Xue Xiang is a man who is very good at calculating. After two years of experimentation, he found that this tax coin is simply a treasure. If used well, it can help the country save a lot of money, so why not use it?
Moreover, currency is now the greatest authority of the three departments. He will certainly increase his efforts, but he does not want to simply issue more tax coins, but to make tax coins the only currency.
This is power.
The sole purpose of issuing more tax coins is to destroy power in exchange for wealth, which is obviously not cost-effective.
Whether it is through paying soldiers salaries, promoting tax currency, or allowing warehouses to open copper storage plans, it is not an issuance plan but a substitution plan.
At the same time, this can also circumvent the rules set by the Legislative Council. In fact, Xue Xiang is very reluctant to undermine the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems because he believes that this is beneficial to him.
There is a reason why Sima Guang and others are called conservatives. They have always had great doubts about paper money. However, with such great political achievements in front of them, the conservatives cannot pretend that nothing happened. They can only strengthen supervision over tax currency.
We must make every effort to promote the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems to ensure checks and balances.
Sima Guang has always been in charge of this matter, and he is still in charge now, because the Ministry of Justice is in charge of the promotion and deployment of judicial officials.
The reason why it was slow in the past was because Sima Guang wanted to select officials with high moral standards. Not only that, they also had to be familiar with public security, procuratorial and judicial systems. It was really one in a hundred!
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Fortunately, now that a temporary law has been promulgated, officials only need to understand the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems clearly, and do not need to study for several years. Sima Guang also compromised on this and can speed up appropriately.
So he immediately wrote letters to Su Che, Su Shi, Fan Chunren and others, asking them to recommend some judicial officials who could take charge of the situation.
Because the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems had been implemented in Shaanxi for the longest time, followed by Jingdong East Road, and Sima Guang had already made arrangements for this and asked Su Che and others to bring more judicial officials.
Of course, this was also because Sima Guang believed in the character of Su Che, Fan Chunren and others. They must be the same as himself, and the officials they recommended must be people with good morals. Now there are many experienced judicial officials there, and then combined with young judicial officials, it is enough to accelerate the promotion of public security, procuratorial and judicial organs.
These policies did not cause much controversy as in the past, which only shows that the tax currency was indeed a huge success. Even the powerful people in the court began to gradually accept this whole system, because there was no other way they could not accept it.
Every time they make a fuss, in the end, they are the ones who get hurt, because there are countless officials in the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments who have been demoted. Wasn’t the Public Service Agency also caused by them?
Tired!
Not only are they tired, but the businessmen and landlords are also tired. Paying taxes according to the law has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. When they receive the tax bill, they just curse a few words without any ripples in their hearts.
I remember that once upon a time, the tax collection efficiency of Hezhong Prefecture shocked the officials in the capital, but this year they experienced it firsthand.
What is efficiency?
Within this month, most people have paid all their taxes, almost all using tax coins, and no one has paid in kind yet.
But this has caused the same problem as last year, that is, there will be a period of monetary vacuum. Although the issuance of tax coins has led people to use copper coins, the problem is that using copper coins for large-scale transactions is also very troublesome.
The transactions had been accelerating, but suddenly slowed down, and many people couldn't stand it.
Therefore, many people took the initiative to go to the Jiekupu to exchange tax coins.
Government Affairs Hall.
Today, Wen Yanbo is in charge of daily work here. The power of the Tongpingzhangshi has not been weakened as in history, but has been given new checks and balances. Therefore, both Wen Yanbo and Wang Anshi can decide many things. They only need to discuss a major policy with the emperor, and the prime minister can decide the specific matters on his own.
The person who actually presided over the daily affairs of the country was the Council of State, not the emperor.
"Have you heard that the three major tax collection shops in this city hope to borrow one million strings of tax coins from the imperial court?"
Lu Gongzhe, who had just come in, couldn't wait to speak.
Wen Yanbo was shocked and asked curiously, "Borrow one million strings of cash? What are they borrowing so much money for?"
Lü Gongzhuo replied: "The main reason is that everyone has used the tax coins to pay taxes, and there is a shortage of tax coins in the market, but they have a tax coin exchange business. Now they don't have much tax coins to exchange, which will make them lose the trust of merchants."
Wen Yanbo laughed in silence. When they first started this exchange, they were worried that Jiekupu would not have enough copper coins to exchange for tax coins. Unexpectedly, the reality was exactly the opposite of what they expected. He asked again, "Then what can they borrow?"
Lu Gong said: "It is to use copper coins and land as collateral."
Zeng Gong asked curiously, "Since we have copper coins, why do we need to borrow tax coins?"
Lu Gong said: "This is because tax coins are more convenient than copper coins. For Jiekupu, using tax coins is the most cost-effective. Secondly, Jiekupu expects that after paying taxes, there will be a shortage of currency in the market in a short period of time. Having tax coins can benefit them."
At this point, he paused for a moment, "In the end, they thought they wouldn't lose money by doing this, because the tax currency could only depreciate, and the possibility of appreciation was very small."
Wen Yanbo asked, "Doesn't this loan count as interest?"
Lu Gong smiled and said, "These three are the most powerful profiteers in our Song Dynasty. They only intend to print and bear the cost of printing tax coins, but not to pay the interest."
"You don't plan to pay the interest? Do they think the Sansi is a charity?"
"Because they learned that the court wanted Jiekupu to start trading in copper reserves, but they didn't have enough tax coins, so they couldn't exchange them. They knew the court had this need, so they thought they shouldn't pay interest to the court."
“These profiteers.”
Wen Yanbo cursed and said, "But the three departments cannot print tax coins at will."
Lu Gong said: "Jun Shi just learned the news and immediately rushed to the Legislative Council."
Legislative Council.
"Zhang San, is this your idea?"
When Sima Guang saw Zhang Fei, he questioned him.
"I swear."
Zhang Fei raised his hand and said, "It has nothing to do with me. I don't even dare to go out now because I get scolded every day. This is all thanks to Sima Xueshi."
Sima Guang glared at him and said, "Do you think I am still in the dark?"
Whenever he thought about this, he became angry. He was teased by this kid and he couldn't even scold him. It was really annoying.
Fu Bi asked curiously, "What are you talking about?"
Sima Guang quickly said, "Nothing."
Fu Bi just looked at them curiously, but did not gossip. He asked Zhang Fei again, "Zhang San, do you think the Sansi can issue more tax coins to lend to the Jiekupu?"
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "I think this is possible. After all, the Jiekupu is secured by physical objects. If we regard the tax money as loan contracts, the court certainly has the power to decide whether to lend or not.
The only thing we can do is to intervene in this transaction and monitor whether there is any trickery involved and whether the country's wealth has been damaged. It is rumored that the three major warehouses want to borrow money without interest, and this is what we need to pay attention to. "
Fu Bi nodded slightly.
Zhao Yan suddenly said, "What is printed is money. When the treasury is returned in the future, won't it be equivalent to the three departments printing an extra 1 million coins for tax collection?"
Sima Guang nodded and said, "Yes. Perhaps the three departments hope to increase the tax coins through this method."
Zhang Fei said: "But the regulations of the Legislative Council mean that the total amount of tax coins in the market cannot exceed the amount of copper and silk stored by the court, not the amount of tax coins in possession. As long as they collect it and don't give it out, it doesn't count as a violation of the regulations."
Fu Bi nodded, "But this aspect must be supervised. Printing millions of coins at any time, if there is any negligence, it may be crushed to pieces!"
The game got bigger and bigger, and he could hardly bear it.
Zhang Fei said: "We will definitely strengthen supervision. I will go back later and send someone to investigate this matter. In fact, the three major warehouses are more nervous than us. If tax coins are issued indiscriminately, their losses will be more severe than anyone else because they have the most tax coins in their hands."
Zhao Yan asked, "But do they dare to oppose the Three Divisions?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "I'm sure if there is any problem, they will come to the chief judge first."
Zhao Yan was stunned for a moment, then smiled awkwardly.
If there were no public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, these three would not be able to set up the Jieku Shop. This is not only trying to get the skin of a tiger, but actually sending a sheep into the tiger's mouth.
Just then, a clerk came to the door and reported: "Sir, someone from the procuratorate came and said they have something urgent to discuss with Prosecutor Zhang."
Fu Bi frowned and said, "Zhang San, what's the matter you go and see first?"
"yes."
When Zhang Fei came outside, He Zhizhong immediately stepped forward and said, "Prosecutor Zhang, a dozen merchants just came and said that the grain transport company had embezzled their goods and they are demanding compensation."
Zhang Fei was shocked, "What's going on?"
He Zhizhong said: "It is said that another ship sank."
Zhang Fei frowned when he heard this and asked, "Is it true?"
The case of Gao Wenyin was caused by a shipwreck. When he heard about the shipwreck, he subconsciously thought that someone might have embezzled the goods and deliberately caused the shipwreck. This kind of thing is not uncommon even now.
He Zhizhong nodded and said, "It should be true, because they went to Yangzhou to file a lawsuit first, and it was the Yangzhou Imperial Court that transferred the case to the capital."
Zhang Fei said: "Yes! Yangzhou now has the imperial court, why should it be transferred to the capital?"
He Zhizhong said: "According to the
Judging from the complaint, if the case is adjudicated according to the law, the canal transport company may be ordered to pay compensation, but it is not known how the canal transport company will pay the compensation. However, the canal transport company is involved in many matters, and once the case is adjudicated, it may trigger many lawsuits, making it impossible for the canal transport company to perform its duties.
Therefore, Yangzhou transferred the case to the capital."
Why has the canal transportation always been so corrupt? It is because the imperial court cannot do without it. As long as it does not get out of hand, they will turn a blind eye. Zhang Fei nodded and said, "I understand. You wait outside for a moment. I will go and tell Mr. Fu and the others first."
"yes."
Back in the hall, Sima Guang immediately asked, "But about the tax currency."
Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "Another shipwreck occurred on the Canal Transport side, but there were many merchants' goods on board, and those merchants came here to claim compensation from the Canal Transport."
After hearing this, everyone looked worried.
Zhao Yan frowned and said, "Although the canal transport often helps merchants transport goods and earn extra money, from a judicial point of view, this is not in accordance with the rules. I wonder how the judiciary should intervene?"
This is an illegal act, so how should the judiciary judge it?
Zhang Fei said: "It's not clear yet."
Fu Bi said: "Then go back and deal with it quickly."
"yes."
Zhang Fei and He Zhizhong returned to the procuratorate. As soon as they entered the hospital, they heard crying coming from many rooms.
He Zhizhong explained: "Those merchants started crying when they heard about it, and no one could persuade them to stop. It is said that some of them borrowed a lot of money to do this business, and if they don't get compensation, they may lose everything."
"Of course there are gains and losses in business, and we still have to look at the concrete evidence."
After saying that, Zhang Fei went straight to the back hall.
But Xu Zun was discussing with Lu Dian. When he saw Zhang Fei coming, he immediately told Zhang Fei the whole story.
Zhang Fei said: "So we can basically rule out the possibility that someone did this on purpose?"
Lu Dian said: "It's hard to say, but for now, it doesn't seem to be man-made, because the merchants also sent people to follow the fleet and saw the ship sinking into the river with their own eyes.
But there was no flood at the time, and it was not due to the boatman’s mishandling. According to the investigation results in Yangzhou, there must be something wrong with the boat itself.”
Xu Zun said: "But the problem of ships is also a problem of water transport. The court allocates a lot of money every year to repair their ships."
The implication is that the money went into someone else's pocket.
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Then did they explain why their goods appeared on the canal transport ships?"
Xu Zun nodded and said, "This matter is related to the current Sansi Envoy Xue Xiang. When Xue Xiang was the shipping envoy, he found that there was serious corruption in the grain transport and the goods transported were suffering from huge losses. So he mixed official ships and civilian ships together and let them supervise each other. Since then, the grain transport ships can only legally transport merchants' goods."
Zhang Fei asked: "Is there any relevant copywriting?"
Xu Zun nodded and said, "It was approved by the Regulations Department of the Two Prefectures. There are relevant official documents."
Zhang Fei asked again: "Have they signed any relevant contracts?"
“Yes.”
Lu Dian nodded and said, "But they only signed a transportation contract. There is no compensation clause in the contract. According to the merchants, they actually know the contract law, but the government there believes that the canal transport has no right to sign any compensation contract."
As he spoke, Lu Dian handed several contracts to Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei took it and looked at it, and said with emotion: "I haven't seen such a simple contract for a long time."
Xu Zun said: "This is understandable. The corruption in the canal transportation has been going on for a long time. If a compensation contract is signed, some people may collude with unscrupulous merchants to create accidents and demand compensation from the court. There are hundreds of accidents in the canal transportation every year. The local government certainly cannot afford to pay, let alone the court."
The grain transport industry is just a transportation department, not a profit-making department. The grain transport industry cannot afford to lose a single penny. If there is any compensation, it must be paid by the local government or the central government.
If it is caused by corruption, it is easy for the public security, procuratorate and courts to intervene and arrest people, but if it is caused by an accident, it is difficult to argue.
Who dares to start this?
Accidents happen every day in the canal transportation, you should pay for it.
Lu Dian said: "This is also one of the reasons why Yangzhou has difficulty in determining whether to compensate. Moreover, I just looked through the temporary law and found that there are no new provisions on grain transport in the temporary law. It is still the same as before."
Zhang Fei glanced at him with an embarrassed look on his face.
Everyone knows about the problem of canal transportation, but there is no way to deal with it. There are more than 100,000 people involved, and their interests are intertwined. But it is also related to the economic lifeline of the capital, and one move affects the whole body. When encountering problems, the only way is to make a big thing small, or a small thing nothing. When Zhang Fei was judging the case, he always deliberately avoided the canal transportation.
In the process of establishing the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, the principle that Zhang Fei adhered to was that if a situation could not be handled, one should never act stubbornly and would rather turn a blind eye than forcibly establish laws to control it.
At the judicial level, if you try to intervene in matters that you cannot control, it will only backfire on you.
Once the law is broken, there may be a complete collapse.
However, Zhang Fei believes that the time is ripe and it is time to deal with this cancer.
Soon, the news spread and immediately sparked widespread heated discussion in the capital.
This is not a rare thing. It would be a rare thing if there were no problems with the canal transportation. But at this critical juncture, the impact is very bad.
Because the imperial court was in the process of monetization, and monetization was based on more frequent transactions, more merchants were needed to transport goods to the capital.
If not handled properly, it will definitely affect the enthusiasm of businessmen.
There is no trivial matter in the grain transport, and this must be discussed with Wang Anshi, Xue Xiang and others. The key is that Xue Xiang is also one of the important witnesses.
Three offices.
"Yes, it was I who stipulated the mixing of canal ships and merchant ships, because the canal transport was too corrupt and I was powerless. I could only adopt this method to let them supervise each other. If something goes wrong, I will try my best to hold those responsible accountable."
Xue Xiang added: "As for whether it is the problem with the canal boats, it is indeed very possible, because when I first took office, I also found that many canal boats were dilapidated. However, in the canal transportation, anything that requires money is often ignored or shoddy. I have made some rectifications on this, but I never thought that it would return to the same state after only a few years since I left."
Zhang Fei said: "But this problem must be solved, otherwise it will affect the country's overall policy."
Xue Xiang couldn't help but look at Wang Anshi standing beside him.
Wang Anshi hesitated for a moment before speaking: "To be honest, I and the Three Envoys have been planning this a year ago."
Zhang Fei immediately asked, "How does Master Wang plan to solve this problem?"
Wang Anshi said: "The three officials and I both believe that if we want to solve the problem of grain transport, we still have to use the business law, because grain transport is related to the financial lifeline of the country and cannot rely on merchants.
However, following the old system, this situation was inevitable, and the losses caused to the court were immeasurable.
The business law is the only way out. We plan to set up several transportation business bureaus in several important transportation centers to be fully responsible for the court's transportation.
Nowadays, business is booming, and more and more people are selling goods everywhere. As long as this business agency can monopolize it, it will still be profitable."
Zhang Fei nodded. In fact, he had the same idea. If the imperial court had a complete monopoly on the grain transport, the canal would only become completely corrupt. But if it were to be completely handed over to merchants, it would be like the merchants holding the economic lifeline of the Song Dynasty, which was also impossible. Even if he was willing, the imperial court would never agree.
The business department is the only solution.
Taking a middle road, this is what Xue Xiang had done before when he was in the Shipping Department, mixing merchant ships and civilian ships and letting them supervise each other, but this approach only worked when Xue Xiang was there, as soon as he left, things would return to the original state.
This requires the joint efforts of systems and laws.
Zhang Fei asked, "Since Master Wang has already thought of a solution, why didn't he bring it up?"
Wang Anshi said: "This matter is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue, and Minister Deng is not capable of handling such a complicated matter, so I plan to wait for Ji Fu to come back and let him take charge of this matter."
Zhang Fei suddenly realized.
It turns out that this credit was meant to go to Lu Huiqing.
But this is understandable.
Lu Huiqing went to Hebei to help Wang Anshi clean up his mess for several years, so of course Wang Anshi had to repay Lu Huiqing.
Especially now that the court system has undergone tremendous changes, although Lu Huiqing has been promoted to Minister of Revenue, how he will establish his authority when he returns is also a big problem.
If he could solve the problem of water transport, it would be a great achievement and enough for him to gain a foothold in the court.
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Of course, we can wait until Minister Lu comes back to preside over this matter, but even if a business office is established, it will definitely face these problems. So how should the compensation issue be determined?"
He knew Wang Anshi's thoughts too well. If he wanted to monopolize transportation, how could he lose money?
Wang Anshi said: "It depends on the specific circumstances. If it is man-made, or officials deliberately caused the shipwreck to embezzle the goods, then the court should give compensation. But if it is a natural disaster, no one wants it. For example, the court suffered heavy losses in this shipwreck. No one wants it."
Of course it is impossible to compensate. If we do, it will be difficult for the business agency to make a profit!
Zhang Fei said: "Take this case for example. Although the contract signed by both parties did not involve compensation, the responsibility is definitely the court's. The current appraisal is that it was a problem with the ship, not a natural disaster.
There are many problems like this. Establishing a business agency may not necessarily solve these problems. At most, it can only reduce such problems. "
Wang Anshi said: "Doing business is inherently risky. In the past, merchants often encountered
There is nothing we can do about accidents.”
Zhang Fei said: "Master Wang, you misunderstood. I meant that if the business bureau monopolizes the entire transportation industry and lacks supervision, there will definitely be problems. As long as there are problems, if the business bureau does not compensate, it will be almost impossible for the business bureau to monopolize the industry. It may soon be monopolized by businessmen.
It is impossible for the Legislative Council to agree to allow the PPP to monopolize transportation.”
Xue Xiang said: "Isn't this supervised by your public security, procuratorate and courts?"
Zhang Fei said: "First, our public security, procuratorate and courts will require the compensation regulations to be clearly stated. Secondly, our public security, procuratorate and courts have no right and lack the ability to supervise the quality of ships.
The reason why the charity foundation's transportation team has developed so well is not because of our police, procuratorial and judicial personnel, but because the charity foundation's transportation team is guaranteed compensation no matter what accidents occur.
Our public security, procuratorial and judicial organs are only there to ensure that the merchants receive adequate compensation.”
Wang Anshi frowned slightly and asked, "Then what suggestions do you have?"
Zhang Fei said: "Add a security interest party and let this party supervise."
"Security interests?"
"good."
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Suppose a charity foundation sets up a workshop. Merchants can spend money to buy insurance from this workshop. Once an accident occurs, the workshop will compensate the merchant."
Xue Xiang was surprised and asked, "Who dares to do such a business?"
"Don't be impatient, envoy Sansi, just listen to me."
Zhang Fei continued, "For this workshop, if they want to make a profit, they must ensure that there are as few accidents as possible. They will definitely set relevant standards for the entire transportation. Once the standards are not met, they will not accept it. For security reasons, merchants will only choose the transportation team recognized by this workshop.
Only this kind of supervision can really reduce such accidents. The business bureau is backed by the imperial court, which is the most powerful. It can form a high-standard transportation team and thus achieve a monopoly. "
Xue Xiang's eyes lit up, "This is a good idea."
Wang Anshi said: "But this will increase transportation costs, which will cause prices to rise."
Zhang Fei said: "The current corruption in the grain transport system has brought far more burdens to the court. I don't think prices will rise much, because merchants are the smartest and they must have already calculated the risk costs into the prices.
At the same time, fewer accidents means more goods, and because scarcity makes things more valuable, prices will become more stable instead of fluctuating."
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