The Privileges of the Nobility

As Si Ming spoke, he arrived at a large classroom where a mock trial was being held.

In France, students regularly participate in mock trials starting from middle school, and university students are no exception, often doing so even more formally. Sometimes, these mock trials are even used as a way to assess academic performance, with students who perform well receiving bonus points.

A lawyer who only scores high on theoretical exams but is speechless in court is an unqualified lawyer.

All law students share this understanding, and they take pride in being eloquent. Those who only bury themselves in collecting information will always be assistants, never protagonists.

This was a classroom reserved for law students, so the interior was arranged exactly like a regular courtroom. Si Ming finally witnessed the legendary divine judgment.

Before the formal trial begins, the judge will use Divine Arts to summon the avatar of the God of Law. Therefore, the judge does not necessarily need to be an expert in the legal provisions, but must be a follower of the god, or a temple keeper.

Perhaps the Legalist School believed that a personal god is prone to developing emotions, or that it would give others the impression of having emotions, which does not conform to the standard of impartiality of the righteous law. Therefore, the God of Law, like Taiwei of the Mohist Religion, was not shaped into a personal god; His image is that of a scale.

When the judge uses Divine Arts to summon a luminous scale, a pair of black and white pans appear behind him. The black pan is inscribed with the words "guilty" in red, while the white pan is inscribed with the words "not guilty" in green. The image is so vivid that it is immediately clear what is going on.

Si Ming originally thought that the so-called divine judgment was simply a final verdict by the gods, and that it was no different from ordinary judgments in other aspects, but he soon realized that he was wrong.

When the plaintiff's and defendant's lawyers make statements, ask questions, and argue, the pan of the scale will tilt, which represents the will of the gods. If He believes the defendant is guilty, the black pan will sink, and vice versa, the white pan will sink.

In other words, all those involved in the case can clearly see which side has the upper hand during the trial process.

Chapter 483 The Privileges of the Nobles

If a judge were to preside over the case, unless it was a one-sided case with very clear facts, no one could guarantee their victory until the final verdict was announced.

Even defendants who are found guilty can try to get the shortest possible sentence, but before the judge pronounces the verdict, neither they nor their lawyers know whether their appeal is valid.

Because the vast majority of judges maintain a blank expression throughout the trial process, this is to avoid lawyers discerning their personal preferences and exploiting them; it's considered an unwritten professional requirement.

However, in the court presided over by the gods, both sides' lawyers can clearly know whether their statements are valid and can clearly see who has the upper hand. After all, the gods have no emotions and are not afraid of revealing their preferences. In other words, His preferences are valid testimonies and evidence. He doesn't care about touching tones or expressions. Even if you speak eloquently and persuasively, only the written part is valid to Him.

Sophistry is useless to the gods. Arguments such as "a white horse is not a horse" will be ignored by the gods as invalid testimony. They only abide by the logic of the law and will not fall into the logic of other people's language, unless there is a logical paradox in the legal provisions - this situation has occurred in the early days when the legal system was not perfect, but now the Legalist School have already patched their code with various patches.

Even if legal paradoxes occur, it doesn't matter. Gods are not intelligent computers that will get stuck in a dead loop or crash when they encounter logical conflicts. They have more spirituality than artificial intelligence. When the God of Law encounters a paradox, He will enter a second sentient form and transform into a human god to escape the logical conflict.

"Putting aside emotions and focusing solely on facts, as a deity, one is unburdened by family or social ties, unaffected by power, incapable of accepting bribes, and unbound by public opinion. Indeed, one can guarantee equality before the law to the greatest extent possible. No wonder the France revere the God of Law as the God of Fairness," Murong Qing remarked, observing the trial.

"But He is only God of Fairness, not God of Justice."

Si Ming recalled the deities of the Mohist Religion. The three main deities of the Mohist Religion were compassion, wisdom, and justice. The Mohist Religion God of Justice was completely different from the God of Law of the Legalist Religion.

The God of Law upholds the justice of the law. If the law itself is unfair, then He has no justice to speak of. For example, if the law stipulates that nobles can kill commoners at will, the God of Law will abide by this provision and judge the nobles as innocent of killing commoners.

The God of Justice upholds moral justice, which is often referred to as acting on behalf of Heaven. If a noble dares to kill a commoner without cause, then he must pay with his life. What law is that? It's all bullshit. Therefore, the image of the God of Justice in Mohist Religion is usually that of a chivalrous knight-errant or a "dog butcher".

In summary, it's about the difference between an unjust law being a law and an unjust law not being a law.

Of course, this does not mean that the God of Justice is more just than the God of Law. In fact, people would not seek the God of Justice unless they were forced to the brink of desperation. However, the God of Law is involved in all aspects of people's lives, and even in feudal society, there was no such absurd law as "nobles can kill commoners at will".

France nobles did indeed have privileges, but these privileges could only help them reduce punishments, not exempt them from crimes; they were quantitative privileges, not qualitative ones.

Although the social civilization of the Sea Continent still exhibits the phenomenon of "equality for all, but some are more equal," it has at least developed an awareness of "equality for all." It should be noted that at the beginning of the 20th century, most countries on Earth had not even uttered the slogan of "equality for all."

Murong Qing said solemnly, "There is no absolute fairness in this world. Gods are created from people's needs. The fact that the God of Law was shaped into this kind of deity proves that this is the kind of deity the France people need. They do not crave more."

Si Ming agreed, saying, "Productivity determines people's material and spiritual needs. As productivity further develops, people will crave more fairness."

Murong Qing looked at the scales suspended in mid-air and said, "I do have a question. If it's just about guilt or innocence, doesn't that mean we can only judge criminal cases? What if there's a civil case where there's no crime, just a dispute?"

"Guilty or innocence is merely symbolic, not literally literal. Guilt represents the plaintiff's claim, while innocence represents the defendant's claim. For example, in a divorce case, if the guilty verdict is handed down, it means the divorce is agreed upon; if the innocence verdict is handed down, it means the plaintiff's claim is rejected."

A voice suddenly broke in, and Si Ming and Murong Qing to look. It was a boy who was slightly older than them, probably a senior student in his third or fourth year at the Codex University.

This man was handsome, with a full forehead, eyebrows that reached his temples, and the ends of his eyebrows slightly turned upwards, like a roc spreading its wings as if about to take flight. The bridge of his nose extended to his glabella, resembling a jade pillar. He had a slight smile on his face, which made people feel as if they were bathed in a spring breeze. Although he was born into wealth, he did not have that kind of overbearing and oppressive feeling.

He was either rich or noble. Even though Si Ming didn't understand physiognomy, he could tell at a glance and mentally labeled the other person as a nouveau riche.

"Excuse me, my name is Wei Tianyang. Are you two exchange students from Su State?" the boy asked.

This person deliberately struck up a conversation. Si Ming and Murong Qing exchanged a glance, but did not refuse. They introduced themselves, as both were upright and unrestrained and had nothing to hide.

"Your statement, 'Productivity determines the people's material and spiritual needs,' is straightforward, yet it incisively points out the essence of social contradictions, is thought-provoking, and truly remarkable," Wei Tianyang said with admiration.

Si Ming found it Anomalies. Why was the other person ignoring the beautiful Murong Qing and instead talking to him? What kind of tactic was this?

He has an Adam's apple, so he's not a woman dressed as a man. Does he really want to discuss Capital with me? There's no Marx in this world; where does he get the definition of productive forces? Is he also a fan of "Ghosts and Gods Metropolis"?

Unaware of Si Ming's thoughts, Wei Tianyang continued, "In primitive society, people only sought survival. As long as they could live, they could endure anything else. But with the development of productivity, they gradually developed more needs, such as being well-fed, warmly clothed, and living comfortably. Once these material needs were met, they began to pursue spiritual needs. The most basic aspect of spiritual needs is equality. Without equality, all other dreams are empty words. Unfortunately, France is rife with inequality, and even explicitly writes it into the legal code. Therefore, when more and more France people try to pursue spiritual civilization, their first goal is to eliminate inequality, which infringes on the interests of the nobility."

Murong Qing said, "Speaking of which, I've only heard that France nobles have privileges, but what exactly are those privileges? Can they exempt them from the death penalty?"

"Yes, the code stipulates that the death penalty does not apply to nobles. The most severe punishment for a noble is life imprisonment. Even if he has committed an act that is universally condemned, his noble status must first be stripped before he can be sentenced to death."

Si Ming pondered, "The only privilege a noble has is immunity from the death penalty?"

This point alone can be easily dismissed. It's difficult to say whether the death penalty or life imprisonment is more severe. While the death penalty is certainly a clean break, applauding from onlookers, spending a lifetime in prison, without personal freedom or a future, is tantamount to a living hell for many—unless, of course, in a Norway prison.

The Norway serial killer who murdered 77 innocent people by shooting and planting bombs had made demands to the relevant government departments to improve his "mistreated" prison conditions, including upgrading his PS2 to PS3 and installing a computer, and said he would go on a hunger strike if his demands were not met.

If it were to degenerate into the kind of high-welfare prisons of later generations that meet the expectations of the Virgin Mary, then it would be better to just kill them off quickly.

However, given the current productivity level of the Sea Continent, it is not possible to build such a prison. Whether it is the most powerful Su State, Su, or the Rui State with the highest national income, which is composed of Merchant School, they all force prisoners to work for free and contribute their True Qi every day, serving as True Qi charging machines.

In this context, the difference between the death penalty and life imprisonment is not enough to provoke resentment among ordinary citizens, since Rui State has already abolished the death penalty and ordinary citizens enjoy immunity from the death penalty.

Wei Tianyang said, "Nobles naturally have other privileges, which depend on their rank. France has five ranks of nobility: duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and order of merit. Dukes and marquesses enjoy a reduction in punishment by one level. For example, a life sentence would be reduced to a fixed term, or an 8-15 year sentence would be reduced to 5-8 years. Earls and viscounts enjoy the lowest possible sentences. For example, if their crime warrants an 8-15 year prison sentence, they will only be sentenced to 8 years. Order of merit only has the right to be exempt from the death penalty."

Murong Qing said thoughtfully, "So, the privileges of the nobility are still limited, and they are not unbridled. I originally thought their privilege was to turn the guilty into innocent."