Zhao Zhen's mood was extremely urgent, and the three people who were summoned that day did not express their position, and then the next night they summoned three people to put forward reform measures in person, bent on carrying out reforms.

The three of them couldn't resist Zhao Zhen's urging, so they had to write their thoughts into an edict to Chen, and Zhao Zhen asked how to carry out the change, but this time the opinions of the three of them were different.

Fu Bi and Han Qi both said that they should not rush to change, and that they should wait for the opportunity or choose one or two to try before they can be carried out, such an answer certainly could not satisfy Zhao Zhen, while Fan Zhongyan put forward a shocking suggestion after a long silence.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the change of the law is really not suitable for rushing, the minister has already heard of it, there are discussions about the change of the law inside and outside the court, there are few officials in favor and many against, if the emperor is determined to change the law immediately, the minister has to put forward conditions, otherwise the change will fail." Fan Zhongyan said quietly.

Zhao Zhen said: "Say, I just want you to tell the truth, if there is any difficulty, just say, I will be the master for you." ”

Fan Zhongyan took a breath and said slowly: "If the name is not right, it is not good, the minister thinks that if we want to lead the change, we must first be given the rights, Lord Han Qi and I are privy deputy envoys, and we can't interfere in government affairs, and the emperor needs to adjust my position." ”

Zhao Zhen said: "I have already thought about this, and I plan to appoint you two as the Privy Councillor and the Privy Council, so that you will all have a name in the Privy Council." ”

Fan Zhongyan said: "Thank you, Your Majesty, the minister does not want an official position, the minister is very clear about being a person, and he is really a matter of facts; In addition, the minister thinks that the matter of change is related to the overall situation, and once the road of no turning back is started, the minister asks the emperor to resist the gossip, if the emperor has a dislike for us, the change will fail. ”

Zhao Zhen smiled: "This is natural, how can I doubt the candidate I proposed?" There is no suspicion in employing people, as long as you work hard, I will definitely be your backing. ”

Fan Zhongyan nodded in thanks, and said: "The last point, the minister wants to start with the redundant official matter, if you want to change, you will first change the most painful place, the people involved in this move are all officials, it is the most resisted place, this can be successfully changed, then everything else is easy, this move is not successful, and the rest do not need to be implemented again." ”

Zhao Zhen frowned and said: "That day, I talked about his ten disadvantages in Su Jin, he said that it should be subtle from easy to difficult, your idea is strange, it is difficult first and then easy, but I believe in you more, I respect your opinion, I will give you a new appointment after the year, and several of the edicts played may be polished and considered, I am scheduled to show the world in February after the third year of Qingli, and make changes, during which you can consider and report to me in detail." ”

……

In the Qinzhou Post House, Su Jin frowned and listened to the words of Fu Bi, Han Qi and others, and was silent for a long time.

Fu Bi said: "Master Su, I came here to hear your opinion, after all, the ten disadvantages of the strategy were the first to be mentioned by you, and because of your ten disadvantages of the strategy, the emperor has the heart of change, and now I am ordered to act, but I always feel ...... I always feel that I have no bottom in my heart. ”

Su Jin looked up at everyone: "Ladies and gentlemen, I know the purpose of your trip, you look up to me Su Jin, and you want Su Jin to come forward to help you, but...... With all due respect, this should be done cautiously, and it is not child's play. ”

Han Qi said: "Lord Su, a few of us really want to ask you for help, the words of the new minister of the DPRK and the central government are quite weighty, and the emperor's determination to reform my Great Song Dynasty is a good thing, doesn't Lord Su think this is a good thing?" So is it against your heart that you wrote about the ten evils of the policy? ”

Su Jin said with a smile: "Of course it's not against my will, I just think you can't be in a hurry, as far as I know, the original policy was full of criticism, Lu Xiangdu, Shumi and others all complained about it, saying that I was alarmist, and even Yan Sansi reprimanded me for talking nonsense; The emperor later summoned me and asked me where to start, and I replied that it must be easy first and then difficult, starting from the irrelevant points, and advancing subtly and step by step. ”

Ouyang Xiu said softly: "I won't tell you, Lord Fan has already taken this into account, so in order to deal with such a situation, Lord Fan suggested that the emperor expand the establishment of speech officials, transfer a number of counselors Lord Bao and I to sit in the Imperial History Tower, and Yu Jing, Wang Su and Cai Xiang are all appointed as counselors, and when the new law is promulgated and implemented next year, the speech officials can be launched at the same time, starting with the Privy Council of the Government Council, and those who oppose it need to be cleared out, and a few important ministers will be overthrown, and the world will be peaceful, and the new law can be implemented smoothly." ”

Su Jin broke out in a cold sweat behind his spine, and looked at Bao Zheng to ask Bao Zheng with his eyes if there was anything wrong, and Bao Zheng nodded slightly, which was confirmed.

Su Jin slowly got up and paced, and said slowly: "Ladies and gentlemen, listen to me, this move is absolutely not feasible, such behavior is irrational, in the final analysis, the matter of changing the law is for the sake of the Great Song Dynasty, and in order to change the law, the Great Song Dynasty ministers will be moved, this move is a move to shake the foundation, it must not be done, and it is very likely to cause bloodshed." In addition, have you ever thought about it, in order to change the law and bring down the people who oppose the change, this move seems to be suspected of the same party and fighting against differences, although several adults are above board, completely for the sake of the Great Song Dynasty, but there are definitely people who will make a fuss about this matter, the emperor will inevitably not be affected, once the emperor also thinks so, what the consequences are I don't need to say. ”

Everyone looked at each other, Su Jin thought too much, how could the change proposed by the emperor himself change? Could it be that the emperor will go back on his word?

"Master Su, your worries are purely superfluous, although friends are the most taboo thing in this dynasty, but we are all bright and upright people, and the emperor is also a great monarch of all ages, how can you see clearly? Lord Su is an official, the bolder he is, the smaller he is, which is beyond our expectations. Fu Bi said angrily, he originally thought that Su Jin would definitely agree, for the sake of this change, he even tore his face with Yan Shu, but he didn't expect to turn his face with Su Jin again because of this.

Su Jin smiled and said: "Rich brother, am I a cowardly person who is afraid of things in the world, the reason why I am like this is to ask you to think twice, if you don't want to come up with a workaround this time, and proceed slowly, the result will definitely be a failure, all I can do is to give you a piece of advice, either slow down, or no, don't rush forward; No matter what you think of me, time will tell that my considerations are not superfluous. ”

Han Qi got up and brushed his sleeves and said, "I said that I wouldn't talk to our champion Lang in the northwest about this matter, and a few of us are still afraid that we won't be able to implement the law change?" Look at it, this is what you call the resourceful and righteous Lord Su Jinsu, our trip is in vain. ”

Ouyang Xiu and Fu Bi both looked embarrassed, it seemed that the two of them must have come to pull themselves in, obviously their status in the minds of the two of them was still extremely important, this time it broke their hearts.

Su Jin was not angry, the words had been said very clearly, it was not that Su Jin was not a friend enough, it was stupid to jump down knowing that it was a quagmire, Su Jin knew that the Qingli reform ended in failure, he never knew what caused the final failure, and now it seems that this failure is almost inevitable, because Fan Zhongyan Han Qi and others actually did not hesitate to organize officials to impeach officials who opposed the change in order to change the law, which is a heavy pressure strategy of white terror; Some things need to be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the greater the pressure, the greater the backlash, and it is conceivable that once the change begins, the game between the two sides will be a life-and-death battle, which is by no means equivalent to a battlefield of swords and swords.

Su Jin really wanted to tell them that history proves that you are bound to fail, so it's better not to mess around, but how can such words be spoken, he can only give his opinions vaguely, hoping that a few people can understand what they mean and stop in time.

"Then Lord Su decided not to help me wait?" Ouyang Xiu asked with a sigh.

Su Jin shook his head and said: "It's not that I don't want to help, but I can't do anything about this matter, I still advise you to think twice, no matter what, I, Su Jin, will repay the kindness of several adults, but not today, not this matter." ”

"That's it! Master Su, please go back, I didn't come in vain for this trip, and I finally saw you clearly! Han Qi's hot temper couldn't hold back, he didn't want to see Su Jin, he didn't expect this person to be such a timid and afraid person.

Su Jin sighed and got up and said goodbye: "Tomorrow, your lords will return to Beijing, and the lower officials will set up a pavilion outside the city to prepare wine and send it off." ”

Han Qi sneered: "Don't dare to be, don't come tomorrow Master Su, beware of being falsely accused of being a friend of us and being implicated in the future." ”

Su Jin was speechless, and went out with his hands, none of the officials sent each other, only Bao Zheng, who did not say a word from beginning to end, sent Su Jin out of the gate of the pavilion.

Su Jin stood on the cold street, looked at the starry sky, and said softly: "Master Bao, you are my mentor, you won't blame me." ”

Bao Zheng exhaled a long breath and said: "I understand your thoughts, in fact, everyone is not sure about this change, if it weren't for this, how could they come here to ask you for help?" ”

Su Jin was shocked: "Since the teacher knows this, why did he still come to stir up this troubled water?" ”

Bao Zheng said: "The husband has something to do in the world, I Bao Zheng doesn't care what friends and what parties do differently, I only rely on my own conscience; Whether this reform succeeds or fails, Bao Zheng must participate in it, because the accumulation of disadvantages in the imperial court has become commonplace, and success is naturally good, even if it fails, it is also valuable, that is, let the people of the world pay attention to the accumulation of shortcomings, and there will be people of insight in the future generations to carry out changes again, once not twice, twice not ten times, there will always be a day of success, and then you will know the significance of this change. ”

Su Jin was impressed by Bao Zheng's mind and courage, this is a kind of momentum that thousands of people have been looking forward to, knowing that they have failed, but doing it, although it is a foolish act, but it has to be said that there is great wisdom hidden.

"Although the students cannot participate in the matter, because the students are taking another road to strengthening the country, the students will never sit idly by and watch the failure of this change, I will always pay attention to it, and we must not let an upright minister like Han Shuai and Fan Shuai fall in this incident."

Bao Zheng patted Su Jin's shoulder and said: "You are worthy of my original recommendation today, you are very good, and you will be better than us in the future, because you know how to be flexible better than us; I won't send you, I'll leave for Beijing early tomorrow morning, and you don't have to send it off, so as not to be unpleasant. ”

Su Jin picked up his official robe and knelt on the ground to salute Bao Zheng, Bao Zheng smiled and helped Su Jin up, turned around and entered the gate of the pavilion.

Under the dim light, Bao Zheng's back looked heavy and old, Su Jin sighed, and silently boarded the car.