"Your Majesty, after continuous examination by the ministers and questioning of party members, a total of ten charges were obtained against Zhao Siwan. This is the confession, please review it by Your Majesty!" Song Qi praised Zhao Kuang.
The situation was serious and urgent, and it was advisable to act accordingly. Therefore, Song Qi decided the matter quickly and probably stayed up all night. Looking at the pile of case files in his hand, Zhao Kuangzan asked: "Did Zhao Siwan admit it all?"
"Confess!" Song Qi replied.
After waving, Zhao Kuangzan took the case file and looked at it for a while, his expression was quite calm. Although Song Qi listed a total of ten crimes against Zhao Siwan, there were only two core ones. One was secretly communicating with the Khitan and conspiring to cause chaos, and the other was being cruel and easy to kill.
Taking human life lightly, as for other corruption, injury, adultery, extortion, robbery, etc., are all "minor issues".
Even so, after reading Song Qi's summary, Zhao Kuangzan's expression was still heavy. Especially when he saw that Zhao Siwan had killed 73 people in private for fun during these years, and Zhao Kuangzan's majestic face was filled with anger.
He moved, slapped the big case hard, and said sternly:
"Gu Su knew that Zhao Siwan was ferocious, but he still didn't expect that he would be as cruel as a brother. It was Gu Su's fault that innocent people died at his hands, and he failed to detect and correct it in time. There was such a thing dormant around Gu Su for a long time.
Jackal, you are afraid after thinking about it!"
"If God does evil, you can still violate it. If you do evil on your own, you will not live. Zhao Siwan's heart is like a snake and scorpion. He does many evil things and brings his own destruction. This is what it is called. Even heaven can't save him. Now he is captured by the king. It is also the hand of God who wants to pretend to be the king.
, eliminate harm for the people and punish this evildoer..." Song Qi said to Zhao Kuangzan.
Hearing this, Zhao Kuangzan shook his head and corrected: "How can Gu be so virtuous? How dare he represent God's will? As Song Gong said, Zhao Siwan only brought the blame on himself. Furthermore, Gu had been more tolerant and tolerant of him before. The difficulties of the Yan people were also caused by Gu.
sin!"
"Your Majesty has such a heart, which can be called benevolent. You don't have to blame yourself too much! Now that you can check his behavior, criticize and accuse him, and make him no longer do harm, you can see that your Majesty is wise and wise!" Song Qi praised him with a cupped hand.
For scholar-bureaucrats like Song Qi, Zhao Kuangzan’s character of taking the blame and taking the blame on himself is commendable and in line with their values. If every monarch had this kind of awareness, wouldn’t the world be like that of scholar-bureaucrats?
Paradise?
Raising his hand, Zhao Kuangzan regained his seriousness and ordered: "Nowadays, the situation on the border has changed, and the war may break out in a flash. The priority should be to defend Youzhou. Zhao Siwan will be detained for the time being, and will be released after the situation is stable.
Deal with it in accordance with the law and give an explanation to the military and civilians."
"Yes!" Song Qi responded to the order, raised her head, and asked for instructions: "Your Majesty, among the officials in Youzhou, there are many who work closely with Zhao Siwan on weekdays, and there are also some talented people in his house. Now these people,
They have all been captured, please tell me how to deal with them!"
Hearing this, Zhao Kuangzan glanced at Song Qi, pondered for a moment, and said: "These people will be carefully examined by Song Xiong. If not guilty, the guilty will be punished!"
"Yes!" Song Qi showed a little depression on her face.
Song Xiong was a famous scholar from Youyan who was known as the "Second Song Dynasty" together with Song Qi. He dabbled in literature and history, was good at talking, had integrity, and was highly praised by scholars. He was the judge of Youzhou at that time, and he always judged matters fairly and without partiality.
Looking at Song Qi, Zhao Kuangzan added: "If a war breaks out, Youyan's people, money, food, cloth, and weapons will all need to be managed by you. There is no one who is more familiar with and more competent than you in these matters!"
After hearing this, Song Qi finally showed a satisfied look and said, "Thank you so much for your kindness, Your Majesty. I will do my best to repay you!"
Looking away from Song Qi, Zhao Kuangzan sighed slightly in his heart. The person in front of him was a capable person. Zuo Bi himself had made many achievements for many years. With his talents, there was no big problem for him to become the prime minister of a great country.
Even though he loved to seize power and formed cliques, which somewhat displeased his master, Zhao Kuangzan was already tolerant and could value his talents while tolerating his trivial matters.
"Your Majesty, Zhao Siwan wants to see you!" Song Qi reported to Zhao Kuang before leaving.
"What else does he want to say to me?" Upon hearing this, Zhao Kuangzan couldn't help but sneer, but after thinking about it for a moment, he still said: "Order someone to bring him to court!"
"yes!"
Without waiting for too long, with the sound of the dragging of shackles, Zhao Siwan was escorted into the hall by two powerful guards. The shackles were added to his body. After all, Zhao Siwan was indeed very brave to prevent him from breaking out.
At this time, Zhao Siwan was still wearing a brocade suit, but a noble robe, which could not hide his embarrassment. When he saw Zhao Kuangzan, he still saluted and then stood arrogantly.
Seeing his posture, Zhao Kuangzan was angry and stared at him: "You have followed my father and son for more than twenty years, and I have missed your many years of service. Have you ever treated you poorly in these years? I didn't expect you.
I have a wolf-like nature and I am ungrateful and want to lure the Liao army south to seize Youzhou and harm my life!"
Faced with Zhao Kuangzan's cross-examination, Zhao Siwan smiled and said, "Your Majesty's words are biased. The late king also took refuge in the Khitan, serving as his minister and guarding Youyan for him. When the Khitan destroyed the Jin Dynasty, the late king also led us and made meritorious service in the campaign.
Your Majesty's current status is due to the legacy of the previous kings, which has been laid since the beginning of his service to the Khitan.
The late king could do it, why can't I, Zhao Siwan? I have always been dissatisfied with the fact that the king wants to be an obedient minister of the court, so why should I do this if the king listened to my advice in the first place!"
"Ha! What a paradox, you are so ambitious that you end up fighting against each other!" After hearing his arrogance, especially his comments about his late father, Zhao Kuangzan became even more angry and sneered.
Don’t have money to read novels? I’ll give you cash or points to collect for a limited time of 1 day! Follow the public account and get it for free!
Zhao Siwan also let go and raised his head and said: "I, Zhao Siwan, have followed the king through life and death. On the battlefield, I have never taken the lead and fought desperately. The previous king died of illness, and who escorted the king north to take over the throne and protect the king? Khitannan
Kou, it was I, Zhao, who led the soldiers and fought against them in bloody battles!
The king is indeed kind to me, but I will repay it with death! Even so, I have decided that after I succeed, I will spare the king’s life without any intention of harming your life!”
Hearing what he said, Zhao Kuangzan looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze and said: "In that case, I still treat you poorly. Do I still want to thank you for your kindness to me?"
Zhao Siwan was silent for a while, and then said: "It's a pity that I planned for a long time, but it fell into the hands of an official, and was betrayed by his confidants, so that my success failed."
"Do you think this is the only reason for your failure?" After hearing what he said, Zhao Kuangzan sarcastically said: "You are self-righteous, do not understand the general situation, cannot see the changes in the current situation, cannot see the support of the people, and act against nature with your own selfish desires.
How can you be undefeated!"
"That's all, the matter has come to this, there's no point in talking more!" Zhao Siwan said in a muffled voice.
Zhao Kuangzan raised his eyebrows and sneered, "Are you asking to see me just to make such arrogant remarks in front of me?"
Hearing this, Zhao Siwan calmed down a lot, faced King Yan's gaze, knelt down on the ground, clasped his fists and said: "Your Majesty, I know that the responsibility for my crime is serious, and the execution of the clan is not an exaggeration. I have no desire to survive. I have three things."
I have two sons. The two are older and have enjoyed my blessings. They can follow me and submit to the law.
Only my youngest son, who is less than a year old, hopes that the king can spare his life and leave a trace of his blood for me. As for me, I will let the king handle me, no matter what the way of death, I will have no complaints.
If there is an afterlife, I am still willing to serve the king!"
Zhao Siwan's words were spoken from the bottom of his heart, with some sincerity. After all, this warrior who was as tough as a knife still had something to worry about. With a slight sigh, Zhao Kuangzan said: "You can't harm a child by being alone!
"
This was considered as a promise to Zhao Siwan to keep his bloodline. After hearing it, Zhao Siwan kowtowed to the ground with his head: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Standing up straight, Zhao Siwan said solemnly again: "Your Majesty, please listen to my last words again, and be sure to be wary of the court. The Yan army is a group of its own, and will be tabooed by the court sooner or later, so please be careful!"
Zhao Siwan obviously got into the horns of a bull and couldn't pull it out until he died. Zhao Kuangzan said: "I have my own opinion on this matter, so you don't need to worry anymore!"
When Zhao Siwan was taken away, Zhao Kuangzan sighed again. After all, he was a veteran he had followed for many years. With such an ending, a lifetime of fame was ruined.
In fact, how could Zhao Kuangzan have no idea about the situation of the Yan army? Sandwiched between Han and Liao, and in the context of the imperial court gradually cutting off the separatist forces in the south, the situation between him, the King of Yan, and the Yan army would only become more embarrassing.
.
He only had two choices, one was to submit to the Han, the other was to defect to the Liao. As for having both sides, that was the real way to die. Zhao Siwan was so ambitious that he chose to defect to the Liao, while Zhao Kuangzan was always closer to the Han in his heart. After all, he had a deep connection with him.
The second spring of the father and son's career flourished with the support of Emperor Qianyu.
As for what Zhao Siwan has always said, the Han court will be suspicious, but if they defect to the Liao Kingdom, the Khitan monarchs and ministers will believe them? Back then, his father Zhao Yanshou served Yelu Deguang for more than ten years to govern Youyan. What was the result?
If there is suspicion, the consequences will be much more serious and violent. If it were not for the Luancheng Battle, Zhao Yanshou would have died under the suspicion of the Khitan people much earlier.
"Your Majesty, Commander Gao is here!" the guard reported while Zhao Kuangzan was meditating.
After regaining consciousness, Zhao Kuangzan immediately summoned him and adjusted his clothes subconsciously. Lu Long's observation envoy Gao Fang, one of the "Three Heroes of Luzhou", had surrendered to Liu Chengyou when he led the Longqi Army to the east and offered Luzhou.
After Liu Chengyou ascended the throne, due to the changes in Youzhou and the instability of the border situation, when Zhao Kuangzan succeeded to the throne of Yan King, he increased his defense against moving northward. He stayed there for almost ten years.
Gao Fang was actually the representative of the imperial court in Youzhou. He provided considerable support to Zhao Kuangzan in consolidating Youzhou. After all, he represented the authority of the imperial court. In the liaison and exchanges with the imperial court, he maintained the relationship between the two parties. A lot of effort has been put into eliminating misunderstandings and conflicts. For Liu Chengyou, the stability maintenance work in Youzhou includes high-level defense and a certain amount of intelligence work.
In fact, Zhao Kuangzan is well aware of the role played by Gao Fang, and has always respected his talents and conduct. Over the years, the two have worked together very well.
"I wonder why your Majesty summoned me?" Gao Fang was already 54 years old. He was much older. When he saw Zhao Kuangzan, he maintained courtesy.
"I have a memorial here that was submitted to Tokyo. I would like to ask Mr. Gao to give me some advice!" Zhao Kuangzan picked up a copy of this chapter that he had written himself and gave it to Gao Fang.
Gao Fang guessed in his mind that it was about the changes in Youzhou and the Khitan conspiracy, but after he got it and read it, his face tightened and became serious, and he looked at Zhao Kuangzan: "Your Majesty, do you want to ask the imperial court for the Northern Expedition?"
Zhao Kuangzan nodded: "The Khitan first sent troops to invade Yanmen in the south, and then plotted to seize Youzhou. Obviously its policy has changed. There is no longer peace between Han and Liao, and a war may break out at any time. Instead of passively waiting for the Liao soldiers to attack and fight on the border, Mo Ruo must gather his troops and go north, seize the Yanshan fortresses, and completely drive the Khitan forces out of the south of Sainan!"
Hearing this, Gao Fang thought for a long time, obviously considering it carefully, and finally bowed and said: "I would like to sign my name with your Majesty!"
In fact, Zhao Kuangzan's memorial could be regarded as a complete statement of his attitude to the court and his true feelings. He took the initiative to invite the Han division to launch a large-scale northern expedition. With the arrival of Wang division, Youyan basically surrendered to the court.
At the same time, Zhao Kuangzan was also fed up with being oppressed by the Khitans and being constantly in danger of attacking the city. The anger and resentment he had held back for nearly ten years needed to be vented.