The officials smiled knowingly.

For the sake of these five fleets, a series of political upheavals have been caused. In the first year after returning from the northwest, Zheng Lang was safe and sound, and this victory was extremely brilliant, but it took a lot of money. Not only did Wang Shao use all the private goods prepared in Qinfeng Road, the pre-war materials, grain, grass and weapons, the post-war rewards and pensions, and the resettlement, the imperial court allocated more than 30 million yuan before and after, and Zhao Xuan allocated more than 10 million yuan from the inner treasury, plus the disaster relief, Zhao Xu's internal treasury prepared for several years of private goods were also emptied.

This doesn't matter, Zhao Kuangyin's intention to set up an internal treasury is to leave a little bit of finance for the royal family after the division of imperial power, so as not to empty the power ministers, but it is mainly used for disaster relief or military purposes, of which military uses account for the majority. When will the inner reservoir be used to recover Hehuang and Lanzhou? Is it like Zhao Zhen to reward scholars with the money from the inner treasury?

It is impossible in the Zhao Dynasty, Zhao Zhen is stingy, and Zhao Ji is also stingy, but Zhao Ji's money is used to restore the glory of the Han family, and it is placed in the military, and the scope of miserliness includes the treatment of scholars and doctors. Otherwise, the scholars and doctors would not hate Zhao Ji and give him a god's nickname. What is God, neuropathy!

At the same time, the charity association donated more than 8 million yuan before and after, which was put on the front line.

Coupled with other stealth expenditures, the cost was as high as 70 million, almost on par with the Battle of the Abyss, but although the Battle of the Abyss lasted for a short time, how much damage was caused and how many troops were used? This proves that the cost of using troops is increasing, and of course, the country has been at peace for a long time, and rising prices are an important factor. It's understandable, but it has brought about a serious financial crisis.

If you are not afraid of the year of the bumper harvest of grains, the drought in Guan Jian this year is continuing, and it is not as serious as the seven years of Xi Nian, but the drought in Jingdong and other areas has not ended, and it has continued until the autumn, not only in the north, but even in the Wuyue region in the south, it is also threatened by the drought.

Zheng Lang thought of one thing. According to the records in the history of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Luan hurriedly transferred Zhao Luan to the southeast to preside over disaster relief matters. By the following year, the Wuyue drought was over, and the plague began to spread. Fortunately, Zhao Luan took care of it, so there was no major incident, and that's it, many people died.

So much so that Zhao Luan was transferred back to the capital due to merit, and when he was in phase again, Zheng Lang personally greeted him at the gate of the city. A heavy salute was given to him. In this context, whoever takes over the book will have a headache. So no one dared to trouble Zheng Lang.

In the ninth year of Xining, the country gradually restored its peace, and some people began to look for trouble.

At the beginning of the seventh year, five fleets, 10,000 soldiers, and other men were sent, totaling more than 10,000 men. Went to the other side of the ocean.

But before that, the imperial court allocated a lot of money to the families of these soldiers and sailors, even in the most difficult financial years of the imperial court. also allocated some money and silk one after another to appease. In fact, to put it bluntly, this is life money. However, there was no news for more than two years, and some family members began to make trouble.

Therefore, Liu Zhi, Liang Tao and Wu Yansuo jointly wrote a letter to impeach Zheng Lang. It is vague that Zheng Lang was sloppy, and just based on the words of a seafarer who did not know his origin, he used more than 2 million yuan of money. More than 10,000 people are unknown to their lives or deaths. In particular, Liu Zhi gave an example that the Song Dynasty did not let Zheng He go to the West like the Ming Dynasty, but in fact, the Song Dynasty's maritime trade also reached some countries in East Africa. The difference is that it is an official organization, a non-governmental spontaneous trade.

If, as Zheng Lang said, the distance between the two sides is not much different, in the past, it took a year and a half for merchants of the Song Dynasty to go to East Africa, but it didn't take so long, half of the time was spent stopping at various ports and waiting for the monsoon. This waiting is not in vain, and in the process of waiting, it is also trading. Since the imperial court encouraged the dockyard to develop advanced ship technology, Zheng Lang also took out some information for their reference. Liu Zhi won't say this, he only said that he would be back in almost a year. But after more than two years, there has been no news, and it is estimated that all these people are more than lucky.

Most officials did not have much objection to Liu Zhi's words.

The source of the information that Zheng Lang got was indeed unknown, at most Zheng Lang was also well-intentioned, wanting to get more crop seeds to make the country richer and stronger. The second one, if it's the slightest mistake, is dangerous. For example, the distance, there are many people and the boat is large, although a lot of food, fresh water, and other materials are prepared on the ship, if the distance is shorter than what Zheng Lang said, it is the best. If it is longer than what Zheng Lang said, and as Zheng Lang said, there are not many islands along the way to replenish supplies. When the food and fresh water are eaten, they cannot come and go on the ocean, they can only wait for death, not to mention the danger of hurricanes and waves at sea.

Zheng Lang knew it in his heart, not so fast.

The technology is not good, the route drawn by yourself may not be accurate, there are many typhoons at sea, although there is a compass, it is not a satellite navigation map, and when a gust of wind blows, I don't know how far to deviate from the route. What would the compass do if there was no island reference?

It is all the way to the west to the other side, and know where it is, it is clear on the map, but standing on the ground, what you see is a mountain or a river, a forest is a plain, look around blankly, take a look, you can judge where you are? Not to mention going ashore in search of various crops.

It's a long process and a matter of luck.

The fact is that now the fleet came back, also lost its direction, with the help of the monsoon, and the speed was fast, and later a sailor noticed that something was wrong and turned eagerly, so that the fleet went north, reached the country of Java, and actually bypassed Oceania. The man and the ship returned, but they could not bring back the charts.

But at that time, Zheng Lang did not explain and submitted his resignation, asking the imperial court to send him to Yizhou.

Zheng Lang has traveled almost all of the places in the country, but he has not gone to Sichuan.

Seeing the resignation, Zhao Ji was miserable, Zheng Lang often gave him lessons, at least Zhao Ji was more mature than in history. This request for release is not to travel all over the country, but to avoid suspicion. is that more than 10,000 people are missing, what is it compared to Zheng Lang's merits? Besides, it was said at the beginning, this trip is auspicious and lucky, but we must also be prepared for the annihilation of the whole army if it is unsuccessful.

This is Zheng Lang's move to serve as prime minister for many years, and he has made great contributions, and he is afraid that his achievements will be high.

So Zhao Ji called Zheng Lang to the inner palace and said, "Gong Zheng, you are too careful, I am not a narrow-minded person. ”

Zheng Lang said: "Your Majesty, the ministers are not worried about Your Majesty, Your Majesty is the Holy Lord, but the ministers may not all be virtuous ministers. The minister asked for release, not because he was worried about what His Majesty had in mind, but because he was protecting the minister himself. If there is a mistake in the state policy, the minister will go down a year or two later. His Majesty can transfer the ministers back to the capital. ”

Zhao Wei was not allowed, but Zheng Lang was resolute, and Zhao Ji had no choice but to demote Zheng Lang to the governor of the government in the name of Zheng Lang's rashness.

Then Zheng Lang found Wang Anshi again and said, "How many years have you and I been in charge of the government?" ”

Not to mention the position of prime minister, but to talk about government affairs, the master and apprentice have never served as the No. 1 prime minister over the years, but whether it is Zeng Gongliang or Fu Bi or Wang Qi, although they have served as the No. 1 prime minister, the real government affairs are handled by Zheng and Wang.

Wang Anshi was a little confused.

Zheng Lang said again: "Jiefu." You and I have been in charge of the government for many years, and there are more and more people who are jealous, and there will be more and more people who oppose it, and in the end, it will not only be good for people, but also for things, which is not conducive to national reform. ”

Wang Anshi also heard some rumors, Zheng Lang said it so clearly, can he still not understand? Zheng Lang is going to Yizhou, and it is Wang Anshi in the court. But the emperor wants to protect Zheng Lang, so Wang Anshi can only go down. It happened that Wang Anshi's son Wang Yan died, and Wang Anshi was a little disheartened. So he asked to be released and transferred to Jiangning as the prefect.

It's not without Wang Anshi. Down and down, up and up, Zheng Lang was in the capital, Wang Anshi went down, and Zheng Lang left the capital. Wang Anshi can also be brought up, and the lower and upper are the ancestral family laws of the Song Dynasty, but the complaints are alleviated. Guarantee that the reform will continue to be implemented.

However, on the recommendation of Zheng Lang, Sima Guang served as prime minister.

It's not that Zheng Lang is optimistic about Sima Guang, on the contrary, Zheng Lang has become more and more worried about Sima Guang over the years.

A Zizhi Tongjian is a beautifully written history book, but it is actually a history of power and conspiracy. If an official can read the general knowledge of information and governance more than a dozen times with his heart and get the true taste, then congratulations, you will go further and further in your career, and you will become more and more black.

In the process of reform, as a student of Zheng Lang, he did not raise many opposing voices, but he has been silent. This has already satisfied Zheng Lang. Now let him be the prime minister, as a student of Zheng Lang, the reformers will not be controversial, but secretly Sima Guang has close contacts with Liu Zhi and other conservatives, and Sima Guang will not oppose the rise of the conservatives.

In fact, Sima Guang is far inferior to Wang Anshi in terms of official governance. Zheng Lang's approach is to worry that Sima Guang will be nostalgic for the position of power in his heart, he will not be in the phase, Sima Guang will not be much, but he will not be in the phase for a long time, and he will go to the northwest again at the beginning of the summer, and when the northwest is settled, it is the time for him to pay tribute, and if he does not retreat at that time, it is difficult to ensure that his descendants will not be affected by the descendants of Huo Guang and Zhang Juzheng.

He is unanimous, Sima Guang is not as good as Wang Anshi, but he actually wins the hearts of the conservative reform faction, will he use his power and scheming skills on Wang Anshi again to seek the position of prime minister? Once Sima Guang has this idea in his heart, his efforts will be wasted.

So he pushed Sima Guang to the position in advance.

Pang Ji said that if you are a good prime minister, if you do not act or use the court money to buy people's hearts, you will be favored by the scholars, but the national government will be corrupted. If he does this, he will be hated by many scholars. This is where the prime minister of the Song Dynasty is in a dilemma.

Fubi Wenyanbo's reputation is good, but the country's politics are corrupting.

Sima Guang is now the prime minister, and he will also face these three choices, one is inaction, if he does not act, he will be the same as Wang Qi, and he will gradually be despised by Zhao Ji. This consequence will be terrible, Zhao Shu's thoughts have evolved for a thousand years, and he blindly wants to correct his own name, but he can't get around a hurdle, without Zhao Zhen, how can he get to the throne? Speaking of the children of the clan, there are not too many children of the clan, when will the son of a beggar mother ascend the throne as the emperor?

Zhao Ji did a better job at this point, and treated Zhao Zhen's descendants well, but he couldn't oppose his father, without Zhao Shu, it would not be his turn to be the king. Therefore, no matter what happened behind Wang Anshi's dismissal case and Zheng Xia's case, Zhao Ji was not easy to handle. Therefore, Han Qi, Wen Yanbo, Zeng Gongliang and Wang Qi have always been treated kindly, and if they oppose these four heroes, Zhao Shu will not be able to correct his name. With the merit and seniority alone, these people can stay in the prime minister's position. What does Sima Guang have?

Or buy people's hearts, there are two ways, the first way is to use officials and money to buy people's hearts, but the general environment is that Zhao Zhen changed Zhao Zhen's practice, and the officials' salaries and rewards are very strictly controlled. Zheng Lang is not very in favor of this, because in this way, some scholars will hate it, as long as it is not allowed to overflow. The second is that the control over the number of officials is also very strict, which Zheng Lang is consistent with Zhao Ji's thinking, and has been reducing the number of officials since the beginning of the reform. Sima Guang still doesn't work.

Either the reform will be overthrown, and if Sima Guang dares to do so, he may be favored by conservatives, but it will anger all moderates and radicals. even saddled with the infamy of a traitor. With Sima Guangchengfu, he will definitely not choose the first three paths.

Therefore there can only be one of the following paths, as. Once done, it will offend many people. Or half as half and thin mud, this is mostly Sima Guang's choice, but Zheng Lang is still in the middle book, and Sima Guang wants to be with thin mud It is also very difficult.

has stood at the pinnacle of power, and the road is rugged, and there are many constraints, Sima Guang's desire for power will not be as heavy as in history, so no matter how it evolves, there will be no historical story. Sima Guang does not take the lead. Yuanyou would not have become a party, and the Song Dynasty would not have entered a fork in the road and lost its way.

Zhao Ji didn't know the inside story, he was a little hesitant, at least in terms of financial management, he didn't see how much ability Sima Guang had. Zheng Lang said: "Because the ancestor said that the southerners were cunning and could not be reused, even Fan Zhongyan traced back to the roots, saying that he was a northerner, but in fact, it was on this." The ancestor was a little sloppy. Recently, this mistake has been corrected, and many southerners have been reused, and northerners are dissatisfied. Therefore, the minister recommended Sima Guang as prime minister, also for this balance. ”

Zhao Ji agreed to come down.

After Sima Guang became prime minister. Sure enough, some northerners were raised. Whether it is a southerner or a northerner, the position in Zheng Lang's heart is equal, and those who have the ability can be used, and those who are incapable or have ill intentions. Whether it is north or south, Zheng Lang does not like it.

It doesn't matter, as long as Sima Guang doesn't spoil the overall situation. Harmless.

However, this made some ministers have the illusion that Wang Anshi and Zheng Lang were demoted, although Sima Guang was promoted, Sima Guang was not a loyal supporter of reform, and it was mostly the emperor's practice of appeasing Zheng Lang's inner dissatisfaction, so they thought that the country's finances were improving, Zheng Lang's role was gradually decreasing, and the credit was great, and the emperor was going to suppress Zheng Lang. So these people continue to beat the water dogs.

Liu Zhi and Wang Yansuo wrote books in succession to impeach Zheng Lang, and it was easy to find trouble, and they cited more than a dozen charges against Zheng Lang at the court meeting.

Zheng Lang listened to them finish reading the recital, and shouted: "Quack! Weak externally and cruel internally, what qualifications do you have to be a scholar! ”

This sentence came out of Zheng Lang's mouth, and it was very meaningful. Over the years, Zheng Lang's attitude was very gentle, and even made major mistakes, summoning all important ministers to the capital hall to discuss and persuade, and also encouraging him to criticize and put forward opinions on his mistakes in handling government affairs as long as he did not close his eyes and talk nonsense. Because of this approach, it won the hearts of many scholars and doctors, and also buffered the contradictions brought about by the reform.

Now this heavy sentence comes out, obviously very angry, but it actually means that Liu Wang and the others are not even qualified to be scholars.

Most people also think that Liu and Wang's approach is too much, even if 10,000 people are missing, Zheng Lang also said the stakes at the beginning, and now some family members are making trouble, a prime minister is demoted to Jiangning, and a prime minister is demoted to an auxiliary minister, and it is also two meritorious prime ministers who are depreciated, which is enough, Liu Wang's approach is too cruel.

The fact is that Zheng Lang is ready to beat Liu Wang.

He still has a thick history of the Song Dynasty in his mind, and the history of the Song Dynasty praises King Liu to the sky, but what about the facts? Not at all. Wang Anshi was authoritarian, stubborn, cowardly, and arrogant, although it was to quickly implement the reforms, but his actions undoubtedly angered many people, and even regarded his new study as the subject of the imperial examination, which clearly placed himself in the position of a sub-sage, which became the fuse of the party dispute. Sima Guang pushed down and pushed down again, without asking whether it was right or wrong, and it was a selfish practice.

But these two are only about things, not people. Even if Li Ding suppressed Su Dongpo, Wang Anshi and Su Dongpo still exchanged letters.

However, it was Liu Zhi, Wang Yansuo, Liang Tao and Sima Guang's student Liu Anshi who launched the Yuanfeng List, shifting from the right thing to the right person. The political slander and framing began at their hands, including Cai Qu's death.

Liu and Wang didn't know that the crisis was coming, and they were very stunned when they heard Zheng Lang's foul language at the court meeting, and Liang Tao immediately impeached Zheng Lang for losing the court, which should be dealt with heavily. Zhao Ji did not say a word and announced his retirement from the dynasty. Subsequently, the edict was issued, and Liu Wangliang and the three were all demoted, and then degraded.

But the turmoil is not over.

In the second year, Zheng Lang Qiniang died of illness and went home to worry about it, Liu Liang and Wang usually had a tacit relationship with Sima Guang, and the relationship with Wang Qi and Wu Chong was not too bad.

Zhang Dian was not convinced, and handed over an excerpt.

Zhao Ji was furious, and once again demoted the three of them, becoming three ordinary supervisors of various states, and Wang Qi became a privy envoy, from the prime minister of the east province to the prime minister of the west province, which is equivalent to a heavy depreciation. Sima Guang degraded Xijing Luoyang. Han Jiang became the prime minister of Dongfu, and only Wu Chong's position remained untouched.

Sima Guang understood that this was the emperor's compensation for the teacher, but on the way to Luoyang, he deliberately went to visit the Zheng family. said: "Gong Zheng, in the past, you also used political enemies to restrain the court, in order to prevent future generations from opening up the ministers, Liu Zhi, Liang Tao and Wang Yansuo are all upright and outspoken ministers, and the court suppresses them too heavily." ”

I'm not convinced.

Zheng Lang sighed lightly and said, "Junshi, it used to be like this, when I was only in my early fifties, and I could have a long time to control and balance the political situation. Now I'm sixty years old, and I don't have as much energy as I used to. And in a few years, I will leave the court and go to the northwest. The three of them won the hearts of the ministers of the north, and it would be fine if they were as upright and bright as Lu Gongshu and others, but no, they did not dare to speak out, but dared to attack and frame them personally. I am afraid that I will leave the court in the future, and the three of them will take the throne and affect the future of the country. I know you have a good relationship with them, and I have no objection to that. You must not bring your personal feelings to official business. In the past, I have taught you some principles of being a person and doing things, among which the distinction between public and private is the most important. Junshi, think twice. ”

Cui Xian smiled on the side: "Junshi, if you talk about personal relationships." Who can have a deep personal relationship with officials and you. ”

The personal relationship she said is not a personal relationship, but a kindness, including Sima Guang's career progress, from the privy deputy to the privy envoy to the ordinary chapter. All of them are strongly recommended by Zheng Lang, not to mention the love between master and apprentice. actually pulled the three people to the top, Sima Guang had some selfish intentions. This Cui Xian is not easy to say.

Sima Guang sighed, left Zhengjiazhuang, went to Luoyang to take up his post, and began to bury himself in the cultivation of capital governance.

Then Zhang Fangping was transferred from the third envoy to the governor, Zhao Pan was transferred from the governor to the privy envoy, and Wang Anshi went to Beijing to serve as the third envoy, because the bank wants to prepare for the expansion of shares, and the country also needs a minister who is good at financial management. Subsequently, Zhao Pan had a conflict with Wang Anshi, and due to old age and illness, he asked Zhishi, and the imperial court took Zhang Fangping as the privy envoy and Lu Gongbi as the governor.

It's these five fleets that involve so many bigwig changes.

Zheng Langding was worried for a year, the court seized the favor and was transferred back to the capital, Zheng Lang refused the position of prime minister, and still served as the governor.

However, these five flotillas have always been a political stain on Zheng Lang.

Zheng Lang said that spring is coming, and everyone thinks that Zheng Lang is happy to erase this stain. Actually, no, the Xining drought, and the weather for many years was very abnormal, which was the result of the arrival of the Xiaoice River. But this Xiaoice River is not as serious as the end of the Ming Dynasty, and as long as these coarse grain seeds appear, they will make up for the bad results brought by the future weather.

Zheng Lang has always said that two hundred years of peace.

Two hundred years is very difficult, two hundred years at least six to ten monarchs will be replaced, it is impossible to guarantee that all monarchs are Ming monarchs, but under the pseudo-democratic system of the Song Dynasty, even if it is the lord of the mean of Song Zhenzong, the Song Dynasty will not be corrupted, in fact, it is a figure like Song Huizong, if there is no foreign invasion, the Song Dynasty will not perish. As long as the Song Dynasty does not perish in 200 years, science will evolve to the level of the early 19th century, and all kinds of thermal weapons will appear one after another, even if such a figure as Genghis Khan appears, it will not be able to harm China, and the world pattern will change as a result.

But it's very difficult, what if there is a person who is worse than Zhao Ji? Also, the rise of Xiaoice River and Jurchens in the future, which is the first difficulty whether the Song Dynasty can exist.

A single grain can overcome this difficulty.

Moreover, the significance it brings, as long as the imperial court takes proper measures to popularize it, is even more unimaginable.

Zheng Lang continued to look at the twists and turns, although this fleet came back, the losses were very heavy, and there were many conflicts with the indigenous people of the Americas after going ashore, which was helpless, because Zheng Lang asked for too many crops, and he had to search for them on a large scale, and there would be conflicts if he couldn't understand the language. On the way back, some ships were lost, and only more than 900 people returned, and some of the crop seeds and seedlings were either dead or lost. But potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, rubber trees, cinchona, and fine lint cotton were six essential plants that were brought back.

At the same time, there are also some fruits, vegetables and flowers, including peppers, peanuts, sweet potatoes, beans, cashew nuts and so on.

Among them, the rubber tree wants to profit, the time is very slow, only bring back more than 4,000 seedlings, the road also lost most of the half, and some seedlings will die if they are cultivated, plus the growth period and the popularization period, it will take at least two hundred years to popularize and promote the profit, but this is not in a hurry, if you want to get the benefit of rubber, technically it will take a hundred years later. The most helpless is the cinchona tree, which will not be used for a long time, and it will definitely not wait for the time to popularize it.

To Zheng Lang's surprise, he also brought back one thing, tobacco, these soldiers went to the other side, saw the aborigines smoking tobacco, tried one by one, half of them became addicted to smoking, so they also brought back this crop.

Tobacco made Zheng Lang feel embarrassed and headache.

With this recital, Yu Metropolitan Council.

The east mansion is Han Jiang, Wu Chong, Zheng Lang, Lv Gongbi, and Lv Dafang, and the west mansion is Wang Qi, Zhang Fangping, Zhang Dan, Zeng Gongliang's son Zeng Xiaokuan, and Wang Anshi.

Zheng Lang handed the fold to Zhao Ji, Zhao Ji read it and handed it to several bigwigs in the West Mansion, and the bigwigs in the East Mansion knew all about it, so there was no need to look at it again. Zheng Lang said: "Your Majesty, it is advisable to issue an edict to let the fast horse bring these crops to the capital. ”

Zhao Ji nodded.

Zheng Lang attached great importance to this matter, and the imperial court also spent a lot of money to go down, causing many turmoil, and Zhao Wei also attached great importance to it. Zheng Lang also said: "At the same time, when I sent an envoy to congratulate the Khitan on New Year's Day, I also reported this matter, if I succeed in cultivating, I will bring some seeds the year after tomorrow or the year after tomorrow to fund the Khitan cultivation. ”

It took a long time for these crops to be brought back, and as long as there were no ghosts in their hearts, they were happy. However, Zheng Lang's sentence stunned everyone together. (To be continued.) For mobile phone users, please go to read. )