After the hottest noon had passed, the gate of Kaifeng Prefecture slowly opened.
In an instant, a huge dark cloud slowly pressed over from the gate, and in a short while, it enveloped the entire Kaifeng Prefecture.
The scorching heat at noon in early summer did not dissuade the onlookers. The slightly wealthier citizens went to nearby teahouses and wine shops to take a short break, while the poorer ones squatted under a big tree, ate something casually, and took a nap with their backs against the tree.
If I don’t see the result today, no one will be able to sleep well when I go back!
So as soon as the door opened, everyone gathered around immediately.
However, their enthusiasm makes the officials feel anxious!
Although they are all experienced, even in the intrigue-filled court struggles, they would not be so anxious, because they all have a bottom line in their hearts and can roughly guess how the other party will move.
But in the court, he had no idea what would happen next. How could he not be nervous
If you ask me any further, I will lose face.
After almost two hours' rest, Zhao Yan seemed energetic and full of energy. He enjoyed the trial very much. After sitting down in the chief judge's seat, he directly summoned Zhang Fei, Fan Chunren and others to the classroom.
This is just a halftime break, so there is no need to repeat the sense of ceremony in Kaifeng Prefecture.
"Does Fan Sijian have anything else to say?"
Zhao Yan asked Fan Chunren directly.
Everyone saw the previous interrogation. Wang Hong had already lost control, which showed that Zhang Fei had the absolute upper hand. Now the ball was thrown to Fan Chunren.
If you can't catch it, then you can only make a judgment.
When the audience outside the door heard this, they knew that the verdict would be announced soon, and they were very excited.
The officials looked at Fan Chunren anxiously.
Now he has no confidence at all, and the key point is that Fan Chunren's expression does not give him confidence either.
Fan Chunren stood up and said, "Zhang San's inference just now is indeed very interesting."
At this point, he paused for a moment and continued, "But he missed a key question, which is why Magistrate Wang wanted to protect Wei Yushan. As we all know, the basis for sentencing people for crimes usually involves corruption, bribery, and private transactions. But as far as I know, Magistrate Wang has never accepted any bribes from Wei Yushan, and he has not provided any evidence to prove this."
When these words were spoken, all the officials were stunned.
yes!
How could I have forgotten this crucial argument
There is always a reason for covering up.
My confidence was instantly rekindled!
They all knew what kind of official Wang Hong was, and no one had ever mentioned in private that Wang Hong had accepted bribes.
After Fan Chunren finished speaking, he sat down and turned his head to look at Zhang Fei.
This is his trump card, and from now on, it all depends on Zhang Fei's performance.
He was also very curious about how Zhang Fei would convict Wang Hong.
Judging from Zhang Fei's attitude just now, he was definitely going to beat Wang Hong to death.
I will never let Wang Hong walk out of this door in a brazen manner.
Zhao Yan nodded slightly and looked at Zhang Fei again.
Zhang Fei stood up and said, "I just presented evidence to refute the fact that Magistrate Wang accidentally 'ignored' Geng Ming's injustice. Facts have proven that Magistrate Wang is a habitual offender, and the reasons given by the censor Fan are untenable."
Zhao Yan nodded and said, "But everything has its cause and effect. Why did Magistrate Wang protect Wei Yushan?"
"I will certainly prove that."
Zhang Fei said: "I implore the presiding judge to call the witness Geng Ming."
Zhao Yan said, "Send it to Geng Ming."
After a while, Geng Ming, wearing a Taoist robe, walked into the hall.
This is evidence of his escape and cannot be taken off.
He bowed respectfully to Zhao Yan. Seeing that he was wearing a Taoist robe, Zhao Yan had to give the Three Pure Ones some face. In addition, he also sympathized with Geng Ming, so he pointed to the witness chair next to him and said, "I allow you to sit in the trial."
"Thank you, Mr. Zhao."
Geng Ming bowed and then sat in the witness chair.
Zhang Fei stood up and asked, "Geng Ming, where are you from? What did you do before you became a monk?"
Geng Ming said: "I am from Baima Township, Kaifeng County. My ancestors once served as commanders in the Imperial Guards Cavalry Division."
Cao Dongdong at the door said excitedly: "So he is also a military household of our Third Yamen."
Ma Xiaoyi asked: "Brother, why are the military households in the three yamen always bullied?"
Cao Dongdong said hurriedly: "I didn't bully the military households."
"... ... ?"
Geng Ming continued, "Later, the family fell into poverty and became self-employed farmers. By the time of my father's generation, he had bought some land in his hometown by selling horses for the imperial court."
Zhang Fei asked: "How much land did your family own before?"
Geng Ming said: "We have more than 430 acres of land, and we are a second-class household."
"That's a lot of land!" Zhang Fei asked curiously, "With such a huge fortune, why did you become a monk?"
Geng Ming's face was immediately filled with anger. "This was all caused by Wei Yushan."
Zhang Fei asked: "How did he force you?"
Geng Ming said, "Three years ago, I was appointed as the village head of Baima Township, responsible for collecting taxes in the township. At that time, Wei Yushan was the richest family in the township, owning at least thousands of acres of land, but he used all kinds of tricks to prevent him from paying a penny of tax."
Zhang Fei asked: "What method did he use?"
Geng Ming replied: "He relied on his family inheritance to lend money in the village. Especially when he was the head of Baima Village, he made up excuses to force the villagers to pay more taxes, but at the same time he secretly sent people to lend money to let the villagers borrow money to pay taxes. But as soon as the villagers paid the taxes, he came to collect the debts again. In the end, he forced the villagers to sell their land to him, but he did not sign the official deed, so the taxes still remained on the villagers' heads."
Zhang Fei asked: "The government doesn't care?"
Geng Ming shook his head and said, "It is undeniable that although Wei Yushan created various excuses to collect more tax money, he did not pocket the money. He turned it all in because his purpose was to make money by lending money and annex the people's land. The government not only did not blame him, but praised him instead."
The officials attending the trial were drowsy.
Boring.
Zhang Fei nodded and asked, "Has he ever targeted you?"
Geng Ming shook his head and said, "No, my family had some money at the time, so we didn't need to borrow money from him. But my wife and I often helped villagers who were driven into desperation by him, and we knew all about his evil deeds."
Zhang Fei asked: "Are you helping those villagers for free?"
Geng Ming nodded and said, "Since my father's generation, we have often helped the poor villagers, but unfortunately my family doesn't have much money, and there are not many people we can help. If they come to my house to beg for food, I can only give them a bowl of rice."
There was a sigh outside the door.
It's really true that good people don't live long!
People like Wen Yanbo and Sima Guang both shook their heads and sighed.
This is the model of landlord they expect.
When the village is in trouble, you wealthy people should lend a hand.
This is the most cost-effective way.
In this way, the imperial court could share the wealth with the people.
The only flaw is that this model doesn’t seem to live long!
Zhang Fei said again: "Go on."
Geng Ming continued, "I really couldn't stand what Wei Yushan did, so I secretly investigated the land he had hidden. At that time, I found that he had hidden 1,200 acres. When it was my turn to be the head of the village, I took the evidence to his house to collect the tax.
But he not only kicked me out, but later lied to me that he had paid me taxes for 1,200 acres of land and that I had concealed the taxes."
Zhang Fei asked: "As far as I know, our dynasty has evidence for paying taxes, how can he wrongly accuse you?"
Geng Ming said: "He did take out the tax bills he used to pay taxes, but those were not given to him by me. Besides, how could I take away the tax for the 1,200 acres of land by myself? It's simply impossible."
Zhang Fei asked: "What happens next?"
Geng Ming said: "Then he teamed up with two corrupt officials to blackmail me and asked me to give him the 1,200 mu of land. Otherwise, he would sue me for using my power for personal gain."
"Did you make up for it?"
"Because the tax bill was real, and I was afraid of getting into trouble with the law, I had no choice but to pay it back. But I never expected that the government would charge the tax on the 1,200 acres of land in my name. But my family also has more than 400 acres of land, so how could we afford the tax on the 1,200 acres of land?"
"Didn't you report it to the authorities?"
"I was planning to file a complaint with the authorities, but at that time, Wei Yushan's daughter was favored by the Prince of Chang and was taken as a concubine by the Prince of Chang. Wei Yushan became even more unscrupulous in the village. How could I dare to file a complaint with the authorities? Moreover, I knew very well that Wei Yushan would take revenge for any slight. I was afraid of retaliation, and I could not afford so much tax, so I pretended to divorce my wife and sent them back to their parents' home. I also sold my land and property and became a Taoist monk. For the past three years, I have been hiding in a Taoist temple."
After these words were spoken, many officials looked strange.
It is also related to King Chang.
This can be put to good use.
But the people at the door all had an expression of "I knew it would be like this", and they were angry but dared not speak out.
Zhang Fei asked: "If that's the case, why are you going to report Wei Yushan now? As far as I know, Wei Yushan's power is stronger than before."
Geng Ming said: "In fact, in the past two years, I have been secretly investigating Wei Yushan, collecting evidence of his tax evasion, and waiting for the opportunity."
Zhang Fei asked again: "So what did you find out?"
Geng Ming said: "I found out that in the past two years, Wei Yushan has become even more aggressive, forcing people to flee the countryside, and those fields have become completely tax-free. In the end, the government distributed the land taxes to the nearby people."
Zhang Fei asked: "Why does the government do this?"
Geng Ming said: "Because our dynasty has a regulation that when people sell land and houses, they need to ask their relatives and neighbors first. The government will use the excuse that the relatives and neighbors have not supervised them properly and distribute the land tax to the people nearby."
Zhang Fei nodded and asked, "Then why do you want to report Wei Yushan now? Aren't you afraid of Wei Yushan's revenge?"
Geng Ming's eyes suddenly turned red. "That's because... because my wife and children are orphans and widows living in her mother's home. They are not well received, and they suffer from grievances and bullying. They often go hungry and cold. They can't survive any longer. I... I really have no other choice, so I decided to come out and report Wei Yushan."
When he finished speaking, he covered his eyes and choked up.
The people outside the door were also deeply moved and secretly wiped away their tears.
This is what justice is all about
This yamen runner is really causing a lot of harm to people. If you are not cruel to the people, you will be finished.
When Wang Anshi saw this scene, he was very happy. It was not because he was hard-hearted, but because this could provide sufficient evidence for his conscription law.
Of course, this was also the promise Zhang Fei made to him.
Seeing Geng Ming crying uncontrollably, Zhang Fei said to Zhao Yan, "The presiding judge should have seen the evidence of Wei Yushan's tax evasion. It is easy to find, including the 1,200 acres of land Wei Yushan owned in Luomapo. So far, the 1,200 acres of land has only paid taxes for two years, and all of them were paid by Geng Ming. This is definitely not a coincidence."
Zhao Yan nodded.
"I'm done asking questions."
Zhang Fei sat down.
Fan Chunren was slightly stunned, his eyes full of doubts, he stood up and said, "Geng Ming, Wang Hong was the magistrate of Kaifeng at that time."
Geng Ming wiped his tears and shook his head.
"I'm done asking questions."
Fan Chunren sat down.
I am here to defend Wang Hong. This matter has nothing to do with Wang Hong. As for Wei Yushan, he also thinks he deserves to die. I have never thought of defending Wei Yushan.
Zhang Fei stood up again and said, "I beg the presiding judge to summon Wei Yushan to the court."
Zhao Yan first asked someone to take Wang Hong downstairs to rest, and then summoned Wei Yushan to the classroom.
After a while, a middle-aged man in his forties came into the hall. He had a square face, thick eyebrows and big eyes. From all angles, he was tall and strong, with a dignified appearance. He did not look like a criminal at all!
"I, Wei Yushan, pay my respects to Prime Minister Zhao."
Wei Yushan bowed.
Zhao Yan just nodded.
Just stand there and judge!
There's no seat for you here.
Wei Yushan glanced at the chair, but didn't dare to say anything. He just stood there obediently.
Before the question was even asked, the people at the door started spitting and cursing at Wei Yushan.
They don't dare to scold at ordinary times, so when will they scold
Many people who watched the trial actually did so to vent their emotions.
Wei Yushan could only lower his head and try to cover his ears to steal the bell.
After all, Zhao Yan had been the acting governor of Kaifeng Prefecture, so he knew how to deal with this kind of situation. When the people had almost finished cursing, he slammed the gavel and said, "Silence."
When the crowd at the door gradually quieted down, Zhang Fei stood up and said, "Wei Yushan, regarding the Geng Ming case three years ago..."
Wei Yushan nodded and said, "I did it."
As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar.
You're quite straightforward in recognizing this.
Even Zhao Yan, Han Qi, Fu Bi and others looked at Wei Yushan in surprise.
I asked you to confess, but I didn't ask you to confess so readily. Zhang Fei was also stunned, and said angrily and amusedly: "Then tell me yourself."
Wei Yushan nodded and said, "Among the first and second class households in Xinma Township at that time, the Geng family and my Wei family were the most prestigious. When I was the head of the household, I did not go to his house to collect taxes. It was the head of the village who went there. But as soon as he became the head of the village, he came to trouble me. I think he was using his public office to suppress our Wei family.
So I bribed two clerks. The tax notes were obtained by paying real taxes, not fake ones. I just found a way to prevent the grain from being stored in the warehouse temporarily. I took the tax notes to scare them and asked them to help me pay the tax.
As for his later becoming a Taoist priest, it had nothing to do with me, and I did not bother him."
After hearing this, Su Shi turned his head and said to his brother: "This man is really cruel."
Su Che nodded and said, "He is not only ruthless, but also very cunning. Before, everyone thought he was forging tax bills, which is a serious crime. Who would have thought that he actually paid taxes to get it? I believe Geng Ming did not expect this either."
Zhao Yan was furious when he heard this: "When Geng Ming came to you with the tax receipt, did he ask you for an extra penny?"
Wei Yushan shook his head and said, "No."
Zhao Yan said: "This is legitimate tax collection, how can you regard it as someone suppressing you? Why don't you pay the tax?"
Wei Yushan said naively: "In reply to Mr. Zhao, everyone... is trying to avoid paying taxes, even those third- and fourth-class farmers. If I pay, people will laugh at me for being stupid."
"... ... ?"
Zhao Yan laughed when he heard this, but his laugh was very bitter, and he didn't know what to say.
Han Qi said: "This person is really smart!"
Fu Bi frowned and said, "Maybe there is someone behind to give guidance."
Wei Yushan may seem silly, but his answer to this question is very clever: the law cannot hold everyone responsible.
However, no one expected that it would be Zhang Fei who was giving instructions from behind.
However, Zhang Fei only told him what to do, but he did not teach him how to say it specifically. This shows that Wei Yushan is indeed as cruel and cunning as the rumors say.
Zhang Fei asked: "So, you admit all your tax evasion?"
Wei Yushan nodded.
Zhang Fei asked again: "Are you acquainted with Magistrate Wang of Kaifeng County?"
Wei Yushan nodded and said, "I have a very good relationship with Magistrate Wang."
Zhang Fei said: "As far as I know, not long after Geng Ming reported you, you also immediately wrote a complaint to report him. How did you know that Geng Ming reported you?"
Wei Yushan said, "It was Magistrate Wang who sent someone to tell me."
Zhang Fei asked: "Did he teach you how to do it?"
Wei Yushan shook his head and said, "No, he just told me, and I decided to file a counter-complaint."
Zhang Fei asked, "So you didn't bribe Magistrate Wang?"
"No!"
Wei Yushan immediately said, "It is well known that Magistrate Wang is an upright official and never accepts bribes. I have never bribed him with money or land. You can check this."
After these words were spoken, all the officials held their heads high.
Although Wei Yushan was ruthless enough, he... was also a man who dared to take responsibility and did not push the responsibility onto others.
He is a man.
Fan Chunren looked at Zhang Fei in confusion. If you keep asking like this, how can you convict Wang Hong
Zhang Fei asked curiously, "Since there is no financial exchange between you, how did you get to know him?"
Wei Yushan said, "I have always admired Magistrate Wang's style of doing things. He is very strict and always sticks to his words. Magistrate Wang wants to build water conservancy projects, repair roads, and provide disaster relief. I donated a lot of money. We got to know each other after a few visits. This... You can all check this out. I evaded taxes because I was afraid that people would think I was stupid, not because I was stingy with that little money."
Good guy, he is really good at talking. Zhang Fei asked: "Did you take the initiative to donate?"
Wei Yushan said: "That's not the case. Usually we donate only after the government sends someone to ask."
Zhang Fei asked: "How much have you donated in the past two years?"
Wei Yushan thought for a moment and said, "I don't remember exactly, but it should be at least 700 to 800 strings of cash."
The other officials became more and more excited as they listened. This was much better than they had imagined.
However, conservative elites such as Wen Yanbo and Sima Guang became more depressed the more they listened.
Especially Wang Anshi, he continued to send provocative signals to Sima Guang.
Sima Guang pretended not to see anything and listened to the trial attentively.
Hide the wealth among the people, hide the wealth among the people. It would be really embarrassing if the wealth was hidden in the hands of such people.
Geng Ming was the role model in their hearts, but in the end, Geng Ming's family was broken up and his wife and children were separated.
Zhang Fei asked, "Does Magistrate Wang know that you are evading taxes?"
Wei Yushan just shook his head and said, "I don't know. I don't think I know."
Zhang Fei asked, "Did Magistrate Wang send anyone to investigate you?"
"Not really."
"I'm done asking questions."
Zhang Fei sat down.
Is Fan Chunren completely dumbfounded
Ask... Are you done
That's it
What do you have to convict Wang Hong