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

The chief designer once said that we should explore reform methods that are in line with China's national conditions in practice.

Reform cannot be achieved overnight, but it cannot be done randomly. It must be in line with national conditions and the best solution must be found.

Therefore, although the performance evaluation system is only the first step and the initial implementation, it must be continuously improved and accumulated in the exploration process to be better.

The disturbance in the Political System Institute was finally resolved. The solution given by Zhao Jun was just to severely punish Lü Gongchuo. Finally, he discussed with Li Di and sentenced him to three years in prison, removed his status as a scholar, and ordered him to reflect and repent during these three years.

This punishment is almost the same as the crime of using influence to accept bribes in later generations. If the amount is huge or there are other serious circumstances, he will be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years and not more than seven years, and a fine.

Lü Yijian raised objections, and the two sides had a fierce argument.

It was still Zhao Zhen who came forward and changed the three-year prison sentence to three years of confinement. Although he was still in prison, his living conditions were much better than those in the Kaifeng prison, and he could still study.

Zhao Jun originally wanted Lü Gongchuo to go to the countryside as an educated youth, or simply teach in the countryside to change the fate of a poor village. This would be a good use of his knowledge and not waste his years of hard study.

But Lü Yijian almost went crazy when he heard this and firmly disagreed. In the end, he could only compromise and be imprisoned, which was the result of compromise by all parties.

After all, going to the countryside to teach in this era is not like going to the countryside to join the production team as an educated youth in later generations. In later generations, there were trains and cars, and our party was also very good at grassroots governance. Village heads and party secretaries in various places had ideological awareness and would not go wrong.

Going to the countryside these days is not an exaggeration to say that you will die nine times out of ten.

As the Lü Party died down, Zhao Jun took action against Cheng Lin, Lü Gongchuo and others, and finally suppressed all dissatisfaction. Fan Zhongyan also announced that performance would be included in the performance appraisal system. Those who passed the monthly appraisal would accumulate performance and get more when the salary was paid.

Under the punishment measures of the original performance evaluation law, a set of stick and carrot tactics successfully mobilized the emotions of officials and brought this farce to an end. The performance evaluation law was firmly implemented.

And in this hustle and bustle, at the end of October, just after the evening, Xia Song was in the pavilion in the backyard of the residence of the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Finance, quietly watching the carp swimming in the pond.

Compared with Zhao Jun's small gate and small courtyard, which senior officials from the third and fourth ranks in Bianliang did not have a mansion?

Fan Zhongyan's mansion with three entrances and three exits was the most ordinary, and the rest of Lu Yijian's mansion was a row of mansions, with jade buildings, even better than the imperial palace.

Yan Shu's family had a deep courtyard, magnificent gold and jade, and carved beams and painted buildings.

Xia Song's family was not bad either. The entire courtyard covered several acres, with pavilions and towers standing in rows, like a manor.

The only difference was that these officials basically lived in the outer city.

The inner city was not so big, and the price was too expensive.

In the outer city, you can spend 50,000 guan to build a mansion covering more than 30 mu.

In the inner city, Zhao Jun's small courtyard of less than 2,000 square meters costs more than 10,000 guan, and 50,000 guan can't even build the backyard of the mansion.

This is still good. By the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Jun's house had to rise to 70,000 or 80,000 guan. The mansion in the outer city also cost hundreds of thousands of guan, and more than one million guan in the inner city.

Ouyang Xiu still doesn't have a house of his own. He can only rent one in the suburbs, and it's not in the outer city. It can be seen how expensive the house price is.

At this moment, Xia Song looked at his lotus pond of nearly one mu in size, pinched a handful of fish food in his hand and threw it out.

Just now, he sent away Jiang Ji, the lecturer of Baowen Pavilion. Although Jiang Ji was only a seventh-rank official, Xia Song still received him very happily and had dinner with him.

The reason is that Jiang Ji is the son of Jiang Zun, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council during the Tiansheng period. When Jiang Zun served as the inspector in his early years, Xia Song was the governor of Xiangzhou.

It happened that a great famine occurred in Xiangzhou at that time. Xia Song opened the public warehouse and dispatched food everywhere to help 460,000 victims. Jiang Zun reported this achievement to his superiors, and Song Zhenzong gave him a book of praise and carved a stone tablet in Xiangzhou to commemorate it forever.

It can be said that Xia Song's journey was inseparable from the help of various nobles.

Therefore, although the former nobles left one by one, he still took care of the nobles' offspring, and no one left the tea cold.

This time Jiang Ji came here, in fact, to open champagne in advance to celebrate Xia Song's promotion.

Because Xia Song's boss Cheng Lin was caught by the Imperial City Department, the next step is a three-court trial, and he will be dealt with by the Censorate, the Dali Temple, and the Court of Justice, that is, the public security and judicial organs.

At present, the ministers of each ministry are divided into left and right, and the left is respected in the Song Dynasty, so in fact Xia Song is the second in command of the Ministry of Finance. Cheng Lin's fall and his promotion are what everyone thinks.

Only Xia Song knew that as long as Lü Yijian and Zhao Jun were still in the Political System Council, his chances of promotion were very small.

Therefore, Xia Song sat by the pond with a gloomy face and said nothing.

Even the concubine who was favored came over and wanted to sit with him, but was driven away by him, and no one was allowed to disturb him.

Xia Song was thinking about a question.

How could he get promoted, really enter the Political System Council, and become a senior official?

The simplest way is naturally to get the appreciation of the government and be directly appointed.

But is it really that easy?

Now the government favors Zhao Jun, and the power is handed over to the Political System Council. In addition to the military power, the Political System Council now has all the power.

So looking through the phenomenon to the essence, if you want to enter the Political System Council, you have to get the nod of Zhao Jun and Lü Yijian.

Even Lü Yijian doesn't need it, Zhao Jun is enough.

After all, everyone in the court knows that Li Di and Lu Yijian are mortal enemies, but because he joined Zhao Jun, he has now been promoted to prime minister.

So can he get Zhao Jun to nod his head?

The prefect likes doers the most, not those who talk big. In terms of ability, Xia Song asks himself if he has it.

But he once "accidentally" offended the prefect.

Xia Song now only hates himself for being mean. Why did he become so jealous that he couldn't help but get involved in the things that opposed Zhao Jun's rise to power?

In this case, how can he get to the top?

There is actually only one answer.

Go and test Zhao Jun's attitude and pay him a visit.

Xia Song has not done this in recent days. There are two main reasons.

First, in fact, in history, Xia Song did not form an alliance with anyone, nor did he form a clique with Lu Yijian and Jia Changchao.

The government is most afraid of cliques. Xia Song used this trick to get rid of Fan Zhongyan's group. He is naturally well aware of the way to protect himself. He can stay in the officialdom for a long time only if he keeps himself out of trouble and does not let others catch him.

So Xia Song does not want to join a certain force or form a force himself to arouse the suspicion of the government.

Second, he heard that Zhao Jun is narrow-minded, and anyone who offends him will have a hard time. Needless to say, Liu Yuanyu's end. The reason why he has not fallen until now is purely because there is no stain to catch.

After all, Xia Song has worked from a military officer to the position of a third-rank official in the court. Naturally, he has to be cautious and never dare to embezzle and pervert the law. The money to buy a mansion and live a luxurious life is also the same as Lu Yijian and Wang Zeng, who rely on their family's business.

He is afraid that if he visits him, Zhao Jun will still hold a grudge and embarrass him. At that time, he will instruct the Censorate to report him for "taking advantage of the wind" and "ascending to the dragon and scheming", and then he will be finished.

Therefore, Xia Song never dared to seek Zhao Jun's help.

But at the critical moment of Cheng Lin's downfall, this might be his only chance.

Before, he had hoped that Zhao Jun, Lü Yijian, and Fan Zhongyan would fight among themselves to see if they could make the government angry and drive them out of office.

But Zhao Jun did not expect that as soon as he came back, he immediately dealt with the matter with thunderous means and quelled the turmoil of the new policy.

This forced Xia Song to re-examine Zhao Jun's power and his influence on the government.

In other words, if he did not seize this opportunity, Zhao Jun would not be able to take office in his lifetime unless he assassinated Zhao Jun, who was in his twenties.

Xia Song looked at the fish in the pond and threw out a handful of fish food in his hand. In an instant, countless fish swarmed in and snatched food.

This scene made Xia Song, who had been thinking for a long time, suddenly laugh.

'Even fish know that fighting can only exchange for the possibility of survival, so why should I bother about it? ’

Thinking of this, Xia Song no longer hesitated, poured out all the fish food in the fish food box in his right hand, then put the box on the stone table in the pavilion, and turned around and left without hesitation.

About half an hour later.

It was already dusk, almost the end of the You hour and the beginning of the Xu hour, which was about seven o'clock in the evening.

It was winter, the days were short and the nights were long. At this moment, the night was gray and it had entered the night.

Zhao Jun was working with a notebook in his study at home. His study was usually locked. When he went out without a notebook, the notebook was also locked in the suitcase and hidden in a locked cabinet.

Except for when someone would come in to clean up and was supervised, when he was working inside, even Cao Miaoxin was not allowed to enter.

Recently, Cao Miaoxin was pregnant and was recuperating. I originally thought that the wife of a general would be more fierce, but I didn't expect to find that she was as docile as a kitten after marrying her. She was beautiful and gentle. He was simply the emperor of the family at home, and he was so comfortable.

At this moment, someone knocked on the door. It was Chunxiang, Zhao Jun's maid. She whispered, "Master, someone is here to visit."

"Who is it?"

Zhao Jun was puzzled. There were only imperial guards outside him. Ordinary people could not approach him, let alone report.

Chunxiang said, "It's Minister Xia of the Ministry of Finance."

Xia Song?

Zhao Jun was a little stunned at first. He and Xia Song had nothing in common. Why did he come to him?

But he figured it out after a second.

Cheng Lin's position should be vacant, so he came to take advantage of it.

Then Zhao Jun pondered.

Xia Song was an opponent of the Qingli New Deal in history, and he also fabricated the Shi Jie case, which completely aborted the Qingli New Deal.

In addition, this person continued to persecute the reformists by means of false accusations and rumors, which made Zhao Jun dislike him all the time.

Especially when he first came to power, although Xia Song did not express his views openly with the other officials, he secretly played tricks, which made him even more unhappy.

But when he wanted to find a reason to get rid of Xia Song, he looked through Xia Song's information and past political achievements, and found that this person had no problems at all.

Even the Imperial City Division secretly investigated, but they did not catch any handle.

And looking at his political achievements, Zhao Jun couldn't help but want to promote him.

Because this guy's political achievements and talents are indeed outstanding, he is quite good at governing the local area, governing the river, destroying cults, and even governing the army.

But thinking that this person's character is too bad, Zhao Jun can only not promote him, and let him fend for himself there.

I didn't expect that he would come to me at this juncture, and it seems that he wants to surrender.

'This should be a choice in the officialdom. Xia Song chose to come over when he chose whether to surrender to me. '

'And my choice is whether to accept him or not. ’

‘But maybe he didn’t come to seek refuge with me, maybe he just came to test my tone. ’

'Of course, the possibility of visiting me specially this late at night and choosing to come to seek refuge with me like Li Di is very high. ’

‘Then what should I do? Should you give him this opportunity? ’

Zhao Jun pondered for a moment, and finally made up his mind and shouted to Chunxiang outside the door: "Go and tell him that I am dealing with important matters. If he is willing to wait, then wait. If he is not willing, just leave by yourself."

The ball was kicked back to Xia Song.

At this time, Xia Song was standing outside the door. The sky was dark and the cold wind was howling. The Imperial Guards around him were watching him with eager eyes. If he hadn't revealed his identity, he might not even be able to get close to the door.

This house located on Qingtai Street, Xihua Gate of the Imperial Palace, is almost as heavily defended as the Imperial Palace.

On weekdays, the streets were full of patrolling soldiers and spies. Even the two mansions on the left and right had been bought by Wang Shouzhong, sent by Zhao Zhen, for the guards to live in.

After a while, Chunxiang opened the door, stuck her head out and said, "Jiajun said he was dealing with important matters and didn't have time to receive you. If you are willing to wait, then just wait. If not, then go back by yourself."

"Thank you, girl."

Xia Song's expression didn't change. He just nodded slightly to show that he understood. Then he put his hands behind his back, carrying a roll of gifts there, and stood in front of Zhao Jun's house, walking back and forth.

He understood what Zhao Jun meant. The incident had offended the Zhiyuan, and the Zhiyuan was petty, so it was not easy to let it go.

So I simply asked him to wait on the street outside the door. It happened to be cold now. When Zhao Jun was satisfied, he would probably be able to go in.

And as long as you can get in, at least 80% of things will work.

So time passed like this, and Xia Song went from being bored at the beginning to feeling a bit tortured by jail in the end. He even squatted outside the wall at the door, holding a piece of grass pulled from the ground in his mouth.

He is fifty-five years old this year, but he is not ashamed of this at all.

To be able to climb from the military attache who was least valued in the Song Dynasty to the third rank among civil servants, in addition to being extremely capable and cruel, he also had to be thick-skinned.

After waiting for an hour and a half, that is, three hours later, it was almost ten o'clock in the evening.

The door creaked open again, Chunxiang poked her head in and said, "Jiajun has finished his work, let you go in."

"call!"

Xia Song breathed a sigh of relief, got up from the ground, and followed Chunxiang through the door.

Just now I was able to calm down while waiting outside the door.

But for some reason, Xia Song couldn't help but become nervous when facing this Zhiyuan, who was already quite powerful and capable at such a young age.

At this moment, Zhao Jun had already sat down in the vestibule. He did not go to greet him, which basically showed his unfriendly attitude.

After Xia Song came in, he quickly walked over to Zhao Jun and saluted, "I've seen the magistrate before."

"Sit down, Mr. Xia."

Zhao Jun responded and said calmly: "Our court is busy with official business, so we have kept the minister waiting for a long time."

Xia Song said hurriedly: "The magistrate is taking care of His Majesty's worries and serving the country and the people. This is an important state matter. But the official came to disturb me. He heard that the magistrate liked calligraphy and painting, so he took two books. They were not considered valuables. Please know Yuan Haihan’s forgiveness.”

With that said, he handed the gift to Zhao Jun's desk with both hands.

"hehe."

Zhao Jun suddenly laughed.

This guy is really good at talking and doing things, much better than Liu Yongke.

No wonder we are where we are today.

Extraordinary.

"Okay, let's sit down and talk."

Zhao Jun did not refuse Xia Song's gift and waved his hand for him to sit down.

He knew that Xia Song would not be stupid enough to give him something expensive like that. At most, it would be a manuscript left by a great scholar from the Tang Dynasty.

This kind of thing can be bought in the market for a few or at most dozens of coins. It is not expensive, but it is not shameful to give it away, and there will be no clues about it.

"Xie Zhiyuan."

Xia Song sat down.

Zhao Jun knew the truth and asked: "At midnight, the minister came. What's the matter?"

"I'm here to accuse you."

Xia Song said seriously.

"oh?"

Zhao Jun seemed to be puzzled and asked: "What crime is the minister guilty of?"

"When Xiaguan was deceived by lard, he actually met Liu Yuanyu by chance in the corridor. He complained to Xiaguan. Xiaguan mentioned it casually, but he didn't expect that he took it seriously. Xiaguan regretted it."

Xia Song suppressed his slightly frightened mood, stood up and cupped his hands to Zhao Jun and said, "That's why I came to apologize. I also ask that the court be magnanimous and not take into account my fault."

Zhao Jun just looked at him for a long time.

Xia Song still maintained the posture of bowing and saluting, feeling terrified in his heart.

If Zhao Jun does not accept it.

Then his life would be over.

However..

About a minute passed.

Zhao Jun suddenly laughed, stood up, helped Xia Song up and said, "I have forgotten these little things a long time ago, but it makes Mr. Zi Qiao worry too much."

In an instant.

Xia Song's worries were relieved.

The atmosphere in the whole room suddenly became relaxed.

thing.

It's mostly done.