Before going to court, Yuan Jiang had no extravagant hope that he could avoid the benefits of the Green Miao Law.
Because the other party was accusing him of this crime, he would definitely try every means to prove that Yuan Jiang banned this clan tradition for profit.
I just didn't expect that he would be forced into this situation so quickly and with just a few words.
I have to admit that it was indeed very fast for these geniuses in the Northern Song Dynasty to change their jobs to ear pens. First of all, they were extremely talented. Secondly, legal studies were a required course for them. Finally, they all had experience as judges and had experience in court debate.
experience.
The only thing he had to learn was the interrogation skills in court, which were very different from official interrogation. Fan Zhen also watched Zhang Fei fight one lawsuit after another, and he was already familiar with the context.
"Intention to resist imperial policy?"
Fan Zhen said calmly: "Scholar Yuan, can you elaborate on this?"
Yuan Jiang said truthfully: "The proliferation of usury has not happened in a year or two, and they have never revised any patriarchal laws to prohibit this kind of loan sharking. Now the imperial court has just promulgated the Qingmiao Law, which stipulates an interest of two cents. They immediately agreed according to the patriarchal law
The interest rate of 1.5 cents is obviously a boycott of the Youth Law."
As soon as these words came out, many people showed doubts on their faces.
Usury is harmful to people. It is no longer a matter of a day or two. Now that the court wants to reform, you are giving such a low interest rate.
There must be something fishy here!
Fan Zhen asked: "Then according to what Academician Yuan said, if this clan law came from before the Qingmiao Law, would Academician Yuan still prohibit it?"
"I object."
Li Min stood up suddenly, "This is a hypothetical question, and the witness's answer is meaningless."
Fan Zhen immediately said: "This is not a hypothetical question, but stems from the answer given by Bachelor Yuan just now, and it is also related to whether the patriarchal clan has the right to do so. This is also the key issue here."
"invalid objection!"
Zhang Fei looked at Yuan Jiang and said, "Please ask Bachelor Yuan to answer Mr. Fan's question."
Li Min sat down depressedly.
Yuan Jiang sweated slightly and thought to himself, this is really unfair. He can only ask and answer me. If I usually argued, how could I lose to him so easily. After hesitating for a while, he still replied: "Probably not."
meeting."
Fan Zhen asked with a smile: "According to Bachelor Yuan's answer, that is to say, the township has the right to stipulate the interest rate of loans in the township."
Yuan Jiang was slightly embarrassed.
Fan Zhen waited patiently for the answer.
After a while, Yuan Jiang said: "I just said that I shouldn't stop it, but that doesn't mean they have the right to do so."
Fan Zhen asked again: "Does Bachelor Yuan have the right to allow them to do this?"
Yuan Jiang thought for a while and nodded, "I think so."
The four little kings couldn't help but shook their heads slightly. They had no confidence in their answers. They were really powerless to resist!
The squires smiled triumphantly, as if victory was already waving to them.
That's it?
"I have no problem for now."
Fan Zhen acted like a gentleman and gave up the right to ask questions to Li Min. Although the imperial court did not explicitly stipulate this, everyone still had a tacit understanding that every question must be given to the other party a chance to ask.
Li Min stood up and said, "I have a loan contract here. It stipulates a five-cent interest rate, and it does not violate the law. If the village sets rules based on this contract and agrees to lend money in the village, it shall not be lower than this interest rate.
Will the maester support it?"
Immediately, a court police officer came up and handed the three copies of the contract to Zhang Fei, Yuan Jiang and Fan Zhen respectively.
After Yuan Jiang saw it, he shook his head and said, "I definitely won't support this."
Li Min asked: "Why?"
Yuan Jiang replied: "Although this contract stipulates a five-cent interest rate, it also involves conversion. The repayer may have to pay back nearly double the interest rate."
Li Min asked again: "Will Bachelor Yuan prohibit it?"
Yuan Jiang nodded, "If you let me know, I will definitely prohibit them from doing this."
Li Min said: "But this contract is not illegal."
Yuan Jiang said: "I can also use a government order to ban them, because this will seriously affect government governance. After all, those big landowners who are rich and unkind will not care about the people living on the streets. This needs to be borne by the government."
Li Min said: "But in response to Mr. Fan's question just now, Bachelor Yuan said he would not. How should I understand this?"
Yuan Jiang said: "This is actually not a contradiction. From the government's perspective, the people should be the main focus. Mr. Fan just emphasized the interest rate of 1.5 cents. This does not violate the law and is beneficial to the people. Of course the government is happy to do so.
I see, but this contract is obviously more conducive to the big landowners exploiting the people, so the government will naturally prohibit it."
Li Min said: "Can I understand this to mean that the government has the right to prohibit it, but it just judges it based on the other party's behavior."
Yuan Jiang nodded and said, "Yes."
Zhang Fei smiled happily, "It's okay, it didn't disgrace us."
Fan Zhen asked whether the squire had the right to do this?
What Li Min asked was, does the government have the right to prohibit them from doing this?
Even if both are established at the same time, the government will naturally take the lead.
Li Min asked again: "Just now, Academician Yuan said that he had been an official for forty years. During this period, did Academician Yuan give orders, or did he see other officials giving orders to prohibit the behavior of the people that was allowed by the law?
"
Yuan Jiang nodded and said: "I've seen it before, and I've also issued orders to prohibit it. After all, the laws and government orders involve different things."
Li Min continued to ask: "Then why did Bachelor Yuan prohibit the interest agreed in these twenty-eight villages this time?"
Yuan Jiang replied: "I have just said this, because they did this to resist the imperial policy, not for the sake of the people."
"I don't know what the basis is for Academician Yuan?"
"Actually, this is a common monopoly technique used by businessmen." Yuan Jiang said: "First, they use low interest rates to make the Green Crops Law unenforceable. After the court abolishes the Green Crops Law, they return to the previous high interest rates. Naturally, the government will not allow this.
Appear."
Many people frowned when they heard this. It turns out that this is what happened. These big landowners are really cunning!
"Thank you, Bachelor Yuan, for your answer."
Li Min bowed his hands and said to Zhang Fei: "President, I have finished asking questions."
Zhang Fei looked at Fan Zhen again.
Fan Zhen stood up and said, "I would like to ask President Zhang for advice on the issue Li Erbi just mentioned."
Zhang Fei was stunned for a moment and said, "What's the problem?"
Fan Zhendao: "It is whether the government has the right to prohibit behaviors permitted by law. This issue involves judicial power, so I would like to ask President Zhang what he thinks."
Zhang Fei thought for a while and said: "Generally speaking, the government has no right to prohibit behaviors permitted by law, unless there are special circumstances. This is also one of the reasons why the court established the Public Security Bureau. If the government does this, it must give
There are sufficient reasons, otherwise, you will definitely be subject to investigation by the Public Security Bureau.
But I also want to make it clear that Li Min’s question just now was actually not detailed enough. The question he asked is actually not expressly stipulated in the law. Although this interest is allowed by the law, the patriarchal law stipulates that interest
, there is no explanation in the law regarding the behavior of the villagers.
Of course, when the president of the court said this, he did not mean to favor the defendant. He just hoped that everyone could clearly understand that the reason why our imperial court opened a court to hear this case was not to judge whether an act permitted by law was legal, but to judge whether an act was not prohibited by law.
, but there is no legality of the permitted behavior, because there is indeed a dispute, so the imperial court will hold a hearing."
Li Min, Qiu Zhengwen, and Lu Bangxing suddenly looked embarrassed.
Although Zhang Fei explained himself and elaborated on the reasons for holding the court, he still helped them fill this loophole, which was obviously a helping hand.
This judicial principle in feudal society means that for public power, it can be done without prohibition by law, while for private rights, it can be prohibited without authorization by law.
Therefore, Zhang Fei emphasized that this interest is absolutely allowed because the law has authorized it, but the patriarchal law restricts the villagers' behavior and the law does not authorize it, so of course the public power also has the right to prohibit it.
This is beneficial to Yuan Jiang.
"Thank you, President Zhang, for your answer."
Fan Zhen bowed his hand and bowed.
Zhang Fei nodded and smiled: "You're welcome! If there are no other questions, Mr. Fan can continue to ask questions."
Although Fan Zhen didn't show his face, he felt a little regretful. He originally wanted to use this reason to challenge Zhang Fei, but it turned out that the gain outweighed the loss. However, this is not a big problem. Even if he gets angry on this point, the other party can make up for it immediately.
Come back, because what Yuan Jiang prohibits is also patriarchal law, not interest, which the government made very clear in advance.
Fan Zhen asked Yuan Jiang again: "Based on Bachelor Yuan's answer just now, it all stems from the Green Seedling Method. Can I ask Bachelor Yuan to explain the Green Seedling Method?"
"sure."
Yuan Jiang immediately explained: "The Qingmiao Law, as the name suggests, is aimed at the period when people need to rely on loans to survive during the lean period. It is precisely because of this that many big landowners who are rich and unkind often take advantage of usury at this time.
To exploit the people, the interest rate is often as high as double or even triple, making many people unable to repay, so they can only sell their land at a low price and become homeless.
It was for this reason that the imperial court promulgated the Green Crop Law, which lent money to the people at two cents of interest to prevent them from being exploited by loan sharks."
Fan Zhenxiao asked: "So this method was born to help the people."
Yuan Jiang glanced at Fan Zhen cautiously, thought for a moment, and then nodded: "Yes."
There is still some weakness in my heart.
Fan Zhendao: "Just now, Bachelor Yuan also mentioned that the reason for prohibiting the patriarchal stipulation of interest is because they used monopoly techniques. They first resisted the Qingmiao Law with low interest rates, and then waited until the Qingmiao Law was abolished by the court, and then continued to let it go.
usury."
Yuan Jiang nodded.
Fan Zhendao: "Then let's assume that the government finally allows them to stipulate an interest rate of 1.5 cents. Will the people benefit from this?"
Yuan Jiang said: "This is only temporary."
Fan Zhendao: "But what I want to ask is, when the people have benefited, why did the court rush to abolish the Green Crops Law?"