Zhao Jun actually didn't stay in Yan'an Mansion for long.
In terms of governance, both Fan Zhongyan and Pang Ji did a pretty good job, and he had nothing to find fault with.
In military terms, he defeated Li Yuanhao in a battle and made the opponent call him daddy.
Economically, although the mutual trade with Xixia has been cancelled, the relationship with Siluo in Qingtangjiao is close, and trade exchanges are more frequent.
And in the confrontation with Xixia, Jiao Siluo also put in a lot of effort, leading more than 10,000 troops to threaten Xiliang Mansion in Xixia and contain some of Li Yuanhao's troops.
This can also be considered a diplomatic success.
Therefore, with the presence of Fan Zhongyan, Pang Ji, Wang Yaochen, Wen Yanbo and others, Shaanxi Road still presents a situation where everything is full of vitality and everything is flourishing.
The advantage is mine.
After that, Zhao Jun went south along the Yellow River, preparing to go to Shanxi for inspection.
This trip to Hebei and back to Bianliang from Shandong basically covers the whole Song Dynasty. It is expected that by the beginning of next year, the whole process will take three years to complete the research on the upper and lower class structure of the Song Dynasty.
At the same time, Li Yuanhao's letter asking for surrender was also sent to Bianliang. This morning, the officials discussed the situation at court.
Many officials believe that since Li Yuanhao has decided to surrender, the war in the northwest has been settled, and military expenditures there should be reduced and all the imperial troops sent out should be brought back immediately.
There are two things that worry the officials about the presence of the Forbidden Army. First, the frontier troops in the northwest are currently overexhausted, and the national treasury is still relatively full and has not been drained by the war in the northwest.
But fighting means spending money. Historically, the Song-Xia war lasted for four or five years, almost all the savings of the early Renzong Dynasty, and the fiscal deficit remained high. The price of food in Bianliang went from the two to three hundred coppers and one stone that Jingyou paid at the beginning. During the Qingli period, the number was seven to eight hundred, which was nearly a thousand coins and one stone.
Now, Zhao Jun has helped Zhao Zhen get a lot of money, secondly, he has accumulated a lot of property by selling state-owned assets, and thirdly, Jiaozipu, who has more and more deposits, is helping to save the money. Even if we play for another four or five years, the situation will not be as bad as it was historically.
But no matter what, looking at the treasury that spends money every day, the officials are still a little scared. After all, I have money and food in my hands, so I definitely won’t panic. Now that so much money and food are being squandered, it naturally makes them feel sick.
The second is that the number of the Northwest Army is too large at the moment.
In the earliest period, the frontier army numbered about 300,000 people. After excluding the empty pay, there were at least 200,000 soldiers. Later, Fan Zhongyan and Wang Deyong brought 20,000 people there, and in the past two years, another 80,000 were transferred one after another. The total number of border troops apparently registered was 420,000.
There were so many troops in the northwest, and they were all coordinated and mobilized by Fan Zhongyan alone. Even if he was a civilian official, the fear of military power being concentrated in the hands of one person still made the civilian officials uneasy.
In fact, too many things have happened in the past three years that have made the huge civil service group feel uneasy.
The first is the high concentration of official power.
After the establishment of the Constitutional Yuan, the reform of the official system resulted in the unification of the originally chaotic officialdom. Power was highly concentrated in the hands of the Constitutional Yuan, or in the hands of Zhao Jun, Lu Yijian and others. The power was much greater than that of the previous prime ministers.
All the officials are very hostile to the prime minister, not to mention that the current Constitutional Yuan is comparable to the prime minister in ancient times, with nationwide governance power and the power of life and death over all officials.
Therefore, many officials criticized the Constitutional Yuan, and those censors and admonishers proposed to the emperor to abolish the Constitutional Yuan system.
The reason why there was no civil and military opposition in the Manchu Dynasty was because after the establishment of the Constitutional Yuan, many new departments were established, and the original idle officials were recruited to serve. With the support of a group of new interest groups, it was able to gain a firm foothold.
Secondly, the power of the military is highly concentrated.
Historically, when Fan Zhongyan went to the northwest, the official in charge was actually Xia Song, and Xia Song did not cover the sky with just one word. Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi and others were there to restrain him and take away his power, making it difficult for Xia Song to monopolize power. .
But now that Fan Zhongyan has gone to the northwest, he is really the Tu emperor. He not only has the direct command of all armies, but also the power of local governance and the appointment and dismissal of officials. He is the real military and political leader.
If Fan Zhongyan is allowed to stay in the northwest for another two years and replaces all the superior generals with his own people, I am afraid that he will be able to use military governors in one place and separate warlords in one area.
In this case, the officials will naturally think of the various vassal and town armies in the pre-Tang Dynasty who did not obey the central government's orders and dominated the local area.
Therefore, faced with such a situation, the officials were quite afraid.
During the court meeting, some officials even used the Anshi Rebellion as a reference, suggesting that if Zhao Zhen did not exercise restraint and immediately transferred Fan Zhongyan back, it would probably have unpredictable consequences.
So the voice of accepting Li Yuanhao's surrender quickly overwhelmed other voices, although some people analyzed that Li Yuanhao was too ambitious and could not just give up.
But most officials never considered whether Li Yuanhao posed a threat to the Song Dynasty. They only considered whether excessive concentration of power would lead to the recurrence of the Anshi Rebellion, and whether Fan Zhongyan would become another An Lushan.
So even if no one pointed it out, this overt and covert hint was obviously a rumor and slander against Fan Zhongyan.
If Lu Yijian, the leader of the Lu Party, had not stood up and said a few words of justice for his old enemy Fan Zhongyan at the critical moment, I am afraid that today's morning meeting would have turned into a criticism meeting against Fan Zhongyan.
After the court meeting, Zhao Zhen and others held a small meeting in Chongzheng Hall.
It is early summer and April, the weather is getting warmer, and the doors and windows in the palace are open. In addition to dissipating heat, Zhao Jun said that the structure of palaces in the Song Dynasty was often made of mercury cinnabar, which is highly toxic and needs to be ventilated at all times.
Therefore, Zhao Zhen usually lived in the wooden house in the back garden except for working. Even the concubines have now moved to the back garden and rebuilt some wooden palaces.
At this moment, everyone was sitting in rows. Zhao Zhen sat on the chair behind the desk, obviously relieved. He glanced at Lu Yijian in surprise, and was the first to say: "Thanks to Lu Gong for speaking up this time, otherwise the government and the public would criticize Fan. I’m afraid you can’t stay in the northwest anymore.”
"I am not speaking for Fan Zhongyan out of selfish motives, but he really needs to sit in the northwest and stabilize the situation now."
Lu Yijian said without blushing or heartbeat: "Now the war in the northwest is going smoothly. Yuan Hao was defeated in one battle. Although Yuan Hao was beaten and begging for mercy, this does not mean that the war in the northwest is over."
"Cough cough cough."
Wang Zeng coughed twice. Since he recovered from his illness last year, he has passed through the gate of death. He has recovered physically and naturally returned to work in the Constitutional Yuan.
However, the root of the disease still fell, and he became a lot older.
He glanced at Lu Yijian. Everyone knew that Old Lutou said what he said was nice, but in fact he was still trying to win the favor of the officials and his reputation for magnanimity.
After all, Fan Zhongyan had targeted Lu Yijian in the past. Lu Yijian not only recommended Fan Zhongyan to go to the northwest, but also spoke out to defend Fan Zhongyan at such a critical moment. So why should the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty praise him for being a prime minister who can support a boat?
So before the official praised Lu Yijian, he interrupted first.
Hearing Wang Zeng's cough, Zhao Zhen was attracted to him. Before he could praise Old Man Lu, he asked with concern: "How is Wang Zeng's health now?"
"Thank you, Guanjia. Things are much better."
Wang Zeng responded.
Lu Yijian glanced at Wang Zeng dissatisfied, and then said in a nonchalant manner: "If you are feeling sick, it is better to go home and recuperate."
"Lao Lu is concerned, my old bones can still stand it."
Wang Zeng replied in a nonchalant manner.
The two old men loved to choke each other.
In fact, when Lu Yijian was dismissed as prime minister for the first time, Wang Zeng recommended him to be prime minister again.
But before Zhao Jun arrived, the two sides had conflicts because of Lu Yijian's arbitrary and arbitrary nature.
Before Zhao Jun came, although the two sides had reached a certain strategic alliance for a period of time, they soon became opposed again.
The reason is that Zhao Jun's arrival actually contributed to the growth of the prime minister's power.
Both of them have a desire for power, and Zhao Jun cannot control everything, so most of the governance power naturally falls into their hands.
As a result, the two sides faced each other again in order to compete for power.
In fact, this phenomenon is something Zhao Zhen is happy to see. After all, Zhao Zhen does not want everyone under his command to be united. Therefore, there was no middle ground to mediate, which deepened the conflicts between the two parties.
Especially in the past two years when Zhao Jun traveled around the world, the two had many fights.
But now when we got down to business, Zhao Zhen saw that the two seemed to be fighting again, so he quickly interrupted: "Okay, what do you think about what was said in the morning meeting, to transfer Fan Qing back and reduce the food and salary expenditure in the northwest? "
"Your Majesty, I think that the officials still haven't grasped the key point."
Wang Zeng said immediately.
"oh?"
Zhao Zhen wondered: "What's the point."
Wang Zeng said: "All the officials saw was that Yuan Hao was defeated and begging for mercy, and that Fan Zhongyan held the power, but they did not see that Yuan Hao might just be a stopgap measure and was very likely to make a comeback."
"To put it simply, officials will believe what Yuan Hao says. And they only care about Fan Zhongyan's weight, but they ignore that if Yuan Hao deceives us, once we transfer Fan Zhongyan away, and he attacks again, there will be an attack in the northwest. It’s a big deal.”
Lu Yijian also followed up and said: "The Western thieves are cunning and Yuan Hao is repeated, so you must be on guard against them."
"And the Liao Kingdom."
Yan Shu also said: "Thanks to the power of the grenade, Yuan Hao was defeated. He had seen the power of the grenade with his own eyes, so it was impossible not to inform the Liao Kingdom about this matter, so that the Liao Kingdom would be vigilant and preventive against us. Historically Although the Liao Kingdom is not at war with us, it will be difficult to say after this incident."
I have to say that these three people are indeed human beings. In fact, it cannot be said that the officials of the Song Dynasty were all naive idiots, but sometimes they were more cautious about their own people than foreigners. After all, the lessons learned from the Tang Dynasty made them still too worried.
It can only be said that those officials in the court who chose to believe Li Yuanhao instead of Fan Zhongyan were not wrong.
If you believe wrongly about Li Yuanhao, at most the northwest will be defeated, but if you believe wrongly about Fan Zhongyan, then the country will be destroyed when there are hundreds of thousands of troops in the northwest.
But these people present benefited from Zhao Jun and knew that Fan Zhongyan was loyal, so they were able to use it with confidence and boldness. Therefore, the information gap between the two sides caused the current opinions of the civil and military and political institutions of the Manchu Dynasty to differ. difference.
What they see is naturally completely different.
Zhao Zhen felt that what everyone said made sense, and nodded thoughtfully: "Well, indeed, if I were Yuan Hao, I would definitely tell Yelu Zongzhen about the grenade. Yelu Zongzhen would not be stupid enough to possess such a weapon against the Song Dynasty. Without any warning.”
"At that time, the Liao Kingdom is very likely to raise its troops to go south, and the Western thief Yuan Hao will definitely raise his troops to respond. By then, the Song Dynasty will face a two-front war. I believe that Fan Zhongyan cannot be transferred back at this time. At most, he Transferred to Hebei."
Lu Yijian said.
"Well"
After thinking about it, Zhao Zhen agreed: "The eldest grandson is still in the northwest now. He went to Zhazi a few days ago. He should be back at the end of this year or next year. Let's ask the eldest grandson for his opinion then."
"yes."
Everyone was not surprised when they heard that Zhao Zhen was only thinking about Zhao Jun. After all, no matter how much knowledge the laptop contained, how could it compare to Zhao Jun's brain?
Next, everyone launched a series of strategic arrangements regarding Li Yuanhao's intention to surrender.
First, they did not believe that Li Yuanhao was sincere in his submission and would definitely unite with the Liao Kingdom to make a comeback, so they still wanted to keep Fan Zhongyan in the northwest and wait for the situation in the Liao Kingdom to see whether to transfer him to Hebei to guard against the Liao Kingdom.
Second, there must still be a certain response to Yuan Hao's letter. Even if he knew that the other party might be stalling for time and making excuses, was Song Dynasty not making adequate preparations?
Third, Hebei must also step up its defenses. They have deployed more than 200,000 troops in Hebei. They may need to transport troops and horses there and select suitable generals and officials. They must not be manipulated by the Liao Kingdom. A sudden attack came to the hinterland of the Song Dynasty.
After the matter was almost discussed, Zhao Zhen was also very satisfied with the recent situation between the government and the opposition. After the restructuring, many things and work efficiency have become much faster, especially Bianliang's economic situation is getting better and better.
Due to the state-owned reform, private enterprises have flourished, which has made Bianliang's business atmosphere stronger. The northwest side has also won the war, and everything is developing in a good direction.
Now we just wait for the Great Sun to come back and sort out the domestic difficulties, so that the Great Song Dynasty can get rid of poverty and weakness and soar to the sky.
After the meeting was over, the Constitutional Yuan followed his instructions.
Zhao Zhen opened his laptop and started his day's work on government affairs.
By the afternoon, when the government affairs were almost done and everything had been recorded into the computer, he suddenly remembered that he had not had any entertainment for many days.
Last time I wanted to play games or watch a movie, but was interrupted by Lu Yijian and the others.
Later, due to the busy state affairs and the rain in Bianliang a few days ago, the power in the solar charging panel was not enough, so Zhao Zhen reduced the frequency of using his laptop and stopped engaging in entertainment.
Want some today?
Thinking of this, Zhao Zhen opened the D drive and hesitated between the game folder and the entertainment folder.
But this hesitation only lasted a few seconds.
never mind.
Playing a game takes too long, and it's easy to get addicted to playing it all the time. It's better to finish watching the movie you didn't watch last time.
Zhao Zhen thought.
So he clicked on the entertainment folder.
But this time, Zhao Zhen was stunned for a moment.
Because he found that there was an additional secondary folder in the original entertainment folder.
In the past, there were only three entertainment folders: music, movies, and music, but now, there is one more.
"Human and Nature?"
Zhao Zhen scratched his head and double-clicked.
Let me know what this is.
(End of chapter)
