sophistry!
This kid is exactly the same as his father-in-law, he likes to show off his knowledge.
Compared with the excitement of the military generals, some civil officials were somewhat dissatisfied.
Because this "A general is not bound by the orders of his king when he is away from home" has never been a law, and in fact there is no law to judge it.
However, what Zhang Fei said was not wrong. Of course, it was allowed for the general to improvise on the battlefield. It was impossible for the enemy to arrive at the gate. The general should first seek the emperor's consent and then decide whether to counterattack.
This is obviously impossible.
If we count from the moment when Zhong Yan sent out his troops, it must be a disobedience of the imperial edict. However, if we count from the initial attempt to induce surrender, this may not be the case. Whether Zhong Yan's previous confession was true is very crucial.
This was also the reason why those civil servants were dissatisfied, thinking that Zhang Fei was making excuses for Zhong Yan.
At the same time, they also understood why Zheng Xie appeared here.
Zheng Xie also felt that Zhang Fei was somewhat biased towards Zhong Yan, but he had to admit that what Zhang Fei said made more sense. Logically speaking, this was originally one thing, so he just teased: "Judge Zhang, you are now the judge, not just an earpiece."
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Zhang Fei chuckled and said, "I am not biased towards any party. Since there are disputes in this case, we need to investigate them clearly. Scholar Zheng should have heard that Deputy Envoy Zhong repeatedly emphasized that the situation was critical at that time and that if he delayed, something unexpected would happen. Therefore, he chose to dispatch troops decisively. Therefore, I need to clarify this matter."
Zheng Xie nodded, "I understand."
Zhang Fei coughed lightly and asked, "According to Zheng Xueshi, what was the court's attitude towards the attempt to induce the Weimingshan brothers to surrender?"
Zheng Xie said: "I don't agree with this."
Zhang Fei was slightly stunned, and immediately asked: "Can the opinion of Zheng Xueshi be regarded as the decision of the court?"
"That can't be possible."
Zheng Xie hurriedly explained.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "What I'm asking is the court's attitude."
Zheng Xie nodded, thought for a moment, and then answered: "The court's initial attitude was just to let Yanzhou give it a try, and did not explicitly oppose it. However, this matter caused a lot of controversy in the court, and most ministers opposed it."
Zhang Fei nodded helplessly. "I've heard that, but the opinions of those ministers are not considered in this case. As Zheng Xueshi just said, the imperial court is about laws, not politics."
Zheng Xie was puzzled and asked, "But just now, Mr. Guo also expressed his political views."
How can this be possible without expressing political views?
Zhang Fei said: "That's just to understand the whole story. As for his political views, they will not have any impact on the final verdict."
Guo Kui's face darkened when he heard this. "It seems that all my words were in vain! You little bastard!"
Zhang Fei hesitated for a moment and asked, "Then the first time the deputy envoy lured Wei Ming Yishan to surrender, according to the law, was it a violation of the imperial order?"
Zheng Xie thought for a while, then shook his head: "No."
If he was not allowed, Lu Shen would have stopped Zhong Yan long ago, and he would not have issued an imperial decree later to allow Lu Shen and Xue Xiang to make the plan.
Zhang Fei asked: "Why didn't the court refuse from the beginning?"
Zheng Xie said: "Because the court is not clear about the specific situation, in order to prevent the border generals from being greedy for merit and advancing recklessly, they ordered Lu Zhifu and Xue Yunyunshi to preside over this matter."
At this point, he immediately added: "At this time, the court was still hesitant and had not yet made up its mind to retake Suizhou. After all, the emperor had just ascended the throne and was facing severe financial difficulties. If a war broke out, the country might be destroyed in an instant. But no one expected that Deputy Envoy Zhong would send troops without waiting for the imperial edict."
Zhang Fei asked: "Assuming that Deputy Envoy Zhong was waiting for the imperial edict, and Prefect Lu and Transport Envoy Xue thought it was okay to continue, then would Deputy Envoy Zhong's behavior be considered disobeying the imperial edict?"
Zheng Xie asked back, "I wonder why Judge Zhang asked this?"
Zhang Fei said: "Because I want to confirm one thing, whether the court's decision at the time was clearly against retaking Suizhou."
Zheng Xie hesitated for a while and shook his head, "Not really."
Zhang Fei asked, "Mr. Zheng should have heard what Mr. Guo said just now. He believed that Suizhou was extremely important, so much so that Xixia has been pestering us until now. Did the court know at that time that no matter what the process was, as long as Suizhou was recovered, Xixia would definitely send troops to seize it?"
Zheng Xie nodded and said, "Of course I know."
Zhang Fei said: "Since the court knew that doing so would lead to war, why didn't they refuse to surrender from the beginning? What are they hesitating about?"
Zheng Xie hesitated for a while and said, "Initially, the emperor wanted to retake Suizhou, but many ministers, including me, felt that this would lead to a war with Western Xia and urged the emperor to give up surrender. Therefore, we finally decided to let Lu Shen and Xue Yunyun be in charge of this matter."
Zhang Fei said: "But your persuasion did not completely change the emperor's mind?"
Zheng Xie nodded.
Zhang Fei said: "If I say that during this period, Deputy Envoy Zhong's act of inducing surrender, specifically, was to persuade Weiming Yishan to surrender, this was also permitted by the court."
Zheng Xie nodded and said truthfully: "After Deputy Envoy Zhong succeeded in inducing surrender, he reported it to the court. Although it caused controversy, he was not considered to be disobeying the imperial order at the time."
Zhang Fei said: "So the court believes that Deputy Envoy Zhong disobeyed the imperial order because he dispatched troops without waiting for the imperial order, and he did not return to Qingjian City immediately without the order of Prefect Lu."
Zheng Xie nodded and said, "Yes."
Zhang Fei continued to ask: "Just now, Scholar Zheng repeatedly emphasized that this move would lead to war. So, in the eyes of the court at that time, what kind of situation was the relationship between my country and Xixia in?"
Zheng Xie said, "I agree with what Minister Guo said just now. It is neither war nor peace. Although there have been repeated conflicts, the two sides still maintain exchanges of envoys and always end conflicts through peace talks. In the overall situation, neither our country nor Xixia wants a war to break out."
In fact, this sentence did not fully explain why no one was willing to start a war. It was because there was a Liao Kingdom on the other side. Both sides did not dare to act rashly before they were sure of the outcome. Otherwise, both sides would suffer losses and the third party would benefit.
However, this cannot be said explicitly, but everyone present knows it very well.
Zhang Fei asked again: "Compared with the conflicts between our country and Western Xia during the period from Jiayou to the fourth year of Zhiping, is there any difference in the recovery of Suizhou this time? Or is this action much more serious than any previous conflict?"
Zheng Xie couldn't help but frowned slightly, shook his head and said, "That's not the case."
Li Liangzuo had launched an attack several times before. No matter what, we cannot say that it is a very serious matter if we send troops first, but it is not a serious matter if the other side sends troops first.
This is not being inferior. When facing the Western Xia, the ministers of the Song Dynasty still felt that they were superior. This is why Li Liangzuo hoped to gain the respect of the Song Dynasty through the use of force. This is also the fundamental cause of the major conflicts during the Jiayou period.
Xixia believes that you have to treat me and the Liao Kingdom equally.
But in the eyes of the Song Dynasty, your ancestors were old ministers of our dynasty and were considered traitors, and were only on the same level as Shi Jingtang.
Zhang Fei asked: "If this judge believes that Deputy Envoy Zhong's dispatch of troops to Suizhou was just one of several conflicts between the two countries and there was nothing special about it, does Scholar Zheng agree?"
"This old man... this old man agrees."
Although Zheng Xie came prepared, he began to sweat when he was asked. He thought, this is unfair. Why can only you ask me? So he asked back: "But I don't understand what this has to do with this case."
Zhang Fei said: "Because I have to determine whether this is a special incident or a normal incident. Assuming that the two countries are relatively peaceful, then the behavior of this deputy envoy will definitely have a direct impact on the relationship between the two countries. In this case, his behavior is very likely to be greedy and reckless, without considering the overall situation.
But if both sides are already in a stage of mutual deception and attack, then the deputy envoy's behavior is not necessarily greedy and reckless, it may just be a response measure, or a self-protection measure. Just now, Prime Minister Guo has made it clear that taking over Suizhou can make Yanzhou rest assured.
This will also affect my judgment, because if it is a special event, such as a decision on whether to go to war or not, it is definitely not something that a military general can decide. Regardless of success or failure, it is a violation of the imperial order.
However, if it was just an ordinary incident, then the generals would have some decision-making power, and the state of the two countries at that time was also a key factor in my judgment of the deputy envoy's motive for sending troops."
Zheng Xie said: "Even if this was just an ordinary incident, and even if he sent troops as a response, then how can you explain why he did not follow the order given by Governor Lu to return?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Mr. Zheng, I invited you here not to debate with me, nor to teach me how to judge a case. I just hope you can provide me with evidence and explain clearly the attitude of the court towards the surrender of the Weimingshan brothers at that time, and what the situation of the two countries was at that time according to your observation. You just need to tell me the truth."
Zheng Xie questioned, "But your question is biased."
Zhang Fei immediately asked: "For example."
Zheng Xie said: "You only choose questions that are favorable to Deputy Envoy Zhong, but avoid talking about questions that are unfavorable to Deputy Envoy Zhong, such as why Deputy Envoy Zhong did not obey orders and return to Qingjian City."
Zhang Fei immediately asked, "Excuse me, Scholar Zheng, why did Deputy Envoy Zhong not obey orders and return to Qingjian City?"
"......?"
Zheng Xie was immediately stunned.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Mr. Zheng, I don't actually need to explain everything to you. I am explaining it to you because you don't know much about the imperial court's trials.
I invited Mr. Zheng here not to debate with me, nor to have him explain
It is not just my own claim, but the provision of relevant evidence, that's all.
The reason why Mr. Zheng thinks that my question is unfair is not because of me, but because Mr. Zheng has already made a judgment in his heart and will not allow any doubt. The one who is really biased is not me, but Mr. Zheng. Mr. Zheng might as well ask himself whether this is the case. "
He spoke gently and always had a smile on his face.
Zheng Xie was not as calm as before. His old face turned red. After a while, he cupped his hands and said, "I'm really sorry that I couldn't provide much help to the president."
Zhang Fei hurriedly said, "No, no, no, I am very grateful to Mr. Zheng for taking the trouble to come here. In fact, he has helped me a lot. Moreover, Mr. Zheng has his own opinions and ideas, which are all very normal. As long as Mr. Zheng has not committed perjury, other aspects are all fine and there is no need to apologize.
But I don't have any other questions for now, please go down and have a rest, Mr. Zheng."
Zheng Xie sighed and walked away depressed.
After seeing this, Lu Chen felt extremely sad.
Zhong Gu said excitedly: "This kid really has some skills."
Zhe Jizu also nodded repeatedly.
Given the current situation, it is obviously more advantageous for them.
Zhang Fei said loudly: "There is another key witness in this case, that is the current transport envoy Xue Xiang. At that time, the imperial edict was jointly presided over by Lu Zhifu and Xue Transport Envoy. However, Xue Transport Envoy is currently busy implementing the new policy in the six southeastern routes and cannot spare time to come here to testify. However, Xue Transport Envoy sent his chief clerk Ding Xiang to come here to testify. I wonder if the procuratorate has any objection to this?"
Many officials frowned.
Su Che stood up and said, "The Procuratorate has no objection."
Zhang Fei immediately summoned Ding Xiang to testify in court.
Ding Xiang came to the middle and bowed first before sitting on the chair.
Zhang Fei asked, "Ding Xiang, where were you in the fourth year of Zhiping?"
Ding Xiang replied: "At that time I was in Jiezhou, assisting Xue Fayunshi in handling the salt banknotes."
Zhang Fei asked, "What do you usually do when you are with Envoy Xue?"
Ding Xiang said: "I assisted Envoy Xue in drafting the document and gave him advice."
Zhang Fei asked again: "Did you know that at that time the imperial court issued an edict to let Xue Fayunshi and Lu Zhifu handle the matter of recruiting Wei Mingshan to surrender?"
Ding Xiang nodded and said, "I know. I was the one who gave the imperial edict to Envoy Xue Fayun."
Zhang Fei asked, "Did Deputy Envoy Zhong occupy Suizhou at that time?"
Ding Xiang nodded and said, "We have occupied Suizhou."
Zhang Fei asked, "Did Envoy Xue instruct Deputy Envoy Zhong to do this?"
Ding Xiang shook his head and said, "No. Because when we received the imperial edict, Deputy Envoy Zhong had already occupied Suizhou."
Zhang Fei asked, "When did Envoy Xue know about this?"
Ding Xiang said: "It was before the imperial edict was received, which should have been less than five days."
Zhang Fei asked again, "Afterwards, Prefect Lu ordered Deputy Envoy Zhong to return to Qingjian City. Did Envoy Xue know about this?"
Ding Xiang said: "I only found out about this later. I didn't know it at first."
Zhang Fei asked, "Didn't Magistrate Lu discuss this matter with Envoy Xue?"
Ding Xiang shook his head and said, "We were not in Yanzhou at the time, so Governor Lu did not discuss it with us."
Zhang Fei asked, "So what was Envoy Xue's attitude when he learned that Deputy Envoy Zhong had occupied Suizhou?"
Ding Xiang said: "Envoy Xue is very supportive of Deputy Envoy Zhong occupying Suizhou."
Zhang Fei asked, "Has Envoy Xue informed Deputy Envoy Zhong of his thoughts?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because Envoy Xue believed that Deputy Envoy Zhong was a subordinate of Prefect Lu, and Prefect Lu should be the leader. Moreover, Envoy Xue did not expect that Prefect Lu would ask Deputy Envoy Zhong to return to Qingjian City. After that, Envoy Xue argued for Deputy Envoy Zhong and expressed his willingness to be punished on his behalf."
"What's the result?"
"As a result, he was demoted to Jiangzhou."
"Ha ha....!"
Suddenly I heard someone laughing.
Looking in the direction of the sound, it was indeed that idiot Cao Dongdong.
When Cao Dongdong saw that everyone was looking at him, he quickly shut up and lowered his head.
Zhang Fei just shook his head helplessly and continued to ask: "According to the imperial edict, do you think that Governor Lu needs to discuss this with Envoy Xue?"
Ding Xiang hesitated for a moment and said, "It would be best if we could discuss this with Envoy Xue, but there is nothing wrong with not discussing it. Envoy Xue believes that Deputy Envoy Zhong sent troops to occupy Suizhou without notifying Prefect Lu, and the situation was very urgent at the time. Envoy Xue was unaware of the situation at the time. Even without the imperial edict, Prefect Lu still had the right to order Deputy Envoy Zhong to return to Qingjian City."
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