In fact, for officials in the Northern Song Dynasty, this kind of statistics was not unfamiliar, such as the Green Crops Law. Wang Anshi also learned through observation how much interest the landlords would lend and what the people's finances were like, and then designed the Green Crops Law.
Another example is Fan Xiang's salt method. Through statistics, he knows that when the price of salt is less than 35 yuan per catty, he will buy it. When the price is higher than 40 yuan per catty, he will sell salt to the warehouse to reduce business profits.
It's just that Wang Anshi's statistics are quite rough.
When the Green Crops Law was implemented in Jingdong East Road, it was also implemented in Jiangnan. However, Jiangnan did not have the problem of Jingdong East Road because the land in Jiangnan was fertile and could be planted two seasons a year, so most people paid back the money in time.
Wang Anshi's Qingmiao Law investigation was limited to the situation in Jiangnan and did not take into account that the north and the south were actually different.
Sima Guang and Su Che both questioned this, but Wang Anshi ignored him.
Moreover, Wang Anshi's statistics are limited to his own observations. There is no specific standard. Without standards, it is impossible to convince the public. You have your observations, and I have mine. China is so big, and everyone sees it differently.
The most important thing is that their statistics are unpopular in the government because they go against the current mainstream values.
Including Fan Xiang and Xue Xiang, these officials with considerable economic talent have little prestige in the court, and they are impeached every day.
Because everyone talks about economics from a moral perspective, but if you want to talk about interests, it will seem out of place.
Zhang Fei has obviously learned their lesson. He always bases his interests on fairness, justice and integrity, and his main priority is actually morality.
This is actually very different from Wang Anshi and Xue Xiang.
Wang Anshi did not hide his purpose of making money for the country very well.
It’s still the green shoot method.
Collecting two cents of profit, and dividing it into two installments a year, is better than those landlords who take advantage of the situation, but it has nothing to do with morality.
Whether it is Sima Guang, Su Shi, or Su Che, they all think that your interest rate is too high, and they don't believe you if you are not trying to make money for the country.
Zhang Fei doesn't do that. I will exempt you from transaction tax first, and then collect your warehouse tax. The main thing is fairness.
He can often occupy the moral high ground, but Wang Anshi has never occupied the moral high ground.
Wang Anshi's explanation of the Qingmiao Law is always that the landlord charges so much, but I only charge two cents. Aren't I thinking about the people?
But this reason cannot withstand scrutiny, because not every landlord charges that high. Many landlords also charge 1 cent, 1 cent and 5 cents, and some are interest-free.
Many people criticized him for this.
Not detailed enough.
But Zhang Fei also focuses on one detail.
When Fu Bi and the others saw the investigation report submitted by Zhang Fei, they were all stunned and didn't know how to respond.
It's even more detailed than what they imagined.
Although this is just a comparison of alcohol taxes, it is clear at a glance and allows people to intuitively feel the living standards of the people in the two places.
After a while, Fu Bi suddenly raised his head and asked Zhang Fei: "According to the evidence you submitted, this adjustment of the wine tax also involves different types of wine."
Zhang Fei nodded and said: "That's right. The adjustment of wine tax is mainly to regulate food. To be fair, wine made from non-food grains should naturally not be subject to a tax increase.
Currently, the grains required for wines on the market vary. The most typical one is fruit wine. As we all know, fruit wine requires very little or even no grain.
It is obviously unfair to increase taxes on fruit wine in order to regulate grain.
In the second year after Hezhong Prefecture adjusted the wine tax, the revenue from the wine tax immediately recovered. The reason is that winemakers began to brew fruit wine on a large scale to avoid bearing higher wine taxes.
The advantage is that it stabilizes food prices and allows the government to purchase more food. At the same time, the revenue from alcohol tax did not continue to fall and remained at an average level.
This is still an example. There are many subdivisions in the middle, which are based on grain. Different taxes are formulated according to the different grains needed for wine making. "
Fu Bi glanced outside the courtyard for a moment, but saw that the businessmen were nodding their heads and seemed very satisfied with this.
That's very fair indeed.
Since you said that the purpose of increasing the wine tax is to regulate grain, it has nothing to do with my fruit wine. If the tax on fruit wine is increased, this obviously does not make sense. A comprehensive bill must make sense logically.
This is also Wang Anshi's shortcoming. He will never segment it. He will definitely tax all wine. Sima Guang will definitely criticize his policy on this point.
The only person who can defeat Sima Guang is someone more detailed than him.
Now Sima Guang is looking at the data and has fallen into studying. This data has opened a window for him to see from what angles he can refute Wang Anshi's New Deal in the future.
Zhao Pian suddenly asked: "In this bill of your procuratorate, although the restrictions on distiller's yeast are relaxed, winemakers still need to obtain wine-making qualifications from the government?"
"Yes."
Zhang Fei nodded and said: "Relaxing the restrictions on brewing does not mean relaxing regulations. We must ensure the legitimate rights and interests of our customers.
The government should put its responsibility on the quality of the wine to ensure that customers do not drink diluted wine or poisonous wine.
Moreover, when this happens, the public prosecutor and the procuratorate can accurately find the person responsible, so that they can seek justice for those customers and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.
Of course, this can also facilitate management. At least the tax department does not have to observe every household to see if they are making wine. "
Zhao Pian asked again: "Will someone take advantage of this restriction to extort money from the wine merchants?"
Zhang Fei shook his head and said: "Actually, we are not worried that someone will use this to extort money from wine merchants, because it will contain detailed application regulations.
If you comply with the regulations but are not qualified, you can file a lawsuit. This is what I have repeatedly emphasized. Don’t be afraid of the public prosecutor and the law. Litigation is to defend your legitimate rights and interests. This is very different from before. Regarding this point , I also mentioned it in the classroom of the Imperial College, and now it is being realized step by step.
The only thing worth worrying about is that some people are cheating and granting brewing qualifications to those who are not qualified. In this regard, the procuratorate and the police station will conduct relevant random inspections, and liquor stores will also supervise each other. There are wine merchants in Hezhong Prefecture who have reported on other wine merchants.
Once someone commits fraud, the rights and interests of legitimate drinkers will be harmed. "
Zhao Pian nodded slightly and thought to himself, this guy is more thoughtful than us.
Fu Bi continued: "Has Prosecutor Zhang considered that the Liquor System and the Ququ System also involve the rights and interests of many people, such as the winemakers in Quyuan? If the wine tax system is changed, what will happen to these people? manage?"
Zhang Fei said: "Regarding this, I think the court can refer to some policies of Hezhong Prefecture. Hezhong Prefecture also encountered this situation at that time. Because the imperial court has implemented the ququ system for a long time, many restaurants lack brewers who are familiar with brewing koji. .
Therefore, when Hezhong Prefecture reformed the liquor tax, it split the local quyuan and promoted Changping Division to cooperate with local businessmen through Jiekupu to establish qu brewing workshops one by one.
The local winemakers did not lose their livelihood as a result, but instead earned more than before. Their wages at least doubled. "
Fu Bi asked: "But this is not mentioned in your bill."
Zhang Fei replied: "Because this is entirely an administrative policy, I can only provide some evidence and some suggestions, but they cannot be written into the bill."
Fu Bi pondered for a moment and thought to himself, it seems that so far, he is the only one who can truly separate politics and law. Then he said: "You just mentioned that Changping Division should cooperate with local businessmen through Jiekupu. How is this different from the Quequ system?"
Zhang Fei replied: "One is the administrative and judicial regulations, which follow the imperial decree. The other is the commercial contract agreement, which follows the contract principles.
"Even so. Why doesn't Chang Pingsi directly cooperate with businessmen?" Fu Bi asked again.
Zhang Fei replied: "Because if one party is the government and the other is a private workshop, direct cooperation will make businessmen feel uneasy, because the status of both parties is inherently unequal, and it will be difficult to succeed.
However, by cooperating with businessmen, it becomes a relationship between businessmen and businessmen. Everything will comply with the contract, and the public prosecutor and the law can better intervene.
In this agreement, Chang Pingsi has no decision-making or management rights, and only enjoys profits. It is the businessmen who actually run the workshop, and other businessmen are allowed to compete with it. "
Fu Bi asked again: "Since you think that the imperial court should mainly focus on tax collection when it comes to wine production, then why do you want to involve the Tiju Changping Division?"
Zhang Fei replied: "Fu Gong seems to have misunderstood this. It's not whether I allow it or not. I don't have the power. Why don't Chang Pingsi directly cooperate with businessmen? That's because they think it can't be done. There are no businessmen." Dare to cooperate with them, but our Public Security Bureau does not allow them to do so. Although the official is the president of the Hezhong Prefecture, he does not have the power in this regard.
The specific process at that time, to put it simply, was because there were many problems with the liquor tax in Hezhong Prefecture, which was very corrupt, causing losses to the interests of the people and the country. Therefore, based on the legal system, the official defended the interests of the country, the monarch, and the people. Thus, the contract principles and commercial tax rules were standardized.
Then the Changping Division was promoted to make adjustments in this regard according to the laws promulgated by the imperial court.
At that time, the government had to worry about the livelihood of the winemakers, but also hoped that the finances would continue to grow. Of course, if everyone here thinks that this is because the government is unwilling to give up the profits of the distiller's yeast, it cannot be said to be wrong.
In short, based on these reasons, they decided to cooperate with merchants through Jiekupu.
We, the Royal Court of Hezhong Prefecture, have no intention of interfering with how the government operates. Going back to this bill, the procuratorate only requested to change it to a tax system, but the rich man only raised this issue, and the official just took Hezhong Prefecture as an example, because Hezhong Prefecture's government performance was very good.
If the court has a better way, it is also feasible. These are two different things. "
The people sitting here suddenly realized that it was Wang Anshi who promoted the Changping Division. It was Yuan Jiang who had no choice but to adjust the policy based on the situation of the Public Security Bureau and the Procuratorate.
Thinking of Wang Anshi, Sima Guang suddenly had an idea and said: "But as a prosecutor, I wonder if it is fair to other businessmen to promote Chang Pingsi to do business through Jiekupu?"
The businessmen present nodded frequently.
After all, it is a business of the imperial court, so it is unfair to us!
And many of them know that the distiller's yeast in Hezhong Prefecture is still monopolized by the government. Competition is allowed, but others cannot compete!
Zhang Fei said: "Based on the situation at the time, I think it is fair. If the court had left it alone and directly changed it to a tax system, it would not only have been unfair to the winemakers, but it would also have caused panic about the lack of distiller's yeast. The court would have taken the lead and slowly Slow to change, that’s absolutely right.”
Sima Guang asked: "But you didn't answer directly, is it fair to those businessmen? Or is this just a transitional period, and the court will still hand over everything to the businessmen?"
Zhang Fei said: "I don't know whether it is a transitional period, because this is not something that the chief court president or prosecutor can control, but in my personal opinion, I think this is relatively fair for businessmen.
In the case of the Qiequ system, the brewers cannot brew the koji and must purchase it from the government. The fact that Changpingsi cooperates with merchants to brew koji through Jiekupu does not mean that winemakers have to buy it from this workshop.
If a certain brewer makes koji that is good and cheap, restaurants in Beijing will go to him to buy it. This is very fair and not mandatory.
After the last adjustment of the wine tax, private workshops specializing in making fruit wine have emerged.
This is why Chang Pingsi does not control the operation of the winery, but only shares the profits, because he is afraid that he will not do well.
It can be seen that by doing this, the country is not guaranteed to make a profit. Once the operation is not good or stagnates, it will be closed. This is why the wages of those winemakers have doubled quickly, because if you want to make a profit, you must To have better technology to attract people to your home to buy, wine craftsmanship becomes crucial. "
Sima Guang said: "So you think fairness lies in allowing other businessmen to compete and that this winery is the same as ordinary wineries, with profits and losses."
Zhang Fei nodded, "Yes."
Wang Anshi rolled his eyes and said coldly: "This old man doesn't even distinguish between justice and administration."
Sima Guang was obviously referring to Sang and scolding Huai, and was implicitly mocking Wang Anshi. But Wang Anshi is very disdainful of this. My new policy also allows others to compete, but they will definitely not be able to compete. Who can blame them?
Feng Jing suddenly asked: "What if the wine shop that promoted Chang Pingsi loses money?"
Zhang Fei scratched his forehead depressedly and said with a smile: "It was the Changping Division that decided to do this. They think there is money to be made. If they lose, they should also ask the Changping Division. This has nothing to do with the Public Security Bureau. No relationship."
Feng Jingdao: "But as Prosecutor Zhang said just now, the promotion of Chang Ping Division was an adjustment made because of the precedents of Prosecutor Zhang at the time. The legal system first protects the interests of the country and the monarch, so what was Prosecutor Zhang's first consideration at that time? Fairness or excellence consider the interests of the country and the monarch."
The implication is that your precedent is fair, but it may also harm the national interest.
This is a state monopoly, but you want to abolish this monopoly law. Is this a matter of profit or fairness?
Fu Bi and the others also nodded slightly and looked at Zhang Fei expectantly.
It's a fish-and-bear's paw problem again.
"Of course the interests of the country and the monarch come first, there is no doubt about that."
Zhang Fei said in a very firm tone, "Let's put it this way, even if the court does nothing, the new wine tax system will bring far more revenue to the court than the purchase system. I just said that the wine tax in Hezhong Prefecture will be doubled at most, but this does not include wine shops. The profits brought to the court.
I have said before that the reason why I gave this precedent at that time was because the old wine system seriously damaged the interests of the country, the monarch and the people, not because of fairness.
Because the wine tasting system is a policy, it is actually the same for every businessman. It can only be evaluated as good or bad, but not based on fairness. This has nothing to do with fairness.
However, some of the disadvantages of the old wine system did stem from unfairness. It was precisely because they were not allowed to brew koji and could only go to the government to buy it. This caused the government to become very passive and not seek progress, which led to many disadvantages. .
The Hezhong Prefecture promoted Changping Division to do so firstly to make a profit, secondly to save the livelihood of the winemakers, and finally to ensure that chaos would not occur in a short period of time.
But if the Changping Division failed to do this and left it alone, causing winemakers to lose their livelihoods and causing short-term chaos, that is not the responsibility of the Public Security Bureau, but the negligence of those officials. It’s not that we, the Public Security Bureau, are not willing to take responsibility, but that we have no right to manage these matters.
This is also a major advantage of the separation of legal system and political law, that is, it can expose those officials who lack ability. When the public security bureau, procuratorate, and law are based on the rule of law and defend the interests of the country, the monarch, and the people, and officials can also produce outstanding political achievements, then they are the true pillars of the country and worthy of trust.
If you harm the interests of any party to achieve outstanding political achievements, I think most people can do it. "
When many officials heard this, they cursed Zhang Fei for being shameless. It's you who have to change things. If something goes wrong, we will be responsible. You are really a "cute".
But Fu Bi and the others felt that what Zhang Fei said was very reasonable. Competing with the people and bending the law for personal gain to achieve political achievements was indeed acceptable to most people. In the long run, it would seriously damage the interests of the country and the monarch.
The Public Security Bureau ensures that you cannot do this.
On this basis, you can still achieve political achievements, and the gold content is of course much higher!
Sima Guang nodded and said: "That's very well said. I agree with it very much!"
When Wang Anshi saw that the old man was making insinuations again, he immediately clapped his hands and said, "Well said!"
Deng Wan and the others immediately reacted and clapped along.
Liu Shu and others couldn't help but look at Wang Anshi in surprise. Do you still have the nerve to cheer?
But the reformists are all very confident.
Because according to this statement, the political achievements of Hezhong Mansion are all due to Yuan Jiang and the others, and you, the public prosecutor and the law, are only protecting interests and can only take second place.
The audience outside the hospital did not understand their little thoughts. The key point was that they really felt that what they said was good. Anyway, someone took the lead, and thunderous applause and cheers suddenly broke out outside.
Those powerful people have a clear mind. Brothers and sisters, you have misunderstood. They just want to use Zhang Fei to ridicule each other. What are you making fun of?
What a chicken.
Fu Bi was also crying and laughing, and let Zhang Fei take advantage. He said to Zhao Bian and Feng Jing: "It's not early at this time. Let's rest for a while and continue in the afternoon."
Several people agreed.
After they finished cheering, Fu Bi immediately adjourned the meeting and continued in the afternoon.
I saw many powerful people slumped on their chairs like deflated rubber balls. This hearing made them feel suffocated. Their brains were not working. They didn't know what to do. They only thought about opposing and opposing. , must be opposed.
really.
There is too much content, so everyone should calm down and weigh the pros and cons.
Fu Bi and the others also had to think carefully about how to deal with it.
The five of them returned to the back hall and finished their lunch hastily. Xu Zun took a lunch break as an excuse to go to the side room to rest.
As soon as he left, the other four people immediately started a heated discussion.
"Although what Zhang San said makes sense, who doesn't know these truths? When Fan Gong reformed, he actually wanted to solve this kind of problem, but what was the result? What's more, this warehouse tax is very radical and is strictly prohibited at home. Hoarding more than 500 shi of grain, how is this possible, it will definitely be opposed by many people."
Feng Jingzhi waved his hand, "I think this won't work."
Zhao Pian and Sima Guang also remained silent.
Everyone understands the principle, but the question is, can it be done?
Is it really their Legislative Council that has the final say?
They themselves don’t believe it.
Fu Bi suddenly sighed: "It was right in the world. Everyone knows the truth. If it could be done, it would have been done long ago. How could we wait until today?"
But at this point, he changed the topic and said: "But we are still riding a tiger now. We must find a reason to refute Zhang San. Otherwise, how can we give His Majesty a reply."
Feng Jing sighed, "That kid is really as difficult as the rumors say!"
If you can't find a reason to refute what you say to that extent, then every civil uprising will probably be related to them.
But they really can't find a reason to refute it for the time being.
Fu Bi asked Sima Guang again: "Jun Shi, what do you think?"
Sima Guang said: "In my opinion, that brat is still targeting the harm that land annexation brings to the country, but he has changed his approach. He has banned land annexation and changed the ban on hoarding of grain. This is actually a concession. One step! If we ban land annexation, I’m afraid it will arouse more people’s dissatisfaction.”
Zhao Bian said: "I agree with what Jun Shi said. Compared with the methods used by landlords to annex people's land, this bill is actually not excessive. As Zhang San said, if you think this bill will make growing food unprofitable, then you can The land is sold. Unless this bill causes most people to think that growing food is not profitable, then this bill is wrong. But I don’t think this bill will harm the interests of farmers.”
Fu Bi nodded slightly, and after thinking for a while, "Well, in this world, Junshi, you can talk to those officials again. If they can't provide sufficient reasons, then we can only act according to the rules."
