Do you know that my grandfather was entitled to be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple?

Chapter 39 Difficult to Distinguish Between Loyalty and Treachery

Many people believe that the Song Dynasty maintained an army of over a million because there were no natural defenses in the north.

In addition, it was relatively weak militarily, so it maintained so many troops in order to resist the Liao and Western Xia.

But that's not actually the case.

Because land consolidation was so severe, many people became displaced.

These displaced people became a source of social instability.

The imperial court reduced this danger by recruiting able-bodied young men into the army.

There were more than 400 recorded rebellions during the Song Dynasty. If we include those that were too small to be recorded, there were even more.

However, each rebellion was easily quelled and did not cause significant losses to the imperial court.

However, the downside of doing so was that the imperial army grew to an unprecedented size.

Although later statistics show that the Ming Dynasty had the most soldiers, the Ming Dynasty adopted the garrison system, which was fundamentally different from the Song Dynasty's conscription system.

The cost of maintaining an army is simply incomparable.

The most serious of the three problems is the excessive number of soldiers, which accounts for more than 60% of military expenditures alone.

Don't the court and ministers know that cutting part of the army would effectively alleviate the financial problem?

If two or three hundred thousand troops were to be cut, it would have no impact on border defense at all.

The reason they didn't do it was because the imperial court simply had no way to resolve the issue.

If we want to resolve this step by step, then we must address the resettlement issue if we want to reduce the military.

Resettlement requires land, which necessitates resolving the issue of land annexation and finding ways to persuade landlords and gentry to relinquish their land.

Therefore, Mr. Fu did not approve of this approach at all.

The emperor frowned slightly; Wang You's viewpoint was actually quite in line with his personality.

It can solve some problems without causing too much turmoil.

But what Master Fu said makes a lot of sense; many things are interconnected.

"Yan Guo is mistaken!"

Wen Xiangong retorted, "This method should be implemented from the bottom up, how can it be done from the top down?"

Although addressing the problems from the bottom up is very slow and it is difficult to see results in a short time, the effects will naturally become apparent over time.

As for the excessive number of soldiers, recruitment can be reduced in the future. Naturally, the number of soldiers can be gradually reduced, thus decreasing military expenditure.

The officials summoned by the emperor were all people who supported the reform or did not oppose it.

Those who are not opposed to reform tend to use more moderate methods to solve problems.

Therefore, as soon as Minister Wen made this statement, he immediately gained their support.

Meanwhile, the reformers refuted the arguments with various reasons, and the two sides stuck to their own views, arguing endlessly.

The emperor was somewhat troubled by this scene.

"His Majesty!"

Just then, Fu Bi spoke up again.

The people who were arguing stopped politely upon hearing this.

"I believe this method is worth trying; however, we will only know how effective it is after testing it."

The reformers were anxious, but after the death of Master Fan, everyone sided with Master Fu. Now, in front of the emperor, they could not open their mouths to refute him.

Only Han Zhang, standing in the crowd, seemed lost in thought.

The official was very pleased to see that the wealthy gentleman had changed his address.

"Since Minister Wen and Minister Fu agree, let's give it a try."

"My dear ministers, think carefully about where to begin and how to proceed, and then submit your reports to me."

"Your Majesty, we obey!" the crowd replied.

…………

"Master Fu..."

Upon leaving the Longtu Pavilion, some reformist officials couldn't help but want to ask questions, but were stopped by a single glance from Master Fu.

After leaving the palace, the wealthy young master didn't say much to anyone, got into the carriage that had come to pick him up, and went straight back to his residence.

The following morning, after attending the small court assembly, Master Fu finally gathered everyone together.

"Why did you suddenly change your mind yesterday, Master Fu? His Majesty was already hesitant about the reforms. If we don't find out the results, I'm afraid he will never agree to the reforms again."

"Yes, Fan Zhongyan devoted himself to the reform and now we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. We should carry on his legacy."

The reformist officials, who had been holding back all night, could no longer contain themselves upon seeing Master Fu and began bombarding him with questions.

Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Fu looked at Han Zhang and asked, "What does Privy Councilor Han think?"

The Song Dynasty not only implemented a system of multiple prime ministers, but also had several official positions whose power and status were no less than that of the prime minister.

This included the Privy Councilor and the Three Departments Commissioner.

The Privy Councilor was in charge of the mobilization of troops throughout the country, while the Three Commissioners controlled the purse strings.

Both were no less powerful than the prime minister, and sometimes the privy councilor even became the head of all officials, holding a higher position than the prime minister.

However, the status of the Privy Councilor was not clearly defined and depended entirely on the attitude of the emperor.

If someone is promoted from Privy Councilor to Chancellor, then Chancellor must be of a higher rank than Privy Councilor.

However, if the Prime Minister is promoted to the position of Privy Councilor, then the position of Privy Councilor is of a higher rank than that of the Prime Minister.

During the current emperor's reign, he has repeatedly promoted the Privy Councilor to Prime Minister, but has never promoted the Prime Minister to Privy Councilor.

Therefore, it was generally accepted that the Privy Councilor was inferior to the Prime Minister.

In addition, the Qingli New Policies were presided over by Prime Minister Fan and Prime Minister Fu.

Although Han Zhang also supported it, he was sent to other places to quell the rebellion during the new policy period and did not participate deeply.

Therefore, the reformists were still mainly composed of Fu Xiangong.

However, Prime Minister Fu had high hopes for Han Zhang. Han Zhang was serving as the Privy Councilor, and if he could be promoted to Prime Minister in the future, he would truly be the head of all officials.

Therefore, when faced with the questions from the crowd, he did not answer, but instead asked Han Zhang for his opinion first.

"I think Mr. Fu did the right thing," Han Zhang said.

These words caused an uproar, but the wealthy gentleman gestured for Han Zhang to continue, and said with a smile, "Go on."

"It is unrealistic for the emperor to try to solve the long-standing problems little by little. However, this also shows that although the emperor has the desire to reform, he has many concerns."

"After the failure, the Emperor will naturally understand that the only way to solve the deep-seated problems of the court is through reform; there is no other way," Han Zhang said.

"Wouldn't that make the government even less confident in the reforms?" one official retorted.

In his view, the emperor's hesitation was simply because the previous reforms had failed.

If the emperor were to try this, what would he think if he encountered resistance?

If even the smallest solution can fail, how much harder would it be to succeed in reform?

"Won't."

Fu Xiangong shook his head and said, "The court's accumulated problems are indeed serious, and they will only continue to worsen if they are not addressed."

The Emperor is well aware of this. The princes are still young. If the Emperor doesn't resolve these issues, are he going to leave them to the new emperor?

Everyone fell silent upon hearing this, for the idea of ​​family, country, and the world has been passed down for thousands of years.

People are so keen on power not only because of their own selfish motives, but more importantly because they want to pass it on to their offspring.

The emperor wanted his empire to last for thousands of generations, and the officials also wanted to serve as officials for generations like the aristocratic families of the past.

As a father, it's only natural that he wouldn't want to leave a mess for his son.

Having convinced everyone, Master Fu said, "Moreover, this will allow the Emperor to better understand people's hearts."

Many people wonder why so many emperors in ancient times failed to distinguish between loyalty and treachery.

Many of these treacherous officials already had a bad reputation, yet the emperor still frequently relied on them.

It's not that they can't distinguish between loyalty and treachery, but rather that it's difficult to tell them apart.