Volume 4 Chapter 16: New and Old
Zhao Jiu is destined to have a gap with the people of this era, and it is a huge gap that is difficult to overcome.
This gap may not be due to any difference in ideological awareness, or the difference in education system, or even the difference in world view. It is also caused by a natural cognition...
For example, people of this era always think that the emperor should like three palaces, six courtyards and seventy-two concubines.
But in fact, even the Sea King of later generations has to follow the procedure of catching fish, catching one and releasing one. There may be a few people who keep four or five houses, but do you think everyone looks at him with a curious and playful mentality? People who grew up in this environment will really keep three to five hundred young women at a time for their personal needs?
Do you recognize the face?
For example, there are always some civil officials who worry that an emperor will engage in large-scale construction, be extravagant, and test all kinds of limits with the pitiful productivity of the time... But how can a person who has seen a jungle of steel and concrete and enjoyed industrialized life have such a mood?
If you have 40 billion, wouldn't it be better to use it to build maps and expand territory?
For example, there are always bureaucrats who would speculate from an extremely selfish perspective that the official did this in order to consolidate military power, or to disrupt dissenting opinions... However, the official is actually just lazy and ignorant, and he just did it to go with the flow.
Sometimes he can indeed think of it, but sometimes he wouldn't know it and could explain it that way unless you told him.
Let's stop talking nonsense and talk about the spring when everything flourishes. In late February, the original school, which was forcibly added with Shu Wang's new school and Guanxue as the orthodox school, officially became the official doctrine, the main basis for imperial examination teaching, and the guiding ideology of the country... However, thanks to the previous hype and warm-up, and the unconditional endorsement of the emperor in the imperial society, it did not cause much waves.
Because the court needs to do things.
The first thing was the discussion about the unrest in Nanling after all the bandits in Dongting Lake were wiped out.
It is said that the Nanling turmoil had already begun during the Jingkang period. In other words, the area where Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan and Jiangxi meet has actually been in a state of anarchy for six or seven years. So far, according to statistics from the surrounding government, there are a total of twelve kings, three or four hundred factions of varying sizes, with a total of 130 to 140,000 people, affecting more than a dozen state armies in the entire Nanling region...
As for why it is so chaotic, there are many reasons.
First, it is an ethnic minority settlement area, and the culture is somewhat different from the surrounding areas; second, it is a typical hilly area with inconvenient transportation and easy to defend but difficult to attack. The term "malaria land" was invented referring to this area; third, not to mention the Song Dynasty, this place has always been a place where bandits are rampant and the people are fierce since ancient times. Often, if some powerful family in a mountain stronghold is unhappy, they will directly rebel, so there has always been a tradition of rebellion.
There's nothing we can do about it, it's a remote and poor place... but geographically it's in the heart of South China, so bandits from all directions run there when they can't stand it anymore, it's the same reason why bandits have been emerging from Taihang Mountains since ancient times.
Historically, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty in another time and space, the Ming Dynasty was sweeping the north, which did not prevent it from rebellion in more than a dozen prefectures in the back, and then it tossed around for many years, let alone now after experiencing the Jingkang Incident?
Of course, thanks to the previous fruitful efforts such as holding on to the Huai River, stationing in Nanyang, and recovering the old capital, the current situation in the Song Dynasty has improved a lot. From the perspective of internal troubles, there is basically only this big hole left.
Therefore, the court treated the last rebellion suppression operation as a top-notch event. The provincial governor, the de facto prime minister Zhao Ding, also proposed his own plan based on the characteristics of Nanling. He asked the exhausted imperial army to withdraw and rest, and replaced Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun to go south together, one from Fujian and the other from Hunan, and then let the local volunteers from Guangnan and Guangdong go out to suppress the rebellion from three directions.
However, this plan was immediately opposed by Privy Councilor Zhang Jun, who believed that the movement of troops would be a waste of time. Since Yue Fei had already arrived in the south, he should move south quickly while the weather was not too hot and end the battle before summer arrived.
In this regard, Zhao Jiu once again expressed his support for Zhang Jun, but agreed with some of Zhao Ding's opinions. Finally, he ordered Yue Fei to decide at his own discretion how many troops to take south and how many troops to return for rest, and gave him the authority to dispatch government volunteers from Jiangnan West Road, Fujian Road, Guangnan East , and Guangnan West Road, and to recruit Miao soldiers from local Miao villages.
At the same time, generals, soldiers, civil and military officials from Guangdong, Guangxi and Nanling were sent south to provide guidance to resolve this last large-scale rebellion.
Since the government had made the decision, the matter was quickly carried out.
Just as the decision was made on the suppression of the rebellion in the outer court, another earthquake-like important event soon broke out in the city of Tokyo. That was that the authority to receive and transport secret letters was suddenly revoked for Yang Yi Zhong, the commander of the Imperial Guard, and Liu Yan, the second-in-command of the Imperial Guard, was put in charge of the matter instead.
There was a trace of this. Before this, the Governor of Hubei had submitted a formal memorial impeaching Yang Yi Zhong on the issue of the secret letter. However, the original academic affairs and the military arrangements for suppressing the rebellion were more important at that time. Now that the matter was settled, the government naturally dealt with it.
However, the fact that Yang Yi Zhong, who had always been regarded as the emperor's most trusted confidant, was suddenly treated in this way still aroused suspicion and speculation among many people in Tokyo City. Almost on the second day after the incident, dozens of memorials were sent to Emperor Zhao's desk through the Privy Council, all of which impeached Yang Yi Zhong and demanded his death.
"I just revoked your authority to transport the notes, and they thought I was going to kill you." In the pavilion beside the fish pond, Zhao Jiu, who was enjoying the fresh air while reading the notes, suddenly sneered.
Yang Yizhong, who was standing aside, seemed to be hesitant to speak, and Liu Yan also looked a little surprised.
"But to be honest, if Ma Shen hadn't submitted this, I wouldn't have thought of this." Zhao Jiu put down the note, picked up another one, and shook his head. "Zhengfu, you actually hold the military power in the Forbidden City, the power to handle intelligence, and the right to communicate with my generals and generals. If you really want to rebel, you can imprison me and forge an imperial edict to the various armies. This power is no less than that of the Privy Councilor."
"I absolutely dare not!" Yang Yi Zhong could no longer hold back and knelt down on the spot under the gaze of Lan Gui, Liu Yan, and several Hanlin scholars and attendants.
"It's not a question of whether or not I dare. This is for your own good." Zhao Jiu continued to sigh. "I am also ignorant. I have made such a big mistake in the system. If Ma Shen hadn't said it, I really wouldn't have thought about it... They always said they wanted to kill you, and I thought it was because you always took the blame for me... To be honest, don't hold a grudge in your heart."
What could Yang Yizhong say? He could only bow his hands with a serious expression and said, "This is the grace of the emperor. I have absolutely no complaints."
After hesitating for a moment, Liu Yan, who was standing beside him, knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, I think the power to transport secret letters should be directly given to the Ministry of Internal Affairs..."
"No need!" Zhao Jiu shook his head immediately. "I took it from Zhengfu only because he had too many responsibilities and it would be inappropriate to have it all on his own. It's fine to divide it now. Why move it again?"
"I also have the military power in front of the emperor." Liu Yan said cautiously.
"Is it the same thing?" Zhao Jiu finally frowned. "Troops, intelligence, and the cardinals, these are the key responsibilities in extraordinary times. You two are in charge of the imperial troops and the Imperial City Department. It is enough for you to take charge of the secret letter transportation."
"But it is not appropriate to let a military officer handle such a cardinal matter." Hanlin scholar Li Ruopu stepped out and bowed. "Your Majesty, there was a discussion as early as the Tang Dynasty that the power of the prime minister is to manage the country and the power of the cardinal... In this dynasty, the Eastern Palace manages the country and the Privy Council controls the cardinal. The system is already very complete."
"If it was complete, why would Master Liang become the internal minister?" Zhao Jiu refuted directly without even raising his head. "Didn't he infringe on the power of the cardinal?"
Li Ruopu was stunned for a moment, but then he said, "Your Majesty, the emperor is in the center of the country, and he inevitably needs people to serve him. As long as the eunuchs abide by morality, even if they are involved in some things, it is not considered as interfering in politics."
"How can eunuchs not interfere in politics?" Zhao Jiu laughed. "I'm talking to you about the system, and you're talking to me about morality... You said it yourself, the power of the cardinal is the power of the prime minister, and the eunuchs are at the side of the emperor, so they can't help but get involved in the power of the cardinal, and since they get involved in the cardinal, they are actually infringing on the power of the prime minister. This is the basic reason why eunuchs have interfered in politics since ancient times... For example, in the case of Grand Official Lan, even if he has a very good reputation now, do you dare to say that he doesn't have some cardinal power?"
Lan Gui knelt down on the ground without hesitation.
"It can be seen that in your eyes, it is acceptable for eunuchs to infringe upon the authority of the cardinal, but it is absolutely unacceptable for military officials to infringe upon the authority of the cardinal." Zhao Jiu still did not even look at Lan Gui, but continued to flip through the notes and shook his head. "What kind of logic is this?"
Li Ruopu hesitated for a moment and continued: "Your Majesty is right. Since there is a Privy Council, the power of the cardinal should belong to the Privy Council."
"But wouldn't that be depriving the monarch of his power?" Zhao Jiu continued to smile. "Should I follow Emperor Guangwu's example and set up an internal secretariat, and continue to fight for power internally and externally?"
Li Ruopu was completely silent.
"It's the times and the situation." Zhao Jiu, who continued to flip through the letters, finally sighed. "The power of the emperor, the power of the prime minister, the central government, the civil officials and the military generals, there are always endless disputes, but we have to understand the situation... In the past few years, we were a stray dog, a small court, and the court was in the army, so we didn't care about anything else; starting from Nanyang, we have a foothold, and we are a military-first politics, and everything must be based on the army; after Yaoshan, the situation is stable, but the war must continue, so I want to separate the civil and military... And since the civil and military are separated, the secret letters of these military generals will only follow the system of the imperial guards, and you, or the Ministry of Internal Affairs, don't bother... All of you get up!"
The three people who were kneeling stood up together, and even Li Ruopu bowed and responded: "I understand. This matter is a wartime system. We should wait until the Jin people are annihilated before discussing it."
Emperor Zhao, who had been talking for many minutes without stopping to look at the note on the stone table in front of him, finally stopped after hearing what was said. He raised his head and stared at Li Ruopu with a strange look, which made the Hanlin scholar who was on duty today a little flustered.
"Your Majesty, I wonder if I have overlooked anything?" After a pause, Li Ruopu finally couldn't hold on any longer.
Emperor Zhao sighed helplessly, "Li Qing did not miss anything. I just don't understand... Why do you all, not only civil officials, but also military generals, eunuchs, relatives, and even the common people, always want to go back to the old times and take the old path? You must know that the old times clearly led to the Jingkang Incident, and it was clearly a not-so-good path. Why do you all cling to it so much and regard the old path as the right path? Is the power of tradition really that great? Why did I say 'the ancestors cannot be followed'? Isn't it because our ancestors took the wrong path?"
Li Ruopu looked dazed and didn't know how to respond for a moment.
After questioning, the official seemed somewhat powerless. He just released a new note and shook his head and ordered: "Don't say such things in the future. Even if the Jin people are destroyed and normal times return, it is a new normal time, not the old normal time... Write an article to express my meaning roughly, give it to Editor Hu, and put it in the next issue of the official newspaper."
Li Ruopu didn't dare to refute, but just responded quickly.
However, just as Li Ruopu turned to the spare room in the side hall to write an article, suddenly, Emperor Zhao called out to him from behind, "Don't go!"
Li Ruopu was surprised and suspicious when he heard the strange tone, but he could only respond and turn around quickly.
Next, the official read the document over and over again for a long time, and then thought for a long time on the table before speaking calmly again: "Mr. Li, don't write that article for now! Go and call the four ministers, the Chief Censor, and the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of War to the Wende Hall to discuss politics!"
Seeing the emperor's calm tone, Li Ruopu, who had been a Hanlin scholar since Nanyang, felt guilty for some reason and had to obey the order and leave in a hurry.
After waiting for a while, Zhao Jiu, who had been sitting there for a long time without moving, stood up and went to Wende Hall under the careful surrounding of the ministers. When he arrived there, the four prime ministers, the prime minister, and the two ministers had already gathered with Li Ruopu.
And Zhao Jiu finally solved the mystery at this time:
"Someone from the Ministry of War has accused the Imperial Army of corruption for using the money they paid for the imperial examination. Do you know about this?"
The four ministers, the so-called provincial governor Zhao Ding and Liu Ji, the Privy Council chief and vice-chairman Zhang Jun and Chen Gui, as well as the Imperial Censor Li Guang and the Minister of Revenue Lin Qi, all looked at the Minister of War Hu Shijiang. Hu Shijiang remained calm and stepped forward to bow to Zhao Jiu, saying, "Your Majesty, I know about this matter. This official had discussed Shaanxi's military expenditures with me before he submitted the memorial."
Zhang Jun took a look at Emperor Zhao's expression, frowned and stepped out: "Emperor, I think the Ministry of War has put the cart before the horse... Depreciation of money, farming, empty salaries, and forced labor are four common problems in the army. I'm afraid they have been indispensable since ancient times, and now, who in the army can be free of them? However, now that the war is uncertain, there is a separation of civil and military affairs. Some things must be tolerated, and it is also a tacit understanding between the upper and lower levels... Minister Hu is new to the Ministry of War, and I'm afraid he doesn't understand the priorities."
Many people around frowned, but generally said nothing. Even Li Guang just sighed.
Zhao Ding thought about it and took a step forward as the Prime Minister of the East Palace, but he was actually a little hesitant: "Your Majesty, the Ministry of War is also performing its duties. Moreover, the rear army of the Imperial Camp was reorganized in front of your Majesty, and basically no empty pay is needed. In addition, due to the habit of the Western Army, they are still stationed in the hometown, so they are a little more accustomed to discounting the money, which is normal to cause dissatisfaction from the Ministry of War."
Zhao Jiu's expression remained unchanged, like a puppet: "I am not here to reprimand Minister Hu. I have always known about the valuation of money. I have always emphasized the principles you mentioned... I just suddenly feel that it is the fifth year of Jianyan, and some people's faults should be corrected, and some things should be done."
The ministers below, especially those who had followed Emperor Zhao for a longer time, were all stern when they saw Emperor Zhao's expression. Zhang Jun was even more surprised and a little flustered.
"Summon Wu Jie to the capital! Zhang Jun is coming too!"
When he heard the latter name, even Zhao Ding became a little flustered.
