There was no sound in the Wende Hall in the afternoon. Sandalwood tablets were burning quietly in the incense burner. Two palace maids were slowly fanning themselves behind Zhao Zhen. The cicadas on the tall trees outside the hall were chirping, but there was no sign of it.
Didn't bother Zhao Zhen.
There were piles of test papers on the papers. Zhao Zhen read them one by one, wrote down comments and handed them to the attendants Yan Shu, Du Yan, Zhang Dexiang, Chen Zhizhong, Xia Song, Fu Bi and others.
After reading dozens of policy papers, Zhao Zhen straightened up slightly, reached out and gently tapped his back, and rubbed his eyes.
"Your Majesty, please rest for a while before reading again. Don't overwork yourself." Xia Song said slowly.
"No, I'm not afraid of being tired. It's just that these strategies are written superficially and I'm not very satisfied with them. This year's results seem not to be as good as the previous exams, so I'm a little disappointed." [
Zhao Zhen sighed slightly and reached out to pick up the next test paper. This was a beautiful and regular Guange style font. After a quick glance, he found that the traces of the painting had been modified, making it look neat and clean.
"The government of the past dynasties has always had shortcomings. If the shortcomings are not corrected, disasters will inevitably occur. What's the matter? The rules and disciplines are eroded. The system is weakening day by day, the rewards are irregular, the wealth is limited, the human sentiments are miserable, and the natural disasters occur. But Yao and Shun.
He can adapt to changes and keep the people from getting tired."
After Zhao Zhen read the opening paragraph, he immediately became energetic. He started to speak straight to the point and with a sonorous and powerful tone. He was not sloppy or obscure, and his writing was sophisticated and concise, which was completely different from the previous articles.
"The Book of Changes says: If you are poor, you will become general through change, and if you are general, you will be long-lasting. This means that if the principles of the world are blocked, then think about ways to change them. If you can be flexible, you will have a long-lasting career. Our country has put an end to the chaos of the Five Dynasties and is rich all over the world.
For eighty years, the discipline system has been cut down by the sun and invaded by the moon. The officials are blocked below, the people are trapped outside, the barbarians are arrogant, and bandits are rampant. We must expand to save them. However, if we want to correct the end, we must correct its roots.
; If you want to clear up its flow, you must clear up its source. If you don't dare to follow the way of the previous emperors, please ask the ancestors of the current dynasty to come up with a feasible memorial. I hope your majesty will follow the will of the world and work hard to do this, and the legal system will be established.
If the discipline is revived, the clan will be strong and the world will be blessed."
"The transformation is good!" Zhao Zhen praised the case: "If you are poor, you will change, if you change, you will be general, and if you are general, you will be long-lasting. This sentence is most appropriate to be used here, but it depends on whether the actual suggestions behind it can hit the nail on the head. Don't let it go.
It’s better to be less exaggerated.”
The ministers stretched their necks and looked up, wondering whose article the emperor was so happy to read. It seemed that this article was better written than the dozens of articles they had read before.
"As I think about it, there are ten shortcomings in today's world. One of them is: deposing the emperor for unknown reasons. I looked at the "Book" and said: 'Three years of performance appraisal, three years of examination for deposing the emperor of Youming.' However, in the dynasty of Yao and Shun, it took at least nine years for officials to be established.
Once you move, you must strive for success, and the world will be great. After a hundred generations, you will be regarded as an emperor. In my ancestor's dynasty, all civil and military officials have set a good example, but those who are capable of government promotion will not be inferior; those who are called, until old age
No transfer. Therefore, everyone encourages himself in order to achieve performance. Nowadays, literary qualifications are transferred every three years, and military positions are transferred every five years. This is called grinding and surveying. It is not limited to internal and external, regardless of work and rest, and the virtuous and unworthy go hand in hand. Is this how Yao and Shun deposed Zhi Youming?
That’s what it means!”
"That makes sense!" Zhao Zhen nodded slightly. The promotion of officials in the Song Dynasty was based on the principle that civilian officials were moved every three years and military attachés were moved every five years. The time in office was too short, so they all muddle along, not seeking merit but seeking faults. The result was not good.
The contribution to the local area is not much, and some people engage in corruption and fraud to make a fortune and leave without staying here for a long time. Not only do they fail to govern the local area, but they become a disaster. This is a thought-provoking point.
Zhao Zhen breathed a sigh of relief and continued to read: "If there is a wise person among the officials who is in charge of a county and a bureau, and he wants to make profit and do harm, but everyone will accuse him of causing trouble, he will be jealous.
If you are frustrated, if you are not laughing, if you make a slight mistake, you will be squeezed. Therefore, the unworthy person will just eat the corpse and be safe.
But there is nothing to do. Although he is stupid, dark and despicable, no one will tolerate him... But every three years, there are those who sit in the office of Prime Minister Cheng Lang. Who is willing to benefit the public and save the people from the disease of Your Majesty?
, to get rid of the shortcomings of political affairs, and to repair discipline and principles is bad! If there is no prosperity, the country will be weak, and if the disease is not saved, the people will be resentful."
"If bad things are not eliminated, the villain will succeed; if bad things are not repaired, the king will lose. The good and the unworthy are mixed up, please leave it to luck, there are endless changes, domestic and foreign harshness, everything is ruined, the people are suffering for a long time, and thieves are gradually rising. It is a shame for Your Majesty's liver and gallbladder
What worries me most is that officials lose their integrity and are in danger! If you are in the capital of Baisi, the golden valley is vast, and the powerful children have grown up to occupy it.
In the second year of his life, he took advantage of his power. How could he respect his position and make the foundation of the ancestors fall? Therefore, if there is a lawsuit in the capital, there will be several people competing for it. If he is an official in the capital, there will be
When you live in private and wait for a long time, you often have to work hard at the beginning of your job. If you work hard, the rules will be changed. This is why everyone follows the same rules and no longer works hard."
"I don't think that from now on, ministers in the two places who have made great achievements and good deeds will be given special titles. Great achievements and good deeds are not necessarily due to advancement in rank. The specific situation is long and I have time to describe it today, but I ask the court to be fully aware of Ming Zhi's move.
, this is one of them.”
Zhao Zhen held his breath and read all the way. The article was well-founded and listed ten current shortcomings, and proposed solutions one by one.
One is to clearly depose the emperor, that is, to strictly enforce the system of promotion and demotion of officials.
The second is to suppress luck, that is, to limit the ways for luck to become an official and be promoted.
The third is fine tribute, that is, a strict tribute system.
The fourth is to select officials. In view of the situation that only ten incompetent officials are distributed at the state and county levels, it is recommended that the court sends capable people to check local performance, reward capable people, and remove incompetent people; the selection of local officials should be done carefully
and review to prevent redundancy.
The five areas are equal to public land. Public land is job land, which is one of the fixed incomes of local officials, but the distribution is often uneven. It is recommended that the court balance the job land income of local officials; job land should be given to them according to their grades, so that they can have enough
Then, they can be held accountable for their integrity in government; those who break the law can also be punished or dismissed from their posts. In fact, this is a disguised form of high salary to support integrity.
The six principles are to support agriculture and mulberry production, that is, attaching importance to farming and mulberry production. It is recommended that the imperial court issue an edict and require officials and people in various places to talk about the interests of poor farmland, build water conservancy projects, greatly promote agricultural benefits, and formulate a long-term system to reward people and evaluate officials.
Implement.
The seventh chapter is to repair military equipment, that is, to regulate military equipment. It is recommended to recruit strong men from the areas near the capital to serve as guards in the capital to assist the regular army. These guards spend about three quarters of their time farming and one quarter of their time training in combat every year.
By deploying troops in the countryside and implementing this system, the cost of supplies can be saved. If this system in the capital is successful, it can be copied and implemented in various places.[
The eight favors are to comprehensively implement the court's favors and integrity. If anyone in charge of the Yamen delays or violates the implementation of the pardon, he must be severely punished in accordance with the law. In addition, envoys must be dispatched to various areas to inspect the various favors that should be implemented.
Whether the government is implemented or not. In this way, there will be no obstacles to the emperor's favor.
The nine important orders are to take court orders seriously and issue them with caution. Laws are meant to convey trust to the people, but now they are changed soon after they are promulgated. For this reason, the court must discuss which orders can be implemented for a long time and delete complicated and redundant ones.
Articles, rulings, and decrees issued by the emperor and state laws were promulgated. In this way, the court's orders would not change frequently.
Ten are to reduce the corvee. Nowadays, the household registration has been reduced, but the private supply to the government has become more onerous. Counties with few household registrations should be reduced to towns, and the envoys of the various states and the state military agencies and the prefectural agencies should be merged into one agency;
For the chores that were sent out, some soldiers from the state and city could be assigned to do the chores, and all those who should not be doing public services could be returned to the countryside. In this way, the people would no longer have to worry about heavy troubles.
Zhao Zhen was dizzy after reading these ten articles. They were all things that he had been thinking about but could not find a good way to solve. Now that they were all included in this article, Zhao Zhen was extremely shocked.
"It's amazing, it's amazing. There is such a knowledgeable person among the students. I want to see who this is?"
Ouyang Xiu and others looked at each other in confusion. It was rare for Zhao Zhen to lose his composure like this, but he didn't know what was written on it, which made the emperor so excited.
Zhao Zhen opened the paper with his name on the test paper, and the four characters "Luzhou Su Jin" in the signature area came into view. Zhao Zhen put his palms in his hands and laughed and said: "Good boy, it is indeed him. My dear friends, follow me and listen to today's speech."
Kesu Huiyuan’s eloquent treatise is remarkable, really remarkable.”
All the ministers were astonished. The emperor usually kept his anger in check, but today he said four extraordinary things in a row. I wonder if there were any other shocking words in Su Jin's article.
Zhao Zhen stretched out his hand to summon the chamberlain and said: "Huang Peisheng, come and read this article to all the ministers and ministers. I and you all will enjoy the wonderful article together. In Su Jin's heart, what are the shortcomings of the Song Dynasty and what are the shortcomings of our country.
What needs to be changed?"
Huang Peisheng bowed and agreed, took the test paper, held it in his hand, and read it loudly; Zhao Zhen sighed slightly, leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes slightly, and quietly measured the reactions of the ministers.