Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 657 Low-key return to Beijing
It took the Song army ten days to sort out the epidemic-ravaged Xingqing Mansion. There were 300 million taels of silver, 500 million taels of gold, and millions of jin of copper coins in stock. , hundreds of thousands of silks and satins of all kinds, and millions of sheepskins, these are the wealth obtained from the treasury, and have not been infected by diseases.

No one dared to touch the folk items. More than [-] patients were rescued from the city, and more than [-] corpses were burned and buried. When the last batch of Song soldiers came out, they took off all their shoes, socks, coats and masks, washed their hands and faces with strong alcohol .

Thousands of soldiers fired rockets into the city together. In just a moment, the city quickly turned into a sea of ​​flames. The fire burned for five days and nights, and burned Xingqing Mansion, the capital of Xixia, into a piece of white ground.

Fifty thousand patients have been sent to Huaizhou, where military doctors treated them, and finally rescued more than [-] people.

In this epidemic, more than 90 people in Xingqing Prefecture died of illness. Together with the military chaos, the population was reduced from 60 to [-]. Afterwards, the Dangxiang clan completely disappeared in the long river of history.

The Liang family kept their wealth, and the young emperor Li Bingchang was named Xia Guogong and lived in Bianliang for a long time.

Fan Ning left 50 troops to garrison the hometown of Xixia, and the remaining nearly [-] troops returned in triumph. This battle that took a whole year was finally over. The Song Dynasty destroyed Xixia and regained the Hexi Corridor and Hetao Plain. The news spread and the whole country To celebrate, the capital even carnivaled all night for three consecutive days.

The emperor Zhao Zhen was so excited that he led the clan to worship the ancestral temple, and then issued a decree to amnesty the world, changed the year name to Pingxia, and allocated 500 million taels of silver, 1000 million pieces of silk, and [-] hectares of land to reward all meritorious soldiers.

That evening, Fan Ning, wearing a gauze hat and a deep blue coat, returned to the capital in a five-hundred-stone passenger ship without a sound.

Ten days ago, Han Jiang and Di Qing led the army back to the capital. The imperial court specially held a ceremony for the entry of one hundred thousand troops into the city.

Fan Ning gave the honor to Han Jiang and Di Qing, but he himself remained silent.

He was only 33 years old, and he was already the King of Wujun and the Grand Master, and he was already in the top rank of the official position. If he went up, unless he added Jiuxi, that was not what he wanted.

In the night, Fanning returned home from the pier at the back door, but was warmly welcomed by his family.

After a sumptuous dinner, Fanning took his wife Jupe for a slow walk in the backyard.

"Husband seems to have something on his mind?" Zhu Pei asked in a low voice.

Fan Ning gently hugged his wife's shoulders and smiled, "Don't you think it's strange that I came back so low-key?"

"It's not surprising now, it's just that Zhen'er and Ling'er were disappointed that you weren't there at the entrance ceremony. They went to see Daddy."

"Why do you think this is?"

Zhu Pei was silent for a moment and said, "Husband, do you think your skills are so high?"

"Do you feel the same way?"

Zhu Pei nodded, "Actually, it was my mother-in-law who woke up the dreamer. Those few days someone slandered you in the newspaper, but the court ignored it. I was very angry, so I went to the queen mother and wanted to resign the title of princess. The queen came to our house, the one on the left apologized, the other comforted, and the mother-in-law said that her son made the emperor afraid, which is not a good thing."

Fan Ning nodded, "That's why I didn't participate in the city entry ceremony. My reputation in the army has already surpassed that of the emperor. If my reputation among the people surpasses him, things will be troublesome. I'm afraid that during the city entry ceremony, someone will shout Long live Mr. Fan, my life will be sad."

"But my husband is a civil servant, so it should be better!"

"So what about the civil servants? If you offend the Emperor Nilin, you can't escape the catastrophe."

"What is your husband going to do?"

Fan Ning was silent for a moment and said, "I would like to take three months off to go to North Island."

"You're going to Beidao, but Axiu is due to give birth in one month." Zhu Pei was a little surprised.

Fan Ning hugged her shoulders vigorously, and said with a smile: "Isn't there still you? You sit in the town for me, I won't take this trip, my heart hanging in the air will never let go."

Zhu Pei sighed, "Okay! Fortunately, I didn't expect you to come back."

"I also want to bring Zhen'er and Jing'er along, so that they can understand what Bei Dao means to us?"

Early the next morning, Fan Ning went to see the Queen Mother first.

Empress Dowager Cao frowned when she heard that Fan Ning had asked for a three-month leave to go to sea, "Axiu managed to save the baby with great difficulty, and she will give birth in more than a month. Can't you wait for her to give birth before leaving?"

"I made an agreement with Axiu, there will be family members to take care of her." Fan Ning did not intend to compromise on this matter, even if the other party was the empress dowager.

Empress Dowager Cao said for a while: "That's right, you already have five children, and you don't value children so much anymore, okay! The Ai family approves your vacation."

"Thank you Queen Mother!"

"Leave this matter aside, let me talk about a few important things first. One is the people of Xixia. It would cost too much to resettle them in various parts of the Song Dynasty. Some people in the court proposed to resettle them overseas, such as in the mainland. You What do you think?"

Central China is Irian Island, and the Song Dynasty is not in the mood to develop it yet. Fan Ning pondered for a moment and said, "If they are sent overseas, it means that they are going to rebuild Xixia overseas. Is this what the court means?"

"Some ministers think so."

Fan Ning shook his head, "If they are allowed to go overseas, then many private islands will be annexed by them sooner or later. Their race is too big. Once they develop, they will become our biggest enemy overseas."

"You don't agree?"

"Weichen firmly opposes it. The original plan should be followed. Although it is a bit troublesome, they are all familiar with the party. Sooner or later they will be integrated into the Song Dynasty, and the party family will disappear completely. This is the long-term solution."

Empress Dowager Cao smiled slightly and said, "You have absolute authority over this matter. They are all your prisoners of war. You should have the final say. You go back and write a written report, and submit it to the emperor tomorrow. Beat those people well." s face."

"Is there anything else the Queen Mother needs to discuss with this minister?"

"There are also three reform projects, the expansion of Taixue, the restoration of six ministries in three provinces, and the reduction of redundant officials. The previous two ruling and opposition parties have basically reached a consensus and agreed to carry out reforms.

But the third project, the reduction of redundant officials, was very controversial. For a whole month, the newspapers were arguing about this matter. The only thing that reached a consensus was to exchange titles and land for false officials. The officials said that this is your plan. It was passed, but how to arrange a large number of redundant officials is really related to the interests of too many people. It is really embarrassing for Aijia, so I would like to ask you, what should Aijia do with this matter? "

Fan Ning bowed and said, "Thank you Queen Mother for trusting me!"

"It's not the relationship between the monarch and his ministers. You are my niece and son-in-law, and you can also be regarded as my family. I hope that from this relationship, you can give my aunt a suggestion."

Fan Ning nodded silently, "I only have one suggestion. The Empress Dowager must adhere to one principle. Any reform must reach a broad consensus before it can be implemented. If the differences are too serious, I would rather not change it. It will tear the court apart."

Empress Dowager Cao read it twice secretly, and said with a smile: "It seems that the officials have also said this, and you told him too?"

Fanning nodded, "This is actually my principle."

"This principle is very good, Aijia will remember."

Fan Ning resigned immediately, and Empress Dowager Cao asked, "When do you plan to leave?"

"Weichen intends to leave in ten days, and rent an official fleet to send some supplies to the North Island and the South Island."

"Take your old man with you when you leave, and tell him that if he really doesn't want to come back, I won't force him this time."

The father-in-law Fan Ning mentioned by Empress Dowager Cao of course refers to Cao Yi. He has always wanted to settle overseas, but Empress Dowager Cao just refused to agree. It seems that Empress Dowager Cao finally changed her mind.

Coming out of Empress Dowager Cao, Fan Ning went to Ziwei Hall to meet the emperor again.

When Zhao Xu heard that Fan Ning was asking for an audience, he was both happy and surprised, and quickly asked the eunuch to take him to the imperial study.

Fan Ning stepped forward and bowed to salute, "My humble servant sees Your Majesty!"

Zhao Xu hurriedly asked the eunuch to lift a chair and asked him to sit down. Fan Ning sat down, and Zhao Xu asked with a smile, "When did Mr. Fan come back?"

"My minister took a boat to the capital last night. This morning, I paid a special visit to the Queen Mother, and then handed over the military talisman to Your Majesty."

An eunuch stepped forward and put a plate on the table. Inside the plate were gold medals, soldier talismans and the Emperor's Sword.

Zhao Xu nodded, "I will give this Tianzi sword to my husband."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your trust!"

Zhao Xu said again: "Did your lord talk about resettling the people of Xixia when he saw the queen mother?"

"Talk about it!"

Fan Ning's attitude was very firm and said: "The minister is firmly opposed to resettling the people of Xixia overseas, which will leave great hidden dangers to overseas places. Sooner or later, Xixia will swallow up all the interests of Song Dynasty overseas. Impeach and remove!"

Zhao Xu was taken aback. He didn't expect Fan Ning to be so firm. He nodded, "I understand. I told Fu Xianggong and Wen Xianggong before that this matter will be decided by Fan Xianggong. This is his right."

"Your Majesty, the Xixia people live together with the Han people. After a hundred years, the Dangxiang people will no longer exist. This is the right way. Exile them overseas is the way to sacrifice the basics and seek disaster."

Zhao Xu understood Fan Ning's attitude, nodded and said: "There is also the reduction of redundant officials. There are too many differences. Only the false officials have accepted Fan Xianggong's plan, and they will change their positions with titles and overseas land. This is very smooth. , but it is not enough to divert officials, I proposed to set up township level officials, which was also strongly opposed by hundreds of officials, and I want to listen to Xiangguo's opinion again."

(End of this chapter)