In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

In July of the first year of the Qingli reign, the first batch of assessment reports were sent to Bianliang.

The new policy of the performance evaluation system was promulgated in February. Since the court gave an adaptation period, the provincial governments, road governments and censorial offices began to conduct verification in late May.

The entire verification process is as follows: in the central court, each yamen has three books, one of which records the affairs of the yamen as a base book, and some official affairs that are not necessary for inspection are eliminated and placed in the inspection and prosecution of the department.

Internal supervision of the department is not a later generation, but existed in ancient times. For example, each of the three departments has a procuratorate, which is responsible for the discipline, supervision, and interrogation of the department, and even has the power of trial and judgment.

The procurator will supervise the personnel of the department to see whether they have completed the task. If one task is completed, one task will be crossed out from the book in hand. If it is not completed on time, it will be handed over to the censorial office for processing.

Then two identical books are made, and the second one is placed in the hands of the censor in charge of this department in the censorial office, and checked with the inspection and prosecution of the department.

Starting this year, in addition to the new policies, the Censorate has also been changed. Each department has a censor who specializes in this area, such as the Finance Censor, Education Censor, Engineering Censor, Military Censor, Official Censor, Tuntian Censor, Inspection Censor, etc.

If a department, such as the Ministry of Finance, has a problem with the internal inspection, the Finance Censor in charge of the Ministry of Finance will report the situation to the Political System Institute truthfully, and the Political System Institute will punish the corresponding officials who have not completed the task.

As for the last book, it is naturally placed in the Political System Institute for random inspections by the Political System Institute at any time. In this way, a system of assessment is formed, one assessment for one thing, and one assessment for one month.

It is different at the local level.

Although there are also three books, there are fewer internal inspections, but more external supervision.

For example, a county has three books, one in the local county government, one in the superior prefecture government, and the last one in the local censorship department.

The work of a county should be reported to the prefecture government and be responsible to the local censorship department. The work of the prefecture government office is reported to the road government, and it is also responsible to the local censorship department. The road level reports to the court and is responsible to the imperial censorate.

This means that the road level basically checks with the local censorate, supervises each other, cooperates with each other, and reviews the lower-level state, county and other departments, and finally reports to the court.

But the speed of verification is definitely not that fast.

The state, road and local censors investigate and report layer by layer, travel back and forth, and then conduct field investigations in the local area. It takes at least more than a month to find out clearly, and then send the results to Bianliang.

When the performance assessment of officials in Bianliang is completed, it is basically August, and then the report in June comes up again.

There is no way around it.

In ancient times, transportation was inconvenient. The surrounding areas of Bianliang and the canal were relatively good. For places far away from Henan, such as Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Shanxi, it was considered good if they could be delivered in one month.

However, Fan Zhongyan also took this into consideration. Officials at the road level were often inspected by the imperial court, while the lower-level prefectures and county prefectures of remote roads, the road-level government offices and the Censorate could handle it on their own.

For example, Yongzhou in Guangxi Road, which is the Nanning City in later generations, is 2,000 kilometers away from the Fengfu. Under normal circumstances, unless it is 800 miles expedited, it often takes more than a month to deliver ordinary official documents.

Isn't it nonsense to go back and forth?

Therefore, the affairs at the local county level can be decided by the pacification department, transportation department, criminal prison department, constant peace department, and censorate department at the road level. Only when they can't make a decision will they report it, and then summarize the things of several months and report it once after a period of time.

Moreover, these five supervisors have the power to report to the Political System Yuan. There is also the Imperial City Department in the local area. The Imperial City Department also has a pacification office at the road level, and the pacification envoy is also responsible for supervision and other matters.

Therefore, unless all the censors and the Imperial City Department of the road are all rebelled and become corrupt officials. Otherwise, under normal circumstances, senior officials along the way would be able to supervise each other and conduct strict inspections on lower-level departments, so that there would not be any problems due to traffic problems.

By July, the Qingli New Deal had begun to show results.

After the inspection in late May, the internal offices of various departments in Bianliang had issued results by early June, and the first batch of officials to be dealt with reached more than 700 people.

Among them, more than 400 people were corrupt officials, and Zhao Jun's investigation of corruption had escaped the net.

How did these people get caught?

It's very simple.

Just check the accounts.

How to fill the deficit of public funds?

Either make up for it or find a way to make up for it.

It may be possible to conceal the truth by making up for it in time, but it is difficult to make up for it.

Because the officials in the past were too busy, they were accustomed to corruption and were too lazy to implement policies, so the follow-up and understanding of a matter were almost non-existent.

Under the performance evaluation system, the censors and inspectors of various government offices had to dig deep, such as what was wrong with your account, what was purchased, why didn't you see it, where did the money go, and they would definitely find out the problem.

The result was that a large number of corrupt officials were brought down, and this was just the corrupt officials, there were even more corrupt officials. At that time, the number of corrupt officials in the country was more than 500,000, and Song Zhenzong once laid off more than 190,000 corrupt officials at one time.

The number of officials in the government offices in the capital of Bianliang alone could reach 30,000 to 40,000, and there were probably few who did not engage in corruption and bribery.

Except for Kaifeng Prefecture and the Imperial City Department, which were relatively clean, there were not many clean officials found in the other more than 50 departments.

You should know that there were only more than 4,000 officials in Bianliang. This time, more than 400 corrupt officials were found, which was almost one-tenth.

The clerks were even more exaggerated. There were probably tens of thousands of people with problems.

The remaining more than 300 problematic officials just failed to complete the task on time. At most, they would be fined or punished. In serious cases, they would be demoted.

And these corrupt officials would be arrested and imprisoned.

For a time, the court was in an uproar.

They were not shocked that there were so many corrupt officials in Kaifeng, but they were shocked that the scope of the impact was so large. What should they do?

So all the officials wrote letters to request the suspension of the performance evaluation system.

The reason was very simple.

Let's not talk about the more than 400 corrupt officials, but tens of thousands of clerks are a big problem.

Once these people were dealt with, not only would the court be shut down, but the whole of Bianliang would probably cause a huge disturbance.

The most typical example was the strike of clerks in all of Bianliang.

For example, in the first month of the third year of Jingyou, the imperial censor Du Yansha was ordered to dismiss the clerks of the three departments. The officials suspected that Du Yan had made a suggestion. In the year of Ji Hai, more than 500 officials from the three departments went to the prime minister's house to make a noise, and also went to Du Yan's house to make a noise, and moved tiles randomly. "

That is to say, in the third year of Jingyou, the emperor ordered the censor-in-chief Du Yan to be responsible for reducing the number of officials from the three departments.

These officials suspected that Du Yan had suggested this to the emperor, and they were very angry. More than 500 officials first went to the prime minister's house of Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and other prime ministers to make trouble, and then went to the door of Du Yan's house to curse and throw tiles and stones to protest.

It was enough to just cut 500 people, not to mention the tens of thousands of people now.

However, fortunately, Fan Zhongyan and Zhao Jun had anticipated this long ago. As early as May this year, new regulations were implemented, stipulating that the officials in Bianliang would become public officials and enjoy the treatment of the middle-level imperial guards, that is, an annual income of 30 guan and a monthly salary of about 2.5 guan.

This salary was not high, because at that time, private employees The price was about 50-100 wen per day. A porter at the dock could earn 200-300 wen a day, and 4-5 guan a month.

But clerks also had other benefits, such as subsidies, allowances, meal allowances, etc., which amounted to about 3-4 guan a month, and it was not a problem to support a family.

Fan Zhongyan announced that they had no salary and no source of income before, and were forced to solicit bribes, and they could be forgiven, but after the new law, if they solicited bribes from the people again, and the various government offices took bribes, they would be punished.

The court checked this time, and those who were exempted before the new regulations came out, and those who continued to make trouble after the new regulations came out, were all expelled from the public, and those with serious crimes would even be imprisoned.

This reduced the number of tens of thousands of clerks in Bianliang, which were originally affected, to a few thousand who still committed crimes after the new regulations came out in May. clerks.

Even so, there were still many people who opposed the performance evaluation system, and the resistance began to grow.

Those who did not embezzle felt that the performance evaluation system made them exhausted. In the past, officials drank tea, ate meals, and visited prostitutes, and a day passed. They could also receive a salary of more than 100 strings of cash every month, and their lives were very comfortable.

Although the salaries of officials from the fifth rank and above have been cut, the salaries of middle and lower-level officials from the fifth rank and below are still maintained at the original high level.

But they can't stand this roll.

Those who embezzled money were even more panicked. They didn't expect that the performance evaluation system would be so severe that they had nowhere to hide and had no chance to embezzle.

For a time, everyone took advantage of this turmoil and opposed the continued implementation of the performance evaluation system for various reasons.

However, Fan Zhongyan, who presided over the new policy, did not give in at all.

It was not Zhao Jun who gave him the confidence, but The treasury is indeed very rich now.

In history, the imperial court fought the Xixia War for several years, and signed the Qingli Currency Increase Agreement with the Liao Kingdom, which caused a fiscal deficit and a serious deficit.

But this time, not only was the war short, but it was resolved quickly within two years, and the preparations were more thorough.

First, Zhao Jun made a nationwide tour, investigated many corrupt officials, and contributed tens of millions of guan to the treasury.

Secondly, after several years of development, Jiaozi shops have expanded in major commercial cities across the country.

For example, in Luoyang, Fuzhou, Jiangning (Nanjing), Chang'an, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Jiangling, Mingzhou (Ningbo), Quanzhou, Mizhou (Qingdao), etc., the money deposited in Jiaozi shops has reached tens of millions of guan.

In addition, after the reform of state-owned enterprises, a large number of state-owned assets were sold to private vendors, earning tens of millions of guan, and the state-owned enterprises invested in them, and there are also large dividends every year.

The last and most important point is that from the end of last year when the imperial court signed a trade agreement with Japan to now, more than half a year has passed, and the trade volume between Song and Japan has reached more than 10 million guan, and the trade volume is still increasing.

At that time, sea transportation was risky and difficult, and the tax rate was low, only 10%, so the trade volume between Song and Japan soared by about three to four times in one year, and the tax alone reached more than one million guan, and the court collected silver, about one million taels of silver.

It doesn't look much, but it is already a huge improvement.

The main foreign trade income of the Song Dynasty was Guangzhou and Quanzhou. "Miscellaneous Records of the Court and the Country Since Jianyan" records: "In the 32nd year of Shaoxing, the net income of the customs duties of the two Maritime Customs Offices in Quanzhou and Guangzhou increased to 2 million guan."

That is, the tax revenue of Guangzhou and Quanzhou was 2 million guan per year, and the trade volume was about more than 20 million guan. With Japan, the Song Dynasty mainly imported sulfur and copper, and Japan was closed to the outside world. The trade volume between the two sides before the Southern Song Dynasty was not large.

Now it has soared so much, plus other Maritime Customs Offices in other cities, as well as the Silk Road, the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, and the Liao-Song trade, the annual tax revenue adds up to tens of millions of guan, which greatly makes up for the fiscal deficit.

So with so much increased income, as the wars were fought and taxes were collected in recent years, the surplus of the Song Dynasty's treasury increased instead of decreased, not only filling the previous fiscal deficit, but now there is still a surplus of 70 to 80 million guan in the treasury, which is equivalent to more than half a year's fiscal revenue.

And with the upcoming summer tax revenue, the treasury may have more than 100 million guan this year, plus the autumn tax, minus one year's expenditure, leaving tens of millions of guan is not a problem.

With the money, we can pay salaries to the officials in Bianliang and rectify the administration of officials in Bianliang. In the future, the two-tax system will be implemented throughout the Song Dynasty, divided into local taxes and national taxes, and the national division of officials will begin. Officials will be included in public office and enjoy national wages. There will also be a promotion channel for officials to be selected and examined, which will greatly encourage officials to work hard.

Therefore, under various conditions, Fan Zhongyan has the confidence to carry out the reform to the end. Even if the first round of assessments has touched the interests of many people and found many corrupt officials, he still stands in the court, arguing with many colleagues, and is determined not to give up!

This time, the Political System Institute stood on Fan Zhongyan's side and confronted many officials from various departments. Zhao Zhen also withstood the pressure and expressed that these corrupt officials would be severely punished.

It was just that the two sides wasted a lot of time arguing and arguing.

As a result, more than 400 corrupt officials were only temporarily relieved of their duties and were not imprisoned. As a result, in August, many problems were found in the surrounding areas of Bianliang, causing a sensation.

Now not only did most of the officials in Bianliang oppose it, but officials in the surrounding areas also wrote to the court to request the suspension of the performance evaluation system.

The commotion caused a wider range than the Qingli New Deal in history.

After all, the Qingli New Deal in history only targeted 80% to 90% of officials in the officialdom, assessing those who were Jinshi graduates and eliminating a large number of officials who entered the officialdom through family ties.

This time, it involves the assessment of officials all over the world. Everyone wants to live a more comfortable life and doesn't want to be so involved.

So even if they are not corrupt officials, they want to continue to maintain their previous comfortable life.

However, Lao Fan was determined and refused to give in.

Even though the opposition voices in the court were getting louder and louder, he firmly urged the various ministries, judicial departments and the Censorate to continue the assessment.

The two sides pulled each other, and time came to October of the first year of the Qingli period, eight months after the implementation of the new law.

On this day, Zheng Jian, the Chief Censor, sat in the office of the Censorate with a serious face.

Standing beside him were more than 20 backbone forces of the Censorate, including Yu Jing, Yin Zhu, Ouyang Xiu, Cai Xiang, Li Hong, Wang Zhi, Wang Zhu, Wang Su, Yang Cha, Zhao Yan, Chen Xiliang, etc.

Among them, his right-hand men, the Imperial Censors Cai Xiang and Yin Zhu, looked even more ugly.

Because just now, the Censorate found a major case involving Cheng Lin, the Minister of Finance, and Prime Ministers Lu Yijian and Sheng Du!

Cai Xiang and Yin Zhu are Fan Zhongyan's people, and Lu Yijian and Sheng Du are now supporting Fan Zhongyan's reforms.

If a case involving them appears at this juncture, it is very likely that Lu Yijian and Sheng Du will change their attitude of supporting Fan Zhongyan.

Once this happens, it will be a big deal.

However, they were helpless at this time, because it was Zheng Jian who discovered this matter. He was impartial and called many colleagues to discuss the matter directly this time, just to define the matter.

Zheng Jian looked around and said in a deep voice: "For such a big case, the Censorate has an obligation to do so. You guys tell me what to do."

Zhao Yan immediately said: "The Censorate is now responsible for supervising officials all over the world, and the Zhiyuan has repeatedly said that the country should be governed by law and things should be done according to law. If this matter retreats because it involves the prime minister and the minister, where is the majesty of the Censorate and where is the legal system?"

Ouyang Xiu did not understand the joints, and also shouted: "I think it should be handled by law! Not to mention that it only involves the prime minister's son, even if it is the prime minister himself, he must not escape the blame!"

Cai Xiang and Yin Zhu almost punched Ouyang Xiu at that time.

This pig teammate.

He did not think about it. Now Fan Zhongyan can promote reforms, all thanks to the support of the Political System Institute behind him.

If Fan Zhongyan could not gain a foothold in the Political System Council because of this incident, what would happen to the new policy and the future reform of the court?

But at this time, the two of them were helpless.

After all, Zheng Jian did not tell them privately, which meant that the matter could only be exposed, so they had to remain silent.

They did not speak, but the others expressed their support for Zhao Yan and Ouyang Xiu.

Wang Su said without hesitation: "It must be brought to justice."

Yang Cha said: "The new policy has been issued. If the emperor breaks the law, he will be punished just like the common people. We, the Censorate, have a mission. How can we bend the law for personal gain?"

Chen Xiliang said: "This case can also serve as a reminder to officials all over the world. Even the ministers and prime ministers of various departments cannot escape the blame. I think that only in this way can we maintain the spirit of rule of law that the prefect often talks about!"

"Good!"

Zheng Jian saw that his subordinates Fan Dang and Zhao Dang both supported it, so he slammed the table and said: "Then do it this way. Follow me to arrest him!"

At that moment, under the leadership of Zheng Jian, he summoned the clerks of the Censorate Office and headed straight to Lu's mansion!