Now that it has been decided to implement the conscription law in Kaifeng Prefecture, who should implement it?
We can change the law, but the system cannot be changed.
He cannot personally take charge of the temporary agency, the Regulations Office of the Two Prefectures.
Fortunately, Zhao Xu and Wang Anshi were well prepared.
Ever since the bosses of Sinong Temple and Taifu Temple were driven out of the capital by Zhang Fei, this position has been vacant until now, and no one has been appointed to take it. This is reserved for the new policy.
Because these two temples did not have much power before, all financial power was controlled by the Three Departments, and Wang Anshi was unable to control the Three Departments. The solution was to start a new one.
Wang Anshi was attracted by the warehouse management system of Ersi. His reforms were centered around financial management. How could one manage the system if there wasn't even a warehouse?
So he suggested to Zhao Xu that the Sinong Temple be in charge of the conscription law, and then recommended Han Jiang to be the judge of the Sinong Temple.
Han Jiang came from one of the most prominent families in the Northern Song Dynasty. His great-grandfather Han Chujun was granted the title of Duke of Zhou.
His grandfather Han Baoshu was conferred the title Duke of Chen.
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His father, Han Yi, was also a prime minister and was granted the title of Duke of Ji, with the posthumous title of "Zhongxian".
He was also very ambitious. He passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi during the reign of Emperor Renzong, but did not rely on his ancestor's influence to become an official. Instead, during the reign of Emperor Yingzong, he served as the acting prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture, and later was appointed as the Vice-President of the State Council. He had been commanding the army in the northwest and only returned last year. His younger brother Han Wei was also a famous prime minister of the Song Dynasty.
Anyway, his family is really full of prime ministers.
Moreover, he had carried out reforms on the local corvée law. Although there were some results, they were only minor revisions and did not address the root cause. Wang Anshi's conscription law also drew on his experience.
The key point is that Han Jiang had very good personal relationships with Sima Guang and Wen Yanbo.
If he was promoted, Sima Guang and Wen Yanbo would feel a little relieved. When Xue Xiang, the transport envoy, was promoted, it was very troublesome. He was impeached every day, and Wang Anshi argued with them every day for Xue Xiang.
If Han Jiang were in charge, this situation would be greatly improved.
Sinong Temple.
"Jiefu, in my opinion, your conscription law is the general trend of the times. It can eliminate the century-old bad policies of our dynasty, and it is also what we want. But..."
After some flattery, Han Jiang said tactfully: "It's just that we should reconsider the division of the surplus money and households."
Although it was Wang Anshi who recommended him to the position, he was not grateful to Wang Anshi. Before Wang Anshi, he was already the Vice Prime Minister. He had his own ideas and supported the reform, so he was willing to agree to Wang Anshi.
But he somewhat disagreed with the specific regulations.
Wang Anshi was unhappy. With the current financial situation, how could we fight against Xixia and Liao? Do you think the Song Dynasty only has internal problems? External problems are even bigger.
But he did not show it, instead he smiled and said: "Let's try it first, if there is any problem, we will make adjustments."
Han Jiang nodded and asked, "The new law does not mention the issue of hiring labor. Do you really intend to hand it all over to the police?"
Wang Anshi hummed, "You should know better than me how corrupt the current bureaucracy is. The police station has just been established and has not yet been tainted. The Sino-Agricultural Ministry is responsible for issuing decrees, managing money and property, and dismissing existing officials. As for hiring servants, it is left to the police station."
Although the finances of the Conscription Act are allocated to the police station, it cannot be said that the police station manages the money on its own. It still needs to be managed by a specialized department.
Han Jiang frowned and said, "But this position involves many matters. Can the newly established police station handle it well?"
Wang Anshi smiled and said, "Let's give it a try. The government seems to be very confident about this and has already ordered the police to prepare for this."
After hearing this, Han Jiang said no more. The emperor had already made the decision.
In a classroom not far away, there were five or six officials sitting there.
But Xu Tai, the Taicang Order of the Sinong Temple, stood at the door and looked out. Seeing that there was no one around, he closed the door.
He turned around and said to the five or six colleagues sitting inside: "The government has decided to implement the conscription law in Kaifeng Prefecture first."
"I told you that Sima Junshi and the others couldn't stop him, but you just didn't believe me."
"That's not true. The emperor clearly favors Wang Jiefu more. Without concrete evidence, Sima Junshi and his men can do nothing."
"That's right... The government insists on using Wang Jiefu. Just opposing it verbally won't change anything. We need to provide some evidence."
"evidence?"
"Wang Jiefu's conscription law is obviously intended to raise money for the country, so why don't we give him a hand and see how many people are willing to pay the money."
......
Although this matter has been decided, it does not mean it is over. On the contrary, it means that this war without gunpowder has just begun.
Compared with the Equalized Transport System, the Recruitment System offended far more people.
You are so straightforward in collecting taxes from our government households, even though it is only half. But if you can collect half, then you will be able to collect double in the future.
Officials will certainly fight back, as their interests are at stake and they will never sit idly by.
However, the decision-making power lies in the hands of the emperor. If the emperor wants to do so, they have no choice. But they are also good at using facts to teach the emperor how to be the ruler of a country.
Fu Bi was very familiar with this situation. He knew what might happen next, and his previous experience had told him what the consequences of this party struggle would be. This path would definitely not work, so although he did not agree, he did not directly oppose it. He now placed all his bets on the law of the rule of law.
The hateful thing is that Zhang Fei was such a ruthless guy that after that class, he really just ignored it.
I haven't been there once in more than two months.
Fu Bi had no choice but to go there in person to ask for advice.
When Xu Zun saw Fu Bi coming to his house in person, he felt embarrassed and said, "Don't blame me, Mr. Fu. My son-in-law is young and ignorant."
Fu Bi waved his hands and said, "How can you blame him? The emperor gave this matter to me, and it has nothing to do with your son-in-law. It's just that I encountered a problem recently, and I wanted to ask your son-in-law for advice."
"I dare not! I dare not!"
Zhang Fei, who was standing next to Xu Zun, said hurriedly: "How can Zhang San be so worthy of this? This is really embarrassing for the junior!"
Fu Bi chuckled and said, "When did you become so humble?"
Zhang Fei replied: "Usually."
Fu Bi was stunned for a moment, then he laughed and pointed to the table and chairs next to him, "Don't stand, sit down. Sit down."
"Why!"
Only then did Zhang Fei sit down.
Fu Bi stopped smiling and said, "I came here today mainly to ask you about the relationship between tax law and legal system law?"
Zhang Fei blinked and said, "I have already talked about this in class."
Fu Bi said: "But you only talked about the relationship between rights and obligations. What I want to ask is, when the people only have food left at home, can they refuse to pay taxes?"
Zhang Fei and Xu Zun looked at each other.
I probably guessed in my heart that the purpose of Fu Bi's trip was to use legislation to protect the people from being exploited by the conscription law.
But this issue is really quite acute.
Zhang Fei didn't dare to speak in class.
The power of taxation is the imperial power.
Zhang Fei thought for a while and said, "In fact, it stands to reason that if the people only have food left, and the court wants to take it away, this is obviously not in line with the concept of the rule of law and is unreasonable."
Fu Bi nodded: "That's right."
Zhang Fei said: "But collecting taxes is a very difficult thing. If there are clear regulations on under what circumstances people can refuse to pay taxes, it may also bring great trouble to the government.
Because the people can also hide their money and food, and then cry poor to the government, the government does not have enough manpower and resources to investigate thoroughly, which may make the national finances worse. "
Fu Bi nodded repeatedly: "You are right. I also considered these issues when I discussed this matter with those judicial officials and students. Taxation is a major national issue and should not be taken lightly. However, this situation should also be avoided. We cannot kill the goose that lays the golden eggs and drain the pond to catch fish. This kind of government forcing the people to rebel will also make the financial situation worse."
He hoped to use the law to stop the conscription law from over-exploiting the lower classes, but when the legislation was being legislated, judicial officials said it was not possible because it would cause great trouble to the government.
If a country cannot collect taxes, it will be finished. The risk is too great.
Fu Bi couldn't think of a good solution, so he could only ask Zhang Fei for help.
Zhang Fei pondered for a while and said, "Mr. Fu seems to still be immersed in the idea that virtue is the main thing and punishment is the auxiliary thing, and he has not changed his concept to virtue is the main thing and law is the auxiliary thing."
Fu Bi asked hurriedly, "What do you mean?"
Zhang Fei said: "I once said in class that virtue is the main thing and law is the auxiliary. The law of the legal system is the basis for conviction, and the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues are the basis for acquittal.
Tax evasion is illegal because the law states so. If we want to change the conditions for conviction, it is not impossible, but the key is that the government may not be able to do it, and we have to consider the reality. So we can only consider the aspect of exoneration. "
Fu Bi nodded repeatedly after hearing this.
Zhang Fei said: "Suppose a commoner is caught by the government for tax evasion, and it is discovered that he has elderly people to support at home, then we can refer to filial piety.
Or maybe he had hungry children, or maybe he was disabled and came from a poor family because of fighting in the battlefield to defend his country.
Mr. Fu set some conditions in the tax law, and then gave him lenient treatment, or even exempted him from tax directly."
Fu Bi's eyes lit up, and he asked again, "Just for reference?"
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "It is just a reference, not a rigid standard. This is the only way to maintain the flexibility of the law. The court can guarantee the authority of the law while ensuring that the law is not beyond human feelings."
Many regulations cannot be rigidly defined; otherwise, any judgment in some special cases would be wrong.
Fu Bi said doubtfully: "If it is just for reference, then it will be entirely up to the officials to decide."
Zhang Fei said: "Specific law enforcement still depends on officials. Keeping the law flexible is just to ensure that officials can make different judgments based on actual conditions. Of course, officials may also make very bad judgments, which is also inevitable.
The law is never perfect.
However, this also provides help for the ear pen lawsuit. If these conditions are not met, the lawsuit cannot be fought, but if they are met, the ear pen can use this to help the people reduce the charges. "
"I see."
Fu Bi nodded and said, "But this relies a lot on ear pens. Ordinary people can't even pay taxes, so how can they afford ear pens to fight lawsuits?"
“This relies on the establishment of the Legal Aid Department.”
"The Legal Aid Department is free, so how many people would be willing to go?"
"If the court and our bookstores must recruit people from the Legal Aid Department, for example, if you want to enter the procuratorate, you must first look at your performance in the Legal Aid Department. If you want to come to our Bian Jing Law Firm, you must also show your performance in the Legal Aid Department. In this way, many geniuses in this field will be willing to go to the Legal Aid Department and try their best to fight lawsuits for the people.
We big bookstores are also willing to donate money to the Legal Aid Department because it will provide us with talent, but the court also needs to allocate a little money to at least ensure that the Legal Aid Department's spies will not go hungry.
The cost of supporting ten Legal Aid Department spies is much lower than that of supporting one judicial officer. However, the role these ten spies can play is much greater than that of one judicial officer. This is a very cost-effective expenditure.
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