eldest son of Ming dynasty

Chapter 515
"The magistrate of Huai'an Prefecture is so courageous that he found a crime and arrested Zhang Cong. Xie Fuxian, how do you think this case will be tried tomorrow?"

Xie Guangxie is Chen Ding's immediate boss, and the case will be tried tomorrow, so today he must find out what the leader is thinking.

However, the boss now has a sullen face, the wrinkles on his face are only clearly visible, but there is no expression.

"What do you think?"

"I thought that Mr. Ge must have two meanings, either something big happens or nothing happens."

The old man they are talking about is naturally Wang Bing.

"Then do you think this place is a big deal or nothing?"

"Not sure yet, let's see."

Let's see how the case goes.

Snapped!
The gavel sounded like thunder, shocking everyone so much that they didn't dare to be distracted.

"Take the prisoner!"

At this time, Zhang Cong was no longer the parent officer who was wearing official robes and satin. He was shackled on his hands and feet, dragging on the ground and making a harsh sound, with a few straws on his hair, and the prison uniform on his body was gray.

Zhang Cong looked up and found that it wasn't Tian Ruofu. He was surprised and changed his mind suddenly. Then he looked at the official robes of these people...and Tian Ruofu's obsequious look.

I'm afraid the imperial envoy from Beijing has arrived.

Chen Ding asked: "Who is standing under the hall?!"

"Shanyang magistrate, Zhang Cong."

"What did you do?"

"Being framed by others, stealing grain from warehouses."

"Bold!" Tian Ruofu stood up suddenly, "Open your eyes and see clearly, this is a messenger from Beijing! Seeing a boss is like seeing the emperor, and if you lie, you will be beheaded!"

Zhang Cong was extremely angry, "Shameless villain, confused black and white, when you read sage books, is this how the sage taught you to be shameless and conscientious? How dare you mention the emperor, whoever deceives the emperor here, let the heavens send down thunder to destroy him!"

Tian Ruofu secretly glanced at the sky, only feeling guilty for a moment.He still wants to say more, but Chen Ding has already refused.

"Criminal officer Zhang Cong, you have not been cleared of your crimes. If you continue to yell at the court, can you not use punishment as an official?"

Zhang Cong was kneeling at this time, and he straightened up and cupped his hands, "The guilty minister didn't do it on purpose. The minister wants to try this case, so don't bother, just give him a pen and paper."

Chen Ding looked at Xie Guangxie, then at Liu Chun, they both nodded, and then ordered: "Bring paper and pen!"

"Thank you, sir. The mission will wait for a while, and the guilty minister will write down the whole story."

Zhang Cong was wearing a prison uniform and handcuffs, but his determination had never been as strong as it was at this time.People may be like this. If you have an official position and reputation, you are always reluctant to lose it.Now that there is nothing, even precariousness, then there is nothing to be afraid of.

So he wrote,
"In ancient times, taxes were paid on the [-]th, so that the people had the right time, so the world was peaceful and chanted. Although later generations could not do it quickly, they should follow their intentions a little bit, so that the law can be kept more day-to-day. Today, the source of wealth comes from land tax, but the land tax of the Ming Dynasty is not as bad as it is today...

Taking Shanyang as an example, there are official fields and private fields in the county.The tax on official farmland is five to seven buckets per mu, and there are floating grains, additional consumption, etc., which are as much as one stone per mu.The tax on the people's land is five liters per mu, and the more the consumption is increased, the more it will be charged.In this way, the price of official land is light, and the price of private land is heavy.The hypocrisy treats the officials as the people, the rich take advantage of food, and accept the hypocrisy without doubting it..."

In the last sentence, Zhang Cong reveals the trickiness of private land sales.

That is, land sellers want to get a high price, so they sell official land as private land, while land buyers are greedy for taxation and light, and are willing to pay high prices to make mistakes.

"...For a long time, most of the people's land belonged to the rich and the right, and most of the official land was left to the poor. However, the taxes of the country are still paid by the poor. However, the ordinary people still don’t give it. In case of floods and droughts, they will be displaced, starved, and blocked by rivers, which is very pitiful.

There is a public statement in the court that it is necessary to reduce taxes and reduce intrusions. However, the expenses of the world are fixed. The Hongzhi and Zhengde dynasties practiced frugality.Where does the salary of hundreds of officials come from?I believe that the root cause is that the cultivation of fields in the world is becoming more and more concentrated, so that the people will become more and more impoverished, and the fields will become more and more scarce. However, taxes and corvees will not be reduced, making the people even more impoverished. "

After finishing writing, Zhang Cong didn't care about it, he threw the pen away, as if this life had come to an end.

Tian Ruofu was worried, but Chen Ding kept looking at him with a half-smile, which made him dare not show his head.

So Chen Ding was the first to get this article, but when he took a look, there was no smile on his face anymore.

"Zhang Bingyong, does your statement have anything to do with the case?"

"There is nothing to say about the case. The governor wanted to borrow the stored grain, and he framed the lower official because he didn't have an order to borrow the grain. No matter how many times this case has been tried, the lower official has always said the same thing."

"Then what do you mean by writing this?"

"When a bird is about to die, its song is mournful; when a man is about to die, his words are kind. I have been a county magistrate for three years. Before I die, I will submit this memorial to Your Majesty, that's all."

Chen Ding suddenly felt something hot in his hands.

This Zhang Cong, people say that he doesn't get on well with others, he is really a difficult person!
This is the trial court, with so many eyes staring at him. Ge Lao Wang Jia and Wang Bing ordered to investigate what Zhang Cong of Shanyang Zhi County had reported. Of course, they could report back to the court, saying that this person swallowed the warehouse to store grain, and what he reported was not true.

But this kind of thing that is full of doubts is not easy to convince the suspicious emperor. At least the case file of Zhang Cong's confession must be shown to the emperor, otherwise it will not be enough to convince the emperor.

Fortunately, they couldn't get the case files, and they took such a thing.

For the short two or three hundred words, should I hand it over, or not?
Hand it over, those who handle the case will have troubles, such important matters as tax law and arable land have been revealed by their hands, will there be a safe life in the future?
But if you don't hand it over...

"Xie Fuxian, Liu Shilang." Chen Ding could no longer decide on this matter, so he could only turn his head and hand it over to the two of them.

At first glance, they knew that this article had nothing to do with the case.

Maybe it was called Luan Quan to beat the old master to death, but what Zhang Cong wrote so hard made everyone in the room find it very difficult.

Xie Guangxie smiled calmly, "Prefect Tian, ​​you have to read these words."

Tian Ruofu couldn't wait a long time ago, he just wanted to see it, so it was easy to refute.

But after rushing over to look at it, he was also dumbfounded for a moment, Zhang Cong didn't intervene in him, and didn't even make a proposal.

But as an official, he also knows the sensitivity of the matter.

"Shangbai, whether such a thing should be used as a case file, you should think twice!"

"If you don't pass it up," Xie Guangxie pointed his index finger at the paper, "you should state that there is no deduction of wages, and you should also write that Zhang Cong embezzled the grain storage for private use. If it is reversed to the above, it will not arouse His Majesty's suspicion. You have to get rid of this lie."

"The next official to talk about?!"

Liu Chun frowned, "Is there really a lie here?"

Tian Ruofu really wanted to slap himself, "The official made a slip of the tongue, there is no lie here! It's him, it's Zhang Cong who is lying!"

Seeing him like this, several imperial envoys didn't want to talk to him anymore.

Zhu Weichun, the Shaofu doctor next to him, also began to frown, who is this Zhang Cong, why did he write such a thing so desperately.

Looking at the current situation, neither the Criminal Ministry nor the Metropolitan Procuratorate dared to block this thing.

Writing these out means that things have become serious.

Since it is a major event, why do they have to meddle and help cover up what happened in Shanyang County?

So what if it was all exposed, no matter how angry His Majesty was, it would not be able to reach their heads anyway, but instead he would cover it in his hands, or he might splash his own shit.

In this way, the case is dangerous.

"Bewitching words to confuse people, with ulterior motives!" Zhu Weichun could no longer hold back, "Your Majesty and the cabinet's order is for us to try the case. The details of the case are not clear, how can we mess up because of this person's few words? If he is innocent, it's no problem. If he is guilty, are we going to tell your majesty the guilty minister's wild words?!"

Zhang Cong took a deep look at this person.

Although there is no evidence for people from the Shaofu to say such things, he also knows that there must be something wrong with this person!

With his words, the situation immediately changed again, to whether he was guilty or not.

But his weakness lies here. He really didn't have an order to borrow grain. Without an order, a shortage of grain in the warehouse is a felony!
Really, God doesn't open his eyes.

Both Xie Guangxie and Liu Chun did not express their views immediately, but asked: "Zhang Bingyong, in your memorial to the above, you said that the officials of the Shaofu deducted wages. Is there any evidence for this?"

"The people of Shanyang are all witnesses!"

"Where can the common people be witnesses?" Zhu Weichun asked back.

"The common people can't bear witness?!"

Zhu Weichun said: "Of course not. The Shaofu's silver is allocated to the various engineering teams. We have allocated the money, but the people can't receive the money. How can it be the Shaofu's problem?!"

Yan Liwen gave a thumbs up in his heart. After all, he is a boss from Beijing. His composure and quick wit are really unmatched by ordinary people.

Xie and Liu were a little disappointed at first, Zhang Cong had no direct evidence, this matter is really difficult.

When you say that there is no deduction at all, they don't really believe it. Now they need to help cover up the problems here... This responsibility is still a bit greater.

The case is difficult and cannot be tried.

So today ended so hastily.

……

"Could it be possible... to go to Zuo Ge Lao first?" Chen Ding suggested.

But both Xie and Liu shook their heads.

How can the people in Jingli care about you?
Chen Ding's "Shang Zou" actually had ulterior motives. They told the facts and the decision was in Wang Bing's hands, but is this decision a real decision?There is also the emperor on it, what can he decide?
This is a big hole at all. If Wang Bing returns something specific, then they can 'follow the order'. Even if there is a problem in the future, there will be an old man who will bear it for them.

Either way, it's definitely safer to say 'I'm just doing what I'm told'.

However, the meaning of Xie and Liu shaking their heads is not to completely deny this method, they also want to use it, so that they can get themselves out and get old Ge in, but the problem is...

Are you a fool?

The Forbidden City, the place where the cabinet is valued, which idiot would fall into your trap?
The essence of the way of being an official is to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.

Xie Guangxie thought for a long time, and finally said: "Tomorrow, the case of wage deduction will be examined in detail. Zhang Cong himself said that he is willing to affix his fingerprint, and we will hand it to the capital after the fingerprint is stamped. We will not stop this matter for anyone. It has nothing to do with us. Whether the warehouse lost food or not has nothing to do with us, let alone convict Zhang Cong for Tian Ruofu. First, hand over the wage deduction case file to Beijing, and see how Beijing responds. In case His Majesty attaches great importance to it." , this matter can only be handled as a matter of business, if the old man just took a look at it and thinks it should be dealt with according to the law, then we will talk about it at that time."

In this case, at least they are the safest.

"Then... are you going to release Zhang Cong?"

"This is Tian Ruofu's matter. It's a headache for him. He arrested the person, not us." Liu Chun walked around the room with his hands behind his back,

"Although Zhang Cong is only a junior official of the seventh rank, he is also an official of the imperial court, and the county magistrate himself is valued by His Majesty. Tian Ruofu wants to punish him with this, no matter what, he must have something to go to it, right? We can't just convict and kill people without knowing it. We don't mention these things in our memorials. We ask him to mention them himself. Whether it's a lie or not, let him go through the thunder himself!"

Chen Ding asked again: "Will he not mention it?"

"No. As long as we hand over the case files Zhang Cong mentioned intact, he will be in a hurry than us."

In fact, if you know that the emperor sent Jinyiwei, you don't have to think about it so complicated.

Huai'an Mansion is not far away, within three or two days, the situation here can be sent to the palace.

(End of this chapter)