The monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty held an afternoon meeting in the Guanjia Hall. Although most things could not be done until Zhao Jun's eyes recovered, it was not true that nothing was agreed upon.
For example, they have made a rough plan for their future development direction.
The first thing is to wait for Zhao Jun's eyes to recover and see if he can help the Song Dynasty solve the three redundant problems, strengthen the country, and develop the Song Dynasty's military force.
As long as the military force of the Song Dynasty can withstand the attacks of the Liao Kingdom and Xixia, it will be fine. They do not expect to be able to destroy Xia and Liao immediately, so that they can have enough time to free up their hands to solve internal problems.
Such as the harm of three redundancies, tax system, fiscal expenditure, education reform, etc. When the time comes, we can send fleets out to sea to search for rubber and oil, and at the same time let Zhao Jun help fill in the missing scientific system problems and find the derivation that is missing in science. part.
After that, it was logical to start the industrial revolution, and then the country quickly rose to dominate the east, kicking Xixia and punching the Liao Kingdom. Seize a huge territory, colonize the world, and become the world's hegemon, with red flags and blue stars!
certainly.
These people look forward to the future, and their thoughts are quite beautiful.
In fact, he just drew a grand blueprint for himself. If Zhao Jun heard this, he would probably feel so happy that he had a stomachache.
However, they are not completely stubborn, and they still put forward some constructive plans.
For example, the cross-citation method is one of the redundant expenses. All three phases and three reference parties believe that they should fully support Li Zhenqian's method and carry out effective rectification.
As for the problem of lack of money, Shengdu needs to increase its efforts to complete the sub-committee as soon as possible and quickly absorb cash into the national treasury to solve the national treasury's losses.
The other thing is that since the problem of redundant troops cannot be solved in a short time, we should promote the most capable generals first.
For example, Di Qing asked him to lead a small number of troops and train a group of elite soldiers first. When the war with Xixia begins in the future, he cannot be too passive.
So in the next few days, except for going to Zhao Jun's lectures, Zhao Zhen and others basically spent the rest of the time busy with these important matters. On the contrary, Yan Shu took a few days off because of his wife's illness and never came.
Soon, by mid-May, it had been a month and a half since Zhao Jun arrived in the Song Dynasty. In the past few days, there had been some small changes in the court.
First, Yan Shu dismissed Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment and Zhongcheng of the Yushi, and changed his position to Shangshu of the Ministry of Hubu and Deputy Envoy of the Third Division.
The three envoys do not cover the sky with one hand, but are restrained by deputy envoys.
It can be said that there were so many officials in the Song Dynasty. In later generations, a county, a city, or a province in my country usually had between one official and six officials. Under normal circumstances, there were one official and six officials.
The Song Dynasty was very strange. It was not a question of one true story and a few false stories, but a dozen true stories and dozens of false stories.
For example, there are hundreds of people in Bianliang who will serve as supervisors and assessors in Dali.
Every year, new scholars in the imperial examination are basically awarded these two official positions.
There are also many Kaifeng Prefecture magistrates and Kaifeng Prefecture recommended officials, because many of them are part-time officials with a name, and the division of powers is not clear.
The current Third Secretary is Cheng Lin. Below him are the Deputy Commissioners of Yantie, Duzhi and Hubu. There are deputies and deputies. It can be said that there are more than ten senior ministers in each Third Secretary. The officialdom is very orderly. confusion.
Originally, the two brothers Zhao and Zhao wanted to rely on this method to reduce the power of officials and increase the imperial power. In this way, coupled with the founding cup of wine to release military power, the official governance power and military power were greatly weakened, and they were all held in In the hands of the emperor, the central power was greatly increased.
But the emperor alone could not manage so many things. The result was that there were too many officials and the division of powers among those in charge was chaotic, resulting in two major problems: redundant officials and redundant soldiers.
However, thanks to the Song Dynasty's broken system, the deputies of various departments and their deputies often have little power. For example, the financial power of the Third Division is basically in the hands of a few prime ministers and the Third Division Envoy. It has more meaning and is a good choice if you want to lie flat and fish in a bad way.
So Yan Shu was free.
There weren't many surprises in the court about this.
The main reason is that Yan Shu has been invisible during this period. He did not perform his official duties as censor Zhongcheng at all. He was not seen all day long. He was unanimously impeached by the censor station and the admonishment court, so it was normal for him to be changed to the deputy envoy of the third department.
What's more, this is not a demotion, but a level transfer or even a promotion.
Because in terms of grades, Yan Shu's official positions are from the second-grade Criminal Ministry Shangshu and Hubu Shangshu. Yushi Zhongcheng and the third-level deputy envoys are dispatched officers and have no specific grades.
Therefore, in terms of rank, he was transferred from the second rank, but in terms of dispatch, the deputy envoy of the third department was a senior official after the prime minister, deputy prime minister, and prime minister, and had certain financial power. And there is no need to work at the Yushitai in the future, so there will be more time for fishing.
The courtiers believed that this was another great victory for the Lu party and a clever trick placed by Prime Minister Lu Yijian in the three envoys to control power.
But no one would have thought that Yan Shu was promoted to the third deputy envoy entirely because Zhao Zhen needed him to have more time to fish, to stay by Zhao Jun's side every day, and not to have to worry about the messy things in the court.
Therefore, the courtiers probably misunderstood some things. Originally, Fan Dang was in great power some time ago and defeated some people in Lu Dang. Many officials wanted to be the wall guards and were gearing up to follow Fan Dang in killing Lu Yijian.
As a result, with the promotion of Yan Shu, the trend suddenly turned back. Many people thought that Lu Dang was becoming arrogant again, so they turned their guns and pointed it at Fan Dang. The news of impeaching Fan Zhongyan again flew like snowflakes to Zhao Zhenyu's study desk. It's quite unexpected.
But these are small things.
The officials in the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty had great power. They didn't necessarily care who was in power, nor did they care who was loyal or traitorous between Fan Zhongyan and Lu Yijian. It was just that during this period, some people were on the wall, and together with the original members of the Lu Party, Only when everyone walked shoulder to shoulder did the Lu party appear to be more powerful.
Most of the people who should be impeached were impeached. In addition to Fan Zhongyan, Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng, Wang Sui, Song Shou, Cai Qi, Sheng Du and other three ministers, as well as the third minister Cheng Lin, the Privy Councilor Li Shen and others, Several books are read every day, and they are very sparse and ordinary.
Therefore, this little movement in the court did not cause a stir.
For the emperor, if you use it smoothly, the paper you use is no different from the paper you wipe your butt. If you don't use it smoothly and don't obey instructions, then that's a different story.
Besides Yan Shu, there is another little thing.
For the first time, the officials inspected the Imperial Guards of the Imperial City, and even went to the Yulongzhi Imperial Guards at the outermost edge, saying they wanted to see the power of the Imperial Guards of the Song Dynasty.
The Imperial Guard is divided into five levels. The first level is the imperial city chief minister. The second level is Kuanyi Tianwu. The third level is the straight bow and arrow of the dragon, and the straight crossbow. The fourth level is the Royal Dragon Bone Duo Zi Zhi. The fifth level is Yulongzhi. Five layers of guards, from the inside to the outside, protect the emperor in the center.
In the past, the officials of the Song Dynasty relied more on the imperial city's ministers and served more officials. However, after the officials went to Yulongzhi, they highly praised a Sanzhi, saying that his team was well-trained and very powerful, and promoted him to the third squad of envoys. , palace attendant and camp commander.
This string of official names sounds very powerful and domineering, but in fact it is just that.
Because the Third Class Envoy and the Palace Attendant are military generals with no rank, they work as security guards in the palace, and are referred to as Imperial Guards with Swords.
The commander of the Yulong Direct Battalion is a good one. He is a low-level officer, equivalent to a battalion commander of 500 people.
The problem is that he was a Yuryu Naosan Nao before.
What is Sanzhi?
He is the captain of a squad of soldiers, leading five subordinates, and is later known as the squad leader in the secular world.
What is the concept of being promoted directly to the commander of the battalion?
A conscript squad leader of the Capital Military Region was appointed as the commander of the Zhongnanhai Guard Battalion. This was a considerable promotion.
And everyone knows that the emperor is coming to inspect. No matter how bad the imperial army is, everyone will put on a show during the inspection, standing straight with their chests raised, and their appearance is no worse than that of Xiao Sanzhi.
But the officials only praised the little Sanzhi named Di Qing and made him the commander of the camp at a young age. He was heard by heaven. What does this mean?
All of a sudden, powerful people from all walks of life took action after hearing the news, and went to inquire whether this boy named Di Qing had any shocking background, and whether he was a relative of a general in a certain family.
However, Bianliang City in the Song Dynasty was always such a place full of surprises. The matter of Yan Shu and Di Qing was not a big deal at first. It was only circulated in a small area. Within a few days, something was tinkered with by the officials, which was the big news. .
His Majesty refused Privy Councilor Li Zhen's repeated requests to resign and intensified his efforts. Either Cai Qi, Cheng Lin, Du Yan, Ding Du and others would fully cooperate to implement the money-seeking law as soon as possible.
At the same time, he announced to the ministers that the court would set up Jiaozipu in the city. All high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen with a net worth of more than 200,000 yuan could deposit money in Jiaozipu for business purposes.
This matter was presided over by Shengdu, the political advisor. All those who saved money, no matter who they were, had to be screened, not only by their net worth, but also by their fixed assets and property size. Moreover, when you deposit money into Jiaozipu, you have to pay a large deposit.
Jiaozipu has been around for more than 20 years, and everyone knows about it. It's just that the private sector or the local government on Sichuan Road have always operated Jiaozipu before. This is the first time that Bianliang, the capital of the Song Dynasty, has done anything like this.
So the officials couldn't figure out what was going on and waited and watched.
However, soon after Shengdu organized the "Jiaozi Wu", which included the "Papermaking Institute", "Storage Institute", "Seal Institute" and other institutions, and when they learned about the actual uses of Jiaozi, they started to make noises one after another.
Since the Song Dynasty only restricted officials from engaging in business activities and did not inhibit the government and officials' families from doing business, all high-ranking officials were extremely wealthy.
Many business tycoons are simply relatives of high-ranking officials. Therefore, after Shengdu started preparing for Jiaozipu, he immediately asked the officials to send people from the Imperial City Department to come up with a list of officials whose families had rich properties and talk to them one by one.
Lu Yijian, Song Shou, Wang Zeng and other wealthy family members immediately sent their family members to sign up, dig out the copper coins hidden in the cellar at home, and send them to Jiaozi Shop to exchange them for silver notes.
For a time, the Jiaozipu incident became a hot topic in the past few days. Many well-informed officials immediately asked family members to take out the money and send it to Jiaozipu for storage.
Although it is necessary to pay a large deposit to put it in Jiaozipu, it is indeed much easier to do business after having a banknote, and the cost can be reduced much more than the deposit. Therefore, Bianliang merchants usually have to do business with Chengdu Businessmen all went to Jiaozipu to save money.
It's just that the people who come are either people like Lu Yijian, Song Shou and others who deposit money to show off, or they are doing business in Chengdu. There are countless business tycoons in the entire Song Dynasty, but the number of people who come is less than one percent. .
After all, business was so prosperous during the Northern Song Dynasty.
In addition to Bianliang and Chengdu, the two most prosperous commercial centers, there are also Luoyang, Fuzhou, Jiangning (Nanjing), Chang'an, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Jiangling, Mingzhou (Ningbo), Quanzhou, Mizhou (Qingdao) and other places. They are all big cities with extremely developed and prosperous commerce.
Especially in the southeastern coastal areas, such as Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Mingzhou, Quanzhou, and Michigan, there are maritime shipping companies and they are trading ports on the Maritime Silk Road.
There is an endless stream of merchants coming and going from all over the country. They only open Jiaozi shops in Chengdu and Bianliang, and they only cover the Jiaozi route between Bianliang and Chengdu. It is of little significance to merchants on other commercial routes.
Therefore, in the entire Song Dynasty business community, the establishment of Jiaozipu did not cause any waves.
But even so, Zhao Zhen was crazy with joy.
Because in just a few days, Jiaoziwu had saved more than 500,000 yuan, and this was only in Bianliang, not counting Chengdu. If Jiaozi was spread to more than a dozen of the most prosperous cities in the entire Song Dynasty, I'm afraid tens of millions of dollars will be deposited in the cash box soon.
This money does not need to be paid interest, and merchants will also be charged high storage fees and handling fees. When money generates money, it is more than enough to solve the problem of empty national treasury caused by the money law in a short time.
And more importantly, this will greatly promote economic development, make national finance and tax revenue healthier, and revenue will increase significantly.
At that time, merchants traveled to buy and sell goods.
For example, after Chengdu and Bianliang opened Jiaozipu, merchants would transport Chengdu's specialties from Chengdu to Bianliang to sell, and then transport the goods from Bianliang to Chengdu to sell, forming a fixed trade route.
But the Song Dynasty did not have a large influx of silver like the Ming and Qing Dynasties, so you had to bring copper coins with you when you went out to do business.
Copper coins are measured in Guan, and the standard is always one thousand Wen. Each Guan weighs 5 Song Jin. According to the Song Dynasty, one city Jin was 640 grams, which is approximately equivalent to 3200 grams, or 6.4 Jin. During the Huizong period of the Song Dynasty, iron money became the mainstream, with a consistent amount of 14.4 kilograms.
Even if we only calculate it in terms of copper coins, if we do a big business of 100,000 jins, we have to take 640,000 jins of copper coins with us.
In addition to being heavy, copper coins also take up space. Water transportation will occupy the storage space of the goods, and it is also a troublesome time to carry them on and off the ship.
Therefore, due to such restrictions, big businessmen may only travel between Bianliang and Chengdu once or twice a year.
But now after using Jiaozi, I can make more trips every year.
It doesn’t even take much. One more trip can generate a lot of money, create a lot of jobs, and feed a lot of people.
Even if there is a certain turnover period for goods, don’t forget that the waterways and Maritime Silk Road were extremely developed in the Song Dynasty, and nationwide goods circulation could be achieved through the Grand Canal.
As long as Jiaozi is spread in major trading cities across the country to make materials and money circulate faster, then handicraft industry practitioners, shipyards, fleets, escorts, as well as hotels, restaurants, dock porters, etc. along the way can all Benefited from.
Therefore, after the opening of Jiaozipu, it will not only benefit merchants, but also the economic environment of the entire society will be greatly improved, and the economic impact will be immeasurable.
This is a classic example of making the plate and cake bigger.
In addition, merchants deposited money in Jiaozipu and revitalized the entire economic system through Jiaozipu. The official tax revenue of the Song Dynasty would increase significantly, and there would be excess money for construction of education, transportation, and science and technology, creating more jobs and develop.
It can be said.
The construction of just one Jiaozipu will benefit the whole country.
