Faced with the boos from all directions, Lu Gong felt a little embarrassed to bang the gavel.
You can't just say, stop arguing, because they are trying to flatter our court.
How disgusting this sounds!
Lu Gongzhe, who is upright and incorruptible, really can't afford to lose face like this.
I was also blaming Zhang Fei in my heart. Forget about your ability to flatter others. You chose the wrong time and made yourself look like a nobody.
After a while, when their boos died down, he banged the gavel twice and shouted weakly, "Silence! Silence!"
The scene in front of the door gradually became quiet.
Lu Gong glanced at Zhang Fei meaningfully.
Talk about the case, don't flatter.
The more you shoot, the dirtier it gets.
...
...
The shit on your butt needs to be wiped off, you can't pat it.
Don’t you understand this?
Zhang Fei pretended not to see it, stood up, and said seriously: "Yesterday Du Shaojing, Li Dacai and others talked about the suffering of tenant farmers, and the culprit was the court.
Yes, what they said is almost true, but the reason is that this is the result of the court's progress, not regression."
“Oh my god!”
Seeing that Zhang Fei could actually say such unscrupulous words, Xu Zhiqian couldn't help but lower her head and hold her forehead, saying, "I'm not very familiar with this guy."
Lü Gong's ears turned red as he heard this, and he asked in an incredulous tone, "Is this progress?"
Han Qi, Fu Bi, Sima Guang and others couldn't help but look at Zhang Fei in surprise.
What is this progress for?
"Yes."
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "The court is making progress. It is these landlords who want to slow down the court's progress, which has led to so many grievances."
At this point, he looked around and said, "Don't forget, everyone, tenant farmers have existed since ancient times, and they are not exclusive to our dynasty. It's just that the form and name of their existence are different.
In the Han Dynasty, tenant farmers were equivalent to slaves. They could not leave their masters at will, had no household registration, and their wives and children were all vassals of the master's household. In the Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang dynasties, tenant farmers were called buqu, and there is a clear legal explanation in the Tang Law Commentary. "
He lowered his head and read the document, "'Since childhood, they have no place to go and have to rely on others for food and clothing. Their masters treat them as slaves. When they grow up, they marry. Such people follow their masters and have no separate household registration. Such people are called Buqu.'"
He raised his head and said to Lü Gong: "It can be seen that the soldiers have no household registration, and even marrying a wife requires the master's consent. The master can give her a wife at will, or even kill her, and it is not illegal.
But in our dynasty, first of all, our dynasty granted household registration to tenant farmers, so-called "they are all registered as equal citizens, there is no distinction between superiors and subordinates." In other words, in front of the court, tenant farmers and main households had the same status, without any distinction between superiors and subordinates.
Secondly, during the reign of Emperor Renzong, Emperor Renzong issued an amnesty order that "customers can move without the permission of their owners." In other words, the law will ensure that customers can move freely, can leave their master households, and can even work hard to farm and buy land to become landlords. Compared with the past, isn't this an improvement?"
Lu Gong stroked his beard and said nothing.
This is certainly progress.
Han Qi, Fu Bi and others couldn't help showing a hint of relief.
If we compare vertically, the Song Dynasty did make great progress in the legislation on master-slave relations, and we should be proud of it. …After all, apart from Zhang Fei, who knows what will happen in the future.
"Take this case as an example."
Zhang Fei was talking nonstop, "Although Zhu Erjiu was Du Shaojing's tenant slave, in the legal sense, they were still in a host-guest relationship, but Du Shaojing cleverly used usury to turn them into tenant slaves in the actual sense.
From a legal perspective, they were just paying off their debts, not being enslaved. As long as the debt was paid off, Zhu Erjiu would immediately become an ordinary citizen.
This is all because of the court's legal protection, not because of Du Shaojing's mercy."
After hearing these words, everyone was thoughtful.
If it were in the past, would we still need to resort to loan sharking?
The key point is that you can choose not to borrow from this loan shark. It is voluntary to borrow or not, not forced by others. And as long as you pay off the debt, you can leave.
But in the Tang Dynasty, once a soldier surrendered, he would not even be eligible to repay the money.
"You are just being mysterious and talking about something else."
Li Lei, who was standing opposite him, suddenly stood up and said, "We were not talking about this yesterday. We were talking about the tax collection by the imperial court. Don't try to confuse people here."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone seemed to have been enlightened and immediately came to their senses.
Yes!
What I talked about yesterday was not this matter. I talked about that tenants like Li Sancai would rather pay high rent than pay taxes, because the taxes of the court were so high that they were frightening.
How do you wash this?
We cannot just compare vertically without comparing horizontally.
Avoid the important and focus on the trivial!
Facing the other party's questioning, Zhang Fei couldn't help but smile: "I implore the prefect to summon witness Chen Feng to testify in court, and then everything will be revealed."
Who is Chen Feng?
Li Guozhong and others looked at each other in bewilderment.
I've never heard of this guy!
Even Sima Guang, Wen Yanbo and others were confused. With everything laid out on the table, was there any truth to this?
Only Wang Anshi watched it with great interest. He just wanted to make money for the country and discredit the imperial court. This was not the result he wanted.
Lu Gong was also very curious and couldn't wait to hear the truth, so he immediately summoned Chen Feng to testify.
After a while, a middle-aged man in his forties came into the hall. He was wearing a long robe and did not look like an ordinary farmer.
He bowed to Lu Gong and went to the witness stand.
Zhang Fei stood up and asked, "Chen Feng, where are you from?"
Chen Feng replied, "I am a second-class household in Xiaqu Township, Kaifeng County."
"Second-class household?"
Zhang Fei asked: "Then you have served in the government?"
Chen Feng said: "Seven years ago, I served as the head of Xiaqu Township."
Zhang Fei asked, "What are you responsible for?"
Chen Feng replied: "To collect taxes."
Zhang Fei nodded and asked, "Do you know Li Sancai?"
Chen Feng nodded and said, "Yes, I know him. He is also from our village."
Zhang Fei nodded and asked, "Li Sancai once said that he paid three times the tax. Is that true?"
Hearing this, Cen Yuanli, Yu Zaishen and others couldn't help but look back at Lu Gongzhe.
We are a step behind.
Yesterday, Lu Gong wanted to investigate Li Sancai's triple taxation. Obviously, there was no need for this, as Zhang San had already helped them investigate. ... Chen Feng thought for a moment and replied, "I'm not sure whether it was tripled or not, but he definitely paid a lot more tax."
Zhang Fei wondered, "Why are you so sure?"
Chen Feng said with embarrassment: "It was me who urged them to pay."
As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar in front of the courtyard gate.
Aren't you walking into a trap?
And doesn’t this confirm what Li Sancai said yesterday?
"quiet!"
Lu Gong slammed the gavel.
The area in front of the court immediately became quiet. If you were to close the door and hold the trial at this time, who would be able to sleep tonight? You must give us a result.
After they calmed down, Zhang Fei asked again, "Why did you ask Li Sancai for more tax money?"
Chen Feng sighed: "I have no other choice."
"There is no way?" Zhang Fei asked curiously, "What do you mean?"
Chen Feng said: "Because the government collects taxes based on the land register, but many large landowners do not pay taxes, so the burden can only be shared by other farmers in the village. I have also shared some of the burden myself, but if I don't ask them for more taxes, I will have to bear it all by myself, and I can't afford it."
Zhang Fei asked again: "Then do you still remember who Li Sancai was helping to bear the taxes at that time?"
Chen Feng said: "Du Shaojing."
Zhang Fei was surprised and asked, "Why did you answer so quickly?"
Chen Feng said: "Because the village where Li Sancai is located is surrounded by the Du family's fields, and it is still the same now, so there is no need to think too much."
Zhang Fei nodded in sudden realization, "I'm done asking."
This is such a big reversal!
There was a sudden sound of discussion outside the door.
It turned out that Li Sancai helped Du Shaojing bear the taxes, which led to him becoming Du Shaojing's tenant farmer.
this.
After hearing those discussions, Du Shaojing lowered his head, too embarrassed to face anyone.
If I had known this would happen, I would have paid the additional taxes. Those people above are really useless.
There is no way out. The emperor has already caught the evidence and we can only rely on the law.
Li Lei stood up and said, "Brother Chen, did you ever collect taxes from the Du family back then?"
Chen Feng shook his head and said, "No."
Li Lei said, "You didn't go to urge the payment and didn't perform your duties. How can you say that the Du family didn't pay taxes?"
Zhang Fei leaned back and whispered to Qiu Zhengwen and others, "We should oppose it now because his words are misleading."
Qiu Zhengwen asked in return: "Then why didn't Third Brother object?"
"Forget it, I'll show you."
Zhang Fei suddenly stood up and said, "I object. The other party's question is obviously misleading, hoping to induce my witness to admit that he was negligent. But the fact is that Du Shaojing has just admitted that he evaded taxes and used white deeds, monks, female households, and other means."
Li Lei argued: "I did not deny Mr. Du
But it does not mean that this witness has no dereliction of duty.”
Lu Gong thought for a while, then suddenly asked Chen Feng: "Why didn't you collect taxes from the Du family at that time?"
Zhang Fei sat down.
Qiu Zhengwen asked: "Third brother, this trick of yours doesn't work!"
Zhang Fei said: "You are stupid! In a lawsuit, you have to use every opportunity to defend your employer. If you don't object, how can you remind everyone that Du Shaojing admitted in advance that he had evaded taxes, which is very beneficial to us."... Qiu Zhengwen nodded and looked at Chen Feng again.
Chen Feng replied, "Because the village head went to his house to collect taxes, but he couldn't collect any. Many of his lands are unclaimed deeds, so we can only collect taxes from the previous owners of the lands, and those owners have probably left, so the other farmers have to share the burden. Some of the lands are in the name of the households with limited resources, and we can't afford to offend them."
The tax-exempt households are those with official backgrounds, most of whom are either scholars or generals of the imperial guards.
Zhang Fei immediately stood up again, "This coincides with what Du Shaojing said before."
Li Lei sat down in frustration.
Li Guozhong comforted him: "Forget it, you have tried your best."
There was no way. Du Shaojing had already confessed everything and didn't dare to refute. On this point, there was no way he could win the argument.
Zhang Fei looked around and said loudly: "The truth has been revealed. Yes, the court did collect more taxes from some people, but the root cause is that many big landlords like Du Shaojing used all kinds of means to transfer taxes to the people, making it impossible for the people to afford it, and thus became their tenants or even their tenant slaves.
Did the court make mistakes? Yes, but this is a necessary step in the process of improvement. For example, Emperor Renzong wanted to give tenants the right to migrate freely, which is definitely beneficial to the people, but the landlords used usury and forced the tenants to become real soldiers. The court still needs to improve, but this is definitely not what the court wants. "
As he spoke, Xu Zhiqian handed Zhang Fei a document. Zhang Fei took the document and said, "This is the tax revenue of Xiaqu Township in the past three years, but compared with the tax revenue stipulated in the land register, it is still quite different. In other words, if everyone paid taxes according to the law, the court would earn much more than it does now.
It can be seen that the court is also one of the victims. Even in terms of its own interests, the court would not want to see such a situation. I also believe that after this case, the court will immediately improve this point. "
"Well said!"
When Wang Anshi heard this, he shouted excitedly.
It was totally worth spending this ten thousand taels of silver.
As soon as he shouted, the people outside the door also started to cheer.
It's not that everyone has no resentment in their hearts, but everyone still hopes that the court can improve. The key is that they can only count on the court to improve, and cannot expect the landlords to be kind and righteous. This is of course something to applaud, not to criticize.
But many officials have mixed feelings.
It’s neither good nor bad.
I could only try my best to force out a smile of relief, but my mouth felt as uncomfortable as if I had eaten shit, and my eye sockets felt like there were stones stuffed in them. I felt uncomfortable and wanted to cry.
But I couldn't cry.
Zhang Fei blinked at Xu Zhiqian.
Xu Zhiqian spat, "What are you so proud of? It's already been more than a quarter of an hour."
Zhang Fei was surprised and asked, "Is this true?"
Xu Zhiqian said: "Of course it's true. Oh, you tell me your story first, and we'll talk about it later."
"oh."
Zhang Fei nodded, and said to Lu Gong: "I will, on behalf of the court, demand that Du Shaojing pay back the 500,000 strings of tax."
"Five hundred thousand strings of cash?"
Du Shaojing jumped up from his chair, then his eyes went dark and he fainted.
Nancy Beiqing reminds you: Remember to collect it after reading it
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