Volume 2 Chapter 34 Tongbao
Unlike the bureaucrats who longed for stability, or even had a morbid pursuit of stability, Zhao Jiu had anticipated the arrival of the Jin people... There was no reason for the Jin people not to come. In fact, the Song and Jin had been at war for four years, and in the first three years they retreated when the weather got hot, and went south when the weather turned cold. Even the deployment of troops and the battle strategy were the same every time they went out. The so-called East and West Armies had more than 100,000 households and 100,000 people on each side, including 50,000 to 60,000 Jin people and 40,000 to 50,000 from other ethnic groups. They also particularly liked the decapitation tactic, targeting the opponent's core cities and key commanders.
Then why did you come for three years and not come in the fourth year?
In fact, all the alliances, declarations of war, and diplomacy between countries are fake. For a country like the Jin Dynasty that has not yet gotten rid of the barbaric national thinking, the fact is that unless it is hurt or scared, it will fight as long as it can and rob as long as it can.
Even if they were sending troops based on this habit, they should have prepared to march south this year, not to mention there was also an imperial edict?
And then, perhaps because of this completely different attitude towards the war, Emperor Zhao and the bureaucrats of Nanyang completely lost the harmony they had in the past.
In fact, these bureaucrats understand some truths and have heard some things from someone, but they still find it hard to accept when the time comes. Within a few days, panic, perfunctory, and pessimistic emotions began to spread in the Nanyang auxiliary capital. Perfunctory and even fleeing phenomena appeared one after another, as if they were not the ones who were excited about Nanyang's prosperity in the past few months.
Emperor Zhao was naturally disappointed by this, but not terribly disappointed, because he had only given this group confidence for three months. Moreover, compared with a year ago, these people at least would not and dared not talk about peace talks.
At the same time, turning back to Zhao Jiu's point of view, except for being a little shocked at the beginning, he became more and more calm later on... After all, it's not like he did nothing in the past six months. He did so many things. Even if the situation is worrying, can he be as worried as he was last year?
If he really fails miserably and is searched everywhere, then he, a time traveler, deserves to die without a burial place.
In fact, Emperor Zhao had already thought about it. Three lines of defense, five or six military regions, Zong Ze, Yue Fei, Li Yanxian, Han Shizhong, and Zhang Jun, this is the best lineup at present, right? With so many obstacles, can't we tear off a few pieces of meat from the Jin army?
By the time the Jin army arrived at Nanyang, which he directly controlled, they would have been exhausted and would just defend the city! Even if Nanyang could not be defended, he could return to Xiangyang and make sure that the backbone of the Song Dynasty would never fall. Wasn't that possible?
To put it bluntly, just do it with all your strength! If we can't be Li Shimin, can we still be Cixi?
"Prime Minister Zhong wants food?"
The new official, Prime Minister Lu Yihao, who is recognized as the most experienced civil servant, raised his head and looked at him coldly. "You, the Ministry of Revenue, actually think it's worth it?"
Except for the emperor who was fiddling with a Jianyan Tong Bao coin behind the desk, showing a lack of respect for others, all the others, from Lan Gui and Yang Yi Zhong standing beside him, to several prime ministers, senior officials of the six ministries, several core censors and other important figures, as well as close ministers such as Xiao Lin Xue Shi, Hanlin Xue Shi and Zhong Shu She Ren, and even middle and lower-level officials such as Liu Zi Yu, Wan Qi Xie, and Hu Hong Xiu who were farther away in the hall, all responded seriously.
Because the person whom Lu Yihao scolded was the Minister of Revenue Lin Qi, and Lin Qi was the highest-ranking spokesperson for Prime Minister Li Gang in Nanyang, and the topic being discussed at this time was also an extremely serious one.
Under the gaze of countless people, Minister of Revenue Lin Qi gritted his teeth and said politely, "Reporting to the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Revenue believes that it should be given."
"Why?" Lu Hao asked. The other Lu Xianggong saw that the situation was not good and took the initiative to interrupt and try to smooth things over.
"Why?!" However, Lu Yihao didn't need Lu Haowen to interrupt.
"Because there is no shortage of food in the central government." Lin Qi said earnestly and sincerely. "My two Lu Xiangs, since Prime Minister Zhong is still under the banner of the court's righteous army, he can be won over. Giving him food now does not mean that we can rely on a little food to attract this usurper as a support, but if we can appease him for a while and prevent him from taking the opportunity to rebel, it will be considered a rescue." Having said this, the Minister of Revenue turned to other colleagues again. "As for the future, even if Prime Minister Zhong changes his mind in the future, even if some of the food today seems to be aiding the enemy in the future, as long as we can prevent him from rebelling now and the Jin people retreat in the future, we have ten thousand ways to talk to him slowly... May I ask why not do it?"
Lu Yihao sneered, his attitude was obvious, while Lu Haowen was silent for a moment, hesitating to speak... The latter seemed to be moved by Lin Qi's words, but was afraid of Lu Yihao, a distant relative, and did not dare to agree easily.
As for the other people in the hall, they were all hesitant, and it was obvious that many of them were convinced by Lin Qi.
Even Emperor Zhao was playing with the Jianyan Tongbao coin while thinking about something... Of course, Emperor Zhao didn't feel anything about the current dispute. He just lamented his schizophrenia because of this dispute.
Speaking of which, Zhao Jiu's attitude towards Zhong Xiang, Yang Mo, or the Dongting Lake force formed by religious associations has always been complex and changing.
At the beginning, Zhao Jiu was immediately impressed by the name Zhong Xiang when he saw it on Ma Shen's note, because this man was mentioned in history books and "The Complete Biography of Yue Fei" as half the protagonist of the Dongting Lake Uprising. He was roughly the representative of the peasant uprising, which was the result of the people's rebellion caused by the officials and the Zhao Song Dynasty's ineffective resistance against the Jin Dynasty. Even the suppression of the Dongting Lake Uprising once became a stain on Yue Fei's life.
However, when Emperor Zhao came into contact with some information in this era, he immediately changed his previous opinion. Because as far as he knew, Zhong Xiang did use religious associations to help the local poor people, but at the same time, he had been calling himself a great sage in Dongting Lake a long time ago. After the Jingkang Incident last year, he even tried to directly imply that he was the "King of Chu" in a mysterious way.
In other words, Zhong Xiang was both a rescuer and an exploiter of the poor, a careerist who spread false rumors to confuse the public, and a profit-seeker. This was the case with many leaders of peasant uprisings, such as Fang La a few years ago and Zhang Jue thousands of years ago.
So, without discussing the legitimacy and limitations of the peasant uprising, Emperor Zhao, as a time traveler and a member of the Zhao family, must have a contradictory mentality.
Of course, a time traveler should have unlimited sympathy for the working people. Who made him come from a poor village in his previous life and receive that kind of education? And as the most idiotic member of the Zhao family here, he can't help but feel a serious threat to a group that is destined to rebel.
This contradictory psychology has recently developed to an extreme...
"Officials."
At this time, Li Gang's other confidant, Li Guang, Lin Qi's biggest political ally in the palace, saw that Lu Yihao was speechless for a moment, and most of the people around him were persuaded. Naturally, he wanted to strike while the iron was hot, so he gritted his teeth and simply bypassed several ministers and directly bowed to the emperor Zhao who was thinking about it. "There is a precedent for this matter, just like Zong Liushou and Li Gongxiang. Before Zong Liushou returned to Tokyo, Tokyo was surrounded by military bandits, but Zong Liushou turned the military bandits back into soldiers of the Song Dynasty; and there were many military riots in the southeast before, but Li Gongxiang was there, and he let bygones be bygones and treated them properly. Didn't he also turn the rebels who might become rebels into regular troops again? So, the solidity of mountains and rivers lies in virtue, not in danger. Even a traitor like Zhong Xiang can't be treated with mercy..."
"But when Prime Minister Li pacified the rebellious army, didn't he also pacify the thief like Fan Qiong?" Suddenly, Scholar Kobayashi, who had been silent all this time, spoke with a solemn expression and interrupted Li Guang's words directly.
As soon as Scholar Kobayashi opened his mouth, the parties involved and the rest of the people in the hall were all stunned and didn't know how to respond.
Everyone knew the importance of Scholar Kobayashi in front of the emperor, but on the one hand, Scholar Kobayashi valued his status and was always very cunning, so he seldom expressed his views publicly in front of the emperor. On the other hand, because of his name, Scholar Kobayashi often deliberately avoided the Minister of Revenue Lin Qi... Therefore, when this person suddenly spoke at this time, everyone misunderstood. Could it be a signal from the emperor?
"Prime Minister Zhong cannot be trusted!"
At this time, Lu Yihao also sorted out his thoughts and immediately took the opportunity to counterattack. "Before the Jingkang Incident, everyone in the world thought that the Jin people were not enough to shake the overall situation, so at that time, Zhong Xiang also sent his son to defend the king; but after the Jingkang Incident, seeing that the Song Dynasty was in danger, this person couldn't wait to let his son reorganize the fishermen in Dongting Lake and form a rebellious army, and also let people spread the rumors of the "King of Chu"; when the secondary capital was set in Nanyang, the government acted vigorously, executed Ding Jin, expelled Wanyan Yinshuke, swept Huaixi, and destroyed Fan Qiong, and the central government also recovered a little vitality through a series of actions, and this person immediately accepted the central government's appeasement; and now that the news of the Jin people's invasion to the south has just spread, he immediately came to ask for food... What is this? Is he asking for food? I clearly only see an ambitious and opportunistic person testing the court ! If you give him food today, not to mention that it will stabilize him, I'm afraid he will think that the central government is weak, and then wait for the Jin people to come and take the opportunity to raise troops, right?!"
"Prime Minister Lu Shu." Lin Qi came back to his senses and hurriedly replied. "Can we explain clearly the human heart?"
"Do you dare to guarantee it?!" Lu Yihao responded coldly. "If you dare to guarantee it, I will allow you to release the enemy!"
Lin Qi became more speechless.
"alright."
When the situation in the hall was tense, Emperor Zhao, who had just thrown a Tongbao in his hand, suddenly spoke up. "Isn't it just a gamble? Success or failure has nothing to do with the overall situation... It's as if a Zhong Xiang can poke a hole in the sky. It's a good thing that he doesn't rebel; but even if he rebels, can he still send his navy ashore, defeat Ma Shen and rob Xiangyang?!"
Everyone fell silent.
Emperor Zhao looked at the Jianyan Tongbao coin that he had caught, and suddenly laughed again: "I have made up my mind. I would rather fight with the internal thieves than the external invaders... Just give it to him! Wanqi Qing, you can go again!"
Everyone knew how Emperor Zhao made the decision and thought it was ridiculous, but no one could come up with a better solution. They could only watch Wanqi Xie rush forward and receive the order.
"Starting tomorrow, I will not listen to your discussions in the palace, and you don't have to stay here." Zhao Jiu put away the Tongbao, stood up and continued to speak, which made the ministers in the palace more shocked and panicked. "Since the war has begun, I will go to the Yushan camp to live permanently. From the two ministers of the Privy Council, everyone from the two ministers down will follow me to the army and make preparations quickly. I will see the deployment of the entire army tonight. Don't worry about other things. As for the two prime ministers of the capital, Minister Lu will stay in Nanyang to preside over the overall situation and make a decision with one word. Minister Xu should not delay and go to Xiangyang immediately. If there is a change in Nanyang, Minister Xu can make a decision with . Anyway, don't quarrel all day... Of course, the officials of each department and temple will also be divided into two, and who will go and who will stay will discuss it by themselves, so don't delay."
As he spoke, Emperor Zhao actually tucked his things into his sleeves and went to the harem, leaving the whole room in silence.
"Your Majesty!" In the midst of the silence, the Chief Censor Hu Yin suddenly stepped out and spoke loudly. "The Censorate does not agree with him. I wish to split it into two, half to serve Your Majesty, and the other half to supervise the army! There is no need to go to Xiangyang."
There were countless people in the hall, and their faces turned pale when they heard this, but Emperor Zhao turned around, smiled, and then walked away with his sleeves tucked in without saying a word.
