Song Gexing

Chapter 24 The prince of the Song Dynasty is really aggrieved
"Your Majesty, I believe that the fraudulent household registration is just a small number of unscrupulous people hiding their household registration, and does not exist on a large scale. This kind of thing is strictly ordered by state and county officials to investigate themselves. There is no need to discuss this matter in the court."

"Can't wait any longer"

Zhao Fang couldn't find the person behind it and was worried that the reformists would be exploited, so he gritted his teeth and stepped forward to speak.

Ouyang Xiu turned to look at him in surprise, but he stared at Zhao Zhen and blinked.

"Deputy Ambassador Zhao has been in the palace for a long time. How can he know the affairs of the people? It's better to step down. The Imperial City Secretary should not participate in the decision-making of the court's major affairs."

Although Ouyang Xiu was unhappy, after all, Zhao Fang had a good reputation among their group. This time, he did not speak harshly, but kindly reminded him not to cause trouble.

According to the rules of the Song Dynasty, the Imperial City Secretary cannot participate in the government affairs, even if you are a prince. If today is not the meeting of the Great Dynasty, you are not even qualified to go to the palace.

Since Zhao Fang decided to take action, he naturally would not be dissuaded by him. He turned to him and said, "Although I have been in the palace for a long time, the Imperial City Department has spies all over the world. I have read the information everywhere. How could I not know about it?"

As he spoke, he blinked at Ouyang Xiu again. Ouyang Xiu wanted to get angry and complained that he didn't know how to advance or retreat, but suddenly he realized something was wrong. Is there something wrong with this little guy's eyes?

After all, he is a world-famous grandmaster. He immediately realized that he was not objecting, but that this matter made him feel inappropriate.

With a sharp turn in his head, Ouyang Xiu found the steps and said, "Since the Imperial City Division has the information, let's not talk about it in advance. I hope Deputy Zhao will come up with the information after the court to persuade me to wait."

When Zhao Fang saw that he understood, he quickly nodded in agreement and returned to his queue.

Zhao Zhen also understood at this time that there must be a reason for his son to prevent this, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Fan Zhongyan.

Fan Zhongyan raised his eyelids, took a step forward and said: "Your Majesty! What the Taixue student said in the letter is indeed suspected of being unclear, but now the government and the public, including the Taixue, are talking about the rampant corruption of corrupt officials. There have been many direct lawsuits against corrupt officials. The Kaifeng Mansion has received several cases. I request your Majesty to order a thorough investigation into the matter and propose changes to the official promotion inspection system..."

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Zhao Fang coughed hard. When he saw everyone looking over, he quickly covered his mouth and said with an embarrassed look: "I caught a cold last night and couldn't hold it in for a while. Please forgive me!"

Only ghosts would believe this, Fan Zhongyan looked at him puzzled, and thought, "Could it be too urgent?"

Han Qi took a look, stepped forward and asked, "How about Vice Minister Zhao's proposal to punish corrupt officials?"

Zhao Fang looked at him and saw the anger in his eyes. He quickly cupped his hands and said, "Punishing corrupt officials is the will of the people. The court is where the herdsmen are. Naturally, we must listen more to the voices of the people."

Han Qi was slightly taken aback, staring into his eyes, noticing that his eyes were not averted, and immediately understood that he was not against punishing corrupt officials.

"It seems that they have objections to the official inspection system."

Soon he figured out what Zhao Fang wanted to stop. After thinking for a moment, he cupped his hands to Zhao Zhen and said: "Chen Jue's matter must be done step by step. Please order your Majesty to strictly investigate corrupt officials. As for the official evaluation, we will wait for it." Come back after investigating and dealing with corruption, after all, if the corrupt people are not eliminated, the assessment is actually superfluous."

Fan Zhongyan frowned slightly, glanced at Zhao Fang, nodded and retreated. Han Qi's words made sense. What was the purpose of the assessment officials? Isn't it to eliminate those who were corpse eaters?

If corrupt officials are investigated and punished, these people will naturally be deterred. It will also be effective, but it will not be perfect.

Seeing that he stopped talking, Zhao Zhen understood that he approved of Han Qi's performance, so he looked at the two prime ministers and said, "Do Zhang Qing and Lu Qing have something to say?"

Lu Yijian turned around and glared at Zhao Fang, then turned and cupped his hands and said: "I agree with what Han Zhigui said, but I want to impeach Zhao Fang, the deputy envoy of the Imperial City Department. The Imperial City Department can not participate in the court meeting. This is an overstep of authority!"

Zhao Zhen suddenly became embarrassed, "this" for a long time, and then tentatively said: "Then I will be punished for one, no, three months?" Zhao Fang couldn't help crying in his heart, his father was really so careful At this point, he should have agreed to this matter resolutely and directly ordered himself to be punished.

But while he loves his son, he is also afraid of offending the ministers, so he is not tired of living like this.

At this moment, Zhang Dexiang stepped forward and objected: "I have objections. Zhao Fang is at fault, but he is a child after all. Prime Minister Lu cannot be too harsh. This is not conducive to the growth of the prince."

Lu Yijian immediately responded tit-for-tat: "There are no such things as adults and children in the court. Since going to the court means that you are included in the court system, you must act in accordance with the court rules. This is not the same as Zhang Xini's behavior."

"Finally caught you."

Zhao Fang ignored the two people's stranglehold on each other, but looked at Zhang Dexiang happily, understanding that he must be the mastermind behind the incident involving the imperial student.

Even though he was defending himself, it was precisely because of this that he wanted to hide. Instead, Lu Yijian had a bad face. He was really thinking about his future.

Zhang Dexiang was unwilling to change. He had already guessed that it was not because he was a bad person, but because the old man, like his teacher, was the kind of person who liked to be on the safe side.

It is believed that the ancestral system will be changed once the reform is carried out, and the ancestral system of the Song Dynasty cannot be changed. This involves not only economic interests, but also the interests of the literati group.

In fact, the struggle for interests is not necessarily all about money. The scholar-bureaucrats in the Song Dynasty were actually very conscious. Few court ministers would abandon the ideals of their family, country and world for money.

Of course there are such people, but they are basically middle- and lower-level officials. There are very few officials who can reach the top who are so shameless.

Even for the traitorous officials who were called the Five Ghosts of the Northern Song Dynasty by later generations, if you look at their official experiences, you will find that they were actually serving the country and the people.

Ding Wei was probably the most famous, he was regarded by future generations as a representative of the traitor, and he killed Ming Xiang Kou Zhun.

But if you look at his life experience, you will find that he has done many good things for the country and the people. When he first entered officialdom, he petitioned the people of Fujian to abolish the tea and salt regime.

In the Battle of Chanyuan, he planned to retreat from the Khitan and preserve peace in the three states.

When he went to the southwest to serve as an official, he pacified the southwest barbarians and showed favor to the court, which made the southwestern barbarians return to the Song Dynasty. The court could not find anyone to replace him.

But in the end, he became one of the five ghosts, and he was the most famous one among the five ghosts.

Is he really a traitor? In fact, the conflict between him and Kou Zhun is difficult to tell who is right and who is wrong. It involves the dispute between the north and the south.

Kou Zhun was from Shaanxi. For a long time after the founding of the Song Dynasty, the court was actually controlled by northerners. Zhao Kuangyin even said that southerners were not allowed to be prime ministers.

The appearance of Ding Wei made a southerner occupy the position of prime minister for the first time. Kou Zhun was naturally dissatisfied with him, and he also naturally wanted to support the southerners.

Ding Wei, a native of Jiangsu, promoted a large number of southerners to the court during his tenure as prime minister, directly dividing the interests of northerners. This was the real reason for Kou Zhun's discord with him.

It was right to say that he flattered Liu E. If he hadn't been appreciated by Liu E, no matter how great a southerner's achievements, he would never have thought of becoming a prime minister.

Liu E gave him the opportunity to realize his ideal. If he didn't follow Liu E, how could he still follow you, Kou Zhun?

(End of this chapter)