Physician of the Song Dynasty: Zhang Kai and Li Qingzhao have a private life-long contract

Movable type printing is one of the four great inventions. It played an important role in the prosperity of the Song Dynasty's literary style. However, its founder Bi Sheng did not benefit from this, but suffered constant misfortunes.

Bi Sheng did not gain the reputation of creating movable type printing during his lifetime. Instead, he was convicted of bad printing of the "State Book". After his death, his descendants misused printing and were executed.

When Su Shi changed the Di newspaper to movable type printing, it really speeded up the printing process and saved a lot of time.

At the same time, Su Shi collected the sufferings of the people and major events in the world and printed them in Di Bao. Of course, the first thing he did was to rectify Bi Sheng's subsequent case.

When the new Dibao came out, it immediately aroused enthusiasm.

In this era, there is little information. The information collected by Di Bao can be said to be the most complete and fastest information in the world. It ranges from important matters in the court to the sufferings of the people, as close as the lives of ordinary people in Kaifeng City, and as far away as the customs and sentiments of various places in the Song Dynasty. .

Su Shi was indeed the most talented literati in the world. Writing articles for Di Bao was like a duck to water for him. As soon as every issue of Di Bao came out, the government and the public were in an uproar, and they rushed to tell each other and rush to circulate it.

Whenever revolutionary new things appear, they will always climb to the top by stepping on the corpses of a pile of old things. As soon as movable type printing came out, the world's most skilled wood carvers lost their livelihoods. This made many people secretly slander Bi Sheng, who created Bi Sheng. The misery of a family.

The same is true for the combination of movable type printing and Dibao.

"Su Big Mouth!"

Some people are happy and some are sad. Su Shi's collection of folk sufferings makes others talk about it, but it also makes some people miserable.

Many people in this era have not yet seen the power of newspapers, and they are still as unscrupulous as ever. The collusion between officials and businessmen, bullying of the people, and even the rape of women of the people are not rumors, but are actually happening in various places in the Song Dynasty.

Su Shi, an angry young man, naturally didn't like them. Almost every time he published Di Bao, one or several officials would be unlucky. Many officials with dirty foundations looked at Su Shi with almost quarreling.

The Yushitai was even more dissatisfied with Su Shi. The emergence of Di Bao not only posed a considerable threat to themselves, but also directly took away the position of the mouthpiece of the Yushitai, which made the Yushi Zhongcheng Zhao Tingzhi feel like a stick in his throat.

Suddenly, Su Shi, like Bi Sheng back then, once again aroused public anger. Many people secretly regarded Su Shi as a thorn in their side.

"Brother, please be careful! Don't cause trouble again?" Su Zhe saw this in his eyes and was anxious in his heart. He immediately went to Su Shi to persuade him earnestly.

Su Shi snorted coldly: "What did you do wrong for your brother to cause trouble? Can they get away with doing illegal things?"

Su Shi greatly enjoyed the pleasure of having his words known to the world. This feeling of being able to steal the limelight and help justice was more addictive to him than writing an eternal masterpiece.

Besides, Su Shi thought he was doing the right thing, so how could he listen to Su Che's persuasion.

"But…………"

Su Zhe sighed helplessly and secretly prepared to save his brother again.

As expected by Su Che, there were suddenly a lot of leaks attacking Su Shi in the court, and even dirt on Su Shi for many years was uncovered.

Su Che was exhausted and kept putting out the fire for his brother.

Whenever Su Che couldn't handle it, Zhao Xu supported Su Shi and praised Su Shi as a straight minister who was dedicated to the public good.

Su Shi was a proud man, and he remained as stable as a mountain even after being attacked by his ministers, which made him dare to speak out.

"Fan Aiqing has a clever plan. Academician Su is really eager for justice and justice. Now he has made everyone in the court angry. I have papers here full of memorials to impeach him every day."

Zhao Xu said excitedly, the more anxious Su Shi is about justice, the more likely he is to drag Su Che into trouble.

Fan Zheng nodded and said: "The more this happens, the more the officials want to keep the Su University Scholar. The opportunity for the officials to take charge is coming."

"Oh!"

Zhao Xu was shocked and suddenly stared at Fan Zheng.

"Sui coins!" Fan Zheng said every word.

"Sui coins!"

Zhao Xu frowned. The Sui coins were not only a shame for the Song Dynasty, but also the heaviest burden for the Song Dynasty.

Fan Zheng nodded solemnly and said: "Yes, the annual transfer of New Year's coins to the Liao Kingdom and Xixia is about to begin. As the Minister of Rites, Su Daxiang is officially responsible for negotiating with the two countries."

As Fan Zheng expected, envoys from Liao and Xixia came to the Song Dynasty again to demand the annual coins, and their attitude was extremely arrogant.

The Liao Kingdom and Xixia jointly put pressure on the Song Dynasty. The Liao Kingdom demanded an increase of 50,000 taels of annual currency and changed the annual currency to tribute. Xixia demanded an increase of 30,000 taels of annual currency and the cession of three more border cities.

"It's simply too much!"

Zhao Xu was so angry that he changed the annual currency to tribute. Doesn't that mean that the Liao Kingdom was the suzerainty of the Song Dynasty? As for the cession of the three border cities, it was even more difficult for him to accept.

"You have to agree to these conditions even if you don't agree, otherwise we will wait until the armies of Xia and Liao come to Kaifeng!"

The Xixia envoy said with a ferocious expression.

The Liao envoys on the side cheered for him and threatened the Song Dynasty.

The officials of the Manchu Dynasty were also in an uproar and felt humiliated. They naturally knew the conspiracy of the two countries. Perhaps paying tribute or ceding the three cities was a cover, and their purpose was to increase the annual currency.

Empress Dowager Gao also looked embarrassed. However, the two countries were powerful and collaborating. The Song Dynasty was at a disadvantage, but there was nothing they could do.

After going to court, Zhao Xu made an exception and did not play Cuju. Instead, he went to Fan Zheng worriedly to ask for advice.

Fan Zheng solemnly analyzed: "According to the agreement of the Tanyuan Alliance, the Song Dynasty will give the Liao State 100,000 taels of silver and 200,000 bolts of silk every year. From the Tanyuan Alliance to the Qingli Peace Conference, it has been thirty-eight years. In addition, the Liao State He also borrowed 30,000 taels of silver and 30,000 bolts of silk in advance and has not returned them. In the past thirty-eight years, a total of 3,830,000 taels of silver and 7,630,000 bolts of silk were delivered to the Liao Kingdom."

"So many?" Zhao Xu took a breath.

Fan Zheng smiled bitterly and said: "Even so, the Liao Kingdom was still greedy. Taking advantage of the war between the Song Dynasty and Xixia, they took the opportunity to capture ten cities, extorted money, and increased the annual currency to 200,000 taels of silver and 300,000 pieces of silk. To this day, Nine million taels of silver and 13.5 million bolts of silk have been transported."

Zhao Xu's face was ashen. Based on this calculation, the Song Dynasty sent at least 12.83 million taels and 20.63 million pieces of silk to the Liao Kingdom, with a total value of more than 30 million taels.

Fan Zheng continued: "Xixia is also greedy. Let's not talk about the rewards when Xixia was not rebelling. According to the Qingli peace agreement, the Song Dynasty gave Xixia 130,000 pieces of silk, 50,000 taels of silver, and 20,000 jins of tea every year. So far, it has been about 130,000 pieces of silk. 5.05 million horses, 2.25 million taels of silver, and 900,000 jins of tea. Even so, Xixia was still not satisfied, and from time to time provoked border troubles and plundered the Song Dynasty."

"Insatiable greed, greed is hard to satisfy!" Zhao Xu said unbearably.

Fan Zheng solemnly said: "The continuous currency of the year is like the continuous blood loss of the Song Dynasty, and there is no possibility of revitalization. As long as the Su University scholar is allowed to make the harm of the currency to the public, the world will be excited, and the officials will raise their arms and shout to abolish the currency. There will definitely be a huge response.”

Zhao Xu nodded in agreement. This move would not only bring down Grand Scholar Su, but also allow him to win over the people and force himself into power.

In the afternoon, when Su Shi personally taught Zhao Xu, Zhao Xu worriedly asked him about the number of coins in the Liao and Xixia dynasties.

Looking at the shocking figures one by one, the angry young Su Shi could no longer suppress the anger in his heart and said: "The officials are incompetent and let the officials suffer this humiliation."

Zhao Xu said in a low voice: "I want to abolish the annual currency, so I would like to ask Su Aiqing to help me."

Su Shi was shocked when he heard this and looked at Zhao Xu in disbelief.

Zhao Xu whispered a few words in a low voice, and Su Shi's expression changed, and he finally nodded firmly.