Northern Song Dynasty Justice

The abolition of the Chanyuan Alliance and the Qingli Collegial Conference undoubtedly announced to the outside world that the Song Dynasty would be on the road to empire.

Although success or failure is not yet known, the goal is very clear.

However, due to the previous relationship between Song and Liao, as well as the original situation of the Song Dynasty, there were still many pro-Liao factions in the Song Dynasty, even the kneeling tribe. They firmly believed in their bones that they could not go to war with the Liao Kingdom, and they would definitely not be able to defeat the Liao Kingdom. In the end, Even in a good situation, both sides lose.

Three feet of ice cannot be frozen in one day.

The political ideas of these people are no longer in line with the current political environment of the Song Dynasty and must be dealt with. Otherwise, they will be a major hidden danger.

In fact, this is also part of the entire plan. The Security Department of the Song Dynasty has been quietly collecting evidence of these people's crimes.

And they didn't guard against this at all.

This is why, when Zhao Xu announced the abolition of the Chanyuan Alliance, the Security Department of the Song Dynasty immediately dispatched.

early morning.

When Zhang Fei, Xu Zhiqian, and Gao Wenyin came to the hall with their two children, Xu Zun and his son were sitting there reading newspapers and waiting for them to eat.

This made Zhang Fei a little embarrassed and couldn't help complaining to Zhang Xing, "It's all your fault for being lazy. Look, grandpa and the others are waiting for you to eat."

Zhang Xing pouted and said aggrievedly: "Daddy, why don't you stay in bed?"

Xu Zun was already used to it, but when he heard his grandson's words, he couldn't help but frown: "Zhang San, don't talk nonsense in front of children from now on. Whether this child can keep his word when he grows up depends on whether his parents can lead by example."

Zhang Fei's face turned red when he heard this, and he held his forehead as if he was embarrassed to see others.

Zhang Buzhi held Gao Wenyin's hand tightly and said tremblingly: "Grandpa, actually, my brother and I stayed in bed."

Zhang Xing tightened his face and said excitedly: "Second brother, how could you betray eldest brother?"

Xu Zhiqian was speechless. How could she teach such a bastard? Or should I say it was genetic.

Only then did Xu Zun realize that he had been trying cases for so many years and was actually deceived by a little kid. He would not be able to go to heaven in the future if he did not follow the rules of the family. He immediately called the two brothers forward and gave them a good education. Then he handed it to Gao Wenyin and took it aside to have breakfast.

"Sister-in-law, you seem to be more leisurely recently?" Xu Lingxiao suddenly asked.

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "I have always been relatively leisurely."

".!"

Xu Lingxiao said: "Didn't you say that many people from Hedong will come to sue?"

Zhang Fei said: "For this kind of case, the chief judge only needs to give a precedent, and then the local imperial court will decide according to my precedent. It just so happens that the Ministry of Punishment has recently established a public prosecutor's office in Taiyuan, and the remaining people in Hedong can directly go to Taiyuan to litigate, and the court Just be responsible for the compensation.”

Xu Zundao: "I heard that the Ministry of Punishment plans to implement public prosecutorial laws in all border states this time."

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "This is an excellent opportunity."

How to implement public security laws in border states has always been a difficult problem. The imperial court was also cautious about this because there were still warlords in border states. When implementing public security laws in Yanzhou, Fuzhou and other places, they always compromised with the generals of the Western Army in advance. They recommended the chief minister and the prosecutor general, but since they were currently in a state of war preparation, the royal police had fully entered the border state. At this time, the imperial court was promoting the public prosecutor's law in the border state to maintain local stability, and the local warlords could not say anything.

Xu Lingxiao said again: "Didn't you say that the Security Department of the Great Song Dynasty has been arresting people everywhere recently?"

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "It's not about arresting people, but asking them to go back and investigate. I don't know if they will go to the Supreme Court by then, because according to the system, this kind of case is tried in the second-level imperial court, and it is currently out of trial." It should be a long time yet, and there’s nothing I can do.”

Xu Lingxiao said: "But this matter has made everyone panic."

Zhang Fei said: "Actually, the public prosecutor and the law are here, so they don't need to panic. The imperial court will still give a fair trial. In view of our previous relationship with the Liao Kingdom, ordinary correspondence is actually nothing. It mainly depends on the content."

Xu Zun warned his son again, "As long as you know this, don't talk nonsense outside. This is not a trivial matter."

Xu Lingxiao nodded quickly and said, "Yes, I understand."

After breakfast, Zhang Fei was ready to go out. Although he was relatively free, he couldn't always take a vacation.

But as soon as he arrived outside, he suddenly saw a group of guards guarding his two carriages.

"what happened?"

Zhang Fei was a little confused.

Long Wu and Niu Beiqing also shook their heads.

The chief of guards came forward and said, "Report to the chief judge, we are ordered to protect the safety of the chief judge."

Zhang Fei was stunned for a moment and said: "I thought there was always someone secretly protecting me, wasn't there?"

The captain of the guard said: "To tell you what the president said, secret protection is no longer enough now."

Zhang Fei nodded slightly and said without asking any more questions, "Thank you very much."

"I dare not. This is a matter of humble duty."

The captain of the guard cupped his fists and said.

During special times, for better protection, Zhang Fei and Xu Zhiqian had to ride in a carriage each.

But when they got on the carriage, Li Bao was already waiting in the carriage.

"Bao Xiaobao, you drove my wife to another carriage just because you wanted to be alone with me?" Zhang Fei half-joked.

Oh my God? What I fear most is being alone with you. Li Bao couldn't laugh or cry and said: "Of course not. Let Sanlang and Mrs. Ling each ride in a carriage, so that Sanlang can get out of the car more calmly in case of emergencies. But I can also be better protected by sitting here. Saburo."

"Do you want such a big battle?" Zhang Fei sat down and said with a wry smile.

Li Bao said: "Sanlang, don't be careless. There are countless spies from the Liao Kingdom in our country, and we won't be able to catch them all in an hour and a half. In addition, the Security Department of the Song Dynasty has been fully mobilized recently. It is inevitable that some people will jump over the wall in a hurry, and Sanlang, you are sure It is their primary target, so His Majesty the Ouchi Guard is here to protect Saburo’s safety.”

Zhang Fei felt that what Li Bao said was very reasonable. In this situation, he really needed more protection, and asked again: "What about my family?"

Li Bao said: "Don't worry, we have arranged for someone to protect you. Our people are all around your house, including Fang Yun in Dengzhou, and they are all under our secret protection."

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "How is the situation at the Security Department of the Song Dynasty?"

Li Bao said: "No one bowed his head. They all shouted for the sake of the officials and the country, and even cursed Sanlang for being a treacherous villain. They even predicted that it won't be long before His Majesty will regret it." "

Zhang Fei smiled easily and said, "I think so."

Household Department.

"Jifu, how are the arrangements?"

Wang Anshi asked Lu Huiqing, who had just returned to Beijing.

Lu Huiqing took a long breath and said slightly tiredly: "To be honest with you, my teacher, I don't know whether the arrangements have been made properly. We can only do our best to fill the granaries of major towns and transport a large number of firearms. , gunpowder passed.

But no one knows how this war will turn out, so I can't guarantee that we are fully prepared. "

We had not fought with the Liao Kingdom for many years, and everyone felt unsure.

Wang Anshi sighed: "If you give it your all, that will be enough."

Lu Huiqing said: "But..."

Seeing that he was hesitant to speak, Wang Anshi smiled and said, "Is there anything you dare not say?"

Lu Huiqing smiled bitterly and said: "Nowadays, no one from the Security Department of the Song Dynasty dares to talk nonsense."

Wang Anshi laughed and said: "You want to say that now is not the time to start a war with the Liao Kingdom."

Lu Huiqing nodded and said: "Although the situation in Xixia is better than we imagined, after all, the Western Army has contained 100,000 elite troops, and there are still 400,000 troops in Xixia. If they join forces with the Liao Kingdom, they will overwhelm the country. Come to fight, we may not be able to withstand it.

Talking about the country, the current reforms have achieved initial results, but the country still does not have much surplus. Once a war starts, it is very likely to break the rules set before. If we wait for another two years, even if the north, south, and west attack, we will not be afraid. But this is all it takes! "

Wang Anshi sighed: "Actually, I also think that this is not the time to start a war."

Although the emperor wanted to abolish the Chanyuan Alliance, they did not say anything, but they all believed that starting a war at this time was not in the interests of the Song Dynasty.

"Then why.?"

Lu Huiqing said doubtfully.

Wang Anshi said: "You have to ask Zhang San about this. He should know better than us about whether it is appropriate to start a war at this time, so I guess he must know something that is not known to us."

Lu Huiqing said: "Although I'm not in the capital, I think so too, but I still can't figure out the mystery behind it."

Wang Anshi said: "Sima Junshi and I both tried it out, but he didn't reveal much. But judging from his statement, he should be sure that the Liao Kingdom would not dare to invade."

"How can this be?"

Lu Huiqing said in disbelief.

At this moment, Xue Xiang arrived.

"How are you doing there?" Wang Anshi asked immediately.

Xue Xiangdao: "It's okay here. The current tax currency is still stable, but the cost is also very shocking. This year, we have spent an additional 8 million yuan because of this matter. Fortunately, we borrowed a lot of money through national debts. For the time being, The money from the treasury has not been touched yet, and in addition, with the entry of public security, security and law into Huguang and Sichuan, we can print more tax coins."

Wang Anshi nodded and said: "Fortunately, we were prepared in advance. As long as the national treasury has money, we can respond to changes by remaining unchanged."

Even though Zhang Fei was sitting on it and judging very easily, he didn't know that firewood, rice, oil and salt were expensive. The two major financial institutions, Xue Xiang and Lu Huiqing, were very busy on the outside and tender on the inside.

Because the Song Dynasty is currently undergoing transformation, from the corvee system to the employment system, the national treasury is also moving toward monetization.

In the past, no matter what you did, you would directly recruit laborers. Now you have to spend money to hire people and spend money on everything. Although on the one hand it has accelerated monetization, on the other hand, it has also become very unstable because this is not a routine adjustment. , they all have to watch it every day.

During this period, Xue Xiang and Lu Huiqing could only sleep for two or three hours a day at most.

At present, the political affairs hall also has a clear division of labor. Wang Anshi is in charge of finance, while Wen Yanbo is in charge of military and justice.

Legislative Council.

"That's it now, there's nothing to worry about."

Wen Yanbo shook his head and said: "I don't think we will lose. The treasury is still very full now, and the counties in Hebei have made arrangements one after another. As long as the Liao army goes south, they will immediately adopt the strategy of clearing the plains, and the people will be there." Rush to the fortress as soon as possible, and all their money will be deposited in Jiekupu.

As long as they can hold the fortress, the Liao army will not last long. Don't they have to spend money to fight? Compared with financial resources, we are not afraid of the Liao Kingdom. "

Sima Guang said: "We just feel that this is not the best time to start a war. After the public security law is spread throughout the country, we will not be afraid of the Liao Kingdom."

Wen Yanbo said angrily: "Then it's your fault too. You've been dragging your feet. It's been so many years, but the public prosecutor's office has just entered Shu and Huguang."

“No wonder Junshi!”

Fu Bi waved his hand and said with a smile: "Jun Shi's arrangement is the most appropriate."

Wen Yanbo was surprised and said: "What do you think Mr. Fu said?"

Fu Bi stroked his beard and smiled, then changed the subject and said: "Actually, it is better not to fight. Once a fight breaks out, the situation may be uncontrollable. Nowadays, many people in the court are impeaching the Song Dynasty Security Department, thinking that They held an unjust prison in Luo and falsely accused Zhongliang. The reason why they said this was that they expected that the Liao Kingdom would definitely unite with the Xixia army to suppress the border. As long as the front line cannot be defended, the pressure on the officials will double, and it will be difficult to say then. "

Sima Guang said: "But judging from Zhang Fei's statement, he should have a way to prevent Liao from attacking."

Fu Bi said: "I thought so too, but I didn't expect him to have a way to prevent Liao from sending troops."

Wen Yanbo shook his head and said: "We must not expect the Liao Congress to be merciful. As long as we can win, these problems will be wiped out."

In fact, there are turbulent undercurrents in the Song Dynasty at present. Making such a major change in such a short period of time will definitely cause many problems.

Otherwise, Zhao Xu would not have sent so many internal guards to protect Zhang Fei.

All this is not settled yet.

Those who are currently invited to tea by the Security Department of the Song Dynasty may become loyal ministers and heroes in the future, as long as the results prove that Zhao Xu's choice is wrong.

So for the time being, those people are still confident and are not panicking at all. They insist that they are right, because even if they think about it on their toes, they know that the Liao Kingdom will definitely not give up and will definitely use the whole country to attack the Song Dynasty.

If they lose the fight, they are framed, it's that simple.

It's time to leave the office.

Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi walked slowly towards the imperial city. "I remember that at first, Mr. Fu was very dissatisfied with Jun Shi's dilly-dallying character."

Wen Yanbo suddenly said.

Fu Bi smiled and said, "I knew you would ask this question."

Wen Yanbo asked: "What's the mystery here?"

Fu Bi asked: "In the beginning, there was only one person who supported Jun Shi."

"Zhang San."

"you know?"

"I was also present at that time." Wen Yanbo said.

Fu Bi said: "But at that time we all thought that Zhang San was just complimenting Jun Shi. After all, he still needed to rely on Jun Shi."

Wen Yanbo nodded and said, "Isn't it?"

"Probably not."

Fu Bi shook his head, "Do you think the Public Security Bureau has achieved today's results because of the system of the Public Security Bureau, or because of the Su family brothers and Chunren?"

"No matter how good this system is, it still needs people to implement it." Wen Yanbo asked again: "Is it just because of this?"

Fu Bi shook his head again and said: "We also talked about it at the beginning. It is extremely difficult for the public prosecutor and the law to cross that hurdle."

Wen Yanbo's expression gradually became serious.

Fu Bi asked again: "Suppose we encounter that obstacle, do you think you can get over it with Zhang Sanmai?"

Wen Yanbo thought for a long time, "He will probably choose to go around."

Fu Bi smiled and said, "What if we can't get around it?"

Wen Yanbo thought for a while and said, "He doesn't have the strength."

Fu Bi nodded and said: "Although the Chief Justice has gained sufficient authority through these judgments, his real strength is actually far inferior to that of Wang Jiefu back then, including now Wang Jiefu. He has no foundation at all in the court. What he has Everything is given by the officials.”

Wen Yanbo said: "So Fu Gong thinks that he intends to use Fan Chunren and others to check and balance?"

"Probably so."

Fu Bi said: "Don't talk about Wang Jiefu, even if you are Wen Kuanfu, you will recommend people who share the same goals with you, but Zhang San is different. Even Shangguan Jun, Cai Bian and others were recommended by Jun Shi. The only people around him are his wife and father-in-law, which is not normal at all."

Wen Yanbo took a deep breath and said, "Yes! This is not in line with common sense at all."

Fu Bi said: "Actually, from the beginning to the end, he stood with the officials, and his power was also given by the officials, but everyone around him was not his own people, but arranged by Sima Junshi.

And the people recommended by Sima Junshi are all loyal and upright people, and no one among them will obey his orders. If there is anything wrong with his judgment, it will definitely be questioned and opposed by Fan Chunren and others. You What does he mean by this? "

"I see."

Wen Yanbo nodded and said, "But can Chunren and the others be able to check and balance them alone?"

Fu Bi said: "This is only one. Second, he also informed Fan Chunren and others of the method. The cases he judged are all very special. If you read the history books, it is not difficult to find that these cases are not uncommon. , but in cases, the officials often stand on the opposite side of the law, and now due to the special circumstances, the officials are on the side of the law, but the officials will eventually return to that side.

Third, he has been constantly emphasizing a concept. "

Wen Yanbo said: "Defend the legitimate rights and interests of the people."

Fu Bi said: "Now this sentence has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people."

Wen Yanbo said: "No wonder the rich man wanted to write down the legal concept of the legal system under the laws of his ancestors."

Fu Bi smiled and said: "The laws of the ancestors can only restrict the powerful officials, and only the laws of the legal system can restrict them. Especially after the Hedong People's case was judged, the concept of the legal system became even more unforgettable, and this provided a basis for checks and balances for Fan Chunren and others in the future. "

Hearing this, Wen Yanbo became even more suspicious and said, "Could this be your own association with Mr. Fu? This is really incredible."

Fu Bi said: "If we could have discovered it in advance, maybe he would not have succeeded. The chess pieces in his hands would always fall in that inconspicuous place."

Having said this, he paused for a moment, "This is also the reason why I don't agree with the war with the Liao Kingdom now. Once the war starts, the officials will definitely control everything, which may break his layout, so I am sure that he will have A way to prevent the Liao Kingdom from marching southward."

Today, the entire Song Dynasty is still shrouded in suspicions of war, and this also affects the internal affairs of the Song Dynasty. Basically all government offices are preparing for war.

The anti-war and pro-Liao forces continued to struggle, and even hoped that the Liao Kingdom would send troops.

Only in this way can it be proved that they are loyal ministers of the Song Dynasty.

Zhang Fei and others knew this well and did not urge the Song Dynasty Security Department to file a lawsuit.

However, the result surprised everyone.

Because from a war perspective, the beginning of spring and the end of autumn are the best times to send troops. In winter, it is not suitable for large-scale operations.

However, late autumn has passed, and there is no movement within the Liao Kingdom.

Could it be that we are preparing to directly scale up our moves at the beginning of spring?

It's possible.

But this has actually missed the best opportunity. The Song Dynasty continued to improve defensive fortresses in the border states, and morale was also very high.

Moreover, the Song Dynasty's tax revenue is still rising this year, and the main growth area is actually the entire Hebei region.

The reason is that in this mobilization, the court directly spent money instead of recruiting conscripts, which brought great impetus to Hebei.

Grain prices in Hebei have generally risen this year because the WFP has been buying grain locally. Farmers' incomes have increased. At the same time, more troops and royal police have poured into Hebei. However, due to currency reform, they can get more currency instead of goods. They also need to buy, which in turn brings prosperity to Hebei business.

The hotels along the way were full every day, and there were also arms inspectors who also boosted the coal and iron industries.

However, the increase in tax revenue has also driven the sales of national debt, and national debt has promoted the development of savings business. The three major Jiekupu swallowed up most of the national debt, and used these national debt to develop savings business and attract more funds. We need to buy more government bonds.

However, the pro-Liao faction still believes that this is just a mirage. In the spring of next year, when the Liao army moves south, everything will be wiped out.

Finally it's spring.

Whether to fight or not depends on this quarter.

result.

Not only did the Liao Kingdom not have a large army to go south, the Emperor of the Liao Kingdom suddenly ordered that all channels of communication with the Song Dynasty be closed, including the sea, and going to the sea was strictly prohibited.

The Liao Kingdom's deployment in Youzhou was all focused on defense.

this..

The pro-Liao faction in the country was immediately shocked.

what's the situation?

How could this be?

If you don't even start a war, will the Emperor of Liao die?

This shouldn't be a technical adjustment.

Finished!

It's all over!

They started to panic. They were no longer as tough-talking as before. Instead, they shouted at the Song Dynasty Security Department that they were wronged!

They began to have an ominous premonition that their good days were coming to an end.

Wang Anshi and Sima Guang were overjoyed. They were not opposed to breaking with the Liao Kingdom, but they believed that the time was not right. The Song Dynasty still needed some time to stabilize its internal affairs and develop its economy.

If there is no war this year, it will definitely be a perfect victory, whether diplomatic or military.

But how is this possible.

Unbelievable.

The Liao Kingdom has no reason not to fight!

So they ran to ask Zhang Fei, but Zhang Fei said that he didn't know anything about it. He was just the president of the court and these matters were not under his control.

Of course they knew that Zhang Fei was the mastermind, but given Zhang Fei's status, it was really hard to say.

They could only run to ask the emperor with a shy face.

At this point, you have to tell us the truth so that we can prepare.

This confused us all.

Only then did Zhao Xu proudly tell these prime ministers the secrets, including the secret of Dengzhou Di Baoyuan.

Originally, Di Bao Yuan published those articles in order to plant hidden dangers within the Liao Kingdom and slowly penetrate them. However, they did not expect that there was an unexpected surprise. Yelu Yixin, an important minister of the Liao Kingdom, was also using these articles to seek power.

It happened that the Liao soldiers invaded Hedong at that time, so Zhao Xu and Zhang Fei decided to change their strategy, collect evidence of Yelu Yixin's crimes, and also use Xixia as evidence to package them together. After the victory at Waqiao Pass, they immediately passed the ministers who opposed Yelu Yixin. , submitted this perfect evidence to Yelu Hongji.

According to the evidence, Yelu Yixin, who was aggressive towards the Song Dynasty, hoped to arouse the war-weariness of the people by launching a war, destroy the foundation of Yelu Hongji's rule, and then use the story of the Song Dynasty to create public dissatisfaction, thereby seeking power and usurping the throne.

However, according to the information gathered by spies from the Song Dynasty, many ministers in the Liao Kingdom suspected that the death of the prince and the death of their queen were all related to Yelu Yixin.

So as long as this evidence is submitted, Yelu Hongji will definitely try to eradicate Yelu Yixin first.

This is also true. When Yelu Hongji saw the evidence, he was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat and immediately sent his close minister Yelu Liang to investigate secretly.

It turns out that this is indeed the case. There are many folk stories about the public security and procuratorate in Liao Dynasty, and they all come from overseas and are related to Yelu Yixin.

This frightened Yelu Hongji. Although he had never experienced such a mixed war and it had never happened in history, the bloody example of Xixia was very close at hand.

Why Xixia is in so much trouble now? It's not that it was beaten by the Song army, but that it is in chaos within itself, and the public prosecutor and the procuratorate are playing a role in fueling the flames.

Once the war starts, if the war goes unfavorably and falls into a bitter battle, the Liao Kingdom will most likely be divided.

Coupled with the power of Song's military weapons, Yelu Hongji was not sure that he could quickly win a victory over Song.

Even if he was sure, Yelu Hongji would not dare to send troops, because nothing in this world is more precious than imperial power.

He must find ways to stabilize his rule first.

This is why the Liao Kingdom suddenly chose to close all contacts with the Song Dynasty, to prevent the Song Dynasty from continuing to infiltrate, and then began to purge the court and eliminate bad ideas among the people.

This bought the Song Dynasty the most precious time. In another year or two, it would no longer be afraid of the Liao Kingdom.

After the Liao Kingdom decided not to send troops, Zhao Xu also began to eliminate pro-Liao forces in the country. Of course, he also passed the law.

However, the trial was not directly conducted by the president of the court, but by Zhao Peng.

According to regulations, these cases are not heard in public.

After some examination, except for those Liao spies, a total of 11 people were sentenced to death, more than 80 people were sent to Qiongzhou and other barbaric places, and more than 200 people were deprived of their official positions and demoted to common people.

This scale was extremely rare in the history of the Song Dynasty.

But it is relatively benevolent, and it is basically in line with the Song Dynasty's tolerance for literati. In fact, Zhang Fei never thought of breaking this convention. He rarely sentenced the death penalty, because the public prosecutor and the law were also based on this tolerance, even if it was just Tolerance to literati.

It is precisely because of this concept that we can further demand tolerance for the people.

Those eleven people had indeed leaked state secrets to the Liao State, and they were purely the leading party. Their domestic interests were given by the Liao State.

The death penalty is necessary.

The more than 80 people who were assigned just said that it was in their interests to remain friendly with the Liao State, so they deliberately caused chaos in order to prevent the imperial court from abolishing the Chanyuan Alliance. This also included many generals and meritorious deeds.

As for the more than two hundred people, they were full-fledged pro-Liao faction. They were not guilty, and the imperial court did not find them guilty, because they only exchanged letters with some officials of the Liao State, and still hoped not to fight and remain friendly. .

This was allowed in the past because the emperor also needed these people to maintain relations with the Liao State and avoid misunderstandings.

But now they only have side effects, so Zhao Xu found this excuse to deprive them of their official positions.

Those who were replaced were all hard-line officials, and they were all officials who emphasized restoring the majesty of the Han and Tang Dynasties.

At this point, the tone for the fight for hegemony has been set.