In the end, Wang Anshi was more inclined towards the Legalists, and he still hoped to use an iron fist to suppress all disobedience. He was not going to show off his power, he just wanted to give the Xiangguo Temple a warning. If you dare to do this again next time, I will show no mercy.
In Zhang Fei's opinion, as long as the other party does not use illegal means to target him personally like Wang Wenshan and Wang Hong, he will not easily use killing moves. Everything must be done according to the rules and not act recklessly.
Because if he had not followed the rules, he might have died in Dengzhou Prison.
He is very persistent in this concept.
Although Xiangguo Temple's behavior was annoying, it was within the rules and there was nothing wrong with it. Besides, Zhang Fei had to continue to cooperate with Xiangguo Temple, which was the largest funder of the charity foundation.
Not long after Wang Anshi left, Xu Zhiqian came in. She was dressed in men's clothes, with an upright posture and heroic spirit. She looked around and said, "Huh? I heard that Master Wang is here?"
"Just left."
Zhang Fei asked again: "What's the situation outside?"
Xu Zhiqian sat down and said, "At present, there has been no change in the rural households, because they took advantage of the low grain prices and exchanged all the coins in their hands for grain. Although people are no longer hoarding coins, they still lack coins because they lack the means to earn coins."
This woman couldn't sit still at home, so she returned to her job and was in charge of the Legal Aid Department and charity matters.
...
...
Zhang Fei nodded slightly, and then asked Xu Zhiqian: "What are your plans?"
Xu Zhiqian thought for a while and said, "I heard that the police station still has a large number of police uniforms to make. We have been looking for citizens before, but citizens have many ways to make money. I hope to give the police uniforms to those rural households."
Zhang Fei said thoughtfully: "We can directly decide on the police uniforms donated by the charity foundation, but the rest still needs the money from Sinong Temple. I will discuss it with them then. I believe this won't be a big problem."
At the same time, I thought to myself that all the money collected by the Sinong Temple had to be spent!
But on second thought, it might not be that easy. Wang Anshi's reforms also require money. He wants to manage the country's finances, which requires capital.
Xu Zhiqian lowered her voice and said, "This is a big problem. You'd better try it out first, but don't rush to speak."
Zhang Fei asked curiously: "Why?"
Xu Zhiqian said: "This is a lot of money. Maybe the Sinong Temple has already made arrangements. I'm not saying that Han Sishi would embezzle it. It's just that in the past, officials in government offices would use the money to take care of those officials who didn't have salaries."
“I see!”
Zhang Fei thought about it and said, "When I talk to Han Si about this, I will take the initiative to mention this so that he won't be embarrassed."
Although this is against the rules, there is no other way. Those officials hope to make money by doing this kind of work. If the superiors do not assign these tasks to them, they will not work hard.
Xu Zhiqian added: "In addition to police uniforms, there are also movable type workshops and football leagues."
Zhang Fei was stunned for a moment and said, "These jobs cannot be done by rural residents. These are all technical jobs!"
Xu Zhiqian said, "Technical work can be left in the workshop, but some basic crafts can be handed over to the villagers. For example, the pig bladders used to make footballs can be washed and dried by the villagers. As for the clay in the movable type workshop, they may not be able to carve characters, but they can still make the clay into blocks."
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Of course you can, but how many people can you help?"
"If you can help anyone, that's a good help."
Xu Zhiqian added: "Moreover, since the Royal Police has established itself in the countryside, it has become more convenient for people to do business with the countryside."
"Yes, increasing ties with the countryside will also allow rural households to rely more on the Royal Police."
Zhang Fei nodded, and said to Xu Zhiqian, "Okay, you should make a detailed plan first. After all, we still need to discuss this with Fan Zheng."
Xu Zhiqian nodded happily.
Now, writing plans is really her strong point. After all, she helps Zhang Fei write various documents every day. Although her artistic skills have not improved at all, her professionalism has improved a lot.
“Third brother!”
Li Si suddenly walked in, looked around, and when he saw that no one was around, he whispered, "Third brother, the emperor wants you to enter the palace."
Xu Zhiqian frowned and asked, "Did something happen?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "I guess they summoned me to the palace to hold a celebration banquet. The emperor has made a lot of money this time."
Xu Zhiqian was startled and whispered, "Don't say that, be careful, the walls have ears."
Zhang Fei smiled and nodded.
Zhao Xu was undoubtedly the biggest winner of this event. He succeeded in exempting the military service tax and initiated the royal family reform. Most importantly, he made a fortune.
It feels so good!
We must invite Zhang Fei, our confidant, into the palace to celebrate properly.
"Haha, a small salt note can easily resolve this money shortage crisis, and also let me vent my anger. It's really refreshing! I toast to you."
Zhao Xu raised his glass to Zhang Fei generously.
Zhang Fei raised his glass and drank it all. He put down the glass without much joy on his face. He said, "You are too kind, sir. In fact, the reason we can win this time is just because of one thing."
Zhao Xu asked: "Which point?"
"It's the salt administration."
Zhang Fei explained: "If the salt administration was not completely controlled by the imperial court, we would not have won so easily. As the saying goes, even a skilled cook cannot cook without rice!"
Zhao Xu nodded slightly.
Zhang Fei added: "Your Majesty, they may not stir up trouble again for the time being, but that doesn't mean they will stop. As long as the court wants to levy taxes on them, they will definitely come back again.
Now, the imperial court has less than 10% of the official land, and in terms of currency, the imperial court cannot compete with the people. The imperial court only has the salt administration, which it fully controls, and must manage the salt administration well. "
Since salt notes are directly linked to salt, Zhang Fei knows very well that the imperial court will certainly continue to issue salt notes. As long as it is reasonable, it can promote commercial development, and securities are also a kind of currency.
But if the salt administration is not managed well and smuggled salt becomes rampant, this trick will no longer work.
"I know this too."
Zhao Xu looked dignified, and said quite seriously: "In fact, the salt administration is more related to the situation in the northwest. A large part of the military expenditure of the northwest border states comes from the salt administration of Jiezhou. In addition, there is also the salt and tea trade with Western Xia. Whenever there is a problem with the salt administration, unrest will inevitably occur in the northwest border. I often feel a headache because of this."
Why was the salt production so important? It was not because Jiezhou was the only place producing salt in the Northern Song Dynasty, nor was the output of salt very high. Rather, it was because the salt production was directly related to the finances of the border states and was closely related to the trade with Western Xia.
Almost every time Western Xia fought with the Northern Song Dynasty, it was because of salt, while the conflict with the Liao Kingdom was because of territory.
Because the blue and white salt of Western Xia was good and cheap, it only cost four cents per pound to sell it to the border. It was the main source of fiscal revenue for Western Xia. After all, there was not much arable land in Western Xia, it was all Gobi Desert. As long as the Song Dynasty banned salt trade with Western Xia, there would definitely be a war.
It can be seen that the Song Dynasty actually took the initiative towards Western Xia. If the emperor did not want to fight, he would relax a little, and Western Xia would also be more relaxed, but if he wanted to fight, he would tighten up immediately.
Zhao Xu had always regarded Xixia as a thorn in his throat, and he would not feel relieved until he got rid of it. He was determined to fight against it, so since he ascended the throne, he had been slowly tightening the salt and tea trade with Xixia. Therefore, the salt for the people in the border states had to be completely provided by Jie Salt. If there was no Jie Salt, they could only import it from Xixia.
The reason for the few failures was that the people in the border states rebelled. The imperial court cut off the cheap salt from Western Xia and stopped providing cheap salt. The people asked, what was the point of fighting against Western Xia?
It was Fan Xiang and Xue Xiang who solved this problem for them.
If there is a problem in Jiezhou, it will affect both the border and the inland.
Zhao Xu looked at Zhang Fei again and said, "That's why I also hoped to go to the northwest to build up the public security, procuratorial and judicial system."
The success of the exemption tax made him look at the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems in a different light. He also hoped that they could help him govern the Northwest and prepare for war.
Zhang Fei said: "But there are border troops in the northwest, and many of them are passed down from generation to generation. They have their own military laws. How should the public security, procuratorate and courts get along with them?"
Zhao Xu didn't know how to get along with him, but he could see that Zhang Fei was a little shaken, so he said, "Whatever you think, I will do my best to support you."
He said try your best, not all your strength.
It can be seen that he is also somewhat afraid.
Zhang Fei suddenly asked, "What do you think those generals are most afraid of?"
Zhao Xu was silent for a moment, then smiled and said, "I think he is most afraid of being impeached by the censor."
Zhang Fei asked again: "Why?"
Zhao Xu just smiled and looked at him without saying a word.
The reason why military generals were afraid of impeachment by the censors was because the emperors of the Song Dynasty were very wary of them, and generally the emperor would take action at the slightest sign of trouble.
But you can't say this!
Zhang Fei hurriedly explained: "The reason I asked this is because I believe that under this system, many military generals were framed by civil officials, which ultimately caused the Song Dynasty to lose good generals."
Zhao Xu hesitated for a long time, and said tactfully: "Our dynasty has always used civil officials to control military officials, and most of the civil officials impeached military officials because they disobeyed orders, so..."
He didn't finish his words, but the fact that he said this to Zhang Fei showed that he trusted Zhang Fei very much.
How do civil officials suppress military generals? It is because of this. Civil officials fabricate charges and frame military generals. In fact, the core essence is the dispute between civil officials and military generals. If the military generals do not obey orders, civil officials will immediately fabricate charges and impeach them.
When the emperor judged whether it was a false accusation, he often did not only consider the evidence, but also the rule. The system was to control the military with the civil. If you don't listen to him, you may also not listen to me. Then how can I dare to use you? There can be no slackness in this regard.
The so-called "false accusation" may not be a false accusation in the eyes of the emperor.
After all, the emperor's perspective is different from everyone else's, as he stands at the highest position.
Of course, the emperors of the Song Dynasty rarely killed generals. Most of the time, they would just give them a sinecure and let them stay at home.
Zhang Fei said: "But this often causes a victory that is within easy reach to slip away from your hands, and also makes the generals in the meeting timid."
Zhao Xu asked directly: "Do you have a way to have the best of both worlds?"
Zhang Fei said: "I was wondering if we can use this to bring in the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs?"
Zhao Xu frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"
Zhang Fei said: "If the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs want to gain a foothold in the northwest, the first thing they need to do is to suppress the military. But they can't defeat them by brute force, so they can only use both kindness and force to make them accept the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs.
If they are not afraid of impeachment by civil officials, why don't the court set up a military imperial court? "
Zhao Xu was surprised and asked: "Military Imperial Court?"
"good!"
Zhang Fei nodded. "As the name suggests, this military court is responsible for hearing all cases related to the military. Military generals are most afraid of impeachment by civilian officials. If they can receive a fair trial, I believe they will be willing to accept it."
Zhao Xu frowned and said, "But there are military laws in the army. Won't the two conflict?"
Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "As far as I know, the current military law is composed of laws and disciplines. Once the military imperial court is established, the legal part will be under the jurisdiction of the imperial court. For example, desertion and leaking secrets, such crimes, whether generals or soldiers, must be handed over to the imperial court for trial, and the government can also use the imperial court to check and control the army.
In this way, not only can the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs gain a foothold in the northwest, but it can also increase the combat effectiveness of our army."
(End of this chapter)
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