The news that the Hebei River had burst its banks again soon reached the capital. Although the losses were not great thanks to the efforts of the Water Conservancy Academy and the public security, procuratorate and courts, and only affected hundreds of households, when Zhao Xu learned of the news, he felt physically and mentally exhausted.
what to do?
The frequency of flood control in the Song Dynasty and the amount of manpower and material resources consumed truly surpassed all previous dynasties, but the more they controlled the water, the more confused they became.
When efforts and results are in stark contrast, it is very demoralizing.
Although the two prime ministers of the time, Wang Anshi and Wen Yanbo, both hoped to persist in flowing eastward for strategic reasons to prevent the Liao people, especially the Liao people who had recently caused trouble on the border.
But Zhao Xu was tired and didn't want to bother with it anymore. However, he didn't say clearly whether the water would flow east or north. He just said that the Water Conservancy Institute had been successful in preventing floods and that the decision of the last discussion would be maintained, with full authority handed over to the Water Conservancy Institute and governance would rely on academic efforts.
This academic thought certainly does not include strategy, and is actually a compromise with the Northward Flow.
The confidence he had in doing this was that he was now retreating, mainly because the western front was shifting from the offensive to the defensive phase. The Song Dynasty would then have enough power to guard against the Liao Kingdom and would not be completely dominated by it.
At the same time, Zhao Xu promoted Su Song, who was familiar with geography and diplomacy, to the position of Shaoqing of Honglu Temple, and formed a diplomatic mission to enter Taiyuan Prefecture to specifically coordinate with the Liao Kingdom on the issue of border demarcation. He still had to use this matter to entangle the Liao Kingdom.
The focus of the country is still on domestic affairs.
...
...
In fact, Zhao Xu is now more obsessed with domestic affairs, because it is difficult to make a breakthrough in foreign affairs and there are many troubles, but domestic affairs are now shining.
As for people, they are all the same. They will be more motivated only if they can achieve results.
If tax currency is issued, the effect will be immediate.
The entire market has become very prosperous and people's enthusiasm has greatly increased.
This is fun to do.
Today, Sima Guang also came to the market to inspect with Fan Chunren and Su Shi.
I saw the uncles and aunties selling vegetables, pushing their empty carts, carrying their empty baskets, counting the tax coins they earned, and leaving the market happily.
They had mixed feelings, after all, none of them agreed with the issuance of this tax currency.
But the facts are in front of them, and they have to admit it!
Sima Guang said, "You should pay more attention recently, because whether Jingdong East Road will issue tax coins or salt notes in the future will be decided by the three departments, and the public security, procuratorate and courts cannot stop it."
Su Shi sighed, "I feel so bad when I think about how Zhang Zihou will brag about this matter in front of me in the future!"
Fan Chunren said, "To be honest, it's just an extra tax coin. I didn't expect it to cause such a huge change."
As soon as the words fell, a laugh was heard: "You will never understand."
The three of them turned their heads and saw Wang Anshi walking towards them.
What bad luck!
Wang Anshi said: "According to the estimates of the tax commissioner, the finances of the capital region will increase significantly this year. This means that the people will not be taxed more and the country will have more money."
Sima Guang frowned and was about to retort, but Su Shi spoke first: "What does this have to do with Mr. Wang?"
Wang Anshi glanced at him coldly, "Is it related to you?"
"I am not talented, I am just trying my best."
Su Shi said: "It is not only the finances of the capital area that are growing, but also the finances of the Jingdong East Road. However, as Brother Fan said just now, the overall wealth of the country has not increased.
The current growth of the country's wealth comes mainly from three points: first, saving losses and expenses. Second, clean politics, reducing corruption. Third, collecting taxes according to the law. These three points all stem from the administration of officials. They have nothing to do with Prime Minister Wang. "
Sima Guang nodded and said, "Zizhan is right. This is all caused by the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, and your new policy is just a ride on the wind."
Wang Anshi frowned and suddenly called out to a porter passing by, "Uncle, please stay."
The porter saw that these people had extraordinary demeanor and asked anxiously, "What's the matter, sir?"
Wang Anshi smiled and asked, "What are you selling, uncle?"
The porter replied, "I sell eggs."
Wang Anshi asked, "Have you always made a living by selling eggs?"
The porter said, "I make a living by farming."
Wang Anshi asked, "Are we selling eggs now?"
"no."
The porter shook his head and added, "I still make a living by farming, but I have recently raised some chickens at home."
Wang Anshi asked, "Why didn't you raise one before?"
The porter said embarrassedly, "We used to raise them, but not many, only two or three. If we raised too many, we would have to serve in the government. Now we don't mind raising as many as we want."
Wang Anshi asked: "So, you make much more money than before."
The porter said cheerfully, "Yes, a little more."
Wang Anshi added: "But you have to pay more taxes!"
The porter said, "We have to earn more first before we pay more taxes. This is different from before. In the past, we earned more but paid less."
Wang Anshi smiled and nodded, then pointed at the empty basket and asked, "Have you sold all the eggs?"
The porter nodded and said, "They are all sold out. The market is good recently, so I plan to raise some more chickens."
Wang Anshi bowed and said, "Thank you for telling me, uncle."
"I dare not, I dare not! Then that villain will leave first."
"Slow down."
After the porter left, Wang Anshi turned around and said triumphantly, "Who says this wealth doesn't increase people?"
Looking around, he could not see Sima Guang, Su Shi and Fan Chunren.
This made Wang Anshi furious.
You have no moral principles!
Little did they know that there were two young men in the small attic next to them who were watching them.
It was Zhao Xu and Zhang Fei.
Zhao Xu also quietly left the palace today to see whether the prosperity of the market is really as those ministers said.
Back at the table, Zhao Xu asked Zhang Fei, "Who do you think is right in their argument just now?"
"Both are correct."
Zhang Fei explained: “The current fiscal growth is mainly due to the administration of officials, and the clean administration of officials has nurtured the taxation policy and administration.
After all, most of the farmland in our Song Dynasty is controlled by those big landlords. They didn't pay taxes before, but now they have to pay taxes.
There is also the issue of corruption. Now that the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are so powerful, who would dare to embezzle or accept bribes? Public expenditures have been greatly reduced, so it is reasonable for fiscal revenue to double.
But wealth has actually increased, which is due to the enthusiasm of the people. In the past, the rich did not dare to make money, and even mutilated themselves to avoid the yamen service. Now they dare to make money. Secondly, before they made money, most of it was extorted by some low-level officials. The money they earned was just enough to feed their mouths, and there was no extra money to expand production. Now they can invest the money they earn in production, just like the old man selling eggs. If he has extra money, he can raise more chickens.
Although the growth in wealth is not significant, it will completely depend on this to drive fiscal growth in the future.”
Zhao Xu asked, "What do you mean?"
Zhang Fei replied: "Because the benefits from the government are limited. If everyone pays taxes according to the law, there will be no room for fiscal growth. As long as the people earn more, the fiscal revenue can continue to grow."
Zhao Xu then asked: "How can we make the people earn more?"
Zhang Fei said: "If you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools. This can only be achieved by improving technology to increase wealth. For example, our rice technology is far superior to that of the Tang Dynasty. Farmers get more grain and pay more taxes."
Zhao Xu sighed: "But this is easier said than done."
"The world is bustling with people, all for the sake of profit."
Zhang Fei said: "Driven by interests, they will definitely try every possible way to increase their wealth, especially businessmen. They will definitely be the most radical group, but I think they still lack some wisdom, and they may need help from the court."
Zhao Xu asked again: "How can the court help?"
Zhang Fei just opened his mouth and suddenly seemed to remember something, "Oh, right! Isn't Your Majesty planning to reform the official system recently?"
Zhao Xu nodded and asked again: "What does this have to do with this matter?"
Zhang Fei said: "I have discussed the situation of Qingzhou Bureau with Chief Prosecutor Fan before. According to him, Qingzhou Bureau has developed well. Many talented officials have improved the salt-making technology, so that the output of Binzhou sea salt has been increased. At the same time, they have also improved the smelting technology. Most of these officials are bachelors.
But unfortunately, only Qingzhou is currently doing this, and this is due to local debt restructuring.”
Zhao Xu nodded. "Bachelor is a job title, different from an official title. These scholars are all Jinshi graduates, and they are talented. However, our dynasty is much better at selecting scholars than the Tang dynasty, but there are limited positions, so we can only arrange them to serve as scholars in various cabinets."
Zhang Fei said: "In this case, why not divide them all into career colleges based on their interests and let them study these technologies, whether it is grain production, salt production, or smelting."
Zhao Xu said: "But sometimes I have to discuss matters with them."
These are all elected officials.
Zhang Fei said: "They are only serving as bachelors in the academy. Your Majesty should summon them to discuss matters at any time. If you want to further increase the financial resources, and increase them indefinitely, they are crucial."
The success of Qingzhou Business Office made Zhang Fei believe that if he wanted to improve technology, he had to rely on their literati, and craftsmen alone would not be enough.
Su Shi was very successful in controlling floods in Jingdong East Road, and he was just helping out of friendship.
Zhao Xu was surprised and said:
Can it grow infinitely?
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "The rice production in our dynasty is two or three times that of the Tang Dynasty. Why can't it be three or four times?"
Zhao Xu nodded and said, "That makes sense."
Then he added, "By the way, I am indeed going to hold a meeting recently to continue the official system reform. You must come then, because many officials are dissatisfied with the separation of politics and law."
Zhang Fei was surprised and asked, "Really?"
The reform of the official system was a landmark policy of Zhao Xu's government. Although the natural disaster made them a little depressed and they made certain compromises, they were just compromises and they still had to continue to make changes.
Three days later, Zhao Xu convened a meeting in Chuigong to discuss how to deepen the reform.
Zhao Xu was the first to speak: "Regarding the reform of redundant officials, it has been very successful so far. I am not asking for a reduction in officials, but I hope that people can be put to their best use and things can be put to their best use. The court no longer has extra finances to support some idle people."
At this time, Deng Wan, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, stood up and said, "Your Majesty, regarding the reform of the official system, I think the court has not achieved the true separation of politics and law, but rather centralized power in law. Now the administrative offices are in name only.
For example, the tax law should belong to the executive power, but the warehouse tax was proposed by the procuratorate. How can this be called separation of politics and law? "
As soon as these words were spoken, many people stood up and expressed their support.
Fu Bi frowned secretly. He had realized that these powerful people had reacted and were starting to target their public security, procuratorate and courts.
Suddenly, someone said, "That's your fault."
Everyone looked back and saw that it was Zhang Fei who spoke.
Zhao Xu raised his head and glanced, "Prosecutor Zhang, please come out and speak."
"yes."
Zhang Fei stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I have a question for Minister Deng."
Zhao Xu nodded.
Zhang Fei asked Deng Wan again, "Minister Deng, was the new tax law set by the court?"
Deng Wan hesitated for a moment before nodding.
After all, the Department of Taxation is also under the Ministry of Revenue.
Zhang Fei asked again: "Did Minister Deng know in advance that merchants and landlords were complaining about the unfairness of the new tax law?"
Deng Wan nodded again.
Zhang Fei immediately said to Zhao Xu: "Your Majesty, Minister Deng is right. The tax law should be determined by the Ministry of Revenue or the Three Departments. Just like the new tax law, it was also decided by the court. It should not be determined by the public security, procuratorate or courts.
But the problem is that when the new tax law first revealed the problem of double taxation, it caused dissatisfaction among merchants and landlords. However, they were indifferent to what the Ministry of Revenue and the Three Departments were doing at the time, as if it had nothing to do with them.
But our procuratorate has always performed its duties conscientiously. We do not want to interfere with finances. We submitted those two bills purely to maintain the authority of the tax law. After all, there are indeed some unfair aspects in the new tax law. "
Wang Anshi immediately stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue and the Three Departments were redistributing financial power at the time, so there was some negligence."
Zhao Xu nodded.
Deng Wan then asked Zhang Fei: "So, tax law is not under the jurisdiction of the Legislative Council or the public security, procuratorate or courts?"
Zhang Fei said: "Fiscal policy is certainly not under the jurisdiction of the public security, procuratorate and courts, but it must be reviewed by the Legislative Council because the policy must also comply with the law."
Deng Wan asked, "How can a policy be illegal?"
Zhang Fei said: "First of all, policies must follow the laws of our ancestors.
Secondly, it must not harm the interests of the country, the monarch, and the people. "
Xue Xiang couldn't help but ask curiously: "How do you judge this?"
Zhang Fei said: "For example, if taxes are raised, this should be decided by the Three Departments or the Ministry of Revenue. If taxes are raised because of war, then of course it is reasonable.
Because war threatens the survival of the country and the monarch, temporary taxation is understandable in this situation.
The Legislative Council will also ensure the basic rights of the people, that is, survival, and not over-exploit the resources.
Simply put, the tax law is of course set by the Ministry of Revenue, but the reasons must be fully explained in the Legislative Council. Otherwise, it will be difficult for our public security, procuratorial and judicial organs to strictly enforce the law. "
Deng Wan asked, "If His Majesty has agreed to it."
Zhang Fei immediately said, "Your Majesty will only agree to increase taxes, but how to increase them is the responsibility of your Ministry of Revenue. If you just write down a number, I can do it. Why did Your Majesty choose Minister Deng among millions of talents? Isn't it because you value Minister Deng's talent? Whether it is a tax increase or a tax reduction, it is the time for Minister Deng to show his talent."
A hint of guilt flashed across Deng Wan's eyes.
What they are actually talking about is this problem. It is too difficult to be an official nowadays. The interests of the country, the monarch and the people are in conflict, and all three must be protected at the same time. How do you do this?
Sima Guang and Zhao Yan immediately stood up and expressed their support.
Wang Anshi said: "The Ministry of Revenue's failure to do its job is the Ministry of Revenue's problem, but the Procuratorate's responsibility is to reflect the problem, not to replace it. Last time, due to institutional adjustments, it could only be treated as a special case, but in the future, we must still follow the separation of politics and law, and the Procuratorate must not make decisions on its own."
Zhang Fei said: "If the Ministry of Revenue continues to ignore it, we can only sue directly. Our public security, procuratorate and courts are wholeheartedly helping Your Majesty and will never slack off."
This immediately attracted many officials' angry glares.
You are too arrogant.
But the one standing in the front is Fu Bi, if you have the ability, you can kill him.
Wang Anshi said lightly: "That is your duty."
He has talent, so he has no guilty conscience. Isn't that a reason? He is afraid that Sima Guang and others will pester him and he won't be able to get anything done.
Feng Jing suddenly asked, "Prosecutor Zhang, based on the laws of our ancestors, we should prevent crimes and control them. Who will supervise you, the public security, the procuratorate and the courts?"
Zhang Fei said: "Of course it's your Censorate!"
Feng Jing immediately said to Zhao Xu: "Your Majesty, I suggest that a judicial supervision department be established in the Censorate to specifically supervise the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs."
To deal with the public security, procuratorate and courts, you must first prepare a sharp weapon. Looking around, the only weapon that comes to mind is the Censorate.
However, supervising the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs requires a lot of manpower and must be expanded.
Zhang Fei said: "I second the motion. There will be bad apples in the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, and they must be supervised."
Many censors immediately stole contemptuous glances and said, "What black sheep? Your entire public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are black sheep."
You're not playing by the rules.
In officialdom struggles, the key is to generalize. If there is one corrupt policeman, the entire police force has problems. Birds of a feather flock together.
Are you really the black sheep?
Zhao Xu nodded and said, "Approved."
Peng Siyan suddenly said: "Since they are specifically responsible for supervising the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, they naturally cannot be handed over to the imperial court for trial."
Sima Guang stood up and said, "The Imperial Court is a system, not a person. The public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are not subordinate to each other and check and balance each other. Moreover, according to the last reform of the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, there is an Imperial Court that specializes in hearing such cases. If you really don't accept it, there is a chief judge above. If it is not handed over to the Imperial Court for trial, how can we achieve the separation of politics and law?"
Zhao Xu nodded and said, "All cases, big or small, must be submitted to the imperial court for trial. If the Censorate has solid evidence, there is no need to worry about it."
Seeing that the emperor said so, Peng Siyan had no choice but to retreat.
Zhao Xu then asked: "Regarding the reform of the official system, what suggestions do you have?"
Wang Anshi immediately stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, now that the judicial office has been integrated, then the administration and finance should also be integrated. I suggest that the power of dispatched officials be unified. As for those idle officials, let them first go to the business office or the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs to take the exam, and select the best ones. Only in this way can the government's orders be passed and those who are responsible be held accountable."
Many officials have come out to support this. They used to be very opposed to doing so because it might require layoffs, but times are different now. The judicial power is too strong. If the executive and financial sectors are not integrated, how can they compete with the judiciary?
Of course, this is also based on the Business Office. At present, many people actually want to enter the Business Office. Those idle officials do not just want to lie down and do nothing. They also want to touch the power. It is the court that does not give them anything to do.
Zhao Xu nodded slightly.
Wang Anshi added: "In addition, according to the current system, prefects and county magistrates no longer need to be in charge of punishment. I think the performance of officials can be evaluated based on tax revenue."
Sima Guang immediately jumped out and said, "If this is the case, officials will be profit-driven."
A smile flashed in Wang Anshi's eyes. "If officials seek the benefit of the people, does Sima Shangshu think it is wrong?"
Sima Guang was stunned for a moment, "What do you mean by that?"
Wang Anshi said: "According to the current tax law, if we want to increase tax revenue, we must increase the income of the people. If officials want to achieve good political achievements, they must consider the people and increase their wealth. Isn't this kind of profiteering acceptable?"
Sima Guang was stunned for a moment, "But what if officials forcibly collect taxes from the people for the sake of political achievements?"
Wang Anshi laughed and said, "Has Minister Sima forgotten the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs he had established?"
Sima Guang was stunned at that moment.
Zhang Fei couldn't help but laugh secretly. Wang Anshi's mind was filled with Sima Guang!
He and Wang Anshi had already discussed this, but Wang Anshi could have explained it directly just now. He left a loophole, deliberately waiting for Sima Guang in order to entertain Sima Guang.
Zhao Xu nodded and said, "This is very good. It benefits the country and the people, and is also fair. If you want to be promoted in the future, you must show your political achievements."
In the past, it was a dispatch system, with officials being rotated every three years. If they worked for a few years without causing any trouble, they would be promoted. No one sought to make any achievements, but only to avoid making mistakes.
If name and power are combined and there is no rotation, officials will be allowed to get involved.
If you want to get promoted and enjoy higher salary, you have to work hard.
Of course, this meeting was mainly to determine a major policy.
Next, Zhao Xu discussed with officials from various departments how to integrate them specifically.
First of all, name and power are unified. The previous official system was mainly divided into three categories: officials, posts, and dispatches.
Shangshu, Shilang, and Xianling were all officials of rank and loose officials. They were originally officials left over from the previous dynasty. Zhao Kuangyin would definitely not use these officials, so he gave them money to keep them from causing trouble. They were just in name only, and received salaries based on their official rank. Their descendants also entered the officialdom through favoritism. They were all called Ji Lu officials.
On the contrary, a dispatched official has power but no name.
This is why officials in the Song Dynasty did not have much sense of class. Those in higher classes were just high-ranking officials and had no power. Would those powerful officials be afraid of them?
Now, the demand is to unify the name and power, that is, to give all their official titles to the dispatched officials. In simple terms, the county magistrate becomes the county magistrate.
Those officials who only receive a salary have to apply for jobs in public institutions, public security, procuratorate and courts. Those who fail to get a job will be laid off directly.
Officials refer to various scholars. This type of officials basically came from the imperial examination system. The Song Dynasty was very competitive in recruiting scholars, but there were limited positions, so they were given various scholar titles. When there were vacancies, the emperor would directly appoint and dispatch officials who were all scholars.
This type of officials are talented and are waiting to take up posts. Now they either enter the Legislative Council, the public security, procuratorate and courts, or work in public institutions, which mainly include newspaper offices, hospitals and colleges.
They do not need to apply for the position, but are recommended by others or request it themselves. If the court has a need, they can come back immediately to fill the vacancy.
Overall, the main point is not to lay off officials, but to make them work and create value instead of just lying there.
Because the current system does require more manpower.
However, this official system reform was only in name, and in reality it was a reform of power.
Judicial power has actually been integrated.
The most important thing at the moment is financial power. The reform strategy is the same as that of judicial power, with integration as the goal. It was scattered before, but now it is all concentrated together.
Financial power is mainly divided between the central and local governments.
The central government is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue and the Three Departments.
It was finally decided that only two major departments, the Transportation Department and the Shipping Department, would be set up under the Ministry of Revenue. The Transportation Department would be responsible for various taxes and grain transport, and their basis of work was the tax law.
Under the Shipping Department are the Food Agency and the Grain and Grain Department, which are responsible for central government procurement and sales based on contract law.
The Three Departments were in charge of coinage, whether it was copper coins, paper money, or even silk. Salt debts and salt banknotes were all under the control of the Three Departments.
As for the central and local governments, the current tax revenue is divided into 70% and 30% respectively, with the central government taking 70% and local governments retaining 30%. This is actually divided based on military expenditures.
Currently, the central government’s financial expenditure is mainly for military spending. It is impossible to hand over the military spending to local governments, so 70% of it must be taken.
However, the annual increase in tax revenue was divided into 30% and 70%, with the court taking 30% and the local governments retaining 70%.
This is to mobilize the enthusiasm of local officials.
However, these reforms are currently being implemented in areas without public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, and will not be implemented in areas without public security, procuratorial and judicial organs.
The reason why they dare to concentrate power is because there are checks and balances from the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
