. After Wanyan Changzhi received the envoy's return, he couldn't help laughing, and handed over the agreement brought back by the envoy on renegotiating peace to Wanyan Fushou, Wanyan Chen Monk and Zhang Hu to look at it, and said: "Father-in-law, Monk Chen, Boyi, what do you think Zhao Chen of the Southern Song Dynasty intends to do. ”

Now there are a total of seven ruling ministers in the Dajin Imperial Court, but the three of them are the most trusted by Wanyan Changzhi. Monk Wanyan Chen and Wanyan Chang have the same flesh and blood, so they are naturally loyal to him, and although Wanyan Fushou is only Wanyan Changzhi's father-in-law, he has no other children except for Wanyan Ruixian's daughter, so he also regards Wanyan Changzhi as a parent. Although Zhang Hu has no relatives and no reason with Wan Yan Changzhi, he is the former minister who originally took refuge in Wan Yan Changzhi, and has always been regarded as Wan Yan Changzhi's right-hand man, so although he is young and his qualifications are still shallow, he is also deeply trusted by Wan Yan Changzhi. When several people met in private, the capital of Wanyan Changzhi still called them according to their previous titles, rather than by the names of monarchs and ministers.

After listening to Yan Changzhi's words, neither Wanyan Fushou nor Wanyan Chen Monk spoke, but Zhang Hu smiled and said: "Your Majesty is smart and wise, how can you not understand Zhao Chen's intentions, but you just want to use the peace talks to delay time, so that the Southern Song Dynasty can restore its national strength and stabilize the situation in Western Xia." And my Dajin can just take the plan into account, use the peace talks as an excuse, stabilize the Southern Song Dynasty, defeat the Mongols first, and only the Southern Song Dynasty is left, so there is no need to worry. ”

Wanyan Changzhi nodded and said: "Bo Yi's words, as I thought, then we might as well talk to the Southern Song Dynasty and the snake, and talk about the Mongolian Tartars first." ”

Wanyan Fushou said: "Although this is the case, it is necessary to guard against the Southern Song Dynasty, and Nanjing and Shandong cannot be despised either, and there must be a powerful general in charge." ”

Wan Yan Changzhi said: "This is the reason why I recruited Monk Chen back to Zhongdu, tomorrow I will issue an order, crown Chen Heyi as the king of Sui, lead the Taishang book to save trouble, and control Jingzhao Mansion, Nanjing, and Shandong." Everything can be done cheaply on your own, first cut and then Qin. ”

Wanyan Fushou, Wanyan Chen Monk and Zhang Hu couldn't help but be taken aback, they thought that the recruitment of Wanyan Chen Monk back to Zhongzhong wanted him to take command of the expedition to Mongolia, but they didn't expect to make him "lead Taishang Shu to save trouble".

"Xingtai Shangshu Province" is a local institution established in the era of Jin Xizong. In November of the fifteenth year of Tianhui (37 years), Jin Xizong issued an edict to abolish Liu Yu, the puppet king of Qi, and rebuilt the puppet Qi into Xingtai Shangshu Province, which was located in Kaifeng Mansion in Nanjing, and also served as an official of the six ministries. It is similar to the Shangshu Province established in the Central Capital, and the official setting is not much different, which is actually equivalent to the establishment of another Shangshu Provincial Organization in Nanjing, but it is only one size smaller than the Central Capital. Later, Wan Yanliang thought that the power of "Xingtai Shangshu Province" was too great, and this institution was abolished.

And Wanyan Changzhi re-established the "Xingtai Shangshu Province" and appointed Wanyan Chen Monk as the "Leader of the Taishang Shu Province", which is equivalent to handing over the military, political and financial powers of Jingzhao Mansion, Nanjing, and Shandong to Wanyan Chen Monk. In other words, that is, the monk Wanyan Chen is basically equivalent to occupying Jingzhao Mansion, Nanjing, and Shandong Four Roads independently. And this kind of appointment means that Wanyan Changzhi will personally lead the army to conquer Mongolia.

Sure enough, Wan Yan Changzhi continued: "Looking at my Dajin generals, only I and Monk Chen can compete with Yang Yan, and I will hand over all the power of the southern front to Monk Chen alone, so that he can be free from any fetters and confront the Southern Song Dynasty wholeheartedly, so that I can lead the troops with confidence and go to conquer the Mongolian Tartars." ”

Monk Wanyan Chen was also very excited, although he and Wanyan Changzhi were in the same flesh and blood, but he didn't expect Wanyan Changzhi to be so relieved of himself, almost equivalent to handing over the safety of half of the Jin Kingdom to himself, and couldn't help but say: "Your Majesty, rest assured, Monk Chen should do his best to keep the safety of the southern border of Dajin." ”

Wanyan Fushou said: "Changzhi, you have just ascended to the throne, and now the foundation is still unstable, so I am afraid that it is inappropriate to lead the troops out of the army like this." What's more, you are now the emperor of Dajin, everything must be from the overall situation, and the matter of marching and going on the expedition should still be left to the ministers to do. ”

Wanyan Changzhi shook his head and said: "Father-in-law, I don't know what you said, but after the defeat of Western Xia, my Dajin has suffered a great loss in national strength, and this expedition to Mongolia is not only difficult to mobilize a large army, but also cannot be delayed for too long, and only can be won but not defeated." Monk Chen wants to sit in the south, and neither Fusan Zhongyi nor Fushi Lie Zhining are Temujin's opponents, and there is no one else who can do it except me. Therefore, knowing that it is inappropriate, it has to be so. ”

Wanyan Fushou listened to it and had nothing to say. He knew that Wan Yan Changzhi's words were also true. Although Dajin's defeat in Western Xia this time is not a big injury to his vitality, it is also a big loss. Moreover, it is now in the middle of the north-south attack of the Southern Song Dynasty and Mongolia, and it is extremely passive at the strategic level. Due to the tremendous pressure and containment of the Southern Song Dynasty in the south, this expedition was full of difficulties, not only in terms of troops, but also had to be quickly resolved.

Wan Yan Changzhi said again: "This time, I will lead the army to the expedition, and I will also bring Fusan Zhongyi and Sushi Lie Zhining, and I will return to the army in May at most, and at least in March." During this period of time, with my father-in-law supervising the country on my behalf, Bo Yi complementing him, and my uncle helping me, I will also leave Pu Atong and Shi Dingyue to guard the military horses, I believe that others will not be able to make any big waves, and there is still Monk Chen in the south, once there is a change, he can immediately send troops into the central capital to support, it should be foolproof, and I can also rest assured that I can go on the expedition. ”

Wanyan Fushou also felt that such an arrangement was very thorough, so he didn't say anything more.

At this time, Zhang Hu said: "Your Majesty, please forgive the minister, even if we can defeat Mongolia this time, it is only a temporary relief of the urgent need, and it still can't change the situation of my Dajin attacking from the north and south." Moreover, the Southern Song Dynasty has already collected the entire territory of Western Xia, and over time, the country will inevitably increase greatly, even if there is no Mongolian help, my Dajin may be difficult to resist, so the minister has a word, although it is not about this conquest of Mongolia, but it is related to the rise and fall of my Dajin, I don't know whether to say it. ”

Wan Yan Changzhi smiled and said: "Bo Yi, I invited the three of you to the palace, although it is to discuss the conquest of Western Xia, but it is by no means limited to this, everything related to my Dajin Xing and Mourning, you might as well speak out, there is no need to have any taboos." ”

Zhang Hu nodded, and arched his hand to Wanyan Fushou and Wanyan Chen Monk, and said: "Your Majesty, Taishi, Privy Secret, my Dajin land is vast, and there are many more than the Southern Song Dynasty, and the resident population, cultivated land, and acres of land, are not less than the Southern Song Dynasty, but the annual income is less than half of the Southern Song Dynasty, I don't know if Your Majesty and the two have thought about it, why is this?" ”

This question really stopped Wanyan Changzhi, Wanyan Fushou and Wanyan Chen monks. The annual annual endowment of the Southern Song Dynasty was split into copper coins, generally more than 40 million guan, and since Zhao Chen implemented the new law, the annual endowment in the past two years has exceeded 50 million guan. However, Daikin's annual annual income is only about 20 million guan, and at most, it does not exceed 25 million guan. The reason why Dajin was able to survive was entirely because the number of officials and the number of officials were far lower than those of the Southern Song Dynasty.

However, judging from the comparison of the land area, the amount of arable land and the population of the two countries, there should really not be such a big difference. Now that Zhang Hu has raised this question, it is indeed thought-provoking. At the same time, Wan Yan Changzhi also thought that once Dajin's tax revenue reached about the same level as that of the Southern Song Dynasty, Dajin would be so rich, and at that time there would be enough financial and material resources to support the two-front war, and the Song and Mongolia would not be afraid to join forces.

Therefore, Yan Changzhi immediately said: "Bo Yi asked reasonably, but I can't answer, so I ask Bo Yi to teach me." ”

Zhang Hu said: "Back to Your Majesty, the reason is that the tax system is unfair, the families of high-ranking officials and nobles often occupy tens of millions of acres of land, but they do not have to pay a cent of taxes from the imperial court, the vast majority of my Dajin's annual endowment is borne by ordinary ordinary people, their families are only a few dozen acres of land, and some families even have no land, but still produce taxes and deposits, so my Dajin's annual endowment is not only far less than that of the Southern Song Dynasty, but also easy to make ordinary people overburdened, forced to resist the government. ”

After listening to him, Wan Yan Changzhi also changed color slightly, and said, "There is such a thing?" "He was born in the army, and he is not very proficient in these tax and financial affairs, if it weren't for Zhang Hu's words, I'm afraid I still don't understand.

At this time, Wanyan Fushou also nodded on the side, and said with a wry smile: "Changzhi, what Bo Yi said is not bad at all." Not to mention others, even my family has more than 100,000 acres of land, and in the past ten years, I don't have to pay a penny of taxes to the imperial court. ”

Zhang Hu continued: "The only way to do this is to learn from the Southern Song Dynasty's reform of the law, and to pay taxes and servants according to the number of acres of land, so that there will be more prolific people, less proletarians, and no proletarians, so that not only can increase the annual tax of the imperial court, but also show the heart of the imperial court to serve the people fairly." Make my Dajin treasury rich, and the wealth of the country will make the army self-reliant, even if Song and Mongolia join forces, there is no need to be afraid. ”

After Yan Changzhi listened, he was also silent. Wanyan Fushou said: "Changzhi, what Boyi said is not bad at all, my Dajin's tax system is definitely going to be changed." It's just that this change is too big and involves too much of a problem to be implemented lightly. ”

Wan Yan Changzhi nodded, he is also a smart person, he can understand it at all, changing the law has always been a very difficult thing, once the annual tax reform is proposed, I am afraid that those Da Hao nobles who have a large amount of land will oppose it. When the Southern Song Dynasty proposed to change the law, he also had the mentality of watching jokes. Nowadays, although the reform of the Southern Song Dynasty has achieved initial results, it does not know how many demolitions have been undertaken.

Thinking of this, Wan Yan Changzhi then spoke: "Bo Yi, this matter is only known to the four of us, you first discuss a preliminary change with my father-in-law, and then discuss it in detail after I return to the army." ”