Although Zhang Fei was the first to propose the entire tax and currency bill, Xue Xiang highly praised the entire plan, which is actually very rare. In this day and age, there are really not many people who can agree with this set of financial bills. For example, Sima Guang and Wen Yanbo, no matter how much you explain it to them, they will always have doubts.

However, Xue Xiang agreed very much that his fiscal policy in the northwest was also to carry out macro-control by issuing salt notes and calculating the depreciation of salt notes.

Including when he was in the Shipping Department, he did a very good job, which more or less involved monetary policy.

In real comparison, Xue Xiang actually prefers Zhang Fei's financial philosophy rather than Wang Anshi's.

Moreover, Xue Xiang also had plans in advance.

Because when he had just taken office, he encountered Zhao Xu's official system reform, which almost abolished the Three Departments, making him the last Three Departments Envoy.

Xue Xiang knew in his heart that according to the system of three provinces and six ministries, the financial power would sooner or later be transferred to the Ministry of Revenue, but he never said anything, which seemed to be quite noble.

But in fact, it was not the case. It was precisely because of the success of the tax currency bill that he thought of letting the three departments control the monetary power. This was not taught by Zhang Fei. He was good at currency regulation, and Hezhong Prefecture made him realize the power of currency. He was willing to give up the financial power without any resistance. His purpose was to seize the monetary power.

In a system with public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, people like Xue Xiang can be said to thrive like a fish in water. He was incompatible with the previous system that focused on the ethics of officials. In that system, it was difficult for him to talk about money or profits. He often talked about finances while the other party talked about morality, and there was no way for them to communicate.

“I didn’t expect it to go so smoothly.”

...

...

After coming out of the Chuigong Hall, Xue Xiang seemed extremely excited and felt it was incredible.

Wang Anshi laughed and said, "Because the only thing they understand is the excessive issuance of paper money, but this was blocked by the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs they themselves support. As for the rest, they themselves don't understand it, so how can they refute it?"

Xue Xiang said: "In fact, as long as the banknotes are issued properly and there is a recycling system, it will solve many financial problems, even."

Wang Anshi couldn't help but turn his head to look at him when he heard him speak. "Even what?"

"Even." Xue Xiang suddenly said, "It can even be used to deal with the Khitans and the Tanguts."

Wang Anshi asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well."

Xue Xiang thought for a moment before saying, "Because they cannot do without trade with the Song Dynasty. If we all use this kind of paper money, they might follow suit. Then we can use paper money to attack their finances."

After hearing this, Wang Anshi couldn't help but laugh and said, "That's unlikely. They can make their own banknotes, so why would they need to use ours?"

After that, he suddenly frowned, "Yes! If they also use paper money, but they don't have the public security, procuratorate or court to supervise, there will definitely be big problems."

Xue Xiang nodded hurriedly and said, "That's what I mean. Back then, Guan Zhong was able to use the salt and iron resources of Qi to attack the enemy's finances, allowing Duke Huan of Qi to dominate the Spring and Autumn Period. We can also follow suit."

In fact, what he wanted to say was that if paper money was used well, it could be even more effective than the New Deal. Fortunately, it was stopped, otherwise, the friendship would have been over!

Wang Anshi said thoughtfully: "But we have to use it well ourselves, then they will learn to do it."

Xue Xiang said: "Please rest assured, sir. I will not let you down."

Wang Anshi nodded and asked, "So what are you going to do?"

Xue Xiang said: "I plan to distribute the banknotes through salaries."

Wang Anshi shook his head.

Xue Xiang looked at him suspiciously, "What do you think, sir?"

Wang Anshi smiled and said, "The next step is of course to find a way to publicize it. This is crucial."

Wen Yanbo glanced at Wang Anshi and Xue Xiang secretly, and seeing them chatting and laughing, he couldn't help but joked to Sima Guang: "Your judicial reform doesn't seem to check Wang Jiefu's new policy, but rather it seems to protect him!"

If there were no public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, they would not be forced to express their concerns helplessly.

Sima Guang snorted, "It's all Zhang San's fault."

Can Zhang San be blamed for this? Wen Yanbo couldn't help but ask curiously, "Where did you get this from?"

Sima Guang said: "Given Wang Jiefu's stubborn character, he would never use my method to implement new policies for himself, but he has always trusted Zhang San very much and is willing to listen to Zhang San's suggestions. He never thinks that this is a compromise with me and using Zhang San as a cover to say that he listens to both sides and makes a wise decision."

Wen Yanbo asked with a smile: "Is that so?"

"Absolutely."

Sima Guang patted his chest and said.

Wen Yanbo laughed and said, "No wonder there are fewer quarrels in the court now!"

Party struggles are just about you agreeing and me opposing.

As a result, Wang Anshi relied on the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs to implement his own policies every day. How could we fight against him? The reformists are now somewhat discouraged and falling apart.

The reason is that many reformists want to deal with the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, but now it seems that the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs have become the trend of the times, and they are now very confused and don’t know where to go.

However, the promulgation of the "Provisional Law" made them feel even more itchy and uneasy. They increasingly discovered that this "Provisional Law" changed far more than just the Eight-Deliberation System, and brought about significant changes in all aspects.

There is more to it than one might imagine, and it seems like every page is worth discussing.

The heat has even gradually surpassed everyone's discussion about the money shortage, because the money shortage is temporary, but temporary laws are multifaceted.

Bian Jing Law Firm.

"Everyone, I heard from Lao Fan that you are in a hurry to find me?"

Zhang Fei sat down, looked at the wealthy businessmen such as Fan Yong, Chen Maoqian, Huang Can, and Zhou Jian, and asked again: "Is it because of the shortage of money?"

Chen Maoqian said hurriedly: "That's not the case."

Zhang Fei was surprised and asked, "Why is that?"

"Sanlang, what exactly does this inheritance tax mean?" Chen Maoqian asked curiously.

Zhang Fei sighed: "Isn't it clearly written in the Provisional Law? Can't you read?"

Fan Yong groaned, "Does knowing how to read mean you can understand the law? Not necessarily. If Sanlang doesn't explain it to us, we'll always feel a little panicked."

The other wealthy businessmen also nodded.

Nowadays, everyone is very sensitive to this "tax" because the tax commissioner can really collect it, and once it is set, there is no way to escape it.

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "This inheritance tax is designed based on the system of extinction of the whole family, but don't worry, everyone, you all have many children and grandchildren, so you are not included in the list."

Fan Yong immediately said, "I only have one son."

"Well."

"Sanlang, just tell us in detail." Zhou Jian suddenly said.

"All right!"

Zhang Fei nodded and suddenly looked at Fan Li, "Old Fan, let me test you. Can you popularize the old household elimination method to them?"

Fan Li stroked his beard and said, "Regarding the system of extinction of a family in our dynasty, the regulations are complicated, but according to the "Household Extinction Law" promulgated in the fourth year of Tiansheng, in the case of no offspring to inherit, virgin daughters, daughters returning to the clan, and adopted sons are appointed. The adopted son is the first-line heir, and the second-line heir is the married daughter, but the inheritance is limited to assets, villages and houses.

The third-line heirs include married aunts, sisters, nephews, relatives who have lived together in business for more than three years, sons-in-law, adopted sons, and sons who follow the mother, etc.

If the deceased does not have any of the above heirs, all the property will be given to the cohabitant. If the deceased does not have a cohabitant or the cohabitation period is less than three years, all the property will be confiscated.

In the fifth year of Tiansheng, if the heir was a wealthy family and did not leave a will, part of the inheritance would go to the person he lived with, and the rest would be taken over by the government.

During the Xining period, the former two-government regulations department issued a policy that if the head of a household died without a male heir, even if the head of the household had the conditions to establish an heir, only 500 strings of cash would be given to the female household, and all of their property would be confiscated by the government.

Chen Maoqian muttered quietly: "This policy promulgated a few years ago is really no different from robbing money."

Yes, this decree was issued by Wang Anshi, and its purpose was to enrich the national treasury.

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "I don't need to explain this. I believe everyone has seen it. Many people were exterminated by the government."

Everyone nodded.

If the official says that your household is extinct, then even if you haven’t done so already, you must do so.

More than 60% of those government-owned fields came from the household extinction law.

Zhang Fei said: "The purpose of the legal system is to defend the legitimate rights and interests of individuals and to protect the interests of the people, so all household extinction regulations are integrated into the inheritance tax law.

According to the inheritance tax law, the inheritance order can be guaranteed to follow the "Household Extinction Regulations", but it is divided by tax, and the order has slight changes, but not big.

First of all, the offspring is the first heir, followed by parents, wives and daughters. As for stepchildren, it is more special. According to the inheritance law, regardless of whether they are blood relatives, they must live together and support their parents for more than three years before they are eligible to share the family property with their parents, wives and daughters. Otherwise, they can only get 10% at most. "

Fan Yong asked: "Why is this?"

Zhang Fei said: "Of course it is because of filial piety. If you don't fulfill your filial piety, you can't get the inheritance. It is explained very clearly in the memorial. A rich family can make a will through the clan or the Legal Aid Department and give the inheritance to outsiders, even if he has children.

In addition, if the offspring live with their parents but fail to fulfill their responsibility to take care of them, or if the neighbors take care of them for free for more than two years, they will automatically receive 30% of the inheritance.

Chen Maoqian nodded and said:

"That's feasible. Some rebellious sons shouldn't get the inheritance."

Zhang Fei said: "The inheritance tax is based on wealth and heirs. Only when the inherited wealth exceeds one thousand strings of cash will inheritance tax be paid.

Among them, inheritance from children and parents is not subject to any tax. The inheritance from wife, daughter and step-son is 10%, and that from married daughter is 20%. If it is given to outsiders, the maximum inheritance can reach 50%.

But you must remember that these are the minimum standards. The tax rates will vary depending on the amount and object of the inheritance. You can check it out yourself; it is clearly written there.

What I can tell you is that the inheritance tax is to ensure that wealth does not easily flow into the government. Only in the most extreme cases will there be no government."

Huang Can said: "Doesn't this inheritance tax still allow the government to take away part of the wealth?"

Chen Maoqian said, "Just be content. In the past, everything was confiscated, and it was unreasonable, especially for us businessmen."

Fan Yong and the others nodded repeatedly.

The wealth of large landowners is actually very difficult to confiscate, because they usually have powerful clans on the side, but in the case of merchants, if they have no offspring, it is often all confiscated.

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Moreover, the original intention of collecting inheritance tax is to respect the elderly and love the young. All this money will be used in Anjifang and nursing homes to take care of the elderly who have no one to support them. It cannot be used for other purposes."

Fan Yong said: "But how is this support determined? My son has been in Hezhong Prefecture all the time, so it is impossible for him to fulfill his filial duty."

Zhang Fei said: "This is clearly written above. For example, officials, businessmen, soldiers, and other professions that require going out to work have very clear explanations. You don't have to worry about this at all."

The inheritance tax was of course proposed by Zhang Fei, but that was also because Fu Bi first asked him for his opinion on the system of extinct families. This system was too messy and needed to be integrated.

But the order was all decided by Fu Bi and others, and had nothing to do with Zhang Fei, because the relationships in ancient times are somewhat different from those in modern times. If Zhang Fei had decided it, the offspring would be exempt from inheritance tax, and so would the wife and daughter. However, Fu Bi and others had to take into account the superiority of men over women, so the wife and daughter had to pay a certain amount of inheritance tax.

Moreover, they fully took filial piety into consideration. If the descendants do not assume the responsibility of support, they will not be able to get the inheritance, at least not the full amount.

“It’s so lively!”

Suddenly, Wang Anshi and Xue Xiang walked in.

After seeing this, Chen Maoqian and the others quickly stood up and said goodbye.

After they left, Wang Anshi asked with a smile: "What big deal are you talking about?"

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "If it's just a matter of business, there's no need for me to show up in person. It's about the Provisional Law, and they don't understand a little bit. I'll explain it to them."

Xue Xiang said: "This Provisional Law does have many changes. Regardless of whether they are good or bad, it is written very clearly and there does not seem to be any ambiguity."

Wang Anshi said: "This is also based on the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs. In the past, it would have been impossible for the government to write such detailed information."

"Mr. Wang has a point."

Zhang Fei smiled and nodded, then asked, "You two are here because of this temporary law, right?"

Xue Xiang said: "That's not the case."

Wang Anshi smiled and said, "It is written very clearly in the Provisional Law. Do I need to ask you? I came to you today to discuss the promotion of the issuance of tax coins."

Zhang Fei asked: "Has the government approved it?"

Wang Anshi nodded.

Xue Xiang immediately informed Zhang Fei of his plan.

Zhang Fei asked, "The Three Envoys intend to use the tax coins issued to pay salaries to officials and soldiers?"

Xue Xiang nodded and said, "Because I plan to use this opportunity to completely transform the national treasury into a gold vault."

"treasury?"

Zhang Fei asked curiously.

Xue Xiang said: "In the past, the court only issued a small amount of coins to pay salaries, and most of the time, they distributed food, silk, candles, and salt instead of salaries.

In addition, most of what the government needs comes from tribute from guilds. Prosecutor Zhang should be very familiar with this. Before, if merchants wanted to sell any goods, especially those related to the daily needs of the government, they had to pay part of it to the government first. During the last tax reform, many merchants complained about this. "

Zhang Fei nodded.

Guilds and official yamen were just abolished, and merchants no longer needed to pay tribute to the government. In the past, if merchants wanted to sell candles, they had to give 20% to 30% of the money to the government as a subsidy from the court. This was because it was inconvenient to collect taxes on merchants at that time, so they had to do this. This led to a lot of corruption, and the government often extorted merchants, causing many craftsmen and vendors to sell secretly.

Xue Xiang added: "Generally speaking, most of the items in the national warehouse are physical objects, not coins. However, the coming and going of physical objects is really inconvenient, and the loss is very large."

Zhang Fei said: "So the three envoys hope to convert all the physical objects in the warehouse into currency."

Xue Xiang nodded and said, "That's right."

Zhang Fei thought to himself, this guy is so ambitious that he actually completely financialized the national treasury.

Wang Anshi laughed and said, "Didn't I learn all this from you?"

Zhang Fei was slightly startled, and said quickly: "I have never done that."

Wang Anshi said: "However, the Hezhong Prefecture's Transportation Department has been slowly converting to currency, but the Northwest Transportation Department also has to take care of border defense, so it still needs to stockpile a lot of food and grass."

"What Mr. Wang said is correct. I just referred to the reforms of Hezhong Prefecture."

Xue Xiang said: "Why was the business in Hezhong Prefecture so prosperous, especially in the initial stage, because of the salt note reform at that time, which was to issue salt notes to soldiers. Soldiers took the salt notes and went to the market to buy things, which required more goods and more merchants.

Later, those officials gradually got used to using salt notes. In fact, for ordinary officials, after they received the real goods, they had to take them to the market to exchange for what they needed, which was really inconvenient. If they were issued salt notes, they could buy what they needed.

As the number of merchants increases, commercial taxes will also increase, and the country will be able to reduce losses by 70%.

And now with the warehouse tax and the food bureau, we can do it very thoroughly, and the court can use coins to buy what it needs at any time."

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "I agree with the three envoys' idea very much, but this has to be done step by step. After all, merchants may not always keep up with the needs of the court."

Wang Anshi smiled and said, "The new city has been planned and the merchants will be able to catch up soon."

Zhang Fei said: "After going out for this trip, I almost forgot about this new city area."

Wang Anshi suddenly said: "But it is useless for you to believe me. The people must believe it, and this requires propaganda."

Zhang Fei glanced at Wang Anshi and laughed, "If it's such a good thing, Mr. Wang will not give it to my genuine bookstore for cheap, right? The "Provisional Law" is sold at a sky-high price. Chief Prosecutor Su is eager to sue Mr. Wang."

Wang Anshi said angrily, "Su Zizhan is just good at talking. He doesn't think about the burden the bureau is facing. Any profit is good. Besides, those who need to buy it don't mind the money. Those who don't need it don't have the money to buy it either. This price is very suitable."

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "But if the price is higher, or if everyone files a class action lawsuit, the Dibao Institute may lose the case."

Wang Anshi asked, "Really?"

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "In the interim law, there is a provision that is about obstruction of the right to know the law. If it is a personal work of Wang Xueshi, the price is set at 1,000 guan, and no one can do anything about it. However, this book involves national laws, and it is monopolized by the Dibao Academy. If the price is too high, it will involve obstruction of the right to know the law. If many people initiate a class action lawsuit, the possibility of losing is very high."

Wang Anshi frowned slightly and said, "Now that we have just started, the cost of engraving is not small. It is reasonable to buy it at a higher price. We will reduce it later."

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "I'm just reminding you that the current price is still within everyone's acceptable range."

Wang Anshi nodded and said, "Let's talk about business first. How should we publicize this matter?"

Zhang Fei hesitated for a moment and said, "The routine remains the same. We first need to publish an article to express dissatisfaction with the money shortage, then publish an article to explain the cause, and then put the blame on the landlords. Finally, we imply that the people should support the court's urgent need to issue tax coins and resist the landlords hoarding coins."

Wang Anshi nodded and said, "I understand. I will write a few articles and show them to you. If they are not suitable, I will revise them."

Zhang Fei nodded.

Xue Xiang who was standing by was stunned. Wang Anshi's articles were very famous and there were few who could surpass him. Zhang Fei's writing style was also well-known to be terrible. But Wang Anshi actually asked Zhang Fei to check his works for him.

this.

Little did people know that when it came to propaganda, Wang Anshi had already put aside his dignity, and Zhang Fei had a unique vision.

Lee's Bookstore.

"This leasing system is the same as the previous tenant system. There is not much difference because it was already standardized at the beginning. The court only levied taxes based on the land deeds. In terms of land tax, the court had no relationship with the tenants. Tenants are now the same as bartenders, and they all pay taxes based on their income."

Li Guozhong spoke to the big landlords on both sides.

The landlord Chen Xiang asked again: "What about the servants?"

Li Guozhong said: "In fact, the laws of our dynasty have long deleted the titles of "buqu", "kenu", "slave maid", etc. These tenants and buqu are nominally good citizens, but before it was only on the surface, and now we must respect the law. In fact, there is no clear opposition to domestic slave contracts in the "Provisional Law", but according to the interpretation of the contract law, there is an equivalence principle in it.

For example, if the old slave contract followed the principle of equivalence, the master had to take responsibility for supporting the slave, which meant that he could no longer easily

Drive them away.

There is a specific explanation in it. Since they serve you for life, you must always be responsible for them, including the cost of burial.

As for the punishment of domestic slaves, the regulations limit it to physical punishment. If it causes disability or death, compensation is certain, and there may also be criminal penalties. "

Liu Ping said: "In the past, if you want to execute a domestic slave, you can apply to the government. What should we do now?"

Li Guozhong said: "We must now resolve this through litigation, but according to the law, if a subordinate offends his superior, the crime will be aggravated."

Another large landowner asked, "I wonder what advice Chief Li can give us."

Li Guozhong said: “Although the interim law clearly states that the domestic slave contracts signed previously are all legal.

But I suggest that you change your employment contract to clarify the responsibilities and relationship of both parties. Otherwise, you will encounter a lot of trouble in the future, because the previous contract was very vague, which is very disadvantageous to you. Unless the contract is written very clearly, the public security, procuratorate and court will follow the contract law to make a judgment. "

The landlords looked at each other in bewilderment, they were so overwhelmed!

According to legal principles, if you change the law, your reasons cannot be traced back to the past. But if it is not clearly stated in the contract and a dispute arises, it is your problem.

If the contract clearly states that you can kick him out at any time, although temporary laws do not allow it, they cannot be used to enforce it because it was signed in the past.

But if the contract only states that he will serve you for life and does not mention other aspects, then his treatment will be until his death.

Today, Su Shi and his friends came to Baifan Tower to have a meal, but as soon as they entered the door, they were surrounded by a group of people.

"Zizhan, did you make up this marriage law?"

"I didn't raise any objections to the Household and Marriage Law. What's the matter? Do you think there is a problem?" Su Shi asked curiously.

"Of course there is a problem."

A young man said, "In the past, the marriage law only stated that when a couple divorced, the wife could only take away the dowry. Now she has to share a part of the family property. How can this be justified?"

Su Shi smiled and said, "This is subject to a prerequisite. If a man wants to divorce his wife and cannot find any of the 'Seven Reasons for Divorce', he can divorce her on the condition of dividing the family property."

The young master asked, "Why do you want to change it like this?"

Su Shi replied: “This is because there are many cases that prove that some husbands want to divorce their wives, but they can’t find the seven grounds for divorce, so they can only abuse their wives and force them to divorce.

Based on this, the Legislative Council considered allowing the husband to unilaterally file for divorce if the wife had not committed the "Seven Reasons for Divorce", but he had to pay 30% of the family property and a certain amount of monthly alimony to ensure that the wife could survive. At the same time, the wife was also entitled to ask the husband to publish an article to explain that he took the initiative to file the divorce, not that he was unfaithful to his wife, in order to preserve his reputation.

However, among the three "no-divorces" cases, only one is allowed to divorce, that is, when the wife was poor before and rich later. However, in this case, the husband must pay half of the family property if he wants to divorce her. In the other two cases, the husband is still not allowed to divorce his wife.

The seven grounds for divorce are "disobedience to parents, childlessness, adultery, jealousy, serious illness, talkativeness, and theft." If a wife commits any of these, the husband can divorce her.

The three situations in which divorce is not allowed are marrying a woman with no place to go, mourning for three years, and being poor before becoming rich.

But now the last one is allowed.

There are many cases where husbands tortured their wives and forced them to divorce. Human nature is so ugly that the law can only be changed to allow you to divorce if you really want to, and you can do so by dividing the family property and paying alimony.

The reason, of course, is that wives are not as capable of survival as men.

The decision still lies with the husband.

Wives do not have many reasons to divorce their husbands. This is not much different from the past, when wives would usually file for divorce if their husbands committed some kind of adultery or were abused.

Divorce due to abuse was previously allowed by law and there were many precedents, but the temporary law also stipulates that in such circumstances, the wife can ask for a larger share of the family property and more alimony, which is not something the husband can decide.

Everyone nodded, indicating that they understood and did not think it was too much.

Because there is a prerequisite here, that is, the wife has not committed the seven sins of no divorce, then she is virtuous. If you still want to divorce, then of course you are wrong.

Su Shi added: "But I still want to remind you of two points. First, the wives of soldiers are protected by law. Having an affair with a soldier's wife is a very serious crime. The most serious crime is the death penalty. Although it can be reconciled with money, the final decision is in the hands of the soldier."

When everyone heard this, they were immediately furious. What do you mean, Su Zizhan? Are we that kind of people?

Su Shi laughed and said, "I'm just talking, don't take it seriously."

Someone else asked, “What’s the second point?”

Su Shi said: "Secondly, the future marriage contract must also be stamped by the police station before it can take effect, because the current household marriage law involves a lot of property division, and the wedding date must also be regulated."