Chapter 700 of the Main Text of the Chief Justice of the Northern Song Dynasty: Going Against the Trend In history, the Xining Party Struggle was a struggle between spears. Both sides were constantly attacking each other. Anyway, if you chop me with a knife, I will stab you with a sword.

The result is obvious: both sides suffer losses.

With the arrival of Zhang Fei and Sima Guang's promotion of judicial reform, this became a game of spear versus shield.

Because in history, Wang Anshi was the only one in power and had autocratic power. Sima Guang could only oppose it verbally and explain the interests involved, but he was unable to restrict the new policies. Eventually, he went to Luoyang to revise the book. But now with the public security, procuratorate and courts, he doesn't need to talk big. He has the power to restrict Wang Anshi.

So it became one attack and one defense.

The New Deal is the spear that constantly attacks the old system and old ideas, while judicial reform is the shield that prevents the spear from killing innocent people.

Then again, Wang Anshi's character was born for spears. His defense was a mess. He didn't defend at all. He was not like Zhang Juzheng who was good at both offense and defense. Unless I die, you are all my brothers;

Sima Guang's character was born to be a shield. He was meticulous and well-versed in history. He could accurately predict the direction of things and knew where the opponent would make mistakes and where to deploy defenses. However, his offense was a mess, almost useless. In short, he could not achieve anything for a long time.

When he finally came to power, the only thing he did was to erase all of Wang Anshi's policies, whether good or bad. Even Su Shi and Su Zhe couldn't stand it at the time.

In this offensive and defensive confrontation, knowing yourself and your enemy will ensure victory in every battle.

...

...

Therefore, after Sima Guang and Fu Bi came to see Zhang Fei, Wang Anshi came to see him and asked, "Has old Sima come to see you?"

"Um."

Zhang Fei nodded.

Wang Anshi then asked: "How do they plan to restrict the new policies?"

Zhang Fei said truthfully: "It will mainly focus on administration. They will improve the budget system and the field and house law. By then, even the use of a hoe may have to be recorded. If you want to requisition the people's land, it will also be subject to judicial supervision."

Wang Anshi frowned and said, "If they do this, they won't be able to accomplish anything."

The efficiency of the Song Dynasty, coupled with Sima Guang's procrastination, makes one feel despair just thinking about it!

"I don't think so."

Zhang Fei shook his head. "This budget system, after all, is all about speaking with data. A perfect set of data can leave them speechless."

Wang Anshi said unhappily, "Perfect data, how easy is that?"

Zhang Fei said: "There is indeed no perfection in this world, but if Wang Xueshi's accounting skills are better than his opponent's, then it is perfect. Arithmetic is not like reason, there is no seemingly right or wrong knowledge, one is one, two is two."

Wang Anshi stroked his beard and asked, "Just like your law firm?"

Zhang Fei nodded and smiled, "That's right. With the emergence of the career law, all these professionals are leaning towards Mr. Wang. Only the new policy can make them stand out. The budget system is actually beneficial to Mr. Wang.

Because this is what determines victory or defeat, whereas those great principles, on the contrary, can be argued for half a year without any conclusion.”

Wang Anshi nodded and asked again: "Is that all?"

Zhang Fei said: "There is also the exemption law."

Wang Anshi was surprised and asked, "Exemption from military service?"

Isn’t this my new policy?

Zhang Fei immediately explained the reasoning and added: "Only the exemption law can enable the judiciary to better exert its power."

Wang Anshi laughed and said, "Isn't old Sima angry to death by you?"

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Just a little bit."

Wang Anshi looked a little regretful and asked again: "Then how do you think I should deal with it?"

Zhang Fei thought for a moment and said seriously, "I think we should not rest and recuperate. Instead, we should step up efforts to promote the Farmland Water Conservancy Law and build major projects. We must not stop."

Wang Anshi was shocked when he heard this. You are even more cruel than me. He quickly asked, "Why?"

Zhang Fei said: "Recuperation is only suitable after a great chaos. At the beginning of the founding of the country, when there were few people and much land, there were a lot of unowned wasteland for the people to recover their livelihoods. But now many people have no land at all. Recuperation is just letting them die.

Instead, we should launch large-scale projects at this time to seek resources from heaven and earth and enrich the world.

In fact, whether the people are suffering or not does not depend on how much labor they have to do, but on how much money they have to earn. In the past, there was a corvée system, which was naturally not feasible, and Cheng Dujian failed because of this.

If the 300,000 strings of cash had been taken out earlier, there wouldn't have been so much trouble. If another 300,000 strings of cash had been taken out, the people might have praised Cheng Fang as a water god."

Wang Anshi raised his hand, ready to slam the table, but put it down again and asked with great interest, "Didn't you tell this to old Sima?"

"Of course not!"

Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "Master Wang, please don't harm me. If I say this to his face, he will kill me."

"I'm not as smart as you, so I quarrel with him every day."

Wang Anshi laughed.

confidant!

A confidant!

These words really touched Wang Anshi's heart, making him feel like a long-awaited rain. He realized today that Lu Huiqing and he were not of the same mind, and Zhang Fei was his confidant!

This was actually the first time that Zhang Fei denied Sima Guang's ideas. In the past, Zhang Fei only expressed support for the new policy, but never expressed opposition to recuperation.

Wang Anshi could not hold back and slammed the table in excitement, "Well said! What you think coincides with mine. Sima Lao'er and his people's recuperation is only aimed at the rich peasants. The poor peasants will only become poorer if they are recuperating. We can only continue to build large-scale projects to allow the people to have more livelihoods."

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "I totally agree."

Wang Anshi added: "I plan to use this opportunity to dress up the river defense works. The government wants to help the people, right? Then we can set up a relief law under the farmland and water conservancy law and use the relief law to promote the court project. What do you think?"

"It's wonderful!" Zhang Fei said with a smile.

"Ha ha.!"

When talking about getting rich, the two became more and more excited, and they talked until late at night. Wang Anshi left reluctantly.

It has to be said that Zhang Fei's words gave Wang Anshi great encouragement. He was full of confidence and quickly adjusted himself. He first petitioned Zhao Xu to let Hou Shuxian serve as the dean of the Water Conservancy Institute, and then arranged several water conservancy officials to serve as doctors of the Water Conservancy Institute.

You know, nowadays, no one even knows where the Water Conservancy University is, let alone recruiting students. Moreover, including Hou Shuxian, all of them are dispatched officials with real power. This is actually not in line with the Enterprise Law, which is mainly used to settle idle officials.

Everyone knows that Hou Shuxian was going to replace Cheng Fang. Wang Anshi was just trying to cover up his mistake and never admitted the failure of the Dongliu Plan or Cheng Fang's fault.

But this act of covering one's ears and stealing the bell is very necessary.

After confirming this point, Wang Anshi formally reported to Zhao Xu, requesting that all the 300,000 strings of cash in relief and compensation be allocated to the Hebei Road's Tizhu Changping Division.

The Ministry of Revenue will be responsible for compensation and relief.

This caused dissatisfaction among many people. It looked like you were transferring money from your left hand to your right hand, with the emperor paying the money and the money going into Wang Anshi's pocket. You two have always been in the same boat.

However, Wang Anshi refuted them, saying that the Ministry of Revenue was originally an office responsible for providing relief to the people, and this arrangement was reasonable. Otherwise, which office should the funds be allocated to?

Sinong Temple?

Taifu Temple?

Isn't this all my sphere of influence?

Sima Guang now thinks it through. After all, this is the emperor's money. Just take it. I'll keep an eye on you.

After the people and money were in place, Wang Anshi began to implement his new policies.

First, it was clearly stated that the corvée system would be gradually abolished in Hebei Province, and the exemption law would be fully implemented, including river corvée. The previous exemption law, whether in the capital, Hezhong Prefecture, or Jingdong East Road, did not involve rivers. Because there was a great demand for river corvée, the court still wanted to use it for free.

Secondly, the Agricultural Water Conservancy Law will be fully implemented in Hebei. According to preliminary estimates, within three years, 50,000 hectares of fertile land will be irrigated and 1,000 canals will be built.

This was not something Wang Anshi said out of his own accord. In recent years, Cheng Fang has managed all the rivers in Hebei, so he was already prepared in this regard. This promise was also made based on the specific situation.

Third, a relief bill was introduced and closely tied to the Farmland and Irrigation Law. Simply put, if you had no means of livelihood, you could apply to the Tiju Changping Division, and the minimum wage would be two strings of cash per month.

Fourth, we will promote junior officials who are experienced and highly skilled.

The introduction of these bills shocked everyone in the government and the public.

Especially the conservatives, these people are stupid.

After this hearing, even the reformists expected that Wang Anshi would no longer be so radical and would gradually adjust his policies to allow the people of Hebei to recuperate.

The same is true of the hint given by the emperor.

Unexpectedly, Wang Anshi went even further and even stepped up the promotion of the farmland water conservancy law.

This immediately aroused fierce opposition from conservatives, and everyone, including Han Qi, found it incredible.

He expected that Wang Anshi would not give up, but since the emperor needed to recuperate, Wang Anshi would definitely keep a low profile. As a result, Wang Anshi was very high-profile.

Several prime ministers were having another heated debate in the government hall.

The result was Sima Guang's disastrous defeat.

The reason is very simple, it can be summed up in three sentences: the emperor spends money, the people spend it voluntarily, and it’s none of your business.

Although he had never argued about it, Sima Guang was determined not to believe that Wang Anshi would do such a thing. The imperial court did not have so much money to carry out so many projects. Wang Anshi must be trying to exploit the people in a roundabout way.

The conservatives were not to be outdone and immediately introduced a budget bill and a bill on the rights of the people for the land and houses.

It was stipulated that any large project initiated by the imperial court, or the central government, with a budget exceeding 10,000 guan, had to be approved by the corresponding four supervisors, namely, the Du Shui, Jiang Zuo, Shao Fu, and Jun Qi. Everything had to be clearly stated, and the four supervisors would then report to the three departments, which would then order the Transportation Department to allocate funds. Otherwise, the Transportation Department was not allowed to allocate funds, and the application form had to be accurate to every penny, every jin of rice, every foot of cloth, and every person.

However, there is still a loophole here. That is, the Regulations Office of the Two Prefectures controls the Sinong Temple and the Taifu Temple, two financial institutions created by the new law. It can still bypass the approval of the Three Offices, but it is not enough to support so many projects. It is just to increase the bargaining chips with the conservatives. If it really doesn't work, I still have the two temples to back me up, and you can't stop me.

Sima Guang and his colleagues also understood this, but they also had the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems to supervise, so they announced that they would gradually promote the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems in Hebei Province.

The Law on Expropriation of Private Land and Houses determines the procedures required for the government to expropriate private land and houses. It also gives the government the power to forcibly expropriate private land and houses, but it must provide corresponding compensation. The compensation varies in different situations.

The Legislative Council also formally passed the principle of contract and improved regulations on compensation, employment, etc.

Want to exploit the people?

I'll give you a full-scale defense.

If you, Wang Anshi, can really do it and want to enrich the world, then you should get resources from heaven and earth, then you will win.

After this operation, all the court officials were stunned.

At the last meeting, both sides had a tacit understanding, but no one expected that after blocking Han Qi outside, they would turn around and start fighting immediately, without wasting a moment.

However, Zhao Xu rarely showed up recently to discuss matters with ministers, but he basically approved all their memorials.

After that hearing, everything was decided.

Of course, the main reason is that Zhao Xu has been in a bad mood recently.

After spending so much money and consuming so much manpower, the result was that he still had to spend another 300,000 strings of cash. What was the point of this? Normally, he could not afford to eat or wear clothes, but he just wanted to save some money to expand his territory. What was the result?

The more Zhao Xu thought about it, the more depressed he became.

However, Zhang Fei knew what Zhao Xu was thinking, and this was also related to him, so he had to find something to cheer up the emperor.

The Dianqian Division is the training ground for the imperial guards.

I saw two rows of imperial guards of almost the same height, lined up in the middle of the field, holding large bamboo tubes, and taking turns shooting at a row of cloth dummies in front of them.

And standing in the distance were two people, Zhao Xu and Zhang Fei.

After the volley of fire, several guards immediately carried the dummies to the emperor.

Looking carefully at the small holes on the dummy, Zhao Xu's expression was a little complicated. He ordered the guards to retreat first, and then said to Zhang Fei: "This can only slightly injure the enemy, and it may be difficult to kill him."

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "It is perfect for the Royal Police to deal with bandits."

Zhao Xu said: "But didn't you say that this weapon is better than Dongliu in resisting Liao?"

If he hadn't said that, Zhao Xu wouldn't have been in the mood to come over.

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "That's what I said."

Zhao Xu said: "It doesn't look like it. Such weapons, in terms of lethality and speed, are not as good as the Khitan cavalry archery."

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "At the moment, he is not as good as he used to be. But your majesty, you have to look at his potential. This person's strength is limited. Even the most powerful archer can only shoot about 200 steps. It is impossible to break through 500 steps. However, the power of gunpowder can be enhanced. Today, he may only be able to shoot 100 steps. After improvement tomorrow, he may be able to shoot 200 steps. The day after tomorrow, he may be able to shoot 300 steps. There are infinite possibilities."

Zhao Xu was amused by what he heard, and asked with a smile: "So amazing?"

Zhang Fei said seriously, "It is entirely possible. It is still a bamboo tube. If it is changed to an iron one, its power will definitely increase greatly. If it is made bigger and contains more gunpowder, its power will naturally be even greater. This is all foreseeable."

Zhao Xu's eyes lit up and he nodded, "Hearing what you said, it seems to make some sense."

Zhang Fei continued, "I am not against the eastward flow, but I think it is really questionable to rely on the river to resist the Khitan. Instead of relying on God's will, it is better to control your destiny in your own hands. Moreover, the manufacturing process of this kind of firearm is more difficult than that of a sword or a bow. It cannot be hammered out with a hammer or a piece of iron. This is also beneficial to your Majesty's rule."

Zhao Xu smiled and looked at Zhang Fei again: "I didn't expect you to have achievements in military affairs?"

Zhang Fei said: "To be honest with you, Your Majesty, I know nothing about military affairs, but I know a little bit about business. I think this kind of weapon has unlimited potential, and it is at least more reliable than betting on the east flow.

Your Majesty, think about it. If this firearm can shoot 300 steps, and 50,000 people are divided into five teams and fired in turns, it will be almost impossible to stop. Not to mention the Khitans, even ants will be beaten into sieves. "

Zhao Xu laughed and said, "So what you mean is that we should first distribute this kind of firearms to the Royal Police to eliminate bandits, use it to develop this kind of tactics, continuously improve it, and then use it in the army in the future."

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "That's right."

Zhao Xu nodded and said, "I'll do as you wish."

Zhang Fei added: "Your Majesty, please commend the charity foundation so that they will have the motivation to donate."

"I see!"

Zhao Xu smiled and nodded, saying, "Okay! I will personally issue an edict to commend you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After some praise, Zhao Xu suddenly shed tears. "Charity foundations are still the best. They are all asking me for money, but this charity foundation is the only one that gives me money. I must praise it, and praise it a lot, and set an example."

It’s not easy.

After inspecting the firearms, Zhang Fei and Zhao Xu went to the garden next door, sat down and had a drink.

"I heard that the court has been quite lively recently." Zhao Xu suddenly asked with a smile.

Zhang Fei said: "It seems so, mainly because Wang Xueshi went against the trend and continued to promote the farmland irrigation law, which surprised everyone."

Zhao Xu asked, "Did the teacher ever talk to you about this?"

"I did ask a question." Zhang Fei nodded.

Zhao Xu asked, "What do you think?"

Zhang Fei said: "I absolutely agree, because I think recuperating is a dead end."

Zhao Xu was slightly surprised, "What do you mean?"

Zhang Fei said: "Like Sima Xueshi and his people, they are resting and recuperating, which is to rule by inaction, to do nothing, to avoid adding burdens to the people, and to let the people recover on their own."

Zhao Xu nodded.

"But Scholar Sima overlooked an objective factor, which is that the people have lost the ability to recover themselves."

Zhang Fei said: "Because land annexation is constantly intensifying and the population is growing, if the court does nothing, the result is foreseeable, that is, the people will become poorer and poorer, while the landlords will become richer and richer, and the court will also become poorer and poorer, because it is difficult for the court to collect taxes."

Zhao Xu frowned when he heard this. These words directly overturned his ideas. After thinking for a while, he suddenly said, "What you said seems to make sense, but it seems that since ancient times, no one has ever done this."

Zhang Fei said: "So no one has truly completed the revival of the dynasty."

The dynasty is revived? Zhao Xu's eyes widened, and he couldn't help but become interested. He asked, "Why do you think this is happening?"

Zhang Fei said: "Faced with this situation, there are generally two ways to deal with the offender. Either impose heavy taxes and impose corvée labor, exhaust the resources, impoverish the people and enrich the country. This is the most disgusting in history books. This situation is also impossible to succeed. Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it.

There is another situation, which is to recuperate. The monarchs who take this approach are generally called the rulers of rejuvenation in history books, but they will soon fall into decline because the problems are not solved but worsened, and the country becomes poorer and the people become poorer. "

Zhao Xu asked again: "Will it be successful if you do what I do?"

“That’s the only way it’s going to work.”

Zhang Fei said: "Compared to the two situations I mentioned, what Wang Xueshi is doing now is actually a middle way. It is neither recuperating nor imposing heavy taxes or corvée. Instead, the court directly invests money in the people, using the power of the state and money to revitalize the people.

It can also be considered that the state and the people unite to isolate the richest landlords, which is just the way to avoid the two disadvantages I just mentioned. "

Zhao Xu nodded and asked, "But the country's finances are limited, and there are many places to spend money. We can't always invest money in the people. How can we get the return?"

Zhang Fei said: "If you want to enrich your family, you must invest in your country. If you want to enrich your country, you must invest in the world. If you want to enrich the world, you must invest in heaven and earth."

Zhao Xu was stunned, "Isn't this what the teacher said?"

"Yes."

Zhang Fei nodded. "In fact, Mr. Wang's philosophy is very correct, but his approach is wrong."

Zhao Xu asked, "Isn't it true that governing a country starts with governing its officials?"

"Of course not. Governing officials is the foundation of everything. If the officials are not well governed, no matter how good the policy is, it will not work. If there are no public security, procuratorate, courts, and taxation departments, even if we build a large water conservancy project, it will not succeed."

"Then what's wrong with what you did, sir?" Zhao Xu asked again.

Zhang Fei said: "Mr. Wang's mistake is that he is too direct. His new policy idea is to make money directly from the pockets of the people, just like the Qingmiao Law. I lend it to you at a lower interest rate than usury, and the money earned by usury will be earned by the court.

This seems reasonable, but there is a problem. The court is both the seller and the judge. The pricing power, bargaining power, and even the judicial power are all controlled by the court. This kind of business is doomed to fail in the long run. A big store bullies its customers. This is the truth. "

Zhao Xu asked again: "What's the difference now?"

Zhang Fei said: "Now we are doing our best to help the people solve their livelihood problems. If the people have money, they can pay taxes, which is more profitable than usury. After all, usury involves a limited number of people, while taxation is for everyone in the world.

Moreover, in the minds of the people, the imperial court is a savior, not an exploiter. When the imperial court is closely connected with the people, it is easy to collect taxes from the middle landlords. This will create a virtuous circle. "

Zhao Xu nodded slightly and asked again: "But the relief is only temporary, and the land will not increase. How can the people recover their livelihood?"

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Your Majesty, have you forgotten the plan of Hidden Dragon?"

"Industry and commerce?"

"That's right."

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "As long as the money is spent on the right things, that is, the land of resources, such as irrigating silt to create more fertile fields, or building roads to make it more convenient for merchants to travel.

For example, when the imperial court invested money in large projects and the people made money from them, they would buy salt, tea, wine, rice, and clothes. Then the merchants would benefit from it and they would expand production, which would require hiring people, thus creating livelihoods for the people.

The state will then collect the money invisibly, and then invest it when it sees the right opportunity. In this way, if you want to enrich the world, you can invest in heaven and earth. "

Zhao Xu asked: "Has the wealth increased here?"

“Of course there has been an increase.”

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "In the past, the people had no money and could not afford to drink wine, so merchants only produced one jar a day, but now they produce two jars. Isn't wealth growing? As for the consumption of iron ore and copper ore, as for food, there is no need to persuade farmers to grow crops. Naturally, someone will find a way to increase the yield per mu, because the demand will increase."

"I understand! I understand everything."

Zhao Xu clapped his hands excitedly and said, "To be honest, when you told me this before, I always felt that something was wrong, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It turns out that those who enrich their families invest in their country, those who enrich their country invest in the world, and those who want to enrich the world invest in heaven and earth."

In fact, he understood it very well. He knew very well in his heart that he was just trying to rob the landlords of their wealth in various ways, but in the end the wealth would still be transferred to the people.

However, Zhang Fei's explanation is much bigger in scope and can match the saying "If you want to enrich the world, you must rely on heaven and earth for resources."

Zhao Xu was curious again: "Since this is the only solution, why has no one thought of it before?"

"Because they don't have a public security, procuratorate, courts or tax department, we don't know where the money will be used, and we can't collect it. As the saying goes, governing the country starts with governing the officials."

Zhang Fei explained.

"To govern a country, one must first govern its officials."

Zhao Xu nodded, and the haze in his heart was immediately swept away. It turned out that the three hundred thousand strings of cash were an investment, not something to be thrown away. "Come on, let's drink this cup."

Some people said that I missed a chapter, but I didn’t. I just delayed the update of the chapter at 12 o’clock to 5 o’clock. The update date shows that there is a chapter every day.