Zhao Zhen was half-lying on an easy chair, while Zhao Zongji was sitting behind the big case.
Six officials from the Banking Department each carefully held a yellow box and flattered the emperor.
Zhao Zhen took a look at the seal of the Yintai Department above and nodded. Then they placed the six yellow boxes in front of King Qi one after another, bowed and left.
Hu Yandui opened the seal and explained to Zong Ji: "This is a memorial received by the Yintai Department in one day, and it needs to be delivered to the two governments tomorrow."
Zhao Zongji was a little dizzy and thought to himself, I can’t finish the eight words!
"It's rare to do anything as the New Year approaches." Seeing his thoughts, Hu Yandui smiled and said, "When there are more, there are more than a dozen boxes."
"Then let's start reading..." Zhao Zongji swallowed, thinking that he would not have eaten so salty if he had known better.
Hu Yandui smiled and said: "You don't need to look at the other five, just look at the first box."
Zhao Zongji knew that this was an official guiding him to practice government affairs, so naturally he had doubts and asked: "Why is this?"
"There are two ways to seal the memorials of hundreds of officials, one is actual sealing, and the other is general sealing. Everything that involves confidentiality, such as emergencies, prison cases, disasters, or officials have objections to the central government's orders, or orders, etc.
The rest should be sealed, and the rest should be sealed." Hu Yandui introduced in detail: "Those that are actually sealed should be seen immediately, and those that are sealed can be previewed by the bachelor of the palace first, who will choose important matters to report, and then send them to the two governments for processing.
You can send it back later and His Majesty will decide whether it is acceptable or not."
"Old Hu, you are misleading me," Zhao Zhen had been listening quietly, but now he said, "I have not always been like this."
"This old slave is confused," Hu Yandui said with a smile, "In those days, the officials did forget to eat and sleep, and they had to do everything themselves."
"At that time, I took Emperor Taizong as a role model and visited the court every day. After leaving the court, I reviewed the memorials day and night, and personally reviewed everything that was submitted." Zhao Zhen said with a self-deprecating smile: "As a result, I was almost tired in less than a year.
die……"
Zhao Zongji knew that what the officials were talking about was the fainting in August of the first year of Jingyou, which lasted for several days. The city of Kaifeng was in chaos, and it would have been impossible if the eldest princess of Wei had not recommended a daring miracle doctor to treat him.
The position of his heart has been there for a while, and whether Zhao Zhen can wake up is still a question.
"But I don't regret it. The Song Dynasty was too big and had too many things. If you don't manage political affairs diligently for such a period of time, you won't be able to fully understand the state affairs, let alone outline the leaders and prioritize them." Zhao Zhen slowly said
Said: "Being an emperor is actually the most difficult job in the world, because everyone in the world is plotting against you. If you are lazy for a moment, the ministers will deceive you and get through. As a result, the people will suffer, the court will suffer, and the emperor will become
I'm sorry for you."
Zhao Zongji swallowed again. He could only listen to this topic silently. No matter what he said, it was inappropriate.
"When I was reading history books when I was young, I always felt that the stupid emperors in history were really stupid and allowed their ministers to fool them." Zhao Zhen opened up the conversation uncharacteristically: "But after taking office, I realized that in fact, many times, it was not the emperor who was stupid, but the emperor.
It's because the minister is too smart. The way is higher than the devil. It's really difficult to stay wise and not be fooled."
"For example, this batch of memorials is very knowledgeable." Zhao Zhen said with a bitter look on his face: "When I was young and vigorous, I wanted to imitate Emperor Taizong and work hard to govern and revive the country's decline. However, the Queen Mother stayed behind the curtain for many years and pursued inaction governance, which caused the two palaces to
When you have great power and follow the rules, you will naturally feel unhappy when you see me interfering in everything and being arbitrary. Do you know how they deal with me?"
Although Zhao Zongji guessed it, he still shook his head.
"You just flooded me with memorials." Zhao Zhen said with a self-deprecating smile: "At first, the Bank of China Department of Banking and Finance submitted only one or two hundred memorials every day. After I took charge, the number increased to more than a thousand! I thought it was ridiculous.
My sincerity impressed all the officials, so everyone talked about it. Later I found out that this was the result of the instructions of several prime ministers, and the purpose was to scare me. I didn't believe in evil at the time, so I watched it day and night, but I still didn't watch it yesterday.
That’s it, it happened again today, and I was exhausted.”
"In the end, the gentlemen succeeded?" Zhao Zongji said in disbelief.
"Although I don't want to admit it, it is true." Zhao Zhen said with a bitter smile: "But there is nothing to be ashamed of. There are hundreds of officials on my side, but I am only a loner here, and I am just a middle-aged man. No matter whether it is a battle of wits or a battle,
Even at this time, I can understand why the ancient emperors relied heavily on their relatives and eunuchs to fight against the cunning scholar-bureaucrats who were numerous and powerful. They really needed help!"
"But the risk of relying on them is too great. The Song Dynasty had great difficulty in excluding them from power, and would never allow relatives, harems, eunuchs, or military generals to interfere in politics. These were all the reasons for the country's collapse," Zhao Zhen said solemnly.
: "So we have to ask civil servants for help, because they are the least harmful."
Zhao Zongji sounded a little confused, thinking that he couldn't defeat the civil servants, so he still had to ask the civil servants for help?
"The first is checks and balances. This is the essence of our official system in the Song Dynasty. If there are no checks and balances everywhere, there will be no way to monopolize power. You have to make the ministers antagonize each other, so they can't join forces to attack you." Zhao Zhen made no secret.
Said: "So in the eyes of the emperor, ministers should not be divided into loyalists and traitors. The water of the Yellow River is turbid, and the water of the Yangtze River is clear. Both can nourish one, and they can also harm the other. More importantly, you have to let
They can't form a party, so you won't be alone."
Zhao Zongji listened attentively to every word the official said. This was the old emperor teaching himself the art of imperial thinking!
"The second is to choose some talented and loyal officials around you. Our ancestors set up the Hanlin Academy to serve as confidential secretaries for their descendants. After the palace is selected, it must be observed for many years. Only those who are truly loyal can be appointed.
They come inside to serve as advisors." Zhao Zhen said: "With so many memorials, you can only pick out the most important ones to read first, and they have to read most of them for you."
After talking so much, Zhao Zhen felt a little tired, so he took a sip of tea and said calmly: "Let's see what's important today."
"Here." Hu Yandui opened the box containing the sealed memorials and couldn't help but said in surprise: "So many today?"
Zhao Zhen was not surprised, he closed his eyes slightly and said: "Read..."
"Your Majesty," Hu Yandui picked up the top one, opened the cover, took out the memorial inside, handed it to Zhao Zongji, and whispered: "Stop reading those nonsense words praising virtues, and start from the serious part.
"
"Well," Zhao Zongji nodded, looked at the cover and said: "This is the memorial to Hu Zongyu from Tianzhang Pavilion... A monarch speaks of the Constitution of Heaven and must practice what he says. Otherwise, how can he be powerful in the world and conquer all directions? Jiayou four
In September of the year, Your Majesty promised to establish a crown prince within two years. Today, it is three months since the expiration of the term... Although I am a minor minister, the minister did not say anything, but he should speak for himself. Please select a worthy person and establish a crown prince within the year. You must never break your promise to the ancestors of heaven and earth again.
,subjects and common people!”
Zhao Zhen's eyes had long been opened, and his face became ugly.
Hu Yandui hurriedly exchanged another copy, and Zhao Zongji picked it up and thought about it, and found that it was another memorial asking for the appointment of a prince within the year.
"Humph..." Zhao Zhen actually sneered.
The nonsense was exchanged for another portion. Zhao Zongji thought about it for more than ten minutes, and it was still the same.
"Stop reading, look at how many loyal ministers who care about the country." Although Zhao Zhen said this, it was with a strong sense of ridicule.
"Yes." The two of them checked and counted them one by one.
Before he could count, Li Xian walked in quietly and reported: "Just now, the Imperial City Department reported that there are thirty-three officials from Tianzhang Pavilion waiting to be made, including Hu Zongyu, who arrived at Denwen Drum Courtyard together."
"It's not enough to write the memorial, but you also want to beat the drums?" Zhao Zhen sneered: "How come I didn't hear the drums?"
"This..." Li Xian said with a strange smile: "The drum in Denwen Drum Courtyard was broken this morning, and it has been sent to a craftsman for repair."
"Pfft..." Hu Yandui couldn't help laughing, and Zhao Zhen also laughed out loud and said: "Ji'er's men have done a lot of damage. It's not Chen Zhongfang's idea, it's probably Wang Yuanze's."
The smile on Zhao Zongji's face suddenly froze, but the officials knew so clearly that there was no benefit in denying and defending, so they could only bow their heads and acquiesce.
Fortunately, Zhao Zhen did not feel dissatisfied and said calmly: "I remember that the drum broke for a while in the last year of Qingli and was replaced with a new one half a month later."
"My servant has already inquired about it," Li Xian said softly: "The skin of the Denwen drum is not ordinary cowhide. It will take ten days at the earliest for the Ministry of Industry to make it."
"Yeah." Zhao Zhen nodded, ordered Li Xian to step back, and told Zhao Zongji: "You don't need to read the rest, count them out, and keep them in the middle. Just let Lao Hu do it. Zongji, come and sit down."
"Yes." Hu Yandui continued to count, while Zhao Zongji stood next to Zhao Zhen.
"The Song Dynasty is said to be ruled by one monarch, but in fact the emperor alone does not count." Zhao Zhen looked at him seriously and said: "Don't look at them talking about His Majesty's Golden Rules and making them a constitution. They are all deceiving.
Yes, if I really bypass Zhongshu and issue an edict, I'm sure those ministers will jump up and say, 'How can we control it without going through Fengtai Luan Pavilion?' etc. I can only criticize the opinions given by Zhongshu.
'Agree' or 'disagree', does it sound like this emperor is acting cowardly?"
Zhao Zongji shook his head and said: "Father is unwilling to destroy the system."
"There are reasons for this." Zhao Zhen nodded happily: "But more importantly, I have self-awareness. I also want to be as arbitrary as Taizu Taizong, but they are the founders of the country, and this country was built by them.
Of course, the understanding of internal and external affairs is far better than that of the ministers. However, I was born in a deep palace since childhood and never left Bianjing, just like a frog in the well. On the contrary, the princes of the political affairs hall are all talented people selected from time to time.
, having been in government affairs for a long time in the imperial court, the opinions they give are naturally much better than mine."
As he spoke, he looked at Zong Ji with kind eyes and said, "Now you understand, I have always let you run around here and there these years, right?"
Zhao Zongji was shocked, tears appeared in the corners of his eyes, he nodded heavily and said: "Father has worked hard, I understand."
