All Heavens Return

On the outskirts of Yanjing, between the mountains.

At this time, old monk Zhen Wu, who had just returned to the mayfly temple, did not dare to delay for a moment, and soon entered the secret room.

"Omniscient, omniscient, omniscient and omnipotent Holy Lord, you are the eternal supreme true God... Omniscient, omniscient, omniscient and omnipotent Holy Lord, your slave begged for your coming..."

After burning incense and lighting candles, old monk Zhen Wu knelt down respectfully and prayed to the black robed statue in front of him. Soon, the statue lit up black, and the LORD had come.

"Are you wrong?" the holy master's words were calm, but the cold anger revealed in them made the real old monk Wu tremble.

"The servant knew his mistake and shouldn't have been so careless. As a result, my younger brother died and all the hard-working forces of the Shudi branch were destroyed." old monk Zhen Wu dared not hide anything and admitted.

"I'm not confused, but why do you always do something stupid?" obviously, the Lord's anger did not diminish much, and asked again,

"Then, has the reason behind been found out?"

"Tell the Holy Lord, from the information currently available, it is very likely that it is because of the holy woman in the holy mountain of miaojiang. She is so hidden that she can not be taken away by the holy insect, which led to the leakage of intelligence and was eventually ambushed."

"Miao saint?" the holy master's illusory light and shadow flickered slightly, as if he was calculating something. Suddenly, he suddenly said softly,

"You guessed right. This woman was not taken away. However, what she practiced was only an incomplete Shinto skill with limited power. Obviously, she could not have the ability to resist holy insects."

"Then... Why?"

Zhenwu can't help but be stunned. Is there any other reason?

"It's very strange, that is, this seat's full calculation is still vague. It seems that it involves a more mysterious existence. Or is it his consciousness doing mischief?" he paused, and the Lord continued,

"If you want to start at once, be sure to investigate it."

"Slave, yes."

……

I don't know when the world became restless. This is true in the spiritual world, as well as in the secular court.

Especially during this period of time, Zhao Ji suddenly issued an edict to reduce or exempt taxes and reward meritorious officials in the world through the great joy of Queen Wang's birth of a dragon son.

The former is good. The emperors of the seven dynasties of the great song dynasty worked hard and accumulated rich family wealth. And after the official position, he still maintained frugality, naturally not bad for money.

However, there was something wrong with the reward at the back. It even included officers and soldiers in the border areas to commend them for their contribution to protecting the country. In particular, it specially mentioned the military family in the northwest, such as planting family, folding family and so on.

What is this? Woo those rough swordsmen? Taizu said that it is not enough for me to rule the world with scholars and bureaucrats and have thousands of loyal saints and disciples to help?

In Yanhe hall, at this time, Zhang Dun was standing respectfully in the middle of the hall, waiting for the official's answer. Just now, he handed over the memorials jointly written by many officials in the court in order to persuade the officials to take back their orders.

However, Zhao Ji simply read his memorials once, then put them aside and continued to be busy with other things, as if he had forgotten him.

Zhang Dun was really embarrassed. He didn't know whether to take the initiative or not. I want to remind you, but I'm afraid to disturb each other. Moreover, after standing for so long, my legs trembled a little, and I really couldn't hold on.

"Official family... Official family..." finally couldn't help shouting a few words. But at this moment, Zhao Ji raised his head and asked in surprise:

"Why is the prime minister still here? Is there anything else?"

"..." Zhang Dun could not help but be surprised. It was clear that there was something important to discuss, and he handed over the memorial. How could he refuse to admit it after reading it?

"Starting the official family is about rewarding the border army. The birth of the Dragon son by the official family is naturally blessed by God and worth celebrating. However, it is really not in line with the regulations to reward the border army wantonly just because of this. After all, the army is very important and has no merit. How can we reward it casually?"

"I see." Zhao Ji suddenly showed a sudden look, but suddenly said again,

"The prime minister's words are good, but there are also omissions. There are many strong neighbors on the border, such as Liao, Xixia and so on, who are all eyeing our great Song Dynasty, and harassment happens from time to time. If these border soldiers didn't spare no effort to guard, how could they keep this prosperous era?"

"It's the duty of a martial man to eat your salary and be loyal to your country. Why should you award another reward? Isn't it unclear about the reward and punishment?"

"The prime minister's words are not good enough." Zhao Ji asked without changing his look,

"The queen gave birth to a dragon son, and there are successors. Isn't this a great event that should be celebrated all over the world? I'm happy and reward the world, so that all the people of the Song Dynasty can share this joy. What's wrong?

What's more, in my reward list, there are not only the border army, but also the literary ministers in the imperial court. Is there anything weak? Does the prime minister think that the border army is not my son of the Song Dynasty? "

"Officials calm down. I didn't mean to, but..."

"OK." Zhao Ji directly interrupted each other,

"Since the imperial edict has been issued, it is a golden word. How can I change it day and night? The prime minister doesn't want me to be a king who doesn't believe what he said?"

"Minister... Minister dare not." Zhang Dun opened his mouth, but finally stammered back.

Somehow, the emperor looked plain and easy-going, and his speech was neither urgent nor slow, without any anger. However, when they look at each other, they are always inexplicably afraid, as if they will be doomed as long as they continue to hardtop.

"What's the matter with me? When did I become so timid?"

Tangled in my heart, as if I had knocked over the five flavor bottle, I don't know what it tastes like?

"Yes, one more thing." Zhao Ji waved to the waiter beside him and ordered,

"Go and bring Zhang Xiang a chair."

"Thank you for your grace."

Zhang Dun was not young, and he really couldn't stand it. Hearing the official's offer to sit down, I was immediately grateful. It seems that the official is still concerned about himself.

When he had to sit down, he asked,

"I don't know what the officials have to say?"

"It's about my brothers." Zhao Ji said with a trace of melancholy on his face,

"To tell you the truth, I had a strange dream yesterday. In the dream, I saw my father and Emperor. He specially asked me to take good care of the imperial concubines and several brothers."

"This......" Zhang Dun was stunned. The officials suddenly mentioned what the Shenzong emperor did? What's the purpose?

"Since the official family succeeded to the throne, the princes in the palace and outside the palace have been properly placed. There is nothing wrong?"

"What Zhang Xiang said is true. I really didn't treat them badly." Zhao Ji nodded, but suddenly the conversation changed,

"However, my brothers are all talented people, especially at a good age of about 20. They are only good clothes and food, and their mediocre life is a waste."

"The officials want to..."

Zhang Dun nodded in his heart and immediately understood the meaning of the official family. Most likely, he wants to increase the power of several princes.

In fact, several princes have not only barons, but also official positions. However, in order to prevent them from having unnecessary ambitions, all they are given are empty posts.

"It seems you thought of it too." Zhao Ji nodded,

"Although there are many father and Emperor's children, most of them died prematurely, but only a few still survive. As their brother, I don't want to waste their talent, so I want to give them a chance to show it."

Hearing the official's affirmative answer, Zhang Dun immediately frowned and remained silent. This is not a trivial matter, but a major event to change the ancestral system.

At the beginning of the establishment of the great Song Dynasty, Taizu learned the lessons of the powerful dynasties such as Zhou, Han and Tang. Therefore, he paid great attention to the prevention of the patriarchal clan. Since then, the development of the imperial clan has been greatly restricted.

Later, in the Taizong Dynasty, it became more and more strict because of the improper position. The children of the imperial clan were granted lofty virtual positions and widely given houses and fields, but they were almost kept in captivity and were not allowed to participate in any political affairs.

Later, this policy changed slightly due to the increasing number of clan children. However, the direction has not changed, and there is still no chance of chaos.

This is not only the reason of the emperor, but also the need of the Wen Chen group. After all, there are so many official positions. If the children of the clan are in the upper position, not to mention rebellion or not, they must be the first ones whose interests will be damaged.

Thinking of this, Zhang Dun dared not hesitate at all, and immediately got up and said:

"The officials told me that I felt that this matter must not be allowed."

"Oh?" Zhao Ji's eyes were slightly frozen and muttered,

"Why? Or does Zhang Xiang think that my brothers are waste and deserve to be mediocre for a lifetime?"

"Wei Chen dare not." Zhang Dun quickly saluted and then said,

"I can understand the love of officials for brothers. However, after all, this is the ancestral system since the founding of the Song Dynasty, which should not be lightly moved. Otherwise, it will inevitably repeat the old events of the Han and Tang Dynasties."

"Do you think that some of my royal brothers and brothers will rebel like the imperial families of the Han and Tang Dynasties?"

"The officials forgive me. I don't mean to speculate, just in case." Zhang Dun didn't deny it this time, but said bluntly.

"It seems that this really touched the bottom line of the other party, otherwise, with Zhang Dun's cunning, he would not object so strongly." Zhao Ji thought in his heart, but then the conversation changed,

"Well, the matter will be put on hold and discussed later."

"The officials are wise."

……

The conversation in Yanhe hall was not concealed for too long, and soon blew all over Bianjing like a gust of wind. All the officials in the DPRK were boiling.

What happened to the officials during this time? How did they often do some unexpected things? In order to celebrate the birth of the Dragon son, it was better to reward the border army. Now it plans to untie the imperial clan and let it have the ability to participate in the government.

Is this crazy? It's hard to understand that the essence of the imperial clan is different from that of officials. They still have the blood of the Zhao family and are also qualified to inherit the throne.

One day, if there is an ambitious generation who holds power in his hands, it is not impossible to collude with officials and seek to seize the throne.

Civil service groups are not stupid. Naturally, they can think that if this happens, it will directly infringe on their interests. Therefore, as if stimulated to the general, they talked about it wantonly and listed various disadvantages of the matter.

There is no peace in the palace,

At this time, Zhao Ji should summon the Empress Dowager to Baoci palace. As soon as I came in, I saw the other party's serious face, as if he was about to explode.

"But who among the waiters did a bad job, offended the empress and made you so angry?" after saluting, Zhao Ji looked calm and asked on his own initiative.

"The internal attendants don't have the courage to offend the mourning family, but it's the officials. If you have any foolish ideas and lead to the instability of the country and the dynasty, you will make the mourning family heartache."

"It seems that the empress heard what I was talking about with Zhang Xiang." Zhao Ji sat down and waved back the maid in waiting. After making sure that the surroundings were quiet enough, he then asked,

"What do you think of this?"

"The ancestral system cannot be lightly changed. There is no reason why the previous emperors set such rules. You are not confused. Can you think of the truth?"

"I naturally want to get it. I'm just worried about the expansion of the imperial clan, resulting in usurpation of power and political chaos."

"Since you know why you have such thoughts, isn't it confusing people? The world is the world of the Zhao family, but you can only be the official family. Otherwise, wouldn't it be chaos?"

"Does the empress really think that this world is my Zhao family's world? I am the master?" Zhao Ji did not answer each other, but asked with a smile.

"What... What do you mean?" the Empress Dowager was stunned for a moment. She didn't react for a moment and murmured,

"The world is not Zhao's, whose will it be?"

Seeing the dazed look on the other party's face, Zhao Ji suddenly sighed, and then slowly said:

"In the past, when the father emperor was in power, he summoned Duke Wang Jinggong to discuss the reform with the Privy envoy Wen Yanbo. Wen Yanbo once said that the ancestral legal system still exists, and there is no need to change it to lose popular support.

The father asked again, how unhappy the change of the legal system is with the scholar officials, but why is it inconvenient for the people? Wen Yanbo replied, "to rule the world with the scholar officials, not with the people."

"This..." hearing that the other party suddenly mentioned Shenzong and Wang Anshi, the Empress Dowager suddenly changed slightly and said tentatively,

"Do the officials intend to follow the example of the former Emperor and restart the reform?"

As a member of the old party, she strongly opposed the reform. It's not because she favors anyone, but because she clearly knows that the reform is too difficult and receives too much resistance, and there is no possibility of success at all.

In the past, his husband, the emperor Shenzong, was confident at the beginning. Unfortunately, he still couldn't resist the pressure and chose to compromise in the end. At this point, there are no conditions.

"I'm not talking about reform, but Wen Shumi's answer to rule the world with scholar officials." Zhao Ji shook his head slightly and said in a deep voice,

"Doesn't the empress think that this world is already the world of scholar bureaucrats, and I am just a puppet recommended by them to rule by bowing to the bow?"

Speaking of this, his eyes stared at the Empress Dowager. At this time, the other party had been stunned by his statement for a long time.