Reforming the law sounds easy.
If wealth is unevenly distributed, why not just make it equal? It's that simple.
But the problem is that you are not facing wood, but people.
It's like an equation. If there is only one variable x, it is much simpler, but if there is an extra variable y, the difficulty will increase exponentially.
As you change, they also change, resulting in things often not developing as you expected.
The imperial court could reform because it controlled the means of production. Similarly, the landlords could also change because they also controlled the means of production.
The result is that whoever does not have the means of production will suffer.
Zhang Fei, who had received nine years of compulsory education, knew all of this very well. He could even say a few words in history class, criticizing Sima Guang, Wang Anshi, Su Shi, and so on.
If you stay out of it, you can always have a good time and laugh, but once you are in it, who can remain calm and composed?
What he can do now is not much better than Xu Zhiqian.
...
...
The law can only ensure that you pay taxes, but it cannot make you hand over the means of production. Only legislation can do that.
After searching for Zhang Fei for a while and failing to find him, Lu Huiqing returned to the Regulations Office of the Two Prefectures.
But this time when he came back, he started arguing with Su Che again.
Su Che was not recommended by Wang Anshi, but was appointed by Emperor Shenzong.
"What is going on? You, Su Ziyu, know it clearly. Is the public resentment outside really caused by the people?" Lu Huiqing snorted.
Su Che said: "It is precisely because the court lacked careful consideration when issuing this decree and did not take those tenant farmers into account that people took advantage of the situation. But I think this could have been avoided. The law of our ancestors in the Great Song Dynasty is to take precautions and make rules. Isn't this what they mean?"
Lu Huiqing said with disdain: "You are just talking on paper. Believe it or not, no matter how carefully you consider it, you will encounter problems."
Su Che said: "If we think carefully, we can at least avoid some major problems. Even if we encounter problems, we can adjust them immediately, instead of just making the best of a bad situation like we are doing now."
His political philosophy is similar to Sima Guang's. He believes in planning before taking action and will try not to do anything unless he is absolutely sure.
Of course he knew that there must be someone behind this, but he thought that it was because you didn't think things through that someone took advantage of you, and now you are in a dilemma and can only make the best of it.
"What do you mean by making the best of a bad situation?" Lu Huiqing said, "There is nothing wrong with this matter. Someone is trying to make trouble and force the new law to withdraw. But they are just daydreaming. I will never let them succeed."
Su Che shook his head and said, "This is not governing a country, but fighting."
Lu Huiqing retorted: "Struggle is also part of governing the country."
Su Che smiled bitterly and said, "If you put all your energy into fighting, how can you govern the country well?"
Lu Huiqing retorted: "If you don't argue with me at this time, would I waste my breath?"
Su Che nodded: "Okay, okay, I won't argue with you."
He turned around and went about his own business.
He is different from Su Shi. He will stop when he reaches the right point and does not insist on competing for victory or defeat. With Su Shi's verbal cannon, he can really argue with you until the end of time.
Lu Huiqing also left angrily. There were a lot of troubles outside, and when he returned to the base camp, there would be more troubles inside.
Don't you think he's annoying enough?
But just as he got outside, another clerk came over and said, "Lu proofreader, Zhang San wants to see you."
Lu Huiqing immediately asked: "Where is he?"
The clerk said, "I told him to wait in the west room."
Lu Huiqing immediately walked towards the west room.
It turned out that Zhang Fei returned to the city and learned that Lu Huiqing was looking for him all over the world and didn't even return home, so he immediately rushed over.
"Lu proofreads."
"Do you know why I came to you?"
Lu Huiqing was in no mood to play guessing games with him, so she went straight to the point.
Zhang Fei nodded with a wry smile: "To be honest with you, Lu Xiaojian, I went out this morning for this matter."
Lu Huiqing asked hurriedly: "Do you have any countermeasures?"
Zhang Fei sighed: "I have seen the contract signed between the tenants and the landlords. If the tenants are willing to fight, the lawsuit can definitely be won. But the key is that the tenants will not be willing to appeal. The reason is very simple. If they go to court, they may even lose their livelihood, and I can't give them a new livelihood."
Lu Huiqing glanced at Zhang Fei and said, "You should know why this happened, right?"
Zhang Fei nodded: "So when I learned about this, I immediately went to investigate. Although... although I can't provide any help for the time being, I think we must not give in on this matter. The number of people involved in this matter is limited, and it won't cause any big trouble."
Lu Huiqing hummed: "My mentor and I are aware of this. There are many people in the court gossiping about it."
Zhang Fei asked: "It is obvious that the landlords were wrong in this matter. What reason do they have to excuse them?"
Lu Huiqing chuckled twice: "You don't understand this! Those people have no other abilities, but they are first-rate critics. They can find any excuse. The most hateful thing they say is that we are not well prepared. We made a rash decision based on a lawsuit, which caused public resentment. When is it necessary to prepare for collecting taxes according to the law? This is really a big joke."
Zhang Fei asked again: "Then how do they talk about what those landlords did?"
Lu Huiqing snorted, “You are avoiding the important issues and generalizing. You use some special cases to show that the landlords did not benefit from it, and all the benefits of taxes are passed on to the tenants.
Are you afraid that you can't find a reason to criticize people? If you let me criticize them, I can also find a hundred reasons. I don't have the time to waste words with them. "
Zhang Fei said: "But these reasons are not enough to convince the public."
Lu Huiqing smiled bitterly and said, "It's not enough to convince the crowd. They just rely on their loud voices."
Loud voice? Zhang Fei frowned slightly and thought, it's a pity that my official printing house has not been able to operate yet, but even if it can operate, I believe they will not allow me to publish it.
Seeing him deep in thought, Lu Huiqing asked, "Do you really have no solution?"
He still hoped that Zhang Fei could solve the problem for them, as they did not have that much energy to spend on it.
Zhang Fei thought for a while and said, "Can we give some subsidies to those tenant farmers?"
Lu Huiqing was surprised and asked, "What do you mean?"
Zhang Fei said: "After paying the deed tax and taxes, the treasury revenue will increase. We can take out some money to subsidize the tenant farmers."
That's what people did in his time.
Lu Huiqing said: "What kind of solution is this? Not to mention that the current national finances are not good and there is no money at all, even if the finances are good, can you subsidize it? If you subsidize, the landlords will definitely increase the rent, and then the subsidy will be given to the landlords."
Zhang Fei nodded awkwardly: "That's true, I was too naive."
The Imperial Palace.
"Your Majesty, this is also the lease I borrowed from the tenant farmers. It is completely different from what Censor Lin said. Only a few landlords give the tax benefits to the tenant farmers. Most of them share the tax benefits with the tenant farmers. Some even take all the taxes for themselves."
"That's outrageous."
Zhao Xu could not help but snort angrily: "These imperial censors are my eyes and ears, so that I can know the people's sentiments. If they all deceive me, then I will become blind and deaf."
After all, he was the emperor and didn't know much about the situation. He was really fooled by Lin Dan's contract before. He never thought that it was only a minority.
These censors are extremely cunning.
Wang Anshi struck while the iron was hot and said, "Your Majesty, I also thought before that the court might be unprepared, but after my investigation, I found that someone was obstructing me and was trying to stop me from making reforms. I think this matter must not be compromised. The court must act according to the previous decree, and the summer tax cannot be exempted. If they are allowed to taste the sweetness, they will do everything they can to oppress more people and create more public grievances to put pressure on the court."
Zhao Xu nodded and said with a firm look, "As you say, don't pay attention to what those people say."
"I obey your command."
After receiving the emperor's order, Wang Anshi immediately rushed to Kaifeng Prefecture. After all, the execution power was in the hands of Kaifeng Prefecture.
"Jiefu!"
Lu Gongzhuo sighed and said, "Our original intention was to make those landlords pay the taxes they should pay, but now they have all transferred them to the tenants. Should we reconsider this matter?"
He was on the front line and must have known everything very well. Perhaps someone was interfering, but the consequences would ultimately be borne by the tenant farmers.
It's written in black and white in the contract, and you can't force the landowners to pay the taxes.
What’s the point of doing this?
Is it purely to make money for the country?
Wang Anshi asked in return: "If the tax is really borne by the tenants, then why do they still do this? And they also force the court to withdraw the decree. In fact, the majority of people evade taxes by using white deeds, and the tenants involved are a minority. As long as they see that we are unmoved, they will naturally give up."
Lu Gong said, "Why don't I understand? I'm just worried that if the court is pressing hard, they will also be pressing hard, and in the end, the tenants will suffer. After all, the land is in their hands. If the court collects more taxes, they only need to spread it out in the rent. Shouldn't we find a way to solve this problem first?"
Wang Anshi was about to cry but had no tears. He said, "I will find a way to solve this problem, but... Alas... But this has to be done step by step. Now even the land has not been checked. If I rashly change the law, you will blame me for not being prepared. But if I can't even check the land and pay the deed tax, how can I change it?"
He is really anxious and always says that I am radical, but he forces me to solve the problem. What does he want from me?
He wants to reform the land, but the time is not yet ripe. However, preparatory work can be done first, and inventorying the land is a necessary process.
Seeing that it was not easy for him, Lu Gong nodded and said, "Okay! I know what to do."
Shen family.
"The government has just issued an order not to exempt summer taxes."
Tang Ji said happily to Shen Huaixiao and the others.
Shen Huaixiao chuckled and said, “It’s just as we expected.”
Cao Han said: "Wang Jiefu has no way out, he will definitely go all the way to the end."
Shen Huaixiao said: "That's easy, the emperor will personally issue an order,
Cao Han laughed and said, "Last time, Zhang San did that. Whether it was the clerks in Kaifeng County or Xiangfu County, they were a little wary and didn't dare to ask for money from him again. Now that this opportunity has come again, they will definitely take advantage of the situation and get back all the losses they had before."
Tang Ji said: "Then those imperial censors will not let Wang Jiefu go."
(End of this chapter)
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