The weather in June became increasingly hot and unbearable, which made Zhao Ji, who was already neglecting government affairs, even more neglectful. Even daily court meetings were rarely held. But even so, he still couldn't avoid the great dynasty every year. June 15th was the last great dynasty meeting of the month. All the civil and military officials of the seventh rank and above in Bianjing City gathered in the Daqing Hall.
In fact, the formal significance of a great meeting like this is far greater than the reality for the monarch and his ministers. General government affairs cannot be raised separately at this time. It is more like discussing some commonplace issues. Therefore, today's monarch and his ministers In fact, the interest is not very high.
But the situation changed after the doctor from the Ministry of Works reported the debt owed to Hegong and retired. Following him out of the office was Yu Sheng, a doctor in the Ministry of Justice, a middle-aged official in his forties with a serious face: "Your Majesty, I have something to report. Sun Tu, the Superintendent of Jingdong Road, has urgently delivered a copy of the indictment to Beijing. Chen Yan, a local Qingzhou official, said that more than 20 officials, including Gao Xiang, the prefect, and He Mo, the governor, were acting against the local people, harming the people, and even arousing public resentment. Sun Tu arrested and beheaded a group of officials in order to maintain long-term stability in Qingzhou, and charged them with the crimes they had confessed to. Send them all to the capital, and please ask His Majesty to read them!"
As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar in the palace. Gao Qiu's body trembled slightly. Yun Danfengqing's face was already full of shock and anger, and his eyes quickly fell on the man standing behind him. The child's face is in a bit position. However, the latter was watching his eyes, nose and heart at this time, as if Yu Sheng was not his person and what he was doing had nothing to do with him.
Even though Zhao Ji, who was not very energetic at first and was a little sleepy, looked nervous at the moment, he said after a while he couldn't believe it: "What did you say? Then Sun Tu actually made his own decisions and beheaded a lot of local officials in Qingzhou?"
After getting the affirmative answer, there was another gasping sound from the hall. What an incredible result! A military attache actually dared to act so recklessly in a local area. This can no longer be described as audacious. He was clearly challenging the bottom line of the imperial court!
"This is unreasonable!" Zhao Ji, who has always been good-tempered, was angry. Although he always felt that the name Sun Tu was familiar, he couldn't care less at this time: "You really rebelled against him. When someone comes, he will immediately make a decree to kill Sun Tu. Let me arrest him and bring him to the capital. I want to see what kind of person he is and how dare he do such a thing."
The emperor was angry, which naturally made the ministers tremble. However, Yu Sheng did not shrink back. Instead, he spoke again: "Your Majesty, please put aside your thunderous anger. I think that although Sun Tu's behavior is inappropriate, it is also reasonable." But, especially after seeing the relevant charges he sent me, I thought that he acted decisively and killed Gao Xiang and others out of consideration for the overall situation."
"How do you say this?" The emperors of the Song Dynasty had good tempers, and Zhao Ji was no exception. Not only did he not get angry because of his subordinates' dissuasion, but he asked curiously. This forced an official who had just received Gao Qiu's gaze to come out and refute Yu Sheng to temporarily withdraw his steps. Naturally, this move could not be hidden from the eyes of Tong Guan, who had been prepared for it.
"Back to Your Majesty, as stated in the indictment, Gao Xiang, He Mo and other officials have caused public dissatisfaction in the local area, and the local garrison is also dissatisfied with them. If Sun Tu hadn't noticed it in time and punished them, I'm afraid
It will lead to civil unrest or even mutiny. "Yu Sheng reported immediately. After a pause, he briefly stated a few of the crimes, such as forced tax collection, indiscriminate use of troops that caused more than half of the Qingzhou Army's casualties, and forced recruitment of people into the army just for the sake of peace. Deceiving the superiors and concealing the truth... Each of them was a serious crime, and he also specifically stated that they were all crimes signed and signed by Gao Xiang and others in person.
After this accusation, the expressions of the monarchs and ministers in the palace became more and more solemn. Zhao Ji was even more dissatisfied and said: "These local officials are really doing nonsense. I didn't expect that I would let these officials go to the local herdsmen..."
Seeing that things were going to go according to Tong Guan's wishes, Gao Qiu couldn't bear it any longer. He didn't care about asking his subordinates to come forward anymore, so he went to the battle in person and said: "Your Majesty, I think these statements are just one-sided words." , it cannot be done accurately. We in the capital don’t even know what the so-called crimes are. But Sun Tu dared to kill the imperial officials so unscrupulously in Qingzhou. Once such practices are spread, I am afraid it will cause turmoil in the world, and even lead to turmoil. There will be some unscrupulous people trying to imitate you!"
Gao Qiu is worthy of being an official veteran who has been fighting between the DPRK and China for many years. He knows very well that what he should do at this time is to seize the main contradiction and hit Sun Tu's bold move to reverse the current unfavorable situation. To be honest, the sudden attack on Tong Guan by the people at today's court meeting really caught him off guard.
As expected, these words won the approval of most of the officials present, and many people followed up and agreed: "Your Majesty, I also think that Sun Tu's behavior is really a big crime. He is only a first- and fifth-grade military general, how can he dare to be so unscrupulous?" They slaughtered my court officials, but your majesty, put the court in the wrong place!" These words were extremely serious, and it was almost said that he had evil and treasonous intentions.
Although Sun Tu's approach was pleasant, it did touch the high-voltage line of the Song Dynasty. How did the Song Dynasty win the country? It was Zhao Kuangyin who relied on his military power to bully the orphans and widowers of the Lao Chai family, and then he was afraid that his generals would repeat what he did, so he gave up his military power over a glass of wine, and then tried his best to suppress the military attaches in the DPRK and China. The power and status are such that military generals now have no dignity at all in front of civilian officials.
But now, Sun Tu, a military attache, actually killed civilian officials without permission. This was clearly challenging the foundation of the entire Song Dynasty for hundreds of years. This would naturally attract opposition and criticism from the officials of the Manchu Dynasty.
When Gao Qiu saw this, he was convinced. This was exactly what he wanted to see. As long as the officials spoke out and the emperor took advantage of the situation, Sun Tu would definitely die! Then he was free to slowly deal with Tong Guan.
Of course Tong Guan also saw his intentions. Since the other party had already gone into battle in person, it was obviously unrealistic for Yu Sheng to contend with him, so he followed him out of the court: "Your Majesty, I thought what Taiwei Gao said It's a bit exaggerated. Sun Tu's move was not out of personal hatred, but actually for the sake of the overall situation of the local area, because if Gao Xiang and other officials were not killed immediately, I'm afraid there would be a big upheaval in the local area. Your Majesty, Qingzhou is in Shandong, and now Liangshan A group of thieves are wreaking havoc in the area, but we can’t let anything go wrong again.”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Ji suppressed his already rising anger again. He nodded with deep understanding and said, "There is some truth in what Tong Guan said. If they really provoke a rebellion,
Even I will punish them severely. "
These words made Tong Guan feel happy, and before Gao Qiu could get angry, he hurriedly said: "In addition, Sun Tu is quite familiar with this person. He has always been loyal to the court and has made great contributions many times. So what?" What kind of disobedience is there, as you said?"
"Privy Tong, are you exaggerating?" Gao Qiu retorted with a sullen face: "As far as I know, just two years ago, there was an incident that killed an official in Qingzhou, and the person who caused this change was also What about Sun Tu? He, a fifth- and sixth-grade military attache, actually killed my court officials several times in Qingzhou. Isn’t that enough to explain the problem? As for your so-called credit, it’s just a trivial matter. Your Majesty, Sun Tu’s crime is If he is not pardoned, he should be brought to the capital, interrogated by a competent authority, and then severely punished!"
"I don't agree with what Lieutenant Gao said." Tong Guan immediately looked at him tit for tat and said without giving up: "The incident that happened in Qingzhou two years ago has long passed, and His Majesty had already become the most holy man at that time. Do you think that His Majesty was wrong at this time?"
These words really shocked Gao Qiu Yijun, and he didn't know how to refute the other party for a moment. He couldn't really follow this meaning and say that the emperor made a wrong decision two years ago. Taking advantage of his lag, Tong Guan continued: "As for Gao Taiwei's so-called meager contribution, it is even more chilling. Your Majesty, Sun Tu has repeatedly quelled thieves in Qingzhou. Such contributions are not mentioned. That's all. But just last year, he accompanied his ministers to the Liao Kingdom, fought through life and death, and his contribution to the Song Dynasty in obtaining the Liao Kingdom's defense map on the border of the Song Dynasty was real."
"Huh?" When Zhao Ji heard this, he suddenly became interested: "Is this happening? Didn't you say before that you couldn't bring back the drawings?"
"It is true that I failed to bring the defense map back in person, but Sun Tu fulfilled his mission. Originally, I planned to present the map to His Majesty today." Tong Guan said, and took out the prepared defense map from his sleeve. Figure, raised high above the head.
The emperor was even more happy: "Quickly, show me the map." He had his servants go down to get the map.
When Gao Qiu saw this scene, his heart tightened, knowing that today's situation was getting worse and worse for him. Tong Guan was completely prepared, and his reaction completely fell into his calculation.
While the emperor was happily looking at the bloodstained defense map, Tong Guan said again: "Your Majesty, the bloodstains on this map were left by Sun Tu. He almost died in order to save this map. The Liao Kingdom, thanks to His Majesty Hongfu, was able to escape from danger. In addition, he not only made great contributions to the Song Dynasty in the Liao Kingdom, but also made an even greater contribution to Xixia."
"Xi Xia? Why are you talking about Xi Xia again? How do you say this? Please tell me in detail." Zhao Ji immediately became interested and asked hurriedly, but put aside the previous matter.
The ministers below also knew that Tong Guan had gradually taken the initiative and that the emperor was in high spirits again, so they stopped talking and just watched Tong Guan's performance quietly. Even Gao Qiu, although angry at this moment, felt a little embarrassed to speak.
But one thing everyone knows is that after today, the two favorites Gao Qiu and Tongguan have really fallen out! But what they didn't expect was that this fall was more complete than they imagined, and this was just the beginning.