"Stop Xue Xiang?"
Zhang Fei was a little confused. He didn't really know much about this aspect, but he thought that it was no accident that Southeast had problems. It would be a miracle if there were no problems. So he said, "Master Wang, could there be any misunderstanding? The new policy must be adjusted, because in the process of implementation, it is impossible to say that there will be no mistakes at all. It is normal for someone to complain."
He put it in a more tactful way, but was actually hinting to Wang Anshi that the other party might not be targeting Xue Xiang, but there must be a real problem.
"There's no way this could be wrong."
Wang Anshi said confidently: "It is impossible for ordinary people to arrive in Xuzhou quietly from the Jiangnan West Road. There must be many people supporting them secretly, and their purpose must be to deal with Xue Xiang.
When I recommended Xue Xiang to be the Shipping Envoy, many people opposed me. How could they allow Xue Xiang to be the Three-Division Envoy?"
Zhang Fei really doesn't understand this aspect.
But in fact, the change of the prime minister's position this time was very important, because the court structure had gradually taken shape, and the trend of reform had gradually become clear, and various forces were secretly preparing.
However, the position of Sansishi is of vital importance to all parties.
Wang Anshi was determined to win.
...
...
In his opinion, the judicial power is almost entirely controlled by conservatives. He is the only one in the group, Zhang Fei, who is also a semi-undercover agent, so he is determined to seize the financial power.
Initially, it was he who recommended Lu Gongzhuo to be the Three-Division Envoy. However, who would have known that after Lu Gongzhuo took office in Kaifeng Prefecture, he would directly lean towards the conservative faction.
Wang Anshi was very unhappy about this.
In addition, there is Chen Shengzhi, who is also the same. He did not play his due role in the Privy Council. The rotation of the Privy Council this year is also very important.
For the conservatives, the Regulations Office of the Two Prefectures has already controlled the two major financial institutions, the Sino-Agricultural Temple and the Taifu Temple. If he were to control the Three Prefectures as well, almost all financial power would be under his control. The key point was that Xue Xiang's character was not liked by any Confucian minister. They all regarded Xue Xiang as a typical villain. Letting Xue Xiang serve as the envoy of the Three Prefectures was something that all conservatives did not want to see.
Zhang Fei was too lazy to ask for clarification. It was difficult to get clarification on this matter because his subjective will was too strong. He asked directly, "What does Wang Xueshi want me to do?"
Wang Anshi said: "We must protect Xue Xiang no matter what, and we must not affect his appointment as the Three Commissioners next year."
What this means is that in this case, Xue Xiang must be given a very positive result.
Zhang Fei said awkwardly: "Master Wang, this may be difficult. If Xue Xiang kills people or burns things, then... I can't protect him!"
Wang Anshi said: "Don't worry, Xue Xiang has absolutely no problems. It's just that some people are maliciously spreading rumors and slandering him. They must be using some problems in execution to attack Xue Xiang and the new policy.
As you said, any policy will inevitably have some problems in the process of implementation, and they can be corrected, but those people hope to take advantage of this issue to attack their political opponents. "
Zhang Fei nodded slightly. "As for what to do specifically, I have to wait until I understand clearly what is going on before I can make a final decision. But if it is just a problem of policy implementation, then I will definitely protect Xue Xiang and maintain the new policy. I will never let them succeed."
Wang Anshi glanced at Zhang Fei in surprise, as if he had not expected Zhang Fei to agree so decisively, but he smiled again, "I really did not trust you wrongly. The emperor wanted to send the case to the original site for trial, but I thought it would be better to hold it in the capital and let you judge it."
"Thank you for your trust, Master Wang." Zhang Fei bowed and swore, "Please rest assured, Master Wang, I have been very supportive of the new policy from the beginning to the end. I also believe that only by implementing Master Wang's new policy can the country become strong. Their tricks against the new policy will not succeed."
Wang Anshi nodded with great satisfaction.
really.
From beginning to end, Zhang Fei supported the new law. Although he sometimes persuaded Wang Anshi to make minor revisions, overall, Zhang Fei defended the new law and did not let the conservatives succeed. Even with minor revisions, it did not deviate from Wang Anshi's goal, which was to enrich the national treasury. The finances were still moving in a positive direction.
After getting Zhang Fei's assurance, Wang Anshi left satisfied.
After Xu Zun finished entertaining the guests who came to express his gratitude, he rushed over and asked what was going on. Wang Anshi suddenly came to his house, so something must have happened.
Zhang Fei reported the matter truthfully.
After hearing this, Xu Zun stroked his beard and said, "Although I also strongly support the new policy, you agreed too hastily. You don't know much about the things and people over there. If there are some unknown reasons, how will you protect Wang Jiefu?"
You're giving people a promise when nothing is clear at the moment, which seems a bit immature. This also makes Xu Zun feel a bit confused. Zhang Fei is relatively experienced in making decisions and is unlikely to make such a low-level mistake.
Zhang Fei explained: "Because I have no choice, I must keep the new policy. What I say now can actually win the trust of Master Wang. If there are any problems during the trial, I will be able to convince Master Wang to accept my conditions and improve the new law."
Xu Zun asked curiously, "Why don't you have a choice?"
Zhang Fei said: "If there is no new policy, who would care about the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, including Liu Shilang and Qi Juzhang, who are beside Sima Xueshi. In their hearts, they don't support the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, but they have no choice but to do so."
Xu Zun nodded thoughtfully.
The public security, procuratorial and judicial organs only won the inner recognition of some officials in the court. Many officials still intended to use the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs to deal with Wang Anshi.
One of the key reasons is that they cannot control the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs. Simply put, once they go to court, they no longer have the final say. This always makes them doubtful and they do not truly agree with the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs.
"If there is illegal behavior, how do you plan to deal with it?"
Xu Zun asked with deep concern.
Zhang Fei said: "I know what my father-in-law is worried about, but I will never break the rules. I will pursue the results I want through legal procedures and will never give others a reason to criticize me."
Xu Zun nodded slightly, "As long as you have a plan."
In fact, this was not an intention, but there was no other way. Zhang Fei had to maintain the balance of power in the court, otherwise the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs would have no meaning of existence.
Even though the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems seem to be expanding very rapidly at present, that is just a castle in the air. It is not difficult to see from the attitude of the gentry that the foundation of society is still the gentry, and the social structure and governance system have not undergone earth-shaking changes.
So, there is no choice.
This matter can be said to be both reasonable and unexpected.
Because the equalization of transport system was mainly implemented in the six routes in the southeast, Xue Xiang had the final say, and the problems of official administration would be exposed. There was a lack of supervision during the implementation process, and problems were bound to arise. Su Shi, Su Zhe, and Fan Chunren had all opposed it and were demoted because of it.
So this is reasonable.
However, it was Wen Yanbo who proposed this first, and Zhang Fei had not received any news about it beforehand.
This is outrageous.
For something like this, even if the news is known one day earlier, it may affect the final outcome.
This was again unexpected.
Zhang Fei immediately called Li Bao. Intelligence was crucial to his repeated victories, but this time, the intelligence system seemed to have disappeared overnight.
"This is really unfair!"
"Brother Bao, I haven't even finished what I'm saying, and you're already complaining. I remember I asked you to send people to Yangzhou a long time ago. With so many people disguised as a caravan, it's impossible that you didn't hear any news at all."
Zhang Fei said very depressed.
Li Bao immediately said: "Initially you did plan for Jingdong East Road and Yangzhou, but later you ran off to the northwest, which made us very busy, and the Yangzhou Procuratorate was even more half dead. After Su Zizhan left, you simply disappeared.
Later, Jingdong East Road was in turmoil because of the Qingmiao Law, and many people were transferred there to open up the border in Xihe. At that time, I had no choice but to transfer people from Jiangnan to Jingdong East Road. The key is that the tax commissioner relies on bonuses to live, and the tax commissioner in Yangzhou can't develop at all. "
"Yeah, that's right."
Zhang Fei nodded awkwardly. He had originally planned to go to Yangzhou, but ended up going to the northwest. Then Xihe opened up again, Jingdong East Road collapsed, and Hebei had problems again. With limited manpower, he could only give up Jiangnan completely. He asked, "So how much do you know?"
Li Bao shook his head and said, "I know nothing."
"How is this possible? Is there no one around us over there?" Zhang Fei asked in confusion.
Li Bao said: "There are still some people left, but the equalization method is different from the Qingmiao method. It is bought in the east and sold in the west. If you want to know the specific situation, you must have a lot of spies in the six southeastern routes."
"That's true."
Zhang Fei nodded and thought, this equal loss method is so huge that it is difficult to monitor even secretly, how could there not be something fishy going on?
At this time, Li Si suddenly came over and whispered in Zhang Fei's ear: "Third brother, Sima scholar is here."
How serious is this matter? Even Sima Guang is in a hurry to come to me. Zhang Fei frowned and said to Li Bao, "Send someone to closely monitor this matter immediately."
Li Bao nodded and said, "I understand."
Zhang Fei went to the front yard immediately.
"Zhang San meets Scholar Sima."
"Um."
Sima Guang looked solemn and said, "Please sit down first. I have something to tell you."
"yes."
After Zhang Fei sat down, Sima Guang asked directly: "Has Wang Jiefu come to see you?"
Zhang Fei nodded.
Sima Guang asked again: "About Xuzhou?"
Zhang Fei nodded again.
He admitted it very readily because he was originally a double undercover agent.
Sima Guang continued to ask: "He came to you, hoping that you would try the case and make a ruling in his favor?"
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "That's probably what I mean."
Sima Guang asked: "Did you agree to it?"
Zhang Fei said: "I know nothing about this now, and Master Wang himself doesn't know either. How can I possibly agree to this?"
Sima Guang nodded and said, "Actually, I came here to tell you that this case may not be handed over to the public security, procuratorate or court for trial."
"Yeah?"
Zhang Fei's heart trembled, and then he added: "But Master Wang said that this will be handed over to the Beijing Public Security Bureau for trial."
Sima Guang said, "The emperor only said that those people were allowed to report to the capital, and that the case would be tried in the capital, but he did not specify that it should be handed over to the public security, procuratorate or court. The Censorate has been secretly monitoring this matter, and I knew nothing about it beforehand, so they all thought that it should be handed over to the Censorate for trial."
Zhang Fei glanced at Sima Guang and expressed doubt: "Is this the only reason?"
Sima Guang hesitated for a moment, stroked his beard and said, "I don't want to hide it from you. In fact, there is another reason. Many ministers in the court think that you are always biased towards Wang Jiefu."
Damn it, how come they are smart this time and don't instigate the public security, procuratorate and courts to fight against the new policy. Zhang Fei cursed inwardly, but pretended to be dissatisfied and said: "If they think I am biased towards Wang Xueshi, they can impeach me. This statement is really insulting."
Sima Guang asked with a smile: "So do you favor Wang Jiefu?"
"Uh." Zhang Fei said embarrassedly: "Master Sima, you know best why I did that. I am solving the problem, not creating a bigger one.
Take the case of Cheng Dujian for example. I admit that it is not impossible to convict Cheng Dujian, but the problem is that after the verdict, it may not be carried out.
This will not only fail to solve the problem, but will also cause the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs to lose their authority, which is not worth the loss. Besides, as for the case of the Imperial City Division, I have done everything I can. Sima Xueshi, you have impeached the Imperial City Division so many times, but have you ever been so successful?
It's incredible that you would doubt me."
The more he spoke, the more aggrieved he felt, and the more excited he became.
Sima Guang said: "If I didn't believe you, why would I rush to tell you this. I have explained to you their suspicion of you, and this matter was not finally settled, so I came here to hear your opinion on this matter."
Zhang Fei shrugged and said calmly: "My opinion is consistent. We are just enforcing the law impartially. Cases like this are not criminal cases. I really don't care which official agency will handle the case. In fact, I didn't want to get involved in the previous cases. They just forced it on me.
Their words are really chilling. Don't let them fall into my hands next time. Then I will let them know what true betrayal is. It is really unreasonable. "
Sima Guang chuckled and said, "Okay, okay, don't say these angry words. They just said that. I came here to hear your opinion on this matter."
Zhang Fei suppressed his anger and said, "Let's talk about the matter at hand. I know nothing about it and I don't have any opinion. If it weren't for Master Wang coming to me, I wouldn't want to hear such cases, not to mention that I want to spend more time with my wife and children recently."
Sima Guang nodded and said, "In this case, let's hand this case over to the Censorate for trial."
Zhang Fei said: "I completely follow the decision of Sima Xueshi. In fact, such cases should be handed over to the Censorate or the Dali Temple for trial. It is best not to hand them over to the public security, procuratorate or court. The reason is simple. Mistakes in policy decisions are not illegal, and omissions in execution are not necessarily illegal. Rewards and punishments should still be decided by the administration."
Sima Guang nodded slightly and said, "Don't take those words to heart."
Zhang Fei half-jokingly said, "It may take two days for the anger to subside."
After hearing this, Sima Guang felt relieved.
After sending Sima Guang away, Zhang Fei couldn't help rubbing his forehead, "This is really troublesome."
Zhang Fei really didn't want to touch the previous case of the Hebei sailors and the case of the Imperial City Bureau, because these two cases involved imperial power, which were very tricky and were currently forbidden areas for the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments.
But this case is different. This case is entirely a struggle between the old and new parties. If the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are left out, it will inevitably return to the old path of party struggles. Once the two sides start fighting, who will care about the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs?
This is the situation that Zhang Fei has been trying hard to avoid, and he has made many compromises for this.
In the evening, he rushed to the palace and told Wang Anshi about the matter.
After hearing this, Wang Anshi sneered and said, "You should now see the true colors of Sima the old thief. The public security, procuratorate and courts are just weapons he uses to deal with me. They have nothing to do with fairness and justice. Once they think that the public security, procuratorate and courts cannot meet their needs, they will abandon them without hesitation, rather than agreeing with them."
Zhang Fei just smiled awkwardly. At this moment, it was really hard to refute this.
Wang Anshi added: "I think this judicial reform should stop here. What's the point of deceiving yourself like this? I will arrange for you to work in the Regulations Office of the Two Governments to assist me in drafting new laws and regulations. With your ability, you don't need to stay there at all."
Zhang Fei's heart sank when he heard this. He had originally hoped that Wang Anshi would support the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems, but Wang Anshi was more radical and believed that the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems should be abolished.
In Wang Anshi's opinion, Zhang Fei has indeed made an indispensable contribution to the success from the beginning to the present, but the reason lies in Zhang Fei's personal ability, not the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs.
Because he and Zhang Fei had a lot of behind-the-scenes dealings, he highly recognized Zhang Fei's financial capabilities.
As for the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, sometimes he actually thinks that they are somewhat cumbersome and seriously affect his performance.
Zhang Fei asked, "So Master Wang is confident that he can defeat them?"
Wang Anshi sneered, "Even if they can frame someone else, they can't cover up the fact that the granaries in the capital are full."
What this means is that we have a clear conscience and do not need to rely on the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs for protection.
Zhang Fei laughed at himself and said, "Then I will go home to take care of the children."
Wang Anshi glanced at him and said, "It's not my fault. They were the ones who didn't want to follow the rules first."
Zhang Fei hurriedly said, "Master Wang, please don't say that. I am not afraid to tell the truth. In fact, I don't want to get involved in this matter because I always believe that the public security, procuratorate and courts should just manage the administration of officials. It is indeed not appropriate to let the public security, procuratorate and courts handle the decisions made by the higher authorities. Sometimes, I am also very embarrassed."
Wang Anshi nodded and said, "I agree with you on this point."
How could he not understand the concept of the rule of law when he was listening to the lecture? He thought about it very clearly, but he still agreed more with the laws of the Legalists because the rule of law paid too much attention to some details, while to accomplish great things, one should not be too concerned about trivial matters.
But so far, their cooperation has been relatively successful, so Wang Anshi will just take it one step at a time. Now that the conservatives have voluntarily given up the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems, let alone him, you don't use them yourselves, so why should I?
Zhang Fei could only let it go, because he couldn't show strong ambition so as not to let others notice his ambition.
But then again, he did not expect that this crisis would come so suddenly.
This is a huge crisis for the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments.
Because this incident is enough to show that everyone is actually somewhat fed up with the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs.
You always give both sides a slap on the wrist without shedding any blood. Neither side can use the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs to achieve their own political goals. This is very uncomfortable!
In a side room of the Council of State, Fu Bi and Wen Yanbo were sitting there drinking tea and resting.
"Kuanfu."
Fu Bi put down his teacup and said, "The benefits of the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems to the country are obvious. Why do you want to give them up this time?"
Wen Yanbo shook his head and said, "This is not what I asked for, but they all intentionally favored each other and failed to convince people.
If the case is handed over to the public security, procuratorate and court, this good opportunity may be missed. Many people are dissatisfied with Xue Xiang's actions on Southeast Sixth Road, and they have been secretly collecting evidence for this. "
Fu Bi asked, "What do you think?"
Wen Yanbo said: "I also think that Zhang San only seems fair on many issues, but in fact he is biased. It's just that he is the founder of the law of the rule of law, so his explanation is reasonable, but this is not true fairness and justice. My view on the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs is that they are good at defense but not enough at offense.
Just like the concept of the rule of law, it can only redress the injustice of those who have been wronged, but it is not enough to punish those who are accomplices to the evil. "
He always had great reservations about the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems. What he truly believed in was the laws of his ancestors. He was more conservative than Fan Chunren, but the current head was Sima Guang.
Fu Bi glanced at Wen Yanbo and asked, "Is that all?"
Wen Yanbo said: "I have to leave the Censorate this year, and given Wang Jiefu's character, he will definitely find a way to seize the Censorate. So letting the Censorate try this case will not be conducive to Wang Jiefu taking over the Censorate."
Fu Bi nodded slightly. He had guessed that the conservatives wanted to ignore the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs this time, and their purpose was to deal with Xue Xiang, because Xue Xiang was a very unpopular person in the court. His actions were completely inconsistent with Confucian values. The legal system is still based on Confucian values. If Zhao Xu and Wang Anshi had not given great support, Xue Xiang would not have been able to serve as the transport envoy.
Not to mention letting Xue Xiang control the three divisions, which is something many people cannot accept.
Once the conservatives have collected enough evidence, they will of course launch an attack. But in the eyes of conservatives, the main reason is that the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems are not under their control. It can even be said that they are unable to serve them.
Compared with Wen Yanbo's reservations, Fu Bi was more in agreement with the concept of public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, but he also faced the same dilemma as Sima Guang.
No one wants the public security, procuratorate or courts to try this case, and all they can do is try to maintain unity.
The key point is that neither Fu Bi nor Sima Guang liked Xue Xiang.
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