People in the Song Dynasty were lawless

Chapter 464 It’s Time to Take Back the Western Region
In the afternoon, after having dinner with Zhao Zhen in the palace, Zhao Jun went to Li Di's residence with many prime ministers.

Unlike Lu Yijian, although Li Di was also a veteran minister of two dynasties, his relationship with Zhao Zhen was very ordinary.

Because when Zhao Zhen ascended the throne, Lu Yijian happened to be the prime minister, and he stood firmly on Zhao Zhen's side.

Under the intimidation of Liu E, Lu Yijian argued many times and protected Zhao Zhen, which made Zhao Zhen full of gratitude to Lu Yijian.

Although Li Di agreed with Lu Yijian on this matter, both of them opposed Liu E's interference in politics and hoped that Zhao Zhen would rule the country personally.

However, because he offended Ding Wei in his early years, he was expelled from the court and wandered around. It was not until the Tiansheng period that Ding Wei fell, Liu E died of illness, and Zhao Zhen took power, that he returned to the court.

It can be said that when Zhao Zhen was in the most difficult time, it was Lu Yijian who stayed by his side, and Li Di had no chance to show himself in front of Zhao Zhen.

It is also because of this that Li Di's relationship with Zhao Zhen was not as deep as that with Lu Yijian, which later led to Lu Yijian and Li Di struggling for power. Li Di was then driven out of the court by Lu Yijian and continued to serve as a prefect in many places.

If Zhao Jun had not suddenly emerged and needed help to check and balance Lu Yijian's summons to the capital, Li Di would probably still have died in depression, just like in history, without returning to the pinnacle of power.

However, compared to Li Di's average relationship with Zhao Zhen, he had a very good relationship with Zhao Jun. After all, he was the first prime minister who fully supported him and was also his teammate, so naturally their relationship was extraordinary.

It was the early evening, the setting sun was shining, people were coming and going on the streets of the outer city, and from time to time, the clanging sound of bicycles could be heard.

Nowadays, bicycles are not sold to the public, but only supplied to special departments, such as the Jinzouyuan where messages need to be delivered, or certain internal staff. Once a bicycle passed by, it would arouse the envy of others.

Li Di's house was deserted, not because people had left but because Li Di had been ill for some time. Everyone who should have visited him had already visited him, and the only ones left were probably those who came to attend funerals.

When Zhao Jun and his group came over, the place outside the gate suddenly became crowded with people. The servants of Li's mansion came hurriedly to arrange parking spaces for the carriages, and the streets became a little congested.

The main reason is that the prime ministers all have a guard of honor and a bodyguard. Zhao Jun alone has dozens of people in front and behind him. With so many prime ministers added up, the team of hundreds of people is naturally huge.

After getting off the car, Zhao Jun looked up and the first thing he saw was the electric pole in front of Li Di's house. Of course, not the whole of Bianliang has access to electricity at the moment. It is currently mainly used for lighting in various government offices, dignitaries and commercial areas.

Ordinary people still mainly use candles, oil lamps or even no lighting at home.

To some extent, this also reflects a certain absurdity - that is, the upper world and the lower world seem to be two different worlds, with a pure sense of separation.

However, Zhao Jun knew that only when this status quo remained unchanged for a long time could it be called division, and only when it was called the upper class oppressing the lower class.

But if it is only temporary and will become popular among the general public in the future, it is called a stopgap measure.

Just like in the early days of our country, both industry and energy were supplied first to various government agencies and the military. The operation of state institutions must be guaranteed before industry can be popularized among the people.

Li Di's son Li Jianzhi, currently serving as the Minister of Commerce, came out with his son Li Xiaoji to greet them. Both the father and son looked very bad, but they forced themselves to cheer up and greet everyone.

Zhao Jun nodded, then followed them into the mansion.

There was a thriving ginkgo tree in the yard outside Li Di's bedroom. A few leaves had fallen on the bluestone ground. Next to it were clusters of flowers, and the fragrance was fragrant.

However, when approaching the bedroom, one can smell a strong medicinal aroma, which makes everyone's heart feel a little gloomy.

When entering the room, what caught my eye was an old man lying on the bed. Li Di had a thin face and looked like a withered skeleton. The old man who seemed somewhat plump two or three years ago has now been tortured by illness.

Zhao Jun felt sad for a moment, and walked forward and called out, "Mr. Fugu."

Li Xiaoji squatted beside the bed and whispered, "Aunt, the dean is here to see you."

Li Di opened his eyes with difficulty, his eyes were a little cloudy, and he opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

Zhao Jun walked to his bedside and held Li Di's hand. The old man's Adam's apple moved, but he couldn't speak after all, so he could only put Zhao Jun's hand on Li Xiaoji's hand and patted it gently.

"Don't worry, Mr. Fugu. Bo Shi is very talented and will not let you down in the future."

Zhao Jun soothed.

"Thanks."

Li Di uttered two words with difficulty.

In fact, he was basically on his deathbed a few days ago.

Even all the tools for funeral preparations are already available at home. The only reason he has managed to survive until now is because of all kinds of expensive medicines and the fact that he is still alive.

Lee Hyo-ki is the person he is most worried about. Ever since he realized that the child is hopeless, Lee Di has been waiting for his grandson to come back.

Now that the time has finally come, all that remains is to ask Zhao Jun to take care of him so that Li Xiaoji will not have a difficult career and a bumpy road ahead.

Zhao Jun could make a promise to Li Di on this point.

First of all, Li Xiaoji is indeed talented. He passed the imperial examination at a young age and started as a county magistrate. He has served as a county magistrate, a deputy magistrate, and a prefect. He is only in his thirties this year, but he has rich experience in officialdom.

Secondly, wasn’t it for the purpose of training that I brought him along on this trip?
Being the successor to the Yuan Zhiyuan might not be enough, but there should be no problem for him to join the Constitutional Yuan and become Zhao Jun's right-hand man in the future.

Therefore, as long as everything goes well, and Lee Hyo-ki doesn't die due to some accident, or suddenly becomes possessed by evil spirits and does something illegal while in office, he should have no problem joining the Constitutional Council and becoming a prime minister.

Zhao Jun made a promise to Li Di, and Li Di's expression became much calmer, and he forced a smile. After that, Zhao Jun exchanged a few more words with him, and the other prime ministers also came forward to visit.

About a quarter of an hour later, Zhao Jun walked out of the room with a gloomy face.

Xia Song stood aside and said, "Master Zhi, everyone has a lifespan. Mr. Gu Fu's lifespan has come to an end. There is nothing we can do about it. Please accept my condolences."

"Ah."

Zhao Jun nodded and said, "I've seen too many things like this. It's just a retro look. Alas."

He sighed as he spoke.

It’s not that I’m sad because the Constitutional Yuan lacks a capable leader.

But the joy Li Di had when he and he dealt with Lu Yijian was still vivid in his mind, but in the blink of an eye everything had changed, which made people feel a little sad.

Now that he has the final say in the Constitutional Council, he doesn't need subordinates like Li Di and Xia Song anymore.

But no matter what, they are all people who have come to rely on him, just like a gang boss who will always feel sad when his loyal brothers die.

"Okay, it's getting late, let's go back first."

Fan Zhongyan patted Zhao Jun on the shoulder. It was already evening, the sun was setting, crows were circling, and clouds were hanging in the sky.

Zhao Jun knew what he meant and said, "Well, let's go."

Then he went out.

It was already time to get off work, and many prime ministers went home, but Fan Zhongyan's carriage kept following Zhao Jun's carriage.

Firstly, their families were all located in the west of the city, and secondly, Fan Zhongyan wanted to discuss the new policy with Zhao Jun.

Soon the carriage stopped at the entrance of Xinqingtai Street, which was located outside the Xinxihua Gate. This was the intersection of Qishengyuan Street and Xihuamen Street. Zhao Jun's home was originally in the market where Xijiaolou Street and Xihuamen Street intersected. Now the entire Xijiaolou Street was included in the scope of the imperial palace, so the street naturally had to move several hundred meters westward.

The new home was spacious and lavish, covering an area of ​​two or three acres, with houses connected in a row. Zhao Zhen specially used money from the treasury to help Zhao Jun buy it. From the land to the construction of the new house, everything was contracted by royal craftsmen.

Fan Zhongyan looked at the mansion with envy. He had been here several times before, but he was envious every time he came.

I'm not envious of someone giving Zhao Jun a house.

Instead, he envied Zhao Jun for choosing a good location when he bought the house, which allowed him to earn money while lying at home.

After all, housing prices in the inner city are soaring, and those near the imperial city are rising every day. It is said that when Zhao Zhen bought it a few years ago, he only spent more than 300,000 strings of cash, but now it has appreciated to 500,000 strings of cash.

Is there any royal law?
Is there any reason?
The two entered the house. At this time, Zhao Tan and Zhao Qingyun had already finished school. Seeing their father coming back, they happily ran to the door and said, "Father."

"Well, be good. I'll chat with Uncle Fan for a while. You guys go do your homework first."

Zhao Jun patted the brother and sister's heads, looked up and saw Cao Miaoxin, smiled and said, "Miaomiao, take the children to do their homework."

"it is good."

Cao Miaoxin glared at the brother and sister, and the two little guys immediately ran away like eggplants hit by frost.

Zhao Jun is responsible for external affairs, while Cao Miaoxin is responsible for internal affairs. Cao Miaoxin is in charge of all aspects of family education. After all, strictly speaking, the Cao family's family education management is indeed good, and Zhao Jun sometimes has no say.

Fan Zhongyan followed Zhao Jun into the study. The servants brought a pot of tea. Smelling the fragrance of the tea, old Fan said sourly: "The government is so good to you. Not only did they give you such a big house, they even gave you Dragon and Phoenix tea."

"If you want, take a pound back later."

Zhao Jun smiled and said, "The people of Song Dynasty liked to drink tea, but I don't drink much usually. Tea is not popular in our place. In our later generations, basically only the elderly and businessmen like it. Young people don't like to drink it."

Fan Zhongyan poured himself a cup and said with great sorrow: "This is all traditional culture. How can the new generation of young people just throw it away like this?"

"The times are developing and society is progressing."

Zhao Jun sat at the desk and said to Lao Fan who was sitting opposite him, "Not only tea culture, but also liquor culture is slowly disappearing from the historical stage among young people. This is the inevitability of social development."

"alright."

Fan Zhongyan was too lazy to think so much.

Anyway, even if it is true, it will probably happen hundreds of years later. What does it have to do with him?
He took a sip and said, "The scope of this reform is quite large. There are measures in all aspects. Isn't it a bit too hasty?"

“Although the painting is large, it does not mean that it will be released all at once. It can be released one at a time.”

Zhao Jun said: "From a practical point of view, you can't get rich overnight. But the Constitutional Yuan is considering the long term and needs to address all aspects, so it just focuses on so many issues and will improve them step by step when the time comes."

"That's good."

Fan Zhongyan heaved a sigh of relief and said, "I was really shocked to see these more than 100 reforms. If all of them were released, I'm afraid there would be a big mess down there."

“Have you finished reading all the content?”

Zhao Jun asked.

"not yet."

Fan Zhongyan asked: "What are your thoughts now? What is the primary direction of reform at present?"

“Let’s reform the term of office of officials first.”

Zhao Jun said: "In the past, the duties of officials were actually very simple. There were only four: one was to encourage agriculture and sericulture, two was to manage public security, three was to judge cases, and four was to collect taxes. Therefore, it was not difficult to deal with these issues during their tenure."

“But now it is different. In addition to these basic issues, we are also responsible for the development of local education, economy, industry, infrastructure, publicity, commerce, supervision, finance and many other aspects.”

"We need to attract investment, set up factories based on the local environment and mineral resources, repair roads, build water conservancy facilities, reclaim fertile land and resettle the people, and so on."

He said: "And if a county magistrate has outstanding achievements in local politics and has long-term plans, it may take a few more years. I believe that if a county magistrate does a good job, he can bring great changes to the county."

Fan Zhongyan frowned and asked, "Will this lead to a long-term situation where one official holds great power in the local area, causing corruption?"

"This is indeed a possible situation, but we should not throw the baby out with the bathwater, and we need to increase supervision."

Zhao Jun said in a deep voice: "At least in the few decades that I am in power, I will let the Song Dynasty enter a period of rapid development, strictly supervise, kill one by one when I see one, and try my best to prevent the emergence of corrupt officials. As for what will happen in the future, it depends on the successor I choose."

Then he added: "Anyway, I will take care of this matter. I will also be strict in selecting a successor, so you don't have to worry about it."

"That's fine."

Fan Zhongyan nodded.

Ultimately, the successor is still the position of the Dean.

Once many things are explained openly, everyone will understand the truth.

If the Song Dynasty is to survive for a long time, improving productivity is key, but weakening imperial power is also an indispensable part.

Because Zhao Jun said that you cannot guarantee that there will be wise rulers from generation to generation. Once a foolish ruler appears, it will be a disaster for the country.

Therefore, the government must select qualified leaders to prepare and plan for the country's future.

In fact, everyone can see from Zhao Zhen's decentralization in recent years that Zhao Zhen has acquiesced to Zhao Jun's approach, and they even vaguely guessed it.

Perhaps Zhao Jun would have established a constitutional monarchy in his later years.

Under such circumstances, it is very important for Zhao Jun to select a successor. It can be said that the future fate of the country is likely to take a turning point here.

If the successor is chosen well, the Song Dynasty will prosper and go on triumphantly. If the successor is not chosen well, the situation will take a sharp turn for the worse and the future will be uncertain.

But in the end, this matter has to be shouldered by Zhao Jun alone. Fan Zhongyan is 63 years old this year, and there is really nothing he can do.

"As for the reform, we will discuss it step by step during this period and come up with a plan. We will try to carry out the first phase of pilot projects and measures in the second half of this year."

Zhao Jun said: "The most urgent matter now is another matter."

"what's up?"

Fan Zhongyan put down his teacup, puzzled.

Zhao Jun looked out the window, which was in the northwest direction, and said calmly: "It's time to take back the Western Region."

(End of this chapter)