Deng Su looked up from the mountain of paperwork, his eyes bloodshot.

"Lord Deng, Hebei is urging food and wages again, but ...... The military department is indeed out of food. ”

Liu Duan said with a 'yin' face, standing next to him in the household department Shangshu Kou Minzhong, Liu Heming in the Ministry of War, Zhang Ying and others in the Ministry of Works, Wang Wuguan in the Ministry of Officials, Cheng Ziyou in the Ministry of Rites, Wang Mengde in the Dibao Shilang, and other ministers will sit around Deng Su like the stars and the moon. Since Deng Su became prime minister, he has not shaken the position of Shangshu and other ministers, however, unconsciously, the ministers of the same party that he is close to and trusted have ascended to the high positions of the 'squire' Lang and other ministries. After dealing with Cao Gu's rebellion with a thunderous force, the Cao family in order to protect Cao Gu, actually broke off Cao Yun to blackmail the imperial court, and later, under the mediation of Lu Yunsun, the governor of the political affairs, Deng Su exempted Cao Gu from capital crimes, but imprisoned him in Ezhou. In addition, Wang Gui and other generals of the firearms battalion stationed in Ezhou were vigorously promoted, which also consolidated Ezhou's position a lot. However, because of the rebellion of the Cao family, the war in Hebei has been delayed, and the desire of the Song Dynasty to recover Youzhou this winter has been frustrated. The discussion was raging, and the imperial court was under great pressure because of this.

"Yangzhou, has the Hebei coupon of Yangzhou Zhengxin Hall been issued?"

"Not yet," said Kou Minzhong, the head of the household department, worriedly, "the market in Yangzhou has suddenly plummeted, and merchants are only willing to sell, not buy." ”

"Alas, it was all caused by the Kansai Imperial Court forcibly detaining our merchant ships in the southwest sea." He paused, didn't wait for Deng Su to ask, and said with a calm face, "The states and counties also insist on refusing to increase taxes, the Northern Expedition has been delayed for a long time, and the daily consumption of food and salary is 100,000 yuan, and there are quite a few ......complaints from the Ministry of Rites" Kou Minzhong shook his head and sighed, "The grain and grass warehouse in Bianliang is almost empty, and the cao boat is still waiting in Yangzhou. Lu Yunsun was a governor and a secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and his rank in Qingliu was much higher than that of Deng Su and others, but instead of persuading the prefecture and county, Kou Minzhong was reprimanded by Lu Yunsun.

"This matter originated from the Xia Kingdom's forcible requisition of our people's ships, which is like looting, which is tolerable or unbearable!" Liu Duan, the 'attendant' of the military department, said angrily, "Most of the Southwest Sea Division are my dignified people of the Great Song Dynasty, but they obeyed the orders of the Xia Imperial Court and forcibly requisitioned the civilian ships of our Great Song Dynasty with their backhands, which is like a rebellion. Liu Duan slapped the table, and Zhang Mulan, who was standing next to him, said with a 'pale' and 'gloomy' face, "At the critical time of the Northern Expedition, Xia Guo suddenly made such a move. ”

"Yes, now that I think about it, joining forces with Xia Guo to establish this water division is tantamount to seeking skin with a tiger."

Kou Minzhong sighed casually, which made Deng Su's mood even worse, and he didn't agree with it in his heart, and he was slandered.

No wonder this person went to persuade Lu Yunsun, but was reprimanded by Lu Yunsun. At the beginning, the Song State and the Xia State jointly established the Sailor Division, first, because of the rampant situation of the Great Eater Sea Bandits, and secondly, the Xia State was coerced, and the middle also involved the return of Xiangyang Bancheng, the release of Zhao Xingde and the re-emergence of the mountain, and so on. Now that time has passed, a minister in Kou Minzhong has come to talk about it again, not only to no avail, but to respond to the call for the dismissal of the water division in the middle of learning. Regardless of whether most of the officers and soldiers of the Southwest Sea Division were Song people, once the Song State really abolished the naval division, it would inevitably be taken over by the Xia State, and judging from the fierce situation of the coastal states and counties with the Great Eating Sea Kou as the disaster, if the Navy Division fell into the hands of Guanxi, if the Song State and others suffered from the enemy, the situation would be extremely bad.

"There are strong enemies outside, generals are domineering, and there are constraints inside, and the situation is really difficult at this time."

"Grain and grass are tight, and the military department and the household department can't be blamed entirely."

Liu Duan stood up and said to Deng Su and the ministers: "The Tokyo Left-behind Division has been unable to make progress since the recovery of Hezhong Mansion. ”

"The art of war has clouds, eat the enemy with one stone, and be my twenty stones. After the Liao army retreated to Youzhou, we originally planned to let the generals of the Northern Expedition collect some military supplies on the spot because of the food to the enemy, but not only did it not work, but instead took out the army's military rations to help a lot, and the front has been reporting to the back, but the burden of transportation has not only not been reduced, but has become heavier, alas! There was a lot of discussion outside, saying that Yue Fei and Zhang Xian and others would intend to follow Zhao Xingde's example and deliberately support the army in Hebei to gain self-respect, so they deliberately delayed the war. Now the two families in the north have Hedong, Zhao Xingde's old department forcibly occupies Hebei, plus the Yue family, the three towns in the north, any one of them has hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and Cao Han and Liu garrison the army, the situation is as bad as the time of the late Tang Dynasty. ”

"Hurry up and march into the army," Kou Minzhong asked, "Didn't the military department urge it?" ”

"Why didn't you rush?" Liu Duan spread his hands and said helplessly, "Three urgings and four invitations, Deng Xianggong's decree has been issued several times, but the Tokyo Left-behind Division is motionless." Not only Yue Fei, but also Cao Liangshi, who sat in Bianliang, did not think about the imperial court, and Yue Fei, who commanded the army, spoke in unison, only saying that the weather was cold and frozen, the river was dry, the most favorable Liao cavalry galloped, the army was on an expedition, and Hebei was hungry everywhere, and there was a lack of food everywhere, so he used heavy troops, and planned to drag it out until the 'spring' was warm, and then he would have enough grain and grass to recover Youzhou. As everyone knows, the world's wealth has been supplied to Bianliang, the military department and the household department, and the entire imperial court is bearing the pressure for them, I am not afraid of anything else, but I am afraid that this pressure will be one more point, and the war will drag on for a while, not only the military department and the household department, but the entire imperial court will be crushed. Is it true that money and bread have become out? Mo said that the increase in taxes, even the previous showdown to the states and counties, has caused great dissatisfaction. He sighed, Cao Di made a 'chaos', the progress of the Northern Expedition was slow, it was two things one after another, but together it hit the prestige of the imperial court hard, Liu Duan was the 'servant' of the military department who was promoted after Deng Sudeng's phase, so he was naturally worried.

"So," he said, shaking his head, sighed, "if you really want to go outside, you must first settle inside?" ”

Lord Liu said cautiously. Kou Min said in a deep voice, he looked at his colleagues left and right, and shook his head secretly in his heart.

These people are all ministers who were promoted by Deng Su after he took the throne, and they also prospered and lost both with Deng Su, and outsiders called them "small courts". However, Kou Minzhong's household secretary was elected by Xuezheng alone, and it was originally intended to check and balance power. Although Deng Su has a lot of respect for Kou Minzhong, Kou Minzhong occasionally feels a little uncomfortable in this "small court".

"Outside, the king's order is not subject to it, if you want to forcibly control it remotely, it is called a 'chaotic' army to win.!"

Kou Minzhong said in a deep voice, his attitude was completely different from that of several 'waiters' and langzhong.

Deng Su raised his eyes and glanced at him, then looked at the others, pondered for a moment, and said categorically: "In this case, the household department will discuss with Yangzhou Zhengxintang again, in order to raise food and salary, is there a way to use the fields in Hebei as collateral, and issue another 30 million Hebei coupons, and the military department will also discuss with the Tokyo Left-behind Division, please Yue Shuai march into the army as soon as possible," he sighed and said in a deep voice, "The matter of the Northern Expedition is outside, and when it comes to Annei, the matter of screening the students in various states and counties, the Di Bao Department and the Ministry of Rites must vigorously promote it at the moment." Deng Su glanced at Kou Minzhong, and didn't care that he was not considered "his own person", and said one more sentence, "The state scholars in the world recommend Xuezheng, the state pastor, and the school is promoting the prime minister and the household department, the so-called scholars and doctors and the Son of Heaven rule the world together, and fall to the roots, one is the Qing discussion, the other is the recommendation, and the backbone of the two is the state and county students, grasp the root, everything will be solved." ”

"Xia Guan understands." The Ministry of Rites Shilang Zhongcheng Ziyou, and the Di Bao Shilang Zhongwang Mengde said in unison.

Lieutenant Kou Min turned his gaze out the window. In the Ministry of Rites, in the states and counties, the influence even exceeded that of the Northern Expedition, Deng Su tried to use the method of screening the students to control the states and counties in various places, and then consolidate the authority of the imperial court, however, this move involved too many people and interests, and the bottom was more 'intertwined' with the struggle for power and profit within the states and counties. Kou Minzhong himself didn't think so, and as he was the head of the household, he didn't want to get involved in the whirlpool.

The verandah outside the window is tall with lanterns, shining on a few branches of cold plums swaying in the north, the snow on the plum 'flowers' is trembling, when Kou Min and others are going to the Prime Minister's Mansion to discuss matters, the sky has just begun to raise and fall fine sand like light snow, I don't know when, the courtyard and the street have been covered with snow, and when I look up, the world is plain white. The snow is extremely cold, the pedestrians in the streets and alleys of Ezhou are scarce, the vendors have also closed their stalls early, a sedan chair covered with a thick felt blanket hurriedly passed, the sedan chair man stopped the sedan chair outside the wall of a deep house compound, this is the second person of the Great Song Dynasty, the governor of the political affairs, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites Lu Yunsun Lu Xianggong in Ezhou's mansion.

The attendant handed the name card to the 'door', and soon a servant came out and brought the guest through the small 'door' on the east side.

There have been five or six people gathered in the study in the backyard of the Lu Mansion, these are all good literati and scholars who have 'befriended' with Lu Xianggong, and this time they made an appointment to come together, but they didn't know that they were 'chanting' poems against each other, but they had other arms. Outside is a heavy snowfall, but the study is as warm as 'spring', the charcoal fire of the copper stove is red, a middle-aged gentleman wiped his sweat, while sighing: "Lu Xianggong, it is a good thing for the imperial court to recover Hebei, but it is really unreasonable to give the fields of Hebei to the generals in the army, and even openly sell them in the Zhengxin Hall, you know, no matter Henan and Hebei, these fields are not ownerless." The Khitan invaded the Central Plains, and we, the northerners, did not want to be ministers of foreign races, and were loyal to the imperial court, so we abandoned our homeland and went into exile in the south. Isn't this just a robbery? What a difference between the imperial court's move and the Liao Kou who plundered into 'sex', it really chilled the hearts of northerners such as us! ”