The Emperor of Song was addicted to the Internet, and the Vice Emperor was traveling.
The Constitutional Council worked overtime, and the senior officials in charge of military and political affairs in the northwest were reforming the military.
However, the people's situation did not improve much, the national treasury was in deficit, and the problems of redundant troops, redundant officials, and redundant expenses remained serious.
This is the current situation of the Song Dynasty.
But there is nothing we can do about it.
Zhao Jun really took control of the power in September last year.
He did not have a thorough understanding of the basic situation of the Song Dynasty. He had previously read it from history books, which was inevitably biased.
Therefore, we must now be down-to-earth, go deep into the grassroots, and thoroughly understand the basic situation of the Song Dynasty.
But judging from the series of situations we have learned so far, it is indeed biased.
The problems of the Song Dynasty were even more serious than recorded in history books.
This is not a problem that can be solved simply by killing a few corrupt officials. Maybe even the emperor will have to be punished before thorough reforms can be carried out.
But overall, as long as Zhao Jun continues to hold power and keeps moving forward, there is still hope.
Because the communication cost among the top leaders of the Song Dynasty is very low now, unlike the previous Song Dynasty, where they were full of intrigue and mutual constraints, which made it impossible to accomplish anything.
And in many things, there was more trust and less suspicion between them, such as Fan Zhongyan holding great power.
The reason for this situation is that Zhao Jun's appearance made many things clear.
Whether in later generations or ancient times, why do people like to appoint people based on personal connections once they come to power, and arrange for their relatives to get jobs, such as in companies, officialdom, enterprises, and even give positions to dogs in the village?
The point is that when communicating with relatives, there are not so many concerns.
Imagine if an outsider is working under you. You have to speak politely and think carefully about every word you say, for fear that you might say something wrong and make your subordinates think too much, thus causing unnecessary trouble.
For this reason, those in power often need to disguise their true thoughts by wrapping them in countless layers of language. They have to be vague when speaking and cannot speak too truthfully or in detail. They all become riddlers.
Therefore, there was a saying in ancient official circles that one should guess the intentions of superiors. It became a model in the Ming Dynasty. Jiajing was an old riddler, so Yan Song and Xu Jie both had to become masters of guessing the intentions of superiors.
Family members are more casual when talking to each other. They can say whatever they want, and even quarrels between brothers and fathers and sons are not a big deal.
On the surface, it seems that they are talking casually to each other, but in fact it shows that relatives are exchanging ideas more thoroughly and naturally, which is more conducive to work.
More importantly, there is a deeper alliance of interests between relatives. When the group faces a crisis, outsiders are likely to jump ship in order to protect themselves.
Family members generally don't do that because they often have no way out.
Therefore, the deep-seated logic of nepotism and the so-called family businesses of later generations is actually to use blood ties as a bond to form deep-seated interest ties and thus prevent betrayal.
However, the only person who cannot be applied this logic is the emperor.
The emperor cannot trust his relatives because they may betray him.
Just like Zhao Kuang trusted his younger brother so much, but in the end he was usurped by Zhao Guangyi.
But now it's different.
The appearance of Zhao Jun revealed many things, which led to the three ministers and three interviews. The original barrier between Yan Shu and Fan Zhongyan and the emperor was reduced, and they spoke more frankly without so many reservations.
Because they have a common secret to abide by, and to a certain extent, they also have a deep alliance of interests.
In addition, Zhao Jun revealed many things, which led to a series of conflicts of interest between them.
So they spoke more frankly to each other.
This way of communication will obviously greatly increase work efficiency, including Fan Zhongyan's trip to the northwest, which will not be constrained by various factors and will give him greater power.
So when the people in the highest power institutions of the Song Dynasty became an alliance of interests and jointly built the future, what were the upper power institutions of the Western Xia and Liao Dynasties like at this time?
At this time, Li Yuanhao of Western Xia had not yet proclaimed himself emperor. He had just executed his uncle Wei Mu's clan, his mother Wei Mu Shuangyang, his wife Queen Wei Mu, and the son born to him by Queen Wei Mu two years ago. In the future, he would kill his son and his wife to seize his daughter-in-law.
In comparison, Emperor Xingzong of Liao, Yelü Zongzhen, who only imprisoned his mother and demoted his first empress to a noble concubine, can be considered a filial son, a good husband, and a good father.
At this moment, in Li Yuanhao's palace in Xingqing Prefecture, Western Xia, he was reading a secret letter sent by a spy.
In fact, Western Xia had already established a country, but it was not an empire, but a kingdom. Starting from his grandfather Li Jiqian, Western Xia had been independent of Liao and Song and became a third major force.
The Liao Dynasty named his grandfather the King of Xia, and the Song Dynasty named him the King of Xiping. Later, Li Yuanhao's father, Li Deming, inherited his grandfather's title and was further named the King of Daxia by the Liao Dynasty. The Song Dynasty also named Li Deming the King of Xia. Since then, the Western Xia Kingdom has basically become a kingdom.
Li Yuanhao now inherited his father's legacy, but he was far from satisfied with it. So in recent years, with the assistance of two trusted ministers, Yeli Wangrong and Yeli Yuqi, he began to prepare to ascend the throne and become emperor.
Now, the preparations for the enthronement have actually been almost complete. A Dangxiang regime with "the Yellow River in the east, Yumen in the west, Xiaoguan in the south, and the desert in the north, covering an area of more than ten thousand miles" has already taken shape. However, due to repeated defeats in battles with Zuo Silu last year and the year before, the country is somewhat unstable, so there is some hesitation.
"Your Majesty, the Song people have suddenly changed their commander at the border. They must be on guard against us. It will be difficult to attack them from the south now. Perhaps we should submit a letter of credence and continue to show weakness to the enemy, so that they will think we have no intention of invading from the south."
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