Although Wang Anshi had a stubborn character, he was by no means a reckless man. He had a very clear judgment of the entire situation. He would not ignore the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs and act on his own just because he was impulsive or angered by Ouyang Xiu.
However, he knew that, judging from the current situation in the court, if he continued to cooperate with the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, the new policy would become extremely precarious, because the voices of opposition to the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs within the reformist faction were growing louder and louder, and finance was the country's problem. This was also Zhao Xu's greatest expectation for him, as civil and military achievements cost money.
On the contrary, leaving aside the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems, it is possible to gain the support of local officials. At this moment, this effect is better than using the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems to govern officials.
However, he still made a small misjudgment in this process.
He believed that the success of the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems in Bianliang and Hezhong Prefecture depended entirely on Zhang Fei's personal abilities, rather than the entire system of public security, procuratorial and judicial systems.
This judgment mainly came from the fact that he had many secret correspondences with Zhang Fei. He knew very well why the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs were able to gain a foothold in Hezhong Prefecture. It was not about fairness and justice. That was only on the surface. In fact, Zhang Fei used many tricks to create this illusion.
Of course, he admired Zhang Fei very much and believed that Zhang Fei's talents could indeed help his new policies, but he did not think that the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs could bring much benefit to his new policies.
Without Zhang Fei, the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems would not have been successful, and Fan Chunren and Su Shi are the best proof of this.
Therefore, after some consideration, he believed that leaving aside the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs now would bring more benefits than disadvantages. He could use the officials' concerns about the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs to unite them around him and complete the reform.
This was actually something he had thought of a long time ago. The reformists have been using this to divide the conservatives and expand their own power, and have achieved great success so far.
Ouyang Xiu's memorial only accelerated the whole process.
If you were to ask who was the real master of fanning the flames in history, no matter how you rank them, Ouyang Xiu would definitely be on the list. Otherwise, the credibility of the list would definitely be questionable.
He was always able to hold the torch, find the fuse accurately, and then light the fuse inadvertently, but it was difficult to tell that he did it on purpose, because he always blew up his own people, leaving the enemies standing in the distance looking at each other in confusion.
That's the best part.
During the New Deal of Qingli, his article on factionalism directly pushed the party struggles of the time to a climax and ultimately led to the failure of the New Deal of Qingli. He was a complete pig teammate.
But even Fan Zhongyan and Fu Bi didn't know what to say.
Because what Ouyang Xiu said makes a lot of sense.
In fact, from that article on factions, we can even see the political system of modern society.
I’m afraid that geniuses will tell the truth.
At this moment, Ouyang Xiu's memorial was like a gunshot, and the dispute between the two methods began to sprint on the track.
He did not do it on purpose. He had been staying in Qingzhou in recent years, enjoying a leisurely life and had no intention of returning to the central government. However, he strongly opposed the Qingmiao Law. Like Sima Guang and others, he believed that the Qingmiao Law would eventually become an evil law for making money, because he also knew that Wang Anshi's main purpose was to make money for the country, and serving the people was just a slogan.
However, he did not know much about the public security, procuratorate and courts, because the public security, procuratorate and courts in nearby Dengzhou seemed to be silent. He just wanted to find a reason to prevent the Qingmiao Law from entering Qingzhou.
But the reason he found directly set off the powder keg.
Wang Anshi's hatred for him directly exceeded that of Sima Guang.
However, Fu Bi knew very well that this matter would definitely anger Wang Anshi, but he also wanted to add fuel to the fire because he believed that the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs could make up for the shortcomings of the new policy. However, Wang Anshi obviously did not think so. If he could realize this problem earlier, he could have made timely adjustments.
But he also knew that Wang Anshi had a very stubborn character, and he would not agree unless the facts were made clear to him.
Based on the situation in Hezhong Prefecture, Fu Bi now supports the new law to go its own way, because he believes that there will be problems with the new policy, which will prove the excellence of the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments. Fu Bi knows very well that the obstacles they are facing now are gradually becoming greater than those of the new policy.
Even if Sima Guang wanted to push for full enforcement of the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems, he actually couldn't do it because there were more and more opposition parties in the court and the current situation in the court was very complicated.
However, Fu Bi was afraid of Wang Anshi's revenge and worried that the Legislative Council would be involved, so he kept silent.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Xu eventually told Wang Anshi about this matter.
Although in history, Zhao Xu fully supported Wang Anshi, the appearance of Zhang Fei gave him one more choice and one more person at the table. What Fu Bi thought was also what he thought.
It just so happens that one method is on Shaanxi West Road, and the other method is on Tokyo East Road.
One on the left, one on the right, one on the east, one on the west.
The implementation methods adopted by the two were also diametrically opposed. Wang Anshi still adopted the traditional method, which was to rely on administrative orders from the government to promote the new policy.
He specially selected two generals, Lu Huiqing and Zhang Dun, as officials to go to the eastern route of Tokyo to implement the Qingmiao Law.
In Hezhong Prefecture, due to the existence of the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, the administration was greatly restricted, and the government turned to operating the new policies in a commercial manner.
Of course, this was not an uncommon thing for the Song Dynasty. For example, tea, salt, and wine were all cooperation between the government and private merchants, and it was more of a commercial cooperation. The only difference was that the government sold privileges, not commodities.
However, the cooperation between the government and Majia Jiekupu still caught many people by surprise.
As a representative of the gentry and landlords, Liang Youyi hurried to Wei's house to inquire about the situation.
The gentry and big landowners won a great victory in the last ban lawsuit, and they are now just waiting to see what happens. They never thought that the government would actually cooperate with the businessmen. This was really beyond their expectations, and they don’t know what happened in the process.
"Does your government really intend to cooperate with Ma's Jiekupu?"
Liang Youyi looked at Wei Yingfang in shock.
Wei Yingfang nodded and said, "According to what Yuan Xueshi meant, the Ministry of Revenue will only be responsible for relief, water conservancy, salt debts, and salt notes, but the lending will be delegated to the Ma family's Jiekupu."
"Will this work?"
Liang Youyi was a little dumbfounded. "The Qingmiao Law is not a new national policy. How can it be handed over to businessmen to do it?"
He Chunlin sighed, "Mr. Yuan's reason is that this is all because of the pressure from you gentry. Anyway, the Transportation Bureau has completely given up lending to villagers, and at the same time hopes to lend money to merchants and house and land loans, just like the mortgage loans in the capital, in order to complete the achievements of the Qingmiao Law."
"Did we really force you to do that?"
Liang Youyi frowned and said, "Do you think this is just a false move? They don't intend to lend money to the farmers, but use this as an excuse for us to lend money to the farmers at a low interest rate so that they can report to the court, while the government will lend the money to merchants with higher profits."
Cao Yi frowned and said, "We have thought about this, but the regulations of the Qingmiao Law were formulated by the court. Moreover, although lending to merchants has high profits, the number of borrowers is very limited, so we can't make too much."
Liang Youyi asked, "Since this is the court's policy, then isn't it a violation of the government's order if the government does this?"
Cao Yi shook his head and sighed, "It's hard to say, because the court has not stipulated how the government must lend money, and Yuan Xueshi said that the government's lending has caused many complaints from the scholars and officials, who believe that this is competing with the people for profits, so they use the private Jiekupu to lend money. This makes sense. In the end, we can only know after the Han Temple incident comes. "
Liang Youyi looked at them, "What should we do now?"
Wei Yingfang and others looked at each other, not knowing what to do.
In fact, the two parties are still discussing the audit. If the government is unwilling to let them audit, the Ma family's Jiekupu will not accept the salt debt as collateral.
However, after the news spread, it immediately caused an uproar.
Especially those big landlords, they thought they were being played, the Qingmiao Law and the Exemption from Labor Service Law were just attempts to cover up their crimes, the real trump card was the Commissioner of Taxation.
The fundamental purpose of the government is to collect taxes, or to be more precise, to collect taxes from these big landowners.
They were all moneylenders, and they knew very well how much money they could make by lending money to merchants. The answer they came to was that it was impossible to improve the finances.
The only person who can improve the finances is the mysterious, arrogant and terrifying Commissioner of Taxation.
However, they still owe a large amount of stamp duty, and they will face the consolidation of various taxes this year. They are trying to find ways to circumvent this tax.
Unfortunately, due to the existence of the public security, procuratorate and courts, the previous routines could no longer be used, because there was no way to bribe the entire public security, procuratorate and courts, not to mention that their relationship with the public security, procuratorate and courts was very bad. Just at this time, the bookstore rose, and they gradually got used to seeking help from spies, so they came to Li Min again to discuss countermeasures.
Although this was not the first time they had dealt with each other, after all, they were discussing illegal matters, so everyone was more vague in their comments. After all, Li Min was not one of them.
Li Min listened for a long time before she understood and said directly: "You guys probably want to avoid taxes legally, right?"
The landlords were shocked. Can they just say this? The imperial court is outside!
Li Min explained: "Legal tax avoidance is legal, and there is nothing to worry about, just like people deposited their land in temples and Taoist temples before."
"Yes, yes, we just want to seek legal tax avoidance."
As a result, these big landowners felt relieved and admitted it directly.
Li Min said: "At present, we can only provide you with advice. The only way is to accurately calculate your income and not pay a penny more in tax. However, if you want to legally avoid taxes, it is probably still difficult."
"How difficult is it?"
"The tax commissioner only has the power to inspect taxes, but whether or not there is tax evasion is still determined by the Royal Court, which mainly looks at the evidence. From a judicial perspective, income that has not been inspected does not need to be taxed, but there is also a three-year deadline. As long as you can ensure that it is not inspected within three years, it is considered legal tax evasion.
The key lies in the evidence, but now no one knows how the tax commissioner conducts tax inspections. They are not like the Royal Police, who conduct investigations openly. No one knows where their evidence comes from.
A big landowner suddenly said, "I know that."
Li Min was surprised and asked, "You know?"
The big landlord nodded and said, "They recruited the tax collectors and some captains in the military camp, hoping to rely on their experience to check the taxes."
Is it that simple? Li Mindu didn't quite believe it, so he said, "I don't know, so I can't guarantee that you won't be found."
One person asked: "What would happen if they were caught?"
Li Min said: "Then we can only plead guilty and accept the punishment."
"Don't you have any other ideas?"
"There is only one way to pay less tax."
"any solution?"
"do charity."
Li Min told them about the Bian Jing Charity Foundation.
The result immediately aroused fierce opposition from the other party. They said that the money was a real donation, not a fake donation, and it could not be taken back at any time, so it would be better to pay taxes.
Li Min naturally did not force them, and only said: "At present, what we can do is to ensure that you are not wrongly accused. As long as they do not have enough evidence, they cannot make you pay taxes."
What he meant was that if they tried to legally evade taxes through temples as they had done before, the ear-pen did not have the ability to do so for the time being, because they did not know how the tax commissioner would find evidence. Once the evidence was found, the case would definitely be lost. Regarding this point, Zhang Fei had actually hinted to them what the attitude of the royal court would be in dealing with tax evasion.
Simply put, this kind of government would be extremely difficult to defeat.
These big landowners looked at each other in confusion. Was this really the only option they could take
Li Min saw this and said, "I would like to advise you all that if you are not absolutely sure, don't gamble. Once the evidence is found, the consequences will be very serious. You must have heard that many wealthy people in Beijing fell into the hands of the Tax Commissioner."
"I heard that the first offender will not be punished. If we only underpay a few dozen guan of taxes, then the maximum fine will be a few hundred guan."
"I know what you mean, Master. Yes, according to the imperial court's decree, whether you did it intentionally or unintentionally, as long as you are the first offender, you will only be fined. But I still don't recommend that you do this, because once you are caught, if you are not the first offender, the consequences will be very serious."
The big landlords exchanged glances with each other. As long as the government's finances were not good, it was unknown whether the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs could survive until the next year!
Xu Qingnian suddenly asked, "Oh, right! Do you know about the cooperation between the government and the Ma family's Jiekupu?"
Li Min nodded and said, "I heard about it."
Xu Qingnian said: "The government cooperates with the Ma family's Jieku shop and leaves all business to the Ma family. What will happen to the other Jieku shops in the city? Who can compete with the Ma family's Jieku shop?"
Li Min suddenly had an idea, and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "If you have any needs in this regard, I can sue them for this."
When the others heard this, they immediately expressed their intention to sue.
Xu Qingnian said this because his family also ran a warehouse and he was worried that his business would be affected. Although the others did not run a warehouse, they were willing to try as long as they could cause trouble for the government.
Just at this moment, the sound of gongs and drums suddenly came from outside.
"What's that noise?"
Everyone looked panicked.
Li Min hurriedly explained: "This is the sound of the law school get out of class ending."
He laughed secretly in his heart. Although these people were arrogant in words, they were still very afraid of the imperial court in their hearts.
... ...
School of Law.
“You are the luckiest students. You can work and study at the same time. You can quickly master what you have learned. So we hope that you will do your best whether you are helping in the Legal Aid Department, the Royal Court or the police station. This will be the most precious wealth in your life.”
Zhang Fei spoke to the students while tidying up the documents.
"Students should remember the teacher's teachings in their hearts."
"get out of class dismissed."
Zhang Fei took the documents and walked outside.
"Teacher, take care."
The students all stood up and bowed.
"Um."
Zhang Fei just nodded slightly, stood in front of the door, and looked at the crowd outside. "Everyone, please make way."
There is no way. Judge Zhang is now a national idol. No matter whether he is in court or teaching, there will always be a group of loyal fans standing outside and listening quietly.
"Judge Zhang, when will your trial be held?"
"Yes! We haven't watched Judge Zhang's trial for a long time."
... ...
"What? Didn't Cai Er and the others do a bad job in the trial?"
"They did a good job, but we still hope to see Judge Zhang try the case."
"If there is a major case, I will try it myself."
Zhang Fei smiled and nodded.
During this period, he has been taking classes at the law school. On the one hand, these students all have a background in law and have learned the basic knowledge of legal system last year. It is also time for Zhang Fei to teach them some ideas of legal system and some more advanced trial methods.
On the other hand, it is because the Four Little Kings have not had time to teach them recently. After all, they will have to go out and be independent soon, and they need to absorb experience as quickly as possible.
They now have to hear more than ten or twenty cases every day, because many people now come to the imperial court to sue for trivial disputes. Now everyone agrees that the imperial court is the most fair, and even if they are unreasonable, they will not be punished. At most, the case will be rejected. The key is that it doesn't cost money.
Justice is undoubtedly the cheapest commodity in Hezhong Prefecture.
Zhang Fei did not stop this situation. He asked them to take several students each and interrogate all the cases, regardless of their size.
At present, the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are in urgent need of talents, but there is not much time to give them. The method of master-apprentice relationship is the fastest.
After graduating from law school, Zhang Fei did not rush back to the imperial court, but went to Big Dog's restaurant.
Da Gou immediately came forward and took Zhang Fei to a private room.
"What's the situation outside now?"
After sitting down, Zhang Fei asked in a low voice.
Big Dog said: "Now many big landlords outside generally believe that the tax commissioner is the biggest enemy, and they are all trying to avoid taxes. In many transactions, they try not to choose to sign a contract and directly trade money and goods. However, this practice has become increasingly difficult. Many merchants still require a contract to specify the distribution of profits and debts.
Our people think that they will choose to conceal some taxes to see if the tax department can find out. Anyway, the first offender will not be punished, so they just need to figure out how much they will have to pay in the end."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "There is nothing wrong with their prediction. The government should collect taxes to maintain finances. The new policy is just to adjust expenditures and incomes and generate more tax revenues. Are you sure?"
Big Dog suddenly grinned, "Don't worry, Judge Zhang. They can't escape. They are all wealthy and powerful, and they can't hide. In this year, we have enough people to investigate them thoroughly."
The people in the Taxation Department all make their fortunes from bonuses. Who would care about how much tax the people have to pay? They really just do random checks to give some deterrence, and all the attention is focused on these wealthy people.
"Just have faith."
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "I came here today because I have something to tell you. Did you know that the court has decided to implement the exemption law and the Qingmiao law in Dongjing East Road?"
Big Dog nodded and said, "I just heard about it too. It hasn't been decided yet."
Zhang Fei asked, "How many people do I have over there?"
Big Dog said immediately, "We have so many talented people over there, but we have never been able to use them. We are really looking forward to our tax commissioner coming over every day."
"Not urgent!"
Zhang Fei said, "Let them secretly gather information. When the tax commissioner goes there, their information can be exchanged for bonuses. In addition, the lean season is coming soon, and I estimate that the Qingmiao Law will definitely be implemented in Dongjing East Road during this period. I need to receive the news from there as soon as possible, especially the implementation of the exemption law and the Qingmiao Law in the local area."
The big dog immediately said, "Got it! I'll send a message later."
Now Zhang Fei can no longer limit his attention to Hezhong Prefecture, but must cast his sights across the country, because the real competition between the two laws has begun, and he must pay attention to the situation in the court. He is no longer the spy of the past who only needs someone to protect him, and no powerful person will risk his life for him. But now he is a chief judge and has offended too many people. In this struggle, he cannot afford to lose.
... ... .
After several days of discussion, the government and the Ma family's Jie Ku Pu finally decided on an audit plan for both parties and reached a cooperation agreement. The government will first invest 20,000 strings of cash in the Jie Ku Pu, and also promised to invest another 10,000 strings of cash in the future.
But just as the contract was signed, Su Che arrived.
"Hey! What wind brought Chief Prosecutor Su here today?"
When seeing Su Zhe, Yuan Jiang naturally wouldn't show any disapproval, which shows that his acting skills are always online.
Su Zhe bowed and said, "I'm so sorry! I'm here to trouble Master Yuan again."
The officials present couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts.
Yuan Jiang frowned, "What's the matter again?"
Su Che said, "Someone has accused you of secretly dealing with the Ma family's Jieku Shop."
"... ... ?"
He Chunlin on the side said, "Secretary dealing? We are only cooperating with the Ma family's Jiekupu when we promote the Changping Division. Everyone knows this. How can there be any secret dealing? Are you too idle in the procuratorate? There are so many things going on in the people's lives, but you don't pay attention to them, and you only focus on our Transportation Division."
Yuan Jiang first raised his hand to signal He Chunlin to calm down, and then asked Su Zhe: "What evidence do they have to accuse us of private transactions?"
Su Che said: "The reason for their lawsuit is that the Ministry of Revenue suddenly chose to cooperate with the Ma family and did not ask other warehouses. Before that, they had never even heard of these things. In addition, the Ministry of Revenue also invested 20,000 strings of cash. They think this is unfair and there must be something fishy going on."
He Chunlin said: "Who our government cooperates with is our own business, no one else can interfere."
Su Che said, "We, the procuratorate, have no control over who the government cooperates with, but we have the right to investigate why the Ma family's Jiekupu was chosen as the director of the Changping Division. You all should know that this kind of money transaction is the easiest to breed corruption. If someone expresses doubt, we, the procuratorate, cannot sit idly by."
He Chunlin looked at Yuan Jiang.
Yuan Jiang sighed and waved his hand, saying, "Go ahead and check! Go ahead and check! I'm tired now and don't want to argue with you guys."
Originally, they thought that the procuratorate was just asking questions, but they didn't expect that the procuratorate is now in a complete form, and the procuratorate's prosecution procedures were all set by Zhang Fei.
More than ten prosecutors and seven or eight accountants questioned the officials involved in the matter one by one. They also reviewed the relevant accounts and the contract between the government and the Ma family's Jieku Shop one by one.
They even called Fan Zheng to interrogate him together.
This made the officials tremble with fear.
Fortunately, they had sufficient reasons for cooperating with Majia Jiekupu, and no one took advantage of the situation.
First of all, behind the Ma family's Jie Ku Pu is the Ma family's pawnshop and charity foundation. They have sufficient financial guarantees and will never run away with the money just for a mere 20,000 strings of cash.
Having said that, it would be rare to find someone who would not be tempted by 20,000 strings of cash!
Secondly, the imperial court and the charity foundation already have cooperation in transportation, so it makes sense to strengthen cooperation with them and hand over the flying money business to them.
Because if you don’t have transportation guarantees, you won’t be able to make it.
Finally, and most importantly, Yuan Jiang also stated that the government does not object to cooperating with other merchants. As long as they can meet the requirements for cooperation with the government, including transport teams, any merchant can cooperate with the government. The main thing is to have collateral.
After seven full days of investigation, the entire review was completed and the procuratorate finally stated that there were no problems.
But for the government, this was not a false alarm, but a warning to the government. The degree of their dislike for the procuratorate was even greater than that for the imperial court.
Your procuratorate can investigate anything!
It is indeed as Su Che said, this kind of transaction is very likely to breed corruption and is also a good project for officials to make money. Now that the procuratorate is keeping such a close eye on it, who would dare to make money in the future
Faced with the investigation methods of the procuratorate, the current corruption tactics are totally inadequate.