People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 355 Han Qi’s modification, focusing on stability
Wang Zeng's funeral was ordered by Zhao Zhen, and the Political Yuan personally presided over the arrangements.

Except for Lu Yijian's physical problems, everyone attended the funeral and expressed their condolences to Wang Zeng.

Zhang Shixun and Li Di are both in their seventies and almost eighty. Lu Yijian is actually only sixty-eight this year.

But according to history, he has been dead for three years now, and the grass on his grave is estimated to be three feet high.

This is enough to show that Lu Yijian's health has not been very good.

Now it's just because he stayed in the capital all year round. It's not like in history that after being dismissed as prime minister, he was transferred to various places as magistrates, and he died of illness quickly because of his body running around.

But his health was still not optimistic. After Wang Zeng died of illness, Lu Yijian also retired from illness again, and the Constitutional Yuan was missing another prime minister.

For a time, there was a turmoil inside the court, and various ministers, especially the ministers of the first-level institutions under the Constitutional Yuan, were undercurrents and became active one after another.

Not only them, but also Han Qi, who was far away in the northwest, was a little ready to take action when he heard the news that Wang Zeng had died of illness and Lu Yijian was seriously ill.

In late July, the scorching sun was high in the northwest. In Chengji County, the administrative seat of Qinzhou, in the original residence of the Qinfeng Road Transport Envoy in the city, Han Qi, the Governor of the Supervisory Yuan and the Shaanxi Road Transport Envoy, was sitting in the backyard pavilion.

Han Rui came over in a hurry just now and told him the big news. Wang Zeng passed away from illness, and Lu Yijian also retired due to illness. There are now only nine people left in the Political Academy.

"call."

But this does not prevent the Constitutional Yuan from having a huge staff vacancy.

Next to him sat a middle-aged man. This man was Han Rui, the military judge of Qinzhou who signed the letter. He was also the youngest son of Han Qi's uncle. Because Han Qi's uncle died young, Han Rui was entrusted to Han Qi's father Han Rui. Hua took care of her, so Han Rui was Han Qi's follower since childhood.

Han Qi said without raising his head.

"Of course the officials value it."

"I am only thirty-nine years old. It is already very difficult for me to serve as the Governor of the Control Yuan. Do you think I can enter the Constitutional Yuan so easily?"

It's just a pity.

It is impossible for those secondary agencies such as the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Taxation, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Transportation, the Institute of Education, the Ministry of Statistics, the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Geology, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to directly skip this level and enter politics. Zhiyuan.

Later, Zhao Jun increased the weight of Kaifeng Prefecture, and by the way also promoted Dali Temple and the Supervisory Yuan. In this way, including Kaifeng Prefecture, these institutions all became first-level institutions, and the chief officials were given the title of alternate fellow magistrate.

Although his younger brother is in his thirties, his political wisdom is far behind him. Otherwise, how could he have been an official for many years and still be a seventh-rank military judge in a state?
Thinking of this, Han Qi shook his head and said: "I do want to go further, but after thinking about it, it is probably not now."

Han Rui asked anxiously: "Didn't you hear what I just said?"

Han Qi said calmly.

Although the original three phases and three shens have been re-elected so far, even according to the old-fashioned thinking of the officials, it is very likely that Cai Qi and Song Shou will break the rules set by the Zhiyuan and continue to be re-elected.

Han Rui said speechlessly: "Ms. Wang died of illness, and Gong Lu retired from illness. In October this year, there will be another general election of the Constitutional Yuan. According to the policy set by the Zhi Yuan, the term of the Tongzhi should be held every five years, up to ten years. Prime Minister Song and Prime Minister Cai will also be elected. Could it be."

In this way, Han Qi will have a chance.

"hehe."

This can be regarded as the current rules and order for promotion in the officialdom, that is, if you want to be the chief official of a first-level organization, you must have experienced various secondary and third-level organizations.

If you want to join the Constitutional Yuan, you must serve as the chief official of a first-level institution and concurrently as an alternate fellow of the Constitutional Yuan.

It's just that Han Rui didn't pass the Jinshi examination. He relied on his father who died young to help him get into the official position. He only worked among middle and lower-level officials for so many years. This time Han Qi was transferred to the northwest. It happened that Han Rui was also a judge in Qinzhou. The two brothers So they got together.

Han Qi smiled, and then said: "Then why do you think I am the only one who visits the northwest?"

Han Rui in the courtyard saw Han Qi staring at the map on the table in a daze, so he asked in confusion: "Brother Eleven, why are you still looking at these?"

He is the sixth eldest son in his family, with five older brothers. However, he is the eleventh in the family ranking, so he still has a good relationship with his fourteenth-ranked brother.

"Then you're not in a hurry?"

"Why?"

"It's not urgent yet."

"What's the rush?"

Han Qi said nothing and looked at the map quietly, taking out one from time to time and scanning around.

Since the establishment of the Constitutional Yuan, Zhao Jun has stipulated that fellow advisors of the Constitutional Yuan cannot serve all the time. Basically, one term is held every five years. If he does not do well, he needs to be replaced by officials, advisors, and many fellow advisors. Vote to decide whether to support re-election.

Han Qi took a long breath and turned his head to look at his cousin.

Han Rui was speechless for a moment, and then continued: "You have ambitions not in your age. Back then, Kou Gong was appointed as a political advisor at the age of thirty-two, and at the age of forty-one, he became a disciple of Tong Zhongshu. The talents of the eleventh brother are no worse than Kou Gong."

The sun shone warmly on his desk. The stone table in the yard now displays a large number of maps of the Shaanxi Road border, the most common of which are border military intelligence reports from Huizhou, Xi'an Prefecture, Huaidou Prefecture, Huanzhou and other places.

"heard it?"

That is, Zhao Jun, Song Shou, Cai Qi, Fan Zhongyan, Yan Shu, Zhang Shixun, Li Di, Jiang Tang, and Jia Changchao.

"No, this just shows that it is difficult for me to enter the Constitutional Yuan."

"Why?"

"This"

In the past, Han Qi would have never had a chance, because the former Dali Temple and the Sentencing Yuan, the predecessor of the Supervisory Yuan, were both secondary institutions with slightly lower weight.

But Han Rui's words obviously made him forget about it, as if he had no idea at all. This made Han Rui even more anxious, and said: "Brother Eleven, don't you want to go further? Join the Constitutional Yuan as prime minister?"

Judging from the size of the twelve people in the previous term, at least three more people will be added this time, so it will be logical for the chief officials of the Ministry of Finance, the Sixth Ministry of Traditional Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Jiantai, the Yushitai and other first-level institutions.

"What are you looking at if you don't look at these?"

Han Rui was very puzzled.

Han Qi explained: "The war cannot be settled in a day or two. The northwest is remote, and the march and fighting may last for several months. Zhao Yuanhao is not a fool. He just stands still and lets the fight continue. If it lasts for a long time, I am afraid that the political system will be destroyed." The election has already ended."

"This"

Han Rui was stunned for a moment, and then said dejectedly: "Then it seems that we are not allowed to enter this year."

"Not necessarily."

"Brother Eleven?"

"Who doesn't want to be the prime minister? What's more, it's a prime minister with such power as Tongzhi of the Constitutional Yuan. Naturally, I have the same intention."

Han Qi raised his head and looked at Han Rui, and said with a chuckle: "It's just my fourteenth brother. Sometimes, fighting means not fighting, and not fighting means fighting. You have to understand this truth."

"To fight is to not fight, and to not fight is to fight?"

Han Rui was confused.

What do you mean?
Han Qi smiled and said nothing.

In fact, through marriage, his family has long been in-laws with the Wang Zeng family, Lu Yijian family, and Jia Changchao family.

For example, the eldest son of Han Qi married the granddaughter of Lu Yijian, the only son of his half-brother Han Xu married the granddaughter of Wang Zeng, and the second son of the eldest brother who died young married the daughter of Jia Changfu, a cousin of Jia Changchao.

But in this matter, he had no intention of using these connections, and he had no intention of clearing the way to be recommended by the prime ministers.

You must know that the last election relied on nominations from the prime ministers. Although Jiang Tang was a centrist and entered the Constitutional Yuan, his entry was the result of a compromise between all parties.

Therefore, many chief officials of first-level institutions in Bianliang have to become subordinates of various prime ministers in order to obtain the key step. However, although Han Qi is related to them, he often disagrees with Lu Yijian and others in terms of political opinions. In recent years, he has supported Fan Zhongyan's reforms.

As a result, it seems that he only has the possibility of being nominated by Fan Zhongyan.

But at this level, the officialdom is not about who you support. He just treats the situation and not the person. He believes that Fan Zhongyan's reforms are beneficial to the country, so he is on par with Fan Zhongyan in personal relationships.

Then Han Qi can see for himself that although he is related to the three prime ministers, they have different political opinions. Although he has the same political opinions as Fan Zhongyan, his relationship with Fan Zhongyan is such that it is still unknown whether he can be nominated by him.

Therefore, Han Qi understood that unless he personally visited Lu Yijian, who was still alive, or asked someone to contact Jia Changchao and Fan Zhongyan, it was difficult to say whether he would be nominated.

In this case, Han Qi could not take the initiative. He chooses to do his own thing well. As long as everything goes well, what is his will definitely not escape.

In the afternoon, Han Qi summoned his deputies Yang Kai, Zhang Kang, and Zhang Fangping to come for a meeting.

It didn't take long for everyone to arrive.

At this time, everyone was sitting in rows in the house in the backyard of the government office.

Han Qi sat in the main seat, with a large number of military documents and maps of various places on the table in front of him.

After everyone arrived, he said: "Everyone, we have been in the northwest for more than a month. When we set off this time, everyone had read the documents from the Constitutional Yuan."

"The strategic task assigned by the Constitutional Yuan this time is not to destroy Xixia, but to drive Zhao Yuanhao out of Qingtang and Zhuoluosinan. This shows that the imperial court does not want to annex Xixia, or it should be said that the imperial court does not want to fall into a large-scale In the war."

Yang Kai said.

"Ah."

Han Qi nodded: "Now our Song Dynasty is booming and is far ahead. It is only a matter of time that our national power will become far stronger than that of Liao and Xia. There is no need to entangle with them at this time."

Zhang Fangping said: "Does this mean that we don't need to mobilize all of Shaanxi to invade Xixia?"

"I don't think so. Since the imperial court has assigned a task, we must complete it, and we must overfulfill it."

Zhang Kang became anxious and said quickly: "Mr. Sir, I think this matter cannot be let go. At least Xixia must be crippled, so that the world can know that the Song Dynasty cannot be invaded."

Han Qi smiled. Although Zhang Kang was a Jinshi, his promotion depended on marching and fighting. Now he is also serving as deputy privy envoy, so he definitely wants to fight and perform meritorious service.

It can be said that Zhang Kang, as a civilian official, now represents the interests of the military and will definitely advocate a strategy of massive attack on Xixia.

This coincided with him.

Because at least no one knows yet, Han Qi is actually a staunch fighter, so he must be on Zhang Kang's side.

However, the tendency must not be too obvious, so Han Qi pondered for a moment and said: "What you two said is reasonable. Even if Xixia cannot be destroyed, we cannot let it go. In this case, we can divide our troops into two groups."

"Oh?"

Everyone hurriedly asked: "My lord, what's your clever plan?"

"You can pretend to attack Xixia Xingqing Mansion along the way, surround Wei and rescue Zhao. On the other hand, attack Qingtang, Zhuoluo and Nan in a big way, and drive out Yuan Hao's soldiers and horses."

Han Qi said.

Zhang Kang rolled his eyes, this was very similar to Fan Zhongyan's original plan.

When Li Yuanhao went south in a big way, Fan Zhongyan focused on defense in the west, while in the east he sent his light cavalry straight to Xingqing Mansion, killing, burning and looting along the way, causing heavy losses to Xixia.

But will the same trick work?
Thinking of this, Zhang Kang said: "My lord, when I personally led eight thousand cavalry to Xingqing Mansion, I was afraid that Yuan Hao would not fall into the trap so easily again."

Han Qi smiled and said: "Don't worry, our insider has found out that Yuan Hao has led his army to attack Qingtang. Most of the troops are now in Huangzhou and other places. The Western Bandits don't have many troops in the country."

"This"

Everyone looked at each other and felt something was wrong.

Li Yuanhao wouldn't be so stupid that the country would be so empty. Isn't he afraid that the Song Dynasty would take Xixia directly?
Seeing everyone's reaction, Han Qi understood their thoughts and said, "Of course I know your concerns. Are you afraid that Yuan Hao will set up a scheme to lure us into trouble?"

"Yes."

Everyone nodded.

Han Qi said: "That's why I plan to divide the troops into two groups, one to feign attack and the other to attack actually."

Only then did everyone understand Han Qi's strategy.

Yes.

Since the imperial court asked them to complete basic tasks, Han Qi would only need to complete this task if he acted steadily.

Therefore, the west side is an actual attack and the north side is a feint attack. In this way, even if Li Yuanhao sets up a trap, there is nothing he can do against them. The team that is pretending to attack can just withdraw immediately when they see that the situation is not good.

Thinking of this, both Yang Kai and Zhang Fangping praised Han Qi for his prudent strategy.

Only Zhang Kang was slightly dissatisfied. He actually wanted to attack from the north and fight Xixia to the death.

Even if it is a trap, Zhang Kang does not think that the main force of Song Dynasty will be at a disadvantage when they meet the main force of Xixia.

But since Han Qi wanted to play it safe, there was nothing he could do.

After all, there's nothing wrong with being more conservative.

Seeing that no one objected, Han Qi breathed a sigh of relief.

In fact, his initial idea was to just rush out like Zhang Kang.

Because this is what he did in history, and he suffered a disastrous defeat in the Battle of Haoshuichuan.

But now Han Qi is a few years older. Unlike in history, when he was appointed as the pacifier of Shaanxi Road at the age of thirty-one, his personality is now a little calmer.

Secondly, the Constitutional Yuan election is coming soon, and it is too risky to go out rashly.

Although high risk means high reward, and the greater the military exploits, the greater the possibility that he will be praised by the superiors, but if he were seven or eight years younger, he would really do this.

such a pity.

Han Qi remembered what he said when he came to Zhiyuan.

The meaning of Zhiyuan is very simple.

When you come to Shaanxi Road, you are mainly responsible for the management of local people's livelihood.

The second step is to recover Qingtang and Zhuoluosinan.

If you have accomplished these two things, then you, Han Qi, have the greatest credit.

As for the rest.

Unless you destroy Xixia, even if you defeat the Xixia army head-on, it will be like that.

On the contrary, if you make a mistake and cause the Song Dynasty army to be defeated or even if it wins, it suffers heavy losses, then there will be no merit.

It was precisely because of these warning words that Han Qi restrained his urge to rush forward.

National affairs are no joke.

Since the imperial court has no intention of destroying Xixia yet, as the frontline commanders, they still have to obey the imperial court's arrangements.

(End of this chapter)