Chapter 175: Killing a Chicken to Awe the Monkeys
Without a doubt, Kaifeng Prefecture was the premier prefecture of the Song Dynasty, governing around fifteen counties.
Among them, Kaifeng County and Xiangfu County were imperial counties, meaning they were capital districts.
Kaifeng County administered the southeastern region of Bianjing, while Xiangfu County managed the northwest.
It was rather amusing that although Zhang Fei had been to the Kaifeng Prefectural Office countless times since arriving in Bianjing, he had never visited the Kaifeng County Office. Unlike most people who would rather go to the Kaifeng County Office than dare visit the Kaifeng Prefectural Office, Zhang Fei was the opposite – having been to the Prefectural office, he found the County office uninteresting.
This led Zhang Fei to wonder if Kaifeng County was perhaps jealous, arresting his men because he had never filed complaints there.
On the way, he caught up with Fan Li who had left earlier, and they took a carriage together to Kaifeng County Office.
At the county office, after Zhang Fei announced himself, the guards informed him that the magistrate was hearing a case and told him to wait outside.
“Brother San, this doesn’t look good!” Fan Li whispered after waiting for quite a while.
Zhang Fei nodded, “I know. I’ll be careful later.”
Nobody believed these guards hadn’t heard of Zhang San’s name, yet they remained remarkably composed and assertive, treating Zhang Fei like an ordinary commoner – clearly they had received instructions from above. They were made to wait outside for a full hour before being allowed in.
Upon entering, they heard groaning sounds.
Around the corridor to the left side of the front courtyard, they saw Qiu Zhengwen, Huang Meng, and other pen-in-caps lying face down. Their trousers were soaked with sweat and clinging to their bodies, revealing rod marks, some still reddish, indicating they had just been caned.
This type of punishment typically involved twisted thorny branches bound together into a rod, usually used to discipline troublemakers. It caused surface pain but no internal injuries.
The scene frightened Fan Li pale, cold sweat running down his back.
“Stay calm!” Zhang Fei said expressionlessly to Fan Li.
This scene didn’t frighten him, as he had spent several months in the Dengzhou Prison and was used to such sights.
However, his eyes were filled with anger. He sensed this was retaliation.
“Brother San is here! Brother San is here!”
“Oh, Brother San, save us!”
“Brother San, we’ve been wronged!”
The notaries and pen-in-caps, upon seeing Zhang Fei, looked at him tearfully like he was their savior.
There was a loud bang.
Zhang Fei turned his head to see a long table before the court hall. Behind it sat a middle-aged man around forty, with dark skin, prominent cheekbones, a goatee, and sunken eyes that appeared particularly stern.
On the way there, Fan Li had told Zhang Fei that this Kaifeng County Magistrate was named Wang Hong, a ruthless man who loved using torture and was feared by all.
In ancient times, torturing suspects was permitted by law, as there weren’t many investigative methods available. Once certain evidence was obtained, torture could be used to force confessions.
The frequency depended entirely on the presiding official’s personality.
While Lu Gongzhu and Xu Zun weren’t fond of it, Wang Hong particularly enjoyed using torture.
“Summon Zhang San to appear.”
“Zhang San, you are summoned.”
Upon hearing the loud call, the guard behind Zhang Fei shoved him hard, nearly making him fall.
Zhang Fei turned back and glared.
The guard shouted, “What are you looking at? Move!”
Coming out of the corridor into the courtyard.
“This humble commoner Zhang San greets the magistrate,” Zhang Fei cupped his hands in greeting.
Fan Li also bowed.
Wang Hong completely ignored Fan Li and struck his gavel, shouting at Zhang Fei, “Are you the pen-in-cap Zhang San?”
“Yes,” Zhang Fei nodded.
Wang Hong said, “Did you order the pen-in-caps from your shop to interfere with my tax collection?”
Zhang Fei replied, “Speaking truthfully, I still don’t know what has happened.”
Wang Hong’s brows furrowed, “I’m asking if you instructed them to promote some tax calculation business to locals in the southern outskirts?”
“No!” Zhang Fei shook his head innocently, “I know nothing about this matter.”
“What?” The group of pen-in-caps behind him stared in disbelief.
He had just sold them out.
Wang Hong was also stunned, “You don’t know?”
Zhang Fei shook his head, “This humble commoner doesn’t know.”
Wang Hong questioned, “They’re all pen-in-caps from your shop, how could you not know?”
Zhang Fei said, “I only asked them to distribute my business cards here. Ah, Magistrate, you must have collected some small papers from them, right?”
Wang Hong nodded.
Zhang Fei said, “This is a business promotion method, it shouldn’t be illegal, right?”
Wang Hong said, “But they all said you instructed them.”
“This humble citizen is too busy every day to bother with such things,” Zhang Fei said, then turned to Fan Li and asked, “Mogul, could you have ordered this?”
Was he trying to make him take the blame? Fan Li’s heart skipped a beat, but then he realized that in the current situation, they had to protect their leader first, otherwise who would save them later? Just as he was about to confess, he noticed Zhang Fei giving him a look, and finally understood, quickly shaking his head saying, “I-I don’t know either.”
At this point, saying that they knew nothing was their best strategy, allowing them to reason with the officials later. If they became criminals, they would be at a severe disadvantage.
After all, it wasn’t easy to find a powerful lawyer to fight their case these days.
Zhang Fei grinned and said to Wang Hong, “Magistrate, our firm has always handled tax calculations and even cooperates with the City Tax Bureau. However, we mainly serve merchants to prevent them from accidentally evading taxes. I never intended for them to promote tax services here – what money do farmers have? Helping them calculate taxes wouldn’t earn much, it might even lose money. Our firm’s main business is handling litigation, which is why I had them distribute business cards. Perhaps they promoted tax services on the side, but I knew nothing about it.”
Seeing him spout such nonsense with a straight face, Wang Hong became angry with embarrassment. “If you didn’t instruct them, why do they all say you did?”
Zhang Fei replied, “I did have them promote these services, but mainly targeting merchants in the city. Though I admittedly didn’t forbid them from promoting to farmers.”
“Is that so?”
Wang Hong suddenly called out loudly, “Huang Meng!”
“I am here,” Huang Meng responded, trembling as he lay prostrate on the ground.
Wang Hong said, “You claimed earlier this was all Zhang San’s doing. Were you deceiving me?”
Huang Meng wasn’t stupid. At this point, only Zhang Fei could save them, so he quickly said, “How dare I deceive the Magistrate? It was indeed Zhang San’s instructions. He previously told us to promote tax calculation services, but when he sent us to the southern outskirts this time, he only told us to distribute cards. We just mentioned the tax services to those farmers in passing.”
“Yes, yes, we only mentioned it casually.”
Qiu Zhengwen and the others caught on, all stating that Zhang Fei hadn’t explicitly instructed them to promote tax services in the southern outskirts.
Wang Hong slammed his gavel. “You insolent people dare to provide false testimony to deceive me! Guards! Give them ten more heavy strokes!”
“Wait!” Zhang Fei interjected. “They haven’t given false testimony – this was indeed my doing.”
Wang Hong frowned. “Then you’re the one giving false testimony.”
Zhang Fei replied, “I haven’t given false testimony either – this is just a misunderstanding. As I said before, while I didn’t instruct them to promote tax services in the southern outskirts, I had previously asked them to promote these services and didn’t stop them from approaching farmers. Their saying I instructed them isn’t wrong, but I truly knew nothing about it.”
Wang Hong paused, then sneered, “What a clever tongue you have, but such tricks won’t work with me.”
Zhang Fei immediately responded, “Clever words don’t work anywhere, including the Kaifeng Prefectural Office. I’ve never relied on clever words to win cases, but on evidence and the law.”
Wang Hong’s expression changed slightly, thinking he needed to be careful with his words around this fellow. He scoffed, “You know better than anyone whether you instructed them or not.”
“I haven’t denied that point,” Zhang Fei said, then asked, “But even if they promoted tax services to farmers, what law did they break?”
Wang Hong replied, “They are guilty of bewitching the masses, obstructing official duties, disturbing order, and defrauding public and private property.”
Hearing this, Huang Meng and the others turned pale – these charges combined would mean exile at least!
Zhang Fei listened in confusion. “Our firm has been providing tax calculation services for many days, and I’ve never heard it was illegal.”
Wang Hong said, “The business itself isn’t illegal, but using it at this time and place, along with the statements they spread, seriously obstructs official duties – enough to constitute these charges.”
Zhang Fei bowed. “I’m too stupid to understand the reasoning. Please explain, Magistrate.”
Wang Hong asked, “Tax calculations have always been determined by officials. Why are you providing these services?”
Zhang Fei deflected, “Because people often don’t understand tax laws and underpay, ending up in prison. That’s why I started this service.”
Wang Hong said, “But I heard you promised a farmer that if he used your service, you could guarantee he wouldn’t pay an extra penny.”
Zhang Fei hesitated. “Was that wrong?”
Wang Hong immediately slammed his gavel. “By saying that, you’re implying the government overtaxes them, causing them to refuse to pay taxes. Do you know how much trouble this has caused officials?”
Zhang Fei exclaimed passionately, “That’s just the Magistrate’s one-sided view. I don’t believe those words broke any law.”
Wang Hong shouted, “You scoundrel, are you suggesting I am slandering you?”
Zhang Fei replied, “I absolutely don’t mean that, but I absolutely reject your judgment. I will appeal to the Kaifeng Prefectural Office.”
Wang Hong glanced at the imperial plaque Li Si was carrying and smiled. “I hear His Majesty bestowed you a plaque. If you want to appeal, I can’t stop you! But I have already submitted a memorial to the imperial court to severely punish you lot of scoundrels.”
Zhang Fei frowned, thinking it strange – how could this magistrate make such a judgment on these grounds? What was really going on here?
…
“Did you investigate thoroughly? How could Kaifeng County arrest people so arbitrarily?”
Xu Zun asked Xu Zhiqian hurriedly as he walked toward the imperial city gates.
Xu Zhiqian replied, “I was involved in this matter. They really were just promoting tax calculation services, nothing more.”
“Your firm is full of all sorts. Something else must have happened,” Xu Zun remained unconvinced.
When they reached the gates, they saw Sima Guang standing there calmly.
“Academician Sima.” Xu Zun quickly walked over and asked quietly, “Scholar Sima, what’s really going on?”
Sima Guang said, “Your son-in-law shouldn’t have chosen this time and place to promote tax services.”
Xu Zun asked, “Why not?”
Sima Guang replied, “You should know, tax collection is crucial to the state – nothing is more important. Zhang San going there to promote tax services at this time will certainly cause trouble for officials.”
Xu Zun immediately said, “But it’s targeting unfairness, not deliberately causing trouble. How can Kaifeng County arrest people arbitrarily?”
Sima Guang asked, “Do you think the court would delay nationwide tax collection over a few cases of unfairness?”
Xu Zun said, “How would this delay anything?”
“If they say it’s causing delay, do you think His Majesty would finish trying this case before collecting taxes?” Sima Guang asked.
Xu Zun frowned. “So you’re saying it’s not just the magistrate involved – they’re using tax collection to pressure His Majesty.”
Sima Guang nodded and sighed, “This won’t be easy to resolve!”