Within two days, Empress Dowager Cao met with Fan Ning for the second time, but this time it was in the side hall of Ziwei Palace, and the Son of Heaven Zhao Ji participated in the reception at the same time, and the university scholars Zhang Yao and Niu Zhen also participated in the audit.

Empress Dowager Cao is still sitting with the curtain down, and Zhao Ji, the son of heaven, is sitting in front, he is eighteen years old this year, tall and heroic, and his instruments are extraordinary, so that Fan Ning sighed secretly, Empress Dowager Cao has just taken power, how can she be willing to hand over the government to him in two years, it must be the same as Renzong, and there will be another stumbling.

Fan Ning saw the salute and said unhurriedly: "This time Wechen went north for three things, the first is to report on the recent situation in Nanyang, the second is to report the results of Wechen's eastward investigation, and the third is to explain his opinions for the future development of Nanyang. ”

At this time, Empress Dowager Cao asked in a soft voice: "The officials, have all the ministers gone to court?" ”

Zhao Ji hurriedly bowed and said, "Back to the emperor's grandmother, they are all here today." ”

"Then invite them to come along, and everyone will see it together!"

Zhao Ji instructed the attendants to invite the ministers, and said to Fan Ning: "Fan Jingluo, please wait for a while!" ”

Fan Ning understood that Empress Dowager Cao wanted to abolish the joint deliberative system of the Overseas Economic Strategy Office and the Prefect's Hall, but he didn't care, and everyone worked together to discuss politics, but instead allowed him to more comprehensively explain the proposal of the overseas feudal system.

He bowed and saluted: "Weichen specially brought two special carriages from Quanzhou, which are very different, I want to invite Your Majesty, the Queen Mother and the Xiangguo to visit together, otherwise they will be sent to the main hall, and now there is no horse, it is in the Xuande Building." ”

Zhao Ji glanced back at the Queen Mother, and the Queen Mother Cao nodded, "Accurate!" ”

Zhao Ji immediately sent guards to move the two carriages, and after a while, the two carriages were sent outside the hall first, and seven ministers Han Qi, Fu Bi, Wen Yanbo, Han Jiang, Zhang Fangping, Wu Chong, and Cai Xiang also happened to arrive, pointing around the carriage.

At this time, Fan Ning walked out of the hall and greeted everyone, and soon, the sedan chair of the Son of Heaven Zhao Ji and the Empress Dowager Cao also came from the other side, and everyone saluted the Empress Dowager and the Son of Heaven together.

Zhao Ji was very interested, he stepped out of the sedan car and looked at the wheels carefully, and he also found that the wheels were different.

Fan Ning stepped forward to report to the Empress Dowager Cao: "Empress Dowager Qiyu, there is a kind of gum in Nanyang, which is shaped like elephant skin, so it is called elephant gum, and the elasticity is very good. ”

Empress Dowager Cao smiled slightly, "The official family can give it a try!" ”

Zhao Ji was a little embarrassed, "Grandmother Qiyu, there is no horse yet, it is better to let people set the horse first, and then the emperor and grandson will ride after the discussion." ”

"Okay, let's discuss it first!"

Everyone returned to the main hall and sat down, and the seven ministers also gave them seats, and the Empress Dowager Cao said slowly: "Fan Jingluo has a written report before, reporting on the battle with the Three Buddhas, and also reporting on the recent situation in Xingang and Luzon, this report has been approved by the mourning family and transferred to the Zhizheng Hall, does the Zhizheng Hall have different opinions?" ”

Han Qi got up and said: "This report has also been discussed within the Zhizheng Hall, and basically approves the various measures of the Overseas Economic Strategy Palace, our only concern is to attack the Three Buddhas, do we have morality?" ”

Fan Ning secretly scolded in his heart, the 2.3 million taels of gold and treasures transported back to the Great Song Dynasty from the Three Buddhas, the Zhizheng Hall laughed unceremoniously, but now he cares about whether the war is moral, and if he has the ability to take those gold.

Although he was dissatisfied in his heart, Fanning still smiled and said: "Enlighten everyone, the Sriwijaya military sent the navy to pretend to be pirates to fight the Xingang trade, this is what they have admitted, we pursued the pirates, but they were the first to attack, and a warship was captured by them, this is what thousands of soldiers have witnessed with their own eyes, we rescue the patrol team, but they were attacked by hundreds of their warships, we can't bear to fight back, I think we are completely moral."

After they surrendered, we no longer slaughtered their soldiers, nor did we take the opportunity to loot the people's property or insult the women, so we did not commit any crimes, and we all came from their treasury, and the court did not have to have any moral concerns in the battle of the Srivijaya. ”

Empress Dowager Cao was also slightly dissatisfied in her heart, she had obviously approved Fan Ning's report, why did the Zhizheng Hall still discuss and ask questions, so what was the point of her approval?

She asked again: "Envoy Fan Jingluo has already made an explanation, does Han Xianggong still have any questions?" ”

"There is no doubt about the three Buddhas in the war, but in Luzon and Baozhou, the Zhizheng Hall has more ideas."

"Han Xianggong, please speak!"

"We looked at the plan of Fan Jingluo, Luzon developed very successfully, we also have a deep understanding in the capital, Luzon's frosted sugar, cotton and grain have entered thousands of households, the gold transported from Luzon has greatly improved the finances of the imperial court, and the grain transported from Luzon has also reduced the price of grain in the capital to 20 Wen of rice, and the large-scale planting of corn in the future will make the grain cheaper, these are all good signs of prosperity in the Great Song Dynasty, no one can deny the contribution of overseas development, but in terms of immigration, we think it is still too hasty, After all, immigration is a century-old project, and you need to take your time. ”

Fan Ning asked puzzledly, "What is the reason for the idea of slowing down immigration?" ”

Han Qi sighed and said: "In recent years, the immigration and recruitment of workers have been too fierce, so that many places in the countryside have appeared the phenomenon of barren land, this phenomenon is especially serious in Hebei Road and Shaanxi Road, especially the price of grain has fallen too fast, there has been a situation of cheap grain hurting farmers, affecting the enthusiasm of farmers to farm. ”

Fanning said: "Achieving a large-scale increase in grain production is a good thing that all dynasties have hoped for, if you are worried about the low grain and hurting the peasants, there can be two ways, one is to subsidize the grain farmers, and the second is to improve the grain planting technology, so that a person can grow more grain, and should not think of cutting grain planting, then there will be a famine." ”

In fact, Han Qi's statement also had fierce disagreements within the Zhizheng Hall, at least Fu Bi was resolutely opposed to Gu Bei hurting the peasants, Fu Bi stood up and said: "Fan Jingluo is right, achieving a large-scale increase in grain production is indeed a good thing that all dynasties and dynasties are looking forward to, we can't waste food because of choking, I have always advocated the abolition of forced labor, reduce the burden on farmers, which has a positive impact on population growth and the development of the Great Song Dynasty, even if it can't be canceled for a while, then can we turn unpaid forced labor into paid forced labor, and the imperial court provides food, Or the people pay to be exempt from military service. ”

Han Qi frowned and said: "Rich Xianggong, the abolition of conscription is not directly related to the injury of the peasants, and now is not the time to discuss conscription." ”

"It doesn't matter why, if the forced labor is abolished, men will spend more time at home, and the chances of women getting pregnant will be greatly increased, and the population will increase, and food will not be cheaper when the population increases."

Everyone laughed, in fact, Fan Ning also admitted that Fu Bi was right, population increase is the key to solving the problem of balancing food prices, he got up and said: "Fu Xianggong has grasped the key, population increase is the purpose of grain increase, without the introduction of Zhancheng rice, the population of the Great Song Dynasty will not increase so rapidly, if the population of the Great Song Dynasty increases to 20,000, then 50 million go overseas to cultivate, isn't that the most understandable result?" ”

Han Qi nodded, "That's what I said just now, it takes time to migrate slowly, and now overseas immigration is too fierce, and the impact on agriculture is too great." ”

Wen Yanbo sighed and said, "Why does Han Xianggong necessarily think that overseas immigrants caused the agricultural depression, but he turns a blind eye to the absorption of the population by the super-large workshops? ”

Wen Yanbo only said that the key point is how many overseas immigrants can there be? The key is that the emergence of super-large workshops in the Great Song Dynasty has become more and more intense, textile, silk weaving, printing and dyeing, mining, smelting, shipbuilding, shipping, winemaking, ceramics, tea-making, oil extraction, etc., and the super-large workshops of hundreds and thousands of people have appeared, occupying a large number of young laborers, and young people who are willing to face the loess and farm with their backs to the sky, have gone to various big cities to find opportunities and increase their horizons.

In the past, the little lady could only work as a maid, but now she can work in the textile workshop and earn no less than her parents.

There was silence in the court for a while, these super-large workshops involved a large number of powerful people, and they were not easy to touch.

At this time, Empress Dowager Cao asked Fan Ning again, "Fan Aiqing mentioned just now that agricultural technology can change the status quo, so you might as well continue to talk about it in this regard." ”

Fan Ning bowed down and said: "Actually, Wechen will talk about technical issues soon, so Wechen will start with agricultural technology." ”