Video Editor

Chapter 882 Scheming Woman

With Song Renzong's official decree appointing Princess Huirou and Prince Ning's Zhao Ren as crown princes, the areas south and north of the Yangtze River were reunited once again. At this time, the people north of the Yangtze River suddenly discovered that the Ningyuan Army south of the Yangtze River had conquered so much new territory, far exceeding the territory that the people of the Song Dynasty could imagine.

You should know that at this time the entire southwest region and the Indochina Peninsula were already under the control of the Ningyuan Army. The Goryeo Peninsula in Northeast Asia also obediently surrendered to the Ningyuan Army's iron cavalry, and was directly managed by the Ningyuan Army's three-level government of prefectures, states, and counties. The Goryeo royal family was directly taken to Bian Jing as prisoners by the Ningyuan Army. As for the entire territory of the former Liao Khitan, there is naturally no need to elaborate on it.

During the past four or five years, under the governance of Prince Ning's Mansion, the Jiangnan region had already formed a new system that was completely different from the Song Dynasty court. The new system that Suning first forcibly implemented in Jiangbei was the tax system, and he enforced it without any room for easing. Naturally, irreconcilable contradictions arose again.

"Prince Ning, the tax policy in Jiangnan is one of extortion and plunder. The imperial court is planning to cancel these taxes in Jiangnan. Why do you suddenly want to implement this tax policy throughout the Song Dynasty?" Bullying the weak and fearing the strong seems to be a common bad trait among everyone. Mr. Fu had to be cautious when facing Su Ning.

"Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, and fellow ministers, there is no need to discuss the tax policy at all, because no matter whether you agree or not, we must implement it throughout the Song Dynasty." At this time, Suning knew that now was not the time to respect the elderly and love the young. There was no room for bargaining for any reform, otherwise the diehards would definitely counterattack and devour them frantically.

"What?" Everyone in the hall looked at each other in surprise, because what Suning conveyed was that it was imperative.

"Also, although I have agreed to only be responsible for the military affairs of the entire Song Dynasty, I still have the right to make suggestions on the institutional reforms of the Song Dynasty court. So next, I will talk about some suggestions for court reform."

"..." At this time, the emperor and all the ministers in the hall were staring blankly at the young man in front of them. The kingly aura and decisiveness revealed by him were something they had never seen in their lives.

"First, the Song Dynasty should vigorously implement the cabinet system of three provinces and six ministries, abolish unnecessary and cumbersome government offices, establish a dedicated taxation department, implement the system of equalizing land tax and unified taxation for officials and gentry, and regulate commercial taxes.
Second, the Song Dynasty implemented a three-tier system of prefectures, states, and counties. The original prefectures were changed to prefectures, each with a prefect and four to six deputy prefects. Each prefecture governed eight to twelve states, each state had a prefect and four to six deputy prefects. Each state governed three to five county towns, each county had a magistrate and three to five deputy prefects, each county governed four to six townships.
Third, the Song Dynasty implemented twelve years of compulsory education, and graduates were selected through a unified examination to enter government offices at all levels. In principle, they began as clerks and were promoted step by step.

Fourth, the separation of powers between public security, procuratorial and judicial organs. The Six Gates were established to be responsible for public security, arrest and detention. The Dali Temple tried cases based on the evidence submitted by the Six Gates. The Metropolitan Censorate was responsible for the final review of all cases.
Fifth, the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial Academy of Works will be integrated into the Great Song Royal Academy of Sciences to guide and develop various advanced technologies and promote the construction and development of people's livelihood and the military."

"..." As soon as Su Ning finished his five suggestions, all the ministers and the emperor in the hall were stunned.

"Prince Ning, is this kind of reform too radical? You should know that governing a big country should be like cooking a small fish and you should not be too hasty." In the end, the old emperor on the dragon throne was the first to wake up. At this moment, there are some things that only he can say.

"Your Majesty, the bloatedness of the Song Dynasty's court is a well-known fact. Even officials themselves have to carry a long letter when they declare their positions. In addition, the territory of the Song Dynasty has expanded by more than two or three times. Therefore, it is imperative to simplify the government offices at all levels. Only in this way can the people of the Song Dynasty stand firm."

"Prince Ning, this is a serious matter! I hope you can give the court more time to consider it." Seeing Suning's stubbornness and persistence, everyone present knew what this "suggestion" meant. At this time, the old emperor couldn't help but smile bitterly and looked at Suning and said.

"Your Majesty, these are just some small suggestions from me. You, the ministers, are welcome to give them more consideration and discussion. Only by pooling wisdom and finding and filling in the gaps can our Song Dynasty prosper." Suning never realized that he was too overbearing. Instead, he suddenly changed his tone and behaved modestly and politely.

"Prince Ning is righteous."

Suning's speech in the court today was truly eye-opening. It shocked the old emperor of the Song Dynasty and all the ministers so much that many people felt dizzy. However, they all knew clearly that after the empress came to power, these institutional reforms would be implemented in a domineering manner by Suning, simply because Suning held the military power that could control everything.

As a later generation, Suning was troubled by the various official positions and systems of the Song Dynasty. The title of an official was as long and smelly as an old woman's foot binding. It felt that the simplification of government in later generations was more timely and meaningful. As for whether the natives of the Song Dynasty would resist fiercely at this time, Suning would not have any worries or fears, because as long as these ministers were not stupid, they knew that their power would increase rapidly after simplification, and they would try their best to prevent the previous bickering and chaos.

……

Suning's suggestions in the court were like fired bullets. Suning was not anxious to see what effect it would have. Instead, he patiently waited for the bullet to fly for a while. Only by allowing more natives to join this unprecedented discussion could Suning achieve his real goal of reforming these Song Dynasty bumpkins. Simply blocking freedom of speech can be said to be harmful to both others and oneself.

Undoubtedly, the Song Dynasty can be said to be a peak moment of Chinese culture, but there are still various fatal flaws that are inevitable. Similarly, Suning does not think that his ideas are absolute, but still wants to take advantage of this rare opportunity to let the predecessors of this time and space broaden their horizons and expand their thinking. Because Suning really wants the Chinese civilization to be passed down forever, he has to be ruthless and use the technology and system of later generations to spur them on.

"Your Highness, Molan is here to greet you." Su Ning was lying leisurely by the lake in the backyard of the palace. His personal maid Zhao Linger was diligently feeding Su Ning grapes. At this moment, he heard a strange voice mixed with surprise.

"Huh? Molan? Are you the fourth daughter of the Sheng family?" Su Ning, who was being served by a stunning maid and eating grapes, looked at the teenage girl in front of him with a surprised expression. There was a worldly air in his eyes that did not belong to this age.

"Your Highness, Molan is Madam Hua's fourth sister."

"Well, Fourth Miss, why are you in Prince Ning's Mansion?" Su Ning asked with a smile, looking at the coquettish little girl.

"Your Highness, regarding the Ning Palace's grand opening banquet a while ago, Grandmother was worried that the palace would be too busy, so not everyone came to offer congratulations. Today, the Princess specially brought all the female members of the Sheng family here so that Madam Hua and Madam Shu could spend more time with their family."

"Oh, so that's the case. Then the fourth young lady can just relax at home in the palace." Su Ning had no interest in this greedy little girl. He simply waved his hand and sent her away without any concern.
"Thank you, Your Highness! Molan will take her leave." Sheng Molan felt somewhat disappointed at this moment, because she had tried her best to contact Su Ning, but Su Ning showed no interest in her at all.

After Sheng Molan, the fourth daughter of the Sheng family, left hesitantly, Su Ning kept a meaningful smile on his face. He couldn't help but think of the various magical operations of the mother and daughter in the original drama, and realized that his appearance was still difficult to change everything. It was obvious that Sheng Molan still had the bad habit of doing whatever it took.

"Your Highness, the girls of the Sheng family are more beautiful than each other." Zhao Linger, who had been silent all this time, said with a hint of meaning.

"Huh? Ling'er, Sheng Molan is only fourteen years old this year, and you can already tell whether she is good-looking or not?"

"Your Highness, the way you look at Fourth Miss Sheng is different. I'm sure you like her very much in your heart."

"Haha, my Ling'er is jealous?" Su Ning pulled Zhao Ling'er into his arms with a smile, feeling that he still couldn't let go of this woman.

"Your Majesty, if I were really jealous of you, I would probably die of jealousy myself."

"Hehe, I just know some things about the Sheng family. I really don't have any thoughts about this Fourth Miss Sheng."

"Oh?" "Ling'er, are your grandmother and father settled? Do you like living in Bianjing?" Su Ning was not going to explain too much about the Sheng family to Zhao Ling'er. Instead, he changed the subject and looked at Zhao Ling'er and asked about her family.

"Very good! This is all thanks to the princess's meticulous care, so I am very grateful to the prince and princess."

"Well, you are also my Su Ning's woman, so there is no need to be too polite."

"Thank you, Your Highness! It's just that my grandmother has always wanted to move out of the palace and live on her own, so I hope Your Highness and Princess can agree to this."

"Yes! But not now, because the city of Bianjing is not as peaceful as it seems. We have to wait until I have dealt with those guys with ulterior motives."

"what……"

Su Ning did not explain too much to this stunning beauty, because Su Ning felt it was completely unnecessary. In addition, Su Ning had long realized that he had only obtained Zhao Linger's body. In her heart, she might still be thinking about the task assigned to her by Zhao Zongquan and his son in Yuzhou. After all, a person's preconceived ideas are generally difficult to change, so in Zhao Linger's heart, she might still be the big devil who brought disaster to the country and the people.

However, Su Ning was not a hypocritical idiot. He knew clearly that he really liked Zhao Linger's body. As for whether she truly accepted him in her heart, Su Ning did not care too much at this time, because Su Ning mainly had a mentality of playing with the world.

……

In Prince Yong's Mansion, Prince Yong has not really accepted the reality of his failure, and is still constantly carrying out his various tricks in secret. The current situation is mainly because the Ningyuan Army is too powerful, so powerful that even the always cruel Prince of the Great Song has to choose to lie dormant temporarily. So Prince Yong is secretly uniting all the forces that can be united to deal with Suning.

"Prince Yan, I know you have never truly trusted me, but we, the Zhao Song royal family, really have no way out." Prince Yong looked meaningfully at Prince Yan in front of him and said.

"Hey! Brother Wang, I know everything you said, but Prince Ning and his forces are too powerful. Now they have the strong support of Queen Cao. We two brothers have no ability to resist at all." At this time, Prince Yan sighed with a wry smile on his face, then looked at Prince Yong very soberly and reminded him.

"Prince Yan, why are you so negative?" Prince Yong asked back with a look of disapproval, feeling that the competitor in front of him was too timid.

"Oh? Does my brother have any plans?" At this time, Prince Yan had something in his mind and said with speculation.

"Of course! Although Prince Ning is now at the peak of his power and his Ningyuan Army is invincible, he is still unpopular in the court. As long as we wait quietly for the opportunity to come, we will definitely be able to achieve a true Jedi counterattack."

"Brother Wang, please tell me your specific plan first."

"Prince Yan, you have secretly gathered many martial arts masters. Don't tell him that you suddenly want to study martial arts." Prince Yong did not reveal his plan at the first time. Instead, he looked at Prince Yan with a meaningful smile.

"Huh?" Prince Yan didn't expect that his little trick was discovered by Prince Yong.

"Prince Yan, your starting point is correct. The Ningyuan Army may seem powerful, but it actually has a huge weakness. Its fate rests entirely on Prince Ning. As long as we get rid of this abominable Prince Ning, the Ningyuan Army will naturally fall apart very quickly."

"Hey! Brother Wang, how can it be easy to get rid of Prince Ning? He is surrounded by many martial arts masters guarding him." Although he knew that Prince Yong's analysis was very reasonable, Prince Yan said with a frown at this time.

"Hehe! Prince Yan, do you still remember Zhao Zongquan from Yuzhou?"

"Zhao Zongquan?"

"A few days ago, Zhao Zongquan suddenly and secretly found me and told me that he had planted a stake next to Prince Ning and was ready to launch a fatal attack on him at any time."

"Oh? I didn't expect that this loser Zhao Zongquan could be of some use."

"Prince Yan, I have also contacted Murong Longcheng, who is with Prince Ning, and I am very confident that I can bring him to our side."

"Murong Longcheng? He is Prince Ning's confidant?" At this time, Prince Yan finally showed an ecstatic look, because he knew what this meant, but he looked at Prince Yong with some concern and reminded him.

"Bullshit! The Murong family of Gusu Yanziwu has always regarded themselves as descendants of the State of Yan. Their greatest wish is to restore the Great Yan. Unfortunately, Prince Ning only regards Murong Longcheng and his son as bodyguards, but he doesn't know that this pair of bodyguards are the most poisonous snakes." Prince Yong cursed disapprovingly, and then explained the matter of Murong Longcheng in detail.

"Oh? Brother Wang, could it be that Murong Longcheng and his son agreed?" Prince Yan couldn't help but feel happy at this moment.

"No! After our great cause is successful, I will promise to grant the land of Jiaozhi to the Murong family. I am sure that this will make them turn against us at the last minute."

"Brother Wang is wise! In fact, there must be many people in the Ningyuan Army who are disgusted with Prince Ning's tyranny, so we can also start from within the Ningyuan Army." Prince Yan then expressed his own opinion. He also felt that Prince Yong's plan might really succeed.

"That makes sense! As they say, when brothers are united, their strength is unbreakable. As long as we, the royal family of the Great Song Dynasty, can stand united against the enemy, I believe we can definitely get rid of the traitor Prince Ning."

"Brother Wang is wise."

……

(End of this chapter)