I studied in modern times

Chapter 834: Questioning the Government
June 15, the second year of Yuanyou.

Zhao Xu looked at the new volume of the Yuanyou Dictionary that had been framed and was brought to him.

He turned the pages of the dictionary.

The table of contents and index page come into view.

And on the first and second lines of the catalog page, it is clearly written: Punctuation and numbers.

Zhao Xu turned to the first page and, sure enough, there were explanations of punctuation marks and numbers.

Who said the elders were reserved?

Isn't this quite clever?
Zhao Xu smiled and looked at the two elders sitting in front of him.

"Zhang Jiedu..."

"Feng Jiedu..."

Zhang Fangping and Feng Jing stood up immediately: "I am here..."

"It is a blessing for the Song Dynasty to have the two elders to assist and guide me!"

"Don't dare!"

Zhang Fangping and Feng Jing hurriedly bowed again, looking extremely terrified, but in fact they were smiling widely in their hearts.

Because they all knew that at this moment in this hall, behind that screen, was sitting the attendant Huang Shi.

Zhao Xu chuckled and said, "Two elders, please stand up quickly!"

After Zhang Fangping and Feng Jing bowed again to express their gratitude, they sat down again and heard the young official at the top say, "It's a good opportunity for the two elders to come to the palace today... I also have something to ask the two elders for advice..."

At this moment, Zhang Fangping and Feng Jing's hearts began to beat violently.

Their entry into the palace this time was fake to present a book, but it was really to take the opportunity to speak out politically! It was really to improve their own reputation! It was really to establish their own persona!

And what is the biggest hot spot nowadays?
There is no doubt that it is the "Case of Tax Collectors Exploiting Good People" that is now being watched and focused on by the entire Bian Jing.

And now, this matter has been completely hyped up.

Just yesterday, some students from the Imperial College recited Bai Juyi’s poem “The Old Man Selling Charcoal” outside the Kaifeng government office to satirize the Kaifeng government for watching the good people being oppressed by the evil!
Zhang Fangping and Feng Jing, who had a keen political sense, immediately realized that it was time for them to come out.

But they didn't expect that the government would cooperate with them so well!
You know, there is a political difference between them asking questions and the government personally asking them about state affairs.

In the former case, they were somewhat forced to participate, which was too deliberate!

And the latter...

But it was the government itself that set up the stage and invited them to perform!

Justified!
It will be worthy of being recorded in history!

Zhang Fangping and Feng Jing barely suppressed their inner excitement and bowed, saying, "We are stupid and ignorant, please listen to your majesty's advice..."

"It's like this..." Zhao Xu looked at the two old foxes.

In fact, according to Zhao Xu's prediction, these two old foxes should have entered the palace long ago.

However, Zhao Xu waited for them in the palace for several days!
It was not until now that they finally appeared in front of Zhao Xu.

"Look at the geese following the sun, each of them has its own plans for making rice and millet!" Zhao Xu shook his head and sighed in his heart.

Of course he knew what Zhang Fangping and Feng Jing had been doing these days.

They were all in the capital, busy fighting with the ministers over resistance.

The tearing is a bit ugly!

It was not until the day before yesterday that both sides took a step back and reached a compromise.

Fortunately, Zhao Xu had studied abroad in modern China for ten years and was used to seeing similar things.

Not surprising!

Although he felt somewhat uncomfortable, he didn't take it to heart.

Zhao Xu smiled and introduced the reports in the Bian Jing Newspaper in recent days to the two elders.

At the same time, Feng Jing was asked to deliver the cut reports to the two elders.

Although Zhao Xu knew that they knew, they also knew that Zhao Xu knew that they knew.

But politics is like this, it’s rare to be confused! It’s rare to be confused!
Therefore, after Zhao Xu introduced them, he said to the two elders: "Both elders are pillars of the Song Dynasty, well-read, talented and virtuous..."

"I am young and I really don't know how to deal with this matter... I hope the two elders can teach me."

As he spoke, Zhao Xu bowed slightly to Zhang Fangping and Feng Jing.

Zhang Fangping and Feng Jing pretended to listen to Zhao Xu's introduction, and then carefully read the report in the Bian Jing Xin Bao that Feng Jing handed to them.

Then he saw Zhao Xu stand up and bow slightly, with the standard posture of a child asking his elders for advice or a young master asking about politics from the elders.

They both felt extremely happy inside, and the expressions on their faces were extremely wonderful.

What movie star? What veteran actor?
At this moment, everything pales in comparison to these two old foxes!
"How could this happen!" Zhang Fangping took a step forward and bowed with a sad face, saying, "This old minister has served Renzu, Yingmiao and the late emperor..."

"Three generations of ancestors have always loved the people like their own children and put the people first!"

"Especially the late emperor..." Zhang Fangping raised his head, as if recalling the great achievements of a great emperor: "The late emperor was in power for 19 years, and every day he thought about the well-being of the people of the world, and every day he ruled with light taxes and levies, and saved the people's energy!"

"The only ones who are thinking about this are the common people, the people, and the common people!"

"Although the late emperor abandoned the country and retired to the ancestral temple... Fortunately, Your Majesty has ascended the throne, inherited the virtues of the late emperor, glorified the country, and blessed the people..."

This is such a satisfying flattery!

Zhao Xu felt a little dizzy and very comfortable when he listened to it!
Because, as a veteran of four dynasties, Zhang Fangping endorsed the holiness and greatness of the previous emperor, and also endorsed that the politics of "Xi" and "Feng" were "people-oriented" and "saving people's energy."

The late emperor was so sacred and great, so Zhao Xu, as his successor, was naturally also sacred and great.

At the same time, we will continue to move forward along the path opened up by the previous emperor and revive the country!

This is critical!

Zhang Fangping continued to play: "Today, I have heard that in Kaifeng Prefecture, tax collectors are disobeying the emperor's orders, and clerks are killing innocent people..." "I can't help but think of the time when the late emperor personally summoned me and asked me about the Han and Tang dynasties... I replied: The people are like water, they can carry a boat, but they can also overturn it!"

"The former emperor was very pleased to hear this! He ordered the old minister to propose policies for state affairs and economy. The old minister then wrote a letter, saying that 'people are the foundation of the country, and a solid foundation brings peace to the country', and requested that the Yanbo Temple and Weizi Temple be opened as market places to facilitate transactions among the people..."

"The former emperor saw this and thought it was a great virtue. He taught me: Yanbo and Weizi are the ancestors of our Zhao family and the spirits of our ancestors!"

"It blesses all people and protects the country!"

"If you use it as a market, it will benefit the people and the country, and the gods will be pleased!"

"Later, due to the criticism of the petty people in the court, they believed that Weizi and Yanbo were the temples of the ancestors and the gods of the country, so they were abolished..."

"Yes... the virtue of the late emperor can be seen from this!"

Feng Jing, who was standing by, was completely dumbfounded.

He looked at Zhang Fangping's old face, his eyes full of shock and disbelief.

"Old man!"

“How shameless!”

Because he knew the truth about the example of the "Yanbo and Weizi" temple cited by Zhang Fangping.

The truth is - when the reform was underway, Wang Anshi was crazy about money.

Therefore, the Yanbo Temple and Weizi Temple were turned into markets, and tax collectors were sent to collect taxes!
After this incident was caught, they made a big fuss about it and used it to attack the new law and the new party for bringing harm to the country and the people.

The person who made a fuss about this matter was Zhang Fangping, who was now talking eloquently in front of the young master!

It was under Zhang Fangping's attack that Wang Anshi's policies were completely abolished.

"You are taking credit for something that is not yours!" Feng Jing gritted his teeth and complained in his heart.

but……

Wang Anshi no longer cares about worldly affairs.

Ever since Han Jiang took Wang Anshi's exemption law and insisted that it was his original proposal.

After Wang Anshi acquiesced to this, more and more ministers began to take advantage of Wang Anshi.

Many of the laws and policies that Wang Anshi retained were stolen and the credit was shared by others.

But, those people are still fleecing the sheep.

But it has not reached the point where Zhang Fangping confuses right and wrong and calls a horse a zebra!
only……

Feng Jing carefully observed the young official sitting at the top.

I found that the other party was smiling, with an expression of "Really?", "My father is so great?", "Thanks to the governor, I know that the emperor's virtue has reached this level."

Feng Jing immediately threw away all the complaints in his mind.

then……

Before Zhang Fangping could speak, he took a quick step, holding the jade pendant, and bowed with an exaggerated expression, saying, "Your Majesty, I beg for your wisdom..."

So, following Zhang Fangping's example, he turned several incidents in which he had participated in attacking Wang Anshi into examples of how much the late emperor loved his people and how much he cared about the sufferings of the people.

no way!
This time, that time!
Back then, Wang Anshi's reforms were intended to require people like them to make concessions and cut losses.

Who would be willing to do this?

Of course I have to fight Wang Anshi to the end!

What's more, the laws and policies Wang Anshi made were only okay at the beginning, but they became uglier and uglier as time went on!

This allows them to stand on the moral high ground, make comments, and smear and attack others!

Especially in industry and commerce, they have too many excuses and reasons to make use of the issue.

But it’s different now!

Today's government attaches great importance to industry and commerce and encourages commerce.

But what he chose was to regulate and eliminate government-run monopolies.

In the name of the saint, these highly profitable industries will be returned to the "people".

For example, the pawnshop was a hen that laid golden eggs, and the official chose to sell it to the people!
Not only that, before the rush to buy, he also considerately helped everyone by merging the monks' pawnshops.

If it were in other dynasties, the effects of these measures might not have appeared so quickly.

But the Song Dynasty is different!
The literati, officials, relatives of the emperor and nobles of the Song Dynasty all had a business gene.

Almost all scholar-official families have members who are engaged in business.

If you study well, you can become an official; if you fail to study well, you can go into business.

The integration of officials and businessmen has become a common practice in many places.

This is also normal - in the Song Dynasty society, if you want to expand your business, you must have an official background and backing.

Otherwise, you will be taken advantage of by the clerks in a matter of minutes!

In the past, they opposed political reforms because they would cut into their flesh.

Therefore, they will try every possible means to attack and find loopholes and problems in the new law.

And now...

With the new emperor's accession to the throne, the court's economic policy increasingly leaned towards openness, freedom and elimination of official monopolies.

The government is increasingly showing an attitude of supporting industry and commerce.

Although, the Taoist scholars still say things like "agriculture is the foundation".

But the smart people have all started to suffer.

(End of this chapter)