Zhao Xu did not leave the back hall immediately after the meeting, but sat inside and looked at the accounts of Hezhong Prefecture handed over by Zhang Fei.

Liu Zhao could only accompany him.

At this time, two eunuchs came to the door with two trays. Lan Yuanzhen immediately came out and took a look at the dishes on the trays. "Why is it just plain tea and rice?"

One of the older eunuchs said in embarrassment: "Noble, this really cannot be blamed on me. These are the only dishes in the imperial court. I carefully selected them to make these four dishes."

Lan Yuanzhen sighed, "I almost forgot that this is the imperial court of Lord Zhao."

Zhao Yan was definitely the poorest prime minister of the time, and he was famous for it in the court. In his office, if you wanted delicacies from land and sea, that was impossible. It was already very good to have simple meals. Generally speaking, the royal court would not entertain them, and let them fend for themselves. But there was no way today.

After saying that, Lan Yuanzhen waved his hand, indicating that they could go in, but immediately reminded them: "Be quiet, the emperor is reading the documents."

"yes."

The two eunuchs put the food on the table quietly.

Lan Yuanzhen came to Zhao Xu again and whispered, "Sir, the food is here."

...

...

"etc!"

Zhao Xu waved his hands and suddenly said to Liu Zhao, "Liu Sheren, this is the account book. It is clear at a glance. I can immediately have a very clear understanding of the situation in Hezhong Prefecture without having to look at it carefully. The accounts handed over by the three departments are either lengthy or simple, just letting me know a number. It is absurd that the national financial center is not as good as a piece of evidence."

Liu Zhao replied: "Your Majesty, in my opinion, this is not an account, but evidence."

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

Liu Zhao said: "These evidences were actually obtained from the account books of the three departments. We just analyzed them and came to this conclusion."

"Account analysis?" Zhao Xu nodded slightly.

Liu Zhao said: "In fact, the Minister of Finance often analyzes these accounts with Your Majesty, but he said that they are not so standardized."

"Not at all."

Zhao Xu snorted, "It's not that there is no standard, but that there is no objectivity. They only analyze the tip of the iceberg in the accounts for me."

Liu Zhao said nothing.

This is the fact. The Minister of Finance certainly does account analysis, but he usually takes out a part of it and analyzes it for the emperor to promote his own ideas.

The reason why Zhao Xu reacted so quickly was because he was very concerned about the finances of Hezhong Prefecture. However, Zhang Fei's evidence made them see something different, and it was not as those ministers said.

"Don't do this again."

Zhao Xu said with a resolute look: "From now on, whether it is the three departments or the Ministry of Revenue, they must compile statistics and make analyses. I want to see objective accounts."

In fact, what the emperor fears most is being kept in the dark. He sits in the palace every day, and his ministers are his eyes and ears. This is why the crime of deceiving the emperor is a serious crime.

However, the ministers now had no intention of finding out what the emperor was doing. They were busy jumping up and down, whether it was the warehouse tax or the liquor tax, it was really too terrible.

Especially the warehouse tax. After all, the liquor tax only affects the interests of some powerful people, but the warehouse tax is related to the interests of all powerful people.

The current situation is very unfavorable to them, and they have to find a way to prevent the passage of this bill from the Procuratorate.

In the entire imperial court, Zhang Fei was the only one who was sitting leisurely in the house with Xu Zhiqian, "enjoying" the simple meals provided by the imperial court.

"Alas, the hospitality provided by the imperial court is far inferior to the vegetarian meals provided by Xiangguo Temple."

Zhang Fei put down his chopsticks and looked at the three empty bowls in front of him. He was obviously not satisfied with the lunch. He said, "If I wasn't afraid of going out and being pestered by those people asking questions, I would rather go to the restaurant to eat."

Xu Zhiqian rolled her eyes at him and said, "There's a drought right now, so it's good to have something to eat. Besides, didn't you eat these when you were at my house before?"

"Ahem, it's all Xiaotao's fault. She spoiled my appetite."

Zhang Fei threw the pot away, picked up a silk handkerchief to wipe his mouth, then stood up and sat down on the couch beside him.

This is Xiao Tao's fault. Xu Zhiqian looked at Zhang Fei with disdain and suddenly asked, "What do you think they will ask us this afternoon?"

Zhang Fei shrugged and said, "How would I know? But they will definitely fight with us on the enforcement aspect. But it's useless. I left a loophole in the bill. Special circumstances can be exempted. If we really can't refute it, we can use the exemption law."

Xu Zhiqian asked: "But what is the difference between your exemption and the current privileges?"

Zhang Fei said: "The difference is that the exemption law requires application and review, and it is one-time, unlike privilege, which is a kind of power. Once you have it, you can use it at any time, and there is no review.

In fact, Wang Xueshi’s new policy lacks such exemption rules, so that in some special cases, officials below him have to enforce the law, which leads to many unfair phenomena and gives people excuses to criticize.

Xu Zhiqian asked: "But won't this kind of immunity be exploited by others?"

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Of course, but this requires great wisdom and careful planning. There are no perfect policies and laws in this world. We can only make it more difficult for them to exploit loopholes."

Before he could finish his words, he heard a few knocks on the door.

Xu Zhiqian immediately stood up and stood aside.

"You don't have to do this."

Zhang Fei smiled bitterly.

Xu Zhiqian spat, "Mind your own business."

Zhang Fei shook his head and sighed, then shouted, "Come in."

A young official entered the room. Zhang Fei also knew this man. His name was Chen Wen and he was Zhao Yan's assistant.

Chen Wen first bowed to Zhang Fei, and then said, "I am here on the orders of the Grand Court President to inform Prosecutor Zhang that the hearing on the procuratorate's side will end today. If there are any changes in the future, I will notify you separately."

Xu Zhiqian was slightly startled. They expected that the other party would launch a full-scale counterattack in the afternoon.

Zhang Fei asked: "Why is this?"

Chen Wen said: "I don't know either."

Zhang Fei asked again: "Isn't there still a hearing for the three courts?"

Chen Wen nodded and said, "The hearing for the three courts will begin tomorrow."

Zhang Fei and Xu Zhiqian couldn't help but look at each other.

The bills of the three courts will be reviewed directly tomorrow, which means that this is the end of his work.

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Thank you, I understand."

"If there is nothing else, I will take my leave."

"Slow down."

After the young official left, Xu Zhiqian couldn't help but look at Zhang Fei in confusion, "What happened?"

Zhang Fei said, "How should I know? I have been with you all the time." After a pause, he said, "In this case, let's go back first. Maybe my father-in-law knows what happened."

"Um."

The couple packed up a little and went out. When they came outside, they saw many officials walking out one after another. It seemed that they also received the sudden notice. Otherwise, there was no need for them to stay here and enjoy the simple meal. In other words, this decision was made at the last minute.

After the notice was issued, Wen Yanbo immediately came to Fu Bi's lounge.

"So this is what they asked for?"

Wen Yanbo said with a hint of surprise.

Fu Bi nodded and said, "I asked Jun Shi and his team to ask those officials if they had any other questions, but they all asked us to stop the trial and not conduct any more trials."

Wen Yanbo stroked his beard and said, "Yes, for them, continuing to discuss this matter in such a public place is very disadvantageous to them. The further they wait, the less room they have to maneuver!"

Fu Bi smiled and said, "This is also Zhang San's specialty."

Although Zhang Fei always talks about the law and the system, the methods he actually uses to win lawsuits are all based on the emperor's interests, without exception.

Because in this era, fairness and justice cannot play a decisive role, they can only occupy the moral high ground, and once you take this high ground, the only one who can deny it is the emperor.

Therefore, he always put the emperor's interests on the table.

As long as Zhang Fei holds on to the point of "threat to imperial power", the more questions he asks, the more disadvantageous it will be for them, because it will make it difficult for them to plead with the emperor in private.

So, when Sima Guang asked, all the officials gave a very unified answer, which was that there should be no further trial and that it should end there.

Wen Yanbo then asked Fu Bi, "Does Fu Gong think they can stop it?"

“It’s very difficult!”

Fu Bi shook his head and sighed, "In my opinion, if they cannot refute Zhang San's point of view in court, it will be difficult to prevent the passage of this bill, because Zhang San currently has the best timing, location and people.

Don't forget that this bill is obviously for disaster relief, and many people have previously blamed the government for the drought. Do you think the government will listen to them?"

Under normal circumstances, it might have been possible to stop it, but this hearing had its cause and effect. When the drought was just showing signs, some people wanted to use it to stop Zhao Xu's official system reform.

After this hearing, in the emperor's view, the whole thing becomes that I take the blame and you make the money.

Why don't you just die.

Can Zhao Xu agree to them?

Therefore, Fu Bi speculated that if the Legislative Council could not stop it, Zhao Xu would definitely let the Legislative Council enforce the law impartially.

Wen Yanbo sighed: "Zhang San's greatest ability is to seize opportunities wherever they arise!"

Fu Bi nodded and said, "I agree with you on this point. Whether in the capital or in Hezhong Prefecture, Zhang San has been using what has happened to promote his bill. He has done this when he was just a pen."

"What a bad idea!"

When Wang Anshi, Xue Xiang and Deng Wan came out of the imperial court, they couldn't help but sigh.

Deng Wan hurriedly asked, "What do you mean, Mr. Wang?"

Wang Anshi said, "It seems that they are temporarily helpless against Zhang San, and even feel a little guilty. But if this happens, they will definitely vent all their grievances today on the heads of the Three Envoys tomorrow. If we had known this would happen, we would have found an excuse to review our bill first."

Deng Wan looked worried when he heard this.

Xue Xiang said, "Sir, you are wrong. Everything has its pros and cons. Prosecutor Zhang's answer has opened my eyes. I am more confident about tomorrow's trial."

"Yeah?"

Wang Anshi laughed and said, "Are you planning to apply what you have learned?"

Xue Xiang smiled confidently and said, "That's not a bad idea."

Not long after Zhang Fei and Xu Zhiqian returned home, Xu Zun also came back. The couple immediately asked Xu Zun the reason.

Xu Zun also told them what happened at noon.

"Why?"

Xu Zhiqian asked curiously, "Are they admitting defeat?"

Xu Zun stroked his beard and said, "They haven't admitted defeat, they just don't want to discuss this issue in public anymore."

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Then they will lose their only chance to win."

Xu Zhiqian looked at Zhang Fei again, "What do you mean by that?"

Xu Zun also looked at Zhang Fei in confusion.

Zhang Fei said: "Because the government is very angry."

Xu Zun suddenly realized, "Yes! They no longer have a chance."

They wanted to punish Zhao Xu before, and now Zhang Fei has created an opportunity for Zhao Xu to take revenge. How could Zhao Xu be merciful?

Whether it can be prevented depends on this hearing.

But those powerful people felt very guilty because what Zhang Fei said was true.

The next morning.

There were still huge crowds of people outside the imperial court. The number of people was even greater than yesterday. Yesterday, they were only discussing the rights of a few people, but today it was about relief policies, which concerned the vital interests of everyone.

Moreover, compared to yesterday, today is much more lively, because everyone is talking about yesterday's hearing, and many people are looking around for Zhang Fei.

Because they have heard some rumors that today might be a hearing of the three courts, but in their opinion, the hearing of the procuratorate is obviously not over.

Unfortunately, they did not find Zhang Fei.

In fact, Zhang Fei had already arrived, but the emperor called him to the inner hall to watch the trial with him.

"As expected of Zhang Dar's pen, they surrendered in just one morning."

When he saw Zhang Fei, Zhao Xu praised him with a smile.

Zhang Fei chuckled and said, "In fact, I am just a fox relying on the power of the tiger. What they are really afraid of is Your Majesty, not me."

"Afraid of me?"

Zhao Xu just smiled coldly, but didn't say much. He turned around and said, "I read the evidence you submitted to the Legislative Council yesterday, especially the comparison of the liquor tax in Hezhong Prefecture. It really made my eyes light up, and it also gave me a deep understanding of the financial situation of Hezhong Prefecture, which is far better than the accounts submitted to me by the three departments."

"This is the professional governance that I often mentioned to Your Majesty."

Zhang Fei stopped smiling and said seriously, "In fact, there is no conflict between Confucianism and professionalism in governing a country.

It is like building a palace. Confucianism is the planning before construction, such as specifications, size, height, and color. However, during the construction period, Confucianism cannot be used. Instead, construction technology must be used. Only with sophisticated technology can a stable palace be built.

But many previous dynasties confused the two and paid too much attention to specifications, size, height, and color, and as a result, the palaces they built were often not that stable.

For example, taxation. Sometimes, raising taxes in certain situations can benefit the country and the people. However, according to Confucianism, taxes cannot be raised and there is no reason to raise taxes. However, if the accounts are analyzed, it is often possible to conclude that taxes should be raised.

This remark made Zhao Xu fall into deep thought. After a long while, he suddenly slapped the table and said, "Well said, that's exactly the point. In the past, when the three departments discussed finance with me, they often viewed these accounts from the perspective of Confucianism. This person's statement made me very confused. I have already planned to let the three departments and the Ministry of Revenue set up a special office to analyze the accounts in the future."

Zhang Fei hurriedly said, "Your Majesty is wise."

Zhao Xu smiled and said, "Thanks to you!"

Just as he finished speaking, he heard a noise outside. Zhao Xu looked up and saw that Fu Bi and the others had already arrived at their seats.

Zhao Xu couldn't help but ask Zhang Fei again: "What do you think of today's hearing?"

Zhang Fei said: "I heard that it was the Three Envoys who took the initiative to request it."

Zhao Xu nodded and said, "He said that doing so would help the people to trust the tax currency more and would be more conducive to the issuance of the tax currency."

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "That's right. In fact, it is not difficult for the court to issue tax coins. The difficulty lies in whether everyone is willing to accept the tax coins. I believe that the three officials will be able to win this hearing."

When Fu Bi and the others sat down, the outside gradually became quiet.

A young judicial official sitting below stood up and announced that this hearing would be a review of the relief policies of the three courts.

As for the bill submitted by the procuratorate, there is no statement on whether it has been passed, and there is no clear indication on whether it has been reviewed.

This immediately caused whispers among the audience outside the courtyard.

Something fishy!

There must be something fishy!

In fact, no one expects to pass on the spot, but at least you have to give an explanation. If you jump directly to it, there must be something unknown here.

This was within Fu Bi's expectations, but he had no other choice. He had to give the other party a chance and immediately summon Xue Xiang to attend.

After a while, Xue Xiang came to the witness stand with an adjutant and sat down. The adjutant sat behind him. Except for Zhang Fei, the others still paid great attention to their status.

It is almost impossible for the adjutant to sit in the same row with the superior.

After the courtyard was completely quiet, Fu Bi took the lead in asking, "Sansi Envoy, as far as we know, the Sansi, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Works have recently jointly formulated a drought relief policy, which was revised by the Sansi Envoy."

Xue Xiang nodded and said, "Yes."

Fu Bi asked again: "According to the policy, the Ministry of Works will first arrange water conservancy projects in the counties and prefectures that are suffering from drought, and then the three ministries will allocate funds and the Ministry of Revenue will implement them."

Xue Xiang nodded and said, "Yes."

Fu Bi asked again: "Why did the three officials choose to use work-for-relief as a way to help the people through the disaster, instead of directly opening the warehouses to release grain to provide relief to the people?"

In fact, in ancient times, work-for-relief was a minority, while opening warehouses to release grain was the mainstream. Of course, this kind of opening warehouses to release grain could only save a small number of people, and the court would also ask gentry to provide some relief.

That's why Fu Bi asked this question.

Xue Xiang replied, "This is because the grain in the national warehouse is also very limited. If we choose to open the warehouse to release grain, we can only save some people from starving to death during this period, but we can only give them a bite to eat. However, if we adopt the method of work-for-relief, we can allow the people to have a surplus and better survive the disaster."

After this statement was made, many officials shook their heads.

What a surplus.

It's just paper money.

That's just a piece of waste paper.

Fu Bi knew it clearly, but he still asked step by step: "Isn't what the Three Officials said contradictory? You said that the court's grain reserves are limited and cannot distribute enough food, but you also said that work-for-relief can allow the people to have a surplus. Where does this extra money come from?"

Xue Xiang said: "This relief policy also includes a tax currency bill. As the name suggests, it can be understood as a kind of Jiaozi that can be used to pay taxes. When the time comes, these tax coins will be issued by the three officials, and the Ministry of Revenue will take these tax coins and distribute them to the people as wages."

Before he finished speaking, boos broke out.

The citizens of Beijing are not stupid. You are here to deceive people again.

Facing the boos, Xue Xiangwu was still full of confidence.

After the royal police restored order, Sima Guang could not help but criticize: "Aren't you deceiving yourself? In the drought, the people are in need of food. You don't give out food, copper coins, or cloth, but you give out paper money. The people still have to buy food from the court with the paper money, but you say the court doesn't have enough food. If they can't buy food, do you know how serious the consequences will be?"

Wang Anshi looked at Sima Guang's angry expression and said, "You are really a bully. Why didn't I see you so fierce yesterday?"

This statement is of course biased. Sima Guang was also very helpful yesterday, but he just couldn't defeat Zhang Fei in the argument, so he had no other choice.

Zhao Xu in the inner hall couldn't help but say: "This Sima Junshi still has a big prejudice against Xue Shizheng!"

Zhang Fei said, "This hearing requires bias and difficulty."

Zhao Xu asked: "Why?"

Zhang Fei said: "If you can't refute even biased questions, it only proves that there is something wrong with this policy. If it were me, I might be more ruthless than Sima Xueshi. A stable palace should be able to withstand wind and rain."

Zhao Xu thought about it and said with a smile: "What you said seems to make sense."

Facing Sima Guang's aggressiveness, Xue Xiang replied calmly: "I did not say that the people can only buy food from the court with these tax coins. Although the court will open the granary and release some food, I hope that the people can use the tax coins to buy food in the market and buy what they need, just like on weekdays."

The boos rang out again, louder than last time.

I have never seen such a shameless person who wants to take advantage of us businessmen. To put it another way, even if you think so, you shouldn't say it out loud, completely ignoring our intelligence.

Sima Guang was also amused by Xue Xiang, "What? Are you still planning to force merchants to collect this tax currency?"

"Xue has absolutely no such intention."

Xue Xiang shook his head and said, "We do this not out of coercion, but entirely for the sake of the merchants and the national finances."

"For the sake of the merchants?"

Sima Guang was surprised.

It is easy to understand that it is for the national finances, and no one questions this. You are issuing banknotes, isn't it for the benefit of the country?

Fan Yong and the others were also dumbfounded. How could you say such shameless words?

How shameless!

As the Third Official, would you consider us merchants?

Even dogs don't believe it.

"That's right."

Xue Xiang nodded and said, "The drought has already occurred, and the country will inevitably suffer great losses in agricultural taxes. What we should do now is to try our best to prevent business from being hit again.

The arrival of drought will inevitably prevent people from going to the market to buy goods as usual, which will cause the entire market to become depressed. This phenomenon has already appeared in the market.

If the imperial court distributed grain to the people, they could only save their lives, and the difficulties faced by the merchants would not change much.

For this reason, we came up with the idea of ​​tax coins. If we just wanted the people to take this paper money to exchange for food with the court, we could just issue a voucher instead of tax coins. Because everyone needs to pay taxes, the tax coins have the same effect on everyone and can be circulated in the market.

At that time, people can use the tax coins to go to merchants to buy food, daily necessities, or even have a drink. In this way, business will not be affected too much.

At present, the business in our country is thriving, and the business tax is also increasing day by day, which has become an indispensable income for the country. Moreover, the total tax revenue is calculated at present. If the businessmen earn less, they will pay less tax. If we ignore the business, then the tax revenue this year will definitely decrease significantly, and the expenditure next year will inevitably be stretched. "

At this point, he took a stack of documents from his adjutant and said, "This is the business tax account for the capital region in recent years. We have also calculated how many merchants will close down and how much tax revenue will be reduced if we don't issue tax coins."