Xue Xiang is a person who is very good at calculation. After two years of trying, he found that this tax coin is simply a treasure. If used well, it can help the country save a lot of money, so why not use it.
Moreover, now this currency is the greatest authority of the Third Division. He will definitely increase his efforts, but he is not blindly going to issue more tax coins, but making tax coins the only currency.
This is power.
Just issuing more tax coins is destroying power in exchange for wealth, which is obviously not cost-effective.
Whether it is through paying soldiers, promoting tax coins, or asking Jiekupu to start a copper storage plan, it is not an issuance plan, but a replacement plan.
At the same time, this can also avoid the rules set by the Legislative Council. In fact, Xue Xiang is very reluctant to undermine the public security system because he thinks it is beneficial to him.
There is a reason why Sima Guang and others are called conservative. They have always had great doubts about banknotes. However, with such great achievements in front of them, conservatives cannot pretend that they have not happened and can only strengthen their control over tax currency.
supervision.
We must fully implement the public prosecutor's law as a check and balance.
Regarding this matter, Sima Guang has always been in charge, and he is still in charge now, because the Ministry of Punishment is in charge of the promotion and scheduling of judicial officials.
The reason why it was slow in the past was because Sima Guang wanted to select officials with high moral standards. Not only that, they also had to be familiar with the public security and judicial laws. This was really the best choice among a hundred!
Fortunately, now that the interim law has been promulgated, officials only need to understand the system of public security, procuratorate, and law, and do not need to study for several years. Sima Guang also compromised on this and can speed up the process appropriately.
So he immediately wrote to Su Che, Su Shi, Fan Chunren and others, asking them to recommend some judicial officials who could take charge of their duties independently.
Because the Public Procuratorate Law has been implemented in Shaanxi for the longest time, followed by Jingdong East Road, and Sima Guang had already made arrangements for this, asking Su Che and others to bring more judicial officials.
Of course, this is also because Sima Guang believes in Su Zhe and Fan Chunren's character. They must be like him, and the officials they recommend must also be candidates with good morals. There are many experienced judicial officials there now, and then they will
Paired with young judicial officials, it will be enough to accelerate the promotion of public security, prosecution and law.
...
These policies have not caused as much controversy as before. This can only show that the tax currency has indeed achieved great success, including the powerful people in the DPRK and China. They have also begun to gradually accept this entire system, because if they do not accept it, they will not be able to accept it.
There is no way.
Every time this trouble occurs, in the end, it is you who gets hurt, because there are countless officials who have been demoted from the Public Security Bureau, and aren’t they also the cause of the trouble in the Public Works Agency?
tired!
Not only are they tired, but the businessmen and landowners are also tired. Paying taxes according to the law is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Receiving the tax bill is nothing more than a few curses, and there is no wave in the heart.
I remember that there was a time when the tax collection efficiency of Hezhong Prefecture shocked the officials in the capital, but this year they experienced it firsthand.
What is efficiency?
Within this month, most people have paid all their taxes, almost all with tax coins, and no one has paid taxes in kind yet.
But this has caused the same problem as last year, that is, there will be a period of currency vacuum. Although the issuance of tax coins has caused everyone to use copper coins, the problem is that using copper coins for large-scale transactions is also very troublesome.
.
Originally, trading had been accelerating, but suddenly it slowed down again, which many people couldn't stand.
Therefore, many people took the initiative to go to Jiekupu to exchange tax coins.
...
Political Hall.
Today Wen Yanbo is here to preside over daily work. The power of Tongping Zhangshi has not been weakened as it was in history, but has only received new checks and balances. Therefore, both Wen Yanbo and Wang Anshi can decide many things. They only need to follow
The emperor discussed a general policy, and the prime minister could decide on specific matters.
It is the Zhengshitang, not the emperor, who really presides over the daily affairs of the country.
"Have you heard that the three major Jieku shops in this city hope to borrow one million guan of tax coins from the imperial court?"
Lu Gongzhu, who just came in, said impatiently.
Wen Yanbo was shocked and asked curiously: "Borrow one million yuan? Why did they borrow so much money?"
Lu Gongzhu replied: "The main reason is that everyone uses tax coins to pay taxes. There is a lack of tax coins in the market, but they also have tax currency exchange business. Now they don't have many tax coins in their hands to exchange, which will make them lose their trust in businessmen."
.”
Wen Yanbo burst into laughter. When they first made this replacement, they were worried that Jiekupu would not have enough copper coins to exchange for tax coins. They never thought that the reality was exactly the opposite of what they expected, and asked again: "Then what can they borrow?
"
Lu Gong wrote: "It is to use copper coins and land as collateral."
Zeng Gong asked curiously: "Since we have copper coins, why do we need to borrow tax coins?"
Lu Gong wrote: "This is because tax coins are more convenient than copper coins. For Jiekupu, using tax coins for turnover is the most economical. Secondly, Jiekupu is expected to pay taxes, and there will be a shortage of currency in the short term.
, you can make a profit by owning tax coins.”
After saying this, he paused for a moment, "In the end, they believed that they would not lose money by doing this, because the tax currency could only depreciate, and the possibility of increasing its value was very small."
Wen Yanbo said: "Isn't this borrowing money not considered interest?"
Lu Gongzhu smiled and said: "The three of them are the most powerful profiteers in the Song Dynasty. They only plan to bear the cost of printing tax coins and do not plan to pay interest."
"Don't plan to pay interest? Do they think Sansi is running a charity?"
"Because they learned that the imperial court wanted Jiekupu to start selling copper, but they couldn't replace it without enough tax coins. They knew that the imperial court had a need for this, so they thought they shouldn't pay interest to the imperial court."
"These profiteers."
Wen Yanbo cursed and then said: "But the Third Division cannot print and issue tax coins at will."
Lu Gong wrote: "Just now, Junshi learned the news and immediately rushed to the Legislative Council."
...
Legislative Council.
"Zhang San, is this your idea?"
When Sima Guang saw Zhang Fei, he asked.
"I swear."
Zhang Fei raised his hand and said: "It has nothing to do with me. I don't dare to go out now. I get scolded every day. This... this is all thanks to Bachelor Sima."
Sima Guang glared at him and said, "Do you think I'm still in the dark?"
Thinking of this, he became angry. He was teased a lot by this kid and couldn't even scold him. It was really annoying.
Fu Bi asked curiously: "What are you talking about?"
Sima Guang hurriedly said: "It's nothing."
Fu Bi just glanced at the two of them curiously, but did not gossip, and asked Zhang Fei: "Zhang San, do you think the Third Division can issue additional tax coins and lend them to Jiekupu?"
Zhang Fei nodded and said: "I think this is okay. After all, Jiekupu is mortgaged with physical objects. If we regard the tax coins as loan deeds, the court certainly has the right to decide whether to borrow or not.
The only thing we can do is to intervene in this transaction and monitor whether there are any tricks in it and whether the country's wealth has been damaged. It is rumored that the three major Jiekupu want to lend money without interest. This is what we need to pay attention to."
Fu Bi nodded slightly.
Zhao Pin suddenly said: "What is printed is money. After the Jiekupu is returned in the future, doesn't it mean that the Third Division will print an extra million tax coins?"
Sima Guang nodded and said: "Yes. Maybe the Third Division hopes to use this method to issue more tax coins."
Zhang Fei said: "But the regulations of the Legislative Council mean that the total amount of tax coins in the market cannot exceed the amount of copper and silk stored by the court, not the number of tax coins owned. If they collect it, as long as they don't send it out, then they will not It’s a violation of regulations.”
Fu Bi nodded, "But this aspect must be supervised well. Millions of copies are printed at every turn. If you are a little negligent, you may be shattered to pieces!"
The more he played, the harder it got, and he couldn't bear it anymore.
Zhang Fei said: "We will definitely strengthen supervision. I will go back later and send people to investigate the matter. In fact, the three major Jieku shops are more nervous than us. If tax coins are issued indiscriminately, their losses will be heavier than anyone else's. , because they have the most tax coins in their hands.”
Zhao Pindao: "But do they dare to oppose the Third Division?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said: "I'm sure that if there is any problem, they will come to the Chief Justice as soon as possible."
Zhao Pin was stunned for a moment, then smiled awkwardly.
Without the Public Security Bureau, it would be impossible for these three companies to establish Jiekupu. This is not seeking skin from a tiger, but sending a sheep into the tiger's mouth.
At this time, a civil servant came to the door and announced: "Let me tell you, sir, someone from the procuratorate is here, saying they have an urgent matter to see Prosecutor Zhang."
Fu Bi frowned and said, "Zhang San, what are you going to see first?"
"yes."
Zhang Fei came outside the house, and He Zhizhong immediately came forward, "Prosecuting Zhang, a dozen businessmen came just now, saying that the water transport had embezzled their goods, and they demanded compensation."
Zhang Fei was shocked, "What's going on?"
He Zhizhong said: "It is said that the ship sank again."
Zhang Fei frowned when he heard this and said, "Is it true?"
The original cause of Gao Wenyin's case was a shipwreck. When he heard about the shipwreck, he subconsciously thought that someone might have embezzled the goods and then deliberately caused the shipwreck. Even now, this kind of thing is not uncommon.
He Zhizhong nodded and said: "It should be true, because they went to Yangzhou to prosecute first, and it was the Yangzhou Imperial Court that transferred the case to the capital."
Zhang Fei said: "Yes! There is an imperial court in Yangzhou now, why should it be transferred to the capital?"
He Zhizhong said: "Based on the complaint submitted by Yangzhou, if the judgment is based on the law, the water transport may be awarded compensation, but it is not yet known how the water transport will compensate the money. However, this water transport is involved in many matters, and once the judgment is made, it may trigger many lawsuits
, making it impossible for water transportation to perform its tasks.
Therefore, Yangzhou transferred the case to the capital."
Why has water transport always been so corrupt? It's because the imperial court cannot do without water transport. As long as there is no big fuss, it will always turn a blind eye or close a blind eye. Zhang Fei nodded and said: "I understand, wait outside now, I
Let’s go talk to Mr. Fu and the others first.”
"yes."
Returning to the lobby, Sima Guang immediately asked: "But about the tax currency."
Zhang Fei shook his head and said: "It was the shipwreck on the canal transport side, but there were a lot of merchants' goods inside. Those merchants came here to claim compensation from the canal transport."
After listening to this, several people had sad expressions on their faces.
Zhao Pin frowned and said: "Although water transport often helps merchants transport goods and earn extra money, from a legal perspective, this is not in compliance with the rules. I wonder how the judiciary can intervene?"
It is illegal, so how should the judiciary judge it?
Zhang Fei said: "It's not clear yet."
Fu Bi said: "Then you go back and deal with it quickly."
"yes."
...
Zhang Fei and He Zhizhong returned to the Procuratorate. As soon as they were admitted to the hospital, they heard crying coming from many rooms.
He Zhizhong explained: "Those businessmen cried when I heard it, and couldn't even persuade them. It is said that some of them borrowed a lot of money to do this business. If they don't get compensation, they may go bankrupt."
"Of course there are profits and losses when doing business, but we still have to see concrete evidence."
After saying that, Zhang Fei went straight to the back hall.
But seeing Xu Zun discussing with Lu Dian and seeing Zhang Fei coming, he immediately told Zhang Fei the whole story.
Zhang Fei said: "So it can basically be ruled out that someone did this deliberately?"
Lu Dian said: "It's hard to say, but for the time being, it doesn't seem to be man-made, because the merchants also sent people to follow the fleet and saw the ship sinking into the river with their own eyes.
But there was no flood at the time, and it was not due to improper operation by the boatman. According to the investigation results in Yangzhou, there should be a problem with the boat itself."
Xu Zundao: "But the problem of ships is also a problem of water transportation. The imperial court allocates a lot of money to them to repair ships every year."
The implication is that the money went into someone else's pocket.
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Then do they have an explanation as to why their goods appear on the water transport ships?"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Xu Zun nodded and said: "This matter is related to the current Third Secretary Xue Xiang. When Xue Xiang was shipping the envoys, he discovered that there was serious corruption in the water transportation, and the goods he transported were
, the losses were huge, so he mixed official ships and civilian ships together and let them supervise each other. Since then, water transport ships can legally transport merchants' goods."
Zhang Fei asked: "Is there any relevant copywriting?"
Xu Zun nodded and said: "It was approved by the Ordinance Department of the Second Government, and there are relevant official documents."
Zhang Fei asked again: "Have they signed any relevant contract?"
"It's worth it."
Lu Dian nodded and said: "But they only signed a transportation contract. There is no compensation regulation in the contract. According to the merchants, they actually know the contract law, but the government over there believes that water transportation has no right to sign any compensation contract.
.”
With that said, Lu Dian handed several contracts to Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei took it and took a look and sighed: "I haven't seen such a simple contract in a long time."
Xu Zundao: "This is understandable. Corruption in water transport is no longer a matter of one or two days. If a compensation contract is signed, some people may collude with profiteers, cause accidents, and demand compensation from the court. Hundreds of cases occur every year in water transport.
The local government will definitely not be able to compensate for the accident, let alone the court."
Water transportation is just a transportation department, not a profit-making department. Water transportation cannot pay out a penny. The only way to compensate is the local government or the central government.
If it is caused by corruption, the public prosecutor and the procuratorate can easily intervene and arrest people, but if it is caused by an accident, it will be difficult to argue the case.
Who dares to open this end?
Something happens to water transportation every day, so you go and compensate.
Lu Dian said: "This is also one of the reasons why it is difficult for Yangzhou to determine whether to compensate. Moreover...I just looked through the interim law and found that there are no more provisions on water transportation in the interim law. It is still the same as before."
Zhang Fei glanced at him with a confused look on his face.
Everyone knows about the problem of water transportation, but there is no way. There are hundreds of thousands of people there. The interests are intertwined, but it is also related to the economic lifeline of the capital. If it affects the whole body, the big problem can only be reduced to a small one.
, Zhang Fei also deliberately avoided water transportation when judging the case.
In the process of establishing the Public Security Bureau, Zhang Fei adhered to the principle that if you can't handle it, don't show off. You would rather turn a blind eye than forcefully establish laws to control it.
At the judicial level, if you take care of things that cannot be controlled, it will only come back to bite you.
Once the law is breached, it may completely collapse.
However, Zhang Fei believes that the time has come and it is time to deal with this cancer.
...
Soon, the news spread and immediately triggered widespread heated discussion in the capital.
This is not a rare thing. It would be a rare thing if there were no problems with water transportation. But at this juncture, the impact is very bad.
Because the imperial court is monetizing, and monetization is based on more frequent transactions, more merchants are needed to transport goods to the capital.
If handled improperly, it will definitely affect the enthusiasm of businessmen.
...
There is nothing trivial about water transportation. This must be discussed with Wang Anshi and Xue Xiang. The key point is that Xue Xiang is also one of the important witnesses.
Three divisions.
"Yes, I have stipulated the mixing of water transport and merchant ships, because water transport is too corrupt, and I am powerless. I can only adopt this method to let them supervise each other. If something goes wrong, I will try my best to hold them accountable.
.”
Xue Xiang added: "As for whether it is because of the canal boats, it is indeed very possible, because when I first took office, I also found that many canal boats were dilapidated and dilapidated, but in water transportation, everything that requires money must be paid.
It's often because I don't care or I cut corners. I've made some adjustments to this, but I never thought that it would just be the same after I left for a few years."
Zhang Fei said: "But this problem must be solved, otherwise it will affect the country's overall policy."
Xue Xiang couldn't help but look at Wang Anshi on the side.
Wang Anshi hesitated for a moment and then said: "To tell you the truth, the Third Secretary and I were already preparing for this matter as early as a year ago."
Zhang Fei immediately asked: "How does Mr. Wang plan to solve it?"
Wang Anshi said: "The three envoys and I all believe that if we want to solve the water transportation issue, we still have to use the business method, because water transportation is related to the country's financial lifeline, and we must not rely on merchants.
But following the old system, this situation is inevitable, and the losses caused to the court are immeasurable.
The business law is the only way out. We plan to establish several transportation agencies in several important transportation towns to be fully responsible for the transportation of the imperial court.
Nowadays, business is becoming more and more prosperous, and more and more people are selling goods everywhere. As long as this business agency can have a monopoly, it will still be profitable."
Zhang Fei nodded. In fact, he also had this method. The imperial court had a complete monopoly, and water transportation would only be completely corrupted. However, if it were to be completely handed over to merchants, it would mean that merchants were holding the economic lifeline of the Song Dynasty. This was impossible. Even if he was willing, the imperial court would
It's impossible to agree to it.
Business Administration is the only solution.
Take a middle route. Xue Xiang has already done this in the shipping department before. He mixed merchant ships and civilian ships and let them supervise each other. However, this approach was only established when Xue Xiang was here. As soon as he left, he would return immediately.
As is.
This requires the joint efforts of the system and the law.
Zhang Fei said: "Since Scholar Wang has already thought of a way, why didn't he propose it?"
Wang Anshi said: "This matter is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and Deng Shilang is not capable of handling such a complicated matter, so I plan to wait for Jifu to come back and let him take charge of this matter."
Zhang Fei suddenly realized.
It turns out that this credit is reserved for Lu Huiqing.
But this is understandable.
Lu Huiqing went to Hebei to help Wang Anshi wipe his butt for several years. Of course Wang Anshi had to repay Lu Huiqing.
Especially now that the imperial system has undergone tremendous changes. Although Lu Huiqing has been promoted to Minister of Household Affairs, how he will establish his authority when he returns is also a big problem.
If he could solve the problem by water transport, his contribution would be considerable, and it would be enough for him to gain a foothold in the government.
Zhang Fei nodded and said: "Of course we can wait until Lu Shangshu comes back to preside over this matter, but even if the business office is established, the business office will definitely face these problems. So how should the compensation issue be decided?"
He understands Wang Anshi's little thoughts very well. If he wants to monopolize transportation, can he still lose money?
Wang Anshi said: "It depends on the specific situation. If it was caused by people, or if officials deliberately caused the shipwreck and embezzled the goods, then the court should compensate them. But if there is a natural disaster, no one would think about it. Just say that this shipwreck, the court
We have also suffered heavy losses, and no one wants to think about it.”
Of course it is impossible to compensate. If we had to compensate, it would be difficult for the Agency to make a profit!
Zhang Fei said: "Take this case as an example. Although the contract signed by both parties did not involve the issue of compensation, the responsibility must belong to the court. At present, it is determined that the problem is the ship, not a natural disaster.
There are still many problems like this. The establishment of a business agency may not be able to solve these problems. At most, it can only reduce such problems."
Wang Anshi said: "Doing business is inherently risky. Businessmen often encountered accidents in the past. There is no way around it."
Zhang Fei said: "Master Wang has misunderstood. I mean that once the Public Works Administration monopolizes the entire transportation industry and lacks supervision, there will definitely be problems. As long as problems occur, the Public Works Administration will not compensate. If the Public Works Administration wants to monopolize, it will almost never happen."
It is impossible and may soon be monopolized by businessmen.
It is impossible for the Legislative Council to agree to allow the Public Service Agency to have a monopoly on transportation based on the law."
Xue Xiangdao: "Isn't this supervised by your public prosecutors and law?"
Zhang Fei said: "First of all, our Public Security Bureau requires the written compensation regulations. Secondly, our Public Security Bureau has no right and lacks the ability to supervise the quality of the ship.
The reason why the charity foundation's transportation team has developed so well is not because of our public prosecutors, but because the charity foundation's transportation team is guaranteed compensation, regardless of any accidents.
We at the Public Security Bureau only ensure that businessmen can receive adequate compensation."
Wang Anshi frowned slightly and asked, "Then what are your suggestions?"
Zhang Fei said: "Add a security interest party, and this party will supervise."
"Security Interested Party?"
"good."
Zhang Fei nodded and said: "Suppose the charity foundation sets up a workshop. Businessmen can spend money to buy insurance from this workshop. If an accident occurs, this workshop will compensate the businessman."
Xue Xiang was surprised and said: "Who dares to do such a business?"
"Don't be impatient, sir. Just listen to what I have to say."
Zhang Fei continued: "For this workshop, if you want to make a profit, you must ensure that there are as few accidents as possible. They will definitely set relevant standards for the entire transportation. Once the standards are not met, they will not accept it. Businessmen want protection
, will only choose the transportation team recognized by this workshop.
Only this kind of supervision can really reduce such accidents. Behind the Agency is the imperial court, which is the most powerful and can form a high-standard transportation team to achieve a monopoly."
Xue Xiang couldn't help but his eyes lit up, "This is a good idea."
Wang Anshi said: "But this will increase transportation costs, thus causing prices to rise."
Zhang Fei said: "The current corruption in water transportation has brought far more burdens to the court than this. And I don't think prices will rise, because businessmen are the smartest, and they must have already calculated the risk cost.
In the price.
At the same time, reducing accidents means that goods will increase. Based on the principle that rare things are more valuable, prices will become more stable instead of becoming volatile."