After Xiang Qi blamed Shen Kuo and instead went to Cai Que, he got a good job and served as the detailed judge of the trial court.
Xiang Qi, Zhang Yue, and Cai Que were all classmates in Taixue. In terms of relationship, Xiang Qi knew Cai Que earlier than Zhang Yue knew Cai Que.
After Cai Que was promoted to Zhongshu, he still needed people to take care of the Yushitai, the Court of Justice, and the Dali Temple. After he used the Xiangzhou case to deal with a group of people, he took the opportunity to install many cronies.
Xiang Qi found this way and entered the trial court.
In the Song Dynasty, thieves were very rampant, so the people were governed very harshly.
Among them, there are two laws established in addition to the normal laws, which can be called laws outside the law. One law is to value the land and the law, and the other is to harbor the law.
The so-called law-heavy place is Jiayouzhong, which is included in all counties starting from Kaifeng Prefecture. Once someone commits a crime here, the sentence will be more severe than in several places.
By the time of Yuanfeng, the number of thieves had not stopped, and now even Hebei, Jingdong, Huainan, Fujian and other roads also used the heavy land and heavy law.
The other is the heavy law of harboring, which is to severely punish the crime of harboring thieves and eliminate the social foundation of thieves. It not only emphasizes the retroactive effect of the law, but also implicates relatives of criminals and confiscates their property, and punishes thieves with crimes of rebellion.
This law also cracks down on the crime of harboring and harboring.
During the Jiayou period, it was only under the rule of Kaifeng Prefecture. During the Xining period, officials extended this method to Hebei and other provinces. However, this method is also the most criticized method. As long as the government says you are harboring, you are harboring. There is no such thing. There is truth to be said.
Unless you are from a family like Chai Jin's, you can avoid harassment from the Yamen. Otherwise, as long as you have a little wealth, it will be too easy for the Yamen to accuse you.
The Punishment Court reviews the punishments handed down from below, but in fact the Punishment Court, Dali Temple and Kaifeng Prefecture all issue sentences under the same jurisdiction.
As far as reviewing the case is concerned, Dali Temple and Kaifeng Mansion are begging you, but you don't have to beg others, so you are very powerful.
He is simply his father's father.
Today I am in Yingxian Restaurant in Bianjing.
Xiang Qi was sitting on the main seat, and an official below was toasting Xiang Qi frequently.
This is the highest and best seat in Yingxian Tower. You can see the Bianhe River, so the table of wine and food in front of the two of them cost thirty guan.
Xiang Qi lazily moved his chopsticks. The official below was holding a glass of wine and said with a smile: "Please give me some peace of mind about this matter. I would be very grateful to you."
Xiangdong shook his head and said: "Brother Zhou, you are also a high-ranking criminal officer in the Criminal Division of Jingdong Road. You have been handling cases for thirty years. How can you handle the case so poorly that you misjudged a murder case like this?"
The other party lowered his head and said, "The official was confused for a moment."
"I'm afraid I charged a lot of money!"
Hearing this, the other party's face was filled with embarrassment. Xiang Qi tapped the other party with his chopsticks and said: "Since I can come forward and ignore the official affairs of the yamen and eat your few drinks, I have no intention of standing by and watching, but you don't want to talk to me." To be honest...it's very difficult to help you."
The other party immediately said: "Not much, not much, just three hundred strings."
Xiang Qidao: "Just three hundred strings?"
The other party glanced at the several singers who were playing the piano and singing outside the private room, and immediately took out a wad of salt banknotes from his sleeves and said: "Indeed, these are the only ones. These three hundred salt notes are all here now. I give them to Master Xiang!"
Xiang Qi touched the salt banknotes and put them into his boots, and then said: "I'll take care of it for you at the Court of Justice."
"Thank you so much, Mr. Xiang, you are my reborn parents!" The official said with great gratitude.
"But, I'm on my side, over there at Dali Temple..."
The official surnamed Zhou said: "There are some connections to the lower officials at Dali Temple. It would be better if Mr. Xiang can open the Golden Gate."
Xiang Qi sneered and said, "You only have three hundred dollars and you still want to do a lot of things."
The official surnamed Zhou immediately lowered his head when Xiang Qi mocked him and said, "It's because the lower official is greedy."
Xiang Qidao: "I heard that the detailed judge of Dali Temple who handled the case said that your matter must be dealt with strictly."
"When the time came, I agreed, but he objected. It wouldn't be nice to make a fuss at that time! It would not only harm me, but also you."
The official surnamed Zhou exclaimed: "What can we do? I will inevitably have to ask Mr. Xiang to come forward again."
Xiang Qi said nothing and picked up the wine cup to drink. After Xiang Qi had a glass, he used chopsticks to pull a large piece of fish from the back of the big carp in the basin and ate it with the wine.
The official surnamed Zhou looked at Xiang Qi eating with juice and relish, but he felt extremely anxious in his heart.
After Xiang Qi had eaten three cups in a row, he slapped his chopsticks on the table, picked up a towel and wiped his mouth, as if he was about to leave.
"Master Xiang, you haven't given the order yet?" the official begged.
Xiang Qidao: "There are still some things I don't know about this case. So... you ask your wife to come to my house in person tomorrow night with the files."
When the official named Zhou heard this, his whole neck turned red.
His wife was famous in her hometown for her beauty. Although she was now in her thirties, she was even more charming. The official surnamed Zhou remembered that two years ago, he took his wife to Beijing to watch a theater and happened to meet Xiang Qi, who was down and out at the time.
The two had a face-to-face meeting at that time.
Xiang Qi brushed his boots with a brush and said, "If you are in trouble, forget it."
The official surnamed Zhou thought about the expenses during these days. Not to mention the 300 guan today, the expenses for treating the middlemen to meals also cost nearly 100 guan.
If he rejects Xiang Qi today, not only will all these investments be in vain, but if the case falls into his hands, there will definitely be no good words. This person deliberately let himself step into his trap. Thinking of this, he felt angry.
Born from the bottom of my heart.
He wanted to punch Xiang Qi in the face.
Finally, the official surnamed Zhou said: "I have this request from Mr. Xiang, and I have no choice but to obey."
Xiang Qi patted the other party's shoulder and said, "I'll be waiting at the house tomorrow."
…
After Xiang Qi walked out of the room, he didn't feel that he had gone too far. Because what he had seen and heard in the officialdom over the years, there were too many people who were more filthy than what he had done.
If you really want to have a conscience, why would you want to be an official?
When Xiang Qi left Yingxian Tower, he happened to meet someone.
The other party is none other than his benefactor Cai Que.
Cai Que also went downstairs incognito. When he saw Xiang Qishi, he stared at him with a pair of sinister eyes.
"What are you doing here?"
"Report to your husband, let's eat and drink here with our colleagues."
Cai Que looked at Xiang Qi, feeling an overwhelming sense of oppression coming towards him.
Xiang Qi knew that he was a small role in front of Cai Que, who could push him to death with just a stretch of his hand. When he went to Zhang Yue's house to ask for help, he did so as a classmate, so there was still a place for him to sit.
He knew that Zhang Yue would recognize this. But Cai Que would not accept this at all.
Under Cai Que's pressure, Xiang Qi didn't dare to hide anything, and immediately told everything about it. He knew that Cai Que was extremely shrewd, and you couldn't deceive the other party if you concealed anything, so he even made his last request to the official named Zhou.
He also confided in Cai Que truthfully.
Xiang Qi understands that Cai Que is very suspicious. If you want to gain the trust of the other party, you must not hold anything back. Once he finds out that you have lied to him once, you will take everything back.
The more he tells Qi, no matter how miserable it is, the more Cai Que trusts you.
Cai Que sneered and said, "I told you before that if you can't control your crotch, you might as well cut it off."
"Right now, Zhang San wants to rectify the imperial court. If you leak even the slightest bit about this matter, you won't blame him for being ruthless in the future."
Xiang Qi was trained so hard by Cai Que that he lost his temper and said, "Yes, yes. The lower official was blinded by lard."
Cai Que saw that Xiang Qi had completely surrendered in front of him, so he stopped pursuing it.
From those who were classmates in the same year to those who are now my subordinates, many people can't turn around in their mentality. Even though they know it deep down, they feel a little awkward.
From this point of view, Xiang Qi is a sensible person.
Xiang Qidao: "A few days ago, Mr. Xiang, someone from the Imperial City Department came to him to ask about Prime Minister Zhang's private matter."
Cai Que asked: "What's the matter?"
"It also seems to be related to the correspondence between Prime Minister Zhang and the Prime Minister of Liao Dynasty Zhang Xiaojie. There seems to be an internal story behind this matter."
Cai Quedao: "I understand, you did a good job."
Cai did know that Zhang Yueyihe had received money from Yelu Yixin, King of Wei in the Liao Kingdom, and this matter seemed to have been recently known to the Imperial City Secretary.
If the Imperial City Secretary knows about it, then the officials also know about it.
…
In the palace the next day.
Li Dingdao, the censor Zhongcheng, said: "Lu Huiqing is already Ding You, but he still uses the lack of money as an excuse to ask the court for an increase in salary. I heard that many people inside and outside the court think Lu Huiqing is really shameless and should be reprimanded."
The officials were silent when they heard this.
After Li Ding retreated, Privy Councilor Feng Jing came out and said: "The Liao people have been making frequent moves recently. First, last month, the Khitan cavalry invaded the bottle-shaped village, and now their fishing boats have invaded the land and clashed with our border residents. As a result, our people have been
Death and ten injuries.”
"This is similar to the dismissal of Dang Xiang and the resignation of Li Qing as prime minister. Once Dang Xiang and Khitan have the tendency to join forces, the court must be prepared in advance."
Xue Xiangzou on the side said: "I don't think so, the Khitan and Dangxiang have a fault and reconciliation. Now that I have no intention to challenge Dangxiang, how can the Khitan take any action?"
"I see that every time something big happens in the country, the Khitans will take action on the border to cover up my hearing."
Feng Jingdao: "I don't think so. Once Dangxiang joins forces with the Khitan, the consequences will be disastrous. Now Dangxiang's envoy is on his way to Beijing. According to what the accompanying envoy told me, as soon as he entered the country, he asked me why he entered the country without permission and took in the traitors in his country.
, with the intention of raising an army to investigate the crime."
"And an envoy from the Liao Kingdom also entered the country. This person claimed to be the emperor after the Jin Dynasty, which quite meant to insult the dynasty."
"Your Majesty, please prepare for a rainy day!"
The official said to Zhang Yue: "What do you think, Qing Zhang?"
Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, although the Khitan and our dynasty have been at peace for a long time, they often use troops to threaten us or humiliate our dynasty during rituals."
"As Feng Jing said, although we did not use troops, we still have to use them to look at it."
"The key to border defense with the Liao Kingdom lies in the three commanders of Heshuo, Zhending, Yingguan, and Dingwu. How to find Guo Jin, guard it with generals Li Hanchao, and organize military affairs is the way to deal with it."
Zhang Yue said: "I would like to recruit a few people to revive the border defense..."
The official listened without comment, and then said: "We will discuss the matter of border ministers later. I don't know one thing. Why has Dangxiang Liao State known so much about our domestic affairs over the years? But on the other hand, we know nothing about the affairs of the two countries.
Known.”
"Are there any ministers in the imperial court who have connections with foreign countries?"