When Lu Jiawen went down, he felt very aggrieved, as if he had been an ambitious young man and suddenly turned into a decadent middle-aged man. It was so sad to hear about it and shed tears to see it. The only person who could understand him was Wang Anshi.
However, Wang Hong, who came up, was not much better.
He never dreamed that one day he would be sitting here and being interrogated by a spy whom he hated so much.
What a shame!
He bowed to Zhao Yan with an expressionless face.
Although Zhao Yan did not have a good impression of him, he definitely supported Geng Ming in this case. But Wang Hong was the magistrate of Chi County after all, and Zhao Yan could understand Wang Hong's mentality. He still asked him to sit down in a friendly manner and gave him some face.
Wang Hong sat steadily in the witness chair, and immediately stared at Zhang Fei with his eyes wide open.
Facing the powerful Wang Hong, Zhang Fei was not afraid at all. He just stood up and rolled up his sleeves. With this posture... it was as if he was afraid that others didn't know that he was here for revenge.
He actually has a very strong temper. He believes that no matter how you come, I will go the same way. I will repay kindness and I will also avenge hatred.
Especially in court, they will not be afraid.
...
...
Zhang Fei glanced at the document and asked, "As far as I know, County Magistrate Wang was a Jinshi in the second year of Huangyou (1050 AD)?"
Wang Hong immediately frowned and said, "I am an official, and you are a commoner. Your attitude is really rude."
After these words were spoken, Liu Shu, Qi Hui, Li Kai and other people who knew Zhang Fei well all shook their heads and sighed.
Aren't you just asking for embarrassment by saying this to this kid?
If he knew how to respect, he wouldn't be standing here.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Everyone is equal in this court. Even if it is Minister Han sitting here, I would still ask the same question. So, please answer my question, County Magistrate Wang."
Han Qi on the side raised his head and said, "There are so many officials sitting here, but you insist on bringing trouble upon me. Are you taking advantage of my kindness?"
Fu Bi, who was standing by, glanced at Han Qi secretly and whispered, "Prime Minister Han, please be patient. His words just show his status in the court."
Han Qi was still unhappy, muttering quietly: "My status doesn't need his ear to prove it."
Wang Hong immediately felt Zhang Fei's toughness. No matter how ruthless he was, he didn't dare to talk about Han Qi.
At this time, Zhao Yan suddenly said, "Please answer Zhang San's question, County Magistrate Wang."
You are showing off your power here, so why should I sit up here?
Wang Hong glanced at Zhao Yan, then nodded reluctantly and said, "Yes."
Zhang Fei continued, "Afterwards, Magistrate Wang went to Hongzhou to be a clerk. Because of his good performance, he was transferred to Guangzhou as a judicial officer three years later. He was later promoted to Magistrate of Jurong County, Jiangning Prefecture, and then to Tongpan of Shouzhou. Two years ago, he was promoted to Magistrate of Kaifeng. Am I wrong?"
Wang Hong nodded proudly.
This resume is absolutely remarkable. His ranking in the imperial examination was not high, so he was transferred to a faraway place to be a manager at the beginning. Unlike Su Shi and others, who stayed in the capital to be officials after the exam, his starting point was much higher than others.
Zhang Fei looked around and said, "Many of you here are officials appointed by the imperial court. I believe that everyone can tell from this resume that Magistrate Wang is definitely a very capable and outstanding magistrate. Otherwise, he would not have been promoted to Kaifeng County Magistrate so quickly. Many officials may never be able to enter Tokyo in their entire lives."
They are all knowledgeable people and of course they know what this resume represents, but the question is... aren't you here for revenge?
Why did you take the photo?
The officials present all looked bewildered.
Even the people at the door were a little confused.
This is really surprising compared to the tit-for-tat situation just now!
Qian Yi also asked in a low voice: "What does he want to do?"
Fan Chunren frowned and said uncertainly, "Let's wait and see."
Zhang Fei then asked Wang Hong, "Wang, Magistrate, from being a clerk to a judge, and then to a magistrate and a judge, you must have a lot of experience in solving cases, right?"
Wang Hong nodded.
Zhang Fei asked, "I wonder if Magistrate Wang can remember how many cases he has tried?"
Wang Hong thought about it and shook his head: "I don't remember."
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Do you remember roughly? Are there hundreds of cases?"
Wang Hong said: "It should be more than that."
"Thank you!"
Zhang Fei sat down and said to Zhao Yan, "I have finished asking questions."
Zhao Yan was stunned.
Are you done with this question?
Which way are you heading?
This series of questions is equivalent to counting Wang Hong’s achievements!
All the officials present were stunned.
Even Cao Dongdong at the door said, "Not good! Zhang San must have received money from the other side. No, maybe it's a widow."
Ma Xiaoyi scratched his head and asked, "Brother, how did you know?"
Cao Dongdong said: "Are you stupid? You can't even see that. He has been praising Wang Hong all the time!"
Ma Xiaoyi shook his head and said, "I don't believe that Third Brother is such a person."
Cao Dongdong snorted, "Then let's wait and see."
.....
Qian Yi also saw the trick and said, "He asked this question to prove that Wang Hong has rich experience and is familiar with the judiciary, so it is impossible for him to make a wrong judgment. It seems that he has guessed that we hope to convict Wang Hong of a crime."
Yes! This is also a controversial issue, but I have never thought of using this point to help Wang Hong get away with it. It seems that I am not as thoughtful as he is. Fan Chunren smiled and said, "But we don't plan to let Wang Hong play dumb."
As a novice, he didn't know how powerful pretending to be stupid was. In court, evidence was important, and the most difficult thing to prove was subjective judgment.
Therefore, Zhang Fei spared no effort to prove that Wang Hong was experienced in judicial matters and that there would be no misjudgment due to lack of ability in such a case.
He stood up and first bowed to Wang Hong, which was actually a subtle criticism of Zhang Fei. Everyone should be equal in the court, but basic etiquette must still be observed, and this has nothing to do with equality.
Wang Hong understood what he meant and stood up to return the greeting.
Quality!
Xu Zhiqian smiled slyly and said, "They are mocking you!"
Zhang Fei said disdainfully: "These officials are really petty."
Then Fan Chunren asked, "Excuse me, County Magistrate Wang, what were you doing when the crime happened?"
Wang Hong said: "I was busy collecting taxes at the time."
Fan Chunren pretended to have just reacted, "Yes, now is the time to collect summer taxes. I heard that collecting taxes is a very cumbersome task."
Wang Hong nodded: "Yes, especially in Kaifeng County, because Kaifeng County has a large population and is located in the capital, the official duties of collecting taxes are very cumbersome. These days I almost don't get home until midnight."
Fan Chunren nodded and asked, "Will this affect Magistrate Wang's judgment?"
Wang Hong nodded and said, "Of course. For non-major criminal cases, I usually wait for some time before handling them. In addition, in most counties in our country, due to the shortage of government staff, civil lawsuits are suspended at this time, and they are usually piled up until winter."
As he spoke, he sighed, "In fact, this lawsuit has affected Kaifeng County's collection duties. If it is delayed for a few days, I hope the court will understand."
"Please rest assured, Magistrate Wang, the court will certainly understand."
Fan Chunren consoled him and then asked, "With such a busy schedule, has Magistrate Wang carefully examined Geng Ming's petition?"
Wang Hong sighed: "No!"
Zhang Fei frowned when he heard this and said to Xu Zhiqian, "They are going to give up Wei Yu Mountain!"
Xu Zhiqian nodded and said, "It seems so."
Zhang Fei sighed: "Damn it, this really caught me off guard."
Xu Zhiqian said: "It's not that serious."
"Originally, I didn't. Anyway, I killed them all together. But..." Zhang Fei said depressedly, "But you forgot that Prince Chang came to find me. Now they have taken the initiative to give up Wei Yushan, which means I still have to help Wei Yushan defend him. What kind of thing is this! Hurry up and find me the document from Wei Yushan. I didn't expect them to be so disloyal."
"oh."
Xu Zhiqian hurriedly started searching.
It can only be said that they did not make sufficient preparations this time, nor did they start from the personalities of Fan Chunren and Qian Yi.
Fan Chunren knew that Geng Ming must have been wronged, so he never intended to argue for Wei Yushan, and he even planned to step on him.
In fact, helping Wang Hong was already hovering on their bottom line. Fan Chunren also struggled for a long time as to whether to help or not. He did not speak out at first, but later when it developed into a judicial and administrative struggle, he found an excuse to stand up.
But he did not want to help Wang Hong to be acquitted, but hoped to find him guilty.
As for this crime, it depends on how the court will punish you.
It can be light or heavy.
Fan Chunren thought it through very clearly. He could compete with Zhang Fei again while retaining the reason to punish Wang Hong.
The people sitting there did not pay attention to their little movements, but listened quietly to Fan Chunren's interrogation.
"No?" Fan Chunren was surprised and said, "This is a crime of dereliction of duty! County Magistrate Wang has been an official for many years, how could he make such a careless mistake? Or is there something else going on?"
Wang Hong said: "This is all because the spies of the Bian Jing Law Firm wanted to take advantage of the people under the guise of calculating taxes, which caused a lot of trouble to our Kaifeng County and delayed a lot of work for our county government.
At that time, I was so busy that I was confused. This case happened three years ago, so it was very difficult to investigate. If I insisted on investigating this case, it would definitely delay the collection of taxes, and it might not be possible to find out the truth and clear the name of the case. As a county magistrate, I have to consider the importance of many things, so I rejected the decision of the Court of Justice that day. "
Many officials present nodded, including Han Qi and Fu Bi.
They all understood Wang Hong's approach.
When it comes to national affairs and personal integrity, of course, the former should be given priority.
Fan Chunren asked again: "I wonder if Magistrate Wang ever thought that things would end up like this?"
Wang Hong shook his head and sighed, "I never expected that."
Fan Chunren asked, "If we give Magistrate Wang another chance, what will he choose?"
As he said this, he secretly glanced at Zhang Fei, as if he was afraid that he would shout "objection", but he saw that Zhang Fei was not listening at all. At this moment, he was holding a document and examining it with a serious expression.
I was delighted, it seemed that he had lost his composure.
He never imagined that what Zhang Fei is worried about now is how to convict Wei Yushan. It is too unethical of him to give up on him directly. Wei Yushan will be like meat on the chopping board. If he is not careful, he may be exiled.
Wang Hong didn't know the art of opposition at all. He didn't pay any attention to Zhang Fei at all. He answered decisively: "Although I didn't expect things to develop to this point, but even if I were given another chance, I would choose to reject it because I know what is more important."
What he said was truly righteous and awe-inspiring.
"I'm done asking questions."
Fan Chunren bowed again and then sat down.
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