Datang all-rounder

Chapter 231

Mei Ren was sweating profusely now, and kept wiping her sleeves. She couldn't help but knelt down, and said in a low voice: "My lord, Xiaomin is not the first to raise prices. Ai Xiaomin is just watching. When other people raise the price, the ghost will follow the price increase. Xiaomin is willing to accept the punishment, and please spare Xiaomin's life!"

Wang Ke didn't expose his words right away, but asked a little teasingly: "Didn't you just say that you didn't say it? How can you admit it now! Haven't you confessed your crime honestly?"

Mei Ren couldn't say anything else at this time, just kowtowed non-stop, and there was only one sentence in his mouth: "It wasn't Xiaomin who started it, Xiaomin is obsessed."

Seeing that he still refused to admit it, Wang Ke swept the pile of notices on the table to the stage with a "wow", and said sharply: "Don't talk so much with me, now all the notices of the merchants are gone. Here, you just need to find one of them, and the date on it is earlier than your notice, not only will I not punish you, but I can also apologize to you in public and compensate you for all the losses during this period!"

Wang Ke's words were resounding, and everyone in the audience was very excited when they heard it. Today's excitement was too enjoyable to watch. I didn't expect that the government, which was eaten to death at the beginning, would suddenly throw out such a The heavyweight trump card forced the businessman to retreat every step of the way, and now there was finally no way out.Looking at Mei Ren now, she just knelt on the ground and kowtowed, she had nothing to say.

Wang Ke won't let him go at this time, Wang Ke doesn't want to let go of this kind of beating the dog in the water, remembering his arrogant appearance at the beginning, he hates him so much, Wang Ke walks away with his hands behind his back In front of Mei Ren, he said lightly: "Look for it, as long as you can find it, what I just said is still valid!"

What is Mei Ren looking for at this time, since he dared to find it for himself, wouldn't he have seen everything? The government wouldn't be so stupid!Besides, he was the first to raise the price, and he himself knew that he was the one who started it. If he wanted to find one of them, it would be wishful thinking!
At this time, Mei Ren was no longer the same as before, knelt on the ground, and said with snot and tears: "My lord, Xiaomin has been convicted, please forgive me!"

As soon as Wang Ke heard that Mei Ren had pleaded guilty, she immediately confirmed it, and beckoned to the master in Chang'an Mansion to ask Mei Ren to sign the confession.

When Mei Ren's trembling hand was about to fall on the paper, he suddenly retracted it, and shouted loudly: "My lord, I am not convinced!"

Wang Ke had already seen that Mei Ren pleaded guilty, as long as the fingerprints were pressed on the confession, the case would be over, but at the last moment, Mei Ren made such a move, which really made Wang Ke very uncomfortable. Comfortable.

Wang Ke felt angry and asked coldly, "Why are you dissatisfied?"

At first, the audience in the audience thought that today's play was over, and they went home after the verdict was pronounced, but they didn't expect that at this last critical moment, there would be a new situation, and immediately one by one The neck stretched out, wanting to see what new changes will happen.

Mei Ren twisted her head, stared at Wang Ke and said, "My lord, Xiaomin admits to the price increase first! But Xiaomin still can't figure it out a bit, so please advise me!"

Wang Ke's anger is really out of control, it can be seen that this Mei Ren is going all out, and today she must compete with Wang Ke!

Wang Ke looked at Mei Ren coldly and said: "If there is anything you can't figure out, just say it. As long as you say something reasonable, I will still say that. Not only will I not punish you for your crime, but I can also apologize to you in public and compensate you." All your losses during this time!"

Although Wang Ke's voice was not high-pitched, it was still quite clear, allowing everyone present to hear clearly.For a moment, everyone focused their attention on Mei Ren, to see what he could say. After all, Wang Ke had already stopped talking, and it all depended on how Mei Ren could save himself.

Mei Ren said with a confident look: "My lord, is this tariff a tax on goods?"

As soon as Wang Ke heard this, she immediately understood what Mei Ren wanted to say, but instead of exposing Mei Ren directly, Wang Ke raised her chin and said, "Yes, that's right. Just say what you have."

Seeing that Wang Ke didn't say anything right away, Mei Ren thought that she had grasped the key point this time, and she was even more excited, and said quickly: "My lord, if we need to collect taxes, our cost will naturally be higher. This price increase It should be a reasonable thing, I don’t know why Xiaomin was charged with such a big crime. Regarding this point, Xiaomin also asks adults to advise!”

After Mei Ren finished speaking, she cupped her hands towards Wang Ke, and glanced at the crowd in the audience with complacent eyes.

Wang Ke stood in front of Mei Ren with his hands behind his back and a smile. Hearing the whispers from the audience, he fully knew that the people in the audience had been confused by Mei Ren's words, but this didn't bother them. I don't understand, maybe even this Meiren didn't understand what the tariff is all about.

Wang Ke felt that it was necessary to explain this policy in this place. Of course, Wang Ke was not stupid enough to go and explain the policy to these people directly. If he did that, he would be saying nothing. It probably won't be effective, so why not use the opportunity to teach Mei Ren a lesson and explain this matter clearly, so that these businessmen can understand what the tariff is all about.

Wang Ke knelt down, and said with contempt in his eyes: "Boss Mei, it seems that you are still a cultured businessman, why do you do stupid things without understanding the court's decrees?"

Wang Ke turned around and stood up, pointed at Mei Ren and yelled loudly: "If others say this to me, I am not so angry, but you are not qualified to talk to me about this issue, let alone you are now The criminals of the imperial court said that none of the goods you bought and sold were in line with the reasons you said. I would like to ask you, Boss Mei, which goods in your store came from outside my Tang Dynasty. Tell me, tell me!"

Mei Ren didn't know whether the goods she sold had anything to do with whether they were imported from outside Datang, but her status was different now, so she had to answer honestly when asked: "No! All the goods in my shop are from Datang. Yes. Besides, I sell silk, and where else can the silk be compared to my Tang Dynasty!"

Wang Ke sneered and said: "You still know that the goods you sell belong to my Tang Dynasty, but I thought you were trafficked from outside my Datang!"

Looking at the bewildered eyes of Mei Ren and many businessmen in the audience, Wang Ke said loudly: "When the imperial court promulgated the decree, it was written clearly that a certain tariff was charged on the goods entering and leaving the border of our Tang Dynasty. Since your goods are all The ones I produced in Datang did not come from outside Datang. How did your so-called cost increase come from? Could it be that you had nothing to do and you took all the goods you trafficked outside of Datang before they were put on the counter before returning? Is it? If this is the case, I would like to thank you, you have contributed to my tax revenue. However, this cannot be a reason for your price increase!"

Wang Ke's words made everyone on and off the stage burst into laughter. The tense atmosphere just now eased a lot, but for Mei Ren, this is not a good thing. Come out, the reason that you think is invulnerable, in front of Wang Ke, is like a three-year-old child who wants to fight a strong man, but Wang Ke knocks him down with a light blow, and he doesn't fight back at all room.

Now Mei Ren has just begun to realize that he is now completely cornered by Wang Ke. If he wants to argue, he can't find any reason. At first he thought that with his mouth, he could The one who said he won easily, unexpectedly popped up out of nowhere an official who could speak better than himself, and made himself speechless, and any reason he came up with was untenable in front of him.

Mei Ren's heart was about to sink to the bottom, and he also felt that he would not be able to pass this test today.

Just when Mei Ren was thinking wildly, Wang Ke's cold voice came from next to his ear: "Boss Mei, is there any problem? I've been wasting my time here today, let's see if you have anything else to say. You If you want to plead not guilty, but don't even think about it!"

Wang Ke's words can be regarded as cruel, people will know that he is having trouble with Mei Ren today, but the people in the audience don't care. They are also idle, and the people on the stage are also holding an indifferent mentality. They have never seen Wang Ke's trial methods before, and they just rely on their mouth and nothing special It's a bit miraculous that something can make people say that they have nothing to say.

Mei Ren had no choice now, and his face was getting paler and paler. At this time, he had lost his fighting spirit, and felt that if he and Wang Ke went down, it would not be good for him.

Mei Ren knelt on the stage and said dejectedly, "My lord, Xiaomin pleads guilty. I just hope that my lord will give you a lighter punishment because Xiaomin is a first-time offender!" After speaking, she kowtowed to Wang Ke non-stop.

At this time, Wang Ke also knew that Mei Ren really had nothing to say, so she stopped asking questions and asked Mei Ren to sign the confession. After seeing the bright red handprints on the paper, she waved her hand and asked the yamen servant to give it to her. Mei Ren put on the shackle, then waved to Zhang Ying, motioning for him to announce Mei Ren's guilt, and walked to the back chair and sat down in a blink of an eye.

Now his task has been completed, and the next thing is all Zhang Ying's.At this time, Wang Ying walked up slowly, took out the judgment that he had already prepared, and read it aloud. At the time, he hadn't thought about how to deal with it severely, that is, confiscate the income and fine him double. She can be released after being released on bail by her family, but now that Zhang Ying thinks about the treatment she has received, the punishment has been much harsher immediately, and Wang Ke is in a cold sweat.

Zhang Ying took the verdict and read aloud: "Mei Ren, a profiteer, took advantage of the opportunity of the imperial court to promulgate the decree to make people foolish. He vainly tried to use the imperial decree to drive up prices, which seriously disrupted the social order and increased the burden on the people. The evidence is conclusive. According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty , made the following judgment: Confiscate the illegal income, and impose ten times the punishment based on the illegal income. In five days, report to the Yamen of Chang'an Prefecture."

As soon as Mei Ren heard this punishment, he collapsed on the ground. Everything else was fine. It was a bit torturous for him to be a miner. Mei Ren inherited the property from his ancestors, and he had no After suffering, it would cost him his life to go down the mine to mine.In addition, he is not allowed to leave Chang'an City for three years, what will happen to his business?But I was too ignorant today, offended these uncles, so I had to accept my fate.

When the people in the audience saw that the verdict was over, they all dispersed, but everyone had different mentalities, especially those businessmen, who were even more nervous, thinking that they would raise their prices as soon as possible after returning home. The price of the goods has been dropped quickly.

The yamen servants standing on the side had been idle for a long time. At this time, they all rushed up, dragged Mei Ren into the prison car and took him away. Wang Ke bid farewell to Zhang Ying and went home by herself. Zhang Ying rushed back to the yamen to write The case file is here.

(End of this chapter)