In fact, in comparison, the adultery case in Liuyun Temple attracted more attention from the people. After all, everyone was very interested in that kind of thing, but the impact of this treason case was obviously more far-reaching.

Although Zhao Xu did not force the implementation of the law of collective responsibility, he was still furious, especially towards the imperial guards in Jingdong East Road and the pomp and circumstance of receiving officials. He even dragged the imperial guards to sing and dance, which was really amazing.

He first asked the Council of State to immediately formulate new regulations to strictly regulate the expenditures of the Council of Ministers and the reception of officials. At the same time, he sent the commander of the Palace Front Department to Qizhou to rectify the military and political affairs.

In fact, he didn't care about the collective responsibility system, he was just pretending. What he cared about most was the imperial guards.

Because he wanted to strengthen the army and expand the territory, he really didn't care about his reputation for the sake of military funds. But this army was not doing its job and kept making such jokes, which was a big blow to him.

I'm almost feeling desperate.

When will it be possible to launch the attack?

No minister dared to object to this matter. Although it was true, it was too embarrassing to say it in public and let the emperor hear it with his own ears. If the court did not take any action, it would be unacceptable and would give people a feeling of self-abandonment.

Of course, this is only one aspect, and the impact goes far beyond that.

Nowadays, everyone in the three government offices and the imperial court is walking on thin ice.

...

...

Zhang Fei was just the opposite. After the verdict was issued, he immediately gave himself a holiday and then did some trivial matters. He was really not good at daily official duties, and it could even be said that he could not do it, because the ancient official documents could not be written casually. There were relevant rules, and Zhang Fei did not understand them at all.

However, not going to the procuratorate does not mean that they can stay at home and play mahjong with two pregnant women. Wang Anshi still has a task for him, which is to let the tax commissioner take over the taxation in the capital area.

This will undoubtedly be another tough battle.

Although Zhang Fei had not planned to use this case to have the Commissioner of Taxation take over Tokyo taxation, it was only a matter of time.

Preheating in advance is also a good idea.

Today, he found another reason to call Li Bao home.

Let him arrange some people to create public opinion.

"ah?"

Li Bao looked at Zhang Fei in astonishment, "Aren't those public opinions outside arranged by Sanlang?"

Zhang Fei was stunned and asked, "What public opinion?"

Li Bao said: "It's about the public opinion on the tax law. Everyone has been discussing this in the past two days."

Zhang Fei was immediately confused and asked, "What do you mean?"

Li Bao said: "Those citizens all agreed with Sanlang's definition of tax law in court, and at the same time believed that the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs in the capital lacked supervision over the two taxes. Some people also said that now that Sanlang is back, those tax collectors will not dare to mess around."

Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "I didn't ask anyone to arrange it, so I asked you to come now to create some public opinion."

Li Bao asked: "Is it an accident?"

Could it be Wang Anshi? No, if he could do that, why would he look for me? Zhang Fei thought for a while and asked, "Hasn't anyone discussed this before?"

Li Bao said, "There were some before, but they were relatively rare. The people were still discussing the outcome of this case, mainly the collective responsibility law. Many people were speculating and thought there was something fishy going on. But today I heard many people talking about this matter. It could also be that the collective responsibility law is more sensitive and scholars are reluctant to talk about it, so they use this to change the subject."

Zhang Fei frowned and asked, "You just said that many people agree with my definition of tax law in court?"

Li Bao nodded.

Zhang Fei frowned and said, "The common people may not really understand the meaning of this. Arrange someone to investigate carefully to see if someone is pushing this public opinion."

Li Bao nodded, "I'll send someone to investigate right away."

After Li Bao left, Zhang Fei thought to himself. It sounded like someone was secretly creating public opinion. If so, was it the enemy or the friendly forces?

Just then, Qingmei's voice was heard outside the house, "Son-in-law, the master is back, ask him to go to the front hall now."

Zhang Fei was startled, "Okay, I'll be right there."

As soon as I went out, I met Xu Zhiqian.

"Daddy is looking for you?"

Xu Zhiqian asked.

Zhang Fei nodded.

Xu Zhiqian asked with a gossipy look on her face, "What's the matter?"

"I haven't been there yet, so how would I know?" Zhang Fei said, "Let's go and listen together."

The couple came to the front hall.

"Zhang San, the aftershocks of this lawsuit are quite significant!" Xu Zun put down his teacup and said to Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei asked, "Why do you say that, father-in-law?"

Xu Zun said: "Today some people came to our procuratorate to inquire about tax laws."

Zhang Fei was surprised and asked, "Are you asking about tax laws?"

Xu Zun said: "They just want to know if our procuratorate can make the decision for them if they overpaid taxes."

Xu Zhiqian on the side said: "Excessive taxation is illegal, the procuratorate should make the decision for them."

"What do you know?"

Xu Zun glared at her. "The two taxes in the capital are still managed by the government. The tax commissioner is only in charge of the exemption tax. When the tax collectors collect taxes, how can they follow the tax law in everything? There will be some problems. If this is not changed, the procuratorate will inevitably fall into a dilemma if it respects the law!"

Xu Zhiqian said: "In fact, the court should have handed over the two taxes to the tax bureau long ago. Now that two tax systems are running in parallel, problems will arise sooner or later."

Xu Zun sighed, "Everyone knows this, but..."

Compared with Hezhong Prefecture, there are too many powerful people in the capital, and the resistance is too great. It is conceivable that they will not easily agree to unify the taxes.

No one dares to do this easily because you may not be able to do it.

Sima Guang and others never mentioned it. Even Wang Anshi did not dare to speak out himself and asked Zhang Fei to create public opinion.

As they were talking, Xu Zun suddenly noticed that Zhang Fei had been silent. Seeing his serious expression, he couldn't help but ask, "Zhang San, why aren't you talking? The summer tax will start to be levied soon, and there may be problems then. We have to find a way to deal with it as soon as possible."

Zhang Fei was stunned and said, "I don't think this is a problem, and we have no choice, because we, the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, defend the law. We will do what the law stipulates."

Xu Zun hesitated and said, "But... But this may affect fiscal revenue."

Zhang Fei said: "That is something the Political Affairs Hall should worry about."

Xu Zun nodded slightly.

Having said that, Zhang Fei was still feeling uneasy, because what was supposed to come was finally going to come!

Establish regulations offices in the two prefectures.

"Is this what Master ordered?"

Lu Huiqing said in surprise.

Wang Anshi nodded: "Because I think this is a very good opportunity. In addition, the capital currently implements two tax systems, which cannot last long. Since they don't have Jingdong East Road to stop the tax commissioner, then the capital must also be handed over to the tax commissioner. Why not take this opportunity to create public opinion first and see their reaction.

More importantly, if the capital can collect more grain, it can ease the pressure on grain transport and the pressure of the new policy on the local areas. "

"I see."

Lu Huiqing nodded, "I thought..."

Wang Anshi asked, "What do you think?"

Lu Huiqing said: "I think someone is secretly manipulating this, with the goal of inciting more people to deal with the public security, procuratorate and courts, or to create difficulties for the public security, procuratorate and courts."

Wang Anshi was slightly stunned, pondered for a moment, and shook his head, saying, "That's unlikely. If they stir up trouble, the court will let the tax commissioner take over the taxation. They will lose more than they gain!"

After hearing this, Lu Huiqing frowned and remained silent.

Wang Anshi glanced at Lu Huiqing and asked, "Am I wrong?"

Lu Huiqing said: "Master, this capital is not like Hezhong Prefecture. There are royal family members, relatives, and meritorious officials everywhere. Will there really be no problems?"

Wang Anshi asked, "What could go wrong?"

Lu Huiqing said: "I always feel that it is a bit too hasty, and the capital may not be suitable for the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs. In the local area, the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs can represent the imperial power, but under the feet of the emperor, the imperial power is naturally supreme."

Wang Anshi said: "When the exemption tax was first implemented, there were also such concerns, but in the end there were no problems."

Lu Huiqing said: "The exemption tax is just a new tax, and the amount is not much. It is not comparable to the two taxes!"

Wang Anshi frowned slightly, thought for a while, waved his hand and said: "The Commissioner of Taxation will take over the taxation sooner or later, so we should not hesitate. I am not that old thief Sima."

Just at this time, the servant reported that the prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture, Zeng Gong, had arrived.

Wang Anshi hurried out to get the seal.

After entering the house and sitting down, Wang Anshi asked with a smile, "Zi Gu, how come you have time to come to my place today?"

Zeng Gong said, "There is something I want to discuss with you."

Wang Anshi asked, "What's the matter?"

Zeng Gong said: "It is about the summer tax. The tax collectors in the counties around the capital have said that they dare not collect taxes anymore."

Wang Anshi frowned and asked, "Why don't you dare?"

Zeng Gong said: "It was the argument about tax law that Prosecutor Zhang made in court a few days ago that caused the people to discuss the current taxation. But you know, tax collectors will hardly collect taxes completely according to the tax law. If they want to collect the same amount of taxes as in previous years, there must be some violations, and they may face prosecution by the public security, procuratorate and court. If they collect taxes completely according to the tax law, they may not collect much tax at all. No matter what they do, they will face trouble, and they hope that the court will give them an answer first."

Wang Anshi and Lu Huiqing looked at each other.

It is almost certain now that this might not have been arranged by Zhang Fei.

Because it was impossible for Zhang Fei to manipulate those tax collectors.

Wang Anshi said: "I will report this matter to the emperor immediately."

However, Zhang Fei had arrived at the palace one step ahead of him and reported the matter to Zhao Xu, because Li Bao had already obtained the results of his investigation.

"You are in a hurry to see me, is it because of the taxation of the capital?"

Zhao Xu asked Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei was stunned for a moment, "The government already knows about this?"

Zhao Xu nodded, "Li Bao has informed me of the results of the investigation. There are signs that someone is behind this."

After a pause, he continued, "But aren't you planning to do the same?"

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "It was Master Wang who suggested that I use this case to create some public opinion and pave the way for the Commissioner of Taxation to take over all the Commissioners of Taxation in the capital."

Zhao Xu nodded and said, "I know. I mean, since this coincides with what you think, isn't it a good thing?"

"Perhaps not."

Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "If we weren't doing this, the nature of this would be completely different."

Zhao Xu was puzzled and asked, "What's the difference?"

Zhang Fei said: "If it was us who did it, then we have to deal with them, but if it was them who did it, then they have to deal with the government."

"To deal with me?"

Zhao Xu couldn't help but be shocked.

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "It seems that they have awakened earlier than we expected."

Zhao Xu asked, "You mean, they want to use the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs to restrict my power?"

Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "To be precise, they want to use the government to break through the constraints of the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs. I have explained this to the government before, and they will definitely take a step forward.

Because as long as we strictly enforce the law and adhere to the public security, procuratorial and judicial trial systems, it is almost impossible for them to win. We have absolute advantages both morally and legally.

Their only chance of winning is with the government."

"I remember, the cage of power." Zhao Xu nodded and said with a smile: "Tang Taizong once said that the law is not my law, but the law of the world. If they want to break through from me, then they are really wishful thinking!"

Regarding this point, Zhang Fei had told him a long time ago that the emperor must sacrifice part of his imperial power to maintain the legal authority of the court, otherwise it would be easily breached.

Zhao Xu finally agreed because he was extremely ambitious. He wanted to restore the finances, then go to war and recreate the prosperity of the Han and Tang dynasties. His goal was very clear, and for this he was of course willing to sacrifice part of the imperial power.

Moreover, he was once a little fan of Emperor Taizong of Tang, who had actually used this trick before, sacrificing a small part of the imperial power in exchange for court laws.

Zhang Fei was still very cautious and said: "They may not choose to face the emperor directly, and they don't have the courage to do so, but they may start with the people around the emperor to put the emperor in trouble."

Zhao Xu frowned slightly and asked again: "How should I respond?"

Zhang Fei said: "The only thing we can do is to control them and strengthen our sources of information. As long as we can learn about their plans first, we will have a better chance of winning."

Zhao Xu nodded and said, "I understand. Don't worry, I am determined enough this time and will not be easily shaken."

Zhang Fei was stunned, and felt that Zhao Xu's attitude this time was even more resolute than last time.

Zhao Xu seemed to see through his thoughts and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Even a robber can humiliate me, what else can I care about?"

Zhang Fei suddenly realized that it seemed that Wu Tian had given him a great stimulus last time. He had great ambitions in his heart, but the reality was that even a little Tai Sui could humiliate his imperial guards.

The gap was too big, and he thought clearly that without finance and rules, what could the imperial power do?

Although Zhao Xu showed great determination, Zhang Fei was still a little uneasy. This was the most difficult hurdle to overcome, and it was a protracted war. Once it started, it would continue forever, because there was almost no solution between imperial power and legal power, and the only way to achieve legal power was to rely on the emperor's active sacrifice.

The reason why public security, procuratorial and judicial systems could be implemented in various places was not due to Sima Guang's efforts. He was just a banner, and the real driving force behind it was actually the emperor.

This would not be possible without the emperor's support.

But Zhang Fei was not sure to what extent Zhao Xu could sacrifice himself, and this kind of thing was easy to say, but it was really not too difficult to do.

For example, Emperor Taizong of Tang almost failed several times, and in the later years of his life, he was actually a little complacent and took back the power in the cage.

But serving the emperor is like serving a tiger, so Zhang Fei has to act with caution.

After all, this happened earlier than he expected.

Because he felt that the current situation had not yet harmed the fundamental interests of those people, they would not choose such behavior that would hurt themselves by a thousand and hurt the enemy by eight hundred.

But it was obvious that the other party had a greater sense of crisis than he imagined, and this period was also a very sensitive period. Those powerful people were not stupid. They knew where the country's problems lay, and they were also afraid that Zhao Xu would adopt a large-scale purge strategy.

At the same time, they couldn't think of any other way to deal with the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, especially after Zhang Fei's strong return.

You can only give someone a taste of their own medicine.

Moreover, the situation developed very quickly, and many officials were fanning the flames, especially the Censorate and the Court of Remonstrance.

Because of this lawsuit, the Censorate and the Court of Remonstrance felt that some of their power had been lost.

First of all, the Procuratorate, the Censorate and the Court of Remonstrance have the same powers.

Secondly, the Censorate's memorial upon hearing the news is diametrically opposed to the Procuratorate's appeal of evidence. This may lead to a situation where, when the Censorate hears the news and the object is the Procuratorate's appeal, how should this be handled?

Who should come first?

When these two brothers appeared on the scene, they immediately attracted the attention of the court.

Chuigong Hall.

"How can this be possible!"

Zhao Xu angrily rebuked: "How can you blame the public security, procuratorate and courts for this kind of thing? Have those tax collectors never collected taxes legally before?"

Pei Wen stood up and said, "Your Majesty, Prosecutor Zhang said something very well in court. He believed that taxes are an indispensable evil. Then the tax collectors are committing evil, and how can they strictly abide by the law if they are committing evil?"

Fu Bi, who was already not very talkative, could no longer bear to listen and retorted, "You are taking my words out of context. Prosecutor Zhang is saying that it is precisely because taxes are an evil that we must strictly enforce tax laws to curb this evil."

Pei Wen argued, "Mr. Fu is wrong. Strictly enforcing tax laws is the responsibility of the public security, procuratorate and courts, and the responsibility of tax collectors is to collect taxes. Collecting taxes is committing evil, and committing evil will inevitably lead to some extraordinary actions, which may lead to severe punishment by the public security, procuratorate and courts. It is reasonable for tax collectors to feel afraid."

Fu Bi was stunned, but he felt that what Pei Wen said made some sense.

If taxes are evil, then tax collectors are certainly doing evil!

Deng Wan suddenly stood up and said, "Your Majesty, those tax collectors are diligent and hardworking. They are not collecting money for themselves, but for the country. It is really inappropriate for Prosecutor Zhang to define taxation as evil!"

Many ministers nodded slightly, thinking that what Deng Wan said made sense. This angle was something they had not thought of before.

But Fu Bi wondered, could it be that Zhang San's words were intended to provide a basis for the tax commissioner to levy taxes violently?

It can be seen that this definition will really affect many aspects.

Many ministers immediately stood up to support Deng Wan, implying that the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs would affect tax policies, which were the top priority of the country, and believed that the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs should give way to tax policies.

Not everyone is willing to lose a thousand of their own lives and injure eight hundred of the enemy.

Sima Guang felt very uncomfortable when he heard this. If the law can give way to money, then the law is just a piece of paper. He immediately stood up and said, "This is one thing. Before, we said that we were collecting taxes for the country, but how come you say it is against the law for the country? This is really rare. How come the tax bureau did not encounter these problems when collecting taxes, but the tax collectors did? Isn't it their own fault?"

Deng Wan stopped talking after that.

Zhao Yan suddenly stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the Taxation Commissioner has already achieved success in Hezhong Prefecture and has taken full control of taxation in Jingdong East Road. However, the Taxation Commissioner in Jingji is only responsible for the exemption tax. This should not be the case. I suggest that the Taxation Commissioner directly take over all taxation."

Xu Zun immediately stood up and said, "I agree."

Sima Guang glanced at Zhao Yan and Xu Zun and immediately understood what they were thinking.

There are indeed many contradictions between the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments and the current taxation system, and Zhang Fei has set the tone for the procuratorate. It is no longer like in previous years when Xu Zun often took vacations and the procuratorate had almost no presence. This is likely to lead to many disputes, which will put the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments in a dilemma. The Taxation Bureau is completely designed based on the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments.

If it is not changed, it will be extremely detrimental to the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, so it is better to cut the Gordian knot, so they also expressed their support.

Many ministers also stood up and expressed their support for the Commissioner of Taxation to take over all taxation.

Zhao Xu nodded slightly, then looked at Wang Anshi, who had been silent, and asked, "What do you think, Mr. Wang?"

Wang Anshi said: "Your Majesty, in fact, it is reasonable to let the tax commissioner take charge of all taxes, but time may be tight."

Sima Guang said reflexively: "There is still plenty of time, because according to the practice of the tax bureau in Hezhong Prefecture, all taxes should be combined into one. If the tax bureau takes over now, it should cancel this year's summer tax and only collect the autumn tax at the end of the year."

Wang Anshi nodded and smiled, "Mr. Sima is right. This is feasible."

Sima Guang was stunned for a moment, then he reacted and cursed in his heart, this villain is trying to drag me down!

He knew very well that Wang Anshi cared more about tax revenue than he did, and that combining various taxes into one was actually a disguised way of increasing taxes on the rich.

Zhao Xu nodded slightly and said, "Sansi Envoy, if the summer tax is cancelled, will it affect the finances?"

Lu Gongzhu immediately said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the warehouses of Sinong Temple and Taifu Temple are currently full, so there should be no impact. However, we have to check the details to know."

Wang Anshi suddenly asked, "Why are the warehouses of Sinong Temple and Taifu Temple full?"

Lu Gong rolled his eyes at him and said, "It's because of Mr. Wang's equal distribution method."

Wang Anshi nodded slightly.

The corner of Zhao Xu's mouth twitched slightly. "Let's temporarily hand this matter over to the Regulations Department of the Two Prefectures. If there are no problems, let the Taxation Department take full control of the taxation of the capital."

"I obey your command!"

Wang Anshi immediately bowed.

Lu Gong glanced at Wang Anshi unhappily. Why was the tax policy handed over to the Regulations Office of the Two Prefectures? The reason was that the Sinong Temple and the Taifu Temple were both under the control of the Regulations Office of the Two Prefectures.

You should know that the predecessor of the Regulations Office of the Two Prefectures was called the Regulations Office of the Three Departments.