The scholars are very proud of their face. Even if they really want to pronounce Ma and worship the prime minister, they still have to pretend to be a little bit. The imperial edict has been issued, and there are still several refusals, saying that they are not competent and asking for other talents. It is best to wait until everyone in the world asks for it. If the gentleman doesn’t come out, what about the people!
Only then can it be reluctantly accepted, and there is no need to say that it is pretentious.
However, this time everyone has no way to be reserved. To win the support of all officials and get enough votes, they must be clear-cut and have no ambiguity. They must also take the initiative first!
Han Wei said: "Mr. Wen became a general and a prime minister. He had a deep experience and was unmatched. He was well-known to meritorious achievements. More importantly, Mr. Wang was in charge of the political affairs hall with other vassals. Mr. Wen was the second vassal king of different surnames in the Song Dynasty. He took over as prime minister. He was the most suitable candidate. What do you think?"
"That's wrong!"
Zhang Dun immediately stood up, "The court has metabolism, and a new generation has replaced the old ones. The King of Yan voluntarily abdicated. It is right that the prime minister who is strong and strong in the past is expected to be replaced by an old prime minister. How can an older person be promoted? I suggest that Lu Huiqing, the leader of the Right Director, is the best candidate!"
"I object!" Cai Qi immediately jumped out, "Lord Lu is just the minister of the Right Capital, and Wang Jiefu Wang Xianggong is the chief of the Censorate. He presided over the reform several years ago, which was quite effective. The King of Yan also continued the reform of Wang Xianggong. Now Wang Xianggong takes over the political affairs hall, which is what everyone will come to!"
"Not nor no!"
Feng Jing immediately shook his head, "About it, Wang Xianggong presided over the reforms, which caused trouble in the world. It was the King of Yan who helped him finish it. Now the most suitable candidate is Sima Guang, the minister of Jun Shi, who has been in the Political Affairs Hall for many years, has rich experience and is fair in the affairs of the government and the country. No one can take the position of Prime Minister except Jun Shi,!"
...
These people were verbally fighting and refused to give in. At the end of the fight, Fan Chunren had to say: "My Ministry of Personnel is only responsible for the preliminary review. Several ministers are well-qualified and have great expectations. The Ministry of Personnel will be included in the selection list together. As for who will stand out in the end, it is not the Ministry of Personnel who has the final say. Please!"
Fan Chunren sent everyone away, but the debate would not stop. On the contrary, almost all officials in the capital were involved, and no one could escape.
Everyone recommended more than a dozen ministers, but some of them were in poor health, and some knew that they could not pass the recommendations of all officials... In the end, they focused on five people.
First, there was Shuode veteran Wen Yanbo, followed by Wang Anshi, then the Chief of Inspector General Sima Guang, and Lu Huiqing, the Minister of the Right Capital, and the Last was Su Song, Minister of Works.
Needless to mention the first four, Su Song was really surprised.
This Jinshi was only a Jinshi in the second year of Qingli. He had a low qualification, a low official position, and a bad connection. What kind of skills did he have? He was on par with those four?
If you carefully open Su Song's resume, you will find that he is not an ordinary person.
As one of the earliest teachers of the Six Arts, including Lu Huiqing and others, he received the education of Su Song. Moreover, he managed the Yellow River, built the Sichuan-Shaanxi Road, and supervised the railway. It can be said that every major project cannot be separated from Su Song.
In short, he is definitely the strongest official at present, no one!
It was not someone else who encouraged Su Song to compete for the Prime Minister, but the drunkard Ouyang Xiu!
Everyone was confused. Ouyang Xiu rarely involved in the affairs of the court, but just focused on writing books. What was wrong with the old man? It was incredible to recommend Su Song!
If I can't figure it out, I just don't think about it. Anyway, Su Song doesn't matter. At most, he is just a tying partner. It depends on the dispute between the four.
Soon, the capital became lively, and everyone's supporters jumped out, waving flags and shouting, and standing up to cheer. For a moment, the capital was almost a vegetable market.
Su Shi likes lively the most, and he is not the candidate for the future prime minister, so he can often go to and from the Yan Palace and tell Wang Ning'an the latest news.
Now Su Shi came again. He grabbed the kettle, poured half a pot of water first, then shook his head and said loudly: "Good show, it's such a good show! Now the whole capital is actively trying to win over all officials and win the favor of the emperor. Brother-in-law, who do you think is the most active?"
Wang Ning'an was too lazy to cooperate with him, but Xiao Tong smiled, "Who doesn't know, it must be Mr. Wen!"
"Smart!"
Su Shi smiled and said, "Wen Kuanfu just wrote a letter to divide Xixia into more than a dozen prefectures, such as Qingzhou, Yinzhou, Xiazhou, and Hongzhou, directly merged into the Song Dynasty, and sent officials to govern the government affairs of each state... He wanted to completely swallow Xixia! How about it? It's not a small matter, right?"
Xiao Tong kept his head down and thought for a while before saying, "There are so many officials added at once, I'm afraid there are many people supporting Wen Kuanfu?"
Su Shi gave a thumbs up and said with a smile: "No, I guess, because of this, Han Wei jumped out to speak for Wen Yanbo! After all, their Han family was demoted to Xixia. If Xixia was incorporated into the Song Dynasty, they would have legitimately returned to the Song Dynasty! Even for the sake of the Han family, he would have to support Wen Xianggong."
"Something makes sense!" Xiao Tong smiled and said, "Then the other people didn't move?"
"How is that possible!" Su Shi glanced at Wang Ning'an. Seeing that he was still busy with his head, he said ghostly: "Do you know, Wang Anshi just signed an order and directly took down more than 20 officials and eunuchs in the palace. He built many shops a few days ago, but they were all swept away by the accused husband!"
"Tsk tsk, I am really worthy of being the father-in-law, that is, he dares to be unscrupulous. Having a daughter in the harem is without any taboos!" Xiao Tiao asked again: "Where is Lu Jifu? Isn't he also from the Censorate?"
Su Shi smiled, "Lu Huiqing is so obscene, how could he not do anything? These days, he has contacted Liuyi's classmates everywhere. If I guess well, he would have the most votes among these people!"
Xiao Tong said curiously: "Where is uncle? Who are you voting for?"
"I... I won't give it to anyone I give it to Lu Huiqing!" Su Shi and Zhang Dun didn't meet each other. Now Zhang Dun is the number one general of Lu Huiqing. Only when he danced the most happily, Su Shi stood with Zhang Dun!
"If I want to choose, I will choose Mr. Su."
“Why?”
"He is knowledgeable, astronomy and geography, and has omniscient knowledge. He has good character. He never forms a party for personal gain. He also presides over so many major projects, is honest and self-confident, and does not put a single child in his pocket... He asked me to tell me that my brother-in-law should support Mr. Su like Zuiweng!"
The little pig also turned his head and looked at the father.
"Dad, what's my uncle said?"
Wang Ning'an was silent for a moment and finally put down the pen in his hand, "Where is Sima Junshi?"
"Ah!" Su Shi was stunned.
Wang Ning'an asked again, "What are Sima Jun's actions?"
"This... he is quite honest. He only signed one order recently, asking for the benchmark interest rate to be lowered to 7%.
As mentioned earlier, the interest rate in the Song Dynasty was much higher than that in later generations. When Wang Ning'an planned to establish the Royal Bank, he set the benchmark interest rate at 15%. In recent years, it has been reduced several times to 10%. Sima Guang lowered 3 percentage points in one breath, making a big deal!
Wang Ning'an was silent for a long time and finally smiled.
Sure enough, Sima Guang is a biting dog. Compared to the troubles of others, this move is the most powerful killer move!
Xiao Tong thought for a while, and suddenly slapped his thigh and exclaimed: "Uncle, if I guess well, the public opinion in the newspaper should be biased towards Mr. Jun, right?"
Su Shi was stunned, "How did you guess?"
Xiao Tong curled his lips, was this guess? Is this true ability?
Wang Ning'an smiled and said, "Okay, please help this fool!"
"You're the idiot!"
Da Su was not convinced, but out of curiosity, he became honest. He really wanted to know what Sima Guang did!
"If the court took over the Khitan, there must be a huge infrastructure craze, and the money needed is a lot of money... Now that the interest rate is reduced, the cost of the court issuing bonds will also be reduced. This is the first benefit."
"It makes sense. I didn't expect that Sima Junshi was still a man who planned the country!"
Xiao Tong smiled again and said, "There is another second point. When the interest rate is reduced, the cost of borrowing from various factories will also be reduced, so that they can expand... In a nutshell, Jun Shigong's move is to buy the industrial group. With the industrial and commercial forces standing behind him, he will naturally be invincible. And who are the bosses of those newspapers and who they speak to, I don't need to explain, right?"
Su Shi suddenly felt like an idiot, even a child was smarter than him!
"I'm so angry!"
Su Shi slapped the table, "Brother-in-law, look at the good students you taught. He is openly buying and winning over, and his intentions are sinister. Can you let him do whatever he wants?"
Wang Ning'an took a deep breath, "I said Zizhan, you should go to the temple to burn incense and pray that the Buddha would turn one-tenth of his literary talent into IQ, otherwise you will suffer a loss sooner or later... I agree with Junshi's approach to lowering interest, and I also think that you should print money!"
"Why? Are you not afraid of soaring prices?" Su Shi finally asked a valuable question.
"I don't think so." Xiao Tong interrupted, "Uncle, think about it, we have annexed the Khitan. Will all the Khitan copper coins be scrapped in the past? Should we exchange them for new Dasong banknotes? In this way, at least 20 million guan will be printed... and... I thought of it!" Xiao Tong was surprised, "Dad, now lower the interest, we can issue new bonds, recover the old bonds, and save a lot of expenses!"
Su Shi said he could not understand.
Xiao Tong said speechlessly: "Uncle is so stupid. The interest rate for new bonds is low and the interest rate for old bonds is high. For new ones, the court can naturally save interest." He praised sincerely: "Your true master is really amazing, and he can kill more than one shot!"
Of course, Sima Guang’s wisdom does not need to be doubted, not to mention that the last time he printed money was led by Wang Ning'an, how could Sima Guang not follow in the footsteps of his master? He did it in the same way. Obviously, Sima Guang’s steps were even bigger!
It was just that the last time the additional banknotes were issued, the consequences were borne by the Khitan... Is there still a scapegoat this time?
Chapter completed!