It is often said that Wang Anshi's reforms were based on advanced ideas, but their failure was mainly due to the conservatives led by Sima Guang.
But in fact, this is not the case. Even without Sima Guang and the conservatives, Wang Anshi's reforms would still have ended in failure.
His famous "three deficiencies" were essentially aimed at reducing the constraints on the emperor and helping him achieve a high degree of centralization.
In ancient times, there were few reasons to limit the emperor's power.
The law of our ancestors.
world.
People say.
Ultimately, it’s just these three.
If the emperor can ignore these three things, then no one can limit the emperor's power.
This is the Legalist thought.
...
...
But Wang Anshi's philosophy is financial management, that is, using the power of the Legalists to manage finances, there is only one result, which is to make the people poor and the country rich.
Wang Anshi used the wrong motivation to promote correct ideas, and the results he obtained were bound to be wrong.
In the final analysis, concepts and policies are just a kind of packaging; the inner core is the driving force, and the driving force determines the direction.
The same policy may produce completely different results in different countries.
As long as he understood this principle, Zhang Fei's choice became very simple, that is, to support Wang Anshi's reform and then find a way to replace this wrong power system.
That is to say, to replace the laws of Legalism with the laws of the legal system.
This is what Zhang Fei has always been pursuing.
And now the results are beginning to show.
During these years, Wang Anshi was forced to adjust his strategy because he had not completed the Legalist technique and was therefore restricted by the laws of the legal system.
From the imperial court to the local level, he no longer has the final say.
This is of course because the emperor, Zhao Xu, adopted Zhang Fei's idea of "hidden dragons should not be used". Wang Anshi cannot be the only one at the table. Zhang Fei and Sima Guang must also sit at it.
Wang Anshi also struggled secretly, and Jingdong East Road was the battlefield where Wang Anshi fought. At that time, he still wanted to bring the reform back to the track of the Legalists, but the result was a complete failure.
But there is one good thing about the legal system: it only limits Wang Anshi's power, but does not limit Wang Anshi's ideas and policies.
Wang Anshi's new policies were still being promoted nationwide and did not stop because of this. However, he could not rely entirely on power to sweep away everything. This forced Wang Anshi to focus on his own ideas rather than power.
Fortunately, Wang Anshi really had great confidence in his own ideas and was ambitious. He was not like Cai Jing, a pure power minister who only carried out reforms to gain power and defeat political opponents. His real goal was power, and national prosperity was secondary.
Wang Anshi was also making adjustments, which made the main reformists such as Lu Huiqing and Deng Wan very uncomfortable.
"Lü Xiaokan, why don't you persuade Mr. Wang that building a large-scale water conservancy project in Hebei now is extremely risky and will only lead to more losses than gains!"
Deng Wan was extremely anxious.
"Why didn't I persuade you?"
Lu Huiqing sighed bitterly, "But my teacher believes that Hebei's fault is not due to policy mistakes, but because Cheng Fang was too radical, which gave people a handle. But if we don't continue to develop water conservancy, Hebei will decline, leading to a crisis in the northern border. In order to resist Liao, Hebei's finances must be restored."
Deng Wan said: "But the benefits of water conservancy construction are slow, while the loss of manpower is very fast. Now the manpower of Hebei people has been greatly depleted, how can they withstand such an impact?"
Lu Huiqing said: "This time, Master will use the exemption law to promote water conservancy projects and will not impose corvée labor and waste people's strength."
Deng Wan said: "How is this possible? The government has only allocated 300,000 strings of cash."
Lu Huiqing just shook his head helplessly.
In fact, Wang Anshi also explained it to Lu Huiqing, of course, not the same way Zhang Fei did. Wang Anshi still didn't see it as clearly as Zhang Fei, but Lu Huiqing still didn't understand. Like Deng Wan, he always felt that the risks were too high.
Deng Wan added, "Lü Xiaokan, the vice chancellor will be rotated this year, and the Privy Councilor can't help at all. I think Prime Minister Wang should promote Lü Xiaokan to increase our influence in the Council."
Lu Huiqing said: "It depends on what my mentor thinks."
Deng Wan said, "If Lu Xiaokan is willing, we will go and tell Lord Wang."
Even Wang Anshi's confidant Lu Huiqing did not understand the reason behind this, and the conservatives were even more confused.
Han Qi was so anxious that he started running to the Government Affairs Hall.
"What on earth is Wang Jiefu planning?"
Han Qi said: "The people of Hebei are exhausted and cannot stand the turmoil."
He had been in Hebei for so many years, and he really knew that the people of Hebei had a very difficult life, with natural and man-made disasters all the time. No matter how things continued, the rich Hebei would sooner or later decline. Although he did not say it, he actually hoped that the court would sympathize with the people, recuperate, and use his last remaining strength to give the people of Hebei a stable environment.
Although Han Qi was wealthy, had many wives and concubines and lived a luxurious life, he was always respected by the people no matter where he served as an official. He really cared about the people everywhere. The initial reform of the yamen service was initiated by him.
After that hearing, everyone thought that things would develop in a good direction, but who knew that Wang Anshi would become even worse.
Sima Guang was also very angry and said: "Mr. Han, don't you know Wang Jiefu? He has a very stubborn temper. He will definitely not accept it and want to prove that he is right. Moreover, he will definitely go to greater lengths to get back the money he spent."
After hearing this, Han Qi became even more anxious: "Then what are you all doing here? Why don't you stop him?"
Fu Bi glanced at him and said, "Didn't you read the court bulletin? The two government regulations department issued a relief law. He wants to spend money to hire people. How can we stop this?"
Han Qi asked back: "Do you believe it?"
In fact, he was very much in favor of the idea of work-for-relief, but that was only small-scale relief. The emperor might not be willing to spend the money on such a large scale. There would be only two results: either the finances would be ruined or the people would be hurt.
If you don't have the skills, don't take on the job.
The fiscal deficit continues every year, yet they are still carrying out such a large-scale relief. Isn't this crazy?
Wen Yanbo sighed, "Whether you believe it or not, it is difficult for us to oppose it, but we are also accelerating the implementation of public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, which can stop the abuse of civilian power."
At this time, Lu Gong walked in and said, "You may not know yet, but the emperor has just ordered that the Ministry of Agriculture will allocate another 200,000 strings of cash to the Ministry of Grain and Oil in Hebei to implement the farmland irrigation law."
"What?"
Everyone was shocked.
Sima Guang hurriedly asked, "Was it the emperor's order or Wang Jiefu's?"
Lu Gong said: "It was the emperor who issued the order himself."
Wen Yanbo was incredulous and asked, "Could it be that the imperial court really intends to use work-for-relief to help the people of Hebei?"
Han Qi asked: "Can Sinong Temple allocate so much money?"
Lu Gong said: "The exemption tax has made the Ministry of Agriculture earn a lot of money, and the two hundred thousand strings of cash can still be paid."
Everyone felt dizzy.
It’s hard to scold.
If you really want to use work as relief, they will actually agree with it.
But I always feel that this is incredible, there must be something fishy going on.
No one has ever done this before.
At a time when people’s strength was declining, large-scale projects continued.
This time Sima Guang didn't think that Wang Anshi was being jealous, because he knew Zhao Xu and Wang Anshi too well, and they would definitely be reluctant to part with the money.
But why is this happening?
Even though they were extremely intelligent, they did not expect that Zhang Fei was the driving force behind the scenes. After all, Zhang Fei rarely interfered in administrative matters.
On the surface, Zhang Fei did the same. At this moment, he was in Baifan Building.
No!
To be precise, it is a charity foundation located in Baifan Building.
A group of wealthy businessmen stood in front of the gate of the charity foundation, with their heads held high, mouths open, swallowing their saliva, and many of them even had tears in their eyes.
Following their flickering gaze, a brand new plaque was rising slowly.
The nobleman Lan Yuanzhen was jumping up and down, directing two imperial guards to hang the plaque on the door.
There are four big characters written on the plaque: The highest good is like water.
At first glance, it seems nothing special, but the problem is that there is a seal with the word "御" engraved on it on the side.
It turned out that this was a plaque bestowed by the emperor on the charity foundation, and the reason was to thank the charity foundation for its donation to the Armory, which allowed the Armory to develop a firearm suitable for the royal police.
And Zhao Xu had already ordered that such firearms be equipped to the royal police in Jingdong East Road.
After hanging it up, Lan Yuanzhen looked left and right, and saw that it was very flat, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhang Fei came forward quietly and asked, "Mr. Zhong, is this the emperor's calligraphy?"
Lan Yuanzhen said: "Of course not, this is the calligraphy that Prime Minister Cai Xiang presented to the late emperor."
Calligrapher Cai Xiang? But there are too many calligraphers nowadays, which is boring. Zhang Fei muttered to himself and asked, "Why doesn't the emperor write one for us personally?"
Lan Yuanzhen opened his eyes and said, "You are still not satisfied with this. Prosecutor Zhang, you are the only one I have seen who has been awarded two plaques by the government. You should be content."
Last time, Zhao Xu gave Zhang Fei a plaque with the words "Imperial Litigation", which is still hanging in the Bian Jing Law Firm.
Zhang Fei said: "If it is an official calligraphy, wouldn't it be more noble?"
When wealthy businessmen such as Chen Maoqian and Fan Yong heard Zhang Fei bargaining, they couldn't help but break out in cold sweats and silently moved to the other side, trying to keep a distance from this guy.
In their view, as long as the word "御" is there, it is already a big deal. It is not so important whether it was written by the emperor or not.
Lan Yuanzhen glanced at them and whispered, "Are you really confused, or are you pretending to be confused?"
Zhang Fei asked curiously, "Is it possible that the official's handwriting cannot be exposed?"
".!"
Lan Yuanzhen really wanted to beat him to death. After hesitating for a while, he said, "If I hadn't told you this, we would be really worried that you would get into trouble in the future."
After that, he pulled Zhang Fei aside and said, "This plaque is hung in front of the door."
Zhang Fei said: "Of course the plaque is hung in front of the door."
"Why don't you understand?"
Lan Yuanzhen was so anxious that he stamped his feet. "There are so many people coming and going here. If I hang the official's calligraphy there, it might be laughed at."
Zhang Fei was even more surprised and asked: "Why?"
"You!" Lan Yuanzhen said, "Because there are many great calligraphers in the court, don't you understand this?"
Zhang Fei asked: "Do they dare to laugh at the government?"
Lan Yuanzhen said: "I dare not talk about other things, but if you talk about poetry, essays and calligraphy, they will definitely laugh. The official's handwriting is actually very good, but it is not as good as Wen Xianggong and Sima Xueshi."
Zhang Fei suddenly realized that Zhao Xu did not use his own calligraphy because he was afraid of being laughed at. This was indeed possible, because his beloved Li Qingzhao was always complaining about everything.
As long as you dare to write, there will definitely be someone who dares to laugh at you.
Zhao Xu's calligraphy is certainly very good, but there are too many perverts in those days. Among the emperors, perhaps only Huizong and his son Zhao Gou's calligraphy can be compared with those perverts.
After discussing this topic, Fan Yong quickly took people to invite Lan Yuanzhen and others into the building to enjoy the delicious food of Baifan Building. This hard-earned money cannot be missed!
Zhang Fei went to the foundation's conference room with a group of wealthy businessmen.
"What kind of weapons did the Armory produce? Why did the royal family reward us with a plaque?"
"It is said to be a firearm."
"Wow, this Military Equipment Bureau has been silent for three years, but now it has made a big splash!"
"Needless to say, the Military Equipment Bureau was established on the advice of Lord Wang, so it can be considered a new policy, so it is naturally a great thing!"
"I'm afraid all the skilled craftsmen in the world are in this Military Equipment Bureau!"
"etc!"
Zhang Fei couldn't stand listening any longer. "My dear officials, you didn't act like this before. You even asked us to stop donating to the Military Equipment Bureau? You guys change your attitude faster than turning the pages of a book!"
".!"
The meeting room suddenly became quiet.
I almost forgot this guy existed.
"Let's talk about it."
"Yes! It's not that I don't want to, I'm just anxious and hope to see some results. There's nothing wrong with that."
A group of businessmen hurriedly made excuses to justify their previous remarks.
"If that's the case, then there's nothing wrong with that. It's reasonable to put some pressure on the Military Equipment Supervisor."
After that, Zhang Fei changed the subject and said, "I just want to remind you that we are not only donating to the Arms Administration, but also to the police station. This is of great help to us traders. Our business needs protection."
Chen Maoqian nodded repeatedly and said, "Sanlang is right, but now we have opened shops in the east and west, and we have too many places to spend money. We can't donate lavishly like before."
Zhang Fei said: "So we have to find a way to make more money quickly."
Chen Maoqian was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, "Sanlang, are you planning to open a shop in Hebei again?"
Zhang Fei said: "This is no longer a question of whether we want to or not. We are already a close partner with the Ministry of Rites, and this is also the strategy of our charity foundation."
Chen Maoqian said: "It's not that we don't want to go now, but we are still buying up the debts of Jingdong East Road. Do we have money to open a store in Hebei?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "I believe this plaque can bring us more donations."
Speaking of this plaque, everyone laughed happily again.
In fact, they are already accustomed to cooperating with the government, but it is true that the charity foundation has spent too much money recently, and it is completely dependent on the Football League, a money-making tool, to maintain daily expenses.
At this time, Fan Yong hurried to the meeting room and saw everyone laughing so happily, "What are you talking about? You are so happy."
Chen Maoqian glanced at Fan Yong and started to feel sour again, "Brother Fan, I now understand why your Baifan Building was so generous and asked to open the charity foundation in Baifan Building. If this plaque is hung here, doesn't it mean that it is also hung in your Baifan Building?"
The others nodded and said, "We all paid for it, so why should you be the only one to have this plaque?"
Fan Yong was overjoyed in his heart, but he said angrily: "What are you talking about? When we chose the site, you kept silent. Now that you see the government has given you a plaque, you are here to make irresponsible remarks. Do you have the nerve to do that?"
"alright!"
Zhang Fei said, "If we want to argue, let's go to the wine table. No matter what happens today, we must give Lao Fan a good meal."
This suggestion was immediately unanimously agreed upon by everyone.
Fan Yong said, "Wait a minute. The money for entertaining the nobleman is also paid by my Baifan Building!"
Chen Maoqian said: "Let's choose another place for the charity foundation. This time I will find a place for everyone for free."
“Okay, okay, okay!”
Fan Yong snorted, "Let me see how much you can eat."
We must drink hard today and celebrate.
But just as he left the house, the young prosecutor Zhou Zheng suddenly came over and said, "Prosecutor Zhang, Chief Prosecutor Xu asked you to return to the procuratorate after you finish your work here."
Zhang Fei couldn't help but frown slightly. He immediately said goodbye to Chen Maoqian and the others, and then went back to the procuratorate with Zhou Zheng.
On the way back, he asked Zhou Zheng what had happened, but Zhou Zheng had no idea.
This made Zhang Fei even more uneasy.
When they arrived at the yard, it was already noon, but Xu Zun, Qi Ji and Wang Gong were all discussing something in the house. Zhang Fei suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Chief Prosecutor Xu, Inspector Qi, what happened?" Zhang Fei asked a little nervously.
Xu Zun looked directly at Qi Ji.
Qi Ji immediately said, "Someone just came from the police station. It's a missing person case."
Zhang Fei hurriedly asked: "Who is missing?"
He must be an important person, otherwise he would not be called back. After all, there are so many missing persons these days.
Qi Ji said: "He is a soldier in the imperial guard's chariot."
".?"
Zhang Fei immediately had a question mark in his mind. Although human lives are at stake and it is not a trivial matter, you are not dead people. You are waiting for me to make the decision on this matter. Do you think I am too tired to death?
Qi Ji continued to explain: "The person who reported the case was the soldier's younger brother. He went to the police station a few days ago to report that his brother was arrested by the Imperial City Division."
"Imperial City Division?"
Zhang Fei frowned slightly.
Qi Ji nodded and said, "After hearing the news, the police station did not dare to neglect it, but they also did not dare to make it public, fearing that it would cause misunderstandings. As you know, the world has been unstable recently, so they sent people to investigate secretly. As a result, a witness saw that the soldier was taken away by the people from the Imperial City Bureau. It might be because of a sentence."
Zhang Fei asked, "What?"
Qi Ji said: "It is said that on the night of the incident, the soldier was drinking with his good friend in a tavern. When he was drunk, he talked about the lawsuit a while ago. His words may have offended the emperor. Anyway, he said that corvée should not be imposed in Hebei, which killed many civilians and soldiers."
Zhang Fei frowned when he heard this.
Wang Gong said: "In fact, the Imperial City Department has always been closely monitoring the three yamen, which is not surprising. But the question now is, should our public security, procuratorate and court intervene?
To be honest, our public security, procuratorial and judicial organs have been established for such a long time, but we have never dealt with the Imperial City Bureau, and we don’t know whether such matters are under our jurisdiction. "
In fact, it has happened many times, but you just don't know it. Zhang Fei asked: "Do you know how the Imperial City Bureau used to operate in such matters?"
Xu Zun suddenly explained, "After the decree of Emperor Zhenzong, ordinary police officers did not have the right to interrogate. It was not until the appearance of the Royal Police that they regained the right to interrogate. However, the Imperial City Bureau is very special. They have the right to interrogate, but not the right to judge. Generally, after they interrogate, they hand over to Kaifeng Prefecture or Dali Temple for judgment."
Qi Ji added: "Unless it involves important officials of the court or relatives of the emperor, otherwise, the Kaifeng Prefecture and the Dali Temple will generally approve the cases submitted by the Imperial City Bureau. There are even rumors that the Imperial City Bureau has set up private prisons."
In many TV shows, the Imperial City Bureau is portrayed as the same as the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but in fact the two are not on the same dimension at all. Whether in terms of number of people or power, they are not the same and cannot be compared.
Although they all have the attributes of spies, the Imperial City Bureau has a very low presence, while the Embroidered Uniform Guard has real judicial power and is an extremely powerful existence. This is extremely rare even in feudal dynasties. Feudal society also has a complete judicial system, but if the spy agency has the power to judge, the country's entire judicial system will inevitably suffer irreversible damage.
Therefore, the Ming Dynasty could only fight poison with poison and set up the East Factory and the West Factory to check and balance the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Zhang Fei asked: "How many people know about this case now?"
Qi Ji said: "We don't know yet."
Xu Zun suddenly said: "Many ministers in the court have been very dissatisfied with some of the actions of the Imperial City Bureau. For example, Sima Xueshi and Wen Gong have repeatedly impeached the Imperial City Bureau."
These words were hinting to Zhang Fei that if he wanted to calm the matter down, he would have to be tactful. Once the matter got out, many ministers in the court might take the opportunity to cause trouble.
Zhang Fei was clear in his mind and asked, "Why are the police station looking for us now?"
Qi Ji said: "Now all the evidence points to the Imperial City Division. The police station doesn't know if they can handle this kind of thing. Secondly, they hope to get instructions from the Imperial Court, or the Procuratorate to investigate with them."
The more Zhang Fei listened, the more headache he had. Was this opening Pandora's box? One thing after another, he thought for a long time, "Let's just follow the rules. Since someone has reported the case and the Imperial City Bureau has not issued a notice, we must first confirm whether the person is in the Imperial City Bureau.
If the person is really in the Imperial City Bureau, then we will see whether to intervene in the case. After all, the Imperial City Bureau has the power to interrogate. "
Qi Ji asked: "Then how do we get back to the police station?"
Zhang Fei thought for a while, "The police station shouldn't be so cowardly. Let them send someone smarter to ask first."
Qi Ji nodded, "Then I will send someone to notify the police station immediately."
After Qi Ji and Wang Gong left, Xu Zun showed a worried look and said, "If this gets out, someone will definitely use it to cause trouble again."
Zhang Fei glanced outside and said, "I want to hide it, but there are many traitors in the police station. We can't be sure that the police station hasn't leaked the news. If it has been leaked, if we continue to hide it, we will be caught by others."
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