Judge of the Song Dynasty Chapter 715: Time is on our side

Even Fu Bi and the others did not expect that someone was planning this behind the scenes. They also knew a little about the situation at the border. The ban on Xixia salt all year round caused the Xixia elite to have a large amount of salt and worry about having no place to sell it. , the sudden appearance of such a big gap in the south will definitely attract many people to smuggle.

This is very normal, and of course it is no wonder that Wang Shao was there. In that kind of environment, who would think of guarding against illegal behavior, so no one was surprised by Zhao Xu's attitude.

Compared with the vast territory of Kaibian, the mere private salt is really not worth mentioning.

However, they are interested in the situation after the illegal salt enters the country, as well as the situation in the northwest region.

Political Hall.

“Fan Jingren’s thought of citing this precedent is really eye-catching!”

Wen Yanbo stroked his beard and smiled.

Sima Guang asked: "Where did Duke Wen start with these words?"

Wen Yanbo said: "Just now in the palace, Wang Jiefu said something that was quite right. This salt panic was all caused by the greed of salt merchants, and they have to bear the consequences.

And all of this is because of this legal precedent. Without this legal precedent, even if Xihe was open to restrictions, state governments would still be able to ban it. ”

In his opinion, this is a very classic case. The government has used legal precedents to crack down on hoarding. This has never happened before. In the past, administrative measures were used.

Lv Gong wrote: "What does Duke Wen mean, that the government will use this precedent to crack down on those merchants who hoard?"

Wen Yanbodao: "At least I think this is much better than the establishment of the Market Change Law currently being prepared by the Ordinance Department of the Second Government."

Sima Guang said: "I don't agree with the market exchange law either, but this case can only be applied to some special goods, which must be inseparable from people and cannot be replaced. Wheat alone may not be applicable. , if you don’t eat wheat, you can eat rice. This case should be used with caution.”

Mr. Lu nodded and said: "Jun Shi is right. In fact, in the eyes of many people at the time, the lawsuit was just Zhang San's clever reasoning and unconvincing. This time, Brother Jing Ren might just find someone else. An excuse rather than a sincere agreement with this precedent."

Wen Yanbo said: "I just say that using laws to control prices is better than market changes. We can follow this case and draft new laws."

Fu Bi shook his head and said: "If it can be restricted by law, there will be no Changping Cang method, and it is not necessarily more effective than the market exchange method.

The restricted price is too low, and the merchants can not sell it, and it will not break the law if they do not sell it. If this batch of illegal salt does not emerge, those salt merchants will win. ”

Mr. Lu nodded and said: "The rich man is right, and some of the concepts of Wang Jiefu's Market Change Law are also derived from the Changping Cang Law. The government directly participated in the transaction and purchased some unsalable goods. When the price of the goods is too high, release them again.

But the drawback is also very obvious, that is, if the government is directly involved, it is impossible to make a loss-making transaction. In this transaction, there must be a strong and weak relationship, and injustice will definitely occur. ”

Fu Bi said: "Speaking of this strong and weak relationship, the Legislative Council has previously promulgated the principle of contract, which may give certain restrictions to the market transaction law."

Wen Yanbo shook his head and said: "It depends on people, and the law may not be able to control it. I still think that the Ordinance Department of the Second Government should be prevented from promulgating the Market Change Law."

Sima Guang nodded and said: "I agree."

Fu Bi smiled and said: "That can be stopped!"

While they were discussing prices, the biggest winners of the whole incident, the two masterminds behind the scenes, Zhao Xu and Zhang Fei, were holding a celebration banquet in the palace.

This is a plan they have laid out for several years. Otherwise, it would not have been possible to come up with so much private money in such a short period of time. Now it finally worked and made a lot of money.

Must have a few drinks to celebrate.

"This level has passed."

After a glass of wine, Zhao Xu was excited but also worried: "In the past two years, whenever I think about this matter, I will inevitably feel a little worried."

It would be really embarrassing if others knew about this. Will the emperor's ban be respected in the future? There is a huge political cost to pay, and he has also invested a lot of money. Can he be honest about this?

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "Your Majesty, there are definitely risks in this kind of thing, but the right thing is that wealth can be found in danger. After this transaction, let's not talk about the price difference of salt. Just the transportation loss will be saved. Nearly 300,000 yuan."

Precisely because the cost is high enough, the harvest is not small.

"Are there so many?"

Zhao Xu said in surprise.

Zhang Fei nodded and said: "Before, Hezhong Prefecture secretly transported the solution salt to the counties and counties near Xihe to replace the grain, and then transported the grain directly to the Xihe area. This reduced a lot of losses. After all, The loss of transporting grain is much higher than that of transporting salt.

Now this salt profit is directly deposited into Xihe Jiekupu, about 2.8 million guan, which is enough to support the consumption of the Xihe area for more than a year. Without this money, by At that time, the imperial court had to mobilize grain and grass from various places to transport it, which was another huge loss! ”

Zhao Xu nodded: "That's it."

Due to the inconvenient transportation in ancient times, this loss actually accounted for the majority. If the loss can be saved, most of the expenses can be reduced.

Zhang Fei added: "Oh, I am already thinking of a way to slowly return the money to His Majesty's treasury."

"Really?"

Zhao Xu was a little embarrassed.

It is said to be a celebration, but in fact it is also a settlement of accounts. The cost of smuggling was all paid out of the emperor's own pocket, and the money still needs to be recovered!

Zhang Fei nodded and said seriously: "First of all, it is the capital invested by Your Majesty. We have secretly transported the highest quality green salt to the capital, Daming Mansion and other places. When these green salts are sold to those dignitaries, The proceeds will be deposited into Majiajiekupu and then transferred to His Majesty’s treasury.

The reason for doing this is to save transportation costs, and then part of the benefits can be given directly to the traffickers as their hard work. If you just transport the money, you will have to pay a lot of **** fees. . ”

Zhao Xu just nodded slightly, as if expecting something.

You can’t just get back your capital when doing business!

What kind of deal is that?

There must be profit!

Zhang Fei added: "And of the net profit of 2.8 million guan, 1.6 million guan has been counted as Xihe's military expenditure from the second half of this year to the first half of next year.

But this money was supposed to be dispatched by the imperial court from various places. Then the money dispatched by the imperial court from various places will also be deposited in Majia Jiekupu, and the money and food will not be transported to Xihe Instead, it will be returned to the capital, and Xihe Jiekupu will pay directly. The transportation costs and losses saved by this are about one hundred thousand guan, and this money will also be counted as His Majesty's. ”

Zhao Xu couldn't help but feel filled with joy, but he said: "This is all used to expand the territory. There is no need to calculate it so clearly. Just get the capital back."

"That's not possible. Your Majesty has to take the money even if you don't want it." Zhang Fei shook his head decisively.

So domineering? I like it! Zhao Xu asked: "Why?"

Zhang Fei said: "Jiekupu is not doing charity. If the court did not allocate money, Jiekupu would give so much money to the Xihe area. The ministers would definitely ask where the money came from, and then they would be exposed. This The accounts are still clear!"

"Okay then!"

Zhao Xu reluctantly accepted it and said: "Don't transport this money back to the capital for the time being. Store it there for emergencies. The real war with Xixia has not yet begun."

When the time comes, if you transfer again, you can earn tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of freight, which is really not too exciting.

From Zhang Fei's point of view, he is willing to help Zhao Xu make more money, because he can't touch the treasury's money with Sima Guang and his group of ministers looking at it. If Zhao Xu has more money, it will be too much for him. The promotion of public prosecutions and law enforcement is also of great help.

The key point is that Zhao Xu is also very thrifty. The reason why he is stingy and loves money is because he hopes to save more money for war and use it for his political ambitions, rather than for enjoyment.

Of course, his life is still much better than that of Sima Guang and Wang Anshi. Those two people really live a saint-level life. They are simple and shameless, but they are incomparable to Han Qi and the others.

Zhang Fei nodded and said: "At that time, I will instruct Jiekupu to convert this money into copper coins and grain. If there is no need, it will be used for lending and doing business. Money will make money when needed. When the time comes, send them to Bianzhou."

Zhao Xu nodded and said: "Do you think we can continue to rely on this business of smuggling salt to finance the opening of the Xihe River?"

He tasted the sweetness, and he didn’t want to let it go.

Zhang Fei thought for a while and said: "I'm afraid this will be difficult, because according to the original plan, we can only earn one million yuan at most. It is really those salt merchants who helped a lot. They created a salt panic and caused our salt It came out quickly and the price is not low."

Zhao Xu said curiously: "Since we have so much private salt, even if the shipment is slower, we can still make a lot of money, so the difference will not be so big."

"Your Majesty has not considered the financial revenue of the salt industry."

Zhang Fei explained: “If there is no salt panic and a large amount of private salt emerges, it will destroy the credibility of Jieyan. In other words, no salt merchants dare to buy large quantities of Jieyan anymore. We may still lose money, but Jieyan is still the financial foundation of the northwest region."

Zhao Xu nodded slightly, "That's true."

The impact of private salt is actually on own business. The reason why this wave is successful is that Hezhong Prefecture first sells all the salt in its hands, and then sells private salt. The risk is borne by the salt merchants, but on the surface, it is them If they don't hoard what they make, the government will have to defend their interests.

It is legal for them to pay such a high price to buy salt solution.

If the government does not crack down on private salt, who will buy the official salt?

Zhang Fei added: "However, it is still possible as a subsidy. We can smuggle some high-quality green salt and sell it to dignitaries from various places, making high profits from it without bringing too much to Xixia. financial interests, and at the same time, it can also divide them internally."

Zhao Xu nodded and said: "But it may take some years for Xihe to be completely settled. The military expenditure is indispensable."

Having said this, he added: "The Public Security Bureau has brought so much wealth to Hezhong Prefecture, can it achieve the same success in Xihe?"

Zhang Fei said: "I have a general understanding of the finances of Hezhong Prefecture. It is mainly due to the decrease in expenditure and the increase in tax revenue. The main credit for the increase in tax revenue is the tax department. The people's wealth has increased by less than 30%, but I estimate that in the future It will continue to grow, and the driving force for growth comes from the growth of people's wealth.

However, the Xihe area currently does not have the basis for collecting taxes. We can only maintain Xizhou, an important trading town, and use our dynasty's tea and silk to exchange interests there, and then purchase food locally to promote local agriculture. Reclamation, while minimizing transportation losses of grain and other materials. ”

Zhao Xu frowned.

Zhang Fei knew that he couldn't wait any longer. If Xihe succeeded in opening the border, he would be in a position to double-team Xixia. He had saved some money in the past few years, so he said again: "Your Majesty, you are still very young now. The right time, the right place, the right people, and all the people are all on your Majesty's side. We just need to wait patiently. The so-called accumulation is hard. It took Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty to destroy Tuyuhun and the Eastern Turks. It only took a year or two. The time is on our side."

Youth is an unparalleled advantage.

Zhao Xu smiled and said: "Can we compare with Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty?"

Zhang Fei said: "If Your Majesty does not want to compete with Tang Taizong, then...then there is no need to attack, just defend."

Zhao Xu laughed and said: "I can't compare to your Erbi."

Zhang Fei said again: "Your Majesty, we still need to wait patiently. The matters on Jingdong East Road and Hebei have not yet been resolved. As the saying goes, in order to deal with foreign affairs, we must first settle the domestic affairs."

Zhao Xu nodded and said, "By the way, how is the situation on Jingdong East Road?"

Zhang Fei said: "As far as I know, the debt problem has almost been solved."

Qingzhou.

As early autumn approaches, Qian Yi and Fan Chunren, who have been here for more than a year, are leisurely walking along the river with willows for the first time.

At this time, the two of them only have one feeling, that is, they are debt-free and light-hearted!

The debt claims that lasted for half a year were finally sorted out and all compensation was paid.

"It was said before that the Public Security Bureau was lacking, but now it seems that the Taxation Department is lacking!"

Qian Yi couldn't help stroking his beard and sighed: "If there was no tax department, this matter would probably have to be busy until next year."

Fan Chunren smiled and said: "Brother Qian, there is no need to belittle yourself. If it were not for our public prosecutors and law enforcement agencies, the tax department would be the number one robber in the world and could subvert the entire society. Do you believe it?"

Qian Yi smiled and nodded, "Now the government is debt-free, and the annual salary expenditure has been reduced by 70%. This is even when our expenditures on public security, procuratorate, and law are included, but the tax revenue has more than doubled. It’s a very easy life!”

The expenditure was cut by more than half, but the tax revenue was more than doubled. No government in any state had ever fought such a wealthy war, and the entire government felt extremely relaxed.

You must know that a year ago, the government was directly facing bankruptcy.

What a blessing in disguise.

Fan Chunren said: "It's too early to say this now. The key depends on whether the business method can be successful."

Qian Yi suddenly looked around and looked at a large house on the other side of the river, "Isn't that the School of Law?"

Fan Chunren turned his head and said, "It seems so."

Qian Yi suddenly thought of something, "Has Shen Tianjian ever approached you and asked you to teach at the School of Law?"

Fan Chunren nodded and said: "I should have found you too."

Qian Yi nodded and added: "It is said that more students signed up for the School of Law and School of Arithmeticology, followed by the School of Medicine, and the least for Agriculture."

Fan Chunren said: "Everything in the world is prosperous, and everyone wants to benefit. Nowadays, the public security system is highly respected, and officials who are familiar with the law have been promoted to a certain extent. Naturally, more people study the law. The same is true for the arithmetic school. ."

Qian Yi said: "I just don't know if the tuition money can supplement the teacher's salary."

Fan Chunren said: "I know that the business of the hospital and Di Newspaper Hospital seems to be pretty good, especially Di Newspaper Hospital, which is making a lot of money every day."

Qian Yi said: "That's because they can get the first-hand news from the capital. It happens that there are a lot of things happening in the capital recently, including hearings and the Imperial City Department. We will wait for a while Take a look."

Business Department.

"Shen Tianjian, take a look at this textbook that was just printed."

Yan Jidao handed a book to Shen Kuo.

Shen Kuo took it, but was not in a hurry to read it. Instead, he asked: "Dean Yan, who makes more money, printing books or printing newspapers?"

Yan Jidao was stunned and said truthfully: "Of course I make money by printing newspapers."

Shen Kuo said: "Then you have to focus on printing newspapers and periodicals. Now among the public institutions, the most profitable one is your Di Newspaper Institute, but Di Newspaper Institute cannot accommodate too many officials. The business of the hospital is in As expected, the business of the college that can best place those officials is far less than that of the Di Bao Yuan, and it may still need support from the Di Bao Yuan."

Yan Jidao said: "Shen Tianjian, the academy is used to teach and educate people, how can we talk about profit?"

"You can't say that."

Shen Kuo said: "The key to career law is to make everyone self-reliant. If the college does not get too much benefit, the teachers will inevitably slack off, and teaching and educating people will be impossible. Those officials do not volunteer to be teachers. , but was forced to have no choice."

"That's true." Yan Jidao nodded, a little worried in his heart. If he came to be a teacher for money, would he mislead other students? "Actually, there are many students in the college and law school. I heard that there are two More than a hundred people."

Shen Kuo said: "But the stamina is weak. Most of the people who sign up to study are the children of businessmen, such as the children of the gentry. There are still relatively few people here. Their families have pretty good tutors.

We also have to find ways to get more people to study so that the college can make more money. ”

Yan Jidao said: "If Shen Tianjian manages the college based on money, I am afraid that the college will not be successful."

"I am in charge of business law, and what I seek is money. Only in this way can I reduce the financial burden, and the management of the college must be managed by myself."

Speaking of this money, Shen Kuo suddenly had an idea and asked: "Dean Yan, what do you think these businessmen want by sending their children and grandchildren to study here?"

Yan Jidao said sarcastically: "It's nothing more than fame and fortune."

He was also thinking that those who study do it for fame and fortune, and those who teach do it for fame and fortune. There seems to be nothing wrong with it.

Shen Kuo said: "In other words, letting them come to study is also to make money in the future."

Yan Jidao nodded.

Shen Kuo said: "If they can make money in the future, why not lend them money to study?"

Yan Jidao shook his head and said: "I don't know what Dean Shen means by this?"

Shen Kuo said: "It's very simple. Let people lend money to more people to study. After they finish their studies, they will be able to make money to pay off their debts, plus some interest. Wouldn't it be wonderful?"

Yan Jidao was stunned by this idea, "If we do this, we must first ensure that they can make money, and they have to study for a few years. With this money, it is better to lend it to farmers and businessmen, since it is guaranteed , the interest rate is still high, no one will borrow this kind of money."

"That's true."

Shen Kuo nodded and said to Yan Jida: "Now I have to suffer a lot, Dean Yan, so that I can make more money."

Yan Jidao thought for a while and said: "Then we have to discuss it with the imperial court and prohibit merchants from printing newspapers. In this case, they can make more money."

Shen Kuo nodded.

Qizhou.

With the heavy attacks of the Taxation Department and the Police Department, many well-known bandits were attacked one after another, and many wealthy gentry were also captured, so Qizhou is now calm.

Nowadays, when you go to the suburbs, you can see groups of Royal Police galloping on the road at any time.

Because under the reforms of Song Shooyue, the commander of the front department, the imperial army was slowly integrated into the police station, Qizhou instantly became the state capital with the most police officers.

The police station also has the greatest power here. From patrolling to catching thieves, the police station handles everything single-handedly.

But Qizhou is not only a problem of bandits, but also a problem of debt. However, contrary to Qingzhou, in Qingzhou, officials make compensation to the government, while in Qizhou, the government makes compensation to the people.

This is all caused by the Qingmiao method.

Majiajiekupu.

"Brother Hong, thank you so much for your generous help."

I saw a gentle middle-aged man offering his hand to a young man.

This young man is Hong Qi.

Hong Qi hurriedly raised his hands and said, "There is no need to thank Mr. Huang. We will also charge interest when we untie the warehouse."

A middle-aged man with a big belly on the opposite side said: "Yes! This Jiekupu is not a charity. If you don't pay by then, you will have to give away the land. What's the difference between me and me?"

"Humph!"

The officer Huang waved his sleeves and said, "Even if I give away the land for free, I won't let an old fox like you succeed."

The middle-aged man glanced at Hong Qi and said, "So you just put yourself into the hunter's mouth."

"My debts with you have been cleared, and we have nothing to do with each other anymore."

"Just wait and regret it."

The middle-aged man smiled coldly, took the servant, took the money and left.

Although Majia Jiekupu purchased the debts from the emperor with a heavy sum of money, it also expanded very rapidly throughout Jingdong East Road.

Because Majia Jiekupu launched a three-year debt contract, which is similar to a mortgage, the first-class and second-class households that were forced to borrow money from big landlords due to the Green Crop Law the previous year all mortgaged their land to Majia. The family opened the storehouse and loaned out the money to repay old debts.

This made Majia Jiekupu famous in one battle and made the people accustomed to dealing with them.

I had just seen off the two of them and was about to turn around and go back to the store when I suddenly heard a shout. I turned my head and saw a man in short brown clothes running over.

Hong Qi raised his hands and said, "It turns out to be Brother Zheng."

He was born in the market. Although he is now one of the largest businessmen in Qizhou, he remains very humble towards everyone and can chat with anyone for a long time.

"Brother Hong, there are two dollars in total here. As you promised, as long as you pay it off before the middle of this month, this month's interest will not be counted."

"Yes."

Hong Qi smiled and nodded, "But Brother Zheng, where do you make so much money?"

The man named Zheng said: "There are plenty of things to do outside now. As long as we are willing to work hard, it is not difficult to make money. We really don't want to owe other people money now."

Hong Qi nodded with a smile and immediately called for someone to handle the debt procedures for him.

Majia Jiekupu is willing to accept the bad debts from the emperor's hands. The main reason is that Zhang Fei promised them that when the Changping Division is promoted, young crops and large-scale projects will be used to help people restore their livelihoods and they will be able to repay.

Wang Anshi did not lie to others, he spent a lot of money and invested it in farmland water conservancy.

Northern suburbs.

I saw numerous people standing by the fields, all looking eagerly at a ditch in the distance.

Suddenly someone shouted: "It's coming! It's coming!"

The people immediately stood on tiptoe.

I heard a crash in the distance.

But a clear torrent instantly penetrated the entire ditch, and the entire field would be irrigated.

The people on the edge of the field cheered immediately.

There were two young men in their thirties sitting under the tea shed not far away. These two people were Su Shi and Zhang Dun.

Su Shi sighed when he saw the rejoicing people.

Zhang Dun asked: "Why did Zizhan sigh?"

Su Shi said: "I lament their ignorance. They have been teased so hard, but they are still moved."

Zhang Dun didn't know why and asked: "Who is teasing them?"

Su Shi asked: "Brother Zhang, doesn't he know where the money to build the ditch comes from?"

I would like to ask more about what this sentence is about. The corner of Zhang Dun's mouth twitched and he abruptly changed the subject, "Zizhan, your method of water control, in my opinion, is better than most water conservancy officials. Now Hebei is recruiting talents for water control. Does Zizhan have any ideas?" /

It is true that gold will shine wherever it is. Farmland water conservancy does not require money, it requires technology, and Zhang Dun is not very good at this aspect. Fortunately, Su Shi is here, and he took action to manage Qizhou's rivers. It was so well organized that Zhang Dun really admired him.

Just as Daming Mansion needed such talents, Zhang Dun wanted to recommend Su Shi to Daming Mansion, that is, to get Wang Anshi to come over.

"Not going."

Su Shi's tone was very firm.

Zhang Dun asked curiously: "Why?"

Su Shi said: "Do you think this ditch would have been completed without the public security organs?"

When Zhang Dun heard that he had a gun and a stick in his mouth, he was filled with strange anger. He immediately became unhappy and continued, saying: "No wonder Zizhan, you are so talented, but you have been idle in the south of the Yangtze River for several years. Today I Now I know the reason."

Su Shi's eyebrows twitched. This was the pain of his life. He stood up and said, "The Procuratorate still has a lot of matters waiting for me to deal with. I'll take my leave."

The implication is that that was before, but now I am very busy. I have two or three lawsuits a day, and I still have to find time to help you treat the water.

He walked out of the tea tent with his head raised, but suddenly turned around and said, "Just consider this tea money as my reward."

Zhang Dun was stunned for a long time, smiled and shook his head, "Such a talent has such a big mouth, no one is perfect!"

But he never thought that if Su Shi didn't agree with the farmland water conservancy law, how could he help him? It's just that Su Shi's mouth was indeed a bit unreasonable.

In his opinion, it is really ironic that you, the young man, stole all the people's money and now you appear as a great philanthropist.

But then again, it’s better than nothing.