Of course Han Qi would not answer this question, because this is a fact. The Liao Kingdom relied on some border residents to occupy more land. No one can deny that the Song Dynasty was relatively weak in the face of the Liao Kingdom's problems. Anyway, it could tolerate it.
Then be patient.
The atmosphere was very awkward.
There was dead silence.
Fortunately, Zhang Fei only expressed his confusion and had no intention of delving further into this issue, because it was not the key to the case. He continued to ask: "I wonder when Mr. Han got involved in this matter?"
"The fifth year of Huangyou's reign."
Han Qi recalled the past, his expression changed slightly, and he could only listen to the words slowly: "I remember that I was serving as the magistrate of Bingzhou. Once when I was ordered to inspect the border of Daibei, I found that the wasteland under the barrier was very fertile, but
But no common people of our dynasty are farming. But as we all know, border areas, especially fertile areas, must be strategically important areas. Since ancient times, all dynasties have stationed troops on the border. It happened that Du Sirong, a northern citizen, and others
Once again, they invaded Lengquan Village, Tianchi and other places."
Zhang Fei interrupted him, "But the Tianchi and Cold Spring Village mentioned by the plaintiffs Chen Xu and Li Min?"
"Yes."
"Mr. Han, please continue." Zhang Fei smiled and nodded.
Han Qi continued: "At that time, I firmly resisted these northern people's invasion of farming, so I sent people to drive them away."
"Yeah?"
Zhang Fei said slightly surprised.
Han Qi said angrily: "This thief came to your house to steal things. If you don't drive him away, are you going to invite him to tea?"
These words caused the people outside the hospital to nod frequently.
It has to be said that Han Qi has a very high reputation among the people and is deeply loved by the people, because in terms of governance, his suggestions are often to the point, and the policies he proposes can also alleviate the difficulties faced by the people, so he is deeply loved by the people.
Win the hearts and minds of the people.
"What Prime Minister Han said makes sense." Zhang Fei nodded with a smile and asked, "What was the reaction of the Northern Dynasty at that time?"
Han Qi said: "The Northern Dynasty also immediately sent officials to negotiate, and they also threatened that Tianchi, Lengquan Village, and Hengling all belonged to their Liao land. Later, I found Xiangfu in Dazhong for nine years, and the Northern Dynasty sent it to us.
In this ultimatum, the Liao State itself believed that Tianchi and other places belonged to the southern boundary.
Only in this way did I force all the local Northern people to withdraw from Tianchi, Hengling, Lengquan Village and other places. Later, I ordered people to build entrances and trenches in the local area, and recruited three thousand families of archers to cultivate fields on the border to prevent the Northern people from returning again.
Invading farming.”
Zhang Fei immediately asked: "Does this ultimatum still exist?"
Han Qi nodded and said: "In order to prevent further disputes, after I returned to the Privy Council to serve, I ordered someone to sort out and revise the boundary decree book. One copy was placed in the Privy Council and the other was placed in the palace. Now the Privy Council copy is in Shen Tianjian
In hand."
From these words, it can also be seen that it is not unreasonable for the public security organs to grow in the Northern Song Dynasty. The subjects have this awareness and must protect the evidence and safeguard their own rights and interests.
Zhang Fei nodded, "Since this issue has been explained, why did the controversy arise at this time?"
Han Qi said: "Although we presented ironclad evidence, the Northern Dynasty ignored it, and because there were many Northerners in the area, they still coveted our farmland. Seeing that our country recruited archers to farm, they were very dissatisfied. So.
During the Jiayou period, the Lord of Liao had another negotiation with Emperor Renzong about the boundaries of Hedong. At that time, Emperor Renzong took out the boundary list of Hedong and argued with each other, but the Lord of Liao never responded.
It was not until the second year of Zhiping, not long after the late emperor came to the throne, that the Northern Dynasty once again launched an attack on the boundary of Hedong, believing that Tianchi belonged to them.
The late emperor inevitably hurt the harmony between the two countries, so he wrote to the Lord of Liao, urging him to cherish the alliance and avoid war. But there was still no response from the Northern Dynasty."
Zhang Fei said: "After listening to what Han Xianggong said, it seems that the Liao Kingdom just wants to seize our territory, rather than trying to reason with us."
After Han Qi hesitated for a moment, he nodded and said: "It can be said that due to the previous strategy adopted by our dynasty to clear the wilderness, the North Korea took the opportunity to bring people into the fortress to graze and cultivate the land, which caused
dispute.
But I have negotiated with them several times, and they have never had any evidence to prove that the land belongs to them. But whenever we show evidence, they do not respond. However, the phenomenon of intrusion on the border of Hedong has never decreased.
Pass."
"I have some land deeds here. Could you please Mr. Han to take a look at them and see if they are true?"
After Zhang Fei said this, an adjutant took several land deeds and handed them to Han Qi.
Han Qi squinted and looked at it for a long time, then nodded and said: "Yes, these are the land deeds that I ordered to be distributed to the border residents in Tianchi and other places in the second year of Zhihe."
Zhang Fei nodded and said: "I am very grateful to Mr. Han for being able to appear in court and testify, and for letting the president of the court know clearly the true nature of the whole matter."
Han Qi waved his hand and said, "You're welcome. Most of those plaintiffs were recruited by me, and I should testify for them."
After that, Han Zhongyan and the old servant helped Han Qi get up, walked slowly down, and sat next to Fu Bi and Wen Yanbo.
Fu Bi whispered: "This kid is taking advantage of you again!"
Han Qi sighed: "This is not the first time. I just regret that I am already in my dying years. If I were as young as him, how could I be so passive. Alas...!"
Wen Yanbo saw this, with a smile on his lips.
Fu Bi and Han Qi suddenly looked at each other at the same time. Wen Yanbo subconsciously pursed his lower lip and restrained it a bit.
Han Qi chuckled and said, "Kuanfu, you are the one who will be happy."
Wen Yanbo said without changing his expression: "Why did Mr. Han say this? How can I be happy after hearing the whole process of this matter!"
Han Qi and Fu Bi looked at each other, then silently despised Wen Yanbo.
On this matter, only Wen Yanbo advocated being tough on Liao.
When Han Qi went down, Zhang Fei picked up the mallet and struck it.
Everyone seemed to be awakened from hypnosis and looked at Zhang Fei with wide eyes.
No!
No way!
No!
Only Zhang Fei said: "Today's trial will end here. The president of the court still needs to verify relevant evidence. Moreover, another important witness in this case, Shen Tianjian, has not returned to Beijing. The trial will be held after Shen Tianjian returns to Beijing."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Just know that is it.
The people were wailing
You...can't you finish the trial in one go?
Moreover, since it has been made so clear, can’t it still be decided?
If it weren't for Zhang Fei, this person would have started to curse.
What a trap!
But Zhang Fei ignored them and turned around and left.
The gentlemen in the courtyard were already convinced that Zhang Fei's plan was to coerce public opinion and force the court to be tough on the Liao Kingdom.
There is no doubt about this.
Yes, Han Qi is in the past tense, and the envoy for this negotiation is Shen Kuo. He is indeed an important witness, but the problem is that Shen Kuo doesn't know where he is now.
The people in Hedong have arrived in the capital, but he hasn't come back yet. Now that the Liao Kingdom has sent troops to occupy those places, he should return to the capital to resume his duties. There must be something fishy here!
But on this point, they really guessed wrong. When will the chief judge start the trial? Does it have to depend on other people's schedules?
Impossible!
It was really not Zhang Fei who deliberately asked Shen Kuo to return to Beijing late, but Shen Kuo, on Wang Anshi's order, went to Hebei to inspect the Ordnance Supervision.
There is no way to make Shen Kuo versatile.
But no matter what, Zhang Fei's move is still very effective.
Because at the last trial, Zhang Fei left a controversial point at the end, that is, he did not confirm that those lands belonged to the Song Dynasty.
If there is really a dispute, even if it belongs to the Liao Kingdom, then the imperial court cannot easily rule in their favor. You can't use other people's things to claim compensation!
At that time, the people's complaints were not full of confidence. After all, they did not know what happened here. How could they talk about such military and national events in the past on such an occasion.
And this controversial point has disappeared with Han Qi's confession. It can be confirmed that that is the territory of our Song Dynasty.
The public opinion that had almost subsided has once again stirred up a stir, and it is even worse than last time.
The more I hear about it, the more frustrated I become. Just one person can cause the entire border of a country to move back. The cost of expansion is simply too outrageous.
It’s no wonder that the Liao Kingdom was aggressive.
You are so cowardly.
Anyone else would bully you.
In fact, people in the Song Dynasty also had good tempers. This was all caused by the legal system. In terms of rights and interests, they now have a very strong sense of self-protection.
Not only that, the voices of the doves in the DPRK also gradually became smaller, because Han Qi had always advocated maintaining relations with the Liao Kingdom. Coupled with his status in the DPRK, many ministers also looked at him. However, in court,
Han Qi had no choice but to show his toughness. In fact, he was indeed very tough at the time, which had a great impact on North Korea and China.
However, many opportunists also saw this trend, so they complained to the emperor one after another, demanding tough measures against the Liao Kingdom.
Although these people were seeking glory and wealth and were opportunistic, their memorials allowed the hardliners in the DPRK headed by Wen Yanbo to finally gain the upper hand.
Wen Yanbo also took advantage of the situation and put forward his own ideas in the court.
How can we not fight when they occupy my land? They occupy Xiongzhou without fighting, and when they occupy Yingzhou, they don’t fight. There are many fortresses in the surrounding suburbs, which is a disgrace to the officials.
The conclusion is, what's the harm in fighting?
This is not one or two times. If diplomacy cannot control it, they will have no choice but to go to war. Otherwise, they will ask for Xiongzhou again next time. Will they give it or not?
But he did not advocate attacking the Liao Dynasty, or in other words, advocating tearing up the Chanyuan Alliance, but he advocated a tough response to this shameless behavior of the Liao Kingdom.
This does not belong to the extremes, but to the middle.
Most people can still accept it.
This replaces the previous mainstream thinking, which is: How can Hebei engage in war if it is not prepared?
In fact, Wang Anshi, Sima Guang, Fu Bi, and Han Qi all believed that neither the timing nor the preparations were enough to confront the Liao Kingdom.
But now the voice of this kind of advocacy is getting smaller and smaller.
Having said that, their opinions are not the key, the key is the emperor's opinions.
Because civil servants are a very large group, there are hawks and doves, such as Kou Zhun, Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Xiu, Wen Yanbo, Shen Kuo, and even Han Qi and Fu Bi when they were young.
Hardliner.
It's just that the Song Dynasty was dragged down by the three redundants, and they couldn't be tough. This kind of thing depends not on reason, but on strength. But they were firmly opposed to ceding territory. There is no doubt about this.
It is often the emperor who turns to the dovish side and advocates compromise.
Therefore, the emperor's vote is crucial.
Zhao Xu did not give a clear statement, but he adopted one of Wen Yanbo's suggestions, which was to replace some dovish officials in Bianzhou and replace them with hardliners.
What a coincidence!
At this time, Shen Kuo returned to Beijing to resume his duties.
Everyone was talking a lot, saying that this was not arranged by anyone, and even the ghosts didn’t believe it.
Zhang Fei didn't bother to explain and immediately held a third court hearing.
Compared with the previous two court sessions, this time there was less uneasiness and more expectation in the atmosphere.
During the first trial, the gentlemen in the court were so worried that they lost a lot of their hair, but after two trials, they gradually got used to it. The key was that the wind direction within the court was also changing. They also knew that it would be useless to worry anymore.
It could be waiting for a result.
Although the people outside the hospital were once more grieved than heartbroken, the Chief Justice still retained the only hope in their hearts.
However, since they didn't know much about Shen Kuo, they were still a little worried when they saw Shen Kuo coming to the court hearing.
Don't call yourself a coward!
"Shen Tianjian, I heard that you have just returned from negotiating with the Liao people from Hedong." Zhang Fei asked.
Shen Kuo nodded and said, "Yes."
Zhang Fei said: "Then can you tell me what the situation is there now?"
Shen Kuo replied: "Four months ago, the Northern Dynasty suddenly sent troops to invade, expelled our local people, and occupied more than 700 miles of our territory."
Zhang Fei asked: "You mean the Liao Kingdom suddenly sent troops to invade?"
"Yes."
"Does that mean you didn't know beforehand?"
"The Liao people sent someone to notify me, and without waiting for our response, they directly sent troops to garrison."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Have you not reached an agreement?"
"No."
Shen Kuo shook his head and said: "In this negotiation, the Northern Dynasty was simply unreasonable. Their only basis was that their border residents may have been grazing and cultivating the land at certain times.
But that was because our border state officials neglected to manage the local area, which allowed their border residents to take advantage of it and invade our territory.
How can I agree to their request?"
Zhang Fei said: "When they sent troops to settle in, how did the border state officials respond?"
Shen Kuo was silent for a while, then sighed deeply, "I have to admit that our country's local military strength is far inferior to that of the Northern Dynasty. Moreover, due to the civil strife in Xixia, our country must send troops to protect our interests on the northwest border.
And they came prepared. So... so the border state officials could only guide the people to leave in time to avoid unnecessary casualties."
Zhang Fei lowered his head and glanced at the copy, "But I heard that some people still suffered considerable losses."
Shen Kuo nodded and said, "Yes."
Zhang Fei asked again: "Could Shen Tianjian give a brief summary of the reasons for this negotiation."
Shen Kuo nodded and said: "This negotiation was initiated by the Northern Dynasty. In three or four years, they sent a special envoy to Bianjing. They said that the boundary of Hedong has repeatedly caused conflicts between the two countries. They hoped to draw a clear boundary to avoid misunderstandings and injuries.
Harmony between the two countries.
Indeed, the boundary dispute in Hedong has been quarreling for decades, and the Holy See also wants to resolve this issue. I remember that at that time, he sent the Chief Justice to negotiate with the Liao envoy."
"Yes."
Zhang Fei nodded and said loudly: "I remember at that time, after I learned about it, I found that the original dividing line was a care method, and this method was only a rough area and did not have an exact boundary. At that time, Liao
The envoy thought that the local watershed could be used as the boundary, and I did not object to this proposal, because using mountains and rivers as boundaries can reduce conflicts between the people of the two countries, so we decided to work together to draw a clear boundary."
Shen Kuo said: "Under the arrangement of the chief judge, we sent many officials to conduct on-site inspections. When I went there, I found that the Northern Dynasty wanted to use this demarcation to invade our territory."
Zhang Fei asked: "How do you say this?"
Shen Kuo said: "Because the original care law was mostly divided based on mountains and rivers. There was a rough dividing line. In fact, it only needed to be divided according to this line. However, the Northern Dynasties completely ignored the previous boundaries and instead based on
The purpose of demarcating the boundary is to occupy a terrain that is more favorable to them. But the funny thing is that there are many mountains and rivers that they cannot even name. During the survey, there were also many mistakes. We are negotiating with them.
In the ultimatum, they also used the name in the border register of my court.
Among them are Tianchi, Lengquan Village and other places. In these places, Xianggong Han once presented relevant evidence during the Huangyou period, that is, when the Northern Dynasty negotiated with our country, the Northern Dynasty sent an ultimatum, which is enough to prove that these lands belong to us. North Korea, and under the auspices of Han Xianggong, these evidences were also compiled into a book.
Our officials repeatedly raised objections, but they were ignored. During this period, they mobilized heavy troops to roam the border in an attempt to put pressure on us."
Zhang Fei said: "Did Shen Tianjian bring any relevant evidence?"
"have."
Shen Kuo immediately presented a thick pile of evidence.
Zhang Fei took a general look, nodded and said, "It's no different from what Mr. Han said before!"
Then he looked at Shen Kuo and asked, "So from the beginning to the end, Shen Tianjian never agreed to Liao's request?"
This is the key evidence in this case. After all, this is a diplomatic matter. Although Han Qi's confession has confirmed that those lands belong to the Song Dynasty, if Shen Kuo agrees to the other party's request, that is another matter.
"No."
Shen Kuo shook his head and said: "But I also wrote to the officials with the request of the Northern Dynasty, and the officials also gave clear instructions on this, that is, the watershed of Huangwei Mountain must not be used as the boundary, because as early as the first year of Qingli, the northern people Su Zhi, During the dispute over Nie Zaiyou's invasion of farmland, the two countries had already clearly demarcated the local boundaries. I heard that Prime Minister Han mentioned this before when he made a confession."
"good."
Zhang Fei nodded and said: "According to what Xianggong Han said, the demarcation at that time was from Maima City in the east, to the foot of Huangwei Mountain in the south, to Jiaojiazhai in the west, and to Zhangjiazhuang in the north."
Shen Kuo nodded and said: "That's right. But if the Huangwei Mountain watershed is used as the boundary, it is equivalent to moving this boundary nearly a hundred miles south. This is really unreasonable.
Secondly, officials also stated that Tianchi must not be used as the boundary. Regarding Tianchi, we also have conclusive evidence. And we are willing to negotiate with the boundary where we have no conclusive evidence."
He had already done his homework before coming, and at this time he must show the toughness of our Holy Lord.
This indeed caused many people to nod.
Zhang Fei said: "How did the Liao Kingdom respond?"
Shen Kuo said: "And their response was to directly send troops to garrison without consulting us, in an attempt to use military force to determine this dividing line."
Zhang Fei nodded and asked, "Did Shen Tianjian assist in the evacuation of the local people?"
Shen Kuo nodded and said, "Yes."
Zhang Fei asked again: "Does Shen Tianjian know a local citizen named Chen Xu?"
Shen Kuo thought for a while and said: "Because I was in a hurry at the time, I didn't remember the names of the local people, but I brought the household register of the local people."
After that, he handed over the cadastral book.
After some comparisons, it was confirmed that all the plaintiffs were farmers from Hedong.
After asking about these circumstances, Zhang Fei, under the extremely depressed gaze of everyone, announced that the trial would end today.
Because it is only a lawsuit against ordinary people, as for the specific details of diplomacy, this is not the focus of this case, and there is no need to ask too much.
At this point, all the key witnesses have attended, and based on the current evidence, it is enough to win the case against those farmers.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Here comes the question.
You can win the case for those people, but the problem is how you can get the Liao State to return the land to the people, let alone compensation.
Many ministers opposed the trial for this reason. You cannot let the Liao Kingdom return the land. If you do this, it will only make our country very passive in diplomacy. It can only lead to darkness. There is no way.
room for maneuver.
Even if the court wants to deal with it forcefully, there is no need to do so and Wen Yanbo can be left to deal with it.
So this process is within everyone's expectation, but how the chief judge will decide is still puzzling to everyone.
.......
Back hall.
Zhang Fei looked at Zhao Xu with questioning eyes.
After a while, Zhao Xu suddenly picked up the wine glass on the table, drank it all in one gulp, and said, "Just do what you want."
"yes."
Zhang Fei nodded and said with a chuckle: "Your Majesty still needs some wine to strengthen his courage."
Zhao Xu immediately turned red and hummed: "You can make fun of me now. If something goes wrong then, you, hum, will be the culprit."
Zhang Fei said: "Anyway, I have purchased a property in Qiongzhou."
"Qiongzhou?"
Zhao Xu immediately became furious and said, "You have a beautiful idea."
...
After another seven days, the imperial court finally announced that the trial would continue on the next rest day.
Not easy!
After all, we didn’t have to wait another month.
satisfy!
This is already very satisfying!
This kind of waiting is really a torture!
Because now even the people have reacted, how can this be sentenced? After all, the defendant has not come, and he may not even know. If he is sentenced, will it be useful?
You can't make judgments on the air!
If he had been the president of any court, the people would have scorned him, thinking it was just grandstanding, and if they had the ability, they would have captured the Liao people here and put them on trial.
But it was Zhang Fei, and the people still had strong expectations.
finally!
The rest day finally came.
It seems that all the people in the city have come, and now there is no one in the entire Gyeonggi who does not know about this.
As for the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, the royal family members, and the dignitaries, none of them were absent.
There was no room for seating in the courtyard, and many people were standing and watching.
This judgment will affect everyone's vital interests.
At midnight, Zhang Fei appeared on the stage on time.
Swish, swish, swish!
Everyone's eyes were turned to Zhang Fei.
It’s all being said humbly.
Zhang Fei picked up the gavel and suddenly looked around in surprise. He felt that the silence was terrifying. With so many people, there was no sound. He smiled slightly, lowered the gavel lightly, and said loudly: "After many days,
Based on the trial and verification, as well as the evidence provided by the witnesses, the president of the court ruled that the plaintiff won the case."
No applause, no flowers.
Winning the lawsuit is certain, but the question is how you will compensate the Liao Kingdom. This is the key.
He then heard Zhang Fei continue to say: "There is no doubt that those lands are the territory of our court, but this is a foreign matter of the country. Our imperial court has no right to intervene. The judgment of our imperial court is only against the lawsuit of these one hundred and three plaintiffs."
, and after our investigation and calculation, it was determined that the defendant Liao State needed to compensate the 103 plaintiffs for their losses in the amount of 12,152 yuan.
Therefore, the president of this court decided to freeze the corresponding amount of coins given to the Liao Kingdom by our court to pay compensation to the plaintiff.
Moreover, if the Liao Kingdom continues to occupy the cultivated land of these one hundred and three plaintiffs, then 9,123 guan of money must be deducted from the annual currency every year to compensate these one hundred and three plaintiffs.
Of course, if the Liao State is dissatisfied, they can appeal here."