Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

What's even more remarkable is that Fujiwara no Ienari also came, and the brother and sister served him together in bed. Toba no Hoshi has been very happy lately.

This was the most harmonious period between the royal family and the nobility. The newly appointed regent had long been the Dharma King's favorite in bed.

Moreover, before they got together, Fujiwara Ienari had slept with Toba's grandfather.

How can the cabinet ministers and the northern samurai demonstrate their power?

One of the important evaluation criteria is whether or not one has slept with the Emperor Emeritus or the French Emperor!

The monk Toba was solemnly drawing the eyebrows of the beauty when the beauty's brother, Fujiwara no Ienari, suddenly appeared.

"Your Majesty, I have acquired another fine item," Fujiwara Ienari said, as if presenting a treasure.

His Holiness Toba asked, "Is it another import from the Ming Dynasty?"

Fujiwara Ienari instructed a palace servant to boil water and carefully took out a canister of black tea.

As the water boiled, Fujiwara Ienari personally brewed the tea, saying, "This is called black tea, created by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. It can be eaten after brewing, or sweetened. Your Majesty, please enjoy it."

As the tea cooled slightly, the monk Toba took a sip and immediately praised it, saying, "This tea is mellow and sweet, truly worthy of being created by the Emperor of the Celestial Empire. From now on, any black tea brought by Ming Dynasty merchants can only be traded with the Imperial Family. Any leftovers from the Imperial Family can be bestowed upon the nobles and warriors."

Fujiwara Ienari served Toba on the left, while his sister served Toba on the right. The brother and sister had Toba completely under their thumb.

Can a regent get along with the person in power?

Fujiwara Ienari has just taken over the main branch of the Fujiwara Hokuke family and has not yet completed the integration with the Uomei-ryu. He urgently needs Toba's support.

Once the family is consolidated, Fujiwara no Kenshin should seize more power.

It was only a matter of time before the two of them fell out.

.....

Late spring.

Bai Chongyan, who had been granted special permission to return to his hometown to visit relatives, finally arrived in Kaifeng again.

He was not in a good mood because his father was seriously ill in bed and could die at any time.

Upon learning that his son had been promoted to Provincial Governor of Henan, the wealthy old man urged his son to hurry to the capital and take up his post in grand style.

She also claimed that she could live for a few more years and would never let her son return home to observe mourning for her in the near future.

By the way, Old Master Bai now holds an official position.

Because both of his sons were the emperor's confidants, he was appointed as Chengshilang (a ninth-rank official in the capital).

Although it was a nominal position and no salary was received, it was enough to make Old Master Bai proud.

Even his deceased mother and elderly wife were granted imperial titles.

Bai Chongyan arrived in the capital and went straight to stay at his second brother's house.

The brothers met and were deeply moved.

When Bai Chongyan spoke of his father's illness, Bai Chongwu also felt worried and lamented that he could not go home to visit him.

After discussing family matters, we moved on to business.

Bai Chongwu said, "I don't know when we'll meet again after this parting. I'm being sent to Japan to work."

"Japan?"

Bai Chongyan was taken aback. "My brother is His Majesty's confidant. Why is he going to that foreign land?"

Bai Chongwu sighed, "This is a great appointment, a third-rank official position."

This surprised Bai Chongyan even more, because in the reformed Ming Dynasty official system, the third rank was equivalent to the vice minister of the Six Ministries.

Why would a third-rank official position be suddenly established overseas?

Bai Chongwu took out paper and pen, sketched a few lines, then drew three small circles and said:

"This is Iwami Province, this is Tsushima Island, and this is Sado Island. All three locations possess vast amounts of gold and silver. The imperial court cannot be at ease simply stationing military men there; a balance of power between civilian and military forces is necessary."

Chapter 3256 Iwami Governor's Office

"The Imperial Court plans to establish the Iwami Governor-General's Office in Iwami City. Branch offices of the Governor-General's Office will be established on Tsushima Island and Sado Island. The Governor-General will be a third-rank official, and the Deputy Governor-General will be a fourth-rank official, and the Deputy Governor-General must be an official of the Censorate."

"In the coming decades, the imperial court will encourage overseas migration, using the lure of gold and silver mining to attract Ming Dynasty citizens. Once the Han Chinese population on Tsushima and Sado Islands increases, counties will be established and officials will be dispatched to govern them."

Of the gold and silver acquired in the three regions, one-tenth goes to the imperial family and nine-tenths to the Ministry of Revenue. The Ministry of Revenue cannot keep it all; it must distribute it to the various ministries and departments for profit sharing.

"The governor and the garrison commander can apply to retain gold and silver for the purpose of expanding the port, mining, and attracting immigrants."

"In terms of the military, the imperial court will establish the General of the East's Office in Iwami Castle. All the generals who have served as garrison commanders will be granted the rank of General of the East, a third-grade official."

"The Governor-General and the General Who Guards the East serve five-year terms. They cannot be reappointed unless there is a major unforeseen event."

Bai Chongyan's surprise turned to shock, and he hurriedly asked, "Just how much gold and silver is there? How could the imperial court attach such importance to it!"

Bai Chongwu said, "Once everything is in place, according to His Majesty, we estimate we can earn over a million taels of silver annually. Or even more!"

Bai Chongyan stared in disbelief: "How could such a small country like Japan have so much gold and silver buried there?"

"By the way, Governor-General Iwami also oversees diplomatic relations with Japan," Bai Chongwu added.

Bai Chongyan warned, "There is gold and silver everywhere. Brother, you must be careful not to let gold and silver cloud your mind."

Bai Chongwu smiled bitterly: "The deputy governor must come from the Censorate, and the Ministry of Revenue sends people to audit the accounts from time to time. Even if I wanted to embezzle, I would have to have the guts."

Big-time corrupt officials will inevitably be punished, but petty corrupt officials will certainly go unpunished; officials auditing the accounts will have no chance of finding out.

This is a very lucrative position!

Over the next few days, Bai Chongyan visited friends in the capital and learned more about the imperial court.

He was genuinely apprehensive about his new job.

.....

After a year of truce, all provinces have a surplus.

The renovation of Confucian temples has recently been rolled out nationwide; previously, the imperial court had only made suggestions.

The Temple of Literature and the Temple of Confucius must be separated from this point on.

The new version of the Confucian Temple's enshrined sages almost caused the court officials to argue themselves to the point of madness.

Those who belonged to the Legalist school were all excluded.

Han Feizi listed "five vermin and eight traitors," with Confucian scholars ranked first. As long as Confucianism governs the country, this fellow will never be able to turn things around.

As for Shang Yang, Zhao Yuan could not accept it even without the opposition of his ministers, because the "Book of Lord Shang" was too anti-human!

There are probably only three types of people who admire Shang Yang: those who put themselves in the shoes of a monarch; those who are mentally unstable; and those who are unaware of Shang Yang's ideas.

Mozi was selected to be enshrined in the Temple of Literature, a decision forcibly made by Zhao Yuan.

Laozi was not controversial, and the civil officials did not dislike him.

Xunzi also retained his position and was not removed from the Confucian Temple.

During the Han Dynasty, a large number of ministers were enshrined in the Confucian Temple.

Sima Qian, Sima Xiangru, Yang Xiong, Su Wu, Zhang Qian, Zhang Heng, Cai Lun...

Zhao Yuan selected sages of past dynasties based on their merits, virtues, and words.

Sima Xiangru is an example of someone who established his own words of wisdom. Literary creation can also be considered establishing one's own words of wisdom. Moreover, he pacified and subdued the southwestern barbarians, which contributed to China's conquest and development of the southwestern region.

Establishing words is the primary goal, while establishing merit is secondary.

Qu Yuan was a man of both virtue and eloquence.

Zhang Qian certainly made a great contribution, one that benefited both his contemporaries and future generations.

The crops introduced to China by Zhang Qian include: grapes, alfalfa, walnuts, pomegranates, sesame, cucumbers, broad beans, garlic...

If anyone dares to object, Zhao Yuan can confidently retort: ​​Do you eat garlic or not?

The debate among the courtiers regarding Cai Lun was no less intense than that surrounding Mozi.

One reason was that civil officials were unwilling to worship eunuchs, and another reason was that Cai Lun was of low character.

Cai Lun first got involved in the succession struggle, framing Consort Song and forcing the emperor's birth mother to commit suicide by poison. The emperor himself was also deposed and demoted to Prince of Qinghe.

Then she framed Consort Liang, took away Consort Liang's son, and handed the future emperor over to Dou to raise.

Cai Lun had always served the Dou family as his master, but later betrayed them and helped the young emperor, who wanted to rule in his own right, overthrow the Dou family.

The achievements of the sages enshrined in the Confucian Temple are recorded below their ancestral tablets.

Zhao Yuan forcibly sent Cai Lun to the Confucian Temple, and to appease the officials, he specially ordered someone to add a comment:

"While his character is certainly not commendable, his improvement of papermaking will benefit generations to come."

Now that local finances are ample, the imperial court has ordered all prefectures and counties to rebuild new Confucian temples.

However, because there were too many controversial sages, some local officials outwardly complied but inwardly defied them, secretly canceling the ancestral tablets of Mozi, Cai Lun, and others.

Most officials and Confucian scholars were unaware of which sages had been selected, and even if they did, they pretended not to know.

Chapter 3257 Rectification of the Confucian Temple

As a result, the inspecting censor had an additional task: to order the non-compliant Confucian temple to rectify its problems within a specified period.

.....

The routine imperial council meeting is essentially a mini-court assembly.

The cabinet ministers and senior officials are all relaxed, since there will be no war in the next two years, and as long as there is money and food, there will be no major problems.

Meng Zhao, Minister of Rites, said: "Your Majesty, the controversy caused by Cai Lun in rebuilding the Confucian temples in various provinces, prefectures and counties is too great."

"The cabinet received hundreds of memorials from local officials opposing the matter, and ordered the Ministry of Rites to reconsider it. The Ministry of Rites also voiced its opposition."

Zhao Yuan laughed and said, "Objection overruled."

Meng Zhao curled his lip; as the Minister of Rites, he was destined to take the blame for the Confucian Temple matter.

Zhai Ruwen took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and said, "Your Majesty, the newly appointed prefect of Mingzhou has submitted a memorial. Mingzhou's name is taboo and violates the name of the country. He requests the court to change it."

"The cabinet ministers all know that His Majesty does not shy away from this matter, but two consecutive prefects of Mingzhou have requested a name change. If the court does not change it, it is estimated that Mingzhou will continue to submit petitions."

Zhao Yuan, also fearing trouble, replied, "Then let's change it. But the reply should make it clear that it's not a change due to taboo, but rather for a better name."

Li Bangyan may not be good at much else, but he's willing to get involved in things like naming things: "Your Majesty, I am very familiar with Mingzhou. The Maritime Trade Office there makes a fortune every day. I've heard there's an ancient name called Gouzhang. We could change it to Gouzhang Prefecture."

Zhao Yuan said, "Mingzhou has a thriving maritime trade, so it can be renamed Ningbo Prefecture."

"Good name!"

Everyone's eyes lit up, and they all clapped and praised.

Li Bangyan showered him with flattery: "Your Majesty truly deserves to be called a master of literature; even your name-changing is astonishing. Ningbo is a name that is both auspicious and pleasant to the ear. Even if I rack my brains, I cannot think of a better name."

After everyone finished laughing, Zhong Shidao said, "The Hanlin Academy has completed the first draft of 'Guwen Guanzhi' as requested by His Majesty. This is the catalog of selected parallel prose and prose pieces."

Zhong Shidao is truly neglecting his duties. He is eager to gain the approval of civil officials and is not concerned with military affairs. Instead, he is extremely enthusiastic about literary matters.

I heard that Zhao Yuan ordered the Hanlin Academy to compile "Guwen Guanzhi" (Anthology of Classical Chinese Prose), and Zhong Shidao volunteered to be the head of the editorial team.

Zhao Yuan carefully examined the table of contents and nodded approvingly, saying, "The selection is excellent. It can be published. We should also select some famous works for the prefectural and county schools to teach."

Zhong Shidao couldn't stop smiling. Once this book was printed and published, he would surely be remembered by scholars of the future.

Zhao Yuan suddenly asked, "How is the compilation of the History of Song coming along?"

Hu Anguo replied, "I'm afraid it will take another year or two, as many historical materials are being repeatedly compared and deliberated."

Zhao Yuan said, "Send envoys to the Jin Kingdom and have them bring over historical materials from the Liao Kingdom. Our Great Ming Dynasty can also compile the History of Liao."

Zhai Ruwen said, "I'm afraid the Jin state will not agree. The Jin people claim to be the successors of the Liao dynasty's legal system. If they agree to let the Ming dynasty compile the History of Liao, they will be handing over the legal system they have already obtained."

"Whether they give it to us or not, we should send someone to demand it. We actually forgot about this during the last peace talks." His Majesty Zhao was a little unhappy.

The meetings between the emperor and his ministers were very relaxed, just like casual conversations.

After the officials dispersed, Zhao Yuan went to the Imperial Garden, where Bai Yan, who was returning to the capital to report on his duties, was already waiting.

"Greetings, Your Majesty! Greetings, Your Majesty!"

Bai Yan bowed and paid his respects.