choke element

Chapter 716

Xuan Zong was very old, but he became an official late. Among Shi Miyuan's confidants, his status was not as good as the so-called "Simu" who successively served in the Privy Council.In the past two years, he has often traveled on behalf of Shi Miyuan's nephews, that is, he has started to think about his family's affairs, and it is only natural that he wants to use this trip to raise some money.

But he's not just doing it for the money.

Xuan Zang was able to get the title of Shi Xianggong's "heart and heart" because he was a student of the imperial court during the Jiatai period. He sang with Wei Liaoweng, a great Neo Confucianist who was then Guozizheng Guozizheng, and Liu Juan, a famous literati, and had a deep friendship.

Liu Juan, a scholar of Neo-Confucianism, suggested that Shi Miyuan believed in Neo-Confucianism and appointed famous scholars of Neo-Confucianism to beautify his image.In the third year of Kaixi, Shi Miyuan united with a group of ministers to kill Han Tuozhou on the charge of harming the country, and then recruited all sages in the name of the court, removed the ban from studying, and strived for preferential treatment for scholars of science.In this process, Xuan Zeng played a key role.

At the same time, he seldom took advantage of Shi Miyuan's prestige to seek benefits in various positions. In Shi Miyuan's small circle, he was regarded as a person with a very good official reputation.He tried his best to go to the north and his party, because he really hoped to finalize cooperation with Guo Ning, so as to stabilize the situation abroad in Song Dynasty, and then stabilize the political situation in Song Dynasty that was becoming more and more nonsense.

In the eyes of the Jin people in the north, the weakness of the Song Dynasty is reflected in the fact that they always destroy the Great Wall by themselves every now and then, beheading and relegating the hardliners and fighters in their own court one by one.If a certain man is fighting with others, while slowly chopping off his own fingers with a dagger, and persisting for decades, the blood and courage of the southerners will be castrated by them.

In fact, many things have complicated backgrounds, and we cannot simply treat them as weak.In Xuan Zang's view, since the Great Song Dynasty went south, the key to the repeated losses in foreign wars and wars is not outside, but inside.Many things outsiders think are the result of the Great Song Dynasty's deliberation, but in fact they are just the aftermath of the internal struggles in the court.

Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, the ancestral family law has been the excellent scholar-officials.The game between the scholar-officials and the emperor has almost never stopped.

Not to mention far away, for example, Han Wabizhou, who was appointed to lead the Northern Expedition during the Kaixi period, was the emperor's close friend who also had the status of a foreign relative.Han Wuzhou successively served as the military rank to the prime minister, and every step represented the expansion of imperial power.

Therefore, at the beginning of Han Yuzhou's Northern Expedition, some scholar-bureaucrats predicted: "In the Northern Expedition, children worry that it will fail; when the debtor is sent, the slaves know that he is not a talent."They have long been waiting for the Northern Expedition to fail, and even in their hearts they are still looking forward to the failure of the Northern Expedition.

In the end, the Northern Expedition hadn't completely failed, and the scholars were impatient to kill Prime Minister Han and send a letter to the Northern Kingdom. Their actions were so swift that even the Jurchens, who were in the palace coup every three days, were caught off guard, and they screamed in their hearts.

Is doing so in line with the family law of the great scholar-bureaucrats of the Song Dynasty?Of course it does.

Because Han Wuzhou is not a scholar-bureaucrat at all, he is a military official, a relative, a man of power, and the emperor's man!Which of the things he did did not follow the emperor's will?
In the past few years when he was in power, the emperor or Fan Chenbi or Hu Gun came out from within, and a series of chaotic orders were issued from the inside, completely bypassing the bureaucratic system, but the prime minister actually complied without violating, rushing to do it one after another... When everyone is stupid, can't you see?

If Han Wuzhou didn't die quickly, many things would be discussed on the table, and the responsibility would be implicated on the emperor!The Zhao official family in the current dynasty will not be able to step down!

After all, literati and bureaucrats have to face, so as not to go too far.

Since Prime Minister Han died, the imperial power has shrunk, and this matter is over.

However, the screen around the emperor, which was originally used to record important events, is now empty. In the end, there are only two things left: drinking less and eating less, and they are held up by the little yellow gate for outsiders to see.

Does the emperor use this to warn himself, or to ask others not to be ruthless, who knows?

The imperial power is weak, and the scholar-officials are powerful, so there is a historical minister in power.

As the son of a prime minister, Shi Miyuan was born as a Jinshi, a scholar-bureaucrat with strong roots, and he has indeed outstanding means.It is his duty to take on the task of controlling the imperial power, and it is also a heavy responsibility.So he became the prime minister and the only prime minister, and his power far surpassed that of Han Wuzhou, and he was even similar to Qin Zhongxian back then.

But in fact, Shi Xianggong is not a person who can cover the sky with his own strength.

Guo Ning, Duke of Zhou in the north, seized power from the battlefield by fighting again and again.But those who dared to oppose him were all killed by him.

History is limited to ancestral laws, and it is not easy to kill people, especially scholar-bureaucrats.He has this situation of covering the sky with one hand because countless scholar-bureaucrats and bureaucrats need one person to cover the sky.He, the prime minister, is nothing more than a parasol swarmed by the scholar-officials.

Of course, Shi Xiang was not reconciled to this situation. Since he was at the center of political operations, he wanted to form his own power group and establish a political force loyal to him.

For this reason, he summoned all the sages on the surface, but in fact he merged the powers of the provincial prosecutors under the Zhongshumen and the left and right officials of the Shangshu Province. Scholars and scholars in the court.

In other words, the prestige of Shi Xianggong lies in his pressing the faint emperor with one hand and the scholar-officials with the other.It is not bad to say that he is majestic, but it is also fine to say that he is poor.

Especially on the side of Qingliu scholar bureaucrats, all of them are good at talking loudly and saying some correct but useless banners, which often make it difficult for Shi Ying to deal with it.

In the past few years, they have been staring at Shi Xiang, one is to fight the big gold to wipe out the national humiliation, and the other is to rectify the court's finances to ensure that the meeting will not depreciate.

God is sorry to see, these two items contradict each other at all, thank goodness they have the nerve to bring it up!
To go to war with Dajin, it is necessary to reorganize the army and prepare military supplies, and prepare a huge amount of food and materials.In order to raise these food and fodder supplies, the imperial court either increased taxes and taxes, or sent out meetings indiscriminately, what else could be done?
Conversely speaking, to ensure that the value of the meeting will not depreciate, it is necessary to reduce the expenditure of the court.Where did the court expenses go?Either it is to raise these scholar-bureaucrats, or it is to raise soldiers.If the number of scholar-bureaucrats is reduced, it will definitely not work, but if the number of soldiers is reduced...the soldiers cannot be raised, so why the Northern Expedition?

This is true and contradictory, and smart people understand it.However, there are too many smart people in the Song Dynasty, and because these two issues cannot be resolved at all, they just hold on to these two issues all day long and insist on Shi Xianggong to solve them.

Especially in the past two years, because Dajin has been weakened by two points, many ignorant and stupid people have been shouting all day long to take advantage of the situation and send troops to the Northern Expedition, especially that Zhen Dexiu has made a long speech, writing bullshit up, middle and down strategies.

Simply ridiculous!
How long has it been since Daikin's Tie Futu and Kidnap Horse are so powerful, have they all been forgotten?
The Kingdom of Jin to the west gathered the elite soldiers deployed on the northwest border during the golden age, and set up thirteen captains under the Privy Council, each with [-] victorious soldiers, and practiced day and night in Kaifeng Mansion.Shi Xiang once sent people across the border to check, and the spies reported that the thirteen captains were strong and vigorous, and they were extremely skilled.

With such soldiers and horses, who will resist the enemy?

The Kingdom of Jin to the east is even more vicious.From Guo Ning onwards, the Dinghai Admirals are all rebellious grassroots in their bones, and they have been fighting every day for several years.They fought the Jurchen army, they fought the Khitan army; they even fought the Mongols who once swept Daijin, slaughtered millions of soldiers and civilians, and forced Daijin to sacrifice the princess for peace.

Now that they are in the central capital, and they are not afraid of anything, who can touch such soldiers and horses?
The government and the people are turbulent, and every day they say they want to fight, but the prime minister in power knows, and Xuan Zang also knows that with the power of the Song Dynasty, it is absolutely impossible to fight.All because of the failure of the imperial court, there is nothing to rely on on the battlefield.

Once the two countries go to war, hundreds of thousands of people will inevitably suffer casualties and setbacks; but with the current situation in the court, once there is a military defeat, the scholar-bureaucrats in the court will jump up and attack in groups, and even resort to coups. In one breath, history was overthrown.

The newcomers who replaced Shixiang may rely on the imperial power, or they may follow the scholar-bureaucrats closely, but what they can do in specific military and political affairs is nothing more than the policies that have been used countless times since the Nandu, and there is nothing new at all.

In the end, the borders of the Song and Jin Dynasties may not have changed much, and at most a few poems about the rush to the north and the beacon fire in Yangzhou were left behind.

Countless soldiers who died in the war were dead in vain.Their blood flowed in vain, and their families wept day and night.After all, the court system still exists, and in order to comfort them, another meeting has to be issued.

Whether it is a battle or a peace with Da Jin, Shi Xiang certainly made two-handed preparations, which is why Li Jue and Ying Chunzhi's actions in Huainan, and Shi Kuanzhi came forward with the intention of training a new army.

But people with a bit of political wisdom and an overall perspective will understand that the best way is to maintain peace.

Moreover, it is necessary for the powerful officials of Da Jin and Da Song to join hands to ensure peace for a long time.It doesn't matter if it's ten years, five years, or even two or three years.

Some people may find it ridiculous, thinking that the people with the heart of a great country's governor can only see the future of two or three years, which is short-sighted.

When Xuan Zeng was not an official in his early years, he also felt that there were many fools in the history books who had no long-term strategy.But he himself has been working under Shi Xiang's family, and he understands how difficult it is to be at the helm of a big country, and how complicated and changeable the future has been triggered by the disintegration of Dajin.It is extremely lucky to be able to see one step and take one step. It is really like walking on thin ice!
From this point of view, a free, easy and happy young man like Jia Sidao is really enviable!If I achieve my goal this trip, this young man will have made great achievements and has a bright future!
Xuan Zeng cheered up and had a cordial chat with Jia Sidao.

He suddenly thought of something, quickly lowered his voice, and asked, "Nephew, there is something that I don't know whether I should ask..."

"Shibo, you are too polite, just ask if you have any questions!"

"I was allowed by the Prime Minister to participate in this Shanghai business. The current ship is actually mine."

"Oh?"

"However, ahem... Nephew, you should know that apart from dozens of hectares of Susukida, my family has no property. Therefore, I asked the shipkeeper in Qingyuan Mansion to guarantee this boat, including the boat and sailors. Rented it from a big merchant."

"This..." Jia Sidao slapped his thigh and said repeatedly: "Shibo, you want to rent a boat, why didn't you ask me? I went to Qingyuan Mansion a few days ago, and I also traveled to and from the sea a lot. If you want a sea boat, I will Can you help raise money? How about this, don't want this broken ship, go to Qingyuan Mansion, and I'll find you a better one!"

You hairless brat, it’s okay to work for Shi Xiang. I don’t trust you with the money I have accumulated in my own life.In case you show the dandy face in Lin'an City, and something happens, and the cost is lost, will I be like Jia Jichuan, bleeding from both senses at every turn?

Xuan Zang slandered secretly, smiling on his face: "The contract with the customer boat has been signed, so it's not easy to go back on it. Nephew, you just need to help me find out if this maritime merchant is reliable."

With that said, Xuan Zeng found the contract from the cage.

Jia Sidao took over the contract, turned over the pages that recorded the identities of Gangshou and Shitou first-class seamen, and then turned over the pages that recorded the equipment of the ship, and at the end were the monograms of Xuan Zang and the shipowner's family.

The monogram of the shipowner's house was familiar to Jia Sidao, and it was clearly the four characters Mingzhou Zhangkai.

"This Zhang Kai, Zhang Zihe, is a well-known figure in Qingyuan Mansion, and he has the official status of a Tong Shilang..." Xuan Zeng explained a few words, looked at Jia Sidao's expression, and asked: "This Sir, have you heard of it? Are his sailors and his ship reliable?"

"Reliable." Jia Sidao couldn't help but swear: "His mother is extremely reliable."

(End of this chapter)