After taking a look at the court officer sitting next to him, he gave up.

Because he had been told some rules in advance, he could not speak easily unless the presiding judge allowed him to. Zhong Yan had not interrupted him before, so he could not interrupt Zhong Yan.

It’s just that they are all used to court debates, where you say one sentence at a time.

Whether the two sides were at war or at peace at the time is also a very critical argument in this case.

If it is a state of war, the general can act according to the circumstances and the impact of sending troops will not be that great.

Whether to send troops to Suizhou or not, the concern is that war will break out.

Zhang Fei flipped through the case and said, "As far as I know, during the Qingli period, our dynasty negotiated peace with Xixia and signed a contract. According to this contract, we should not be in a state of war."

Many officials nodded frequently.

Zhong Yan immediately said, "The Qingli Peace Agreement did bring twenty years of peace to the northwest, but it was only twenty years. During the Jiayou period, the Western Xia arbitrarily broke the agreement and invaded the border. Our dynasty immediately stopped paying tribute, and there were wars and peace afterwards."

Zhang Fei asked again: "So, is the Qingli agreement also invalidated because of this?"

...

...

Zhong Yan frowned and said, "The court has not made it clear, so I am not sure."

Zhang Fei nodded and stopped asking, and instead asked, "The reason why Deputy Envoy Zhong was able to take charge of Qingjian City was because of the recommendation of Prefect Lu? I wonder if this is true?"

Zhong Yan was stunned at first. The topic jumped a little too quickly. He nodded and said, "Yes."

Zhang Fei asked again: "During this period, what was the relationship between Deputy Envoy Zhong and Prefect Lu like?"

Zhong Yan said: "I respect Magistrate Lu very much and regard him as an elder."

Zhang Fei asked, "What about Prefect Lu's attitude toward you?"

Zhong Yan said with a bit of shame: "It can be said that I have the grace of knowing you and I trust you."

Zhang Fei smiled and nodded, saying, "No wonder Governor Lu had some doubts about the Xixia tribal chief's order to surrender. It was only after Deputy Envoy Zhong's persuasion that Governor Lu accepted them."

Zhong Yan was a little confused and nodded woodenly.

Zhang Fei asked again: "Before the battle in Suizhou, did you have any conflicts with Governor Lu?"

Zhong Yan shook his head, "No."

His eyes were full of confusion.

Not only him, but even the guests watching were puzzled. For a question like this that many people knew, why did you need to confirm it again?

There is no way Lu Shen would lie about something like this.

It's so watery.

No other questions?

But Su Che frowned slightly, "Yes! Why didn't I think of this."

Chen Qi asked quietly: "What?"

Su Che was startled. Just as he was about to answer, he heard Zhang Fei ask, "Weiming Yishan had already secretly surrendered to our dynasty beforehand. Did Prefect Lu know about this at the time?"

Zhong Yan nodded and said, "I understand."

Zhang Fei asked again: "Did Magistrate Lu stop it?"

Zhong Yan hesitated for a moment and said, "Prefect Lu is still quite cautious and did not stop it."

Zhang Fei continued to ask, "When Deputy Envoy Zhong sent troops from Qingjian City, did he inform Prefect Lu?"

"without."

Just after saying one word, Zhong Yan suddenly woke up and looked at Zhang Fei anxiously.

Guo Kui frowned and said, "This kid really has some tricks!"

Zhong Gu hurriedly asked, "Why did Mr. Guo say that?"

Guo Kui sighed, "You will know later."

Zhang Fei asked, "Is there any?"

There was a little sweat on Zhong Yan's forehead and he shook his head hesitantly.

Zhang Fei was very curious and asked, "Since you have successfully persuaded Governor Lu to accept the surrender of Ling and others, and you did not have any conflicts with him during this period, it is reasonable that you should not risk violating military orders by hiding the truth from a superior who trusts you very much. But in fact, you did not inform Governor Lu of the plan to send troops."

After hearing this, Lu Chen couldn't help but look at Zhong Yan in confusion, thinking, yes! Why did he hide it from me at that time? I trusted him so much.

Even Lu Shen didn't understand, let alone others.

Everyone's eyes were on Zhong Yan.

Military generals such as Zhong Gu and Zhe Jizu were worried.

It’s over!

This guy is on the opposite side.

That is to say, how could the judge support our generals?

On the other hand, the civil servants put aside their prejudices against Zhang Fei. Although this boy acted rather strangely, he was still fair and did not favor Zhong Yan.

Zhong Yan didn't seem to expect that the other party would ask such a question. He frowned and thought for a long time before saying, "That's because I know that Governor Lu will never agree to it."

Lu Shen immediately blew his beard and glared.

Zhang Fei asked: "What do you mean?"

Zhong Yan said: "The last time they surrendered, they took the initiative to come to our city gate, and we only needed to decide whether to accept it. This time, there are more risks in inducing surrender, so we need to send troops to deal with it, but Governor Lu has always been opposed to taking the initiative to send troops.

In addition, the imperial edict had not arrived at that time. Given Prefect Lu's character, he would definitely wait for the court's permission before making a decision. The situation at that time was changing rapidly. If he hesitated for a moment, he might have missed this great opportunity. And I didn't want to implicate Prefect Lu."

When Lu Shen heard this, he was so anxious that his lips were trembling and saliva was spitting out. "You've hurt me so badly, and you're still afraid of implicating me?"

Suddenly someone said directly: "He is clearly lying."

"quiet!"

Zhang Fei knocked the gavel and said loudly: "Everyone sitting here is an important figure in Shaanxi Road. I don't want to expel anyone, but you must abide by the rules of this imperial court and not interfere with any witness's answer."

Be quiet immediately.

Because they believed that the president of the court was really capable of doing such a thing.

For that little bit of funding, this guy would never go to court.

Don't compete with him.

This is a fool.

Zhang Fei said to Zhong Yan again, "Deputy Envoy Zhong, please do not be affected by what I just said."

Zhong Yan nodded weakly and thought to himself, I was not influenced by them. I was only influenced by you. You are so young but full of bad intentions. Even when asking a question, you have to beat around the bush. It's really hard to guard against.

Zhang Fei continued to ask, "According to the confession of Prefect Lu, after you successfully occupied Suizhou, he asked you to return to Qingjian City as soon as possible, in the name of you going out without an imperial decree. Is this true?"

Zhong Yan thought about it carefully first, then nodded and said, "Yes."

Zhang Fei asked: "How did Deputy Envoy Zhong respond?"

Zhong Yan said: "I didn't reply."

"Why?"

Zhang Fei asked.

Zhong Yan said: "Because Suizhou is too important to our dynasty. The reason why Xixia can repeatedly invade Yanzhou is because they occupy Suizhou, which makes the Hengshan barrier completely disappear. In addition, Hengshan is thousands of miles long, with many horses and good crops, and it also has the benefits of salt and iron. If we take Suizhou, Yanzhou will no longer have to worry, and the people of Yanzhou will have peace.

When my father was stationed in Yanzhou, he had tried every possible means to recover Suizhou. Unfortunately, his wish did not come true. He was still thinking about it when he died. Now, without any effort, we can recover Suizhou and reverse the passive situation of our army in Yanzhou. I am really unwilling to give up. "

These words were spoken with true feelings, and his eyes were moist as he finished speaking.

The reason why Lu Shen recommended him to take charge of Qingjian City was because his father Zhong Shiheng was stationed in Qingjian City all year round and fought against Western Xia. The status of the Zhong family in Qingjian City was unparalleled.

Of course, this shows that Lu Shen also has his own way of employing people.

Zhong Shiheng was also a famous general. He had a complete strategy to destroy Western Xia, and capturing Suizhou was the first step.

But at that time, there was a warmongering Li Yuanhao in Western Xia, and there was the unparalleled benevolent and righteous Song Renzong in the Song Dynasty.

The result is predictable.

Zhong Yan was eager to take over Suizhou in order to fulfill his father's last wish.

Zhang Fei turned back to Xu Zhiqian and said, "Map."

Xu Zhiqian was fascinated by what she heard. She didn't know the truth until she tried it. After trying it, she found many unexpected things. After searching for a while, she handed the map to Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei held the map and smiled at Xu Zhiqian: "Has our tacit understanding declined?"

Xu Zhiqian glared at him and said, "Don't be so funny now. Just focus on the case."

After saying that, he glanced at everyone guiltily. Indeed, many people looked at the two of them with strange expressions, and couldn't help but blame Zhang Fei half to death.

Zhang Fei didn't care. The judge was also a human being. He laughed and took a look at the map. "Wow! This map is so exquisite! It doesn't show how important Suizhou is. Forget it."

He threw the map onto the table, rubbed his eyes, and whispered to Cai Bian and the others, "Hey! Do you four have anything to remind me of?"

The four of them were stunned at first.

Cai Bian said, "I think I can continue to ask the question about Deputy Envoy Zhong not informing Prefect Lu in advance."

Zhang Fei asked: "How do you ask?"

"Well, the students don't know, but they think he is not telling the truth."

"Trial is not about feelings, but about evidence."

Zhang Fei sighed and said, "There is nothing wrong with the logic of his answer. The key is that these reasons are just what he thinks. It is difficult for us to get the real answer from him. Of course, it is precisely because of this that, in the absence of other evidence, these words are not enough to serve as a reason for him to send troops without an imperial edict, so there is no need to dwell on this issue with him.

But you can keep your suspicions, and when other witnesses come up later, you can ask them again."

"Yes, the students remember it."

After talking with them for a while, Zhang Fei said to Zhong Yan: "Deputy Envoy Zhong, I don't have any other questions for the time being. You can go down and rest first."

Zhong Yan couldn't help but let out a long sigh, nodded, stood up, and walked away with a wet mark on his butt.

Su Che and the others saw it all and couldn't help but think about it.

Zhang Fei looked around and said, "Just now, Magistrate Lu mentioned Mr. Guo Kui, Minister Guo. I wonder if Mr. Guo is here?"

He really doesn't know Guo Kui.

"I am here!"

Guo Kui stood up.

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Please trouble Mr. Guo to testify in court."

When Guo Kui came up to the court, he saw sweat marks on the chair and couldn't help laughing, but he didn't care and just sat down.

Zhang Fei asked, "Mr. Guo also heard what Magistrate Lu said just now."

Guo Kui nodded.

Zhang Fei asked again, "Why did Magistrate Lu say that he should ask Minister Guo about the court's decision to burn down the city and retreat?"

Guo Kui said: "After Deputy Envoy Zhong occupied Suizhou, the Western Xia did send troops to retake Suizhou and kill our general Yang Ding. Therefore, the court did have a debate and finally decided to burn the city and retreat. However, I did not produce the imperial edict in time. After that, after some probing, the Western Xia was defeated by Deputy Envoy Zhong and did not send troops, so there was no burning of the city and retreat."

"Yeah?"

Zhang Fei couldn't help but say: "The crime of concealing the imperial edict is punishable by death."

Guo Kui immediately said, "Judge Zhang is wrong. I just didn't produce the imperial edict in time. I finally produced it later because Xixia suddenly proposed to exchange two places for Suizhou. Naturally, I had to negotiate with them first. Can this be regarded as concealing the imperial edict?"

(End of this chapter)