The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

"I think..." Yan Shu dragged his voice, "Whether Su Jin is at fault...it's still inconclusive."

Yan Shu's words, like a rounded slap, slapped hard on the mouths of everyone in the court, including Zhao Zhen.

All the civil servants stared at Yan Shu, as if they didn't know this person. Is this person still the smooth and smooth Yan Shu?At this time, he is still so ignorant of the limelight, and does not step down from the stage with the ladder brought by the emperor, but looks like a cooked duck's mouth - stubborn, could it be that he suddenly short-circuited his brain and became confused?

Although Lu Yijian and Du Yan were surprised, they secretly rejoiced. This old boy lost his mind and went crazy. With all the witnesses and material evidence, he actually overturned the case in person. Now let's see how the emperor still protects you. You don't know how to praise yourself, so you can't blame others , We didn't want to do anything to you, we just didn't want you to grab the position. At worst, you could still be your third envoy, but if this happens, I'm afraid your third envoy won't be able to do it.

In the gloating eyes of Lu Yijian and Du Yan, Yan Shu slowly said: "Your Majesty, what I say is not to say that Su Jin is innocent of coercion, but because Su Jin did not mention this matter in his report to me. The evidence is only from a letter in Mr. Lu's hand, the real evidence has not been seen by any of you, and you can't convict with your own eyes, let alone such a big crime, I dare not believe it casually."

"You mean the old man can't fabricate it?" Lu Yijian had a beard blown high, her face was flushed with excitement, her hands and feet were trembling, and she said with trembling lips: "Your Majesty, please give me a fair word, when will I, Lu Yijian, be in court?" Dare to speak nonsense in the hall? Lord Yan is openly doubting the character of the old minister by saying this, please forgive me for not being able to tolerate it."

Zhao Zhen looked at Yan Shu with a sullen face, feeling extremely unhappy. This Yan Shu didn't know what kind of evil he had fallen into, and he actually talked nonsense. He just didn't give himself face. It wasn't the first time he was refuted by others, but at this moment It's not the one who made a fuss about relegating Lu Yijian, it really shouldn't be.

Yan Shu cupped his hands and said, "Miss Lu misunderstood me, I didn't mean that Xiang Lu fabricated evidence, I just reminded Xiang Lu, can you confirm what Su Jin did just based on what was said in a private letter? To convict, at least there must be evidence in court, not only physical evidence, but also cross-examination to see if it is strictly logical, and if a person who worked hard to do business was wronged, wouldn't it be embarrassing?"

"Joke! How dare the Hainan Road transshipment envoy fabricate it? Although this letter is a private letter, in the eyes of this old man, what is said above is probably the truth. For God's sake, Wang Qinian would not dare to fool this old man." Lu Yijian coughed loudly, panting Breathe.

Du Yan hurriedly stepped forward to help him and said: "Mr. Lu calm down, your body is important, but don't hurt your body because of this matter." Turning his head to Yan Shu, he said angrily: "Master Yan, you are too much, doubting casually in front of the emperor. The honesty of the court officials, what are you doing?"

Yan Shu said seriously: "Master Du's words are different. It is a matter of a person's life and death, and this person has made great achievements, how can he be careless? We must be cautious and cautious. If we are casually framed by others and cause unjust cases, wouldn't it be It is detrimental to the dignity of the court."

"It was said in the transfer envoy's letter that the leader of the bandit, the old man, confessed himself, and even wrote down the confession, so could it be false?" Du Yan said angrily.

Yan Shu said coldly: "What about the confession? Where's the bandit leader 'The Great Old King'? Did you see it or Lu Xiang saw it? I am willing to believe that all of this is true, but there must be real evidence, and if you don't like to hear In other words, for Su Jin's guilt, the confession at the first level of Zhoufu Road is not enough to be credible, and the testimony of witnesses must be obtained from the three courts of Dali Temple, the Ministry of Criminal Affairs, and Yushitai. It’s too childish to be able to convict someone in a private letter.”

"You're making unreasonable words...!" Du Yan lost his composure, pointed at Yan Shu and said, "You are afraid that the person you recommended will be convicted, and you will not be able to escape the guilt, that's why you are making such a sophistry."

Yan Shu shouted: "Privilege Du, are you convicting me in front of the emperor? Everything follows procedure, and if you like to treat others without procedure, you can treat others with a crime, but it is absolutely impossible to treat the person recommended by the old man! You need to know This person is still in Yangzhou, braving the wind and snow, thinking hard about fighting those grain merchants, and even endangering his life; I have worked hard on this matter. Now that the deadline of November [-] has passed, the grain collection in various places has reached a critical moment. The grain depots in various places are gradually empty. , these matters should be handed over to the Ministry of Criminal Affairs, Yushitai and Dali Temple to handle, don't mess up the priorities!"

"You...!" Du Yan was at a loss for words for a while, Yan Shu was so talkative, he was talking about Su Jin, but in a blink of an eye, he was talking about food collection, the Northwest War situation, and the righteousness was so irrefutable, it was almost infuriating die.

"Master Yan is right!" Someone came out to help, and upon hearing the thin voice, one knew without looking that it was Ouyang Xiu, the Prime Minister of Yushi.

"The Yushitai shoulders the responsibility of investigating the crimes of the officials. Your Majesty, I ask you to thoroughly investigate the matter of Su Jin's coercion and recruitment. This is the responsibility of the Yushitai. Lu Xiang, Du Shumi, Yan Sansi and others still have important matters to do. How can I be distracted by this matter, it is better for me to do it." Ouyang Xiu knelt down and begged Zhao Zhen for orders.

Zhao Zhen kept silent, he was trying to figure out what Yan Shu said. Yan Shu seemed to be helping Su Jin to complain, but in fact he was complaining for himself. Food affairs is indeed the most important thing at the moment. For this matter, Yan Shu has counted After ten days of sleepless nights in the Sansi yamen, my hair has turned white a lot, and the results have been huge. By the time limit, the reported grain purchases from the official warehouses were actually 800 million shi, although it was still far from the grain shortage. But it is enough to prove Su Jin's saying that there is a huge amount of food in the folks. When there is a goal, there is motivation.

Zhao Zhen even regretted that he had overreacted earlier. Su Jin calmed down the difficult Yangzhou matter so quickly. Even if there were some faults in it, could it be that he really held the face of the royal family and punished him? sin?

But the matter has come out, covering it up is not a solution, and it seems that Du Yan and Lu Yijian are not willing to give up, both sides are relying on important people, it is not good to make anyone unhappy, although I am happy to see the two gangs fighting each other The more you fight, the easier it is for you to grasp them, but in this winter, internal fighting is not a good thing. If you are playing this kind of cat-and-mouse trick, if you don't manage it, Jiangshan Sheji will be involved.

Among other things, Zhao Zhen broke out in a cold sweat when he thought that after Yan Shu took Su Jin, Yan Shu would give up his job and no one would care about the food business. This is not just for fun, this winter is not You can get by if you're a fool.

As soon as Ouyang Xiu appeared, Zhao Zhen breathed a sigh of relief. This kid appeared too timely, and this matter can be left to him. The people in the province are arguing, and the third trial Zhao Zhen understands too well. People go to collect evidence, discuss it with the Criminal Department of Dali Temple, and then report to themselves, and then order the three of them to jointly set up a joint trial. After checking in this way, the time has passed, the errands will be done by then, the crisis will be over, and then slowly consider how to deal with this matter, a drag word is really useful, Zhao Zhen smiled smugly .

"What you said is all right. I think it's better to leave this matter to Yushitai to investigate the evidence first, so I approve Ouyang Aiqing's request. Ouyang Aiqing, I order you to arrest the criminal and investigate the evidence. Do your best and don't be sloppy, other people should not worry too much about this matter, this winter is an eventful winter, and we should focus on those few major events."

"But Your Majesty, this matter..." Du Yan said anxiously.

"Stop talking, I'm a little tired, so I'll just do this." Zhao Zhen interrupted bluntly.

Yan Shu said in a deep voice: "Dare to ask the emperor, who will take over Su Jin's errand?"

"Succession? Why do you want to take over?"

"Did Su Jin have to suspend his post to cooperate during the investigation of Yushitai?"

Zhao Zhen waved his hand and said: "No, no, no, Yushitai inspected Yushitai, Su Jin was doing his own business, two irrelevant things, why did you suspend him? You write to beat him, I'm afraid he doesn't understand some rules of the court, Don't be fine now, something will happen after a while, and you have to behave properly when you do business."

"Thank you for your reminder, Your Majesty, I will definitely give him a warning, and at the same time, I will also bring the imperial court's appreciation for his first contribution this time."

Zhao Zhen rolled his eyes and said in his heart: "When did I ask you to bring a compliment." He waved his hand and said, "Yan Aiqing can figure it out, but I'm a little dizzy again, so I'm going to retreat."

Everyone watched Zhao Zhen step down from the throne and go back to the inner palace as if fleeing, Lu Yijian sat on the chair with a dull face, Du Yan clasped his hands and his face was ashen, the two stared at each other. There is no way.