In fact, the Imperial Court was not the beneficiary of this trial. After all, this verdict would surely attract more hostility. It should be noted that in the previous case of matricide, the Imperial Court still won the approval of many gentry.
After all, that case had nothing to do with interests.
Now the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are all on an unstable footing, which is why Zhang Fei decided to let them all off the hook and not investigate further, in order to prevent them from uniting and resorting to desperate measures.
This is a very troublesome thing.
We still have to leave room for maneuver. Although the fight is inevitable, we should try not to destroy both sides, as this will not be good for anyone.
But there is no doubt that Yuan Jiang is definitely the biggest beneficiary of this trial.
He was here to preside over the salt law, but his past experiences had told him that this was not an easy job and would offend people.
For example, Fan Xiang, although he got the support of Bao Zheng and implemented the salt law, he was eventually demoted because of a small matter. The reason was that these people would remember it in their hearts. A gentleman's revenge is never too late, even ten years later. As long as you commit a small mistake, they would impeach you madly.
Xue Xiang is now following Fan Xiang's old path and is often impeached. It is difficult for officials like them who handle financial affairs to be flawless.
Now, in this trial, Zhang Fei has offended everyone, and at the same time, he has given Yuan Jiang a great opportunity to rectify the salt law.
...
...
Under the current circumstances, even if Yuan Jiang does not come, the salt administration must be rectified.
We can no longer be as reckless as before.
After all, politics and law are separated.
Yuan Jiang was so happy that he was dying.
Such a big gift, simply...!
"Putting aside the salt administration, Judge Zhang's judgment is truly astonishing. I am ashamed of myself!" Yuan Jiang praised sincerely.
Zhang Fei smiled slightly and said, "Master Yuan, thank you for your praise."
Seeing that Zhang Fei had no joy on his face, but only a polite smile, Yuan Jiang immediately explained, "I am not complimenting Judge Zhang here because this verdict is in my favor. To be honest with Judge Zhang, I have actually encountered a similar case, but I could only show mercy outside the law and slightly neglect the punishment, which is not only unconvincing, but also hurts the salt households."
When he was the magistrate of Haimen, there were many salt households in the area who were forced to sell private salt. He actually knew that those salt households had a difficult time, but if they were not punished, the private salt would become rampant and the finances would be in trouble.
It can be seen that he shares the same idea as Zhang Fei on this issue.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "But I can only judge whether a salt household is legal or not, but I cannot judge whether they have enough food and clothing. Whether this situation can be improved depends on Master Yuan."
The salt farmers had such a hard life, and the system was a big reason for that.
"President Zhang, please don't say that."
Yuan Jiang raised his hand and said, "Back then, when Fan Xiang came here to preside over the Salt Law, he first carried out reforms as the Deputy Envoy of Transportation, but soon failed. The second time, he came here as the Chief of Criminal Justice to carry out reforms, and he used judicial power to preside over the Salt Law. Although he was impeached for this, he was successful in the end. This shows that government orders and judicial power are indispensable!"
That look in his eyes seemed to make him want to tell Zhang Fei directly that we should continue to cooperate.
Yuan Jiang was a relatively open-minded person, and he strongly supported Wang Anshi's reforms.
Zhang Fei was clear-headed, and he needed help now, so he nodded and said, "Within my authority, I will try my best to cooperate with Master Yuan."
“Okay, okay!”
Yuan Jiang nodded.
Zhang Fei added: "Master Yuan must have just arrived not long ago, so it's a good opportunity for me to welcome him."
Yuan Jiang hesitated a little and whispered, "Judge Zhang, we still can't get too close for the time being."
Zhang Fei was stunned for a moment, then nodded and smiled: "Yes, yes, then!"
Yuan Jiang immediately stood up and said, "Yuan will take his leave first."
"Master Yuan, please take care."
"Where's the side door?"
"Ah? Oh, Master Yuan, this way please."
Zhang Fei and Xu Zhiqian escorted him to the door. Looking at Yuan Jiang's brisk steps, Zhang Fei couldn't help but say, "I'll be the villain and you'll be the good guy. This is really a careful calculation!"
Xu Zhiqian asked: "Then why did you agree?"
Zhang Fei smiled bitterly and said, "Because we can't be such a good person."
"That's not true." Xu Zhiqian said with a smile: "To Huang Tong, we are the good guys!"
She agreed with the verdict and was extremely satisfied.
Zhang Fei put his arm around her slender, soft waist, "Madam, if you are so happy, you won't let me sleep alone tonight, right?"
Xu Zhiqian rolled her eyes at him, then asked anxiously, "You won't blame me, will you?"
"Won't!"
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Madam, you are doing this for your own good!"
Xu Zhiqian snorted softly, "You can make sarcastic comments as much as you want, I really am doing this for your own good."
Zhang Fei shook his head and said sincerely: "That's not the case."
"real?"
Xu Zhiqian glanced at him.
Ever since she met Zhang Fei, she has gotten used to all the weird things they do to each other.
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "I have no ambitions and just want to be content with a small fortune. Without your encouragement, I might not have come this far."
Xu Zhiqian frowned slightly and asked suspiciously, "Really?"
Zhang Fei nodded.
As a trainee lawyer, he only had houses, money, and women in his eyes. He didn't think there was anything wrong with suing for the rich. In his opinion, it was all normal!
There was not much sentimentality about family, country and the world, because in that era, it was not his turn to worry about these things. Living a good life was the best contribution to the country.
It was really Xu Zhiqian who talked about it every day. Although he was very resistant at one time, he didn't know why he began to restrain this desire. When Li Guozhong was fighting for these lawsuits, he didn't fight for it either.
Xu Zhiqian saw that he didn't seem to be lying, so she happily hugged Zhang Fei's arm and said happily, "Your words are enough."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Should we give some rewards?"
Xu Zhiqian glanced at him and said angrily, "What do you want?"
Zhang Fei twisted his body and said, "Look, I'm sweating all over and I'm not feeling well. Take a bath with me."
Xu Zhiqian's cheeks suddenly flushed. She let go of Zhang Fei and walked forward.
Zhang Fei said depressedly: "Is this request too much?"
Xu Zhiqian turned around and glared at him, "I'll ask Qingmei to boil some water."
Police station.
"Please check carefully to see if there is anything missing."
Ma Xiaoyi put a bag of salt and more than a hundred coins on the table, and then spoke to Huang Tong's family.
Huang Tong and his wife and his brother-in-law looked at the money and salt, then looked at Ma Xiaoyi and other royal police officers, and remained silent.
Can the property that has fallen into the hands of the government be retrieved?
Mr. and Mrs. Huang Tong really couldn't believe it.
For them, being able to be alive is actually good enough. Although Zhang Fei said that in court, they did not have any hope for it because it was impossible!
Little did he know that the Royal Police would bring him here directly to pick it up.
If you don't take it, the police station won't be able to close the case.
Ma Xiaoyi said: "Don't just look at us, check it out quickly. If there is no problem, just put your handprint here, and you can take your money and salt and leave."
It was Huang Tong's wife who reacted first. She held the money and salt tightly in her arms, crying with joy, "Nothing is missing! Nothing is missing! Not a bit is missing."
Ma Xiaoyi said: "Then put your handprint here."
"Why!"
Huang Tong pressed a fingerprint on a list.
At this time, there were more than a hundred people standing outside the police station, all of them looking forward to it.
A fair-faced young man came forward and asked, "What are you looking at?"
An uncle said, "Let's see if Huang Tong can get the money and salt back from the police station."
"What's there to see? I'm sure I can take it back." The white-faced young man scratched his nose and said nonchalantly.
The uncle said, "How do you know? It's good enough to be alive, but I don't believe that you can return the money."
A young man next to him said, "Even if you can get a refund, you can only get 30% at most, not all of it."
The fair-faced young man snorted, "You don't understand this. The Royal Police are different from the previous yamen runners. The Royal Police are for the government to protect the people. Since Huang Tong is innocent, he must return all his money. Do you dare to bet? I will pay you ten times. If you are one penny short, I will consider it my loss."
"really?"
The handsome young man didn't waste any words and showed his purse. It was full of silver. "Can you afford it?"
"Okay! I'll bet ten cents."
"I'll bet one penny."
"I bet five cents."
Everyone took out their money, and the fair-faced young man waved his hand, "Don't rush to pay, we'll settle it together later."
"OK."
When everyone heard him say this, they were no longer afraid that he would default on his debt.
After a while, Huang Tong's family came out of the police station, backing away while bowing to the royal police to express their gratitude.
As soon as the royal police entered, the people immediately surrounded them.
"Brother Huang, did the Royal Police really return all your money?"
"Um!"
The Brass couple nodded and choked up.
"Not a penny less?"
"No!"
Huang Tong proudly took out a bag of salt and said, "Look! Even the salt is not missing."
The fair-faced young man chuckled and said, "See, I told you there won't be any less. The Royal Police is here to protect our people."
"You are right, sir. I judged you with my own meanness. We are willing to accept the loss."
The few people who had just placed bets handed their money to the handsome man.
They were all happy to lose this money.
The fair-faced young man said, "Forget it! Forget it! This money is dirty, I don't want it, I just don't like others saying bad things about the Royal Police."
Huang Tong said hurriedly: "What the gentleman said is correct. Although the Royal Police arrested me, they never tortured me and even sent me two meals a day. It's fine."
Everyone immediately praised the Royal Police.
At this time, a young man said, "Brother Huang, are you still selling this salt? I just happened to be out of salt."
The fair-faced young man froze for a moment and said, "This is not good! Selling illegal salt in front of the police station?"
"What private salt? The chief judge said it's legal salt."
"Yes, yes, Brother Huang, if it's twenty cents, I'll buy some too."
The white-faced young man scratched his head and said, "That's true."
Huang Tong's brother-in-law said, "Brother-in-law, why don't you sell it? Take the salt back. We can't eat so much!"
Huang Tong nodded and said, "Okay."
In an instant, the six or seven kilograms of salt were sold out.
Just at this moment, two auxiliary police officers came over, clasped their fists towards the fair-faced young man and said, "Superintendent Cao."
"Um?"
Superintendent Cao?
Everyone took a step back and looked at the fair-faced young man in fear.
This handsome young man is none other than Cao Dongdong.
It turned out that Cao Dongdong thought that it was our police station that arrested the man, but it was the imperial court that released him. This was not acceptable. He had to gain some reputation, so he specially sent someone to invite Huang Tong to the police station with great fanfare and return the salt and money to him.
Huang Tong was captured by Ma Xiaoyi and had never seen Cao Dongdong.
Cao Dongdong first looked at the two ignorant auxiliary police officers with depression, then laughed and said, "Don't be afraid, fellow villagers. I was just joking with you. We, the Royal Police, only arrest lawbreakers and protect law-abiding people. As long as you don't break the law, you don't need to be afraid."
Huang Tong and his wife were also very tactful and quickly thanked Cao Dongdong.
The people around him quickly followed suit and started flattering Cao Dongdong.
In the corner far away, there were several middle-aged men wearing long silk gowns.
One of them said: "This public security, procuratorial and judicial system is really extraordinary!"
Another person said, "Protect the people! We salt merchants are also people, and we need the protection of the public security, procuratorate and courts!"
"What do you think, Brother Duan?"
"The court ruled that the government had breached the contract first, so Huang Tong was not considered to be selling private salt. However, the government had breached the contract more than once. At the beginning, the government promised to exchange 200 kilograms of salt notes, but now the salt notes can only be exchanged for 120 kilograms."
"Brother Duan, are you crazy? How can this be the same? In this case, Huang Tong was the first to sell illegal salt, and the imperial court just let him off. But if we want to sue, we can only sue the government for breach of contract. Will those officials let us go?"
"After some time, I may not be able to sue, but at this moment, I still have a chance."
"What do you mean?"
"The imperial court has made those salt officials lose face, and they will definitely find ways to retaliate. And these salt notes have nothing to do with those salt officials. They were all caused by Deputy Envoy Xue. Even if the amount is calculated in full, it is still a loss for the court. When the court holds them accountable, those salt officials can push the responsibility to the imperial court. They will definitely be happy to see us do this.
If you don't believe it, let's go and ask the Salt Supervisor. If he allows, we can sue him. How about that?"
"Okay, let's go ask first."
"Yes, in the final analysis, we did nothing wrong in this matter. It was the imperial court that broke its promise first. What do we have to be afraid of?"
(End of this chapter)
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