White-robed Minister

Chapter 134 0132 [The sentence in this case is very severe]

The Central Special Task Force was called the "Zhikan Yuan" in the Song Dynasty. It was a temporary organization that was dissolved once its task was completed.

Among the group members: Sima Guang came from the Censorate, representing imperial authority to supervise the judiciary and investigations. There were also two deputies, one from the Court of Judicial Review and the other from the Ministry of Justice, representing the highest judicial and administrative organs.

The local task force was called the "Investigation and Verification Bureau," which was previously a temporary unit formed by the Provincial Judicial Commissioner and the Yingtian Prefecture. Now it was merged into the "Investigation and Verification Bureau" to assist Sima Guang in handling cases.

That night, three officials from the central government held a small meeting.

"This case is clear and straightforward. We will then interrogate the officials, merchants, and common people in each county. If everything matches up, the case can be closed," said Chen Yaomin, the chief judge.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, the titles of Minister, Vice Minister, Director, and Assistant Director were all nominal official ranks. The official who actually managed the Ministry of Justice was called "Pan Xingbu Shi".

The "detailed advisor" before us held a position in both the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review. During the Yuanfeng reforms, the entire Court of Judicial Review was placed under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice.

Song Zuo, a "detailed judge" from the Dali Temple, said, "I'm afraid that when interrogating officials and merchants, they might suddenly recant their confessions, and then we'll have something to investigate."

Chen Yaomin said, "They probably won't recant their testimony."

What do you mean by "probably won't recant"?

The case is actually quite small, but it involves too many powerful families, and those families are connected with court officials, which is why the case seems to have a great impact.

As long as he honestly confesses his guilt and has made contributions to flood relief efforts, the final sentence will not be particularly severe.

However, once the confession is recanted and the truth is uncovered during the investigation, the nature of the crime becomes extremely serious!

Sima Guang said, "Tomorrow we will continue reviewing the case files and determine who will be interrogated. The interrogations will begin the day after tomorrow—Songcheng County..."

There's no need to interrogate Gushu County; the account books of the cloth merchants from both counties are still available, the case is already airtight, and it's impossible for them to recant.

After spending another day in the prefectural city, Sima Guang went to Yucheng County the next day, taking with him Xu Lai and Shen Qi's deputies, as well as the judicial officer of Yingtian Prefecture.

On the day he arrived in Yucheng, before the trial had even begun, the son of an old friend requested an audience.

"Post notices at the guesthouse and the county government office," Sima Guang instructed. "No one is allowed to disturb the Bureau of Investigation during its review of cases. Anyone who contacts the investigating officials without authorization will be considered to have conspired to pervert the law!"

Ah-Guang is very methodical and logical in his work, and you can't find any loopholes in his actions.

Deng Shouqian, the magistrate of Yucheng, pretended to be doing his job as usual during the day, but summoned his advisor Li Chengwu to his residence at night.

"Alas, my future is completely ruined this time." Deng Shouqian gulped down a cup of wine.

Li Chengwu sighed helplessly, "When something like this happens, you can only accept your bad luck. Xu Lai is young and impetuous, reckless and ignorant, and he doesn't consider the consequences of his actions at all. That Shen Qi is practically a living devil; I heard he almost beat someone to death during interrogation!"

Deng Shouqian poured himself a drink and drank another cup of wine.

He was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the fifth year of the Huangyou era and was initially appointed as a county magistrate. Although his family was not a family of officials, one of his uncles and one of his cousins ​​had passed the imperial examination.

With the help of his uncles and cousins, and by spending some money, he finally rose to the rank of a government official in the capital after ten years.

For most ordinary Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), this was already considered an extremely fast promotion.

Then he was transferred to Yucheng County as magistrate. After arriving there, he finally understood why he had gotten the position so easily. There were many powerful and influential families under his jurisdiction, and he had to be mindful of their opinions no matter what he did.

If we offend a powerful family even slightly, we'll definitely have trouble collecting taxes this year!

How taxes were converted was entirely up to the powerful clans, and the clerks had already made all the arrangements. As the county magistrate, Deng Shouqian could only passively accept it.

Deng Shouqian was experiencing a bittersweet situation. He was in pain because he couldn't make his own decisions, but happy because he could take the opportunity to network with powerful families. These families had extensive connections, and if Deng Shouqian served them well, he wouldn't have to worry about being left without support in the future.

He believed he could leave his post peacefully and be promoted with Wang Yirou's recommendation, because someone had promised to introduce him to Wang Yirou.

Before Wang Yirou could even meet him, the Criminal Investigation Department and the Yingtian Prefecture inexplicably began investigating the case.

Investigating the case is one thing, it's just a minor twist, but why did it involve the imperial court?

After drinking several cups of wine, Deng Shouqian suddenly asked, "Won't my subordinates recant their confessions tomorrow? We can't let this case escalate any further."

"Probably not," Li Chengwu said. "Haven't those powerful clans already devised their plans?"

"What a load of bull!"

Speaking of this, Deng Shouqian was furious.

The powerful clans devised a plan to make Deng Shouqian take the blame. They would have him claim it was his idea, that he had used his position as county magistrate to force merchants to participate in the forced trade and disrupt the peace. Even if he was demoted this time, the clans promised to help him get promoted again in the future.

Deng Shouqian simply did not believe the promises of the powerful clans.

This case has reached the imperial court, and the reputations of the seven county magistrates are ruined. What future do they have left?

But at this point, Deng Shouqian had no way to resist.

If he obeys, he might be able to continue serving as an official.

If he doesn't obey, even if the powerful families don't retaliate, he won't be able to escape this time, because the registrar, county magistrate, clerk, and merchants will definitely collude to make him take the blame.

Then just take the blame honestly.

On the second day of the interrogation, it was finally Deng Shouqian's turn.

Sima Guang asked, "Are there any instances of rent-cutting causing disturbance to the people in Yucheng County?"

Deng Shouqian expressed deep remorse: "Since becoming an official, I have always followed the teachings of the sages and adhered to the principles of loyalty to the emperor and love for the people. I have never engaged in favoritism, corruption, or exploitation of the people for personal gain. But in the past two years, I have indeed been short of money, and I couldn't help but try to make a little money through deception."

One wrong step, and there's no going back. Alas!

"beside!"

Sima Guang said, "Stop talking so much nonsense and just talk about what's relevant to this case."

Deng Shouqian said, "It was I who ordered the summer tax to be converted into silk and forced all the cloth merchants in the county to work together to raise the price of silk."

Xu Lai, who had been sitting silently to the side, couldn't help but interject, "You can force the cloth merchants in Yucheng County to hoard and drive up prices, but do you think you can force them in the other six counties? This case was handled jointly by seven counties in Yingtian Prefecture!"

"I----"

Deng Shouqian opened his mouth wide, his mind racing with countless responses, but in the end he could only lower his head and say, "I don't know what the situation is like in the other six counties, but it is indeed the case in Yucheng County."

"Continue your confession," Sima Guang said.

Sima Guang wasn't stupid; of course he could see through the trickery.

As the magistrate of Yucheng County, Deng Shouqian had no power to coerce merchants from the other six counties. Furthermore, the seven magistrates of Yingtian Prefecture could not possibly defy the prefect's three explicit orders by secretly colluding to collectively disobey them.

This case is clearly the work of local bullies!

The seven unfortunate county magistrates probably couldn't control their subordinate clerks, because the clerks were all spokespeople for powerful local families.

After a long interrogation, Sima Guang stared at the confession in silence for a long time.

This Magistrate Deng took the blame, insisting that he had not colluded with anyone and that he had only disturbed the people because he was short of money.

After reviewing the case of Yucheng County, Sima Guang went on to review the case of Chuqiu County.

There are also powerful families here, but their influence is not that great, and the county magistrate is unwilling to take the blame.

Of course, the magistrate of Chuqiu County didn't mention any powerful or influential families, insisting that he had been tricked by his subordinates.

He claimed that converting silk into cash was a routine policy, only that the conversion rate was a bit high this time. The clerk lied, saying that there were more people in the county growing mulberry trees and raising silkworms, and he believed the lie without investigating.

Later, when the magistrate discovered that the customary amount of money had increased, he realized the problem, but it was too late and he had no choice but to accept it. He had been tricked into joining the thief!

However, the registrar, county commandant, and clerks of Chuqiu County collectively pointed the finger at the county magistrate, all claiming that the magistrate had ordered the forced change and that they could not disobey his orders.

The county magistrate has no choice but to take the blame, since he's the top official.

After interrogating several counties, the results were revealed to Sima Guang: the problems lay entirely with the county magistrates. Although the county constables, registrars, clerks, and merchants received benefits, they were all coerced by the county magistrates.

The seven pots were firmly placed on the ground, leaving the county magistrates with no way to defend themselves.

Sima Guang privately asked Xu Lai, "Does Xingzhi believe it?"

"What can we do if you don't believe me?" Xu Lai retorted.

Sima Guang sighed, "Indeed, what can we do if we don't believe it? That's how things are in the world. I greatly admire Yu Xiang Gong (Yu Jing) for his integrity and selflessness throughout his life. Xingzhi is Yu Xiang Gong's only disciple, and he must do a good job as an official in the future."

Is this considered an attempt to win them over?

Xu Lai replied, "I dare not transgress the Three Cardinal Guides and Eight Virtues."

Sima Guang praised, "Since the Han Dynasty, only Han Yu has paid attention to the Great Learning. In recent years, I have also been studying the Book of Rites, and my understanding of the Great Learning has become deeper. Last year, when I heard about the Three Cardinal Guides and Eight Principles, I also felt enlightened."

These words speak highly of Xu Lai, even comparing him to Han Yu. Moreover, Sima Guang was not lying; he genuinely agreed with the "Three Cardinal Guides and Eight Virtues."

Otherwise, why would he bother to win over Xu Lai?

As a top scholar in the imperial examinations, favored by the emperor, and even having developed the Three Cardinal Guides and Eight Virtues, Xu Lai was considered by Sima Guang to have a bright future. Furthermore, his involvement in the recent amendment case, which risked offending many ministers, further solidified Sima Guang's approval.

All of these factors led Sima Guang to sincerely admire Xu Lai.

He had even decided that when Xu Lai's term was about to end, he would personally recommend Xu Lai for a position in the Imperial Academy and cultivate him as a censor.

In Sima Guang's view, it would be a waste of Xu Lai's talents not to serve as an official who could speak out against injustice.

If you become a censor, you can become a prime minister in the future.

In mid-September, Sima Guang returned to Kaifeng Prefecture with the central special investigation team.

He couldn't make decisions on such cases; he could only thoroughly investigate the case, provide a suggested judgment, and submit it to the imperial court for final approval.

-

If the Court of Judicial Review and the Court of Judicial Review still have objections, they might even send a second special investigation team to investigate. Of course, this situation is unlikely to occur.

In late September, the verdict was delivered.

Seven county magistrates of Yingtian Prefecture, despite the prefect issuing three consecutive decrees, defied the policies of their superiors, colluded to disrupt the lives of the people, and colluded with merchants to accept bribes.

How would the judgment be made if strictly in accordance with the "Song Criminal Code"?

Hanging, confiscation of family property, and destruction of all official documents issued since birth!

However, the Song Dynasty treated scholar-officials with leniency, so such a severe punishment was impossible. Therefore, the punishment became: dismissal from office, a fine of copper coins, and recovery of the embezzled funds.

Because of their meritorious service in flood relief, the final punishment was as follows: the four county magistrates were demoted by one rank, fined copper, had their embezzled funds recovered, and were suspended from their posts pending appointment. The other three county magistrates (who did not directly participate in flood relief due to their geographical location) were demoted by three ranks, fined copper, had their embezzled funds recovered, and were suspended from their posts pending appointment.

All seven county magistrates, having been transferred from officials in the capital to those selected through a civil service examination, will likely never be able to rise to the rank of official in the capital again. Their futures are ruined.

Although the registrars and county lieutenants of the seven counties shifted all the blame to the county magistrates, they were all severely punished this time: dismissed from their posts!

In other words, through this one case, Xu Lai turned seven Beijing officials into candidates for official positions and caused fourteen other candidates to lose their posts.

He also overthrew a bunch of long-serving officials, including high-ranking clerks and yamen runners from seven counties, and exiled them all!

Overall, the sentences were extremely harsh, and a particularly large number of officials were punished.

The news reached Chengdu, stunning everyone.

As the prefect, Gong Dingchen gained unparalleled prestige within his jurisdiction, and no official dared to disobey his orders.

Shen Qi and Xu Lai also gained widespread notoriety; everyone knew these two were living devils. They were absolutely not to be offended!

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