In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

In Guanjia Hall, the atmosphere fell into silence.

The rain has long since stopped.

It was three or four o'clock in the morning, close to the time of morning.

It was pitch dark outside, with dense bamboo shadows in the back garden. The breeze blew the rice seedlings in front of the temple swaying with the wind, and there was a rustling sound.

No one spoke in the hall.

According to past practice, after hearing from Zhao Jun, they would come here to stay for a while.

Sometimes it was to discuss the future direction, sometimes it was to think about solutions to problems, and sometimes it was Zhao Zhen who wanted to break things to vent.

But today, everyone has changed from the usual free-spirited atmosphere, and has become very serious, because the official family is in a very bad mood now.

"His Majesty."

Lu Yijian spoke first: "I impeached Fan Zhongyan with ulterior motives and deliberately led Zhao Jun to frame Wei Chen."

Fan Zhongyan sneered and said: "I have ulterior motives? Didn't you hear what Zhao Jun said? If you want the Song Dynasty not to perish, you must carry out reforms. If you obstruct reforms, aren't you harming the Song Dynasty?"

Lu Yijian immediately said: "I didn't stop the reform!"

At least not yet.

"Yes, you are not blocking the reform now, that's because I haven't started the reform yet."

Fan Zhongyan immediately said: "The officials trust you so much, but you want to destroy the Song Dynasty. Lu Yijian, you are the biggest traitor in the court!"

"You're talking nonsense! What does this have to do with me?"

Lu Yijian was furious.

Fan Zhongyan retorted: "This is what Zhao Jun said, is it true?"

"His Majesty."

Lu Yijian was in a hurry and was about to explain.

"enough!"

Zhao Zhen slammed the table, looked at them with scarlet eyes and said: "My Song Dynasty was harmed by you trash. In another ninety-one years, the Song Dynasty will be destroyed, and even the princesses and eldest daughters will be humiliated by the enemy. , but you are still fighting here, does anyone take me seriously?"

Everyone immediately shrank their necks unconsciously.

Renzong's temper was always gentle and he almost never got angry. But today he not only got angry, but also insulted them as trash. This is much scarier than Zhao Jun calling them trash.

Because Zhao Jun is a person of later generations, he firstly does not know his current situation, and secondly, he looks at the problem from the perspective of later generations, so he has a higher self-esteem. From the perspective of God, it is reasonable to say that he cannot evaluate them. in things.

But Zhao Zhen himself is a historical figure in Zhao Jun's mouth, and Zhao Jun also blamed him for the failure of the Qingli New Deal. Therefore, it stands to reason that Zhao Zhen should have accepted it with an open mind and had no right to lose his temper.

But the officials just lost their temper.

The people present are all old monsters who have been in officialdom for many years, so how could they not hear it?

This is Zhao Zhen's strong dissatisfaction with their party struggle.

According to Zhao Jun, it was precisely because of the party struggle in the Renzong Dynasty that the Qingli New Deal failed, which indirectly led to the failure of Wang Anshi's reform, leaving the three-redundant problem unresolved, and ultimately the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty was about to die.

How could Zhao Zhen not be angry?

After a while, Fan Zhongyan said in a deep voice: "The officials have also heard it. If the Song Dynasty wants to last for a long time, the problem of three redundancies must be solved. And if we want to cure the three redundancies, we must first rectify the administration of officials and reorganize the system of ministers. It’s not wrong. What’s wrong is that there are villains secretly blocking the New Deal.”

Although he didn't mention anyone by name, it was no different from naming someone by name. Lu Yijian's face turned red and he wanted to refute, but he was the first on the list mentioned by Zhao Jun, so the refutation was powerless after all.

"Prime Minister Lu."

Zhao Zhen turned his head to look at Lu Yijian and said to him: "You often tell me about the disadvantages of three redundant matters, but why do you have to be confused when it comes to important matters?"

Lu Yijian's lips moved twice, trying to say something, but it felt like something was stuck in her throat and she could not speak.

Fan Zhongyan sneered and said, "Didn't Zhao Jun say that? Prime Minister Lu has many disciples and grandsons in the court, and there are countless high-ranking people under his sect. If he supports the New Deal, wouldn't he wipe out all his own faction members?"

Wang Zeng took the opportunity to add insult to injury and said: "This cannot be blamed on Prime Minister Lu. In the past two years, Prime Minister Lu has been in charge of twenty-four divisions. The officials he selected are naturally Xian Liang, but if he wants to be dismissed on a large scale, wouldn't it be a waste of Prime Minister Lu's intention to select talents for the country? It is reasonable to have some resistance. "

The two sang and harmonized, making the atmosphere in the hall solidify.

Lu Yijian glanced at Wang Zeng, and Wang Zeng also glared at him. The power struggle between the two will not start next year.

As early as the two men were in the same court, they were fighting openly and secretly. It was just next year that Wang Zeng couldn't bear it anymore and finally broke out with Lu Dang.

If you don’t take advantage of this opportunity now, when will you wait?

Zhao Zhen's face was indeed very ugly. Although Lu Yijian was indeed his mentor in life, he naturally valued the latter more than Song Dynasty Jiangshan, so if Lu Yijian became a stumbling block on the road to reform, maybe he wouldn't be able to give up.

After a moment of silence, Lu Yijian raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I am naturally willing to support the New Deal. But as Zhao Jun said, Wang Anshi and Su Shi are both famous officials through the ages. They are not traitors, but they turned against each other in the end. It can be seen that the New Deal will not fail if only one person opposes it, but should proceed step by step to find a solution to the problem.”

"Government is the way to solve problems."

Fan Zhongyan said: "Zhao Jun also said that now there are so many officials in the imperial court, several times as many as those in the Tang and Ming Dynasties, and the salary expenditures required by the court are dozens of times that of the Tang and Ming Dynasties. If the harm of redundant officials cannot be eliminated, Jingkang will still be humiliated. happened, the Song Dynasty was in danger."

Lu Yijian shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, Zhao Jun only talked about some of the root causes of the problem. But this matter is extremely complicated, and it can't be summarized by a sentence of opposition from the scholar-bureaucrats of the Manchu Dynasty. The inside story is far beyond our imagination. Fan Zhongyan is The reformer of the New Deal is true, but his failure also proves that he is not a suitable candidate for reform. Maybe we can still find the right method and direction. "

"Lu Yijian, you are just pretending to be confused because you understand."

Fan Zhongyan said angrily: "If you hadn't blocked it, how could the restructuring have failed?"

Lu Yijian smiled and said: "I alone can turn all the officials and scholar-bureaucrats in the Song Dynasty against you. Fan Zhongyan, you think too highly of me. Zhao Jun said that you offended the entire interest group. If you want to break this Interest groups, the only tough method is to use the army. Do you dare to use the army to kill people?”

"I"

Fan Zhongyan was speechless for a moment because he saw Zhao Zhen's expressionless face.

Use the army in the Song Dynasty?

Not even the Privy Council has this power.

Although the Privy Council was nominally the highest military institution of the Song Dynasty, in fact the Privy Council only had the power to send troops but not to command them.

The power to command the army rests with the emperor.

It was very complicated to mobilize the army in the Song Dynasty. If there was a war, the emperor would appoint a general to lead the army, and then the Privy Council would be responsible for recruiting soldiers to this general.

Generals have the power to command troops, but they do not have the power to send troops, resulting in the well-known situation in later generations that "the soldiers do not know the generals, and the generals do not know the troops."

Therefore, it is obviously impossible to give Fan Zhongyan military power.

Even if he goes to the northwest in the future, he will only be able to carry out administrative management there, and military rulings will still depend on the emperor's face.

Just like before the defeat of Haoshuichuan, Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan had a dispute about whether to send troops, and the final decision-making power was still in the hands of Zhao Zhen.

The Northern Song Dynasty emperor's control of military power was almost sick to the core.

"Zhao Jun said that when a conservative interest group becomes a burden to the country, what is needed is force and iron-fisted measures. But this obviously violates the ancestral system of Taizu and scholar-bureaucrats co-ruling the world, and will also make Manchu officials fearful. If the administration is not done well, the Song Dynasty is already in turmoil. Is this what your Majesty wants to see? "

The old god Lu Yijian said on the ground: "So I think that if you want to solve these problems, you can't do it overnight. Reform of official governance should be done slowly, step by step, as Zhao Jun said, you can first motivate officials and punish them well Reward system, let’s talk about deposing officials.”

Yan Shu echoed: "Yes, this is what Zhao Jun said. If you take too big a step, it is easy to pull the eggs. Boil the frog in warm water so that the frog will not jump out of the pot because of the heat. Your Majesty, I am also I think it’s better to proceed step by step.”

"what about you?"

Zhao Zhen looked at Wang Zeng and Wang Sui and asked, "Do you also think we should do it step by step?"

Wang Sui and Sheng Du looked at each other and also advised Zhao Zhen: "Yes, I also believe that we should be fully prepared for such a major event, and we should not rush it. We should really slow down."

"I second the proposal."

Wang Zeng and Cai Qi also responded.

Three phases and three reference groups, almost three small groups, all agreed. This is a very rare thing.

But it’s okay not to agree.

In addition to Zhao Jun also commenting that Fan Zhongyan's approach will definitely fail, there is another most important reason - that is, they are also members of an interest group.

If we really let go and support Fan Zhongyan to carry out drastic reforms, everyone's disciples and former officials will also suffer, so naturally we cannot support him.

So in general, everyone has selfish motives, but they are really thinking about the Song Dynasty, which is full of contradictions.

Fan Zhongyan said anxiously: "Your Majesty, how can we delay the matter of life and death for the country?"

Zhao Zhen thought for a while, shook his head and said: "Fan Qing failed in history after all. Zhao Jun also said that Fan Qing's method is not advisable, and it is better to slow down the plan."

Yan Shu saw Fan Zhongyan's expression was very bad, so he smiled and said: "Xiwen doesn't need to worry, Zhao Jun will probably be able to regain his sight in two or three months. With him here, is Xiwen still afraid that he won't be able to succeed?"

Will Zhao Jun regain his sight soon?

Fan Zhongyan was awakened all of a sudden, and he suddenly felt excited, and then said: "What uncle Tong said is reasonable, but I am impatient. However, Your Majesty, I still ask you to report."

"you say."

Zhao Zhen closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. He really hadn't had much rest in the past few days.

Fan Zhongyan said solemnly: "I ask you to remove Prime Minister Lu and his party. Even if Prime Minister Lu can't remove him, he should reduce his wings. Otherwise, they are an interest group. Prime Minister Lu clearly said that he will not block the New Deal, but he is acting behind his back. That is a bad thing." ”

"Well."

Zhao Zhen glanced at Lu Yijian.

Lu Yijian felt a chill running down his spine, so he had no choice but to step forward and promise, "I will leave everything to your Majesty's discretion."

"As for those people who have been promoted by Prime Minister Lu and are incompetent and mediocre officials, let Fan Qing make a list. I will order the Imperial City Secretary to cooperate. If there is any obstruction, I will not tolerate it."

Zhao Zhen waved his hand and said, "I'll be here first today and go to the temple first."

"yes."

All the ministers bowed their hands in salute.

Lu Yijian glared at Fan Zhongyan hatefully.

this time.

He was defeated.