The Struggle of the Reborn Prince

Chapter 74 Hidden worries

Money makes things easier. With strong financial support, the four original villages of the Zhao Mansion were all abandoned. Suitable locations were chosen to rebuild new villages near the main road and around the palace on both sides of the Baishui River. They were called East Zhaozhuang according to their directions.

, West Zhaozhuang, South Zhaozhuang and North Zhaozhuang formed the situation of stars holding the moon. Each village implemented the Baojia system according to the court regulations, with ten households having one A, one hundred households having one, and one village having one big Bao.

The Dabaozheng was concurrently appointed by the governor of the government, Chief Jia, and Chief Baoan. Zhao Tong was not appointed according to the amount of property as usual. Instead, capable and loyal people were selected from the bailiffs. Then Zhao Tong assigned the new farm tools and livestock to Jia.

The equipment, of course, is not free, and they need to pay in installments. Each unit has a harvester, a thresher, a rice transplanter, and an all-in-one tillage and fertilization machine, which are usually managed and maintained by the Baochang.

Some Jia jointly bought cattle, and some were relatively poor and could only rely on manpower to drag them. This required cooperation among households. Zhao Tong also relied on profit sharing to unite the self-sufficient tenants who were scattered like sand.

Together, each single household became a small interest group, and then formed a large group, and finally united around the palace. Although this method is primitive, it is also the most practical at this stage.

The popularization of semi-mechanized agricultural tools will inevitably shorten the time farmers have to manage land. People have more free time. Zhao Tong took the opportunity to launch his next plan. Those who are willing to engage in breeding can raise pigs, ducks and chickens, as well as feed technology and seedlings.

They are all produced by the government. After they are raised, they will be purchased by the government and paid for their work. Those who are willing to work are short of manpower in various workshops. If you say that I am stupid and can't learn anything, it doesn't matter. The dock has been built and the workshops are in need.

All kinds of raw materials are continuously supplied, and the finished products need to be sold. You can carry a big man as a loader. As long as you have the strength, you can also earn food and drink for the whole family. Some people who are flexible and skilled can even

A chicken-feather shop was opened in the open space next to the pier to cook food and provide accommodation. The tenants benefited from a series of changes and saw hope!

In this year, Zhao Tong's manor had begun to take shape through his hard work, but the court was in chaos and party disputes continued, entering the "Warring States" era.

First, there was Tong Guan, a dead eunuch, no, a dead chamberlain. Since he gained the emperor's favor and Cai Jing's care, his favors wielded power and his friends fell in love with each other, which aroused strong dissatisfaction from both the government and the public, and they began to look down upon the courtiers less and less.

He falsely conveyed imperial edicts and appointed officials at will without going through Zhongshu Sheng. Even Cai Jingdu knew nothing about it. The gap between the two became deeper and deeper, and they often quarreled in the temple.

Cai Jing was not an economical person either. Zhao Ji wanted to appoint Tong Guan as the Third Division of Yitong in Kaifeng. He broke the wedge and said sourly, "Can the envoy be granted the title of eunuch?" He refused to accept the imperial edict and was sent back.

Tong Guan was not big-minded and immediately went to find Zheng Juzhong, a relative of the country who was also holding back his resentment. The winter before last, he and Zheng Juzhong first made preparations for Cai Jing to comment on his merits and appealed for his reinstatement as left prime minister. At that time, Cai Jing also sincerely agreed.

He made a promise that after his reinstatement, he would recommend Zheng Juzhong to serve as Privy Councilor, but a year later, there was still no movement. He once teamed up with Zhang Kangguo to bring down Cai Jing, but unexpectedly the Allied Forces were suddenly dead, and they were alone, so the two hit it off.

I don’t know whether Cai Jing was behind it, or someone just couldn’t stand what Tong Guan was doing. One morning in March, Shang Youzheng said that Chen He and Shang Shu were impeaching Tong Guan and others for the crime of manipulating power, and asked the emperor to

They were exiled to remote areas, but Zhao Ji didn't wait for Chen He to finish his words, and stood up in anger, preparing to retreat from the court.

When Chen He saw this, he became anxious. He stepped forward and grabbed the emperor's clothes, asking the emperor to finish listening to his speech. One of them wanted to leave, but the other refused to let him go. The emperor's clothes were torn.

The chamberlain asked the emperor to change his clothes. Zhao Ji showed off at this time, waved his hand and said: "Stay here to reward the upright and upright minister." He left an image of a wise minister, but the next day Tong Guan slapped him.

Feng, the emperor changed his mind, and Chen He was demoted to Xinzhou as a wine supervisor for being "arrogant and disrespectful".

There was action here, and Tong Guan didn't want to fall into passivity. After all, he was a person close to the emperor, and he knew the emperor's preferences well, so he inserted the knife into the right place. He bribed the alchemist Guo Tianxin and asked him to quietly tell Emperor Daojun, "There is something in the sun."

"Heizi, a sign that the master and the auxiliary deceive the king". It was originally a nonsense, but it hit Zhao Ji's heart. Zhang Kangguo was poisoned in the court. Although the truth was unknown, it aroused Zhao Ji's vigilance and made up his mind to deal with Cai Jing.

Although Zhao Ji is absurd, he is not lacking in foresight. He knows that Cai Jing has worked hard for many years in the court, and his power is huge and intricate. If Cai Jing is dealt with first, his minions will inevitably rebound. The best way is to remove the branches and leaves first, and then uproot the roots. The plan is in place.

He immediately started to proceed in an orderly manner. Zhao Tong was quite like his father in this aspect.

The first step is to clear out Cai Taishi's in-laws. Cai You's father-in-law Song Qiaonian, the former transfer envoy to the capital and the current magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture, was dismissed and resettled in Qizhou; Song Qiaonian's eldest son Song Min also lost his position as the transfer envoy to the two Zhejiang provinces.

, was placed in Yingtian Mansion, and his other son Song Zhu was also dismissed from office at the same time; Cai Chen's father-in-law Hu Shiwen, who was shipped to Lianghuai, was dismissed from office, promoted to Wanshou Temple, and received a temple salary to support his old age.

The second step was to demote Cai Taishi's confidants. Liu Bing, who started his career by making Dasheng elegant music, is now a Hanlin scholar and the minister of the Ministry of Industry.

He was demoted out of the capital and became a local official.

The third step is to depose Cai Dang among the ruling members. Lin Xuan, the minister of Zhongshu, is uneducated and has no skills. In the court hall, he pronounced ANG as Yang and Zhen as tile. The emperor corrected him with a smile, and his officials

He laughed loudly, and yelled that he was rude. He was immediately played by the imperial envoy, accusing him of being uneducated and uncivilized, and asked him to be promoted to Dongxiao Palace. Yu Shen, the servant of his disciple, went out to Qingzhou to educate himself.

Cai Party General Secretary Zuocheng Xue Ang was born in Hangzhou, Cai Jing's fellow villager and best friend. He had no skills in his life. He was appointed as a librarian without reading "Historical Records" and "Hanshu". He worshiped Hanlin and could not write imperial edicts. He only took the position because he could flatter others.

Even members of the ruling party were dismissed from office.

The emperor took action, and of course the courtiers saw the signs, so they wrote letters to impeach Cai Jing one after another, and everyone pushed back. Zhao Ji was like a wise king at this time. In compliance with the voice of the people, he ordered Cai Jing to be appointed as the envoy of the First Palace of Zhongtai in June.

. But at this critical moment, he committed an old habit again, and suddenly remembered his good deeds. Although he asked Cai Jing to retire and become an official, he still allowed him to live in the capital and go to court to discuss matters on the first day of the new year. For this reason, Shi Hongyanzhang, the imperial censor,

Imperial College student Chen Chaolao and others continued to impeach Cai Jing, criticizing him for his evil deeds and demanding that he be sent to a distant place, but none of them were adopted.

After Cai Jing was overthrown, Zheng Juzhong got his wish and became the Privy Councilor, He Zhizhong became the Minister Zuopushe, and Cai Jing's opponent Zhang Shangying was appointed as the Minister Youpushe and concurrently the Minister of Zhongshu. Another reshuffle in the court was completed.

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Time flies by in the busyness, and in a blink of an eye, it is autumn harvest and autumn planting again. The tenants have moved into their new homes before winter. The two harvests this year, plus the income from working during the off-season, have left everyone with extra money in their pockets after paying the rent tax for the first time.

Qian, when the family was preparing to marry a daughter, a pardon came: the Queen passed away, slaughtering was banned for forty-nine days in the capital, and three days outside. Music and sacrifices were stopped for a hundred days, marriages with officials were stopped for a hundred days, and military and civilians were banned for one month.

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At this time, the Zhao Mansion was completely deserted, and the lanterns were all covered with white paper. A mourning hall had been set up in the main hall, and incense candles were constantly burning. All the people, including the superiors and subordinates, put on plain clothes and took off their hairpins. Zhao Tong was even more clad in mourning clothes and linen clothes.

Wearing hemp shoes and covering his head with linen, "Uncle Huang, is there any news from Beijing?" Zhao Tong asked, sitting cross-legged on the mat. His face looked a little haggard. He had been staying at the mourning hall to pay homage since he received the news last night.

"Your Majesty, no!" Huang Jingchen added a few pieces of paper money to the fire and shook his head.

"Uncle Huang, didn't the chamberlain who delivered the message mention when he wanted me to return to Beijing for the funeral?" Zhao Tong actually asked a redundant question. If he had told him, he wouldn't have to spend time here, but he felt uneasy. He

His uneasiness did not come from the dead queen. He had no impression of this woman at all, let alone any feelings. Instead, he felt that things were strange. According to the patriarchal laws at this time, no matter which concubine gave birth to the child, the queen would theoretically have it.

She is their biological mother, but their biological mother is not. But now that their biological mother is dead, they only told him, but did not tell him to go home for the funeral. This does not make sense in a society where filial piety is respected.

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"Your Majesty, don't be anxious. Maybe the eunuch who delivers the edict is still on the way. In the past, those who announced the funeral and those who delivered the edict were divided into two groups!" Huang Jingchen saw the solemnity of the prince's words, thought for a while and said. He was not calm at this time.

It’s hard to say whether he’s happy or sad. The two things the prince said have been proven to be true today. Then the Song Dynasty will definitely experience the catastrophe he said. Maybe this child can save the Song Dynasty from the fire and water. You can decide for yourself.

Keep him safe.

"Uncle Huang, I think someone is deliberately preventing me from returning to Beijing for the funeral. Should I make another request to return to Beijing?" Zhao Tong thought for a while and said.

"Hiss!" Huang Jingchen looked at Zhao Tao and took a breath. Why didn't he think of this? The Queen Wang was dead, and the Queen's position was vacant. Concubine Zheng was most likely to become a full-time official. So, although the Prince is not the eldest son, he is still the eldest son.

According to the rules, if you are the legitimate son, you will be the second in line of succession. If your mother fails to return home, even if an ordinary official commits this crime, he will be impeached and dismissed from office. Moreover, he is a prince. If such a day comes, there is no guarantee that he will not

There will be people who will use this to make trouble.

"Your Majesty, if the imperial edict does not arrive tomorrow, I will go back to the capital in person. I must ask for the imperial edict from the prince to return to the capital!" Huang Jingchen figured out the key and said respectfully. He knew that only one person in the mansion could accomplish this now.

By myself.