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

In September of the second year of Baoyuan, the Song army went out of the Great Wall and took the initiative to attack Xixia.

Yuanhao hastily responded to the battle, and the two sides fought hard.

The border between Song and Xia was in flames.

But Fan Zhongyan, the chief official of the Northwest of the Song army, did not follow the moral principles of war and sent elite cavalry to cross the Ningxia Plain and directly into Li Yuanhao's hinterland.

This is the main gathering area for the rear of Li Yuanhao's tribe and many of his tribes, that is, the residence of the families of the Tangut soldiers under his command, and it is a very important rear base.

Li Yuanhao had previously deployed several armies around here, namely the Baima Qiangzhen Army, the Youxiang Chaoshun Army and the Xiangqing Army, as guards to protect the rear.

But at this time, under the joint attack of the Song Dynasty and Zuo Silu, his troops were already stretched to the limit, and he had to transfer most of his troops to the south to resist the attack of the Song-Zuo coalition forces, and the hinterland was almost undefended.

So on the seventeenth day of the war, the troops who were flanking and interspersed seemed to know the front-line deployment of the Western Xia Army very well, and easily bypassed the border guards and attacked the old nest of Shengwei City.

The Chaoshun Army resisted tenaciously, but was no match for the Song Army. After the Song Army defeated the Chaoshun Army, they set fires, threw grenades, and caused destruction everywhere, destroying at least thousands of tents, and countless stored food and supplies.

Two days later, Li Yuanhao was shocked when he got the news and hurried back to help, but the Song Army had long disappeared, leaving only a mess on the ground.

The Western Xia Army was retreating step by step on the border, especially when they heard that the rear was attacked, the morale of the army was unstable. Many leaders of the Dangxiang tribe simply took their tribes away from the battlefield and returned to the rear, wanting to take their people away from the frontier.

The only one who had some results was that Qi Yuwangrong successfully repelled Zuo Siluo and was returning to defend Yingli.

But in this situation, Qi Yuwangrong could not reverse the decline.

For a time, Xixia was internally disunited and externally defeated, showing a trend of near collapse.

In history, Li Yuanhao was walking on a tightrope. Even if he succeeded, it would cause instability in the domestic situation of Xixia. Even if he won, he almost caused the collapse of his own Xixia Empire.

Not to mention the current defeat.

If the Song army continued to attack at this time, Li Yuanhao would not be able to continue his dream of becoming an emperor, and even Xingqing Prefecture would be captured.

So Li Yuanhao almost turned gray overnight and almost went crazy.

But unexpectedly, more than ten days later, when the situation was extremely unfavorable to Li Yuanhao and the Xixia army was completely defeated, the Song army chose to withdraw at this critical moment and retreated back to the national border.

The entire war lasted about a month. From the initial stalemate between Song and Xia to Zhang Kang's sneak attack on the rear, Xixia was about to collapse, but it suddenly ended like this.

Although Li Yuanhao was a little confused after being beaten, he quickly collected the remaining soldiers, appeased the rear, and stabilized the collapsed situation.

It was later learned that because the Liao army suddenly moved south and stationed troops on the Liao-Song border, the Song emperor immediately ordered the northwest to withdraw troops and Fan Zhongyan was transferred to Hebei.

Upon learning this, Li Yuanhao was grateful that the Liao saved his life, but looking at the devastated and extremely dilapidated rear, he could only accept the peace agreement handed over by the Song army.

While secretly licking his wounds, he vowed that once the elite troops of the Song army in the northwest were all transferred to Hebei, when the Liao and Song officially went to war, he would definitely tear up the peace agreement and send troops to the Song to avenge himself.

However, what he didn't know was.

This battle was actually Fan Zhongyan's strategic mission to achieve the Song Dynasty.

After crippling Xixia, he fully dealt with the Liao Kingdom.

As for the question of whether the Liao Kingdom would annex Xixia after crippling Xixia.

That would be interesting.

If the Liao Kingdom attacked Xixia at this time, the Song Army would definitely be eager.

First of all, the main force of the Liao Kingdom, the Pi Shi Army, was near Zhongjing. If the main force was transferred away, the Song Kingdom's Hebei border would be completely free of worries.

Secondly, the Liao Kingdom rushed to attack Xixia, covering more than a thousand kilometers, and fought with the trapped Xixia. It was possible that both sides would suffer losses. If the Liao Kingdom suffered heavy losses, the Song Kingdom would have the possibility of recovering Yanyun.

So if Yelu Zongzhen was stupid enough to destroy Xixia at this time, Zhao Zhen would have to wake up with laughter in his dreams.

So under this change.

The time came to November 1039 AD.

At this time, Xixia was severely damaged, and Yuan Hao withdrew his troops and guarded Xingqing Prefecture.

The Liao Kingdom's 150,000 troops went south to Yanyun, which is the Beijing area in later generations, and stationed on the border between the two countries.

The two armies faced each other, and the war was about to break out.

Yelu Zongzhen personally went to Nanjing Xijin Prefecture and sent a letter to the Song Dynasty, demanding that the Song Dynasty hand over the gunpowder formula and cede the ten counties of Nanguan, which is the area of ​​Xiongxian County in Hebei in later generations, otherwise he would be at the gates of the city and drink from the Yellow River.

Zhao Zhen was rarely tough. After transferring Fan Zhongyan and many elite soldiers from the northwest to Hebei, he sent a letter back to the country, saying that if you want to fight, then fight.

At the same time, a large number of firearms were also transported to the north and deployed in various cities, fortresses, and military camps.

It should be noted that Zhao Jun has been working out the formula of pure granular gunpowder for more than two years. The Song Dynasty has actually applied these gunpowders to the firearms that were originally invented, and recreated glory. Under the guidance of Zhao Jun, several cannons were made.

This progress is actually very slow, because the technical content of cannons is not high. The principle is the same as that of firearms, which is to fill gunpowder in the barrel and ignite the fuse to fire.

However, in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the rate of cannon explosion of the Ming army in the Songjin Battle was as high as 25%.

This shows how difficult it is to manufacture safe and stable cannons. If you are not careful, it may cause the destruction of the cannon and the death of people.

So the development process was extremely cautious. Even in the testing phase, it was necessary to prepare extremely long fuses and conduct multiple tests before finally producing a few qualified products.

However, even if the number of artillery pieces was small and their role on the battlefield was limited, the power of other firearms would be greatly increased after being blessed with pure granular gunpowder. For example, the thunderbolt fireball thrown by the catapult was definitely enough to make the Liao army suffer.

Just when Xixia withdrew from the battlefield and was no longer able to move south, and the Liao and Song dynasties entered a tense and exciting confrontation, at the end of the second year of Baoyuan, in early December, Zhao Jun returned to Bianliang from Shandong by boat.

Thus, from the beginning of the fourth year of Jingyou to the end of the second year of Baoyuan, Zhao Jun's national tour, which lasted two years and ten months, was over.

Along the way, he killed many corrupt officials and dealt with many local problems, but there were endless corrupt officials in the world, and there were endless difficulties for hundreds of millions of people in the Song Dynasty.

In the final analysis, Zhao Jun's power could help a village, a county, or even a state.

But what about the whole road?

What about the whole country?

There are too many people who are sad, but too few who are empathetic.

If we don't find a way out in the system and productivity, there will never be a way out.

So Zhao Jun returned to Kaifeng with a heavy heart, carrying the results of the investigation.

When he left, Zhao Zhen saw him off to the palace gate. When he came back, Zhao Zhen heard the news and ran to Xihua Gate without even having time to put on his shoes.

Lü Yijian, Wang Zeng, Cai Qi, Song Shou, Yan Shu, and Sheng Du came to greet them.

The big ship slowly docked at the Wuwang Palace Bridge Wharf, which was relatively close to the imperial palace. The Jinshui River directly passed through the back garden of the imperial palace, nurturing countless precious flowers and plants in the back garden, and then flowed out from the Chenhui Gate.

Zhao Jun slowly walked down from the boat. Yan Shu was the first to come over and said with a smile: "Hanlong, you are finally back."

"Yes."

Zhao Jun sighed, raised his head and looked at the palace in the distance, and couldn't help but sigh: "Finally back."

Lü Yijian frowned and said: "Why did you go out like this? Even your hair has turned white."

"Because I have seen too many sufferings of the people. Anyway, when I think of those sorrows, I often can't sleep at night. I am not as at ease as Lu Gong."

Zhao Jun choked back.

In fact, he has always been hostile to Old Lu.

Not to mention that this guy designed himself in the past, just saying that this guy belongs to a conservative interest group, he should be defeated.

Even if he supports the Constitutional Council now because of power issues, it does not mean that he supports the new policy.

So we still can't maintain a very good relationship with him.

Lest the new policy reforms in the future, when they touch the interests of the other party, it will be difficult to drive him away because of the past relationship.

Old Lu was choked and said unhappily: "Why are you still the same as before? We haven't seen each other for so long, can't you be polite?"

"Okay, we are old friends, I'm too lazy to be polite."

Zhao Jun waved his hand, then glanced around, a little puzzled: "Where is Zi Zhenggong?"

When it comes to this, everyone can't help but be silent.

It was still Yan Shu who said: "Zi Zhenggong fell ill, I'm afraid he can't hold on for too long."

Wang Sui is dying?

Zhao Jun was stunned, then sighed, "Alas, birth, aging, illness and death are human nature. Even if the technology is advanced in the future, it can only prolong life, but cannot prevent death."

"Okay, let's go back to the palace first, the emperor is waiting for you."

Wang Zeng said.

On the way back, everyone was not interested because of Wang Sui's matter.

After all, after the establishment of the Political System Institute, several of them became fixed prime ministers, and they didn't need to fight for power and complete their power concentration by defeating each other as before.

So the relationship between everyone eased a lot.

Although Lü Yijian and Wang Zeng still quarreled with each other from time to time, they no longer had the same life-and-death and tense feeling as before.

Wang Sui was seriously ill, and the imperial physician said that he would probably not live past this year.

Among the old men in the Constitutional Council, the youngest were Song Shou and Yan Shu, both 48 years old this year, followed by Fan Zhongyan and Cai Qi, 51 and 52 years old respectively.

Then there were Lü Yijian and Wang Zeng, 60 and 61 years old respectively. The oldest was Sheng Du, 71 years old.

Wang Sui was 6 years younger than Sheng Du, 65 this year, but he walked ahead of Sheng Du, which also made them sigh.

After all, for them, if people can only live to 60 or 70 years old, then they actually don’t have many years left.

What else can’t they let go of?

All the way into the palace, Zhao Zhen was waiting inside the Xihua Gate.

Seeing from a distance, Zhao Zhen walked out of the palace gate directly, rarely came to the outside of the city, took the initiative to approach and couldn’t help shouting: "Da Hanlong."

He almost called out the eldest grandson.

You have to know that besides Lü Yijian and his men, there are many imperial guards around. If they heard the true relationship between Zhao Jun and Zhao Zhen, it would probably ignite public opinion in Bianliang.

"Your Majesty!"

Zhao Jun stepped forward, clasped his hands, and then looked at the person in front of him with some doubts.

Is this Zhao Zhen?

He saw Zhao Zhen was pale and thin, his eyes were dull, and he had serious dark circles under his eyes. He looked much more haggard.

He was completely different from before he left Bianliang.

"Hanlong."

Zhao Zhen stepped forward and patted his shoulder, looked him up and down, and then sighed: "You have lost weight and your hair has turned white. What have you suffered in the past two years?"

"Compared with the emperor's concern for the country and the people, I am still far behind. The emperor has also..."

Zhao Jun hesitated to speak.

If he hadn't known that there seemed to be only Wushisan these days, but no opium, he would have even suspected that Zhao Zhen had been smoking opium every day when he was away.

"In the past six months, the emperor has indeed been worried every day."

Yan Shu said: "Get up early in the morning to attend court meetings, and handle government affairs in Chongzheng Hall from morning to dusk. I often lose my appetite and become thinner day by day."

Zhao Jun showed a relieved expression on his face and said: "The emperor has finally realized that if the Song Dynasty continues like this, it will be destroyed. This is a good thing."

"Uh"

Zhao Zhen nodded guiltily, and then said: "Let's go back to the palace first."

Everyone entered the palace.

Talking and laughing all the way, they returned to Chongzheng Hall.

Zhao Jun entered the room and glanced at the notebook, which was closed and placed on Zhao Zhen's desk.

Everyone sat down.

Zhao Zhen sat behind the desk, his hand unconsciously touched the mouse, but soon realized something and retracted it, then he turned his head and asked: "Grandson has been in the local area for nearly three years. What have you gained?"

"I have gained a lot."

Zhao Jun sighed: "I used to think that the people of the Song Dynasty were suffering, but just reading history books, it is actually difficult to empathize with how hard they are. But now I have been walking in the local area for so long and have seen so many things, and I understand how difficult their situation is."

He looked around and said seriously: "In the future, our new era is not rich either. Although it is already the world's second largest economy, there are so many people after all, it is impossible for everyone to have good conditions, and there are many unsatisfactory aspects of people's lives, but at least it is difficult to starve to death, and now."

At least 40% to 50% of the people in the Song Dynasty are now on the verge of starvation. Once a famine occurs, it is unknown how many people will fall. The small peasant economy is tenacious and fragile. The tenacious thing is that it carries the continuation of the Chinese nation, and the fragile thing is that it is on the verge of extinction with a slight touch.

How could everyone not know this, and everyone showed a solemn expression on their face.

Lu Yijian said in a deep voice: "As Han Long said, the productivity of the Song Dynasty is insufficient, there are many problems in the local area, and there is a lack of money and food. After all, it is impossible to guarantee that everyone can live and work in peace and happiness."

"It's not that it can't be guaranteed, but the conditions are too harsh."

"What conditions?"

"Very simple."

Zhao Jun said expressionlessly: "Fight the landlords and divide the land, and complete a major reshuffle. Give the landlords' land to the people, and everything will be back on track."

"Uh"

Everyone looked at each other, and even Zhao Zhen's face was embarrassed.

In fact, they had heard Zhao Jun talk about this matter before when he mentioned the great man, or even if they didn't mention land reform, they were not unaware of this truth.

Shi Dan, a minister in the late Western Han Dynasty, had long realized the seriousness of land annexation and proposed "limiting land and slaves", "distributing land", "suppressing annexation", etc.

But it was left unresolved due to the opposition of the powerful and interest groups.

Now the interest groups in the Song Dynasty are also huge, especially the landlord class. If they really do that, I am afraid that the whole country will be in chaos in an instant, and landlords from all walks of life will rebel and revolt, and the Song Dynasty will be on the verge of collapse.

So this is obviously impossible to do.

"It is indeed too harsh."

Zhao Zhen coughed, and then said: "Apart from this method, is there any other way?"

"We can only do it step by step. When industrialization is completed in the future, the land annexation will actually be solved naturally. But now, we can only patch it up for the time being and ease the increasingly sharp internal contradictions under limited conditions."

Zhao Jun sighed.

In fact, he also knew that land reform was impossible.

But it doesn't matter.

In terms of productivity, it can be solved through industrialization.

The fleet of the Song Dynasty actually went out to visit America last year, and if everything goes well, it will be back next year or the year after.

Even if crops such as corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes have not been bred at this time and the yield is not that high, as by-product crops, they can be planted in the marginal areas of mountains, vegetable fields, and fields without delaying the main farmland.

This will increase food production from the side.

After industrialization, a large number of rural people can be attracted to the city to engage in manufacturing and textile industries, forcing rural landlords to reduce land rent to attract population, which will naturally ease land conflicts.

In addition, although industrialization is unlikely now, it can promote the development of education. As long as mathematics, physics and chemistry are promoted, it is estimated that in a dozen years, we can focus on the first industrial revolution and lay a good foundation for the future.

Even if Zhao Jun's knowledge of mathematics, physics and chemistry is limited to elementary school to high school, it is enough.

The rest.

Let the future generations.

"Are there any specific methods?"

Lu Yijian and others asked about the specific operation methods.

However, Zhao Zhen interrupted and said, "Okay, Da Sun has just come back and is tired. Don't ask around. If there is anything, talk about it tomorrow."

"Yes."

Everyone had to agree.

Zhao Zhen called Wang Shouzhong to ask about the time, and the response he got was that it was already afternoon, so he suggested going to Yanfu Palace to sit.

Now the Back Garden has become the residence of Zhao Zhen's harem. Because he was afraid that the two children living in the Poison Palace would affect their health, he simply moved the harem to the Back Garden, and he usually lived there.

It is not convenient to discuss things in the Back Garden. The place over there in Yeonbok Palace is a little small, but there is a big yard, so it is no problem for everyone to sit in the house to drink tea, eat, and chat.

It was already the beginning of December in the middle of winter. There was no snow in Bianliang this year, but the weather was indeed cold, with trees withering and leaves falling.

Everyone moved to Yanfu Palace, where charcoal fires had been burned, making the room warm as spring.

After chatting for a while in Yanfu Palace, it was the afternoon of Youshi. Zhao Zhen invited everyone to finish dinner, and the sky darkened, so they all went back.

As usual, Lu Yijian and others said goodbye and left first.

Then Zhao Zhen sent Zhao Jun all the way from Yanfu Palace to Xihuamen.

The two walked side by side, and Wang Shouzhong followed far behind.

"Grandson."

"Hmm?"

"You've lost weight, and your hair has turned white."

"You too, brother."

Zhao Jun sighed, "I didn't expect that after I left, you've changed so much, worrying about the country and the people, and you've become haggard."

Zhao Zhen felt even more guilty, and said with a wry smile, "It's all for the people of the Song Dynasty."

"I like to hear that."

Zhao Jun also smiled, "The country will be stable only if the people are well, and only if the country is stable can it become strong."

"Even grandson, you have to take care of your health."

Zhao Zhen said with concern, "If you work too hard and have any problems with your body, it will be a loss for the Song Dynasty."

Zhao Jun was still very touched by Zhao Zhen's concern.

Because he could feel that Zhao Zhen really wanted him to be healthy.

During the inspection, Zhao Zhen wrote many letters, hoping that he would come back early and not work hard outside.

It can be foreseen that, at least in terms of trust, Zhao Zhen still completely believed in him.

This made Zhao Jun very satisfied. The previous multiple CPUs were not without effect.

More importantly, this trust would create a good cooperative relationship between them.

Who knows, it will be like Liu Chan's trust in Zhuge Liang, and it will be a story that will be passed down through the ages.

So when he heard what Zhao Zhen said, Zhao Jun smiled and said, "Brother, you too, health is the capital of revolution. If we want to make the Song Dynasty strong, we still need to have good health."

"Yes, yes, yes"

Zhao Zhen laughed again.

As the two walked, they were already close to Xihua Gate.

Zhao Jun said goodbye to Zhao Zhen, "Brother, I will go back to rest today and sort out my things. It would be better if you send me the computer tonight. I will use the computer to sort it out for you to read more comfortably."

He was so busy coming back to reminisce about the past that he forgot to take back the notebook first. He planned to enter the reform measures he prepared along the way into the computer.

Anyway, Zhao Zhen can use the computer now, so it will be more convenient than writing by hand.

What Zhao Jun didn't expect was that when Zhao Zhen mentioned the computer, he hesitated and said, "Computer. Do I need to use the computer?"

"Of course it's better to use the computer."

Zhao Jun looked at the other party suspiciously: "You didn't break the laptop, did you?"

"No, no."

Zhao Zhen hurriedly denied it, and after hesitating for a moment, he struggled and hesitated.

Seeing his reaction, Zhao Jun became more suspicious and couldn't help saying, "Brother, you didn't really break the computer. Once this thing breaks, it will be a big deal. I can't fix it."

"It's really not broken. I use it carefully on weekdays and never dare to play with it."

Zhao Zhen struggled for a moment, and finally seemed to have made up his mind. After looking around, he came to Zhao Jun and suddenly whispered, "Grandson, I actually have a question to ask you."

"What question?"

Zhao Jun was confused.

"Black silk. What is it?"

Zhao Zhen gestured and said with an intoxicated expression, "Wearing it on a woman's legs is so fascinating?"

As soon as the voice fell,

Zhao Jun's expression froze.

Then his pupils shrank and his eyes widened.

Then, his face quickly became hot and red like a kettle.

Steam seemed to come out of his ears and nostrils!

Oh no, Zhao Zhen discovered my little secret!

My character image has collapsed.