There is a saying that goes well, never take things seriously. Once you take things seriously, all this will happen. It is so ridiculous.
The appearance of Ding Xiang turned the previous verdict into a big joke.
Because the imperial court at that time instructed Lu Shen and Xue Xiang to jointly preside over the matter. Lu Shen opposed sending troops, but Xue Xiang supported it. However, it was precisely because Xue Xiang supported Zhong Er that he was demoted.
From a legal perspective, the imperial court did not make a final decision at that time. It just let Lu Shen, Xue Xiang, and Zhong E decide the matter. Lu Shen and Xue Xiang were the planners, and Zhong E was the executor.
Xue Xiang certainly has the power to support him.
From this point of view, this is obviously a political verdict.
It was just the doves who won the final victory.
However, judging from Ding Xiang's confession, Xue Xiang obviously didn't want to dwell on the matter anymore. He just expressed his views at the time and did not say that he wanted to blame Lu Shen.
This is not surprising, Xue Xiang is currently implementing the New Deal, which is already a lot of troubles, but this matter is already a thing of the past for him, and he does not want to cause trouble for himself and affect his current responsibilities.
Zhang Fei also had a clear mind about this, and did not dig deeper into Ding Xiang. He just asked Xue Xiang's attitude and actions at that time, and then let Ding Xiang go down to the court.
At this time, Xu Zhiqian came forward, poured a cup of tea for Zhang Fei, and quietly placed a small note on the table.
Zhang Fei lowered his head and looked at Xu Zhiqian with great confusion.
Xu Zhiqian just shook her head slightly.
"I see."
Zhang Fei nodded.
Xu Zhiqian returned to her seat.
Zhang Fei pondered for a while, then suddenly glanced at the sky, then banged the gavel and said loudly: "This morning's trial will end here. We will continue the trial after noon."
As soon as these words came out, all the distinguished guests looked stunned.
The trial was in full swing, but you stopped it suddenly, didn't you deliberately whet our appetites?
But looking at the sky, it was indeed noon, but they were in the valley and did not feel very hot.
Even if you don’t rest, you still have to eat!
meal?
hehe!
They think too much.
I saw Zhang Fei stood up and was about to leave when he suddenly thought of something and turned around again, his eyes full of guilt and said: "Dear guests, I am really sorry. Due to the temporary lack of funds in our imperial court, we are unable to give
You’re providing lunch, so please help yourself.”
The implication is that you can solve it yourself.
"!"
All the distinguished guests looked at Zhang Fei in disbelief.
Hey!
We are all the bosses of the Hezhong Mansion, and we are well-known people. If we come back to your imperial court as guests, it will make your imperial court shine. You don't even prepare a simple meal.
Is this the way to treat guests?
If you do this, you will have no friends.
But Zhang Fei didn't care so much, he got up and left, leaving them there.
Xu Zhiqian, Cai Bian and others suppressed their smiles, lowered their heads and packed up their copywriting, not daring to touch the angry eyes of the distinguished guests.
"This Zhang San has become the president of the court, and his character has not changed at all. He is still so petty and will retaliate."
Chen Qi complained to Su Che while packing up the copywriting.
Su Che could only smile bitterly.
At this time, Li Si suddenly came forward and whispered: "Prosecutor Su, our imperial court has prepared lunch for your procuratorate and witnesses."
Su Che was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "Thank you."
It was indeed precise revenge.
"That's unreasonable!"
Wei Yingfang said angrily: "Next time he comes to the government office, if I give him a cup of tea, I, Wei Yingfang, will die badly."
Cai Yanqing said: "Please keep your voice down, otherwise we will have to stand and listen to the trial when we come in the afternoon."
Wei Yingfang was startled, looked around guiltily, and said firmly: "He, he dares."
"This President Zhang is really as arrogant and arrogant as the rumors say."
Zhe Jizu slowly stood up and said with displeasure.
This lunch is the second most important thing. What you do is so insulting!
But Zhong Ji smiled and said: "That's all! That's all! As long as he can hear the case fairly, that's enough. It's just a meal. You can't eat it anywhere."
Zhang Fei, who was the first to leave, did not go to the backyard to rest, but went to a lounge on the side of the valley.
Not long after he arrived, Li Si invited someone to come into the house.
This person is Wang Shao.
"Zhang San met Wang Jinglue."
"President Zhang is polite."
Wang Shao also bowed his hand.
"Wang Jinglue, please take a seat."
"Thank you."
After the two sat down, Zhang Fei asked: "I would like to ask, why did Wang Jinglue suddenly decide not to testify in court?"
Originally, the next witness was Wang Shao to appear in court, but Xu Zhiqian suddenly informed Wang Shao that he was unwilling to appear in court. This made Zhang Fei very confused. In addition, it was already noon, so he simply chose to leave the court.
Wang Shao pondered for a moment, but did not answer and asked: "I have little to do with this case, why does President Zhang want me to appear in court to testify?"
Zhang Fei said: "As far as I know, Wang Jinglue traveled throughout the northwest region in his early years, and now serves as the northwest economic envoy. He is well aware of the situation in the northwest and has nothing to do with this case. Wang Jinglue's views will be more convincing. Therefore, I hope Wang Jinglue can provide some professional advice, for example, on the status of my country and Xixia, or on the geographical location of Suizhou."
Wang Shao was a civil servant, but he also served as the chief of general staff. He was relatively neutral. In addition, he had seen the scenery of the northwest in his early years and was very clear about the customs and customs of the northwest. So Zhang Fei planned to have Wang Shao appear in court as an expert and give him some advice.
Professional advice.
Wang Shao also saw the trial method of the imperial court for the first time, and he didn't understand it very well. He still didn't understand Zhang Fei's explanation, and asked: "Is my confession important to this case?"
Zhang Fei hesitated a little and said: "That's not very important. If Wang Jinglue hadn't come, I wouldn't bother Wang Jinglue specifically."
The role of Wang Shao's appearance in court is purely to strengthen the persuasiveness of some theories.
Wang Shao said: "Then I won't testify in court."
"If Wang Jinglue is unwilling, then naturally I won't force it." Zhang Fei asked curiously: "But can Wang Jinglue tell me why this is?"
Wang Shao hesitated for a while, feeling very puzzled: "Because I have a direct interest in this case, it is not convenient for me to testify."
Zhang Fei asked in surprise: "Wang Jinglue has an interest in this case?"
Wang Shao nodded.
Zhang Fei said: "What is the interest relationship?"
But here I am extremely confused and think this is impossible.
Because he has collected a lot of information, if there is really a direct interest relationship, he will send someone to invite Wang Shao in advance, instead of asking Wang Shao to come and testify in court after Wang Shao arrives.
Wang Shao hesitated for a while and then said: "You just said that you planned to ask me about the importance of Suizhou."
Zhang Fei nodded.
Wang Shao asked again: "Then how much do you know about Suizhou's problems?"
Zhang Fei thought for a moment and said: "Suizhou was originally my hometown in the Central Plains, but in the late Tang Dynasty, it was occupied by the Dangxiang people. However, since the Dangxiang people were nominally attached to the Central Plains at that time, Suizhou was also counted as the territory of the Tang Dynasty.
However, in the early days of our dynasty, Li Jiqian, the leader of the Dangxiang, rebelled, and Suizhou was occupied by the Dangxiang. In the following decades, it also became an important area for offensive and defensive competition between our country and Xixia."
Wang Shao nodded and said: "It is precisely because of this that Suizhou belongs to their territory in the eyes of Xixia. This is why, over the years, Xixia has been trying various ways to return to Suizhou, and
Any actions of our army in Suizhou will make Xixia fearful and uneasy, and they will continue to send troops to harass. In terms of foreign affairs, they will also continue to exert pressure, resulting in Suizhou not being well constructed.
If Xixia wants to send troops in the future, Suizhou will definitely be their excuse. From this point of view, what Zheng Xie said is reasonable. Suizhou may become the source of military disaster.
But you should also know that at present, the national finances are very difficult, and Wang Xueshi is promulgating new laws. We still need time, and it is not appropriate to conflict with Xixia at this time.
Therefore, I once suggested to the officials that we should pass through Hehuang and use Hehuang as the base point to form an outflanking force on the eastern and southern lines of Xixia. The Hehuang area has always belonged to our territory of the Song Dynasty. According to the Qingli agreement,
Both of us have the right to station troops on the territory and build fortifications. We are not allowed to interfere with each other. We must pass through Hehuang and it is not appropriate to cause interference or conflict in Xixia."
Zhang Fei said: "In other words, Wang Jinglue is unwilling to emphasize the strategic attributes of Suizhou because it conflicts with Wang Jinglue's strategy."
Wang Shao nodded and said: "You can say that. But in fact, the geographical location of Suizhou is extremely critical. Whether it is deputy envoy Zhong or Xianggong Guo, they are right. However, Xixia is also unwilling to give up on Suizhou.
From an overall perspective, the difficulty of approaching Suizhou is much greater than that of approaching Hehuang, regardless of domestic resistance or external resistance, and we now need time to prepare."
"I understand." Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Thank you Wang Jinglue for informing me."
Wang Shao chuckled: "This is actually not a secret. Mr. Guo and others also know it. I'm just very sorry that I can't provide help to President Zhang."
"Wang Jinglue must not say that." Zhang Fei waved his hand, "Based on this level of interest, Wang Jinglue is indeed not suitable to testify in court."
Zhang Fei really didn't expect that behind this case, there were two major strategies of the Northern Song Dynasty against Xixia.
Before the first year of Xining, in the eyes of the military strategists of the Song Dynasty, Suizhou on the northern route had always been a strategic location for the elimination of Xixia. This faction was led by Fan Zhongyan and Zhong Shiheng.
Zhao Xu thought so at first, because this strategy has been implemented all the time.
He really wanted to get to Suizhou.
But it was precisely because of this case that Zhao Xu changed his strategy and chose Wang Shao's Hehuang strategy.
The reason is that after Zhong'e captured Suizhou, Xixia was entangled and used all kinds of means to interfere with the development of Suizhou. They also put frequent diplomatic pressure, negotiated with the Song Dynasty every day, and offered various fortresses in exchange for the Song Dynasty.
, the Song Dynasty was fooled twice.
This has also led to the fact that Suizhou has not been developed. If you want to use Suizhou as the base, you must open up transportation lines, farm on the front line, etc. If these cannot be developed, you cannot use it as a base camp to attack Xixia.
At the same time, domestic conservatives are very worried about taking back Suizhou. Indeed, the Song Dynasty's finances are in terrible shape. If another war breaks out, it may never recover.
In their view, Suizhou is a powder keg ready to explode.
It's not worth the loss.
The key to the territory of Xixia was national security, and it could not bring any compensation to the finances of the Song Dynasty.
It was at this time that Wang Shao proposed the "Pingrong Policy" to the superiors, and immediately won the support of Zhao Xu and Wang Anshi. This was all because Suizhou caused a big disturbance in Zhao Xu's head, and the court was not at peace. In the end, he
Choosing the Hehuang strategy has also been reducing Suizhou's attention to avoid irritating Xixia, and slowly opened up the Hehuang front there.
However, Zhonge, Suishi, and other generals like Guo Kui always supported the Suizhou strategy on the northern route.
Wang Shao had no idea that there would be such a judicial review before. He was sitting below and was at a loss because Zhong E and Guo Kui were emphasizing the strategic importance of Suizhou.
Ask him to go up, he really doesn't know what to say, because he is very clear about the importance of Suizhou, but he is also the chief of staff and framer of the Hehuang strategy. With the current financial resources of the Song Dynasty, it is impossible to launch it at the same time
These two grand strategies can only be divided into priorities.
If he emphasizes Suizhou's strategic attributes, it will affect his plan.
Therefore, he temporarily decided not to testify in court.