Chapter 245: Staying Ahead of the Game
“Publicity?”
Sima Guang looked at Zhang Fei with complete bewilderment.
Zhang Fei nodded. “Academician Sima could use a series of publicity campaigns to make everyone realize that this issue would harm many people’s interests and wouldn’t be worth the cost, and that this time the court has made up its mind—if they don’t comply, the consequences could be very severe.”
Sima Guang waved his hand dismissively. “You needn’t trouble yourself with that. What I want to ask you about are legal matters. If the court changes the law, how should those tenant contracts that haven’t yet expired be handled?”
Anyone could do publicity—why would he need to specifically seek out Zhang San the pen-in-cap? He had of course come to Zhang Fei to discuss legal issues.
Sigh, it seems my litigation skills have overshadowed many of my other talents! Zhang Fei pondered briefly before saying, “As long as the change in law has gone through the procedures of the imperial court, then I strongly believe it should be changed this year, with no conditions whatsoever.”
Sima Guang asked, “Could landlords use this as grounds to terminate contracts with tenants?”
Zhang Fei replied, “Not only landlords, but tenants can as well. Otherwise, things would become extremely complicated—landlords could even modify contracts to deny tenants compensation. The court can only act according to law and cannot intervene excessively. If the court helps them negotiate prices or mandates terms by force, it would only backfire, and no one would be willing to accept it.”
Song Dynasty tenant farmers were actually not much different from hired laborers—it was a commercial arrangement, and commerce pursued freedom above all.
Of course, this had to be within legal bounds, and talking about minimum wage guarantees now was truly impossible to achieve. The court could only make the laws more just, rather than completely favoring landlords as before. Ultimately, they still had to rely on negotiating among themselves.
Undeniably, on a fair basis, landlords held greater advantages because they owned the means of production.
This was reality.
Sima Guang then said, “If the court doesn’t intervene, and they band together to abandon all tenants, or replace them with a new batch—if such incidents occur en masse, it would create serious trouble for local officials.”
The capital could be kept under control, but beyond the capital it would become very troublesome.
Zhang Fei replied, “There’s no way around it—we can only tough it out. Because when it comes to legislation alone, the more you consider, the more cumbersome it becomes, and paradoxically the more loopholes there will be, causing the court to lose sight of the bigger picture. If the court establishes new laws, then their termination of old tenant contracts is legal behavior—the court cannot prevent them from pursuing legal actions.”
Previously, the tenant contracts entered into were all legal. When the court revises this law, they naturally consider their own interests and may choose not to hire tenants. If I think it’s unprofitable, I’ll farm the land myself—as long as I pay taxes per acre, that’s certainly permissible.
Sima Guang frowned in silence.
Zhang Fei stole a glance at him. “We still need publicity.”
Sima Guang looked at him suspiciously—something was off about this young man. He asked, “How do we conduct publicity?”
Zhang Fei said in a low voice, “Use pamphlets for publicity.”
Sima Guang rebuked angrily, “Nonsense! For the court to use pamphlets to promote its own new laws would be the height of absurdity. If the court needs publicity, it can use the official bulletin!”
The official gazette was the Song Dynasty’s government newspaper.
It had existed since the Second Emperor’s reign.
Because it was so dull, ordinary people simply didn’t read it.
Nowadays there were occasionally pamphlets among the people, but since they were rare, legally speaking, there was currently no explicit prohibition against them. After all, there was the crime of bewitching the masses.
The official bulletin? It only reported good news, never bad, and nine out of ten sentences were filler. Zhang Fei said sheepishly, “The official bulletin takes a long time to publish and has limited circulation. The key issue is it can only say conventional, moderate things—words that can’t be used for bargaining. Pamphlets are different—pamphlets can say irresponsible things.”
“Irresponsible things?” Sima Guang frowned.
Zhang Fei hastily explained, “Actually, the court does have bargaining chips—tax exemption privileges, ordination certificates—these are all leverage. But the official bulletin can hardly say, ‘If you dare dismiss tenant farmers and cause trouble, we’ll revoke all your privileges.’
Even if the official bulletin could say such things, the court would be responsible for the official bulletin. Words spoken must be acted upon, which would leave the court with no way out.
But pamphlets could give such hints. Even if the court doesn’t follow through, it wouldn’t matter, but this could intimidate them and make them not dare act rashly.”
Sima Guang kept shaking his head: “This is fraud and deception. How could we do that?”
Zhang Fei said, “This doesn’t count as fraud and deception. Rumors are something you believe if you want to, and don’t believe if you don’t want to. If you choose to believe them, who can you blame? But I dare guarantee that as long as the pamphlet comes out, there definitely won’t be any major trouble.”
Sima Guang suddenly looked him up and down. “You’re acting rather strange today.”
Zhang Fei smiled sheepishly: “Don’t I have a printing workshop? Right now it’s operating at a loss, so I need to think of ways to make some money.”
Sima Guang and Wang Anshi were both sharper than anyone else—there was no way to hide anything from them.
Sima Guang suddenly understood and pointed at Zhang Fei: “Well, well, Zhang San! This old man was wondering—usually when I discuss other matters with you, all you know is lawsuits, but today when I discuss the judicial system with you, you keep talking about publicity instead. So this is what’s going on! In the end, you’re just seeking profit for yourself.”
I’m not an official—if I don’t seek profit for myself, am I supposed to work for love? Zhang Fei chuckled: “Everyone gets what they need, right?”
“What ‘everyone gets what they need’?” Sima Guang snorted: “I won’t agree to this. We still need to find a way to solve this through the judicial system.”
Zhang Fei said, “Academician Sima, you have truly misunderstood me. It’s really not that I’m refusing to provide solutions just to make money. To be honest, I’m not short of this bit of money. But having said that, publicity is very crucial. Wasn’t Shang Yang’s wooden pole also publicity?[1] It had nothing to do with law. Good publicity can really accomplish great things at a small cost.”
Sima Guang thought about it and felt his words weren’t without merit. Shang Yang’s wooden pole was indeed a form of publicity, except he was promoting the concept of rule of law. He asked, “What do you think we should publicize?”
Zhang Fei pondered for a long while, then said, “The key issue now lies with the local regions, and for local stability, aside from the government offices, there are those local gentry and scholar-officials. If they can support the court, then this matter won’t be able to cause trouble.”
Sima Guang nodded: “But I’m afraid those bad apples among them will take the lead in causing trouble!”
Zhang Fei said, “But most of the local gentry and scholar-officials also enjoy privileges from the court. When you discuss this matter with colleagues, you could casually mention linking the privileges of the scholar-officials with local stability, thereby solving the hidden danger of them using tenant farmers to cause trouble.”
Sima Guang actually thought about it seriously: “This method isn’t bad, but it would definitely face enormous resistance and could never pass.”
Zhang Fei said, “You just need to mention it casually. They’ll definitely oppose it, so then just drop it. Then have pamphlets leak this news.”
Sima Guang was stunned: “That’s all it takes?”
After all, pamphlets were still rare now, and he wasn’t very good at this game.
Zhang Fei chuckled: “That’s all it takes. This would just be you speaking casually, and after the pamphlets come out, you would also strongly deny the matter.
But this suggests that the court has considered that those landlords might use tenant farmers to cause trouble. So if trouble really breaks out, whether the court would actually do this—no one can say for sure. This would make those landlords hesitant and cautious. Actually, with land tax following the land, even if they renegotiate contracts, they wouldn’t lose too much. But if the pamphlets stir things up like this, the cost becomes uncertain.”
Sima Guang thought to himself that this move was truly ingenious!
But he was still very hesitant.
Zhang Fei’s eyes turned, and he said, “Actually, there’s an even safer method.”
Sima Guang asked, “What method?”
Zhang Fei said, “Academician Sima, don’t be the one who mentions this. Let a minor official speak up instead, then strongly oppose it. For publicity purposes, as long as these words are spoken when discussing this matter, it works—who actually says them isn’t really important.”
Sima Guang pondered for a long while: “Let your father-in-law say it.”
“Ah?”
“What are you ‘ah-ing’ about?”
“No, no, it’s not that.”
Zhang Fei said, “This might affect my father-in-law’s career prospects.”
Sima Guang glared at him: “Then why did you suggest I say it earlier?”
Zhang Fei said sheepishly, “Didn’t I immediately provide a remedy afterward?”
Sima Guang chuckled: “I wasn’t deliberately testing you. If we really want to do this, after thinking it over, your father-in-law is the best choice. He’s the Chief Judge of the Court of Judicial Review, so his words carry some weight.
Moreover, your father-in-law has always been more supportive of Wang Anshi’s reforms and hasn’t hesitated to offend those big landlords. Having this suggestion come from him wouldn’t surprise anyone and wouldn’t affect his career prospects.”
After all, this was their first time playing such a game, and Zhang Fei felt uncertain, saying: “Maybe we should forget it. Just pretend I never said anything.”
Sima Guang said: “The moment I mentioned your father-in-law, you want to back out. What exactly are you thinking?”
Zhang Fei replied: “It was you who asked me first. What could I possibly be thinking?”
Sima Guang thought for a moment, then said: “How about this – you go ask your father-in-law first. If he doesn’t agree, then we’ll talk about something else.”
Zhang Fei felt somewhat conflicted inside. This matter was actually very important to him. Now that Sima Guang had loosened up on this point, it was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity. However, this old fox deliberately wanted to make things difficult for him and insisted on dragging Xu Zun into it.
After a long while, he finally nodded: “Alright, I’ll go ask and see. I estimate it probably won’t work out.”
Sima Guang smiled without saying a word.
In the evening, Zhang Fei took advantage of a walk with Xu Zun to inform him of this matter.
“This is a good idea.”
Xu Zun’s eyes lit up as he said with delight.
“Huh?”
“You don’t think I’m one of those pedantic types, do you?” Xu Zun asked.
As the most extraordinary figure in the legal world, he was also very skilled at playing political games.
Zhang Fei quickly said: “No, I would certainly never think that.”
Xu Zun said: “In fact, this is exactly how it should be. Those gentry and local elites enjoy the court’s preferential treatment, yet instead of helping, they’re scheming to cause trouble for the court. How outrageous! Just scaring them a little would be letting them off easy. Do you think we could make this backfire on them?”
Wow, each one is more ruthless than the last! Zhang Fei said awkwardly: “That would probably be very difficult.”
Xu Zun nodded: “Fine. If Sima Guang discusses this matter, I’ll casually mention it.”
Zhang Fei quickly said: “But if this matter gets blown out of proportion, it might cause some people to be dissatisfied with you, Father-in-law.”
Xu Zun snorted: “When I serve as an official, I serve the court and speak for the people – I’m not here to make them happy. This is also what I truly wish in my heart. To worry about troubles before others worry, to enjoy pleasures only after others enjoy them—that is what it means for scholar-officials to rule with the Emperor.”
[1] Shang Yang was a legalist reformer of Qin during the Warring States period. To establish public trust, he ordered a wooden pole to be set up at the south gate and offered a reward of ten gold to anyone who would take it to the north gate. No one stepped forward, so he raised the reward to fifty gold. One man volunteered, and Shang Yang rewarded him on the spot. With that, people believed that he meant what he said.