Judge of the Song Dynasty

After Wang Anshi left, he truly did go to find Zhang Fei—he hadn’t been speaking in anger.

It had to be said that this really was beyond Zhang Fei’s expectations.

Good heavens! This old man Lu usually kept a low profile, but when it came to the crucial moment, he struck harder than anyone!

However, Zhang Fei had no intention of negotiating with Lu Gongzhu. He wasn’t getting a commission after all—this five hundred thousand strings had nothing to do with him whatsoever. The key point was that Lu Gongzhu also intended to use this money to care for the common people, which aligned with their goals.

So he actually advised Wang Anshi: “Academician Wang, please calm down. I actually think what Prefect Lu wants to do is completely acceptable.”

“Acceptable?”

Wang Anshi’s eyes widened. “We worked ourselves to the bone, and with a wave of his hand, the Kaifeng Prefectural Office just plucks away the fruit. This is truly outrageous!”

He then asked Zhang Fei: “Does the Kaifeng Prefectural Office have the authority to do this?”

You’re asking me whether they have authority? Zhang Fei was somewhat speechless, but the man had paid money after all. He thought seriously for a moment. “If this were a criminal case, Kaifeng Prefecture would naturally have the authority to intervene. But if it’s a civil lawsuit, then they wouldn’t have the authority. However, the problem lies in the fact that whether this case belongs to civil or criminal matters is determined by Kaifeng Prefecture itself.”

After pausing, he added: “If Academician Wang is unwilling, we can only discuss it internally within the imperial court.” “Forget it, let’s not create complications,” Wang Anshi said. “You go talk with Prefect Lu. We can agree, but our Reform Planning Commission must also have the authority to oversee this matter.”

“That should be no problem.”

Zhang Fei nodded with a smile, then said to Wang Anshi: “Academician Wang, even if Kaifeng Prefecture does this, popular sentiment is still on our side. No one will think this was something Kaifeng Prefecture fought for on their behalf.”

Wang Anshi snorted: “You certainly know a lot.”

Zhang Fei smiled awkwardly. “Then I’ll go talk with Prefect Lu.”

“Go! Go!”

Wang Anshi waved his hand.

Actually, he too wanted to use this money to win hearts and minds for the Reform Planning Commission.

Reform couldn’t succeed without popular support.

Since he was currently targeting corvee labor laws, he planned to use most of this money in that area.

Lu Gongzhu readily accepted Wang Anshi’s humble request.

At this very moment, the common people outside the gates of Kaifeng Prefecture, gazing at those tightly closed doors, had nearly craned their necks to the breaking point.

The hearing time had already passed—why weren’t the gates opening yet?

For a time, various conspiracy theories emerged one after another.

Suddenly, with a creaking sound, the gates opened.

Everyone desperately pushed forward, hoping to secure a good spot.

“Don’t push! Don’t push yet!”

Huang Gui emerged and raised his hand to stop the crowd, while several bailiffs also blocked the steps.

Huang Gui then announced to the crowd: “This case has concluded.”

“Concluded?”

Ma Xiaoyi exclaimed excitedly: “Wasn’t it supposed to be an open court hearing? How did it become a closed-door trial?”

I’ve already taken off my pants, and you’re showing me this?

“That’s right! Could it be that you—”

“Don’t overthink it,” Huang Gui said. “Since the opposing party has fully confessed, this case ends here.”

“Confessed?”

“Ah!”

“It’s over—my money!”

“Oh no! Oh no!”

Waves of wailing rose and fell.

Huang Gui couldn’t be bothered with these gamblers. He nodded to two bailiffs beside him, who immediately posted the judgment on the wall nearby.

The crowd moved like locusts, quickly shifting over there.

“Wow, they really have to pay five hundred thousand strings?”

“What are you ‘wow-ing’ about? Yesterday, Zhang the pen-in-cap made Du Shaojing alone pay five hundred thousand strings. Now they’re making one hundred and eight people pay five hundred thousand strings. There’s definitely something fishy going on here.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Look carefully—those landlords not only agreed to help tenant farmers pay taxes, but also guaranteed to modify contracts to ensure tenant farmers won’t bear tax burdens.”

“This really is good news.”

“And more, and more—they also guaranteed to waive most of the usurious interest.”

“What waiving? They still have to repay ten times the principal.”

“You should be content. Anyone who owes usurious debt might never be able to repay it in their lifetime. If calculated at ten times the amount, those indentured servants would have paid it off long ago.”

Some people stood before the judgment discussing it, while many others took brush and ink to copy down the judgment before quickly leaving.

This case didn’t just concern these one hundred and eight landlords.

”Brother Chen, why are you walking so fast?”

Ma Tianhao stepped forward and grabbed Chen Maoqian, who was hurriedly leaving, and called out.

Chen Maoqian said in a low voice, “What else could it be? Of course I’m rushing to pay my taxes!”

Ma Tianhao joked, “Can you even afford to pay them?”

Chen Maoqian said helplessly, “I still have to pay. Academician Wang has sued those one hundred and eight people today, tomorrow he could sue us too. Five hundred thousand strings—who could withstand that? We’ll talk more later, I need to go back first.”

Ma Tianhao held onto him and wouldn’t let go. “Wait, don’t you understand? This is a legal matter. Do you know the law? If you go pay back taxes now and someone catches you, wouldn’t you be walking into a trap?”

Chen Maoqian said, “You can’t just gamble on the government not suing you, can you? Think about it—sue one batch and get five hundred thousand strings in income. How could the government not sue? This is much better than collecting taxes.”

Ma Tianhao said, “Even if you’re going to pay back taxes, you need to find someone who understands the law.”

“Someone who understands the law?”

Chen Maoqian was stunned.

Just then, someone shouted, “Zhang San is coming out.”

“Zhang San, you’ve gotten me killed this time.”

“There’s something fishy here, definitely something fishy. This can’t count.”

“Why did the other side suddenly confess? Yesterday you were still fighting back and forth.”

“Damn! Are you blind? You call that fighting back and forth?”

Amid endless complaints, Zhang Fei escorted Xu Zhiqian out from inside. They got into a carriage, and with another casual wave of his hand, he entered the carriage compartment and departed gracefully amid the chorus of complaints.

Chen Maoqian looked at Ma Tianhao. “You mean?”

Ma Tianhao said, “We throw several hundred strings at their law firm every year. What’s it for, if not for situations like this?”

Chen Maiqian nodded repeatedly. “Right, right, right. If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have forgotten about this. It’s also that Zhang San’s fault—the things he does always make people want to stay away. Never mind when there’s no problem, even when there’s a problem, I don’t want to go find him.”

Ma Tianhao sighed bitterly, “But the times have changed now!”

Chen Maoqian nodded.

The fact that they could win this case meant that from now on, one couldn’t just consider power, status, and connections, but also had to consider judicial matters.

Inside the courtyard.

“How boring. How did they become so utterly helpless?”

Su Shi stood up, stretched lazily, and said to Su Zhe with great amusement, “Third Brother, come with me to collect the money.”

Su Zhe looked at his smug elder brother with mixed feelings of crying and laughing. “Second Brother, although you won this time, I still don’t recommend doing this. Nine out of ten gambles are losses. If you had lost, we would have had to sleep on the streets.”

Su Shi shook his head with a smile. “This wasn’t gambling.”

Su Zhe was slightly stunned and asked, “Second Brother, why were you so certain that Zhang San would definitely win?”

“Because…” Su Shi suddenly lowered his voice. “His Majesty can’t afford to lose this battle!”

Su Zhe was startled, then nodded. “I see.” Then he frowned tightly. “Then this matter isn’t over yet.”

Su Shi chuckled. “Of course it’s not over.”

Of course it couldn’t be brushed aside so easily.

The emperor couldn’t possibly not inquire about such a matter, especially since the emperor had intended to use this case to establish his authority.

Zhao Xu, who had remained silent throughout, convened a meeting that very afternoon in the Hall of Delegated Rule to discuss this case.

Han Qi, Fu Bi, and Zeng Gongliang all attended.

“Tax receipts from two years ago actually matched with account books from five years ago—what a remarkable occurrence indeed!”

Zhao Xu said with a cold laugh.

The ministers all remained silent.

This time we’ve been outmaneuvered.

You cunning little bastard.

Lu Gongzhu said, “According to the criminal Zhou Cai’s statement, he had previously bribed the then Kaifeng magistrate Wang Hong to obtain a batch of tax receipts. As for why they were recorded in the account books from five years ago, he claims to know nothing about it.”

Zhao Xu asked, “Do you believe his explanation?”

Lu Gongzhu answered truthfully, “Your Majesty, I believe this case has many suspicious points, and Zhou Cai’s words are not credible.”

“Wang Hong has already been exiled to Qiongzhou, yet he’s still being used by others. How truly pitiful.”

Zhao Xu harshly mocked them for a while, then said, “In my view, this matter could not have been accomplished by one person alone, but I also don’t wish to investigate everyone one by one. All officials in the Three Bureau Archives shall be dismissed from their posts and investigated. What do you all think?”

“Your Majesty is wise and sagacious.”

The assembled ministers spoke in unison.

Did they dare say no?

If they dared utter a single “no,” then they would be investigated one by one.

There was no choice – they had botched things and could only sacrifice pawns to save the king.

Although the officials in the Three Bureau Archives were all minor functionaries, replacing them all would deal a severe blow to their power base.

However, with people coming and going, they could still reorganize.

But this time Zhao Xu had no intention of giving them a chance to rise from the ashes. He continued, “The Three Bureau Archives was originally established to supervise the Three Financial Bureaus, but from this case it appears the Archives has not fulfilled its supervisory role, but instead colluded with the Three Financial Bureaus. Tax collection is an important affair of state and cannot failures cannot be tolerated.

Therefore, I have decided to abolish the Three Bureaus Archives and establish a new Tax Affairs Bureau, incorporating the City Tax Bureau into it. It will be subordinate to the Ministry of Revenue, with its chief official directly appointed by the central government. It will be established in all circuits, specifically to audit taxes and be responsible for investigating and collecting unpaid and evaded taxes.”

How ruthless!

The ministers all sighed inwardly.

Not only were people being replaced, but the entire department was being eliminated – a complete clean sweep.

With appointments made by the central government, they would mostly be appointed by the emperor. In other words, this department would be subordinate to the Three Financial Bureaus while simultaneously possessing extraordinary independence.

If the director wasn’t appointed by the Three Financial Bureaus, why would they listen to the Three Financial Bureaus?

The reason for placing it under the Ministry of Revenue was purely out of necessity, since the Three Financial Bureaus controlled the empire’s finances, and without placing the audit department there, the Three Financial Bureaus couldn’t function.

The purpose of this arrangement was to ensure the Three Financial Bureaus could operate smoothly while also providing oversight.

In fact, the Three Bureaus Archives had been divided into three parts and then reunified more than ten times, precisely because Song emperors worried on one hand about the Archives having too much power, but on the other hand feared being unable to supervise the Three Financial Bureaus.

This constant reorganization had led to the Three Bureaus Archives being completely controlled by the Three Financial Bureaus, becoming thoroughly corrupt. A single word from a Three Financial Bureaus official could make the Archives switch out account books.

This time Zhao Xu was determined that even if the power became excessive, he would establish this Tax Affairs Bureau – without money, what was the point of discussing power?

But neither Han Qi nor Fu Bi felt the emperor’s actions were unreasonable.

The Three Bureaus Archives had indeed lost its original function and was completely controlled by the Three Financial Bureaus. In other words, the Three Financial Bureaus were operating without any supervision whatsoever.

The potential for corruption was unimaginable.

How could they operate without supervision?

But Wang Anshi was somewhat bewildered – my City Tax Bureau is gone just like that?

You didn’t even give me a heads up.

How inconsiderate!

But how could he know that three people were seated at this table, not just him and Sima Guang?

Zhao Xu continued, “As for the Three Financial Bureaus…”

The ministers felt they couldn’t bear much more – wasn’t he asking for too much?

Zhao Xu’s gaze swept over them: “I too have been negligent in this matter. The Finance Commissioner has been ill at home for many days, leaving the Three Financial Bureaus without proper management, and I failed to notice this in time. Today I plan to promote Prefect Lu to Finance Commissioner. Do any of you have objections?” Thɪs chapter is updated by novel·fire.net

Lu Gongzhu was both a good friend of Wang Anshi and a good friend of Sima Guang. Having him serve as mediator was acceptable to both sides.

The ministers all expressed their approval.

Lu Gongzhu quickly thanked the emperor for his grace, but felt somewhat uncomfortable inwardly – he was inheriting a crippled Three Financial Bureaus!

Zhao Xu looked directly at Lu Gongzhu and said, “I hope you can properly reorganize the Three Financial Bureaus and ensure such incidents don’t happen again.”

Lu Gongzhu hastily replied, “This subject will do his utmost and not disappoint Your Majesty’s grace.”

Many officials were nearly in tears.

The price was too heavy.

Zhao Xu’s words were almost explicitly telling Lu Gongzhu that just because he hadn’t touched the Three Financial Bureaus didn’t mean he wouldn’t – he was leaving it for Lu to establish his authority.

One could imagine that after Lu Gongzhu took office, the Three Financial Bureaus would also suffer a wave of purges.

But this wave of purges would be much lighter than the one at the Archives, since it would be carried out by the Finance Commissioner himself – it would just be replacing one group of people with another, without changing the power structure.

Overall though, the price was very heavy.

But having lost, they had to accept it and could only slowly try to recover later.

However, this incident also let the officials see the true face of this young emperor – he was not like his predecessors like Emperor Zhenzong or Emperor Renzong. His ambitions were enormous indeed!