Wang Shao can definitely be described as a man of both literary and military talents, but the "literary" here does not only refer to his articles and poems, but also includes his understanding of political struggles.

If it were a military general, he would definitely think, I have conquered such a large piece of land, second only to Emperor Taizu, and have made such a great contribution, you all should praise me, how could you possibly argue with me for a little bit of money.

If you are like this, who would be willing to expand territory for the country?

But countries are multidimensional and it is impossible to judge their success or failure based on just one point.

Wang Shao had a strong sense of crisis. He knew very well that if the Xihe area required the court to pay three or four million strings of cash every year, his entire grand strategy might not be defined as a success and might also bring him trouble.

Therefore, before he prepared to expand the border, he studied the public security, procuratorate and courts in Hezhong Prefecture carefully. He also saw that the public security, procuratorate and courts made the business of Hezhong Prefecture more prosperous. Therefore, after taking over the Xihe area, he immediately asked the court to send the public security, procuratorate and courts over.

Because the biggest advantage of the Xihe area is the Silk Road and foreign trade, the land tax is very small, and one cannot rely on that little bit of land rent. Compared with military expenditures, it is simply a drop in the bucket. Another way must be found. He believes that commercial tax is the key, and the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments are completely compatible with business.

Of course, it must be said that the success of the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems in the Xihe area far exceeded his expectations. He had not imagined that the Qiang and Tibetan peoples would accept the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems so quickly and that they would be so popular that the Zuosilo and other regimes felt very uneasy.

They are not stupid. How could they not see through your tricks, Wang Shao? The fact that the Song army does not collect taxes is a huge problem for them, because it will cause many people to migrate to the Xihe area, and the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs provide them with protection, which is very popular among the people. If this continues, they will be dead, so they are trying to intensify local conflicts.

And this is indeed the biggest dilemma that the Song army is facing in the local area now.

...

...

In fact, in terms of the overall situation, this moment was also the most difficult time for the Song Dynasty. There is an old saying that goes, "I am afraid that my brothers will suffer, and I am also afraid that my brothers will drive a Land Rover."

The Song Dynasty's reforms and efforts to govern the country were not what its neighbors wanted to see. If you want to become stronger, wouldn't that be a threat to me?

Therefore, the Liao Kingdom also started to make trouble.

When Wang Shao learned from Han Jiang that the Liao Kingdom had sent a special envoy to the capital, he was also very uneasy.

Because it is entirely possible to influence the court's policies.

At this time, the Liao special envoy Xiao Xi had already entered the capital, and Zhao Xu also appointed Liu Zhao to contact the Liao envoy. So far, the Song court was only certain that they were here to take advantage of the situation, but they did not know how they would do it.

Of course Zhang Fei would not participate in it, because this kind of formal diplomatic occasion involves many complicated etiquette, and you represent the entire country. With his character, it would be embarrassing to go there.

In addition, the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments are now very busy, and the royal court basically holds trials every day. Even Cao Dongdong has no time to go to Piaoxiang Tower and almost lives in the police station.

The impact of this drought was very significant. It mainly promoted the further expansion of the scale of business, because the disaster and the warehouse tax led to the introduction of food and people into the market, which caused many problems.

For example, the issue of land. The expansion of business scale also requires land. How can it expand without land? The current problem is whether a workshop can be built on the land deed.

Procuratorate.

Zhang Fei looked at the wealthy businessmen in front of him helplessly, and then slapped his hand on the two deeds on the table, "Hey everyone, can't you tell the difference between this house deed and the land deed?"

"Of course we can tell the difference." Huang Can said embarrassedly, "We came here just to ask for clarification. This is a legal issue, so we have to be cautious."

"Don't fool me. I think you are just hoping for the best. Haven't you asked the tea eaters?" Zhang Fei glared at him and said, "But don't you think about it? If you build a workshop on the land deed, won't it mess up the tax collection in the future?"

"But the land price in this city is too expensive, and we don't know if this business can continue. There are land deeds all over the city. If we can build it on our own land, the cost will naturally be much lower."

"Yes! If the land deed does not allow the construction of a workshop, then what kind of land can be used to build a workshop? The court has no regulations on this either."

"The land outside, the mountains and swamps, cannot be touched. The court has strict regulations. Apart from farmland, the land that cannot be used to grow crops is almost all public land."

The businessmen complained.

Zhang Fei said: "This is not the responsibility of our procuratorate. I can only tell you not to be lucky. If the government doesn't care, the tax commissioner will. If the land deed you hold does not require you to pay land tax, then you can do it yourself. But if not, once you are sued in the imperial court, you will definitely lose."

In fact, the court has already made plans, but it cannot say it now because it is worried that someone will occupy the land first, which will be very troublesome and will also increase the court's expenditure.

Just at this moment, Xu Zhiqian suddenly came into the room, lowered her head and said something in Zhang Fei's ear.

Zhang Fei nodded and said to the merchants, "Alright, alright, go and do your business. I have something else to do."

These wealthy businessmen could only leave in disappointment.

Zhang Fei shook his head and thought, why are you in such a hurry? Can you do without me?

After they left, four middle-aged men in satin entered the house. Zhang Fei knew these men. Three of them were famous landlords in Beijing, and the remaining one was an old acquaintance of Zhang Fei, Li Guozhong.

After some greetings, Zhang Fei asked them to sit down and asked, "Why do you four want to accuse the court?"

The three officials immediately looked at Li Guozhong, who said, "Prosecutor Zhang, it is like this. We believe that this year's land tax is extremely unfair and inconsistent with the tax law."

Zhang Fei was stunned for a moment, "What do you mean?"

"According to the new tax law, it is calculated based on total income, right?"

"Yes."

Zhang Fei nodded.

Li Guozhong said: "But in terms of land deeds, there is a fixed tax amount."

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Captain Li, you don't want the tax commissioner to take the grain produced by each acre and weigh it, do you?"

"Of course not."

Li Guozhong shook his head and said, "But the court should also take into account that during years of famine, the harvest in the fields is poor. For example, this year, due to the drought, the harvest in the fields today is only about 30% of the usual amount. If we collect taxes based on the land deeds, it would be unfair!"

Zhang Fei frowned slightly, and suddenly said to Xu Zhiqian: "Zhiqian, go get the new tax law."

Xu Zhiqian rolled her eyes slightly and said, "You made it yourself, don't you remember it?"

Li Guozhong suddenly said, "I have already prepared this for Prosecutor Zhang."

After saying that, he handed a tax law book to Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei took it and asked, "Authentic?"

Li Guozhong smiled and said, "Anyway, I bought it from an authentic bookstore."

“Then it must be the authentic one.”

Zhang Fei opened it and saw that the sentence about the calculation of land tax was written in brackets.

Li Guozhong said: "In this tax law, only the calculation method of farmland tax is written, and it is written in the total tax. In this year of famine, the harvest in the fields is generally poor, and it is only 30% of that in previous years. This should be calculated separately."

Zhang Fei hesitated for a moment and asked, "Have you asked the Taxation Department?"

Li Guozhong nodded and said, "The tax commissioner said they have not received any orders and will collect taxes as usual."

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "I still need to study this carefully. I will inform you when there is a result."

Li Guozhong bowed and said, "Thank you for your help."

After they left, Xu Zhiqian immediately asked, "Didn't you set this tax law?"

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Yes! In fact, this is what I meant when I wrote it. If I wrote it separately, there would be no legal basis for reducing or exempting agricultural taxes during the famine years, so I deliberately wrote it together."

Xu Zhiqian wondered, "But you persuaded the court to give you a daily salary of 100 coins just to avoid tax cuts this year."

Zhang Fei smiled awkwardly, "If I say I forgot about this, would you believe me?"

Xu Zhiqian shook her head and said, "I don't believe it."

"But this is the fact." Zhang Fei rubbed his forehead.

"ah?"

Xu Zhiqian asked: "What should we do now?"

"What else can we do? We can only persuade the court to reduce the land tax. If we go to court, it will be hard for the court to win." Zhang Fei sighed, "These big landlords have become smarter! But they should also have a taste of the sweetness of the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs."

There was no other way, Zhang Fei could only go to the Three Departments to negotiate with Xue Xiang, because currently Prime Minister Wang Anshi and other prime ministers were busy dealing with the Liao envoys. Besides, Zhang Fei was more willing to talk to Xue Xiang, because Xue Xiang was also a down-to-earth person.

Three offices.

"The imperial court has already allocated millions of guan for disaster relief. Ordinary farmers can now pay taxes, but they still want to reduce taxes. Do they really think the imperial court is a charity?"

When Xue Xiang heard this, he immediately became furious. This was really too much!

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Sansi Envoy, this warehouse tax has caused them heavy losses, but it also saves the court a lot of shipping costs. The more food they hoard, the more food the court will have to transport from Jiangnan.

In addition, by reducing taxes, both the main households and ordinary people will have more money to buy goods, which is conducive to the development of commerce and will further aggravate the shortage of currency, which will be conducive to the promotion of tax currency.

I can guarantee that after this autumn tax, there will be a shortage of money. As long as more tax coins remain in the market, then at this moment, the court will not lose money. In the next three years, tax revenue will definitely increase.

This year's debt can be easily wiped out.

The most important thing is that what they say does make sense. If merchants lose money in business, they can’t pay much tax.”

Xue Xiang asked, "So, Prosecutor Zhang didn't think they could win the case, but because Prosecutor Zhang also agreed with what they said."

Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "I have studied it carefully. This lawsuit is very difficult to win. According to the law, there is no special statement on this point. At the same time, the land calculation method is included in the whole paragraph. In other words, the calculation of land tax is also based on the total tax calculation method. They can cite many examples. And if they ask the chief judge in court whether the people should pay the full amount of tax in the year of famine when they have no harvest, the chief judge will definitely rule in their favor."

Xue Xiang asked again: "Does that mean there is something wrong with this law?"

Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "Not really. When the tax law was designed, it was to consider the legal basis for tax reductions during famine years. But I was so busy with warehouse taxes and liquor taxes that I forgot about it. But even if I remembered, I should have done it this way.

Now merchants are all seeking land. When the imperial court announces the new urban area plan, they can make a lot of money just by selling the land. Now fiscal revenue cannot just focus on land tax, but should be considered from many aspects. "

Xue Xiang frowned and said depressedly: "This is my first year in office. If the financial situation this year is very bad, I will not be able to report it to the government!"

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Although I don't think the financial situation will be very bad this year, under the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems, the financial situation will definitely fluctuate, because the court will also lose money. No one can avoid natural disasters and man-made disasters, and we need to look at the long-term. Of course, the three officials can put all the responsibility on our public security, procuratorial and judicial systems."

Xue Xiang was surprised and asked, "Really?"

"real."

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Now that those big landlords regard our public security, procuratorate and courts as enemies, we should let them know that we can also seek justice for them as long as what they say makes sense."

Xue Xiang said unhappily: "So that's how it is."

At this point, he thought about it again, "I still have to think carefully about this matter. How much should be reduced or exempted? How to calculate it? This must be treated with caution. After all, the current financial situation is not so good."

Zhang Fei said: "It is precisely because the financial situation is not so good that we need to plan for the long term and not just focus on the immediate benefits."

After leaving the three offices, Zhang Fei saw that it was getting late, so he went straight home.

Just got home, Gao Wenyin and Qingmei were waiting for him at the door, holding Zhang Fei's two sons.

Zhang Fei took Zhang Xing from Qingmei, kissed his pink little face, and said jokingly, "Qingmei, I'm afraid Xing'er will recognize you as his mother when he grows up!"

"Sir, stop talking nonsense."

Qingmei blushed and said angrily.

"Daddy, Daddy!"

Zhang Buzhi, who was in Gao Wenyin's arms, also twisted his body to reach out to Zhang Fei, waving his little hands and babbling.

"You're jealous, kid."

Zhang Fei chuckled, hugged Zhang Xing with one hand, then hugged Zhang Buzhi with the other hand and kissed him as well.

"Be careful."

Gao Wenyin was nervously protecting Zhang Fei.

"You're back."

At this time, Xu Zhiqian also walked out from the backyard.

Zhang Fei couldn't help but say, "Zhiqian, you don't even take care of the children at home."

Xu Zhiqian said, "You don't do anything. You don't review the class notes or read the official documents. Don't I have to do all this? And I've been playing with them for the whole afternoon, and I just let them go."

".I am guilty!"

Zhang Fei immediately gave in. Indeed, basically all official duties were handled by Xu Zhiqian, and he just gave orders.

Xu Zhiqian suddenly glanced towards the hall and said, "Daddy is back."

Zhang Fei understood what he meant and went to the hall. He was holding two babies in his arms, so he didn't want to greet them. He just nodded and said, "Father-in-law, I'm back."

Xu Zun nodded and said, "How was your conversation with the Three Envoys?"

Zhang Fei said: "It is relatively smooth, but we still have to submit this matter to the Imperial Court and let the Imperial Court negotiate. Firstly, our procuratorate does not have the power to judge. Secondly, this can also uphold the authority of our public security, procuratorial and judicial organs and show that our public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are actually fair to everyone."

Xu Zun nodded slightly.

Zhang Fei asked again: "By the way, father-in-law, is there any news from the Liao envoy?"

Xu Zun opened his mouth slightly and glanced at Gao Wenyin and the others. Gao Wenyin immediately understood and quickly asked Qingmei to take Zhang Xing and Zhang Buzhi away from Zhang Fei's arms.

Of course Xu Zhiqian stayed here shamelessly. She has always been very concerned about military and national affairs. She winked at Zhang Fei just now because she knew that Xu Zun had just returned from the court and wanted Zhang Fei to find out some news.

Xu Zun let her go and said, "I just learned the news today. The Liao envoys came here to take advantage of the situation, but this time they are targeting the Hedong area, not the ten counties south of the Guanzhong Pass."

Zhang Fei was surprised and asked, "Hedong area? The ten counties in Guannan?"

This person was completely confused and had no idea where these places were or what their backgrounds were.

Xu Zhiqian immediately explained: "The ten counties south of Guannan are the ten counties south of Waqiaoguan. They were captured by Emperor Chai Shizong during his northern expedition to Yanyun. Empress Xiao of Liao sent troops to seize these ten counties. Later, during the Treaty of Chanyuan, our dynasty was willing to pay taxes and coins in order to get these ten counties back.

During the Qingli period, when our dynasty sent troops to attack Xixia, the Liao Kingdom also took advantage of the situation and wanted to claim these ten counties. Later, it was only when Duke Fu went on a diplomatic mission to the Liao Kingdom that we were able to save these ten counties. "

"Qian'er is right." Xu Zun nodded and said, "And this time the Hedong area should refer to the territory of Daizhou, north of Ninghua Army, near Tianchi, but it is not clear which places it is, so you must not say it outside, because that area is very complicated."

Zhang Fei nodded and asked, "Are they asking for it directly, or is there a dispute here?"

Xu Zun sighed and said, “This is a long story. In order to attack the Northern Han, Taizu adopted the strategy of moving people to empty fortresses to tire out the enemy. Those empty fortresses were also called “forbidden areas”.

Afterwards, the Northern Han was destroyed and the Hedong area was incorporated into the territory of the Song Dynasty. As a result, we also bordered the Liao Dynasty. But later, due to the failure of the Northern Expedition, the Liao people frequently went south to plunder. At that time, our strategy also changed from offense to defense. The forbidden area was sparsely populated at the beginning, and later on, large areas of uninhabited areas appeared.

After the Treaty of Chanyuan, although the border had been demarcated, our dynasty was still afraid that moving the people back to the "forbidden land" would attract looting by the Liao people, thus causing disputes. Therefore, the people were still prohibited from farming near the border.

However, the people in the Liao Kingdom slowly crossed the border and came to our territory to farm. During the Qingli period, Han Xianggong and Ouyang Xianggong believed that the Liao Kingdom was slowly encroaching on our territory, so they persuaded the court to allow the people to enter the restricted area to farm, and built some fortifications there. Later, Han Xianggong asked for the return of Tianchi and Yangwuzhai, which were occupied by the Liao people.

This time, the Liao Kingdom used this as an excuse to accuse our people of crossing the border and causing disputes, and demanded that our people move out of the restricted area and maintain the uninhabited area within our territory. At the same time, they demanded that the specific borders be redrawn, because many areas over there are mostly inhabited by Liao people, who believe that they belong to their territory of the Liao Kingdom. "

Xu Zhiqian said angrily, "The Liao people are really going too far. We give them so much tribute every year, but they are still not satisfied and are trying to get more. We cannot agree to this, otherwise they will definitely make more excessive demands."

Xu Zun sighed, "That's true, but they just came to take advantage of the situation. During the Qingli period, although Duke Fu saved the ten counties south of the Guanzhong Pass, he refused the government's reward because he believed that although he could keep the territory, he would also have to pay more tribute. At that time, it was because of the Xixia issue that he had no choice but to compromise.

This time they are using the same old tricks again, and we are still very helpless. The expansion of the border area has already cost a lot of money."

Zhang Fei asked: "How does the court plan to respond?"

Xu Zun said: "We have only discussed it once so far, and we don't know how the court will respond, but the situation is very unfavorable to our dynasty."

Not optimistic.

At the same time, Li Bao also brought Zhang Fei the news that the spies had obtained in the Liao Kingdom.

Although Zhao Xu did not let Zhang Fei participate in the negotiations, it was only because he was unprofessional, but Zhao Xu would still share the information in this regard with Zhang Fei, because Zhang Fei had been involved in the layout of the entire grand strategy.

"Is this related to Master Wang's reforms?"

Zhang Fei said with a little surprise.

Li Bao nodded and said, "In fact, the Liao Kingdom has always been paying attention to Wang Xueshi's reforms. They believe that many of Wang Xueshi's new policies are a great threat to their Liao Kingdom. In particular, Wang Xueshi has been building many mulberry forests and trenches in Hebei and Hedong in recent years to prepare for the war against Xixia, in order to prevent the Liao Kingdom cavalry from moving south, which has aroused the Liao Kingdom's vigilance.

Therefore, the Liao Dynasty believed that our dynasty was already preparing to destroy the Western Xia. If we allowed our dynasty to destroy the Western Xia, the next one would be the Liao Dynasty. If we did not take action, it might be too late. So they hoped to stir up trouble to interrupt our dynasty's reform.

The reason why they chose to launch the attack in Hedong instead of the ten counties south of Guan this time was said to be because the tribe that invaded the northern border of our dynasty belonged to the tribe of Yelu Yixin, an important official of the Liao Dynasty, and it was he who requested to do so, although this has not been confirmed.

But our spies believe that this news is very credible, because our dynasty actually cares more about the ten counties south of the pass, and the Hedong region has never been managed in this way. As far as the Liao Kingdom is concerned, it is more appropriate to choose the ten counties south of the pass. "

Zhang Fei asked: "Is it possible that the Liao Kingdom really

Sending troops is just to scare people."

Li Bao said: "It's hard to say, no one dares to make a judgment easily. Although there is no news of troop mobilization in Liao Dynasty, our spies have learned from the internal situation of Liao Dynasty that this can be regarded as a test of Liao Dynasty. The king and ministers of Liao Dynasty believe that if our Dynasty takes a tough attitude this time, they will immediately send troops to attack. Anyway, whether it is talking or fighting, it must destroy our strategy of strengthening the country and at the same time destroy our strategy in Xixia."