Looking at the facts, this punishment is actually very severe. Although clan members have not been punished before, most of them involved criminal cases and political cases, not economic cases like this.
In this case, the matter has never been brought to court and is usually resolved in court.
But even so, most officials in North Korea and China are dissatisfied with this.
This is because not long ago, the imperial court had just severely punished Xu Yu and other big landowners. Not only were they fined money, but they were also punished. It was very severe. Although Zeng Gong also punished Wang Hongjin, Zhao Wenzheng did nothing.
According to the evidence obtained by the procuratorate, Wang Hongjin is a domestic servant of Zhao Wenzheng. This clan can make the servant take the blame, but we can’t?
There was a lot of commotion inside and outside.
Zuoting.
"May I ask Judge Lu, what do you think of the verdict of Kaifeng Mansion?"
Xu Ji asked Lu Jia with an extremely serious face.
For the same crime, my brother was almost sentenced to death, but nothing happened to Zhao Wenzheng.
Lu Jiawen smiled slightly and said: "Judge Xu thinks that our imperial court's sentence against your younger brother is unfair?"
Male?
Xu Ji said: "I just want to know why there is such a big difference for the same crime?"
Lu Jiawen told the truth: "Because Governor Zhao spent 20,000 yuan to invite Zhang San to come forward."
Xu Ji was dumbfounded, "Shouldn't the law treat everyone equally? How can it be different just because of an ear pen? How can people be convinced like this?"
Lu Jia asked: "This is the public prosecutor's office, which focuses on litigation. Zhang Fei is an eloquent speaker. He was able to persuade Zeng Zhifu to lean towards him. That's his ability!"
Xu Ji said, "In that case, I can now ask Erbi to fight for my brother. Since the Kaifeng government has determined that Wang Hongjin's selling of illegal salt to Xuzhou is drug trafficking, my brother can also be freed from the crime."
His brother was not prosecuted for tax evasion, as the main charges were embezzlement of government land and selling private salt.
If this crime can be exempted, then the younger brother is not guilty and can only be fined a small amount of money.
Lu Jiawen nodded and said: "If the situation is exactly the same, I think the Kaifeng Mansion will also change the sentence, and there is no need to invite Zhang San."
Having said this, he paused for a moment and then said: "But Judge Xu, I checked your brother's account of selling private salt, and the situation is still somewhat different from Wang Hongjin's. Your brother's private salt was not sold to a salt-free land.
.”
Xu Ji hummed: "So, whether it is salt or medicine, it is all up to you."
Lu Jia asked: "So this has also caused great controversy."
Indeed, the controversy is very great.
Zeng Gong had been an official for decades, and all the previous impeachment memorials put together were not as many as this time.
After all, this had something to do with the clan, and if the ministers were dissatisfied, Zhao Xu could only hold a meeting to discuss the matter.
"Reporting to your Majesty, according to my investigation, from the year before last to last year, no one sold salt in many places in many states for half a year, and many people became sick as a result. It was only later that illegal salt entered the market that alleviated the situation."
"You yourself said you were selling drugs, but why were you convicted of selling drugs?"
Jiang Zhiqi immediately stood up and asked.
Zeng Gong replied: "On this point, Na'erbi Zhang San has already made a detailed explanation in the hall. For the people of Xuzhou, this salt is medicine and can save their lives. If I judge that it is illegal salt
Instead of medicine, it is tantamount to acting as an aid to the tiger, seeking wealth and harming lives."
Jiang Zhiqi asked: "What does it mean to act as a spy for a tiger?"
Zeng Gong replied: "As we all know, these people cannot live without salt. If official salt is not sold, if others are not allowed to buy it, wouldn't it mean that the local people will be forced to death?"
Peng Siyan stood up and asked: "But has Governor Zeng considered that such a sentence will make salt smuggling more rampant, and the salt government is related to the financial lifeline, and there is no room for failure."
Zeng Gong replied: "I explained very clearly in the judgment that the reason why I judged this salt to be medicine is that a large number of people in Xuzhou suffered from diseases because they could not buy the salt they needed for half a year.
Therefore, salt is medicine.
In addition, if I sentence Governor Zhao to selling private salt, official salt will become even more rampant. Even if most of the dirt is put in, the people will have to buy it. Otherwise, there will be only a dead end.
And comparing the two evils, the latter is obviously more terrible. After all, the former will only strain the finances at most, while the latter will be fatal. If there was a civil uprising in Xuzhou at that time, and it was so close to Feng, I am afraid it would consume the finances even more.
"
Wang Anshi immediately said: "Your Majesty, I believe that there are no mistakes in Zeng Zhifu's judgment. The main reason is that there are shortcomings in the salt policy."
Zhao Xu nodded.
The censor Feng Jing immediately stood up and said: "All this was because the transshipment envoy Xue Xiang was implementing the salt horse policy in the northwest, which led to the excessive issuance of salt banknotes, which caused the crisis in Xuzhou. When Fan Xiang presided over the northwest salt policy,
This has never happened."
When Lu Huiqing saw that they started to impeach Xue Xiang again, he immediately stood up: "Xue Xiang exchanged salt and profits for horses. Not only did he depose thousands of corvees and alleviate the suffering of local laborers, but he also bought tens of thousands of hectares of farmland to alleviate the local army's food shortage.
We are trapped, and the crisis in Xuzhou is clearly caused by those profiteers, so how can we blame Xue Xiang."
This salt banknote law came from Fan Xiang. During his tenure, he had always been very cautious in issuing salt banknotes. However, Xue Xiang saw that salt merchants like to hoard salt banknotes and speculate on salt banknotes, so he chose to issue more salt banknotes. Anyway, you will not change them.
The salt people used the profits from the salt banknotes to buy horses and raise them in the wild fields of Shaanxi. They also converted the pastures that had been forced by the government back into cultivated land and gave them to the people for farming, which increased local food tax revenue.
This combination of punches enabled Northwest Finance to survive the crisis. Both Zhao Xu and Wang Anshi admired him very much.
Wang Anshi said: "Although Fan Xiang's method is good, it does not allow merchants to sell salt freely, and merchants pursue profit first. At that time, there was a shortage of salt everywhere. Xuzhou could not make money, and merchants would not sell it in Xuzhou.
, if you want to avoid it, the government can set up a special official office in various places to purchase the supplies needed by the local people and then sell them to the local people. This kind of crisis will not occur, and the court can also benefit from this. "
To put it simply, it is official marketing and official sales.
Zhao Xu nodded frequently after hearing this.
"Your Majesty, you must not do this."
However, Sima Guang's hair stood up when he heard this, "Businessmen pursue profits, so will the imperial court do charity? Will it benefit the people? The official system before Fan Xiang's reform, from salt production to salt sales, was handled by the government, but the result
so what?
In order to seek profits, the government labored the people, causing countless people to flee..."
Wang Anshi immediately interrupted him, "This is different for me. With the implementation of the recruitment law, people will no longer work as slaves, and the court can set prices according to the law. Isn't this better than those profiteers?"
Sima Guang immediately retorted: "The profiteer's private salt only sells for twenty coins, and the official salt sells for forty-seven coins. I wonder where you are so strong?"
Wang Anshi said: "If profiteers are allowed to completely control salt profits, it will only become more expensive than official salt."
"Nonsense!"
Sima Guang said with bulging eyes: "The most precious thing in the world is official property."
As soon as these words came out, everyone's faces turned ugly.
You are going too far!
Sima Guang was really in a state of panic. In his opinion, this method was even more terrifying than the equal loss method, and the businessman had no way out at all.
Fu Bi suddenly said: "Why don't you say anything about the Han Temple?"
Han Jiang, who was standing with his head bowed, raised his head and looked around. Are you talking to me? After confirming, he said: "I...I thought that the salt policy is a serious matter and needs to be carefully considered."
Fu Bi chuckled and asked, "I want to ask you, how much tax has your Sinong Temple collected recently?"
Han Jiang blinked guiltily and said, "Why did the rich man suddenly ask about this?"
Fu Bi chuckled and said, "Just ask, can't you tell me?"
Han Jiang's coquettish behavior immediately attracted the attention of the courtiers, who all looked at him.
Yes! How much have you collected recently?
Zhao Xu looked at Han Jiang curiously.
Recently, everyone is concerned about the lawsuit, but they have not paid attention to the situation of Sinong Temple and the Taxation Department.
Han Jiang said sarcastically: "Three...three hundred thousand strings."
Everyone opened their eyes, including Zhao Xu.
Some even exclaimed: "So many?"
As soon as these words came out, many ministers were filled with grief and could not wait to bow their heads. This is all our money!
Han Jiang has been surprisingly low-key recently. Everyone is crying, but he is the only one laughing. Of course, he has to laugh behind closed doors!
If you stand up and laugh, you will get beaten.
Wang Anshi had just learned about it and couldn't help but be overjoyed. At the same time, he was complaining to Han Jiang that you had collected so much money and didn't even tell me.
He has to take credit for laying a solid foundation for his new method.
"Is that much?"
Fu Bi cupped his hands and said, "Han Si is truly worthy of his noble family background. In just a few days, he has collected so much tax."
Han Jiang hurriedly said: "This is not my credit, it is all the credit of the Public Security Bureau and the Taxation Department."
He did lie down and collect the money.
Wang Anshi's expression changed. Didn't you mention me?
Lu Huiqing understood the idea and immediately stood up and said: "Now the people have not been affected at all. It can be seen that those who accused the recruitment ceremony of increasing the burden on the people at the beginning were pure nonsense."
Wen Yanbo hummed: "This is all the work of the Taxation Department and the Public Security Bureau."
Lu Huiqing smiled and said: "The lower officials do not deny their contribution, but at least it proves that this method is correct."
Wen Yanbo's expression froze and he remained silent.
Fu Bi said to Zhao Xu: "Your Majesty, I believe that the success of the Recruitment Law lies in the fact that the Taxation Department's independent declaration is extremely tolerant, so it provides the basis for the Taxation Department to strictly enforce the law.
On the other hand, the salt law is extremely harsh, but it is not conducive to the government's law enforcement, so that illegal salt is rampant, which also adds difficulties to Zeng Zhifu. According to the opinion of the veteran, if you want to clear the salt administration, you must first set up a local public prosecutor, tax department, and so on.
Only by fundamentally changing bad policies can we achieve a long-term solution."
Sima Guang had an idea, "Your Majesty, Zhang San's talent is really unworthy of being placed in the Imperial College. The key is that he doesn't go to class often. Instead, he often stays in the office to litigate. Therefore, I suggest that he be sent to the northwest region to preside over the public prosecutor's office."
."
"I second the proposal."
"I also second the proposal."
...
Almost all ministers agreed.
"Um?"
Sima Guang was dumbfounded. I had an idea. Are you just going to support me like this? He looked back at them and suddenly realized that he seemed to have heard their voices.
Get this kid away quickly and go harm the powerful people in the northwest.
Zhao Xu also noticed that the corner of his mouth twitched and tried not to laugh. However, Zhang Fei was his man and could not act rashly. Moreover, he was originally scheduled to go to Yangzhou because Yangzhou was also the center of national finance, so he said: "This is
We will discuss it later, but today we will discuss Governor Zhao first."
Fu Bi said: "Based on that lawsuit, I think there is nothing wrong with Magistrate Zeng's decision. If there are similar cases, you can also go to appeal and then change the sentence."
What this means is that you cannot abandon the process and discuss the outcome. The process of the lawsuit is very important. In that lawsuit, Zhang Fei took the full initiative and the procuratorate failed miserably. So what can be done?
Of course, the bowl of water must be balanced. If it looks similar, the judgment can be changed.
Sima Guang, Wang Anshi, Chen Shengzhi, Wen Yanbo and other prime ministers also stood up to express their support for Zeng Gong's verdict.
If you lose the lawsuit, you have to admit it!
...
Zhang family!
Xu Zun finally returned home.
Da da da da!
Zhang Fei's hands were trembling slightly, and he held a cup of tea and handed it to Xu Zun, "Father-in-law, please have some tea."
The son-in-law beat his father-in-law so hard that his teeth were all over the floor, so he must apologize.
"Don't drink!"
Xu Zun turned his face and said, "I'm not thirsty."
Xu Zhiqian said: "Dad, although I don't agree with Zhang San's lawsuit, as a man, you have to admit if you lose."
"You can't win with force, why should dad admit it?"
Xu Zun looked at Zhang Fei and said, "You provided all the evidence. You deliberately chose some controversial evidence to harm our procuratorate."
Zhang Fei quickly apologized and said with a smile: "I really can't hide anything from my father-in-law. My son-in-law has only this ability. How could he win over my father-in-law without some tricks?"
"Don't flatter me either."
Even so, Xu Zun still took the tea cup and said: "I may not win you, but the relationship between our father-in-law and son-in-law makes it difficult for our son-in-law to compete openly and openly."
Xu Zhiqian smiled slyly and said, "Dad, don't argue with him about a lawsuit. He is full of bad intentions. How can dad be his opponent?"
Zhang Fei said unhappily: "I say Zhi Qian, if you praise others, just praise them well, don't be so weird."
Xu Zun shook his head helplessly, put the tea cup on the table, and sighed: "Looking at the matter, the evidence you provided is a big advantage on the charge of embezzling official land, but on the charge of selling illegal salt, it is
It depends on your ability. Although you are selective in providing it, it is still irrefutable proof. Then again, in fact, this is not easy. "
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Zhi Qian and I said the same thing."
Xu Zundao: "But this also exposes the shortcomings of our Procuratorate. We rely too much on the Taxation Department and the Police Department. We must have our own investigative talents."
Zhang Fei shook his head and said: "No need at all."
Xu Zun asked: "How do you say this?"
Zhang Fei said: "What the Procuratorate really needs are technical talents who are responsible for verifying the authenticity of various evidences, such as experts in accounting, and experienced afternoon workers. In other aspects, they can still maintain the same relationship with the police department.
Cooperation with the Department of Taxation.”
Xu Zundao: "If we rely on them, I'm afraid what happened today will happen again in the future."
Zhang Fei smiled and said: "Let them keep an eye on the people. That is their duty. The Procuratorate is responsible for keeping an eye on them. The Taxation Department is directly subordinate to the government and no one can control it. But the Procuratorate can sue the Taxation Department, so they will know how."
Maintain a pleasant cooperation with the prosecutor's office."
Xu Zun stood up directly and stroked his beard. After a while, he pointed at Zhang Fei and said with a smile: "You are still smart!"
Zhang Fei said: "Father-in-law, the top priority is not this matter."
Xu Zun asked hurriedly: "Is there anything else?"
"move place!"
Zhang Fei said: "The monthly rent here is now two hundred guan, and we have been cheated."
"Two hundred coins?" Xu Zun was shocked and said, "Yes! Why haven't you moved yet?"
Xu Zhiqian said: "Dad hasn't come back yet, how dare we move."
"pedantic!"
Xu Zun scolded the two angrily, "I never care about these things. Come on, hurry up, move here as soon as possible. By the way, have you paid the rent this month?"
"handed in!"
"How many days are left?"
"About half a month!"
"Then let's finish living here for half a month first, don't waste it."
"ah?"
"He has already taken two hundred coins from us. Can we let them take advantage of us again?"