Chapter 704 of the Main Text of the Chief Justice of the Northern Song Dynasty: He Really Has the Law. Under the coercion and inducement of Xu Zun and Zhang Fei, the bad father-in-law and son-in-law, the fearful Qi Ji could only take a few people with him, and call a few royal policemen, and charge towards the Imperial City Division in a mighty manner.

The bad father-in-law and son-in-law sat under a big tree in the courtyard, enjoying the cool breeze and drinking tea.

After all, this is an era without air conditioning and electric fans, so it is better to sit outside if possible, as the house is too stuffy.

"Father-in-law, does the Grand President hold a grudge against the Imperial City Bureau?" Zhang Fei suddenly asked.

Xu Zun said: "I don't hold a grudge against them, I can only say that I am very dissatisfied with them. It's not just Prime Minister Zhao, in fact, most of the prime ministers are dissatisfied with some of the actions of the Imperial City Bureau."

At this point, he paused for a moment, "But I was also very curious about why Mr. Zhao suddenly issued this order, so I also sent someone to the Imperial City to inquire about it."

Zhang Fei asked hurriedly: "Do you know the reason?"

Now that he has taken on this task, he needs to know what else is going on here that he doesn't know.

Xu Zun nodded and said, "After the news of this incident spread in the imperial city, many people were ready to take action. However, Prime Minister Zhao did not want the judiciary to be used for political struggles as before, so he discussed it with Sima Junshi and others, saying that the public security, procuratorate and courts would take the initiative to intervene in the investigation and would give everyone a fair result. However, he also asked them not to take advantage of the issue and add fuel to the fire, causing the court to fall into unrest again. After all, this is not a big case."

Zhang Fei nodded. "It turns out that Mr. Zhao took the initiative to intervene in this matter in the hope of settling the matter peacefully, rather than intending to stir up a bigger storm."

...

...

"That's right."

Xu Zun stroked his long beard and said, "But that also depends on whether the Imperial City Bureau will cooperate with the public security, procuratorate and court. If they don't, this matter may not be suppressed!"

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "That depends on the ability of our Inspector Qi."

Xu Zun suddenly whispered, "What about the official?"

Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "On the surface, the emperor still has to protect the Imperial City Bureau more, but the plan has been decided, so it doesn't matter if it gets out of hand. On the contrary, it will be beneficial to us."

Zhao Xu only agreed to let the matter be handled by the public security, procuratorate and courts, but he would not put pressure on the Imperial City Division. Not to mention that the Imperial City Division was his own son, the key point was that Zhao Xu would have to use his anger to reform the Imperial City Division and the wing soldiers.

It was not until the evening that Qi Ji returned to the yard, feeling aggrieved and exhausted.

"How about it?"

As soon as Xu Zun saw his expression, he knew that this was going to be trouble.

Qi Ji said depressedly: "The Imperial City Bureau still refuses to let our procuratorate intervene."

Xu Zun frowned and said, "Didn't you show me the imperial court's decree?"

Qi Ji nodded, "I went there and took out the imperial court's decree, but the Imperial City Bureau said that they were not under the jurisdiction of the public security, procuratorate and courts. They would directly hand the case over to the Dali Temple."

There is indeed a loophole in this connection. The Imperial City Bureau was previously connected to Kaifeng Prefecture and Dali Temple, and now it should be connected to the public security, procuratorate and courts, but there is no explicit provision, so it makes sense for the Imperial City Bureau to say so.

After all, your public security, procuratorate and courts are not the Supreme Court. There are Dali Temple and the Court of Criminal Justice above them.

Zhang Fei asked: "You didn't slap our indictment in their faces and tell them what the law is."

Qi Ji was even more depressed, "Take it!"

Zhang Fei asked: "So what do they say?"

Qi Ji said: "They really have the law!"

"Huh??? What do you mean?"

Zhang Fei was immediately confused. Could it be that the law in our hands is fake?

Qi Ji suddenly said to Xu Zun: "Chief Prosecutor Xu, do you know that in the second year of Xining, just after the Ayun case, the government issued an imperial decree?"

"The Ayun case?"

Xu Zun stroked his beard.

I was the one who handled Ayun's case! Zhang Fei thought for a moment, "But what about the pardon of the crime?"

"no."

Qi Ji said: "It's about the Imperial City Division."

Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "Then I don't know."

At that time, he was not an official and was concentrating on starting his own business, so he didn't know much about these things.

"I remember now!"

Xu Zun suddenly said, "It seems like there is such an imperial decree!"

"What is it?"

Zhang Fei asked quickly.

Xu Zun said: "At that time, the emperor personally issued an imperial decree. The imperial officials and relatives of the Imperial City Office have committed a real crime. It is reasonable to say that they have been sentenced to caning. The Imperial City Office should be sent to sentence them."

"What do you mean?"

Zhang Fei asked.

Xu Zun said: "If an official of the Imperial City Department breaks the law, it will be the Imperial City Department's responsibility to deal with it."

"ah?"

Zhang Fei was stunned. "Father-in-law, Chief Prosecutor, you are not mistaken, are you?"

"Chief Prosecutor Xu is not mistaken."

Qi Ji said frustratedly: "The Imperial City Department also produced this edict, so we can't sue them at all."

Zhang Fei was suddenly at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

I have seen shameless people, but I have never seen anyone so shameless.

I committed a crime, and I will deal with it myself.

What the hell!

Zhang Fei had a new understanding of Zhao Xu.

Qi Ji asked again: "What should we do now?"

Xu Zun looked directly at Zhang Fei.

"Now.!"

Zhang Fei scratched his forehead awkwardly. "It's getting late. Let's go back and rest first. We'll talk about it tomorrow."

Qi Ji glanced at Zhang Fei with resentment, "Weren't you very arrogant just now? Now you've been slapped in the face."

Zhang Fei also felt wronged. How could he have known that there would be such a rogue decree?

Xu Zun said: "You go back first, I have an appointment with a good friend."

Zhang Fei was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

Xu Zun must have exchanges with officials in the court to see what the current situation is. At present, Zhang Fei is actually more like a technical official. Although he often interacts with Wang Anshi and Sima Guang, he has not integrated into the officialdom. There are so many officials in the court, but no one invites him to dinner. Generally, it is Xu Zun who goes to socialize. After all, he is also the Chief Prosecutor.

Just as I arrived at the door and was about to get on the carriage to go back, I heard someone say, "I didn't expect that your procuratorate is busier than our two government regulations department!"

Zhang Fei tilted his head and saw Wang Anshi walking towards him with a smile. He bowed and said, "I have encountered a rather difficult matter."

"Imperial City Division?"

Wang Anshi laughed.

Zhang Fei nodded.

Wang Anshi raised his hand, and Zhang Fei quickly stepped aside and said, "Mr. Wang, please."

The two of them walked forward along the road, and Long Wu drove the carriage behind them.

"You are more careful than I am when traveling."

Wang Anshi glanced back and said with a smile.

Zhang Fei said truthfully: "After arriving in the capital, I was beaten several times, and was assassinated when I was on a business trip. Now, the people I have offended are no less than those of Wang Xueshi. How can I not be careful?"

"Then you don't know how to restrain yourself a little."

Wang Anshi said, "I have heard about the Imperial City Bureau. Those two soldiers were indeed too much. They spread everything outside. It was all their own fault. It was only natural for the Imperial City Bureau to arrest them. Why did you have to join in the fun? You know that the Imperial City Bureau is the closest person to the emperor. You will offend the emperor now."

"This is really unfair!"

Zhang Fei was about to cry but had no tears: "Our procuratorate originally didn't want to intervene, but the imperial court suddenly issued an order, so we have to intervene even if we don't want to."

Wang Anshi said, "The imperial court's orders must be followed. Why did he ask the procuratorate to investigate? Besides, you are so smart, why don't you use the regulations to refute the imperial court? Just do whatever he tells you to do. Aren't the public security, procuratorate and courts supposed to check and balance each other?"

Yes! What about the king's law? What about the imperial edict? There will always be loopholes. Zhang Fei's eyes suddenly lit up, and he lowered his eyebrows to think.

Wang Anshi thought that he was thinking about how to respond to the imperial court, and he was relieved. He said, "There are so many things going on in the court now. Xihe, Jingdong East Road, and Hebei regions are simply too much to handle. You should be more obedient and finish these things first."

Zhang Fei was startled, and nodded quickly: "Yes, yes, yes. I'll try my best. I'll try my best."

"I'm leaving first!"

Without even saying "bye", Wang Anshi waved his sleeves and left.

Of course, he did not meet Zhang Fei by chance, but it was a deliberate arrangement. He did not want to get involved in this matter, and at the same time, he did not want Zhang Fei to get involved. The reason was the same as Zhang Fei's initial thought. You just targeted the eunuchs and now you are dealing with the Imperial City Bureau. What would the emperor think?

This is too dangerous.

Before Zhang Fei could come to his senses, a tall and narrow figure suddenly appeared over him again.

Zhang Fei was startled and took a closer look. "Oh! It's Scholar Sima."

Sima Guang ignored his surprise, looked at Wang Anshi who had already walked away, and asked: "That villain came to you, but asked you to let the Imperial City Division go?"

"Well."

Zhang Fei seemed a little hesitant.

"I knew this guy was going to start causing trouble again." Sima Guang said while gritting his teeth.

Zhang Fei hurriedly said, "Sima Xue Shi, calm down. In fact, Wang Xue Shi just thinks that the affairs of Hebei, Jingdong East Road, and Xihe Road should be given priority at present, and no more disturbances should be caused. Let the court be quiet for a while."

"Don't listen to his nonsense."

Sima Guang immediately angrily rebuked: "Wang Jiefu is at least half responsible for today's disaster."

Zhang Fei asked hurriedly: "What do you mean?"

Sima Guang said: "During the reigns of Emperor Zhenzong and Emperor Renzong, there were constant calls to limit the power of the Imperial City Bureau. Although the Imperial City Bureau was not truly restricted by the system, it did prevent the Imperial City Bureau from being too presumptuous.

But ever since Wang Jiefu entered the Council of State, he has been instigating the emperor to strengthen the power of the Imperial City Administration. Everyone knows what Sima Zhao is thinking.

He knew that his new policies would cause dissatisfaction among officials and the people, so he wanted to use the Imperial City Department to silence everyone so that Wang Anshi could make the court do whatever he wanted. "

He just didn't say anything. Zhang Fei guessed this and asked again, "What does Sima Xueshi think?"

Sima Guang snorted, "If it weren't for Prime Minister Zhao stopping me, I would have filed a petition to impeach the Imperial City Office. Did the soldier deliberately fabricate the facts? Or was he deceived and slandered Wang Jiefu?

He was telling the truth, but he was wrongly accused. Where is justice? Moreover, such cases have been particularly frequent in recent years, and some officials have even used them to frame people and extort money from the people.

But it is more important to prevent the people from speaking out than to prevent the flood. If the court does not promptly learn of the people's grievances and appease them, once they erupt, the consequences will be disastrous."

Zhang Fei asked: "So what does Sima Xueshi mean?"

Sima Guang tilted his head to look at him, and said with a firm expression: "The public security, procuratorial and judicial organs must restrict the Imperial City Bureau and must not allow them to continue to run rampant and do whatever they want. If they can get away with it and wantonly break the law, how can the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs convince the world? Then the entire judicial reform will fail because of this."

Zhang Fei was so embarrassed: "But this might offend the government?"

Sima Guang said: "You just need to act according to the law. As for matters that offend the government, I will handle them. In short, this will definitely curb the Imperial City Bureau."

In Cheng Fang's lawsuit, Sima Guang initially only wanted to protect Cheng Yi and targeted Cheng Fang. He did not escalate the whole case to eunuchs interfering in politics. He was willing to make compromises and did not want to offend the emperor because of this matter.

But when facing the Imperial City Bureau, his attitude is completely different. He would rather offend the emperor and do it to the end.

This pair of enemies really can't get along! Zhang Fei secretly sighed, and also knew why there was a party struggle. Wang Anshi and Sima Guang were full of contradictions on almost everything. He nodded and said, "Yes."

Sima Guang continued, "I heard that the Imperial City Department refused to allow your procuratorate to intervene?"

Although he did not show up, he has been paying attention to this matter. He came here this time hoping to support Zhang Fei. If you really can't handle it, then we will put pressure on the emperor in the court.

Because if the Imperial City Bureau ignores the public security, procuratorate and courts, they will be the only ones to put pressure on the emperor.

You can't ask the royal police to storm the imperial city.

That would be rebellion.

"Um."

Zhang Fei added: "But they are not unreasonable. Instead, they have brought out relevant written regulations. I have to go back and study them to see how to break through. In addition, I think that in order to win in this kind of situation, we have to convince them wholeheartedly. Otherwise, it cannot be solved."

Sima Guang nodded slightly and agreed with this.

They used to make trouble with the emperor every day, from the time of Emperor Zhenzong to the present, but in fact no emperor had ever really restricted the Imperial City Bureau.

This is very difficult, you must give a perfect reason to restrict the Imperial City Division.

The reason is very simple. From the emperor's perspective, the Imperial City Bureau directly represents the imperial power, and the emperor certainly cannot limit his own power.

But from the ministers' perspective, if you allow the Imperial City Bureau to punish them for their words, then if they talk back to the emperor, they will be sentenced to death, right?

If this civil servant doesn't say anything, he might as well go home and farm.

After all, the emperor and the literati currently rule the world together. The literati know very well that the emperor's power over life and death must be restricted. Otherwise, how can they rule the world together?

However, due to the lack of rule of law, the ministers could only keep an eye on them all the time. Anyway, if you commit a crime, I will impeach you and hold you, the emperor, accountable. You have more power, but I have more people and I can follow suit. As a result, although the emperor did not explicitly restrict the Imperial City Bureau, he did not dare to act recklessly.

The emperor didn't want to have a falling out with his ministers just for one or two civilians, and it would be very troublesome, so the emperor often restrained the Imperial City Bureau, requiring them to strictly abide by discipline and not do anything weird. However, only I can restrain them, and you can't.

In essence, it is still a struggle between imperial power and ministerial power.

Sima Guang hated this kind of thing even more. After all, he was an old Confucian and was well-versed in history books. He believed from the bottom of his heart that a wise ruler must allow for free speech and must never easily punish people for their speech, let alone magnify this behavior, which was a terrible thing. Therefore, he had always been the most active in impeaching the Imperial City Bureau.

It just so happened that we now had the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems, and the ministers of this group also believed that there was a chance to truly restrict the Imperial City Bureau.

Zhao Yan was also very clear about this matter, but he considered that if you directly confront the emperor, the emperor would be even more embarrassed and it would make the matter even more difficult to handle, so it would be better to hand it over to our public security, procuratorate and courts to handle.

After returning home and having dinner, Zhang Fei began to study the relevant laws and imperial decrees, while Xu Zhiqian helped him with her big belly.

"Unless we resort to the old tricks again and sue in the name of our ancestral law, otherwise, it will be difficult to find a breakthrough!"

Xu Zhiqian put down the book in her hand and shook her head at Zhang Fei in frustration.

After all, the emperor did not say that the Imperial City Division could break the law. He only stipulated that if the Imperial City Division broke the law, it would be handled internally by the Imperial City Division and did not need to be handed over to the Kaifeng Prefecture or the Court of Criminal Justice.

"The ancestral law is a trump card, it cannot be used lightly, and the government also hates people always using the ancestral law to suppress him."

Zhang Fei frowned and said, "Explain this decree to me in detail."

This ancient saying can be extended to several meanings. If we can find other meanings, we may be able to make a breakthrough.

Xu Zhiqian said: "This decree only has one sentence, and it really has no other meaning. If an official of the Imperial City Department violates the law, the Imperial City Department can deal with it on its own, and there is no need to hand it over to Kaifeng Prefecture."

Zhang Fei said: "Write it down word by word first."

Xu Zhiqian has worked with Zhang Fei for so many years and knows his habits. He likes very detailed and lengthy writing and does not like short ones. Even if the sentences are not fluent, he can accept it, but it must be written in great detail.

She immediately took up her pen and wrote down the meaning of the decree in a very straightforward manner.

Zhang Fei took the paper and looked at it back and forth for half an hour, and suddenly muttered to himself, "What if it is illegal?"

Xu Zhiqian asked: "What did you say?"

Zhang Fei glanced at Xu Zhiqian and suddenly smiled and said, "Zhiqian, we still need to join forces as husband and wife."

Xu Zhiqian was pleasantly surprised and asked, "Have you figured out a solution?"

Zhang Fei smiled and nodded.

The next morning.

Zhang Fei showed up in person this time and came to the Imperial City Division again with Qi Ji.

They were greeted by an official named Liu Renzan, who was of the sixth rank. In fact, the rank of officials in the Imperial City Administration was not high, the highest being the sixth rank.

"Su Wen's public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are fair and strict, and they handle matters efficiently, but now it seems that they do not live up to their reputation. They are just like those imperial censors, who only know how to argue and waste the court's public grain."

Liu Renzan said with disdain.

It can be seen that they are not on good terms with the Censorate, and they are not afraid of those censors at all. This may be unique in the court and the country.

Zhang Fei asked with a smile: "Mr. Liu, where did you get this from?"

Liu Renzan said, "Yesterday I showed the imperial edict to Inspector Qi. Your procuratorate has no right to prosecute us."

"Yeah?"

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "I would like to see if it is really as you said."

"As expected of a man of Erbi origin, his skill in making trouble is really amazing."

Liu Renzan shook his head, "Well, I'll tell you to give up on this idea."

He then ordered someone to bring out the imperial edict and show it to Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei took it and looked at it, then suddenly looked at Qi Ji and said, "Inspector Qi, was it this Liu Gongshi who told you yesterday that the procuratorate has no right to prosecute officials of the Imperial City Department because they have an imperial decree?"

Qi Ji nodded.

Liu Renzan said contemptuously: "I said it, what's the problem?"

“This is a huge problem.”

Zhang Fei directly took out a complaint, slapped it on the table, and said, "Liu Renzan, I am now officially representing the Procuratorate to sue you for forging the imperial edict."

"That's outrageous."

Liu Renzan stood up and pointed at Zhang Fei's nose, "How dare you frame me."

Qi Ji's legs also went weak. This was a genuine imperial decree. It couldn't be fake!

Zhang Fei picked up the imperial edict and said, "The emperor has clearly written in this edict that any official in the Imperial City Department who violates the law must be handed over to the Imperial City Department for handling."

Liu Renzan asked, “Is there any problem with this?”

Zhang Fei said: "The problem is that when our procuratorate prosecutes anyone, it does not mean that the other party has violated the law and is a criminal. Only after the imperial court makes a judgment, it means that you have violated the law.

The government only stipulated that after a violation of the law, the case would be handed over to the Imperial City Administration for handling. In other words, this decree was only applicable after the imperial court’s judgment, and not at the moment.

Because we are currently in the stage of investigation and prosecution. You actually misinterpreted the imperial edict and tried to stop our procuratorate from investigating. Isn't this the crime of forging the imperial edict?"

"you!"

Liu Renzan almost bit his tongue, he was a little confused, is this the case? I broke the law and you can't arrest me, I didn't break the law, but you can arrest me, is there any law? He pointed at Zhang Fei with a ferocious look, "How dare you frame me."

Zhang Fei spread his hands and asked with a question mark on his face: "Why do you say that, Mr. Liu?"

Liu Renzan pointed at the complaint and said, "You've even prepared the complaint, and you still say it's not true."

Zhang Fei said, "I prepared the complaint because you used those words to deal with Inspector Qi yesterday. I didn't believe that Liu Gongshi would be so bold, so I came to see, but I didn't expect it to be true. Someone, take Liu Gongshi away."

Immediately two Royal Police officers came forward.

Liu Renzan shouted, "Who dares?"

Suddenly, more than ten imperial guards rushed into the house.

Qi Ji suddenly looked panicked. It seemed that it took a lot of courage to arrest the marriage official in the Imperial City.

Zhang Fei held up the imperial edict and said, "Mr. Liu forged the imperial edict. Anyone who dares to stop me will be punished with the same crime as him."

After that, he shouted even louder: "Forged imperial edict, forged imperial edict."

When the imperial guards heard this, they were a little at a loss. Although they only needed to obey the emperor's orders, forging imperial edicts was something the emperor would never allow. It was definitely a capital crime. What should they do?

"Forged edict!"

Zhang Fei shouted at the top of his voice and winked at Qi Ji at the same time.

Qi Ji reacted immediately and shouted, "Forged the imperial edict, forged the imperial edict."

This shout made everyone feel uneasy.

The office of the Imperial City Bureau is right next to the gate of the Imperial City. If officials passing by heard this, they would have to come over to take a look.

“Ouch!”

Liu Renzan stamped his feet fiercely, "Stop shouting, stop shouting, can't I just go with you?"

Zhang Fei immediately stopped shouting and extended his hand to lead the way to the door, "Mr. Liu, please come in."

"You are such a ruthless kid."

Liu Renzan said viciously: "But don't blame me for not reminding you, it's easier to invite a god than to send him away!"

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Just you?"