Volume 2 Chapter 78: Benefiting Both Sides (Part 2)
That evening, in Heyin City, the emperor personally hosted a banquet to entertain seven high-ranking generals, namely Han Shizhong, Li Yanxian, Zhang Jun, Wang Yan, Yue Fei, Wang De, and Lu Xing. There were also constant banquets of all sizes in various places in the city.
After all, no matter whether they are civil officials or military generals, no one can remain calm on personnel issues.
The civil officials naturally formed cliques, engaged in intrigue, and fawned on the emperor; the military generals were also extremely vulgar, calling each other brothers, boasting about their achievements... There was nothing that could be done about it. The legacy from the Jingkang period was still there, and there was the arbitrary addition after the war. It was impossible to expect it to change overnight.
Among them, the Deputy Secretary of the Privy Council, Wan Qixie, was undoubtedly an anti-Jin hero... Who dares to say he wasn't? Moreover, relying on his merits of embracing the dragon flag and following the emperor's family to break through, as expected, he also became a celebrity with an extremely bright political future and was invited countless times.
Those in lower positions wanted to curry favor with him, those in higher positions wanted to win him over, and familiar colleagues wanted to find out from him what the government was doing and doing in Tokyo. He was very popular.
But what is interesting is that faced with various invitations, Wanqi Yuanzhong's choice was somewhat unexpected - he rejected the invitation from Wang Boyan, who was competing for the position of Privy Councilor, and instead accepted the invitation from his colleague Hu Hongxiu on behalf of his father-in-law Wang Shuzhan to attend a private dinner hosted by another Wang.
Wang Shuzhan was a minister of ceremonies before, but because he presented alchemists to Emperor Zhao, he was disliked by Emperor Zhao and was demoted to a commoner. It was not until the Jin army went south that he took the initiative to write a letter to support the Emperor to stay in Nanyang, and was able to restore a little political status, but he was still just a casual official... He was recognized by everyone in Nanyang, and was known as a high-level unlucky person, along with Ye Mengde and Zhao Mingcheng.
However, although Wang Shuzhan was removed from office, he still possessed considerable political power, because although he fell, his relative Zhao Shilu who lived far away in Yangzhou did not fall, and it was almost impossible for him to fall, because this man was the Da Zongzheng, the "imperial uncle" of Emperor Zhao. It was he who escorted Empress Dowager Meng to Nanjing, and he had the merit of supporting her to the throne.
Not only that, Zhao Shiyi had impeached Huang Qianshan a long time ago, and his political stance was extremely firm. Coupled with the objective conditions that the Zhao Song royal family's close relatives were wiped out, this person was destined to be an unshakable figure in the political arena.
In addition, Uncle Wang’s son Wang Ruohai, eldest son-in-law Zhao Bufan, and second son-in-law Hu Hongxiu are all young talents that the emperor needs to use, so this old man will have a lot to do in the future!
And this is probably the real reason why Wanqi Xie came here... Firstly, he wanted to hide away in peace and avoid the big trouble of the dispute over the prime minister; secondly, Wanqi Canjun also felt that he had a bright future and it was time to find some low-key and practical connections to consolidate his foundation.
In other words, Wanqi Xie really wanted to make friends this time.
You know what, the effect is amazing.
Although the middleman Hu Hongxiu lacks political acumen, the father and son Wang Shuzhan are typical smart guys with the same political attributes as Wanqi Xie... One side has connections and political foundation, but the leader is in a trough, and strong foreign aid has not returned for the time being, so it is looking for a prominent political ally; the other side is a rising political star but has no political foundation... The two sides are simply a match made in heaven!
So, after a brief conversation and mutual testing, the two sides immediately felt that they had similar interests and entered the alley on the spot. After three rounds of drinking, Wanqi Xie even bowed on the spot, recognizing Wang Shuzhan as his "virtuous uncle" as a peer of Hu Hongxiu and Wang Ruohai, and then sat down to drink again.
At this time, everyone was one family, so Wanqi Xie had no scruples. In addition, the war was tense before, so he gradually became unrestrained and said some things that he would never say at ordinary times: "The emperor is really acting more like a leader now."
"Who says it's not true?" Uncle Wang Zhan smiled and twirled his beard. "But I don't know what specific thing nephew Wanqi is talking about?"
"Everything that happened recently is clear to me." Under the candlelight, Wanqi Xie covered his cup and smiled.
Wang Shuzhan burst into laughter and was about to speak again.
At this moment, Hu Hongxiu, who was somewhat impatient with the banquet, seemed to remember something and suddenly said, "Brother Wanqi, the emperor's poem "Qingyu'an"..."
"That poem 'Qingyu'an' is wonderful!" Wanqi Xie immediately responded solemnly. "This poem itself is wonderful, and the timing of its use is also wonderful... Since the time of Qu Yuan, the emperor has often compared the relationship between the emperor and his subjects to the favor of beauties. That night, after the emperor wrote this poem, I just read it from the side. When I saw 'Suddenly looking back, that person is in the dimming lights', I knew that Zong Zhongwu was going to let go of everything in the past and leave with a happy heart."
"Is this poem meant for the Prime Minister?" Hu Hongxiu was slightly startled. "I thought the Emperor really remembered the past in Tokyo and had a wonderful encounter during the Lantern Festival."
You're amazing!
Everyone present was familiar with Hu Hongxiu, but they still couldn't help but curse him in their hearts.
"At this point, it doesn't matter whether I remember it or not, or whether I lost my memory when I fell into the well." After cursing in his heart, Wanqi Xie continued to sigh. "Even Zong Zhongwu didn't care about the things that happened before the emperor fell into the well because of this word, let alone others?"
"That's right." Uncle Wang Zhan twirled his beard and sighed. "During the journey north, this poem "Qingyu Case" was passed on to the people in the procession, and it caused a sensation. Everyone copied it down. However, it is said that only the gentlemen lost their composure on the spot after hearing it, and then remained silent for a long time, and did not write down the records until the evening. It can be seen that Xianggong Lu and others were still a little envious."
"How can they not be envious?" Wan Qi Xie couldn't help but interrupt with a smile. "However, even if Minister Li knew about this, he would probably be envious."
Uncle Wang also laughed and said, "Who said it wasn't? Afterwards, the old man and others discussed that, first, this poem could be the best poem for the Lantern Festival, the emperor's talent is overwhelming, but he liked to cover it up in the past; second, Zong's achievements were extraordinary, and after this poem, his reputation in the future will definitely rise to a higher level... and today, the emperor has given him the posthumous title of Zhongwu, which is perfect!"
"Yes." Wang Ruohai rarely interrupted. "Today, many people have been talking about it, saying that Zong Liushou will not be as good as Zhuge Wuhou from now on, but he will not be inferior to Wang Jinglue. If the emperor can really revive the great unification of our ancestors, then Zong Liushou will have a lot of room for improvement in the future..."
"It will surely be revived." Hu Hongxiu replied solemnly in his depression.
"In fact, in my opinion, today's incident can also show the ability of the government." Wanqi Xie was a little drunk. He just glanced at Hu Hongxiu and continued with his previous topic without losing interest.
"That's right." Wang Shuzhan also continued to twirl his beard. "For a ruler, it is common to check and balance, and to use the power of others to defeat others. The emperor has been on the throne for almost two years, so he is already very skilled, but today, it seems to be particularly ingenious... He borrowed the position of Privy Councilor, and on the condition that Chen Shangshu would not be allowed to join the list of prime ministers, he kept several ministers hanging, and made them willing to help the emperor suppress the generals. And the best thing is that Chen Shangshu himself doesn't care, and he is so excited to be sold out by the emperor."
Hu Hongxiu frowned completely.
Wanqi Xie laughed even more when he heard this: "My wise uncle only knows one side of the story, not the other..."
"Is there any other explanation?" Uncle Wang Zhan was slightly stunned.
"My nephew thinks so." Wanqi Xie said bluntly. " It seems that are interacting with the emperor, exchanging other people and things, but you don't know that you have fallen into the emperor's trap... In an easy way, the generals have become the emperor's direct subordinates, and after the generals have been collectively promoted, it will be even more difficult to control the military with civil officials in the future."
Uncle Wang thought for a moment and nodded in agreement: "What my nephew said makes sense... In fact, this afternoon I heard a colleague who came back from outside the city tell me about something. He said that before Mr. Lu finally responded, Mr. Xu suddenly pulled him from behind, and Mr. Lu quickly spoke... I thought it was Mr. Xu urging him, but now it seems like he was reminding me after what you said."
This time, it was Wanqi Xie's turn to be slightly stunned.
"Master Taishan, Brother Wanqi!" At this moment, Hu Hongxiu finally couldn't bear it anymore and threw his chopsticks on the table. "Aren't what you two said the general trend? And what the emperor did today, or in recent days, isn't it an open conspiracy? How can there be so many tricks? After all, since the battle of Yanling-Changshe, the emperor's prestige in the army has been established, and after going north to the old capital, the central government is also excited... Under such a general trend, the emperor may act in a cunning way, but whether it is the ministers or the generals, what can really go against it? Even if the emperor doesn't do these tricks, can they really disobey? It's nothing more than the emperor giving face!"
After these words were spoken, everyone at the table was stunned and looked at Hu Hongxiu with some surprise.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Hu Hongxiu was helpless and picked up his chopsticks again. "This is the general trend of military strategy. When you are in a great victory, you can do anything. Master Taishan and Brother Wanqi don't even understand this, right?"
The other people at the table looked at each other in bewilderment, and then Wanqi Xie sighed slightly: "Liangbi (Hu Hongxiu's pen name) hit the nail on the head! It's my vision that is too narrow, and I was obsessed with appearances for a moment..."
"So, Lord Xu was indeed urging him, and Lord Lu's hasty response was suspicious." Uncle Wang was also thoughtful. "As for the banquet the emperor is hosting for all the generals tonight, it shouldn't cause any trouble, right?"
"That's exactly what you mean!" Wanqi Xie said firmly.
Not to mention how Wanqi Xie and Wang Shuzhan's family overestimated Emperor Zhao's ability, on the other hand, Emperor Zhao, who was hosting a banquet to entertain a group of senior generals, was already a little powerless... He was trying to save face, but there were people who didn't buy his face.
Although he seemed to be able to make decisions with ease during the day, in fact, Li Yanxian and Zhang Jun were still dissatisfied with being on the same level as Yue Fei. Wang De and Lu Xing were also indignant, and Wang Yan was a little dissatisfied as well.
During the day, in front of so many people, the emperor and the ministers spoke with one voice, and under their accumulated power, they endured for a while. But in the evening, when the government held a banquet to appease these people, they drank several pounds of wine and started to behave unruly.
Then all kinds of nonsense words and things came out.
This is really beyond one's control, because the officers of the Song Dynasty these days are basically like this. If we really want to compare how bad they are, they can be as bad as they can be. They are meritorious officials and heroes who fought against the Jin Dynasty, which does not prevent them from being bad people!
In fact, just look at Han Shizhong, who assisted Emperor Zhao in maintaining order today. This guy's ability and loyalty are both recognized as phenomenal, a so-called "famous general in ancient times". However, he also has all the problems that the official army of the Song Dynasty should have.
Lustful! Lax military discipline! Arrogant! Eating empty salaries and sucking the blood of soldiers! What is missing from him?
And in another time and space, this General Han even did such a bad thing - he asked his trusted general, Black Dragon Wang Sheng, to recognize Wang Jixian, a very favored imperial physician, as his godfather, in order to compete with Zhang Jun for favor and fight each other.
Based on these trivial things, if you cover up his name, he is simply a piece of trash. But when you look at his name, you will realize that he is a loyal and brave general who is as famous as Yue Fei in this era. He is also known as Yue Han in history. He is as famous as Wei Huo in the past and Xu Chang in the future... Can you believe it?
However, in the final analysis, it was fortunate that Emperor Zhao knew that this was Han Shizhong and not some random person, otherwise he, as an official, would have been finished in that rebellion.
As for the other guests attending the imperial banquet today... Zhang Jun is undoubtedly a greedy bastard who dares to acknowledge Wang Yuan as his godfather, so there is no need to mention him;
Li Yanxian was a strange person. He would only drink a glass when Emperor Zhao personally urged him to drink. He would not respond to the guests such as Wang Yuan and Yang Yizhong who came to persuade him.
Wang Yan was a scholar with a sense of pride. Although he was rewarded this time, he was also dissatisfied with being under Yue Fei. So it was good that no one showed his true colors at the beginning. Later, he also wanted to take the opportunity to vent his anger. He was also not an easy person to serve.
Lu Xing is the most mature among all the generals. He seems pretty good at first glance, but like Wang Yan, he becomes sour after drinking too much in the later period.
As for Wang De, needless to say, he was a pure rough man. He was the first to make trouble after drinking. He took off his clothes and exposed his wounds to the emperor. He also cried and complained that his defense of the four walls of Nanyang was worthless. Then he turned around and provoked Han Shizhong, Li Yanxian, Zhang Jun, Wang Yan, Yue Fei and other five great heroes appointed by the emperor one by one!
However, it was this last incident that broadened Zhao's horizons today. He only now realized that Yue Fei was also a person who did not drink very well... After Wang De provoked everyone else, they still maintained a bit of rationality and had no intention of embarrassing themselves in front of the emperor with this idiot. But after provoking Yue Fei, Yue Pengju simply stepped down and beat Wang Yasha to the ground in front of the table.
This drunken impulse is not a good thing.
However, what Zhao Jiu didn't know was that in history, Yue Fei was not only a bad drinker, not a good thing, but a terrible drinker! He got into trouble more than once after getting drunk. The first time he got into a fight after drinking, he lost his job. The second time, he was already a general, 30 years old, but he got angry after drinking and beat a commander, almost beating him to death.
Of course, Wang De was not killed by him this time, and no matter what, Yue Pengju was still the most exemplary one in personal morality among the seven generals here, not to mention his direction in commanding the army and maintaining military discipline. According to Zhao Jiu's previous observation, compared with others, Yue Fei was simply a saint.
After Wang De was beaten, Emperor Zhao saw that all seven of them were obviously drunk, so he simply ended the banquet. Then, the guests, including Academician Xiao Lin, Yang Yi Zhong, Liu Yan, Lan Gui, Feng Yi and others, dealt with the seven people one by one according to the Emperor's prior arrangements.
Han Shizhong, who was completely drunk, was sent directly to the backyard of the Heyin County Office where the Emperor Zhao lived. Madam Liang was invited to take care of him. She snored loudly that night and was basically in the next room to the Emperor Zhao and Madam Wu.
Zhang Jun returned to his residence in a depressed mood, but saw the large amount of gold and silver treasures sent by Emperor Zhao in advance. Among them, hundreds of pieces of Shu brocade were sent by Zhang Jun from Sichuan during the war. They were the most precious treasures escorted from Xiangyang this time. Now all of them were given to Zhang Taiwei. The emperor and Madam Wu did not keep a single piece to make new clothes... It was also shabby;
As for Li Yanxian, this young general (36 years old) who was somewhat unhappy when he first met the emperor returned to his residence. However, he did not expect that the emperor would come with great fanfare the next morning, sending the internal official Xiaolin and the chief guard Lan Gui to come together, officially issuing an imperial decree and bestowing a "mainstay" military flag in the midst of a huge military campaign.
Not to mention Wang Yan, Wang De and Lu Xing, who were all rewarded, appeased and pardoned the next day... The only special one was Yue Fei. Early the next morning, Zhao Jiu sent Yang Yi Zhong to announce an oral order with harsh words, making it clear that they were not allowed to drink in the army in the future!
These things could not be concealed at all in the small Heyin city which was almost filled with dignitaries.
As the news spread quickly, there was bound to be some gossip that morning.
"The decline of civil officials and the rise of military officials is the general trend." Somewhere in the city, Deputy Prime Minister Xu Jingheng stroked his beard and sighed to Prime Minister Lu Haowen, who lived in the same courtyard with him last night. "However, among all the generals, I originally thought that Han Shizhong was the most favored by the emperor, but now it seems that Yue Pengju is not bad either... What do you think, Brother Shuntu (Lu Haowen's pen name)?"
"Why are you thinking about these?" Lü Haowen, who was sipping porridge, shook his head repeatedly, and then helplessly. "Don't you have to accompany the emperor to review the troops in the morning? Don't you have to accompany the emperor to hold a big banquet in the afternoon? There are more than 30 commanders alone! Even if it's the Heyin incident, don't you have to consider suppressing the rebellion in the southeast and cleaning up the ruins of Henan? Where do you people get so many thoughts? If you have these thoughts, why not drink more porridge?"
Upon hearing this, Xu Jingheng also picked up the bowl of porridge, but put it down again, and then sighed: "To be honest with you, Brother Shun, I always feel that the emperor will not be so honest. If he didn't cause trouble yesterday, there will definitely be trouble today..."
"Then what?" Lu Haowen put down the bowl of porridge and asked helplessly.
Xu Jingheng was slightly startled, but simply picked up the bowl of porridge.
