Gui and Suo Conspiracy to Shift a Reward Case

In 195 BC in Anlu County, Gui and Suo captured bandits and became entitled to a monetary reward under Han law. When officials summoned them to receive the payment, each repeatedly refused, insisting the other alone deserved the reward. This mutual deferral halted the reward process, raising suspicion. The county authorities charged them with “mutual shifting to scheme for a reward” (xiang yi mou gou), alleging they manipulated the bounty system. The case was sent to the Commandant of Justice, where legal experts debated whether their acts constituted intentional fraud against the state or mere excessive modesty, highlighting tension between moral conduct and strict legal procedure.

The court convicted Gui and Suo of conspiring to shift a reward. They were sentenced to nai (shaving the beard and hair) and forced labor as bond servants (li chen qie), although an alternative fine of four liang of gold had been proposed. The harsher penalty was ultimately approved.

Whether the defendants’ reciprocal refusal to accept a lawful reward constituted the criminal offense of conspiring to defraud the state’s reward system, or if it was an act of personal virtue that should not be penalized under the law.

The case reinforced strict legal oversight of reward distribution in the early Han dynasty and clarified that seemingly virtuous behavior could be interpreted as criminal manipulation if it obstructed administrative order. It became a precedent for evaluating intent and fraud, shaping subsequent jurisprudence on the boundaries between ethical conduct and legal culpability.