Judge of the Song Dynasty Chapter 729: Whose fault is it?

Chapter 729 Whose fault is it?

Yu Liang’s eloquent, dancing and passionate accusation, or rather complaint against the shipping department, immediately resonated with all the businessmen present.

For a while, everyone was talking about it.

The wealthy businessmen present were all leaders in the industry, and they quickly understood the problem.

It means that you have monopolized all the buying and selling and bargaining links, and we merchants are the meat on your chopping board. What a nonsense!

Han Qi, Fu Bi, Wen Yanbo and other veterans also nodded frequently.

This Northern Song Dynasty official also had a very clear understanding of how business operated.

But Wang Anshi just smiled coldly and said two words, "You deserve it!"

Zhao Xu, who was sitting in the inner hall, saw that everyone had such a strong reaction, and couldn't help but said to Liu Zhao who was standing aside: "In the end, this only affects their merchants. If the merchants make this money, it is better to let the court make it. This shipment What's wrong with Si?"

Liu Zhao was a little confused after hearing this.

You have already spoken so roguely, so how can I answer you?

I just mean that I don’t know.

"Quiet! Quiet!"

Xu Zun, who presided over the meeting, banged the gavel several times.

Fortunately, the people outside were all wealthy businessmen from the capital, and they still knew some etiquette, so things quickly calmed down.

Taking this opportunity, Xu Zhiqian quietly handed over a copy from behind.

Zhang Fei took it and took a look, turned around and said with a smile: "I didn't expect that the tacit understanding between us husband and wife is still so strong."

Xu Zhiqian smiled slightly and said: "I didn't give birth to a child to make me stupid."

"Ahem!"

Xu Zun glared at the couple. Thousands of people looked at them, "What are you doing here?"

Zhang Fei immediately stopped smiling a little, carefully looked at the copy that Xu Zhiqian had just handed over, and then said to Yu Liang: "Yu Liang, do you still remember that in the first year of Xining, you earned How much?"

Yu Liang thought for a moment, and suddenly his expression changed slightly, "I remember. I don't remember it very clearly."

Zhang Fei smiled again and asked: "Then do you remember the price of silk back then?"

Yu Liang said sarcastically: "The price of silk is about ninety cents."

Zhang Fei asked: "What was the price of silk in Yuhang in the past?"

"Forty cents."

“Why are the prices in the first year of Xining so different?”

"Because. Because the mulberry trees in Yuhang were infested by insects, the silk output was less, and the price increased."

"According to the information we have learned, you received more than a thousand acres of mulberry forest that year. Is this true?"

"Yes, yes."

Yu Liang said, wiping the sweat from his forehead a little.

Zhang Fei continued to ask: "So what happened in the meantime?"

Yu Liang was silent for a while and then said: "Because the mulberry farmers in Yuhang have to supply high-quality silk to the court every year, but in the first year of Xining, those mulberry farmers couldn't produce enough silk, so... If you can buy silk from me, some mulberry farmers will use mulberry trees to pay off their debts."

"I wonder what the difference is between what you did now and what you just said?"

"Of course there is a difference."

Yu Liang said confidently: "It's not me who forced the mulberry farmers to exchange mulberry trees for silk, but the shipping department. It's normal for there to be less silk and the price of silk has risen. If the shipping department If you charge less, this problem won’t happen.”

"Okay!"

"Well said!"

A few good businessmen cheered for Yu Liang.

But I admire his courage more. He was so brave to directly confront the court.

Zhao Xu clenched his fist fiercely, pounded it on the coffee table in front of him, and gritted his teeth and said: "These businessmen are really hateful! Unfortunately, I thought it was really the shipping department that couldn't handle them. It turns out you are all to blame for this."

It’s obvious that you are so greedy that you even blame the court. These businessmen should be killed!

Sima Guang, Qian Yi and other conservative officials all blushed.

This generation of businessmen is really not easy to lead!

Zhang Fei glanced at the businessmen and asked Yu Liang: "You are right. This is really not good. The court also needs to change. After that, the court promulgated the law of equalization of losses, and when Sannon could not pay When you buy silk, you can use coins to compensate for it."

".!"

Yu Liang suddenly fell into silence.

No matter the reformist officials, they immediately laughed out loud.

Wang Anshi chuckled: "This businessman is so stupid. If you say he is a profiteer, you may be trying to praise him!"

Faced with the sarcasm of these officials, Yu Liangliang also felt angry and said angrily: "But the problem is that there are also problems with the reform of the court. We businessmen pay taxes every year. The tax and residence tax are the same. No less, but if the shipping department does this, all the merchants will stop coming, who will pay the business tax, and the court will not make any money!"

As soon as these words came out, Zhao Xu couldn't help but frown. This was something he had never thought of before.

Sima Guang chuckled and said, "This is exactly what brother Su Zizhan said back then."

Lü Gongzhu nodded and said, "Indeed, it's hard to say whether the imperial court will benefit from this."

At that time, Fan Chunren and Su Shi were expelled from the capital because of this method. Su Shi strongly advocated market freedom. He believed that the imperial court only collected commercial taxes and could not do business on its own.

Wang Anshi asked Xue Xiang in a low voice: "Is what he said true?"

Xue Xiangdao: "This commercial tax will definitely be reduced, but please rest assured, sir, the court will definitely benefit from it."

Wang Anshi nodded with confidence.

But then he also wanted to understand that when he formulated the Equal Loss Law, he wanted to rob the profits of businessmen. There is nothing to argue with this. He also admitted, but he only meant that the Equal Loss Law was aimed at those profiteers, but regardless of whether If you are not a profiteer, there is no way this business tax will not be reduced!

Zhang Fei asked: "Do you have evidence to prove this?"

Yu Liangdao: "Although we have no evidence, we can see from the situation of the silk industry that commercial taxes are definitely decreasing, and we have also heard many tax collectors talking about this. Our commercial taxes in Yuhang are huge. Every year is worse than the last. Except for the Shipping Department, everyone else is having a hard time. I really don’t understand why the court is doing this."

The implication is that if the shipping department is enriched, everyone else will be unlucky.

Zhang Fei nodded slightly, "I will inquire about this matter later. Mr. Yu will go down and take a rest first. If necessary, I will ask Mr. Yu to come up and testify again."

"Yes."

Yu Liang left a little depressed, obviously not very satisfied with his performance just now.

But it’s no wonder, this is the first time to participate in this kind of hearing.

Xu Zhiqian quietly handed over another copy.

Zhang Fei took it and took a look and passed on another businessman, a paper merchant named Xue Bocai from Jiangnan West Road.

Xue Bocai first introduced himself, and then without waiting for Zhang Fei to say anything, he took the initiative and said: "I think what the official just said is wrong."

Zhang Fei was stunned for a moment, then asked with a smile: "What's wrong?"

Xue Bocai said: "Yes, we businessmen occasionally hoard and take advantage of the opportunity to make money, but the fault is not with us businessmen, but because there are problems with the court's system, which allows some businessmen to take advantage of it."

Zhang Fei nodded and said: "So the court also made some changes."

Xue Bocai said: "But the imperial court blames all the blame on us merchants. But most merchants, most of the time, do business honestly. Sometimes they sell at high prices, but there are also cases where they sell at high prices. Sometimes we are unlucky and we sell almost at a loss. There are profits and losses in this business. When we lose money, no matter what, no one praises us as good people."

The businessmen nodded vigorously upon hearing this.

There is a problem with your system, which caused the price of a certain commodity to surge at a certain moment. We just took advantage of the trend and made a lot of money, but you called us profiteers and punished us businessmen by creating an equal loss method. How good is it? That makes sense!

This guy’s fighting ability is great! Zhang Fei lowered his head and took a closer look at this man's resume, and suddenly realized that this guy had been a tea cannibal before. Said: "According to the regulations of the equalization law, it is mainly to save money for the country, and is not aimed at you businessmen. The court has never said this."

Xue Bocai snorted: "This is not saving money for the imperial court, it is clearly taking advantage of our merchants. Our paper has been sold to the capital before, but since the imperial court promulgated the uniform loss law, these merchants have Come on, if you don’t curry favor with the shipping department, you won’t be able to sell the goods at all.

My paper is cheaper than my opponent's paper, but just because I didn't give a gift to the official of the shipping department, the shipping department bought my opponent's paper. Now I am forced to sell my paper workshop to Oppositely, because the merchants are not coming and the shipping department does not buy it, the paper will not be sold. ”

Zhang Fei asked: "But the amount purchased by the shipping department is limited each year, and there is no change from before. Why do the merchants stop going when the shipping department leaves? They are still profitable."

Xue Bocai said: "Didn't Lao Yu just say that whoever dares to fight with the shipping department, and who dares not to sell to the shipping department, as long as the shipping department specifies that we want the goods, we have to keep them first, so At the beginning, the shipping company bought first, but after the shipping company finished buying, the price of the goods also rose. The merchants could only buy high-priced goods. That didn't matter. The key was that no one knew what the shipping company was doing. No matter where the goods are sold, merchants are also afraid that if they buy the goods and cannot sell them, it will be all over. Over time, merchants will not dare to spend money to buy goods."

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Do you have any evidence?"

Xue Bocai said: "My workshops have all been sold, and you can ask the paper merchants in Beijing. We used to do business with them often. The paper we get is good and cheap. Our business has always been good, but it has only been a few years. , it’s all gone, isn’t this the best evidence.”

As he spoke, his eyes turned red and his voice gradually became choked.

This grain, salt merchant, and more importantly, his paper merchant is really a disaster. He can't exploit the people, but there is no way. The enthusiasm of all merchants has been reduced, and they don't dare to spend money and ship goods. The company becomes the largest buyer, but the shipping company mainly takes into account the needs of the capital, and the quantity required is always limited, so whoever has a good relationship with the shipping company will be able to grow bigger.

He hated me to death and was very unconvinced. It wasn’t that I couldn’t beat him, it was just because that guy sent money to the shipping department. As a result, after three years, he forced me to sell my workshop to him. Money was a small matter. , the face is great.

He was not invited by Zhang Fei, but he was the first to spend money to complain to the capital.

Zhao Xu, who was still gritting his teeth just now, gradually became a little confused and asked: "The court just wants to save money, why does it become so complicated?"

Liu Zhao said tactfully: "This may be because the people are afraid of the government, and the Shipping Department is responsible for supplying the capital. This matter is so big that no one dares to disobey the Shipping Department. This is like the relationship between merchants. The business is different."

Zhao Xu nodded slightly.

While they were talking, another businessman came up.

"My surname is Chu and my name is Huai, and I am a grain merchant on Jinghu South Road."

After Chu Huai introduced himself, Zhang Fei lowered his head and glanced at the copy, and then asked: "Chu Yuan is suing the Shipping Department and confiscating the coins of Jinghu South Road, which caused the entire Jinghu South Road to fall into a money shortage and made the people It’s unspeakably miserable.”

Chu Huai nodded and said, "Yes."

Zhang Fei asked: "Can you tell me what exactly happened?"

Chu Huaidao: "This matter starts from the third year of Xining. In the third and fourth years of Xining, our food harvest on Jinghu South Road was poor, so the shipping department asked the people to use money in lieu of food. Then from other sources local, transporting grain to Jinghu South Road for sale in order to balance local grain prices."

Zhang Fei said: "Isn't this a good thing?"

Sima Guang and the others are also confused. This is really a good thing. Could it be that it has delayed the opportunity for you, a big grain merchant, to win over the people?

Chu Huai said: "It's not a good thing. Chu settled this account with the officials. The court first collected taxes and took away a batch of coins, and then sold grain to Jinghu South Road, and then took away a batch of coins.

But in the fifth or sixth year of Xining, our Jinghu South Road had a good harvest of grain. However, the shipping department did not buy grain from us. Instead, they took away the grain from our Jinghu South Road and sold it to Tanzhou and other places. Use the money you earn to go to Huainan to buy food, because it is close to the capital and can save a lot of freight.

We have a shortage of coins in the south. In the past few years, the coins of Jingchu and Fuguang have been taken away by the court and used in the Jianghuai area. ”

Zhang Fei asked: "According to your statement, if the coins decrease and the goods increase, then the goods will definitely become very cheap!"

"Isn't it?"

Chu Huaidao: "The grain in Jianghuai sells for tens of cents, but the price of our grain on Jinghu South Road has dropped to ten cents, because as long as Jianghuai has a good harvest, the shipping department will definitely not come to us in large quantities. Buy grain because the freight is very expensive. Unless there is a shortage of grain in nearby areas, they will buy it at a low price and sell it there at a high price. As a result, the shipping department takes away more coins. Our coins on Jinghu South Road are Less and less."

Zhang Fei asked: "Wouldn't such cheap goods attract businessmen to sell them?"

Chu Huai snorted: "How dare merchants come? Didn't I tell you that the Shipping Department often collects grain from Jinghu South Road and then sells it to other nearby areas. This was originally the job of merchants, but now merchants simply don't do it. I don’t know where the shipping department will sell the grain. It’s unprofitable and carries high risks. They don’t dare to spend money at all. Now many merchants have gone to the northwest.

Some local landowners want to plant mulberry trees and tea trees to sell to merchants in the northwest region, but the government does not allow it. What's the use of growing so much grain if we can't sell it.

There is a problem with this equal loss method. If everyone has a good harvest, then whoever is closer to the capital will take advantage. ”

Han Qi stroked his beard and said: "Actually, the problem is not that the shipping department buys grain nearby, but that there are fewer merchants."

Fu Bi nodded, "But as long as the government does business, this problem will not be easy to solve."

Lü Gongzhu murmured to himself: "No wonder the tax revenue in the northwest region is increasing exponentially. It turns out that the uniform taxation method is also adding fuel to the fire."

The northwest has foreign trade, salt banknotes, salt ponds, government policies, mature public security laws, and a powerful private financial institution called Majia Jiekupu. It has the right time, place and people, and Southeast Sixth Road, It was originally the most economically developed area, but now that the imperial family has become bigger, not all businessmen are going to the northwest, businessmen just want to make money.

Zhang Fei asked again as usual: "Do you have any evidence to prove this?"

Chu Huaidao: "The shortage of coins on Jinghu South Road is already very serious. Officials will know that business taxes must also be reduced just by asking anyone on Jinghu South Road."

Zhang Fei nodded and said with a smile: "I will find someone to ask for details later."

A few merchants came up next, but they all said the same thing. To put it simply, the shipping department was dominated by one family. As a result, the enthusiasm of the merchants on Southeast Sixth Road was greatly weakened, and the market was also in chaos. The goods in everyone's hands They couldn't sell it, or they had a conflict with the shipping department, and as a result, the goods had to be sold outside at a loss.

There are also some corruption problems, but these have only appeared in the past two years. The reason is that the number of businessmen has reduced, resulting in businessmen in production having to rely on the shipping department, and corruption will inevitably occur.

After these businessmen gave their testimony one by one, Zhang Fei summoned the first official to testify, He Ning, the salt and iron judge of the Third Division.

Zhang Fei asked: "Judge He, according to what we know, you served as a transit judge on Liangzhe Road from the third year of Xining to the sixth year of Xining."

He Ning nodded and said: "Exactly."

Zhang Fei said: "It happened to be that during that period, the method of losing weight was first implemented on the two Zhejiang roads."

"Yes."

"So according to your observation, how is the implementation of the uniform transmission method on Liangzhe Road?"

"The execution is very good." He Ning nodded and said: "It should have saved the court a lot of money, and it has indeed reduced the burden of many people, but I don't know the details. I have to ask the shipping department. ."

Zhang Fei asked again: "But the Transportation Department controls the tax accounts."

"Yes." He Ning nodded and added: "But the Shipping Department is directly under the imperial court and is not under the control of the local transportation department. Most of the money is directly allocated to the Shipping Department from the national treasury, but during this period the imperial court has Several times, we ordered the two Zhejiang and Zhejiang transshipment departments to allocate money to the shipping department as a subsidy, but the amount was not very large, so our transshipment department is not very clear about the situation of their shipping department."

Zhang Fei said: "Judging from the tax revenue of the two Zhejiang provinces, this taxation method can have a beneficial effect."

"Uh."

He Ning hesitated for a moment, "Actually, Yu Yuanwai just said it right. Local taxes are indeed decreasing year by year, mainly because commercial taxes have been reduced a lot."

Zhang Fei asked: "Why will commercial taxes be reduced?"

“It’s because there have been a lot fewer businessmen coming and going.”

He Ning said: "Especially silk merchants. Many merchants go to Yuhang to do business. They mainly buy local silk, but they often buy some extra goods back. Once the number of silk merchants decreases, not only the silk but also the Many goods are sold for less than before, and commercial taxes will inevitably be reduced."

Zhang Fei asked: "Do you have any evidence to prove all this?"

He Ning said: "The three departments all have accounts."

Zhang Fei said: "Can you report this to the court?"

"That's not true." He Ning shook his head.

Zhang Fei said: "Why didn't you report this?"

He Ning said: "First of all, because the equalization method is to prevent those merchants from hoarding, this will inevitably lead to fewer merchants and a reduction in business taxes. If the shipping department can save money, it is not a loss. According to As far as I know, the imperial court should have done nothing wrong.

Secondly, the main reduction in commercial taxes is due to over-taxation, and over-taxation is mainly calculated on local finance and will not affect the tax revenue of our transshipment department.

In the end, the equalization method did not affect the livelihood of ordinary people too much. It mainly affected those businessmen, so I didn’t say much. ”

Although commerce was developed in the Northern Song Dynasty, and commercial taxes even exceeded agricultural taxes, the fundamentals were still in agriculture, because most of the population was in agriculture. In ancient times, assessment results were often based on local stability, not how much income should be increased. If there is no reduction, there will be merit.

The impact of the equalization method on farmers is actually relatively small. After all, many farmers do not participate in business. It mainly affects businessmen and citizens.

This is why when the Junfu method came out, there were relatively few people who opposed it and their voices were relatively quiet. Su Shi danced happily and Sima Guang didn't say anything. Unlike the Green Crops Law, which was met with overwhelming criticism when it came out, because the Green Crops Law goes directly to agriculture, and if something goes wrong, it will be a big problem.

The equalization method only targets the small group of businessmen and cannot cause trouble.

Zhang Fei asked: "So Judge He thinks that there is nothing wrong with the Shipping Department's actions to crack down on those hoarding merchants and benefit the people and the country."

He Ning thought for a while and said: "It's best. It's best to get the best of both worlds. After all, the main responsibility of the Shipping Department is to supply the capital's needs and cannot replace merchants.

Moreover, it is not very stable. This year the shipping department came to Yuhang to buy silk, and next year they may go to Yangzhou to buy silk. If no merchants come from Yuhang, the silk from Yuhang may not be sold. This will not only affect the merchants, but also What affected many people was that after all, many mulberry farmers often brought silk to the market in exchange for food, but if the silk of the wealthy merchants could not be sold, theirs would be even less able to be sold. ”

Zhang Fei asked again: "Why does the equal loss method make merchants no longer come to Yuhang to do business?"

He Ning said: "There are three reasons. In fact, the merchants have just said it. First, no one dares to compete with the government. How much goods the government wants must be satisfied first. Businessmen dare not act rashly.

Secondly, merchants mainly make money from the people and the government. But now that the government directly trades with Baixin, the merchants have no profit, and naturally they will not come.

Thirdly, the fewer merchants, the goods will remain unchanged, and they can only hope that the government will buy them. If the government does not buy them, they may not make money, and merchants will not dare to produce too many goods. Over time, this business will Activity becomes less and less. ”

Zhang Fei asked: "Then the judge only sees Yihe, how should we weigh this?"

"I don't know."

He Ning shook his head without even thinking about it. If I had known, I would have told Wang Anshi a long time ago. This was beyond his knowledge reserve.

"Thank you very much, Judge He, for being able to attend and testify."

"It should be."

He Ning nodded, then ran away.

If there is no clear ideological conflict, it will be very painful to sit on this, because no matter what you say, you will offend people.