Judge of the Song Dynasty Chapter 785: Start

As early as a few years ago, when Zhang Fei borrowed a charity foundation to form a transportation team to replace Yamen, he had actually thought about the insurance industry.

But I just thought about it, because at that time, it was really unimaginable to engage in the insurance industry.

In the end, this transportation team bears everything. If the goods are lost, they will compensate. The solution is to increase the transportation price and strengthen their own strength. This transportation team is also the only one outside the imperial court that is Armed forces are allowed to exist.

However, the leader of this transport team is the emperor's personal guard, and is actually still under the emperor's control.

Moreover, the business undertaken by this transportation team is actually only a small part, which is dedicated to transporting expensive goods, such as copper coins, jewelry, silk, etc.

Water transportation is not involved.

Because there was no power to change water transportation at that time.

But this time and that time.

Not only has the Public Security Bureau grown up and the administration of officials has improved, but it is also difficult for the Public Security Bureau and the Procuratorate to solve the water transportation problem on its own.

Because water transportation is systemic corruption, if the system is not changed, the role of the public security organs, procuratorates, and law will actually be very limited.

This is not the first time Zhang Fei has faced this situation, and his approach is to use Wang Anshi's reforms to connect with the Public Security Bureau.

The New Deal and judicial reform are not two parallel lines, but two wavy lines. There are many overlaps in the middle. The two are complementary to each other. It is impossible to just build the public security law, even if the emperor lets you toss it around. successful.

Because the law requires clear boundaries, but in many current systems, the boundaries are very blurred or even non-existent. The public security organs, prosecutors and law are also powerless in this regard.

Now that the internal strife among the imperial court has begun to weaken, the imperial court has the power to solve this problem.

The question now is how to connect water transportation with the public security organs and law.

This is back to the same old path.

The reform policy proposed by Wang Anshi is to split water transportation and set up business agencies one by one to move in the direction of profitability. After commercialization, the public prosecutor and the law can intervene to eliminate corruption.

However, Wang Anshi ignored one issue, that is, this business department is different from hospitals, colleges, and newspapers, because it cannot be left without it. If the college's business is not good, it can close its doors directly, but this business agency cannot close its doors. No matter what they do, the court must cover it up.

Compared to the WFP run by Cai Jing, this industry has high losses, many accidents, vast territory, high mobility, many people and many hands, and is extremely special.

Based on this alone, it is difficult for the public security organs, prosecutors and law to carry out comprehensive supervision.

The insurance industry is about to emerge.

The insurance industry will formulate shipping standards, and then the Public Security Bureau and the Procuratorate will protect the interests of the three parties through a tripartite contract.

This is the only way.

Although the establishment of the insurance industry will inevitably increase costs, considering the losses of water transportation and the manipulation of officials along the way, it is nothing.

Wang Anshi and Xue Xiang agreed to Zhang Fei's suggestion after checking the losses of water transportation.

After the three people agreed, the routine remained the same.

It is the procuratorate that takes the lead in attacking.

Legislative Council.

"We have sent people to confirm. If the current evidence is correct, our procuratorate will initiate administrative proceedings, and the government should compensate those businessmen."

"According to the contract they signed, there is no compensation provision." Zhao Peng questioned.

Zhang Fei said: "But that's because the government refused to sign the compensation regulations, and the businessmen have made demands for this. Of course, this alone is untenable. The main reason is that in the past few years, the three divisions Even in the shipping department, merchant ships and tanker ships were mixed for effective supervision, which left those merchants with no choice.

And all the current evidence is realistic. At the time of the incident, the sea was calm. According to the confession of the boatman who survived, the boat was very dilapidated and should not have appeared on the river. It was It suddenly cracked from the bottom so that the entire ship disintegrated.

Using such a dilapidated ship to transport goods is obviously a problem of water transportation, and they should bear full responsibility. ”

Fu Bi said: "But have you ever thought about it, this may trigger more lawsuits and cause water transportation to fall into chaos or even stop operations. The court cannot afford the consequences."

Zhang Fei said: "I have been thinking about this issue, but this is the only thing our public security organs can do. Only by doing this can we urge the court to reform water transportation and safeguard the interests of the country. This is not a natural disaster, it is This man-made disaster could have been avoided."

Fu Bi looked at Zhao Bian again.

After Zhao Pian thought for a while, he nodded and said: "Everyone knows that this water transport is the most corrupt and the most damaging to people's livelihood. It is time to rectify this."

After Yu Fubi and Zhao Pian discussed it, Zhang Fei asked people to spread the news.

It is said that the Procuratorate may initiate litigation against water transportation.

This is really a stone that stirs up a thousand waves!

Water transport affects too many interests. Leaving aside those corrupt officials, most of the materials needed by the civil and military officials of the dynasty and the hundreds of thousands of forbidden troops were transported to the capital through water transport.

Just rumors make officials in the DPRK and China very worried. They are also putting pressure on the public prosecutors and the judiciary to varying degrees. You can't prosecute this casually, or big trouble will happen.

As for water transport, they are confident because this case does not involve corruption. As for why a broken ship was used, water transport even said that he was also a victim because the money given by the court was too little, so water transport took advantage of it. Ask the court to increase water transportation expenditure.

This is the main reason why water transport can survive.

Because water transport is just an accomplice, the culprit behind the scenes is actually the court.

They didn't give enough money at all, but the tasks only increased instead of decreasing. Doesn't this imply that the water transport itself will be squeezed and exploited?

This situation is most likely to give rise to institutional corruption.

You only give me ten cents, but you let people do the same work for the same amount of money. If you don’t use evil methods, you can’t accomplish it at all.

Go to the imperial court to reason and see who is embarrassed.

The water transport officials are greedy for this kind of money, and they really don’t panic at all.

Since these are just rumors so far, it has not been said that the Procuratorate is really going to prosecute. The Royal Court and the Legislative Council only said that everything is currently under investigation. The only thing that can be confirmed is that the Procuratorate is targeting The case is investigated.

Everyone can only put pressure on the public security organs, let the public security organs take their time, and put the overall situation first.

Little did he know that he was actually waiting for Lu Huiqing to come back.

Xue Xiang is not paying attention to this matter at all, they are busy with his monetary policy.

Since everyone’s attention was focused on water transportation, the third company found an advantage and quickly reached an agreement with the three major Jiekupu.

But there are still some differences from the previous rumors. In the previous rumors, the three major Jieku shops were trying to borrow one million yuan interest-free, but the final agreement was based on one thousandth of a year. With interest, the three major Jiekupu borrowed one million guan from the imperial court.

In fact, this is not much different from interest-free. It is purely for fun and to give the court a little favor.

Once this news was confirmed, the market’s concerns about currency were immediately eliminated.

At the end of the year, secret reports came from Xihe in the west and Yongzhou in the south.

Zhao Xu also immediately summoned Zhang Fei into the palace.

"The south is temporarily stable."

"Really?"

Zhang Fei was overjoyed when he heard the news. In fact, he had always kept this matter in mind, because he couldn't remember when the fight was won, but now starting a war in the south is definitely not in line with the interests of the Song Dynasty. Regardless of winning or losing, only Xixia and Liao took advantage.

Because before the sea transportation was completely opened up, that land actually had very little effect on the Central Plains, and at the same time it would increase a lot of management costs.

The Song Dynasty currently faces the enemies Xixia and Liao. This is a two-front battle and cannot spread its forces any longer.

"Yeah."

Zhao Xu nodded, but said with lingering fear: "But this process is more dangerous than we imagined. In fact, Jiaozhi has been plotting against our country's Yongzhou before, and in recent years, due to the loss of the law and the green crop law, This led to local money shortages, dissatisfaction among landlords and chiefs, and turmoil in the local situation. In addition, after the Xihe River spread to Jiaozhi, they were ready to take action and have been mobilizing troops at the border.

When Guo Kui led his troops to settle in, Jiaozhi thought that our army wanted to strike first, so they immediately sent troops to Yongzhou. Fortunately, Guo Kui arrived in time and repelled the enemy.

However, since Guo Kui was ordered to go there, he did not take advantage of the victory and pursue it. Instead, he sent an envoy to question Jiaozhi, who explained that it was just a misunderstanding.

Later, the two sides negotiated, and Guo Kui agreed to strengthen trade with Jiaozhi, which made Jiaozhi believe that Guo Kui's troops were not stationed to attack them.

But Guo Kui believes that this Cochin wolf is only willing to reach a settlement when our army arrives and is not sure of victory. We should also strengthen border defense. ”

Zhang Fei nodded and said: "After finishing dealing with Xixia and Liao, they will be the fish on the chopping board. We must make them look good."

A flash of excitement suddenly flashed in Zhao Xu's eyes and he said: "Now the opportunity seems to have come."

Zhang Fei was surprised and said: "What chance?"

Zhao Xu said: "Our original plan against Xixia seems to be about to succeed."

"Plan?"

Zhang Fei was a little confused.

Zhao Xu was very dissatisfied and said: "You have forgotten, haven't you suggested that I use private salt to split Xixia internally?"

Zhang Fei was surprised: "So fast?"

After all, this is just a little private relationship, and it hasn’t been done for a few years. As for splitting directly?

He is really cruel and doesn’t talk much!

Zhao Xu said: "This is just an introduction, mainly because Empress Liang is currently in power in Xixia, and the young master of Xixia will come of age next year, so according to the law, Empress Liang must return power to the young master.

However, judging from various signs, Queen Liang does not seem to intend to hand over power.

After our previous arrangements, the merchants currently trading with Xihe are all nobles and merchants who support their young master. According to Wang Shao’s letter, these people have really strengthened their trade with Xihe. Less power.

But it also attracted the attention of Empress Liang and her younger brother. They planned to attack the power of the young master of Xixia first, so they banned them from trading with Xihe on the grounds of selling grain to Xihe.

This exposed the ambitions of their siblings, which caused great controversy in their country. Someone from Xixia is already contacting Wang Shao, hoping to get support from our court, and Wang Shao thinks this is a great opportunity. ”

Zhang Fei hesitated: "But there is a Liao Kingdom above that is watching covetously."

Zhao Xu said excitedly: "But this opportunity cannot be missed! Only by creating civil strife among them will we have a chance. Otherwise, we will have to fight on two fronts."

Zhang Fei pondered for a while and suddenly said: "When I checked the accounts of the charity foundation before, I thought of a question."

Zhao Xu was stunned for a moment, "What's the problem?"

The topic was so exciting that he couldn't even react.

Zhang Fei said: "I wonder if Your Majesty has noticed that the fastest developing technologies in China are pen, ink, paper, inkstone and printing."

Zhao Xu said: "I didn't notice it, but what does this have to do with this matter?"

Zhang Fei also explained: "The reason why these technologies are developing so fast is because the emergence of newspapers and periodicals has led to a huge demand for these products, so that businessmen are constantly innovating.

Similarly, the same is true for firearms. The period when firearm technology developed the fastest happened to be when the Royal Police on Jingdong East Road used firearms to suppress bandits.

Therefore, if you want to develop firearms, you must rely on war and not behind closed doors. ”

Zhao Xu immediately said: "Isn't this just right?"

Zhang Fei said: "But firearms are not yet mature at present, and the number of times they have been used on the battlefield is only a handful. Most generals do not know how to use them. If a large-scale war is launched, firearms will not be of much help and will be difficult to use." Play to your strengths.

But if it is a small-scale war, for example, quietly sending people into Xixia to give them internal separatist forces and provide firearms support, this will not only accelerate the innovation and improvement of firearms, but also explore the tactics of using firearms. ”

Zhao Xu still seemed a little hesitant. To give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a weapon would not be putting the cart before the horse.

Zhang Fei added: "Your Majesty, with this kind of slow intervention, the situation will be more controllable, whether it is the domestic finances or the Khitan people in the north. Moreover, through this kind of intervention, we can remove those people from their youth. Lord, come to our side, and avoid making wedding clothes for others in the future. When the time is right, we will send out troops.

In the past, we had no choice but to adopt the custodial system. However, the shortcomings of this system are also obvious, that is, it is prone to rebellion. But now we have the Public Security Law, and facts have proven that the Public Security Law can very well integrate foreign races into our dynasty and accept them. Central management. ”

Hearing this, Zhao Xu felt a little moved, but he could no longer let Xixia become an independent regime. He can make peace with you today, and he can stab you tomorrow, and asked: "What do you mean?"

Zhang Fei said: "We will continue to act according to the original plan and continue to provoke internal struggles among them. At the same time, depending on the specific situation, we will secretly send troops to support them, but mainly with firearms."

Zhao Xu hesitated: "But the firearms are very expensive."

It is not cost-effective to support others with such expensive weapons.

Zhang Fei said: "Of course you can't use copper firearms to shoot. In fact, the reason why the weapons inspector showed us copper firearms last time was mainly to ensure that they were foolproof. Bamboo and iron firearms are not completely unusable."

Zhao Xu nodded slightly.

Zhang Fei added: "What your Majesty has to do now is to dispatch some generals who are good at using firearms from Jingdong East Road to the Xihe area. At the same time, he secretly builds several large-scale firearms workshops in the northwest region. According to what I know As you know, the northwest is very rich in iron ore and coal mines."

Zhao Xu suddenly thought of something and said: "Actually, before you went to Hezhong Mansion, the northwest was mainly about casting iron coins. There were many coin minting workshops there, but now those workshops have been abandoned. Those workshops can be , for firearms."

Zhang Fei said happily: "This is really the best."

Zhao Xu added: "However, it is not appropriate to let the courtiers know about this matter yet. You let Li Bao and the others arrange it. If there is money, I will allocate it from the internal treasury."

At present, all the ministers of the DPRK and China are focusing on domestic affairs. If they know about this kind of thing, they will definitely oppose it.

Zhang Fei said: "I will pay for the construction of the workshop. This will better conceal the situation from others. Your Majesty has recently allocated a lot of money from the internal treasury."

Zhao Xu was stunned for a moment and said: "This is not a small sum of money."

Zhang Fei nodded and said: "I know this, but there is no one in my family who spends money, so I have saved a lot of money, but it has no use leaving it there. My philosophy has always been to use the money. ."

Zhao Xu was very happy and said: "If all the powerful people in the court can be like you, why worry about Xixia being immortal!"

Zhang Fei hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, thank you. I am here today only because of your Majesty's care. This is what I should do."

Zhao Xu nodded with a smile and said: "By the way, Wang Shao's letter also mentioned that the entire Western Front must cooperate with this plan, so to complete this plan, a commander is needed. ”

When it comes to this issue, Zhang Fei is actually very depressed.

Looking around, I really can’t find a suitable commander.

Unlike the Tang Dynasty where there were Li Jing, Li Ji, and Su Dingfang, one generation after another could not stop at all. Even a few decades later, there were commanders like Zongze, Zhongshidao, Wu Jie, Yue Fei, and Han Shizhong. .

The current situation is a leadership vacuum.

This is also related to the system of the Song Dynasty, which could not train commanders.

Zhang Feisi thought about it and said: "For the time being, I think Wang Shao is the most suitable. This plan is mainly to split Xixia, not a head-on confrontation. They are not suitable for Zhong'e, and Wang Shao is on the edge of Xihe River. He played this trick, and he also proved that he is a talented commander."

Zhao Xu smiled and said: "Do you know who Wang Shao recommended?"

Zhang Fei asked: "Who?"

Zhao Xu said nothing, just looked at him with a smile.

Zhang Fei pointed at himself in disbelief: "Me?"

Zhao Xu nodded.

Zhang Fei immediately said: "Your Majesty, I take back what I just said. This Wang Shao is not a commander. He doesn't know people at all."

Asking him to engage in diplomacy is already reluctant enough, but fortunately it only allows him to delay, not let him actually talk. Asking him to be the commander-in-chief is no different from suicidal.

Zhao Xu laughed and said: "The reason why Wang Shao recommended you is because you were kind to Zhong E and other generals of the Western Army during the military trial, and Zhong E and the others were quite prejudiced against Wang Shao, so Wang Shao I’m not recommending you to lead troops to fight, but I’m asking you to be responsible for persuading those Western Army generals to cooperate with this plan.”

Wang Shao is very much in favor of this infiltration and separatist plan. He prefers this kind of outside strategy, but it is difficult to complete it in the Xihe area alone. The entire Western Front must work together.

But the Western Army is currently very unhappy with Wang Shao and cannot listen to him.

Wang Shao knew about this plan and Zhang Fei was also involved. He wanted Zhang Fei to persuade the generals.

Zhang Fei weighed it for a while and said, "If it's just to convince those Western Army generals, I would be willing to make a trip."

Zhao Xu nodded, "I actually hope that you can go there, because now in the entire northwest region, only Yanzhou, Fuzhou and other places have not implemented public security laws."

In places like Fuzhou, the system is quite special. Basically, everything is controlled by the family. Cai Bian and Su Che have no way to implement the public security law in the local area.

But Zhao Xu obviously hopes to use the public prosecutors and law to check and balance these warlords.

In fact, he didn't have much trust in Wang Shao at first, and he was planning to transfer Wang Shao back before. After all, Wang Shao had been there for too long and was about to reach the point of being a military envoy.

It was later that he learned from the Privy Council that Wang Shao took the initiative to transfer nearly half of the army to the Royal Police, and Cao Ping came to accept it. He felt relieved and considered letting Wang Shao serve as the Royal Police. commander in chief.

Zhang Fei said: "But if we rush to implement the public security law there, will it cause misunderstandings among the generals of the Western Army? After all, this civil and military discord will affect the operations of the frontline generals."

Zhao Xu asked: "Do you have any better suggestions for this?"

Zhang Fei thought for a while and said: "I suggest that only the public security system be introduced. As for the selection issue, the opinions of the generals of the Western Army should be fully considered. This can also ensure local unity."

Zhao Xu nodded and said, "It's up to you."

There is no rush, you can take your time.

Zhang Fei nodded and said: "Then I will go there next year and implement all the things about the firearms workshop."

"I'll have to work **** you again."

"I dare not, this is all my responsibility."

"By the way! How are you handling the water transportation issue?" Zhao Xu suddenly asked.

Zhang Fei said: "Now we will wait for Lu Shangshu to come back from Hebei. What Wang Xueshi means is to hand over this task to Lu Shangshu."

Of course Zhao Xu knew what was going on.

Zhang Fei suddenly said: "But this is just right."

Zhao Xu asked: "How do you say this?"

Zhang Fei said: "The improved water transportation can strengthen the transportation of grain to the south of the Yangtze River, so the grain in the northwest can be hoarded to cope with this plan."

As he spoke, he suddenly thought of something, "By the way! Your Majesty, do you still remember that I mentioned the Jingdong East Road shipping issue to Your Majesty last time?"

Zhao Xu nodded: "Of course I remember."

This contains strategies for dealing with the Liao Kingdom.

Zhang Fei said: "Based on the current food dispatch, it is difficult to transport food from Lingnan to the capital, and it is not very cost-effective for the WFP to purchase it from there.

We can try to transport the food there by sea, first to Jingdong East Road, and then to the capital via the river. ”

Zhao Xu asked: "Is this possible? Shipping is very risky."

Zhang Fei said: "If water transportation is split into business agencies, I think they will definitely try sea transportation, because they need to save costs so that they can make more money."

Externally, Zhao Xu only informed the ministers about the conflict with Jiaozhi in the south, and said that the misunderstanding with Jiaozhi had been resolved.

Conservatives are very happy with this.

This is enough to prove that Zhao Xu really wants to focus on the country.

Although Wang Anshi is a little unhappy, there is nothing he can do. This is the general trend!

At this moment, Lu Huiqing finally came back from Hebei.

Wang Anshi also immediately gave Lu Huiqing a large gift.

Lu Huiqing was very excited. This gift was very important. He could use this to control the entire water transportation. This power was not small!

"My mentor treats Hui Qing with such kindness, Hui Qing will definitely not let his mentor down."

"When you do things, I always feel at ease as a teacher."

Wang Anshi chuckled.

After Zhang Fei learned that Lu Huiqing was back, he no longer hid it and formally submitted a complaint to the imperial court.

This made many ministers extremely angry.

You’ve already tried to persuade me like this, why can’t you stop trying to persuade me?

How come you don’t understand the stakes involved?

Judging from Zhang Fei's past style, once there is a lawsuit in the imperial court, God knows how many things will happen.

At this moment, Lu Huiqing stepped forward, rushed to the imperial court as soon as possible, and brought a lot of evidence.

"This is the account of our Ministry of Household's water transportation expenditure and the responsibility of water transportation. This is almost impossible to complete, but water transportation is still working hard to complete the tasks assigned by the court. They can use ships that have been in disrepair. Forgiven."

Lu Huiqing said righteously: "If we want to hold the water transport responsible, it will be very unfair to the water transport and will also chill the hearts of the canal soldiers."

After Zhao Pian looked at the evidence submitted by Lu Huiqing, he looked at Zhang Fei again.

Although he disliked Lu Huiqing very much, he had to admit that what he said did make sense.

Zhang Fei said: "But those businessmen are also innocent. If they are left alone, this situation will only get worse."

Lu Huiqing said: "If we go to the imperial court, won't the situation become even worse? Your procuratorate can't just focus on enforcing the law and ignore reality."

Zhang Fei pondered for a while and asked: "I wonder if Lu Shangshu has any suggestions on this?"

Lu Huiqing said: "I think the big issue should be minimized. In the final analysis, this is just a matter of compensation. We can strive to reach a settlement with those businessmen. There is no need to go to the imperial court."

Zhang Fei nodded and said: "But our procuratorate has to take into account the national interests. No matter what the reason is, water transportation has been derelict in this incident. If it is not stopped, it will only continue to harm the national interests. ."

Lu Huiqing said: "Our Ministry of Household Affairs will improve this situation."

Zhang Fei thought for a while and said: "If the Ministry of Revenue can improve this situation, our procuratorate is willing to withdraw the prosecution."