"Please speak, sir."

"That is, the person in charge must be selected from the regular civil servants. The government can directly supervise and interfere, but it must be properly affiliated with the Ministry of Revenue. In particular, Yang Yizhong and Liu Yan must not be allowed to touch this matter. This is because the martial arts school is in Yanfu Palace. The martial arts students are suspected of being subordinates of Yang and Liu. If they are allowed to supervise, it will undoubtedly add to the wealth of the imperial guards. I am afraid that there will be a disaster like the Shen Ce Army in the Tang Dynasty." Lu Haowen responded seriously, which attracted the attention of several ministers behind him. Yang Yizhong was even more embarrassed and could only lower his head and pretend that he didn't hear it. "In other words, you can follow the precedent of the court report, but you shouldn't follow the precedent of the Imperial City Department and the secret memorial."

"How about Yu Yunwen, the attendant?" Zhao Jiu sighed and responded with a serious look. "Let him be the first doctor of the Military Statistics Department under the Ministry of Revenue."

"Who to use specifically is naturally a matter for the government and the provincial government. I cannot say much about it." Lu Haowen replied earnestly.

Zhao Jiu nodded slowly.

Prime Minister Lu Gong hesitated for a moment, and then continued: "There is another small matter. I think that the emperor claims that he doesn't care about Buddhism, but he is actually overly cautious, and even self-defeating... In the past, it was difficult for monks to even contact the emperor, but the emperor first went to the Great Xiangguo Temple and then the Shaolin Temple, and personally paid homage many times. He also sent the Emperor Taishang Daojun to the Shaolin Temple for resettlement, and appointed Fahe as the abbot of the Shaolin Temple. Today, the Qingmiao Law was restarted, and it also started from the Shaolin Temple. It seems that it has involuntarily improved Buddhism."

Zhao Jiu thought about it and was incredulous for a moment: "Mr. Lu means that I am honoring the monks by slapping them in the face?"

Lu Haowen nodded repeatedly, but then slowly shook his head.

Zhao Jiu was speechless for a moment.

"That's exactly what I meant." Lu Haowen replied with a wry smile. "I'm not trying to imitate the monks' wit, but I just think that the emperor is willing to reason like this, whether it's with the monks or the ministers, it's always a good thing for the whole world... Compared to this, the emperor asked the Zen monks to endorse the Tantric Bodhisattvas, and gave the Arhats, who are despised by Mahayana Buddhism, to the abbot Fahe as a favor, which is really a matter of course."

At this point, Zhao Jiu couldn't help but laugh: "So, the worst and most unreasonable person in the world is actually the emperor?"

Unexpectedly, amid the suspicion of the other four officials behind him, Lu Haowen actually nodded slightly: "This is what I mean. I hope that the emperor can continue it in the future and encourage himself to serve his virtue."

"I understand." Zhao Jiu nodded, and then slowly asked in the silence of the ministers, "Does Prime Minister Lu have anything else to say?"

"Yes." Lu Haowen said helplessly under the moonlight. "Lü Yihao, the governor of Lu, is a fierce person and cannot be a prime minister, but he is a good hand at practical work. While he is still in the southeast and in good health, if the New Green Seedling Law in the Central Plains is done well, he can be allowed to implement it in the southeast earlier..."

"I understand." Zhao Jiu didn't know what he remembered, and he chuckled with his hands behind his back.

"There is also the Market Exchange Law. Although it has the same drawbacks as the Green Seedling Law, both are about officials seeking profit and exploitation, but the New Green Seedling Law is feasible, but it cannot be said that the New Market Exchange Law is feasible... The government should be cautious."

"I see. Anything else?"

"Also, I would like to resign from my position as Minister of Military and National Affairs and Chief of the Secret Council." Lu Haowen continued slowly, and the people around him did not look too surprised.

"Why?" Zhao Jiu obviously didn't look too surprised.

"I am nearly seventy years old, my health is declining, my energy is weakening, my mind is becoming confused, and I have also experienced the past events of Fengheng and Yuda. I have personally witnessed Cai Jing, in his seventies, holding the position of prime minister and fighting for power with the thieves. I have a sense of caution in my heart and do not want to wield power and be looked down upon by the world. This is one of the reasons..."

Hearing this, Zhao Ding instinctively wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't open his mouth.

"I was first appointed as the Minister of State, then the Minister of the Secret Council, and now I have been appointed as the Minister of State. In addition, I have to study the original knowledge, which is complicated. I will only lose everything and cannot study it in depth. I want to go to the Secret Council and the Minister of State, and only serve as the chief of the Minister of State for one year, and then study the original knowledge in depth. This is the second option." Lu Haowen continued to speak seriously. "And my eldest son Lu Benzhong is 48 years old this year. The rest of my sons have also come of age, but because of me, they have not been able to enter the officialdom. As a father, I also want to lick my calves and do not want to hinder their official careers... This is the third option."

Zhao Jiu finally nodded slowly.

"Thinking back when Ming Daogong was appointed as prime minister, his peers, such as Li Boji (Li Gang), have been out of office for several years, Huang Qianshan ended up like that, Zong and Wang died for the country, Zhang Xianggong (Zhang Que) died of illness on the way, Xu Xianggong retired at the height of his career, and even Yuwen Xianggong (Yuwen Xuzhong) and Lu Jinglue (Lv Yihao), who became prime ministers later, are now only governing in the local area and have actually lost the power of the prime minister... I actually wanted to retire a long time ago, but the emperor has to take care of the orphans, so I had to delay." Lu Haowen spoke more and more fluently. "Now that the peace talks have been stopped, the two saints have been settled, the appeasement officials in the court have left, the pseudo-Qi has been destroyed, and the country is actually stable. Today's grand sacrifice is to show that the offensive and defensive situation of Song and Jin will change. It's the time and the situation. I really shouldn't stay any longer... This is the fourth!"

"Before Xianggong Xu left, he specifically said that Lu Yihao was unfit for use, and that it was safer for Lu Qing to remain as Xianggong." These words sounded a bit heavy, and Zhao Jiu hurriedly smiled. "Who would have thought that you would leave today and use his abdication as an excuse? I wonder how I should respond to his questions in the future?"

When everyone heard that Zhao Jiu had changed his address, they all understood.

"That was because Prime Minister Xu was afraid that the government would ignore the people's livelihood, so he was directly instigated by Lu Jinglue to hastily launch a northern expedition... But now it seems that the government's prudent and responsible governance is not what he thought." Lu Haowen said indifferently. "Besides, he just left and fished in Wenzhou all day, leaving the generals here. Why should we deal with him?"

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