Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 614
Before dawn, hundreds of officials waiting in the square were discussing in whispers that the court time had passed, but the gate of Ziwei Hall had not been opened, which made everyone feel puzzled.

At this time, an official on duty in the palace walked quickly to the steps and said loudly: "The official's family said that I feel a little sick today, and the court meeting will be cancelled. Please go back to the official room."

It turned out that the official family was sick, and everyone surrounded Fu Bi and asked, "Mr. Fu, is there anything wrong with the official family?"

Fu Bi chuckled, "I guess the officials were too excited. They didn't sleep all night last night, so they got sick. Don't worry everyone."

Hearing that the officials were so excited that they stayed up all night, they all asked in one go, "Master, is there any good news?"

"I only know a thing or two. Last night, Mr. Fan's military report arrived. I heard that the Song army counterattacked. General Yang Wenguang led the army to capture Yizhou."

Yizhou is all mountainous, and there is only one big city in Yixian County. The capture of Yixian by the Song army is equivalent to capturing Yizhou.

Hearing this news, the officials in the square couldn't help cheering. At this time, the official on duty stepped forward and said to Fu Bi: "The officials invite Fu Xianggong and several other Xianggongs to Wenqing Hall!"

Fu Bi nodded, and smiled at the crowd: "I guess the news will be published in the "Letter" at noon, please wait patiently."

Fu Bi sent someone to greet several Xiangguo, and he walked quickly to Wenqing Hall.

Not long after, four ministers, Wen Yanbo, Wang Anshi, Sima Guang, and Wu Chong, all rushed to the Wenqing Palace. The Wenqing Palace is where the emperor Zhao Xu rested and studied. Today, he is sick, so he can only meet a few ministers in the Wenqing Palace.

The five sat for a while, only to hear the guard shout: "Your Majesty is here!"

The five stood up quickly, and several eunuchs entered the palace door first, followed by Zhao Xu who hurried in. He really looked like he was sick, and his spirit was not very good.

"See Your Majesty!"

Zhao Xu waved his hand, "Everyone, please sit down!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Everyone sat down.

Zhao Xu sat down in his seat, took another sip of hot tea, and said with a wry smile, "I was so excited after reading Mr. Fan's military report last night, but I accidentally caught cold, so I can't attend today's court meeting."

Fu Bi laughed and said, "I have also heard some news. It seems that General Yang Wenguang led the army to capture Yi County?"

"This is just one piece of good news, and two more exciting ones."

Zhao Xu couldn't bear the joy on his brows, and was eager to share the latest battle report with everyone, "After paying a heavy price of 2 people, the West Route Army of the Liao Army abandoned their horses and fled back to Weizhou across the mountains. The second is that the Eastern Route Army of the Liao Army has lost troops and generals, and has been besieged in the south of Baigou. The two Liao armies have lost [-]% of their strength, and their morale is extremely low."

Zhao Xu suddenly remembered something, and quickly took out Fan Ning's battle report and handed it over to everyone. Everyone quickly read it, and they were all overjoyed. Fu Bi praised: "Mr. With the disadvantages of the Liao army, this battle will play an inestimable role in invigorating the Song Dynasty."

Wen Yanbo sighed slightly: "Before I was opposed to his strong walls and clearing the wilderness, but now it seems necessary. It is the resolute implementation of the strong walls and clearing the wilderness that makes the Liao army isolated and hard to find. Without siege weapons, Without the tools to cross the river, the Liao army now has only two options: surrender or starve to death."

Wang Anshi pondered for a while and said: "In this, I think we need to pay attention to two points. First, the Liao Kingdom will definitely come to rescue. Whether we can withstand the rescue of the Liao Kingdom depends on how Fan Xianggong deploys his troops. Second, if the Liao Kingdom cannot Crossing the river, they will definitely attack Yi County in a large scale, in order to exchange the Song Army in Yi County for the Liao Army in Hebei, especially the second point, we must let Mr. Fan fully support Yi County, and we must not be careless."

Zhao Xu nodded, "Wang Xianggong is right. I have sent an order to Hejian Mansion to let Fan Xianggong pay attention to this. It is a good thing to capture Yi County, but it is more important to keep it. I also think that [-] troops are too few. , I hope that Fan Xianggong will increase his troops in Yi County."

Zhao Xu paused for a while and smiled again: "Of course, I'm just a suggestion. Whether or not to increase the number of troops is up to Mr. Fan to decide on his own."

Fu Bi returned the battle report to Zhao Xu, and asked, "Your Majesty summoned us, is there anything to discuss?"

"Exactly! I have two things I want to discuss with you. The first is to amend the law of the militia. Fan Xianggong proposed that all young and strong men must join the militia. Those who refuse to join must pay exemption money. This bill will be amended and implemented. Where are we now?"

Wang Anshi, who was in charge of this matter, stood up and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the revised bill has been formulated and is now seeking opinions from the court to make it as perfect as possible. It will be submitted to Zhizheng Hall for discussion in one month at the latest, and then submitted to His Majesty for approval. Then Roll it out to all states, and strive to complete this in the first half of this year."

Zhao Xu nodded, "We must hurry up on this matter and don't delay it. Another matter, regarding the immigration from the Southern Continent, I have slightly revised the plan. Please take a look."

Zhao Xu handed the plan to Fu Bi. Fu Bi looked at the revised plan and found that [-] households were allocated to Ganjiang Island and Moye Island. This made Fu Bi frowned, "Your Majesty, Ganjiang Island and Moye Island are The nature of private islands is the same as that of the small islands in Luzon, and the small islands in Luzon are all developed by recruiting people themselves, why should Ganjiang Island and Moxie Island be treated specially?"

Zhao Xu walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, and said slowly: "I have considered this matter for a long time, and I think what Fan Xianggong said is right. For overseas states, distance and time will gradually alienate them from the central dynasty. Only culture and Only by pedigree can the overseas private islands still identify with the Central Plains dynasty after thousands of years. If we restrict the development of overseas private islands in terms of population, they are likely to introduce foreign races, such as Japan, Sanfoqi, etc. Hundreds of years later, the people living on overseas islands They are all aliens, but the Han has become a minority, so will these overseas islands still recognize that they belong to the Central Plains Dynasty? Isn’t this a dowry for the aliens through hard work?”

Everyone nodded silently, and Fu Bi said a little ashamedly: "Your Majesty is far-sighted and has a long-term vision. It's because I have little knowledge."

Zhao Xu smiled and said: "This is also what I remembered when I saw the militia. Mr. Fan told me something before. Cannibals were found on Ganjiang Island. They are natives who migrated from other islands. He is very worried that the population of Ganjiang Island is too slow to prevent the arrival of the cannibals, he is actually asking for help, this time he has made great achievements in Hebei, I always need to express it!"

Everyone was a little creepy when they heard the word 'cannibal', Fu Bi nodded and said, "This matter will be handed over to the Overseas Economic and Strategy Office, Your Majesty, please rest assured."

Wen Yanbo said on the side: "There is also a steamship. It is said that the response is very good. It only takes five days to go to Luzon Mansion, and only 20 days to go to the Southern Continent. It also has a large carrying capacity and can sail normally in winter. I suggest that Increase the promotion of steamships, and set up a machinery bureau in the imperial court, dedicated to the promotion and development of steam engines."

"This is a good suggestion! Zhizhengtang will come up with a plan as soon as possible."

Everyone discussed for a while, and then they took their leave and left.

However, Wang Anshi stayed. He was not in a good mood. The Green Crop Law and the Baojia Law he implemented on a trial basis for nine months did not go well. This spring, thousands of people from three counties came to sue and blocked Xuande As a result, the magistrates of three counties were dismissed from their posts, and the Qingmiao Law and the Baojia Law were strongly criticized by the court and the opposition.

Even Fan Ning also wrote a memorial from Hebei. He pointed out that a reform that does not have a broad consensus between the government and the public must not be launched hastily. The young crop law and the Baojia law are put on hold for the time being.

Fan Ning's memorial was publicly published in the newspaper and read out at the court assembly, which was widely approved by the government and the public. He did not criticize the Qingmiao Law and the Baojia Law as good or bad, but calmly pointed out the seriousness of introducing reforms without consensus. The consequence is a split between the government and the opposition.

Various newspapers also published articles written by ministers under their real names, pointing out the various disadvantages caused by the Young Crop Law and the Baojia Law after they were piloted in nine counties.

One is that the Baojia Law caused a large number of illegal Baoyamen to appear in the nine-month pilot counties, causing the people to pay [-]% more taxes last year as the operating expenses of the Baoyamen, which aroused strong indignation among the people.

Secondly, the mandatory guarantee clauses of the Green Crop Law made the wealthy rural households sell their land one after another, making them unable to meet the guarantee conditions.

Widespread opposition from the government and the public has shaken even the emperor Zhao Xu. In fact, Wang Anshi also understands that overseas colonization has brought huge wealth to the Song Dynasty, and the rise of large workshops has greatly reduced the interest of the rich and powerful in land. , many reforms have lost their urgency and necessary social foundation.

Fan Ning's idea of ​​improvement was gradually accepted by the upper echelons of the Song Dynasty, which made Wang Anshi feel helpless.

"Redundant officials, redundant soldiers, and redundant expenses", the three redundancy that oppressed the Song Dynasty for nearly a hundred years gradually eased with overseas development, and redundant soldiers were also resolved with the promotion of the militia law.

However, Wang Anshi believes that even if the Baojia Law and the Young Crop Law are temporarily put on hold, he can still make some changes in terms of redundant officials and redundant expenses.

Zhao Xu looked at the report he wrote. The first new reform proposed by Wang Anshi was to restore the system of three provinces, six ministries and nine temples, return the power of the three divisions to the original division, and abolish the long-criticized Beijing official system. Wang Anshi pointed out in the report that the Beijing official The system has led to the monopoly of the number of officials in Beijing by the children of the noble family, and the hopelessness of the children of the poor family. A large number of bright-minded talents have wasted their lives because they have no chance to become a full-time official.

Zhao Xu pondered for a moment and said, "Let me think about this matter carefully!"

Zhao Xu no longer had the impulse he had when he first came to the throne last year. He had already deeply established the intricacies of the bureaucracy of the Song Dynasty, and he knew that the reform of the official system involved the interests of too many people. , In the end, the power should be returned to the real or the empty, and the Beijing official system should be abolished. How can a large number of Jinshi and Tai students be accommodated every year? How can the imperial court have so many seats to accommodate them?

At this moment, Zhao Xu was very eager to recall Fan Ning and ask him for advice.

At noon, all the major newspapers in the capital published Hebei Great Victory on their front pages one after another. The news that the Song army had seized Yizhou immediately aroused huge repercussions in the capital. The crackling of firecrackers could be heard everywhere in the capital. The teahouse was full, and everyone was talking about the battle in Hebei. For the first time in the century of Song Dynasty, everyone felt that they were so close to regaining Youzhou.

(End of this chapter)