Chapter 284
As the saying goes, if there are tens of thousands of people, there will be a sea of people.
Twenty thousand people may not sound like a lot, but they were wearing armor, holding weapons, and lined up neatly, creating a chilling atmosphere.
"Dong! Dong! Dong!"
In front of the war drums on both sides of the general stage, strong and sturdy men beat the drums heavily.
The powerful drum beats seem to hit the beat of the heart every time, making people excited.
The drums stopped, and 20,000 people saluted and shouted in unison: "Greetings to His Highness the Crown Prince!"
"Ping Sheng!" Zhao Xing raised his hand and said.
With more than 20,000 people, no matter how loud Zhao Xing spoke, only some soldiers in the front row could hear him, and those behind him could not be seen at all.
However, the soldiers could see the gestures, so after Zhao Xing finished speaking, they all shouted: "Thank you, Your Highness, Prince!"
"Today, one hundred thousand soldiers will set off to guard the border. I hope you can take the lead and protect the stability of the border!" Zhao Xing said.
The soldiers on horseback on both sides rode through the queue and repeated Zhao Xing's words loudly, spreading Zhao Xing's words throughout the army.
"I hereby promise that during the period of guarding the border, the soldiers will be paid in full and will not be delayed or deducted. If they perform meritorious services, they will be rewarded according to their merits and will be rewarded with fields!"
The cavalry waited for Zhao again. After Xing's words spread throughout the army, drums sounded.
After the drums stopped, the soldiers shouted in unison: "We must win! We must win!"
This time the voice was louder than before.
For ordinary soldiers, they can’t understand any big principles.
Zhao Xing didn't say anything big, he just promised to pay the salary on time and reward him with land for his meritorious service.
That's enough for the soldiers.
When the imperial court was short of money before, it often delayed paying soldiers.
Now that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has promised in front of so many people that he will pay his wages in full and on time, and will reward them with land for their meritorious service, the morale of the soldiers is naturally high.
"British Sir, let's go!" Zhao Xing said.
"Yes!"
The British Duke walked out from behind Zhao Xing, came to the front and turned around, faced Zhao Xing with a salute, turned around and got off the general platform.
The soldiers on the side led their horses forward, and the British Duke got on his horse.
"Let's go!"
"Woo~"
Amidst the melodious sound of the trumpet, the soldiers lined up in an orderly manner under the command of the general, following the British prince.
Zhao Xing stood at the general commanding platform, watching the soldiers lining up to leave the camp, his eyes a little lost.
"Your Highness, it's time to return to the palace." Han Zhang reminded.
Zhao Xing came to his senses and said: "Go back to the palace!"
Take all the officials back to Bianjing, Zhao Xing went directly back to the palace.
The officials returned to their respective offices.
"Your Highness, these thorns need to be dealt with as soon as possible."
When Zhang Qingzhi saw Zhao Xing coming back, he saluted and took out more than a dozen thorns and presented them to Zhao Xing.
His job is to sort out the problems that need to be dealt with by Zhao Xing every day, and prioritize those that need to be dealt with as soon as possible to Zhao Xing first.
In addition, when Zhao Xing asked him about something he didn't know how to handle, he also had to provide Zhao Xing with some ideas for Zhao Xing's reference.
Eunuch Liu stepped forward to take the zhazi and brought it to Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing picked up the top tie and looked at it, frowning slightly.
“The horse farms in the north are short of refined grains. The Ministry of Household Affairs can allocate them. Can this kind of thing be handled alone?”
"Your Highness, the Ministry of Revenue said that the number of war horses in the northern racecourse has increased sharply, and the originally stored soybeans are not enough, so they need to be purchased from the private sector. However, the Duzhi Division did not give approval," Zhang Qingzhi said.
"Why not give me an approval?" Zhao Xing frowned.
War horses don’t just need to eat grass. They also need to add certain refined grains, such as soybeans and oats.
Otherwise, the war horse will lose weight seriously and the war horse will be useless.
Some people may wonder, in this case, nomadic people live on the grassland and do not cultivate, how can they feed their horses with soybeans and oats?
As the saying goes, the soil and water support the people. This is true for people, and the same is true for animals.
There is plenty of green grass on the grassland, and there are also some specific grasses that can supplement the needs of war horses.
But it is different here with the Han people. They can almost only provide hay for their war horses, which naturally needs to be supplemented with refined grains.
Zhao Xing traded so many horses back, which intensified the consumption of soybeans.
The yield of soybeans is not high, and it cannot be used as a staple food. People rarely plant it on a large area, and they only open up some land to plant a little.
Therefore, soybeans were not included in the grain collected by the court through land collection taxes, and they had to be purchased from the private sector.
"The reply from Duzhisi is that all the money in the treasury has been planned for use, and there is no extra money." Zhang Qingzhi said.
"Joke!" Zhao Xing sneered: "How many war horses did the Great Song Dynasty have? Not many stallions even in the racecourse, how can we not afford to feed these horses? Eunuch Liu, send someone to tell the Duzhi envoy Sir. No matter what method he uses, he must squeeze out the money."
"Your Highness, I understand that this is not appropriate. Building the Great Wall in the north will cost a lot of money. Moreover, these 100,000 troops will be sent to the north this time, and these 100,000 people will be paid in full without delay, so this money cannot be moved," Zhang Qingzhi explained. .
Zhao Xing shook his head and said: "Is the cost of building the Great Wall a one-time expenditure? Salt, iron, wine and tea have income every month, so we can embezzle part of it first, and then make up for it when this part is collected. If you don’t understand this, doesn’t the Duzhi Envoy also understand?”
Considering the financial situation of the Song Dynasty, these years have been about tearing down the east wall to make up for the west wall. Now, telling him that he can't even spare the money to buy refined grain for his war horses is a joke.
Ever since Zhao Xing began to supervise the country, he had thought that someone would trip him up.
After waiting for so long and there was no movement, I thought these people were all honest.
Perhaps what happened this time was someone testing him.
Zhang Qingzhi really didn't understand these things, and he didn't continue to persuade Zhao Xing after hearing what he said.
Eunuch Liu responded and sent someone to the Third Division to convey Zhao Xing’s intention.
Zhao Xing threw the thorn aside and dealt with other thorns.
About half an hour later, a eunuch came in and reported: "Your Highness, Master Si Gao, the envoy of Duzhi, wants to see you!"
"Let him in!" Zhao Xing said lightly.
The eunuch who reported the news withdrew after hearing this, and after a while the envoy Si Gaobo came in.
"I pay my respects to His Highness the Crown Prince!" Gao Bo saluted.
"Gu has already asked someone to tell you everything that needs to be said. You came to see Gu, but have you found a solution?" Zhao Xing asked.
“Back to Your Highness, if things go according to the past, this matter will not be difficult to solve. It only needs to be diverted from other places first, and then it can be turned around. However, the Prime Minister has said that building the Great Wall in the north is a top priority. . His Highness also explained that the military pay of the border officers must be paid in full without delay.
The money in this regard should not be misappropriated, otherwise if there is a problem later and it cannot be paid, I will be unable to do so. It’s done,” Gao Bo said.
"So you have no solution?" Zhao Xing said lightly.
"I really have no choice. Unless His Highness orders it, I dare not misappropriate it." Gao Bo said.
"If you can't even handle this little thing, you should stop doing this job. Find someone who can do it. You are not young anymore. Go home and take care of yourself." Zhao Xing He said calmly.
He didn't know why Gao Bo had to ask him to give the order before he was willing to embezzle it first, but Zhao Xing knew that this order could not be made.
Once he gets down, the hole that will be misappropriated in the future will definitely not be repaired.
It’s not that there’s no way to fix it, it’s that these people won’t fix it.
Maybe the hole will get bigger and bigger. If there is a problem in the future, he will issue the order.
Gao Bo looked at Zhao Xing in disbelief. You must know that although the rank of the three ministers is not high, their power and status are extremely high.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Xing was dismissed as soon as he said he was dismissed, and he was asked to go home for retirement.
He is only in his early fifties, how can he live in old age?
"What? Gao Aiqing's ears don't work well either? Do you need me to repeat it again?" Zhao Xing said.
"I obey the decree!" Gao Bo came back to his senses, took off the black gauze hat on his head with trembling hands, held it in his hands, saluted and retreated with the black gauze hat in his arms.
Zhao Xing looked at Gao Bo's leaving back, thought for a long time, and said, "Eunuch Liu, send someone to Kaifeng Mansion Office to summon Wang Anshi into the palace."
He felt that There must be something wrong in the Third Division. If it is really just a test, it is impossible for Gao Bo to be stripped of his position and not let go.
Zhao Xing wanted Wang Anshi to take over as the Duzhi Envoy Division to see what the problems were with the Third Division.
"Yes!" Eunuch Liu responded.
…………
Zhizhengtang, also known as Dutang. It is the place where the Prime Minister of the DPRK has his office.
The news that Zhao Xing dismissed Gao Bo quickly spread to Zhizhengtang.
Several husbands sat together to discuss the matter.
"Master, you're talking. His Royal Highness directly dismissed the Duzhi Envoy without going through the Zhizheng Hall. This is against the rules." He said in nonsense.
The Song Dynasty and the scholar-bureaucrats co-ruling the world are not just talk.
Even if the officials remove important ministers from the court, there must be a suitable reason, and it must be done through the Zhizhengtang.
Of course, even if he is a husband, he will be removed as long as the official insists on removing him.
Although what Zhao Xing did was against the rules, it was not a big deal.
What is anxious in the nonsense is that Zhao Xing already has a problem with him. Today, no one can stop Gao Bo from being dismissed. He may be dismissed another day.
Gao Bo was dismissed directly, without even the honor of being granted emeritus status.
With his rank, if he becomes an official normally, it would be no problem to add a San Gong.
He didn’t want to end up like Gao Bo.
Han Zhang frowned and said: "Gao Bo is the Duzhi Envoy, but he didn't even pass the Ministry of Household's application for money to purchase refined grain for the northern horse farm. His Highness the Crown Prince has no problem in deposing him."
"Even so, we should hold a small court meeting to discuss it. How can we just dismiss him?" Hu Yanzhong said.
The eyes of the other people moved slightly when they heard this.
The words spoken in nonsense reached their hearts.
If suppressing military generals is a tacit understanding shared by civilian officials, the same is true for restricting imperial power.
Restricting imperial power selfishly is because you want to control more power.
The purpose of restricting imperial power without selfish motives is to prevent the imperial power from being unrestricted.
Don’t mention Hu Zhongyan’s words to others, even Han Zhang hesitated after hearing them.
"I will report this matter to the officials and see what they mean." Han Zhang said.
(End of this chapter)