The legend of the king of crossing

Chapter 181 The Heart of Anti-corruption

The Song Dynasty in history reached the pinnacle of feudal society in terms of politics, economy and military culture.However, over the past 300 years, the Song Dynasty has been repeatedly invaded by foreigners. From the confrontation between the Liao and Song Dynasties in the early days, to the Jin Dynasty's destruction of the Northern Song Dynasty in the middle period, and to the unification of the Yuan Dynasty later, it has hardly stopped. Many people attribute this reason to the fact that the Song Dynasty emphasized literature over culture Wu, resulting in weak military strength.It is undeniable that emphasizing literature over military affairs was one of the reasons why the Song Dynasty was invincible in foreign wars for a long time, but the military strength of the Song Dynasty was not as vulnerable as later generations imagined.The root of the Song Dynasty's repeated defeats in foreign wars lay in the thinking of the Song Dynasty emperors, especially the thinking of the two emperors in the early days of the founding of the country.

Song Taizong once said, "If a country has no external worries, there must be internal troubles. External worries are nothing more than side affairs, and all can be prevented; but treacherous evil has no shape. If it is an internal trouble, it is deeply fearful. The emperor always has to be cautious. "

From this sentence, it can be seen that Emperor Taizong's thoughts are very clear. External worries are only trivial things that can be defended against, and internal problems are the big problems.But it was this so-called preventable little thing that eventually led to the destruction of the Song Dynasty.

The founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, Song Taizu, was most worried about the addition of yellow robes to his generals after the Chenqiao mutiny. Therefore, Emperor Taizu gradually lifted the power of a group of generals who held heavy troops. The ancestor enlightened, "Life is too short, and the white horse is too short. It is better to accumulate gold and treasures, buy good land and beautiful houses, and sing and dance for the rest of your life."

Even if these generals were at home, they were worried about the emperor's suspicion. Although they were born in the army, they were quite politically sensitive. They understood the emperor's intentions accurately. "In the court, one after another became mediocre, self-willed and depraved, and became corrupt officials who did nothing. At first, everyone just pretended, but later they found that the more greedy and self-deprecating they were, the more relieved the emperor was. These generals became out of control, and the inferiority of human beings was revealed, and they gradually became accustomed to corruption. Even the founding generals Shi Shouxin and Wang Quanbin, who had outstanding military achievements, also changed from "benevolent generals" to corrupt officials who did all kinds of evil.But Emperor Taizu was very happy in his heart. He thought that once these officials were greedy for money, they would not plot against the Zhao family, so they turned a blind eye to it. So from the beginning of the Song Dynasty, a trend of corruption was formed. .

To put it simply, Emperor Taizu's idea of ​​governing the country was "exchanging corruption for military power". event.However, there are advantages and disadvantages in the affairs of the world. Looking at it from another perspective, the thinking of Emperor Taizu is undoubtedly a slow suicide, so that China's development has since become a long downward line, which lasts for nearly a thousand years. This price It's just too big.

Most of the later emperors of the Song Dynasty adhered to this kind of thinking.This made the border wars in the Song Dynasty continuous and exhausted, and even if there were occasional generals who turned the tide, they would not end well.With the rise of other surrounding countries, the territory of the Song Dynasty became smaller and smaller. In the late Southern Song Dynasty, it could only rely on the natural danger of the Yangtze River to settle down.

"Oh!" I read the materials left by the late emperor again in the imperial study, and I couldn't help feeling a little bit emotional.These records and documents left by the first emperor are all things not handed down by the royal family, and their credibility should be very high, which is far from comparable to that of historians who wrote history according to order.

History is a mirror. For future generations, yes or no is not important. The key is that future generations must draw experience from it and learn lessons, so as to avoid the mistakes of the past.And I can not only see the past, but also know the future, so I am more aware of the philosophy that history tells the future.

"Officials, it's late, and you have to go to court tomorrow, so go to bed early." Seeing that I was feeling a little depressed, Quan Jiu carefully persuaded me.

"Well, Jiu'er, I'm going to rest now."

I lay on the bed and thought about the Ombudsman for a while before falling asleep in a daze.

At the court meeting the next day, I focused on listening to Yinzhuang Ruan Dengbing's report. At the end, Ye Mengding, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, came out and said: "Your Majesty, Chen Wenlong has returned to Beijing and is waiting outside the gate."

I calculated the time, and it was time to come back, so I turned to Xiao Qi and said, "Xiao Qi, let Chen Wenlong go to the apse to discuss matters after the meeting, and also, ask Ruan Dengbing to participate together."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Xiao Qi replied in a low voice.

"Retreat."

I sat at the head of the conference table in the apse, and watched these important court officials walk in one by one according to their grades. Jia Sidao walked in the first place, and Chen Wenlong was the last to enter the room.

"All sit down."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"I convened a meeting here today, and there are two main things to announce. Before the announcement, I will talk about the reasons. These two things are related to the corruption of officials in our dynasty. Throughout the dynasties, officials The matter of fraud and corruption has never been completely resolved. You all know that at present, our treasury is in short supply and we cannot make ends meet. An important reason for the state treasury's tightness. At the previous court meeting, I said that we should increase income and reduce expenditure, but if the corruption of officials is not controlled, the wealth that everyone has worked so hard to accumulate for the state treasury will be easily lost. Moreover, corruption will also cause a series of The adverse reaction caused great complaints from the people and increased social instability. So this time I have made up my mind to solve this problem."

I looked at the officials who were silent and said coldly: "My dear friends, first of all, think about how your salary is compared to the previous dynasty? Except for Lu Xiufu, Chen Wenlong and others who have just become officials, among you Most of the families are well-off, don’t you? You know it, and I know it too. Where does most of the income come from? I also understand it. However, I will not pursue the source of your family wealth. Here, I will first Give you all a reassurance, let the past pass. However, I no longer hope that the same thing will happen in the future. All my lovers are the pillars of my dynasty, so today's meeting is to discuss with you How to fight corruption and promote integrity."

As a traveler, I am particularly uncomfortable with officials using power for personal gain.In later generations, the meal cost of many officials is equivalent to the expenses of a poor family for a year or even a few years.I once heard a story about a businessman who went to Beijing to bribe relevant officials in order to get a bridge project. He carried two credit cards with a limit of 25. It would be enough, but I didn’t expect to owe tens of thousands to the hotel after maxing out both cards at the same time after a meal, so I could only hide in the toilet and call secretly, calling a local friend to bring money to pay the bill.Of course, there will be returns if you pay, and the businessman later got the project.However, businessmen always put profit first, and the extra money they spend will naturally be earned out of it, so they cut corners and shoddy, which eventually turned into a disaster.

As a result of the transaction of money and power, someone will always pay the bill, and the one who pays the bill is the government in the end, but the beneficiaries are all individuals.

I continued: "Dear dears, please share your views. Today I am discussing with you, and you can raise different opinions. This matter is a major issue related to the stability of our dynasty. I hope that I can discuss with you. Ai Qing reached a consensus."

Ye Mengding saw that everyone was silent, so he took the lead and said: "Your Majesty, I think this is feasible and must be done, otherwise it is very likely that the gap between the rich and the poor in our dynasty will grow wider and cause social turmoil. I remember that my court During the Taizong period, the Wang Xiaobo riots in central Sichuan were caused by the local county magistrate Qi Yuanzhen's embezzlement of the relief food allocated by the court, which caused the people to live in dire straits, and was instigated by Wang Xiaobo and other people with ulterior motives. Qi Yuanzhen's embezzlement of food money is far less than the cost of the government's suppression of the riots, and it is completely worth the candle."

Lu Xiufu, Chen Wenlong and others had low official positions. Although they had already supported it in their hearts, they were not good at speaking first. Seeing Ye Mengding take the lead in making a gesture, they agreed together: "The ministers also agree with Lord Ye."

Immediately afterwards, Jiang Wanli, Zhao Kui, Ma Tingluan and others expressed their support for my anti-corruption proposal.

All the people who had finished expressing their views squinted at the same time, Qi Qi looked at Jia Sidao, while Liao Yingzhong, Weng Yinglong and others who did not express their views also looked at Jia Sidao.

I also looked at Jia Sic with a smile and said, "Master, what do you think?"