After Kou Ji finished speaking, Wang Zeng looked very ugly. He gritted his teeth and said, "I admit that I and the others combined are not as good as you..."
After saying this, Wang Zeng no longer concealed anything, and said fiercely: "But the imperial power must be restrained. If it is not restrained and the emperor is allowed to govern the country according to his temper, sooner or later life will be ruined.
I know that in your heart you have great admiration for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Che, for his overlord skills.
Liu Che pushed the Han Dynasty to the top, but the people did not become rich because of it.
So the Han Dynasty died because of its strength."
Kou Ji questioned: "But you took away part of the imperial power, but you didn't make the people rich. You just made yourself rich. You just took the power from the emperor, and then squeezed the emperor out of the people.
You exploit the people.
The consequences were far greater than the emperor's oppression of the people, which also led to the frequent emergence of civilian rebels.
What’s even more sad is that you have done something wrong and don’t know how to repent, but you are just trying your best to keep the broken ship of the Song Dynasty swaying forward.”
After listening to what Kou Ji said, Wang Zeng's face became even more ugly.
Wang Zeng gritted his teeth and said, "I'm different from them."
Kou Ji said unceremoniously: "You are different from them, but how many officials like you are there in the government and the public? If you are an official outside the political hall, you have done everything you can and just sit back and watch the country collapse.
, sit back and watch the moths crazily eating the Song Dynasty.
There is nothing wrong with that.
But you are the Prime Minister of the Political Affairs Hall, and you have the responsibility to reverse the current situation of the Song Dynasty.
You can't shirk it."
Wang Zeng said somewhat weakly: "I'm doing it..."
Kou Ji asked: "What are you doing? Can you give me some advice? Tell those scholar-officials who are used to eating human flesh and drinking human blood to change to vegetarianism. Do you think they will listen to you?"
You are not a childish person. You should know that if you help them eat meat and drink blood, they will listen to you. Once you go against their wishes, they will turn against you.
The officials just refused to allow them to engage in business, but they caused such a big change that they almost caused a rebellion in Bianjing City.
If you don't let them eat meat and drink blood, do you believe they will eat you alive?
I know that you, the old man, care about your family, country and the world, and do not want to see excessive killing.
But you should also understand that serious illness requires strong medicine.
Now, I don't want to discuss this with you anymore, because even if you threaten me with death, you can't change the will of me and the officials.
No one who deserves to be killed will survive.
No one who deserves to live will die.
Now I just want to know why your old man always jumped out to embarrass me after meeting me in Liaoyang Mansion?"
Wang Zeng closed his eyes in pain, gritted his teeth and said, "You and the officials have no respect..."
Kou Ji was speechless and stared at Wang Zeng.
Wang Zeng spoke again, "You and the officials have no respect for human life and must be restrained. You already hold the power of life and death for everyone in the world. If you are not restrained and you are allowed to kill freely, you don't know how many people will be killed."
He will die a violent death."
Kou Ji frowned and said, "I'm not a murderous person..."
Wang Zeng suddenly opened his eyes, glared at Kou Ji and asked: "If I didn't stop it, would the people at the gate of Jinshui Bridge who had been instigated by others survive?"
Kou Ji said frankly: "No!"
Wang Zeng said sternly: "Then you still say that you are not murderous? They were just instigated by others, and the crime will not lead to death."
Kou Ji frowned and said nothing.
Wang Zeng kept chattering: "The official is like a dragon. He moves the clouds, spreads rain, and rains down the fury of thunder. That is his power. Therefore, even if the official is more bloodthirsty, I can tolerate it."
But as a prime minister, you not only fail to restrain the officials, but are more murderous than the officials. I can't tolerate it.
When the emperor was angry, millions of people died.
Plus you, Kou Ji, are helping me, even millions of people won't be able to stop me.
Those are the common people of our Song Dynasty, not barbarians from outside the territory.
We can use the art of tyranny against the barbarians, even without hesitation to exterminate the entire family.
But for us Song people, we must always remain kind.
Those whose crimes are not worthy of death should be judged according to the law, and those whose crimes are not worthy of death must be carefully examined before killing."
Kou Ji pondered for a long time and then spoke slowly, "You go to the Ministry of Punishment. From now on, the officials and I will try not to kill people. If we want to deal with anyone, we will hand it over to the Ministry of Punishment for you to carefully check and punish according to the national law."
Although Kou Ji didn't quite agree with Wang Zeng's words, Wang Zeng's words really touched him.
He and Zhao Zhen are indeed very merciless in killing people.
Some people who have a chance to live will indeed die in their hands.
He and Zhao Zhen were indeed ruthless in order to shock the world.
It was also a good thing to have Wang Zeng watching from the side.
He and Zhao Zhen were used to killing people, and there were people who reminded them to prevent the two of them from committing any heinous crimes.
Wang Zeng heard Kou Ji's words, raised his head and said: "I have decided to beg for the bones..."
Kou Ji glanced at Wang Zeng and said calmly: "Can I let you go?"
Wang Zeng said angrily: "Can't I decide whether to stay or go?"
Kou Ji said calmly: "You can ask to go, but when the officials and I kill people in the future, we will tell the world that this is your suggestion."
Wang Zeng almost became angry and vomited blood at Kou Ji's words, "Everyone in the world knows that I am not that kind of cruel official!"
Kou Ji said calmly: "The officials printed 10 million copies of the Di newspaper and distributed them to all prefectures, counties, and villages. I think this is an industry that is beneficial to the Song Dynasty.
Therefore, the simple official family set up a book and newspaper shop to convey the current affairs of the court, important news, and the actions of the official newspaper to every common person.
The first batch of students of folk elementary education have already graduated. In the future, there will be more and more scholars in the Song Dynasty.
I believe that in the near future, everyone in the Song Dynasty will be literate.
Books and newspapers published by bookstores can be understood by everyone.
Every day I have someone publish an article in books and newspapers about you persuading officials and me to commit murder.
What do you think the effect will be?"
Wang Zeng almost vomited blood because of Kou Ji's anger. He blew his beard and roared at Kou Ji with eyes wide open, "You! You! You are shameless!"
Kou Ji seemed not to have heard Wang Zeng's words and continued: "By the way, let me tell those old pedants who want fame about this and ask them to behave obediently and stop jumping around.
Otherwise I will ruin their reputation."
Wang Zeng got up from the bed angrily and yelled at Kou Ji, "Are you going to be a powerful minister?!"
Kou Ji smiled calmly and said: "I'm not interested. Once I help the Song Dynasty get on the right track, I will leave Bianjing City and go to Han to manage my fiefdom.
My grandfather was a highly respected minister, but he decisively left the country and became a saint.
If I could follow the example of my grandfather and withdraw from the world when he was in power, I would be able to become a saint.
A sect with two saints, the Kou family is destined to be respected by people from generation to generation.
My grandfather and I are also destined to be enshrined on the altar and worshiped by endless descendants for a long time.
Compared with this, what are the powerful ministers?
When I get old and sit in the position of a powerful minister, I am destined to be targeted by all of you, and will be guarded and guarded by all of you.
I might as well step away and stand on the outside and let all of you respect me.
Although he no longer has the power in his hands, he no longer has the high rank and authority on his head.
But when everyone sees me, they have to bow and call me ancestor.
I have become an ancestor. If I ask them to do something, they will not refuse, right?
When the time comes, I can do whatever I want, which is much more interesting than being a powerful minister."
After Wang Zeng heard what Kou Ji said, he was shocked and angry.
He pointed at Kou Ji and trembled, unable to say a word.
Finally, he simply threw his body on the bed and pretended to have passed out.
A powerful minister who wants to escape from the Three Realms has no temper at all.
Kou Ji saw this and did not stay any longer. He just said to Wang Zeng, "Remember to go to the Ministry of Personnel tomorrow to sit in the office. The Minister of the Ministry of Personnel will be transferred to the Ministry of Rites later, and Chen Zhizhong, the Minister of Rites, will be transferred to the Ministry of Personnel as the Left Assistant Minister."
"I won't be your lackey!"
"When the book and newspaper come out, the first article will be written "The prince petitioned to change the establishment of commercial laws"..."
"I'm going to Han to discuss matters with Kou Zhun!!"
"Hahaha……"
"..."
Kou Ji left the palace with a big smile and ordered the groom to drive back to the Bamboo Garden.
As soon as I returned to Zhuyuan, I found that several students were there.
Everyone looked at him with admiration.
As Kou Ji led them to the study, he asked calmly: "What? There are flowers on my face?"
Zhao Run said with some excitement: "Sir, you were so majestic in the past two days. One person controlled a city, and the whole city was trembling with fear."
Kou Ji laughed and said: "Whatever prestige I have, I only rely on the prestige of the soldiers. Without the support of the soldiers, no one in Bianjing would be afraid of me."
Zhao Run immediately retorted: "That's not true... My mother-in-law said that the only people with such majesty in Bianjing are you and my father. My mother-in-law also said that since the founding of the Song Dynasty, there have been no such majestic people.
Minister, only you.
Even Zhao Pu, who was so powerful in the past, is far behind you."
Kou Ji smiled and shook his head: "Nonsense..."
Zhao Run said stubbornly: "I think my mother is right."
Kou Ji ignored Zhao Run and looked at Wang Anshi and Zeng Gong.
Wang Anshi and Zeng Gong stared at him with serious faces, their eyes full of respect.
Kou Ji smiled and said, "Have you ever had the feeling of giving birth to a real man?"
Wang Anshi said unceremoniously: "Yes!"
Zeng Gong said very humbly: "I don't dare to think about it!"
Kou Ji laughed loudly, "Whether you dare to think about it or not, don't think about it. What I do depends entirely on the trust of the officials.
If you follow my example, you will die miserably."
Wang Anshi said seriously: "I think it is Mr.'s credit that is put there, and no one dares to disrespect him."
Zeng Gong nodded in agreement.
Kou Ji smiled and shook his head. Without another word, he led them to the study room, assigned them homework, and let them study.
Kou Ji sat in his study, thinking about business laws, and at the same time paying attention to the trends outside Bianjing.
The business laws before the Song Dynasty were very simple, and most of them were ambiguous, and there were so many loopholes that could be exploited.
Kou Ji and Zhao Zhen were not so much revising business laws as reinventing business laws.
Kou Ji spent some time studying at his residence, and then went to study with officials from the Political Hall and the Ministry of Household Affairs, as well as Fan Zhongyan, the director of the Taxation Department who had been exposed.
Finally, new business laws began to be drafted.
It is worth mentioning that although Wang Zeng had a tough talk, he eventually went to the Ministry of Personnel and became the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
His position as a counselor in political affairs was still retained, but he never went to the Political Affairs Hall again, and the Political Affairs Hall became Kou Ji's sole voice.
With Kou Ji drafting commercial laws, the turmoil in Bianjing finally calmed down.
Except that some officials were beheaded and the court was completely reduced to a place for Zhao Zhen and Kou Ji to talk, there were no other changes.
Nowadays, all the civil and military officials in the dynasty have their tail between their legs, and no one should respond to what Kou Ji and Zhao Zhen said.
The city of Bianjing is calm.
But the local turmoil has just begun.
As Zhao Zhen's iron law continued to spread to the local areas, local officials and wealthy families resolutely rose up to resist.
They didn't care at all about the consequences of resisting Zhao Zhen.
Because various previous experiences have shown that as long as they unite and resist the imperial court, it will be the imperial court that finally surrenders.
However, they obviously did not clearly realize that today's court is very different from before.
The current court will not compromise with them.
They want to use rumors to incite people to cause trouble.
This is their usual trick.
People often do a lot of things for them because of the rumors they spread.
For example, gathering a crowd to cause trouble, violently injuring others, or rebelling.
After they learned about the imperial decree, they quickly spread the rumors.
But the rumor was quickly suppressed before it spread to the local area.
Pieces of Di newspapers appeared in the hands of every household, and through the mouth of the literate Meng boy in their family, they easily knew the contents of the Di newspapers.
After the common people learned that the officials were going to deal with those officials who could eat people and drink blood, they clapped their hands and stood aside decisively, watching with great interest the drama of officials being punished by the court.
No matter how incited the officials and the wealthy families behind them were, the common people never made trouble.
Finally, the officials and the wealthy families behind the officials gathered their servants and tenants, hired a group of common people, and started to make trouble together.
However, they did not wait for them to commit murder.
Local soldiers and horses entered each city with great force and quickly dispersed them.
The local inspectors were forced by local soldiers and people from the Wude Division to arrest and bring to justice the masterminds behind the troublesome people.
If the trouble between officials and the wealthy families behind them fails, they can only threaten to go on strike.
They thought that if they went on strike, local business would be paralyzed, and other industries would be greatly affected and paralyzed.
But they miscalculated.
After they went on strike, a group of red-eyed businessmen waiting to make a fortune poured into their town and took over their place to support local commerce.
They got the court's promise and signed a contract with the court.
They have escaped from the homes of powerful people.
Now is the time to flex your muscles and make a fortune for yourself. No one will give up this great opportunity to seize the market, and no one is willing to give up this opportunity to establish a wealthy family.
The first thing to be established in the local area was a grain store.
When those officials and the wealthy families behind them saw the newly established grain shops selling the old grains in Changping warehouse, they became desperate.
No matter how rich they are, they cannot be richer than the imperial court.
No matter how much they can store grain, they can't compare to the Changping Granary of the imperial court.
Not to mention that in Jiaozhi Prefecture in the southeast corner, a large amount of grain would be transported to the Song Dynasty every quarter.
After Cai Qi arrived in Jiaozhi, he temporarily put aside other government affairs and led his people to plant the grain fields that had been cultivated in Jiaozhi.
Then continue to cultivate grain fields while developing other areas.
It has been half a year since Cai Qi arrived in Jiaozhi. He has harvested one crop of grain in Jiaozhi, and the second crop is almost ripe.
Jiaozhi's grain yield is very high.
But the population is very small.
So after keeping enough food for the people of Jiaozhi for daily use, Cai Qi sold all the remaining food to the court in one fell swoop.
The price is ridiculously low.
The most important thing is that by shipping by water, the consumption is low and the freight is also low.
Therefore, after the grain from Jiaozhi entered the Song Dynasty, the grain in the Song Dynasty was unprecedentedly abundant.
Kou Ji immediately asked the local general to empty out the old grain from Changping Granary and stock up on new grain.
The newly opened grain store in the local area was selling old grain from the Changping warehouse of the imperial court, completely driving down the local grain price by half.
It also completely destroyed the thoughts of those officials and the wealthy families behind them who wanted to create a food shortage and force the court to submit.
If you have the Tao, you have food in your hands and don't panic in your heart.
The local people will not worry about hunger, let alone cause trouble under heavy patrols.
So the people lived a very comfortable life.
Salt is the official camp, food is no different from the official camp now, and the soldiers are still in the hands of the imperial court.
The common people will not do anything bad.
Local officials and the wealthy families behind them cannot cause any big troubles at all.
Occasionally, for the sake of greed for money, some idiots are instigated by local wealthy families to kill people, causing turmoil, and they will be suppressed as soon as possible.
The homes of wealthy families will be confiscated, and the family members will be distributed.
The wealthy families who dared to make trouble and instigate others to make trouble disappeared one by one.
The business share in the market is constantly being encroached upon.
The people from the tax department came out to the public and stood at the door of each wealthy family, looking at the door to check the accounts.
When the three days were up, the local soldiers and horses cooperated with the people of Wu Desi and strictly implemented Zhao Zhen's iron law.
Local officials and the wealthy families behind the officials burst into mourning.
The imperial court took this opportunity to easily put the Tax Department on the map without causing any backlash, because in this case, no one paid attention to the Tax Department.
The common people benefited from this because they saw the wealthy families who had bullied and exploited them disappear one after another.
They took back the land that was supposed to belong to them and spent some money to buy more land from the government.
Local officials and the wealthy families behind them are unlucky.
Fortunately, many local officials and the wealthy families behind them decisively chose to surrender. Otherwise, all local officials and the wealthy families behind them would have been wiped out.
The only bad thing about this turmoil is...
The officials of the Song Dynasty once again fell into a state of insufficient resources.
In the political hall.
Kou Ji held the memorial that was played on the place with a look of emotion on his face.
"The imperial court has a clear document that officials are not allowed to engage in business. From the reports submitted from the local government, it can be seen that 99% of the officials in the government and the public are engaged in business behind their backs.
In our Song Dynasty, less than 10% of the officials actually followed this system."
"Are you mocking me for turning a blind eye to this matter?"
Wang Zeng sat opposite Kou Ji, his face looking very ugly.
Kou Ji put down the report in his hand and said bluntly: "Collusion between officials and businessmen will cause endless disasters. If the government and businessmen are integrated, the country will perish. You, the capable ministers and officials, have managed the Song Dynasty for so many years, and yet you have managed a
this?
How dare you brag about what a capable minister you are?"
Wang Zeng's face turned red and he shouted in a low voice: "I have already admitted that I am not as good as you, so you don't have to use words to humiliate me anymore!"
Kou Ji asked: "Do you agree with the saying that severe cases require strong medicine?"
Wang Zeng gritted his teeth and said: "I... admit it!"
Kou Ji nodded with satisfaction and said, "Just admit it. Then don't bother me again in the future."
Wang Zeng stared and said nothing.
Kou Ji sat on the seat carelessly and asked, "Why did you come to me?"
Wang Zeng placed a document in front of Kou Ji and said sullenly: "You administered the medicine so hard that half of the local officials were taken down.
If I hadn't forgiven the sins of some of them, there might have been many more.
Nowadays, there are not enough local officials. Can you tell me what to do?"
Kou Ji pondered for a moment and said: "Send those local criminal officials who are not worthy of death to the border areas, and replace those officials with political achievements in the border areas.
In today's imperial court, the capable are promoted and the mediocre are demoted.
As long as it can help the court to stabilize the country, it doesn't matter where you are."
Wang Zeng frowned and said: "This move can only make up for the shortcomings of some low-level officials, but it cannot make up for the middle-level officials and some local officials.
There were five prefects deposed this time.
You have killed many officials in the DPRK and Central Government. Now every government office is short of personnel, and there is no possibility of being sent abroad.
There is no reasonable manpower replenishment at the local level.
You want to help Han Qi become a true leader of the house. I hold my nose and admit it.
It’s not pleasant enough.”
Kou Ji thought about it and said: "Temporarily straighten the local supervision to make up for the lack of local officials. Two governments, three prefectures, and four counties will set up three-level inspections to make up for the lack of supervision.
In this way, we should be able to squeeze out a lot of officials."
Wang Zeng mused: "If local supervision is not good, disasters may easily occur."
Kou Jidao: "Let the people from Wude Division be involved in the supervision for the time being."
Wang Zeng stared and said, "How can a bunch of lackeys from Wu Desi get involved in local supervision? In order to make meritorious deeds, those people dare to do anything, and they have no bottom line."
Kou Ji rolled his eyes, "Do you think they won't supervise if you don't allow them to get involved?"
Wang Zeng puffed his beard and said with a glare: "How can it be the same? They live behind the scenes and are just a group of lackeys. We can break their dog legs anytime and anywhere.
But when they come to the stage, they are like a pack of wolves, capable of eating people anytime and anywhere.
A group of lackeys with no bottom line are running rampant and are doing great harm to our country, the Song Dynasty."
Kou Ji said frankly: "He is eager to obey power. When the court has no shortage of officials, he will drive them back behind the scenes."
Wang Zeng said in a deep voice: "I'm just afraid that it's easier to invite gods than to send them away. Those lackeys have resorted to insidious methods and dare to do anything. They frame and frame the king, assassinate the king, and use all possible means.
Once they gain power, you will be the most dangerous one."