!
"Defeat the Liao and Xixia? That's easier said than done."
When Fan Zhongyan heard Zhao Jun's words, he laughed at himself and said, "Even if we are fully prepared, we can only deal with Xixia at best. How can we compete with Liao, who have powerful soldiers and horses?"
Zhao Jun glanced at Fan Zhongyan and said coldly, "If you don't even think you can beat him, then you really can't."
"this"
Fan Zhongyan was stunned for a moment, then hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, even if I die, I will never let the Liao cavalry go south."
Zhao Jun smiled and said, "It's not that serious. The Liao Kingdom has more cavalry, and the Song Dynasty already has gunpowder. I don't plan to make muskets and cannons for Zhao Zhen and his men right away, but I can get you granular gunpowder and grenades. That's relatively simple."
If muskets and cannons were invented, the Song Dynasty would be truly invincible in foreign wars, and Zhao Zhen and his men would have even less courage to reform. Therefore, sometimes they had to be pushed, otherwise nothing great could be accomplished.
"Grenade?"
Fan Zhongyan asked in confusion, "What is this?"
"Don't worry about it. I'll show you how to do it when the time comes. As long as you can defeat Xixia and Liao, and make the Song Dynasty leap from the lowest position among the Three Kingdoms to the top, it should give Zhao Zhen some courage."
Zhao Jun said, "As long as we can maintain peace for a few years and prevent the Western Xia and Liao from invading our borders, we can gain Zhao Zhen's support for reform. But Zhao Zhen is unreliable, so you can only rely on me."
"On you?"
"Yes, I suspect Zhao Zhen will pretend to support your reforms after defeating the Western Xia and Liao. But is that really the reform you want?"
"you mean?"
"These people don't dare to openly ask me not to attack the scholar-official class, and can only secretly use conspiracy to lure me into a trap. This shows that they are weak and incompetent. They want me to save the Song Dynasty, but they also hope that I will not cause too much social change to maintain their power. That's why they hope to assimilate me."
"Yes."
"Zhao Zhen didn't dare to kill people. At most, he would remove some corrupt officials. Without a fundamental change in the system, it would be difficult to reform the system. So I will kill the people and you will do the work."
"You kill people, and I do the work?"
Fan Zhongyan frowned and said, "If we kill one or two, it's fine. But if we kill too many, will they?"
"Won't."
Zhao Jun shook his head. "Perhaps they just want me to kill a few people to satisfy my desire for reform. Otherwise, do you think I can easily see the shortcomings of Bianliang and the world?"
"you mean?"
Fan Zhongyan thought for a moment, then said, "Did they show you that on purpose? That's impossible. How could they possibly control the lives of millions of people in Bianliang?"
"They really can't control it, but they can control it by changing some things before I go. It's just that it would be too deliberate, and I'm not stupid enough not to see it, so they decided to let it go."
Zhao Jun laughed and said, "My feet are on my body, they can't control where I go. So why not just let me see what's going on? After all, I've seen those drawbacks in history books. Why not just let me kill some people and do something?"
"Hmm"
Fan Zhongyan pondered for a moment.
Zhao Jun continued, "In the future, I'll find some corrupt officials and have them executed. They can then pretend that you've killed them and carried out reforms. That would be like rectifying the bureaucracy, and thus preserving the entire bureaucracy, wouldn't that?"
"You make a lot of sense. Why didn't you think of it before?"
Fan Zhongyan was shocked.
Why did Zhao Jun seem to have changed a lot that night?
"Didn't you understand before? In fact, I still don't understand now. I only have a vague understanding of the social class structure of the Song Dynasty and the degree of corruption in the bureaucracy. The only thing I know is that they want me to go into the mountains."
Zhao Jun shook his head. "As the saying goes, 'I cannot see the true face of Mount Lu because I am within it.' I've been blinded by too many things. I need to see more of the world."
"So what are your plans next?"
Fan Zhongyan asked.
Zhao Jun laughed and said, "I plan to go to Zhao Zhen and make trouble, forcing him to expand the authority of the Imperial City Bureau to the entire country, just like the Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty."
"You want to start a Jinyiwei in the Song Dynasty?"
Fan Zhongyan was extremely shocked, and then he said quickly: "We must not open this door."
In the final analysis, he is also a civil servant group.
Although he dared to kill people, he did not want the civil service group's power of trial to be taken away by the Imperial City Department.
Zhao Jun said, "Since power can be delegated, it can naturally be taken back. Opening the Imperial City Office is only a temporary measure. Once the malpractices in the officialdom are eradicated, the Imperial City Office can be closed down."
"Hmm."
Fan Zhongyan had no choice but to say, "Then do as you wish."
"Old Fan, it's great that you have such awareness. You are someone who can accomplish great things."
Zhao Jun gave a thumbs-up and said, "From now on, you should continue to side with the scholar-official class, pretending to have learned from history and reduce the intensity of reforms. It would be best if we become hostile forces in the future."
"Hostile forces?"
Fan Zhongyan thought for a moment, then lowered his head and said, "You mean the government needs us to be a hostile force?"
"Yes, I will force Zhao Zhen to reform and force him to let you take the throne. You just need to compromise with Lü Yijian, Wang Zeng, and the others, and then put on a show, and then promote your own people. Zhao Zhen is afraid of factions, so my hostility towards you will create a balance. When the upper echelons are all your people and I am in charge of the Imperial City Bureau, I will use internal and external forces to kill him and turn the world upside down, catching Zhao Zhen off guard."
Zhao Jun burst into laughter. He was indeed Old Fan. He was a bit straightforward, but that did not stop him from being smart.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
