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

In February of the 25th year of the Qingli reign of the Song Dynasty, the Song army broke through the capital of Dali, Yangjumie City, destroyed the Yang regime, and took over Yunnan.

In recent years, Zhao Jun has been committed to unifying the Chinese Begonia Leaf.

But Dali is the biggest obstacle.

The reason is that in the past few years, when the international situation of the Song Dynasty was extremely bad and even Goryeo abandoned it, only Dali was still supporting it.

Although this is related to geopolitics, Goryeo was actually threatened by the Liao Kingdom, but Dali was in the southwest and could not get too close to the Liao Kingdom. It would only follow the pace of the Song Dynasty.

However, no matter what, when even the Yue Dynasty dared to harass the border of the Song Dynasty, Dali has always pursued a policy of respecting the Song Dynasty, which is already very valuable.

So in terms of righteousness, the Song Dynasty could not take action against Dali, and could only think of other ways.

But opportunities always come to those who are prepared.

The Dali Kingdom is not internally stable and iron-clad. The powerful minister Gao family controls the government, and the Yang family is eyeing it covetously. The king Duan Silian is no longer able to control the situation.

Finally, in the 23rd year of the Qingli reign of the Song Dynasty, in 1063 AD, the Yang family launched a rebellion, and the army marched towards the capital of Dali.

Duan Silian was unable to stop it, so he could only seek help from the Gao family.

Compared with the Song Dynasty, which had entered a new era, the political environment of Dali was still based on the tribal system.

Gao and Yang were both among the most powerful tribes in Dali, and the leaders of many other tribes followed the lead of the monarch Duan, the prime minister Gao, and the Yang family, the descendants of the former Dayining.

Later, the Duan and Yang families declined day by day, and the Gao family rose strongly and controlled the power of the entire Dali Kingdom, which made the Duan and Yang families very afraid.

So the Yang family took a risk, and the leader of the Yang family, Yang Yunxian, launched a rebellion and attacked the Gao family in the name of clearing the court.

Historically, this rebellion was eventually quelled by the Gao family, and did not cause much waves, and even helped the Gao family to establish its regime. It briefly abolished the Duan family and established itself as king.

However, this time, for some reason, the Yang family had sufficient soldiers, food and equipment. They fought with the Gao family for two years and finally defeated the Gao family. They marched into Yangzhumie City, abolished the Duan family and rebuilt the Dayining Kingdom.

But before the Yang family could be happy for too long, the Song army descended from the sky and swept the entire Yunnan in just one month, destroying the Dayining Kingdom revived by the Yang family.

The news quickly spread back to Bianliang.

In late February, heavy rain fell in Bianliang, with big raindrops falling and dark clouds covering the sky.

The tide surged in a very short time, submerging the concrete-poured Bianhe River embankment, and even approached the scenic area. The water level was less than ten feet from the shore.

However, thanks to the fact that the court has renovated the river embankments along the Bianhe River again in recent years, including the Huimin River, the Xinqu Canal, the Guangji Canal, the Jinshui River and other rivers, all the previous canals and the newly built canals have been reinforced, so there was no flood.

On the contrary, in the spring rainy season, willows flutter on both sides of the embankment, the morning breeze and the waning moon are on the bank of the painted bridge, and walking slowly along the bluestone-paved East Street with an oil-paper umbrella, there is an indescribable taste.

There are very few ancient city areas left now, only the East Street in the southeast corner of the inner city and the Ma Xing Street outside Donghuamen are still preserved.

This part includes more than ten squares and markets such as Tianshui Lane, Yulin Lane, Qingxuanfang, Qitao City, Xiangguo Temple, Zhugan City, Huihefang, Guangfufang, etc. in East Street and Ma Xing Street, with a total area of ​​about four or five square kilometers.

The rest of the places have basically been demolished and high-rise buildings have been built one after another.

The remaining ancient streets and squares were left because Zhao Jun insisted on staying, otherwise according to the opinions of those court officials, they should have been demolished long ago.

Compared with the difficult reform of Zhao Jun in the past, the court officials of the Song Dynasty are more radical than him.

The reason is that demolition and large-scale construction can make too much money and quickly achieve political achievements.

The Song Dynasty has gained too many benefits over the years, making a lot of money from foreign trade, and private factories have sprung up like mushrooms after rain, and the process of industrialization is very fast.

From the third year of Jingyou, that is, 1036 AD, to now in 1063, only 26 years have passed, and the Song Dynasty has been completely renewed.

The annual income of the treasury has increased exponentially, and the real estate demolition has contributed greatly to it.

Bianliang has the fastest industrialization process, with countless factories of all kinds. More factories attract workers, causing a population explosion. Now there are 10 million people, and there is a huge demand for houses. Demolition has made a lot of financial profits.

For example, the demolition cost of a market only needs millions of guan. If it is built into a building, the habitable area will be greatly increased, and the cost can be recovered several times or even dozens of times by selling it.

However, Zhao Jun believes that demolition is indeed a huge profit, but it is only a short-term profit. In the long run, it is still necessary to build urban culture.

Because only by allowing the city to retain its cultural heritage, its style and characteristics, and making culture and characteristics its city name card, can the city continue to burst with vitality.

Just like the second ring road of Beijing, the capital of our country in later generations, the alleys, courtyards and the Forbidden City that were left behind in the past allow people to experience the ancient charm of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

And demolishing a large number of ancient buildings will only make the city's name card disappear, turning it into a cold forest of reinforced concrete.

So Zhao Jun preserved a large number of magnificent palaces and some classic streets and markets, and repaired the ancient temples, temples, markets and buildings in them, making them the cultural heritage of the capital of the Song Dynasty.

As a result, the natives cursed.

After all, it is just like those alleys and courtyard houses in the Second Ring Road. There is a price but no market. If the houses are not demolished, the original residents cannot become demolition households. No one buys the old and dilapidated alleys and courtyard houses in the Second Ring Road, resulting in a group of Beijing original residents who live in houses worth tens of millions or even hundreds of millions, but live in poverty.

Compared with the original residents of the Second Ring Road in Beijing in later generations, the people of the Song Dynasty were much wilder, especially the people of Bianliang, who blocked the prime ministers without hesitation.

In the second half of last year, I heard that the Political System Council rejected the proposal of Kaifeng Prefecture and the Ministry of Urban Planning and Construction. Many people in Ma Xing Street and Dongda Street were not happy, so they went to the prime ministers' residences such as Yang Cha, Yang Gao, Su Huan, Chen Xiliang, Zhao Yan, Liang Shi and other prime ministers to make trouble.

In recent years, Zhao Jun's power reached its peak. In 1056 AD, Fan Zhongyan, Yan Shu, Du Yan, Zheng Jian, Xia Song and others officially resigned, and Yang Cha, Yang Gao, Li Jianzhi and others were newly included.

By 1061, Fu Bi, Wen Yanbo, Han Qi, Pang Ji, Zeng Gongliang, Song Xiang and others who entered the academy in 1051 also reached the ten-year term and resigned from the position of prime minister.

Considering that these people were only in their fifties or even less than sixty years old when they resigned, it was a loss for the court to let these experienced and energetic politicians retire, so Zhao Jun once again carried out reforms to reduce and expand the Political System Institute.

The so-called reduction means reducing the number of prime ministers to eight. In addition to Zhao Jun himself, there are only Yang Cha, Yang Gao, Li Jianzhi, and Su Huan, Chen Xiliang, Zhao Yan, and Liang Shi who entered the academy the year before.

Expansion means retaining the original prime minister, but no longer serving as prime minister, but continuing to stay in the Political System Institute in the name of counselors of the Political System Institute, advising the prime minister on political affairs, without real power.

However, even if there is no real power, the influence is still there because he was a prime minister before.

Secondly, they continued to stay in the highest power center. Although they seemed to have no real power, whoever was closest to the power center had power, so their status was comparable to that of a vice-prime minister.

Anyway, since the establishment of the Political System Institute, there had been no vice-prime ministers in the Song Dynasty, including the initial alternate Tongzhi, who was only added to the first level of the 16th department, making them one level higher in rank. The missing layer in the middle was just filled by the retired prime minister.

In this way, the Political System Institute consisted of eight prime ministers, plus ten counselors including Fan Zhongyan, Yan Shu, Xia Song, Jia Changchao, Fu Bi, Wen Yanbo, etc., forming a huge political group centered on Zhao Jun.

Although there were certainly small factions and disagreements within this political group, for example, Fan Zhongyan and Yan Shu were highly respected and their words were very important, so ordinary prime ministers needed to consult them.

But since six of the seven prime ministers were promoted by Zhao Jun, and the remaining Liang Shi was also respectful and obedient, his power was unparalleled for a while.

There were rumors in the court.

After all, there has never been a prime minister with such great power in the Song Dynasty for hundreds of years.

But Zhao Jun has done a lot of work. Although he has great power, he has never sidelined Zhao Zhen. On the contrary, Zhao Zhen's power is unprecedentedly strong.

No matter what state-level occasions, Zhao Zhen has always attended, giving Zhao Zhen enough face and power. Compared with Zhao Zhen, the presence of the Political System Institute is relatively less.

However, Zhao Zhen knew very well that he was not the material for governing the country, so he entrusted this power to the Political System Institute. Therefore, even if there are some complaints, it cannot change the essence of the Political System Institute's governance of the entire Song Dynasty.

At this moment, it is pouring rain outside the Political System Institute. Last month was the New Year holiday, Tiansheng Festival and Lantern Festival. In February, it was the time when the economy of Bianliang was developing rapidly. As a result, it rained for four or five consecutive days.

There are several prime ministers in the room who are inspecting various departments as usual. Zhao Jun sits in the main seat. He is 48 years old this year. His temples are completely gray. His face is elegant and his temperament has not changed, but he looks a little old.

Everyone around sat down and handled official documents on their desks.

The Song Empire was growing larger and larger, and its population was growing rapidly. In just 26 years, its population had soared from about 80 million to more than 200 million today.

And the expansion of territory made the affairs of this empire even busier.

If Zhao Jun had not reformed the Political System Institute and established a huge government agency to handle it, it would have been impossible to respond in time to so many tedious matters.

"Last year, another 30,000 households were relocated in the Northeast. This is the list of resettlement expenses and migration costs from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Households."

"The railway plan from Ganzhou to Gaochang has been completed. This is the plan from the Ministry of Railways."

"The cost of the Bianhe environmental governance project is more than expected. The Ministry of Environment hopes to apply for more funds."

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs"

As before, after the prime ministers reviewed the memorials, they would report the matter to Zhao Jun.

It was basically a process.

Because these things had been planned and considered before, opinions and notices had been issued, and the rest was handed over to the departments below to operate.

The operation process and difficulties encountered by the departments will still be handed over to the Political System Council. If there is a shortage of money, the money will be approved; if there is a shortage of people, people will be transferred. It is that simple.

It is this mechanism that has greatly reduced the work of the Political System Council. Otherwise, if it is still the previous system of the Political Affairs Hall, the prime ministers will be exhausted and it will be difficult to handle all the affairs of such a huge empire.

"Zhiyuan, what happened this morning"

After reporting the affairs under his jurisdiction, Yang Cha did not leave, but smiled bitterly and said to Zhao Jun: "No one dared to cause trouble at the gate of the Zhiyuan Mansion, but my family suffered."

As soon as he said this, Yang Gao, Chen Xiliang, Su Huan and others also complained.

"Yes, Zhiyuan, we still have to think of a way to deal with this matter."

"The Chaotang has always dealt with things fairly. Other places have been demolished and demolition money was given to them. However, the people on Mahang Street and Dongda Street were not demolished. They must not be happy."

"In the final analysis, it is still a matter of money. Now the imperial treasury is worth more than one billion yuan per year, but more money can be spent in more places. It is also a good thing to demolish less streets."

"But we can't let them continue to make trouble like this. Now there are so many newspapers outside watching. We can't let Kaifeng Mansion send people to lock people up."

Everyone was talking about it.

This matter is really difficult to handle.

If Zhao Jun insists on retaining the city's culture and business card, the residents of Majing Street and East Street will definitely not be happy.

After all, others have made a fortune from demolition. A house that they might have bought for just a few or at most a dozen yuan back then could be sold for seven to eight thousand or even tens of thousands of yuan in just a few decades.

This amount of money is not considered rich in the inner city or even the outer city, but if you move to live outside the city, you can become a rich man in an instant.

That's what it means to be wealthy.

After all, the coins of the Song Dynasty have not depreciated much in recent years, and even the introduction of banknotes has not reduced the purchasing power of Song coins.

The reason is that the commodity economy is very prosperous and a large amount of goods are exported overseas, which has not caused an oversupply of domestic goods. The buyer's market and the seller's market are very close to balance.

This will neither cause inflation nor deflation, and the purchasing power of Song coins is still very strong, comparable to the U.S. dollar in the 1980s and 1990s.

It can be seen how strong the credibility of the US dollar was in that era.

Therefore, rather than living in a priceless house in the inner city, it is better to sell the house and move outside the city.

It is equivalent to later generations selling their own house worth 20 million in Beijing and running to the suburbs of Beijing with the 20 million. The money can be deposited in the bank with interest for a lifetime.

What's more, the current situation in Bianliang is very special. It is in the stage of rapid development and rising. A large number of demolished households in the city have gone out of the city to purchase shops and real estate.

As the migrant population continues to increase, these shops and properties will become more valuable. Therefore, the residents of Mahang Street and East Street will definitely feel unbalanced when they see others getting rich.

"Well, this issue does need to be discussed, but I will not change my opinion on preserving the city's culture and style."

Zhao Jun pondered for a moment and said to Su Huan: "Let the Ministry of Urban Construction count how many shops and residential buildings there are on Mhang Street and East Street, and then we will come up with a plan."

Su Huan said: "What does Zhiyuan mean?"

"The court can buy their house, but demolishing it will definitely not work. Otherwise, there will be no place to go for urban tourism in the future. Scholars are going on an outing. How can they walk in reinforced concrete buildings holding umbrellas? It would be a terrible sight."

Zhao Jun smiled and said: "Boating on the lake, walking on the bluestone road with arch bridges, willows on both sides, shops and restaurants, and numerous signboards, that is the artistic conception. I believe that these places will definitely become the most distinctive business cards of Bianliang for tourists in the future. There will be an endless stream of people, but the local residents are relatively short-sighted and only value immediate benefits and cannot see the future. In this case, let the court acquire it. "

The scenery of Bianliang was still very beautiful in the past, which is recorded in "Tokyo Menghualu" and "Along the River During the Qingming Festival".

There are all kinds of small bridges and flowing water, ancient temples and pagodas, willow embankments, and brothels with red sleeves.

Among them, Maxing Street and East Street are the most popular.

Maxing Street has always been the city center of Bianliang, where street commerce is most developed. It is also known as Kaifeng East Market. It has a dense population and a very good economy.

East Street is no less generous, with the Xiangguo Temple Market nearby and the Bianhe River, with beautiful scenery and willow trees on both sides.

Not to mention the ancients, even the people of later generations, if they want to travel and relax, compared with the bustling high-rise buildings in the city center, they definitely want to go somewhere with beautiful scenery.

Maxing Street and East Street are not only the city center, but also retain a large number of ancient buildings and antique charm. Zhao Jun believes that there will be a huge market in the future.

Because the positioning of the Second Ring Road in Beijing is different from that of later generations.

Most of the ancient buildings in Beijing's Second Ring Road are courtyard houses and alleys with a large number of residential buildings and fewer pavements. Naturally, they are not suitable for commercial development, thus becoming a historical problem.

The streets in Bianliang were originally commercial streets with a lot of pavements and could be fully commercialized as an ancient city.

It's just that the local residents are obviously too short-sighted. They just want to get the demolition money and make a fortune, but they don't know that if these two places are turned into ancient cities in the future, they will have to be lenient just to collect rent from the shops inside.

But since they are unwilling to keep it, Zhao Jun doesn't mind taking these places back. In the final analysis, it is only a temporary loss. In a few decades, these places will make huge profits.

"At that time, we will arrange for a state-owned enterprise to operate it on our behalf."

Zhao Jun said: "And with the deepening of industrialization, traditional handmade manufacturing is gradually dying out. Things passed down by our ancestors still need to be preserved. These handmade products can be protected and moved to these two ancient streets. They will be made in the future." Small and exquisite luxury goods, such as machine manufacturing, focus on the low-end market and focus on the high-end market, catering to the luxury brands of the wealthy.”

"The magistrate is still thoughtful."

Yang Gao boasted.

"hehe."

Zhao Jun smiled.

Luxury goods are a hugely profitable industry.

Handicraft manufacturing will definitely die out and decline after industrialization.

It is better to carry out industrial layout early, let the traditional handmade manufacturing industry shine and become the spokesperson of luxury brands, than to be overtaken by the West in the future.

While they were talking, the newly appointed Zhisi from outside came in and reported: "Zhiyuan, the Ministry of War has an emergency report from the southwest."

"What's wrong?"

"The matter in Dali is settled."

"oh?"

Zhao Jun immediately stood up from his chair.

The eyes of everyone around him were instantly attracted.

"Another piece of land has been taken back."

Yan Shu came over and stroked his beard and said.

Historically, he had already died of illness during this period.

However, thanks to the advancement of medical technology, his life span has been extended, and he is still able to shine in the Constitutional Institute.

Zhao Jun took the map from the bookshelf in the courtyard and spread it on his desk in the academy.

Everyone gathered around.

I saw that this was a map of East Asia. There was a line inside and outside the countries surrounding the Song Dynasty, outlining a beautiful leaf. At first glance, it looked like a begonia leaf.

This has been Zhao Jun's dream all along - to unify the Chinese begonia leaves.

Now most of this line has been filled, including the Northeast and Outer Northeast, the treasure island of Taiwan, Inner Mongolia and parts of Outer Mongolia, and the surrounding areas of Xinjiang.

Now that the Yunnan part has been recovered, only the Burmese part, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and part of Outer Mongolia are left.

Even if you include Vietnam, North Korea, northern North Korea and the Fergan Basin in Central Asia, the area of ​​​​this begonia leaf is larger than that of the Qing Dynasty.

"Okay, okay."

Zhao Jun said happily: "My hard work over the years is not in vain."

"Yunnan has been recovered, what should Duan do with it?"

"This time we are nominally helping the Dali rebellion, and the Duan family still exists."

"It's simple. Give him a reward. Like the Qian family, move to Bianliang and become a rich man. Anyway, I heard that many of the Duan family's descendants are not willing to go back at all. They would rather come to Bianliang Buddhist Temple than stay in Dali."

"Then let's do it."

Zhao Jun glanced at the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. In fact, the Outer Mongolia region was easy to say.

The Song Dynasty has been working hard to build railways over the years. Starting from the first railway built in the fifth year of Qingli, more than one billion railways have been spent to build 70,000 to 80,000 kilometers of railway mileage.

Although it is still less than half the 160,000 kilometers of later generations, after all, it only took more than ten years, and the technology of railway construction has been very mature.

It is not difficult to build a railway from the north to the prairie, or even continue exploring all the way north to reach Siberia.

Only the plateau environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has always been a flaw.

Otherwise, it would not have happened. During the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was only nominally under the central government, but in fact it was still under the rule of the central government. In the Qing Dynasty, control was only further strengthened, but there was no complete actual control. The real actual control is still a new era.

Therefore, based on ancient capabilities, it was very difficult to truly and completely control the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, dispatch officials there, and implement central government decrees.

Zhao Jun is not completely sure about this until now.

The main reason is that even our country's development of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was completed only after the millennium, when our country's strength and economy became increasingly stronger, and the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway was completed in 2006.

The Song Dynasty was far from reaching the post-millennium heights of our country in later generations. It was still in a period of rapid development. Construction and development were going on everywhere in the country. It was easy to mobilize troops and horses on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, but it was difficult to complete the construction.

Therefore, taking the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is now a thankless task.

"Let the Northwest Military Region go into Tibet."

Zhao Jun said in a deep voice: "Let's fight it down first. We will deal with governance issues later. We will first destroy the local ruling class, then change the local underlying ecology and carry out grassroots governance. When the country's national strength is further improved in the future, the railway will be built to the plateau. Go up and you can achieve actual control.”

It is better to knock it down and then manage it than to let it fend for itself.

After the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was captured, the Song Dynasty officially unified Begonia leaves, and Outer Mongolia should also be put on the agenda.