The advertisement was very smooth, not awkward at all, well-reasoned and natural, so it caught the officials present off guard.
In just a moment, the entire courtyard, inside and outside, was suddenly immersed in the melody of ice and fire.
Among the officials present, there were many who supported the new policy, but there were also many who opposed it.
As soon as the advertisement came out, it was as if everyone had a flag pasted on their face, and their camps were clearly defined.
However, after a brief moment of anger and surprise, everyone fell into new contemplation...
Because they discovered a very sharp contradiction.
That is, which side is this kid on
As the president of the court, Zhang Fei was undoubtedly the representative of judicial reform, and the judicial reform came from Sima Guang, who was in turn the representative of those who opposed the Qingmiao Law and the leader of the conservatives.
this... .
So everyone started asking Yuan Jiang, Zheng Xie and other Beijing officials.
Yuan Jiang was inclined towards Wang Anshi, while Zheng Xie was a staunch conservative.
However, the statements given by the two were surprisingly consistent.
That is... I don't know!
But they did not feel surprised at all, because Zhang Fei in the capital had both defended the new law and won the first battle for Wang Anshi in the corvée law, and had also provided advice for Sima Guang's judicial reform and provided a theoretical basis for the judicial reform, that is, the law of the legal system.
You asked me which side he is from, I really want to know too.
This made everyone depressed.
How on earth did this guy do it
Zhang Fei didn't take their whispers to heart at all. After a short rest, he started to hear the next case.
This speed of trial was extremely fast in ancient times.
In the past, it took many geniuses in the county government to publicly try a case. Generally speaking, after the complaint was submitted to the government, it would first be examined by a clerk, who would write down his opinion. It would then be submitted to the chief clerk for review. After the chief clerk believed there was no problem, it would be submitted to the county magistrate. The county magistrate would directly make the judgment on any day he was free.
After all, for the county magistrate, finance is the key.
Although public security is also important, the county government will not spend too much energy on public trials for such minor civil cases.
The next lawsuit was an employer suing his tenant farmer, but it was similar to Chen Liugen's case in that the tenant farmer borrowed some money from his employer to pay for his mother's medical treatment and funeral.
This is the tragedy of self-employed farmers and tenant farmers. They cannot withstand any disturbance and have to borrow money when things don’t go well.
But there is a slight difference, that is, the employer is in urgent need of money and requires the tenant to pay back the money immediately.
"Li Nianci."
"Xiaomin is here."
The young man standing in the plaintiff's seat immediately bowed.
Zhang Fei asked: "Can you tell me why you need this money so urgently? Judging from your family situation, you should not be short of this eleven strings of cash."
Li Nianci immediately said, "In reply to the judge, I am from Daming Prefecture. I came here with my father to sell salt a long time ago, and used the profits from the salt trade to buy some land in Hezhong Prefecture. Now my father is old and hopes to return to Daming Prefecture, so I have to quickly clear these debts."
The merchants of the Song Dynasty were very good at financial management. They were more inclined to manage land finance rather than currency, because the Song Dynasty did not suppress land annexation. If they did business in one place for a long time, they would generally put the idle money on hand into the fields, rent it to self-cultivating farmers, and take 50% of the income themselves.
When he was about to leave, he would sell the land. Compared with the small amount of deed tax, the annual harvest from the land was obviously much more.
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "I see."
Li Nianci took out some deeds and said, "These are the deeds for the land I have sold in the past three months. Please have a look at them, Mr. Judge."
"Present."
... ...
The officials and landlords standing by were all looking forward to it.
You can't help but award the tenant farmer's land to Li Nianci this time. He is about to leave. Do you want to use flying money to pay him back
Zhang Fei carefully looked at the deeds for selling the land, and then asked Cai Jing and others, "How much land does Gu Shuiliu's family have?"
Shangguan Jun said: "Twenty-one acres of land."
Zhang Fei asked again: "What is the market value?"
"... ... ?"
Shangguan Jun was a little dumbfounded. "As for the land of Gu Shuiliu's family, it varies in value. I don't know how much it is worth at the moment."
Cai Jing said: "I estimate that it should be worth at least 17 or 18 strings of cash."
Zhang Fei looked at their uncertain eyes and said, "It's not your fault. After all, this is not what we are good at, and we don't have that much energy. Cai Jing, go to the dental office tomorrow to recruit some professionals in this field."
Cai Jing nodded and said, "Yes."
Zhang Fei looked up at Li Nianci and said, "Since you and your son are eager to leave, the Gu family should repay all debts immediately. Moreover, the interest you gave to Gu Shuiliu is slightly lower than the legal interest stipulated by the court, so Gu Shuiliu should repay it in full."
"Thank you, Judge Zhang."
Li Nianci bowed happily.
When the big landlords saw this, their eyes all rolled around. There is still room for maneuver here!
As long as I can prove that I'm in urgent need of money, that's enough.
Zhang Fei looked at the middle-aged man on the right again, "Gu Shuiliu."
"Xiaomin is here!"
Gu Shuiliu lowered his head and responded in a low voice.
Zhang Fei said: "You are a very hardworking and honest farmer. You have no choice but to borrow money. I am willing to help you this time."
Gu Shuiliu suddenly raised his head and looked at Zhang Fei excitedly.
Zhang Fei said, "First, you can take the land deed to the Changping Division for mortgage loan to repay Li Nianci's debt, because the Changping Division's interest rate is 2%, which is much lower than the market loan interest rate. And you just said that you can do some carpentry work, I can introduce you to the branch office to help, and at the same time I will ask Chief Inspector Ma to give some uniforms to your wife to make. If you work hard, you should be able to pay it off within a year."
After these words were spoken, the landlords and officials present were dumbfounded again.
Is it still possible to do this
Compared with what was said before, this promotion is simply super hardcore!
Borrow low-interest loans to repay high-interest debts.
It won’t be long before all the loans on the market come from the Ministry of Revenue!
Gu Shuiliu couldn't help but burst into tears with excitement, "Thank you, President. Thank you, President."
"Thank you, Chief Inspector Ma."
Zhang Fei pointed at Ma Xiaoyi next to him and smiled.
"Thank you, Chief Inspector Ma. Thank you, Chief Inspector Ma."
Gu Shuiliu excitedly thanked Ma Xiaoyi again.
Ma Xiaoyi chuckled and said, "It's a small matter. You can do the same as Chen Liugen. Go to the police station near you and ask. They will tell you what to do."
"Yes, yes, thank you very much."
... ...
Cao Dongdong whispered to Fu Shichun, "Brother Xiaochun, during the next retrial, transfer Xiao Ma away. I will personally appear in court to assist Zhang San."
Fu Shichun and Fan Zheng looked at Cao Dongdong with question marks on their faces.
What are you interested in
Cao Dongdong said: "The last time I appeared in court, my reputation was damaged. I have to find a way to get it back."
Fu Shichun was speechless for a while, and said: "Don't you see that the one they are really grateful to is Zhang San, not Xiao Ma. If you really want to improve your reputation, why not go and arrange work for them in person and pay them, then they will definitely thank you."
Cao Dongdong's eyes turned, "This is a good idea."
... ... .
After this judgment, although we don’t know whether he is new or old, one thing is certain, that is, the royal court is extremely unfriendly to the big landowners.
The next few lawsuits were all about loan disputes.
Zhang Fei's judgment remains the same, basically stopping the increase of interest, extending the repayment period, and providing different assistance based on the debtor's integrity issues.
For people with good integrity, we will proactively give them jobs so that they can earn money to repay their loans.
As for those who are deadbeats, they are required to find jobs as soon as possible and provide repayment plans, otherwise they will be forced to sell their labor.
This made most landlords look very unhappy.
Because what they are demanding is land annexation, not that little bit of interest money. If landlords want to develop, they must pursue land annexation. Otherwise, how can they become landlords
However, the imperial court’s decisions are often aimed at upholding the basic safeguards of people’s lives.
If it was a lawsuit between wealthy families, the royal court would decide the ownership of the land, but these lawsuits were all between self-employed farmers and landlords.
Self-employed farmers only have a small piece of land, which is enough to ensure their basic living.
If this is the case, land annexation will become very difficult.
Of course, some wealthy people are happy about this, because these judgments are first and foremost about ensuring the interests of creditors. This is also good news for some wealthy people who have low social status and no background.
After all, nothing is absolute in the world. There are vicious landlords, but there are also rogue common people. This is the most basic protection that can be provided to many people who make a living by lending money.
As I said, the butt determines the head.
... ...
It was almost noon, and Zhang Fei, who never worked overtime, made a prompt decision: "This morning's trial ends here."
"Is that the end?"
"It's still early. We still have an afternoon to go before dinner."
"Will the trial be held this afternoon?"
... ..
The people were watching the case with great interest. To them, this kind of verdict was just like a plot in a thriller novel and they were unwilling to stop. If they were hungry, you can eat while the case is being judged!
Of course, Zhang Fei would ignore them. This kind of trial looked easy, but it was actually very tiring. He had to review a lot of relevant information, and sometimes his brain couldn't process it, so he would overlook some details. He looked at Su Zhe again, "Does the procuratorate have any objections to the verdict just now?"
Su Che stood up and said, "We have no objection to the judgment of the Grand Court President, but we are confused about the standard of judgment. Based on the previous few lawsuits, the Grand Court President repeatedly emphasized one point, that is, the basic guarantee of people's lives, and stated that the part exceeding this should be returned to the creditor, but I don't know what the specific provisions of this basic guarantee are."
"No!"
Zhang Fei answered simply and clearly.
"... ... ?"
Su Zhe was a little confused.
Zhang Fei further explained: "Because it is difficult to stipulate, for example, two households have parents, but one parent is healthy and can help with work, while the other parent is bedridden. If the same standard is applied, it is obviously wrong. This depends on the specific situation and specific judgment.
Here, I reiterate that my judgment may not be accurate, because the evidence I have is also limited. Whether it is the defendant, the plaintiff, or the procuratorate, if they have evidence, they can immediately present it, or they can appeal within the prescribed time. "
At this point, he looked at Su Zhe and said, "The supervision of your procuratorate should not only be about the president keeping an eye on me, but also about investigating relevant evidence in a targeted manner."
What this means is that the procuratorate is not the Censorate, and it has to speak based on evidence. If it feels something is suspicious, it should launch an investigation rather than questioning the presiding judge. In a case like this, the presiding judge can only make a judgment based on the evidence provided by both parties.
"Please rest assured, Grand Judge. Our procuratorate will also conduct an investigation. What I am asking is the criteria for the Royal Court to make this judgment. After all, this is not yet stipulated by law. However, what the Grand Judge said makes sense. It is indeed difficult to make detailed regulations on this."
Su Che immediately added: "In addition, there is also the matter of the Ministry of Grain and Oil. The Grand Court President mentioned the Ministry of Grain and Oil a few times just now. However, as far as I know, the Ministry of Grain and Oil also charges interest. Two cents a month is not low. Borrowing new debts to repay old debts is not a wise move. Although the Grand Court President also provides them with a livelihood and helps them repay their debts, if something happens to them and they cannot repay the debts of the Ministry of Grain and Oil, what should the imperial court do?"
Zhang Fei said: "This judge is just suggesting, not forcing. If they have other options, they don't have to go. If they go but can't pay it back, that's another case and can only be tried later."
Su Che immediately said, "The Ministry of Revenue is a government agency, not a private individual. I wonder if the imperial court's judgment will be the same. As far as I know, the highest principle of the imperial court's judgment is to defend the interests of the country and the monarch."
As Zhang Fei continued to emphasize, the concept of the law of the legal system had been engraved in his mind. Su Che also learned his lesson. No matter what questions were asked, he tried his best to give the concept of the law of the legal system to prevent Zhang Fei from using this to defend himself.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "The judgment of this court chief is to fully protect the interests of creditors and to help them recover their legal debts as much as possible. This judgment standard is of course also applicable to the Ministry of Grain and Oil, and it does not violate the highest principles of the imperial court."
Su Zhe bowed and said, "Thank you, Grand Judge, for clearing up my doubts. I have no other questions."
He was absolutely opposed to the Qingmiao Law, and his reason for opposition was the same as Sima Guang's: the Qingmiao Law would eventually become a money-making machine for the country rather than serving the people.
The purpose of asking this question was to use Zhang Fei's mouth to provide the procuratorate with a reason to suppress the Qingmiao Law.
"Adjourn the court!"
Zhang Fei knocked the gavel, stood up and left.
As soon as he left, there was a lot of discussion inside and outside the courtyard.
What is being discussed outside is the penalty criteria.
What is discussed more in it is the Qingmiao Method.
"Master Yuan, don't you find it strange?"
He Chunlin looked at Yuan Jiang blankly.
Yuan Jiang asked: "What's so strange?"
He Chunlin said: "The Imperial Court and our Transportation Department are incompatible, and the Ministry of Grain and Oil belongs to our Transportation Department, why is he still speaking for us?"
Yuan Jiang snorted, "You are so stupid! He is not speaking for us, he is digging a hole and pushing us to jump into it. Just think about it, when we go to the Ministry of Revenue to borrow money or collect debts, we will be checked and balanced by the imperial court. Can't you see this?"
He was not thinking about anything else just now, just thinking about how to explain.
Of course he knew that Zhang Fei was doing this to promote the Qingmiao Law.
But on the surface, he and Zhang Fei were in direct conflict, and he was the manager of the Ministry of Revenue, which would inevitably arouse their suspicion.
He Chunlin suddenly realized what Yuan Jiang's explanation made sense. "So that's how it is. This guy has a lot of bad intentions. But whether to lend or not is our decision. Let's not lend it and see how he ends up."
Yuan Jiang snorted, "If we don't lend it, and the higher-ups blame us, what will you bear? The court wants us to implement the Qingmiao Law, not to fight the imperial court. Don't you think that the boy is very smart? He dared to say this in public, which means he is sure that we dare not refuse to lend it."
He Chunlin was suddenly confused.