Selling weapons?

I?

Are you trying to make me happy?

Zhao Xu looked at Zhang Fei speechlessly.

This idea is more shocking than surprising!

Zhang Fei immediately informed Zhao Xu of the Dengzhou crossbow lawsuit.

"So that's what happened."

Zhao Xu's tone was slightly disappointed. How much benefit could this bring? After thinking for a while, he said, "These sea merchants brought a lot of tax revenue and overseas treasures to the country last year. It is right to support them, but how can we ensure that they will not resell weapons to the enemy country?"

In fact, the Song Dynasty also took some maritime ban measures at the beginning, mainly prohibiting private enterprises because they were afraid that merchants would have secret dealings with the Liao Kingdom.

However, after Zhao Guangyi, the policy became more relaxed. It was not until the revision of the interim law that the decision was made to completely abolish the maritime ban regulations. On the one hand, the old judicial system could turn a blind eye to it, but the public security, procuratorate and courts could not. The regulations existed, but they were relatively relaxed, so they could not be implemented.

...

...

Secondly, the new tax system enabled maritime merchants to bring profits to the country.

Thirdly, it is also a manifestation of self-confidence.

Zhang Fei said: "We only sell weapons to those big sea merchants and sign contracts with them to ensure that the weapons are for their own use. I also believe that they will not risk committing a crime and reselling the weapons to the enemy country for the sake of the benefits of these weapons."

"That's possible."

Zhao Xu nodded slightly, but he was not very interested.

The idea did not appeal to him at all.

Zhang Fei also saw this, so he continued, "At first I suggested to Your Majesty that some insignificant commercial taxes be included in the inner treasury. Now it seems that Your Majesty thinks it was successful?"

When this matter was mentioned, Zhao Xu became even more depressed: "Didn't I just say that I was too successful, so I was targeted by Duke Wen and his men."

Zhang Fei said: "We can now use the same trick again."

"Same old trick?"

Zhao Xu asked curiously.

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Yes, Your Majesty should know that I asked the charity foundation to build the port in Dengzhou, with the purpose of bringing wealth to Jingdong East Road."

Zhao Xu nodded slightly.

Zhang Fei added: "According to my estimation, the main growth of future fiscal revenue may come from port tariffs."

"Yeah?"

Zhao Xu said in surprise.

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Of course, although the risk of shipping is relatively high, the cargo volume is large, and there is a huge demand for our tea, porcelain, silk, and even paper overseas, and they are all very profitable. The increase in port tariffs this year is already a sign.

Within three years, if nothing unexpected happens, port tariffs will increase exponentially, and Your Majesty should plan the port as soon as possible."

Another doubling of growth?

This immediately attracted Zhao Xu's attention.

Zhang Fei added: "If Your Majesty decides to make the accounts of the inner treasury public, or in other words, transfer some of the tax revenue to the national treasury, then you can use this to exchange the port tax with the outer court. In other words, all the port taxes will be counted as Your Majesty in the future, and the outer court will definitely agree. They don't care about these port taxes now."

Zhao Xu was somewhat moved and asked, "Are you serious?"

Zhang Fei said confidently: "If I am not sure, I will not advise your majesty. Moreover, your majesty can even use the port tax to better collect taxes from the Fuguang area. The Fuguang area is too far away from Bianliang, and their goods are difficult to transport to the Central Plains. The sea merchants will ship their goods overseas for sale, and the profits earned can be directly deposited into the inner treasury in the form of coins by your majesty."

Zhao Xu nodded, "That makes sense, that makes sense."

Zhang Fei struck while the iron was hot and said, "If maritime transport is developed, then the weapons specially supplied to sea merchants will definitely sell well. This is another source of money. Moreover, the production of weapons is controlled by Your Majesty, which also controls the sea merchants to a certain extent. We can even use the money and experience of sea merchants to develop firearms in the future. The Military Equipment Supervision has written in its evaluation of that kind of artillery that it is beneficial for naval warfare. But it is still under development. If we can use the money of sea merchants to develop it, it will kill two birds with one stone."

Although Zhao Xu was somewhat tempted, he still said cautiously: "I need to think about this matter again."

Zhang Fei did not force it, but just asked: "What about the case of the Dengzhou crossbow?"

Zhao Xu said: "Just judge according to your words."

"yes."

"By the way, what do you think about the territorial law proposed by Duke Wen?" Zhao Xu said.

Zhang Fei said, "To be honest with you, Your Majesty, I have actually been thinking about this issue before. This is not to prevent Your Majesty from doing something, but I want to use the Territory Law to abolish the custody system and popularize the public security and judicial system. At the same time, within the legal territory, the tax commissioner will have a basis for collecting taxes."

Zhao Xu thought it made sense. With the establishment of the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, he also began to dislike the system of custody. He could not collect money and sometimes had to pay. He asked, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Zhang Fei said: "Because I think the timing is not right. After all, we have some unclear boundaries in the north and south. I am worried that this will affect diplomatic affairs, so I didn't mention it."

Zhao Xu nodded slightly and said, "Then let's talk about this later?"

Zhang Fei said, "That's not necessary. I don't know what Duke Wen thinks, but since it's legislation, we must send people to measure it clearly. This is also a very long project. Even if Your Majesty approves this policy, it won't actually affect anything."

Zhao Xu just nodded but did not express his opinion.

Speaking objectively, Zhao Xu was absolutely unwilling to use the inner treasury to exchange for port taxes, even though he could make a lot of money from the port taxes.

Zhang Fei also knew that this would not impress Zhao Xu, so he just emphasized that if you decide to pay, or pay part of it, you can use the port tax as a bargaining chip so that you won’t lose too much.

To be honest, "money" is secondary. What Zhao Xu really cares about is financial power, which is the key.

If he could, he definitely wouldn't hand it over.

But why does it give him such a headache? It is because the new tax law collects taxes from the powerful and wealthy, and a considerable portion of them goes into the treasury. If he does not hand over the treasury, the powerful and wealthy will think that you are trying to find ways to put our money into your pocket.

Feudal society emphasized class, and in the Northern Song Dynasty, the emperor and the literati ruled the world together. If you, the emperor, get 100 strings of cash, then we get 80 strings. This is reasonable. But you can't say that if you, the emperor, get 160 strings of cash, then we get 20 strings. This is too unethical. Why should we be loyal to you?

It’s still the same old saying, what’s worrying is not the lack of wealth but the inequality of wealth.

This is also why the emperor must take care of the ruling class, because he is the biggest rat.

It goes without saying that if Zhao Xu refused, this would cause a big uproar and there would be problems with the tax policy.

Under normal circumstances, Zhao Xu would probably compromise to some extent and pay some taxes, because he himself thought it was too much, so he felt a little uneasy, but now was a critical moment and he needed to unite everyone and face the outside world together.

Then he must set an example!

But once the treasury accounts are made public, it means that part of the financial power will be handed over to the state.

Very conflicted.

This is a struggle between reason and humanity!

It is also the most brutal struggle.

After coming out of the palace, Zhang Fei showed a trace of relief on his face, thinking, "These old masters have not disappointed me!"

Rich mansion.

"Kuanfu, are you a little anxious?"

Fu Bi said with a hint of worry.

Wen Yanbo glanced at Fu Bi, stroked his beard and laughed, "If even finances cannot be supervised by the law, then there is no way to talk about other things."

Fu Bi nodded and said, "Of course I know this, but the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems have not yet been fully popularized. If we arouse the officials' vigilance, our efforts may fail!"

"But this is a rare opportunity. If the government does not hand over the treasury, will the dignitaries in the court still pay taxes?"

Wen Yanbo said, "But please rest assured, Lord Fu. I have taken into consideration Lord Fu's concerns, so I chose to combine this matter with the strategy of defending against Liao. The emperor will definitely think that I am preventing him from trading with Liao privately, and will never think so much."

Fu Bi asked, "So are you?"

Wen Yanbo said truthfully: "It is precisely because of the indulgence in the previous times that every time we have a quarrel with the Tanguts, the Khitans take advantage of the situation and rob us, causing us to always lose sight of one thing while focusing on another, and ultimately lose both the lady and the army. This has happened more than once or twice, and we cannot repeat the same mistake again.

Moreover, being strong against the Liao Kingdom would not only stop the Liao Kingdom from taking advantage of the situation, but would also make the government more cautious, so that it would not be deceived by Wang Jiefu and go to attack Xixia at all costs. "

He was one of the few people in the court who was tough on the Liao Kingdom, because he believed that no matter how much money or land was given, the Liao Kingdom would not allow the Song Dynasty to destroy the Western Xia, and such a compromise was meaningless. At the same time, he believed that the Liao Kingdom was not as powerful as imagined.

In addition, he knew that Wang Anshi had been suggesting to the emperor to send troops to Western Xia. Although Wang Anshi was relatively low-key at the moment, the emperor had been manipulating things behind the scenes. He was not sure what they were up to. He was very wary of Wang Anshi, and he must stop Wang Anshi from regaining power. If he did not compromise with the Liao Kingdom, then Zhao Xu would not dare to attack Xia easily.

Putting aside the impact of party struggles, from a global perspective, Wen Yanbo was only strong in strategy, but he was still conservative in tactics. This was also because in the past seventy years, the Song Dynasty had never won any large-scale offensive.

In this regard, he had raised this point as early as the Renzong period. If the general does not know the soldiers, and the soldiers do not know the general, the defense may be okay, but it will be difficult to win a large-scale attack. He also believed that the court interfered too much in the deployment of troops by generals in border states, which also made it difficult to win.

Although Wang Anshi proposed the art of military command, which enabled the soldiers to know their generals and the generals to train their soldiers, the three-foot-thick ice did not form overnight.

Sending troops now would be too risky, so he preferred Fan Zhongyan's plan to exert pressure on the other side through diplomacy and economy, in an effort to induce the other side to send troops and cause its domestic collapse, so as to defend against and destroy the enemy.

As for these matters, Zhang Fei can only make suggestions in secret. For the time being, the Supreme Imperial Court cannot intervene. This is the highest strategy.

Zhang Fei didn't pay too much attention to these things, because he was not very good at it. He was busy trying the Dengzhou Crossbow Case.

Although he already had his own ideas in mind, he still followed the rules and sent people to conduct a multi-faceted investigation into the case.

After much research, it was determined that this powerful crossbow is indeed very beneficial for naval battles, and that it is necessary to carry a powerful crossbow when going out to sea.

At the same time, according to the evidence from the Security Bureau of the Song Dynasty, those sea merchants only equipped powerful crossbows on the cargo ships going out to sea, and the manufacturers of crossbows only sold them to sea merchants and did not sell them to others.

Then again, even if he dared to sell it, there would be no need for anyone to take it.

Except for rebellion, other industries do not require strong crossbows.

The Supreme Court.

"I wonder what the chief judge wants to tell Wang about?"

Wang Anshi came to the lobby and bowed humbly.

"Please let me go, Master Wang."

Zhang Fei laughed and cried, and then extended his hand to signal, "Master Wang, please sit down, please sit down."

Wang Anshi sat down, still saying, "This new chief judge has done three things right after taking office, and he has frightened us court officials to death."

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "But it certainly won't scare Master Wang."

Wang Anshi asked, "What do you mean?"

Zhang Fei said: "Because only those who have something to hide will be afraid. Scholar Wang is upright!"

"Stop!"

Wang Anshi quickly raised his hand to stop him, "Why did you call me here?"

"It's not a call, it's a please."

"What is it?"

"Has Scholar Wang heard about the Dengzhou crossbow case?"

“I’ve heard a little bit about it.”

Wang Anshi looked at Zhang Fei curiously again. He didn't know why they asked him to do this.

Zhang Fei immediately said: "Mr. Wang should know that port taxes have been increasing recently."

Wang Anshi nodded.

Zhang Fei said: "Therefore, I intend to rule that sea merchants can equip any weapons overseas, so as to encourage everyone to go out to sea for trade and increase tax revenue in this area. However, I still intend to punish the strong crossbow merchant."

Wang Anshi frowned and said, "Since sea merchants are allowed to equip any weapons overseas, but are prohibited from producing them, isn't this a contradiction?"

Zhang Fei asked, "Is this why I invited Master Wang to come?"

Wang Anshi said, "You don't want to turn the military equipment into a business department, do you?"

Zhang Fei chuckled and said, "Master Wang is really very smart."

Wang Anshi said: "How many weapons can those sea merchants use? For this reason, turning the Military Weapons Bureau into a business office will only cause trouble."

Zhang Fei said: "But Wang Xue Shi cannot deny the advantages of the business office. Once any government office becomes a business office, it will immediately become more efficient and produce better products, which is exactly the problem faced by the Military Equipment Bureau."

“This is different.”

Wang Anshi said: "Other government offices can be transformed into business offices, so they can sell goods to people all over the world, but who can they sell weapons to? Only some sea merchants."

Zhang Fei said: "You can also sell it to the enemy of your enemy."

Wang Anshi frowned slightly.

Zhang Fei said: "For example, the current situation in Xixia. Speaking objectively, we certainly hope that Xixia will be as chaotic as possible. However, if we support Xixia merchants in the name of the country, it is somewhat inappropriate and will be hindered by the court. However, if the business department sells weapons to those merchants, it is beyond reproach.

In addition, I am not suggesting that all military equipment supervisors should be turned into business offices. I am only suggesting that a few business offices that produce weapons should be set up. This is very necessary and can also be considered an attempt. If the weapons produced by these business offices are better than those produced by the military equipment supervisors, the court will at least have one more option. "

Wang Anshi hesitated for a moment, "But this is a weapon after all."

Zhang Fei said: "Mr. Wang suggested that the government, the Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of War pay to cooperate with merchants in production. This way, they can control the production and sale of weapons, and at the same time, they can develop more sophisticated weapons through the competition of merchants. At the same time, they can also make a lot of money for the government. If the country needs weapons, they have to buy them."

Wang Anshi opened his eyes and looked at Zhang Fei in shock. "The government produces weapons and then sells them to the country?"

Zhang Fei nodded.

If it were half a month ago, Wang Anshi would have thought this was nonsense, but at this moment, Wang Anshi felt that it was really possible because Wen Yanbo was making trouble.

Wang Anshi said: "Your idea is too bold."

Zhang Fei said: "I will make a ruling first to force the court to enact policies related to the sale of weapons. Wang Xueshi only needs to go with the flow."

If it were Sima Guang, he would have scolded Zhang Fei severely, but Wang Anshi was different. He liked this idea more.

Moreover, the imperial court has pushed for court reforms more than once or twice. This approach allows Wang Anshi to judge the situation and act flexibly. You make the first judgment, and I can handle it myself.

After reaching an agreement with Wang Anshi, Zhang Fei finally gave his final judgment, ruling that maritime merchants have the right to use any weapons at sea. The reason is that maritime merchants also have to pay tariffs to the country, but overseas, it is difficult for the country to give them protection, so they should be given more power to protect themselves, but only on the ship. Any need to go ashore for inspection or replacement must be approved.

Therefore, those sea merchants who possess powerful crossbows are all innocent.

As for the merchants who produced bows and crossbows, considering that they only supplied to maritime merchants, they were given a lighter punishment. Their shops were closed down and they were sentenced to one year in prison, but they could use ransom to atone for their crimes.

When this verdict came out, the businessmen were both happy and confused.

Since we are allowed to go out to sea and use powerful crossbows, but are not allowed to manufacture them, it is obvious that they are playing tricks on us!

Sima Guang and others also strongly agreed, they thought Zhang Fei was playing tricks.

This is done to protect the concept of the rule of law while preventing them from having a strong crossbow.

At this time, Wang Anshi suddenly submitted a memorial to the emperor, proposing the concept of a military equipment bureau.

There are three reasons. First, the law allows ordinary people to own swords, bows, sticks and clubs. However, as the scale of domestic businessmen is increasing, they all need some weapons to arm themselves. This is a hidden danger. If the state sells these weapons, it can achieve better control.

Secondly, facts have proven that government offices are not as efficient as business offices in production, and their products are not as good as those of business offices. This can promote substantial progress in weapons research and development.

Thirdly, doing so will also enable the imperial court to better legislate on arms trade.

When this suggestion was made, all the civil and military officials in the court were stunned, but the reformists immediately gave great support. Once weapons were commercialized, the profits would be visible to the naked eye, and the Business Office had always been controlled by them.

The three departments are also very supportive, and the business bureau will definitely be able to accelerate the monetization of the country's finances.

The conservatives would certainly oppose it as it was too bold, but Wen Yanbo was trying to stop them from opposing it because he had just submitted a memorial to the emperor, asking him to hand over the inner treasury. Wang Anshi knew about this, but he had not objected on the surface.

If he opposed Wang Anshi on this matter, Wang Anshi would certainly oppose him on that matter. If a considerable number of ministers supported the emperor in not handing over the inner treasury, the emperor would definitely not hand it over.

In fact, Wang Anshi did not say anything because he was worried that if the emperor did not pay, it would affect the tax policy. The current tax policy was too perfect, which was unimaginable before.

But if a fight breaks out, Wang Anshi may not care so much, at least he has reasons to oppose.

Zhao Xu was already struggling, and seeing this situation, he decided to wait and see.

If you start fighting, I can balance things out and maximize your interests.

But Wen Yanbo was not stupid. He immediately went to Fu Bi, Sima Guang and others to discuss whether it was possible to impose restrictions through legislation.

Of course that is possible.

In fact, Fu Bi also agreed with what Wang Anshi said. This kind of business-based approach would make it easier for the public security, procuratorate and courts to supervise. Now the Military Equipment Inspectorate has many blind spots, and the public security, procuratorate and courts are unable to supervise it at all.

After a discussion, they decided not to go against Wang Anshi. After all, there were restrictions to be made later. They should focus on the big picture.

But the conservatives did not speak out in support and just kept silent.

In the end, Zhao Xu compromised.

He agreed to make the accounts of the Nei Treasury public, and also took the initiative to transfer most of the Nei Treasury's finances to the Three Departments for unified national arrangements.

He knew that as long as he made it public, he would basically be under surveillance, so he might as well do it in one step.

However, Zhao Xu also considered it very carefully. Because after the last reform turmoil, the Three Commissioners were directly appointed by the emperor, and he still controlled the financial power, it was just that it changed from privatization to nationalization.

Wen Yanbo and his colleagues were also very satisfied with this.

This is already not easy.

In exchange, all coastal port taxes were transferred to the emperor's name, and these accounts did not need to be disclosed to the state.

However, tax laws still need to go through normal procedures and cannot be decided by you, the emperor.

Wen Yanbo and his colleagues were eager to enact legislation to specify which money belonged to the emperor and which money belonged to the state.

At the same time, Zhao Xu also decided to adopt Wen Yanbo's strategy, including the territorial law, as well as strengthening the defense of Hebei and giving soldiers better treatment. This also made it clear that the Song Dynasty would change its strategy toward the Liao Kingdom, no longer make compromises blindly, and be prepared to break off relations at any time.

Of course, Zhao Xu also agreed with Wang Anshi's suggestion.

However, this was not achieved in one step. Wang Anshi first built six weapons production workshops in six business offices, with funding from the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War. He cooperated with some businessmen to establish a weapons business office in each office.

The remaining four all belonged to the emperor.

The Legislative Council has also legislated in this regard. The previous permission for the people to produce knives and short spears will remain unchanged and be treated as ordinary trading workshops.

However, the production of bows, crossbows, firearms, etc. had to be approved by the imperial court, and local governments had no power over this.

This also means that production is only possible by cooperating with the court.

Otherwise, it will be impossible to approve you.

As for the territorial law, for now, the top leaders have only determined that the statutory territory will have the three major powers of administration, taxation and justice, but this is top secret and ordinary officials are unaware of it.

This is mainly due to the fear of causing external anxiety and internal anxiety among the vassal states.

Because it is impossible to have vassal states under this legal territory.

However, the Legislative Council also quietly carried out its first attempt, which was targeting the Hehuang area. The entire Hehuang area had been determined to be included in the territory of the Song Dynasty. This time, the Legislative Council passed legislation to clarify the specific boundaries and at the same time gave it the attributes of legal territory.