Fu Bi was naturally not as domineering as Zhang Chaoxian. He said, "I've finished speaking. Who agrees and who disagrees?"

He seemed to be just expressing his own opinion. After that, he looked at Zhao Yan and the others, waiting for their opinions.

Zhao Yan, Feng Jing and Sima Guang looked at each other in bewilderment. What was certain was that they did not agree with Zhang Fei's power of pardon, because preventing the emperor from arbitrarily manipulating the judiciary was what they had always fought for, and there had been wins and losses.

This does not mean that the emperor can successfully manipulate the judiciary every time.

The contemporary scholar-officials take this matter very seriously.

Because this actually involves a very sensitive issue, that is, "the monarch and the literati govern the world together."

Since ancient times, laws have been used by emperors to restrict ministers and are weapons in the hands of emperors. The Legalists are full of this kind of thinking.

If we want to rule the world together, either everyone will be restricted, or everyone will enjoy privileges.

Otherwise, how can we say that we share the world?

Since Emperor Renzong, the trend has actually been towards sharing privileges, and when scholars and officials broke the law, they were given lenient treatment.

...

...

Many ministers directly told the emperor that the scholars and officials should not be sentenced to such heavy penalties.

What's the reason?

The reason is that since you, the emperor, enjoy privileges, then we, the literati, must also enjoy privileges.

Therefore, in many historical events, some scholars who are usually very upright and principled, including Fan Zhongyan, would openly defend a certain scholar-official at certain moments.

This is a question of checks and balances, not selfishness.

Otherwise, it is not co-governance. There can be differences between us, but the differences cannot be too big.

So, as Zhang Fei said, in many cases, it is the result of game bargaining rather than judicial decision, and the judiciary is just covering up these privileges.

Now that the judiciary has joined in as an independent body, the issue has become very complicated.

Because the judicial system and the previous game are very contradictory, you can only choose one of the two and cannot take both into account.

Therefore, even though they were dissatisfied or disagreed, Sima Guang and others did not scold or refute Zhang Fei.

Because Zhang Fei's starting point is judicial, he looks at this issue from a judicial perspective. For one crime, there are more than a dozen different decrees, regulations, and precedents. How can the country be governed by law?

Now that the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs have become independent, this issue must be resolved, otherwise it will cause many problems.

However, apart from Zhang Fei's suggestion, they could not give a specific answer.

In fact, everyone knows that there is another answer, which is to restrict them all.

They would be willing to do so, but there was no way the emperor would agree, so this was not an option.

Therefore, this discussion did not produce any specific results.

Because this is no small matter.

Rich mansion.

"The power of pardon? Haha, I never thought that the guy would do the opposite."

Wen Yanbo was so angry that he blew his beard and glared, "I was wondering why that boy was so brave this time. He is not like him before. It turns out that he was planning this."

Fu Bi saw that he was very excited and couldn't help but jokingly asked, "Why? Did you think that he could use this to restrict the government?"

After hearing this, Wen Yanbo looked a little embarrassed and sighed, "Perhaps I had too high expectations of that kid. I thought that if he dared to do this, he must be sure of it. Maybe he could come up with a very clever bill. He can't have his cake and eat it too, but at least he can be impartial. I never thought!"

In fact, he wanted to say something, but he never thought that he would just kneel down and raise his hands in surrender.

If you want to do that, I can do it too!

Do you think this method is difficult to think of?

No!

But no one agrees to do this, because everyone has always been thinking about how to restrain the officials, and would not think in this direction.

Fu Bi sighed and said, "To be honest, I was also very shocked when he said this solution. I even thought he had something else to say, but then I thought about it carefully and realized that this might really be the only solution."

Wen Yanbo immediately said, "How can this be a solution? In the past, if the monarch wanted to protect a eunuch, he would at least pretend to punish him to appease the public anger. If there is such a bill, he can be pardoned directly, and we can't even argue for it."

He wanted to say that this was aiding and abetting evil.

Fu Bi said: "But most of the time, we are still powerless to stop it, otherwise, there wouldn't be so many imperial decrees. And Zhang San's pardon power is used after the imperial court's judgment."

Wen Yanbo smiled bitterly and said, "Mr. Fu, you are not so naive as to think that the monarch would not use this pardon power in order to save face, right?"

Fu Bi said: "I think there will be some concerns, and it will be used with caution. If the monarch must use the power of pardon, then even without it, he will not be able to convict. The reason is that the judiciary has already determined that the other party is guilty, and the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs place great emphasis on evidence, rather than ambiguity. The emperor has the right to pardon, but everyone in the world knows that you are shielding someone, which will affect the emperor's reputation. The emperor cannot ignore this issue."

Wen Yanbo frowned slightly.

Fu Bi added: "In many cases in the past, the monarch could replace the law with an imperial decree, and could arrange officials to interfere with the trial to help the accused escape punishment or even aggravate his crime.

Now, it is difficult for the government to interfere with the trial, but it can intervene in the final punishment. This can actually maintain the authority of the judiciary.”

Wen Yanbo said: "But if there is no punishment, what is the meaning of the trial? We can't say that justice is in the hearts of the people. Moreover, the government already has the right to intervene in the issue of the chief judge. So in some major cases, the government has already obtained guarantees, and this power of pardon will ensure that there is no risk of error!"

Fu Bi shook his head and sighed, "I am not saying that this is a perfect solution, but for the public security, procuratorate, courts and the Legislative Council, this is indeed the only solution.

Judging from Zhang San's precedents and his confession, the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments actually emphasize rules. Every word and every stroke must be clear. This is why they are often frightened when they watch Zhang Fei fight a lawsuit. Because he will not hide anything, this is exactly what the judiciary needs and what Confucianism pursues. A gentleman is frank and not afraid of what others say.

For the public security, even if the government is given the power of pardon, it is better than the current vagueness and ambiguity. Moreover, I think this still has certain limitations for the government.

There is a big difference between pardoning a guilty person and acquitting an innocent person.”

Wen Yanbo thought for a while and said, "Even if Lord Fu convinces me, he can't convince those senior officials outside. They will never agree."

Fu Bi laughed and said, "Don't you understand the methods of that brat? Since he dared to make this suggestion, he must be very confident that the court officials will agree to it."

Wen Yanbo asked, "Why?"

Fu Bi said: "Because Zhang San has already told them the result. If they don't agree, then the result will be death penalty for all of them."

Wen Yanbo opened his eyes.

yes!

Officials now face pressure from the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, rather than from the monarch.

If the law is not amended, the procuratorate will have reason to seek the death penalty. Even if someone gets a few dozen strings of cash, he or she will be sentenced to death. Who will be truly hurt then?

Fu Bi added: "And if the law is amended, the punishment can be appropriately reduced to ensure that the death penalty will not be easily used against officials."

Wen Yanbo thought for a while and said, "I think we should be prepared to take a step back. This way, both sides can step down."

Fu Bi asked, "What do you think?"

Wen Yanbo said: "In the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems, civil and criminal responsibilities must be distinguished. The government can only pardon criminal penalties, but not civil penalties. The money that should be paid must still be paid, both to the country and to the people."

Fu Bi nodded slightly and said, "I think this is feasible, and the government has no reason to object to this."

If the emperor wants to protect someone, it must be a big event or involve an important person. Such a small matter would not be brought to the emperor. It is to save his life, not that little bit of money. The key point is that you embezzled the country's money, and there is no reason for the emperor to stop letting you spit it out!

As soon as Zhang Fei returned home, Wang Anshi came to him.

"I know your intentions, and I have no objection to your consolidation of those regulations and decrees."

Wang Anshi was very curious and asked, "But I want to know, how do you plan to do this?"

Although he opposed it in the court, he knew that Zhang Fei was definitely intending to use this to integrate these regulations and decrees, rather than really intending to sentence those officials to death, because this would be of great benefit to the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments.

For officials, it’s actually a good thing.

Zhang Fei then told Wang Anshi about his idea of ​​the power of pardon.

Wang Anshi was also surprised when he heard this and asked hurriedly, "Did they agree?"

"Not yet. But."

Zhang Fei shrugged and said, "But I think Lord Fu and his men will agree to it, because if the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are to play their role, they must do so. For the court officials, the biggest threat currently comes from the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs. If the law is not amended, the death penalty will be inevitable, and the imperial court will have no reason not to sentence him to death. This is unacceptable to all officials."

"yes!"

Wang Anshi nodded and said, "For them, the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are the most urgent tasks."

He deduced it in his mind and thought that what Zhang Fei said was true. This is very likely to be passed. Suddenly he said: "Although corruption is illegal, and corruption during the disaster relief period is even more punishable by death, but we cannot ignore the fact that many low-level officials have meager salaries. If this is not changed, even if we kill them, this problem cannot be solved. But if the court gives a salary increase, it will not only increase the financial burden, but also benefit those officials who only know how to eat, drink and have fun on weekdays."

In fact, all of the dozens of officials who were arrested were officials who actually worked. Relatively speaking, they did a good job. If they had not done a good job, they would have been dismissed long ago, because disaster relief was very sudden, and work-for-relief became extremely complicated.

So, those who don't work can't get the money. As long as they don't go overboard and do their job well, Wang Anshi actually allows them to make some money, because their salary is indeed not that much.

To severely punish corruption, the salaries must be given in place. We cannot do as in the Ming Dynasty, where salaries were low but people were not allowed to be greedy. This is not bad, but it is impossible to do. Even if you kill people every day, it is still impossible because you cannot achieve fairness. The problem is not the lack of salary but the inequality of salary.

Wang Anshi was well aware of this, so starting from the exemption law, those officials were able to receive salaries.

However, if there is a salary increase, it can only be based on rank and official position. However, there are only a few people who actually do the work. This will only further increase the financial burden, which will not be worth the cost.

After all, Wang Anshi was the prime minister, so he had to take into consideration the difficulties of the grassroots officials. Otherwise, who would help him implement the new policies?

Of course, at this time, his proposal to increase the salaries of low-level officials could also win over the hearts of the people, and he also had political considerations in this regard.

Zhang Fei thought for a while and said, "In fact, with the public security, procuratorate, courts and tax department, this problem can be easily solved."

Wang Anshi hurriedly asked, "What's your plan?"

Zhang Fei said: "In the past, the government's performance was based on taxation and the judiciary, which led to some officials exploiting the people in order to get promoted, while the judiciary chose to hastily close cases or make a big deal out of a small matter.

But nowadays, the government is neither responsible for taxation nor for judicial affairs. It is only responsible for administration, and the significance of administration lies in finance.

In this case, why not use taxation as a political achievement, because according to the current new tax law, if the government without judicial power wants to increase taxation, there is only one way. "

Wang Anshi's eyes lit up, and he said first: "Let the people earn more?"

"That's right."

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Because of the separation of politics and law, the government cannot easily exploit the people with its power. According to the new tax law, the more income the people have, the more taxes they will pay, which will force the government to consider how to bring a better life to the people.

Then, if we use this performance to select officials for promotion, we can select real talents. In addition, the increased tax revenue can be shared equally between the imperial court and the local governments, with part of it used as bonuses for officials and part of it used for local construction. Officials also know that only when construction is good can tax revenue increase. "

Bang!

Wang Anshi slammed the table excitedly, "This is a brilliant plan, brilliant! Why didn't I think of this before?"

This is in line with his philosophy, that the people will not be taxed more and the country will have more money, and it can also help him select more financial talents.

Take Xue Xiang for example. If Wang Anshi and Zhao Xu had not been determined to use him, it would have been difficult for him to be promoted to the central government according to previous standards, because he did not meet the moral standards, which, in the eyes of Confucianism, was an attempt to achieve quick success and instant benefits.

But if we use this standard, the first person to be promoted would be Xue Xiang, because he is good at financial management!

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "That's because Mr. Wang has overlooked the changes brought about by the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs. I remember I told Mr. Wang a long time ago that the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs would only make the new policy simpler."

Wang Anshi waved his hands and said, "Those are your public security, procuratorate and courts. They have nothing to do with Sima Junshi."

Zhang Fei smiled helplessly.

Zhang Fei's mission has been completed, and he has also fully revealed the solution. Now it all depends on what Fu Bi and the others will do next.

Since Fu Bi forced the warehouse tax bill through last time, he has already left the conservatives and only maintained his relationship with Wen Yanbo, Lu Gongzhuo and Sima Guang.

Therefore, on the surface, he did not need to consider the opinions of the court officials on this matter. He only needed to consider the judicial issues.

For the judiciary, this is the only solution.

So he convened a meeting directly in the Legislative Council, first telling everyone the difficulties of this amendment, and then demanding that the official power of pardon be included in it, and even called it a defense of the legitimate rights and interests of the monarch based on the law of the legal system.

This immediately attracted criticism from many scholars and officials. Fu Bi, when did you become a lackey? If the emperor has the power to pardon, is this for the sake of justice?

This is absolutely not possible!

They couldn't turn around for a while.

Wen Yanbo, Sima Guang and others acted as lubricants.

This amendment involves many imperial decrees. Some of them may need to be abolished, and some may need to be amended. However, if the government is not given the power to grant pardons, the Legislative Council will not be able to amend the law.

What will be the result then?

It's not just those dozens of officials who were sentenced to death, but the procuratorate can also act according to the circumstances and cite any decree they want.

The powers of the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs will expand rapidly and unrestrained.

This time the Legislative Council passed the law in order to restrain the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, and the addition of the power of pardon was only to gain the emperor's approval.

At the same time, they also explained to those officials the difference between pardon of guilt and acquittal, which would invisibly put some pressure on the monarch.

After realizing this truth, the officials became very confused.

If you want to modify the edict, you must negotiate with the emperor, otherwise the emperor will not agree.

In addition, Fu Bi amended the law based on the idea of ​​cautious punishment.

Although there were many people in the court who advocated severe punishment, this amendment was aimed entirely at officials rather than thieves, so most officials still supported it.

It's such a double standard.

While the court is arguing, the Legislative Council is also stepping up its legislative process, which is also putting pressure on the outside court.

"I agree with that."

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "What the government wants to avoid is definitely criminal punishment. As for civil punishment, the criminal should compensate the victim, whether the other party is the people or the country."

Zhao Yan and the others all nodded in agreement.

Fu Bi then asked, "And what about the responsibilities of the recommender?"

Zhang Fei was a little embarrassed and asked, "Recommender?"

Fu Bi said: "According to the system of our dynasty, if you, Zhang San, embezzle, then Jun Shi will also be punished."

Zhang Fei was surprised: "Really?"

Fu Bi nodded, "Because it was Junshi who recommended you."

Zhang Fei immediately looked at Sima Guang with an apologetic look on his face, "Master Sima, now I understand why you are so worried about me."

Sima Guang glared at him and said, "Even if there is no such rule, I will still keep an eye on you. You are full of evil ideas."

".!"

“Ahem!”

Fu Bi asked again: "What do you think?"

Sima Guang said: "This rule must be written into the law. It will not only force the recommender to supervise the recommendee, but also prevent the powerful from recklessly letting their relatives take important positions."

Zhao Yan nodded and said, "Jun Shi is right!"

Feng Jing also expressed his agreement.

Zhang Fei said, "I agree with what Sima Xueshi said. This rule does make sense. However, our public security, procuratorial and judicial organs rely on evidence. From a judicial point of view, as long as the recommender does not violate the law, we have no right to convict him. If we don't convict him, how can we punish him?

This is an administrative issue and has nothing to do with our judicial system. If it were written into the law, it would be a mess.

Imagine that when the procuratorate appealed, it asked Sima Xueshi, "Did you recommend Zhang San?" Sima Xueshi answered yes, and then the prosecutor said, "Okay, then you are also guilty of corruption." Don't you think this is strange?

And it is possible that the procuratorate will fabricate charges and put people in jail, which is absolutely unacceptable."

Sima Guang nodded and said, "That's true. This regulation doesn't match the public security, procuratorate and courts."

This was allowed in the old judicial system, but not in the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems, because it undermines their systems and the concept of the rule of law.

Fu Bi asked: "What is the difference between administrative regulations and judicial regulations?"

Zhang Fei said: "Administrative regulations are mainly for officials, and they emphasize that they cannot be ignored, but the trial system is relatively loose, and there is no need to emphasize evidence, but the punishment is also very light, and the most is dismissal from office. The judiciary faces everyone, and they emphasize that they cannot be ignored unless they sue, and the trial system is relatively strict."

Fu Bi nodded slightly, and said thoughtfully: "It is a good idea that we cannot ignore it, and we cannot ignore it if we do not report it. And corruption crimes almost always involve officials. We can use this method to amend the law."

Everyone present nodded.

In the past, there was no distinction between administration and judiciary, because the law was used to restrain ministers. If the two were divided, it was actually in line with the idea of ​​​​prudent punishment.

Especially the crime of misappropriating public property for personal gain, which can be serious or minor. For example, using an official candle to read a letter from home, does this count as misappropriating public property for personal gain?

If it is considered a judicial matter, it would be a serious problem.

But if they can be divided into two parts, they can be further refined and emphasize integrity at the same time, so that they can focus on applying moral constraints to administrative regulations.

Therefore, during this legislative process, a large distinction was made between administrative regulations and judicial regulations.

As the news spread, the attitude of the court officials

, and gradually softened.

In the end, distinguishing between administration and justice can help them avoid supervision by the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs.

The key is that this amendment is mainly based on the idea of ​​prudent punishment, which is very friendly to officials.

The legislative process was almost ready, so after a rough framework was put together, it was submitted to the emperor, which included the emperor's supreme power of pardon.

This is not the final bill, the final bill will have to wait until the Legislative Council meeting at the end of the year.

But this matter involves an imperial decree, so the emperor must agree first!

The court officials chose to remain silent.

Anyway, I was extremely reluctant, but I didn't object.

In the end, the bill was approved by the emperor.

According to the previous system design, the emperor could interfere with the Legislative Council and the Imperial Court in a tactful way. The power of pardon here is equivalent to the final guarantee.

Of course Zhao Xu agreed.

As long as the constraints on his subjects are stronger than the constraints on himself, he will gain.

After the bill was passed, Wang Anshi immediately began to speak up for low-level officials, believing that their salaries were too low and that corruption would be difficult to reduce if their salaries were not increased.

So he came up with a complete promotion bonus system, which was to use annual tax revenue as the main political achievement. If tax revenue increased for three consecutive years, the official would be promoted and given a raise. He also proposed that half of the increase in tax revenue be used as bonuses for dispatched officials and for local construction.

This was immediately opposed by conservatives.

When Wang Anshi stuck his butt out, they knew what was going to happen.

How can we just focus on performance and not morality? This is not feasible. Then all the officials who will be promoted will be like Xue Xiang.

But Wang Anshi argued with reason, believing that under the system of public security, procuratorial, judicial and taxation departments, if one wanted to increase tax revenue, one must increase people's income. This was the highest morality for officials, and this was truly serving the country and the people, and was much better than those who only knew how to talk big.

He immediately won the support of many officials, especially young officials, including those in the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments, because there are the largest number of young officials in these departments.

The conservatives were all silent because they had previously opposed it, believing that if this was the only political achievement, the officials would have to exploit the people to death.

The public security, procuratorate, courts and tax department are ignored.

With the public security, procuratorate, courts and tax bureau, it seems to be true. If tax revenue can be increased by increasing people's income, there is nothing wrong with that!

Their conservative philosophy is to maintain stability. They do not ask you to increase people's income, but only to not reduce it. They will be satisfied if the country exploits the people less. If you still ask for an increase, then of course they will have nothing to say.

This suggestion was very consistent with Zhao Xu's official system reform, so in the end this policy was passed very smoothly.