Just after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the weather started to get cooler.

A few pots of charcoal fire have recently been added to the greenhouse of the Government Affairs Hall.

Lu Yijian sat on a chair, holding in his right hand a roll of official documents sent from Jiangnan West Road yesterday.

After looking for a while, he rubbed his nose twice, looking a little old.

Wang Zeng, who was standing next to him, picked up a handful of spices and sprinkled them into the brazier at his feet. In an instant, the fragrance filled the air.

Smelling this sudden fragrance, Lu Yijian raised his head and looked at Wang Zeng. The fragrance was tinged with a faint green smoke. He suddenly said in a trance, "Xiaoxian."

"Um?"

"Do you think we are wrong?"

"That's what Lu Gong meant."

"It's been almost two months since Zhao Jun's eyes recovered."

"Yeah, it's almost two months."

"But have you seen him do anything great so far?"

“I have done a lot of great things.”

Wang Zeng smiled and said, "Yesterday we captured two Jinshi from the Ma family. Actually, they are your brother-in-law."

The relationship between Ma Liang and Lu Yijian is father-in-law and son-in-law. Lu Yijian married Ma Liang's eldest daughter, and Ma Zhongfu is Ma Liang's youngest son. He is in his forties this year and is still imprisoned in the Imperial City Division.

The Ma family had already approached Lu Yijian about this matter, but Lu Yijian didn't know how to face Zhao Jun.

Several of his sons had also asked about their uncle. Fortunately, the Lady Qin had died of illness a long time ago, otherwise, Lady Ma would have definitely made trouble for Lu Yijian. Lu Yijian still feels a headache about it.

"Let's not talk about this matter anymore. The two brothers of the Ma family deserved what they got."

Lu Yijian smiled bitterly and shook his head.

He didn't expect that the Ma family had done so many bad things.

However, his father-in-law was not a good official. He was corrupt and took a lot of bribes. He knew this, so it was difficult for him to interfere in the affairs of the Ma family.

The main reason was that Zhao Jun's values ​​were too different from theirs. For the rulers and ministers of the Song Dynasty, corruption was actually no longer a big deal.

But Zhao Jun cannot tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes. Maybe it doesn't matter if they just steal or occupy a little bit, but if they support underground forces like Wuyou Cave and Guifanlou that harm the people, that is their problem.

The key point is that they originally hoped that Zhao Jun, who had such a murderous intention, would take the imperial examination and enter the officialdom, and be assimilated into the officialdom, so that even if he carried out reforms in the future, he would be more moderate, or even try to slow down the pace of reforms, and simply improve productivity and engage in inventions and creations.

But now it seems that Zhao Jun is not moving in the direction they hope to go. Instead, the harder they suppress him, the stronger the rebound.

Now, they have found another way to find the government, obtained the power of the Imperial City Administration, and started to rectify the officialdom from another angle and direction, sweeping away the cancer of Kaifeng Prefecture in Bianliang in one fell swoop. This is something they never expected.

The more they tried to play it safe, the more Zhao Jun took radical actions.

Wang Zeng was always smart. He understood what Lü Yijian meant after a moment's thought and said softly, "Prime Minister Lü must be regretting that he shouldn't have allowed Zhao Jun to enter the officialdom like this."

“But the government also agreed.”

Lu Yijian said that it was indeed he who instigated Yan Shu to find Zhao Zhen in this matter.

Wang Zeng shook his head and said, "The emperor agrees, but don't forget, Zhao Jun once said that the emperor is easily persuaded and is the easiest to agree to. If he agrees to us today, he will agree to Zhao Jun tomorrow. If we keep pushing each other like this, there's no end in sight."

"well."

Lu Yijian sighed, "What should we do now? If this continues, Han Yi might not be able to be saved."

"If I can't keep it, then I can't keep it."

Wang Zeng said disdainfully, "You've always been too obsessed with your own little piece of land. Zhao Jun is right. The desire for power is too strong. The more you fear losing it, the more you want to hold on to it. I'm afraid that in the end you will get nothing."

Lu Yijian was speechless and said, "You don't have to tell me. Aren't you the same? Isn't this something you're worried about as well?"

Wang Zeng fell silent.

To repeat, although he had conflicts with Lu Yijian, the appearance of Zhao Jun did shake the base of their bureaucratic scholar-official class.

Today, the power of the bureaucratic and scholar-official class is unprecedentedly strong, but Zhao Jun wants to kill them as soon as he comes. As the representative leaders of this base, he and Lu Yijian, including Wang Sui and others, do not want such a thing to happen.

The problem was that Zhao Jun had only been talking big at first, but when he arrived in the Song Dynasty, he saw some things and people that changed him. His talk had turned into real action, which made Lü Yijian and Wang Zeng even more fearful and worried.

If I had known this would happen, I would have advised the emperor to give Zhao Jun a different title, such as "Imperial Number One Scholar" or "Prodigy", and let him directly take charge of the overall planning. It would be better than having him in charge of the Imperial City Administration and raising the butcher knife against the bureaucrats and literati.

"So what?"

Wang Zeng said, "Now that the deed has been done, let's just bear with it for now. Maybe he'll clean up some corrupt officials, which would be a good thing."

Lü Yijian smiled bitterly and said, "Willn't he ultimately support Fan Xiwen's Qingli New Deal? Do you think he's just taking advantage of this to clear obstacles for Fan Xiwen?"

"this!"

Wang Zeng suddenly woke up.

yes.

Among ten officials in the Song Dynasty, six, seven or eight were corrupt.

Now Zhao Jun is planning to spread the power of the Imperial City Bureau throughout the country. If all officials in the country are investigated by him, I am afraid that a large number of officials will be dismissed.

Even if this process takes several years, the New Policies of Qingli will only take place a few years later.

If Zhao Jun quietly brought down a large number of officials within a few years, and Fan Zhongyan also used this period to win over more officials to support his new policies, wouldn't the new policies be promoted nationwide in the future?

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!