In fact, Zhang Fei has always been very cautious about the expansion of the police station, and he even sent the royal court to charge into battle to cover the expansion of the police station.
He also successfully used the case of retired soldiers seeking to recover their military pay to open branches in front of villages, and used voluntary reporting to deepen the relationship between villagers and the police station.
Do everything possible to hide your ambitions and make everything go smoothly.
However, he only analyzed the landlords' desire for profit, but ignored the fact that there was a group of intelligent scholar-officials hidden in the countryside.
Previously, the landlords had never agreed to the suggestions of Wei Yingfang and others, and even demanded a head-on confrontation with the imperial court. However, the literati who had retired from the court vaguely felt an unprecedented crisis.
If this continues, the patriarchal system that has existed since ancient times will suffer a devastating blow, and the public security, procuratorate and courts will directly take over the management of the villages.
This is to dig out the roots of the scholar-officials.
Because the real power of the scholar-officials lies not in the court but in the countryside. Otherwise, how could thousands of scholar-officials, who are powerless, challenge the emperor
Are you crazy
The fundamental reason is that the emperor needs to rely on the literati to manage the countryside. For example, collecting taxes and conscription are all done by the gentry to help the court.
At the same time, when scholars and officials entered the court to serve as officials, they also represented various places, not just themselves.
This is also why, when prime ministers retired, they were often unwilling to stay in the prosperous Bianliang, but instead returned to their hometown to benefit the people.
It is conceivable that once the royal police are able to collect taxes and recruit soldiers, then... what is the use of gentry
In fact, some literati had long seen through Zhang Fei's purpose, and they were also waiting for the opportunity, because the big landlords also belonged to the ruling class, and they were not like the literati, who had generous treatment and no worries about money to spend. The two sides had different demands, so how could they unite
wait!
When the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs have forced the landlords into a desperate situation, the gentry will stand up and unite everyone.
This created a very strong fortress in the countryside.
Fortunately, Zhang Fei is not a person who would dwell on trivial matters. Seeing that the other party had seen through his plan, he quickly showed his vision.
Encourage them to reconcile privately.
From a legal perspective, in a lawsuit like this, settlement is actually the best solution.
As the saying goes, even an honest judge cannot judge family affairs!
... ...
This wave of lawsuits is like the tide; it comes quickly and goes away quickly.
With the intervention of the gentry and the compromise of the landlords, many villagers came to the imperial court again and demanded the withdrawal of their lawsuits.
The Legal Aid Department then has to apply to the Royal Court to get the petition back.
But those ear pens are worn out!
"Alas... it's all in vain!"
Li Min sighed as she sorted out the documents.
Qiu Zhengwen smiled and said, "Brother Li can also think that we are cutting losses in time. After all, we have only been busy for a few days. If this situation had not occurred, we might have been busy for several months."
"That's true."
Li Min nodded, and then asked: "But are you sure they won't come again in the future?"
“… … !”
Qiu Zhengwen really wasn't sure, after all, they were not aware of the power struggles going on.
... ...
"One good news and one bad news, which one do you want to hear first?"
Fu Shichun asked Zhang Fei.
"Good news."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Because the bad news is that all the plans we had made before have been scrapped."
Fu Shichun smiled and nodded, saying, "After the mediation of those gentry, the landlords are willing to offer more favorable conditions, so many self-cultivating farmers do not need to rely on our police station's uniforms to make a living and pay back their debts."
At this point, he paused for a moment, "And the good news is that those big landowners have already started to declare their autumn taxes in full."
Zhang Fei said: "This is really good news."
Fu Shichun smiled and said, "But this method is different."
Zhang Fei was surprised and asked, "The method is different?"
Fu Shichun said: "They are reporting as a township."
Zhang Fei was stunned for a moment, and asked in confusion: "What do you mean?"
Fu Shichun said: "The village will first do a statistics, and then calculate how much they need to pay based on the rules set by the government and the land deeds, and then report it to us."
"They are really possessed."
Zhang Fei laughed, "That's fine! Ask them to ask, if they are found to have evaded taxes, who will be held responsible? Will it be the gentry?"
Fu Shichun said: "They have already given an explanation for this."
"Is... is that so?" Zhang Fei looked at Fu Shichun puzzledly.
Fu Shichun said: "This is what they said. The people reported to the Royal Police, and the Royal Police handed it over to the government. If there was tax evasion, would the Royal Police be held responsible? If not, then they naturally don't need to be held responsible either. Whoever evades taxes will be arrested."
Zhang Fei blinked, "Are they all so powerful?"
This explanation is actually about power.
The Royal Police certainly does not need to be held responsible, as their duties are only to accept declarations and report them, and they are not involved in investigating tax evasion.
In the same way, the gentry were just doing the same job as the royal police.
They are responsible for statistics, tax collection, and then sending them to the branch offices. If anyone is evading taxes, you should go to them.
The question is, do they have the power to do so
They explained it this way because they believed they had the power to collect taxes, and in fact they did.
After all, the imperial court has not yet made any explicit regulations for the royal police to take full control of the countryside, and the emperor does not dare to say so.
In the past, the government relied on local gentry to collect taxes.
Fu Shichun smiled and said, "Most of the gentry are retired officials. They know every rule better than us. But if this happens, it will be difficult for us, the Royal Police, to contact the villagers. This is back to the same situation as before, where we connect with the gentry."
Zhang Fei frowned and asked, "Do they force the villagers to file their taxes there, or do they let the villagers choose for themselves?"
Fu Shichun said: "I heard that the government is already negotiating with them. In all likelihood, the government will hand over the power to them. Have you forgotten that we don't have the right to collect taxes for the time being?"
Zhang Fei said depressedly: "So you think this is good news?"
This move really closes the door. You Royal Police can't even think about entering the countryside.
Fu Shichun smiled and said, "I'm just trying to comfort you."
"Thank you very much for your comfort."
Zhang Fei laughed at himself and said, "Maybe it was because it went too smoothly at the beginning, which made it difficult for me to accept this little setback."
Fu Shichun laughed and said, "What should we do now?"
Zhang Fei glanced at him and said, "You seem very happy."
Fu Shichun smiled and said, "When I was forced to come to Hezhong Prefecture, weren't you gloating over my misfortune?"
Zhang Fei said: "But now we have to stick together."
Fu Shichun immediately said, "Don't worry about that. I distinguish between public and private matters. I came here to tell you this news. The purpose of gloating over your misfortune is secondary. The main purpose is to discuss countermeasures with you."
"You have already told me the countermeasures. We must clearly distinguish between public and private affairs."
Zhang Fei sighed and said, "We must stick to the principles and follow the rules. We must do whatever the government arranges. This is the foundation of our public security, procuratorial and judicial organs in Hezhong Prefecture."
If you can't defeat the opponent, you can only retreat, cultivate your inner strength, and wait for the opponent to make the first mistake.
Coincidentally, the other party also thought so. In fact, the gentry also knew that this dog will never change its eating habits. The reason why the landlords were willing to compromise was entirely due to the aggressiveness of the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments.
What they seek is to kill the other party before they make a mistake.
Of course, it cannot be denied that some upright gentry also wanted to use the imperial court to rectify the existing ills in the countryside.
Society is very complex. Remember not to generalize, otherwise big problems will arise.
And they believe that the other party will make mistakes first because of the existence of the Qingmiao Law.
As soon as Fu Shichun left, Yuan Jiang came to the imperial court under the cover of night.
"The villagers are used to relying on the gentry. Now that they have set an interest rate of 1.5% according to the clan law, the villagers will definitely choose to borrow from them."
"I know."
Zhang Fei nodded.
Yuan Jiang asked: "Then do you have a way to issue a decree to prohibit them from doing this?"
Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "I'm afraid this is difficult."
Yuan Jiang said: "During the reign of Emperor Renzong, the imperial court issued a decree to crack down on the monopoly of market transactions by brokers. Can we use this decree to ban them?"
Zhang Fei thought for a moment, "If I were just an informant, I would think that this lawsuit can be filed, but the chances of winning are not high, because we must first prove one thing, that is, what they are doing is indeed to protect usury and crack down on the Qingmiao Law.
But now they are saying that they are helping the court to crack down on usury, which is also the duty of the gentry. Before we find evidence of their guilt, the possibility of winning the case is very low. "
Yuan Jiang frowned and said, "Actually, this matter belongs to the power of the government. The government can issue an order to forbid them from doing so."
Because the Song Dynasty had an official monopoly system, it was possible to monopolize a certain industry through administrative orders.
Zhang Fei said: "If this problem can be solved with just a decree, then the court would not need to issue the Qingmiao Law. The essence of the Qingmiao Law is to combat usury with low interest rates."
Having said this, he paused for a moment and then said, "Mr. Yuan, in fact, when the gentry do this, the people benefit, so why don't we enjoy the fruits of their labor?"
Yuan Jiang sighed, "It's not that simple. First of all, they did this to kill the Qingmiao Law. After the law is abolished, usury will surely come back.
Secondly, Wang Xueshi has just allocated 100,000 guanxi. If the Qingmiao Law does nothing, do you know how much pressure Wang Xueshi will face in the court? The entire new policy may be in jeopardy because of this. "
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Master Yuan is really worrying too much. Master Wang is wholeheartedly for the people. The Qingmiao Law is entirely for the purpose of combating usury. Now that the Qingmiao Law has been revealed, it has shown remarkable results. Master Wang will surely be very pleased."
Yuan Jiang glanced at him and said, "Do you really not understand, or are you pretending not to understand in front of me?"
Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "I really don't understand."
Yuan Jiang said: "If the purpose of the Qingmiao Law is only to combat usury, then why bother calculating interest? Two percent interest is not low. Wouldn't it be better to directly adopt the Changping Warehouse Law and lend money without interest?"
Zhang Fei asked: "So the Qingmiao Law is still to make money for the country?"
Yuan Jiang said: "Need I say that? Which new law doesn't kill two birds with one stone? For example, the equalization of transportation law, on the one hand, it also cracks down on merchants hoarding goods, and on the other hand, it makes money for the country."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "If that's the case, then it's easy to handle."
Yuan Jiang asked: "What do you mean?"
Zhang Fei said: "What the gentry are doing now, no matter what their purpose is, at least they can curb usury, which completes half of the goal. The rest is just making money. As long as we make more money, isn't it killing two birds with one stone
The Changping Division was not only established for the Qingmiao Law, but also included salt notes, salt debts, etc. To be honest, if the Qingmiao Law did not take coercive measures, it would not make much money.
Because the Qingmiao Law really humiliates the poor, but most of the poor have no collateral. Lending them money requires taking extremely high risks, and the slightly richer people, generally speaking, will not easily borrow money. If they don't lend money, and they don't have the ability to lend money, how much money can they make every year?"
Yuan Jiang said: "With just Hezhong Prefecture, there may not be much money, but a little can add up to a lot."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "The cost of debt collection by the government is probably enough to offset the interest income."
Yuan Jiang said: "According to the Qingmiao Law, if there is no collateral, a superior household must guarantee it. The government can use the superior household to collect debts."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "But if it is not mandatory, how many high-class households are willing to act as a guarantor?"
Yuan Jiang remained silent.
Zhang Fei added: "Salt notes, salt debts, and lending to merchants, these have low costs but very high profits, why not take this broad path."