"What method?"
"Zhao Zhen is at best a good man, not a good emperor. You were right before. We must get rid of the stubborn conservative interest groups like Lu Yijian and replace the upper echelons of power with our own people before we can accomplish much."
"Are you planning to depose Lu Yijian and support us in taking the throne?"
"That's understandable."
"That alone might not be enough. I've always done this throughout history, but has it been successful? I still have to wait for Lü Yijian and Wang Zeng to fight before it's my turn. And even if I go up there and want to kill someone, the government won't let me go."
Fan Zhongyan suddenly felt a little tired because he found that he was a little idealistic.
After learning that the reason why his reforms failed in history was due to the lack of support from the government, he always hoped that Zhao Jun could convince the government to support him from beginning to end.
But now I realize that even if I persuade the government, what will happen? If I don't kill people, it will still be just another Wang Anshi reform.
You should know that the content of Wang Anshi's reforms was definitely not bad.
But it turned out like that when it reached the grassroots level, doesn't it just show that the low-level officials are rotten to the core?
If we do not kill a large number of people to intimidate officials, and allow these people to continue to harm the country, then no matter what kind of reforms are carried out, the lower-level officials will be fearless and the implementation will never be effective.
Even if these officials were replaced, it would be useless. The fundamental reason was that the government was too lenient with them. Even if they were corrupt, abused their power, and took human lives, it would not affect their continued promotion and wealth, but would only make them more unscrupulous.
So he initially hoped that if Zhao Jun could stand on his side, the situation would be much better.
But after chatting with Zhao Jun, I found out.
Own.
It seems like I'm overthinking it.
As long as the government is weak, the Song Dynasty can do nothing.
“You can’t kill anyone.”
Zhao Jun's face showed a trace of struggle, but thinking of what he had seen and heard these days, he gritted his teeth and said, "I will kill him. Zhao Zhen is a scoundrel, so he must be forced. You can't do it, so I have to force him. Because you are Zhao Zhen's subordinate, an official crawling at his feet, and I am not. If I don't obey, I will be his father!"
Fan Zhongyan was shocked and asked, "Have you ever killed anyone?"
“No.”
Zhao Jun shook his head. "But I might be unable to resist killing someone in the future. Just what I've seen these past few days has made me almost mad. Killing is normal when people are extremely angry. If I saw with my own eyes an official oppressing the people and destroying their families, I would definitely not be able to suppress my anger and would kill him with a knife!"
“But without the government’s consent.”
Fan Zhongyan was obviously hesitant.
Zhao Jun, however, had already come to terms with it. He said, "Anyway, I'm not afraid of death. I have a big plan now. Do you want to hear about it? I also have a book you can read, and you should share it with your friends."
"What book?"
"Quotations from that great man."
"'Selected Works of Great Men'?"
"Yes."
"I've often heard you talk about it and have always admired you."
“I hope this book can help you.”
Zhao Jun decided to go back and organize the "Selected Works" and then hand the notebook to Fan Zhongyan.
It’s not that he didn’t want to copy it, but the Selected Works has a total of more than 1.5 million words, and it would take an eternity to copy it out.
"Um."
Fan Zhongyan responded, then asked, "What are your plans?"
"Let's analyze the problem first."
Zhao Jun said: "What problem are we facing now?"
Fan Zhongyan said in a deep voice: "We are facing internal and external troubles. The Western Xia and Liao are eyeing us covetously. Corrupt officials are rampant. The local people are living in misery."
"No."
Zhao Jun shook his head: "You missed the point."
"What is it?"
"Remember what I said about your historical failures?"
“There is no support from the government.”
"Why doesn't he support you?"
"Some people have criticized me, saying I'm forming a clique."
"Why is he afraid that you have a clique?"
"this"
Fan Zhongyan opened his eyes wide, and then said, "Because the government wants to maintain its rule."
"Yes."
Zhao Jun said coldly, "It's not that Zhao Zhen doesn't want to change, but he cares more about his own rule! If his rule is threatened, he won't agree."
"In other words, everything you said before was in vain? Even if there are reforms in the future and the entire court opposes it, he will still choose not to support me?"
Fan Zhongyan couldn't believe it.
"Look, you called me naive before, and you are just as naive. You didn't see that the essence of the matter lies not with the civil and military officials in the court, but with Zhao Zhen himself."
Zhao Jun laughed. Perhaps Fan Zhongyan was not blind to it, but he could only pin his hopes on Zhao Zhen.
Because in the Song Dynasty, Zhao Zhen still had the final say.
It’s just that Zhao Zhen was afraid.
He was afraid that if he touched the cake of the scholar-official class, it would provoke a counterattack from the scholar-official class, causing social unrest and thus shaking his rule.
Therefore, he could only compromise with the scholar-official class and give in step by step, resulting in the scholar-official class's current wanton behavior.
"In the end, it's all in vain."
Fan Zhongyan found that he had been overthinking it before. As they talked, he found himself as desperate as Zhao Jun.
"not yet."
Zhao Jun shook his head and said, "Now that we know what Zhao Zhen is afraid of, many problems can be easily solved. We have two things to do now."
Fan Zhongyan asked: "Which two?"
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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