Datang all-rounder

Chapter 230

The day of the public trial finally arrived. Standing on the stage, Wang Ke looked down the stage, and could only see a mass of black heads moving. One can imagine how many people came to the scene.Faced with such a situation, Wang Ke began to feel a little nervous. For him, this was the first time he had seen such a scene. Although it was late autumn, Wang Ke still felt that the palms of his two hands were full of tension. It's sweat.

Wang Ke took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his hands, then turned around and asked, "Is it time?"

Seeing Wang Ke's questioning, Zhang Ying quickly replied: "Soon, the criminal has already been escorted over. As soon as the criminal arrives, we will start immediately."

Wang Ke nodded, walked back to his chair and sat down, thinking about how to speak for a while.

As there was a commotion from the audience, Wang Ke knew that it must be the detained silk merchant Mei Ren being escorted over.

Wang Ke stood up, looked down the stage, and saw that Mei Ren and a group of officers and soldiers escorting him had already stood under the stage on the east side.Wang Ke nodded to Zhang Ying, indicating that it is time to start, and she stood back and let Zhang Ying walk to the front of the stage.

Zhang Ying stopped at the edge of the stage, clasped her fists and said, "Dear folks and elders, in order to facilitate the management of goods entering and leaving our border, the imperial court has specially imposed tariffs. The lives of the people have been greatly damaged, and the economic order of our dynasty has been seriously disrupted. This is something the emperor cannot bear. According to the emperor's will, my Chang'an mansion will take advantage of the court to promulgate decrees and maliciously engage in price gouging. Severe crackdown on behaviors to return a fair environment to law-abiding businessmen, and at the same time warn those merchants who vainly want to take advantage of the opportunity to raise prices to rein in the precipice, turn around as soon as possible, and operate with integrity to show the true qualities of businessmen.”

Zhang Ying took a look around and continued: "Now, the government is here to openly hear the case, and give these merchants who want to gain benefits through improper means, a wake-up call to let them know that doing so will not succeed. !"

As soon as Zhang Ying finished speaking, there was a burst of cheers from the audience.

It is not surprising that Wang Ke behaved like this in the audience. Regardless of whether this matter harmed the interests of the majority of people, it fundamentally affected the interests of some people. It's just that since ancient times, the common people I don’t think about these things. One is that it’s exciting to watch now, and the other is that everyone is also afraid that after the prices of these things increase, things that have not yet increased in price will follow the trend, and in the end they will become A general rising trend has harmed one's own interests. Now that the government has come forward to stop it, it is considered a good thing, so when Zhang Ying said this, they all made a sincere cry from their hearts.

For Zhang Ying's words, Wang Ke was not surprised. Originally, he wrote these words for Zhang Ying to memorize, but if he said it himself, it would definitely not have such a good effect. It is not yet the time for him to appear on the stage. As Zhang Ying is the governor of Chang'an Mansion, it is most appropriate to leave the opening remarks to him.

As Zhang Ying walked back to the table and sat down, she slapped the gavel in her hand and shouted loudly: "Bring the prisoner!" Mei Ren, who was standing under the stage, was pushed onto the stage by two officers and soldiers. Standing on the edge of the table.

The reason why Mei Ren was not asked to kneel down as soon as he came up was also Wang Ke's claim. In Wang Ke's view, although the evidence for Mei Ren is convincing now, it is already inappropriate to call someone a criminal without a sentence. It is unreasonable for others to kneel down.

Zhang Ying asked in a deep voice: "The prisoner standing below, report your name!"

After saluting Zhang Ying and Wang Ke, Mei Ren replied in a low voice: "My lord, my lord, Mei Ren, is from Chang'an."

It was the first time Wang Ke saw Mei Ren today, no matter from his appearance or speech, he couldn't tell that he was a cunning businessman, but rather a learned scholar.

Wang Ke felt that today's matter might be a bit difficult to handle, and it would not be as easy as he imagined. If he was really a learned businessman, it would not be that easy to deal with today.As a saying goes, hooligans are not scary, but they are cultured.The businessman is the same, or the businessman is even more terrifying, because they usually rely on their mouths to eat, but now they want to play tricks with him, it has to be a little bit real.

Zhang Ying didn't feel like Wang Ke, and she was still playing the role of official power on her own: "Mei Ren, you are telling the truth about the fact that you raised prices without authorization, disrupted the economic order of our dynasty, and burdened the people in the family!"

This hat is not too light. Wang Ke also discussed it with Zhang Ying at the beginning. As soon as he came up, he told Dali to see if he could make this person bow his head honestly. Having trouble bickering with him also makes things easier.

Now the audience is silent, watching how the government handles the case. For them, this is the first time they have seen a case like this, and they feel very novel.In fact, they don't know, not only is it the first time for them to see such a trial, it is also the first time for Zhang Ying and Wang Ke. Don't look at Zhang Ying and Wang Ke sitting at the head, their faces are calm, in fact, their hearts are also the same. They were extremely nervous, and they were also afraid that not only would they not be able to get things done well in the end, but they would even mess things up, which would be nice.

This was also the concern of the court officials, so none of them came to watch today. This is even the first public trial in the history of Tang Dynasty.

Mei Ren cupped his fists on his chest and said, "My lords, Xiaomin doesn't know what is wrong with Xiaomin. Since ancient times, the goods sold by this merchant have been priced by the merchants themselves. It's a crime. Xiaomin really doesn't know about this!"

Mei Ren's words aroused a lot of discussion in the audience. What he said was polite and polite, and it also revealed a fact of doing business since ancient times, which made everyone in the audience think so.

Wang Ke looked at Zhang Ying, and found that Zhang Ying didn't know what to say now. It was obvious that Mei Ren's words hit Zhang Ying's seven inches, leaving Zhang Ying speechless.

Hearing the voices from the audience gradually getting louder, Wang Ke knew that the people who came to watch the excitement had begun to get a little impatient, and now it was just the beginning of the confrontation, and the government officials were speechless with a single sentence. After all, how can this go down the trial!If you can't say that you are ugly today, the government will lose face.

Wang Ke knew that it was time for him to come out, so he patted Zhang Ying on the shoulder and motioned for himself to speak.As soon as Zhang Ying saw that Wang Ke had made a move, her face, which had been cloudy and uncertain just now, immediately returned to calm, and she quickly sat aside, giving up most of the table to Wang Ke.

Wang Ke looked at Mei Ren, who was still in a good mood at this time, and slowly said: "Boss Mei is right. Since ancient times, businessmen have set prices by themselves, and transactions are made when they are approved. If they can't accept it, they can't accept it." If the conversation is settled, it will be broken up, and the business is not righteous, so I can come back next time."

As soon as Wang Ke said this, there was an uproar in the audience. Is this a trial or a publicity for the boss? How can I say the same thing as the businessman?Zhang Ying also looked at Wang Ke with puzzled eyes. Although he knew that Wang Ke was in the trial with him, Wang Ke's words really made him unable to understand what Wang Ke meant by saying that.Zhang Ying suppressed the anxiety in his heart. He also knew that he couldn't blame Wang Ke at this time. Doing so would only make the situation more difficult to control. Although he didn't know what medicine Wang Ke bought in his stomach, he still didn't say anything. Just sit at the table and listen quietly.

When Mei Ren heard Wang Ke say this, his face became even more smug, and he began to imagine in his heart that he would be acquitted in a short while and go home freely, but today he sent the people from the government to the South with just one sentence. On the wall, the fact that the trial can no longer continue will spread throughout the guild, laying a good foundation for his reputation, and making his colleagues have to look at him with admiration.

Just when Mei Ren was secretly happy, she heard Wang Ke's voice popping out again, but this time it was not Tian Lai: "It's just that this time you are wrong! You are wrong because you shouldn't take the imperial court's money." The decree is your reason for raising prices."

Wang Ke suddenly slapped his hand on the table, and asked in a raised voice: "Mei Ren, tell me the truth, did you increase the price on the grounds that the imperial court wanted to collect tariffs to increase the price of the goods you deal in? Do you want to raise the price?" Okay, let's talk about it"

"No! Xiaomin didn't say that." Mei Ren was overwhelmed by Wang Ke's anger at this moment, and blurted out without thinking.

Wang Ke liked what he said the most. As long as he said this, he would be invincible. Now as long as he grasped Mei Ren's sore feet from time to time, he would not be afraid that he would not plead guilty. The effect of honest confession is much better.

Wang Ke said coldly: "No? You still don't admit it, do you?"

At this time, Mei Ren had beads of sweat on his forehead. He also understood that since he had already said this, it was impossible for him to change it. After all, so many people in the audience had heard it What he said just now, if he swallowed back what he said immediately without further trial, he would have already lost.

Mei Ren could only bite the bullet and persevere, gritted her teeth, twisted her neck and said, "Xiaomin never said that, if my lord insists on saying that Xiaomin did, please show me the evidence!"

"Hey, this is strange. In this era, there are still people looking for evidence. Are you starting to pay attention to evidence now?" Wang Ke said inwardly.

At this time, Wang Ke began to thank the people sent out by Fang Xuanling for their work. They really did a solid job. Without the work of these people, he would really have nothing to do with Mei Ren now.

Wang Ke lazily waved to the yamen servant standing beside him: "Bring the things up!"

A yamen servant next to him hurried forward and handed the thing he had been holding in his hand to Wang Ke. Wang Ke found a piece of paper from it, waved it in front of Mei Ren's eyes and said, "You didn't think of it, did you?" The price increase notice that I wrote ran to the government.”

After Wang Ke finished speaking, his face straightened, and he shouted loudly: "Come on, show this notice to the people in the audience, and see if the imperial court has wronged Boss Mei!"

The yamen servant hurried over, took the notice from Wang Ke, walked around the stage, and showed the notice in his hand to the audience.Everyone saw it, and it clearly stated the reason for the price increase, the name of the store and the day when the notice was written.For a moment, there was another discussion in the audience, but this time it could be heard that it was all condemnation of Mei Ren.

Wang Ke looked at Mei Ren, who was now ashen-faced, and asked coldly, "What else do you have to say now?"

Mei Ren really didn't expect that the notice he wrote would fall into the hands of the government. He didn't see this notice in front of the door at the time, and thought it was blown away by the wind, so he didn't care. People in the government uncovered it for themselves, and now it has become evidence for their own conviction.

(End of this chapter)