Zhao Jun didn't actually stay in Yan'an Prefecture for long.

In terms of governance, both Fan Zhongyan and Pang Ji did a pretty good job, and there was nothing to criticize about them.

In terms of military, he defeated Li Yuanhao in one battle and made the other party call him daddy.

Economically, although the trade with Western Xia was cancelled, the relationship with Qingtangjiao Siluo was close and trade exchanges became more frequent.

In the confrontation with Western Xia, Jiao Siluo also made a lot of efforts, leading more than 10,000 troops to threaten Western Xia's Xiliang Prefecture and tie down part of Li Yuanhao's troops.

This can also be considered a diplomatic success.

Therefore, with the presence of Fan Zhongyan, Pang Ji, Wang Yaochen, Wen Yanbo and others, Shaanxi Road still presents a scene of vibrant vitality and flourishing.

The advantage is mine.

Afterwards, Zhao Jun went south along the Yellow River, preparing to go to Shanxi for inspection.

In this way, with another trip to Hebei and then back to Bianliang from Shandong, I have basically traveled all over the Song Dynasty. It is estimated that by the beginning of next year, the whole process will take three years to complete the work of investigating the class structure of the Song Dynasty.

At the same time, Li Yuanhao's letter requesting surrender was also delivered to Bianliang. At the morning court meeting today, the ministers discussed the situation.

Many officials believed that since Li Yuanhao had decided to surrender, the war in the northwest had been settled, and military spending there should be reduced, and all the imperial guards that had been sent out should be immediately recalled.

There are two reasons why the officials are worried about the Imperial Guards being outside. One is that the border troops in the northwest are suffering from heavy losses. At present, the national treasury is still relatively full and has not been emptied by the war in the northwest.

But war costs money. In history, the Song-Xia War lasted for four or five years, which almost wiped out the savings of the early Renzong Dynasty and caused a high fiscal deficit. The price of grain in Bianliang rose from two or three hundred coins per stone during the Jingyou period to seven or eight hundred coins during the Qingli period, nearly a thousand coins per stone.

First, Zhao Jun had helped Zhao Zhen make a lot of money. Second, he had accumulated a lot of wealth through the sale of state-owned assets. Third, the Jiaozi Shop, with its growing deposits, was there to help cover the losses. Even if the war continued for another four or five years, the situation would not be as bad as it was in history.

But no matter what, seeing the treasury being spent like water every day, the officials were still a little scared. After all, they had money and food in their hands, so they were definitely not worried. Now that so much money and food were being spent, it was naturally painful for them.

Second, the number of Northwest Army troops is too large at the moment.

In the earliest period, the border troops numbered approximately 300,000, and after deducting those who were not paid, there were at least 200,000. Later, Fan Zhongyan and Wang Deyong brought 20,000 men, and in the last two years, another 80,000 were transferred, bringing the officially registered border troops to 420,000.

There were so many troops in the northwest, and they were all under the overall control of Fan Zhongyan. Even though he was a civil servant, the fear of the concentration of military power in one person's hands still made the civil servants feel uneasy.

In fact, too many things have happened in the past three years that have made the huge civil service group feel uneasy.

First, the power of officials is highly concentrated.

After the establishment of the Political System Council, the official system was reformed, which led to the unification of the originally chaotic official order. Power was highly concentrated in the Political System Council, or in the hands of Zhao Jun, Lu Yijian and others, and their power was much greater than that of the previous prime ministers.

All officials are very hostile to the prime minister, not to mention that the current Constitutional Council is comparable to the prime minister in ancient times, with the power of governance across the country and the power of life and death over all officials.

Therefore, many officials had complaints about the Constitutional Council, and the censors and remonstrators would often ask the emperor to abolish the Constitutional Council system.

The reason why it did not arouse opposition from the civil and military officials in the court was that after the establishment of the Constitutional Council, many new departments were set up and the previously idle officials were recruited to take up positions. With the support of a group of new interest groups, it was able to gain a firm foothold.

The second is the high concentration of military power.

Historically, when Fan Zhongyan went to the northwest, the official in charge was actually Xia Song. Moreover, Xia Song was not the one who had the final say. Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi and others were there to check and control him, dividing his power and making it difficult for Xia Song to monopolize power.

Now that Fan Zhongyan has gone to the northwest, he is truly a local emperor. He not only has direct command of all the troops, but also has the power to govern the local area and appoint and dismiss officials. He is the real military and political leader.

If Fan Zhongyan had stayed in the northwest for two more years and replaced those senior generals with his own people, he would probably have become a local governor and a warlord who ruled a certain area.

In this situation, officials would naturally think of the various vassal armies in the early Tang Dynasty who disobeyed the central government's orders and dominated the local areas.

Therefore, faced with such a situation, all officials were quite wary.

During the court meeting, some officials even used the Anshi Rebellion as an example, suggesting that if Zhao Zhen did not exercise restraint and immediately recalled Fan Zhongyan, it would probably lead to unpredictable consequences.

Therefore, the voice of accepting Li Yuanhao's surrender quickly overwhelmed other voices, although some people also analyzed that Li Yuanhao was ambitious and would not give up so easily.

However, most officials never considered whether Li Yuanhao posed a threat to the Song Dynasty. They only considered whether the excessive concentration of power would lead to a recurrence of the Anshi Rebellion and whether Fan Zhongyan would become another An Lushan.

So even if no one pointed it out, this kind of overt and covert hint was obviously a rumor and slander against Fan Zhongyan.

If it were not for the critical moment when Lu Yijian, the leader of the Lu Party, stood up and said a few fair words for his arch-enemy Fan Zhongyan, today's morning court would probably have turned into a criticism meeting against Fan Zhongyan.

After the court meeting, Zhao Zhen and others held a small meeting in Chongzheng Hall.

It was April, early summer, and the weather was getting warmer. The doors and windows of the palace were all open. In addition to dissipating heat, the main reason was that, as Zhao Jun had said, the structures of Song Dynasty palaces were often made of mercury and cinnabar, which were highly toxic and needed to be kept ventilated at all times.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!