Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 517: Dislike of Qin and Han Dynasties and Admiration of Jin and Song Dynasties
"Sometimes we are not afraid of being half-believing and half-doubting, but what we are most afraid of is not believing at all. As long as Da Song is half-believing and half-doubting, it means that Da Song is moved, and then everything can still be discussed." Liang Guangchuan said.

"But what if the Song Dynasty demands that Lingzhou City be handed over first?" Liang Yi asked.

This is not about redeeming someone with money. It is impossible to give up money and hand over the person at the same time.

Either the Song Dynasty hands over the people first, or they give Lingzhou City to the Song Dynasty first.

But the Song Dynasty would be worried that after handing over the person, the Liang family would not be able to keep their promise.

On the other hand, the Liang family was also worried that if they gave Lingzhou City to the Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty would not hand over the people.

The most important thing is that this kind of thing cannot be publicized at all, because the Tangut nobles in Western Xia would never agree to it.

They didn't want Queen Liang to come back, let alone exchange her for Lingzhou City.

Lingzhou City is important to the Song Dynasty, and it is also important to the Western Xia.

After the Western Xia captured Lingzhou City, it has been managing the Western Regions.

However, the Western Regions are very complicated and not so easy to manage.

Even though the Han Dynasty established the Protectorate of the Western Regions, it still existed for many years.

But in fact, the countries in the Western Regions were not truly honest for long, and unrest often occurred.

The Western Regions are not small in size. In terms of area alone, it is more than two-thirds the size of the current Song Dynasty.

However, the land in the Western Regions is barren, and most of it is desert. It is not cost-effective to send too many troops, and it is impossible to defend it if too few are sent.

But for Xixia, the Western Regions cannot be said to be useless.

Because Xixia could make money through trade in the Western Regions.

Therefore, it is impossible for the Tangut nobles of Western Xia to agree to such conditions.

It would be difficult for the Song Dynasty to agree to hand over the prisoners first.

"The Emperor of the Song Dynasty will not agree, but the officials of the Song Dynasty will. I understand the Han people. The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun occupied by the Liao Dynasty and the territory currently occupied by the Western Xia were originally Han territory. But these places were not lost by the Song Dynasty, so in the eyes of those officials of the Song Dynasty, they don't really care whether they can take them back. But Lingzhou City is different. It was taken by the Western Xia from the Song Dynasty, but they can recover it without any soldiers. They will not let it go."

Liang Guangchuan said confidently: "As long as the officials of the Song Dynasty are interested, they will persuade the Emperor of the Song Dynasty to agree."

"What's more, Xixia is now losing ground, and Hehuang annexing Xixia is not what the Song Dynasty wants to see."

"What if the Song Dynasty makes this matter public?" Liang Yimai asked worriedly.

He is not the kind of playboy who is really good for nothing.

If the Song Dynasty leaks this news, the Liang family will be finished.

"Will not."

Liang Guangchuan shook his head and said, "This will only make Xixia more chaotic and benefit Hehuang, but it will not be of any benefit to the Song Dynasty."

"Then the kid will go for a trip." Liang Yimai said.

"Don't worry, I will also try to persuade those people in the court to agree to exchange Lingzhou City for people. If the Song Dynasty refuses to give in, there is still a chance."

Liang Guangchuan was confident that the Song Dynasty would agree to his original arrangement.

But he still made preparations for both situations. As long as the Tangut nobles also agreed to this matter, it would be more convincing.

As for whether people will really hand over Lingzhou City to the Song Dynasty when they return, that is a matter for the future.

Persuading the Dangxiang people to agree was just a statement.

"Father, are you sure you can convince those people?" Liang Yimai asked in surprise.

"They are on guard against each other and are not united at all. Even Hehuang alone can hardly resist them. Now they need someone who can make the decision." Liang Guangchuan sneered.

The Dangxiang nobles naturally did not want Queen Liang to come back, but none of them would submit to the other.

It would be fine if there was no external pressure, everyone could keep fighting and finally decide the winner.

But now, facing the attack from Hehuang, they are losing ground. They are on guard against each other and have their own ulterior motives.

As long as they don't want to be destroyed by Hehuang, they must have a backbone.

If you choose from among them, no one will agree.

In this way, the role of Queen Liang was demonstrated.

Of course, it’s not so easy for those people to agree.

They were also worried that Queen Liang would come back, gradually take control of power, and then take action against them.

In order to convince them, the Liang family had to promise not to hold any position in the court.

Only in this way can the Tangut nobles be reassured.

"But if that's the case, my sister will find it difficult to control power even if she comes back, and the Liang family cannot hold positions in the court. Then why are we spending so much effort?" Liang Yi frowned.

"Do you think that since our Liang family is not serving in the court, they can treat your sister as a puppet?"

Liang Guangchuan sneered, "If all the civil and military officials in the court were united, the emperor could be deposed. But how many times has this happened since ancient times? When the Tangut nobles fight, once someone loses power, they will naturally turn to your sister in order to keep their wealth and honor."

"As long as your sister can come back, it's only a matter of time before she takes control."

"But my sister is not very close to the Liang family. If she really takes control of the power, will she still use the Liang family?" Liang Yi frowned.

Originally, if Queen Liang wanted to control power, she needed the help of the Liang family.

But once the Liang family promised not to hold positions in the court, Queen Liang still took control of the power.

The Liang family has no use to Queen Liang.

"madness!"

Liang Guangchuan said coldly: "Wu Zetian suffered a lot of humiliation in the Wu family. After she came to power, she dealt with the Wu family members a lot. But when she became the emperor, she still used the Wu family members. Do you think she didn't hate the Wu family? Since ancient times, the person in power always used one of the royal relatives and eunuchs."

"Father is wise. I understand!" Liang Yimai saw that his father was angry and bowed quickly.

"Father knows that you have some opinions about your sister, but our family still needs her. You have to understand the seriousness of the matter." Liang Guangchuan said lightly.

…………

Bianjing
Zhao Xing had no idea of ​​the Liang father and son's plan, as he was furious at the morning court session.

At the beginning of today's morning court session, many civil and military officials stood up to impeach the Imperial City Bureau, Yin Hanzhang and some of the commanders of the Imperial City Bureau.

As the saying goes, when the water is too clear, there are no fish.

It is impossible that there are no problems at all within the Imperial City Bureau.

It's not that no one is perfect, but if you really want to find fault with something, you can always find some problems.

In the mouths of these officials, Yin Hanzhang and the commanders of the Imperial City Administration were almost unforgivable criminals.

Zhao Xing ignored the impeachment letters yesterday. These people refused to give up, so Zhao Xing naturally could not give them a good face.

"Don't think I don't know what you are thinking when you impeach the Imperial City Bureau."

Zhao Xing looked over everyone.

Facing Zhao Xing's gaze, everyone lowered their heads.

"Whether there are any problems with the people in the Imperial City Bureau, the Southern Imperial City Bureau will naturally investigate. Now we are talking about the private minting of copper coins!"

Zhao Xing said coldly: "I have previously summoned the heads of various departments and told you that new copper coins will be minted and the old coins will be recalled. I don't believe that no one of you has spread this matter. If anyone says that there is no such thing, I will have someone check it out!"

Faced with Zhao Xing's words, everyone fell silent.

How could they not spread the news?

Although this matter was only spread among officials, those who knew the news kept it secret and did not spread it outside, it still could not withstand investigation.

Seeing that they were silent, Zhao Xing's face turned even colder. "I told you all this just to make some people stop. What was the result?"

Zhao Xing looked at everyone with murderous eyes and sneered: "In the end, not only did they not restrain themselves, but they minted even more copper coins!"

The practice of counterfeiting coins existed before the Tang Dynasty, and the most famous person was Dong Zhuo.

At that time, there was a shortage of money, so a large number of Wuzhu coins were minted.

The Song Dynasty has been established for a hundred years, and he is also aware that there are too many people involved.

Even those who did not participate have gained some benefits from it to a certain extent.

Zhao Xing informed the heads of various departments in advance, in fact, he also wanted to tell some people through their mouths.

Simply put, Zhao Xing wanted to let one group go and deal with another group.

It’s not that Zhao Xing is kind, but he wants to divide them and reduce resistance.

The batch that was let go will not be cleaned up for now and will be cleaned up later.

But the result is.

The occurrence of counterfeit money has not only not decreased, but has increased.

If the imperial court wanted to take back the old currency, it would certainly have to recycle the counterfeit currency as real currency.

Otherwise there will be big problems.

After all, ordinary people don’t have much money to begin with, and if the savings they have worked so hard to save turn out to be fake, how could they be willing?

Just like Zhao Xing wanted to nationalize all the land in the world and then distribute it to the people.

This matter is obviously beneficial to the people of the world, but if he dares to bring it up, it will probably immediately provoke a civil uprising.

Except for those who don't have any land, anyone who has some land will not agree to it.

For the fields in their hands belonged to them, and they could do with them as they pleased.

But the land was taken back by the imperial court. Even though the court allocated more land to them, they only had the right to rent and cultivate it, not the ownership.

In the eyes of ordinary people, what they rent is not theirs.

What if the imperial court takes it back one day?

Not to mention, taking back the currency and getting rid of the counterfeit ones will do the people no good at all.

Those people did not dare to go too far when they minted counterfeit coins before, for fear of attracting the attention of the court.

Now that they knew Zhao Xing wanted to recycle old coins from the public, they had no scruples at all.

Zhao Xing clearly gave them a chance, but human greed can never be satisfied, so Zhao Xing had no intention of showing mercy this time.

"Why aren't you talking?"

Zhao Xing sarcastically said: "Whoever speaks for those people from now on will be treated as an accomplice!"

After saying that, Zhao Xing stood up and left.

It was not until the eunuch reminded them that the officials came to their senses and said in unison: "Farewell, Your Majesty!"

After Zhao Xing's footsteps faded away, all the officials stood up and left the hall with solemn expressions.

"Mercy..."

Yu Wei was about to speak, but Mr. Li gave him a look and he stopped immediately.

It was not until they left the palace that Prime Minister Li invited Yu Wei to ride with him.

After the carriage started moving, Li Xianggong asked, "What did you want to say just now?"

"It seems that Your Majesty is serious this time and will not show mercy." Yu Wei said worriedly.

"Your Majesty will indeed show no mercy this time, but you don't have to worry. Since I didn't touch you yesterday, I won't touch you again. Your Majesty also has to consider the stability of the world." Prime Minister Li said lightly.

"Sir, the students did not participate." Yu Wei said quickly.

Li Xianggong glanced at him and said, "Since you didn't participate, what are you afraid of?"

Yu Wei looked embarrassed and said, "I heard that the Imperial City Bureau is still investigating the matter of the Wizard Cult. Your Majesty has used such ruthless means this time. If they find out..."

"Are you scared?" Mr. Li said lightly.

Yu Wei cursed in his heart, how could he not be afraid.

If what they did is discovered, they will be sentenced to death.

The government was merciless in dealing with counterfeiting, and if anything was discovered, he would surely be killed.

"Don't worry, your majesty's tough attitude this time is not a bad thing!" said Prime Minister Li with a smile.

Although he was somewhat worried, he could not show it.

On the contrary, you have to act calm and composed.

Otherwise he would be confused, and Yu Wei would be even more scared.

Who knows if Yu Wei will reveal his true colors out of fear.

"It's not a bad thing?" Yu Wei was stunned and asked in surprise: "Why do you think so, Master?"

"Your Majesty has dealt with so many officials since he ascended the throne, but the court officials did not oppose it fiercely. When the emperor retired implemented the new policy, it soon failed. Do you know why?" asked Prime Minister Li.

"Didn't the emperor stop the new policy because it had too many drawbacks?" Yu Wei said.

"That's just the surface."

Li Xianggong shook his head slightly and said, "There will definitely be some problems in the beginning of the new policy. It is impossible for it to be perfect. It can be adjusted slowly, and there is no need to stop it directly."

"The reason why it was stopped was because there was too much opposition in the court. But after the current emperor took the throne, is there no resistance to what he did?"

"There are some, and they are not small. But the current government has implemented it, and even the execution of officials can be carried out."

"Why is that?" Yu Wei asked puzzledly.

“There is a fundamental difference between the two things.”

Li Xianggong said calmly: "When the emperor promoted the new policy, the interests of all officials in the Song Dynasty, both civil officials and military generals, were affected. In order to protect their own interests, except for a few people, the vast majority opposed it. Even some people who shouted in support of the new policy on the surface were sabotaging the implementation of the new policy behind the scenes."

"But what the current government is doing is different. It is targeting only a few people. The rest of the people, seeing that they are not affected, are almost sitting on the sidelines and watching. Although there is resistance, it is not as great as one might imagine."

"Your Excellency, do you mean that this incident will make all the gentlemen in the hall feel threatened? But if that were really the case, why did no one speak after His Majesty got angry at the morning court just now?" Yu Wei asked.

"Because Your Majesty personally led the army to win a great victory in the north and recaptured Youzhou City, which even Emperor Taizong had failed to conquer. With this momentum and the fact that Your Majesty is in the right this time, naturally no one dares to object!" said Prime Minister Li.

"If that's the case, why did Your Excellency say it's not a bad thing?" Yu Wei asked puzzled.

"Although your majesty personally led the expedition and achieved a great victory, he was ultimately unable to completely recapture the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, and his effect was ultimately limited."

"However, this incident will make all the civil and military officials in the court alert. If the government is too powerful, it will not be good for the country or the people. It might end up like the Qin Emperor and Han Emperor. Therefore, from now on, no matter what Your Majesty wants to do, all the civil and military officials in the court will come out to stop him." Prime Minister Li said lightly.

Although what he said was to comfort Yu Wei, it was also the truth.

As a subject, no one likes an emperor who is too powerful.

In the eyes of his subjects, a wise ruler should be one who is a good friend to others.

Even though later generations kept shaking their heads when mentioning the Jin and Song dynasties.

But if we could conduct a survey spanning thousands of years, most literati would definitely yearn for the Jin and Song dynasties.

Because the status and power of civil servants in Jin and Song almost reached their peak.

(End of this chapter)