If Fu Bi and Han Qi came forward, with their prestige and status, it would be enough to calm the quarrel and get everything back on track.

Wen Yanbo had no choice but to go find Fu Bi again and tell him what Sima Guang had said.

Fu Bi thought about it and suddenly felt that it was indeed unfair to push the case to Han Qi. Moreover, Han Qi was worried that if he came to judge the case, in case his verdict was overturned, it would damage his prestige.

I still feel a little touched.

At this time, Wen Yanbo persuaded him again, saying that he had to come out, because those people were using him as an excuse to impeach Wang Anshi, saying that the last judgment applied to the Regulations Office of the Two Prefectures, and that his status and prestige were higher than mine and Sima Guang's.

We can't oppose you!

This statement is both true and false.

really!

Wen Yanbo and Sima Guang were caught in the middle and felt very uncomfortable.

After repeated persuasion, Fu Bi finally agreed to jointly try the case with Han Qi.

...

...

After this incident, he gradually understood Han Qi. He originally planned to solve this problem in the most fair way, but the result was full of twists and turns. It turned out like this, which made him disheartened. He really didn't intend to care about it and let them quarrel as much as they wanted.

But Han Qi has handled these issues over the years with a combination of firmness and flexibility, kindness and severity, and is indeed better than him.

After getting Fu Bi's nod, Wen Yanbo and Sima Guang really breathed a sigh of relief!

The two began to build momentum in the court, and joined forces with a group of officials to submit a memorial to the emperor, stating that they wanted a retrial, and at the same time suggested that Fu Gong be appointed as the chief judge.

Zhao Xu had long stated that if you think it violates the ancestral laws, you can resort to legal means.

Of course he would not refuse, so he sent someone to ask Fu Bi if he was willing to serve as the presiding judge again.

Fu Bi said that he was unable to do the trial alone and that his last trial was a complete mess, so he hoped to invite Han Qi to join him in the trial.

This caught Zhao Xu off guard!

Han Qi's status was not ordinary, and when he ascended the throne, Han Qi helped him a lot, so he also respected Han Qi very much.

With Han Qi and Fu Bi, who wouldn’t be afraid?

So Zhao Xu immediately summoned Han Qi into the palace alone.

"I want to follow the example of my husband and reform the law to promote benefits and eliminate disadvantages, but I didn't expect that all the officials in the court are against it. I really don't know what to do!"

When he saw Han Qi, Zhao Xu sighed, more like a younger generation who was bullied outside and came home to complain to his elders.

Han Qi was very smart. He knew Zhao Xu was testing him and said immediately, "I think Your Majesty handled it very well."

Zhao Xu was in high spirits and asked, "Does my lord really think so?"

Han Qi nodded and said, "Your Majesty is so open-minded and willing to take advice when he encounters problems. What else do they have to complain about? In my opinion, they are just making trouble and being unreasonable."

Zhao Xu was even more overjoyed, "Sir, do you also support my reforms?"

Han Qi replied: "If the new law is beneficial to the country, then of course I will support it."

This answer is perfect. You have to show me the truth first before I can give you an answer.

That's the same as saying nothing.

Han Qi's attitude is very clear. This matter is one and I support taking it to court because it is the most fair and just approach.

….As for the new law, that is another matter. We will talk about it after the new law comes out.

Zhao Xu smiled awkwardly and nodded, which showed that Han Qi still had great reservations about using Wang Anshi to carry out the reform. He then asked, "Mr. Fu wants to invite you to review this case. What do you think?"

Han Qi cupped his hands and said, "If your majesty needs it, I am willing to serve you."

Zhao Xu was still a little immature after all, and was no match for Han Qi. He bowed and said in return, "Then I'll have to trouble you, sir."

......

As summer is getting closer, the temperature is gradually getting hotter.

After dinner, Gao Wenyin and Xiaotao were busy with the aftermath, while Zhang Fei sat in the yard with Feng Nanxi, Niu Beiqing and Li Si to rest and chat.

There is indeed no master-servant atmosphere in the Zhang family.

Feng Nanxi and the others quickly integrated into the group because they felt relaxed and comfortable.

"Seventh Brother, I always hear about corrupt officials exploiting the people. How do they usually exploit them?"

Zhang Fei asked Feng Nanxi.

Before Feng Nanxi could answer, Niu Beiqing's thunderous voice immediately rang out, "There are so many methods, I can't finish talking about them even if I talk about them all day long."

"Stop talking nonsense, you bastard." Feng Nanxi immediately stopped Niu Beiqing.

Zhang Fei hurriedly said, "Don't stop him." He then said to Niu Beiqing, "Then you can talk about it all day long. I still don't believe you have the eloquence to do it."

Niu Beiqing shook his head and said, "Don't disbelieve me, benefactor. I can really talk about this all day long. Three years ago, Dalang and I went to Jiangning Prefecture for business for the first time. When we passed by the Huai River, we crossed three bridges in three days and paid three taxes. At that time, we were wondering why there were so many rivers here.

It was not until we arrived at Jiangning Prefecture that we found out that the three bridges were built on the same river, specifically to bully us foreign merchants. "

Zhang Fei said unhappily, "You guys didn't ask about the road conditions, who can you blame?"

Niu Beiqing immediately said, "My benefactor, you don't know that we can only take the trade route prescribed by the court. Otherwise, we will be punished. Merchants who know this will give money to the officials when crossing the first bridge, and they will point you to another one. Otherwise, they will make you cross three rivers, which will not only delay your time, but also cost you a lot of money."

"This is quite a trick." Zhang Fei nodded slightly, and then said: "Let's not talk about the commercial tax for now, let's talk about the land tax."

"Land...land tax!"

Niu Beiqing suddenly felt tongue-tied and glanced at Feng Nanxi.

Zhang Fei saw that they looked a little uncomfortable and asked, "What's going on?"

Niu Beiqing chuckled and said, "Seventh Brother, you are more familiar with this, so go ahead and tell me about it!"

Feng Nanxi glared at him, and then saw Zhang Fei looking at her. After hesitating for a while, she said, "My benefactor, you may not know that Dalang's family has gained some advantages in terms of land tax."

"Yeah?"

Zhang Fei immediately became excited: "Tell me about it."

Feng Nanxi said, "Didn't Dalang's family make some money from business before? They also bought some land. But because of the disorder in our dynasty's land registry, most of the land was not counted as belonging to Dalang's family, so the land tax of these lands was borne by the farmers who sold the land. Among them, two farmers were hired by Dalang to help cultivate the land, so Dalang still helped pay their land tax, but most of the farmers sold the land and ran away, so Dalang didn't pay these taxes."

…Niu Beiqing immediately said, "Actually, Dalang is quite conscientious. Many landlords do not pay any tax on the land they buy. I know a small landlord who owns a thousand acres of land, but do you know how much tax he pays?"

Zhang Fei asked: "How much?"

"It's just the tax for four acres of land." Niu Beiqing raised four fingers.

"Four acres?"

Zhang Fei exclaimed.

This gap is too exaggerated.

Feng Nanxi nodded and said, "Some landlords don't even pay a single acre of land tax."

Zhang Fei asked, "Won't the court investigate?"

Feng Nanxi said: "Occasionally, they check, but it depends on the officials. Some officials will check the cadastre when they take office, but since the term of office is three years, a new official may not check after three years."

No wonder Wang Anshi promulgated the Fangtianjun Tax Law. In this case, if a national census is not conducted, it will be almost useless. Zhang Fei nodded slightly and asked again: "This is a very common phenomenon."

Li Si suddenly interrupted: "That's probably very common."

Zhang Fei tilted his head to look at Li Si, "What do you mean?"

Li Si said: "I know everything."

“...Is that so!” Zhang Fei nodded.

Niu Beiqing said: "It can't be said to be common, but any family with hundreds of acres of land will hide a lot of land taxes. Even the most honest ones will wait until the court comes to investigate before paying."

Zhang Fei nodded thoughtfully.

Feng Nanxi asked, "Why did you suddenly ask about this, benefactor?"

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "I want to put a stop to this."

Feng Nanxi wondered, "My benefactor, you are not an official, how can you stop this situation?"

Zhang Fei said: "Just based on my name Zhang San."

Just then, a sudden knock on the door interrupted their conversation.

"I'll go open the door."

Li Si quickly got up and ran over.

Feng Nanxi was quite curious and asked, "Who could it be at this late hour?"

Niu Beiqing asked, "Is it Madam Xu who is here?"

Zhang Fei said unhappily: "Have you ever seen her go through the front door?"

Before he finished speaking, Li Si said, "Third brother, it's Lu Xiaokan."

Seeing Lu Huiqing walk in, Zhang Fei couldn't help but frown.

Feng Nanxi, Niu Beiqing and others left tactfully, leaving only Lu Huiqing and Zhang Fei in the courtyard.

"Things have come to fruition." Lu Huiqing said solemnly.

Zhang Fei was surprised and asked, "So soon? I heard from my benefactor that it will take some time to quarrel."

Lu Huiqing frowned and said, "They asked Han Xianggong to come forward and review the case with Fu Gong."

"Mr. Han?"

Zhang Fei was slightly stunned.

When they discussed it beforehand, they did not take Han Qi into consideration.

Lu Huiqing nodded: "This is indeed unexpected. No one thought that they would ask Han Xianggong to take action, because Han Xianggong had always kept his mouth shut about this matter beforehand, and I haven't heard what he said about it."

Zhang Fei glanced at Lu Huiqing and saw that he was worried. He couldn't help but asked with a smile: "Lu Xiaokan doesn't seem to have confidence in me!"

Lu Huiqing sighed and said, "Anyone facing these two would probably lack confidence."

Fu Bi and Han Qi were the two most important figures in the Song Dynasty. Even Wang Anshi felt overwhelmed when he heard about this, so he asked Lu Huiqing to quickly inform Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "It depends on what the matter is. If the two of them take up swords and go into battle to kill the enemy, I'm afraid even the soldiers won't be afraid of them."

Lu Huiqing said: "This cannot be confused with the other. A lawsuit...!"

Before he could finish, Zhang Fei said, "Lu, litigation is a very professional matter, so it doesn't matter who comes."

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Lu Huiqing was stunned.

This is the first time someone ignores Han Qi and Fu Bi.

After a long while, Lu Huiqing asked, "Are you really confident that you can win?"

Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "There's no way I can lose."

Chief Justice of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Nancy Beiqing reminds you: Remember to collect it after reading it