The first year of Shaosheng is really a year worthy of going down in history. Only because of this year, taking advantage of the east wind of the imperial court to extinguish the Xia Kingdom, since the sixth year of Yuan You, it was finalized by the political affairs hall, but for various reasons, the local government reform was finally launched in Shaanxi and Gansu. And succeeded in taking a correct path of "the countryside surrounding the city" in the next ten years, and finally promoted the reform of the official rule of the entire Great Song Dynasty.

In March, the Ministry of Officials announced that a large number of officials were needed to guard the new Shaanxi and Gansu roads in the imperial court. However, because Shaanxi and Gansu were the homelands of the former Xia Kingdom, the conditions were difficult and not to mention, there were even sporadic remnants of the party still confronting the official army, and it was not peaceful. Therefore, this news has been published for three months, but there are few responses.

However, the local government cannot govern the people without officials for a long time. In desperation, the officials had no choice but to issue another news in June, recruiting senior officials with more than 10 years of experience and at least a good knowledge to go to Shaanxi and Gansu to serve as herdsmen officials. This move of the Ministry of Officials undoubtedly broke the boundaries between officials and officials, and obviously made many officials or quasi-officials with the status of Jinshi dissatisfied. But before they could make a fuss, the "Bianjing Times" had already relayed the situation to the people in a high-spirited manner, and finally said: Since it is not in accordance with the rules to select officials and herdsmen as officials, then you can do it! The jinshi immediately withered.

Is it over? Naturally not! The No. 1 Song Jianghu people in "Water Margin" are called "timely rain", and he is praised for his righteousness and squandering wealth. However, a small Yuncheng County Detention Division, with a thin salary, and an old father in the hall and a wife to be raised, how can he get the money to save people in danger? The answer, of course, is corruption and bribery. In the Song Dynasty, officials were so lowly that corruption and bribery of officials had become an unspoken rule of officialdom. It has become a habit for these former officials to accept bribes in Shaanxi and Gansu, and now they are even more unscrupulous with their black veil protectors, and many lawsuits have already broken out in just a few months after they took office.

Many scholars were waiting to see the jokes, but before the impeachment could be completed, two working groups named "discipline inspection" and "supervision" had already gone to Shaanxi and Gansu to check the behavior and work achievements of local officials. These two working groups have imperial edicts in hand, and they can be said to be gods blocking and killing gods, and Buddhas blocking and killing Buddhas, but they have killed people in a few months, and they have taken off many mediocre officials and lazy officials. Since most of the people who are convicted of crimes are officials who are born as officials, although these "discipline inspections" and "supervision" are murderous, they are collectively silent in the officialdom, and no one bothers to intercede for the officials.

As a result of this toss, most of the official positions in Shaanxi and Gansu were vacant. The officials had no choice but to send another message that in view of the bitter cold in Shaanxi and Gansu, the officials would increase the subsidy for local officials as appropriate, and then invite qualified jinshi and officials to submit their files. Even though it is rumored in the officialdom that "discipline inspection" and "supervision" will sit in the two ways for a long time, there are still many Jinshi and officials who are willing to "take risks."

There are those who are willing, and there are naturally those who are unwilling. How will the remaining official positions be filled? This time, the officials really had nothing to do, so they had to threaten each other. Soon the imperial court issued a holy decree, saying: As an official reserve, he is unwilling to be an official, and he is disloyal and unfilial, and he will be treated favorably by the court. In this case, the imperial court decided to halve the annual income and tax exemption of all Jinshi who did not have a real job as a punishment.

The prosperity of redundant officials in the Song Dynasty can be described as a historical name. The territory of the Song Dynasty was only so large, and only three or four out of ten officials had real posts, but there were six or seven out of ten Jinshi who were redundant and waiting for officials. But this time, before the Jinshi whose lives were affected protested collectively, the imperial court issued a second holy decree. There is no harm if there is no comparison, and it is precisely because of seeing the shameless faces of these Jinshi who pick fat and thin, are disloyal and unfilial, that the imperial court has become more and more aware of the loveliness of officials at all levels who have worked hard for the imperial court. In recognition of their virtues, the imperial court decided to adjust and improve the salaries of officials at all levels.

Looking at the Yu Lu in hand, the entire officialdom once again collectively lost its voice. As for those redundant officials who have no real power in their hands or those who don't even have an official body, who cares? Is there a disturbance? Some. But soon, these Jinshi who stormed the government were removed from the title of Jinshi and became civilians completely. Did someone say something sour? Naturally, there are. For example, "Pucheng Wind and Rain" reported on a Jinshi who had been filial piety to his father for more than ten years, and his life was difficult due to the decrease in Lumi, and asked the imperial court whether to educate the people to only know profit and not filial piety? But soon the "Bianjing Times" retorted: In ancient times, filial piety was mourned, which one was not too much mourning? Shouxiao still wants to worry about food and clothing, and it seems that it is not true filial piety!

With such ups and downs, one lively after another, it is really overwhelming. When the dust settled, many officials and officials made achievements in Shaanxi and Gansu, and "discipline inspection" and "supervision" gained a firm foothold in Shaanxi and Gansu, and the second year of Shaosheng was also halfway through. The two roads of Shaanxi and Gansu have been completely stabilized due to the improvement of administrative efficiency, and the imperial court has fully controlled the situation. There is even a small piece of gossip circulating inside and outside the officialdom that everyone is in danger: The imperial court is very satisfied with the work done by the two working groups of "discipline inspection" and "supervision" in Shaanxi and Gansu, and plans to concoct the same method and send working groups to inspect the localities level by level.

Looking back on the past and thinking about the future, officials at all levels in it probably have only one sentence to describe their feelings: they can't survive, they can't die! In later generations, countless history and law students who hit the streets in the exams said bitterly: Nima!

You're welcome! Prime Minister Murong Fu replied coldly.

In September of the second year of Shaosheng, at the age of twenty-three, Su Guo held a stack of plans for "reducing the box army and immigrating to Shaanxi and Gansu", and went to Murong Fu's study with a heavy heart of filial piety.

The first year of Shaosheng in the past was a year of change for the entire Great Song Dynasty. The same is true for the Su family. This year, Su Shi resigned and returned to the capital to preside over the "Dongpo Poetry Club"; Su Yu should be awarded the "role model", and soon married his fiancée Wang Yuyan, and now he has gone to Yulin, Shaanxi Province to serve as a county commander. As for Su Guo himself, he also passed the solution test last year. Since the provincial test will be next year, he was pulled by Murong Fu to be his personal secretary as soon as he passed the examination to help deal with various official duties. Being able to stay with the prime minister and learn how to govern, Su Guo was naturally overjoyed. But only half a year later, Su Guo had been constantly pressed by Murong Fu to remediate the huge workload and wanted to die. Now, a year has passed, he turned his head to look at Su Dun and Li Qingzhao, who were still playing in the garden without knowing the world, and suddenly realized: Childhood is really the most precious!

After reading the third draft of the immigration plan revised by Su Guo according to his Jianyì, Murong Fu finally nodded and said, "Very good!" ”

When Su Guo heard this, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Murong Fu raised his eyes and saw that he was relieved, and finally couldn't help but smile and said, "Is there really so much pressure to follow me to do things?" ”

Su Guo hurriedly shook his head. "Uncle Dang followed my senior brother and learned a lot of skills."

"I also suffered a lot." Murong replied, "Everything is difficult at the beginning!" After this is done, you should be able to have a general understanding of the process of the various ministries of the imperial court. ”

Su Guo has followed Murong Fu for more than a year, and knows that he is strict with things, but he has always been gentle with people. Seeing that Murong Fu was not as busy as usual today, Su Guo couldn't help but say, "Senior brother, uncle has a question in his heart, and I ask senior brother to solve his doubts." ”

Murong Fu didn't answer, just glanced at Su Guo gently, and motioned for him to continue.

"Now that Shaanxi and Gansu have been peaceful, why do you want to immigrate to Shibian? Moreover, the customs of different places are different, and immigrants from all over the country will inevitably have conflicts with the local people. ”

Murong Fu couldn't help but smile lightly when he saw Su Guo having this consideration, and said slowly: "Your worries are indeed reasonable, but compared to the world, this is only a small section. ”

"Sections?" Su Guo has read sage books since he was a child, and he understands the truth that "the people are your society, and the king is secondary". If the affairs of the people are only small things, then what is the great righteousness?

"The area around Shaanxi and Gansu was originally the homeland of China, but it was only because of the sharp decline in the population of the conquest for years that the alien race took advantage of the loophole to occupy this place. Now that the Great Song Dynasty has recovered the old land, it has been a good business since it was a good living, and it is no longer allowed to be occupied by others. So, what is business? Murong Fu asked in a low voice.

Obviously, there was a correct answer to this question, and Su Guo immediately blurted out: "Jing'an locality, educate the people, communicate all over the country, and persuade farmers to help business." ”

"What, then, is the basis of these things?" Murong Fu asked again.

Su Guo hesitated for a moment before cautiously replying: "An efficient and powerful government? ”

Murong Fu shook his head. "There are officials but no people, such as a clever woman who has no rice to cook."

"It's the people!" Su Guo was taken aback by Murong Fu's answer, but after thinking about it, it was a matter of course.

"There are people, and there is soil." Murong Fu said in a deep voice, "As for the contradictions between the people, that is the duty of an efficient and powerful government. ”

Su Guo nodded, and asked again: "Then what is the role of the army?" ”

"The army is not used to defend against the people, but against foreign enemies." Murong Fu said again, "As long as the world is peaceful, the population will naturally increase year by year. One day, the existing territory of the Great Song Dynasty could not accommodate such many people, and that was the time for the army to make meritorious contributions. ”

Murong Fu didn't say it thoroughly, but Su Guo already understood what he meant. Seeing Murong Fu talking about this matter so lightly, Su Guo only felt that his scalp was numb and his blood was churning. Murong Fu's statement is obviously not in line with the "benevolence and righteousness" education that Su Guo has received since childhood, but for some reason, he has no intention of rejection in his heart, but explains himself: This inner saint and outer king is also the way of Confucianism!

"Today's box army is mostly local and lacks combat power, rather than letting them stay in the army to write stories, it is better to divide the land and let them go home to farm." Speaking of this, Murong Fu couldn't help frowning and sighing. "There are redundant officials in officialdom, and there are redundant soldiers in the army!" It is time-consuming and labor-intensive to renovate the broken car of Da Song, and the slightest mistake will cause the car to be destroyed and killed, so you have to be cautious.

Speaking of this, Su Guo immediately reminded him: "Senior brother, Xiucai rebelled, and it won't work for three years." This army is not a showman! ”

"So, you have to set the standard first." Murong Fu said with a smile. "The imperial court valued literature over military force, and even the people looked down on the soldiers. But they don't know that it is not so easy to become a soldier and eat food. In addition, although the Xiang army has been abolished, the annual military expenditure has not decreased. Those box armies want to make trouble, and they have their own forbidden army to top. ”

Su Guo is not a fool who only knows the books of sages, he naturally understands that the primary criterion for a strong army is combat effectiveness, and the old, weak, sick and disabled naturally cannot be soldiers. Thinking of the rebellion of the displaced people since the founding of the Great Song Dynasty, many old and weak people were recruited and resettled. Su Guo couldn't help but sigh: "If you can brush up the next batch of old and weak people to make them go home to farm, it will also be a merit." "Of course, once this measure is implemented, it is the old and weak who are happy who have no power and power, and the powerful generals who are unhappy. But as long as he thought of the earthquake in Wenchen's officialdom last year, Su Guo believed that no one wanted to offend Murong Fu at this time, and he would be charged with supporting the army and respecting himself.

"Okay, you can copy a few copies of this plan and send one copy to Master Zhang, General Chong, and General Zhe of the Western Army. They are old in the military formation, and they know better than us the disadvantages of the van army, and we can refer to their opinions. After that, the official went to the official's house again. Murong Fu finally said, "This official wants to enter the palace to face the saint, do you have anything else to do?" ”

Hearing this, Su Guo hurriedly bowed down: "Congratulations to my lord!" ”

When Murong re-entered the palace, he was not met by Zhao Xu, but by the Empress Dowager. Since Murong Fu was promoted to prime minister, Zhao Xu knew that the general trend had gone. He was disheartened and had no interest in political affairs, so he just hid in the harem and his favorite Liu Jieyu Hu Tianhu Emperor. Zhao Xu is so vulnerable, Murong Fu is naturally comforted by Lao Huai, and he has no intention of admonishing. On the contrary, he couldn't look at the Queen Mother, and often summoned Murong Fu and beat him from time to time.

This time, the Queen Mother summoned him to the palace, but it was for Cai Jing. In the ninth year of Yuan You, the Empress Dowager passed away, and Zhao Xu was in power, thinking about rejecting the old party and re-establishing the new party. Who knew that Murong Fu brought the merit of destroying the country to the hearts of the officials and the people, and even crushed Zhao Xu's plan. Now after two years, Murong Fu has become an official residence, with the king in the upper position and the lower An Lishu. However, the arrogance of the new party has been suppressed and almost extinguished, and only Zhang Dian is still making trouble in "Pucheng Wind and Rain" to criticize the government. Murong Fu never paid attention to the crookedness of these opposition parties. Only when it was confusing the public, Chao Buzhi arranged for the "Bianjing Times" to come forward and slap him in the face. Murong Fufu thought that the Shu Party was already a one-party monopoly and a lonely party, but he didn't expect that Empress Dowager Xiang suddenly remembered Cai Jinglai.

Hearing that the Empress Dowager asked the Empress Dowager to transfer Cai Jing to the capital, Murong Fu couldn't help but be silent for a while, and said for a long time: "Cai Yuanchang is now the prefect of Yunzhou, why did the Empress Dowager think of him?" ”

Xiang Xiang looked down at Murong Fu, who was kneeling on one knee, and said softly: "The official family has always been depressed in the past two years, his temperament has become more and more irritable, and his body is not as good as before...... Murong Qing, when you were promoted to the left minister, it was the leader of the mourning family. Now the mourning family has to wonder, is it wrong? ”

When Murong Fu heard this, he immediately put down his other leg as well, and said in his mouth: "Weichen is guilty." ”

"What are you guilty of?" Empress Dowager Xiang smiled bitterly, "You are in the court, and the official family doesn't have to worry about anything." ”

Murong Fu looked down at the floor and didn't answer.

"Murong Qing, the official family is an official family after all." Xiang Empress Dowager said again, "The official family has remembered Cai Jing...... It's just a small person, what if you become an official? ”

Little? Murong Fu couldn't help but laugh dumbly. Such a traitor who has been controlling the government and playing power for 20 years, if he is also a small person, then who is the big man? After a while, Murong Fufang replied slowly: "This world is originally the world of the official family, who the official family wants to use, Weichen has no room for beaking." It's just that the imperial court has its own laws, and if the official family wants to use Cai Yuanchang, they must first discuss the merits. ”

Murong Fu gave her an official tone like this, and the Queen Mother was immediately furious, and only said sharply: "Is Cai Yuanchang meritorious, not just based on Murong Xiang's words?" ”

Murong Fu hurriedly kowtowed deeply, and said word by word: "Weichen doesn't dare!" Queen Mother, the court has its own laws! ”

"So, you absolutely refuse?" to the back like frost.

"Wechen will make Taiwan advise and discuss merit." Seeing that the Empress Dowager Xiang was about to leave with her sleeves, Murong Fu hurriedly reached out and grabbed the corner of the other party's skirt and said seriously. "If Cai Yuanchang is indeed meritorious, Weichen will never stop him!" Murong Fu knew that Cai Jing was both a new party and an old party, and he was neither new nor old at all, but a chameleon who only knew how to climb up. Just, so what? As long as the law of the imperial court does not fall, Cai Jing will not dare to do anything wrong, so why bother to ask his true heart? Although it is dangerous to use him, it is better than letting the Empress Dowager completely fall to Zhao Xu.

Murong Fu made this promise, and the Empress Dowager's face finally eased, and she only said: "The mourning family is also to protect you!" ”

Murong Fu nodded and said in a low voice, "Empress Dowager Xie is worried." But I already know very well in my heart: it seems that Zhao Xu has been depressed for two years, and finally relieved himself, thinking about salted fish turning over! Compared with Zhang Xuan, Cai Jing is obviously more cunning, and I don't know who gave Zhao Xu the idea.

Murong Fu came out of the palace full of suspicions, and was thinking about how to use another means to dispel Zhao Xu's delusions, so he turned to an interesting piece of music for him. Duan Zhengming, Emperor of Baoding of Dali State, officially gave his nephew Duan Yu the throne at the beginning of the second year of Shaosheng, and Duan Yu succeeded to the throne and changed the country name to "Rixin". After half a year, the emperor's throne was already stable, and the special envoy came to the Great Song Dynasty to report the situation and ask the court to canonize him.

When Murong Fu looked at this piece, he immediately smiled lightly, and said secretly: This is really sleepy and met a pillow!

Ten days later, Zhao Xu summoned the envoy from Dali in the Daqing Palace. Who knew that without waiting for the envoy to open his mouth to ask for canonization, Hu Zongyue, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, handed over the blood book of Duan Yu, the new emperor of Dali, and Duan Zhengchun, the king of Zhennan, and counted the ten major crimes of Gao Shengtai, the minister of power in Dali, usurping power, bullying the monarch, and abusing the people, and asked the Song Dynasty to send the heavenly soldiers to recruit the Gao clan to relieve the people from hanging. The Duan clan is willing to lead the people of Dali to join the Great Song Dynasty, and from now on it is enough for the common people of the Great Song Dynasty!