But the problem is, the Chief Justice is also an official!
And the person in charge now is the chief judge!
Those who had committed crimes wanted to go to the government to discuss countermeasures beforehand, but the government ignored them at all. But if they bear all these charges, they may be finished!
But if this problem is solved through Erbi's defense, then they can rely on the imperial court and the judiciary to avoid retaliation from the government.
It was the lesser of two evils, and they were forced to adopt Li Min's suggestion.
After all, Hezhong Mansion is not dominated by the government, so it still has a chance of survival.
Subsequently, the plaintiffs appeared in court one after another, and without exception, they all accused the thugs hired by Huhu, excessive tax collection, excessive violence, and caused them great losses. The situations were almost the same.
Li Min, on the other hand, took the trouble to transfer all the responsibilities to the government, and really showed no mercy at all.
Repeatedly, the people outside the courtyard were all gasping for breath.
But their emotions have been transferred by Li Min to the government, which is the source of all evil.
The top beam is really out of alignment and the bottom beam is crooked.
The government itself is so virtuous. In the process of collecting taxes, they also try their best to exploit the people. Anyway, various methods are emerging in an endless stream. Do you think those who suppress households can still abide by the law and collect taxes?
Totally impossible.
What is good at the top will be bad at the bottom, and they will only take more extreme measures.
The officials who are not the leaders are now lying down. After the last time they took off each other's underwear with the squire, they have gradually become accustomed to this. You can say whatever you like, and we should do what we should do.
It's that simple.
The first time everyone was a bit embarrassed, but the second time it was much more relaxed.
The key point is that the target of the other party's accusation is the government, not a specific official.
But judging from the lawsuits filed by both parties, in fact this lawsuit has nothing to do with the government. However, after asking about it, it is full of the government's presence. Anyway, the defendant almost pushed all the responsibilities to the government.
You say that my client charges too much tax. The problem is that the government also charges the same tax. I don’t calculate various conversions and transfers based on the government’s. Am I creating my own tax law?
If we don't ask officials about this, I'm afraid the lawsuit won't go to trial.
However, neither the prosecution nor the defense took the initiative to ask officials to come out for questioning.
Although Fan Zhen has been an Erbi for a short time, he has been an official for decades, so he is very experienced. Since he is suing the thieves, he must be keeping an eye on those thieves. After all, the government has not treated his client.
If he calls an official for questioning, it will not only cause complications, but also make the entire lawsuit very complicated. It will also make his lawsuit messy and disorganized. The audience will be wondering, who are you suing?
At the same time, it will also make people wonder about his intentions, whether Xiang Zhuang dances with the sword and aims at Pei Gong.
But he never raised any questions about Li Min's transfer of responsibility to the government. No matter how Li Min transferred it, because Li Min just transferred it and did not refute it, the responsibility was always there. The two sides seemed to be tit for tat.
But it’s actually quite enjoyable.
As for Li Min, they have enough evidence to shift the responsibility to the government. Who can't see the pile of shit on the government's butt, so it is actually very beneficial to him not to call the officials for questioning, at least
The government has no chance to rebut.
Since the plaintiff didn't pass it on, he would be even less able to pass it on.
Zhang Fei was very aware of the thoughts of both parties, but for him, it would be impossible to pass a verdict without summoning an official to come up to ask about the situation, so he took the initiative to summon an official to the court.
This official's name is Li Siwen, and he is a supervisory officer. This kind of supervisory officer belongs to the lowest level financial affairs officer, and most of them are dispatch officers.
According to the system of the Song Dynasty, such dispatch officers were powerful officials, but because they were at the lowest level and all they did were dirty work, they were relatively lowly and a little better than officials. This was generally
Officials who came from the imperial examination were unwilling to become such officials. As a result, many prison officials were hired from outside or promoted. There was also a mixed bag here.
But they are also the officials in charge of most affairs. They are in charge of all taxes, treasury, miscellaneous works, and monopoly sales in this state and county.
They also constituted the largest financial and taxation bureaucratic team in the Northern Song Dynasty.
And this Li Siwen is the supervisor in charge of the shopping mall.
"The president of the court summoned Supervisor Li to appear in court today, mainly to understand clearly the government's purchasing tax system."
Zhang Fei asked very seriously: "Can Supervisor Li tell me why the government uses commercial taxes from some markets and even some rural taxes to buy them?"
Li Siwen replied: "This is because those places are very remote and the government does not have manpower for the time being. If we set up local supervisors to collect taxes, we can only use this method to collect taxes. And for the government, this is both
Save money and effort, a way to kill two birds with one stone.”
Zhang Fei asked again: "Then what method does the government use to sell these taxes?"
Li Siwen replied: "Our supervisor adopts the method of sealing and filing a petition, that is, the owner writes his price in the petition, then seals it and hands it over, and the one with the highest price gets it."
Zhang Fei nodded slightly and continued to ask: "Before bidding, will the government give a minimum price?"
Li Siwen nodded and said, "I usually do."
Zhang Fei asked: "I wonder how the government calculates the minimum price, such as the purchase tax."
Li Siwen suddenly looked at Zhang Fei cautiously, thought for a while, and then replied: "The government evaluates based on the local tax revenue in previous years, as well as the local household registration number and land tax, and finally gives a minimum price."
Zhang Fei nodded slightly and said: "President, if the future tax revenue of a certain market is 100 yuan, what is the minimum price that the general government will give?"
As soon as this question came up, the eyes of the Four Little Kings, Xu Zhiqian, and Su Che all focused on Li Siwen.
Li Siwen thought seriously for a while and said, "This is not certain. It is probably between eighty and one hundred."
When some officials heard this, they immediately looked depressed.
Zhang Fei said: "In other words, for a deposit account, the profit is between 0 and 20 coins?"
"You can't say that."
Li Siwen shook his head and said: "Because the commercial taxes that are purchased by the government are generally difficult for the government to collect, so the taxes collected in previous years are not sufficient taxes.
In addition, the purchased households can pay in installments, and if they continue to purchase commercial taxes in a certain market, the government will often give them discounts in the second year and reduce the price appropriately. They are all profitable.
Pictured.”
After hearing this, the four little kings couldn't help but make eye contact, as if they were saying, this person is a master!
In fact, these supervisory officials are much more difficult to deal with than Wei Yingfang and others, because they have experienced hundreds of battles and dealt with all kinds of troubles every day, and can deal with various situations calmly.
Wei Yingfang and the others just looked cruel, but it was relatively easy to find flaws in their mouths.
Zhang Fei's question is actually a trap. If the tax is 100 guan, and you buy it at a price of 100 guan, then if a businessman wants to make money, extra profits must be generated, and the people must bear it.
But his answer was very good. This hundred yuan may not be the full amount of tax, because these buying taxes are very difficult to collect. If it were easy to collect, the government would not use it to buy money.
Since the government does not receive the full amount of tax, then if you receive the full amount of tax, you will make a profit by registering your account.
But this is uncertain.
Zhang Fei asked again: "Just now Supervisor Li said that if the purchase is taken for two consecutive years, the government will give preferential treatment. Is it mandatory for this continuous purchase?"
"Generally speaking, it is not mandatory."
Li Siwen said: "But if the buyer does not want to continue to buy, he must submit an application in October every year, so that the government can prepare to use the tax to continue buying. If it is overdue, the government will also provide accommodation, as long as someone is willing.
It can still be transferred if it is taken over, but if no one is willing to take over, the government will ask the original purchaser to continue to purchase it for one year."
After hearing this, Li Min couldn't help but ask his assistant: "Is that what happened?"
The assistant immediately said: "There is such a rule, but if you want to apply, you have to go through multiple reviews. The government may send someone to negotiate with you, or they may ignore you. If you delay, you will be overdue. This official
How can we speak better than them with just two words?"
The officials in the Northern Song Dynasty all knew the law. Because of the compulsory courses, they would not blatantly break the law. They would know how to circumvent the law and design some rules to exploit the common people and wealthy households.
The rule is to apply in October, but the problem is that your application must reach the superintendent before it can be counted. In fact, it gives the government a chance to force the tenants to continue to buy, if there is no stupid person to take over.
Zhang Fei also expressed doubts about this and asked: "I wonder what the reason for this application deadline is based on?"
Li Siwen said: “Most of the discussions about the purchase tax are carried out in November every year, so households must submit their applications in October at the latest before we can carry out the purchase tax in November.
Once November and December are over, everyone will be preparing for the New Year, and they can only postpone it until next year, but by then, it will be difficult to find a buyer immediately."
"So that's what happened." Zhang Fei nodded and continued to ask: "I wonder if the government has regulations on how much tax they can collect at most?"
"No."
Li Siwen said: "The purchase tax mainly focuses on commercial taxes in the market, but commercial taxes are uncertain and we cannot stipulate them. Although there are also a small number of agricultural taxes, these agricultural taxes are also uncertain. For example, during natural disasters
Under this situation, the court will provide appropriate reductions and exemptions, or the court will suddenly pardon some people's taxes, but the specific amount cannot be specified.
But everyone must abide by the law. We have stated in the contract the tax for the number of households or which market. This tax will naturally comply with the tax law. This should not need to be written into the contract."
Zhang Fei asked again: "Then if the household tax is reduced, will the government provide subsidies or support?"
Li Siwen shook his head and said: "No. Even private buyers would not do this."
Zhang Fei nodded and continued to ask: "Then if there is violent tax payment during the tax collection process, how will the government deal with it?"
Li Siwen immediately said: "This is not our business, we just focus on the buying market."
This answer is really watertight.
Finally, he kicked the ball directly to the county government.
Zhang Fei could only summon the county lieutenant Liu Daxing to testify in court. The county lieutenant was responsible for public security matters and was equivalent to the current royal police.
Liu Daxing said: "It is true that people come to complain. If the evidence is conclusive, we will also impose penalties. However, it is often the people who resist paying taxes first, and then the two parties conflict. And we don't know who the supervisors are and the households.
How to sign a contract, so many things are not easy for us to manage. In fact, their tax supervisors have the power to handle such matters. Tax disputes that usually occur in the market are handled by them. Our county government mainly manages thieves.
Stealing aspect.”
Li Siwen, who had just gone down, stood up and said: "We have the power to deal with such matters, but the premise is that the market is still under our control, and the market bought out is not under our control. Where am I?"
If there is no one, how can we manage it? This should be handled by the county government. After all, those markets are under the jurisdiction of the county government."
Liu Daxing immediately retorted: "We don't know the contract between you. If you say you have to be arrested if you break the law, then it's probably the people who resist paying taxes first, so do we have to arrest them all?"
The two sides started kicking the ball at each other.
I have to say that playing ball in the Song Dynasty was quite simple, because power was too decentralized and there was a lot of overlap. Once something went wrong, it was difficult to find who would be responsible.
In fact, the power of the prison official is not small. He has the power to carry out moss punishment and punish those people who do not pay taxes.
But it’s hard to say whether the market that has been purchased falls under the jurisdiction of the supervisor. After all, there is no supervisor there. How can they manage it? People also turn to the county government.
, and won’t look for them.
But it doesn’t belong to the county government. In fact, it’s hard to say. It originally belonged to the supervisor, but the supervisor sold this part of power to businessmen. As far as the county government is concerned, no matter who you sell it to, it belongs to your supervisor.
Then you should be responsible, not the county government. The key is that the county government doesn't know how the contract between you was signed.
Their Tai Chi performance received the loudest boos from the audience and millions of looks of contempt.
Do you really think we are stupid if you still play like this in front of everyone?
Aren't you all in the same group?
But they are not playing for the common people, but for the imperial court. Doesn’t the imperial court talk about evidence?
OK!
Then we'll just play ball with each other, and we don't even know who's in charge of it. Do you understand?
Because they were not defendants, Zhang Fei only asked some professional questions.
After the booing, both sides entered the stage of closing arguments.
Fan Zhenxian stood up and said: "The country has national laws and families have family rules. In our dynasty, whether it is commercial tax or agricultural tax, there are very detailed regulations. And the current evidence has fully proved that the defendant did not comply with the tax law."
I went to collect taxes, and they levied double or even several times the tax on my client.
As for the tax calculation law mentioned by Fang Erbi, first of all, they have no evidence. Secondly, those people did not explain clearly to my client why they have to pay so much tax, but of course the people have the right to ask clearly.
Before it is understood, people also have the right to refuse to pay.
However, the other party resorted to violent means, robbing, forcing, and even scorning my client’s wife, thus causing huge losses to my client. I hereby request the royal court to rule in our favor and punish the defendant to compensate me.
All losses suffered by the parties concerned, and their criminal liability shall be investigated."
After these two lawsuits, Zhang Fei probably figured out Fan Zhen's style. He is not very aggressive and doesn't ask many questions, but he can always grasp the most critical questions.
I don't care how they play ball, and it has nothing to do with me. I only care about the interests of my client.
After Fan Zhen sat down, Li Min stood up and said: "The other party is right. This country has national laws and families have family rules. However, several of my clients have strictly abided by the contracts with the government and what the government has given me.
The rights of the parties.
The other party said that my client charges too much tax, which is completely baseless, because there is no stipulation in the contract as to the maximum amount of tax that my client can collect. At the same time, there are many regulations in the contract, all of which emphasize one point.
They are responsible for their own profits and losses, which encourages households to collect more and get more.
Regarding this point, Supervisor Li’s answer just now is sufficient proof. When the taxes collected by my clients are far lower than the purchase money, the government will not give my clients any subsidies. The government even
My client is not allowed to refuse to continue purchasing when the contract expires.
In other words, charging more and charging less can only be based on one's own abilities. As for the violent means that the other party accused, they were taken out of context. Facts have proven that my client's men only resorted to violent means because the other party refused to pay taxes in the first place.
You must know that the power of my client comes from the supervisor, and when the supervisor refuses to pay taxes, he can impose a penalty of up to 60 mos.
Then my client should also have this power, but our client did not do so. They only used force to take away the corresponding tax revenue. The purpose was to collect taxes, not to hurt people.
This is even a means of self-protection. The evidence I just provided can prove that many tax collectors hired by households have been injured by the villagers, but the government will not provide any support.
If someone accuses this purchase contract of being problematic, it would be difficult for me to object, but I cannot accuse my clients of being guilty, because this is unreasonable. My clients fully abide by their contracts with the government. Therefore,
, I implore the chief judge to acquit my clients."
"Thank you to both the prosecution and defense for their statements."
Zhang Fei nodded, turned his head and looked at the assistant jury, and said: "Eight assistant judges, do you have any results?"
Eight people nodded at the same time without hesitation.
Zhang Fei smiled and said: "If you need to think carefully, the president of the court can also give you some time to think."
The eight assistant examiners shook their heads in unison, saying that it was not necessary at all.
"Oh well!"
Zhang Fei smiled and nodded, and then asked: "If you think the plaintiff should win the case, please raise your hand."
The eight assistant judges raised their hands at the same time, wishing they could all stand up.
This requires thinking, the plaintiff must win!
The other party's behavior is so abominable.
"Thank you to the assistant judges for their assistance."
Zhang Fei nodded with a smile, picked up the tea cup and took a sip, and suddenly asked the four little kings in front: "You guys!"
As soon as the words came out, the four of them wanted to bury their heads in the copy.
"Wow, that's all you can do."
Zhang Fei was so angry that he kicked him directly, but the four of them remained unmoved and kept their heads buried in silence.
This is a bit too difficult, because after asking again and again, it seems that all the responsibility lies with the government, but the government is not a party to the case, and they have no idea how to judge it.
"It's really worthless!"
Zhang Fei shook his head, glanced around, and then said loudly: "From a rational point of view, the president of the court also very much agrees with the judgment of the eight assistant judges, but from a legal point of view, the president of the court is temporarily unable to decide whether the defendant is guilty or not."
As soon as these words came out, everyone was stunned.
Isn't this enough to convict the defendant?
Chief Justice, how are you doing?
Zhang Fei explained: "Because in our laws, there is no prohibition on tax collectors from using violence when faced with the other party's refusal to pay taxes. According to the testimony of previous witnesses, the defendant's prerequisites for taking violence are all
The other party first refused to pay taxes.
So the argument is, is the tax the defendant requires the people to pay legal? If it is illegal, the defendant can naturally be found guilty, but if it is legal, then they are innocent.
In the purchasing contract signed between the government and the households, there was no detailed stipulation of the legal tax amount. The reason given by Supervisor Li was that taxes often change, and everyone should abide by the law and collect taxes.
As a common sense, there is no need to write it into the contract.
However, what Supervisor Li failed to consider is that collecting taxes in accordance with the law only binds the tax collecting officials, not the people. The people only need to abide by and pay taxes in accordance with the law.
The households belong to the common people, not the officials, so they do not need to abide by the law to collect taxes. They only need to abide by the contract with the government. This is just like if the government hires people to collect taxes, those people only need to obey the orders, but do not need to abide by them.
Taxes are collected in accordance with the law. They will collect whatever the superiors require. At the same time, the responsibility lies with the government. However, the government did not specify the specific tax amount and tax collection principles and regulations in the relevant purchase contract. This is obviously not the case.
Yes, this point will be beneficial to the defendant.
As for the defendant's evidence on tax collection, they believe that their tax calculation method is based on the government's tax calculation method. This actually has nothing to do with the plaintiff and should be a dispute between the defendant and the government.
Therefore, the president of this court recommends that if the plaintiff feels wronged, he should sue the government and seek corresponding compensation, not the defendant, because the relationship between tax law only exists between the people and the government, and the government is facing
The common people also have responsibilities that cannot be shied away from. As for who should bear this responsibility, it is a dispute between the defendant and the government.
Therefore, judging from the current confession alone, the president of this court cannot find the defendant guilty.
But one thing is certain, that is, there are many problems in this contract, and the responsibilities and obligations are not clearly defined. In order to avoid more disputes, the president of this court decided to prohibit the government from entering into the contract before the case is heard clearly.
If we ask anyone to purchase taxes in any area, and if they have signed a multi-year tax concession agreement, all of them will be suspended starting from next year.”
When they heard the last paragraph, the expressions of the officials present changed drastically. Some even stood up and glared at Zhang Fei.
If the imperial court directly convicts the government based on evidence, they will still be prepared. They all know the bad things involved. But if you directly ban the purchase tax, this is a kind of power usurpation for them.
Because the purchase tax is an administrative system.
However, Zhang Fei did not notice their behavior, but asked Fan Zhen and Li Min: "I wonder if the defendant and the plaintiff have any objections to this verdict?"
Both Li Min and Fan Zhen expressed no objections.
Zhang Fei asked Su Che again: "Does the procuratorate have any objections to this?"
Su Che smiled and said: "The procuratorate has no objections."
Zhang Fei immediately knocked the gavel and said, "Leave the court."