Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Zhang Fei definitely didn't stay up all night last night. Looking at his energetic appearance, it was obvious that he slept until he woke up naturally, and maybe he stayed in bed for a while.
really!
Zhang Fei didn't stay up late, and he was late on purpose.
The reason is that since the Kaifeng Mansion accepted the case, it seemed to regard him as an enemy. It did not even ask when the trial would be held. As far as the Kaifeng Mansion and the Procuratorate decided, this was actually very unfair to Zhao Wenzheng. To be fair, even if you are under pressure, the three parties still have to sit together and discuss it.
The respect is mutual.
You don't respect me, then why should I respect you.
Zhang Fei, who has a small belly, naturally has to find a way to express his grievances without keeping them all inside.
He knew the emperor would be here anyway.
As for Xu Zhiqian's worry that this would anger Zeng Gong, Zhang Fei didn't care at all. Since you already regard me as an enemy subjectively, there's no point in trying to please you. I might as well tease you.
Zeng Gong was indeed unhappy, but in order to avoid disturbing the truth, he could only discuss with Zhang Fei in a good voice whether to set a date for retrial.
But this is nothing unusual for the guests sitting here.
Almost all the presiding judges who have competed with Zhang Fei in court have suffered this loss.
Of course, this is all because of their subconscious thinking that officials are respected, and they always want to use official power to suppress Zhang Fei. Secondly, they are all sensible. If it were Wang Hong, they would just call it a day. I am expensive and you are cheap. Who the hell is trying to reason with you?
After a little preparation, the trial officially started.
Su Zhe first summoned the defendant Wang Hongjin to court, and first asked him whether he had falsely declared his property and whether he had evaded taxes.
Wang Hongjin confessed to this.
In the face of irrefutable evidence, this cannot be denied.
There was no emotion in his tone, which showed that he knew he was a dying man.
Su Zhe asked again: "I wonder what means you use to evade taxes?"
Wang Hongjin said: "The main thing is to hide it and not report it."
"Hidden for more than a hundred acres?"
Su Che said curiously: "It is not easy to hide such a large piece of land. And according to our investigation, all the food from these fields is sent to the warehouse of Governor Zhao's family in Zongzheng Temple. And you Your father happens to be the elder of Governor Zhao’s family, so obviously these lands also belong to Governor Zhao. Is this why you are able to evade taxes?”
"I object!"
Zhang Fei stood up and said: "The other party is just making groundless speculations and trying to induce the witness to say something detrimental to my client."
Su Che immediately said: "I am definitely not making groundless guesses. For these more than a hundred hectares of land, I have never paid a penny of tax. This is absolutely impossible for ordinary people to do."
Zeng Gong nodded and said, "Keep asking."
Zhang Fei sat down helplessly.
Xu Zhiqian whispered: "This Mr. Su has improved a lot compared to last time!"
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "He is indeed more difficult to deal with than his brother."
Su Shi is still a bit of a poet, smart but not rigorous. Su Shi was defeated by this last time. This is a big shortcoming in court.
I don’t know if he has improved now.
Wang Hongjin was silent for a while, nodded and said: "Yes, the reason why I was able to successfully evade taxes is indeed because of my status as a master."
There was an uproar in front of the door.
This is a public trial, and people can come and watch it. Especially since this is Zhang Fei's return to Kaifeng Mansion, you must not miss it!
Win, win!
There was a burst of excitement in the audience, and they secretly glanced at the emperor sitting aside.
Zhao Xu's face was indeed a little uneasy.
Su Zhe said: "I have no problem for the time being."
Zhang Fei stood up and said, "Wang Hongjin, you just said that you relied on your status as Governor Zhao to evade taxes. So did Governor Zhao explicitly instruct you to evade taxes?"
Wang Hongjin shook his head and said: "No."
Zhang Fei said: "Then how did you use your status as Governor Zhao to evade taxes?"
Wang Hongjin said: "Because everyone knows that these lands belong to Governor Zhao. Even if I use some means to hide those lands, the tax collectors and government officials will not investigate them carefully."
Zhang Fei said: "In other words, tax evasion is your own behavior and has nothing to do with Governor Zhao."
Wang Hongjin nodded and said, "Yes."
"I'm done asking."
Zhang Fei sat down.
Qi Ji hummed softly: "I knew he would abandon his car to protect the commander and let Wang Hong come in to take the blame."
"How can Wang Hongjin withstand such a huge tax?"
Su Che stood up and expressed that he wanted to summon the defendant Zhao Wenzheng.
Soon, Zhao Wenzheng sat in the dock. The pale old man never thought that he would be today. He looked at Zhao Xu who was sitting on the upper left in embarrassment.
Zhao Xu gave him a comforting look, don't panic, I will save you.
This gave Zhao Wenzheng great encouragement.
The minister sitting nearby caught this detail, and his anger began to rise again.
Little did he know that what Zhao Xu wanted was this effect, otherwise he wouldn't have come today and would have been very embarrassed sitting here.
"Governor Zhao!"
Su Che first bowed his hands and then asked, "Wang Hongjin said just now that almost all the land and sales under his name belong to Governor Zhao. I wonder if that's true."
Zhao Wenzheng nodded and said, "Yes, I arranged for him to help me take care of those fields and businesses."
Su Che asked: "Why?"
Zhao Wenzheng said: "For convenience."
Su Che continued to ask: "How do you say this?"
Zhao Wenzheng said: "If everything is in my name and you have to come to me for everything, how can I have the free time to deal with those things? Many people I know do this."
Fu Bi and Sima Guang seemed to be able to hear their hearts beating faster.
Su Che glanced at the VIP table and thought, forget it, let's not get into trouble first. He did not ask specifically who they were, but asked: "But according to my investigation, there are still ten hectares of land under Governor Zhao's name."
Zhao Wenzheng nodded.
Su Zhe said: "But not a penny of tax has been paid on these ten hectares of land."
Zhao Wenzheng immediately said: "Those ten hectares of land are tax-free land and do not need to pay taxes."
Su Che asked with a smile: "In other words, Governor Zhao put all the tax-free land in his own name, and recorded all the tax-paying land in Wang Hongjin's name."
Someone at the door hummed: "No need to ask, I already know."
Many people also made sarcastic comments.
Zhao Wenzheng's face turned green and red for a while, and his expression was very exciting and rich.
Although Zhang Fei had confessed, he had never experienced such a scene, and he was also very tormented in his heart. The dignified clan members were sitting here being interrogated, and every question was very fatal.
"quiet!"
Zeng Gong was stunned.
The door immediately fell silent.
Zhao Wenzheng nodded and said, "Yes."
"Why?"
"Didn't I just say it, it's for convenience. In this way, the tax collector will not come to me, and you can go directly to Wang Hongjin."
"I wonder if Governor Zhao knows that Wang Hongjin has not paid a penny in tax."
"now I know."
Zhao Wenzheng said: "But I didn't know that beforehand."
"Don't know at all?"
"have no idea."
"Then this time Wang Hongjin falsely reported property to the tax department, does Governor Zhao know?"
"Know."
Zhao Wenzheng nodded.
If you admit this crime, you will only be fined a small amount of money.
Su Che said: "In other words, Governor Zhao ordered Wang Hongjin to do this?"
"no."
Zhao Wenzheng decisively denied, "Wang Hongjin was the one who bewitched me."
Su Che immediately asked: "I wonder how Wang Hongjin bewitched Governor Zhao."
Zhao Wenzheng said: "Wang Hongjin told me that the tax exemption is unreasonable. At the same time, many large landowners in Xiangfu County will not report the tax truthfully. I don't know the specific situation. He is handling such matters. I Just tell him to do it himself."
Su Che said: "Governor Zhao is a member of the clan!"
"I object!"
Zhang Fei stood up and said righteously: "This case only concerns Governor Zhao and has nothing to do with the clan. Prosecutor Su's name may mislead others into thinking that Governor Zhao represents the entire clan. I'm afraid he has ulterior motives."
"Sorry! I shouldn't have asked that."
Su Che took a deep breath. After all, the emperor was sitting here, and then asked: "Governor Zhao just said that he had no knowledge of Wang Hongjin's tax evasion in advance. Doesn't it mean that Governor Zhao never checks the accounts?"
Zhao Wenzheng said: "I check it every two or three years. Usually it is my accounting office that does the calculations. I have never heard of any problems with the accounts."
"no problem?"
Su Zhe said: "According to the evidence we have found so far, Wang Hongjin's total tax evasion last year alone reached 1,356 dan. With such a large amount of tax, will there be no problems in the accounts?"
The audience at the door suddenly gasped.
It was even more exciting at the VIP table. For example, Wang Anshi, Zhao Peng and others shook their heads. They evaded more than a thousand dan in taxes a year. Can the country's finances not have problems?
But some people sneered in response, as if to say, your clan is much more ruthless than ours, why should you, the emperor, blame us?
In fact, this is also a big problem in feudal society. What is good at the top is bound to be bad at the bottom. This emperor is not a good bird. You take the big part and we take the small part. It is reasonable and reasonable.
A flash of anger flashed in Zhao Xu's eyes, but it only passed quickly.
Zhao Wenzheng couldn't help but glance at Zhao Xu, and then pretended to be calm, "Last year's accounts have not been calculated clearly by the accounting office, so they are not very clear."
Zhang Fei saw this and thought to himself, this old man really didn't have any determination, but he still had a good time cooperating with Xueshi Wang and the others.
Su Che smiled and said: "Fortunately, it is not difficult to check, because there are tax bills every year when you pay taxes. However, our procuratorate has investigated your house's accounts and there is no record of any tax bills."
Zhao Wenzheng said: "Actually, in the first two or three years, Wang Hongjin paid tax bills, but then he stopped paying taxes."
Su Che asked: "Why?"
Zhao Wenzheng said: "Because Wang Hongjin makes a lot of money for me every year, and the amount increases every year, I feel relieved about him. I don't have too strict requirements. Besides, the tax revenue is not much."
Su Che suddenly said to Zeng Gong: "Tell Magistrate Zeng that according to our investigation, due to ten years apart, the account books in Xiangfu County were damaged by rats and there were many deficiencies. We did not find the relevant records. The account books in Governor Zhao’s house also happen to be damaged, and there is currently no evidence to prove that Wang Hongjin paid taxes and handed over tax notes to Governor Zhao in the first two or three years.”
Zeng Gong nodded.
"I have no problem for now."
Su Che sat down.
Wen Yanbo couldn't help but said: "Governor Zhao's answers are unconfident and secretive. How can he win the case?"
Anyone with a sound mind could tell that Zhao Wenzheng must have been the instigator, and Wang Hongjin was just a scapegoat.
Fu Bi said: "This tax evasion is still the easiest charge to defend. If he can't refute this, then the next charge will be even more difficult to refute."
At this time, everyone's eyes were focused on Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei stood up and said, "Governor Zhao, as far as I know, that Wang Hongjin is the son of your homemaker."
Zhao Wenzheng nodded.
Zhang Fei said: "It's not a family relationship, so if you ask him to help you, you must be rewarded, right?"
Zhao Wenzheng nodded and said, "Yes."
Zhang Fei asked: "I wonder how much it is?"
Zhao Wenzheng said: "Initially, it was 5 guan per month, including food and accommodation, but later he made a lot of money for me, so I added 25 guan to him every month, making a total of 30 guan per month. , and will also give him some awards every year.”
Zhang Fei said: "That's a lot!"
Zhao Wenzheng nodded and said, "Yes, Wang Hongjin is paid more than his father."
Zhang Fei nodded and turned his head to look at Xu Zhiqian, "Ding two, Ding three."
Xu Zhiqian immediately pulled out two copies of the copy and handed them to Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei picked it up and said, "For the governor, here is the employment contract between Governor Zhao and Wang Hongjin, as well as the account expenditures for rewards given to Wang Hongjin in the past three years, and also includes the employment contract between Governor Zhao and some domestic servants. This is enough to prove that Governor Zhao Didn't lie."
"Submit it!"
But Zeng Gong's eyes flashed with doubts.
Huang Gui came over immediately.
Zhang Fei handed it over and said with a smile: "Two copies. I also prepared one for Prosecutor Su."
Huang Gui chuckled: "In the past, when you came to our Kaifeng Mansion, you would probably only prepare one portion. This time, the time is so tight, and you have prepared two portions. It is really not easy!"
Zhang Fei's expression paused and he whispered: "Master Huang, are you interested in coming to my law firm? I will pay five times the salary."
Huang Gui immediately glared at him, picked up one and handed it to Zeng Gong, and asked someone to give the other to Su Zhe.
Qi Ji asked curiously: "What is there to say?"
Su Che flipped through it, pondered for a while, and asked, "Do you think Wang Hongjin only needs this amount of money every month?"
Qi Ji frowned when he heard this and cursed secretly: "This kid is really cunning!"
There were also whispers in the VIP seats.
They didn't seem to understand that Zhang Fei was working so hard on wages when they were talking about paying taxes.
Zeng Gong looked at it, and then asked Zhang Fei: "What does this mean?"
Zhang Fei said: "The answer lies with Wang Hongjin."
Zeng Gong nodded and said: "It is said that Wang Hongjin is here."
Wang Hongjin came to the hall again.
Zhang Fei said: "Wang Hongjin, you should have heard it below. Did Governor Zhao make a mistake?"
Wang Hongjin shook his head.
Zhang Fei said: "As far as I know, your family has seven concubines."
Wang Hongjin nodded.
Zhang Fei asked again: "One of the concubines was bought by you at Furui Building in Xiangfu County for 620 guan. For the other six, the most you spent was 200 guan, and the least you paid was 200 guan. It cost you twenty guan. Adding it all together, you spent a total of more than 1,100 guan."
Wang Hongjin nodded and said, "Yes."
Zhang Fei asked again: "And at the beginning of last year, you spent 8,000 yuan to buy a small house in the west of the outer city of Bianjing."
Wang Hongjin nodded and said, "Yes."
Zhang Fei said: "Do you have evidence to prove that you bought this yourself and not for Governor Zhao?"
Of course I don't need to ask about it, but I need to ask about this house.
Wang Hongjin said: "In order to hide it from the master, I asked a concubine at home to secretly buy it for me. If I bought it for the master, I don't need to hide it. Moreover, my master has also bought a house in recent years, but he has never bought it for me. I was never told to do such a thing.”
Zhang Fei nodded and said: "As far as I know, you still have a secret granary in Zhongmu County, and you still have 3,500 shi of grain stored there."
Wang Hongjin nodded and said, "Yes."
Su Che frowned and said, "It seems that we have to strengthen the investigation methods of our Procuratorate. We cannot completely rely on the Taxation Department!"
Qi Ji also nodded.
It can be seen that they are completely unaware of this matter, and the Department of Taxation has not provided any income from this secret granary.
But these are all facts. Wang Hongjin manages so much property, how can he not be greedy?
Zhang Fei asked again: "Do you have any evidence to prove that this granary belongs to you, not to Governor Zhao?"
Wang Hongjin said: "I think it is impossible to find any records about this granary in the master's account books."
Zhang Fei asked with a smile: "This is strange. All the rewards and rewards you have received over the years are added together, and you don't have so much money, not to mention that your family's daily expenses are quite a lot every year. I don't know where these came from. Where did it come from?"
Wang Hongjin said: "I conceal some accounts every year, including the taxes I pay every year. Because I later discovered that the master did not realize that the taxes we pay every year are much more than before, and he does not often ask about it. I used my identity as a master to hide the land, evade taxes, and then transfer the money to myself."
But no one in the VIP table thought it was because the top beam was out of alignment or the bottom beam was crooked, or they were gloating about the misfortune. Instead, they all scolded Zhang Fei for being too cunning, which would give him an opportunity.
Obviously they already understood Zhang Fei's intention.
Zhang Fei asked: "Aren't you afraid that Governor Zhao will suddenly conduct a tax audit? As far as I know, Governor Zhao is used to conducting a detailed inspection of the accounts every two or three years."
Wang Hongjin said: "I have prepared fake tax bills. Even if the master wants to check, I can show these fake tax bills to him."
"I see."
Zhang Fei nodded, looked at Xu Zhiqian and said, "Ding Si."
Xu Zhiqian handed another copy to Zhang Fei. After Zhang Fei took it, "I have proof of Wang Hongjin's personal wealth here, as well as the fake tax bills he has prepared in the past two years."
Qi Ji immediately hummed: "Xiangfu County destroys tax banknotes exactly once every three years, and next year happens to be the third year. It's such a coincidence that you keep the fake tax banknotes from the past two years. I really don't know what you are doing to prevent it. If you are watching Governor Zhao, you are still guarding the government."
In fact, they all know that these big landowners usually evade taxes and keep fake tax notes in case of emergencies. After all, this is illegal, and they are also afraid of being investigated!
Although people know in their hearts that many officials evade taxes, this is not an open act, it is illegal. These people still use various means to hide taxes.
After Zeng Gong looked at them one by one, he communicated with Huang Gui in a low voice for a while. Huang Gui shook his head, then raised his head and asked Wang Hongjin: "Is this a fake tax bill?"
He was the magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture, but he couldn't recognize the authenticity of this tax note at all.
Wang Hongjin said: "I bought it from a tax collector named Xiong Ping."
Zeng Gong whispered to Li Kai: "Will you send someone to check immediately?"
Li Kai nodded.
Zeng Gong looked at Zhang Fei again and motioned for him to continue.
Zhang Fei looked around and said with a smile: "Even if Governor Zhao trusts Wang Hongjin very much, in the end Wang Hongjin is just the son of the elder, and Governor Zhao is not generous enough to let Wang Hongjin have tens of millions of wealth. The fact is obvious that Wang Hongjin is deceiving his superiors and taking advantage of his subordinates. Governor Zhao evaded taxes due to his identity, and at the same time concealed the fact that he had not paid taxes from Governor Zhao, and then took the money as his own.”
Su Che glanced at Zhang Fei and said with a smile: "This is just your conjecture and conjecture. Even if Wang Hongjin conceals his income from Governor Zhao, it does not mean that it includes the tax that needs to be paid every year."
Zhang Fei shrugged slightly and said, "But the Procuratorate has no evidence to directly prove that it was Governor Zhao who instructed Wang Hongjin not to pay taxes."
Qi Ji said: "But the land and the business belong to Governor Zhao."
Zhang Fei smiled and said: "But it is recorded in Wang Hongjin's name."
Qi Ji smiled coldly, let's wait and see.
Su Che suddenly said: "But we have enough evidence to prove that it was Governor Zhao who ordered Wang Hong to go in and occupy the official land."
It was just a warm-up before, and the charges of tax evasion were all temporarily added. Seizing government land and selling private salt were the main ones.
Zhang Fei smiled and said: "I have learned about the evidence. Unfortunately, none of the evidence can be used as evidence in court. You may have to find other ways to prove it."
(End of chapter)
