Regardless of whether Zhang Fei appeared or not, for Zhao Xu, the official system reform was imperative. It is conceivable that the reason why Wang Gui submitted this memorial was definitely at the instruction of Zhao Xu.

There are three main reasons.

First, the emperor had grown up and had his own ideas. He wanted to make his own decisions and was unwilling to hide behind Wang Anshi anymore.

Secondly, Zhao Xu wanted to realize his political ideal, and his political ideal was actually two wars, against Western Xia and against Liao. Of course, at present the main war was against Western Xia, and he could not see any hope of defeating Liao for the time being.

But in any case, to achieve this, it is necessary to unite the whole country and make the whole country act according to one's will, in other words, to control the power. Both Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang were prepared in this regard.

It’s just that Emperor Taizong of Tang himself was a military genius, so his preparations were relatively easy.

The third is to streamline the bureaucracy, improve efficiency, and reduce fiscal expenditure to lay the foundation for future mobilization.

Zhang Fei certainly knew about the Yuanfeng Reform, which had a significant impact on later systems, but was overshadowed by Wang Anshi.

But now this situation has changed.

Historically, before the Yuanfeng reform, Zhao Xu broke the old order through Wang Anshi, and then he personally led the reform. In other words, he had already grasped the power at that time, and all opponents such as Wen Yanbo and Sima Guang were eliminated, including Wang Anshi.

...

...

It is different now. The court is now in a state of balance. Wang Anshi has not yet achieved absolute power. Sima Guang and others have not been demoted, but their power has become even greater.

And this is all because of the emergence of public security, procuratorial and judicial organs.

However, the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs also provided Zhao Xu with another path for reform.

That is to use the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs to carry out official system reform.

In fact, no matter how the official system is changed, it is essentially the power of the emperor and the power of the prime minister.

Taizu and Taizong established the system, while Zhenzong and Renzong delegated power, which led to two problems in the current Northern Song Dynasty court. First, the organization is bloated and the efficiency is very low. Second, the power of the prime minister is too large, because the officials of the three provinces do not have real power. They all obey the political affairs hall, and then the prime minister discusses matters with the emperor. The emperor cannot directly order the three provinces.

These two points combined meant that without the prime minister's approval, it was unknown how long it would take for the emperor's decree to circulate in the three provinces alone.

This is why the Regulations Office of the Two Prefectures was set up. Wang Anshi was the only one here. All the new policies and decrees during this period were directed towards the Regulations Office of the Two Prefectures, which was equivalent to bypassing the Council of State Affairs and the Three Ministries.

But the establishment of the Regulations Office of the Two Ministries was definitely just a temporary structure. Otherwise, Wang Anshi’s power would be completely out of control. Over there, a group of prime ministers had the final say, while here he alone had the final say.

This is only a temporary plan. If the power of the prime minister is to be weakened, it will be done through official system reform.

However, if the organization is streamlined, the power of the prime minister will be further expanded, because the power of the prime minister is already growing, and the bloated organization is also restricting them.

How to limit the power of the prime minister while streamlining the organization is something that really needs to be done.

Historically, Zhao Xu, who held great power, was simple and crude. He directly returned to the three-province system. The current system was a two-government system, namely the Political Affairs Hall and the Privy Council. Returning to the three provinces was equivalent to cutting the Political Affairs Hall into three parts and placing them in the three provinces, so that the three provinces were directly facing the emperor, which indicated that the emperor would come to the fore and directly participate in government affairs, rather than through the prime minister, and at the same time streamline the organization.

But the facts have proved that simply dividing the power of the prime minister not only did not improve efficiency, but it actually decreased. The reason lies in the division of the power of the prime minister.

Previously, all decisions were made in the Council of State Affairs, where the prime ministers would discuss matters together and the three provinces would take orders directly from the Council of State Affairs. In the event of an emergency, they would be able to respond quickly.

It is divided into three parts, each of which is responsible for one thing. If there is any flaw, it has to be handed back, not to mention the wrangling between them, which goes on over and over again.

Simply put, if Wang Anshi could approve the decree, could Sima Guang pass it for him?

In addition, the Yuanfeng reform did not take root in the local areas. The central government had to make changes several times, and the local governments had to spend most of the time to make changes. How could this be efficient?

In the end, it is a case of you cannot have your cake and eat it too, or is it that Zhao Xu's original intention was to centralize power and improve administrative efficiency at the same time?

Only Zhao Xu himself knew this.

However, now with the birth of public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, a new kind of check and balance has emerged within the country.

It means separation of politics and law.

It will definitely not follow the course of history, and the future will become an unknown.

Although Zhang Fei was familiar with the administrative system, he only understood the system of that era. If he copied it, the result would definitely be losing his head. This was something that Zhao Xu and the prime ministers had to find a solution for.

He will wait and see for a while, and if it is not beneficial to the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, he will make suggestions.

......

Zhao Xu was already impatient because there was a large-scale rotation of officials this year, and he wanted to take advantage of this rotation to step to the forefront.

After the conversation with Zhang Fei, Zhao Xu invited Wang Anshi.

"Please look, sir."

Zhao Xu handed a memorial to Wang Anshi, "This is from Wang Yuyu of the Hanlin Academy. I think it makes a lot of sense. What do you think, sir?"

Wang Anshi took it with both hands, sat upright on the chair, opened it, and his brows gradually darkened.

After a while, Zhao Xu asked, "Sir, do you think this is inappropriate?"

Wang Anshi closed the memorial and said with a hint of disdain: "I think the current reform of redundant officials has been completed very well. Many officials have already joined the business office. There is no need to rush it."

Still with an educational tone.

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Zhao Xu frowned secretly, but did not show it. He smiled and said, "I am not rushing, but seeing how successfully the judicial office has been integrated, I heard from the people in the Imperial City Department that the judicial officials can even travel faster than the officials in the three provinces. So why not use it in other offices?"

Wang Anshi said: "I don't deny this, and I am not against doing so. I just think the situation is good. If we rashly return to the three-province and six-department system of the Tang Dynasty, it will be hard to predict whether it will be a blessing or a curse. After all, the situation in the Tang Dynasty is very different from that in our dynasty. For example, the Three Departments and the Ministry of Revenue, with its scale and authority, it is impossible for the Ministry of Revenue to replace the Three Departments. Similarly, the Ministry of War cannot replace the Privy Council.

In my opinion, we should first let each government office perform its duties, then cut down on the redundant ones, and then standardize the system according to the specific situation. There is no need to follow the "Six Codes of the Tang Dynasty". "

Zhao Xu was silent for a moment, then nodded, "Sir, what you said makes sense."

After a pause, he asked again: "There will be a large-scale rotation of officials this year. What do you think, sir?"

Wang Anshi was stunned for a moment, "Just rotate as usual."

The prime minister has been replaced many times, but he is always in the Council of State Affairs and is able to handle affairs.

Zhao Xu frowned and said, "But the reform has not yet been completed. If the vice chancellors are rotated as usual, it will delay the reform. It would be better to restore the powers of the six ministries first and let the vice chancellors continue the reform in the six ministries."

Wang Anshi was slightly startled. He had just objected, but now you want to restore the six ministries. Aren't you turning a deaf ear to my words? He glanced at Zhao Xu and suddenly realized that this was not an ordinary conversation. He immediately became cautious and nodded, saying, "That's fine."

There is a hidden meaning in what Zhao Xu said. This is for the sake of reform. If you don't agree, the reform will go wrong.

Zhao Xu asked again: "Sir, has the new law been promulgated in its entirety?"

Wang Anshi's heart skipped a beat, and he said truthfully, "At present, the main ones left are the Baojia Law, the Baoma Law, and the Shiyi Law, which have not yet been promulgated."

Zhao Xu said: "Let's put the Baojia system aside for now. I think we can use the Royal Police to train an elite force for me."

Wang Anshi had seen through this point long ago, so he had never promulgated the Baojia Law. He nodded and said, "I obey your command."

Zhao Xu sighed again, "Now I want to streamline the bureaucracy and reduce the harm of redundant officials, but some people in the court have been talking about the establishment of the two government offices, thinking that there are two more government offices besides the two government offices, so how can we talk about streamlining the bureaucracy? At present, the obstacles to the new policy in the court are not as great as before. I believe that even if you are in the government hall, you can still implement the new law."

Wang Anshi rushed towards Zhao Xu like a thousand grass mud horses, but he immediately said: "The two government regulations office was originally established temporarily, and now is the time to abolish it."

Zhao Xu smiled slightly and said, "Sir, you are so understanding and I am very grateful. But you don't have to worry. You can recommend the officials of the two government regulations to the three provinces and six ministries. The Sino-Agricultural and Imperial Governments will also be merged into the Ministry of Revenue to continue the reform."

"I obey your command."

Wang Anshi bowed.

In fact, as early as half a month ago, Wang Anshi had already anticipated that this situation would happen. He felt that Zhao Xu would no longer listen to him, but he did not expect it to come so soon and so violently.

Even the Regulations Office of the Two Prefectures was abolished.

Having said that, the Regulations Office of the Two Prefectures must of course be abolished. It was originally a temporary agency, but he did not expect it to come so soon.

As Wang Anshi walked out of the door, he felt lonely. He looked up and sighed, then left with a wave of his sleeves.

Just one hour later, Sima Guang came to the hall again.

"Recently, a minister impeached the prime minister for using judicial reform to manipulate power, appoint people based on personal connections, and exclude dissidents."

The first sentence frightened Sima Guang to death, "Your Majesty, I am innocent. I don't know who wants to frame me."

Zhao Xu replied: "It was the Imperial Censor Cai Que."

"Cai Que?" Sima Guang was stunned for a moment, and immediately asked, "I wonder what evidence he has?"

This really happened too suddenly, and he couldn't react in time!

Zhao Xu said: "He said that when the prime minister led the judicial reform, he threatened to separate politics and law, but the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs were always controlled by the prime minister, and the prime minister was also the vice chancellor. Therefore, he believed that this was not separation of politics and law at all, but that the prime minister intended to monopolize the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs."

After saying this, he handed the memorial to Sima Guang.

Sima Guang stood up and took it with both hands, then returned to his chair and began to read it. After a while, he closed the memorial and said, "Your Majesty, what Censor Cai said makes sense. It is indeed because of me that the separation of politics and law has not been fully achieved, but I do not want to monopolize the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, and I have no intention of being partial to others."

To be honest, Sima Guang did hinder the separation of politics and law to some extent. Sima Guang belonged to the Political Affairs Hall, the first administrative department. At the same time, he controlled the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments. He also shouted the slogan of separation of politics and law, which made it difficult for other administrative departments to intervene in the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments. It was Sima Guang who alone controlled the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments.

But this was also what Sima Guang wanted. When he was in the Court of Criminal Justice, he almost never interfered with the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, and no case was ever brought to the Court of Criminal Justice.

He has a clear conscience and freely admits that this is indeed a problem.

Zhao Xu smiled and nodded, "I naturally believe in you, sir."

Sima Guang blinked and hurriedly saluted, saying, "I am willing to leave the Court of Justice to prove my innocence."

Zhao Xu said: "But the judicial reform has not yet been completed, and we still need you to take charge of the overall situation!"

Sima Guang was a little confused. What exactly do you want?

Zhao Xu pretended to think for a while, then said, "How about this, during this official rotation, you will go to the Ministry of Justice first and continue to preside over judicial reform. At the same time, the Court of Justice and the Dali Temple will all be named after the Imperial Court, and a chief judge will be appointed to preside over daily judicial affairs, thus completely separating politics and law."

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Sima Guang bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise and wise. I fully agree with you."

But after saying this, he was stunned again. Ministry of Justice? Doesn't the Ministry of Justice have no authority? Why is it related to the Ministry of Justice?

"It so happens that Wang Yuyu from the Hanlin Academy recently submitted a memorial to me, which I very much agree with. I wonder what you think, sir?" Before Sima Guang could react, Zhao Xu showed him Wang Gui's memorial.

Sima Guang took it again, and after reading it, he said truthfully: "I have always been in favor of streamlining the organization, deleting duplications, and removing redundancy, but the situation in my dynasty is very different from that of the previous dynasty. There is no need to set up three provinces and six ministries in accordance with the "Six Codes of the Tang Dynasty". This may not be worth the loss."

Zhao Xu was puzzled when he heard this. How could these two old enemies have such the same views on this matter? It must be strange. He said, "I also asked Wang Yuyu why we should follow the "Six Codes of the Tang Dynasty". Wang Yuyu replied that if the system is not clear, the disaster of redundant officials cannot be eliminated. He also took the establishment of the Regulations Department and the Shipping Department of the two prefectures as examples, arguing that this is caused by the lack of regulations. Many officials were laid off here, but many officials were added there. This back and forth is equivalent to no layoffs."

Sima Guang nodded and said, "Wang Yuyu's words make sense. The Regulations Office of the Two Prefectures should indeed be abolished. If this office exists for a long time, it will definitely undermine the court system."

Zhao Xu asked, "Does that mean you support what Wang Yuyu said?"

"this...."

Sima Guang was struggling. The emperor tied these two things together. If you don't agree with my reform, the two government regulations will not be withdrawn. His tone softened immediately and he said, "Your Majesty... I think if you want to do this, you should do it step by step and not rush it."

"You have a point."

Zhao Xu smiled and nodded, and then said: "During this official rotation, we will first restore some of the powers of the six ministries."

Sima Guang hesitated and said, "That's fine."

As soon as he walked out of the palace, Sima Guang immediately realized that the emperor was about to step forward to take power, because such a thing had happened countless times in history.

......

Soon, the news spread, and both conservatives and reformists were kept silent and did not even dare to discuss it publicly. It can be seen that the power was no less than a magnitude 10 earthquake.

They had anticipated that this rotation would be a big drama, but they never expected it to be so exciting.

In an instant, Wang Anshi was stripped of his administrative power. Without the Regulations Office of the Two Prefectures, everything had to be done according to the rules.

At the same time, Sima Guang was also stripped of his judicial power.

Once the Court of Justice was changed into the Supreme Imperial Court and only had a Grand Chief Justice, it would be like the Privy Council, completely out of the control of the Council of State, and become a purely judicial institution. If Sima Guang was not the Grand Chief Justice, he would no longer be able to continue to preside over the daily affairs of the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs.

Most of the two major forces in the court were destroyed in an instant.

This is really horrible.

Only the fans of the Tang Dynasty were ecstatic. You have to know that there was a group of literati in the Song Dynasty who admired the Tang Dynasty very much, including Zhao Xu himself. He was also a little fan of Emperor Taizong of Tang. They all wanted to restore the Tang system.

This group of Tang Dynasty fans began to build momentum, demanding the restoration of the three-province and six-department system in accordance with the "Six Codes of Tang Dynasty".

In addition, there were also some officials who engaged in speculation and profiteering, who, upon seeing this situation, hurried to flatter the emperor.

Phu

Fu Bi couldn't help but sigh: "What a good trick!"

Before, their target had always been Wang Anshi, but they didn't expect the little emperor to be so cruel and do whatever he said.

"While the snipe and the clam quarrel, the fisherman gains." Wen Yanbo said: "Today we will restore the powers of the six ministries, and tomorrow we will restore the powers of the three provinces, and then..."

Although he didn't finish speaking, it was actually alluding to dividing their power as prime minister.

The power of the prime minister is the source of power for the scholar-official group.

This will break the balance between the emperor and the literati in governing the world.

Wen Yanbo looked at Fu Bi again, "Mr. Fu, maybe you are right."

Fu Bi was startled, then frowned again and said calmly: "Do you want to make the same mistake again?"

......

As usual, every time there was a major earthquake in the court, Zhang Fei acted like an outsider, focusing on his own affairs.

He has been busy with student loans recently. Recently, he came to Baifan Building again to have the final negotiation with Fan Yong.

This time, Fan Yong and other businessmen did not struggle too much. They mainly questioned one point, which was how to ensure their own benefits. Zhang Fei also told them that various examinations would be set up and try to lend money to students with higher qualifications.

At the same time, let them calculate the interest based on the current wages of the accountant and the waiter, and calculate the interest based on the worst outcome, so as to ensure that they can pay it back when the time comes.

After graduation, if you can't enter the Imperial College or become an official, it should be okay to be an accountant.

After several discussions, merchants such as Fan Yong agreed. In fact, compared with the previous big deals, this was just a small amount of money!

"Alas... This imperial court really treats our charity foundation as a small treasury with inexhaustible funds."

Fan Yong said with emotion.

Zhang Fei suddenly stood up and looked up.

Fan Yong was stunned and looked in the direction he was looking, only to see a plaque hanging above his head - The highest good is like water.

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Think about it, why can a charity foundation come up with so much money?"

Fan Yong smiled awkwardly, "That's true."

Without the support of the imperial court, how could this charitable foundation have developed?

Zhang Fei added: "What's more, investing in education is a sure-win business. Some people who want to invest money in it don't even have the qualifications."

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"That's true."

Fan Yong nodded.

“That’s enough!”

Zhang Fei said: "You guys go and take care of this matter. I'll go back to the procuratorate first."

"Saburo, take care."

......

When I returned to the procuratorate, I saw many unfamiliar faces inside.

"Prosecutor Zhang is back, and the students from the Imperial College are here to report."

Wang Gong stepped forward and pointed at the dozen or so unfamiliar faces.

The dozen people immediately stepped forward and said, "Students greet the teacher."

"Wait a minute."

Zhang Fei was surprised and asked, "When did I become your teacher?"

One of them said, "Students are here at the Law School to learn the laws of the teacher's system, so they should respectfully address him as teacher."

All are disciples of the Dhamma of the Law.

These gifted children had already memorized the "Song Dynasty Criminal Code" by heart. When they entered the Imperial College, they mainly studied the law system and researched cases in the imperial court.

It is natural for them to call Zhang Fei teacher.

"Whatever you want."

Zhang Fei added: "No matter what you are called, you will not miss any of the work you are supposed to do."

Then he looked at Qi Ji again, "Inspector Qi, find them some work to do. Let's arrange for them to inspect the prison first."

Qi Ji smiled and nodded.

This is such a good job!

Zhang Fei asked the students again, "Do you know why I arranged for you to inspect the prison?"

More than a dozen people shook their heads.

Zhang Fei said: "What is the concept of the law of the rule of law?"

“Defend everyone’s legitimate rights and interests.”

"So do prisoners have legitimate personal rights?"

"......have."

After thinking for a while, they finally mustered up the courage to answer.

Zhang Fei said: "Of course we have it, because if we don't defend the legitimate rights of prisoners, then we can't prevent wrongful convictions from happening."

"Students should keep the teacher's teachings in mind."

"Just call me Prosecutor Zhang here."

"Yes, teacher."

"???"

Zhang Fei rolled his eyes and didn't bother to argue, "Go get ready."

The students excitedly followed Qi Ji away. They were so happy to have work to do right away.

These students have not yet been smoothed over, are ambitious and full of energy.

After they left, Wang Gong suddenly asked, "Prosecutor Zhang, have you heard any news about the Court of Criminal Justice?"

Zhang Fei asked, "What's the matter?"

Wang Gong frowned and said, "It is said that the court intends to change the Court of Justice and the Dali Temple into the Imperial Court. If this is true, then our public security, procuratorial and judicial organs will be completely independent of the administration."

Zhang Fei was startled, thinking, this is what is coming, and it is coming. But he asked, "Is this a good thing or a bad thing?"

Wang Gong was stunned for a moment, "I wanted to ask you something else."

Zhang Fei said: "How would I know?"

Wang Gong hesitated for a moment, "Logically speaking, this is of course a good thing, but without Sima Xianggong in charge, it's hard to strike the right balance, and everyone feels a little guilty!"

It is said that politics and law are separated, but if they are really separated completely, there will inevitably be some concerns. Will the prime minister really be reported to the imperial court?

With Sima Guang around, if the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs overstepped their boundaries, the Court of Criminal Justice could still reject them. Moreover, if the higher-ups wanted to find someone, they would first look for Sima Guang and would not interfere too much in the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, so they would not be under too much pressure.

In other words, the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments must now bear all responsibilities themselves.

Although separation of politics and law is what Zhang Fei pursues, he is not very willing to do so at this moment, because he thinks it is still too fast. At least he has to wait until the expansion of the six routes in the southeast is completed, but he cannot let the dragon stay hidden in the water forever.

The key point is that he suspected that Zhao Xu did this before the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems were fully established, and he might have doubts about them.

It would be difficult for the emperor to personally control the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems after they are established. From this point of view, this moment is indeed a very important window for the emperor.