It’s the New Year. Today is the fifth year of Jianyan, and tomorrow will be the sixth year of Jianyan, or the second year of Jinhuangtong, or the sixth year of Zhengde in Xixia.

On this day, Tokyo is very lively... This is nonsense, which house is not lively during the New Year?

What's more, the Song Dynasty had various established practices here. There were seven days of holidays for the New Year's Day, three days before and four after the New Year. Not to mention buying new year's goods before the New Year, the fourth day after the New Year was the exclusive time for "purchasing".

window period.

The so-called gambling refers to adding a certain gambling component to normal business activities. This was a very common phenomenon in the Song Dynasty. However, because gambling is wrong after all and has been repeatedly banned, the government only targeted it after the year.

A certain legal period has been opened for small daily consumption goods, and legal gambling is allowed in the market.

Of course, business transactions must be taxed, and they also have the meaning of promoting internal circulation of the economy.

However, for the emperor, civil and military officials, nobles, and even imperial students, that is, almost everyone who has a political identity and is in the capital, this holiday is not more comfortable than others, because in the middle of the holiday,

That is, on the first day of the first lunar month, a Zhengdan dynasty needs to be held.

To be fair, this official meeting, which is completely incapable of deliberation, is meaningless.

It is still more formalistic, and it is better to say that it is the so-called sacrificial service among the military and the sacrificial system. To put it bluntly, it is really necessary to engage in internal disputes within the ruling class, to discuss politics with the Imperial Academy, the public cabinet, and the secret cabinet, plus

The metropolitan and provincial system established in Nanyang as early as Nanyang, and the recent reform of ministries, departments, and local officials to match their names and actual status are not better than this thing?

But then again, after all, this is the Zhengdan Dynasty. After all, it is a traditional political activity with a long history. Even if it is just pretentious, it must be shown.

What's more, isn't this year going to be a continuation of the past and a counterattack instead of defense? Moreover, the pacification of the south and the destruction of the puppet Qi are enough to support this great dynasty meeting.

The only trouble is that they have to go to court after watching the New Year's Eve, which is hard for some older ministers. Therefore, on the New Year's Eve, many experienced ministers go to bed early and stay in the room or rest in peace if they can't sleep.

Or meditate, and usually don’t get up until the evening to cope with the torment of the next day.

"Do the officials really want to have dinner at my house today to celebrate the New Year?"

In the late afternoon, there were already scattered sounds of firecrackers, and in the backyard of the old house of the Lu family, the largest family in the dynasty, which had been passed down for four or five generations, beside a few plum blossoms and on the winding corridor, only the public pavilion was left

Lu Haowen, who has been appointed as the chief, is relaxedly playing chess and consulting with others.

The person opposite him was clearly an official of the current dynasty.

"Is there anything wrong?" Zhao Jiu looked at the Go board in front of him and frowned, looking a little doubtful, as if he was at a disadvantage. "Did Lu Qing think I was joking? I even brought chickens and fish to you.

Here it comes...the chicken is not in shape yet. It was indeed purchased from the market, but the fry were very large from the beginning. Now they are indeed usable. I specially asked someone to fish them out for you from the palace...

Let’s see if your family still eats vegetarian food today?”

"Officials, vegetarianism..." Lu Haowen raised his head and glanced at his eldest son, Lu Benzhong, the newly-appointed Central Secretary, who was standing behind the officials. The latter understood and immediately opened his mouth to explain.

"Vegetarianism is a last resort for poor people, but it is a wicked way for people with your family background. It is more troublesome to eat vegetarian food than meat, it is a waste of manpower, and it is just pretentious." Zhao Jiu heard that it was Lu Benzhong who spoke.

If he doesn't show any mercy, he directly scolds him. "Do you really think that I can point to a chicken or a fish to suppress Buddha Zun Yuan? Although I want to respect Yuan Xue, I won't even use it for such things..."

Both Lu and his son were embarrassed.

After a while, Lu Hao asked about the placement of a chess piece on the board, and then smiled bitterly: "That's not what I meant, but today is the New Year's Day after all. Don't officials need to show their filial piety in front of the two queen mothers? There are also two noble concubines...

"

"We had a family banquet during the day, and in the afternoon we sent people to Yanfu Palace to perform a new play. Elder Sun beat the Bone Demon three times... which can be regarded as a filial piety." Zhao Jiu looked at the chessboard, picking up the pieces and slightly raising his eyebrows.

"As for the two noble concubines, it would be troublesome to force them to give birth prematurely in these months. It is better for them to enjoy themselves with their families. Besides, isn't it considered business to express condolences to the country's veterans during the New Year?"

Lu Haowen just smiled bitterly, and Zhao Jiu didn't pay much attention... Both of them knew that this was to resolve the embarrassment just now, and it was just a so-called forced change of the topic.

After a while, as Zhao Guan's family and Chief Lu were going back and forth, Lu Benzhong went to the backyard door to give instructions about the kitchen to his younger brothers who were waiting there. When he came back, he continued to stand side by side with Yang Yizhong.

The conversation between the monarch and his ministers here finally turned to some serious matters.

"What does it mean that Wanyan Wushu is having sex with a living girl across the river, but he doesn't know what it means? He is just an ambitious rebel with only 20,000 soldiers, but Wanyan Wushu refuses to make a serious move?"

Lu Haowen looked more serious. "Do you really want to give Yan'an to Xixia?"

"We are used to our own set of things, so naturally we cannot understand the Jurchens' thoughts." Zhao Guanjia responded calmly, but seemed to be a bit wrong in his answer. "What is the foundation of the Jurchens' country? It is not two hundred thousand from the east and west.

Households! Compared with these 200,000 households, the territory and population are not unimportant, but for now, they are just accessories of the 200,000 households..."

At this point, Zhao Guanjia paused for a moment before continuing to explain: "Here, the country is the country, the family is the family, and the army belongs to the country. But from over there, there is no distinction between the country and the family, Wanyan

The clan is divided internally and then monopolizes power; on the other hand, some countries are owned by the military, and everything follows the military power... Of course, there are some Jurchens who understand the truth and know that this is wrong, and they want to change it and are changing it.

, but in the past twenty years, we relied on the army to conquer thousands of miles. How can we say that we can change it by changing it? Therefore, in the case of Yan'an, we only need to grasp this one, that is, the army is as important as the country, or simply the army is more important than the country.

Many strange behaviors of the Jurchens can be clearly seen."

"If that's the case, it makes some sense."

Lu Haowen thought thoughtfully, and then suddenly realized. "I think Wanyan Wushu left Yanjing this time to inspect Hedong. From a public perspective, the first priority was to return the 20,000 soldiers who were alive to the national control. This is the top priority.

And selfishly speaking, it is impossible to say that he has the intention to manage the Western Route Army for himself and expand his influence in the army... As for Yan'an and the Xixia people, whether they should be retained or not has nothing to do with anything else. It only depends on him and the living daughter.

Is there any problem with the result?"

"Absolutely." Zhao Jiu responded easily. "Actually, it's not just the Yan'an incident, but also the various behaviors of the Jin people in the past. As long as you want to understand that the Jurchens have some countries and armies, at least if they pay equal attention to the country and the army, then many of them seem to be

Strange things can also be smoothed out. Not to mention Jingkang, after the Yaoshan War, the Jin army was equivalent to defeating 40,000 households on both the east and west routes at the same time. Therefore, in the eyes of most of them, fighting across the river and waves was tantamount to

It will damage its foundation, and since the army cannot cross the river again, then Jingdong and northern Shaanxi are just useless things. It becomes logical to use them to negotiate peace, and it is pointless to hand them over to Xixia as bait. On the other hand, if

We cannot damage their military strength, and only judge the Jurchens’ decision-making ideas based on their advance and retreat situation and the morality of their people, but it is tantamount to talking between humans and animals, bringing humiliation to themselves... Of course, the further it goes, the harder it is to say this.”

Lu Haowen shook his head, not knowing whether he disagreed or thought of something.

"But no matter what." Zhao Jiu said seriously. "No matter whether he will continue to be entangled with the living girl, or whether he wants to change Yan'an, I don't care, and I don't want to give up this opportunity... If Lu Xianggong wants to

I advise you not to mention it more."

Lu Haowen shook his head more and more, but then asked another very strange question: "May I ask the official, why do you have so much trust in Yue Fei?"

Zhao Jiu raised his head and glanced at the other party, then looked back at Yang Yizhong and Lu Benzhong standing beside him. He was silent for a moment, and then gave an inexplicable answer: "Of course it's because of his life experience."

Lu Hao asked again and again, and blurted out: "It's easy to talk about his experience, but his origin, but he is from Hebei, and he has never changed his heart to fight against the Jin people?"

"Of course it means that, but it's more than that." Zhao Jiu looked at the chessboard in front of him and answered slowly. "There are many people in exile in Hebei, and so is Li Qiong, but why do I only value Yue Fei? It's not because he was a tenant farmer.

?”

The atmosphere in the corridor was tense for a moment.

"Don't doubt it, I mean what you think." Zhao Jiu made a move without even looking at the reactions of the people around him. "Hanwu employs latecomers first, and it is easier for me to employ poor and lowly people... just like that.

The promotion of Zhao Ding as Prime Minister on that day was partly based on his background as a petty official for more than ten years; and for example, Han Shizhong was born in a rogue village in northern Shaanxi, Zhang Jun, Wu Jie, and Wang De were born in a good family in the border area, which actually also means something like this.

Another example is Qu Duan, who lost his father at an early age, Li Qiong, who died in Hebei, and Li Yanxian, Li Shifu, a border tycoon. They also have merits, but in the end they are not as good as Yue Fei, a tenant farmer and a refugee from Hebei, who is more popular with me because he was a grassroots soldier.

In comparison, I have deliberately suppressed the withdrawal of those general families, and Han Xiaozhou can't even use them. As for Lu Xianggong's family, which has been responsible for the military and state affairs for four generations, if it hadn't been for the Mingdao Palace that day.

What a coincidence, even if a blind cat bumps into a dead mouse, I won’t be able to even notice it.”

Zhao Guanjia was sarcastic. I don’t know if it was because of the mental battle over playing chess, but if so, it can only be said that he did succeed. After hearing this, the atmosphere in the corridor became even weirder. Although Yang Yizhong had no expression on his face, Er Lu was expressionless.

Embarrassment is inevitable.

"The official meaning is that since ancient times, powerful generals must be sent from the ranks of soldiers, and prime ministers must be from states and counties. Is that what it means?" After a pause, Lu Haowen just said awkwardly while playing chess. "And if

How many wealthy families in the world know the sufferings of the people?"

"Almost, but not quite." Zhao Jiu also continued to sigh with emotion while making mistakes. "In the final analysis, I actually still want to say the word experience, even one's birth must be attributed to experience. Just like most people who are born are just ignorant.

Ignorant babies will be very different later on. How much they can reach depends on their experience and how much they have experienced... A person born into a family of sharecroppers and working hard to become a handsome minister will naturally understand the sufferings of the people than a person who is born into a father-in-law.

, understand the thoughts of the soldiers at the lower level, and understand the intrigues of the middle level."

"This is irrefutable." Lu Haowen sneered.

"Just like Yue Pengju." Zhao Jiu continued to chatter. "If you were not born as a tenant farmer, knew the sufferings of the people, and knew the military needs, every bow and arrow would be exchanged for the food in the people's mouth. And the food in the people's mouth, every millet and grain, is so hard-earned.

How could he enforce military discipline so far? Cultivate personal morality so far? In this regard, Han Liangchen, Zhang Boying, Li Shaoyan, and Wu Jinqing were far inferior to him. He was a big man with no appearance, but he probably grew up as an orphan.

Second only to Yue Pengju in terms of military discipline... It is said that I was responsible for guarding Qu Duan and rescuing him, but without his outstanding military discipline in northern Shaanxi and his contribution to calming the people and stabilizing the border, he would not have been revived in the first place."

Lu Haowen said more seriously: "The official's words are extremely correct!"

"The experience I just mentioned at the beginning does not necessarily refer to Yue Pengju's experience of winning the battle. It also refers to his experience of being defeated from Yanyun to Taiyuan, from Taiyuan to Xiangzhou, and then all the way out of Hebei and to the Central Plains.

.It was also his experience of following Wang Yan and Wang Yan's separation, and following the example of Zhang Suo Zhang and his death in battle... Without these experiences, how could he hate the Jin people to the core, where could Jianyan be so persistent in the first two years, and where could he have come from?

Is it appropriate to use troops this year?" Zhao Jiu still sighed. "He Yue Fei is not really the reincarnation of the Bodhisattva.

There are more, coupled with the willingness to learn and think, this is how you become a national star!"

Lu Haowen couldn't help but look at his eldest son, and even Yang Yizhong was slightly moved. He looked at Lu and his son, and then looked thoughtful.

"Actually, I often think about it." Of course Zhao Jiu knew what these people were thinking, and he continued to sigh. "Some things are simply connected by cause and effect... Just like during the Jingkang period, Wen Tian and Wu were playing, and the two saints were in Shaoxing. It was said that at that time, he would take the throne

Just give it to me, but considering the overall situation at that time, can I really be stronger than Yuan Sheng? If nothing else, you, Mr. Lu, ask yourself, you were considered important in the Yuan Sheng Dynasty back then, but looking at it from today's perspective

Was his behavior at that time as ridiculous as watching a clown?"

Lu Haowen, who was opposite, shook his head and couldn't answer, and Lu Benzhong, who was standing on one side, rarely sighed... Because this question has a definite answer. After Jingkang, Lu Haowen recalled the ridiculous actions of Jingkang before, and then saw the fate of the country.

, and then he was hanged up, humiliated and beaten by Li Gang and others, and he almost wanted to commit suicide.

Even Lu Haowen himself publicly admitted those political mistakes three years ago when he was still in the old capital.

"Lv Xianggong, I know what you mean by this question. In the final analysis, I am still worried that Xixia has a deep foundation and cannot succeed. I would like to persuade me to slow down... right?" Zhao Jiu suddenly threw his money at the plate, then raised his head and asked seriously.

...In fact, he had just taken advantage of Lu Haowen's confusion, but suddenly it became boring again, so he simply gave up.

"Yes." Lu Haowen clasped his hands in response, obviously having no reason to deny. "But I am not the only one who is worried. It is that these days, there are statements everywhere in the court, which has caused commotion in the government and the public... For example, Honglu Temple summoned people one after another.

Xixia envoy Gao Shouyi sternly scolded him; the Ministry of Household and Military Affairs arranged the purchase of grain and grass, and the allocation of military supplies was also very obvious; the newspaper in the palace became more and more severe day by day...Those people in the palace, although they did not care about the serious secrets of the court,
To be continued...