Originally, Zhao Xu planned to rudely expand the police force, but after Wang Anshi's move, the situation became more complicated, and many positions had to be transferred to the police station first.
This kind of thing can only be done by Zhang Fei.
But Zhang Fei has no power.
If it is handed over to Cao Dongdong, it goes without saying that Cao Dongdong will not let Zhang Fei go.
He would definitely run to Zhang Fei for help.
To put it bluntly, Cao Dongdong is just a shield. He takes the responsibilities if anything happens, but the one who really makes the plans is definitely Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei liked this kind of cooperation very much and got off the carriage humming a little tune.
"Saburo is back!"
Gao Wenyin still stood at the door to greet Zhang Fei as usual.
"Um."
Zhang Fei nodded, and seeing that there was no donkey cart parked in front of the door, he asked, "Have you moved all the things in the house?"
Gao Wenyin said hurriedly, "Almost everything has been moved over. There are only a few daily necessities left. We'll take them over when we get there."
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Why not just buy a new one?"
Gao Wenyin immediately shook her head like a rattle, "They are all good, why should I buy new ones?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Listen to my wife."
"Madam, my third brother bought you some flower seeds today."
Li Si, who took the flower seeds from the carriage, trotted forward with sweat on his forehead and spoke to Gao Wenyin with a little excitement.
In fact, compared to Xu Zhiqian, Li Si and Xiaotao both agree with Gao Wenyin more. After all, Gao Wenyin is the one who heads the household, so if there is any good news, they will share it with Gao Wenyin first.
"Flower seeds?"
Gao Wenyin frowned slightly and said, "I have already cultivated some flower seeds, so there is no need to spend more money. I spent a lot of money on buying the house before, so I have to save some money."
Zhang Fei put his arm around Gao Wenyin's waist and said with a smile, "Madam, you have to think about it this way. We have already spent so much money to buy a garden. If we only plant some ordinary flowers, then it would be a loss."
Gao Wenyin thought for a moment and said with a helpless smile, "I can never win over you." She glanced at the flower seeds Li Si was carrying and asked softly, "What flower seeds did Sanlang buy?"
Before Zhang Fei could speak, Li Si said hastily, "They are all rare flowers, peonies, roses, roses..."
Gao Wenyin's eyes flashed with joy, but she was a little embarrassed and said, "That must have cost a lot of money, right?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Think more about the price of that garden."
Gao Wenyin pursed her lips and smiled, her heart slowly filled with gratitude. She knew that Zhang Fei wanted to buy a garden house just for her, because Xu Zhiqian was not interested in these things. "Sanlang treats me so well..."
Seeing her coming again, Zhang Fei immediately said, "But it's not even a fraction of how you treat me."
Gao Wenyin's service to him was truly meticulous.
While chatting, they came into the courtyard and saw Xu Zun and Xu Zhiqian sitting in the hall reading newspapers.
Zhang Fei said: "Father-in-law and Zhiqian are both at home!"
Gao Wenyin said hurriedly: "I saw that they were very engrossed in reading the newspaper, so I didn't disturb them."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Actually, there is no need for Madam to go out to greet you."
Gao Wenyin avoided answering this question and said, "I'll take the flower seeds to the backyard first."
In fact, this was not the first time Zhang Fei had said this, especially in winter, but Gao Wenyin felt that something was wrong if she didn't go out to greet him.
Zhang Fei could only smile helplessly at this.
Gao Wenyin took the precious flower seeds and walked to the backyard. Seeing Li Si's rough hands and feet, she was really worried that he would crush the precious seeds.
Zhang Fei went to the hall.
The father and daughter were watching with great concentration and did not notice Zhang Fei entering the hall. It was only after Zhang Fei bowed to Xu Zun that the father and daughter reacted.
Xu Zhiqian quickly stood up and poured Zhang Fei a cup of tea.
Zhang Fei saw several newspapers on the table, "So many newspapers?"
Xu Zun shook his head and said with emotion: "They are all discussing the conscription law."
With the opening of movable type workshops, newspapers quickly became popular and had become the mainstream media in Bianliang. Even scholars and officials expressed their comments through newspapers.
Wang Anshi thought of secretly publishing articles to support his new law, while the other party also thought of using newspapers to oppose the new law.
Zhang Fei asked: "Is it good or bad?"
Xu Zun sighed, "It's half and half, just like the court, there are endless quarrels all day long."
This conscription law was like a knife, splitting everything in half, from the imperial court to the common people.
You have to know that the owners behind many newspapers and periodicals are ministers in the court, who are naturally divided into conservatives and reformists, and both sides have a lot of fun arguing.
Xu Zhiqian said: "In fact, if Wang Xueshi can exempt the lower-class households from the exemption tax, he will definitely gain more support."
Xu Zun also nodded slightly.
They were all supporters of Wang Anshi, but they did not fully agree with the conscription law.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "This hasn't become a regulation yet, there's no need to make a conclusion so early."
Xu Zun asked: "What do you mean?"
Zhang Fei said: "Although Wang Xueshi didn't explain it to me, it's just like doing business. There will definitely be a bargaining process. In this situation, it's 50-50. If Wang Xueshi takes a small step back, the public opinion will immediately change."
Xu Zhiqian asked: "How small is this small step?"
Zhang Fei was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. "How would I know? But it certainly won't be that big. It must include many people who were exempted from military service before. Otherwise, there would be no need for Master Wang to do this."
Xu Zun nodded slightly, then looked at Zhang Fei and said, "This is similar to the trick you used before."
Zhang Fei just smiled and said nothing.
He had no room for excuses. Wang Anshi learned from him. In terms of propaganda, Wang Anshi's arrogance had been completely shattered by Zhang Fei. He had carefully studied Zhang Fei's tactics.
The previous article only emphasized the concept, that is, to distribute taxes and labor equally. We cannot always pick on one class and take advantage of it. We must all share the burden together, and then everyone will have less pressure.
However, the specific content was not specified, only the official households and female households were mentioned roughly, and even if the exemption tax was to be levied, it would definitely be halved.
As expected, when Wang Anshi saw that the argument was almost over, he ran to Zhang Fei and asked Zhang Fei to publish more specific regulations in the newspaper.
Two of the most controversial regulations were also explained in more detail.
First, 20 percent of the surplus money.
Wang Anshi said that the tax would only be levied in years of good harvest and not in years of poor harvest.
Second, does everyone have to share the cost
Not really.
He only made some adjustments based on the previous corvée law. Rural households were still divided into five classes, and the fifth class was still exempt from the corvée tax.
Households in the city were divided into ten levels, and those after the sixth level were exempt from the military service tax.
Official households, female households, single-person households, Taoist priests, and monks, which were previously exempt from tax, all had to pay the auxiliary labor tax.
As the name suggests, the exemption tax can only be called a military service tax if the people who had previously served in the military pay the money to be exempted. However, it is unreasonable to ask those who have not served in the military to pay the exemption tax, so it is called a military service assistance tax.
The exact amount depends on the budget of each state government and is shared among households.
Rural households are assessed every three years, and urban households every five years.
As soon as this newspaper was published, public opinion began to favor the new law.
This is mainly because of the previous article, which made everyone's expectations a little too low. It seemed that there were still exemptions, and the surplus money was only levied in years of good harvest.
Bian Jing Law Firm.
"This was your idea, wasn't it?"
Sima Guang looked at Zhang Fei expressionlessly.
Zhang Fei immediately explained: "This is really not my idea. It was Master Wang who stole my tricks."
"This old fox is quite studious." Sima Guang said sarcastically, biting his teeth.
Zhang Fei said cautiously: "Actually, this recruitment method is not bad. Why do you still...!"
Sima Guang asked: "Are you a real Hu Tu or a fake Hu Tu?"
Zhang Fei hurriedly said, "I hope that Master Sima will tell me."
Sima Guang snorted, "You are so smart, you can't even see this. First of all, although it is divided into five classes, there is a sentence in it that specifies that all those who are required to serve must pay the exemption tax. Do you know that in many counties, the fifth class households also need to serve."
Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "I'm not sure."
Sima Guang continued, "Secondly, in Kaifeng Prefecture, many of the fifth-class households in the countryside have come to the city to work. If we count them as urban households, some of them will be included.
There are also the fourth-class households. The number of people in the fourth-class households is far greater than that of the first three-class households. In counties with large populations, if they were to follow the corvée law, they would probably only be rotated once every few years, and the work they did was just some manual labor, but now they have to pay money every year. "
Zhang Fei remained silent.
Wang Anshi's goal was to improve the finances. "The people will not be taxed more and the country will have more money" was just a slogan. If he couldn't make money for the country, why would Zhao Xu use him? He might as well have used Sima Guang.
Sima Guang hated this very thing. You can make money if you want. You say that the people will not be taxed more and the country will have plenty of money. Do you think we are stupid
Now that the regulations have been issued, he wants to show his benefits on his face. He still won't give up and continues to complain: "There is also the assessment of the civilian household grades every three to five years. There were many problems when the corvée law assessed the civilian household grades. The fifth-class households became fourth-class households, the fourth-class households became third-class households, and the first-class households became official households. There are countless examples like this. Now this problem has not been solved. His assessment only gives those corrupt officials an opportunity to exploit the people."
Zhang Fei immediately asked, "Did Scholar Sima not finish reading the newspaper?"
Sima Guang was stunned for a moment, "I've finished reading it!"
Zhang Fei hurriedly said: "There is another paragraph behind this! That is the essence of the whole article."
Sima Guang picked up the newspaper and looked at the back. "Huh? The small words at the back are not the signature."
Zhang Fei said anxiously: "Of course not! Can a signature be so long?"
Sima Guang read: "For legal services for household assessment... In the west city, you can go to Caiqiao No. 108 to find Yu Da, and in the right wing, you can go to Zhouqiao No. 211 to find Huang Mang...?"
After reading it, the old man raised his head and looked at Zhang Fei with a complicated expression.
Zhang Fei said righteously, "Master Sima, you can rest assured about this. Our Bian Jing Law Firm will make the decision for the people. If the government dares to make a random assessment, we will help the people sue and seek justice."
Sima Guang said: "You are taking advantage of the opportunity to make money."
Zhang Fei chuckled and said, "We'll just make a little money. If we already have tax calculation cooperation with my firm, middle-class households will only need to pay an extra 100 coins, and upper-class households will only need to pay an extra 100 coins. Then we can open our shop's household assessment service."
Sima Guang asked, "How many battles have you fought in the tax calculation business?"
Zhang Fei coughed and said, "I'm not sure. Normally, I won't be allowed to fight such a small lawsuit."
After the Wang Hong case, the income from tax calculation business has been increasing, but the disputes to be dealt with have been decreasing. Otherwise, the spies in the firm would not be able to handle the workload.
Take the appraisal business for example. The firm will not take the initiative to help the people with the appraisal. The government is still doing it. If the people think that the government's appraisal does not match their family situation, they will come to the firm and the firm will step in.
This money was earned entirely by relying on Zhang Fei's deterrence.
But it must be said that this can indeed prevent corrupt officials from being too unscrupulous.
He should earn this money. He dares to sue officials, but others don't.
Sima Guang said, "Kaifeng Prefecture has your office to look after, but what about outside Kaifeng Prefecture?"
Zhang Fei said: "I am just helping out. The details will depend on the public security, procuratorial and judicial work of Sima Xueshi."
"... ... ?"
We couldn't continue the conversation that day.
Just at this moment, Ma Tianhao's sarcastic voice suddenly came from outside, "Old Fan! Congratulations, congratulations, your firm is going to make a fortune again."
And then... then it was quiet.
It goes without saying that it must have been Fan Li who told them that Sima Guang was also there.
Sima Guang stood up and said, "Okay, I won't bother you from making money."
After saying that, he left.
In fact, he just came here to complain today. Zhang Fei has no way to stop this new law. Even if there is, he will not do it. He now wants to support Wang Anshi.
As soon as he left, more than a dozen wealthy businessmen including Ma Tianhao walked in.
Seeing this huge lineup, Zhang Fei said depressedly: "I only added one string of money from you, there is no need to make such a big scene. If you think it is too much, you don't have to pay. This is a matter of mutual consent."
Chen Maoqian said hurriedly: "We are not here for this matter."
Zhang Fei asked: "Why is that?"
Chen Maoqian raised the newspaper in his hand and pointed at the last paragraph. "So this newspaper can be written like this?"
Zhang Fei said: "Of course!"
Chen Maoqian asked anxiously, "Can I also publish my house information in this newspaper?"
"You can, but I advise you not to do this. You know, for just this short paragraph, the genuine bookstore actually charged me a hundred strings of cash. It's really a rip-off. I won't go to them again next time."
Zhang Fei shook his head.
Fan Yong was surprised and asked, "Isn't the genuine bookstore also yours?"
Zhang Fei said awkwardly: "It's not all mine, Old Hou also has a share."
Those wealthy businessmen immediately looked at Zhang Fei with disdain.
What's the difference between the old marquis and your servants? Aren't you the one who has the final say
You are doing this with your left hand and your right hand, but it's all thanks to Fan who is in charge.
Chen Maoqian said: "One hundred strings of cash is a bit too expensive."
Zhang Fei sighed, "There is no other way. Once this article is published, it will surely attract nationwide attention. It is a bit expensive, but our firm can only accept the loss!"
Ma Tianhao said: "In other words, your fee depends on the article."
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Yes. For articles like this, the fees are extremely high."
As we were chatting, it suddenly became lively outside.
Zhang Fei couldn't help but sigh: "This is too good to be true. I expected them to come tomorrow, but they came today. Old Fan won't drag me to help, right? I am Dr. Zhang now."