Chapter 1087

Fan Zhongyan passed away, and people were sad and remembered him, but not long after, except for true friends who always subconsciously mentioned him and were not used to a world without Fan Zhongyan, others had no feelings anymore; everyone was still living and working the same way.

Replacing Fan Zhongyan was Wen Yanbo, who was traveling outside.

This is a ruthless person, mainly because he can live. Now Zhao Zhen has reached the late stage of his imperial career, and the achievements he has already obtained make him satisfied. Since Fan Zhongyan is gone, he has no intention of continuing to toss and turn; he just wants to wait for death steadily now. So calling back the steady and conservative Wen Yanbo is a good choice.

Perhaps there are no great achievements, but he can let the Great Song ship continue to move forward steadily. Although there are many holes, Wen Yanbo also has the ability to repair them, so that it will not leak too much water.

Wang Yan naturally still huddled in the Imperial Academy, continuously adjusting the national education cause.

Over the past few years, the literary schools, military schools, and the Institute of Crafts could be considered to have been basically built, but they still needed continuous repairs. Within the entire Great Song territory, all county-level administrative units, even the worst, had an enlightening academy for a thousand people.

This does not distinguish between Han and Hu; even on the grasslands, Wang Yan ordered local officials to find places to build schools.

In fact, building academies on the grasslands is very good. Because the grasslands are all nomadic, Wang Yan has not carried out more detailed grassland division to pin the herdsmen on the grasslands to one place. This requires a large amount of manpower and material resources, and he is not in power, so he cannot make the decision. And those in power did not treat foreigners as people and did not care at all.

But there were academies on the grasslands; in the past, many children studied in the academies, and there was no need to think about it; the opportunity for education was definitely for the children who were more favored at home. The grasslands are large, sending them to school and picking them up during holidays, which had a fixed place.

Then placing the government office here naturally facilitates management. There is no need for time to ferment; the government directly opens a market here, so the herdsmen on the grasslands will all come here for transactions.

In this way, as time goes on, a city will rise on the grasslands like this...

And the free supply of pens, ink, paper, and inkstones were all produced by factories affiliated with the Imperial Academy, with large output and costs pressed quite low. Imperial academies were also opened in every county, and the revenue was not bad.

It mainly lies in Wang Yan launching various books of different levels, and also inviting many great Confucians to organize their academics, which he published, and also gave the great Confucians royalties, giving money according to sales.

Such academic works certainly did not sell that explosively. Most people borrowed and read them in the academies, while the rich were not constrained; they always bought hardcover collector's editions, counted as family collections, and bought books whenever they were available.

They all have a strong sense of anxiety; throughout the dynasties, the struggle for academic orthodoxy has been quite severe. One never knows when a great Confucian will fall, and the corresponding books will become banned books. Collecting every kind of book is definitely not wrong.

What truly makes money are the various stories Wang Yan came up with. Those that have been published in newspapers, those with many stories under an author's name, he gave out story collections. Those with few stories, then many authors together, published collections in the name of story compilations.

Authors who have been opened up to write various strange stories of gods and ghosts, and various refreshing articles, are the gods of wealth. This kind of novel book, a book that can make people happy, has quite high sales. Finding people to draw exquisite illustrations, it is even more incredible.

At the same time, comics were also launched. Wang Yan personally wrote enlightening stories for children that were entertaining and educational, had people draw them, printed and distributed them, and set an example for people. And taking advantage of the trend, he launched various detailed rules for publishing, perfecting the publishing industry.

Imperial academies were opened all over the Great Song, so naturally, it was equivalent to the Imperial Academy's distribution channels being fully spread across the Great Song. Coupled with his large-scale printing and publishing, as well as opening factories in various important node cities for regional distribution, it saved time and freight. Coupled with the continuous research of the Institute of Crafts, improving printing and papermaking technology, it further compressed costs.

Wang Yan successfully beat down the price of books and guaranteed the interests of his genuine books to the greatest extent. After all, the books in the Imperial Academy were expensive to death, and the cheap ones were truly cheap, and they also let people read for free; even if they wanted to copy books, there were quiet places. Even hand-copied books, as long as the characters were written well, the Imperial Academy would even recycle them.

Compared to this, the rice bowls of the common people supported by pirated book merchants were insignificant. Under the development of the current Great Song, the number of these common people was truly inconspicuous, could not affect anything, and would be easily absorbed by other industries.

Letting merchants pay more money, they would definitely not do it, but they were absolutely happy to see favorable policies that promote commercial development; the current commercial development is even better.

Just like this, the Imperial Academy's industrial revenue was not small, and it was taken out to give benefits to officials at all levels, as well as various academy heads below, improving treatment, and it could also take out a portion to provide subsidies for good seedlings, helping them complete their studies and walk to the capital step by step. Whether they become officials is another matter, but they can definitely study in the academy, and they are all Wang Yan's disciples.

Over the past few years, the foundation of the education system has been basically laid; what needs to be done next is the cultivation of specialized talent mentioned before, as well as the development of corresponding industries, etc., which can only be done through the coordinated development of multiple departments, which has to wait until he comes to power.

During this period, there was also a good thing, that is, the fleet he sent out returned, bringing back the seeds of potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, chili, peanuts, etc. that he wanted, and they had already been cultivated and improved in the experimental fields of the Agricultural Academy of the Institute of Crafts.

This is a necessary procedure for ancient time travel; without these things, wanting to eat and drink well is almost impossible.

The main thing is to fill the consumption of grain; people can eat it, and livestock and domestic animals can also eat it. Originally, people's rations remained unchanged, and there was more grain to feed livestock and domestic animals, and after getting the supplement of meat, the consumption of grain would be reduced accordingly, and these grains could be used to feed livestock and domestic animals.

By that time, they should eat more and more refined, and rice and white flour could also be planted and processed step by step, and the price could also be pressed down step by step, and more and more people could afford to eat.

Not to mention that Wang Yan was also purchasing grain in Southeast Asia, all year round, as long as ships could sail, they were transporting it non-stop. Filling the grain gap and stabilizing grain prices.

He quietly did too many things for the Great Song...

But no one could understand his painstaking efforts.

Zhao Zhen, who did not understand his painstaking efforts, finally reached the end of his life.

In the autumn of the tenth year of Jiayou (1065), Zhao Zhen, who would not listen to advice, fell ill and could not get up.

"Minister Wang, you are an honest person; can my body still get better?"

Zhao Zhen leaned on a soft pillow and lay on the couch, speaking slowly and weakly.

Wang Yan sat on a small low stool by the couch, and behind him, a group of ministers waited, their eyes all on him.

He shook his head and bowed, sighing: "The subordinate ultimately does not have immortal magic, failing the holy grace."

Zhao Zhen was amused, but he did not have the strength to support his laughter, so he coughed. Wang Yan stepped forward to help stroke his chest, and knocked on his back a few times, coughing out a mouthful of thick phlegm.

Lying down again, Zhao Zhen let out a long breath and smiled: "Life and death are determined by fate; this principle I know. If I had listened to your words back then, I fear I could have lived a few more years and compared my lifespan with Minister Fan."

Wang Yan smiled and did not speak. Zhao Zhen had already lived two years longer than originally, which was quite good. In old age, one should abstain from greed; Zhao Zhen was greedy for sex, greedy for merit, greedy for fame, and did not restrain himself; dragging it to now was all because Wang Yan was awesome.

Fan Zhongyan lived ten more years, that was Old Fan listening to advice. Every morning, he did two sets of exercises without fail, and his eating and drinking were all according to the recipe Wang Yan opened; no matter how busy state affairs were, he was absolutely calm and composed, not going early, not returning late, and even less staying up late. That is a great person who truly lived out a realm.

Zhao Zhen is far behind.

He shook his head and smiled bitterly again: "People, it is difficult to see through the barrier of life and death. Minister Wang, speaking of which, you have also opened a precedent; I heard that funeral orations are now shown to living people. You write one for me, let me take a look too."

"Student obeys the decree." Wang Yan stood up and bowed respectfully.

"Go." Zhao Zhen waved his hand.

Wang Yan turned around, bowed to the ministers present, as well as Zhao Zongshi and Zhao Zhongzhen, father and son, who were serving as filial sons and virtuous grandsons, bowed in a circle, nodded in all directions, and walked away decisively.

He wrote the funeral oration that very day, exhausting the ability to flatter, praising Zhao Zhen to the sky, as if the emperors of the past dynasties were not as awesome as his Old Zhao. It is said that Zhao Zhen was very happy after reading it and even added fiefdoms to Wang Yan. He certainly wouldn't promote him; he was about to die, and he didn't have the idea of disgusting Zhao Zongshi, so he could only add a little salary to show glory and favor.

Wang Yan did indeed open a bad precedent; as Zhao Zhen said, unless it was someone who died suddenly, anyone who had some time left wanted to see their own funeral oration before they died.

This is a final conclusion one person makes for another; those who can write funeral orations for people are also true friends. People are dead, so naturally, they are all nice words, which is a very happy thing. Who doesn't want to be flattered in various ways?

Zhao Zhen opened his mouth to let Wang Yan write a funeral oration for him and added fiefdoms to Wang Yan, which meant Zhao Zhen didn't care, so naturally, everyone wrote funeral orations to flatter Zhao Zhen. It was still a bit magical.

Zhao Zhen's last life was spent listening to the eunuchs chanting various funeral orations sent by officials; he was immersed in his beautiful dreams, and it is said that the smile on his face never diminished.

That trip to the palace to check on Zhao Zhen's illness was the last time Wang Yan and Zhao Zhen met, and they never saw each other again for more than two months after that.

It was not until a day after winter began that the bells in the palace rang; this bell sound spread throughout the Jingcheng, and the Jingcheng also rang its bells. The sound was transmitted in all directions, so the whole Kaifeng City was full of bell sounds...

Zhao Zongshi successfully ascended the throne and became Zhao Shu. The first thing he did after coming to power was to arrange Zhao Zhen's funeral affairs with the ministers. Funeral arrangements, final conclusions, history compilation, and Zhao Zhen's harem, etc., all had to be arranged.

As Wang Yan expected, Zhao Zhen's temple name was "Cheng". Because this was his proposal, everyone argued back and forth, feeling that Zhao Zhen was "Cheng" enough, so it was decided like this...

Then, Zhao Shu proposed to observe mourning for Zhao Zhen for three years and asked Han Qi to act as the agent for military and political affairs.

This is naturally retreating to advance, because before this, when he was still Zhao Zongshi, even if he was established as Crown Prince, he did not participate in much state affairs, because he could not hinder Zhao Zhen's eyes. So although Zhao Zongshi is now Zhao Shu, the new Emperor of the Great Song, he has no power in his hands, neither in military nor political aspects.

Han Qi was the main force during the controversy over the heir back then, firmly supporting Zhao Zongshi as the candidate for Crown Prince; Zhao Zongshi owes Han Qi.

And after Fan Zhongyan passed away, although Wen Yanbo held the position of Prime Minister, Han Qi inherited Fan Zhongyan's political resources in their entirety. In the few years since Fan Zhongyan passed away, the stability in the court was all fought out back and forth between Han Qi and Wen Yanbo.

But Zhao Shu did this, and Han Qi was passive.

So Han Qi sincerely requested Zhao Shu to take personal charge of government, and after two rounds back and forth, Zhao Shu took the stage, let Han Qi serve as the Commissioner of the Imperial Mausoleum of Cheng Zong, and added the position of Minister of the Secretariat and Minister of War, and was enfeoffed as Duke of Wei. To be precise, he was responsible for Zhao Zhen's funeral affairs, which could be considered a part-time job. This errand truly and tangibly displayed glory and favor.

At this time, Han Qi was the Commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs; originally Han Qi was the Prime Minister. But now Han Qi received Zhao Shu's reward, and Wen Yanbo was a bit of an eyesore. But who is Wen Yanbo? He just pretended not to see the situation, waiting for a group of people to kick him out.

And Zhao Shu had another obstacle, which was Empress Cao; after Zhao Shu came to power, he enfeoffed Empress Cao as Empress Dowager. It was Empress Cao who read Zhao Zhen's edict, and Zhao Shu had no power in his hands, and Empress Cao was not peaceful, and also won over some court officials.

Someone in the court proposed that Zhao Shu did not understand state affairs, and asked the Empress Dowager to listen to government from behind the curtain and act on behalf of state affairs.

The current Zhao Shu is not the original Zhao Shu; his body is quite good, although his old headache disease has flared up recently, but in the past ten years, he has cultivated his body and nature, and the foundation of his body is better; now the headache is not a big deal.

He is naturally unwilling to have his power seized by Empress Dowager Cao, so he made a move. As the saying goes, the great way is simple, and his moves are equally simple, but they are truly terrifyingly efficient.

After arguing back and forth for a few rounds, at a small meeting of the Secretariat, Zhao Shu proposed to let Wang Yan take charge of the Kaifeng Prefecture...

According to the news Wang Yan received, when Zhao Shu said this sentence, the Secretariat was silent.

Subsequently, Wen Yanbo and others strongly expressed opposition. Ouyang Xiu did not agree, but he requested to be sent out of the capital. Han Qi, Fu Bi, and others did not express their stance.

As the Emperor, although he did not have much real power in his hands, the personnel arrangements he insisted on could also be implemented. Now the Great Song is in its prime, and there are no powerful ministers, so Zhao Shu still has the strength to appoint ministers.

But it was not easy; just this little matter was argued for a full week. In the end, Zhao Shu insisted on it, and no one could do anything about it.

The final result was that Wen Yanbo requested to leave the capital, Zhao Shu approved it; Ouyang Xiu requested to leave the capital, Zhao Shu did not approve, still letting him serve as a participant in the Secretariat; the vacant position of Prime Minister was naturally taken by Han Qi.

When the arrangement regarding Wang Yan was announced, the court immediately became quiet and became murderous. Those who had been arguing for the Empress Dowager to listen to government from behind the curtain all requested to leave the capital, and there was no other noise.

Zhao Shu felt in the dark that he seemed to have made a wrong decision...

Wang, the Minister of Merit for Supporting the Dynasty, Silver-Blue Great Master of Light, Minister of Justice, Acting Mayor of Kaifeng, Academician of the Duanming Hall, Supervisor of National History, Pillar of the State, Founding Duke of Guangling County, 2,800 households of fiefdom, 1,200 households of actual fiefdom, bestowed with a purple gold fish bag, Yan, in his purple official robe, knelt on the ground, looking at Zhao Shu sitting high on the throne.

"Minister, Wang Yan, kowtows to thank the Emperor; the Minister will definitely not fail the Emperor's high expectations, will perform his duties faithfully, work with a sincere heart, and struggle for the wealth and strength of our Great Song for his whole life!"

"Minister Wang, rise; I know Minister Wang's ability is outstanding, and if the capital of our Great Song is handed over to Minister Wang, it will definitely be peaceful."

"Thank you, Emperor!"

Zhao Shu waved his hand: "Prime Minister Han."

Wang Yan retreated back to the ranks and stood still, Han Qi appeared and presided over this ordinary yet extraordinary Great Court Meeting.

Because there were no major events, the country was peaceful and the people were safe, but there was a major event, Wang Yan was reused, which was the worst news. After being suppressed for more than ten years, Wang Yan finally walked to the center of power.

Kaifeng Prefecture is where the capital is located, and its status is very important; many government decrees must be executed in coordination with Kaifeng Prefecture. It has the qualification to participate in central discussions and decide national policies.

And generally speaking, the position of Acting Mayor of Kaifeng is a transition for ministers, and within a year or two, they will truly enter the center. Whether it is the civil or military prime minister, or the financial prime minister, it all depends on the actual situation and the Emperor's needs. Reaching this point, Wang Yan is only one step away from truly being the prime minister.

After the Great Court Meeting ended, Wang Yan strolled along with Han Qi and others to the Secretariat to hold a small meeting.

"Ziyan, you have finally achieved your wish." Ouyang Xiu walked with his hands behind his back, looking at Wang Yan who was also strolling beside him, his tone quite complicated.

"Teacher, the past is unclear, and it is too early to say. Even if I become Prime Minister, it is not a long-term position; Duke Wen has been prime minister three times and left three times. Now that the heavy responsibility is on my shoulders, the student is walking on thin ice."

"Walking on thin ice is good!" Han Qi, who was walking in front, turned his head, "What I fear is you, Wang Ziyan, letting go of your hands and feet and doing a big job."

"Prime Minister Han is joking; since I entered officialdom, every step has been walking on thin ice, for fear of making any mistakes that would be difficult to clean up. Now that I am in charge of Kaifeng Prefecture, I am naturally even more cautious."

"Stop trying to deceive me; who in the world doesn't know that you, Wang Ziyan, are bold enough to defy heaven." Han Qi walked with his hands behind his back, not looking at Wang Yan, "Now that everyone is here, speak, how do you intend to govern Kaifeng Prefecture?"

"Nothing more than training troops, clearing land, checking people, collecting commercial taxes, and rectifying lawlessness; nothing new."

"Wang Ziyan, I want to remind you, this is Kaifeng Prefecture!"

"Under the Emperor's feet, in the best place, Kaifeng Prefecture must even more guard the laws of our Great Song! What does Prime Minister Han think?"

"Hmph!" Han Qi flicked his sleeves and left.

"You..." Ouyang Xiu shook his head with a bitter smile.

"Student follows his own path!"

The atmosphere was not pleasant, because Wang Yan did not give any face to the current Prime Minister. It is not to say that the reformist Prime Minister must support reform. Because no one dares to support Wang Yan; his methods are known to all, and he does not leave the slightest room for maneuver.

Why did Han Qi make such a scene with Wang Yan in public? It was just to draw a clear line.

Why did Zhao Shu not agree to Ouyang Xiu's request to leave the capital to avoid suspicion? Because he still had to rely on the teacher-student relationship to bind Wang Yan, so that when there was a high-level dialogue, there would be a buffer.

For the first time in his life, participating in a high-level meeting to decide the dynasty's policies as a minister, Wang Yan's meeting experience was not ideal.

Because no one talked much to him, and no one wanted him to do anything. He just sat at the very end, drinking tea, eating palace pastries, until the meeting ended.

This meeting was not unusual; they discussed personnel issues for several important positions, decided on funding for several projects, chatted about the situation in Dali, Lingnan, and Jiaozhi, talked about the situation in various places, discussed personnel and logistics issues for border generals, and talked about Zhao Zhen's funeral affairs, etc. The morning passed just like that.

Wang Yan felt that the taste of the pastries was not bad; the Secretariat had imperial chefs, and the level of this group of people was online.

As for other thoughts, after participating in this meeting, he decided not to come without a summons in the future; it was truly meaningless. Because everyone didn't discuss reform much; it seemed that because of his arrival, he was the only reformist left, and everyone else became conservatives...

He did not have lunch at the Secretariat, but went to the main yamen of the Military Patrol Court; the food here still maintained a standard.

He was about to start governing Kaifeng Prefecture, so naturally, he had to find his old team to do things. With power in his hands, he had to use it, so as not to have to fight with the officials under him. Now that the Patrol Court is in his hands, he will deal with whoever is not convinced...

In fact, when Zhao Shu fought for him to come to power, his governance had already begun.

The turmoil in the court spread in Kaifeng Prefecture, and the security of Kaifeng Prefecture suddenly became much better, and the Patrol Court yamen also began to exert force. All those who could be arrested were arrested, and all those who could be judged were judged. The old leader truly returned, and they had to show their performance. This once led to a plunge in the turnover of brothels and courtesans in Bianjing, and the idlers hanging around the streets almost disappeared.

At the same time, the grain in the granaries began to fill up, the accountants of various departments were playing with their lives to balance the accounts, merchants began to take the initiative to invite officials in the yamen to check accounts and pay taxes, and the land and population hidden by big landlords also gave face and registered many more.

In the month after Zhao Zhen passed away, if one were to count, the various data of Kaifeng Prefecture were all improving, and could even be described as soaring.

This is the deterrent power of Wang Yan having power...

In the past, although he was in the capital, his power was only in education. People knew he was a person who followed the rules, and even if he overstepped his authority, he would not overstep too much. Now that he is in charge of Kaifeng Prefecture, everything in Kaifeng Prefecture, except for inside the Jingcheng, is within his power, so people are naturally afraid.

When Wang Yan was a patrol envoy, he had already turned Bianjing upside down, sent away the Prime Minister, and also sent away many big households and powerful people. Now his power is greater, no longer limited to criminal judgment and litigation, so how can that be?

So they are taking action, hoping that their understanding can make Wang Yan also understand, so that everyone can be good.

But obviously, this is impossible; their suffering has just begun. Throwing out two bones while gritting their teeth, and wanting him, Wang Mou, to stop? How can that work? What should be his, not a cent can be less. What is not his, he doesn't want even a cent more.

He is a person with persistence...