Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

This is the opposite of the Qing Dynasty, where the central government directly collected 70% to 80% of the taxes, making it seem as if the local people hadn't been subject to the land tax reform, and instead used other methods to squeeze money from the people.

Third, reform the bureaucracy.

The number of official clerks was strictly determined. These clerks could be promoted to officials, and their salaries were all paid by the central government.

The number of official corvée laborers was strictly determined. These corvée laborers could not be promoted, and their wages were paid from the income generated by the land tax reform.

Because this originally belonged to military service, but after the land tax was converted into a contract employment system.

Local officials may conscript temporary clerks and temporary servants at their discretion, but they must pay their own wages and are not allowed to use unpaid clerks and servants.

If it is discovered that wages have not been paid, the official will be dismissed, the clerk will be expelled, and their corruption will be thoroughly investigated.

After reading it, Zhao Yuan sighed and said, "Perhaps it can last for several decades."

Wen Huanzhang said, "With this plan as a foundation, even after a hundred years, the situation will be better than not reforming at all."

To put it bluntly, it means that the imperial treasury supports a group of regular officials.

These officials could be promoted, but their numbers were not large. They were mainly clerical staff responsible for maintaining the operation of governments at all levels.

Chapter 3295 Head Tax

The poll tax, which was incorporated into the land tax, was used to support a large number of corvée laborers and temporary workers.

There's only so much poll tax; local governments at all levels can decide how to handle it.

In any case, it is forbidden to make the constables work for free. This is the most harmful thing. If the government does not pay wages, it is equivalent to allowing the constables to exploit the people.

The Qing central government took away 70-80% of the poll tax, which led to a severe shortage of local finances, as well as a severe shortage of clerks and runners.

In addition to the clerks who must be reported to the Ministry of Personnel for approval, some extra-staff clerks who receive salaries can be recruited.

If the clerks were still too busy, they would recruit "freelance clerks" under the guise of taking on apprentices, and find ways to make money without taking a salary.

The situation with the constables was even more chaotic; even the county magistrate himself didn't know how many constables he had.

The plan that Zhao Yuan had his cabinet devise was the complete version of the "equalization of land tax and poll tax".

The central government cannot arbitrarily impose land tax; otherwise, it would violate the original intention of merging land tax with poll tax, and become nothing more than the government arbitrarily increasing taxes in a roundabout way.

Zhao Yuan allowed the central government to symbolically take 10%, purely to find out the amount collected by the local governments.

"Provinces that have already implemented the land tax reform should do so immediately, otherwise the trend of corruption at the grassroots level will not be able to be stopped."

Wen Huanzhang said,

"Add another clause: those lower-level officials who have committed corruption in the past will not be held accountable."

"If anyone is found guilty of corruption after this plan is implemented, their past crimes will also be dealt with."

Zhao Yuan nodded and said, "When implementing this, we should also have the Inspectorate strengthen its inspection efforts and identify some typical cases to severely punish offenders."

After the emperor and his minister finished their discussion, Zhao Yuan summoned the eunuch, and Wen Huanzhang left without paying any attention.

As they approached the door, they saw Liang Yi standing there.

"Is there an urgent matter at the Tongzheng Yuan?" Zhao Yuan asked.

Liang Yi said with a serious expression, "There may be a case involving multiple individuals in Henan. This case also involves the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate."

"Your subject dared not delay and could only come to report in person. I have been waiting outside the door for half an hour."

Wen Huanzhang turned and went back into the house: "I'll go in with you."

Liang Yi handed over the memorial sent by the Henan officials, which Zhao Yuan took and read carefully twice.

Zhao Yuan asked, "Is it serious?"

Wen Huanzhang said, "It's a murder case, and the details are not complicated."

"The county magistrate sent the preliminary investigation results to the legal clerk in the prefecture."

"After the legal clerk made the judgment, it was sent to the provincial judicial commissioner for review."

“This case is from two years ago. The previous Henan Provincial Surveillance Commissioner sent it back for retrial.”

"The judge quickly changed the verdict, acquitting the murder suspect, and the witnesses also changed their testimonies."

"The deceased's family was dissatisfied and went to the government office to appeal, but the legal officer ignored them."

"The family went to the Provincial Judicial Commissioner's Office to appeal again, but they couldn't even get through the main gate."

"The family members are also quite capable. I don't know what methods they used, but they managed to illegally submit the case to the Dali Temple."

"The Left Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review felt something was amiss and ordered Henan to retry the case, but Henan upheld the second verdict."

"In order to promote the integration of land tax and poll tax, Bai Chongyan personally went to inspect the local areas and communicated with local officials and people."

"As a result, he was stopped by the emperor and protested his innocence, so he ordered the new provincial judge to conduct a retrial."

"As a result, the case that was retried was sent to the Ministry of Justice, and then sent back to the Ministry of Justice for another retrial. Moreover, the Ministry of Justice's review speed was frighteningly fast."

"By the way, the deceased's family also approached the imperial censor, but the censor ignored them."

"There's also some problem with the Inspectorate."

Chapter 3296 The First Case of the Founding of the Nation

Zhao Yuan sneered: "It's only been a few years since the founding of the country, and some people are already tired of living."

Minister of Personnel Li Hanzhang, Minister of Rites Meng Zhao, and Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate Chen Dong all stood before the father and son.

Zhao Yuan did not speak, but simply sat and listened.

Zhao Yuan took out the private message sent by Bai Chongyan and said, "The murder suspect's surname is Mao, and his ancestral home is Jiangshan County, Quzhou."

"His grandfather, Mao Zongheng, moved there with his family forty years ago when he was an official in Shanzhou."

"At that time, Shanzhou was under the jurisdiction of Shaanxi Province, but now it is under the jurisdiction of Henan Province. The Ministry of Personnel should investigate this person, Mao Zongheng!"

"Yes."

Li Hanzhang accepted the order and personally led a team to review the archives of the former Song Dynasty.

The others sat and waited, the atmosphere heavy, and no one spoke.

After waiting for about three hours, Li Hanzhang brought out the archives from the former Song Dynasty's Ministry of Personnel: "The Mao family is a prominent family in Quzhou known for its academic achievements."

"The Mao family of Quzhou in the former Song Dynasty produced a total of 58 Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), of which 51 were from the Mao family of Jiangshan."

"In the former Song Dynasty, Jiangshan County produced a total of 64 Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), and the Mao family of Jiangshan accounted for 26 of them."

Zhao Yuan asked, "Xu Fuyan, the Minister of Justice, is from Quzhou, right?"

Li Hanzhang was already prepared: "According to the Ministry of Personnel's archives, the Xu families from Quzhou who produced Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) include the Xu families of Xi'an, Changshan, Jiangshan, Kaihua, and Longyou."

"And Minister Xu of the Ministry of Justice comes from the Xu family of Xi'an."

"Xu Shangshu's great-grandfather, Xu Bi, was the first Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) from Quzhou in the former Song Dynasty."

"Xu Bi had a very famous son-in-law, also from Quzhou and Xi'an, namely Zhao Gie, the 'Iron-Faced Censor' who rose to the position of Vice Prime Minister!"

Zhao Yuan laughed and said, "Does the Ministry of Personnel's archives also record marriage relationships?"

Li Hanzhang said with a serious expression, "There's no record of this in the Ministry of Personnel's archives, but this 'Iron-Faced Censor' Zhao Yi..."

“My great-grandmother was Minister Xu’s great-aunt. If this case is indeed related to Minister Xu, I request to recuse myself immediately.”

"No need,"

Zhao Yuan said,

"Your great-grandmother was Xu Fuyan's great-aunt. How distant is that?"

Li Hanzhang added, "My grandfather and grandmother were cousins ​​who married, and my grandmother was also from the Zhao family of Xi'an."

"The prominent families in Quzhou have all intermarried for generations."

"No matter which family is involved in this case, they are all related to my Li family."

Zhao Yuan clicked his tongue: "Then you should leave."

Zhao Yuan asked Chen Dong, "When the people plead for justice, the imperial censor turns a deaf ear. Who is that censor?"

The files of Inspector General officials are more detailed, and they must register relatives by marriage within three generations.

Chen Dong took out a piece of paper: "This censor is named Ying Shan, a native of Guixi, Xinzhou, Jiangxi."

“Xinzhou and Quzhou are adjacent to each other, and during the Song Dynasty, they belonged to Liangzhe Circuit.”

"The Ying family has marriage ties with the Zhou family and the Mao family of Jiangshan, and also with the Zhang family and the Fan family of Dexing."

The atmosphere grew increasingly tense. The Zhang family of Dexing were none other than the retired Prime Minister Zhang Genjia.

This is a very large network of bureaucratic in-law relationships, connected to the families of the Minister of Personnel and the Minister of Justice.

These important figures don't even need to take action themselves; they might not even be aware of it.

However, the various officials involved in the case, in order to curry favor with the relatives of the important figures, and with the help of the murderer's family, would very sensibly join forces to suppress the case.

...

Forty days later, all those involved in the case were brought to the capital.

The case was heard jointly by the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, and the Court of Judicial Review, with Chen Dong serving as the chief judge.

The first to appear in court were several witnesses. Knowing that perjury was a crime, they were so frightened that they could not walk and had to be dragged in by the officers.

Looking at the witness slumped on the ground, Chen Dong frowned and said, "Bring a few chairs over and make them sit properly. If they don't sit properly, tie them to the chairs!"

Chairs were quickly brought into the courtroom, and several witnesses were dragged up and forced onto the chairs.

The Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice was responsible for verifying the identity of the person, while the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review served as a court clerk.

"Ah!"

Chen Dong slammed the gavel, startling several witnesses who trembled all over.

"Shi Guang!"

"In...in..."

A witness named Shi Guang was so frightened that he wanted to kneel down and confess, but found that his knees were too weak to stand up.

Chen Dong asked, "Why are your testimonies inconsistent?"

Before the man could answer, the smell of urine filled the room, and he was so frightened that he peed himself on the spot.

After a long pause, Shi Guangcai, who had wet his pants, finally said, "A few constables came to the county office and said that Mao Balang had connections to the highest levels of government, and even if the emperor came to judge the case, he wouldn't really care. They also said that if I kept talking nonsense, they would arrest me and lock me up in jail, and they would even sell my wife to a brothel. I... I was so scared that I couldn't sleep, and when I went to court again, I... I changed my story."

Chen Dong then asked, "How many officials are threatening you? Are they from the county government or the prefectural government?"

Shi Guang shook his head and said, "I don't recognize them. They're all wearing official uniforms and speaking with local accents."

“I recognize him, I recognize him, I want to atone for my crime!” another witness suddenly shouted.

Chen Dong glanced at the witness file: "Are you Yu Gui, and a bartender at Yongcui Tower?"

Chapter 3297 Joint Trial by the Three Judicial Offices

Zhao Yuan said, "We will organize a joint trial involving the three judicial departments, and all officials involved will recuse themselves!"

Yu Gui said, "I am Yu Gui. Half a month before Yao Erlang died, I was drinking with Mao Balang at Yongcui Tower."

"They sat in a private booth on the second floor facing the street, ordered a pot of rice wine, and I can't remember what snacks they had with it."

"I forgot to bring them the wine warmer, so I brought it to them. When I got to the door, I heard the two of them arguing."

"It seems they are vying for a young lady from some family. Yao Erlang probably couldn't win, so he threatened to report Mao Balang for cheating in the imperial examination."

The three presiding judges all looked surprised.

They have reviewed the case file in detail and conducted several trials, but there is no evidence of cheating in the imperial examinations in the testimonies.

Chen Dong asked, "When you testified before, did you mention hearing about cheating in the imperial examinations?"

Yu Gui said, "I said it the first time I testified, but I wasn't allowed to say it after that."

The three judges exchanged glances. This was an unexpected bonus, and the officials involved had committed serious crimes.

The first offense was helping candidates cheat, and the second was altering testimony in a case.