After traveling through time, I became Han Zhang’s grandson?

At the beginning of July in the first year of Yongxing in the Great Song Dynasty, the monthly court meeting was held as usual.

The moment Han Ming, who had been away from government affairs for more than a month, stepped into the hall again, no one knew how to look at the Marquis of Anyang.

Obviously, he was an important minister entrusted by the late emperor, but now he is at odds with the new emperor.

Of course, all of this is hidden under the table, and maintaining a superficial appearance is a compulsory course for those who play politics.

However, it seems that compared with Han Ming's political experience, the new emperor who just ascended the throne is not so stable.

"Your Majesty, since the fifth year of the Jingyou reign, when the Western Xia broke away from the Song and established themselves, until the fourth year of the Qingli reign, our dynasty has annually granted the Western Xia 255,000 taels of silver, silk, satin, and tea; we have also established trading markets in Baoanjun and Gaopingzhai."

"According to the latest 'Jiayou Peace Agreement,' Xixia is required to pay an annual tribute of 510,000 tons of blue and white salt; several thousand horses for military and civilian use; and the exchange of livestock such as sheep, horses, and camels is also part of the agreement."

"June of this year was the first implementation of the Jiayou Peace Agreement, but due to the death of the late emperor, none of us officials were able to do anything."

"Now that everything is complete, we should immediately send someone to notify the Xixia envoys and implement the peace agreement."

After all, Han Zhang still holds the position of prime minister under the Secretariat. Although he cannot stand what the new emperor has done, he still has to move forward with state affairs.

The new emperor Zhao Zonghao frowned and kept reading the document about the "Jiayou Peace Agreement" handed to him by Han Zhang.

"Excuse me, sir. Is this the peace agreement signed by Marquis Han after the Second Song-Xia War?"

Zhao Zonghao's deliberate questions always make people feel a little gloomy.

"Exactly. This was spearheaded by Marquis Han and co-signed by Lord Sima, who was then the Junior Secretary of the Honglu Temple and also the envoy."

Han Zhang bowed indifferently.

"In my opinion, this is too little. How much wealth has Xixia plundered from the Song Dynasty? This is not enough!"

Zhao Zonghao's remarks made Han Zhang, Zeng Mingzhong, Zhang Sheng, Zhao Zongquan and other bigwigs from the two prefectures and three offices frown.

"Your Majesty, this is something that has already been agreed upon by both parties. If we arbitrarily change it, I'm afraid the Xixia side will be dissatisfied..."

Han Zhang was interrupted by Zhao Zonghao before he could finish his words.

"My dear husband——!"

"Now the enemy is weak and we are strong. If I feel it is not enough, then it is not enough—!"

When Zhao Zonghao said these somewhat willful words, all the ministers looked at him sideways, and at the same time sighed in their hearts that this official's words were too childish.

"Your Majesty, please understand that if we oppress the Western Xia too much, the people of the Western Xia may turn to the Liao Kingdom."

As the former Privy Councilor, Zeng Mingzhong had a clear understanding of many military and political matters, and naturally understood that this agreement was just right.

As the basic blue and white salt of Xixia, the annual production volume reaches millions.

Coupled with years of storage and foreign trade, the quantity can only be higher, not lower.

Han Ming's asking price was actually to make the amount of illegal salt that had secretly flowed into the Song Dynasty public.

In the past, the people in Guanzhong and the west all secretly colluded with the private salt dealers of Western Xia in order to eat the high-quality and cheap blue-white salt.

Most of these blue and white salts were obtained through smuggling, which brought the salt industry of the Song Dynasty, including Jieyan, to the brink of collapse.

The tribute of 510,000 tons of blue and white salt proposed in the Jiayou Peace Agreement was exactly the total amount that Western Xia had smuggled into the Song Dynasty.

It’s just that they used to make profits from smuggling, but now they are forced to give up the profits by Han Ming. The imperial court takes over the blue and white salt and distributes it to the people for consumption by people all over the country.

In this way, a new market relationship was formed among the Western Xia, the Song Dynasty court, and the people of the Song Dynasty.

As the supplier, Xixia did not receive a penny; as the middleman, the Song court did not pay a penny, but instead earned a large amount of fiscal revenue through the blue and white salt it obtained for free.

The people of the Song Dynasty obtained better and cheaper salt, which improved their quality of life and was more conducive to social stability.

In short, this is a win-win situation. Both the Song court and the people benefit, and only the Western Xia is hurt.

However, this situation itself was the price that the defeated Western Xia had to pay, but it did not mean that the Song Dynasty could ravage Western Xia at will.

After all, this world is not just about the Song Dynasty and the Western Xia, there is also the Liao Dynasty, a giant in the north.

When it comes to this kind of geopolitics, the Song court must consider more. If it does not want to go to war with the Liao Kingdom now, then stabilizing Western Xia is a necessary measure.

Zhao Zonghao's proposal seemed to be a relief, but in fact it pushed the Song Dynasty into an irretrievable situation.

"Zeng Qing also thinks it's inappropriate to treat Xixia too harshly?"

After all, Zhao Zonghao didn't want to get into a big fight with all the court officials, so he wanted to use the emperor's tactics to win over one faction and attack another to balance all parties.

"Yes, I think it is not appropriate to act rashly at this time."

After Zeng Mingzhong finished speaking, Zhao Zonghao couldn't help but hold his brow and think for a long time.

"So what do you think we should do next?"

Hearing that the emperor asked Zeng Mingzhong for advice instead of Han Zhang, many people felt depressed.

However, Zhao Zonghao never thought that Zeng Mingzhong was also a veteran, and he was a veteran who had made up his mind to stand on one side early on.

"I believe that at this time, we should thoroughly investigate salt taxes throughout the country, manage the finances of local treasuries, and adjust the market prices and circulation methods of various salt industries to cope with the changes in the flow of blue and white salt into the market."

Zeng Mingzhong and Han Zhang glanced at each other stealthily, nodded slightly and chuckled.

But Mr. Han remained calm and responded in a friendly manner.

Of course, Han Ming couldn't hide this interaction. He just smiled crookedly and sighed that his grandfather had also gotten the message and started to recruit people to cheer him on.

"A thorough investigation of the salt tax?!"

Zhao Zonghao's expression was moved, and the officials of the two courts of censorship and some of the three ministries all twitched their brows.

This knife seemed to be about to chop them!!!

"Does Lord Zeng know that this thorough investigation of the salt tax is no joke?!"

The forces behind Zhao Zonghao mostly came from the two courts of censorship and the financial departments of the three ministries. They held the right to speak and the financial power, which was the basis for him to check and balance the Secretariat and the Privy Council.

Most of these officials and their families were engaged in businesses such as salt, tea, cloth, silk, banks and bills, among which the largest sector was the salt industry.

After all, since the salt and iron industries were nationalized during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, this part has always been the focus of the feudal dynasty's finances.

The bureaucrats under Zhao Zonghao generally used the guise of government to conduct illegal transactions and hide taxes.

As a newly appointed official, he had done such things when he was a vassal king. If he were to investigate now, wouldn't he be exposed?

If he ends up bringing out a series of networks of relationships, what will he use to check and balance all parties and stabilize the court?

Although Zhao Zonghao's hands were shaking, he realized that someone was taking advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble.

Taking advantage of Xixia's fulfillment of the agreement and tribute, they attacked his people and roots.

Zhao Zonghao glanced around the hall and finally set his sights on Han Ming, who was standing at the front of the echelon of civil officials and pretending to be asleep.

Enemy!

This guy is the one who wants to deal with me! He thinks highly of himself and never takes anyone else in the world seriously. Even I have to be controlled by him.

What abilities did he possess? He was just a talker, a writer, and a veteran of a few battles. Why did the late emperor and his former ministers like him so much?!

Zhao Zonghao, the fat-headed former King of Yong, never understood that the reason Han Ming was admired and loved by so many people was mostly because of his desire to change the world.

The late emperor saw this, the court officials saw it, and the people of the world saw it.

Some of them support, some obstruct, and some sit on the fence to gain benefits, using every possible means.

But fundamentally, they admire Han Ming very much. At least this young man in his twenties dares to be the first.

There are only a handful of major social changes and innovations in China that have had an impact on the entire country.

Before the Song Dynasty, the only major change that could be considered a major change was Shang Yang's Reforms, which laid the foundation for the unification of China and various social systems.

The subsequent dynasties patched up the Qin and Han systems and introduced a series of innovations.

Including epoch-making products such as the three-province and six-department system and the imperial examination system.

After the Song Dynasty, the only ones who were able to continue to carry out drastic reforms on this feudal system were "Wang Anshi's Reforms", "Zhang Juzheng's Reforms" and "Emperor Shizong of Qing's Reforms".

It can be seen how difficult it is for a feudal dynasty to change the foundation of a society.

But Han Ming wanted to be the Wang Anshi and Zhang Juzheng of later generations, so the results he would achieve would be even more difficult.

Fortunately, the theoretical knowledge that can be used in this world and the experience brought by future generations will become a strong support for the "Han Ming Reform".