Northern Song Dynasty: Starting from the son of Song Renzong

Chapter 186 Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi Return

The first year of Huangyou.

Zhao Xin is eleven years old.

In the city of Tokyo, the main hall of Prince Yu’s mansion has not yet been hung.

The four Jinyiwei who had followed him originally were now stronger than the other.

"How's my reputation outside lately?"

Zhao Xin asked the Jinyiwei.

The oldest one here, Bao Ge, said, "Your Highness, to be honest, it's not very good."

Zhao Xin then asked: "What did you say about me?"

Bao Ge said, "Fu Bi said that Your Highness has too much power. But the key is that Your Highness is so young. Your power should be restricted."

"Then why didn't he say it at the court meeting?"

Bao Ge said, "Maybe he drank too much that day and said what was in his heart accidentally. But you don't have to say what's in your heart."

Zhao Xin asked again: "What do other people think?"

Brother Bao: "Most people in Dongjing are just watching the fun. For example, when it comes to harnessing the Yellow River, most people just listen for fun."

"Some people also said that it is not easy to join His Highness."

"Not to mention, His Highness is accompanied by Ouyang Xiu and others."

Zhao Xin then said: "This is indeed a problem! Is there anything else?"

Bao Ge said, "Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi are back. When many scholars heard they were back, they rushed to visit them. Then they began to brag to them, saying that in the past two or three years, they had built water conservancy projects in the south and saved at least millions of lives. Fan Zhongyan modestly said that it was the government that saved millions of lives."

Zhao Xin said, "Fan Zhongyan is still a decent man. But this is clearly my credit! Anyway, I'll give it to Daddy..."

……

Yes!

Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi are back.

And Zhao Xin also has to start the next new plan.

There is not much time left for him.

He is eleven years old now, and he will have to go to the battlefield at the age of fifteen, so all in all, he only has four years left to prepare.

The next day.

The court arranged positions for Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi.

Both of them were appointed as assistant ministers.

There is no way around this.

I can't hold it anymore.

We can't let them come back and do odd jobs again, can we?
By then, all the scholars in the world will be disheartened.

Yesterday, Zhao Xin listened to Brother Bao and said that it was not easy for others to rely on him.

The next day, he had to recruit Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi under his command.

Under his supervision, we can better grasp the future direction of the Song Dynasty.

While appointing the two as co-chancellors, he also appointed them as friends of Prince Yu, to advise Prince Yu on his bad behavior in a timely manner.

When Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi heard about the appointment, they had ninety-nine question marks in their heads.

to be frank!
How dare they advise His Royal Highness Prince Yu?

They knew that Wang Gongchen had not returned yet.

Day three.

Prince Yu then asked them to attend the morning court session in the Lecture Hall.

However, although it is called a morning court session, it is sometimes postponed to the afternoon.

Because the morning court session can only be held after the court's morning court session.

The court's morning sessions were often overloaded with reports from the three ministries.

As a result, the three departments spent the entire morning making reports.

The Song Dynasty had the tightest control over financial power. Although the Three Departments seemed insignificant, they met with the emperor much more often than those in other departments.

This year……

Bao Zheng also successfully became the deputy envoy of the Three Departments.

However, Bao Zheng also made a suggestion that only a fool would make.

He said that the land around the Zhang River was very fertile, but the local people had no land to farm because all the land had been used by the imperial court to raise horses. So he suggested that all the land for raising horses be distributed to the people.

What this means is that you should not keep this fucking thing anymore.

What kind of pig brain is this?

If the Liao Kingdom attacks us, will you stand on the city wall and shout them back?

So...how could the horse policy of the Song Dynasty not be neglected?

of course!

Zhao Xin thought that Bao Zheng was not so superficial. He might have felt that since the horse politics was so bad and there were so many corrupt people, he might as well use this as an excuse to divide the land rather than giving those corrupt people a chance to make money.

The food was distributed to the people for farming, and they could at least have a few hot bites of food.

But you can’t do that.

Anyway...

Zhao Xin opposed Bao Zheng's proposal.

Just then Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi came back.

Next…

Zhao Xin planned to leave this matter to the two of them.

then……

Inside the Lecture Hall in the afternoon.

Seventeen generals including Zhao Xun sat on the east side, while Ouyang Xiu, Du Yan and others sat on the west side.

In fact, some craftsmen have not arrived yet.

However, today's incident had nothing to do with them, so Zhao Xin didn't bother them running around.

When Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi came in, they felt the atmosphere of a small court.

It seems...

The rumors are true!

His Royal Highness Prince Yu is already the most powerful person in the Song Dynasty.

It is said that even the government officials did not dare to say a word.

When Zhao Xin saw Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi coming, he said to Ouyang Xiu and others, "Ouyang Xiu, you guys step back and let Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi sit in front. Du Yan, you are old, so just sit like this and don't move."

After talking to Ouyang Xiu and others, Zhao Xin immediately said to Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi, "Sit down."

In fact, Han Qi had some grudges against Zhao Xin. After all, he had been scolded by Zhao Xin. However, seeing Zhao Xin like this, he could only sit down obediently.

Zhao Xin didn't talk about anything else and said directly to everyone: "I have said that I want to beat Li Yuanhao since I was three years old!"

"Unfortunately, Li Yuanhao is dead now."

"But Li Yuanhao is just a symbol. What I want to fight is actually Xixia, which is the real hidden danger of the Song Dynasty."

"This is also the reason why we invited Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi here today."

"You two are familiar with Xixia."

"I intend to lead the team to destroy Xixia in four years."

"But for a war, there are many things to prepare, but it's almost time to start preparing now."

"I called you here today to see if you have any opinions or suggestions. We even need to solve some problems. For example, where does the money come from for the war? Where does the food come from?"

"You all may speak freely."

Zhao Xin finished speaking.

The whole place was eerily quiet.

In fact, Zhao Xun and others are of the same mind as Zhao Xin. What Zhao Xin means is what they mean.

therefore……

What we really need to look at are the opinions of Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu.

Seeing that no one was talking, Zhao Xin also said, "Fan Zhongyan, you are older, you speak first."

Fan Zhongyan: “…”

But it’s not good not to say it.

Fan Zhongyan had no choice but to say, "I heard that the famine in Hebei is very serious now, and Shaanxi has only recovered a few years ago. Your Highness Prince Yu wants to attack Xixia again, which will inevitably make the people suffer again. So I think this matter can be carefully considered? Not to mention, I remember that we have already signed a peace treaty with Xixia. This may be unwarranted!"

He spoke with a righteous look on his face.

Zhao Xin said, "That's why I need you to come up with a legitimate reason for me to fight. These are all preparations that need to be made before the war. In short... there are still four years left, so it's definitely not wrong to prepare first."

At this point, Zhao Xin stood up, put his hands behind his back, and paced in the hall, saying: "Times have changed. The Song Dynasty can no longer just defend. Of course! In fact, we don't necessarily have to attack Xixia. You can have other suggestions. For example, attacking the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun is not bad either."

Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi were both speechless.

They couldn't even defeat Western Xia, let alone the Liao Dynasty.

Although he is quite tall, he has never seen a real big scene.

Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi had heard that Zhao Xin participated in suppressing the rebellion, but suppressing a rebellion was different from a real war between countries.

Have you seen the Western Xia army with a total of 500,000 troops?
It was everywhere in the mountains and all over the canyon.

Compared with the suppression of the rebellion by a few thousand or ten thousand people, it is not at the same level at all.

(End of this chapter)