Judge of the Song Dynasty

“This is really letting them off too easy.”

After seeing off Li Guozhong and the others, Xu Zhiqian’s remark nearly caused Fan Li and Qiu Zhengwen to fall over on the spot.

“Enough! Enough!”

Fan Li said repeatedly, “This is already quite remarkable. Even the imperial court has never recovered a fine of five hundred thousand strings, not to mention pen-in-caps. This, this, this…”

He no longer knew how to describe this settlement agreement.

Actually, when it came to making exorbitant demands, Zhang Fei had played this game before, but the compensation amounts he ultimately secured were often quite limited.

Not astronomical in monetary terms.

Take the claim against Wei Yushan – that was just scratching the surface.

But this time, it was absolutely an astronomical claim.

Breaking all previous records. The key point was that the opposing parties were all super-wealthy landowners of the capital, which would have been unimaginable in the past.

Zhang Fei glanced at Fan Li, who could barely speak coherently, chuckled, and said to Xu Zhiqian, “In negotiations, you can’t just look at how much the other party compensates – you have to look at how much we gain.”

Xu Zhiqian was puzzled. “Isn’t what the other party compensates exactly what we gain?”

“Absolutely not.”

Zhang Fei shook his head. “What our clients gain is far more than five hundred thousand strings, and the significance is profound.”

Qiu Zhengwen, listening nearby, was quite curious. “Brother San, what do you mean by that?”

“You’ll know in due time.”

Zhang Fei smiled mysteriously, then suddenly added, “Actually, it’s still a bit lacking. At least compared to our neighbors, there’s still quite a gap. We still need to work harder.”

Qiu Zhengwen was startled. “Neighbors? Who?”

Zhang Fei said, “The Liao State!”

Fan Li, who had been confused for a while, finally reacted and was immediately frightened pale. “Oh my! Brother San, you absolutely mustn’t say such things carelessly. If someone were to hear this, we’d be in for it.”

Zhang Fei just smiled and didn’t continue the topic.

Fan Li quickly changed the subject. “So do you think Kaifeng Prefecture will agree?”

Zhang Fei countered, “Since when does Kaifeng Prefecture get to make the decisions?”

“…?”

A productive negotiation would satisfy both parties, and even the paying party wouldn’t feel they’d gotten a bad deal.

Like this time.

Although Li Guozhong and his group had agreed to many of Zhang Fei’s “harsh” conditions.

When Li Guozhong and the others brought the news back, those landowners were all overjoyed and praised Li Guozhong and the other notaries highly.

You’re absolutely wonderful.

Professional!

All these various losses, added together and averaged out, came to less than ten thousand strings per person.

Worth it!

Absolutely worth it!

It’s just ten thousand strings, right?

I can afford it.

Woo hoo hoo…!

As for those scholar-officials, they all breathed a long sigh of relief and were very willing to accept this price. No one had any complaints.

Because in this game, they had lost completely and been thoroughly manipulated by that young emperor.

They definitely had to pay a price.

And Zhang Fei represented the court, backed by the young emperor and Wang Anshi.

His willingness to settle meant that the emperor wouldn’t pursue this case further.

This was the best possible outcome.

As for the money…

This small amount was only appropriate.

But their anxious hearts hadn’t completely settled yet, because both parties had only signed a letter of intent. The key was still whether Kaifeng Prefecture would be willing to accept it.

Although they all expected that Kaifeng Prefecture would definitely agree, as long as the prefecture didn’t render judgment, they couldn’t completely put their minds at ease.

So early the next morning, they came to Kaifeng Prefecture bright and early.

Almost none of them were sitting – they were all standing, but no one was chatting. The atmosphere was quite eerie, so when Su Shi, Su Zhe and others arrived, seeing those empty chairs and those pairs of dark-circled eyes, they couldn’t help but feel their hair stand on end.

What was this situation?

But they soon learned that Zhang Fei and Li Guozhong had already arrived and were currently in the hall discussing matters with Lu Gongzhu and others.

“Plead guilty?”

Lu Gongzhu looked at Li Guozhong and the others with some surprise.

Li Guozhong nodded. “In response to Your Honor the Prefect, my clients have already recognized their wrongdoing and are all willing to plead guilty and accept punishment. Moreover, regarding their mistakes, they wish to make compensation.”

Speaking to the Kaifeng Prefectural Office, they couldn’t call it a settlement. After all, this case involved tax evasion, which was illegal behavior. If they called it a settlement, that would be a desecration of the law – they had to call it a guilty plea.

Lu Gongzhu was somewhat puzzled. If they pleaded guilty to this crime, then according to the criminal penalties, even if the death penalty was waived, they would still find it difficult to escape punishment for their offenses.

The Song Dynasty’s punishment for tax evasion was actually extremely severe – at its most extreme, it could reach the level of death by a thousand cuts.

At this moment, Li Guozhong took out another confession letter and handed it over.

When Lu Gongzhu looked at this confession, he immediately understood what was happening.

The crimes listed above were very minor. Basically, whatever Wang Anshi had accused them of, that’s what they confessed to. And the compensation they were willing to make far exceeded the crimes they were admitting to.

He had never seen such a sincere confession letter.

Lu Gongzhu couldn’t help but look toward Zhang Fei, silently cursing: This damned boy really handles things with ease! He frowned and asked, “Zhang San, are you satisfied with this?”

Zhang Fei replied, “My side is very satisfied.”

Li Kai, Cen Yuanli, and the others listened in confusion. How could a pen-in-cap have the final say in matters of lawbreaking? Was Kaifeng Prefecture really his family’s business?

Lu Gongzhu nodded and said, “You should go out first. We need to discuss this.”

“This commoner takes his leave.”

After Zhang Fei and Li Guozhong withdrew, Li Kai immediately complained, “Prefect Lu, how to judge should be our decision. How can we let them decide?”

Actually, they were all willing to end this quickly but who had the authority was crucial.

Lu Gongzhu sighed, “If we follow the law, we cannot decide.”

“What?”

All the judges were stunned.

Lu Gongzhu then showed them the confession letter.

After Li Kai and the others read it, they looked at each other in bewilderment.

Yesterday they had almost fought to the gates of hell, but after one night, they were back in the human world.

What was even more absurd was that if they only considered these crimes, then this punishment was simply too excessive.

It completely didn’t match up!

Yu Zaishen said in confusion, “Prefect, based on yesterday’s trial, it couldn’t possibly be just these crimes. We can’t say that however they confess, that’s how we judge. This… this would damage the Kaifeng Prefectural Office’s authority.”

Lu Gongzhu asked, “Then what crimes do you say they committed?”

Cen Yuanli said, “The matter of the tax receipts and account books?”

Actually, they all didn’t want to handle this matter and wanted to throw it to higher authorities, but now they were locked in a struggle with Zhang Fei and his group.

Why should you have the final say?

Lu Gongzhu said, “Look carefully – the names on this list don’t include Zhou Cai. Moreover, Du Shaojing and others haven’t produced tax receipts. Although their names are in the account books, as long as they don’t produce tax receipts, this is the government’s oversight. Currently there’s no evidence proving it’s related to them.”

Li Kai said again, “Yesterday Du Shaojing already admitted to his crimes.”

Lu Gongzhu replied, “That wasn’t his admission – it was Zhang San’s accusation. Even tax evasion was added by Zhang San. If Zhang San withdraws these lawsuits, what would we use to convict them?”

Upon hearing this, Li Kai and the others all looked completely bewildered.

This kind of operation was possible?

But thinking about it, they really were at a loss.

Even leaving aside the fact that he had the imperial court’s backing, the initiative still remained in Zhang Fei’s hands.

It should be known that Wang Anshi’s original complaint didn’t include tax evasion using unsealed contracts – that was all added by Zhang Fei in court. It also didn’t include tax-evading land transferred to temples and Taoist monasteries – he only accused them of some tax-evading land.

And this portion of tax evasion was actually very minor.

If judged, it couldn’t be judged too severely.

The key lay with Zhang Fei. If he wanted to prosecute these crimes, they had to fight it out. Zhang Fei had to present evidence to prove it, and the judgment authority lay with Kaifeng Prefecture. But if Zhang Fei didn’t prosecute, then the other party wasn’t breaking the law.

If Kaifeng Prefecture thought they were breaking the law, they had to investigate and try it themselves.

They couldn’t force Zhang Fei to make accusations.

After all, Zhang Fei wasn’t a prosecutor.

It could be seen that if they acted according to law, Kaifeng Prefecture was actually the one with bound hands and feet.

Li Kai felt quite humble again. “But what kind of situation is this? Whether the judgment is light or heavy is entirely up to Zhang Fei’s say-so.”

Lu Gongzhu hesitated somewhat. “We could also continue investigating this case after concluding this lawsuit. There are definitely still clues on Zhou Cai’s side.”

Since there was currently no prosecuting authority, Kaifeng Prefectural Office held all judicial power in one body. The opposing side in this case was already full of loopholes, so Kaifeng Prefectural Office could absolutely investigate and try it themselves.

But the problem was that Zhang Fei also represented the imperial court. If the imperial court didn’t provide support, it would be very difficult for Kaifeng Prefectural Office to investigate this case to the end.

“No way!”

Li Kai and the others were unwilling again.

In their view, Zhang Fei had caused the trouble and taken the money away, leaving them to clean up the mess – doing this dirty, exhausting work that also offended people was absolutely unacceptable.

Li Kai said, “Why don’t we add some more charges to them?”

“Just increase the charges by one level, and their compensation would still be more than adequate.” Lu Gongzhu pondered for a long while, then said, “The only thing we can do now is fight for how to use this fine.”

Li Kai and the others all looked pleased.

If they could get their hands on this five hundred thousand strings of cash in fines, that would be like intercepting someone else’s prize!

This was certainly possible.

Lu Gongzhu then ordered someone to invite Wang Anshi to the inner hall.

Lu Gongzhu showed Wang Anshi no pleasant expression and spoke directly, “Our Kaifeng Prefectural Office has decided to accept their guilty plea and use this five hundred thousand strings of cash in fines to offset this year’s taxes for those small farmers who suffered deeply under their persecution.”

Wang Anshi was stunned. “This is compensation that the imperial court obtained through its claims. What right does your Kaifeng Prefectural Office have to decide?”

Lu Gongzhu said, “If you don’t agree, I won’t pass judgment.”

Wang Anshi said agitatedly, “You’re going too far. This is simply perverting justice for personal gain.”

Lu Gongzhu suddenly sprang up and roared at Wang Anshi, “Am I going too far, or are you going too far? You prosecute when you want to prosecute, and withdraw when you want to withdraw. Do you really think Kaifeng Prefectural Office is run by your family? Especially that brat Zhang Fei – he’s even more detestable. Does he think he can cover the sky with one hand here?”

Facing the enraged Lu Gongzhu, Wang Anshi still felt somewhat guilty. “Don’t get angry so quickly. As the prefect of Kaifeng Prefectural Office, you must act according to law. You have no reason not to pass judgment.”

Lu Gongzhu retorted, “You’ll see whether I have reason or not.”

Wang Anshi hesitated for a long while, then said, “Half and half. I was still planning to use this money to repair some water works and compensate those corvee laborers. You know I’m about to promulgate the new Corvee Labor Law.”

Lu Gongzhu said, “If this money is used to repair water works, nine times out of ten it will end up in their pockets again. How much would those corvee laborers actually get? Using it to offset the people’s taxes is most practical – this money still enters the state treasury without losing a single coin. How the court uses it afterward is none of my concern. Chapters fırst released on novel★fire.net

Zhang San also made it very clear in court – why did Li Sancai and the others become their tenant farmers? Wasn’t it because they helped those landlords bear the tax burden? This money should be used to compensate those small farmers who bore tax burdens for them.”

He wasn’t stupid either. The court should already be spending money to hire people for water works repairs. If they took this money to hire people, the imperial court would be making pure profit.

Wang Anshi said dissatisfiedly, “You’re being too domineering.”

Lu Gongzhu said, “Our Kaifeng Prefectural Office wants this money, and we want the reputation too. Don’t you know in your heart how much you gain from this case? Once this case is judged, won’t all those landlords have to go pay back taxes? You can also take the opportunity to suggest His Majesty reform policies regarding tenant farmers. Won’t all those tenant farmers remember your kindness? You’re the one earning both fame and profit.”

Seeing he couldn’t out-argue him, Wang Anshi stood up directly. “I don’t understand law. I won’t discuss this with you anymore. I’ll have my pen-in-cap talk with you.”

Lu Gongzhu snorted, “It doesn’t matter who comes to speak to me.”