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Zhang Chao was not in Beijing, and the cabinet was presided over by the second minister, Fang Xuanling.

This afternoon, the Cabinet.

The ministers of the cabinet, the scholars of the Hanlin Academy, and the deans of the council all came. Cheng Qian sat in the position where Zhang Chao originally was, and today so many important ministers of the empire are here to discuss the amendment to the labor bill proposed by the cabinet.

This amendment was proposed by Zhang Chao, and the draft has been completed.

Although Zhang Chao is not in Beijing, the draft is still going according to the predetermined process.

Emperor Chengqian had such a draft in front of him, and the draft had already been opened.

On the first page of the draft is a new provision.

"The public property of the Tang Empire is sacrosanct, and the private property of the citizens of the Tang Dynasty is sacrosanct!"

There is also a detailed explanation below, the public property of the Tang Dynasty refers to the property owned by the Tang court and the property owned by the royal family.

The Tang Empire protected public and private property and prohibited any organization or individual from using any means to encroach upon or destroy public and private property.

There is another sentence later, ownership is the absolute and unlimited right to use, benefit and dispose of things, except for the use prohibited by law. No person may be compelled to transfer ownership except for public use, and to receive fair and prior compensation.

Private property is inviolable, but it is also subject to taxation in accordance with the law. For example, when the state needs to expropriate or demolish, as long as the court gives fair compensation.

But in any case, this article is still unprecedented when it is placed directly at the front of the law.

No one had ever said this before, let alone written it in a legal text.

In the past, the emperor was the Son of Heaven, the spokesperson of Heaven on earth, and advocated the unity of Heaven and Man. In particular, the concept that the land of the world is not the king's land, the guest of the land, and the prince is not the king's minister, which fully shows that the whole world is actually the emperor's.

Under this thinking, private individuals do not have any real private property, because private property also belongs to the emperor. The emperor therefore had the right to levy taxes, even to raise them at any time, and to expropriate private property at any time.

Even if it is the territory of a noble vassal, it is given by the emperor, and it is not entirely private to the nobles.

To really talk about it, only the feudal country in the Spring and Autumn Period can be regarded as private ownership. After all, the vassals of my vassals, not my vassals. The lord is a vassal of the Son of Heaven, but the vassal of the lord is not a vassal of the Son of Heaven.

Cheng Qian has been staring at this sentence for a long time.

He felt that Zhang Chao put this sentence on the first page, which was unusual.

Private property is sacrosanct, and then a number of provisions can be derived from the following.

For example, the emperor and his cabinet must consult both houses of parliament and obtain a majority vote to approve new tax items and adjust tax rates.

For example, all vassal lords and nobles are not subject to arrest or imprisonment, confiscation of property, demotion or deprivation of titles, or reduction or deprivation of fiefdoms unless they are tried by the House of Nobles of Parliament.

In this clause involving nobility and fiefdoms, it is the first time that the relationship between the nobility and the emperor's court is so straightforward.

For the emperor to convict the nobles, he must also be tried by the House of Nobles, who has sufficient evidence to convict. The emperor had no right to cut or take away the titles of nobility or their fiefs until he was convicted.

The emperor was not allowed to increase taxes on the fiefs of the nobles without permission, and he was not allowed to force the nobles to go to war with their private armies.

According to these terms, noble vassals were vassals of the imperial court and courtiers of the emperor, but their rights and interests were protected.

Although it is not written in this, if the emperor violates these regulations, whether the nobles will be able to resist, but it still makes Cheng Qian extremely shocked.

The king wants his ministers to die, and the ministers have to die.

The title of a courtier is given by the king, so it is only natural that the king should have the right to take it back.

But now, these laws and regulations are written there in black and white, and it is easy to give them away, but it is even more difficult to take them back.

Because after giving it out, the territory and title belong to the private property of the nobles, which is sacred and inviolable.

There were quite a few articles that surprised him.

For example, as long as the nobles have a knighthood, they automatically become noble councilors. Noble councillors have the right to freely elect representatives of the Central House of Lords, and nobles who commit crimes must be tried by the House of Lords before they can be convicted.

It also stipulates that the local people's assemblies enjoy the power to freely elect people's members, and the people's parliamentarians at all levels also have the right to supervise the government at all levels and the right to impeach officials.

At the same time, in these new articles, some benefits to the court and the emperor have also been added. For example, the law stipulates the law of the noble lord's tui'en raid and feudal law, stipulates the order of inheritance of the noble title and the principle of tui'en sub-feud, and stipulates that all nobles who inherit the title and fief must pay an inheritance tax to the imperial court.

The aristocratic fief Tui En is divided into feuds and inherited, which is equivalent to the transfer of ownership and has to pay taxes. According to the amount of fiefdom property inherited, taxes were paid to the imperial court in a certain proportion.

At the heart of these clauses revolves around a clause that private property is sacrosanct.

Of course, the public property of the empire was also sacrosanct.

If Zhang Chao was here, Cheng Qian would have wanted to question him face to face why he had proposed these provisions.

There are many provisions in the future, mainly on the division of rights and obligations in the labor and employment relationship.

But Cheng Qian was not interested, all he was thinking about now was the sanctity of this private property, and then the power of the nobles.

The court could not directly try and convict the nobles, and the court could try and convict them. Before they are convicted, they may not be arrested, executed, etc., and their property is inviolable.

After a long time, Fang Xuanling broke the silence.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you have any comments after reading the draft, you might as well say it directly."

Wei Zheng, the president of the House of Nobles, spoke for the first time.

"I think this draft is very good, and it is a good thing to protect the interests of the people. Now industry and commerce are thriving, but there are also many black-hearted workshop owners and merchants, who detain and exploit workers, and even make fakes, and are called vampires by the people. The court drew a line this time, and this line was drawn well, and if the court didn't draw this line, then those heart-suckers would have no bottom line. ”

"The imperial court has drawn this line now, and there will be laws to follow in the future. Unscrupulous businessmen who dare to violate the laws of the imperial court should be arrested and punished. ”

Cheng Qian couldn't help but ask.

"Protecting the rights and interests of the people of the Tang Dynasty, I also agree. But this is a labor bill, and in this bill, the establishment of tax items and the adjustment of tax rates by the imperial court must be passed by both houses of parliament. Furthermore, there is a provision here that deals with the rights and interests of the nobility, shouldn't it also be included in this bill? ”

All the ministers were silent for a moment.

As we all know, it is these two articles in this bill that are extremely important. The terms of the real employment relationship are not so important.

In fact, these two bills are directed at the Parliament.

If the tax law is passed, then Parliament will have more power. The Cabinet formulates tax laws, tax items, and tax rates, but they must be approved by the Parliament. It is not deliberated by the six sections of the upper house, but by the entire parliament and both houses. This is much more difficult than passing the six subjects.

The aristocratic jurisdiction is vested in the House of Nobles.

In the end, it greatly strengthened the rights and interests of the nobility.

Without the trial and conviction of the noble court, the emperor has no right to deprive the nobles of titles and fiefs.

"Are the titles and fiefs of nobles considered private property?" Wei Zheng asked.

Ma Zhou, the dean of Hanlin who had been sitting without speaking, replied directly and affirmatively, "Of course, it is private property!" ”

"Can a court title be considered private property?" Cheng Qian asked rhetorically.

"A knighthood is not an official position, it is not a public weapon, it is naturally considered private property." As the dean of Hanlin, he was the most important advisor to the emperor, but at this time he was directly on the side of the nobles.

Ma Zhou was not only an advisor to the emperor, but also a great nobleman, and he was the prince of the county. Defend your own interests, that's for sure.

In fact, among these important ministers of the empire here, which one is not a vassal and nobleman of the imperial court.

Even the eldest grandson, Wuji, didn't speak.

He is also the king of Shangtang, and of course he also thinks that this bill is a protection for the rights and interests of the nobles.

Whether to be knighted or not, whether to grant a territory or not, this is the final decision between the emperor and the court, but since the fief is granted, it is not something that the court can accept if it wants to.

Unless a crime is committed, and the court can dispose of the nobles after being convicted after being tried by the noble court.

The House of Nobles was put in charge of the trial of the nobles, precisely to prevent the court from persecuting the nobles.

The House of Lords was responsible for judging the nobles, and it was the same as the eight councils of the magnates in the past, which protected them.

Fang Xuanling and others all believe that the noble lords guard the frontier for the Tang Dynasty and the screen of the imperial court, and of course they must have their rights and interests to protect the border if they work hard to defend the border.

You must know that the fiefs they divided were all outside the Central Plains. Even many fiefs, when they were divided, were still rulers of other foreign races, or they were very poor and remote places, and they invested countless energy and property in management and construction, and the emperor could not take them away one day.

Territories are their private rights and should be sacrosanct.

The vassals had the obligation to guard the borders of the imperial court, and even had the obligation to open up colonies, and of course they also had power.

Seeing that Fang Xuanling, Eldest Sun Wuji, Ma Zhou, Wei Zheng and others all had the same attitude, Cheng Qian's heart felt a little cold. He knew that he couldn't get them to change their minds about it.

"Well, the titles and territories of the nobility are the private property of the nobility and are sacrosanct. Without the consent of the House of Nobles, the Emperor may not deprive or reduce the titles and territories of the nobles, nor shall he arrest, detain, execute, confiscate the property that infringes upon them, and the crimes of the nobles shall be tried by the House of Nobles! ”

"But!"

Cheng Qian's gaze swept over everyone, "Promulgating tax laws, setting tax items, and tax rates are the powers of the imperial court. According to the system, after the cabinet is formulated, it will be reviewed and refuted by the six sections of the upper house. I don't think there is any need to change this. The Imperial Court may consult the two houses of parliament when revising the tax law, and may also convene a hearing of the members of the parliament when the six sections are closed and deliberated, but it is not necessary to submit it to the two houses of parliament for approval. ”

As for the parliament, Cheng Qian has always been very cautious and does not easily expand their powers. It is enough to have one of the six departments of the Academy of Sciences who have the power to refute it. For mobile phone users, please browse M. Reading for a better reading experience.