As for the Northern Expedition Lottery, it had already been piloted in Kaifeng Prefecture for more than half a month, and the response was so good that Emperor Zhao had to learn from the story of the national debt and issue a special decree to strictly prohibit the Ministry of Revenue from expanding its scale.
By July, before the auction began and many new trade channels paid off, with the arrival of Dali envoys, Emperor Zhao had raised a huge sum of more than two million strings of cash. He gave all the money to the Ministry of Works and ordered the Minister of Works, Hu Yin, to select a suitable place and build the necessary storage facilities in preparation for the Northern Expedition.
Of course, according to Zhang Jun Jiancai’s previous suggestion, this matter was also publicly reported in the court bulletin.
So far, of the five strategies for the Northern Expedition that Zhang Xianggong was inspired by reading "Water Margin", four of them have actually been implemented or begun to be implemented despite opposition and attacks. Only the memoirs of the two saints are still being written.
Emperor Zhao was not in a hurry about this at all.
"What do you think, Brother Huizhi?"
While Tokyo was in full swing, the city of Yanjing, thousands of miles away, was inevitably much cooler. In the evening of that day, the light had not yet completely dimmed, but the Milky Way was already faintly visible. Under the Milky Way and amid the croaking of frogs, Hong Ya, the provincial governor of the Great Jin Dynasty, slowly put down the report in his hand, and then looked at his increasingly close friend beside him - Qin Huizhi, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council of the Great Jin Dynasty and the prime minister.
The location was under the grapevines in Qin Huizhi's spacious backyard, so there was nothing to worry about. However, Qin Huizhi, who was sitting only two feet away from Hong Ya, put down the herbal tea in his hand and asked under the light: "What do you think, Hong Chengzhi?"
"I feel that the series of measures taken by the Zhao official are somewhat opportunistic and seem to be acting in a treacherous way." Hong Ya responded seriously. "I don't know why no one has advised against it?"
"Who dares to advise against it in front of that official who has been powerful for seven years?" Qin Huizhi looked up at the sky and shook his head. "As for what you said about trickery, I personally think that the so-called trickery is not about how clever the means are... If the accumulation of great power is not enough, and you want to reach the sky in one step by means of means, you will naturally act in a tricky way and will fail sooner or later; but if the accumulation of great power is so great that it is only three feet and three inches away from the sky, then if you just use some tricks to reach the edge of the sky, people will admire that his great power is strong and can't be stopped!"
Hong Ya was slightly startled, and after a moment of thought, he asked seriously, "Brother Huizhi, do you think the situation in the south is not strong enough, or is it strong enough?"
"That depends on what you think thirty million strings of cash are compared to the seven years of hard work of this official." Qin Huizhi still looked up at the starry sky and still did not give a direct answer.
Hong Ya finally lost his patience and could not help but lower his voice and asked seriously: "Then let me be frank... Brother Huizhi, do you think this official can accomplish his goal in three years?"
Qin Huizhi turned his head to look at Hong Ya who stretched his head over, and was silent for a long time before he asked: "Hong Chengzhi, over the past six months, I have actually had an idea, that is, the current situation in the south, the many actions of that official, in fact, are quite similar to the reform of the prime minister back then..."
"So it can't be done?" Hong Ya was surprised for a moment.
"I didn't say that." Qin Hui shook his head seriously again. "In my opinion, the failure of the Prime Minister was not because of his incompetence or his bad intentions, but because of two reasons... First, Emperor Shenzong finally wavered; second, the new party rose too quickly and had mixed qualities; third, the old party had a deep foundation and worked hard... So, instead of asking me what I think, Hong Chengzhi, you should ask yourself, you came from the south, and you are an official appointed by the emperor himself. What kind of person do you think he is? Can he hold on and not change his ways because of opposition? And among the people he used, how many were loyal and how many were treacherous? How many were capable ministers and famous generals, and how many were treacherous and useless? If you know these two situations, you can easily get the answer."
As he spoke, Qin Huizhi ignored the fact that he had said two things and talked about three things. In the end, he only asked two questions, but looked at Hong Ya seriously, waiting for his answer.
Hong Ya also looked up at the sky across the grape trellis, pretending to think for a long time, but he just smiled bitterly and said, "Brother Huizhi, you are joking. How would I know this?"
As he spoke, he slowly turned his head to look, only to find that Prime Minister Qin Huizhi, Deputy Envoy of the Privy Council of the Great Jin Kingdom, had also looked up at the sky at some point.
It seems like this guy can observe the stars and know the general situation of the world!
PS: Thanks for the 153rd cute glass bead and hero card... I was so busy a few days ago that I didn't notice it at all... I'm very sorry.
Then I will offer my new book "The Work of a Chess Master" as a routine sacrifice.
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