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

The young man's name is Feng Jing, and his father is Feng Shi. Although he is from Yizhou, he is also a tea merchant in Tengzhou.

Tengzhou was later called Teng County in Guangxi. Because the quality of tea in Yunnan and Guangxi was good, many businessmen were engaged in this industry in Guangxi at that time.

Feng Shi came here today because he was brought here by his friends, but he ran away in panic after hearing half of it. This matter had nothing to do with him.

The imperial court has not yet opened a sub-committee on Guangnan West Road, so he couldn't help even if he wanted to. What's more, after knowing the whole story, he had already made up his mind not to participate.

After leaving Fanlou and returning to the inn where the Feng family and his son lived, Feng Jing was still sulking there. Feng Shi looked at his appearance and went to make tea for himself and said: "Jing'er, you are indeed smart, but Sometimes, you must not be too sharp. This is my father’s experience in business for decades, and it will not hurt you.”

Feng Jing couldn't help but said: "But father, we are also tea merchants, and the court's doing this is really not good for us. Our family is not a big business. If the input from the border is cut off, half of the source of the family business will be lost. Don't you have any Aren't you in a hurry?"

"I am anxious for my father, but what is the use of being anxious? Over the years, my father has seen the fate of many businessmen who have opposed the government. It can range from bankrupting the family to committing suicide by jumping into a river. Who can compete with the court?"

Feng Shi raised his tea cup. The newly brewed tea was still a little hot. He blew on it and said, "So we businessmen can be greedy, but we must not forget our lives for money."

"Okay, father has great wisdom, and the child will be ashamed of himself."

Feng Jing replied lazily.

Feng Shi raised his head and glanced at his son, and said with a smile: "Okay, I know you are not convinced, and you will understand this later. By the way, what are you thinking? Are you still trying to incite them to deal with the imperial court?"

After hearing these words, Feng Jing became energetic and said with a smile: "The tea merchants from Bianliang summoned the tea merchants from Chengdu just because they deposited all their money in Chengdu Jiaoziwu. Now Bianliang and Chengdu Everyone recognized Jiaozi, and many Chengdu tea merchants brought Jiaozi themselves. They wanted to use Chengdu Jiaozi to redeem Bianliang coins. "

"Um."

Feng Shi nodded.

The use of Jiaozi in Chengdu is already very mature. Compared with the more conservative Bianliang businessmen, Chengdu businessmen are very clear about the benefits of Jiaozi.

So this time when the imperial court opened a business in Bianliang, the news quickly spread to Chengdu. Many businessmen who happened to be going to Bianliang to do business were very happy when they learned about it, so they saved a lot of money and went to Chengdu to pay the business. .

With Jiaozi, they can reduce the space occupied by copper coins in the cabin, and can also reduce the expenses such as guards and porters on board the ship. Therefore, Chengdu merchants have many followers.

This time the imperial court was able to obtain nearly two million yuan in deposits at once, and Chengdu businessmen alone contributed more than one million yuan.

It's just that the money has not yet been transported to Bianliang.

After all, Chengdu businessmen went out to do business with only a meager handover, and they could reach Bianliang in more than 20 days by boat. Chengdu Jiaoziwu has deposited a total of more than 2 million kilograms of money, and the weight alone has reached more than 13 million kilograms. How can it be transported in a short time?

Therefore, the deposits of Jiaoziwu in Bianliang are still more than 500,000 yuan, and the court is still buying grain and grass in the market. I believe that the deposits of Jiaoziwu in Bianliang are not much anymore.

If there was a large-scale run on the tea merchants at this time, it would really be possible for the imperial court to be unable to come to power and fall into an embarrassing situation.

This is Zhou Yunsheng's plan.

However, Feng Jing said: "The idea of ​​Zhou Guanren and Wang Guanren is good, but they only concentrated a part of Chengdu tea merchants. The run of two to three hundred thousand guan is not enough to cause any big problems for the court, unless they can control the tea merchants in Chengdu." All the merchants who are exchanging coins must gather together, otherwise nothing will happen.”

"Um."

Feng Shi took a sip of tea, looked at his precious son with a smile, and said approvingly: "Yes, my father thinks so too. Although the Chengdu side saved a lot of money because of the newly opened Bianliang Jiaozi Service, but Chengdu The strength of the tea merchants is still too small. The rest of the salt merchants, cloth merchants, grain merchants, spice merchants, lumber merchants and other merchants together are the largest number. The three hundred thousand guan they can scrape together is the limit. "

Feng Jing said: "So I think that as long as everyone continues to raise funds, summon all the tea merchants in Bianliang to boycott the money law, and deposit half of everyone's money in Bianliang and hand it over to Ziwu. The other half of the money will be used to buy tea in the market. Supplying grain and rice and driving up the price of grain and rice, a two-pronged approach can force the court to submit. "

Feng Shigang was still drinking tea leisurely. When he heard his words, his face froze. After thinking for a moment, he raised his head and looked at his proud son in shock.

This move is so cruel!

It can be called a drain on the bottom of the cauldron!

It seems that I gave birth to a monster.

If this strategy were adopted by Zhou Yunsheng and others, the noise would be huge.

Fortunately, I stopped him at that time. If he said it at the meeting, once the court found out, I'm afraid...

Thinking of this, Feng Shi looked at his son carefully up and down, as if he felt a little strange.

For the first time, he discovered that his son was really smarter than he thought.

After thinking for a moment, Feng Shi placed the tea cup heavily on the table, made a "bang" sound, and yelled: "It's so stupid."

Feng Jing asked in confusion: "Father, what's wrong?"

"You are still too young. You have overestimated the world's tea merchants. Do you think the world's tea merchants are really as united as you think?"

Feng Shi pointed outside and said: "As you said, if they are obedient, the court's money-seeking law will definitely not be implemented. But you underestimated the people's hearts and the determination of the court. Even if it can be done, so what, you know How did the imperial court deal with those rebels? "

"How to deal with it?"

Feng Jing asked subconsciously.

Feng Shi said indifferently: "The leader will be beheaded, and the rest will be incorporated into the Xiang Army or the Forbidden Army. If you give them advice, you will become the mastermind. Do you want to kill our Feng family?"

Feng Jing's face became very ugly. He never expected that there would be such deep-seated consequences later.

Feng Shi looked at his look, and then said in a very serious tone: "Jing'er, after finishing this transaction, you will immediately follow me back to Tengzhou. In the future, my father, who is a businessman, will not take you with me anymore. Stay at home and be nice." Study and study hard to get the first prize."

"Father, I."

Feng Jing was stunned. Although he was a little rash, nothing happened after all.

However, when he saw his father's solemn face, which was almost on the verge of anger, he finally had no choice but to shut up and obey.

Although he was young, he was vaguely aware of it at this moment.

This time, it seems that I really almost got into trouble!

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It’s the end of June and the weather today is very nice.

It has been more than two months since Zhao Jun traveled back in time from early April to June now, nearly three months, and his eyes are almost as good as before.

The warm sunshine in the afternoon shines on the desk in the study room of Chongde Hall. In the past, at this time, Zhao Zhen would listen to classes in the back garden.

But now as the time for Zhao Jun to regain his sight is getting closer, he is paying more and more attention to government affairs.

Not for anything else, just to wait for Zhao Jun's eyes to recover and let Zhao Jun take a good look at whether the uncles and ancestors of the Zhao family who he said were so unworthy are really incompetent people.

But at this moment, Zhao Zhen was sitting behind the desk, and the room was filled with the smell of spices and tea. He looked at the note in his hand solemnly.

Fan Zhongyan just stood solemnly below, his expression unchanged.

After a while, Zhao Zhen threw the notes in his hand on the table, raised his head and looked at Fan Zhongyan seriously, and said: "Fan Qing, is this the "Thirty-two Things in Articles" written by you? This is comparable to your later "Thirty-two Matters in Articles" There are twenty-two more things in "Ten Things".

"yes."

Fan Zhongyan said solemnly: "The war in the northwest, no matter whether it can be won or not, will cause the country to be in turmoil. If we can't concentrate on reform and eliminate the shortcomings, the Song Dynasty will be in danger. Therefore, I learned from the pain and combined with Wang Anshi's reform and Zhao Jun's suggestions, Twenty-two more were added.”

Zhao Zhen was amused by him, and then said angrily: "It's really good. This reform has become so easy when it comes to Fan Qing's mouth. All he needs to do is add one thing to it. Fan Qing, do you know, it's really If you do what you say, the Song Dynasty will soon fall?"

"Know!"

Fan Zhongyan said: "Zhao Jun said that the three redundancies are not only a cancer attached to the Song Dynasty, but also a life-saving medicine for the Song Dynasty. If the three redundancies are not removed, the Song Dynasty will die slowly. If the three redundancies are forcibly removed, the Song Dynasty will die faster!"

"Then you are so radical!"

Zhao Zhen raised his voice and scolded: "The Song Dynasty did not perish until ninety years ago. I have not yet become the king of the subjugated country. Are you so eager to make me become an unworthy descendant like Zhao Ji?"

Fan Zhongyan said: "I just mentioned the areas that need to be reformed in the future, and also detailed the reasons why the reform is needed. The specific reform method and content naturally still need to be discussed. Your Majesty, don't forget, Zhao Jun's eyes will be healed soon."

"Well"

Zhao Zhen pondered for a moment and said nothing.

Because Fan Zhongyan's letter indeed only wrote about the shortcomings and the root causes of these shortcomings, and did not say that they should be implemented immediately, and what they said is correct, it does contain the shortcomings of all parts of the Song Dynasty today.

If you want to change the law, you have to understand where your problems are before you can change the law, so Fan Zhongyan is not wrong either.

But the content inside also made Zhao Zhen terrified.

If his one-time reforms really changed as much as he did, the entire Song Dynasty would be in turmoil. Without the courage to kill, the country would be in turmoil.

So Zhao Zhen encouraged him perfunctorily: "Fan Qing did a good job, but your more important thing now is the war in the northwest. Do you know that if you can't resist Zhao Yuanhao, no matter how good you are, it will be nothing. Some scraps of paper."

Fan Zhongyan said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I naturally know the priorities. I have already prepared countermeasures for the northwest. Some of the things in the article can also help the northwest war go smoothly. This is all for the sake of the Song Dynasty."

"If you have this intention, that would be great."

Zhao Zhen was very pleased.

The most important thing now is the situation in the northwest.

Whether it is meeting the money method or handing over sub-committee, the essence is to solve the food and grass problem in the northwest.

Zhao Zhen is still very happy that Fan Zhongyan can always pay attention to this matter.

However, Fan Zhongyan quickly said: "Your Majesty, as a warrior, the first is military supplies, the second is elite troops and strong generals, and the third is coordinating the rear. For the sake of the great Song Dynasty, your Majesty, please let go of Lu Yijian and Song Shou!"

Zhao Zhen's face darkened again and he said coldly: "Fan Qing, what's the matter with you? It's the time when the country is rising and falling. It's time for everyone to unite. You should know that I hate party strife. Zhao Jun said that later you Qingli The New Deal was dismissed due to cronyism, do you want to make the same mistake again?"

Fan Zhongyan took a deep breath and then said: "I just want to tell your majesty that the Song Dynasty cannot be saved by simply deposing a few officials. But some officials have to be dismissed. Lu Yijian is stubborn and arbitrary. If he is It is a good thing to be dedicated to the public, but officials should not forget that Lu Yijian is the representative of the world's officials in the court. "

Zhao Zhen frowned and said, "What do you mean?"

"I know that this time I met Qian Fa and handed over the affairs to my son for the purpose of the Northwest War. During the war, the price of food rose sharply. The food and grass needed by the Northwest Army may not be available in a short time, so the officials took advantage of the new situation in June. When the grain is on the market, purchase new grain through sub-committee and find out the money method to save expenses and make more reserves for next year.”

Fan Zhongyan raised his hands and said: "The new law is a good thing that benefits the country and the people. However, the officials at the border will not agree, and neither will many tea merchants in the Song Dynasty. They will try to contact everyone they can and use all means to block the new law. Just like during the Tiansheng years. And Lu Yijian is the one who can convey their thoughts to heaven. If he is not deposed, the new law will not last long!"

Zhao Zhen narrowed his eyes and looked at Fan Zhongyan and said, "Does Fan Qing really want to remove Prime Minister Lu and Prime Minister Song just to meet Qian Fa and Jiao Ziwu?"

"yes."

Fan Zhongyan said seriously.

Zhao Zhen looked at him for a long time, not knowing what he was thinking.

After a moment, he said calmly: "I understand, let me consider this matter."

"His Majesty."

"Okay, you go down."

"I am."

Fan Zhongyan had no choice but to leave Chongde Hall backwards.

Zhao Zhen looked at his leaving figure, thought for a moment, and then didn't bother too much.

He probably knew what Fan Zhongyan was thinking.

It is nothing more than wanting to drive out all the people on the opposition list mentioned by Zhao Jun step by step.

Zhao Jun once said something called "Power does not come from who you are or the official position you hold, but from the distance between you and the center of power."

If you cannot grasp the center of power, even if you are the emperor, you will sometimes be ignored.

Therefore, Fan Zhongyan simply wanted to expel the senior leaders who were opponents of the Qingli New Deal from the court. Without the support of senior central officials, the remaining middle- and lower-level officials could not make any trouble.

But the problem is that Zhao Zhen didn't intend to do that.

What he wanted was a united court, not a single one.

If the prime minister, deputy prime ministers, planners, ministers, and other administrative offices are all supporters of the Fan Party, then what else does he think of as an emperor?

Renjun.

It doesn't mean you are a fool.

Zhao Zhen tapped the table gently and threw aside the notes presented by Fan Zhongyan.

About two-quarters of an hour later, a young man quickly entered the palace. He was the imperial envoy Cao Xiu and the grandson of Cao Bin.

Cao Xiu took a few steps forward, raised his hands and said, "Guan family, some tea merchants in the city have conspired to cash the money order to Jiaozi Pu in two days."

Zhao Zhen's brows suddenly frowned again.