Judge of the Song Dynasty

What a dizzying moment!

In this extreme tug-of-war, a single dizzy spell was truly worth its weight in gold!

Perhaps it wasn’t enough to turn the tide of battle, but it could protect teammates and allow them to retreat intact, buying precious defensive opportunities.

The moment Lu Gongzhu struck the gavel, for many officials present, it brought a sense of relief!

Meanwhile, Han Qi, Fu Bi, Wen Yanbo and others could only look at them helplessly, then quietly departed from the Kaifeng Prefectural Office.

This matter had already spiraled beyond their control. With such bizarre developments, if the Emperor wanted to investigate, who would dare obstruct him?

It could be said that this case was now developing in an unpredictable direction.

They had truly trapped themselves in a web of their own making.

The judges of the Kaifeng Prefectural Office all felt the enormous pressure!

The noon hour had passed, yet they felt no hunger, sitting in the hall and staring at each other. “Prefect Lu, this matter doesn’t fall under our jurisdiction. We should just report it up the chain.”

Li Kai said uneasily to Lu Gongzhu.

Cen Yuanli, Yu Zaishen and the other presiding officials all nodded in agreement.

They were referring, of course, to the matter of the account books from the Archives. This was truly a major incident.

The genuine tax receipts from two years ago had actually matched up with account books from several years prior.

It was truly like encountering a ghost.

Actually, the falsification of those account books was secondary; the key issue was these tax receipts.

For the court, tax receipts were as good as real gold and silver.

Therefore, the court had always taken this very seriously. The entire process involved multiple parties monitoring each other, and after collecting taxes each year, the tax seals had to be destroyed immediately. Yet here someone had easily produced so many genuine tax receipts.

What a devastating blow this would deal to the tax system.

And the tax system was the foundation of any nation.

Lu Gongzhu said: “I will naturally report this matter to His Majesty and let His Majesty make the final decision. But in this case, if Zhang San raises questions, we have the responsibility to investigate.”

Li Kai and Cen Yuanli exchanged glances.

There were still a hundred more cases behind this one – how could there not be questions?

How could Zhang San show mercy and let them off?

He was demanding five hundred thousand strings right off the bat.

That Du Shaojing had originally thought that by confessing, he would only be fined a small amount.

The result was astronomical.

As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows.

Now they truly didn’t know which direction the case would develop.

Anything could happen.

The Shen Residence.

Just as he entered the house, Shen Huaixiao opened his eyes and stood up.

Cao Han said breathlessly: “Just now we were truly fortunate that Brother Shen was quick-thinking, otherwise the consequences would have been unthinkable!”

Earlier he had been so nervous he had forgotten to breathe.

Du Xiu paced like an ant on a hot pan, frantically gesturing with both hands: “The problem is what do we do now? Regarding the matter with the ledgers, we cannot escape blame!”

Du Shaojing was his relative, and he had a share in Du Shaojing’s lands – how could he not be anxious?

Shen Huaixiao stamped his foot hard: “How exactly did they handle things? Couldn’t they distinguish account records from several years ago?”

Tang Ji said: “The situation was so urgent at the time, who could have thought that the other side had already tampered with the account books? This was a trap, waiting for us to fall into it – impossible to guard against!”

Du Xiu cried out: “Let’s not talk about that now – what should we do at present?”

Cao Han pondered: “Now that His Majesty holds evidence, the court is already in a state of panic. If His Majesty makes any move, I fear they will treat you, Brother Shen, the same way they treated Wang Wenshan – making you take the fall.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Huaixiao’s eyes bulged: “Are they asking me to risk my life taking the fall?”

This charge was far more terrifying than Wang Hong’s – it meant either hell or exile to Qiongzhou.

He dared not take the fall.

Cao Han said: “Apart from that, we have only one path to choose.”

Shen Huaixiao quickly asked: “What is it?”

Cao Han replied: “Resolve it through litigation.”

Tang Ji sighed bitterly: “What’s there to litigate? Those people probably won’t even dare appear in court anymore – whoever goes up dies.”

Cao Han said: “Just now in court, Zhang San mentioned multiple times that he reserved the right to pursue criminal responsibility, which shows that he himself believes this is still only a civil lawsuit. Since it’s a civil lawsuit, settlement is also an option.”

At this point, he paused slightly and said with great reluctance: “Now, we can only beg Zhang San to spare us.”

Shen Huaixiao didn’t hesitate at all and immediately said: “If he’s willing, then kneeling down to beg him would be fine too.”

Staying alive was the key.

Bianjing Law Firm.

“Academician Wang, why are you staring at me like that?”

Zhang Fei had just returned to the firm and hadn’t even taken a sip of tea when Wang Anshi rushed in hurriedly. Without saying a word, he stared straight at him.

Wang Anshi said: “I never expected you to be so ruthless, demanding five hundred thousand strings right off the bat. You’ve scared me into a cold sweat.”

Zhang Fei chuckled: “Now you shouldn’t question that my ten thousand strings fee was purely a friendship price, right?”

Wang Anshi laughed: “If you can really claim five hundred thousand strings in damages from Du Shaojing, then the ten thousand strings fee is indeed too little. I’d feel guilty for the rest of my life. Haha.”

Zhang Fei’s lips curved upward: “Since I dared to claim five hundred thousand strings, then I will not accept a single coin less.”

“Really?”

Wang Anshi frowned: “But this way, for them, it’s death either way. I’m afraid this will drive them to desperate measures.”

Zhang Fei smiled: “The five hundred thousand strings is for all one hundred and eight of them to bear together. When divided equally, it’s only about five thousand strings per person. Given their wealth, there’s no need for desperate measures.”

“I see.” Wang Anshi chuckled: “That’s about what I predicted.”

But then he asked: “Didn’t you submit a whole basket of compensation grounds to Lu Gongzhu?”

Zhang Fei chuckled: “That’s just asking for sky-high prices to let them bargain down. Among those grounds, aside from the ten thousand strings being ironclad, every other item has loopholes that the opposing side has a chance to refute. If we fight to the end, it would probably take one or two years, and with over a hundred more cases ahead, each claiming damages like this, it would take at least ten years.”

“A lawsuit lasting ten years.”

Wang Anshi shook his head with a smile: “Better forget it then. What do you plan to do next?”

Zhang Fei said: “Now the opposing side has only one choice – to settle with me. This way, they must pay the full taxes for those tenant farmers.”

Wang Anshi shook his head: “Those were the previous conditions. Now that we have such a huge advantage, just paying a little tax money would be letting them off too easy.”

Zhang Fei asked: “What do you have in mind?”

Wang Anshi said: “We must force them to modify their contracts with the tenant farmers, ensuring that the contracts no longer require tenant farmers to bear any taxes.”

Once this change was made, he could petition the emperor to establish laws confirming that land taxes could no longer be borne by tenant farmers.

Zhang Fei nodded: “I think there shouldn’t be a problem.”

Wang Anshi pondered briefly and said: “Didn’t you just mention asking for sky-high prices?”

Zhang Fei nodded.

Wang Anshi said: “Then don’t ask for five hundred thousand strings first – ask for five million strings.”

Zhang Fei looked at him with confusion.

Wang Anshi said: “The extra four and a half million strings would be used to offset the interest owed by those tenants.”

Zhang Fei pondered briefly and said: “Now they’re meat on the chopping block. I think there should be no problem.”

Wang Anshi thought again: “Forget it, that’s enough. If we ask for more, I’m afraid they won’t comply obediently.”

Actually, he was well aware in his heart that what he wanted couldn’t all be obtained through a single lawsuit.

If one landlord had to pay five hundred thousand strings in compensation, landlords throughout the realm would rebel. Demanding five hundred thousand strings from them was no different from killing them. They had racked their brains to extract blood from tenant farmers for ten years, only to have it all intercepted by you – no one could accept that.

Most of these landlords were imperial relatives and scholar-officials, and their influence, power, and status were considerable.

They would certainly submit memorials to the emperor and raise objections to this compensation.

The emperor would still have to compromise.

Why go to that extreme? After all, everyone would have to face each other again.

The Li residence.

“Ah!”

A piercing scream rang out.

“Five hundred thousand strings! My five hundred thousand strings! My fields! My money!”

Du Shaojing suddenly sat up, his face twisted as he clawed frantically, screaming hysterically.

“Brother Du!”

“Mogul Du!”

Hearing several shouts, Du Shaojing turned his head and saw Li Guozhong and others standing by the bed, looking at him with concern. He swallowed and asked: “Where is this?”

Li Guozhong quickly said: “This is my home.”

However, he secretly found it amusing – this dignified Mogul Du had actually been frightened to this extent. Updates are released by NoveIＦire.net

“Your home?”

Du Shaojing blinked, then suddenly lunged toward Li Guozhong, grabbing his sleeve with one hand. “Did we win?”

Li Guozhong frowned slightly and said, “The verdict hasn’t been reached yet, but the situation is very unfavorable for us.”

Du Shaojing’s body went limp as he released his grip, then suddenly slapped the bed board in frustration. “Ah! If I had known it would come to this, we should have just paid those taxes back then. Five hundred thousand strings – this is worse than killing me!”

A large landowner named Xiong Ming beside them said, “Mister Li, is there really no way to fight this lawsuit?”

Although the situation was unfavorable for them, Li Lei and his team had argued their case with reason in court, which had earned them considerable trust.

If it had been anyone else, they might have been too frightened to even run away.

This professional competence was still worthy of praise.

Li Guozhong pondered for a long while, then shook his head. “Now that the opposing side has ironclad evidence, we’re in a very passive position. We definitely can’t win if we fight.”

Upon hearing this, the dozen or so landowners in the room all showed expressions of despair.

This really couldn’t be blamed on Li Guozhong and his team. If anyone was to blame, it was those incompetent officials who couldn’t even copy account books correctly. This was truly outrageous – they even suspected those officials were conspiring to trap them.

Li Guozhong changed his tone. “But five hundred thousand strings is absolutely impossible.”

Upon hearing this, Du Shaojing’s heart ignited with hope. “Do you have a solution?”

Li Guozhong frowned. “If we want to salvage this situation, there’s only one method.”

Du Shaojing asked, “What method?”

“Mutual destruction.”

“Mutual destruction?”

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment – this sounded quite frightening.

Li Guozhong said, “Everyone, rest assured. When I say mutual destruction, I’m only talking about using it as a bluff to intimidate the opposing side. If we’re really talking about tax evasion, which of the imperial relatives or high court officials is clean? Not to mention others, just take Xiang-guo Temple – not a single coin of their annual profits is legally obtained.”

Du Shaojing nodded repeatedly. “That’s right, that’s right. There are plenty of people who pay less tax than I do.”

Li Guozhong continued, “We can use this as grounds to negotiate with Zhang San. If Zhang San insists on proceeding this way, then we’ll go all out and drag Xiang-guo Temple and the imperial relatives all into this, making it impossible for Zhang San to conclude this case.”

“Let’s do exactly that.”

Du Shaojing waved both hands. “At worst, we’ll all die together.”

Making him pay five hundred thousand strings would be more painful than killing him.

However, Xiong Ming and the others still appeared quite hesitant.

They weren’t at the top of the food chain either. Once they acted this way, they would essentially offend everyone above them, leaving them with no way to survive. Probably all one hundred and eight of them would have to flee to Mount Liang.

Xiong Ming asked, “Are you really confident that we can force the opposing side to compromise?”

Li Guozhong nodded, then added, “But the tenant farmers’ taxes probably can’t be escaped, since that’s their objective!”

Xiong Ming sighed, “As long as we can reach an agreement, never mind the tenant farmers’ taxes.”

Du Shaojing nodded like a pecking chicken. Compared to the alternative, that was nothing.

Knock knock knock!

A series of knocks interrupted their conversation.

Li Guozhong asked, “What is it?”

The person outside replied, “Master, Supervisor Liu has arrived.”

Li Guozhong quickly said, “Please invite him in immediately.”

The door opened, and a short, stout middle-aged man walked in. This person was named Liu Kuai, a warehouse supervisor from the Transport Commission. People from the Three Financial Bureaus didn’t dare come here anymore.

Liu Kuai asked, “Mister Li, what do you plan to do?”

Li Guozhong hesitated for a moment, then said, “We plan to negotiate with Zhang San to see if we can reach a settlement.”

Liu Kuai’s face lit up with joy. “That’s exactly what the higher-ups are thinking too. Are you confident?”

Li Guozhong nodded.