Zhao Zhen continued: "I might as well tell you a confidential matter, Nong Zhigao, the leader of the Guangnan barbarian tribe, has rebelled against the Song Dynasty and established the Great Calendar Kingdom, and proclaimed himself emperor; The Quang Nam states sent troops to encircle and suppress, but they were all defeated by the rebels, and I have not made this matter public, because the northwest was initially decided, and I was afraid of another disaster; Only when the northwest is stable and the defense is strong, can I send troops and horses to exterminate that Nong Zhigao; Therefore, I can only hand over this important task to you, the money and taxes of the imperial court are tight, you have the means to accumulate wealth, I may be privileged by you, there are mines in the northwest four roads, you can make people dig for the needs of the northwest, but I have no money and no food supply for you. ”

Su Jin is also happy and worried, happy that Zhao Zhen said the truth sincerely, which shows that Zhao Zhen is still quite sincere, and he did not hide it, and he is worried that minerals are not something that can be found just by looking for them, although according to his memory, there are definitely a lot of minerals in the northwest in the future, but how to distinguish and how to mine is a big problem.

But this matter was a great temptation to Su Jin, and the copper, iron, coal, and oil of the Great Song Dynasty were all lacking, and once there was an opportunity to exploit them, the profits were great; Su Jin already had an ambitious bottom-up change plan in his heart, and this huge plan needed a huge amount of money and materials to back it up, and this mineral deposit buried deep in the ground was not only a source of materials, but also a source of materials.

A better point is that mineral mining will not involve the interests of others, will not cause entanglement of interests, as long as the imperial court allows, discuss the good sharing strategy, that is the imperial court personal benefit of both things, in this era of mineral resources have not been valued, their own advantage is more than being able to see the value of minerals.

"Your Majesty, you are chasing ducks to the shelves, where are there so many minerals in the northwest? Minerals are buried deep underground, how can they be mined? Baoshan Coal Mine is the minister's mistake, luck, if you bet on this, the minister does not dare to take it. ”

Zhao Zhen said: "I also know that this matter is a little difficult, but there are indeed minerals in the northwest, and Liang Shi, the director of the Salt and Iron Division of the Third Division, once reported that according to the method of prospecting, it was determined that there were mines, but they could not be mined; I can assign him to you, he is an expert in prospecting, as for how to mine, then you need to figure out a way, then you can figure out a way to refine the oil, and there should be a way in this matter. ”

Su Jin scratched his head and said: "Since this is the case, the minister will give it a try, but the minister has a question, if there are minerals in the northwest, once it is successfully mined, who does this mine belong to?" If the emperor doesn't say anything, the white wolf with empty gloves can't be. ”

Zhao Zhenwan said: "You relax, except for the military and political expenses in the northwest, how about the imperial court and you?" This can be regarded as a partnership between me and you to mine, I have just made it very clear, the court will benefit, and the courtiers will also benefit, you will be promoted, and you can benefit from it, why not? ”

Su Jin sighed: "The eight characters haven't been skimmed yet, and the emperor seems to have given his ministers a lot of benefits." ”

Zhao Zhen nodded Su Jin's nose and said: "Be content, the four roads in the northwest are under your jurisdiction, what an important responsibility is this, you are already the king of the northwest, what else do you want?" ”

Su Jin said: "It's a good thing to say, the emperor is going to beg along the street to peel and cramp and exploit me Su Jin." ”

Zhao Zhen chirped: "Then you talk like this, by the way, in order to reduce your burden, I sent you a deputy, Gao Ruona, the transport envoy of Hedong Road, once knew that Yongxing Army was born in the military industry, and he was more familiar with the northwest; I sent him to be your deputy, huh...... Then he ordered him to take care of the soldiers and horses, but if there is a military operation, the two of you will decide together; You don't need him to interfere in other matters, you have to live in harmony with him and work together, and I will hand over the northwest to the two of you. ”

Su Jin knew that Zhao Zhen had planted a nail beside him, Gao Ruona was in charge of military affairs, in fact, he deprived Su Jin of the right to arbitrarily transfer military affairs, and the two of them discussed and decided that if they did not agree, they could not mobilize the army. In the final analysis, Zhao Zhen still kept a hand, but this cannot simply be attributed to Zhao Zhen's suspicion of himself, there is a position of supervising the army in the Great Song Dynasty military system, which is the eyes and ears of the emperor around the generals, and it is also a normal means of surveillance.

This conversation with Zhao Zhen somewhat eased the slightly awkward relationship between the two, but the rift is born, and it is difficult to make up for it, Su Jin understands in his heart that it is inevitable that there will be today, Zhao Zhen's character determines his actions, which can be seen from the new deal, Zhao Zhen is a person who is as good as a stream, but at the same time he is a man who is like an evil stream, in other words, he is a soft ear; There is a kind of suspicious symptom in the character of this kind of person, and the longer they get along, the deeper Su Jin understands this, which is gradually distant from the evaluation of Zhao Zhen in later generations.

Later historians and researchers gave Zhao Zhen the title of 'Renjun', saying that he forgave benevolence and inaction, so that Renzong once showed a free atmosphere, Su Jin did not deny the actual result, but he gradually realized that it was not Zhao Zhen who did it on purpose, but his weakness and suspicion made him have no idea in many things, so he couldn't make a decision, but Renzong was able to make countless virtuous people, and the excellence of the courtiers made up for Zhao Zhen's shortcomings. (Personal opinion, don't spray if you don't like it.) ）

Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, Fubi and others were reprimanded out of Beijing, and when they left Beijing, it was a deserted place, and the party of the New Deal was scattered in the past, and the ministers were afraid to avoid it, and there was no one to see them off when they left.

Everyone knows that after Fan Zhongyan and others were demoted, Su Jin was promoted, and rumors have swarmed, saying that Su Jin is fake benevolence and false righteousness, but Su Jin can't control this, Zhao Zhen announced that he will take charge of Huanqing Yanyan from the moment it is inevitable that there will be such and such discussions, and Su Jin will not be able to prevent the rumors.

Not only that, when Fan Zhongyan left Beijing for Bin County to take up his post, Su Jin led people to set up wine in the ten-mile long pavilion outside the West Gate.

Fan Zhongyan didn't show too much excitement about Su Jin's friendship of not avoiding suspicion and openly sending each other, as if he had long known that Su Jin was going to send him, the two sat opposite each other like old friends and had a drink, Fan Zhongyan talked and laughed and pointed to the half-foot-high wheat seedlings in the wheat field near the left side of the official road, and said with a smile that this year was another bumper harvest year.

Su Jin finally couldn't help but ask: "Fan Gong, after this incident, you can know the difficulty of the new deal, if you go back in time, are you still willing to touch the matter of the new deal?" ”

Fan Zhongyan smiled and said: "Master Su, the old man admires your changes and admires your judgment of the situation, but you come to send the old man, if someone says that you are in the same party with the old man in the future, will you regret it?" ”

Su Jin smiled: "I'm most afraid of gossip, maybe I'll regret it, but although I may regret it, I will regret it even more if I don't come to say goodbye to Fan Gong." ”

Fan Zhongyan said with a smile: "The old man didn't appreciate you very much, he always felt that you were too utilitarian, but he was more than cautious when he was young, but you can confess that you regret it, which shows your sincerity, but it makes the old man admire you again." ”

Su Jin smiled: "Fan Gong praised, you haven't answered me yet." ”

Fan Zhongyan thought for a moment and said: "If the old man has no regrets about this matter, it is also a lie, but there is always someone first in everything, I Fan is from a poor family, and when I was young, I made a wish to study in Yingtian Academy, and I am loyal to the imperial court, no matter honor or disgrace, no regrets; After becoming an official, he took it as his responsibility to strengthen the Song Dynasty and enrich the people, and he didn't care about personal gains and losses; The old man thinks in his spare time, as a courtier of the Great Song Dynasty, he should have such a realm in order to be worthy of heaven and earth, that is, 'the worries of the world first, and the joy of the world after the world' Only in this way can he calm down his state of mind and not regret this life. ”

This may be the first release of Fan Zhongyan's famous sentence for the ages, a few years later when Fan Zhongyan wrote the famous article "The Story of Yueyang Tower", this sentence was repeated here, and later generations also learned about Fan Zhongyan's famous sentence from this article, but no one knew that the earliest version was Fan Zhongyan and an official named Su Jin when they said goodbye.

Su Jin really admires Fan Zhongyan, there is no doubt that the person who can say these two sentences must have a broad mind and lofty ideals, take the revitalization of the country and the nation as his own responsibility, and do not care about personal gains and losses, Fan Zhongyan is indeed this kind of person, although in Su Jin's view, he lacks the resourcefulness to turn the corner, and he also chose the wrong time to realize his ideals, but this does not harm Fan Zhongyan's image in his own mind is becoming more and more lofty; After coming to this era for so long, there is finally a person who matches the impression in his later memories, but with too much tragedy.

Su Jin bowed to the ground and bid farewell to Fan Zhongyan, Fan Zhongyan refused the money, goods and carriages given by Su Jin, and only took a few family members to board a donkey cart and leave, the donkey cart was small, Fan Zhongyan had to squeeze on the wheel with the old coachman, and at the car dealership, his gray sideburns danced in the spring breeze, which became a permanent memory in Su Jin's heart.