The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

Zhao Zhen continued: "I might as well tell you a confidential matter. The leader of the Guangnan barbarians, Nong Zhigao, has rebelled against the Song Dynasty and established the Dali Kingdom, and proclaimed himself emperor; I haven't made this matter public all this time because the Northwest was initially settled, and I was afraid of another disaster; only when the Northwest is stable and the defense is strong, can I send troops to destroy that Nong Zhigao; so I can only entrust this important task to you , the money and taxes of the imperial court are tight, you have the means to gather wealth, I may have the privilege of you, but there are mines on the Northwest Fourth Road, you can have people dig them to prepare for the needs of the Northwest, but I supply money and food to you gone."

Su Jin was both happy and worried. He was so happy that Zhao Zhencheng told the truth, which showed that Zhao Zhen was quite sincere and did not hide it. The worry is that minerals are not something that can be found just by looking for it. According to my memory, there are definitely a lot of minerals in the Northwest in later generations, but how to distinguish them and how to mine them is a big problem.

But this matter is very tempting to Su Jin. There is no shortage of copper, iron, coal, fire and oil in the Song Dynasty. Once there is a chance to mine it, the benefits will be huge; Su Jin has long had an ambitious bottom-up reform plan in his heart. , This huge plan requires a huge amount of money and materials as the backing. This deep-buried mineral deposit is not only a source of materials, but also a source of materials.

Even better, the mining of mineral deposits will not involve the interests of others, and will not cause conflicts of interest. As long as the imperial court allows it and discusses the policy of sharing, it will be a matter of personal benefit for both the imperial court. In this era when mineral resources are not valued , his own advantage is that he can see the value of minerals better than others.

"Your Majesty, you are trying to drive ducks to the shelves. How can there be so many minerals in the northwest? The minerals are buried deep underground, how can I mine them? The Baoshan Carboniferous Mine was my mistake. It's just luck. If you use it This is a bet, but I dare not take it." [

Zhao Zhen said: "I also know that this matter is a bit difficult, but there are indeed minerals in the Northwest. Liang Shi, the head of the Third Division of Salt and Iron Division, once reported that according to the method of prospecting, there is definitely a mine, but it is difficult to mine it; I can assign him to you. He is an expert in prospecting, as for how to mine it, it is up to you to figure out a way, after all, you can figure out a way to refine fire oil, so you should have a way in this matter."

Su Jin scratched his head and said: "Since this is the case, I will give it a try, but I have a doubt. If there are minerals in the northwest, once they are successfully mined, who will the mine belong to? The emperor will not give a penny, and the white wolf will not succeed."

Zhao Zhen smiled and said: "You can relax, except for the military and political expenses in the Northwest, what about the court's [-]-[-] share with you? This can be regarded as a joint mining partnership between you and me. I have just made it very clear that the court benefits, and the courtiers also get it." Li, since you have been promoted, you can benefit from it, so why not do it?"

Su Jin sighed: "The horoscope has not been written yet, but the emperor seems to have given the minister a lot of benefits."

Zhao Zhen nodded at Su Jin's nose and said, "Be content, all four roads in the northwest are under your jurisdiction. What an important responsibility this is. You are already the king of the northwest, what else do you want?"

Su Jin said: "It's nice to say, the emperor wants to flay and exploit me, Su Jin, and go begging along the street."

Zhao Zhen spat: "You are the one who said that. By the way, in order to reduce your burden, I sent you a deputy. Gao Ruona, the transshipment envoy on the East Road, once knew the Yongxing Army and was from a military career. Northwest is more familiar; I appointed him as your deputy, um... just order him to take care of the soldiers and horses, but if there is a military operation, you two should discuss it together; other things don't need him to intervene, you have to get along with him in harmony Together, I will hand over the Northwest to you two."

Su Jin knew well that Zhao Zhen had put a nail in his side, and Gao Ruona was in charge of military affairs, which in fact deprived Su Jin of the arbitrary power of military mobilization. Without consent, the army cannot be mobilized.In the final analysis, Zhao Zhen still kept a hand, but this cannot be simply attributed to Zhao Zhen's doubts about himself. In the Song Dynasty military system, there was a position of supervising the army. This is the eyes and ears sent by the emperor to the generals. A normal means of surveillance.

This conversation with Zhao Zhen somewhat eased the slightly awkward relationship between the two, but since the rift has arisen, it is very difficult to make up for it. Su Jin knows in his heart that today is inevitable, and Zhao Zhen's character determines From his actions, it can be seen from the New Deal incident that Zhao Zhen is a person who follows the good, but at the same time he is also the person who follows the evil, in other words, he has a soft ear; this kind of person has a paranoid symptom of looking forward and backward. , The longer we get along, the deeper Su Jin understands this, and this is getting farther and farther away from the evaluation of Zhao Zhen by later generations.

Later historians and researchers gave Zhao Zhen the title of "Renjun", saying that he was forgiving and benevolent and governed, so that Renzong once showed a free atmosphere. Su Jin did not deny the actual result, but he gradually realized that it was not Zhao. Zhen did this on purpose, but his weakness and suspicion made him not sure about many things, so he was unable to make a decision for a long time. However, there were countless capable men and virtuous people in Renzong's reign, and the excellence of his courtiers made up for Zhao Zhen's shortcomings. , As the saying goes, the heart is full of willows and willows, this can be regarded as Zhao Zhen's luck. (Personal opinion, don't spray if you don't like it.)

Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, Fubi and others were banished from Beijing. How could it be so deserted when they left Beijing? In the past, the New Deal and the party scattered like birds and beasts.

Everyone knows that after Fan Zhongyan and others were demoted, Su Jin was promoted instead. Rumors have sprung up that Su Jin is hypocritical and righteous, but Su Jin can't control these things. Since then, it is inevitable that there will be discussions of one kind or another, and Su Jin can't stop the rumors from happening.

Not only that, when Fan Zhongyan left Beijing to take up his post in Bin County, Su Jin led people to set up wine at the ten-mile long pavilion outside the west gate to see him off.

Fan Zhongyan didn't show too much excitement about Su Jin's open friendship with Su Jin, as if he knew that Su Jin was coming to see him off. The half-foot-high wheat seedlings in the wheat field near the road said with a smile that this year is another bumper harvest year.

Su Jin finally couldn't help but asked: "Mr. Fan, after this incident, we can see the difficulty of the New Deal. If time goes back, would you still be willing to touch the New Deal?"

Fan Zhongyan smiled and said: "Master Su, I admire your flexibility and your judgment of the situation, but if you come to see me off, if someone says that you and this old man are in the same party, will you regret it?"

Su Jin smiled and said: "I am most afraid of gossip, maybe I will regret it, but although I may regret it, I will regret it even more if I don't come to see Mr. Fan off."

Fan Zhongyan laughed and said: "I didn't appreciate you very much at first, I always felt that you were too utilitarian, and you seemed more than cautious at a young age, but you can confess your regrets, which shows your sincerity, and I admire you three points again. "

Su Jin said with a smile: "Fan Gong misunderstood, you haven't answered me yet."

Fan Zhongyan thought about Jiu Linfeng for a while and said: "It would be a lie to say that this old man regrets it all, but there is always someone first. I, Fan, come from a poor family. When I was young, I made up my mind to study in Yingtian Academy. This body is loyal to the imperial court, discussing honor, disgrace and remorse; after becoming an official, it is my duty to strengthen the Song Dynasty and enrich the people, and I don't care about personal honor and disgrace. Only the realm can be ashamed of the world, that is, "worry about the world's worries first, and enjoy the world's joys later." Only in this way can you calm your mind and not regret this life."

This may be the first release of Fan Zhongyan's famous saying through the ages. A few years later, Fan Zhongyan wrote the famous saying through the ages

Su Jin really admires Fan Zhongyan. There is no doubt that the person who can say these two sentences must have a broad mind and lofty ideals. He takes the revitalization of the country as his own responsibility and does not care about personal gains and losses. Fan Zhongyan is indeed such a person , although in Su Jin's view, he lacked the resourcefulness to turn around and chose the wrong time to realize his ideals, but this did not prevent Fan Zhongyan's image from growing taller in his mind; after being in this era for so long, Finally, there is a person who matches the impression in his later memory, but with too much tragic color.

Su Jin bowed to the ground to bid farewell to Fan Zhongyan. Fan Zhongyan refused the money and horses and horses presented by Su Jin. He took only a few family members and boarded a donkey cart. On the road, at the car dealership, his gray hair on the temples danced in the spring breeze, becoming a permanent memory in Su Jin's heart.