Zhao Zhen was proud of the spring breeze during this time, and the money that Lu Zifei got back for him in his career made him unable to sleep at night, his son Zhao Xin was in good health, and he changed every day, he was smiling on his face, happy in his heart, he felt that his life had reached its peak, so his heart was extremely inflated, and he transferred back to Fan Zhongyan to prepare for a big job.

"What does Fan Aiqing think of the current situation of the Great Song Dynasty, has the time come?"

This is a signal, the emperor wants to ask him how to deal with the current situation of internal and external troubles in the country after he comes to power, Fan Zhongyan said: "The minister recently came back to find relevant information in the Hanlin Academy, and finally the minister summed up three points to ask the emperor to correct the axe." ”

Zhao Zhen said with a smile: "Fan Aiqing boldly said that there are no outsiders here, old dogs, to serve tea to Lord Fan." Shangguan Wen took the teapot and poured Fan Zhongyan a cup of Longjing Tribute Tea, a specialty of the Lu family.

Fan Zhongyan said: "The first point is 'redundancy', Taizu set the grace system, so that the descendants of high-ranking officials in the imperial court have good official positions, they occupy positions and do not do things, resulting in officials greedy for power, low administrative efficiency, large and bloated bureaucracy, and lack of initiative of officials at all levels."

The second point is the 'redundant soldiers', in order to resist the southern invasion of the northern tribes, we recruited a large number of soldiers, Kaifeng Prefecture registered in the forbidden army there are 800,000, and there are more than 600,000 local soldiers, a total of more than 1.4 million, so that 70% of the annual tax revenue of the Great Song Dynasty is used for military expenses.

The third point is 'redundancy', the war against Liao and the war against the Western Xia, we gave them a large amount of gold, silver and cloth, so that the copper coins of the Great Song Dynasty were several times more expensive for a while, and the local officials built a large number of buildings, falsely made accounts and falsely reported the number, which increased the burden on the imperial court, and the minister believed that the reform should start from these three points. ”

Zhao Zhen said: "Aiqing is right, these three points are indeed the biggest problem, but where should we start, take a trigger and move the whole body!" You must be thoughtful, if you make a mistake, you will lose everything. ”

Fan Zhongyan said: "The minister can understand the pressure on the emperor's back, that kid's momentum in the south is so big, if we can't seize the opportunity, we are sorry for him, can the emperor transfer him back to the court and let him help me with advice on the side." ”

Zhao Zhen smiled bitterly: "You forgot his words, not only Kaifeng before the imperial examination, but also not an official if he was not the champion, I issued an edict several times to let him come to the capital, he was disrespectful, you want him to help you write a letter yourself!" ”

Fan Zhongyan said: "With his fox character, the minister will definitely not be invited, the emperor will wait for a few days, the minister's reform plan will be ready immediately, and then we will discuss it with others at the court meeting." ”

"It's okay, Fan Aiqing must be mentally prepared to take on heavy responsibilities, if it weren't for that kid who got some money in the south, I wouldn't have had a good year, and our monarchs and ministers will work together to do a great cause that will be passed down through the ages."

Fan Zhongyan knelt down and thanked: "The minister must be smeared with his heart and brain, and he will not hesitate to dedicate all his strength to the prosperity of the Great Song Dynasty." ”

Zhao Zhen said with a smile: "Fan Aiqing has worked hard in the northwest in the past few years, that kid sent a lot of fresh fruits back in the south, Aiqing brought some back for the family to taste, I borrowed flowers to offer Buddha." ”

Fan Zhongyan said: "The minister is disrespectful, touch his light, is His Royal Highness King Yong okay?" ”

"That kid is better than me now, he can eat and sleep, and Aiqing will have time to enlighten him in a few years."

"That's the minister's honor, a great situation! Does the emperor know when that kid will come back? ”

Zhao Zhen said: "Two days ago, Quanzhou sent a letter saying that he took Quanzhou and Fuzhou's inspection troops to Japan, saying that the name of the Japanese emperor was not good, and he wanted to teach others a lesson. ”

Fan Zhongyan said: "Japan's small border country has always respected the Great Song Dynasty, how did he think of harming Japan, it stands to reason that Goryeo is his first choice, his thinking is too fast, we can't keep up." ”

"The child finally went out once and wanted to be wild, I connived at him once, you said that those people in the court are not looking for trouble, what do you care about with a child, and when he arrives in the capital, I will teach him a good lesson, there is nothing to play big, Fan Aiqing said yes! For children, it is better for us to be more tolerant as elders. ”

Fan Zhongyan was shocked, the emperor was too partial! The things that can't be said are put on the bright side, is this to give yourself a vaccination? In the future, whoever talks about this in the court will not be able to stand stupidly, and must stand up and speak for him.

"The emperor is right, on the way to Beijing, the second son of my family also told me that he wanted to find that kid to have a try, as elders, we will help them more when they make mistakes, young people are a little impulsive after all."

Zhao Zhen nodded and said: "Aiqing is the same as I thought, I will go to the queen's side to see King Yong, Aiqing is familiar with the affairs of the court, and we will set the direction for the next few years at the court meeting." ”

Out of the Vermilion Bird Gate, Ouyang Xiu, Fu Bi and Cai Xiang greeted Fan Zhongyan nervously, Ouyang Xiu asked, "How is it?"

Fan Zhongyan said: "It's similar to what I thought, the dynasty will be finalized in a few days." ”

"Well done, Xiwen, the power of your coming back is different, today's morning court, you didn't see them one by one, this is the happiest day I have ever been in the court, great."

Fan Zhongyan said helplessly: "Uncle Yong, you are all a member of the third grade, you can be happy at every turn, let me ask you something, why does the emperor favor Lu Hanzhang so much, I still see it for the first time, Lu Yijian didn't have such treatment back then." ”

Fu Bi said: "What's the matter, it's related to him again." ”

Fan Zhongyan told the conversation with Zhao Zhen again, and Ouyang Xiu said: "There is a rumor that I don't know if it's true or not, many people say that Queen Cao's ability to conceive and give birth to King Yong is inextricably linked with that kid, and there is a little truth in it." ”

Fu Bi said: "Uncle Yong said that I remembered it, I lived in his house for a few days when I negotiated with the Liao people, and the former head of the imperial doctor, Wang Wei, was in his house, and they seemed to be studying a new way to save people, what kind of operation is called, a few days before King Yong was born, it happened to be the only day when Wang returned to Beijing. ”

Fan Zhongyan suddenly realized: "Let's just say why he can get the Sacred Heart alone, so it makes sense, now that he is not here, otherwise I really want to ask him some questions." ”

Ouyang Xiu said: "What's so difficult about this, don't want to jump out of the Buddha's Five Finger Mountain, he has a weakness in our hands, and he can't help if he doesn't make a difference, this is not a place to talk, let's find a place not to get drunk today." ”

"Tell me what your weaknesses are, we don't do those villains."

Ouyang Xiu looked at Cai Xiang and teased, "Where is his prospective father-in-law here?" Do you say it's a weakness. ”

Fan Zhongyan laughed and said: "How did I forget this stubble, Jun Mo is so blessed, it's just a little cheap kid." ”

Cai Xiang said: "It's all Uncle Yong, haven't you skimmed the eight characters yet?" You've all seen it, but I haven't seen it, you all know the tigress in our family, he doesn't come to the door, Xiaoyue doesn't marry, I'm about to die of worry. ”

Fu Bi said: "Say that you are fat and you are still panting, you ask a few of them, who has a daughter who doesn't want to marry him, and he can't look down on my daughter, otherwise as Uncle Yong said, he can get your turn." ”

"I don't believe what you say, Xiaoyue's dead girl is also a ghost."

The stinky boy in their mouths was looking at Kawasa Dalang below with Erlang's legs crossed, and Kawasa Dalang, who was missing an arm, grinned in pain, and Lu Zifei said: "Why hasn't the person you sent back to report the news yet." ”

"In terms of time, we can get there today"

"Tell you, three Japanese people have come out and asked to see you."

Lu Zifei said: "Let them in"

"Taira Kiyomori, Minamoto Yoshito, Fujiwara trust to meet the envoys of the Great Song Dynasty."

"Sit down, these are the wealth boys outside, don't slack off."

Fujiwara said, as a representative of the three: "I don't know why the Great Song Dynasty invaded our Japan for no reason and killed our people, I hope your envoy can give me an answer, otherwise I will apply for the ruling of His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty." ”

Lu Zifei said: "Okay! You can apply now, and when the application is down, you will come and talk to me and send off the guests. ”

Taira Kiyomori said: "Don't misunderstand, Fujiwara-sama didn't mean that, we want to ask if it was Japan that offended your country, which made your country angrily send troops to Japan." ”

"His Majesty our Emperor said that he didn't dare to take the name of the Emperor, you are not qualified to be the king of the land of projectiles, how dare you surpass the Great Song Dynasty in the title, and Kawasaichiro of the Kawasa family on the Diaoyu Islands brutally killed hundreds of our unarmed people, our Emperor Majesty is very angry, let me ask for an explanation, of course I am just the vanguard."

That's a lame reason, isn't it? The emperor's son was born in your Sui Dynasty, and I didn't see any of your hundreds of emperors say anything, but this has changed since you, and Kawasaichiro has been killed by you, and now it's not up to you to say it.

Fujiwara trusted and said: "The name of the emperor cannot be changed, the Kawasa family killed the people of the Great Song Dynasty We will make them pay the price, the messenger please tell me what kind of price can satisfy you, and leave with the army." ”

Lu Zifei said: "It's very simple, I want the entire Kyushu Island"

"Impossible, your envoy said this purely because he didn't want to talk about it, this is beyond the bottom line, it is impossible, even if all the people of the Ping clan are killed in battle, Kyushu Island will not give it to you."

"Good! Let's fight to the death! You say the time and place, let's put on a posture and do it with real knives and guns. ”

Yuan Yichao apologized: "We and the Great Song Dynasty have always been a state of friendship, my lord said the conditions!" ”

Lu Zifei said: "Refreshing, I want 50 million taels of silver, this matter will be revealed, these 50 million taels is the total price of a Kyushu Island plus millions of lives, if any of you can pay the money, I will give Kyushu Island to whomever I want." ”