Chapter 150 Making Money and Huainan's Affairs (Two in One)

On the morning of October 15th, the officials of Chui Gong Hall stood in their respective positions as usual.

The left and right sides of the hall were filled with candles, and three groups of ministers stood in order according to their rank. However, in the original position of prime minister, there were now three, six, and nine ranks.

In the past, although the prime minister, privy ministers, and planners all respected the prime minister, they were all senior central officials and would stand in similar places.

That is to say, the senior central officials stand in front of the hundred officials, followed by the backbone officials of the three provinces, six ministries, Yushitai, three Yamen, nine temples, and six supervisors. In the bottom row, there will be a large number of seventh- and eighth-grade officials such as Yushi and admonishers. .

In this way, three areas of high, middle and low were formed, which were divided by official grades and positions, thereby delineating the status of officials.

But now the original prime minister is above the prime minister and the prime minister. Even the minister of household affairs and the magistrate of Kaifeng Mansion, who should be behind the prime minister and the prime minister, are standing inside, with a higher status than them.

Because the first few people are the Constitutional Yuan.

In other words, the political structure of the court today is superior to the officials, and has a higher status than the original prime minister. Even the political hall, the third department and the privy council are subject to their jurisdiction.

Zhao Jun yawned and stood in front of Lu Yijian. He felt that the early morning meeting was becoming more and more formal, and he would see if it could be canceled in the future.

"Your Majesty has arrived!"

Wang Shouzhong walked out of the back hall of Chui Gong Hall and shouted loudly.

The shutter officers on both sides of the door pulled the curtain door open, and Zhao Zhen, wearing a red Song Dynasty emperor's robe, walked out from inside.

"See Your Majesty!"

The officials raised the Gui Ban in their hands, held it in both hands, and bowed to salute.

"No gift!"

Zhao Zhen waved his hand.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

All the officials are at peace.

The head official of the palace shouted: "If you have something to do, leave early to play, if you have nothing to do, roll up the curtain and leave the court."

Lu Yijian was the first to stand up and said: "Your Majesty, the people in Huainan are hungry, and there are men and women who hire slaves, and the officials redeem them. Now the people dare not hire people, and the poor may not be able to live on their own, so they hope to be left to their own devices." "

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen looked at Zhao Jun. Zhao Jun just nodded with a serious face and said, "That's it."

"The three divisions and sub-divisions have been searching for famous documents in the accounts for many years, and they have directly directed them. They have gone down to various states to investigate. The years are far-reaching, and the case records are incomplete. It is quite troublesome to trace them for verification."

Wang Sui said.

"How should we deal with it?"

"But it will not happen again from now on. Anyone who violates this will be asked to be expelled from the state government and the written text will be sealed and accepted. If the state government dares to accept it, it will send it to the transportation department and the prison department to be aware of it."

"good."

After agreeing to this matter, Wang Zeng stood up and said: "Your Majesty, there is a strong wind in Hangzhou, the river tide overflows the bank six feet high, and the dike is damaged more than a thousand feet. What should we do?"

"How do you usually do it?"

Zhao Zhen asked.

"Usually, envoys are sent to offer sacrifices."

Wang Zeng replied.

Zhao Jun said: "Sacrifice is useless, building dams is the real thing."

"Then follow what Song Guogong said."

Zhao Zhen said.

After these words came out, the officials below were slightly commotion. In ancient times, ghosts and gods were feared and sacrifices were often practiced. Zhao Jun actually said that sacrifices were useless?

However, because Zhao Jun has many party members in the DPRK, his supporters include the Prime Minister Group, the New Deal Group, and recently the Deputy Privy Envoy Wang Deyong and the newly appointed Deputy Envoy of the Third Department Li Di.

Needless to say, Wang De, as the prime minister of the two dynasties, Li Di once had a position in the court comparable to that of Lu Yijian, and he also had many party members. His support made Zhao Jun even more powerful.

Therefore, there were many people who impeached Zhao Jun in the early dynasties, but now there are basically very few. Everyone is silent and no longer launches an offensive against him.

Then, as usual, we will talk about things happening in various parts of the country, mainly natural disasters in various places, military and political affairs in the northwest and Hebei, as well as national grain and grass allocation, new civil unrest, and water transportation economy.

On the contrary, no one mentioned the actions of Kaifeng Mansion and Imperial City Division.

After the Third Division reported on the status of Autumn Fu in various places in recent days, Fan Xi, the imperial censor, finally couldn't bear it anymore. He handed over his hands and said, "Guan, why haven't you discussed this matter in Kaifeng Mansion recently?"

Zhao Zhen asked: "What happened in Kaifeng Mansion?"

Fan Xi said: "The Imperial City Division and Kaifeng Mansion poured into the underground of Bianliang, searching for desperadoes everywhere."

"Um?"

Zhao Jun turned his head and looked at Fan Xi with an evil expression: "Why, shouldn't this be done? There are so many murderers underground in Bianliang, and they have harmed tens of thousands of people. Don't you still feel proud?"

The expressions of King Lu Yijian Zeng and others changed slightly.

They were taken to the place where the victims were placed by Zhao Jun yesterday. It was said that as the prime minister of the Song Dynasty Empire, he should always care about and love the people.

In fact, when they arrived at the place, they were scolded and cursed. Seeing the hell-like miserable conditions on earth, they really couldn't hold their heads up.

If these things happen in other regions, they can also use the excuse that the sky is high and the emperor is far away, and productivity and technology in ancient times were backward, and there is nothing they can do.

But these things happened in Bianliang, at the feet of the emperor, the most virtuous place. Wouldn't that be a slap in the face to them?

So everyone tacitly agreed not to mention this matter this morning, just because they were afraid that Zhao Jun would go crazy in the Chui Gong Hall, making it impossible for them and even Zhao Zhen to step down.

Unexpectedly, Fan Xi brought it up.

Fan Xi felt a little baffled, so he said confusedly: "Of course this should be done, but since the underground has been cleaned up, shouldn't we also talk about it in the morning? Many victims will be resettled, and the murderers will be punished. The future of this underground How can we prevent trouble from happening again?”

It turned out to be just that.

Zhao Jun thought for a while, but he actually regarded everyone as his enemy too much. He felt that those below had colluded with so many officials, and if they were cleared out, it would cause collective opposition from officials within the imperial court.

But they have forgotten that not all officials in the Song Dynasty were corrupt, and officials at that time were all about dignity and claimed to be clean.

The people in Guifanlou and Wuyoudong can only collude with lower-level officials in Kaifeng Mansion and current officials in some places, but they can't collude with the court.

Therefore, since the court has done this, the officials will naturally not object, but they just feel that it should be discussed at the court meeting.

Thinking of this, Zhao Jun said: "This matter does not need to be discussed in the court. What should be discussed in the morning is major events across the country. These local governance issues can be left to Kaifeng Mansion, Dali Temple, and the Ministry of Punishment."

Qian Zhengwei, the minister of Dali Temple, opened his eyes wide at first, and then stepped out of the queue in disbelief and asked: "Zhiyuan, are you saying that these matters will be handed over to Dali Temple for interrogation in the future?"

"Um."

Zhao Jun nodded and said: "In national affairs, everyone should perform their own duties. The Imperial City Secretary did not want to deprive Dali Temple of its powers. It was just that there were many officials in Dali Temple who were colluding with them, so I asked the Imperial City Secretary to exercise their powers first. Now that Bianliang is in peace for the time being, it will naturally return to its original duties.”

Qian Zhengwei immediately hit the snake with a stick and said: "Then the Imperial City Division should also take back the power of arrest and investigation?"

"what are you thinking?"

Zhao Jun glanced at him: "The Imperial City Division is a knife hanging over your heads, how can you take it back?"

Qian Zhengwei said unconvinced: "Since so many officials have been tracked down and so many gangsters have been arrested, and they have done what they have done, the remaining matters should be left to the Dali Temple Criminal Department and Kaifeng Mansion."

"You Dali Temple thought it was just as clean, but you still arrested more than ten people. That means you senior officials don't need to collude with them, otherwise you will be put in jail.

Zhao Jun rolled his eyes and said: "And do you think that you have nothing to do with this matter and that it is honorable to stand on the shore? There is a place like Wuyou Cave and Guifan Tower in Bianliang. It is your dereliction of duty, that is, the benevolence of the officials. I’ll give you a chance, otherwise I’ll get rid of you all.”

Qian Zhengwei: "."

He had to return to his position silently.

This person has been too strong and angry recently. There are more than 100 people in the Third Division of Salt and Iron Division. He just said it. Although he caused a lot of trouble, it was still suppressed, which is enough to show the strength of the Constitutional Yuan today.

Since officials don't even worry about it anyway, why should they worry about the issue of power being absorbed by the Constitutional Yuan.

"Official!"

At this moment, Xia Song stood up and offered his hand to Zhao Zhen.

Everyone looked over.

Zhao Jun raised his eyebrows, thinking that Xia Song was coming to cause trouble.

Last time Liu Yuanyu tried everything. Although Liu Yuanyu didn't have any evidence, Zhao Jun knew the behavior of this guy in history, so it was not unusual for him to do such a thing.

So just look at him.

Unexpectedly, Xia Song said: "I think that the Constitutional Yuan should not only include a few prime ministers. Since all government affairs in the world come from the Constitutional Yuan, there should also be people from the Privy Council and the Third Department."

"no."

Zhao Zhen refused without hesitation.

"Why?"

Xia Song was confused and said: "The Constitutional Yuan should also be filled by people who have served in multiple administrative departments. If people without such experience are allowed to enter, wouldn't it lead to chaos in government? I thought that the number of candidates for the Constitutional Yuan should be increased, and Not a bad thing."

"Yes, I also think that the number of seats in the Constitutional Yuan should be increased. Although the prime ministers decide the country's major plans, the matters of the three departments and the Privy Council are ultimately decided by the three envoys and the Privy Council, and the prime ministers may not always know it."

Cheng Lin, the envoy of the Third Division, saw that Xia Song was the first to mention something he had always wanted to mention, so he decisively said: "If someone from the Third Division joins, they will naturally be able to contribute to the Constitutional Yuan."

Privy Councilor Zhang Qi looked on with cold eyes. He was a veteran of the Zhenzong Dynasty and a military commander. At the same time, he had fallen in love with Liu E in his early years and was always disliked by the civil servants. This Privy Councilor basically existed in name only in the Privy Council.

The real power holders of the Privy Council are Tongzhi Privy Councilor Zheng Jian, Tongzhi Privy Councilor Li Shen, and Signature Privy Councilor Chen Yaozuo. He and the deputy privy envoy Wang Deyong are marginal figures, so naturally they will not speak easily.

But I didn't expect Zhao Zhen to refuse without hesitation: "The Constitutional Yuan has decided on the personnel quota. There will be no personnel changes until the ministers among them have withdrawn."

Everyone was shocked.

Xia Song and Cheng Lin thought for a moment and then retreated silently.

Obviously they also understood what Zhao Zhen meant.

In other words, these people in the Constitutional Yuan are permanent. Unless someone from Lu Yijian and others retires, they will continue to work.

They got enough information today, and it was enough for them to go back and digest it.

As for whether they were just waiting for Lu Yijian and the others to retreat, or whether they had some crooked idea to impeach Lu Yijian and the others in order to remove them and ascend to the throne themselves, that was another matter.

Here, Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and others looked at each other, thinking that Xia Song was trying to cause trouble, but they didn't expect that this guy wanted to test how to enter the Constitutional Yuan.

But Xia Song would never have imagined that the condition for entering the Constitutional Yuan was not to be prime minister, but to be an insider of Zhao Jun.

If you are not an insider, it is useless for anyone to come.

You are an insider. Even a prime minister like Wang Sui, who has been impeached by Han Qi long ago in history, can be as stable as a mountain.

Therefore, the matter of entering the Constitutional Yuan really has nothing to do with ability or officialdom struggle. It all depends on the time of Zhao Jun's time travel.

In the morning, we talked about other state affairs.

I left the court at around seven o'clock in the morning. In the past, the government affairs of each department were reported to the emperor during the morning court, and then handled together with the prime ministers, so the morning court was delayed a lot.

But now that all government affairs are handed over to the Constitutional Yuan, the morning court only discusses what happened across the country. It is not as eventful as before, but the court is much faster.

Zhao Jun and the others did not go to the Constitutional Yuan, but to the Chongde Hall.

Now with the establishment of the Constitutional Yuan, such conferences in the past were more focused on gathering national government information, and the specific solution was for the Constitutional Yuan to hold small meetings.

Today's small meeting still has to discuss specific matters.

In the Chongde Hall, Zhao Zhen's back hall study is a bit like the study room of the Qing Dynasty. Zhao Zhen's desk is by the window, surrounded by many bookshelves and papers. It is the place where Zhao Zhen usually reads or handles government affairs.

There was a faint scent of sandalwood exuding from the three-legged incense burner in front of the desk. There were several Taishi chairs on the left and right sides. After Zhao Jun and others came in, they first saluted Zhao Zhen and then received Zhao Zhen's permission to sit down.

"Dasun, I heard that you rescued tens of thousands of people this time. You did a good job in this matter."

After Zhao Zhen waited for everyone to sit down, he said: "It's just what Fan Qing said. Although the raid on the Ghost Fan Tower in Wuyou Cave has achieved unexpected results, what should we do with the aftermath?"

Zhao Jun had already thought of countermeasures and replied: "There are three main points in the aftermath. One is the resettlement of the victims, the other is the removal of the remnants of the underground evil forces, and the third is how to prevent the underground forces from returning again after wiping them out. derivative."

"Dasun has already thought about it?"

Zhao Zhen asked.

"Um."

Zhao Jun said: "In terms of dealing with the victims, I will first find their families and reunite them with their relatives. Those who cannot find their families will be supported by the court first. After that, I will find ways to reform the looms, open spinning mills, and resettle women." Work as a spinner, and the children can be supported by the court to study and learn new knowledge while working as newsboys.”

Most of the victims in Wuyou Cave and Guifan Tower were women and children. A few of them were like Ping'er or had broken legs and could not even walk. They could only be raised in welfare homes. But women and children who have arms and legs but are homeless can naturally do other things.

For example, open a spinning mill, or enter school.

Zhao Zhen frowned and said, "The resettlement of these more than 10,000 people will probably be a big expense."

"So I'm going to make money."

Zhao Jun said: "The seizure was quite rich this time. The cash seized alone amounted to more than 3 million guan. The remaining land, shops, and mansions were added together, and the total value is probably more than 6 million guan. The court can make good use of these."

Six million strings?

Zhao Zhen was happy at first, and then said angrily: "These people actually make so much money? I don't know how many people have been harmed by them."

Zhao Jun shook his head and said: "After all, these places have been here since the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. They have been here for hundreds of years. Over time, it is normal for the people below to have so much savings. What we can do is to try to make up for those victims. Let's Delayed justice heals their wounds."

"What is Da Sun going to do?"

Zhao Zhen asked.

Zhao Jun said: "You can use the seized shops to open shops."

Yingchun Garden and many other brothels were not given to madams like Madam Liu, but were under the jurisdiction of the government and managed by them, similar to being turned into official prostitute shops.

In the future, under the legal framework of the Great Song Dynasty, the Kaifeng Prefecture and the Imperial City Division will provide them with conveniences to ensure tax revenue and profits.

In addition, there are a large number of other stores in Guifanlou and Wuyoudong, which can still be operated by others or even rented out for rent. This was also one of the common ways for officials in the Song Dynasty to make money.

Lu Yijian was the leader among them. He nodded slightly and said: "If the imperial court opens a store, it may seem to undermine the dignity, but it is not impossible."

"These are all hanging under the Constitutional Yuan."

Zhao Jun added: "And I plan to open another street market in Xianningfang."

Open another street market?

Lu Yijian and others looked at each other. Wang Zeng said: "It will be difficult to open a market again. Not to mention opening a market, even the imperial court wants to re-plan the market, or the royal family wants to expand the palace and buy from the people. It’s hard to build a house.”

"Yes, and in today's subdistricts and cities, it is common for residents to occupy the streets. The roads have become increasingly narrow. Even Taizu went to Tonglifang to have a banquet with the ministers, and when he came back, he was blocked by the occupation of the streets by residents. Let alone now.”

Wang Sui had a good memory and said: "During the Taizong period, he wanted to expand the palace, which caused public resentment. During the Zhenzong period, Xie Dequan was ordered to expand the streets, which made the entire court opposed by civil and military officials. It is more difficult to open a street than to expand the streets. Much bigger.”

Don't think that the emperor of the Song Dynasty could do whatever he wanted. During Zhao Guangyi's period, he disliked the small size of the palace and wanted to expand it. As a result, the people dared to speak loudly. Song Zhenzong wanted to expand the streets, but officials and people opposed it.

At that time, the emperor wanted to demolish and rectify the illegal buildings in Kaifeng Mansion, so he had to spend a lot of money to compensate them. Moreover, there were even some nail-biting households that blocked the demolition, and the people did not take the emperor's orders seriously.

Although Zhao Jun has a good reputation among the people in Bianliang, if he dares to touch the interests of those people and demolish their houses, he will become a dog official in a matter of minutes the next day.

"To open this street, we don't need to occupy residential houses, but we can use the mansion of the owner of Guifanlou that was confiscated this time."

Zhao Jun said: "I have seen that place. It covers a large area and is right next to the Jin River, close to Liangmen. Instead of turning it into a riverside mansion where rich people live, it is better to transform it into a commercial street along the river."

"Oh?"

Zhao Zhen became interested and said: "How does the eldest grandson plan to operate it?"

"The government will renovate it there, and the shops can be sold or rented out. It is expected that the cost can be recovered within one or two years, and the rest is pure profit."

Zhao Jun replied.

"Hmm"

Fan Zhongyan suddenly thought of something and said, "Your Majesty, I think it's okay. The Ming Dynasty fell because officials deceived the emperor. Not only did they make it impossible for the emperor to collect taxes, but they also prevented the emperor from having monopolies such as iron and salt. They also said that they could not compete with the people for profits. In fact, they were all calculating for themselves. The state should really control some business operations."

"This is also the reason why there are state-owned enterprises in later generations."

Zhao Jun added: "The existence of state-owned enterprises is to prevent monopoly and provide a bottom line for the lives of the people. The salt companies and national grain companies in later generations sold salt and grain at a low price of a few cents per pound. Although the taste may not be good, it is indeed a life-saving thing for the poor. Its existence guarantees the basic survival needs of the people."

"What does your grandson mean that the Song Dynasty will also have its own state-owned enterprises in the future?"

Zhao Zhen asked.

"Yes."

Zhao Jun nodded and said: "Take the drought in Jianghuai last year as an example. If there were state-owned enterprises, the people affected would not have become slaves, and many people would not have starved to death."

When this was mentioned, everyone fell silent because Lu Yijian had mentioned this in the morning.

It was the sequelae of the drought in Huainan last year. The beginning of the Song Dynasty was the end of the third Little Ice Age, and it happened to be in the last few years of Song Renzong.

The climate is rising and warming, and the precipitation line begins to move northward, which is a good thing for crops in the north.

But this does not mean that natural disasters will disappear. On the contrary, they will become more frequent due to climate change, such as droughts, floods, earthquakes, etc.

When there was a drought in Huainan last year, Zhao Zhen ordered disaster relief and allocated 200,000 silk cloths from the treasury as Huainan's annual tribute.

However, tax exemption and disaster relief are obviously a drop in the bucket, and many Huainan people are still in danger.

So when the population is cheap, many landlords took the opportunity to absorb the people as slaves, and encroached on their fields, making the people their tenants and working for the landlords.

This was a common thing in ancient times, especially in the Song Dynasty, which did not suppress land annexation.

But the Song Dynasty did not allow normal population trading and banned it, so the local government had to "buy" these people back.

However, the drought in Huainan caused no harvest. Even if these people had land, they would starve to death if the land could not grow food. Such a practice of only saving people without caring about their lives would undoubtedly make the situation worse for the poor.

Therefore, Lü Yijian believed that it should be left alone. This matter had been discussed in the Political System Council, and the morning court was basically just a formality.

Zhao Jun really had no way to deal with this matter.

Because the damage caused by the drought in Huainan last year was too serious, almost millions of people in the entire Huainan area were affected, and the scope of the impact was very large.

After Zhao Jun came to power, he also attached great importance to this matter. He tried to allocate a large number of grain and grass, and even used the reserve grain prepared for the northwest war to send to the disaster area.

But it was still a drop in the bucket.

The most important thing is that you save one person, but there are still thousands of people to save. With the ability of the Song Dynasty court, it was impossible to settle everyone.

Therefore, after understanding the real situation, Zhao Jun could only choose to agree with Lü Yijian's way and let the big landlords continue to absorb land and population.

This will certainly intensify land annexation, but from a side point of view, at least it can ensure that a large number of disaster victims in Huainan can survive.

In the final analysis, it is because of the current low productivity and weak ability to resist natural disasters.

In addition, there is serious land annexation.

The big landlords actually have a lot of grain in their hands, but they are unwilling to sell it to the court at a low price. Instead, they take advantage of the skyrocketing price of grain during the famine to drive up prices and make huge profits.

Zhao Jun's attitude in this matter is to take severe measures against the landlords who drive up prices in the Huainan area, send troops to confiscate their homes and exterminate their families.

But in the end, he was persuaded by Lu Yijian and others.

It's not that Lu Yijian and others are protecting the Huainan gentry, but that the Huainan area is currently a powder keg.

There are many gentry representatives in the Huainan area in the court now. Once a large-scale army is sent, it will inevitably spread. Those big landlords will probably rebel immediately when they get the news.

You have to know that in the Song Dynasty, even many small and medium-sized landlords could not bear the high taxes and revolted. For example, Fang La was a landlord who was forced to rebel.

It was not easy for the Huainan region to barely maintain itself. If the big landlords rebelled, the Song Dynasty might perish.

So stability was the priority.

Zhao Jun felt that what they said was indeed reasonable, so he reluctantly agreed. The main reason was that he also did research and found that the people were now on the verge of life and death.

The court sent troops to suppress the big landlords in order to release the grain in the hands of the big landlords and rescue the victims.

But if the big landlords found that the court suddenly sent troops to Huainan at this time, they would definitely be panicked. Once they took out grain to recruit the victims to revolt, the victims would become their people.

Sending troops at that time will only trigger conflicts, which is not the best policy.

So I still think of other ways.

Everyone chatted for a while, reported today's state affairs to Zhao Zhen, handed over their opinions on the matter, and after getting Zhao Zhen's approval, they prepared to return to the Constitutional Yuan for work.

But before everyone left, Zhao Zhen left Zhao Jun alone.

He looked at Zhao Jun and asked: "Dasun, you are planning to leave Beijing next year. You may as well go to the Song Dynasty for a walk. I wonder where you plan to go first?"

Zhao Jun thought for a moment and said, "Huainan."

"Huainan?"

Zhao Zhen frowned and said, "Dasun, you really can't do anything there, big trouble will happen."

"Of course I know."

Zhao Jun said: "But we can't just sit idly by and ignore it. Whenever there is a disaster in the country in the future, leaders will be at the scene as soon as possible, and even command and sit in the disaster area. This is a reflection of responsibility and responsibility. I at least have to go and see it." Only by looking at the situation in the disaster area can we manage the place well.”

"well."

Zhao Zhen sighed and said, "That's it. It's just that when you arrive in Huainan, you still have to be cautious."

"I know, brother, don't worry, I won't act rashly."

Zhao Jun bowed his hand.

When he turned his head and left Chongde Hall, his face was as calm as water.

He has seen all the stories coming from Huainan this time. Many big landowners have not been affected by the drought at all. They have hoarded so much food, but they have to drive up the price of rice and grain to two to three thousand, or even four to five thousand yuan per stone, making a profit of Black money.

However, the imperial court could not directly send troops to prevent them from taking advantage of the situation to rebel.

So if I go there in person, pretending to be as if nothing had happened before they rebelled, and then suddenly take down everyone and distribute the food they have hoarded, how should these people deal with it?

I feel a little better today and my mental state is also a little better. I hope I can recover tomorrow and continue to update twice a day.