On the third day after Li Zhang visited Lu Yijian, the prime minister of the Song Dynasty who had been in charge of the world for twenty years finally closed his eyes forever. Zhao Zhen also cried bitterly for this. Then he mourned him in the forbidden garden, and stopped court for three days, and ordered the relevant scrutiny to be honored as the Grand Tutor, the Secretariat, and the posthumous title of "Wenjing".

Li Zhang was also extremely sad about Lu Yijian's death, and his warning to himself during his lifetime also made Li Zhang very grateful. However, with Lu Yijian's death, the position of prime minister was vacant again.

The court also fell into great controversy about the candidates for the new prime minister. In recent years, with the strengthening of the national strength of the Song Dynasty, many capable ministers have also been promoted, especially among the younger generation of officials, many capable talents have emerged, and people like Han Qi, Bao Zheng, Fan Zhongyan, and Ouyang Xiu are the backbone of the ministers.

However, the prime minister does not only look at his ability, but in fact his qualifications and prestige are the top priority. Therefore, for the candidates for the new prime minister, Han Qi and other young ministers with insufficient qualifications and prestige were excluded from the beginning. So after the final discussion, Zhao Zhen finally decided to temporarily replace the prime minister.

Yan Shu is a genius. He was known as a "child prodigy" at the age of five. Moreover, he was not the child prodigy in "Shen Zhongyong". He was a mediocre person when he was old. Instead, he became more knowledgeable as he grew up. If he only talked about talent, few people in the court could compare with Yan Shu. Moreover, Yan Shu had extremely high emotional intelligence, had a very good reputation in the court, and rarely did evil with others. This also made him extremely little resistance when he was appointed as prime minister, and he could even be called a popular destination.

"Your Majesty regards Yan Shu as prime minister, probably because he wants to let the country rest for a while, right?" In the Chuigong Hall, Li Zhang asked Zhao Zhen with a smile. Li Zhang did not express any opinion on the appointment and removal of the prime minister, which was related to Lu Yijian's warning during his lifetime. Although Zhao Zhen's trust in him did not decrease, Li Zhang still deliberately avoided some affairs in the court.

"Yes, Yan Shu is the least resistance. Although Yan Shu's ability is not as good as Lu Xiang and is too smooth, it is true that he will not make any mistakes when he is in the phase. As long as he can 'Xiao Gui Cao Sui' and follow the framework set by Lu Xiang before, there will be no major problems!" Zhao Zhen also nodded with a smile and admitted.

"I have had contact with Yan Shu before. He is indeed a person who understands human relationships and is very good at being a human being. But what is even more rare is that he is willing to recommend talents. Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, Fu Bi and others have all received his recommendations. Not to mention anything else, just being able to recognize people is enough to become a good prime minister of the generation!" Li Zhang also smiled after hearing this.

Of course, although Li Zhang praised Yan Shu as a good prime minister, it was precisely because Yan Shu was too smart and was always in a good manner. Such a person is an official and has no knowledge, but it is not easy to be friends. Because being friends with such a person is too stressful, and a friend with almost no shortcomings can make people feel very unreal and not easy to make friends. Therefore, Li Zhang rarely dates with Yan Shu in daily life.

"Now the overall situation has been decided, the strategy for Liao Kingdom has been settled, and the south has been settled. The only thing to pay attention to is the Western Regions, but the Western Regions are too far away. We can't fight for the time being, so we can only pay attention to Dangxiang's movements there, so there will be no major events in the next few years."

When he said this, Zhao Zhen paused for a moment and then said, "In addition, Yan Shu is not young anymore. He will only be the prime minister for a few years at most. By then, Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan will have almost enough qualifications and prestige. At that time, the candidates for prime minister will be selected from them. With their ability, they should be enough to help me destroy the Liao Kingdom, intervene in the Western Regions, and restore the territory of the prosperous Tang Dynasty that year!"

When Zhao Zhen spoke at the end, he also showed an ambitious expression on his face. Now he is no longer the timid child of the past, nor the good-looking emperor in history, but a great emperor who is ambitious and devoted himself to governing and aims at Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang.

Seeing Zhao Zhen’s resolute expression, Li Zhang suddenly felt relieved, as if he saw a younger brother who needed his own protection since childhood, finally growing up, and being able to withstand the storm and pressure by himself, becoming a man who is a strong country. And he, the elder brother, should let go.

Next, Li Zhang and Zhao Zhen talked about Li Yuanhao's movements in the Western Regions. Since Li Yuanhao gained a firm foothold in Kucha, he also began to use troops to the Dongkara Khan to the west. The Dongkara Khan, which was split inside, could not stop the Dangxiang cavalry at all, and soon lost a large area of ​​territory and population, which also allowed Li Yuanhao's strength to expand in the Western Regions very quickly.

However, Li Yuanhao's choice to gain a foothold in the Western Regions also means that he has almost given up his intention of competing for peaks with the Song Dynasty. After all, the Western Regions are too far away from the Central Plains. With the national strength of the Song Dynasty, it is unrealistic to send troops to the Western Regions, let alone a small country in the Western Regions. Even if he really builds an empire with great strength in the Western Regions, he has no ability to fight back.

"By the way, how is it in Nanyang? I heard that many people have been doing business in Nanyang recently and even occupied a lot of islands. Should we come forward and take care of it?" Zhao Zhen suddenly thought of what happened in the south again, so he also asked.

Since Li Zhang deliberately showed his wealth last time and used gold to attract many people's attention to the Southeast Asian Sea, coupled with his some open or secret agitation in the newspaper, more and more people have turned their attention to the ocean, especially some wealthy and powerful nobles, who have formed fleets to go south. There are rumors in the capital that some people have become rich due to sea trade every day.

Of course, going to sea in this era still faces great dangers. In fact, many people who go to sea lose their lives because of this. However, people are willing to listen to some news they like to hear, so few people pay attention to those things that die due to going to sea. On the contrary, those news of getting rich are sought after, and the more bizarre it is, the more people believe it.

"Everything goes well in the Nanyang area. The Kingdom of Buddha sent a large army to attack Gantuli Port and returned in a crushing defeat. Now they are honestly afraid to attack the port anymore. However, some time ago, they supported pirates to rob our maritime merchants. For this reason, Dong Qing and others sent troops to clear out a group of Buddha's navy. Now the other party dares to go out to sea."

When he said this, Li Zhang paused for a moment and then said, "As for the occupation of the islands, it is OK if the court wants to come forward, but the overseas is too big and the occupied islands are too scattered, so how to manage them is a problem!"
Chapter completed!