Zhu Qiyu had personally seen ministers fight each other to death. Seeing Yu Qian and the Censorate officials growing too agitated, he feared they might truly come to blows and implicate Xue Shao. He hurriedly cut off the argument, set the matter aside, and postponed discussion.
As soon as court was dismissed, the Emperor summoned Xue Shao, Xue Xuan, Yu Qian, and the other Grand Secretariat ministers to the small study. He first soothed Yu Qian, whose face had flushed red with anger, before humbly asking, "Elder Yu, what exactly do you think about criminal law reform?"
Yu Qian regained his composure and lowered his eyes. "What Vice Minister Xue said does have some merit. Ordinary people are indeed implicated by collective punishment, but the others' proposals to lighten criminal penalties are unacceptable. In my view, they are the true traitors to the nation..."
The other Grand Secretariat ministers also felt that this matter could not be rushed. It could be changed, but absolutely not in the manner argued over in court. Even Xue Shao's proposal was not accepted in full.
Still, collective punishment for certain crimes could indeed be changed.
Xue Shao had expected this long ago and was not disappointed. To him, any change at all was cause for happiness.
Moreover, he agreed with Yu Qian and the other ministers that reform could not proceed too hastily.
Making only minor additions and reductions to the existing statutes—more reductions than additions—would not be difficult to implement. The difficult part was publicity.
Because the statutes had to be publicized, newspapers throughout the country ran related reports for several days in a row.
Xue Shao wrote several classic cases in one go, setting down the judgments under both the old and new statutes side by side. He then submitted them to