The Chief Justice of the Northern Song Dynasty, Volume 737, Chapter 737, Talented people emerge in every generation. Who on earth can't tell the difference between the big king and the small king?

Sima Guang certainly had no obligation to obey Zhang Fei. He went to Zhang Fei just to ask for advice. The final decision was still in Sima Guang's hands.

From this perspective, Sima Guang is the king!

But you have to know that Zhang Fei suggested to have a permanent Grand Court President, and this Grand Court President would not necessarily be appointed by the emperor, but would be selected according to the system. The other two would be temporarily appointed by the emperor, thus ensuring the emperor's control over the imperial court.

Sima Guang obviously disagreed and reversed Zhang Fei's suggestion. He established a permanent Grand Chamber President who would be appointed by the emperor, while temporary appointees would be appointed by the Privy Council and the Council of State.

The Privy Council and the Council of State represent the power of the prime minister.

I still hope to continue to maintain a balance between imperial power and prime ministerial power.

But for Sima Guang, the emperor is the king!

"Master Sima did not tell me this."

Zhang Fei said this with an innocent look on his face.

...

...

"I know."

Zhao Xu nodded and asked, "What do you think about this?"

After thinking for a while, Zhang Fei said truthfully: "As far as the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are concerned, this is actually fine. If there are multiple chief judges, it is enough to ensure that the number of candidates for the Supreme Court is an odd number. This is to ensure that a case will not be delayed for a long time. But if Your Majesty can appoint two, it will be more likely that the Supreme Court will fully implement Your Majesty's will."

Zhao Xu smiled bitterly and said, "I know this, but all of my prime ministers are smart and capable. I want to know, if you were the chief judge, would Sima Junshi's suggestion have any impact on you?"

Zhang Fei said awkwardly, "If I were the chief judge, whether it was someone appointed by your majesty himself or someone recommended by the two prefectures, it probably wouldn't make much difference."

Zhao Xu was surprised and asked, "Why?"

Zhang Fei said: "Because they target me, it has become a habit."

Zhao Xu laughed, "You are quite self-aware."

Zhang Fei smiled helplessly and said, "I'm used to it."

Zhao Xu asked again: "Can you handle it?"

Zhang Fei said: “I dare not say that I can handle every case well, but if it is based on the law of the rule of law, I think I can still handle most of the affairs well.

After all, the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs have a complete system, and only in some very, very complicated cases can the chief judge exercise his or her greatest power.

But even so, the chief judge still has to face the constraints of the system, including the supervision of the procuratorate. He cannot make up stories at random and must come up with strong arguments. As for the law of the rule of law, I have the greatest right to interpret it. "

At this point, he paused for a moment, "Of course, this depends mainly on what Your Majesty intends to do."

Zhao Xu suddenly smiled and asked, "Then what do you think I should choose?"

Zhang Fei said: "I don't know about that."

Zhao Xu smiled and nodded, "It can be seen that you are really lacking in this aspect. In fact, Sima Junshi's suggestion is better than yours!"

Zhang Fei asked doubtfully: "Really?"

Zhao Xu nodded and said, "The cases that can be brought to the Supreme Court must not be ordinary cases. If the two governments and three courts all disagree, it may bring more trouble to me. In fact, in the past, when I encountered such cases, I also arranged multiple officials to try them.

Let them participate, then no matter what the result is, no one will have anything to say, so..."

Zhao Xu looked at Zhang Fei, "If you have no problem, I don't want to compete with Sima Junshi on this matter, because even if it was recommended by the two governments, it doesn't mean that I have nothing to do with it."

What this meant was that he could also manipulate one of the two governments to recommend the candidate he wanted, and he would always hold the initiative.

It seems you are worried about me! Zhang Fei quickly said, "I have no problem at all."

"Then let's settle it." Zhao Xu nodded, and then said: "As for the procuratorate, Sima Junshi actually requested complete independence."

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "This is what I suggested, because in the entire public security, procuratorial and judicial system, the procuratorate is very, very critical. It can check and balance the imperial court, the police station, and other government offices.

Moreover, unlike the Censorate, the Procuratorate is based on evidence. Regardless of whether it wins the case or not, it can help Your Majesty distinguish between good and bad. I think the Procuratorate must be independent and given great freedom. Only in this way can the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, as well as the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, be in a relatively balanced state with the two government offices and three departments. "

Zhao Xu nodded and asked, "What about the police station?"

Zhang Fei said: "It depends on your majesty's wishes."

Zhao Xu asked: "Is the police station an administrative department or a judicial department?"

Zhang Fei said: "It's both. After all, the Royal Police have completely replaced the Yamen runners and even some patrolmen. This depends on the nature of the matter. If the Royal Court asks the police station to investigate certain cases, it is judicial. If it helps the government maintain public order and issue notices, it is administrative."

Zhao Xu nodded slightly. "I am currently planning to place the police station under the Ministry of War. In this restructuring, the Ministry of War will not replace the authority of the Privy Council. At the same time, I also hope that the Royal Police can help me expand my territory."

"Ministry of War?" Zhang Fei blinked and said, "Your Majesty, this is a great idea. I think it is feasible."

"Yeah?"

“From the bottom of my heart.”

Afterwards, the emperor and his minister discussed the establishment of the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs.

The reason why the emperor didn't talk to Zhang Fei in advance was that Zhang Fei could not make the decision and could only give advice. The key was Sima Guang and others. The emperor had to wait until Sima Guang and others put forward their suggestions before discussing with Zhang Fei how to respond.

When leaving the palace and preparing to get on the carriage, Li Si glanced inside the carriage.

Zhang Fei understood what he meant and got on the carriage, only to see Li Bao sitting inside.

"What's the situation with the tax department now?"

Zhang Fei sat in and asked casually.

Li Bao immediately sighed, "If there hadn't been that round of tax arrears, everyone in the tax department would have had a good year. You filed that lawsuit at a really bad time."

There was a hint of complaint in his tone.

Zhang Fei said: "This is all your fault. If you had told me this earlier, I could have fought later!"

The blame was passed on so smoothly that Li Bao was a little overwhelmed. "How would I know that?"

Zhang Fei chuckled and said, "You are responsible for receiving messages, don't you know?"

".!"

These ear pens can really be used to frame someone! Li Bao was scared and whispered, "Don't tell the government about this."

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "The emperor is not in the mood to argue with you about such trivial matters now."

After a pause, he asked again, "Will the tax commissioner starve to death?"

Li Bao said: "They won't starve to death, but there are still many tax evaders, but they also count the money and are ready to accept the punishment. But this time they are also well prepared. Some businessmen divided the account books into more than ten parts and hid them separately."

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "But you guys still found out."

Li Bao said: "This is all thanks to Sanlang who taught us a lot of investigation methods."

Zhang Fei smiled and asked, "By the way, what do you want to talk to me about?"

Li Bao said hurriedly: "Big Dog also sent a letter."

Zhang Fei asked: "What did you say?"

Li Bao said: "The taxation in the Northwest has basically been completed. The salt debt crisis is completely over. The government now has a lot of surplus."

Zhang Fei asked: "What's going on? Aren't they collected at the same time?"

Li Bao said: "In theory, the northwest will collect taxes half a month later than the capital, but they are all salt notes over there, and they declare it voluntarily. With the tax bill and salt notes, they pay the tax."

Zhang Fei couldn't help but curse: "Damn, I planted the tree, but someone else is enjoying the shade."

Li Bao chuckled and said, "You can't say that. This year, your offices in Jingzhao Prefecture and Hezhong Prefecture paid more than 10,000 strings of cash in taxes alone."

“Is this true or false?”

"The money has been paid, how can it be fake?"

"It's a pity that I'm not interested in money. Apart from paying taxes, I don't have much else to spend it on." Zhang Fei couldn't help but sigh.

Li Bao's mouth twitched a few times, and he said unconscionably, "Everyone knows that Sanlang doesn't like money, but most people still like money. Dagou thinks that fewer and fewer people in the Northwest evade taxes, but we in the Northwest are strong in both military and military. Even though Jingdong East Road fights hard, when it comes to tax collection skills, our Northwest Taxation Commissioner is still better."

Zhang Fei asked, "Did Big Dog receive the news that the police, procuratorate and courts were heading south?"

Li Bao nodded and said, "Thirty percent of his letters are about good news, but seventy percent are about the hope of going to Southeast Sixth Road. That place is really a big honeypot. After this round, everyone can get rich."

Zhang Fei laughed and said, "It just so happens that they are short of people over there, so you can make the arrangements yourself."

Li Bao nodded.

“That’s right!”

Zhang Fei asked: "Do you take a commission?"

Li Bao rubbed his hands: "Take at least a little bit."

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Also, this person can't just take in money and not spend it, relying on others to evade taxes to make a living. With the money he earns, he can also do some business himself to keep some security for himself."

Li Bao nodded and said, "I forgot to tell you this. In fact, many people have already started doing business, especially those who joined our tax department in the past two years. But the two are not contradictory. While doing business, you can better check the other party's taxes, earn some rewards from it, and make up for the taxes you pay."

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

One of the main reasons why the Yuanfeng Reform was not very effective in history was that it did not change the local structure.

But the situation now is just the opposite. Earth-shaking changes have taken place at the local level. Due to the separation of politics and law, administrative agencies have become very united and worked as a team.

Also, due to the introduction of the enterprise law and debt restructuring, officials have become very concerned about their official uniforms and have become very efficient.

For example, the capital city had just started to pay taxes on a large scale, but Jingzhao Prefecture had already paid all its taxes, and the tax lawsuit in the procuratorate was almost finished.

Jingzhao prefect Lu Gongru looked at the hundreds of people busy at the dock, but still in an orderly manner, and couldn't help but grin and laugh, "The public security, procuratorial and judicial organs really have the effect of turning decay into magic."

There is a war on the front line, but as the prefect of Jingzhao, he feels extremely relaxed. He may even take the New Year holiday in advance. He has never fought such a prosperous war in his life.

Yuan Jiang, the transport envoy next to him, was quite dissatisfied and said, "The tax can be collected so quickly mainly because of the salt notes. Nowadays, all the villagers use salt notes to pay taxes. In this village, it may take less than an hour to collect all the taxes."

Lu Gongru laughed and said, "You can't say that. Even if it's salt money, it will take time to collect it from every household. Moreover, in the past, the government office was closed during the tax collection period, but now the imperial court has never rested.

The number of merchants coming and going has increased day by day recently. The safety on the roads and in the markets is the responsibility of the public security, procuratorate and courts. In the past, it was impossible for the government to take care of so many things at the same time, but now there are no mistakes at all."

Yuan Jiang said: "That's because they have so many people. The Royal Police plus the Tax Police, plus the Court Guards and Prison Guards, their number is more than twenty times that of all the yamen runners before. How can we not deal with them properly?"

Talking about efficiency without considering manpower is pure nonsense.

Thanks to Zhao Xu's strategy, the transfer of the imperial guards to the police station was very smooth. The police stations in various places had sufficient manpower, and at the same time, it did not add any burden to the finances. All the imperial guards were converted into royal police, and the expenditures were similar.

But the Royal Police has a lot to do, and it doesn't affect war preparedness because there are already too many soldiers.

Lu Gongru chuckled and said, "If we replace the royal police with the former yamen runners, do you think we can do it?"

Yuan Jiang said depressedly: "Prefect Lu, we are on the same side, why do you always speak for them?"

Lu Gongru laughed and said, "I was just discussing the matter at hand! Now I feel the fun of being an official!"

In the past, the efficiency was too slow. After giving an order, we had to wait. When we were bored, we would go to brothels to drink tea from time to time, and our fighting spirit would be worn out. Unlike today, the efficiency has been greatly improved. There are many things to do every day, and the results can be seen quickly, so we don’t feel tired.

When a policy is issued and there is an immediate response, there is a sense of accomplishment.

At this time, a young man and a clerk from the dock came over.

The young man handed over a contract and said, "Governor Lu, Transport Commissioner Yuan, this batch of grain has been handed over. If there are no other questions, please put your stamps on it."

Lu Gongru nodded and smiled, "Thank you, Dalang."

This young man was Fan Zheng.

"This is the responsibility of the common people."

Fan Zheng hurriedly bowed.

After Yuan Jiang examined the contract, he stamped it and asked, "Master Fan, what is the current price of grain in the market?"

Fan Zhengdao: "It's relatively stable."

Lu Gongru asked curiously, "The court has already purchased nearly 100,000 strings of grain in the past few days, why hasn't the grain price risen?"

Fan Zheng said hurriedly: "This is because the people all pay taxes with salt notes, which means that now all the salt notes are in the hands of the government. The people are all food and are seriously short of currency, so they can still maintain it."

Lu Gongru stroked his beard and nodded, "So that's how it is."

Fan Zheng asked again: "Is the next batch of grain going to be sent to Yanzhou?"

"Yes." Yuan Jiang nodded, "Xihe area is not used for the time being."

They have received news that the emperor has sent one million strings of cash, which will greatly alleviate the pressure in the northwest region.

The key point is that salt notes have become popular in the northwest region. After collecting taxes, the salt shops can directly purchase them nearby, saving a lot of consumption.

Lü Gongru couldn't help but sigh: "How is this different from the equal distribution method?"

Yuan Jiang did not refute this point.

This is the fact. Now all the money collected is salt notes, and the government has to use the salt notes to buy, so naturally they want to be closer and cheaper.

Isn’t this what the equalization method of transport is pursuing?

Moreover, it saves costs more than the equalized transport method. The Southeast Six Routes Shipping Company has recruited a lot of people, which all costs money. Here, everything is done through the warehouse release shop, which saves the labor cost.

Suddenly, I heard someone behind me say, "Even if you save more money, it won't be enough."

A few people turned around and saw Su Che walking towards them.

"So it's Prosecutor Su." Lu Gongru nodded with a smile.

Su Che bowed to the two of them.

Fan Zheng bowed to Su Che and left tactfully. He was really busy now. The Transportation Bureau relied more and more on the Jieku Pu for its operations. Not to mention the salt notes and salt debts, nearly 70% of the military pay was now circulated through the Jieku Pu. After all, it was too convenient to get money in and out.

After Fan Zheng left, Su Che glanced at the grain on the dock and said, "Transportation Envoy, I think we can't just send grain to the front line. This will cause those generals to constantly expand the border. If there is any mistake, there will be big problems. Now that the Northwest region is developing so well, we should accumulate the people's strength and make great efforts."

Yuan Jiang said: "Chief Prosecutor Su only saw one of the reasons. Why has the commercial tax continued to grow exponentially in recent years? It is not because of your public security, procuratorate and courts, but because of the war, which led to the rapid circulation of goods and currency, and the salt notes were popularized so quickly."

Su Zhe smiled coldly and said, "That's all due to the salt debt. If that batch of smuggled salt hadn't appeared a few months ago, who knows what would have happened. The debt is getting bigger and bigger, and one day something bad will happen. When that happens, the government wants to raise taxes at will, but our procuratorate will never agree to it."

Yuan Jiang said calmly: "We know our own limits. Just take care of your own business, the procuratorate."

Lu Gongru, who was standing in the middle, stroked his beard and said nothing.

This was not the first time the two had quarreled over this matter. Su Che believed that the Xihe region should not be too indulgent as that would encourage military generals to be greedy for merit and act rashly.

The Northwest region has developed very well in recent years, but there is still no money. The reason is that the money was spent on the war. If the money was left to take care of people's livelihood, life would be so comfortable!

But Yuan Jiang believes that this war is not entirely negative. The scale of business in the northwest is expanding wildly, which is visibly happening. The Xihe war has played a role in fueling the situation and is still within controllable range. As for the salt debt, it is indeed a bit dangerous, but that was left by Zhang Fei.

Su Che said: "But it is the duty of our procuratorate to check the issuance of salt notes."

Lü Gongru couldn't help but laugh and said, "Chief Prosecutor Su, the tax department is so busy, can your procuratorate still send someone to check the salt notes?"

Su Che said: "It doesn't take much manpower to fight a lawsuit, so it won't delay it."

He really couldn't control the affairs of the Transportation Bureau, but he could keep an eye on it. He also knew that if there was a shortage of money, the Transportation Bureau would most likely issue more salt notes, so he had been keeping an eye on this matter.

Yuan Jiang laughed and said, "Go ahead and check. The more you check, the more people will use my salt notes."

Su Che smiled and said, "This is also what our public security, procuratorate and courts wish for."

"you!"

Yuan Jiang glared at Su Zhe angrily.

He missed Zhang Fei very much at this moment. In the past, he was often confused by Zhang Fei, but he never thought that Su Zhe was more troublesome. In comparison, it was more comfortable to work with Zhang Fei.

The key point is that Su Che has a very good brain. He knows where the government will take action if it wants to.

He was very strict in investigating salt debts and salt notes. As long as there was large-scale circulation of salt notes in the market, he would start an investigation.

This time when collecting taxes, he saw that the government collected all the salt notes, and the people became extremely short of salt notes. If the government secretly issued salt notes, it would be difficult to detect.

So he immediately sent someone to investigate.

The officials really didn't dare to make any moves. If they were caught by Su Che, they would be dead. After all, Zhang Fei was not there, so they couldn't protect him!

Compared with the rapid development in the northwest, Jingdong East Road is still in the recovery stage.

However, the unrest caused by the Qingmiao Law has completely passed, and because the money earned from the Qingmiao Law was spent by the Tichangpingsi this year, there are naturally many business opportunities with so many projects. The key is that the Taxation Bureau also cleared out a group of bandits, making the roads safer and the number of merchants traveling back and forth has increased significantly.

At the same time, due to the arrival of the tax commissioner, the taxes that the people needed to pay were significantly reduced. They were no longer exploited. No matter how much they paid, at least they knew the amount and they filled out the tax bill themselves.

The people living on Jingdong East Road all felt an unprecedented sense of relief.

It can be said that Jingdong East Road is currently in a state of drawing the bow and accumulating strength.

Officials who have never been to the Northwest are already quite satisfied with this.

Qingzhou.

Qinghe Tower.

I saw that almost every customer inside had a newspaper in their hands and gathered around the table to discuss the matter.

"This hearing was really unfair. There were obviously problems, but they dismissed the lawsuit."

"Brother Chen, you should read it first. It is clearly written at the end that the case was rejected due to insufficient evidence. The public security, procuratorate and courts place the greatest emphasis on evidence."

"Then just ignore it?"

"This has already been reported, how can we just ignore it? Didn't the article hint at this at the end that this matter can only be handled by the court?"

"I think the court must have sent the public security, procuratorate and courts to the six southeastern routes. It's our court newspaper that's abominable. They just like to whet people's appetites. Just for the issue of the equalization of the law, they have issued eight copies. Fortunately, this restaurant has it. If you want to buy it yourself, humph, it will cost a lot of money just to read the newspaper in a year."

Due to the delay in information release, they are still immersed in the hearing and are completely unaware that a bigger storm is already approaching.

"Ouch! My dear guests, please keep your voices down."

At this time, the shopkeeper came forward with a pot of tea.

"What? It's already in the newspaper, why don't you let people talk about it?"

"No, it's just that Chief Prosecutor Fan and Chief Prosecutor Su are sitting in the private room upstairs."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?"

".!"

However, Su Shi and Fan Chunren were not in the mood to listen to them arguing about the court and the country at this time, and they were quite concerned about this matter.

“You deserve it!”

Su Shi put the newspaper down and laughed coldly.

Fan Chunren asked curiously, "Why does Zizhan say that?"

Su Shi said: "When I built the Procuratorate in Yangzhou, they wanted me to work in a brothel and ignored me. Now I am really asking for trouble. Isn't this what I deserve?"

Fan Chunren laughed and said, "You will never forget this."

Su Shi couldn't bear to look back on the past. He sighed, "You don't know how aggrieved I was in Yangzhou at that time. What's more hateful is that Zhang San was very successful in Hezhong Prefecture. It's not because I'm incompetent, but because they didn't support me. Now it's really the cycle of justice, good and evil will be rewarded."

Fan Chunren said, "Of course I don't know. My days in Dengzhou were also very leisurely."

Su Shi was stunned for a moment, and suddenly remembered that Fan Chunren and he were a pair of brothers in distress. He asked again: "Don't you feel happy?"

Fan Chunren just smiled helplessly and asked again: "How do you think the court will respond?"

Su Shi chuckled and said, "The next report will definitely tell us that the court has decided to implement the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems in the six southeastern routes."

Fan Chunren asked, "Why are you so sure?"

"Because this must be Zhang San's trick."

Su Shi laughed and said, "If those Jiangnan merchants hired me to help them with the lawsuit, I would definitely ask the imperial court to seek justice for them. How could Zhang San not be able to do it?

The reason why he held this hearing was that he did not want the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs in Beijing to solve this problem. Otherwise, what reason would there be to implement the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs in Southeast Sixth Road?"

Fan Chunren asked, "But will Wang Jiefu just sit there and wait for death?"

"impossible."

Su Shi shook his head and said, "But as long as the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are established in the six southeastern routes, even if Wang Jiefu comes up with a solution, there is nothing to worry about. Look at the Qingmiao Law, which has changed the entire Jingdong East Route from an evil law to a good law. Who would dare to lend money to the people at high interest rates, or force them to borrow money?"

Fan Chunren nodded, "You are right about this. In fact, there are no major problems with the new policy regulations."

"Who said there is no problem?" Su Shi said, "The concept of the equalization of transport is wrong at all. The court should not interfere with the business of merchants. The court's income should come from taxes. In this way, the court will care about whether the people live well. If the people live poorly and cannot pay taxes, the country will have no income."

"That's not it either."

Fan Chunren waved his hand. "The Changping Warehouse Method is to sell at a high price and buy at a low price. Isn't this good for the people?"

“This cannot be confused with the other.”

Su Shi waved his hand and said, "The purpose of the Changping Warehouse is to serve the people's livelihood, but the purpose of the Junshu system is to benefit wealth. If it was just to save money, it wouldn't be designed so complicatedly."

At this moment, a servant came into the private room quickly and said, "Sir, Mr. Ouyang passed away an hour ago."