Serving the king is like serving a tiger!
This sentence is absolutely true, and the reason is that the emperor possesses supreme power, but he is also an ordinary person, not an emotionless god. It is impossible for him to control his emotions all the time. As long as his emotions fluctuate slightly, he may lose his life.
Even Li Shimin, in his early and middle periods, the most enlightened period, accidentally killed loyal ministers. Although he immediately realized his mistake later, the dead cannot be brought back to life.
Those who believe in the emperor basically have no good ending.
Zhang Fei adopted a frank strategy when dealing with Zhao Xu. I will tell you all the interests and consequences. You can choose for yourself.
Even though Zhao Xu agreed to sacrifice some power, Zhang Fei did not dare to be arrogant and remained very cautious. He asked the emperor what he thought first, because the emperor could go back on his word and you didn't know what he was thinking.
Of course, this also reflects from the side the preciousness of the rule of law.
After coming out of the palace, Zhang Fei did not return to the procuratorate, but went straight home, because he knew that Xu Zun must be waiting for him at home.
Sure enough, when he returned home, Xu Zun was sitting in the yard, drinking tea with a frown on his face.
"What do the officials say?"
...
...
When he saw Zhang Fei, Xu Zun asked.
Zhang Fei said: "The government needs to find out the truth first, but our procuratorate must also send people to investigate to avoid giving others a reason to criticize us in the future."
Xu Zun nodded and asked, "What do you think of this case?"
Zhang Fei said: "One of the biggest doubts is why the sailors fled en masse. If these sailors were deserters, why did they file a complaint? For such a big matter, shouldn't Cheng Fang appeal directly to the court? It can be seen that there must be something unknown here.
I guess it must be because Cheng Fang’s improper enforcement of the law caused the sailors to flee, so he didn’t dare to speak out. The other party’s secret letter seemed to be suing Cheng Yi, but in fact it was suing Cheng Fang.
They just said that the other party wanted our procuratorate to do this, so as to sow discord between the public security, procuratorate and courts and the government.”
Xu Zun nodded and said, "You think the same as I do. In fact, the other party is not trying to hide it. He knows that we will soon find out the trick, but it will still give us a headache. Because once the eunuchs are involved, this matter will be very tricky."
Zhang Fei asked, "Hasn't the eunuchs ever been punished before?"
"Of course there have been punishments. But they were almost always issued by the government itself."
As he spoke, Xu Zun suddenly looked around and said to Zhang Fei, "One thing you have to remember is that eunuchs can be killed, but it must be done by the emperor himself.
Because eunuchs represent the imperial power, you can only accuse them, but you cannot decide their life or death. Therefore, judging eunuchs according to the law is also a taboo!"
Zhang Fei nodded.
Xu Zun asked again: "If the government wants to protect Cheng Fang, what will you do?"
"I can.!"
Zhang Fei glanced towards the backyard and saw that Xu Zhiqian was not eavesdropping, so he said, "Of course I will stand on the side of the emperor."
Xu Zun was stunned and looked at Zhang Fei in surprise.
Zhang Fei chuckled and said, "Father-in-law, I am not as principled as Sima Xueshi and the others. If the emperor doesn't agree, there is nothing we can do. Why should we put ourselves in danger?"
When it comes to imperial power, he does his best and leaves the rest to fate. If the emperor does not agree, he will never force it.
Xu Zunfu chuckled and said, "This is surprising to me, but I am relieved that you think so."
Being upright and incorruptible depends on the situation. In feudal society, if you go directly to the emperor, wouldn't that be crazy?
Bao Zheng only dared to target the royal family and did not dare to target the emperor directly.
Xu Zun asked again: "So what are you going to do next?"
Zhang Fei said: "Just investigate normally, don't take it too seriously. Since the secret complaint is about Cheng Yi, then we will investigate Cheng Yi. It would be best if we can delay it for some time so that the emperor can think it over first. After the emperor has thought it over, we can decide what to do. This way, no one will regret it."
Xu Zun nodded and said, "I'll leave this case to you."
He was a little worried at first, but when he saw that Zhang Fei was so unprincipled, he felt relieved.
You can't go against the imperial power.
Just at this moment, Niu Beiqing's rough voice suddenly came from outside the door, "En Xianggong, Sima Xianggong is here."
The father-in-law and the son-in-law were both stunned.
Xu Zun asked, "Is he here for this matter?"
"I have no idea."
Zhang Fei shook his head. "If not, should we tell him?"
Xu Zun said: "Let's not talk about it for now. I am the one who makes the decision about this procuratorate. Whether you tell it or not, he won't blame you."
Zhang Fei nodded.
Sima Guang had already arrived at the courtyard when he spoke. "Your father-in-law and son-in-law are both here."
Seeing that his tone was relaxed, it didn't seem like he came here for this matter.
The three of them greeted each other, and Xu Zun invited Sima Guang to sit down.
Sima Guang did not beat around the bush and came straight to the point: "Zhang San, was it you who facilitated the cooperation between the Commissioner of Taxation and your firm?"
Sima Guang was also quite clear about the relationship between the Commissioner of Taxation and Zhang Fei.
So that's why he came here. Zhang Fei breathed a sigh of relief and replied, "The tax department found me and I gave this suggestion."
Sima Guang frowned and said, "The Taxation Department is a government office, and taxation is a top priority for the country. How can you suggest that the Taxation Department cooperate with the law firm? Where do you want to put the three departments?"
Xu Zunzhi nodded: "Who said it wasn't true? I was just teaching him a lesson."
Zhang Fei said awkwardly: "We can only blame the three divisions for not doing our best, who else can we blame for that?"
"???"
Sima Guang opened his eyes wide and asked, "Are the three officials not doing their best?"
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "According to the tax bureau, the accounts provided to them by the three bureaus in recent years have never been completely correct. There are many mistakes and omissions. The most important thing is that they are too slow. The same account is submitted to the lawyer for calculation and submitted to the three bureaus one month apart."
"A month?"
Sima Guang opened his mouth.
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "It would take the three courts a month to calculate the accounts that the law firm can complete in one day."
"How is this possible?"
Sima Guang closed his mouth and said, "Everyone's calculation is the same, why is there a difference of one month?"
Zhang Fei explained: "The algorithms are also different, but the key is that the manpower is far different."
Sima Guang asked, "How many accounting offices do you have as a lawyer?"
Zhang Fei said: "There are more than 1,500 account offices in the capital at present."
"How much more?"
"More than one thousand five hundred." Zhang Fei replied.
Sima Guang was shocked and asked, "You have so many accountants?"
Zhang Fei said: "Because the accounting business of the firm is so extensive, it has involved hundreds of thousands of people. At the same time, it also helps Baifan Building, Charity Foundation and other shops to calculate taxes, so we need so many account offices."
Sima Guang suddenly became depressed. He had never seen an accounting office of this size.
This really can't compare.
You are so cruel.
The key is that the tax calculation business has too many bugs. If it can make money, it can certainly afford to employ so many people.
Zhang Fei added: "This is actually not the key point, because the procedures of the three departments are complicated. Once the tax is reported, it will take more than ten days before the calculation begins. Then it has to go through the procedures of several government offices. The law firm does not have so many complicated procedures."
Sima Guang said: "How come I have never heard that the three departments are too slow in calculating taxes before?"
Zhang Fei said: "That was only in the past. The current tax system requires accounts to be prepared as soon as possible and without error, because after the tax bureau collects taxes, it will immediately prosecute tax evaders, and for this step, accurate accounts are required, otherwise, you may lose the case.
At the same time, the tax bureau also considered that if the tax bureau were to be handed over to the three tax bureaus for calculation, if there were any mistakes, the tax bureau would still be responsible. The three tax bureaus would not care, but if it was the accounting firm, the accounting firm would have to bear part of the responsibility and compensate the tax bureau. "
Sima Guang then nodded to show his understanding.
Normally, the three courts would make calculations, a little less, a little more, and it would take a little longer. When the three courts finally issued the accounts, no one would care even if there was a difference of two or three months. But now it is different. We have to take these accounts to sue. If we cannot be accurate in court, we may lose the case. If it takes too long, there may be problems.
Simply put, the three departments cannot keep up with the pace of the Taxation Department and the public security, procuratorate and courts.
It can also be seen that the emergence of public security, procuratorial and judicial organs is not only changing the judicial system, but also making all industries more standardized and professional.
Not only the accounting offices of the Commissioner of Taxation are increasing, but also the accounting offices of Baifanlou and Majiajiekupu are increasing. Only the accounting offices of government offices are decreasing.
People go to high places and water flows to low places. Many government officials were poached by businessmen.
Xu Zun asked, "Junshi, are many people in the court discussing this matter now?"
Sima Guang nodded and said, "But no one would have thought that the three courts would be worse than a law firm in terms of accounting. Alas."
Xu Zun asked again: "What should we do then?"
Sima Guang said: "I will go and find out whether the situation at the Sansi is really that bad. If so, there is nothing we can do."
Then he asked Zhang Fei: "But if the national accounts are handed over to private individuals to calculate, will the secrets be leaked?"
Zhang Fei said: "First, there is a confidentiality agreement. Second, taxation is a public account. It is not easy to falsify it if it is made public."
Sima Guang nodded.
Xu Zun suddenly asked, "By the way, Junshi, have you told the emperor about the reform of the judicial office?"
Sima Guang said: "I have already written a memorial, but there has been no response yet. This matter involves many government offices and cannot be rushed. Besides, we are in the capital and will not undermine the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems."
Xu Zun nodded and said, "That's true."
After seeing Sima Guang off, Zhang Fei said, "It seems that Scholar Sima is unaware of the Damingfu case."
Xu Zun said: "This is not something we found out, but someone informed us. They can make this public at any time, so you have to be prepared."
"I will."
Zhang Fei said: "But we can also use the fact that the tax commissioner is cooperating with the law firm to cover up this matter first."
Xu Zun nodded.
Zhang Fei simply arranged for Qi Ji to take a few prosecutors to secretly go to Daming Prefecture to investigate, and also told them not to be anxious, to investigate slowly and thoroughly.
However, no one in the court was discussing this matter for the time being. Everyone was discussing the cooperation between the Commissioner of Taxation and the law firm.
This is simply incredible.
They even questioned whether the Tax Commissioner had the authority to make the decision?
Because they only found out about this after the collaboration.
The Commissioner of Taxation also gave his own explanation, that is, the Commissioner's own accounting office is seriously insufficient and currently can only calculate the exemption tax but cannot calculate all taxes, and it is too late to expand recruitment now.
At the same time, the efficiency of the Sansi Gouyuan is too slow, and there are often mistakes in the accounts, which is simply unable to meet the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems. The only option is to find a law firm to cooperate with.
The key point is that the Taxation Bureau is under the Ministry of Revenue, which has long been sidelined by the Three Departments. Although the final tax money must be paid to the Three Departments, the Three Departments have no authority to supervise the Taxation Bureau.
Sima Guang also went to investigate, and the result was just as Zhang Fei said, the efficiency was shockingly low, and it was simply not up to the standards of the Tax Commissioner's system.
Not only that, this matter has also sparked heated discussions among the public.
Another article appeared in the newspapers explaining the reason, and everyone then realized that the government was even worse than a workshop.
Then Zhang Fei took out Wang Anshi's articles, one on the left and one on the right. None of them mentioned the career law, but they all hinted at the employment difficulties of scholars and the hardships of taking exams. He also took Liu Qing as an example and asked whether these knowledge could help scholars and candidates solve their livelihood difficulties.
This is indeed the case. The accounting office's wages have now increased by one or two times compared to before.
There was a lot of discussion among the people and the court, which of course "alarmed" Emperor Zhao Xu.
Chuigong Hall.
Li He took the lead and told Zhao Xu the reasons for cooperating with the Tax Commissioner.
After hearing this, Zhao Xu was incredulous and asked, "Is this true?"
The ministers were silent.
Hinting to the Emperor, this is true.
Deng Wan stepped forward and said, "This is actually all the fault of the Bian Jing Law Firm. It is said that their firm paid a high price to invite many clerks from government offices to the firm."
Sima Guang said: "People go to higher places, and water flows to lower places. There is nothing that can be done about it."
Lu Huiqing immediately retorted: "The court is now burdened with so much pressure, how can we afford to increase the salaries of the clerks? In my opinion, they are sincere. If this continues, the national finances will have to rely on these businessmen in the future. What can we do?"
Sima Guang also felt that this was indeed inappropriate.
Zhao Xu was worried: "What can we do? Merchants now pay more than the court, but the court is already burdened with redundant officials and it is difficult to increase salaries."
Pei Wen immediately said, "Your Majesty, the owner of the firm is Prosecutor Zhang. As an official of the imperial court, he actually went against the imperial court. Such a disloyal minister should be punished by the imperial court."
Xu Zun immediately said, "What do you mean by disloyalty? Aren't there many ministers in the court who do business? But have they ever paid taxes for it? If they had paid enough taxes, the court would have money to increase the wages of those clerks.
The office paid at least several thousand guan in taxes every year, and had never done anything illegal. The court had no regulations that prohibited hiring people at high prices, and those clerks all went there on their own.”
When Pei Wen saw Xu Zuntou bringing up this matter, he didn't dare to argue with him. He thought that the other person was fighting for his son-in-law and was willing to risk his life, so there was no need for him to fight with him.
Wang Anshi suddenly stood up and said, "Actually, this matter is not difficult to resolve."
Zhao Xu hurriedly asked, "What good plan does Wang Xueshi have?"
Wang Anshi said: "We can let those newly admitted Jinshi do these things. In this way, we can meet the needs of the court without adding redundant officials.
For example, the Academy of Mathematics currently has a group of outstanding students, many of whom have passed the imperial examinations, and some have been admitted through imperial favor. They can be arranged to help the Commissioner of Taxation.
After a few more batches of students graduate, the tax commissioner won’t need to rely on the law firm anymore.”
It has been exactly three years since the School of Mathematics opened, and the first batch of students has graduated.
Many ministers' eyes lit up, thinking this was a good idea that could infiltrate the Tax Commissioner, and they immediately stood up to express their support.
Zhao Xu nodded slightly and said, "This method is very wonderful."
He doesn't care about infiltration because the real tax commissioner is hidden.
Wen Yanbo whispered, "Junshi, what are you still standing there for?"
Sima Guang was startled, glanced at Wen Yanbo, and suddenly realized what was happening. He immediately said, "Your Majesty, the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs in the capital are also short of manpower, and the Law School also has a group of very outstanding students who have graduated. I suggest that they be arranged to serve in the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs."
Immediately, many ministers came out to support.
These two academies symbolize economic reform and judicial reform. If students of the Academy of Mathematics can enter the court to serve in advance, the Academy of Law will suffer a devastating blow, and everyone will go to the Academy of Mathematics to study.
Wang Anshi was secretly proud that Sima Guang was helping him.
Zhao Xu nodded and said, "Alright, I also want to see if the Imperial College can train talents for the country!"
Once this news came out, it caused a huge stir.
Because the Taxation Commission and the Public Security Bureau, Procuratorate and Courts are the two most popular government agencies at the moment, and their power is increasing step by step.
Entering these two departments means power.
At present, the Imperial College is mainly for the children of imperial favor. There are also Jinshi, but they are relatively few. Because those who can pass the imperial examination will mostly be given important positions, and those children of imperial favor are very jealous, because many of them are just figureheads. Those with the same background as them can study in the Imperial College for three years and then directly enter the powerful departments.
This led to their parents desperately trying to send them to the Imperial College.
The key point is that the court is currently strongly considering cutting down on officials. Who knows what will happen tomorrow? This is the continuation of the family!
The police station was not willing to be left out either. Although the Royal Police had already completed its expansion, it wanted to get involved and announced that it was recruiting coroners, whose salary would be higher than that of ordinary Royal Police.
It is true that the police station is currently short of talented coroners.
The trial system of the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs is completely based on professional talents, which is understandable.
These breaking news came one after another, and people were talking about it a lot. It turned out that if you were good at mathematics, law or medicine, you could become an official.
At this time, Wang Anshi finally revealed his true colors.
He announced the implementation of the business law in the entire capital area and built several colleges that did not involve traditional knowledge. The main subjects were mathematics and law, as well as some miscellaneous subjects such as agriculture, geology, and medicine.
Moreover, those with excellent academic performance can enter the Imperial Academy to study.
This kind of knowledge would not be tested in the imperial examinations, but due to the reform of the Imperial College at that time, students of these two academies with excellent grades could be recommended for official positions.
This means that students from career colleges also have the opportunity to enter officialdom, but the prerequisite is that they must be admitted to the Imperial College.
Immediately, the charity foundation announced that it would donate 10,000 strings of cash to the government to build a college and a hospital. It also stated that it would donate some children from poor families every year to enroll in the college.
Wang Anshi immediately reciprocated the favor, saying that donors to the charity foundation would be given priority for admission, but tuition fees still had to be paid.
This immediately attracted the attention of the general public. In any era in China, education is the eternal focus.
Many wealthy families went to inquire about tuition fees.
If you study well, you can enter the government. If you are not so good at it, you can go to places like law firms and find a high-paying job. It is definitely worth it!
However, this made the Confucian scholars feel a sense of crisis as they watched these miscellaneous studies gaining attention from the common people.
But they couldn't say what it was.
The reason why Wang Anshi pursued these studies was that all colleges were Confucianism, and many students who failed the imperial examinations were placed there. The career law was for officials. If Confucianism was also pursued, what would happen to other colleges? I could only take a different approach.
The main purpose was to generate income, place idle officials, and reduce the burden on the court.
There is absolutely no mention of breaking the dominance of Confucianism.
But in fact, Wang Anshi wanted to allow more students with similar ideas to serve as officials in the court, so that his ideas would be passed down and the new policies would not die with him.
Office.
"Ha ha!"
Wang Anshi laughed and said, "Zhang San, your propaganda skills are really unique!"
"Where! Where!"
Zhang Fei asked again: "How many people want to sign up now?"
Wang Anshi said excitedly: "There are already thousands of people who want to sign up, and there will definitely be more in the future."
Zhang Fei said: "Then we can proceed to the second step. Take these generous rewards and persuade those idle officials to join the academy."
You should know that Qingzhou carried out the reform of the enterprise law because of debt restructuring, which resulted in the inability to pay salaries. However, the capital did not have debt restructuring, and the court did not decide to lay off officials.
The approach in the capital was the opposite: first advertise to attract students and get tuition fees, and then recruit teachers from the court.
"A generous reward?"
Wang Anshi waved his hand and said, "I don't think so. If we give less, we can recruit more people, and the burden on the court will be lighter. Then I will have people spread the word about cutting officials in the court, and those idle officials will definitely be restless and compete to come to this academy."
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "That's fine."
Wang Anshi added: "However, regarding the hospital, it has caused some concerns among private pharmacies."
Zhang Fei said: "I have heard about this as well. I think we can incorporate some of the folk secret recipes that have been tested over the years into the business hospital."
Wang Anshi hurriedly asked, "How can we include them?"
Zhang Fei said: "It's very simple. When patients come to the hospital for treatment, the hospital can directly instruct them to go to those pharmacies to buy medicine. This can also drive out some fake drugs."
Wang Anshi said: "But medicinal herbs are very profitable. I also asked for a lot of traditional prescriptions from the palace."
Zhang Fei said: "This is not a conflict. Choose the best and the most beneficial. Folk prescriptions can be used as a supplement to hospital prescriptions. If there is a conflict, it depends on whose prescription is better and whether the other party can afford it. The doctor can decide which prescription to use for the patient based on these."
"That's feasible."
Wang Anshi asked again: "Where is the Dibaoyuan?"
Zhang Fei said: "The Imperial Newspaper Office is also very simple. It can be used to announce some court policies, disasters, and wars. These are things that our private tabloids cannot publish, but the people must know about them. The sales volume is definitely very stable, but the articles should still be as popular as possible."
Wang Anshi suddenly said, "I suspect you started this tabloid specifically to make up for your shortcomings in writing."
Zhang Fei said angrily, "Master Wang, can that be called a deficiency? That's called incompetence. Because I can't even write popular articles. Almost every article I published was written by my wife. I haven't written any."
"You are quite an honest boy." Wang Anshi laughed.
Zhang Fei smiled bitterly and said, "The key is that I can't hide it!"
Wang Anshi laughed and said, "However, it is absurd that well-written articles cannot be reported."
"No."
Zhang Fei said: "The Dibaoyuan can also publish the Mingshibao for special audiences. I will withdraw from here."
Wang Anshi was stunned for a moment, "Isn't this a bit bad?"
Zhang Fei said, "I don't know how much my bookstore earns from selling books every year, so I have long since given up on publishing this celebrity newspaper."
Wang Anshi nodded and said, "Fortunately, Yan Jidao has already worked at the Dibao Institute, so our Dibao Institute can also print books."
Zhang Fei chuckled, "But the copyright is in my hands. If the Dibao Institute wants to print it, they have to pay me."
This profiteer. Wang Anshi's eyes flashed with anger, and he added: "The copyright is in your hands, but the celebrities are all in the court. It will not be so easy for you to buy the copyright in the future."
Zhang Fei remained silent and asked, "How much money can your court come up with?"
Wang Anshi was also unconvinced. He glanced at Zhang Fei and said, "Let's wait and see. If we can't beat you with our articles and books, then all of us writers will just commit suicide."
Before one wave subsides, another wave rises.
Just as everyone was focusing on business law, news came out that Sima Guang suggested integrating the emperor's judicial offices.
This immediately attracted overwhelming opposition, and some officials were so anxious that they almost broke their pens.
They are now very afraid of the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, and are eager to weaken their power. But you are still here to strengthen their power. You want us to die!
The leader of the opposition was the mastermind behind the news - Lu Huiqing.
Because only a few of them knew about this.
Wang Anshi was mainly concerned about the national financial level, while Lu Huiqing wanted to help Wang Anshi gain more power so that the new policy could be implemented.
Lu Huiqing knew that many of the reformists did not share similar ideas with Wang Anshi, but were drawn to Wang Anshi for their own interests.
This is very different from the conservative side, where they have exactly the same ideas.
If we only rely on the dispute of ideas, we will never be able to defeat the other party.
Only through the struggle for interests can we unite the people around us.
The fact turned out to be just as Lu Huiqing had expected. As a result of their opposition, many dignitaries and officials immediately gathered around the new policy.
Sima Guang also immediately counterattacked.
The two factions started fighting again.
In fact, Zhao Xu already had a plan in mind, but he did not rush to express his opinion this time. Instead, he tried to understand each official's views on the matter through their debate.
Because of this matter, he had different opinions from Wang Anshi. He hoped to carry out a comprehensive reform of government offices, but Wang Anshi believed that on this matter, the existing government offices should just perform their respective duties and there was no need to make a big fuss so as not to end up losing more than gain.
The key point is that Wang Anshi was not like Zhang Fei, who fully considered Zhao Xu's attitude and still maintained a preaching attitude.
But Zhao Xu was already in his twenties and was no longer the 19-year-old little emperor.
Zhao Xu is now also eager to try, and he wants to find ministers who share similar ideas with him.
However, he did not act on his own in this matter, but finally followed Wang Anshi's suggestion and divided a very critical office in the judicial office, namely the Ti Dian Xingyu Si, into two.
On the one hand, it integrates the authority of the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, and on the other hand, it strengthens the supervisory power of the Censorate.
It can also be regarded as appeasing both factions.
Don't fight over it, half for each of you.
However, Zhao Xu arranged for Hanlin Academician Wang Gui and Supervisory Censor Cai Que to be in charge.
By this calculation, the two factions ended up in a draw.
In the end, the Censorate was given the power to supervise the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs.
The public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are there to defend their own systems, and the Censorate is only there to supervise but cannot interfere with their systems.
But the tree wants to be still but the wind does not stop.
You want to quell party disputes, but someone doesn't let you do so.
A very explosive news came out.
It was the case of Cheng Yi, the deputy commander of the militia in Daming Prefecture, who committed treason and sheltered a fugitive.
Wang Anshi and Sima Guang were both shocked.
Cheng Fang was recommended by Wang Anshi and was responsible for the management of the Yellow River. He was also related to Wang Anshi's farmland water conservancy law.
Cheng Yi was a close friend of Sima Guang and Wen Yanbo.
If these two people met.
The two factions will inevitably fight to the bitter end and neither will give in easily.
(End of this chapter)
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