Northern Song Dynasty: Starting from the son of Song Renzong

Chapter 216 Fully Fledged

Chapter 216 Fully Fledged
Any movement of Zhao Xin could affect the future of officials of the Song Dynasty.

And his views on the republic with Li Yuan naturally also reached his father's ears.

Since the time of Emperor Taizong, the Song Dynasty has clearly established the intention to share the world with the scholar-officials.

Now Zhao Xin is fine...

Directly share the world with Li Yuan.

of course!

You can't say that it's wrong to say that.

only……

It will indeed affect the hearts of some scholars and officials.

Zhao Zhen then asked, "Isn't it a bit too much for you to do this?"

Zhao Xin then asked, "Dad, do you think it's not okay to share the world with Li Yuan?"

Zhao Zhen also said: "It's not impossible. In fact, it can be said to be full of righteousness. But this court is still the court of the literati after all. You suddenly proposed to share the world with Li Yuan. Doesn't that mean you abandon the literati in the court? Besides... how can Li Yuan govern the world? Most of them can't even write."

Zhao Xin said, "The Song Dynasty has been developing for more than 80 years. In the Tang Dynasty, it was almost from Wu Zetian to Li Longji. However, because the Song Dynasty was inherently weaker than the Tang Dynasty, it did not have much land when it was founded, and it did not suppress land annexation. This led to the fact that the scholar-official class of the Song Dynasty developed faster than the aristocratic class of the Tang Dynasty."

"And... I think that the reason why Li Longji was able to usher in the Kaiyuan Prosperity was somewhat related to the fact that Wu Zetian killed many members of the Li Tang royal family and persecuted many ministers?"

"There is only so much wealth in the world, but the nobles and scholars can have many children. Today, five people share one steamed bun, but tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, there will be ten or fifteen."

"Dad, do you know why I want to develop maritime trade?"

Zhao Zhen then said, "Isn't it just to make money?"

Zhao Xin said, "Making money is only the most superficial thing. I hope to sell high-value items to those rich people and scholars, so as to buy back the steamed buns in their hands."

"Dad, think about it. The scholars and officials have good salaries, and some of them also do business. Their wealth increases day by day, but what about the wealth of the people?"

"There are some increases, but they are very small. Most people will face the prospect of starving to death or freezing to death."

"When more and more people in the world begin to starve to death or freeze to death, I am afraid that the Song Dynasty will be destroyed next."

"And the scholars? They just changed their surnames to Wang or Zhang, and continued to call themselves officials."

"Given the current situation in the Song Dynasty, Dad, do you think you can take the money from the scholars and officials and give some to the people?"

"The premise is that... most of the people in the Song Dynasty are now facing bankruptcy. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been so many rebellions in recent years."

"Not to mention the common people, even some minor officials working for the government have to face bankruptcy."

"The Song Dynasty is almost terminally ill at this time."

"The only way to solve the Song Dynasty's problems is to either starve or freeze the people to death, or wait for them to rebel and then kill them. Or, you can force them to rebel with a premeditated plan and then kill them directly."

"There is a saying that goes, survival of the fittest."

“To be honest, poor people have no right to survive.”

"But after all, humans are different from horses, cows, and sheep. Humans have compassion and are civilized."

"It's impossible to watch others starve to death."

"And once people are really about to starve to death, they will rise up in rebellion."

"The biggest problem facing the Song Dynasty right now is that the people are already extremely poor, while the scholars and officials are still collecting money without end."

"When local officials saw the inspectors coming, they would eat meat and fish even if the people in their own county were eating grass, in order to get the inspectors to speak well of them when they returned." "I am not optimistic. If this continues, the Song Dynasty may be destroyed within a few decades."

"The root cause of the country's demise is these insatiable and useless scholars."

"It's also fortunate that Li Yuanhao of Xixia is only good at fighting."

"If he shouted to kill the scholars and officials and divide the land while fighting, I believe that with the oppression of the people and the preferential treatment of the scholars and officials by our Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty would be completely under the control of Xixia within a year or two."

After hearing what Zhao Xin said, Zhao Zhen also deeply felt the terrible power of this sentence.

Then Zhao Xin said to his father: "What are the benefits of me establishing a Liyuan Republic?"

Zhao Zhen shook his head, indicating that he didn't know.

Zhao Xin also continued: "The advantage is that we can rely on more than just the scholars in the court. Although the power of Li Yuan is very small. They can't even use it to govern the country."

"But if we give Li Yuan some status and respect, they will support us, and eventually, when we need them, they will become a force in our hands."

"If there are only scholars, then we can only use scholars to fight scholars."

"But if we have Li Yuan, we can use Li Yuan to fight against the literati."

"Of course! There is no such thing as a free lunch in the world. Since you want to use Li Yuan, you must give Li Yuan benefits."

"However... for an emperor who only wants to do good to the people, what does it matter if he gives Li Yuan a little benefit?"

Zhao Zhen then said: "But your Liyuan Republic will also need scholars and officials, right? When the time comes, won't the world be ruled by scholars and officials?"

Zhao Xin said, "That was another eighty years ago. If I did nothing and inherited your position, even if the Song Dynasty reformed, it would still be nothing more than a broken ship."

"But the Li Yuan Republic is different. It's brand new. It will take some time for it to become corrupt."

"A single spark can start a prairie fire. Back then, Taizu was just a man wearing a yellow robe, but he was able to conquer the world. If the Song Dynasty is really hopeless by then, I will establish the Liyuan Republic and conquer the world again!"

Zhao Zhen listened to what Zhao Xin said.

can only say……

This is truly a son who has forgotten his roots.

They even want to rebel against their own ancestors.

only……

Whatever he wants!

After all, he has already grown up.

With money, soldiers, land and people, he was in great demand at the moment and did not need to rely on the literati in the court.

So even if the scholars and officials in the court are dissatisfied, what’s the use?

Understand this...

Zhao Zhen simply ignored it.

This is the Li Yuan Republic's own business. How they formulate their national policies and what they do has nothing to do with the Song Dynasty.