Song Gexing

Chapter 119 Di Qing Comes
"What's going on! Haven't you been monitoring me all the time? How come you're still missing?"

Wang Zhongzheng was furious and glared angrily at the marriage officer who was kneeling on the ground. He had repeatedly warned him that he must catch the main culprit and vent his anger on Zhao Fang.

But the other party disappeared mysteriously, and the people in the Imperial City Division had no idea how he disappeared. When questioned, they hesitated and couldn't explain why.

"Check! Let me check again and notify the border states and counties to check the entry of outsiders."

After Wang Zhongzheng roared angrily, he went to plead guilty to Zhao Fang. After hearing the news, Zhao Fang pondered and said: "Forget it, it's just one person. It's not worth spending too much energy. Besides, if the states and counties conduct large-scale searches, they will disturb the people. Let them pay attention. It’s just a matter of foreign population, so there’s no need to make a big show of it.”

Wang Zhongzheng reluctantly agreed, understanding that what he said made sense. In a place where the mountains are high and the emperor is far away, if there is a large-scale search without supervision, it is very easy for people to be oppressed.

It’s not that people can slander these people for traveling in cars and boats, and that they should be killed even if they are innocent. The main reason is that human nature cannot stand the test.

In an era when the central government's majesty has not been lost and the law is strict, bullying of ordinary people still happens from time to time, not to mention if you give him the opportunity to use his power.

"The rest of the Gao family will be escorted back. The Imperial City Division will review the case first and then hand it over to Dali Temple for review. Don't let the people from the Punishment Department get the better of you."

After letting go of that incident, Zhao Fang told Wang Zhongzheng that the matter had already alarmed the local area, but he did not want the Ministry of Punishment to interfere. Now he felt a little trapped in a cocoon, that is, the power of the Sixth Ministry was getting bigger and bigger.

Since the New Deal was carried out smoothly, the rights of the Ministry of Household Affairs were first expanded, then the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Rites, and after the reorganization of the army, the rights of the Ministry of War were expanded.

This made the remaining criminal and civil servants unwilling to give in, and began to reach out everywhere to fight for rights.

He wanted to completely reform official positions and end the three-province system that had long existed in name only, but the conditions were not mature.

To say that the most complete ancient system should be the Ming Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty generally inherited the system of the Ming Dynasty, and added a Manchu system to forcibly centralize power in the emperor. It was no better than the Ming Dynasty.

The six ministries plus the cabinet system, and the change of emphasizing civility over military affairs, should be the best in this era.

As for the systems of later generations, Zhao Fang has never felt that they are better than those of ancient times. The Western system is not suitable for the East at all. Different cultures have different foundations. Only fools think that it is democracy and freedom.

I didn’t see any of the people in the parliament who came from ordinary people. They were all people with vested interests who got to sit in that position.

Therefore, the so-called democracy and freedom are actually just a joke, something played by fools.

If you are not a capitalist, or a dog raised by capital, you will not be able to get into the system at all. It is not as good as the ancient Chinese system. At least the imperial examination does allow the grassroots to counterattack. Although it is not much, it is better than no way.

The biggest difference between the imperial examination and the popularization of culture in later generations is that you can become an official if you pass the imperial examination, but you can't become an official after graduating with a doctoral degree in later generations. This is a fundamental difference.

Besides, Westerners do not have the concept of a common master. Each country is actually a vassal state in ancient China, but there is no common supreme being that everyone respects, only gods.

Using that method to govern the East is pure trouble. It’s not like the Beiyang era has not been tried before. All the systems in the world have been tried in turn on the land of China, and none of them have been successful.

Zhao Fang knew that the Ming Dynasty was the most suitable, but he himself was the prince, and the future emperor would naturally not want the emperor to be ignored like the Ming Dynasty.

This is where he has been struggling. If he uses the supreme centralization of monarchy like the Manchu Qing Dynasty to weaken the power of the cabinet, he is also worried that imprisoning thoughts will cause the regression of the entire national culture.

But the Ming Dynasty inherited the ideological freedom of the Song Dynasty. Although the culture flourished, the imperial power was too restricted.

As for the strict management during the Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di periods, it could only be used during the founding period of the country. People in the world were uneasy. Once the dynasty entered a stable state, it would be inappropriate.

After the founding of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin still kept his word, but there was no such loose policy as now. "Xiao Zhengzi, you go ahead. Do the things in front of you first, and then talk about the things in the future."

Zhao Fang decided to ignore it for the time being. After letting Wang Zhongzheng leave, he wandered to the backyard.

He stayed here for several days. What was surprising was that he was so silent. He did not appear until half a month later when Di Qing led the selected army to Bianjing to face the Holy Spirit.

"These are all archers? It seems that the Western Army is truly powerful."

After personally going to the military camp outside the city to inspect a thousand archers, Zhao Fang praised with satisfaction.

The so-called archers are a unique organization of the Western Army. They do not belong to the Forbidden Army, but are an organization of the Northwest Civilian Army and the Fan Army.

The Zhong family, Zhe family, etc. are called generals, not only because they are generals in their time, but also because they raise their own troops, so it is more appropriate to call them soldiers.

Especially the Zhe family, which was also a Dangxiang member. Like Li Yuanhao's ancestors, their ancestors were canonized by the Tang Dynasty in the northwest.

Unlike the Li family, the Zhe family has always supported the Central Plains dynasty and supported whoever seized power in the Central Plains.

Therefore, the Zhe family has its own army, which is actually the original tribe. These people go to the battlefield after the death of their father and their sons, and accept the canonization of the Central Plains Dynasty. To them, defending the country is actually protecting the family.

Since they are nomadic people, they are good at riding and shooting, so archers are the elite of their army.

The Song Dynasty followed their name and set up a team of archers among the Fan army and civilian army recruited in the northwest.

The Fan army is a naturalized ethnic group from the northwest. Most of them are Tubo people, but there are also Dangxiang people and various ethnic groups in the Western Regions. Their combat effectiveness is no worse than that of the Forbidden Army.

The Western Army of the Northern Song Dynasty has always had a strong combat effectiveness, which is related to their year-round campaigns. Of course, the main force is still the Forbidden Army stationed in the northwest.

Even after the Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed and the Western Army was severely damaged, the Jin Kingdom continued to suffer losses when attacking the northwest, and even decided to retreat to Shanxi at one point.

If it weren't for Zhang Jun's improper command in the northwest, Jin Guo would really stop outside Shaanxi.

The famous Jin Wushu suffered a big loss at the hands of the Western Army general Wu Jie. Monk Yuan was almost killed, and even Nianhan's nephew was captured alive.

Brothers Wu Jie, Wu Lin and their sons guarded Bashu for 80 years in the Southern Song Dynasty. They defeated the invading Jin army many times. Both brothers were crowned kings. Their achievements in fighting against the Jin were actually not inferior to those of Grandpa Yue.

Moreover, Han Shizhong also came from the Western Army, and two of Zhongxing's four generals came from the Western Army, and the other one was the controversial Liu Guangshi.

"What is Di Qing's opinion on the Southwest War? Can you tell me about it for my reference?"

Zhao Fang was very happy to see Di Qing. After reviewing the army, he stopped him from entering the tent, spread out the map, and asked someone to bring out the sand table for comparison.

The sand table was not invented by later generations. As early as the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty, General Fubo Ma Yuan used rice to shape the northwest terrain for Liu Xiu to see.

Of course, the sand table at that time was only an approximation, but it was easy to understand at a glance and was naturally popularized. Although it was still not as accurate as later generations, it was actually enough for ancient wars.

(End of this chapter)