Chapter 103 Fund Raising

Zhao Jiu's memories flooded out like water from a burst dam, bringing with them a multitude of thoughts... but it's worth noting that what flowed out after the dam burst wasn't exactly a flood, but more like a stream.

There was no help for it.

The year was Jianyan 7 (1133 AD). In other words, Zhao Jiu had lived for twenty-seven years to date. Yet, the experiences of the last seven years felt like they had taken up a larger portion of his life.

As for the first twenty years... aside from the relative carefreeness of that time, he hadn't possessed much in the way of deep thinking ability before high school, had he? Even afterward, the time he had to effectively acquire knowledge was limited, not to mention mature understanding and practical experience.

In addition to all of this, there was also the reason that he had been slapped in the face so hard it still stung.

After Zhao Jiu fell into the well, influenced by some low-end games and high-end web novels, he had tried some so-called "golden finger" ideas, but these ideas were often left battered and bruised by the ruthlessness of reality and harsh conditions, eventually stopping at the idea stage:

First, there was the impact of the war. Every day was a matter of life and death. Until Yaoshan, he didn't have the real peace of mind to do these things.

Then, there was the fact that his personal knowledge was not systematic. Scattered bits and pieces could not provide a breakthrough for a systematic industry.

Finally, the Song Dynasty, as a country with more than 100 million people, was relatively urbanized, and it had already reached a certain extreme in places other than productivity during this height of the Middle Ages.

Many things that Zhao Jiu suggested turned out to have better examples already in place, but they had been scaled down or suspended due to lack of money or war... the most representative of these was the medical system.

In a sense, this also included the current financial problems.

Returning to a few days prior, at the beginning of this month, after Minister of Revenue Lin Jingmo submitted that weighty memorial, he quickly followed up with a note. In the note, Lin Jingmo had already presented to Zhao Jiu a whole series of ideas, including issuing special Northern Expedition bonds, appropriate anti-corruption measures, and even a special tax (a tax on existing property, to be levied on households with property exceeding a certain amount) that directly robbed the rich to help the poor.

And given Lin Jingmo's position, the fact that he had issued this note meant that the so-called Mu faction behind Zhang Deyuan had reached an internal consensus and was ready to charge ahead for Zhao Jiu.

But, whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, Zhao Jiu himself was more hesitant than these trusted subordinates whom he had personally nurtured, influenced, and who dared to act.

The hesitation was of course justified:

Large-scale issuance of Northern Expedition bonds required the entire country to be full of confidence in the Northern Expedition, and if the confidence of the people was not as strong as the court thought, and too many bonds were issued, there would be a glut of bonds, leading officials and commoners to lose confidence in the Northern Expedition through the situation with the bonds.

That wasn't all. The most fatal thing was that, according to Zhao Jiu's experience, once things went wrong, there was a high probability that officials would deceive those above them and impose quotas by force. At that time, it would not only be a matter of demoralizing the people, but even the regular bond market, which was issued at the end of the year and grew steadily, and had a huge regulatory impact on finances, would be affected.

It might even lead to greater political upheaval.

As for anti-corruption.

This was an old chestnut... but it was a bit far-fetched, because at this time, the bulk of the national finances were spent on military expenses, and the Imperial Guard army was still under the military system of generals commanding large army groups. Under these circumstances, officers at every level, from those commanders down, were almost openly embezzling military funds.

To put it bluntly, if Zhao Jiu didn't thoroughly crack down on corruption in the army, then on what basis could he crack down on it elsewhere?

As for cracking down on corruption in the army, it wasn't impossible, but then he would have to be prepared for the military balance to be broken, some capable and battle-hardened generals to be dealt with, and even some people to collude and resist, forcing the court to carry out a major purge... and this might lead to a large-scale rebound from the previous situation of valuing civil officials and despising military officials, causing Zhao Jiu to completely lose faith in the military, leading to the collapse of the army's combat effectiveness.

In short, from a long-term perspective, cracking down on corruption was certainly conducive to maintaining the army's combat effectiveness, but in the short term, the result would be a rapid decline in the army's combat effectiveness.

But wasn't what Zhao Jiu was pursuing the maintenance of combat effectiveness in the short term, to ensure that he could launch the Northern Expedition at any time?

And this was precisely why Zhao Jiu could only carry out appropriate purges of some troops in the Imperial Guard under his nose, but most of the time he had to repeatedly exhort and influence a dozen or so commanders and dozens of commanding officers to control the internal corruption of the army.

Of course, to be honest, Zhao Jiu and the court were not some innocent white lotuses either.

After the Yanling victory, the court immediately balanced the strength of the various armies, and then took the opportunity after the Grand Enke Examination of that year to send a large number of advanced scholars to the army. After the Yaoshan victory, Lu Yihao immediately submitted a memorial requesting the rectification of the chaotic situation of the 'envoy officials' before, and then Zhao Jiu took the opportunity to strip all of Han Shizhong, Yue Fei, and Li Yanxian of their Pacification Commissioner, Military Commissioner, and Garrison Commissioner titles.

This was in itself an act of corruption crackdown that surpassed everything else.

As for the tax increase of robbing the rich to help the poor, there was even less to say. It goes without saying what kind of counterattack and resistance would be provoked by the fact that a family actually had two cows.

Moreover, this kind of specific behavior targeting the wealthy class, coupled with the crude way of governing of the feudal era, was likely to turn into an unrestrained, even expanded, and even misplaced evil policy.

You say your family property doesn't reach the limit for this tax, but I think it does! Don't believe me? Let us search it!

This has nothing to do with the fact that Master Wang is related to the bailiff Zhang in the county! Master Wang is poor, and you are rich! That pottery pot in your house is worth more than the porcelain in Master Wang's house next door!

Oops, my hand slipped, but it doesn't matter, your door is only worth three coins, I'll pay you!

When we went to lead your cow, it was a sick cow about to die, how could it be counted as a live cow?

Do you have the final say, or do I have the final say? Don't you know that Zhao GuanJia wants to launch the Northern Expedition? Are you a Jin spy?

History has proven time and time again that in a state where auditing methods rely entirely on manual labor, this kind of wool-gathering behavior that looks like it only targets the wealthy class often degenerates into cruel persecution of the middle class.

On the contrary, the real dignitaries and the wealthy will avoid these.

How dare Zhao Jiu easily agree?

But, so to say, Zhao Jiu's hesitation and hesitation did not mean that he really rejected these suggestions. He was actually prepared to take these forceful measures as a last resort.

He also believed that in this state of war, under the cleansing of the court through the Baima-Shaoxing Change, and under the suppression of the powerful Imperial Guard army, both the real wealthy class and the middle class would endure it.

Even, this official even had the dark intention of targeting some Tokyo-Nanyang-Yangzhou dignitaries and wealthy people to carry out implicated cases, and selectively rob them when necessary.

However, the problem was that those were all the final solutions that would only be chosen as a last resort.

As a ruler, Zhao Jiu hoped to hold on to some bottom lines, and hoped to use more detailed, more ingenious, and more sophisticated means to gather wealth for the Northern Expedition... This was the reason why those contents appeared in the latest issue of the Dibao (official gazette).

But back to the present, this time, with Xu Jing's words, Zhao GuanJia really had the feeling of opening a harmless golden finger.

Because he had already realized that the things he had just recalled in passing were generally from some institutional innovations in the period before the Industrial Revolution, after the end of the Middle Ages... These things did not require the strong productivity of the post-Industrial Revolution era as a foundation, but they were absolutely beyond the scope of the Middle Ages, and most of them were institutional innovations.

Therefore, these ideas were just the kind of good things that could have a forced growth effect on the Song Dynasty, which was in the height of the Middle Ages.

However, with Zhao Jiu's ordinary engineer background, even if he knew something about similar matters, it would definitely not be much.

Royal qualification commercialization;

Sea Standard Flag;

Stamp tax;

Northern Expedition lottery;

Sea trade company system;

Northern Expedition bonds;

Excess farmland tax;

Public auction of royal property.

It was still early summer in April, in the somewhat stuffy stone pavilion in the back palace in the morning. Prime Minister Zhao Ding, who had eaten several mulberries at Zhao GuanJia's urging, so that the corners of his mouth were stained with color, put down the note in his hand, and then sat in place with a complicated expression, silent for a long time.

Not only him, but also Chancellor Zhang Jun, Deputy Chancellor of the Department of State Affairs Liu Ji, Deputy Envoy of the Military Council Chen Gui, Censor-in-Chief Li Guang, Minister of Revenue Lin Jingmo, and Minister of Works Hu Yin next to him were in a similar situation.

This was not to say that Zhao XiangGong and the others did not understand what these words meant - this was a major national matter, and the Zhao GuanJia opposite them was not here to pretend to be coercive. The latter had written down in detail the detailed explanations that he had racked his brains to come up with.

However, precisely because of this, the people opposite them felt it was incredible.

"What do you say?"

Perhaps afraid that what he had come up with would be rejected again for some very childish reason, Zhao Jiu rarely lost his usual composure and could not help but urge him.

"Could it be that GuanJia is a genius bestowed by heaven?" Zhang Deyuan, who was sitting on the stone bench, was the first to respond with a smile. "Such ingenuity as the stamp tax is truly amazing, and the lottery..."

Zhao Jiu rarely showed a hint of pride, but then he habitually became serious.

The stamp tax was actually the stamp duty, but the Song Dynasty has always had the tradition of signing in addition to stamping, so it was changed to this name that was more in line with the times.

And the specific meaning of the stamp duty was actually very simple... After a private transaction reaches the point where a contract needs to be signed, whether it is buying and selling a house, farmland, or a large amount of goods, or a private loan, you can find the court to stamp it and sign it, but you have to pay taxes.

At least one string of cash, and more is collected according to the share of the value of the goods, one-thousandth, and both parties pay the money together.

The beauty of this tax is that it is not a mandatory tax, but a voluntary tax, and it cleverly avoids the bottom-level poor people.

After all, those who are really qualified to make these contracts will not be the bottom-level people. And precisely these people, especially the people who buy, in order to ensure the legality of their property, will often actively ask the seller to come with them to let the government stamp this stamp and sign this pledge, in order to ensure the legality of the transaction and avoid unnecessary disputes in the future.

Imagine, you spent 150 strings of cash in Tokyo to buy a house to settle down in, and you plan to pass it on to your son and grandson. You have already spent 150 strings of cash, and you are unwilling to spend that half a string of cash... According to the market price, it is 370 cash... to ask for a contract with the official seal, to further ensure your ownership of this mansion?

Even if you give a small bribe, so what?

There is a different sense of security between having an official seal and not having an official seal, a three-party contract and a two-party contract.

With the people's superstition of the authority of the government this year, they should be very willing to hand over this tax.

It is indeed a clever idea, and it is absolutely feasible!

On the other side, while Zhang Deyuan was praising the stamp tax, Minister of Revenue Lin Jingmo also came to a conclusion about the stamp tax in his heart.

However, Minister Lin was different from others. He was a recognized person with inner beauty. Not only did he come to a conclusion about the stamp tax, but he also realized the essence of the paper that Zhao GuanJia gave today, and appropriately guessed the mood of many people present.

Let's say that Zhao GuanJia has done a lot of fancy things, but the essence is nothing more than a few major categories.

First of all, not only the stamp tax, but the Northern Expedition bonds, the Sea Standard Flag, and the commercialization of royal qualifications, are essentially exchanging credit for money, but the former two are the credit of the entire court, the latter is the reputation of the royal family, and the Sea Standard Flag is a little more complicated, probably the common credit of the court and the royal family is not limited to this.

But it has to be admitted that the stamp tax is extremely cleverly designed, and the commercialization of royal qualifications and the Sea Standard Flag can be regarded as a clever extension of a precedent, and the resistance should be very small.

As for the Northern Expedition bonds, it is the meaning that should be in the question, and the Ministry of Revenue put this matter on the agenda from the beginning.

And it is worth mentioning that, with so many credit products, the share of pure national debt can be further reduced to ensure that it is within a safe share.

Secondly, it is the sea trade company this thing.

This thing is obviously the institutionalization and stabilization result of the large fleet system created by Zhang Jun Zhang Boying... The sea trade outline has already alarmed the entire Tokyo city. It seems that it is to echo this.

According to Zhao GuanJia's explanation, not only sea merchants, but also cargo owners, not only Zhang Boying, but even the royal family, the Department of State Affairs representing the court, and some high-ranking officials and dignitaries can take their respective names to become the owner.

Then everyone discusses it together to reduce the resistance of the company and share the money together.

Doing so is definitely somewhat pioneering, and the benefits are great... because it can reduce risks and avoid internal friction caused by internal processes. In the past, cargo owners and sea merchants had to bear all aspects of risks independently, so they should be very willing to do so.

Not to mention anything else, why did so many sea merchants and cargo owners respond after Zhang Boying came forward that day? This in itself explains the problem.

However, to put it bluntly, the essence of this thing is still competing with the people for profits, and forcibly plundering the interests of normal commercial trade that originally belonged to the people into the hands of the court, the royal family, and the dignitaries.

Only the idea of making profits from one hole is the fundamental guiding ideology of the court's finances, coupled with the overall situation of the Northern Expedition, it also makes people speechless.

Next, there is no need to say more about the lottery.

The court does not allow the people to gamble in private, but borrows the righteousness of the Northern Expedition to create such a thing... How should I put it? It can also be regarded as making profits from one hole.

There is also the excess farmland tax, which should come from his proposal that day, which is an improved variant of the tax on the wealthy... After all, this year is still the year of agriculture, and relative to randomly saying who is a rich household and forcing people to pay taxes, collecting additional farmland tax for large households with farmland exceeding a certain amount is of course the most feasible method.

Because the farmland is clearly placed there, and it is difficult to hide.

Of course, even so, there are still unavoidable slippery officials and dignitaries who cheat on the quality of the farmland.

It can only be said that this is already the most lenient attitude among the forced tax increase schemes that are flying all over the sky after the Dibao published the solicitation of wealth gathering opinions.

Finally, there is the auction of royal private property... This is more like something Zhao GuanJia can do.

In short, Zhao GuanJia has really tried his best, but in this way, what should the ministers do?

"GuanJia,"

Li Guang hesitated for a moment, but still spoke seriously. "I think the stamp tax, the Northern Expedition bonds, the Sea Standard Flag, and the royal qualification auction... are all extremely ingenious designs, and I admire them very much, but the sea trade company is competing with the people for profits after all, and the lottery is gambling after all, which hurts morality and customs, and auctioning royal private property will inevitably hurt the dignity of the royal family. Collecting extra farmland tax according to farmland will still allow slippery officials to cheat... I think, since there are already the first four, the latter few may as well be slowed down, and see how the first ones perform before making plans."

It would be strange if GuanJia agreed!

Faced with Li Xiantai, who interrupted his thoughts, Minister Lin's face did not change, and he sneered in his heart.

"It would be strange if I agreed to Li Qing!" Zhao Jiu shook his head in response. "The country's Northern Expedition is a matter that must be done with all its strength, how can it be planned again? Li Qing, really don't say anything about competing with the people for profits and what dignity... In front of the tens of millions of civilians in Hebei, the theory of competing with the people for profits is too ridiculous; in front of the Shame of Jingkang, the dignity of the royal family and the court are worthless! Moreover, the company system and the lottery are progressive, not just competing with the people for profits and losing dignity. As for the extra tax on those with more than 500 acres of farmland, Li Qing, don't forget, my intention in creating these things is not to forcibly collect property tax, but also to suppress annexation... If Qing is interested in this, you might as well think of a way for me to prevent these landlords from transferring the newly added land tax to the tenants."

Li Guang sighed slightly and said no more.

And Lin Jingmo, although he did not speak, also sighed slightly in his heart.

Speaking of which, in fact, it was not only Li Guang's posture of raising questions as a professional opponent, but Minister Lin also guessed the mentality of many people present... Chancellor Zhang Jun should be somewhat frustrated and uneasy, because he has always prided himself on being GuanJia's confidant, and this time he was indeed in charge of the general strategy of the Northern Expedition preparation, and he had made a big splash, but when it came to the most important work of wealth building, many such excellent schemes that had nothing to do with him emerged.

At this time, this Chancellor Zhang, who first flattered a few words and then fell silent for a long time, must be thinking, who came up with so many good ideas for GuanJia?

Was it really summoned by the Dibao? Is the Dibao really that useful?

So many useful methods came out so quickly after a question was thrown out? And each one is more ingenious than the ones designed by his party?

As for Zhao Ding Zhao XiangGong's mentality, it should be between Li Guang and Zhang Jun.

On the one hand, he felt that some methods were still problematic, so he had a certain resistance mentality, but on the other hand, as the Prime Minister, that was also the great kindness of Zhao GuanJia, and he could not repay him even if he grassed the land and tied rings in his next eight lifetimes... So after Zhang Jun spoke five things in person, Zhao XiangGong could not help but feel that the dignified Prime Minister of the Department of State Affairs could only be reduced to an executor, and he was sorry for Zhao GuanJia's preferential treatment, and then he had some unease.

Moreover, he certainly did not know who was giving Zhao GuanJia ideas, and he was also suspicious.

Even Minister Lin himself saw through his own mentality. As the Minister of Revenue, as the core member of Zhang Jun's party, and as the executor of the wealth building work, he originally had the mentality of breaking the cauldron and betting everything for GuanJia, but he did not expect a Cheng Yaojin to come out halfway, not only stealing his work, but also having better and more methods than him, of course, he was also somewhat uneasy and had some complicated feelings.

However, unlike others, Minister Lin was an intelligent person after all. When others were caught in various complex emotions, he had already taken the lead in breaking free and locked on the biggest suspect. Even, this person was in this stone pavilion!

That's right, that person was Hu Yin Hu Mingzhong, the Minister of Works who was sitting silently beside him!

Back then, before Hu Mingzhong was sent out, he was already a trial Censor-in-Chief. After he went out, he was the Transport Commissioner of the five routes in Guanzhong. As a result, when he came back, he was on par with himself and others, and even worse - the Ministry of Works was the most idle department. In addition to a rank, the Minister of Works had too little real power compared to other ministers.

At that time, there were rumors inside the court that Hu Mingzhong opposed GuanJia's dispatch of troops to Western Xia, so that he was disgusted by GuanJia.

But Lin Jingmo sneered at this... Liu Ziyu also opposed fighting at Yaoshan, but did Zhao GuanJia not still promote him step by step? Moreover, no one knew the details of how Hu Yin opposed GuanJia's dispatch of troops to Western Xia. On the contrary, when the army swept the northwest, Hu Mingzhong worked diligently to ensure the logistics support in the early stage of the campaign, and the work was done beautifully.

Such a person.

In terms of qualifications, he was one of the three famous ministers of the Imperial College that day. He was the first batch of ministers that GuanJia gathered in his hands, and he was even more qualified than himself.

In terms of stance, before Hu Quan took control of the Dibao, he was always the most radical anti-Jin person.

In terms of integrity, he is not as good as Zhao XiangGong, is he not as good as Zhang XiangGong's party, is he not as good as himself?

In terms of execution and courage, what is it to take away Qu Duan's military power after being beaten a few times? What is it to forcibly drag Yang Zheng, Wu Jie's favorite general, to the capital and behead him? And don't forget, the number one commander in the world today, King of Yan'an Han Shizhong, is most convinced of Hu Mingzhong, and the second commander, GuanJia's in-law Yue Fei, was recommended by this person.

Such a person should have returned to the Western House directly.

Of course, in addition to his age, the fact that he was unable to become the prime minister of the Western House was probably also due to Zhang Jun, GuanJia's first confidant... If Hu Yin had also entered the Military Council and became a chief minister, with this person's character and strength, the drama between the three famous ministers of the Jingkang Imperial College that day would definitely be more exciting than *Water Margin*!

And Zhao GuanJia clearly hoped to maintain the stability of the court, ensure Zhao Ding Zhao XiangGong's ruling power and Zhang Jun's banner image of advocating war, and then ensure the great cause of the Northern Expedition.

Even earlier, Hu Yin took the initiative to ask for foreign release, so that Zhao GuanJia was able to choose the weaker Liu Ji and other Nanyang party members who got along better with Zhao Ding as a third party, I am afraid that there was also a tacit understanding between the monarch and his ministers.

For this reason, Wan Qixie's famous admonition was drawn, making Wan Qixie rise up, which was another matter.

In short, Zhao GuanJia must have a great use for such a confidant, and placing him in the Ministry of Works, where there is basically nothing to do, is probably just to use him to do some big things... such as these specific plans for wealth building now.

Just when everyone was in a complicated mood.

On the other side, Zhao GuanJia, who was waiting for feedback, became more and more uneasy... As the provider of the scheme, or the provider of the copied scheme, facing these trusted ministers with rich governing experience, he was naturally a little lacking in confidence, fearing that he had made a big childish mistake that had caused these people to react slightly strangely.

Compared with this, how could he have imagined that this was simply because the method was too ingenious, so that none of these trusted ministers felt that this was something that Zhao GuanJia had come up with out of thin air, and they were all suspicious?

As for Hu Yin, if Zhao GuanJia knew that Lin Jingmo, who had been his secretary for several years, thought that way, he would have jumped up and slapped the mulberries in front of him on his face!

First of all, this was really something that he, Zhao Jiu, had come up with! Although there was some suspicion of cheating, it was also something that he had come up with himself!

Secondly, in a sense, Lin Jingmo was still right... Zhao Jiu put Hu Yin in the Ministry of Works, where there was basically no work to do right now, and he did use his heart.

However, Zhao Jiu did not regard Hu Yin as a staff member or anything, but regarded Hu Yin as an unruly minister, and wanted to use Hu Yin's integrity, black face, stubbornness, and execution to make the Ministry of Works a secondary executive center for his Northern Expedition preparation work.

In the future, Zhao GuanJia was also preparing to let Hu Quan, who was holding the Dibao, Yu Yunwen, who was controlling the supervision of the Green Seed Loan, and Mei Li, who was gradually becoming a trade consultant, connect with Hu Yin to a certain extent.

Of course, let's not mention these things for now. With Zhao GuanJia's gradual pressure, from Zhao Ding down, most people still expressed their agreement or reluctantly approved attitude, and the questions about the relevant policies all remained at the level of competing with the people for profits or losing dignity.

This made Zhao GuanJia gradually feel relieved.

"You don't understand, I am really uneasy." After finishing the air, Zhao Jiu, who was slightly relieved, twisted a mulberry, swallowed it in one gulp, but then showed a tired look on his face. "These days, I have been almost driven crazy by this deficit of 30 million guan. I can't sleep all day and night. If these methods can't be used, I can only massively increase the property tax, and then set a quota of 10 million guan for the Northern Expedition bonds. I may have to point to Nanyang, Yangzhou, Tokyo and other places, and accuse someone of being involved with the two sages and plotting rebellion, and then carry out implicated robbery publicly..."

These words were really excessive, and they really seemed like something that Zhao GuanJia could do. Li Guang instinctively wanted to get up and argue, but when he thought that this was a hypothetical strategy, he could only sigh.

And Zhao Jiu continued: "But it's still the same sentence, it's always worth it to overcome all difficulties, as long as we can recover Hebei and unify the country, everything is worth it... While the court and I still have some prestige in the Western Xia campaign, it is the right thing to settle things as soon as possible."

In a word, it was the Northern Expedition.

Everyone looked at each other, and then sighed in their hearts, but they all got up under the leadership of Prime Minister Zhao Ding and said they would obey the order.

So far, logically speaking, Zhao GuanJia did not need to keep everyone.

Because next, Zhao Ding and others will take the plan back and find professionals to discuss and analyze it, and then come up with a truly executable detailed rules. Next, there will probably be discussions in the Secret Pavilion, the release of information in the Public Pavilion, the announcement of the Grand Court Meeting, the warm-up and official promulgation of the Dibao, etc., etc...

There were still many things to do.

However, Zhao GuanJia waved his hand and signaled: "Please sit down, there are still two things that are slightly related to the Northern Expedition, and they are also about raising money. You Qing family members should not speak, just take a look."

Zhao Ding and others were puzzled, but they could only sit back. After a while, the ministers suddenly understood as Wang Lun, the Minister of Honglu Temple, and Xu Jing, the Deputy Minister of Honglu Temple who had just taken office two days ago, entered the place one after another.

"GuanJia, Jin Fushi and Taira Tadamori have been waiting outside Yingyang Gate for a long time... In addition, there is also a Tokyo merchant who has lived in Hakata Port in Japan for many years, and it is probably indispensable." Wang Lun was a proper minister after all, and he reported very calmly in front of the emperor, and Xu Jing, who was following Wang Lun, did not know why, although he came from an official family and should not be stage fright, he still frequently looked at the mulberry fish pond where mulberries were being harvested on a large scale as soon as he entered, which was quite rude.

Of course, Xu Jing certainly did not know that these mulberries were picked to be sold to those Zhengdian (official restaurants) outside Donghua Gate. The Zhengdian would either use them to make wine, or mash them into juice and add ice to sell them. If he wanted to eat them, he could buy them directly when he went out.

However, how could Zhao Jiu care about these, he waved his hand directly and signaled: "Let Jin Fushi come in first."

Wang Lun responded and looked back at Xu Jing. Xu Jing, who had been staring at the direction of the fish pond, was stunned for a moment before he reacted. He quickly turned around with a eunuch, and after a while, he brought Jin Fushi.

Since Jin Fushi entered the back garden, he rarely looked at the mulberry forest full of mulberries in amazement for a while, but after all, he was a real elite figure of this era. He only paused for a moment before he immediately returned to normal, and then walked with Xu Jing and the eunuch to the stone pavilion and cupped his hands calmly.

At this time, Zhao Ding and others originally wanted to get up according to etiquette, but Zhao Jiu waved his hand to stop them.

Not only that, this GuanJia did not even give a seat, and directly sat down and spoke to Jin Fushi, who was standing there: "Qing, we have met for the second time. I know that you are a rare person, and you also know my temper, and you have been constantly reading the Dibao and constantly looking for people to inquire about prices and so on since you landed in Dengzhou. I am afraid that you also know everything about my situation here, so I will not talk nonsense with you today..."

"I beg the Emperor of the Great Song to teach me." Jin Fushi heard the words and straightened up directly, cupping his hands and responding in a deep voice.

"First of all, I really cherish your talent!" Zhao Jiu looked at this person sincerely and said. "And I will never discriminate against Qing because Qing is a Goryeo person... If Qing can come, first be a Hanlin Academician for a term, fill my inner system, and prepare my consultation on Northern affairs. After the Northern Expedition is successful, there is also a term as a Minister or a Jinglüe Shi waiting for Qing... If Qing is willing, come forward now and sit in the pavilion, and share a bowl of mulberries with me and the chief ministers and ministers, and then I will talk to King Wang of Goryeo and take your family here. How about that?"

Not to mention Jin Fushi, who was already dumbfounded in the middle, but the people around him, from Zhao Ding and Zhang Jun to Liu Ji and Chen Gui, from Li Guang to Hu Yin and Lin Jingmo, and Fan Zongyin, Lü Benzhong, Ren Baozhong on one side, and even Yang Yizhong, Liu Yan, and Lan Gui were a little out of control... It took Lan Gui a while to recover, and then signaled the eunuch to bring another bowl of mulberries.

As for Wang Lun and Xu Jing, it goes without saying, especially the latter who had already been stunned... He was just thinking about how many years it would take to eat this bowl of mulberries, but his old friend had this qualification when he came up.

In short, no one thought that this old-fashioned drama of seeking talents that would only happen hundreds of years ago would appear here.

But all the people who understood Zhao GuanJia's character knew that he was frivolous and that he was a person who did not stick to one pattern of talent. This included Jin Fushi, who had already believed it - this Zhao Song GuanJia was not joking.

And if today's matter can be accomplished, I am afraid that the anecdote of Zhao GuanJia taking talents with a bowl of mulberries will be recorded in countless notes, and even in official history.

Enough of the digression, back to the present, under the not very hot, but still somewhat hot sun, even Jin Fushi, who had made all the psychological preparations before setting off this time, was a little shaky at this time... This temptation was indeed very big for him!

A Goryeo Chief Minister, in essence, is only the leader of the two classes in Kaijing (Kaesong) in the country, and at most a figure who divides the world with the monarch and the two classes in Xijing (Pyongyang).

How can it compare to the Minister of a great country? Compare to the Jinglüe Shi of a great country? Which way in a great country does not have more people and is not richer than Goryeo?

Even from the pursuit of Confucianism, the inner system of the Great Song, the so-called Hanlin Academician, serving the Son of Heaven, and even Zhao GuanJia's sincere request for talents today, has always been the inner dream of this kind of person.

Even further, given the current situation between the Song and Jin countries, the next thing is nothing more than the Jin country stabilizing the situation, or the Great Song launching a successful Northern Expedition... Then, from a special perspective, in order to protect the homeland, becoming a close minister of the Emperor of the Great Song, and striving to preserve the homeland in the latter case in the future, is not precisely the key thing that he, Jin Fushi, is striving for now and in the future?

For a moment, Jin Fushi almost went forward directly - as long as he went forward and sat down, he would no longer have to worry about the domestic party struggle, he would not have to fight with the monarch, he would not have to think about how to clean up those dirty monk forces in the country, and he could better help the homeland avoid getting into trouble in the possible future, and it would not delay him from becoming rich and powerful.

In fact, Jin Fushi really staggered forward.

But it was only this step that made him immediately sober up, and then cupped his hands seriously: "Thank you for your great kindness, Your Majesty, I am very grateful, but I have had an idea since I was reading decades ago, which is to compile a history book of the chaos of the Three Kingdoms of Goguryeo, Silla, and Baekje, like the Han family's history books, to narrate the legal system of Goryeo and the ethnic monument of Goryeo. If I eat this bowl of mulberries, I am afraid that it will be difficult to write the book."

Hearing this, inside and outside the stone pavilion opposite, some people were relieved, some were in awe, and some were expressionless, but everyone followed Zhao GuanJia's previous instructions and did not say a word.

And Zhao GuanJia was obviously a little disappointed, but he still nodded in resignation: "I will not force it, but you must know... Since you are going to narrate the legal system of Goryeo, you must bear the weight of the national fortune of Goryeo."

"I naturally know it." Jin Fushi raised his voice proudly, as if he had completely recovered from his previous hesitation. "I am a Goryeo prime minister."

"That's good."