Chapter 760 Who in the World Doesn’t Know the Law

If the last case about the Imperial City Bureau confirmed that the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs were the only judicial trial system in the Song Dynasty, that is to say, all cases had to go through the trial procedures of the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, although there were many windows for the emperor to intervene, but overall, it laid a solid foundation for this system.

So the dispute this time is to determine that all laws will apply to the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs.

If the imperial decrees, regulations and precedents are not integrated and a unified standard is not given, it will be difficult for the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments to enforce them.

Both of these things are very critical.

Fu Bi also understood the reason very well, and he attached great importance to this amendment. After all, it was obtained at the cost of an extremely rogue power of pardon.

You should get as much as you give.

He planned to make a major revision and integrate all previous imperial decrees, so he selected dozens of helpers from Luoyang and the capital.

Although he cut ties with the conservatives, this did not affect his prestige in the literati circle or his relationship with his friends.

Legislative Council.

...

...

Zhang Fei looked at the room full of old men, all of whom had white hair, and whispered to Fu Bi: "Mr. Fu, I feel that I am redundant here. Amending the law should be handed over to these elders. They are experienced and know what situations will occur. I have no idea. In terms of specific amendments, there is actually very little I can do. I am not being modest, I swear."

He can only point out the direction, but he cannot actually do how to practice specifically. It is not that he is being modest, because if you want to amend the law, you must first know clearly what happened. This kind of thing is only suitable for old men to do, and young people really cannot do it.

Fu Bi stroked his beard and smiled, "In terms of experience, you may not be as good as us, but in terms of judicial attainments, I'm afraid there is no one in the world who can compete with you."

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Mr. Fu, you are too kind."

"That's true." Fu Bi said, "Although they are experienced, it is difficult for them to always follow the concept of the rule of law to amend the law. There will definitely be some deviations, and you will need to correct them."

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "If you need anything, Lord Fu only needs to give the order."

Fu Bi said: "I asked you to come here today because I have a question for you..."

Zhang Fei asked curiously: "What's the problem?"

"It's about the death penalty for scholars and officials," said Fu Bi.

“This one!”

Zhang Fei hesitated for a moment and said, "I think this is not true under the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems, because this is already a judicial issue."

Whether to kill the literati or not is not a judicial issue, but a political issue. What we want to prevent is the emperor persecuting the literati in order to centralize power. But now the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems are the only trial systems, so this becomes a judicial issue. It is not the emperor who wants to kill you, but the judiciary.

Fu Bi said: "But in the eyes of many people, this has not changed, especially when the government has the power of pardon, they have become more sensitive to this issue."

Zhang Fei thought for a while, "This is really difficult, because there is no standard for scholar-officials. If the third rank and above are considered scholar-officials, it would be easier to deal with, but there is no such judgment."

Fu Bi smiled and said, "If it were easy, there would be no need to ask you to come here in person."

"How dare you! How dare you!"

Zhang Fei thought for a moment and said, "How about looking at the impact of the case? If it's embezzlement of military pay, embezzlement of disaster relief funds, treason, these extremely serious cases involve the lives of many civilians and soldiers, and they will be sentenced to death. If it's just embezzlement of public funds, this won't be a death sentence, but the family property will be confiscated and the person will be exiled. These will still be imposed."

Fu Bi smiled and said, "They are not very concerned about the crime of corruption. If they are really guilty of this crime, even if they are sentenced to death, there is nothing to say. What they are very worried about is the crime of making a book and a statement."

Not killing scholars and officials actually means not killing scholars and officials for their speech. If scholars and officials really plot a rebellion, will they not be killed?

Impossible!

Regarding Su Shi's Wudai Poems Case, Su Shi himself actually admitted that he was just criticizing the new policies and the court, and this was not a wrongful case. So based on this crime, there was nothing wrong with sentencing him to death. At that time, Su Shi himself thought he was doomed.

But in the end he was not sentenced to death, and he even remained in the court as an official. Later he returned to the central government. This was because many literati fought desperately to resist, and this precedent could not be set, otherwise the entire class of literati would collapse.

You, the emperor, cannot forbid us to criticize you!

Then we scholars and officials will no longer be domestic slaves.

In the past, they could argue with the emperor, but now that politics and law are separated, they can no longer argue. So the charge becomes very scary, and the public security, procuratorate and courts can use this trick against the literati.

Zhang Fei suddenly realized it. He thought for a long time and said, "Regarding this crime, if there are only words, it is actually difficult for the judiciary to determine it. The public security, procuratorial and judicial organs absolutely follow the evidence. I think we can use this as a reason to divide this crime into two. If the crime of making Aoshu and Aoyan is limited to words or speech, then it belongs to administrative law. The court can prohibit or remove the person from office.

Unless there is substantive action, that is, when he uses his words to deceive the people and makes them unite to oppose the court, then this is a judicial crime. "

Fu Bi nodded and said, "That's feasible!"

After leaving the Legislative Council, Zhang Fei wanted to return to the Procuratorate, but on the way, he met Wang Anshi and Xue Xiang.

Zhang Fei hurried forward and bowed.

Wang Anshi asked, "You just came out of the Legislative Council, right?"

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Yes."

Wang Anshi asked again, "How is this practice going?"

Zhang Fei said: "I am just there to assist. As for the specific amendments, I am still inexperienced and not qualified to handle them."

Xue Xiang hurriedly said, "Prosecutor Zhang is too modest."

Zhang Fei smiled helplessly and said, "This is really not modesty, this is the fact. If we want to amend the law, we have to consider many issues, but I don't have much experience and I haven't considered enough."

Wang Anshi asked, "Who is revising the law now?"

Zhang Fei said: "Uh, it's a group of old masters invited by Mr. Fu."

Wang Anshi frowned and said, "What do those old scholars know?"

Zhang Fei said: "This matter can only be repaired by them. We are not competent for it."

Wang Anshi said nervously: "They have cultivated the method, but who dares to use it?"

Xue Xiang was also very nervous.

They are the two that I dislike the most.

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Master Wang, don't worry about this. They are only responsible for amending the law, but it still needs to be passed by the Legislative Council. They are only responsible for amending it. Whether it can be passed or not still needs many people to decide."

After hearing this, Xue Xiang breathed a sigh of relief, "So that's how it is."

Zhang Fei asked again: "Master Wang, the Three Envoys, where are you going?"

"Go to the outer city." Wang Anshi replied.

Zhang Fei asked, "Why are you going to the outer city?"

Wang Anshi smiled and said, "If you have nothing to do, let's go and take a look together. I can also ask for your opinion."

"I have nothing to do now."

The three of them walked towards the outer city together.

Zhang Fei followed the two of them to the outer city wall. Wang Anshi pointed to the area west of the river and said, "Zhang San, do you think this place is different from before?"

Zhang Fei said: "It's even more crowded."

Wang Anshi asked again: "Do you know why?"

Zhang Fei shook his head.

Xue Xiang said: "This is because many workshops were expanded during the disaster, but it was not entirely due to the disaster."

Zhang Fei asked: "Why is that?"

Xue Xiang explained: "Because of the soldiers."

Zhang Fei asked in surprise: "Wang Bing?"

Xue Xiang said: "Prosecutor Zhang doesn't know that many soldiers used to do manual work in the barracks, especially silk cloth. In addition, there were many miscellaneous taxes in the past, which led to the decline of private handicraft workshops. Now the soldiers have become construction troops and no longer do manual work, so this part of the business has been taken over by merchants. At the same time, the court has abolished many miscellaneous taxes, so the goods needed by the court must be purchased from merchants, so merchants have expanded their own workshops."

Zhang Fei really didn't expect this.

Wang Anshi said: "You have made some contributions here. They all imitated your movable type workshop."

"Master Wang, thank you for your praise." Zhang Fei smiled modestly and asked, "So you two are here to see this workshop?"

Xue Xiang nodded and said, "But this outer city obviously can't accommodate it, so we plan to expand it so that merchants can expand their workshops to meet the needs of the people and the court. After all, the more merchants produce, the cheaper the price will be."

Wang Anshi said: "But if we want to expand it, it will involve many houses and fields of the people, and it is inevitable that those old scholars will gossip about it. This is where your help is needed. I don't want to get involved with your public security, procuratorate and courts at this time."

Zhang Fei smiled and nodded, "I'm very happy to do that."

In the past, Wang Anshi would only go to Zhang Fei after he was sued, because no one took the public security, procuratorate and courts seriously at that time. Now Wang Anshi did not dare to offend the public security, procuratorate and courts, and would discuss with Zhang Fei in advance how to deal with it so as not to be sued.

On the other side, Han Jiang finally arrived in Xizhou after a hundred-day journey.

In fact, when he was about to reach Xizhou, he had already received news that Wang Shao had won a great victory in Hezhou and severely damaged Zuosiluo's main force.

After entering Xizhou City, Han Jiang was immediately shocked by the prosperity before his eyes. The entire Xizhou was like a big market, and there seemed to be more foot shops than residential areas.

Although Bianjing City was also very prosperous, Han Jiang still felt that it was a little different.

There is a lack of a sense of class here, as if everyone is a businessman.

Before he could take a close look at the scenery, he was taken away by Chief Prosecutor Fan Zhen and Court President Lu Dajun who had arrived.

"We were defeated this time because Wang Shao was arrogant and looked down on others. The general Jing Sili who died in the battle allowed his soldiers to kill the surrendered soldiers for the sake of reward after conquering Hezhou, which caused great dissatisfaction among Zuo Silu and the surrounding tribes. That’s why we had this battle. Jing Sili rashly led his troops to attack just because of a few provocations from the other side, and almost wiped out the whole army."

Fan Zhen was very excited and angrily denounced generals such as Wang Shao and Jing Sili.

Lu Dajun also said: "The purpose of opening the border in Xihe is to deal with Xixia, not to let our army get entangled in the entanglement of the Tibetan tribes. Although the difficulties in Hezhou have been resolved, the relationship with Zuosiluo is further deteriorating. This will force our dynasty to station heavy troops here, which will inevitably increase financial difficulties."

Han Jiang actually received this news on the way here. Although Jing Sili died bravely, he made many mistakes in the process. He saw that the Tubo soldiers seemed vulnerable, and faced with the verbal provocation of the other side, he led the troops to attack without thinking, and ended up falling into a trap. If the Liao army provoked him, he would definitely not dare to be so reckless. He said: "Now that we are facing a powerful enemy, and the Xihe area is isolated, we should still unite."

Fan Zhen said: "If it weren't for this, I would have sued them long ago, but this matter cannot be let go. We have worked hard in Xizhou to ease the relationship with the surrounding tribes through trade, but they are making enemies everywhere. After this battle, I must sue Wang Shao and Jing Sili in the military court. Although Jing Sili has died bravely in battle, his faults cannot be ignored."

Han Jiang nodded and said soothingly: "Now that politics and law have been separated, and the court has set up a special military court, you can of course sue for this problem. I can't take care of it now. But at this moment, we must unite and put the overall situation first. If we lose the war, everyone will be responsible."

Fan Zhen said: "The reason why we told this to the Privy Councilor is that we hope that the Privy Councilor will put some pressure on Wang Shao. Don't let him become complacent and look down on others just because he has made military achievements. We remember everything he has done here."

Han Jiang nodded and said, "Don't worry, I will go talk to him."

But since Wang Shao had not yet returned to Xizhou, after talking with Fan Zhen and Lu Dajun, Han Jiang went to find Cao Ping again.

Cao Ping asked: "The Privy Councilor is on his way here. Can you see that Xizhou is prosperous?"

Han Jiang nodded and said, "That's why I feel confused because of what I saw."

Cao Ping then said, "What Chief Prosecutor Fan and his men said is indeed true, but that was done by General Jing Sili and others, not Wang Shao's wish. He has always wanted to appease the surrounding tribes and has always been committed to trade with them. Otherwise, there would not be today's prosperity. It's just that he is a civilian leading an army, so there are many difficulties."

"I see."

Han Jiang nodded and asked, "What does Superintendent Cao think about this?"

Cao commented: "I think the cause of this matter still has to start with the public security, procuratorate and courts."

Han Jiang asked hurriedly: "What do you mean?"

Cao commented: "Now Tubo is divided into pieces, and all the surrounding tribes are small tribes. They all rely on trade to survive, and the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are extremely beneficial to merchants. In the past, it was almost impossible for us to let Qiang and Tubo people learn Chinese characters, but now they are scrambling to go to the temple to learn. The reason is the contract law. Only by learning Chinese characters can they understand the contract and better protect their own interests.

At the same time, the Royal Police provided them with road safety, which was what these small tribes lacked the most, so they became more and more dependent on Xizhou.

This was very disadvantageous to Zuo Silu, and he happened to encounter Jing Sili killing the surrendered soldiers, so Zuo Silu took advantage of this incident to stir up hatred with the various tribes and our army. "

Han Jiang hesitated for a moment, glanced at Cao Ping, and said, "So, Chief Inspector Cao also wants to stop the fighting?"

Cao Ping said tactfully: "It depends on how much logistics the court can provide?"

Han Jiang frowned slightly.

Cao Ping added: "In the past, the food and grass in the northwest were all sent to the main force of the Western Army. In recent years, the financial situation of the northwest has been steadily increasing, but they are all sent to Xihe. They are quite complaining about this!"

After all, he comes from a family of generals, and he is very clear about the conflicts of interest. Do you think the Western Army will feel happy if they cannot get financial support from the Northwest?

If this continues, there will definitely be problems.

Therefore, we now have to find ways to reduce financial support for Xihe.

Han Jiang nodded and said, "The government has already known about this matter, and sent a message to them."

Although Wang Shao was still on his way back, Han Jiang was not idle either. He also inspected the financial situation of Xihe. After asking, he found out that if he wanted to know Xizhou, he had to go to Yunzhen Temple.

So Han Jiang came to Yunzhen Temple, and was shocked. Yunzhen Temple was located in a canyon, close to mountains and water. Its scale was not inferior to Xiangguo Temple. Most of the materials used were bricks and tiles, not wood. It was obviously built on the scale of a castle, and it was easy to defend but difficult to attack.

In comparison, the government office is like a toilet, there is no comparison at all.

When you go in, you will see that it is crowded with wealthy businessmen, but the atmosphere of a temple is also very strong. People eat vegetarian food and perform Buddhist rituals, and monks can be seen everywhere teaching people Chinese characters and Chinese. Among the students, there are both children and wealthy businessmen.

Good job!

What is this place?

At this time, Ma Tianhao and Lu Bin rushed over and invited Han Jiang into the inner hall.

Han Jiang said: "This temple you built is really magnificent!"

Ma Tianhao said: "Don't blame the Privy Council, this is the request of Envoy Wang Xuanfu, because this Yunzhen Temple controls all the wealth in the Xihe area."

"Yeah?"

Han Jiang said in surprise.

Ma Tianhao nodded.

Han Jiang asked: "How much money can you make here in a year?"

Ma Tianhao and Lu Bin looked at each other.

"Well."

"Why don't you speak?"

Han Jiang asked with a frown.

Ma Tianhao said hurriedly: "At least we can earn one million Guan."

"How much more?"

Han Jiang opened his mouth and looked at Ma Tianhao in horror.

"Earn at least one million strings of cash." Ma Tianhao said.

Lu Bin said, "If there hadn't been a sudden outbreak of war on the front line, we would have expected to earn four million guan this year."

Han Jiang was sweating a little and said, "I went to Hezhong Prefecture to look at the accounts of the Xihe area. How could you make so much money?"

Ma Tianhao chuckled, "This has to start with paper money. Currently, we don't collect taxes in Xihe, but if you want to exchange paper money, you have to pay a 5% tax. We didn't expect to make so much money, but with the merchants coming and going, we're making more and more money. Add to that the profits from tea, salt, silk, and cloth, and we can make almost that much."

Han Jiang frowned and asked, "Do the Qiang people and Tibetans believe in our banknotes?"

Ma Tianhao nodded and said, “They didn’t believe it at first, but later they gradually believed in the police, procuratorate and courts, and then slowly accepted our banknotes.

In fact, transactions here are very inconvenient and there is a serious shortage of copper coins. If they use paper money to trade, even if they pay a 5% banknote tax, it is not considered a loss.

At the same time, we have a large amount of tea, salt, and silk cloth. The Han people can directly exchange them for salt or salt notes, and the Tubo and Xixia can exchange them for tea and silk cloth. "

Han Jiang suddenly felt that building it like a castle was not excessive, and asked, "Since you make so much money, why does the Northwest have to pay a huge military salary for this?"

Ma Tianhao and Lu Bin looked at each other and shook their heads to indicate that they didn't know.

Han Jiang knew that they knew it very well in their hearts because the money had all passed through their hands, but they just didn't want to say it. After all, it had nothing to do with them.

Fortunately, Wang Shao returned to Xizhou after a few days.

When he saw Han Jiang, Wang Shao was really panicked because he also learned that many places in the country were suffering from drought.

"It's really not my fault."

Wang Shao explained: "How could I have expected that General Jing would rashly attack just because of a few sarcastic remarks!"

Han Jiang waved his hand and interrupted him, "The emperor did not blame you for this. Not only that, he also promoted you to the position of Deputy Privy Councilor."

"Yeah?"

Wang Shao couldn't help but turn his worry into joy.

Han Jiang nodded and said, "But don't be too proud of this. When I passed through Hezhong Prefecture, I checked the specific accounts. If you add the money given by the court, it will cost more than 3 million strings of cash in Xihe every year. This is definitely not going to work. Hezhong Prefecture is fine, but many officials in Jingzhao Prefecture believe that if the border Xihe is not opened, the people's strength in the northwest would have been far greater than before. The key is that the generals of the Western Army are very dissatisfied with this. In this case, if there is another mistake, how will we report it?"

Although you have made many military achievements, you need to spend so much money every year, which not only increases the financial burden, but also affects the interests of many people. If you make a mistake, others will definitely trample you to death!

Wang Shao was also aware of this and said, "I have tried my best to reduce the burden on the court. I have found a way to earn this money, but it is still not enough to cover the military pay for transporting food and fodder, because the loss of transportation alone is several times the amount of food and fodder needed by Xihe.

The best way is to get food locally.

Now I am buying food at a high price, which immediately inspired the local households to open up farmland. Starting from this year, in the next two years, the military expenditure required by Xihe will be reduced by half. "

Every dan of grain he bought from the local area could save ten dan of grain for the court.

It's just that exaggerated.

But it takes time to cultivate the land.

Han Jiang said: "I have been to Yunzhen Temple. It is said that the annual income is as high as millions of strings of cash."

Wang Shaodian

He nodded and said, "I have thought about collecting taxes before, but the local situation is very complicated. Han people, Qiang people, Tibetans, and Dangxiang people live together. It is difficult to collect taxes. If not collected well, it will lead to civil unrest. Later, Mr. Ma and I came up with a solution, which is to collect banknote taxes, and then use tax exemption in exchange for the support of the local people. As a result, we found that this banknote tax is more profitable than collecting taxes.

In the future, when all the tribes around here are settled, the tax revenue will only increase. Maybe in the future, not only will we not need money from the court, but we can also save some money.”

Han Jiang asked: "But now that Zuo Silu is colluding with Xixia, can this area be stabilized?"

Wang Shao replied: "I have also thought of a solution, which is to convert some soldiers into royal police."

Han Jiang was surprised and asked, "What do you mean?"

Wang Shao explained: "Right now this place is not stable, and the Zuosiluo are colluding with Xixia, so it really needs heavy military guards.

But after the previous battle, our army won a great victory, and Zuo Siluo is temporarily unable to send out large-scale troops, and Xixia is restricted by the northern line. During this unrest, they did not dare to send troops directly. I estimate that they will harass us by attacking.

Superintendent Cao and I have experimented with this before. When faced with this small-scale harassment, using the army would result in too much loss. On the contrary, the Royal Police would be able to handle it better.

We only need to deploy troops at key points. If there is a major war, the Royal Police can also serve as soldiers.

In addition, for the army, if there is no war, these soldiers will have nothing to do all day, but they cannot be short of military rations. The Royal Police can bring us benefits. As long as the Royal Police maintains public order in various places and ensures smooth trade routes, it can bring us more wealth. "

At this point, he hesitated for a moment and whispered, "Can this also weaken the influence of the army? We can use the Royal Police to check and balance the army."

Han Jiang immediately asked: "Can't you control the army now?"

"That's not the case."

Wang Shao shook his head.

Han Jiang immediately understood that he was afraid of getting into trouble.

Wang Shao added: "Another very important point is that Zuo Silu is now stirring up conflicts between the tribes and the Han people. This is indeed effective. They are full of hostility towards our army, but whether it is the Qiang people, the Tibetans, or even the Dangxiang people, they all trust the Royal Police very much."

Han Jiang asked: "Really? Are the Royal Police so popular here?"

He was a little skeptical.

Wang Shao nodded and said: "First of all, the Royal Police are different from soldiers. The duty of soldiers is to expand the territory, while the Royal Police is to protect the legitimate rights and interests of individuals. As a result, some Qiang people hate our army, but they are very supportive of the Royal Police.

Secondly, when those tribes surrendered, they were always worried that they would be oppressed by the Han people. After all, they were all small tribes. However, the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs emphasized fairness and equality. After they understood the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, they now support them more than we do. There are also many Qiang people, Tibetans, and even Dangxiang people in the police station. "

Han Jiang suddenly realized it and nodded, "So that's it."

They had no choice but to surrender to the Song Dynasty. They could not defeat the enemy, and the Song army did not win people over with virtue. They were the weaker party. The public security, procuratorial and judicial systems emphasized equality, which was very beneficial to them. They became very supportive of the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems, and the Han people sometimes felt unhappy about it.

Wang Shao added: "In addition, we found that the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems are very suitable for groups of different cultures. Nowadays, in the Xihe area, many people sneer at Confucianism, but no one hates the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems, and they quickly get used to it.

I have confidence that I can integrate the forces in the Hehuang region through the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs. This is also what Zuo Siluo fears the most. After two years of development, they know very well that if this continues, their tribes will all join us. Therefore, they try their best to provoke wars and create hatred, intending to prevent other tribes from joining us. "