civilwarnovels Chapter 508 Salt Money Dispute
Chapter 508 Salt Money Dispute
Chapter 508 Salt Money Dispute
"strangeness!"
Chen Qi tilted her head and whispered to Su Zhe: "Chief Prosecutor, why didn't the other party ask those officials? Could it be that Zhang San is the presiding judge and restricted Erbi's power?"
When you were Erbi, you were defiant in court, you could ask anyone you wanted, but now it's your turn to be the presiding judge, Erbi has become so low-key.
It's too much!
Su Zhe said: "Don't think about it too much, Zhang San has talked with me about this matter, it's because Li Min has just arrived, he doesn't dare to make things difficult for those salt officials, and the government didn't ask Erbi to dispute the lawsuit, so I handed it over to you." Zhang San came to ask."
Chen Qi nodded: "I see."
Those who came from the capital felt that Li Min was too low-key, but in the eyes of the officials of the Hezhong Mansion, this Erbi was going to heaven!
When inquiring, it was all kinds of hints that the court was unfair.
Even Cai Yanqing couldn't help being a little surprised, "It seems that in this court, there is no difference between Na Erbi and the chief prosecutor."
Yuan Jiang caressed his beard and said with a chuckle: "In Kaifeng Mansion, there is no distinction between the two in the courtroom, but each has its own master. The procuratorate mostly represents the court and acts as the prosecutor, and Erbi represents the defense."
Cai Yanqing nodded: "I see."
But he thought in his heart, so he knew about it, but he didn't invite Er Bi to fight for the government. It seems that he took the opportunity to rectify the salt administration. This calculation is really shrewd!
Yuan Jiang secretly glanced at Cai Yanqing, thinking, he must be testing me.Forget it, let him think about it, anyway, I have asked their opinions, it is because they don't believe Er Bi, no wonder I.
At the time of the whisper, He Chunlin had already come to the court. It was his second time appearing in court, and he was far less nervous than the first time. Compared with the private salt case, this case really had little to do with him. He was just a Executors, supervisors, not decision makers.
"I have troubled He Yanjian to testify in court during his busy schedule. Zhang is really sorry."
Zhang Fei said very guiltyly.
He Chunlin also smiled slightly at the person who stretched out his hand without hitting the smiling face: "Presiding Judge Zhang is really polite. Assisting the judiciary is also a matter of my duty."
"He Yanjian has a deep understanding of righteousness, which is admirable."
Zhang Fei nodded with a smile, and when he was about to ask, He Chunlin suddenly said: "I have something to say, I don't know if I should say it or not?"
Whoops!Learn to answer quickly.Zhang Fei was taken aback, and said expectantly: "If it's related to this case, He Yanjian said it's okay."
He Chunlin immediately said: "The salt merchants were all lying just now. They are all rich, so how could they borrow money to live on? President Zhang must not believe them, and should punish them."
The salt merchants who were sitting below suddenly felt terrified, and looked at Li Min one after another. Li Min gave them a calm look.
Don't panic.
It's all under control.
"Thank you, Supervisor He Yan, for telling me."
Zhang Fei smiled and nodded, "Our imperial court mainly looks at the evidence, not what they say, our imperial court will accept it."
He Chunlin said: "They are above the imperial court, talking nonsense with their eyes open. Judge Zhang should punish them. This kind of behavior must not be tolerated."
The four little vajras sitting below all thought, you told a lot of nonsense last time in court!
Zhang Fei patiently explained: "That's how it is. If the imperial court convicts a witness because of a false statement, no one will be willing to testify in court. After all, Er Bi's problem is not so good. answer.
As long as it is not the kind of lies and perjury that are similar to framing and framing, our imperial court will generally not care about witnesses, and our imperial court will also distinguish between true and false based on evidence. "
The common people nodded frequently.
Favorability towards the imperial court continued to rise, while fear decreased sharply.
He also heard Zhang Fei continue to say: "In addition, regarding He Yanjian's mention of this issue, in fact, it does not have a great impact on the case. Our main concern is whether the value stipulated by the salt banknote and the value at this time have occurred. Change. After all, our imperial court is pursuing fairness and justice, and acting according to the law, not to rob the rich and help the poor, and we cannot treat the other party differently just because he is a rich businessman. He Yanjian thinks I am right?"
He Chunlin nodded lightly, "Chairman Zhang is right."
But the tone was obviously dissatisfied. It was the first time I had seen such a gentle justice!
Zhang Fei smiled slightly, then looked down at the copywriting on the table carefully, and raised his head to ask: "According to our investigation, the period when the value of the salt banknotes alleged by the plaintiff changed happened to happen when He Yanjian was in charge of this matter." , do not know if?"
He Chunlin nodded.
Zhang Fei suddenly handed a salt note to Li Si.
Li Si immediately sent the salt note to He Chunlin.
Zhang Fei asked: "He Yanjian should have heard the other party's inquiry just now. What the judge wants to know now is how much salt can be exchanged for the salt banknotes in He Yanjian's hands from the salt pond?"
He Chunlin glanced at the salt note, and said with a little embarrassment, "About 120 catties."
Although it has little to do with him, it is still a bit uncomfortable to answer this kind of question.
Zhang Fei asked again: "I don't know how much the government has set?"
He Chunlin said, "Two hundred catties."
"That is to say, according to the government's regulations, the salt money in your hand should be exchanged for two hundred catties of salt."
"Yes, it is."
"Has it always been like this? Has the government issued a notice to re-define the amount of salt exchanged for this salt banknote?"
"no!"
He Chunlin shook his head.
Zhang Fei asked: "May I ask He Yanjian, how should the judge understand this question? Since the imperial court has not changed the amount of salt exchanged for salt notes, why are there salt notes originally worth 120 catties that can only be exchanged for [-] catties?"
He Chunlin said: "We also act according to the orders from above."
Zhang Fei said: "What do you mean by the order from above?"
He Chunlin said: "It's the previous envoy to relieve salt, and now envoy Xue Fayun."
Zhang Fei said: "But I just asked He Yanjian whether there was an official document issued by the court. He Yanjian said no, and now He Yanjian said that it was the order of Xue Fayun. Can the chief judge understand that this is Xue Shipping makes personal orders."
He Chunlin nodded.
Zhang Fei asked, "Does the Salt Relief Envoy have this power?"
He Chunlin shook his head and said, "I'm not quite sure about that either."
Zhang Fei pondered for a while, and then asked: "Is that what you did before?"
He Chunlin said: "This method originated in the Jiayou period, and it was created by Fan Xiang, who was punished by the Hezhong government at that time. After the emissary came, the salt notes issued each year began to exceed this amount."
In fact, he has worked under Xue Xiang for many years, and this friendship is good, but he dare not hide this matter for Xue Xiang, because there are still supervisors sitting next to him, and these officials are looking for Xue Xiang everywhere.
Zhang Fei said: "So the change in the face value of salt bills is caused by excessive issuance of salt bills."
He Chunlin nodded.
Zhang Fei asked: "I don't know why you broke the rules set by Fan Tixing at that time?"
He Chunlin immediately said: "This is actually related to those businessmen."
He also came prepared this time.
Zhang Fei asked: "How do you say that?"
He Chunlin said: "In the beginning, merchants usually exchanged money for salt banknotes in Bianzhou, and then went to the salt ponds in Jiezhou to exchange salt, and then sold them to various places, but later some merchants liked to hoard salt banknotes, waiting for the price sell.
The salt banknotes were not exchanged for salt, which led to the accumulation of more and more salt in the salt pond. After Xue Fayun arrived, he soon discovered this phenomenon, so he began to issue excessive salt banknotes and sell the salt stored in the salt pond.
Later, Xue Fayun combined the salt administration with the horse administration, used the salt profits to buy horses, and rented the pastures to those landless farmers. At the same time, thousands of people involved in raising horses, salt making, etc. The imperial court saved more than [-] yuan in horse raising expenses, but the land lease was counted in the local government, because the Hezhong government was also very short of money at that time. "
Hearing this, the people were all moved.
It turned out that the salt merchants were wronged and let us profit, so that was a good thing after all.
Yes, but don't change it back!
Thinking of this, I feel uneasy again.
For a while, I didn't know who to support.
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Jian He Yan, please continue."
He Chunlin said: "After the inventory in Yanchi was depleted, and they started to pay for horses again, the excessive issuance of salt banknotes did not decrease. On the contrary, due to the war in the northwest at that time, the issuance of salt banknotes continued to increase.
As a result, three years ago, Yanchi could not exchange salt for a time, and many banknote merchants sold salt banknotes at a low price. At that time, the lowest price was 120 yuan. Therefore, Xue Fayun envoy told us that a salt banknote can only be exchanged for [-] yuan. about a catty. "
Su Zhe frowned when he heard that, and said to Chen Qi in a low voice: "Just now, I said to the north that if the salt banknotes can only be exchanged for 120 catties of salt, I will lose everything."
Chen Qi said: "Then it won't mean nothing."
Su Zhe said: "Haven't you heard it? Some salt merchants are willing to sell at a low price, but some salt merchants are not willing."
Chen Qi frowned, and said, "What the chief prosecutor means is that the cost for someone to obtain salt money is very low."
Su Zhe nodded and said: "That's right. Although the imperial court has a very complete issuance system, it doesn't mean it's perfect. After all, the salt banknote is just a piece of paper. It's much easier than getting two hundred catties of salt. There must be someone It is easy to get salt money, we have to pay close attention to this matter in the future."
Chen Qi said: "We still have to send people to Bianzhou to investigate."
Su Zhe said: "As long as it is within the range of Shaanxi Road, our procuratorate has the power to procurate."
Then I heard Zhang Fei ask: "Since the envoy Xue Fayun told you that a salt bill can only be exchanged for about 120 catties of salt, why didn't he directly issue a government order and announce it to the people?"
"This...I don't know much about this." He Chunlin shook his head and said.
The government also wants face. If it is directly stipulated, this is obviously unreasonable. The best way is to print and issue small banknotes to replace the old banknotes, and depreciate the banknotes from here.
At that time, Xue Xiang originally planned to directly stipulate that only small banknotes were recognized, but due to some resistance, and the salt merchants were making a lot of noise, the government also needed merchants to sell salt for the time being, so Xue Xiang gave them some time to change.
Many officials sitting here scoffed, they were all conservatives, and they did not support Xue Xiang's game very much.
This is clearly stealing money and competing with the people for profit.
But for those who really know how to manage money, once money dealers appear outside, they can actually issue more money, but they must avoid causing panic, and a run will be bad.
Xue Xiang also had no choice, the court forced him to take the money, and a group of officials below were displeased with him, so they let the wind go out in private and attacked up and down, so he could only drag it.
Later, as soon as he was transferred, there was a thunderstorm immediately, and the problem of salt money became bigger and bigger.
Historically, in order to protect the salt law, Emperor Shenzong still paid for the bottom line, but that was also because of Wang Anshi's reform, which filled the treasury.
Zhang Fei didn't ask further, this was normal in the past, glanced at the copywriting, and asked again: "I wonder how many salt notes are issued by the government every year?"
He Chunlin hesitated and remained silent.
Zhang Fei asked: "Isn't this public?"
He Chunlin shook his head.
Zhang Fei said: "So apart from the government, no one knows how many salt notes have been issued?"
He Chunlin nodded.
This amount of printing and distribution is only reported to the public and not disclosed to the public.
The imperial court was still able to check the specific accounts.
But most salt merchants don't know, and the common people are even more ignorant.
Zhang Fei looked down again, and said: "According to our imperial court's investigation, the government issued salt notes worth 230 million guan last year. I wonder if it is?"
He Chunlin nodded.
Zhang Fei said again: "Who decides the number of salt banknotes issued at present?"
He Chunlin thought for a while, and said, "Originally it was determined according to the output of Yanchi, but now it should be determined according to the military expenditure needs of the Northwest."
In fact, there is no rule at present, which is to dissolve the salt so that you can do it yourself, but this thing is addictive, and it will only continue to increase, not decrease, because it is difficult for people who spend money to go from extravagance to frugality.
Of course, He Chunlin was citing military expenditures, and the generals were all involved.
If you are sentenced to lose money, you will reduce military spending.
"last question."
Zhang Fei asked: "Is the government currently capable of exchanging those salt notes with the prescribed amount?"
He Chunlin didn't even think about it, just shook his head and said, "No!"
Zhang Fei asked with a smile: "Why did He Yanjian answer so firmly? Could it be that he knows how many salt bills are out there?"
He Chunlin hurriedly said: "I don't know the details, but I estimate that there are at least millions of salt money outside. The key point is that the Hezhong government's finances are relatively tight at the moment, and it also shoulders military expenses and horse affairs. Report this situation and hope that the imperial court will give some subsidies, so there will definitely be no extra money."
"I see!"
Zhang Fei smiled and nodded, then looked up again, "Do you have any questions for the plaintiff and the procuratorate?"
Li Min shook his head directly.
The other party didn't make any sophistry, it was just Lai.
Su Zhe stood up and said, "Our procuratorate needs He Yanjian to provide relevant evidence to prove what he just said."
"This is what it should be." Zhang Fei nodded, and said to He Chunlin: "Because this is related to the interests of the imperial court, the procuratorate must examine the relevant evidence to avoid damage to the interests of the imperial court. evidence."
He Chunlin nodded, thinking to himself, this procuratorate seems to be more troublesome than the imperial court.
(End of this chapter)