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

Zhang Tang's sudden entry into the cabinet is undoubtedly due to his military background, and he clearly represents the interests of the military.

A military general appointed as prime minister at a young age will inevitably incite the emperor to wage endless wars!

Before the officials could even react, Zhao Yuan announced, "Minister of War Zhao Yu is retiring, and Zhang Guangdao is appointed as Minister of War."

"Your Majesty..."

Many ministers wanted to say, "Your Majesty, you must not," but they quickly stopped themselves from speaking.

Putting aside the fact that the founding emperor could not be dissuaded, Zhang Guangdao alone could not be offended.

This man has always been a general in command of troops and has just been granted the title of Duke. He is at the height of his power and influence. It would be a complete lapse of judgment for him to try to dissuade him now.

Even after the court session ended, many civil officials were still in a daze.

Xie Kejia and Qi Chongli went straight to Zhai Ruwen's office.

Zhai Ruwen frowned and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Qi Chongli glanced around and said in a low voice, "How can a general commanding troops be the Minister of War?"

Xie Kejia said, "Why doesn't the Prime Minister advise His Majesty?"

Zhai Ruwen lowered his voice: "His Majesty is a figure like Emperor Taizong of Tang. What use would it be if I offered advice? I'm not Wei Zheng!"

Upon hearing this, all three fell silent.

Xie Kejia and Qi Chongli were both Zhao Mingcheng's cousins, and Li Qingzhao was their cousin's wife.

Because Zhai Ruwen offended the Six Traitors, he was demoted to Shandong for many years, and thus had an extremely good relationship with Qin Hui, Xie Kejia, Qi Chongli and others.

Qi Chongli was already writing epitaphs when he was ten years old. When Emperor Huizong of Song inspected the Imperial Academy, he was amazed by Qi Chongli's writing.

Later, Qi Chongli also served as a court attendant to Emperor Huizong of Song, writing daily records for the emperor.

Zhai Ruwen closed the office doors and windows and said, "The Ming Dynasty is different from the old Song Dynasty. When the Song Dynasty was founded, the military men were all arrogant and domineering."

"The general who led the troops destroyed the Shu Kingdom, forcing the Shu people to rebel and massacre the city. Even Emperor Taizu of Song did not dare to behead the general."

"The system of the former Song Dynasty naturally required guarding against military men."

"But what about now? It is precisely because the former Song Dynasty went too far in its corrections that the army became corrupt, and the newly established Ming Dynasty had to correct this."

"During the Tang Dynasty, military generals could become prime ministers. What's so special about a military general becoming the Minister of War these days?"

Xie Kejia said, "It was precisely because the Tang Dynasty did not suppress military men that the chaos of the Five Dynasties ultimately occurred."

Zhai Ruwen waved his hand: "His Majesty has already established the system. From now on, the Cabinet and the Ministry of War must each have at least one military officer."

“A cabinet minister who comes from a military background cannot become prime minister; at most, he can be promoted to deputy prime minister.”

"As for the Ministry of War, military personnel can serve as Minister or Vice Minister, but one of them must represent the military!"

“Military officials in the cabinet, military officials in the Ministry of Personnel—this is no blessing for the country,” Qi Chongli shook his head repeatedly.

They didn't have any bad intentions; they were simply wary of military men and afraid that they would be forced to wage war at any moment in the future.

Take Qi Chongli for example; historically, he leaned more towards the pro-war faction.

Moreover, when he served as the prefect of Shaoxing, he took the initiative to recruit soldiers and prepare for war, built a sea and land defense system in eastern Zhejiang, and even personally built a navy.

Zhao Gou actually promoted him to prime minister and put him in charge of negotiating peace with the Jin Dynasty. Qi Chongli was so angry that he resigned immediately.

Such civil officials are not afraid of war.

I fear the emperor's excessive military spending and the military generals' ability to influence state affairs!

……

Meanwhile, Zhang Guangdao was scratching his head in frustration.

He was indeed educated, but his cultural level was quite limited, and he felt dizzy looking at all kinds of documents.

The actual work of the Six Ministries did not require the Minister's attention, as various matters were handled by the Left and Right Vice Ministers.

The Minister's responsibility was merely to oversee and sign off on matters.

"Could this be Zhang Jin's official document?"

Zhang Guangdao launched into a tirade against an official document.

"He was a bandit from Xuzhou who came from a blacksmith family. Only when his ancestors' graves were smoking did he come to Jinzhou to join His Majesty in rebellion."

"That damned bastard can barely read a few characters, yet now that he's a commander, the official documents he writes are so illegible that even I can't understand them!"

The clerk pointed to one of the passages: "This uses an allusion; it was probably written by the clerk on behalf of someone else."

Chapter 3525 Ancestral Instructions

Zhang Guangdao slammed his fist on the table and said, "Issue an order to all provinces and protectorates: from now on, all military documents are forbidden from using classical allusions or obscure characters."

"Anyone who dares to disobey, I'll skin them alive!"

The clerk stood there, stunned.

Zhang Guangdao questioned, "What are you still standing there for? Go and draft the documents."

"Remember, Lao Tzu's writings are not allowed to use allusions or obscure characters!"

"Yes!" The clerk hurriedly ran to write the document.

On his first day as Minister of War, Zhang Guangdao's first order was surprisingly to standardize the writing style of military documents.

His idea was simple: for military-related documents, the more straightforward the better.

Ideally, even a roughneck who hasn't read many books should be able to understand it!

"This is the reconstruction plan for the wards and alleys of Luoyang. Please take a look, Your Majesty."

Fatty Zheng was formerly the prefect of Kaifeng, and now he has become the prefect of Luoyang.

Local officials have the authority to make decisions regarding normal urban redevelopment projects.

But this was the capital, and Zheng Hong even bypassed the cabinet and the Ministry of Revenue, going directly to report the matter to the emperor.

In terms of official document writing, Zhao Yuan had already set the rules.

First, it should not be written in a difficult or obscure way.

Second, it shouldn't be written in a long and tedious way.

Third, routine official documents must be written on formatted stationery; if the content is too extensive, they should be submitted as attachments.

Zhang Guangdao couldn't understand the Ministry of War's official documents because his education level was too low.

Even if it were Zhao Yuan, he would definitely understand it and wouldn't think there was a problem.

Because once the official document system was established, even when allusions were used, they were usually very common ones.

After all, the Ministry of War was also a civil service institution!

In comparison, the official documents of the Privy Council were much simpler, because they contained a lot of uneducated and uncultured people.

Zhao Yuan glanced through the proposal and frowned, saying, "There are thirty-three temples and monasteries in Luoyang alone?"

Zheng Hong replied, "That's right. In the first two or three years after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the prefect of Luoyang was ordered to clean up the temples and monasteries, which had already been reduced to five."

“Monks and Taoists without ordination certificates were all ordered to return to secular life and were assigned to farm in the suburbs.”

"But there were too many monks and Taoists with ordination certificates, and it was too crowded to live in five temples. So some people secretly ran back to their original temples."

"In recent years, the number of temples and monasteries that are still receiving pilgrims has recovered to as many as nine."

"Because Luoyang previously lacked population, those vacant temples and monasteries were difficult to manage, and most of them were left idle and abandoned."

"Among them, the northeastern urban area has the largest number of temples and shrines."

"I propose to convert Lidefang and Qinghuafang into the Imperial Academy, and relocate the shops and residences in these two wards to the open spaces left after the temples and monasteries were demolished in the nearby wards."

"Of course, some shops can be retained in Lide and Qinghua neighborhoods to sell writing brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, books, pigments, and so on."

The Imperial Academy hasn't moved here yet, so there's no need to rush it.

Zhao Yuan looked at the official document carefully again and was so amused that he almost sneered out loud.

The northeastern part of Luoyang was the wealthiest area, inhabited mostly by high-ranking officials and nobles.

"The southeastern district is next, and it is mostly inhabited by wealthy merchants."

"The southwest urban area is the poorest, belonging to the lower-class residential area of ​​Luoyang."

The distribution of temples and monasteries in Luoyang is consistent with the distribution of power and money.

The northeastern urban area has the highest density of temples and shrines, followed by the southeastern urban area, while the southwestern urban area has the fewest.

Moreover, the only two temples in the southwest urban area are both located in the area where retired ministers lived—retired ministers of the former Song Dynasty.

If you want to retire in Luoyang, you will often settle down in the southwest urban area where land prices are the cheapest.

However, they did not mingle with the lower-class commoners, but lived together in two neighborhoods in the northeast of the city.

Whether it's Buddha or Heavenly Venerable, it seems they only guide those who are "born in the Yuan Dynasty".

In a truly impoverished community, there wasn't even a single temple or shrine!

After carefully examining the locations of the temples and monasteries, Zhao Yuan said, "Can't poor people believe in Buddhism and Taoism?"

"Move Xingjiao Temple from Yanfufang to Datongfang in the southwest of the city!"

"It doesn't need to be too magnificent. As long as the Buddha statues and monks who are moved there have houses to shelter them from the wind and rain, that's enough."

Zheng Hong's lips twitched: "Your Majesty, that used to be a cemetery."

"There are cemeteries inside Luoyang City?" Zhao Yuan found this absurd.

Zheng Hong explained, "During the Five Dynasties period, Luoyang was a desolate place."

"Later, when the Song Dynasty was established, the northeastern and southeastern urban areas gradually prospered."

“The southwestern urban area is still sparsely populated, and some people even farm within the city.”

“Since the Five Dynasties period, some people have buried the dead in the southwest city area, and this burial custom continued in the early Song Dynasty.”

Zhao Yuan was quite surprised: "Didn't the former Song court and officials care?"

Zheng Hong replied, "It wasn't until the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song that Luoyang was clearly divided into wards and suburbs."

“The existing graves with owners are too difficult to demolish.”

"This was only because the Ming Dynasty was about to move its capital, and Bai Sanlang ordered the demolition of the tombs in the city."

“Unclaimed graves will be leveled, while those with owners will be relocated to the suburbs by the government.”

"There were scattered graves throughout all four wards, and the people living nearby were all poor."

Chapter 3526 New Church

Zhao Yuan had a very wicked sense of humor: "The burial area is just right. Who knows, there might be wronged souls there. Let the monks go and perform a ritual to help them pass on."

"It's settled then. Xingjiao Temple will be moved there in its entirety."

Zheng Hong was trying very hard to hold back her laughter, but she still couldn't help but burst out laughing.

The imperial court ordered the relocation of Xingjiao Temple, so it certainly wouldn't allocate much money for its reconstruction.

The wealth accumulated by Xingjiao Temple had already been confiscated by Han Shizhong at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.

In recent years, they have had to pay taxes honestly again, and with so many monks being relocated here, Xingjiao Temple hasn't really saved up much money.

Now they've moved a cemetery to the area, which is surrounded by impoverished people. The monks can only live in very simple houses with their Buddha statues...

Moreover, wealthy areas already have temples to worship in, so how many devout men and women would be willing to donate money to repair Xingjiao Temple if it were moved to a remote corner?

Zheng Hong said, "After the temple was demolished and the monks were relocated, Xingjiao Temple became extremely crowded with monks, and the daily food consumption was very high."

"After the relocation, the money will definitely be used to build houses. I'm afraid that within a year or two, they will be so poor that they will have to beg for alms everywhere."

Zhao Yuan said, "If the Buddhist teachings are profound, they will surely be able to generate wealth."

"If you really can't make ends meet, you can always go back to secular life and become a farmer."

"Farming is not difficult to learn. If monks are willing to return to secular life, the imperial court can allocate land to them."

Zheng Hong continued, “The main streets of Luoyang are too narrow. I plan to widen them all.”