Northern Song Dynasty Justice

Chapter 444 Tax War (8)

Chapter 444 Tax War ([-])

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Zhang Fei definitely did not stay up all night last night. Looking at his energetic appearance, one could tell that he had slept until he woke up naturally, and he might have been lying on the bed for a while.

indeed!

Zhang Fei didn't stay up all night, and he was late on purpose.

The reason is that since the Kaifeng government accepted the case, it seemed to regard him as an enemy, and they didn't even ask when the court would be held. As far as their Kaifeng government and the procuratorate decided, this was actually very unsatisfactory for Zhao Wenzheng. To be fair, even if you are under pressure, the three parties have to sit together and discuss it.

This respect is mutual.

You don't respect me, so why should I respect you.

Zhang Fei, who has a small belly, naturally has to find a way to express his grievances, but he won't keep them all in his stomach.

Anyway, he knew the emperor would be here.

As for Xu Zhiqian's worry that this would anger Zeng Gong, Zhang Fei didn't care at all. Since you have already regarded me as an enemy subjectively, it's useless for me to please you. I might as well tease you.

Zeng Gong was indeed very upset, but in order to avoid making people feel bad, he could only discuss with Zhang Fei in a good manner, whether to choose another day for another trial.

But this is really not a rare thing for the guests sitting here.

Almost all the presiding judges who have fought against Zhang Fei in the court have suffered from this kind of loss.

Of course, this is all because of their subconscious thinking that officials are respected, and they always want to use official authority to suppress Zhang Fei.Secondly, they are all sensible, if it were Wang Honglai, they would just hit the board, I am expensive, you are cheap, who the f*ck is trying to reason with you.

After a little preparation, the trial officially started.

Su Zhe first summoned the defendant Wang Hongjin to the court, and first asked him whether he had falsely reported his property and whether he had evaded taxes.

Wang Hongjin confessed to this.

In the face of irrefutable evidence, this cannot be denied.

There was no trace of emotion in his tone, which showed that he knew he was a dying person.

Su Zhe asked again: "I don't know what method you use to evade taxes?"

Wang Hongjin said: "The main thing is to hide and not report."

"Hidden for more than a hundred hectares?"

Su Zhe said curiously: "It's not easy to hide such a large piece of land. And according to our investigation, all the grain in these fields is sent to the warehouse of Governor Zhao's house in Zongzheng Temple, and you And his father happens to be the old man of Governor Zhao’s house, obviously these lands also belong to Governor Zhao, so this is the reason why you can evade taxes?”

"I object!"

Zhang Fei stood up and said: "The other party is just guessing without reason, trying to induce the witness to say something unfavorable to my client."

Su Zhe immediately said: "I'm definitely not guessing for no reason, but I have never paid a penny of tax on these more than a hundred hectares of land. It is absolutely impossible for ordinary people to do this."

Zeng Gong nodded and said, "Go ahead and ask."

Zhang Fei sat down helplessly.

Xu Zhiqian whispered: "This Mr. Su Xiao has improved a lot compared to last time!"

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "He is indeed more difficult to deal with than his brother."

Su Shi is still somewhat romantic like a poet, smart but not rigorous, Su Shi was defeated by this last time, and this is a big shortcoming in court.

I don't know if he has improved now.

Wang Hongjin was silent for a while, nodded and said, "That's right, the reason why I was able to evade taxes was indeed due to my status as a master."

There was an uproar at the door.

This is a public trial, and the common people can come to watch the trial, especially since Zhang Fei is coming back to the Kaifeng Mansion, you must not miss it!

win win win!

There was a burst of excitement in the auditorium, and they secretly glanced at the emperor sitting aside.

This Zhao Xu's face is indeed a little uncomfortable.

Su Zhe said, "I have no problem for now."

Zhang Fei stood up, "Wang Hongjin, you just said that you evaded taxes by virtue of Governor Zhao's identity, so did Governor Zhao explicitly order you to evade taxes?"

Wang Hongjin shook his head and said, "No."

Zhang Fei said: "Then how did you use your identity as Governor Zhao to evade taxes?"

Wang Hongjin said: "Because everyone knows that these lands belong to Governor Zhao, if I use some means to hide those lands, those tax collectors and government officials will not investigate carefully."

Zhang Fei said: "In other words, tax evasion is your own behavior, and has nothing to do with Governor Zhao."

Wang Hongjin nodded and said, "Yes."

"I'm done asking."

Zhang Fei sat down.

Qi Ji snorted softly: "I knew he would abandon the car to save the commander, and let Wang Hong come in to take the blame."

"Such a huge tax, how can Wang Hongjin resist it?"

Su Zhe stood up and said that he would summon the defendant Zhao Wenzheng.

Soon, Zhao Wenzheng was sitting in the dock. The pale old man never thought that he would be where he is today, so he looked at Zhao Xu who was sitting on the upper left in embarrassment.

Zhao Xu gave him a comforting look, don't panic, I will save you.

This gave Zhao Wenzheng great encouragement.

The minister sitting nearby caught this detail, and the anger began to surge again.

Little did he know that Zhao Xu wanted this effect, otherwise he wouldn't have come today, and it would be embarrassing to sit here.

"Governor Zhao!"

Su Zhe bowed his hands first, and then asked: "Just now Wang Hongjin said that almost all the land and transactions under his name belong to Governor Zhao. I don't know if it is true."

Zhao Wenzheng nodded and said, "Yes, I arranged for him to help me manage the fields and business."

Su Zhe asked, "Why?"

Zhao Wenzheng said: "For convenience."

Su Zhe continued to ask, "How do you say that?"

Zhao Wenzheng said: "If it's all in my name, I have to come to me for everything. I don't have time to deal with those things. Many people I know do this."

Fu Bi, Sima Guang and the others seemed to be able to hear a sudden heartbeat.

Su Zhe glanced at the VIP table and thought, forget it, let's not make troubles.He didn't ask who the specific people were, but asked again: "But according to my investigation, there are still ten hectares of land under Governor Zhao's name."

Zhao Wenzheng nodded.

Su Zhe said: "But the ten hectares of land have not paid a penny of tax."

Zhao Wenzheng immediately said: "The ten hectares of land is tax-free land, and there is no need to pay taxes."

Su Zhe asked with a smile: "That is to say, Governor Zhao put all the tax-free land in his own name, and recorded all the tax-paying land in Wang Hongjin's name."

A person at the door snorted, "Is there a need to ask, I know all about it."

Many people also made sarcastic remarks.

Zhao Wenzheng's face was blue and red, and his expression was very exciting and rich.

Although Zhang Fei had explained it before, he had never experienced this kind of scene, and he felt very tormented. The dignified clan was sitting here being interrogated, and every question was very serious.

"quiet!"

Zeng Gong slapped the gavel.

The door fell silent immediately.

Zhao Wenzheng nodded and said, "Yes."

"why?"

"Didn't I say it just now? It's for convenience. In this way, the tax collectors will not come to me, and they can go to Wang Hongjin directly."

"I don't know if Governor Zhao knows that Wang Hongjin didn't pay a penny in taxes."

"now I know."

Zhao Wenzheng said: "But I didn't know it beforehand."

"Not at all?"

"do not know."

"Then Wang Hongjin made a false report to the tax department this time, does Governor Zhao know?"

"know."

Zhao Wenzheng nodded.

If you plead guilty, you will be fined some money.

Su Zhe said: "In other words, Governor Zhao instructed Wang Hongjin to do this?"

"No."

Zhao Wenzheng firmly denied, "It was Wang Hongjin who bewitched me."

Su Zhe immediately asked, "I don't know how Wang Hongjin deceived Governor Zhao."

Zhao Wenzheng said: "Wang Hongjin told me that the exemption tax is unreasonable. At the same time, many big landlords in Xiangfu County will not report the truth. I don't know the specific situation. He is handling such matters. I Just let him watch him do it."

Su Zhe said: "Governor Zhao is a clan!"

"I object!"

Zhang Fei stood up, and said righteously: "This case is only about Governor Zhao, not the clan, and Su Prosecutor's name may mislead others to think that Governor Zhao represents the entire clan. I'm afraid it has ulterior motives."

"Sorry! I shouldn't have asked that question."

Su Zhe took a deep breath. After all, the emperor was sitting here, and asked again: "Just now Governor Zhao said that he didn't know about Wang Hongjin's tax evasion beforehand. Didn't Governor Zhao never check the accounts?"

Zhao Wenzheng said: "I will check every two or three years. Usually it is my accountant who does the calculations. I have never heard of any problems with the accounts."

"no problem?"

Su Zhe said: "According to the evidence we have found so far, Wang Hongjinguang's total tax evasion reached [-] shi last year. With such a large amount of tax revenue, will there be no problem with the accounts?"

The audience at the door suddenly gasped.

The VIP table was even more exciting. For example, Wang Anshi, Zhao Bian and others shook their heads, evading taxes of more than 1000 shi a year. Can the country's finances be free of problems?

But there were also some people who sneered, as if to say, your clan is much more ruthless than us, why should your emperor blame us.

This is actually a big problem in feudal society. What is good at the top must be bad at the bottom. This emperor is not a good bird. You take the lead and we take the small one, which is reasonable.

A flash of anger flashed in Zhao Xu's eyes, but it was fleeting.

Zhao Wenzheng couldn't help but glanced at Zhao Xu, and then pretended to be calm, "Last year's accounts, the accounting office has not yet calculated it clearly, so it is not very clear."

Seeing this, Zhang Fei thought to himself, this old man really has no concentration, and it is still a pleasure to cooperate with Wang Xueshi and the others.

Su Zhe said with a smile: "Fortunately, it is not difficult to check, because there will be tax bills every year when paying taxes, but our procuratorate has investigated the accounts of your house, and there is no record of any tax bills."

Zhao Wenzheng said: "Actually, in the first two or three years, Wang Hongjin once handed over the tax bills, but they disappeared after that."

Su Zhe asked, "Why?"

Zhao Wenzheng said: "Because Wang Hongjin earns a lot of money for me every year, and it increases every year, so I can rest assured that he is not too strict with him, and the tax is not too much."

Su Zhe suddenly said to Zeng Gong: "Report to the prefect Zeng, according to our investigation, because ten years later, the account books in Xiangfu County were damaged by rats and insects, and there are many missing records. We have not found relevant records. And the account books in Governor Zhao’s house happened to be damaged, so there is no evidence to prove that in the first two or three years, Wang Hongjin had paid taxes and handed over tax bills to Governor Zhao.”

Zeng Gong nodded.

"I'm fine for now."

Su Zhe sat down.

Wen Yanbo couldn't help saying: "Governor Zhao didn't have the confidence to answer, and he was secretive. How can he win the lawsuit?"

As long as everyone is not out of their minds, it can be seen that Zhao Wenzheng must have ordered it, and Wang Hongjin is just a scapegoat.

Fu Bi said: "This tax evasion is still the easiest charge to plead. If he can't refute this, then the following charges will be even more difficult to refute."

At this moment, all eyes were on Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei stood up and said, "Governor Zhao, as far as I know, that Wang Hongjin is the son of the elder of your house."

Zhao Wenzheng nodded.

Zhang Fei said: "It's not a family relationship, so if you ask him to help you, it must be paid for you?"

Zhao Wenzheng nodded and said, "Yes."

Zhang Fei asked: "I don't know how much?"

Zhao Wenzheng said: "In the beginning, it was set at five guan a month, including board and lodging, but later he made a lot of money for me, so I added 25 guan for him every month, a total of [-] guan per month, and He is also given some rewards every year."

Zhang Fei said: "That's a lot!"

Zhao Wenzheng nodded and said, "Yes, Wang Hongjin is paid more than his father."

Zhang Fei nodded, turned his head to look at Xu Zhiqian, "Ding Er Ding San."

Xu Zhiqian immediately dug out two copies and handed them to Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei picked it up and said, "Report to the magistrate, here is the employment contract between Governor Zhao and Wang Hongjin, and the account expenditures for rewarding Wang Hongjin in the last three years, including the employment contracts between Governor Zhao and some servants, which is enough to prove that Governor Zhao Didn't lie."

"Submit it!"

But Zeng Gong's eyes flashed with doubt.

Huang Gui walked over immediately.

Zhang Fei handed it over and said with a smile: "Two copies, I also prepared one for Su's prosecution."

Huang Gui hehe said: "In the past, when you went to our Kaifeng mansion, you probably prepared only one copy. This time, the time is so fast, and you have prepared two copies. It's really not easy!"

Zhang Fei's expression froze, and he whispered: "Master Huang, is he interested in coming to my law firm? I will pay five times the salary."

Huang Gui glared at him immediately, picked up one and handed it to Zeng Gong, and asked someone to give the other to Su Zhe.

Qi Ji asked curiously, "What is there to say?"

Su Zhe flipped through the pages hastily, pondered for a while, and asked, "Do you think Wang Hongjin gets this little money every month?"

Qi Ji frowned when he heard this, and cursed secretly: "This kid is really cunning!"

There were also whispers in the VIP seats.

They didn't seem to understand that Zhang Fei was working so hard on salary when he was talking about paying taxes.

Zeng Gong looked at it, and then asked Zhang Fei: "What does this mean?"

Zhang Fei said: "The answer lies in Wang Hongjin."

Zeng Gong nodded and said, "Bring it to Wang Hongjin."

Wang Hongjin came to the hall again.

Zhang Fei said: "Wang Hongjin, you should have heard it just now, is Governor Zhao wrong?"

Wang Hongjin shook his head.

Zhang Fei said: "As far as I know, there are seven concubines in your family."

Wang Hongjin nodded.

Zhang Fei asked again: "You bought one of the concubines at the Furui Building in Xiangfu County for 620 guan. Ten guan, added together, you spent a total of more than [-] guan."

Wang Hongjin nodded and said, "Yes."

Zhang Fei asked again: "At the beginning of last year, you spent another [-] yuan to buy a small house in the west of Bianjing Outer City."

Wang Hongjin nodded and said, "Yes."

Zhang Fei said: "Do you have evidence to prove that you bought it yourself, not for Governor Zhao?"

Of course concubines don't need to ask, but this house needs to ask clearly.

Wang Hongjin said: "In order to hide it from the master, I asked a concubine in my family to buy it for me secretly. If I bought it for the master, I don't need to hide it, and my master has also bought a house in recent years, but he has never bought it for me. I was never told to do such a thing."

Zhang Fei nodded and said: "As far as I know, you still have a secret granary in Zhongmou County, and now there are still [-] shi of grain stored there."

Wang Hongjin nodded and said, "Yes."

Su Zhe frowned and said, "It seems that we have to strengthen the investigation methods of our procuratorate, and we can't completely rely on the tax department!"

Qi Ji also nodded.

It can be seen that they are completely ignorant of this matter, and the tax department has not provided the income of this secret granary.

But these are all facts. Wang Hongjin manages so much property, how can he not be greedy?

Zhang Fei asked again: "Do you have evidence to prove that this granary belongs to you, not Governor Zhao?"

Wang Hongjin said: "I think it is impossible to find any records about this granary in the master's account books."

Zhang Fei asked with a smile: "This is strange. If you add up all the rewards and rewards you have received over the years, there is not so much money, not to mention that your family's daily expenses are also quite a lot every year. I don't know if these are from Where did it come from?"

Wang Hongjin said: "I hide some accounts every year, including the taxes I have to pay every year. Because I later found out that the master didn't realize that we pay much more taxes every year than before, and we don't often ask about it. Therefore, I used my status as a master to hide the land, evade taxes, and then transfer the money to myself."

But no one in the VIP seat thought it was a misfortune, or took pleasure in other people's misfortune. Instead, they all scolded Zhang Fei for being too cunning, which could give him a chance.

Obviously they already understood Zhang Fei's intention.

Zhang Fei asked, "Aren't you afraid that Governor Zhao will suddenly want to check taxes? As far as I know, Governor Zhao is used to checking the accounts every two or three years."

Wang Hongjin said: "I have prepared fake tax bills. Even if the master wants to check, I can still show these fake tax bills to the master."

"I see."

Zhang Fei nodded, then looked at Xu Zhiqian and said, "Ding Si."

Xu Zhiqian handed another copy to Zhang Fei, and after Zhang Fei took it, "I have here the proof of Wang Hongjin's personal wealth, as well as the fake tax bills he prepared in the past two years."

Qi Ji snorted immediately: "Xiangfu County happens to destroy the tax bills every three years, and next year happens to be the third year, what a coincidence, you kept the fake tax bills for the past two years, I really don't know that you are doing this as a precautionary measure." Looking after Governor Zhao, you are still guarding against the government."

In fact, they all know that these big landlords evade taxes on weekdays, and they will keep fake tax bills in case they are needed. After all, this thing is illegal, and they are afraid of being investigated!

Although the people know in their hearts that many officials evade taxes, this is not a public act, it is illegal, and these people still use various means to conceal taxes.

After Zeng Gong looked at them one by one, he talked with Huang Gui in a low voice for a while, only to see that Huang Gui shook his head, then raised his head and asked Wang Hongjin, "Is this a fake tax bill?"

He is the dignified magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture, but he can't recognize the authenticity of this tax bill at all.

Wang Hongjin said: "I bought it from a tax collector named Xiong Ping."

Zeng Gong whispered to Li Kai: "Send someone to check right away?"

Li Kai nodded.

Zeng Gong looked at Zhang Fei again, motioning for him to continue.

Zhang Fei looked around and said with a smile: "Even though Governor Zhao trusts Wang Hongjin very much, after all, Wang Hongjin is only the son of the old housekeeper. Governor Zhao evaded taxes in his identity, and at the same time concealed the fact that he had not paid taxes to Governor Zhao, and then took the money as his own."

Su Zhe glanced at Zhang Fei and said with a smile, "This is just your conjecture and conjecture. Even if Wang Hongjin concealed his income from Governor Zhao, it doesn't mean that it includes the annual taxes that need to be paid."

Zhang Fei slightly shrugged and said, "But the procuratorate has no evidence to directly prove that Governor Zhao ordered Wang Hongjin not to pay taxes."

Qi Ji said: "But the land and the sale are all Governor Zhao's."

Zhang Fei laughed and said, "But it's in Wang Hongjin's name."

Qi Ji smiled coldly, let's wait and see.

Su Zhe suddenly said: "But we have enough evidence to prove that Governor Zhao ordered Wang Hong to go in and occupy the official land."

It was just a warm-up before, and the crime of tax evasion was added temporarily, and the embezzlement of official land and the sale of private salt were the most important.

Zhang Fei said with a smile: "I have learned about those evidences, but unfortunately, none of them can be used as evidence in court, you may have to find another way to prove it."

(End of this chapter)