞫之。 情得，帝不欲暴其罪，以棄鎮江罪貶南雄州。 建炎三年四月，苗傅等疾閹宦恣橫，及聞王淵為樞密，愈不平，乃與王世脩謀逆。 詔御史捕世脩鞫之，斬於市。 七月，韓世忠執苗傅等，磔之建康。 統制王德擅殺軍將陳彥章，臺鞫當死，帝以其有戰功，特貸之。 慶遠軍節度使范瓊領兵入見，面對不遜。 知樞密院張浚奏瓊大逆不道，付大理寺鞫之，獄具，賜死。 越州守郭仲荀，寇至棄城遁，過行在不朝。 付御史臺、大理寺雜治，貶廣州。 神武軍統制魯珏坐賊殺不辜，掠良家子女，帝以其有戰功，貸之，貶瑞州。 紹興元年，監察御史婁寅亮陳宗社大計，奏檜惡之。 十一月，使言者論其父死匿不舉哀，下大理寺劾治，迄無所得，詔免所居官。 十一年，樞密使張俊使人誣張憲，謂收岳飛文字謀為變。 秦檜欲乘此誅飛，命万俟鍛鍊成之。 飛賜死，誅其子雲及憲于市。 汾州進士智浹上書訟飛，決杖編管袁州。 廣西帥胡舜陟與轉運使呂源有隙，源奏舜陟贓污僭擬，又以書抵檜，言舜陟訕笑朝政。 檜素惡舜陟，遣大理官往治之。 十三年六月，舜陟不服，死於獄。 飛與舜陟死，檜權愈熾，屢興大獄以中異己者，名曰詔獄，實非詔旨也。 其後所謂詔獄，紛紛類此，故不備錄云。
In the aftermath of the cataclysm, Gaozong moved against Wang Shiyong and others for betraying the dynasty. Hong Chu, Yu Dajun, Chen Chong, Zhang Qingcai, Li Yi, Wang Jizhi, Zhou Yiwen, and Hu Siwen were all thrown into Censorate custody. When the investigation concluded, the Penal Bureau found that Chu had taken a favored concubine of the Prince of Jing, Dajun a maid of Consort Qiao, and Jizhi had brutally humiliated the Empress of Ningde's younger sister—all warranting exile; Chong had plundered gold and silver for himself and caroused with palace women—warranting strangulation; Yiwen, Qingcai, and Yi had drunk with palace women—Qingcai and Yi were sentenced to penal servitude, Yiwen to beating; Siwen had inserted sycophantic language into the memorial recommending Zhang Bangchang and was fined ten catties of copper—all were eligible for amnesty. The emperor, reading the report, flew into a rage. Li Gang and others pleaded on the defendants' behalf. Still establishing his rule and reluctant to execute scholar-officials, he commuted the death sentences of Chu, Dajun, and Chong and exiled them to Shamen Island, never to return; Qingcai, Yi, Jizhi, Yiwen, and Siwen were all posted as vice prefects to frontier districts. Song Qiyu was thrown into Censorate custody. The Penal Bureau noted that his offense predated the May first amnesty and submitted the case for imperial decision. An edict declared that Qiyu had plotted to install a ruler of another surname, threatening the dynasty itself—not comparable to officials who had merely accepted appointments from a puppet regime. He was expressly denied amnesty and executed by waist-slicing in the capital. An edict ordered a full investigation of every official in the Eastern Capital and the mobile court who had abandoned his post without authorization. Zhao Zisong, prefect of Huaining, circulated proclamations across the realm at the end of the Jingkang crisis in language that bordered on insubordination. In the second year an edict ordered the censors to set up a tribunal at Jingkou and investigate him. Once the facts were established, the emperor declined to publicize his full offenses and demoted him to Nanxiong on the lesser charge of abandoning Zhenjiang. In the fourth month of Jianyan 3, Miao Fu and his allies, already furious at the eunuchs' unchecked arrogance, grew still more incensed when Wang Yuan was made Military Affairs Commissioner. They joined Wang Shixiu in plotting rebellion. An edict ordered the censors to arrest Shixiu, try him, and execute him in the marketplace. In the seventh month Han Shizhong captured Miao Fu and his co-conspirators and had them dismembered at Jiankang. Regimental commander Wang De had executed army officer Chen Yanzhang on his own authority. The censors found him deserving of death, but the emperor spared him in recognition of his battlefield service. Fan Qiong, military commissioner of the Qingyuan Army, led his troops to an audience and answered the throne insolently. Director of the Bureau of Military Affairs Zhang Jun charged Qiong with treason. Handed over to the Court of Judicial Review, he was sentenced to death by imperial order once the case was complete. Guo Zhongxun, prefect of Yuezhou, fled when raiders arrived, abandoning his city, and passed the mobile court without presenting himself. The Censorate and Court of Judicial Review jointly tried him, and he was demoted to Guangzhou. Lu Jue, a regimental commander of the Divine Martial Army, was convicted of letting his troops murder innocents and seize civilians' children. The emperor spared his life in view of his military service and demoted him to Ruizhou. In Shaoxing 1, Supervising Censor Lou Yinliang memorialized on the survival of the dynasty—a memorial Qin Hui detested. In the eleventh month Qin Hui had critics charge that Lou had concealed his father's death and failed to observe mourning. The case went to the Court of Judicial Review but turned up nothing; an edict stripped Lou of his post. In the eleventh year Military Affairs Commissioner Zhang Jun had agents frame Zhang Xian, claiming he had received correspondence from Yue Fei plotting a mutiny. Qin Hui meant to use the case to destroy Yue Fei and ordered Wan Qixie to fabricate the charges until the conviction held. Yue Fei was executed by imperial order; his son Yun and Zhang Xian were put to death in public. Zhi Xia, a presented scholar from Fenzhou, memorialized in Yue Fei's defense. He was beaten with the rod and exiled under registered supervision to Yuanzhou. Hu Shunzhi, military commander of Guangxi, feuded with transport commissioner Lü Yuan. Yuan accused Shunzhi of corruption and arrogating imperial prerogatives, and wrote separately to Qin Hui claiming Shunzhi ridiculed court policy. Qin Hui had long despised Shunzhi and sent officials from the Court of Judicial Review to prosecute him. In the sixth month of the thirteenth year Shunzhi refused to confess and died in custody. After the deaths of Yue Fei and Hu Shunzhi, Qin Hui's power grew unchecked. He repeatedly opened major prosecutions to destroy opponents, calling them "imperial prisons by edict" though no such edicts existed. The pseudo-imperial prisons that followed were too numerous and too much alike to record in full.