Zhao Yan was also stunned. He was fascinated by what he was listening to. Zhang Fei's words "I've finished asking questions" also made him a little at a loss.
Wei Yushan's crime is certain.
But the problem is that this lawsuit is not against Wei Yushan. Wei Yushan is attending as a witness, not a criminal. The one being accused is Wang Hong!
Are you just trying to use Wang Hong to convict Wei Yushan
Um.
It is possible.
After all, Wei Yushan's confession was very favorable to Wang Hong.
Really honest and upright.
But what you did just now was too similar, it almost drove Wang Hong crazy.
If Wang Hong is innocent, he will definitely take revenge on you.
Only Xu Zhiqian knew about this. This was not using Wang Hong to convict Wei Yushan. Even a blind person could see that he was letting Wang Hong off the hook. So after Zhang Fei sat down, Xu Zhiqian asked angrily, "This is so unfair. You are so kind to Wei Yushan. Can't you ask a few more questions?"
She really hated people like Wei Yushan, and just now she wanted to kick Zhang Fei twice. Because she knew Zhang Fei very well, with Zhang Fei's words, he could ask him about a crime punishable by death.
Even if you want to let some water in, you're going too far.
There was no pressure at all, it was entirely up to Wei Yushan to perform on his own.
Zhang Fei explained helplessly, "I would like to ask a few more questions, but our goal is not to kill Wei Yushan. Judging from the current situation, we have already achieved our goal. If I ask one more question, I am afraid that I will ask a problem. Look at Fan Sijian, he just sat here without saying a word. If he completely gave up on Wei Yushan, he would be unable to stop."
Xu Zhiqian snorted, but said nothing.
As Xu Zun's daughter, she also knew that some things were just helpless, but she was just unhappy and she couldn't hide it. Zhang Fei was the only one around her, so she could only talk about Zhang Fei to vent her anger.
Fan Chunren was ready to admit defeat, but when he saw the unexpected turn of events, he immediately stood up and said, "Judge, the facts have proven that Magistrate Wang did not accept any bribes from Wei Yushan, and he was an upright official who organized the villagers and wealthy gentry to build water conservancy projects and roads. Although Magistrate Wang was indeed negligent in the Geng Ming case, it was definitely not to protect Wei Yushan. I think the most he can be sentenced to is negligence."
Zhang Fei quickly stood up and said, "Fan Sijian, you actually said he was an upright official despite such serious corruption and bribery, or is it that your judgment criteria as censors are different from common sense?"
Different from common sense? Not only did you criticize me, but you also ridiculed our censors.
Fan Chunren frowned and said, "I hope you can be more respectful."
Zhang Fei hurriedly said, "Sorry! I'm just talking about the facts, I don't mean anything else."
Fan Chunren did not bother to argue with him and asked, "Wei Yushan has already stated that he never bribed Magistrate Wang. You have no evidence. How can you claim that he is guilty of such serious corruption and bribery?"
Zhang Fei laughed and said, "There is no law that stipulates that it is corruption and bribery only if you give money."
Zhao Yan was getting anxious, so he asked, "Zhang San, don't be so mysterious. If you have evidence, show it to us."
Zhang Fei said, "In fact, Wei Yushan has made it very clear just now that he did not use money to bribe Wang Hong. At least I can't find any evidence. But every time Magistrate Wang needed money to build water conservancy projects or roads, he would take the initiative to donate money, and it was not a small amount when you count it up."
After these words were spoken, everyone in the audience was stunned.
This is a good thing!
Developing water conservancy projects and building roads are all beneficial to the country and the people.
Sima Guang and Wen Yanbo looked at each other in confusion, not understanding what was wrong.
To keep wealth in the hands of the people is exactly what I mean. Although the word "people" is a little off, there is nothing wrong with what officials did.
Zhao Yan said directly: "This is beneficial to national construction and a good thing. How can it be considered corruption or bribery?"
Zhang Fei asked: "Have you ever thought about why Wei Yushan was willing to donate money to Magistrate Wang?"
Zhao Yan said, "Didn't Wei Yushan just say that he admired Magistrate Wang's work style?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Maybe there is a reason for this, but if Magistrate Wang is like Geng Ming, I don't think Wei Yushan would donate money to him."
Wang Anshi was the first to react. He stroked his beard and laughed, "This kid really kept all the things he promised me."
Lu Huiqing nodded and said, "We even exceeded the target."
Wang Anshi smiled and nodded.
Sima Guang, Wen Yanbo and others frowned, and they gradually realized the problem.
As the chief judge, Zhao Yan had to ask clearly and could not just guess: "What exactly do you want to explain?"
Zhang Fei said: "If Magistrate Wang simply asked big landlords like Wei Yushan to donate money, whether it was by intimidation or deception, it was a manifestation of his ability. Even if he didn't ask them to pay their taxes, it would be a good performance.
There are some facts that everyone knows. Many big landowners evade taxes. If we can get them to donate money at the critical moment, it would be really good.
However, if you look closely at the agricultural tax revenue of Kaifeng County, you will find that Magistrate Wang also performed very well in terms of tax collection, which is the main reason why he was quickly promoted to Magistrate of Kaifeng County. "
Zhao Yan wondered, "Isn't this better?"
Zhang Fei asked with a smile: "Did the presiding judge read Geng Ming's petition carefully?"
Zhao Yan nodded.
Zhang Fei said: "It shouldn't be hard to find out that the land where Wei Yushan evaded taxes is increasing every year."
Zhao Yan looked at it again and nodded, "It is indeed increasing every year."
Zhang Fei said: "I believe that the situation of many large landowners is the same. In other words, while the amount of arable land remains unchanged, although the tax-free land increases every year, the total tax revenue remains unchanged or is still increasing. Where do these taxes come from?"
Fan Chunren immediately said, "You can't use Wei Yushan's family to speculate about other big landlords."
"I have evidence."
Zhang Fei put his hand aside and a document was placed in his hand. "This is the tax collection situation in the two years since Wang Hong became the magistrate of Kaifeng County, as well as the tax and banknote accounts that I secretly investigated."
Fan Chunren asked, "Where did you get this tax account?"
Zhang Fei said: "Provided by the Court of Justice."
Fan Chunren suddenly remembered that he was representing the Court of Justice.
There are bad people among the officials.
Although the Office of Administration is not in charge of finance, it works within a system after all. There must be a way to get these account books.
But it was actually provided by Lu Huiqing.
Lu Jiawen asked if he had this ability yet.
Zhao Yan said, "Present it."
Zhang Fei said: "We secretly sent people to randomly check the second, third and fourth class households, a total of 150 households, and we can clearly find that the taxes they pay every year are increasing, and this is all under the condition that the number of acres of land is not increasing, but decreasing.
The accounts provided by the Court of Justice are completely consistent with what I have found.
Why is this so? It is because Magistrate Wang distributed almost all the land tax from the big landlords to the ordinary farmers, among which second-class households like Geng Ming had the highest increase.
Because the second-class households have money but no power or status, and since everyone shares the burden equally, they can still endure it and will not cause trouble.
As for the means used, Liu Dong and Geng Ming have already explained it very clearly. I don’t understand why no one has questioned it until now. What is the extra money they paid for? "
Fan Chunren said, "This was all done by Wei Yushan. What does it have to do with Magistrate Wang?"
"Don't be anxious, Mr. Fan."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "I have another document here, oh, it was also provided by the Court of Justice, it is about the lawsuit regarding the land tax handled by Kaifeng County in the past two years."
Xu Zhiqian handed it to him immediately.
Zhang Fei raised the document and said, "The number of land tax disputes handled by County Magistrate Wang is three times that of the previous county magistrate. The severity of the punishment is also far greater than that of the previous one. He often uses a stick to greet the so-called "troublemakers". He deserves the title of iron-faced.
But is it selfless? Not necessarily. All the cases are punished against the second, third and fourth class households. There are very few cases involving the first class households. Even if there are, the judgment is always in favor of the first class households, without exception. "
At this point, he handed the document to the clerk who came over and continued, "The secret of Magistrate Wang's promotion is very simple, that is, he showed great tolerance to the big landlords and gentry, allowing them to annex land, while at the same time giving very strict judicial supervision to the second, third and fourth class households.
He used the so-called strict law enforcement to force the second, third, and fourth class households to share the tax evasion of the big landlords. Then he used conciliatory tactics to win the favor of those big landlords. When he needed money to build water conservancy projects, the big landlords were willing to donate money. Everyone knew this tacitly.
Therefore, the achievements of Magistrate Wang can only be described in two words: "outstanding". He did a lot of work without spending the court's money. If the court didn't promote him, who else would it promote? But he really was a general who achieved success at the cost of many lives.
I also believe that Wang Hong may have never accepted money from others.
But I want to ask you, how much money can buy the position of Kaifeng County Magistrate?"
The courtyard was in complete silence.
That's it! Fan Chunren suddenly realized what was going on, but he immediately questioned, "This can only be regarded as evidence that Magistrate Wang is corrupt, but it cannot be regarded as evidence of corruption and bribery."
Everyone understands the truth, but in court, the law is still the issue. Based on this alone, you cannot sue them for corruption and bribery. At most, it can only be considered as supporting evidence.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "So I'm not suing for corruption or bribery, but for deliberately exposing someone."
Fan Chunren was speechless for a moment.
Generally speaking, crimes committed by people are accompanied by corruption, bribery, and private transactions.
However, according to the explanation in Song Dynasty Criminal Code, this is not a necessary condition.
Common sense cannot replace the law.
Zhang Fei looked around and said loudly: "There is no doubt that Magistrate Wang Hong is an official with outstanding ability and rich experience in trial cases.
Moreover, during the period of collecting taxes, he also judged many tax litigation cases. It is impossible for him to ignore Geng Ming's injustice because of collecting taxes.
Then there is only one reason, that is, County Magistrate Wang tried to protect Wei Yushan. From the case of the Bian Jing Law Firm and Liu Dong's experience, it is not difficult to see that he is actually a habitual offender. The people are indeed forced by the big landlords, but Wang Hong used the superficial evidence to dismiss the people's lawsuit. It can be seen that the dismissal is just a habit of Wang Hong, which is even more terrible than special care.
He was benevolent and loved the people, and his love was for the big landlords, the wealthy gentry, and the big country gentry. He enforced the law strictly, and was strict with the self-cultivating farmers, small craftsmen, and the ordinary citizens.
His love and hate were so contradictory that the interrogation was full of contradictions, making it hard to tell whether he was a good official or a corrupt official. But as long as the "people" were distinguished, everything could be explained clearly.
Wei Yushan absolutely admired him from the bottom of his heart, but his admiration was precisely the evidence of Wang Hong's evil deeds.
Unless the court included "benevolent government and love for the people" and "hiding wealth among the people" in the Song Dynasty Criminal Code, and specified that "people" only referred to wealthy gentry, large landowners, and gentry, Wang Hong would definitely have committed the crime of deliberately killing someone."
"Kill this official!"
"Gou officer!"
"If we don't sentence this corrupt official for deliberately accusing someone, where is justice?"
... ...
The citizens at the door suddenly went crazy, raising their arms and shouting, hysterically, and gritting their teeth.
The resentment is overwhelming.
It’s still the same old saying, people are not troubled by scarcity but by inequality.
If you really want to achieve political achievements, you can be a little ruthless. It's okay. You can treat everyone equally and impose heavy taxes on everyone. Even if you are a little more ruthless, the people will not be so angry.
As a result, you also make lower-income households share the taxes of higher-income households.
This is even worse than corrupt officials.
The courtyard was dead silent.
Only Wang Anshi stared at Sima Guang opposite him, his mouth always keeping the shape of "hide the wealth among the people, hide the wealth among the people, hide the wealth among the people".
Sima Guang was so angry that he turned his face away.
Unfortunately, Wang Anshi could only hold back his laughter. The atmosphere outside was so high that he was too embarrassed to laugh out loud.
But after reviewing the case, he was very happy. He felt that the deal was worth it and he had exceeded his expectations.
Zhao Yan looked at Fan Chunren.
After all, Fan Chunren is not a professional spies. He is also an official. The shouting outside is so loud. If he tries to defend himself, it may ruin his father's reputation. The key is that he is unable to refute the accusation. He can only try to defend himself cleverly, which is not of much significance.
He just shook his head and sat back down.
Zhao Yan slammed the gavel and immediately sentenced Wang Hong to the crime of intentional release.