Rebirth: Overthrow Song Dynasty

In the winter of this year, there was a lot of snow in the north!

Yanjing City was shrouded in heavy snow.

On the street where the Yanjing City Academy is located, there is a teahouse at the end of the street. At the moment, dozens of scholars are sitting in the teahouse, drinking hot tea and enjoying the snow scene outside.

The scholars here are quite different from previous years! A few years ago, scholars only studied the Four Books and Five Classics, and they did not distinguish between the four bodies and the five grains. Now, in addition to Confucianism, scholars also study practical learning, and the status of practical learning is getting more and more important, and there are more and more practical learning courses. ! In addition to practical studies, they also need to understand current affairs. Every spring, these scholars also need to enter the army for military training! In addition, quite a few young people from the Production and Construction Corps entered the academy. The composition of the students in the academy was completely different from before, and there were fewer and fewer genuine rotten Confucians.

"Mongolian Man Yi has repeatedly invaded the Song Dynasty southwards. This time, our Great Song Dynasty's hundreds of thousands of troops went northward and completely wiped out the Mongols! I heard that there are more than 500,000 corpses of Mongolian barbarians in the area around Lake Behar!" The fourteen or fifteen-year-old scholar said with an excited expression on his face.

"I heard that many of them are old and weak women and children! Hey, the Mongolian barbarians invaded us. We should go north to fight back, but we shouldn't kill old and weak women and children!" A Confucian scholar in his thirties sighed.

"Those old and weak women and children have weapons in their hands, and they are also attacking our soldiers. Naturally, we have to fight back, and it is normal to kill them! Kindness to the enemy is cruelty to oneself!" The 14-year-old scholar who spoke earlier disagreed road.

"The northern grasslands are huge. I wonder if the logistics of the army can be guaranteed?" Another scholar in his twenties said.

"No problem! Since last year, the military department has started to send war preparation materials to the north. In the past year, with the strength of our Song Dynasty, the strategic materials reserved are enough for hundreds of thousands of troops for a year! Moreover, there are quite a few more The youths of the Production and Construction Corps deliver supplies to the army. They don’t have to worry about logistics! I have relatives who work in the military headquarters. The latest battle report is that a large number of Mongolian tribes are fleeing towards the Kipchak grassland. Now our army’s forwards have entered the Kipchak grassland. !” said another scholar next to him.

"Qipcha Grassland? Where is that?" the 14-year-old scholar asked curiously.

"You need to study the geography of the world in the academy. It seems that you haven't studied it hard. The Qincha grassland is thousands of miles away, and it's extremely cold!" said the scholar next to him.

"Since His Majesty came to the throne, he has personally trained the army and formulated the military system. Our soldiers and horses in the Great Song Dynasty have long been invincible in the world! Khitan, Jurchen, and Xixia are not my opponents in the Great Song Dynasty, and the Mongolian barbarians are naturally not our opponents in the Great Song Dynasty! I What I am concerned about now is not the battle of Mongolia, but another extremely important matter!" At this time, a very tall scholar with a heroic face stood up and said.

"Oh? I don't know what it is? Is it even more important than the Mongolian War?" The rest of the scholars all looked at him and said politely.

"There is one thing that matters! Do you still remember that when the Administrative Council was first established five years ago, His Majesty once said that the term of the Administrative Council is only five years! Now that the term of the Prime Minister and ministers of the Administrative Council has come, will His Majesty elect A new prime minister and minister? How does His Majesty choose a new prime minister and minister? Isn’t this more important than the Northern War? The Northern War is just to expel some barbarians. The Government Council has a relationship with the world, which is more important?” The scholar sneered.

"Ah! Not bad! This matter is the most important thing!"

"Exactly!"

The rest of the scholars nodded, obviously very interested in this matter!

In fact, it's not just them. In the entire Yanjing City, those who have a little knowledge are very interested in this matter! Throughout the world, countless people are paying attention to Yanjing, and they are also looking forward to the candidates for the next Prime Minister and Minister of the Government Administration Council.

*** ***

On December 15, the 14th year of Xuanwu, the National Assembly held a regular meeting to discuss state affairs.

After several years of construction, the current National Assembly is completely different from before. Now the number of members of the National Assembly has reached 194. These people come from all over the country, and many of them were elected from the provincial assemblies to become members of the National Assembly.

The speaker of the National Assembly is still Zhao Ji, but because he has no real power, Zhao Ji is less and less interested in the National Assembly, and now Li Chuwen is handling the daily affairs.

On this day, all the congressmen came here! In the past, some people asked for leave, but today no one asked for leave. They have already received the news, and they know that today's discussion is very important, and it has something to do with the Prime Minister of the Government Council!

When all the congressmen arrived, Zhao Chen also entered the Congress accompanied by Wang Shu, Yu Yunwen and other officials from the Government Affairs Council.

"Here is the performance report made by the Government Affairs Council in the past five years, including the increase in cultivated land area, the increase in the number of public schools, the state's fiscal revenue over the years, the actions of the military in recent years, etc. You can take a look at it. Those who disagree can raise it, and then the Government Affairs Council will give an answer." Zhao Chen said.

The guards sent the report given by the Government Affairs Council to the congressmen, who were watching carefully. After a while, they began to whisper.

"Grain tax has increased by 4.7 times compared to five years ago! The area of ​​cultivated land has increased by nearly half, and the yield per mu of land has also doubled! What is the birth rate? The birth rate has increased by five times!"

"As a member of Congress, you don't even know the birth rate? The Government Affairs Council makes relevant reports every year, that's all, let me tell you!"

"The country's teaching system is becoming more and more perfect. Now, secondary schools have been established in 50 larger cities across the country! After the secondary schools are popularized, the colleges will establish university halls!"

"The number of handicraft workshops across the country has increased tenfold, and the number of handicrafts produced has increased tenfold!"

"The number of soldiers has increased by 300,000! The number of production and construction corps has increased by 500,000, and 300,000 of them have gone to Annan!"

After half an hour, the voices of members of Congress gradually stopped.

Then someone questioned the report card, and Wang Shu personally answered various questions from members of Congress.

For a whole morning, members of Congress accepted this performance report without any doubts.

"The achievements of this administration council are obvious to all! From the stability of the world to the present, our national strength has at least doubled! Moreover, the most important thing in the past five years is to improve the system and make the world stable. It is the era of laying the foundation. I can predict that, In the next ten to twenty years, our agriculture, industry, commerce, learning, military, and science and technology will really explode, and our national strength is expected to reach ten times or even more than it is now! By that time, the national strength of our Great Song Dynasty will be It is better than the sum of all other countries in the world! I am very satisfied with the results of this administration council! I propose that Wang Shu remain as the next prime minister. If the Congress approves, this matter will be settled! If the Congress does not pass If you don’t believe Wang Shu, I will propose the next candidate until the National Assembly approves it! Members of Congress are elected by the people all over the world, and your answer is the answer of the people, so you must be cautious!” Zhao Chen said.

The faces of the members of Congress below all showed excitement. They did not expect that Congress would decide the candidate for the prime minister!

"The prime minister election needs to be your own idea, so don't whisper, don't discuss with others, and give your answer in half an hour!" Zhao Chen said.

Half an hour later, the official voting begins! There were a total of 194 members of parliament, and 176 people voted in favor. Zhao Chen once again announced that Wang Shu was elected as the next prime minister. In addition, Zhao Chen ordered Wang Shu to prepare to form a cabinet again!

An excited expression appeared on Wang Shu's face. Zhao Chen patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Do it well! Don't let me down, and don't let the people of the world down!"

For Wang Shu, Zhao Chen really trusted him very much.

Wang Shu's talent is not as good as Yu Yunwen, Hu Quan and others, but he took refuge in Zhao Chen very early, experienced a lot of civil and military affairs, and managed state affairs as a deputy prime minister in his early years. He also has a deep understanding of Zhao Chen's governance ideas. understanding! He is stable and experienced enough to take the helm of the Administration Council.

The appointment of the prime minister this time is another change in the system! Now it is still Zhao Chen who nominates the prime minister, and the parliament discusses and approves it. In the future, it will gradually change to the parliament nominating the prime minister or a complete electoral system, but everything must be done step by step. Zhao Chen is very cautious about the system reform! The wisdom of the people has not yet been developed, and it must not be achieved overnight!

*** ***

Early the next morning, Wang Shu, Yu Yunwen, Hu Quan, Zhao Ding and others entered the imperial study to discuss state affairs with Zhao Chen.

The heavy snow was still falling outside, and it was very warm in the imperial study room, but the discussion among the people was extremely intense.

"In the past five years, the Ministry of Commerce has achieved remarkable results, and the national commercial tax has increased tenfold! In the past five years, the country's maritime trade has also developed rapidly, and now maritime trade accounts for one tenth of the commercial tax. Yu Yunwen, come and tell everyone Talk about the current maritime trade situation." Zhao Chen said.

"Our ships set off from Tianjin Wei, Dengzhou, Hangzhou, Quanzhou and other places, all the way into the South China Sea, and then they entered Tianzhu from the South China Sea! Our porcelain, silk, lacquer, and various handicrafts are continuously shipped overseas. Among the countries, gold and silver are shipped back to China from overseas! In the past five years, thirteen cities in the country can be said to have become maritime trade cities. Most of the people in these 13 cities serve maritime trade. The scale of our overseas trade The expansion has tripled..." Yu Yunwen continued to speak, and finally said: "Your Majesty, my lords, Yu believes that commerce and trade are the primary means of enriching the people, and maritime trade is an important part of commerce and trade. There are many overseas countries. In the future, the status of maritime trade will inevitably become more and more important! The more developed the maritime trade, the richer the people will be! The wealth of the people will make the country stronger, and for the prosperity of the country, maritime trade is indispensable!"

Zhao Chen nodded, and said: "Yunwen is right, sea trade will become more and more important in the future! In fact, not only sea trade, but the whole ocean is becoming more and more important to my Song Dynasty! Now that the imperial court has Dongying, we want to Only by crossing the ocean can we go to Dongying to manage it! The imperial court also needs to transport food and materials by sea, and many materials have to be transported from the south of the Yangtze River to Tianjin Wei, Suibinfu, Korea, Dongying and other places! Moreover, Wu Gong has just arrived at another place in the northern sea. On the one hand, I found an extremely huge territory, which already belongs to my Song Dynasty, and I have to go through the ocean to get there! In addition to these, there are a lot of overseas countries, and these may be threats to the Song Dynasty in the future. If you control the ocean , we will be able to defend against the enemy, this is the strategy of attack, if we lose the sea, sooner or later, we will face the attack of the sea power, and we can only passively defend on land! These things, I and Shang Many ministers of the ministry and the military have discussed it many times! I think that the sea is related to the fate of the empire. Sooner or later in the future, our Song Dynasty will go out of the land and go to the sea! We control the sea to check and balance countries and control the world. I think , The next government administration council should add the Ministry of Oceans and appoint the Minister of Oceans to manage the ocean affairs of the empire.”