As soon as Cai Jing took office, he went to the granary to borrow grain on behalf of the Food Bureau.
The granary manager was unhappy to see four or five prosecutors accompanying Cai Jing. The finance department treated people from the procuratorate as if they were plague gods, so he said to Cai Jing, "Director Cai, are you afraid that we will make things difficult for you, so you brought people from the procuratorate to help you?"
Cai Jing was stunned for a moment, then said with a smile: "Misunderstanding, it's really a misunderstanding! I just happened to meet them."
"But it's not a coincidence."
A young prosecutor came over and said, "We are here on orders. First, we want to find out the situation of the granary in the capital, and second, we want to supervise the Food Agency."
Upon hearing this, the person in charge snorted, turned around and left.
Cai Jing smiled lightly and thought to himself, you are lucky to have met a mentor who only sent a few students over. If it was Chief Prosecutor Su, you would have been in big trouble!
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhang Fei is also stepping up the exercise of the powers of the Procuratorate, which is to conduct comprehensive supervision of warehouses and tax coins. This will become a routine in the future.
The Procuratorate is more than just an office for handling lawsuits.
Any store.
...
...
In a private room, three middle-aged men were standing in front of the windowsill, looking at a grain shop across the street. In front of the grain shop, a brand new sign was slowly rising, with two words written on the white cloth - Grain Agency.
As long as there is such a sign, it means that there is cooperation with the WFP, and only these grain shops will accept tax coins to purchase grain.
After watching for a while, the three middle-aged men returned to the table and sat down.
These people were none other than the famous landlords Liu Ping, Chen Xiang, and the big grain merchant Cao Huai in the capital.
"It seems that the Food Agency wants to support these small grain traders to deal with us." Chen Xiang couldn't help but said with worry.
Liu Ping said disdainfully: "How much grain do these small grain merchants have at home? Not to mention that there are only 20 or 30 of them, even if they were added together, they wouldn't be able to release much grain. Most of the grain comes from the grain bureau."
Cao Huai said: "Can we find a way to buy all this food?"
“Someone has thought of this before.”
Liu Ping shook his head and sighed, "But for the time being, there is still no way, because the court stipulates that it can only be purchased with tax coins, and the tax coins have not been issued yet. Even if they are issued, they will mostly be issued to the people, not to us."
Chen Xiang suddenly said: "Don't underestimate these small grain merchants. They have a lot of connections with the small households behind them. If all the small households unite, they can't be underestimated."
Liu Ping said, "Don't worry. The court's actions are very disadvantageous to the small households. Originally, this was a great opportunity for them to make a fortune. Now they can't sell the grain, and they can't not sell it. They may hate us more than we do. They won't easily release the grain unless it's necessary. Now most of the households support us."
Chen Xiang said: "But in half a year, we will have to pay warehouse taxes. We are not afraid, but those small households may not be able to hold on."
"If we really wait until then, we will lose."
Liu Ping said: "At present, the advantage is on our side. The imperial court's grain is used for the royal family, soldiers, officials, and to deal with emergencies. In any case, the imperial court will definitely not dare to release all the grain. I suspect that the imperial court is just trying to scare people."
Cao Huai nodded and said, "That's true. In fact, it's beneficial for us to drag it out. Even if we lose, we will only get some food. But if the imperial court makes a move, we may lose everything. Currently, there is drought in the capital, Hebei, and Huainan, and we don't know how long it will last. The imperial court has a much greater chance of making mistakes than us."
Liu Ping said: "There are also senior officials in the court, all of whom are on our side, but they are not in a position to speak out at the moment, so we just need to hold on."
Chen Xiang suddenly said: "How about this, let's secretly transport the food out first, this way it will be safer."
Cao Huai sighed, "Now that the Royal Police have taken over the docks, it is very difficult to transport food out."
"Even if it can be used, it could be a trick of the other party."
Liu Ping said, "You have seen the methods of the tax commissioner before. If we are caught, it will be the same as last time. We will have the evidence in their hands and we will have no choice but to kneel down and beg for mercy. They may be waiting for us to do something stupid, so we must not do anything illegal at this critical moment. Oh, and don't even think about brewing grain into wine. The tax commissioner will definitely keep an eye on us because the law stipulates that a 300% tax will be levied on the extra wine."
In the last battle over the exemption tax, they lost because they broke the law in the first place. They would have lost their lives if they had continued the fight, so they are very cautious and are determined not to break the law.
Due to Zhao Xu's aggressiveness, the powerful, landlords, and part of the scholar-official class gradually united as one. They would certainly not give in easily. They were all old foxes who had lived for decades. How could they allow you, a little emperor, to sit on their heads and piss on them?
This is simply a great humiliation.
But they dare not speak out at the moment and can only compete with the emperor in secret.
After all, the imperial court's plate is too big, and there are too many places to use grain. If there is any disturbance, everything may be lost. Compared with now, even if they lose, they will only lose some grain.
They are still very confident, after all, they are all gentry.
For the imperial court, the law has been promulgated and the grain is already in the process of being transported. Now it is the Ministry of Works' turn to perform.
The Minister of Works Zeng Gong has not been seen in public recently because he has been running around outside. He cursed Wang Anshi to death in his heart. It seems that he always encounters difficult problems when he is promoted.
In fact, until now, the Ministry of Works has not had a complete plan, because these projects cannot be undertaken haphazardly, and money must be spent wisely, as the imperial court is not rich.
However, due to the court's regulations, tax coins must be used to purchase grain, and there was not enough time for them to make complete preparations. Many people were waiting for the court's relief plan.
Therefore, Zeng Gong could only start some of the projects first, mainly focusing on the construction of public security, procuratorial and judicial institutions and the dilapidated river channels.
As soon as the project was decided, those hungry people rushed to do it. As long as they were paid, they would do it no matter how hard or tiring it was. Besides, the pay was not bad.
We have already reached the period of hunger and thirst. If the tax revenue had not been low last year, the people would have been complaining bitterly.
And this time, the soldiers were also
Today, Wen Yanbo and Lu Gongzhe agreed to come to the suburbs, on the one hand to relax, and on the other hand to inspect the disaster. The two old men walked slowly along the river that was about to dry up.
"Uncle Hui, what's the situation in your family?"
Wen Yanbo asked with a smile.
Lu Gong shook his head and said, "Most of them are unwilling. Every family has the habit of storing food. If there is no food around, they will feel uneasy."
Their Lu family is definitely a well-known and powerful family in the court, and the food at home is inexhaustible!
"That's not it either."
Wen Yanbo said, "Look at Junshi. One year at the end of the year, I saw his servants rushing to buy food."
Lu Gong hurriedly said: "How many people in the court and the country can reach the level of Junshi and Zhao Xianggong?"
At this point, he sighed again, "To be honest with Lord Wen, I actually think that this warehouse tax is not excessive. Isn't it just exchanging grain for money? If everyone puts the grain in the grain store, they can buy it at any time, isn't that the same?"
Wen Yanbo laughed and said, "Where do you think those big landlords got their land? They just relied on natural disasters and used a small amount of grain to annex land. If they gave the grain to grain merchants, how could they annex land? In addition, they don't trust the court, so they will definitely fight to the end."
Lu Gong asked, "What does Duke Wen think?"
Wen Yanbo said, "It's not wrong for the emperor to be concerned, but he is too radical. He always wants to solve the problem once and for all, but it's not that easy. The key is that the emperor doesn't have the right time, place and people. If the drought lasts longer, they will definitely find ways to blame the drought on the emperor. When the emperor is attacked from both sides, it will be very uncomfortable."
Lu Gong asked: "Then what should we do?"
Wen Yanbo hesitated for a moment and said, "Try not to offend either side and deal with both sides well. If something does happen, we can also step forward and mediate the dispute so that the country does not get out of control."
Lu Gong nodded slightly, and suddenly he heard knocking sounds coming from the opposite side. He turned his head and saw twenty or thirty people on the opposite side, busy with work.
Wen Yanbo couldn't help but ask: "What are they doing?"
"It seems to be building a police station."
“We’re going to build a police station here too?”
Wen Yanbo suddenly asked, "Oh, right! How many police stations are they going to build? Our Political Affairs Hall hasn't even received a report from the Ministry of Industry yet."
Lu Gong said: "It is mainly because the people are waiting for food to save their lives, and the Ministry of Works has not yet determined the final plan, so it has not been reported to the Council of State Affairs. But I heard from Zi Gu that the entire capital area is expected to build a thousand police stations, Hebei is about the same, Huainan and other places have fewer, but there are still six or seven hundred."
"How much more?"
Wen Yanbo looked at Lu Gong in shock.
Lu Gongzhu nodded, "Anyway, this is the order he received. This time, the public security, procuratorate and courts will be completely separated from the government."
This is a purely physical separation. At this point in time, most public security, procuratorial and judicial offices are transformed from previous offices and some even share them.
However, the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems are very different from before and are very inconvenient to use.
Now we take this opportunity to rebuild a complete system tailored for the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs.
Wen Yanbo said: "But we don't need so many police stations."
In the past, a county town was just a county government office.
Lu Gong said: "The main reason is that there are many branches, near the docks, and villages have to be built."
Wen Yanbo immediately realized that this was a plan to take over the countryside in its entirety, and the purpose was of course to weaken the gentry and large landowners, so he asked, "But are there so many people?"
"What the police station lacks the least right now is people."
Lu Gong said: "The police station has never stopped training the Royal Police. New Royal Police join every month, but they are all transferred from the three yamen, so no matter how many more there are, it will not increase the burden on the court. I think the government intends to build the Royal Police into a force that can maintain public order in normal times, but can also act as soldiers and fight the enemy in critical moments. This is how Jingdong East Road is arranged now."
Wen Yanbo nodded and suddenly said, "Uncle Hui, have you noticed that every time there is a disturbance, the public security, procuratorate and courts benefit greatly from it?"
Lu Gong smiled and said, "Duke Wen only discovered it now, but I discovered it a long time ago. Otherwise, why would Zhang San work so hard?"
"Yeah! That kid did it all."
Wen Yanbo shook his head and said, "I have to admit that this kid is really good at taking advantage of opportunities!"
Lu Gong said, "There is one more thing."
Wen Yanbo looked at Lu Gong in confusion.
Lu Gong said: "It is only if the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs can really solve the difficult problems, otherwise, he will not be able to find a way in."
Wen Yanbo nodded slightly.
Why do the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs expand outward every time a problem occurs? Isn’t it because they can solve the problem and thus get the opportunity to expand again?
Baifan Building.
In a private room on the second floor.
"Marshal Ma, you three yamen are really patient. Let's not talk about the warehouse tax. The profit of the wine yeast is closely related to you three yamen. Now it is almost gone, but your officials in the three yamen don't seem to be in a hurry at all!"
An official who was about thirty years old smiled at Marshal Wang Chao.
The two people beside him also looked at Wang Chao curiously.
In this matter, the three yamen were unusually low-key, and the commanders of the three yamen did not say a word, but in fact the impact on them was very great, whether it was the warehouse tax or the liquor tax reform.
These people asked Wang Chao to come out today to test their opinions.
Wang Chao said nonchalantly, "That's just a small amount of money. Last year, my Guards Horse lost to Qiyun Club, and I lost much more money than that. Instead of getting involved in these things, I might as well find a way to improve the strength of the Guards Horse football team."
"???"
The three people on the opposite side were stunned.
They never expected that Wang Chao would give such a reason.
But that's the fact.
Since the football league was originally developed in cooperation with the Three Yamen, many of the Three Yamen's training grounds were borrowed. The shops around the football fields were monopolized by the Three Yamen's generals. Now, it is not only limited to the capital area, but also includes Damingfu and other places.
At the same time, they also established a cooperative relationship with Hongwan Casino.
This is a treasure pot. Money comes quickly, and the key is that no one can snatch it away, so Wang Chao has no time to worry about those things, and he also has to risk going against the emperor.
If the emperor removed him for this reason, the liquor tax and grain tax would only be secondary. The key point was that his interests in the football league might also be usurped by others, which would be a heavy loss.
The officials from the three yamen all avoided him and said nothing.
Wang Chao added: "To be honest, I hope to build more police stations and return those training grounds to our San Ya. Then we can have more football fields."
The three of them were completely speechless.
Are you a soldier or a football player?
After having a good meal and a good drink, Wang Chao came to the counter with a big belly, burped, and asked in a dignified manner, "Does your store accept tax coins?"
Fan Yong, who happened to be passing by, hurried over and said, "Take it, take it. If Marshal Ma has tax coins, that would be great."
Wang Chao directly took out a stack of tax coins. They had just received their salaries, and the tax coins were all brand new. He took out a few and slapped them on the table. "No need to give me the change. I feel that the copper coins are too heavy recently."
He strode away.
The shopkeeper counted the tax coins and said to Fan Yong, "Master, I only gave you one penny more."
Fan Yong quickly gave him a warning look. He was Marshal Ma, what nonsense were you talking about? He then asked, "Have many people used tax coins recently?"
The shopkeeper said, "Hasn't the imperial court just issued the monthly salary recently? Those officials don't have to worry about food. They come to the store with tax coins. I have to say, these tax coins are indeed convenient to use."
Just then, an old man came over and said, "Mr. Fan."
When Fan Yong saw the old man, he quickly bowed and said, "Fan Yong greets Doctor Chen."
Doctor Chen smiled and said, "Mr. Fan is really generous. I heard that many shops outside dare not accept the tax coins. If you have to use the tax coins to buy it, you have to pay at least three times the price of the coins."
Fan Yong smiled and said: "Actually, I don't want to accept it, but I have no choice. My shop consumes a lot of salt every year, and now only this tax coin can buy salt."
Doctor Chen just smiled meaningfully and left.
In fact, these wealthy businessmen have also reached a moment of decision: whether to continue to maintain the old system or embrace the new system, which is also very difficult.
Some businessmen choose to firmly support the old system, and these businessmen often have backgrounds.
But they did not directly reject the tax coins, but collected them at a ratio of three to one.
It's very disgusting, it devalues you as soon as you come out.
Of course, no one is stupid enough to use tax coins to buy things in these stores. It is not cost-effective.
But there are also some businessmen who choose to embrace the new system. They actually have backgrounds, but in their view, the old system exploits their interests more, while the new system can make them earn more.
This market is also slowly becoming fragmented.
After all, it's the butt that determines the head.
But it can also be seen that this is a fierce battle.
The main reason why the tax currency can remain strong at present is not that anyone is thinking about using the tax currency to pay taxes, but that the grain and salt released by the court are supporting the price of the tax currency.
It was already evening, and in front of a grain store in the suburbs, dozens of people were seen surrounding the store so tightly that no one could get in or out.
They were common people who had just come back from construction. They immediately came here to buy food with their daily wage of one hundred coins.
In a teahouse not far away sat an old man and a young man, they were Sima Guang and Zhang Fei.
"I have to admit that this may be the largest disaster relief effort in history. At this moment, it is much better than opening warehouses to provide relief."
At this point, Sima Guang looked at Zhang Fei again, "But how long can this last? I heard some news that the big landlords are going to fight the court to the end this time. They would rather pay punitive taxes than sell a grain of food. They may know how much food is in the warehouses in the capital better than you do.
At present, two-thirds of the grain in the capital is controlled by the main households, and seven or eight out of ten of the grain is controlled by the powerful in the court. The grain of the court cannot make up for it. "
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Every time our country went to war with the Liao Kingdom, no matter from which aspect, we had the upper hand, but why did we always lose when we fought?"
Sima Guang said: "These are two different things."
“It’s one thing.”
Zhang Fei said: "This is a war. On the surface, they do have the best of time, place and people, but they are just a pile of scattered sand. The longer it goes on, the more panic they will get. We have calculated that as long as we can take out one-third of their food, we can successfully survive until the beginning of autumn. As long as we survive until then, we can immediately get twice as much food."
Sima Guang was shocked and asked, "Twice?"
Zhang Fei smiled and nodded, "This is still an underestimation. The tax department is already investigating this matter. Many large families have stored food for several years. The food eaten by insects every year may be enough to feed tens of thousands of people."
Sima Guang frowned, "But this time they are determined."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Master Sima, you should know them well. If they are fined hundreds of thousands of dan of grain, it would be like asking for their lives. So the result will be clear in four months, because it will take time for them to sell all the grain. This is just the beginning. Of course, they are shouting fiercely, but I am sure that
Three offices.
"The 300,000 copper coins you requested have been approved."
Wang Anshi handed a document to Xue Xiang, "You have to keep a close eye on it. When buying any goods from big merchants, you must use copper coins, not tax coins, lest they use the tax coins to buy our grain and salt, and we won't be able to hold out for long."
"Please rest assured, sir. I send people to count the tax coins collected every day. The grain sold every day is currently within expectations."
Xue Xiang nodded confidently. "And according to our current observations, many officials use the tax money to eat and drink in restaurants and buy pens, inkstones, and paper instead of buying grain, which saves us a lot of grain."
There is a lot of food in the warehouse, but it must be used wisely. The design in this regard uses many small tricks.
In the past, food was distributed directly to officials, but now it has been changed to tax coins. Although tax coins can be used to purchase food, many officials do not lack food at all. As long as these officials use the tax coins and do not buy food, they will make a profit.
For officials, the tax coins were not much and could not buy much grain. The grain at home was already subject to warehouse tax, and if they went to buy grain here, they would lose more if they lost. So many officials were too lazy to bother and just did it directly.
At the same time, construction requires a lot of materials, which are paid with money. The purpose is to prevent certain people from controlling a large amount of tax currency, and to stimulate the market and make it more prosperous. This can cover up the decline and also undermine the other party's self-confidence.
Just at this moment, the newly appointed Privy Councilor Han Jiang suddenly arrived.
"Zihua?"
Wang Anshi was slightly startled, and seeing that Han Jiang looked a little strange, he asked, "What happened?"
Han Jiang glanced at Xue Xiang.
Xue Xiang was very tactful and left immediately.
After Xue Xiang left, Han Jiang whispered, "Jiefu, something happened in Xihe area."
Wang Anshi asked hurriedly, "What's the matter?"
Han Jiang said: "The Tibetan leader Dong Zhan appointed General Qing Yi Jie Gui to lead his troops to harass Hezhou. Our army was forced to attack Tabai City, but was surrounded. Generals Wang Ning, Jing Sili, Zouma Chengshi, and Zhao Yuankai were killed in the battle."
"What?"
Wang Anshi couldn't help but be shocked.
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