Judge of the Song Dynasty Chapter 777: Goodbye old friend

Although in history, Zhao Xu also carried out official reform in order to seek pro-government, but it was mostly his personal will, mainly for centralization of power.

So the reform at that time was not thorough. It only completed the central reform and weakened the power of the prime minister. It did not involve the local official system.

But at this moment, it is not only his personal will, but also forced by the situation.

It’s really impossible not to change.

The reason is that the public security system is very complete. The president of the court and the chief prosecutor have the same name and power, and the division of responsibilities is very clear.

But the administrative system is still the same.

Especially after the Ordinance Department of the Second Government was abolished, everyone became even more confused.

The issue raised by Deng Wan about the procuratorate’s overreaching on its behalf was actually caused by this issue.

Because everyone is accustomed to being conservative, playing it safe, not raising opinions, and not making mistakes.

Even if they were given another chance, no one except Wang Anshi would propose a bill to address the duplication of taxes. This would be a thankless task.

Here, the authority is unclear, and the situation is scattered, while over there, the authority and authority are unified, and the people are united.

This leads to a phenomenon, that is, the judiciary is pushing the executive.

Many officials are also aware of this problem. To fight against the public security organs, we must either make them like us, or we will become like them.

Otherwise, there is no way we can fight.

Over there, bills are coming one after another. On the administrative side, everyone is looking at others. How can we continue to play like this?

Of course, the Public Works Administration is still behind the scenes. This is not to say that there will be large-scale layoffs of officials, but there is still room for it.

Another point is that historically, when Yuanfeng was undergoing restructuring, the party struggle between North Korea and China was at a fever pitch, but by this time the party struggle had died down, and there was really no way to fight anymore.

Of course the members of the reform faction hope to change this way. They have always been working people before. If it is changed now, most of them will directly merge their names and rights into one.

Conservatives have no reason to object. The previous integration of the Judiciary was done by conservatives, and they would not be able to overturn their reform ideas.

So Zhao Xu did not bypass the prime minister in this restructuring, but the result was negotiated with the prime minister and was unanimously recognized by everyone.

From this point of view, Zhao Xu did not actually weaken the power of the prime minister. On the one hand, because of the emergence of new checks and balances, namely the Legislative Council and the Public Security Bureau, Zhao Xu was too lazy to separate the three provinces.

If I am dissatisfied with your policy, I can still deny it through the Legislative Council.

On the other hand, it was the route Zhang Fei set for him, which was to govern the country first and govern the officials.

Although he did not weaken the prime minister, he controlled the three most powerful official groups in the country today.

Police Station, Taxation Department, Da Song Security Department.

What Zhao Xu is most worried about now is actually the shadow left by the drought, so he is very cautious this time. After confirming all the reform contents, he immediately dispatched various officials to inspect the local areas. Guide local governments to carry out reforms.

In terms of administration, Wang Gui and Cai Que are the leaders.

As for the Business Administration, Wang Anshi still recommended Shen Kuo, who was in Qingzhou, to lead the team.

As for the judiciary, Zhang Fei and Cao Dongdong personally led the team.

The promotion of the Public Security Bureau and the Procuratorate is really too rapid. It is time to go on a patrol. Apart from Zhang Fei, there is no better candidate.

Zhang Fei’s first stop was Daming Mansion.

After all, Hebei is the hardest-hit area, and both he and Sima Guang are most worried about the public security and prosecution laws here.

Compared with Wang Gui and Cai Que, Zhang Fei and Cao Dongdong chose to travel in disguise, because Wang Gui and Cai Que went out with the emperor's orders to guide local reforms, while Zhang Fei went to see the Public Security Bureau How popular it is, everyone has different purposes.

But when he entered the Hebei area, he found that it was completely different from what he had imagined.

The first impression is that there are too many royal police here, and they all seem to be well-trained. They are not some crooked people. You can often meet mounted policemen on the road, but Cao Dongdong was so excited that he almost revealed his identity several times. , you are all my people!

Furthermore, the public prosecutor’s office here is better than Zhang Fei imagined. Although many counties do not have procuratorates and only have imperial courts, there are no idle imperial courts. In the counties where Zhang Fei passes, all the imperial courts are in trial. There was even a long queue outside, but nine out of ten cases were loan sharking cases. Zhang Fei had not encountered a single criminal case anyway.

But no matter what, this is enough to prove that the public security law has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people in Hebei.

This is a big surprise.

Of course, the presidents of the courts all performed well and were able to apply forced labor laws very skillfully.

After more than a month of unannounced visits, they finally arrived at Daming Mansion. There was no hard-hit area here, and the city was also very prosperous.

It wasn't until they came to the imperial court and met Cheng Yi that Zhang Fei and the others revealed their identities.

"President Cheng, the construction of Hebei Public Security Bureau is much better than we expected." Zhang Fei said sincerely.

"Where! Where!"

Cheng Yigong held up his hands and was about to explain when Cao Dongdong suddenly interrupted: "How many royal police officers do you have in Hebei? How come there are more policemen than in the capital."

Cheng Yi nodded and said: "There are indeed more than the capital. There are currently more than 50,000 royal police officers in the entire Hebei region."

"So many?"

Cao Dongdong opened his eyes wide.

Cheng Yi nodded and said: "The main reason is that after the arrival of the palace commander in the past two years, the imperial soldiers who stayed in Hebei were slowly converted into royal police."

Cao Dongdong asked again: "What should I do if the people from the north call?"

Cheng Yi said: "Every three months, they will suddenly move south to target the northerners. The royal police from each county rush to the military camp to accept the dispatch of the commander. So far, it seems that the effect is not bad."

As he spoke, he added: "Thanks to so many royal police officers and the sergeants trained by Superintendent Cao, the public prosecutor's law was able to spread so quickly. Otherwise, it would still be very difficult!"

"Where! Where!" Cao Dongdong suddenly felt proud.

This is indeed one of the secrets of the success of the public security organs. First of all, in the Song Dynasty, all officials who took the imperial examination and became officials had to be familiar with the law. In terms of judiciary, there was a sufficient talent reserve.

The second thing is that there are so many professional soldiers, so converting the Forbidden Army will not increase the national cost, and can even reduce the cost.

It just so happens that the Forbidden Army also has this need, because the interior of the Forbidden Army has long been decayed, and the cost of rectifying the internal affairs is too high, so it is better to start from scratch.

Zhao Xu initially asked the palace commander Song Shouyue to go to Jingdong East Road to try it out. The results were outstanding. The imperial army became the royal police, and their discipline and combat effectiveness were improved.

Song Shouyue also wrote to Zhao Xu, why not use the name of the royal police to train troops.

Of course, Song Shooyue also contributed a lot to this. He personally wrote the current Royal Police Training Manual.

Zhang Fei has also read it, and the most emphasis in it is discipline, which is of course very correct.

Zhang Fei asked: "I wonder what kind of problems President Cheng encountered?"

Cheng Yi said: "When we first came here, the most problems we encountered were debt problems, and they are still the same now. And we made judgments based on the precedents of Prosecutor Zhang. This led to many landlords and gentry being dissatisfied and deliberately causing trouble. They specially Find some scoundrels, ignore the imperial court's judgment, and continue to commit crimes by borrowing usury."

Cao Dongdong said disdainfully: "Is this the method?"

Cheng Yi said: "Superintendent Cao should not underestimate this method. If there are not enough royal police to stop it, the people will think that the imperial court's judgment is invalid at all. Over time, no one will take the imperial court seriously. This is actually the foundation of our public security organs.”

In the final analysis, it’s just a matter of typing and convincing people with virtue, which is just to coax children.

Cao Dongdong blinked and suddenly looked at Zhang Fei and said, "Zhang San, why didn't we encounter this kind of situation when we went to Hezhong Mansion?"

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "Why not? You guys have been kicked out and you can live well. Moreover, it was the first time we went out at that time. No one knew what the public security law was about, and the usury law still gave me a sentence. ”

Cheng Yi added: "The famine also helped us a lot."

Zhang Fei asked curiously: "Did the famine help you?"

Cheng Yi nodded and said: "The famine caused many people to go out of the village to beg. At that time, the court decided to provide work-for-relief, so the people gathered together, and the only thing they could rely on when they left the countryside was It is the Public Security Bureau, and the Public Security Bureau can quickly win the hearts of the people. Later, it is spread by word of mouth. Now more and more people trust the Public Security Bureau."

Zhang Fei nodded, "So that's what happened."

Cheng Yi added: "Of course, the most important thing is Zhang Prosecutor's rule of law. Otherwise, no matter how many royal police are there, it will be useless. Because the rule of law is to protect the legitimate rights and interests of everyone, no matter the landlord. , or the common people, I think this is the real reason for the success of the public security organs."

"Excellent prize!"

Zhang Fei asked again: "How is the disaster relief situation in Hebei now?"

Cheng Yi nodded and said: "It's not bad. 70% of the credit must go to Lu Shangshu. He first released a large amount of official land and exchanged it with the land deeds of some people who were affected by the disaster so that they could continue farming. , which is equivalent to transferring this loss to the government.

But later I learned that the main reason why he wanted to replace those fields was to take the advice of the Water Conservancy Institute and plant trees along the river to consolidate the river.

They now plant a large number of mulberry forests next to the river there and build silk villages. The silk produced can be traded with northerners.

He also recruited many people to develop armaments. The weapons inspection in Hebei area expanded more than ten times, and the armaments of both the Royal Police and the Forbidden Army soldiers were improved. ”

This is actually very courageous. Ordinary officials would not dare to directly exchange their official fields for the people's fields affected by the disaster.

No wonder the Liao Kingdom has been tense recently. It must have been detected that Lu Huiqing was building weapons on a large scale in Daming Mansion. Zhang Fei asked again: "I wonder if Judge Cheng thinks what improvements are needed in the public prosecutor's office?"

"Originally, the most lacking thing was this "Interim Law." Now that it is available, the most lacking thing is prosecutors. In fact, the selection of the president of the court is easy to arrange. The key is prosecutors. Many talented, honest and honest officials are I can't do it, because there are a lot of skills involved, and only people like the Su brothers can do it immediately." Cheng Yi replied.

Zhang Fei added: "The capital has stepped up its efforts to train prosecutors. This will take some time, but when I came here, I found that many court presidents performed very well even without prosecutors."

"But it is always difficult to achieve perfection if there is one missing link, and if the president of the court has evil intentions, it will be difficult. And..." Cheng Yi suddenly glanced at Cao Dongdong, "Superintendent Cao, please don't Blame me directly."

Cao Dongdong asked in astonishment: "What does this have to do with me?"

Cheng Yi said: "Although the success of the Public Security Bureau is based on the Royal Police, the biggest hidden danger at present is that the Royal Police team is too large. In the long run, the Royal Court and the Procuratorate may not be able to check and balance the Police Department."

After hearing this, Cao Dongdong immediately said: "President Cheng, don't blame me for being direct. We Royal Police are running around for you every day, but you are thinking about guarding us every day. You scholars are really as narrow-minded as the rumors. ”

Cheng Yi just smiled and did not argue with him.

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "Don't blame Mr. Cheng, he has been a little angry recently because the Yushitai is going to build a Supervisory and Legal Department to supervise the public prosecutor's office."

Cheng Yi said happily: "Really?"

Zhang Fei nodded and added: "And the Royal Police is also divided into subdivisions. For example, the most powerful armed force within the police station is directly under the Ministry of War, and the general police chief cannot command it."

"Then.!"

Looking at Cao Dongdong, Cheng Yi did not say the word "good" after all.

It can only be said that the ancestral methods of the Song Dynasty are deeply rooted in the bones. These literati are always thinking about how to check and balance so that power can be balanced.

Cheng Yi was very worried. If there were tens of thousands of royal policemen doing evil, could our imperial court be able to restrain them?

After having a casual meal in the imperial court, Cheng Yi took Zhang Fei to the Water Conservancy School. Cao Dongdong did not follow him. He went to the police station to guide the work.

I saw that there were more young students in this water conservancy school than in the Imperial College.

“I didn’t expect this water conservancy school to develop so well?”

Zhang Fei couldn't help but said in surprise.

Cheng Yi said: "Most of the people here are from Hebei."

Zhang Fei looked at Cheng Yi without knowing why.

Cheng Yi sighed: "Hebei has always been plagued by floods. As a result, the people here dreamed of solving the floods in their hometown. When they heard that the imperial court was going to build a water conservancy school here to specialize in flood control, these Hebei students came here one after another, hoping to As a result, the school now has over a thousand people."

Zhang Fei asked: "Then the financial pressure is not great?"

Cheng Yi said: "With the support of many gentry and wealthy people, the court basically no longer needs to pay. Of course, this is also what everyone can see. This water conservancy school is serious about helping Hebei control floods, rather than seeking political achievements. People's power."

Zhang Fei nodded slightly.

The feelings of the ancients for their hometown are actually far better than the loyalty to the country and the monarch. And Hebei has really been tormented by floods in recent years, which is better than the Liao army going south, so the people of Hebei are looking forward to solving these problems.

"Zhang San!"

Suddenly I heard a shout.

Looking for fame, he saw Lu Huiqing walking over.

"Lv Shangshu."

Zhang Fei bowed his hand.

Lu Huiqing smiled and said: "I was just thinking about when you would arrive, but I never thought that you are already here."

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "I just arrived a while ago."

Lu Huiqing glanced at Cheng Yi next to him again, "President Cheng is here too."

Cheng Yi slightly cupped his hands and said, "You guys talk first, I'll excuse you now."

After saying that, he nodded slightly and left.

Zhang Fei looked at Lu Huiqing doubtfully.

Lu Huiqing said coldly: "This man is a hypocrite because of his sanctimonious appearance."

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

Lu Huiqing said: "Since he came to Daming Mansion as the president of the court, he has generously recommended people from Luo to come here to serve as public prosecutors and law officials. Now, in Hebei, seven out of ten county chiefs are from their Luo Party. The middleman. This is not a clique for personal gain.

What’s even more disgusting is that in order to win people’s hearts, he did not hesitate to collude with those wealthy households to secretly smear his mentor’s New Deal. He also said that the public prosecutor and the law could defend their interests, so as to gain the support of those wealthy households. Fortunately, I am here. , otherwise, huh. I'm afraid the reputation of my mentor will be in jeopardy! ”

Zhang Fei just smiled and said: "But President Cheng was just the one Lu Shangshu was full of praise for."

Lu Huiqing did not appreciate it and hummed: "Of course he said that. When he came to Daming Mansion, he directly borrowed your precedent and turned the people's debts into installments. This made the local landowners very dissatisfied, causing the daming For a time, no one in the government borrowed money.

Many people were facing a crisis immediately. It was I who opened the granary and lent money to the people in the name of the Green Crops Law, which allowed the people to tide over the difficulties. But when the debt came due, if the people could not pay it back, this guy would give them a longer repayment period. In fact, many people could not pay it back, but he also asked the people to pay back a little every month, and said that the court would not pay back the debt. Profit should be the main focus. This is simply too much bullying. ”

After hearing this, Zhang Fei was very curious and asked: "Can this Lu Shangshu endure it?"

"Me."

Lu Huiqing said: "Go and talk in the room."

When he came inside the house, Lu Huiqing sat down and said, "The reason why I endured this bad breath is for the sake of the overall situation."

Zhang Fei nodded in understanding and said: "It seems that Lu Shangshu is walking on thin ice here!"

Lu Huiqing nodded and said: "At the beginning, I suggested to my mentor several times not to include water control in Hebei into the New Deal. Unfortunately, my mentor did not listen to my advice. If I start a quarrel with Cheng Yi here, I am afraid that someone will attribute the chaos in Hebei to New Deal."

During the Xining party struggle, he was the first person to rush to the front. He believed that the struggle must continue in order to win over people's hearts and gain real power.

Can he tolerate Cheng Yi?

But he has no choice. He is here to wipe his butt, so he is really working hard in Hebei. At the same time, he is also trying to find ways to distance himself from the new party.

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "But Lu Shangshu's hard days are coming to an end. I believe Lu Shangshu will return to Beijing soon."

Lu Huiqing said in surprise: "How do you know?"

Wang Anshi's letter has been delivered, asking them to prepare to return to Beijing, and also telling him that Zhang Fei will be here.

Zhang Fei said: "Nowadays, the position of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue is very important, but Deng Shilang is simply not qualified for it, and Lv Shangshu has to go back."

Lu Huiqing was happy to hear this and said: "I heard that the court has undergone earth-shaking changes in the past two years."

Zhang Fei just nodded.

When Lu Huiqing left, the Ordinance Department of the Second Government was still there, but now it is gone.

However, the two of them have not yet reached the point where they can talk about this kind of thing.

Zhang Fei added: "I heard from President Cheng that under the governance of Lu Shangshu, the people's power in Hebei has gradually recovered."

"It's early."

Lu Huiqing sighed: "Man cannot defeat God after all. Moreover, Hebei is not only facing floods, but also northerners. If we want to restore the power of the people here, there is only one way, which is for the court to continue spending money here."

Zhang Fei said: "After Lu Shangshu returns to Beijing, Lu Shangshu will be responsible for Hebei's finances."

Lu Huiqing said: "The only way I can think of is to develop armaments in Hebei. Anyway, armaments are also needed by the country, and the weapons inspection can be built in a place far away from floods."

Zhang Fei nodded slightly: "This is not a bad idea."

But he knew very well that Lu Huiqing was the staunchest supporter of Wang Anshi's New Deal. The ultimate goal of his proposal to develop armaments was to fight.

This is a political belief that cannot be easily lost.

Of course, this matter is not his business. He came here with only one purpose, to inspect the public prosecutor's office.

He stayed in Daming Mansion for about a month and has been discussing some specific cases with Cheng Yi and other judicial officials.

To his surprise, all the contents of his class were compiled into books by Cheng Yi and others, and the legal system really became a new idea, which was deeply respected by the Luoyang literati.

Many people who met Zhang Fei claimed to be students. The key is that those people were much older than Zhang Fei.

This made Zhang Fei feel a little embarrassed.

Slip away! Get away!

After that, he rushed to Jingdong East Road again, but this time he did not patrol along the road, but went straight to Dengzhou in the east.

Dengzhou, imperial court.

I saw a woman dressed in men's clothing, standing in the court and eloquent. She seemed to be accusing a man of a magician who killed his wife with fake medicine.

"Zhang San, no wonder you want to come to Dengzhou, it turns out it's for the beauty!" Cao Dongdong suddenly realized.

Zhang Fei said angrily: "She is Fang Yun."

"Fang Yun?"

Cao Dongdong was stunned for a moment and then said: "Is this the little sister you often mentioned?"

Zhang Fei nodded, his eyes never leaving Fang Yun. At this time, Fang Yun had already lost his youthfulness and became more mature and charming.

Although Zhang Fei only spent a few days with Fang Yun at the Xu family, he always cared about Fang Yun very much. He wrote letters and sent some money every year, and also asked Feng Nancy to send someone to secretly protect Fang Yun. .

Because in a sense, Fang Yun is his only relative here.

Suddenly a sound of a gavel was heard.

Zhang Fei woke up with a start and looked at the presiding judge. Zhang Fei also knew that the presiding judge was Liu Zhi.

Just listen to Liu Zhi say: "Although the defendant used the talisman as medicine to treat the victim's illness, this was done voluntarily by the victim. At the same time, the law does not stipulate that the talisman cannot be used as medicine, and the Legal Aid Department has not confirmed it. The evidence can prove that the victim died after taking this charm, and the defense has witnesses who can prove that he recovered from taking the charm provided by the defendant. Therefore, this court declares the defendant not guilty and releases him in court."

Suddenly I heard the plaintiff cry: "It's not fair, this is not fair, President, my wife was really killed by this bastard. I beg the President to make the decision for the villain."

Liu Zhiai glanced at Fang Yun helplessly, then stood up and left.

Fang Yun looked frustrated and looked at the man lying on the ground crying with sympathy.

A fat Taoist priest stood over there. He glanced at Fang Yun provocatively, and then left the imperial court with his Erbi.

After hearing this, Cao Dongdong said: "Zhang San, you little girl is not very capable! You actually lost the fight."

Zhang Fei said: "Stop talking nonsense and let's go."

A few people quietly exited the imperial court.

"Don't you wait for your little sister?"

Cao Dongdong asked.

Zhang Fei pondered for a while and said: "Let's find a place to live first."

Soon, they came to find a hotel to stay, and then Zhang Fei found the contact person at the tax department here.

"The villain Li Han has met Prosecutor Zhang."

"Finally someone came."

Zhang Fei smiled.

"Huh?"

Li Han looked at Zhang Fei doubtfully.

"Nothing."

Zhang Fei said: "Do you know the case about the magic stick that is being heard in court today?"

Li Han nodded and said: "I know. That magic stick is very famous in Dengzhou and has many believers. In fact, this is not the first time that he has caused death, but the magic stick always accuses the believers of being dishonest. , not that there is something wrong with his spell."

Zhang Fei said: "Does the imperial court just care about it?"

Li Han said: "This is difficult to control. Many villages have this kind of superstition, and it is difficult to prove the key laws. If this is true or false, some people will die if they take medicine. As long as the medicine itself is not poisonous, it is difficult to say clearly. Then The charm is definitely not poisonous."

Zhang Fei nodded and said: "Help me investigate the specific situation of the Taoist priest, including his family, but don't alert the enemy."

Li Han immediately said: "The villain knows."

For their tax department, this kind of thing is really killing a chicken with a knife.

Three days later.

LAD.

Fang Yun sat at the desk, flipping through the letters, all written by Zhang Fei to teach her some litigation skills.

Suddenly someone said: "Don't read it, I didn't write this trick."

Fang Yun suddenly raised his head, as if he couldn't believe it, and rubbed his eyes again, "Brother Sansan."

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "I'm not dreaming."

Fang Yun was overjoyed and stood up, "Third brother, why are you here?"

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "If you don't want to go to Tokyo, I can't just come and see you."

Fang Yun was stunned for a moment, couldn't help but look guilty, and lowered his head in silence.

Zhang Fei knew in her heart that although he helped Fang Yun escape the crime, she knew the truth in her heart. She was still unwilling to move to the capital for fear of having a negative impact on Zhang Fei's reputation.

Furthermore, Zhang Fei also asked Fan Chunren about Fang Yun’s situation, and Fan Chunren told Zhang Fei that Fang Yun had been studying law diligently, and later joined the Legal Aid Department to help the people of Dengzhou, with the purpose of hoping to forgive him. crime.

Zhang Fei smiled again and said: "I'm just here for business, and I stopped by to see you, but now I see that you lost the lawsuit."

Fang Yun looked lonely and said: "Third brother, am I useless and not suitable to be a lawyer?"

Because of Xu Zhiqian, women who work in this industry are called lawyers.

Zhang Fei said: "You performed very well in court. You just lost because there is nothing to prove whether the superstitious theory is true or false."

Fang Yun asked: "Is it really impossible to seek justice for those victims?"

"It's not impossible."

Zhang Fei smiled.

Fang Yun asked: "Third brother, what can I do?"

Zhang Fei said: "When it comes to litigation, the most taboo thing is to get into trouble. Since we can't prove whether the spell can cure diseases, then as Erbi, we have to give up and think of a solution from another angle. And that God Stick relies on the theory of gods and ghosts. This is a matter of belief. You have to find a way to prove that his belief is false, then he is cheating money, which will lead to death."

Fang Yun asked anxiously: "How to prove it?"

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "Lead by example."