The people of Song Dynasty really knew how to have fun!
Paper money and currency crisis were all created by the people of the Song Dynasty.
They can keenly identify loopholes in the exemption tax.
It must be said that Xiangguo Temple's move made Zhang Fei, who had just won a great victory, feel a little depressed.
He had almost used up all his strength and was running out of stamina. The Commissioner of Taxation had been preparing for more than a year and had basically completed his mission, but the other party seemed to be still gathering his strength and had not put in much effort. What he had done before was just a trial run.
It goes without saying that before long, all the powerful officials in the court may be involved. The food and currency are all controlled by the big landlords, so how can we play with them?
However, before one crisis was over, another one arose. Just after returning home, he heard a piece of news that left Zhang Fei speechless.
Many ministers used this lawsuit to point out that the salt administration had serious drawbacks and suggested establishing public security, procuratorial and judicial systems in the northwest, and they all recommended Zhang Fei.
"ah?"
Zhang Fei looked at Xu Zun in panic and said, "I told Sima Xueshi that I don't have the ability to govern the northwest."
...
...
Xu Zun was stunned and said hurriedly: "So Sima Junshi came here to talk to you about this?"
Zhang Fei nodded, "But I rejected him at that time."
Xu Zun sighed and said with a worried look: "As far as I know, this matter was first proposed by Sima Junshi at the meeting, and it was supported by many people at that time. Sima Junshi did not mention it again afterwards, but many ministers still recommended you to go to the northwest to build the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs on the grounds of salt administration."
Xu Zhiqian said: "The situation in the northwest is complicated, and there have been wars for many years. Zhang San has no background and no prestige. How can he gain a foothold there? It is clear that they are trying to harm Zhang San."
Sima Guang's sudden inspiration seemed to have helped them find a way to deal with Zhang Fei, which was to expel Zhang Fei directly from the capital. Because in the capital, both the emperor and the vice-chancellor had a good relationship with Zhang Fei, and he was a minor character who usually hid behind the scenes and gave advice, which made them very uncomfortable.
Take this matter for example. The Cao family is in the front, and Wang Anshi is the one providing support. But everyone knows that Cao Dongdong is just a human-shaped standee, and it is meaningless to target the Cao family.
But Zhang Fei was nominally employed, so if anything went wrong, the responsibility would not be placed on him.
Just like that lawsuit, even if he lost, he could still earn 10,000 strings of cash. Who could he reason with?
To deal with Zhang Fei, the first step is to push him to the front, and secondly, find a more dangerous place, and the northwest is undoubtedly the best place.
"Qian'er is right. This should be their plan."
Xu Zun nodded and sighed again: "There is a lot of noise in the court right now, not only about this matter, but also about the royal family reform and the system of favoritism."
"Maybe there's more." Zhang Fei sighed.
Xu Zun looked at him, "More than that?"
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "I just received news that the price of grain has dropped a bit recently."
Xu Zhiqian was shocked. "This is the time when there is a shortage of food. In previous years, grain prices would rise a little at this time. In some years, the imperial court even had to issue orders to prohibit grain prices from rising, but they have never dropped."
Zhang Fei said: "They are targeting the exemption tax."
"Exemption tax?"
"Um."
Zhang Fei nodded. "According to the exemption tax regulations, copper coins are required to be paid. At this time, they have begun to release grain, which will inevitably take away all the currency in the hands of the people. After the summer tax, the court will take another wave of copper coins. It is estimated that when the exemption tax is collected in the autumn harvest, the people may not even be able to pay a copper coin. This will greatly increase the difficulty of collecting the exemption tax."
Xu Zhiqian immediately asked: "Can't we use food instead?"
After all, there have always been changes in ancient times.
Zhang Fei said, "It's not impossible, but the problem is that it requires several times more manpower. If it's grain, people have to be arranged to measure and weigh it, which is not as simple as paying with coins. And after the grain is paid, it has to be transported to warehouses in various places, and then people have to be hired, which will increase the cost a lot. In addition, there are citizens. The currency has increased, and the tax law has not changed. They have to pay more than before, which is bound to cause complaints."
Xu Zhiqian snorted softly, "This is their usual trick, tying the people in front of them and making them cry out in pain, in order to force the court to revoke its decision."
Zhang Fei smiled bitterly and said, "Even you know this, but they still enjoy doing it. This shows that this trick is really useful."
Xu Zhiqian said dejectedly: "Didn't you see this before when you promoted tax-based transactions?"
Xu Zun asked: "Then do you have any way to deal with it?"
Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "It is actually a good thing for the people that they are releasing grain at this time. If we stop them from releasing grain, I am afraid it will arouse public resentment. The most direct way is to issue more coins to ensure that there are enough coins on the market."
"Issuing more currency is not an easy task!" Xu Zun said with a frown.
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "I have asked Li Si to find someone. I should meet with the official tonight."
Xu Zun couldn't help but say: "I originally thought that the judgment of Kaifeng Prefecture would resolve this matter satisfactorily, but I never thought that this is just the beginning."
......
Ma family.
I saw a fat and big-eared monk sitting at the table, gnawing on pork elbow with relish and drinking wine in big gulps.
Ma Tianhao sat aside, the wine in his bowl untouched, looking like he was troubled.
After a while, he suddenly said, "Brother Lu, the matter has been settled, why are you making trouble again?"
This great monk was none other than Master Lu Binlu from Xiangguo Temple.
Lu Bin raised his head, glanced at him, swallowed the meat in his mouth, picked up a bowl of wine, drank it all, picked up the silk handkerchief beside him, wiped his mouth, threw it on the table, burped, scratched his big bald head, and smiled bitterly: "You think I want to meddle in this business, but I am just a person who follows orders. This is all ordered by the old host."
Ma Tianhao said: "But Zhang San is not so easy to deal with. Now that your Xiangguo Temple is involved, aren't you afraid of getting into trouble?"
Lu Bin said angrily, "It's fine if others say so, but you also say so. Don't you know who has the final say over Xiangguo Temple? The exemption tax makes the royal relatives and dignitaries pay hundreds of guan of taxes every year. Do you think they can swallow this? Moreover, this does not include the summer and autumn taxes.
As for Zhang San, I'm not doing anything illegal, and I won't go to court, so what can he do to me? The win or loss is based on our own means, and there's nothing to say. But you can't lend out any more money recently, and try to recover all the foreign debts. At the same time, you have to stop Zhang San from making any suggestions in the charity foundation, and he can't use our Xiangguo Temple's money to deal with us."
Ma Tianhao hesitated for a while, shook his head and said with a smile: "Your Xiangguo Temple is rich and powerful, so I can only obey your orders, but I don't agree with this."
He had no choice. The success of his mortgage loan was entirely due to the support of Xiangguo Temple. He had no choice but to listen to other people’s investment!
Lu Bin immediately looked at him with contempt, "Don't talk nonsense, it's useless if you don't agree. Back then, we were full of enthusiasm and wanted to make great achievements, but what did we get in return? We almost lost our heads. Nowadays, whoever has money has the final say. We ants, haha, let's drink while we can."
......
The Imperial Palace.
"Your Majesty, is the matter with the royal family going smoothly?" Zhang Fei asked.
Zhao Xu felt that Zhang Fei's question was a bit direct and a bit embarrassing. After all, he was attacking his own people. Wasn't it a bit too ruthless? He just nodded slightly and said, "It was relatively smooth. Even Sima Junshi didn't say anything."
Sima Guang was a traditional Confucian. He was eager to streamline the number of officials, but he had always been opposed to excluding clan members outside the five degrees of mourning from the royal family. This was related to the principle of kinship. But this time, Sima Guang was somewhat powerless because there were many people within the conservative faction who demanded that this be done.
Just wait until the fire is almost ready, Zhao Xu ordered
Zhang Fei said quickly: "Your Majesty, please hurry up to avoid unnecessary trouble."
Zhao Xu frowned slightly, "Are you referring to the drop in grain prices?"
Zhang Fei nodded.
Li Bao told him this, and Zhao Xu must have known about it.
Zhao Xu said, "I already know about this, but they shouldn't cause any trouble just by releasing grain, and the people will benefit from it. We can find another way to settle the exemption tax. Even if it's a bit troublesome, they will stop after seeing that it has no effect after making a fuss this time."
Zhang Fei said: "Not necessarily."
Zhao Xu asked, "What do you mean?"
Zhang Fei said: "If they do this, it may cause a currency panic in the market. No one will want to use copper coins. This is not only related to the exemption tax, but will also cause a series of problems and crises. Then they will push all the responsibility onto the exemption tax, which may make it difficult for the government to deal with both ends."
The big landowners alone could not defeat the imperial court, but they could create a currency crisis, and when everyone got involved, the imperial court would have a headache.
Zhao Xu frowned, realizing that this problem could become very serious. "Then do you have any way to deal with it?"
Zhang Fei thought for a moment, "In fact, the most direct way is to increase the minting of coins and put them on the market to offset their grain release. But I am not very familiar with these systems of the court, so the government needs to discuss it with Wang Xueshi and others."
Zhao Xu nodded.
Zhang Fei added: "But the most urgent task is for the government to quickly complete the reform of the royal family and go all out. Otherwise,
We might end up neglecting one thing while focusing on another.”
"I understand."
Zhao Xu nodded and said, "By the way, there is something I was planning to ask you. Do you know that Sima Junshi recommended you to go to the northwest to build the public security, procuratorial and judicial system?"
Zhang Fei said awkwardly: "Master Sima told me, but...but I have already refused."
Zhao Xu hurriedly asked: "Why do you refuse?"
Zhang Fei was startled, and secretly glanced at Zhao Xu, and asked, "Does the emperor want me to go too?"
Zhao Xu's expression faltered, hesitating for a moment, and then he sighed, "Western Xia has always been a major concern of mine. I am anxious to improve finances and accumulate money and grain, hoping to have enough financial resources to destroy Western Xia.
Therefore, the turbulent situation in the northwest has made me unable to sleep or eat. If I want to destroy Western Xia, money and food alone are not enough. I have to govern the northwest first.
Comparatively, this is more urgent than Jiangnan."
The reason why he and Wang Anshi sympathized with each other was not because they both loved money, but because they both longed to destroy Western Xia and take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.
The main purpose of Wang Anshi's reform was not to improve people's livelihood, but to mobilize and prepare for war.
Zhang Fei said awkwardly: "I am afraid I can't do anything about this for the time being, because it is very difficult to establish public security, procuratorial and judicial organs in the northwest. If it is not implemented properly, it may backfire and cause greater chaos. I think the government should send a capable official to the local area."
The Northwest is too crucial and cannot be lost. Zhang Fei was unsure and of course did not dare to go.
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