Fortunately, Zhang Fei ran away quickly, otherwise, he would have been caught and talked about.
Because as soon as he left Xizhou, a war broke out on the border between Xizhou and Xixia.
In fact, in February of this year, Queen Mother Liang of Western Xia nominally returned power to their king, but in reality Queen Mother Liang still held the highest authority.
But no matter what, she is no longer morally justified, so she can only rely on means to consolidate her power.
The Song Dynasty was a key factor in her consolidating her authority, because the Western Xia ruler Li Bingchang was relatively pro-Song, especially liked Han culture and Confucian etiquette, so his side all advocated Han etiquette, but many nobles in Western Xia were firmly opposed to Han etiquette and they wanted to promote their own culture.
Since Empress Dowager Liang was a Han Chinese, she had to be more anti-Song than others in order to gain power in Western Xia.
For Empress Dowager Liang, making enemies with the Song Dynasty would not only gain her the support of many nobles in the country, but would also allow her to use this opportunity to strike a blow against Li Bingchang's power.
It kills two birds with one stone.
Before returning power, Empress Dowager Liang had already provoked conflicts with the Song Dynasty by blocking the trade route with Xizhou, but she overlooked two points.
First, merchants are willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of profit. Many merchants still take risks and smuggle salt, medicinal materials and other high-profit commodities to Xizhou.
...
...
Second, on the border with the Xihe region, the power of merchants is considerable, and they also have the support of the pro-Song faction in the country and the Xihe region.
The pro-Song faction in Western Xia were not fools. How could they not see the intention of Queen Mother Liang? If they did not resist, they would be waiting for death. However, they did not dare to openly resist Queen Mother Liang. They could only fight against her through merchants.
With the support of the pro-Song faction in the country and the Xihe region, the Xixia merchants on the border directly gathered troops and broke through the checkpoints set up by Empress Dowager Liang, and also killed the officials sent by Empress Dowager Liang.
This immediately caused turmoil in Western Xia.
Queen Mother Liang directly ordered her brother Liang Yimei to lead troops to suppress the rebellion.
When Liang Yi looked over and saw that Xizhou was actually sheltering these smugglers, how could he not know what was going on?
So he led his troops directly to invade the border, intending to intimidate Xizhou.
But unfortunately, his own ability was not enough for him to show off, and he was repelled by Wang Shao's troops. Although with the military strength of Xihe, attacking was very difficult, defense was still a problem. Of course, Liang Yimei did not lead an elite force to Xizhou.
If the elite troops are transferred here, what will happen to the northern front?
The main forces of the Song army are all over there!
In fact, the two sides fought a small battle.
Empress Dowager Liang knew clearly what the Song Dynasty was planning, but it took two to tango. After all, the Song army had not invaded the border. It was mainly the pro-Song factions in the country who were causing trouble. To resist foreign aggression, one must first stabilize the internal situation. So she simply closed the trade with the Song Dynasty.
Anyway, the Song Dynasty won't trade with my people, only with those pro-Song factions. If this is not closed, their power will become stronger and stronger.
He then arranged for his trusted men to lead the troops to be stationed on the border.
In fact, this situation was an open one for all three parties. The pro-Song faction in Western Xia was also very clear about it. If they did not continue to make trouble and Empress Dowager Liang had time to spare, they would be finished.
Therefore, the pro-Song dignitaries also began to increase their support for the border. The key is that they will not lose money by doing this, because what they are fighting for is the trade channel. The more closed you are, the higher the price of smuggling will be.
However, Xizhou was also cooperating by driving up the price of salt. In fact, there was no need to drive it up, because even if the price of Xixia salt increased, it would still be cheaper than Jie salt and Shu salt.
Since there is profit to be made, the merchants in Xizhou are also beginning to get excited.
The key point is that they found that Xixia could not invade, so for them, this became a money-making business.
Coupled with Wang Shao's propaganda and Ma Tianhao and others' operations, the demand for Western Xia goods continued to increase, causing Xizhou merchants to begin to form caravans, quietly entering Western Xia to smuggle, and following those Western Xia merchants to deal with the local garrisons.
Anyway, it has come to this, our heads are already on the line, and Xizhou is welcoming us with open arms, so we might as well just go for it. At worst, we can just run to Xizhou.
Yunzhen Temple.
"Please rest assured, Envoy Wang, the salt we are purchasing now is not enough to affect Jieyan's profits. Moreover, we will leave some of the inferior salt in Xihe for the local people to use, and the good salt will be taken away by merchants from all over the country and sold to their local tycoons."
"Then I feel relieved."
Wang Shao nodded and said, "The salt administration is no small matter. We should be careful. If it affects the interests of the court, we will be impeached again."
Ma Tianhao nodded and said, "We will be very careful about this."
Wang Shao asked again: "How is the situation at Yunzhen Temple recently?"
Ma Tianhao said: "It has fully recovered, and even exceeded previous years. This is mainly because Xixia took the initiative to close the market, and the chaos on the border caused many Western merchants who originally traded through Xixia to choose to go through Xihe. Compared with last year, we have issued 100,000 more banknotes."
The banknotes of Yunzhen Temple can very well reflect the economy of Xizhou. These banknotes are not conventional currencies, but are just for the convenience of transactions. Just by looking at the banknotes on the market, you can know the economic situation of Xizhou.
Lu Bin on the side suddenly said: "Envoy Wang, is the Queen Mother of Xixia so confused? Can't she see our plan?"
Wang Shao said: "This is a power struggle. If you look at it from the perspective of a conflict of interests, then you naturally won't understand it. In fact, the advantage is still in the hands of Queen Mother Liang, because those nobles who support her will also become more supportive of her."
Lu Bin nodded and said, "I see."
At this time, a sheriff came in and whispered something in Wang Shao's ear.
"Yeah?"
Wang Shao laughed when he heard this.
Ma Tianhao asked, "Envoy Wang, what's the matter?"
Wang Shao asked, "Didn't Queen Mother Liang station troops here?"
Ma Tianhao nodded.
Wang Shao said: "As a result, those soldiers also started to engage in smuggling business themselves."
"???"
Ma Tianhao and Lu Bin looked at each other.
But Ma Tianhao quickly realized, "Yes! We are all risking our lives anyway, how can being a soldier make more money than smuggling?"
"That's exactly the point." Wang Shao laughed.
Lu Bin suddenly said: "Why don't we send someone to tip them off and let them kill each other."
Wang Shao waved his hand and said, "Don't worry for now, because our goal is to stop the policy of the Queen Mother of Xixia. As long as she can't close the trade with Xihe, she will fail, and then she will definitely become more aggressive."
......
Yanzhou.
"hehe."
Zhong Yan, who had just arrived in Yanzhou, laughed and said, "This time the Queen Mother of Xixia is really going to lose both her wife and her army!"
Zhe Jishi said: "What do you mean?"
Zhong Yan said: "The Queen Mother of Xixia closed the market, which was clearly intended to strike at the dignitaries who supported their king. This caused the dignitaries near Hengshan to panic, but they could not defeat the Queen Mother Liang with their own power, so they all came to me, hoping to get the support of our Song Dynasty.
I haven't even mentioned it yet, but they've already taken the initiative to ask us to follow Xizhou's example and use smuggling to counter the ban by Empress Dowager Liang."
Yao Si said: "But most of Xixia's elite troops are here, and the risk of smuggling here is not small."
Zhong Yan said: "They have already divided the four areas. Those places are all within their sphere of influence. There shouldn't be any problems for the time being. Now it depends on how the talks go on your side."
Zhe Jishi said: "We are also going well here, Fan Da from Jiekupu is here..."
"Mr. Fan, this name sounds familiar." Zhong Yan frowned.
Zhe Jishi smiled and said, "The young master of Baifanlou in the capital, and the shopkeeper of Jiekupu in Hezhongfu."
Zhong Yan immediately said, "I remember now that 50% to 60% of our soldiers' salaries are paid at their Jiekupu."
"Brother Zhong is right."
Zhe Jishi nodded and said, "After he arrived, he quickly gathered all the smugglers around here together."
Zhong Yan was surprised and asked, "Is this person so powerful?"
Zhe Jishi said: "Those smugglers have been using their Jiekupu to remit the profits to Hezhong Prefecture and even to the capital. But this is only one of the reasons. Another reason is that the previous trade with Xizhou made our merchants very dissatisfied. Didn't they often complain to us at that time? Xihe banned everything, but we banned everything here. This is unfair.
And now, because of Xizhou, the Queen Mother of Western Xia closed the few remaining trading houses here, which further aroused their anger. Now that we have relaxed it, they are thinking about making a big deal.
If they join forces with our people, their power will not be underestimated. As for the profits, they can cover the military expenses of the soldiers we send to Xixia."
Zhong Yan snorted, "These unscrupulous merchants are really good at calculating their accounts. In the current situation, their smuggling risks are even greater, so they need protection."
Zhe Jishi said: "Let's do the math. If the cost of these people and weapons is borne by them, then we will gain a lot."
The military funds are supposed to be allocated to them, but the actual expenditure is borne by the smugglers. Does that mean that all the money is given to them?
These generals of the Western Army were actually engaged in smuggling because they also needed money to support their troops. The military pay from the court was definitely not enough for them. If the military pay was insufficient, the soldiers would have no fighting capacity.
That is why, despite fighting, they had very good relations with some of the Xixia nobles.
......
Dengzhou.
Dibaoyuan.
"Chen Shoucheng has met Dean Yan."
"No need to be polite, young man."
Yan Jidao asked again: "What's the matter, young master?"
Chen Shoucheng said: "In reply to Dean Yan, your story magazine is now very popular among sea merchants. It's so boring on the ship. If there are stories to read, it can kill time. The key is that the dean's stories are really well written. It's really fun to read them. I haven't missed a single one.
Now we find that your hospital's accident magazine is more expensive than some commodities when it is traded at sea, so why not just sell this story magazine directly? It is really a waste to send it out with the package of goods."
Yan Jidao asked doubtfully, "Really? Do these sea merchants know Chinese characters?"
Chen Shoucheng said: "Not everyone can recognize Chinese characters, but there are usually people on large ships who can recognize Chinese characters. Usually, they read to the boatmen. Now many boatmen are learning to recognize Chinese characters just to read this story.
So, could your hospital come up with more stories, and preferably print them into books to sell? Money is not a problem.”
Yan Jidao hesitated for a moment and said, "Okay, I can try my best to urge them to print more."
After Chen Shoucheng left, Yan Jidao came to the lobby in the middle, but saw dozens of literati sitting in the hall and on the corridors, writing stories.
This group of people was also the first external propaganda team of the Song Dynasty.
"Brother Yan."
But then a scholar came over and bowed to Yan Jidao.
This person's name is Huang Tingjian, and he is the dean of Dengzhou Dibao Academy. Of course, he was recommended by Yan Jidao.
Yan Jidao bowed in return, "Lu Zhi, can you write this story faster and with more content?"
Huang Tingjian said: "Brother Yan, we can write more about this story, but Brother Yan asked us to write about the situation in the North Country, which restricts us."
Yan Jidao said: "I didn't expect that our story would be more popular at sea. As long as the approach remains unchanged, there is no need to focus entirely on the situation in Liao territory."
Huang Tingjian nodded and said, "Then we can write more."
......
Yangzhou.
In the description of the literati in the capital, Yangzhou seemed to be in dire straits, but in fact it was very lively.
It can even be said that the most lively place in the Song Dynasty today is Yangzhou.
Because Yangzhou suddenly endured a series of reforms that had been brewing for several years.
Public security, procuratorial and judicial organs.
Department of Taxation.
Official system reform.
Water transport reform.
Business law reform.
In the past one or two years, all the money has fallen on Yangzhou.
This is so exciting!
Royal Court.
"Qi Xiye, you mean that with so many lives lost, the imperial court actually...actually turned a blind eye?"
An old teacher glared at Qi Hui with gritted teeth.
Qi Hui said with grievance: "The chief judge has made the final judgment. There is no room for maneuver. I have no choice. Moreover, our Yangzhou judicial officials have also been criticized for this matter. This is the first time since the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs have implemented it."
"Grand Judge, Grand Judge, that fellow is just a minor official, what right does he have? Does the Grand Judge have the final say in the court now?"
"It's the law."
Qi Hui had been suffering from the dilemma and was very angry. Facing their endless entanglement, he stood up suddenly and said, "I warned you all at the beginning not to confront the tax commissioner head-on. They will really use crossbows to bombard the gate of your house. But you didn't believe me and wanted to fight the tax commissioner.
The result is that the tax commissioner is collecting taxes according to the law, but you are evading taxes. If you bring the case to the court, who will be able to speak for you?
I, Qi Xiye, have done my best for you all. You can continue to make trouble. If something happens, don't come to me for help. I can't help you. I still have to go to the examination room. Excuse me!"
After saying this, he waved his sleeves, ignored these old masters, and walked out the door.
He was originally in Xiangfu County, and because of an adultery case, he was very depressed. He ran to Yangzhou, but was criticized and harassed by them every day.
As public security, procuratorial and judicial officials, Su Che was famous throughout the northwest. Everyone knew him. Local officials had to take a detour when they saw him. Qian Yi and Fan Chunren also had the final say in Qingzhou. Even debt restructuring was handled for them.
He just had to suffer the humiliation here, and sometimes he really felt that he was too easy to talk to.
Of course, Wang Anshi certainly disagreed.
......
examination room.
Qi Ji, who was supervising the examination, saw Qi Hui coming and immediately stood up and greeted him, "Judge Qi."
Qi Hui snorted angrily, "You are drinking tea here, enjoying yourself, while I am being scolded over there. You really deserve to be brought up by Zhang...Grand Judge."
Qi Ji was so confused by the scolding that he said awkwardly, "Judge Qi, I also want to share the burden for you, but I don't have the status. They only look for you and not me."
Qi Ji was born as a minor official. No matter who knew him, he could not be compared with Qi Hui, who came from a family of officials.
"The most difficult thing in the world is the human relationships!"
Qi Hui sighed and looked into the examination room again, "There are quite a lot of people here!"
Qi Ji nodded and said, "The public security, procuratorate and courts are always their first choice, especially after they have seen the authority of the public security, procuratorate and courts. The next is the college and the newspaper office. The hospital can be almost ignored."
Qi Hui nodded and said, "Minister Sima has sent a letter. If you want to join the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs, the names and scores need to be announced in newspapers. Those officials with good conduct must be selected."
Qi Ji nodded and said, "I understand."
......
The way to implement the official system reform is very simple and crude, which is to stuff everything into the public security, procuratorial, judicial and public service agencies. If there is no government agency that wants it, then just lay it off without any further fuss.
But under normal circumstances, this situation is unlikely to occur, mainly because the police station is currently short of police officers who can read and write.
......
Government office.
"Minister Wang, my decree on the tax on grain imports and exports in Yangzhou no longer needs the consent of others?"
Yangzhou prefect Xianyu Qun looked at Wang Gui with a little nervousness.
Wang Gui smiled and nodded, "Yes, as for matters like this regarding the state's finances, as long as they do not violate the law, Xianyu Zhizhou can make his own decisions, but the responsibility also lies with Xianyu Zhizhou."
Xian Yuqian nodded and smiled, "This is a good thing! We can finally do something practical. Although we no longer have judicial power, everyone has their own responsibilities and the division of labor is clear. This is much better than the past when people passed the buck to each other!"
After that, he asked again: "But who should I find to issue this decree?"
Wang Gui said: "You can find the clerks in the government, but it is better to find the royal police. They are numerous and stationed in various places. They can quickly convey the orders of Xianyu Zhizhou."
Xian Yuqian asked again: "So does the police station belong to the judiciary or the administration?"
Wang Gui said, "It all counts."
Xian Yuqian nodded and asked, "Then should we still rotate every three years?"
Wang Gui said: "No, it depends on the performance for promotion."
Xian Yuqian said happily: "Good, good, good! This is really great."
Excited!
For talented officials like them, official system reform is simply good news. Although their power has been weakened, it is still real power in their hands and they can do something with it!
.....
On the dock.
"Su Qin has met Director Cai."
The grain officer who was counting at the dock saw Cai Jing coming and immediately went to greet him.
Cai Jing asked: "How is it?"
Su Qin laughed and said, "These wealthy people really won't cry until they see the coffin. They waited until the judgment of the chief judge came, and then they took out the grain to sell."
"Humph, if they didn't have protection, they wouldn't have such wealth. None of them would be able to judge the situation. It's wishful thinking to try to force the court to change the law with just a few lives."
Cai Jing sneered and asked, "How much grain did you collect?"
Su Qin said: "One hundred thousand stones."
Cai Jing nodded and said, "It's almost done."
Su Qin whispered, "In fact, we can collect a little more."
Cai Jing said: "We can't collect too much. I just got the news that the prefect Xianyu is preparing to issue a tax on grain imports and exports, which will soon stabilize grain prices."
After the final judgment of the Grand Court President came out, the big landlords in Yangzhou saw that there was no way to turn the situation around, and they began to sell their grain, otherwise they would be fined again this year. This immediately caused panic, and grain prices plummeted. Cai Jing had already expected this, so he had been waiting to buy it.
Su Qin complained: "Is it necessary to be so anxious about the government office?"
Cai Jing smiled and said, "This is different from the past. After this reform, if the prefect wants to be promoted, he must take care of the local people, including business. They will definitely not care about us."
Su Qin added: "Then how do we transport the grain to the capital? I heard that the reform of the grain transport system is still in progress. I'm afraid it will not be possible this year."
Cai Jing said, "I just came from there. We have already discussed it. Let's try to see how much it will cost to transport the 100,000 dan of grain. They also plan to make changes while transporting it."
......
As various reforms were implemented one by one at the local level, the entire Song Dynasty seemed to be rejuvenated, and all prefectures and counties were bustling with activity!
The capital city naturally did not want to lag behind, and the appearance of the Grand Court President seemed to have changed the power structure in the court.
No one had thought that the Chief Justice could bring about such a big change.
Zhang family.
Xu Zun had just returned home and found Zhang Fei and Gao Wenyin playing with their two sons in the courtyard. He couldn't help but ask curiously, "Zhang San, you have been busy with the affairs of the Supreme Imperial Court recently, so why are you resting at home again?"
This "again" is indeed more spiritual.
Zhang Fei first pulled his two sons to pay their respects to Xu Zun, and then explained: "The Supreme Imperial Court has the help of Sima Xueshi, so there is nothing I can do."
Xu Zun said unhappily, "Why do you bother Scholar Sima with everything you have to do?"
"My son-in-law won't."
Zhang Fei said: "Your Majesty wants to select some Grand Secretaries from the various cabinets to go to the Supreme Imperial Court, but I don't know any of those Grand Secretaries. Sima happened to be willing to help, so..."
The Grand Chief Justice has already started two big things since he took office, but currently he doesn't even have an office. This is not right, so Zhao Xu quickly granted the Supreme Imperial Court an office, and then established the Imperial Court Grand Secretary, selecting a group of people from the various cabinet scholars to enter the Supreme Imperial Court to assist the Grand Chief Justice.
Anyway, it's enough to show respect.
“You!”
Xu Zun shook his head helplessly. He really couldn't understand Zhang Fei's character sometimes. He said, "Go upstairs. I have something to tell you."
"yes."
Zhang Fei handed Zhang Xing and Zhang Buzhi over to Gao Wenyin, and followed Xu Zun into the house.
"Recently, the court has been in an uproar over the Xizhou household registration issue, and most officials are opposed to it."
"Why?"
Zhang Fei asked.
Xu Zun replied: "The main reason is that everyone thinks that area has been away from the Central Plains for too long, and there are many Tanguts and Tubo in the area, whose customs and culture are very different from those in the Central Plains. They think these people are difficult to control, so they still hope to adopt a control system. Only Wang Jiefu and Xue Shizheng are more supportive of reforming the Xizhou household registration system, but they only expressed their views in a tactful way and did not force it too much."
At this point, he sighed, "I think this is difficult. After all, there have been many foreign riots in history, and everyone is very vigilant about this."
Zhang Fei nodded, then looked at Xu Zun and asked, "What do you think, father-in-law?"
Xu Zun hesitated for a moment and said, "To be honest, I have some reservations about this, but of course I still follow your opinion. It's just that there is so much resistance in the court. Even if you are the chief judge, you have no right to make decisions for the Political Affairs Hall. After all, how to determine the household registration is not the power of the chief judge."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "I can't help them make decisions, but I can force them to make decisions. To be honest with you, father-in-law, I've had enough of the court's efficiency. They can argue for a long time over trivial matters. It's time to whip them a few times."
......
Legislative Council.
"In my opinion, this household registration issue may not be possible."
Wen Yanbo shook his head and said, "I just spread the word a little bit, but I encountered great resistance in the court. Even Wang Jiefu only verbally agreed. Moreover, I heard that Lu Huiqing and others did not want to be involved in this matter. It can be seen that they do not want to bear this responsibility."
Fu Bi stroked his beard and nodded, "In that case, it all depends on the methods of our chief judge."
Wen Yanbo said, "The household registration issue must be decided by the Political Affairs Hall. The Grand Court President can only intervene through litigation, but cannot help our Political Affairs Hall make a decision. If the Grand Court President has such great power, then what is the purpose of the Political Affairs Hall?"
Fu Bi said: "That being said, I think he can definitely do it. This is his third major move. He actually dared to bring this up, so he must have a way to solve it."
Wen Yanbo couldn't help but look puzzled.
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