Volume 4 Chapter 37: Xinglin
Since the peace talks crisis arose again, Emperor Zhao has rarely appeared in public, but this has instead intensified the solemn and tense atmosphere in Tokyo, and even spread it to the local areas.
You have to know that although there were not many people present at the banquet in Gyeongbokgung Palace that day, there were many concubines of Emperor Taishang Daojun who had just returned to Tokyo. That night, they were able to meet with their respective families according to the official's order, so the stories at the banquet could not be concealed at all.
And Emperor Zhao's words, "Only by opposing Cao can things be accomplished," spread throughout Tokyo almost immediately along with the candles and a hundred sheep.
Among these people, Concubine Qiao Gui, who was a sworn sister of Empress Dowager Wei, felt relieved after seeing her nephew's family that night, but she also said with emotion that the emperor should "blame the two emperors and the sisters for the death of Empress Xing."
As for the fact that Empress Dowager Zheng summoned several of her daughters who had returned earlier and her fake nephew Zheng Yinian and real nephew Zheng Zao to Yeonbok Palace that day, she also "sighed" and said that the emperor actually regarded the two emperors as enemies.
Of course, Empress Dowager Zheng and Concubine Qiao Gui both had status to rely on, so they could still speak with some sense. As for the other concubines who were the title of the Supreme Taoist Emperor, their behavior was different... Some of them had no children, some had daughters who had returned, and some had sons who were still in the north... The first two could still be calm, but those with sons in the north were obviously in a bad mood, fearing that the emperor would do something to their sons. And under the worry, they overreacted, some dared not say a word, but just cried non-stop, and some said some messed up , saying that the two saints and the princes would not survive for more than three or five days after returning.
All these words, after being spread, naturally became more bizarre and absurd... and among them, it was inevitable that Emperor Zhao hated these concubines for their infidelity, so he made vulgar remarks to deliberately humiliate them, and spread his own jokes similar to slut-shaming.
But in the next few days, as real-life conflicts broke out, things became even more absurd.
By the way, Emperor Taishang Daojun had too many concubines. There were one hundred and forty-five concubines with names who were captured during the Jingkang Incident. Most of them were exiled or died, but dozens of them still returned. But at the same time, there were only a few hundred eunuchs and palace maids in the entire palace, and most of them were in Yangzhou. When these dozens of "mother concubines" with names came back, except for the two empress dowagers and three imperial concubines, where would they find the staff to serve them?
Even though they all came back from Five Kingdoms City, they could tolerate a simple living environment, but after all, they were back, and they were her 'mothers', so how could he let them clean the room, fetch water and cook by themselves?
So, within two days, Emperor Zhao officially issued an edict, letting the two empress dowagers make the decision, allowing all the concubines to return to their parents' homes to settle down. Of course, those who wished to live in the palace in the capital could do so, and those who wished to live in Yangzhou or Nanyang in their old age could live in the temporary palaces in Yangzhou and Nanyang. Those whose sons had not returned could wait until their sons came back before making any other decisions.
At first glance, this treatment is no different from the treatment of the princesses before, and there seems to be nothing wrong with it. But in fact, anyone with a little common sense can understand a huge problem, that is, these concubines all have husbands! People with husbands must live with their husbands... How can you let them go back to their own homes and live in three different places?
Is the Emperor Taishang Daojun a dead person? !
Someone submitted a memorial that day saying it was inappropriate.
Moreover, as word of the matter spread, officials from wealthy families in the south soon came to the emperor's attention and offered to donate tens of thousands of strings of cash from their family assets. They said that they had once been with the emperor's family and knew that they lived a simple life and were indeed short of money, so they were willing to donate money so that the emperor could show his filial piety.
Moreover, this move soon attracted imitation, and within a few days, the money donated from Tokyo and the surrounding areas amounted to hundreds of thousands of strings of cash... It can only be said that the war did not cross the Huai River, and for the wealthy families south of the Huai River, the accumulation of hundreds of years was still considerable.
But then again, this was not just a matter of money, it might also be a reflection of the emperor's words "always opposing Cao", so the palace remained silent and did not respond.
But soon, the capital province, or the secret cabinet, for some unknown reason, took the initiative to take over the matter. In the name of the capital province, on the one hand, it issued a court order to reprimand and accuse these officials of interfering in the affairs of the royal family without authorization. On the other hand, it took the initiative to divide the finances and left a special fund for the resettlement, relocation, and use of the concubines.
According to the provincial government, there is nothing wrong with the government's handling of the matter, it's just a little stingy? !
What happened next was even more puzzling. A fierce conflict soon broke out inside the Secret Chamber. The reason was that Zhao Ding and Zhang Jun, the two most powerful ministers, actually wanted to hold a meeting in the Secret Chamber and then take the initiative to write a letter to the emperor, asking Queen Dowager Zheng to live in Nanyang!
Empress Dowager Zheng was the empress of Emperor Taishang Daojun and her political status was unquestionable, but she also wanted to live in Nanyang. The political language in this move was too shocking and immediately caused a backlash from many Confucian officials. Not only Chief Censor Li Guang as expected, but also the Minister of Personnel Liu Dazhong and the Judge of the Ministry of the Treasury Zhang Jie, who always obeyed Zhao Ding's words, and the Minister of Dali Temple Wang Jin and the Vice Minister of Rites He Chang, who were promoted by Zhang Jun, all opposed it.
Zhao and Zhang were actually helpless. The return of the two queen dowagers, plus the phrase "always rebelling against Cao", almost made them further believe that there was a certain danger. They did this simply to avoid this danger, but it was impossible for them to explain the reason, which caused the dispute.
Finally, the two were completely helpless, so they simply used their power as prime ministers, left the secret cabinet behind, and directly submitted a memorial. Not only that, they also personally requested to go to the harem to meet the emperor and Queen Mother Zheng in order to persuade them in person.
When the news spread, the government and the public were shocked, and rumors among the people once again spread.
"What do you mean?"
Maybe because his appearance that day had exposed his golden body, Zhao Jiu did not refuse the meeting this time. The two prime ministers met the emperor together, but this time, the meeting place was changed to Wuxue, which is the westernmost area of Yeonbokgung Palace.
However, it was obvious that when the emperor and his ministers met, Emperor Zhao's attention did not seem to be on the two prime ministers.
"minister……"
Zhao Ding took the lead and was about to say the words he had already prepared, but for some reason, neither he nor Zhang Jun beside him could take their eyes off the huge thing in front of Emperor Zhao.
It was a set of three-dimensional wood-carved maps. Although they were still very crude, they still had the basic major rivers, major cities, and mountains. The two ministers were well-educated and naturally knew that it was obviously based on the "Yu Gong Tu".
"You two gentlemen, do you think it's interesting?"
Zhao Jiu rarely showed a proud look. "This is what I thought of when I was supplementing the "Yu Gong Map" before... When I was supplementing the map, I found out that the large maps used in the palace before were all woodcuts. They were usually separated and collected, and pieced together when needed. When I was in Guanxi, I thought about making a similar thing according to Ma Yuan's routine of piling rice into a mountain. However, Guanzhong and Henan were very dilapidated at that time, and I didn't find a suitable craftsman. Unexpectedly, I was free recently and succeeded. I call it a sand table!"
Emperor Zhao would certainly be very proud, because according to some high-end online novels, once this thing came out, combined with the implementation of the military medical system, the entire Song Dynasty's army would immediately get a super high buff of an increase in organization by five, and even destroying Western Xia would be a piece of cake.
Of course, it feels a bit like the carpenter emperor.
However, after watching for a while, Zhao Ding and Zhang Jun felt that the official was hinting at a northern expedition again, so although they didn't know why it was not called a map plate, a rice plate or a wooden plate, they could only nod their heads and were reluctant to advise.
"There's another good thing."
Zhao Jiu became more proud when he saw this, and brought the two prime ministers to the side of the hall.
There was only a simple large wooden table with edges on all sides and a cloth on top. It looked like a special wooden table used to hold those woodcuts, but there were no woodcuts on the table. There were only a few wooden poles and a pile of rounded stone balls of different colors...
"Your Majesty, your servants... your servants are ignorant." Zhao Ding looked at it for a long while, facing Zhang Jun, but he had no idea what it was about.
"This is billiards!" Zhao Guanjia was almost dancing with joy, as if the series of inventions had brought him a lot of joy. "It's an idea I got from making a sand table map. Two people take turns hitting the black ball with the white ball, and the points are scored when the ball falls into the pocket! If you think it's simple, you can also make more colorful balls, or simply mark the points on the balls..."
"Sir, please don't let this distract you!" Zhao Ding finally couldn't stand it any longer. "A sand table is a sand table. It's a military tool. What is this thing?"
Zhao Jiu immediately laughed with his hands behind his back, but he went straight out of the side hall, then stood at the door of the hall and said with a smile: "Why are you angry, sir? I haven't done anything for more than a month. Didn't you handle the government affairs properly?"
After saying this, he put his hands behind his back and continued walking out of the hall.
Seeing that the emperor was just joking, Zhao and Zhang breathed a sigh of relief and quickly chased out of the hall.
Behind the side hall of the martial arts school is a small hill, which is neatly covered with transplanted mature apricot trees without even a single miscellaneous tree. It is summer, and the apricot trees are full of fruits. Under the light and shadow, the wind blows the leaves, causing the red and orange fruits to sway in succession, and the natural fragrance of the fruits fills the cool forest.
At this time, Emperor Zhao, dressed in plain white casual clothes in front, and the two ministers in purple robes behind, climbed the mountain along the stone steps. After reaching the top of the mountain, they looked out at the surrounding pavilions, half of which were hidden by apricot trees, and half of their outlines were visible... To be honest, if Yang Yizhong had not brought the imperial squad by his side, and if there were not martial arts students practicing archery in the shooting range on the other side of the hill, this place would hardly be like the human world.
In fact, even though Zhao Ding had been in officialdom for a long time and Zhang Jun was a wealthy man in Shu, they had never been to such a place before and were stunned for a moment.
"Is it beautiful?" After a long time, Zhao Jiu, who was sitting in the pavilion on the top of the hill, spoke.
"We are ashamed." Zhang Jun came to his senses and quickly bowed his head. Zhao Ding also came to his senses. "It was a momentary loss of composure."
"Sit down, gentlemen." Zhao Jiu pointed to the stool in front of him. This was the place where he would usually chat with the imperial guards or martial arts students. "Where were we talking just now?"
"The emperor said that we have done a good job in the past month." Zhao Ding was embarrassed after sitting down. "But please forgive me for being frank. In fact, we have handled many things improperly in the past month, and also caused disputes both inside and outside. I think it would be the right thing for the emperor to come forward and take charge of the matter."
"I just don't want to get involved in the peace talks, not that I won't do anything about it." Zhao Jiu laughed. "After all, a great country must have a head of state to deal with disputes and make major decisions. But I was not perfunctory just now, I just feel that if you ask me to do things like chores, I am definitely not even one tenth as good as you... So these days, I think you, the ministers, and the secret cabinet have done a good job... In my opinion, the weight of the country still needs you to help me shoulder it."
When Zhang and Zhao heard this, even though they still had something on their mind, they couldn't help but relax a little.
Of course, praise is praise, but the question still needs to be asked. After hesitating for a while, Zhao Ding bowed and continued to state the purpose of his visit: "Your Majesty , I am here to ask Queen Dowager Ningde to move to the Nanyang Palace."
"Invite Queen Dowager Ningde (Queen Dowager Zheng) to Nanyang?" Zhao Jiu seemed to be thinking about something.
"yes."
"I don't think it's necessary." Zhao Jiu shook his head, but pointed at the apricot trees beside him and sighed. "Do you see these apricot trees?"
"This is……"
"This is because the Emperor Taishang Daojun felt that the palace was too small, so he enclosed the area between the north of the palace and the inner city to build the Yanfu Palace. Later, he still felt that it was too small, so he occupied the area further north of the inner city to build the Jing Garden. Later, he still felt that it was too small, so he enclosed the area further east to build the Genyue Garden and the Jinghua Garden, and built the Xiaoqujiang River to surround these four areas and incorporate them all into the inner city..."
Zhang and Zhao both sighed... If not for this, there would be no Song Jiang and Fang La, and no Jingkang Rebellion.
Zhao Jiu continued to speak slowly: "Later, Genyue was smashed by Yuansheng. After Jingkang, Jinghua Garden and Jingyuan were abandoned, and Yanfu Palace was also vacant for a time. However, the buildings in Yanfu Palace were properly preserved because they were next to the palace city. The trees and forests in Jinghua Garden and Jingyuan were also preserved... Have you been to Qingfeng Tower and drank their apricot wine?"
The official changed the topic suddenly, but the two looked at each other and admitted honestly:
"Yes."
"Twice."
"His family sells their apricots here." Zhao Jiu said with a smile. "If I hadn't seen the apricot blossoms all over the mountain in spring, I would have never thought that there was such a thing in the palace..."
"Officials."
"His Majesty."
The two of them felt like sitting on pins and needles.
"I'm not complaining." Zhao Jiu waved his hand. "I want to say that although 30% of the two main halls, seven side halls, and dozens of attics in Yanfu Palace are occupied by martial arts, the remaining space is enough to accommodate two queen mothers and three noble concubines. As for the two places in the north of the city, Jingyuan and Jinghuayuan, Jingyuan is next to the palace. If we develop it a little and build some elegant real estate, we can give it to you as a reward and sell it, which is enough to make a fortune. Jinghuayuan is located in the center of the city. If we flatten it and turn it into a storehouse, restaurant, and warehouse, the rent alone is enough to support several queen mothers and noble concubines, and can also support the princesses and the loyal ministers whose fathers and brothers died during the northern hunting. Why should we be so harsh... What I said before, after all, is that they can come and go freely. I didn't drive them away or ignore their intentions."
Zhang Jun and Zhao Ding looked at each other, their minds were like a paste, and they didn't know what to say... The emperor had that attitude before, and now he has this attitude again, which is inconsistent and makes people uneasy.
But no matter what, the officials themselves are prepared to fulfill their filial piety and brotherly love. They only have good reasons to say good things and no reasons to say bad things.
"Is there anything else?" Zhao Jiu took the initiative to urge when he saw this.
"No."
Zhao Ding glanced at Zhang Jun, but nodded to the emperor.
After all, these two people came here originally for the matter of the Empress Dowager's relocation. Who would have thought that the Emperor would take the initiative to come up with an idea? After thinking about it, they really couldn't think of anything else, so they could only be honest with each other.
"You two have nothing to do. I have something to tell you." Zhao Jiu said as he gestured with his hand.
Yang Yizhong also quickly stepped forward and handed over a document.
"The Jin dynasty's Wanhu Erlubu led 3,000 light cavalry across the river and entered the Jinan palace. Without a fight, they captured Liu Yu, who was originally preparing to make a move. The civil and military officials of the Pseudo-Qi dynasty were all incorporated into the Jin dynasty." Zhao Jiu handed over the document. "The intelligence from the secret agent of Jinan Lingjiu Temple... was supposed to be sent to the Privy Council this afternoon. You can take it now."
The two were shocked, but felt that it was reasonable, so they remained calm and let Zhang Jun take the document.
Just like that, the king and his ministers chatted for a while again. Not only did they not talk about the fierce words they had used before, but they seemed relaxed and casual... It was not until they left the Yeongbokgung Martial Arts School, returned to the palace, and were about to go to Chongwenyuan to prepare for today's secret cabinet meeting that they gradually came to their senses on the way.
"The emperor wants to treat the queen mothers, concubines, princesses, and meritorious officials well, so as to fill the world's population, and then target the two saints!" Zhang Jun, who had the information about Jinan, blurted out in a hurry. " We finally got to meet the emperor for a while, and he was perfunctorily dismissed again!"
Zhao Ding was also in a trance, yet felt powerless all over.
At the secret meeting in the afternoon, Zhai Ruwen, the Minister of Honglu Temple, took the initiative to tell everyone that the Jin envoy said that after receiving the news in Yanjing that day, they would set out to welcome the two emperors. Therefore, about half a month later, in late June, the two emperors will be able to return south. If they are slower, they will definitely not be later than the beginning of autumn. If they are faster, they will probably arrive in ten days.
Everyone in the secret office was in a panic and hurriedly discussed the arrangements for welcoming the emperor.
Three days later, Emperor Zhao accepted the joint petition from the secret cabinet and went to the riverside to welcome the emperor in person.
Seven days later, there was still no news about the arrival of the two emperors and the princes, but Han Shizhong and Wu Jie led 3,000 cavalry from Guanzhong to the Yuetai camp to meet with the imperial cavalry and the central army.
On the same day, the Secret Council once again jointly submitted a memorial, requesting the emperor to bring as few troops as possible during the peace talks, on the grounds that it was not appropriate to mobilize a large number of troops.
Emperor Zhao readily accepted the suggestion and officially issued an edict, requiring all civil and military officials in the capital to accompany him to welcome the enemy. Prince of Yan'an Han Shizhong and other generals were limited to leading 200 cavalry each as guards, and the commanding officers were limited to leading 50 cavalry... In total, no more than 2,000 cavalry could be allowed.
Three days later, the two emperors arrived at Daming Prefecture. The Secret Council made three joint petitions and Zhao Jiu formally led the people north to welcome them.
Three days later, on June 25, both sides arrived at the north and south banks of Baimazin and sent envoys across the river to communicate continuously.
On the morning of the 26th, Zhang Rong, the commander of the Imperial Navy, led a newly launched 30-wheel ship that could carry 800 people northward. Under the guidance of Wulinda Zanmo, he formally took over the two emperors and the princes from Gao Jingshan, the commander of the Jin Dynasty's Damingfu Military Division. At noon, the Supreme Dao Emperor Zhao Ji, the Yuansheng Emperor Zhao Huan, and a dozen princes, who had changed into red robes on the ship beforehand, boarded Baimajin with trepidation and returned to Henan, where they had been away for five years.
Before she could cry, Zhao Jiu, who was also wearing a red robe and sitting under the dragon flag for a long time, suddenly turned his head and asked the Minister of Rites Zhu Shengfei beside him seriously:
"Mr. Zhu, should I kneel down?"
This is an extremely simple question. However, Zhu Shengfei, who had no choice but to follow the large army to welcome the emperor four days ago, was sweating profusely under the gaze of thousands of cavalrymen behind the emperor. He was speechless and did not know what to say.
