The lord of Baotong County is obviously quite lively, touching Hongdie with his shoulders: "Hongdie, are you still a child? You always say you break up with friendship. Will you be laughed at by Mr. Ning? "

Miss Lu said, "Yeah, yah."

Realizing that the two of them were not actually visiting her at all, Hongdie was furious: "You two..." He clenched his pink fists and chased them.

Ning Jiang didn't care about them, but just looked to the other side. Behind the Lord of Baotong County and Miss Lu, another young man stepped forward. The young man was dressed in gorgeous clothes and walked in the palace, but there was no eunuch beside him to guide him.

When he came to Ningjiang, the young man looked at him. He was not arrogant, but he said with little kindness: "Are you Ningjiang?"

Hongdie stopped and bowed: "Brother!"

Although it was the first time we met, Ning Jiang had actually guessed the identity of this young man. When he heard the name of Hongdie to him, he naturally bowed and said, "Ning Jiang, a scholar from Longtu Pavilion, see His Royal Highness!"

Although Song Shao has several children, only one of the queen gave birth to the queen. If the Hongdie meets other princes, it is mostly called by the ranking. Only one who can be called "the emperor's brother" by her...Crown Prince Song Qian!

Facing Ning Jiang's questioning, Song Qian nodded casually, with a rather cold expression. Since he was like this, Ning Jiang naturally had no intention of making friends with him, so he bowed to say goodbye.

Hongdie irritated the two friends and beat them a few times. She thought she had room to spend alone with him, but they destroyed them.

However, Song Qian looked at Ning Jiang walking out of the imperial city and snorted coldly... the villain with a bad mind!

Leaving the imperial city and leaving the inner city, Ningjiang returned to his mansion.

When I entered the mansion, I didn’t see Jian Li and Xiao Meng. I learned from Qin Wuyan that they were going to the back garden for a trip.

After dinner, Ning Jiang also went to the back garden. The back garden was very big. For a moment, he didn't know where the two of them were. He walked around like this until the other side of the rockery, and the sound of talking was heard.

When he walked around the rockery, the first thing he saw was Qin Xiaoyaer. Qin Xiaoyaer, who was sitting under the willow tree to enjoy the coolness, saw him and wanted to get up to notify the girl. He waved his hand and told her not to disturb them. He stepped forward and came to the small lake in the garden.

In the distance, there was a rain canopy covered from above the carved railing. The shadow of the canopy was reflected on the water, and two girls were swimming in the lake.

The two people in the water were only wearing a wardrobe and a thin silk jacket and pants. The wardrobe was close to their chests, naked on their backs, playing in the water, which looked particularly pleasing to their eyes.

Ningjiang was by the lake, shaking folding fans, and admiring their moving figures in the water.

Soon, they also discovered his arrival in the water. Xiao Meng waved to him from a distance, and Chun Jianli looked at him in the water, intentionally or unintentionally, showing her charming figure in the water shaking with the waves.

Because there were too many people in the capital, Chun Jianli did not go out to the streets after she moved in. After all, with her reputation in the capital over the past two years, she would probably be recognized wherever she went. However, the two of them were used to walking in the world and staying at home during this period was actually quite boring. However, Ningjiang went to the palace early in the morning to meet the emperor. At noon, the two girls who were traveling to the lake thought the weather was too hot, so they went to the lake to take a shower together.

Seeing them who were quite cool in the lake, Ningjiang began to feel a little hot again, so he simply went down the lake and played with them.

In the afternoon, the two girls who were bathing were practicing each other in the rockery, and their swords collided with each other among their beautiful figures of rabbits rising and falling. Ning Jiang shook the folding fan, held his left hand behind, and admired their sword-like figures like sword dancing, and then felt that they were the sword technique they used to feed each other, and seemed much sharper than before.

In the evening, Zhou Yuan, the second-tier player who was listed as the third tripod with him last year, came to visit him with Sun Shan. Ning Jiang set up a banquet to entertain them in the open space in front of the main hall.

At this time, Zhou Yuan and Sun Shan had entered the Hanlin Academy as usual and became Hanlin Bachelor. In terms of rank, they were actually even higher than the "direct bachelor" in the Longtu Pavilion of Ningjiang. In terms of real power, the Hanlin Academy was still responsible for helping the emperor draft the imperial edict and managing some simple matters such as the Six Caoshus. The direct bachelor of Longtu Pavilion was completely a false title.

When talking to the wine, Zhou Yuan said: "Brother Ning fought against the barbarians this time. Anyone with discerning eyes knew that Brother Ning made great contributions and avoided the disaster of barbarian soldiers entering the capital. However, the court only granted Brother Ning a guardian. Many people in the Hanlin Academy were not angry about this."

Ning Jiang smiled and said, "There are certain people who are not angry, but there are probably many who are gloating, right?"

Sun Shan said helplessly: "Brother Ning Mingjian, it is indeed because some people speak harshly. However, they are mostly clichés such as being unjust and being arbitrary."

Ning Jiang naturally didn't care. There was always that kind of person in this world. He had no ability, but he would only attack those who did what they could not do with words, as if in this way, they would be better than that person. Such people, if they had them before, now, will never be missing in the future.

Sun Shan whispered: "Brother Ningjiang, be careful. Do you know that in the morning, the emperor appointed you as the direct scholar of Longtu Pavilion, and in the afternoon, many censors began to write letters, saying that you were alarmist, and even confusing the public, saying that you made friends with bandits among the people, with bad intentions, and there were many various rhetorics, and almost no one spoke for you. At this time, Brother Ning should be more low-key and not show off too much."

Ning Jiang held the folding fan in his hand and sighed: "Actually, I know I should be more low-key, but I really can't do it. I am like the brightest star in the night sky. No matter how much I suppress my light, the sparkling light is really too eye-catching, and it's hard not to make people jealous." I haven't said this for a long time, and I finally had the opportunity to say it again, and it feels so good.

Zhou Yuan, Sun Shan: "..." I always feel that he deserves a beating.

***

The next morning, early in the morning, the will of the palace came down again, but this time, Ningjiang was conferred as the bachelor of Longtu Pavilion.

From a direct bachelor's degree in Longtu Pavilion to a bachelor's degree in Longtu Pavilion, the grade is one level higher, but in terms of real power, there is actually not much difference. However, immediately afterwards, the eunuch passed the order to convey the emperor's will and let Ningjiang go to court to discuss politics. At this point, Ningjiang knew that Emperor Song Shao finally made up his mind.

On that day, storms and rains were rolling up in the court, and a young man in the hall had a verbal dispute with many officials.

It seemed to symbolize the turmoil in the court, and in the evening of that day, dark clouds rolled up over the capital.

In the next few days, heavy rains broke out in the capital, the river water continued to rise, and decrees began to spread out of the capital. The most concerned one was the court's continuous sending of imperial envoys, governors, rectifying the army, and vigorously investigated corruption in the army, especially the deduction of the salary of soldiers. This has been a practice in the army for a long time. The court has always turned a blind eye to this. Anyway, in the past, the civil spirit of the Confucian generals was relied on the morale of the army, and the morale in the army was not very meaningful.

But this time, because of this "small problem" that has long become a routine, civil servants and generals have been imprisoned one after another, and the court even issued an order to allow the soldiers at the bottom to sue the chief for the issue of rations and salary deductions. As soon as the decree was issued, everyone was upset because it meant that the class law in the army was abandoned. You should know that soldiers sued the chief, and according to the past, they could be directly punished and beheaded.

All the troops began to rectify this issue. The salary, ration, favors and rewards issued by the court were no longer hidden, but instead informed the entire army in a clear text.

Ning Jiang was not too worried about appeaseing soldiers and rectifying military discipline. After all, this was a disease that the court had known for a long time, but no one cared about.

At least on the surface, no one dares to publicly claim that the officers will deduct the soldiers' rations and salary is right. Even if you want to resist, it is difficult to find a good excuse. After all, morality is already on the side of the emperor and Ningjiang. What is really important is the issue of execution, whether it is to act like a person with heavy thunder and rain, or to treat everyone equally, and to strictly enforce the law strictly.

When the court sent cruel officials one after another, a large number of generals were questioned and imprisoned, and even many people lost their heads for this, everyone began to realize that this time, the emperor was serious.

During this process, some generals and officials were passive and slackened in their work. Then some court officials used this as an excuse to say that they used too much medicine and did not use treatment to save people. Once the resistance in the army spread, it would be detrimental to combat.

At the beginning, Song Shao couldn't help but feel a little shaken. However, after discussing with someone for half an hour, he then handled the matter with a tougher attitude. Anyone who is passive and lazy will be demoted and dismissed and will never be hired.

Ningjiang's truth is very simple: In the Great Zhou Dynasty, the salaries of civil officials and military generals were originally a bit outrageously high. Many people's positions were not worthy of the generous salary they had. They should have eaten the king's salary and should have shared the worries of the king. At this time of crisis, they should have been devoted to the country. But now, just because the emperor ordered that they did not allow them to deduct the already meager salary of the soldiers under the corruption, and they felt complaints and were passively lazy. Then when they arrived on the battlefield, how could they expect them to fight for their lives, serve the emperor, and share the worries of the country?

Corrupt officials like this who disregard the dangers of the country because they can no longer embezzle things that should not belong to them. Not to mention just abolishing official positions, even if they are killed, no one is wronged. Aside from them, it will help to free up spaces and leave them to those truly capable soldiers.

Anyway, the Great Zhou Dynasty never had to worry about insufficient talents. If the capable ones are replaced, the incompetent ones will replace them, and the incompetent ones will enhance the mobility between the upper and lower levels, which will inspire those who really want to make progress. The most important thing is to achieve "clear rewards and punishments". As long as the rewards and punishments are clearly distinguished, there is nothing to worry about in other matters.

Ningjiang did not expect to resolve the accumulated problems of the Great Zhou Dynasty over the past few hundred years in a very short time, but at least from now on, it would be a shock to those people. The soldiers at the bottom had long been resentful of the matter of deducting and exploiting the officials. In fact, the military pay distributed by the court was not small, but after the layers of deductions above, it was already pitifully small at the bottom. Even if the upper part was slightly restrained, it would greatly improve the food and living conditions of the soldiers at the bottom.

You should know that under the class law, these soldiers' status in the past was almost no different from slaves. Although the imperial court never spent less money, they were not well fed or worn. How could they fight?

The emperor's substantial rectification of the corruption problem in the army was almost immediately inspiring the morale of the soldiers below. It was just because at this time, the people at the bottom always had "the emperor is good, and the officials are bad." In their eyes, their misery was always the fault of the corrupt officials who were pressing on them. Now, the emperor finally began to notice the problems in the army. When he saw the generals who deducted and exploited their military pay were dismissed from office, even when the heads fell to the ground, even if their lives had not been improved immediately, at least in the centripetal force of the emperor and the court, it had been greatly improved.

After realizing that the emperor was serious this time, the generals and officials did not dare to take it lightly anymore and all of them were restrained.

As Ning Jiang said, these people originally had a generous salary, and even if they did not deduct the military pay from the lower-class soldiers, they would live better than most people. It was just that the inertia formed over the years made them take it as a habit to deduct the lower-class soldiers. In addition, the class law in the army, they had no risk of embezzlement and exploitation of soldiers. In this case, they were purely not greedy or greedy. Now, when the risk of dismissal or even losing their heads comes, at least they dare not easily interfere with the military pay from the lower-class soldiers on the surface.

What's more, deep down, everyone knows that the priest's actions are right. Now that the literary energy is lost, war still depends on these soldiers from the bottom to fight. This time, the barbarians went south and soldiers fighting in the north successively bombed the camp. In addition to fear of the enemy, resentment and distrust of the boss, they are also an important factor.

As a time traveler, Ning Jiang knew very well that rectifying military discipline and administration would not actually shake the middle-level civil and military officials. Looking at the modern history of another world, those officials who made money through continuous corruption and made money in the country better than everyone, although they have gained a lot of benefits through their power in the country, they have lost all their confidence in the country. Using vigorous means and no compromise to rectify, although they have lost a lot of gray income that originally did not belong to them, they will inevitably have complaints in secret, but on the other hand, at least, they can see that this country is actually saved.
Chapter completed!