Judge of the Song Dynasty

Xu Zun was famously eccentric, but if one carefully examined his case records, it wasn’t difficult to discover that he was actually an eccentric with principles.

During his trials, he would rely on his professional expertise to favor the weaker party.

Because he knew that in a fair environment, the law favored the strong.

Xu Zhiqian was influenced by him, and in her view, the law was a tool to help the weak—this was her greatest ideological difference from Zhang Fei.

Therefore, in Xu Zun’s view, this matter posed no problem at all. He also knew that with land in the hands of landlords, it wasn’t enough for the court to merely ensure fairness—they should also find ways to provide some assistance to tenant farmers.

Mentioning it briefly wasn’t against the law.

As for pamphlets, current law had no explicit prohibition against them either.

Xu Zun’s accommodation greatly reduced Zhang Fei’s burden.

Control over public opinion was something he was determined to obtain.

Otherwise, he would be unable to move forward, let alone promote his proposals. He also needed to seriously plan the layout of his career.

Previously, he had truly been firing shots here and there—his ideas were correct, but when it came to execution, it appeared chaotic and disorderly, since this wasn’t his area of expertise after all.

But this time, through a fortuitous coincidence, charitable organizations, printing, and pamphlets had become connected.

This gave him some ideas about how to integrate everything.

Meanwhile, after leaving the Zhang residence, Ma Tianhao went alone to the Cao family.

He informed Cao Ping of Zhang Fei’s plan.

But Cao Ping’s attitude surprised him somewhat.

Anyone who heard this plan would scoff at it—donating land away, had they gone mad? But Cao Ping was seriously considering it, appearing quite hesitant.

“Has Chen Maoqian agreed?” Cao Ping suddenly asked.

Ma Tianhao chuckled, “I know Old Chen’s character too well—he’s both greedy and cautious. Expecting him to take the lead is impossible. We can only say that if we do it, he might follow along.”

After much deliberation, Cao Ping said, “Let’s take out some land first and try it.”

Ma Tianhao was stunned. “Brother Cao, once this land is donated, it won’t be ours anymore.”

Cao Ping replied, “The situation at court is currently unclear. Preparing an extra hand isn’t a bad thing. As for saying that once donated it no longer belongs to us—that’s a matter for later.”

What the powerful donated could also be reclaimed through power.

Ma Tianhao asked curiously, “What do you mean by ‘the situation is unclear’?”

Cao Ping said, “The Three Bureau Archives has now been abolished and replaced with the Tax Bureau, but what exactly this Tax Bureau entails—His Majesty hasn’t revealed the slightest hint about it. Even I’m not entirely clear, but in my opinion, this Tax Bureau is definitely not simple.

The imperial guards I had assigned to monitor the Archives were under my orders, but even now I haven’t been able to determine when those account books were switched.”

No one dared make rash judgments about what the emperor was truly thinking now, or whether he would take further steps. With Xiang-guo Temple being such a large target, Cao Ping felt somewhat uneasy.

What they now faced was this judicial issue. Previously, everyone had turned a blind eye, but now that might not necessarily be the case.

Whether this case was an isolated incident or would become routine—no one knew for certain.

They needed to prepare several contingency plans.

At the Wang residence.

“Mentor, now that Prefect Lu has been promoted to Accounting Chancellor, who will come to replace this position?”

Lu Huiqing asked with a trace of worry.

Wang Anshi said, “Lu Gongzhu’s promotion was bound to happen sooner or later—it’s not sudden. As for who will replace his position as prefect, His Majesty hasn’t consulted with me either, but I estimate His Majesty will certainly find an upright and incorruptible official to take over this position.”

The more impartial the Capital Prefect was, the more beneficial it would be for the emperor. After all, the emperor generally wouldn’t break the law, so the emperor could use the moral high ground of law to counter the moral high ground of the scholar-officials.

Lu Huiqing continued, “What about the Tax Bureau?”

Wang Anshi paused, glanced at him, and smiled, “That’s what you really wanted to ask about, isn’t it?”

Lu Gongzhu’s reassignment was a normal personnel transfer with no discussion value. The Tax Bureau was the key issue—after all, the City Tax Bureau had previously been under Lu Huiqing’s control.

Lu Huiqing said, “If the Tax Bureau were in your hands, it would be greatly beneficial to the New Policies.”

He wanted to take on this position. He even wanted to suggest that Wang Anshi find a way to directly incorporate the Tax Bureau into the Reform Planning Commission.

That way, the Reform Planning Commission could truly manage the nation’s finances.

Wang Anshi frowned and said, “Regarding this matter, His Majesty has never mentioned it to me. Perhaps His Majesty has other plans.”

This Tax Bureau surprised Wang Anshi somewhat, because Emperor Zhao Xu had never discussed this matter with him. However, he believed that Zhao Xu still supported him, and even if Zhao Xu controlled the Tax Bureau, it would still be beneficial to him.

But he never would have imagined that Zhao Xu was not deciding by himself.

Without question, Zhao Xu still supported Wang Anshi’s reforms, but at the same time, Zhao Xu also agreed with Zhang Fei’s philosophy—that governing the country required first governing the bureaucrats. This case had already proven that when official administration was unclear, even good deeds could turn into bad ones.

Zhao Xu planned to borrow Sima Guang’s hands and Zhang Fei’s strategies, starting from the judicial system.

The Imperial Palace.

“Is that so? Academician Sima agreed to let you do this?”

Zhao Xu looked at Zhang Fei with great surprise.

Zhang Fei nodded.

Zhao Xu smiled and said, “That’s quite remarkable.”

Zhang Fei said, “Actually, this isn’t so remarkable. What Academician Sima worries about is by no means needless anxiety—this is extremely likely to happen, especially in the beginning. Using some methods to get through this hurdle is understandable.”

Zhao Xu nodded slightly.

Zhang Fei continued, “Your Majesty could first borrow Academician Sima to test the power of this pamphlet. If there are drawbacks, they can be corrected.”

Zhao Xu said with concern, “But this would also expose this tactic, making it difficult to achieve surprising effects later.”

Zhang Fei said, “Your Majesty, please rest assured. The surprising effect of pamphlets lies in the content they publish, not in the pamphlets themselves. I dare guarantee that when it comes to pamphlets, they are no match for me.”

“Is that so?”

Zhao Xu smiled and said, “When it comes to writing articles, I’m afraid ten thousand Zhang Sans couldn’t match one Sima Guang.”

Zhang Fei smiled and said, “This has nothing to do with articles. This time, this humble subject will demonstrate to Your Majesty how to operate these pamphlets.”

Zhao Xu listened with great curiosity, nodding and smiling, “Very well, I shall see how you operate these pamphlets of yours.”

Zhang Fei said, “Thank you for Your Majesty’s trust.”

He couldn’t possibly use his own printing workshop to do this. If he did, everyone would know this was collusion between his father-in-law and him.

He and Zhao Xu had previously plotted to use pamphlets against those scholar-officials, and a secret printing workshop had already been prepared.

It had never been used.

Zhang Fei planned to borrow it for this purpose.

Zhao Xu continued, “By the way! At today’s court session, I have already decided to abolish the Three Bureau Archives and establish the Tax Bureau. When the time comes, I will arrange for someone to enter the Tax Bureau, with you secretly leading it.”

Zhang Fei nodded, “This humble subject obeys your command.”

Regarding this Tax Bureau, he questioned whether he could achieve what Zhang Fei described—collecting taxes even from bandits. He also didn’t believe any court minister could accomplish this.

Only Zhang Fei believed it could be done, so only Zhang Fei could lead it.

But if Zhang Fei were directly placed in the Tax Bureau, everyone would be on guard against him, which would be counterproductive. Zhao Xu planned to openly arrange a group of people to keep accounts and put on a show, but in reality, Zhang Fei would control it.

Sima Guang was famously a workaholic. The next day, he summoned officials from the Ministry of Punishments and the Court of Judicial Review to meet at the Court of Penal Review to discuss how to revise the tax laws for tenant farmers.

Liu Shu shook his head repeatedly, “Revising the law is easy enough—just a sentence or two—but why would the landlords agree to it?”

They actually all advised against Sima Guang taking on this task.

It would offend too many people.

Let Wang Anshi handle it instead.

But Sima Guang believed that since this was a judicial matter, how could it also be handed over to Wang Anshi? What would be the point of his judicial reforms then?

Xu Zun suddenly spoke up, “I thought that people obeying the law was a matter of course. I didn’t realize there was a question of whether they would agree or not.”

Liu Shu glanced at Xu Zun, his expression changing slightly, and said, “What if they comply outwardly but resist secretly, causing trouble? What then?”

Xu Zun asked with feigned ignorance, “What do you mean by ‘comply outwardly but resist secretly’?”

Liu Shu said bluntly, “If those landlords use this opportunity to dismiss all their tenant farmers, what will happen to those tenants? When the local areas are filled with idle vagrants everywhere, what kind of trouble will this bring to the local government offices?”

When Sima Guang heard this, his head ached. If everyone could predict that the other side would act this way, then most likely they really would act this way.

Xu Zun questioned, “Don’t the landlords need people to cultivate their land?”

Liu Shu replied, “Most landlords can afford to let their land lie fallow for a year, and besides, they still have household servants who can fill in. But the tenant farmers cannot afford this. If handled improperly, it could cause great chaos.”

Qi Hui also nodded and said, “I too believe His Majesty handled this matter too hastily, without thorough consideration.”

Sima Guang said, “It’s hardly hasty, since His Majesty asked us to revise this law precisely so we could consider it thoroughly.”

“But half a year isn’t nearly enough,” Liu Shu said. Thıs content belongs to novel·fiɾe·net

Xu Zun suddenly said, “I do have a strategy.”

Sima Guang asked, “What good plan do you have?”

Xu Zun said, “Even if things are truly as Associate Minister Liu described, and those landlords use tenant farmers to cause trouble, it’s generally the major landlords who take the lead. According to what I know, most large landlords have received favors from the court – they possess many tax exemption privileges, or salt and alcohol trading rights. As long as we memorialize His Majesty that if local unrest occurs, the special privileges of the local major landlords will be revoked, I guarantee absolutely no one will dare cause trouble.”

He truly deserved to be an oddball in the legal profession – he could even come up with such a rotten idea.

Most of the officials present shuddered, their faces turning pale with fright.

“Academician Sima, absolutely not!”

Qi Hui said, “If we really did this, the matter would never end, and it certainly wouldn’t pass. Moreover, the law revision would be delayed because of this.”

“Exactly, exactly, we absolutely cannot do this.”

Except for Xu Zun, everyone opposed it – not a single person agreed.

Sima Guang looked at Xu Zun with a worried frown: “Judge Xu, let’s not create complications for now. Let’s focus on handling this matter well first.”

Xu Zun nodded.

This first meeting ended amid everyone’s complaints.

Xu Zun returned home excitedly, but didn’t see Zhang Fei anywhere. “Qian’er, where is Zhang San?”

Xu Zhiqian said, “He was just called away by Young Master Cao and the others.”

“Is that so?”

Xu Zun nodded with obvious disappointment.

Xu Zhiqian asked curiously, “Does Father have business with Zhang San?”

Xu Zun coughed once: “Isn’t the court going to revise laws regarding tenant rental contracts? I wanted to discuss it with Zhang San.”

He didn’t plan to tell Xu Zhiqian about this matter himself – if anyone was to tell her, it should be Zhang Fei.

At this moment, Zhang Fei was dividing the spoils with Cao Dongdong and the others.

“Why is there an outsider here?”

Upon entering the room, Zhang Fei suddenly saw a fifteen or sixteen-year-old youth standing inside and couldn’t help but frown.

If people found out he was the banker behind the scenes, his reputation would be completely ruined.

Ma Xiaoyi said, “Brother San, please don’t worry. This is my brother Hong Qi. He’s very loyal, and all our betting arrangements this time were handled by him.”

Hong Qi stepped forward and quickly bowed: “Hong Qi pays respects to Third Brother Zhang.”

Cao Dongdong grinned and said, “Zhang San, Little Qi is also a ruthless character. His father was originally an Imperial Army sergeant, but later lost almost everything gambling and ran away with his eldest brother and the others. Little Qi and his second brother Hong Feng were unwilling to leave the Eastern Capital, so the two of them secretly opened a gambling house at home. Not only did they pay off all the debts, they even made quite a bit of money.”

Zhang Fei listened in amazement and laughed: “What an excellent case of fighting poison with poison.”

Normally when children encountered this kind of situation, they would definitely detest gambling deeply. Yet these two brothers went against the grain and opened a gambling house instead – they were truly talented!

Hong Qi chuckled and said, “Brother San, you flatter me.”

Zhang Fei asked again, “How much did we make this time?”

Hong Qi replied, “After deducting what we paid out, we made a total of twenty-three thousand strings.”

“That much?”

Zhang Fei’s face lit up with joy, thinking to himself: Why the hell am I still fighting lawsuits? Playing the gambling business is so easy and pleasant. It seems like soccer is quite popular in the Song Dynasty – I wonder if there’s a Song Cup tournament.

Cao Dongdong glanced at Zhang Fei and said, “Well played, Zhang San! You deceived us back then, saying you weren’t confident and telling them to adjust the odds – turns out you were just finding ways to make money.”

Ma Xiaoyi also said, “That’s right! Brother San, what you did wasn’t honorable. If Little Qi hadn’t reminded us, we’d still be kept in the dark by you.”

“Let’s not talk about that first.” Zhang Fei glanced at that kid Hong Qi and continued, “How should we divide this money?”

Cao Dongdong said, “Little Qi takes three thousand strings. As for the remaining twenty thousand strings, we’re planning to donate them to charity.”

“What?”

Zhang Fei’s eyes widened: “Hey, I totally support you guys doing charity, but I’m really short on money right now. I’m fucking poor!”

Ma Xiaoyi said, “Brother San, wasn’t it you who told us to do this?”

Zhang Fei replied, “When did I ever…”

Halfway through his words, he looked at Ma Xiaoyi and asked, “Who told you that?”

Ma Xiaoyi said, “My father told me.”

Zhang Fei blinked, “I told your father to do charity, but I never said I had to do it too.”

Ma Xiaoyi persuaded him, “Brother San, this is all ill-gotten wealth anyway. What’s the point of keeping it? Better to do charity and help the weak against the powerful.”

Zhang Fei thought to himself: You, a loan shark, are lecturing me about ill-gotten wealth? Where the hell do you get the nerve?

Cao Dongdong nodded and said, “If you’re doing it, then I’m interested too. I can donate some of my family’s land.”

The Cao family? Wow, a big client! Zhang Fei’s eyes darted as he thought secretly: If they set up this charity organization, it would have to go through my law firm. I’d make far more than I do now, and it would be a steady stream of income. He said, “Alright, alright. Since you’re all so interested, I won’t spoil your fun. Let’s donate it.”