Emperor Renzong of the Great Song Dynasty

Liu E didn't care about Kou Zhun's dream of a strong army.

The ethos of emphasizing literature and suppressing martial arts in the Song Dynasty was very strong. In the battle for the highest power, military officials at all levels seemed to be transparent people, and there was no room for them to speak.

Even if Kou Zhun turned the 80 forbidden troops in Bianliang into his Kou family's private soldiers, Liu E would not be afraid of him.

If Kou Zhun really dared to do this, Liu E will go down with an imperial decree, and the forbidden troops stationed in various places will enter the king of Jingqin together, and Kou Zhun will have no good end.

After all, the Song Dynasty maximized the separation of powers and checks and balances, and the troops stationed in various places and the permanent troops in the capital were exactly equal in quantity and quality.

The central army can absolutely suppress the army of a certain place. Even if all the places unite to resist the central government, they can only be split [-]-[-], and there will be no divisions; The teacher of the king of Qin can also clear the side of the emperor, and the two-pronged approach will ensure that the throne of the Song Dynasty will never be worry-free.

Of course, this is without the invasion of foreign enemies.

It has to be said that Song Tai Zu Zhao Kuangyin, who established this military system, really exhausted his efforts in order to stabilize the throne.

But who could have predicted such things as the shadow of a candle and the sound of an axe?

Under such a political background, Kou Zhun ran to the military camp every day, not only did he not get any benefits, but he was also suspected of self-degrading.

Because of the emphasis on literature and suppression of military affairs, the status of military officials in the Song Dynasty was much lower than that of civil officials. Many civil officials even rejected soldiers very much, which also led to the very low social status of soldiers.

Good iron does not make nails, good men do not serve as soldiers, and thieves serve as soldiers. These are all Song slang words.

Kou Zhun hangs out with these thieves with the army every day, and some rumors have already spread.

Liu E wished that Kou Zhun would let himself down like this, but Zhao Yiyi didn't intend to stand by and watch this time.

He planned to stand on stage for Kou Zhun.

This time it was not to disturb the relationship between Kou and Liu, but he, like Kou Zhun, believed that strengthening the army was the only way out.

A strong country must be supported by a strong army, otherwise everything is out of the question.

A weak country has no diplomacy. You can choose not to start a war, but you cannot be incapable of war.

Nations that are incapable of winning war are also incapable of keeping peace.

If you fall behind, you will be beaten. It is an undeniable truth at any time.

At this time, the state of Song was rich in products and surrounded by wolves, and it especially needed a strong army to sit in charge.

If you want a strong army, you must have a healthy and normal social atmosphere. The distorted civil-military relationship like the Song Dynasty is very abnormal and unhealthy.

Like the modern country in the 21st century where he lived before, the social status of soldiers cannot be considered particularly high, but it must not be considered low.

Except that active-duty soldiers are not very popular in the marriage and love market because of their work, the treatment of soldiers, the guarantee after retiring, etc. are all very generous.

The country does not practice civil and military isolation. Instead, it encourages college students to enlist in the army. After retiring from the army and returning to school, there are still some preferential policies for postgraduate entrance examinations.

At the most passionate age, Zhao Yiyi also eagerly wanted to join the army. He even handed over the application form to the counselor, but within a few days he fell from the upper bunk and broke his leg. His military dream was completely shattered.

Even so, it did not diminish Zhao Yiyi's goodwill towards the soldiers.

After graduation, through various introductions, he hooked up with a military officer, and the conversation hit it off very well. He was just about to face the foundation and proceed to the next step of development, but he ended up wearing it.

It's all tears, maybe he is destined to miss the soldier.

Therefore, Zhao Yiyi must stand on Kou Zhun's station.

Although Kou Zhun was obsessed with military training at this time, the emperor's homework could not be missed. Kou Zhun still had to go to the palace to check the emperor's homework from time to time.

Zhao Yiyi was recently imitating Chu Suiliang's Monastery Monument Monument. He thought his imitation was quite decent, but Kou Zhun frowned and looked at it for a long time with the big characters he wrote, and reluctantly said: "Not satisfactory."

Then he took out a vermilion pen, ticked off what he thought was bad, and wrote comments and correct demonstrations on the side. For a while, the whole paper was full of prosperity, just like Zhao Yiyi's heart that was on the verge of collapse.

A quarter of an hour later, Kou Zhun finished checking his homework, and when he turned around, he saw the little emperor looking at him cutely: "Master, how did you repel the Liao people?"

Kou Zhun was taken aback for a moment, then smiled: "Your Majesty, I didn't repel the Liao people. It was the Liao people's privy envoys who conspired to rebel. They assassinated the Liao Emperor and retreated by themselves."

Zhao Yiyi nodded: "I see."

"But master can lead the army to meet the enemy. With my 20 forbidden troops facing the enemy's [-] troops, it is also a great achievement to stay calm in the face of danger and stand ready for battle."

Zhao Yiyi was serious: "I want to reward Master."

Kou Zhun couldn't help laughing: "The minister thanked His Majesty for the reward. I don't know what His Majesty wants to reward the minister?"

Zhao Yiyi pretended to think for a while: "I have some, my master has them, and I don't know what to reward. That's right!"

He nodded heavily: "I want to make master the Duke of the state!"

Kou Zhun's heart skipped a beat: "The Duke should have a title, what title does His Majesty want to bestow on his ministers?"

Zhao benefited: "Well, this..."

He stood up, walked out of the hall, suddenly saw the weeds beside the hall, his eyes lit up.

"I know!"

He squatted down and pulled out a few weeds: "I read in the book that this kind of grass is called Lai. In ancient times, King Cheng of Zhou sealed the country with one leaf. Today, I want to follow the example of King Cheng and use these grasses to seal the master as the country." male."

Zhao Yiyi handed the weeds to Kou Zhun: "I named the master the Duke of Lai."

He smiled slyly: "If someone says that I play children's games, there are countless things to do. Master should also follow the example of Duke Zhou, argue hard with reason, tell others, and you are not kidding."

Kou Zhun stared blankly at the weeds in his hands, and smiled with relief: "So that's how it is, that's how it is!"

The god who taught him the art of war was right, he was indeed "Ku Lai Gong".

Zhao Yiyi was puzzled: "Why is that so?"

Kou Zhun came back to his senses, and solemnly knelt down to thank him: "Minister, Kou Zhun, thank Your Majesty for your kindness."

Zhao Yiyi hurriedly helped Kou Zhun up: "Master, please get up quickly."

Kou Zhun left excitedly, and Zhao Yiyi wiped the sweat from his forehead.

It's not easy to pretend to be a child, it's too difficult for me.

He made Kou Zhun the Duke of the State, which was a signal.

Although this move will make Liu E very dissatisfied, she will never pour this dissatisfaction on the head of the little emperor. After all, the emperor is still young, and he is just a child. What a child knows, it must be Kou Zhun who is shameless The old thing urged the emperor to give him the title of Duke.

So it's good to be a kid because no one will notice you.

The fact that Kou Zhun was made the Duke of Lai really set off a huge wave.

In fact, it is reasonable to say that Kou Zhun has worked hard. After all, he is the elder of the three dynasties. The first boss Song Taizong relied heavily on Kou Zhun and entrusted his son to him. The second boss Song Zhenzong relied on him even more. His son was entrusted to him, and he served as an important minister twice in his life, which is also commendable.

What's more, he also fought against the Khitan twice, and paid homage to the prime minister several times. This kind of status is very worthy of the title of a duke.

But Liu E didn't think so.

Kou Zhun was already rampant enough when he didn't have a title, but now that he's the Duke of the state, it's okay, why don't he climb on top of himself?

So Liu E's party crazily troubled Kou Zhun in the court, saying that Kou Zhunde was unworthy for a while, and saying that Kou Zhun's promotion did not follow the rules, and he was suspected of forming a party for personal gain.

The two sides hurt each other, and it didn't take long before Chunwei was approaching.

The Song Dynasty emphasized literature and suppressed martial arts, and the imperial examination can be said to be the top priority of the country.

In order to show the preferential treatment for literati, all the candidates will be awarded the official title after obtaining Jinshi status, and they will immediately take office and become upstarts.It doesn't matter if you don't have money, countless wealthy merchants are waiting to help you find a son-in-law, so among the literati in the Song Dynasty, it was tantamount to crossing the class from mud legs to become a master.

For such an important exam, the selection of the chief examiner must be cautious.

The Song Dynasty hated ministers forming cliques for personal gain, and forbade examiners and examinees to be considered teachers and students.

But human nature always seeks advantages and avoids disadvantages. Candidates want to lean against a big tree to enjoy the shade, and examiners want to think about the future and get close to newcomers, so this trend has been repeatedly banned.

Therefore, the candidate for the examiner must be a person who is upright and not overbearing.

To talk about the upright officials of the Song Renzong Dynasty, Zhao Yiyi first recommended Bao Zheng.

However, Bao Zheng's famous feats, such as killing the son-in-law, killing the country's uncle and nephew, could only be carried out after Song Renzong became an adult, especially the case of replacing the civet cat with the prince. , and dare not confront the Queen Mother directly.

So at this time, Bao Zheng still doesn't know where the cat is.

Chunwei's chief examiner finally settled on another person whom Zhao Yiyi was very familiar with.

Fan Zhongyan.

Upon hearing the name, Zhao Yiyi began to recite reflexively: In the spring of the fourth year of Qingli, Teng Zijing was relegated to Baling County...

Without him, Yueyang Tower is familiar with such famous works handed down from generation to generation.

But at this time it was still the Tiansheng year, and the Qingli year name had not yet come out, and it was impossible for Fan Zhongyan to be demoted from Beijing because of the Qingli New Deal. He hadn't even entered the power center of the court, he was just a local official.

There are several reasons why he was selected as the main examiner this time.

The first is that he has a superb literary talent and is quite famous in the literary world.

The second is that he does not form a party.

Although Kou Zhun and Liu E form cliques every day, they are the masters who only allow state officials to set fires and not allow people to light lamps.

The Queen Mother's Party and the Kou Xiangdang are fighting bloody storms in the court every day, but they don't want another third party to disrupt the situation.

So the two hit it off and transferred Fan Zhongyan from the local area to the capital.

Anyway, this guy doesn't bother to form cliques, even if he becomes an examiner, he won't flirt with candidates, so that's him.

Zhao Yiyi smiled when he saw the name.

Kou Zhun and Liu E took precautions against each other, and found such a non-partisan person to enter the capital.

But they don't know that there is a party called the Royalists.

Can loyalty to the emperor be called forming a party?

Zhao Yiyi was ready to happily accept Fan Zhongyan as the No. [-] member of the Royalist Party.