It is often said that Wang Anshi's reform had advanced ideas, and the main reason for its failure was the conservatives led by Sima Guang.
But this is not the case. Without Sima Guang and without conservatives, Wang Anshi's reform would still inevitably end in failure.
His famous "three deficiencies" were essentially to reduce the emperor's constraints and help him achieve a high degree of centralization.
There were few reasons in ancient times to limit the emperor's power.
The ancestral method.
world.
People say.
At the end of the day, it’s really just these three.
If the emperor can ignore these three, then no one can limit the emperor's power.
This is Legalist thought.
But Wang Anshi's philosophy is financial management, that is, using the power of Legalism to manage finances can only lead to one result, which is to make the people poor and the country rich.
Wang Anshi used the wrong motivation to promote the correct concept and got results, which must be wrong.
In the end, ideas and policies are just a kind of packaging. The inner core is the driving force, and the driving force determines the direction.
The same policy may produce completely different results in different countries.
As long as this principle is understood, Zhang Fei's choice becomes very simple, which is to support Wang Anshi's reform and then find a way to replace this wrong power system.
That is to say, the legal method is used to replace the legalist method.
This is what Zhang Fei has been pursuing.
But now we are seeing initial results.
In the past few years, Wang Anshi has been forced to adjust his strategies, and the reason is that he has not completed the legalist techniques and is therefore restricted by the legal system.
From the imperial court to the local government, he was not the only person to speak out.
This is of course because the emperor, Zhao Xu, adopted Zhang Fei's suggestion of not using the hidden dragon. Wang Anshi cannot be the only one at this table. Zhang Fei and Sima Guang must sit on it.
Wang Anshi also struggled quietly, and Jingdong East Road was the battlefield for Wang Anshi's struggle. At that time, he still wanted to bring the reform back to the Legalist track, but the result was a complete failure.
But there is one good thing about the legal system. It only limits Wang Anshi's power, but does not limit Wang Anshi's ideas and policies.
Wang Anshi's New Deal is still being promoted across the country and has not stopped because of this, but it is just that he cannot rely entirely on power to sweep everything away. This also forces Wang Anshi to focus on his own ideas rather than focusing on power.
Fortunately, Wang Anshi really has great confidence in his ideas and has ambitions, unlike Cai Jing, who is a pure power minister. The reform is just to gain power and a weapon to defeat political opponents. The real goal is power. The prosperity of the country only comes second.
Wang Anshi was also making adjustments, which made Lu Huiqing and Deng Wan, the main force of the reformists, very uncomfortable.
"Lv Xiaokan, why don't you advise Mr. Wang? If we continue to develop water conservancy projects in Hebei, the risks are extremely high and the gains will outweigh the losses!"
Deng Wan was very anxious.
"Why didn't I persuade you?"
Lu Huiqing sighed bitterly: "But my mentor believed that what happened in Hebei was not a policy mistake, but that Cheng Fang was too radical, which is why people took advantage of it. But if water conservancy is not continued, Hebei will decline, which will lead to In the crisis in Northern Xinjiang, in order to protect the Liao Dynasty, Hebei’s finances must be restored.”
Deng Wan said: "However, from the construction of water conservancy projects, the benefits are slow and the loss of people's power is very fast. Nowadays, the loss of people's power in Hebei is huge. How can it withstand such an impact?"
Lu Huiqing said: "This time, my mentor will use the exemption law to promote water conservancy projects, and will not impose corvees and waste people's strength."
Deng Wan said: "How is this possible? The government has only allocated 300,000 yuan."
Lu Huiqing just shook his head helplessly.
In fact, Wang Anshi also explained it to him. Of course, it was not like Zhang Fei's explanation. Wang Anshi still didn't see it as thoroughly as Zhang Fei. But Lu Huiqing still didn't understand. Like Deng Wan, he always felt that the risk was too high.
Deng Wan added: "Lv Xiaokan, this year's political affairs council will be rotated, and the Privy Council can't help at all. I think Wang Xianggong should promote Lu Xiaokan to increase our influence in the political affairs hall."
Lu Huiqing said: "It depends on the teacher's thoughts."
Deng Wan said: "As long as Lu Xiaokan is willing, we will go and talk to Mr. Wang."
Even Wang Anshi's confidant Lu Huiqing didn't understand the rationale, and the conservatives were even more confused.
Han Qi was so anxious that he started running to the political hall.
"What on earth is Wang Jiefu planning?"
Han Qi said: "The people of Hebei are weak and cannot withstand the hardships."
He has been in Hebei for so many years, and he really knows that the people of Hebei are very difficult. There is no shortage of natural and man-made disasters. No matter how much this continues, the rich Hebei will sooner or later decline. Although he didn't say anything when he came back this time, he actually hoped that the court would be considerate of the people, recuperate, and use his last remaining strength to give the people of Hebei a stable environment.
Even though Han Qi has a rich family, many wives and concubines, and a luxurious life, no matter where he is an official, he can be praised by the people. He really thinks about the people at all times. The initial reform of Yaqianyi was initiated by him. of.
After that hearing, everyone thought that things would develop in a good direction, but who knew that Wang Anshi would go from bad to worse.
Sima Guang was also very angry and said: "Does Mr. Han not know that Wang Jiefu is very stubborn? He must be unconvinced and wants to prove that he is right. And he will definitely get back the money he spent." .”
After hearing this, Han Qi became even more anxious: "Then what are you doing here? Why don't you stop him?"
Fu Bi glanced at him and said, "Didn't you read the Di newspaper? The Ordinance Department of the Second Government promulgated a relief law. He wants to spend money to hire people. How can we stop it?"
Han Qi asked: "Do you believe it?"
In fact, he very much agrees with the idea of relief for work, but it is only a small-scale relief. On such a large scale, the emperor may not be willing to part with the money, so there are only two results, either the finance will be ruined, or the people will be ruined. bad.
If you don't have diamonds, don't take this porcelain job.
Isn't it crazy to have such a large-scale relief program despite the fiscal deficit every year?
Wen Yanbo sighed: "Whether we believe it or not, it is difficult for us to oppose it, but we are also accelerating the implementation of public security laws, which can stop the abuse of people's power."
At this moment, Lu Gongzhu walked in, "You may not know yet, but the official personally ordered just now that Sinong Temple will allocate another 200,000 yuan to the Tiju Changping Division in Hebei Province to implement the farmland water conservancy law."
"What?"
Everyone was shocked.
Sima Guang asked hurriedly: "Is it the official order, or is it Wang Jiefu?"
Lu Gong wrote: "It was the official who personally issued the edict."
Wen Yanbo was in disbelief and said: "Could it be that the imperial court really intends to use work as a means of relief to help the people of Hebei?"
Han Qi asked: "Can Sinong Temple allocate so much money?"
Lu Gong wrote: "The tax exemption has given Sinong Temple a lot of money. It can still get two hundred thousand guan."
Everyone felt dizzy.
It’s hard to scold.
If you really do work-for-relief, then they will actually support it.
But I always find this unbelievable. There must be something fishy in it.
No one has ever done this.
At a time when the people's power is declining, large-scale projects continue to be carried out.
This time Sima Guang didn't think Wang Anshi was being vindictive, because he knew very well that Zhao Xu and Wang Anshi would definitely be reluctant to part with the money.
But why is this happening?
Even though they were extremely intelligent, they never imagined that Zhang Fei was the driving force behind the scenes. After all, Zhang Fei rarely interfered with administrative matters.
On the surface, Zhang Fei did the same thing. At this moment, he was in Baifan Tower.
No!
To be precise, it is at the charity foundation located in Ailun Building.
A group of wealthy businessmen stood in front of the gate of the charity foundation, heads held high, mouths open, swallowing saliva, and many even had tears in their eyes.
Following their twinkling gazes, a brand new plaque slowly rose.
The nobleman Lan Yuanzhen jumped up and down, commanding two imperial guards to hang the plaque on the door.
There are four characters written on the plaque - The best is like water.
At first glance, it seems like nothing, but the problem is that there is a seal with the word "imperial" engraved on the side.
It turns out that this is a plaque given by the emperor to the Charitable Foundation, and the reason is to thank the Charitable Foundation for its donation to the Arms Inspectorate, which allowed the Arms Inspectorate to develop a firearm suitable for the Royal Police.
And Zhao Xu has ordered that firearms be provided to the Royal Police on Jingdong East Road.
After hanging it up, Lan Yuanzhen looked left and right, and saw that they were very even, and then he breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhang Fei quietly came up and asked, "My lord, is this an official calligraphy treasure?"
Lan Yuanzhen said: "Of course not, this is the calligraphy treasure that Cai Xiang and Cai Xianggong presented to the late emperor."
Calligrapher Cai Xiang? But there are too many calligraphers nowadays, which is boring. Zhang Fei muttered to himself, and then asked: "Why don't the officials write one for us personally?"
Lan Yuanzhen's eyes widened, "You're still not satisfied with this. Prosecutor Zhang, you are the only person our family has seen who can receive two plaques from the government, so you should be satisfied."
Last time, Zhao Xu also gave Zhang Fei a plaque with the words "Imperial Litigation", which is still hanging in the Bianjing Law Firm.
Zhang Fei said: "If it were an official calligraphy treasure, wouldn't it be more noble?"
Chen Maoqian, Fan Yong and other wealthy businessmen on the side couldn't help but break into a cold sweat when they heard Zhang Fei bargaining there. They silently moved to the other side, trying to distance themselves from this guy.
In their view, as long as there is the word "imperial", it is already a big deal. Whether it was written by the emperor is not that important.
Lan Yuanzhen glanced at them and whispered: "Are you really confused, or are you just pretending to be confused?"
Zhang Fei asked curiously: "Can't the official characters be exposed?"
".!"
Lan Yuanzhen really wanted to beat him to death, but he struggled for a while and said, "If I didn't tell you this, our family would be really afraid that you would cause trouble in the future."
After that, he pulled Zhang Fei aside and said, "This plaque is hung in front of the door."
Zhang Fei said: "Of course the plaque is hung in front of the door."
"Why don't you understand?"
Lan Yuanzhen was so anxious that he stamped his feet, "There are so many people coming and going, if you hang an official's calligraphy on it, it might make people laugh."
Zhang Fei was even more surprised: "Why?"
"You!" Lan Yuanzhen said, "Because the calligraphy of Chao Zhong is everywhere. Don't you understand this?"
Zhang Fei asked: "Do they dare to laugh at the officials?"
Lan Yuanzhen said: "Don't dare, but if you talk about the calligraphy of poems and articles, they will definitely laugh. The official calligraphy is actually very good, but... it is not as good as Wen Xiangong and Sima Xueshi."
Zhang Fei suddenly realized that Zhao Xu didn't use his own calligraphy because he was afraid of being laughed at. This was indeed possible, because his favorite Li Qingzhao was always insulting the sky and the earth.
As long as you dare to write, someone will definitely dare to laugh at you.
Of course Zhao Xu's calligraphy is very good, but after all, there are too many perverts these days. Among the emperors, the calligraphy of Brother Huizong and his son Zhao Gou may be the only one who can compare with those perverts.
After talking about this topic, Fan Yong hurriedly led people to invite Lan Yuanzhen and others to the building to enjoy the delicacies of Baifanlou. The hard-earned money is not less!
Zhang Fei went to the foundation's conference room with a group of wealthy businessmen.
"What kind of weapons did the weapons inspector come up with? The royal family rewarded us with a plaque?"
"Supposedly a firearm."
"Wow, this weapons supervisor has been silent for three years, and he has become a blockbuster!"
"It goes without saying that the Arms Supervisory Authority was established at the suggestion of Prime Minister Wang. It can be considered a new policy, so it is certainly great!"
"I'm afraid that all the skilled craftsmen in the world are here in the weapons prison!"
"etc!"
Zhang Fei couldn't bear to listen, "Comrades, you guys didn't behave like this before. Are you still asking not to continue donating weapons to the military? You guys are turning your back faster than flipping through a book!"
".!"
The conference room suddenly became quiet.
I almost forgot this guy existed.
"Let's just talk about it."
"Yes! It's not that we are unwilling, we are just anxious and hope to see some results. There is nothing wrong with that."
A group of businessmen quickly made excuses to justify their previous remarks.
"If that's the case, there's nothing wrong with it. It's reasonable to put some pressure on the weapons supervisor."
After that, Zhang Fei changed the subject and said: "I just want to remind everyone that we are not only donating to the weapons inspection, but also donating to the police station. This is of great help to us traders. Our Buying and selling needs protection.”
Chen Maoqian nodded repeatedly and said: "Sanlang is right, but now we are opening shops in the east, and we are also opening shops in the west. There are too many places to use money, and we cannot donate as generously as before."
Zhang Fei said: "So we have to quickly find a way to make more money."
Chen Maoqian was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: "Don't Sanlang want to open a shop in Hebei again?"
Zhang Fei said: "This is no longer a question of whether we want to or not. We are already a close partner with the Changping Division. This is also the strategy of our charitable foundation."
Chen Maoqian said: "As of now, it's not that we don't want to go, it's just that we are still acquiring the debt of Jingdong East Road. Do we still have the money to open a shop in Hebei?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said: "I believe this plaque can bring us more donations."
Speaking of this plaque, everyone laughed happily again.
In fact, they are all accustomed to cooperating with the government, but it is true that the charity foundation has spent too much money recently, relying entirely on the football league, a money-grabbing tool, to maintain daily expenses.
At this time, Fan Yong hurried to the conference room and saw everyone laughing so happily, "What are you talking about? You are so happy."
Chen Maoqian glanced at Fan Yong and began to feel sour again, "Brother Fan, now I understand why your Baifan Tower was so generous and asked to bring the charity foundation to this Alum Tower. This plaque is hung here, no. Is it like hanging it in your Alum Tower?"
The rest of the people nodded one after another, everyone paid for it together, so why should you keep this plaque to yourself?
Fan Yong was ecstatic in his heart, but he said angrily: "What are you talking about? When the site was selected, you were silent. Now that you see the official plaque being awarded, you are here to talk about it. You Excuse me?"
"alright!"
Zhang Fei said: "If you want to make a quarrel, let's go to the wine table. No matter what happens today, we must give Lao Fan a good meal."
This suggestion was immediately unanimously approved by everyone.
Fan Yong said: "Wait a minute. The money to entertain the noble people is also from my Baifenlou!"
Chen Maoqian said: "Let's choose another place for the charity foundation. This time I will find a place for everyone for free."
"Okay, okay!"
Fan Yong hummed: "Let me see how much you can eat."
Today I must have a drink and celebrate.
But just as he left the house, the young prosecutor Zhou Zheng suddenly came, "Prosecutor Zhang, Chief Prosecutor Xu asked you to finish your work here and then go back to the prosecutor's office."
Zhang Fei couldn't help but frown slightly, and immediately said goodbye to Chen Maoqian and the others, and then went back to the Procuratorate with Zhou Zheng.
On the way back, he asked Zhou Zheng what happened, but Zhou Zheng had no idea.
This made Zhang Fei even more uneasy.
When they came to the courtyard, it was already noon, but Xu Zun, Qi Ji, and Wang Gong were all discussing something in the room. Zhang Fei suddenly had an ominous premonition.
"Inspector Xu, Inspector Qi, what happened?" Zhang Fei asked slightly anxiously.
Xu Zun looked directly at Qi Ji.
Qi Ji immediately said: "Someone just came from the police station. It was a disappearance case."
Zhang Fei quickly asked: "Who is missing?"
He must be an important person, otherwise, he would not be called back. After all, disappearance cases are everywhere these days.
Qi Ji said: "It's a soldier guarding the horse."
".?"
Zhang Fei immediately raised a question mark. Although life is at stake and it is not a trivial matter, you are not dead. You are waiting for me to make a decision on this matter. Do you think I am too tired to die?
Qi Ji continued to explain: "The person who reported the case was the brother of the soldier. He reported the case to the police station a few days ago, indicating that his brother was arrested by the Imperial City Division."
"Imperial City Secretary?"
Zhang Fei frowned slightly.
Qi Ji nodded and said: "When the police station learned the news, they did not dare to neglect it, but they did not dare to make it public for fear of causing misunderstanding. You also know that the world is not peaceful recently, so they sent people to investigate secretly, and there were witnesses who saw the result. When we got there, the soldiers were taken away by people from the Imperial City Department, probably because of a word."
Zhang Fei said: "What are you talking about?"
Qi Ji said: "It is said that on the night of the incident, the soldier and his friends were drinking in a tavern. When they got drunk, they talked about the lawsuit not long ago. These words may have offended the Holy Spirit. Anyway, they said that they shouldn't Corvée work was launched in Hebei, killing many people and soldiers."
Zhang Fei frowned when he heard this.
Wang Gong said: "In fact, the Imperial City Division has always been closely monitoring the three yamen, which is not surprising. But now the question is, should we, the Public Security Bureau, the Procuratorate, and the Law get involved?
To be honest, our Public Security Bureau has been established for so long that we have never dealt with the Imperial City Division, and we don’t know whether such matters are under our control. "
In fact, I have called you many times, but you just don’t know it. Zhang Fei asked: "Do you know how the Imperial City Department used to operate such a thing?"
Xu Zun suddenly spoke and explained: "After Emperor Zhenzong's edict, ordinary officers did not have the right to interrogate. It was not until the Royal Police appeared that they regained the right to interrogate. However, the Imperial City Division is very special. They have the right to interrogate. But it does not have the power to make a judgment. Generally, after they interrogate the case, it is handed over to Kaifeng Mansion or Dali Temple for judgment."
Qi Ji added: "Unless it involves important officials of the imperial court or relatives of the emperor, otherwise, Kaifeng Mansion and Dali Temple will usually directly approve the cases submitted by the Imperial City Division. There are even rumors outside that the Imperial City Division once had A private prison."
In many TV shows, the Imperial City Secretary is portrayed to be the same as the Jin Yiwei, but in fact the two are not in the same dimension at all. Regardless of their numbers or power, they are not the same thing and there is no comparison.
Although they all have spy attributes, the presence of the Imperial City Division is extremely low, while the Jinyiwei has real judicial power and is a very, very awesome existence. This is extremely rare even in the feudal dynasty. Feudal society also had a complete judicial system, but if the secret service had the power to make judgments, the entire judicial system of the country would be irreversibly damaged.
Therefore, the Ming Dynasty could only fight fire with fire, setting up East Factory and West Factory to check and balance Jinyiwei.
Zhang Fei asked: "How many people know about this case now?"
Qi Ji said: "We don't know yet."
Xu Zun suddenly said: "Many ministers in the court have been very dissatisfied with some of the actions of the Imperial City Division. For example, Sima Bachelor and Wen Gong have made several petitions to impeach the Imperial City Division."
These words hinted to Zhang Fei that in order to calm down this matter, he had to pay attention to skills. Once word spread, many ministers in the court might take the opportunity to cause trouble again.
Zhang Fei was as clear as a mirror and asked: "What is the purpose of the police station looking for us now?"
Qi Ji said: "Now all the evidence points to the Imperial City Division. The police station doesn't know whether they can take care of this kind of thing. Secondly, they hope to get an order from the imperial court or the procuratorate to go with them." investigation."
The more Zhang Fei listened, the more headache he got. Did this open a Pandora's box? One thing after another, he thought about it, "We still act according to the rules. Since someone reported the case and the Imperial City Division did not give an announcement, we must first make sure The first thing is whether the person is in the Imperial City Division.
If the person is really in the Imperial City Division, then we will see whether to intervene in the case. After all, the Imperial City Division has the right to interrogate. "
Qi Ji asked: "Then how do we get back to the police station?"
Zhang Fei thought for a while and said, "Don't be too cowardly at the police station. Let them send someone smarter to ask questions first."
Qi Ji nodded, "Then I will send someone to notify the police station immediately."
After Qi Ji and Wang Gong left, Xu Zun showed a sad face and said, "If word of this gets out, someone will definitely use it to cause trouble."
Zhang Fei glanced outside and said, "Actually, I also want to hide it, but there are many insiders in the police station. We can't guarantee that the police station will not reveal the news. If it has been revealed and we conceal it, we will be exposed. People have a handle."
