For several days, the cases sent from various places were accompanied by the officials of Sangong Cao, which made Tingwei people very strange.
But the officials said it was a routine matter and they would not interfere with the court officials, so they didn't say anything.
As for the affairs of the border barbarians, this is actually a hot potato. If it is handled well, no points will be awarded. If it is not handled well, it will easily cause problems. Da Honglu is also happy to return the power to the Chancellor.
Counting the population and measuring the land are matters within the scope of the Secretariat. Chen Mu sent a civil servant to communicate with the Shaofu. The new Shaofu, Fan Ling, was a paid official and had private interactions with the eunuchs, so there was no objection.
As for financial issues, the Shangshutai does not care about them. They are under the control of Da Sinong's inner palace, the emperor's Shui Hengwei, and the Shaofu's Money Forbidden Department.
Among them, the Du Neifu was responsible for the salaries of officials and public expenditures across the country. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was called the national treasury.
The Shuihengwei and Qianqiansi were the private property of the emperor, and were later called internal funds.
Therefore, the Shangshutai cannot interfere with the finances.
What we can do now is to take charge of people's livelihood and actively communicate with the governors and governors of various states to see if there is any malfeasance in their duties by the two thousand stone prefects and ministers.
The governor cannot remove the prefect and the prime minister. Generally speaking, if the governor discovers that there is a problem with the two thousand stones in a certain place, he will report it to the central court. After the three princes agree, the person can be dealt with.
However, there is a two thousand stone cao in the Shangshutai, which is actually used to divide the power of the three princes and gradually evacuate the three princes. Now that Chen Mu has taken over the power, in the future, the prefects of various prefectures and counties will use the Shangshutai to communicate with the governors of various states. Documents
It will also be sent to the Chancellor's desk.
This is equivalent to directly intercepting the Hu of the Three Dukes. If he encounters a strong Three Dukes, he might actually come to cause trouble. The problem is that the current Situ Xuxiang and Taiwei Cao Song are all eunuchs, and Sikong Zhang Wen is also a minister.
almost.
Therefore, if Zhang Rang comes forward and this part of power is returned to the Chancellor, there should be no big problem.
The real troubles are the selection of officials and the end-of-year examinations on state and county affairs.
Why were the later officials called Heavenly Officials?
Because he holds these two powers, he can remove officials and admit officials.
And now these two powers are in the hands of the emperor and the three ministers and nine ministers respectively? Where is the selection of officials in Xiyuan? Except for the officials recommended by the court officials and approved by the emperor, most officials in the world are put up for sale.
At the end of the year, state and county affairs are generally led by the three ministers, assisted by the nine ministers, who inspect their respective subordinate officials and assess them, and determine whether some unqualified officials will be eliminated.
When it comes to the local level, the governor and the prefect will take charge respectively. The governor will do the work separately, while the prefect will dispatch postal supervisors.
In this way, the prefects inspected local minor officials, the governor inspected the prefects and county magistrates, and the central government inspected the prefects and governors. A fairly complete supervision system was formed.
What if Chen Mu wants to take action in these two directions? It would be better if he just deploys a few people. For example, Cao Cao's uncle Cao Ding once arranged Cao Hong as the magistrate of Qichun County when he was the minister.
But if you intercept the appointment and removal documents sent from various places and want to use the power of the Shangshu Ling to appoint and remove officials according to your own will? That will undoubtedly touch the cake of everyone, including Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty.
So the end of this year is a big test for Chen Mu. If he wants to make a difference? If he wants to depose and eliminate some corrupt officials or incompetent officials who use nepotism to gain power, the resistance he encounters is simply as high as the sky.
But this matter? Chen Mu is not crazy enough to offend everyone. After all, he is not Bao Zheng? What can he do to offend the emperor and all the officials of the dynasty?
So his plan is to just let it be as it should be? Mixed with sand at most? Just do some nepotism and the like, there is no need to cause trouble.
For more than ten days in a row, power was slowly being consolidated and government affairs were handled in an orderly manner.
But when dealing with government affairs, it is inevitable that we cannot cover everything.
On this day, Tingwei Wu Gong came to the door.
"Chen Shangshu, there are obviously no problems with this case, why is it being remanded for retrial?"
Wu Gong is coming with force.
Nowadays, most of the three officials and ministers in the court came to buy official positions. With the support of the emperor, it would not be difficult for Chen Mu to wrest power from them.
Only Tingwei is not easy to deal with, because Wu Gong's family has the third generation of Tingwei, a family with legal knowledge, and has legal authority.
"Why is Dali angry?"
Chen Mu knelt down on the main seat and took a calm sip of tea.
The name Dali comes from "Xia". "Book of Rites·Yue Ling" records that Xia had "Dali". It means the chief judge in charge of trials, and his status is equivalent to the president of the Supreme Court in later generations.
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, Dali became Tingwei, then changed to Dali during the reign of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, and again to Tingwei during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. It changed several times.
After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it was officially renamed Dali Temple. This temple is not a temple, but the name of an official office.
In the Han Dynasty, the chief officer of Tingwei was commonly known as Dali, which means "the person in charge of the law".
Although Tingwei is one of the Nine Qings, a high-ranking official with two thousand stones, since Emperor Ling, most of Tingwei's power has been vested in the cabinet. Sometimes Tingwei has to be a subordinate of the Shangshu Ling, and he must obey the Shangshu Ling when hearing cases, so Chen Mu
It's not unfair to him either.
Wu Gong threw the case on his desk and said coldly: "The minister ordered you to look at it yourself."
Chen Mu saw that he seemed to be really angry, so he stood up, took his hand and pushed it to the table next to him. While pulling him, he smiled and comforted him: "Don't get angry, Dali. We have something to discuss."
"snort."
Without reaching out to hit the smiling man, Wu Gong snorted and sat down.
"Do you want Dali tea or wine?"
Chen Mu sat back in his seat and asked while flipping through the case documents.
The Han people basically only drink these two kinds of drinks, just like the guests in later generations would serve tea.
"liquor."
"Serve Dali wine."
Chen Mu gave the order, took another look at the case, and had an idea in his mind.
"I wonder what Shangshu Ling thinks?"
Wu Gong took a sip of wine and asked.
Chen Mu nodded: "It turned out to be a theft in Hongnong County. I was planning to issue an official document to Dali, Hongnong Prefect Sun Mu and Lu Hunling Guo Yong."
Wu Gong's face darkened and he said: "So, Shangshu Ling thinks there is something wrong with my sentencing and wants to blame me?"
"There is no problem with the sentencing."
Chen Mu smiled: "The "Criminal Law Chronicles" said that anything that is not a thing is called theft. "Laws" said: The person who steals two taels of gold abandons the market. This person has obtained the stolen goods, and the lost items are worth three taels.
Gold, there is nothing wrong with abandoning the market."
The crime of theft was a very serious crime in the Han Dynasty and was divided into four levels: stealing 1 to 22 qian or items worth 1 to 22 qian, with a fine of 1 tael.
Stealing items worth 110 to 22 taels of money will result in a fine of 4 taels.
110 to 220, closed for 3 years.
220 to 660, off for 5 years.
660 five baht coins to two taels of gold, life imprisonment, and inscriptions on his face.
For more than two taels of gold, abandon the market.
A pound of gold is worth 10,000 yuan, and sixteen taels is a pound, so one tael of gold is worth 625 yuan, and two taels of gold is worth 1,250 yuan.
What does abandoning the market mean?
They were taken to the streets where there was trouble and there were many people and beheaded.
By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, executions were carried out in the vegetable market.
Imagine the modern concept of being sentenced to death for stealing thousands of dollars.
This was still the Han Dynasty, and the laws were already somewhat relaxed. The laws of the Qin Dynasty were even more stringent, and the crime of theft was almost equal to the crime of murder.
If you dare to steal even 1 cent, you will have to serve in corvée for 30 days.
Judging from the "Answers and Questions on the Law" on the Qin Slips, it basically means that those who commit minor crimes will be imprisoned and served as corvees, and those who commit minor crimes will be sentenced to death. For major crimes, there is no need to think about it, and they will be imprisoned directly.
With such a harsh law, it is no wonder that Qin II died.
"Since the sentencing is correct, what does that mean?"
Wu Gong's expression became even more ugly. He temporarily stopped the prisoner whom Ting Wei had stamped to be beheaded, and forcefully dragged him back to the death row. This was undoubtedly a slap in Ting Wei's face.
Chen Mu said: "There is one doubtful point in this case."
"Where is the suspicion?"
"The official document says that the wealthy businessman Zhang Dou lost a piece of jade, worth three taels of gold, and later recovered it from the criminal Wang Yi's family. Is this true or not?"
"Yes, it is clearly written in the official document that Wang Yi was drunk that day, sneaked into Zhang's house at night, and stole jade. There are also shoe prints on the wall of the shoes Wang Yi was wearing that day. The prints have been compared and confirmed to be correct.
.”
"That's why I can't figure it out a bit."
"Which point?"
"According to previous official documents, how the local government confirmed that this prisoner was the prisoner and how they caught him will be recorded in detail, but here it is vague. There is only one sentence: "Zhang Dou got up at night, and it was vaguely Wang Yi."
"Isn't it right for the owner to identify it himself?"
"Of course not. I looked at Wang Yi's household registration. He is from the countryside outside the city. He rents a house alone in the west city and does some small business on weekdays. And Zhang Dou lives in the east of the city and is a wealthy businessman. Logically speaking, Er
There is such a big difference between people's status and status, so they shouldn't know each other."
"Maybe I hear it occasionally? How many people can there be in a county? It ranges from thousands to just over ten thousand. It's normal to meet them occasionally."
"Then you shouldn't know the name."
Chen Mu continued: "In addition, I read the case report and it said that Wang Yi's friend asked him to drink, and he drank until midnight before leaving. Wang Yi's friend's house was only a few hundred steps away from Wang Yi's house. A drunk man walked around such a long distance.
It is unreasonable to circle and run to the east of the city."
Wu Gong said: "Maybe he deliberately stole because of his drunkenness?"
"Can you still climb the wall when you're so drunk?"
Chen Mu asked back.
Wu Gong was speechless for a moment.
Chen Mu added: "Actually, it's nothing. Some people's behavior is hard to understand and it's normal. But what makes me most surprised is that I checked the household registration information and found that Zhang Dou is quite wealthy and has a servant Da Er.
There are more than a hundred people, a drunk man broke into someone's house, and so many servants were not discovered by night patrols, it really doesn't make sense."
"this......"
When Wu Gong said this, he felt like there was something wrong.
What did the Han Dynasty people rely on to convict theft?
The main basis is that the person and the person obtained the stolen goods, other evidence is not that important.
In fact, this was true not only in the Han Dynasty but also in the feudal dynasties. Even if you offended the county magistrate of a certain place, you didn't need to take the stolen goods. You could just be charged with a crime.
"The Injustice of Dou E" is a typical example.
As the saying goes, the county magistrate who destroys the family, the magistrate who exterminates the family, and the officials who choose to promote the common people are no less easy than squeezing an ant to death.
So those modern people who call themselves intellectuals and belong to some upper class society, if they travel to ancient times, really think that they can be like a fish in water?
If you can't climb up the ladder step by step like Gao Yao and Chen Mu, and climb to the top of power, let alone the county magistrate, even a certain pavilion chief in the village can kill you.
This is the sorrow of the people at the bottom of the ancients. Not only are natural and man-made disasters constant, but even daily life has to be like walking on thin ice. If you meet a local governor with corrupt moral character, accidentally offend him or if you have something that he covets, then death is just a short step away.
Not far away.
"I have asked people to investigate this case secretly. If Dali can trust me, then don't send the official document that the prisoner abandoned the market first, and wait patiently for two days for the results."
Chen Mu said the last thing.
Wu Gong hesitated for a moment. Three generations of his family had been practicing law and had served as court captains. Cases that he thought had no problems were regarded as doubtful by others, which was a bit of a slap in the face.
But at least he is a fairly upright person, and he is one of the few decent officials among the Nine Ministers. When it comes to human life, he should really be cautious.
Thinking of this, Wu Gong nodded: "Okay, then wait for two days."
After saying that, he waved his sleeves and left.
After he left, Chen Mu looked at Xun Yu who was silently recording in the corner and said, "Wen Ruo, how are you?"
Xun Yu nodded: "I have learned it, and I will pay attention to these details and doubts in the future."
this......
I am asking you to study on the side, not to ask you to confront criminals, but to teach you how to learn how to fight for power.
Chen Mu cursed in his heart.
Xun Yu came to the Shangshu Station yesterday and was appointed by Chen Mu as the Shangshu Lingli with two hundred stones.
The two have never met, but Xun Yu knows Chen Mu.
Although he didn't quite know why his reputation could reach the ears of such a big shot as Shangshu Ling, Xun Yu was still willing to go.
Without it, he is just loyal to the Han Dynasty.
Chen Mu said with a smile: "Wen Ruo, what did you see from Wu Gong's visit to the Chancellor's desk today?"
Xun Yu thought for a while and replied: "The Shangshutai has the power to supervise the handling of cases by Tingwei, and even the Shangshutai has the power to handle cases. The Tingwei must assist the Shangshuling in handling cases, but Wu Dali came to the Shangshutai to question?"
Well, very good. I am learning now and selling it now, and I have found out the unreasonable things.
Chen Mu nodded happily: "Yes, Tingwei should be assisting Shangshutai in handling the case, but now he dares to come and question Shangshutai. It shows how incompetent the original Shangshutai was. Now that I want to take back the power, others may not
Willingly."
"What does Shangshu Ling plan to do?"
Xun Yu asked.
Chen Mu shrugged and replied with one word: "Endure."
"Tolerate?"
"certainly."
Chen Mu looked forward with distracted eyes.
What else can be done?
Of course I tolerate it.
Now it is time to test the reaction of Sangong and Jiuqing step by step.
If the bottom line is touched, the chancellery will naturally be retracted.
As for why not be tough.
Very simple.
Then we have to see what will happen to Emperor Han Ling in the future.
Chen Mu only knew that in the sixth year of Zhongping, about one and a half years later, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty would die.
Why and how he died are not recorded in history books.
If Emperor Han Ling just caught a cold and died of tuberculosis, there is no need to worry, because with the floor heating, Emperor Han Ling should not catch another cold.
If it is other diseases, then you can only look at it again. After all, getting sick in this era is really a terrible thing.
And if Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty died of indulgence...
That means he must die.
A person is only greedy for pleasure, which is due to his character. If he tries to persuade him by himself, he will be no different from an official of the Manchu Dynasty, but will be disgusted by Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty.
There is no way to save people with character flaws.
When death was inevitable, why should I still work so hard to engage in power struggles to help him manage the country?
Therefore, Chen Mu's current plan is to adopt the golden mean.
The power of the Chancellor must be taken back. After all, he has to perform political achievements to make Emperor Han Ling believe in his ability. If Emperor Ling of Han is not dead, he has to continue to climb up.
But don't use too much force to avoid causing dissatisfaction in other departments and falling into the vortex of power struggle.
Of course, if the Sangong and Jiuqing treat him as a soft persimmon like Liang Hu, he doesn't mind letting them taste what it means to be a hedgehog.