In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

In the spring of the 14th year of the Qingli Period of the Song Dynasty, His Majesty Zhao Zhen, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, traveled by train to tour the world and understand the people's sentiments.

He went to Luoyang, the ancient capital of 13 dynasties, and also came to Chang'an, which was also the ancient capital of 13 dynasties.

He saw the scenery of Mangshan and stayed in Weiyang Palace for one night.

And what made him most unforgettable and unforgettable during this trip to Guanzhong, in addition to the scenery along the way, was the hard-working people he passed by along the way.

Under the records of the accompanying reporters, Zhao Zhen kindly comforted every needy person he saw and had a kind conversation with everyone he met, which impressed everyone who accompanied him.

The text description was sent back to Bianliang by telegram, and various newspapers competed to report it.

For a time, Zhao Zhen's image of being close to the people quickly spread among the people, and his reputation naturally reached its peak.

In contrast, Zhao Jun has always been in the perspective of a bystander.

He neither told Zhao Zhen what to do, nor did he support or stop Zhao Zhen's behavior of going deep into the people.

He was just a bystander.

Because in Zhao Jun's view, this is Zhao Zhen's own social practice.

Or Zhao Zhen is saving the royal regime.

Did Zhao Zhen understand the dragon-slaying technique?

Perhaps he did.

But it is precisely because he understood that he clearly realized that the royal regime has no future.

After the Industrial Revolution, there are only two destinations for the world, one is capital controlling the world, and the other is the social thought of standing on the people's side and serving the people.

The former is capital controlling the world, and the latter is the working class and peasant class. No matter which one it is, it has nothing to do with feudal imperial power.

The essence of the dragon-slaying technique is to slay a dragon like Zhao Zhen, so how could it teach Zhao Zhen to sit firmly on his own throne?

So it is for this reason that Zhao Zhen must practice and explore a path of his own.

After all, for the emperor, even Renzong, it is impossible to hand over the imperial power.

This is also the direction he is looking for now.

As for Zhao Jun.

Zhao Jun's position has been fixed, and helping Zhao Zhen is just some subjective and objective reasons.

After all, it is meaningless to pursue any route in this era. Only when you have enough food can you consider what path you will take in the future.

And if every common people can have enough food and warm clothes, what is the point of talking about any path?

Because this itself has already reached the utopian ideal world.

So Zhao Zhen is trying to save himself now, but Zhao Jun still has a long way to go in the future. It will not be a reality overnight to realize the ideal world in his heart.

In this case, he will naturally only look at Zhao Zhen from the perspective of a bystander to find a way out for himself, and will not give him any help or reminders.

In short, it is Zhao Zhen's own ability to find a way out.

Zhao Jun has his own way to go, and both sides do not interfere with each other.

In mid-February, after staying in the Weiyang Palace in Chang'an for a few days, the group left Guanzhong and took a train to Chengdu.

Zhao Zhen visited the Wuhou Temple and the Zhaolie Emperor Temple. From the Three Kingdoms period to the present Song Dynasty, over thousands of years, the Wuhou Temple and the Zhaolie Emperor Temple have long been in ruins.

Historically, it was not until the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty that Zhu Chun, the King of Shu, renovated and integrated the Zhaolie Temple, Huiling, and Wuhou Temple, and then things started to improve.

However, when Zhao Jun traveled around the world for the second time, he asked the local government and the Cultural Relics Bureau to carry out restoration work on these places.

Now, many years have passed, and they have already changed a lot from the dilapidated and old ones.

At this moment, the Wuhou Temple is reflected by the bamboo forest, and the Zhaolie Temple is full of vegetation. Not only have all kinds of decayed buildings been repaired, but even the layout outside has changed from the original.

The flower beds made of bluestone are full of flowers, the evergreen green shrubs are full of vitality, and the branches of the big trees that cover the sky and the sun sway in the wind, making the entire Wuhou Temple and Zhaolie Temple full of beautiful scenery.

After visiting the two places, Zhao Zhen highly praised the relationship between Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang as a monarch and a minister, and also affirmed Zhuge Liang's life as a model of a minister.

He said that although Zhuge Liang was powerless to save the situation and could not lead the Ji Han to fulfill the long-cherished wish of Emperor Zhaolie, this could not erase Zhuge Liang's life achievements, nor could it deny Zhuge Liang's achievements in politics and military affairs.

Moreover, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang were both people who loved their people. They were kind to the people during their lifetime and welcomed all the people who came here to pay their respects and visit after their death.

Therefore, the Wuhou Temple and the Zhaolie Emperor Temple should be open to the public so that all the people who want to come can have a look and learn about the brilliant and legendary life of Emperor Zhaolie and Zhuge Wuhou.

After the speech, there was thunderous applause.

After that, Zhao Zhen inspected the situation in the city again, walking through the streets and alleys. Although there were many guards, they separated him from the people.

But it did not prevent him from taking the initiative to contact those people and chatting casually, which was also a good thing.

In late February, Zhao Zhen left Chengdu.

In fact, he had been away from Beijing for less than ten days. The whole journey was to take a train to Luoyang, then to Chang'an, and then to Chengdu, a journey of more than a thousand kilometers, but in the past, it would take at least more than a month to take a carriage.

Now, even the difficult Shu Road has been opened up, which has greatly deepened the trade ties between Chengdu and Chang'an and brought the economies of the two places to a higher level.

The only regret is that the railway from Chengdu to Xiangyang has not been built yet. When Zhao Zhen and his party left Chengdu, they could only take a boat.

However, the boat route down the Yangtze River has been developed for two to three thousand years and has long been very mature. And the speed is very fast. You can reach Jiangling by boat in a few days, so it's not a big deal.

Soon the fleet left Chengdu and arrived in Jiangling in early March.

Zhao Zhen changed trains and went south to Guangzhou.

He lived in the imperial palace left by the Southern Han Dynasty in Guangzhou, and met with local merchants and envoys from various countries around the world who stayed in the Song Dynasty.

Western countries basically left their embassies in the Song Dynasty. They all bought a house in Bianliang with their own money. Most poor countries bought a house in an outer city with low housing prices. Can be used as a library.

Moreover, the number of envoys is not large, ranging from one or two to five or six. Plus the entourage and servants, there are basically no more than ten people, which is no different from an office.

But what they have in common is that in addition to having an embassy in Bianliang, there is also an embassy in Guangzhou.

This is the advice given to them by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Because the main reason why various countries left embassies in Bianliang was to facilitate communication with the Song Dynasty center anytime and anywhere, hoping to obtain information about diplomacy and foreign trade that would benefit them.

How to quickly transmit the information back to the country after it is obtained is another problem.

Therefore, it is necessary to set up another office in Guangzhou. After the embassy completes the communication in Bianliang, it can be sent to Guangzhou by telegram, and then Guangzhou can send it back to China using its own merchant ships. This is very necessary.

Although this will still be very slow, causing the news to lag very behind. For countries in the Middle East and Europe, it may take several months.

However, this is already the fastest way.

Zhao Zhen cordially met with envoys from various countries and listened to their requests and ideas.

As the Song Dynasty's international image and international status continued to improve, the emperor, as the head of state, would have to experience such diplomatic situations in the future.

After so much training, I will be more calm and confident when discussing economic and trade cooperation and international relations with heads of state from other countries.

As the foreign trade base of the Song Dynasty alongside Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Guangzhou has become a target of support from the Song Dynasty court.

Zhao Zhen knew this very well, so he stayed in Guangzhou for a few more days.

Didn't leave until mid-March.

After that, I went around a bit, taking a train from Guangzhou north to Hankou, and then taking a boat east to Zhejiang.

First, I went to Hangzhou, inspected the local foreign trade situation with Korea, Japan and other countries, learned about the local industrial characteristics, and conducted an in-depth investigation of Song-Japanese relations and the form of non-governmental trade exchanges.

In April, Zhao Zhen took the train back to Bianliang. However, he did not go back. Instead, he passed by Bianliang and went north to the land of Yanyun. He gazed affectionately at this land that the Song Dynasty had lost for hundreds of years and could only return to in seven or eight years. ’s hometown.

He came to the newly renovated Beiping City and also went to the Tangshan Iron and Steel Plant to learn about the local steel industry. After that, he went out of Shanhaiguan to Liaodong and visited the troops stationed there.

After all this trip was over, it was almost May. During the trip, he also went to Wu'an Iron and Steel Plant to inspect the local steel production and surrounding supporting plants. Zhao Zhen then took the train back to Bianliang.

From early February to late May, Zhao Zhen spent about three and a half months on this trip, covering large areas such as Peking, Chang'an, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Huainan.

Basically, he visited all the major cities in the country, which allowed Zhao Zhen to quickly accumulate a lot of useful knowledge.

In fact, his knowledge is very broad, but it is all theoretical knowledge, which is only specious. He has not seen it with his own eyes and has not investigated it carefully. Therefore, Zhao Zhen has always belonged to the theoretical school.

At least it has been put into practice now, although the effect may not be particularly good, because what he sees is often the urban middle class, and the real bottom class rarely appears in front of him.

But even this is not bad. For a high-ranking emperor, it is better to make some progress than to rest on one's own laurels.

On May 26, the fourteenth year of Qingli, Zhao Zhen returned to his loyal Bianliang.

It's midsummer and the temperature is rising. Bianliang has been staying at around 30 degrees in recent days. It's not too hot, but it's definitely very uncomfortable during the day.

In the afternoon, the wind roared loudly in Chongzheng Hall, and the ice cubes placed around it barely brought a hint of chill to the wind.

The group returned to Bianliang in the morning. Zhao Zhen took Empress Cao and her two daughters to the harem, while Zhao Jun went home. Both families wanted to take a short rest, take a bath, and get rid of the dust on their bodies.

It wasn't until the afternoon, when the prime ministers had finished their business, that they gathered at Chongzheng Hall.

The first is to talk about the major events in the court after they left Beijing during this period. Secondly, it is also to talk about what Zhao Zhen has gained after leaving Beijing this time, which can be regarded as increasing the knowledge of the prime ministers.

"Only now do I know why Dasun must go down to the grassroots level to have a look. The experience along the way has benefited me a lot."

Zhao Zhen waited for everyone to sit down, then sat behind the desk and sighed.

Yan Shu asked curiously: "What did you get from this trip to the official house?"

Zhao Zhen sighed: "In the past, I only knew about the suffering of the people, but I didn't know why the people were suffering. Now I have seen it with my own eyes. I have seen the poverty of the people and the plight of their families. Some are disabled, some are suffering from diseases, and some are used as cattle by the landlords. Horses, some of them once didn’t even have a pair of pants. It was normal for them not to have enough food to become sallow and skinny. Even if they were beaten to death by those powerful people, they were just as devoid of dignity. Only after such personal experience did I understand many things. When I returned to Beijing After that, it felt like a lifetime ago.”

Zhao Jun smiled.

It's not like he hasn't experienced Zhao Zhen's experiences along the way.

But compared with the two tours around the world that year, this trip was just child's play and nothing at all.

But from another perspective, the sufferings of the people in the Song Dynasty were universal. That is, the high taxes and miscellaneous taxes imposed by the court and the oppression of landlords and bureaucrats made most people miserable and struggling on the edge of life and death.

Now, Zhao Jun has removed several big mountains that were weighing on the people. From a universal perspective, more than 99% of the people have been freed from hunger.

The rest are caused by diseases, accidents, poverty and other reasons, and even the vast majority are diseases.

Because as long as there are men in poor families, in the current era of comprehensive infrastructure construction in the entire Song Dynasty society, having men means labor force, which can work to support the family and prevent the family from going hungry.

But if an illness or accident occurs and the backbone of the family is gone, or most of the family's wealth and resources are used to treat the disease, the entire family will be brought down.

So the Song Dynasty that Zhao Zhen sees now is already ten times better than before, but even so, it is quite impressive.

Compared with them, most of the people are still in the stage of having enough to eat. This gap allows everyone who can look at the problem in depth to understand the class differences and why some people rebelled in ancient times.

"It is a very good thing for officials to have this understanding. In this case, they should love the people like their own children and be lenient in benevolent governance."

Fan Zhongyan immediately said: "Today's Song Dynasty was hard-won. Don't indulge in pleasure and indulgence just because the Song Dynasty is rich and people's lives are getting better and better. If you think so, the country will be in danger."

"Yes, the Song Dynasty now has a way out, and we no longer have to worry about the people not having enough to eat. But because of this, we still have to work harder and do better."

Yan Shu also said: "As the saying goes, change it if it exists, and encourage it if it doesn't exist. Now is the time for us to work hard and make the Song Dynasty reach a higher level."

"Well, of course I know what you said. From today on, I will not live in the palace all the time. In addition to doing experiments in the palace, I am also willing to visit various ministries to see the development of each ministry, and also visit the private sector. , understand the wishes of the people.”

Zhao Zhen looked at everyone and saw that everyone's expressions were wrong, so he quickly added: "Of course, I will not interfere with the planning of the Constitutional Yuan and various ministries. Of course I know the consequences of a layman trying to control an expert, so you don't have to worry."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Yan Shu said: "The official sage, although Han Long once said that the emperor's rule was a conspiracy used by the civil servant group to make the emperor give up power, but Han Long also said that not everyone Every emperor has the ability to govern the world. I am not doubting the talents of officials, but the talents of officials are not shown in governing the country, but in science. Isn't this a gift from God to officials? Is it true? If we don’t make good use of it and create more technology to benefit the people, it will be a disgrace to our talents.”

I have to say that this sentence is quite strong. If it were a different emperor, he would definitely be unhappy. But for Zhao Zhen, it was acceptable.

First, the establishment of the Zhao Zhen Prize is enough to establish his status in the scientific community.

Second, he really likes scientific inventions. The sense of accomplishment in creating history is not something that can be experienced when sitting in the Chui Gong Hall and looking at the civil and military officials of the dynasty below.

So Zhao Zhen was not angry, but was very happy. He nodded with a smile and said, "Of course I know."

"Let's talk about politics."

Zhao Jun suddenly interrupted their conversation.

It would be disrespectful to go into it any further.

Now they have a very harmonious relationship with Zhao Zhen, and there is no need to talk about some things in such depth.

Zhao Zhen is not a fool, and he understands many things.

Now is not the time.

At the earliest, there was a conflict between Zhao Jun and the civil servant group. The two sides fought with each other, and Zhao Zhen tightened his grip on real power.

But after so many years, Zhao Jun not only established a firm foothold, but also used the group of prime ministers to capture the entire civil servant group.

Even the entire civil service group has formed a new community of interests headed by the Constitutional Yuan.

This community may have internal conflicts and may have different factions, but on the basis of safeguarding the governance power of the Constitutional Yuan, an alliance of interests has been basically reached.

Even if the emperor wanted to seize governance power from the Constitutional Yuan, he would still be resisted by them.

The same is true for military power. Fan Zhongyan and Zhang Kang both have real power in the military among the civilian officials. Di Qing was also taught by Zhao Jun and has a great influence on the entire army.

And through the purge of the army, Zhao Jun also placed a lot of people in the army and had many layouts in the army.

It has nothing to do with whether they are loyal ministers or not.

The consensus they formed is that the country represented by Zhao Jun is strong, and it is also the supremacy of national interests that Zhao Jun has emphasized many times.

Even the royal family must make concessions in the face of national interests.

Rather than having an emperor who knew nothing to point fingers at the currently prosperous Song Dynasty, they believed more that they and the Constitutional Yuan represented by Zhao Jun had the ability to govern the country well.

So to a certain extent, the current Song Dynasty is no longer the original Song Dynasty, and Zhao Zhen's authority among the entire civil servant group is no longer as good as the authority of the Constitutional Yuan.

Although he can mobilize the army, if Zhao Zhen wants to mobilize the army to wipe out the Political Yuan, I am afraid that all the three armies will have to weigh it.

It's not that they are afraid of Zhao Jun, but that with Fan Zhongyan and Zhang Kang around, the army can't afford to make waves.

Therefore, it can be said that the power of the Song Dynasty is no longer a complete monarchy, but a semi-monarchy and semi-prime minister system.

Power is not concentrated in the hands of Zhao Jun alone, but in the hands of the Constitutional Yuan.

It's just that these things were not put on the bright side. On the bright side, the emperor of the Song Dynasty was still in charge, and the Constitutional Yuan was only a supporter.

Many things exist in the shadows.

However, even so, it means that the Constitutional Yuan has formed a new interest group to replace the original civil servant group. Basically, it is a change of prime ministerial power and imperial power.

Does Zhao Zhen know this?

Of course he knows.

But he also knew that this was the wheel of history, and he had no way to resist or stop it.

Because as Zhao Jun said.

You can be a powerful emperor, and you can be a wise king for a lifetime, but can you guarantee that there will be a wise king from generation to generation, and there will not be a Hu Hai who will cause the death of the second generation of Qin Dynasty?

Therefore, compared with a dynasty that has real power but only has a lifespan of two to three hundred years or even shorter, Zhao Zhen knows that it is more meaningful to get a country with a virtual monarch system that has a longer lifespan.

Even if it is a constitutional monarchy, as long as it allows the Song Dynasty to continue to exist and the royal family to continue to exist, he is not unacceptable.

At least it is enough that he has real power while he is alive. It doesn't matter whether future generations have real power. It is better than having real power from generation to generation, resulting in the emergence of a useless king, which leads to the destruction of the country and the loss of the Zhao family.

So this is the root of the problem.

It is precisely because we can see clearly that we understand what the general trend is.

What he is doing now, to some extent, is the same as what Queen Elizabeth II did later.

He attended various important occasions and used his high prestige to stabilize people's hearts and maintain the royal family's existence.

As for what will happen next, Zhao Zhen doesn't know. The only thing he can do is to continue the Zhao royal family, that's all.

"Yes, let's talk about government affairs."

"Oh, Guan Jia, Han Long, your absence has caused us so much trouble."

"That is, without officials and Hanlong making decisions, we would often argue over some important matters. Even if eleven people vote, they would occasionally abandon their votes while traveling, resulting in a tie. This slows things down. "

"Back when Hanlong was handling official duties, he could review hundreds of papers a day. We didn't have this ability. Sometimes we had to serve our old age and not be as young as we were."

Everyone quickly changed the topic tacitly, everyone made jokes, and didn't talk about anything else.

In fact, everyone knows that the Constitutional Yuan is getting younger and younger, and there are several people who have become prime ministers in their forties, such as Han Qi, Zeng Gongliang, Fu Bi, and Wen Yanbo.

If this were placed in future generations, it would be great to be able to reach the deputy provincial level at the age of 47 or 8, but they have sat in the position of prime minister. Not only do they have a background, but they are naturally talented and outstanding, and they do not need to worry about doing things. efficiency.

So these are just excuses.

Zhao Zhen didn't think deeply, nor did he want to think deeply. When he saw everyone talking about government affairs, he immediately said: "Then let's talk about last year and the first half of this year."

The overall data for last year has basically been submitted and compiled in February.

But Zhao Jun did not go to see it at that time. Instead, he left Beijing with Zhao Zhen. Naturally, he had to report the situation in the first half of this year simultaneously.

I saw everyone looking at each other and then laughing.

You can tell by everyone's expressions that the data last year and this year must be very good.

really.

I heard Yan Shu say: "After Guan Jia and Han Long left Beijing, we spent half a month integrating the national statistical data and found that the changes last year were gratifying."

“The first is the gross national product. When we reached 1.9 billion guan in the first half of last year, we predicted that the total value would be 3.5 billion guan, but it actually reached 3.9 billion guan. The forecast tax revenue was 500 million guan, but it was actually 624 million. "

"The predicted steel production last year was 12 million tons, and the actual production reached 16 million tons. Four years ago, in the 10th year of Qingli, we just reached the 1 million tons level, which increased 16 times in just 4 years."

“In the twelfth year of the Qing Dynasty the year before last, our total foreign import and export trade was 967.32 million Guan, accounting for 29.1% of the GDP. Last year, the total foreign export trade reached 1.47965 billion Guan, accounting for 37.93% of the GDP, an explosive growth ”

"According to our import and export tax calculation, last year our import and export tax alone reached more than 100 million. Compared with the annual trade income of major shipping companies during the Jingyou period, which was less than 10 million, the throughput was also more than 10 times. more than."

"There is also industrial output, population, education index, employed people working in agriculture, and workers' salaries are accurate."

Yan Shu talked about more than ten major statistics in one breath.

In fact, there are more than 40 or 50 various data standards of the Ministry of Statistics, including crime rates and official corruption indexes in various places, but the ones Yan Shu mentioned first are indices for measuring national development.

We can use these data to observe how much progress the Song Dynasty made last year, so it is the main data, so it is natural to bring it out first to report the good news.

Hearing his words, Zhao Zhen took a breath and said: "624 million yuan in tax revenue? It's ten times more than before!"

"It's not just ten times, it should be twenty times."

Zhao Jun pointed out: "Due to various exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, the previous tax rate was at least above 30%, but now it has basically dropped to below 15%, so it must be doubled compared to before."

"Doesn't that mean that our Great Song Dynasty's body size has increased twenty times compared to before?"

Zhao Zhen opened his mouth wide.

He never expected that the size of the Song Dynasty would increase to this extent in just eighteen years.

However, Zhao Jun smiled and said: "It's not that exaggerated. Last year was a special situation. We sold so many arms and signed so many trade orders. It is normal for foreign trade data to surge in a short period of time. It is estimated that it will be the same next year." Somewhat down.”

Last year, foreign trade orders alone increased by more than 500 million yuan compared with the year before. Of course, it was not an increase out of thin air, but the Song Dynasty opened up new markets around the world, brought countries around the world to the Song Dynasty, and signed a large number of orders.

In addition to arms orders, there are also other porcelain, tea, silk, books, etc., and this data does not only include exports, but import data is also included.

In other words, the Song Dynasty's import and export volume increased by 500 million yuan last year, and there is still an unknown amount of raw materials such as gold and silver minerals, spices, wood, gemstones and rare treasures flowing into the Song Dynasty.

Countries around the world received arms and a large number of freshly produced industrial products and handmade products, and the Song Dynasty received a large amount of gold and silver wealth. Both sides get what they need, it's like Qin Shihuang touching the wires and then playing cloning - it's a win-win situation for both sides.

But this explosive growth basically lasted only one year. It will definitely fall back a little this year, and it will fall back a little every year. It is impossible to grow as horribly as last year.

The reason is simple.

First, the current global market is only so big. The entire world population, including the current 160 million people of the Song Dynasty, is only 1 billion at most. Although the industrial products of the Song Dynasty cannot be filled all at once, countries must digest it first. Say it again.

Second, selling too many arms will definitely lead to the escalation of global war. Once a war starts, there will be no time for construction, and the economy will go down. It is reasonable to not have enough money to buy Song Dynasty products.

Therefore, last year's glory is estimated to be just a peak for a long time to come. To repeat it, global productivity must be upgraded again.

But even so, it is already a very exaggerated figure for the Song Dynasty.

Basically, compared with the Jingyou period, in less than twenty years, except for the population, other data of the Song Dynasty increased more than ten times.

Even the population has more than doubled. It is normal for a couple to have three, four, five, six or even seven or eight children. In a few years, it will be a matter of time before the population of the Song Dynasty exceeds 200 million.

According to this trend, by 1100 AD, that is, 46 years later, the population of the Song Dynasty should reach 800-900 million, or even 1 billion.

This is not alarmist.

Because in later generations, when my country was founded, the first census in 1954 showed 600 million people. However, 10 years later, in 1964, the number of people was 700 million. By the time 18 years later, in 1982, the population reached 1 billion.

In less than 30 years, the population has nearly doubled. This is still a relatively poor stage in our country. If it were not for family planning, I am afraid that by 2023, the population will exceed 2 billion.

Therefore, with the development of industry, productivity is increasing day by day, and the population is increasing. This is also an inevitable trend, including the early days of the Western Industrial Revolution in later generations.

The only difference from later generations is that although our country's population has increased significantly, the domestic economic situation is very average.

Nowadays, the economy is booming, and the population growth will keep up with the economic dividends. In this way, the economy and population complement each other, and there is no need to engage in family planning like in later generations.

After all, the poorer you are, the more children you have. When you are rich, you have no motivation to have children.

In forty or fifty years, even if the population exceeds 1 billion, or even 1.5 billion people, and the industrialization process reaches a high level, the fertility rate will naturally decline, and there is no need to worry too much about this.

"Well, the growth last year is really gratifying. If this is the case, then the funds for the national education upgrade and three years of free compulsory education that we have previously agreed upon will be secured."

Zhao Zhen said with a smile: "The development of Northeast China should also be put on the agenda. Both of these two things cost a lot of money. Last year, the state treasury made a huge profit. With the extra 100 million yuan as a base, in the next few years Don’t worry about these two gold-eating beasts.”

"But similarly, we can't just rely on the big money we made last year and rest on our laurels. We still have to expand our financial resources, continue to grow bigger and stronger, and create greater glory."

Zhao Jun said.

Yan Shu asked: "What does Han Long have in mind?"

"It's very simple, keep pioneering!"

Zhao Jun looked at the world map hanging on the wall on the right side of Chongzheng Hall and said: "Australia and the Americas should increase their development efforts, first immigrate in large numbers, and make them the territory of our Han people."

"Well, Australia and the Americas are rich in minerals, but now they are like a barren land, which is very coveted."

"It's a pity it's so far away from us."

"We have been sending fleets over the years, and many civilians have gone to the Americas. However, the population there is still too small, and it is difficult to get along with the locals."

"We'll see when the time comes. We can formulate policies to coexist in harmony with the locals and develop together. After all, we are not barbaric Angsa people."

Everyone chatted for a while.

Now the situation in the Song Dynasty is getting better and better, and the entire economic construction is on the right track. Maybe it won't be long before a giant is born who is ahead of the world for who knows how many years.

During the discussion, before I knew it, it was already early in the afternoon, that is, around five o'clock in the afternoon.

The sun is still shining brightly outside, just like noon, but the color of the sun is no longer the golden color of noon, but a faint orange color.

"Okay, that's pretty much what I need to say. I'm tired. Let's take a rest."

Zhao Zhen saw that today's topics were basically finished and the time was almost up, so he was ready to get off work.

He had just arrived in Bianliang in the morning, and he had spent the night on the train last night. The fatigue from the journey had not gone away, and he almost felt a little tired.

"Then let's break up the meeting."

Zhao Jun also said.

"Then I'll take my leave."

Everyone stood up and prepared to leave.

Zeng Gongliang suddenly remembered something and said, "By the way, officials, there is something I forgot to mention."

"What's up?"

Zhao Zhen asked.

“The School of Physics and the School of Chemistry collaborated to make the camera.”

Zeng Gongliang said: "The School of Physics made the lens and camera obscura, and the School of Chemistry developed the photosensitive material and developer. This project has been in progress for several years. Last month, all debugging was completed and a lot of things were taken. However, there are still No one was photographed, and they said that the first portrait in history was decided by His Majesty.”

"Cameras out?"

Zhao Zhen opened his eyes wide.

Zhao Jun's notebook also has a camera function.

But it was of no use.

Because it does not have a printing function, after taking the photo, it is just a picture on the computer and cannot be printed out at all.

But a real camera is different, it can develop.

In this era, who doesn’t want to leave a photo for future generations to admire, or at least leave their true appearance so that future generations know what they look like?

So Zhao Zhen has always wanted to make a camera.

It's just that he was working on a tape project some time ago and didn't have time to do it.

Secondly, the photosensitive materials and developers are chemicals, which are said to be very toxic, and the prime ministers did not want him to come into contact with them.

So it's quite a pity.

Unexpectedly, the School of Chemistry and the School of Physics worked together to successfully create it.

"Yes."

Zeng Gongliang said: "I almost forgot about this, I just remembered it."

"Grandson, how about leaving a picture for future generations?"

Zhao Zhen looked at Zhao Jun.

Zhao Jun smiled and said: "It's better to choose a day than to hit the sun. Let's do it today."

"Let them come and let's take a photo together and take a photo that will go down in history."

Zhao Zhen greeted everyone with a smile.

"That's such a sentimental thing. The first photo of a person in history will leave a mark in history."

"Although I'm an old man and I don't care whether future generations remember my appearance, it would be a good thing if the photos can really be passed down."

"Okay, okay, let's take a photo together."

Everyone was naturally very happy when they heard that they could take photos. Who doesn’t want future generations to remember what they look like?

Immediately, Zhao Zhen asked Wang Shouzhong to go to the Academy of Sciences to notify them and ask them to send someone over immediately.

But everyone who was about to leave was no longer in a hurry and sat back again.

About half an hour later, at almost a quarter past midnight, Su Song, who had been promoted to deputy dean of the School of Physics, arrived belatedly.

"I have met your Majesty and all the princes!"

Su Song came on a tricycle. In addition to him, there were two assistants on bicycles. There was a camera in the bucket behind the tricycle.

Zhao Jun looked over and saw that it was indeed similar to the camera in the history textbook. It was a camera obscura with a lens outside. There was someone pulling a wire next to it and holding a flash in his hand.

"Let's get started."

Zhao Zhen took his seat.

Su Song glanced around and wondered: "Your Majesty, it's not easy to take pictures like this."

Zhao Jun took a look and saw that the place where they were sitting was actually a standard Chinese living room, with Zhao Zhen's desk in the back and Zhao Zhen sitting behind it.

Then, following the direction of Zhao Zhen's left and right hands, there were rows of seats on both sides, leaving an aisle in the middle.

If it were taken with a later generation camera, with everyone sitting on chairs looking in the direction of the camera, it would definitely be able to take a good photo, which would look powerful and domineering.

But this is a primitive camera after all. The depth of field is not enough and the focus is not easy to adjust. The result is that the closer the person is, the larger and clearer the image will be, and the farther away the person will be, the smaller and blurr the image will be.

So it was really difficult for Su Song to shoot like this.

Zhao Jun said: "The depth of field is not enough, so we should sit in two rows and shoot together. The official sits in the middle, and we can stand in two rows and stand behind the official."

"good."

"The light inside is not good, so go outside."

"Let's go."

Everyone was looking forward to it and walked out of the house one after another.

Wang Shouzhong took out Zhao Zhen's chair and placed it under the marble steps outside Chongzheng Hall.

Zhao Zhen came over and sat down, with Zhao Jun and Yan Shu standing on both sides of him.

The other prime ministers also lined up in two rows. The one in front stood behind Zhao Zhen, and the one behind him stood on the first step, slightly one head higher than the one in front.

Everyone stood up straight. They were not wearing official uniforms, but already Chinese tunic suits or youth uniforms.

They look more vigorous and energetic, even though they are middle-aged or elderly, but they are not at all like the backward and decadent look that those officials wearing Qing Dynasty official uniforms felt when taking pictures during the later Qing Dynasty.

"Let's get ready to shoot. The flash may be dazzling, don't worry."

Su Song went into the darkroom and turned the lens. After everyone's appearance in the lens became clear, he gestured to the assistant holding the flash.

Then.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Click!"

The intense white light of the flash almost blinded everyone, even though they were mentally prepared.

"Oh, I have to wear glasses because of my presbyopia."

"I feel like I can't see."

"It will take a while to get used to it. Close your eyes first and open them after a few breaths."

Zhao Jun was also shaken. It felt like looking directly at a welding machine, but fortunately he was mentally prepared and got used to it quickly.

Su Song waited until everyone was almost done and asked, "Your Majesty, gentlemen, do you want to take another photo?"

"No, no, my eyes are almost blind."

"Then I won't take any more photos either."

"I'll take one."

"That was the first group photo in history. The first individual photo should be taken by the emperor."

Some people wanted to take a photo, some didn't.

But soon the quota was given to Zhao Zhen. This first individual photo in history naturally had to be taken by him.

Zhao Zhen didn't refuse, he sat on the chair and said, "Then I'll take the first individual photo."

Everyone dispersed and gave the seat to Zhao Zhen alone.

Su Song took another photo soon.

Then those who wanted to take photos went up to take individual photos, and there were also group photos of two or three people.

Zhao Zhen took two photos and then stopped - the light was really dazzling.

He stood up and walked to Zhao Jun. Seeing that he didn't take a solo photo, he asked curiously, "Grandson, why don't you take a photo?"

"Let them take photos first."

Zhao Jun smiled and said, "I was tired of taking photos before. Now they are in the freshness period. Let them enjoy it. There will be a long time to take photos in the future."

Zhao Zhen looked over and saw that everyone was smiling.

Even those who said they didn't want to take solo photos before, after getting used to the flash, all came over and said shamelessly to take another photo.

The orange warm sun sprinkled down, overflowing on everyone's smiling face.

In a trance, it was like a golden afterglow.

Unknowingly, eighteen years have passed.

The Constitutional Council has changed several times.

Only Yan Shu and Fan Zhongyan are left of the original old people.

Lü Yijian, Wang Zeng, Sheng Du, Wang Sui and others passed away one after another and could not see the present Song Dynasty.

The remaining people are also old, and I don't know when they will go to the grave.

The memories of the past came like a tide.

Lü Yijian's patient persuasion.

Wang Zeng's earnest teaching.

Shengdu's tireless teaching.

Wang Sui's tolerance and easygoing.

Their appearance and smiles seemed to be vivid in my mind.

Looking around, the old ministers all had white hair.

Even Zhao Jun had gray hair on his temples and a slightly vicissitudes of life.

Zhao Zhen didn't know why he felt a little sad, and whispered: "If time is like a photo, it would be great if it could be frozen in this moment forever."

Zhao Jun stood beside him and whispered: "Time cannot be frozen, but history will, history will always remember us, remember our former glory, remember our hard work for the rise of the Song Dynasty in the future, and remember the new look we will bring to the world after our death, this is enough."

"Let's go, let's take a photo together as grandparents and grandchildren."

Zhao Zhen took Zhao Jun's hand.

The two walked in front of the camera, and this time Zhao Zhen did not sit down.

"Click!"

After changing a photosensitive material plate, Su Song pressed the shutter again.

In the picture, Zhao Jun and Zhao Zhen both smiled, and they didn't look as serious as they did in the photo.

The two stood side by side, like a pair of brothers.

Time.

It stopped at this moment.

I don't know the future.

Where will it go.

(End)