Fantasy Starting from the Stone Age - Chapter 83



Only Noblemtl

Episode 83. 2 that everyone can understand

It was only after 20 years that Medakbo began to think that something was wrong. No matter how much he worked, the work just kept increasing. On top of that, even though he brought in hundreds of new scribes every year, the work just wouldn’t end.

And on the 50th year, he begged to be allowed to resign, on the 100th year, he wrote a long letter, and on the 200th year, he banged his head on the ground several times and begged.

But the Main Niruns didn’t pay any attention to him. Why would they blame Main Niruns for the fact that he had developed the business himself? It’s obvious that he was after power.

In the end, Medakbo concluded that the work had to be substantially reduced. It was no longer enough to simply hire more scribes or hold more trials.

“This corporation’s financial structure, administrative organization, laws and systems are total garbage!”

As a Medakbo, the head of a great family, I knew that the only organization in this country that functioned properly was the military.

Thanks to Liwaduwan, that place had the cleanest financial and administrative system in the country. The administrative system of the Shujor Alliance is difficult to use in Datang, but it is very clean.

“Since the rules aren’t properly set, we have to write a new precedent every time. At least, shouldn’t similar cases be tried with similar precedents?”

Of course, everyone knows it.

That was once the law of the world, and it was Paron Echacado who directly opposed it. And Liwaduwan was the one who tried to destroy that law altogether.

Medakbo knew that he had to make ‘laws’. He was a merchant by birth, working on contracts, rules, and promises. He declared to the Mainirons that making laws was the first priority for this country.

“I agree with that. So you’re saying you’re going to take charge of that law?”

“yes!”

“Then please.”

“… … ?”

I went to cut down on work and ended up with more work. But anyway, Medakbo, who was given full authority by Ol Chaun, decided to make something called a law.

The basis is the law of the year and the military discipline of Liwaduwan.

There are laws of Seiwamuyu and rules and regulations between different races used in the Great Forest… … If these are properly harmonized, it will be possible to create rules that everyone can agree on.

But, isn’t it because we can’t do that that the conflict has continued for 300 years?

On Earth, the Code of Hammurabi is known as the oldest code of laws in history.

In fact, an even older code of laws has been discovered, but it is a great law in that it is almost entirely preserved, and its system works in principle and its goals are clear.

The Code of Hammurabi is famous for its principle of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. If you hurt someone’s eye, you get to take it out.

But did you know that this seemingly cruel principle was actually created to protect sinners?

If you hurt your eye, you can only take out your opponent’s eye.

Instead of taking your life, or taking all your property, or killing your entire family.

It’s like setting a limit on punishment! Instead of retaliating against each other infinitely and excessively, stop here.

This is very important, because ultimately the law is about putting society above individual feelings.

This can be seen by looking at the fact that absolute monarchy is considered ‘bad’ and constitutional monarchy is considered ‘good’.

All Chaun was a constitutional monarch rather than an absolute monarch, prioritizing the morality taught by the sorcerer and the rules of his ancestors over his own feelings. However, the laws themselves were so outdated that he ended up becoming a dictator even though he acted according to the rules.

The law has not kept up with the times. So we need a new law.

A law for a new era. A law that will become the foundation of Datang.

So what could such a law be?

In short, the ‘banishment’ can disappear. The reason banishment was the strongest punishment in the laws of Datang is because it was created in the primitive era. It’s not like they kill you directly, but you are being taken out of our community and left to fend for yourself in the grasslands.

But now, even if there are ‘exiles’, they just wander around and eat well and live well. Unlike the times when there were only spirits, if you have learned martial arts, it is easy to just run away.

And I think it would be okay to make a ‘safe type’. That’s right! There was no ‘safe type’ in Datang.

This was also a remnant of the primitive era. It was an unacceptable punishment because if you lock them up, they can’t be used as labor, and food is wasted.

Instead, the most famous forms of punishment were hard labor under guard and the ‘dishonorable punishment’ of having your medals taken away, which would mean your rations would be reduced. Or, they would put piercings on your skin, which was like a ‘branding punishment’, to say, ‘You are a criminal.’

‘Death penalty’ should exist. From the perspective of this era, yes. But ‘amputation’ should not exist. ‘Flogging’, which is a type of ‘torture’… Well?

There are also differences in culture and status. Are Borin’s death and Gigad’s death the same? And who killed Dutan or Ditt? What punishment should be given to whoever killed Minenirun? Is someone’s life more precious?

And there is another problem. The so-called ‘fines’. A fine is the simplest, but it requires taking something that the person can afford, in other words, private property.

But private property, in this day and age, is all in kind. How do you calculate its value? And also, if a rich person were to pay a fine for a crime, then a hellish situation would unfold where rich people like you would kill people… … .

It’s hard work, but I have no choice but to do it.

After all, it is impossible for a country to run without laws.

Medakbo draws a diagram in front of the main runners and begins to explain. It is now common to use diagrams and pictures in explanations.

“I divide crime into four types.”

“Just that?”

“Okay. Listen. It’s structured like this.”

[Crime of madness | Crime of emotion]

[Crime of Greed | Crime of Necessity]

“A crime of insanity is one that harms others without understanding.”

“I understand, but hurting others is a crime motivated by emotion.”

“A crime motivated by greed and lack of understanding.”

“I understand, but taking advantage is a crime of necessity.”

I created a coordinate plane with horizontal and vertical axes without thinking about it. Everyone tilted their heads in confusion but understood it. I had no intention of using it in mathematics.

“What. Okay. So?”

“Here, even if a crime is minor, a madman must be put to death without exception. A madman who harms others with an inexplicable motive is beyond help.”

“agreement.”

“But when killing for this reason, there must be three separate examinations by three people: the local government official, the critic, and the secretary, and they must all reach a unanimous decision. Otherwise, they can be killed at will by the authorities.”

“Hmm… … . Agree.”

“There must be a ‘tribunal’ consisting of these three, the quarreling three, the blue three, and the rezohi three.”

Could it be said that the prosecutor who argues the law, the lawyer who refutes the law, and the judge who mediates the process are prosecutors? It is not yet that detailed.

“And a criminal who harms others out of emotion, or in short, resentment, should be considered once and for all, and since he or she is innocent, even if it is a crime, it is right to isolate him or her from society and confine him or her for a certain period of time or make him or her do hard labor. The period should also be determined by the court, but it should not exceed the range set by law. Again, it should be reviewed three times at intervals.”

“What? I agree with that too.”

“And in the case of a criminal who commits a crime out of greed, the property three times the amount of greed he committed shall be confiscated and distributed to the victims. If the property is insufficient, he shall be sentenced to hard labor.”

“hmm…….”

“And in the case of a crime committed out of necessity due to extreme hunger or other reasons, the person shall be forced to perform labor equivalent to the amount taken from the person in the form of forced labor, and then the local government officials shall be investigated to determine whether or not they have committed a crime. If they have been found to have committed a crime, the property shall be confiscated and used for relief activities. That is all. What do you think?”

At first glance, it seems reasonable. After listening to the whole story, about half of the main runners did not protest.

However, there were protesting mineruns. The first one was Echakado, who was also the opposing minerun.

“First of all, I agree to the punishment of crimes of madness and necessity.”

“hmm.”

“But I think crimes motivated by emotion and greed are a bit problematic… … To be frank, you said it was a forced labor type, right? Then what is the standard for determining the total amount of forced labor?”

“Yes. As agreed upon in court… … .”

“Well, if that reflects racial differences, then shouldn’t the Gigards do more work while making fewer mistakes than the Borins? If it doesn’t reflect racial differences, then they make the same mistakes, but the Gigards don’t have any trouble at all, and the Borins have to do a ton of work.”

“That, that. Hmm.”

Castel Laurent also pointed out something.

“And if you say it’s a forced labor, there’s something more problematic. The cost of living varies by region. Surely they wouldn’t say they’d move to another region (*the country is so big that the cost would be higher), and in that case, the work would be even harder for the same crime.”

“That, that, um.”

“And let me ask you again. If forced labor is a punishment, are all the people who work now being punished?”

“yes.”

“?”

“?”

“Go over.”

“And what about ‘crimes by mistake’? There are actually cases where Gigard accidentally steps on Borin and kills him. None of these cases apply. But if we don’t punish crimes by mistake, won’t everyone claim that they made a mistake?”

Even if you ignore Medakbo’s thoughtless reply, the problems are still piling up.

Eventually, the part about forced labor was removed from the criminal law, and only punishments for crimes of madness and necessity were included.

But those two are not that many types of crime.

I want to impose a sentence of imprisonment, but that is also very difficult due to the difference in life expectancy between races.

In the end, ambiguous crimes end up being stripped bare and left with either exile or vaguely defined hard labor. The problem is that the punishment also has a fixed term… … .

Medakbo’s workload, so to speak, has not decreased at all. Rather, it has increased.

The criminal law we put forward last time failed miserably.

If it were Earth, it might have worked. But in this world where there are racial differences, it would be difficult to use either the safe type or the slave type.

For Medakbo, who grows back his limbs even after they’ve been cut off, the physical damage type felt meaningless.

“If there were equal resources for everyone, resources that were equally valuable to everyone and given the same opportunities to everyone… … resources that could reflect the differences of races… … .”

Medakbo ponders. He thinks of concepts that have never existed before.

“Spider cloth is incredibly cheap in Shujor. That’s because there are a lot of spiders… … But the further north you go, the more expensive it becomes. That’s because transportation and storage costs money. Conversely, beef from a ranch would be ridiculously expensive in Shujor.”

“The food distribution varies from village to village depending on the rank. It’s just because each village has a different food production capacity. There are some things that are rare and important.”

“And some things can’t be exchanged for other things… … . In the end, everyone wants something different. It’s similar to the difference in races. Lulmo doesn’t eat meat, but Patchar does.”

“So, what if there was an object that could be exchanged for everything else? What if the value of all the objects in the world could be converted into the value of that object?”

“To put it simply, it’s something valuable… … . Something that condenses value itself. Something that can be exchanged for anything in the world… … .”

This is something that only a merchant can think of. A concept that has never existed in the world before.

Medakbo decides to create something called currency.

Fantasy starting from the Stone Age