This Song Dynasty is different

Chapter 41 Deafening
Li Xian turned around suddenly, looked at Lu Yijian who came in, and said coldly: "Looking through the wall, is this a gentleman?"

Zhao Zhen glanced at the chamberlain guarding the door and smiled.

The servant's body was shaken and he knelt down, "It's Prime Minister Wang and Prime Minister Lu who ordered me to keep quiet..."

Wang Zeng came in and knelt down to plead guilty, "I will die."

Lu Yijian knelt down and said, "I will die."

Zhao Zhen smiled and said, "What's the crime? Get up."

The two of them got up. Lu Yijian looked at Li Xian and said, "I feel unbearable today, but I want to talk to Marquis Dingyuan about Zuo of the Song Dynasty. How about Marquis Dingyuan?"

He is the nephew of Lu Mengzheng, a famous minister of the Song Dynasty. He can be said to be a noble son. When he speaks at this moment, he has a certain grace in him.

But Li Xian looked at him with a hint of contempt in his eyes, and then left.

I must be dazzled... Wang Zeng felt that Li Xian was not like this.

"Please!" Li Xian sat down.

Lu Yijian sat opposite him, with his upper body straight, and said: "I have listened for a long time. Dingyuan Marquis has used Sanruan as a serious harm and deduced it for a hundred years, thinking that Sanruan will definitely become the culprit that crushes the Song Dynasty in a hundred years. I dare not Agreed."

Li Xian nodded, "Please tell me."

"The so-called three redundancies and redundant officials. The Queen Mother and I are already working on reducing the number of imperial examinations. It is redundant. The fasting festival was abolished just a while ago. This will save a lot of expenses every year. I and others are discussing to reduce the number of imperial examinations. It will be a waste of money. There will be redundant troops. As long as Northern Liao does not launch border provocations lightly, the Song army will not expand in 20 years!"

What Lu Yijian talked about was the general outline. As for the details, naturally someone would take care of it.

He looked at Li Xian and said in a deep voice: "I would have said nothing, but if the officials are shocked by your words, things will go wrong in their governance from now on. Marquis Dingyuan, do you think so?"

Li Xian shook his head calmly, and Lu Yijian smiled, "Please tell me."

"The emperor will not be able to stop the idea of ​​appointing officials. Secondly, the imperial examination will become more and more frequent. This is redundant officials. Redundant expenses are actually the same problem as redundant officials, no need to go into details. Redundant soldiers, Prime Minister Lu may ensure that the next twenty years will be great. Will the Song Dynasty have good weather? Is it possible to ensure that the population of the Song Dynasty will not increase in the next twenty years? Is it possible?"

Li Xian stood up and said, "Having said this, does Mr. Lu still have doubts?"

Lu Yijian frowned slightly, "How could the emperor not be able to bear the thought of appointing an official... you!" He suddenly pointed at Li Xian, his brows were raised, and he could no longer maintain the dignity of a noble son.

"Did I say something wrong?" Li Xian walked up to him, "Who is the initiator of everything? It's not the emperor. You and I both know."

"Scholar-officials all know that the overall situation is of paramount importance!"

Lu Yijian's voice was filled with anger.

"Really?" Li Xian smiled and said, "I dare to ask Prime Minister Lu, has the Lu family's wealth increased or decreased in the past twenty years? Where did the increased money come from? Don't tell me, it comes from the salary."

"Discourteous!" Lu Yijian said calmly.

"Increase or decrease?" Li Xian's eyes were bright.

"Hahahaha!" Lu Yijian laughed loudly.

"You have nothing to say, right?" Li Xian smiled, "I always despise thieves and call them "catch thieves." Today, Prime Minister Lu opened my eyes."

"Shu Zi is ignorant!" Lu Yijian stood up and walked away with a flick of his sleeves.

Zhao Zhen understood [-]% of the words, and the rest was confused.

"You!" Wang Zeng pointed at Li Xian, "I wanted to hear your insightful opinions outside, but who would have thought that you would have an earth-shattering surprise."

Wang Zeng stood up and said, "I am going to see the Queen Mother. If what I say today spreads to anyone, even Prime Minister Lu, I will be at odds with him."

If Li Xian's words today spread, how many people will grit their teeth and want to kill him.

Wang Zeng wanted to protect him.

Li Xian left the palace freely, and Zhao Zhen was finally called by the Queen Mother.

"Don't understand?" asked the Queen Mother.

Zhao Zhen nodded honestly, "I don't quite understand."

"To be honest, this is also the first time I have heard someone analyze the crisis of the Song Dynasty from the scholar-bureaucrats. I heard Wang Zeng retell it before, and I was covered in cold sweat."

The Queen Mother looked at Zhao Zhen, "Three redundancies, three redundancies, redundant officials, but who are the extra officials given to? It's redundant, and who is the extra money and food given to? It's all given to the scholar-bureaucrats."

"They are one." The Queen Mother squinted her eyes, "Is there anything you don't understand?"

"What about redundant troops? The biggest reason for redundant troops is natural disasters. Whenever there is a natural disaster, the government organizes the victims into Xiang troops. This saves a lot of trouble and reduces turmoil." Zhao Zhen thinks this is good governance.

"You..." The Queen Mother shook her head, "Even if there is a natural disaster, will those fields disappear after the natural disaster? Why not let the victims return to their homes? In this way, how much money will be saved in raising them every year?"

Zhao Zhen was startled, "Then... why is that?"

The Queen Mother waved her hand, "Go and ask Marquis Dingyuan! That boy is so bold that he dares to say these words to you, which can be considered as speaking from his heart. From now on, you should protect him."

After Zhao Zhen left, the Queen Mother asked coldly: "When Wang Zeng and Lu Yijian were snooping today, who was on duty at the official gate?"

Luo Chongxun went to check and reported back, "It's Chen Xian with two chamberlains."

"Execute!" the Queen Mother said calmly.

"Leader!"

...Zhao Zhen hurriedly left the palace and went to the Li family.

"The way for local tycoons to make a fortune is to annex fields. But if the weather is good, who will sell their fields?" Li Xian sat under the tree, stroking Laifu at his feet. "After the natural disaster, if the victims return to their homes, then , the fields are still theirs.”

In the flash of lightning, Zhao Zhen understood. He hissed: "They... they hope that the victims will never return, so that the fields will be theirs. How dare they be so greedy? So bold?!"

Local powerful people colluded with officials and could easily turn those fields into fixed assets.Officials also benefited from it.

"This is a win-win situation, which corresponds to a win-win situation, a win-win situation for the Song Dynasty and the people."

"No wonder Lu Yijian didn't dare to argue with you. It turns out that it hurts his roots." Zhao Zhen suddenly realized, "Lu's family property..."

"Don't ask about this." Li Xian shook his head, "Be careful of backlash."

Qingli's New Deal and Wang Anshi's reform were all just to weaken the erosion of the Song Dynasty by the scholar-bureaucrats, but they still ended in a disastrous failure.If anyone wants to touch their family wealth, even the emperor will be ruined, or even die.

Zhao Zhen thought about the consequences and couldn't help but be surprised, "Then you said that the emperor can't help but want to grant officials and rewards. Why?"

"The scholar-officials will become stronger and stronger, and the emperor will become weaker and weaker. The declining emperor will involuntarily want to use official titles and rewards to win over the scholar-officials. On the other hand, the emperor will want to discover talents through frequent imperial examinations to fight against the entire world. A group of scholar-bureaucrats.”

Li Xian hasn't mentioned another method yet, which is to use the chamberlain.When neither of the above two methods are possible, the emperor will reuse his internal servants to compete with the scholar-bureaucrats.In the end, he will be denounced by historians as "eunuchs interfering in politics" and "the emperor is ignorant".

Zhao Zhen understood that it turned out to be a game from beginning to end: a battle between king and minister.

"It turns out that the biggest enemy is not foreign enemies, but them."

Zhao Zhen sat down and said, "I won't go back today."

The young man looked extremely tired, even a little confused.

The education he received since Shufa was educated is that scholar-bureaucrats are the foundation of the Song Dynasty and the backbone of the Song Dynasty, which cannot be shaken.

But what Li Xian said today subverted his understanding.

……

The Queen Mother received the report and said without hesitation, "The guards must be effective. In addition, Xu Guan's family will be drinking today."

"Yes."

After the chamberlain left, Concubine Yang sat on the edge and said distressedly: "The official family has never experienced such suffering since childhood. I'm afraid she will be extremely sad."

"That's not a bad thing," said the Queen Mother.

"What does the Queen Mother think of what Marquis Dingyuan said today?" Princess Yang was not involved in politics and was very curious.

The Queen Mother put down the memorial and said attentively: "It is inspiring!"

Concubine Yang said in a daze: "Dingyuan Marquis faced Lu Yijian, a noble son of a well-known family, and spoke calmly, causing him to run away in embarrassment. It's fascinating to think about it."

Zhao Zhen drank a lot of wine during dinner, and he cried when he drank too much.

Li Xian waved his hand, and Zhang Ze led the people out.

Zhao Zhen choked and said: "In the early years, my father only focused on those boring things. Until the last year, he seemed to gradually wake up and often looked at me with a look of regret on his face. Once he stroked the top of my head and said, My son, daddy is afraid that he will leave you a mess."

Zhenzong was not a competent emperor, and in Li Xian's view, he was not a competent father either.

Zhao Zhen drank a glass of wine and wiped away his tears, "After my father became seriously ill, he would occasionally say something from his heart when I was alone on the bedside. He once said that for the emperor, no one in the world can be trusted. . He also said that the more someone claims to be dedicated to serving his country, the less trustworthy he becomes."

Who likes to flaunt that they are dedicated to the country?
Li Xian smiled.

Scholars and officials.

"I vaguely knew that the scholar-officials were somewhat untrustworthy, but I never thought that the crisis of the Song Dynasty came from this generation. A pack of wolves! They are all a pack of hungry wolves. They are hateful, I will kill them, I will kill them..." Zhao Zhen lay on the desk.

Li Xian ate and drank slowly. When he felt full, he lifted Zhao Zhen up and went to the bedroom.

"I'm not drunk!"

Zhao Zhen shouted.

Li Xian threw him on the bed and was about to go out when he heard Zhao Zhen say from behind: "Daddy, daddy!"

Li Xian stood inside the door.

"Big empress."

Zhao Zhen murmured to himself, "Little Empress."

"Afraid! I'm afraid!" Zhao Zhen suddenly beat the bed, "Brother Guoan, help me."

Li Xian's brows furrowed deeply.

"Brother, help me..." Zhao Zhen murmured with tears streaming down his face.

The late emperor had seven sons, but only Zhao Zhen survived.Since he was a child, he has watched the clan members appear in groups as brothers.And he, watching the excitement alone, felt very uncomfortable.

Li Xian turned around and was silent for a long time.

"it is good!"

(End of this chapter)