Chapter 0920 Lu Yijian sitting on pins and needles
Wang Zeng had a headache after hearing what Kou Ji said. He stared at Kou Ji and complained: "Can you please stop thinking about using soldiers and horses? Soldiers and horses cannot solve all problems."
Kou Ji smiled and said, "Do you agree with what you said?"
Wang Zeng nodded almost without hesitation.
He felt that he needed to correct Kou Ji's wrong idea of always wanting to be violent.
Seeing Wang Zeng nod, Kou Ji continued to ask with a smile: "Can you read history?"
Wang Zeng rolled his eyes.
Who do you look down on?
I, Wang Zeng, am one of the three leaders who can be counted on one hand since the founding of the Song Dynasty.
When it comes to statecraft, I may not be as good as others.
But in terms of familiarity with the classics of various scholars and the unique historical records, no one in the Song Dynasty could master it.
Your grandfather is no match for me either.
In the past, only Ding said he could compete with me in this aspect, because that guy has a photographic memory, which is different from ordinary people.
Now, my king once dared to claim to be second, and no one dared to say that he was first.
Kou Ji knew the answer in Wang Zeng's heart through Wang Zeng's reaction. He smiled and said: "Since you read history, you should know.
Almost all innovations are based on dynasty changes.
It is almost impossible to succeed if you want to maintain the stability of the dynasty while also trying to innovate.
Even if you succeed, you are just making wedding clothes for others.
Just like the imperial examination system established in the Sui Dynasty, it broke the monopoly of aristocratic families on high positions in the court.
But because of this, he was targeted by the aristocratic family.
That’s why the Eighteenth Route Anti-King came to Beijing.
If the imperial examination system had not been established in the Sui Dynasty, how many ways do you think the rebels who came to Beijing could have done?"
Wang Zeng frowned and fell into silence.
When Kou Ji saw that Wang Zeng was silent, he smiled and said: "The Third and Fifth Routes are overwhelming... There can be no Eighteenth Route... What really caused the Eighteenth Route to rebel against the king was the imperial examination system.
The emergence of the imperial examination system broke the control of the dynasty by aristocratic families.
The aristocratic families saw the crisis, so they gathered together to attack.
In the end, Li Tang won the throne.
Li Tang followed the ruins of the former Sui Dynasty and implemented the imperial examination system again.
In order to implement the imperial examination system, several emperors of Li and Tang also made great efforts.
They fought with the aristocratic families for decades, and it was not until the power of the aristocratic families was weakened that they officially promoted the imperial examination system.
Before they completely promoted the imperial examination system.
Those students who want to take part in the imperial examinations need the nod of approval from prominent families and some officials in the central government.
After the defeat of Li Tang.
I founded the Song Dynasty.
After the founding of the Song Dynasty, we also implemented the imperial examination system.
As for my students in the Song Dynasty, they don't need the nod from famous families or the recommendation of officials in the court to participate in the imperial examination.
As long as he is talented, as long as he has not committed any crime.
He can enter the examination room."
Speaking of this, Kou Ji looked at Wang Zeng and said with a smile: "So, it is impossible to innovate without bloodshed. The system we want to innovate is larger and more numerous than the imperial examination system, and its impact will definitely exceed that of the imperial examination system."
system.
Therefore, the difficulties we have to face may be more than promoting the imperial examination system.
So we have to prepare for the worst."
Wang Zeng gritted his teeth and said, "Do you want the officials to start their own rebellion?"
Kou Ji spread his hands and asked: "Then what should I do? Do nothing and watch those moths lying on the Song Dynasty, knocking the bones and sucking the marrow, until the Song Dynasty is defeated?"
It is better to let the officials create their own rebellion than to let others create their own rebellion."
Wang Zeng stared at Kou Ji and said, "The matter is not as serious as you said."
Kou Ji said calmly: "Whether the matter is serious or not, you, Wang Zeng, know clearly. The rebellion rate among the people in the Song Dynasty is the highest in all dynasties.
If there were no problems in the Song Dynasty, why did the people rebel?
Do you think life is too comfortable?
Or do you think living is a waste of food?”
Wang Zeng was so shocked that he was speechless.
Kou Ji continued: "The problem is already very serious. It is like a spark, flickering in every corner of the Song Dynasty.
Now, we can suppress it, so we can pretend it doesn't exist, or we can say it's not serious.
But when it was completely connected, it formed a prairie fire.
Tell me, what will be done to extinguish it then?
Who can extinguish it?"
Wang Zeng gritted his teeth and said nothing.
Kou Ji stared and said: "When the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty encountered a problem, the first thing they thought of was not how to solve it. Instead, they thought of avoiding it.
If too many people's interests are involved, not only will it be avoided, but it will also be concealed.
It is like a disease, it needs to be treated when discovered.
If left untreated, it will one day become a fatal disease.
There is a saying that has always been passed down among local officials, that is, serving as an official will benefit the country.
This sentence does not apply to us.
But we should understand another sentence from this.
That means serving as prime minister for one term and ensuring peace and prosperity for hundreds of years."
Speaking of this, Kou Ji paused, stared at Wang Zeng and said solemnly: "So... once I take up the post of Tong Zhongshu's disciple, I will not be polite to anyone.
I will kill anyone who stops me from serving the country and the people."
Wang Zeng clenched his fist and said in a trembling voice: "Have you finished killing me?"
Kou Ji said unceremoniously: "There are a total of ten million households in the Liao Kingdom. Except for those who died in battle and those who died from their own torture, the rest are all prisoners of our Song Dynasty.
When I was in the Liao region, as long as I nodded, all of them would have their heads removed.
Do you think the number of wealthy families in the Song Dynasty can bring together 10 million households?"
Wang Zeng stared at Kou Ji and said, "I told you when we were in Liao that if you do this, many people will die in vain."
Kou Ji sneered, "If killing a million people can allow tens of millions, or even more than tens of millions, of people to live in peace, I will not be polite."
Wang Zeng sat up suddenly and shouted: "They are all from the Song Dynasty, not foreigners."
Kou Ji glanced at Wang Zeng and asked coldly: "We think they are Song people, but do they think they are Song people? For their own selfish interests, they don't even care about the safety of our country, the Song Dynasty, and the safety of future generations."
No regard for happiness.
What do we keep them for?
They kept their brains full of fat and devoured the Song Dynasty.
And then wait for others to slaughter them?
Are you harming the people again by the way?"
Wang Zeng said angrily: "My Song Dynasty is now invincible in the world."
Kou Ji sarcastically said: "The Han Dynasty is about the same. But at the end of the Han Dynasty, the families of the aristocratic families were all powerful, and they fought fiercely with each other for the throne.
But they ignored that outsiders were secretly taking control.
The final result was that the Han people were reduced to two-legged sheep and became meat in the mouths of others.
If we don't set rules for those wealthy families now, they will become the new aristocratic families in the future.
And the final fate of the Song Dynasty is not much different from that of the Han Dynasty."
"Now there is no opponent in the four fields, and our army of the Song Dynasty is invincible..."
"Can you guarantee that the Song Dynasty will remain invincible? Or can you guarantee that the forces around the Song Dynasty will not become powerful? When the Song Dynasty was first established, what was Xixia? It was just a vassal town with two states."
"..."
Kou Ji used Xixia as an example, and Wang Zeng was completely speechless.
Xixia was fattened by the Song Dynasty.
Wang Zeng took several deep breaths and calmed down, "I always disapprove of killing..."
Kou Ji yawned and said in a neutral tone: "Then you pray that those rich and powerful people will behave better. Let them not go against the court. There will be no good consequences for going against the court.
The Song Dynasty is not the Sui Dynasty.
Let alone the Eighteenth Route Rebel, he is the One Hundred and Eightyth Route, and I can make him never come back."
If others heard what Kou Ji said, they might think that Kou Ji was bragging.
But Wang Zeng knew clearly that Kou Ji was not bragging.
This is the truth.
The current military strength of the Song Dynasty was invincible.
And these soldiers and horses are all in Zhao Zhen's hands.
If Kou Ji needs to be transferred, Zhao Zhen will definitely not stop him.
More importantly, as Kou Ji and Zhao Zhen continued to innovate the military system, the soldiers and horses of the Song Dynasty continued to benefit from war after war.
Nowadays, almost all those who can be called tough soldiers in the army have become landlords, big and small.
The hearts of the generals and officers in the army had long been bought clean by Zhao Zhen and Kou Ji.
They are now of the same mind as Zhao Zhen and Kou Ji.
If others wanted to rebel, they would not be able to instigate the most elite soldiers of the Song Dynasty.
Without the support of the most elite soldiers of the Song Dynasty, why would you rebel?
Why should a group of people armed with broken blades fight against the Imperial Guards armed with muskets and artillery?
In the case of absolute crushing strength, what is the difference between the 18th Route and the 180th Route?
When the Song Dynasty was conquering the Liao Kingdom, millions of rebels from the Liao Kingdom flocked to the Great Wall. They were defeated and turned into prisoners. Now they are working in various places in the Song Dynasty to atone for their sins.
If someone among the people encourages the people to rebel, no matter how large the crowd is, the outcome will be almost the same.
Once the Forbidden Army is dispatched, they have almost no capital to resist.
And the Imperial Army would never have any concerns about taking action against them.
Because 90% of the family members of the Imperial Guards in the Song Dynasty have now moved to the border areas of the Song Dynasty one after another and became small landowners in the border areas of the Song Dynasty.
Therefore, the family members of the Imperial Guard will never appear in the rebel army.
Wang Zeng let out a long sigh, "I will keep an eye on them and hope they don't do anything stupid..."
Kou Ji curled his lips and said: "You'd better hope that someone among them takes action as soon as possible. In this way, the court can also kill the chicken to scare the monkeys and scare others.
Maybe there will be less blood shed by then."
Wang Zeng opened his mouth, but suddenly found that he could not refute Kou Ji's statement.
No one wants to see bloodshed happen.
But when bloodshed is bound to occur, some small-scale bloodshed first can always serve as a deterrent and reduce the occurrence of bloodshed.
Seeing that Wang Zeng fell into silence again, Kou Ji said in a neutral tone: "I have told you almost everything that needs to be said. You don't need to continue to communicate with me about this matter in the future.
Because it makes no sense.
I will never change my mind."
After saying this, Kou Ji didn't wait for Wang Zeng to speak further before he started to chase people away, "You've been staying here for a long time. It's time to leave.
Lu Yijian is busy scheming against me now and doesn't have much time to deal with government affairs. There must be a lot of government affairs piled up in the political hall for you to deal with."
When Wang Zeng heard this, he let out a long sigh, got up and left the small courtyard.
After Wang Zeng left, Liu Heng slowly spoke, "Wang Zeng is one of the rare good people in the court. Are you afraid that he won't be able to bear it if you scare him like this?"
Kou Ji glanced at Liu Heng and asked, "Who scared him?"
Liu Heng said dumbfounded: "I know that some of what you said today are from the bottom of your heart. But you should also know in your heart that the situation will never be as bad as you said.
After all, you and the official family have been planning this for so long.
There is no way there will be no results at all.”
Kou Ji saw that Liu Heng had seen through his own thoughts, so he confessed: "Ci does not control the army, and Ci does not manage politics. Do you really think that Wang Zeng was a kind person?"
From the time he became an official until now, he will never show mercy when it is time to kill someone.
The reason why he argued with me and put on a kind face was because he didn't want too many innocent people to be involved.
He is now fighting for a way out for the innocent people, not the rich and powerful who are ruthless in their pursuit of wealth.
Believe it or not, if he only killed people from wealthy families, he would definitely kill them more quickly and decisively than me."
Liu Heng looked stunned.
Kou Ji continued: "Every high-ranking official has a little bottom line and persistence in his heart. Wang Zeng's persistence in his heart is to benefit the people, and the bottom line is not to put the butcher's knife on innocent people."
Liu Heng pondered and said: "Is there no way to let innocent people get rid of this matter?"
Kou Ji shook his head, "The reform of the cultural system involves all aspects of the Song Dynasty, and the foundation of everything in the Song Dynasty comes from the people. Tell me, how do you keep the people out of it?"
Liu Heng sighed and said nothing more.
Kou Ji lamented: "The reason why I told Wang Zeng that he was so terrible was to prepare him to attack the people."
Liu Heng stared at Kou Ji and said, "Didn't you say that not putting the butcher's knife on innocent people is his bottom line? Even so, why would he be ready to attack the people?"
Kou Ji's words are obviously inconsistent.
Kou Ji heard Liu Heng's words and sighed: "Now I have told him all the consequences. If he can break through his own bottom line, he can work with us.
If not, then you can only help us clean up the end.
He will definitely not be involved in some major events involving human life."
Liu Heng asked in a deep voice: "Is there no way to reduce the casualties of the people?"
Kou Ji couldn't laugh or cry and said: "The officials and I are not executioners, so we can't take pleasure in killing people. When you need to kill, just kill, and when you don't need to kill, just distribute them.
Nowadays, the Song Dynasty is short of people in the east, north and west.
If everyone is really killed, who will farm the land?
If no one cultivates the land, wouldn’t it mean that all the territory we conquered will be wasted?”
When Liu Heng heard this, he laughed out loud, "Since you don't have any intention of massacre, why do you need to say something so scary?"
Kou Ji sighed and said, "I don't have this intention, but those rich and powerful people who are unkind to get rich don't make people worry."
Liu Heng pondered and said: "How about we discuss it with the officials first and target those wealthy families first?"
Kou Ji shook his head, "We don't need to worry about this matter, the people from Wude Division will do it."
Liu Heng asked: "Then we are just so idle now?"
Kou Ji pondered and said: "Let's see what Lu Yijian can do first."
Zhao Zhen's purpose of keeping Kou Ji was to reform the cultural system. Now that Lu Yijian refused to give up his throne, he could only use Lu Yijian to test the waters.
Lu Yijian was able to bear it, and everyone was happy.
If Lu Yijian can't bear it, Kou Ji will come again.
…
The next day.
Rumors about Kou Ji spread even more violently.
They even made a fuss in the Chui Gong Hall.
The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty discussed this issue a lot.
Finally, Zhao Zhen made a decree and broke the rumors.
Yang Wenguang was promoted to Privy Council.
Wang Deyong was appointed as Deputy Privy Envoy.
Di Qing concurrently served as Tongzhi Privy Councilor.
A moment.
The rumors that Kou Ji was going to serve as Privy Councilor again were instantly silenced.
Lu Yijian felt the fire burning on her buttocks and couldn't sit still at all.
Lu Mansion.
Lu Yijian sat in the front seat with a gloomy look.
Lu Yijian's son Lu Gongzhu stood beside him.
Lu Yijian and his confidants were sitting at the bottom.
"Prime Minister Lu, the officials have promoted Yang Wenguang to the post of privy envoy, and the rumors we spread have been completely silenced. Now the officials have almost made it clear that they want you to give up the throne to Kou Ji.
If you don't want to think of a solution, I'm afraid Kou Ji will replace you."
Han Yang, the Minister of Punishment, spoke in a deep voice.
This person did not leave his name in the history books and did not do anything important.
Now that he is nearly fifty years old and his health is not in good condition, it is probably the end of his career as Minister of Justice.
Lu Yijian gritted his teeth and said, "What can I do? If I had my way, how could I still sit here?"
"How about we write to the officials together and ask them to let Kou Ji leave Bianjing in accordance with the imperial edict?"
"The officials specially kept Kou Ji here, so how could they let Kou Ji leave because of your petition and mine?"
"Then frame him..."
"Stupid! Why are you framed against him? He is neither greedy for money nor lustful. Now he has no official or noble title. The only thing that can be framed against is treason.
What if he was falsely accused of treason?
Don't forget, most of the generals in the army are his confidants.
Whoever is being framed now cannot be framed against him."
"Then what should we do? Just sit back and wait for death?"
"..."
Lu Yijian's confidants talked a lot, but at the end of the sentence, all of them fell into silence.
Kou Ji is neither greedy for money nor lustful, and he has no official or title. He can't find a thorn in his side, which is really embarrassing.
"How about... just give up your position to him?"
Lu Gongzhu saw everyone fell into silence, hesitated again and again, and whispered.
Lu Yijian and others all stared at Lu Gongzhu.
Give up your position, that's easy to say.
If you really give it away, it won't be so easy to get it back.
If Kou Ji eradicates the dissidents and clears them out of the court, then there will be no room for them to turn around.
Historically, when powerful officials came to power, the first thing they did was to eradicate dissidents and stabilize their positions.
Therefore, this position can only be occupied, or wait for Zhao Zhen's personal order to remove him.
If Zhao Zhen personally ordered his dismissal, then they would have enough reason to bring all the civil and military personnel over to remove Kou Ji.
Only in this way can they protect themselves.
When Lu Gong saw everyone staring at him, he hesitated and said: "I also know that it is not appropriate to let him go. But now Kou Ji is coming menacingly, and the officials are turning towards Kou Ji.
Now the officials have no excuse to remove you, so they have not spoken.
But once the officials find an excuse, they will remove you.
Then we will have no chance of turning around."
"If you give up your position, there will be no chance."
Han Yang frowned and said in a deep voice.
Mr. Lu shook his head, "That's not necessarily the case... Kou Zhun left those words when he left Beijing, which was my father's chance to make a comeback.
My father gave up his position so that he could imitate Kou Zhun and declare to the outside world that he was giving opportunities to the younger generations.
In this way, my father's reputation will be greatly improved.
All the officials will also turn to my father.
The same is true for ordinary people.
With hundreds of officials and people supporting him, Kou Ji had to find a better excuse even if he wanted to suppress dissidents.
When the time comes, if you claim to be sick at home and do nothing, Kou Ji will naturally be unable to find any excuse.
As long as you, dad, don't fall, other people, Kou Ji, can't do anything about it.
During Kou Ji's administration, we can slowly figure it out.
Dad, you have been in the Political Affairs Hall for many years, and you should know that the political affairs of the Political Affairs Hall are very complicated.
After all government affairs are handled, it is impossible for everything to be perfect.
As long as Kou Ji makes a mistake, we can all attack him as a group."
Lu Yijian and others were all stunned after hearing what Lu Gongzhu said.
After they all lowered their heads and thought about it, they felt that Mr. Lu's words made sense.
Everyone present knew that Kou Ji was menacing and almost unstoppable.
Now they are dying, it is nothing more than a desperate struggle.
But even so, Lu Yijian could not take the initiative to give up his position.
Once you voluntarily give up your seat, there is no room for you to stand up.
But according to Lu Gongzhu, if you take the initiative to give up your position, you will have a slight chance of turning around in the future.
After Lu Yijian and others thought about it for a while, they felt that Lu Gongzhu's proposal was feasible and prepared to discuss it in detail.
But before they could speak, Chen Yaozuo, who had been transferred to the Ministry of Household Affairs as the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, said unhurriedly, "Kou Ji does things vigorously and resolutely.
He wants to eradicate dissidents, but he doesn't care about Prime Minister Lu."
Someone wanted to refute, but Chen Yaozuo added quietly, "Don't forget, the officials are facing him. Prime Minister Lu can pretend to be sick, why can't the officials pretend to be confused?"
When Wang Qinruo framed Kou Zhun, Kou Zhun went to the late emperor to ask about the matter, but the late emperor pretended to be confused.
As a result, Kou Zhun was dismissed from his position and sent to Shaanxi Prefecture.
Wang Qinruo therefore took the position of Ping Zhangshi under Tong Zhongshu.
If Ding Wei, a slanderous official, hadn't moved to Wang Qinruo and given Kou Zhun a chance, Kou Zhun would never be able to turn around in his life.
If Kou Ji wants to eradicate dissidents, and even eradicates Prime Minister Lu, if the officials pretend to be confused, how can you stand up?"
After Lu Yijian and others listened to Chen Yaozuo's words, their faces became very ugly.
Zhao Zhen turned to Kou Ji. Once Kou Ji took up the post of Tong Zhongshu's subordinate, he could do whatever he wanted and no one would have a temper.
After Lu Yijian and others were silent for a long time, they looked at Chen Yaozuo.
Chen Yaozuo felt their gazes and said in a neutral tone: "Don't ask me why I didn't count myself in. My third brother is currently fighting in Hexi. Whether it is the official family or the Kou Ji, when dealing with me, they are more or less I will always take my third brother’s face into consideration.”
Speaking of this, Chen Yaozuo said unceremoniously: "If Kou Ji hadn't coaxed my third brother into joining the army and ruined his great career, I wouldn't have sat with you to plot against him."