The vertical arch hall, as the place where the officials of the Great Song Dynasty received the courtiers to listen to government affairs, is not big. The pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info has been repaired several times, although the bones gradually reveal a bit of old taste, but the appearance is quite passable.

In the small hall, a trace of musk turned into smoke rose with the beak of the bronze crane as an incense burner, and was illuminated by the morning light through the lattice window like an ethereal fairyland.

Among the furnishings of the carved beams and paintings, a brocade screen as white as jade on the left side is the most eye-catching, and it is full of all kinds of thin gold characters. Because, Zhao Ji usually likes to inscribe difficult things and celebrities on the white screen, so that he is always vigilant.

Despite this, Zhao Ji is the most headache to deal with all kinds of cumbersome government affairs, and almost all the power is handed over to many favored ministers to deal with. This kind of omission of government affairs is extremely harmful and has brought great damage to the national economy and people's livelihood.

These traitorous ministers who have gained favor are extremely powerful, and in order to satisfy Zhao Ji's preferences and seek their own welfare, they loot the people's fat and ointment through their huge henchmen. It has developed to the point of selling official positions and swallowing the country's wealth in the end, and it has reached the point of brazenness and blatantness.

Therefore, in the 26 years of Zhao Ji's reign, a country that occupies at least 70% of the global economy will be corrupted beyond measure. The people's livelihood withered, the officialdom was corrupt, the military frontier defense was all deserted, and finally this once splendid civilization empire was completely destroyed by a nomadic tribe that was almost barbaric in the shame of Jingkang.

Today's Zhao Ji is a little distressed, there is no money in the treasury of the Great Song Dynasty, and there is no money in the treasury of the royal family, but there are people talking about money with him.

The dignified and burly man is talking endlessly about the specific situation of the Song Dynasty, Western Xia, and Liao Kingdom. Especially when it comes to the Western Xia party, the mood of the Han is actually generous.

"The Pur Party has betrayed the alliance and stood on its own, and now it has harassed our emperor Song Xijiang several times, and despised the prestige of the official family, which is really arrogant. If you can follow the army to conquer the party, you must first restore the courage of the army, and then calm the western troubles in one fell swoop, in order to repay the kindness of the official family. ”

There were also many voices of appreciation in the main hall, but a thin old man questioned it.

"Shengming has no official family, and the privy's words are really grandiose invitations, and now the financial resources of the three divisions have bottomed out. If the decision to attack the party is decided, the northwest armies will use 100,000 military horses, and if it drags on for three years and five years, I am afraid that the imperial court will be unable to continue. ”

It turned out that the impassioned man was Tong Guan Tong Daofu, the eunuch with a long beard, the eunuch with the most military power, the eunuch who represented the country, the eunuch who won the highest title, and was known as the first father-in-law of the ages.

Tong Guan retorted angrily, "Why is the auxiliary government short-sighted, the military expenditure of the Western Army over the years has been tens of millions of yuan, and it has become a stubborn disease for a hundred years. After a few years of tight life, in exchange for long-term peace and stability, the right way is to finally reduce the huge military spending in the northwest. Therefore, the old slave pleaded that the long pain is better than the short pain, and gather the strength of the whole country to solve the party's side troubles in one fell swoop! ”

The auxiliary government at this moment is Cai Jing Cai Yuanchang, who will be called the head of the six thieves by the people in the future, he just wanted to refute again, but was stopped by Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji is tall and handsome, and is praised by the world for having a good skin. Although his appearance is not very majestic, his complexion is ruddy and his body is vigorous, plus he is talented, and he is more inclined to the appearance of a merry scholar.

Zhao Ji didn't want the two to quarrel with each other, so he stopped Cai Jing and said, "The privy council said that it is gratifying to calm the border troubles in one fell swoop, but after a hundred years of trouble, how can it be calmed down in one day?" The western army is large and intertwined with each other, how will the privy council check and balance? ”

As soon as Cai Jing heard it, he knew that something might be bad, which clearly meant to enter into a detailed discussion, which undoubtedly reminded the ministers present of their preferences.

Two years ago, Cai Jing was reactivated by Zhao Ji, and the official was reinstated and served as an auxiliary minister, which is the third time he has taken the position. Cai Jing still understands how to protect himself, as long as he can follow Zhao Ji's wishes, he can be a good assistant politician.

Originally, Cai Tong and the two assisted each other to deal with political enemies together, but after Tong Guan became favored, he gradually became arrogant and domineering, and despised the scholar group above the court. actually relied on Zhao Ji's favor, and wantonly promoted and installed his own henchmen in the forbidden army and the northwest army, and many times reported directly to Zhao Ji without going through the East Mansion.

One of the most obvious events was that Tong Guan wanted to get the position of Kaifu Yi and the Third Division. Zhao Ji asked Cai Jing for advice, but Cai Jing bluntly refused, "The position of the prime minister should not be awarded to the eunuch."

At this point, the contradictions between the two have become irreconcilable, and secret rivalry has occurred from time to time.

In fact, Cai Jing knew that as an emperor, he didn't want to see a group of harmony above the court, so if Cai Tong, who was also a high-ranking and powerful person, worked together, Zhao Ji would not be able to sleep at night.

As an imperial technique, the military generals were split into small groups, so that they did not have the energy to fight against the emperor. Then use various means and resources to lure the ministers to fight each other to achieve the goal of controlling the situation.

Zhao Ji has the neuroticism of an artist, the suspicion of an emperor, and the immature mischievous mentality, which makes him extremely sensitive to all criticisms.

Cai Jing sighed in his heart, in just over ten years, the government has been very bad, and in the past, you can often see the outspoken imperial history or the ruling officer, chasing and fighting for some trivial things, and never give up until the goal is achieved. And Zhao Ji often retreats to show that he follows the ancestral teachings of Taizu.

I don't know when, there are fewer and fewer officials around Zhao Ji who dare to speak, but Liang Shicheng, Wang Hao, Zhu Yan, Gao Yu, Tong Guan and Cai Jing and others are in control of the court. Since then, Zhao Ji has lived a happy and carefree life, in order to build the huge project of Gen Yue, the favored ministers wantonly ask for strange flowers and stones throughout the country, and its beautiful name is called Flower Stone Gang!

What else is there to discuss, it is nothing more than that Tong Guan privately instilled in Zhao Ji some advantages of sending troops, and Tong Guan is now in the Privy Council, if he can win the battle of Vaxia, he may be crowned marquis, this is the real reason why Tong Guan tried his best to encourage Zhao Ji to go to war for his own fame.

In addition to receiving dividends in terms of national prestige and military prestige, Zhao Ji must also ask Tong Guanxiu to take the opportunity to install or buy generals in the Western Army. The 300,000 soldiers of the Western Army have a big tail, and it has always been a thorn in Zhao Ji's heart.

In this case, except for the last nod, Cai Jing no longer participated, and the third- and fourth-line officials below played freely to join in the fun.

After a while, Tong Guan got the power of the northwest as he wished, and commanded the northwest armies. When the time is ripe, the army will be dispatched to pacify the northwest in a war.

Cai Jing had no doubt about the victory in this battle, because the civil strife in Xingqing Mansion gradually expanded, and the control of various tribes became weaker and weaker, coupled with the continuous conquest, the national strength was not as good as before.

But Cai Jing has been in charge of the three divisions for many years, and Da Song's family background is leaking everywhere. Moreover, the gangsters in Jiangnan, Shandong, Shanxi, and other areas have ranged from thousands to tens of thousands, and have begun to affect the normal operation of Bianjing.

At this moment, instead of extinguishing these seemingly weak flames, but starting a national war thousands of miles away, it is simply putting the cart before the horse!