Northern Song Dynasty Justice

Zhang Fei's seemingly very reasonable explanation fell into the eyes of those distinguished guests, but it made some people panic.

What happened?

During this lunch, there must be a story happening.

Because of the interrogation in the morning, most people thought that Zhang Fei was indeed partial, but at the beginning of the afternoon, these few questions made the case worsen.

In particular, the matter of such a cowardly edict was confirmed.

Coupled with Zhang Fei's change of attitude towards Zhong Er, this will inevitably make people's imagination run wild.

Kinder is naturally very angry, but he can only endure it. If he gets angry with Zhang Fei at this time, it will be a dead end. As long as Zhang Fei convicts him, those civil officials will definitely support Zhang Fei with all their strength, and then arrest him. Go to hell.

Zhang Fei didn't care about their feelings, but continued to ask Li Shui: "Director Li, you don't need to care what Deputy Envoy Zhong said, you just answer the chief judge's question and tell what you have seen and heard."

"Yes."

When Li Shui first appeared in court, he was still very apprehensive, but now he saw that the judge was very nice, and he was full of gratitude and respect for him, and he was originally Xiang Lu Shen, so naturally he was even less afraid.

Zhang Fei asked again: "As for the question just now, do you have anything to add?"

Li Shui had finished speaking, but Zhong Er interrupted him, and he really added: "As far as I know at the time, the Deputy Envoy Zhong was deployed in Suizhou, and he was preparing for a battle, and there was no sign of retreating. planning to withdraw."

Zhang Fei nodded, then turned his head to look at Zhong Er, "Deputy Minister Zhong, after you occupied Suizhou, did you receive an edict from the prefect Lu?"

Zhong Er still felt a little resentful in his heart, so he just nodded slightly.

Zhang Fei said: "Then did you obey?"

Zhong Er shook his head, thinking, I can't fight with him, this is my disadvantage.He quickly added: "But there is a reason why I did this."

"What's the reason?" Zhang Fei asked.

Zhong Er said: "As Master Li said, the first edict of the prefect of Lu did not involve Wei Mingshan's department, so I wrote back to ask for clarification. As for the second edict, I have considered General Zhe and others. The deployment of the army is definitely not as simple as Master Li said, it is just withdrawing the soldiers and horses to Qingjian City."

Zhang Fei snorted, "How do you say that?"

Zhong Er said: "In the initial inducement to surrender, the commanders of the surrounding armies knew about it, because we also thought that once Suizhou was recovered, Xixia would never let it go, and General Ruzhe and his successors were all deployed in advance.

If I choose to withdraw troops suddenly without discussing with them, it will make them very passive, and I have to communicate with them first.

Secondly, it was the enemy army that came at that time, and it was all within our plan. I was prepared to fight, and the chances of winning were very high. Even if I didn't withdraw, there would be no danger. "

Zhang Fei nodded, and said to Li Shui: "Master Li, I have no other questions for now, you can go down and rest first, if necessary, I will ask you to come up."

"Yes."

Li Shui stood up, bowed his hands in a salute, and then retreated.

Zhang Fei suddenly looked aside, "Guo Xianggong, I have to trouble you to go to court again, and help the chief judge to clarify a problem."

Guo Kui was stunned for a moment, as if he didn't understand why Zhang Fei asked him to appear in court again, but he was still able to appear in court.

Zhang Fei explained: "Mr. Li's confession just now, Mr. Guo is listening."

Guo Kui nodded.

Zhang Fei said: "Then Mr. Guo should also hear that the deputy envoy also involves the issue of coercion. Guo Xianggong has led troops for many years and has rich experience. Can you tell me how to deal with the situation of the deputy envoy? is the most appropriate."

Guo Kui first looked at Zhang Fei dejectedly, it must be embarrassing for you to ask such a question.

He thought for a while, and then said: "Under normal circumstances, you should strictly abide by orders, and you should not send troops without authorization, let alone send troops under false orders."

Speaking of this, he paused for a moment, hesitated for a moment, and then said: "But under special circumstances, this kind of thing has happened, not only limited to generals, some civilian officials have also had similar behavior, that is, in military situations In an emergency, and you can’t contact your boss, or you haven’t waited for the boss’s order, and you don’t have the sovereignty, so when the crisis comes, you can only fabricate orders and lead the troops to fight first.”

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Then how does the imperial court generally deal with this situation?"

Guo Kui said: "Not necessarily, it depends on the specific situation."

Zhang Fei asked again: "Then based on Mr. Guo's experience, do you think it was a military emergency at that time?"

Guo Kui started sweating as soon as he came up, how could you ask such a question, wouldn't you be more reserved and more direct than me, a military general, no matter how you answer it, it seems wrong.After hesitating for a while, he said, "I personally thought it was quite sudden, but the best way to deal with it is to discuss it with the prefect Lu."

This old driver is different, try not to offend both sides.

Zhang Fei continued to ask: "If the prefect Lu refuses to agree, how will Mr. Guo deal with it?"

Guo Kui said directly: "I was not in Yanzhou at the time, so I had no way of knowing the specific situation at that time, so I dare not speak nonsense."

"fine!"

Zhang Fei added: "Thank you again Mr. Guo for your help."

Guo Kui nodded awkwardly, and looked at Zhong Er apologetically.

Zhong Er nodded gratefully.

Su Zhe suddenly frowned, and said in a low voice: "It's really strange to say that even if the deputy envoy knows that Lu Zhifu will refuse, he can still send a letter and let him know first. In this way, even if he doesn't wait for Lu Zhifu's reply , I will send troops immediately, and I won't make Lu Zhifu so angry."

Wang Shen whispered: "Actually, there has been a rumor about this."

Su Zhe asked, "What rumor?"

Wang Shendao: "It was because of the official's secret edict in hand that Zhong Er decided to send troops."

Su Zhe said in surprise, "Really?"

Wang Shendao: "I heard this rumor before when I was the manager under Mr. Han."

Chen Qi frowned and said: "But according to our investigation, the deputy envoy Zhong never admitted that there was such a secret edict. At that time, it was not mentioned in the file, nor was it mentioned by the officials. In addition, at that time The official has just ascended the throne, so how could he issue a secret edict to Deputy Envoy Zhong."

Wang Shendao: "So this is a rumor, and I just heard it."

Su Zhe frowned slightly.

Suddenly I heard Zhang Fei say: "Broadcast to Chen Xiaowu."

Chen Xiaowu?
who is it?

The people present were dumbfounded again.

Chen Qi smiled wryly: "Whether this piece of trilogy is the president of the court or a pen, the witnesses passed on will always confuse people."

But when he saw a man in his twenties, in short brown clothes, coming forward, he stopped, his legs were trembling uncontrollably, he was at a loss, and he didn't know what to do.

Seeing this man's attire, Lu Shen couldn't help but sneak a glance at Zhong Er, who was opposite him, and found that Zhong Er was also looking at this person, as if he didn't know him, and he was very curious.

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Chen Xiaowu, please sit down."

"Oh oh oh!"

Chen Xiaowu nodded, supported the back of the chair, and sat down slowly.

Zhang Fei asked again: "Are you thirsty?"

Chen Xiaowu was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to answer.

Zhang Fei ordered: "Give him a cup of tea."

When the tea was delivered, Chen Xiaowu held it in both hands, took a sip, and calmed down a little.

Zhang Fei waited for a while before asking with a smile: "Chen Xiaowu, what do you do?"

Chen Xiaowu raised his head and said, "I am a soldier."

Zhang Fei said: "Where do you serve as a soldier?"

Chen Xiaowu said: "Currently they are in the Yongxing Army."

"How long have you been in the army?"

"Eight years."

"Eight years? You look as old as me. Didn't you join the army very early?"

"hey-hey."

Chen Xiaowu scratched his head and smiled honestly, "It's quite early, but I should be older than the official."

Zhang Fei said: "Really? How old are you this year?"

"I'm 27."

"That's indeed two or three years older, then I have to call you Brother Chen."

"Oh! Don't dare! Don't dare!"

Chen Xiaowu waved his hands embarrassingly.

The eyes of the people next to me fell out. Are you adjudicating a case, or calling you brothers?
You are so easy-going as the presiding judge.

But why are you not easy-going with us.

Zhong Er also has a lot of opinions. The training I just gave is very official, so how can I treat him well.

Is it true that above the imperial court, the witness is the highest status?
Zhang Fei asked again: "In the fourth year of Zhiping, where did you serve as a soldier?"

"I'm in Qingjian City." Chen Xiaowu said immediately.

The small talk just now made him feel that the chief judge was different from all other officials, so he wasn't afraid anymore.

Kind of surprised, my soldier?I have no impression at all.

Zhang Fei asked, "What position do you hold?"

"Fireman." Chen Xiaowu said.

".!"

Zhong Er suddenly showed a depressed expression, and I said my soldier, how could I not know him, he turned out to be a handyman.

The rest of the distinguished guests also looked puzzled.

stoker?

In front of the half-pillar of incense, the person sitting here is the Xuanfu Envoy, who is known as a man of the level of a gentleman, and a fireman came and sat there in a blink of an eye.

This gap is so big that everyone is speechless.

But Zhang Fei asked: "Since you were a fireman in Qingjian City at that time, did you participate in the battle of Suizhou?"

Chen Xiaowu nodded straight, "I'm going! I'm going!"

Zhang Fei asked with a smile, "Why are you so excited?"

Chen Xiaowu hehe said: "Because I am a fireman, generally speaking, when troops are dispatched to Suizhou, we will run behind, but that time, I followed the team and killed them. I thought I had made a contribution, but Unexpectedly, nothing happened."

Zhang Fei asked curiously, "Really? Do you know why?"

Chen Xiaowu said: "I didn't know at first, anyway, that's what the above said, let's go together, I didn't know until later that the other party had agreed to surrender, and when we went over, there was no need to fight, so we had to start a fire and cook immediately. We firemen naturally have to follow along."

Zhang Fei said: "Did there be a fight at that time?"

Chen Xiaowu shook his head and said: "No, the soldiers standing guard on the opposite side saw us coming, immediately put down their weapons and led us the way."

Zhang Fei asked: "Have you encountered no resistance at all?"

"no!"

Then, Chen Xiaowu said: "You can't say that, when we surrounded the enemy's camp, I saw some people were still pointing at us with weapons, but after a while, their leaders came out, and then they put down their weapons .”

Zhang Fei asked: "Don't you think it's strange? The people in front immediately put down their weapons when they saw you coming, but the people behind took up weapons."

Chen Xiaowu said: "I'm not sure about this, maybe it scared them, we killed them suddenly at that time, and surrounded them all at once."

Zhong Er put his face in one hand and didn't really think about words. Your answer is really rough, no wonder you are a handyman.

Zhang Fei nodded with a smile and said, "Thank you Brother Chen for being able to testify in court."

Chen Xiaowu hurriedly said: "It should, it should."

Zhang Fei said: "You go down to rest for the time being, if necessary, I will pass it on to you again."

"Oh! Then I'll go down first."

"Please."

After Chen Xiaowu went down, Zhang Fei immediately said again: "Chuan Turun."

Another man in short brown clothes came to the court.

After he sat down, Zhang Fei asked, "Tu Run, where are you from?"

Tu Run replied: "I am from Suizhou, but my parents are both from Yanzhou. They were taken captive to Suizhou more than ten years ago."

Zhang Fei asked: "Then what do you do?"

Tu Run replied, "I used to serve as a soldier under General Xiaowei."

Zhang Fei said: "It's called Yishan?"

"Ah."

"During the fourth year of Zhiping, you also served as a soldier under Wei Mingyishan?"

"Ah."

"Then did you know that Wei's name was Yishan, and he had surrendered to Song Dynasty?"

"I know. I was the one who bribed Li Wenxi with those gold utensils."

"Really? Why did Wei Mingyi send you there?"

"Because Li Wenxi's ancestors were also from Yanzhou, and his relationship with me is pretty good."

"How is the result?"

"At the time, I thought it was going well, but Li Wenming was very greedy and lustful. When he saw those gold objects, he quickly agreed."

"What did you think at the time? How did you say that?"

"It was only later that I found out that Li Wenxi didn't try to persuade Wei Mingshan to surrender, but swallowed those gold objects."

"Why do you say that?"

"When General Zhong and the others came, General Dawei was still holding a weapon and preparing to mount a horse to fight. General Xiaowei was puzzled, so he asked General Dawei, 'Didn't my brother already agree to surrender, why is he still doing this', Only then did General Dawei know that General Xiaowei had surrendered, and seeing that the morale of the army was broken, he did not resist and surrendered together with General Xiaowei."

"Why do you know so clearly?"

"Because I was by General Xiaowei's side at that time."

"Is it just you and General Xiaowei?"

"No, at that time, everyone gathered around the famous general of Dawei, preparing to go out to fight, and many people saw it."

"Where is Li Wenxi now?"

"Li Wenxi ran away with a concubine of a famous Dawei general, and he has not been found yet."

Since Li Wenxi wants to covet that wealth, he will definitely not stay, otherwise, both sides will find him to settle accounts.

Zhang Fei smiled and nodded, "Thank you for being able to testify in court, you go down and rest for a while."

"Yes."

After Tu Run left, Zhang Fei summoned more than ten soldiers to testify in court one after another, but they all asked the same questions.

Some of the distinguished guests were drowsy!
As for?
In this process, if you ask a dozen people to tell us, are we stupid? You have to listen to it more than ten times before you can remember it.

Nawei Yingfang thought even more, if you are seeking evidence like this, if the witnesses have to pay for the carriage and accommodation, the cost of trying a case for you is really not small!No, is this kid trying to make money?

But there are also some people who are very engrossed in listening, nodding frequently from time to time, with a hint of approval in their eyes.

Guo Kui stroked his beard and said with a smile: "It seems that this kid is not lying, he was able to become the chief judge because of his ability."

Zhong Gu asked curiously, "Why did Mr. Guo say that? You can ask a young general to know the ins and outs of the whole matter. Why ask some small soldiers to ask about it?"

"It's wonderful here."

Guo Kui laughed and said, "It's not convincing enough if you just ask a young general. After all, they were all from Lingdi's old department."

Zhong Gu was taken aback for a moment, and then said: "Those soldiers are also my third brother's old department."

Guo Kui said: "So it is difficult to be convincing. But compared to the generals, the soldiers are completely unaware of this matter, and they can only see one side of the whole matter, but these The testimonies of the two are combined together to form the whole process of the matter, unless they are all discussed in advance, otherwise, it is impossible to spell out the process of the whole matter, which is convincing enough."

Zhong Gu nodded again and again, "I see."

Zhe Jizu asked again: "Are these confessions so important?"

"Of course it's very important."

Guo Kui said: "Haven't you heard it? These confessions illustrate two problems. First, the vice envoy didn't know that it was Li Wenxi who was playing tricks. If the deputy envoy knew in advance and reported the lie to the court, it would be bad." Now, it proves that what Zhong's deputy envoy did, just as Xueshi Zheng said, was for the sake of greed and disregard of the overall situation.

The second is to show that the deputy envoy is well-prepared and the chances of winning are certain, rather than taking risks.This can also prove that Deputy Envoy Zhong did not lie, and the opportunity at that time was fleeting. "

Zhong Gu said happily: "In other words, these confessions are beneficial to my third brother."

Guo Kui nodded.

At this moment, there was a sudden bang, and Zhang Feilang said: "It is said that the Xuanfu envoy of Hebei Fourth Road, Wei Guogong will testify in court."

Guo Kui almost bit his tongue.

No!
Even Han Qi came to testify in court.

The rest of the people were also shocked, even Cai Bian, Cai Jing and others lost their pens, and Su Zhe was dumbfounded.

What a shocking case this is.

He even asked Han Qi to testify.

In terms of fame and status, Han Qi is a well-deserved No. 1, and Fu Bi is not as good as him.

To put it bluntly, except for the emperor, who can invite Han Qi.

Both Zhong Er and Lu Shen felt flattered.

They all looked up.

But I saw an elegant scholar in his early 30s coming to the court, but no sign of Han Qi.

"Where is this Wei Guogong?"

"Who is this person?"

"Don't you all know this? This is the eldest son of Wei Guogong, Han Zhongyan, the general judge of the Yongning Army."