After waiting for three days in Ban Pavilion, Jiang Chun was finally summoned by the officials.
However, he still contacted Hu Zhen at Fenglianlou, and Hu Zhen contacted Guan De, and then he had the opportunity to meet.
The joy brought by the official position of serving as censor in the palace disappeared.
At that time, Uncle Xie Fang and Cheng Yuanfeng held this official position. They participated in political affairs for the late emperor, stated the current problems and expressed their suggestions directly. From then on, they rose to prominence and became prime minister.
A few years ago, I heard that the late emperor was negligent in his administration, but it was simply because the dynasty meetings were not held, and all state affairs were handled internally.
Today's official family...doesn't need advisers to deal with it at all.
For three whole days, not a single minister was seen, and not a single state matter was interfered with?
If you want to meet an official, you have to find a way through an old prostitute. How ridiculous.
Although he had only returned to Lin'an for five days, even Jiang Chun's eyebrows had a hint of sadness.
He went to the Xuande Hall to wait, and first met Guande.
This powerful official in the palace was very kind and had a smile on his face.
"Jiang Shaoqing, don't want to see anyone else. Jiang Shaoqing and we are our own people."
Jiang Chun was slightly stunned, staring blankly at the big white face covered with powder in front of him, feeling vaguely like he was a member of the Ding Qingpi gang.
He can be called a member of Li Xia's party. When he was in Sichuan and Sichuan, he only felt that he was a capable minister. Now that he returns to Lin'an, he has a deep feeling of being a traitor.
I felt a little ashamed for no reason.
Guan De was very busy and had no time to chat with Jiang Chun. He stepped forward and said, "Jiang Shaoqing is here to work for Li Jieshuai. All he needs to do is coax the officials with good words."
"Yes Yes……"
"But one thing is that you must never go back to the official family, lest you offend Long Yan. Let's put it this way, the officials have dismissed many of Cheng Yuanfeng and Ye Mengding's people. Remember, remember."
Jiang Chun didn't know what he wanted to advise the officials after just an audience, so he nodded in agreement.
After Guande left, he waited alone in the palace.
I don't know how long I waited before the imperial driver came.
First, there was a strong smell of wine, mixed with the aroma of powder, that hit your nostrils.
When Jiang Chun saw Li, he heard a weak and feeble voice coming from the imperial couch.
"Jiang Aiqing is exempt from the courtesy."
When he looked up and saw the officials, Jiang Chun's eyes felt a little sore and he wanted to cry over the three hundred years of the Song Dynasty.
The official who was leaning on the imperial couch with a silly smile on his face was hunched over, his face was black and blue, his eye sockets were sunken, and his eyes were dull and lifeless. He looked like he was overdone. How could he have the dignity of a king?
"You talk, I'm still busy...hehe...here is a beauty..."
When Jiang Chun's peripheral vision fell, he saw that the official's hand had pulled the maid serving beside him, and he felt more and more sad in his heart.
I can't feel the slightest respect for his ministers.
"I...I should report to Your Majesty the affairs of Sichuan and Shu..."
"Then if you make a mistake, the Privy Council will approve it."
Jiang Chun was speechless for a moment, unable to express the thousands of words in his manuscript, so he could only say: "Before I left, I listened to Li Jieshuai's words and wanted to welcome the official family back to the old capital and become the king with the most outstanding literary and martial arts in the Song Dynasty."
"Okay, okay, okay, Li Aiqing is loyal...hiccup...what kind of official does Li Aiqing want to be?"
Jiang Chun felt that there was no need to mention what Han Chengxu said about discussing with Liu Heima to regain Guanzhong.
"The envoy of Xuanfu and Sichuan and Shaanxi..."
"Then you make a note, and I will stamp it for you... Hey, where is my big seal? Haha, I remembered, my four ladies of spring, summer, autumn and winter... the big seals are on my four beauties, hehe... Jiang Aiqing, I heard that you are also a wonderful person, will you treat me right?"
"minister……"
Jiang Chun finally couldn't bear it anymore.
He was not considered a capable minister, and even when he was in Qingfu County, he left all county affairs to the chief clerk.
However, as an official, you should have a bottom line that you should not lose.
Since joining the officialdom, from county magistrate to general magistrate, magistrate, prefect... I have seen the hardships and dangers of Sichuan and Sichuan, the suffering of the people, and received the salary from the imperial court.
When I returned to Lin'an today, I saw people selling their sons and daughters along the way.
If he didn't give the officials a word of advice, he would feel guilty.
"Does Your Majesty know that the wine in Your Majesty's cup and the beauty in His arms are the blood of the people, and they are the flesh and blood of the people!"
Just after the words came to his throat, Guande shouted loudly.
"Jiang Shaoqing! The official asked you if you know how to be right?!"
Jiang Chun was startled and lowered his head, his eyes becoming more sore.
"Chen...chen..."
"Hahaha, be honest." Zhao Yu laughed loudly and waved his hand: "It's all said and done, go down, go down, I'm too lazy to play with you..."
Jiang Chun was stunned. He didn't expect that half of what Li Xia ordered was accomplished so easily.
He endured the soreness in his eyes, and said again with a salute: "I should inform your majesty about the governorship of Longxi and the appointment of officials. Commander Li Jie said that Longxi needs generals to guard it. Your Majesty..."
"Then you make a deal and let the prime ministers discuss it."
"Li Jieshuai has been cheated, but gentlemen..."
Zhao Fu finally stood up and said with a smile: "Jiang Aiqing, do you understand the rules?"
"I am terrified."
"Whatever I can do, I will do. If I can't do it, go to the prime minister. Go, go, it's getting late... Oh, please leave."
…
The interview ended hastily.
Jiang Chun came out of the hospital, but felt as if a piece was missing in his heart.
He has always known that in the Song Dynasty, the emperor and the scholar-bureaucrats ruled the world together, not the common people.
But the word "governance" is also the responsibility of scholar-bureaucrats to the common people.
How can people feel at peace when the treatment reaches this level?
Even Ding Daquan, Ningde's chief secretary, and Xiaoshan's lieutenant were all doing practical things. No matter how powerful he became, he at least still looked like an official.
Jiang Chun felt that he was not as good as Ding Da today.
He could already understand Mou Zicai's worries. Nowadays, the dynasty is corrupted, and all loyal and upright people will definitely not be able to stand it. Li Xia and Guan De colluded internally and externally, and it was indeed like a powerful vassal.
With the national power of the Song Dynasty and such an emperor, could they withstand a Wu Xi rebellion?
…
That night, Jiang Chun drove outside Lin'an City.
In the shed, the homeless people who had no home to sell their children gathered together, numb and silent.
You can see sneaky figures walking through the crowd, taking away some children with better looks at night... The poor refugees have nothing else to steal.
Bullying always goes hand in hand with poverty.
Fortunately, it's only October now and it's not yet the harsh winter, so these people haven't yet reached their worst moment.
Lin'an is not the worst place. There are still good people who open tents to help people, so people don't die every day.
Jiang Chun had no power to take care of this, and he couldn't save a few people.
He also thought that he could not even persuade officials in front of the emperor to put state affairs first...
"Let's go."
The donkey cart turned around and headed towards the city again.
Before they reached the Yuhang Gate, a boy came forward and said, "This is Jiang Shaoqing in the car. Mr. Cheng has invited me."
Jiang Chun was stunned, got off the donkey cart, and was led by the other party into a spacious and simple carriage.
When he was the county magistrate, he only felt that the prime minister was unattainable. But when they met tonight, Jiang Chun only felt that Cheng Yuanfeng was aging and powerless.
…
"The right prime minister is here too?"
"I come here from time to time to visit, so as not to get caught up in the prosperity of Lin'an and forget about the world."
Cheng Yuanfeng pointed to a warehouse on the street and said: "That's a million-dollar warehouse. There is a Changping warehouse across the street. There is still food, but not much. It can barely help the victims until next year."
Jiang Chun breathed a sigh of relief and said: "There is food in Changping Granary, that's good."
"But this is not a year of disaster." Cheng Yuanfeng murmured: "How did the refugees come? There have been constant wars all year round, and military supplies were wasted. The court issued Huizi to make peace with the people. The Huizi was worthless, and the people could not afford to eat, so they had to sell their fields.
, after more than 20 years, the number of refugees has increased."
"The war has ceased, why is it still like this this year?"
"I failed to govern well. When the late emperor was there, the government was still balanced; when the enemy is facing a formidable enemy, the officials are still energetic. Now that this breath has disappeared, the economic system is deteriorating day by day, and the habit of mergers and acquisitions by powerful powerful people is getting stronger."
When Jiang Chun thought about what the official family was like, he knew that the intensity of the internal fighting in the imperial court must be a hundred times greater than before.
"You are a world-famous minister. He must have tried his best. It is not appropriate to belittle oneself."
"Zaiyang also saw tonight that prices are soaring, the people are in trouble, the national treasury is exhausted, and the emperor is not interested in state affairs... The country of the Song Dynasty is suffering from a serious illness."
"yes."
"There is still Jia Sidao who talks about saving the country in vain, but in reality he is too arrogant and wants to administer a powerful medicine, but he does not know that if this powerful medicine is used, the Song Dynasty will surely perish."
Jiang Chun didn't know what Cheng Yuanfeng was talking about to him. He could only feel that many important ministers, including Mou Zicai, had political disagreements with Jia Sidao.
"As for Li Xia." Cheng Yuanfeng said slowly: "Those 40 million guan were thought to be used to recuperate the people of Sichuan and Sichuan, but he never thought that he would use them to send troops to Longxi. Why did Zaiyang think he was doing this?"
"To regain the old mountains and rivers."
"If that's the case, that's great. I'm still worried that he only values personal merit and has a public spirit, so that's good."
Jiang Chundao: "Your Prime Minister has made serious remarks. Li Jieshuai is committed to the country."
Cheng Yuanfeng stroked his beard and said slowly: "Does Zaiyang know about the old events of Kaixi's Northern Expedition?"
"yes."
"Do you know about Wu Xi's rebellion?"
"yes."
"Do you know about Li Quan's rebellion?"
"yes."
"Zhiduan Ping enters Luo?"
"yes."
Cheng Yuanfeng sighed: "The national power of our Song Dynasty is far inferior to that of Kaixi and Duanping years. Is there any fallacy in this statement?"
"What the Prime Minister said is true."
"Then, how is Li Xia's move to Longxi different from the Kaixi Northern Expedition? How is recruiting Liu Heima different from recruiting Li Quan? If he has different intentions, how is it different from Wu Xi's rebellion?"
"this……"
Jiang Chun understood what he heard and knew that it was no longer important whether Li Xia was traitorous or not.
The current emperor... is too cowardly and incompetent to control a general like Li Xia.
Let Wang Jian guard Longxi, to be honest, it is not appropriate.
"There is no need to panic." Cheng Yuanfeng waved his hand and said: "I am just assuming that recovering Longxi is a good thing. It is a good thing. If the situation were better, I would definitely be writing poems and books with joy, but the stability of the country is the most important thing.
"
He has already seen clearly that Li Xia is by no means a loyal minister and good general.
An ambitious person.
But he was still very sincere when he spoke again.
"Right now, what Sheji needs is to recuperate. Now that the fighting has ceased, how about asking Feiyu to return to the court and serve as an official, join the Privy Council, take charge of military and state secrets, and revitalize Sheji?"
Jiang Chun was stunned and couldn't believe that Cheng Yuanfeng actually wanted to let Li Xia enter the Privy Council.
Since the beginning of the Song Dynasty, there has never been such a young prime minister.
"This...I can't be the boss of Li Jieshuai..."
"Zaiyang can write to Feiyu and ask Feiyu to believe me. As long as all the ministers work together and the emperor is wise, the power of the Song Dynasty will be reversed."
"But if Li Jieshuai doesn't..."
Cheng Yuanfeng stroked his beard and smiled and said: "The officials have agreed. Because they value Feiyu, they asked him for his opinion first. The prime ministers of the Privy Council have drafted a memorial to arrange for the pacification envoys from Sichuan and Shu to return to the court to display their talents..."
What Jiang Chun felt more was Cheng Yuanfeng's sincerity.
He also knew that Sheji could not withstand the chaos. After hesitating for a moment, he nodded.
"In this case, I will follow the arrangements of your right minister..."
~~
The messenger went up the Yangtze River and turned into the Han River... A month later, an urgent letter was delivered to Li Xia.
"Mr. Yang, let's take a look too."
After Yang Guo read it, he handed the letter back to Li Xiayu and said with a wry smile: "Is this the trick again?"
"Yes, it's still the same trick. But this time, I don't have three strategies, only three words to respond."
Li Xia casually crumpled the letter into a ball and threw it away.