Chapter 310 Major Cases and Rebellion
Lao Cao told him that when he got back he would ask his sister-in-law Ma Ling for special permission to allocate 10,000 strings of cash to renovate Qingcheng Mountain. The palace at the foot of the mountain was too old. After the renovation, he could invite all the gentlemen in Chengdu to come and enjoy the scenery and stay there.
Zhao Yulin smiled and said that it was no big deal for the general to spend money. He asked the stammerer, how much could one do with 10,000 strings of cash?
The stammerer was already happily saying that enough was enough and that the house below could be repaired.
He said that Lord Ding is also coming to live here, so how can we just do some simple repairs?
He asked Tianjizi to make a careful plan to see how much silver would be needed, and then asked Ding Gong to donate 100,000 silver coins to repair Qingcheng Mountain so that the people of Chengdu could travel to the mountain more safely and comfortably.
Tianjizi was overjoyed and led a group of disciples to thank the two adults.
The stuttering steward immediately went to find some old bacon to prepare some food and wine.
As the sun sets, golden sunlight fills the mountains and forests. Zhao Yulin and Lao Cao drink cup after cup of rice wine, and gradually become tipsy.
In the Dali Palace, Duan Xiaolin was also drinking with his father, the young emperor.
The Prince of Zhennan of Dali Kingdom had originally vowed not to return to Dali and had already been appointed as the magistrate of Xuzhou, but he could not resist his father's repeated calls and went back with Zhao Sihan .
His father sat on the throne again, and he was reinstated and returned to the Zhennan Palace. The family happily .
At this time, Duan Xiaolin had experienced his father's helpless abandonment and his brothers' backstabbing. Compared with Duan Xiaolin half a year ago, he has been completely transformed. After seeing the ups and downs of life, his eyes have become firm and he has become exceptionally calm.
His father sighed and told him to take a good look: Jianchang Prefecture of Dali was gone, and Huichuan Prefecture was gone too. This was the fate of a small country with few people.
In the south, the Dali soldiers are still fighting fiercely to retake the jade mines. Even if they win, it will consume a lot of national strength.
The little emperor kept nagging, and his words were full of resentment towards the Shenwei Army and Zhao Yulin. Zhao Sihan got a little annoyed and wanted to leave.
Duan Xiaolin stopped her immediately when he saw her move.
This is a state banquet hosted by the emperor.
No matter how small the country is, as the emperor, he still cares about his authority and has the power of life and death. Zhao Sihan is protected by her brother, and no one dares to bully her. Duan Xiaolin knows how serious this is.
The young emperor glared at Duan Xiaolin and Zhao Sihan sitting opposite him, and told him to sort out the affairs of the palace and then make a diplomatic mission to Xin Song to get back the taxes that should have been distributed to Dali from Xinshi Town last year.
Duan Xiaolin said loudly that he would not go. First of all, the two countries had just fought a war. The problem was also found, that is, his eldest brother, Duan Xingzhi, who was called the eldest master by everyone in the palace. He plotted a rebellion and gathered a group of desperate men under his command. After the secret agents placed in Shu were exposed, they launched a rebellion and created a series of horrific crimes and wars in Shu. It was for this reason that the New Song occupied the two prefectures of Dali and pushed the border to the Jinsha River. Now Duan Xingzhi is still living freely.
Secondly, Dali had not even paid the interest on the money it borrowed from the New Song Kingdom a few years ago, and now it had to ask his third uncle for taxes. How could he have the nerve to ask?
The young emperor patiently said that no matter how difficult it was, he would go and persuade Commander Zhao. Didn’t you see that the treasury was empty?
Duan Xiaolin pointed at the table full of delicious food and wine and said, "Why are we still eating and drinking now that we have no money left?"
Commander Zhao was rich enough to rival a country, but he only cooked three dishes and one soup for dinner. When he and the princess lived in Cuiping Mountain, he saw his brother coming home late and only wanted a bowl of noodles. He was not as wasteful as us.
The little emperor had just taken a sip of wine when he spat it out in anger. This was his son teaching him a lesson for being wasteful.
Duan Xiaolin went on to say that the new Song Dynasty was determining the salaries of officials. Generally speaking, they were lowering, lowering, and lowering. The government offices had reorganized the positions and determined the quotas. All officials were provided by the court. There were no more private staff and private soldiers. Everyone was serving the country and working for the court.
Last year, the ruler of the New Song Dynasty reduced his salary by half. Officials had no retainers and generals had no private soldiers, so naturally they could not gather any rebellious forces, and the court saved money.
If daddy does the same, what would there be to worry about?
Duan Xiaolin's impassioned speech was like a huge bell, hitting the chest of the little emperor, which shocked him greatly. As an emperor, he had heard about these things before, but he did not take them seriously.
Now that Duan Xiaolin had spoken out in a hurry, it reminded him that the silver was in the hands of the ministers around him. It was on the same dining table in front of him. The little emperor was stunned with surprise.
Duan Xiaolin's mother saw that the emperor looked very bad and was in a daze, so she immediately stopped him and told him to go back and rest...
At Qingcheng Mountain in Chengdu, Zhao Yulin drank heavily with Lao Cao last night and had a good sleep. When he got up, it was already bright outside. He went out to practice boxing with Lao Cao in the yard for a while before having lunch and going down the mountain. It was already evening when he returned to Chengdu.
When he entered the house, he found it quiet. Only Zhao Feiyan was busy in the study. After asking, he learned that Yangjin and Ma Ling were on a business trip to Lizhou to lead the administrative and financial reforms.
Haha, that’s pretty good.
Zhao Yulin felt that everyone was being too strict in their work.
Feiyan waited for him to wash and rest, and the couple went to bed and fell asleep exhausted after several rounds of fighting. When he woke up, he went to the government office to discuss matters with full energy.
Lao Cao arrived before him and told him with a smile that he had discussed with the others and decided to allocate a sum of money to repair Qingcheng Mountain and maintain Jianfu Palace so that the people of Chengdu would have a cool place to escape the summer heat and have an outing.
Zhao Yulin felt that it was enough. Qingcheng Mountain had been repaired more than once, and the road up the mountain was becoming more and more accessible. With more improvements, it could be opened as a good tourist attraction and charge a fee.
Mr. Ding said happily that the Caotang Academy was about to be completed, and he and Mr. Li had discussed and planned to hold the imperial examination this year to recruit scholars.
Zhao Yulin nodded and said yes, but our employment orientation needs to change. From now on, all scholars who pass the examination will be arranged to the lowest counties, towns and border villages for training and assessment just like the students selected from the previous academies, and those who are willing to work hard and endure hardships will be promoted as civil servants of the new Song State.
The gentlemen nodded and praised his good idea. They no longer wanted people who could only talk but not do anything.
Lord Ding told everyone with a smile that Li Yunqing, the commander of the Western Expedition from Changdu Prefecture, had sent a letter saying that our New Song Army had defeated the Tubo enemy, crossed the Black Water River, and established a foothold in a place called Basu Village. This was because after Shunfengchu was upgraded to Shunfengsi of the Ministry of War, military intelligence was reported directly to Lord Ding according to the system.
The Black Water River is the Nu River, and because the water is turbid, it is named Black Water. Across the Nu River, there is no Basu County, but a small village with a few families at the foot of the Warrior Mountain.
However, crossing the Nujiang River was not an easy task. Zhao Yulin had been there in later life. The 72 bends of the Nujiang River were steep and precipitous, and it was terrifying to look at. One had to march and fight with heavy loads climbing up and down the canyon to force their way across the river.
Mr. Ding was very happy and handed the secret document to Lao Cao for circulation.
After the Ministry of War was formally established at the last meeting, Zhao Yulin consulted with Ding Gong and Lao Cao, and reported all military information to Ding Gong. When urgent war situations required immediate decisions, he and Lao Cao were informed. All military decisions were discussed by Ding Gong and the two of them.
This gave Ding Gong, as the king, real power and authority.
Zhao Yulin reminded Lao Cao that the New Song Dynasty had been established and the Shenwei Army had also begun a round of military reorganization. He asked him to instruct the logistics department to prepare all the flags of the Western Expedition Army first and transport them to Chamdo to ask Li Yunqing to change the flags and swear allegiance to the New Song Dynasty.
Lord Li immediately agreed and solemnly said that Chamdo, Suzhou and Ganzhou were all far away, and the preaching of loyalty to the country must be strengthened.
All the gentlemen expressed their unanimous approval.
Lao Cao said that he had already arranged for the transportation of military medals. The staff officers thought that a column garrison should be set up in Chamdo, but he was still hesitating.
Chamdo has a small population and a large territory. Is it necessary?
Zhao Yulin thought it was necessary. First, the areas had just been taken back, and the forces of all parties were definitely complicated, which would inevitably lead to trouble. Second, there were few people and the land was too barren, so there were many things that needed to be done by the army. Military reclamation was a must-do that consumed a lot of manpower.
He said that this garrison column should not only be built, but also built according to the organization and equipment of the Shenwei Army, so that it can support the battles in Lanzhou and Lhasa at any time.
Cao You suddenly understood what he said and said he would go back and explain it. He hurriedly made the flags for the Western Expedition Army.
Lord Ding was very pleased and praised the Western Expedition Army for their bravery and fearlessness of hardship. He asked them to carry the military flag of the New Song Dynasty and plant the flag on the top of the city wall of Lhasa.
The gentlemen praised again.
Li Gong then talked about education, telling the gentlemen that the great kings of Baoning Prefecture and Kangning Prefecture sent their children to Chengdu to study, which was a good thing. Deputy Envoy Yangjin also compiled books in Tibetan for them to read.
Next he planned to unify the writing and language of Tibet.
Zhao Yulin nodded and suggested that his Ministry of Rites set up a language and writing agency to organize, edit, and print a set of standardized characters for use by all ethnic groups, and provide them to teachers in academies and schools in various places to teach students. The Department of Education should also regularly convene teachers from various places for exchanges.
If we keep doing this for a long time, our brothers and sisters from all over the world will be able to communicate and greet each other well when they meet from afar.
The gentlemen immediately nodded, thinking that what he said made sense and was indeed necessary.
Now even the Central Academy has several dialects, including the Western Sichuan dialect, the Lin'an dialect, and Lao Cao's strong Qinqiang. If you don't understand a sentence, you have to explain it repeatedly. They have experienced this deeply.
There must be a standard method of language and writing communication that can be used throughout the country.
Zhao Feiyan listened and wrote down the notes quickly. The biggest characteristic of this little girl is her diligence. She is diligent with her mouth, hands and legs, and never lags behind in doing anything.
He felt his stomach growling, and when he looked at the hourglass, he realized it was already noon. He smiled and asked the old man if he had lunch.
I'm hungry.
Everyone laughed and stood up and walked towards the restaurant in the back.
After dinner, Mr. Ding asked him to go to the provincial school in the afternoon to visit Mr. Qiao Xingjian, saying that he had not been there during the New Year.
Zhao Yulin agreed immediately and walked towards the provincial school after taking a short rest.
