Just when Empress Cao, Zhang Guifei and others were turning their minds, the topic of conversation between the emperor and Li Buqi changed. Zhao Zhen looked up at the thin clouds in the sky, and had nothing to say: "It seems that there will be another rain in the next two days, and this drought can be solved." By the way, this time Fu'an Qianzhuang organized merchants to buy grain and disaster relief, and the effect was really good, I don't know whether it was lost or earned in the end. ”

Li Buqi knew that the thing that should come still came.

At the beginning, when Li Buqi organized a large amount of grain to pour into the north to crack down on some large hoarders, because the secrecy work in the early stage was done well, in addition to the local officials and the emperor who put the grain in the area applauded, both those big households and their backstage in the court were confused. However, because this matter was in the name of disaster relief and was approved by the emperor, and it was almost leaked, those who wanted to find fault with them had no way to say anything, and they could only find something to say about such small problems as "competing with the people for profit," "interfering with the government's disaster relief," and "grain crossing without disaster relief, causing an uproar among the people."

But the energy of these big households is also very great, seeing that these small things can't bring down Li Buqi and Fu'an Qianzhuang, they quickly launched the Yushi Impeachment Police Department and Fu'an Qianzhuang for colluding with Fu'an Qianzhuang to control a huge amount of food, implying that this is a treasonous intention. Now that the urgency of the relief has passed, the emperor is once again worried that he will not be able to control the country's money.

Everyone knows that rebellion requires two conditions - the source of soldiers and money and grain, and the emperor is not only afraid that the ministers will control the army, but also afraid that someone can control the money and grain, which is why Song Taizu's policy of strong cadres and weak branches wants to collect all the local money and grain to the central government. Therefore, when a sum of money and grain can cause the government and the opposition to shake, the emperor, who grew up in the deep palace, trembled again.

Li Buqi estimated that if it hadn't been hidden from the emperor from the beginning of this matter, and he had reported it to the emperor from time to time, the emperor would have been unable to help but let the Imperial City Division investigate. Therefore, the emperor can hold back until now before he speaks, and he can already be regarded as trusting Li Buqi very much.

Now that the emperor has asked the words, it means that the emperor can't help it. Now Li Buqi didn't want to dispel the emperor's concerns, but was ready to stimulate him again. Therefore, he was not prepared to dwell on this batch of relief food itself, but said lightly: "This time it was earned, as for the specific amount earned, it has not yet been calculated, and when the results are available, Neku will report to His Majesty." Chen estimated that he made a lot of money this time. But because he made a lot of money, the minister was worried. ”

The emperor hurriedly asked, "Why is this?" ”

Li Buqi said with a serious face: "Most of the money made this time is the difference between the rich and powerful households in various places who sold grain at a high price in order to hoard it at the beginning, and when they saw that the price of grain was hit to the bottom, they had no hope of rising and had to sell grain at a low price. In other words, these are all earned from the wealthy and powerful. The more money you make, the more financial resources these black-hearted wealthy people have. Your Majesty thinks about it, at the time of the catastrophe, the imperial court and government have no money and food, but the powerful households can come up with so much money and grain, or the people must rely on these powerful families in order to survive, or the powerful families take the opportunity to annex and make the fields of the county and county all their own. In either case, isn't it alarming that these wealthy families have enough capital to abuse the local government? ”

"To make a rebellion you need troops and money and food. The minister thought that at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the feudal towns controlled the troops and money and grain in various places, and once the imperial court had something to do, they would have the opportunity to divide the territory, so that there was a rebellion of five generations; Now it is the local government that has no money, no food, and no soldiers, although it is impossible to cut off the possibility of local vassals, but it has opened the door for the powerful and powerful to make trouble. ”

Li Buqi visibly felt the emperor's ears pricked up. Sure enough, Zhao Zhen stood up and asked, "What do you say?" ”

Li Buqi said: "Three days ago, the case reported by Bao Ti wanted to be seen by His Majesty. If it weren't for the fact that those big households were angry with Fu'an Qianzhuang and sabotaged their plot to raise grain prices, and instructed the bandits to rob the grain truck and be taken down by the police, it would not have been exposed. In fact, there are still several such cases in Bao Tiju's hands that have not been verified, and there are even more cases with suspicion but no evidence. From this point of view, it is not an isolated case that a large local household colludes with bandits, or even becomes a bandit themselves. At present, the local government has no money and no soldiers, and even does not renovate the city, and there are bandits who cannot defend it. Once there is something important, there are bandits, there are rich and powerful families, and it is not difficult to kill officials and rebel. ”

Seeing that Zhao Zhen's face became solemn, Li Buqi began to pave the way for himself in a few years: "It is precisely in consideration of this danger that the minister took advantage of disaster relief to beat those black-hearted powerful households, telling them that Your Majesty has the means to rectify them and let them know that they are in awe of the imperial court." But this is only a stopgap measure. ”

Zhao Zhen heard Li Buqi say that this time was an expedient measure, and knew that Li Buqi must have something to say, so he asked: "Is there any way to do it once and for all?" ”

The ideas of the literati in the Song Dynasty were really out of touch with reality, whether it was the emperor who always wanted to find a perfect way to solve every problem once and for all, if they couldn't find it, they would rather do nothing. When Li Buqi promoted his own policies, he had no choice but to label his methods once and for all: "The minister has a strategy that can be done once and for all." I ask Your Majesty to become stronger and weaker, and to practice the strategy of strengthening and strengthening branches. ”

Zhao Zhen asked: "What is a strong stem and a strong branch?" ”

Li Buqi pointed to the canopy above his head and said, "Your Majesty, look at this tree." When transplanting trees, cut off the branches of the trees to prevent the wind from shaking the trunk and protecting the trunk and roots from dying. But when the tree is planted and its roots are firmly established, it is necessary to make it flourish. Only when the branches are lush can the main trunk grow thick. If the branches of the tree wither, the trunk will not grow taller or thicker, and even the trunk and roots will often die. ”

"At the beginning of the founding of the country, with the lessons of the five generations, Taizu set the policy of strong cadres and weak branches, which is a wonderful way to prevent local separation, just like protecting the trunk and roots after a tree is transplanted. But now that the Great Song Dynasty has been established for nearly a hundred years, after several generations of education, Fengda Song Zhengshuo has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, just like the roots of a tree have been firmly rooted in the soil, and nothing can be shaken. The minister thought that it was time to strengthen the power of the state and county. The minister had been thinking about this matter for a few days, and after a few days, the minister presented a note on the matter. ”

"Oh, okay." Zhao Zhen nodded. To tell the truth, he did not have much sense of urgency to change the policy of "strong cadres and weak branches", and he was still thinking about the problem of Li Buqi's local strength.

Yes, Li Buqi is reasonable, it is possible for Fu'an Qianzhuang, which can take out three or five million yuan at once, to rebel, so those local wealthy and powerful households who can take out tens of thousands of yuan cannot rebel? How to solve this problem? The millions of people in Fu'an Qianzhuang are still under their own supervision, and even the county officials dare to kill the local heroes.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but think of what Pang Ji said-"If there is another catastrophe in the future, there are people with bad intentions like Fu'an Qianzhuang who control millions of silver coins and manipulate grain, and the government can't compete with it, what should we do?" ”

So the emperor casually asked the question again. Li Buqi smiled lightly and said, "There are so many magistrates in the imperial court, what can happen?" Could it be that Your Majesty thinks that so many officials are feeding in vain? It is these officials who are all on a vegetarian diet, and the Investigation Bureau of the Police Department is always keeping an eye on these movements. The intention of the Minister to establish an investigation bureau in the Police Department was to report to His Majesty as soon as there was any disturbance. ”

"Now that the Bureau of Investigation is operational, the Police Division is becoming more and more important. Therefore, I ask Your Majesty to choose a subordinate to take charge of the Police Division. ”

The emperor was stunned for a moment, and said puzzledly: "Buqi and Bao Qing are both people I trust, it's good to have you to promote the police department, I have no intention of appointing others." ”

Li Buqi said: "The minister wants to ask Your Majesty to resign from the dispatch of the Police Department and the Ordnance Superintendent, so please ask Your Majesty to appoint someone else." ”

Zhao Zhen asked in surprise: "Why is this?" ”

Li Buqi said: "Now that the peace with the Liao State is about to be completed, there is no need for ministers to charge into battle for the time being." The minister wanted to concentrate on running this military academy and then doing learning, but the police department and the ordnance superintendent were busy with affairs, so he resigned. ”

Zhao Zhen didn't expect that Li Buqi would pick a son at all, so he naturally refused. But Li Buqi insisted again and again and sincerely, Zhao Zhen had no choice but to agree in principle, but asked: "The ordnance supervisor is also down." You quit your job in the police department, who do you think I will manage? ”

Li Buqi said: "This is a matter of Your Majesty's decision, and it is not good for the ministers." ”

Zhao Zhen said very generously: "Okay, you just have to say it." I really didn't have the right person in mind for a while. ”

Li Buqi thought for a while and said, "The minister thinks that Li Gongming is the most suitable." ”

Zhao Zhen heard that Li Buqi recommended his cousin Li Zhang, and couldn't help but nod secretly.

Li Zhang is his cousin, not only loyal but also low-key, not bad ability, and Bao Zheng will definitely be able to get along, and he is indeed the best candidate to master the police department. At this point, Zhao Zhen completely believed that Li Buqi resigned sincerely.

Now he remembered that Li Buqi gave up his official body to become a Hanlin Trick Official, and he didn't care about the career at all, because the awkwardness in his heart provoked by the rulers and the officials basically dissipated.