Prime Minister

Chapter 1254: 3 Years of No Sound (2 Updates in 1)

Chapter 1254: Three Years of No Sound (Two Updates Combined into One)

This night.

More than ten high-ranking officials of the Ming Zhang party, including Chen Mu, Cai Jing, Cai Bian, Huang Lu, and Su Song, all sat in the residence of Wang Anli, the Vice-Chancellor.

Water is dripping from the night clock outside the hall.

The maid at Wang Anli's mansion had already replaced several bowls of tea and drinks for everyone.

Wang Anli said: "According to Sun Shuxiang, the imperial court wants to abandon Xi'an Prefecture. Huaide Army will exchange one army and one prefecture for Liang Prefecture, and then give a sum of money to the Khitan Dangxiang as the cost of redeeming Liang Prefecture!"

When these words were spoken, Chen Mu, Cai Jing, Cai Bian, Huang Lu, Su Song and others were in an uproar.

Cai Jing slammed the table and stood up and said, "Instead of ceding land to others, it is better to persuade Your Majesty to complete the task in one battle and send six armies to attack Xingling directly. First eliminate this trouble and then make things difficult for the Liao Kingdom!"

When Cai Jing made this shocking statement, Huang Luxian clapped his hands and laughed, saying, "Great! That's exactly right!"

Su Che said angrily, "Go straight to Xingling, this is the talk of a madman!"

Cai Jing's eyes became stern because of Su Che's rebuttal. He and Su Che were not on good terms, and this was an open secret in Zhang Yue's staff.

Seeing that the two were about to argue, Su Song immediately took a neutral view and said, "We absolutely cannot send another six armies to conquer Xia. The time is not yet ripe."

"But Xi'an Prefecture and Huaide Army were also territories that our dynasty had acquired at a cost of countless sums of money, food, and troops. Now that they have been abandoned, we will never dare to care about border affairs again."

Cai Jing said: "There is no need to say more. We two brothers have already made our own ideas on this matter. We will know the result in a few days."

Wang Anli pushed his chair and asked, "What do you two brothers have to say?"

Su Che sneered, "I'm afraid it's some chicken-stealing or dog-stealing trick again?"

Cai Jing said with a smile: "Whether it is a chicken-stealing or dog-stealing method, we will know in a few days!"

Su Che said: "In my opinion, it is not spreading rumors or making some prophecies or storytelling, these despicable means!"

Cai Jing was mostly correct in what Su Zhe said, and said with a bit of coldness and sarcasm in his smile: "Su Ziyou, don't look down on these methods. Even the emperor avoids natural disasters, so how can the people not hear this?"

Wang Anli said: "As long as it is useful, it's fine. Don't wait until the two states are ceded and the whole court is in an uproar before making any plans."

Su Song said: "Now that the Prime Minister is not in the court, everything will be handled by the Grand Council!"

Wang Anli also felt insecure after hearing this.

After all, he and Zhang Yue were both Jinshi in the sixth year of Jiayou, and had been officials for only twenty years. In the past, he listened to his brother Wang Anshi, but later he followed Zhang Yue's lead.

In fact, he had an ambiguous attitude towards reform or not. Now he was pulled into Zhang Yue's camp. He was the deputy envoy of the Privy Council before, and now after Xue Xiang's death, he was promoted to the position of Vice Prime Minister.

However, no matter whether he was a Hanlin scholar, a deputy privy councilor or an assistant minister, neither the emperor nor the public had high hopes for him.

Only when it came to rescuing Su Shi did Wang Anli express a firm attitude.

Upon hearing this, Wang Anli said, "Xi'an Prefecture and Huaide Army must not be abandoned. I will do my best to deal with this matter."

Everyone said happily: "It all depends on the Grand Councilor's advice!"

After Cai Jing left Wang Anli's house, he said to Cai Bian, "Now that the Prime Minister is not in the court, we can only recommend Wang Dashen, who has the highest official rank, to lead the charge."

"But it is not enough to rely on Wang Dashen alone to stabilize the inner court. As for the outer court, we need to arrange some censors to play supporting roles."

Cai Bian heard what Cai Jing said and said, "Don't worry, brother. I will take care of this matter!"

Cai Jing said with a smile: "Then I will create public opinion in the Imperial Academy and among the people outside the court!"

Cai Bian looked at Cai Jing. It seemed that without Zhang Yue's presence in the court, Cai Jing felt like a fish in water and was extremely active.

Cai Jing took one look at Cai Bian and guessed what he was thinking.

"Abian, the Prime Minister often asks, what is the art of being a king? That is what Xunzi meant by 'the Han family has its own system, mixed with the kingly way and the hegemonic way'. If you want to practice the kingly way, you must practice it with the hegemonic means."

"If you want to be a tyrant, you must do it in the name of the kingly way! Su Ziyu is a scholar, he has read a lot of books, but he has no means. Su Shizhan is the same."

"Why do you want to create public opinion? You can tell the truth to smart people, but you must tell lies to ordinary people! Right and wrong, black and white are what kill people!"

Cai Bian rebuked: "What a crooked way! The Prime Minister has never said such a thing."

Cai Jing smiled and said, "Although the Prime Minister didn't say so, he was watching, and his heart was as clear as a mirror!"

Cai Bian knew that Zhang Yue was always lenient on the outside but strict on the inside when it came to managing people. He seemed to give you a lot of space, but there was always a pair of eyes staring at you behind your back.

……

Dingli Temple.

In front of a three-room Zen room.

The monks were sweeping the courtyard, and the brooms made a rustling sound as they were waved.

The bright spring light shines through the gaps in the leaves and falls on the moss on the stone steps of the Zen room.

Li Kui was sitting on a small bench in front of the Zen room, reading a book. The windows and door of the Zen room behind him were closed.

Zhang Yue lived in a Zen room. Although he never went out, he knew everything about the officials and the political developments in the court.

All the information was delivered through Li Kui.

Of course, in Zhang Yue's heart, he would give scores to the officials under him during the time when he was away from the court.

To use a classic saying, "The leader may not say anything on the surface, but he knows everything in his heart." Zhang Yue is also a person who has experienced it. He has also guessed how the officials below understand and speculate about him. Never think that the leader will not know what you do when you are out of sight.

Zhang Yue looked at how his subordinates could accomplish things when he was not in the court.

He was not surprised at all that Huang Lu had surpassed Wang Gui and even the emperor in the Three Departments. His friendship with Huang Lu and Han Zhongyan had been tested over a long period of time.

But Lu Huiqing's rapid advance in Hedong was indeed beyond his expectations.

Lu Huiqing's judgment on things is often made when things are still unclear. When everyone is still hesitating, Lu Huiqing in Taiyuan is the one who is so concerned about the court affairs that he appears to be more anxious than himself.

This also shows that Zhang Yue was right in his judgment, that we should use calmness to overcome movement. As long as you are not in a hurry, there will always be someone who is more anxious than you.

Opposing peace talks with Liao was not just Zhang Yue's fault.

……

This is not the most important thing at the moment. Zhang Yue, who is in Dingli Temple, is far away from the hustle and bustle of the world and free from the heavy daily official duties.

This also gave him an opportunity to think about the future and make plans for the future.

For example, Zhang Yue kept using "Song A" forcefully.

Song A now has five stocks, and there are futures such as salt notes, Jiaozi, tea, and cotton cloth to speculate, and the atmosphere of financial speculation is quite strong. Of course, this is also a major source of income for the court. Another major source is the salt notes after the reform of Jingzhangyue and the official pawnshop equivalent to the bank in later generations.

These were all neglected during Wang Anshi's Xining administration, especially the pawnshops. Wang Anshi was considered to be a last-ditch businessman, and he once celebrated that the families of mergers and acquisitions were now reduced to running pawnshops under the pressure of the market exchange law.

Any reform must be supported by a theoretical system.

Wang Anshi's greatness lies in the fact that he provided a complete theoretical system. He pioneered the reform and broke the system of scholars and officials always referring to the Three Dynasties, from following the example of the previous kings to following the example of today.

This is where the Xining Reforms were able to succeed, but the actual implementation of the reform was still carried out by Lu Huiqing. Lu Huiqing was not as good as Lao Wang in terms of theoretical level, but he was a rare genius in both economics and military operations.

However, Wang Anshi misjudged the pawnshops, salt notes, and Jiaozi. On the contrary, Zhang Yue and Lu Huiqing realized that these could bring huge profits to the court.

Wang Anshi's reforms were said to be "no taxes on the people and sufficient funds for the state", and their purpose was to destroy annexation and help the poor. However, in practice, the labor value in value was overestimated, while the value of marginal utility was ignored.

However, the Xining Reforms had too wide a scope of impact. The annexationist families might not be defeated, but a large number of middle-class people suffered from it.

Zhang Yue followed Wang Anshi's reform and adopted David Ricardo's land rent theory as theoretical guidance for the Xining exploration and Yuanfeng New Deal.

The rent theory divides the value of an item into wages (labor value), profit (the balance beyond wages), and rent (the balance beyond wages and profit).

Wages correspond to the proletariat, profits correspond to the bourgeoisie, and rent corresponds to the landlord class (big bourgeoisie).

For example, in the current cotton textile industry, hired workers earn wages, textile owners earn profits, and renting land and capital to textile owners is the rent earned by the landlord class.

The so-called land rent is the profit earned purely from assets.

Zhang Yue distributed as much of the private wage and profit income as possible to the private people and business owners to encourage their enthusiasm for work and promote labor efficiency, while nationalizing land and capital or levying heavy taxes on them.

Therefore, using theory to guide reform is as easy as answering multiple-choice questions. You can easily know what to do and what not to do.

For example, pawnshops (banks) and exchange offices must be resolutely state-owned or mixed-operated, which can not only increase the court's income, but also prevent the emergence of a big bourgeoisie that would shake the foundation of the country.

From Xining's policy of breaking up annexations to suppressing annexations.

Gradually, the government-run pawnshops were used to replace the Changpingsi set up by the Sinong Temple in various places to collect Qingmiao money and Shiyi money. In addition, the court should try its best to control its own hands and not make profits that did not belong to it.

The court must attach great importance to the fact that Wang Anshi looked down on the profits from salt notes, Jiaozi and pawnshops, and must not manage them with the mentality of killing the goose that lays the eggs.

For example, Zhang Yue has done two things since he became prime minister. One is to crack down on private coinage and counterfeiting of salt notes and Jiaozi. The other is to prohibit the government from minting coins worth two, three, or even five or ten coins.

As we all know, there is a shortage of money nowadays.

In the face of money shortages, there was a habit of privately minting coins in all dynasties. Not only the powerful people in the private sector minted coins, but also many officials and wealthy businessmen minted coins privately. Privately minting coins and counterfeiting severely hit the promotion of salt notes and Jiaozi in the imperial court.

The court's practice of using five coins as ten coins was simply stealing money from the people. In order to support the war against the Western Xia, the Northern Song Dynasty frequently used this trick, and the official coins became worse year by year. In the end, it not only severely damaged the credit of the official coins, but also caused complaints from the people.

As paper currency in feudal society, everyone knows that Jiaozi and Ming Dynasty's banknotes failed, but few people know that Huizi of the Southern Song Dynasty was successful.

There were also days when Huizi was issued excessively by the government and depreciated wildly. For example, during the Northern Expedition of Longxing and the invasion of Luoyang in Duanping, the imperial court issued more than ten times the amount, causing Huizi to be on the verge of collapse.

However, the Southern Song Dynasty court still attached great importance to the credit of currency, and used real money to buy back a large number of Huizi from the people, thus restoring the credit of currency. Of course, at the end of the dynasty, when the economy collapsed before the regime, even modern countries could not avoid the currency becoming a pile of waste paper. Moreover, modern countries have not yet collapsed, and there are many cases where the currency has become paper, including but not limited to Zimbabwe.

At least before the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, Huizi was quite successful.

In order to ensure the circulation and use of salt notes and Jiaozi, it is necessary to crack down on private minting and official minting.

Theory must precede practice, and practice in turn supplements and improves theory.

All in all, what you choose to do is always more important than what you do.

At the beginning of the Xining Reform, Zhang Yue wrote his theory to the government.

It was a pity that the government didn't read it carefully. When he told Lao Wang about it, Lao Wang was also skeptical, but at least he didn't cause trouble for Zhang Yue in the matter of the exchange.

Now Zhang Yue is taking advantage of his unemployment to reorganize his ideas in the temple. He thinks that with the current popularity of the exchange and the infamy of the Qingmiao Law and the Shiyi Law, the government should re-recognize his theory.

Over the past three years, Zhang Yue has been working on the campaign against the Tanguts while cautiously trying to implement reforms.

In order to find a way for the new policy, after trial and improvement, Zhang Yue has preliminarily determined what is feasible.

Now is the time to make a stunning debut after three years of silence.

After he resumed his position as prime minister, he set the tone for the Yuanfeng administration.

However, Zhang Yue also understood that things were not so easy.

Historically, the most important achievement of Zhang Juzheng's Reform, which extended the life of the Ming Dynasty by 20 years, was not the Single Whip System or the Performance Evaluation System, but the survey of land.

Zhang Juzheng's land survey increased the court's record of 5.18 million hectares of farmland in the early Wanli period to 7.86 million hectares, and discovered 2.68 million hectares of hidden farmland.

In order to measure the land, they targeted the land rent.

The policy of "equalizing the poll tax and land tax" which is praised as the first good reform of feudalism, is to include the poll tax into the land tax.

The Ding tax, which was paid per capita, was exempted and all of it was included in the land tax, which was mainly land rent.

This reform caused an explosive growth in the population of the Qing Dynasty. After its implementation during the Yongzheng period, the population exceeded 100 million in the early years of the Qianlong period, and directly exceeded 300 million in the late Qianlong period.

These two successful reforms both targeted land rent, which helped the dynasty survive and even revive. Their essence is to minimize the proportion of land rent in value and maximize the proportion of labor.

But these two reforms also touched the interests of the landlord and bureaucratic class.

Yongzheng has always been criticized but he was the emperor and the imperial power of the Qing Dynasty reached its peak, so there is no problem.

And what about Zhang Juzheng?

Without Zhang Juzheng's power, this reform could not be implemented, but with this power, it touched the imperial power. After Zhang Juzheng was liquidated, this policy gradually died out.

Now Zhang Yue’s power is far less than that of Zhang Juzheng and Wang Anshi at the beginning of Xining.

However, to accomplish great things, one must have great power!

Zhang Yue said to himself, "If I can implement this reform during my administration, it will undoubtedly be more difficult and more challenging than destroying the Tanguts and conquering Youyan."

"Back then, Wang Jinggong had already taken the first step. The equal taxation law for square fields during the Xining Reform was this."

"Unfortunately, this policy was implemented intermittently. It was implemented during the Jingyou, Qingli, Huangyou and Jiayou periods, but it was never implemented."

"At the beginning of Xining, it was vigorously promoted, but there were many opponents. The landlords and local bureaucrats were all opposed, and now it has basically stagnated."

"There are indeed some good and some bad new laws. For example, the Green Sprout Law, the Market Exchange Law, and the Equal Transport Law all have problems, but the Exemption from Military Service Law, the Farmland and Irrigation Law, and the Square Field Equal Tax Law are all good laws."

“But both the old and new parties now view the new law as a whole.”

"If it's good, then say it's good. If it's bad, then say it's bad. You can't choose the good and follow it, and choose the bad and change it."

When Zhang Yue said this, the tip of his pen hovered above the paper, and he sighed slightly at the end.

After a moment, Zhang Yue nodded his pen on the inkstone again and wrote on the paper.

No matter what, people still have to move forward.

Can't stop!

……

Since the discussion at Wang Anli’s house that day.

There are undercurrents in the capital.

The restaurants, teahouses and Imperial College in Bianjing were where public opinion was concentrated or spread, and they were also where the Imperial City Bureau conducted spying.

As for the media channels, they are storytelling, community opera, official newspapers, tabloids, etc.

But no one remembered that the place where this discussion started was the Imperial Academy.

Imperial College!

After the Xining Reforms, the Imperial College expanded its enrollment and now has 2,400 students.

It was the time for the provincial examination, and most of the scholars remained in the capital and did not leave.

Most of the students and scholars in the Imperial Academy are young scholars. This age is also the time when they are most loyal.

When the rumors of the imperial court abandoning Liangzhou and negotiating peace with Liao spread in the capital, these people were the first to become restless.

When the news of Lu Huiqing's great victory in Hedong arrived, the scholars could not understand why the court had to abandon the land to the Dangxiang people after repeated victories in the west.

Why did we win?

Instead, they had to cede territory and make concessions to the Tanguts, and even pay compensation!

There are treacherous officials within the court!

Who is that treacherous minister?

That is the Privy Councilor Sun Gu!

……

The Privy Councilor Sun Gu went to court in a carriage.

Sun Gu is now in charge of negotiating peace with Liao. The Liao envoy is about to enter Beijing, but the Liao envoy's aggressive attitude gives him a headache.

What if my conditions cannot meet the demands of Liao? What other conditions can I offer?

While he was thinking carefully, Sun Gu's carriage stopped.

"what happened?"

"Prime Minister! There are scholars blocking the way in front of the carriage!"

Sun Gu frowned and said, "Just drive him away!"

"Reporting to the Prime Minister, there are too many people and we can't drive them away!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Gu lifted the curtain and took a look.

However, in front of him, there were densely packed scholars wearing white robes and black crowns. They stood in an orderly and solemn manner on both sides of the road. There were also many people watching outside.

Sun Gu thought it was bad, he was stopped.

Before Sun Gu could speak, he saw the leading scholar push aside the hem of his long gown, kneel down on the muddy road and say, "Prime Minister, this is a document jointly written by us common people, please let us know!"

Sun Gu said vaguely from behind the curtain: "I understand. You can go away!"

Sun Gu thought to himself, great, you openly wrote a letter to express your opinions, and then threatened the court ministers in the street. Your career will be over from now on.

Soon Sun Gu thought again, forget it, what does a commoner know? The imperial court cannot fight against the Liao and the Dangxiang at the same time.

Otherwise there is danger of national destruction.

A educated person understands national affairs.

Once you have made up your mind, you must stick to it. The merits and demerits of what I have done will be judged by others in the future.

When the document was handed to Sun Gu, the scholars slowly dispersed as instructed...

Sun Gu heaved a sigh of relief and lifted the carriage curtain. He was about to say something when he saw the scholar who handed over the blood letter shouting, "Prime Minister, a person can endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens! But can a country also do the same?"

"As the saying goes, a scholar can be killed but not humiliated! This student is willing to shed all his blood to serve the court!"

After a pause, the scholar chanted: "Establish a mind for heaven and earth, establish a destiny for the people, inherit the lost knowledge of the ancient sages, and bring peace to the world for all eternity!"

Sun Gu thought, is it a disciple of Hengqu? Could it be a student of the Imperial Academy?

But this man had a determined look in his eyes and suddenly drew his sword to his neck.

Sun Gu was shocked and wanted to speak out to stop him, but it was too late. The scholar did not hesitate for a moment and really spilled his blood on the road.

Upon seeing this, his classmates rushed forward and fell beside his body, crying.

The people watching on the side also shook their heads, and all regarded the other party as a loyal and good official, and Sun Gu as a traitor.

Sun Gu was so shocked when he saw this scene that he could not speak. His hand holding the document trembled a few times, and then his expression disappeared again. He urged the people around him: "Go! Go!"

The carriage was back on the road.

Sun Gu sat in the carriage with a solemn expression, and heard the sound of many people crying over the corpses.

Sun Gu was silent for a while, and when the crying sound faded away, he sighed: "Wouldn't it be good to keep this useful body to serve the country?"

……

Sun Gu returned to the court and told the emperor about this. He said, "Your Majesty, I have checked and found that this person is a student of the Imperial College. He is indeed a student of Zhang Zai and ranked 172nd in the provincial examination!"

The government heard about this and ordered people to check the results of this person. Shi Deyi, who was standing nearby, reported: "He ranked 57th in the second class!"

Upon hearing this, the official said sadly: "What a pity! What a pity! The country needs such loyal people!"

Sun Gu said: "Now public opinion is against the peace talks with Liao. I guess someone is behind this! Secretly stirring up the people's hearts!"

The emperor's expression was stern and he said, "Who is doing this? I will not let him off!"

Sun Gu said: "I don't know. Your Majesty, please order the Imperial City Bureau to investigate!"

The official said, "I know."

Sun Gu said: "I have long advised Your Majesty to dismiss Lu Huiqing. He is a treacherous and treacherous man who only seeks merit and even seeks the title of temporary governor. Now that Lu Hedong has won, the peace talks have become passive."

"It is true that these scholars in the capital are brave, but they do not know the consequences of their actions. I don't know how to deal with the situation once the Song and Liao go to war."

"Once the war breaks out, Hebei will be undefendable, and the capital will also be difficult to defend."

The emperor was silent upon hearing this. Sun Gu had said this many times.

Seeing that the emperor was silent, Sun Gu said, "Your Majesty, I resign!"

The official asked, "What is this for?"

Sun Gu said: "Both governments are responsible for the comet phenomenon, and I am probably one of them."

The emperor said, "This is none of your business. If you leave, who can I trust? Do your best!"

Sun Gu said: "After what happened today, I will bear this infamy for eternity, but Your Majesty has appointed me as the Privy Councilor because I opposed the war between Song and Liao. Now I can only try my best to do it."

The emperor said, "You can do it boldly! I will support you!"

Sun Gu had just retreated in order to advance. After hearing what the emperor said, he had the confidence to say, "Since Your Majesty has said this, I will repay Your Majesty with my own death! I will take my leave!"

After Sun Gu left.

The official said with a sad look, "One or two of them are like this. Zhang Qing is like this, are you like this too?"

"Shi Deyi, give orders to the Imperial City Division to investigate the person who spread the rumors these days!"

Shi Deyi said yes and stepped back.

The emperor calmed himself down, picked up the paper of the scholar who had made a desperate remonstrance and began to read it.