When Lu Xiaosheng stood up, Fan Zhen immediately gave him an apologetic look, but Lu Xiaosheng looked at him shamefully, sighed, and slowly walked down the hall.
This Lu Xiaosheng was a close friend of Fan Zhen. He was a very upright person and lived a life of noble character. That was why Fan Zhen summoned him first to testify, intending to use him to show the demeanor of their country gentry and reverse the bad influence caused in the morning.
But he never expected that the other party would find his flaw and cause his old friend to suffer.
This was really demoralizing to the gentry.
However, Fan Zhen still had a confident and well-planned demeanor and was not panicked at all.
Next it was the defense's turn to call witnesses, and this time it was Lu Bangxing who was in charge. He directly called a local squire from the other side named Xu Qingnian, the same local squire who had refused to testify in court in the morning due to illness.
However, at noon, after some persuasion from Fan Zhen, he agreed to appear in court.
After all, he is one of the plaintiffs. As a plaintiff, if he is unwilling to testify in court, it would be too unconvincing.
The old man's appearance was not as arrogant as Liang Youyi just now. He sat very obediently, with a look of aggrieved look, like a lamb to be slaughtered.
These country gentlemen have also come to this day? Lu Bangxing almost laughed out loud, stood up, and asked directly: "I heard that Mr. Xu opened a loan shop in the city, specializing in lending."
Xu Qingnian nodded and said, "Yes."
Lu Bangxing asked again: "I wonder how much interest Mr. Xu's warehouse unlocking shop usually charges?"
“There are highs and lows.”
After that, Xu Qingnian immediately added: "I admit that some of the interest rates are relatively high. If calculated using the Imperial Court's conversion method, it is more than double."
I admit it all, don't ask me anymore.
Lu Bangxing smiled slightly and said, "I wonder if the interest rate stipulated in this clan law will be binding on Mr. Xu's Jieku Shop?"
Xu Qingnian shook his head and said, "It is not binding, because the rule only applies to the folks in Huaishu Township. Jiekupu is in the city, and the two sides have nothing to do with each other."
Lu Bangxing said: "That is to say, Mr. Xu will not raise the interest rate of the Jieku Shop to 1.5 percent."
Xu Qingnian said: "No."
Lu Bangxing asked again: "So, Mr. Xu is not sincerely supporting the 1.5% interest rate?"
Xu Qingnian said, "That's not the case. I am happy to do something for the villagers. My store in the city is just a business. It's fine as long as it's not illegal."
Lu Bangxing looked down at the documents and said, "But according to my investigation, your Xu family lent money to villagers at twice or even three times the interest rate during the famine five years ago, which was the most difficult time for the villagers, and annexed the land of dozens of households. At that time, Mr. Xu didn't seem to think of doing something for the people?"
Xu Qingnian looked at him and said, "I've been so honest, but you still want to do this. This is really heartbreaking." He immediately replied with despair, "Many people did this at that time."
He usually doesn't speak like this. Like Liang Youyi, he talks about benevolence, righteousness, and morality. However, he knows that saying this here will only embarrass himself more, so he simply abandons the Confucian cloak and talks directly about interests.
There was a sudden booing outside the courtyard.
"Silence! Silence!"
Zhang Fei immediately banged the gavel, as if this was his only job.
After the people outside the courtyard quieted down, Lu Bangxing continued to ask: "I heard that the draft agreement for the interest was drawn up by Mr. Xu."
"Yes, it is."
Xu Qingnian nodded slightly.
Lu Bangxing asked, "Why did you ask Mr. Xu to draft it?"
Xu Qingnian said: "Because my family runs a warehouse shop, I know more about this."
Lu Bangxing asked again: "I heard that the draft agreement stipulates that anyone who violates this provision will be expelled from the township?"
Xu Qingnian was stunned for a moment, and after hesitating for a moment, he replied: "This was the draft agreement, but this clause was deleted later."
Lu Bangxing asked: "Why?"
Xu Qingnian said: "This is because the government has banned it. We are worried that writing like this will violate the law."
Lu Bangxing asked, "But according to what I have found, your Huaishu Township clan law stipulates that if a woman becomes pregnant before marriage, she will be expelled from the township. I wonder if that is true?"
Xu Qingnian frowned and nodded: "Yes."
Lu Bangxing asked: "Has it been deleted now?"
Xu Qingnian shook his head and said, "That's not the case."
Lu Bangxing asked: "So Mr. Xu is not afraid of violating the law?"
Xu Qingnian remained silent.
Lu Bangxing waited for a moment, then said, "Maybe it's because this rule only applies to you big landlords and gentry, so they only set the rules but not the punishment."
Xu Qingnian said hurriedly: "Of course not."
Lu Bangxing asked: "Then why not set a punishment?"
Xu Qingnian thought for a moment before saying, "That's because the matter has not yet been finalized. After the lawsuit is over, we will consider the issue of punishment."
After listening to this, Lu Bangxing asked again: "That is to say, this rule can be modified."
Xu Qingnian's eyes flashed with regret, and he wondered in his heart, are these ear pens so quick in thinking? Blocking one hole, another hole appears, endlessly, he could only nod helplessly.
Lu Bangxing asked again: "Can the interest rate also be modified?"
"This... I'm not sure about this." Xu Qingnian said embarrassedly.
Lu Bangxing asked persistently, "Is there a rule in the clan law that prohibits changing the interest rate?"
Xu Qingnian shook his head and said, "That's not the case."
"That means you can."
"Yes, it is."
Lu Bangxing asked, "I wonder if you need to seek the consent of all villagers if you want to amend this rule?"
Xu Qingnian said truthfully: "That's not necessary. Generally speaking, the rules of the village are for the village elders to make the decisions."
Lu Bangxing said: "In other words, as long as the elders in the village nod their heads, the interest rate can be changed at will."
Xu Qingnian said awkwardly: "The elders of the village will also take the attitude of the villagers into consideration."
Lu Bangxing asked: "How do you think about it?"
"Well... ."
Xu Qingnian said: "The elders in the village will still care about the villagers."
Lu Bangxing said: "That's all, no supervision?"
Xu Qingnian shook his head.
Lu Bangxing said, "If I say that after half a year or a year, if the village elders all think that the interest rate is inappropriate, then we can directly revise it, is that right or not?"
Xu Qingnian hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.
"I'm done asking questions."
Lu Bangxing sat down directly.
Xu Qingnian couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
This really is the case of leniency to those who confess and severity to those who resist!
Fan Zhen slowly stood up and asked, "Mr. Xu, does this rule restrict villagers to borrow only from the villagers and not from outsiders?"
Xu Qingnian shook his head and said, "No. We only agreed that the interest rate cannot be higher than 1.5% when the villagers lend money in the village."
Fan Zhen nodded and continued, "Mr. Xu just said that he opened a loan shop in the city. I wonder what the interest rate is in your shop?"
Xu Qingnian said: "It varies. Some have an interest rate of 1%, some have an interest rate of 5%, or even higher. It depends on the collateral and the length of the loan."
Fan Zhen asked, "Now that the township has set the interest rate at 1.5%, will it affect your business?"
Xu Qingnian shook his head and said, "No, because 1.5% interest is not the lowest. If you have valuable collateral, you can still borrow money at 1%. But if you have nothing and no one to guarantee you, you may not be able to borrow money in the village."
Fan Zhen said: "So even if the village sets the interest rate at 1.5%, it can't achieve a monopoly."
Xu Qingnian shook his head and said, "Impossible. I have never seen any businessman who can monopolize this business with low interest, unless it is the imperial court."
Fan Zhen asked, "What do you mean?"
Xu Qingnian said: "Take Jiaozi for example. In the past, Jiaozi was issued by our Jiekupu. However, some Jiekupu were not well managed and issued Jiaozi excessively, causing some people to lose all their money. Therefore, the court set up a special Jiaozi office to issue Jiaozi and prohibited private Jiekupu from issuing Jiaozi. Soon, Jiaozi was monopolized by the court."
Fan Zhen said: "This is a good thing."
Xu Qingnian said: "But the court issued more, so recently the people have returned to using copper and iron coins."
The people outside the courtyard began to whisper to each other. Xu Qingnian did not lie. After the short-lived issuance of Jiaozi in Shaanxi, it plummeted. The reason was that the court used a large amount of Jiaozi to pay military salaries, which far exceeded the government's reserve funds. As a result, Jiaozi immediately depreciated.
Merchants also engage in excessive issuance of credit cards, but the scope is limited and it is impossible for them to cause such a bad impact.
The reason is that if merchants issue them excessively, the people will immediately come to their houses to cause trouble, and the situation can be quickly controlled, and the government will also take action. However, if the imperial court continues to issue them excessively, the people can only try not to use them, there is no other way.
"Thank you!"
Fan Zhen nodded, and then said to Zhang Fei: "I have finished my questioning, and all my witnesses have appeared in court."
What this means is that I can now begin my closing argument.
This surprised many people, because the situation seemed to be evenly matched.
Only Zhang Fei nodded slightly to show his understanding.
Li Min was surprised and asked, "Does he think the winner has been decided?"
Qiu Zhengwen asked: "Should we still ask?"
Li Min thought for a moment, glanced at the documents, and said, "In fact, we have almost asked all the questions we want to ask. We can choose to ask the remaining witnesses or not."
Lu Bangxing said: "Then don't ask. If we just ask and can't come up with any new questions, we will offend a lot of people."
After all, they are just whistleblowers, and what they seek is money. If they hurt each other and everyone serves their own master, then it doesn't matter. But now that the other party has given up asking questions, they still keep leaking information and continue to expose the ugly side of the gentry, which will make many people unhappy.
Li Min nodded slightly.
At this time, Zhang Fei asked them again: "Does the defense have any other witnesses to appear in court?"
Li Min immediately replied, "No more."
As soon as he opened his mouth, all the officials and gentry present breathed a sigh of relief at the same time, thinking it was finally over.
It’s really annoying!
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "In that case, both of you should prepare for the closing statement later."
After a long while, it was time for closing arguments.
Fan Zhenxian stood up and said, "All the accusations made by the government against the rural areas for agreeing on interest rates according to the clan law are actually groundless. Their only reason is that the two-cent interest rate of the Qingmiao Law came first, while the one-and-a-half-cent interest rate of the clan law came later. That's all. But this is obviously untenable.
Because the interest rate of 1.5% was everywhere before, it was not something that the gentry suddenly came up with.
As for the other party's so-called monopoly technique, it is even more ridiculous, because it is impossible to achieve a monopoly by agreeing on interest rates based on the patriarchal system. Facts have proved that no businessman or landlord can do this. On the contrary, the government can achieve a monopoly through bans.
The reason why they want to prohibit the interest rates agreed upon according to the clan system is to seek monopoly and allow more people to borrow money for the young crops. This has nothing to do with benefiting the people, but only with profit.
More importantly, the actions of these twenty-eight villages were not illegal, no matter what their original intentions were. In this case, if the imperial court ruled in favor of the government, it would have very bad consequences, because then the government could prohibit more folk conventions and monopolize all ways of making money in order to make money, even if these actions were all legal. In addition, this is not in line with the principle of the rule of law. I have finished. "
Many people nodded frequently after hearing this, and all looked worried.
Zhang Fei just nodded expressionlessly, then looked at Li Min, "The defense can begin its closing statement."
"Thank you very much."
Li Min stood up and said, "First of all, I want to make it clear that the government has the absolute right to prohibit gentry from agreeing on low interest rates based on clan law, and the other party did not dare to raise any questions about this just now."
Fan Zhen said nothing.
I dare not!
Legally, it is impossible to dispute this. Now we have a centralized imperial system, so the government certainly has the right to do so.
He also accused officials of abusing their power, illegally levying taxes and amassing wealth, but he did not say that the government had no right to do so.
Li Min continued, "However, the government did not prohibit them rudely, but sent people to communicate with them beforehand. When the communication was fruitless, they were forced to order the prohibition. The reason for the prohibition was not to accumulate wealth, but to consider the people, not to compete with the people for profit.
The reason why the imperial court promulgated the Qingmiao Law was because of the rampant usury among the people, which made the people miserable. Most of the usury among the people came from these gentry and big landlords. They took advantage of the usury to wantonly annex the people's land, exploit the people, and even forced the people to leave their hometowns, wander around, beg along the way, or become bandits, which had a very bad impact on the stability of the country. In the end, it was the imperial court that stood up to make up for all this.
This is obviously unfair. If they really care about the people, what were they doing before? It was precisely because the court gradually lost patience with them that it decided to promulgate the Qingmiao Law to curb their actions.
They obviously also know that the Qingmiao Law will delay their intention to annex land, so they came up with this plan to undermine the Qingmiao Law. Therefore, I implore the Grand Court President to rule in our favor. "
Many people nodded frequently as they listened, thinking that what Li Min said made sense.
It was because of the rampant usury that the imperial court promulgated the Qingmiao Law. It was not for no reason. If the imperial court did not do something, that would not work!
In an instant, all eyes were focused on Zhang Fei.
At this point in the lawsuit, there were only a few people present, and it was clear who had the upper hand on the surface. In any case, neither of them was a good person. At the same time, both sides had their reasons, and it seemed that no matter who won, they were both wrong and right.
Zhang Fei nodded, looked down at the document, and said, "The debate between the two sides just now revolved around the harm caused by usury to the country and the people. They both hoped that the people could live a better life, and both made very reasonable points. Therefore, this judge believes that the people have more say in this matter."
Having said this, he looked towards the assistant judges' seats and saw that the twenty assistant judges, like the people outside, all looked extremely frustrated. However, he still asked, "Assistant judges, do you have an answer in mind now?"
I saw them nodding and shaking their heads, with confusion on their faces.
They are all bad guys, who the hell should I choose!
Zhang Fei said, "This case concerns the interests of every citizen in Hezhong Prefecture. I hope you can consider it carefully, so I will give you some more time to think about it."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Judge."
At this time, the assistant judge seemed to have lost his initial excitement and excitement, and was only filled with infinite pressure.
Zhang Fei picked up a cup of tea, took a sip, and suddenly leaned forward and whispered, "Who do you four think will win?"
Cai Bian said: "I think the government's argument is more reasonable. After all, the government is thinking about the overall situation, while those gentry are only concerned about their own selfish interests."
Shangguan Jun said: "The Imperial Court looks at the evidence, not the overall situation. Obviously, what they did is not illegal."
Zhang Fei shook his head and sighed, "You guys are really not professional at all. Even now, you are still unable to make an accurate judgment."
The four of them couldn't help but look at each other.
Is the winner decided
No way!
Zhang Fei seemed too lazy to pay attention to them anymore. He leaned back and picked up some of the evidence they had just handed over and began to examine it.
After a long while, Zhang Fei raised his head and asked the assistant judge again: "Have you thought it through?"
Twenty assistant judges nodded at the same time, but there was still some hesitation on their faces.
Zhang Fei said, "Please raise your hands if you think the 28th Township should win the case."
The butcher was the first to raise his hand, then others raised their hands, three, four, five...!
Finally, everyone raised their hands.
This scene really surprised many people.
Because in their view, the situation was fifty-fifty, both sides had a lot of negative information, and the people were booing both sides, but they never expected that this vote would all lean towards the plaintiff.
this... ...
Were they bought off
Even though Yuan Jiang knew the situation, he was still a little hesitant at this time. He did not expect that in this situation, the people would choose to believe the gentry instead of the government without hesitation.
The gentry felt very relieved, because after all the people still trusted them more.
Li Min, Qiu Zhengwen, and Lu Bangxing almost popped their eyes out. What did I do wrong to make you treat me like this? They are so bad, and you still chose them. Are you crazy
Only Fan Zhen and Su Che smiled, as if everything was as expected.
Zhang Fei also asked: "Can you tell me the reason?"
An old lady mustered up her courage and said, "I don't want to support the plaintiff, but I'm more afraid that I will have to borrow money from the government in the future."
That really sums it up in one word.
Most of the people outside the courtyard also nodded.
The money owed to the landlord can be delayed after all. At most, he will be beaten with a stick. Everyone can still talk. The Royal Court has handled so many loan sharking cases before, and both parties finally reached a settlement.
Why don’t you try it if you owe money to the government
It must be a bankruptcy.
It's not that the officials want to deliberately kill the people, but because the money does not belong to the officials, but to the court. If the money is less, they will not be able to report to their superiors, and they must make up for it themselves, so naturally not a penny less can be made!
The service of the yamen runners was a bloody lesson. If a yamen runner made any negligence or caused loss of public property, he would be fined immediately to the point of bankruptcy, no more, no less.
It is said that between two evils, choose the lesser one.
Although the common people have not been educated, they know better than anyone which method is more painful.
In terms of benefits, an extra 1.5% interest is not a bad thing!
"I see."
Zhang Fei nodded with a smile, and whispered to the four people: "Are you ashamed? The people can see it more clearly than you."
The four little golden men lowered their heads and focused on the evidence, pretending not to hear.
Zhang Fei looked around again and said loudly: "The assistant judge has already given his verdict, and I, the presiding judge, will review this lawsuit from a judicial perspective.
First of all, the village agreed on the interest rate based on clan rules, which is far lower than the maximum interest rate stipulated by the law, and there is no coercion, so there is no illegal behavior here.
Secondly, the evidence presented by the prosecution is sufficient to prove that the government will directly benefit from the prohibition of clan law interest agreements, and even achieve a monopoly effect. However, the defense did not provide strong evidence to prove that they did this with the intention of undermining the Qingmiao Law.
Although the defense presented a lot of evidence to prove that many of the plaintiffs were two-faced, that they had previously benefited from usury, and that they were all hypocritical hypocrites, in the judicial system, character is not even considered as evidence, and that they benefited from legal interest, no matter what their purpose is, this will be protected by the judiciary.
The defense spent a lot of energy trying to prove that the other side was all bad guys, but as far as justice is concerned, bad guys do not mean guilty.”
Being a bad guy doesn’t mean you are guilty
Cai Bian and the others couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
Li Min and the others looked at Zhang Fei awkwardly and confusedly. They felt that what he said made sense, but also felt it was weird.
Zhang Fei continued, "Among them, what this judge values most is the monopoly technique mentioned by the defense, because Emperor Zhenzong and Emperor Renzong both issued edicts prohibiting similar behavior.
This kind of behavior will indeed cause harm to the country and the people, but the defense did not provide sufficient evidence to prove this. Instead, the prosecution provided strong evidence to prove that it is almost impossible to achieve a monopoly with an interest rate of 1.5% and manipulate the interest rate.
Because even if it is 1%, let alone 1.5%, you can still make a lot of money, and everyone can lend money out, there is no threshold, so it is impossible to achieve a monopoly. Taking a step back, even if they really target the Qingmiao Law, it is just a reasonable competition, not a destructive act. "
Everyone nodded frequently after hearing this.
Lu Bangxing asked: "Could it be that this monopoly technique is the key to our victory?"
Qiu Zhengwen said: "Isn't the highest principle of the legal system the interests of the country and the monarch?"
Li Min said depressedly: "Why didn't you say it earlier?"
"I... ."
Qiu Zhengwen smiled awkwardly.
Zhang Fei continued, "As for the government's concerns that the gentry will exploit the people with the clan system, there is actually no need to worry too much, because if the interests of the villagers are harmed by the clan system, they can come to the imperial court to appeal. The clan system in the village is just an agreement, not a decree or law. The two parties in the agreement are equals, not a relationship of obedience.
Finally, the presiding judge also fully understands the government, because the government's lending is different from that of the private sector, and the interest cannot be arbitrarily determined, but can only be determined through constant consultation, but this is at a disadvantage in commercial competition. Therefore, it is completely understandable that the government believes that the interest agreed upon by the countryside will undermine the implementation of the Qingmiao Law.
However, the government's approach is obviously unreasonable. The government should optimize its own Qingmiao Law to make it more competitive, rather than prohibiting others' legitimate competition in order to make its own business easier. This is obviously not a normal behavior, and the consequences are very serious. The previous salt policy has fully illustrated this point. After the government monopolized everything, the situation only became worse, and the trade law had to be implemented in the end.
This will be detrimental to the development of commerce in our country and will inevitably lead to a reduction in commercial taxes, damaging national interests. It also violates the laws of our ancestors, which require precautions to be taken and regulations to be made. This president of the court did not see any well-thought-out consideration in this ban.
Based on all of this, I hereby rule that the government’s injunction is invalid.”
"good!"
"Well judged!"
"The Grand Judge is absolutely right."
... ...
There was a burst of cheers outside the courtyard, and gradually, it became a little hysterical.
This is also the only applause from the people in this lawsuit.
They had almost become depressed, even desperate, after listening to what they heard!
This led them to involuntarily place all their hopes on the imperial court, and Zhang Fei's words not only fully took into full consideration the rights and interests of the people, but more importantly, he very much agreed with the suggestions of the assistant jury. You know, the assistant jury represents them, which makes them feel like a long-awaited rain.