King of Song

Chapter 617
In April of the sixth year of Xining, the Song Dynasty was festive on the surface.

First, Zhao Zhao, the king of Qin, returned to the royal family, and then the barbarians from the Southwest Longfan came to pay tribute, and then the Liao Kingdom sent Yeluning and others to celebrate the Tongtian Festival.In a few days, Yang Gui of Bozhou sent his son Guangzhen to pay tribute.

On the surface, it was all a happy event, but for Zhao Zhao, the overjoyed and face-saving Zhao Xu would have been happy in his heart.It is a very honorable thing for an emperor to surrender from the four barbarians and come to pay tribute.

But fortunately, having these tributes somewhat soothed Zhao Xu's battered heart and helped him regain some face.Recently, King Qin's prestige was too high, even surpassing himself as the emperor.

After much deliberation, Zhao Xu deliberately made the tribute matter very grand.The grand celebration is only one aspect, there are generous rewards for all vassals, it looks like the Song Dynasty is prosperous and powerful, and the emperor himself has more face.I hope to use this to enhance my emperor's prestige, overshadowing Qin Wang Zhao Zhao.

The progress was not bad, Zhao Xu was somewhat intoxicated, and his soaring vanity was comforted to some extent.As for whether there is an element of self-deception, even he himself may not be clear.

It's just that before Zhao Xu was happy for a few days, the third envoy came to the door.

"Your Majesty, due to floods and droughts in the past two years, the people suffered from poor harvests, and the court's taxes were not sufficient... The Yellow River dams were built and the canals were dredged. There were wars in the northwest and southwest, and the military expenditure was huge..."

Hearing the inexplicable complaints from the third envoy, Zhao Xu couldn't help frowning, and asked, "What exactly do you want to say?"

"Your Majesty, this year's autumn grains have not yet arrived, and it is the time when they are in short supply." The third envoy said, "Recently, there have been a lot of grand ceremonies in the imperial court. When the King of Qin went to visit the Mausoleum of Yong'an, His Majesty sent 3000 people to accompany him. There are many related etiquette arrangements... ...The southwestern vassal tribute, His Majesty's rewards are much more than in previous years...Now...the national treasury is gradually making ends meet. In the future, especially before the autumn harvest, the court may need to be more frugal..."

In a word, the third envoy came to cry for poverty!
At the same time, he tactfully accused or advised him not to be extravagant and wasteful, specifically targeting his many recent celebrations.

Zhao Xu was very depressed, so he managed to organize some celebrations to have fun.The third envoy told himself that the treasury is tight and there is no money, isn't this a disappointment?
There are still several tribes in the south who will come to pay tribute. He has already planned it, and it will be grand and grand as always.The previous money has already been spent, so there is no need for the third envoy to mobilize people to persuade him.Now like this, the purpose is to let yourself cut the start.

Just cut which part?
Zhao Zhao's Mausoleum is too loud, so it stands to reason that it should be more frugal.But I proposed to be grand, Zhao Zhao and Cao Bi both said, as long as the heart is sincere, there is no need to be grand.Biansheng himself used grand etiquette as an excuse to prevent Zhao Zhao from leaving the capital.

In the end, he couldn't stop it, and he still invested so much money in order to build momentum for Zhao Zhao. Now that he thinks about it carefully, he is a pig's brain!

Yeling Lane is grand and grand, and it is Zhao Zhao who benefits from it, and he is thankless for spending money and effort!Zhao Xu couldn't laugh or cry, he didn't know what he thought at the beginning.Under the tactful persuasion of the third envoy, he had no choice but to reduce expenses and cancel the tribute celebration.

The third envoy left, not satisfied, but at least he breathed a sigh of relief.But Zhao Xu felt even worse in his heart, and became more and more uncomfortable.

It made him lose face, missed a good opportunity to enhance his prestige, and more importantly, it was a good opportunity to satisfy his vanity, so he was inevitably unhappy.At the same time, he also regretted his previous mistakes, which really made Zhao Zhao cheaper.

Soon, Zhao Xu realized another problem - money!

The three envoys all began to cry for poverty, and the Song Dynasty treasury had no money?

This is a very unexpected situation.Recently, Zhao Xu's energy was mainly attracted by the wars in the northwest and Yongzhou, followed by the Zhao Zhao incident, so that he ignored financial issues.He was surprised to learn that the finances were tight all of a sudden.

Thinking about it carefully, it wasn't the third division's fault.After all, one year of floods and one year of drought, in an ancient society based on agricultural production, disasters had a great impact on the social economy and national finances.

In addition, the Northwest and Southwest are at war with three countries at the same time, and the military expenditure is huge, and it is not surprising that money is flowing like water.Just according to the tax situation in previous years, it seems to be supportable.Since the reform began, Da Song's fiscal revenue has been on the rise. How can it be difficult to make ends meet this year?
With a skeptical attitude, Zhao Xu checked the accounts of the third division and found a fact that surprised him.Last year's tax revenue did not have the expected increase at all, but it was barely the same as the previous year. It is not bad that there is no decline.

How could this be?
Zhao Xu did not expect that with the implementation of the Green Crop Law and the government forcing people to borrow money for young crops at high interest rates, more and more people could not support themselves, and the so-called bankruptcy phenomenon of self-cultivating farmers appeared in history books.Owner farmers were the basis of paying taxes in feudal dynasties. Once they went bankrupt, tax revenue would almost inevitably decline.

More and more land has been annexed by big and wealthy families.Although there is a tax law on the average land area, the implementation is not thorough, and the corresponding taxes have not been supplemented.As a result, there has been a decline in tax revenue, coupled with the fact that the Song Dynasty has spent too much money in the past two years, the originally abundant treasury has gradually begun to run short.

However, Zhao Xu didn't know the situation. He had always been sure that the reform would enrich the country and strengthen the army, and he never thought that the reform would bring adverse effects to Song Dynasty.The last time the refugees starved to death was caused by the drought, so it is really impossible to dismiss Wang Anshi.Since the reform is correct, but the tax increase in the previous two years has dropped, then...

There seems to be a reasonable explanation. The people who presided over the reform were not strong enough, which led to the fact that the effect of the reform was not as good as in previous years.Under the guidance of caring people, Zhao Xu became more certain of this.

Specifically, Lu Huiqing is not as good as Wang Anshi today.

Zhao Xu had a feeling that Lu Huiqing was a good person, he handled things fairly neatly, and was very good at catering to the emperor's mind.Now is the time to use it, especially since he and Zhao Zhao have a deep hatred, the two are incompatible, and he himself has some abilities and tricks, which are the sharp weapons against Zhao Zhao.

But one fact has to be admitted that Lu Huiqing is far inferior to Wang Anshi in presiding over the new law.Over the past year, the new party's status and voice in the court have declined greatly, and the effectiveness of the reform has also declined. Now even taxes are not up to standard.It fully shows that Lu Huiqing is indeed inferior to Wang Anshi in presiding over political reform affairs.

To deal with Zhao Zhao now, we need to concentrate the core forces around us, and the New Party is an important part of it.However, as a leader, Lu Huiqing, no matter in terms of prestige and ability, could not completely unite and strengthen the new party.Perhaps only Wang Anshi can do this.

Zhao Xu couldn't help thinking, maybe it's time for Wang Anshi to come back.

It is said that when he left Bianjing and returned to Jiangning, he once wrote a poem, in which there is a sentence: The spring breeze is green on the south bank of the river, when will the bright moon shine on me?
It can be seen that his ambition is still there and he wants to come back.He has the ability and prestige, and he can integrate the power of the new party and become his right-hand man.At the same time, he and Zhao Zhao were at odds, so he was also a useful talent in dealing with King Qin.

He was dismissed at the beginning because of the drought. Now, after a year, everything has passed, and it is possible to reactivate him.

It is already April, and the spring breeze has already greened the south bank of the river.Zhao Xu was thinking, maybe it's time for Mingyue to follow Wang Anshi back to Bianjing!
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Lu Huiqing has been depressed for the past few days, and Lin Zhao somehow became Zhao Zhao, and now he is the King of Qin.

This matter had a great impact on him, and it was really uncomfortable.

Willing to link the black dragon with his son, arouse the suspicion of the emperor Zhao Xu, and then he can be put to death.Unexpectedly, Zhao Zhao suddenly acquired the identity of an imperial uncle.

For a while, even Zhao Xu couldn't do anything about it.The most important thing is that Zhao Zhao is not afraid of Zhao Xu at all, his plotter is very big, and he has the posture to replace him.

All my efforts and arrangements were in vain, and revenge failed again.Not only did the black dragon come into the world not harm Zhao Zhao, but it helped him to promote it.As a result, many people secretly rumored that when the son of King Qin was born, a black dragon shot up from the mansion of King Qin. Does this mean that the son of King Qin is the true son of the dragon?

In this way, the people respected and loved King Qin even more, and Zhao Zhao's prestige became even higher.

Lu Huiqing was depressed, but soon realized that perhaps this was not entirely a bad thing.

According to the rumors, the son of King Qin is a real dragon who came to the world. If this word is heard by the current official Zhao Xu, what will be the result?Lu Huiqing knew very well what Zhao Xu was like, so he would definitely not tolerate it.

Zhao Zhao disclosed his identity, suspicion is meaningless, Zhao Xu must be more jealous and angry now.He will definitely do everything possible to get rid of Zhao Zhao, this is his chance.

Otherwise, even if he is a political adviser and deputy prime minister, he cannot be at the same level as King Qin, so how can he talk about revenge?well!Lu Huiqing was almost desperate, maybe this was fate, she chased after her horse, but she still couldn't catch up with Zhao Zhao, the gap between them was getting bigger and bigger, until today she couldn't catch up with Zhao Zhao at all.

It is impossible to take revenge by yourself, only with the help of Zhao Xu.Now it's not just for revenge, but also for self-protection.Just imagine, if Zhao Zhao was in power, would he still have a way to survive?

Of course, we can only rely on Zhao Xu's strength, and we still have to think of the way ourselves.Only in this way can he gain the trust of the emperor and have merit.

After thinking hard at home for a few days, Lu Huiqing finally had some clues.Maybe Zhao Zhao can't do anything about it, but it's not a bad idea to find another way and start from other places!
hum!When Lu Huiqing was full of interest, her family came to report: "Mr. Wang Yuanze is here."

Wang Xi is here?

Lu Huiqing frowned. Since Wang Anshi was dismissed as prime minister, he tried hard to downplay his influence in the new party, so he naturally alienated his son Wang Yu.Even the seemingly close brothers in the past are not worth mentioning in front of interests.

Lu Huiqing waved his hand, no see!

(End of this chapter)