In the Guanjia Palace, according to the past, after the morning court, whether it is the emperor or the prime minister, they will go back to rest for a while, and then start today's government affairs.

The prime minister went to the government hall to manage the government, the emperor was freer, and the diligent ones went to the Yanhe Hall to review the folds, but in the Zhao Zhen period, it was changed to the Chongde Palace.

Therefore, at this time, it is impossible for the prime ministers of the three phases and three ginseng to be in the Guanjia Hall in the back garden, and this place could not be a place where they could come before.

But at this moment, the ministers of the Great Song Dynasty held a meeting that could change the future of the Great Song Dynasty in the Guanjia Palace, which was originally inconspicuous and only had the appearance of agriculture and mulberry every year.

Zhao Zhen sat on the Taishi chair above the Guanjia Palace, and since this was not a serious court meeting, he asked Wang Shouzhong to move a few chairs and put them below, and many ministers sat left and right.

At this time, Fan Zhongyan also walked in and saluted Zhao Zhen: "Official." ”

Zhao Zhen asked, "What about Zhao Jun?" ”

"I'm probably tired, so I'll sleep a little now."

Fan Zhongyan replied.

"Hmm."

Zhao Zhen nodded: "Fan Qing came just in time, let's sit down and talk together." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Fan Zhongyan sat on the chair at the bottom.

Although he dared to call the prime minister, now he is only a secretary and a young eunuch after all, and his official position is the lowest, so he can only sit in the last seat.

After he sat down, Zhao Zhen looked around at everyone and said: "Zhao Jun has been coming to the Great Song Dynasty for more than a month, and the imperial doctor said that his condition will be ten days and a half months as fast, and another month as slow as possible, and he will probably be able to recover." When his eyes opened, he probably couldn't hide it. ”

"At least we can be sure that everything he said during the time he was out of sight was the truth......"

Lu Yi hesitated slightly.

Because he suddenly remembered that during this period of time, Zhao Jun did not catch Zhao Zhen's family and scolded, and after scolding Zhao Zhen himself, he scolded his grandfather again, and the swear words he said became more and more ugly.

If all the words are true, wouldn't it be that Zhao Zhen is a fool, a stupid donkey, and an old skinned bone?

So Lu Yijian suddenly regretted why he had to take this stubble.

Fortunately, Zhao Zhen didn't think so much about it at the time, and nodded and said, "Well, that's good." Now that we know a lot of things in the future, what do you think we should do if we want to be strong and change the shame of Jingkang? ”

When Fan Zhongyan heard this, he suddenly came to his senses, and immediately said: "The official family, naturally, is to reform the country and customs, and to eliminate the evils. In the past, the Qin State was in difficulty, and only when the Shang monarch changed the law did the Qin State become strong and prosperous, and finally dominate the world. A momentary trend can only be a momentary law. If you don't think about flexibility and stick to the law of your ancestors, how can you last long? ”

"Hmm."

Everyone nodded when they heard this, and this was something that everyone knew.

Zhao Zhen looked at himself, the future reform general, and asked hopefully: "Fan Qing thinks, where should we start?" ”

Fan Zhongyan thought for a while and said: "The Great Song Dynasty has been ill for too long, as Zhao Jun said, almost all the surplus of the treasury is used for military expenses, and the soldiers and horses that can be raised have no combat power, and they were later defeated by the Western Xia, which shows the drawbacks inside. ”

"Hmm."

Zhao Zhen groaned slightly.

Lu Yijian frowned, and asked in a serious tone, "You still want to reform the military system?" ”

As soon as these words came out, Fan Zhongyan's face changed greatly.

The military system of the Great Song Dynasty was left by the brothers of Zhao Kuangyi and Zhao Guangyi, except for the border soldiers and the local army left in the states, the main army was concentrated in Bianliang, that is, the forbidden army.

At the beginning, the number of forbidden troops was not large, but by the time of Song Renzong, the forbidden army had grown to more than 800,000.

Because there were too many uprisings in the Northern Song Dynasty, the imperial court recruited An, and all the people who recruited An'an were stuffed into the forbidden army, and as a result, the personnel became more and more bloated, and the number of soldiers and horses increased sharply.

The Song Dynasty itself has money, and it would be a good thing if it could train these 800,000 forbidden troops into elite troops.

After all, in addition to being responsible for the security of Bianliang, the forbidden army also had to go to the border to fight, and if so many people used it well, it would not be a problem to beat Western Xia and Liao.

However, the emperor of the Song Dynasty was not at ease about handing over the army to the generals, so the training of these forbidden troops was usually carried out by those leaders, that is, Lin Chong's gang, and they would not give the generals the right to lead the troops.

When the time came to war, the emperor would ask the Privy Council to transfer troops, and then send generals to lead these soldiers to the border, resulting in a situation where "soldiers do not know generals, generals do not know soldiers", which seriously jeopardized the combat effectiveness of the forbidden army.

But the advantage of this is also obvious, that is, the military power is completely in the hands of the emperor, and the possibility of overthrowing the power of generals like the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms is completely eliminated.

Therefore, if the military system is reformed, it will touch the bottom line of imperial power.

No matter how stupid Fan Zhongyan is, he knows that some things can be said and some things can't be said, so he hurriedly denied it: "Naturally not, the harm of the three redundancies, I think you know better than anyone else, Zhao Jun also said that if it is forcibly removed, it is tantamount to burying the country, so it is urgent to slow down the plan, and focus on redundant officials first." ”

"Huh."

Lu Yijian immediately said-for-tat: "Didn't you listen to what Zhao Jun said? If you reform the rule of officials, that is, let the officials reform themselves first, who will agree? Didn't Zhao Jun tell you how many people will oppose your Qingli New Deal in the future? How many people are attacking you? ”

Fan Zhongyan lost his temper and immediately pushed back and said, "What? I'm never afraid. Zhao Jun said, it is imperative to reform the rule of officials, and since this direction is right, then I will go on even if I die. ”

Lu Yijian sneered: "How many lives do you have to be the enemy of the officials of the whole world?" Do you know that if the state and road officials are dismissed because of you, how many government affairs in the world will be delayed? If more than 3,000 officials and more than 20,000 officials in Bianliang are suspended, Bianliang will be in a mess within a day. ”

Fan Zhongyan didn't pay attention to it at all, but arched his hand to Zhao Zhen and said: "Zhao Jun's words must have been clear to the official family, if there is no reform, the Great Song Dynasty is in danger. Lu Yijian opposes the reform because he is a conservative interest group in Zhao Jun's mouth, do the officials want to watch the Great Song Dynasty wither the country by these three redundancies? ”

"You!"

Lu Yijian was furious, and Fan Zhongyan used the trick of standing on the moral high ground again.

Zhao Zhen's brows furrowed.

Fan Zhongyan is a courtier he values and a reformist minister appointed by Zhao Jun, but he still seems to be too reckless.

Didn't Zhao Jun say it before, did this matter need to be delayed?

"Officials, redundant official matters, we still have to think in the long run, there are too many officials in the Great Song Dynasty, and they are still increasing year by year, the change is so big at once, and the country may not be able to withstand the removal of so many officials."

"Yes, official, it's a good thing that Fan Xiwen has the heart to eliminate the malpractices, but you can't rush it, let's wait for Zhao Jun's eyes to regain his sight."

"The minister also thought that he needed to think about it again."

The three phases and three staffs, including Wang Zeng and Cai Qi, who did not deal with Lu Yijian, actually stood on the same side as him rarely, and opposed the immediate start of redundant official reform.

It's not that they defected, but that there were real considerations of position and interests, as well as concerns about the consequences of the issue of redundant officials.

During the reign of Renzong of the Northern Song Dynasty, the number of officials had reached more than 40,000, twice that of the Tang Dynasty. You must know that the peak area of the Tang Dynasty was more than 12 million square kilometers, and the Song Dynasty was only 2.8 million square kilometers, you can know how serious the redundancy of officials in the Song Dynasty was.

And this is just an official, not a reckoning officer. A county has four full-fledged officials, including the county magistrate, the county clerk, the chief bookkeeper, and the county lieutenant, and the number of officials needed is at least ten times that of the officials.

Although these are hired by officials at their expense, most of them are subsidized by the Song Dynasty court to officials, otherwise how can they afford to rely on the little money of officials?

If we really carry out reform according to Fan Zhongyan's Qingli New Deal, not only will the cake of the 40,000 officials be moved, but also the cake of more than 450,000 officials in the whole world, and the sum of these interest groups will be no worse than the problem of reforming redundant troops.

Therefore, even if it is really necessary to restructure, it cannot be done immediately, but I hope to wait for Zhao Jun's eyes to recover, discuss with him and see what he can do.

Zhao Zhen saw that everyone was opposed, so he looked at Fan Zhongyan helplessly and said, "Fan Qing, let's wait for Zhao Jun's eyes to regain his sight." ”

"Official ......"

Fan Zhongyan wanted to say something, but when he saw Zhao Zhen's helpless face, he could only sigh and sit back in his place.

This world is always full of helplessness, although they know that the problem is serious, but they can hardly find a solution.

In fact, Fan Zhongyan wanted to reform the rule of officials, but he was also helpless.

Because of the three redundancies, redundant soldiers are the bottom line of imperial power, and no one dares to risk death to touch this thunder.

What is redundancy?

In fact, it is the excess expenses generated by redundant officers and redundant soldiers.

For example, the transfer of money taken away by the tea merchants in the Fali court is a kind of redundancy.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

In addition to the tea merchants, the excess expenses of the Xiang army, the forbidden army, and the border army, the empty salaries of the army that were eaten, the money spent on recruiting An, and the expenses of corruption among the generals.

There are also subsidies for officials, job fields, silk cloth, grain, rewards, ice charcoal, spices, ministers' money, coupons, and so on, which are also redundant expenses in addition to the basic salary.

It can be said that the redundancy is actually the result of the merchants, officials, and the army lying together in the Great Song Dynasty to suck blood.

If you want to solve the redundant expenses, you have to solve the redundant officials and redundant soldiers, but Fan Zhongyan can't touch the thunder of redundant soldiers, so can't he only shoot at redundant officials?

But now Zhao Zhen obviously has no way to take redundant officials for the time being, and it seems that he can only wait for Zhao Jun's eyes to recover.

But what if Zhao Jun's eyes are restored, there is no way?

After all, he is just a person who talks on paper, does the future of the entire Great Song Dynasty depend on a hairy boy with no experience?

"The three redundancies are too much involved, and if you are not careful, the country may be very dangerous."

Lu Yijian was relieved to see that Fan Zhongyan had subsided, and then said: "This matter should be put aside for the time being, and we will talk about it when Zhao Jun's eyes are better in the future." If the three redundant things are put aside, the next step should be to make the country stronger? ”

"Developing industry?"

Zhao Zhen hurriedly asked: "But we only heard Zhao Jun say what is needed to develop the industry, and we don't know how to develop it." ”

"Forehead ......"

Lu Yijian was embarrassed.

Wang Zeng also said helplessly: "Then let's wait for Zhao Jun." ”

Zhao Zhen was dissatisfied: "Why do you have to wait for him for everything, without him, Da Song can't live?" ”

"Official, there's no way. Didn't Zhao Jun say it? If you want to have an industrial revolution, you must have a large number of engineering talents, as well as oil and rubber, all of which rely on Zhao Jun's help. ”

Wang Sui smiled bitterly: "And let's not talk about whether oil and rubber can be found, even if they can be found, what about that talent?" So we can only wait for Zhao Jun, we need Zhao Jun to help us establish a scientific system......"

"Okay, so what's next?"

Zhao Zhen had no choice but to say: "Zhao Jun said that Zhao Yuanhao is about to rebel and establish a country, this time we should be able to make up our own minds, and we don't need Zhao Jun." ”

"Let's follow our previous plan and let Fan Xiwen go."

Lu Yijian glanced at Fan Zhongyan, if this guy could not be in the court, he would be able to live for a few more years.

"But Zhao Jun said that even if Fan Qing goes, at most he will not be defeated, can I only watch Zhao Yuanhao's establishment of the Western Xia Kingdom?"

Zhao Zhen was very dissatisfied.

Li Yuanhao is actually a semi-established country, he established himself as the Duke of Xia before, and in front of the envoys of the Song Dynasty, he threatened to establish the country as the emperor, and sit on an equal footing with the Great Song Dynasty and the Liao State.

This kind of face-riding behavior made Zhao Zhen very unhappy.

In the past, he felt that he didn't have the ability to kill Li Yuanhao, so he could only hold it back, and he didn't dare to fall out with Li Yuanhao.

But now that there is Zhao Jun, why should he be humiliated by Li Yuanhao?

The main reason is that Zhao Zhen is holding his breath during this time.

was scolded by Zhao Jun every day, no matter how good his temper was, he couldn't stand it, if he hadn't smashed things often to vent, I'm afraid he would have blown up his lungs and braided his hair.

Now Li Yuanhao is riding on his head again, and peeing, is it tolerable or unbearable.

Can't cure Zhao Jun, can't cure you?

So Zhao Zhen was very angry and wanted to teach Li Yuanhao a lesson.

However, the officials of the Great Song Dynasty were angry, but the prime ministers knew that things were not so simple.

In history, Li Yuanhao won three battles and three victories, and the Great Song Dynasty was defeated, how could this be solved just by Zhao Jun telling them history?

Fighting a war relies on hard power, and the combat effectiveness of the soldiers and horses on the border of the Great Song Dynasty is here, so there is no way to do it.

Therefore, Lu Yijian could only helplessly say in the end: "Zhao Jun said that even if Fan Xiwen goes, he can only keep undefeated at most, and if he wants to win the battle and eliminate Zhao Yuanhao, it is still too difficult, or ......."

"Or what?"

Zhao Zhen asked.

"Or ....."

Lu Yijian hesitated for a moment, but still said, "Why don't you wait for Zhao Jun's eyes to regain his sight." ”

I TM!

Lu Yijian's words almost made Zhao Zhen urinate on the spot.

Zhao Jun's eyes are not good, Da Song still can't do anything?

originally hoped that before Zhao Jun's eyes were good, he would make some political achievements for future generations to see, and tell him that he was not as bad as he imagined.

As a result, the ministers under his command faced a dilemma and were helpless one by one.

Then you guys have a hammer!

You might as well raise a few pigs.

At least the pigs can still eat.

At this moment, Zhao Zhen felt unprecedented malice.

It seems that these people can't be counted on in the future!