The Struggle of the Reborn Prince

In recent years, with the support of Aguda and the connivance of Wu Qimai, Zong Han's power has further developed, and his strength can even compete with the imperial court. However, this southern invasion was hit hard by Zhao Tao and collapsed, but he still developed too fast.

This aroused Wu Qimai's vigilance, and he was planning to use this to deprive him of certain powers of the Marshal's Mansion that he controlled.

Similarly, Zong Qian and others are not blind. Zong Han's excessive power has also affected the development of their line. Now that Han is dying, he has to rely on Zong Han's help to fight for the reserve, but he is also wary.

. But after all, they and Wu Qimai are the same family. After the dust of the reserve was settled, people from both groups turned their attention to Zong Han.

The biggest beneficiary of this "forcing the palace" incident seems to be Zong Han. Not only did he serve as the right prime minister, but he also took over the post of commanding the internal and external military from Zong Ben. It seemed that all the military and political power fell into his hands. In the court,

His position is of great importance, and his rise to prominence is just around the corner. However, every loss must be followed by a gain. He lost the territory he had been operating for many years, lost control of the army, and lost the capital for a great turnaround. However, he was intoxicated with 'victory' but he had not yet

Be aware.

Another beneficiary was Qin Hui. He was the mastermind behind the entire incident, won Zong Han's trust, became his confidant, and became one of the deacons in the mansion. Qin Hui was naturally flattered by such a "knowledge", and became even more

He humbly surrendered to the Jurchens...

Now that Xie is dead, and his collusion with the Southern Dynasty has been found, and the appointment of the crown prince has been settled, no one will mention the peace talks anymore. After all, it seems that replacing Zong Jin will not be beneficial to everyone. But Wu Qimai

If they didn't want their son to stay in the Southern Dynasty forever, they had to give the emperor face, and various signs showed that it was impossible to destroy the Southern Dynasty simply by relying on military means.

Therefore, the policy towards the Song Dynasty needs to be adjusted, and the unrealistic plan to eliminate the Song regime in a short period of time must be abandoned. Instead, we must turn our heads and devote ourselves to managing the occupied Yanjing area and the large areas of the Liao Kingdom to recuperate and recuperate in order to facilitate the return of the Song Dynasty

war, and formulated a new strategy against the Song Dynasty based on this principle.

Although the previous efforts to support Zhang Bangchang as a puppet emperor and rule the Central Plains as a buffer zone between the Song and Jin Dynasties failed, it was only a decision-making mistake at the time. If one were to find someone from the Southern Dynasty clan, there would be no situation where a strongman like Zhao Er could become the emperor.

After review, everyone believed that it was still feasible to select a suitable person from the captured clans to serve as emperor and serve Dajin, but the prerequisite was that the Central Plains region could only be retaken by relying on military victory. The plan could only be postponed.

The other one is to concentrate forces to attack the northwest, in order to first capture the Qinchuan Fifth Road, then enter Sichuan from Shaanxi and go down the river, thus forming a roundabout encirclement of the Central Plains, and then attack from both sides to seize the entire Southern Dynasty territory. But this is not the case either.

It'll take a while and a half

With success. Everyone knows that Zhao Er in the northwest has been operating there for many years. It is his old base. Not only are the people familiar with him, but they are also very loyal to him. He will definitely deploy heavy troops to protect him, even Taizu would have been beaten to death.

Flow is definitely a tough nut to crack.

Another is the old trick, which is to use the strategy of "proposing peace to support attack and war, and using treason to induce rebellion". The so-called peace to support attack and war is actually a smoke screen, which is to induce the Song Dynasty to relax its vigilance and lose its fighting spirit. In the end,

They took advantage of the opportunity to destroy them in one fell swoop, so the peace negotiation was just an auxiliary means for the Jin Dynasty to invade the Song Dynasty and satisfy the emperor; the so-called inducing rebellion by treason

It was to set up puppets and give high-ranking officials generous salaries, in order to lure the capitulation faction within the Song Dynasty, divide them and collapse them, and then undermine the anti-golden struggle.

The Jin people tried to use the above three measures to achieve their aggressive goal of occupying and ruling the entire Song territory on the battlefield, but each of them was very difficult to implement!

………

The first year of Xingguo passed in a blink of an eye, but it was extremely difficult and extremely important for Zhao Tong. This year, it can be said that he even worked hard to suck milk, good, evil, soft, hard,

In any case, he would do anything to achieve the goal of consolidating political power. Although some methods were not very glorious, he also understood that nothing in the world was dirtier than politics, even if it was to fight fire with fire.

Under Zhao Tao's punches and kicks, the army of the Song Dynasty was reorganized, and all local governments basically changed their blood. Government orders were smooth, and people's hearts gradually stabilized and settled into production. The four major trading ports along the coast all established municipal shipping departments.

Expansion has begun. Some fleets have already started to go to sea impatiently.

Trial voyage. The preparatory work for the Jiaozi Bureau has been completed, and the counter shop in the fourth hall has begun to undertake the business of exchanging old banknotes. In addition, there is also the rest and reorganization of the city along the border, the resettlement of refugees, the remaining personnel who have been laid off, and the placement of weak soldiers, etc.

Every job is difficult and requires a lot of financial support.

If someone asked Zhao Tong now who is the poorest person in the world? He would raise his hand without hesitation and answer: It’s me, it’s me, it’s me! Every day when he opens his eyes, he faces people asking for money everywhere.

, and several big shots in the court really regarded him as a cash machine, thinking that the officials were really rich and could take out gold ingots from their pockets at any time.

Zhao Tong also knew that if he didn't persist and take out the money now, his previous efforts would be in vain. He could only bite his back molars and take out the last copper plate in his pocket. Although Zhao Tong was worried about money.

He wished he could be his own palace, but he resisted the repeated persuasion of the governors and did not increase the tax by a penny, and also cut some of the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes imposed by his father, his brother and the older generations.

But even in such a tight financial situation, Zhao Tao did not owe one month's military pay or reduce military expenditures. Instead, he maintained strong military pressure on the Kingdom of Jin. Because he knew that he was in trouble, and the Kingdom of Jin was not much richer.

In the past, successive years of war and the increasingly luxurious life of the nobles consumed a large amount of the Jin Kingdom's financial resources. Once the external plunder failed, a serious economic crisis would occur.

There are no more than three ways for the Kingdom of Jin to solve the current crisis. One is to continue to wage war and continue to rely on plundering other people's wealth to tide over the current difficulties; the other is to increase the taxes on its own people and squeeze the conquered people in the occupied areas in order to maintain

Fragile finances; the third is to stop the war, recuperate, and gradually restore people's livelihood to obtain a steady stream of tax revenue.

What Zhao Tong wanted to do was to drag the Jin Kingdom into an arms race, depriving them of the opportunity to recuperate and recuperate, thereby achieving the goal of bringing down their economy. To this end, he deployed tens of thousands of troops on the border between the two countries, posing as a

With the possibility of launching an attack at any time, the Jin Kingdom had to abandon the traditional nomadic habit of "employing troops among the people" and helped them "organize" a huge standing army, which was deployed in the Yanjing and Zhongjing areas.

At the same time, the border conflicts between the Song and Jin armies continued. From time to time, a battle broke out. Generally, the scale was not too large, but the timing of the outbreak was perfect. Often during the autumn harvest, the Song army would attack the Jin army.

In the control area, put two torches to light the crops that are about to be harvested, and rush back to light the cattle and sheep. Anyway, it will make you busy for a year. In short, you will not be able to live in peace, and all the troops will be on duty, and you will not be able to rest.

Zhao Tong's move was very damaging. The climate in the north was cold and farming could only be done one season a year. The backward production method was inherently inefficient and required a large amount of manpower. Now all these young men and women have been conscripted into the army, resulting in a shortage of labor. The production of

food

It was impossible to meet the demand. The Song army sealed the border and canceled the market, let alone pay tribute to them. Even if the Jurchens had money, they could not buy what they needed, so prices skyrocketed, and the price of a pound of salt reached 5

One hundred wen, one stone of wheat costs five or six guans.

Food and clothing gave rise to lust, while hunger and cold gave rise to a desire for thieves. The harsh economic conditions made the Jurchens quickly forget that more than ten years ago they could not bear the oppression of the Khitan people and had to rebel. When they passed the crisis to the people under their rule,

The people of all ethnic groups have forced these people to take desperate risks. They either fled or embarked on the road of resisting tyranny. The continuous democratic changes accelerated the deterioration of the Jin Kingdom's economy...

"Second Master, how are you going to celebrate New Year's Day this year? Do you want to keep everything simple?" Jian Xi asked cautiously as he followed Zhao Tong. The third year of the rejuvenation of the country is about to begin. Last year, the government's frugality led to revolution and the number of people in the palace was reduced.

Du. Even the singing and dancing at the New Year's Day party were cancelled. It was called establishing a new trend and eradicating the extravagant trend in official circles. In fact, it was because of money matters that I had to calculate and spend.

"Okay, don't be nagging. It's not easy to go out to the capital and bring up these troublesome things again!" Zhao Tong waved his hands impatiently. Since he returned to the capital three years ago and ascended the throne, he has not left the capital every year except to worship his ancestors in Gong County.

Passing through Bianjing

One step. This is like going to jail for the 'unruly' Zhao Tong. As soon as the twelfth lunar month entered this year, he made arrangements to go out to the capital to worship his ancestors. In fact, he wanted to take a breather and give himself a few days off. When he was happy, he would mention official matters.

Of course I'm not happy.

"Second Master, I'm not verbose. There are many things that need to be prepared in advance, otherwise you won't be in a hurry when things come!" Jian Xi added without caring. He missed the days when he was with the officials all day long. Although he was always being ignored

He was teasing, but now the official family is so busy, and he, the head of the internal chamberlain, is running around without touching the ground every day, so it is not easy for the two of them to meet.

"I let you mess up a good morning again. It's really disappointing!" Zhao Tong frowned and said. This emperor is really not meant for humans, especially to be a good emperor. His habit of walking in the morning for many years has been replaced by the morning court.

Every day I was either faced with the nagging of the ministers or with a mountain of documents. Today I had free time to walk around the cemetery, thinking that the dead ancestors would not disturb me, but I didn't expect that Jianxi would take the time to spend time with me.

"Second Master, there used to be three to four thousand chamberlains in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but now there are only more than 200 people, and they have to be divided into various palaces to serve. I am one of ten people. If I don't make arrangements early, I will be exhausted and I won't be able to finish it.

Ah, please feel sorry for me!" Jian Xi said with a sad face.

"Oh, there's no way! Why am I short of money? I can't afford to support so many people!" Zhao Tong patted Jian Xi on the shoulder, looked at his pitiful look and smiled.

"Second Master, please stop coaxing me. If last year's lack of money can be said to be in the past, this year's two taxes and commercial taxes will be 63 million yuan, which is almost the same as in previous years. In addition to expenses, there are still two

The surplus of tens of millions of dollars is already much better than the previous generation." Jian Xi curled his lips and said, and the officials used this to excuse themselves. The calculation just now was only the income of the national treasury, and the small treasury was not included.

"You are quite shrewd. The abacus is ringing, and there is some surplus. But the money is still of great use. What if there is a famine, what if the Jurchens invade again, what if there is a natural disaster, this money needs to be used urgently!"

asked with a straight face.

"Second Master, so this year we should prepare as we did last year?" Jian Xi said.

"Yes, money must be used wisely now. Although there is a surplus, it cannot be extravagant and wasteful. It is better to make a few clothes from those silks from Aoshan Mountain!" Zhao Tong said with a smile, but in his heart he sighed that the money came from it.

Still a little slow.

After Zhao Tong came to power, he abolished some duplication of taxes and arbitrary apportionment by the central and local governments. It is said that taxes should be insignificant when new tax sources are not cultivated, but taxes have not been reduced. This should not only be attributed to the solution of the three redundant problems, but also

And it should be recorded in the change of official style.

For example, the collection of the second tax was based on the connivance of bureaucratic landlords in the Song Dynasty at the beginning of the founding of the country, in order to show "tolerance". While receiving generous treatment that was rare in previous dynasties, officials continued to engage in corruption and bribery, and practiced favoritism.

Obtain legal immunity from ancestral teachings.

The landowners wantonly annexed the land. They also had to hide the land and not pay taxes. Even the emperor did not dare to measure the land near the capital. He ordered the measurement this month and took it back the next month. He claimed that he was afraid of "disturbing the people". Wang Anshi

If you want to measure land across the country, you will soon become a traitor.

After Zhao Tong came to power, he purged and replaced officials at all levels, and those corrupt officials were excluded. Although he could not guarantee that no one would be left, it was a huge difference from before. With their cooperation, the country's land

A survey and re-measurement were carried out, and a large amount of hidden land was discovered, which expanded the tax base. Therefore, there were fewer types of taxes, but the tax amount did not decrease.

In addition, Zhao Tong still controls commodities such as salt, tea, wine, copper and iron, and has also reduced taxes on the sale of salt and iron items that are closely related to life. However, the tax on wine and tea has not been reduced, but has been increased, because winemaking requires a large amount of grain.

, and drinking less wine and tea will not kill people, nor will it cause social unrest. These controlled items also brought an income of 20 million yuan to the Song Dynasty.

Another major source of revenue is commercial tax. With the reduction of tax rates in various places and the rise of foreign trade, coastal ports have gradually formed a fixed source of tax revenue. In the future, the scale will only become larger and larger, and the money will definitely roll in.

, flowing into the treasury of the Song Dynasty. But now Zhao Tong is planning a big operation. This is not enough money to consume. He has to live a hard life first...