Throughout the three hundred years of Song history, there was the Liao State, then the Jin State, and finally the rapidly rising Mongolia.

In the past three hundred years, there has really been no wise lord in the Great Song Dynasty? Is there really no such thing as a minister?

Yes! And no less!

However, why is it that the country has been in power for 300 years, but it is no match for a dynasty that has just emerged?

Is the enemy too strong, or is there so many shortcomings in the court that the tail is too big?

The huge size of the imperial court system is objectively beneficial to the stability of the country, but it is too large to bear, which is a burden and a cancer.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, it would only appear in the era of Yingzong, forcing Shenzong to cut it drastically and reuse Wang Anshi's changes, so that it gradually had a momentum of revival.

And now that the Southern Song Dynasty has only gone through the second generation, it has been eroded to this point, and I wonder if I should do something at this moment?

Ye Yu's five strategies to advise Zhao Yan coincided with what Zhao Yan was thinking.

He originally planned to take this opportunity to test whether Ye Yu had the foresight to govern the country, but Ye Yu's five sparse officials surprised him.

Therefore, Zhao Yan's mood is very complicated now, which is both relieved and a little more struggling......

At the beginning, Ye Yu faced off with the Eight Mountains of the Jin Kingdom, and fainted in the imperial study when he entered the palace to meet him.

It was also this opportunity to faint, Zhao Yan took Ye Yu to faint in the side hall and saw the strange birthmark on his left arm.

Since that day, Zhao Yan's heart has been very struggling. He knew that the young wizard in front of him was his son who had been separated for twenty years.

But the more he knew about this result, the more uneasy Zhao Yan's heart became.

Just as Ye Yu responded in the Imperial Garden, a father like him is not worthy of forgiveness.

So Zhao Yan wanted to make up for it, but he didn't know how to make up for it.

The son's intelligence is outstanding, which is a happy thing as a father, but the more prominent Ye Yu is, the more uneasy Zhao Yan feels.

He had never felt this uneasiness before, but the recent murder had already made Zhao Yan aware of a hint of ominousness.

is the most ruthless emperor's family, Zhao Yan can get to this point, how can he not know that the power and conspiracy are ruthlessly dirty?

This imperial instinct that has been tempered for many years, he will not be unaware of the abnormalities in it.

Whether this murder was intentional or unintentional, Zhao Yan didn't want Ye Yu to ruin his life because of this.

But his son is too prominent, and the prominence makes Zhao Yan proud and worried.

If one day in the future, this secret is known to the world, can the two current genuine princes let Ye Yu go?

Therefore, for Ye Yu's outstanding talent, Zhao Yan has always been mixed and complicated.

The five sparse rulers have been recognized by Zhao Yan, and they have been implemented in the court against public opinion.

Because Zhao Yan knew in his heart that he had been frugal for all these years, the treasury was still not full enough, and it would be difficult to help the people if he encountered natural disasters, so it was imperative to rectify the rule of officials.

In fact, the resistance of the ministers is not very great whether to lay off officials, and the only thing these people care about is who should be laid off and who should not be laid off......

This involves partisanship, and everyone hopes that their hostile side can wantonly cut their wings, which makes it very beneficial for their own side to eliminate the advantages of the other.

This time Zhao Yan's attitude was extremely tough, and now Huang Borui of Zhang Shuo's party has been transferred to the post of secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and the vacant secretary of the ministry is directly served by Ye Yu.

From the servant of the Ministry of Officials to the Book of Rites, it took most of the year's work, although some of them took a rocket, but it was also logical.

Ye Yu has been in the Ministry of Officials for most of the year, although he has nothing to do, but at least he has mixed up with the qualifications of an official, and he is also familiar with the operation of the Ministry of Officials.

Moreover, in the face of Emperor Zhao Yan's toughness, the ministers could only watch Ye Yu ride a rocket.

A 20-year-old young man is among the core officials of the six ministries of the three provinces, which is not only unique, but also extremely rare.

Everyone knows that today's majesty is going to use Ye Yu's sharp blade to drastically rectify the rule of officials.

And Ye Yu, who was promoted to the secretary of the ministry, was not too happy about this promotion.

This time, Zhao Yan completely delegated power to him, and he can be said to be in charge of the dismissal and promotion of officials in the world.

But as the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility.

Ye Yu knew that with a stroke of his pen, he only ticked off a name, but there was a group of people behind him whose life trajectory would change.

The most important thing is that this matter is a thankless errand, whether Ye Yu is justly cut or not, he will be hated by a group of people.

And Zhao Yan naturally knew the difficulty of this matter, so he issued two edicts:

First, some of the children of officials at all levels can no longer be recommended to enter the official career directly;

Second, the special performance list examination will be suspended.

According to the Song system, some people who were recommended by officials could be directly given the Jinshi background without going through the imperial examination, and the candidate was an official, called "special performance name".

It is often held at the same time as the normal imperial examinations, and the amount is quite large.

There is a lot of greasy in this, so these two items are shortcuts for the second or even third generation of officials.

As soon as these two edicts were issued, because they involved the vital interests of many officials, the opposition surged for a while.

Some people even directly admonished Zhao Yan: "Your Majesty has not been on the throne for a long time, and the grace has not been exhausted, and there are many people who are concerned about scholars and doctors, and I wish to be less lenient......"

When Zhao Yan put the mountains of concertos in front of Ye Yu, he said with a wry smile: "Ye Aiqing, what do you think I should do with these concertos?" ”

"What do you think?" Ye Yu did not respond directly to Zhao Yan, but asked in turn.

Ye Yu's rhetorical question made Zhao Yan stunned, then glanced at the music and asked in a deep voice: "Does Aiqing think that this is still less?" ”

"It's a lot, but Weichen only needs a candle flame to turn it into nothing!"

"This ......"

Listening to Ye Yu's bland and profound words, Zhao Yan fell into a short silence, and he understood the voice of Ye Yu's words.

"Ye Aiqing thinks, is this appropriate?"

Zhao Yan was still a little hesitant, if the advice of the ministers of the world was as Ye Yu said, it would be against the way of the Ming monarch.

"Your Majesty, a person has poisonous sores, if you want to eradicate and heal, what should you do?"

Zhao Yan responded without hesitation: "Naturally, it is to drive away the evil, and it can be cured by drug conditioning......"

Ye Yu saluted respectfully and said solemnly: "Since this is the case, then there is no need to worry about the pain when dealing with it, and whether there will be ugly scars left after this poisonous sore is healed, because the root cure of the poisonous sore is fundamental!" ”

"Endure the pain of the moment and relieve the worries of a lifetime!" Zhao Yan nodded thoughtfully.

"Your Majesty!"

Zhao Yan glanced at Ye Yu in a daze, and asked meaningfully: "If Aiqing has this poisonous sore, I don't know how to deal with it?" ”

"In order to prevent future troubles, directly rip off this rotten meat!"

“……”

Ye Yu's response, where it is like what Wenchen should say, is simply the courage that a soldier in the army should have.

And it was this simple sentence that made Zhao Yan's heart change somewhat. also underwent a heavy change in Ye Yu's future life trajectory.

Later, the two of them discussed some details, during which Ye Yu once again admonished Zhao Yan that all officials at all levels who have reached the age of 70 should automatically request retirement unless there are special circumstances.

If he is in his position and has no self-knowledge, he shall be forced to retire and his children and grandchildren shall be revoked.

At the same time, preparations have also begun to be made to adjust the official system in order to fundamentally solve the problem of redundant officials.

When Ye Yu walked out of the palace, it was not early, and he was just about to get on the soft sedan chair and go back to the palace, and the people from Prince Gong's Mansion had been waiting outside the palace for a long time.

After receiving the hot golden post, the corners of Ye Yu's mouth moved slightly, and he said in his heart that he had not been idle in the past few days.

Yesterday, King Zhao Kai invited him to come to the house to reminisce about the past, and today this King Gong Zhao Dan came to invite him again.

It seems that he, the secretary of the ministry, is really on the cusp.

Then he sat in the soft sedan chair, gave an order, and went to Wangjiang Tower.

Wangjiang Tower is located on the bank of the Qiantang River, the scenery is picturesque and very pleasant, standing on the Wangjiang Tower, you can take in the scenery.

When Ye Yu came to Wangjiang Tower, King Gong Zhao had already arrived first.

Ye Yu ascended the Wangjiang Tower, saluted Zhao Yan and said respectfully: "The lower official is late, let His Highness wait for a long time, it is really guilty!" ”

"Hey, what are you talking about, since you and I are brothers, why should we care about those red tapes?"

Zhao Dian smiled heartily, and then continued: "Inviting my junior brother here today is actually an apology to my junior brother!" ”

"The lower officials don't dare, I don't know why His Highness said this?" Ye Yu's silent face showed a hint of strangeness.

"Li Chong's death made the junior brother suffer an injustice, although the truth has now been revealed, but this king is full of guilt in his heart......"

When Ye Yu heard this, he was quite disdainful in his heart, and said in his heart Whether the truth of this matter is revealed, I guess you know better than me.

"Your Highness doesn't have to be like this, now that the truth has been revealed, the lower officials have not been harmed, and the lower officials have long forgotten about this matter!"

Zhao Dian nodded approvingly, poured a glass of water and wine for Ye Yu, and said solemnly: "Senior brother is so open-minded, this king admires it." Come, this king toasts you! ”

"Thank you, Your Highness......"

“……”

Then the two talked for a long time on this Wangjiang Tower, until the moon rose, and the two were still happy with the wine.

At this moment, both of them were a little drunk, and Ye Yu was even more dizzy and confused.

"Senior brother, since you and I are junior brothers, we are a family, the so-called family does not speak two words, today the senior brother gave you a gift, and I hope you don't shirk!"

Ye Yu squinted his eyes drunken and hazy, and casually pushed: "Your Highness is polite, how can you accept a gift from Your Highness......

"Hey, junior brother doesn't have to excuse himself, come and present the gift!"

As he spoke, an attendant respectfully held a delicate rosewood box. Ye Yu took a look at it and knew that this gift was valuable enough.

Then Zhao Dian motioned to Ye Yu to open the box in person, but Ye Yu couldn't shirk left and right, so he had to open the wooden box in person.

But when he opened the wooden box, Ye Yu was stunned on the spot......