Tokyo Bianliang.

It was the time when the court was dismissed. The officials were walking out of the imperial city in groups of three or four, chatting. However, today they were not talking about what happened in the brothels yesterday. Instead, they were discussing one thing.

That is the return of lunatic Zhang San.

"Alas, that brat is back again."

"Has it been three years? I feel like the exemption tax was imposed just yesterday."

"Even if it's three years, he doesn't have to be transferred back to the capital. He can go to Bashu or Qiongzhou to build the public security, procuratorial and judicial system. He's so young, and he's not a Jinshi, so he needs more experience."

"Why go to Qiongzhou? Most of Shaanxi Road has not yet been built into the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs."

"Really? Then why are you in such a hurry to transfer him back?"

"It seems that it was Mr. Fu who suggested that he go to the Legislative Council to explain some of the judgments."

"I heard that the government has not revoked his position as the chief judge of Shaanxi Road. Maybe he will have to go back after some time."

...

...

"You're overthinking this. I heard that Zhang San was transferred back this time for the public security, procuratorate and courts in Qingzhou."

"Yeah?"

"Haven't you heard that the Qingzhou Public Security Bureau, Procuratorate and Court are in trouble?"

At this time, two people came out of a government office they were passing by. They all shut their mouths at the same time, bowed to the two people, and left.

These two people were Lu Huiqing and Deng Wan.

Deng Wan glanced at those people and said to Lu Huiqing, "Logically speaking, Zhang San has rushed back as fast as he can, so we should have known his whereabouts, but for now, there is no news at all."

Lu Huiqing knew clearly that it was he who wrote to Zhang Fei to ask him to come back later, "even if he comes back, he may not be able to solve Qingzhou's problems."

Deng Wan nodded and said, "That's indeed possible. Maybe that guy is delaying his return on purpose and doesn't want to get involved in this mess. Anyway, he has a very good relationship with Master Wang."

But the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are also very important to him. Lu Huiqing muttered to himself and suddenly asked, "What's the situation in Qingzhou?"

Deng Wan said: "It's very lively over there. It is said that the number of people who have gone to sue has reached 2,000 to 3,000, and 60 to 70 percent of them are related to the government. If there is a verdict, the government must be ordered to pay compensation. Now Fan Chunren and his men are still delaying, deliberately not trying these cases, and only picking on the loan sharks.

However, there were also problems, because even if the usury interest rate was reduced to a legal range, many people could not afford to pay it back. Fan Chunren and his men could only follow Zhang San's example and stop the interest rate from rising again, and let them pay in installments. But the people would have to pay taxes immediately, and after paying taxes and paying the money, they would definitely have to borrow money to live, and the people would only suffer more than before. They are now riding a tiger and it is difficult to get off the tiger!"

Without money, you can’t do anything. Everything you do will be wrong. The same is true for the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments!

Lu Huiqing smiled and asked, "Is there no money in the Qingzhou Changping Warehouse?"

Deng Wan laughed and said, "How much money can Changping Warehouse have? We can't borrow it at all. Soon, there will be problems over there."

Lu Huiqing said, "Then you can arrange for someone to talk to those big landlords and let them make trouble. It is best to deal with them before Zhang San comes back. After all, Zhang San is still the chief judge and has a good relationship with Sima Xueshi."

Deng Wan asked, "Do you still believe that Zhang San can solve Qingzhou's problems?"

Lu Huiqing said: "It is best not to cause any trouble. A quick victory will be most beneficial to us."

Deng Wan nodded and said, "I'll arrange it later."

Lu Huiqing asked: "What is the situation in other counties in Jingdong East Road?"

Deng Wan said: "The implementation of the Qingmiao Law has been very smooth. The finances of Jingdong East Road will definitely reach a higher level this year."

Lu Huiqing couldn't help but ask: "Is there no problem at all?"

Deng Wan was slightly stunned, and said awkwardly: "There are some problems, but they are harmless."

Lu Huiqing frowned and asked, "What's the problem?"

Deng Wan said: "Some wealthy households expressed dissatisfaction. Some of them shared some of the money for the young crops, and some had to guarantee for the ordinary farmers. The ordinary farmers could not pay it back, so the government had to ask them for it in the end."

Lu Huiqing snorted, "They usually evade so much tax, why don't they say anything? If the tax commissioner goes, they will probably pay even more. This money should have been paid by them. We must prevent it from causing public resentment at this time. Send them a message and ask them to keep a closer eye on it. At this critical moment, we must not make any mistakes."

"Um."

Court of trial.

"I heard that Chunren wrote to me again."

Wen Yanbo quickly walked into the hall and said to Sima Guang who was deep in thought. Behind him were Lu Gongzhe and Fu Bi.

Sima Guang nodded, handed a letter to Wen Yanbo, and said to Lu Gongzhe and Fu Bi who were looking at him inquiringly, "The problems over there are becoming more and more complicated. Even the loan sharking case cannot be tried by them."

Fu Bi asked: "Why is this?"

Sima Guang said: "Because even if the interest rate is reduced, the people will not be able to pay back the money."

Lu Gong said: "Then follow Zhang San's judgment in Hezhong Prefecture and repay it in installments."

"Even if we do that, the people will have to borrow money to pay taxes." Sima Guang sighed, "Before the police, procuratorate and courts came, the people could hide for a while, but now after the public security, procuratorate and courts have tried them, the people can't hide at all."

Lu Gong couldn't help but ask: "Are the people of Qingzhou worse than the people of Hezhong Prefecture?"

Fu Bi stroked his beard and said, "That's not the case. When Zhang San made this ruling in Hezhong Prefecture, on the one hand, it provided livelihoods for the people. On the other hand, the arrival of the tax commissioner combined multiple taxes into one tax, so the people didn't have to pay the summer tax. At the same time, the new tax law also reduced the taxes paid by the local people, so that they could repay in installments."

Sima Guang nodded and said, "That's right, but Qingzhou doesn't have a tax commissioner. At the same time, Zhang Fei's livelihood comes partly from the construction of the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, and partly from the construction of water conservancy projects in the new policy. However, all of this is related to salt notes, and Qingzhou doesn't have salt notes."

Several big guys looked at each other.

Zhang Fei was able to maneuver around in Hezhong Prefecture. There was a trick: the public security, procuratorate and courts first provided legal guarantees for the salt debts and salt banknotes, and then provided wage guarantees for ordinary people. When the government had money, it would give back to the public security, procuratorate and courts.

Of course, the adjustment of taxes also made the burden on the people very light. If they work hard, they can still pay it back. If they don’t, the imperial court will enforce it.

As soon as the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs of Qingzhou arrived, they encountered such problems. At the same time, they did not have time to promote the growth of Qingzhou's finances, and the order was wrong, so naturally things became a mess.

In general, fiscal growth is still necessary to allow people to have more livelihoods.

Lu Gong said: "Since there is no salt bill, why not issue Jiaozi?"

Fu Bi shook his head and said, "This is like trying to catch fish in a tree. It's not difficult to issue Jiaozi, but the difficulty lies in that someone has to be willing to accept it! The success of Hezhong Prefecture's salt notes is not only due to the public security, the procuratorate and the courts, but mainly because of the guarantee of the salt pond. The role played by the public security, the procuratorate and the courts is just to ensure that you can use the salt notes to buy salt at any time. But in Qingzhou, the public security, the procuratorate and the courts cannot guarantee that Jiaozi can be exchanged for currency at any time."

"That's true."

Lu Gongzhu nodded and said, "The only solution now is to reduce government spending as Fan Chunren said."

Sima Guang was also extremely conflicted.

Everyone understands the principle, but the problem is that we can’t do it!

If it were so simple, it would have been done long ago. Why wait until now? After all, during the reign of Emperor Renzong, some people had already raised the issue of the three redundancies, and people have been calling for it in recent years.

Wen Yanbo said: "If you want to blame someone, blame Zhang San. He is the one who caused all the trouble. Now he has just set out. I am afraid it is too late."

Sima Guang said hurriedly, "It's not easy for him either. He originally had no plans to come back. After all, many places in Hezhong Prefecture have not completed the construction of public security, procuratorial and judicial organs. He must have many things to arrange."

Fu Bi said: "Then let Chunren and the others delay for a while, and let Changping Warehouse provide interest-free loans to those people in need."

Wen Yanbo said: "But if we want to win, it is not to build a public security, procuratorial and judicial system in the local area, but to increase Qingzhou's finances through the public security, procuratorial and judicial system. But if we do this, it will inevitably affect Qingzhou's finances."

Fu Bi said: "There are not many people at the moment, and Qingzhou's finances can still afford it. This little money won't affect anything. Apart from this, we have no other choice!"

Sima Guang nodded slightly, "As Mr. Fu wishes, I will write a letter back to Fan Chunren immediately."

This is actually their conservative idea, to revitalize the Changping Warehouse and provide the people with ultra-low interest or even interest-free loans. This is also one of the reasons why they oppose the Qingmiao Law. They believe that the interest rate of Wang Anshi's Qingmiao Law is still too high, and the lender is still the government.

Palace.

"hehe!"

Wang Anshi laughed and said, "I have said long ago that without the support of the New Deal, the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs will not be able to move forward. But they just don't believe it. Now we are going to have a good show to watch."

Lu Huiqing said: "I have arranged for people to go there before, and try to make Qingzhou more lively."

Wang Anshi nodded and said, "Very good! Don't worry, the bigger the commotion, the better. I don't want to get entangled with them on this matter for too long."

Lu Huiqing said: "Student understands."

Wang Anshi then asked, "What about the situation in other prefectures in Jingdong East Road?"

Lu Huiqing said: "Everything went very smoothly."

Wang Anshi said, "But I heard from Zhang Dun that some local officials have used the Qingmiao Law to commit corruption and pervert the law."

Lu Huiqing nodded and said, "It is true, but there are not many cases at present, and the situation is not serious. They are all caused by some evil officials. In fact, such situations are inevitable, but those people still regard the implementation of the Qingmiao Law as their primary responsibility. At present, we still need to rely on those officials. When the overall situation is settled, we will deal with them."

Wang Anshi nodded slightly and said, "You have to keep a close eye on it. Don't let anything go wrong at this critical moment."

"yes."

After Lu Huiqing left, Wang Anshi's expression gradually became solemn. He slowly took out a secret letter from his sleeve. It was written to him by his brother Wang Anguo. He stared at it for a long time and said with emotion: "It is exactly the same as what Zhang San said."

On the other side, when Zhang Fei left Hezhong Prefecture, he neither traveled all night nor went sightseeing. Instead, he walked and stopped, traveling for a while and then stopping to rest for two days.

After walking for more than half a month, we finally arrived in Luoyang.

Here, someone was waiting for him, it was Li Bao.

As the weather had turned cold, there was only one small boat floating alone on the Luo River.

"Does our tax commissioner worship wild beasts?" Zhang Fei asked when he saw Li Bao.

Li Bao was stunned for a moment, "What do you mean, Judge Zhang?"

Zhang Fei said: "It's either Brother Leopard or Brother Dog. Maybe next time it will be Brother Chicken or Brother Tiger."

Li Bao was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter and said, "Coincidence! Coincidence! No, it's not a coincidence. All of us are from poor families, and our parents have not received much education, so we can only be given this name."

Zhang Fei laughed and said, "But these names are really suitable for our tax commissioner. There are many people in the world who are called Brother Dog and Brother Leopard. It is also easy to hide. If it is Wang Anshi or Sima Guang, it will be too conspicuous."

Li Bao didn't dare to respond.

Zhang Fei laughed and asked, "What's the situation over there now?"

Li Bao said: "The situation is very bad."

"Yeah?"

Zhang Fei asked hurriedly: "How bad is it?"

Li Bao first gave a general account of the situation in Jingdong East Road, and then continued: "Due to the guarantee system of the Qingmiao Law, ten households guarantee one household, resulting in more and more people being dragged into the Qingmiao money. The situation is precarious. We may not be able to control the situation now. If there is any disturbance, something big may happen."

"It's almost done." Zhang Fei nodded thoughtfully, and then said, "I asked you to arrange for someone to buy out the debt. How's it going?"

Li Bao said: "It will definitely go more and more smoothly, because many people really can't pay back these debts. It is very difficult to collect these debts. Those creditors are naturally willing to sell their debts to us. At present, we have collected more than 100,000 strings of cash in debts."

Zhang Fei said: "Continue to collect. You can lend out all the money you have. Try to collect small debts, and don't take large debts. At the same time, use the land you have previously settled as collateral to try to borrow more money from the government. But remember one thing, don't let anyone find out."

"I know that." Li Bao nodded.

Zhang Fei asked again: "What's the situation in Qingzhou?"

Li Bao said: "The situation in Qingzhou is not serious, but the local public security, procuratorate and courts are quite dangerous, because local officials and wealthy people are secretly encouraging everyone to file complaints with the public security, procuratorate and courts, but the local public security, procuratorate and courts dare not give the same verdict as Judge Zhang, which makes them in a dilemma and also makes the enthusiasm of local people for the public security, procuratorate and courts decrease day by day."

Zhang Fei frowned and asked, "Don't they have any countermeasures?"

"They are still dragging their feet. It seems there is no good solution." Li Bao flattered, "This still requires Judge Zhang to go."

"Don't give me that."

Zhang Fei said: "I can't solve the problem even if I go, and I can't change money, so I have to go back slowly."

Li Bao laughed and said, "I'm afraid Judge Zhang, you can't slow down any longer."

"Why?"

"Because we heard that Scholar Sima has someone keeping an eye on him in Luoyang."

“Is this true or false?”

"It's true. Someone will come to urge you soon."

Sure enough, the next day someone came to urge Zhang Fei to hurry up.

It's no wonder Sima Guang was anxious. Many people had already impeached Fan Chunren and his men. As soon as they arrived in Qingzhou, they made Qingzhou a mess. The financial support was constantly given to them, but the public security was getting worse and worse.

Once the public security, procuratorate and courts arrived, they were bogged down by thousands of lawsuits and could not spare the time to maintain public security. At the same time, the local yamen runners were slacking off, and petty thefts became even more frequent.

This also shows the role played by Cao Dongdong in Hezhong Prefecture. As soon as he arrived there, he got the support of Qin Zhongshou and others. At the same time, Zhang Fei attracted all the firepower on himself. The police station has been developing slowly and handling public security issues, so this situation has not occurred.

The officials in Qingzhou learned their lessons from their mistakes. They did the opposite and provided all kinds of support to the public security, procuratorate and courts. They really gave them everything they wanted. But secretly, they allocated part of the expenses of the yamen runners and the imperial guards to the public security, procuratorate and courts, and then encouraged them to file complaints.

He says one thing to your face and another behind your back.

Fan Chunren must have known this clearly, but the key was whether he could give the people a fair judgment in court. If he could, those public security issues would be resolved quickly.

The hardest thing right now is that I can’t give it.

Although Sima Guang sent another group of people later, they were still too busy to handle the work.

The conservatives can only attack Jingdong East Road, where the people are heavily in debt and living in poverty.

However, the financial situation of Jingdong East Road has increased significantly, so it is obvious which side Zhao Xu will lean towards.

Even if you are heavily in debt, you have gained something. Your expenses have increased a lot, but you haven't seen any results!

Under Sima Guang's urging, Zhang Fei and his party had no choice but to travel day and night. After several days, they finally arrived at the outskirts of Bian Jing.

As soon as he entered the boundary, he was stopped by someone.

It was Sima Guang.

"Ouch! Scholar Sima."

Zhang Fei got off the carriage, walked quickly forward, bowed, and looked behind Sima Guang.

Sima Guang was stunned for a moment, "What are you looking at?"

Zhang Fei said, "Sima Xueshi is here to see off those young talents who are going to Hezhong Prefecture to study public security, prosecution and law, right?"

".?"

Sima Guang coughed twice, and said with a hint of guilt: "It's not that I intentionally delayed, I was actually thinking about you."

Zhang Fei said seriously, "I'd like to hear the details."

Sima Guang looked at him awkwardly and explained seriously, "The reason why I haven't sent anyone yet is because I want to select a group of talented and well-behaved people to prevent bad apples from appearing in the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs. After all, you are alone in Hezhong Prefecture and you can't handle it all. If some people with bad intentions go there, it is very likely that your efforts will go to waste.

A person with good character will not undermine the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs even if he makes mistakes. In fact, the candidate had already been decided, but later I heard that you had trained a group of talents, so I sent them to Qingzhou. "

"So that's what's going on." Zhang Fei nodded slightly, then said, "I completely agree with what Sima Xueshi thinks."

"real?"

Sima Guang himself didn't believe it.

Zhang Fei nodded very seriously and said, "Really. For the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, talent is secondary. The key is rigor and character. This is also my experience from Hezhong Prefecture. The students of Hezhong Prefecture Court School are far less talented than Cai Bian and others, but they can also do their job well. They just need patience and humility. Therefore, I suggest that the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs should do the same in terms of personnel selection in the future."

Sima Guang felt relieved to see that Zhang Fei didn't seem to be joking. He really understood Zhang Fei. He smiled and nodded, saying, "It's rare that you can think so clearly. I'm so relieved!"

Zhang Fei nodded and asked, "Why is Scholar Sima here?"

Sima Guang's expression froze for a moment, and he suddenly said excitedly: "I'm here, of course, to wait for you!"

"wait for me?"

Zhang Fei was immediately flattered and said, "How could Zhang San dare to ask Sima Xueshi to come here to greet me? Zhang San really doesn't deserve it!"

Sima Guang said angrily: "How dare you say that? Why don't you come next year?"

"Well."

Zhang Fei said embarrassedly: "I didn't expect that I would be asked to come back so soon. I haven't dealt with the things over there yet. So..."

"Okay, okay, it's not your fault!"

Having said that, Sima Guang glanced around and suddenly grabbed Zhang Fei's sleeve, "Let's talk while we walk."

He pulled Zhang Fei forward.

Xu Zhiqian could only order Long Wu to drive and follow slowly behind.

Zhang Fei asked: "What's wrong? Is there any trouble in Qingzhou?"

"It's all your fault," Sima Guang snorted.

"Master Sima, please understand. My letter said that there would be problems along the Jingdong East Road, but I did not say that the public security, procuratorate and courts should go to Qingzhou alone!"

Zhang Fei said with a look of grievance.

Sima Guang said: "Do you think I am being forced by Wang Jiefu? Besides, if the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs cannot survive without you, then what is the point of carrying it out?"

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "I've heard about this, but I just want to say that Qingzhou's problems can't be blamed on me."

"I don't blame you, but who else can I blame?" Sima Guang said, "Your judgment is impossible to enforce. If Fan Chunren and his men make such a judgment, even if the government is willing to compensate, Qingzhou's finances will inevitably be in big trouble. Everyone will then blame the public security, procuratorate and courts for this, and the consequences will be disastrous."

Zhang Fei said, "Master Sima, I am alone over there, and this is all I can do."

Sima Guang said: "I didn't say you did a bad job, on the contrary, you did a great job. However, other imperial courts must follow your precedents, but the problem is that they can't do it. Don't you know the financial situation? How can you compensate for it?"

Zhang Fei frowned and said, "In fact, I also used the new policy to achieve such success. Because when Yuan Xueshi went there, he also sought to gain a foothold in Hezhong Prefecture. He secretly used my judgment to unite those officials. Later, I went to discuss with him privately. We first discussed the solution to the problem, and then I made the judgment."

There was no need to hide his dealings with Yuan Jiang from Sima Guang. He had done so in the capital. He was an undercover agent. His relationship with Wang Anshi had never been broken, and Sima Guang knew about it.

Sima Guang also knew this in his heart, and said: "The Qingzhou prefect supports the public security, procuratorate and courts, but the fiscal expenditure is so limited. The public security, procuratorate and courts have already accounted for a lot of expenses, and there is no money to compensate."

Zhang Fei said: "In fact, the key to the success of Master Yuan and I is not cooperation. If we ask Magistrate Cai to cooperate with me, it will be difficult to succeed."

Sima Guang asked hurriedly: "What do you mean?"

Zhang Fei said: "Because Governor Cai does not have the power to reform."

Sima Guang looked at Zhang Fei in confusion, "Does that mean that judicial reform is really inseparable from Wang Jiefu's new policy?"

"It's not that we can't leave, but that we shouldn't leave."

Zhang Fei asked, "Sima Xueshi, do you still remember the legalist law and legal system law that I mentioned?"

Sima Guang nodded and said, "Of course I remember."

Zhang Fei said: "The law of the legal system is only a part of the law of the Legalists, and this part is only judicial power and does not involve any other matters.

In other words, judicial reform is to extract this part of power from the legalist law, forming a separation of politics and law, or judicial independence. The public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are only to ensure this, because the old judicial system cannot separate the judiciary from the legalist law.

The only difference is this, and the rest are basically the same. The public security, procuratorial and judicial systems and the old judicial system all follow the "Song Dynasty Criminal Code" and seek fairness and justice.

But from the country's perspective, this is still a whole, and none of them can be missing."

Sima Guang frowned and said, "That is to say, we lost before because we mistakenly confused the law of the legal system with the law of the Legalists, and thought that the law of the legal system could also solve these problems."

Zhang Fei said: "In other words, you are using the law of the legal system as the law of the Legalists. This will not only cause problems, but also undermine the law of the legal system."

“Ouch!”

Sima Guang slapped his forehead, and suddenly he felt enlightened.

He finally understood why Qingzhou had so many problems. The public security, procuratorial and judicial departments could only correct the mistakes, but how to change them was an administrative power.

Once the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs possess administrative power, it becomes the law of the Legalists. Those people use the law of the legal system as the law of the Legalists, believing that the problem can be solved by the law of the legal system alone without the need for new policies.

But in fact, the legal system does not have this power at all, and this is Qingzhou’s dilemma.

In fact, Fan Chunren was also trapped in it. He asked for a reduction in officials, which was right, but this was not something the president of the court should consider. It was all administrative. The president of the court only needed to consider how to make a judgment.

Zhang Fei has always adhered to this point in Hezhong Prefecture, which is why, when you open the financial report, you can see that it is all thanks to the new policy.

After thinking it through, Sima Guang became even more anxious. He had already taken this step and could not take it back. He asked, "What should we do now?"

Zhang Fei pondered for a while and said, "When I came here, I also thought about it. There may be only one way to break the deadlock."

Sima Guang asked hurriedly: "What's the solution?"

"Who is worse?"

"What?"

"To put it simply, it's a competition of who dies first."

Zhang Fei said: "As far as I know, Qingzhou itself doesn't have too many problems. The problems are concentrated in the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments. However, Jingdong East Road is different. I have already said in the letter that the actions of the officials in Jingdong East Road are like staking their entire assets on this one gamble. They won't be able to hold on for too long, and the drawbacks of the Qingmiao Law will be exposed. In this way, Wang Xueshi will come to us for help, and we can take the opportunity to solve the problems in Qingzhou."

Sima Guang said: "But now it seems that we can no longer hold on."

Zhang Fei said: "Qingzhou can't hold on any longer if they don't sentence them. Let Judge Qian and his men make the judgment. Sentencing them one by one won't affect the finances for the time being, and at the same time it can win the hearts of the people. As long as the other side has problems first, we will win if we can hold steady."