Perhaps the end of the Ayun case was just a beginning for Sima Guang, Wang Anshi and others, but for Xu Zun, it was an end.
Although this vortex was caused by him, he had no intention of getting involved in it.
His mind is still on work.
Today he came to the Dali Temple with excitement. Now as the judge of the Dali Temple, he has the power to amend and improve the laws.
The first thing he had to improve was the doubts he had raised in the Ayun case.
1. Further standardize voluntary surrender and confession of guilt.
Second, to which crimes does voluntary surrender and confession apply
3. How should the imperial court balance the popular etiquette and imperial laws
These three points seem simple, but they are actually very difficult, especially based on the phenomenon of redundant officials in the Song Dynasty. There are many government offices that can intervene in the same matter, and amending the law itself is very difficult.
In addition, although the folk etiquette and the court legal system are similar, the legal system does not allow for any minor differences, but it cannot completely lean to one side, and the folk etiquette must be taken into consideration.
In the case of Ayun, they obviously completely ignored the folk etiquette and focused on the laws of the court. However, if you are serious about it, many people's marriages will not be recognized by the court, which will cause a series of household registration problems.
The whole society will be turned upside down.
Fortunately, today is not a completely legal society, nor is it an era of litigation. If someone uses the Ayun case as a precedent to sue, the court can make a judgment at its discretion, because there is no such thing as precedent!
But it is a loophole after all.
But just when Xu Zun was full of energy and ready to do a great job, he was summoned into the palace by the emperor as soon as those hall records were transferred over.
When we entered the hall, we saw, besides Emperor Shenzong, there were three other great elders: Wang Anshi, Sima Guang and Lu Gongzhe.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."
"No need to be polite."
Song Shenzong raised his hand slightly to signal, and then said: "I summoned you here today because I have something I want to ask you."
Xu Zun asked, "I wonder what your majesty is asking?"
Song Shenzong said, "It's about that traitor Zhang San. When he was in Dengzhou, did you give him an official document allowing him to go to court to defend himself?"
Xu Zun's heart immediately skipped a beat. How come even the emperor knew about this? That guy was really good at it. He shook his head and said, "I didn't give it to you."
Sima Guang said solemnly: "Xu Si should know that the people of the ear pen must have official documents from the government before they can file a lawsuit."
Xu Zun said hurriedly, "What the Grand Secretary Sima said is right. This is my negligence. At that time, Zhang Fei was a witness in this case. He had defended himself before, and he also provided some new evidence. Therefore, I did not care whether he had the right to sue or not."
After these words were spoken, Song Shenzong, Sima Guang, Wang Anshi and Lu Gong all had different expressions.
Xu Zun also felt that the atmosphere was a bit strange, so he asked, "What happened?"
Lu Gong looked at Xu Zun suspiciously and said, "Don't you know about Xu Si's affairs?"
Xu Zun shook his head.
Lu Gong asked again, "Isn't Zhang San the aide of your house?"
Xu Zun explained, "To be honest with Magistrate Lu, I tried to recruit him, but he only wanted to repay his gratitude and defend Ayun, so he didn't agree. What happened?"
The more he talked, the more panicked he became!
It was unbelievable that Zhang Fei, a mere spies, could make the emperor and three senior officials discuss him.
Lu Gong said, "Just now Zhang San came to Kaifeng Prefecture to surrender himself."
"Turn yourself in?"
Xu Zun was surprised and asked, "Why did he surrender?"
Lu Gong said: "The crime of deceiving the king."
"What?"
Xu Zun almost didn't jump up, his face was completely pale.
This charge is truly a door to hell!
Lu Gong said: "He said he had no right to sue, but he did not inform your majesty, and at your majesty's instruction, he defended Ayun, which is a crime of deceiving the emperor."
"this... ."
Xu Zun was dumbfounded.
As expected of a professional, he surrendered himself so clearly and logically that he didn't know how to refute it.
Wang Anshi suddenly asked, "Xu Temple's matter, you really don't know anything about it."
"I really don't know. He never mentioned it to me."
At this point, he suddenly realized that he seemed to be involved, and hurriedly said to Song Shenzong: "Your Majesty, I am guilty. I... I did not inform Your Majesty in time at the time, and I deserve to die."
This seems to be getting bigger and bigger.
Song Shenzong was at a loss for a moment, and he himself did not think that this was a crime of deceiving the emperor!
This kind of conspiracy is usually used against ministers and is almost never used against ordinary people.
Wang Anshi suddenly said to Song Shenzong: "Your Majesty, I think this matter is very suspicious."
Song Shenzong asked: "What do you mean by that?"
Wang Anshi said: "This case has been closed, and no one in the court is investigating this issue. Why did Zhang Fei suddenly go to Kaifeng Prefecture to surrender? I think there must be someone threatening him behind the scenes, and this person is not small, so Zhang Fei did not dare to ask Xu Si for help."
Song Shenzong frowned when he heard this and was very unhappy.
This is too much.
He lost the lawsuit but still refused to admit it and resorted to such crooked means.
If you want to use this kind of tactics, then so can I.
You old fellow, you shot the arrow from the dark, killing people without shedding blood! Sima Guang immediately stepped forward and said, "I agree with what Grand Secretary Wang said. We must investigate this matter thoroughly to see who did it.
In addition, I think the key to this case is not Zhang Fei's identity, but that he was recommended by Xu Sishi to come to the Dali Temple to plead, which is better than the official document granted by the government."
Song Shenzong glanced at Sima Guang, nodded, and then asked Lu Gong: "Have you asked why he suddenly surrendered?"
Lu Gong said: "I have confirmed with him again and again that Zhang Fei did not mention that anyone threatened him. He just felt that if he did not tell the truth, he would be unworthy of his loyalty to Your Majesty."
Wang Anshi said: "This reason is not convincing enough."
Sima Guang frowned. He was indeed dissatisfied, but he would not resort to such despicable means. To prove his innocence, he immediately said, "Your Majesty, I have a suggestion."
Song Shenzong asked: "What suggestions do you have?"
Sima Guang said, "As I said before, Zhang San was recommended by Xu Sishi, and he is absolutely qualified to defend Ayun. Now that some people want to argue about this identity issue, why doesn't the court give him a new identity to shut those people up."
Lu Gongzhu also immediately stood up and said, "I agree."
Wang Anshi glanced at Sima Guang suspiciously and thought, it seems that it really is not him, so what is going on
"Your words make sense." Song Shenzong nodded and immediately made the decision: "According to your opinion, I will give him an identity and leave this matter at that. Don't mention it again."
This case was the first fire he had started since he ascended the throne, and he could not turn it over no matter what. Even if Zhang Fei had to die, he could not die over this case.
Xu Zun, who had been in a daze, suddenly came to his senses after hearing this. His cheeks bulged and he wished he could bite his teeth to pieces. This brat is really...
"Xu Zhongtu! Zhongtu!"
"ah?"
Xu Zun was startled to see that Song Shenzong, Sima Guang and Lu Gong had already left, while Wang Anshi was looking at him with confusion.
"Zhongtu, are you okay?" Wang Anshi asked.
Xu Zun cupped his hands and said, "I... I'm fine."
Wang Anshi asked in a low voice: "Are you really unaware of this matter?"
Xu Zun shook his head and said, "If I had known, this would never have happened."
Wang Anshi asked again: "Do you think someone is interfering in this matter?"
Yes! It's just that brat! Xu Zun really has a lot of troubles!
Wang Anshi looked at his expression and became even more suspicious. He asked, "Zhongtu, do you know something?"
When Xu Zun saw Wang Anshi's face full of suspicion, he also knew that Wang Anshi's current situation was really like a threat against everything. He weighed the pros and cons in his mind and thought that if he didn't explain it clearly, it might cause misunderstanding. In addition, he knew that Wang Anshi would definitely be on Zhang Fei's side, so he pulled Wang Anshi outside and whispered a few words to him.
Wang Anshi was stunned after hearing this. After a while, he said, "You...what did you say? He...he did this just for that official document?"
Xu Zun nodded and said, "That's probably the case, but I'm also speculating based on the outcome of this incident. It's also possible that he's afraid someone will use this to attack him, so he wants to fill this loophole."
Wang Anshi was so upset that he wanted to cry: "Brother Zhongtu, you are too pedantic. He has helped you so much, so what if you give him a piece of official document? It's not illegal."
Xu Zun sighed, "Now that things have come to this, there is no point in saying more."
Wang Anshi suddenly burst into laughter.
Xu Zun wondered, "Jiefu, what are you laughing at?"
Wang Anshi laughed and said, "This brat is really bold. He almost caused a big uproar in the city just for a piece of official document."
If this case were to be reopened, it would be extremely terrifying.
Xu Zun snorted, "You're right. This kid is really brave. Do you know what the first thing he did when he got out of prison was?"
Wang Anshi asked, "What did he do?"
Xu Zun said: "He is suing me for causing him to sit in jail for three months unjustly, and he is asking me for compensation."
"Yeah?"
"Absolutely."
Wang Anshi laughed and said, "But he succeeded, didn't he?"
Xu Zun nodded reluctantly.
Wang Anshi said: "This shows that this man is not just brave but also wise. How can you not cherish such a talent and let him be a scribe?"
On the contrary, he admired Zhang Fei for his courage to act.
Xu Zun smiled bitterly and said, "I have tried to recruit him many times, but unfortunately he doesn't think highly of me as a guest in my mansion."
Wang Anshi asked, "Don't you know how to recommend him for an official post?"
Xu Zun just smiled.
Wang Anshi knew Xu Zun's character very well. He knew that he was unwilling to take care of Xu Zun even for his own son, so he didn't say anything more.
... ...
On the other side, Lu Gong returned to Kaifeng Prefecture and immediately ordered people to quickly process an official document for Zhang Fei. However, since Zhang Fei did not have a household registration, according to his own words, the household registration was lost in the shipwreck, so the document could not be processed. So Kaifeng Prefecture also issued him a household registration in the capital.
This is the emperor's decree, so we have to do it quickly and it will all be done in less than an hour.
This backdoor method really does not require any lubrication and is filled with a strong sense of urgency. It is so cool.
"The emperor's grace is so great! The emperor's grace is so great!"
Zhang Fei hugged the document tightly and shouted with tears in his eyes.
Lu Gong said, "That's enough! That's enough! Now that you have the official document, you can't be accused of deceiving the emperor. Go now."
Zhang Fei looked at Lu Gong with tears in his eyes again, "I am sorry for causing trouble to the prefect, I...!"
Before he could finish, Lu Gong waved his hand and said, "Come here! Get this troublemaker out of here."
"No, no, no, I can just walk on my own."
Zhang Fei escaped in a very embarrassed manner.
"Finally, we drove away this plague god."
Lu Gong couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Huang Gui, the chief clerk, said, "Now that he has the official document, he must come here every day to file a lawsuit, right?"
Lu Gong was petrified immediately.
... ...
When Zhang Fei left Kaifeng Prefecture, his expression changed. He looked at the documents in his hand and a smug smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
Suddenly, a hand reached out from the side and grabbed his wrist.
He tilted his head and exclaimed, "Grand Scholar Sima."
"Good boy!"
Sima Guang grabbed his wrist and asked, "What do you want to do by doing this?"
He was actually very panicked at the time. He was really worried that Wang Anshi would use this incident to attack him. He even thought that it was Wang Anshi who instructed Zhang Fei to do this.
As expected, when this kid came out, he had a sly smile on his face.
As expected of the man who smashed the jar, his strength is really great! Zhang Fei's eyes flashed a few times, and he raised his hand and broke free: "For this piece of official document."
Sima Guang asked in confusion: "For this piece of official document, you are willing to surrender yourself for deceiving the emperor?"
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "I know that Grand Secretary Sima has been dissatisfied with the lawsuit, and I think that the lawsuit is almost perfect, except for my identity. As long as we bet on this loophole, it will be truly perfect, and even Grand Secretary Sima will not be able to overturn the verdict."
Sima Guang looked directly at Zhang Fei. After a while, he smiled slightly and said, "You underestimate me too much. I am really dissatisfied because you did not win by evidence..."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "So I am afraid that the Grand Secretary will treat me in the same way he treated me."
Sima Guang immediately glared at him and said, "Asshole! How can I be like you? Even if I want to overturn the case, I will definitely produce solid evidence to convince everyone."
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Then I'm relieved."
I was so happy. From now on, even if you really go to Hanyang to investigate my identity, you can't use this to attack me. Hehe!
When Sima Guang saw that strange light flashing in the boy's eyes again, he immediately realized why he lost the lawsuit. One of the important reasons was that the two of them had equal status in the court from the beginning.
Now that I have made such harsh remarks, I must not use my status to bully others.
I couldn't help but feel angry, wondering why I only remembered the food and not the beating.
Why should I, a great scholar, argue with a group of liars over the law
But on second thought, I am a university scholar who has studied for decades. How can I not be able to reason with a kid in his early twenties? Isn't this a joke
In the end, pride triumphed over reason.
Sima Guangming knew that Zhang Fei was playing tricks, but he didn't point it out. To win, he had to win the other party's conviction.
Sima Niu is such a serious person.