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

Zhao Jun had a fight with old bureaucratic conservatives such as Lü Yijian and Wang Zeng in the palace.

After they left, he continued to criticize Zhao Zhen, and continued to deepen his idea of ​​using the Imperial City Department to consolidate the imperial power.

Although Zhao Zhen was weak in character, he was still concerned about strengthening the imperial power, so he also expressed in front of Zhao Jun that he would persist.

Although Zhao Jun did not trust him, he could only rely on this guy temporarily before his strength became stronger. There was no other way, so he could only CPU madly, repeatedly warned, and then left.

After leaving the palace, Zhao Jun did not go to the Imperial City Department, but went directly back to his residence. He needed to sort out some things.

After returning home, he sent Zhou Xin and other Imperial City inspectors away, went back to his room, took out a notebook from the locked suitcase, and then sat at the desk in front of the window to do data statistics.

The situation of official fields around Bianliang City: Wangjiazhuang was allocated 367 acres of official fields, and each acre was divided into one stone to eight or nine buckets. Beigang Village was assigned 298 mu of official land, and each mu was divided into nine to seven or eight dou. Dongguanzhuang Village..

Zhao Jun recorded the official land situation he investigated today. After a while, when the autumn examination was over, he planned to go to the countryside and the grassroots, and go to Henan, Huaibei, Xuzhou and other central plains to understand the actual situation.

Now, in addition to going to the outer city to investigate the darkness of society, he has many other things. For example, how much burden the current official land system has brought to the people, and how many people's families have been broken up and their wives and children separated by the collection, oppression and exploitation of the government.

The simplest example is that he saw in the archives of the Imperial City Division that the shipbuilding timber of the Qinlong Xiegu Office was collected from the people; and seven states paid taxes on river bridge bamboo ropes, generally hundreds of thousands of strings.

The reason why this matter was recorded was that an official during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty embezzled the money. Later, the official was transferred to the central government, and an imperial censor impeached him for this matter. Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty was furious and asked the Imperial City Division to investigate thoroughly, so it existed in the archives.

In other words, if no one was greedy for the money, or if they were greedy but no one exposed it, then Zhao Jun would not even know about it.

What he didn't know was that this matter continued until the late period of Song Renzong. It was not until later that Bao Zheng was transferred to the deputy envoy of the Ministry of Revenue and found that there were so many exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes collected from the people across the country, and he requested to exempt some of them, which was considered to be the end.

This shows how serious the apportionment, collection, demand, corvée and taxes of the Song Dynasty government were. Not only ordinary people rebelled, but even many small and medium-sized landlords could not stand such exploitation and rebelled.

The official land that Zhao Jun is investigating now is also a kind of official land. The official land is used to support the officials. It is not allocated from the existing land, but officials are allowed to recruit people to open up wasteland.

This policy sounds good, but the problem is that most of the land reclaimed is poor land with limited output. The people are unwilling to rent, so the officials can only force the people to rent through administrative means, and the rent is high, and it does not decrease when disasters occur, which seriously exploits the people.

Many villages were assigned official fields to cultivate. Sometimes the government would even directly exchange the good fields of the common people for official fields and seize their land. Under the heavy burden, whole villages often fled.

These were all what Zhao Jun asked people in the countryside outside Bianliang after he left the city. The people in the countryside were not as vigilant as the people in the city. Many of them were straightforward and would speak directly if they had complaints. They were not so cunning.

Although some people kept silent because they saw that they were from outside, Zhao Jun used the excuse that he was a businessman and wanted to buy some fields outside the city to inquire about the situation. Since official fields could not be bought and sold, there would always be honest or simple people who would tell him the truth, and he could find out a lot of things.

"It's outrageous. Together with the information Fan Zhongyan gave me, the things I have seen and known in the past twenty days add up to more than 10,000 words, recording countless people's broken families and separated wives and children."

"This is what I have seen now. Under the emperor's feet, there are censors and remonstrances watching. In order to prevent the black material from leaking out, these people generally dare not do too much. Basically, they accept bribes and act as umbrellas for evil forces. When I leave Bianliang and go to all parts of the country in the future, I don't know how many things I will encounter."

"Sometimes, reading too much of this kind of dark things really makes people depressed. Forget it, let's think about what I should do in the future."

Zhao Jun recorded all the information, and after typing the last word, he closed the document, turned on the music, leaned back in the chair, and accidentally glanced at the mobile phone on the table. He plugged his mobile phone into the computer and tried to charge it again.

At the beginning, the mobile phone was short-circuited by water in the mudslide, but it has not been turned on since then. Now after a few months, the inside should be dry. I tried to charge it many times, but it has not been successful. I don't know if it is completely broken.

But even so, he often keeps this habit. What if he can charge it suddenly one day? There are still many albums of my parents in the phone, which can be regarded as a thought.

After plugging in the power, he looked at the screen and still had no movement. He could only lean back in the chair and look at the backyard outside the window and think.

"Now I have obtained the authority of the Imperial City Bureau and the Xiang Army, but I can't start to do it right away. First, I need to clean up the internal affairs of the Imperial City Bureau, and second, I need to continue to investigate and clean up the large number of crimes in the outer city of Bianliang."

"Internal rectification is imminent, not only for the dynasty and Bianliang, but also for the whole country. Now we can only spread the Imperial City Division throughout the Song Dynasty to clean up the evil and corrupt officials in the country, just like the later countries every few years It’s like carrying out an anti-corruption campaign.”

"However, these are temporary solutions rather than the root cause. If the entire system, social development and productivity cannot be improved, a large number of crimes will continue to breed. In a few years, official corruption and evil forces will make a comeback, so for now I can only Do what you can for the time being.”

"Just catching some corrupt officials, getting rid of some bullies, and cleaning up some landlords will ultimately be nothing more than a paper poster. If we want to completely change the Song Dynasty, except for the imperial power that cannot be touched for the time being, the rest of the social system must undergo major changes. "

"After this autumn period is over, I will stay in Bianliang for a while, and then immediately set off to various places in the Song Dynasty to conduct grassroots research to gain an in-depth understanding of the basic situation of the Song Dynasty. While surveying the governance situation in various places, I will reform the system for the future. Make preparations."

"After that, there will be the Song-Xia War and the possible Song-Liao War, and then there will be the diversion of the Yellow River. These things are basically within ten years. I must rectify the entire official order after the Song-Xia War is over."

"After the internal situation is temporarily stable, the Song Dynasty can officially start to open up to the outside world."

Zhao Jun thought about the current path.

Governing a big country is like cooking small dishes. There are many things that cannot be rushed and cannot be rushed.

It is definitely not right to start reform immediately after getting started. Instead, we must first go deep into the people, understand the social class contradictions and understand the actual situation, and then we can start to work on the system.

But more than twenty days after regaining his sight, the situation he saw was already very unpleasant, and I'm afraid there will be more discomfort waiting for him in the future.

I hope that these people under the Imperial City Secretary can be less wormy so that they will not be left unavailable.

Zhao Jun looked out the window and thought to himself.

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After Lu Yijian and others left the palace, they were surrounded by Xia Song, Chen Yaozuo, Jia Changchao, Wang Gongchen, Zhang Dexiang, Chen Zhizhong, Liu Yuanyu and other party members.

But Zhao Jun's affairs were confidential. No matter how brave they were, they didn't dare to talk about it. They could only avoid it and leave directly.

Afterwards, he, Wang Zeng and others communicated with each other and agreed to meet in the private room in the east building.

Logically speaking, Wang Zeng and Lu Yijian were mortal enemies, and they were at odds with each other, so they would not agree to conspire with him.

But in the past, it was just political differences, and conflicts would need to accumulate continuously before they would break out in April next year. No conflicts have escalated to that point yet.

What's more, now that there is a serious position issue, they are forced to stand together because of the same position.

At this moment, except Fan Zhongyan, all the insiders are here.

In the private room, an incense burner was burning on the table, and cranes and welcoming pine trees were painted on the screens on both sides. The setting sun shone into the room through the paper windows, making everyone's faces a mixture of light and dark.

"Officials hate cronies the most, and they don't want Zhao Jun's story to spread. To avoid suspicion, we should have stopped seeing each other after our duties were over."

Lu Yijian looked around and was the first to speak: "But now you have seen what happened. Zhao Jun did not follow common sense, but took charge of the Imperial City Division. What we were most worried about has happened."

It was Lu Yijian who arranged for Yan Shu to propose to Zhao Zhen that Zhao Jun should take the path of being a Jinshi and become an official. It was Lu Yijian who persuaded Zhao Jun when Zhao Jun asked about taking the imperial examination, so that Zhao Jun reluctantly took the imperial examination.

The reason is that before Zhao Jun's eyes recovered, he kept talking about killing a group of corrupt officials who violated laws and disciplines. He also ransacked the homes and exterminated the families of those profiteers who drove up prices and embezzled national assets.

At that time, including Zhao Zhen, everyone marveled at how the people of later generations were so decisive and vigorous in their killings. When they killed people, they did it in batches, and they also confiscated their homes and exterminated their clans, with extremely ruthless methods.

Although Zhao Jun was talking about the way great men of later generations treated these people and the thoughts of the Internet Keyboard Warrior at that time, King Lu Yijian and the others didn't know.

Therefore, when they heard Zhao Jun's words, they were panicked at that time. They were afraid that Zhao Jun would really go on a killing spree in the officialdom after he regained his consciousness, so they hoped that by letting Zhao Jun take the imperial examination, he could enter their system step by step and conduct research. Assimilation processing.

As a result, I never expected that even though Zhao Jun had already taken the imperial examination, he still secretly persuaded the officials to strengthen the authority of the Imperial City Division, took control of the Imperial City Division, and seemed to have the ability to kill. .

This frightened everyone.

That's why Lu Yijian took the risk and called everyone to meet secretly and privately to discuss countermeasures.

"After all, it is because of what Zhao Jun said before he regained his consciousness that the officials have been shaken. The officials are now determined to restore the power of the Imperial City Division. It is not easy for us to handle now."

"Why don't we just let it go? Now all the officials in the dynasty have written letters to object, but the officials are still indifferent, which shows that the officials completely believe Zhao Jun's words."

"Actually, what Zhao Jun said is not unreasonable. If we can persuade Zhao Jun to be more lenient with our disciples, we may not be able to support him in carrying out major reforms. Anyway, it's okay that the ones who died are not our disciples."

"Which of your families does not have disciples and old officials, and it is common to make mistakes occasionally. But Zhao Jun seems to be a reckless young man based on his words and deeds. What if he is unmoved and insists on attacking his disciples?"

Everyone was at a loss.

Everyone has their own selfish desires.

Although the power of the aristocratic families was weakened in the Song Dynasty, the influence of the family was still strong. Even if they could not become high-ranking officials, they could still become middle and lower-level officials. Therefore, many children from each family entered the government through the influence of the family.

For example, the Lu family, Lu Yijian's sons all entered the government through the influence of the family, only the third son Lu Gongzhu first obtained the influence of the family, then took the imperial examination, and finally became the prime minister.

Including his grandson and Lu Mengzheng's family, historical records show that there were more than 20 people in the Lu family who entered the government through the influence of the family.

This is only within three generations of Lu Mengzheng, Lu Yijian and other descendants. In the future, there will be many people in the Lu family who will enter the government through the influence of the family, such as the great Confucian scholars of the Southern Song Dynasty, Lu Daqi, Lu Zuqian, Lu Zujian, etc., whose ancestors were all officials with the influence of the family, and they also entered the government through the influence of the family.

So don't look at them as honest officials, as if they are clean-handed, but in fact, they all have huge families behind them. This is also why they opposed Fan Zhongyan's reforms in history.

After all, no one wants their family members to be expelled from the officialdom.

Previously, Lü Yijian had planned to let Zhao Jun take the imperial examination to become an official, in order to assimilate him and win him over to find a way out for the family's children in the future.

But now Zhao Jun has taken a different path and opened up the path of the Imperial City Division, which naturally makes everyone worried.

Some people thought that they might as well conspire with Zhao Jun to sell out the middle and lower-level officials and other senior officials in the same camp. Some people also thought that Zhao Jun had a strong personality and might not agree to their request, so they hesitated for a while.

Lü Yijian looked at Wang Zeng and said, "Xiaoxian, what do you think?"

Wang Zeng frowned, his face slightly embarrassed, and said hesitantly, "I think Zhao Jun is not joking. Now that he is in charge of the Imperial City Division and has the power to arrest, examine and deal with, he is afraid that he will be serious. I think it is better to take three approaches at the same time."

"You say."

Lü Yijian said.

Wang Zeng said in a deep voice: "First, we must continue to let Zhao Jun take the imperial examination and enter the officialdom, and then urge him to make firearms to distract him. Second, restrain the family members and don't let them cause trouble. If there are any evildoers, they should immediately apologize to the government and dismiss them, so as to prevent Zhao Jun from really killing them. Third."

"Third what?"

"Third is to test Zhao Jun's intention. In fact, we all know that after Zhao Jun comes, the Song Dynasty will see unprecedented changes. Changes are unstoppable. In the face of major issues, we still have to face the reality. We can't resist the torrent with our bodies, but should be more obedient."

Wang Zeng looked at the crowd Someone said, "It's probably unrealistic to just try to win over Zhao Jun and hope that he will show mercy to you and your children. Everyone knows the situation in various parts of the Song Dynasty. Zhao Jun will not stop, so only by joining in and helping him can the family survive the flood."

"Hmm"

Lü Yijian looked at Yan Shu and asked, "Uncle Tong, what do you think?"

Yan Shu sighed and said, "What Wang Xiang said is very true. The general trend cannot be changed. The future of the Song Dynasty will change. If we can't change our minds in time, fail to join in, or even oppose Zhao Jun, I'm afraid the end will not be too good."

"Do you think so too?"

Lü Yijian asked others again.

Wang Sui and Sheng Du looked at each other. The two of them had far less say in the political hall than Lu Yijian and Wang Zeng. They have always been more inclined to go with the flow, so they didn't say anything.

Only Cai Qi and Song Shou pondered for a moment, as if they had figured out a lot, and they all said: "What Wang Xiang said makes sense."

The scholar-official class is always weak and compromising, not to mention that they are just the highest-ranking officials in the scholar-official class and cannot represent the entire scholar-official class. If Zhao Jun really clashes with the bureaucracy in the future, they will find a way to stay out of it.

"Well."

Lv Yijian finally sighed and said: "Let's do it first. Fortunately, Zhao Jun will still take the imperial examination and enter the officialdom. It seems that he has not noticed what we think in our hearts, so let it go for now. Unless it is absolutely necessary, we should avoid being enemies with him."

He shook his head and stood up to leave, but after standing up, he seemed to stagger a little. In the end, he left the private room with his hands behind his back.

That figure.

But he is a little older, far from the Lv Xugong who once monopolized power in the Political Affairs Hall and was almost the sole prime minister!