Judge of the Song Dynasty

Zhang Fei was not actually surprised that Ma Tianhao agreed so quickly to establish this charitable institution. If he hadn’t been somewhat confident, he wouldn’t have brought it up, and he hadn’t even needed to persuade him much.

The reason was actually quite simple: litigation was becoming public.

The previous trial methods had great potential for behind-the-scenes manipulation, but when litigation became public and pen-in-caps appeared in court for trial, the space for such manipulation was gradually shrinking.

If it were in the past, would they have bothered to alter the account books of the Archives?

Absolutely not necessary.

Basically, such matters wouldn’t even reach Lu Gongzhu.

But with pen-in-caps debating in court and all evidence being made public, with both sides engaging in heated verbal battles, many things could no longer be concealed.

In a certain sense, this represented the advancement of justice.

This had never appeared before – not in the Han or Tang dynasties, and not even in the law-focused Qin empire. There was no historical precedent to draw from, which made wealthy merchants, landowners, and scholar-officials all feel an unprecedented sense of crisis.

The crisis wasn’t major, but it was unknown. At this point, no one wanted to be the one to stick their neck out, so they had to endure for now.

Whether this was just temporary or whether someone was deliberately planning to promote such changes remained to be seen.

Of course, they didn’t have much trust in this charitable institution either. This was just an experiment, which was why Ma Tianhao deliberately had Ma Xiaoyi, Cao Dongdong, and others cooperate with Zhang Fei in a casual, experimental manner.

If it worked out, they could discuss it further.

If it didn’t work out, they could have their sons take the blame later – it would just be children playing around, having nothing to do with them.

But before Zhang Fei could seriously get busy with this matter, there was still one problem that needed to be resolved: the nature of the charitable institution.

Charity work was actually quite common in the Song dynasty and definitely didn’t require paying taxes, but the Song Code of Punishments contained no regulatory provisions in this regard. Official source ıs n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net

He would need to go back and study this carefully.

As soon as he returned home, he was caught by Xu Zun.

“Back so soon?”

Zhang Fei looked at Xu Zun with surprise.

Xu Zun said, “Sima Guang held a meeting today to discuss this matter. Isn’t this part of your plan? What’s wrong? Aren’t you ready yet?”

Zhang Fei made an acknowledging sound: “My preparations are almost complete, and I can start anytime. By the way, Father-in-law, what exactly did you all say at the time?”

“Generally following what you suggested.”

Xu Zun then told Zhang Fei about everyone’s discussions in detail.

Zhang Fei nodded, then chuckled: “When the time comes, Father-in-law must hold firm. At the beginning, there will definitely be many people attacking you.”

Xu Zun laughed: “You don’t need to worry about that. I’m already used to it. I just mentioned it casually – they can’t do anything to me.”

“Father, Zhang San, what are you discussing?”

Xu Zhiqian suddenly entered the hall.

Zhang Fei quickly said, “Your father and I are discussing charity work.”

Seeing that Zhang Fei deliberately didn’t want to tell Xu Zhiqian, Xu Zun also didn’t say more.

“Charity?”

Xu Zhiqian obviously quickened her pace and soon came before Zhang Fei. “What charity?”

Zhang Fei then told Xu Zhiqian and Xu Zun about his charity plan.

“What kind of charity is this?”

Xu Zhiqian said irritably, “You’re clearly helping them evade taxes.”

Xu Zun, who served as Judge of the Court of Judicial Review, sat to the side feeling very awkward.

Zhang Fei snorted: “This is real money being donated, real money being given out. As long as they donate land to our charitable institution, that land no longer belongs to them. How can you say this is tax evasion? Father-in-law, you be the judge.”

Xu Zun was momentarily stumped by his question. He stroked his beard and said, “Actually, there are quite a few charitable institutions like what you describe in our dynasty.”

Zhang Fei said, “Are you referring to the Welfare Courtyard, father-in-law?”

The Welfare Courtyard was a government facility that provided free housing to the elderly, weak, sick, and poor, but due to current financial difficulties, they now charged fees. They were still much cheaper than renting public housing, albeit with much worse conditions.

Zhang Fei had learned about these when working on housing loans.

Xu Zun waved his hand: “Not just the Welfare Courtyard. There are also government-run Care Homes and Relief Homes specifically for taking in orphans or elderly people with no one to depend on. There are also privately-run ones like the Osmanthus Society and the United Peace Society.”

Zhang Fei asked, “How do they operate?”

Xu Zhiqian said, “You don’t know?”

Zhang Fei shook his head.

“That makes sense, you never took the imperial examinations, so how would you know,” Xu Zhiqian teased.

Zhang Fei turned his head and looked at Xu Zhiqian with a dejected expression.

Xu Zhiqian smiled with pursed lips, then explained, “The Osmanthus Society specifically provides assistance to poor students who come to the capital for examinations. They also sponsor academies with books and writing materials. They’ve even donated many books to the College of National Scions. The United Peace Society specifically helps refugees during disasters, usually by providing warm clothing to displaced people in winter. I’ve joined the United Peace Society with a few friends before.”

Zhang Fei said, “Really? Why haven’t I heard you mention this before?”

Xu Zhiqian said, “What’s worth mentioning about that?”

“Alright!”

Zhang Fei shrugged slightly, then asked, “Since there are so many charitable organizations, why did Ma Tianhao and the others seem so surprised when I mentioned this to them?”

Xu Zun said, “Whether it’s the Osmanthus Society or the United Peace Society, they’re all quite different from your charitable institution. The Osmanthus Society and United Peace Society are made up of like-minded righteous people or friends who voluntarily contribute money and grain for relief during examination years or harsh winters.

People like Wang Anshi, Sima Guang, and Wen Yanbo have all donated substantial amounts of money and grain to academies or refugees through the Osmanthus Society and United Peace Society.”

Zhang Fei nodded repeatedly as he listened. “No wonder I keep hearing that Academician Wang and Academician Sima frequently do charity work, but I never saw them taking action. It turns out they work through specialized organizations.”

Charitable work in the Song Dynasty was truly very developed, mainly benefiting from two aspects.

First, Confucianism. All current charitable organizations followed Confucian thought, and scholars of this period mostly still held the ideal of “when successful, benefit all under heaven; when unsuccessful, cultivate oneself alone.”

From Fan Zhongyan, Bao Zheng, and Fu Bi, to Wang Anshi and Sima Guang, this generation of scholars was truly impeccable in terms of morality. As for political ideals and political struggles, those were separate matters. Even when the great corrupt official Cai Jing was in power, he gave tremendous policy support to welfare institutions and care homes.

Second was the overall environment. Everything depends on supply and demand relationships. Why was the Song Dynasty’s charitable industry developed? Because it was a commercial society that dominated, not an agricultural society where everyone only swept the snow from their own doorstep. This was also why Song Dynasty laws repeatedly changed the status of relatives versus neighbors – because neighbors began to become more important than relatives, and many people needed help from strangers.

Xu Zun continued, “But the biggest difference between these and your charitable organization is that they generally only donate money and grain when there’s a need, or donate spontaneously, while your charitable organization is more like conducting charity as a business.”

Zhang Fei asked, “Does Father-in-law think this needs to be taxed?”

Xu Zun pondered for a long while. “Someone will definitely report you, but if it goes to court, you’ll most likely win.”

Xu Zhiqian asked curiously, “Father, what do you mean? They’re clearly trying to find ways to evade taxes.”

Zhang Fei didn’t argue with her, because that was indeed the fact.

Xu Zun said, “If those wealthy merchants donate their land, then it would be very difficult to accuse them of tax evasion. Compared to the Osmanthus Society, Zhang San’s charitable organization is just donating first instead of waiting until there’s a need to contribute. The meaning is about the same.”

Xu Zhiqian asked, “Could they get these lands back?”

If they couldn’t get them back, then there really was nothing to say.

One could only say, you’re ruthless enough.

Zhang Fei said, “They’ll get them back through other means, such as receiving wages.”

After hearing this, Xu Zhiqian said, “This is blatant tax evasion. Don’t you feel guilty earning this money?”

“What do I have to feel guilty about?”

Zhang Fei said, “The money they donate is more than what they would pay in taxes, and it continuously helps those who truly need it. Just wait and see – before long, all the Osmanthus Societies and other charities combined won’t donate as much money as my charitable institution does.”

Xu Zhiqian felt this made a lot of sense, and for a moment, she couldn’t quite figure out whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

Xu Zun said, “But you still need to consider this matter carefully. The more you donate, the more land that doesn’t pay taxes, which means the court’s tax revenue will decrease. This might even affect Wang Anshi’s reforms, and he’ll definitely cause trouble for you. You might not be able to pull this off.”

The problem was that his reforms ultimately failed to collect taxes from these super-wealthy people anyway. Zhang Fei said, “But those people would rather donate their money than pay taxes. I don’t think Academician Wang can actually collect their tax money.

Doing it this way would at least ensure they take out a portion of money every year to help the people, or help the government. It’s just that they would have management rights, which could also prevent this money from being taken by officials to spend on wine and entertainment.”

Xu Zhiqian was startled, then nodded. “That’s true. Even if these taxes were collected, it would already be quite good if half of it was actually used by the governmentfor governing the country.”

As she spoke, her eyes turned. “Zhang San, why don’t you let me manage this charitable institution?”

Zhang Fei was startled and waved his hands. “Go, go, go. Don’t meddle in this blindly. Do you understand charity?”

When Xu Zhiqian heard this, her eyes immediately turned red with anger. “How do I not understand? I previously did charity work with the Osmanthus Society too.”

Zhang Fei rolled his eyes. “Your low-level operation of just handing out blankets – don’t bring that out to embarrass yourself, okay? It’s not even worth mentioning.”

Xu Zhiqian protested, “Does charity work have noble and lowly distinctions?”

Zhang Fei said, “It doesn’t have those distinctions, but it does have operational differences. With the same string of cash, you might only be able to help one person, while I could help a hundred people. That’s the difference.”

Xu Zhiqian spat, “Boastful nonsense.”

Zhang Fei chuckled. “Fine, if you can accomplish these three things, I’ll hand this charitable institution over to you.”

Xu Zhiqian asked, “Which three things?”

Zhang Fei said, “First, attract more people to donate land; second, earn quite a bit of money each year, so that the money donated by the charitable institution each year shows an increasing trend; finally, maximize help to more people and demonstrate our value.”

Xu Zhiqian remained silent, her beautiful face turning completely red.

Zhang Fei chuckled. “You just stand aside and quietly appreciate what real charity looks like.”

Xu Zhiqian huffed. “Fine, I’ll see what tricks you can pull off.”

Xu Zun asked, “It seems you’ve made up your mind to do this.”

Zhang Fei said, “I’ve already discussed it with His Majesty.”

You should have said that earlier! Xu Zun fell silent.

Since the emperor had already agreed, what was the point of him worrying about it?

After finishing his discussion with Xu Zun, Zhang Fei returned home and immediately called for Feng Nanxi.

“Nanxi, don’t worry about household matters anymore. Leave everything to my wife. I have a more important task for you.”

“What task?” Feng Nanxi asked.

Zhang Fei said, “Do you have any impression of Li Bao, who has been visiting frequently lately?”

Feng Nanxi nodded but didn’t speak.

Zhang Fei had actually deliberately let him know about some things, and said, “From now on, you’ll be specifically responsible for dealing with him.”