"It turns out...it turns out they sued the wrong person."
"The people are only obliged to pay taxes to the government, so they should sue the government. However, the government has entrusted the households to collect taxes. Who is responsible for this? This should be a contractual dispute between the government and the households. Oh my! Why didn't I think of sorting out the relationship between these three parties first?"
... ... .
After Zhang Fei gave the verdict, the Four Little Golden Warriors suddenly understood.
Their previous habitual thinking made them only consider the relationship between the common people and the Po Hu, because the Po Hu and the common people were the two parties in direct conflict. In their view, the two must be related.
But they did not think about the issue of power and obligations. In fact, the Puhu households did not need to be responsible to the people. They only needed to abide by the contract with the government.
Of course, they also have to obey the law, after all, everyone needs to obey the law.
Li Min certainly knew this, so in his defense, he kept emphasizing one point, that is, the people first refused to pay taxes. As long as this was established, then subsequent acts of violence might be legal.
Because Song Dynasty laws allowed violence against people who refused to pay taxes, this kind of thing did happen frequently.
The key lies in whether the government has transferred this power to the households and whether there are specific restrictions on how much tax the government can collect from the households.
All of these must be examined in the contract signed between the government and the households, but Zhang Fei did not ask too much about it because it was not the core issue in this lawsuit.
This was originally a three-party lawsuit, and the government had to get involved. First, it would depend on whether the people's lawsuit against the government was successful. Once it was determined that the people had indeed suffered losses, it would then depend on whether the responsibility belonged to the government or to the local residents.
Now there are only two parties involved, and the government in between is not involved, so the royal court cannot make a judgment.
"Alas... a bunch of hindsight experts."
Suddenly, a sigh was heard from behind.
The four little golden men glanced back slightly, and felt two contemptuous glances passing over them. They immediately retracted their gazes and pretended to be busy.
In fact, the four of them were originally very confident people with strong self-esteem, but since meeting Zhang Fei, they have given up that self-esteem.
Because they found that every time they conducted the trial, they were at ease, but whenever Zhang Fei conducted the trial, they seemed to have entered an unknown territory.
... ...
The four little golden men suddenly understood and understood, but the parties involved in both parties did not quite understand the verdict.
After Zhang Fei left, the plaintiffs including Wei Zhang and Cao Qing immediately came to Fan Zhen.
"Mr. Fan, this...what's going on?"
"I... did we win?"
"Why did Judge Zhang ask us to go to the authorities?"
... ...
They all talked at once, surrounded Fan Zhen and asked questions non-stop.
Fan Zhen tried to speak several times but was blocked by them. Helplessly, he could only raise his hand and raise his voice slightly: "Don't be anxious, just listen to me."
Wei Zhang and the others stopped and looked at Fan Zhen eagerly again.
Fan Zhen smiled confidently and said, "Don't worry. Judge Zhang didn't directly rule that the other party lost, but at least he agreed that you were suspected of being harmed. We just need to sue the government first to confirm this. But if we really sue the government, we will definitely win this case. I can guarantee you that."
"But...but the other party is the government..."
If you ask them to sue those poor people, they will be more confident, but to sue the government, that...
Fan Zhen said: "You don't have to be afraid. Now in the judicial field, the government no longer has the final say. Instead, the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are in charge, that is, the imperial court, the police station and the procuratorate."
... ...
Gao Qiang, Jin Dabao and other defendants were also very anxious about the verdict. How did it become a dispute in their government? They gathered around Li Min and asked questions non-stop.
"Li Erbi, this... how do we calculate this?"
"You're not really going to ask us to go to the authorities, are you?"
"How can we win over the government?"
"That's right. If we deal with disputes with the government, we will have to bear the consequences."
... ...
"Everyone, please be patient."
Li Min smiled confidently and said, "In fact, we have already won this lawsuit."
"Won?"
"how do I say this?"
Jin Dabao was completely confused after hearing this.
Li Min smiled and said, "Didn't you hear that Judge Zhang just said that you are not guilty?"
"But Judge Zhang also said that this is a dispute between us and the government."
"Then we would rather have disputes with the people."
"Yes, it is a dispute." Li Min chuckled, "For you, this is just a contract dispute. It will not involve criminal liability. In other words, in the worst case, you will only give the other party some compensation, and you will not be punished."
Jin Dabao and the others exchanged glances for a while, thought for a while, and seemed to understand what was going on. They suddenly felt a lot more relieved.
Before this lawsuit, the other party had filed a very serious charge, and because they had resorted to violence, if they lost, they would inevitably be punished.
But the situation is different now. Now it is a contract dispute between the households and the government, which is a pure civil lawsuit.
The worst outcome, of course, is just losing some money.
Gao Qiang asked again: "So what should we do next?"
Li Min said: "Next we must negotiate with the government, but it depends on your own ideas. If you want to fight this lawsuit, I promise that we will win. The contract was drafted by the government. The problems in the contract are the responsibility of the government. We can't lose."
"It's better not to go to court with the government. Even if we win in court, can you guarantee that they won't make things difficult for us in private?"
"Yes, yes, since ancient times, the people have never fought against the officials. If you go against the government, what good will it end up like?"
Seeing how cowardly they were, Li Min naturally would not encourage them, because the client had low demands, which would reduce the pressure on the ear pen. He smiled and said, "Then I will go and talk to the government and see what they say first."
"Okay, okay, that's it. But if we really have to pay compensation, it would be best if we and the government share it equally."
The tone was very undetermined, implying that we could bear the compensation ourselves.
Li Min nodded and said, "Okay."
Jin Dabao and the others suddenly glanced towards the VIP seats and were surprised to find that there was no one there.
Where are these officials going
... ...
On the other side, Zhang Fei returned to the lounge with Xu Zhiqian as usual and ate some cakes and candied fruits to replenish their energy.
After drinking a cup of hot tea, Zhang Fei suddenly tapped the table with his fingers and counted, "Ten, nine, eight, seven..."
Xu Zhiqian heard him suddenly start counting and couldn't help but look at him in confusion, "What are you doing?"
Zhang Fei ignored her and continued counting, "One..."
He glanced outside the door, a slightly embarrassed look on his face. After a moment of silence, he gritted his teeth and blurted out a word, "Zero!"
boom!
The door was pushed open from the outside.
Zhang Fei immediately breathed a sigh of relief and thought, there is no need to pretend like this next time, it is really too tense and exciting.
A large group of officials including Wei Yingfang rushed into the house.
"Zhang San, you are really going too far."
Wei Yingfang stopped pretending and pointed at Zhang Fei and cursed: "You keep saying that legal orders and government orders should not interfere with each other, but you keep interfering with our government's policies. I tell you, we will never pay attention to the ban you just issued."
"You are such a shameless kid. From now on, you, the imperial court, only need to take care of public security issues. The rest of the things have nothing to do with you. You have no right to interfere, and we will not care about them."
... ... .
This time the officials really couldn't help it, and the key point was that they also felt aggrieved. We never interfered with your royal court trials and actively cooperated with them. However, you targeted us everywhere. In nine out of ten lawsuits, we were victims. After all, we are all officials and have equal status. Now we are almost becoming villains.
If we continue like this, we will become the rats crossing the street, and everyone will shout and beat us.
At this time, Niu Beiqing and Long Wu also came to the door. Zhang Fei waved his hand, signaling them to retreat first. This biting dog would not bark so fiercely. Then he calmly said to Wei Yingfang and others: "You must have a reason to be angry. What did I do wrong?"
Wei Yingfang pointed at Zhang Fei's face and asked, "How dare you ask?"
Zhang Fei spread his hands, "I really don't understand? Maybe it's because I don't have much experience as an official. I really don't know where I went wrong?"
"I don't understand why the court would send a young boy like you to such an important position."
"I was forced to do this. I didn't really want to come to this damn place." Zhang Fei shrugged. "You can ask the officials from the capital about this. I have always refused. It was Scholar Sima who forced me to come here."
“… … .!”
Wei Yingfang was speechless for a moment.
They were all very clear about this.
Zhang Fei added: "In fact, I am a very humble person. If you can explain clearly that I was wrong, I am willing to make corrections. We can also ignore the principles of justice. Let's just talk about reason."
"Okay! Let's talk about reason."
Wei Yingfang asked, "Do you think it's easy to govern a state?"
Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "I never thought so. I think it is very, very difficult. Take myself for example. I am not even qualified to be a county magistrate, let alone a prefect."
"Since you know all this, why do you still do this?" Wei Yingfang said, "Do you think the court wants to impose a purchase tax? There is no other way. Those markets and villages are very remote and scattered. If the government sends people to station in each village, do you know how much money it will cost? It may even cost more than it earns. The purchase tax can save costs and collect enough tax revenue, which is killing two birds with one stone. Although there are problems with it, overall, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. If you don't understand, don't judge blindly."
Zhang Fei immediately said: "I have never denied the value of the purchase tax. I just think that there is a problem with the contract, so I issued a ban. As long as you..."
"what is the problem?"
Wei Yingfang interrupted Zhang Fei directly, "You are talking without any hesitation. If there are too many restrictions, will merchants still come to buy? Unless the government's income is reduced, but the court will not agree to this. If the fiscal revenue is reduced, the court will hold us accountable, not you."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "So, in the end, it's still finances."
"Of course it's for finances."
Wei Yingfang said: "We also want to be a good person, sympathize with every citizen, and gain a good reputation, but this is simply impossible. You can't have your cake and eat it too."
"Since this is about finance, let's start with finance. Please wait a moment."
Zhang Fei tilted his head and looked at Xu Zhiqian, "Zhiqian, go get me document number five."
"OK."
Xu Zhiqian went out immediately.
Zhang Fei said to Wei Yingfang and the others, "Please take a seat."
Wei Yingfang and the others were also worried, wondering if he had any evidence against us. But he still had an expression of "Okay! I want to see how you argue."
After sitting down for a while, before tea could even be served, Xu Zhiqian hurried in with a document.
Not much, just a dozen pages.
Zhang Fei took the document and raised it, "This document is the case that the government handed over to our imperial court. It all involves the rebellion of the people in Shaanxi Road.
The reasons were similar. The common people were oppressed by heavy taxes and levies, and their appeals to the government did not receive any response, so they chose to rebel. Later, many of them became imperial guards and garrison troops, and were then laid off in this round of military reduction. "
Wei Yingfang frowned, "Why are you saying this?"
Zhang Fei said: "These five cases all happened within the past ten years, but I have calculated that the cost of suppressing a rebellion is much greater than the profit the government made from the purchase tax in these ten years.
The situation of this case is very similar to the causes of the five cases. The people can no longer tolerate the exploitation of the people, so they come to complain. If any of you can guarantee that they will never rebel, and sign a document and submit it to the emperor as proof, then our imperial court will not intervene. "
At the end of his speech, he slammed the document on the table with a bang, which scared Wei Yingfang and others.
After a while, Wei Ying said, "You... don't be alarmist here. We certainly don't want the people to rebel, but we have to be responsible for the finances. You banned the purchase tax, and this part of the tax money can't be collected. Are you responsible?"
It is impossible to sign, not in this lifetime.
What if it really goes against the will of God
If one of the people rebels, that is also rebellion.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "As I just said, I am a very modest person...!"
"Sorry, we didn't realize that."
"That's because you don't know me well enough."
Zhang Fei smiled.
Xu Zhiqian, who was standing aside, suddenly glanced at Zhang Fei and couldn't help but ask herself, don't I know him well enough
In her impression, modesty really has nothing to do with Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei added: "If my ban is wrong, you can appeal, but if my ban is well-founded and you can't collect taxes, it only shows that you are incompetent."
"What did you say?"
"Please be patient."
Zhang Fei pointed and continued, "Everyone has different abilities. It's not shameful if you can't do it. You can write to the court and say that you can't collect this part of the tax under the imperial court's ban, and ask the court to replace you. If no one can do it, then it's all my responsibility, regardless of whether I'm right or not. In the end, I've hurt the interests of the country and the monarch, and caused financial losses. I'm willing to bear all the consequences. But if someone accepts and does it, then it's your incompetence. It's that simple."
These words were very encouraging, and Xu Zhiqian on the side also looked at them provocatively with contempt.
Wei Yingfang's eyebrows twitched a few times, and he said, "Don't make insinuations here. We will definitely write to the court, but before the court issues an order, we will never pay attention to your ban. From now on, we will no longer pay attention to any judgment of your imperial court. Administration is administration, and justice is justice. We will not interfere with each other."
Zhang Fei said: "Then I can also tell you very frankly, if any farmer dares to make this deal with the government, I can responsibly guarantee you that they will all be building the river in the next three years, no matter who they are."
"you... !"
Wei Yingfang immediately stood up and the other officials also stood up.
"Then we'll see."
"As you wish."
Wei Yingfang left angrily with a group of officials.
Xu Zhiqian sighed: "After all, we have fallen out with them."
But there was no trace of frustration in his tone. He absolutely supported Zhang Fei in this matter.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Don't worry. The world is full of people who work for profit. It is normal for people to quarrel when there are conflicts of interest. But when our interests are aligned, I can sit down and drink with you."
Xu Zhiqian didn't quite believe it: "Really?"
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "When have I ever lied to you?"
"You haven't lied enough."
“Same here.”
Zhang Fei said: "Do you still remember Wang Ye at the back door of the Xu family?"
"Don't talk nonsense."
Xu Zhiqian rolled her eyes at him and changed the subject, "But what if they don't carry out the imperial court's ruling?"
Zhang Fei laughed and said, "If they really don't execute it, then I really have no choice. I don't dare to arrest them easily. Otherwise, I don't need to rely on the power of Master Yuan to appease them. But now, haha, everything is too late."
... ...
The Qingmiao ban case was actually more serious than this, and had a greater impact on the government, because the right and wrong in that case were not so obvious, and the final judgment was mixed with the opinions and thoughts of the chief judge. However, the officials at the time were very happy to accept the judgment of the imperial court and did not react violently. It was not because they did not have the strength to do so, but because the Qingmiao Law was part of the new policy and many officials did not support it. Their purpose was to take the opportunity to sow discord between the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments and the new policy.
But this time is different, this has touched the bottom line of their power, because the purchase tax is a system that has always existed. It is not unique to Hezhong Prefecture, nor is it something that some official decided to do on a whim. If the imperial court can directly stop it, it would be too terrible.
These problems exist not only in tax collection, but also in water transport, water conservancy, and other matters. These are all powers within the government, and there are complex and intertwined interest relationships involved that cannot be cut off in one fell swoop.
The key point is that this is not the first time, it has happened again and again, and it will never end.
They all judged that if they took another step back, the next issue might be the canal transportation. There were even more shameful activities in the canal transportation, and the profits from it were also very huge. They really could not take a step back.
In addition, Han Jiang was already on the way, so they thought why not use this opportunity to intensify the conflict and provide Han Jiang with a reason to attack the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs.
After all, they all judged that Han Jiang came to help them, and now the government's power is much stronger than that of the imperial court.
When they returned to the government office, they cried and complained to Cai Yanqing and Yuan Jiang, saying that ever since the imperial court came, they had become too frustrated to be an official. If this continued, no one would listen to them.
Anyway, this time they said that the imperial court's ban could not be enforced no matter what, and they all expressed their unwillingness to cooperate with the imperial court.
Cai Yanqing just looked at Yuan Jiang.
Yuan Jiang had predicted this and nodded angrily, "You are right. The imperial court is indeed going too far. We will ignore it this time."
Cai Yanqing was slightly surprised. He originally thought that Yuan Jiang would use the same old trick again, come up with a countermeasure, and then take the opportunity to promote his own policies. He never expected that Yuan Jiang decided to confront the imperial court head-on this time.
Little did Yuan Jiang know that he didn't want to do that either, but he had no choice now. He couldn't just let the imperial court set the questions every time and have him solve them. If he continued like this, everyone would be able to see that there was something fishy going on between them.
This cooperation is too obvious.
All the officials were overjoyed. He was worthy of being a scholar of Yuan Dynasty. He was full of courage, unlike Cai XX who just played deaf and dumb. Let's just ignore him and see what the imperial court can do.
This time the officials were truly united and determined to fight the imperial court to the end.
The government neither negotiated with the villagers nor paid attention to the imperial court's ban. It pretended that nothing had happened and carried on with everything as usual.
However, the Legal Aid Department was very proactive and immediately filed a lawsuit with the Royal Court again, this time the target was directly changed to the government.
The imperial court also immediately issued a subpoena to the government.
result... ... .
"Teacher, they threw our summons out."
Cai Jing handed the subpoena back to Zhang Fei.
Shangguan Jun asked: "Teacher, it seems that the government is serious about this. How should we respond?"
The four little golden warriors were all at a loss. Should they arrest someone
Let’s not talk about whether the royal court has this power. Even if it does, the question is who to arrest, because the Legal Aid Department is accusing the government, not a particular official.
Zhang Fei had a calm face. "If they refuse the subpoena, it means they will give up fighting for their rights. In the end, they will be the only ones who get hurt. We just need to open the court as usual."
Thus, a unique lawsuit was presented before everyone in the biting cold wind. It was a lawsuit in which the defendant was absent. The entire VIP seat was empty. No official attended. Even those officials who supported the ban on the purchase tax did not dare to attend. If they attended, they might not be able to survive in the officialdom. Only some scholars who opposed the purchase tax sat there.
These retired scholars have always been rather willful.
Throughout the entire lawsuit, Fan Zhen and the plaintiffs were the only ones speaking. The plaintiffs were originally victims and had sufficient evidence. Most importantly, no one refuted them.
It is easy to imagine what the result will be.
The jury also unanimously stated that the plaintiff won the case.
But the people outside the court were in very low spirits. What good would it do if the defendant didn't show up
Instead, they are now very nervous.
"boom!"
Zhang Fei knocked the gavel and said, "After this trial, the plaintiff was indeed exploited in a way that he should not have been, so this court declares that the plaintiff wins the case."
However, inside and outside the courtyard, it was still quiet, and the people just stared at the imperial court.
They are not stupid. If the government does not attend, winning is just a verbal statement. What can it change
Zhang Fei immediately added: "Although the defendant is absent, he still needs to make corresponding compensation to the plaintiff. According to the law, the imperial court has the right to enforce it. Therefore, this court president will exempt several plaintiffs from taxes for one to several years in the form of a decree as compensation from the government. However, the specific number of years of exemption still needs to be calculated in detail. We will announce the specific compensation results later. Prosecutor, do you have any objection to this?"
Fan Zhen laughed and said, “We don’t have any meaning?”
Zhang Fei looked at the procuratorate again and asked.
Su Che also expressed no objection.
Zhang Fei said again: "Captain Ma."
"exist!"
Ma Xiaoyi responded immediately.
Zhang Fei said: "Your police station must send people to the local area to ensure that the imperial court's decree is enforced."
Ma Xiaoyi said: "Yes."
Wow... is it still possible to judge like this
Enforce
After a brief moment of stunned silence, there was a sudden burst of intense applause outside the courtyard, which was like an earth-shaking earthquake.