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

In August of the seventh year of the Qingli period of the Song Dynasty, after about three months of repeated measures, revisions, and discussions, the result was finally achieved.

On August 16, the day after the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhao Zhen officially issued an edict to announce several major events.

The first was naturally to announce the change of the Great Song Dynasty to the Chinese Civil Song Empire.

Since then, the Great Song Dynasty has a full name, and the abbreviation can be either the Great Song Dynasty or China.

Then it was determined that February 26th was the National Day, and the whole country would have a seven-day holiday.

On this day, the whole country celebrated to celebrate the return of the Sixteen States of Yanyun, which had been lost for a hundred years, and the former land of China was unified again.

Because that day was the day when Fan Zhongyan defeated Yelu Zongzhen and marched north to recover Yanyun.

On January 24, Fan Zhongyan only defeated Yelu Zongzhen and recovered the land of Youyan. At this time, Yunzhou and Shenzhou were still in the hands of the Liao Kingdom, and it was not really unified.

It was not until a few days later that Fan Zhongyan divided his troops into two groups, one marching north and the other marching east.

Finally, on February 26, the Song army completely wiped out the Liao army in Yunzhou and Shenzhou, and took back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and Liaoyang Prefecture outside the Great Wall.

Therefore, on February 26, after the return of Yunzhou and Shenzhou, the task of recovering the old land was completely completed.

Originally, Zhao Zhen suggested that the third or fourth day of the first lunar month be set as the National Day.

Because the third day of the first lunar month 87 years ago was the day when Zhao Kuangyin was crowned with the yellow robe, and the fourth day of the first lunar month was the day when Zhao Kuangyin led his army back to Kaifeng, controlled the city of Bianliang, and officially ascended the throne as emperor.

But this suggestion was vetoed by Zhao Jun.

There are three reasons.

First, in ancient times, January had the most holidays. There were more than 20 days off from work for the New Year holiday, Tiansheng Festival holiday and Shangyuan Festival holiday.

And there were two solar terms holidays, Lichun and Renri, with one day off. If there were more National Days, there would be no work in January.

Second, there was Tiansheng Festival on the third day of the first lunar month, so there was no need to add another National Day.

Second, Zhao Kuangyin bullied orphans and widows, which was not a glorious thing, and it was best to handle it in a low-key manner.

So, considering these three points, and the fact that Fan Zhongyan recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun at the end of February, it was just right to regard this day as the National Day.

And the celebration was not the founding of the country, but the celebration of the Song Dynasty entering the sequence of a unified country.

However, there are still differences on this point. Some people think that even if the National Day is not placed in the first month, it cannot be placed in February and March.

Because February and March are busy farming seasons, making a holiday will delay farm work.

For example, in the 76 days of holidays in the Northern Song Dynasty, there were only three days of holidays in February and March for the Advent Festival on February 15, and other festivals were mainly concentrated in the second half of the year and the beginning of the year.

Starting from April, there were more than ten traditional festivals and holidays, including Tianqi, Cold Food Festival, Qingming Festival, Qianyuan Festival (the festival of Zhao Zhen’s birthday in May), Dragon Boat Festival, Tianfu Festival, Zhongyuan Festival, Qixi Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival, and Shuyi Festival.

Then there are the holidays for the 24 solar terms. There are so many holidays. In the second half of the year and the beginning of the year, there are holidays almost every month. Only February and March have the least holidays because they have to deal with spring ploughing during this period.

But Zhao Jun has no choice.

There must be a reason for the National Day, and it must be a major reason.

The founding day of the Song Dynasty is on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. At this time, it is still the Tiansheng Festival holiday. If there is a National Day and the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, there will be no need to go to work in January.

There is nothing major happening on other days. Even Zhao Zhen’s birthday is nothing compared to the recovery of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

Therefore, in the end, we can only choose the end of February as the National Day.

Fortunately, the productivity of the Song Dynasty is strong now, and farmers follow the laws of nature rather than national holidays.

Even on important holidays such as the Lantern Festival, Qingming Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival, farm work still needs to be done, so it is not a big deal and will not delay things for a few days.

Then we need to determine the national flag, national emblem, and national anthem.

The background color of the national flag of the Song Dynasty is red, symbolizing the fire virtue of the Song Dynasty; there is a dragon on each side, symbolizing the descendants of Yan and Huang, the descendants of the dragon; in the middle are the sun, moon and stars, which means "three stars, bright and clear".

It should be emphasized that the dragon above does not refer to the royal family, but refers to the ancient "dragon" as the totem of China and the symbol of the Chinese spirit. Therefore, the national flag of the Song Dynasty is collectively called the three-star dragon flag.

The design of the national emblem finally has a little royal shadow, with the three-star dragon flag on the top and the Xuande Gate Tower of the Bianliang Palace below.

Obviously there is a little royal shadow, but not much.

Because Xuande Gate is the south gate, after entering it is the South Palace. Although the South Palace is also part of the palace, it is the office space of the Political System Institute and some important departments.

The emperor has neither a residence nor a study here, and even the Chuigong Hall for court is in the North Palace.

Therefore, it is also a subtle mention that the Political System Institute and the various departments of the court are the center of the country and the place where government orders are issued.

The national anthem was relatively simple.

Zhao Jun did not copy songs from later generations, but asked people in the Song Dynasty to write them themselves.

The main reason was that the songs of the Song Dynasty and the songs of later generations were two different concepts. If people at that time took songs from later generations, they might not understand them, or get the meaning of the lyrics.

So in the end, they found a master of composing music in Bianliang, and asked someone to write the lyrics. After several revisions, a song with a magnificent melody and majestic momentum was produced.

Originally, Yan Shu wanted to write the lyrics, but Zhao Jun was not satisfied with it after he wrote it several times.

After all, he was a graceful school, and his style of lyrics was more gentle and implicit, while the national anthem needed to be heroic and majestic, so it naturally could not be clear and soft, so he had to find someone else.

It is a pity that the recognized founder of the Haofang School is still only a ten-year-old child, otherwise Su Shi would have to make a contribution.

After that, a series of constitutions, new regulations, and charters laid the foundation for the transition of the Song Dynasty from a feudal system to a modern monarchy.

In fact, the current monarchy is also a dual monarchy under a constitutional monarchy, but it is not yet a complete constitutional monarchy.

Because the actual power of the country is in the hands of the monarch in a monarchy, and the national power of the Song Dynasty is now in the hands of the Political System Institute, so it can be said that it is now a semi-monarchy and a semi-constitutional monarchy.

After the new law was issued, the officials felt fresh, but there was no opposition.

After all, it had nothing to do with them.

The content did not involve the interests of the officials, but just put many things in the past on the surface and put them into the law.

Moreover, the national flag and the national emblem also seemed formal, adding a sense of ceremony to the Song Dynasty.

It was not until the constitution was issued that they felt something was wrong.

Because there are many contents in the constitution that restrict the power of officials and supervise officials.

Obviously, this would make officials feel very uncomfortable.

Therefore, during the morning court session on August 17, some officials raised objections.

In the early morning, it rained today.

The Mid-Autumn Festival in the Northern Song Dynasty only had one day off, unlike the more than 40 days of holidays from December to January. The ministers were also in good shape, standing in the hall in high spirits.

Since the court session was changed to Chenshi, the lives of the officials have become much more secular. After all, going to court at three or four o'clock in the morning is indeed a bit anti-human.

It was raining outside. The day before yesterday, God was still kind to us. The sky was clear and the people had a happy Mid-Autumn Festival.

It started to rain last night and it rained all night. It didn't stop this morning, but the rain was much lighter.

"If you have something to report, report it early, if you don't have anything to report, leave the court!"

With Wang Shouzhong's loud shout, today's morning court session began.

The ministers of various departments reported their government affairs to the emperor one after another.

According to the regulations, the morning court session lasted from the beginning of the morning hour to the end of the morning hour, which was an hour.

But reporting government affairs alone took up most of the time.

Although it was a waste of time, this process could not be omitted.

Because it meant that Zhao Zhen was also involved in state affairs, rather than being completely sidelined, so the necessary ceremony could not be omitted.

When it was almost 4:00 to 5:00 of the morning hour, and there were still 20 minutes before the end of the morning court session, the work of the daily morning court session was finally reported.

There were generally two situations at this time, one was to discuss other things, and the other was that Zhao Zhen announced an early withdrawal from the court session.

The former situation was very rare, and the latter situation was the most common, so Zhao Zhen planned to announce it.

However, before he could speak, Yang Wei, the co-governor of Kaifeng Prefecture, took the lead and stood up, clasped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I have a report."

"You speak."

Zhao Zhen actually guessed it.

Because Zhao Jun and others had discussed this issue during the meeting in Chongzheng Hall yesterday afternoon.

The new constitution actually severely suppressed the status of officials.

In ancient times, scholars ranked first, and once they passed the imperial examination and became officials, they were like carp leaping over the dragon gate. In their eyes, ordinary people were just ordinary people, and they could not be compared with them.

But now that the new constitution has been issued, their self-esteem has been severely crushed. Although their power has not been affected, their status has plummeted under the laws and regulations, and they are no different from ordinary people in legal terms.

This will naturally cause dissatisfaction among some officials.

But Zhao Jun didn't care.

Because for most senior central officials, this will not be affected.

It is difficult for them to directly contact the grassroots people.

On the contrary, the most directly affected must be the middle and lower county officials and state officials.

Once they still put on a high-handed attitude as before and ignore the questions and demands raised by the people, then the Censorate and the Imperial City Department will definitely teach them a lesson.

So many senior officials in the court were not touched, only the officials of Kaifeng Prefecture would be the first to stand up and oppose - they are the people who have the most contact with the people in the whole Bianliang on weekdays, and they are naturally the most affected.

Yang Wei is the cousin of Yang Yi, the Minister of Works, who wrote "The Records of Emperor Taizong of Song", "The Book of Yuangui" and "New Collection of Wuyi" during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song. He served as the Magistrate of Longyou County, the Deputy Minister of Dali Temple, the Supervisor of Public Affairs of Kaifeng Prefecture, and the Judge of Kaifeng Prefecture.

Historically, he served as the Judge of Kaifeng Prefecture in March this year and became the Magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture.

But now that Zhao Jun appointed Bao Zheng, he was only promoted from the Judge of Kaifeng Prefecture to the Co-Governor of Kaifeng Prefecture. However, the rank of Kaifeng Prefecture has been raised. The Magistrate of Kaifeng is the second rank, and the Co-Governor of Kaifeng Prefecture is the third rank, so it is not considered a demotion.

At this moment, he walked out of the team, bowed to Zhao Zhen and said, "Your Majesty, I think there are some inappropriate things in the new law."

Zhao Zhen did not speak, just looked at him.

Yang Wei said with a stiff face: "Although the implementation of the new law is good, it is just as the saying goes, "If the ritual exceeds its rules, the hierarchy will be out of balance; if the music loses its order, the relatives and strangers will be confused." Officials are the shepherds of the people for the emperor. If they lose their authority, their orders will not be heard. How can they convince the people?"

"Hanlong, what do you think?"

Zhao Zhen asked Zhao Jun.

Zhao Jun looked at Bao Zheng and said, "Bao Xiren, do you think Yang Ziqi is right?"

"No."

Bao Zheng shook his head.

"What do you think?"

Zhao Jun asked.

Bao Zheng said: "The prosperity of government lies in obeying the people's will. The failure of government lies in disobeying the people's will. The people hate poverty and labor, and I am happy about it. The people hate poverty and lowliness, but I am rich and noble. The people hate danger, and I live in peace. The people hate it. If I can destroy it, the people will suffer from it; if I can live with it, the people will suffer from it; if I can live with it, the people will suffer from it."

"very good."

Zhao Jun nodded.

This sentence is the best response.

He looked around and then said: "The ancients said that officials set the order for talented herdsmen. But I think the meaning of the existence of officials is not herdsmen. Herdsmen treat the people as livestock, raise the people, and finally kill them to eat. How can the people not be resentful if they kill themselves?”

"We are all from the common people. We have twenty generations of ancestors. Are they all high-ranking officials? As a man, we must not forget our origins and think about the source when we divert water. How can we, once we become an official, despise our origins and forget the principles of our ancestors?"

"So this constitution is established now to serve as the foundation of the Song Dynasty. I tell you, the officials and the people of the world that the people are not livestock, nor are they the objects of your wanton behavior. They are the cornerstone of the country's stability, as Mencius said. "Book"!"

"The purpose of the court's current tone is to make officials not herders, but serve the people. Serve the people, plan for the interests of the people, and think about the well-being of the people."

"Only making the people rich, making the people happy, and making the people live a good life is the meaning of the existence of officials."

"If you only think about your superior authority all day long and care about how impressive you are in front of the people, are you serving the country and the people, or are you simply showing off your authority and showing off your own pomp?"

"Then I have to ask Yang Tongzhi, how many people have you done for since you became Tongzhi of Kaifeng Prefecture, and how much contribution have you made to maintaining the stability of the court."

As soon as these words came out, Yang Wei was already sweating profusely.

According to historical records, Yang Wei had no talent for drama, but he was prudent and diligent, and was known at the time.

Although he was praised by others, as mentioned in the previous sentence, he did not have the ability to manage Kaifeng Mansion well, he was just relatively honest and cautious.

So if we talk about merit, it is obvious that he is of little use. At best, he can be regarded as an incorruptible mediocre official.

Seeing that he was a little frightened, Zhao Jun continued: "There may be differences in status in this world, but there is never a difference in personality between people. The moral qualities of those who are officials are not as good as those in the countryside. A farmer is noble."

"So all living beings are inherently equal, so why should we care about status?"

He spread his hands, looked at the officials of the Manchu Dynasty and said: "Whether it is the officials, me, or many prime ministers, what I hope is that you can focus on caring for and serving the people, instead of worrying about yourself here. There is a loss of authority.”

Yang Wei was choked by these words, and in the end he had to hand over his hands and said: "I will definitely bear in mind what I said to the magistrate."

"Um."

Zhao Jun actually didn't know that Yang Wei had no talent, so he said: "I hope that Kaifeng Mansion can set an example for prefectures and counties all over the world. From now on, when you receive people, you can no longer behave in a condescending manner, respecting the old and loving the young, which is the ancient virtue."

"From now on, when the people salute you, you will also respond. I have not weakened your power. What I just want to tell you is that in the eyes of the officials and me, there is no difference between you and the people."

He looked around at the officials, and then said: "Remember what I said, if you are good to the people, the people will be good to the court. If the court is good, how can it treat you badly? Only when the world is united and the government is harmonious and people are harmonious, is the best way, all the princes Please remember.”

"Han Long's words are very popular with me, do you know?"

Zhao Zhen said.

"I will bear in mind the words of His Majesty and the words of the Governor."

All officials bowed their hands in salute.

This constitution has been promulgated.