Sima Guang, carrying several volumes of documents, trotted all the way to the Court of Judicial Review. After entering the hall, he put the documents on the table and panted, saying, "Oh! At least I'm not late."
"Why is Scholar Sima out of breath?"
Qi Hui, who had just entered the hall, couldn't help but feel curious when he saw Sima Guang gasping for breath with one hand on the table.
Sima Guang waved his hand and sat down. "Don't mention it. I was really unlucky today. I stepped on feces as soon as I went out. I had to go back and change my shoes. It took a lot of time and I almost got late."
He is a person who is very strict with himself, and being late or leaving early is unacceptable to him.
Qi Hui was slightly stunned, then said with a smile: "To be honest with you, Master Sima, I almost stepped on feces today."
Sima Guang was startled, "Really?"
Qi Hui nodded and sighed, "I don't know what the Street Office is doing. There is feces everywhere. How can people walk?"
But soon they realized that this was not a coincidence, but there was too much feces and many ministers stepped on it, or almost stepped on it.
This affects the officials, so no matter how small the matter is, it is not a small matter!
...
...
"Feces" quickly became the hottest topic in the imperial city today.
It really stinks.
The ministers were frantically complaining to the Infantry Department and the Cavalry Department because the military patrol stations in the capital were under the control of these two departments.
This is the capital city. How disgraceful it is to have the streets in such a state!
......
"How ridiculous! These scholars are so easy to talk. If they don't travel by carriage, there won't be so much feces. Now they blame us, the general."
Cao Ping returned home cursing.
He was not criticized well at the meeting today, especially the tone of those civil officials, which made him very angry.
It sounds as if they, as military generals, should deal with the feces.
In the end, it all became discrimination.
The key is that Zhao Xu gave him this task.
But it didn't make Cao Ping angry enough.
The old man suddenly reminded him, "Master, the young master just went to the Inspection Office not long ago."
Cao Ping was stunned. "Are you saying this matter has something to do with Dong'er?"
The old man said again: "As far as I know, the young master has been with Zhang San these days."
Cao Ping hesitated for a moment and said, "Go and find Dong'er."
After Cao Dongdong came back, Cao Ping immediately asked, "Dong'er, how are you doing in the Inspection Office?"
Cao Dongdong chuckled and said, "That's great. I like this position very much."
"Yeah?"
Cao Ping asked again: "Then do you know that there has been a lot more feces on the streets recently?"
Cao Dongdong nodded and said, "In reply to Daddy, I know what's going on."
Cao Ping hurriedly asked, "What's going on?"
Cao Dongdong immediately said, "Someone wants to make trouble for Zhang San."
"The whole three?"
Cao Ping frowned, "What do you mean?"
Cao Dongdong said, "On my first day in office, Gu Shaoqing came to make things difficult for Zhang San. He deliberately threw some feces nearby and asked Zhang San to clean it up."
Cao Ping said, "Is this true?"
Cao Dongdong immediately said, "It's absolutely true. If you don't believe it, you can send someone to check it out."
Cao Ping frowned and thought for a while, then said, "How can I let my father take action for such a small matter? I will leave this matter to you. Are you sure you can handle it?"
Cao Dongdong's eyes flashed with joy, "Daddy believes in me, I will never let you down."
Cao Ping said: "Well! I'll leave this matter to you, but don't embarrass our Cao family."
"yes!"
Cao Dongdong said, "I'll do it right away."
After Cao Dongdong left, the old man beside Cao Ping said, "Master, this matter..."
Before he could finish, Cao commented: "It must be that brat and Zhang San who did this."
The old man asked curiously, "Since the master knows, why does he still..."
Cao commented: "They caused this disaster, so of course they have to solve it."
At this point, he paused for a moment, and then added: "By the way, help me vent my anger. Damn it, you really think that we are easy to bully as military commanders."
He now vaguely understood why the emperor would entrust this task to him.
......
After leaving home, Cao Dongdong immediately rushed to the Zuoxiang Inspection Office.
"Done! Done!"
Cao Dongdong ran into the house excitedly and said to Zhang Fei, Ma Xiaoyi and Fu Shichun: "My father has given me full authority over this matter. This time we can show our strength."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Then let's make a big deal and increase the profits for our three yamen."
Ma Xiaoyi was eager to get started and said to Fu Shichun, "Brother Xiaochun, please finish writing the traffic rules quickly so that we can send them out."
Fu Shichun said depressedly: "So you asked me to come here to do this job."
Ma Xiaoyi chuckled, "Writing is not our strong point."
Cao Dongdong said: "We have agreed in advance that our carriage will have four eights."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "It's up to Yanei to decide."
......
Two days later.
"Huh? Why are there so many people there?"
"Let's go. Let's go and take a look."
"Hey! What are you looking at?"
"Traffic laws."
"What traffic laws?"
"This was just posted by the Military Patrol Shop. It seems to be to clean up the streets. From now on, all horse-drawn carriages, donkey-drawn carriages, and ox-drawn carriages must be licensed."
“What’s this license plate?”
"Look for yourself."
"Huh? What's that word?"
"Look carefully, those symbols correspond to one, two, three, four, five..."
......
Fanlou.
I saw a group of playboys gathered in front of the door, greeting everyone.
"How ridiculous! Who came up with this idea? The carriages and horses need to be registered and they have to pay two strings of cash every year. Why don't they just rob them?"
"It's understandable that the ox and horse have to pay for cleaning up the manure, but the most hateful thing is that this sedan chair also needs to be licensed and a dignity fee is charged. It's simply lawless!"
"The government asked them to clean up the streets, but they tried to find a way to make money. I will never get this license plate."
......
During this day, all the streets, big and small, were covered with notices from the military patrol station.
The core content is the registration of vehicles and horses.
Whether it is a horse, a car, or even a sedan chair, they must be registered. Otherwise, they are not allowed to go on the street. If caught, they will be fined heavily.
However, once the license is obtained, street cleaning fees must be paid every year.
But for public horse-drawn carriages and ox-drawn carts, the annual payment was only 500 coins.
And those vehicles carrying goods only need to pay 500 coins per year.
The key is that these private carriages require an annual fee of two strings of coins. But if your family has two, then congratulations, you must pay ten strings of coins every year. If you have three, you must pay twenty strings of coins, and the price can go up indefinitely.
Even the sedan chair had to be registered and paid for, and the price was four strings of coins every year.
In this way, even a fool knows that this is aimed at those high-ranking officials, wealthy businessmen and gentry.
How could ordinary people be qualified to go out in a horse-drawn carriage?
The ministers immediately refused to do so.
Good job!
Let us pay?
Who gave you the courage?
We don’t even have to pay taxes, but now we are asked to pay for the cleanup?
Are these three yamen crazy?
......
Of course, some ministers also applauded it.
For example, Wang Anshi.
"Wonderful! Wonderful!"
Wang Anshi took the notice and praised it repeatedly, "Zhang San is really a talented guy. He actually thought of giving cattle and horses to households to increase the financial resources of the Inspection Office."
This move was exactly what he wanted.
It is exactly the same as his idea of reform, taking money from the rich and enriching the country.
Talent!
What a talent!
Lu Huiqing whispered, "I think this is a good thing for us. Let's see how those dignitaries will respond. When our new law is promulgated, we will have a better idea."
Wang Anshi smiled and nodded: "Just as I thought, this is going to be a good show."
At this time, a clerk came to the door and said, "Master Wang, the emperor has sent someone to ask Master Wang to go to the Chuigong Hall to discuss matters immediately."
Wang Anshi chuckled and said, "It has reached the government so quickly."
By the time Wang Anshi arrived at the Chuigong Hall, there was already a fierce quarrel going on inside.
I quietly walked into the door and saw Gu Ji shouting angrily.
"Your Majesty, let's not talk about the license plate disrupting people's livelihood. The key point is where does the Inspection Bureau get the power to legislate? They are committing a crime of exceeding the regulations."
Zhao Xu couldn't help but look at Cao Ping standing beside him.
Cao Ping immediately said, "The number of carriages in this city is increasing day by day, not only often causing traffic jams, but also increasing amounts of excrement. However, the funds allocated by the court to the military patrol station have not changed. Since you are dissatisfied with the increase in excrement, why not reduce the number of carriage trips, or pay for the cleaning fee."
Imperial Censor Li Zhan immediately said, "Are you doing this to clean up the streets? You are clearly taking advantage of the opportunity to make money. Since you think that too many carriages have led to an increase in feces, why do sedan chairs also have to pay?"
Before Cao Ping opened his mouth, Wang Anshi, who had just come in, immediately came out to make his presence felt. "Since ancient times, even if the princes were not virtuous, they never dared to use humans instead of animals. This sedan chair is inhumane in the first place, so charging a dignity fee is perfectly reasonable. I even think it's too little."
Sima Guang nodded and said, "Mr. Wang is right. This sedan chair is used by humans as livestock, which is against the principles of heaven and does not reflect the benevolent ideology of our dynasty. People who are not disabled should not ride in a sedan chair easily."
Lu Gongzhu, Wen Yanbo, Xu Zhongtu and others also stood up to support the collection of this dignity fee.
It turns out that in the Tang Dynasty, this sedan chair was generally only used by princes and nobles for travel, and officials were not allowed to ride in it easily. The sedan chair reflected status, but now this sedan chair has become popular.
But since it had just begun to become popular, a large number of scholars and officials despised it.
Sima Guang, Wang Anshi and others often rode in horse-drawn carriages, but never in sedan chairs, because they felt it was too humiliating. Pulling people was something animals did, so how could they allow people to do it?
】
Of course, they did not consider the feelings of the cattle and horses.
When Li Zhan saw so many people objecting, he immediately said, "That's not what I meant. What I meant is that the Inspection Office doesn't have that power."
Cao Ping immediately said, "Your Majesty has entrusted this matter to me, why don't I have this power?"
To be honest, he did not have the power to do so, as this involved regulations, so he simply put the blame on Zhao Xu.
Zhao Xu was very embarrassed. He pretended to be doubtful and said, "But I..."
Cao Ping immediately said, "Your Majesty, this strategy was actually what my son came up with, and I agree with it because he is also thinking about the city's defense, which is my job."
"For the sake of the city's defense?" Zhao Xu asked quickly, "What do you mean?"
Cao commented: "Giving license plates to carriages and horses will make it easier to manage them in normal times, and in the event of war, horses can be immediately requisitioned for military use to protect the capital."
When the ministers heard this, they almost vomited blood. It turns out that the money we pay is not enough, and we still have to raise horses for the country?
Why don't you go and rob it!
Zhao Xu immediately said: "This is a brilliant plan. The capital is an important place in the country and cannot be lost."
Isn't this about money?
How come we are talking about defending the capital?
This is too far-fetched.
Wang Anshi immediately stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I also think this strategy achieves several goals at once."
Sima Guang, Wen Yanbo and others looked doubtful, but did not say anything.
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