It has to be said that Zhang Fei's plan really scared Zhao Xu.

But he had never thought of relying on the Commissioner of Taxation to expand his territory.

At first glance, it sounds really outrageous.

However, according to the letter sent by Privy Councilor Han Jiang from Xihe area and the previous actions of the Commissioner of Taxation in Jingdong East Road.

It’s really not impossible.

If it is a war, the Tax Commissioner is definitely not suitable.

But when it comes to dealing with chiefs and bandits, the tax commissioner is indeed more useful than the army.

Because the only thing the tax commissioner has to abide by is the tax law, but the problem is that those people will definitely not pay taxes.

In other words, the tax commissioner can use all means to deal with those people.

It’s not like marching and fighting, where no matter what you do, you need military orders, and even have to wait for the emperor’s orders.

...

...

The Tax Commissioner has only one purpose: tax.

The emperor used them for one purpose: money.

The two sides hit it off immediately and became close friends.

It is undoubtedly most appropriate to use the Tax Commissioner to deal with those chiefs.

Those are fat pigs that can be eaten immediately after being slaughtered.

Of course, the prerequisite is to have military force to support it.

If Zhao Xu sent troops directly there, he had previously considered the issue of military expenditure. But if he said that sending troops there would provide a foundation for the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, and at the same time provide soil for the tax commissioner, then this deal would become very cost-effective.

Although the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems will affect the imperial power a little bit, they are ten thousand times stronger than the control system. Zhao Xu only needs to control the central legislation to control the remote areas.

Therefore, after talking with Zhang Fei, Zhao Xu immediately called Li Bao and asked Li Bao whether the tax commissioner could collect taxes if he went to Guangnan West Road.

When Li Bao heard this question, he hardly thought about it and told Zhao Xu that as long as the tax police on Jingdong East Road were transferred there, it would definitely be possible.

Zhao Xu was puzzled. How could you answer so quickly? Were you prepared?

Li Bao immediately explained the reason.

Speaking of people with special skills, the most are undoubtedly among the Tax Commissioners of Hezhong Prefecture. Many of them came out of prison, and they are all talented!

But when it comes to ruthlessness, no one can be as ruthless as the Tax Commissioner of Jingdong East Road.

Those are all typed out.

In fact, at first they just wanted to use Wu Tian as an example to scare the monkeys, or to take revenge.

But after the verdict was handed down, the tax commissioner suddenly realized that these bandits were really rich, and they were all cash flow. They could share the spoils after the fight, no, they could get the bounty immediately. In addition, Zhao Xu sent Song Shouyue, the palace guard, to convert the local army into royal police and tax police.

As the Commissioner of Taxation became more powerful, there was no reason for him to let those bandits go, so he never stopped suppressing bandits. During that period, the Commissioner of Taxation also continued to recruit talents from the bandits, thus becoming even more powerful and more ferocious.

But as most of the bandits were wiped out and peace returned to the East Jingdong Road, the problem also arose: how to resettle these ruthless people.

We have to keep looking for new fat sheep.

Otherwise, they will focus their attention on ordinary people. No matter how small a mosquito is, it is still meat!

But Jiangnan is really not suitable for them, because there are mostly scholars and officials there, and the culture and commerce are relatively prosperous. They are so careless that if they accidentally break someone's arm, it would be a big disaster.

Currently, all the tax police entering Jiangnan are from Hezhong Prefecture, and they are all purely technical talents.

So, when Zhao Xu asked this, Li Bao immediately thought of the tax police on Jingdong East Road. If they stayed on Jingdong East Road, they might become a nuisance. There were many bandits in the road, and they would be useless.

Li Bao assured that those chiefs and village masters were no match for our tax commissioner.

When Zhao Xu saw that Li Bao was so confident, he said nothing more and immediately asked Li Bao to make arrangements to transfer the tax police from Jingdong East Road to the south to open up new tax sources.

Moreover, Zhao Xu generously stated that when the time comes, we will still split the fines in a 30-70 ratio, with the court taking only 30%. At the same time, the increased local taxes will also be split in a 30-70 ratio, with the tax bureau taking 30% as a bonus and development fund for the tax bureau.

This must give them enough incentives, because there is actually no very clear boundary there, which means that they are encouraged to open up more tax areas.

The more tax zones there are, the more you get.

After making the decision, Zhao Xu discussed the issue of candidate selection with Zhang Fei again.

Zhang Fei actually had a good candidate, that was Guo Kui, the former governor of Shaanxi Province.

It’s not that he was very familiar with Guo Kui, but Wang Shao’s success made him think of Guo Kui, because Guo Kui was also in Hezhong Prefecture at that time, and had been carrying out military reduction and adjustment of military expenditure according to the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments, and he was also very clear about the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments.

Among military generals, very few are familiar with public security, procuratorial and judicial systems.

This candidate immediately won Zhao Xu's approval.

Because Guo Kui was not from Wang Anshi's faction and was more conservative, he had a very good relationship with Han Qi in the court.

Wang Anshi advocated a tough stance. In Zhao Xu's view, if he wanted to adopt Zhang Fei's strategy of combining kindness with force instead of taking action against Jiaozhi immediately, Guo Kui would be a better candidate.

So when Zhao Xu was reporting to Wang Anshi, he told him his plan.

This immediately aroused Wang Anshi's dissatisfaction. He and Guo Kui had always disliked each other, and Guo Kui and Wang Shao could not get along well. Therefore, after Wang Shao presided over the Xihe war, Wang Anshi transferred Guo Kui to the northern border.

If I let Guo Kui go, he will definitely not be able to achieve my strategic goal.

Zhao Xu also patiently explained to Wang Anshi that it had been decided that the country's focus would shift from external to internal. Although this was a good opportunity, once military force was deployed externally, the ministers would be confused about the direction, whether to release or withdraw troops. At the same time, it would also arouse suspicion from the Liao Kingdom and the Western Xia, bringing unnecessary trouble.

Let's just bear with it and wait another two years.

Wang Anshi had no choice but to give up.

Because he now clearly knows his position. He is just a support, not an ADC. Now Zhao Xu is personally in charge of the government. Whether it is foreign affairs or internal affairs, Zhao Xu now takes care of everything himself.

Baifan Building.

The wind outside was so cold that passers-by could hardly open their eyes, but inside the building, there was a lot of activity because Baifan Building welcomed a distinguished guest today.

It was Cao Dongdong who had just returned.

"Asshole!"

Cao Dongdong jumped onto the chair and glared at everyone, "Don't look down on me. My Cao family is afraid of the Khitans. When I learned that the Khitans were invading, I took people to meet them without saying a word. It was all because of that kid Zhang San. He said there was a small path that could go around the northerners' tent and he wanted to learn from Huo Qubing. So I believed him. As a result, that kid tricked me into going to Taiyuan Prefecture."

A young man laughed and said, "Don't brag. One is going north and the other is going south. Don't you know the difference between north and south?"

Many people immediately started to make a fuss.

Cao Dongdong angrily said: "I asked him at that time, but he said it was a detour. It was my first time there and I was not familiar with the local road conditions. I couldn't tell which way was north or south after going around in circles."

"This is all your one-sided statement. Do you have any evidence?"

"Many officials were present at the time. Go and ask them if this is true. If I lie, I will die a miserable death."

Excited Cao Dongdong raised his right hand and swore to the sky.

At the back door, a man in his thirties saw this scene and couldn't help but sigh: "What good brothers!"

At this time, the shopkeeper of Baifan Building suddenly came over and said, "I'm really sorry to trouble Brother Bao with the recent repairs in the building."

This man is Li Bao.

Li Bao said hurriedly: "No thanks, no thanks, I should thank your store for giving me this opportunity to make money."

"That's also the work of your craftsmen!" The shopkeeper waved his hand, and two bartenders came forward holding a pair of silk cloths. "This is your reward, please count it."

Li Bao took a look and said depressedly: "Boss, I don't want silk cloth, I want coins."

The shopkeeper hurriedly said, "Brother Bao, please don't blame me. This customer has been bringing silk cloth to our store for meals recently, and we don't have much money left in our store. You should just make do with it."

Li Bao frowned and said, "But our contract states that it is currency, not silk."

"That's right, that's right."

The shopkeeper nodded, and then said, "Brother Bao, if you insist on asking for money, we can give you money, but Brother Bao, our Baifan Building needs to be repaired every year, you see."

Li Bao sighed, "Okay, if you need work in the future, remember to look for us."

"Of course, of course."

The shopkeeper nodded repeatedly.

Li Bao took all the silk cloth, glanced at Cao Dongdong who was still arguing with others, a smile flashed in his eyes, and then he said goodbye.

As soon as he left, Fan Yong came over quietly and asked, "You didn't say anything, did you?"

The shopkeeper quickly replied, "He is not satisfied, but he has no choice but to accept it, unless he does not want to take over the business of our Baifan Building."

Fan Yong nodded and said, "Fortunately, Zheng'er mentioned this in his letter. We have saved some tax coins. Otherwise, we would be really out of money now."

Zhang Fei, who also just returned, was not as free as Cao Dongdong. He ran to Baifan Building to argue with others. He didn't even have a chance to breathe. He had just discussed the issues in the south with Zhao Xu, and the Legislative Council was in a hurry to find him.

It turned out that he had missed a relatively important legislative meeting. This year, many judicial officials returned to Beijing to participate in the legislative meeting at the end of the year.

At this legislative assembly, a relatively complete "Provisional Law of the Song Dynasty" was passed.

This was compiled over a period of five years and was edited by Fu Bi, Sima Guang, Wen Yanbo, Zhao Yan, and many other university scholars and literati.

Before, some regulations, judicial principles, and Zhang Fei’s precedents were adopted sporadically. In fact, they were mainly Zhang Fei’s precedents, but they were not written books.

This "Provisional Law of the Great Song Dynasty" systematically revised the entire "Song Dynasty Criminal Code".

In fact, it can be said to be a complete law, but before the Song Dynasty, the "Song Criminal Code" was rarely revised. Before that, it involved ancestral laws and was often corrected through imperial decrees. Now it is a large-scale revision, and Fu Bi and others are more cautious, so they still define it as a temporary law and try it out in various states first. If there is no problem, it will be determined as the law of the Song Dynasty.

Now that the law has been passed at the congress, it now depends on the emperor's approval.

Of course, Zhao Xu would wait for Zhang Fei, a professional, to come back and check it.

Today, Zhang Fei came to the Legislative Council. As soon as he entered the door, he heard someone say, "Hey! Isn't this our brothel envoy? I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Zhang Fei looked up and saw Su Shi coming towards him quickly. He rolled his eyes secretly. This guy holds a grudge even more than me. Okay, let me piss you off again. He returned the greeting with a salute and said, "That's all the misunderstanding of me by the world. It's different from the brothel prosecutor, sir."

Speaking of the brothel inspector, Su Shi was secretly angry and said, "Of course it's different. I was misunderstood. They forced me to stay in the brothel, and the court didn't give me any support. But you are different. You took the initiative to go to the brothel."

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Everything will be judged by the public. I believe that I will be cleared of all charges soon."

Su Shi burst into laughter when he heard this.

Zhang Fei asked: "Why is Mr. Su laughing?"

Su Shi said: "First of all, you are not innocent. Secondly, even if you were innocent, no one would care."

Zhang Fei laughed and said, "It seems that Mr. Su is prejudiced against the world."

Su Shi laughed and said, "It is the world that is prejudiced against you. No, it is the world that is prejudiced against me, but I have not wronged you."

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "As a judicial official, I always believe that those who are innocent will be cleared. If I can be cleared of all charges, it will be enough to prove that people did not wrongly accuse you, the chief prosecutor of the brothel."

Su Shi laughed and said, "Then I'll have to wait and see."

Zhang Fei pointed to the lobby and said, "Can I go in now?"

Su Shi was stunned for a moment, "Please."

"please."

When he entered the hall, he saw Sima Guang and Fan Chunren besides Fu Bi.

Zhang Fei bowed to everyone and said to Fan Chunren, "Mr. Fan is back too."

Fan Chunren's face looked a little unhappy, and he said, "I didn't expect that Prosecutor Zhang is not as majestic in front of outsiders as he is in court!"

Fu Bi and Sima Guang looked at each other and didn't say anything.

Su Shi, on the other hand, looked gloating.

Zhang Fei smiled and explained: "First of all, this art has its specialties, and diplomacy is not my specialty. I can only do my best, but I can't achieve perfection.

Secondly, I am not afraid in front of outsiders, but in front of barbarians. I am only suitable to talk to reasonable people, and those northerners are obviously not one of them.

Finally, I believe that even if Mr. Fan goes, it probably won’t change anything. After all, what you can’t get on the battlefield, you can’t get at the negotiation table either.

After all, they won’t obey the laws of our Song Dynasty.”

Fu Bi was deeply touched and said, "That makes sense. What we can't get on the battlefield, we can't get at the negotiation table either."

Sima Guang quickly tried to smooth things over, saying, "In fact, Zhang San has done a very good job. During the negotiations, he was not intimidated by those northerners. He argued with reason and did not lose an inch of land. He even retained the arrow fortress in Xiongzhou."

Fan Chunren sighed and said, "Actually, I don't blame you. Perhaps our expectations of you are too high."

"Absolutely." Zhang Fei nodded with a smile, "Nowadays, many people have forgotten that I was just a small Erbi."

Fu Bi's eyes flashed with praise. Although this guy was vindictive, he was quite generous in some aspects. He changed the subject and said, "Zhang San, I didn't expect you to come back so soon, but the judicial officials from all over the country couldn't wait any longer, so the Legislative Assembly didn't wait for you."

Now the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments are really ready, only lacking the east wind. Everyone is looking forward to the release of this law, because everyone mainly makes judgments based on Zhang Fei's precedents, but this is not a long-term solution. Without a written law to support it, everyone feels a little uneasy.

For example, when Qi Hui encountered the adultery case last time, he encountered this problem because Zhang Fei had no such precedent in Hezhong Prefecture.

The result was being overthrown.

Nowadays, the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are getting bigger and bigger, so laws must be introduced quickly, otherwise there will be problems.

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "I have read the revised regulations before. If there were any problems, I would have raised them at that time. The main regret is that I missed this exciting moment."

In fact, he has always been involved, but he only gave guidance and opinions and did not repair it himself because he was not very clear about the current customs and practices.

What is good? What is suitable is good.

Sima Guang said: "It has only been passed by the Legislative Council. It has to wait for the government to review it before it can be officially promulgated."

Fu Bi said, "Don't rush to say yes, you still need to take a closer look. After all, this is based on the revision of your legal system. The government has not yet approved it, and it has not started printing. You can take it back and take a closer look. If you have any opinions, you can still raise them."

As he spoke, he waved his hand, and a young book boy placed two thick books in front of Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei took them and looked at them briefly. One was for criminal law, and the other for civil law. Each of them was twice as long as the Song Dynasty Criminal Code. He said to Fu Bi, "I'll take it back and take a closer look later."

Fu Bi nodded.

Fan Chunren said: "Before we came back, we thought we were familiar enough with the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems, except for this law. The previously revised regulations and some of your precedents are still relatively fragmentary.

When we encounter some slightly complicated cases, we can only judge according to your principles, which makes us a little nervous.

But we never expected that when we returned to Beijing, we would find that we still have many shortcomings. "

Zhang Fei asked curiously: "For example?"

Fan Chunren said: "For example, the imperial court can also stop the government from collecting taxes. If we encounter this situation, we dare not do so, and we don't know that we can do so."

Zhang Fei laughed and said, "If it is illegal to collect taxes, will the public security, procuratorate and courts just sit there and do nothing?"

Fan Chunren said: "This is different, because it is controversial and cannot be directly judged as illegal."

Sima Guang suddenly said, "In fact, for a major case like this, as long as you have a reason, you don't need to worry too much, because you can tell the other party that if you are not satisfied, you can come to the capital to appeal."

Fu Bi nodded and said, "Jun Shi is right. In the current situation, it is impossible to avoid mistakes. You have all done very well."

Su Shi suddenly asked, "Speaking of taxes, if the Qizhou Transportation Bureau wants to issue tax coins or salt notes, can our public security, procuratorate and courts stop it?"

Zhang Fei said: "The Qizhou Transportation Department does not have this power. This must be decided by the Political Affairs Hall."

Su Shi asked: "If the Political Affairs Hall allows it, can't we stop it?"

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Of course."

Fan Chunren asked: "What if they overissue it?"

Zhang Fei said: "Then it can be stopped. The power to issue currency definitely belongs to the financial power, but for example, if it is over-issued, or if the court goes back on its word and does not allow tax coins to be paid, the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs must intervene."

Sima Guang frowned and said, "But as with paper money, we still have to be extremely careful and not mess around. This tax is also for dealing with disasters, and it cannot be a long-term plan."

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "That depends on your political affairs hall. There's not much the public security, procuratorate, and courts can do."

Su Shi frowned and said, "I guess if the tax currency in the capital is successful, Wang Jiefu will definitely propose to issue tax currency or salt notes in Jingdong East Road, because there is indeed a lack of currency there, and the salt production in Binzhou has increased a lot now.

But I think it is not necessary to issue paper money yet, because the wealthy still have a lot of copper hidden in their homes. If legislation can be passed to allow merchants to mint coins, there will be no shortage of money. "

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "We can't be so simplistic and crude. Although it is indeed beneficial for business development for merchants to mint coins, if merchants have the right to mint coins, then conversely, merchants can also melt coins. If merchants melt all the coins into bronze statues, then the law will not be able to control it."

Su Shi said: "We can allow the Ma family to build a coin mint and only allow it to mint coins. Anyway, I think issuing paper money is too risky. If natural disasters and man-made disasters occur, the court is in urgent need of money, and the public security, procuratorate and court stand in the way, I am afraid that it will put the public security, procuratorate and court in danger."

Zhang Fei smiled and nodded, "That sounds feasible, but it's not something we can decide. We must abide by the rules."

He would not discuss such matters too much with Su Shi and others. He mainly discussed them with Wang Anshi and others, and used Wang Anshi's side to promote them.

Afterwards, Zhang Fei talked with Fan Chunren, Su Shi and others about the situation of Jingdong East Road.

In fact, what bothers them most now is the issue of punishment.

The previous revisions were all about civil proceedings, and not many changes were made in terms of criminal penalties.

However, Song Xingtong pursued severe punishment, which was not a problem at all, but the key was the existence of the police station.

This has led to a significant increase in the crime clearance rate.

Some people committed minor crimes and were caught, but according to the "Song Dynasty Criminal Code", the punishment for thieves was very severe, which was not in line with the concept of the rule of law.

This time, large-scale revisions were made to the penalties. This did not mean that all severe penalties would be removed, but many lighter punishments would be added. In short, the principle of cautious sentencing was still followed.

For several consecutive days, Zhang Fei almost stayed in the Legislative Council, studying this temporary law with a group of judicial officials including Fan Chunren and Su Shi. He did not modify any regulations, but he added some guiding principles.

At the same time, the outside discussion about Zhang Fei was also slowly changing.

There are fewer and fewer comments satirizing Zhang Fei, while there are more and more comments praising Zhang Fei.

I think Zhang Fei performed very well during this trip.

Put the overall situation first.

"How strange."

Su Shi was dumbfounded and asked Zhang Fei: "What magic did you use? Why are all those people outside praising you?"

Sima Guang, Fu Bi and Fan Chunren also looked at Zhang Fei curiously.

This is outrageous!

Not only is public opinion changing, but public opinion in the court is also changing. This is really incredible!

Voices praising Zhang Fei began to appear in the court.

Those people clearly wanted to nail Zhang Fei to the pillar of shame, so why were they still praising Zhang Fei?

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "These days, I have been discussing this law with you all, so I don't have time to go to the altar to perform the ritual. I have said long ago that the innocent are innocent. It is Mr. Su who has prejudices against the world."

Su Shi was immediately furious, but he didn't know how to refute.

Why is this happening? I was forced and he took the initiative, but now some people are making fun of me, the brothel prosecutor, and yet they are so tolerant of him?

This is so fucking unfair.

Everyone is targeting me, Su Shi!

Are you jealous of my talent?

Fu Bi also looked at Sima Guang and asked, "Jun Shi, what is going on?"

Sima Guang shook his head. "I don't really know."

Everyone looked at Zhang Fei again.

Zhang Fei smiled helplessly and said, "I really have nothing to say. Those who are innocent will be innocent."

He really didn't say anything.

But they didn't expect that the one who changed all this was Cao Dongdong.

In order to defend the reputation of their Cao family, Cao Dongdong shouted loudly at the Liao Kingdom, and what he said was actually proven.

Li Bao secretly spread the gossip, suggesting that Zhang San was worried that Cao Dongdong would act on impulse and was thinking of a way to take Cao Dongdong away.

This move is truly popular.

That's what you should do.

Moreover, many officials were worried that if they continued to criticize Zhang Fei, foreign envoys would become very tough in future negotiations with the Liao Kingdom. Otherwise, they would be scolded to death. Zhang Fei was a lesson learned, but Song Dynasty officials still had fear of the Liao Kingdom.

They thought that this could not go on. After all, Zhang Fei was just a little bit hateful in appearance, but the Liao people were mortals who ate raw meat and drank blood.

Is there any need to say which is more important?

But they could not criticize Cao Dongdong, because it was the Liao army that invaded the border at that time, and Cao Dongdong's actions were deeply popular.

There is only one way, and that is to praise Zhang Fei to death.

Fu Bi, Sima Guang and others have been studying the new law and have not paid attention to this matter, so they are still confused about it.

Although the end of the year was approaching, Zhao Xu did not rest either. He was busy mobilizing troops and generals.

First, Guo Kui was appointed as the pacification envoy of Guangnan Second Route, and he was asked to lead 30,000 troops from the Huguang area to station in Qinzhou and other places.

He also sent someone to tell Guo Kui that this time we are not going to launch a large-scale attack, but should focus on defense and establish public security, procuratorial and judicial systems in the local area.

To this end, Zhao Xu ordered a group of commanders to be dispatched from Jingdong East Road to help Guo Kui train his troops.

In fact, it is not about training soldiers, but about training the Royal Police.

But it must be said that this candidate is deeply loved by the conservatives.

This is enough to prove that Zhao Xu really wants to focus on domestic affairs and will not use military force abroad for the time being.

Not only that, there is also the issue of further reform of the official system.

This reform is really full of embarrassment.

Once changed, drought came.

Although this drought resistance effort was very successful, Zhao Xu still had a shadow in his heart and did not dare to act rashly again.

Therefore, he did not abolish the Three Departments, but divided the finances into two. The money was still managed by the Three Departments, but the right of use was given to the Ministry of Revenue.

As for the three-province reform, Zhao Xu did not split the Menxia and Zhongshu again, but simply maintained the status quo, and the prime ministers still all stayed in the Zhengshi Hall.

It was also from this disaster relief that he realized that the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems could check and balance the Council of State. In the Tang Dynasty's system of three provinces and six ministries, there were no public security, procuratorial and judicial systems. Now that politics and law are separated, the power of the prime minister has been restricted.

There is no need to weaken it further.

This last edict issued by Zhao Xu at the end of the year also foreshadowed that the country's grand strategy would shift and focus would be placed on domestic affairs.