Judge of the Song Dynasty

Zhang Fei had gone to Wang’s house quickly, not to curry favor, but as part of a larger strategy.

He knew Wang Anshi would establish the Finance Planning Commission to control the empire’s finances.

Given this, why would he compromise with the Three Financial Bureaus?

After all, the Three Financial Bureaus had a mature system and widespread influence. He could not play a major role there.

Their attitude toward him made this clear.

They only hoped he wouldn’t cause trouble – nothing more. They didn’t need his help.

But the Finance Planning Commission was a newly created department with the emperor’s full support that urgently needed staff.

Anyone with sense would choose the latter.

Therefore, when initially facing the Three Financial Bureaus, the most powerful department in the Song dynasty, Zhang Fei remained very firm.

No matter how they tried to corner him, he refused to compromise. But he also took no action to counterattack.

He was simply waiting.

And finally, that moment arrived.

At the Bianjing Law Firm.

Fan Li stood respectfully to the side, excitedly watching Lu Huiqing who sat with Zhang Fei in the main seats.

After a while, Lu Huiqing put down the documents and smiled at Zhang Fei: “You truly deserve your famous reputation – you’ve considered things more thoroughly than we have.”

The proposal covered both taxation and safeguards for copyright taxes.

The latter was actually more important.

The biggest challenge with copyright law was enforcement.

Unlike property taxes which couldn’t be hidden since the government could easily reclaim land and houses, piracy could be concealed.

Wang Anshi didn’t have enough manpower to monitor this.

By delegating tax calculations to the law firm, the law firm could provide legal guarantees that taxes were properly calculated while the Finance Planning Commission could simply collect taxes without doing any work.

If problems arose, the law firm could directly file lawsuits through the judicial system.

This would greatly reduce their burden.

They would only need to supervise the law firm itself.

Zhang Fei smiled and said, “Thank you for the praise. Our firm’s mission is to help clients solve problems without causing them any trouble.”

Lu Huiqing replied with a half-smile, “So you consider us clients!”

This guy was not easy to deal with! Zhang Fei smiled and said, “Clients are our livelihood. Our respect for clients is unparalleled. This also prevents giving others anything to criticize.”

The mention of “criticism” clearly alluded to collusion between officials and merchants.

Lü Huiqing nodded slightly and said, “This is indeed the best approach. Very well, we’ll leave this matter to you.”

“We won’t betray your trust and that of Academician Wang,” Zhang Fei gratefully responded. Thıs text ıs hosted at NovєlFіre.net

After seeing Lu Huiqing off, Zhang Fei slapped the Finance Planning Commission document against Fan Li’s chest, “From now on, treat Li Guozhong and his people with indifference.”

Fan Li held the document, chuckling foolishly.

He could never have predicted that the imperial court would suddenly undergo such changes, with the emergence of a Finance Planning Commission that directly seized power from the Three Financial Bureaus, the Song Dynasty’s most powerful department.

It was beyond his wildest dreams.

Yet it had happened.

This document made it very clear that the Finance Planning Commission would fully support their Bianjing Law Firm.

The entire firm’s morale soared.

Since their unsuccessful first day, the firm’s pen-in-caps had endured constant mockery. Now they could finally hold their heads high.

“Our preparations are still somewhat lacking,” Zhang Fei said after returning to the shop and sitting down.

Fan Li replied awkwardly, “Yes, there are some shortcomings, but we couldn’t help it. The way the Three Financial Bureaus treated us before, nobody wanted to come to our shop.”

Zhang Fei nodded, “I understand that, but now…”

Fan Li quickly said, “Don’t worry about that. I’ll start recruiting right away. It shouldn’t take long.”

Zhang Fei grunted in agreement, then added, “Also, ask the realtors to find out how much of a cut the officials usually take when collecting merchant taxes.”

Fan Li asked, “Why do you want to know that?”

Zhang Fei explained, “Although we’ll guarantee our tax assessments, we can’t guarantee every single coin. You should know that some officials have very little salary and rely on collecting fees to make a living. If we guarantee every coin, we’ll have endless lawsuits and anger the court.

Therefore, we need to set a guarantee range. Discrepancies within this range will be considered reasonable, while those exceeding it will be unreasonable, and only then will we be obligated to file lawsuits.”

“Yes, yes, you’re thinking this through very carefully,” Fan Li nodded repeatedly, his forehead slightly sweating.

If successful, this would indeed be a profitable business, but without careful consideration of details, it could also be life-threatening.

If mishandled, they could get burned playing with fire.

The greater the benefit, the higher the risk.

The Northern Song court actually placed great importance on commerce and had strict laws for collecting merchant taxes, but given the slow communications in ancient times, they still relied on delegation.

If those tax collectors weren’t given some benefits, they wouldn’t work hard to collect taxes.

It was like the Shophouse and Residence Office.

They had to consider human relationships – things like offering cigarettes or gifting chickens weren’t worth reporting.

But if someone seized an entire ship’s cargo, that was obviously unacceptable.

The range Zhang Fei suggested was essentially about managing these human relationships.

Before they could catch their breath, Yan Jidao arrived.

“Mr. Yan truly keeps his word,” Zhang Fei greeted him with clasped hands.

Yan Jidao returned the gesture, “Not at all. It’s Brother San who is capable, obtaining justice for my father so quickly. Moreover, you’ve given me such preferential treatment – how could I not come?”

After exchanging pleasantries, Zhang Fei produced a prepared contract.

“Authentic Books Store?”

Yan Jidao was stunned when he saw the contract.

Wasn’t it supposed to be Gathering the Capable?

Zhang Fei hurriedly explained, “I’ve officially renamed the store to Authentic Books Store, hoping to promote authentic publications.”

Yan Jidao nodded, “I see.”

Zhang Fei continued, “Also, I’ve set the fee at one hundred strings per year.”

Yan Jidao asked in surprise, “That much?”

Zhang Fei replied, “This price wasn’t set by me, but by the scholars of the realm. Minister Yan’s poetry and prose are absolutely worth this price, and we believe they will sell well.

However, since my bookstore needs renovation this year, and we need to remake the printing blocks, regardless of whether we publish this year, it won’t count. In simple terms, we’re signing for six years but only charging for five.”

Yan Jidao didn’t hesitate and nodded, “Very reasonable.”

Zhang Fei added, “The contract also stipulates your rights and obligations. We’ll provide some samples for you to review and see if anything needs changing.”

Yan Jidao listened and read, feeling overwhelmed. He truly hadn’t imagined that publishing a book could be so complex.

More surprisingly, most things he hadn’t considered were actually about protecting his own rights, not Zhang Fei’s interests.

Under these circumstances, their discussion naturally went very smoothly.

That day, he signed the first-ever copyright licensing contract with Zhang Fei’s Authentic Books Store.

At the White Crystal Inn.

“Finance Planning Commission?”

Fan Yong anxiously said, “How… how did such a… cough Who are we supposed to answer to in the future?”

He was panicking badly.

The restaurant industry was already heavily regulated by the court, and now with another bureau appearing, their previously bright prospects suddenly became murky.

Fan Zheng remained calm, “I’ve heard that this Finance Planning Commission is mainly responsible for implementing reforms, but judging from their copyright tax law, they likely also have power to reform merchant taxes.

However, Academician Wang can’t possibly change all the lower offices and replace all officials, so I believe White Crystal Inn should maintain stability amid changes, keeping our existing relationships while strengthening ties with Zhang San.”

The Bianjing Law Firm was now the Finance Planning Commission’s anchor in the civilian sector.

Fan Yong frowned in thought, “Though your reasoning makes sense, they’ll certainly be at odds with each other. Given our humble position, it’ll be hard to balance between them.”

Playing both sides was truly the most dangerous game.

Fan Zheng said, “But we merchants can band together. If we unite, the officials above will have to maintain good relations with us, or they’ll push us to the other side.

Moreover, the struggle between these two bureaus should mainly be confined to court politics. The lower officials must be as anxious as we are, not knowing whom to listen to. We can use this point and ally with them – they need us too.”

Fan Yong looked at his son in surprise, staring for a while before smiling with satisfaction, “Zheng’er, I hadn’t realized you’d grown so much. Alright, I’ll leave this matter to you.”

Fan Zheng immediately replied, “I won’t disappoint you, Father.”

As they say, chaos is a ladder!

Usually, White Crystal Inn was stable as a mountain, without any major crises, so Fan Yong couldn’t see his son’s true abilities. Today he suddenly discovered how much his son had grown.

At such a crucial moment, he could remain so calm and analyze things so thoroughly.

In fact, he was even better than his father at dealing with officials, as the elder was more fearful.

This made him consider passing on the torch.

At the Chen residence.

“Outrageous! Outrageous! Wang Anshi wants to turn everything upside down!”

Chen Huaixiao paced back and forth in the hall, cursing loudly.

They weren’t unfamiliar with reform – there had been one during the Qingli era – but it hadn’t been done like this. Everything should follow established systems. Starting from scratch like this was unheard of!

There couldn’t be two suns in the sky or two rulers over the people. Wouldn’t everything fall into chaos this way?

Tang Ji snorted, “No wonder Zhang San was so fearless – he’d already colluded with Wang Anshi. He must have known about this early on. Why don’t we use him to send a warning message?”

Du Xiu immediately said, “No matter how capable he is, he’s just a small-time pen-in-cap. Without Wang Anshi, he probably wouldn’t even have a foothold in the capital. He’s just a pawn – whether he lives or dies won’t affect Wang Anshi’s reforms. If we focus our energy on dealing with him, we’ll only lose more than we gain.”

Tang Ji threw up his hands, “Then what should we do?”

Chen Huaixiao sighed, “I heard the Finance Commissioner had a big argument with Wang Anshi and fell ill after returning home. Our Three Financial Bureaus are now leaderless – how can we fight against Wang Anshi?”

Du Xiu said, “The Finance Commissioner is upright, but even if he were well, he’d be no match for that schemer Wang Anshi. We must rely on ourselves in this matter.”

Tang Ji asked, “What do you suggest?”

Du Xiu replied, “Wang Anshi may establish a new bureau, but he can’t create a new imperial court. His reforms still need to rely on the lower offices. We shouldn’t act rashly now, but instead should win over the lower ranks and wait for the right opportunity.”