Bianliang, Tokyo, the center of the imperial palace.
Today's emperor of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Ji, a current official, can be regarded as the most versatile person with a wide range of interests among all emperors in ancient and modern times.
He was good at calligraphy, and many calligraphy and paintings were handed down from generation to generation. The thin gold calligraphy he created became a major school of calligraphy in later generations. He was curious about flowers and stones, so he sent court officials all over the world to search for such rare things, and created a great development of flowers and stones. Gang, there is still a huge stone named Genyue standing in the imperial garden. In order to send it to the palace, the court even broke down several city gates. The amount of waste was unimaginable.
He also wanted to practice Taoism and live forever, so he was called the Taoist Emperor. He also built a Wanshou Immortal Palace in the palace, which cost more than tens of millions. Song Dynasty spent several years of savings just to satisfy Zhao Ji's unrealistic wish. For this reason, he even spent a lot of time in the Immortal Palace every day to meditate, hoping to realize the immortal way as soon as possible.
Naturally, it is the same today. Even though everything in the court is complicated and many ministers are still entangled in the case of Sun Tu in Qingzhou, Zhao Ji can still not worry about everything and practice here calmly, listening to the special invitation from the Immortal Mountain Blessed Land. Lin Lingsu, a Taoist priest who came back, gave him sermons.
After a mysterious and mysterious exchange between these two guys who were neither monarchs nor ministers, Zhao Ji showed a smile that understood everything. After a while, he happily said: "According to what the Taoist priest said, with my blessing, the fate of the country of Song Dynasty will be prosperous." Are you in the Northeast?"
"This is not the opinion of a poor Taoist, but a revelation from Heaven. Your Majesty has been practicing Taoism for many years, and his sincerity has moved God. Now it's time to show you the way to eternal life." Lin Lingsu sat cross-legged on the futon. , his eyes seemed closed and open, and he said some words that were difficult to distinguish between true and false: "The destiny of the Song Dynasty, the ambition of immortality is only in the Northeast."
Zhao Ji was convinced of this and nodded sternly: "I understand. I had previously intended for Tong Guan to go to sea next year, so I should have taken this into account." After saying that, he glanced at the still gloomy scene outside. As the sky turned, he slowly stood up: "It's getting late. I still have secular affairs to deal with, so I won't disturb the Taoist priest for his spiritual practice."
Seeing the emperor stand up and leave, Lin Lingsu had no intention of standing up to say goodbye. The old god still sat there with half-closed eyes and just nodded slightly. Zhao Ji had long been accustomed to the other party's arrogant attitude. He immediately flicked his sleeves, turned around and left the palace.
When he came out of the warm palace, a cold wind had already hit his face. Fortunately, there was always a bodyguard waiting outside the hall. Seeing this, he quickly stepped forward and put on a large cloak to keep out the cold. Then he even smiled flatteringly and said: "The saint looks so radiant today. He should have made great progress in his cultivation." Have you made progress?"
"As long as your eyes are bright enough, the knots in your heart for many days will be solved in one day. Our Song Dynasty will last for thousands of years, and my wish of immortality should be fulfilled." Zhao Ji was in a good mood at this time, and said with a smile: "Everything They should all be in the northeast."
What he said made Tong Guan, who was also waiting nearby, feel moved. He took the opportunity to step forward and congratulate: "That slave has come at the right time today. I want to congratulate the saint on his ambition to live forever and congratulate me on the prosperity of the Song Dynasty. "This is the biggest benefit of his background as a eunuch. Other courtiers, even Cai Jing, who is the prime minister, need some routine procedures if they want to see Zhao Ji and confess something alone.
But he, Tong Guan, didn't have to do so much, he could just take out the gold medal given by him and enter the palace.
After a pause, he continued: "Furthermore, the Northeastern Song Dynasty that your Majesty mentioned has indeed been foreshadowed. Today, Sun Tu, the governor of Qingzhou, led his army to pacify Erlong Mountain, the last bandit stronghold in the territory, and the world will be at peace. Look forward to it!" As he spoke, Tong Guan knelt down solemnly, raised the good news high above his head with both hands, and sent it to Zhao Ji.
Zhao Ji was stunned at first. Tong Guan's sudden entry into the palace already made him feel a little strange. The other party's words surprised him even more. After a while, he reached out and took the good news, opened it and took a casual look at it. His face was full of joy. He was a little more happy: "Yes, this is a good sign." But then, he frowned again: "I seem to have heard many people mention this Sun Tuzhen... By the way, many people in the DPRK have been impeaching recently. He, do you think he has a disloyal heart?" He is considered a real nobleman. He has forgotten things. In the past two months, officials in the court had many disputes over Sun Tu. He has accumulated hundreds of memorials related to them. As a The emperor's Zhao Ji was still only somewhat familiar with the name Sun Tu.
"The saint clearly shows that it is just misunderstood or framed. Sun Tu is loyal to the saint and has been loyal to the Song Dynasty for more than a day or two. He has made many meritorious deeds in Bianjing, Jiangzhou and other places before. Thief, how can you have any disobedience?" Tong Guan immediately defended Sun Tu.
"Get up first and answer." Zhao Ji glanced at Tong Guan, then walked slowly along the road paved with white marble, and said: "I remember, that Sun Tu was recommended to the official position by you, and he and You have a lot of connections, right?"
Tong Guan's heart tightened slightly, but he quickly said: "I do recommend Sun Tu to the imperial court because I cherish his talents, but since he has entered the imperial court as an official, he is your Majesty's minister. How dare I treat him as my personal servant again?" . Moreover, the merits mentioned by the minister before have been recorded in the Ministry of War and other yamen, and there is no lie. But this time, although he acted too recklessly and killed many officials in Qingzhou City, it was justified. It turns out that the situation is really urgent. Otherwise, the local policemen cannot be frightened. As for the treacherous intentions mentioned by some people in the court, they are just trying to incriminate." When it comes to business, he has become very serious, Even the title has changed.
Zhao Ji was silent for a while, and then said: "According to what you said, what he did in Qingzhou was not a fault, but actually made merit for the imperial court?"
"Whether he has merit or demerit, it all depends on His Majesty's Holy Judgment." Tong Guan came up with a suggestion: "But I thought that if he really had such evil thoughts, he wouldn't have led his army to risk his life to pacify the local bandits several times. As I said. We know that Sun Tu took the lead several times in the battle to pacify Erlong Mountain, and was even seriously injured as a result. Only then could the whole army be mobilized to fight with all their might, and more than a thousand people were able to overthrow three strongholds in two or three months. , Pingjing Qingzhou Prefecture."
Hearing him talk about Sun Tu's performance during the battle in Qingzhou, Zhao Ji was moved: "If he is really what you said, he is really a rare and good general in this dynasty. But... Nowadays, the officials in the dynasty are so fierce that they all In order to punish him, he indeed ignored the court rules and massacred local officials. Such behavior cannot be tolerated, let alone set a precedent! Emperor Taizu had established the ancestral precepts at the beginning, and we in the Song Dynasty were not allowed to kill scholar-bureaucrats without authorization
, but a military attache actually killed an entire government official, which really makes it impossible for me to explain to the people of the world and my ancestors. "
Although the emperor's last few words were very serious, Tong Guan still heard hesitation and looseness in his tone. This was a perfect opportunity. He didn't want to give up, so he said again: "Sage, I don't know if I should say this to you."
"You and I don't have to be so quarrelsome with each other. Just say whatever you want. I won't blame you if you say something wrong."
"My servant believes that Emperor Taizu's ancestral precepts are of course correct. But sometimes we have to take time to see if those scholar-bureaucrats threaten the long-term peace and order of our Song Dynasty. Murong Yanchao and others have been in Qingzhou for many years, but they have never been Are they really not capable enough to quell the local bandits? Then why could Sun Tu quickly quell the three mountain bandits after only arriving in Qingzhou for half a year? If the slaves were to speak, they clearly had ulterior motives and wanted to support the bandits. He was self-respecting and even colluded with bandits. It is precisely for this reason that Sun Tu used this drastic method to achieve the effect of once and for all for the sake of the Song Dynasty and the stability of Qingzhou.
"The sage knows clearly that the destiny of our country in the Song Dynasty is in the northeast, and the entire territory of Shandong, including Qingzhou, is also in that direction. There must be no difference at all."
This last sentence hit Zhao Ji's vital point, causing him to pause in his steps: "The advantage lies in the northeast...could it be referring to him? Otherwise, why didn't God's revelation come earlier, when that Sun After Tu quelled the banditry in Qingzhou, there was a sign?" For a moment, he really suspected that the longevity and national destiny predicted by God depended on Sun Tu alone.
However, although Zhao Ji firmly believed in these statements, as the emperor, he still maintained a trace of clarity: "What should those in the court say who impeached him?" Even if he is the current emperor, he has to make such a decision. Please give me an acceptable reason. In fact, the emperor of the Song Dynasty today does not have too much imperial power, and it is far from being compared with those centralized emperors in later generations who could decide the world's affairs with one word.
After Tong Guan knew his intention, his heart suddenly became calm. As long as Zhao Ji is interested, Cai Jing, who had not expressed any expression before, will naturally follow suit. Once Cai Taishi expresses his stance, the direction of Chao Feng will naturally make a 180-degree turn.
As for his explanation, he had already prepared: "Your Majesty, now that Sun Tu has repeatedly made military exploits, it is fine that the court does not reward him, but now he has to be convicted for what he did before. This approach is really unconvincing. The courtiers also That's all, but what about the military attaches in the border towns? What would they think? If you say something bold, wouldn't your Majesty be afraid of chilling the hearts of the soldiers all over the world? If even an official like Sun Tu, who has repeatedly made military exploits and made great contributions to the world, can Being arbitrarily convicted by the court, what motivation will the soldiers in the northwest and north have to fight for the country in the future
"Nowadays, we are rich in wealth but weak in military. Our Song Dynasty has been weak for many years. But next we have to take back the Sixteen Provinces of Youyun, but we still need these soldiers to fight to the death. I hope the saint can understand the hearts of the soldiers in the world!"
At this point, Zhao Ji was really moved. After pondering for a long time, he nodded and said: "You are right. The advantage lies in the northeast. But I still count on soldiers like Sun Tu to fight for the country and wipe out the decline of a century." Yeah. He really shouldn't be convicted..."