Mu Yong has no doubt that Kaifeng Prefecture is the first prefecture in the Song Dynasty, and its jurisdiction has always been about fifteen counties.
Among them, Kaifeng and Xiangfu are Chixian.
That means Gyeonggi County.
Kaifeng County governs the southeastern region of Bianjing, while Xiangfu County governs the northwest.
It's ridiculous to say that Zhang Fei has been to Bianjing for so long, he has been to Kaifeng Prefecture countless times, but he has never been to Kaifeng County. After all, Zhang Fei's brain circuit is different from most people, and most people would rather go Kaifeng County did not dare to go to Kaifeng Mansion. Zhang Fei happened to be the other way around. He had been to Kaifeng Mansion, but Kaifeng County was boring.
Zhang Fei even thought that Kaifeng County was jealous and complained that he did not go to him to complain, so he arrested his own people.
On the way, he caught up with Fan Li who had taken the first step, then got into the carriage and rushed to Kaifeng County together.
Arriving at the county government office, after Zhang Fei registered his number, the government officer in front of the door said that the county magistrate was reviewing the case and asked him to wait outside.
"Sanlang, the situation is not good!"
Fan Li waited for a long time and whispered to Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei nodded and said: "I know, I will be careful later."
No one believed that these government officials had never heard of Zhang San's name, but they acted as they pleased and were very powerful. They regarded Zhang Fei as an ordinary citizen. There was obviously an explanation from above.
He stood outside for half an hour before letting them in.
As soon as I entered, I heard a groan.
After bypassing the corridor and coming to the entrance of the corridor on the left side of the front yard, I saw Qiu Zhengwen, Huang Mang and other people lying on the ground one by one. The pants on their buttocks were all soaked with sweat and clinging tightly together, with a faint line visible. Some of the stick marks were even slightly red, obviously they had just been tortured with moss.
That is to say, a few thick thorns are twisted into a thorn stick. This kind of moss punishment is mostly used to punish unruly people. It only causes pain to the flesh and does not cause any internal injuries.
This scene was so frightening that Fan Li turned pale and his back was dripping with cold sweat.
"Be calm!"
Zhang Fei looked at Fan Li expressionlessly.
This scene didn't scare him. After all, he had been in Dengzhou Prison for several months, so this was already commonplace.
But his eyes were filled with anger.
He already had a premonition that this was revenge.
"Sanlang is here! Sanlang is here!"
"Ouch! Saburo, save me!"
"Sanlang, we were wronged!"
.....
Seeing Zhang Fei's arrival, those tea, food and ear pens cried out to Zhang Fei for help as if they had seen a savior.
There was a bang.
Zhang Fei turned his head and looked around, and saw a long table in front of the court. Sitting behind the long table was a middle-aged man of about forty years old. He had slightly dark skin, protruding cheekbones, a goatee, and a sunken face. His eyes looked even colder.
On the way here, Fan Li told Zhang Fei that the Kaifeng magistrate's name was Wang Hong. He was a ruthless man who loved to use punishment and was feared by everyone.
In ancient times, it was allowed by law to use torture on suspects to break a crime. After all, there were not so many ways to break a crime in ancient times. Once a certain amount of evidence was obtained, criminal law could be used to force the suspect to confess.
As for the frequency, it all depends on the character of the presiding judge.
For example, Lu Gongzhu and Xu Zun are not very good at this mouthful, but Wang Hong likes to use it very much.
"Send Zhang San to the court."
"Pass Zhang San."
.....
Hearing a loud shout, the officer behind Zhang Fei pushed him hard, almost missing him.
Zhang Fei turned around and stared.
The officer yelled: "What are you looking at? Let's go quickly."
Go out of the corridor and come to the middle of the courtyard.
"Zhang San, a small citizen, has met the county magistrate."
Zhang Fei bowed his hand.
Fan Li also bowed.
Wang Hong ignored Fan Li at all, was shocked, and shouted to Zhang Fei: "Are you Erbi Zhang San?"
"yes."
Zhang Fei nodded.
Wang Hongdao: "You are the one who ordered the ear pens in your shop to hinder and interfere with my duty collection?"
Zhang Fei said: "If you don't hide it from the county magistrate, the people still don't know what happened?"
Wang Hong frowned, "I'm asking you, but what tax-calculating business did you instruct them to come to the southern suburbs to promote to the local people?"
"No!"
Zhang Fei shook his head with a simple face: "Xiaomin has no idea about this."
"ah?"
The group of ear pens behind him were stunned.
Just sold us.
Wang Hong was also stunned, "You don't know?"
Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "I don't know."
Wang Hong asked: "They are all ear pens in your shop, how could you not know?"
Zhang Fei said: "Xiaomin just asked them to come here to hand out Xiaomin's business cards. Uh... Magistrate, you should collect some small pieces of paper from them!"
Wang Hong nodded.
Zhang Fei said: "This is a means of promoting business, so it shouldn't be illegal."
Wang Hong said: "But they all said it was you who instigated it."
"Xiaomin is very busy every day and has no time for this." After saying that, Zhang Fei turned to Fan Li and asked: "Executive officer, isn't it your order?"
Are you trying to make me take the blame? Fan Li's heart skipped a beat, but then he thought about it. In the current situation, he could only save the boss first. Otherwise, who would save them then? But just when he was about to plead guilty, he suddenly saw Zhang Fei winking at him again. Only then did he react, quickly shook his head and said, "I...I don't know either."
At present, they don't know anything. The best way is to keep themselves out of the matter and then argue with the officials. If they become criminals, they will be very passive.
Nowadays, it is difficult to just hire an awesome lawyer to litigate a lawsuit for oneself.
Zhang Fei opened his mouth and said to Wang Hong: "Reporting to the county magistrate, in fact, our store has always had tax calculation transactions, and we also cooperate with the municipal tax department. But it mainly serves businessmen, and the purpose is to prevent them from accidentally evading taxes. Tax evasion, but I never thought about letting them come here to promote tax calculation business. What kind of money do those farmers have? Helping them calculate taxes will not make much money, and they may even lose money. The main business of our store is to help people litigate. , this is the purpose of me asking them to come here to hand out business cards, maybe they are promoting this business by the way, but I have no idea about this.”
When Wang Hong saw him talking nonsense in a serious manner, he couldn't help but become angry and said, "Since you didn't instruct them, why do they all say you did?"
Zhang Fei said: "The people asked them to promote this business, but it was mainly aimed at businessmen in the city. However, the people did not say that they were not allowed to promote this business with farmers."
"Yeah?"
Wang Hong suddenly shouted loudly: "Huang Mang."
"The villain is here."
Huang Mang lay on the ground, shivering.
Wang Hong said: "You just said that this was all instigated by Zhang San. Are you trying to deceive me?"
Huang Mang was not stupid either. Only Zhang Fei could save them at this time. He immediately said: "How dare you deceive the county magistrate? It was indeed Zhang Sanlang who instigated it. He asked us to promote this tax calculation business before, but... But when he asked us to go to the southern suburbs this time, he just asked us to hand out business cards, and we just casually promoted this tax-calculated business to the farmers."
"Yes, yes, we just said it casually."
...
Qiu Zhengwen and others also reacted and said that Zhang Fei did not explicitly instruct them to go to the southern suburbs to promote tax calculation business.
Wang Hong was shocked and said, "You unscrupulous people, how dare you blatantly make false confessions to deceive me, come here! Give me ten more serious consequences."
"etc!"
Zhang Fei said: "They did not make false confessions. This was indeed instigated by Xiaomin."
Wang Hong frowned and said, "Then you made a false confession."
Zhang Fei said: "Xiaomin made a false confession without providing anything. This is just a misunderstanding. As Xiaomin said just now, although Xiaomin did not instruct them to come to the southern suburbs to promote the tax plan, Xiaomin did ask them to promote the tax plan before. It didn’t stop them from promoting it to farmers. They said it was instigated by the common people, which is not wrong, but the common people really didn’t know anything about it.”
Wang Hong was stunned for a moment and sneered: "You are such a sharp-tongued person, but your tactics are not applicable to me."
Zhang Fei immediately said: "Cleverness does not apply anywhere, including Kaifeng Mansion, but ordinary people have always relied on evidence and the law to litigate cases, not on their sharpness."
Wang Hong's expression changed slightly, thinking to himself, you really have to be careful what you say in front of this kid! Smiling disdainfully: "You should know better than anyone whether you instigated them or not."
"Xiaomin did not deny this." Zhang Fei asked again: "But even if they promote tax calculation to farmers, what kind of laws have they broken?"
Wang Hongdao: "They committed crimes such as spreading rumors, obstructing official duties, disrupting order, and defrauding officials and private property."
After Huang Mang and others heard this, their faces turned pale. If these charges were added together, they would be exiled even if they didn't say anything!
Zhang Fei was confused when he heard this, "The shop has been doing this tax-calculating business for many days, and I have never heard that this business is illegal."
Wang Hongdao: "This transaction is indeed not illegal, but its use here and now, as well as the remarks they spread, seriously hinder the government's performance of official duties, which is enough to constitute these crimes."
Zhang Fei cupped his hands and said, "The common people are stupid and don't understand the truth. I hope the magistrate will tell you clearly."
Wang Hong asked: "Tax statistics have always been determined by the government. Why do you do this tax calculation business?"
Zhang Fei avoided the important issue and said lightly: "That's because there are often people who don't know the tax laws and pay less tax, so that they become prisoners. That's why I launched this tax calculation business."
Wang Hongdao: "But how did I hear that you promised a farmer that if he asks you to calculate taxes, you can guarantee that he will not pay a penny more."
Zhang Fei hesitated for a moment, "Is this wrong?"
Wang Hong was immediately shocked, "What you said is nothing more than a hint to the farmers that the court imposed more taxes on them, causing them to refuse to pay the taxes. Do you know how much trouble this has brought to the government?"
Zhang Fei said excitedly: "This is just a one-sided statement made by Wang Zhixian. The people do not think this is illegal."
Wang Hong scolded: "You are a cunning person. Could it be that you are implying that I am slandering you?"
Zhang Fei said: "The people have no such intention, but the people also will not accept the judgment of Wangzhi County. The people will appeal to Kaifeng Prefecture."
Wang Hong glanced at the royal plaque held by Li Si and said with a smile: "I heard that the official gave you the royal plaque. If you want to appeal, I can't stop you! No matter what, I have already reported to the court to severely punish you guys. civil."
Zhang Fei frowned and thought to himself, it's strange, for such a reason, why should he judge like this? What's so fishy about this?
...
"Have you ever found out how it is possible for Kaifeng County to arrest people casually?"
Xu Zun asked Xu Zhiqian while hurriedly walking outside the imperial city.
Xu Zhiqian said: "My daughter is also involved in this matter. It is really just to promote tax calculation. Apart from that, there is nothing else."
"There's a mixed bag of people in your store. Something must have happened."
Xu Zunwu didn't believe it.
As soon as I arrived at the gate of the imperial city, I saw the old god Sima Guang standing in front of the gate.
"Bachelor Sima."
Xu Zun immediately walked over quickly and asked in a low voice: "Scholar Sima, what on earth is going on?"
Sima Guang said: "Your son-in-law should not choose to promote tax calculation at this time or place."
Xu Zundao: "Why?"
Sima Guang said: "Xu Temple should know that taxation is a major national plan, and nothing is as important as this. And Zhang San went there to promote tax calculation at this time, which will definitely bring some trouble to the government."
Xu Zun immediately said: "That is also for injustice, not for intentional chaos. How can Kaifeng County arrest people at will?"
Sima Guang asked: "Do you think the imperial court will delay the country's tax collection because of a few injustices?"
Xu Zundao: "How can this be delayed?"
"If they just say it's an obstruction, will the officials finish the review and then go to collect the taxes?" Sima Guang asked.
Xu Zun frowned, "In other words, it's not just Wangzhi County who is involved in this matter. They want to blackmail the officials by urging them to pay taxes."
Sima Guang nodded and sighed: "This matter is not easy to handle!"
