A powerful minister of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 6 Searching for Zhu

Yan Shu saw that Song Xuan was also mocking the wrong policies set by the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty.

And the assumption that the "hostile country" would march south to destroy the Song Dynasty.

At present, the Liao Dynasty has a very small appetite and can be easily satisfied by giving some money.

The annual tribute from the Treaty of Chanyuan was not a penny more for the Song Dynasty's finances and was completely affordable.

At that time, Emperor Zhenzong said the bottom line was one million, but Kou Zhun told Cao Liyong that if he dared to exceed 300,000, he would chop off his head.

Cao Liyong was frightened by Kou Zhun in the Liao camp and killed 300,000 people before he reached the Treaty of Chanyuan with the Liao Kingdom.

But who can guarantee that the Liao emperor’s appetite will continue to be so small in the future?

Yan Shu also did not think that the Liao Dynasty in the north would be satisfied with 300,000 troops.

Song Xuan was very tactful and did not say anything about the inheritance of imperial power. The data on one family and one surname was too small and not universal for research.

After reading Song Xuan's policy paper, Yan Shu walked to the fire, thought about it, and then put it directly into his arms.

"Twelfth Brother, please don't say such things anymore. At least the time has not come yet."

Zhang Fangping could guess that his twelfth brother had written some insights that went beyond the scope of the syllabus, and he was afraid that he would annoy Mr. Yan.

Yan Shu looked at Song Xuan very seriously:

"You have been pretending to be a prodigy these past few years, but you are actually as clear-headed as a mirror.

But you are just a student now, you have no power, and you don’t have like-minded people around you, so how can you say something shocking? "

"Do you really think it's that easy to be an official in the Song Dynasty?"

"Do you really think that because Emperor Taizu said not to kill scholars and officials, there's no way to kill you?"

Song Xuan smiled, stood up and stretched his arms:

"Let Mr. Yan know that if someone else were to test me, I wouldn't write these words."

"Hahaha."

Yan Shu couldn't help but burst into laughter.

This guy is so good at flattering people, he deserves to be an official!

I was worried about his temper just now, but it seems I was worrying too much.

As a bystander, Song Shou was a little confused when he saw Yan Shu and Song Xuan asking and answering questions, and the change from seriousness to laughter was so fast.

There is also a huge gap between child prodigies.

Song Shou called over the talented Zhang Fangping whom he had high hopes for and gave him some advice, telling him some things he needed to pay attention to in the exam.

These were things Zhang Fangping had never encountered before, so he was very grateful to Song Shou.

"Interesting, interesting."

Yan Shu stood by the river, stroking his beard and said with a smile:

"This trip was indeed not in vain, there are unexpected gains."

"What is the purpose of Mr. Yan coming here?"

Song Xuan was very puzzled. It was impossible that he was making this trip just for himself.

Yan Shu didn't know himself as well as another person.

"I came here to look for Zhu Shuo. He is currently in mourning for his mother and is living in Ningling County. I would like to invite him to teach at Yingtianfu College."

Song Xuan didn't know this person, so he waved:
"Zhang Da, come here."

Zhang Da, a slacker who had been running errands for Song Xuan, came over and saluted:

"What errand did Twelve Brother call me for?"

"Take us to Zhu Shuo's house. The two gentlemen want to visit."

"Here."

Zhang Da was very tactful and carried the basket that Song Xuan used for fishing and barbecue.

As for the two of them, they didn't bring any schoolbags.

After all, Zhang Fangping's family was too poor to buy books, so he had to borrow them and memorize them with his strong memory.

Song Xuan perfectly fits the image of a scholar who doesn't study hard. He doesn't even have a book in his hand, not even pretending to be serious, but instead carries a bow and arrow on his back.

Zhang Da led the way in front, and Song Xuan and Zhang Fangping followed behind.

Yan Shu and the other two came later.

"Twelfth brother, what shocking remarks did you make? It almost made Mr. Yan burn your paper."

"Of course, these are just some radical measures to change the ethos of the scholar-officials. At least they are more radical than what you wrote."

Zhang Fangping sighed. He understood Song Xuan's temperament and then tried to persuade him softly:

"What Mr. Yan said is right. We are too weak. How can we do such a futile thing when we are still so young? Twelve Brother, you should restrain your temper in the future."

"I know it myself."

Song Xuan is just talking nonsense at the moment.

He doesn't have enough interests to unite a group of people around him.

The remarks just now were written so radically because I thought Yan Shu was a smart man.

At least Song Xuan's current approach is in line with the current interests of the literati.

During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, there were approximately nine million households in the country, and the court controlled about 500 million mu of farmland. However, in the late reign of Emperor Renzong, the amount of farmland controlled by the court was halved.

So much land must have been occupied by the enemy country, otherwise Wang Anshi would not have wanted to reform to save himself.

But then again, Song Xuan thought it would be useful to show off in front of Yan Shu.

"By the way, Twelfth Brother, there is one thing I don't understand."

Song Xuan held a bamboo tube filled with cold water in his hand:
"What's the matter?"

"Helplessly, the flowers fall, and the familiar swallows return. How did you come up with that?"

Zhang Fangping's eyes showed a strong curiosity:

"I feel like Mr. Yan just wrote some lyrics, but you interrupted him."

"And I think no matter how much Mr. Yan thinks, his next sentence won't be better than what you said."

Song Xuan shrugged. He didn't expect that the person who wrote those two lines of poetry was the author's latest work.

Just now he thought Yan Shu wanted him to sing along.

Song Xuan explained to his friend:
"My mouth just jumped out faster than my brain. I just blurted it out. Do you believe it?"

"I believe it!"

Zhang Fangping admired Song Xuan for his poetry.

It was normal for him to be able to write seven-character regulated verse at the age of eight and to recite Mr. Yan's lyrics off the cuff.

Yan Shu and Song Shou were a few steps behind the two students, also talking in low voices.

"Uncle Tong, Song Xuan is too arrogant. I'm afraid he will cause trouble in the court in the future."

"If he can stir up some waves in the stagnant Song Dynasty court, that is also his mission."

Yan Shu certainly knew the core of Song Xuan's answer to the policy paper just now, which was the various crises hidden under the peace of the Song Dynasty.

Since Shi Jingtang became the puppet emperor of Khitan, the Great Wall defense line lost its meaning.

After the Khitan took over the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, they implemented a policy of great tolerance.

They allowed the Han people living here to continue farming, producing food and processing products.

The role of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun gradually became apparent.

After tasting the benefits brought by agricultural civilization, the Khitans have always wanted to rule the Central Plains and use the advanced agricultural technology and civilization of the Central Plains to strengthen themselves and achieve hegemony.

It was easy for Yelu Deguang to occupy the Central Plains, but difficult to keep it. He was eventually driven out of Bianliang by the people of Bianliang.

However, the Khitans still had the ambition to rule the Central Plains and were always eager to try.

At that time, Emperor Taizu wanted to take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, but the timing was not right, so he wanted to redeem the Great Wall defense line from the Khitan and set up a sealing pile warehouse.

Unfortunately, when it came to Emperor Taizong, he used the money in the Fengzhuang Treasury for himself, and Emperor Zhenzong was not polite either.

Yan Shu sighed, Song Xuan was right.

(End of this chapter)