C172 Pleadings
C172 Pleadings
Fang Yuanfu did not say much, but the meaning of his words were clear to all of the court officials. If you, Zhou Yayan, are looking for trouble this time and do not have enough evidence to support Chang Qianze, then you should quickly withdraw. The Emperor will not cause you any trouble. However, if you are still like the other dukes in the past and mess with Chang Qianze, then I won't let you off!
"The Old Official naturally has proof." Zhou Yi Yan slightly bowed, then said: "Old Official wants to consult with Prime Minister's son to commit murder. Yesterday, my grandson was beaten to death by the Prime Minister's son in public at the city gate. Then, my child went to the Prime Minister's Estate to plead with them, but was beaten out by the Prime Minister's son. "
After Zhou Yi Yan said this, he turned his head and looked at the officials, loudly saying: "Everyone, the Prime Minister has always proclaimed righteousness, and has always said that the country must be governed by the rule of law. But yesterday, this old man found out that he was trying to do something! To others, he would have asked for torture, but to his own son, he protected him. This old man believes that such a person can never be the Prime Minister! "
As Zhou Yi Yan said this, he turned around and knelt on the ground once more. He kowtowed to Fang Yuanfu who was on the Dragon Throne and said, "Please adjudicate, Your Majesty!"
"That's right, this subject feels that Chang Qianze is not suitable to be the Prime Minister!"
Zhou Yi Yan was still kneeling on the ground, and Li Yun walked out of the army in large strides.
Just yesterday, General Jiang Heng, who is in charge of duty at the north city gate, was beaten to death by a youth. Later on, we personally investigated and discovered that the person who beat up General Jiang Heng is the son of Prime Minister Chang Qianze, Chang Sheng! Your majesty, that Chang Sheng killed General is a capital offense, but when Chang Qianze found out, not only did he not report it, he even used his position to protect Chang Sheng. With his actions, he is definitely not fit to be the Prime Minister of our Daqi Dynasty! "
"That's right, Duke Zhou and General Li are right. How can such an unjust person become the Prime Minister of our Daqi Dynasty?!"
"That's right. May Your Majesty adjudicate on the matter of Duke Zhou and General Jiang Heng's death ?"
Soon after, Zhou Yi Yan and Li Yun stepped forward, and in the large hall, almost all the dukes, and martial generals stood forward to attack Chang Qianze together. Even the civil officials stood up for him.
"Sigh ?"
Fang Yuanfu looked at the crowd below him who were kneeling down and sighed in his heart. It seems like the reform of his relationship with Qian Ze's Daughter was still too early, too fierce!
Right now, the Daqi Dynasty had already decayed to the extreme, and the internal affairs were becoming more and more unstable. The generals of the border regions were acting with dignity, and the internal officials and princes colluded with each other, wantonly fished for money, and the rebel army rose from all over the place. However, the surrounding countries were becoming more and more powerful, and if they still did not carry out reforms, they would no longer be rich, and their Daqi Dynasty would either be destroyed by the surrounding countries or had their internal affairs crumble.
He couldn't watch his predecessors establish a dynasty that would be destroyed in his hands. At this time, he could only use fierce medicine and carry out a drastic reform, but even though the reform was being forcefully carried out by him, the officials under him all went against him for their own benefits, and their objections were much louder than he had imagined.
Fang Yuanfu squinted his eyes, looking at Zhou Yi Yan who was kneeling down below with dissatisfaction. Zhou Yi Yan's grandson was beaten to death, if he was beaten to death by someone else's son, perhaps he would not be able to return the favor, but to be beaten to death by Chang Qianze's son, that would be different.
Zhou Yi Yan and the other princes had long hated Chang Qianze to death because of their change in methods.
Amongst Chang Qianze's method of transformation, there was a phrase called Emperor Qing Miao's bestowal.
The majority of the empire's land was concentrated in the hands of the officials, the hereditary princes, and the big landlords. The land in the hands of the common citizens was either small or barren, and was not suitable for cultivation at all.
However, renting land was not the only thing to be said. The most important thing was that they couldn't afford the tools in the pit. If they couldn't afford to plant seedlings, then they could only borrow them!
Those rich people would not be so compassionate as to lend their land, tools, and seeds to the peasants. They could borrow them, but they would have to charge a high interest rate.
After the harvest was done, the farmers would pay the interest and the rest of the food would only be enough for their family to survive through the winter until the spring of the next year. Then, the next year, they would borrow more land, seeds, and tools.
The poor would have to work hard for a year, but they would only be able to maintain their livelihood in front of them. If they were to encounter a big harvest, maybe they could live better, but if they encountered a natural disaster, they would only have one end, selling themselves as slaves to repay the debt they had owed!
After Chang Qianze discovered this problem, he brought up the method of bestowing upon the young children by giving them the land, seeds and tools, and that the interest would be much lower than any large or rich families. More importantly, the officials could grant these farmers a period of one year, and after they reaped the harvest on the second day, they would then repay the loan for the first year.
With a year's time limit, the farmers could do many things with their own harvest. Gradually, their lives would improve, and they would be able to change the situation of Daqi Dynasty, which was a deformed society where the more people worked, the fewer the people who worked, and the more the people who didn't.
But at the same time, those rich families, especially those who had more land, and those dukes who were always giving out debts, their interests were greatly divided!
How could those dukes not hate him? Normally, they would attack Chang Qianze a lot, but he had always been firmly on Chang Qianze's side, which was why they did not let him step down. But today, the situation seemed to be wrong!
Chang Qianze's son had actually killed someone, and even killed a general in the army.
Fang Yuanfu did not need any deliberate action, his eyes that carried an inexhaustible majesty looked past Zhou Yitian and onto Chang Qianze's body, revealing a look of worry: "My beloved, do you have anything to say about what they have to say,?"
"In reply to Your Majesty, this subject does have something to say. Besides, this humble subject also has something to say, and this humble subject wishes to speak with Duke Zhou!"
Chang Qianze's expression was normal, his expression was indifferent, without a hint of panic from the impeachment of the officials: "Your Majesty, Duke Zhou said that my Child killed his grandson, and that is true. My son Chang Sheng killed Duke Zhou's grandson, but that is for a reason."
"Yesterday, my son, Chang Sheng, had just arrived at the capital, but right at the entrance of the capital, one of my woman's wife was teased by the grandson of Duke Zhou. Not only that, but the grandson of Duke Zhou was even planning to snatch the wife of my son, Chang Jia. My son also has the identity of a general. Although that was during the Mengshan City, as a general, he should have performed his duty in any city, and my son had sat down! "
With a face full of righteousness, Chang Qianze looked up to the emperor on top of the Dragon Throne, and said respectfully: "So that is why I say, Your Majesty, not only is my son innocent, he even deserves a reward!"
"Mm ?" Indeed! "
Hearing Chang Qianze's words, Fang Yuanfu heaved a sigh of relief, and seeing his expression, Zhou Yi Yan immediately became anxious!
"Your Majesty, don't listen to Chang Qianze's nonsense, it was simply not like that, it was his family's female servant who knocked down my family's people, my grandson Zhou Shiqiang argued with them, Chang Qianze did not stop, and directly beat my grandson to death. It was not like what Chang Qianze had said at all. Your Majesty, he did not have any evidence to prove that it was like what he had said! "
"Oh?"
Fang Yuanfu raised his head and looked at Chang Qianze: "Sir Chang Su, do you have any evidence to prove what you said?"
"This humble official has not." Chang Qianze shook his head, a lot of people must have seen Zhou Shiqiang stealing from them at the city gate yesterday, but the problem was, this matter involved a duke, and also involved the current Prime Minister. Not to mention the normal citizens, even the other big clans did not want to get involved, because no matter what they did, they would offend one family.
No one would be stupid enough to stick their heads out and be a witness in this sort of matter. Thus, both families had no witnesses!
"If Chang Bai has no witnesses, then what about Duke Zhou? Do you have any witnesses on your side to prove everything you said? " Fang Yuanfu asked Zhou Yi Yan once more, but to no avail.
"Oh, since there are no witnesses, then ?"
Fang Yuanfu was speaking, but suddenly, a person stood out from the crowd.
"Your Majesty, you're the current emperor. What you need to worry about is national affairs. Since neither side has enough evidence to prove your words right, we might as well let the other come to trial. How can such a small matter like Your Majesty trouble you?"
"Mn, Grand Preceptor Fei's words are reasonable."
Fang Yuanfu laughed and praised, looking down, at the old man dressed in the octopus Qilin court uniform, with a silver whip at his waist, a ray of light flashed past his eyes!
Grand Preceptor Fei was the most senior official in the imperial court! It would not even be an exaggeration to say that he was an elder of the three dynasties. When his grandfather was still in power, he was already an important official of the imperial court! Back then, people still called his real name Fei Dongyan. Back then, when his grandfather was still in power, the dynasty was in turmoil.
It was when Fei Dongyan was helping his grandfather stabilize the court, that he made a big contribution. Following the abdication of his grandfather and the ascension of his father, Fei Dongyan's status also increased, becoming an elder of both dynasties. Furthermore, his authority grew greater and greater. Gradually, his father realized that Fei Dongyan's authority was too great, but when he wanted to pay Dongyan, his father's cultivation went berserk and he died.