Judge of the Song Dynasty Chapter 725: Boomerang

Chapter 725 Boomerang

Yushitai?

This boomerang was shot, and the reformists present suddenly became excited and praised it in their hearts.

Fu Bi and Sima Guang frowned in unison.

Even the president of the court, Zhao Bian, fell into deep thought.

Is this the responsibility of Yushitai?

A quarter of an hour ago, it was unimaginable that Xue Xiang would pass the responsibility to Yushitai.

This sounds more like a childish revenge.

You say it's my fault, I say it's your fault.

But if you think about it carefully, what he said seems to make some sense.

This involves a very complex factor, that is, when a subordinate makes a mistake, should the boss bear the responsibility, or should the supervisory agency bear the responsibility.

However, according to past cases, the boss is mostly responsible, and the supervisory agency usually only plays the role of reporting.

Because in ancient judicial concepts, the idea of ​​​​lienzuo is everywhere. When subordinates make mistakes, their superiors must be held accountable.

But if it is tried in the imperial court, this seems to be different.

Even Zhao Xu had a look of confusion on his face.

Wang Anshi smiled slightly and said: "I knew that this boy seemed to laugh at everyone, but he was extremely narrow-minded. If Yushitai despised him so much, he would definitely take revenge."

You don’t need to think about it to know that it must have been Zhang Fei who taught Xue Xiang to say this.

Although Xue Xiang is smart and eloquent, he has no experience in court trials and is not very proficient in the judiciary.

"Yushitai?"

Zhang Fei also pretended to be surprised and asked: "Xue Fayunshi means that the person who is really responsible for the situation in Wuhu County is Yushitai?"

"Exactly."

Xue Xiangdao: "When Taizu Taizong established this whole system, he hoped that the government offices would each perform their duties and supervise each other, so there were censorship offices, admonishment courts, and other supervisory offices.

Although I am in charge of the Shipping Department of Southeast Sixth Road, I lack the authority to supervise, and it is unreasonable for me to supervise myself.

According to court regulations, the Yushitai should be aware of this situation and report it to me first. If I turn a blind eye or intentionally cover up, they will report it to the court.

But the current situation is that not only did Yushitai not report it to me, but they deliberately concealed it and then took the opportunity to file a complaint against me. They blame all their dereliction of duty on me. What if this is not frame-up? ”

After these words, almost all the officials began to think about it.

Zhang Fei asked: "Does Envoy Xue Fayun have evidence to prove that they deliberately concealed it?"

Xue Xiangdao: "If not, then I shouldn't have learned about this from the people in the capital. I didn't know anything about it beforehand, but the Yushitai was very aware of it."

At this point, he suddenly thought of something, "No, maybe they only found out recently, and they didn't deliberately hide it."

Zhang Fei asked: "How do you say this?"

Xue Xiangdao: "As far as I know, Qian Zhi, the censor of Jiangnan East Road, was visiting several friends in Jiangning Mansion last year, and went sightseeing with them, and spent more than 500 yuan of minister's money. He My friends also used some. Maybe this is the reason why they didn’t inform me in time."

This is really a blatant irony!

Many officials glanced at Zhao Xu secretly, but the emperor seemed to be just listening carefully.

Zhang Fei picked up a copy and said, "President, this is about Yushi Qian Zhi's expenses in Jiangning Mansion, and how many friends he visited. It contains detailed names, places, and times. ”

No official questioned this copy, because this is a very common phenomenon, but if it is placed here, this is very critical evidence.

Because this can prove that the censor did not perform his duties at the time of the incident.

Zhao Bian said: "Submit it."

After Zhang Fei handed over the evidence, he suddenly asked Zhao Bian directly: "President, I am still relatively inexperienced and don't quite understand how the Yushitai works. Just now, the Chief Justice said that he had served in the Yushitai and Jianyuan Wait, so I would also like to ask the Chief Justice how the Yushitai should operate. Is it true that as Xue Fayun said, when a situation is discovered, one should first report to Xue Fayun and then decide whether to report it to the court? ”

After Zhao Pian hesitated for a while, he nodded and said: "Unless there are some special cases, otherwise, this should be the case."

Zhang Fei asked: "What special case did the chief judge refer to?"

Zhao Bian said: "For cases such as rebellion, these should be reported to the court first, so as not to alert the enemy."

Zhang Fei said again: "This case is not among them."

Zhao Peng nodded.

"Thank you, President, for telling me."

Zhang Fei nodded with a smile, and then said to Xue Xiang: "Therefore, Ambassador Xue Fayun does not deny what happened in Wuhu County, but he just thinks that Yushitai should bear these responsibilities."

Xue Xiang nodded and said: "Yes, maybe this kind of situation does not only happen in Wuhu, but I have tried my best to reduce the burden on the people, but I lack the support of Yushitai.

But fortunately, now that the Procuratorate is here, I very much look forward to the Procuratorate going to Southeast Sixth Road. I believe that if the Procuratorate goes, this situation will never happen again. ”

Zhang Fei smiled and asked: "As far as I know, Commander Xue Fayun came back to the procuratorate for the first time. I wonder why Commander Xue Fayun said that?"

Xue Xiangdao: "This is my own experience. I went to the Procuratorate to file a complaint a few days ago, and I was extremely worried. However, the Procuratorate did not rush to make a decision. Instead, it investigated the whole matter clearly and worked hard to find out. Every piece of evidence, the cause and effect of every incident, and reporting the matter to the superiors, as well as being willing to seek justice for me, are the responsibilities of an Ombudsman's Office."

Wow. This kind of business bragging is really disgusting.

Disgusting!

I want to vomit!

The reformist officials felt goosebumps.

Brother, you have a lower limit, okay?

How can you know the joy of a fish if you are not a fish? Anyone who sits in that seat will have a good impression of the Procuratorate!

Zhao Pengzi couldn't stand it anymore, "Excuse me, the president of the court also has a question."

He looked at Xue Xiang and asked: "Xue Shipping Envoy, why does your Shipping Department reward the officials below?"

Xue Xiang replied: "The rewards are based on the income of the local shipping department, because this represents political achievements."

Zhao Bian asked again: "Since Xue Shipping does not know the situation in Wuhu County, will he reward the officials of the Wuhu County Shipping Department?"

"Yes."

Xue Xiang replied.

Zhao Bian said: "If you choose to do this, aren't you incentivizing the officials below to illegally enrich themselves?"

Sima Guang nodded frequently when he heard this. He believed that this problem existed in the New Deal, and it was also the main reason why the Qingmiao Law caused chaos on Jingdong East Road.

Xue Xiangdao: "The responsibility of the Shipping Department is to collect money, buy and sell, and save money for the court. Rewards must also be based on these. Of course I hope they can collect more money and save more money, but this does not break the rules.

The situation mentioned by the Chief Justice is indeed possible, and this requires the help of the Supervisory Office. This is also the reason why the imperial court sends censors to various parties. ”

Zhao Bian was speechless.

Isn’t it interesting that you push the censor’s head when I ask you anything?

But in fact, this is not the key. The key is that when Xue Xiang encounters this situation, he will really make adjustments. Without this, everything Xue Xiang said will not be true.

After Zhao Bian finished asking, Zhang Fei suddenly looked at Li Shuo, who was listening in fascination, "Li Shuo."

"The villain is here."

"Don't be nervous."

After Zhang Fei comforted him, he asked: "What do you think is better or worse when it comes to paying in coins when there is a bad harvest, compared to the previous period when only grain was allowed to be paid?"

Li Shuo thought for a while and said, "How much do I have to pay?"

Zhang Fei said: "What if we calculate it based on the market price in a good harvest year?"

"Of course it is better to pay in currency."

"Why?"

"If we can't pay with coins and we don't have enough food in hand, we have to buy food. When there is a bad harvest, the price of food will already rise. If more people buy food, the price will rise even more. More."

"Have you ever been in this situation before?"

"Yes, about ten years ago, the price of food in Wuhu rose to 110 cents per bucket of rice." When talking about this amount, Li Shuo seemed to still have lingering fears.

Zhang Fei nodded and asked: "I wonder what your family conditions are like?"

Li Shuo said: "I am just a very ordinary farmer."

Zhang Fei said: "But it takes a lot of money to travel from Wuhu to Beijing. Where do you get your travel expenses?"

Li Shuo said: "My family really can't afford it. Uncle Yang in my village funded me."

Zhang Fei asked: "Why does he want to fund you."

Li Shuo said: "Because he also has to pay the same amount of tax as me."

Zhang Fei asked: "Uncle Yang in your mouth, is his name Yang Huadong?"

"Exactly."

Li Shuo nodded.

Zhang Fei immediately said to Zhao Bian: "Please ask the chief judge to summon Yang Huadong to appear in court to testify."

Li Shuo said in surprise: "Is Uncle Yang here too?"

Zhang Fei smiled and nodded.

Zhao Bian immediately agreed.

After a while, a middle-aged man with a goatee and a bookish air came into the court.

As soon as Li Shuo was about to shout, Yang Huadong glared back.

"Yang Huadong, when Li Shuo wanted to go to Beijing to file a complaint, how much money did you provide?" Zhang Fei asked.

Yang Huadong nodded and said: "Yes, yes."

Zhang Fei asked: "Why did you sponsor Li Shuo to go to Beijing to file a complaint?"

Yang Huadong said: "Because the shipping department charged such a high tax at that time, it caused great anger and resentment. Many people in Jiangning Mansion wanted to go to Beijing to file a complaint. I also wanted to go, just because I was in poor health. I happened to hear that Li Shuo wanted to go, so I gave him some money and food."

Zhang Fei asked: "But as far as I know, your family seems to be very ordinary."

Yang Huadong said: "My family background is indeed not that good, but...but I just can't swallow this breath!"

Zhang Fei asked: "Does Mr. Hu know that you spent money to help Li Shuo go to Beijing to file a complaint?"

A flash of fear flashed in Yang Huadong's eyes, "What. What is Mr. Hu?"

Zhang Fei said: "Hu Yongwei from Baoping Township."

Yang Huadong blinked, "I don't know Hu Yongwei."

Li Shuo was surprised and said: "Uncle Yang, why don't you know Hu Yongwei? Don't you often say that the rich man eats people without spitting out their bones?"

"Shut up!"

"Of course he said that." Zhang Fei said with a smile: "Because he still owes Hu Yongwei more than ten thousand dollars."

As he spoke, he opened the copywriting in front of him and took out an IOU, "Yang Huadong, you don't even know your own IOU, do you?"

Yang Huadong exclaimed: "How could this IOU be in your hands?"

Zhang Fei said: "Don't worry about it. I'll ask you again, did you really come up with the money you funded Li Shuo yourself?"

"I uh..."

"Huh?"

Zhang Fei looked at him with a smile.

Yang Huadong said: "Hu Yongwei asked me to give it to Li Shuo."

"Huh?"

Li Shuo looked at Yang Huadong in shock.

Zhang Fei ignored Li Shuo's shock and said to Zhao Bian: "I implore the president of the court to summon the witness Hu Yongwei to appear in court to testify."

Yang Huadong and Li Shuo were both shocked.

Hu Yongwei is here too?

After waiting for a while, a middle-aged man with a medium build and oily face came to the court. As soon as he came up, he immediately glared at Yang Huadong and Li Shuo.

Zhang Fei asked: "Hu Yongwei, did you hear what Yang Huadong said."

Hu Yongwei nodded.

Zhang Fei said: "What do you have to say about this?"

Hu Yongwei said: "What's strange about this? I also have to pay taxes. I have rice at home, but the shipping department doesn't let me pay it. They insist on making me pay coins. It's really bullying. I support Brother Li in going to Beijing." Complain, what's the problem?"

Zhang Fei said: "But according to our investigation, you have not paid taxes."

".!"

In an instant, Hu Yongwei became sweating profusely.

Zhang Fei said: "So you can't be angry because you paid too much tax."

Hu Yongwei remained silent.

Zhao Bian said: "Witness, answer truthfully."

Hu Yongwei glanced at Zhao Bian anxiously, then lowered his head.

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "President, let him go. He may not know how to answer."

Everyone looked at Zhang Fei. The look on his face seemed to declare that he was already sure of victory.

Zhang Fei said to Hu Yongwei again: "Hu Yongwei, we have investigated the growth of your family's fields, mainly in the sixth year of Jiayou, the second year of Zhiping, and the third year of Xining. In these three years, your family's farmland increased. The fields have almost doubled in growth."

Hu Yongwei thought for a moment and looked at Zhang Fei in surprise, "How do you know?"

Zhang Fei said: "Because the corresponding three years were all in the Wuhu area, and in the years when the harvest was poor, you used the old tax system to raise the prices of related goods and made a lot of money.

And this is the reason why you support Li Shuo. It is because the loss method has ruined your financial path, so you are happy to see Li Shuo go to Beijing to file a complaint. ”

Hu Yongwei said excitedly: "I didn't...!"

He was just about to retort when he heard Zhang Fei say: "But what I'm curious about is, how did you know that many people would come to Beijing to complain, and who gave you the idea?"

Hu Yongwei immediately swallowed the words on his lips, struggled for a while, and said: "Even if that's what I planned, it's not illegal."

As soon as these words came out, a sneer appeared at the corner of Wang Anshi's mouth.

Zhao Bian also frowned.

They all noticed something strange about Hu Yongwei. Most of them were people from the government, so Hu Yongwei quickly admitted it.

The more this goes through, the more it looks like a conspiracy.

But this is very detrimental to Yushitai.

Zhang Fei nodded and smiled: "This is indeed not illegal. I just asked you to appear in court to testify. So, you admitted it."

Hu Yongwei said: "Admit it and admit it. The government keeps saying to crack down on profiteers, but in the end, they do the same thing as profiteers. Moreover, when we do business, we do it voluntarily, but the government is different. If you don't pay, you will have to do it." Go to jail."

Sima Guang glanced at Zhao Xu secretly again, but unfortunately Zhao Xu's face was expressionless, and you couldn't tell what he was thinking.

Zhang Fei smiled and nodded, "Thank you very much for appearing in court to testify. Our procuratorate will pay your related expenses."

Hu Yongwei and Yang Huadong were stunned.

Is it so good?

We all admitted it. Not only did you not blame us, you also paid us travel expenses.

It wasn't until the court police came to them and asked them to leave very politely that they stood up in disbelief and left in confusion.

Next, Zhang Fei notified a fruit farmer in Yangzhou, who was also one of the plaintiffs who went to Beijing to file a lawsuit.

But the process was no different from Li Shuo's, and the travel expenses were all paid by local landowners.

And this big landowner is also a victim of the loss method.

After interrogating and interrogating, Wang Anshi became more and more arrogant. Look, look, this is all premeditated, and it is obviously a frame-up.

And they are all trying to crack down on such profiteers. What's wrong with that?

Sima Guang was so angry that he shook his head.

After the fruit farmer went down, Zhang Fei turned his attention to Xue Xiang, "Xue Fayun, the second and third charges about Yushitai actually refer to the same thing, that is An official reported you, and you appointed and dismissed officials on a large scale. You transferred some upright officials from the Shipping Department, or even removed them from their posts, and at the same time installed your own cronies."

Xue Xiang said firmly: "This is purely a false accusation."

Zhang Fei asked: "How do you say this?"

Xue Xiangdao: "This can actually be said together with the first crime."

Zhang Fei said: "I would like to hear the details."

Xue Xiangdao: "First of all, I did appoint and remove many officials, but this was the power given to me by the court, and it was not a crime of abuse of power.

Secondly, I am not appointing my cronies, but some smart and capable officials, while the officials who are dismissed are either those who work in secret, or those who are lazy and incompetent. Oh, and there are officials like those in Wuhu who used the New Deal to exploit the people.

Finally, I know that if I do this, I will offend many officials, but I have no choice, because the uniform transmission method has very high requirements for information exchange and relatively high ability requirements. We must always know what is happening in each place. Only by adjusting prices can we make accurate plans. As an official of the Shipping Department, you must also be very diligent and hardworking, and cannot be indolent as before. ”

Zhao Pian couldn't help but ask: "This is just a one-sided policy of yours. How can you prove what you say?"

Zhang Fei then said: "President, our Procuratorate has found conclusive evidence based on Xue Fayunshi's complaint."

Zhao Bian asked curiously: "Really?"

Not only was he extremely curious, but all the officials present were also very curious about it.

How do you prove this kind of thing? Even if you ask officials from the Shipping Department to testify, there will be doubts. You are the shipping envoy, and the officials from the Shipping Department must be against you. You have to provide ironclad evidence to prove a Officials are lazy and follow the rules.

No one has a clue.

Zhang Fei took a copy of the document from Zhou Zheng and immediately raised it, "Although the officials who reported Xue Xiang refused to appear in court to testify, we have found out the causes and consequences of their dismissal, as well as some of their past political achievements.

What I have in my hand are the official documents issued by the officials who reported Xue Xiang. As well as the official documents issued by the officials who replaced them in the past two years.

Their positions are exactly the same, but in terms of the number of official documents they have approved, the officials appointed by Xue Fayun in one month have already approved more official documents than their predecessors in one year, and since they Comparing the official documents written, one can tell at a glance who has good intentions and who does not.

Not only that, their political achievements are also very different. And there’s morality, uh. Sorry! ”

As he spoke, he flipped through the transcript and said, "We haven't found any concrete evidence yet."

"Haha!"

A burst of laughter suddenly came from outside the hospital.

Wang Anshi laughed with joy, while Sima Guang across from him was so angry that his hands were shaking. Who are you mocking?

Zhao Bian was very anxious this time, "Quiet! Quiet!"

When it became quiet outside the hospital, Zhang Fei added: "But regarding professional ethics, the two are also clear at a glance."

"Submit."

While speaking, Zhao Pian also warned by the way: "You are a prosecutor now, not a small Erbi. Please pay attention to your words."

Zhang Fei hurriedly explained: "I'm really sorry, it's just that there are considerations regarding the Yushitai trial, so I mentioned it."

Zhao Bian was speechless.

Yes indeed.

In the past, when the censor impeached Xue Xiang, many of them were based on personal morality.

Zhang Fei added: "Based on these official documents, it is not difficult to see that most officials are still unable to adapt to the equalization method. Under the old system, everything was prescribed and remained unchanged for decades, so they hardly used anything. Doing, and even losing method requires much more work than before, as the saying goes, more work, more gain.

Some others were caught by Xue Fayun, the envoy of Xue Fayun, who made money through the method of equalizing losses, and were dismissed from their posts. This fully proves that Xue Fayun envoy did not allow his subordinates to illegally enrich themselves, but that he lacked the assistance of the supervisory authority. . ”

Thin!

Zhang Fei once again let everyone see his details.

No one thought that ordinary official documents could be used as evidence in court.

This...

But thinking about it, it seems right. If the number of official documents is large and more detailed, coupled with political achievements, it will be enough to explain everything.

The same powers and responsibilities are so different that there is no way to explain them other than laziness.

After hearing this, Wang Anshi couldn't help but hum: "This is the reason for corruption in officialdom. Officials who are really willing to work are squeezed out, while officials who are just trying to gain fame are rising through the ranks. Who is willing to work!"

When the evidence was presented, Zhang Fei said: "All the witnesses I invited have attended, and all the evidence has been presented."

"Really?"

Zhao Peng was slightly surprised.

The officials next to me also felt this way. It seemed that the trial was not over yet.

Zhang Fei knew their doubts. They were paying attention to the New Deal and forgot that this was just a lawsuit. He nodded and said: "These witnesses and evidence are enough to prove that Ambassador Xue Fayun was framed and wronged."

Zhao Bian reacted immediately and nodded slightly, "Then prepare to make your closing statement."

"Yes."

After taking a short rest, Zhang Fei stood up. He first looked around, and then said loudly: "Since all the officials of Yushitai refused to participate in the trial, I don't know how they conducted the trial at that time. .

But one thing is certain, that is, in the entire case, Yushitai committed serious dereliction of duty, because they did not promptly inform the shipping envoys of the situation of the shipping departments in various places, which is obviously against the system.

However, since the Yushitai did not participate, our procuratorate cannot determine whether the Yushitai did it deliberately in order to deal with Xue Fayunshi, and framed Xue Fayunshi. Or was he trying to use Xue Fayun to cover up his dereliction of duty?

Not only that, there are still many doubts in the Yushitai trial. For example, whether the Yushitai investigation has made it clear that behind those ordinary people are many large landowners who have major interests in the case.

For another example, did Yushitai investigate the grievances between the officials who reported Xue Fayun and Xue Fayun?

I don’t want to make too many speculations here. After all, our procuratorate is completely based on evidence and strives to be a fair and impartial prosecutor’s office. In the absence of conclusive evidence, we will not impose charges.

But Yushitai is a supervisory office after all. If it is just an oversight, it can be understood, but there are so many negligences at the same time, and there are many interests involved behind it. I don’t know if this is the reason why Yushitai refused to participate in the trial. , but this is definitely questionable.

As for Xue Fayun, he is absolutely innocent. In the past few years, he has traveled here and there and worked tirelessly. He not only improved the country's finances, but also relieved the burden of countless people. But everything he encountered, well, In fact, I don't sympathize with him either. There is a saying that goes well, a man who can endure hardship is a true man, but a man who is not envied by others is a mediocre man. ”

Zhao Bian asked: "Who said the last sentence."

Isn’t this an old saying? Zhang Fei said sarcastically: "Well, I just felt it."