Emperor Renzong of the Great Song Dynasty

Concubine Li said with tears in her eyes, "Sister Di, it's me!"

Princess Di let go of Fan Lingyi, rushed forward and hugged her: "You are not dead! You are still alive!"

She hugged Concubine Li tightly, crying and laughing: "You're still alive! You're still alive!"

Concubine Li swallowed even more: "I'm still alive, I'm back."

Princess Di let go of her, held her shoulders with both hands, and looked at her carefully: "Great, great...it's good to be back..."

Concubine Li held her hand: "Sister Di, I have something to ask you."

Princess Di nodded sharply: "Ask!"

She didn't ask Concubine Li how she survived - when the cold palace caught fire and Concubine Li feigned death to leave the palace, how did she leave the palace and why did she escape.Each of these incidents must be a sad past that Concubine Li does not want to mention.

It's good that people come back, these things don't matter.

Now that Empress Liu is in decline, she no longer has the ability to hurt Concubine Li.

Concubine Li held Princess Di's hand and stared closely at her eyes.

"Sister Di, you must answer me truthfully about this matter."

"Is the current emperor my own son?"

She stared into Princess Di's eyes, unwilling to miss any of her tiny expressions.

Princess Di nodded without hesitation: "Yes! The official family is your son. Back then, Empress Liu replaced the prince you gave birth to with a civet cat. Chen Lin put him in a food box and took him out of the palace, and handed him over to me. And the prince. We raised him for seven years, and later the crown prince of Empress Liu died, and the late emperor took your prince into the palace, which is the current official family."

Concubine Li sighed: "Sister, you have caused me so much suffering! For so many years, you and the prince have known the truth, why didn't you confess to the late emperor? If the late emperor knew that I was wronged, how could he make me stand alone in the cold palace for ten years?" For the rest of the year, you told me to live among the people and suffer all kinds of hardships?"

Princess Di hurriedly said: "Sister, it's not that sister doesn't want to help you, it's really, really..."

She wanted to say that when the civet cat was replaced as the crown prince, Liu E was in full swing, and the late emperor put all his heart on her.Liu E was pregnant again - it should be noted that she was already 40 years old at that time.

Liu E entered the palace at the age of 15, and the first emperor was only 16 at that time.

The two of them have been in love for more than twenty years, it is not an exaggeration to say that they are young couples.

Liu E came from a poor and humble background and had no support from her natal family.She was getting old again, and she couldn't compare to Concubine Li in her youth in terms of beauty.

But she and Concubine Li were pregnant at the same time.In such a huge harem, only the two of them are pregnant.

Concubine Li is favored because of her youth and beauty.

Why Liu E?

Isn't it because of her relationship with the first emperor for more than [-] years?

The first emperor was the king of a country, and the most indispensable thing was a beautiful concubine.But Liu E is the only one who has supported each other through 20 years of ups and downs with him.

Concubine Li and Liu E are more important in the heart of the first emperor, which is clear at a glance.

How absurd it is for a civet cat to change the crown prince. If you tell it to a three-year-old, the three-year-old cannot believe it.

How can a human give birth to a civet cat?

The first emperor was not a fool, how could he really believe that his concubine gave birth to a civet cat?

But anyone with a semblance of reason would never believe such absurd things.

But it was because Concubine Li gave birth to a prince before Liu E and blocked Liu E's way, so Liu E made a move, and the first emperor turned a blind eye, just like that, Concubine Li gave birth to a monster and was thrown into the cold palace .

The first emperor had no princes, he wanted an heir.So he said to the two concubines who were pregnant at the same time, whoever is the son of the two of you will be the queen.

But he was very clear in his heart, which of these two women he wanted to be his wife and queen.

Only his Liu E.

The truth of the year, in fact, the first emperor knew it in his heart.The Baxian King and Princess Di naturally also understood that without the acquiescence of the first emperor, Liu E would not have been able to do such a thing at all.

So they could only accept the little prince and raise him as the second son of the palace.

The rest, they cannot and cannot do.

Take Zhao Yiyi to tell the first emperor, the official family, Concubine Li was framed by Empress Liu, is this the prince she gave birth to for you?

The first emperor would never recognize it.

but……

Princess Di couldn't bear to look at Concubine Li.

How could she have the heart to tell Concubine Li the cruel and cold truth?

How could she tell her that your husband, your monarch, knew from the beginning to the end that you were wronged, but because you were not the woman he favored, he acquiesced to Liu E's exchange of your son with a civet cat, and Standing on the sidelines and watching you live alone in the cold palace for 12 years?

So Princess Di can only say: "Sister, I... Empress Liu controls the government and covers the sky with one hand, we..."

"Don't say any more."

Concubine Li shook her head: "The past is over, and I don't blame you. Liu E is powerful, and there is nothing wrong with you being wise and protecting yourself."

Princess Di said softly, "Thank you, Madam, for your forgiveness."

Concubine Li said: "In this case, I would like to ask my sister to help me, and invite the officials to come to see me and reunite our mother and son."

Concubine Di said: "This is a matter for ministers and wives. It's just that the official family has been busy with government affairs recently, and the prince...he is a little bit like the official family... If you want to see the official family, you may have to wait for a while."

Concubine Li said: "I have been waiting for 17 years. I can wait as long as I want."

Zhao Yiyi has been very busy recently.

Or rather, he has been busy ever since he sent Liu E and Kou Zhun away from the court.

It's just that I've been extra busy recently.

Years ago, the country was hit by floods, and many farmlands in the Yellow River Basin were destroyed by floods, and farmers were also scattered.This year's agricultural tax is bound to be unable to come up, plus the need to rest with the people and resume farming, so the Temple Council decided to reduce or exempt the taxes of the disaster-stricken counties and counties for two years.

However, all policies related to money and food have a lot of loopholes that people can exploit—for example, how much is the reduction or exemption, what kind of counties are counted as disaster-stricken counties, and the vast majority of farmland is destroyed. A disaster is still a disaster as long as a dam is washed away, how to supervise the county officials to reduce taxes for the people-in case the county officials continue to collect taxes from the people, but they do not hand over these taxes to the court?

If there is a mistake in any link during this process, it will easily lead to a popular uprising.

Natural disasters have already exhausted the people, and if the people are not given a way to survive, the people will rise up.

As long as he is an emperor, no one likes to watch the people rebel.

Only to nip the seeds of civil uprising in the bud.

Zhao Yiyi himself absolutely didn't have the energy to supervise the tax reduction and exemption matters one by one, but he thought of a good candidate.

"Come, Pang Qing's house, sit down."

Pang Ji declined repeatedly, and finally sat on the stool Liu En brought.

Zhao Yiyi smiled and said: "Pang Qing's family, you have made great contributions to harvesting grain in the south of the Yangtze River. I haven't rewarded you well yet."

When the floods were raging before, Zhao Yiyi worried that the grain in the treasury would not be enough to relieve so many victims, so he sent people to the south of the Yangtze River to buy grain.

It was Pang Ji who was sent there at that time, but Pang Ji completed the task of collecting grain very well and bought a large amount of grain and grass at a very low price. This laid the material foundation for Zhao Yiyi to appease the whole country with work relief.

It is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice. Without food, the disaster cannot be relieved.

Zhao Yiyi appreciated Pang Ji's efficiency very much, but maybe not everyone could appreciate Pang Ji as much as he did, so Zhao Yiyi later received some memorabilia of the censors who participated in Pang Ji, saying that his methods Violent and cruel, they expropriated and exacted in the south of the Yangtze River, causing people's resentment to boil, and the people to live in dire straits.

Zhao Yiyi has been really worried for a long time - the grain output in the south of the Yangtze River is more than that in the north, and Suhu is cooked, and the world is full.If the area in the south of the Yangtze River is going to be in chaos, it will really be difficult to clean up.

So he asked Liu En to send someone to visit Jiangnan, and found that the people in Jiangnan were living a good life, and there was no sign of them being unable to survive.

The so-called boiling of grievances was mostly due to the tyrants who had been bought out by Pang Ji by various means to criticize him.

The tyrants have spare money to support the literati, and the literati are very good at writing. If they write a few widely circulated articles to insult Pang Ji, it will be regarded as a boiling of grievances.

Why do you people not know how to write articles, people can write articles, and a piece of appeal can be heard in the sky. As for what ordinary people think in their hearts, no one cares.

Most of the time, even ordinary people who can't write articles can't help but nod their heads in admiration after listening to the old scholar at the entrance of the village who read a few insulting articles, seeing how well-written and reasonable their articles are.

That person surnamed Pang is really not a thing, how could he do such a thing?The landlord’s grain is his own private property, so he can sell it for as much as he likes. If you think it’s too expensive, don’t buy it. How can anyone threaten others to arrest their children and grandchildren if they don’t sell grain?

If they don't sell it to you, you actually arrested their children and grandchildren and sent them to prison!

Or lead the officers and soldiers to hijack someone's carriage while they are taking their children away from relatives!

How is this different from bandits?

The youngest child is only seven years old. If you put him in prison, how worried should his parents be?

You have no humanity!

This is tyranny!Dog officer!

After knowing the real situation, Zhao Yiyi swept all the memorials of Shen Pangji into the trash can.

Although Pang Ji's method was a bit extreme, it was a famine year, and the entire Yellow River Basin was suffering from famine.How much territory does Song State have in total?The Yellow River Basin occupies half of it.

Half of the living people are going to starve to death. Now the country does not have enough food for disaster relief, so it needs to buy food from the other half of the people who are a little richer.You don't want to destroy your family and donate food in vain. You just need to sell the food to the country at the normal price in normal years.

As a result, the grain merchants began to bargain with the government because they had a large amount of grain in their hands. If the price of grain did not triple, they would not even try to buy a grain of grain from them.

Pang Ji just kidnapped the children and grandchildren of these people and extorted them to buy grain. This method is nothing compared to the grain merchants who sit on the ground and raise prices, make a fortune, and eat the flesh and blood of their compatriots.

Zhao Yiyi admired Pang Ji's methods.Most of the civil servants in the Song Dynasty were honest and gentlemen, and they paid attention to convincing others with reason in everything, and they could not wait to recruit foreign enemies with three graves and five canons.

Don't talk about others, just talk about Fan Zhongyan and Bao Zheng, tell them to kidnap a seven-year-old child to blackmail the child's parents, these two people can't do anything.

But many things cannot be solved by reasoning.

For example, the current tax reduction and exemption.

Once the tax is cut, the revenue of the national treasury will drop sharply next year, and the operation of the entire country's finances will be strained.The imperial court had to cut some expenses, and the first thing to bear the brunt was the royal family's expenses.Zhao Yiyi has released all the maids and eunuchs in the palace, and the queen mother, empress, prince, and princess can be reduced or reduced.The entire clan will not be allowed to arrange weddings and funerals for the foreseeable three years—every time the clan gets married or goes out for a funeral, they have to manage the treasury for money.

Di Qing's marriage cannot be postponed, it must be completed within three years.But the good thing is that he and Nanqing Palace have already made a separation. His wife is not in Nanqing Palace.

If only reducing the clan's expenses can make up for the gap in the tax cuts in the past two years, Zhao Yiyi might not have such a headache. At worst, relatives and friends should tighten their belts together.But to put it bluntly, how many people are there in the current Zhao family clan?

The first generation of Zhao's royal family is Tai. Zu Taizong, King Wei, and only the descendants of these three people are the so-called "clan".As far as Zhao Yiyi is concerned, he is only Taizong's grandson, the third generation of the royal family.

Coupled with the sound of the candle shadow and the axe, and the overt and secret blood cleansing after Taizong ascended the throne, by the time Zhao Yiyi was 17 years old, the Zhao royal family could not be regarded as thin-blooded, but it was not prosperous enough to drag the country's finances so much. The point of the hind legs.

The reason why he took the clan first was just to make a show.

If you really want to save money, you still have to...

Zhao Yiyi sighed secretly.

It is still necessary to reduce military expenditures and reduce official salaries.

This is no small matter.

Cutting off people's wealth is like killing their parents.If you want to reduce your wages, then you and others will have a big relationship.

On the side of the civil servants, even though all of them have high-sounding words, those who set up their lives for the sake of the world and the people will still make trouble if their salary is small.

This is also the reason why Zhao benefited first to reduce the expenses of the clan.

The emperor's family is saving money, what's wrong with lowering your salary?

Are you more expensive than the emperor, the emperor suffers, but you can't?

As long as Zhao Yiyi does enough tricks, those civil servants can only complain in their hearts, and dare not really do anything.

But the military side is different.

The army of the Song Dynasty was already hard to return to, and the Xiang Army Forbidden Army was just a group of soldiers and hooligans concentrated. Concentrated. Battalion.

Kou Zhun has been tossing around for so many years and fought two big battles, but he barely trained 30 forbidden troops capable of fighting.

Except for the 30 imperial troops, the rest of the army are just rice bugs lying on the state's finances.Useless and cost more than anyone else.

Zhao Yiyi had seen their teeth itch for a long time, and planned to find a chance to lay them off.Just taking advantage of this wave of tax cuts, I threw away all the wine bags and rice bags.

Don't throw them away and wait for these useless armies to reproduce themselves, and sooner or later the entire country will be dragged down.

but……

Still the same sentence, cutting off people's wealth is like killing their parents.Civil servants are all gentlemen, and if they hate you, they can only write a few sour articles to scold and discredit you.You are still an emperor, they dare not even scold you openly.

Those gangsters are different.Although they don't know how to write articles, they dare to take to the streets to make trouble!

If you don’t give them monthly money, they will take to the streets in groups and do nothing else. They will smash shops and beat people when they see them.What can you do to them?

You want to hold them all in prison?

If the government could build so many prison cells, they wouldn't have recruited these people into the army in the first place.

To quell the riots brought about by these people, a certain price must be paid.

The reason why Zhao Yiyi is willing to bear this price is because he understands that redundant soldiers are a serious problem for the Song Dynasty.If the army does not reform, the Song Dynasty will not be able to break free from the vicious circle of getting poorer, weaker, weaker and poorer.

This poverty does not refer to social and economic poverty, but to national financial poverty.

With so many blood-sucking worms, can you not be poor?

If the Song Dynasty hadn't been richer socially and economically than the previous dynasties, it wouldn't have been able to support so many blood-sucking worms.

The second reason is that the disaster-stricken states and counties north of the Yellow River really cannot afford the taxes for the past two years.

For the livelihood of the people, we can only cut taxes, cut spending, and disarm.

The original purpose of his disarmament was to reduce the burden on the victims.

For this reason, he did not hesitate to take the risk of the abolished soldiers making trouble.

But this trouble is only temporary.Once Xia Yuqi's steamboat is put into use, Jiang Ping will be able to set up factories all over the country—with convenient transportation, production can be spread all over the country.

So many factories need strong labor as workers.

Where did so much labor come from?

Aren't the retrenched soldiers all ready-made labor?

If these people have a place to go, they will naturally stop causing trouble in society.

Although it is not as refreshing to be a worker as a self-supporting worker, it is easier to get money while lying down, but after all, you have a job to hold.

Zhao benefited to do so many things in order to reduce the burden on the victims.

But if there is a mistake in the tax reduction link, there are corrupt officials who deceive the upper and lower, say to the higher level that we have reduced taxes for the people, and tell the lower level that the emperor will allow you to pay the full amount of taxes this year, and then use this part of the tax to fill their own pockets. .

The emperor assumed the risks brought about by tax cuts and disarmament, and he also had to bear the stigma of the common people - our life is so sad, the emperor still has to collect taxes!

The common people did not get rest and recuperation, and they still had to pay taxes as usual, exhausted.

After two years, there was no money in the treasury, the production of the people had not resumed, and the whole society came to a standstill, only the corrupt officials made a lot of money.

Zhao Yiyi does not do this kind of loss-making business.

Since we want to reduce taxes, we must reduce this tax to the real point.

The place that should be reduced should be reduced, and the place that should not be reduced should not be reduced.

It is also necessary to supervise the grassroots officials so that they do not deceive their superiors and subordinates.

And to do this, he needs an official who is capable, smart, and able to use some unusual means.

He looked at Pang Ji in front of him and nodded with satisfaction.

Pang Qing's family, it's you.

I believe that you, who dare to kidnap a seven-year-old child and blackmail his parents, will be able to fulfill my wish.

He smiled and said, "I don't know what reward the Qing family wants?"

Pang Ji hurriedly said: "It is my duty to serve His Majesty. I dare not take credit, let alone ask for any reward."

Zhao Yiyi secretly thought, just waiting for your words.

"In this case," Zhao Yiyi said, "I will entrust the Qing family to do one more thing for me. If this thing is done well, I will reward you together."

Pang Ji said: "Dare not to obey orders."

As soon as Zhao Yiyi stretched out his hand to Liu En, Liu En understood, and took out a stack of documents from the pile of documents on the ground and handed them to him.

Zhao Yiyi handed these documents to Pang Ji, who took them with both hands.

"That's all the talk about tax cuts in the North these days."

He said: "The Qing family is concerned about state affairs, so it is clear that tax reduction in the north is imperative, but how to reduce it has not yet been decided. I want to entrust this matter to the Qing family, and let Qing go to the north for a field trip as an imperial envoy. Fan, the states and counties that should reduce taxes must be reduced, and those that should not be reduced should not be reduced. And there must be no dirty things in the middle. I know that the Qing family has some means—"

Pang Ji's complexion changed, and Zhao Yiyi continued, "Your memorials at the Yushitai can be stacked up to a person's height, and I have been burned. When I go back to the north, I will use whatever means I can. Use whatever ability you have. If someone comes to you, I will continue to support you. I don't care how you make things happen, I only want a result."

Zhao Yiyi said: "There must be no chaos in the north, and the people must have room to recuperate, and the officials should not be bullied and harassed. As long as this is achieved, I don't care how you did it."

You have to use civilized means to fight civilized people, but sometimes you are not only fighting civilized people.

Although Zhao Yiyi is now the emperor, he has not been fascinated by the life of more than ten thousand people in the past few years, thinking that the real world is what the literati and doctors around him presented to him. There are rules everywhere, and etiquette is everywhere.

The real underworld is savage.

You reasoned with the county magistrate, saying that you see that the county is suffering a disaster now, and the government gave the people tax cuts, so we will not collect taxes this year?

The magistrate may really decide not to collect taxes, because the magistrate is a scholar, he has a place in the hierarchical world of scholar-bureaucrats, and he must obey the rules of the scholar-officials and listen to the emperor's words.

The petty officials below the county magistrate, those who really deal with the people and collect taxes from the people, are not scholar-bureaucrats.

The world of scholar-bureaucrats does not recognize them, and they do not recognize the world of scholar-bureaucrats.

They don't follow the rules, they don't listen to the emperor.

After all, the emperor can decide the future and destiny of the magistrate, but can the emperor control them, a group of sharp-edged officials?

The sky is high and the emperor is far away, this statement is not false.

The county magistrate said to reduce taxes, but they just wanted to collect a full amount of taxes from the people.

If the people refused to pay, they were arrested and thrown into prison.

Anyway, the magistrate of the county will never go to the cell to see who lives in it, so they have nothing to fear.

Zhao Yiyi must not let the flesh and blood of the common people fill such a group of people.

But to deal with this group of people, it is not feasible to rely on traditional means alone.

They are savage and cruel, and there must be someone more savage and cruel to deal with them.

Zhao Yiyi said: "Pang Qing's family is the Deputy Privy Envoy, right?"

Pang Ji nodded: "Yes."

Zhao Yiyi said: "The current privy envoy is Di Qing. The privy envoy is the prime minister, and the next step is to participate in political affairs. If you do this job well, you might as well jump to the next level and directly serve as an official. Pang Qing What do you think?"