Chapter 320: The Elders of the Township

"Your Majesty is overjoyed, overjoyed!"

Putting down the battle report in his hand, Cui He was so excited that his beard trembled, although he was old, he still reacted quickly.

"Uh-huh." Zhao and Ju also nodded happily, Tuolei, Meng Ge, Kublai Khan, all died in the land of Liaodong, this northern expedition, it took only a month and a half, to destroy a big country, expand the land of millions, nearly 10 million, this is really a great victory.

In the Battle of Jinzhou, Tuo Lei was shot in the final decisive battle against the Song army, and then drew his sword and killed himself. In the Battle of Girard, Meng Ge was killed in the rebellion, causing the last bit of Meng Yuan's elite to rout. Kublai Khan with 2,000 remnants of the defeated general, was caught up by Luo Anqiong in pursuit, until rushed to the sea of Yongming City, on the edge of the vast sea, the desperate Kublai Khan committed suicide in the sea, his subordinate cowardly Xue also jumped into the sea, Luo Anqiong said in the twists and turns that he "knew that he was invincible, but jumped into the sea and died, quite heroic."

The news of Kublai Khan's jumping into the sea made Zhao and Ju a little crying and laughing, it seems that Song and Yuan always had a close connection with jumping into the sea.

The war report from the northeast came almost at the same time, Cui He was interested in the news of victory, he had an instinctive fear of that Kublai Khan, only fourteen years old dared to sneak into the Great Song Dynasty primary school to study, such courage and courage, only afraid of one in 100,000 people. Although Kublai Khan was young, wasn't the Great Song Dynasty even younger when he started today!

Therefore, when he got the news that Kublai Khan died in the sea, Cui He was even happier than when he heard that Tuo Lei died.

"Although this matter is victorious, it is not easy to deal with the aftermath." After being happy, Cui said again.

"Oh, why did the Prime Minister say that?" Zhao Yoju asked.

"Li Rui and Li Quan still have hundreds of thousands of people, Li Rui is well versed in the reality of our army, Li Quan is familiar with the art of fleeing, if the two of them are forced to flee far away, it will be fine, if they are broken into pieces, they are bandits in the northeast, where the land is vast and sparsely populated, and there are deep mountains and old forests everywhere, and it is very difficult to clear up, which is not easy."

"The hometown of the Northeast, there are many kinds of Hu, the people are fierce, each has its own customs, not only between the Han and Hu, but also between the Hu people of different ethnic groups There are also many grudges, and the policy of the fourth-class people is set when Menghu is set, and the poison still exists, not after two or three years, I am afraid that it will be difficult to eliminate, which is not easy to do."

"This war, a quick battle, in the northeast is very popular, the original Menghu officials are naturally unappointable, and the Central Plains after the previous Hedong coal kiln case, there are also a large number of official vacancies, Your Majesty's pocket is unbearable, both are new land, the people are still hesitant, if the appointment is not human, afraid of the disaster of the people, this is not easy three."

Cui He has rich political experience, both locally and in the center, which is a valuable asset for Zhao Youju. Hearing him say this, Zhao Youju nodded: "Don't worry about the first item...... I have already set it up, but it's the latter two. ”

How to deal with the contradictions between different nationalities is a new issue for the current Great Song Dynasty. Originally, there were other ethnic groups in the territory of the Jin Kingdom, such as the Khitans and Jurchens, but they were very sinicized and almost no different from ordinary Han people, so there were not too many ethnic contradictions, but not in the Northeast.

"Second, I intend to change the land and return to the stream, and invite all the Barbarian chieftains...... Well, they may not be able to adapt to the climate in the south of the Yangtze River, so they invited them to Yanjing, awarded them noble and dignitaries, and rewarded them with heavy rewards to fetter them, but deprived them of military power. The tribal lands and forests were distributed to his tribesmen, so that he wanted to restore the status quo ante, and those tribesmen who had benefited would not follow him. ”

Zhao Heju's policy of changing the land and returning it to the river shows that in fact, it is a policy of fighting local tyrants and dividing up the land, and this policy cannot be implemented in areas where there is a lot of production, because it will inevitably arouse the resistance of the bureaucrats and landlords, but in the remote minority areas, the resistance to the implementation of this policy is much smaller. Those tribal chieftains had the intention to refuse, but on the one hand, Zhao and Ju took out many carrots such as high-ranking officials and generous rewards for Qinggui to tempt, and on the other hand, they set up muskets and cannons to threaten them with the force of the guards, not afraid that they would not bow down and obey orders.

In addition to being implemented in the northeast, this set should also be implemented in the southwest and south. Especially in Annan in the south, after settling the northeast, Zhao Heju's next target is here.

"As for the third election......"

This is a very headache for Zhao and Ju, in this situation, he can not guarantee that the officials he selected to send to the northeast will be honest, the lessons of Hedong are there, Wang Qinian's case has now been preliminarily concluded, involving more than 40 officials, and more than 100 small officials, which is a heavy blow to Zhao and Ju's reform policy.

"The Northeast officials appointed, according to the example of the Central Plains, they asked for one-third of the selection, one-third of the officials, and one-third of the original Mengyuan officials, and then retained one-third after the farewell." After thinking about it for a long time, Zhao and Ju still didn't have a way to do it once and for all, and he sighed: "However, officials at all levels must supervise each other...... After this battle, a large number of soldiers of the Guards and the Loyal Guards will be discharged from the army, and land will be divided among them in the northeast, and they will form a Legion of Honors, which will have the right to report directly and supervise the administration of local officials, so that they will not be allowed to pervert the law. ”

"Legion?"

Cui He was very sensitive to this new word: "How is the Legion of Honors, how many official titles are counted, and is it included in the archives of the Ministry of Officials?" ”

"The Legion is made up of veteran sergeants, who are only responsible for supervising whether local officials are breaking the law, and are not allowed to directly interfere in government affairs." Zhao Heju said: "There is no Yulu, no official title, and no entry into the archives of the Ministry of Officials, but only for the record in the Ministry of Rites, so that there is no increase in redundant personnel, and there is not too much financial expenditure, so as not to make the martial artists interfere in politics...... What do you think? ”

"Your Majesty restricts local officials with the Legion, so who will restrain the Legion? These veteran sergeants, although they have been disarmed and returned to the field, are still soldiers when they take up arms, their robes are old, and many of them serve in the army, how can they not be warriors in politics? Cui shook his head and said, "It's not appropriate, it's not appropriate!" ”

"What then?" Zhao Youju said helplessly: "I don't want to increase redundant officials, I don't want to let the magistrates lose their restraint, and I don't want the martial artists to be too powerful, why can Cui Qing teach me?" ”

The two of them were talking in the Boya Building, and no one else was present, so when Cui He vetoed Zhao and Ju's idea in person, he did not leave him with affection. Zhao Youju still has this kind of grace, he did not blush because he was refuted, but threw the ball to Cui He.

Cui closed his eyes and frowned, and after a while, he said: "However, it is not necessarily impossible to use the Legion to restrain local officials, but the members of the Legion cannot only use veterans, and their number can only be a minority, one-third. ”

"One-third of the Legion are Confucian scholars, and they must be ...... At least those who have passed the autumn test can take responsibility. One-third of them are those who have a high reputation among the villagers, and they must be over 50 years old before they can be appointed. The remaining one-third will be filled by sergeants, law-abiding merchants, and craftsmen, what does Your Majesty think? ”

After all, Cui He was born into the scholarly class, so in his Honors Council, the total number of Confucian scholars and village elders he represented accounted for two-thirds, while the merchants, craftsmen, and soldiers who were emerging forces accounted for only one-third. Zhao Youju narrowed his eyes slightly, revealing a hint of a smile, this smile fell into Cui You's eyes, and he suddenly realized: "The official family is playing the courtier!" ”

If Zhao Youju himself proposed the composition of this Honor Council, Cui Youyou would have to bargain with him to reduce the amount of new forces in it as much as possible, Zhao Youju initially deliberately said that the Honor Council was composed of veterans, in order to be his three-three principle.

In Zhao and Ju's view, although the Honors Council composed of the Three-Three Principle is ostensibly dominated by conservative forces, it has great flexibility in practice: in the determination of Confucianism, those who graduated from the new-style school can naturally pass the autumn examination and obtain the qualification to enter the Honors Council; In terms of the confirmation of the villagers, those who are legally half-landlords and half-merchants can of course also become members of the Legion; As for the veterans, this is a force beyond the control of those conservative forces, even if their children go to the army for training, but the so-called army is a melting pot, and most of the conservative children who come out of the Guards, I am afraid that most of their tendencies will change.

Therefore, if the Legion can gain the support of the ministers and scholars to divide the power of the local officials again, and he, the son of heaven, has a firm grip on the appointment and dismissal of the Order, then his personal control over the local area will be strengthened by a few points.

This is not the result of his excessive personal desire for power, standing in his current position, he began to understand why the heroes of the past dynasties have been working hard at night, starting with Qin Shi Huang. The reason is very simple, there are policies and countermeasures, which has been the case since ancient times, especially in the local area, there are always some crooked monks who can make good scriptures poor. If he didn't personally supervise and ask, Zhao Youju could be sure that he was no better than those emperors who couldn't get out of the capital.

It is precisely because of this that most of the male lords of the past dynasties have formed a suspicious and rigid temperament, even if Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, who once jumped out of the chic and obedient manner, will push off Wei Zheng's tombstone in his later years, break the contract, and not marry his daughter to Wei Zheng's son. No matter how open-minded you are, you will always be tossed around by these guys who are deceived and bullied, and you will be furious, and even ......

Zhao Youju thought of that unprecedented ten years, and he had seen a document that said that the reason why a certain great man would launch an unprecedented campaign was because he found that the officials below had raised him to the altar at the same time, and there were signs of elevating him into a clay tire and wood sculpture. He even denied in an interview with reporters that he had changed the whole of China, and lamented that he could not even change the suburbs near the capital.

The decision of the Honorable Council is very important, and of course it is not up to the two ministers to make the final decision in the Boya Building, but it is still necessary to pass the court, even if it is just a passing scene. However, when Cui He proposed the "Xun Council" in the court, to Zhao and Ju's surprise, he was opposed by almost all his courtiers.

These ministers instinctively have a kind of horror: their power is not easy to come by, they have either jumped through the dragon door after decades of hard study, or they have risen to prominence in specific administrative positions for many years, but the "Order Council" allows those who have not experienced it to gain power easily, which is something they cannot tolerate.

"Your Majesty's policy has never been done since ancient times, not only shocking the world, but also greatly hurting the hearts of the ministers." Now the ministers also know Zhao Youju's temper, and they will not cause Zhao Youju to blame if they say their reasons publicly, but they want to be far-fetched to seize the commanding heights of morality, but they will provoke Zhao and Ju's cynicism.

"Is this really something that has never happened since ancient times?" Zhao Heju asked in surprise: "I and Cui Qing have read the historical books, and Fang has obtained this good strategy from the Zhou ceremony, how can Qing say that it has never been done in ancient times?" ”

"How can there be any discussion in the Zhou ceremony?" And humane.

Cui He came out unhurriedly, he was more prepared than the opposing raging ministers, he said: "In the "Zhou Li Di Official Preface", the township elder and the second township are the public. Zheng Xuan Zhuyun, Wang placed Liuxiang, then there were three people in the public, three dukes, the inner and the king discussed the Tao, the middle participated in the affairs of the six officials, and the outside and the teaching of the six townships. ”

The opposing ministers looked at each other, there is indeed this record in Zhou Li, and Zheng Xuan's note is also true, but everyone knows that Cui He is misinterpreting Zhou Li and Zheng Xuan's note.

Someone immediately pointed out this point: "Cui Xianggong's words are omission, this township is not a rural lord, but the third prince of the court, Zheng Xuanyun, 'he wants to be the people, and he is a subordinate village', not that he lives in the countryside, but that he pays attention to the affairs of the people." ”

"Wrong, wrong, Zheng Xuan said that 'it is a subordinate township', but he never said that he must not choose in the countryside, he said before, if the villager is in the palace forbidden, and the Son of Heaven discusses the way to govern the country, he supervises the affairs of hundreds of officials above the court, and pays attention to the education of the township outside. It can be seen that the three princes are trapped in the temple. I inherited the Tang Dynasty system in the Great Song Dynasty, and the "Six Classics of the Tang Dynasty" is also cloudy, the three dukes, and the officials of the Tao are also covered with the Son of Heaven, the Yin and Yang, and the Ping Bangguo, and everything is unified, so it is not named as an official. Cui He smiled slightly and said: "Tang Yizong is the third duke, but in his name, my Great Song Dynasty has the intention of surpassing Tang Yue Han, how can I make this position a formality?" ”

"I don't have three dukes in the court, and I have a council in the state capital, so that there is no danger of being a redundant official, and there are people who manage the yin and yang for the Son of Heaven and the country, why can't I?"

Cui You's gaze is different from these people, he has the most contact with Zhao and Ju, so he knows Zhao and Ju's plans best, and Zhao and Ju have also confided in him that to make the Great Song Dynasty - or Huaxia - jump out of the cycle of rise and fall, and to achieve this, it is impossible to hope that there will be virtuous kings and famous ministers from generation to generation, and the only way is to limit the authority of those in power, so that they can be content with political affairs, and will not cause irreparable damage to the country because of personal character or ambition. Zhao and Ju proposed the Honor Council, and he immediately realized that this thing was taken up by Zhao and Ju to reduce the power of the old bureaucrats and doctors, but at the same time, as long as it was used properly, this organization could also be used to limit imperial power.

"That's the case, how can the township elders be flooded, there is one person in the second township in the week, but in the proposal proposed by Cui Xianggong, one medal can be set up in every thousand dings, and my big Song Ding mouth is over 100 million, so why not set up a hundred thousand honors?" Someone else retorted.

If the number of members of the Legion were to be reduced, it would be obvious that it would be easier for the Confucian scholars and village elders who represented the bureaucracy and doctors to enter the Order, and the purpose of the proposer was to restrict or even exclude the new forces from entering this body of power by thus restricting or even excluding them. Cui Heju glanced at Zhao Heju when he heard this, and found that Zhao Heju was still listening with a smile, and secretly slandered in his heart, it was clear that this strategy proposed by the Son of Heaven was the one he wanted, but he wanted to charge for him himself.

"Lao Tzu said, 'small country and widows', Zhou Shi, the whole country is only a million households, a township is only a few hundred people, two townships take one, that is, there is a township old among hundreds of people, which can be seen that it accepts more people. Nowadays, I have thousands of roads and state capitals in the Great Song Dynasty, and there are many households, and the so-called heaven sees itself as the people, and the sky listens to its own people, lest its number be small, and it will not suffer from its more. Cui said again.

Note 1: The city of Yongming, which is now Vladivostok, is currently occupied by polar bears, and it is unknown if it can be returned to its true owner.