Brother Song Taizu

Chapter 260 In the new era, who is the new king?
What stands out about the palace in Luoyang is its high level.

The entire palace was modified based on the original Ming Palace of the Tang Dynasty, and even slightly expanded. Even the entire Luoyang was expanded accordingly.

Luoyang is positioned as a political center rather than a commercial center. Except for a few particularly important and secret military enterprises, they have all stayed in Kaifeng and have not moved. Therefore, even including the Forbidden Army and their families, the entire city's population does not exceed 50. , so the whole city is actually very comfortable, and the Luoyang Palace is like a sky above the ground compared with the original Kaifeng Palace.

After all, the Song Dynasty has entered the semi-electric era. With the increase in productivity, reinforced concrete can basically be mass-produced in urban areas. Although the cost is a little high, it must be no problem at least for the imperial palace.

It is no exaggeration to say that if you think about the legendary Epang Palace that was burned down by the fire, it is nothing more than that.

However, although the Luoyang Palace is really big, Zhao Kuangyin always feels that it is too spacious. Although Luoyang City is far more livable than Kaifeng, most people who want to live in Luoyang City cannot live in Luoyang City. It is as strict as the previous capitals. It was not convenient to check the household registration, but Zhao Kuangyin always felt that there was a lack of fireworks.

So much so that he was not very happy living in Luoyang.

Zhao Guangmei also knew this, but he naturally didn't think it was a big deal. We are all adults. Is there anything we can't overcome?The result was that he never expected that Zhao Kuangyin would have such a big problem with his residence that he could not even become an emperor?

"Brother, why on earth is this? I can't understand it."

"What can't you understand about this? The emperor's job is not really a good job, don't you not want to do it? When I was the emperor, even if I was put in yellow robes, it was Shi Shouxin, Murong Yanzhao They forced me to let me be the emperor. I said I was not worthy, but they insisted on letting me be the emperor. I have been the emperor for so many years, and now I can no longer serve as the head office."

"........."

Zhao Guangmei was left speechless.

This reason is too lame to find.

After a while, Zhao Kuangyin sighed and said: "I just feel that this emperor is actually not interesting. You and the courtiers are responsible for the affairs of the world. Your reforms have basically been effective. No one in the world dares to think about us anymore. Jiangshan, in fact, you know that I am a person who has never been willing to deal with those chores. To be honest, it feels like I have nothing to do except luxury and enjoyment. "

"Then go ahead and enjoy yourself extravagantly. Who's stopping you? Is there no money in the palace?"

"No, but as the founding emperor of the country, if I indulge in luxury and pleasure, how will I be written about in the history books in the future? Besides, I feel guilty about it, so I can't help but think, what if I want to be debauched? Tao, if you indulge in pleasure, there seems to be no need to be the emperor, right? Under your reforms, the imperial power has been getting smaller and smaller, right? "

"........."

"This is just one, and the second is that I have been thinking about the reform you made recently. You are right. I have been thinking about it when I was reading history books. You said that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was such a wise and powerful man when he was young. , how come he was bullied like that by the minister of the Manchu Dynasty when he got old? He is not dead yet, and someone dares to sit on his head and shit."

"To put it bluntly, when a person gets old, his energy, physical strength, and brain are no longer enough. The most important thing is that your ministers know that you are about to die, so they take you less and less seriously. I remember Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, also encountered a similar thing when he got old. He wanted to kill Fan Kuai, but no one in the civil and military dynasties dared to help him kill him, because everyone knew that Fan Kuai married Empress Lu's sister and was a descendant of Empress Lu. , whoever dares to kill Fan Kuai will have to kill his whole family after Liu Bang dies and Empress Lu comes to power."

"It's pitiful that the Wei and Huo families have made so many achievements, but in the end, just because Emperor Wu was old, almost the whole family died in the imperial war. The husband of a generation of virtuous defenders also committed suicide. The Gongsun family was even beheaded, leaving no one alive. Even the prince Liu Zhi died of the witchcraft, oh, how pitiful, how pitiful."

"So this emperor, if you have done enough, go down as soon as possible. It's better to go down early before you get old, because there is no day in the sky. Third brother, what if after I get old, someone will appear next to us?" A scoundrel like Jiang Chong is trying to sow discord between our two brothers, what should we do?"

Zhao Guangmei frowned and said, "Brother is afraid that when you get old, I will become Liu Zhi, the prince of the Han Dynasty?"

"Ha, you, Liu Zhi? You think too highly of me. Even if I want to abolish you now, I have no confidence at all, let alone when I am old? It would be great if you don't abolish me. If I There will be a day when you, old fool, can no longer be Liu Zhi, but can be Li Heng, and I will be grateful to God, so why don't I step down."

Zhao Guangmei was a little surprised when he heard this. He really didn't expect that Zhao Kuangyin would think so and think of this level.

But after thinking for a moment, he actually nodded and agreed.

The reason why he set the 60-year-old retirement threshold is because he is afraid of this. If the supreme ruler of a country is too old, it is actually a very terrible thing. If power falls into the hands of an octogenarian who is about to die of old age, no one will We know whether the old man will calmly hand over power, or whether he will grasp the power greedily and risk his life, using the entire country as a bargaining chip on his own table.

All the wise monarchs in history died young or too early. If they live a few more years, no one can keep their good reputation. There will inevitably be new powerful ministers in the court, who may be the prince or the prince. To outsiders, it is hard to tell whether the orders given by the old man while he was lying on the hospital bed were the orders of the old man. Let’s take Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty as an example. When he was old, Huo Guang was just his personal driver, but But he almost covered the sky with one hand, controlling the entire inner court, and later became an auxiliary minister.

Because the emperor is the emperor when he is healthy, and the driver is just the driver. But when you are in poor health and cannot even show your face often, the driver is the emperor.

To be honest, if Zhao Kuangyin was really stupid in his later years, Zhao Guangmei would definitely remove him and replace him with an emperor.

But the problem is, Zhao Kuangyin this year is not even [-], let alone [-].

Although it was planned for a rainy day, it was probably too early.

"Of course, there is a third and most important thing. I want to step down so that I can see clearly what your set of reforms is like. I am the founder of the country, and I sit in that seat. , this set of things cannot be tested at all, and if I step back, if it doesn’t work, there will still be a chance to make amends again.”

"In short, I want to confirm whether this imperial power can really be restricted, and whether our Zhao family can really maintain control over the Song Dynasty after it is restricted."

"There are three points, so I really thought about it carefully. If you don't want to be the emperor, I won't be the emperor. Let the second brother be the emperor. Let's watch. What do you think? Of course, if you regret it now, If you want to be the emperor, of course that’s fine, I’ll still leave this position to you.”

"Um...Second brother? I have indeed decided to give up the throne. I have no objection to his succession, but he... doesn't seem to have reached forty this year." "Do I have to get forty? Is this necessary? How many people don’t live past forty?”

"Isn't this to set an example for future generations? Besides, politicians really don't mature until they are 40 years old. Besides, in the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, unless they made great contributions by chance, those who could get into the imperial court were generally Those who are over 40 years old, and all of them are old foxes, there are many who live very long, even those who are over 80 years old. If the young emperor has another accident and dies too early, there will be no room for the powerful ministers. But it came out.”

"Then what do you say?"

"Either you will suffer and be the emperor for a few more years, and wait until the second brother is forty in a few years before letting him come up. To be honest, I always feel that the second brother is still a little bit behind and not mature enough. , it would be more appropriate to wait a few years.”

"How many years to wait? I...but I really don't want to wait anymore. Luoyang is so boring. I can't find anyone to drink with. Those old brothers are all in the business now. I want to be debauched, but There aren’t even many brothels in Luoyang, and the ministers even ride fast horses back to Kaifeng to find prostitutes. I… it’s boring, it’s so boring.”

"Then... how about we get it right in one step instead of passing it on to the second brother, and make a transition in the middle? Anyway, don't you want to try? If you want to try, just try to get it right in one step."

"Ah? This... doesn't seem to be anything wrong. It seems to be okay, but let's discuss it with your second brother to see if he wants to be the emperor."

Then, the two of them went to find Zhao Guangyi.

The result was that Zhao Guangyi shook his head like a rattle and refused to be the emperor no matter what.

This bitch wants to be a shitty emperor. The eldest and the third child are both still alive and well. One is the Supreme Emperor and the other is in charge of the Royal Song Dynasty Commercial Bank. He, the most useless second child, wants to be the emperor?

What kind of emperor is this? Isn't this his daughter-in-law who is controlled by two mothers-in-law?
Although Zhao Kuangyin has retreated, he may still be able to control the army and the Privy Council.

Although Zhao Guangmei did not enter, he firmly grasped the money bag. His prestige among the Forbidden Army was extremely high, and he had the final say in the entire production activities of the Song Dynasty.

He doesn't have any money or soldiers, so what does he do as an emperor?Who cares?Are you in charge of civil servants?But the civil servants always listened to him.

That is to say, I am the one who endures hardships and bears the responsibility, and I am the one who eats, drinks and has fun, but it is you two who formulate major policies behind the scenes?
Then, in the name of inspection, you have to look at me and stare at me to see if I am doing well as an emperor. If I am not doing well, I will be abolished at any time.

Why?

Such an emperor will do whatever he likes.

Then, the three brothers began to wonder who should be the emperor.

Although Zhao Guangyi's structure is not that big, he could not imagine that his descendants would be so far away for generations, let alone the continuous growth of the civil class in the Song Dynasty. In fact, there is no soil for feudal imperial power for a long time. The reason why it can be maintained depends entirely on Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangmei. With the support of human prestige, the pure family world will surely disintegrate soon. Even if the family world is to be maintained, it can only be a family world like Li Jiapo's. It cannot be a pure divine right of kings. This has actually been the case in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. Something that has already been confirmed.

The reason why the Song Dynasty in history was able to stabilize, and even the later Ming and Qing dynasties also stabilized, and established a peaceful and prosperous age for nearly 1000 years, was at the expense of turning society back. The Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties In fact, they are all very deformed, and have always suppressed the development of productivity and changes in production relations. The proportion and even the number of urban population in the Ming and Qing dynasties were far less than those in the Song Dynasty, which shows that not only did productivity not develop, but it went back further and further.

Zhao Guangmei didn't reverse the car, but directly stepped on the floor oil.

But in fact, there are some things that Zhao Guangyi can't appreciate. In fact, he has already mastered them in recent years. As a prince who originally thought that he was definitely out of business, the possibility of taking over is really high.

Because Zhao Guangmei has set such a number of 64, does it mean that he does not want to be the emperor? Then the next emperor may really be him.

However, in the past few years, he has actually been thinking about whether he should become the prince and the emperor.

The reason is very simple, that is, although he does not see as far as Zhao Guangmei, he knows that his third brother is definitely the smartest person in the world. It is hard to say what the conspiracy is, but in terms of vision, a hundred Zhao Guangyi is better than Zhao Guangmei. Not as good as Zhao Guangmei.

And he also knows the character of his third brother very well: This guy is definitely not a righteous sage. When the Song Dynasty was just founded, he did not hesitate to put on a posture of fighting for it no matter what. Now He grabbed them all and he didn't want them anymore. Could it be that he was a noble person?

The emperor must have lost interest in it. This era and the world have clearly changed.

The third brother is such a smart person, but he won't sit on the throne even if he has one. But now the eldest brother actually doesn't want to sit on it either?Let me sit?This seat is definitely not easy to sit in!

Don't sit down, don't say anything.

There is a natural contradiction between the civil economy and the centralized monarchy, and it will become more and more prominent and sharp in the future. In fact, although many people cannot explain this theorem, they can really feel it.

In fact, Zhao Guangmei once said a similar point of view in New Confucianism. Social progress requires enlightening the people's wisdom and empowering civil rights, especially the wisdom of the military. The essence of monarchical centralization is in conflict with social progress. .

Of course, a monarch who does not centralize power does not mean that he is a virtual monarch, and a constitutional monarchy does not mean that a prime minister-cabinet system must be implemented. What Zhao Guangmei wants to learn is Li Jiapo, but Li Jiapo is a small country that has no ability to expand externally. With this ability, it will be very powerful. It's called imperialism.

Of course, he also said that he wanted the position of Henan Yin and Zhongshu Menxia Ping Zhangshi. No matter who became the emperor, he would be willing to assist the emperor.

Then, the three brothers had to discuss: Zhao Pu or Xue Juzheng, who should be the emperor?
(End of this chapter)