Chapter 63: All Twenty-five Boys, Only Gin is Working
The Empress Dowager Liang was seriously ill, and most of the Xixia reincarnators had rushed back from all directions and have not left yet.
Ever since, when the seven star powerhouses decided to switch sides, and the extremely charming twin sisters took the lead, the news spread instantly.
"Isn't there any benefit from surrendering to the Song Dynasty?"
"Captain, Song Shenzong asked me to bring you a message. As long as you surrender to the Song Dynasty, you will be rich and prosperous, and the benefits will be great!"
…
"Want to join a group? I still have one person missing!"
"What kind of group are we fighting for? Let's abandon the darkness and embrace the light together. I heard that there is also the Nine Yin Manual!"
"Hey, aren't you talking about Huang Shang's photo album?"
"Hey, I think what I heard were training notes?"
"Nonsense, it's obviously the Nine Yin Scriptures!"
…
"Let's go together!"
"Me too!"
…
evening.
In Yipintang.
Helan Tiehan looked at a box of strange bottles on the table and asked the people around him: "What is this?"
The confidant reported: "A group of strangers put it here, saying it was a kind of wine from their hometown, called gin, and specially gave it to the hall master to taste."
Helan Tiehan suddenly realized that he was the perfect match, and he was obviously trying to flatter him.
But he was not careless. After letting someone test the poison, he poured a full bowl and drank it down.
All of a sudden, a refreshing, yet extremely potent liquid spread along the esophagus and exploded in the chest.
"Good wine! Good wine! Is it gin? I will only drink this wine from now on!"
Helan Tiehan praised it so much that he drank one bowl after another and finished one bottle quickly.
After drinking, he staggered forward, sat on the stone steps, looked at the sunset on the horizon, and clenched his fists.
Yipintang has been his hard work for the past twenty years. Even when his family and country are in danger, he will not waver in the slightest.
He smiled contemptuously when he thought that there were profit-seeking officials within the Song Dynasty who secretly sold blueprints of sophisticated weapons such as divine arm bows to Xixia.
Look at Xixia, if we work together we can overcome the difficulties!
…
…
at the same time.
Kaifeng Prefecture, Tokyo.
The Imperial Palace of the Song Dynasty, inside the Chongzheng Hall.
"Your Majesty, spare your life! Your Majesty, spare your life!"
Seeing several court officials being dragged down like this, all the officials remained silent.
Just half a month ago, the report of the thief army, which shocked both inside and outside the country, came from the front line. The emperor was furious and ordered Prime Minister Huang Shang to investigate the matter thoroughly.
Now is the result.
Ten court officials alone were implicated, and I don't know how many people were killed outside.
Not all of these people are traitors, some just received benefits and were used as a protective umbrella.
But they will all be severely punished as traitors to the country!
kill!
"Your Majesty! You must not do this..."
However, what he did obviously angered the conservatives, so Sima Guang stepped forward and started a petition.
More than a dozen court officials also stood up and stood firmly behind Sima Guang. Their tossing and turning was nothing more than an immutable ancestral precept.
After they had finished talking nonsense, the leader of the officials spoke briefly and concisely: "If you seek peace through compromise, you will not be able to achieve peace. If you seek peace through struggle, you will achieve peace!"
Zhao Xu, who was on the throne, responded immediately: "Huang Qing said it well. If you want to live in peace, you can tolerate a lot of things, but you can't be soft at all on the Xilu and Liao Kingdom. Who dares to hold back and kill them?"
!”
Zhao Xu is only thirty-eight years old this year, but in comparison, his appearance is much older, there are clear wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, and his hair is a lot whiter.
This is due to worrying about national affairs.
Since he ascended the throne at the age of twenty, he has never slacked off for a day.
Strengthening the country and the people is a process, and his goal is to reproduce the legacy of the Han and Tang Dynasties, to be as accomplished as Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, and to become a wise king who will be famous throughout the ages.
And this day has finally arrived.
Since the Song Dynasty began to use troops against Xixia, his spirit has been in an extremely excited stage. He sleeps less every day and has premature hair, but he enjoys it very much.
After twenty years of sharpening a sword, how can one remain calm? How can one remain calm?
But looking at the Prime Minister, who still had a young face and a refined literary style, Zhao Xu's impetuous heart gradually calmed down.
There is a reason why he trusts Huang Shang wholeheartedly.
In the past, he rescued Zhao Shu and returned to the capital to ensure that he ascended the throne. This was already a tribute to the dragon. After he ascended the throne, he did one more thing, which was to ensure the safety of his children.
The emperors of the Song Dynasty all had few heirs. If Renzong was not childless, his father Yingzong would not be able to survive. Therefore, Zhao Xu was very concerned about the issue of children, and even became suspicious. He believed that the prince of the Song Dynasty would die young, not because God did not care about him, but because of God's lack of care.
It's man-made.
In the past, the Tang Dynasty arose from the Xuanwu Gate Incident, followed by frequent palace coups, becoming the first in history.
As for the Song Dynasty...
But now, he only lost his eleventh son, Zhao Ji, and the other sons are alive and well!
Doesn't this prove it?
Zhao Xu trusted this gentleman 100%.
But in order to silence the ministers, this gentleman did not marry a wife or have children, and his life was extremely monotonous. It has been like this for more than 20 years!
How many twenty years can there be in life?
Every time he thought of this, Zhao Xu's eyes became moist.
If you have such a teacher, what else can you ask for?
A lifetime promise will be kept!
In view of this, those old ministers such as Sima Guang who knelt on the ground and almost forced the palace became even more disgusting.
In fact, Zhao Xu felt that these ministers could have been eliminated a long time ago, but facts proved that blind dismissal from office could not solve the problem. Instead, it allowed these ministers to win sympathy and resist from the bottom up.
Let them show their incompetence and resign in despair, which is the most fatal blow.
However, some people are not incompetent, it is purely a matter of position.
They stand entirely in the interests of the scholar-bureaucrats, regardless of the country and the world, and they will definitely oppose those who support reform.
Because the reform touched the interests of scholar-bureaucrats, it redistributed resources and strengthened the country and the people.
In the eyes of these ministers, this is a path to self-destruction. The emperor should rule the world together with the scholar-bureaucrats, so what has he to do with the people?
How can the interests of scholar-bureaucrats be used to satisfy the needs of the common people?
This extreme mentality developed after the Song Dynasty valued literature over martial arts for hundreds of years was the biggest obstacle to the reform.
It was not until the successive victories in the foreign war that the scholar-bureaucrats were silenced, and many sensible people turned to support him.
When the country is strong, its people are strong. Instead of holding on to the existing territory, it is better to expand outward and obtain greater resources.
In the past, the Song Dynasty would not benefit from victory, and would lose territory and pay compensation if it lost, which made people lose hope. Now it is time to change their thinking.
Therefore, the peace-seeking camp continued to shrink, until not long ago, it died out on its own.
The remaining conservatives, although they advocated war, still clung to their old ideas, and they were the group of ministers led by Sima Guang.
Among them, Sima Guang was also the prime minister. He was a subordinate of Tong Zhongshu and a bachelor of Jixian Academy, so he was very capable of doing things.
At this time, Zhao Xu looked at Sima Guang just like the Yingzong Zhao Shu looked at Prime Minister Han Qi.
He didn't say anything, he just looked at you.
Sima Guang met the emperor's gaze and closed his mouth.
The meaning was very clear, let him beg for bones.
These three words sound unlucky, but they actually mean asking for resignation, requesting that the bones be returned to the hometown for burial and to spend the rest of your life in peace.
Writing letters begging for bones, soliciting homage from ministers, and generally speaking, the emperor would also grant titles to ministers to show their achievements.
If you don't know what's interesting, you can ask Han Qi, whose bones are already cold.
Looking at the back of the emperor who was calm from beginning to end, Sima Guang trembled, slowly lowered his head, and said no more.