"Assisting the jury?"
Fan Zhen was startled. He had never heard of this thing. What was it
Since this assistant panel only appeared once, which was the case of matricide in Guixiang, although Zhang Fei said at the time that such an arrangement would exist again in the future, it never appeared again, so everyone thought it was just a one-time thing, just to solve the matricide case. Even Su Che had not mentioned this matter to Fan Zhen before.
Guo Xiaofa immediately stepped forward and explained, "Mr. Fan, you may not know that the assistant jury means selecting some people from the judges outside the court to assist the president in the trial."
This was the first time Fan Zhen had heard of this kind of operation. "How do I choose?"
"Choose whatever you like."
Guo Xiaofa said contemptuously: "Last time even the tea lady and the butcher joined in."
"Tea lady? Butcher?" Fan Zhen was surprised: "Isn't this treating the trial as a joke?"
Guo Xiaofa said, "I think so too, but Zhang San said that it is difficult for an honest judge to judge family affairs. The law is nothing more than human feelings. He naturally finds it difficult to understand many hidden facts, so he asked the people to join the trial and provide some opinions."
Fan Zhen stroked his beard and asked, "Then how useful is this assistant jury?"
Guo Xiaofa said, "Last time, Zhang San accepted the advice of the assistant judge, but we all think that he was going to sentence him that way. We don't know what will happen this time."
Fan Zhen glanced at the seats and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
Over there, Su Che and more than a dozen other prosecutors also entered the exclusive corridor of the procuratorate through a special passage.
When they arrived, they also saw the row of empty seats.
"Does Judge Zhang want to arrange a jury to assist in this case?"
Chen Qi was surprised and asked, "Why do they need to form an assistant judge for such a big case?"
Wang Shen wondered, "What are the rules for this assistant panel? What kind of cases would require this assistant panel?"
Su Che pondered for a moment and said, "This case is about usury, which is closely related to the people of the world. It is reasonable to arrange an assistant judge."
As he spoke, he turned around and looked at Fan Zhen and the others with a worried look on his face.
... ...
On their right, there was a group of people who were very low-key. They were the spies headed by Li Min. After all, they were of low status and did not attend the court session, so they did not dare to speak out. At this time, they were also whispering about the assistant judge.
"What does this assistant jury mean?"
Lu Bangxing arrived late and did not catch up with the lawsuit, so he doesn't know much about it.
Li Min said: "Just find a group of people to sit here and give their opinions to the president."
Qiu Zhengwen said: "We also have to consider this assistant judge and try to ask some bad things about the big landlords. There are so many people outside, it is impossible to choose a group of landlords to sit on it."
Several people immediately started discussing.
Grand Secretaries like Fan Zhen have very strong principles, but these spies have no principles at all and are more likely to be flexible.
... ...
However, Guo Kui, Wang Shao and other practical people are hiding quietly in a corner. They are very nervous and don't want to chat with others, because offending either side will affect their government affairs. They also want to make a fortune in silence!
Cai Yanqing also quietly came over and asked with a cheeky smile: "What are you guys talking about?"
But her eyes seemed to be saying, Big brother, please take me in, there's no place for me outside!
Wang Shao smiled and said, "Prefect Cai is still in the mood to attack us. It seems that he is sure to win!"
Cai Yanqing hurriedly said, "Hey, young man! The affairs of the yamen are complicated. I didn't take care of this matter. It was all arranged by Master Yuan."
When they heard this, they immediately realized that they were people of the same kind.
Wang Shao then asked, "By the way, have the accounts for this year's autumn taxes come out?"
Cai Yanqing said: "It has not been calculated yet, but it is estimated that it should be 30% more than in previous years."
Guo Kui frowned when he heard this. "The police station didn't do anything else but just made a self-declaration. They can get 30% more in autumn taxes. It's really a joke."
Wang Shao could not help but sigh: "It is better to enforce the law impartially than to reform the law! No matter how good the new law is, if no one enforces it, or if it is only enforced in name only, then it will be in vain!"
Several people nodded.
The autumn tax did not change, they just asked everyone to pay the full amount, but the result was an increase of 30%.
Guo Kui said: "I hope today's trial can end this turmoil and usher in a good start for next year."
This group of people are now full of hope for the future. With tax revenue increasing and expenditure decreasing at the same time, they can achieve a lot!
During the conversation, the four little golden warriors came into the court and everyone took their seats immediately.
After a while, Zhang Fei, Xu Zhiqian and Li Si finally entered the courtyard.
I only heard a spectator outside the door shouting, "Judge Zhang, long time no see."
Zhang Fei looked up and saw a young man. He smiled and said, "Long time no see."
During this period, the Four Little Golden Warriors were always trying the cases, and Zhang Fei seldom appeared. Although the Four Little Golden Warriors also won a certain degree of recognition, everyone still preferred to watch Zhang Fei trying the cases, mainly because the Four Little Golden Warriors' behavior was relatively serious and they did not dare to joke casually, and they did not have the friendliness of Zhang Fei.
When Zhang Fei arrived in the court, everyone stood up immediately. This had become a conditioned reaction.
"Please take a seat, everyone."
Zhang Fei gestured with his hand, then sat down with them. After tidying up a bit, Zhang Fei picked up the long-lost gavel and knocked it hard, saying loudly: "What this court is going to hear today is that the twenty-eight townships of Hezhong Prefecture accuse the prefecture government and the Transportation Bureau of abusing their power, illegally collecting taxes, and amassing wealth.
However, since this case concerns the people of Hezhong Prefecture, after careful consideration, this judge believes that the people should also be given a seat, so this judge decided to select fifteen men and five women from the audience outside the door as the assistant judges to join the trial. "
"I come!"
"Choose me!"
"Judge Zhang, choose me."
... ...
The audience outside the door suddenly became crowded, and no one was stage frightened. The reason was very simple, because Zhang Fei was sitting up there.
Ma Xiaoyi, who had been waiting at the door for a long time, shouted, "Don't push! Don't push! Whoever pushes again, I won't choose him."
No one dared to move at that moment.
Ma Xiaoyi immediately jumped onto the bench next to him, searched the crowd for a while, pointed at the crowd, and soon, he selected fifteen men and five women.
Fan Zhen, Li Min and Su Che all looked at the twenty people.
Looking at their attire, they are a combination of various professions: butchers, scholars, peddlers, farmers, carpenters, and this middle-aged woman who is carrying vegetables in her hands and a rag on her shoulder.
It's quite casual.
An old scholar standing in front of the door questioned: "Judge Zhang, you have selected people from the market. How can they understand the great principles? You should select some scholars to enter."
When the assistant jury was selected for the first time, there were indeed few scholars at the door. But this time was different. There were many gentry standing in front of the door, but none of them was selected, which made them feel very embarrassed!
Zhang Fei glanced at the man and said with a smile, "Your Excellency, aren't all these scholars sitting inside?"
As he spoke, he pointed at Fan Zhen, Su Che and others.
The old man was suddenly embarrassed and silent.
After the twenty people were seated, Zhang Fei said to them, "I may have to delay you for some time today. I am very sorry, but after the trial, our imperial court will give each of you 200 coins as the court fee."
Is there any money left
An old lady slapped her thigh excitedly and grinned, "Judge Zhang doesn't need to apologize. We should thank Judge Zhang."
"You're welcome! This is what I should do."
Zhang Fei added: "But during this interrogation, if I don't ask you questions, you must not speak loudly, understand?"
"No need to worry! No need to worry! I won't tell you. I won't tell you."
"very good!"
Zhang Fei picked up the gavel and knocked it gently. "The court is officially open. Mr. Fan, the hired espionage writer from the 28th Township, will start the questioning."
After all, given his age and status, it's not easy for him to call Fan Erbi directly.
Fan Zhen slowly stood up, bowed, and said, "Judge Zhang, old... I would like to ask the transport envoy Yuan Jiang to testify in court."
Zhang Fei nodded and immediately summoned the transport envoy Yuan Jiang to appear in court.
After a while, Yuan Jiang came to the court.
Although they couldn't be considered close friends, they had worked together before. After a brief greeting, Fan Zhen began to ask questions.
"Master Yuan, according to our investigation, the ban on the interest rate stipulated by the clan law was issued in the name of the government, but it was issued under the strong recommendation of your Transportation Department. I wonder if it is true?"
Yuan Jiang nodded and said, "Yes."
Fan Zhen asked again, "May I ask how many years it has been since Master Yuan entered the government?"
Yuan Jiang thought for a moment and said, "About forty years."
Fan Zhen said: "I heard that Master Yuan has served as a judge, county magistrate, and prefect in many places. Is that true?"
Yuan Jiang nodded.
Fan Zhen asked again: "Did Master Yuan explicitly prohibit any clan system during this period, or did he suggest others to prohibit any clan system?"
Yuan Jiang couldn't help but hesitate.
Zhang Fei whispered, "I didn't realize this old man is quite capable."
Cai Jing turned around and whispered, "I have inquired about it. Scholar Fan was transferred to the Procuratorate for more than a month because he angered Scholar Wang."
"One month, that's pretty impressive." Zhang Fei nodded.
Xu Zhiqian whispered, "Master Fan was the first in the imperial examination to enter the government, so of course he is amazing."
Zhang Fei said with relief: "So he is the top scholar."
Yuan Jiang hesitated for a while and shook his head, "No."
Fan Zhen smiled slightly and said, "Like Scholar Yuan, I have been an official for almost forty years and have never seen the government ban the clan law. I have even rarely asked about it. After all, the country has its own laws and the family has its own laws. Therefore, Fan is very curious. I wonder why Scholar Yuan wants to ban this clan law?"
Yuan Jiang replied: "First of all, I don't think they have the right to do so."
Fan Zhen waited for a moment before saying, "I heard that Master Yuan once served as a transport envoy in Guangdong..."
Before he could finish, Yuan Jiang immediately said, "Secondly, their motives will have a very bad impact on the country."
Fan Zhen glanced at him, stroked his beard and smiled.
Yuan Jiang shifted his gaze elsewhere.
In fact, many customs in various places are ignorant and even conflict with the law. For example, in the barbarian lands in the south, there are many people who use lynching. The patriarchal system is even more unreasonable and should be banned. Why don't you ban it
Yuan Jiang knew clearly that the other party was going to ask about the Qingmiao Law. He originally wanted to negotiate, but his plan failed in an instant. This was because he had been an official for so many years, and politics is the art of compromise. If he was too serious, there would be too many loopholes for the other party to attack.
Fan Zhen asked, "Where did Yuan Xueshi come from?"
Yuan Jiang immediately said, "Because I think those people who set the interest rate are just spreading rumors to confuse the public, intending to resist the court's policies and seek profits for themselves."