I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 64 Incredible Combination (please follow up)
After the "Book on the Reform of One State" was issued, which state to choose for reform became the focus of discussion among the officials in the court.

Some people chose Yangzhou, Mingzhou, Suzhou, Hangzhou and other prosperous places in the south of the Yangtze River.

Some people chose Wuzhou, Guizhou, Meizhou, Leizhou and other wild places in the south.

Some people chose Gyeongju, Qinzhou, Dezhou, Fenzhou and other poor border states.

Others advocate places that flow through water systems such as the Yellow River, Yangtze River, and Huaihe River.

There are many different voices, each holding his own opinion.

There are also some officials who propose to choose Qiongzhou, which is just making trouble.

Finally, Du Yan and Ouyang Xiu formulated three requirements.

First, it is not a wealthy state.

Second, it is not a remote or border state.

Third, it is suitable for states with a large gap between rich and poor.

After these three requirements came out, the range of options available suddenly narrowed a lot.

Three days later.

There are five states that have become more suitable places for reform.

They are: Shouzhou, Caizhou, Qizhou, Zhengzhou and Xiangzhou.

These five states have two things in common.

First, it is not far from Bianjing; second, they are both places rich in food, with a large gap between the rich and the poor.

After the selection of two court meetings, Shouzhou and Qizhou stood out.

Finally, Zhao Zhen made the decision and chose Qizhou.

When Su Liang heard that the state of reform was determined to be Qizhou, he was just a little happy.

Because Qizhou is his second ideal type.

The first is Shouzhou.

The reason for Su Liang's choice was that Shouzhou was richer than Qizhou, had less resistance to reform, and the people were relatively smooth.

But Qizhou can also do it, but the folk customs are a bit tougher.

Qizhou is located on Jingdong Road, close to the Yellow River, and has four counties under its jurisdiction.

The levels of the Song Dynasty states can be divided into: auxiliary, xiong, wang, tight, upper, middle, middle lower, lower number, etc.

Qizhou belongs to the fifth-level Shangzhou.

The economic strength is far inferior to Qingzhou and Yunzhou, which are both located on Jingdong Road.

Qizhou's food crops include wheat, millet, broomcorn millet, beans, rice, etc. Among them, the sericulture, silk weaving and traditional Chinese medicine planting industries are also very prosperous.

It is a place where the people are extremely dependent on the fields for their livelihood.

Su Liang stayed in Qizhou for nearly a year and knew Qizhou very well.

The biggest characteristic of this state is its strong folk customs.

Poor and aggressive.

It is commonplace for the people to rebel, and they will do so if they are not convinced.

Once life becomes difficult, they either run into the mountains and become thieves, or they directly rob wealthy households in the city.

After being caught, he chose to serve as a soldier. When he got bored, he ran away and went home.

cycle over and over.

Suppressing land annexation in Qizhou is definitely a huge challenge.

The state of reform has been decided.

Then the next step is the candidate for reform.

The person who presides over the reform is more important than the choice of the state where the reform takes place.

According to convention, two people should be selected, one to be the magistrate of the state and the other to be the general magistrate.

Although the Tongpan was a deputy to the magistrate, he had the power to report directly to the emperor.

The two check and balance each other and jointly manage the affairs of a state.

Zhao Zhen also put forward rigid requirements for the candidates of Zhizhou and Tongpan.

First, one must be a Jinshi.

Second, there must be outstanding political achievements.

Third, we must have the ambition to reform.

He has a good background, outstanding abilities and lofty ambitions.

These three points are indispensable.

Jia Changchao, Wang Gongchen and Li Ding submitted memorials that day.

They all suggested that Su Liang should be appointed as the general magistrate of Qizhou.

Everyone's memorials were full of praise and praise for Su Liang, and they were not the same.

In order to drive Su Liang out of Bianjing, they were completely shameless.

pity.Zhao Zhen saw their carefulness at a glance and refused directly.

In Zhao Zhen's heart, Su Liang is more suitable to serve as a Taiwan admonishment officer.

What the current court lacks the most is young officials like Su Liang who are bold enough to speak out and take action to relieve their boredom.

In fact, Tang Jie also asked Su Liang if he was willing to be the governor of the reform state.

But Ouyang Xiu expressed Su Liang's thoughts in one sentence.

"A talented person should be a chess player, not a chess piece."

Ouyang Xiu saw it very clearly.

Only putting Su Liang in the court can promote the reform the most.

Su Liang also knows this very well. His best position at the moment is actually that of an admonishing officer.

……

All officials in the court knew that these two positions were fat.

Regardless of the success or failure of the reform, the selected person will attract the attention of hundreds of officials and is likely to become the future leader of the court.

Therefore.

All the ministers recommended their close relatives and old friends one after another, hoping that they could benefit from it in the future.

Of course, there are also some very confident people who choose to recommend themselves.

As the censor, Su Liang actually does not need to participate in this kind of candidate discussion.

But he has a suitable candidate in mind, and he won't vomit or be unhappy.

This person is Wang Anshi, who was of the same age as him and is currently serving as the magistrate of Yin County.

Among Su Liang's contemporaries, no one can compare with Wang Anshi in terms of his ambition for reform.

And Wang Anshi's political achievements in Yin County were much higher than other officials.

Su Liang is particularly looking forward to it.

If Wang Anshi started to implement reforms to suppress land annexation at this time, what would the future of the Song Dynasty be like?

So Su Liang recommended Wang Anshi.

As for whether they should be used by the imperial court, it depends on their performance appraisal, official reputation, political achievements, etc.

However, Su Liang felt very confident.

The position of governor of Qizhou definitely belongs to Wang Anshi.

In this way, another five days passed.

Zhongshu Sheng almost screened the young local officials of the Song Dynasty and combined them with the recommendations of court officials.

Finally, Zhao Zhen finally decided on two final candidates.

……

In the afternoon, at the Yushitai, in the Chaoyuan.

Su Liang was dozing off.

Zhou Yuan walked over with a smile and said: "Jingming, you are really a great talent. The candidate for Qizhou magistrate is Wang Anshi, the magistrate of Yin County whom you recommended."

Su Liang couldn't help but be overjoyed and murmured: "Sure enough, even if some people are in a remote and poor county, their light cannot be blocked!"

Su Liang asked: "Who will be responsible for the general judge?"

"He is also a young man under 30 years old. He was recommended by Deputy Envoy Pang. He has the power to know the affairs of Fengcheng County. It seems... his name is Sima Guang!"

"Sima Guang, Sima Junshi?" Su Liang was dumbfounded.

Unexpectedly, these two lifelong political enemies would meet in advance in Qizhou, a place with strong folk customs.

This time, it’s definitely going to be lively!

Su Liang was looking forward to what kind of sparks the two men would create when they ruled the same state together.

Seeing that Su Liang was crying but not smiling, Zhou Yuan couldn't help but ask: "What? You know this Sima Guang and think he is not suitable?"

Su Liang shook his head and said: "No, it's suitable, it's too suitable. There is no such a perfect combination of gods in the world!"

……

After the court decides on the candidate.

Zhao Zhen ordered Sima Guang and Wang Anshi to go to Beijing in the twelfth lunar month to see the saint first, and then go to Qizhou later in the year.

Three days later.

Su Liang suddenly received letters from Fan Zhongyan and Fu Bi.

When Su Liang came to Beijing, the two had already left Beijing and had never met each other. However, Fan Zhongyan and Fu Bi valued Su Liang very much.

In the letter, the two men did not discuss personal matters. They were all about their experiences of the reform and put forward several suggestions for the current land annexation strategy.

these two.

Although he is not in the court, he is still thinking about the reform every day, which is much better than the few husbands in the court at the moment.

　Thanks to book friend XRQ and Linhuai layman for their tips, thank you very much!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)