The three members of the Zhengshitang have expressed their stance, and naturally other civil servants have also followed suit.
The military officials hesitated for a long time, and finally expressed their stance.
In the end, nearly 80% of the civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty supported Li Zhaoliang's appointment as king.
Seeing this, Zhao Zhen thought about it and said, "Even so, I'll let Li Aiqing go to the Western Regions."
What can Li Zhaoliang say?
Can you refuse?
Can't refuse.
Because he will be granted the title of king sooner or later, and now that he has refused, Zhao Zhen is concerned about him. The next time he is granted the title, the realm may be even worse.
It is not that there were no places in the Song Dynasty with worse environment than the intersection of Qingtang and Yuanshan.
For example, the location in the far east of the Song Dynasty, outside the territory where the Wei Dynasty once occupied, was a place with a very harsh environment.
"My minister, Li Zhaoliang, is willing to die for the officialdom."
Li Zhaoliang bowed solemnly.
Since I have to agree, I have to say it beautifully.
Zhao Zhen nodded with satisfaction and ordered: "Zhongshu Sheren, Cao Zhao, made Li Zhaoliang the king of Xishan County, and the fiefdom was Nagqu..."
Naqu is the place name of a Qingtang territory at the intersection of Qingtang and Yuanshan.
After Li Zhaoliang heard Zhao Zhen's words, he said respectfully: "Your Majesty, Li Zhaoliang, accept the order to express my gratitude..."
Zhao Zhen stroked his hands and said, "Pingshen..."
After Li Zhaoliang straightened up, Zhao Zhen said again: "Zhongshu Sheren, Cao Zhao, moved Yongning Army General Chen Yaozi to the Ministry of War, and was granted the title of Duke of Qin, with a first-class title..."
Chen Yaozuo thanked him on behalf of Chen Yaozi.
Zhao Zhen announced the dismissal of the court.
Added another sentence.
"Fourth brother stays..."
Seeing that Zhao Zhen had left Kou Ji behind and had something to say, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty left the Chui Gong Hall one by one.
When only Zhao Zhen and Kou Ji were left in the Chuigong Hall, as well as Chen Lin who was waiting on the side, Zhao Zhen asked Chen Lin to get a stool for Kou Ji. After Kou Ji sat down, Zhao Zhen spoke slowly.
"Fourth brother, I originally decided on Chen Yaozi, and fourth brother knows this. Why did fourth brother propose in court today that Li Zhaoliang go to Nagqu?"
Kou Ji said frankly: "I didn't think anything was wrong at first, but after thinking about it carefully, I realized something was wrong.
Although Chen Yaozi had the ability to cross Yang Yang with a hundred steps, the Chen family was from a scholarly family.
Most of the children in the family study literature and less martial arts.
If he were alive, it would be okay to sit in Nagqu.
If he dies, the scholars of the Chen family may not be able to keep the music.
The Li family is different.
The Li family is a family of generals, and many of their children practice martial arts and are proficient in the art of war.
Most of the people in the clan also have some martial arts skills.
If they guard Nagqu, they can ensure the stability of our Song Dynasty border."
Zhao Zhen thought about Kou Ji's words, nodded and said: "The Yuanshan tribe has absorbed the Qingtang and Heihan people, and its strength will inevitably increase dramatically. It is indeed necessary to send someone who is good at fighting to guard the Yuanshan tribe.
Fourth brother is still thoughtful."
Kou Ji smiled and said: "The official's words are serious."
Zhao Zhen slapped his thigh and said: "Then the matter is settled. But I see that Li Zhaoliang seems a little reluctant, and he will definitely come to you in private. Then you can talk to him carefully."
Kou Ji nodded and said, "I understand."
Zhao Zhen continued: "It has been more than three months since the fourth brother took up the post of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Ping Zhangshi. Within three months, there has been no movement at all, and the people are now talking about it.
When is Fourth Brother going to take action?"
Kou Ji said with a smile: "I am waiting for the recruitment of troops by the Privy Council and the local selection to be completed, and I am also waiting for Liu Heng to return to the capital. If I take action now, it will be difficult for the Privy Council to recruit troops and the local selection.
Liu Heng returned to Beijing and brought back bad news.
The imperial court was bound to have a battle with Jiaozhi.
We will definitely have to prepare for the war by then.
In terms of government affairs, I'm afraid it will be abandoned halfway."
Zhao Zhen nodded slowly and said: "I have been keeping an eye on the Taxation Department recently. After Fan Zhongyan's unremitting efforts, the Taxation Department has won the tax collection rights of four more prefectures.
Now it has reached ten prefectures.
Then as long as you figure it out slowly, you should be able to win more."
Kou Ji pondered and said: "It's less than half. Fan Zhongyan still has a long way to go."
Zhao Zhen nodded and said: "There is no way to bring this matter to light, we can only do it secretly, and time naturally slows down."
Kou Jidao: "When we turn around and have our hands free, we can focus on dealing with this matter."
Zhao Zhen nodded in agreement.
The monarch and his ministers chatted for a while, and then Kou Ji left the palace.
After returning to the political hall, as soon as he entered the public room and lay down like a salted fish, Wang Zeng came to the door again.
"Mr. Kou plans to work hard today again?"
Wang Zeng was very dissatisfied with Kou Ji's current way of running errands.
Kou Ji glanced at Wang Zeng and said in a neutral tone: "Didn't you see my role in the court today? If you can't solve the problem, I will come forward.
If you can solve it, what else should I do?"
Wang Zeng glared at Kou Ji, "You have so many big things to do. If you don't do it now, why don't you wait until you get older? I'm afraid you will be powerless by then."
Kou Ji raised his eyebrows and said, "Does everyone think that I will do big things after taking up the post of Ping Zhangshi under Tong Zhongshu? Can't I stay in this position for retirement?"
Wang Zeng said angrily: "I'm not an outsider, do you need to use such words to prevaricate me?"
Seeing that Wang Zeng was angry, Kou Ji smiled dryly and said: "When it's time to take action, I will naturally take action. But now is not the time."
Wang Zeng glared fiercely and said, "I'm afraid I won't be able to wait until that time."
Kou Ji smiled and said: "It's coming soon..."
Wang Zeng snorted coldly, took out a memorial from his sleeve, handed it to Kou Ji, and said angrily: "What Li Di handed over, Xiang Cai and I can't solve it, take a look."
Kou Ji took the memorial, glanced at it briefly, and said in astonishment: "The officials that Hexi Prefecture needs have not been solved yet?"
Wang Zeng said: "All the people who can be transferred from the government and the public have been transferred to Liao. There are still nearly 3,000 official positions vacant in Liao, so we can still mobilize people for Li Di."
Kou Ji knew some things, so Wang Zeng didn't say them.
Today in the Song Dynasty, there is really a shortage of officials.
Nearly half of the places in the Liao region are under military control, and the demand for officials has plummeted. As a result, there are still more than 3,000 vacancies for officials in the Liao region.
Kou Ji pondered for a while and said: "After you go to court, go to each government to see the disciples and disciples of each government, see if there are any who can serve as deacons, and persuade them to let each government release people to Hexi and Liao.
.”
Wang Zeng sighed and said: "I have tried to persuade him before, but it has no effect at all."
Kou Ji snorted coldly and said, "There are talented people in the house, but they are unwilling to be used by the country. Each one of them still claims to be loyal and brave in front of the officials. How can they be considered loyal and brave?"
Wang Zeng said in a deep voice: "The reason they keep those people is to allow them to take part in the imperial examination and take the official path to become officials."
Kou Ji said calmly: "Then go and tell them that if they don't come up with half of them, then their family's retainers and disciples will never even think about taking part in the imperial examination.
Let them stay in their respective mansions and waste their time."
Wang Zeng stared at Kou Ji in astonishment and asked, "Do you still dare to suspend the imperial examination? I have a shortage of officials in the Song Dynasty. If you suspend the imperial examination, it will be terrible."
Kou Ji said calmly: "Suspending the imperial examination is the authority of the officials. I don't dare to overstep the authority. But I will ask the officials to serve as the chief examiner of the four or five imperial examinations, right?"
If their children take part in the imperial examination, I won’t admit any of them, that’s fine.”
Wang Zeng said in a deep voice: "If you really do this, you will offend all the civil servants of the dynasty."
Kou Ji asked: "Can they take away my Kou family's throne?"
Wang Zeng shook his head, "Can't..."
"Then what am I afraid of them for?"
Kou Ji asked again.
Wang Zeng had nothing to say.
Kou Ji continued: "I am the head of civil servants. They should be afraid of me, not me afraid of them."
Wang Zeng thought for a moment and said solemnly: "If they join forces to embarrass you, it will be difficult to implement your decree."
Kou Ji yawned and said, "If they are not afraid of my substitution, then let them do whatever they want."
"Can you still replace all the civil servants of the dynasty?"
"The total number of my grandfather's disciples and my disciples has long exceeded a thousand. There are countless outstanding ones among them. Do you think I can replace them all?"
They were used to all their faults, and even if they were asked to contribute some people to the court, they would not do anything.
He shied away from the left and shied away from the right, and dared to embarrass the court.
Do you really think that everything in the court must be done according to their own temperament? Who do they think they are?
They always look down on those warriors, but in my eyes, they are far less loyal and brave than the warriors.
When the imperial court needed people, the military officials sacrificed their clansmen without hesitation.
What about them?
No one took the initiative to send their children to Liaodi or Hexi.
Is this what they call loyalty and bravery?”
"..."
After Kou Ji finished speaking, Wang Zeng was speechless.
Kou Jileng hummed and said: "The imperial court values talents, but it does not mean that talents can negotiate conditions with the imperial court. If you have to negotiate conditions with the imperial court for everything, then what is the imperial court? Is it a vegetable market?
You go back and tell them my words intact. If they don't send half of their children out.
Then let them wait to provide for those children in their old age.
By the way, I would also like to tell them that if one of their children is maimed by a child of Wu Chen’s family and it comes to court, I will definitely favor Wu Chen.”
When Wang Zeng heard Kou Ji's words, his eyes almost dropped.
Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, no one has ever so blatantly threatened the civil servants of the dynasty.
"Aren't you afraid of being infamy for eternity?"
Wang Zeng spoke subconsciously.
Wang Zeng was a scholar, so he naturally knew the nature of a scholar.
If Kou Ji had been obsessed with the civil servants of the Manchu Dynasty, he would most likely appear in all the poems and books written by the civil servants in the form of various buffoons.
Kou Ji heard Wang Zeng's words and reminded: "Mongolian learning has completely spread to every corner of the Song Dynasty. The same is true for subsequent county schools and government schools.
Pens are no longer a unique tool in their hands.
If they dare to go against the imperial court, I will compile a book, treat them as traitors, write them in the book, and then send them to schools everywhere."
Wang Zeng yelled: "You madman!"
Kou Ji snorted and said, "You know I'm a madman, and you still dare to fight with me? Are you tired of living?!"
Wang Zeng tossed his sleeves and angrily rushed out of Kou Ji's apartment.
Kou Ji is so crazy that he dares to say and do anything because of the power he has.
If only he had done this.
Ninety-nine percent of the civil servants in the court went crazy.
Half of them had to die in front of the Kou Mansion to prove their innocence.
In the end, Kou Ji also had to lose his reputation.
It's totally a method of perish together.
Although Wang Zeng was very dissatisfied with Kou Ji's words, he still followed Kou Ji's words after leaving Kou Ji's apartment.
He visited all the officials' residences and conveyed to all the civil servants word for word what Kou Ji said.
For a while.
The civil official residences in Bianjing City were wailing all over the place.
The civil officials were filled with righteous indignation and prepared to impeach Kou Ji in Chui Gong Hall.
But what a coincidence, Zhao Zhen suddenly fell ill at this time.
The civil servants were on the verge of tears.
When Zhao Zhen becomes ill, they don't even have a place to complain.
If they follow the usual practice and write a letter to impeach Kou Ji, the memorial will definitely go through Kou Ji's hands.
Kou Ji could easily knock back their memorials.
Helping Zhao Zhen select memorials is one of the functions of the Political Affairs Hall.
Just when the civil servants got together to think of ways to deal with this matter.
A rumor spread that when Kou Ji went to visit the sick Zhao Zhen, he proposed to Zhao Zhen to open Enke.
After the civil servants learned the news, they exploded instantly.
"Prime Minister, he is demonstrating! He is demonstrating to us! He is telling us that if we don't listen to him, he will really ruin the career of our descendants!"
"Prime Minister, I have never seen such an arrogant person since the founding of the Song Dynasty! When Ding Wei controlled the government, he was not so arrogant!"
"Prince Xiang, you have to make the decision for us!"
"..."
After the civil servants exploded, they all gathered at Wang Zeng's house, denounced Kou Ji, and asked Wang Zeng to come forward to uphold justice.
Wang Zeng sat on the chair in the main hall.
The civil servants were all wailing.
"Enough!"
Wang Zeng shouted angrily.
The civil servants shut their mouths instantly.
Wang Zeng glared at the civil servants and cursed loudly: "You keep asking me to make the decision for you, but tell me, how can I make the decision for you?
The official said that he was not ill, and all the affairs of the government and the public were handled by him."
The implication.
If Zhao Zhen doesn't come out, Kou Ji will be the biggest one.
No one has any temper whatever he wants to do.
"Prime Minister, we can't let him do whatever he wants. If he continues to make trouble like this, how can we do anything?"
"Yes, yes, he is acting so crazy, we can't do anything at all."
"Prime Minister, since the officials won't come out, let's go knock on the palace door. We must hand over the officials to stop Kou Ji's crazy behavior."
"..."
The civil servants shouted.
Wang Zeng glared and shouted: "I want you to go, but I won't go. I don't have the face. Although Kou Ji's move was nonsense, he was right about one thing.
That is to say, when it comes to loyalty and bravery, we cannot compare to military officials.
Now is the time for the imperial court to recruit people, and the military ministers almost did not hesitate to sacrifice their own people.
But what about us?
They hid their talented children one by one, for fear that they would be sent to Liao and Hexi.
What happened to Liaodi?
What happened to Hexi?
Isn’t it my territory of the Song Dynasty?”
"Xiang Wang, our children and disciples are not very knowledgeable. If they go out, they will only mislead others. That's why we don't allow them to serve as officials. It's not that we don't allow them to contribute to the court."
Someone shouted "Qu".
Wang Zeng shouted angrily: "Do you think I'm a stick? I don't know what the virtues of your family's disciples and disciples are like?"
Are you trying to use these words to frustrate me?
Get out of here!"
The civil servants were stunned and looked at Wang Zeng in astonishment.
Wang Zeng stood up by slamming the table and continued shouting: "Now I think Kou Ji is right. You people have been spoiled by the imperial court.
I recall that when the Song Dynasty was first established, there was no place for scholars to choose from.
Every one of them saw the vacancy and pounced on it like flies.
I was afraid that I would go late and not get a seat.
Nowadays, the Song Dynasty is more powerful and has more official positions.
Instead, you picked and chose.
I don't want to go to remote places, I just want to stay in the hinterland of the Song Dynasty and enjoy the happiness.
You don't want your children to go to remote places because you think there is no future.
Then I will tell you that you should give up this idea as soon as possible.
In view of your insatiable greed, I decided to appeal to the officials. When I send officials again in the future, all Jinshi who come from official families will be sent to remote places.
If you are not willing to go, then you will be stripped of your honors and will not be allowed to be employed for the rest of your life."
At the end of the sentence, Wang Zeng almost shouted, "I let you choose, I let you choose! Get out of here!"
Under Wang Zeng's roar, the civil servants fled the palace in despair.
After they left the palace, they got together and went straight to Cai's mansion.
As soon as he arrived at the gate of Cai's mansion, he saw Cai Qi's youngest son leading a group of children of the same age and going out with their registration certificates.
"Where do you gentlemen plan to go?"
A civil servant hurriedly came forward to inquire.
Cai Qi's youngest son bowed and said, "According to my father's order, I took my brothers from the clan to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to register their names."
After Cai Qi's youngest son said this, he bowed his hands to the civil servants and left their eyes.
The civil servants' faces turned pale for a moment.
The three prime ministers and assistants of Zhengshitang are actually of the same mind.
They were determined to draw blood from every house.
The civil servants could not find any hope of resistance.
"What...what should we do now?"
"Let the incompetent disciples and the incompetent children of the family go to Liaodi and Hexi?"
"We cannot give in. If we do, there is no guarantee that Kou Ji will not have to use this method to deal with us again."
"But if we don't give in, we will have to face Sanzai and possibly the officials."
"If we are targeted by the four of them, our career will be over."
"..."
"Everyone, I have decided to hand over my children and take my leave."
"Brother Mingyi, wait for me..."
"..."
The civil servants immediately dispersed in pursuit of each other.
They can work as officials in Bianjing City, and their sense of smell is very keen.
Now that San Zai is united, Zhao Zhen falls ill again by coincidence.
Everything is a foregone conclusion.
Resistance is futile.
Instead of struggling and being pinned to the ground and beaten to death, it is better to just give in.
The children in the family, integrity, and reputation are not as important as their high-ranking officials.
Being in the center of power, they understand better than anyone else what power represents.
The civil servants returned to the government one after another, selected the disciples and disciples in the government, wrote a list, and sent them to the Ministry of Personnel for registration.
Just three days.
The Ministry of Personnel included more than a thousand scholars recommended by various prefectures.
Although there are not many talented people among them.
But the imperial court's requirements for officials in Liao and Hexi were also not good.
So they barely work together.
With the addition of more than a thousand new troops, the demand for officials in Hexi and Liaodi will be greatly alleviated.
After Kou Ji received the list of names reported by the officials, he sent some of them to Hexi with a stroke of his pen, and sent some of them to Hexi, while the rest of them were assigned to the Liao region.
Except for magistrates and magistrates, the requirements for other levels of officials in Liao were not high.
Just keep the place in order and be able to go to the garrison for help when critical.
As for governing the place, they are not needed at all.
As long as there are no natural disasters in Liaodi, it will be fine as long as we continue to operate as we did last year.
After the three million soldiers and horses recruited by the imperial court were completely settled in Liao, local grassroots officials would be needed to implement the imperial decree.
Among the three million soldiers and horses currently recruited by the imperial court, the first two million soldiers and horses recruited have just arrived in Liao Dynasty and are being distributed to local areas.
The remaining one million is still being recruited.
After they were all assigned to various parts of Liao, they participated in the work, and saw the vast land resources of Liao, as well as the harvest results of the people who were the first to move to Liao.
They will inevitably take root in Liao and find ways to write letters to their families and tribesmen to move there.
At that time, Liaodi will need local grassroots officials the most.
This process can take anywhere from two to three years to one year.
The imperial court could take advantage of this gap to train qualified local grassroots officials.
It is precisely because of this that Kou Ji divided officials into Liao territories very arbitrarily.
What is surprising is that after Kou Ji assigned officials and sent people to send them to their posts, Zhao Zhen recovered without medication.
After Zhao Zhen recovered from his illness, he went to court again.
The civil and military personnel of the Manchu Dynasty were very complete.
After paying homage as usual.
Civil servants began to bombard Kou Ji.
The first person to stand up to impeach Kou Ji was Cai Qi, the political advisor.
On the Chui Gong Hall.
Cai Qi faced Zhao Zhen with a solemn expression and said loudly: "As an official report, when Kou Ji was appointed as Tong Zhongshu's subordinate Ping Zhangshi, he acted wantonly and arrogantly, which caused a lot of public resentment.
I request you to remove Kou Jitong from his post of Ping Zhangshi under Zhongshu Men!"
Although Cai Qi sent out the best children in his family and the best retainers in his house to serve as officials.
But that doesn't mean he agrees with Kou Ji's approach.
In Cai Qi's eyes, he agreed with Kou Ji's call on the children and retainers of civil servants' families to serve as officials and contribute to the prosperity of the imperial court.
But Kou Ji used threats and coercion to force the civil servants to hand over their children and retainers, and he did not agree.
So after Zhao Zhen recovered from his illness and went to court, he unceremoniously participated in Kou Ji's performance.
Cai Qi's words were like a fuse, instantly igniting the civil servants of the court.
Civil servants went out one after another to count Kou Ji's outrageous crimes.
They shouted fiercely and loudly.
Each one of them looks like a righteous man who generously serves his cause.
His face was full of tragedy and anger.
When the civil servants came out one after another to participate in Kou Ji's performance, it was halfway through.
Someone in the military ministers' queue was out of duty, and he rudely shouted at the civil servants.
"What nonsense! What nonsense! The book has been read into the dog's belly!"
Someone in the queue of warriors spoke, and others followed suit.
A wave of participation in Kou Ji's performance turned into a civil and military confrontation before it reached the end.
The Chui Gong Hall suddenly became chaotic like a vegetable market.