In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 303: Your Majesty wants to lead the expedition in person?
After entering the second half of the seventh year of Baoqing, Diezhou City had raised more than [-] camels, many of which were adult camels purchased directly from other Tubo tribes.

In May of the seventh year of Baoqing, Gao Zhiyao suddenly ordered that Diezhou City could only trade with the Tubo people officially from now on. The former Tubo military households could no longer trade privately or go out for special training. From then on, Diezhou City's external exchanges were closed. Quickly, it was blocked instantly.

Multi and Gerile can no longer go to the Ruogai Grassland to make money.

The two reacted more sensitively, and immediately thought that Song Jun might want to do something.

In September, they heard news in the camp that the Mongolian army and the Song army had fought a battle at Dashanguan in Sichuan not long ago. They didn't know why. Then the Mongolian army and the Song army seemed to have made peace. It was stipulated that Linzhao would return to the Song Dynasty, and the Mongolian army sentry cavalry could not enter the Linzhao area.

In November, [-] Song troops suddenly entered Diezhou from Sichuan via the Taoshui River. They were unaware of the situation.Because at this time there were no Mongolian military sentries near Taoshui, and Song military sentries were shuttled back and forth every day.

In February of the following year, another [-] Song troops entered Diezhou.

At this time, Diezhou City was overcrowded, and the Song army's strength had reached 4.

Starting from January of the following year, a large number of horses and mules came in and out of Diezhou every day. After batches of supplies were delivered to Diezhou, the horses and mules returned to Sichuan on the same route, and then transported supplies over again. Horse-drawn carriages came and went quite frequently.

At this time, the Mongolian army was attacking the Jin Kingdom with all its strength, and could not care about the small actions of the Song army here.

At the same time, the Song army confiscated a large number of camels in Tubo.

At this time, Gerile and Multi privately believed that the Song army might take action against the original Xixia, and would take the route they returned that day, crossing the Gobi Desert, passing through the Qilian Mountain grasslands, detouring thousands of miles, and heading towards Shazhou from south to north.

This is?Are you planning to go to war with the Mongols?

However, the Song army did not attack Zhongxing Prefecture, the most populous city, but took a detour of thousands of miles to raid Shazhou. This was exactly the same route as the Mongolian West Route Army used to attack Xixia.

The advantage of this is that starting from Shazhou and Guazhou, the defenders have a sparse population and it is easy to capture all the way. Moreover, they can first occupy all the largest horse-producing lands in Xixia, and at the same time cut off the Mongolian army in the original Xiliao and Xixia areas. contact.

Even after the Song army captured Shaguazhou and other places, it had the strength to go to Western Liao and attack the Mongolian army's belly.

It was the location of important logistics and even the base for the Mongolian army's Western Expedition, and it could even affect the stability of the Mongolian Western Expedition.
-
It was relatively cold in the capital in December. Early this morning, Zhao Yurui summoned some important ministers to the Xuande Hall for a meeting.

There were still the same number of people present, including Privy Councilor Ge Hong, Privy Councilor Li Zongmian who signed the letter, and Tongzhi Privy Councilor and Counselor for Political Affairs and Minister of War Wei Liaoweng.

Deng Ruoshui, Shangshu of the Ministry of Officials, Xu Yuan, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, Du Fan, Shangshu of the Ministry of Households, Yang Changru, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, Li Huang, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, Zhao Rushu, Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Qiao Xingjian, Minister of Zhongshu, Hu Mengyu, Minister of the Ministry, and Qin of Duyuan, Dujin Zhuo, Quan Juan Shangshu saves Liang Chengda.

There are also four secretaries, Huang Pu, Xie Fangshu, Yu Tianxi, and Zheng Qingzhi. These four people have been helping the emperor approve memorials in recent years. They are considered Zhao Yurui's personal secretaries. Although their affairs seem inconspicuous, they can be regarded as participating in important military affairs. The four of them still worked hard.

Every December is the day when the emperor summarizes the whole year.

This time the agenda is pretty much the same.

First, report the income and expenditure and talk about important things.

Last year, the imperial court did not do many major things, and the only thing to reform was the issue of wine. That is, in the past, only the imperial court could sell distilled yeast, or merchants designated by the imperial court could sell distilled yeast. Now, it is also fully liberalized, and a liquor tax is levied.

This can be regarded as a measure that benefits the people. There was no shortage of food in the Southern Song Dynasty, so a large amount of food was used to make wine. However, because the government controlled the wine industry, the people did not get much benefit. Now that it was beneficial to the people, the wine industry in the Southern Song Dynasty flourished again, and even more A lot of wine is on the market.

In addition, after Zhao Yurui was in power for six years, the favor of officials and the worship of ancestral halls were basically cancelled, and the court saved a lot of expenses.

This year is the happiest year for the Minister of Household Affairs. After calculating the expenses for the whole year, there are still 4000 million yuan and more than 2000 million stone grains left, which has broken a new record.

However, military and official expenditures still account for the bulk, accounting for [-]% of national income.

Last year's military spending also broke records. The emperor built a lot of large ships, more armor and artillery.

Fortunately, the Song Dynasty's troops and horses did not break through again. Last year, the number of troops and horses in the country (total land and water) was [-] million, including all the troops and horses of Jeju Island and Dajuan.

This is the data for the fifth year of Baoqing. It remains unchanged after the sixth year of Baoqing, which means that the court did not add new troops last year.

But in fact, many veterans over forty years old retired from the imperial court last year, and then the same number of new personnel were added.

Retired veterans are given priority by the imperial court as service members and the guardians of their hometowns. This policy is currently very popular with the military.

Some will also be assigned to wait overseas for senior officers, and then be allocated a large amount of land. This is also an option favored by a few retired sergeants.

After hearing this, Zhao Yurui still shook his head and said, our administrative expenses still account for too much.

This is higher than that of later generations.

Administrative expenses in later generations only account for about 40.00%. Of course, developed countries account for even less.

Xiao Zhao, the great Song Dynasty, is now at [-] or [-]%.

But there was nothing he could do. He invested more and more heavily in the military every year. If he didn't invest this money, how could he defeat Mongolia?

After everything was discussed, everyone looked at Zhao and Rui.

Subconsciously I feel that he is going to start a new restructuring next year.

really.

The emperor spoke slowly.

"After the New Year, I want to establish a cabinet and try out the cabinet system."

"Your Majesty, what is the cabinet?" someone asked immediately.

The emperor thought for a while: "The cabinet, to put it simply, is the highest administrative body of the Song Dynasty. When the emperor is in the imperial city, it is responsible for handling various military, civilian, and government affairs across the country in accordance with the emperor's will."

"When the emperor is not in the imperial city, the cabinet can directly handle various military, civil, and government affairs across the country."

"Let's put it this way, with the existence of the cabinet, even if the emperor is not in the imperial city, or the emperor is young, or is indifferent, the court can still operate normally."

Will the emperor not be in the imperial city? Some smart people will immediately feel something.

Wei Liaoweng, Minister of the Ministry of War, couldn't help but look up at Zhao Yurui. He was extremely shocked. Is the emperor going to conquer it himself?

As the Minister of War and the Deputy Privy Envoy, Wei Liaoweng certainly knew a lot of the court's military insiders. The emperor had been constantly dispatching troops and generals and increasing military equipment in the past year, probably in preparation for large-scale military activities.

Now the so-called cabinet is suddenly proposed, and the emperor's absence in the imperial city is also mentioned. Isn't this preparation for the emperor's personal expedition?

I don't know why, in the past, powerful ministers like Shi Miyuan and Han Wanzhou replaced the cabinet with one person or a faction and replaced the emperor in handling government affairs. Everyone was unwilling to accept it and hoped that the emperor would take power.

Now that the emperor was in power and his throne was secure, Wei Liaoweng felt it was inappropriate when he suddenly suggested that he might have to go out. He wished that the emperor could be in the capital every day.

However, he had been following the emperor since he was King Yi. Zhao and Rui were very passionate in nature. At that time, the clan could not leave the capital easily, so Zhao Yurui applied to leave the capital. He was quite aware of Zhao Yurui's style. Once he had any thoughts , no one can persuade me.

But Emperor, you can leave the capital. Will the imperial commander's personal expedition shake the foundation of the country?Wei Liaoweng's brows furrowed and he began to think about how to persuade.

But this meeting cannot confirm whether the imperial court is going to war, because now even he, the Minister of War, cannot tell clearly.

Just when Wei Liaoweng was extremely entangled, Zhao Yurui officially announced the establishment of the Song Dynasty Cabinet.

The first batch of cabinets in the Song Dynasty consisted of 17 people on site.

The prime minister of the cabinet is Li Zongmian, and the deputy prime ministers are Wei Liaoweng and Ge Hong.

The other members include Deng Ruoshui, Xu Yuan, Du Fan, Yang Changru, Li Huang, Zhao Rushu, Qiao Xingjian, Hu Mengyu, Qin Zhuo and Liang Chengda.

There are also four cabinet secretaries: Huang Pu, Xie Fangshu, Yu Tianxi, and Zheng Qingzhi.

The original Privy Council and the three provincial councils were continuously disbanded and merged in the next two years, and related functions and officials were merged into six ministries and the newly established ministry.

The former Privy Councilor Ge Hong also served as the Minister of the newly established "Commercial Taxation Department". In the future, when the imperial court levied comprehensive commercial taxes, this department would be responsible.

In the past, taxes on salt, tea, wine, commercial taxes, and goods sales were all under the jurisdiction of the Commercial Tax Department.

Zhao Yurui said that officials of the Ministry of Commerce and Taxation can basically be transferred from the Privy Council, and the increase or decrease will not be much, but corresponding local branches will be established. It is estimated that [-] additional officials will be added to each county across the country.

That is to say, [-] to [-] more officials will be added next year, which will increase expenses. Zhao Yurui also said before that the national administrative costs are too high, so he changed hands and added more administrative personnel. There is no way, and now there is really no way.

But everyone should be able to understand that maybe in the next two years, the emperor will spend money on commercial taxes and levy a comprehensive commercial tax.

Qiao Jian, the minister of Zhongshu, was also the minister of the newly established Ministry of Maritime Trade.

Most of the relevant officials of the Zhongshu Province will be transferred to the Ministry of Maritime Trade to prepare for the later dismantling of the Zhongshu Province.

From now on, the export of sugar, silk, ceramics, etc., as well as other overseas trade, including the income of the Municipal Shipping Department, and overseas trade with various countries, will be under the control of the Ministry of Maritime Trade.

In this way, the transaction of domestic sugar and other goods belongs to the Ministry of Commerce and Taxation, and the transaction of foreign sugar and other goods belongs to the Ministry of Maritime Trade.

The Ministry of Maritime Trade will also have its own naval force. There will then be two naval forces, and 1 naval forces will be allocated to the Ministry of Maritime Trade.

The Ministry of Maritime Trade is preparing for future colonization. Of course, Zhao Yurui doesn't need to tell them clearly now, and he won't understand it even if he does.

Hu Mengyu, the Minister of Menxia, ​​was also the Minister of the newly established Ministry of Education, preparing for the dismantling of the Ministry of Education.

Taixue and teaching in various places were placed under the Ministry of Education, paving the way for the establishment of schools across the country in the future. The Ministry of Rites' matters related to imperial examinations and teaching were also placed under the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Rites will only be responsible for diplomacy and etiquette in the future.

Liang Chengda, who is also the minister of the Ministry of Medicine, is preparing to abolish the ministerial province.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, the Imperial Medical College, the Royal Pharmacy Hospital, and the Shang Pharmacy Bureau included various medical institutions. In fact, they were all duplications, and now they are all being merged into the Ministry of Medicine.

Local medical institutions in the Southern Song Dynasty also included Fudi Hospital, Anlefang, Anjifang, Nursing Home, Hefu Bureau, Salesian Hospital, Medical Hospital, etc. There was a mess of everything, and it was basically created by a certain emperor at the last minute.

Some are only for children, such as the Salesian Hospital, and some are only for disabled soldiers, such as the Medical Hospital.

Now Zhao and Rui want to jointly set up hospitals in various places.

As soon as the emperor mentioned these reforms, everyone discovered that several newly established departments had replaced the three provinces. It was obvious that these new departments had better functions and were more beneficial to the country and the people.

Because originally the functions of the three provinces and the Privy Council overlapped with those of the six ministries and even other departments.

In this way, after the three provinces and the Privy Council were abolished, the power of the six ministries was greatly increased.

Zhao Yurui said at this time that there were 13 cabinet members, and the other four were secretaries.It is composed of ministers of various ministries, plus departmental new subject champions and Jinshi (the latter is four to six people, and the first batch is four people)

The secretary mainly handles documents in the cabinet and prepares for study. He does not participate in management, only in work.

In the future, new top scholars and Jinshi who will join the cabinet as secretary Lang will have to study in the cabinet for three years. After passing the examination, they can work as officials below.

Then select four to six substitutes from the new top picks and Jinshi (next year, Zhao Yurui will be the second top pick in office, so this class may only stay for one year)
Future cabinet members (that is, ministers and chief officials of various ministries) must be selected from among the secretaries and officials who have been in the cabinet.

After this explanation, everyone will understand.

Like this time, young Huang Pu, Uncle Xie Fang, Yu Tianxi, and Zheng Qingzhi entered the cabinet to study. All future cabinet members must have such experience.

But the fact that the four of them have entered the cabinet as secretaries does not mean that they will definitely be able to enter the cabinet in the future.

Because as time goes by, many people will become cabinet secretaries, but not everyone will be able to join the cabinet and become a full member.

Cabinet members serve three-year terms and cannot serve for a maximum of three consecutive terms, which is nine years.

It will take time to establish the cabinet and new departments and implement them nationwide. Zhao Yurui estimates that it will take one or even two years at the earliest.

He quickly talked about the operation and management model of the cabinet. Almost to his surprise, all the officials present brightened up after hearing this, feeling that the emperor was slightly delegating power.

All future memorials will be submitted to the cabinet first after being sent to the palace from the capital memorial court.

Each of the four cabinet secretaries is responsible for a part, and some of them can be approved by them.

After Secretary Lang read the rest of the excerpts, he circled the ones he thought were important in black pen and handed them to the cabinet minister on duty. (Two people are in the Xuande Hall every day, and one of them must be the Deputy Prime Minister or the Prime Minister)
After receiving the approval from the cabinet on duty, he would circle what he considered important with a red pen and finally submit it to the emperor.

After the emperor's approval, if there are any disagreements with cabinet members, they will be sent back to the cabinet.

The cabinet convened everyone to discuss, and the emperor allowed it. If all the cabinet members opposed the emperor, the emperor would consider it.

After Zhao Yurui said this, the scene was a little shocked.

The emperor seemed to be testing his cabinet members.

But the emperor only said that he would consider it, but did not say that he would definitely correct it.

For example, if the entire cabinet objects to measuring grain fields, will the emperor stop?
But some ministers believe that as long as there are toadows like Zhao Rushu and Liang Chengda in the cabinet, they will never be able to oppose the emperor together.

After the cabinet was established, the operating model of the Song Dynasty Conference also had to change.

Emperor Zhao and Rui changed it to five days in court and two days off, which meant that most officials were given a holiday. However, during the two days off, officials from each ministry must take turns to be on duty. (There is also overtime pay for this kind of duty)
Generally, after court in the morning and after court, a prime minister or deputy prime minister, two ministers, and four secretaries would go to the Xuande Hall to approve the memorial. The emperor might also chat with them about government affairs.

Therefore, those above the level of deputy prime minister are basically on duty every three days, and cabinet ministers are on duty every five days. Secretaries are more difficult, and one person takes turns to rest every six days.

Another more significant change was regarded by Wei Liaowen as a sign that the emperor was about to mobilize troops.

In the later Song Dynasty, military affairs were not studied (including the appointment, dismissal and transfer of military chiefs and generals) when they were in power.

That is to say, from now on, all military issues in the Song Dynasty will not be studied during the imperial court.

Zhao Yurui didn't understand that in ancient times, the imperial court liked to talk about military affairs.

In ancient times, there were many civil and military officials in the upper dynasty. If they talked about military affairs in the morning, the whole city of Lin'an might know about it in the afternoon. Once the enemy had a secret plan in the capital, it wouldn't take long for the news to spread throughout the world.

Although research behind closed doors may not necessarily keep confidentiality, it is at least better than research and discussion in court.

Moreover, there are a lot of civil servants in the court, and many people do not need to participate.

Therefore, in the future, the military issues of the Song Dynasty will not be discussed in the upper court. Depending on the size of the military issue, the emperor will consider convening all cabinets for collective discussion, or only convening relevant generals for private discussions. That is, some military issues may not even be known to the cabinet members.

Other issues involving military matters were not discussed in court.

Among non-military issues, there will be no discussion on personnel appointments and removals above the fourth rank, and no discussion on single fiscal expenditures above [-] yuan.

The appointment and dismissal of personnel below the fourth rank (excluding county officials), and financial expenditures below [-] guan, are decided by the Prime Minister and the Cabinet behind closed doors in the afternoon, and then reported to the Emperor for approval.

After listening to so many clauses, the first Prime Minister Li Zongmian felt that it would not matter whether the emperor went to court or not.

Simple matters were handed over to the cabinet, and the emperor did not know how much trouble he saved.

After coming to court, if there are important matters, the emperor will convene some cabinet members to discuss them together, such as military affairs, personnel appointments and removals of four grades or above (including county officials), and individual financial expenditures of more than [-] guan.

This shows that the emperor only summoned some cabinet members, which means that the emperor alone had the final say in personnel and financial power.

The emperor talked a lot to them that day, and the ministers understood the operation of the cabinet.

But in any case, the operation of the cabinet reflects several points.

An emperor was lazy and left many things to his cabinet ministers.

The second emperor tried to decentralize power and give the cabinet the power to manage the country.

The three emperors still firmly grasped the financial, military, and personnel powers.

Li Zongmian and Wei Liaowen followed the emperor when he was King Yi, and seemed to understand what the emperor had planned.

Li Zongmian and Wei Liaowen looked at each other and couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty is leaving Beijing?"

The emperor arranged for the cabinet to be on duty and handle government affairs, and he obviously wanted to be lazy and lazy.

But the two of them believed that the emperor was paving the way for leaving Beijing and did not say anything about a war today. Once there was a war, he might lead the expedition himself.

"I don't have this idea yet, but it may not be certain in the future." Zhao Yurui said calmly: "The existence of the cabinet means that even if I am not in the capital, you have to operate naturally and handle the government affairs."

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing how to answer.

However, cabinet restructuring and departmental restructuring are rare major moves since the Song Dynasty. Zhao Yurui estimates that it will take at least half a year, and one to two years after smooth operation.

This matter is the focus of government affairs this year.

After the meeting ended, Wei Liaoweng did not leave. Zhao Yurui knew that he wanted to communicate alone, so he asked the chamberlain to retreat outside.

When Wei Liaoweng saw no one around, he immediately said: "Your Majesty is leaving the capital, so it is best to establish a prince to oversee the country."

Zhao Yurui is still very fertile. After getting married, all the concubines he married now have children.

But as in history, he has only given birth to one son, named Zhao Qi.

Historically, Zhao Yurui's son was named Zhao Yu, who was also Song Duzong.

At this time, Zhao Yurui helped his son change his name to Zhao Qi, but Zhao Qi was not born to Queen Xie, but to Jia Yuhua.

In addition, Zhao Qi is still young, only four years old this year, so Zhao Yurui has never established a prince.
Wei Liaoweng suddenly raised the issue of establishing a prince, which made Zhao Yurui stunned for a moment.

The emperor was still young, and the queen was also young and could still regenerate. It was obviously inappropriate to propose the establishment of a prince at this time.

Zhao Yurui glanced at Wei Liaowen calmly, probably knowing that Wei Liaoweng had guessed what he was thinking.

He then said: "Wei Qing, don't worry. In fact, Wei Qing has followed me since I was King Yi, so he should understand what I am like."

"I never do anything I'm not sure about, and I never act recklessly."

"Please Wei Qing, please continue to support and believe in me as before."

When Wei Liaowen heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief: "I am overly worried."

He thought the emperor had promised that he would not lead the expedition himself.

Zhao Yurui may not be able to lead the expedition in person.

But it will definitely shock Wei Liaoweng.
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In April of the seventh year of Baoqing (1231), Yan'an Prefecture, Shaanxi Province.

Since the disastrous defeat in Huihui Valley, the Mongolian army has been stationed near Yan'an Prefecture, and the army is full of sadness and dissatisfaction.

After Wokuotai ascended the throne, from January of the sixth year of Baoqing to January of the seventh year of Baoqing, he continued to carry out frontal attacks on the Yellow River defense line at Tongguan of the Jin State, regardless of the suggestion of using mines to attack the Jin Dynasty. He fought for a whole year, with almost no After a victorious battle, the Mongol Empire, which had been defeated in countless battles, lost its troops and generals and suffered heavy losses.

The majesty of Ogedai's new Khan has been seriously weakened and challenged, and many Mongolian nobles have begun to regret choosing Ogedai as their Great Khan.

Since the Mongolian army stopped in Guanzhong, Wokuotai ordered a retaliatory sweep of all the major cities of the Jin Kingdom except Fengxiang.

For this purpose, four hundred trebuchets brought back by Subotai from the Western Expedition were also used.

The Jin Kingdom's fortified cities west of Tongguan were successively captured by the Mongolian army.

Yan'an and Xi'an, which Mu Huali had not conquered back then, were successively conquered by the Mongols. As of April, the entire territory of the former Jin Kingdom west of Tongguan, except Fengxiang, was still in the hands of the Song people, and the rest had all been owned by the Mongols.

Although the Mongolian army was relieved, hundreds of thousands of troops were stationed west of Tongguan, which had been cleared by a strong wall. Supply was a problem, and Tongguan could not be opened, so it was meaningless to stay here.

Many nobles of the Mongolian army requested to return to the grassland these days. Originally, as in history, Wokuotai was planning to raise troops to return to Guanshan (Zhuozi, Inner Mongolia) first, and then check with the Song Dynasty to see the effectiveness of the borrowed road. But at this moment, people from the front came one after another. Various news came.

First, Yelu Chucai's petition to establish the 10th Route Taxation in the north of the Yellow River was successful. He wrote a letter saying that this year is expected to have a bumper harvest, and a lot of taxed grain and money will be obtained.

Historically, when Wokuotai returned to Guanjunshan, he deliberately asked Yelu Chucai to give away the 50 taels of silver and 40 pieces of silk he had received.[-] stones of millet were laid out for the Mongolian nobles to see the benefits of taxation.

At the same time, it is also a show to Tuo Lei, don't always massacre the city, keep the Han people, and we will have a steady stream of income.

Then his bodyguard Salita received a letter. They had wiped out the former Jin Kingdom in Liaodong. Now only Dongxia and Goryeo were still there. He asked Goryeo to jointly send troops to destroy Dongxia. Goryeo did not respond. He wanted to ask Wokuotai. Let’s start with Who to hit?
Soon, news came from Xixia. Enemy sentry cavalry appeared near Xixia. It was initially suspected that it was the Song Army. In addition, the Song Army occupied Linzhao Mansion, built a lot of construction, and sent out sentry cavalry to drive us away. Tou Lei even asked about the security of the nest. Taiwan, can you use troops against the Song Dynasty to teach the Song people a lesson?He even suggested conquering Fengxiang and driving the Song people back to Sichuan.

After Wokuotai received various news, he immediately summoned the Mongolian nobles to discuss the next decision.

(End of this chapter)