In the first year of the Great Song Dynasty, the eighth day of October, the Chongzheng Palace.

Zhao Ji, an official who had just finished his "permanent living", was on top of the throne, watching the ministers below pay homage to him, with a smile on his face, and he seemed to be in a good mood.

Empress Meng, who made her dear sister-in-law Empress Liu, block her heart, has now been kicked into Yaohua Palace to be a female Taoist priest. And the old party members of the DPRK and China did not react too strongly, and only the deputy prime minister Fan Chunli asked the county. Zhao Ji pretended to keep it twice, and approved it after Fan Chunli made it the third time, and let Fan Zhongyan's son go to Yingchang Mansion as a scholar of Duanming Palace.

Now there is one vacant among the six prime ministers' seats, and the question of who to fill is placed in front of Zhao Ji.

Of course, the best candidate in Zhao Ji's mind is the current Taifu Siqing Cai Jing, but if Cai Jing is appointed as the prime minister now, the balance between the old and new parties in the DPRK will be completely broken. Of the six zai, only one is the old party, and the remaining five are all new parties.

And in the only remaining old party, Han Zhongyan is a useless honest man...... It is simply impossible to independently support the situation of the old party, and sooner or later it will be blown away by Zeng Bu, a murderer.

If Zeng Bu is allowed to dominate, I am afraid it will not be a blessing for the country!

Zhao Ji thought about it for a long time, but still felt that Cai Jing was not suitable for Xuanma, so he didn't ask the opinions of the other Zaizhi, but only asked Han Zhongyan alone: "Han Qing, now that Shangshu Youcheng is vacant, who can hold this position?" ”

Han Zhongyan came out of the class and replied: "Lu Dian, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, was a minister of the three dynasties, and when he was in Yuanfeng, he served as a scholar and a servant, and then he traveled to the place for a long time, and he had a lot of good governance, which was enough to serve as the right minister. ”

Lu Dian, Lu You's grandfather, was once a disciple of Wang Anshi. However, when Wang Anshi asked Yu Tenant about the new policy, Lu Dian said: "The law is not good, but I am afraid that the implementation will not be as intended." ”

The meaning is probably that the scriptures are good, that is, the monks' mouths are crooked......

Because of such a statement, Lu Dian is no longer Wang Anshi's party, but has become an official with a weak partisan color. However, he is not Wang Anshi's opponent, he just stands aside.

But those who stand and stand become a veteran-level figure, and both the old and new parties can accept him - while standing aside, Wang Anshi also handed over the work of revising the "Three Classics and New Righteousness" to him, so he still inherited Wang Anshi's knowledge.

And Han Zhongyan now has no qualified old party cadres to recommend, so he can only recommend this centrist.

Zhao Ji didn't have any ill feelings towards Lu Dian, but he still had to ask for the opinions of the rest of the governors, so he turned his attention to Zeng Bu and others: "Lu Dian's knowledge is very good, and he is not bad as an official, so I don't know if he can be the prime minister." ”

Zeng Bu really sighed in his heart when he heard Han Zhongyan recommend Lu Dian, in fact, he was most worried about Han Zhongyan recommending Cai Jing. Cai Jing is going to be the right minister, so he can definitely do the momentum of the right minister. And this Lu Dian has always been a good man who is very knowledgeable and can protect himself......

"Lu Dian's official has been an official for more than 30 years, and he has made quite a lot of political achievements," Zeng Bu said, "and the minister thought that he could do a good job as a right man." ”

The left and right phases are all the same, and Lu You's grandfather Xuanma's worship of the prime minister is naturally decided, and no one in the rest of the governors will object.

After discussing the candidate for Shangshu Youcheng, Zhao Ji turned the topic to the government military system.

"Knowing Jingzhao Mansion Li Gefei, the official affairs of the Jingzhao Mansion Baojia Military Mansion Ji Yi and Zhilantian County Wu Haowen have all read it?"

The concert jointly submitted by Li Gefei, Ji Yi and Wu Haowen was delivered the day before yesterday, and after Zhao Ji read it, he asked people to send a copy to the Political Hall and the Privy Council.

"Your Majesty, the law played by Li Gefei and others combined the government soldiers, Jingtian, and township covenants into one, and at the same time exempted the "Baojia Law" in Lantian...... It is quite strict and very feasible, if it is tried according to this method, the Lantian Military Government will be able to achieve a small success in a year, and hundreds of elites will be able to enter service. ”

Han Zhongyan is certainly supportive. It's not because his family is a giant family in Xiangzhou, if this method is implemented in Xiangzhou, the Han family's power in Xiangzhou will be even stronger. But in Han Zhongyan's view, appropriately delegating power to the giant family is the only feasible way.

What else could be done otherwise? It is impossible to divide the land to the government soldiers, and there are not so many official lands to divide, and it is a dream to move the fields in private hands.

Moreover, it is unlikely that rich people who own a lot of land will become government soldiers, how can they become soldiers if they want to study and take the imperial examination?

If the land cannot be divided, and the rich are not soldiers, then the incentive policy of a government soldier "shading" 200 acres of land is meaningless - those who have land are not soldiers, and those who are soldiers have no land at all, so what is the use of exempting 200 acres of land tax?

As for the method mentioned by Sima Guang in Shangshu in his early years, that is, the method of giving the tax exemption quota to relatives if he has no land, and then asking his relatives to collect some benefits, in fact, isn't it just to hand over the convening power of the government soldiers to the wealthy families? In fact, it is to tax exempt the wealthy, and then let the wealthy force the tenants to become government soldiers...... In this way, it is more reliable to use "well fields and township covenants" to organize the peasants.

At least under the protection of the "well field system" and the "township covenant", the families of the soldiers would not be left without food—the exploitation of labor rent was inefficient, which was conducive to the subsistence of the peasants. After all, the landlord's income is realized through the labor of the peasants, not the rent, and the landlord must bear the risk of farming with the peasants.

In fact, the township covenant also has a certain restraining effect on landlords and wealthy families, and it can also restrain and unite the government soldiers. With the existence of the township covenant, the family members of the government soldiers can also help raise them after they die in battle, and if they escape from the battle, they will also harm their families!

In addition, if this system of "well fields, township covenants, and government soldiers" tied together is implemented, it will undoubtedly be very beneficial to a wealthy family in the north like the Han family in Xiangzhou.

Because the government military system is impossible, and there is no need to promote it on a large scale throughout the country. After all, the government soldiers are not "Long March soldiers" who have served for many years, so it is best to set up a large number of military offices close to the front line. Otherwise, the government soldiers have not yet arrived at the front, and their service date has passed.

For the current Great Song Dynasty, it is enough to set up a large number of military offices on Hebei Two Road, Shaanxi Sixth Road, Hedong Road and Jingjing West Road.

And these territories are all dominated by the old party doctors...... In other words, the old party doctor will become one of the pillars of force to defend the imperial court!

Han Zhongyan seemed to have a point, and Zhao Ji turned his head to look at Zeng Bu again.

Of course, Zeng Bu understood Han Zhongyan's thoughts, so he immediately objected: "Your Majesty, if the Township Covenant, Jingtian, and Fubing are integrated, then is it the officials appointed by the imperial court or the wealthy family of the Lu family who are in charge of Lantian County?" This soldier is not a rabble of Baoding, but an elite who can go into battle. How can such an elite be in the hands of a wealthy family? ”

"Is there such a thing......" Zhao Ji is also Bianliangzi, I don't know how many powerful and powerful rooms there are in the countryside outside Kaifeng Mansion, he pondered for a while, and then asked Han Zhongyan, the left minister, for advice, "Han Qing, in your opinion, will the Lantian Lu clan take advantage of the trial of the government soldiers to dominate one side?" ”

Han Zhongyan shook his head: "The wealthy giant room has already monopolized one side without government soldiers, and now the trick to becoming an official in politics is not to be embarrassed by the giant room." Therefore, if His Majesty wants to serve as a soldier, he must rely on the giant room to recruit troops, and if he wants to rely on the giant room to recruit soldiers, he will inevitably let the giant room hold some power.

However, a giant family is responsible for conscripting hundreds of soldiers, and it will not have much impact on the safety of the imperial court. And the recruits of the giant room are not necessarily soldiers, but can also be strong men. ”

In fact, the monopoly side of the wealthy giant family is not how strong these families are with the imperial examination as the main upward channel, but the officials sent by the imperial court are too weak, so that the grassroots level is controlled by the local officials, and the officials are more dependent on or from the local wealthy families, which also creates a monopoly party of the local wealthy families that is not strong.

Therefore, in Han Zhongyan's view, if the imperial court wants to recruit government soldiers, it can only rely on the giant room - what else? Let the county officials, the chief bookkeeper, and the county lieutenant go to the street to pull strong men? When you see a strong body tied up, pull it away?

And the objections raised by the New Party officials and Zhao Ji's questions, Han Zhongyan had already thought of them - his son-in-law Wu Haowen had already written to him to mention this issue, so Han Zhongyan was prepared and thought of a way to fool people......

"Your Majesty," Han Zhongyan paused, and then continued, "According to the method played by Li Gefei, Ji Yi, and Wu Haowen, Zhuang Ding will inevitably be recruited from Lantian County." If you are worried that the Lantian Lu clan will control the government soldiers because of this, you can avoid it by adjusting the period of military service. ”

"How?" Zhao Ji asked.

"You can turn the period of three seasons of agricultural service and one season of service into several years of continuous service, and then leave the army and return home to farm. In this way, the period of service of the government soldiers is in the barracks, which is controlled by the officers, and the people who go home after leaving the service. ”

"Is it paid?" What Zhao Ji is most concerned about is whether to send money?

"There is no need to pay salaries," Han Zhongyan said, "200 acres of shaded fields for a soldier, and it will end when he is decommissioned." The imperial court provided the soldier with food, clothing, quilts, weapons, etc., and did not need the soldier to bring his own things. ”

Han Zhongyan is really good at fooling things! The government soldiers he came up with were almost close to the conscripts of later generations - school-age young people served for a few years, and then went home after being discharged.

Of course, the conscription has to rely on the local wealthy, otherwise the county lord will have no place to pull the strong ding.

Listening to Han Zhongyan's words, Zhao Ji's eyes suddenly lit up, and the important ministers of the New Party present couldn't help frowning slightly.

Han Zhongyan's ability to fool things can be seen to be long! actually came up with a government soldier who had served for several years in a row...... It's good to think about this, but I'm afraid there will be problems when I really do it!

Zhao Ji set his eyes on An Tao, the Privy Councillor, "An Qing, what do you think?" ”

"Your Majesty," said An Tao, frowning, "these soldiers are not paid, thanks to the benefit of 200 acres of shade fields...... I'm afraid it's hard to serve with peace of mind for a long time! ”

Han Zhongyan said with a smile: "It's just a few years of suffering, it's always bearable, and you can also exempt him from lifelong conscription after being discharged, so that a few years of suffering can be regarded as a benefit." ”