Northern Song Dynasty Justice

Chapter 592 Controversy Between Three Laws (3)

Chapter 592 The Controversy of the Three Laws ([-])

Before going to court, Yuan Jiang never had the extravagant hope of being able to avoid the benefits of the young crop law.

Because the other party was accused of this crime, they must try their best to prove that Yuan Jiang banned this patriarchal clan for his own benefit.

It's just that he didn't expect that he would be forced to this point so quickly with a few words.

I also have to admit that these geniuses in the Northern Song Dynasty were transferred to Erbi very quickly. Firstly, they were very talented. Secondly, Law was a compulsory course for them. Finally, they all had experience as judges and court defense. experience.

The only thing he has to learn is the interrogation skills in court, which is very different from the official trial. Fan Zhen also watched Zhang Fei's lawsuits one by one, and he was already familiar with the context.

"Intent to boycott court policies?"

Fan Zhen said unhurriedly: "Scholar Yuan, can you explain in detail?"

Yuan Jiang said truthfully: "The proliferation of usury is not a year or two, and they have not revised any patriarchal law to prohibit this usury. Now the imperial court has just promulgated the Green Crop Law, which stipulates that the interest is two points. They immediately agreed with the patriarchal law. Five cents interest, which is clearly a boycott of the Green Sprouts Act."

As soon as these words came out, many people showed doubts on their faces.

It is no longer a matter of a day or two for usury to harm people. Now that the imperial court wants to reform, you just give such low interest.

There must be something tricky in it!

Fan Zhen asked: "Then according to Bachelor Yuan, if this patriarchal line originated before the Qingmiao Law, would Bachelor Yuan still prohibit it?"

"I object."

Li Min stood up suddenly, "This is a hypothetical question, and the witness's answer is meaningless."

Fan Zhen immediately said: "This is not a hypothetical question, but stems from the answer given by Bachelor Yuan just now, and it is also related to whether the patriarchal clan has the right to do so. This is also a key issue in this case."

"invalid objection!"

Zhang Fei looked at Yuan Jiang and said, "Please ask Bachelor Yuan to answer Mr. Fan's question."

Li Min sat down depressed.

Yuan Jiang was sweating a little, thinking, this is really unfair, he can only ask me to answer, if I usually argue, how can I lose to him so easily.After hesitating for a while, he still replied: "Probably not."

Fan Zhen asked with a smile, "Scholar Yi Yuan's answer means that the township has the right to regulate the interest of lending in the township."

Yuan Jiang was slightly embarrassed.

Fan Zhen waited patiently for the answer.

After a while, Yuan Jiang said: "I just said that I shouldn't stop it, but it doesn't mean they have the right to do so."

Fan Zhen asked again: "Does Bachelor Yuan have the right to allow them to do this?"

Yuan Jiang thought for a while, then nodded, "I think so."

The Four Little King Kong couldn't help but shook his head slightly, he didn't have any confidence in his answers, he was really powerless to resist!

And those squires smiled smugly, as if victory was already waving to them.

That's it?

"I'm fine for now."

Fan Zhen was very gentleman and gave up the right to ask questions to Li Min. Although the imperial court did not clearly stipulate it, everyone still had a tacit understanding that every question should be given a chance to ask the other party.

Li Min stood up, "I have a loan contract here, which stipulates five percent interest, and it is not in violation of the law. If the township establishes a rule based on this contract, it is agreed that the loan in the township shall not be lower than this interest rate. Will the bachelor support it?"

Immediately, a court policeman came up and handed the contract in triplicate to Zhang Fei, Yuan Jiang and Fan Zhen respectively.

After Yuan Jiang saw it, she shook her head and said, "I definitely won't support this."

Li Min asked, "Why?"

Yuan Jiang replied: "Although this contract stipulates a five-point interest rate, it also involves conversion, and the repayer may have to pay nearly double the interest rate."

Li Min asked again: "Will Bachelor Yuan prohibit it?"

Yuan Jiang nodded, "If you let me know, I will definitely prohibit them from doing so."

Li Min said: "But this contract is not illegal."

Yuan Jiang said: "I can also use government orders to ban them, because this will seriously affect the government's governance. After all, those big and unkind landlords don't care about the people who live on the streets. This needs to be borne by the government."

Li Mindao: "However, regarding Mr. Cai Fan's question just now, Bachelor Yuan said no. How should I understand this?"

Yuan Jiang said: "This is actually not contradictory. From the government's point of view, the people should be the main priority. Just now Mr. Fan emphasized the one-fifth interest. This is not against the law, but it is also beneficial to the people. Of course the government is happy. See, but this contract is obviously more conducive to the exploitation of the people by the big landlords, so the government will naturally prohibit it."

Li Min said: "Can I understand this as the government has the right to prohibit it, but it is only judged according to the behavior of the other party."

Yuan Jiang nodded and said, "Yes."

Zhang Fei smiled gratifiedly, "It's okay, it didn't embarrass our Er Bi."

Fan Zhen asked rightly, does the squire have the right to do this?

What Li Min asked was, does the government have the right to prohibit them from doing so?

Even if the two are established at the same time, it is natural that the government should take the lead.

Li Min asked again: "Shicai Scholar Yuan once said that he has been an official for 40 years. During this period, did Scholar Yuan make any orders, or did he witness other officials order to prohibit the behavior of the people allowed by the law?"

Yuan Jiang nodded and said: "I have seen it, and there have been orders to prohibit it. After all, the things involved in laws and government orders are different."

Li Min continued to ask: "Then why did Scholar Yuan prohibit the interest agreed upon by the 28 townships this time?"

Yuan Jiang replied: "I have just said this, because they did this to resist the policy of the imperial court, not for the sake of the people."

"I don't know what is the basis for the Yuan Bachelor?"

"In fact, this is a common monopoly technique used by businessmen." Yuan Jiang said: "First use low interest rates to prevent the implementation of the Green Crop Law. After the court abolishes the Green Crop Law, they will return to the previous high interest rate. Naturally, the government will not allow this situation. Appear."

Many people frowned when they heard this, it turned out that this is the case, these big landlords are really cunning!

"Thank you, Bachelor Yuan, for your answer."

Li Min bowed his hands and said to Zhang Fei: "Chairman, I'm done asking."

Zhang Fei looked at Fan Zhen again.

Fan Zhen stood up and said, "I would like to ask Judge Zhang about a question that Li Erbi just mentioned."

Zhang Fei was stunned for a moment, and said, "What's the problem?"

Fan Zhendao: "Whether the government has the right to prohibit the behavior permitted by the law, this issue involves judicial power, so I would like to ask Judge Zhang what he thinks."

Zhang Fei thought for a while, and said: "Generally speaking, the government has no right to prohibit the behavior permitted by the law, unless there are special circumstances. And this is one of the reasons why the court established the Public Prosecution Law. If the government does this, it must give There are sufficient reasons, otherwise, he will also be investigated by the Public Security Bureau.

However, I also want to make one point clear. Li Min’s question just now was actually not detailed enough. The question he asked was not clearly stipulated in the law. Although the interest is allowed by the law, the patriarchal law stipulates interest , This act of restricting the villagers is not explained in the law.

Of course, the president of the court did not mean to favor the defendant when he said this, but I just hope that everyone can clearly understand that the reason why our imperial court opened a court to hear this case is not to judge whether an act allowed by the law is legal, but to judge whether an act that is not prohibited , but there is no legality of the permitted behavior, because there is indeed a dispute in it, so the imperial court will hold a trial. "

Li Min, Qiu Zhengwen, and Lu Bangxing suddenly looked embarrassed.

Although Zhang Fei explained himself and explained the reason for the trial, he still helped them fill this loophole, obviously to help them.

The judicial principle of this feudal society, for public power, can be done without legal prohibition, but for private power, it can be prohibited without legal authorization.

Therefore, Zhang Fei emphasized that this interest is absolutely allowed, because the law is authorized, but the behavior of the patriarchal clan restricting the villagers is not authorized by the law, so of course the public authority has the right to prohibit it.

This is in favor of Yuan Jiang.

"Thank you, President Zhang, for your answer."

Fan Zhen bowed his hands.

Zhang Fei nodded and smiled, "No thanks! If you have no other questions, Mr. Fan can continue to ask."

Although Fan Zhen didn't show his face, he regretted a little in his heart. He originally wanted to use this reason to challenge Zhang Fei, but the result was not worth the loss, but this is not a big problem. Even if he made trouble on this point, the other party would immediately make up Come back, because what Yuan Jiang banned was patriarchal clan, not interest, which the government made very clear in advance.

Fan Zhen asked Yuan Jiang again: "Judging from the answer of Bachelor Cai Yuan just now, all of this stems from the Green Crop Method. Can I ask Bachelor Yuan to explain the Green Crop Method?"

"of course can."

Yuan Jiang immediately explained: "The Green Crop Law, as the name suggests, is aimed at the period when the people need to rely on loans to survive when they are young and yellow. It is precisely because of this that many rich and unkind landlords often use usury To exploit the people, the interest is often doubled or even tripled, making many people unable to pay back, so they can only sell their land cheaply and leave homeless.

It was for this reason that the imperial court promulgated the Green Crop Law, lending money to the people at two cents of interest to prevent them from being exploited by usury. "

Fan Zhen asked with a smile: "So this method was born because of Jimin."

Yuan Jiang looked at Fan Zhen cautiously, thought for a moment, and then nodded, "Yes."

There is still some emptiness in my heart.

Fan Zhendao: "Scholar Shicai Yuan also mentioned that the reason why patriarchal clans are prohibited from stipulating interest is because they used the technique of monopoly. They first resisted the Qingmiao Law with low interest rates, and then waited until the Qingmiao Law was abolished by the court, they would continue to release it. usury."

Yuan Jiang nodded.

Fan Zhendao: "Then let's assume that the government finally allows them to set a one-fifth interest rate. Will the common people benefit from it?"

Yuan Jiang said: "This is only temporary."

Fan Zhendao: "But what I want to ask is why the imperial court is in such a hurry to abolish the Green Crop Law when the common people are benefiting?"

(End of this chapter)