Facing Sun Tu's pressure and questioning, Zhao Ji trembled all over and sweated profusely. He didn't look like a king at all, and he was just about to kowtow to this minister and beg for mercy. After hesitating for a long time, he said tremblingly: "Sun... Taiwei Sun, you misunderstood, I... How could I be your enemy? These are other people, yes, they are other things that were done without telling me. I have nothing to do with it..."
The expression on Sun Tu's face did not change, and he still stared at the other party: "So, your Majesty really doesn't know about the various conspiracies and rebellions by Li Gang, Song Jiang, Di Huchen and others outside the palace?"
"I really don't know. They all made their own decisions..." Zhao Ji emphasized again. Seeing that Sun Tu's tone was slightly relaxed, how could he dare to give the other party a chance to raise an army to hold him accountable
"That's a little strange. Since everything has nothing to do with His Majesty, why do you hide in the harem again? Isn't this a sign of guilty conscience?"
Zhao Ji's mind was spinning very fast at this time, and he had already said something in an instant: "Sun Taiwei misunderstood, I hid in the harem not out of guilt at all, but because I was really scared. I heard that there was a sudden chaos outside the palace. , there were soldiers and horses attacking, and I was afraid, so I hid in the harem. I don’t know who is making trouble outside the palace, but I am afraid that they will hurt me..." In order to save his life, he dared to say anything, directly All the blame was placed on Li Gang and others.
And this was exactly the answer Sun Tu wanted to hear, which made his face light up a little, and he nodded with satisfaction: "So that's it. In this way, I wrongly blamed Your Majesty. It turns out that you are also a victim, but it is me who does the work. Your Majesty was frightened because of your inability.”
"No... no, Mr. Sun Taiwei was loyal to the country and put an end to the chaos in time. Where is the fault? The fault lies with those rebellious ministers. I and the imperial court should reward Taiwei Sun heavily." Zhao Ji behaved very politely, He immediately made his attitude clear. He was completely on Sun Tu's side.
The conversation between this pair of monarchs and ministers completely stunned the people around them. Whether it was the concubines, the soldiers, or the eunuchs kneeling on the ground outside the palace, they did not expect that the two of them would meet in such a situation. After these words, he reversed right and wrong and charged Li Gang and other ministers who really wanted to be loyal to the king with the serious crime of treason. At this moment, these people were already in a daze.
But Sun Tu was satisfied. He immediately smiled and said: "Your Majesty is wise, I am deeply pleased. Now, the chaos inside and outside the palace has been calmed down. In order to calm the minds of the courtiers and the people, and at the same time reward and punish the soldiers and thieves, I will return Your Majesty, please ascend to the throne and summon all the ministers to explain everything. I wonder what your Majesty thinks?"
Although these words sounded like he was asking Zhao Ji for his opinion, in fact, he had no right to refuse at all. Without even thinking about it, he nodded and said, "Taiwei Sun is very worried. I... I'll go right away." Ascension to the palace..." As he spoke, he struggled to get up, but his body had already softened with fear. He only tried to exert force and collapsed again. He was extremely embarrassed.
Seeing this, Sun Tu smiled again, then waved his hand and asked his subordinates to step forward to help him. However, when he saw these soldiers with a lot of blood splattered on their bodies reaching out, Zhao Ji was so frightened that his face changed again. It took him a moment to react and let them help him up from the ground.
"What are you still doing here, not changing your clothes for His Majesty?" Sun Tu suddenly spoke to the eunuchs outside the door. Only then did everyone react and hurriedly entered the palace tremblingly and helped the emperor put on his court clothes.
, re-arranging all the clothes and accessories, what a busy job.
During this period, Sun Tu finally turned his horse around and walked out of the palace calmly. It was only then that he let out a sigh of relief behind everyone's back. To be honest, even though he acted extremely strong today and seemed to have everything under his control, in fact, he was under great pressure, especially when he finally entered the palace and saw the emperor. Every nerve was tightened.
Although Zhao Ji had no power to resist, and his life and death depended on him, after all, the other party was the master of the world and the aloof Emperor of the Song Dynasty. If he refused to die and became his enemy, it would be difficult to deal with him. Because Sun Tu is a Song minister after all, it would be pleasant to kill him at this time, but it will inevitably trigger a huge backlash and denunciation afterwards. Even among his own soldiers, there will be those who are dissatisfied. By then, the world in the Central Plains will It's really going to be chaos.
This is the key reason why Sun Tu did not act rashly after leading his army into Tokyo two years ago. It is not difficult to kill a Zhao Ji, but what is difficult is to deal with the aftermath, and what is difficult is to control public opinion and people's hearts. All he has done in the past two years is to win the hearts of the people for his own use. The effect is indeed effective, but it is not big enough to allow him to commit regicide with his subjects without being condemned by the world. His prestige is really not there yet. That point.
So even if today's chaos is closely related to Zhao Ji, Sun Tu won't really do anything to him for the time being. Fortunately, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty was more greedy and cowardly than imagined, and he was willing to cooperate in order to survive. Finally, Sun Tu was able to take the next step well. It was also time for the people in the government and the public to understand what the consequences would be if they were enemies of him.
After dusk, with the sound of bells and drums, the doors of the imperial palace and the imperial city opened one after another, ushering in the unprecedented court meeting since the founding of the Song Dynasty - the original morning court actually changed to the evening court.
But even so, all Beijing officials were present, but everyone looked very nervous. Some people were stumbling and trembling when they lined up along the hundred-step corridor to the Daqing Hall.
What happened today, even those who were kept in the dark at first, now have the exact information, and also know what the final result will be. This made them feel even more hesitant and fearful. They had no idea how Sun Tu, who had survived the catastrophe and had achieved a great victory, would vent his anger next. Among the officials, some admired the loyalty and bravery of Li Gang, Song Jiang and others, but more people complained secretly that they had acted willfully and implicated themselves.
A group of officials in the DPRK who have been able to coexist peacefully with Cai Jing and other treacherous people for many years are naturally unlikely to have much loyalty to the country, the court, and the king. The only thing they care about most is their own interests.
With various thoughts, the ministers finally arrived in front of Daqing Hall. This time's court meeting was different from the previous morning court meetings. Instead of meeting the emperor in batches based on rank and status, hundreds of officials entered the palace at the same time. When the ministers lined up according to their status and looked up, they were surprised to find that the pale-faced emperor was sitting on the throne in front of him, and to his side was Taiwei Sun Tu.
Yes, Sun Tu actually stood beside the emperor as a human minister at this time. This was completely a blatant act of transgression. But after his expression changed, hundreds of officials in the palace were silent. No one dared to stand up and reprimand him for his perverse behavior. They all even knelt down and bowed in accordance with etiquette, and even paid a heavy tribute to Sun Tu.
Looking at the hundreds of officials in front of him, Nashun
As he bowed in obedience, another strange color flashed in Sun Tu's eyes. Naturally, there was a reason for him to do this, just to test the tolerance and reaction of the ministers towards him. Now it seems that after today's incident, no one in the court dares to be his enemy anymore - those Those who dared to leave their families and lives to fight Sun Tu would have either died in battle or become prisoners.
Zhao Ji glanced at Sun Tu beside him awkwardly, and then raised his hand according to his old habit: "No need to be polite, sirs, please get up and talk."
After the ceremony was completed and the ministers were lined up on both sides, Zhao Ji spoke again: "Today there was a great chaos in the capital. Some rebellious ministers led by Li Gang, Song Jiang and others suddenly raised their troops and plotted rebellion. They even wanted to invade the palace, which was not good for me. Fortunately, there are Taiwei Sun Tu led the troops to quell the chaos in time, thus avoiding a catastrophe. It can be said that the fact that I and the ministers can still talk like this this time, Taiwei Sun really deserves a lot of credit."
As soon as these words came out, the eyelids of the officials immediately jumped wildly, and many people's faces twitched. Good guy, what the emperor said is clearly telling lies, completely confusing right and wrong. However, the current situation does not allow them to really tell what they are thinking. After all, Sun Tu's troops are now inside and outside the palace. At this moment, there are hundreds of soldiers in armor and spears outside the palace, staring at everyone eagerly. Here's the guy.
Seeing that there was no big reaction from everyone, the emperor added: "Therefore, I have decided to make Taiwei Sun the King of Yue, with a settlement of 50,000 households, and the titles of Taishi and Taiwei, as well as Tong Mu, Wu Song, Lu Da, etc. The ministers all made great contributions to the country in this battle to suppress the rebellion. They were all promoted to three levels. Tong Mu was promoted to the prime minister of the political affairs hall and given the title of Taifu. Wu Song and Ruda were appointed as the left and right generals of Wuwei, commanding the front department and the imperial army. Military affairs…”
Following Zhao Ji's announcement, Tong Mu and others stepped forward one after another to receive rewards and express their gratitude, which also made other courtiers even more shocked. If people from Sun Tu's side only occupied the position of generals in the DPRK before, then after today, the civil servants will also be completely under his control. Now that he has power over both the DPRK and the opposition, he has already belittled Sun Tu. The power of the road.
But even if they knew that it would be difficult for anyone to control Sun Tu in this way, the officials did not dare to speak out against it. Because they know very well that as long as they jump out and object at this time, they will definitely be labeled as the accomplices of Li Gang and others. By then, not to mention their official positions, even their lives may not be saved.
Sure enough, as the reward promotion came to an end, Zhao Ji changed the topic again and mentioned the treatment of those "rebellious": "I am really saddened by the actions of Li Gang, Song Jiang and other rebellious ministers. Both I and the imperial court have treated them with utmost kindness and justice. , I didn’t expect them to be so secretive and so ambitious that they caused such a big mess in the capital, which not only frightened the officials, but also caused countless casualties to countless people. It is really an unpardonable crime. Therefore, I have decided to severely punish those involved. Wait, Li Gang, Song Jiang and others were punished for treason, and the three tribes were annihilated, their heads were beheaded and they abandoned the market. The remaining rebels were severely punished as appropriate, and they were all captured by Taiwei Sun... "
After these words were spoken, the officials below immediately caused an uproar. Everyone's faces turned extremely pale. They all knew that the fate of Li Gang and others who failed would be extremely tragic, but they did not expect that it would be so miserable. Not only did he die, but he also had to take his own people with him, and he was accused of being a traitor and was killed. He really would never be able to turn around again!
What does it mean to confuse right and wrong? This is it!