Northern Song Dynasty Justice

Chapter 139

Chapter 139

Although Wang Anshi has not yet announced his new law, but the Yaqian service must be changed, so according to Wang Anshi's current statement, the imperial court may spend money to hire labor.

Since it is an employment nature, can the common people not go?

If you don't go, is it considered an escape?

What will the government do then?

The rich have to pay money to be exempted from service. If they don't pay, how should they be punished?

Sima Guang suddenly realized that breaking the law by quoting the law is actually unavoidable.

However, his style of conduct was still very conservative and cautious. He did not report to the emperor immediately, but transferred some special cases from the trial court to analyze.

See if there are no similar cases yet.

And Wang Anshi over there is also making final arrangements with the emperor.

First of all, it is not to promulgate new laws, but to make new masters famous.

Wang Anshi had explained in advance that in order to avoid spending too much energy on rectifying the administration of officials, a temporary government office should be created to bypass the entire system.

This temporary government office was officially named "Zhizhi Sansi Regulations Department".

It is interpreted as "using the palm of the hand to paint the country, to change the old law, and to benefit the world."

As the name suggests, it is mainly in charge of financial power.

Zhao Xu had already agreed in advance.

Now there is only one question left.

To Zhao Xu's surprise, there were two chiefs in the Department of Regulations of the Three Divisions, named Regulations of the Third Division. Wang Anshi recommended Chen Shengzhi to be in charge with them, and with Chen Shengzhi as the leader, he was subordinate to him.

"Sir, why don't you take charge of this department alone?" Zhao Xu asked.

Wang Anshi said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I have little qualifications. If I take charge of this department alone, I am afraid that the name will not be right, the words will not be right, and it will not be convincing. Therefore, I suggest that the minister who knows the affairs of the Privy Council should be in charge together with the minister."

He has been in the officialdom for so many years, and he is not a stunned young man. It is very dangerous for one person to control the world's finances. Can the emperor rest assured?

And after all, he is the deputy prime minister, not the prime minister, and it is impossible for him to be directly promoted to the prime minister with his current qualifications.

The four old prime ministers in the current dynasty, Fu Bi, Tang Jie, Zeng Gongliang, and Zhao Yan, all do not support him, so someone must be found to hold the line, after all, Wang Anshi has only been back to Beijing for a year.

Chen Shengzhi has deep qualifications, outstanding achievements, is his friend, and also supports his reform.

The Privy Council is in charge of the military affairs of the world, and they are two government offices together with Zhongshu, with one article and one military. Several old men in Zhongshu opposed it, so Wang Anshi could only turn his attention to the Privy Council.

Zhao Xu also understood Wang Anshi's concerns, nodded with a smile, and asked again: "Why are the inspectors and Xiangdu officials established, and who should be in charge?"

Wang Anshi said: "The censorship officer is to assist the Shangguan to formulate new laws and regulations, and the interrogation officer is to go to various places to visit to see if the new law is implemented. If there is something inappropriate, it will be amended immediately."

It can be seen from the degree of relatives and interests that the establishment of the regulations of the three divisions is not only in charge of finances, but also the power of supervision.

In addition, it can also be seen from this that Wang Anshi was not blindly self-willed. He also knew that the new law would definitely encounter problems, so he set up an officer to protect the interests and ensure that problems can be corrected in time.

Wang Anshi said again: "I think it is most suitable for some young officials with relatively inexperienced qualifications."

Zhao Xu nodded, very satisfied and said: "Mr. is really thoughtful!"

The old drivers in the court, no matter how big or small they are, are mostly vested interests. How can they do their best to assist Wang Anshi in reforming the law? And those young officials with less seniority will definitely do their best to seek the top position.

After discussing the matter, Wang Anshi suddenly asked: "Have your Majesty heard that Su Shi sued the bookstore for gathering talents a few days ago?"

Zhao Xu was stunned for a moment, and said: "I know a thing or two, why did you suddenly mention this matter?"

Wang Anshi said: "The minister thinks that Naer's pen and Zhang San's discussion is very reasonable. The pirated printings are becoming more and more widespread, which is not good for the country. The court cannot let it go."

Zhao Xu groaned, and said, "Then how should we manage it according to the master's wishes?"

Wang Anshi informed Zhao Xu of the idea of ​​collecting printing deed tax.

Zhao Xu nodded slightly and said, "This suggestion is good. It can not only prevent piracy, but also increase taxes for the country."

Wang Anshi said: "I hope to use this law as the beginning of a new law."

Zhao Xu's eyes lit up when he heard that, "Sir, this plan is very clever!"

The emergence of this tax law must be beneficial to literati.

Turning pirated printing into genuine editions protects the rights and interests of literati, but at the same time it also conforms to Wang Anshi's philosophy of managing money for the country. Starting from this, it is obviously to show favor to those literati.

This is a temporary decision, but the tax law involves very little and has very little impact, and will not have any negative impact on the original plan.

However, Zhang Fei was not idle either.

Bianhe Street.

"Third brother! We are here."

Zhang Fei got out of the carriage and saw him standing in front of a shop, but the door of the shop was closed.

This shop is Jijuxian.

Li Sidao: "Third brother, then Hou Donglai lives behind this shop, oh, and the printing workshop is also behind."

Zhang Fei said with a smile, "That's right! It's quite clear."

Li Si chuckled, "I've inquired about it. In fact, all the bookstores in Bianjing are similar. There is a shop in front and a printing workshop in the back."

Zhang Fei nodded, and suddenly said: "Stay here and watch the carriage, Long Wu will go in with me."

Li Si asked, "Why?"

Zhang Fei said: "Because it's dangerous."

"Oh."

Li Si nodded with a vague understanding, and said to Long Wu: "Fifth Brother, you go in with Third Brother, and I'll stop the carriage."

Long Wu nodded and threw the whip to Li Si.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, horse-drawn carriages could not be parked at will. The government built a special place, and of course, a certain fee was charged.

"How many can you hit?"

Zhang Fei asked Long Wu.

He came to collect the store today, so of course the violent conflict must be taken into consideration in this kind of thing.

Long Wu said: "I don't know."

Zhang Fei asked again: "Then how many fights have you had at most?"

"I usually don't fight with others." Long Wu shook his head.

"Dragon Wu doesn't fight?"

Zhang Fei was a little panicked. If he had known this before, he brought the black servant Niu Beiqing here, "Aren't you very skilled in martial arts? Oh, I saw that your sword skills are also quite good that day."

Long Wu said: "That's why I don't fight with others."

"Understood. Go in."

The two entered the small courtyard of the Hou family.

But there was no violent conflict that he was worried about at all, so Hou Donglai was a little more anxious than him, and completed the handover procedures as quickly as possible, and then prepared to pat his ass and leave.

Anyway, this yard is also rented.

If it was his own, it would be more than a thousand.

"Wait!"

Zhang Fei suddenly called Hou Donglai to stop.

Hou Donglai asked nervously, "Do you have anything else to do?"

Zhang Fei asked, "What are your plans for the future?"

Hou Donglai looked at him suspiciously, "What does this have to do with you?"

Zhang Fei said: "If you don't have a good place to go, I plan to hire you to help me watch the shop."

Hou Donglai was surprised and said, "You still want to hire me? If it weren't for you and me...you...um..."

Zhang Fei said: "So you follow me, are you still afraid of being bullied? Look how wise Fan Yuanwai is."

Hou Donglai was stunned for a moment, but felt that Zhang Fei's words were very reasonable, now that Zhang San is out, Kaifeng Mansion is afraid, follow him, you can't walk sideways on this Bianhe Street!

"How much are you going to pay to hire me?"

Are you a businessman?

Money still comes first.

Zhang Fei said with a smile: "Ten times in the first month, we will see your performance, and then we will determine the remuneration."

Hou Donglai didn't hesitate for long, and agreed.

It's not a lot of money, but fortunately there is no cost.

There is no need to move.

How cool.

In fact, Zhang Fei can open a store by himself, but the problem is that he doesn't know this business, he needs a mature storefront, even if there is no such lawsuit, he will definitely buy a ready-made store instead of building it himself.

It can be seen that he bought people, not shops.

How could it be possible to let Hou Donglai go, he needed Hou Donglai to help him manage the shop.

He also inquired about it. Hou Donglai's ancestors were printers for the imperial court and had always been in this business. Later, he also made a lot of money by doing business on his own, so it was no problem to support his family.

Never thought that a book would kill him.

After negotiating, Zhang Fei asked Hou Donglai to take him around.

As Li Si said, this kind of bookstore is basically a combination of shops, a courtyard, the shop in the front, the owner's residence in the back, and the workshops and employees' residences on the left and right.

There are seven printers in Jijuxian, two old and five young.

Two old masters and five young apprentices.

This is the case in workshops today.

Most of the masters and apprentices are relatives.

Coming to the workshop on the left, Zhang Fei was almost fainted by the smell of ink.

He covered his nose and strolled around. When he saw the old printing plate, he pointed, "All these things are lost."

Hou Donglai hurriedly said: "Lost it? If we lose it, what seal do we get?"

The two masters nodded at the same time.

Zhang Fei said: "Have you forgotten how you were sued? Isn't it because of these broken editions? If you don't throw it away, the two of us will go together tomorrow!"

Hou Donglai said: "Are you still afraid of these?"

"I'm afraid, so I'm Erbi's, cough, Erbi's."

Zhang Fei suddenly looked at the two old masters behind him, "Which one of you is a sculptor?"

"I am."

One of the uncles in his forties raised his hand.

Zhang Fei asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Hong Zhong."

"Red middle?"

Zhang Fei suddenly looked at the one next to him, "You don't mean to be rich, do you?"

The old master hurriedly said, "I'm not called Facai, I'm called Baiban."

".Good name."

Zhang Fei smiled and nodded, "Just for this name, I'll give you two extra one hundred Wen per month."

"Thank you, my lord! Thank you, my lord."

Hong Zhong and Bai Ban hurriedly cupped their hands in thanks.

A hundred dollars is not a lot!

Moreover, they are all three fires when a new official takes office, and this new boss will raise his salary when he comes up.

So cool!

Hou Donglai was completely ignored.

Zhang Fei said: "Hong Zhong, no, hehe Master Hong, have you heard of movable type printing?"

Hou Donglai said: "Of course I have heard of it."

Hong Zhong also nodded and said, "We have all heard about this movable type printing technique."

Zhang Fei asked: "Then why not use it?"

Hou Donglai said: "We have ready-made printing plates here, so why bother to get them again? Isn't that a lot of money, and that stuff has to be typeset every time, which needs to be done by people who can read and write. I'm the only one in our shop. Learn to read with Master Hong."

Hong Zhongdao: "Also, there are a lot of skills in movable type printing, and we don't know it either."

Zhang Fei took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it to Hou Donglai, "You should try the method above."

Hou Donglai took it over, looked at it for a while, and suddenly asked: "Zhang Sanlang, how long does it take for this fire to stick?"

Zhang Fei said unhappily: "You Song people, you ask me cough cough, I mean, you can do this, you ask me, how do I know."

Hou Donglai wondered, "Isn't this your method?"

Zhang Fei said confidently: "I just memorized it for the exam. How do I know exactly how to do it?"

"take an exam?"

"Anyway. Anyway, you try it according to the above, and I will allocate some money to you then."

"Oh ok ok."

Hou Donglai nodded, and said again: "Zhang Sanlang, do you use copper to make characters?"

Zhang Fei said: "Try it all."

Hou Donglai said again: "I advise you not to do this."

"Why?"

"Even if we get it out, I'm afraid it will all be lost within a month."

"lost?"

Zhang Fei was stunned for a moment before he realized, yes, now copper is money, hard currency, if you want to make movable type, you need to touch two a day, who knows!Pointing at Hou Donglai, he said, "That's why I hired you, follow your wishes."

Hou Donglai nodded and said, "That's fine, let's try first."

Zhang Fei nodded, and said: "In addition, you can find a way to invite some skilled craftsmen to come. Master Hong is not enough alone. I want to make very exquisite engravings to ensure that each of our books is the most exquisite in the world." .”

(End of this chapter)