In fact, for Zhang Fei's plan, the tax commissioner arrived a little late, which resulted in Zhang Fei not daring to be too strong on some financial issues. He still had to accommodate the government in every way. It was because the tax commissioner had not arrived that many tasks could not be carried out. He could not control the finances through the tax commissioner, nor could he ensure how much tax could be collected.
It's easy to spend money but hard to make money!
But this was not his mistake, but Sima Guang's fault, because Zhang Fei was originally arranged to go to Jiangnan, which led to Shi Tingxiu, Feng Nanxi and others being transferred to Jiangnan.
As a result, Zhang Fei made a 180-degree turn, so the Taxation Bureau had to be redeployed, but it has already infiltrated Hezhong Prefecture and is recruiting troops everywhere.
However, the officials of Hezhong Prefecture had not yet realized that the Tax Commissioner had quietly arrived and a tax reform was already in the works.
At this moment, everyone's attention is still focused on the negotiations between the procuratorate and the government.
This is truly a very rare campaign to crack down on gangsters and eliminate evil since the reigns of Taizu and Taizong.
The key point is that all those targeted are those with connections.
The people really hate these people with connections, because they can not only monopolize resources, but also have power above the law. If you are not a person with connections, you cannot compete with them at all, and may even be exploited by them.
But this is not based on their ability, and it is hard to convince people.
With the government's surrender, after several days of negotiations and mediation by officials, the procuratorate finally reached a settlement with those connected households. A total of 98 charges were dropped, which can be said to be all the charges. More than 320 people were released, and a total fine of more than 600 strings of cash was imposed. In addition, a total of more than 1,200 strings of cash were compensated to the victims.
Royal Court.
Zhang Fei and Su Zhe walked on the stone road wet by the autumn frost.
"Is everything going well?"
Zhang Fei asked.
Su Che smiled and said, "It went much more smoothly than expected. Just as you expected, many of them were afraid of imprisonment and wanted to compromise early on. After reaching an agreement with the government, the rest of them also accepted the punishment."
At this point, he paused for a moment and said, "But there are many people outside who are dissatisfied with this. After all, our procuratorate did not prosecute any of them, but only fined them a little money.
But they had no idea that once the old accounts were settled, Hezhong Prefecture would immediately fall into chaos, and the cost would be hundreds or even thousands of times higher. "
The reason why the other party is willing to compromise is that the procuratorate does not prosecute. If the procuratorate wants to prosecute, this matter will never be so easy to understand. After all, the other party is also a powerful person.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "So we still need publicity, which is very important."
"press?"
Su Che said immediately.
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "The movable type printing workshop here has been built. I plan to immediately launch the Procuratorial News, the Alarm News, and the Legal News. I will try to make the entire judicial process public. I will set this tone first. In this way, even if we leave in the future, the government will not be abandoned, nor will it be easily destroyed by others."
"That's a good idea."
Su Che nodded, expressing his deep agreement, and then said: "Having said that, this impartial law enforcement does make people feel refreshed, but the source of the chaos still lies in finance.
I heard that starting next year, Master Yuan will pay the clerks their full salary, which should not be lower than the royal police. So the annual expenditure for each clerk may reach 50 strings of cash, plus the compensation for the soldiers and the expenses of our public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, can the finances of Hezhong Prefecture afford it?"
Many officials look forward to this kind of pleasure of justice, but the prerequisite is that you can bear the consequences!
Zhang Fei said: "It depends on Master Yuan's methods."
Su Che frowned and said, "But there is only so much money. If there are too many officials, there will be too few people. Why did the government turn a blind eye to the behavior of those people before? It is because the people behind them are able to make money for the court.
Yuan Xueshi can only find another way to collect money to meet government expenses, and the money still has to be collected from the people. At that time, the public security, procuratorate and courts will have no choice but to compromise, and things will eventually return to the way they were. "
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "It seems that Mr. Su does not trust Mr. Wang's financial management skills."
Su Che shook his head and said, "Financial management is only about distributing wealth, but it cannot increase wealth. I am not against financial management, but since ancient times, all financial management techniques have been about distributing more wealth from the people to the court, not distributing the wealth of the court and the rich to the poor, because the one who distributes wealth is the court.
Wang Xueshi only speaks well, but if you carefully study his new law, you will find that this kind of distribution is just draining the pond to catch fish, so it is better not to divide it at all. "
Zhang Fei said: "The distribution that Mr. Su Xiao mentioned is when there is no public security, procuratorate or court. Once there is a public security, procuratorate or court, the situation will be different. The Qingmiao Law lawsuit is a good example of this."
Su Che nodded and said, "To be honest, that lawsuit did eliminate some of my concerns about the Qingmiao Law, but it does not mean that I will support the new law. I would rather support the actions of the tax commissioner than the new law. In short, the court has already collected taxes, so it should not compete with the people for profits."
He and his brother Su Shi were very consistent in this idea. They were very opposed to the official tax system and believed that the court should only be responsible for collecting taxes, and the rest should be left to the people.
However, Wang Anshi believed that if these riches were decentralized, they would not flow into the hands of the people and would be monopolized by the powerful, thus posing a threat to the people and the court. Since it was impossible for them to reach the hands of the people, it would be better for the court to monopolize them all.
Zhang Fei knew it very well. To be honest, he couldn't judge who was right or wrong. He just smiled and said, "There is actually another way."
Su Che asked: "What method?"
"Borrow money!"
Zhang Fei chuckled and said, "Everyone has an emergency. This is true for people and the court. We can borrow money to deal with the emergency."
Su Che was stunned for a while, then smiled bitterly and said, "Who would dare to lend it? Because no one can guarantee that the court will pay it back."
Are you crazy to lend money to the court? Can the court pay you back
It is a blessing that the imperial court does not come to rob you of your money, and you even deliver the money to them.
Zhang Fei said seriously: "The public security, procuratorate and court can guarantee it. Isn't Hezhong Prefecture now deeply in debt? But Mr. Su Xiao, do you think this has become a crisis?"
Su Che frowned when he heard this and remained silent.
Looking back, Hezhong Prefecture is really heavily in debt. It has to pay the interest on the salt debt first, and then pay the overdue military pay, and now it has to increase the expenses of more officials.
If it were in the past, no matter which government it was, a financial crisis would have broken out long ago, and the government would definitely find a way to default on its debts, but now it seems that no one takes this seriously.
The government is still increasing its spending.
The reason is that everyone believes that the government will pay back the money, and this trust does not come from the government, but from their public security, procuratorate and courts.
"But how long can this kind of living beyond one's means last?" Su Che couldn't help but ask again.
Zhang Fei said: "This is just an emergency measure. The purpose is to spend money to rebuild the government's credibility. If everyone does not trust the government, many problems cannot be solved. During this period, we can find ways to eliminate bad policies, solve the three redundancies, and give the finances a respite. Then the court will soon pay off the old debts.
From the perspective of financial management, living beyond one's means is not a wrong strategy. We are just betting on a better future. If people are richer in the future, tax revenue will increase, and we will win."
Su Che said: "But gambling always has winners and losers. We may not win, so what if we lose?"
Zhang Fei laughed and said, "Then just die early, what else can you do?"
Su Che looked at Zhang Fei in astonishment.
Zhang Fei said: "Does Mr. Su want to continue to muddle along like this? In fact, governing a country is like sailing against the current. If you don't move forward, you will fall behind. We have no choice."
Su Che fell into deep thought.
Although he was talented, like most people, he was still conservative at heart. His ideal society was a Confucian era of peace and prosperity, with light taxes and levies, and everyone lived frugally and saved some money to deal with natural disasters.
This is actually a major flaw of the Song Dynasty's literati group. Although there are countless geniuses among them, they are extremely lacking in economic acumen, and they are also opposed to this kind of acumen.
Not to mention Wang Anshi, Xue Xiang was one of the few financial experts in the court. However, in their eyes, Xue Xiang was an opportunistic and profit-seeking villain who was not fit for important tasks.
This is a deep-seated reason for the failure of Wang Anshi's new law. As far as the economic structure of the Song Dynasty is concerned, financial management is necessary because there are too many economic exchanges. However, this kind of thinking has always been regarded as a unorthodox approach, so it is difficult to inject political power into it. Whether you choose state-owned economy or private economy, you need political support.
Yuan Jiang was also one of the few officials who possessed this kind of wisdom, so he and Zhang Fei got along very well. Yuan Jiang agreed with some of Zhang Fei's economic strategies.
For example, Yuan Jiang strongly supported the strategy of issuing salt bonds and salt notes, and also regarded this as the main means for the government to deal with expenditures during this period.
Because the Qingmiao Law and the exemption tax have not yet been officially implemented, we have to wait for some time if we want to make a profit. However, government expenditures are increasing day by day. How can we solve the problem of military debts over there and clerk expenses over here
The only way to overcome this difficulty is to issue salt bonds and salt notes.
The first project of the reorganized Tizhu Changpingsi was not to enforce the Qingmiao Law, but to issue salt debts to foreign countries.
The Transport Bureau decided to issue a batch of salt bonds worth one million strings of cash for a period of three years, with an interest rate of 6% or 5% per year. If the principal and interest are settled together upon maturity, 6% interest can be obtained, but if the interest needs to be settled every year, the interest rate will be 5%. Salt bonds can be purchased with grain and currency.
In addition, when purchasing the principal due, customers can choose whether to receive salt or coins.
The government officials at all levels also hoped that this salt debt would be able to solve their urgent problems.
Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. After the news was released, it was just a lot of noise but little action.
Everyone was talking about it, but no one was buying it.
Although this was not the first batch of salt debts, the first batch of salt debts was caused by salt merchants who were forced to convert salt notes into salt debts due to the depreciation of salt notes.
Nowadays, people are still hesitant to spend money to buy it.
Three years!
This... is too ridiculous!
This made Cai Yanqing and other officials worried. If they did not borrow this money, they would have to reduce the taxes paid to the court, which would even affect military pay.
The government is already in deficit, will it agree
If we don’t agree, how can we fulfill the promises made by the government
When things get to the final step, money can no longer be avoided.
This is the root of all evil.
At this time, the police station issued the first alert, explaining the entire operation of the police station to crack down on gangs and eliminate evil during this period and making it public one by one.
The public security, procuratorate and court subsequently released the first issue of the Procuratorial Newspaper, making the entire reasons and justifications of the settlement negotiations public.
These two newspapers are really explosive for the people.
In the past, the government generally only announced the results they wanted to announce. If there was any behind-the-scenes manipulation, the government generally would not say anything, and it would only be rumors spread outside.
Now the alarm has been raised to accuse the bullies of their crimes.
However, the Procuratorate Newspaper directly told the people that after negotiations, 98 charges were withdrawn, and only compensation and some fines were required from the victims, and they were all released.
If you look at these two newspapers together, you can see the problem at a glance.
The charges have been established, but you are not punishing him
However, the facts are unanimously recognized by the people, who sing praises for the police station and the procuratorate.
This article in the Procuratorate News was written by Su Che himself. He directly told the people that the public security, procuratorate and courts would not settle old accounts before they came, because many of the people were suspected of being forced to break the law, such as tax evasion, private brewing, selling private salt, etc.
This one sentence alone completely changed people's views on the matter.
Because what Su Che said was all true, everyone has committed some illegal acts to a certain extent, and when it comes to settling old accounts, many people may face liquidation, not just those with connections.
After this incident, the reputation of the procuratorate and the police station became very famous. First of all, the police station has completely established its foothold, and the people have become aware that when they encounter problems, they can turn to the Royal Police.
The Royal Police can easily get rid of those bullies, so of course they can stand up for them.
At the same time, the bureaucracy and the landlord class re-examined the procuratorate. The power of this department was no less than that of the imperial court, and it was more worthy of their study.
Whenever it comes to criminal cases, the Royal Court can decide whether to give a light sentence or a heavy sentence. This cannot be negotiated and it depends on the evidence. But the Procuratorate can. You can negotiate with the Procuratorate and there is room for maneuver here.
Only after they had gained enough fame did the Imperial Court publish its own legal reports.
The imperial court is the imperial court after all.
As soon as this legal report was published, everyone immediately and clearly realized that Dad is still Dad and no one can replace him.
The content of this legal report is very simple. In a nutshell, it reiterates the "Commercial Tax Regulations" promulgated during the Taizu period, which set a 2% tax on transit and a 3% tax on residence.
When this news came out, the whole city was shocked.
Because there are many problems here, such as commercial taxes on many crops and farm tools. According to the Commercial Tax Regulations, these are duty-free products, but now they are also subject to tax.
There are also many miscellaneous taxes and levies, such as the ship docking tax, which is also known as labor money, which are not included in the "Commercial Tax Regulations".
Are these taxes still collected
This caused chaos in the government.
The government immediately sent for Zhang Fei.
We haven't even borrowed the money yet, and you're trying to cut off our source of income. You're putting our government through a torture, cutting our flesh piece by piece, and it's endless.
"I have no way."
Zhang Fei spread his hands and said, "I also really hope that the government can collect more taxes and give us more bonuses, but now some businessmen have come to the imperial court to complain that the taxes they pay are not legally enforceable.
At present, the only commercial tax law in our dynasty is the Commercial Tax Regulations established by Taizu. The court has not made any changes to it. If someone uses Taizu's law to bring such a lawsuit, how will the imperial court judge it? Are we asking the imperial court not to abide by the laws established by Taizu?"
None of the officials said a word.
Who dares to speak out
The "Commercial Tax Regulations" can be said to have been revised by Taizu and Taizong. You can disobey them, but you cannot say it out loud. If you say it out loud, it will become a very serious matter, and if not handled properly, you may even be sentenced to death!
The Royal Court will make a ruling based on the Commercial Tax Regulations, what can you say
But what about the finances
Zhang Fei added: "Our imperial court has no intention of interfering with finances, but if the government wants to collect more taxes, it must first amend the regulations. Otherwise, our imperial court will have no law to rely on, and the government will lose."
Yuan Jiang blew his beard and glared, "You really are talking without any pain in your waist."
Zhang Fei smiled bitterly and said, "It's not that my waist hurts, but my head hurts!"
Everyone looked at Zhang Fei coldly, as if asking, do you think you are humorous
Before one problem was solved, another one arose. The matter was still under negotiation when Su Che suddenly arrived with several prosecutors.
"Judge Zhang is here too?"
When Su Che saw Zhang Fei, he was stunned.
Zhang Fei said, "I came here to discuss something with Prefect Cai and Scholar Yuan."
Wei Yingfang was even more nervous when he saw that they had not made an appointment. What had happened? So he took the initiative to ask, "Prosecutor Su, what can I do for you?"
Su Che said: "It is like this. We heard that the Ministry of Grain and Oil will issue a salt bond of one million strings of cash, so we came here to investigate. What is the basis for your issuance of a salt bond of one million strings of cash? Why do you want to issue it?"
After hearing this, Yuan Jiang was furious. "What does our Transportation Bureau's issuance of salt bonds have to do with your procuratorate? Don't go too far."
Zhang Fei quickly stood up and distanced himself from the matter, saying, "This matter has nothing to do with our imperial court. You guys talk, I'm leaving first."
"Please sit down first."
Yuan Jiang pointed at Zhang Fei and said.
Zhang Fei was startled and sat back awkwardly, looking aggrieved.
Su Che replied: "For the government to suddenly issue such a large amount of debt, our procuratorate must of course exercise its prosecutorial power. After all, it is not you who have to pay the money back, but the national treasury, which involves national interests."
"Why did we issue salt debt? Aren't we forced to do so by you? You want to investigate, right? Go ahead and investigate. I won't care. If I can't pay you, you will have to bear the consequences."
After saying that, Yuan Jiang waved his sleeves and left angrily.
He Chunlin, Cao Yi and other officials from the Transportation Bureau also stood up and left, leaving only Cai Yanqing, Wei Yingfang and other government officials.
Zhang Fei touched his nose and muttered, "You let me sit down and ran away. How rude of you!"
Cai Yanqing knew it was time for him to take action. He asked Su Che to sit down first, and then said, "Chief Prosecutor Su, we have no choice but to issue salt bonds. The government is indeed very short of money now."
Su Zhe nodded and said, "How could I not know this..."
Before he could finish, Wei Yingfang angrily asked, "Why are you here to investigate?"
Su Che said, "I am just following the routine. The government issuing salt debts is of course allowed, but why is it issuing so much? Is there any evidence? And whether the government has a plan for repayment? According to the laws of our ancestors, we should take precautions and make rules. Any system must be carefully considered."
Wei Yingfang was speechless for a moment and couldn't help but look at Zhang Fei again.
You two must have discussed it, one is Taizu's "Commercial Tax Regulations" and the other is the ancestral law.
Can we still have a good chat later
Are those unwritten rules still useful
There was no other way, Cai Yanqing could only take out the relevant accounts and hand them over to Su Che, and stated that their debt was based on the recent increase in expenditures, and the entire repayment plan was based on disarmament.
It’s just that disarmament will not take effect immediately, and it also requires payment of a sum of money. However, it is expected that fiscal expenditure will be reduced on a large scale in the following year, which will be enough to pay off the money by then.
It is well-founded.
But Su Che still took the relevant accounts back to the procuratorate for study as usual.
However, this greatly angered the government.
You keep saying that politics and law are unrelated, but in the end, your public security, procuratorial and judicial departments interfere with administration everywhere.
After the procuratorate's investigation, the government officials will have to be extremely cautious about how many clerks there are and how much money they should get. They cannot just set salaries at will, and those with connections will be further supervised.
At this time, news suddenly came from the capital that the court would appoint Han Jiang as the Shaanxi Road Surveillance Commissioner to investigate the Qingmiao Law ban case.
The morale of the government was immediately boosted!
Because according to the system of the Song Dynasty, envoys had the greatest power. Since Han Jiang came to investigate this case, his power must be above that of the public security, procuratorate and courts.
“Okay, okay!”
Yuan Jiang was very excited and said, "Let's just be patient for now and not bother with them. When Han Xianggong comes here, we will teach them a lesson."
Wei Yingfang, Cao Yi, He Chunlin and others couldn't help but look at each other, all with happy expressions on their faces.
Their plan finally succeeded.
Han Jiang is Wang Anshi's man, and he is definitely here to overturn the verdict. As long as the imperial court's verdict can be annulled, the authority of the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs will inevitably be greatly reduced.
This elbow is definitely not stronger than the thigh.
At this time, Zhuo Qun suddenly came to the hall and said, "Reporting to the governor Cai and the scholar Yuan, some merchants are buying salt debts today."
"really?"
Cai Yanqing said happily.
Zhuo Qun nodded and said, "It is absolutely true. The Ministry of Grain and Oil has already sold 10,000 strings of salt debt."
So many
Everyone was overjoyed when they heard this!
This is truly a blessing in disguise, a double happiness!
Wei Yingfang suddenly asked curiously, "No one was interested in buying it before, and not even a penny of salt debt was sold. Why are there so many people coming to buy it today?"
“This is because… because…”
Zhuo Qun seemed to have something to hide and stammered.
Cai Yanqing was also very curious and asked anxiously: "Why is it so? Tell me!"
Zhuo Qun said: "It is said that they were relieved to buy salt bonds because they learned that the procuratorate had investigated the issuance of salt bonds."
"... ... .?"
The whole hall was instantly filled with awkwardness.