amaotonovel Chapter 183 Officialdom is like a play, all depends on acting skills
Chapter 183 Officialdom is like a play, all depends on acting skills
Chapter 183 Officialdom is like a play, all depends on acting skills
As far as the feudal dynasty is concerned, the Song Dynasty can be said to be the most important and professional in judicature.
There is a big background for this, that is, the previous Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.
The judicial chaos at that time was really dark.
After the old Zhao family took over, they knew very well that if the judiciary was not perfected, it would be difficult to stabilize the country.
For example, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, there was a characteristic, that is, "soldiers run prisons", which directly led to the abuse of punishment and intensified many social conflicts.
Therefore, the old Zhao family stipulated that the judicial officials must be literati, and through the reform of the judicial system, a relatively fair and clean judicial system was created, the core of which was the division system.
The so-called "Branch Division" is to separate the hearing from the trial.
From Dali Temple to local prefectures and counties, this system is adopted.
The Secretary is responsible for hearing, interrogating, and verifying.
Judiciary is the procuratorial law to determine the sentence. For the facts of the crime that have been determined, according to the relevant legal provisions retrieved, measure whether it is applicable to the case.
The judgment must refer to the legal provisions. You can't think of a crime, and you can't just use the legal provisions to make it far-fetched. This department and the audit department of the third division are the two most professional departments in Song Dynasty.
One is money and the other is law.
Of course, in many counties, there are still county magistrates, chief registrars and judges, and county lieutenants to investigate and pursue.
However, Kaifeng County, as the largest county in the country, is already equivalent to the state capital level. Chi County is a very powerful existence. If you can serve as the county magistrate in Kaifeng County, you will have a bright future. Ordinary officials are not available for this kind of position. of.
There are also state-level judicial institutions such as the Sili Yuan in Kaifeng County.
The Kaifeng Mansion is naturally at a higher level. Below it are the left and right halls, the left and right inspection courts, the left and right Xianggong, etc., and many judicial institutions.
Kaifeng County, Sili Yuan.
In the office full of official documents, several pushers and record officials sat inside, working at their desks.
This department is the hardest.
This Kaifeng County is too big, with a large and mixed population. There are new cases every day. It can be said that they have endless work!
"Big case, big case!"
A clerk walked into the room quickly and said excitedly.
Several people in the room raised their heads immediately.
"What big case?"
"Just now a Taoist priest named Geng Ming sued Luomapo Wei Yushan for colluding with officials, engaging in malpractice for personal gain, extortion and extortion, resulting in the ruin of his family and the separation of his wife and children."
This is really a big case!
These officials immediately gathered around.
"Geng Ming? I think I've heard of this name before." An old clerk said thoughtfully.
"is it?"
"Oh, oh, I remembered, there is such a thing, this Geng Ming used to be the Li Zheng in the village, responsible for urging taxes, but for some reason, he suddenly ran to Wei's house to urge taxes, not long after, Geng Ming sold his land, his wife and children left him, and later, it seems that he became a Taoist monk after hearing that."
Lizheng was the most difficult Yaqian service in the Song Dynasty. According to the law, it must be served by first-class households, serving in rotation, and often responsible for financial matters, tax collection, mortgages, and so on.
Of course, everything has two sides, and there are some ruthless people among them, who transfer the suffering of their pre-yamen to the villagers, but the result will not change much. If you are fat, you will inevitably be slaughtered.
"I've also heard about it. It seems that there is such a thing. It is said that he did not receive the land tax from the Wei family, and the county government forced them to bear it."
"This Wei family really has hands and eyes!"
"What can we do then?"
While discussing, I saw an official in his early 30s entering the house.
This person's name is Chen Chong.
It was Si Li who joined the army.
Although his official position is only eighth rank, he is also a Jinshi. In the Song Dynasty, there were express regulations that judicial officers and managers must be of Jinshi origin when they joined the army. Many prime ministers held this position when they were young.
Even if Zu Yin is an official, he has to pass the judicial examination.
It can be seen how much the Song Dynasty attached importance to justice.
"What are you discussing?" Chen Chong couldn't help asking when he saw everyone gathered together.
"Manager Chen, someone came to complain just now."
These officials told Chen Chong the reason in a hurry.
Chen Chong couldn't help frowning when he heard this, but he hadn't been in office for a long time and was inexperienced, so he organized a meeting to discuss the case.
"Geng Ming has the tax certificates, and he paid three times more taxes after only one year. Evidence of tax evasion for several years."
"In fact, relying on these evidences is enough to convict, but these evidences are also known to everyone."
"That's right! Ever since Wei Yushan's daughter married King Chang as a concubine, no one dared to go to his house to collect taxes."
"This kind of lawsuit seems to have ironclad evidence, but it can't be judged at all."
"This Geng Ming is really stubborn. If he could sue him, he wouldn't have suffered so much. Could it be that he is terminally ill and wants to fight to the death?"
Chen Chong listened to their discussions for a long time, but he couldn't make up his mind for a while. After all, there was King Chang behind Wei Yushan, so he asked, "What should we do?"
A group of civil servants looked at each other in blank dismay.
"Manager Chen, there is no need to accept this kind of case. It must be futile and offend many people." The elder clerk shook his head and sighed.
Almost everyone sitting there nodded straight.
Only a young county governor named Bi Ye said: "You have to see clearly that this is not just tax evasion, it also includes crimes of favoritism, self-stealing, defrauding officials and other crimes, if we If it is not accepted, if it is exposed, we will also be implicated."
"If it could be exposed, it would have been exposed three years ago, so he would not be able to sue the case."
"Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just in case!" Bi Ye said.
Chen Chong thought about it, and it was indeed not peaceful recently. He glanced at the young official and asked, "Bi Tuisi, what do you think we should do?"
Bi Ye said, "Manager Chen, we're just trying the case. Whether it's a judgment or not is a matter for the judiciary and the county magistrate. Let's pretend we don't know and report it to them. Whether it's a judgment or not has nothing to do with us."
When he said that, everyone nodded.
I think this is more secure.
The system of checks and balances in the Song Dynasty actually has another disadvantage, that is, everyone can shirk each other.
Chen Chong nodded and said, "Just do as you say."
To be on the safe side, Chen Chong also personally interrogated Geng Ming, and then packed up the confession and evidence and threw them to the judiciary to join the army.
In fact, the judiciary's joining the army is also part of the management court, which is divided into left and right houses, but sometimes, the judiciary's joining the army is directly and concurrently in charge of the management.
"You have done a good job. After this case is over, I will recommend you to the higher authorities."
After Lu Jiawen got the manager's confession, he happily praised Bi Ye.
"Thank you, Judiciary Lu."
Bi Ye couldn't help being overjoyed, and quickly cupped his hands to express his thanks.
He is so young, according to the rules of the Song Dynasty, seniority is required for official promotion, which is what he lacks the most, unless someone from above recommends him.
The next day, Lu Jiawen sent the written judgment to the county government.
After all, the magistrate is the highest judge in a county.
Judiciary joining the army and magistrates are not mutual checks and balances, but a purely superior-subordinate relationship.
But generally speaking, many civil lawsuits with a punishment of less than [-] rods are directly judged by the judiciary joining the army, and the county government just goes through a process. Chief Executive.
But this case is a major criminal case and must be judged by the county magistrate himself.
After Wang Hong saw the case, he immediately sent someone to notify Wei Yushan.
The head of the Wei family, Wei Yushan, is not yet 40 years old this year, but he really became famous at a young age, and his methods are vicious, everyone knows and fears.
Moreover, he is a martial artist, when the people from the county government came to his house, he was holding a stone pier in the yard with his shirt on, and two or three concubines were standing by to cheer him on.
"Geng Ming?"
Wei Yushan was still in a daze, as if he had never heard of this name.
It was the elder at the side who reminded him.
"It's that stinky Lizheng who doesn't know how to live or die again."
Wei Yushan remembered it now, but he didn't panic at all, and immediately ordered someone to write a pleading paper, suing Geng Ming for extortion, embezzlement and bribery.
It turned out that at that time, Wei Yushan insisted that he gave the tax money to Geng Ming, and Geng Ming himself was greedy. Then, under the pretext of using this, he teamed up with several corrupt officials to fabricate evidence and forced Geng Ming to pay the tax money for part of his family's land. .
Geng Ming was worried about the lawsuit, so he could only afford it. Later, he really couldn't afford it. The land property was confiscated by the government to pay off the debt. In the end, those fields still fell into Wei Yushan's hands.
When Chen Chong saw Wei Yushan's pleadings, he couldn't take it anymore. You don't take us seriously. At any rate, you provided evidence, just a piece of pleadings. Is this county government run by your family?
So, he took the initiative to ask Lu Jia to discuss it.
Lu Jia asked Wang Hong to discuss with this pleading paper.
"The tax bills provided by Geng Ming don't explain anything at all."
Wang Hong waved his hand and said.
Lu Jia asked wonderingly: "If Geng Ming's tax bills can't be used as evidence, then Wei Yushan's pleadings are just a piece of waste paper."
Wang Hong sighed: "I didn't say that Wei Yushan would win, but... Alas, Lu Jufa, you should also know that those Lizhengs often extorted people. This was already three years ago. Who knew the situation at that time? This officer recommends that they be persuaded to reconcile."
When this incident happened, he had not yet taken office in Kaifeng County. He knew what was going on in his heart. Although he would not convict Wei Yushan, he was unwilling to wipe his ass.
As for the personal grievances between Wei Yushan and Geng Ming, you can settle them yourself.
Lu Jiawen nodded and said, "Yes, there are many black sheep in the middle, but whoever says that Geng Ming is going to blackmail Wei Yushan, I will never believe it."
Wang Hong frowned and asked, "That's how you judge cases when you join the army? What evidence do you have to prove that Geng Ming can't blackmail Wei Yushan?"
Lu Jia asked: "Even so, then Geng Ming should go to jail instead of paying several times the tax to the government."
Wang Hongdao: "This is also a common thing. The dereliction of duty in the Yaqian may not be judged as a crime, but compensation to the government. This is also a way of compensation. It is not the first day you have been an official. Don't you even think about these things? do you know?"
Lu Jia asked, "Does Wangzhi County have evidence to prove this?"
Wang Hong lowered his eyebrows and said, "Are you the county magistrate, or am I the county magistrate?"
Lu Jia asked, "Can the county magistrate not respect the law?"
"Bastard!"
Wang Hong was furious, pointed at Lu Jia and asked, "Your Lu Jia asked, if you didn't rely on your family background, you might not even be a subordinate official. Why are you preaching to the magistrate here? From today on, you don't need to take care of this case."
Lu Jiawen stood up, snorted angrily, and walked away.
Wang Hong didn't pay any attention to the official's son, and directly dismissed the lawsuits of both parties because of insufficient evidence.
Zhang family.
"Ugh!"
Xu Zhiqian rested her chin on one hand, looked at the gate, and sighed, "Why don't you come!"
Zhang Fei said unhappily: "I told you a long time ago that in terms of the efficiency of the court, it will take at least ten days and a half months. We have a lot of time. After work, we still have time to chat. You just want to rush , but now I can only wait stupidly."
Before the preparations were completed, Geng Ming went to file a complaint, but the papers were all ready. After waiting for three or four days, Xu Zhiqian's excitement almost passed before she heard anything.
Xu Zhiqian rolled Zhang Fei's eyes, and when she was about to speak, there was a knock on the door.
"coming!"
Xu Zhiqian immediately lifted her spirits.
After a while, Li Si came into the hall, "Third brother, there is a man outside who claims to be a member of the Kaifeng County Judiciary and wants to see you."
(End of this chapter)