Chapter 121
The highest official Zhang Fangyuan and Xu He had ever seen in Siyang was the sixth-rank Tongzhi of his maternal grandfather's family. They had never seen an official higher than that.
Although the county government has intentionally reduced the number of cases brought to court in recent years, it does not mean that it does not accept cases all year round. On the first and fifteenth day of every month, the court is still open to accept complaints from the people. With so many officials coming here, it seems as if they have finally managed to get the county government to accept a case.
Seeing the previously powerful county magistrate and associate magistrate nodding and bowing to pay their respects, the Qin father and son, with their eyes wide open, naturally went to greet them as well. Zhang Fangyuan and his wife also behaved themselves properly.
The magistrate was extremely terrified and said, "How could you be so honored to come, sir? I am so rude for not coming to greet you."
The judge had a smile on his face, which was completely different from when Zeng Tongzhi came in. He looked very approachable. "No problem. I am just passing through Siyang. In the past two years, Siyang's population has increased, tax revenue has been stable, and the people live and work in peace and contentment. The state government has praised it many times, so I came to take a look."
The two officials hurriedly invited everyone to take a seat. Zeng Tongzhi, who had been honored before, could only stand aside and listen to his superiors. Hearing the words of praise, both of them smiled and their previous fear dissipated a lot.
The judge sat down calmly and continued, "I passed by the gate of the county government office and saw a lot of people gathered outside. The gate of the county government office was closed. I didn't know what happened. I read the notice and asked, and then I found out that they were handling a case."
The judge tilted his head and glanced at the magistrate: "It's been a while since we've heard cases behind closed doors. Are there officials or some special cases that need to be heard behind closed doors?"
After saying this, the Tongpan seemed to have thought of something and asked in surprise, "Could it be that the Tongzhi is the one who is sued in this case?"
The Tongzhi quickly said, "It's not you! This case is just an ordinary civil dispute."
"Oh?" The judge was confused: "Then why is the magistrate here?"
"I am here to attend the trial as well."
"I see, that's right. The Tongzhi has just been transferred to Siyang. He personally attended the trial. This is really a gesture of loving the people." The Tongpan nodded with a smile, "But since this case does not involve officials or the court, and it is an ordinary case, why not open it to the public? The people outside would also like to hear it."
Zhang Fangyuan quickly replied, "Your Excellency, I submitted an application for open acceptance, but it was not accepted."
"Is there such a thing?" The judge looked at the magistrate again.
The county magistrate felt a chill on his back and could not help but glare at Zhang Fangyuan.
Zhang Fangyuan was not afraid either. As the county magistrate, he did not care about their past relationship and made a malicious false accusation. How could he keep a good appearance in front of his superiors? Even a rabbit will bite when it is angry. No one should expect to have an easy time.
"This citizen's application is not a special case, so it should be approved." The judge asked, "Is there really something special about it?"
The magistrate said repeatedly, "That is absolutely not the case. It is just that the nature of this case is bad. Both the plaintiff and the defendant are big merchants in Siyang. If the people see it, it will have a bad impact in the future. That is why I have resorted to this bad measure."
"The magistrate is very thoughtful, but if the parties involved don't care, there's no need to hear the case behind closed doors." The judge waved his hand and said, "Go open the door and let the people in to listen."
The magistrate gritted his teeth, not daring to speak out despite his dissatisfaction, and had to smile and say that the magistrate was wise.
During the interval, he and his colleague looked at each other, and both felt a little uneasy.
"Where is the case?"
The magistrate was about to answer, but the judge interrupted him with a wave of his hand: "Forget it, since you are already here and you haven't heard the previous one, why not start over again?"
"this……"
"Does the magistrate feel that this is inconvenient, or are you tired of hearing cases?"
How could the magistrate dare to complain of being tired? If he did, he would probably have to go back to his hometown to rest. "The case will be re-examined."
The people who came to watch the excitement from the outside pointed and talked, but only when the gavel sounded did they quiet down.
The case was re-investigated from the beginning.
"Sir, the Qin Shang relied on the great wealth of his family. The martial arts school run by his family occupied half of the land in Siyang. He never lacked strong men when he traveled, and he used this to oppress the people all year round."
"When a young man meets a pretty woman on the road, he will flirt with her. This incident happened because Qin Shang flirted with her first. Due to the power of the Qin family, no one dared to testify in court, but Qin Shang had a past record, and this woman was one of his victims."
Qin Hongde could not help but argue: "Sir, Zhang Fangyuan is making a false accusation. This woman has no witnesses and her words are not enough. It is clear that she was bribed by the Zhang family to come out and testify. I hope you can understand!"
Just as he finished speaking, there was a thud and a cabbage head hit Qin Hongde on the head. Then many broken vegetable leaves flew onto Qin Shang's shoulders and back, scaring both the father and son.
The onlookers were indignant and said, "The Emperor Qin has done many things that bully people by taking advantage of his power. He flirted with married women in the street, and if anyone blocked his way, he would just overturn their stall."
"Your Excellency, please be aware that my foot was broken by Qin Shang's men!"
The onlookers were making a commotion and protesting their grievances. Normally, they would not have dared to go to court alone to file a complaint or to argue, but today the timing, location and people were all right. It was the Zhang family that was suing, and a high-ranking official from the prefecture had come. In addition, there were so many people that everyone was united and was not afraid.
As the saying goes, the law does not hold everyone responsible. I would feel really unfair if I didn't vent my anger on this occasion.
Seeing that there was a huge quarrel outside, the woman in the hall was crying loudly because she was wronged. The Qin father and son ran away in panic, the magistrate's face was as black as freshly ground ink, and Zeng Tongzhi also felt that it was unlucky.
The magistrate did not give any order, and the county magistrate did not dare to order the officers and soldiers to detain the people who were causing trouble. The scene was very ugly for a while.
The common people were also quite sensible. They did not throw dirty water or eggs at the crowd. Instead, they threw turnip heads and leaves at the Qin father and son, without affecting others at all.
After a while, the judge finally said, "Silence! Everyone, please remain calm. The county government will definitely give you justice."
After saying that, he looked at the magistrate and said, "Don't you think so, magistrate?"
"Yes, yes, what the judge said is absolutely right."
The magistrate slammed the gavel and said, "The plaintiff, Qin Hongde, why don't you come forward quickly? How can you deceive your superiors and subordinates and bully the people in your hometown?"
When the father and son of the Qin family saw the magistrate's face change, they realized that their backing had collapsed, and they immediately knelt down and cried out that they were innocent.
How could the magistrate still protect the Qin family at this time? He coldly rebuked the Qin family: "One person's testimony is still suspicious, so how could all these people respond to the complaint and be bribed?"
"Qin, you have such a big order, but you actually deceived me. You are the first to report it, disrupting the order of the county government! How can I allow you, a bunch of evil people, to continue to be accomplices of the evil in Siyang!"
"This case is closed. Qin Shang bullied an innocent woman and beat her husband. He must pay Shen 100 taels of silver and be beaten with 20 sticks. He falsely accused the Zhang family and must pay 200 taels of silver!"
Before the ruling was handed down, the judge said, "This case is a malicious commercial competition. If this is the case, the Qin family has repeatedly used the strong forces at hand to oppress the people by opening a martial arts school. It is not appropriate for them to continue to run the martial arts school."
The county magistrate's chest rose and fell slightly. He did not dare to disobey, so he had to follow the judge's words and added one more sentence: "After this case is closed, the plaintiffs Qin Hongde and Qin Shang are not allowed to continue to operate the martial arts school in Siyang. Those who violate the rules will be expelled!"
After several twists and turns, the order that had been raised and put down was finally issued. The people outside the venue cheered, and Zhang Fangyuan and Xu He also felt relieved.
Paying some compensation in silver was only a mild punishment for the merchants, but cutting off the trade route was a fundamental blow. The father and son were heartbroken and suffered twenty beatings. When they went out, their faces were dejected, but they forgot about the people outside. At first, they were concerned about the county government office, and the people were a little cautious. But when the father and son came to the street, they were fed with rotten eggs one after another. The father and son cursed and quickly jumped back to their own carriage under the servants.
Although the people hid inside, the dirt was still splashed and smashed onto the carriage. The coachman raised his whip, regretting that he had to make this trip today. It was really shabby.
Shen wiped away her tears. She originally thought that her husband's beating was something that she and her husband had to bear together. She suffered a loss, but she didn't expect that things would turn out well. This time, coming to identify the Zhang family not only helped them win the lawsuit, but also brought compensation to her and her husband. With this money, she could rest assured to treat her husband's injuries, and the days of delay and loss of work were also compensated. She was extremely grateful to Zhang Fangyuan.
She took Xu He to the gate of the county government office and expressed her gratitude profusely, almost kneeling down and kowtowing.
Zhang Fangyuan looked at the judge coming out, he patted Xu He on the back and gestured.
Xu He comforted Shen and asked her to take the compensation money to the clinic to buy some supplements for her husband to take care of his health. After sending her away, the couple went forward together to thank the judge.
If the judge had not come this time, the couple would have had no choice but to accept the loss of the lawsuit.
"You two don't have to be polite. This is my job. When things are unfair, the people feel resentful. It is my duty to govern impartially."
The judge was very amiable, without any airs of an official. Instead, he chatted with his family like a relative or friend: "Besides, your son is Mr. Luo's favorite student. Although Mr. Luo has retired, I was once taught by Mr. Luo when I was a student at the Imperial Academy. Although our relationship was not long, I benefited a lot from Mr. Luo's teaching."
"Now that something like this has happened in Siyang, I have to trouble Lord Luo to write a letter. It is really my fault for not being able to control my subordinates. I hope that Brother Zhang can say a few good words in front of Lord Luo."
Zhang Fangyuan and Xu He were really shocked by these few words. Their hearts were already in turmoil, but they still kept a polite face, as if they had known everything for a long time: "You are too polite, sir. In any case, it is a great honor for us to have you come here to serve as the chief judge."
"Let's not say these polite words." The judge said, "I have to take the county magistrate and the deputy magistrate to inspect it carefully this time, so I won't say much. If we have time another day, we can get together again."
Zhang Fangyuan and Xu He bowed respectfully and saw the judge off.
Zeng Tongzhi saw the two parties talking happily from afar and felt unhappy: "No wonder this kid refused to humble himself, it turns out that he has climbed up the big tree of Tongpan, and there is someone backing him up."
"Master Zhang is just a businessman, how could he get to know the Supreme Magistrate?"
"I'd like to know the trick." Zeng Tongzhi looked at the magistrate who was coming over and collected his thoughts. He couldn't take care of Zhang Fangyuan's matter at the moment. He had to deal with this big Buddha first. It was really bad luck. If he had upheld justice for Zhang Fangyuan at the beginning, he wouldn't have been involved in this matter. Now he had to suffer together with the magistrate.
We have always been cautious and have come this far, but now we have almost fallen into trouble in Siyang. How can we feel at ease? We will definitely blame the magistrate for any problems that arise.
"Sir? Even the judge calls him Master Luo. Who on earth is he?"
Xu He got on his own carriage and then told Zhang Fangyuan about the doubts in his mind.
When the couple first visited the Luo family, they felt that Luo Yan had an extraordinary demeanor. Later, when they heard that he was a scholar, they did not ask too many questions. Over the years, they have been in constant contact with each other, and they have vaguely felt that the Luo family is not simple. However, since they have never harmed their family, they naturally would not be so annoying as to inquire about other people's family background.
After many twists and turns, unexpectedly, the clues were revealed in this lawsuit.
"The Zeng family is a sixth-rank Tongzhi, and the prefectural Tongpan is a sixth-rank official. It just so happens that this rank is one level lower than the previous one. Since the Tongpan is called Master Luo, his official rank must be higher than this. It is also said that when Master Luo was an official in the court, he worked in the Imperial Academy..."
The Imperial College is the country's highest institution of learning, responsible for education, but the officials in the Imperial College are generally not of high rank. If there is one person who can be addressed as "Sir" by the Tongpan, it must be "the highest official in the Imperial College, Sir Jijiu."
As a fourth-rank official, his official rank is not the highest, nor is he a powerful official, but the world nowadays values scholars. This Lord Jijiu has many students all over the world, and most of the people he taught are nobles in Kyoto. Who would not feel grateful to him as his teacher? He can be said to be a true clean civil servant and the leader of the network of people.
The couple sighed, thinking that Siyang was truly a place where hidden dragons and crouching tigers were hidden.
Although Luo Yan's identity has been roughly guessed, there are still many unclear points.
Luo Yan was not very old at that time, and it was a bit early for him to retire and return home. This was one reason. Secondly, why did he take Luo Yuxing with him, and not leave the child in Kyoto with his parents?
There is a saying in the world that fallen leaves return to their roots, that is, court officials must be returned to their hometowns when they reach retirement age. Mr. Luo may be from Siyang, so it is indeed appropriate for him to come here to retire, but he brought a little grandson with him. Could it be that he brought him here to comfort his loneliness?
Full of doubts, the couple returned to the house.
"Daddy is back!"
Ruijin and Ruili paced around the gate of the house several times. When they saw that the family carriage was coming back around noon, they ran up happily.
Little Li Geer was impatient: "How's the lawsuit going? Did you win?"
"Okay, it's all right now."
Little Carp jumped up happily: "I told you it would be alright, Master's actions are indeed reliable."
"You two know that it was the Master who helped?"
Upon hearing this, Xiaoli quickly covered his mouth and looked back at his brother.
Rui Jin knew that since the matter had been settled, his father would definitely go to the Luo family to express his gratitude, and it was only right for him to tell his family: "The teacher heard about what happened at home, and was afraid that my little brother Li and I would be distracted from our studies, so he offered to help."
"The teacher knew that my great-grandfather wanted to take my brother away as his student, and he took action because he couldn't bear to let my brother go!"
Ruijin patted Xiaolige'er's head and said, "You just talk nonsense."
Zhang Fangyuan and Xu He laughed: "Master Luo loves you so much, this time the family is really blessed by you two. You must study harder in the future!"
"I know!"
Xu He touched the two children's heads and said, "Okay, let's go inside first. We've been out all morning and it's hot. We're tired and sweaty. Come in and change clothes. The teacher has helped the family so much, we have to go and thank him."
"good."
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