I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 455: Defendant Su Liang: How did I, a favorite of the emperor, get into trouble?
The last day of October, four o'clock in the morning.

Song Xiang left Bianjing City with his family.

He is quite popular.

The ministers from both governments offered to see him off, but he refused.

Song Xiang understood it in his heart.

This time he was sent away, it might be difficult for him to return to Bianjing City.

It is a sin to be less talented than others but to hold a prime minister position for a long time.

He did not hate his nephew Song Chen, Bao Zheng, or the censors who impeached him.

He only hated his limited abilities.

In this court full of shining ministers, even if you have tried your best, you are still far inferior to others.

The dismissal of Song Xiang from his position as prime minister also alerted some scholar-officials.

The current court.

People were no longer demoted for being idle or for seriously violating the laws of the Song Dynasty. Instead, when their talents were not worthy of the position, they could be replaced with a very small reason.

……

On the third day of November, the weather was very cold in the early morning.

Gaotou Street is located on the west side of the east corner tower of Xuande Gate, in an alley at the back door of Kaifeng Prefecture's Jiaozi Affairs Office.

A horse-drawn carriage drove quickly into the alley.

Subsequently.

A tall and thin middle-aged man walked out of the carriage.

He was wearing official uniform.

It was Tang Yi, the official in charge of Jiaozi Affairs in Kaifeng Prefecture.

He first looked around, and then said to the clerk beside him: "Today, any merchant who comes to see me, tell them that I am not here. If they ask what I am doing, tell them that I don't know. If they ask when I will be back, tell them that I may be back tomorrow. Do the same for the next few days. Do you understand?"

"I understand!" said the clerk beside him.

Just as Tang Yi was about to enter the door, a loud voice suddenly came from behind.

"Tang Jiandang, how long do you plan to hide from us?"

Tang Yi turned around and looked at the dozen or so businessmen in brocade robes who were walking quickly towards him. They were all well-known businessmen in Bianjing City, and he couldn't help but smile helplessly.

"Everyone, what do you want to talk to me about?" Tang Yi turned around and straightened his official uniform.

A middle-aged businessman with a very sturdy figure said unhappily, "Tang Jiandang, you are really a forgetful person! We have come to the Jiaozi Office more than ten times. We come here to exchange Jiaozi notes!"

Tang Yi thought about it.

"Everyone, haven't I already told you? In recent days, the business transactions in Bianjing City have been very prosperous. The Jiaozi notes in Bianjing City have been exchanged. Please wait a moment. If anyone wants to exchange Jiaozi notes for cash, I will be the first to exchange them for you. How do you think?"

"Tang Jiandang, you have said this to us at least ten times. Are we so easy to fool? You must give us a deadline today and promise to leave us at least 100,000 strings of Jiaozi notes, otherwise we will not leave!"

Hearing this, the smile on Tang Yi's face gradually disappeared.

"What? You can't do business without Jiaozi notes? I can't even produce a single Jiaozi note right now, and I can't promise when I can produce one for you. As for the 100,000 Guan amount, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until after the New Year!"

"What? After the New Year?"

"Two days ago, Cao Guojiu came here and asked for 36,000 strings of cash in Jiaozi notes. Why can he exchange them but we can't?" A businessman said angrily, clenching his fists.

Tang Yi explained: "The uncle of the emperor informed us in early September, earlier than you. It just so happened that he had the Jiaozi notes two days ago, so I exchanged them for him. It was reasonable and legal!"

"Reasonable and legal? I think you are afraid of the power of the uncle of the emperor. Besides, the uncle of the emperor is backed by Su Liang, a favorite of the government. We...we are going to Kaifeng Prefecture to sue all of you!"

When Tang Yi heard that the other party was going to sue him, he immediately became angry.

He glared at the businessman who threatened to sue him.

"Go ahead and sue! Falsely accusing an official of the imperial court is a serious crime!"

At this time, the wealthy businessman in the lead rolled his eyes and said, "Everyone, if we go and sue him, he will still shirk responsibility and make excuses, and we won't get any advantage. It's better to make a big fuss and let the whole Bianjing city know about it. Then it will be easier to handle, because we are in the right anyway! If Kaifeng Prefecture is partial, all of us merchants will stand up and resist!"

"Yes, we'll make this a big deal!"

Tang Yi took two steps back and said in panic, "Bai Zhengxiong, what...what are you going to do?"

The businessman in the lead, Bai Zhengxiong, shouted, "Beating officials is a crime, but beating corrupt officials is not. We are getting rid of harm for the people, and we have a point if we take it to the government. Let's all fight together!"

When Tang Yi heard this, he turned around and ran towards the back door of the yamen.

Unfortunately, it's too late.

His groom and the clerk beside him were pushed aside at once, and then a group of people surrounded him and started beating and kicking him.

These businessmen didn't hit people too hard, but they specifically hit them in the face.

Not long after.

The patrolling Kaifeng government servants came running over.

"Stop it all!"

The merchants were very obedient and stopped immediately when they saw the bailiffs arriving.

The leading businessman, Bai Zhengxiong, said, "Four officers, we did beat someone, and the person we beat was an official appointed by the court. We admit our guilt, but we want to sue Tang Yi, the official in charge of the Jiaozi Bureau of Kaifeng Prefecture, and... Cao Yi, the uncle of the Cao State, and Su Liang, the left censor of the Censorate. They colluded with each other and infringed on our interests. We hope that Master Bao can open the court to try the case!"

In order to make the matter more serious, Bai Zhengxiong brought Cao Yi and Su Liang along as well.

The four yamen runners knew that this was no trivial matter. Seeing that many people had gathered around and were talking about the matter, they immediately took everyone to the Kaifeng government office.

……

Half an hour later, inside the Jianyuan.

Su Liang was leaning against the window, basking in the winter sun comfortably, and he was in a very good mood.

He hasn't had much official business recently.

Basically, I would read the official newspaper in the morning, drink two pots of tea in the afternoon, and then go home after being dismissed from office.

at this time.

An official who was in charge of gathering information came over quickly.

"Su Sijian, something happened! More than ten merchants beat up Tang Yi, the official in charge of the Jiaozi Bureau in Kaifeng Prefecture, and then they were all taken to Kaifeng Prefecture!"

"Why did the merchants beat up Tang Dongliang (Tang Yi, courtesy name Dongliang)? Is there no money in Jiaoziwu? That's impossible!" Su Liang looked puzzled.

"I don't know for now. I'll go to Kaifeng Prefecture to find out!" The clerk shook his head and walked out quickly.

Jiaozi.

It was originally a monetary voucher invented by merchants in Sichuan and Shu regions in order to solve the problem of iron coins being difficult to carry.

The imperial court found it useful, so it established the Jiaozi Office in the first year of Tiansheng.

From then on, official Jiaozi replaced private Jiaozi.

At first, Jiaozi was mainly used in Sichuan and the northwest region. Later, after the reform of the whole Song Dynasty, commerce gradually prospered, and most prefectures in the Song Dynasty had Jiaozi offices. Jiaozi offices are similar to today's banks.

The imperial court issued Jiaozi and allowed merchants to circulate and use it.

Merchants could go to Jiaoziwu to exchange Jiaozi notes for cash, silk, gold and silver, etc., or they could take Jiaozi notes to Jiaoziwu to exchange for cash.

The Jiaozi business was a great test of the court's financial resources.

If merchants could not quickly exchange the Jiaozi notes for cash, the imperial court's credit would collapse, which would easily lead to merchants no longer believing in the Jiaozi notes and choosing to withdraw cash.

At present, there are only two quotas of Jiaozi, five strings of coins and ten strings of coins, of which ten strings of coins account for 80%.

Issued every two years.

For each issuance, the imperial court would prepare capital of no less than 30% of the Jiaozi amount, namely the reserve fund.

In case the Jiaozi ticket cannot be exchanged at any time.

Su Liang's first reaction was that the Jiaozi Bureau had no money. This was because the Bianjing City needed a lot of reserves, and perhaps the Jiaozi Bureau was unable to make ends meet.

But when he thought about it carefully, he realized that the three departments reported tax revenues last month and there were still a lot of surpluses.

Such low-level problems will never occur.

"Is there not enough Jiaozi?" Su Liang murmured.

Winter and twelfth lunar month have always been the two most prosperous months for commerce in Bianliang City, and there is a high possibility that there will not be enough Jiaozi.

Just when Su Liang was thinking.

A clerk from the Censorate came over with two runners from the Kaifeng government office.

The leading yamen runner bowed to Su Liang and said, "Su Sijian, someone in Kaifeng Prefecture is suing you today. Please come with us to the prefectural government office. This is the official document from the prefectural government office!"

"Sue me? Who?" Su Liang took the communication and was very confused.

"It was a group of merchants in Bianjing City. They had a conflict with Tang Yi, the official in charge of Jiaozi in Kaifeng Prefecture, and then sued you... You and the uncle of the emperor used your privileges to secretly manipulate Jiaozi."

"Me? Secretly controlling Jiaozi? How could I have the time to do that? Let's go and take a look!" Su Liang stood up and went to Kaifeng Prefecture with two yamen runners.

……

Less than half an hour later.

In the lobby of Kaifeng Prefecture Yamen, Bao Zheng sat at the top of the lobby.

Tang Yi, the official in charge of Jiaozi Affairs in Kaifeng Prefecture, and Cao Guojiu Cao Yi, who were both bruised and battered, stood aside with depressed looks on their faces.

More than a dozen businessmen stood on the other side, also with gloomy faces.

After Su Liang entered the hall, Bao Zheng immediately said, "Su Sijian, this is the reason why the twelve merchants in Kaifeng Prefecture sued you and Cao Guojiu. Please take a closer look and give me your reply later."

"Yes." Su Liang bowed slightly, took the case record handed over by the yamen runner, and read it carefully.

After a while, Su Liang understood everything.

Recently, the business in Bianjing City has been booming, and the Jiaozi Office in Kaifeng Prefecture has no more Jiaozi notes.

The supervisor Tang Yi was questioned by many businessmen about Jiaozi notes, so he had no choice but to hide.

Then, these merchants discovered that two days ago, Cao Yi, the uncle of Cao Guo, had taken away 36,000 strings of Jiaozi notes from the Jiaozi Office.

This incident caused dissatisfaction among the businessmen.

They believed that Cao Guojiu used his privilege to manipulate Jiaozi tickets. Although Su Liang did not participate in profit sharing from Cao Guojiu's business, the people of Bianjing City all knew that the two were partners, so they sued Su Liang as well.

Su Liang bowed and said, "Master Bao, I do have a good relationship with the uncle of the emperor, but we have never discussed the issue of Jiaozi. I have no contact with Tang Jiandang, and there is no secret manipulation of Jiaozi tickets. May I ask if the plaintiff has any evidence?"

Bao Zheng looked at the businessman in the lead, Bai Zhengxiong.

"Bai Zhengxiong, you don't believe what Tang Jiandang said, and you don't believe what Cao Guojiu said, but you can believe what Su Sijian said?"

Bai Zhengxiong lowered his head and did not answer.

Just then, a clerk came running in from outside and presented a document.

Bao Zheng opened the document, took a closer look, and said, "This document is the Jiaozi exchange book of the Jiaozi Office of Kaifeng Prefecture. It contains the names of you merchants and Uncle Cao's name. Uncle Cao's name is at the end of September and is marked with the word 'reserved'. Your name is at the end of October and is also marked with the word 'reserved'."

"At the same time, two days ago, three merchants did exchange Jiaozi notes for money, leaving behind 35,000 guan of Jiaozi notes. Together with the 1,000 guan left by the Jiaozi Office, the total is exactly 36,000 guan!"

"The evidence has proved that no one secretly manipulated the Jiaozi tickets. Do you have other evidence or witnesses? If you can't, you are falsely accusing the court officials and beating the court officials at the same time. You should be severely punished for both crimes!" Bao Zheng's tone became serious.

Bai Zhengxiong suddenly panicked.

"Bao...Bao Minggong, it's...it's our fault. We were wrong to beat Tang Jian. We...we suspected Su Sijian and the uncle of the emperor, but we didn't have any evidence or witnesses. We implicated them because we wanted the court to solve the problem of us having no Jiaozi tickets available."

"We can earn money through business and also help the court to increase taxes. Jiaozi notes are easy to carry and very useful. If we use copper coins or iron coins, it will not only waste manpower but also be easy to lose. The current business competition is very fierce. In the past two months, all merchants have kept their profits very low. If there is no Jiaozi note circulation, our business will be greatly affected. It is really difficult for us, so we want to make a big fuss and induce the court to solve the matter for us merchants..."

"One thing is one thing, and they cannot be confused!" Bao Zheng said with a glare.

At this time.

Su Liang thought for a moment, then bowed and said, "Master Bao, the shortage of Jiaozi tickets in Bianjing City has affected the business of merchants. This is actually the fault of the Reform Department. As a member of the Reform Department, I think their lawsuit against me is not a false accusation. I plead for them."

Then, Su Liang looked at Cao Yi, the uncle of the Cao State.

Cao Yi understood instantly and stood up immediately.

"Master Bao, this matter was caused by me taking the Jiaozi ticket. I am also responsible. I don't want to pursue their false accusations."

Su Liang and Cao Yi both stood up, and Tang Yi was naturally not stupid, so he quickly stood up as well.

"Master Bao, because there was no Jiaozi ticket, I avoided the merchants and lacked communication. This was my fault. When these merchants beat me, they were very measured and did not use any brutal force. They just wanted to make a big fuss about this matter and attract the attention of the court. Their original intention was not to hurt anyone but to save themselves. I am not willing to hold them accountable for the beating. Please give them a lenient sentence, Master Bao!"

More than a dozen businessmen were very excited when they heard the three defendants on the opposite side pleading for them.

At this moment, Bao Zheng, who never liked to smile, showed a faint smile.

"This case is not a big one, but it has caused some impact on the streets. Bai Zhengxiong, you are the leader of the rioters, you will be flogged 40 times and fined 5 guan; the others will be flogged 20 times and fined 2 guan."

The merchants bowed their hands.

Caning is not painful, but it requires taking off pants.

However, these businessmen are all very thick-skinned and don't care about losing face at all.

At this time, Su Liang looked at them and said, "Don't worry, leave the matter of Jiaozi to me. The Reform Department will solve this problem as soon as possible."

The merchants bowed again to express their gratitude.

Before the whole Song Dynasty's reform, the scholar-officials were like clouds in the sky, high above them.

But now, Su Liang's attitude towards dealing with problems made them feel very warm.

They also realized that their actions were too barbaric.

Tang Yi also looked ashamed.

When he faced the businessman's problems, he just thought about getting through them in two months and never thought about a solution.

He was looking forward to seeing how the Reform Department would solve this problem.

If not fundamentally resolved, this problem will become more and more serious as the Song Dynasty's trade continues to prosper.

(End of this chapter)