It was not a big trouble, and Cai Yanqing told the whole story in just a few words.
No matter how much advice he gave, he couldn't give it.
The only thing he can do is like this.
If he hadn't met Zhang Fei here, he might not have told Zhang Fei.
"It's difficult!"
Cai Yanqing looked at Zhang Fei's carriage and couldn't help sighing. He frowned slightly and said, "I didn't expect them to take action so quickly."
Zhuo Qun smiled bitterly and said: "Things like this are common and effortless. Maybe they can be arranged over a cup of tea. But for the imperial court, dealing with this kind of incident will only make you a human being."
Why wouldn't they do it? With this kind of fighting, the imperial court won't be able to hold on for long."
...
inside the car.
The happiness and touch brought by Wu Lei and his wife before were gone now.
Zhang Fei saw that Xu Zhiqian's face was full of melancholy and she was silent. Her emotions also affected Gao Wenyin, making Gao Wenyin uneasy. He gently held Xu Zhiqian's hand and said, "Things like this are all our responsibility."
It’s expected, isn’t it?”
Xu Zhiqian was startled, raised her eyes slightly, glanced at him, and said, "I know, I just think that maybe... maybe Bachelor Sima is right."
Zhang Fei asked with interest: "How?"
Xu Zhiqian said: "Why is it that neither Bachelor Wang nor we always find it difficult to move forward even if there is a mountain of finance weighing on us, so that a single move affects the whole body.
Take salt households as an example. In fact, Governor Cai also wants to reduce their burden, but if their burden is reduced, fiscal revenue will be reduced, and the higher-ups will blame him. He can also turn a blind eye in this way.
Methods.
So... I think that even if Mr. Wang wants to reform, he should first reduce financial expenditures and reduce the burden on the people, so that the reform can be successful."
At this point, she pursed her lips again, "But this is impossible. That's what Fan Gong thought at the beginning, but it also failed."
Zhang Fei smiled and said: "But you overlooked one point."
Xu Zhiqian glanced at him: "You're not talking about us, are you?"
"yes!"
Zhang Fei nodded.
Xu Zhiqian said: "We can arrest corrupt officials, but the cause of this matter is not entirely the corrupt officials, but the court. If we turn a deaf ear, it will be a crime of malfeasance. But if the law is strict, then it will be a crime of malfeasance."
Help Zhou..."
Having said this, she quickly shut up.
Zhang Fei chuckled and said, "Have you forgotten that we can also judge the court to have violated the law?"
"ah?"
"You won't forget that the first time we became husband and wife, we sued the court."
"But this is different, it has financial implications."
"That's a financial problem, not our problem. Ours is a judicial problem. Why are the imperial courts using so many officials?"
"...?"
Xu Zhiqian said: "But if the law is enforced strictly, Yanhu should be sentenced to death."
Zhang Fei smiled and said: "Whether it is the death penalty or the acquittal, we have to go through the trial to know. This is the purpose of our coming here."
Xu Zhiqian smiled and nodded.
...
Police station.
But I saw a woman kneeling on the ground, clutching the sleeves of a Royal Policeman with both hands, crying: "Royal Policeman, I beg you, please spare my husband just once, we will never dare to do it again.
I beg you."
The royal police officer said: "I'm really sorry. We are also acting under orders. It is not up to us to decide whether to release him or not. We will have to wait until the royal court decides."
The woman hurriedly said: "Then...can you let my husband go back to make salt first? If he can't hand over the salt by then, I...my whole family will be ruined!"
The Royal Police were speechless for a while. If they could have let him go, they would have let him go a long time ago.
...
inside the house.
Cao Dongdong paced back and forth and said, "Xiao Ma, who did you catch? There's no end to this crying thing."
Ma Xiaoyi rolled his head and said regretfully, "I didn't know either."
As he said that, he turned his head and looked at a royal policeman standing in front and said: "Ou Jun, didn't you tell that woman that her husband is not necessarily guilty now, and he still has to wait for the verdict of the royal court, and he will cry while waiting for that.
I’m crying all the time!”
Ou Jun said: "Captain, you don't know something. This salt farmer has to hand over 120,000 kilograms of salt to the court every year. If he doesn't pay enough, he may go bankrupt."
Ma Xiaoyi was shocked, "Is it so serious?"
Ou Jun nodded, "You can't owe anything to anyone, but you can't owe it to the court!"
Ma Xiaoyi thought this was too much and said to Cao Dongdong: "Yameni! How about we let the salt merchant go back to making salt?"
Fu Shichun said: "This is not okay. The state has national laws and families have family rules. If we let him go and he runs away, the responsibility will be ours."
"What do you think we should do?"
Cao Dongdong and Ma Xiaoyi looked at Fu Shichun at the same time.
Fu Shichun pondered for a moment and said to Ou Jun: "Ou Jun, go and tell the woman that this person cannot be released for the time being, but we will explain their family's situation to the imperial court, and the imperial court will definitely consider it as appropriate, so that they can believe that the emperor
Court, if they don’t know about the Imperial Court, let them inquire about it.”
Cao Dongdong reacted immediately, "Yes, yes, that's it. Remember, don't make it too obvious, just hint. You have been with me for so long, you should be smart enough."
Ou Jun understood and said: "Don't worry, Superintendent, I know what to do."
After Ou Jun left, Cao Dongdong said to Ma Xiaoyi again: "This person has obtained the stolen goods and handed them over to the procuratorate immediately, so they can start a fight over that."
Ma Xiaoyi nodded and said, "I understand."
This crime made him feel very aggrieved. He worked as a royal policeman to get a sense of justice, but he felt that this crime had no sense of justice at all.
...
Procuratorate.
"As I said, there are a bunch of stupid young people in the police station. What do they know? Now they have both stolen goods and stolen goods. Isn't this deliberately making things difficult for us?"
Chen Qi said angrily.
Su Zhe took the salt householder's confession and read it carefully, then asked: "Go and investigate first to see if Huang Tong's confession is true. If they don't sell private salt, won't they be able to survive?"
Chen Qi sighed: "I have asked before, and there is a good chance that there is nothing wrong. The salt cost given to them by the court is not much, and the geese have to be plucked. In addition, the losses are also shared on their heads.
, if we don’t sell some private salt, we won’t be able to support our family at all.”
Su Zhe said: "Go and check first. This is the rule."
Wang Shen suddenly said: "If yes, we have to think about it first whether we should sue!"
Su Che frowned and thought for a while, then said: "The police department has stolen and stolen goods. Regardless of whether they are guilty or not, they must prosecute. Otherwise, illicit money will inevitably spread."
Chen Qidao: "But many salt households rely on private salt to make a living. If we cut off their livelihood, it may cause dissatisfaction among salt households."
Su Zhe frowned and said: "But if we do nothing, they will inevitably intensify their efforts. Being so secretive is not a long-term solution. How to deal with this matter, the imperial court must give an explanation."
Chen Qi and Wang Shen looked at each other with a trace of frustration in their eyes.
In fact, the key to this case lies with the royal court, not the police station and the prosecutor's office. Because the person took the stolen goods together, there is no need to prosecute. The superficial evidence is enough to impose the death penalty.
It depends on how the imperial court decides.
In fact, Zhang Fei had already made preparations before he came, but he planned to test Zhong E and Lu Shen first to establish his authority.
In this way, you will be able to face such incidents with greater ease.
But the Dao is one foot high and the devil is ten feet high. Those two people haven't arrived yet. The key point is that they are not criminals and they can't be urged. You want to use them to establish their power, but in the end they still test you. Let's see.
What kind of thing are you?
This made Zhang Fei really speechless.
Fortunately, he had arranged for Li Bao to send people here to investigate the salt administration situation here.
Big Dog quickly sent him information.
"The cost of salt for a year is 45 guan, and we pay 120,000 jins of salt. Wow... after all, this jin of salt is less than half a penny!"
Zhang Fei calculated that the imperial court only received 0.4 Wen per catty of salt from salt households, but the price of official salt was forty-five Wen per catty, and the profit was more than a hundred times. After deducting the profits of merchants, it was dozens of times.
!
No wonder the imperial court is so nervous about the salt policy. It really affects the whole body. This is a chicken that lays golden eggs!
The big dog said: "Forty-five guan a year is actually enough to support a family, but most of the time, the salt capital is not fully repaid."
Zhang Fei was surprised: "Really or not?"
The big dog said: "This kind of thing is commonplace. The president of the court just counts the profit. It belongs to the court. Can't the salt official get some from it?"
Zhang Fei wondered: "If this salt household can't survive, they won't be willing to do it!"
The big dog said: "There have always been Shiono people running away."
Zhang Fei asked: "How do the remaining salt households make a living?"
Big Dog said: "Every year salt households have to pay 120,000 catties to the imperial court. Even if there is any surplus, they cannot be sold to others, only to the imperial court. If they encounter evil officials, they will directly take it at a lower price.
Even if they don't give money, once the salt households get into trouble, they will also have a headache.
Many smart salt officials deducted part of the salt capital, and then turned a blind eye to salt households who hid private salt. The court did not know how much of this prolific salt there was, and overreported and underreported.
Then it depends on the salt official. Those who are interested in money will do this, but those who are interested in political achievements will still buy the salt from salt households at extremely low prices to fill the treasury in exchange for political achievements."
Today's salt administration in Hezhong Prefecture, to put it simply, is the collection of private property by the government and commercial sales. Salt production is a private activity. However, the salt from salt households can only be sold to the court. The merchants there first take the money to buy salt banknotes at the border.
Then he would take the money and exchange it for salt at the government office, and then sell it to various places.
However, this salt policy basically changed every few years and was not fixed. The main reason was that Xixia. Once there was a war with Xixia, the court would directly take back all the salt and use labor to make and transport salt for free, striving to maximize salt profits.
Let's relax a little more during peacetime.
"You really know how to play!"
Zhang Fei couldn't help but laugh. This wasn't cutting the leek roots. He was trying to lift up all the soil. "That's not how leeks are cut!"
"What does the president mean by this?"
"nothing."
Zhang Fei was startled, and then asked the big dog: "What's the situation outside now?"
Big Dog said: "This matter is by no means an accident. It is most likely arranged by someone. Now everyone is hiding their secrets. It depends on how the imperial court decides. If the imperial court finds Yanhu guilty, they may slap him.
If the salt merchants are found not guilty, they will release a large amount of private salt to resist official salt. If there is a financial problem, the court will definitely blame it."