The next day was a ten-day holiday. Before noon, Yang Fan invited Imperial Officer Sun Yuxuan and Minister Officer Yan Xiaojun to a banquet at the "Golden Hairpin Drunken Banquet".
Coincidentally, there was another group of officials at the banquet. When they saw Yang Fan at the banquet, they first exchanged pleasantries. After a while, they all entered their private room to toast Yang Fan and celebrate his promotion.
The people who came to congratulate him were the Minister of Honor Song Zhi Xun and the Minister of Imperial Servants Li Jun, who were two of the "Sansi Five Dogs". Yang Fan was closer to Wu Sansi, so it was understandable that they came to toast him. However, the other officials were not Wu Sansi's people.
For example, Assistant Minister of the Secretariat Su Yu Heng, a lower fourth-rank official with an important position. He was the most famous person in the court. Even the two heroes of the Wu Clan, Wu Cheng Si and Wu Sansi, were superior to him. He was the trusted aide of Prime Minister Li Zhao De.
For example, Junior Supervisor Jin Wucai, who was Prime Minister Su Wei's disciple. In addition, there was Minister Meng Yan, Secretary Li Gui Nu, Secretary Li Zhan Peng, Luo Yang Lieutenant Tang Zong …
Sun Yuxuan and Yan Xiaojun's eyes widened. It turned out that Yang Fan's connections were not limited to the generals in the military. He had so many friends in the court.
The generals in the military, even if they were great generals with a large number of troops, did not interfere with them. They did not care. They kept a respectful distance from the Wu Clan's descendants and members of the royal family. Even if those members of the royal family had official positions, they were mostly generals and had no place in the court.
When Wu Cheng Si became prime minister, it was a great opportunity for the Wu Clan to occupy the political arena. Unfortunately, he was too hasty and returned in defeat under the counterattack of the pro-li faction prime ministers.
Wu Zetian let the Wu Clan's descendants and nephews hold military positions because she understood the importance of military power to her stability. She did not allow them to enter the political arena because balance was the instinctive reaction of every ruler.
Therefore, Yang Fan's three backers could ensure that he would not be bullied too much in the Ministry of Justice, but they could not attract enough attention from the officials of the Ministry of Justice. However, these officials who appeared at this moment were inseparable from them. Some of these people were on the same level as them, and some were even one or two levels higher than them. They all saw the respect and affection these people had for Yang Fan.
When they realized that Yang Fan's connections in the political arena were even more extensive than theirs, their arrogance was swept away. They thought that they had given Yang Fan enough face by showing their faces.
Yang Fan politely returned the toast to the people who came. He knew that these people were arranged by Princess Taiping to be his sedan bearers. Princess Taiping had only been involved in politics for less than two years, but she already had the loyalty of so many people. Yang Fan could not help but be secretly surprised.
Of course, he knew that this was not all of Princess Taiping's power. This cunning woman definitely had more power that had not surfaced yet.
When Yang Fan first saw Guanlu Minister Song Zhixun and Imperial Servant Minister Li Junshi, he was slightly surprised. Weren't these two Wu Sansi's people? Was he bribed by Princess Taiping? When he saw Li Gui Nv and Li Zhan Peng, he faintly understood.
Having known Wan'er for so long, of course he knew that Wan'er had some people by her side. For example, the secretary, Li Gui Nu, and the scholar, Li Zhan Peng, had always been close to Wan'er. They should be Wan'er's people.
Judging from this, Princess Taiping had deliberately used some tricks to let her people invite other officials to come with her, in order to confuse the public. She was afraid that her real strength would be exposed.
After all, Wu Zetian was also paying close attention to Yang Fan. Who knew if the Empress would suddenly send someone to check who Yang Fan was drinking with? Wu Zetian was firmly against her daughter interfering in politics. Once she found out, the consequences would be dire.
Even if they belonged to different groups, as long as the two groups were not at each other's throats, it was common for colleagues to invite each other to a banquet. Naturally, they could easily invite other officials. And they were very respectful to Yang Fan, so the people they invited had to give them some face.
In this way, even if someone paid attention to it, they would only see Wu Sansi, the bright light bulb that shone as high as 300 degrees. Thus, the forces that belonged to Princess Taiping and Shangguan Wan 'er would also be marked by him. Taiping's meticulous mind and cautious character could be seen from this.
Su Yuheng, Jin Wucai, and the others entered the private room. They didn't say anything, nor did they do anything. They just walked in when Yang Fan, Sun Yuxuan, and Yan Xiaojun were chatting with each other. They very cordially and courteously toasted Yang Fan, said a few words of congratulations, and then nodded to Sun Yuxuan and Yan Xiaojun in a cultured and refined manner before turning around and leaving. The way Sun Yuxuan and Yan Xiaojun looked at Yang Fan was very different.
This was the effect Yang Fan wanted.
If you relied on others for everything, even if you had a powerful backer, others would only respect you, fear you, and give you some face because of the person behind you, but they would never cooperate with you on equal terms.
What Yang Fan wanted was an opportunity, an opportunity for Sun Yuxuan and Yan Xiaojun, these two professional fence-sitters, to take him seriously. If he wanted to open up his own world in the Ministry of Justice, he could only rely on his own fists and kicks to open up the situation. External forces were just a kind of push.
At this moment, the most excited person was Feng Xihui. He knew that this was Yang Fan's first real step into the Ministry of Justice, and the connections and power Yang Fan had demonstrated were somewhat beyond his estimation. He believed that if Yang Fan could really take charge of the Ministry of Justice, he would certainly be promoted to a higher level.
He was looking forward to the moment when he would amaze the world with a single brilliant feat after not making a sound for three years!
… …
When he walked out of the "Intoxicated Golden Hairpin", Yang Fan was very tired. This kind of tiredness was mental. When he first entered the Imperial Court, he was in the army. In the army, things were relatively simpler. Whatever he said, whatever he did, he was straightforward. He was rarely like the civil officials, who liked to carefully probe, beat around the bush, and confess in a roundabout way.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. He could only use the same method to communicate with Sun Yuxuan and Yan Xiaojun. If he used too straightforward methods, the two would think he was a hothead without subtlety and leave in fright.
Even though he was a bit tired, when Yang Fan walked out of the "Intoxicated Golden Hairpin", he was very satisfied. Today's banquet had completely achieved its goal. It was impossible to make Doctor Sun and Doctor Yan bow their heads to him just by showing such a hand. Not to mention that Chen Dong had more power than him, there was also the ambiguous Assistant Minister Cui above him.
He only needed Sun Yuxuan and Yan Xiaojun to maintain their neutrality under normal circumstances and express a bit of support at the crucial moment. He was the Doctor of the Ministry of Justice. If he wanted to establish his authority in the Ministry of Justice, the most effective method was to challenge Chen Dong's authority. This was also the only method.
… …
Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, more than ten days had passed.
Early this morning, in Assistant Minister Cui's meeting room, the four secretaries sat upright. Cui Yuanzong sat at the head, and the head of the Ministry of Justice, Feng Xihui, sat at the very bottom, weakly reading from the records on the table.
This was the rule of the Ministry of Justice. Every ten days, the Ministry of Justice would take out all the cases of death penalty and above and have the main hall of the Ministry of Justice gather with the chief officials of the various departments to discuss. If any official felt that a case had been handled improperly, they could bring it up for everyone to discuss. If the main hall of the Ministry of Justice or more than half of the judicial officials raised objections, the case would be retried.
This was a summary of the routine work of the past ten days. In reality, the chief officials of each department were responsible for their own work and rarely would they criticize the work of others. If someone wanted to ask for a favor outside the law, they would have already communicated with the official in charge of the case in private. Who would make things difficult during an official meeting?
Because of this, this was a meaningless summary meeting. Ever since Yang Fan came to the Ministry of Justice, he had participated in this kind of meeting twice. Every time, it was Xu Shu who entered the Cao camp without saying a word. However, it was the same for other people. Usually, a chief would read the case, and the chief officials of each department would not shake their heads or nod as if they were not awake.
As the main hall of the Ministry of Justice, Cui Yuanzong would sometimes ask a few questions. The doctors would say, "This official has no objections." Cui Yuanzong would then ask someone to read the next case. Even the other chief officials of the Ministry of Justice were too lazy to participate in this kind of meaningless thing. Naturally, this task was given to Feng Xihui, who had the least authority.
This was the third ten days' meeting that Yang Fan had participated in. He decided to make things difficult for Chen Dong today. The day before yesterday, through Feng Xihui, he had carefully understood all the death penalty cases that had been handled in the past ten days. The breakthrough he chose was the case of the North Market Magistrate, Ying Tu, who had beaten the commoner Qin Xiaobai.
Ying Tu was the North Market Magistrate, one of the three cities in Luoyang. Don't underestimate this eighth-rank official. The management of the market was very lucrative. It was impossible to get such a lucrative job without background. Yang Fan had already investigated. Ying Tu's backer was a vice minister of the Ministry of Appointments.
When Qin Xiaobai was shopping in North City, he got into an argument with a shop assistant. That shop had a close relationship with Ying Tu. As the magistrate, Ying Tu came out to maintain order. Qin Xiaobai was not a kind person. He actually cursed out loud. Ying Tu was furious and ordered people to take him down. After a beating, he was beaten to death on the spot.
It involved human life. This was a case above the death penalty. However, Doctor Chen of the Ministry of Justice's decision was "acquitted." The reason was that Ying Tu, as the magistrate, had the responsibility of maintaining order in the market. Qin Xiaobai resisted the magistrate and disturbed the peace. Ying Tu used the cane to punish Qin Xiaobai. Qin Xiaobai's body was weak. The strength of the cane used was different, which was why he died.
Therefore, even though Ying Tu was suspected of using improper punishment, he did not kill intentionally or negligently. Because he was performing official duties, he was not punished. The main reason why the pardon was passed smoothly was that the victim's family did not pursue the matter. In this aspect, Yang Fan had already secretly investigated. He knew that the deceased Qin Xiaobai's wife had received a large amount of money from the other party. Therefore, they had made a "private settlement."
According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, making a private settlement was also a crime. If he could turn Qin Xiaobai's case around, he could also touch the vice minister of the Ministry of Appointments. In this battle, he was not only challenging Chen Quan's authority, but it also involved the officials of the Ministry of Appointments. As long as he succeeded in this battle, he could bring down Chen Dong and establish his authority in the Ministry of Justice.
The Ministry of Justice was in charge of criminal law. If he wanted to establish his authority here, of course he had to work on the law. Just like how establishing authority in the army was nothing more than military achievements.
Yang Fan was ready to make trouble!
…
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