Brother Song Taizu

Chapter 207 The legal system of the Song Dynasty

In fact, Zhao Guangmei knows better than anyone how difficult it will be to fulfill the things he promised now. There are more than 4000 people in this Qiongmian camp, from southern China to Haibei, almost from more than 1000 counties across the country.

In other words, if he wants to fulfill his promise after the war, there will be only a few counties left in the country that do not need to be attacked.

Since almost all serious criminals have been tried by prefects, prefects at all levels may also be involved.

This is not about revenge for Pao Ze. It is clearly an attempt to launch a nationwide judicial reform that targets at least 80% of local civil servants!

If they really want to kill their enemies... there may not be a few county magistrates left across the country.

Originally, his relationship with the civil servant group was not good. If he did this, the civil servant group would go crazy collectively. Zhu Yuanzhang had never been so cruel.

"Your Highness, you...are the promises you made today true?"

On the way back to the camp, Cao Bin couldn't help himself and asked.

"I swore this oath with my Zhao family's Jiangshan Sheji and ancestral tablets. How can this be fake?"

"But Your Highness, this... this is too... too scary. Besides, even if the punishment names of our Song Dynasty are imperfect, even if we want to change them, we have to do it slowly and figure it out slowly. Maybe we could just wipe out all the grassroots officials in our Song Dynasty, wouldn’t that mean the world would be in chaos?”

Zhao Guangmei sighed and said: "It is impossible for the world to be in chaos. They are just a group of civil servants without military power. How can there be chaos? However, the normal administrative system will definitely be greatly affected. You are right, anti-corruption The purpose is not to completely clean up all monsters and monsters, it is not necessary and cannot be done, but it should be to shock Xiao Xiao, avoid the systemic collapse caused by corruption, and make those people feel apprehensive and fearful when they want to corrupt, which is already the case. It’s an excellent result. The fundamental purpose is to ensure that the entire bureaucracy system can continue to operate smoothly. To dismantle the entire system for the sake of anti-corruption is indeed putting the cart before the horse.”

"Yes, Your Highness, I have always tried to rectify the government, but I have never heard of such a rectification. Your Highness, are you... forced by military discipline and have no choice but to make this decision, or... do you have a deeper meaning?"

Zhao Guangmei thought for a while and replied: "It's a combination of both. It's really a bit of a rush. The poor military discipline of these heroic warriors is really outrageous, but they are all half-dead. No. If you are afraid of death, how can you fear death?”

"However, indulging military discipline is never allowed, at least in my opinion. If a country's violence is not used to protect the people, but is used to bully the people, no matter how fancy the political rhetoric is, in my eyes He also has no intention of harming the bandits. Can such a country last long and end the chaos of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties?"

After a pause, he continued: "This expedition is to recover the homeland of the Han and Tang Dynasties. However, recovering the homeland is ultimately to protect the homeland and defend the country. Let me tell you something that I shouldn't say. If you want to indulge in military discipline, you can only win by bullying the people. Liao Army, I don’t care if we fight this battle. Let’s just let the Khitan take over our Song Dynasty. In recent years, the Liao court has paid more and more attention to the Han people, such as Han, Zhao, Li, Gao and other Han surnames. It is not a small thing to enter the court and hold an official position, and it may not necessarily bring disaster to all living beings if you really dominate the country."

As he said that, Zhao Guangmei looked at Cao Bin seriously and said: "Cao Bin, both I and my eldest brother value you far more than anyone else in the court. We two brothers have a consensus. Many people in the Song Dynasty My Lord, our Song Dynasty can function as usual without anyone, but you are different. Anyone can have trouble, but you are the mainstay of our Song Dynasty that no one can replace."

"Ah, ah this..."

Cao Bin was stunned and flattered.

Why are you talking so calmly and suddenly confessing your feelings?

It made people completely unprepared. It was so embarrassing that they didn't know what to say.

"I know that in the eyes of some people, this is just a simple military discipline issue, and the so-called military discipline issue may not be a big issue at all. Otherwise, there would be no generals taking the lead in harming women. However, In my eyes, this is actually a legal issue of the Song Dynasty. Previously, our soldiers robbed Jinghu and Houshu, which was still justified. After all, they also robbed the people of the enemy country, but at this time we are still in Guanzhong. If you turn a blind eye to this matter, then I, the Song Dynasty, will not even be worthy of existing."

Hearing this, Cao Bin thought thoughtfully, and then sighed: "How many so-called famous Confucians and sages talk about the ways of saints and shut up about etiquette and morals, but in reality they are just living in plain sight, and are even greedy and vulgar. Your Highness dismisses Confucianism. But you can have such a heart to help the world and love the people, I really admire you."

"Well, that's a good job of flattering me. I'll praise you more when I get the chance."

"Haha, everything I said came from my heart."

"So, I have to manage their military discipline, but I really don't have any idea how to manage it. It's useless to give them power or money. People want their lives, but what the court wants is for them to sacrifice their lives. Ling Zhiyi Authority, people are not afraid of death, and I want to pinch their weaknesses but can’t, so besides giving them fairness, what else can I give them?”

"Of course, I have indeed long wanted to rectify the government. Most of the civil servants in the world are at odds with me. In the future, if this new policy is to be extended to places other than the capital, conflicts will inevitably arise. Besides, I founded the Song Dynasty. After all, Time is still short, and most of the local officials are still officials of the previous dynasty and have not received any favors from me. Moreover, the selection of officials in the previous dynasty was not very random. To be honest, I have really wanted to give them to them for a long time. The grassroots level in the world has been cleaned up, but I have been suffering from the lack of suitable manpower to do this for me."

After hearing this, Cao Bin understood what Zhao Guangmei meant and said with a smile: "So, I really have to thank them. Otherwise, if you want to rectify the grassroots officials, I'm afraid you will have to use my knife. I'm not afraid of making a splash." Covered in blood, I'm afraid that if I cut too many small fish and shrimps like this, my sword will lose its edge."

"Hahahahaha, it's true. But when the time comes, even if they really survive and go back to their hometowns to clear their grievances, you have to be careful and try not to let a bad person go, but also try not to wrongly accuse a good person. Evidence It is true that if there is a malicious miscarriage of justice by the chief official, a heavy punishment for a small crime, or an unjust person, I will kill him no matter who is behind the scenes. But if he really deserves the punishment, or just If there is a miscarriage of justice due to lack of ability and misjudgment, or it is a case where the public is right and the mother-in-law is right, and it is difficult to make a clear case, you should not let them do whatever they want."

"As for the shortfall caused by taking down all the major officials involved in one go... Let's talk about it when the time comes. I will find a way to fill this hole. After all, civil servants are different from military generals. Who are we in the Song Dynasty? I don’t believe there is a shortage of people who are willing to be officials? With this precedent, I want to see who will dare to make blind decisions in the future, which is not necessarily a good thing.”

When Cao Bin heard this, he couldn't help but think deeply.

On the other side, Zhao Kuangyin naturally knew what Zhao Guangmei had promised. After all, he had not yet left the border and had not divided his troops. Then several prime ministers around him were shocked and found Zhao Kuangyin one after another, asking him to reprimand Zhao Guangmei.

Many great truths were said around Zhao Kuangyin one by one, but in the final analysis it was just one sentence: Please take care of your brother, you can't really do this.

For the sake of the military discipline of a mere battalion of beheaded warriors, what kind of bullshit is there to say that we have to attack almost all local officials in the world?Although you two brothers are both the founders of the country who relied on the army as their foundation, you can't look down on us civil servants so much. Is there any reason to not do things in this world?
Zhao Kuangyin also didn't expect that Zhao Guangmei would be so ruthless, so he had to say: "This matter must be kept strictly confidential, and no one should know about it. After all, we are on the march now, and we still have to fight with the Liao Kingdom, so you don't want to get into trouble." ”

"Yes, but officials, His Highness's words are really too shocking. Even though he is in the military, there are always well-informed people in the world. If rumors spread and people's hearts fluctuate, I'm afraid..."

"What are you afraid of? Some civil servants, am I still afraid that they will rebel and disrupt the Song Dynasty? If I hadn't asked the third son, I wouldn't have known that the punishment and naming matters in our Song Dynasty had actually reached this level of chaos. Could it be that Is this what it should be?"

Seeing that everyone was silent, Zhao Kuangyin sighed again and said: "What's the use of telling me this? Even if I really stand on your side and am willing to take care of this matter, so what? He will end up He is the crown prince. Sooner or later, you all have to listen to what he says, right? With the authority of the third brother today, is it possible that the position of the official family of the Song Dynasty can be passed on to others without him? Based on my understanding of the third brother, He has to do this sooner or later. Since he has to do it sooner or later, it is better for me to do it than for him to do it in the future, right? Instead of arguing with me, why not think carefully about how to do this and how not to do it? It has caused a catastrophe. That's it. Zhao Pu stays and the rest go." Everyone had no choice but to resign one after another. Only Zhao Pu stayed. In fact, logically speaking, Zhao Pu's current position is already that of prime minister, which is not what he should be doing. With the army, after all, Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangmei have left. Zhao Guangyi is now the largest in Kaifeng. Considering the relationship between Zhao Guangyi and Zhao Pu, it is better to let Li Chongju and Xue Juzheng stay in Kaifeng to assist.

After all, Zhao Pu was different from others, and he was much more casual when talking to Zhao Kuangyin. He couldn't help but said: "Don't you really care about the officials? Your Highness is certainly a smart man, but doing this is not the way to be a king after all. .”

"The way to be a king? Then tell me, what is the way to be a king?"

"This……"

"Between you and me, what else can't be said? Just say it."

"This... the way to be a king is to use people's shortcomings and not their strengths. Only by using greed and fighting corruption can the world be stabilized. This... Your Highness, he... is good at everything, but... just... ...Wouldn’t it be too innocent?”

"Use corruption and fight against corruption? Ha, this is true, Zhao Pu, Zhao Pu, do you think my third brother really doesn't understand these? On the contrary, he understands it too well. He once told me that the easiest way to govern the world is The method is to strictly enforce the law, make all officials generally break the law, and finally enforce the law selectively. In this way, all officials in the world can be trembling with fear, and they can truly follow the law and take life and death, no matter how high the public resentment is. At this point, everyone will think that the top is good, but the officials below have read the scriptures wrongly. When encountering public dissatisfaction, regardless of whether the court has the ability to solve it, killing a few corrupt officials first to vent their anger on the people will temporarily win over the people. , even if nothing can be solved in the end, we can at least buy it for a few years. At worst, we will just kill a bunch of corrupt officials in a few years."

"........."

Zhao Pu was speechless.

I thought Zhao Guangmei didn't know how to do it, but it turned out that he knew it better than anyone else.

"The third brother is such a person. He knows that he cannot do anything but does it for the sake of bravery. What he wants is not a Song Dynasty built by machinations and seemingly stable, but in fact it is just playing with balance, but a real and up-and-down Song Dynasty. A community of national destiny in which the ruler and the people share the same moral integrity and is planted in everyone's minds is the true legal system of the Song Dynasty."

"You have been taught a lesson. It seems that the officials also support His Highness?"

"Can I not support it? Since he is determined to do it, I can only give him a guarantee. Let's wait until we finish this battle. If we win this battle, our Song Dynasty will have at least ten years of peace. If you want to fight the southern countries, you can attack them if you don't want to. If you don't want to fight, you can let them go. It's no big deal. Naturally, there will be plenty of time for him to toss around as he pleases. But if this battle cannot be won... Bah! This battle cannot be won. Let's not talk about this anymore. Come, come and study the battle report with me."

…………

On the other side, with the Song Army's westward advance, Yelv House also made preparations early.

The Song Army, after all, is still dominated by infantry, and its marching speed is very slow. Although it has purchased a lot of horses one after another in the past two years, most of them were used as livestock to pull carts when they were assigned to the Forbidden Army. Can't take people.

War horses are hard to find, and Kaifeng is really not a suitable place to raise horses. Even if you are willing to feed the horses with beans instead of grass, there are too few places around Kaifeng where horses can be trained, and there are many mosquitoes. Party Ban Zeng Jinyan It is said that every time I go to practice a horse, the horse comes back with more than a hundred big bites. After only a few practices, the horse is bitten by mosquitoes. There is really nothing that can be done.

The two most elite cavalrymen were taken away by Zhang Qiong and Dang Jin long ago. Naturally, the speed of the action was slowed down, and Yelu Wuzhi naturally had enough time to mobilize troops and recruit generals.

"What does Xiao Siwen say? Can they send out the cavalry from Shulu Department? Where is Yelu Xiezhen? Didn't the [-]-strong army still fail to break through Yanmen Pass?"

"Xiangguo, this... the King of the North came to report that Guo Jin's resistance was extremely tenacious, and the Song army's Yanmen garrison was also elite. It would take at least... at least three months to conquer it. Xiao Siwen... he He said that the Goryeo Kingdom invaded the Bohai Kingdom. The defenders of the Bohai Kingdom were defeated and asked him for help. The matter was serious and related to Youyun's safety. Therefore, he led Youyun's main force to support Bohai and sent a young general named Yelu Xiu Ge. With [-] troops and horses, we are confronting Li Hanchao at Waqiao Pass. It will take at least...three months to break through."

"Yelü Xiezhen, Xiao Siwen, and that other brother Yelv Xiu, do they treat me as an idiot?"

As he spoke, he punched the table hard.

"Report~, report, Prime Minister, your majesty, your majesty has an edict, and the heaven will send envoys."

"What the hell is going on?"

"His Majesty said that since the officials of the Song Dynasty are marching in person, they must use the strength of the whole country to come. The Uighurs are our allies, so we have decided to mobilize all the troops and march in person to support Ganzhou."

After hearing the words, Yelu's housekeeper held it in for a long time, and his face twitched. There was no outsider in the room. After a while, he suddenly lifted the table and said, "Hunjun is making trouble at this time." What's the mess?"

"Xiangguo, Your Majesty...could it be that he wants to seize your military power..."

"Hmph, send the order, the whole army, march eastward to Liangzhou, I will fight Zhao Kuangyin in Liangzhou!"

"Ah! So, what about Ganzhou? What about the Shazhou Uighurs?"

"No, let them do whatever they want."

"........."

"........."

　My head hurts so much. I'm sorry. I'll stop talking a little less today.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)