Judge of the Song Dynasty Chapter 768: Those who purify themselves will purify themselves

I have to say that Zhang Fei’s plan really scared Zhao Xu.

He never thought that he would have to rely on the Taxation Department to expand his territory.

At first glance, it seems outrageous.

But judging from the letter sent by Privy Councilor Han Jiang from the Xihe area and the previous actions of the Taxation Department on Jingdong East Road.

It’s really not impossible.

If it were a war, the Taxation Department would definitely not be suitable.

But when it comes to facing chiefs and bandits, the Taxation Department is indeed more useful than the army.

Because the only thing the tax department has to abide by is the tax law, but the problem is that those people will definitely not pay taxes.

In other words, the Taxation Department can use all means to deal with those people.

It's not like marching to fight. No matter what you do, you need military orders, and you even have to wait for the emperor's orders.

The Taxation Department has only one purpose, taxation.

The emperor used them for one purpose, money.

The two sides hit it off immediately and are intimate.

It is undoubtedly most appropriate to use the Taxation Department to deal with those chiefs.

That is a fat pig, which can be eaten immediately after being slaughtered.

Of course, the prerequisite is that there must be military force to suppress the battle.

Send the army directly. Zhao Xu had previously considered the issue of military expenses, but if sending the army there would provide a foundation for the public security and law, and at the same time provide soil for the taxation department, this deal would become a very cost-effective deal.

Although the Public Security and Procuratorate Law will affect a little bit of the imperial power, compared with the prison system, the Public Security Procuratorate Law is almost 10,000 times stronger. Zhao Xu only needs to control the central legislation to control the remote areas.

Therefore, after talking with Zhang Fei, Zhao Xu immediately called Li Bao and asked Li Bao if the tax department could collect the tax if he went to Guangnan West Road.

When Li Bao heard this question, he almost didn't think about it. He told Zhao Xu that as long as the tax policemen on Jingdong East Road were transferred there, it would be possible.

Zhao Xu was confused, why did you answer so quickly? Were you prepared?

Li Bao immediately explained the reason.

When it comes to talented people with unique skills, the Taxation Department of Hezhong Prefecture undoubtedly has the most talent. Many of them came from prison. They are all talented people!

But when it comes to ruthlessness, no one can compare to the Taxation Department on Jingdong East Road.

Everything over there is typed.

In fact, at first they just wanted to use Wu Tian to scare the monkeys, or to take revenge.

But after the verdict was handed down, the tax department suddenly discovered that these gangsters were really rich, and all of it was cash flow. After the killing, they could divide the loot, no, they could get the reward immediately. In addition, Zhao Xu sent Song Shouyue, the former secretary of the palace, to convert the local army into royal police and tax police.

As the Taxation Department became more powerful, there was no reason to let those grassroots bandits go, so the suppression of bandits there continued. During that period, the Taxation Department continued to recruit talents from the bandits, so it became more powerful. , and more ferocious.

But as the grassroots bandits were wiped out and Jingdong East Road returned to peace, the question also emerged, that is, how to deal with these ruthless people.

You have to keep looking for new fat sheep.

Otherwise, they will focus on the common people. No matter how small the mosquitoes are, they are still meat!

But Jiangnan is really not suitable for them, because there are mostly scholar-bureaucrats there, and culture and commerce are relatively prosperous. They are not serious or serious. If they accidentally break someone's arm, it will be a big disaster.

The tax police currently entering Jiangnan are all from Hezhong Prefecture, and they are all purely technical talents.

So, when Zhao Xu asked, Li Bao immediately thought of the tax policemen on Jingdong East Road. If they stayed on Jingdong East Road, they might become a disaster. There were many gangsters inside, and they had no place to use them.

Li Bao can assure you that those chiefs and village owners are no match for our tax department.

When Zhao Xu saw that Li Bao was so confident, what else could he say? He immediately asked Li Bao to make arrangements and dispatch the tax police from Jingdong East Road south to open up new tax sources.

Moreover, Zhao Xu said generously that when the fine comes, we will still be 37%, and the court will only take 30%. At the same time, we will also take 30% of the local tax increase, and the tax department will take 30% as bonuses and taxes. company’s development funds.

This must give them enough incentives, because there is actually no very clear boundary there. The implication is to encourage them to open up more tax areas.

The more tax zones you have, the more you get.

After the decision was made, Zhao Xu discussed the selection issue with Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei really has a good candidate, the original Shaanxi Road Manager Guo Kui.

It’s not that he was very familiar with Guo Kui, it was just that Wang Shao’s success reminded him of Guo Kui, because Guo Kui was also in Hezhong Prefecture at that time and had been disarmament and adjusting military expenditures in accordance with the Public Security and Procuratorate Law. He is also very clear about the public security and judicial laws.

Among the generals, there are very few who are familiar with the public security system.

This candidate also immediately won Zhao Xu's approval.

Because Guo Kui was not from Wang Anshi's faction and was more conservative, the relationship between Guo Kui and Han Qi was very good in the DPRK.

Wang Anshi advocated toughness. In Zhao Xu's view, if he wanted to adopt Zhang Fei's strategy and use both kindness and power instead of attacking Jiaozhi immediately, Guo Kui would be a better candidate.

So Zhao Xu informed Wang Anshi of his plan when he was having trouble with Wang Anshi.

This immediately aroused Wang Anshi's dissatisfaction. He and Guo Kui disliked each other, and Guo Kui and Wang Shao couldn't get along. Therefore, after Wang Shao presided over the Xihe War, Wang Anshi transferred Guo Kui to northern Xinjiang.

Let Guo Kui go, he will definitely not be able to accomplish my strategic goals.

Zhao Xu also patiently explained to Wang Anshi that it has been decided that the country's focus will shift from the outside to the inside. Although this is a good time, once troops are used externally, the ministers will be confused about the direction. Whether to release or withdraw. At the same time, it will also arouse the suspicion of Liao and Xixia and cause unnecessary trouble.

Let's just endure it until the end and wait another two years.

Wang Anshi could only give up.

Because he now clearly knows his position. He is just an assistant, not an ADC. Now Zhao Xu is personally presiding over the government affairs. Whether it is foreign affairs or internal affairs, Zhao Xu is now involved in everything.

Alum Tower.

The wind is so cold outside that passers-by can hardly keep their eyes open, but inside the building is in full swing because the Bailun Building welcomes a distinguished guest today.

It was Cao Dongdong who had just returned.

"Asshole!"

But Cao Dongdong jumped up on the chair and glared at everyone, "Don't look down on others. My old Cao family will be afraid of the Khitan people. At that time, my office learned that the Khitan people were invading, but without saying a word, I had to take people to meet him. They all blamed Zhang Sanxiaoer. He said that there was a small path that could go around the northern tent, and he also said that he wanted to learn from Huo Qubing. Only then did I believe him. In the end, that kid deceived me into going to Taiyuan. Mansion."

A young man said with a smile: "Don't brag. This one is going north and the other is going south. Don't you know the difference between north and south?"

Many people immediately booed.

Cao Dongdong said angrily: "I asked about it at the time, but he said it was a detour. It was my first time going there, and I was not familiar with the local road conditions. It was so detoured that I couldn't tell the difference. South is north."

"These are all your words. Do you have any evidence?"

"Many officials were present at the time. Go and ask them if this is what happened. If I tell a lie, I will die."

The excited Cao Dongdong raised his right hand and swore to God.

At the back door, a man in his thirties saw this scene and couldn't help but sigh: "What a good brother!"

At this time, the shopkeeper of Baifan Building suddenly came over and said, "The recent renovations in the building are really troublesome for Brother Bao."

This man is none other than Li Bao.

Li Bao said hurriedly: "No thank you, no thank you, I have to thank your store for giving us this opportunity to make money."

"That's also the work of your craftsmen!" The shopkeeper waved his hand, and two bartenders came forward with a pair of silk cloths. "This is your reward, you order it."

Li Bao glanced at it and couldn't help but said depressedly: "Shopkeeper, I don't want silk, I want coins."

The shopkeeper hurriedly said: "Brother Bao, don't be surprised. This customer often comes to eat with silk cloths recently. The shop doesn't have much money, so you can just make do with it."

Li Bao frowned and said, "But our contract states coins, not silk."

"That is, that is."

The shopkeeper nodded, and then said: "Brother Bao insists on asking for money, so we can give him money, but Brother Bao, our Ailin Building needs to be repaired every year, you see."

Li Bao sighed, "Okay, if you have a job in the future, remember to come to us."

"Definitely, definitely."

The shopkeeper nodded repeatedly.

Li Bao took all the silk cloths, glanced at Cao Dongdong who was still arguing with others, a smile flashed in his eyes, and left.

As soon as he left, Fan Yong came over quietly, "You didn't say anything, did you?"

The shopkeeper hurriedly replied: "I'm a little dissatisfied, but he can only accept it, unless he doesn't want to take over the business of our Baifan Tower."

Fan Yong nodded and said: "Fortunately, Zheng'er's letter mentioned this. We have saved some tax coins, otherwise, we would really have no money to use."

Zhang Fei, who also just came back, is not as free as Cao Dongdong. He even went to Baifan Tower to argue with others. He doesn't even have a chance to breathe now. He has just finished discussing the southern issue with Zhao Xu. Over there The Legislative Council was anxious to find him again.

It turns out that he missed a relatively important legislative conference. This year, many judicial officials returned to the capital and participated in the legislative conference at the end of the year. At this legislative conference, a relatively complete "Song Dynasty Provisional Law" was also passed. 》.

It took five years and was revised by Fu Bi, Sima Guang, Wen Yanbo, Zhao Bian, and many academicians and scholar-bureaucrats.

In the past, some regulations, judicial principles, and Zhang Fei's precedents were passed piecemeal. In fact, it was mainly Zhang Fei's precedents, but they were not written books.

This "Provisional Law of the Song Dynasty" systematically revised the entire "Song Xingtong".

In fact, it can be said to be a complete law, but before the Song Dynasty, the "Song Xingtong" was rarely revised. In the past, this involved ancestral laws, which were often made up by edicts. Nowadays, it is Fu Bi and others were also more cautious about the scale of revisions, so they decided to define it as a temporary law. They would try it out in various states first. If there were no problems, they would then confirm it as a law of the Song Dynasty.

Now that this law has been passed at the conference, it now depends on the emperor’s approval.

Of course Zhao Xu will wait for Zhang Fei, a professional, to come back and check.

Today Zhang Fei came to the Legislative Council. As soon as he entered the door, he heard someone say: "Hey! Isn't this our brothel envoy? How disrespectful! How disrespectful!"

Zhang Fei looked up and saw Su Shi walking towards him quickly. He rolled his eyes secretly, "This guy is more vengeful than me. Okay, let's see if I make you angry again." He bowed his hand in return and said, "That's all the world's misunderstanding of me, and it's different from that of Mr. Brothel Prosecutor General."

Speaking of the procurator of the brothel, Su Shi was secretly angry and said: "Of course it's different. I was misunderstood. They forced me to stay in the brothel, and the court didn't give me any support. But you are different, you took the initiative to go to the brothel."

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "Everything has its own justice. I believe that I will be cleared soon."

Su Shi burst into laughter upon hearing this.

Zhang Fei asked: "Why is Mr. Su laughing?"

Su Shi said: "First of all, you are not innocent. Secondly, even if you are innocent, no one will care."

Zhang Fei chuckled and said: "It seems that Mr. Su is prejudiced against the world."

Su Shi smiled and said: "The world is biased against you, no, the world is biased against me, but I have not wronged you."

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "As a judicial official, I always believe that the innocent will self-exone. If I can be cleared by then, it will be enough to prove that they did not unjustly accuse you, the brothel prosecutor."

Su Shi chuckled and said, "Then I'll have to wait and see."

Zhang Fei pointed to the lobby, "Can I go in now?"

Su Shi was stunned for a moment, "Please."

"Please."

When I came to the hall, I saw that besides Fu Bi, there were also Sima Guang and Fan Chunren.

Zhang Fei bowed to everyone and said to Fan Chunren: "Mr. Fan is back too."

Fan Chunren looked a little unhappy and said, "I didn't expect that Prosecutor Zhang is not as majestic in front of outsiders as he is in court!"

Fu Bi and Sima Guang looked at each other and were speechless.

Su Shi looked gloating.

Zhang Fei explained with a smile: "First of all, this art has specialization. Diplomacy is not my specialty. I can only do my best, but I can't be perfect.

Secondly, I feel scared not in front of outsiders, but in front of barbarians. I am only suitable to talk to reasonable people, and those northerners are obviously not among them.

Finally, I believe that even if Mr. Fan goes there, nothing will change. After all, what cannot be obtained on the battlefield cannot be obtained at the negotiation table.

After all, they will not abide by the laws of the Song Dynasty. ”

Fu Bi said with deep feeling: "This is quite reasonable. What you can't get on the battlefield, you can't get at the negotiation table."

Sima Guang hurriedly smoothed things over and said: "Actually, Zhang San did a very good job. During the negotiation, he was not intimidated by those northerners. He still argued based on reason, did not lose any ground, and still retained his power. The state’s arrow fortress.”

Fan Chunren sighed and said: "Actually, I don't blame you, maybe we have too high expectations for you."

"Absolutely." Zhang Fei smiled and nodded, "Nowadays, many people have forgotten that I am just a Xiaoerbi."

A flash of admiration flashed in Fu Bi's eyes. Although this kid must retaliate, he is also generous in some aspects. He changed the subject and said: "Zhang San, I didn't expect you to come back so soon, but judicial officials from various places have You can't wait any longer, so this Legislative Assembly is not waiting for you."

Now everything is ready for the public security bureau, procuratorate, and the law. We only need the east wind. Everyone is looking forward to the release of this law, because everyone mainly bases their judgment on Zhang Fei’s case, but this is not a long-term solution, and there is no written law to support it. , everyone felt a little guilty.

For example, the adultery case that Qi Hui encountered last time encountered this kind of problem, because Zhang Fei did not have such a case in Hezhong Mansion.

The result is to be overturned.

Nowadays, the scale of the public security organs and law enforcement agencies is getting bigger and bigger, and laws must be enacted quickly, otherwise, problems will occur.

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "I have read the revised regulations before. If there were any problems, I would have raised them at the time. The main regret is that I missed this exciting moment."

In fact, he has always been involved, but he only gave guidance and advice and did not practice it himself because he was not very clear about the current customs.

What is good is good when it is suitable.

Sima Guang said: "At present, it has only passed the Legislative Council. It has to wait for official approval before it can be officially promulgated."

Fu Bi said: "Don't rush to say yes, you have to take a closer look. After all, this is based on your legal revision. At present, the officials have not approved it, and printing has not started. You will see it later." Take it back and look at it carefully. If you have any comments, you can put them forward."

As he spoke, he waved, and a young bookboy placed two thick books in front of Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei took it for a moment and took a look. He saw a book of punishments and a book of civil law. Each book was twice the size of Song Xingtong. He said to Fu Bi: "I will take it back later and take a closer look."

Fu Bi nodded.

Fan Chunren said: "Before we came back, we thought we were familiar enough with the public security system, except for this one law. The previously revised regulations and some of your jurisprudence are still relatively fragmented.

When we encounter some slightly complicated cases, we can only judge them based on your principles, which makes us a little uneasy.

We never thought about returning to Beijing this time. We found that we still have many shortcomings. ”

Zhang Fei asked curiously: "For example?"

Fan Chunren said: "For example, the imperial court can stop the government from collecting taxes. If this happened to us, we would not dare to do it, and we don't know that we can do it."

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "Illegal tax collection, are the public security organs, prosecutors and law just sitting idly by and ignoring it?"

Fan Chunren said: "This is different, because it is controversial and cannot be directly judged as illegal."

Sima Guang suddenly said: "Actually, in a big case like this, as long as you have any reasons, you don't need to worry too much, because you can tell the other party that if you are not satisfied, you can come to the capital to appeal."

Fu Bi nodded and said: "Junshi is right. In this situation, it is impossible not to make mistakes. You have all done a very good job."

Su Shi suddenly said: "Speaking of this tax, if the Qizhou Transportation Department wants to issue tax coins or salt banknotes, can we, the Public Security Bureau and the Procuratorate, stop it?"

Zhang Fei said: "The Qizhou Transportation Department does not have this power. This must be decided by the Political Affairs Hall."

Su Shi asked: "If the political hall allows it, can't we stop it?"

Zhang Fei nodded and said: "Of course."

Fan Chunren asked: "What if they over-issue?"

Zhang Fei said: "Then it can be stopped. The power to issue currency must belong to the financial power, but for example, if the issuance is over-issued, or the court regrets and does not allow tax currency to be paid, the public prosecutor and the law must intervene."

Sima Guang frowned and said: "But like paper money, you still have to be cautious and never mess with it. This tax currency is also to deal with disasters, but it cannot be used as a long-term plan."

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "That depends on your political affairs office. There is not much that the public security bureau, procuratorate, and law can do."

Su Shi frowned and said: "I estimate that if the capital tax currency succeeds, Wang Jiefu will definitely propose to issue tax coins or salt banknotes on Jingdong East Road, because there is indeed a lack of currency there, and the salt production in Binzhou has increased a lot now.

But I think it is not necessary to issue banknotes yet, because those rich people still have a lot of copper hidden in their homes. If legislation can be passed to allow merchants to mint coins, there will be no money shortage. ”

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "It can't be so simple and crude. Although merchants minting coins is indeed conducive to business development, but if merchants have the right to mint coins, then conversely, merchants can also melt coins. If merchants melt all the coins, If it becomes a bronze statue, then the law will not be able to control it."

Su Shi said: "We can allow the Ma family to build a mint workshop and only allow it to mint coins. Anyway, I think the risk of issuing banknotes is too great. If there is a natural disaster and man-made disaster, the court is in urgent need of money, and the public security and prosecution will force If you stand in the front, I'm afraid it will put the public security bureau and the procuratorate in danger."

Zhang Fei smiled and nodded: "This sounds feasible, but it is not something we can decide. We must abide by the rules."

He would not discuss this kind of matter too much with Su Shi and others. He mainly discussed it with Wang Anshi and others, and used Wang Anshi to promote it.

Afterwards, Zhang Fei talked to Fan Chunren and Su Shi about the situation on Jingdong East Road.

In fact, what troubles them most now is the issue of punishment.

The previous revisions were all about civil litigation, and not too many changes were made in terms of criminal punishment.

However, Song Xingtong pursued severe punishment, which was not a problem originally, but the key was the existence of the police station, which led to a much higher case detection rate.

Some people committed minor crimes and were caught, but according to the "Song Xingtong", the punishment for thieves and thieves is very severe, but this is not in line with the concept of legal system.

This time, large-scale modifications were made to the penalties. It does not mean that all severe penalties are removed, but many minor penalties are added. To put it simply, the principle of caution in punishment is still followed.

For several days, Zhang Fei spent most of his time in the Legislative Council, studying this provisional law with a group of judicial officials such as Fan Chunren and Su Shi. He did not modify any regulations, but he added some guiding principles.

At the same time, the outside discussion about Zhang Fei is slowly changing.

There are fewer and fewer comments that satirize Zhang Fei, while there are more and more comments that praise Zhang Fei.

I think Zhang Fei performed very well during this trip.

Focus on the overall situation.

"It's really weird."

Su Shi was dumbfounded and said to Zhang Fei: "What magical method did you use? Why are all the people outside praising you?"

Sima Guang, Fu Bi, and Fan Chunren also looked at Zhang Fei curiously.

This is outrageous!

Not only is public opinion changing, but public opinion in the DPRK is also changing. This is really incredible!

Voices of praise for Zhang Fei began to appear in the court.

Those people clearly want to put Zhang Fei on the pillar of shame, so why are they still praising Zhang Fei?

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "These days, I have been discussing this law with you, how can I have time to go up to the altar and practice it. I have said long ago that those who are pure will self-purify. This is what Mr. Su said to the world. Biased."

Su Shi was immediately furious, but he didn't know how to refute.

Why on earth is this? I was forced and he took the initiative, but now there are still people making fun of me, the prosecutor of the brothel, but they are so tolerant to him?

This is so unfair.

Everyone in the world is targeting me, Su Shi!

Are you jealous of my talent?

Fu Bi also looked at Sima Guang and asked, "Jun Shi, what on earth is going on?"

Sima Guang shook his head, "I'm not sure either."

Everyone looked at Zhang Fei again.

Zhang Fei smiled helplessly and said: "I really have nothing to say. Those who are clean will themselves clean up."

He really didn't say anything.

But they didn't expect that it would be Cao Dongdong who changed everything.

In order to defend the reputation of his old Cao family, Cao Dongdong clamored against the Liao Kingdom. The key is that what he said was confirmed.

Li Bao secretly sent out gossip, implying that Zhang San was worried that Cao Dongdong would be motivated and thought of a way to take Cao Dongdong away.

This move is really popular.

That's what you should do.

And many officials are worried that if they continue to criticize Zhang Fei, the foreign envoys will become very tough when negotiating with the Liao Kingdom in the future. Otherwise, they will be scolded to death. Zhang Fei is a lesson learned from the past, but the Song Dynasty Officials were still afraid of the Liao Kingdom.

They thought it couldn't go on like this. After all, Zhang Fei just looked a little hateful, and the Liao people drank blood like hair.

Which is more important or not, do you need to say?

But they can't criticize Cao Dongdong, because the Liao army invaded the border at that time, and Cao Dongdong did this, which was deeply popular.

There is only one way, which is to praise Zhang Fei to death.

But Fu Bi and Sima Guang have been studying this new law and have not paid attention to this matter, so they are still in the fog now.

Although the new year is approaching, Zhao Xu over there has no rest. On the one hand, he is busy mobilizing troops and generals.

First of all, Guo Kui was appointed as the pacification envoy of Guangnan Second Road, and he was asked to lead 30,000 troops from the Huguang area to Qinzhou and other places.

He also specially sent someone to tell Guo Kui that we are not going to launch a large-scale attack this time, but we are going to focus on prevention and establish local public prosecutors.

For this reason, Zhao Xu ordered a group of commanders to be dispatched from Jingdong East Road to help Guo Kui train his troops.

In fact, it is not training soldiers, but training the Royal Police.

But I have to say that this appointment arrangement is deeply liked by conservatives.

This is enough to prove that Zhao Xu really wants to focus on the country and will not use troops externally for the time being.

Not only that, there is also the issue of further official restructuring.

This restructuring is really full of embarrassment.

After a change, drought came.

Although the drought was very successful this time, Zhao Xu still harbored doubts about it and did not dare to act rashly again.

Therefore, he did not abolish the Third Division, but divided the finance into two. The money was still managed by the Third Division, but the right to use it was given to the Ministry of Household Affairs.

As for the reform of the three provinces, Zhao Xu did not split up the Zhongshu under the sect, and simply maintained the status quo. The prime ministers still stayed in the political hall.

He also saw from this disaster relief that the public prosecutors and the judiciary can check and balance the political affairs hall. The three provinces and six ministries of the Tang Dynasty did not have the public prosecutors and judiciary. Now that politics and law are separated, the power of the prime minister has been restricted.

There is no need to weaken it further.

Zhao Xu’s last edict at the end of the year also heralded a change in the country’s grand strategy, which would focus on domestic affairs.