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In the early days of Zhao Ji ascended the throne, the situation of Huizong was once very good. Cai Jing was in charge of the national affairs and increased the national fiscal and tax revenue. Outside, Tong Guan led the army and led the army to guide several border prefectures and counties such as Huangchuan. The negotiations with Xixia and Liao changed from passive defense to active offense. For a moment, there was a faint sign of revival.

However--

As both civil and military skills reached a good level, Zhao Ji began to float.

Zhao Ji is one of the few artists in Chinese history and has a heartfelt love for garden landscapes.

After Cai Jing became prime minister for the second time, he summarized his previous experiences and lessons and determined that only by pleasing Zhao Ji and making Zhao Ji happy can he always have power.

So, Cai Jing began to please Zhao Ji's hobby, and set up Yingfeng Bureau on several roads in the southeast, collecting strange flowers and stones from the southeast to transport them to Tokyo Bianliang City to decorate the inner palace.

This is the flower and stone gang that appears frequently in the Ming Dynasty novel "Water Margin".

During the Tang and Song dynasties, the gang refers to bulk materials transported in batches. After the materials were hoarded, they were transported in a centralized manner (mainly through waterways), which was the gang transportation. For example, the gang cargo of the Huashi Gang was taken as the gang cargo from ten transport ships.

actually--

From Cai Jing's position, all flower stone groups should not be collected, but should be purchased at a suitable price.

However, under the bureaucratic administrative system of the Song Dynasty, all national behaviors became convenient doors for corrupt officials to make money.

The result evolved into the fact that the government tried every means to find out where there were strange flowers and stones in the private homes. Once it was verified, it would be sealed immediately. Even demolished houses and blackmailed them. If the people resisted, they would immediately go to prison. Countless middle-class families lost their money.

After obtaining the flower stone, it will be transported to Tokyo Bianliang City by water.

In order to ensure that the Grand Boat ship is unimpeded, it even demolished the bridges and destroyed the city walls.

During the transportation, officials forcibly requisitioned a large number of merchant ships and grain ships transporting grain to Bianjing.

The fleet harassed the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait along the way, forcing the supply of service personnel, and the people suffered a lot.

So far, Hua Shigang has been plundering for fifteen or sixteen years, which has become the biggest disadvantage of the Northern Song Dynasty court in the southeast.

In fact, the Northern Song Dynasty court had a particularly high expenses because it wanted to maintain the administrative and military affairs system.

Coupled with the extravagance and waste of Emperor Zhao Ji and his military force, even if Cai Jing and others could make money, they would gradually lose money.

There was no way, Cai Jing and others could only increase the taxes of the people in disguise.

picture:

He Mai - He Mai was originally a loan provided to farmers by the Northern Song Dynasty court. In spring, money was given to farmers and silk was collected in autumn. Later, the country did not pay in spring, and silk was collected in autumn, which became one of the miscellaneous taxes.

Change - For actual needs, the Northern Song Dynasty sometimes changed the physical taxes collected into other items, such as cashing in wheat, silk, etc.

Transfer - refers to the fact that farmers must transport the paid grain silk and other places to the designated location of the government to pay. If they do not want to change the payment location, they must pay an extra transportation fee.

Principal money - refers to an additional fee paid when a account transaction with the government treasury. Once taxes are paid, the principal money will inevitably be charged.

And these are not the most basic taxes - land tax.

The land tax includes the income from public land rentals, land taxes for private land, land taxes for private residences in cities, shops and vegetable gardens. In addition, there are also complex taxes outside of the cap tax and various normal taxes.

Such heavy taxes are already unbearable for the people.

The Northern Song Dynasty court further increased its income in the wealthy southeast region and collected additional taxes on Liangzhe from the Wuyue Kingdom era. Generally speaking, it was levied on every ten acres of land compared to sixteen acres.

Later, the method of borrowing and borrowing is adopted outside the formalities, that is, the taxes will be borrowed from next year to the next year, and even the loan will be borrowed until seven or eight years later.

Under the exploitation, the people in the southeast have suffered from exploitation for a long time.

Even though the people in the Southeast were exploited in this way, the financial situation of the Song Dynasty still worsened with the growth of time.

In such a dangerous situation, the phenomenon of greed and greedyness that originally existed in the bureaucratic system became the fuse to ignite the explosive barrel.

It rained all night long, and the boat was late and the wind was on the head.

Since last year, disasters have been encountered in the Song Dynasty, and there have been droughts or floods in various places, especially in the southeastern and Huaihe River areas. Since November last year, floods have occurred in the southeastern region, resulting in severe floods in all the southeastern routes. At the same time, extremely severe droughts occurred in Huaidian (Huaihe River Basin). The two people have lost their jobs and have difficulty living.

Finally, in April this year, civil unrest began to break out in Jiangxi and Guangzhou.

At this moment, Cai Jing, the old captain who had been helming the ship of the Northern Song Dynasty for 16 years, retired and replaced Wang Fu, who Zhao Ji believed that the young and strong could completely replace Cai Jing, to become the helm of the ship of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Last year, Wang Fu was promoted to eight levels in a row, jumping from Tongyi to Shaozai (i.e. Deputy Prime Minister), which caused a lot of sensation in the Northern Song Dynasty court.

Wang Fu was promoted so quickly that he was definitely the first person since the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty.

actually--

At that time, the smart people had already guessed the intention of Zhao Ji - Zhao Ji was arranging Wang Fu to take over Cai Jing's work.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Wang Fu's replacement of Cai Jing as the government.

Wang Fu, whose original name was Wang Fu, was named Jiangming, and was from Xiangfu in Kaifeng. He was named Wang Fu by Zhao Ji.

Wang Fu is very handsome, with white skin, curly hair, yellow eyes, and looks a bit like a mixed-race boy. He is very eloquent and has a good literary talent. He passed the Jinshi exam in Chongning in the second year.

Wang Fu is very good at ease.

When he first became an official, Wang Fu worked with the son of He Zhizhong, the Minister of Personnel. He tried every means to win He Zhizhong's favor and get He Zhizhong's recommendation, and was promoted all the way.

Later, Wang Fu followed Cai Jing's footsteps and was promoted by Cai Jing. It took him only two years from the proofreader to the censor.

Later, when Wang Fu saw that the eunuch Liang Shicheng was very favored by Zhao Ji, he defected to Liang Shicheng and established close relations with him. He "served him with his father" and called Liang Shi "Mr. Enfu".

It is precisely because of Liang Shicheng's support and help that Wang Fu had the political strength to be the prime minister and his repeated guesses to please Zhao Ji, and finally replaced him with Cai Jing.

actually--

The main reason why Zhao Ji reused Wang Fu was that Wang Fu firmly supported the strategic idea of ​​the Union of Jin to destroy Liao and recover Yan Yun. Cai Jing's attitude towards this strategic idea became increasingly negative. Zhao Ji felt that Cai Jing was old and had become timid, so he let Cai Jing retire.

When Wang Fu first took office, he vigorously promoted a series of reform measures such as streamlining bureaucratic institutions and reducing taxes and labor, which made people admire him. At this time, everyone called him a virtuous prime minister.

Zhao Ji was also very satisfied with Wang Fu's performance and wrote the four big words "Dexian Zhiding" on the gate of his residence.

but--

The reason why Wang Fu was able to come to power was because he needed to recover Yan Yun.

Therefore, after Wang Fu came to power, the strategic idea of ​​joining the Jin Dynasty to destroy Liao and recovering Yan Yun was officially implemented.

...

In the arching hall.

Zhao Ji said with great enthusiasm: "Now it seems that sending troops to the north to recover Yanjing is a foregone conclusion. Sun Tzu said, 'Weapon is a major event of the country, a place of death, and a way to survive and die. We must observe it.' The ancients said, 'Everything is planned, and no plans will be abandoned'. Therefore, we should formulate an optimal plan to send troops."

Wang Fu immediately followed, "Your Majesty said very well. Those who have won the temple before the battle will be considered as many. Nowadays, the Khitan civil strife continues, and the people are living in poverty. In the peaceful and prosperous era of the Song Dynasty, our soldiers and horses are strong, which is the time to swallow mountains and rivers and recover the old land. At this time, the attack between the two golds is a good opportunity for the gods to restore the territory of the Han and Tang dynasties. This is a blow."

Tong Guan was silent and looked thoughtful.

Zhao Ji noticed Tong Guan's expression, restrained his smile, and asked Tong Guan: "Teacher Tong, it's okay to just say something."

"Officials, I have been wondering whether to attack Xijing first or Yanjing? Both have their pros and cons, and it is difficult to make a conclusion."

Tong Guan once gave Zhao Ji a "Ping Yan Ce". In this memorial, he advocated taking Yunzhong first and then taking Yanjing. Now Tong Guan reiterated the old words, so he naturally wanted to take Yunzhong first and then seek Yanyuan.

Zhao Ji did not agree with Tong Guan's view, but he did not directly refute it. Instead, he looked at Zhao Liangsi and changed the subject: "Zhao Xiu, do you think those Jurchens will change their minds halfway? Will they make peace with the Khitan again?"

Zhao Liangsi replied: "No, Your Majesty, I feel that the Jurchen Emperor is an honest and trustworthy person. Since he has agreed to form an alliance with our Song Dynasty, it should be impossible to make peace with the Khitan again. Besides, he personally led a large army to capture the Khitan capital and set fire to the Khitan ancestral temple. The grudge between them is so deep that it is unresolvable. How can he make peace again?"

After hearing this, Zhao Ji smiled again and said, "That's good!"

At this time, Zhao Ji looked back at Tong Guan again and said, "As for seizing Xijing first or attacking Yanjing first, I think it is better to attack Yanjing first. Yanjing's geographical location is more important. Xijing is just the icing on the cake."

Zhao Ji's words are actually not wrong.

In fact, Hedong is different from Hebei.

Hebei is a plain and a flat horse. As long as the Hu people pass through Yanjing, they can reach Tokyo Bianliang City within a few days.

In Hedong, the terrain is much more complicated, and there are several dangerous passes such as Yanmen Pass that are difficult to overcome. Therefore, for the Northern Song Dynasty, the Great Wall in Yundi was far less important than the Great Wall in Yanjing.

Wang Fu immediately agreed with Zhao Ji and said, "Your Majesty is right! Capture the king first to capture the thief, and first to attack the city and destroy the strong. If you seize Yanjing first, you will defeat the Xijing without attacking it."

Tong Guan insisted: "I think it is better to send troops to occupy Xijing first, and then attack Yanjing with the Jin army, because Xijing has poor defense and a greater chance of winning. Yanjing's city is strong, and it has always been guarded by Khitan troops, which is not easy to attack."

Seeing that Tong Guan continued to stick to his point of view, Zhao Ji said, "Otherwise, let the Western Army generals come to the capital to discuss the route of the army together, and come up with a detailed and feasible plan for dispatching troops. How about?"

When Tong Guan heard this, he laughed and said, "This is great, you can brainstorm your wisdom and win."

Then, Tong Guan glanced at Wang Fu fiercely, and his face showed full confidence.

However--

Tong Guan was still too confident and underestimated Wang Fu.

Tong Guan thought that if the Western Army generals discussed, he would definitely take the easier Xijing to capture as he thought.

Unexpectedly, at the instruction of Wang Fu, Tan Zhen ran around and joined forces before the meeting, so that the final result of the discussion of the Western Army generals was: Tong Guan's proposal to "go north from Daizhou, first take Wei, Ying and Shuozhou, and then occupy Xijing." The plan did not support the plan that Zhao Ji secretly instructed to "go north from Xiongzhou, cross Baigou River, occupy Zhuozhou, and then capture Yanjing."

Zhao Ji was very satisfied with the result of this discussion, so he formally issued an edict: order the Imperial Guards on Huanqing Road and Fuyan Road to change defenses with the Imperial Guards on Hebei Road.

The two imperial guards of Huanqing and Fuyan were the main forces of the Western Army. They replaced them to the Hebei front line to assemble, of course, in preparation for the Northern Expedition.

At the same time, some people suggested that there was still war in Wumashan, which occupied a large amount of resources to recover Yanyun and also had to transport food, grass and supplies there continuously. If troops were to be sent to recover Yanyun, they must be ordered to make a result as soon as possible.

As a person in charge of the Northern Song Dynasty, Wang Fu knew that Jiangxi and Guangzhou were in chaos, so Wumashan could not be fought any longer, otherwise it would be a whole pot of porridge. Therefore, Wang Fu also suggested to Zhao Ji that the war in Wumashan would be terminated.

Zhao Ji thought it was reasonable, so he issued an imperial edict to the Hebei Raiders and Disciples Department: Hebei Raiders and Disciples Department must resolve the Song Jiang rebel army entrenched on Wuma Mountain within one month.

After receiving the imperial edict from Zhao Ji, Huang Qianshan, Liang Fangping and others from Hebei recruited the generals to discuss countermeasures.

Cai Jian, who was originally licking his wounds on Zhang Liang Mountain, was also among the call...
Chapter completed!