Chapter 728 of the Northern Song Dynasty Justice ...
Wang Anshi felt guilty, but he also had some doubts about what Zhang Fei said.
If there really was such a big problem, there was no way he didn't know about it!
Among Wang Anshi's new policies, the equalization of transport was the most successful.
"If it wasn't serious, I wouldn't do it."
Zhang Fei suddenly said in a serious tone: "Although it has not yet caused a riot, the trend is indeed getting worse. When something goes wrong, it will be too late no matter what we do."
Wang Anshi couldn't help but frown.
He still has more faith in Zhang Fei's judgment in business. After all, Zhang Fei has used many examples to prove his talent in this area.
After a while, Wang Anshi sat down and said in a low voice: "But if these problems really exist, then at the hearing, it may be detrimental to the new policy!"
He couldn't think of a way to make up for this.
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After all, his equal distribution method is mainly aimed at increasing national wealth and reducing national expenditure, and the rest is not that important.
Zhang Fei said: "Mr. Wang should know that a hearing is different from a court debate. A court debate is based on one's own speculation, but everything actually has two sides, and often no one can convince anyone else.
As the name suggests, a hearing is about evidence. Likewise, everything has two sides. It will definitely not just talk about the disadvantages, but also mention the advantages of the equalization method.
Then the solution is very simple. Summarize the pros and cons, weigh the gains and losses, and use this to improve the entire equalization method. I guarantee that it will never affect the equalization method. On the contrary, it will improve the equalization method, make it more popular throughout the country, and make the new policy healthier.
But if you don’t mend your ways, you’ll end up losing everything.”
Wang Anshi glanced at Zhang Fei with some doubt in his heart, thinking that Zhang Fei was exaggerating, because this was also Zhang Fei's usual trick, but he thought of another thing, and thought to himself, judging from the current situation, the government seems to no longer support me wholeheartedly, which will inevitably shake the confidence of the officials below in the new policy, then I must find another way to hold on firmly!
After weighing the pros and cons, Wang Anshi agreed to Zhang Fei's suggestion.
But this was within Zhang Fei's expectations. If he could not convince Wang Anshi, he would not dare to do so.
However, Zhang Fei made a wrong estimate this time. He thought that Wang Anshi agreed with him because he was moved by his theory.
However, they did not know that what Wang Anshi was most worried about now was the emperor's attitude towards the new policy. If he lost the emperor's support, the new policy would be difficult to implement.
Although it seems that the emperor still supports the new policy, he is certainly no longer unreserved. Therefore, Wang Anshi hopes to make the new policy more solid through hearings.
In the past, anyone who opposed the new policy would be kicked out.
In his early years, when Su Che was in charge of the Regulations Office of the Two Prefectures, he pointed out the drawbacks of the Equalized Transport System. As a result, Wang Anshi directly ridiculed Su Che for being only a talker and then expelled him from the Regulations Office of the Two Prefectures. Fortunately, Sima Guang was also carrying out reforms, so Su Che was able to enter the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, and was not demoted.
But the situation was changing, and Wang Anshi had to make corresponding adjustments.
The key point of this hearing was just as Zhang Fei said, everyone was speaking with evidence and it was no longer just empty talk, and Wang Anshi was very confident about this.
He never lost faith in his ideas or his new laws.
He also knows that the new law will definitely have problems, but as long as the benefits outweigh the problems, there will be no problem.
After Wang Anshi returned, he found Deng Wan and asked him to communicate with others, telling them not to worry, as our new policy will become more powerful as a result.
It’s actually just comforting.
I have to say that the reformists are really in a panic now. It's only been a few days since Xue Xiang was released and now someone has come to complain. It's endless.
Everyone was unsure and was wondering what the emperor was thinking.
Because in feudal society, if the emperor is very supportive of you, this situation usually does not occur.
This situation may indicate that the emperor's attitude has changed.
What's even worse is that it's difficult for them to put pressure on the public security, procuratorate and courts, because they just rescued Xue Xiang by filing a lawsuit with the procuratorate, and it's only been a few days, so they can't just turn around and say that the public security, procuratorate and courts are unfair.
This is too fake.
On the contrary, the conservatives are now very united and working together, and they are full of confidence in this.
They sincerely believed that they were right and Wang Anshi was wrong, and they were not afraid to discuss the matter objectively.
This also caught the Censorate off guard. The Procuratorate was much more courageous than they had imagined, and they even felt a sense of sympathy for each other.
The procuratorate has just saved Xue Xiang. If it sues the Shipping Department again, it will be a lose-lose situation for both sides.
Only the Censorate could do such a thing. The Censorate would never side with one faction or the other. It would impeach both sides. This was because of the system of the Censorate. The Chief Censor had no right to interfere with the complaints filed by the Censors, and the Censors also often impeached the Chief Censor.
The Censorate was already a mixture of reformists and conservatives. The reformist censors impeached the conservatives, and the conservative censors impeached the reformists.
The procuratorate seems to be doing the same thing now.
"I just got the news that Sima Junshi was behind this."
Peng Siyan said to Jiang Zhiqi from the bottom of his heart.
After hearing this, Jiang Zhiqi sneered and said, "I told you so. Those Jiangnan merchants are so bold. They lost the lawsuit, but they dared to retaliate against the Shipping Department in Beijing. There must be someone behind this."
Then he asked, "Will the procuratorate prosecute?"
Peng Siyan said: "The procuratorate is still investigating and has not made a decision, but I think they will accept it. The previous lawsuit made Minister Liu and his team very dissatisfied. They believed that Zhang San was Wang Jiefu's man. Obviously Sima Junshi wanted to use this to prove that the public security, procuratorate and courts can still check and control the two government regulations. If they don't accept it, Sima Junshi and his team will definitely not support the public security, procuratorate and courts anymore."
Jiang Zhiqi nodded and glanced at Peng Siyan, "What do you think?"
Peng Siyan said: "It's not what I think, but what everyone thinks."
Jiang Zhiqi said: "But Lord Wen believes that the trump card can only be used for intimidation. If it is really taken out, it may offend the emperor."
Peng Siyan said: "We can pass it on through someone else, who knows. Anyway, by then our Censorate will have stayed out of the matter, so why not add fuel to the fire for the Procuratorate and see how the public security, procuratorate and courts deal with it. Otherwise, we really can't swallow this breath."
Jiang Zhiqi nodded slightly.
In that lawsuit, they actually had one trick that was useless, and that was the collusion between Xue Xiang and the emperor. They had already hinted to the emperor that if he wanted to protect Xue Xiang, then we would have to investigate the inner treasury.
But later, the emperor approved the judgment of the Censorate.
Of course, the Censorate did not expose the matter. Of course, Wen Yanbo also deserved credit for this, as he was the one who suppressed the matter and never mentioned it.
But the Censorate never expected that they would be able to stay out of the matter so quickly and watch the fire from the other side of the river, which would only add fuel to the fire.
On the other hand, the procuratorate really didn't expect that they would come to file a complaint right after they had just finished such a serious lawsuit.
They all knew in their hearts that the other party was targeting Xue Xiang and would never allow Xue Xiang to serve as the Three-Division Envoy.
But this time, the attitude of the procuratorate was obviously in favor of these businessmen who filed the complaint. The reason was very simple. They had to be fair. They had just accepted Xue Xiang's complaint. If they had not accepted those of these businessmen, the conservatives would not have supported them. The key point was that most of the people in the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs were on the conservative side.
Although there were relatively few such people in the procuratorate, because Su Shi and Fan Chunren, who were in power at first, were all driven out, and Xu Zun was not a conservative, he only promoted young officials who were familiar with the law and had no background.
But the core base was still on the conservative side, including the Chief Justice Zhao Yan, who also supported the merchants' complaints. Moreover, many ministers in the court represented the interests of these merchants and landlords.
However, after studying it for a while, they found that this technology was not enough.
Today, Xu Zun held a meeting to discuss how to deal with this case.
Wang Gong was the first to speak: "After our examination, we found that what those merchants said was indeed reasonable. The equal distribution method has many disadvantages and does affect the people's livelihood in the six southeastern routes.
If this was done by a merchant, it would certainly be sued, but the Shipping Department represented the court, and it was not illegal for the court to do these things.”
The imperial court has a monopoly, but can that be called a monopoly? That is called thinking for the people.
The imperial court was engaged in speculation and profiteering. Can that be called speculation and profiteering? That is called macroeconomic regulation.
In the past, this was the job of the prime minister, who was to urge the emperor to change policies. Now that this task is suddenly handed over to the judiciary, it is very difficult for them to cope with it.
Xu Zun said: "Isn't there corruption, bribery, and forced buying and selling here?"
Qi Ji sighed, "Someone did sue for these two points, but they didn't produce any concrete evidence. Although it's very likely true, because the Shipping Company is the largest purchaser, those merchants certainly want to sell goods to the Shipping Company, so there must be something fishy going on. But the problem is that they didn't say whether they bribed the Shipping Company, but accused others of doing so, so they don't have any concrete evidence."
Wang Gong added: "Some people accuse the Shipping Department of reselling other goods, but as long as the money goes into the national treasury, it is legal because there are very few restrictions on the government's buying and selling behavior. In general, if competing with the people for profit is a crime, then it can definitely be prosecuted, but competing with the people for profit is not a crime. However, our legal system is to protect the legitimate rights and interests of individuals. If we turn a blind eye, it seems wrong."
This last sentence is actually hinting at Xu Zun that he must be competing with the people for profit, which is not as good as Wang Anshi publicized. Moreover, this is the point that Sima Guang and others have always emphasized. This is an ironclad fact. Therefore, if our procuratorate does not take action, Sima Guang and others will definitely be very unhappy.
Zhang Fei suddenly said, "In that case, why not hold a hearing and bring all these things to light? If we can't sue, then we have no other options. We have done our best."
Qi Ji and Wang Gong's eyes lit up at the same time.
yes!
How could I have forgotten this hearing?
The last case of Cheng Fang was handled in the same way.
The two cases actually have many similarities.
The main charge against Cheng Fang was abusing the people's power and destroying their houses and fields. However, the law was very tolerant of the behavior of officials. After all, this was a feudal society.
After discussing it for a while, several people immediately decided to hold a hearing.
The procuratorate then immediately released the news in the newspaper, stating that what the Jiangnan merchants said was not false, but there was still a lack of sufficient evidence, and the law was also lacking in this regard. In order to be fair, the procuratorate planned to hold a hearing to make a final decision on whether to formally prosecute the Southeast Sixth Road Shipping Company.
As soon as this report came out, the first place to come was Xiangguo Temple.
Come to my place for a hearing.
I'll take care of the tea and venue.
Buddhism in the Northern Song Dynasty was never a quiet place. Most of them had some financial attributes, including lending, business, and farming.
Holding a hearing at Xiangguo Temple is a sure win for Xiangguo Temple.
First of all, the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are new elites, so it is necessary to establish good relations with them.
Secondly, it can increase the status of Xiangguo Temple. The legislative council and hearings will all be held here, which is enough to represent my official background.
Finally, this will also bring a lot of popularity to Xiangguo Temple.
Because it goes without saying that every wealthy person in Beijing is paying close attention to this hearing.
Merchants have already realized that the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems are very beneficial to business. Since the legal system is to protect everyone's legitimate rights and interests, we merchants are also human beings. No matter whether we are cunning or not, as long as we do not violate the law, you have to provide us with protection.
This kind of legal protection is what businessmen have always dreamed of.
They are wealthy but lack the means to protect their wealth.
This hearing will be the best proof, because those Jiangnan businessmen are all big profiteers, otherwise they would not be allowed to come to the capital to testify in the lawsuit. If they can win the lawsuit, it will be enough to prove that the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs have the ability to provide protection for businessmen.
Faced with public expectations, the Procuratorate did not try to be mysterious. In fact, it was also afraid that something might happen if it was delayed. Xiangguo Temple provided everything anyway, so the Procuratorate immediately announced that a hearing would be held in Xiangguo Temple in two days. The reason for the urgency was that the imperial city would be closed for holiday in two days.
Two days later.
Xiangguo Temple was truly a gathering place of many talented people, and its popularity was at its highest point, from the rich and powerful to peddlers, because this hearing was closely related to the interests of almost everyone.
As for the police station, a large number of Royal Police were also dispatched to maintain law and order.
"Amitabha."
Zhang Fei and Xu Zhiqian had just gotten off the carriage when an old monk came out to greet them. "On behalf of this small temple, I welcome Prosecutor Zhang and Madam Zhang."
This is an extremely high standard, which was unthinkable before.
"You are polite, Abbot."
Zhang Fei returned the greeting and said, "I hope you will forgive me for disturbing you, Abbot."
"How dare you! How dare you!"
The old monk extended his hand and led them into the temple, "Please come in, both of you."
"please."
Today is also the day when Xu Zhiqian returns to the stage.
However, even this old monk had no opinion on this, because in everyone's eyes, Xu Zhiqian had always accompanied Zhang Fei in lawsuits and served as Zhang Fei's chief clerk in Hezhong Prefecture, so everyone was used to it.
Of course, the key is Zhang Fei’s unparalleled ability. He wants Xu Zhiqian to be his assistant. What can you do?
No one would bother with Zhang Fei over such a trivial matter.
"Zhang San."
As soon as I arrived at the temple, I heard a shout.
It was Cao Dongdong.
"Yanei, why haven't I seen you these past few days?"
Zhang Fei immediately asked curiously.
He suddenly remembered that Cao Dongdong and Xiao Ma had hardly ever come to disturb him since they came back.
Cao Dongdong said weakly: "These days, Xiao Ma and I have been training new people, but we are very busy."
"Bringing new people?"
Zhang Fei was surprised.
Cao Dongdong nodded. "Don't you know? The government has allocated 3,000 imperial guards from the three yamen to my police station. They also include some people from the Department of State Security. I have also asked this yamen to train them personally."
To maintain public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, a large number of police officers are necessary. This is the biggest difference from the past. However, if we recruit people from outside, the finances cannot afford it. Therefore, when police stations expand now, most of them recruit people directly from the Imperial Guards.
In the past, Zhao Xu had some doubts about this, after all, the Imperial Guards were protecting his safety. But now, his thoughts have completely changed. Anyway, no one knows what the Imperial Guards are doing. They can't even beat a bandit, so they might as well stay in the police station.
"I see."
Zhang Fei nodded. It seemed that Zhao Xu trusted the Royal Police more and more. Of course, the most important reason was that this trick was thought up by Zhao Xu himself and achieved very good results. He said, "Let's find a time to talk some other day. I have something else to discuss with you."
Cao Dongdong said proudly: "That depends on whether I am free."
Zhang Fei chuckled and said, "I made an appointment a month in advance, so there shouldn't be any problem."
Cao Dongdong chuckled and said, "Okay then."
At this time, the temple was already crowded with people, and almost all the ministers had come. This could be said to be a head-on confrontation between the conservatives and the reformists.
Before, Cheng Fang did not count because that mainly involved the emperor, and the issue of river defense could not represent the new policy, but the Equalization of Transport System could definitely represent it.
Whether they were humans or ghosts, they were all nervous and worried about gains and losses. They gathered in groups of three or five and whispered to each other.
The interests involved are too complicated. For example, some of the powerful people support those businessmen in their hearts, but this hearing is a place where the truth is told, and they are worried about revealing some secrets.
There are also some who support the shipping company, and they can use the shipping company to get more benefits.
Seeing that Sima Guang was fidgeting and taking deep breaths, Lu Gong asked, "Jun Shi, are you nervous?"
"ah?"
Sima Guang was slightly startled, and then said: "I am not nervous, but a little excited. This time, Wang Jiefu's true colors can finally be exposed. He is competing with the people for profits and collecting money for the country."
Lu Gong said, "You forgot about the last hearing of Cheng Dujian. After all, Cheng Dujian was not prosecuted. This hearing is somewhat similar to the last one."
Sima Guang said: "It is enough to make the government realize the seriousness of the Hebei problem."
Lu Gong nodded slightly.
Deng Wan was also nervous and whispered, "Husband, could this be a conspiracy?"
Wang Anshi said: "Don't worry, we won't lose."
Of course, Zhao Xu also came to Xiangguo Temple quietly. He was very supportive of this hearing because the last hearing made him realize how weak the imperial guards were.
He wanted to know the specific situation, not just what some ministers wanted him to know.
A moment after Zhang Fei arrived, the hearing officially began.
The four giants of the procuratorate were still sitting in the front, with Xu Zun presiding over the meeting. Xu Zhiqian just sat quietly behind Zhang Fei, preparing materials for him.
The camps below are very clear: the reformists on the left and the conservatives on the right.
After Wang Anshi and Sima Guang took their seats, they stared at each other in tacit understanding, as if they were the only two left in the world and they were going to have a fair head-on confrontation.
But this time the arrangement of the tables and chairs was different from last time. There was only one seat in the middle, with no seats on the left or right, as if telling everyone that this hearing was objective and neutral.
But it's no use, the two sides are still very hostile.
There were three layers of people inside and three layers of people outside, and it was packed with people. But at a glance, they were all famous wealthy businessmen in the capital, at least thousands of them.
They are all looking forward to it, and they are all wealthy businessmen who support Jiangnan.
It can be seen that the conservatives have the advantage of time, place and people.
Since it was not the first time, Wang Gong simply read out the rules of the hearing aloud as usual, and then Xu Zun announced the start of the hearing.
The first one to come up was a wealthy businessman named Yu Liang.
After this person came up, he did not look panicked or nervous, and sat on the chair very calmly.
These Jiangnan businessmen have been played badly recently, and the fear is gone.
They had testified at the Censorate first, and then at the public security, procuratorate and courts. They had become numb to it. Moreover, the reason they united to report the Shipping Department was not only because Zhang Fei and Sima Guang were manipulating them from behind. There was another reason. This time, they failed to defeat Xue Xiang and exposed themselves. They were afraid of retaliation when they returned, so they gave it their all for their own sake.
Zhang Fei glanced at Yu Liang's information and said, "Witness, please introduce yourself first."
Yu Liang said: "My last name is Yu and my given name is Liang. I am a silk merchant in Yuhang."
Zhang Fei asked, "Is he a merchant who specializes in selling silk?"
Yu Liang nodded and added, "We also grow mulberry trees and raise silkworms at home."
Zhang Fei looked down at the information, then looked up and asked, "You are suing the Shipping Department for buying low and selling high, disrupting your silk trade in Yuhang, causing your business to plummet and making the local mulberry farmers suffer."
"Yes."
Yu Liang nodded.
Zhang Fei asked: "Can you tell me the specific reason?"
Yu Liang said, "Before the Shipping Department promulgated the Equalization Law, my silk shop had always had good business. Merchants from the capital and Daming Prefecture often came to buy silk from me. But since the Shipping Department promulgated the Equalization Law, no merchants from other places have come to buy silk from me. The silk business in Yuhang is dead, and many mulberry trees have been cut down for firewood."
Zhang Fei asked: "Why?"
Yu Liang said, "There were two years when the mulberry leaves in Yuhang were abundant and the silk price was low, so the Shipping Company came to Yuhang to buy silk. Almost all the silk in Yuhang, including my family's, was bought by the Shipping Company, causing the other merchants to return empty-handed and spend a lot of money on travel. As a result, they no longer come to Yuhang to buy silk."
Zhang Fei asked, "But your silk was still sold."
Yu Liang said: "That was only at the beginning, but it was not like that later. Because the court bought and sold silk everywhere, many silk merchants and cloth merchants became unprofitable. They didn't know where the Shipping Department would buy silk and where it would sell silk, so they all changed their careers, and some even went to the northwest to do salt business and no longer did this business.
But later on, the shipping company stopped buying silk from Yuhang and went to Yangzhou to buy it. All our silk was piled up, and we didn’t know who to sell it to, because there were no silk merchants from other places in Yuhang anymore.”
He became more and more excited as he spoke, gesticulating with joy, "In the end, we can only sell it to the Shipping Department at a low price. Now all the silk and cloth merchants in Yuhang have to beg the Shipping Department. Not only do they give money and gifts, but they also have to compete to see who has the lowest price and who has the best silk.
In the end, the shipping company made all the money, but we silk merchants and mulberry farmers got nothing, and sometimes we even lost money."
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