Chapter 278: Building Your Own Court
Just now, Zhao Yulin talked about both the school affairs and the land redemption issues at once, and felt that there was nothing left to discuss.
Lord Ding hesitated for a moment and said that Lord Li Zhongmian, an old minister of the previous dynasty, had arrived in Chengdu. Lord Li was the prime minister and a pillar of the country, so he wanted to find a job for him.
Old Cao was already looking at Zhao Yulin with a smile.
Damn, this is the key point.
The meeting room was already quiet and silent.
Zhao Yulin took a sip of tea and asked Ding Gong what he planned to do.
The old man said slowly that Jingzhao Prefecture was not stable, and the post of prefect was still vacant. He wanted to transfer the prefect of Lizhou to Jingzhao, and asked Mr. Li to accept the position of prefect of Lizhou and pacification envoy.
Lizhou Road and Jingzhao Prefecture are similar now, so letting Li Zhongmian serve in Lizhou is also a good choice.
However, Zhao Yulin seemed to have met Li Zhongmian and felt that his health was not very good. He was worried that the old gentleman would die from exhaustion while on his way to take up his new post.
He asked Mr. Ding how Mr. Li's health was, saying that it was not easy to travel such a long distance, and whether there was any better way.
The old man immediately sighed and said: It is because of Mr. Li's poor health that the prefect of Lizhou is transferred to Jingzhao so that Mr. Li can have less fatigue from the journey.
Zhao Yulin took a sip of tea and said that there was indeed no better solution for the moment.
If we also establish a new republican court of the Song Dynasty like Lin'an, then no matter how many officials we have, they will not be enough.
Everyone immediately opened their mouths in surprise, and the conference room was as quiet as if nothing had happened.
He continued: Lin'an is just a fake emperor who can establish a court. Dali and Mongolia are even more despised by you gentlemen, and they can also call themselves "I". We have at least eight intact roads in our hands. Can't we inherit the Song Dynasty and call it a country?
This country is the Song State, and it can also be called the New Song Republic.
We can first set up a republican congress. The president will be Mr. Ding, and the vice presidents will be Mr. Cao and me. We can also select some people with lofty ideals to manage national affairs.
Wouldn't it be complete if we establish six more departments? The six departments can be further divided into seven, eight or nine departments according to needs. This will require many talented and ambitious people to serve the country.
The gentlemen were most reluctant to talk about this matter. There was complete silence in the hall, and even the air seemed to be frozen.
Lao Cao and Mr. Ding refused to follow his advice and looked at the others who were looking at each other in bewilderment, not knowing what to do.
Seeing that everyone was still in a daze, Zhao Yulin said with certainty that the country had to be established sooner or later, otherwise if the false emperor of Jiangdong continued to tinker, it would ruin the good situation in Sichuan and Shu.
He suggested that another person be transferred to Jingzhao Prefecture, and that Li Gong should stay in Chengdu to recuperate before considering a long journey. As for the position, how about being a deputy envoy of the Zhizhisi, specializing in the functions of the court's Ministry of Rites, teaching Feiyan to do well in school, and discussing state affairs together?
Everyone immediately started to discuss in whispers.
This position is currently the highest, and is directly ranked together with people like Ding Gong, Cao Gong, and Zhao Yulin. Although he is responsible for trivial matters such as etiquette education in receiving foreign envoys, his status and position are by no means inferior to the previous three .
Ding Gong was overjoyed and said excitedly, "Very good, very good." He immediately invited Li Zhongmian to sit down and discuss the matter.
Zhao Yulin looked at Zhao Feiyan and asked the aide to bring a chair over and put it between them. He smiled and said that in the future our little princess should ask Mr. Li for advice more often.
Not long after, Li Zhongmian came in. Zhao Yulin took the lead and stood up to invite the old man to take a seat, but the old man insisted on sitting behind Zhao Feiyan.
Zhao Feiyan invited the old gentleman to take a seat with a smile, and sincerely praised him as a pillar of the country, a role model for teachers, and a role model for our generation to learn from. She should address the gentleman as an elder.
Li Zhongmian burst into tears and said tremblingly that it was true that the country was destroyed but the mountains and rivers remained, and it was not easy for Sichuan to have such a peaceful place.
Seeing that he was shaking, Zhao Yulin quickly helped him sit down and talk.
Mr. Ding said that there was another person, the former head of the Ministry of Administration, Mr. Zhao, who also came to Chengdu with his family. What did you think should be done to settle him?
Damn, this is really like a rat shitting, the big head is at the back.
Old Cao looked at Zhao Yulin .
Haha, I guess this guy was keeping us in suspense yesterday, this is the key point.
Zhao Yulin lowered his head and drank his tea, and no one dared to speak.
The previous governor, Zhao Yan, was the boss of Sichuan and Shu, and he was at least a deputy governor. This has erased the fact that he was promoted and reused in Lin'an.
Seeing that the atmosphere was too depressing, Lao Cao said that Mr. Zhao had just arrived, so they should take a break first and let us think of a foolproof plan.
Mr. Ding and Zhao Yan were not on good terms, and seeing that no one had anything to say next, he followed Lao Cao's advice and told them to disperse first and discuss the matter again on another day.
Come out, Lao Cao asked us to have a drink together.
While the two were talking, Mr. Ding and Li Zhongmian came out together. The old man asked them to go to his house for a drink.
The four of them took a carriage and went to Lord Ding's house and sat down. Wine and food were soon served.
After Mr. Ding spoke, Zhao Yulin and others stood up and toasted Li Zhongmian first, thanking the old man for speaking well of him in front of the emperor and protecting him as an imperial envoy.
Li Zhongmian was very emotional. He didn't expect that the imperial court would be gone so soon. Fortunately, there was still a piece of pure land in Shu that could accommodate his broken body.
Zhao Yulin said that he did not think this was a bad thing. From one perspective, it was the laissez-faire attitude of the officials in Lin'an that led to the destruction of the imperial court and the suffering of the royal family. A wise person should not pretend to be ignorant.
If the government can really appoint people based on their merits and work hard to govern the country, the Song Dynasty will have no shortage of capable people and will definitely be able to defeat the Mongolian army and recover our vast territory.
After a moment of silence, Li Zhongmian sighed, raised his glass and invited everyone to drink, thanking Chuanshu for taking him in.
Zhao Yulin said with a smile that it was not Sichuan that was taking in the old gentleman, but that Sichuan was thirsty for talents and needed a great man like you.
He said that he had just returned to Chengdu and was not familiar with many situations. However, he heard on the way that Zhao Bing was supported by the King of Lu as the emperor and had been sent to Lin'an. The envoy actually accepted this fake emperor. This shows how stupid the Jiangdong court was. How could they let the enemy send them an emperor?
He said in a resounding voice: We in Sichuan and Shu must establish a country in a tit-for-tat manner and set up a new court to command the people of the Song Dynasty to unite and resist the Mongols.
He was not in a position to say much in the meeting room just now, and only made a beginning. Now that it was a family dinner, he had to explain everything clearly to these key figures.
Cao Youwen drank it all in one gulp, nodded, and said that it was time for the Song people to take up the banner of resisting the Mongols. Otherwise, if that false emperor interfered again, the people of Sichuan and Shu would lose their way.
Li Zhongmian had been in Chengdu for some time. He had heard something about the situation in Sichuan but was still not sure. He looked at them blankly, not knowing what to do.
Mr. Ding hurriedly said that the matter was not urgent and we should consider it later.
Zhao Yulin told Mr. Ding that he would convene the Transportation and Water Transport Departments to discuss matters in the afternoon and that he would stop there after a short drink.
He and Lao Cao said goodbye to the two old men and came out. Lao Cao asked him if he really had something to discuss in the afternoon.
He said that Ding Gong was clearly being friendly with Lord Li, just drinking and being polite, what's the point? We really have to consider establishing a court. If we continue like this, these people might ask us to submit to the fake court in Lin'an.
Lao Cao thought so too, and said that he would personally arrange the afternoon's meetings of the two departments, and also make some financial plans for the coming year.
They both went back home to rest.
At this time, in the small court of Lin'an, the false emperor Zhao Bing was carrying out major reforms.
When the son of Prime Minister Shi took leave, Zhao Bing took charge of the government and got things done very quickly.
He slashed at the mediocre officials with his sword. These were people who were urgently recruited by Shi's son when he gathered old officials to set up the small court. Most of them were sinecures but they cost some money.
Zhao Bing never lacked official positions, what he lacked was money.
Therefore, his first move was to strike at those useless and noisy officials. He investigated some and dismissed some, and laid off hundreds of people.
Even Professor Zeng Wudao, who had gone through untold hardships and escaped death to return to Lin'an, was kicked out of the court by him on the grounds that he was a man who only knew how to harm others with his words.
Damn, this man was a great contributor to Shi’s son in Chengdu, and Zhao Bing just said he didn’t want him.
With his efforts, the small court became much more efficient and effective.
Second, he opened up the pass and told the salt merchants to boldly do business and sell salt in Sichuan and Shu, completely abandoning the previous salt war between Shi Zi's son and Zhao Yulin.
Because Zhao Bing needed silver, he could earn a lot of silver by selling salt. Not only did he ask salt merchants to export salt to Sichuan and Shu, he also significantly lowered the tax rate on salt to ensure that the salt merchants could make money and he could also collect taxes.
In this way, the salt merchants survived, the income of the small court increased, and Zhao Bing gradually accumulated silver.
Then he began to form a new royal guard.
Because he found that after arriving in Lin'an, Shi's son's people were everywhere, and even when he went to bed at night, Shi's son's people would supervise him how he slept and which concubine he slept with.
Damn, this is not a good thing.
Zhao Bing felt guilty. If one day Shi's son became unhappy and wanted to change the emperor, he might be driven out of the palace like Zhao Du, and then be killed by the new emperor by drinking a cup of poisoned wine.
Therefore, he found his own confidants and began to select the Imperial Guards in Lin'an, in order to establish a new army like the Shenwei Army.
Zhao Bing's three moves really strengthened his own power and won the joy of the people. Sichuan and Shu under the rule of the Shenwei Army also benefited a lot. The most direct benefit was that sea salt entered Jiangling, Kuizhou and Xiangyang.
Although Zhao Yulin has lake salt to support him, sea salt is also made by seawater flowing into the salt field. God evaporates the seawater and leaves the salt. Salt merchants ask people to shovel it into sacks and it is money. The method is also simple and convenient, and the key is that water transportation in Chengdu is very cheap.
Everything is empty in the face of interests. Zhao Yulin still has to do business with the salt merchants in Jiangdong and buy sea salt as a supplement to solve the salt problem of the people in Jinghu and eastern Sichuan.
Zhao Bing's trade helped him a lot.
Shi's son is still at home watching his children and grandchildren play.
However, his eyes followed the child's figure, and his mind was not on his grandson. When he heard Zhao Bing's three more moves, he felt that this kid's power was becoming more and more secure, and if he continued, there would be nothing for him to do.
This won't do. He must take back the power that originally belonged to him.
