Fan Zhen was a Jinshi in the reign of Emperor Renzong, and he was the top scorer in the imperial examination. He was of a different generation from Su Che, but the problem was that the Su brothers were extremely talented, and there were few people of their generation who could reach their level. Therefore, they made many friends in the court, and their relationship with Fan Zhen was quite good.
Although Fan Zhen looked relaxed, Su Che was curious and worried about this, so he invited Fan Zhen into the house and asked him the specific reason.
The reason is the Qingmiao Law.
After Wang Anshi formally proposed the Qingmiao Law, Fan Zhen strongly opposed it and even told the emperor directly that it was a method of oppressing the people.
This of course angered Wang Anshi. After obtaining Zhao Xu's tacit approval, he personally drafted an edict to denounce Fan Zhen.
Fan Zhen was also a tough guy. He would not fall for Wang Anshi's tricks and directly appealed to retire.
I quit!
However, Sima Guang and Fan Zhen had a very good relationship. It can be said that they appreciated each other and were close friends. Their governing philosophies were also very similar.
But Sima Guang had to consider the overall situation and did not want to break off relations with the emperor, so he tried his best to persuade Fan Zhen to leave. Later, he asked Fan Zhen to stay in the procuratorate.
However, Xu Zun also supported Wang Anshi in his political views, and Fan Zhen did not get along with Xu Zun. In addition, the Qingmiao Law was finally promulgated at that time, so he requested to retire to express his protest.
Sima Guang had no solution either.
But before leaving Beijing, Fan Zhen heard the court discussing how to use judicial reform to suppress the Qingmiao Law.
The old man suddenly had an idea. Since he couldn't stop it in the court, he might as well go directly to Hezhong Prefecture to stop it. In fact, the conservatives' plan was to block the new law locally rather than in the court, because Zhao Xu was completely biased towards Wang Anshi and they couldn't stop it. So Fan Zhen asked for an official document and came to Hezhong Prefecture to act as an earpiece.
As a result, when I encountered this incident as soon as I arrived, I was immediately very happy. I thought I had not come to the wrong place, so I immediately recommended myself.
Fan Zhen was also from Shaanxi and was quite famous in Hezhong Prefecture. He had many good friends who all knew his talent. The key point was that he had just come from the capital and was very clear about the whole thing. He immediately won the trust of the gentry and agreed to let them serve as their spies for this lawsuit.
"I see."
Su Che nodded and said, "Actually...Actually, Mr. Fan doesn't have to retire, he can just be transferred to our procuratorate."
"That's different."
Fan Zhen waved his hand and said, "I have worked in the procuratorate before. In fact, the main responsibility of the procuratorate is to prosecute the judiciary, not to focus on litigation. Only when the procuratorate believes that the imperial court's judgment is unfair will it file a lawsuit.
In addition, the procuratorate represents the imperial court. For example, in this case, if the prosecution is carried out in the name of the procuratorate, it would be unjust and unsound. Relatively speaking, the ear pen is much freer. "
After hearing this, Su Che couldn't help but say in embarrassment: "I am ashamed, ashamed. To be honest with you, Mr. Fan, I was trying to find a way to sue the government before."
Fan Zhen was stunned, "Really? You too...!"
Having said this, he waved his hands repeatedly, "Now that you are the Attorney General, and I am the spy for one party, it is inconvenient to talk about this matter. However, I came here today to ask for another favor."
Su Che asked quickly, "Master Fan, please speak."
Fan Zhen said, "It's about Judge Zhang. When I was in the capital, I saw his litigation skills and his ability to give lectures, but I have never seen him try a case. I heard that he has the power to make precedents, but he can make judgments not according to the law. So what is the main basis for his judgments?"
The president's habits, opinions, and thoughts are all details of the litigation, because the purpose of the litigation is to convince the president to believe in himself.
Su Che pondered for a while and said, "In fact, Judge Zhang is not ruling against the law. He has not changed any laws yet. However, when it comes to punishment, he often does not punish according to the law, but it is in line with the principle of the rule of law. It is mainly for civil lawsuits and does not involve the interests of the country and the monarch.
He is more of a supplement to the law by adding explanations and principles. Mr. Fan can just go to court according to the law, there won’t be any problem.”
Fan Zhen nodded: "I see."
... ...
The imperial court had just received Fan Zhen's complaint, and the Four Little Kings were extremely excited. They had long expected that the gentry would file a lawsuit.
The reason why they were excited was not entirely because one party to the lawsuit represented the 28 townships of Hezhong Prefecture, and it was a super lawsuit.
It is because this will be a head-on confrontation between judicial reform and the new law, and it also involves patriarchal system. The three laws are intertwined. How can this not be exciting
It's really exciting to see what the final outcome will be.
This verdict may even affect the situation in the capital. Of course, it is also possible that the imperial court itself will be implicated.
So they quickly took it to Zhang Fei for review.
The entire petition is just one piece of paper.
In less than half an incense stick, Zhang Fei finished reading it, put it down, and asked the four little golden men, "What do you think?"
Cai Bian immediately said, "I think this complaint does not meet the standards for a trial."
Zhang Fei asked: "Why?"
Cai Bian immediately said, "Because this petition is mainly against the Qingmiao Law. They just think that the government did this just to accumulate wealth, but they did not provide any evidence to prove that the government could not prohibit the clan law, nor did they prove that the clan law had the power to do so."
Cai Jing said: "I heard that this scholar Fan opposed the new law in the capital. It seems that he just wants to use this lawsuit to attack the Qingmiao Law."
Shangguan Jun said: "So what if it is so? We only look at the evidence. It doesn't matter what their original intention is, as long as there is sufficient evidence."
Zhang Fei asked: "Do you think the evidence is sufficient?"
Shangguan Jun immediately said, "I think this evidence is enough to open a trial, because the government is indeed going to enforce the Qingmiao Law, and the Qingmiao Law stipulates that the interest rate is 2%. Then the government prohibits the interest rate of 1.5%, which is obviously in favor of the Qingmiao Law. This alone is enough for us to open a trial."
Cai Bian retorted: "But there is a difference in order. It was the Qingmiao Law that first stipulated a two-cent interest rate, and then the gentry stipulated a lower interest rate. The other party's actions were obviously aimed at the Qingmiao Law. This petition is simply a case of turning the tables."
Shangguan Jun said: "Even if that is the case, there is no evidence to prove that the gentry cannot do this. The key is that if the gentry do this, it is hard to say whether they will benefit. But if the government does this, the Qingmiao Law will definitely benefit."
"Shangguan is right."
Zhang Fei suddenly nodded, "You have to remember one thing, the purpose of this petition is just to let us open a court trial, it's not all. Based on this point, it is obviously very difficult to prove that the clan law has the right to do so, or to prove that the government has no right to prohibit the clan law. Basically, it is difficult to find direct evidence to prove it.
However, the government has now decided to offer an interest rate of 2%, while at the same time prohibiting the private sector from offering an interest rate of 1.5%. At least two points can be confirmed from this. First, as a result of doing so, the Qingmiao Law will definitely benefit greatly, which means that the government will also benefit greatly.
Second, the people are definitely allowed to lend at an interest rate of 1.5%. This is enough to meet the standard for opening a court, because the government cannot easily prohibit something that is permitted by law in order to earn interest for itself.
Cai Bian said: "But the Qingmiao Law is also a decree of the imperial court."
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "If there is a provision in the Qingmiao Law that prohibits others from lending at low interest rates, then this petition is just a piece of waste paper. No matter how reasonable the petition is, there is no such provision in the Qingmiao Law, and there is no provision involving restraining the people."
At this point, Zhang Fei picked up the petition and said with a smile: "In fact, this petition is very cleverly written. It looks simple and may be a false accusation, but at least we cannot refuse it. Imagine if the government has this right, what will happen? If the government wants to sell grain, it only needs to force the price of grain to rise. If it wants to collect grain, it can force the price of grain to be lower than the market price. That would be a mess. This not only involves the interests of the people, but also the interests of the country and the monarch. Our imperial court cannot ignore this and must examine it clearly. Cai Jing."
"The students are here."
"Go to the government and tell them that if they can't provide sufficient evidence to prove that they did this for the benefit of the Green Seed Law, then our imperial court will open a trial on this case."
"yes."
When the four young men heard this, they knew that this lawsuit would definitely go to trial.
Because the government could not provide sufficient evidence to prove this, the fact is that the Qingmiao Law could be implemented smoothly.
It's that simple.
... ...
After receiving the information from Cai Jing, the government immediately held a meeting to discuss countermeasures.
"It seems that they have reached a point of desperation."
Yuan Jiang sneered and said contemptuously: "They are not afraid to go to the Imperial Court and let the Imperial Court make the decision for them. This is really ridiculous."
Wei Yingfang and the others thought, wasn't it you who started it? You were the first to cooperate with the police.
Yuan Jiang said to Wei Yingfang, "Wei Tongpan, go tell the other party that we are not afraid of going to the imperial court to sue, but we don't want the fisherman to benefit from the quarrel between the snipe and the clam."
Wei Yingfang couldn't help himself and said awkwardly: "But we should also go through the Royal Police in advance..."
"The police station is different from the royal court."
Yuan Jiang said: "The royal police are only executive officers. The government has the right to mobilize them, but the royal court in Hezhong Prefecture is not controlled by anyone. But if they are stubborn, we will not discuss with them in the future. We will also accuse them through the royal court and let them be careful."
Wei Yingfang could not help but frown secretly. These were all ruthless people! They were eager to provoke a dispute between the new law and the judiciary. Indeed, the new law could also provoke a dispute between the judiciary and the old system.
The three-player game is indeed the most difficult game to play.
But Wei Yingfang didn't say much and went straight to discuss with the other party.
It would have been better if you didn't go. If you did go, all those gentry would be furious. It was you who cooperated with the police first, and now that they see us appealing to the royal court, they start to say that while the snipe and the clam quarrel, the fisherman benefits. You are such a hypocrite.
Of course, no matter how angry they are, they cannot give up the lawsuit even from the perspective of interests.
Because there is a very confusing point here, that is, the judicial reform was proposed by Sima Guang, which is a conservative proposal. This is why their previous petitions to the court to accuse the imperial court were useless.
They have only three choices: either cooperate with the new law and oppose judicial reform, or cooperate with judicial reform to deal with the new law, or provoke a conflict between judicial reform and the new law.
Since they are all very opposed to the new law, there is only a third option.
Moreover, they believed that Yuan Jiang was just trying to scare people. Once the imperial court denied the government's ban, Wang Anshi would never give up in the court. As long as there was no ban, the Qingmiao Law would definitely be aborted, and they would definitely fight over it.
He flatly rejected Wei Yingfang's proposal.
The government also immediately decided to respond to the lawsuit.