I studied in modern times

Chapter 905 A New Sun Rises in Bianjing City
After reading the letter from the Liao Kingdom, Zhao Xu read Lin Xi's memorial again.

The content of Lin Xi's memorial was almost the same as Yelu Hongji's.

There are only some differences in the details.

After reading it, Zhao Xu had a rough idea in his mind.

But he planned to wait a little longer before giving a reply to the Liao side. This was the experience he had accumulated when dealing with Song-Liao diplomacy in his previous life. According to general rules, the next two days would be the time when the amount of information would explode.

So, let the bullets fly for a while!

After putting away the copies of the letter and memorial, Zhao Xu drove to Kaifeng Prefecture.

When the imperial carriage arrived at the government office of Kaifeng Prefecture, the newly appointed acting prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture, Qian Xie, had already been waiting in the square in front of the government office with all the officials of the prefecture.

On September Dingmao (18th), Qian Xie was appointed as the acting prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture by Zhao Xu as a Hanlin scholar.

Also appointed at the same time was the magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture.

For this position, Zhao Xu chose Ye Zuqia, a staunch reformer and key figure in the New Party.

"Minister Xie, the Acting Governor of Kaifeng Prefecture..."

"Kaifeng Prefecture promotes this minister..."

"Zu Qia, the acting judge of Kaifeng Prefecture..."

"Welcome His Majesty the Emperor to Kaifeng Prefecture!"

The three ministers bowed their heads and knelt before the imperial sedan chair.

Behind them were dozens of civil and military officials from Kaifeng Prefecture.

Zhao Xu stepped down from the carriage and looked at the ministers who were kneeling in worship in the square.

"No need to be so polite!" he said softly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Qian Xie bowed again and stood up, and the other officials followed suit.

"I came here today to have a good talk with you, my dear ministers, about the future administration of Kaifeng Prefecture, as well as the laws and policies within the prefecture..."

Cai Jing and Zhang Shangying completed the final procedures at the Ministry of Personnel on the 15th day of September.

Now we are just waiting for His Majesty's departure and then heading south to Guangxi.

As for the former Kaifeng Prefecture judge Li Shiliang, he had already taken up the new post of chief judge of Jingxi Road in early September.

And as these first batch of Kaifeng prefecture officials appointed by Zhao Xu during the Yuanyou era left one after another.

Kaifeng Prefecture, which Zhao Xu personally led, was an institution for learning and observing government before taking power, and naturally it had to enter a new era.

In the future, Zhao Xu will not be able to come to Kaifeng Prefecture as frequently as he did last year and this year.

He will focus more of his energy on state affairs.

The prime minister and the generals of the three yamen also hoped that Zhao Xu could be closer to them.

This is natural.

Everyone wants to make progress.

And if one wants to make progress, one naturally has to be close to the emperor.

How can you get close to the emperor if you can’t see him for ten days or half a month?
If a close relationship between the ruler and his subjects cannot be established, many things will be difficult to accomplish.

After all, the current political structure is already very clear.

The Qingshou Palace's main hall was frustrated in its attempt to hold court, while the Baoci Palace was accelerating the transfer of power.

Many people say that the official’s wedding day is when the empress dowager draws the curtain.

However, the news in the palace was that Empress Dowager Baoci Palace hoped that this time would be as soon as possible.

The Queen Mother only wants to have a grandson as soon as possible!
In such a situation, even the dumbest person would know it.

Who is the real master in the Song Dynasty today?
However, the system is still dominated by women.

But that's how politics works.

Once expectations begin to be fulfilled, everything that follows will change at an unimaginable speed.

Because that's how the human heart is.

Qian Xie, Luo Shi and Ye Zuqia, the three chief officials of Kaifeng Prefecture, listened and nodded in agreement.

Ye Zuqia, the top scholar promoted by Zhao Xu himself, said immediately: "I have heard from the elders in the neighborhood that it is a blessing from heaven that a wise ruler was born in the Song Dynasty..."

"I have also heard the private discussions of the Imperial College students: the emperor today has the wisdom of King Cheng, the judgment of Han Zhang, the decisiveness of Han Ming, and the benevolence of Han Wen!"

"Your Majesty's holy virtue shines upon the four seas and brings blessings to the world..."

"If it weren't so, how could there be the opinions of the elders and the students?"

"I am fortunate to be able to personally listen to your majesty's teachings..."

"I will definitely remember your majesty's teachings and keep them in mind every day from now on!"

Zhao Xu listened, his eyes moved slightly, and he looked at Ye Zuqia with interest.

Ye Zuqia's face was flushed, his body was trembling slightly, and the hair under his bun had faint traces of moisture.

If you didn’t know, you would think that a sun had risen in the city of Bianjing!

As soon as Ye Zuqia opened his mouth, Qian Xie and Luo Shi followed up after a slight hesitation, spouting all kinds of corny words of praise, without asking for any money.

As for those who stood behind these three big guys, they all had an expression like "Me too", "Ahhhh, Your Majesty, why is your light so dazzling? Your warmth will leave a permanent mark of loyalty on me..." or "Your Majesty, I have long been your loyal dog".

Seeing this, Zhao Xu's mouth curled up slightly, and he cursed inwardly: "A bunch of flatterers!"

but……

It feels so good to be praised and flattered by others!

Even though he had been flattered countless times in various ways in his previous life.

but……

Once you experience the feeling of being loved and praised by others, you will be addicted to it.

No one can resist the experience this feeling brings on the physical and mental levels.

This is also why, throughout history, except for those emperors who founded a country and immediately conquered the world, it is usually difficult for emperors to remain sober throughout their lives.

no way!
If you were surrounded by a group of male Dajis every day, praising you from various angles and in different directions.

Transform your every move into an angle of praise.

You can't stand it either. Not to mention, there are a lot of concubines in the palace who are waiting for you to turn over the card and will be excited by your every smile and every word.

Fortunately, Zhao Xu studied abroad in modern times.

Moreover, he was a broadcaster.

As an anchor, the people you come into contact with the most are all kinds of funny people.

And the fun people are best at deconstruction.

Deconstruct everything!
So, although Zhao Xu felt comfortable, he was clear-headed.

He was clearly aware that if he couldn't always win and succeed all the time.

Once he screws up, with what he's doing now.

Believe it or not, the people who will oppose him the most at that time will be the ones who are praising him now.

Just like it was not Li Mi’s Wagang Army or Li Yuan and his son who were destined to kill Yang Guang.

Instead, he was Yang Guang's most trusted minister.

Yu Wenzhi and Sima Dekan have always been praising and flattering him.

If things go wrong, he might not even end up like Yang Guang.

Therefore, Zhao Xu was only immersed in it for a moment, and then quickly woke up from the BGM of [You are from Shandong and love Cantonese food].

He looked at Qian Xie, Ye Zuqia, and Luo Shi.

"I am young and of little virtue, how dare I accept such praise from you, my dear ministers?"

"Since I ascended the throne, I have been working day and night, being cautious and vigilant, as if treading on thin ice. I am always afraid that I am not virtuous, that I am young and frivolous, that I will bring shame to my father's virtue, let down my ancestors and the country, and bring trouble to the people of the world!"

The emperor needs his ministers' praise and flattery.

Because the emperor needs these people to act as passers-by or supporting characters in modern online novels to perform various shocks and shocks.

Through these people, we can tell the people of the world that you are blessed! Bianjing City has produced an official who is unparalleled in benevolence and righteousness, and who is unyielding and unyielding!

Through these people, he also told the working people who might live in the countryside all their lives how kind and righteous he was, how he loved the people, how he cared about the people's sufferings, and how frugal he was.

This is to numb the working people, so that even if they are hungry, they will proudly hold their chests up - the government loves me.

But the emperor could not really believe the praises of his ministers.

These people's mouths are no different from those of bitches.

No matter who sits on the throne?
There will always be people singing praises.

Therefore, as an emperor, the smartest thing to do is

Tell the ministers in a subtle and tactful way - I actually don’t believe it, but I really like what you say!

So, please step it up!
While saying these words, Zhao Xu's eyes were always on Ye Zuqia.

Because this top scholar is so interesting!

At the same time, he is also very sensible!

Since the first year of Yuanyou, Ye Zuqia has been deliberately getting close to Shen Kuo. He is one of the few officials in the court who is willing and dares to publicly praise the theory of "investigating things and seeking knowledge" invented by Shen Kuo.

This kind of thing is too normal for Ye Zuqia!
This number one scholar in the third year of Xining relied on his keen political sense to perfectly guess the trend of the year in the imperial examination.

So, relying on the sentence: "Our ancestors mostly followed the policy of simplicity and simplification, Your Majesty has reformed and innovated since he ascended the throne," he stood out from countless scholars and won the title of top scholar.

Now, a new opportunity has emerged again, how could Ye Zuqia miss it?

It just so happened that he had been serving as a ritual official since the first year of Yuanyou - he was the Jixian School Manager and the Langzhong of the Ministry of Rites.

So, he has plenty of time to study academic subjects and publish articles.

Over the past year, he contributed dozens of articles to the Bian Jing Yi Bao.

Each article tries to find different theoretical basis to endorse Shen Kuo's "Investigating Things and Extending Knowledge".

It has to be said that Ye Zuqia's academic theoretical foundation was quite good (he was one of the few Jinshi with the most solid theoretical foundation in the Xining period, and the only ones who were better than him in academics were probably Lu Dian, You Zuo and a few others).

With his help, the bugs in Shen Kuo's theories regarding Confucian thought and classics began to be patched one by one.

However, Ye Zuqia's patch was a bit rough.

The method he used was the New Party's usual method of "reinterpreting" and "redefining" the magic power.

I don’t want what you think, I want what I feel!

The profound meaning of the saints' words is hidden between the lines and lurking in the cause and effect of the past and the present.

We should not just pick on the words, but should use a higher perspective, connect the context, and then understand it based on the background of the world at that time.

Without these, how can we learn the teachings of the saints well?
It seems very reasonable, but the New Party’s [reinterpretation] and [redefinition] are usually very violent!

Like "Zi Shuo", it also takes the approach of using theories to serve politics.

This made a large number of old scholars very angry.

The old party is involved again, stirring up trouble.

As a result, Wang Anshi's new learning was even used as a designated reference book for the imperial examinations.

However, he has been criticized and condemned by countless people from all walks of life.

Wang Anshi's proposition of "one morality, same customs" could never be implemented.

This is also true for the new academic ideas promoted by the state's administrative power.

Not to mention the theory of "Gewu" which has just emerged and shown signs of development.

Now Shen Kuo and his School of Investigation of Things can only be considered to have sprouted.

Not to mention any influence on public opinion worldwide.

Even in the city of Bianliang, his influence was limited to the bureau that specialized in manufacturing military equipment. At most, he had a certain influence in the Ministry of Works and the Hanlin Academy led by Su Song.

At this time, every Confucian scholar who joins is invaluable.

What's more, Ye Zuqia is really willing to die!
In July, didn’t Shen Kuo bring people to the iron tower of Kaibao Temple to conduct an experiment in which two iron balls fell to the ground at the same time?
At that time, the person who supported Shen Kuo was Ye Zuqia, the top scholar.

Later, when Shen Kuo was besieged by Song Pengnian and his men, it was Ye Zuqia who ran out and confronted Song Pengnian.

Therefore, Ye Zuqia's promotion this time was well deserved.

It would be strange if he didn’t get promoted!
(End of this chapter)