I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 32 Prince Shen Can Be Prime Minister
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The Zhao Song Dynasty had actually been on the decline for a long time.

Fortunately, there were some upright and passionate ministers such as Fan Zhongyan and Wang Anshi. They chose to stand up and call for the abolition of bad policies and the implementation of new policies, and proposed some reform measures that could solve some problems.

However, Zhao Xu and Zhao Xu were not corrupt and wanted to achieve the revival of the Zhao Song Dynasty.

Therefore, the Zhao Song Dynasty began reforms intermittently.

But reform means touching the cake of the vested interest groups.

Many national parasites (in both the old and new parties) are unable to solve problems, but are good at solving those who raise problems.

Today, the New Party is no longer synonymous with reformers, nor is the Old Party synonymous with conservatives. Both parties contain upright and passionate ministers who want to reform the country; the only difference is that some agree with Wang Anshi's new policies, while others do not. Both parties also contain corrupt officials who disregard national interests and only care about their own interests. The current struggle between the New and Old Parties is essentially a partisan struggle, unrelated to whether reform or legal reform is necessary.

Those selfish parasites used conspiracy to attack the reformers and created public opinion to attack the new policies on the charge of forming a party.

In the era of absolute monarchy, forming factions was regarded as a scourge of monsters and demons, poisonous snakes and ferocious beasts. Anyone who was considered to be forming a faction was considered to have committed a heinous crime and posed a threat to the imperial power.

They then bribed reformist officials and instructed their subordinates to forge letters, fabricating claims that the reformists wanted to depose the emperor and seize power.

The emperor, who grew up in the deep palace and ascended the throne under the protection of his father and grandfather, is most wary of ministers abusing their power and forming factions. He will definitely be shaken, and the reform will ultimately fail.

Throughout history, several reforms of the Song Dynasty almost all failed in this way.

Therefore, if we want to reform, we must have an emperor with strong will.

For example, Yongzheng.

During the reign of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, Yongzheng promoted a land system reform from top to bottom with far-reaching impact. For the first time, it abolished the feudal landlords' monopoly on land and redistributed the land according to the actual farming ability of the farmers. At the same time, it abolished the head tax and required individuals to pay taxes according to the amount of land they held. This was known in history as "sharing the land tax according to the amount of land they held."

This nationwide reform caused great damage to the interests of the vast majority of bannermen and landlords.

You know, as the largest interest group in the feudal dynasty, these vested interest groups have unimaginable destructive power and influence.

Despite this, the land-based tax system was eventually implemented, which saved a lot of money for Emperor Qianlong and gave him enough starting capital to become a "Ten Perfect Man".

Even if Zhao Ya did not make any improvements and only followed Yongzheng's path, he would definitely be able to complete the reform of the Zhao Song Dynasty and accumulate enough wealth for himself to sweep the world.

Therefore, for Zhao Ya, solving the problems of the Zhao Song Dynasty was not a problem; the real problem was how to become emperor.

In order to achieve his goal of becoming emperor, Zhao Ya started a crazy gift-giving mode.

Of course, Zhao Ya did not give gold, silver, or jewelry, which might easily cause criticism from others. Instead, he took advantage of the popularity of soap and gave his own soap to the concubines, female officials, and eunuchs in the harem.

It can be said that except for Liu Qingjing, Zhao Ya gave soap to all the important people in the harem.

Before Zhao Yada gave away soap, due to the difficulty of transaction and the price increase, soap had been sold for more than ten strings of coins in the harem. Even so, due to the insufficient supply, the soap was still priceless.

Just by giving away soap, Zhao Ya gained enough favorability. Most of the people around Empress Dowager Xiang and Zhao Xu remembered Zhao Ya's kindness and spoke highly of him.

Not long ago, a major earthquake occurred in Taiyuan, and Zhao Xu used the little money left in the national treasury to provide disaster relief.

By late September, because the imperial court was unable to pay the military salaries of the Capital's Imperial Guards, several of the Capital's Imperial Guards stationed near the capital were making noises, and some even showed signs of mutiny.

Just when Emperor Zhao Xu and his ministers were almost dying of worry over this matter, Zhao Ya came to see Zhao Xu and took the initiative to say: "I have made a small profit from selling soap recently. I am willing to donate one million strings of cash to help the court with its urgent needs."

This was all the money Zhao Ya had earned from selling soap (plus a lot of advance payments he had received). It could be said that Zhao Ya had really invested a lot this time.

Zhao Xu's eyes flashed with surprise and emotion when he heard this. He didn't expect Zhao Ya to be so good at making money, and he didn't expect Zhao Ya to be so generous.

You must know that princes are not allowed to participate in politics, join the army, or interfere in state affairs. However, the court has always turned a blind eye to princes doing business. After all, even officials are doing this kind of thing, so there is no reason not to allow royal family members to make money in this way.

Therefore, Zhao Ya had no need to lend the money he earned through normal business means to Zhao Xu.

Don't you see, there are so many royal family members, some of whom have assets worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of strings, but not one of them took money from their own family to help Zhao Xu? Therefore, Zhao Ya's move was undoubtedly a timely help.

But as an emperor, suspicion is a common problem among them.

Zhao Xu is no exception.

While Zhao Xu was deeply moved, a trace of doubt quietly emerged in his heart: "Prince Shen is helping me with all his heart, but does he really have nothing to gain behind the scenes?"

In Zhao Xu's opinion, although Zhao Ya is his younger brother, in the center of this vortex of power, family affection is often overwhelmed by interests, and he cannot trust everyone.

Zhao Xu slowly asked, "What does Prince Shen want?"

Zhao Ya smiled faintly upon hearing this, his smile full of sincerity: "Your Majesty, you worry too much. I simply see that the country is in trouble and I don't want to sit idly by. As for my request, I only wish that our Great Song Dynasty will be peaceful and prosperous, and that your Majesty will be healthy."

Zhao Xu's doubts grew after hearing this. He knew very well that there were few good deeds in this world without a reason, especially when it came to imperial power and interests.

However, Zhao Ya's attitude was sincere and his words were earnest, making it difficult for Zhao Xu to find any flaws for a while.

At this moment, Zhao Ya said again: "By the way, I do have a favor to ask of you."

Zhao Xu thought to himself, "He's here, and he's taking the initiative to give out such a large sum of money, how could he not ask for anything?"

Zhao Xu said calmly, "Prince Shen, please feel free to speak."

What Zhao Xu never expected was that what Zhao Ya actually asked for was: "Your Majesty, I only ask that you don't tell anyone that this money was paid by me."

Zhao Xu was stunned. He asked in confusion, "Why?"

Zhao Ya smiled and said, "I am afraid they will borrow money."

Zhao Xu knew that Zhao Ya was joking, but he didn't know whether Zhao Ya was blocking his way to borrow money from Zhao Ya in the future?

After Zhao Xu pondered for a moment, he finally spoke in praise, "I will keep this in mind. When the court overcomes difficulties in the future, I will definitely reward you generously."

Zhao Ya said with emotion: "The Song Dynasty is the country of our Zhao family. My clan and I share weal and woe with it. If the edifice collapses, how can I, your humble servant, survive alone?"

Although Zhao Ya had said this, Zhao Xu still doubted Zhao Ya's intentions. However, he still encouraged him, "Prince Shen's righteous act is a blessing for the country. I am very pleased!"

Then, Zhao Xu asked Zhao Ya about the "Land Reform Memorial" and forced Zhao Ya to tell his true thoughts.

Under pressure from Zhao Xu, Zhao Ya had to temporarily put aside the fact that princes were not allowed to interfere in politics, and told Zhao Xu truthfully everything Zhao Xu wanted to know, including why the reforms in recent years had failed.

Zhao Ya even made it clear to Zhao Xu that the use of the "Land Reform Memorial" was intended to make enemies with all the dignitaries, gentry, and wealthy families in the world.

Finally, Zhao Ya clearly summarized to Zhao Xu that in order to implement the "Land Reform Memorial", there are two prerequisites that must be met: first, the emperor must have an unwavering attitude; second, the optimization of a stable and huge centralized power.

Zhao Ya repeatedly emphasized: "Even if both are present, such reforms are still extremely dangerous."

Zhao Ya also gave Zhao Xu a very sincere advice: "Before you have thought of using my ideas to carry out reforms, my brother, please remember not to make them public, otherwise there will be no chance of success."

Thinking of Zhang Dun, Han Zhongyan and Zeng Bu's attitudes towards the "Land Reform Memorial", Zhao Xu understood that Zhao Ya's reminder was very reasonable.

After this heart-to-heart conversation, Zhao Xu finally understood what kind of talent and knowledge Zhao Ya had. He looked at Zhao Ya and thought to himself: "Prince Shen can be the prime minister."

Then, Zhao Xu felt a little psychologically unbalanced again. Although they were born to the same father, he was nearly ten years older than Zhao Ya. How could there be such a big difference in their knowledge and abilities?

Finally, Zhao Xu placed all the blame on Gao Taotao: "It's all that old traitor's fault. If she hadn't manipulated me for eight years, causing me to waste eight years, how could this have happened?"

Immediately, Zhao Xu looked at Zhao Ya and thought with regret: "It's a pity that you are a prince. Otherwise, if you could help me carry out the reform, my Song Dynasty might be able to revive..."

……

(End of this chapter)