Xuan Zhen was very old, but he became an official late. Among Shi Miyuan's close associates, his status was not as good as that of the so-called "Four Woods" who successively served in the Privy Council. In the past two years, he has often traveled for Shi Miyuan's children and nephews, which means he has begun to think about his own family's death. It is natural to want to use this trip to raise some money.
But the reason why he does this is not just for the money.
Xuan Zhen was called "the heart" of Xianggong Shi because he was a student of the imperial family during the Jiatai period. At that time, he had a close friendship with Wei Liaoweng, a great Neo-Confucian scholar who was then the Imperial Academy Supervisor and Guozizheng, and the famous literati Liu Yao. .
Liu Yao, a scholar of Neo-Confucianism, suggested that Shi Miyuan should believe in Neo-Confucianism and hire famous Neo-Confucian scholars to beautify his image. In the third year of Kaixi's reign, Shi Miyuan united with his ministers and executed Han Kanwei for harming the country. He then recruited sages in the name of the imperial court, lifted the academic ban, and strived for preferential treatment as a scholar of Neo-Confucianism. In this process, Xuan Zhen played a key role.
At the same time, he rarely used Shi Miyuan's prestige to seek benefits in various positions. In Shi Miyuan's small circle, he was regarded as a person with a good official reputation. He tried his best to go to the north because he really hoped to finalize cooperation with Guo Ning, so as to stabilize the situation of the Song Dynasty abroad, and then stabilize the increasingly chaotic political situation of the Song Dynasty.
In the eyes of the northern Jin people, the weakness of the Song Dynasty was reflected in the fact that they would destroy the Great Wall every now and then and behead and demote the hardliners and militants in their court one by one. If a man were to go toe-to-toe with someone while slowly chopping off his own fingers with a dagger, and if he persisted for decades, the blood and courage of the southerners would have been castrated by themselves.
In fact, many things have complicated backgrounds, and we cannot simply look down upon them as weak. In Xuan Zhen's view, the key to the Song Dynasty's repeated losses in foreign wars and wars since its southern crossing was not external, but internal. Many things that outsiders thought were the result of careful consideration by the Song Dynasty court were actually just the aftermath of internal battles within the court.
The ancestral family law since the founding of the Song Dynasty has been to give priority to scholar-bureaucrats. The game between scholar-bureaucrats and emperors almost never stopped.
Not to mention the distant ones, for example, Han Wanwei, who took charge of the Northern Expedition during the Kaiju Year, was the emperor Jin Xi who was also a relative. Han Wanwei successively ascended the military ranks to the prime minister, and each step represented the expansion of imperial power.
Therefore, at the beginning of Han Wanwei's Northern Expedition, some scholar-bureaucrats predicted: "In the Northern Expedition, children worry that it will fail; if they send a commander in debt, the slaves will know that he is not talented." They had been waiting for the Northern Expedition to fail for a long time, and they even hoped for the failure of the Northern Expedition in their hearts.
As a result, the Northern Expedition had not yet completely failed. The scholars were already eager to kill Prime Minister Han and send a letter to the Northern Kingdom. Their actions were so swift that even the Jurchens, who were carrying out palace coups every three days, were caught off guard and screamed in sincerity.
Is this in line with Song You's family tradition of being a scholar-bureaucrat? Of course it does.
Because Han Wanwei was not a scholar-official at all, he was a military minister, a relative, a powerful person, and a member of the emperor! Which of the things he did did not follow the emperor's will?
In the past few years when he was in power, the emperor was sometimes troubled by Chenbi or Gun, and a series of chaotic orders came from the imperial palace, completely bypassing the bureaucracy. However, the prime minister actually obeyed without any violation, rushing to deal with one after another... Think everyone is stupid, can't you see it?
If Han Wanwei doesn't die quickly, many things will be discussed on the table, and the responsibility will be implicated on the emperor! The Zhao Guan family of the current dynasty will not be able to come to power!
After all, scholar-bureaucrats want to save face and not go too far.
Since the death of Prime Minister Han, the imperial power has shrunk, and this matter is over.
However, the screen beside the emperor, which was originally used to record important events, was now empty. In the end, only two items were left: drink less alcohol and eat less cold food. It was still being held up by the small yellow door for outsiders to see all day long.
Whether the emperor used this to warn himself, or to beg others not to be cruel in secret, who knows?
The imperial power was weak and the scholar-bureaucrats were powerful, so the Prime Minister was in power.
As the son of the prime minister, Shi Miyuan was a scholar-bureaucrat with a good background, and he had indeed outstanding means. It was his duty to take on the task of restraining the imperial power, and he was worthy of the important task. Therefore, he became the powerful and independent prime minister, and his power far exceeded that of Han Wanwei, and was even similar to that of Qin Zhongxian back then.
But in fact, Shi Xianggong is not a person who can cover the sky with one hand by virtue of his own strength.
Guo Ning, the Duke of Zhou in the north, wrested power from the battlefield by fighting again and again. But those who dared to oppose him were all killed by him.
However, historical records are limited to the laws of the ancestors and cannot easily kill people, especially scholar-bureaucrats. He has this situation of covering the sky with one hand because countless scholar-officials and bureaucrats need one person to hold up the front and cover the sky. He, an important minister, was nothing more than a parasol held out by the scholar-bureaucrats.
Of course, Shi Xiang was unwilling to face this situation. Since he was at the center of political operations, he had to organize his own power group and establish a political force loyal to him.
To this end, he openly summoned the sages, but in fact he single-handedly merged the powers of the provincial prosecutors under the Zhongshu Menxia and the left and right Lang officials in the Shangshu Province. He relied on Xue Ji, Hu Ju and other figures who were good at practice and were ridiculed as swordsmen and pen officials to suppress Scholars and scholars in the court.
In other words, Shi Xianggong's majesty lies in the fact that he holds down the emperor with one hand and the scholar-bureaucrats with the other. It's okay to say he's majestic, but it's also okay to say he's weak.
Especially on the side of the Qingliu scholar-bureaucrats, they are all good at shouting loudly and saying some correct but useless slogans, which often makes Shi Xiang cope with difficulties.
In the past few years, they have been keeping an eye on Shi Xiang. On the one hand, they started a war with Dajin to wash away the national humiliation, and on the other hand, they rectified the imperial finances and ensured that Huizi would not depreciate in value.
What a pity, these two items are in conflict with each other, it’s a shame they had the nerve to bring it up!
If we want to go to war with Dajin, we must organize our army and prepare a huge amount of food and supplies. In order to raise these grains and supplies, the imperial court would either increase taxes and increase taxes, or it would resort to indiscriminate tactics. What else could be done?
On the other hand, to ensure that Hui Zi does not depreciate in value, the court's expenses must be reduced. Where did the court's expenses go? Either to support these scholar-bureaucrats or to raise soldiers. If you reduce the number of scholar-bureaucrats, it will definitely not work, but if you reduce the number of raising soldiers... How can we go to the Northern Expedition if we can't raise soldiers?
Smart people understand the pros and cons of this. But there were too many smart people in the Song Dynasty. Just because these two issues couldn't be solved at all, they kept holding on to these two issues all day long and insisted on solving them by Mr. Shi.
Especially in the past two years, due to the weakening of Daijin, countless ignorant fools have been shouting to take advantage of the situation to send troops to the Northern Expedition. Especially that Zhen Dexiu also gave a long speech and wrote nonsense about the upper, middle and lower strategies.
Simply ridiculous!
How long has it been since then to completely forget how powerful Daikin’s iron pagoda and kidnapping horse are?
The Jin Kingdom to the west gathered the elite troops deployed on the northwest border during the great Jin Dynasty, and established thirteen captains under the Privy Council. Each captain was equipped with ten thousand victorious soldiers, and they practiced day and night in Kaifeng Mansion. Prime Minister Shi once sent people across the border to investigate, and the spies reported that the thirteen captains were strong, vigorous, and extremely skilled. The infantry carried six or seven tons of weapons and food, and traveled two hundred miles a day and night.
Who can resist the enemy with such troops?
The Kingdom of Jin to the east is even more vicious. The Ding Navy Admirals from Guo Ning on down are all rebellious bandits at heart, and they have been fighting every day since they started their careers. They had fought against the Jurchen armies, they had fought against the Khitan armies; they had also fought against the Mongols who once swept across Daijin, massacring millions of soldiers and civilians, and forcing Daikin to sacrifice its princess for peace.
Now that they are in the middle of the capital, and they are not afraid of anything, who can touch such soldiers and horses?
The government and the public were fierce, and they said they would fight every day, but the ruling prime minister knew that, and Xuan Zhen also knew that with the power of the Song Dynasty, they would never be able to fight. All because of the failure of the imperial court to govern, the battlefield was left defenseless.
Once the two countries go to war, hundreds of thousands of people fighting will inevitably be killed or injured, and defeat will inevitably occur. With the current situation in the court, once there is a military setback, the scholar-bureaucrats in the court will jump up and attack in groups, and even use coup methods. Overturning Shi Xiang in one breath.
The new people who came to power to replace the Prime Minister may rely on imperial power, or they may closely follow the scholar-bureaucrats, but what they can do in specific military and political affairs is nothing more than the same policies that have been used countless times since the southern crossing, without any new ideas at all.
In the end, the borders of the Song and Jin countries may not have changed much. At most, a few poems about the hasty trip north and the war in Yangzhou will remain.
Countless soldiers who died in the war died in vain. Their blood was shed in vain, and their families cried day and night. After all, the imperial court's system still existed, and in order to compensate them, another period of huizi had to be issued.
Of course, Prime Minister Shi had made both preparations for war or peace with Dajin. That was why Li Jue and Ying Chunzhi took action in Huainan, and Shi Kuanzhi came forward with the intention of training the new army.
But anyone with a little political wisdom and an overall perspective will understand that the best way is to maintain peace.
Moreover, the powerful ministers of the Jin Dynasty and the Song Dynasty need to join hands to ensure peace for a considerable period of time. It doesn’t matter if it’s ten years, five years, or even two or three years.
Some people may find it ridiculous, thinking that a person with the deepest heart of a powerful leader can only see two or three years into the future, which is short-sighted.
When Xuan Zhen was not an official in his early years, he also felt that there were many idiots in history books who had no foresight. But after working under the Prime Minister's family, he realized how difficult it was to be at the helm of a big country, and how complicated and changeable the future was caused by the disintegration of Dajin. Being able to see and take one step is already extremely lucky. It's like walking on thin ice in an abyss!
From this point of view, a free and happy young man like Jia Sidao is really enviable! If I achieve my goal on this trip, this young man will also have great achievements and a bright future!
Xuan Zhen cheered up and chatted cordially with Jia Sidao.
Suddenly something occurred to him, and he quickly lowered his voice and asked: "My dear nephew, there is something I don't know whether to ask..."
"Shibo, you are too polite. If you have anything to say, just ask!"
"I have been allowed by the Prime Minister to participate in this Shanghai business. This ship is actually mine now."
"oh?"
"But, ahem... Nephew, you should know that apart from dozens of hectares of thin farmland, my family has no real estate. So for this ship, I asked the ship keeper from Qingyuan Mansion to guarantee it, including the ship and its sailors. Rented from a large merchant."
"This..." Jia Sidao slapped his thigh and said repeatedly: "Shibo, you want to rent a boat, why don't you ask me? I went to Qingyuan Mansion a few days ago, and I have been on the sea many times. If you want a boat, I Can you help raise funds? How about this, don't want this broken ship, go to Qingyuan Mansion, and I will find a better one for you!"
You're such a talkative boy, you can just do things for Prime Minister Shi. I can't trust you to hand over the money that I have accumulated through my own life. What if you behave like a dandy in Lin'an City and cause trouble and lose all your money? Will I be like Jia Jichuan, bleeding from both orifices at every turn?
Xuan Zhen secretly slandered, with a smile on his face: "I have signed the contract with the customer, so there is no need to go back on it. My dear nephew, all you have to do is help me find out whether this maritime merchant is reliable."
With that said, Xuan Zhen found the contract from the cage.
Jia Sidao took the contract and turned over the pages that recorded the identities of the seafarers such as Gangshou and Shitou. He then turned over the pages that recorded the equipment of the ship. At the end, there were the monograms of Xuanzhen and the shipowner.
The shipowner's monogram looked familiar to Jia Sidao. It was clearly the four characters "Mingzhou Zhangkai".
"This Zhang Kai Zhang Zihe is a famous figure in Qingyuan Mansion, and he has the official status of a general official..." Xuan Zhen explained a few words, looked at Jia Sidao's expression, and asked: "This Sir, have you heard of it? Are his sailors and his ship reliable?"
"Reliable." Jia Sidao couldn't help but cursed: "Fucking reliable."
