Government.
"Mr. Liang, please take a seat."
Cai Yanqing very politely asked Liang Youyi to sit down, but he was extremely depressed.
Liang Youyi is a famous scholar-official in Hezhong Prefecture, but he was detained in court by Zhang Fei last time. In this incident, he was busy running around, determined to drive the police, procuratorate and courts out of Hezhong Prefecture.
It must not be a good thing for him to come to my house at this time.
"Thank you very much."
Liang Youyi bowed, sat down, and pretended to be concerned and said, "Prefect Cai has rarely appeared in public recently. Many people outside are wondering if Prefect Cai is ill."
I went to the Imperial Court to watch the trial a few days ago! Cai Yanqing muttered to himself, but said, "Thank you for your concern, Mr. Liang. I am in good health, but nothing has happened recently, so I am cultivating myself at home."
"yes!"
Liang Youyi nodded: "Then the police, procuratorate and courts have done everything, and Governor Cai is happy to have some free time."
Cai Yanqing just smiled slightly at this.
Liang Youyi went on to say: "Nowadays, the people of Hezhong Prefecture, no matter how big or small the matter is, always think of going to the public security, procuratorate and court first, instead of going to the government and asking Magistrate Cai to make the decision."
Cai Yanqing sighed: "What can we do? This is the rule of the court."
Liang Youyi said, "I know that Magistrate Cai is an easy-going person and doesn't like to fight with others, but this makes many people not know who to listen to. Some villagers even come to ask me about the current autumn tax. For example, they really don't know whether to pay the tax to the public security, procuratorate, courts, or the government."
Cai Yanqing immediately replied: "Of course it is handed over to the government. The Royal Police is only assisting the government. Our government has made this very clear."
Liang Youyi said, "But all along, there have been heads of households and village officials helping the government pay taxes. Now that the government has the help of the Royal Police, should these officials be abolished?"
"of course not."
Cai Yanqing said: "In the past, the government would send people to collect taxes, but because the government had transferred a lot of people to the police station before, there was a shortage of manpower, so we had to ask the Royal Police to assist."
At this point, he suddenly asked, "Could it be that the Royal Police are causing trouble in the village?"
"No."
Liang Youyi shook his head, but then added: "It's just that now that Governor Cai has asked the Royal Police to assist in collecting taxes, many heads of households believe that the Royal Police have taken over all affairs in the village. They have become restrained, fearing that if they make a mistake, they will be sued in the imperial court, so that the management of many villages has become very chaotic."
Cai Yanqing said, "Is there such a thing?"
Liang Youyi hurriedly said, "Every word I said is true. If Magistrate Cai doesn't believe me, you can send someone to investigate. To be honest with Magistrate Cai, I was asked to come here today to inquire about the reason."
Cai Yanqing nodded and said, "I haven't thought this through, but it is indeed because we are short of manpower."
Liang Youyi nodded and said, "I know that, but I think that now that it is self-reporting, it doesn't actually require too much manpower. The heads of households and village heads will collect the taxes in the village and then hand them over to the government. If there are any problems, the government can also send people to investigate."
At this point, he paused for a moment and continued, "Of course, the government can also issue an order to let the Royal Police take over the villages directly. If these two groups of people are in charge of one thing, the people will not know who to listen to. This is not the way to govern. What do you think, Governor Cai?"
Cai Yanqing naturally heard the hidden meaning.
Just let him choose one of the two.
Either abolish the old system of household heads and village heads, or drive the royal police out of the village gates.
Cai Yanqing has been balancing the two, because from his point of view, the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems are currently only on a trial basis, while the original system has been in use for hundreds of years.
He did not dare to abolish the old system easily before it was confirmed.
If the public security, procuratorate and courts leave, it will be completely over and he won’t know how to govern.
After some thought, Cai Yanqing said, "Thank you Mr. Liang for coming to inform me. I will send someone to investigate. If this is true, we will make adjustments."
Liang Youyi hurriedly bowed and said, "Thank you very much."
As soon as Liang Youyi left, Cai Yanqing called Zhuoqun over and said, "Go to the police station and tell them how hard they have worked recently. Now that the autumn tax has been collected, they still have to prioritize public security. Leave the rest to our officials."
Zhuo Qun was stunned for a moment, "But it was Elder Liang's request?"
Cai Yanqing nodded: "It seems that they have already planned to pay taxes, but they are unwilling to hand over the taxes to the Royal Police, and they also want to drive the Royal Police out."
Zhuo Qun asked, "I wonder what the prefect's plan is?"
Cai Yanqing frowned and said, "For now, we still need to maintain good relations with both of them."
He was fully aware of his role, which was to maintain stability. No matter which side won, Hezhong Prefecture must not be in chaos.
Zhuo Qun said: "I understand."
... ... .
Wei Mansion.
"Governor Tsai has asked the Royal Police to withdraw."
Wei Yingfang said with a smile.
"Yeah?"
Cao Yi, He Chunlin, Fan Meng and others were all very excited.
"Um."
Wei Yingfang nodded and said, "It is said that Mr. Liang came to request it personally. It seems that they want to completely drive the Royal Police out of the countryside."
Cao Yi said: "But this is far from enough. We must drive the police, procuratorate and court out of Hezhong Prefecture."
"Now we have to take step two."
Wei Yingfang looked at He Chunlin and said, "He Yanjian, now it's up to you."
He Chunlin said confidently: "Please rest assured, Master Yuan will never give up, because a few days ago Master Wang tried every means to send 100,000 strings of newly minted coins to the Ministry of Revenue. If he can't lend out a penny, it will be a loss of both the wife and the army. It is said that the freight for this trip will cost thousands of strings of coins, and Master Wang will be laughed at by his colleagues in the court every day.
Therefore, as long as Mr. Liang and his men do not compromise and insist on the 1.5% tax, then Master Yuan will definitely take measures. "
Cao Yi said: "Many scholars and officials have come out this time, and some have even submitted petitions to the court. It is absolutely impossible for them to compromise easily."
Wei Yingfang chuckled and said, "Then let's just sit back and watch the fight."
"Ha ha... ... !"
... ...
In front of the imperial court.
"Xiao Wu, what are you doing sitting here?"
Big Dog walked out of the shop quickly and found the stoker Chen Xiaowu sitting on a bamboo chair in front of the door, looking dazed and worried, and couldn't help asking.
"Dog brother!"
Chen Xiaowu quickly stood up and sighed again: "Alas... When business was good a few days ago, I felt tired. These days, I have a lot of free time, but my heart is empty again."
The number of people coming to the Royal Court to file lawsuits has visibly decreased in the past few days, and the business of this store will naturally be affected.
The big dog smiled and said, "Just remember this."
Chen Xiaowu asked hurriedly: "Which point?"
Big Dog said: "As long as your cooking skills become more sophisticated, I promise that your life will only get better and better."
"Yes, yes." Chen Xiaowu nodded and said, "I will go back and sharpen the knife right away."
"What time is it now?"
Big Dog said, "Hurry up and clean up and close the store."
"yes."
Chen Xiaowu nodded, and seeing the big dog hurriedly walking towards the imperial court, he couldn't help but ask, "Brother Dog, what are you going to do?"
Big Dog said, "I'll go find Judge Zhang to settle the bill."
Of course, he did not go to Zhang Fei to settle the bill, but Zhang Fei had two secret letters for him to deliver to the capital as soon as possible to the emperor and Wang Anshi.
The letters that Zhang Fei sent to Wang Anshi were basically commissioned by the emperor to ensure that everything he did was transparent to Zhao Xu.
"Hurry up."
Zhang Fei handed the two secret letters to Da Gou, "I'm anxious for a reply."
Da Gou nodded and said, "Don't worry, Judge Zhang. I'll deliver it within seven days."
Zhang Fei nodded and asked, "What are the gentry doing now?"
Big Dog said: "They are now frequently using the clan temple and clan law to mediate disputes in the village, trying their best to ensure that the villagers do not file complaints with the imperial court. It seems that they want to trap the public security, procuratorate and courts in the city."
"You are so old, but you still come out to manage things. Don't you feel tired?" Zhang Fei raised a smile and asked, "How do those big landlords usually deal with so much grain?"
Big Dog said: "Brewing wine, selling, and lending are mostly the ways to deal with it."
Zhang Fei asked, "Does he only lend money to villagers?"
Big Dog shook his head and said, "That's not the case. How much grain can the common people in the countryside borrow? The big landlords all have their own warehouses in the city, specializing in managing their own money and goods."
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Send someone to investigate the situation of their Jiekupu in the next few days."
Big Dog nodded and said, "Please rest assured, Judge Zhang. We have people in these industries and we will be able to investigate it quickly."
"very good!"
... ...
As soon as the big dog left, Fu Shichun arrived at the imperial court.
Zhang Fei frowned and asked, "Did Magistrate Cai ask the Royal Police to evacuate back to the city?"
"That's what he meant, but he didn't say it that way." Fu Shichun replied, "Zhuo Zhubu just said that the autumn harvest is almost over and the government hopes that the Royal Police will still focus on public security. In fact, he wants us to stop interfering in taxation."
Zhang Fei nodded and asked, "Aren't they afraid that if the Royal Police leave, there will be problems with taxation, and then their government will have to bear all the responsibility."
Fu Shichun said: "I heard that Liang Youyi once went to see Prefect Cai."
"This name sounds familiar." Zhang Fei was slightly stunned.
Fu Shichun said speechlessly: "It's the old man you caught last time."
"Yes, yes, it's him." Zhang Fei patted his forehead lightly.
Fu Shichun said: "So I think they must have reached some kind of agreement, and there will be no problem with this year's tax collection. Otherwise, the government would have been cheated by them, and we would have gotten a great bargain for nothing."
Problems arose as soon as the Royal Police left, which only proved that things couldn't be done without the Royal Police, and those gentry would never allow such a situation to happen.
Zhang Fei thought for a while and suddenly asked, "I heard that the places where taxes are collected now all belong to the police station."
Fu Shichun nodded and said, "Yes, a very simple wooden shed."
Zhang Fei said: "We don't mind the government borrowing this place to continue collecting taxes, but the Royal Police still have to help with the military pay issue, which is not yet concluded."
Fu Shichun asked, "So you want us to stay here and then drive the government officials away?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "We have the right to enforce the law there, and the government can't interfere."
Fu Shichun sighed, "But now the villages are very united and no longer accept our law enforcement. There is no point in the Royal Police staying there."
"Persistence is victory."
Zhang Fei said: "This is a protracted battle, but I believe they will not be able to hold on any longer."
Fu Shichun asked curiously, "Why are you so sure?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Because those big landlords will soon find out how stupid it is to lend money at low interest rates to those self-employed farmers."
Fu Shichun asked: "But the Qingmiao method...?"
Zhang Fei said: "For the Qingmiao Law, this is also a stupid decision."