And with the summer tax revenue coming in soon, the national treasury may have more than 100 million guan this year. Add to that the autumn tax, and after deducting one year's expenses, it will be no problem to have tens of millions guan left.

With the money, we can pay salaries to the officials in Bianliang and rectify the administration of Bianliang. In the future, we will implement a two-tax system throughout the Song Dynasty, dividing it into local taxes and national taxes, and start the separation of officials across the country. Officials will be included in public office and enjoy national salaries. There will also be promotion channels such as selecting talents and taking exams for officials. This will greatly encourage officials to work hard.

Therefore, under various conditions, Fan Zhongyan had the confidence to carry out the reform to the end. Even though the first round of assessments had affected the interests of many people and uncovered many corrupt officials, he still stood firm in the court, engaged in heated debates with many colleagues, and was determined not to give up!

This time, the Council of Political Affairs stood on Fan Zhongyan's side and confronted many officials from various ministries. Zhao Zhen also withstood the pressure and expressed his determination to severely punish these corrupt officials.

It's just that the two sides are arguing and wasting a lot of time.

As a result, these more than 400 corrupt officials were only temporarily removed from their posts and were not imprisoned. However, in August, many problems were discovered in the areas around Bianliang, causing a sensation.

Now, not only did most of the officials in Bianliang oppose it, but officials from surrounding areas also wrote to the court requesting that the performance evaluation system be stopped.

The commotion caused was even more widespread than the New Policies of the Qingli Period in history.

After all, in history, the New Policies of the Qingli Period only targeted 80 to 90 percent of officials in the bureaucracy. They assessed those who were Jinshi (Jinshi) scholars and made large-scale cuts to those who entered the government through family connections.

This time, what is involved is the assessment of officials all over the world. Everyone wants to live a more comfortable life and doesn't want to be so involved.

So even if they are not corrupt officials, they still want to continue to maintain their previous comfortable life.

However, Lao Fan was determined and refused to give in.

Even though the voices of opposition in the court grew louder and louder, he firmly urged the various ministries, judicial departments and the Censorate to continue their performance evaluations.

The two sides argued, and time came to October of the first year of the Qingli period, eight months after the new law was implemented.

On this day, Chief Censor Zheng Jian sat in the Censorate office with a serious expression.

Standing beside him were more than 20 key members of the Censorate, including Yu Jing, Yin Zhu, Ouyang Xiu, Cai Xiang, Li Hong, Wang Zhi, Wang Zhu, Wang Su, Yang Cha, Zhao Pin, and Chen Xiliang.

Among them, his right-hand men, the Imperial Censors Cai Xiang and Yin Zhu, had extremely ugly expressions on their faces.

Because just now, the Censorate uncovered a major case involving the Minister of Finance Cheng Lin, Prime Minister Lu Yijian and Sheng Du!

Cai Xiang and Yin Zhu were Fan Zhongyan's men, while Lü Yijian and Sheng Du were now supporting Fan Zhongyan's reforms.

If a case involving them appeared at this critical juncture, it would be very likely that Lu Yijian and Sheng Du would change their attitude towards supporting Fan Zhongyan.

If that happens, it will be a big disaster.

However, they were helpless at this time because the matter was discovered by Zheng Jian. He was impartial and this time he summoned many colleagues to discuss the matter directly in order to give a definition to the matter.

Zheng Jian looked around and said in a deep voice, "This is a serious case. The Censorate has an unshirkable responsibility. Please tell us what to do."

Zhao Pin immediately said, "The Censorate is now responsible for supervising officials throughout the country, and the Prefectural Court has repeatedly stated that the country must be governed by law and that all matters must be handled according to law. If they back down just because this matter involves the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, where will the authority of the Censorate and where will the rule of law be?"

Ouyang Xiu didn't understand the connection between the two, and also shouted: "This humble official believes that the law should be brought to justice! Not to mention that it only involves the son of the prime minister, even if it is the prime minister himself, he will not be able to escape the blame!"

Cai Xiang and Yin Zhu almost punched Ouyang Xiu at that time.

This pig teammate.

He also didn't think about the fact that Fan Zhongyan's ability to push forward reforms was entirely due to the support of the Constitutional Council behind the scenes.

If Fan Zhongyan loses his foothold in the Political System Council because of this incident, what should be done with the new policy and the future reform of the court?

But at this time, they were both helpless.

After all, Zheng Jian didn't tell them privately, which meant that the matter had to be exposed to the public, so they had no choice but to remain silent.

They didn't say anything, but the others expressed their support for Zhao Pin and Ouyang Xiu.

Wang Su said without hesitation: "It must be brought to justice."

Yang Cha said, "With the new policy, the emperor will be punished just like ordinary people if he breaks the law. We, the Censorate, shoulder our mission. How can we bend the law for personal gain?"

Chen Xiliang said, "This case can also serve as a warning to officials across the country. Even ministers and prime ministers cannot escape responsibility. I believe that only in this way can we uphold the spirit of the rule of law that the prefect often speaks of!"

"good!"

Seeing that both Fan and Zhao's followers supported the plan, Zheng Jian slammed the table and said, "Let's do it! Follow me and arrest them!"

At that moment, under the leadership of Zheng Jian, they summoned the officials from the Censorate Office and headed straight for Lu's Mansion!

(End of this chapter)