Volume 4 Chapter 36 Candles
"It would be fine if the Jin people did not value the two saints and the other nobles, but how could they return the five counties of Jingdong so easily?" After the Jin messenger brought the peace terms, the discussion in Dongjing City naturally escalated.
"But I don't think so... In my opinion, the overall situation is clear at the moment, and the key lies in the Yellow River line. For example, northern Shaanxi and Jingdong may take time for us to kill, and even if we suffer one or two defeats, we will be able to take them down sooner or later, especially Jingdong, which is just a few hundred miles east of Jingdong. It is an important place that must be taken down at all costs. For the Jin people, these two places are like chicken ribs, which are tasteless to eat and a pity to abandon. If we want to fight, it must be a big war, but crossing the river to fight a big war may be another battle, and a small war will be futile... It is better to be generous and ask for a few years of open and stable life. It just so happens that Aguda's sons also need to stabilize their internal affairs."
"...You do have some truth in what you said."
On this day, a group of students were discussing something downstairs in a newly opened store outside Donghua Gate. In the pavilion upstairs, Wang Shu, the Minister of Justice, who was eating cold porridge to escape the heat, listened for a while before sneering at Chen Gongfu, the chief priest of the Imperial College, who was sitting opposite him: "It does make sense. Today's students are not as knowledgeable as before!"
The direct manager of the group of students below, Chen Gongfu, the Imperial College's chief academic officer, just shook his head when he heard this: "How can this be their own knowledge? They are just copying other people's words... The government sent the court reports to Hu Quan, and he took over this matter in a hurry after all, so he could only find assistants from the students who copied the court reports. But now that the court reports are so powerful, even the prime ministers will gradually express their innocence in the court reports... So these students can't help but know more about the inside story."
"That's true." Wang Shu nodded in agreement.
While the two were talking, they could hear loud conversation downstairs again.
"So, the conditions for the peace talks are not a big problem for the Jin people?"
"I don't think so. In my opinion, the five counties in Jingdong are not a big deal. On the contrary, returning the two saints is a big obstacle for the Jin people."
"You are just empty talk... The Jin envoy Wulinda came up so casually. It's okay to return it or not. It's up to the government to ask for it. Everyone knows about this. How can it be a problem?"
"You are just talking nonsense. Whether the two saints return or not is naturally irrelevant, but whether this matter is thrown out or not is a critical point... The Jin people now have people like Qin Hui and Han Fang who are familiar with the internal affairs of the country. How can they not know that as long as the two saints are mentioned, the emperor will have to hold back and ask for them no matter how upset he is? Once this happens, whether the matter of the two saints succeeds or not, it will be a huge trouble for our dynasty and the emperor, and if the emperor is in trouble, it will be a huge benefit for the Jin people..."
"Be careful with your words!"
"Why should we be so careful about what we say? People have been saying all sorts of things about this matter. They say that the two emperors have returned to seize the throne, and some even say that the ministers have placed the emperor under house arrest. We are not in the Imperial College, so why can't we say anything..."
"He really has some knowledge." Wang Shu upstairs couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.
"It's not their fault that they are short-sighted in this matter." Chen Gongfu defended his students. "Everyone below is saying that the two emperors are coming back to fight for the throne, while the ministers are all worried that the emperor will do something big in return. But ordinary people think that both sides are unreliable, and they don't know what the emperor is thinking... Even you and I are just guessing, aren't we?"
"That's true."
"Let's take it one step at a time!" Chen Gongfu shook his head again. "No matter what, what is coming will come, anyway, it will be in the next two months."
Hearing this, it was Wang Shu's turn to shake his head: "Yesterday, the capital summoned Wulinda Zanmo. You were not there, so you didn't know. He promised everything, but he was entangled in the annual tribute. But after being scolded by Zhang Xianggong, he didn't mention it again. It seems that he had prepared it in advance... According to my guess, Liu Yu in Jinan may have been captured by them, and the two saints are on the way. It will take less than two months."
"If that's the case, the Jin people are really harboring evil intentions." Chen Gongfu frowned even more. "Otherwise, why would they send them one by one? Aren't they deliberately trying to cause chaos in the government and the court?"
"It's already in chaos." Wang Shu sighed more and more. "Aren't the two queen dowagers going to arrive in the next few days? The provincial government asked the emperor to go to the riverside to welcome them, but the emperor ignored it and just stayed in the harem... I heard that even Concubine Pan suggested going to the riverside to welcome them, but she was still rejected."
Chen Gongfu didn't know what to say.
But Wang Shu said again: "There is one more thing. I guess it will be discussed at the secret cabinet meeting today. Yue Fei has sent a secret letter, but it is written publicly, which means to ask for war..."
"What's this?" Chen Gongfu didn't care. "Yue Fei is from Hebei. He came back from suppressing bandits in a hurry. He heard about the peace talks on the way. He was not comforted by the government, so he wrote the letter in a hurry..."
"Han Shizhong and Wu Jie are already on the way." Wang Shu blurted out.
Chen Gongfu was silent for a moment, but still shook his head: "The two saints are coming, and the emperor can't avoid them. When the time comes, all the civil and military officials in the court will go to welcome them. Han and Wu are not like Yue Fei who is still suppressing the rebellion at that time, so they should come too, but they are far away in Guanzhong, so they have to be called in advance."
"Whatever you say makes sense!" Wang Shu sneered again, but stood up directly. "Well! Let's go... It's almost time."
Chen Gongfu nodded slightly and stood up as well.
The two men, both in purple robes, went downstairs together, startling the seven or eight students who had just returned from reporting to the emperor and making them stand up. Two of them in particular jumped up out of fright, probably because of what they had said before about "lucky money" and "unspeakable".
Fortunately, the two senior officials ignored the students and just walked out of the restaurant and headed towards Donghua Gate, which aroused the envy of the students who had escaped death... Although the Secret Cabinet had encountered a siege, both the government and the public could see that those who could participate in the Secret Cabinet meeting were beyond the scope of ordinary officials.
Especially since this form of organization has been tacitly approved by Emperor Zhao in the harem...it is possible that it will become a precedent in the future when encountering extraordinary situations, and then give certain political identity bonuses to the relevant participants.
In fact, after this incident, a new theory has emerged among the people, saying that since the emperor ascended the throne, he has been intentionally or unintentionally weakening the power of the Internal Affairs Bureau and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and delegating power to the two government offices, six ministries, nine temples, and five academies. He wanted to use this to buy off the court and take precautions against the restoration of the two emperors in advance.
Of course, as I said before, the premise is wrong, so the inference is naturally absurd... It's just that the people have believed it, or they just like to say this ridiculous statement that the Second Saint will restore the throne when he returns, so there are such rumors.
Turning back to the present, Wang and Chen left the main store which had just reopened and went directly into the palace, entered Chongwenyuan, passed Dutang, and went to the Secret Pavilion. Not long after, the other central officials arrived, but it was still Liu Ji who took the lead in presiding over the meeting.
However, when Liu Xianggong opened his mouth, the whole court was stunned: "The two queen mothers are trapped by the Jin army on the north bank of the Yellow River. Who will go to rescue them?"
"Are the Jin people playing tricks on us?!" Wang Shu was immediately furious. "How dare you do such a thing?!"
Not only Wang Shu, but also Li Guang, Liu Dazhong and others were also angry, and the secret room was in chaos for a while.
However, seeing the chaos in the cabinet, Liu Ji, who came out, several prime ministers, Honglu Temple Minister Zhai Ruwen, and Minister of Rites Zhu Shengfei, who obviously knew the truth, became embarrassed... Obviously, there was something going on.
It was only after a long while that Liu Ji finally had time to tell the truth.
It turned out that, just as Chen Gongfu and Wang Shu had discussed before, it was not known whether the Jin people did it on purpose or the information channels were confused, but the Jin people released the captives in batches... At first, it was several princesses and noble ladies from Yanjing, who are probably already in Yangzhou now; then came a group of princesses and noble ladies from the Five Kingdoms City, and a group of younger royal family members, who are now on their way to Yangzhou; followed by a group of abducted ministers' families and children, who had just arrived a few days ago, and the court was discussing commendations and favors; and this current wave was mainly composed of the queens and concubines of the two saints... Among them, the most important ones were naturally the two empresses dowagers, namely Empress Dowager Zheng of Emperor Taishang Daojun, and Empress Dowager Wei, the 'biological mother' of the official in the harem.
However, perhaps happiness came too suddenly , and these people could hardly believe it when they were sent south... Others could only hold their breath and wait, but there was something wrong with Empress Dowager Wei. I don't know if this empress dowager felt that she had something to rely on, or was too scared of the experience in the north, or was forced to become the empress dowager and had no basic political literacy. Anyway, she did something speechless.
To be specific, on her way back south, she first collected some jewelry returned by the Jin people from the concubines who accompanied her, and gave them as rewards or bribes to the Jin soldiers who escorted them, just hoping that they could cross the river quickly in the hot summer... This is actually nothing, and it is even completely understandable.
But the key point is that after handing over the last bit of jewelry, she was still a little worried, but she actually borrowed two thousand taels of gold from the leading general of the Jin army and continued to reward and bribe him.
Because Empress Dowager Wei had a special status and promised to borrow two thousand and return three thousand after crossing the river, Meng'an was naturally happy to do so.
But, when they got to the river, where did Zhang Rong get the three thousand taels of gold? Not only Zhang Rong, but also the welcoming ambassador Quan Bangyan who had just returned from mourning did not have this much money? And even if he had the money, he would not dare to give it?
As a result, the Jin general not only detained the two queen dowagers in Xiaowusha, but also jumped towards the Yellow River and scolded the Song people for not keeping their promises.
"Even if you have money, you can't give it to me!" Wang Shu was furious after hearing this. "I want to see who dares to give this money?!"
The ministers looked at each other, and they were speechless... This matter was not about the three thousand taels of gold, but the basic position of the country in this peace negotiation that it would not pay any price. After working so hard for so long, and under the pressure of the government's non-violent non-cooperation attitude, the pressure of the army, and the pressure of the people, how could they dare to show weakness in the scene?
After finally coming up with an equal peace treaty that would rank number one in the history of the Song Dynasty, who would have thought that Empress Dowager Wei and three thousand taels of gold would appear?
But on the other hand, after all, it was Empress Dowager Wei who did it, and it was understandable, so it's hard to blame anyone.
"What did the emperor say?" Li Guang also had a headache. "Since this is about the Queen Mother, he should have a reply, right?"
"The government said that the Ministry of Rites should handle it according to the regulations." Liu Ji said helplessly. "But if he needs money, he has saved for four or five years, but he only has a few thousand strings of cash. He cannot afford to pay three thousand taels of gold... If he is forced to pay, according to the rule that the son repays the mother's debt, he naturally cannot refuse, but please give him a few days to let him borrow money from relatives."
This is ridiculous!
After hearing this, almost all the senior officials present had the same mentality... and this was absurd, not only referring to the emperor's attitude towards his biological mother, but also his weird attitude towards everyone. What was even more absurd was that everyone present knew that what the emperor said was actually the truth.
Unless the harem issues national debt now or borrows from the emperor's father-in-law, there is really no three thousand taels of gold in cash!
Then, everyone instinctively looked at the Minister of Rites Zhu Shengfei.
Zhu Shengfei's expression remained unchanged, but his back was covered in sweat... Speaking of which, the emperor himself said the word "Ministry of Rites", but he didn't even have anyone to shift the blame to. And he had been slippery many times before, pushing big things to the prime minister and small things to the Honglu Temple. It was obviously the Ministry of Rites that was responsible for this matter, but it had nothing to do with it.
But because of such inappropriate behavior, naturally no one is willing to help him now.
"Let the Ministry of Rites go to Huazhou in person." After staring at each other for a while, Prime Minister Zhao Ding simply issued an order.
Zhu Shengfei had no choice but to step out of the line to answer, but he was still unwilling to give in: "Can you please speak frankly, the Jin people are brutal and rude. If they arrest the two queen dowagers and demand the three thousand gold, what should I do?"
"You are the Minister of Rites, so you have your own explanation." Prime Minister Zhang Jun couldn't stand it anymore, so he made an excuse before anyone else.
With no other options, Zhu Shengfei could only bow and look at the Minister of the Honglu Temple Zhai Ruwen behind him: "Mr. Zhai, can you please go and inform the Jin envoy first?"
Zhai Ruwen had been annoyed by Zhu Shengfei these days, and he was too lazy to respond perfunctorily: "Minister Zhu, isn't informing the Jin envoy just exposing your own shortcomings? How is it different from begging the Jin people? The reputation I worked so hard to build up for two months is gone in one day!"
Zhu Shengfei was completely helpless.
At this time, Wang Shu stood aside and said, "If the Ministry of Rites is unwilling to go, the Ministry of Justice can go. We will never let the country lose the slightest dignity... What is there to hesitate about? No money, no permission! The matter of giving me a share of the pie was made clear in Nanjing back then. Why are you hesitating now?! Is it just because she is the official's biological mother?!"
Having said that, the others wanted Wang Shu to go, but no matter what, this job was not the Ministry of Justice's turn, right?
Therefore, after going around in circles, Zhu Shengfei had no choice but to nod his head, but he publicly put forward a condition: "I will leave soon, but before I leave, I need you gentlemen to promise me something..."
Zhao Ding and others all frowned, thinking that this guy was really going too far.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Shengfei sighed, but shook his head in this secret room and said: "I have no other request, I just want you to allow me to resign and live in seclusion after this matter."
Everyone was stunned and a little stunned.
It is true that the peace talks these days have made everyone feel like dying, but the fact that the government has decentralized power and a group of people are manipulating state affairs in the secret cabinet is really irresistible, and few people really want to resign and go home. So for a while, these people don't know whether he really feels wronged or is retreating to advance, using this to bargain with the prime ministers.
After a pause, Zhao Ding frowned helplessly: "Minister Zhu, you are a minister, and you must get the emperor's approval to resign."
"Of course I know that." Zhu Shengfei answered calmly. "The emperor's side is naturally the emperor's side. I will have official documents to explain, but first I need your approval. I will be allowed to take sick leave like the Grand Master did and not come to the secret cabinet to manage things."
Just as he was about to speak, Prime Minister Zhang Jun spoke first and waved his sleeves, "We have no objection, but how about asking the Ministry of Rites to bring the Queen Mother back first?"
Zhu Shengfei felt relieved instead.
And after this matter was settled, all other incidents seemed unimportant... Of course, it was only in theory that they didn't matter. Yue Fei's memorial, Han Shizhong and Wu Jie's departure from the border, and the government's self-destructive attitude, which one could really be unimportant?
But as the saying goes, too much debt means no worries, and too many lice mean no bites. We even endured the last riot, so what else can't we endure?
Just like that, the secret cabinet meeting ended hastily that day, and no one mentioned anything else. It was only said that Zhu Shengfei went to Huazhou to meet Quan Bangyan and Zhang Rong to pick up the empress dowager, but unexpectedly, the situation there was so smooth that it was unbelievable... Zhu Shengfei arrived there as the Minister of Rites, and gritted his teeth to convey the central government's clear attitude, which was that he would not give even a tael of money. As soon as the attitude was revealed, Gao Jingshan, the commander-in-chief of the Daming Prefecture's Marching Division, who was hiding somewhere, appeared on the opposite side and whipped Meng'an from Bohai who was accompanying them in the face. The latter then honestly released the person and did not even dare to ask for the capital.
The two Empress Dowagers crossed the river...things went as smoothly as in a dream.
Since the two empresses dowagers had crossed the river, it was only a short distance from Huazhou to Tokyo. However, on the third day, Empress Dowager Zheng and Empress Dowager Wei returned to Tokyo City under the escort of Zhu Shengfei and Quan Bangyan.
The emperor claimed that he was ill and missed the empress dowagers and his mother too much. He was afraid that he would faint from tears when they met, which would be embarrassing, so he did not come to greet them.
But apart from the fact that the emperor did not arrive, there were no problems with the rest of the etiquette. Prime Minister Lu and other ministers led the civil and military officials to go ten miles out of the city to welcome them. Then the two imperial concubines Pan and Wu came forward, and with the assistance of the ministers, they formally received the two empresses dowagers at the city gate.
As for how the two empress dowagers met and greeted several famous ministers in the north one by one, praising them as figures like Zhuge Wuhou; how they wanted to meet Han Shizhong, the most famous man in the north, but failed, and only met Yang Yi Zhong; finally, how the two imperial concubines and the two empress dowagers hugged each other and cried bitterly at the city gate, causing the onlookers to recall the events of Jing Kang and cry together...all these episodes are not worth mentioning.
In the afternoon, the group finally wiped away their tears and returned to the palace, but went straight into Gyeongbokgung Palace. They first watched a performance of "The Legend of White Snake". Then, powerful religious figures such as Master Fahe, the abbot of the Bianliang branch of Shaolin Temple, and Taoist Zhang, the abbot of Wuyue Temple, were waiting there. They brought a group of monks and Taoists to pray for the two empress dowagers and ward off disasters... They went on until the evening, and finally held a grand banquet in Gyeongbokgung Palace, which was not only to welcome the two empress dowagers and other imperial concubines, but also to entertain civil and military officials, and to hold a formal celebration ceremony for the empress dowager's return.
At this time, Emperor Zhao Jiu, who had previously been "missing his mother too much and was afraid that he would faint from tears when they met", finally showed up, which made the ministers and other accompanying officials almost ecstatic.
Besides, people like Empress Dowager Zheng, Concubine Wang Gui, and Concubine Qiao Gui were all capable of playing the leading female roles in Zhao Ji's terrifying harem. They were very thoughtful and did not mention the snow in the north, but only talked about the journey. How could they not accidentally ask about the new customs and the customs of the new emperor? Even Empress Dowager Wei, after experiencing the incident on the river, was much more careful.
Besides, all the officials were present at the time, so naturally everything was in place, and both sides did not lose face... As for Empress Dowager Zheng, she did not even dare to let the official kneel down to pay her respects, and had the two noble concubines hold him up long ago, fearing that the official would 'faint from crying'; as for Empress Dowager Wei, although she wanted to step forward to talk, after several years, she felt that the other party was almost the same as before except for his appearance, and instead felt a little timid.
So, in the end, the banquet went on as usual.
However, although it was called a grand banquet, because the palace was really simple, there was no formal etiquette. The empress dowagers and noble concubines sat at the top, the emperor and the two noble concubines plus the other miscellaneous royal family members who came back sat on one side, and several ministers sat opposite. As for the low-ranking civil and military officials, they were sent away early... The scene was really like a family banquet after the arrival of a female elder from an ordinary official family, where there was no need to be shy.
However, what was interesting was that once the banquet started, those perfunctory procedures were gone. Up and down, left and right, men and women, no one picked up their chopsticks or bowls. They all just looked at the official thoughtfully. But the official had nothing to say and just sat sideways. It was a really awkward scene.
Finally, after a long pause, Queen Mother Zheng had a mission to perform, so she had to speak up no matter how difficult it was. She gritted her teeth and said, "Your Majesty... when we set out from Wuguo City a few months ago, the two retired emperors did not know about the peace talks yet. They just climbed onto the shaft of the carriage and repeatedly entrusted you with words, asking you not to forget the letter sent by Zheng Yinian. In fact, as long as you are a Taiyi Palace envoy, you will be able to stay safe... Your Majesty doesn't know that your eldest brother almost fainted from crying in front of the carriage, and was also whipped by the Jin people. We had no choice but to swear on the spot that if we didn't save him, we would all become blind."
Zhao Jiu was stunned for a moment, nodded, but said nothing.
Seeing this, men and women, civil servants and military officers all felt their scalps tingling and their hearts chilled, but they really didn't know how to continue. Queen Mother Zheng tried hard to speak, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she couldn't help but burst into tears.
Empress Dowager Zheng was the empress dowager after all. When she returned this time, she had no worries except the snow in the north. The other noble concubines and imperial concubines also thought of the snow in the north and could not help but burst into tears. However, they did not dare to cry too much, for fear of angering the official and causing their sons to not come back and they would not be able to take care of them in their old age.
The scene froze for a moment.
After a while, just as Lü Haowen and Zhao Ding stood up and prepared to respond, Empress Dowager Wei was the most confident. She couldn't help but put on a smile and tried to mediate the situation: "Brother Nine, you are too wronged... I heard people say on the way here that you usually only light one candle in the palace. I thought it was a rumor, but now there is a banquet in Gyeongbokgung Palace. Sure enough, there is only one candlestick on the table with one candle, and the food is all pork, chicken, and fish. It's nothing like your father's banquet in the evening, which was almost daytime, and a hundred sheep were needed for one meal."
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere became frighteningly cold.
Not to mention the prime ministers, chancellors, and ministers, some of whom sighed slightly in the twilight, even politically savvy people like Empress Dowager Zheng knew that Empress Dowager Wei had said the wrong thing.
However, she was Empress Dowager Wei, the biological mother of this body. After a pause, Zhao Jiu finally spoke with a smile while leaning to one side. "What the Empress Dowager said is absolutely right. If it weren't for the fact that the night was almost as bright as day and a hundred sheep were not feasted at night, how could you have become the king of a fallen country? And you even took your whole family to Wuguo City? And if I didn't feel that even lighting a candle was a waste, how could I have started a new business and become the king of a revived country?"
"The emperor is simple and frugal." In the dead silence, it was Queen Mother Zheng who spoke up for the pale Queen Mother Wei. "That's why he can accomplish great things."
"It's not simple." Zhao Jiu put away his smile and sighed in response. "It's just that we should oppose Cao Cao every time, and then things can be accomplished!"
This time, even Empress Dowager Zheng turned pale. However, Empress Dowager Wei had very poor political literacy. After she recovered, she still didn't understand.
