Even though Bao Zheng was used to being called a miser, his cheeks felt a little hot when he heard Kou Ji's words.
The honest Bao Zheng didn't know how to lie in front of Kou Ji, so he whispered weakly: "I passed by Maxing Street today and saw some dudes bullying the sellers who were illiterate. I wanted to take advantage of this."
The student was angry that he was taking advantage of the salesman, so he went to take care of it.
In order to thank the student, the salesman gave the student more than ten pennies.
The student refused to accept it, so the salesman guessed the student's identity and knew that the student was an official or an upright official, so he insisted on taking a bag of cakes to thank the student.
The student still refused to accept it, so the salesman said that the student looked down upon him if he refused to accept it, and insisted on dragging the student to reason.
If a student cannot defeat him, he will have no choice but to accept his wishes."
After hearing what Bao Zheng said, Kou Ji opened his mouth slightly and couldn't say a word. Praise him for being an honest official. Kou Ji couldn't say anything, so call him a piece of wood. What he did was right.
So Kou Ji was speechless for a while.
Bao Zheng saw Kou Ji's shocked look on his face and asked cautiously: "Sir, do you think it's inappropriate?"
Kou Ji wanted Bao Zheng to get out, but he opened his mouth without saying anything, and his words turned into a deep sigh.
"Why……"
When Bao Zheng saw Kou Ji staring at the cake in his hand and sighing, he hesitated and said, "Sir, if you like it, just take it and eat it. I'll bring it to you when the students come to the house."
With the little money students have left on their salary, it’s not a problem to buy some pastries.”
Kou Ji rolled his eyes, sat down on his seat, and said angrily: "You're not an idiot, why did you humiliate me with a bag of cakes?"
Bao Zheng grinned, "Sir, he is an honest official, and he is not the kind of person who accepts bribes. I heard that Wen Yanbo and others came to Beijing and came to visit with precious gifts, and I asked them to take them back.
It shows that your conduct is noble."
Kou Ji glared at Bao Zheng and shouted: "So you, Mr. Bao, came to visit me specifically to see if I had accepted any bribes so that I could be taken to the jail of your Criminal Department for questioning?"
Bao Zheng cupped his hands and said, "Students don't dare."
Kou Ji pointed to the seat beside him and said angrily: "Find a place to sit by yourself, don't ask me to invite you."
Bao Zheng hurriedly nodded in agreement and found a place closest to Kou Ji to sit down.
Kou Ji glanced at Bao Zheng and said, "I heard that you, Bao Zheng, are a busy man. Your classmates even invited you to have a drink and admire the moon, but you refused. How come you have time to come to my house?"
Could it be that I was afraid that someone would violate the royal law by accepting bribes, so I brought a bag of cakes here to remind me?"
Bao Zheng smiled bitterly and said: "The student has absolutely no intention of humiliating the teacher. Why does the teacher hold on to this matter?"
Kou Ji puffed his beard and said with a glare: "That's because you are a piece of wood!"
When Bao Zheng heard this, he immediately understood where the resentment in Kou Ji's tone came from. He smiled bitterly and did not speak.
Seeing that Bao Zheng had no intention of mentioning this matter, Kou Ji could only sigh and never mention it again.
"Tell me, why are you looking for me?"
Bao Zheng sat up straight and said seriously: "Students have recently been cleaning up the files of the Criminal Department and found some old cases with many inappropriate things, so they want to re-investigate and collect evidence and try the case.
But most of those old cases have been concluded.
If a student wants to re-try the case, he must obtain approval from the superior officer and consult the files of Dali Temple."
Having said this, Bao Zheng slowly closed his mouth.
Kou Ji snorted, "You are in trouble, so you come to ask me for help?"
Bao Zheng nodded solemnly and said: "It's about human life, students can't give up easily."
Kou Ji sighed: "You, you, you have to make yourself a lonely minister. Since the trial between the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple has been concluded, it means that many officials from the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple have recognized the previous verdict.
If you want to overturn the verdict, isn't that just a slap in the face and calling them incompetent?
If others don’t embarrass you, who will embarrass you?”
Bao Zheng said solemnly: "Human life is at stake. Even if a person has been sentenced to death, his innocence must be repaid. Wang Shangshu has already approved the students to investigate old cases, but the people below are not very cooperative, and the Dali Temple does not allow students
Go read the files."
Kou Ji said quietly: "Wang Zeng is a person who has no regard for human life. He went to the Ministry of Justice not long ago. Many unjust cases handled by the Ministry of Justice have nothing to do with him. Naturally, he will not make things difficult for you. It is normal for the people below to make things difficult for you, because once they are found out,
If there is a big oversight, their jobs will be ruined.
Most of the cases were decided by Dali Temple, and the sentences were also decided by Dali Temple.
If someone's life is really taken away by grass, the people of Dali Temple must bear the responsibility.
Therefore, it is normal for people in Dali Temple to make things difficult for you."
Bao Zheng said sternly: "In a murder case, black is black and white is white. We cannot let many people die unjustly just because they are afraid of losing their jobs. If the people in Dali Temple continue to solve cases like this, then they will just sit there and die."
"
Kou Ji stared at Bao Zheng and asked, "If you insist on doing this, you are likely to become a lonely minister. Being a lonely minister in the court will not end well."
Bao Zheng said righteously: "If the students were afraid of consequences, the students would not say what they said today. What's more, my husband used to investigate and deal with the Six Departments, and his methods were much more powerful than the students.
Didn't you, sir, become a lonely minister?"
Kou Ji laughed angrily at Bao Zheng, "Can you compete with me?"
Bao Zheng said solemnly: "Of course the students can't compare with the teacher, but the students like the teacher's approach very much."
Kou Ji let out a sigh of relief, "Thankfully, the official is a wise man, and I can protect you, husband. Otherwise, if you were an official like this, you would definitely end badly."
Bao Zheng said in a deep voice: "Students are not afraid of a bad ending..."
Kou Ji raised his brows and said sternly: "Are you happy if your family is implicated? I, the Song Dynasty, have the penalty of implication. If there is no penalty of implication, I will not object to what you do.
But if there is a penalty by association, you have to consider it for your family.
The lives of some of them were not given by you.
There is no reason for you to take them to death with you."
Bao Zheng frowned and said, "But as a student, if you don't support justice when you are an official, you might as well not be an official."
Kou Ji glared at Bao Zheng, "I didn't say that you won't be allowed to help justice, but you have to pay attention to your methods. For example, if you ask me for help today, you can write to the officials and they will give orders.
With the Holy Oracle in hand, who dares to stop you?
If you appeal to the officials, you will not only let the officials see your integrity and loyalty, but also make those who have resentment against you take action."
Bao Zheng thought about it for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, "The students have been taught."
Kou Ji said calmly: "You can write a memorial about this and submit it to the Political Affairs Hall, and I will report it to the officials. With the current character of the officials, I believe they will not refuse.
However, I have to remind you that it is difficult to investigate old cases. You'd better go to the forensic clinic and ask one or two skilled criminals to help.
When reviewing a case, it is best to examine the case clearly.
Don’t rush to settle the case before the trial is clear.”
Bao Zheng frowned and said, "Students don't care about human life."
Kou Ji rolled his eyes and said, "I'm afraid that you will be framed, plotted against, and found to be unjust, false, or wrongly convicted."
Bao Zheng pondered for a moment and said solemnly: "The students will be careful."
Kou Ji nodded without saying anything. He had to remind Bao Zheng if he needed to be reminded, lest Bao Zheng be plotted and lose his official position.
Today’s methods of handling cases are relatively primitive.
Kou Ji knew no less than ten ways to kill someone that would not be visible through examination.
Bao Zheng has not been involved in criminal law for too long, and he is not far behind those senior officials. If someone stumbles Bao Zheng, Bao Zheng may not be able to tell if he is not careful.
After Kou Ji told Bao Zheng, seeing that Bao Zheng still didn't leave, Kou Ji asked, "What else can I do?"
Bao Zheng hurriedly said: "Dengwengu..."
Kou Ji heard Bao Zheng mention the Dengwen drum, and a smile appeared on his face.
The Dengwen Drum has a long history, which can be traced back to last week. It was often set up in the capital to express grievances for the people or to appeal to the people.
Historical records record that during the Northern Song Dynasty, when Bao Zheng was in charge of Kaifeng Mansion, he followed the example of the Dengwen Drum and set up a grievance drum, which stood outside Kaifeng Mansion to provide favorable conditions for the people to redress their grievances.
After Kou Ji entered the court, he stole Bao Zheng's political achievements and set up Dengwen drums in various government offices in advance.
Because of Kou Ji's high status, the grievance drums he set up in local government offices continued to be named Dengwen drums without changing their names.
Kou Ji robbed Bao Zheng of his political achievements in the history books. Now that the rightful owner raised this matter in person, Kou Ji felt quite happy.
Kou Ji smiled and said, "What's wrong with listening to the drum?"
Bao Zheng clasped his fists and said: "Dengwengu is a good governance established by Mr. Dengwengu. Since the appearance of Dengwengu, there have been fewer people who ignore national laws, and the number of people who do not hold officials accountable has also been greatly reduced.
However, students feel that whether it is the Dengwen drum in front of the imperial palace or the Dengwen drum in front of the yamen in various places, the regulations set up are relatively harsh.
Many people were afraid of the rules of beating the Dengwen drum, so they did not dare to go to the yamen to express their grievances.
So the students thought it was time to make corrections.”
Hearing this, Kou Ji nodded and said: "To complain to the emperor, you need to be punished by one hundred people. Many people were killed by the imperial guards standing in front of the Dengwen drum before they even got to the Dengwen drum.
The government office is sixty feet long, the state government office is thirty feet long, and the county government office is twenty feet long.
If you meet a black-hearted government official, you will indeed lose your life."
Bao Zheng nodded solemnly and said: "Being an official is to make decisions for the people. If you use the punishment of your husband to scare the people away, then you have lost the original intention of being an official."
Kou Ji asked: "How do you think it should be changed?"
Bao Zheng said in a deep voice: "Students think it should be halved."
Kou Ji pondered and shook his head, "Having it in half would kill someone."
Bao Zheng pondered for a moment, thinking of the skilled execution methods of the government officials, and nodded in agreement.
Some old government officials can inflict internal injuries on people with just a few sticks without hurting their skin.
Some can even make people vomit blood with just one stick.
After Kou Ji thought for a while, he said: "The court abbot should be abolished and replaced with a fine of silver."
Bao Zheng frowned and said, "This will breed a lot of corruption."
Kou Ji sighed: "At least corruption will not kill people. Later, you will report this matter to the officials and let the officials discuss it. I will also discuss it with the officials.
The best thing is for people to complain and not be punished without beatings. Unless it is determined that the accusation is false, it will not be too late to punish them.
How to punish, how much to punish, and the amount should be determined.
Make sure the people can afford it and don't force people to death.
Through the Song Dynasty newspapers and newspapers, the matter was spread to the people, so that the people knew clearly about the matter and the amount of the fine, which greatly prevented local corruption.
In addition, in order to prevent false accusations from causing disaster, certain thresholds should be set.
Only if the local government is dissatisfied with the case can it appeal to the next higher government office.
This goes back and forth until the imperial decree is reached.
The execution of beheading is determined by the Dali Temple, so there is no fear that the local government will kill people in order to suppress the case."
Bao Zheng pondered and nodded: "We should check local major and important cases and human life case files in a timely manner to prevent local authorities from disregarding human lives."
Kou Ji sighed: "If you want to refine the criminal justice system, you need a lot of manpower."
Bao Zheng looked at Kou Ji seriously and said: "According to what Mr. Wang said, only when the local government is dissatisfied with the case can you appeal to the next higher level government office. So the higher you go up, the less manpower you need.
The imperial court can completely reduce the number of people at the top and assign them to the bottom."
Kou Ji nodded and said: "You are right, but if you want to completely resolve this matter and avoid mistakes, you need the support of a complete set of criminal laws.
In other words, the criminal law needs to be greatly changed, and the court’s criminal law office needs to make some adjustments.”
Bao Zheng stared at Kou Ji and asked: "Sir, if you have the courage to use commercial laws, don't you dare to use criminal laws?"
Kou Ji laughed and said: "That's nonsense. The reason why I gradually sent you back to Beijing is to prepare for the subsequent revision of other laws. Among them is the criminal law.
I originally wanted to wait until you have established a firm foothold in the court before talking about it.
But I see you have adapted to the court so quickly.
Then it’s time to take action.”
Bao Zheng pondered and said: "Sir, do you want students to be pawns?"
Kou Ji shook his head and smiled: "Just wait and contribute to the imperial court. There is no need for pawns in the imperial court now."
In the past, when Kou Ji didn't enter the palace, he would naturally need soldiers to fight and help him pass.
Now that he has entered the palace, he can come to a conclusion after discussing everything with Zhao Zhen, and there is no need for any pawns.
Kou Ji and Bao Zheng finished talking about business.
Kou Ji stared at Bao Zheng and sighed: "Boy, when it's time to make friends, make more friends. Don't make yourself a solitary minister. There are no mountains in the court now, so there is no need for solitary ministers."
Bao Zheng glanced at Kou Ji and said nothing.
Kou Ji thought he didn't want to talk at first, but after carefully observing his eyes, his face turned dark.
Bao Zheng's unique look seemed to be telling Kou Ji.
There are not as many hills on the court now as before. That is because Kou's Hill is so big that it crushes all the other hills.
Nowadays, the Kou family is the only one in Shantou.
"roll!"
Kou Ji was rude to Bao Zheng and told Bao Zheng to get out.
Bao Zheng knew that Kou Ji was not really angry with him, so he stood up with a smile, gave a salute, and walked out of the study.
Seeing that Bao Zheng was about to take the pastries back, Kou Ji shouted with a dark face, "Have you ever seen anyone who came to visit and took away the gifts?"
Bao Zheng was stunned, put down the cake with a smile, and hurriedly left Kou Ji's study.
After Bao Zheng left, Kou Ji gasped and said: "Guri doesn't know how to turn around when talking, and he is not afraid of death. No wonder he can force the official to sit on the seat and let him spray spit on his face...
…
The officials didn't kill him, it was really merciful...
If I were spit on by him, I could bury his whole family..."
Kou Ji was so angry at Bao Zheng that he gushed out and told some things that happened in the history books.
"Whose family does your husband want to bury? Tell him, and I will tell the guards in the house to get them."
Xiang Yan entered the study with a bowl of ginseng soup and a smile.
While taking the ginseng soup from Xiang Yan, Kou Ji rolled his eyes and said, "Am I someone who likes to take human life lightly?"
Xiang Yan smiled and said, "It's because my husband doesn't like to take human life lightly, so I'm helping you."
Kou Ji glanced at Xiang Yan and didn't want to speak. He took the ginseng soup and put it into his mouth one by one.
Seeing this, Xiang Yan smiled and said, "Who is so angry with my husband?"
Kou Ji put down the spoon and said angrily: "What do you think?"
"Bao Zheng?!"
Xiang Yan said with a smile.
Kou Ji glared at Xiang Yan and said, "You obviously saw him, but you still asked me?"
Xiang Yan smiled and said, "You have to ask clearly who your husband wants to bury before you start."
Kou Ji curled his lips and said nothing.
Xiang Yan knew him well and knew he was joking, so she dared to say so.
If Kou Ji really wanted to bury someone, I'm afraid the guards at the house would have been waiting at the door long ago.
When Xiang Yan saw that Kou Ji was silent, she smiled and asked, "Why is that wooden bag so angry with you?"
When Kou Ji heard this, he became angry again, "That guy who packed wood brought a bag of pastries into his house. I thought he had enlightened me. Who knew he said it was a gift from someone else.
Do you think I'm angry that I have to take him away before I leave?"
When Xiang Yan heard this, she couldn't laugh or cry, "It's really a piece of wood..."
Kou Ji sighed.
Xiang Yan pondered and said, "I feel that if Xu'er doesn't get married, he won't be anxious."
Kou Ji was stunned for a moment, looked at Xiang Yan and said, "You mean to find a husband for Xu'er and force Bao Zheng to do it?"
Xiang Yan nodded.
Kou Ji hesitated and said, "What if it's self-defeating?"
Xiang Yan said calmly: "Then it is self-defeating? Xu'er is about to get married, and he is not in a hurry. He deserves to be unable to find a wife in his life."
Kou Ji thought about it and said, "That's fine... With Xu'er's temperament, I'm afraid he won't bow to him. He likes Xu'er more. If he refuses to bow his head, the two of them may never be together in their lives.
Rather than letting Xu'er wait for him, it's better to force him to take a look.
If he really can't bear it, then let Xu'er marry someone else."
Xiang Yan nodded in agreement.
Kou Ji sighed and said: "Actually, I really hope that he and Xu'er will get married. I just found out that he wants to make himself a lonely minister.
The fate of Lonely Chen is not good.
If he marries Xu'er as his wife, Xu'er's identity can save his life at the critical moment."
Xiang Yan snorted coldly: "He himself refuses to bow his head. He always thinks that his official position is very valuable. Then he deserves to be unable to win over his mother-in-law."
Kou Ji sighed: "He is also an outstanding person, and an outstanding person always has some arrogance."
Xiang Yan curled her lips and said: "What a great person? There are more outstanding people at our door than dogs, and more outstanding people at the royal door than ants."
Why can he be arrogant and others can't?"
When Kou Ji heard Xiang Yan's words, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Xiang Yan's words have no problem in her heart.
But Kou Ji didn't agree with it in his heart.
There are countless outstanding people in the Song Dynasty. There are countless people who are willing to join the royal family and the Kou family, but there are very few who can become famous in history.
However, it seems that those who can be famous in history are now under the Kou family, and even some who cannot be famous in history are still under the Kou family.
Being under the Kou family is equivalent to being under the Zhao family.
But no matter who he belongs to, Bao Zheng is always a person who puts public affairs more seriously than private affairs.
Bao Zheng left Zhuyuan and returned to the Ministry of Justice. He immediately drafted two memorials and sent them to the Political Affairs Hall.
After Kou Ji went to court the next day, he saw two memorials from Bao Zheng.
After reading it for a while, he found that it was exactly the same as what he said when he visited him. Kou Ji wrote a precise word and ordered the eunuch who stayed in the political hall to deliver the memorial to the palace to send it to the palace.
After the memorial was sent to the palace, Zhao Zhen saw that Kou Ji had already read it correctly. After reviewing it for a while, he also wrote the correct word.
Successive officials in the Song Dynasty took homicide cases very seriously.
The same is true for Zhao Zhen.
Bao Zheng wants to investigate the unjust, false and wrongful convictions in old cases, and Zhao Zhen has no reason to disagree.
As long as it can be done for one person, it will be good for both Zhao Zhen and Bao Zheng.
Zhao Zhen will gain support from more people, and Bao Zheng will gain great fame and achievements.
Only the officials who handled the case at the time would suffer.
Therefore, when the subordinate officials of the Ministry of Punishment and the officials of Dali Temple saw the document signed by Zhao Zhen and Kou Ji that Bao Zheng produced, agreeing to overturn the old case, their faces turned ugly.
After they got off the mission, they rushed to tell each other and spread the news that Bao Zheng wanted to thoroughly investigate the old case.
The memorial to impeach Bao Zheng instantly filled the desks of Zhao Zhen and Kou Ji.
In fact, people from the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple rarely handle unjust, false, and wrongful cases unless they are entrusted by acquaintances to handle some unjust, false, and wrongly decided cases, or they themselves cause unjust, false, and wrongly decided cases due to their own negligence.
And the way we handle cases cannot keep up, so unjust, false and wrong cases occur.
Therefore, Bao Zheng thoroughly investigated the old cases and easily found out some of the bad guys in them.
Although Kou Ji had previously investigated the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple, he stopped after the people from the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple relented, so the damage to the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple was not serious.
Coupled with Kou Ji's weight, they couldn't do anything about Kou Ji, so they could only admit that they were unlucky.
Bao Zheng now wants to sort out all the old cases. He is also the Minister of Justice and will stay in office for a long time.
Then the disaster he caused would be much greater than that of Kou Ji.
Naturally, the people from the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple couldn't tolerate it.
They would not come forward to impeach Bao Zheng themselves, because it would be easy for Bao Zheng to catch him and investigate behind him.
So they asked their classmates, the same year, and even their colleagues who had done things before to help.
The memorials to impeach Bao Zheng were piled up together, forming a small mountain.
Zhao Zhen and Kou Ji looked at the hill and were stunned for a long time.
After a long time, Zhao Zhen turned his head and asked Kou Ji, "Fourth brother, who did you, a student, offend? It's just an old case, but it has to be impeached by so many people?"
Kou Ji looked at the memorials and said with a mixture of laughter and tears: "I'm afraid it was caused by those old cases."
Zhao Zhen said in disbelief: "Then there is no reason to be impeached by so many people, right?"