There is no perfect system in this world, but the construction of any system is like building a house. Only with a solid foundation can the house be solid.

Especially the construction of the legal system, which must not be rushed.

Any law that is enacted hastily may cause permanent damage to the country.

In late summer and early autumn, cicadas shed their shells and stop chirping.

The butterflies flying in the air turned into slowly falling leaves.

Everything seems quiet, beautiful and comfortable. Everything is so poetic and picturesque.

After several fierce struggles in the summer, the imperial court finally gained a firm foothold in Hezhong Prefecture, and the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs gradually got back on track.

Official duties also became extremely busy.

The four little warriors also changed from being resentful in the beginning to being fully committed at this moment. The breath of law along with the fragrance of paper and ink permeated every corner of the imperial court.

Zhang Fei, who had just come out of the small lake, was now wrapped in an outer coat, sitting in the pavilion, carefully reviewing the petition handed over by Cai Bian and others.

...

...

He asked Cai Bian and others to read it first, write down their own thoughts on the verdict, and then hand it over.

This is also their homework.

"What do you think of their verdict?"

Xu Zhiqian asked with a hint of gossip.

But Zhang Fei's answer was still depressing.

"Just passed you!"

"?"

Xu Zhiqian curled her lips and said, "What do you mean by that?"

Zhang Fei glanced at her and smiled, "They were similar to you before. They often ignored objective rules and only judged what was right and wrong based on their own subjective feelings. This time, they have made some progress."

Xu Zhiqian asked, "Have I made no progress?"

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "More charming and attractive, is this considered progress?"

Xu Zhiqian immediately glared at him, "You're so smooth-talking."

After a short pause, he asked, "By the way! It seems that there has been no news from the Transportation Department for a long time. I don't know how the progress is?"

Zhang Fei chuckled and said, "Those are big things, there's no rush."

Xu Zhiqian said: "It is precisely because this is a big deal, and you are also involved in this plan, don't you plan to help?"

Zhang Fei frowned slightly, put down the petition in his hand, and said with emotion: "If it were in the past, I would probably try to find a way to help."

"Are you in your seventies or eighties now?" Xu Zhiqian couldn't help but find it funny when she saw how old he looked.

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Although I am not in my seventies or eighties, I have experienced things that many old people have never experienced. Since I became an official, I have found that everything has two sides. You can talk about it in a grandiose and perfect way, but the result may be exactly the opposite of what you imagined.

As the ancients said, "If you listen to both sides, you will be enlightened; if you listen to only one side, you will be confused." There is no absolutely correct voice in this world. I can only provide them with some technical support, but they will definitely consider it more carefully than I do. "

Xu Zhiqian thought for a while, "Are you referring to Master Wang and Master Sima?"

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "They have given me great inspiration, so I will try my best to do what I am good at."

He picked up another complaint and shook it.

Although he had a broader vision and more advanced policies, the struggle between Wang Anshi and Sima Guang made him understand that what you think is perfect may not necessarily be perfect, but may be full of loopholes.

In terms of non-judicial policies, he only puts forward some ideas, but he generally does not interfere in how to implement them. He only relies on the judiciary to provide checks and balances to ensure that reforms do not cross this bottom line.

Xu Zhiqian nodded and asked, "When do you plan to open the court?"

Zhang Fei said: "Now is the busy farming season. We will resume the trial after the autumn harvest and try to resolve all the cases before the cold winter comes."

Just then, Li Si came over and said, "Third brother, Scholar Sima sent a letter."

Zhang Fei and Xu Zhiqian's hearts skipped a beat at the same time.

Why did Sima Guang suddenly send a message?

Could it be.

Li Si handed over a small square wooden box.

Could there be a hidden weapon inside? Zhang Fei carefully opened the wooden box and saw a letter inside. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he opened it.

Xu Zhiqian asked hurriedly: "What did the letter say?"

Zhang Fei said: "Sima Xueshi probably didn't see through it. The letter was full of praise for me."

As he spoke, he handed the letter to Xu Zhiqian, then picked up the small wooden box, examined it for a moment, and said with a smile, "It's really elegant to put a letter in a wooden box."

After hearing this, Xu Zhiqian frowned slightly, "Is there only a letter inside?"

Zhang Fei nodded and knocked inside again. "There is no secret box, so there should be only a letter. I don't expect Sima Xueshi to send me a gift. I might as well find a way to pick the surplus food from heaven."

Xu Zhiqian couldn't help but mutter, "But even letters between scholars don't require this kind of attention! Besides, Scholar Sima is famous for his simplicity!"

Zhang Fei said: "This wooden box looks cheap and rough, not even as good as the wooden box used for delivering meals at Baifan Building. It is very much in line with the style of Sima Xueshi."

Xu Zhiqian put down the letter and said, "Show it to me."

Zhang Fei immediately handed the wooden box to Xu Zhiqian.

Xu Zhiqian took a closer look and said, "It seems that Master Sima has seen through your plan."

Zhang Fei was shocked. "What do you mean?"

Xu Zhiqian pointed at the carvings on the wooden box and asked, "Look, what is this?"

Zhang Fei took a closer look and found an open window.

Xu Zhiqian smiled and said, "Master Sima is hinting at your being good at dealing with people."

Zhang Fei asked, "Is this true? What does this have to do with Bamian Linglong? Shouldn't you give me Yu Linglong?"

Xu Zhiqian rolled her eyes and said, "I told you to read more books but you didn't listen. The phrase 八面靈隆 comes from the poem "Fude Pengzulou Sending Yang Dezong Back to Xuzhou" by the Tang Dynasty poet Lu Lun. 四房八窗明,玲隆逼上清. It means the windows are bright and spacious. Although there are no four doors and eight windows in this pattern, if you look closely, the windows have four grids and eight pages, and the paint is very bright, the meaning is already very obvious."

"So that's what happened."

Zhang Fei suddenly realized, and then asked: "Then what does he mean?"

Xu Zhiqian glanced at the letter again and said, "The content of this letter is to praise you for gaining a foothold in Hezhong Prefecture so quickly. In other words, he also knows that the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are the biggest beneficiaries of this matter. I think he just wants to mock you and hint that he knows your entire plan."

“That’s his style.”

Zhang Fei was relieved a little. In fact, he had thought that he would be able to break Sima Guang's vision. After all, those people were not easy to deal with. But it was not the first time he did this. He was not very scared. As long as he could hide it from others, it would be fine. Suddenly he said, "Who asked you to read so many books? Otherwise, we wouldn't understand it. That would make him angry to death. Do you believe it?"

"Shame on you."

Xu Zhiqian spat and looked at him with deep contempt.

"Who said that?"

Zhang Fei snorted, "It's rude not to reciprocate. I have to write a letter to satirize him."

Xu Zhiqian was immediately frightened and said, "Forget about your writing style."

"Aren't you here?" Zhang Fei said, "Help me think of some poem, article, or gift that can be used to metaphorically represent constipation. Toilet? This expression may not be clear, how about putting a lid on it?"

"????"

It was indeed as Zhang Fei said, this was not the first time he had done this. Sima Guang was just angry, but he would not abandon Zhang Fei. Before Zhang Fei set out, he was very worried. He also knew that it was not easy for Zhang Fei to gain a foothold so quickly.

The key is that the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs have no authority and cannot curb new laws, and the Qingmiao Law will definitely be passed.

But Sima Guang didn't want to pretend to be kept in the dark, so he had to satirize Zhang Fei a few times.

At this time, Sima Guang had no time to think about Zhang Fei anymore. Yuan Jiang's memorial had just been approved, and the memorials from Wang Shao and Guo Kui came one after another.

If there are any changes to military and political matters, the highest decision must be made by the imperial court.

And this time Wang Shao was going to use the ancestral law, that is, the garrison law.

This can be said to be one of the core contents of the Northern Song Dynasty's military system.

"One time, another time."

This time Wang Anshi did not let Lu Huiqing take the lead. After Sima Guang expressed his concerns, he stood up immediately and said, "The garrison law was enacted at the beginning of the founding of the country. At that time, the priority was to stabilize the country and eliminate the malpractices of the previous dynasty, so the garrison law was implemented. But now the country has stabilized, and the biggest threat comes from foreign enemies.

However, the garrison rotation system has caused a sharp decline in our army's combat effectiveness and caused great internal friction. It is really not suitable for the current situation, and the court should make timely adjustments.

If we want to get rid of the problem of redundant soldiers, we must cut our military forces. However, hasty cuts may result in the enemy taking advantage of the situation. Therefore, we must improve our military's combat effectiveness. Therefore, we must change the garrison rotation method. Otherwise, our military's combat effectiveness cannot be improved, and there is no way to talk about disarmament.

The drawbacks of this have been clearly stated in Wang Jinglüe’s memorial.”

This time, facing Wang Anshi's strength, Wen Yanbo, Fu Bi and others remained silent.

This is indeed true.

The garrison system is entirely for internal use, but now border wars are frequent and the troops are attacked from both sides. In addition, the combat effectiveness is worrying, which indirectly affects the country's finances, administration, and even the livelihoods of the people.

It can be said to be the root of all evil.

Zhao Xu nodded and asked, "I wonder what method you have to eliminate this abuse?"

Wang Anshi immediately said: "First, reduce the organization of our army. Change the previous four-level organization of the imperial army, namely, the wing, army, camp, and capital, to the three-level organization of general, department, and team. First, the generals can know their soldiers, and the soldiers can know their generals. Second, in the process of merging the army and camp, the weak ones can be eliminated.

Secondly, each general can have two positions, a chief and a deputy, and experienced generals can be selected to train soldiers specifically, and the prefectures and counties to which they belong cannot interfere in military and political affairs.

Finally, we should reward soldiers with courtesy and righteousness, and not make them unhappy. Therefore, we should abolish the tattoo system, give soldiers more respect, and ensure that military pay and rewards are paid in full and on time. "

He spoke eloquently, and it was obvious that he had thought about it a long time ago. This had nothing to do with Zhang Fei, as Zhang Fei knew nothing about disarmament.

This is a very important law in Wang Anshi's reform, which is also the military strategy. Originally, it would be followed by the Baojia Law and the Baoma Law, which is a complete set of strategies to strengthen the army, but now the police station is in conflict with the Baojia Law and the Baoma Law, so he decided not to talk about it for the time being and see if the police station can meet his requirements.

Sima Guang questioned: "In this case, how can we prevent local generals from monopolizing power?"

Wang Anshi said anxiously: "How can it be so easy to monopolize power? The military governors of the Tang Dynasty were able to rule a region because they held the three major powers of finance, military affairs, and administration.

We are only returning military and political affairs to the generals. The administration cannot interfere with military and political affairs, but the military and political affairs cannot interfere with the administration either. At the same time, the finances are still in the hands of the three departments. If the military pay is sufficient, how could the soldiers follow those generals to rebel? You must not forget that according to Yuan Xue Shi's reform plan, the soldiers' families all go to the Tizhu Changping Division to collect their military pay.

Military pay no longer enters the barracks, and soldiers only need to obey military orders. If a general wants to deduct a soldier's pay, he needs to explain to the Ministry of Grain and Oil. Soldiers do not need to rely on the general for survival. At the same time, there is a military court to check and balance them. The benefits far outweigh the harm. "

Fu Bi nodded slightly.

In fact, he was opposed to this, because the root of this idea had many similarities with the military and political reforms he and Fan Zhongyan envisioned during the Qingli period.

In addition, now we have a two-pronged approach. Although the power of the generals has been enhanced, it is limited to military and political affairs. The Transportation Bureau, which is in charge of finance, has become more powerful. At the same time, there is also the Military Imperial Court in charge of military law, which seems to be able to better restrict it.

Wen Yanbo said: "What Wang Xueshi said makes sense. The garrison rotation method is ultimately for the interior, while Wang Xueshi's method is more focused on the exterior. So we can implement this method first in the northwest and north. After all, those areas are more concerned about external enemies. If we don't move in the south, it will also stabilize the rear."

He also agreed, but he also felt that we should seek stability within change. The granary is in the south and there can be no chaos there. The key is that the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs have not yet completely established their foothold.

Compared with Song Renzong, Zhao Xu was obviously more courageous. He was even more eager to strengthen the army than Wang Anshi. In fact, it was because of this that the monarch and his ministers were able to "fall in love at first sight". Their final demands were completely consistent. They immediately decided: "Just follow what Duke Wen said, and temporarily implement it in the northwest and north. The matter is fully handed over to the Regulations Office of the Two Prefectures."

Wang Anshi bowed and said, "I obey your command."

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