Northern Song Dynasty: It’s a showdown, who said I, Zhao Zhen, don’t have a son?

Chapter 55 Xiaomin has something to say, he is colluding with government and businessmen!
Outside Kaifeng Mansion, there was a huge crowd of people, all paying attention to what was going on inside.

In the courtroom, the atmosphere was solemn, and Bao Zheng sat in front of the desk.

"The plaintiff Zhao He is summoned to court!"

Seeing Zhao He, Bao Zheng dropped the holding board in his hand: "Zhao He, is it true that you sued Fan Lou for oppression in Kaifeng Mansion?"

Zhao He cupped his hands and said, "Yes."

"Call the defendant Fan Lou and order the person in charge to appear in court!"

A moment later, Jiang Yuanshan walked into the court. After seeing Bao Zheng, he cupped his hands and said, "Jiang Yuanshan, a humble citizen, has met the master."

When Zhao He heard the name, he looked at the man aside in surprise.

This person is Jiang Yuanshan. The two have fought several times, but this is the first time they have met.

Bao Zheng looked at Jiang Yuanshan angrily: "Zhao He accused you of bullying traders, colluding with the government for personal gain, just to get Zhao He's cooking recipe, is it true?!"

Bao Zheng's image was very majestic, especially this roar, which made Jiang Yuanshan tremble when he heard it.

"It is indeed true that we are seeking stir-fry recipes..."

Hearing this answer, Zhao He was stunned, and Bao Zheng was also stunned.

Is this admitted?
I was fully prepared, just waiting for you to deny it and then slap you in the face. Now you admit it directly?

So how do I perform, how do I show off, how do I experience the pleasure of being slapped in the face?
Bao Zheng was stunned for a moment, and then said loudly: "Since you have confessed, there is no objection..."

At this time, Jiang Yuanshan raised his head and looked at Bao Zheng: "But Xiaomin has something to say, so the governor might as well listen to Xiaomin before making a judgment."

Bao Zheng narrowed his eyes. He was a businessman after all. How could he compromise so easily?
Jiang Yuanshan immediately said loudly: "The common people have no objection to seeking cooking recipes, but the governor said that I, Fan Lou, colluded with the government, which is a bit unjust."

"When Zhao He was running the stir-fry business, he conspired with people many times, threatening to use stir-fry to rob Fan Lou of his customers, leaving Fan Lou with no business. And this is indeed the case. Because of the stir-fry, I, Fan Lou, have no customers. "

"The common people have no choice but to resort to bad measures!"

Today, Jiang Yuanshan has no possibility of overturning the verdict, but he does not intend to let Zhao He go at this time.

You told me that you stole the stir-fry recipe by force, right? I said that you gathered a crowd to conspire. As for what the conspiracy was, that's not what I can say.

According to the laws of the Song Dynasty, if a crowd of more than ten people is gathered, they can be taken to the government for investigation. If a crowd of a hundred people is gathered, the leader will be exiled.

This is a very serious crime. It was established to prevent breakfast. It has been around since the founding of the People's Republic of China, so it is very serious.

As expected, Bao Zheng's eyes fell on Zhao He: "Zhao He, what do you want to say?"

Zhao He said without any panic: "What Jiang Yuanshan said is all nonsense. I am a merchant on Chonghe Street. I run a foot shop to make a living. Because the snacks in the foot shop taste great, countless people come here."

"When the local traders saw this, they said they wanted to learn from me and agreed with me to share the daily profits in proportion. More and more people came later. In order to save time and manpower, I gathered these traders many times to teach them cooking recipes. .”

"The merchants and the people on Chonghe Street can all testify to this. There is no such thing as a conspiracy, it is just for business training."

When Bao Zheng heard this, he pondered for a moment: "But according to the laws of the Song Dynasty, this is still suspected of gathering a crowd."

Zhao He said slowly: "According to the laws of the Song Dynasty, it is against the law to gather a crowd to conspire to commit unjust acts. The common people are just trying to make a living and gain profits, so how can they trigger the law?"

"On the contrary, it is the people in the Fan House who, in order to gain profits, do not hesitate to let the government arrest the common people. These are the criminal evidence collected by the common people. Please see it." Zhao He then took out the letter and asked someone to send it up. After hearing this Jiang Yuanshan's eyes widened immediately.

Damn it, we can’t be involved in collusion between government and business!
Dou Rushang is gone, but he, Fan Lou, can’t be gone either!

Something was wrong, how did this letter come? He and Kaifeng Prefect had already agreed to get rid of the letter, and this letter was only sent once or twice, and he usually found someone to pass it on.

He immediately said: "Master Fu, this letter may be forged, don't trust it easily!"

Bao Zheng shouted coldly: "Whether it is true or false, I am free to judge, and I will not tolerate you making trouble in court!"

He immediately opened the letters and looked at them, then put them down after a while.

"In this case, if you say that you have the testimony of the surrounding people and traders, then I will let this matter go by the wayside. But if you engage in such behavior again in the future, you must find local officers and soldiers to monitor you and write down an application. Otherwise, I will still remain responsible. It is the law that punishes you!"

Zhao He cupped his hands and said, "Of course."

Bao Zheng's eyes immediately turned to Jiang Yuanshan, who had a gloomy expression: "Dou Rushang was demoted for triggering Song Dynasty laws. One of the charges was collusion between officials and businessmen. Here are the letters between you Fan Lou and Dou Rushang. What do you do? explain?!"

Collusion between officials and businessmen is much more culpable than gathering a crowd. Businessmen already have a low status. Wouldn't it be a big rule to rely on the government to do things?

Logically speaking, Fan Lou should also be punished accordingly, but there was none at all, which made Bao Zheng a little confused.

Jiang Yuanshan hurriedly said: "Young people are wronged. Fan Lou has never had any interaction with Kaifeng Mansion. Zhao He was arrested just because of gathering a crowd. Since the Lord of the Mansion has already stated that this is a misunderstanding, then explain that this matter has nothing to do with Fan Lou." It doesn’t matter to anyone…”

When Bao Zheng heard this tone, he was immediately unhappy: "Do I need you to explain whether there is a misunderstanding? Just show me the evidence!"

Jiang Yuanshan quickly took out Fan Lou's account books and said: "Master Fu, these are all the account books of Fan Lou in the past two years. Please check them. Fan Louzhong has never had any form of interest dealings with Dou Rushang. How can there be official business?" Talk about collusion?"

After all, Fan Lou relies on the power of the Runan Palace to get Dou Rushang to do things, so naturally there is no benefit.

Originally, he planned to give out some benefits after the matter was over. At this moment, Jiang Yuanshan was glad that he had not given out the benefits yet, otherwise he would have been in big trouble.

Bao Zheng took the account book. It was a thick book, almost twice as thick as the four books combined. Could it be that he wanted to read it here?

He definitely didn't know how to read it, so he casually handed it to the bookkeeper at the side.

"Check it out."

Since it is evidence that I dare to present, there must be nothing wrong with it. This is not false.

So the main bookkeeper just flipped through two pages and was sure that there was nothing wrong with the account book.

Since there is no profit exchange, why should the government work for businessmen?
Bao Zheng actually knew that there was something wrong behind this. The collusion between officials and businessmen was definitely a fraud. Fan Lou just found some way to get Dou Rushang to take action.

Without evidence, there is no way to investigate, and even a few letters cannot be verified.

Jiang Yuanshan breathed a sigh of relief. Now he didn't expect Bao Zheng to let him win the case, as long as he could clear away the suspicion of collusion between government and businessmen.

Dou Rushang is gone, Fan Lou can't buy any more.

At this moment, Zhao He spoke again.

"Xiaomin still has something to say!"

(End of this chapter)