It's wet!
Not to mention being sweaty, even my crotch was wet!
It has to be said that the civil officials of the Song Dynasty had lost count of how long it had been since they had felt oppressed by imperial power.
Because Zhenzong, Renzong and Yingzong were all very gentle emperors and would occasionally get angry, but they never gave that feeling.
Even Wen Yanbo, Fu Bi, Sima Guang and others who were still sitting there were shocked.
When they first saw the table full of delicious food, they guessed that this was either the Hongmen Banquet or a tragedy.
But I never thought that Zhao Xu would use Taizu's giving up military power over a cup of wine to illustrate this matter.
What this means is that if you don't give in today, you will lose your head next year.
The metaphor of giving up military power over a cup of wine is wearing the yellow robe.
This concerns the life and death of the emperor, which is much more terrifying than the Hongmen Banquet.
...
...
How could these ministers not be scared to death?
I have never experienced this!
At this moment, Wang Anshi finally had a clear understanding of his own position and re-examined his student. He could only say, "You kid performed really well in the past."
He always thought that he was Huo Guang, the protagonist of this era, but in fact he was at most Fang Xuanling, just an important assistant.
But that's all.
What’s even more heartbreaking is that they have to finish the banquet and not waste it!
For these ministers, it was like sitting on pins and needles. Their hands holding the wine glasses were shaking. No matter how delicious the mutton was, it tasted like wax and was difficult to swallow. But even so, they were all wolfing down the food. There was no other reason, they just wanted to finish eating quickly and leave here.
Zhao Xu did not make things difficult for them. During the meal, he just chatted casually with Fu Bi and Wang Anshi about the two bills to ease the awkward atmosphere.
When they completed the empty plate operation, the banquet was over.
When those ministers and dignitaries left the Chuigong Hall, their legs were weak and they supported each other to escape.
It can only be said that the ministers of the Song Dynasty still lack experience. If they were replaced by ministers of the Ming Dynasty, they would surely be very powerful and walk with twitching steps when they walked out of the palace gate. They didn't even take off their pants. Can you believe that they just said a few words, which was not a big deal? This kind of banquet comes about a hundred or eighty times a year, and I can miss it at most once. This is simply a pleasure!
"Junshi!"
Wang Anshi looked at the group of weaklings and said with a smile, "Look at how scared you are of them."
Sima Guang said regretfully: "It's a pity that you are so thick-skinned that I can't scare you."
Wang Anshi snorted, "This is not called being thick-skinned. I, Wang Anshi, walk upright and sit upright. I am a gentleman who is open and honest. What is there to be afraid of?"
Sima Guang smiled and said, "But your days of arrogance are numbered. You will have to be afraid from now on."
Wang Anshi didn't know what he was talking about. He also knew very well that the emperor was the one who really held power. He said, "That's good. Let's compete fairly and see who will have the last laugh."
"It must not be you."
After saying this, Sima Guang walked down the stairs.
Wang Anshi muttered, "It certainly wasn't you."
The two of them left for a while, and then Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi walked out slowly.
Wen Yanbo couldn't help but ask: "Does Mr. Fu still think that we did the right thing?"
Fu Bi laughed and said, "Does Kuanfu think that without the Legislative Council, the procuratorate and the courts, this wouldn't have happened?"
Wen Yanbo sighed: "These decades have been wasted!"
They still prefer an emperor like Renzong who is willing to delegate power to his ministers. So Wen Yanbo was actually a little uncomfortable at today's Hongmen Banquet, and he was also very worried. What was the purpose of giving up military power over a cup of wine? Wasn't it to take the power back?
Taizu took away the power of military generals, are you going to take away the power of civil officials?
In fact, it was not just Wen Yanbo. When the news of the banquet spread, almost everyone could not adapt to such a powerful monarch.
But no matter whether they are adaptable or not, the emperor has already said this much. At least no one dares to gossip about these two bills anymore. Do they really think their lives are not long enough?
However, both bills are closely related to the disaster and must be implemented as soon as possible.
On behalf of the Procuratorate, Zhang Fei also submitted an exemption law to Fu Bi. This was a supplement to the warehouse tax and was specifically designed to provide exemptions for some special institutions and special circumstances. Simply put, it was about some details.
Fu Bi also invited Wang Anshi and Xue Xiang to join the discussion.
"Xiangguo Temple is expecting an exemption of 100,000 koku."
Fu Bi said to Zhang Fei.
Xiangguo Temple is also
Zhang Fei said: "Based on the 4,800 people in Xiangguo Temple, 50,000 dan of grain in early autumn can already help them survive for one and a half to two years. It is not right to say that there are starving people everywhere outside, but there is still smoke rising from cooking in the Buddhist land. This is not in line with Buddhist thought.
Moreover, Xiangguo Temple has many other uses for money. They can exchange grain for money. Without legal regulations, Buddhists cannot engage in business."
Fu Bi asked again: "What about the charity foundation?"
This was actually also mentioned by Xiangguo Temple, because Xiangguo Temple estimated that Zhang Fei would give an exemption to the charity foundation, and then our Xiangguo Temple also often does good deeds!
Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "No exemption. I didn't even mention charitable foundations in this exemption law."
Wang Anshi, who was standing by, was surprised and asked, "Don't charitable foundations have to be exempted?"
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "The charity foundation usually has 20 to 30 people working. The rest of the work is entrusted to the office or other workshops. They can eat as much food as they want. The charity foundation will donate a portion of the food at the end of the year, and the rest is sold directly to grain merchants to exchange for money for business. There is no problem of storing food."
Fu Bi was speechless at that moment.
It is actually reasonable for a charitable foundation to ask for an exemption, but unexpectedly, Zhang Fei did not even want an exemption for a stone of grain.
Xue Xiang added: "But the exemption you gave to grain merchants is a little too low. Grain merchants must control the grain price between 350 and 400 coins per dan throughout the year and continue to sell grain in order to obtain the 5,000 dan grain exemption.
There is nothing wrong with this regulation, but 5,000 koku is still a little too little. I thought grain merchants must ensure sufficient inventory."
Zhang Fei said: "In fact, our procuratorate has also considered giving grain merchants unlimited exemptions as long as grain prices remain within this range. However, the three officials should not forget that if grain merchants have too much inventory, it will reduce grain prices after the autumn harvest, which will hurt farmers."
Sima Guang on the side suddenly said: "If grain merchants keep enough food, they can help citizens deal with emergencies, such as this disaster."
Zhang Fei explained: "We cannot expect grain merchants to provide disaster relief. Merchants are profit-driven, and we still need the court in this regard.
Now the imperial court has established a grain agency, which can purchase the excess grain on the market every year. That is to say, when the grain price drops to three hundred and fifty coins, the grain agency should take action and purchase the grain on the market. Then, when dealing with emergencies, it can sell the grain to merchants and continue to maintain a stable grain price.
Frankly speaking, we still hope that the state will dominate the grain tax, and it should not be controlled by merchants or landlords. But we cannot force grain merchants to sell grain to the Food Agency, so we still have to follow market transactions. "
What this means is that the food agency can stockpile enough food, and grain traders do not need to stockpile food, nor do they need too many exemptions so as not to affect food prices.
Wang Anshi nodded and said, "Well said, that should be the case."
Sima Guang immediately looked down on him. Of course you agree. Sima Guang then said, "If all the grain is stored in the grain bureau and the grain bureau manipulates the grain price, what should we do?"
Wang Anshi smiled and said, "I knew you would say that. The Food Agency will issue grain price regulations, such as how much to buy and how much to sell. If this violates the regulations, you can arrest people directly."
Fu Bi asked again: "Regarding the import and export of grain between prefectures, you are giving the exemption right to the local government."
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "This is because the grain production of each prefecture is different. For example, the capital is seriously short of grain, so merchants who purchase grain from outside should be exempted from all taxes. On the contrary, if the capital wants to sell grain outside, it will also face warehouse taxes. But if the prefectures and counties with abundant grain, they can not be exempted and maintain the grain prices in their own prefectures and counties."
Fu Bi nodded, "I see."
Zhao Yan suddenly asked, "With such a complicated design, can the tax commissioner really check it out?"
Zhang Fei said: "I have talked to the tax commissioner and raised the fines and criminal penalties for intentional tax evasion to 30,000 shi. Within 30,000 shi, you can use ransom to avoid criminal punishment, but above 30,000 shi, you must accept criminal punishment. This is mainly to ensure the interests of the country and the monarch. It is difficult to gather people to rebel within 30,000 shi, but it is possible with 30,000 shi."
It's treason again.
If it weren't for this rebellion, there would have been no Hongmen Banquet.
Fu Bi was too lazy to say anything, although he didn't know how you calculated the difficulty of rebellion with 30,000 dan of grain.
You are right!
You are absolutely right!
As for the tax and currency bill, everything had been agreed upon before, and the final amount was set at five million guan.
If they only looked at this number, Sima Guang and his colleagues would think it was too much and it would be impossible to approve it.
But there are detailed regulations.
The most important thing is the daily minimum wage.
This is determined based on prices in different regions.
The daily allowance for the capital area was set at one hundred coins.
The price in Hebei was set at eighty coins per day.
The daily allowance in Huainan area was set at seventy coins.
Furthermore, these five million strings of cash were issued in two phases.
With such detailed regulations, the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs will be able to better supervise.
Sima Guang and others had no reason to object. After all, the money was given to the people, not to exploit their labor by taking advantage of the drought to build public facilities for the court.
After all the details are finalized, the Legislative Council will formally announce it to the public, which will be the final bill provisions.
Of course, it is also through the news papers, which have now become an indispensable part of the court.
The people of Beijing are delighted. The key thing is the minimum wage, which is far beyond their expectations. This is their normal salary, and you still give them so much during a disaster.
There is nothing to say about this!
at the same time,
When food prices fall, prices of goods will also fall.
But before everyone could be happy for too long, suddenly, some grain shops in and outside the capital began to close down. Grain merchants said that the grain in their warehouses had been bought up by the people, and they needed to purchase more grain in order to continue their business.
Soon after, a large number of grain shops closed and ceased operations.
This immediately caused greater panic.
Prices are rising sharply again.
I can only say that life is full of ups and downs, it's really too exciting.
Legislative Council.
"What's going on?"
Fu Bi was confused and asked, "Why did they stop selling the grain after only a few days?"
Sima Guang and Wen Yanbo looked at each other with worried looks on their faces.
Lu Gong said: "Those big landlords don't seem to want to surrender. Now there is still half a year before the beginning of autumn. They are betting that the court will not last until the beginning of autumn. For this reason, they are willing to pay the warehouse tax.
Previously, we lowered the price of grain to sell it, just to find an excuse to close the shop and avoid directly angering the government."
We were obedient and sold grain, but when the grain ran out, we had no other choice.
Fu Bi asked, "Don't they know the government's attitude?"
Wen Yanbo said: "Of course they know, but they have studied the bill carefully. It is legal for them to do so. The warehouse tax does not force them to sell grain. As long as they do not deliberately evade the tax, they can put the grain in the warehouse and wait for the tax commissioner to fine them."
Fu Bi frowned and said, "I see."
Wen Yanbo said: "Now we have to see how Wang Jiefu and his men will respond."
They did not support the emperor's use of such means to achieve his goals and did not give them any way out. This also made it impossible for them to speak to the landlords. So you have to clean up this mess yourselves.
The reason why Zhao Xu's Hongmen Banquet was successful was that the logic was on his side. I only asked you to exchange grain for money. The imperial court no longer suppresses land annexation. If you hold a large amount of grain in your hands, how can I sleep well?
No one dared to refute, but that didn't mean they would surrender.
This is impossible.
This concerns the power game between the landlord class, the scholar-official class and the emperor.
When it comes to power, it is impossible to admit defeat.
You want to fine me, right? Fine, I would rather let you fine me than sell grain to other countries, and I will not recognize any tax currency.
There is still half a year left, let’s see who can’t hold on first.
At the same time, the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs must defend our legitimate rights and interests. I am not breaking the law by not selling grain.
Immediately, Zhao Xu also gave a very intense response, suddenly announcing the withdrawal of all the privileges of brewing wine and selling salt in the capital area, and then replacing them with money and cloth subsidies.
Just give money directly and no more privileges.
He wanted to use this opportunity to tell those powerful people that he would never compromise.
Because those who can obtain these privileges are definitely all powerful people, and food is also in the hands of these powerful people, this is definitely a precise strike.
This immediately led to further escalation of the situation, and the prime ministers were all deeply frightened and uneasy. It was rare for the emperor and his ministers in the Song Dynasty to go to this point.
If it were Renzong, he would definitely take a step back to avoid further escalation of the situation.
But Shen Zong's words made things even worse. You want to fight, right? Fine, then let's see who is stronger.
The good thing is that no matter how the two sides fight, it is still within the rules.
The landlords accepted the punishment but stopped selling grain. Although Zhao Xu took back the privileges, he still gave money and cloth subsidies, which did not mean he was breaking his original promise, but just changing the way he did it.
But obviously, this privilege is better than money. Having money does not necessarily mean power, but if you have power, you can definitely make money.
This is how the influence of the powerful and landlords is gradually eroded.
The powerful and wealthy could only bear this loss in silence.
Even the two Empress Dowagers could only keep their mouths shut; they did not even dare to try to persuade them.
Of course, Zhao Xu had the confidence to do this, that is, he had food in his hands, so he was not worried.
Having said that, thanks to Wang Anshi’s new policies, the court has stored a lot of grain in recent years.
Three offices.
"How's the arrangement?"
Wang Anshi asked Xue Xiang.
Xue Xiang replied: "Everything has been arranged."
As he spoke, he took out another tax coin and said, "This is the latest tax coin printed. The vermilion pigment used in it is a tribute that only the imperial palace has. It is difficult to forge. In addition, the word 'imperial' is printed on it. Anyone who dares to forge it will be sentenced to death at the very least."
Wang Anshi took the tax coin and looked at it carefully. It was very exquisite. There was a word "tax" printed in the middle, and two small "imperial" characters above and below, telling everyone that this tax coin was endorsed by the emperor himself. The face value was on the left, and there were millet and wheat patterns on the right. There were also complex patterns and large and small characters around it.
In fact, regarding paper currency, the Song Dynasty had already developed a very complete system. At present, the possibility of imitating it is very small.
It’s just that this time the opponents they face are different, and the requirements are more stringent.
After taking a closer look, Wang Anshi asked, "What about food?"
Xue Xiang said: "All the arrangements have been completed. I have ordered that half of the tax grain from the Jingdong East Road be transported to Hebei and the other half to Huainan.
The grain reserves in our warehouses in the capital are enough to last for half a year, and according to our estimates, after half a year, the warehouse taxes collected will be enough to make up for the warehouse expenses during this period.
Because many powerful families have stockpiled grain for more than one year, some even for three or four years, the current need is to regulate liquor taxes to prevent them from turning grain into liquor.
It just so happens that this year's wine yeast has all been sold out. If they want to brew wine from grain in the next six months, it will definitely be illegal, so we plan to impose a 300% tax on the extra wine brewed."
Wang Anshi exclaimed: "Who knows how to make wine?"
“That means they are not allowed to brew.”
Xue Xiang nodded and said, "Not only that, all the major restaurants currently use coal to brew wine, so we also plan to impose a 50% tax on imported coal. This will force those restaurants to reduce the amount of brewing, so that there will be more grain reserves on the market."
Wang Anshi asked, "But cooking also requires coal?"
Xue Xiang said: "All of this is from the accounts provided by Prosecutor Zhang. They also thought of this. It will affect the price of the restaurant's dishes, but it will only affect the restaurant. However, with the reduction in winemaking, the restaurant's business will inevitably be affected, so it will not affect too much. The people in the countryside still cook with firewood. It is not winter yet, so they don't need coal for heating for the time being."
Wang Anshi nodded and asked, "Were these accounts provided by Zhang Fei?"
Xue Xiang nodded.
Wang Anshi asked, "Can't the three officials come up with a plan?"
Xue Xiang shook his head and said, "The statistics of the three courts are far inferior to those of the accountants of the Bian Jing Law Firm, and they don't know too many algorithms, so they don't have the ability in this area for the time being."
Wang Anshi said: "We can't always rely on others for this kind of thing. After all, the Three Departments are the financial center of the country and cannot be seen by outsiders."
Xue Xiang smiled and said, "It depends on how many talents the Mathematical Academy can provide for us."
Wang Anshi hummed and said, "The Mathematical Academy does need to be reformed."
Outside the Chuigong Hall.
Today it is the turn of Wang Anshi and Sima Guang, the two enemies, to discuss matters with the emperor.
Sima Guang looked at Wang Anshi and saw that he looked relaxed. "It seems that you have already thought of a countermeasure?"
Wang Anshi did not answer but asked: "Isn't the current situation what Junshi fears the most?"
Sima Guang's mouth twitched. This was indeed what he was most worried about. If he had been asked to preside over the reform, he would have weakened these powerful people. However, his opposition was too strong, so he should have waited a little longer. He said, "Do you know what the consequences will be if you don't handle it well?"
Wang Anshi said: "I only know how serious the consequences will be if these arrogant landlords are not dealt with. I will definitely win this battle."
As they were chatting, the palace door opened and the two of them entered.
And today, Wang Anshi is going to propose countermeasures to the emperor.
However, this does not mean directly opening the government granaries. Instead, all the grain in the granaries should be loaned to the Grain Agency at an interest rate of 1%, and the Grain Agency would sell the grain to the outside world. This was of course also proposed by Zhang Fei, in order to prevent the government from directly engaging in business.
But there is a requirement, which is that tax currency must be used to purchase food.
In addition, the salaries of officials and soldiers were all converted into tax coins, so that they could use the tax coins to buy food. However, this part of the tax coins was calculated additionally and was not included in the 5 million strings of cash, because it was not included in the scope of disaster relief.
Also, it is required to use tax currency to buy salt. As for the salt merchants, it has been settled long ago, because the salt in the capital all comes from Hezhong Prefecture, which is Zhang Fei's base camp. At that time, the salt merchants in the capital can directly exchange salt notes from Hezhong Prefecture. The salt notes of Hezhong Prefecture are currently very strong, so there is no need to worry about the depreciation of salt notes.
The key is that the salt merchants dare not refuse. If you don’t agree, you will not be able to do this business.
Now all the major salt shops are closed and are making internal adjustments in preparation for the arrival of tax currency.
Without waiting for Sima Guang to think it through, Zhao Xu approved it directly.
It seemed like the two of them had discussed this beforehand, and today they were just going through the motions.
In fact, Sima Guang had no reason to object, and he would not object.
In the end, the court still opened its warehouses to release grain and allowed purchases with tax currency. This was what Sima Guang was most worried about. It was of course a good thing that the court set an example!
Bian Jing Law Firm.
"I'll be in trouble from now on."
I saw a young man bowing very humbly to twenty or so middle-aged men with big bellies.
"I dare not! I dare not! It is only thanks to Director Cai's care that we are able to take on this business. We will definitely follow the arrangements of the Food Agency in the future."
"That's not necessary. We're just trying to make money."
“Yes, yes, yes!”
“That’s enough!”
Zhang Fei, who had been watching the show for a long time, stood up and said, "Let's go to the bar."
The servants immediately brought the wine. They each took a glass. Fan Li also took a glass, but Zhang Fei was the only one who did not take one.
One person asked, "Doesn't Prosecutor Zhang drink?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "You all call me Prosecutor Zhang, why should I get involved in this matter? Old Fan can drink for me, I'm just sitting here."
Fan Li raised his glass and said, "I wish you a happy cooperation."
“It’s been a pleasure working with you.”
Now there are 20 to 30 people standing here, all of them are small and medium grain merchants in the capital area. They are meeting with Cai Jing, who has just arrived in Beijing, and is the head of the Grain Agency.
In the future, WFP will cooperate with them to sell or purchase food.
Because according to regulations, the WFP cannot sell food directly, it must sell it through grain traders. In general, it still has to follow market rules.
But there is no doubt that the WFP is the largest food trader in the country, because the WFP shoulders the country's strategic mission. Anyone who cooperates with the WFP is bound to be successful!
These small and medium-sized grain traders decisively chose to stand on the side of the WFP because it was almost impossible for them to surpass the big grain traders through their efforts because the land was in the hands of the powerful.
This step also directly disintegrated the alliance between their grain merchants.
Behind these small and medium-sized grain merchants are some first- and second-class households, and they also have land. Of course, most of the land is still in the hands of a small number of large landowners.
But doing so would be tantamount to isolating the big landowners.
After the grain merchants left, Cai Jing immediately bowed to Zhang Fei and said, "Thank you for your support, Master."
The tone was very sincere.
He was so smart that when he heard about this, he ignored everything and rushed straight to the capital.
Although the Director of the Food Agency seems to be inferior to the Court President or the Attorney General, and is not even an official, the Food Agency is responsible for important strategies. If he can do a good job, he will at least be a Minister of Revenue in the next step.
This is like a rocket rising.
Cai Jing traveled day and night and was so excited that he couldn't sleep.
Moreover, he had just returned and the situation had not been figured out yet, but Zhang Fei had already given him a big gift.
The entire plan had been arranged long ago, just waiting for Cai Jing to implement it.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "But I can also help you with this step. The rules. If you break the rules, I will definitely put you in jail. But within the rules, you can use any means you want. I will be infinitely tolerant of you."
Cai Jing didn't think much about it and agreed directly: "Teacher, don't worry, I will never let you go by mistake."
They had done many shameful things when they were teachers and students in Hezhong Prefecture, so Cai Jing knew Zhang Fei's character very well and was also familiar with Zhang Fei's routines and how to operate within the rules. Even if Zhang Fei didn't say anything, he would never break the rules.
I’m getting old, and I have to postpone updating even if I have a minor cold. I used to be able to write thousands of words even when I had a fever. Alas...
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