Judge of the Song Dynasty Chapter 751: Internal worries and external joy

Chapter 751 Internal Troubles and External Joy

When Cai Jing took office, he immediately went to the granary to borrow grain on behalf of the WFP.

The director of the granary was unhappy when he saw four or five prosecutors accompanying Cai Jing. Now in the financial department, when he saw the people from the prosecutor's office, he was like seeing the **** of plague, so he said to Cai Jing: "Isn't it possible that Director Cai is afraid?" We are making things difficult for you, and we are bringing people from the Procuratorate to help you."

Cai Jing was stunned for a moment and said with a smile: "Misunderstanding, what a misunderstanding! I just happened to meet them."

"It's not a coincidence."

A young inspector came over and said, "We are here under orders. Firstly, we are here to find out the situation in the granary in the capital. Secondly, we are also supervising the WFP."

Hearing this, the principal snorted, turned and left.

Cai Jing smiled softly and thought to himself, you are quite lucky. When you meet your mentor, you just send a few students here. If it is Prosecutor General Su, it will be enough for you to drink!

Taking this opportunity, Zhang Fei is also stepping up his efforts to exercise the authority of the Procuratorate, which is to conduct comprehensive supervision of warehouses and tax coins. In the future, this will become a routine practice.

The Procuratorate is more than just an official office that files lawsuits.

Any store.

In a private room, three middle-aged men were seen standing in front of the window sill, looking at a grain shop across the street. In front of the grain shop, a brand-new sign slowly rose up, with the words " Two words - WFP.

As long as this trick is used, it means cooperation with the WFP, and these are the only food shops that only accept tax coins to purchase food.

After watching for a while, the three middle-aged men returned to the wine table and sat down.

These people are Liu Ping and Chen Xiang, the famous big landowners in the capital, and Cao Huai, the big grain merchant.

"It seems that the WFP wants to support these small grain merchants to deal with us." Chen Xiang couldn't help but said with worry.

Liu Ping said disdainfully: "These small grain merchants only have so much grain at home, let alone twenty or thirty. Even if they were put together, they wouldn't be able to release much grain. The main thing is grain from the WFP." ."

Cao Huaidao: "Can we think of a way to buy all this food?"

"Someone has thought of this a long time ago."

Liu Ping shook his head and sighed, "But for the time being, there is still no way, because the court stipulates that purchases can only be made with tax coins, and currently the tax coins have not been issued, and even if they are, they will probably be issued in What is in the hands of the people cannot be in our hands."

Chen Xiang suddenly said: "Don't underestimate these small grain merchants. They are inextricably linked to those small owners. If all the small owners unite, they should not be underestimated."

Liu Ping said: "Don't worry, what the court is doing is also very detrimental to the small owners. Originally, this was a good opportunity for them to make a fortune. Now, it's not easy to sell the grain, or not to sell it. They may hate us more than we do, but they will not let go of the food easily until it is necessary. Most of the owners now support us."

Chen Xiang said: "But in half a year, we will have to pay warehouse tax. We are not afraid, but those small owners may not be able to sustain it."

"If we really wait until then, we will lose."

Liu Ping said: "The advantage now is on our side. The court's food is used for the royal family, soldiers, horses, and officials, and it also has to deal with emergencies. In any case, the court is determined not to release all the food. I suspect that the court is just trying to scare people."

Cao Huai nodded and said: "This is true. In fact, dragging it out is beneficial to us. We will lose and get some food. But if there is a slight disturbance in the court, then everything may be lost. At present, There is a drought in Gyeonggi, Hebei, and Huainan, and we don’t know how long it will last. The chances of the court making mistakes are greater than ours."

Liu Ping said: "There are also high-ranking officials in the DPRK who are all on our side. It's just that it's not convenient for them to speak out at the moment. As long as we resist it, it will be fine."

Chen Xiang suddenly said: "Otherwise, let's secretly transport the food out first. This way, it will be safer."

Cao Huai sighed: "Now that the Royal Police have taken over the dock, it is very difficult to transport food out."

"Even if you are lucky, there may be tricks on the other side."

Liu Ping said: "It's not like you haven't seen the methods of the Taxation Department before. If we are caught, it will become the same as last time. With the handle in their hands, we can only kneel down and beg for mercy. . Maybe they are waiting to do something stupid, so at this critical moment, we must not do anything illegal. Oh, and don’t think about turning grain into wine, the tax department will definitely keep an eye on it, because in the bill It is stipulated that this extra wine will be taxed at 300%."

The last time they fought for tax exemption, they lost because they broke the law first, and their lives would be lost if they fought, so they were very cautious and determined not to break the law.

Due to Zhao Xu's aggressiveness, the powerful, landlords, and some members of the scholar-bureaucrat class are gradually uniting the front. They will definitely not give in easily. They are all old foxes who have lived for decades. How can they allow you to be a little emperor? Sitting on our heads to pee.

This is simply a disgrace.

It’s just that they don’t dare to speak out at the moment, so they can only compete with the emperor secretly.

After all, the court's plate is too big, and there are too many places to use food. If there is a slight disturbance, everything may be lost. Compared with now, even if they lose, they will lose a sum of food.

They are still very confident, after all, gentlemen and gentlemen are one.

As far as the imperial court is concerned, the bill has been promulgated and the food is already being transported. Now it is the Ministry of Industry's turn to perform.

Zeng Gong, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, has not shown up in recent days. Because he was running around in other places, he cursed Wang Anshi half to death in his heart. Every time he was promoted, he encountered difficult things.

In fact, until now, the Ministry of Industry does not have a complete plan, because these projects are not meant to be done casually. Money must be spent wisely, and the court is not wealthy.

However, due to the court's regulations, tax coins must be used to buy food, and there was not enough time for them to make perfect preparations. Many people were waiting for the court's relief plan.

As a result, Zeng Gong could only start some projects first, including the construction of public security organs and the river channels that were in disrepair.

The project has just been finalized, and the people who are crying for food are rushing forward. As long as they are given money, we will do it no matter how hard and tiring it is, and the wages are still quite high.

We have already entered a period of drought. If it were not for the low tax revenue last year, the people would have been complaining.

And this time, it was the first time that the soldiers participated in the fortifications in the name of the construction group, but this time they were more relaxed, mainly guiding and managing, and all the people working were civilians.

Today Wen Yanbo and Lu Gongzhu met in the suburbs. On the one hand, they could relax and on the other hand, they could inspect the disaster situation. The two elders slowly walked forward along the river that was about to dry up.

"Uncle Hui, what's going on in your family?"

Wen Yanbo asked with a smile.

Lv Gongzhu shook his head and said: "Mostly I don't want to. Everyone has the habit of storing food. If there is no food around, they will feel uneasy."

The Lu family is definitely a famous family in the court, and their food is inexhaustible!

"That's not the case either."

Wen Yanbo said: "Look at Junshi, one time at the end of the year, I saw his servants running to buy food in a hurry."

Lü Gongzhu hurriedly said: "There are a few people in the government and the public who can reach the level of Junshi and Mr. Zhao."

At this point, he sighed again, "To be honest with Mr. Wen, I actually think that this warehouse tax is not excessive. Isn't it just converting grain into money? If everyone puts grain in the grain shop , you can buy it at any time, isn’t that different?"

Wen Yanbo smiled and said: "Where do you think those big landowners got their fields? They just relied on natural disasters to annex the land with a small amount of grain. If they handed over the grain to grain merchants, how could they go there?" Annexing land. In addition, they do not believe in the imperial court, so they will definitely fight to the end."

Lü Gongzhu asked: "I wonder what Duke Wen thinks?"

Wen Yanbo said: "The concerns of the officials are not wrong, but they should not be too radical. They always want to get it done once and for all. But there is no such easy thing. The key is that the right time, place and people are not with the officials. On the other hand, if this drought lasts longer, they will definitely try their best to blame the officials for the drought. When the time comes, they will be attacked from both sides, and the officials will feel uncomfortable."

Lv Gong said: "Then what should we do?"

Wen Yanbo pondered for a while and said: "Try not to offend both sides and deal with it well. If something happens, we can stand up and mediate the dispute so that the country will not lose control."

Lü Gongzhu nodded slightly, and suddenly heard the sound of banging coming from the opposite side. He turned his head and saw that there were twenty or thirty people on the opposite side, very busy.

Wen Yanbo couldn't help but ask: "What are they doing?"

"It seems to be a police station."

"A police station should be built here too?"

Wen Yanbo suddenly asked: "By the way! How many police stations are they going to build? Our political hall has not yet received a report from the Ministry of Industry."

Lü Gong wrote: "The main reason is that the people are waiting for food to save their lives, and the Ministry of Industry has not yet determined the final plan, so it did not report it to the Political Affairs Hall first, but I heard from Zigu that the entire Gyeonggi area is estimated to need to be built. Qianjia police stations are about the same in Hebei, and a little less in Huainan and other places, but there are still six to seven hundred."

"How much more?"

Wen Yanbo looked at Mr. Lu in shock.

Lv Gongzhu nodded, "Anyway, this is the order he received. This time the public security organs and the government will be completely separated."

This is purely physical separation. At this time, most of the public offices of the Public Security Bureau and the Procuratorate have been transformed from some previous offices or even shared.

However, the public security system is very different from before, and it is also very inconvenient to use.

Now we take this opportunity to re-establish a complete set of services, which is tailor-made for the public security organs and law enforcement agencies.

Wen Yanbo said: "But there is no need for so many police stations."

In the past, a county seat was also a county government office.

Lv Gong wrote: "The main reason is that there are many branches and they are close to the docks, so they have to be built in the countryside."

Wen Yanbo immediately realized that this was to completely take over the countryside, and of course the purpose was to weaken the gentry and big landowners. He said: "But are there so many people?"

“The most important thing the police station lacks today is people.”

Lv Gong wrote: "The police station has never stopped training the Royal Police. New Royal Police officers join every month, but they are all transferred from the Third Yamen, so there will be no more. As for the burden on the court, I think the official plan is to build the royal police into a force that can maintain law and order in peacetime, but at critical times, it can also act as soldiers and go into battle to kill the enemy. This is how Jingdong East Road is arranged now."

Wen Yanbo nodded and suddenly said: "Uncle Hui has discovered that every time there is turmoil, the public prosecutor and the law benefit greatly from it."

Lv Gong smiled and said: "Wen Gong only discovered it now. I had discovered it a long time ago. Otherwise, how could that boy Zhang San work so hard?"

"Yes! It was all caused by that boy."

Wen Yanbo shook his head and said: "I have to admit that this kid's ability to find opportunities to find opportunities is really first-class!"

Lv Gong said: "There is one more thing."

Wen Yanbo looked at Lu Gongzhu doubtfully.

Lv Gong wrote: "Even if the public security bureaucracy can really solve difficult problems, otherwise, he will not be able to exploit every opportunity."

Wen Yanbo nodded slightly.

Why does the Public Security Bureau expand once a problem occurs? Isn't it because the Public Security Bureau can solve the problem and get the opportunity for the next expansion?

Alum Tower.

In a private room on the second floor.

"Ma Shuai, you three government offices are really calm. Let's not talk about the warehouse tax. The interests of Jiuqu are closely related to your three government offices. Now they are almost gone. But the officials of your three government offices are watching. I’m really not in a hurry at all!”

An official in his thirties smiled at Ma Shuai Wang Chao.

The two people around him also looked at Wang Chao curiously.

In this matter, San Yamen was extremely low-key, and the commanders of San Yamen did not say anything. But in fact, the impact on them was very large, whether it was warehouse tax or liquor tax reform.

These people came to Wang Chao today to test their opinions.

Wang Chao said indifferently: "That's how much money it is. Last year, my guard horse lost to Qiyun Society. I lost a lot more money than this. Instead of messing with these things, it is better to find a way to improve the guards. The strength of the Polo Football Team."

"???"

The three people on the opposite side couldn't help but be stunned.

They never expected that Wang Chao would give such a reason.

But this is still the case.

Since the Football League was originally developed in cooperation with Sanya, and many of Sanya’s training grounds were borrowed, the shops around the football field were monopolized by Sanya military generals. Now it is not only limited to Gyeonggi, but also includes Damingfu, etc. land.

At the same time, they also established a cooperative relationship with Hongwan Gambling House.

This is a cornucopia. The money comes quickly, and the key is that no one can **** it away, so Wang Chao has no time to worry about those things, and he still has to risk going against the emperor.

If the emperor removes him because of this, the wine tax and food tax are only secondary. The key is that his interests in the football league may also be occupied by others, which will be called a heavy loss.

The officials of the three yamen avoided it and said nothing.

Wang Chao added: "To be honest, I hope to build more police stations and return those training grounds to our Sanya, so that we can have more football fields."

The three people were completely speechless.

Are you a soldier or a football player?

After he was full of wine and food, Wang Chao came to the counter with a general belly, burped, and asked generously: "Does your store accept tax coins?"

Fan Yong who happened to be passing by immediately hurried over and said, "Here, take, take, if Ma Shuai has tax coins, that would be the best."

Wang Chao directly took out a stack of tax coins. They had just distributed their salaries. The tax coins were all brand new. He took out a few and slapped them on the table. I think the copper coins are too heavy."

He just strode away.

The shopkeeper clicked the tax coins and said to Fan Yong: "Master, I just gave you an extra penny."

Fan Yong quickly gave him a warning look, that was Ma Shuai, what nonsense were he talking about, and asked: "Are many people using tax coins recently?"

The shopkeeper said: "Didn't the imperial court just issue monthly salary recently? Those officials don't have to worry about food. They also spend tax coins when they come to the store. I have to say that these tax coins are really convenient to use."

At this moment, an old man came over and said, "Uncle Fan."

When Fan Yong saw the old man, he quickly saluted and said, "Fan Yong has met Dr. Chen."

Doctor Chen said with a smile: "Mr. Fan is still very generous, but I heard that many stores outside are afraid to accept tax coins. If you have to use tax coins to buy, it will have to be at least three times the price of tax coins."

Fan Yong hurriedly apologized and said with a smile: "Actually, the villain doesn't want to accept it, but there is no way. The shop consumes a lot of salt every year, and now only the tax coins can buy salt."

Doctor Chen just smiled meaningfully and then left.

In fact, they, the wealthy businessmen, have also reached a moment of decision, whether to continue to maintain the old system or embrace the new system. This is also very difficult.

Some businessmen choose to firmly support the old system, and these businessmen often have backgrounds behind them.

But they did not reject the tax coins directly, but collected them at a ratio of three to one.

It's very disgusting, and it will devalue you when it comes out.

Of course, no one is stupid enough to use tax coins to buy things in these stores. It is not cost-effective.

But there are also some businessmen who choose to embrace the new system. They actually have backgrounds, but in their view, the old system exploits their interests more, while the new system can make them earn more.

The market is also slowly becoming fragmented.

In the final analysis, the **** determines the head.

But it can also be seen that this is a fierce battle.

The main reason why the current tax currency is strong is not that anyone cares about using tax currency to pay taxes, but that the grain and salt released by the court are supporting the price of the tax currency.

It was already evening, and in front of a grain store in the suburbs, only dozens of people were seen, and the grain store was surrounded by water.

They were ordinary people who had just come down from the construction site. They immediately came here to buy food with a daily salary of 100 cents.

Sitting in a teahouse not far away were an old man and a young man, it was Sima Guang and Zhang Fei.

"I have to admit that this may be the largest disaster relief effort in history. At this moment, it is indeed much better than opening a warehouse to provide relief."

Having said this, Sima Guang looked at Zhang Fei again, "But how long can this last? I heard some news that the big landowners will fight the court to the end this time. They would rather pay punitive taxes than never If you sell a grain of grain, they may know better than you how much grain is in the warehouse in Beijing.

At present, two-thirds of the grain in the capital is controlled by the main households, and seventy-eight percent of the grain is controlled by the powerful officials in the court, which cannot be filled by the court's grain. ”

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "Every time our country goes to war with the Liao Kingdom, no matter from every aspect, we have the advantage, but why do we always lose when we fight?"

Sima Guang said: "These are two different things."

"It's a thing."

Zhang Fei said: "This is a war. On the surface, they do have the right time, place and people, but they are just a piece of loose sand. The further this goes, the more panicked they become. We have calculated that as long as they can dig out If we provide one-third of their grain, we can survive until the beginning of autumn. As long as we wait until then, we can immediately get twice the grain."

Sima Guang was shocked and said: "Twice?"

Zhang Fei nodded with a smile and said: "It's better to consider it less. The Taxation Department is already investigating the matter. Many big families have stored food for several years. The food eaten by insects every year may be Enough to feed tens of thousands of people."

Sima Guang frowned, "But this time they are determined."

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "You should know them, Bachelor Sima. If they are fined more than 100,000 shi of grain, it will be equivalent to killing them, so we will see the result in four months, because they want to use all the grain." It will take time to sell it. It’s just the beginning. Of course they are screaming fiercely, but I am sure that in the fourth month, they will be unable to bear it.”

Three divisions.

"The three hundred thousand copper coins you applied for have been approved."

Wang Anshi handed an official document to Xue Xiang, "You have to keep an eye on it. Whenever you buy any goods from big businessmen, you must use copper coins. Never use tax coins, lest they take the tax coins. , to buy our grain and salt, we won’t last long.”

"Please rest assured, sir, I send people to count the tax coins collected every day, and the food sold every day is currently within the estimate."

Xue Xiang nodded confidently, "And according to our current observations, many officials use tax coins to eat and drink in restaurants and buy pens, inks, paper and inkstones instead of buying food, which saves us a lot of food. ."

There is a lot of food in the warehouse, but it must be used wisely. The design in this regard is used in many small ways.

In the past, food was distributed directly to officials, but now it is changed to tax coins. Although tax coins can buy food, many officials are not short of food at all. As long as these officials do not buy food with tax coins, then They just earn it.

For officials, there are not many tax coins to buy much grain. The grain at home still faces warehouse tax. If you go to buy grain here, if you lose, you will lose more, so many officials are too lazy to go. No matter how hard it is, just spend it.

Construction at the same time requires a lot of materials, which are paid with coins. The purpose is to prevent certain people from controlling a large amount of tax coins, and to stimulate the market and make the market more prosperous, which can cover up the decline. , and can also damage the opponent's self-confidence.

At this moment, the newly appointed Privy Councilor Han Jiang suddenly arrived.

"Zihua?"

Wang Anshi was stunned for a moment, then saw that Han Jiang looked strange, and asked, "What happened?"

Han Jiang glanced at Xue Xiang.

Xue Xiang was very sensible and left immediately.

After Xue Xiang left, Han Jiang whispered: "Jiefu, something happened in the Xihe area."

Wang Anshi asked hurriedly: "What's the matter?"

Han Jiangdao: "The leader of Tubo, Dong Fei, assigned General Qingyi Jiegui to lead his troops to harass Hezhou. Our army was forced to attack Tabaicheng, but was surrounded. Generals Wang Ning, Jing Sili, Zouma Sui, and Zhao Yuankai were killed in the battle. ."

"What?"

Wang Anshi couldn't help being shocked.