This article is from, "The Biography of Song Shi Zhang Qixian"
Zhang Qixian, the prime minister in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, paid attention to prison when he was a magistrate, and personally judged many suspected unjust cases. When he was serving as a transport envoy on Jiangnan West Road, whenever he went out to various places, he often saw the states escorting prisoners to the Beijing Division.
The prisoners were shackled and shackled, and the heat and cold days were even more tragic, and they died on the road, often five or six times. He had met nanjian, Jianchang, and Qianzhou's sending squad several times, and when he came to escort The Official Documents to take a look, he was almost not the first offender or a major offender. He immediately interrogated all of these and clarified many of those who had been wronged or should not be dismissed. In view of this, he went to the emperor and suggested that in the future, all localities should be sent to Beijing, and shrewd and capable officials should be appointed for interrogation, and if the situation was untrue, the original officials must be investigated for their guilt. After his proposal was implemented, the number of prisoners sent to Beijing by Jiangnan was reduced by more than half.
Zhang Qixian's judgment was both decisive and witty. During the time of Emperor Zhenzong, two brothers of the emperor's relatives and relatives of the state caused a dispute over the sharing of family property. Both said that the other had more and less of their own, which was too unfair. They sued the officials, and the property disputes of the noble families were not seriously investigated by the local officials, and they could not resolve their contradictions. They relied on nepotism and made trouble in front of the emperor, and the emperor also felt very embarrassed, and it was not good to favor either side. The emperor, who could manage the world's major affairs, mediated for more than ten days and did not work. Emperor Zhenzong told the chancellor of his troubles, and Zhang Qixian said, "This matter is really difficult to handle, and naturally yushitai and Kaifeng province cannot handle it." His Majesty will leave this matter to his courtiers, who will personally decide for them. ”
Zhang Qixian sat in the hall of the Xiang Mansion and called both parties to the lawsuit and asked, "Don't you think that the other party has more property and less property for themselves?" Both sides said, "Yes." Zhang Qixian said, "That's good. You will write down the reasons you have stated and sign them as proof. After the writing was established, Zhang Qixian said, "Now I will make you all rejoice." He first said to A, "If you say that his family has a lot of property, I will sentence you to move to his house, and his property will belong to you." Turning back to B, he said, "Didn't you say he had more property than you did?" I also satisfy you that you moved to his house, and his property is all yours. After saying this, he summoned two officials and asked them to supervise the move of the A family to the B family and the B family to the A family, but the people did not move the property. The two exchanged property deeds with each other. After the formalities were completed, Zhang Qixian smiled and asked them, "Should I be satisfied?"
Two brothers, you look at me, I look at you, crying and laughing, but the words are in the hands of the prime minister, neither dare to repent, nor dare to tell again, and I can't say what it is like in my heart.
The next day, Zhang Qixian explained his handling to Emperor Zhenzong, and Zhenzong smiled and leaned forward and backward, and it took half a day to catch his breath and say, "I know that no one but you can break this lawsuit!"
Ironically, Zhang Qixian himself has also had interesting incidents of ugly court due to property problems. Xue Juzheng in the early Song Dynasty, who served as a zaizhi minister for nearly twenty years, lived at home and was frugal and thrifty, and naturally accumulated a dazzling career. He had no sons, only an adopted son, Wei Ji.
Wei Ji also served as a local official for more than ten years, and died at the age of forty-two. Ji Ji was not good at governing the family, and after his death, the family was torn apart in order to compete for property. Wei Ji's wife, Chai Shi, had no children, and she wanted to take the Xue family's property, books, and other treasures and marry Zhang Qixian instead. However, Wei Ji's son Xue Anshang did not comply and filed a lawsuit. Zhenzong thought that both families were prime ministers, and their faces were important, and they did not want them to go to court.
Therefore, only the doorman Zhang Zhenglun was ordered to go to the two houses to inquire and solve. However, the situation that Chai Shi talked about was very different from the situation that Xue An had talked about, and there was no way, so in the end it was transferred to Yu Shitai for trial. As a result, it was found that behind the Chai clan, Zhang Qixian's son, the crown prince Zhongshe Zhang Zongjie, was advising her. As a result, Zong Zhi degraded the official Haizhou and Zhang Qixian also lost his position and was demoted to Tai Changqing. This famous minister, the dream of wind and fortune, did not come to fruition, but instead ended in a ridiculous ending of chicken flying eggs. However, Zhang Qixian Bijing was a capable minister, the emperor could not leave him, and soon he was reinstated as an official, although flawed, it was still a generation of famous ministers.