Wang Quan was slightly shocked. Zhao Min rarely avoided talking to his ministers, but this time he didn't know what to say to Shen Tang!
Wang Quan bowed slightly, and then respectfully left the hall!
In the hall, only the emperor and his ministers were left!
After a long silence, Zhao Min suddenly said, "Shen Tang, in your opinion, how do I, the emperor, do?"
This question made Shen Tang's heart flutter, but his expression remained calm! He thought to himself and said, "Your Majesty is an aspiring monarch, and I am very lucky to be able to become your Majesty's minister!"
Shen Tang's words were somewhat complimentary, but they were also mostly sincere!
There is no harm if there is no comparison. Look at Song Gaozong, Song Huizong, Song Qinzong and compare them with Zhao Min. His excellence is simply unbelievable!
However, after listening to Shen Tang's words, Zhao Shen shook his head slightly, "Shen Tang, you have also learned to compliment others!"
"It has been more than two years since I took the throne, but the treasury caused by the Northern Expedition has been invincible. If you had not gone to the Jin Kingdom to argue your case, the losses would have been even greater! Disasters have occurred in the country from time to time, but the imperial court has no spare power! Chengdu In the Battle of Chengdu Prefecture, if you hadn’t run twice and planned a lot, it is still unknown whether this Chengdu Prefecture Road still belongs to the Song Dynasty..."
"Before I came to the throne, I also wanted to stabilize the country and make the people healthy! Try to defeat the Jin Kingdom and regain our lost land! Unfortunately, until now, I can't see any hope at all!"
Shen Tang was about to speak, but Zhao Shen waved his hand to stop him. Then, Zhao Shen continued, "Shen Tang, I owe you!"
"You helped Zhang Xiang plan the Northern Expedition, but I didn't reward you for your merits! You went to the Kingdom of Jin and single-handedly won glory for our Song Dynasty, but I had to let you endure the injustice because of the villain's words! You fought for me I've been traveling around Chengdu for half a year, but I couldn't even give you a suitable reward."
"Shen Tang, can you blame me?"
Zhao Shen's words shocked and confused Shen Tang. He didn't know what Zhao Shen's intention was! Is it a test, or an expression of true feelings?
Seeing that Shen Tang didn't speak, Zhao Shen actually didn't press him, "If it were me, I would definitely complain! It's unfair that merit is not rewarded! It's because I, the emperor, didn't do enough!"
"But, why am I willing to do this in my heart?"
Zhao Shen's words became a bit hurried and filled with vague anger, "The entire imperial court has many constraints. Civil and military officials all have their own interests. The surrounding countries are also eyeing me, the Song Dynasty! I am sitting here. In this country of the Song Dynasty, there are civil servants, talented people, military generals and powerful soldiers, but how many people are really loyal to me?"
"Including my father, why don't I know that some of my father's actions are biased?
But, am I going to be an unfaithful and unfilial king?"
“As the emperor of the Song Dynasty, why don’t I want the Song Dynasty to flourish?
I don’t claim to be a foolish king, but it’s a pity that I am helpless and powerless in many things!”
Looking at Zhao Shen who was a little helpless and even a little hysterical in front of him, Shen Tang felt extremely emotional!
Song Xiaozong Zhao Shen is not famous in history, but in Shen Tang's heart, Zhao Shen is indeed a qualified emperor!
After he came to the throne, he rectified the administration of officials, eliminated redundant officials, reformed the military system, and treated the people well! During his reign, it was even called the "Reign of Qian Chun"! He definitely ranked first among the nine emperors of the Southern Song Dynasty! Although, he He was not able to recover the Central Plains, but without the foundation laid during his reign, the Southern Song Dynasty would never have lasted for more than 150 years!
As Zhao Shen said, although he ascended the throne, he was indeed faced with a mess!
Although Zhao Gou was the founder of the Southern Song Dynasty, it was more about the current situation! In total, he was definitely not a qualified emperor.
During the Zhao Gou period, officials at both the upper and lower levels were highly corrupt and weak in dealing with the outside world.
The reason why he abdicated was firstly because of the disputes among the officials in the court, and secondly because these problems were too serious! To put it bluntly, he needed to pass the blame to Zhao Shen.
Otherwise, how could Zhao Gou, who had great power, be willing to become the Supreme Emperor?
When Zhao Shen came to power, he faced such a situation!
The only good news is that the Song Dynasty's old rival, the Jin Kingdom, also had many problems after their new emperor came to power.
History has many deliberate or coincidental elements, just like Zhao Shen and Wan Yanyong, who have many similarities.
Wan Yanyong's ability is no weaker than that of Zhao Shen. His reign can be said to be the most powerful period of the Jin Kingdom!
The Jin Kingdom was strong and the Song Dynasty was weak, but after Wan Yanyong came to the throne, he was not in a hurry to swallow up the fat meat of the Song Dynasty. Instead, he worked hard to recuperate and recuperate! This is why in history, the Song Dynasty and the Jin Kingdom had a conflict. The reason for these decades of peace.
The tacit understanding between the two emperors allowed the foundation and national strength of the two countries to grow at the same time, and also allowed the people of the two countries to enjoy the rare benefits of peace.
These two people can be regarded as lifelong rivals. There was only one year difference in the time they came to the throne, and the time difference between Zhao Shen's abdication and Wanyan Yong's death was only more than a month! And having such an opponent was both pressure and motivation for Zhao Shen.
Therefore, Zhao Shen was eager and cautious in his heart. He was facing his old rival across thousands of miles, and he did not want to be the one who failed!
Perhaps he said something that had been suppressed in his heart for a long time, so Zhao Shen's mood calmed down a lot!
"Shen Tang, I have decided! I will ask you to go to Chengdu Fulu Road to serve as the strategic envoy to comfort you!"
After a moment of silence, Zhao Shen suddenly spoke.
"Because of the pressure from my father, I delayed this matter and broke my promise to you.
I know that you will definitely be dissatisfied, but for the sake of the people of Chengdu Prefecture and the safety of the Song Dynasty, I am here to beg you this time..."
"His Majesty!"
Shen Tang looked shocked and fell to the ground without daring to get up!
When an emperor said the word "please" to his ministers, Shen Tang was really shaken up!
Zhao Shen personally helped Zhao Shen up and asked him to sit down again, "Shen Tang, I hope you can sit in Chengdu for me and completely cut off the border troubles in the Western Border. I will work hard to make the Song Dynasty strong! You I, the monarch and my ministers, join hands, not to preserve our fame through the ages, but to live up to the expectations of hundreds of millions of people in the Song Dynasty!"
brush!
Shen Tang stood up again and knelt down in obeisance, "O minister, I am willing to serve as your Majesty's vanguard and swear to the death to remove all obstacles for Your Majesty!"
"Hahaha...good!"
Zhao Shen laughed loudly, "I love you as much as the Han Dynasty has Zhongqing! I believe in you and you will never let me down! At the same time, I will never let you down!"
The Zhongqing mentioned by Zhao Shen is exactly Wei Qing during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty! This analogy is enough to show how high Zhao Shen's expectations for Shen Tang are.
"Royal power!"
Zhao Shen shouted loudly, and Wang Quan came in with the sound.
"Go and get some wine. I want to have a drink with Shen Aiqing!"