On June 27 of the fourth year of Jingding, Sima Kao finally returned to Fuzhou. Looking up at the gray sky and feeling the humidity of the non-stop rain during the rainy season, Sima Kao suddenly missed the sunny days of the north. In the south, even if you can hide from the sun, you can't hide from the heat or cool humidity of the carrier. The climate in the north is straightforward, no matter how hot it is, as long as you stay in the shade, it will cool down immediately. With a little breeze, the whole person will feel very comfortable.

Let's just go on the Northern Expedition! If the Mongols can be defeated, the Sima family can return to their hometown. Sima Kao's heart involuntarily gave birth to such a thought.

Walking on the streets of Fuzhou, Sima Kao found that after not seeing each other for a month, there were several more shops in Fuzhou with 'one thousand bowls'. There was a slight aroma of curry from the shop, and the curry taste was actually mixed with a new feeling, mixed with the taste of the meat inside, which made Sima Kao, who was not from a bad background, feel a little hungry.

After passing a shop, Sima Kao looked back inside. After the second store, Sima Kao swallowed his saliva. When they reached the door of the third shop, the rest of the crew shouted 'go in and have a look' and rushed into the shop. Sima Kao didn't want to act with these rough people, but this time he followed the crew into the shop without hesitation.

Looking at the actions of the men, including Sima Kao, Hu Yuelian sighed 'naïve' in her heart, and she continued to go to the yamen of Fuzhou Zhizhou. The deliciousness of those curries made Hu Yuelian feel very comfortable, but that was all. What Hu Yuelian was thinking about was the previous agreement with Zhao Jiaren, as long as Hu Yuelian completed this operation, Zhao Jiaren would help Hu Yuelian propose. Compared to beautiful men, curry is nothing.

However, Hu Yuelian was disappointed, and Zhao Jiaren did not see her. In fact, Hu Yuelian was blocked from the door at all, and the officer on duty told Hu Yuelian that Zhao Zhizhou was convening a meeting, and no one was seen at this time. Hu Yuelian, who learned the news, was a little unhappy and chose to go back to her home first. Before leaving, she couldn't help but look back at the Fuzhou Zhizhou Yamen in the rain, and Hu Yuelian suddenly felt that this building that looked dim under the dim sky was very annoying.

Zhao Jiaren in the Yamen of Fuzhou Zhizhou didn't know that his official residence was disgusted, but even if he knew, he probably wouldn't have any ideas. Hu Yuelian's marriage is more important than the large-scale rebellion of the people.

The people of She were later the She people. At the end of the Song Dynasty, they gathered in the mountainous areas at the junction of Guangdong, Fujian, and Jiangxi, and adopted slash-and-burn cultivation and raised livestock. In the movie, the mountainous areas can be filmed beautifully, but in reality, the mountainous areas are basically backward areas. In fact, it is easy to imagine how low labor productivity can be if you can go out and buy something casually for a few days.

Therefore, in order to improve production efficiency, the people often clashed with the ordinary people under the mountain. The people hoped for the support of the government, and the government sent troops to fight against the people, which eventually turned into a rebellion.

By reading the documents, Zhao Jiaren has become clear about these histories. Therefore, listening to Xia Jing, the commander of the Left Wing Army, tell the story of the rebellion of the people with a very exaggerated expression, Zhao Jiaren doubted whether the rebellion of the people was instigated by Xia Jing or made up by Xia Jing. Anyway, when the people go down the mountain, it is easy to be characterized as going down the mountain to loot. And Xia Jing was very resistant to Zhao Jiaren's proposal to reorganize the Left Wing Army, Zhao Jiaren looked at Xia Jing, and what he thought in his heart was how to remove the commander of Xia Jing.

Xia Jing said for a while, seeing that Fujian Road appeased Zhao Jiaren was not moved at all, and he looked thoughtful. Originally, Xia Jing thought that the young Fujian Road pacification envoy would be very excited because of the sudden arrival of the war, but Zhao Jiaren's performance made Xia Jing feel a little discouraged.

When Xia Jing fell silent, Zhao Jiaren didn't ponder, he immediately asked, "Can Commander Xia quell this rebellion of the She people?" ”

Xia Jing didn't expect Zhao Jiaren to ask such a serious question with a flat expression, and he was speechless for a while, unable to answer at all.

Zhao Jiaren looked at Xia Jing's bear-like appearance, and he didn't have the idea of transforming this person in his heart. If Xia Jing has the ability, he can understand it when he pulls it up. A guy who can't afford to try to pull it up again, Zhao Jiaren has no reason to buy it at all. Seeing that Xia Jing didn't speak, Zhao Jiaren continued to ask calmly: "Is it difficult for Commander Xia to quell the rebellion of the She people?" ”

Seeing that Zhao Jiaren's attitude was very unfriendly, Xia Jing hurriedly replied: "This time, the people are strong, but I am afraid that it will not be easy." ”

"It's not easy, but it can still be done." Zhao Jiaren continued to compress Xia Jing's range of activities.

Xia Jing has been an official for so long, and hearing Zhao Jiaren say this, he also feels that something is extremely wrong. If Zhao Jiaren set a time for Xia Jing to complete, if Xia Jing can't complete it, there will be military law. In such a situation, Xia Jing decisively turned the defense into an attack, "I don't know what Zhao Zhizhou means?" ”

Zhao Jiaren didn't bother to go around in circles, he said bluntly: "I mean that if you can calm down, you can calm down, if you can't calm down, then hurry up and give the court a resignation, and you can leave." Let you honestly adapt to the Left Wing Army, you don't do it. Since you don't want to do it, you can't even exterminate the bandits. General Xia, why do you think I want to keep you on Fujian Road? ”

Xia Jing has lived for so many decades, and he has never heard a Zhizhou say it so clearly until now. Zhao Jiaren explained the conflict of interest between himself and Xia Jing very thoroughly, and there was no need to guess why Zhao Jiaren could not allow Xia Jing to continue to stay in the Left Wing Army.

Hearing this, Xia Jing only felt as if he had been struck by lightning, full of sour and numb feelings. Under such intense nervous activity, Xia Jing's first thought was what Zhao Jiaren was. Then he himself quickly understood that Zhao Jiaren was the pacification envoy of Fujian Road and had the right to manage the military of Fujian Road.

Xia Jing's second thought was that he didn't want to be driven away. Zuo Prime Minister Jia Nidao has swept away the head of the army and promoted the generals of Lu Wende's family in the past few years, and Xia Jing was able to maintain his position in the Left Wing Army entirely because Jia Nidao looked down on the Left Wing Army. If Zhao Jiaren had impeached Xia Jing at this time, it would probably be that Jia Yidao would immediately send a general from Lu Wende's family to Fujian Road. Even if the Left Wing Army is bad, the commander of the Left Wing Army is, after all, the commander of the front division of the palace.

After determining these two points, Xia Jing couldn't care so much, and he immediately replied: "Zhao Zhizhou, I thought you were trying to be prestigious, so I proposed to reorganize the Left Wing Army. As far as I've seen, none of the messes have ended well. However, now I know that Zhao Zhizhou is definitely not going to do nonsense, and the lower officials are willing to follow Zhao Zhizhou and reorganize the Left Wing Army in the water and fire! ”

Zhao Jiarenguang had heard of repeated villains, but he didn't expect to see one with his own eyes today. In all fairness, Zhao Jiaren didn't want to give Xia Jing a chance at all. However, he also considered it before, if the adaptation was too intense, he was afraid that something would happen. Since Xia Jing can 'get lost and return' at this time, Zhao Jiaren feels that Xia Jing can also be kept at this time.

So Zhao Jiaren said: "Commander Xia, I think it is right to move the left wing army to Fuzhou first. ”

Xia Jing could fully understand Zhao Jiaren's purpose in doing this, and moving the headquarters of the Left Wing Army to Fuzhou meant that Zhao Jiaren could directly give orders to Xia Jing. However, at this time, he couldn't care about so much, if Xia Jing didn't satisfy Zhao Jiaren, Zhao Jiaren would immediately implement the plan to get Xia Jing down. Therefore, the commander of the left-wing army replied cheerfully: "I have long wanted to go back to Fuzhou." Zhao Zhizhou, I'll go back to do this now. ”

Waiting for Xia Jing to leave, Zhao Jiaren said to Xu Yuanzhi next to him: "Mr. Xu, do you think what I said before can be implemented?" ”

Xu Yuanzhi watched the young Zhao Jiaren deal with things so decisively, recalling his experience of being the governor of Fuzhou, he couldn't help but sigh, and then said: "Jiaren, what you said is right, but it always makes people feel that you want to overwhelm people with power." ”

Zhao Jiaren said with a smile: "Mr. Xu, I really want to settle disputes with you by discussing like this. However, this Xia Jing Commander would not do this. For him, the Left Wing Army was his turf. We rogue officials will leave in three years, and this commander Xia Jing has been staying in the Left Wing Army. It is really an iron-clad left-wing army, and a flowing Fuzhou Zhizhou. ”

Xu Yuanzhi didn't want to comment on such a sharp evaluation. Because at this time, Xu Yuanzhi was no longer the governor of Fuzhou, nor was he the outgoing governor of Guangzhou. Rather, it is Zhao Jiaren's 'supervising teacher'.

A month ago, Xu Yuanzhi visited Zhao Jiaren, and was choked by the girl's feelings after reading history. He took Zhao Jiaren's clipper to Lin'an. After arriving in Lin'an, Xu Yuanzhi received a notice from Yushitai that if Xu Yuanzhi was willing to give advice, he could receive a shrine and live a comfortable retirement life. If Xu Yuanzhi refuses to do this, then wait to be included in Ding Daquan's party. Anyway, Xu Yuanzhi was an official from Ding Daquan, so no one would be surprised to say this.

Xu Yuanzhi was not unexpected, he accepted the request of the Yushitai and decisively wrote to ask for Zhishi. The Great Song Dynasty rarely had such a high efficiency, and the book was written on the same day, and the instructions were given on the same day. On the second day after entering Lin'an, Xu Yuanzhi became a retiree.

was so humiliated, Xu Yuanzhi also felt that he had no face to continue to stay in Lin'an. It's just that he didn't want to go back to his hometown, so he simply came to Zhao Jiaren's side to relax. was invited by Zhao Jiaren to be a teacher, and pointed out to Zhao Jiaren the unreasonableness of being an official. If it was before, Xu Yuanzhi would probably decisively refuse, but now Xu Yuanzhi has an unquenchable anger in his chest, so he decisively agreed to Zhao Jiaren's request.

The civil officials of the Great Song Dynasty have always looked down on soldiers, and Zhao Jiaren's treatment of Xia Jing did not make Xu Yuanzhi feel that there was anything wrong. Xu Yuanzhi put down the topic, "If you are not afraid of Xia Jing suing you, then you can do this." ”

Zhao Jiaren was not afraid of Xia Jing's complaint at all, in fact, even if Xia Jing decisively bowed his head to Zhao Jiaren, Zhao Jiaren still felt that he didn't want to let Xia Jing go. If Xia Jing sued Zhao Jiaren, Zhao Jiaren would have no reason to let Xia Jing go. And what did Xia Jing sue? If it was before, Zhao Jiaren could still worry about Jia Yidao knowing the speed of Zhao Jiaren's development. The latest battle report was published in the newspaper in the previous paragraph.

Xia Gui led his troops to Shandong and Henan, and finally chose to retreat after a series of defeats. And the Mongols built a castle in the Xiangyang area, and Lü Wende blamed himself very much for this. According to Zhao Jiaren's previous experience, the major landmark event of the Mongol invasion of the south was that they seized on Lü Wende's greedy personality and built a fortress in the Xiangyang area.

One or two forts were nothing, and the construction of the forts meant that the Mongols continued to advance their strategy of going south to destroy the Song Dynasty. And with the war, Jia Rudao faced heavy military pressure from the direction of Xiangyang, where did he dare to do anything to Zhao Jiaren. If Jia Nidao didn't know Zhao Jiaren's sea power, the more Jia Nidao knew Zhao Jiaren's strength, the more he had to cooperate with Zhao Jiaren. Because Jia Rudao can really give Zhao Jiaren only an official position.

"Of course I'm not afraid of Xia Jing." Zhao Jiaren replied decisively.

There is no need to talk about soldiers, Xu Yuanzhi changed to his favorite topic, "Since you are not afraid, you can naturally deal with this matter." What I really care about is Jiaren's opinion on the official system, others think that there are a lot of redundant officials in the Great Song Dynasty, why do you think this is not the case? ”

Hearing that Xu Yuanzhi wanted to talk to him about the system, Zhao Jiaren immediately said with great interest: "There are really not many of our Great Song officials, how much are more than 20,000 people?" Mr. Xu must have seen the officials, and there were dozens or hundreds of errands under one officer, and all the specific things were controlled by these people. I don't want to say if they are born with a black heart, just to support these errands, the official is not black-hearted, can he get so much money? ”

Listening to Zhao Jiaren's words, Xu Yuanzhi felt uncomfortable in his heart for a while. It's not because Zhao Jiaren said something wrong, but because the solution proposed by Zhao Jiaren made Xu Yuanzhi uncomfortable. From the previous discussion, Xu Yuanzhi knew that Zhao Jiaren's solution was to integrate the officials into one. Local work is carried out exclusively by officials. If this system is implemented, there will be no redundancy among the more than 20,000 officials in the Great Song Dynasty, because Zhao Jiaren estimates that the Great Song Dynasty will need about 200,000 officials. In other words, what is needed now is to recruit more than 170,000 officials through various systems to make up for the shortfall. It is not the traditional line of bureaucratic reform that lays off officials.

Thinking that the officials were going to do the things of the little officials, Xu Yuanzhi sighed: "If this is the case, it will be too unkind to scholars." ”

Zhao Jiaren was very satisfied with the outcome of this conversation, and after talking about this last time, Xu Yuanzhi got up and walked away. This time, Xu Yuanzhi was at least willing to talk to Zhao Jiaren about the official system.

Zhao Jiaren immediately said: "Mr. Xu, I think the fundamental problem of our Song Dynasty bureaucracy is that officials don't work. The reason why they made meritorious contributions was to be able to command others from above in the future. Take Jia Xianggong as an example, if Jia Xianggong first used his own experience as an officer, he came up with a clear plan to discuss with various departments. After the adoption is passed, it will be proposed how to provide various kinds of support to the officials who are implementing it. In other words, he is not a person who allows everyone to serve, but as a backer for everyone, as a person who supports everyone and serves everyone. What do you think his status will be? ”

When Xu Yuanzhi heard this, he thought of the shame he had encountered and was forced to retire, even if he was so cultured, Xu Yuanzhi couldn't help but say hatefully: "What Jiaren said is all delusional. ”

Zhao Jiaren nodded, "Even if it's my delusion, if I become a minister and do it, does Mr. Xu think the officials will be willing to listen to me?" ”

Xu Yuanzhi continued to shake his head, "Da Song is the minister of power, Jiaren does this, I'm afraid that someone will look down on you." ”

"Didn't I punish for not teaching, I dealt with those people at that time, is it really difficult that someone scolded me for tyranny?" Zhao Jiaren said with a smile.

Xu Yuanzhi was chilled by this cannibal-like smile, it was Zhao Jiaren's heartfelt smile, so it was very infectious. Xu Yuanzhi could feel a strong willpower from it, and Xu Yuanzhi also felt that there was a taste of justice in this smile. Indeed, if Zhao Jiaren can really do what he says, the officials who disobey will lack justice.

Just as Xu Yuanzhi was pondering, Sima Kao's face was full of red light. Seeing his chest and belly, it was after a full meal. Seeing that Xu Yuanzhi was still there, Sima Kao asked in surprise: "Why is Xu Zhizhou still in Fuzhou?" ”

was poked in the sore spot, Xu Yuanzhi's expression was not as excited as talking about official reform with Zhao Jiaren. He tried to talk about his current situation indifferently and simply. After hearing this, Sima Kao felt that there was nothing to say, as an official who had been forced to retire, Sima Kao thought that he could not accept such a result at all, so it was useless to comfort him. After holding back for a moment, Sima Kao said, "I'll invite Mr. Xu to eat curry noodles." ”

These words are quite interesting, Zhao Jiaren and Xu Yuanzhi couldn't help but be amused.

Da Song is in the food delivery industry, Zhao Jiaren and Xu Yuanzhi are both in a meeting with Xia Jing, and the two are also hungry. So I went to the restaurant outside and ordered an order. It didn't take long for the guy who delivered the food to come in with a food box. When opened, there are steaming three bowls of noodles and golden pancakes.

The three jinshi talked about beef jerky, which was a contraband, while eating. At this time, the protagonist became Sima Kao, who told about how he followed the troops to fight in Hebei. For the land of Hebei, which is lacking in people, Sima Kao sighed very much, "The Hebei Plain is really endless. And there are really no people in Hebei, so many landless people on our Fujian Road, how good it would be to send them to Hebei. ”

Listening to these words full of expansionist thoughts, Zhao Jiaren just smiled and continued to bury his head in eating curry mutton noodles. He actually wanted to make beef noodles, but Fuzhou Zhizhou took the lead in breaking the law, which was a bit too much.

Xu Yuanzhi lowered his head and ate noodles with a serious expression, he was a person who ran for five, and his appetite was far less than before. Since he started eating curry rice, he can eat again. Xu Yuanzhi finally found the joy of eating.

"Xu Zhizhou" Sima Kao had just eaten a big bowl of noodles, and he was not in a hurry to have another bowl at this time. He looked at Xu Yuanzhi's expression as if he was not supportive, and he said: "You haven't seen the power of artillery, so you think the Mongols are not easy to fight." Extremely useful when artillery is besieging a city. ”

Xu Yuanzhi didn't like a radical like Sima Kao, he swallowed the noodles, raised his head and asked, "Do you want to be a military attaché?" ”

In the Great Song Dynasty, serving in the army was not a glorious thing, and being a military attache was not glorious. This sentence choked Sima Kao.

Zhao Jiaren didn't want the only two Jinshi in his team to have a meaningless argument, so he interjected, "Artillery may be better against the Mongols, and better against the barbarians in the South China Sea. I told the imperial court before that I would recruit landless displaced people to open up the South China Sea, and now that there are smallpox and cholera vaccines, I am going to hire people to open up in the South China Sea. Originally, it was natural to build a castle and control the land outside the city. I've chosen all the places. ”

Since Zhao Jiaren interjected, Sima Kao did not continue to argue with Xu Yuanzhi. He asked, a little upset, "But where?" ”

Zhao Jiaren took out a small map, pointed to the place in Bangkok in the future, and said: "Our fleet has left people here. This place is very close to the Wolf Tooth Cultivator, and the Wolf Tooth Cultivator does not control this place. If we open up here, it will be very good for our business. ”

Xu Yuanzhi looked at it and asked, "How far is it from Fuzhou?" ”

"More than five thousand miles." Zhao Jiaren casually gave an estimated answer.

Hearing this number, Xu Yuanzhi did not hesitate to express his position, "Labor costs people and money." ”

"It can't be counted like that." Zhao Jiaren couldn't help but be more serious. He hurriedly finished eating the noodles, and then took out a blackboard, "Building a ship is a thousand, as long as you can control the route, 20 sailors on a ship are enough." A sailor is counted as fifty strokes a year, which is two thousand. Rice without hulling can be stacked casually, and the requirements for the structure inside the ship are not high. A ship can transport at least 2,000 stones. According to the calculation of three times with one stone, the heredity is 6,000 yuan. With a spinnaker, a boat can make two or three trips a year. With such a large profit available, how can it be called labor and money. ”

Xu Yuanzhi listened to Zhao Jiaren's narration while eating noodles, and after listening, he raised his head and said calmly: "Jia Rudao is engaged in public land reform, and he thinks the same way. ”

When Jia Rudao was mentioned, Sima Kao was very unhappy in his heart. And Xu Yuanzhi's conservative and stable personality is also something that Sima Kao doesn't like, even if Sima Kao respects Xu Yuanzhi very much, he can't help but say unhappily at this time: "This is not good, that is not good." If you don't do it, how do you know it can't work? ”

Xu Yuanzhi turned his head to look at his nephew, and then said: "Many things have lessons from the past, the better this kind of plan is, then there must be something missing." ”

"Then what does Xu Zhizhou think he missed?" Sima Kao slammed back.

Zhao Jiaren immediately said loudly: "I know where the omission is. ”

Sima Kao turned his head to look at Zhao Jiaren, and even Xu Yuanzhi turned his head to look at him. Zhao Jiaren said loudly: "The reason why it must fail is because there are not enough officials and not enough cadres to do things." If they are high up and ask others to do work for them, this kind of thing will definitely not work. If these officials can do the work themselves, and can lead the people to work together, there is nothing unsuccessful. ”

Zhao Jiaren said seriously, because he knew that there was really such a cadre team in this world. And Sima Kao and Xu Yuanzhi stared at Zhao Jiaren's serious face, and after observation, the two found that Zhao Jiaren was not joking. First Xu Yuanzhi smiled, and then Sima Kao laughed loudly. Laughter couldn't express Sima Kao's impulse at this time, he simply slammed his fist on the table while laughing.

History has only been pioneered by someone, and future generations feel that it is a road that can be followed. Zhao Jiaren feels that it is not unrealistic to select talents from among the workers in the Great Song Dynasty. Even after being ridiculed like this, Zhao Jiaren still did not change his face and was calm.