Chapter 342 Use the Knife in Your Hand Well

"Bang!"

"This is no longer a simple landlord protest, we must strike hard!"

On March 25, the Liangzhe Road Transport Office used a relay form, changing horses and people, and ran a thousand kilometers in four days at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour, leaving aside the time for people to eat, go to the toilet and rest, to deliver the official documents to Bianliang.

Although the Grand Canal is convenient, the speed is still too slow. Under normal circumstances, it takes a month to arrive, so this 300-mile rush is the fastest way for the government.

At this moment, in the Bianliang Political System Court, Zhao Jun looked at the official documents in his hand, and he was furious. He slammed the table and said, "Do they think the court is weak and can be bullied?"

"Uh"

Everyone in the room looked around and thought, isn't this what you want to see?

Why are you so angry?

Today, Lv Yijian and Wang Zeng are not here.

And not only them, Jia Changchao and Fan Zhongyan are not here either.

Lao Lu and Lao Wang took leave for health reasons. Recently, their health conditions are very bad, especially Wang Zeng.

After all, the grass on the graves of these two people was three feet high at this period in history. One had died of illness for eight years, and the other had died of illness for two years. It was a miracle that they could survive until now.

As for Jia Changchao, he was concurrently the Minister of Works. After the beginning of spring this year, the water flow of the Yellow River increased dramatically. In history, it flooded and tidal after two years, causing the Yellow River to change its course. Naturally, he had to supervise the river construction.

Fan Zhongyan went to the Firearms Department for inspection after the morning meeting. The Firearms Department has not been idle in recent years. After studying muzzle-loading rifled guns and cannons, it has begun to study breech-loading rifled guns and cannons.

In history, rifled guns and cannons were first loaded with muzzles. For example, the popularization of muzzle-loading rifled guns was the invention of the Niemi bullet. Muzzle-loading rifled guns have never been mainstream because they are difficult to load. It was only when the Firearms Department imitated the Niemi bullet and used large lead bullets that the problem was solved.

But the most convenient is the breech-loading gun.

This will greatly increase the firing rate of cannons and firearms.

The earliest breech-loading rifle in history is called the "Dresser Rifle", which has a very simple structure.

It is to wrap black gunpowder with paper shells to make fixed bullets, and then use a spring to fix a trigger pointer. Pull the trigger to let the pointer penetrate the shell to ignite the gunpowder and shoot the bullet.

Now that there is no shortage of steel, the Firearms Department has carried out a lot of research and development and has produced this more advanced rifle, which is now in the experimental stage.

So Fan Zhongyan often went to the Firearms Department during this period to see if their experimental results were better than the current muskets.

It can be said that the development speed of the Song Dynasty is still very fast now.

Especially in the manufacture of weapons.

The only thing lacking is that the chemical industry level has not yet been reached. If fulminate of mercury gunpowder can be invented in the future, then it can basically reach the level of modern firearms.

At this moment, there are only seven people in the Political System Institute, including Yan Shu, Song Shou, Cai Qi, Li Di, Zhang Shixun, Jiang Tang and Zhao Jun.

Li Di and Zhang Shixun are older than Lü Yijian and Wang Zeng, both of them are already in their seventies or eighties, especially Zhang Shixun, who is eighty-two this year, but they are in better health than both Wang and Lü.

In history, one of them lived to the age of seventy-seven and the other lived to the age of eighty-six, which were considered relatively long-lived in ancient times.

Seeing Zhao Jun furious, Yan Shu said in surprise: "Hanlong, we are all family, what's the point of acting? We said we would send troops directly, but you didn't allow it. Don't you mean to make things worse and wipe them out at once?"

"No, I'm really angry."

Zhao Jun shook his head: "I'm angry because they don't fight back."

"Angry because they don't fight back? Haven't you always said that the landlord class is a decadent and backward class? How can you still count on them?"

"Everything should be viewed dialectically. Compared with the slave society, landlords who only collect rent instead of treating the farmers who work as slaves and killing them at will are already considered progress."

"So you hope they can go further?"

"Yes, if the landlords can transform into the bourgeoisie and promote social reform and development, at least at this stage, it is progress.

"But you have already given them a chance, and they don't cherish it themselves."

"Alas, to be honest, I don't want things to get to this point either. After all, this will also cause turmoil in the country."

"There is no construction without destruction. Sometimes you still have to be ruthless. "

Yan Shu persuaded him instead.

In theory, the ancient bureaucracy should stand on the side of the landlords.

But the Song Dynasty happened to be a strange one.

Because many people in the bureaucracy went into business, used their power to seek huge profits, and directly combined officials and businessmen, the landlord class was not as powerful as in the Ming Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty court itself plundered the landlord class no less than ordinary people. Many officials simply fabricated charges to ruin the merchants and landlords, and then directly seized their property, and did not treat the landlords and merchants as their own people.

Perhaps the landlord class also had spokespersons in the court, but they were definitely not the top prime ministers in the Political System Institute. Therefore, the Song Dynasty was a rare dynasty in which the bureaucracy did not stand on the side of the landlord class.

Hearing Yan Shu's words, Zhao Jun nodded and said, "Well, one step to heaven, one step to hell. I have given them the opportunity, and now they have chosen the worst option, so I have to choose the worst option. "

As he said this, he looked up at the door. It was March outside, the sky was clear and the air was fresh. He sighed, "Alas, if possible, I really want to tell those landlords, why bother to hold on to the land? The world is so big, you can go anywhere, even if you sell the land to the court and use the money to build a fleet to go to sea, it is a contribution to the country."

"There will always be people who do it, and the court will force them to do it."

Li Di said lightly.

"Then force them."

Zhao Jun nodded slightly, and then knocked on the copper bell on the table.

"Zhiyuan."

The official of the Political System Institute on duty outside came in.

"Go and ask Wang Neishi."

"Yes."

The official left.

"Are you going to transfer the imperial guards from Liangzhe Road?"

Seeing that Wang Shouzhong was going to be invited, Jiang Tang turned around and asked.

"Well, it's time to see blood."

Zhao Jun's eyes were deep, and then he frowned slightly.

He remembered something.

There are Xiangjun in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, and he has the power to mobilize Xiangjun himself.

The Political System Council can also mobilize. If the imperial guards do not need to be sent, there is no need to ask Zhao Zhen to issue an edict.

But this time he intends to take real action and kill a group of people to deter the landlords, so he must use the fully armed imperial guards.

For example, there is the Guangde Corps of the Imperial Guards in Liangzhe Road.

But the Guangde Corps, as an externally dispatched grain camp, has ten in name, but in fact three camps are in Bianliang, the other five camps are in Xijing Henan Prefecture, Mengzhou and Cangzhou, and there is only one camp in Guangde Army.

After the military reform in recent years, the Guangde Corps has been reduced to six camps, currently four in Bianliang, one in Hebei, and the remaining one in Guangde.

The 500 people in the Guangde Army camp are mainly responsible for dealing with the rebellion in the southeastern hills.

Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, many Han people have fled into the southeastern hills, which is the area that later spread southward from Huangshan, Anhui to the mountainous areas of Fujian.

The Shanyue people attacked by the Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms lived here all year round. In fact, they were all Han people who fled to the mountains to avoid war or were unwilling to pay taxes.

By the Song Dynasty, the Shanyue people were almost extinct. They were attacked by the Eastern Wu and Eastern Jin dynasties, which were based in Jiangdong. The Shanyue people have since become history, and this place has gradually become the inherent territory of the Han people.

However, the taxation in the Northern Song Dynasty was cruel, so many people in the south of the Yangtze River once again fled to the mountains to avoid taxes, and even fought with force. There were also murder fugitives who ran in, so in addition to the local wing troops in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, there were also two military systems planned for the Guangde Army and the Nankang Army.

In addition, there were three corps, the Zhongjie Corps, the Xuanyi Corps, and the Weiguo Corps, with a total of more than ten grain camps distributed in various states to take turns to take grain.

In other words, there were two camps of Guangde Army and Nankang Army stationed in Liangzhe Road with a thousand people, and more than ten grain camps stationed in rotation. It was not a problem to mobilize five or six thousand imperial guards.

The problem was that these soldiers were not subordinate to each other, and it was impossible to hand over military power to local officials.

First, there is no general in the southern routes, and the transport envoy has no military power, and it is a taboo to be in charge of military affairs.

Second, no one can say whether the officials of Jiangsu and Zhejiang are involved with the landlords. What if he can't achieve the effect he wants?

So he still has to send someone.

He has to find a ruthless person.

Zhao Jun thought about it. Di Qing was very fierce in killing foreign enemies, but he might not be ruthless in suppressing landlords.

What he wants this time is a river of blood in Liangzhe.

"Who can lead the troops? To be honest, if there is really no one, I will go myself."

Zhao Jun looked around and asked.

He killed the evil forces in Bianliang, killed corrupt officials, and killed nobles and generals. There were at least 80,000 people who died in his hands.

But in the past, it was for power struggle, to clean up the officialdom, and to solve the problem of redundant troops.

Moreover, the killing of evil forces and nobles and generals was done directly in Bianliang, and the killing of corrupt officials was also killed when he saw them during his inspection.

This time, he went to Zhejiang specifically, which was a bit of a waste of time.

He is very busy.

"Can't Di Qing go?"

Yan Shu asked.

"To be honest, he is really not needed for such a small matter."

Zhao Jun shook his head.

"Let the Privy Council send a general. Now that the Song Dynasty is full of generals, are you afraid that you can't find people?"

Zhang Shixun laughed.

"No, I still have some things to explain. I'm afraid those people don't understand what I mean."

Zhao Jun said.

How to kill, to what extent to kill, and how to deal with it in the end are all knowledgeable.

You can't just send someone to be soft-hearted when seeing that they are killing Han people, or don't care and kill them all first. That will obviously be a problem.

Therefore, you must be sensible.

This makes the generals who go there wise and not brainless.

Li Di thought about it and suddenly smiled: "Hanlong, who said that you must be a military general to lead troops to war."

"Oh?"

Zhao Jun looked at him and said: "What does the Duke of Fugu mean?"

"I think Xia Song is very suitable."

Li Di said lightly: "He is a military general, and he is also a civil official. He is both civil and military. What do you think?"

"Oh, yes, then Xia Song."

Zhao Jun understood it in an instant.

In addition to Xia Song's ruthless and fierce personality, and his strategy can understand his words.

The most important thing is that Xia Song has already become Zhao Jun's running dog.

And he has been the Minister of Finance for five years.

Since the Feng Shiyuan case broke out in the first year of the Qingli period, which caused the Minister of Finance Cheng Lin to fall, Xia Song immediately seized the opportunity and defected to Zhao Jun.

Under normal circumstances, except for Yan Shu and Fan Zhongyan, who were transferred from the alternate positions of colleagues five years ago, the earliest batch of people in the Constitutional Yuan include Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng, Song Shou, Cai Qi, Wang Sui, Sheng Du, etc. The three phases and three parameters at that time should all be withdrawn.

Since Wang Sui and Sheng Du have died of illness, in the second half of this year, Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng, Songshou and Cai Qi will have to take a back seat and may find other idle positions such as Taishi, Taifu and Taibao to support them.

However, Zhao Zhen is still nostalgic, and Song Shou and Cai Qi are not too old, one is fifty-six and the other is fifty-eight. If Zhao Jun does not object, it is very likely that he will stay in the Constitutional Yuan and continue to exert their remaining enthusiasm.

But Lu Yijian and Wang Zeng could not.

There is indeed a serious problem with their bodies, and the probability of recovery is very high.

Under such circumstances, out of the twelve prime ministers of the Constitutional Yuan five years ago, there are likely to be only nine left: Zhao Jun, Yan Shu, Fan Zhongyan, Song Shou, Cai Qi, Zhang Shixun, Li Di, Jiang Tang, and Jia Changchao.

Lu Yijian and Wang Zeng, together with Shengdu who died of illness, were reduced by three.

Nowadays, there are many affairs all over the world. With the development of economy, military, population, education, culture and other aspects, the Constitutional Yuan also has many things to deal with.

Moreover, Zhang Shixun and Li Di are both old, and Zhao Jun, Yan Shu, Fan Zhongyan and others are mainly responsible for major matters on weekdays.

Therefore, there is a high probability that the staff will be expanded again this time.

This time, talented ministers such as Zhang Dexiang, Du Yan, Chen Zhizhong, Wen Yanbo, Song Xiang, and Pang Ji expressed their voices very loudly.

As for Xia Xie, he didn't make many friends. Historically, he was not friends with the opposition. He just opposed Fan Zhongyan in terms of stance and did not have many supporters in the court.

But as Zhao Jun's younger brother, how could he not take care of him?

After all, if there are going to be things like this that require surgery in the future, Zhao Jun can't always let Zhao Jun do it himself. He must have black gloves after all.

"Zhiyuan."

At this moment, Wang Shouzhong came over and bowed his hand slightly to him.

Zhao Jun nodded, then took out an order he had just written and said: "Old Wang, go to the back garden and ask the officials for instructions."

"yes."

Wang Shouzhong took the transfer order and left without asking any questions.

It's said to be a request for instructions, but it's actually a seal.

Zhao Zhen has now become a ruthless sealing machine. After all, this matter needs to be settled quickly. It would be a waste of time to wait for the afternoon meeting or go to the back garden to find him, so it is better to just seal it.

It didn't take long for Zhao Zhen to agree to the Privy Council's troop deployment, and Zhao Jun also sent someone to the Privy Council to get another transfer order.

In this way, the emperor's order and the Privy Council's order can be used to send troops.

By noon, Xia Chu, who was still working at the Ministry of Finance, received an emergency notice and went to the Constitutional Yuan.

Zhao Jun met him in the conference room of the Constitutional Yuan.

The current office area of ​​the Constitutional Yuan is divided into the outer hall and the prime minister's office area inside. The prime minister does not have a separate room, so he can only choose a place to be alone.

"Zhiyuan!"

Xia Wei came in and bent down, showing a flattering smile.

"sit down."

Zhao Jun tapped his chin and said, "You know there will be another election for the Constitutional Yuan in the second half of this year."

Xia Wei was ecstatic, suppressing the expression on his face, and said calmly: "I know it."

"Um."

Zhao Jun said: "But you also know that now both the government and the public say that you became the Minister of Finance because of my relationship. Many people say that you can't come in this year."

Xia Wei was shocked, but still didn't show much expression on his face. He just said: "I will obey the arrangements of His Majesty and the Imperial Academy, and obey any arrangements made by the Academy."

"hehe."

Zhao Jun smiled, his words were very artistic, just like later generations of officials said that everything must be decided by the organization.

He immediately said: "Of course I want you to come in. You are handy and have great abilities. The country needs talents like you."

Then he added: "But although you have done well in the Ministry of Finance in the past few years and made great achievements, the Ministry of Finance itself is not a place where you can make great achievements. Compared with those of your colleagues, your political achievements are not much better. "

The Ministry of Finance in the Song Dynasty was reorganized from the original three departments, but the three departments were decentralized, and now only fiscal power is left.

But today’s Ministry of Finance is different from the Ministry of Finance in later generations.

Later generations of the Ministry of Finance could review the financial application reports of local municipalities and provinces, and then decide whether to allocate funds. Moreover, they also managed many central enterprises, so they still had great power.

Today, the Ministry of Finance has no subordinate central enterprises, and the appropriation power lies with the Constitutional Yuan. Therefore, the actual power is much smaller than that of the original three departments.

When it comes to political achievements, Xia Xi is naturally inferior to other colleagues.

"Yes, I am dedicated to my humble duties. As long as there are no problems with the country's finances, I will be satisfied."

Xia Wei said, the subtext of this sentence is obvious, that is, he has worked very hard, and the national finance has been managed very well over the years. No matter how good the financial management is, you will not be able to make any great achievements.

Unlike the Ministry of Industry, building the Yellow River will be a complete political achievement as long as there are no floods. And how many schools the Ministry of Education has built and how many talents it has trained are all political achievements.

As for the Ministry of Finance, it is impossible to calculate expenditures and revenues. Allocating money according to the instructions of the Constitutional Yuan can be regarded as political achievements.

So it's not that he's incompetent, it's just that he has the ability but can't use it.

"So you still have to show some results."

Zhao Jun smiled and said, "I just have something for you to do. Once you get it done, everything will be smooth sailing."

"I will listen to your instructions."

Xia Song listened carefully.

Zhao Jun continued, "The wealthy families in Liangzhe Road are making trouble. I plan to send troops to deal with it, but I have to be careful about this matter. I can't kill them all, otherwise it will become a massacre without a bottom line. But I can't take it lightly. There is a limit. I don't feel comfortable sending a military general, so I plan to let you go."

Xia Song frowned slightly, but it was gone in a flash.

The reason for frowning is that this is an offensive task. There are so many landlords, many of whom have connections with the court, such as relatives of the same clan or close friends. Killing many people will definitely offend many people.

Just a moment later, he realized that he was born a military officer, and his transfer to a civilian position depends on guessing the intentions of the superiors. He has no foundation in the court, and he does not form a clique for personal gain, so the superiors can use him with confidence.

So he is a knife in the hands of his superior. Whether he is promoted or not has nothing to do with others. It is purely the will of the prefect.

Therefore, as long as the knife in the hands of the prefect is done well, why should we care about what others think?

"Please rest assured, the prefect, I know what to do."

Thinking of this, Xia Song agreed repeatedly, expressing his willingness to be a vanguard of the prefect.

"Well, that's good. You get ready. I have asked His Majesty and the Privy Council to issue a transfer order. You take the transfer order to Liangzhe Road to mobilize the local imperial guards and wing troops."

Zhao Jun stood up and said: "What should be done and what should not be done, how to strike a good balance in the middle, think carefully, and think twice before acting."

"Yes."

Xia Song also stood up. He knew what to do.