Judge of the Song Dynasty

The irony was stark – just as Geng Ming’s family reunited, Wang Hong, who had been riding high just days ago, was being escorted out of the capital by several guards.

When Wang Hong looked back at the city gate, he still couldn’t believe it, desperately hoping this was all just a nightmare.

Everything felt like a nightmare.

It seemed so unreal.

Yet a single pen-in-cap had turned this nightmare into reality.

This time, Zhang Fei didn’t come personally to see him off and gloat.

The reason was simple – when Wang Wenshan left, he was still an official, just being reassigned elsewhere, so it was worth gloating over. But Wang Hong was being exiled to Qiongzhou, likely never to return, so there wasn’t much point in mocking him.

Even if Zhang Fei had come, he wouldn’t have known what to say.

However, some people did come to bid farewell.

Just two or three miles outside the capital, four middle-aged men in scholar’s robes stood by a small teahouse – they were Gu Ji from the Imperial Treasury, Salt and Iron Commissioner Shen Huaixiao, Transport Commissioner Cao Han, and Censor Li Zhan. If Wang Hong truly had no supporters at court, no matter how capable he was, he couldn’t have risen so quickly. He actually had many supporters in the government.

This incident had been arranged by them behind the scenes.

Who knew it would backfire so badly and completely destroy a rising political star.

The guards were quite savvy, accepting some rewards and sitting under a nearby shed eating meat and drinking wine, leaving the men to talk.

They had anticipated this assignment would be lucrative.

Anyone wanting to see Wang Hong along the way would have to give them some benefits.

“Brother Wang, we’re truly sorry. We tried our best, but…” Li Zhan said shamefully when he saw Wang Hong.

Wang Hong remained silent.

He really wasn’t in the mood to say anything.

Cao Han said, “Brother Wang, don’t be too discouraged. It’s a very long journey from here to Qiongzhou. We’ve made arrangements up and down the ranks for them to travel slowly and ensure you won’t suffer along the way. Meanwhile, we’ll work hard at court to petition His Majesty for a retrial. Just think of it as taking a break.”

Hearing this, Wang Hong felt a glimmer of hope and clasped his hands, saying, “I’ll have to trouble you all.”

He felt extremely unwilling to accept his fate.

“Ah,” Gu Ji sighed in frustration, “Who would have thought that we, as high officials, could be defeated by a mere pen-in-cap. This is really…”

When Zhang Fei was mentioned, a venomous look flashed in Wang Hong’s eyes. “If I had known this would happen, I should have really killed that little pen-in-cap then. Perhaps things wouldn’t be so terrible now.”

Shen Huaixiao said, “That little pen-in-cap is nothing – what matters are the people behind him.”

Gu Ji asked, “You mean Xu Zun?”

Shen Huaixiao waved his hand, “Xu Zun is just an honest man who at most speaks up about judicial matters and stays quiet otherwise. I’m talking about Wang Anshi. He’s been the one supporting that pen-in-cap all along. Haven’t you noticed that every case that pen-in-cap takes benefits Wang Anshi? “

Cao Han nodded, “Brother Shen makes sense. After this case, the biggest winner is Wang Anshi. Land investigations and back taxes sound good, but they’re really just about filling state coffers – isn’t that exactly what Wang Anshi wants? Just wait and see – this is only a test. He will definitely implement land reforms soon, and none of us will escape it.”

Li Zhan sighed, “It’s a pity that Academician Sima insisted on fighting Wang Anshi in judicial matters, yet he couldn’t win. And that Remonstrator Fan wanted to pursue the case but every time he fights in court, he loses. If I were him, I would have resigned and gone home long ago rather than face such humiliation.”

While several people grumbled in discontent, Wang Hong, the main subject of discussion, remained silent.

Shen Huaixiao and the others exchanged glances.

The elderly Gu Ji spoke up to comfort him: “Brother Wang, given the situation, you must take care of your health. As long as you’re alive, there’s hope!”

Wang Hong started, looking up at them, “Don’t worry everyone, I won’t be defeated by this. But you mentioned earlier about land investigations and back taxes?”

Shen Huaixiao nodded, “The court is using this case to investigate lands in Kaifeng and Xiangfu counties. Though many are unhappy, there’s nothing they can do. They need to appease public grievances to complete their task.”

Wang Hong suddenly turned his head, watching the farmers laboring diligently in the distant fields, deep in thought.

Cao Han, being closer to Wang Hong, asked, “Brother Wang, what are you thinking?”

Wang Hong turned back, giving a cold smile, “This isn’t over yet.”

Shen Huaixiao perked up, “What do you mean?”

Wang Hong said, “You all should know that most large landowners rent their land to tenant farmers.”

Everyone nodded.

Wang Hong continued, “As far as I know, they have two types of contracts with tenants. First, splitting income fifty-fifty; second, fixed rent. But regardless of type, most landlords make the tenants pay the taxes.”

Gu Ji said, “Those tenant farmers generally pay taxes in full, so these fields shouldn’t have any problems.”

Wang Hong smiled, “Those are the taxed fields. There are still many untaxed fields also rented to tenant farmers, but the landlords don’t give these tenants any breaks – they include taxes in the rent even when they are uncollected. Now that the court wants to collect taxes, who should bear this tax burden?”

Shen Huaixiao frowned slightly, “Those large landowners will certainly make the tenant farmers bear it.”

Wang Hong smiled, “Those tenant farmers have already paid at least half the taxes when paying rent. Now that the court wants comprehensive investigations and back taxes, it means these farmers will have to pay taxes again. Is this really appeasing public grievances?”

They all looked at each other and chuckled.

At the Bianjing Law Firm.

“Oh! Everyone’s back!”

When Zhang Fei returned to the Bianjing Law Firm, he found the shop, which had been quiet for half a month, suddenly bustling with activity. The pen-in-caps were all busy working, and Fan Li was no longer swatting flies behind the counter.

Zhang San!”

“Brother Zhang!”

Everyone gathered around when they saw Zhang Fei arrive.

“We shouldn’t have blamed you before, Brother San.”

“Yes! We were thoughtless and wrongly blamed you.”

“Actually, we’re all responsible. We’re paid for our jobs, so we just have to do it. We can’t blame it all on you.”

One by one, they apologetically expressed their regrets to Zhang Fei.

They had all watched that court case and witnessed Zhang Fei fighting to win justice for them. Moved and filled with remorse, they felt they shouldn’t have let Zhang Fei bear everything alone.

Therefore, after the case ended, they immediately ended their break and returned to the shop without prior arrangement.

Zhang Fei said, “I compensated you all back then simply because I was indeed wrong, and there’s nothing more to discuss about that. As for fighting to win justice for you, that was only natural, so you don’t need to apologize or feel guilty. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on novel·fiɾe·net

The only thing we need to reflect on is to learn from this experience. Although the court currently allows us to continue calculating taxes, we must be cautious and not act rashly!”

As they were talking, a gust of wind passed by.

Fan Li whispered, “I think that was Academician Sima.”

“Playing both sides is quite a skill!” Zhang Fei sighed to himself, then said to them, “First, discuss thoroughly what other problems we might encounter with this tax calculation business. Then we’ll have another meeting to talk it over.”

“Yes, we understand.”

Everyone nodded in unison, their expressions becoming more relaxed.

They had gradually come to understand Zhang Fei’s temperament – he treated himself and others the same way. If they did something wrong, he would scold them harshly.

But when Zhang Fei himself made mistakes, though no one scolded him, he would punish himself and do his best to make amends.

This actually helped them feel less burdened.

Everyone was equal, so there was nothing to complain about.

After giving instructions, Zhang Fei told Fan Li, “No one is allowed to go to the back courtyard without my permission.”

Fan Li nodded.

Zhang Fei wiped his sweat and anxiously walked to the back courtyard.

Arriving there, he bowed to Sima Guang, “This humble one pays respects to Academician Sima.”

Sima Guang turned his head and glared, “In court earlier, was that final speech of yours relevant to helping you win the case?”

Zhang Fei replied sheepishly, “A little bit.”

Sima Guang asked, “Did Wang Anshi tell you to say that?”

“No,” Zhang Fei shook his head.

“What do you mean no?”

Sima Guang suddenly jumped up, “The key issue is that your speech was over-generalizing, took things out of context, and made no sense. Who said preserving wealth among the people only refers to large landowners and gentry? That’s complete nonsense.”

Although his judicial reforms had made progress, his political philosophy was still the Confucian doctrine of light taxation and preserving wealth with the people. If you denied this principle, he didn’t even want to continue serving as an official.

He wasn’t greedy for money or women – like Wang Anshi, he wanted to promote his political ideals.

The problem was that recently, whenever Wang Anshi met him, he kept mockingly repeating ‘preserving wealth among the people’.

It was truly infuriating.

It should be noted that Sima Guang had contributed to making this court case possible by not fully opposing it, and the reason was Zhang Fei.

But now this youngster had backstabbed him.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He had to talk to Zhang Fei about whose side he was really on.

Zhang Fei explained, “I wasn’t over-generalizing or taking things out of context. The concept of preserving wealth among the people itself is problematic.”

Seeing this young man still arguing with him, Sima Guang pressed aggressively, “What problems? What issues? Do you understand why I insist on light taxation and preserving wealth among the people?”

This old man has gone mad! Zhang Fei kept backing away, saying, “Academician Sima, please calm down and let me explain. Of course I understand your concept of preserving wealth among the people.”

Sima Guang pointed at Zhang Fei and said, “Then explain.”

“Academician Sima, please have a seat.”

“I won’t sit!”

Sima Guang said angrily, “Do you know that because of what you said, that Wang Anshi…!”

“What about Academician Wang?” Zhang Fei asked with curiosity.

Sima Guang said, “Stop changing the subject. Say what you have to say.”

That old Wang really should have just been content with his victory instead of provoking this old man – now I’m the one suffering, Zhang Fei thought. He nodded and explained, “Throughout history, whenever landowners and gentry were taxed heavily, the common people only suffered more.”

Sima Guang snorted, “You knew this and still said what you did.”

In feudal society, which was also a class-based society rather than one ruled by law, there was no concept of equality. The emperor’s justification for taxing landowners was simply that he belonged to a higher class.

This was why wealth redistribution was extremely difficult in feudal society.

Shifting tax collection from commoners to the landed gentry was like trying to make water flow uphill in a dam.

Such a thing was impossible.

Therefore, whenever the state increased taxes, no matter what methods were used, the burden would ultimately be passed down to those at the bottom.

When wealthy landowners prospered, it didn’t necessarily mean the common people prospered, but when wealthy landowners suffered, the common people definitely suffered more.

There might be brief periods when commoners could catch their breath, but things would quickly become worse than before.

Since Sima Guang read historical records daily and would later even compile the seminal historical text “Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government”,[1] he believed the best approach was to keep taxes light and let wealth remain with the people.

Zhang Fei said, “But the facts have proven that currently letting wealth remain with the people also has many problems – it’s a slow death.”

Sima Guang exclaimed emotionally, “That’s still better than Wang Anshi’s immediate death!”

Zhang Fei immediately responded, “So you are simply choosing the lesser of two evils?”

Sima Guang was startled, then snorted, “I never said that. History shows that light taxation and letting wealth remain with the people is the only way to achieve lasting peace and stability.”

Zhang Fei nodded and said, “I completely agree with that, but how would you explain phenomena like Wei Yushan?”

Sima Guang replied, “Such bad elements are inevitable – even the court has many corrupt officials. But you can’t generalize and assume all gentry and landowners are like Wei Yushan. Many gentry and landowners have a strong sense of righteousness. Take Geng Ming for example – he’s also a landowner. Wouldn’t it be good for wealth to be in the hands of people like him?”

Zhang Fei smiled and said, “Actually, Your Excellency has just pointed out the biggest problem with the current policy of letting wealth remain with the people.”

Sima Guang was taken aback. “What problem?”

Zhang Fei said, “The problem of Confucian morality.”

[1] In history, the Emperor went full force with Wang Anshi’s reforms and Sima Guang was sidelined. So he spent his time writing this book, written with the intention of teaching the Emperor to “learn from history” since “history is like a mirror”. But at the current time of the story, Sima Guang has not written it yet.