Rebirth: Overthrow Song Dynasty - Chapter 625

In the winter of this year, there was a lot of snow in the north!

Yanjing City was shrouded in heavy snow.

On the street where the Yanjing City Academy is located, at the end of the street is a teahouse. At this moment, dozens of scholars are sitting in the teahouse while drinking hot tea while admiring the snowy scenery outside.

The scholars here are very different from the previous years! In the past few years, scholars only studied the four books and the five classics, each of which did not diligently distinguish between the four bodies and the five grains. Nowadays, in addition to studying Confucianism, scholars also need to learn Practical Learning, and the status of Practical Learning is getting more and more important, and there are more and more practical learning courses. ! In addition to practical studies, they also need to understand current affairs. Every spring, these scholars also need to enter the military training! In addition, many young people from the Production and Construction Corps have entered the academy, and the composition of the students in the academy is completely different from before, and there are fewer and fewer true corrupt scholars.

“Mongolia is satisfied that it has repeatedly invaded the Song Dynasty southward. This time I have an army of hundreds of thousands of people marching northward to completely annihilate the Mongols! I heard that there are more than half a million Mongolian barbarians in the area of ​​Lake Baihar!” The fourteen-five-year-old scholar said with an excited expression on his face.

“I heard that many people are old and weak women and children! Hey, the Mongolian barbarians are invading us. We should fight back north, but we should not kill the old and weak women and children!” a 30-year-old scholar sighed.

“Those old and weak women and children have weapons in their hands. They are also attacking our soldiers. We naturally have to fight back, and it is normal to kill them! The kindness to the enemy is the cruelty to ourselves!” The fourteen-five-year-old scholar who spoke earlier disagrees. Tao.

“The northern grassland area is huge. I wonder if the army’s logistics can be guaranteed?” said another scholar in his twenties.

“No problem! Since last year, the military has begun to send war preparation materials to the north. In the past year, with our great national strength, the reserve of strategic materials is enough for hundreds of thousands of troops to use for a year! Moreover, there are many more. The young people of the Production and Construction Corps deliver supplies to the army. They don’t have to worry about logistics! I have relatives who work as errands in the military. The latest report is that the Mongolian tribes fled to the Qincha grassland in large numbers. Now our army forwards have entered the Qincha grassland. !” There was another scholar beside him.

“Qincha Grassland? What is that place?” the fourteen-five-year-old scholar asked curiously.

“You want to learn the geography of the world in the academy. It seems that you haven’t studied hard. This Qincha grassland is thousands of miles away, and it’s extremely bitter cold!” The scholar next to him said.

“Since His Majesty has taken the throne, he has personally trained the army and formulated the military system. Our Song Dynasty soldiers and horses have long been invincible! Khitan, Jurchen, and Xixia are not opponents of my Song Dynasty soldiers and horses, and the Mongolian barbarians are naturally not my Song Dynasty opponents! What I care about now is not the battle of Mongolia, but another extremely important thing!” At this moment, a tall, tall scholar with a heroic face stood up and said.

“Oh? I don’t know what’s the matter? Is it even more important than the Battle of Mongolia?” The other scholars all looked at him and said.

“There is one thing that matters! Do you remember that when the Council of State was established five years ago, His Majesty said that the Council of Council of Ministers was only five years old! Now that the term of office of the prime ministers and ministers of the Council of Council of Ministers has come, will your Majesty be elected? New prime ministers and ministers? How does your majesty choose new prime ministers and ministers? Isn’t this more important than the war in the north? The war in the north is just expelling some barbarians. The government council has a relationship with the world, which is more important?” The scholar sneered.

“Ah! Not bad! This matter is the most important thing!”

“Exactly!”

The rest of the scholars nodded one after another, obviously very interested in this matter!

In fact, it’s not just them. In the entire Yanjing City, there are a little bit of insight, and they are very interested in this matter! Throughout the world, countless people are paying attention to Yenching, and they are also looking forward to the next prime minister and minister of government.

On December 15, the 14th year of Xuanwu, the National Assembly held a regular meeting to discuss state affairs.

After several years of construction, the current parliament is completely different from before. Now the number of parliament members has reached 194. These people come from all parts of the country, many of whom are elected from the provincial assembly to become members of the parliament.

The President of the National Assembly is still Zhao Ji, but because he has no real power, Zhao Ji is less and less interested in the Congress. Now Li Chuwen handles daily affairs.

On this day, all the congressmen came here! In the past, there were people who asked for leave, but no one asked for leave today. They have already received the news that they know that the matter discussed today is very important, and it has a bearing on the choice of Prime Minister of the Council of Government!

When all the congressmen arrived, Zhao Chen also entered the Congress accompanied by officials from the Council of State such as Wang Shu and Yu Yunwen.

“Here is the performance report made by the State Council over the past five years, including the increase in the area of ​​arable land, the increase in the number of public schools, the state’s fiscal revenue over the years, and the military’s actions in recent years. If you disagree, you can raise it, and the Government Council will give you an answer.” Zhao Chen said.

The guards sent the report given by the Council of State to the congressmen. The congressmen watched it carefully. After a while, they began to whisper.

“The food tax has increased by 4.7 times compared with five years ago! The area of ​​arable land has increased by nearly half, and the yield per mu of land has doubled! What is the birth rate? The birth rate has increased by five times!”

“As a member of parliament, you don’t even know the birth rate? The Council of State makes relevant reports every year, nothing else, let me tell you about it!”

“The country’s teaching system is becoming more and more perfect. Now we have built secondary schools in 50 larger cities across the country! When the secondary schools are popularized, the department will set up university halls!”

“The number of handicraft workshops nationwide has increased tenfold, and the number of handicrafts produced has increased tenfold!”

“The number of soldiers has increased by 300,000! The number of the production and construction corps has increased by 500,000, and 300,000 of them have gone to Annan!”

It took a full half an hour before the congressmen’s comments gradually stopped.

Then someone questioned the transcript, and Wang Shu personally answered various queries from members of Congress.

Throughout the morning, members of Congress accepted this performance report without any doubt.

“The achievements of this session of the Government Administration Council are obvious to all! From the stability of the world to the present, our national power has at least doubled! Moreover, the most important thing in the past five years is to improve the system and make the world stable. It is the era of laying the foundation. I can predict, In the next ten to twenty years, our agriculture, industry, commerce, learning, military, and science and technology will truly explode, and our national power is expected to reach ten times or more than it is now! At that time, our national power in Song Dynasty will be It is better than all other countries in the world combined! I am very satisfied with the results of this session of the Council of Government! I propose that Wang Shu remains the next prime minister. If the Congress passes, this matter will be settled! If the Congress does not pass it. , I don’t believe Wang Shu, I will propose the next person until the Congress passes! Congress members are elected by the people of the world, and your answers are the people’s answers, so you must be cautious!” Zhao Chen said.

The faces of the congressmen below all showed excitement. They did not expect that the Congress would decide the prime minister!

“The prime minister election needs to be your own meaning, so don’t whisper, don’t discuss with other people, and give your answer in half an hour!” Zhao Chen said.

After half an hour, the formal voting began! A total of 194 parliamentarians, 176 people voted in favor. Zhao Chen once again announced that Wang Shu was elected the next prime minister. In addition, Zhao Chen ordered Wang Shu to form a cabinet again!

An expression of excitement appeared on Wang Shu’s face. Zhao Chen patted him on the shoulder and smiled: “Do it well! Don’t let me down, don’t let the people of the world down!”

Zhao Chen really trusted Wang Shu very much.

Wang Shu’s talent is not as good as that of Yu Yunwen, Hu Quan and others, but he has taken refuge in Zhao Chen very early. He has experienced a lot of civil and military experience. In addition, he was a deputy minister in the early years of managing state affairs. He also has a deep understanding of Zhao Chen’s governance thoughts. Understanding! He is prudent and experienced enough to steer the Council of Government.

This time the Prime Minister’s appointment is also another change in the system! Zhao Chen is still nominating the Prime Minister, and the Congress has discussed and approved it. In the future, it will gradually change to become the Congress-nominated Prime Minister or a thorough electoral system, but everything must be done step by step. For system reform, Zhao Chen is very cautious! The people’s wisdom has not been opened, and now it must not be done overnight!

Early the next morning, Wang Shu, Yu Yunwen, Hu Quan, Zhao Ding and others entered the imperial study room and discussed state affairs with Zhao Chen.

The heavy snow was still floating outside, the royal study room was very warm, but the discussion was extremely intense.

“In the past five years, the Ministry of Commerce has achieved remarkable results, and the country’s commercial tax has increased tenfold! In the past five years, the country’s maritime trade has also developed rapidly. Now maritime trade accounts for one-tenth of commercial tax. Yu Yunwen, you can tell everyone. Talk about the current sea trade situation.” Zhao Chen said.

“Our ships set off from Tianjin Wei, Dengzhou, Hangzhou, Quanzhou and other places, all the way into the South China Sea, and then they enter Tianzhu from the South China Sea! Our porcelain, silk, lacquer, and various handicrafts are continuously being shipped overseas. Among the countries, gold and silver have been shipped back to China from overseas! In the past five years, 13 cities in the country can be said to have become sea trade cities. Most of the people in these 13 cities serve sea trade. Our overseas trade scale Expanded three times…” Yu Yunwen continued to say, and finally said: “Your Majesty, sirs, Yu thinks that commerce is the primary means of enriching the people, and sea trade is an important component of commerce. There are many overseas countries. In the future, the status of this sea trade will inevitably become heavier and heavier! The more developed sea trade, the richer the private sector! The prosperity of the people makes the country strong. For the country to become prosperous and strong, sea trade is essential!”

Zhao Chen nodded and said, “Yunwen is right. Sea trade will become more and more important in the future! In fact, it is not just sea trade, but the entire ocean is becoming more and more important to me! The court now has Dongying, we want Only by crossing the ocean can we go to Dongying management! The imperial court transports food and materials by sea, and many materials have to go all the way from Jiangnan to Tianjin Wei, Libinfu, Gaoli, Dongying and other places! Moreover, Wu Gong has just been in another place in the northern sea. On the one hand, I discovered an extremely huge territory, which already belongs to the Song Dynasty, and I have to go through the ocean to go there! In addition to these, there are a lot of overseas countries, and these may be threats to the Song Dynasty in the future. If you control the ocean , We can fend off the enemy from the outside. This is an attack strategy. If we lose the ocean, sooner or later, we will face the attack of the maritime power. We can only passively defend on land! These things, we and Shang Many ministers of the Ministry and the military have discussed it many times! I think that the ocean is related to the national fortune of the empire. Sooner or later in the future, we will go out of the land and go to the sea! We control the sea to control the countries and control the world. I think. , The next session of the Government Council should add the Ministry of Oceans and appoint the Minister of Oceans to manage the maritime affairs of the Empire.”