In the sixth year of Jianyan's reign, autumn turned to winter, and the first snowfall arrived in Tokyo.
But when the first snow comes, it is not as romantic as just snowflakes covering the ground. On the contrary, most of the snowflakes turn into snow water the moment they fall to the ground, and they do so intermittently, causing a momentary dampness and coldness to hit the body.
You must know that people are not only afraid of heat and cold, but also afraid of the process of getting hot and cold. At the same time, they also hate the inappropriate relationship between weather and temperature, and right now, it is undoubtedly the worst state.
Therefore, on the day of the first snowfall, the bustling Tokyo city suddenly came to a standstill. Hanfang Garden in the north of the city even posted a notice early in the morning asking spectators to pay attention to the weather. The Cuju competition was temporarily postponed indefinitely in order to keep the venue clean.
The merchants and hawkers also stayed away for a while.
Of course, all kinds of warehouses and shops with facades will definitely still be open.
In this case, it was somewhat easier for the shop assistants who were carrying food boxes, gift boxes, and even transporting food in mule carts all over the street.
That’s right, food ordering, ordering, and delivery have become popular in Tokyo in the early years. Now with the recovery of Tokyo’s population and the recovery of business, especially the attraction of the capital to the rich and powerful, it has reappeared in Tokyo again, and on a larger scale.
...This is because now not only the powerful, but also wealthy people do this. According to the proposals and arrangements of the officials, from this autumn onwards, in addition to the Imperial College, which has its own canteen, the six provinces, nine ministers and five eunuchs, the Privy Council, and the imperial camp will
The headquarters, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Martial Arts and Hanlin Academy all have officially funded free outsourced lunch services.
This is a small design with extraordinary practical effects.
For some petty officials with modest financial resources, it is really rare to be able to eat delicious food from a real store during working hours. Some people even skip breakfast altogether because of this... which can be regarded as improving their centripetal force to a considerable extent.
and work efficiency; at the same time, various stores are also very happy to compete for this qualification. You must know that once a certain dish or certain snacks are made on a large scale, the cost will also be greatly reduced, and the merchants will not because of this
The so-called bidding price is too low to be profitable.
In addition, regular restaurants that own this business tend to have a better overall reputation and more prosperous business because of this business. Many wealthy families want to be the first to use the same dishes as the bosses, so that a kind of reputation has arisen.
It's a subscription business... It depends on who sells it to the provincial government and the Privy Council on that day. In the evening, servants from powerful people will come to order this kind of takeaway.
There are even rumors that the Zhao Guan family will randomly draw lots to choose a main store that participates in outsourcing, and have lunch delivered directly to Shiting in the harem... Many main store helpers keep saying that they have delivered meals to Yiyoumen.
...And this kind of food is basically priceless.
It sounds like it's real.
But no matter what? This is a very effective method used by the imperial court to win people's hearts when the finances are not rich enough.
But there are also troubles with this kind of thing? Those are the main stores that have outsourced the imperial government offices? Usually, only in the morning will the imperial ban directly notify the store of the results of the temporary lottery decision? These stores only know that they have to pay for the specific details at noon when they come to them.
Which yamen provides services.
So? As soon as noon arrives, the streets are full of meal delivery mules carrying the imperial banners. Even the prime minister’s guard of honor has to be avoided. Otherwise, the reputation of so-and-so for treating his colleagues and subordinates harshly will soon spread.
According to unreliable rumors, an official from a large county who was originally scheduled to go to Beijing was kicked out to Guangnan West Road because he blocked the lunch cart of the staff and made the entire staff drink half-cool batter soup.
.
It was a joke, and not many people really believed it, but it spread anyway, and it did attract the attention of officials who came to Beijing - this rule had only been implemented for more than half a month, and it was said that officials from outside had dinner together in the main store, and supplemented their food, including
In Wuyue Guanguan, there is an unspoken rule that you can only use the food after noon.
In the evening of that day, the snow kept falling. Lin Jingmo, the minister of household affairs, returned home from the public house. He was thinking about whether to let his family order a piece of sweet and sour fish for lunch. Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered, he smelled the smell of the nephew of the head of the house.
He came to report that he was a family friend of the Lin family. Mei Quer, the nephew of the Mei family in Jiangning, came after lunch and had been sitting there all afternoon... Lin Shangshu was startled for a moment, then he immediately woke up and asked his nephew to order sweet and sour fish.
At the same time, he quickly asked the junior named Mei to come over.
It turns out that Lin Shangshu, a family friend, was born as a Jinshi in the third year of Jianyan. And that group of Jinshi was the result of the first large-scale recruitment of scholars after Zhao Guan's family ascended the throne, and it is particularly conspicuous in the current political map of the imperial court.
Not to mention anything else, in just three years, three people have already become number one figures in the court.
One of them is Hu Quan, who has mastered the increasingly large and powerful Dibao system. He has a humble and powerful position, is vaguely as famous as Hu Yin and Hu Hongxiu, and is known as the Three Hus (of course, there are also those who say the Four Hus, but Hu Yin's younger brother).
Hu Hong forced his way in)...This person's actions can directly affect the government's affairs.
Secondly, Yu Yunwen, who is also a low-ranking and powerful man, controls the Department of Military Statistics, which has no weak power. What is more terrible is that he has a profound background. His father is a close confidant of the then Prime Minister Zhang Jun. Of course, he himself can be regarded as Zhang Jun.
He is a direct descendant of Jun, and his father-in-law is Zhang Rong, one of the commanders... Speaking of which, Xiao Yu Tanhua is theoretically a subordinate of Lin Shangshu.
As for the last person, of course it was Zhao Boyao, the number one scholar in that period. He himself was from a distant branch of the clan and was the legacy of his father-in-law, Xianggong Wang. Now he has already ended his experience as a general judge in Zhengzhou and returned to the center. And Yi Yi
Now that the imperial court is simplifying various positions and turning them into real ones, this person should be directly worshiped as a scholar or simply a bachelor, and then write history while raising his reputation in front of the official family. His future is better than that of Hu Quan.
, Yu Yunwen also needs to be stable, and it is rare for someone to have an upright career.
As for Yue Fei and Qu Duan of the same period, let’s not mention it.
As for Mei Maoxiu, who was ranked second in the second class, as a family friend of Lin Xueshi, he was certainly one of the best. He was appointed as a judge for the Wuwei Army that day. Later, due to manpower and expertise issues, he was dismissed when Lu Yihao was in charge of the affairs of the two Zhejiang provinces.
In the past, Lin Shangshu, who was still Xiaolin's bachelor, directly recommended him and became a first-term official. Now he has served for three years, but he was named by Zhao Guan's family personally, and he was transferred back to the capital after this big personnel transfer.
Of course, I am afraid that the participation of this Lin Shangshu is indispensable... Therefore, in any sense of secular officialdom, this person can be regarded as a figure in Lin Shangshu's circle, or the kind of person who serves as a political resource for each other.
It is unusual for this person to visit Lin Jingmo after entering Beijing and going through the official procedures.
Without further ado, the two parties met in the hall, served hot tea with ginger juice and milk skin, and took their seats. Although Mei Tiju was young and promising, with a temperament that did not belong to a scholarly family, Lin Shangshu had experienced many years of internal production, plus
After all, he has a better temperament after being appointed as an envoy... The two chatted for a few words, and they didn't fall into the common sayings. They just talked about the scenery of their hometown, local anecdotes, weather and seasons, literature and poetry.
However, all things considered, the two of them are also standard bureaucrats, and they are on the same political party with each other, so they can't avoid getting down to business.
"Public opinion in the South is quite different from that in the Central Plains. Can anyone talk about the political situation of the country?" Lin Shangshu, who was sitting at the main table and holding a cup of hot milk tea, asked casually.
Mei Tiju thought for a moment, but also laughed: "Let Uncle Shi know that Li Xianggong (Li Gang) can't control what he says when he is there, not to mention that the Taoist lineage now mostly goes to the famous mountains and rivers in the south to establish themselves, and Baima Shaoxing
After the incident, the number of officials who returned home from all over the country was also the largest in the south... Even Lu Xianggong (Lu Yihao) couldn't control so many people, so how could he not talk about the country and ignore the political situation? "
"What did you say?"
"Borrowing temples, wealthy merchants, and relatives to issue loans, and collecting deposits from these people. After the deposits were enlarged and handed over to the servants, people all over the south immediately said that this was actually King Wang Shu's young crop loan reappearing in the world, but the officials knew that the servants were unreliable.
It’s just that we have chosen the original loan sharks from the private sector to work together to issue youth loans... We are still taking advantage of the people, and we are still suspected of losing control and causing disaster." Mei Tiju quickly responded and introduced. "But..."
"What do you think, my nephew?" Lin Shangshu suddenly interrupted the other party, and then sat back and sipped tea. "What does your nephew think of their discussion?"
Mei Maoxiu hesitated for a moment, but finally spoke seriously: "My nephew's views are actually similar to theirs. It's still Qingmiao Loan, but the officials have some new ideas. They know that purely using the government will not work, so they supervise the private sector. And since he is the governor,
If the supervision of this kind of thing is weak, or the government and the people collude, it is destined to get out of control in the past... However, my nephew believes that even so, it must be done, and it cannot be neglected, especially when the country has to do things, and the finances are indispensable.
need."
Lin Shangshu nodded, noncommittal, and became more and more serious: "What about this matter? Are there any other big issues in the south?"
"Besides this matter, of course, there was the great debate that arose after the imperial dynasty destroyed Xixia." Mei Maoxiu immediately responded. "But regarding this matter, the discussion process in the south was divided into three parts because of the news from the front..."
Lin Shangshu smiled when he heard the words, as if he understood instantly.
However, Mei Liqing knew that her uncle's inner beauty had woken up, but she still had to laugh and continue talking:
"At the beginning, the imperial court suddenly launched troops in the northwest. Naturally, the whole Jiangnan was worried, and academies everywhere were beating their chests, worried that the officials would lose the victory of Yaoshan in one day; then, the imperial court suddenly swept across the northwest, not only taking Xixia
, will also make an alliance with Jinhebo, but it caused the upper and lower voices to be silenced. Many people directly followed the di report and changed the direction of the wind. They bluntly said that the officials and the court were strategizing, but they were clever and ineffective. The soldiers and horses of the imperial camp were also elite enough to be able to ride Jurchen armor.
But later, after the reorganization of the Northwest Three Roads, the population of Xixia was only 3 million, and the number of 60,000 to 70,000 standing troops was published by the Di newspaper, plus... plus the subsequent Shanghe incident, Yang Zheng case... they
He also said that Xixia was not as powerful as the Puppet Qi. When the Jin people retreated to gather strength, the imperial court took advantage of the opportunity and stepped in. Once successful, it does not mean that the military of the dynasty was strong enough to be on par with the Jin people. But in this way
The argument itself is actually weak... because the posters in their own academy all say that if Xixia is so weak, how come it could not be conquered for hundreds of years before?"
"These people!" Lin Jingmo shook his head and laughed after hearing this. "It's not that they are unintelligent, it's not that they are unfaithful, and it's not that they don't have integrity and virtue. It's just that they don't know much about military affairs. They thought war was as ridiculous as they thought... But
This is not to blame them. How can one understand war without experiencing war? Who dares to say that Hu Shangshu today does not know how to fight? The key is that these people were timid and unwilling to follow the officials to face difficulties at the beginning.
It just got further and further away, and finally it became meaningless.”
"What Uncle Shi said is true." Mei Yue responded at the time, but responded seriously. "However, these discussions have given rise to some matters... It is said that Li Xianggong took the lead and hoped to set up a private newspaper in the south, but he did so under the guise of
The banner of exchanging Taoism was only suppressed by Xianggong Lu... However, Xianggong Li persevered and was said to have written directly to the court asking for a national newspaper ban, so that he could establish a southern newspaper system."
Lin Jingmo hesitated for a moment, then laughed again, but changed the subject directly: "Do you know about Yuan Sheng giving the Pingxia congratulations to the officials from Dongxiao Palace in Hangzhou?"
"Of course we know that Yuan Sheng is young after all... After two years in Dongxiao Palace, he can't stand it any longer." Mei Yue tried her best to smile. "Even the relatives of the emperors in Nanyang and Yangzhou were also in commotion.
Please return to Tokyo?"
Lin Jingmo laughed: "The official returned it as is, and so did the official in Nanyang. The official in Yangzhou actually said a few good words, which gave Empress Dowager Yuanyou a lot of face."
Plum oak finally fell silent.
Anyway, as a newly promoted official who only briefly met Zhao Guan's family during the palace examination, although he has heard many stories about his own emperor, he always uses reason to remind himself that those stories are unavoidable and exaggerated to a certain extent. And this
At that time, facing an important minister of Lin Shangshu's level, who had such a good relationship with his family, and told royal secrets of this level personally, he had to face an incredible reality, that is, this official
As expected, I am an official who dares to speak and do things without scruples - it would be too unscrupulous to smash his brother's congratulatory form directly in front of his face.
And when he came to the capital this time, he most likely wanted to stay in the capital to work, and in all likelihood he would have to sacrifice others, and then face this unscrupulous official head-on.
Or even more directly, why did you come to see your uncle today? Don't you expect the other party to give you some advice on how to face the current emperor as a former confidant of the official family and an important minister of the imperial court today?
In fact, Shangshu Lin is indeed teaching.
"Good nephew." Lin Jingmo saw this and continued to speak seriously. "Do you know where the imperial court will use you when you come to Beijing?"
"It should be about trade, right?" Mei Qu came to her senses and replied quickly. "Since the imperial court opened the two major cities of Lanzhou and Hetao, it naturally wanted to create a general manager here in the central household department to connect the Western Regions, grasslands, Nanyang, and Japan.
Goryeo... placed China in the middle and handed over its interests, handed over its interests and restricted its movement, and then besieged the Jurchen captives. My nephew thought..."
"That's right and well said." Lin Jingmo nodded slightly. "But there is no need to elaborate here. I am the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Sooner or later, these words of yours will be turned into official documents and sent to my desk in the Ministry of Revenue.
Go up... you can just leave it until the interview... Remember, say what you have to say, say what you know, don't make false guesses, and deliberately flatter. Although officials may occasionally get ahead of themselves, they are fundamentally smart and powerful.
, understand everything.”
Upon hearing this, Mei Ti's heart moved, and he instinctively stood up immediately and bowed in the hall.
At the same time, when Lin Shangshu saw this, he just picked up the milk tea that had cooled down, took a sip, and suddenly waved his sleeves: "Our families are family friends, and your uncle and my eldest brother are close friends and relatives by marriage, but I
Now that I have become the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the secret cabinet, you are a newcomer who has returned to the capital to confirm your appointment. Before being appointed, it is difficult to keep you at home to raise suspicion. You wait in the front hall until your younger brother comes back.
After a portion of sweet and sour fish, please return to the official post as soon as possible to wait for the imperial edict."
Mei Li was caught off guard when she heard this, and even panicked... In the final analysis, although there were some obvious points raised in this exchange, the most critical issue, which is currently the so-called three major cases in the capital, the other party only mentioned one thing in a vague way.
Things, and two other major events involving the imperial camp generals, my uncle had no words at all.
If this comes up during the interview, how should I respond then?
Just telling the truth?
However, with doubts in her heart, Mei Yue did not dare to say anything, especially since the other party did not have any suggestions, so she had no choice but to suppress her uneasiness, respectfully bid farewell, and then waited for a takeaway of sweet and sour fish at the concierge, and took it back with her.
The next day, the snow stopped for a whole day, but then it started to rain again the next day, causing the humidity and cold to continue to cause trouble. And another day later, which was the last day of October, Mei Ti lifted.
Suddenly he received a summons, saying that officials were finally going to summon him.
Mei Qu didn't dare to neglect, even though she knew she might be disliked, she still couldn't help but trimmed her eyebrows according to her habit, and then went to Donghua Gate to transfer to the provincial capital... At this time, Mei Tiju knew that the official wife
I was so busy that I actually summoned five people at the same time, including Zhao Boyao, the number one scholar in the same department, Chao Gongwu, the second best scholar in the same department, in addition, Cui Tongling, the commander of the imperial camp navy who was restless, and a
Huang Tongpan from the border county came from northern Shaanxi.
Obviously, all five of them are here to review their duties, and their futures will all be decided in the face-to-face meeting. This is already very nerve-wracking.
In fact, the last two among the five were already restless, probably due to their background and the fact that they were meeting the saint for the first time, but the top three among the top three Jinshi in the same discipline were also obviously uneasy... because they were already keenly aware of
, when my group of people get together, I am afraid they will have to directly face some complex and sensitive issues.
The five of them were uneasy, but after having a working meal... it was still sweet and sour fish... When they set off together to the famous place in the harem in the afternoon, the sky gradually darkened, but intermittent snowflakes started falling again.
It is estimated that the Hanfangyuan Cuju Competition will be postponed again.
"Zhengzhou was sentenced to Zhao Boyao, Mizhou was sentenced to Chao Gongwu, Liangzhe Economic and Strategy Department promoted Wenzhou Shipping Secretary Mei Qu, Cui Bangbi, the commander of the Imperial Navy Navy, Qingzhou was sentenced to Huang Sheng..."
The summoning ceremony was extremely simple. Fan Zongyin, a bachelor of Hanlin Academy, stepped forward to check the list with the officials from the capital and province, and then led the five people to the stone pavilion. Then Lan Gui, the imperial guard of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, came forward again and called out the list one by one.
After receiving the response, he immediately turned around and reported. "Guan family, five people have arrived today!"
"It's snowing, come and sit down in the pavilion!"
When everyone heard this, they understood that it was official speech, so they hurriedly thanked him, and then entered the pavilion nervously. Under the attention of many family members, bachelors, lords, soldiers, and officers, they carefully sat down opposite Zhao Guan's house - here is the stone.
There was no cushion on the bench, but it was warm. This was not because someone had heated up the stool, but because the earth dragons under the stone pavilion and the surrounding ground were obviously burnt.
It was the first time for the five of them to come here, but they all knew about this because it was reported in the newspaper around the beginning of winter. Some people had objected... It was not that they were opposed to providing some heating facilities for this famous stone pavilion.
Instead, they objected to the use of earth dragons, because earth dragons obviously learned how to burn kangs themselves, and kang burning was brought by the Jurchens.
The Di newspaper published some remarks about "just use it as you please", starting from King Wuling of Zhao's horse riding and shooting in Hufu, and he refuted some of the opponents.
So it was known all over the world that Zhao Guan's family burned Dilong in a pavilion in the harem.
Then, it became popular throughout the North and Central Plains, and even in the South there were people who got crazy and imitated it.
Not to mention Dilong, just that the moment they sat down, the five of them almost had a tacit understanding. They secretly raised their heads together to take a peek at Zhao Guan's house where they had just dropped some documents. Then they quickly lowered their heads again and hurriedly looked at what was already under the stone bench.
The cracked slate texture... These textures have been seen and studied by countless people in the past few years, and I am afraid they will continue to be looked at in the future.
"There's no need to be so formal, and there's no need to get up. If I have a question, you can just answer it."
Zhao Jiu, who was wearing a cotton robe, was certainly aware of the small movements of the five people opposite him, but after seeing too much, he was too lazy to complain. "Winter should have already entered before Bo Yao set off from Zhengzhou. Do you know if the people along the way were feeling cold or discouraged?"
?”
"The officials are joking!" Uncle Zhao was startled and quickly raised his head to answer seriously. "Zhengzhou is said to be another state, but in fact it is almost the same as in recent times. If the people along the way here are cold and discouraged, what will happen to the world?
?”
"Yes." Zhao Jiu nodded, and then sighed slightly. "This question is a bit ridiculous. In fact, after the snowfall the day before yesterday, I even rode to Huazhou to see... Most of the lines along the Yellow River were replaced by military camps.
Villages are doing a good job of keeping out the cold, but in the surrounding cities and cities, some poor people in the cities are suffering from lack of firewood... Although Taizong of this dynasty offered help in times of need, it still bought people's hearts, but if you think about it carefully, from the poor people's side
It turns out that it was a life-saving move after all, which is commendable."
Hearing this, Zhao Boyao pretended not to hear the word "buying people's hearts" and just complimented him: "The officials have this intention, which can be said to be the same strain."
But Zhao Guanjia immediately became solemn: "Bo Yao, the thing is like this. After the fall of Xixia, the historical materials were also confiscated. I intend to make you a Hanlin bachelor and leave you to compile "History of Xixia", but apart from this, you still have to do other things."
...I will allocate some coal and grain to you, and you will patrol the area on my behalf in the past few weeks, and provide work as appropriate in order to prevent as many people from freezing to death as possible."
"This is benevolent government, I dare not obey orders!" Zhao Boyao immediately responded, but hesitantly.
"What?" Zhao Jiu certainly understood.
"Guan family." Zhao Boyao said carefully. "Whether it is compiling history or going on a relief tour, it is a first-class errand. Since I have been ordered, I naturally have nothing to say. But this time, it would be too much to directly transfer to the internal affairs department.
I'm sorry... The former Xinke Jinshi in Jingkang came back from his post and was transferred to the cabinet post, but it has never been so fast."
"What do you want?"
"I take the liberty of saying that after a few days of providing relief to the officials, they still went to the local government."
Zhao Jiu thought for a while and nodded immediately: "That's fine! It's very appropriate for you to have this intention! Judging from the results of this relief effort, if you do well, you can directly serve as the official seal of a state."
Zhao Boyao was overjoyed... Obviously, this official was very tolerant of his first number one scholar and son-in-law who died as prime minister. Of course, it was also because this number one scholar understood current affairs.
You must know that the imperial court has always been dissatisfied with the simple and crude approach of cleaning up the palaces and directly merging the two classes of scholars and bachelors. Especially this time, the new Jinshi gradually turned around. Once they were directly promoted to the rank of Shiren, bachelors and other close ministers would inevitably
There was some suspicion that he was lucky enough to be promoted, and if he simply wrote history and was idle, this official family has always been very particular about doing things, so he himself became dissatisfied first.
Therefore, it was a good start for the number one scholar to ask for a foreign post.
After saying that, Zhao Jiu looked directly at the second person: "Chao Qing."
"I'm here."
"Many people below say that you are very knowledgeable in writing. I have the intention to let you add a title to become Bo Yao's deputy. And then you decide whether you want to study history or go somewhere..."
"Chen..." Chao Gongwu never thought of choosing him. He was nervous for a moment, but he didn't dare to hesitate. "Chen really wants to write history."
"Okay!" Zhao Jiu nodded, but didn't know what to think.
"I thank you..." Chao Gongwu quickly wanted to thank him.
But at this moment, Zhao Guanjia suddenly interrupted the other party: "You are in Mizhou, do you know about Zhang Zongyan's unauthorized sending of troops this time?"
As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere inside and outside the stone pavilion suddenly came to a standstill.
Let's say that the three most talked about things in Tokyo today are the so-called three major winter cases - one is the case of Pan Guozhang's nephew privately selling his share of national debt in advance; the other is the murder of Yang Zheng by Wu Jie'ai, the imperial army's rear guard.
The concubine skinning case; and the last one, and the most controversial one, was Zhang Zongyan, the commander of the imperial camp right army Zhang Jun, who crossed the Yellow River without permission to send troops in October, and was defeated by Wang Bolong of thousands of Jurchen households in the Shang River of Dizhou.
A case of failure.
Of the three cases, the first one was a personal financial obsession, but also involved relatives and national debts, while the latter two simply involved the most sensitive imperial camp and commander-in-chief, and may very well affect the basic policies of the imperial court in the past two years... No
One is simple. And there are arguments in every case. Even in the case of Yang Zheng, someone used his contribution to pacifying Xixia to plead for mercy, let alone Zhang Zongyan.
However, at the same time, it is true that the principal culprits in the three cases have all been imprisoned, and that there are corresponding opinions calling for severe punishment in each case.
And this matter is also the topic that the local officials who come to resign this time are most afraid of.
"Your Majesty." Chao Gongwu was nervous, but he quickly answered. "Of course I know about Zhang Zongyan's dispatch of troops and horses, and the acquisition of supplies. Mizhou has provided him with civilians and ordnance stocks early, and not only do I know about it, the entire Jingdong
Not many people don't know... But Chen and Liu Zhizhou only thought he was... he was..."
"What is he?" Zhao Jiu frowned and urged.
"He was fighting for supplies with the imperial navy on behalf of the imperial army. Who would have thought that he would take the initiative to cross the river to attack Dizhou?" Chao Gongwu lowered his head to face each other. "But now that I think about it carefully, I was confused at the time...
…With the military exploits of the imperial camp’s front army, left army, rear army, and cavalry on the Western Front, it is unusual for Zhang Zongyan to be unable to restrain himself. He should have taken precautions against such behavior long ago... This is my dereliction of duty.”
Zhao Jiu did not comment and looked directly at Cui Bangbi: "Commander Cui, where are you?"
"I and others from the Royal Camp Navy Department think so." Cui Bangbi immediately responded. "After Li Tongzhi (Li Bao) learned that Laizhou's military supplies inventory had been emptied, he almost wanted to merge with the Royal Camp Right Arms... This matter
Your Majesty should know."
Zhao Jiu shook his head again after hearing the words: "Actually, I can't blame you for this matter. It's easy to guess his mentality, but even if he guessed it, who would have thought that he would be so bold? Yaoshan ruined so many imperial soldiers for nothing.
A lot of the morale that was built up later was drained in vain.”
Not to mention the few young people who reported their work, the surrounding ministers were also silent... Zhao Guan's family clearly meant that he would be dealt with severely.
"As for you, Huang Tongpan, you are an old acquaintance of Hu Shangshu and Wu Dutong, and you have been neighbors with Yang Zheng for several years. Do you know the attitude towards Yang Zheng in northern Shaanxi?"
"Of course..." Upon hearing this, Judge Huang Tong instinctively stood up and wanted to speak. When he saw the official's calm face, he was startled and immediately changed his words. "Of course, most of them wanted to beg for mercy, and they all said that the official
Killing a hero for a woman is too much, and Hu Shangshu is too harsh."
Zhao Jiu nodded, still noncommittal. In fact, he had made up his mind on these three cases from the beginning, and he had already made up his mind on the Yang Zheng case. It was just to see if the person named Huang was honest.
And whether this person reacted or was really honest, he didn't need to delve into it.
After thinking about this, Zhao Guanjia looked at the last person again: "Mei Tiju...I heard that you translated a foreign miscellaneous book? What is going on? Can you learn a language in two years?"
When it was his turn, even though he had rehearsed it thousands of times in his mind, Mei Yue was still extremely nervous. What's more, he never thought that the official would ask about this matter, but he still kept in mind his uncle's reminder and told the truth:
"In order to let the officials know that when I was young, my father was working in Quanzhou. At that time, my house was next to the cannibal store. I learned some cannibal language. Later, I was promoted to the shipping department and came into contact with them again. Although the writing is
I can recognize it, but I can no longer hear it clearly, so I used this as an exercise to regain my former diary..."
Zhao Jiu nodded repeatedly and asked again: "You are in Wenzhou, next to Fujian. Is there still a lot of infanticide custom there?"
Mei Li became increasingly panicked, but she still followed Lin Shangshu's reminder and continued to tell the truth: "Not much has changed."
"Why is infanticide so prominent in Fujian?" Zhao Jiu's expression remained unchanged.
"So that the officials know that there are many people in Fujian, and the family's property is limited. Once more children are born, even the scholar's family can't raise them, so they just drown at that time... For example, Hu Shangshu (Hu Yin) back then
He almost drowned, but was saved by Professor Hu (Huan Guo)."
"Hu Yin?"
"yes."
"Then going north... do you think there is any difference in people's livelihood between the south and the north?"
"..."
"Why don't you speak?"
"Reporting back to the officials, there are differences between the north and the south... People in the south are more concerned about the importance of taxes, while people in the north are more concerned about the lack of materials."
"That's right." Zhao Jiu finally sighed with emotion. "The north has experienced wars, military settlements, and farm transfers. The main problem is how to restore production when the population decreases. This is not something that Tokyo can change by bringing together the best of the country; the south has
On the other hand, with too many people and heavy taxes, the main conflict is how to maintain survival... But the most important point is that the people in the north and the south still have a difficult life, but some people only care about military achievements and only feel that they will be destroyed.
Xixia, with a population of three million, is just like that. There are still people who have always made old mistakes since they were born, always asking for more... As everyone knows, the reason why the people did not immediately rise up to rebel again is that in the south, it was suppressed.
For a few days, I had fear in my heart. To the north, it was like having ten rooms and nine empty rooms at one time, so my tolerance level was just a little higher."
Whether it was Mei Quer or Zhao Bo Yao, these five people either had good connections or were related people. Each of them thought of something, but they just didn't dare to say anything.
The surrounding officials are even more certain that the Zhao Guan family is determined to deal with the three major cases severely.
After a pause, Zhao Guanjia asked again: "Are there still people in the south who are abandoning their land?"
"Yes, but compared with the previous two years, there are very few." Mei Qu became more honest.
"Over at the Shipping Department, Xianggong Lu came to report that he would set up a fragrant medicine shop to specialize in selling fragrant medicines. Do you think it will be beneficial?" Zhao Guan's family didn't have time to ask.
"It should be possible... Fragrant medicines are mostly sought after by wealthy people. If the price is slightly increased, there should still be some extra profit."
"Approximately how much?"
"I would venture to guess that if they were installed everywhere, there would be an increase of two to three hundred thousand yuan a year, and then it would increase year by year, and finally stop at the upper limit of about five hundred thousand yuan."
"It's quite a lot. The previous income of the Shipping Department was only 12.33 million yuan."
"Yes... but the imperial court's annihilation of Xixia, communication with the Western Regions, and the addition of grassland tea horses will be helpful to the country's overall commerce. It is impossible to say that in the next few years, the Shipping Secretary Jinyi will not only use fragrant medicines, but also
It will go up a bit.”
"The country's current priority is still finance..." Zhao Guanjia nodded, obviously deeply impressed by this man's honesty and extremely satisfied. "The Ministry of Revenue, Lin Shangshu, recommended you because you are a rare person who understands the basics of finance and business. I
I'm honest with you when I see you today... I'll take up my post first, and then go back and write down a plan on how to connect business between the east, west, north, south, and make some progress for the country!"
"I will obey your orders."
"Cui Qing... you first add the title of deputy commander, and then go back and tell Li Bao, saying that I know what he means, but now the navy needs money to expand, and I can't just change it, so that he can calm down."
."
"Here!"
"Huang Qing..."
Zhao Guanjia nodded and was about to continue speaking, but unexpectedly, Yang Yizhong hurried over among the thin snowflakes on the other side, with a stern look on his face. He directly handed a box to Lan Gui and whispered briefly. Lan Gui hesitated for a moment.
However, he immediately interrupted Zhao Guan's summons and bowed to present the box.
Zhao Jiu felt strange in his heart, but he still went to look at it on the stone table. But as soon as he opened the box, before he had time to open the silk inside, Senior Officer Lan next to him had no choice but to carefully explain:
"It was Emperor Taishang Daojun who sent a congratulatory note to congratulate the Guan family for the destruction of Xixia... It was probably because Emperor Taishang Yuansheng sent a congratulatory form that Emperor Taishang Daojun knew about it, but he didn't know that the Guan family had been returned.
"
Zhao Jiu was startled for a moment, and then became furious. He didn't even read the contents, and didn't care that there were five ministers reporting their duties in front of him and countless ministers around him. He took out the silk from the box and tore it with all his strength.
However, the silk was tough and the Zhao Guan family was a waste. It didn't tear it apart for a while, so he simply reached out and took out a sharp dagger from somewhere under his waist, and then placed the congratulatory note on the stone table.
I scratched it all over.
Then, after Zhao Guanjia took a deep breath, he stuffed the messy silk fragments in his hand back into the box, and then handed it to the already frightened Senior Officer Lan beside him: "Still the old rules, send it back as it is! By the way, talk to the Shaolin Temple again
I have to ask the monks, why didn’t Taishang Daojun and Emperor study Buddhism in depth without chanting sutras and praying? Why did they still use pen and ink?! I wiped out Xixia and did other stupid things?! One or two,
Everyone comes to congratulate?!"
The five ministers in front who had been serving as local officials and soldiers were already stunned, but they were all stunned and did not dare to say a word.