The number of people in the early dynasty is not imagined by later generations, many people, there are nearly 2,000 Beijing officials, not all Beijing officials have the qualifications to go to the early dynasty, but there will be hundreds of officials standing in the great court. The eunuch needs to speak loudly in order to pass Zhao Zhen's decree out.

With the eunuch's loud announcement, Zheng Lang brought in. 520xs.

What made people feel strange was that he still had something in his arms, two small soft mats.

He bowed down from a distance and said, "See Your Majesty." ”

"Zheng Qing, let's get even."

Zheng Lang stood up, looked around, and then squeezed into the civil officials, only in front of Sima Guang, very far behind, there were almost a hundred ministers standing in front, if you add the military ministers of the Xifu, he was ranked two hundred away, and there were still behind, of course, he only deprived the Guogong and Pingzhangshi plus the position of scholar of the Hanlin Academy, and there were still some official positions on his body, although he could hardly see him on the dragon chair, many official positions were still lower than him.

However, at this station, many officials in front of them felt embarrassed, and they couldn't take it seriously, so they looked at each other one by one.

Zhao Zhen just smiled, and only a few people knew the inside story. Zheng Lang must be punished, even if he makes a great contribution in the future, it will not be too late to reward him. But after laughing, I sighed in my heart. Said: "Zheng Qing, don't you have something to say?" Please come out and speak. ”

Zheng Lang put the mat in Sima Guang's hand and said in a low voice, "San Lang, well done." ”

In history, whether it is in the crown prince case or the Di Qing case, Sima Guang has played an important role and has been carefully analyzed, which is very disgraceful.

Especially the Di Qing case.

Then he walked out, holding his tooth wat and didn't say anything first, but glanced at the bigwigs in front of him and said, "Your Majesty, the minister hasn't been to the court for a long time." ”

In just one sentence, countless ministers were full of emotion, and they said that they would go down, and this southward journey was mostly a place of miasma, dealing with rough barbarians, and there were 100,000 urgent wars and being kidnapped. Zheng Lang did not have any complaints, he was not rewarded for his merits, but because of two irrelevant small mistakes, he was degraded again and again. This kind of integrity is something that ordinary people can't do at all.

Zhao Zhen was a little melancholy, and said softly: "Yes, you have been going south for almost four years." ”

"Soon, I'm looking at all the ministers, there were many upright and enthusiastic young ministers, all of whom grew up one by one, and now they are famous in the court, and many people have entered the two governments and two systems or the platform, as if it was a dream."

The speaker has a heart, and the listener also has a heart, and before he got down to business, he first came to ridicule.

Back then, you were upright and outspoken, fighting Lu Yijian, but now?

Zheng Lang glanced at the ministers again, and said: "Many things have happened since last autumn, the princess ran away from home, His Majesty was seriously ill, and the minister was once kidnapped for Tongping Zhangshi, this year, the Liuta River burst the embankment, and it rained heavily on Hebei Jingdong Road in Henan, and the embankment was waterlogged in many places. In July, the sky is full of stars, and the sun is eclipsed on the first day of August. There are man-made, natural disasters. Since His Majesty's Dynasty, nothing like this has ever happened. It was only a disaster that year, and Chen Zhizhong, Jia Changchao, Song Zhen and other ministers were demoted to official positions one by one according to Han regulations. Why is it that so many things have happened this year, and the minister has not heard any impeachment? ”

Several people in Dongfu all changed color.

These things happened one after another, all when Fu Bi and Wen Yanbo were prime ministers.

Not only that, but why is no one impeached.

Think about Empress Cao's request for power, but the ministers of the two governments did not give it, and once controlled all the government of the country, the problem is serious.

Zheng Lang didn't say anything more, something bad happened to him, and he didn't bother to say it, otherwise he would be able to set off a storm and waves at the court meeting today because of these several major events!

He took out the two mats from Sima Guang's hands, walked to the front, handed them to Fu Bi and Wang Yaochen respectively, and said, "Fu Xianggong, Wang Xianggong, don't force me to cut them off with a knife." ”

Both of them had a look of shame on their faces.

They had served as deputy or subordinate under Zheng Lang for a long time, and Zheng Lang had the credit for promoting them. In the Liuta River incident, the two of them lacked responsibility.

He rushed to the west side and said: "Di Qing, the court is in charge, you can go up and down, I heard that Your Majesty praised you as a loyal minister, what is loyalty, listen to Fan Xiwen, sigh!" To taste the heart of the ancient benevolence, or the difference between the two, what is it? Don't be happy with things, don't be sad with yourself; The height of the temple is worried about the people; Far away from the rivers and lakes, you are worried about it. It is a worry about advancing and a worry about retreating. But when will it be? It must be said that the worries of the world are worried, and the joy of the world is happy. As an official of the imperial court, it is difficult for our court to give preferential treatment to officials since ancient times, and I want to share the worries and sorrows for the emperor, think about the happiness of the people of the world, and think about the prosperity and safety of the country. If you only consider your official position and the power in your hands, you will lose the way of a gentleman and the way of a minister. In the past, I was the prime minister and was in charge of the affairs of the two governments, but now I am only a governor of Tanzhou, and I am in the middle of the class in the court, and many people in the forefront are my subordinates, am I indignant? ”

"Yes", Di Qing's eyes were a little moist.

can make Zheng Lang once again brave the world's disapproval, rush back to the capital in person, and seek justice for himself, what else is there to complain about?

Zheng Lang looked at Wang Yaochen again and said: "Wang Xianggong, although Di Qing is a military minister, he can't serve His Majesty in the article, but he has made great contributions to the territory and defend the peace of the country for many years. The state is a machine, which needs all kinds of parts, and the scholars are important, and the soldiers cannot be completely ignored. His Majesty's use of Di Qing as his privy envoy is a multifaceted consideration, encouraging soldiers to serve the country, adding a minister who is proficient in military affairs to Xifu, as a courtier, if he opposes it, he will advance, and if he does not advance, he will obey His Majesty's appointment, why not accept it? ”

Wang Yaochen was still not convinced, but he held Zheng Lang's mat in his hand and didn't dare to discern it.

Zheng Lang talked about business at this time, and slowly bowed with his tooth wat and said: "Your Majesty, the minister did not get the will of the Zhongshu and returned to the capital, and he just lost his honor at the court meeting, please give your Majesty an order to remove the minister from the post of squire of the military department." ”

The entire hall was silent.

With this dismissal, what official position does Zheng Lang have left?

Zhao Zhen already understood what Zheng Lang meant, and said: "Quasi, Ouyang Xiu and others will draft the edict, because Zheng Lang returned to Beijing hastily, the court will lose his honor, and he will be deposed as a doctor in the military department, and he will be reappointed as a member of the Ministry of Works. ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty", Zheng Lang sang a big fat promise.

Everyone was stunned again, and there were five doctors who were promoted to the court: Xuanfeng, Zhengfeng, Tongfeng, Zhengfeng, and Fengzhi, and Fengzhi was the last one. Yuanwailang is one level lower than Langzhong, the highest rank is Shangzhuguo, Zheng Lang was Zhuguo at the beginning, and he can't really all rise to the top, what will he do in the future? In fact, all the official positions are almost close to this apex, and then the pillar country, the upper guard, the guard, the captain of the light car, the captain of the light car, the captain of the cavalry, the captain of the cavalry, the captain of the horse, the captain of the flying cavalry, the captain of the cloud cavalry, the captain of the martial cavalry, a total of twenty levels, the lieutenant of the light car is only the commander in the middle, compared to Zheng Lang's identity, it is nothing.

The most strange thing is that the emperor actually agreed, and the degraders seemed to be happy. Seeing this pair of monarchs and ministers, many ministers felt bad in their hearts.

But you can't learn, although Zheng Lang has degraded all his official positions, he has got one of the most important things, the emperor's heart!

In fact, this matter is related to the conversation between Zheng Lang and Zhao Zhen yesterday, Zheng Lang said lightly: "Your Majesty, in the past few years, the minister's articles have been getting better and better, but the morale has been declining more and more. ”

Zhao Zhen was also full of emotion.

When he was in power, many gentlemen gave him a headache, but he had nothing to say about morale, insisted on the truth, treated official positions as air, and didn't care at all. Among them are Ouyang Xiu, Fu Bi, Pang Ji, Wen Yanbo and other important ministers. What now?

Therefore, acquiescing to Zheng Lang's self-seeking punishment and letting the ministers of the world take a look, the morale should be like this. This is what Mencius said, the rich cannot be lewd, the mighty cannot be bent, and the poor and the lowly cannot be moved.

Zheng Lang said again: "Second, autumn is approaching, the minister planned Jinghu South Road, and asked the Zhongshu to support the imperial court with fifteen million money, grain, silk and other materials, which is equivalent to 12 million yuan. However, Wen Yanbo only allocated five million to the minister, which was far from enough, so the minister personally came to Beijing and asked His Majesty that Jinghu South Road had spent a lot of money and could not be wasted. ”

Wen Yanbo walked out with his tooth wat and said, "Your Majesty, the country has suffered from this catastrophe, the treasury is tight, and so many people are still homeless, and the minister is unable to raise more money to allocate to Jinghu South Road. ”

Said very carefully, Zheng Lang has no official position now, yes, the rest of the official positions are air, and he is really shirtless, once there is a court dispute, the two sides will be degraded, and he will not dare to fight.

Zheng Lang said lightly: "Xianggong Wen, I don't understand this, at the beginning, you and I were the leaders, and the country also had disasters, but there were more than enough every year." When I left the court, the treasury had a surplus of 70,000,000,000 worth of more than 50,000,000 dollars. The annual surplus is nearly 40 million, and the price is about 30 million. Although the minister used a lot of money in the south, he allocated nearly 40 million yuan from the bank, why was the treasury insufficient? ”

A faint passage made Wen Yanbo's face sweat.

Small accounts can't be calculated, but approximate ones can be calculated clearly.

If the momentum of the Emperor's prayer for three years is maintained, more than 30 million yuan will be accumulated in a year, and now in more than four years, this money will be enough to support the expenses of the south.

Even if some preferential policies have been introduced, the light punishment is light, and the waste brought by the Liuta River is enough, and the original surplus of 50,000 yuan is enough. And the 40 million yuan in the bank?

Wen Yanbo can't be blamed entirely, and Wen Yanbo has more or less responsibility.

The south suffered from Nong Zhigao and Jiaozhi, and the imperial court not only benefited for the time being, but instead took out a lot of money to appease the people. In this year's catastrophe, the damage area is not small, and with the addition of the Liuta River, the loss is even heavier as soon as it enters and exits.

But this should not be taken as a waiting.

Running the country is like running a family, not calculating, and the money is spent quickly. If you can be careful with your budget, you will have a surplus.

This aspect is Wen Yanbo's shortcoming, and he, like Chen Zhizhong in the later period, likes to buy people's hearts and give more officials knights, and when he was actually the prime minister with Zheng Lang, he and Chen Zhizhong had this tendency to give knighthoods to officials.

What you see is above, and there is also below. For example, many officials in the Song Dynasty had officials but no positions, that is, they were actual officials, but there were no dispatch officials. You have to be an alternate to get a dispatch officer. However, there is no definite number of officials, for example, in a state, there are governors, general judges, recorders, households, justice, managers and other military officials, as well as the secretary of the festival, the observer envoy, the judge, the magistrate and other officials, and the officials in charge of the warehouse economy, responsible for the collection of tea, salt and wine taxes, mine management, shipbuilding, warehouse cashiers. There are many names, but often not all of them, only some of them.

As soon as it is tightened, the phenomenon of redundant officials will decrease, and as soon as it is loosened, there will be more redundant officials.

Wen Yanbo saw that Pang Ji made the scholar doctor dissatisfied, and he was very loose in his control of official positions, which had nothing to do with Zheng Lang, and the provincial officials who Pang Ji carefully managed with Chen Zhizhong and Wen Yanbo came to power, all failed, and the redundant officials were heavy again, which increased the expenditure.

Officials are not only paid annually, but also have a large number of rewards during the New Year's holidays. As soon as the hand was loosened, a large amount of money was used again.

As a result, the already abundant treasury has gradually become strained.

A very small number of ministers had surprise in their eyes.

No matter what the reason is, they spend it, the same calamities and harms, why the money has not been tight before, but has a surplus. Now there is so much surplus, I actually say that the flowers are gone.

This in itself is a big problem.

Even if it changes, it can be said that Wen Yanbo deliberately suppressed Zheng Lang, not only using Yanchen to deprive Zheng Lang of his official position one by one, but also interfering in what Zheng Lang wanted to do on Jinghu South Road, so that Zheng Lang could not make meritorious contributions and could not return to the dynasty!

Zhao Zhen said to Wang Gongchen: "Wang Qing, you check the accounts of the three divisions and hand them over to me." ”

"Huh", Wang Gongchen also had a headache.

Zheng Lang said again: "The minister plays the Liuta River again." The Liutahe case is serious and a mistake. But whether it is the three Wenfu or His Majesty, they all want to benefit the people and govern the country. It is just an underestimation of the difficulty of harnessing the Yellow River. This is a mistake, but the intentions are good. Who can not make mistakes, because of the negligence of the ministers, so many things have happened. ”

Zheng Lang shook his head.

Only Zhao Zhen understands, referring to Zheng Lang and his daughter's affairs.

Putting aside this inside story, Zheng Lang's evaluation is also fair and impartial.

"Actually, it's not important, I'll tell you two things, Xixia took Nigu and coerced Tubo Hezhou. This battle was fought very fiercely, although the Western Xia people suffered heavy losses, but they did not hide the reputation of Pang, did not hide the empress dowager did not like it, and the rush of their brothers and sisters was directly related to the safety of the northwest border. The new emperor of the Khitan registered base, and attached great importance to his uncle Yelu Chongyuan, his personality was quite similar to his father, so he gave Yelu Chongyuan a lot of rights, plus the rights in the hands of the Empress Dowager Xiao Fujin, Yelu Chongyuan should not be underestimated. Xiao Fujin is not happy with his eldest son, nor does he like his eldest grandson, he repeatedly instigated in front of Yelu Chongyuan, Yelu Chongyuan's mentality has changed, and he is an elder again, what will happen sooner or later? ”

"Compared to these two major events, what is the Six Towers River? The river burst, disaster relief, resettlement of the people, heavy rain poured, many rivers were waterlogged, resettlement of the victims. Over the years, the weather has been abnormal, not only in our dynasty, but also in Jiaozhi, and there are also many disasters in Khitan, haven't you been living it all the time? The master does not ridicule mistakes, and thinks that he is a gentleman who knows that mistakes can be corrected. If you are not afraid of making mistakes, you are afraid of making mistakes and do not know how to correct them. ”

The spearhead began to be revealed.

The Liuta River is a major event, but it is nothing compared to what happened in Western Xia and Khitan. That's civil strife in a country! It's not a disaster.

Zheng Lang said again: "What did the minister hear in the south? First of all, some people took the opportunity to attack the Liuta River and slandered Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi. Then, the crown prince case and the Di Qing case followed. There is no opinion on the Crown Prince's case.

Zhao Zhen has Zhao Zhen's mentality, he is only in his forties, although the higher the age, the more difficult it is to raise children, but it is not without opportunities. Besides, there are two future successors of the empire in the harem for selection, what are you afraid of?

The minister has the minister's opinion, Zhao Zhende's dizziness, that is, stroke, maybe he will fall down, if he is not justified, he is afraid that something will happen to the country in the future. Although some ministers were used by Wen Yanbo as a gun, they also wanted to be good for the Song Dynasty in their hearts.

The main thing is that Zheng Lang knows that Zhao Zhen will have no children in the future, otherwise he will support Zhao Zhen.

didn't want to participate in this matter, that Gao Tao also made Zheng Lang a little worried.

He also said: "However, why did not see much public opinion when Your Majesty was seriously ill, but there was a controversy in the Liuta River, and when Your Majesty's body was fully recovered, there were suddenly a large number of voices supporting concubines?" ”

Some ministers want to refute, but some ministers already understand.

Wen Yanbo's face was miserable.

didn't want to fight Zheng Lang, but Zheng Lang was aimed at him everywhere. He already felt that this aspect was difficult to protect.

Zheng Lang continued: "Not only that, the Liuta River incident was originally the fault of Zhongshu, but the two ministers of Zhongshu did not admit their mistakes to the people of the world, but instead put the blame on Di Qing. What's the matter with Di Qing? ”

"It's ridiculous!" Ouyang Xiu stood up.

"What a fallacy! If the person who did the wrong thing is not investigated, can he use some inexplicable words to shirk it from others? Your Majesty, please release all the prisoners in the world. The reason why they committed crimes in disregard of the laws of the country was because the court used Di Qing as a minister, not because they wanted to commit crimes. ”

"Different."

"What's the difference, if you know, what kind of impact will the imperial court have on the Great Song Dynasty in the future? Uncle Ouyang Yong, please step aside. Zheng Lang shouted.

Zheng Lang didn't plan to have much trouble this time, so he forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart, including preparing to break off the friendship with Fu Bi, and finally held back, but at this time he finally became angry.

In fact, the ministers attacked Di Qing this time, which was almost the same as Qin Hui's nonsense.

Although Yue Fei died, he died clearly, but Di Qing died inexplicably.

Ouyang Xiu stood awkwardly and didn't retreat, but he didn't know what to say for a while.

Zheng Lang continued: "I said, in fact, it doesn't matter, the outside slanders Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi, does Your Majesty believe it? You have attacked and slandered Di Qing with all kinds of trumped-up charges, does Your Majesty believe it? But you have repeatedly forced Your Majesty to agree to your approach. Why should this be so, the court is the prime minister, depreciation and promotion, it is the law of the ancestors, Di Qing is a military general, according to the law of the ancestors, it is not appropriate to serve as a privy envoy, to put it bluntly, you are reading the books of the sages written by the master to enter the official career, did the master teach you to be such a person and a minister? There is also Wen Xianggong, Xixia obtained the stool valley, the next target is either Hezhou or Shaanxi, Di Qing took the initiative to go to the northwest to assassinate the history of a state, why not? ”

By the way, Wen Yanbo was prepared, and said, "Di Qing is not at that time at this time, he is also responsible for the affairs of Tongping Zhang, and he went to the northwest, as a military general, his prestige is too high, and it is also against the laws of the ancestors." ”

Di Qing strode out and said: "Your Majesty, the minister is willing to go to the northwest to share the burden for His Majesty's country, and this Tongping Zhang minister doesn't want it." ”

What is Chenzhou? It is near the capital, and these scholars and doctors can get themselves at any time if they want to, and they can't go. When I arrived in the northwest, I was far away from the capital, and I still had some prestige in the military, so I could protect myself.

The crazy slander and attack of the scholars and doctors during this period of time made Di Qing harmful.

Wen Yanbo ignored him at all, the headache was Zheng Lang, what can a military general do, looked at Zhao Zhen and said: "Your Majesty, whether you are in the same situation or not, Di Qing has a high prestige when he goes to the northwest." Therefore, the minister did not agree also. ”

Anyway, Di Qing will be nailed to death in Chenzhou!

!