On the fifteenth day of February in the fifth year of the Great Calendar (the eighth year of Xinghan), at this time, the ladies of the regent's palace, the family members and the maidservants were packing up and preparing their luggage, and the time to return to Xinjing was getting shorter and shorter, so they had to prepare in advance, although Zhao Ziliang had not yet said which day to leave. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

The disarmament matters of the various military regions have come to an end, and most of the dismissed soldiers have returned to their hometowns with severance pay and bags, and even a considerable number of the dismissed soldiers have entered the official yamen in their hometowns to serve as government officials, arresters, tax collectors, or patrol officials, and some have become village heads, lieutenant chiefs, and security chiefs in their hometowns.

At the court meeting, Zhao Ziliang listened to the report of Liu Yan, the head of the household department, on organizing manpower to dredge the Cao Canal and building wharves and cargo transfer stations at the entrances of various rivers to reduce capsizing accidents and losses and improve the efficiency of transshipment, and let the courtiers discuss it.

Some people think that even if the cost is great, it must be done, after all, this is a matter of luck, if it can be completed, the court and the people will benefit not in one or two years, but in twenty or thirty years.

Zhao Ziliang stopped the quarrel between the ministers and said: "The dredging and dredging of the river has been done for the past two years, on the one hand, to strengthen the embankments along the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, and on the other hand, to desilt the river. The imperial court allocated a large amount of money for this purpose, and from the feedback from the Ministry of Industry, it seems that some sections of the river that block the river have been cleaned up, and the river channel of the Wei River is relatively smooth, mainly the Bianhe River and the Huai River have not been cleaned up for nearly 20 years, and if the river is to be cleaned up, mainly the Bianhe River and the Huai River section, the imperial court can allocate another amount of money to strengthen the river while dredging. As for the establishment of wharves and transfer stations at the entrances of various rivers, it does not cost a few dollars, at this time the Ministry of Industry is responsible for planning, and the transfer of the yamen is responsible for finding land for construction, this matter was put forward by Lord Liu, in the eyes of this king, this matter is feasible, since he is most familiar with the planning plan, he is fully responsible for the implementation, and the other yamen must actively cooperate, and no prevarication! ”

In addition, Lord Liu mentioned in the book that the institutions of the Salt Yamen and the Caoyun Yamen are huge, and more than eighty percent of the officials not only do not do things, but also eat meat and drink blood on various taxes, which causes the imperial court to increase the taxes of the people, but the taxes that really enter the treasury are less than two percent, and may even be less than one percent. Their appetite is also too great, such officials not only do not play any role in stabilizing the local area and ruling the people, but are digging into the corners of the court. These people may have senior officials in the DPRK and China who are supporting them, causing them to act unscrupulously, and what they do not only harm the country and family, but also harm themselves! Therefore, the imperial court's rectification of the rule of officials must continue, and it is also necessary to streamline the huge and bloated yamen of Caoyun, salt affairs, and other institutions. Get rid of those officials who are incompetent, lazy, and lazy! ”

Prime Minister Li Xian stood up and said: "King, if you want to streamline the staff of the bloated yamen of Caoyun, salt affairs and other institutions, Weichen believes that it is necessary to remove the relevant competent officials, otherwise the streamlining structure and personnel will only be an empty word, and those of them have long been ingrained in these yamen, if you don't change the officials in charge, I am afraid that the streamlining of the organization will not be carried out!" ”

Zhao Ziliang waved his hand and said: "Then change people, whoever can do this thing well will be replaced, as long as this king can do things, as long as the king can do things!" Some people are too selfish, only thinking about how to benefit themselves and their families, always thinking about how to climb to a high position, and even say the words 'family and country in the world', putting the interests of their own family and family first, putting the interests of the country behind, and finally the world. Think about it, who has a bigger heart between a person who can only fit his family and his family in his heart and a person who can hold the whole world in his heart? Who's bigger? There is no doubt that the achievements of a person with a heart for the world are definitely much greater than those of a narrow-minded person! No matter how capable and capable you are, if the pattern in your heart is too small, you will never be able to get on the table, and your achievements will be limited. There is a folk saying called 'the prime minister can hold the boat in his belly', which is the prime minister's heart and stomach, his belly may be a big river, or even the sea, but it may also be a small ditch and a small ditch! ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, a person's life is limited, maybe you are standing here today, tomorrow you will be sick and dying, you have time to make that little calculation in your heart, it is better to do more good things, practical things, and do something that benefits all the people in the world. When you kick your legs, but you don't leave any traces in this world, when future generations talk about it, they can't even remember that there is such a person as you, do you say that you are a failure in life? ”

Zhao Ziliang often said something on every occasion that no one had said before, and his remarks had a huge impact on the civil and military officials and people of the Manchu Dynasty, and he never said such dogmatic words to the courtiers about how to do what to do, but from their own considerations, from their point of view, to discuss such issues with them, and his actions were even more convincing than what he had said.

A series of reforms to the yamen, such as Caoyun and salt affairs, were quickly carried out, and for a time the officialdom was full of mourning, and a large number of officials were dismissed. As the maker and commander of this reform, Liu Yan stood on the cusp, and many impeachment notes against Liu Yan flew like snowflakes to Chang'an, to the cabinet, and from the cabinet to the regent's palace.

Zhao Ziliang looked at these impeachment chapters one by one, and ignored some charges of chasing wind and shadows and making things out of nothing, and wrote that there was no such thing, and then sent someone back to the cabinet for processing. For those impeachments that were confirmed by words, Zhao Ziliang ordered the Yushitai to start an investigation. What should be done still has to be done, Zhao Ziliang did not indulge Liu Yan just because he wanted to reuse him, the more he wanted to reuse, the more he had to supervise.

Officialdom has always been very few people who can stand alone, factions have existed since ancient times, as long as it does not affect the implementation of the government, does not affect the political situation, the ruler has always been too lazy to pay attention, because it cannot be completely eliminated, but if the struggle between the factions affects the stability of the court, or causes serious damage to the entire country, the ruler will not let it go.

Obviously, Liu Yan's practice of streamlining the institutions of the Caoyun and Yanwu yamen has seriously damaged the interests of officials of a certain faction or even multiple factions in the DPRK and China, and this kind of interest is not only economic interests, but also political resources, if it is only economic interests, they can tolerate it, but if it involves political interests, they cannot remain indifferent. The battered factional officials began to unite to put pressure on the cabinet.

Cabinet members Li Kui, Li Xian, and Yan Zhenqing quickly could not withstand the pressure, because Liu Yan's actions this time were too big and swift, and the political resources of many factions in the DPRK and China suffered extremely heavy losses.

"The two Li Xiang, Yan Xiang, and Liu Yan have gone on like this, which has made the two yamen of Caoyun and Yanwu almost come to a standstill, and if he continues, Caoyun and Yanwu Yamen will stop operating, and the Jingzhao region and some other areas will soon fall into a situation where there is no grain and no salt to eat, and when the time comes, I am afraid that the consequences of causing a large-scale food shortage will not be able to be cleaned up, and I also ask the three Xiangye to make a statement to the king, you can't let Liu Yan continue like this, and if you continue to do it, there will be a big incident!"

"Yes, the three ministers, although the disarmament has entered the end now, it is not completely over after all, and the officialdom should not be too drastic at this time, otherwise the consequences will be unpredictable!"

Almost half of the court officials were targeting Liu Yan, because everyone knew that this rectification of salt affairs and transportation was Liu Yan's idea, and the Manchu civil and military forces could not find a minister who was more familiar with this aspect of affairs than Liu Yan.

The cabinet could no longer withstand the pressure, and Li Kui, Li Xian, and Yan Zhenqing could only come to the Regent's Mansion to ask to see Zhao Ziliang and report to Zhao Ziliang.

After listening to the report of the three of them, Zhao Ziliang asked: "You have also read Liu Yan's article on reforming Cao Yun and salt affairs, and you all thought that this was a good way to get rid of bad government, but now you still think this is a good way?" ”

The three of them looked at each other, and Li Kuo arched his hand and said: "King, Liu Yan's method is a good way, but he seems to be too impatient, and now the entire Cao Yun and salt affairs will come to a standstill, if it takes a long time, Chang'an and other areas in Guanzhong are only afraid of a grain shortage and a salt shortage, and the consequences will be very serious!" ”

Zhao Ziliang got up from behind the desk and walked down the steps, walked to the window with his hands behind his back, looked at the willows that had sprouted outside the window, and said, "Liu Yan is already in his fifties, and his temperament is not impatient and reckless. He must have a reason for doing so. Since he is used, you must believe that he will do things well, if you change people now or stop rectifying the transportation and salt affairs halfway, will the imperial court still have prestige at all? This is number one; Second, Liu Yan knows how bad the mess of Caoyun and Yanwu is, and he must also know the impact of his heavy punches. With the current tax situation, the tax income of the imperial court can not support the expenses of the imperial court at all, if you do not reform the tax system with a heavy hand, the imperial court will go bankrupt, you must know that the reason why every dynasty perishes is because the imperial court can not afford various expenses for a long time, resulting in the following officials have to reach out to the common people, and the common people are forced to have no way to live and can only rebel, so the dynasty perished! The king asks you, how many dynasties have been destroyed by foreigners? Even if there is a dynasty that has been destroyed by foreign races, it is because it is already dying and cannot resist foreign invasion! Reform of Cao Yun and salt affairs is the most important part of the reform of the tax system, while Datang has not yet reached the point of no cure, we must save ourselves, otherwise Datang will be finished, you people all have to finish! To believe Liu Yan, give him some more time, for those courtiers jumping up and down, this king thinks it is necessary to give them some color to see, in this matter, the determination of this king and the court is unswerving! ”

Yan Zhenqing and the other three had a nail in Zhao Ziliang's place, so they could only go to deal with the courtiers head-on, and sent a few of the most jumping people and officials to idle positions as punishments.