No war in the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 80: The Law of Ancestors' Insufficiency

Zhang Fangping, the judge of Taifu Temple, was conservative in his political tendencies, so he did not like Su Ze very much when he first took office.

However, Zhang Sipan was not a power-abusing villain like Lu Yijian. After Su Ze took over the store and house affairs, he did not secretly make things difficult for Su Ze, and they have been living in peace until now.

Why did you suddenly summon me today?
Summoned by Shangguan Xiang, Su Ze had no choice but to put aside his own itinerary and follow the officials of Taifu Temple to the Taifu Temple Yamen.

Led by the clerk, Su Ze came to the Mingtang and paid a visit to Zhang Fangping who was sitting in the Mingtang.

"Meet Zhang Sipan!"

Zhang Fangping looked at Su Ze, put down the document in his hand and said:
"What did I warn you about when I first took office?"

Su Ze's heart skipped a beat. Is he trying to deceive me?

But he is his boss, Su Ze can only say:
"Zhang Sipan warned his subordinates, 'The people are like water; they can carry a boat, but they can also overturn it.' When implementing market laws, do not compete with the people for profit."

Zhang Fangping's tone suddenly became stern and he said:

"Since you remember my instructions, why are you still competing with the people for profit?"

Su Ze said neither humbly nor arrogantly:
"Judge Zhang, I don't understand."

Zhang Fangping handed the document in his hand to the clerk beside him, asked the clerk to hand the document to Su Ze, and then said to Su Ze:

"You have been impeached by the censors."

Censor?

It turned out to be the case.

Su Ze took the document and found out that it was a letter from the Government Affairs Hall.

Tie is the format of official documents circulated between various government offices in the Song Dynasty, and the posts issued from the two ministries, namely the Zhengshitang and the Privy Council, are called Tangtie.

Although the Tang Tie is not as important as the imperial edict, it is also an official document of the prime minister's office and has strong political significance.

The content of the post on Zhengshitang is also very simple.

The Censor Liang Jian wrote a letter to the emperor, impeaching Su Ze's market exchange for competing with the people for profits, forcing the workshops of shops and houses to join the market exchange, forcing these tenants to break their contracts with Daxiangguo Temple, and infringing on the interests of Daxiangguo Temple for personal political achievements.

In addition, merchants of all sizes in Bian Jing jointly accused the Shiyi Office of infringing on their interests.

The impeachment memorials from the censors were sent directly to the palace. After the emperor read them personally, they were sent to the Council of State for investigation. The Council of State then sent an inquiry to the Imperial Household Department, which led to Zhang Fangping summoning Su Ze today.

Su Ze already understood in his heart that this was the counterattack of Daxiangguo Temple.

I just didn't expect these censors to be so shameless and directly confuse right and wrong.

It is no wonder that the position of Taijian was the clean official pursued by the literati in the Northern Song Dynasty. Taijian served as an important tool in all the party struggles, and was also a tool for political persecution.

Su Ze said frankly:

"President Zhang, the censors' impeachment is pure nonsense."

Zhang Fangping looked at Su Ze and said calmly:
"Do you want me to reply to the Political Affairs Hall like this?"

Su Ze bowed and said:

"May I ask Judge Zhang, what is a citizen?"

"what?"

Zhang Fangping was also a child prodigy, and was famous for his extensive knowledge and strong memory. He immediately said:
"The Book of Documents says, 'The people are the foundation of the state.' All the people in the world are the people."

Su Ze said:
"When I first took office, the judge said, 'The people are like water,' referring to the masses."

Zhang Fangping nodded, and Su Ze said:

"May I ask the temple judge, can an official be called a commoner?"

Zhang Fangping just felt strange and said:
"The scholars and officials assist the king in governing the country. Officials and common people have different paths. How can they be called common people?"

"How can the wealthy merchants in Bianjing City speak for the people?"

Zhang Fangping thought for a moment and said, "No, these wealthy merchants have thousands of retainers, and their comings and goings are even more grand than those of officials. How can they be called ordinary people?"

Su Ze then said, "So according to Zhang Sipan, only the ordinary people in Bianjing City, the poor families who need to work day and night to survive, can be considered as civilians."

Zhang Fangping nodded.

Su Ze said:

“The people are like water; it is the multitude of the people that can carry a boat and also capsize it.”

"The monks of Daxiangguo Temple exploited the people with usurious loans. The merchants in Bianjing sold raw materials at high prices and collected the production costs at low prices. The workers in the shops and houses were reduced to slave labor, supporting their luxurious lifestyle."

"And now they're still calling themselves the people?"

Zhang Fangping was speechless, and Su Ze continued:

“Let’s see if the people will kill them when the boat capsizes.”

Zhang Fangping's expression changed and he said:
"Be careful!"

Su Ze bowed to Zhang Fangping in return and continued:

"The Shop and House Exchange Law is a law that benefits the people, but it does not benefit those unscrupulous merchants who exploit the common people, nor does it benefit those monks at the Great Xiangguo Temple who talk about compassion but force the people to sell their children."

"The Municipal Exchange has absolutely never done anything to harm the people. Magistrate Zhang can send someone to investigate at any time. Su has a clear conscience."

After saying this, Su Ze bowed deeply to Zhang Fangping and then stopped talking.

Anyway, he was just a minor official who selected people, and this position was forced upon him by the emperor.

Zhang Fangping was already dissatisfied with him, and Su Ze was too lazy to explain and simply fought back harshly.

As for dealing with these impeachments, Su Ze was not without a backer. He had the name of Liang Jian, the Censor-in-Chief. Su Ze remembered this name!

After Su Ze finished speaking, he prepared to take his leave from Zhang Fangping.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Fangping said:

"In that case, go back to the shop and take care of the house. Don't worry about the impeachment. I will protect you from it."

Su Ze looked at Zhang Fangping in surprise.

This noble official said:

"I've been watching everything you've done since you took over the shop management. You're truly a dedicated worker."

"If the censors impeach our Taifu Temple, I will naturally block it. If the Market Exchange Office can achieve some results, it will naturally be able to shut up the censors."

Zhang Fangping then displayed the air of a high-ranking official and said, "A mere Censor-in-Chief is trying to use my Imperial Court to gain a good reputation. If you are genuinely committed to your work and still get impeached, will any official in the Imperial Court dare to serve in the future?"

Zhang Fangping said:
"This official is not doing this for you, but for Taifu Temple."

"I still hold to my original opinion. The 'Shop and House Trading Law' may be a good law under your administration, but if it is replaced by someone who only cares about fame and fortune and has no regard for the people, it will become a wicked law that harms the people."

Su Ze couldn't help but look at Zhang Fangping. He still underestimated his boss.

His "Shop and House Market Exchange Law" was actually modified from the "Changping Market Exchange Law" in Wang Anshi's reform.

When Wang Anshi first promoted the "Changping Market Exchange Law", it did indeed crack down on the monopoly of big merchants, increase national revenue, and improve the income of the people.

But soon, the "Changping Market Exchange Law" became a tool for officials to exploit the people. It changed from a monopoly of big businessmen to a monopoly of the Market Exchange Bureau. The Market Exchange Bureau expanded into an institution that was a combination of officials and businessmen, inefficient and bloated, and greedily exploited the people.

Su Ze still looked at Zhang Fangping, and this time he bowed sincerely and said:

"Mr. Temple, I still say the same thing: a good law is one that benefits the people temporarily. If a good law becomes a bad law, it is the responsibility of those in power, not the law."

"Isn't it the reason why the court is plagued by so many problems today, that it still follows the laws of our ancestors?"

"If we don't reform a law because it might become a bad law in the future, we're throwing the baby out with the bathwater."

(End of this chapter)