After drinking a few glasses of wine, I talked about everyone's experience in the past few years, and I was quite emotional. Du Zhongxiao's exploits have been heard a lot by everyone, and many of them are cited as examples. In the second year of Qingli, in more than ten years, Du Zhongxiao has achieved the middle of the imperial history, and Wang Qi has become a bachelor of Hanlin, which is also rare.

Wang Anshi, as the judge of the herdsmen, raised a glass to Du Zhongxiao: "When I was in Suizhou, I felt that it was rare to wait for Xiao to raise all the way to Changping and build a camp and field affairs, so that there was no shortage of money on the road. I don't want to make great achievements in the north in a few years. Expanding the winding roads of the river and pacifying the Western Regions, is this an ordinary thing? In particular, the pacification of the Western Regions is a great cause of the Han and Tang dynasties, and it is really not easy. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "It's also an opportunity, it's just the right time." Without the foundation of the Han and Tang Dynasties, the Western Regions would not be so easy to pacify. Although it has been cut off from the Central Plains for hundreds of years, the Western Regions have been their homeland after all, and everything is still easy when the soldiers and horses arrive. ”

Everyone laughed together, saying that Du Zhongxiao was modest, drank a glass of wine together, and asked about the story of Du Zhongxiao's pacification of the Western Regions.

Du Zhongxiao said: "Actually, it's not that I'm modest, but it's really so." Now we are different from the Han and Tang dynasties, with the construction of railways, it is not so difficult for the army to reach the Western Regions. The army had musket artillery, which other armies were not familiar with. The army entered the Western Regions, and Gaochang was defeated without fighting a decent battle. The Black Khan concentrated his army to fight, and when he lost the first battle and the whole army was annihilated, he no longer had the ability to fight. We occupy Khotan, and to put it mildly, we run and walk with songs. At this time, as long as you don't have problems, there is no one around you who can match the imperial court. ”

Wang Qi said: "According to what Xiao said, there is no problem for the imperial court to use troops against the party?" ”

Du Zhongxiao thought for a while and said, "It is said that there should be no problem. As long as I am strong and the enemy is short, what will the party use to block it? However, if you march to fight, you have an absolute advantage, and accidents may still occur. In the first battle against the party, the most important thing is for the divisions to strictly abide by their duties and fight steadily. ”

Wang Jue shook his head: "It's not a secret, when the imperial court discussed the use of troops against the party, it didn't go so smoothly, and many ministers opposed it. thinks that although he leads his troops to win consecutive battles, others may not have this ability. More than ten years ago, the imperial court fought against the party, and there were many defeats and few victories. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "This time and that time, it is not the same day. Now the army of the imperial court, as long as it has really practiced in the military academy and acted cautiously in battle, it will not fail. Of course, there are always accidents in everything, but accidents must not hinder the court's plans. ”

These civil officials, for the changes in the imperial court in the past few years, except for the use of muskets and artillery instead of bows and crossbows, do not know much about other things. I happened to have an opportunity today, so I asked Du Zhongxiao about the changes in the army now.

Du Zhongxiao introduced the current situation in the army and said: "The biggest change in the current army of the imperial court is the use of guns and cannons, and the other is that the command system has changed. For many officers, many saw the changes brought about by the guns just by looking at them. But I don't have to think about it, I don't understand what I should do in the face of these changes. As a result, they are using the old methods and managing the new army, and many things are not adaptable. ”

Su Song said: "After the whole army is reorganized, the old officers are used as new officers, of course. ”

Du Zhongxiao sighed: "This is something that can't be helped, the old army is there, and we can't do without them." In the past few years, many of the Xiang army have been changed from the forbidden army, and those who don't want to join the army to fight have already left, and the rest of the people are in control of the army. It will take more than a dozen years for military schools to maintain a high level of quality, so that the old ones can be slowly replaced by new ones. It's a long time, and it doesn't happen overnight. ”

In fact, it is not so slow to really do it, but there is no control group in this era, no matter what, as long as the Song army advances, it is the most advanced. In this situation, it is easy to repeat and be unclear.

Speaking of the army, everyone discussed that Du Zhongxiao led the army north a few years ago, and even made meritorious contributions, all of which were full of admiration.

Han Zongyan said: "In those days, if Waiting for Xiao to lead the army south, with Di Taiwei Pingnong Zhigao, there would definitely be no great achievements today. can only complain that the Khitan was dizzy, and even took advantage of the victory to take Tanglong Town, and let the army of Xiao Shuai go north and make military achievements. ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "This is the bad luck of the Khitan, after the defeat of Yelu Chongyuan, its lord led a large army to attack Tanglong Town. As a result, the garrison was too close, and Yao Shouxin commanded the artillery, and a round of artillery was dropped. Without the sudden death of the Khitan lord, the Khitan would not have stood side by side. ”

When he said this, the crowd laughed. Su Song said: "Speaking of which, the two Khitan emperors stood side by side, and they have been tossed for three or four years, and they have not yet decided the winner. It is precisely because of this that the imperial court has been tossing hard in recent years, and it is not afraid of foreign enemies. ”

Wang Anshi said: "What other foreign enemies can there be?" When Xiao is on Hequ Road, he will defeat the Khitan first, and then defeat the party, all of them are big battles, where do they dare to fight with us? Without those few big victories, where would the imperial court dare to toss! ”

That's the fundamental. Du Zhongxiao defeated the Khitan first, and then defeated the party, which had too much impact on them. In the next few years, no matter how much the Song Dynasty tossed in the country, these two countries had no desire to fight. After more than three years of integration, the Song Dynasty's national strength improved, the system slowly stabilized, and began to attack the outside world. Without those few big victories, the Song Dynasty would not have such a good external environment for large-scale internal reforms.

Du Zhongxiao and a few people have not seen each other for many years, and they were still a little restrained at the beginning, but after drinking a few glasses of wine, they slowly became familiar and chatted.

Wang Anshi said: "Since I waited for Xiao to camp on Jingxi Road, he built an iron supervisor, built a shopping mall, and built a camp field. In the past few years, various roads have learned and built one after another, and the imperial court has increased its income a lot. After several battles in the Northland, and the railway was repaired to the Western Regions, where did the money come from? It's all from these things. In recent years, the income of the imperial court has been several times that of before, which is extremely generous. Only when you have money in your hands can you fight against the party. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "These things are extremely expensive, it has been nearly ten years, and the income has only increased several times, in fact, it is not much." Although the number of troops now is not more than that of the previous forbidden army, the army spends more money, and the burden is still not small. ”

Wang Anshi said: "Even if the money spent in the army has doubled, there is still a lot of money left in the hands of the imperial court. In the past, when we were officials, we often folded and changed. has its own shopping mall, and the goods are sold in it, and there has been no change in the past two years. As far as I know, even so, the imperial court still has money in its hands now. ”

Wang Qi said: "That's right, that's exactly the case now." Because he had money in his hands, he intended to reform the official system and increase the number of people. It's just that the ministers are talking a lot, and they can't decide which manpower to increase, so they drag it down. ”

Wang Anshi said: "Actually, what's so difficult about this matter? Where the increased income in recent years comes from, it is natural that there should be more officials. For example, factories such as the Iron Supervisor actually make a lot of money every year, but they are only under the longitude of the magistrate. If the imperial court has spare capacity, it should set up a special official to take charge of this matter. ”

Wang Qi smiled: "Where is it so easy in the world? People who make money are not necessarily people who want to spend money. ”

Han Zongyan on the side shook his head again and again: "This is the wrong place in the imperial court, people who make a lot of money should make more money." If you can't persuade, how can others do their best? In recent years, most of the money that the imperial court has increased has come from industry and commerce, and there should be more officials on it. ”

Han Zongyan is Han Zhang's nephew, who is also a Jinshi in the second year of Qingli, and is now sentenced to Yantie Gouyuan. The factories of the world, all large, are nominally subordinate to the Salt and Iron Division, but most of them are run by magistrates. From the standpoint of the Shiotetsu Division, Han Zongyan wanted to increase the management of the factory.

Du Zhongxiao said: "This is a big deal, and it should be unified by Zai Zhi to draw up a strategy." To reform the bureaucratic system, what should be changed and what kind of goal should be achieved? Then it will be discussed by hundreds of officials to form a unified system. There is no strategy, I don't know what the direction is, how to change the official system? ”

Wang Qi said: "What you say makes sense. However, the official system is nothing more than passed down from generation to generation, and it is difficult to determine the advantages and disadvantages of each one. ”

Wang Anshi said: "This is not true. The reason why we want to change the official system now is because this time is different from the ancient times. The money in the hands of the imperial court is not from the taxes collected by the people, but from the field affairs done by the imperial court to make money. This has never been done before, how can we refer to the ancient system? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "What Jiefu said makes sense. Now that the court is well-off, the money comes from field affairs, not from taxes. The key to the restructuring is how to do the field affairs better, so that the court can make more money and the people will be convenient. These were not available in ancient times, and the ancient system of previous dynasties was of little use. ”

When Wang Anshi was appointed as a general judge in Shuzhou, he relied on Du Zhongxiao's actions on Jingxi Road to build a shopping mall and a field business, and he knew a lot about this. These government-run field affairs, if done well, are very profitable. The reform of the imperial court should be centered on these, rather than random changes.

For the officials of this era, of course, the reform must have a foundation, and it is best to have a reference. Its blueprint, of course, is the ancient system, plus its own play. Sorting out a set of systems in full accordance with freshman affairs is what Du Zhongxiao did, and the current officials can't.

Wang Qi was a scholar of Hanlin and was very clear about these controversies in the imperial court. However, he was born in a noble courtier, and he is not familiar with specific government affairs, so he can only say what others say and repeat what he says. I don't have my own idea of how to change it.

Su Song said: "Judging from my experience in Baiting Supervisor and Xiangzhou, this is indeed the case now. An iron prison, now the scale is very large. Just like the Baiting Prison, there are now nearly 100,000 households, densely populated, and it is no longer something that the original yamen can manage. The current method is to use a large number of officials in the factories, and there are very few officials. This is only an expedient measure, not a long-term solution, otherwise the imperial court will not be able to control it. ”

Baitingjian was the first place to build a railway supervisor, and now it has become the industrial center of the Song Dynasty, with large and small factories concentrated on both sides of the railway. However, the current imperial court does not have a deep understanding of the factory, and the management there is very careless.