Chapter 240: The Negotiation Table is the Main Battlefield
Chapter 240: The Negotiation Table is the Main Battlefield
As far as lawsuits are concerned, the battlefield of criminal cases is definitely in the court, such as Ayun's lawsuit and Lin Fei's lawsuit.
The judgment will be made in court.
However, in civil litigation, the court is only a secondary battlefield, and private negotiations are the main battlefield.
For example, the lawsuit between Li Si and Chen Yuteng was settled privately. In court, they were just bargaining. Whoever has the advantage will be more proactive in private negotiations.
This lawsuit is rather special because tax evasion is definitely a criminal case, and Zhang Fei also represents the court, but it is said that he does not have the status of a prosecutor.
However, the Song Dynasty has its own national conditions.
If ordinary people evade taxes, then it is of course a criminal offense, but if the other party is from the landlord class or the scholar-official class, then it can also be a civil offense.
This was also a point of debate in the court before. If the court has evidence, is it necessary to go to court?
...
...
Just arrest him!
The problem was that Wang Anshi was forced to do this because he couldn't arrest anyone. His purpose was to force them to pay taxes, not to take their lives.
Based on this, this case should be classified as a civil matter.
Since it is a civil matter, private negotiations are the main battlefield.
In the evening of that day, Li Guozhong, Fei Ming, Li Lei, the representative of the landlord class, Huang Zhi, and the representative of the scholar-official class, Wang Zhu, a total of five people, came to the Bian Jing Law Firm to negotiate with Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei is still a couple with Xu Zhiqian, plus the scapegoat, oh, Fan Li, commonly known as the legal representative, and Qiu Zhengwen, the younger brother who serves tea and water.
Zhang Fei put down his teacup, glanced at the faces of the five people opposite him, and said in a firm tone: "I'm so sorry! You have lost the opportunity to negotiate."
Li Guozhong smiled and said, "The sage said that the purpose of etiquette is harmony. We should still leave a way out for ourselves. After all, we will meet each other sooner or later."
Zhang Fei joked, "Li Xing Shou didn't read the Criminal Law, but read the Analects. This really caught me off guard. But in this case, even if a saint came, it might not be helpful! Just now we were still considering whether we should continue to sue you for using counterfeit tax notes."
Huang Zhi and Wang Zhu were terrified. If they were to pursue this responsibility, it would be a question of how they died.
Li Guozhong smiled and said, "Let's not talk about the Analects, let's talk about the Criminal Code. Since ancient times, there has always been a saying that the law should not punish the masses..."
Xu Zhiqian snorted, "But few people dare to use fake tax notes."
Li Guozhong was stunned, glanced at Xu Zhiqian next to him, and said with a smile: "Madam Xu is right, but there are many people who evade taxes.
But if you don’t handle it properly, the tenants will come to you to sue you, or many people will report tax evasion, and it will be endless. I’m afraid it will disturb your office and make the court embarrassed.”
Fei Ming said: "If you can claim 500,000 strings of cash, it will be enough to make people all over the world come to you to sue you. Not to mention whether Sanlang can win, even if Sanlang has a reason and evidence, will the government rule like this?"
This makes sense. Almost everyone in the world is exploited. This lawsuit would cost 500,000 strings of cash. If no one came to sue, the landlords and the people would be completely on opposite sides.
Will the law really apply then?
The court would not allow this to happen.
Fan Li nodded slightly and whispered to Zhang Fei: "Sanlang, I think what they said makes some sense."
Zhang Fei glared at him, thought for a while, and then asked Li Guozhong: "How do you hope to end this lawsuit?"
Huang Zhi and Wang Zhu, the two class representatives, had a glimmer of joy in their eyes.
Li Guozhong said: "Mr. Du and his team will make up all the tax money."
"......?"
"......?"
Time seemed to stand still for a moment...
Zhang Fei blinked, "That's it?"
Li Guozhong said: "Isn't this the purpose of the court filing this lawsuit?"
Fei Ming added, "Of course, Mr. Du and his men will also repay Sanlang with generous gifts."
Xu Zhiqian couldn't help but said angrily, "Do you want to make the crime more serious, or do you want to drag us down with you?"
Marrying such a wife means that you will basically be cut off from quick money in this life. Zhang Fei also sent two reproachful glances, as if to say, can these things be brought to the table? Anyone who wants to give a gift will not say it first, but give it directly. Understand?
Li Guozhong quickly explained: "It's just a small gift, not enough to be a crime."
"Then forget it."
Zhang Fei said: "If you said this before the lawsuit, I might have gladly accepted it, but now, there is no way I can accept these conditions."
Li Guozhong said: "But if we continue to fight like this, it may not be a good thing for Sanlang."
Zhang Fei said: "Who can predict what will happen in the future? Now we are sure to win, and we have the initiative in the future. At least our shop has the right to refuse to sue anyone."
Those people may come to me, but I can refuse them!
Li Guozhong frowned and asked, "I wonder what Sanlang wants?"
Zhang Fei hesitated for a moment, "First, you must change the contracts with all tenants. From now on, the main household will bear all taxes."
This "first" gave Huang Zhi and Wang Zhu a headache.
But this condition is not unacceptable. At worst, we can replace some tenant farmers and these roads will lead to Bianliang.
Li Lei immediately said: "Most of the tenants agree to rent the property, and the landlords have not deceived anyone."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "I don't represent the tenant farmers, but the imperial court. My employer doesn't want this kind of thing to happen again. Only in this way can it be completely stopped."
Li Guozhong said: "If the court does not want such incidents to happen again, it should legislate for this purpose instead of just relying on a lawsuit."
Zhang Fei said: "The court has its own ideas. I am not clear about this. Perhaps..."
He shrugged slightly and added: "But if you don't agree to this condition, then there is nothing to discuss. After all, this is the purpose of the court."
Li Guozhong glanced at Wang Zhu and Huang Zhi, and after seeing the latter nod, he said, "We can agree to your condition."
"Second."
"Isn't this enough?" Li Guozhong looked at Zhang Fei in disbelief.
Zhang Fei said: "If Chief Li had carefully considered the crime committed by Du Shaojing, he would not think so."
Li Guozhong remained silent.
Zhang Fei added: "Waste those illegal usurious loans."
Fei Ming said excitedly: "Those high interest rates can be found everywhere, and it is something we both agreed to. We can waive it today and borrow it again tomorrow. We are just scribes, not charity houses. Why are you so harsh?"
Zhang Fei chuckled and said, "Uncle Fei is right. I am an informant, not a charity owner. But you can't blame me. If you want to blame someone, blame yourselves. You are too greedy.
Now I have already raised this issue in court, and have also invited Du Shaojing's tenants to testify. If I don't give an explanation, I don't know whether Kaifeng Prefecture will agree. But I can't give an explanation to the court or the public, and I may even face prosecution."
Li Guozhong said: "But it is difficult for you to identify what is legal lending and what is illegal."
Zhang Fei said: "I can give you a very loose standard. It is based on the current situation of your tenants. Even if they work hard, if they still cannot repay their debts within ten years, and the debts keep increasing, it will be considered illegal and must be waived. A new lease contract must be signed."
Xu Zhiqian said coldly: "I believe you have nothing to say about this condition."
Huang Zhi and Wang Zu both remained silent.
This does sound very lenient. If you work hard but pay back more and more money, it means you will never be able to pay it back. This obviously does not comply with the legal provisions on borrowing.
To be honest, I have been using it to read books and keep up with the latest updates. It has many reading voices and can be used on Android or Apple. 】
But in this case, most tenants would be exempted.
Li Guozhong said: "I also have a requirement, which is that they must have repaid ten times the principal and interest before it can be considered exempted."
Xu Zhiqian immediately retorted: "This is illegal."
Li Guozhong said: "When they borrowed the money, they already knew it was illegal. Why did they still borrow it? And why didn't your employer give them money to help them? If it could be easily exempted, there would be more people borrowing at high interest rates."
This sentence made Xu Zhiqian at a loss for words.
After thinking for a long time, Zhang Fei said, "Okay, I promise you. But you can't accumulate it anymore. This amount will be the standard."
Li Guozhong said: "But we must also set a deadline, and we can't drag it on forever."
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "We will give you a deadline based on the current situation of those tenants."
Li Guozhong said, "That's settled then."
"not yet!"
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "If I remember correctly, the second one is after the last one."
Li Guozhong said angrily: "Isn't this enough?"
"Of course not."
Zhang Fei frowned and said, "The two conditions before are not your atonement, nor are they your gifts, but they are what you should do and your obligations.
You are using your illegal behavior as a condition for negotiation with us, which is already very excessive. You are still complaining, then there is nothing to talk about. "
It looks like he's about to overturn the table.
Wang Zhu's heart skipped a beat and he asked hurriedly, "Then what other conditions do you have?"
Zhang Fei said: "It may be difficult for you to accept asking Du Shaojing to pay 500,000 strings of cash alone. So, the 108 of you can collect 1 million strings of cash as a fine and compensation."
Upon hearing this, Wang Zu and Huang Zhi almost slipped off their chairs.
Even Fan Li and Qiu Zhengwen trembled.
This number sounds scary!
Only Xu Zhiqian looked angry, thinking that her side was too kind.
Li Guozhong immediately said: "We will never accept this."
Zhang Fei said: "Even if it is shared equally, each person will pay less than 10,000 guan. Your employer can definitely afford it."
"But everything has to be based on facts."
Li Lei said excitedly: "The reasons you said in court are not ironclad evidence. If we only sue for compensation, we will not lose. In addition, almost no one has ever claimed compensation in this way in previous cases. And you represent the court, so does that mean that the court is different from others and can do whatever it wants?"
Zhang Fei frowned, looking a little hesitant.
Li Guozhong immediately said, "One hundred thousand strings of cash, this is the only amount we can accept."
Wang Zu and Huang Zhi couldn't help but secretly rejoice. One hundred thousand strings of cash was equalized among more than a hundred people, which was less than a thousand strings of cash. It was really worth it.
"impossible!"
Zhang Fei said, "It must not be less than what I said in the hall, 500,000 strings of cash."
Li Guozhong said firmly: "You are the one who spies on others. You have to pay the price. This kind of claim is not legal."
Zhang Fei said: "If we only sue for this claim, it will definitely not be less than 500,000 strings of cash. You need to ask for ten times the principal interest on the money the tenants owe you. Just use this standard as a judgment and calculate the taxes you owe to see if it is that much."
Li Guozhong glanced at Li Lei and Fei Ming, both of whom lowered their heads and remained silent.
Li Guozhong looked at Huang Zhi and Wang Zhu again.
The two exchanged glances and calculated that each of them had only 5,000 strings of cash. Although this was a considerable amount and could buy a decent house in Bianliang City, it was much less than the claim of 500,000 strings of cash that Du Shaojing had to bear alone.
It can only be considered as cutting off a piece of meat.
There was no way. Even though the other party had solid evidence, if this matter hadn't involved so many people, they wouldn't even be qualified to negotiate.
It can only be regarded as spending money to ward off disaster.
The two nodded to Li Guozhong.
Li Guozhong said: "This is the last condition."
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Of course."
Li Guozhong said: "But we also have a condition, which is to ensure that Kaifeng Prefecture will not settle old accounts again, and this matter will be written off once and for all."
Wang Zu and Huang Zhi nodded at the same time. They were both very worried. It was a close call. They almost forgot about this matter. Fortunately, they hired a professional.
This case lies between criminal and civil issues, and Kaifeng Prefecture has full power to veto their settlement.
Because Kaifeng Prefecture itself has the power to pursue tax evasion.
Zhang Fei said: "Whether Kaifeng Prefecture will agree, I can't guarantee that. We can sign a letter of intent for reconciliation first. If Kaifeng Prefecture does not agree, then... we'll see."
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