After all, old ginger is still spicy.
Wen Yanbo's seemingly insignificant proposal has an impact that cannot be underestimated.
At least this would give them, the vice-chancellors, a reason to appease the officials below.
If the tax commissioner takes away all the face and substance, it may provoke a more fierce counterattack.
Wen Yanbo's governing style can be summed up in one word: stable.
Moreover, abolishing the title of Royal Tax Police would also help the emperor maintain a neutral position.
Zhao Xu also adopted their suggestions and expressed his respect for Zuo Ting's decision on the grounds that it was inconvenient to interfere in the judiciary.
Didn't say support.
At the same time, the Political Affairs Hall officially issued a decree to clearly distinguish all the new judicial elites.
In fact, the senior officials of each department already have formal titles and powers.
The key is the expansion of the police station by 10,000 police officers.
Wang Anshi's previous strategy was to recruit them to the police station first, and then divide them up and use these auxiliary police to perform official duties in various departments. In this way, the officials could legitimately get formal salaries and become professional and responsible.
However, Wang Anshi did not say how to divide it at that time.
Because he didn't know at that time that so many things would happen in such a short period of time.
Not to mention the common people, even the tax police and court police themselves are not quite clear about their relationship with the police station, because they were transferred from auxiliary police and their identities are not clear.
This time the Political Affairs Hall distinguished their relationship.
The police officers in each department are not subordinate to each other.
Once transferred from a police station to another department, they are no longer affiliated with the police station.
In this decree, the titles of the police officers in each department are written very clearly: tax police, court police, prosecutors and royal police.
It was not explicitly stated, nor was there any clear regulation at the time, but it was clear at first glance that only the police were given the title of "Royal".
In other words, the Royal Excise Police does not exist.
This political signal is very obvious, combined with Zhao Xu’s statement.
Simply put, I don't take sides.
Wen Yanbo, Sima Guang and others also used this matter to appease the officials below. People like Qin Biao have a long history of bad deeds and are not in the right. We cannot speak for you, but we still prevent the tax police from using the name of "royal" to prevent them from doing whatever they want.
The officials below couldn't say anything.
There was a lot of discussion about this verdict in the streets. Generally speaking, most civilians supported this verdict. The doors of their houses were just like those of Zhihu. If you wanted to use siege equipment, you would be at a great loss.
The key point is that they are very dissatisfied with the previous officials and they support the tax police.
Of course the rich are against it.
However, despite the opposition, some people were still frightened.
Many people immediately went to the firm and said that they had accidentally omitted some income when they declared it, and they were willing to make up for it. They hoped that the firm could help them avoid punishment.
"so much?"
Zhang Fei held the account book in his hand and looked at Fan Li in surprise.
Fan Li sighed, "Who could have known that the tax commissioner was so ruthless, so when I filed my tax return, I would have reported a little less."
Zhang Fei said: "I'm not referring to the tax commissioner, but these bastards who even hid it from us."
Most of these people are clients of the firm.
Fan Li immediately said, "That's your fault. You said we can't help with the false report, so they can only not report it. But other bookstores are trying to conceal it for their customers, so many big landlords run to the Li family."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "The clients we target are different. They help those who evade taxes, and we help those who overpay taxes. If we also help those big landlords calculate taxes, conflicts will arise among these clients. What should we do then?"
Fan Li nodded and said, "I understand that. In fact, we earn more than them. After all, we have more customers. It's just that... it's not easy to please. After all, the government still wants to collect more taxes. They help people conceal taxes, which will not offend the government, but we help people declare truthfully, which will offend the government."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "I didn't expect you to understand it so thoroughly."
Fan Li said, "I am the one who is doing this. How could I not know that those officials who were collecting taxes before never showed a good face to us when they saw us."
“You can make a lot of money by doing what others can’t do.”
Zhang Fei handed the accounts back to Fan Li. "Send Zheng Wen to talk to the tax commissioner and tell him that this is their first time to file a tax return and there are some omissions. I hope the tax commissioner can be lenient. I don't think it will be a big problem. Even if they have to pay a fine, it won't be too much. After all, they didn't hide much."
Fan Li nodded and said, "I'll ask Zhengwen to go there after I sort it out."
Zhang Fei asked again: "Does the Li family also have a lot of tax to pay?"
Fan Li said: "Recently, quite a few people have gone there, but as far as I know, they are not there to pay taxes."
Zhang Fei nodded: "As expected."
Those who came to the office were all small peddlers and small landlords. Although some of them reported truthfully, many of them also concealed some of their income. They declared their income based on the tax collection standards of the Ministry of Agriculture. If their income was less than a dozen strings of cash, or if their income was difficult to investigate, they could be downgraded to a lower level. So of course they would report less.
But now that the Commissioner of Taxation has become famous, they are so scared that they rush over to fill in the gap. After all, they don’t have any big backers.
However, the big landowners hardly moved.
Fan Li had just gone out with the account book when Fan Zheng walked in.
"Fan Da, why are you here?"
Zhang Fei looked at Fan Zheng who had just come in with a little surprise.
Fan Zheng smiled and said, "Third brother is very smart. You should be able to guess why I am here, right?"
Zhang Fei thought about it, then shook his head and said, "I can't guess."
"I didn't expect there would be things that Third Brother couldn't guess."
"Too many."
Zhang Fei asked again: "What exactly is it?"
Fan Zhengdao: "It's about the charity foundation. Didn't we want to donate some money to the auxiliary police to buy uniforms?"
Zhang Fei nodded.
Fan Zhengdao: "At that time, the tax police and the royal police were not separated, and we did not distinguish them, but now many people say that they cannot donate a penny to the tax commissioner."
"So that's what it is." Zhang Fei nodded and said with a smile, "Do everything according to the rules. If no one wants to donate, then don't donate."
Fan Zheng added: "At the same time, we also received some donations, totaling more than 8,000 strings of cash, and they asked us to donate all of it to the Royal Police."
"What?"
Zhang Fei laughed and said, "Is it so exaggerated?"
Fan Zheng was stunned for a moment, "Didn't Third Brother read yesterday's Fengyue News?"
Zhang Fei said unhappily, "That romantic newspaper is just a sham, talking about the love affairs between talented men and singing girls, but never talking about what goes on in the boudoir. I have no interest in reading it."
Fan Zheng asked curiously, "Can things that happen in the boudoir also be reported?"
Zhang Fei blinked and asked, "Can't I?"
Fan Zheng said: "Third brother should know more about legal matters than me, right?"
Zhang Fei said: "I don't know, I don't plan to do that."
So you let Fu Shichun do it
Fan Zheng laughed dryly twice and said, "Third brother is right. This Xiaochun brother's romantic newspaper often reports things that happen in restaurants. Two days ago, Yanei went to my Baifanlou to drink and had an argument with someone.
The reason is that some people think that Yanei is in cahoots with the tax police, but Yanei said that their Royal Police have nothing to do with the tax police. He also said that it was the police station that sued the Commissioner of Taxation to the royal court, but it was because you, the third brother, were too powerful that you lost the lawsuit.
And Yanei would also say that the Royal Police would protect the people's property and prevent the tax police from doing whatever they wanted. And this debate was eventually published in the Fengyue newspaper. I think it was because of this that someone donated to the police station. "
Zhang Fei blinked, "This was deliberately arranged by Yanei, right?"
"... ... ?"
Fan Zheng hesitated for a moment and asked awkwardly, "How did Third Brother know about this?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Because I was the one who told him that the Royal Police can check and balance the Tax Police."
Suddenly, I heard singing from outside, "Sorrow is fake, tears are real...!"
The voice is very arrogant!
Speak of the devil and he will appear.
Zhang Fei's mouth twitched, "This guy even didn't let go of my classic songs."
After a while, Cao Dongdong walked in triumphantly, humming a little tune he had heard from Zhang Fei. When he saw Fan Zheng, he immediately said, "Master Fan, you are here indeed."
He jumped forward and said excitedly, "I heard that many people donated to our Royal Police, right?"
Fan Zheng nodded.
Cao Dongdong immediately said, "Bring the money quickly. My police station is in dire need of money."
"Wait a minute!"
Zhang Fei said, "Yanei, this idea was mine. Why are you giving Fengyue Newspaper away instead of my Xinwen Newspaper?"
Cao Dongdong was stunned for a moment, then said, "I was planning to look for you before, but Brother Xiaochun said that it's not good for you to help the tax commissioner fight a lawsuit. He gave me this idea and asked me to perform a play at Baifan Building. The effect was quite good. Someone donated money to my police station right away. Fortunately, I didn't look for you at the beginning."
Fan Zheng smiled and said, "Recently, Fengyue Newspaper has indeed sold better than Mingshi Newspaper and Xinwen Newspaper."
Zhang Fei snorted, "That's only because I have no time to be distracted right now. Otherwise, his Fengyue Newspaper would have closed down long ago."
"Is it?"
Cao Dongdong looked at Zhang Fei with a strange expression.
Zhang Fei said: "When I finish this, I will go tell Xiaochun who is the overlord of the newspaper industry."
Just then, a Royal Police officer walked in quickly. Seeing Cao Dongdong, he breathed a sigh of relief, "Deputy Superintendent."
Cao Dongdong saw that he looked strange, so he immediately stepped forward. The two of them whispered to each other for a while, and Cao Dongdong turned around and said, "I have something to take care of. I'll leave now."
After saying that, he left in a hurry.
Zhang Fei and Fan Zheng looked at each other and realized that something might happen.
Soon, they found out.
It turned out that at dawn today, the Tax Commissioner attacked again and raided a large landowner named Liu in Xiangfu County. The situation was more serious than the first time. It was said that there was a gunfight between the two sides, and five people on the other side were injured. It is not yet known whether anyone died.
... ... .
Department of Taxation.
"Sanlang is here!"
"Captain Li?"
When Zhang Fei rushed to the Taxation Department, he happened to meet Li Guozhong and others, "Why are you here?"
Li Guozhong said: "I was hired by Mr. Liu to accompany him to surrender."
"Turn yourself in?"
"Um!"
Li Guozhong said: "When the tax commissioner raided the Liu family, Mr. Liu happened to come to the city to ask our bookstore to help him communicate with the tax commissioner, re-declare his finances, and pay the taxes. Who knew this would happen?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "What a coincidence."
Li Guozhong said hurriedly: "This is not a coincidence. The previous lawsuit involving Sanlang really intimidated many people. Recently, many people have come to your office to pay back taxes."
Zhang Fei said nothing.
Li Guozhong glanced at him and whispered, "Sanlang, it's not a good idea for the tax commissioner to go this way. The family master is not here, so the servants dare not let the tax police into the courtyard easily. They said they would go to inform the family master, which is understandable. But the tax police just forced their way in and injured five servants of the Liu family. They arrested 24 people. This... isn't this a bit too much?"
When Zhang Fei was about to answer, Li He suddenly came over and said, "Zhang Sanlang."
"Li, the steward!"
Zhang Fei returned the greeting and said to Li Guozhong, "Excuse me first."
After entering the house with Li He, Zhang Fei asked, "Li Siwu, what's going on?"
Li He said: "The thing is, a few days ago we found that Liu Ping of Xiangfu County concealed 50 hectares of land, so we decided to raid Liu's house at dawn. Since Liu Ping has a good reputation in the village and is not as domineering as Qin Biao before, we did not break into the house directly this time, but explained our intention to the servants of Liu's family.
However, we encountered provocation and obstruction from the other party's servants. Someone even attacked our tax police with stones from behind. So we used force to break in. They even resisted for a while. We shot and wounded two of them, injured three, and arrested all the servants.
But when they arrived at the tax bureau, the servants said that they had informed the tax police that Liu Ping was not at home, so they did not dare to make decisions on their own and let the tax police in, saying that they had to inform Liu Ping first. Then the tax police broke in directly and beat them.
Zhang Fei asked: "Are there any witnesses?"
Li He said: "Our tax police did not find anyone around at the time."
Zhang Fei nodded and asked, "What's the evidence about Liu Ping's tax evasion?"
Li He said: "The evidence is conclusive."
Just at this moment, a tax police came into the room and whispered something in Li He's ear.
"I see."
Li He nodded and said to Zhang Fei, "Liu Ping just said that he came to the city to pay the taxes."
"Li Xingzu has already told me just now."
Zhang Fei nodded and asked, "What does Li Siwu think?"
Li He said: "This matter is not my business, and it doesn't matter what I think."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Li, the steward, is really unique. Okay, you guys just do everything as usual and leave the rest to me. Oh, tell those tax police that as long as they enforce the law impartially, there is no need to worry about this."
When he went out the door, he met Su Che who had just arrived.
"Wow... your procuratorate arrived so quickly?"
"Not as fast as you." Su Zhe said.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "To make money, you have to be one step ahead."
Su Zhe said: "But this money is not easy to earn."
Zhang Fei whispered: "This is obviously a trap."
Su Che just smiled and said, "Excuse me."