Talking about the matter, this is something Zhang Fei never thought of.
He believed that after the illicit salt case, the other party should calm down for a while and be ready to come back again. This kind of reckless rampage is like getting someone killed in the imperial court.
He is also planning to use this gap to build the public security system and wait for their arrival to gain a firm foothold and slowly expand the judiciary.
Who knew that just a few days later, the other party started to attack again.
This is really endless!
As everyone knows, this really has nothing to do with those officials. Businessmen are also very shrewd. When I see that your imperial court is setting up people, you have to get the money back quickly. If you miss this village, you may not have this shop.
"Xiaochun, why are you in such a hurry to pull me away? Isn't this fun? There is a pony watching at the police station. What are you worried about?"
Cao Dongdong said to Fu Shichun very puzzled.
Fu Shichun said: "What kind of fun is this? This is obviously trouble. Fortunately, this trouble has nothing to do with our police station. Why are you just joining in the fun?"
Cao Dongdong said dissatisfied: "You are really a coward. If our police station wants to establish its authority, it must not be afraid of trouble. Look at the tax department, everyone is afraid of it, isn't it because they dare to arrest people."
"The Tax Department is here to make money for the imperial court. This is different from our police station. How can it be compared?"
Fu Shichun glanced at him angrily, "If our police station wants to gain a foothold in the local area, we can't get too close to the imperial court. Now they will be more worried about us. If they regard us as the same camp as the imperial court, They may use whatever means they can to deal with us. Our Royal Police are no better than the Imperial Court. We are going to carry out dangerous tasks, but with the few people we have, we can’t see enough. Don’t forget, we were captured on the way here. Assassination."
Cao Dongdong hesitated a little and then said: "I don't intend to be a follower of the imperial court, but I can't be afraid of this or that. So what is my purpose here?"
Fu Shichun clicked his tongue: "Why don't you understand? I'm not asking you to be hesitant. I just want you to act independently and do things within your own authority instead of participating in their fights. What does that have to do with us?"
Cao Dongdong thought for a while and warned: "But please don't tell Xiao Ma about this, otherwise, that kid will scold me for being unloyal."
Fu Shichun rolled his eyes and sighed secretly, why did I get along with these two idiots? I should have called Fan Da also at that time, I really couldn't take care of him by myself!
His family also has business here, and he knows that the salt banknotes involve too many interests and are not easy to deal with.
Over there, Zhang Fei and Su Che came to the lobby to discuss.
"President Zhang, can our procuratorate participate in a case like this?"
Su Zhe asked first.
In fact, he is also a fledgling, and the powers of the Procuratorate are vague. In this regard, Zhang Fei can only be consulted.
Zhang Fei pondered for a while and said: "The Procuratorate must participate."
"Yeah?"
Su Che said in surprise.
Zhang Fei nodded and said: "The main responsibility of the Procuratorate is supervision, including supervising the police station and the imperial court. In any case that endangers the interests of the country and the monarch, the Procuratorate must exercise its power of supervision. How can it be a idly by?
As for whether to be a party to the prosecution, this depends on the specific case. If the case is caused by corrupt officials and the interests of many people are involved, the procuratorate can of course directly intervene. If sufficient evidence is found, it must be A lawsuit can be filed.
But if this is the result of the imperial court's policy, and there is no illegal behavior, the procuratorate would be better off exercising its power of supervision, especially supervising the trials of our imperial court. "
Su Che frowned and said, "The salt policy is a mess. Of course there is corruption and bribery, but the reason why salt banknotes cannot be exchanged for salt of equal value must be due to the imperial policy and has nothing to do with corruption. .”
Zhang Fei nodded and said: "Nowadays, most people regard us, the public security bureau, and the law as one, thinking that we have too much power and lack checks and balances. This is obviously wrong. The public security tribunal and the law supervise each other. We just want to use this case to let them know." , the respective powers of the public security organs, the procuratorate and the law, and they supervise each other.”
Su Zhe nodded. He also believed that the procuratorate's lawsuit against the imperial court on behalf of businessmen would have a bad impact. Otherwise, with his character, it was unlikely that he would come to ask Zhang Fei for his opinion. He then asked: "What about your imperial court?" How do you plan to respond?”
Zhang Fei sighed and said: "Even if all corruption is put aside, this is still a contract dispute case. As long as the businessman files a lawsuit, the imperial court cannot sit idly by and ignore it. However, I haven't figured out how to try it specifically yet. I still have to think about it."
Su Zhe saw the doubts on Zhang Fei's face, so he couldn't ask any more questions. After all, the procuratorate had no right to interfere in the internal affairs of the imperial court, so he said, "Then I let those businessmen come to the imperial court to sue?"
Zhang Fei nodded and said: "It's best to find tea-eaters and Er pens to write on paper."
Su Che smiled and nodded: "I will mention it to them. If there is nothing else, Su will leave first."
After seeing Su Che off, Zhang Fei returned to the hall, where Xu Zhiqian and the four little King Kongs looked at him.
Zhang Fei sat down and asked, "Does any of you know what's going on with the salt banknotes?"
Xu Zhiqian immediately said: "Before Jiayou, the northwest salt administration had always adopted the official consultation method, and the government controlled everything. However, due to the breeding of corruption, the abuse of people's power, the prevalence of private salt, and the financial decline, the people in the northwest region were in dire straits, so the court implemented Enter the Chinese system.
It means that merchants transport the supplies needed by the border army in exchange for salt leads, and then use the salt leads to the salt-producing areas in exchange for salt. But it was also due to corruption and collusion between officials and businessmen. Merchants often exchanged cheap goods for large amounts of salt, thereby making huge profits and causing heavy losses to the country.
Later, Fan Xiang reformed the salt law. Merchants went directly to the border to pay money. It was stipulated that 4,800 wen could be exchanged for a salt banknote, which could be exchanged for 200 kilograms of salt. The army used the money to purchase the necessary supplies. In this way, Earning millions of profits for the financial industry has continued to this day.
After that, Xue Xiang took charge of the salt administration. Firstly, the war in Xixia on the border was tense at that time, which led to an increase in military expenditures. Secondly, he adopted the salt-horse system, exchanging salt profits for horses, and issuing salt banknotes with smaller face values, so that every year salt banknotes Additional issuances have continued, from the 1.66 million salt banknotes in Fan Xiang's period to the current 2.3 million salt banknotes. "
The four little kings looked at Xu Zhiqian in unison.
Do you know it so clearly?
Little did they know that Xu Zhiqian was Zhang Fei's hard drive. Before coming, Sima Guang handed over the salt policy information to Zhang Fei. Zhang Fei was too lazy to read it. Xu Zhiqian was reading it all. And because she had a lawsuit with Zhang Fei before, she also practiced it. Such a powerful memory.
Zhang Fei was not surprised by this. Otherwise, he would not have chosen Xu Zhiqian as his chief bookkeeper. He asked, "Who has the right to issue banknotes?"
Xu Zhiqian said: "Generally, it is in the hands of the Salt Envoy, and the Salt Envoy is sent by the imperial court, so it is also in the hands of the imperial court. The imperial court has always hoped to use the finances of the Shaanxi Road to support the Northwest Army as much as possible. This kind of super The issuing behavior must have been tacitly approved by the imperial court.”
Ye Zuqia said: "Teacher, the excessive issuance of salt banknotes was all caused by Deputy Envoy Xue, and Deputy Envoy Xue was promoted because of it, and is now serving as an important post as a shipping envoy. If we decide that the merchant wins the case, the DPRK will Some ministers will inevitably impeach Deputy Ambassador Xue, and I'm afraid it will affect Bachelor Wang's reform."
This is how Xue Xiang rose to power. If the court was sentenced to breach of contract, it would be a slap in the face of the emperor and Wang Anshi!
Shangguan Jun said: "But they have already filed a lawsuit. If our imperial court ignores them, this will affect the authority of our imperial court."
Ye Zuqia added: "But Chief Xu also said just now that the imperial court hopes to use the finances of Shaanxi Road to support the Northwest Army. If we decide that the merchants win the lawsuit, we will have to reduce the issuance of salt banknotes. What about military expenditures? If the Northwest Army If there is a problem, we must bear the primary responsibility.”
Shangguan couldn't help but frown and said nothing.
That's the problem.
This is not because the court is stingy, but if the central government's finances are used to supplement the military expenditures of the Northwest Army, the intermediate losses will be huge. This is not cost-effective. The finances are not rich and cannot afford it.
This is also the reason why the Salt Law is always changing. The imperial court repeatedly sent capable ministers and officials with the same purpose, which was to secure military expenditures.
The excessive issuance of salt banknotes is directly linked to the military expenditure of the Northwest Army. If there is no war in the Northwest, the pressure on the salt administration will be much smaller, and merchants will have more room for activity. However, if wars occur frequently in the Northwest, the court will strengthen control and reduce the profits of merchants. Took it too.
Looking at the matter, Xue Xiang actually did a very good job. Although he issued salt banknotes indiscriminately, he also reduced the burden on the people. He used the salt profits to exchange for horses, changed the previous pasture into cultivated land, and then rented it to the people to promote the economic development of Shaanxi Road. , other aspects of finance are rising, but there are gains and losses, and the salt banknotes have been issued a little more.
He also issued salt banknotes of small denominations. On the one hand, he wanted to avoid debts, but on the other hand, he wanted to see the emergence of specialized banknote dealers, so he wanted to monetize the salt banknotes.
Generally speaking, the overall financial situation is improving, which means that businessmen have been cut off.
But if the businessman wins the lawsuit, what happens to the original expenditure?
This is different from the Huang Tong private salt case. The squeeze on salt households was only twenty to thirty thousand guan, which did not affect the overall situation. But the salt banknotes were millions of guan, which would really hurt the bones!
Zhang Fei also scratched his head in distress and murmured to himself: "It came a little fast!"
He felt really uncomfortable when the other party did this.
Because everything has to be done slowly, and the legal system has to be implemented step by step. If this happens, it will be a direct operation on the heart. Who can bear this?
He wants to rectify the salt policy, but not right away.
Cai Jing saw that Zhang Fei was in trouble, so he said: "Teacher, according to the legal system, the interests of the country and the monarch must come first. A few businessmen cannot make any waves."
Zhang Fei turned his head and looked at him.
Cai Jing hurriedly added: "Didn't the teacher say before that we don't settle the old accounts? This was left behind by Deputy Ambassador Xue. Now it's unjustifiable to make up for it now, and we can't take care of it. In the student's opinion, why not settle the old accounts with us?" The salt envoy will discuss this and we should be more cautious in the future and not issue more salt notes. In this way, those businessmen will not think that we are doing nothing."
In his opinion, there is only so much money. If you want more money, you have to cut it off. It is more appropriate to cut off businessmen. What can they do?
Zhang Fei just nodded slightly and said: "This is also a way. But I have to think about it again, and there is no rush. Let's wait until they formally prosecute."
