Chapter 571 The Key is the Queen Mother
The carriage shook all the way and arrived at the foot of Qingcheng Mountain early in the afternoon . The senator arranged four sedan chairs. The queen and the imperial concubine saw the newly repaired stone stairs and insisted on walking up the mountain.
The queen said to the imperial concubine joyfully: You want to walk on your own, don't say you are too tired to straighten your back when you get to the top of the mountain.
The two women, their maids and attendants came to the Ancestral Hall. The whole house had been thoroughly renovated. From a distance it looked like it was newly built. Standing in the middle of the courtyard, one could even smell a faint scent of paint.
When the imperial princess saw that the guards and porters had brought up all the things, she was delighted. She quickly ran over and told them to put this box on the east side and that box on the west side, and told the maid to get ready.
The emperor said to his mother happily: It is really cool here, let's stay here until the summer heat subsides and then go back.
The senator on the side said with a smile on his face: Mr. Zhao, just stay here. I will take care of anything you need.
Just as Old Lady Xie was about to scold the senator for being presumptuous, the emperor was already saying, "Good, very good."
At this time, the imperial concubine came over happily to tell them that the disciples of Qingcheng had made a pot of chicken stewed with ginkgo nuts for them, and it tasted really delicious.
The emperor had already smelled it and shouted with a smile, "Let's go and try it."
The Jianfu Palace at the foot of the mountain was filled with officials of all levels of the Taijian Hall. Ding Gong already knew that the old emperor had moved into the Zushi Hall. The old man smiled and said to the officials, "Great good, if the emperor has figured it out, we won't have to worry about it."
Li Zhongmian smiled and said to himself: It's good that you have figured it out. Once you have figured it out, you will all have less to worry about.
Elder Qiao also nodded repeatedly, thinking that this was a good sign. The Empress Dowager and the Emperor of the previous dynasty were both elders of Brother Yulin, and they couldn't bear to see their flesh and blood kill each other. It would be best if the Emperor could let it go.
Zhao Yulin was still discussing military affairs in Jinguan City at this moment.
After Huo Fenghuang returned to Chengdu, he was no longer worried about the safety of the capital. However, the military reports from the front line changed every day. Even Miao Gui became anxious and wanted to set off for Hedong immediately.
Zhao Yulin felt that a massive battle in Hedong was actually a fight to the death with the Mongolian army and a head-on confrontation was not the best strategy.
However, the military report of Shunfengsi showed that several militias in Hedong and Hebei were looking for the Shenwei Army to contact and surrender. Miao Gui believed that with the support of these local guerrillas, they could fight a battle. Even if they could not take Datong Prefecture, they could seize Daming Prefecture, the iron smelting center of the Mongolian army.
This is what makes Zhao Yulin's heart beat.
The effect of the New Song Dynasty's steel embargo on the Mongolian army has begun to show. Many businessmen have raised the prices to purchase New Song Dynasty's used knives and rotten iron pots and ironware, and can sell them at high prices when they take them back.
From this point of analysis, the Mongolian army is definitely extremely short of iron. If the Shenwei Army can capture Daming Prefecture and take down the important strategic material center of the grassland empire in the Central Plains, it will definitely be a major blow to the Mongolian army.
However, Zhao Yulin was worried that Hubili of Zhending Prefecture would fight with all his might, which would greatly increase the difficulty for Lai Chuanfang's group to win.
He asked Miao Gui to incorporate Yang Xingyun's Eastern Group into the overall planning, leaving the Shandong Corps and the Maritime Navy as mobile forces to monitor the Hebei Road and actively prepare for cross-sea operations.
Zhao Yulin returned home and saw Chen Chen and Yang Jin lying under the flower gallery like two little penguins with their pregnant bellies, so he went over to chat with them. Yang Jin said that if she wasn't here to be Feiyan's advisor, she would have to go back to Baoning Prefecture because the summer in Chengdu was too hot and stuffy.
Chen Chen was also yelling at him: Come with me to Emei Mountain to escape the summer heat, she is going to find the headmaster's daughter to take care of her pregnancy.
He said helplessly that there were a lot of things to do and asked us to wait a little longer.
Yangjin told him: It is a good thing that the old emperor called himself sir and Old Lady Xie went to Qingcheng to escape the summer heat. If the old emperor really agrees with our republic and is willing to be an honest and obedient citizen, we will give him an official title of a special researcher and let him enjoy the treatment of an elder. What do you think?
He smiled and said: This matter is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, so of course we have to listen to the Minister of Personnel.
Yangjin curled her lips at him, spat out the melon seed shells and said, "Forget about thanking old lady, and let her continue to collect her pension of 80 strings of cash. But if she continues to make trouble in public, even the little offering will be deducted from her."
Zhao Yulin teased her, gave her a thumbs up, and praised the woman for being so capable. That’s what he did.
These are all trivial matters, he believes Yangjin is doing a good job.
The next day, the Central Council held a meeting.
The Minister of Works, Mr. Qiu, informed the others of the progress of the construction of Jiayang Village and the railway, and told them that since the nationwide wave of donations for railway and train construction had emerged, all regions had submitted memorials requesting the production of new things.
Some wanted to make new farm tools to speed up plowing, some wanted to make new threshers to save labor, some wanted to make bicycles to carry water to high dry land for irrigation, and some wanted to make iron-clad flying birds to carry people across the blue sky.
The Ministry of Industry proposed to allocate funds for the manufacture of ingenious tools to various counties and prefectures to support the construction of such things. Once they are made, they will be of great use to the development of the new Song Dynasty.
Zhao Yulin was very happy. The fact that he could come up with such an idea showed that the officials of the Ministry of Industry were thinking hard.
He said: These craftsmen and masters are doing things that have never been done before, which is innovation and bringing forth new things. Innovative talents play a very important role in social change. For example, in the selection and breeding of agricultural seeds, once a high-yield and disease-resistant seed is found, the output of the fields can be increased significantly, so that people will not go hungry.
The new tools save labor and time, allowing common people to farm easily, and even free up some labor to do other jobs such as blacksmithing, bricklaying, and carpentry. They should be supported.
Zhao Yulin suggested setting up a Science and Technology Bureau within the Ministry of Rites' Department of Education to manage matters such as science and technology, because these matters involve talent cultivation, most people come from institutions of higher learning, and the promotion of new technologies and new tools also requires going through institutions of higher learning.
Zhao Feiyan immediately nodded and asked the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Rites to discuss and mobilize relevant personnel to merge into the Ministry of Rites' Academic Affairs Department, which would be responsible for the promotion and innovation of science and technology.
She said: Cuiping Mountain and Xinshi have produced a large number of new tools that need to be promoted. We must make this a reality. The Education Affairs Department can first review a batch of projects and allocate special funds to support construction practices.
Ma Ling then stated: The Transportation Department can allocate one million strings of cash in advance for the innovation of new technologies and new things in various places.
Mr. Fan immediately said that it was a great idea. He would use 10,000 strings of cash to support the manufacturing of one new thing. He could support one hundred things a year. The new Song Dynasty would surely produce many new things.
Zhao Yulin nodded and said: This requires the Department of Education to do its job well, and special officials to review and check, so that our money cannot be wasted.
Yangjin took a rest, and Fan Zhong continued to act as the Minister of Personnel. He proposed to implement councils in villages across the country, allowing the councils to restrain the power of the Dubao at all levels and the chief Dubao.
They all praised it and believed that the Huaxi Village Council, after its practice in Wenjiang, could play a good role in collective deliberation and prevent the village from being controlled by one person and becoming a local tyrant.
Zhao Yulin suggested that we should proceed step by step, first implement the village council system in Chengdu Fulu, continue to find problems, summarize experience, and then roll out a complete and mature village council system to the whole country.
He said: "Whether a system is good or not cannot simply see its advantages, but also find out the existing problems. Otherwise, it will cause a huge disaster after it is fully implemented, and it will be too late to correct it after the problems arise. The Ministry of Personnel should constantly summarize the experience and lessons of the village councils, form a complete council system, and then promote it nationwide."
After hearing his cautiousness, everyone nodded in agreement that the policy should be implemented in Chengdu Prefecture for two years first. The Ministry of Personnel could provide guidance nearby and further implement it after mistakes were corrected.
Hua Yue from the Censorate proposed launching a nationwide inspection of the bureaucratic style of officials in prefectures and counties. The New Song has implemented a republican system of equality for many years. Let's take a good look to see if there are still officials who accept kneeling as a courtesy, and if there are still prefecture and county officials who regard themselves as county magistrates or officials.
If citizens make reports, severe punishment must be imposed if they are verified to be true.
Fan Zhong nodded repeatedly, believing that when conducting a joint inspection with the Censorate, the Ministry of Rites should also carry out a large-scale propaganda campaign on the new social concept, correct the style of officials in the yamen, make everyone equal, and make everyone know fairness and integrity, which will become the code of conduct for every official.
This was a very good suggestion, and Zhao Yulin nodded while drinking tea.
Zhao Feiyan agreed with a smile, and asked Hua Yue to take the lead, and the Ministry of Personnel sent a special envoy to inspect. One by one, the government offices passed the inspection.
Miao Gui informed everyone of the number of disabled and demobilized veterans this year, and proposed that the Ministry of Households make good arrangements for their resettlement and appropriately increase the travel expenses for retired soldiers returning home.
This was one of the smokescreens they had set up when discussing military intelligence, in order to let the northern grassland empire see that the New Song Dynasty was repatriating old and wounded soldiers from the front on a large scale, thus creating the illusion that the Song Dynasty was letting its horses rest in the mountains.
Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Du Fan immediately expressed his willingness to accept all of them, verify them immediately, and ensure that the returning soldiers have a place to live.
Seeing that more than 30,000 people were going back home, Ma Linger proposed to increase the travel expenses by 20%.
The gentlemen all nodded in agreement. That little bit of money was just a drop in the bucket. If these soldiers returned home safely, they would become a powerful force for construction.
Miao Gui was very happy to see that you all attached great importance to and supported the army construction. He told everyone that Wang Hanchen's troops in Tubo Road put down the rebellion of Langerke at the beginning of the year, further stabilizing the rule of the New Song Dynasty there. In the future, Langerke will also be able to contribute taxes to our New Song Dynasty.
The gentlemen were delighted again after hearing this.
However, Zhao Yulin feels that it will take more than three to five years to naturalize these places. The road is long and arduous, and I will search for it up and down.
He proposed to the Ministry of Rites that they should vigorously select officials to go to the Western Regions and reserve talents who know Tibetan language, because Tibet needed too many officials.
Everyone nodded continuously.
Li Liang, the Minister of Rites, reported that after the people who returned from the northern grasslands moved into Caotang Academy, there were no more extra seats in the academy. He proposed to upgrade Cuipingshan Academy and Hanzhong Academy, recognize that the university diplomas of these two academies were equivalent to Caotang, and the Ministry of Personnel would appoint and promote them in the same way.
This was another major reform of the New Song Dynasty’s educational system.
Zhao Yulin nodded, believing that from now on, no matter whether the students graduated from Caotang or Hanzhong or Cuiping Mountain, the Ministry of Personnel would conduct an examination and assessment before appointment. Verifying the basic qualities of the graduates would also be a test of the teaching quality of academies in various places.
The gentlemen immediately nodded and agreed to Zhao Yulin's proposal.
