On the first year of Jianzhong Jingguo in the Song Dynasty, on the eighth day of the 10th month, Chongzheng Hall.

Zhao Ji, the official who had just finished his "live and regular life", stood high above the imperial throne, watching the ministers below worship him, with a smile on his face, and he seemed to feel comfortable.

Empress Meng, who was so worried about her dear sister-in-law, was now kicked into Yaohua Palace to be a female Taoist priest. The old party members in the court did not react too strongly, and only Deputy Prime Minister Fan Chunli submitted a letter to ask the county. Zhao Ji pretended to keep it twice, and approved it after Fan Chunli submitted the letter to the third time, and asked Fan Zhongyan's son to go to Yingchang Mansion as a scholar in Duanming Palace.

Now one of the six prime ministers is vacant, and the question that someone is asked to fill is placed in front of Zhao Ji.

The best candidate in Zhao Ji's mind is of course Cai Jing, the current Minister of Taifu Temple. However, if Cai Jing is appointed as prime minister now, the balance between the old and new parties in the court will be completely broken. Among the six priests, only one is the old party, and the remaining five are the new parties.

Moreover, the only remaining old party, Han Zhongyan, is a useless honest man... it is impossible to independently support the situation of the old party. Sooner or later, he will be bombarded away by Zeng Bu, the murderer.

If Zeng Bu was allowed to dominate, it would probably not be a blessing for the country!

Zhao Ji thought for a long time, but still felt that Cai Jing was not suitable for Xuan Ma, so he did not ask the other ministers' opinions, but only asked Han Zhongyan: "Han Qing, now the right chief of Shangshu is vacant, who can hold this position?"

Han Zhongyan replied after leaving the rank: "Lu Dian, the Minister of Rites, was a minister of the minister of the Ministry of Rites for three dynasties. He served as the Minister of the Secretariat and the Minister of the Secretariat during Yuanfeng. He then went to the local area for a long time and had a lot of good governance, which was enough to serve as the right chief."

Lu Dian was Lu You's grandfather and was once a disciple of Wang Anshi. However, when Wang Anshi asked about the new policy Yu Dian, Lu Dian said: "The law is not bad, but it may not be implemented as intended."

It probably means that the scriptures are good in the scriptures, and that the monks' mouths are crooked...

Because of this statement, Lu Dian was no longer a party of Wang Anshi, but became an official with little party color. However, he was not Wang Anshi's opponent, he just stood aside.

But those who stand by will become veterans, and both the old and the new parties can accept that while he is standing aside, Wang Anshi also handed over the work of revising the "New Meaning of the Three Classics", so he still inherited Wang Anshi's knowledge.

Han Zhongyan is not qualified to recommend the old party officials, so he can only recommend this middle school.

Zhao Ji didn't feel any disgusted with Lu Dian, but he still wanted to seek the opinions of the other prime ministers, so he turned his attention to Zeng Bu and others: "Lu Dian has a good knowledge and is also a good official, so I don't know if he can be a prime minister."

Zeng Bu really sighed in his heart when he heard Han Zhongyan recommending Lu Dian. In fact, he was most worried that Han Zhongyan would recommend Cai Jing. If Cai Jing wants to be the right prime minister, he can definitely make the right prime minister. And this Lu Dian has always been a very tactful and self-protection-oriented good official...

"Lu Dian has been an official for more than 30 years and has achieved great political achievements," Zeng Bu said. "I think he can be the right prime minister."

The two prime ministers on both sides were in agreement, so Lu You's grandfather Xuanma's preachment was decided, and no one would object to the other priests.

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

"Have you read the memorials of Li Gefei, a member of the official affairs of the Baojia Military Office of Jingzhao Prefecture, and the joint letter of Wuhaowen in Zhilantian County?"

The memorial submitted by Li Gefei, Ji Yi and Wu Haowen jointly delivered the same name was delivered the day before yesterday. After Zhao Ji finished reading it, he asked someone to copy it to the Political Affairs Hall and the Privy Council.

"The law reported by Your Majesty, Li Gefei and others is to combine the troops of the palace, the well fields, and the villages, and at the same time, the "Baojia Law" is exempted from the implementation of the "Preparation of the Law" in Lantian... It is quite strict and very feasible. If this method is implemented according to the trial, the Lantian Military Palace will surely be a small success in a year, and hundreds of elite soldiers will be able to serve in the service."

Of course, Han Zhongyan supported it. It was not because his family was a giant family in Xiangzhou. If this method was implemented in Xiangzhou, the Han family's power in Xiangzhou would be stronger. But in Han Zhongyan's view, appropriate delegating power to the wealthy family was the only feasible way.

Otherwise, what else can I do? It is impossible to divide the land and the soldiers of the government. There are not so many officials to divide the land. If you want to move the fields in your own hands, you will be dreaming.

Moreover, it is unlikely that the rich people with a lot of land will be soldiers in the palace. If they want to study and take the imperial examination, how can they join the army?

If the land cannot be divided and the rich do not join the army, then the reward policy of "protecting" 200 acres of land is meaningless for a soldier who has land but not join the army. Those who join the army have no land at all. What's the use of you exempting the 200 acres of land tax?

As for the method mentioned in Sima Guang's early memorial, he was to give the tax exemption amount to his relatives if he had no land and then asked his relatives for some benefits. In fact, wasn't it just to hand over the convening power of the government soldiers to the giant family? In fact, it was to exempt the wealthy family from taxes, and then let the wealthy family force the tenants to be the government soldiers... It would be more reliable to use "well fields, village agreements" to organize farmers.

At least under the protection of the "well-field system" and "country contract", the home of the military will not have no food to eat. The exploitation of labor rent is inefficient, which is conducive to farmers' livelihoods. After all, if the landlord's income is realized through the farmers' labor rather than the landlords, the landlords must bear the risk of farming with the farmers.

The village agreement actually has a certain restraining effect on landlords and wealthy families, and it can also restrain and unite the soldiers of the government. With the existence of the village agreement, the family members of the government army can also help raise them after they die in battle. If they escape at the battle, they will also cause harm to their families!

In addition, if this system of "well fields, rural agreements, and government soldiers" is implemented, it will undoubtedly be very beneficial for wealthy families like the Han family in Xiangzhou.

Because the system of government troops is impossible and does not need to be widely promoted nationwide. After all, government troops are not the "Long Pursuit" that has served for many years, so it is best to set up a large number of military troops near the front line. Otherwise, the government troops will not reach the front line and their service date will pass.

For the current Song Dynasty, it is enough to set up a large number of military offices in Hebei, Shaanxi, Hedong Road and Jingdong West Road.

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

Han Zhongyan seemed to make sense, and Zhao Ji turned to look at Zeng Bu again.

Zeng Bu certainly understood Han Zhongyan's thoughts, so he immediately opposed: "Your Majesty, if you integrate the village agreement, Jingtian, and the government soldiers, then is the officials appointed by the court or the wealthy family of the Lu family the commander in Lantian County? This government soldiers are not Baoding, but elites who can fight. How can such elites be held in the hands of the wealthy families?"

"This is actually happening..." Zhao Ji was also a son of Bianliang. He didn't know how many powerful and powerful families there were in the countryside outside Kaifeng Prefecture. He pondered for a moment and then solicited opinions from the left prime minister Han Zhongyan, "Han Qing, in your opinion, will the Lv family in Lantian dominate the country by using the trial of the military force?"

Han Zhongyan shook his head: "The wealthy family has no military soldiers, but they have already monopolized one side. The trick to becoming an official now is not to make things difficult for the giant family. Therefore, if your Majesty wants to run a military army, he must rely on the giant family to recruit soldiers. If you have to rely on the military army to recruit soldiers, you will inevitably let the giant family have some power.

However, a giant chamber is responsible for recruiting hundreds of soldiers, which will not have much impact on the safety of the court. Moreover, the giant chamber does not necessarily recruit soldiers, but also strong men."

In fact, it is not that the families whose main upward entrance examinations are the strongest, but that the officials sent by the court are too weak, which makes the grassroots mastered by local clerks, and the clerks are mostly attached or come from local wealthy families, which causes local wealthy families with weak strength to monopolize the one.

So in Han Zhongyan's opinion, if the court wants to recruit soldiers from the government, it can only rely on the giants. What if it is not done? Let the county magistrate, chief clerk, and county magistrate go to the street to pull the men and pull them away when they see the strong body?

As for the objections raised by the new party officials and the questions of Zhao Ji, Han Zhongyan had long thought that his son-in-law Wu Haowen had already written to him and asked this question, so Han Zhongyan was prepared and thought of a way to fool people...

"Your Majesty," Han Zhongyan paused and said, "According to the laws reported by Li Gefei, Ji Yi and Wu Haowen, the strong men must be recruited from Lantian County. If you are worried that the Lü family of Lantian will control the troops, they can be avoided by adjusting the military service period."

"How to adjust?" Zhao Ji asked.

"The three-quarters of the government soldiers can be used to serve for several consecutive years, and then they will be removed from service and returned home to farm. In this way, the government soldiers will be served in the military camp and controlled by the officers. If they go home to service, they will be the people."

"Does the salary be paid?" What Zhao Ji is most concerned about is whether to pay the money?

"There is no need to pay," Han Zhongyan said. "One soldier will cover 200 mu of land, and it will be terminated when the army is removed from service. The court will supply the soldiers' food, clothing, quilts, weapons, etc. when they serve, and the soldiers do not need to bring their own belongings."

Han Zhongyan is really good at fooling things! The soldiers he thought of were almost approaching the conscripts of later generations. He served for a few years for young people of appropriate age, and then went home after being removed from service.

Of course, conscription has to rely on local wealthy families, otherwise the county masters would have no place to recruit men.

After hearing Han Zhongyan's words, Zhao Ji's eyes suddenly lit up, and all the important officials of the new party present could not help but frown slightly.

Han Zhongyan’s ability to fool things is amazing! He actually came up with the military soldiers who had served for several consecutive years... This matter is very good, but it is really a problem if it is done!

Zhao Ji turned his attention to An Tao, the official in the Zhishumi Court, "An Qing, what do you think?"

"Your Majesty," An Tao said with a frown, "These military soldiers do not pay their wages, they will rely on the benefits of 200 acres of land to be raised... I am afraid it will be difficult to serve for a long time with peace of mind!"
Chapter completed!