In "Water Margin", Lu Zhishen borrowed ten taels of silver from Shi Jin to rescue the Jin family's father and daughter, demonstrating his generous and righteous character. This behavior involves legal issues related to private lending, including the establishment of lending relationships, loan purposes, repayment responsibilities, etc., which is of great significance for studying the legal system of ancient private lending.

Lu Tixia borrowed money to settle the Jin family father and daughter

Shi Jin, Lu Zhishen, and Li Zhong Restaurant met and heard that Jin Cuilian and her daughter were bullied by Zheng Tu. Lu Zhishen was angry and wanted to teach Zheng Tu a lesson. After being persuaded, he decided to support the Jin family and their daughter to leave. Lu Zhishen personally paid five taels of silver and borrowed ten taels of silver from Shi Jin, giving a total of fifteen taels of silver to the father and daughter of Jin Laohan as a token of support, promising to send them away the next day.

The Legal Relationship between Lu Zhishen and Shi Jin

We discussed the definition of loan contracts in the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China and pointed out that loan contracts between natural persons can be in written or non written form. Through the example of Lu Zhishen borrowing money from Shi Jin in "Water Margin", this paper analyzes the factual loan contract relationship formed between the two parties, clarifying that Shi Jin is the lender, Lu Zhishen is the borrower, and ten taels of silver is the loan principal. According to Article 679 of the Civil Code, a loan contract between natural persons is established when the lender provides the loan. Therefore, when Shi Jin delivers the silver to Lu Zhishen, the contract is established, and both parties shall exercise their rights and fulfill their obligations in accordance with the contract.

Lu Zhishen's loan term

Discussed the repayment period promised by Lu Zhishen when borrowing from Shi Jin, as well as Shi Jin's legal rights after failing to repay on time. According to Article 675 of the Civil Code, even if there is no clear agreement on the loan term, the borrower may repay at any time, and the lender may also request repayment within a reasonable period of time. Lu Zhishen verbally promised to repay the loan the next day, but failed to fulfill it. Therefore, Shi Jin has the right to demand repayment of the loan from the third day onwards.

Can Shi Jin borrow interest?

Discussed the issue of the agreement on loan interest in private lending. According to Article 680 (2) of the Civil Code, if the borrowing and lending parties have not agreed on interest, it shall be deemed that there is no interest. Therefore, in the case of Lu Zhishen and Shi Jin in "Water Margin", as no interest was agreed upon, Shi Jin had no right to demand that Lu Zhishen pay interest. At the same time, the chapter emphasizes that China prohibits high interest loans, and the loan interest rate shall not exceed four times the one-year loan market quoted interest rate. Finally, the chapter reminds citizens to act in accordance with the law and follow the principle of good faith in private lending.