Chapter 270, deceiving the world and stealing fame
Hua Jieyu looked at the information, thought for a while, and said: "The small people who donated the land were cunning and deceitful, increasing the burden on other farmers who farmed honestly, and colluded with the gentry who evaded taxes. This is the crime of these small people who donated the land.
.Now that we have corrected the tax evasion channels of the gentry, they want to get their land back."
"If these small people stay under the gentry, they will be collecting land rent for free from the gentry. Are the gentry the main culprits of tax evasion? It makes no sense to let them benefit. But if the land is simply returned to the small people who donated the land, it will also encourage
We have eliminated the habit of these cunning people taking advantage of policy loopholes. We must not punish these cunning acts of donating land."
"The land donated at the beginning was not an ordinary sale, but stolen goods belonging to the crime of tax evasion. The small farmers and gentry who donated the land joined forces to evade taxes and harmed other farmers who were heavily taxed. This is a crime! Once the evidence is conclusively proven that the land was donated to evade taxes.
All the fields were confiscated. The gentry who evaded taxes were not allowed to keep these fields, nor were the common people who donated the land were allowed to benefit. The confiscated land belonged to the General Military Mansion, and the common people could continue to rent it, but the land rent was one bushel of rice.
per acre, higher than the general tax."
When Cui Changwu heard what Hua Jieyu said, he raised his hands and said, "Your Excellency is wise. In this way, we not only punished the gentry who evaded taxes, but also educated the cunning commoners, and also expanded the income of the General Military Mansion." Hua Jieyu nodded and said: "
Communicate our policies to all courts. If we encounter similar cases again, we will handle them in this way."
Next, the Dali Temple Announcement concentrated its firepower and began to promote the benefits of the "Dali Temple Court" in Shandong. If King Yan wanted to control Shandong, he not only needed to collect taxes in Shandong. Commercial taxes and land taxes were of course very important benefits, but
At the same time, King Yan also needed to obtain the judicial power of Shandong. Only by controlling the power to adjudicate criminal lawsuits in Shandong Province could King Yan truly expand his power to Shandong.
Judicial power is the prerequisite for controlling public opinion, collecting taxes, running industries, and even running schools. Without judicial power, what should we do if local officials directly embezzle the property of King Yan in a lawsuit? What if the officials make things difficult for those who support King Yan?
What to do? Only by abolishing the power of civil servants in Shandong to adjudicate lawsuits can King Yan truly establish a fair and just social order in Shandong and flex his muscles.
Of course, King Yan's Dali Temple Court was not only a tool of King Yan's rule, but also a strong pillar for King Yan to establish a fair and just social order for the people. The officialdom of the Song Dynasty was corrupt, and local officials were often influenced by power and favor in handling cases. The real small
In such a social atmosphere, people are easily bullied by the powerful. There is no convincing protection of property rights in the entire society. If you are powerful, you can file lawsuits to seize the property of the weak. Skilled craftsmen must spend a lot of money
Bribery those in power to survive.
In such a social atmosphere, only government and business can develop. Efficient and advanced production methods and productivity are made difficult by the unfair social order, and they will fall apart and return to the starting point within a short time.
The Dali Temple Court of King Yan gave the people and businessmen a fair and equitable social environment. Under the protection of the court, farmers could safely fertilize their fields without worrying about powerful men taking over their good land, and craftsmen and workshop owners could
You can rest assured to improve production and no longer worry about the encroachment of powerful people. Even small traders can put more goods on their own carts and no longer worry about blackmail by green-skinned rogues.
Therefore, the first thing that the King of Yan wanted to build in Shandong was the court. The Dali Temple announcement went into full gear and began to introduce the benefits of the court. The social chaos before the court in Yanjing and the order after the court were repeatedly reported. Social order
After its establishment, people's property and personal safety became safer. Public security improved, social production expanded, and people became richer.
Some classic cases after the courts were established in Tianjing New City were published in Dali Temple announcements and publicized everywhere. On this day, in a teahouse in Jinan, a newspaper reader held a newspaper and read aloud: "Before there were courts,
, the city lord is in chaos, and everything is up for grabs. Song Ning, a small oil seller in Jinghai County, Tianjing New City, sells oil at fair prices and is an honest man. He originally had a good business and lived a well-off life. But because of his beautiful wife, he was raped by thousands of households in Jinghai County.
I’m thinking about it. All of these people wanted to bankrupt Song Ning, steal Song Ning’s wife as a concubine, and bribe the government servants to come to Song Ning’s shop every day to cause trouble.”
"Song Ning was so worried that he abandoned his family's shop and fled to Tianjing New City to take refuge. He worked as a cook in a restaurant owned by relatives and friends, and became extremely poor. One of his sons and one daughter died of illness one after another due to lack of food and clothing." Teagoers in the teahouse heard this.
None of these have any reaction. The corruption of the officialdom in the Song Dynasty is no better than that of the early Ming Dynasty. The social order is very chaotic. Any good thing will be remembered. Marrying a beautiful wife is very eye-catching. Ordinary people without power will sooner or later have a beautiful wife.
.
Everyone was accustomed to Song Ning's experience. However, when the newspaper article was written here, the topic changed. The newspaper reader read: "However, in the third year of Xianping, King Yan opened the Dali Temple Court in Tianjing New City.
The judges were honest and fair, eradicated evil and suppressed the powerful, and social order was gradually established. Song Ning was forced to the point of no return, so he took the murderer to court with a try attitude."
"Who knew that the court acted impartially and actually ruled in Song Ning's favor, and sentenced Du Tou to be fined fifty canes for his arrest, and ordered Du Tou to pay Song Ning one hundred and twenty taels of silver. Only then did Song Ning realize that Tianjing New City had changed drastically.
, took his wife back to Jinghai County to run an oil shop again, and now he has become the best oil shop businessman in Jinghai. In March this year, Song Ning’s wife gave birth to another son for him.”
After hearing the ending of the story, the tea guests in the teahouse were very surprised. It was a notorious scandal for a powerful man to seize a wife. But in the late Ming Dynasty, no one cared about such things. The tea guests were all ordinary people.
, who doesn’t want to see an end to this chaos? Unexpectedly, in Tianjing New City, the people of Tianjing New City have already enjoyed such a just social order.
Everyone looked at each other for a while, feeling a little sad. Suddenly someone shouted loudly: "Okay! King Yan's court in Dali Temple is great. When will we have such a court in Shandong?" Everyone looked at the shouting tea guests,
No one spoke.
The reader flicked the newspaper and then read: ""The rich man was desperate after his death, the Dali Temple court saved the family business for his heirs"" "Cangzhou pottery merchant Zhao Fenting, has been running the 'Zhao Ji Pottery Shop' for thirty-six years.
All over Cangzhou. Zhao Ji's pottery is made of solid materials, fine workmanship, and high quality. People like it very much. It is a famous merchant in Cangzhou. The products are even exported to Gyeonggi. Zhao Fenting accumulated thousands of taels of goods in 21 branches. He was ten years old before his death.
I was worried that my property would be divided up by traitors after my death, and I was worried that my two sons would not be able to inherit the family property, so I could only force my two sons to get academic awards. My two sons studied hard for more than ten years, but they never succeeded in becoming a scholar."
"Zhao Fenting passed away in despair. Before the first seven days passed, his two sons immediately ushered in relatives and friends who snatched the family property. Sixteen shops were occupied in a few days, and the 'Zhao Ji Pottery Shop' suddenly collapsed.
However, by this time the court of Dali Temple had become famous, and the two sons of the Zhao family took the robbers to court and finally won a complete victory."
"In the end, all the Zhao family's property was recovered, and the Zhao family's descendants were able to continue to employ workers to run the family's 'Zhao Ji Pottery Shop'."
Hearing this, the tea drinkers in the teahouse all cheered loudly. Zhao Ji Pottery is a famous commodity in Cangzhou, and some people in Jinan have heard of it. The old business of Zhao Ji Pottery Shop has been passed down, and Zhao Ji Pottery is not the only one who has benefited.
The two sons in the family are even common people in Cangzhou.
An old man dressed as a businessman stood up tremblingly, his face flushed with excitement, and said loudly: "If the court in Dali Temple protects private property, I, Jiang Jianshen, will be the first to support King Yan in bringing the court to Shandong!" Everyone looked at each other.
At first glance, he secretly thought that this was Jiang Jianshen, a famous silk and satin merchant in Jinan City. Now the merchants have begun to support King Yan? On the second day of August, in the county office of Qidong County, Jinan Prefecture, Shandong Province, the gentry and celebrities from Qidong County gathered together and filled the second county office.
Hall.
These big figures in Qidong County gathered together to discuss how to resist the "Dali Temple Court". Now there is only one Dali Temple Announcement left in Shandong, and King Yan can easily influence the public opinion in the province. During this period, the Dali Temple Announcement was widely publicized.
The benefits of the "Dali Temple Court" in Tianjing New City have been published. Countless cases of the "Dali Temple Court" have been published, detailing the great changes in Hebei before and after the establishment of the court, and the great benefits that the people of Hebei have gained from a fair and equal social order.
Affordable.
Nowadays, more and more people in Shandong listen to newspapers. It only costs one or two cents to listen to newspapers in a teahouse, which can be afforded by citizens and farmers. After the official announcements were destroyed, the number of listeners to the announcements in Dali Temple increased even more
There has been a considerable increase. Nowadays, Shandong’s influence can be said to have penetrated into every corner of Shandong.
The announcement of Dali Temple is so popular, and they are fully promoting the "Dali Temple Court". People in Shandong are increasingly looking forward to the arrival of the "Dali Temple Court". Shandong struck while the iron was hot and published all the arrangements for the "Dali Temple Court" in Shandong:
The courts in Shandong will set up one local court in each county, one intermediate court in each prefecture, and one high-level court in Jinan. Dali Temple announced: If you feel you have been wronged after completing the lawsuit in the lower-level court, you can also file a complaint with the higher-level court.
Let the superior court invest more manpower and material resources in the investigation and issue a more authoritative verdict. As soon as the people listening to the report heard this posture, they knew that such a system ensured that individual judges could not engage in malpractice for personal gain, and they became more aware of the fairness and impartiality of the Dali Temple court.
, I am even more eager to look forward to the opening of the court.
Carpet-bombing public opinion propaganda and a court system that has really benefited the people have destroyed the charm of the Dali Temple Court. In many states and counties, people who have been oppressed by the powerful are already secretly collecting evidence. They are waiting for the Dali Temple Court to enter Shandong.
Redressed the grievance.
For the civil servants in Shandong, this was undoubtedly bad news. The King of Yan not only wanted to control public opinion in Shandong, but also competed for the judicial power of the local officials. If the local officials no longer had the power to judge lawsuits, the people would go to the police station whenever there was a dispute.
If the Dali Temple Court appeals, who will take the local magistrate seriously in the future?
Which is more tolerable? However, Yang Peng has a strong army and has just killed more than a hundred newspaper workers in Jinan. It is really dangerous to fight against Yang Peng. Although the local officials in Shandong were angry, they were collectively silent.
In this dark time, Wang Siyong, the magistrate of Qidong County, decided to stand up. Wang Siyong, the county magistrate, has a reputation for being honest and honest. He strictly abides by etiquette and law, and is always benevolent and righteous. He is not greedy for money or lust, and is praised by Shandong scholars as a virtuous man.
Wang Siyong felt that Hua Jieyu would not be able to catch him. Other local officials were afraid of being caught in the Dali Temple announcement and making a bad reputation, but Wang Siyong was not afraid at all.
In the second hall of the county government in Qidong County, Wang Siyong glanced at the Jin gentry and celebrities, stroked his beard and said: "This order calls you here to discuss the court matter mentioned in the Dali Temple announcement." Before Wang Siyong finished speaking,
, an old man with gray hair wearing a round collar of silk silk on the left suddenly raised his crutches and said loudly: "Even if the county magistrate doesn't come to us, we will still look for the county magistrate." Yang Peng, a Yan from Hebei Province
King, why do you come to Shandong to hold court? He is the King of Yan, why should he still care about my affairs in Shandong? Does he still have the laws of the court in his eyes?"
He strutted his cane again and said: "What Yang Peng wants to do is not to create a court, but to turn Shandong into a second Hebei. Today's announcement will be tomorrow's court, and the day after tomorrow we will collect land taxes on our tax-free fields."
I am afraid that all the things that Yang Peng added to Yanjing will be moved to Shandong."
The old man who spoke was Han Juren from Shanqian Township, who was also a famous figure in Qidong County and had always been prestigious. When the Jin gentry present heard Han Juren mention the word Tian Fu, their faces sank. Hua Jieyu controlled public opinion.
, robbing justice, this can be tolerated. But if King Yan finally wants to collect taxes from the gentry in Shandong, it will be unbearable.
Look at the miserable fate of the gentry in Hebei after they were given land taxes. The formerly prosperous and prosperous families suddenly saw their income plummet and their families dispersed. In extreme cases, some gentry with many wives and grandchildren not only could no longer support their servants, but even their whole family.
It is a problem for people to have enough to eat.
If the problem of money reaches a certain level, it becomes a problem of life. A middle-aged gentleman jumped out and said loudly: "Yang Peng thought that killing more than a hundred people in Jinan would scare the scholars in Shandong, but he didn't know
I, the scholars of Qilu, are not weaklings. If Hua Jieyu dares to set up a court in Qidong County, I will bring my servants to smash the court of Dali Temple even if I am copied by Hua Jieyu."
Another scholar raised his hand and said: "Even if blood is spilled in Yang's court, I will not sit back and watch Yang annex Shandong. I want the officials to know that what Yang has done in Shandong has reached a level that makes people and gods angry."
The words of the two aroused the applause of other Jin gentry. However, although the other Jin gentry present applauded, they were not as excited as these two people. Everyone knows that King Yan is brutal and murderous, and several scholar-landlords in Qidong County were deceived by Dali Temple.
Even if Jieyu was killed, it wouldn't cause much trouble, and there was no way to stop Hua Jieyu from bringing the court to Shandong.
If Hua Jieyu scared the other gentry with his killing spree, it would be bad. Everyone looked at the magistrate Wang Siyong. Although Wang Siyong was only a county magistrate, he was a well-known incorruptible magistrate in Shandong. Even the governor of Shandong saw Wang Siyong.
Wang Siyong has to be polite to him. In Shandong, Wang Siyong has a very good reputation among the people. He has been a magistrate in two counties in Shandong for more than ten years, and his reputation for being impartial and selfless has spread widely. Among the old village women in Shandong, who is not?
Do you know that there is an official named Wang Qing in Qidong County?
If Wang Siyong stood up to oppose Li Thief, Yang Thief might still be afraid. Seeing everyone looking at him, Wang Siyong nodded and said: "I summoned you here just to announce my decision. I
He has a good reputation in Shandong, and officials and gentry from all over the country give me a little favor. Since I have received everyone's courtesy, I will never remain silent at this critical moment."
"What reason does Yang Peng, a King of Yan, have to reach out to Shandong? I have decided to take the lead in opposing Yang's court. I will write to officials and gentry all over Shandong in the near future, and I will personally call on the gentry in Shandong to stand.
Rise up against Thief Yang's court. If the court comes to Qidong County, I will rush in with my crutch and fight with Thief Yang's minions!"
"The world says that I am an upright official. I want the world to see clearly how Yang Peng treats me, an upright official." "If Yang Peng kills me, I will die for the people of Shandong! The people of Shandong will see clearly how Yang Peng treats me."
The face of the thief can clearly be seen in the lies announced by Dali Temple. When the time comes, the gentry of Shandong will shout in unison and smash Yang thief's court to pieces together with the people. As long as the matter gets serious, the emperor will also understand that Yang thief has harmed the country and the people, and will definitely
Mobilize a large army to attack Bandit Yang."
Hua Jieyu frowned as she listened to the report from Secret Guard Ambassador Han Jinxin.
Wang Siyong, the magistrate of Qidong County, makes Hua Jieyu feel a little troublesome. He is not greedy for money and is not a womanizer, and abides by Confucian etiquette. Although he is a gentry, he never favors the gentry when there are lawsuits between the common people and the gentry, and he is fair and impartial.
Law enforcement. Not only that, this man implemented benevolent policies towards the people. Although he also exempted and exempted land taxes for the distinguished gentry, on the other hand, he never forced the small farmers who were unable to pay their land taxes. Many extremely poor people were in arrears with their land taxes for several years.
If you don't pay, he won't punish you.
Wang Siyong was in charge of government in this way, so he naturally received less land tax. However, he made a lot of money from the vassal land. The vassal land in Shandong was managed by local officials. Only part of it was handed over to the lord, and most of it was used by the lord.
The local magistrate took it and used it. Wang Siyong firmly guarded the money and would not let his men embezzle it at will. Instead, he turned it over as a land tax.
In this way, Wang Siyong could barely meet the lower limit of land tax collected by the court every year. Although the evaluation by the officials was always low, he would not lose his official position because of it. Wang Siyong was born as a Jinshi and worked for decades, and he has always been a good person.
The temper of Qipin County Magistrate has not changed at all.
Wang Siyong was naturally praised by the local people for being an official like this, and the people in Shandong called him a great upright official. He had been an official in Shandong for more than ten years, and his reputation was well-known among women and children.
Such a person took the lead in opposing the King of Yan's court, and his influence was very great. Zhong Feng was in a dilemma and said loudly: "Sir, who doesn't have a life? I will lead the troops to chop him down." Lin Qing'er.
He spat: "Zhong Feng, please use your brain. How rare is it in today's world for such an honest official to be so rare? How high is his status in the hearts of the people? If you go and kill him, what will the people think of us? When the gentry incites it, a civil uprising will occur."
It’s all possible.”
Zhong Feng smiled and said: "A civil unrest is a civil unrest, just suppress it." Lin Qing'er said: "The official position of the King of Yan is the King of Yan. If we infiltrate Shandong, it will not be justified in the court. Forget it if there is a smooth handover.
If a large-scale civil uprising is triggered, the officials may send troops to attack us. When the time comes, we may not be able to defeat hundreds of thousands of us with millions of border troops. Even if we can defeat it, it will go against the original intention of King Yan."
Zhong Feng smiled and said: "Sooner or later, we will have to fight, so let's fight with the court." Lin Qing'er was stunned and cursed: "A dog kills a talent, if you don't talk nonsense, you are itchy, right?" Zhong Feng
His eyes widened, but Hua Jieyu waved his hand to stop the quarrel. Hua Jieyu asked Han Jinxin: "Master Han, it is impossible for Wang Siyong to conjure up silver from his pocket out of thin air. Since he exempted the gentry from land tax,
, it’s impossible not to harm the interests of the people. You haven’t found out any problems at all?”
Han Jinxin has made great contributions following Yang Peng over the years. Yang Peng always puts Han Jinxin first when he reports his merits. Now he has been promoted to the commander of the secret guards and serves as Yang Peng's army general. The official is high, but Han Jinxin is in Huajie
But he was more respectful in front of him. He thought for a while and said: "Sir, this is indeed an upright official. My subordinates can find no problems."
Hua Jieyu thought for a while and said: "He exempted the gentry from land tax and did not force the poor. In the end, he must be short of silver. If there is a shortage of silver, problems will occur everywhere. Let's start from here to investigate." Han Jinxin added: "Qidong County Yamen is indeed
We are so poor that a mortgage house in the county government collapsed the year before last and has not been built yet. The monthly salary of the government officials in the government office is barely enough to feed and clothe these people. Even the county wall was washed away by heavy rain and there was no money to repair it.
Later, Wang Siyong called on the gentry to contribute money and efforts from the people, so that the city wall could be repaired."
When Lin Qing'er and Zhang Xiang heard Han Jinxin's words, they looked at each other with surprise on their faces. They didn't expect that there were such upright officials in the Song Dynasty. They were really an alternative. However, such an alternative was always a member of the gentry, and they still had to compete with King Yan.
Hua Jieyu snorted coldly and said: "Helping the gentry to evade taxes is stealing the country's finances. Pretending to be an upright official everywhere, deceiving the world and stealing reputation, it seems that he is not forcing the common people, but in any case, he cannot hide that he is evading taxes for the gentry.
Finally, it is due to insufficient financial funds. If there is no problem here, there will be a problem there.”
Han Jinxin thought for a while and then said: "The road stations and ports in Qidong County have not had the money to repair them in recent years, and they are very dilapidated. The academies in the county are also in dilapidated conditions, but the scholars are afraid of the county magistrate's reputation as an upright official.
No complaints at all.”
Hua Jieyu nodded and said: "These are not enough to make the people angry. Think again, has there been any major trouble in Qidong County due to lack of money?" Han Jinxin handed over his hand and said: "Sir, wait a moment, I will go down and ask those Qidong County people.
The county's informant." Hua Jieyu nodded, and Han Jinxin retreated. An hour later, Han Jinxin ran back with sweat on his head.
"Sir, I have a question, let me ask it." Hua Jieyu nodded and asked, "How?" "A government servant who was fired by Wang Siyong because of alcoholism said that the embankment of the Daqing River in Qidong County was broken, and there was a local policeman the year before last.
The gentry proposed large-scale repairs. But Wang Siyong had no money, so he only strengthened key parts. As a result, a river embankment breached in the flood last year. Although the people worked together to repair it, the flood still poured out and they drowned.
More than sixty people."
"This flood is considered a natural and man-made disaster, and most people don't pay attention. Only the government officials who know the inside story understand that the breach in the old dike was caused by lack of money and failure to repair it." Hua Jieyu laughed and said, "This Qidong
The county's finances are only so small. Without the gentry's share, there will be no problems. This Wang Siyong deceived the world and stole his reputation, and he was just demolishing the east wall to repair the west wall. He killed more than 60 people at once, and we helped him publicize it.
This county magistrate cannot be elected."
"Huan Yihua, the Dali Temple announcements in the past few days have been full of firepower, and they have reported Wang Siyong's affairs. Talk about how Qidong County is declining day by day because of his cleverness, and talk about the economic impact of the disrepair of roads and docks.
, talk about the impact of paying taxes at the lower limit every year on the national finance."
"The most important thing is to let the people of Shandong understand that the more than 60 lives drowned in the flood were all caused by Wang Siyong's reputation!"
Huan Yihua agreed loudly and took Han Jinxin down to write the report. On August 11, in the slightly depressed Qidong County, a newspaper boy delivered announcements with his head lowered and ran quickly on the street to deliver newspapers to every house.
Teahouse. A small vendor who knew the newsboy suddenly grabbed the newsboy and asked: "Liu Xiaoer, what is the newspaper about today?"
The newsboy's face turned pale, he didn't answer the vendor, lowered his head and wanted to run away. But the vendor didn't let go of the newsboy, dragged him and asked: "Don't run away! What is being reported today? Is there any big news?"
Liu Xiaoer looked in the direction of the county government office, trembled, and said into the vendor's ear: "Brother Zhang, something big happened today. Today's headline is "Qidong County Magistrate Wang Siyong deceived the world and stole his reputation, causing death."
Sixty-two innocent people."
What happened after all? Let’s look at the breakdown next time.