Meton cupped one hand in the other before his chest and said to Han Zheng, "In Village Mo, the court has two purposes. One is to deal with the internal disputes of the village, and the other is to solve the external disputes of the village."
"External disputes!" Han Zheng immediately frowned. The reason why he was willing to come to Village Mo was that Meton promised him an independent judicial power, but he didn't want to become the Mo family's hired thug.
Seeing this, Meton immediately understood Han Zheng's intention and hurriedly explained, "Don't get me wrong, Master of the Academy. What I mean is that the court is responsible for ensuring that the contracts signed by Village Mo are in line with the laws of the Tang dynasty, and at the same time, to popularize the knowledge of the law to Brother Mo Jiazi, so that he can understand and abide by the law, and even know how to use it."
Han Zheng slapped the table and stood up, shouting, "Understand the law, know the law, abide by the law, and use the law. These eight words are the essence of Legalism."
In his opinion, these eight words were comparable to Meton's sixteen words of "Independent judicial power must abide by the law". Most of the ordinary people were illiterate, let alone understand the law. Sometimes they didn't even know that they were breaking the law, let alone abide by the law or use the law to defend themselves.
In his opinion, the Confucian's education of ignorant people was probably the biggest obstacle to Legalism. In the whole Tang dynasty, few people could really read the laws of the Tang dynasty, so how could Legalism be revived? Perhaps only Village Mo, which pursued compulsory education and night school, was the best place to popularize Legalism.
"This is what an Old Man should do." Han Zheng said with a slightly relaxed expression.
"Of course, if Brother Mo Jiazi is sued outside, I'm afraid that Legalism will be needed to defend Village Mo." Meton paused and added, "Of course, it will be within the scope of the laws of the Tang dynasty."
Han Zheng solemnly promised, "Of course. Since the Old Man is in the Village of Mo Jiazi, he won't sit by and watch Brother Mo Jiazi be wronged. But the Old Man is alone, I'm afraid he won't be able to do it!"
Meton smiled. He knew that Han Fuzi wanted power and people. He did not care at all and said, "Since the Mo Family Village has promised the Legalism School to decide the affairs of the Mo Family Village independently, we will not interfere with the internal affairs of the court. If Han Fuzi has other like-minded people, please invite them. If not, it doesn't matter. The Headmaster's Academy and the Medical College in Chang 'an are being built. I wonder if the Headmaster is willing to be neighbors with them."
Han Zheng was immediately overjoyed. "What do you mean?"
"The Mo Family can build a law school in Quchi Square. Anyway, it's just building a few more dormitories." Meton said lightly.
"Welcome, Brother Han, to the Qu Chi Square." Hua Yuan invited him warmly.
Master Li smiled bitterly when he heard this. That was what Meton had told him back then. As a result, he was unable to extricate himself from it.
"Law school!" Han Zheng was so excited that his body began to tremble. At present, the Imperial College was the only school in the Great Tang that taught the law, and the number of people who could be taught the law in a single year was few and far between. If the school of Legalism had its own school and could nurture its own disciples … Han Zheng was so excited that he couldn't control himself.
"But even if you study law, what's the use if you can't enter the officialdom? How many people are willing to study the boring law? "Han Zheng said, worried about his gains and losses.
Meton shook his head and said, "Headmaster, you're wrong. Even if you don't enter the officialdom, learning law still has many uses. Not to mention that most people don't understand the law and don't know the law. When they go to court, they are completely confused and often lose badly. But what if someone helps them in court?"
Han Zheng frowned and said, "You're saying that the students cultivated in the academy are all litigation masters."
Litigation masters were a derogatory term used in the Tang Dynasty for people who helped people in court. Usually, these people were not liked by the county government. Moreover, they often cheated the plaintiff and the defendant. Their reputation was extremely bad.
Meton shook his head and said, "How can those litigation masters be true Legalists? The students cultivated by the Law School are true Legalists. They use the law of the Tang Dynasty to redress the grievances of the wronged and bring the evildoers to justice. At the same time, they can also supervise officials who are corrupt and distorting the law."
The more Meton spoke, the brighter Han Zheng's eyes became. Some officials were only relying on the fact that the people did not understand the law. If there was someone who understood the law, then even the most arrogant person would not dare to openly distort the law. If there was a Legalist who was proficient in the law on the side of the wronged person, then they would definitely use the law to seek justice for the wronged person.
"Apart from that, there are also some big merchants who might need these people who are proficient in the law. Let's not talk about the distant ones. Take Shopkeeper Xu Jie for example. If he had people who were proficient in the law by his side back then, he wouldn't have suffered such a crushing defeat in such a short time."
Although Xu Jie was suppressed by the Wang Family's power, more importantly, he fell into the trap of the contract. He was also extremely passive in the law, so the Wang Family succeeded.
Xu Jie smiled bitterly and said, "If I could go back to the past, I would like to hire ten litigation masters to draft the contract to prevent the same mistakes from happening again."
Meton patted his chest and said, "I can't guarantee anything, but if the Law School cultivates Legalists, the Mo Family Village will definitely hire all of them in the first few terms."
As the Mo Family Village's affairs continued to increase, there would be endless disputes in the future. Moreover, the Mo Family's position was awkward, and there would be a lot of hidden attacks in the future. Meton had long thought of forming a legal team for the future.
The more Han Zheng thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. If the Mo Family Village took the lead to use Legalists, then Legalists might be able to walk down another path.
"In addition, I believe that the reason why Legalism is not popular is related to Legalism's popularity. The commoners don't understand the law, but it doesn't mean that they don't need it. Why can't Legalists take the initiative to spread Legalism's ideology?" Merton said.
"Take the initiative to spread it?" Han Zheng was stunned. Legalism had always relied on the power of the emperor to spread the law from top to bottom. They had never thought of spreading Legalism from bottom to top.
Meton nodded and said, "The Mo Journal's distribution has already spread to Luoyang along the brick road. The circulation of each issue has exceeded 50,000 copies, and the number of readers will probably be several times that. I wonder if Han Fuzi is willing to open a legal column in the Mo Journal. It will specialize in spreading some classic cases and Legalism knowledge to the commoners of the Tang dynasty. "
"Legal column!" Han Zheng's breathing immediately quickened. Meton's action was extremely tempting.
"The Mo Journal welcomes Brother Han." Li Fuzi welcomed him. With Han Zheng's addition, the Mo Journal's audience and readability would definitely increase greatly. This would be very beneficial to the Mo Journal.
Han Zheng's eyes narrowed, and he looked sharply at Li Fuzi and said, "Joining the Mo Journal is naturally the best. I wonder if Brother Li has the courage to publish some unjust, false, and wrong cases."
Li Fuzi was called a strange scholar because of his incomparably bold actions. Upon hearing this, he immediately raised his eyebrows and said, "Why wouldn't I dare? Pleading for the people is the Old Man's lifelong wish."
The two looked at each other and laughed loudly at the same time. They immediately understood each other.
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