Judge of the Song Dynasty Chapter 497: I just can’t open my mouth to let him know

"Hoo...."

Is it finally over?

Li Yongji couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief. Just a few questions made him feel like he was alive after a catastrophe. When he stood up, he realized that his **** was already soaked.

He has been in the officialdom of the Hezhong Mansion for many years, and he has never seen any kind of intrigue or conspiracy, but this is the first time this feeling has appeared on him.

He didn't feel that Zhang Fei was targeting him, trying to convict him, but he felt very uneasy in his heart, and even felt that he was naked in front of others. Every question made him feel embarrassed. blank.

When I returned to my seat and sat down, my hanging heart slowly sank.

Sneaking a peek aside, many officials were silent with ashen faces.

Even though it is a scorching summer day, sitting here feels a chilling chill.

Even Cai Yanqing looked a little nervous, under the watchful eyes of everyone, is it really okay for you to say this?

You are going to take off the imperial court's underpants!

In this regard, my heart is also full of worries.

Only Zhang Fei remained calm, as if he just asked a few insignificant questions and drank half a cup of tea before letting Cai Jing send the next witness to the court.

What He Chunlin guessed was right, it was him.

When he came to the court, his legs trembled slightly. Li Yongji was in the middle of the game, so he naturally felt a little confused. He could see clearly from the side, this kid didn't play cards according to the routine, what? Embarrassed to ask what, I can't guess what question he will ask.

Chunchun is a stunned young man, this kind of official is the most terrifying in the officialdom.

But to be honest, he doesn't seem to be taking it personally, just saying it makes you feel ashamed to talk about it, but it doesn't make you feel life-threatening.

"He Yanjian, please sit down."

Zhang Fei smiled and stretched out his hand to signal.

"Thank you."

He Chunlin cupped his hands slightly and sat down.

Zhang Fei read the text below, and asked with a smile: "According to the knowledge of the chief judge, He Yanjian is in charge of the large and small salt affairs of Xuenv Pond, so he should be very familiar with it."

He Chunlin hesitated for a while before nodding helplessly.

He is in charge of the business, and there is no need to push it from above.

Zhang Fei asked: "This eucalyptus involves salt, which is obtained by Huang Tong's prolific production, that is to say, it is made in addition to the 120,000 catties of salt handed over to the imperial court. This behavior is allowed by the imperial court. Is it?"

He Chunlin nodded and said, "Yes."

Zhang Fei asked: "Then who should this part of the salt belong to?"

He Chunlin thought carefully before answering: "Of course they belong to Yanhu, but they must be sold to the imperial court."

"Must be sold to the imperial court."

Zhang Fei asked with great interest: "If it is sold to someone other than the imperial court, what is it?"

He Chunlin said: "That's considered selling illegal salt."

Zhang Fei said: "Is there a rule that the imperial court must also purchase the extra salt produced by the salt households?"

He Chunlin pondered for a while, and said: "The imperial court stipulates that the extra salt produced by the salt households must be sold to the imperial court. There is no express regulation. The imperial court must buy it, but we have never refused."

As soon as the words came out, many people outside the courtyard immediately scoffed.

He Chunlin didn't even dare to look over there, pretending he didn't know.

Because the people only expressed their dissatisfaction with their eyes and lips, Zhang Fei did not knock the hammer, and continued to ask: "But I don't know how your salt supervisor buys the salt from the salt households. There is a specified date and a specified price. , and then make a unified purchase, or say that the salt households will come to the door to sell it actively, and the number of households will be collected, and the price will be negotiated.”

After this series of questions, He Chunlin started to sweat.

Many of the officials sitting on the side were also twisting their bodies and swinging their skirts.

It's hot!

He Chunlin thought for a long time, and said: "This...cough cough...it's like this. Generally speaking, because...the amount of salt produced by each household is different, and the date is not fixed, the government cannot purchase it uniformly. Generally... they are usually sold door-to-door in Yanhu, and the price... is not certain."

"Really?"

Zhang Fei said: "But according to the evidence provided by the procuratorate, it shows that the Yanjian will only collect salt from salt households during a certain period of time, and this date is uncertain."

He Chunlin hesitated and said: "Yes... yes, because the Yanjian also depends on the situation of the warehouse. If the warehouse is full, it will naturally not be able to accept it. For example, if there is no money in the account, it cannot be accepted."

Zhang Fei said: "So when to accept, you decide according to the warehouse situation, and there is no clear rule."

"Yes."

He Chunlin nodded.

Zhang Fei asked: "He Yanjian should know salt very well."

He Chunlin nodded.

Zhang Fei said: "Salt needs to be well preserved, and as far as I know, Yanhu is unable to preserve a large amount of salt. Once the date for the government to purchase salt is set in winter or the spring of the next year, then the Yanhu The salt in your hand will be damp, moldy, and volatilized, who should bear the loss?"

When the people heard this question, they were very excited, and they all looked at He Chunlin with wide eyes.

It turns out that the government often refuses to collect the salt, and the salt households cannot keep it. They can only watch the salt get damp and moldy.

In the end, Yanhu had no choice but to use all of it to please officials.

He Chunlin hesitated for a while, "Yanhu will bear it."

Zhang Fei asked: "Has this happened before?"

He Chunlin nodded slightly.

Zhang Fei said: "In this case, can the salt households sell the salt that is about to be damaged?"

"Can't!"

He Chunlin's eyes were closed, and there was a feeling of deception.

The people watching the trial had already grimaced and gritted their teeth.

Officials are as embarrassed as they want.

This kind of thing is not a secret, and Yanto is not dumb, but the people just talk about it in private, and they will not talk about it on the stage.

It is superfluous to say it.

What to do in the future.

Is this kid a fool?

Zhang Fei seemed to be very involved in the question, and said: "Just now when it comes to the price of salt purchased by the imperial court, He Yanjian said that it is not sure, whether the price is different for each household, or the price is different every year."

He Chunlin thought for a while before he was not sure: "Should the price be different every year?"

The lesser of two evils, the price cannot be different for each household. That's a big problem.

Zhang Fei asked: "So what was the price last year?"

He Chunlin lowered his head, and said in a vague way: "It's probably less than a penny."

He didn't have the face to say anything, those officials didn't have the face to look, they all wanted to get up and leave.

Chen Qi whispered: "Procurator, what exactly does the imperial court want to do?"

Su Zhe was stunned, "I don't know, but...but these questions are good questions."

Zhang Fei asked again: "What is the highest price He Yanjian knows?"

He Chunlin thought for a while, "Almost."

"Less than a penny?"

"Yeah."

"Who will set this price, or is it a joint agreement between the government and Yanhu?"

"Of course it was decided by the government."

"Can the imperial court have clear regulations, or is it up to your Yanjian to decide?"

"The imperial court has no clear regulations. Generally, our Yanjian will decide, or it may be determined by the higher authorities."

"I wonder what you base your pricing on?"

"...?"

Do you still need to ask? Of course, it is based on the fact that the less the better, it is best to give it away for nothing, or even owe it to us. He Chunlin became dizzy when asked, but he also had a long experience in the field, and said: "It depends on the needs of the frontier army."

Come on!

I don't hide anything anymore, if you ask, you will be arrested if you have the ability.

When Qin Zhongshou and other generals heard this, their hearts began to beat, they wouldn't let us testify in court.

Zhang Fei, like a curious baby, said: "That is to say, the demand of the frontier army is high, so the purchase price will be low. If there is no war on the border, the price of salt will be set high?"

He Chunlin nodded and said, "Exactly."

Zhang Fei said: "However, He Yanjian just said that the purchase prices are similar, and they are all less than a penny."

"...!"

He Chunlin was immediately dumbfounded.

Su Zhe pursed his lips, trying not to laugh out loud.

Cao Dongdong over there was very excited and said: "Uncle Qin, this is Zhang San's special skill, you must be careful when answering his questions."

Qin Zhongshou and the others are still in the mood to say this, with the sound of their own heartbeats in their ears.

It took a while for He Chunlin to explain: "That's because... the border finances have been lacking a lot recently, and they are all set at a very low level."

Zhang Fei asked again: "According to He Yanjian's observation, how much salt can the salt households produce per year?"

He Chunlin said: "It can be as little as a few hundred catties, or as much as thousands of catties."

Zhang Fei nodded, looked at another document, and said: "According to the official records, there are currently about 500 salt households in Hezhong Prefecture. If you calculate it by jin, five hundred households are 500,000 jin, not counting the price that the government sells to merchants, but if you calculate it at the price of forty Wen, that is 20,000 guan. Is there a miscalculation?"

The people watching the trial were confused, what does this mean?

However, He Chunlin heard the implication, and immediately looked at Zhang Fei unrequitedly.

You won't even leave us a pair of underwear?

Zhang Fei asked: "Did I make a mistake?"

He Chunlin shook his head and said, "No."

Zhang Fei said with a smile: "It can be seen that there is indeed a big financial deficit in the northwest border. Even 20,000 yuan must be carefully calculated. It is really difficult to be a salt official!"

The common people suddenly realized and praised secretly in their hearts.

What you said is so serious, it is related to the Northwest War, but the highest price is only 20,000 guan.

He Chunlin sneered and said, "Chairman Zhang may speak directly if he has something to say, why bother with insinuations."

He is different from Li Yongji, he was sent by the central government, he is a very powerful official, he can say a few tough words.

"I just realized the difficulty of He Yanjian, nothing else."

Zhang Fei smiled apologetically, and said, "Thank you very much He Yanjian for testifying in court."

"Huh!"

He Chunlin stood up and left angrily.

"It is said that the county captain of Hedong County will go to court."

"It is said that Liu Daxing, the county captain of Hedong County."

I saw a middle-aged man with a beard and a Confucian shirt sitting at the end, a taller figure, coming to the court.

At first glance, it is a standard configuration of both civil and military skills.

The county lieutenant is equivalent to the director of the Public Security Bureau. When the police station comes here, the county lieutenant is also one of the main victims.

After asking Liu Daxing to sit down, Zhang Fei asked: "The reason why the head of the court ordered Liu County Lieutenant to appear in court is mainly to ask a question."

As he spoke, he looked down at Wen'an, then raised his head and asked, "Lieutenant Liu should have heard Sergeant Ma's statement just now."

Liu Daxing nodded.

Zhang Fei asked: "According to Huang Tong's reaction at the time, the chief judge did not feel at all that he was doing an illegal thing that would be sentenced to death. This made the chief judge very confused. Liu County Does Wei know the reason?"

Liu Daxing shook his head and said, "I don't know."

Zhang Fei couldn't help but smiled awkwardly, and asked again: "I don't know if there were many cases of illegal salt sales in Hezhong Mansion before?"

The dossiers of the Hezhong Mansion have been given to him before, so he should be very clear about it. Liu Daxing thought for a while, and said, "No...not too much."

Zhang Fei asked: "Isn't Lieutenant Liu saying that there are not too many cases of illegal salt trafficking?"

Liu Daxing remained silent.

Zhang Fei asked again: "Is Lieutenant Liu not clear?"

Liu Daxing said: "No...not very clear."

Zhang Fei asked: "But according to the investigation of the procuratorate, it is very common for salt households to sell private salt in Hezhong Prefecture. Huang Tong's confession also said that he has been selling it all the time, but it is the first time. Caught."

"This...ahem!"

Liu Daxing suddenly felt that his throat was a little congested.

Zhang Fei asked intimately: "Would you like to pour a cup of tea for Lieutenant Liu?"

"No...don't!"

Liu Daxing's forehead was full of sweat, and he replied again: "Also... maybe."

Zhang Fei said: "Then there are many eucalyptus involved in the sale of illegal salt?"

Liu Daxing wiped the sweat from his forehead, and stammered, "No...it's not a lot."

Zhang Fei said: "Is it because it is difficult to catch these salt farmers who sell illegal salt?"

Like Li Yongji and He Chunlin, Liu Daxing couldn't hold back, and said directly: "That's not true, but we also know that those salt households are also more difficult, so as long as there are not many, we just turn a blind eye and close our eyes." One eye."

Lie flat!

Just ask.

Zhang Fei asked: "So Lieutenant Liu also agrees with Huang Tong's words. If they don't sell salt privately, it will be difficult for their family to survive."

Liu Daxing nodded.

Zhang Fei smiled and nodded, "I'm sorry."