Brother Song Taizu

Chapter 168: Skilled political struggles often use the simplest methods

'Let the people grab it themselves?This...is this how you plan to implement the New Deal?No wonder outsiders say you are an enemy of Confucianism. After reading so many history books, I have never encountered a court that took the initiative to ask for favors and ruined the music. '

At this moment, Zhao Guangmei finally saw Zhao Guangyi, and waved her hands: "Second brother? You came to see me for something, come on, come on, students, get out of class is over, I will teach again when I am free."

Then he quickly invited Zhao Guangyi to the study.

Zhao Guangyi smiled and said: "Looking at you, are you planning to take that Lu Mengzheng and a handful of them as disciples?"

"Disciple? I can't talk about it, but I had a chat with him the day before yesterday and found that he is indeed a talented person. The key is that this New Confucianism is indeed something we need to implement the New Deal. To be honest, the current seven items of the New Deal are not enough. It’s just an appetizer. When all seven items are implemented one by one, when will this new policy truly begin?”

"The operation of society ultimately relies on ethics rather than laws. How many times can ordinary people encounter criminal lawsuits in this life? Besides, as far as the judicial environment in our Song Dynasty is concerned, I dare not hold anything against it. Expectation, therefore, it is inevitable to design a new ethical and moral system.”

Zhao Guangyi smiled and said: "Does the new ethics even hesitate to mention great revenge?"

"Yes, it means revenge. Without such theoretical support, when ordinary people smash, loot, and engage in riots, they will easily be labeled as rebels. Besides, everything has its limits, and this thing can more or less work. serve as a guiding ideology.”

Zhao Guangyi frowned slightly when he heard this, and then thought deeply.

Zhao Guangmei turned around and said in surprise: "You didn't jump up and object after hearing such retro thoughts. It's not like you."

When Zhao Guangyi heard this, he rubbed Zhao Guangmei's head fiercely: "I am also your second brother after all. Do you talk to your second brother like this?"

Zhao Guangmei smiled: "Second brother came to see me specially. What's the matter?"

Zhao Guangyi then said seriously: "There is something wrong. The problems with the implementation of the New Deal are very serious."

As he spoke, Zhao Guangyi described in detail what he saw and heard this time.

Zhao Guangmei was also surprised and said: "I see, how could anyone dare to speak nonsense against my eldest brother? In this case, Magistrate Xu is not only not opposing the New Deal, but maybe he is the most supportive of the New Deal in the surrounding counties. At least, He protects himself wisely and has no real obstacles."

Zhao Guangyi also sighed and said: "Who says it's not the case? It's obvious that Big Brother has already made it clear that anyone who dares to obstruct the New Deal can be killed. Why are these people so brave?"

Zhao Guangmei, on the other hand, smiled and said: "Brother, just to put it bluntly, do you really think he can do it? The so-called law does not punish everyone. The current New Deal only applies to Jingdong and Jingxi. Trial implementation. It seems that the magistrates in various places can avoid causing trouble. It is very likely that the only one who dares to make a decisive decision is Magistrate Xu who blocked the palace and scolded him. What can he do? Kill all the magistrates on both sides. ?After cutting it off? Do you want to fill the vacancies? If you don't fill the vacancies, there will be no county magistrates in these more than 100 counties, and those powerful people will only get worse. As you said, if the county magistrate in Zheng County doesn't care, you will see it on the roadside. The corpses may be more than just a family of three."

Zhao Guangyi said: "Then what if we kill all the rich people who dare to stop us?"

"Then the world will be in chaos. Although we have soldiers in our hands, they are definitely not used in this way. It doesn't sound good to say it, but it is very practical. Yelu Deguang was so arrogant when he took over Kaifeng. In the past, The Liao army was probably not much weaker than the Song army in Kaifeng today. The Khitans killed the Han people. I dare not say anything else. They must have been more ruthless than their elder brothers. What was the result? They were still rallied by heroes from all over the country. Did you attack and get away on a camel? Who do you think the so-called heroes from all walks of life are?"

Zhao Guangyi smiled bitterly when he heard this: "You are right. I only found out later that the man named Huang once led his clan soldiers to kill the Khitans when he was young. He is indeed one of these heroes."

Zhao Guangmei sighed and said: "The Five Dynasties, the background of the founding of our country in the Song Dynasty is special. The hundred years of chaos since the end of the Tang Dynasty, especially in the Central Plains and Hebei, have resulted in large landowners who can threaten the political power. No more, the so-called noble families and aristocratic families have all fallen prey to the sword soldiers, but..."

Zhao Guangyi also understood and said: "However, the little rich people have become more numerous and more unruly and difficult to control."

"Yes, it is difficult to control the unruly, because the world has gone through a hundred years of war, and the Central Plains region has gone through five dynasties in 50 years. Each dynasty was so short that no one had time to really do a good job in grassroots governance. At the same time, these people I no longer have any psychological respect for the imperial court. The Liang, Tang, Jin, Han and Zhou dynasties all disappeared within 50 years. Who can guarantee that the Song Dynasty was not an accident?"

A small local tycoon and a powerful man are really not the same thing. The powerful man fights with the emperor and the court, and fights openly and secretly with swords and swords. At least they can be seen, and the emperor has a clear enemy.

In the early Song Dynasty, a society full of small local tyrants was really difficult to manage. To a certain extent, the monarchy's power was indeed greatly strengthened, but it also basically completely lost its ability to govern the society at the bottom.

In the era of powerful clans, as long as the emperor could subdue the powerful clans, he could actually carry out grassroots governance. In the era of no clans, it was really hopeless. No matter how wise and powerful the ruler was, he could not even find a serious enemy. any solution?
The so-called imperial power has not been sent to the countryside since ancient times. In fact, this ancient history really only started in the Song Dynasty. This can be regarded as a gain and a loss. After the Song Dynasty, the political power was indeed much more stable than before. At least there was no need to hate the prince like in the Han and Tang Dynasties. If you want to succeed to the throne, you have to think about how to kill your uncle or father.

Seeing Zhao Guangmei's disinterested look, Zhao Guangyi couldn't help but said: "You said you already knew this?"

"I can only say that I expected it. In fact, after the new policy was officially launched, the number of civil servants who opposed me was actually much less than I expected. On the contrary, there were more civil servants who supported me than I expected. Many, even among the people, you see, people like Lu Mengzheng and the new Confucianism came earlier than I imagined."

Zhao Guangyi frowned and said, "Then...what should we do about this kind of thing?"

"What should we do? What should we do? We should do whatever we have to do and do our own thing well. The New Deal should take its time and wait for the people to bear fruit on their own."

"Hey~"

Zhao Guangyi sighed in frustration. In fact, he almost knew what Zhao Guangmei was thinking, because he had already done similar things in Huainan.

It's just that there was a disaster in Huainan back then, which was the accelerant, so there were rebels everywhere. But now there is no disaster in Kaifeng, so the speed of the rebel rebellion will naturally be slower, but sooner or later, there will definitely still be .

This is also one of the New Deal, which is to form a large number of militiamen and establish military households in villages and towns. However, Zhao Guangmei never mentioned where the military households of this militia came from. Now it seems...it is clearly intended to be from the rebels. Come to seek peace from among them!
To put it bluntly, Kaifeng at this time is the same as Yangzhou in the past. 10,000+ Forbidden Army are waiting on the side. The rebels will just poke a hole in the sky, and the Forbidden Army can fill it up again.

Even looking at the meaning of this New Confucianism, this group of people may not be called rebels, but "big avengers".

All he could do was mutter to himself and lament: "The rituals and music have collapsed, the rituals and music have collapsed."

………………

Inside Duanwen Hall.Zhao Pu, who had just given up his duties as Privy Councilor and officially assumed the position of prime minister, got into work almost as soon as he started working, and smoothly completed his identity change from a quasi-military man to a pure scholar. At this time, he was taking He was reading the book and reporting work to Zhao Kuangyin.

"Officials, this year's inspection of the capital and the civil service department are much more serious and responsible. Judging from the actual results, at least the officials in the capital have done a very good job."

Zhao Kuangyin was also very happy and said: "Although the money collected by the three divisions of taxation is getting less and less year by year, I have no worries about money in the Song Dynasty because there are merchants here. On the contrary, this food and wood, In-kind taxes on leather and other materials are becoming more and more important now. Oh, by the way, there is also the matter of building bridges and paving roads. My third brother told me that if the New Deal is to be implemented well, transportation and roads are the top priority. The only way is to build more roads. , only the human and material resources of the people can circulate continuously and create a lot of wealth. Building bridges and paving roads is actually the top priority of officials everywhere. Look, this year, the roads and rivers across the country are all very well built, ha. Ha ha."

Zhao Pu also nodded when he heard this and said: "The officials are right. His Highness the King of Qin has talked to me several times and repeatedly emphasized to me that transportation is the foundation of the new policy. If transportation is not successful, business will not be prosperous, and if business is not prosperous, then business will not be prosperous. There is no basis for the New Deal. Today, our Song Dynasty is different from other dynasties in the past. When people perform corvee work, they are given money and food. His Highness the King of Qin said that this matter cannot be taken too seriously. This is called If you want to get rich, build roads first. For example, many major roads, such as the dredging from Kaifeng to Luoyang, are done by the merchants themselves."

"Yes, what the third brother said is indeed reasonable. Building bridges and paving roads has been a good thing since ancient times. However, the court always had no money, so it had to rely on the rich gentry and rural sages from all over the country. Now it is entrusted to the third brother and Thanks to the merchants, our Song Dynasty has a lot of financial resources. Naturally, we have to do more practical things for the people. So, now that you are the prime minister, you have to do more practical things than before in the Privy Council. What kind of things do you want to do? Don’t always think about gains and losses, don’t always think about benefits. When the court spends money on the people, there is no need to consider gains and losses. As long as it actually helps the people, I will be happy with the money spent.”

"You are right, official. I believe that the imperial court should encourage officials from all over the country to build more roads, and even include this matter in the inspection every two years as one of the most important political achievements."

Zhao Kuangyin thought for a moment after hearing this, then nodded and said: "You are right, but are there any regulations?"

"There are no charters yet, but at least I think we should set an example. Start with the two words of reward and punishment. Find a grassroots official who is excellent in all aspects and praise it so that everyone in the world can see it. Our Song Dynasty, It’s really about promoting talents in an eclectic way.”

"Hmm... Not bad, what you said makes sense, is there a suitable candidate?"

"Yes, Zheng County Magistrate Sun Xing's team."

"The magistrate of Zheng County? The second child's person?"

"Yes, this person should indeed be regarded as a member of His Highness King Qi. This year, during the Beijing inspection, His Highness King Qi ordered this person to go to the middle school. He is also the only one among the 22 county magistrates in Kaifeng Prefecture."

With that said, Zhao Pu handed Zhao Kuangyin the personnel information he had prepared.

Zhao Kuangyin turned over the pages and couldn't help but admire: "He is a talent. The second brother is very strict under his control. Since he can be rated as above average, he must have real ability. Why, you want to recommend it to me?" Is this person?"

"Exactly, according to the data thoroughly investigated by the officials, among the counties in Kaifeng this year, only Zheng County has built the most bridges and roads this year. It has built more than one official road that can run double-row carriages. They even built more After renovating the canal, I am afraid that none of the county magistrates across the country can compare with him."

Zhao Kuangyin had a look of admiration on his face: "With the power of one county, it can actually take the initiative to renovate the river. It's rare. It's rare. What's even more rare is that you would recommend the second person to me. Okay, okay, you are now Prime Minister, I am very pleased that you can be so generous and put state affairs first."

Zhao Pu said with a smile: "You are joking about the official family. Everyone in the court is from the official family and is from the Song Dynasty. There are no ministers and people from the King of Qi. What I mean is that since I, the Song Dynasty, dare to open up the world, I will not be able to do anything." If you dare to launch a new policy, you will naturally set an unprecedented precedent. Since Sun Xingzu is a capable official and has built so many roads, can he... be given a promotion?"

"Come up?"

As Chinese people, we must be humble. Generally speaking, in terms of inspection, the upper middle school is already top-notch. As for the evaluation of the higher level, it is basically not something prepared for living people.

Just like the official position of Zhengyipin is basically never prepared for living people. Generally, if a living person becomes Zhengyipin, it is basically not far from usurping the throne.

However, Zhao Kuangyin was originally a soldier, and he was always casual when serving as an official. Zhao Pu's suggestion was really in his heart.

He couldn't help but said: "Do you know this person? Is he really worthy of being the best choice?"

Zhao Pu said: "I don't know much about him, I've never met him, but I know about King Qi. Since King Qi recommends this person in this way, this person must be fine."

"Yeah...that's right. I'm very happy that you think so. I've told you a long time ago that when employing people and doing things, you must trust them. Don't always think about doing everything by yourself, and don't always think about grabbing all the authority. You are so strong. You are so strong no matter which yamen you are in. Isn't this also detrimental to you? The second brother is not as capable as the third brother, but he is diligent and cooperates with you to deal with some problems. Isn't that more than enough for daily government affairs? His vision is unmistakable."

When Zhao Pu heard this, he couldn't help but reveal a very curved smile at the corner of his mouth.

"Oh, by the way, I heard that there was a village sage named Huang in Zheng County who contributed a lot to the construction of bridges and roads. It is said that he donated most of the funds raised by the sages. Look, officials, this is Magistrate Sun’s petition requested the Ministry of Rites to erect a memorial arch for this rural sage named Huang.”

Nowadays, the new rule of the Song Dynasty is that when building bridges and paving roads in the eastern and western areas of Jingdong, the court is responsible for one-third of the money, the commercial banks are responsible for one-third of the money, and the last one-third is raised by the local government.

Self-financed? Naturally, the most important way is donations from wealthy gentry and rural sages.

"Oh? Hmm... Not bad. This is the real model of rural virtuousness. Unfortunately, the imperial examinations in our Song Dynasty no longer depend on reputation. Otherwise, based on this, this person must at least be given a Jinshi. This person, I really need to praise you.”

Zhao Kuangyin was in a bad mood. After so many years, he had naturally seen the endless fight between Zhao Pu and Zhao Guangyi. To be honest, this was really not his intention to create divisions. He was the founding emperor who controlled the ministers. There is no need for such means at all.

Both of them are his relatives. Although Zhao Pu is not his biological brother, he is not better than his relatives. He sees it in his eyes and is anxious in his heart.

Yeah.

Zhao Pu, Zhao Pu, I wrongly blamed you. I always thought you were power-hungry, petty-minded, and even vindictive. Now it seems that you have grown a lot. With such a transfer from the Privy Council to the outside, this pattern has immediately improved.

After that, Zhao Kuangyin laughed loudly and ordered someone to find a pen and paper, but with a splash of ink, he wrote the four characters "Model of Rural Virtue", then used his private seal and ordered Wang Jien: "These four characters, Send it to the Ministry of Rites, and when you build a memorial arch for the village virtuous man, hang it directly on that memorial arch."

Thanks to the county magistrate named Sun, you are the opportunity for the two prime ministers of the Song Dynasty to get back together.

(End of this chapter)