When Wu Haogu re-entered Kaifeng Mansion, it was almost Chinese New Year's Eve, and there was more and more festive atmosphere in the capital.

And this year's festival is even more lively than in the past two years, because the triennial Spring Festival will start in February next year. Now there are many people who are full of hope to be officials and gather in Kaifeng Mansion at the feet of the Son of Heaven.

However, to the great surprise of these well-educated talents, in addition to them, there was actually another group of martial artists, who also gathered from all over the world, and also arrived in Kaifeng Mansion, the best city in the world.

These vulgar martial artists are said to be strong warriors who come to participate in the so-called "Imperial Martial Arts", and those who are in the martial arts test can not only enter the palace to charge the dragon warriors and get a higher military salary than the civil officials from the nine grades, but also get the opportunity to get a house in Kaifeng Mansion or get the opportunity to buy a house in Kaifeng Mansion at a low price......

The house of Kaifeng Mansion!

As long as you have taken a few exams for the Ministry of Rites, you know that Kaifeng Mansion is hard to find! Many old courtiers who have been officials for many years may not be able to save up the savings to buy a house in Kaifeng Mansion. How can these vulgar warriors be rewarded for splitting a house or buying a low-cost house in installments?

Didn't you say that "there is a golden house in the book"? Now that those who are studying and taking the Jinshi entrance examination do not have a house, how can a bunch of vulgar martial artists divide the house first?

Do today's officials value articles or swords? Could it be that since the founding of the Great Song Dynasty, the national policy of emphasizing literature over military force is about to change?

That's not going to work!

The law of the ancestors is to change, and it can't be changed like this!

“…… Those vulgar martial artists are very capable, how can they get the real estate of Kaifeng Mansion? ”

"Yes, the heroes who are famous outside the Donghua Gate don't have a house, and those vulgar martial artists are very good men? How did you climb to the head of the jinshi? ”

"Not only did I get the house, but I heard that I also invited the envoys and officials of various countries to watch the martial arts together!"

"Isn't this a heavy emphasis on military force over literature? There must be a traitor in the DPRK and China! If you continue like this, I'm afraid the world will be in chaos! ”

"Yes, it's not just about emphasizing martial arts and ignoring literature...... Even the classics handed down by the sages have to be tested by Rauschzi's "Empirical Theory". ”

"There is also that "Tianli Theory", which is also nonsense, talking about the desires of heaven and people...... He Cheng Yichuan is just a mortal fetus, how can he peek into the Heavenly Dao and Heavenly Principles? Could it be that he is an immortal like the Buddha and the Taoist? ”

"I think he's just lying to confuse the public......"

In the roast pig courtyard of Daxiangguo Temple, a group of people who are eating are talking about current affairs, and almost everyone seems very dissatisfied.

In the past, when the imperial examination competition was about to be held, they were the stars of all eyes. Most of them are going to fall off the list after all, that is, the period between the release test and the release of the Ministry of Rites test list, they can stand in the center of the stage for a while.

But now there is a group of martial artists, who want to participate in the martial arts performance in front of the emperor...... Isn't this stealing the limelight from them? And these show-stealing warriors can also get a house as a prize! It's really unbearable! And there was even more frustrating news.

"I heard that from the next imperial examination, it will be divided into the left list and the right list, the left list will be examined, and the right list will be allowed to be written and allowed to be martial!

And the Jinshi on the left and right are all the same in terms of treatment! ”

"This must be a heavy force and a light on literature!"

"Isn't it just heavy on military force and light on literature? It's just going to block the way for us poor scholars to get promoted! ”

"What do you mean by that?"

"Poor and rich! If you don't have Wanguan's family resources, how can you afford the expenses of your son Yunwen Yunwu? ”

"Didn't you say that there are Guozijian and Yuntai Academy?"

"Humph! What kind of place can I go into? ”

"Alas...... I'm waiting for a poor scholar to be miserable! ”

Chatting and chatting, the mood of the scholars who were eating became more and more depressed, and a few elderly scholars secretly shed tears...... Living in Daxiangguo Temple, eating a piece of Dongpo meat and rice in a restaurant of this grade in the Roast Pig Courtyard is certainly not a rich family. If you don't pass the Ministry of Rites exam, you will be poor when you go back.

Now that the path to promotion is getting narrower and narrower, and the future is becoming more and more bleak, how can you not be sad?

"These readers just talk a lot, and they don't block their way to promotion, they just divide them into left and right lists."

In an elegant room in the roast pig courtyard, Zhao Ji, an official dressed in Confucian clothes and wearing a square scarf on his head, muttered in a low voice.

At this time, he was drinking wine and eating meat with Wu Haogu, Gao Yu, and Pan Xiao'an.

Wu Haogu only returned to Kaifeng Mansion a day ago, and he was going to go to Chongzheng Hall this afternoon to face the king, but he didn't expect Gao Yu to come to the Pear Flower Courtyard early in the morning and call him to go to Daxiangguo Temple to accompany Zhao Ji, who was out of the palace.

Zhao Ji has been in a lot of interest these days, and the source of his happiness is the knights and warriors who have been placed in the newly built military camp near Qionglin Palace. Zhao Daguan's family had already gone to see them...... There are thousands of macho men, which makes Zhao Ji, who is bent on establishing world-class martial arts, happy to watch.

Now he can't wait to hold the imperial military exercise, as soon as he thinks of the expressions of the Khitan, Dangxiang, Goryeo, Dali, Annan, and the envoys of the Japanese state when they see the fierce man of the Great Song Dynasty, the Zhao Daguan family is happy.

But there is still a bit of a discordant murmur!

There are always some nerd officials who can't understand Zhao Jixiong's talent and are against the imperial performance of martial arts and jinshi sub-lists (divided into left and right lists), as well as teaching martial arts in Guozijian. It is believed that this violates the ancestral system of the Great Song Dynasty, which emphasized literature and light military force......

However, the Holy Monarch Zhao Ji didn't care, he threw a bunch of Shangshu aside, went out of the palace by himself, and went to play with Wu Haogu.

Who knows, in the roast pig courtyard of Daxiangguo Temple, I heard a group of cuoda discussing the government in vain.

Wu Haogu explained with a smile: "Brother Xiaoyi, the official positions of the imperial court are always limited, and after opening the right list of jinshi, the path of the scholars will be a little narrower after all, and it is not surprising that they have complaints." ”

"Isn't this because the civil officials of the dynasty can't actually resist martial arts?" Zhao Ji snorted, "There are many ministers in my court, how many of them can fight?" Even Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi, who are known as knowing soldiers, do not have the ability to command the army to fight in battle! ”

It's one thing to stay in the castle in the rear and know the soldiers, it's another thing to command the battle.

On the one hand, the Song Dynasty claimed to use literature to control the military, and on the other hand, the civil officials who served as the commanders and ministers did not have the ability to command the battle, so it was impossible to implement the use of literature and military in wartime. Moreover, because the pacification envoys, the transfer envoys, the commanders of the soldiers and horses, the generals of the first army, and the internal officials of the supervising army constrained each other, and the powers and responsibilities were unclear, so the Song army often did not know who was the commander when fighting.

Unlike the Koreans, it is very clear that the civil official is the judge of the soldiers and horses.

"Brother Xiaoyi is right," Pan Xiao'an echoed happily on the side, "The future Jinshi on the right list are all both civil and military, and they will definitely be able to enter the prime minister and open up territory for the Great Song Dynasty." ”

Gao Yu also smiled: "Actually, you don't have to wait until the future, there is a good opportunity to open up the territory now." ”

"That's right, there's an opportunity now." Wu Haogu also said with a smile on his face, "After a few years of managing the city, I have found that there are many large islands overseas, with a vast area, a fertile climate, few natives, and no force, so it is very easy to take." ”

"Overseas...... Big Island? ”

Zhao Ji, Gao Yu, and Pan Xiaoan were all stunned. They thought that Wu Haogu would mention the river and Huang Erzhou, but they didn't expect him to set his sights overseas.

Pan Xiao'an shook his head and said: "I heard people say that the big overseas islands are all wild places, and there is a lot of miasma, and the people of China have no way to live on the island!" ”

"Overseas islands are wild, but the northwest is not barren?" Wu Haogu smiled, "It's a wasteland, and it's much easier to go to overseas islands than to the northwest...... If you go to sea by boat, you can get a piece of land in ten days or eight days, and the cost is not much, and the most important thing is that it is convenient to travel and it is cheap to maintain. ”

Wu Haogu, of course, was opposed to westward expansion - the current Guanzhong Plain was exhausted, and the yield per mu was very low, which was simply not enough to support the Western army to launch a large-scale military offensive against Western Xia. Even if they were able to take the two states of Hehe and Huang, it would be very difficult to maintain them, not only could they not obtain tax revenues, but they also had to pay a large amount of wealth every year.

Therefore, in Wu Haogu's view, instead of investing too much energy and wealth in the northwest direction, it is better to exert force on the southeast ocean!

Islands such as Taiwan, Luzon, and Okinawa can be taken by a thousand people and a few large ships, and then find a calm bay on the island to build a stronghold, which is the sacred and inalienable territory of the Great Song Empire since ancient times! Even if it doesn't generate any revenue now, maybe it will be of great use in the future?

"As for the miasma...... Wu Haogu smiled, "Actually, it's easy to do, just send the prisoners on Salmon Island?" As long as the docks and strongholds are built, a large island with a radius of several hundred miles will be ours.

And the overseas islands are not all full of miasma, and there are good places. It is now very good to be attached to Tamna Island by the Koreans, and he has also heard that there are some small islands near Japan that are rich in gold. ”

"Really?" Zhao Ji just smiled, and didn't show much interest, just said, "Da Lang, you are now the director of the city, and you have the right to send ships to the sea to attract investment...... If you find an ownerless island on the way to attract investment, you can send someone to occupy it. If you need manpower, you can use the murderous people on Salmon Island for you. ”

His tone sank slightly, and he seemed very firm: "But the two states of He, Huang still have to be restored!" When the exercise is over, the Imperial Knight and the Dragon Warrior will form an army to march west. ”

"The minister knows!" Wu Haogu knew that Zhao Ji wanted to convey this to Su Dongpo himself - now that Han Zhongyan is becoming more and more like a three-purpose minister, Cai Jing caters to Zhao Ji in everything, and only Su Dongpo dares to put forward some different opinions......