Don't look at this trip as dangerous, Hong Tao and Su Shi didn't show it much, and the two of them even compared a little bit to see who had nothing to do, and no one was willing to fall behind.

At first, I guess it was just pretending, but it's really not a matter of comparing it. Emotions are contagious, they are all characters with heads and faces, why should they admit it in front of others. Didn't Cheng Yi say that life and death are small, and failure is big! Starving to death is death.

After the mood is adjusted, Su Shi and Hong Tao will have a chance to see the changes on both sides of the canal. To tell the truth, Hong Tao hadn't gone north for several years, and even if he inspected, he would at most go to the locks in Chuzhou.

It's not that he doesn't want to cross the Huaishui to see, but the officials in Sizhou don't like him very well. That section of the river embankment was repaired in vain, and it did not change their opinion of themselves in the slightest, and they also bore a reputation for selling their reputation.

In recent years, local officials have written to the imperial court for impeachment, as long as their ships appear on the Huai River, they are like facing a great enemy, and the four gates are closed, which is more exaggerated than dealing with foreign invasion.

If we are not welcome, we will go less, and at the same time, we will cause less trouble to others, and at the same time, we will not cause trouble for ourselves. But in this way, the river further north from Sizhou is completely different from the southern section.

Without being reminded by experts, Su Shi, a person who doesn't know much about water conservancy engineering, can see the difference at a glance. The river banks south of Chuzhou basically did not collapse, and some places were simply replaced with stone barriers, and the locks were even more novel and neat.

Unlike here, the riverbank is rugged and full of holes, and the only three locks are leaking everywhere, and three of them can be passed on the road when they come once.

"It's a pity that a few mediocre officials have harmed the people here." Why is there such a big difference, the reason has been heard by the genuine envoy who repairs the river along the river.

This time, Su Shi didn't pick any bones in the eggs to complain about Wang Xu's inaction, and through the past few months, he also roughly understood how difficult it was for Wang Shu to repair rivers and pave roads and build bridges over the years.

Some local officials adopted an attitude of neither supporting nor opposing it, and they did not force it if they were willing to repair it, and they did not force it if they were not willing to repair it. But don't think about moving the local money and grain, and the special funds allocated by the imperial court are not greedy for ink.

Anyway, if you have money, someone will repair it, and after you finish repairing, people will also write to the court to mention two sentences, and if you fulfill the minimum responsibilities and obligations, you will finish the matter, and you will not say more than half a word of good words.

There are also some officials who are similar to the Sizhou government, and the well-being of the people and the country's social welfare are put in the second place, and political correctness is what they value. As long as Wang Shu does it, it must be a bad thing, and he will oppose it in every possible way, and he can't care about whether it is good or not.

Only a few local officials, such as Yangzhou, Chuzhou, Gaoyoujun, and Dantu, took a limited stance of support for Wang's actions. The reason is very simple, they are close to the water and get the first month, and they get too many benefits, and they can't say it in their conscience if they don't support it.

Even so, it is only superficial support, and in his bones, he is still using Wang Xu's actions to reap benefits and political achievements for himself. Don't have an accident, don't make a big deal, but if it's wrong, you see, no one is willing to share even a little responsibility.

Su Shi himself has also been a magistrate, and he knows how difficult it is to do something practical. Comparing his heart to his heart, if he is in the position of Wang Xu, let alone building rivers and paving roads and bridges, I am afraid that he will not even be able to take care of his own yamen. Wang Xu can do this to this extent, he is already a great loyal minister, and he really can't force more.

"Brother Zizhan is sloppy again! The construction method of the canal from Guishan to Sizhou was also learned from two court officials, which shows that they are not mediocre officials, but the court rules force them to become mediocre officials. If you don't do this, just ask, there are a few people in the Manchu Dynasty who can be as crazy as the younger brother. They have been studying hard for ten years, what are they nominated for on the list? It's not about being in a high position, holding power in your hands, glorifying your ancestors, and benefiting your family. People like me don't want to see dogs, where does the high position and authority come from? ”

"Don't Jin Qing's subordinates want this?" Su Shi understood what Hong Tao meant, and it made sense. But it's useless to just make sense, how to solve it?

Su Shi has also been in contact with cooperatives and engineers in the past few months, and he has seen a hint of clues. Those people have nothing to do with the Liang Wangfu on the surface, but in fact, they are all Liang Wang's subordinates, which explains why they suddenly gathered tens of thousands of new troops in the first place.

It is costly that these armies exist in peacetime, but they are not called armies. But at this time, it's useless to dwell on these things, Su Shi just can't figure it out, the court officials are greedy for glory and wealth, is it possible that your Liang Wang's subordinates are all saints? If so, how did these saints teach?

"Figure, they are all people, and no one doesn't like glory and wealth, otherwise everyone won't have to work at all, but the degree can be limited to a tolerable range. Take the positions in the engineering corps as an example, there are squad leaders, team leaders, and section leaders, these are all officials, who are paid more than others, and have more power than others. ”

"But these benefits are not taken for nothing, if there is a problem with the subordinates, no matter whose mistake it is, the officials will bear part of the responsibility. If it is light, it will have money deducted, and if it is heavy, it will be dismissed from office or even whipped. In addition, these people are not officials because they are good at poetry, they need to have extraordinary skills. Each type of work requires different skills, if a mason is asked to tie steel bars, he is not as neat as his subordinates, and it is strange if nothing happens. ”

"How to select officials is a technical job, and those who lead troops to fight should be as experienced as Wang Da, and those who build rivers and pave roads should be as proficient in this way as Wang Qi. If the two of them were swapped, it was likely that they would not be able to win the battle and the road would not be repaired. ”

"At present, this is the case in the imperial court, everyone relies on the good memorization of the classics and historical classics, and they understand everything well, but few people can master a skill. Even if you are proficient, it is difficult to be placed in the right position. For another example, Shen Kuo Shen Cangsi, his strength is not guarding the border passes, nor managing the granary to repair roads and bridges, but his tricks. Brother Zizhan is afraid that he has never seen the plane made by Lord Shen, which can take people to soar in the sky for two quarters of an hour without landing, which is comparable to a bird. ”

"As the saying goes, a general is incompetent and exhausts the three armies, the officials are the generals, and the people are the soldiers. Officials do not have the skills corresponding to their positions, and no matter how good their character and poetry are, they will not make the country prosperous and the people prosperous. But if these officials were to be sent to the pavilion to study the classics of scripture and history, to the newspaper to write articles, and to the academy to teach students, it would be appropriate. ”

In Hong Tao's view, Su Shi is becoming more and more up-to-the-road, and the questions raised are becoming more and more pragmatic, and it is no longer an illusory battle of ideas. At this time, you can sell your own methods again, no matter whether it will resonate or not, there will be no more resistance in your bones.

“…… There is also a performance assessment for the promotion of official positions in the imperial court, if everything is held accountable as Jin Qing said, who is willing to serve the country? Su Shi didn't quite agree with Hong Tao's method, and felt that it was too harsh and too demoralizing.

"However, there are still many people in the engineering corps and cooperatives who desperately want to become officials, and even if they lose their official positions, they will find ways to work hard and strive to get another chance to be selected. The performance assessment of the imperial court mentioned by Brother Zizhan is actually just a superficial name, and in essence, it is a few bosses who have the final say. As long as the boss says it, it will be done, and it will be done without any political achievements. If the boss doesn't like it, he won't be able to reuse his achievements. There is no need for the younger brother to give more examples of this, and Brother Zizhan himself should also have a deep understanding. ”

Hong Tao has more say in this point, he is a living example, a dignified army commander who exterminated the enemy country, just because his boss didn't like it, he could only stay by the river and play in the mud.

If Su Shi said that his situation is special, then he himself is also an example. As long as there are people who have served several terms as magistrates, and one is counted as one, who dares to pat their conscience and say that they have not felt this way?

“…… This is troublesome, the admonition, the officials, the commanders, and the officials can't be discerning people, and Jin Qing alone can distinguish right from wrong, one state and one county, I'm afraid it's difficult to take care of it all the way. ”

Su Shi patted his conscience a little, and found that he really couldn't refute it, which was the case. Back then, I was suppressed by the Ministry of Officials in Hangzhou, and my trouser belts were about to be tired and broken, and I didn't get much praise. On the contrary, a few colleagues who have nothing to do, with their skills outside of work, have received much higher evaluations than themselves.

But this is an endless cycle, you can't let the emperor supervise all the officials under him one by one, and the emperor probably no one is willing to do it, and he will definitely die of exhaustion after two years in office. Even if the emperor is in good health and will not die, who can guarantee the fairness of the emperor's supervision? If this point is not solved, everything else will be in vain.

"It's easy to do, divide the imperial power, so that the emperor does not have the right to appoint and dismiss officials. Then a body was added for representatives from all states and counties across the country to decide who would be prime minister and who would be the secretary, and the same would be done. When the appointment and dismissal of officials is no longer decided by the superiors, this dead knot is untied. In the next step, Brother Zizhan will definitely say that in this way, without the dignity and humility, the country will not be a country, and the magistrates will definitely not listen to the orders of the court and the emperor again. In fact, there is a way to avoid this concern, how about we talk after dinner? ”

Hong Tao is almost tired of talking about this set of things, he usually has to say it when he lectures in the academy, he has to say it when he promotes social meetings, he has to say it with the people around him, and from time to time he has to depict the future with the eldest princess, and now Su Shi is this set again.

According to previous experience, it is not advisable to talk too much about the first contact, and if you can't digest it, you will resist. I've talked a lot today, and it's going to be a few days before I get to Kaifeng, so let's take my time with some dry goods. How embarrassing it would be if he was really cleaned up, and there was nowhere to hide on the boat.

It may be that Hong Tao overestimated Su Shi's self-correction ability, or it may be that he overestimated his personality charm and appeal, anyway, Kaifeng Dongshuimen is already in sight, and the question about the future structure of the imperial court has not been talked about, not even more than half.

.。 m.