"Changgong, you have been too deeply involved with those Caoyun officials this time, and your disciple has been involved in the anti-land reform case again, even if it is me, I can't hold it back for long. In my opinion, it is better to retreat as advance, and this time with me to return to the old man, then the other side will naturally raise a hand and let you go from this case, is this also an old practice of officialdom. ”

Huang Liji blew the steaming tea cup in his hand, and said while taking advantage of the gap in ventilation, Zhang Ruitu, who was diagonally opposite him, looked at the sunlight on the bricks outside the door without saying a word, and only after a long time did he exhale a long breath, straighten his neck and said: "If you want to add to the crime, there is no excuse." Is it possible for him Cui Chengxiu to really be able to cover the sky with one hand? Your Majesty will really connive at such villains to bring trouble to the gentry? ”

Huang Liji gently took a sip of the hot tea, which was comfortable from his throat to his stomach, and then said lazily: "Your Majesty has been on the throne for more than five years, don't you know what he wants, Eldest Prince?"

In fact, there are only two things that Your Majesty is thinking about now, eliminating the troubles of Mongolia and Jurchen outside, and eliminating the worries of the people at the bottom of the world. Forget about other things, if you do anything in these two things, even the clan vassal king is not in the eyes of Your Majesty, let alone us foreign ministers.

The news from Luoyang, you must have heard it. Does the eldest prince really think that things will change after His Majesty returns to Beijing? I think it's even worse to force His Majesty to take action personally. ”

Zhang Ruitu's eyes suddenly shrank, and he was silent for a long time before asking, "So how is the canal case resolved?" What about my disciples? ”

Huang Liji put down the teacup and said: "The gentry who have nothing to do with the DPRK and China threw out a few and exiled overseas to explore desert islands. Let those merchants prepare a sum of money to appease those laborers, and the canal case will be over, leaving some dignity for everyone.

As for your disciples involved in the land reform case, as long as you are willing to confess your guilt and take out land to support land reform, I will go to Cui Chengxiu for you and punish them with a sum of money. As long as you are no longer confused in the future, you will not be able to hinder your future. If you continue to resist to the end, it will be difficult to say. ”

The corners of Zhang Ruitu's eyes jumped and said: "It's okay to take out the land, Cui Chengxiu doesn't have a penny, and he still wants to punish others with money, is this unreasonable?" ”

Huang Liji looked at no one on the left and right, and then lowered his voice and said, "This is not what Cui Chengxiu meant, but what Your Majesty meant." His Majesty's exact words are: If someone wants to make the people see no hope, then he must make them see no tomorrow. A fine of money, a trivial matter. If you really want Your Majesty to remember the name of whom, that's the big thing. ”

Zhang Ruitu was speechless, knowing that this time he had to retreat. Of course, he also knew a little in his heart that Huang Li wanted him to return to his hometown, and he also wanted to pave the way for Qian Qianyi. Originally, he still wanted to fight, after all, there were not a few Jiangnan gentry who supported him, and Qian Qianyi's new Donglin Party was only supported by a small number of Jiangnan gentry bureaucrats.

As for the Scientific Progressive Party, which was supported by most of the gentry in the north, the party leader Xu Guangqi was not energetic, and even the secretary of the ministry was dismissed. Although there are Li Tianjing, Wen Tiren, and Zhou Yanru in the party, Li Tianjing's qualifications are too shallow, and although Wen Tiren has taken over the position of the secretary of the ministry, he is unwilling to support Zhou Yanru to compete for the position of first assistant.

Zhang Ruitu originally thought that he still had hope, but who knew that at this time, Huang Liji would use these two cases to persuade him to quit. After thinking about it, Zhang Ruitu finally nodded and agreed to Huang Liji, unwilling to let himself fall into a more troublesome situation.

The emperor's words to the barricade clan in Luoyang City not only reached the ears of Huang Liji, the cabinet rulers, but even ordinary officials and ordinary people saw most of the content from those tabloids printed by the people.

In the eyes of ministers such as Huang Liji and Zhang Ruitu, these words undoubtedly represent the emperor's statement on some current political events. But in the eyes of the majority of ordinary officials and ordinary people, it is just some after-dinner conversation, and they do not think deeply about it.

However, for a bureaucratic elite like Yuan Keli, the emperor's words can undoubtedly see a lot of things. However, just when he was quietly thinking at home, what was the intention behind the emperor's words to the clan, he heard that his son came to report, and Hui Shiyang, the secretary of the criminal department, came to visit.

After Yuan Keli resigned from his post as secretary of the Criminal Department, he devoted his energies to the examination and approval of the provisions of the law and the education of the University of Justice. Therefore, he did not care about it and ordered his son to bring Hui Shiyang to his study to meet.

As Yuan Keli expected, Hui Shiyang came for a case, and after he met Yuan Keli, he couldn't wait to say: "Yuan Lao Shangshu is fine, Xia Guan came to the door this time to go to the Three Treasures Hall without anything, and he came to ask Lao Shangshu for help." ”

Seeing Hui Shiyang's urgent appearance, Yuan Keli was also a little surprised, he sat up straight and said, "If Hui Shangshu has anything to discuss with the old man, you might as well say it directly." ”

Hui Shiyang was also not polite, so he said directly: "In fact, it is a small case, but now it involves the palace, and the lower officials can't grasp it for a while, so they come to ask Lao Shangshu for an idea."

There is a small landlord in Baoding, the Ma family, there are two sons in the family, the eldest son takes his wife Jia, is the daughter of a villager in a neighboring village, and spent a dowry of 56 taels. But less than three days after the two got married, the eldest son fell ill and died.

Jia wanted to return home, but Aunt Weng disagreed, and instead wanted her to marry her second son. Jia Shi was unwilling, so she fled from the Ma family that night, and she did not return to her mother's house, but followed the villagers to the capital, and finally entered the textile factory.

Jia met the man Zhao Damu in the textile factory, and the two unconsciously fell in love, and when the two of them were about to talk about marriage, the Ma family followed a letter to find the capital.

After Zhao Damu understood the cause and effect, he expressed his willingness to return the dowry of fifty-six taels, and the Jia family and the Ma family had no relationship from then on. But the Ma family father and son did not agree, they blocked the factory gate as long as they brought people back, whether they were alive or dead.

Zhao Damu and his co-workers were angry for a while and beat the Ma family father and son, and the Ma family father and son sent a piece of pleadings to the district court, accusing Zhao Damu of seducing his daughter-in-law. The district court sentenced Zhao Damu to exile overseas and not to return to the Central Plains for ten years.

However, Zhao Damu's uncle was the manager of the Internal Affairs Office, so he naturally refused to allow his nephew to suffer this loss, so he appealed to the Criminal Department, believing that before the Ma family's father and son came to the door, the nephew did not know Jia's background. Moreover, the Ma family's father and son forced the Jia family to remarry the uncle, which violated human ethics and demanded that the district court's judgment be revoked.

After the case spread, although some officials in the ministry sympathized with Jia, they still believed that the original verdict should be upheld, after all, the Ma family's request for Jia's remarriage to his uncle was only verbal, and it was not implemented.

But after the palace heard about the case, he sent someone to send a letter to the lower officials, asking the criminal department to protect the rights of the woman and not let Jia enter the tiger's wolf den again. If the verdict of the Criminal Department causes a human tragedy, the Criminal Department shall be responsible for it.

Because of the statement in the palace, the officials of the headquarters can't judge it again, and now the father and son of the Ma family are shouting grievances in the criminal department all day long, which is really embarrassing to the officials of the department, I don't know if Lao Shangshu can give a pointer? ”

After hearing this, Yuan Keli's heart moved, and he asked out loud: "What is the letter from the palace?" ”

Hui Shiyang immediately replied: "It's Yuan and Tian, the two concubines, and they are now the presiding officers of the Beijing Women's and Children's Association. ”

Yuan Keli narrowed his eyes and continued to ask, "Then what is Zhouhou's opinion?" ”

Hui Shiyang sighed and said, "After a week, he didn't say anything, and it was not easy for the lower officials to ask." However, the attitude of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is very clear, Jia Shi and Zhao Damu both want to be protected. Otherwise, other people will also learn from the Ma family father and son to come to the factory to make trouble, can this factory still be opened?

But now the Qingliu in the capital is supporting the Ma family father and son, they think that this matter is still the Jia family's disobedience to women's morals first, although the Ma family father and son are not, but after all, they still have a name, and the Ma family should be allowed to take the Jia family home. ”

Yuan Keli finally understood Hui Shiyang's dilemma, he briefly sorted out what had happened recently, and then said: "It seems that someone is unwilling to be lonely and wants to use this weathering case to fight back against the canal and land reform cases handled by the imperial court before."

If the Criminal Department is on the side of the Ma family, even if they earn back a little face in front of His Majesty, the code of ethics is always the most important thing for the country. But in that case, I'm afraid that the Criminal Department will become a thorn in His Majesty's side. We can't afford another purge from Your Majesty now, otherwise the efforts of the past two years will be in vain. ”

Hui Shiyang frowned and replied: "But if you protect the Jia family and Zhao Damu, I'm afraid that the Criminal Department will become a person who tends to be inflammatory, and they can't deal with Your Majesty, but there are still some means to make trouble for us." ”

Yuan Keli thought for a long time before he asked Hui Shiyang, "Do you think there are any other means that can restrain His Majesty now?" ”

Hui Shiyang shook his head and said: "Your Majesty is not afraid of the mandate of heaven, the words of the saints, and the records of history. ”

Yuan Keli shook his head and said: "I think Your Majesty is still afraid, he always keeps not violating the law, and would rather abolish the unacceptable law than ignore it."

In the future, if there is anything we can rely on to dissuade His Majesty, it will probably be left with these legal provisions. So, first of all, we can't trample on these legal provisions ourselves.

This case is not about whose side we are on, but about what legal provisions should be chosen to judge.

The Civil Code signed by His Majesty has been implemented, but the district court is still using the old Da Ming Law to adjudicate, is this really appropriate?

The Criminal Department should be held accountable why the district court applied the wrong legal provisions to try the case. According to the provisions of the Marriage Law in the Civil Code, only marriages registered with the local county government, or de facto marriages for more than one year, can be protected as legal marriages.

Since this Jia and her husband have been married for less than three days, and they haven't registered yet, then the two parties are not officially married. The Jia family has nothing to do with the Ma family, and the dowry is returned, and from then on, the marriage of men and women has nothing to do with it. ”

Hui Shiyang lowered his head and thought about it, and immediately nodded and praised: "It's still the old Shangshu who has a high opinion, so that there will be no excuse for both sides, and the prestige of this civil code has also been erected..."