Fu Bi, Wen Yanbo, Sima Guang and Lu Gongzhe did not leave immediately because Zeng Gong invited them to have a simple meal in the inner hall.
In fact, I am asking them for advice.
"Zeng was not afraid to make a judgment, but was afraid that he had not considered it carefully and might have made a wrong judgment."
Zeng Gong then bowed to the prime ministers and said, "You are all the pillars of the Song Dynasty. You are experienced and talented. I hope you can give me some advice."
"I dare not, I dare not, Governor Zeng is too kind."
Fu Bi waved his hands repeatedly and said, "In fact, I am just like you, and I am often troubled by it. I believe that when you were officials in the local areas, you also encountered the problem of private salt. I dare to conclude that our judgments will definitely be different."
Everyone looked at each other and nodded.
Zeng Gong said: "I have sentenced no less than 30 people who smuggled salt. According to the law, if the amount exceeded 20 kilograms, they could be sentenced to death. More than half of them could be sentenced to death, but I often just gave them warnings and never killed anyone. After all, they were forced to do it. I have always believed that the salt law is too harsh.
But now the other party is a relative of the royal family, and he is not forced to sell private salt, and he is doing it for high profits, so he should be severely punished. But if it is true as Zhang San said, this private salt has saved countless lives, and the suffering of the people of Xuzhou is caused by the improper government, should this be considered appropriately? "
Wen Yanbo couldn't help but sigh: "Whether this evil law should be enforced is really a difficult question!"
...
...
Wang Anshi said: "As Mr. Fu said, everyone has a different judgment. In other words, whether it is good or evil is different in everyone's mind. I think since it is a decree issued by the court, it should be enforced."
He completely forgot about the royal family and was thinking seriously about this issue.
Sima Guang said, "Since ancient times, these evil laws have been difficult to enforce. Laws that cannot be enforced are equivalent to no laws."
Wang Anshi immediately said: "Therefore, we need to reform the law and eliminate bad policies. This is the right remedy."
Sima Guang laughed and said, "Since ancient times, most bad laws have come from reforms."
Fu Bi hurriedly said, "Zi Gu invited you here, not to listen to your quarrel."
Zeng Gong nodded repeatedly. He had heard of this pair of enemies a long time ago.
Fu Bi spoke, and Wang Anshi and Sima Guang also stopped their daily routines.
But then the scene became very quiet.
Fu Bi said to Zeng Gong: "Although we all have our own decisions, they may be different and it is difficult to tell right from wrong. In this case, why don't you make your own decision?"
Zeng Gong nodded.
Procuratorate.
Dozens of prosecutors and prosecutors slumped in their chairs listlessly, and the entire lobby was filled with frustration and disappointment.
They were eager to take down Zhao Wenzhen in one fell swoop, become famous in one battle, and were full of hope for this.
The result is that the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.
"Don't be discouraged, we didn't lose."
I saw Xu Zuncong walking in from outside.
"Chief Prosecutor Xu."
Everyone stood up and bowed.
Xu Zun came to the main seat and sat down, motioning them to sit down as well, and then said: "I know you have paid a lot for this lawsuit. On the one hand, you hope to defeat Zhang San, and on the other hand, you hope to be able to uphold justice and tell the people of the world that our procuratorate can make the decision for them."
Everyone looked at each other, and Chen Bing sighed, "It's a pity that none of us have done it."
"Who said that?"
Xu Zun said: "First of all, our procuratorate was able to bring Governor Zhao to court, which is a great victory. Governor Zhao couldn't escape our prosecution, and it would cost tens of thousands of guan to fight this lawsuit. Who can avoid it?
Secondly, no matter what, Kaifeng Prefecture cannot find Zhao Zhishi innocent. It is just a matter of severity of punishment. In this case, who would not be afraid of our procuratorate? "
At this point, he paused for a moment, "As for defeating Zhang San, it's true that we can't say we won, but we also gained a lot. In the future, when we collect evidence, we must examine it carefully and know how to examine it. Next time we encounter such a lawsuit, Zhang San will never be able to win again. He can't win all the time."
Chen Bing whispered, "I dare to ask, is Zhang San your son-in-law, Chief Prosecutor Xu?"
Xu Zun chuckled, "In court, especially when he stands opposite you, you will find that guy disgusting. In Dengzhou, I almost couldn't help but beat him.
I really wanted to teach him a lesson just now. He was lying with his eyes open, and he said it so confidently. He shouldn't be my son-in-law. I must avoid suspicion. Otherwise, I have to go down and compete with him myself."
"hehe.!"
Everyone burst into laughter.
Xu Zun was also happy, and said: "Everyone has worked hard these days, go back and rest early today, and have a meeting tomorrow to discuss it carefully, Su.!"
At this point, he looked around and asked, "Where's Su Ziyu?"
Qi Ji immediately said, "Ziyou just said he would go to the Taxation Department to inquire about the situation."
Xu Zun nodded, but he knew very well in his heart that the tax commissioner and Zhang Fei were in the same boat, so he couldn't get anything out of him.
Department of Taxation.
"no."
Li He shook his head and said, "It is impossible that Wang Hongjin only sold contraband salt to Xuzhou."
Su Che immediately asked: "If that's the case, why did you only provide evidence that Wang Hongjin smuggled salt to Xuzhou?"
The evidence of the procuratorate mainly came from the Commissioner of Taxation. However, Su Che felt that there were some problems with the evidence of selling illegal salt, as the Commissioner of Taxation only provided evidence from Xuzhou.
The relationship between the Tax Commissioner and Zhang Fei is very close, which makes him somewhat suspicious.
Li He said: "Don't blame Prosecutor Su. We have difficulties too. Our tax department was established not long ago and has limited manpower. Therefore, we can only focus on investigating their main income. Judging from the amount of private salt Wang Hongjin sold to Xuzhou, it should be most of the private salt in his hands. And this is also easy to investigate. As for those minor details, we can only put them aside for now. In the self-declaration, many scattered incomes are not included. This is because the smaller the income, the more manpower and material resources we must invest in investigating, which is not worth the loss."
After listening to this, although Su Che did not completely believe it, he felt that what Li He said made sense. The larger the income, the easier it would be to investigate. For example, if you declare it voluntarily, like you raise two hens, sell a few eggs, and make a little money, you don't have to declare it. Isn't it because it is difficult to investigate?
If all of them need to be declared, it may give the tax police an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
Meng Mansion.
"How can this be possible!"
Meng Gansheng said excitedly: "Zhang San is talking nonsense in court, calling a deer a horse. The evidence is irrefutable, why doesn't Kaifeng Prefecture make a judgment?"
Xie Yun sighed, "Why else? Isn't it just that the emperor is sitting there? If there is even a hint of doubt, then the prefect Zeng would not dare to make a hasty judgment."
Pei Wen snorted, "If it were us, we would have been sitting in jail by now. Did you see the look in Governor Zhao's eyes just now? He was clearly provoking us!"
Meng Gansheng's expression calmed down and he said, "I have no prejudice against Governor Zhao, but if the verdict is this, it will be hard to convince the public. What about Xu Yu, Qin Biao and others?"
Pei Wen said, "What does Director Meng think?"
Meng Gansheng said: "For example, Governor Zhao is a member of the imperial clan, and he receives a generous salary. He is also the governor of the Imperial Clan Temple, and has a salary and a salary. He also runs so many businesses privately. The salary is just a drop in the bucket for him. Isn't there a financial problem? Why not save money from here?"
Pei Wen said: "Yes, they are so capable, why not let them fend for themselves."
Xie Yun asked: "But, will this affect our favor?"
".?"
Several people looked hesitant again.
Meng Gansheng said: "I am not saying that the government should ignore the royal family, but it should be reduced at least. Otherwise, it will get worse in the future."
Everyone nodded again.
From now on, the money for the first year must be paid. After all, many officials have paid it. But we must let the higher-ups know that our money is not easy to ask for. Every time you ask for it, you will have to suffer a lot. If the money is so easy to ask for, you will have to ask for it every day.
Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night for Zhao Xu, so he invited his confidant to the palace to drink with him.
He drank the entire glass, then put the glass heavily on the table with a thud.
Zhao Xu sighed in distress, "Although I knew what was going to happen today, when I sat by the sidelines and listened to the trial, I felt mixed emotions. All I saw was bad governance."
He was really feeling uncomfortable sitting there, and he wasn't pretending.
I feel like this country is in tatters.
It makes me tired just thinking about it!
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "I thought the emperor would be excited and restless, so he asked me to drink and chat. I never thought he wanted to drink to relieve his sorrow."
Zhao Xu was surprised and said, "How can I feel excited and excited when all these bad policies are ringing in my ears?"
Zhang Fei said: "Because this is enough to prove that the government's choice of reform is an absolutely correct path, there is nothing to question."
Zhao Xu was stunned and felt that what Zhang Fei said made sense.
Zhang Fei added: "Moreover, if the emperor is left with the Zhenguan Reign, then he will probably lose the ambition to govern the country with all his efforts, which will be very boring.
And I personally think it is even more difficult. If you inherit the Zhenguan Reign and do not do well, you will definitely be criticized. If you do well, that is what you should do and it has nothing to do with you. It is like Emperor Gaozong of Tang. In fact, he had remarkable achievements during his reign, but everyone seemed to have overlooked his ability. As the saying goes, heroes are made by the times, so how can the government not be excited? "
You are truly my confidant!
These simple words immediately dispelled the haze in Zhao Xu's heart, and he felt full of strength. Yes, this is what my brother was born for. He immediately raised his glass and said, "How can I not be excited? I toast you."
They both drank it in one gulp.
Zhao Xu asked again with great interest: "By the way! This lawsuit of yours has also trapped me. I don't know how to decide it. Do you have an answer?"
"No!"
Zhang Fei shook his head.
Zhao Xu exclaimed "Ah" and seemed a little surprised.
Zhang Fei said: "In fact, to put it simply, this issue is a dispute between whether bad laws are illegal or bad laws are also legal."
Zhao Xu whispered: "Evil laws are illegal, but evil laws are also legal."
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Bad laws are still laws. There is nothing wrong with judging according to the law, but the consequences are often very serious. However, people are kind and often choose to follow their hearts rather than the law. Over time, the law may become meaningless, which is also unacceptable."
Zhao Xu nodded frequently. This problem was easy to encounter. He asked, "I wonder how to solve this problem?"
Zhang Fei hesitated and said, "I don't have an answer yet, because good and evil vary from person to person and are very subjective. Based on this, bad laws will never disappear. What the government considers to be a benevolent and righteous law may be considered an evil law by others.
This is the case with the dispute between Wang Xueshi and Sima Xueshi. Wang Xueshi’s good laws are considered bad laws by Sima Xueshi.
Zhao Xu nodded and said, "That's right, that's right."
In fact, he also knew that some of Sima Guang’s statements made sense, but Wang Anshi also made sense. Since Wang Anshi could still make money, he would of course choose Wang Anshi.
Zhang Fei continued, "I think that cautious and lenient punishment can minimize the controversy. For example, in our dynasty's salt law, in order to eliminate private salt, 20 kilograms can be sentenced to death. However, the suffering of the people in reality often makes officials choose to use evil laws and give light sentences, or even turn a blind eye. If you catch salt smugglers and do not sentence them according to the law, you may be impeached. But if you only sentence them to ten strokes of the stick and a fine, I guess officials will choose to use evil laws as laws, which can ensure the authority of the law."
Zhao Xu nodded thoughtfully and asked, "Then what do you think the prefect Zeng will decide?"
Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "I really don't dare to make a rash judgment, but didn't I ask the government for the judgment record of Zeng Zhifu last time? Judging from Zeng Zhifu's previous judgments, he would often judge whether the crime was caused by the harsh rule of the court. He would be very lenient to crimes committed under harsh rule. Although Zhao Zhishi is not a poor citizen, the court also has an unshirkable responsibility, so I think the possibility of my winning the case is still very high."
(End of this chapter)
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