The chamberlain took Su Jin and hurried to the outside of the imperial study room to report loudly. Zhao Zhen was pacing with his hands behind his hands. After hearing the report, he hurriedly ordered Su Jin to come to see him.
After saluting, Zhao Zhen pointed to the seat that had been arranged for Su Jin to sit down and talk. Huang Peisheng brought a tea tray and poured a cup of tea for Su Jin. Then he led the maids and chamberlains out of the room and closed it gently.
Zhao Zhen looked at Su Jin with a smile and said: "Su Aiqing, I can't express my gratitude in the main hall. This time you have done a lot of credit. Not only did you thwart the Liao people's conspiracy, but you also took the opportunity to let the two tigers fight and weaken the Liao people."
Their strength has greatly boosted the morale of our Song Dynasty, and I am really happy."
Su Jin hurriedly said: "Thanks to the Emperor Hongfu, how could it have such an effect without the strong support of the imperial court?"
Zhao Zhen sighed: "To be honest, when I received your request to go to the Xia Kingdom to command the Xia Army and the Liao Army, I was really worried about you. My approval was that you were not allowed to go, but the official who passed the order said so.
You have already set off for the frontline camp in Youzhou, which made me worried for a while; now it seems that you are full of confidence, and I was worried about you for nothing."
Su Jin secretly praised Zhao Zhen's method of winning over people. Zhao Zhen meant that he was worried about his own safety so he wouldn't let him go. However, the actual situation was that Zhao Zhen had no confidence in himself and was afraid that he would mess up the matter.
Su Jin did not criticize the situation and said with a smile: "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am very touched. However, if we fight against the Liao army with superior strength, wouldn't it be unjustifiable if we lose?"
Zhao Zhen laughed loudly and said: "That's right, I also figured it out later. We didn't lose the battle of Weizhou between 40,000 and 120,000 people. How could we lose this time? So I looked forward to it day and night, and finally looked forward to the Xia army."
I was so happy that I didn't sleep all night after hearing the news about the victory. I talked with Yan Xiangdu and others all night. I told them that there are successors to the Prime Ministers of the Song Dynasty. Given time, Su Aiqing will be able to shoulder the great responsibility alone and become one of my most capable Prime Ministers.
Sir, the reason why I asked you to take on the deputy positions of the Political Affairs Hall, the Privy Council, and the Third Department of Yamen this time is because I have selfish motives."
Su Jin said with a smile: "What do you think? Your Majesty wants me to have more experience and understand the affairs of each government office, so as to make up for my previous lack of knowledge and skills, right?"
Zhao Zhen laughed loudly and said: "You don't have knowledge or skills. You think too low of yourself. It's just that you need to learn government affairs, military affairs, and financial affairs. And it's not just official affairs, coordination between top and bottom, interpersonal dealings, etiquette and regulations.
You learn, you know your own shortcomings, but once you are a minister, you need to set an example for all officials, and every word and action affects people's hearts. Look at Prime Minister Lu and Prime Minister Yan, who is not mature and prudent, and his words and deeds are all practiced and calm.
That is an example for you to follow."
Su Jin smiled and said: "I understand. Thank you, Your Majesty, for reminding me. I do have a lot of problems."
Zhao Zhen said: "No one is perfect, even I have shortcomings."
Su Jin couldn't talk about this topic and served tea to drink.
"But I bear the responsibility of the country and cannot speak freely and make decisions as you do. Every decision I make will affect the joy and anger of millions of people in the Song Dynasty, so I have to be cautious. Maybe in the eyes of many people, I am a
I am an indecisive person, but who can know my difficulties." Zhao Zhen breathed a sigh of relief, his expression a little gloomy.
Su Jindao: "I understand. The emperor does not need to care about other people's opinions. I was a little impatient in the past and did not understand the emperor's difficulties. There were also many angry words in my words. The emperor tolerated the past, which makes me extremely grateful."
Zhao Zhen smiled and said: "I'm very happy that you can say that. It shows that you are getting older. It seems that you are different after you become an adult. You have a beard on your jaw and you are careful in doing things. As the old saying goes, you can't be fooled."
Su Jin chuckled. Deliberately repairing the relationship with Zhao Zhen may be a sign of his maturity. He would never have said such a thing before, especially after having several disputes with Zhao Zhen and the growing rift between them.
Under the circumstances, it is even more impossible for him to take the initiative to show his kindness; of course, he can only believe 30% of Zhao Zhen's words, but Su Jin would rather believe that Zhao Zhen is sincere, and being confused may be a sign of maturity.
"On the night of the Lantern Festival, you bring your whole family to the palace to enjoy the lanterns. The Queen Mother and the Queen want to meet your wives, concubines, and children. I haven't been with anyone to enjoy the lanterns on the Night of the Lantern Festival for a long time because I haven't been in the mood. It's been very difficult this year.
I'm in a better mood, so I naturally want to relax, but your words in the hall today made me quite anxious. I'm thinking that I might not be in the mood to enjoy the lanterns again this year."
"Your Majesty, are you talking about using troops against Liao to win over the Xia people?"
"Yes, tell me, what are the chances of winning against Liao with troops?"
Su Jin thought for a moment and said, "If it's less than half, I might lose."
"Then you still suggest using troops against the Liao people?" Zhao Zhen said with wide eyes.
Su Jindao: "Of course, Song and Liao will have a war sooner or later. It is better to fight late than to fight early. Of course, if you want to increase the chance of victory, you must completely crush it in terms of military and national strength. Victory with less can only happen by chance and cannot be forced. Generally speaking,
, it is only natural that the strong will win.”
Zhao Zhen frowned and said: "How can a complete crushing be achieved? The Song Dynasty's national strength has recovered, but the Liao people have been operating for a long time. Unlike the Song Dynasty, which has experienced several years of war against Xia, natural disasters also occur from time to time, and consumption
It's so powerful, if they hadn't lost more than 200,000 horses this time, it would be really difficult to determine who is stronger and who is weaker."
Su Jin smiled and said: "The emperor is right, so if we want to win the war with the Liao people, the first thing we need is to speed up the strengthening of our strength. If we continue to develop slowly, we are developing, and the Liao people are also recovering. They will exceed three to five
Over the years, the Liao people have become even more difficult to deal with."
Zhao Zhen sighed: "It's easier said than done. It's easier said than done."
Su Jin said: "Your Majesty, please don't blame me for bringing up old matters again. Originally, the New Deal was an opportunity, but unfortunately it was taken too hastily and ended in failure. If it had been implemented slowly, the situation would have been very different now."
Zhao Zhen's expression changed slightly, he looked at Su Jin and said, "I cannot give up more important things for the sake of the New Deal. You don't need to argue on this point."
Su Jindao: "I am not trying to excuse this matter. What I mean is that if we want to develop rapidly, we still need to take extraordinary measures."
"You mean to reopen the New Deal?" Zhao Zhen was surprised.
Su Jin shook his head and said: "A good horse never turns back. The New Deal is already a thing of the past, so why bother mentioning it again."
"Then do you have any good ideas?"
Su Jin thought for a while and said: "The emperor should take the time to go on a tour of the Northwest Fourth Road to see what my achievements are in the northwest. Accompanying me is Mr. Li Zhong, the chief warehouse officer of the Northwest Fourth Road. Where does he have some specific figures?
If the emperor can summon him to listen to his testimony, he will know the general situation of the northwest four roads now."
Zhao Zhendao: "I know the situation of the Northwest Fourth Road. The Third Division has made statistics. Compared with the second year of Qingli, the number of people in the Northwest Fourth Road has increased from 120,000 to 190,000, with an increase of 500,000 people. The cultivated land has increased from 2
The increase from 100,000 hectares to 500,000 hectares is indeed a rapid development. It has only been five years. I often say that Su Aiqing is a versatile person and a good hand in both military and political affairs."
Su Jin smiled and said: "Your Majesty is full of praise, but Your Majesty has not yet said what makes me most proud. That is the business on the Northwest Fourth Road. There are 190,000 households, and nearly 40,000 households have been separated from the land to do business. This way we can
Allowing other people to have a large amount of land for cultivation, with an average household size of 30 acres, most of which are paddy fields. The fields near Qinzhou are dug with ditches to divert water from the Long River for irrigation, which has become like the north of the Great Wall and the south of the Yangtze River. In the past, it was said that the northwest produced a large amount of rice.
, Who can believe it? Businessmen make more profits. The Pearl City, Qinzhou, Yanzhou and other places have become huge distribution centers for goods. In the past, who said that the northwest was a battleground for merchants? Who could believe it? The four northwest areas
The road's tax revenue has already been more than self-sufficient. This time to aid Xia in the fight against Liao Dynasty, part of the military supplies were paid by the ministers from the finance and taxation of the Northwest Fourth Road. Next year, the Northwest Fourth Road will provide more tax revenue to the court. This is a change.
The results it brings.”
Zhao Zhen said excitedly: "It has such a miraculous effect? What method did you use?"
Su Jindao: "I have explored a method, and the trial in the northwest has been very successful. I plan to ask the emperor for permission to promote it throughout the country. I dare to say that within two years, the Song Dynasty will have a new look.
By then we can fight against the Liao people."
Zhao Zhen said: "Please tell me in detail."
Su Jin then explained his ideas and steps for operating in the northwest to Zhao Zhen in detail, and new terms kept popping up in his mouth, such as 'special economic zone', 'radiating from one point', 'no business can lead to wealth'
If you want to get rich, you must first build roads and "cultivate farmland for private land" and so on. Zhao Zhen was confused and found it very novel. The most important thing is that none of the things Su Jin proposed related to government affairs and did not affect the inherent policies.
There was basically no contact, which reassured Zhao Zhen. What Zhao Zhen was most afraid of was that Su Jin's method would touch the interests of officials and arouse opposition from everyone. Now it seems that Su Jin has carefully circumvented this point.
Su Jin talked for nearly an hour, and Zhao Zhen listened with great interest, and finally decided to summon Li Chong to talk about the matter, because the specific implementation was Li Chong's business, and Su Jin just copied some development models of later generations to tell Li Chong that Li Chong was the real practice.
In a sense, Li Chong is an expert, and Su Jin is just a theory seller.
After saying goodbye and leaving the palace, Su Jin breathed a long sigh of relief. All of this was his careful design, from the analysis of the current situation in the main hall to the shocking proposal to fight the Liao people. It was just to make this move, and the success of Northwest China was confirmed.
The dream in Su Jin's heart is that he will not carry out changes from top to bottom like Fan Zhongyan and others, which has been proven to be a failure. He will start from a perspective that does not touch interest groups and carry out economic and cultural changes.
On the contrary, it is a safe and effective method. Perhaps such a change is not thorough, but Su Jin's goal is just to make the lives of the people of the Song Dynasty better and to open up the people's wisdom a little, so that they will not live a life of confusion like ants. This is enough.