Chapter 314: Entering the Tiger’s Den |
Following the principle of not wasting food, both sides eventually compromised, eating the steamed buns and flatbread together.
After the meal.
Xu Zhiqian helped Gao Wenyin clean up, not because she had suddenly become enlightened and wanted to learn frugal household management from Gao Wenyin, but because she could see that Xu Zun had matters to discuss with Zhang Fei.
While they were cleaning up, Zhang Fei accompanied his father-in-law Xu Zun alone for a walk in the front courtyard. “Father-in-law seems to have something on his mind.”
Xu Zun glanced at him and smiled slightly. “I suppose you also know what’s troubling me.”
Zhang Fei nodded and asked, “I wonder what Father-in-law thinks of the New Policies?”
Xu Zun said, “Of course I support them. Sigh, actually everyone in the court knows clearly what corrupt practices exist. Whether it’s Sima Guang or Lord Fu and Lord Wen, they all want reform and new policies. But in my opinion, only Wang Anshi may succeed.
It’s not that Lord Fu and Sima Guanglack ability, it’s just that they look ahead and behind, indecisive and hesitant – they simply cannot handle this task.”
The current conservatives weren’t opposed to reform and new policies – they too wanted reform and to eliminate corrupt practices, but their philosophies differed. However, after working with Sima Guang for the past year, Xu Zun had discovered that Sima Guang wasn’t suited for this work.
One needed to be resolute and decisive, taking bold and sweeping action, to have any hope of success.
Regardless of good or bad, looking around, Xu Zun believed only Wang Anshi had this kind of courage – besides him, there was no one else.
He could only place his hopes in him.
Of course, Wang Anshi had also given him support before, and he remembered this favor.
Zhang Fei smiled. “Father-in-law truly hits the nail on the head.”
But Xu Zun suddenly sighed again. “However, the current situation in court is not optimistic. There are many opponents, occupying nearly half the court officials. I fear this will again stir up the disaster of factional strife – the dangers involved are truly daunting.”
With the Qingli factional strife as precedent, these veteran ministers were actually very fearful in their hearts, because once factional strife appeared, it became a fight to the death with no right or wrong.
Zhang Fei pondered briefly, then said, “Father-in-law should follow your heart.”
“Follow my heart?”
Xu Zun stroked his beard. “You mean I should support Wang Anshi?”
Zhang Fei nodded.
Xu Zun couldn’t help but show a worried expression. He also wanted to support Wang Anshi, but he also feared being drawn into this struggle.
Don’t think that just because he was impartial and incorruptible in legal matters, he was different – like Bao Zheng, he adhered to the principle of not meddling in affairs outside his position. Matters beyond the law he generally wouldn’t concern himself with, nor would he participate much in court struggles. This was also his method of protecting himself.
Zhang Fei knew his concerns, so he said, “Father-in-law need only speak a fair word for Academician Wang. Actually, those currently opposing him have no reasonable grounds. It’s just that…”
Xu Zun asked, “Just what?”
Zhang Fei didn’t answer directly but asked instead, “Father-in-law, would you be willing to take the position of prosecutor?”
Xu Zun was quite confused. “Prosecutor?”
Zhang Fei nodded. “As long as Father-in-law speaks a fair word for Academician Wang, Scholar Wang will certainly recommend Father-in-law for the position of prosecutor.”
Xu Zun asked, “Why?”
Zhang Fei said, “Does Father-in-law still remember that lawsuit regarding the Finance Planning Commission?”
Xu Zun nodded. “Naturally I remember.”
Zhang Fei said, “At that time it was already made clear that the Reform Planning Commission would be subject to judicial supervision. So for Academician Wang, the Prosecution Office will become especially important. He will definitely try to seize control of the Prosecution Office, but the opposition won’t let him succeed easily. Looking around, you are the most suitable candidate.”
Xu Zun had never considered this matter. “I don’t know how to argue cases in court – I cannot handle this position.”
Zhang Fei said, “Actually, the prosecutor’s authority doesn’t lie in arguing cases in court – Mr. Su and Mr. Fan have led this position astray. The prosecutor’s main responsibility is to determine based on evidence whether a case can be brought to trial. This requires rich experience, and from this perspective, neither Mr. Fan nor Mr. Su can handle it. I believe Academician Wang will definitely attack them on this point.
Currently speaking, Father-in-law, your relationship with Academician Sima is also good, and you have a reputation for being impartial and incorruptible. Recommending you for this position would be difficult for the opposition to refute.”
Therefore, Father-in-law can only speak a fair word, but cannot show absolute support for Academician Wang.”
Xu Zun listened and felt it was almost mystical – this young man had predicted exactly how Wang Anshi would make his next move. He probed, “Did Academician Wang tell you this?”
Zhang Fei shook his head. “How could Academician Wang tell me such things? But I know that Mr. Su and the others are preparing to sue the Balanced Delivery Policy. Whether they succeed or not, as long as they file the lawsuit, Academician Wang will definitely compete for the prosecutor’s office. If he can’t secure the prosecutor’s office, he may encounter great trouble afterward.”
Xu Zun was half-believing, half-doubting. “So you hope I’ll go to the prosecutor’s office?”
He knew that Zhang Fei maintained a secret relationship with Zhao Xu, which was insurance for the Xu family. But Zhang Fei had never taken a clear stance on which side to support. Xu Zun was also quite shrewd and suspected they might have other plans. Of course, he would follow his son-in-law.
Zhang Fei nodded. “With Father-in-law controlling the prosecutor’s office and Academician Sima controlling the Court of Penal Review, these two institutions won’t become weapons for both sides to fight with. These two institutions are crucial – they’re the last line of defense for protecting justice.”
Xu Zun stroked his beard. “So you have other arrangements?”
Actually, anyone with eyes could see that the prosecutor’s office was tailor-made for Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei nodded. “After I finish handling affairs in the capital, I’ll take a position in the provinces.”
Xu Zun was slightly startled. “Once the New Policies are fully implemented, the provinces will be a tiger’s den!”
Zhang Fei smiled. “How can one catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger’s den?”
This was only the first day, and Xu Zun already felt somewhat fearful. One could imagine what the situation in court was like. If he felt this way, how much more so those wealthy merchants who had money but no power.
No matter how one read this article back and forth, it clearly had the intention of targeting merchants.
The article stated quite plainly that this law prevented unscrupulous merchants from exploiting the tax-in-kind system to exploit the people and accumulate wealth.
Although this only involved some merchants, in the merchants’ view, this was a signal.
To put it bluntly, if they’d already cut you once, would they care about cutting you two more times?
Speaking of which, merchants using the tax-in-kind system to accumulate wealth could at most be called morally wrong, but it wasn’t illegal. If Wang Anshi wouldn’t even spare this legal income, how could those illegal tax revenues escape?
The law firm, which had been relaxed for less than two days, immediately became bustling again. But this time there weren’t many donations of money – almost all were wealthy merchants with intentions to donate land.
At this moment, risk mitigation became especially important for them.
The most effective method was diversified investment.
Throw some to the temples, put some with influential households, and place some with charity.
The appeal of charities for them was one thing: ensuring they wouldn’t lose everything. According to the charity’s contracts, they would guarantee their descendants’ food, clothing, and shelter, as well as education.
In normal times, perhaps no one would care about this, but at this moment, this point became especially important.
At the second watch, the law firm’s employees had all gone home, including Fan Li. After all, charities had nothing to do with them. Only Zhang Fei and Xu Zhiqian remained in the shop.
These two workaholics staying here naturally wasn’t for seeking some kind of stimulation.
“Currently, the charity’s land has exceeded 4,800 hectares, and the donations received these past days have also reached over 5,300 strings.”
Xu Zhiqian said, “But these are all donations from merchants – no officials have come to donate land yet.”
Zhang Fei smiled. “Don’t worry, they can’t escape. This land should be sufficient for now.”
“For now?” Xu Zhiqian said, “At present, there might be no money to use. Because this land must first harvest grain, then be converted to coins before it can be used. There might be no money available this year.”
Zhang Fei smiled. “Land can be mortgaged.”
Xu Zhiqian said in surprise, “Borrow from loan sharks?”
Zhang Fei chuckled. “Loan sharks are for common people to borrow from. We’ll definitely get low-interest loans.”
Xu Zhiqian said, “Who would lend to you at low interest?”
“The Ma family!”
Zhang Fei said, “Now that the Ma family has lent out so much money, they collect quite a bit of interest every year. They won’t mind lending one more sum. When the time comes, I’ll negotiate a relatively low interest rate with the Ma family.”
Xu Zhiqian said worriedly, “But can your new-style football really make money?”
“It definitely will.”
Zhang Fei smiled. “And it will make more and more.”
Xu Zhiqian didn’t quite believe it.
The eighteen clubs in the capital had just average profits. Although they received support from many nobles, no one had heard of anyone becoming a wealthy merchant by opening a football club.
But seeing Zhang Fei’s confident assertion, she could only wait and see. Xu Zhiqian asked again, “How should these charitable funds be handled?”
Zhang Fei said, “Split it into two parts. One part will be donated to help the common people dig irrigation channels, and the other part will be donated to academies.”
Xu Zhiqian nodded slightly. “That’s reasonable. Since this money was donated by the officials, they won’t object to giving it to the common people and academies.”
Zhang Fei said, “But when you send someone to negotiate with the academies, you must make one point clear: we will only donate stationery and books, and we want the right to participate in editing the books.”
Xu Zhiqian said in surprise, “You can edit books?”
Zhang Fei said, “I can’t, but I can hire people to edit them!”
Xu Zhiqian said, “That’s so troublesome.”
Zhang Fei smiled. “Tell me, are there more people studying the Analects now, or more studying litigation?”
Xu Zhiqian said, “Of course there are more studying the Analects.”
Zhang Fei said, “If I want to increase the number of talented people in litigation, what should I do?”
Xu Zhiqian suddenly understood. “I get it now.”
Zhang Fei continued, “Xiang-guo Temple also has requirements, so we will increase our support for the academies, and it will be ongoing. If they want to receive more charitable donations from us, they’d better fully consider our suggestions. After all, whether to donate or not depends entirely on charitable intentions, not contractual obligations, and charitable intentions can change.”
Xu Zhiqian smiled with pursed lips. “Your charity work is really quite different from others.”
Zhang Fei smiled. “There are so many people in the world who need help – how could we possibly take care of them all? We can only choose the best options.”
As he spoke, he suddenly seemed to remember something. “Oh right, we’ll also need to set aside an additional thousand strings to donate to the General Police Bureau. The money for digging channels should also be donated to the police bureau first, so it can all be transferred in one transaction.”
Xu Zhiqian asked curiously, “The General Police Bureau isn’t short of that little bit of money, is it? I heard they’ve already started auctioning vehicle licenses and are making quite a lot of money!”
Zhang Fei said, “The final destination of this charitable donation is to be given to the Three Financial Bureau’s Armament Office to help the police develop weapons suitable for them.”
The Three Financial Bureaus’ Armament Office was the department specifically responsible for manufacturing weapons. It was currently under the Three Financial Bureaus, but after the the reforms, it would become the Military Equipment Directorate.
Xu Zhiqian found it baffling. “The Three Financial Bureaus’ Armament Office? Developing weapons? Are you really doing charity?”
Zhang Fei smiled. “The purpose of developing weapons is to reduce unnecessary harm to the common people during police enforcement. Would you say this counts as charity?”
Xu Zhiqian smiled sweetly and asked back, “What do you think?”
Zhang Fei chuckled and said, “The highest principle of charity is a strong nation and prosperous people.”
In political matters, Xu Zhiqian was very tactful. “Alright! I understand. After I sort out the accounts, you can go negotiate with the police bureau yourself.”
Zhang Fei nodded. “I happen to be going to talk with the young masters about the new-style football in a few days anyway.”
Xu Zhiqian immediately said, “Then I’ll go with you.”
Zhang Fei smiled. “You don’t trust me that much?”
Xu Zhiqian snorted. “It’s really hard to have confidence in your football skills.”