This extremely long night for many people in Tokyo has finally passed, and it’s dawn!
How many people stayed awake all night, waiting for further news to come, but until dawn, the final news was that Sun Tu led the Huben army to surround the Gu family's residence and entered the Dasuo. After that, no more news came out. Who They don't know what happened inside or what they found.
And not long after all the officials went to the Yamen for business with uneasy feelings, the latest news finally came, but it was so surprising and inexplicable - Sun Tu went straight to the palace, asking to see the emperor!
This was beyond everyone's expectations. Who would have thought that Sun Tu would act completely outside the rules of the officialdom, bypassing his immediate boss, Dian Qiansi, and report directly to the emperor, without giving any advice at all. People see tricks as opportunities. You must know that this is a taboo in the officialdom. He has completely broken the rules and is bound to make countless enemies and bring endless troubles to himself.
But as long as they carefully think about what Sun Tu has done in the past, they can accept it somewhat, because this is a guy who regards rules as nothing and is best at breaking them. He was like this in the south of the Yangtze River, and even went so far as to kill a feudal leader like Zhu Meng. When he arrived in Tokyo, he had no intention of restraining himself. He had overturned the table before and made public the corruption of the Imperial Army's food and salary in the Kaifeng Mansion Hall. , so it makes sense that after finding out such a big case today, he went directly to the palace without discussing with any colleagues.
Moreover, Sun Tu's status is really quite high. Not only does he have the title of Marquis of Yue, but he also wears a goldfish bag. With this, he can have unimpeded access to the ground. In this way, this case cannot be concealed at all. It has also shattered all the countermeasures that many people had originally thought of. Now it depends on the attitude of the current officials.
Fortunately, based on the ministers' understanding of the official family, he is by no means a cruel king who likes to go to jail for the slightest incident. Moreover, Sun Tu is not a favored courtier. No matter how much he talks, he will probably It is impossible to really influence the emperor to make any big decisions. At least he has to convene the political affairs hall to discuss it. This way there will be room for change and the initiative in this case can be taken away from Sun Tu. .
At least that's what most officials think, but only those who already know and fear him well, such as Gao Qiu and Cai Jing, will have another level of consideration. Therefore, the former claimed to be sick to avoid suspicion, while the latter was already prepared. It was just time for the storm to come together and it was time to reap the benefits.
As early as the chaos in Jiangnan, when Sun Tu was granted the title of Marquis of Yue, he had already been given a goldfish bag. This goldfish bag, which symbolizes status and glory, actually doesn’t look too eye-catching. It’s just a small fish-shaped pouch embroidered with golden silk thread hanging on the waist. In the official circles of the Song Dynasty, the goldfish bag you were wearing was not used. Or the silverbait bag to compare status. However, this goldfish bag still has a special use, that is, it can enter the palace at any time and meet the emperor.
It's just that ordinary officials may not be able to use this privilege. Because important officials such as the Privy Council of the Political Affairs Hall had naturally been given goldfish bags long ago, but they could easily enter the palace without this as a basis. And those who don’t have much authority but have to wear goldfish bags, how can they have any legitimacy
Reason to see the emperor. After all, you can't use a goldfish bag to enter the palace without authorization just because you want to see the emperor or want to chat with him or pretend to compete with others. That would not be pretending to compete, but seeking death.
But this time, the goldfish bag played an extremely crucial role in Sun Tu's hands, allowing him to enter the palace smoothly, and saw Zhao Ji who was crouching at his desk in a small side hall. However, what was placed on the imperial desk in front of him was not a memorial text, but a very long scroll of pictures. At this time, the emperor was looking at it with relish, nodding his head from time to time. Even Sun Tu's arrival did not pay attention. .
After the Wenyou Political Affairs Hall and the Wuyou Privy Council helped the emperor properly handle all the important military and political affairs of the country, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty was indeed much more relaxed than the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties who later resigned from the post of prime minister. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, even the emperors who were lazy in their administration actually had to deal with many things in a day. It can be said that most people were busy from morning to night, and even the diligent ones were busy until late at night - they could only be completely uninterested in government affairs. Only emperors who are not afraid of losing power will ignore everything, such as the famous carpenter emperor Tianqi Zhu Youxiao.
In addition to the reasons for the political structure of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Ji himself did not like to be involved in government affairs, so he greatly decentralized power and also had many hobbies, such as calligraphy and painting, and Qingxuan Taoism, especially the former. It was played to the extreme by him.
Sun Tu stood before His Highness, but with his eyesight he could still clearly see that the scroll being watched carefully by Zhao Ji was the famous "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" in later generations. But as far as he knew, this picture had been painted many years ago, so why did the emperor take it out and take a closer look at it at this time.
It wasn't until half an hour later that Zhao Ji took his eyes away from the painting and smiled at Sun Tu without any apology: "Zhang Zeduan's painting is indeed very exquisite, with every detail. Every time I look at this painting, it feels like I'm swimming again." The prosperous scene in Bianliang, Tokyo, is similar to mine, so every few months, I will ask my inner treasury to take it out and take a look."
If there is anything good about Zhao Ji, it is that he is really close to his ministers. Even Sun Tu, who is not very familiar with him, can actually explain it a little bit. If Cai Jing were here, he would definitely put aside business at this time and surrender to the emperor to appreciate and comment on the wonderful features of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" with him. After making the emperor happy and satisfied, he would talk about other things.
But Sun Tu has no attainments in this area. Apart from knowing that this painting is indeed a national treasure for later generations, he seems to have shown the original copy some time ago, he doesn’t know much more. He doesn’t even know why the painting is called Qingming Shanghe. I understand, it’s just a picture of visiting a grave during the Qingming Festival, so it’s impossible to say anything insightful.
However, after listening to the emperor's words, he still somewhat understood what the painting was, so he followed the meaning and said: "We, the Song Dynasty, have such a prosperous and prosperous age because of your majesty's sage. All industries in Tokyo are prosperous. To have this painting, it is really our fault. What a blessing to the subjects." At this point, he glanced at the emperor for a moment, and then suddenly changed the subject: "However, I am still worried that such a good life will be broken at some point."
Sure enough, Zhao Ji's face suddenly darkened when he heard what he said: "Marquis Yue, what do you mean by this?"
"Your Majesty, please forgive me for being unreasonable. The matter is really important, and I have to risk my life to remonstrate with you!" If ordinary ministers see the emperor being angry, they will always feel a little bit in their hearts.
The drumming was uneasy, and his words could not be as smooth as before, but Sun Tu remained the same as before, and he immediately explained what he had discovered in the past few days in a clear and logical manner.
He started with Yan Ziliang's deduction of money and food from the Hu Ben Army, and then he went on to trace the clues to the Gu family's trading company, and then he also talked about how he found a large amount of crossbow wound medicine from the Gu family's convoy leaving Beijing, which even Zhao Ji could hear. His face changed several times, and in the end he couldn't help but slap the imperial court: "How unreasonable, they are so brave, they dare to communicate with foreign enemies, and do such a thing that harms our country, the Song Dynasty. It is really deplorable." !”
Sun Tu did not say anything to ask the emperor to appease his anger. Instead, he added fuel to the fire: "After that, I led people to surround the Gu family's residence and found several letters in foreign languages. I am short in knowledge. So I don’t know what is written on it, but I believe that this matter must be of great importance. To prevent others from being deceived, I brought it directly to the palace and asked for your Majesty’s holy book!” As he said this, he searched out last night’s contents from his arms. Several letters were raised above his head.
At Zhao Ji's signal, a servant stepped forward to take the letter and delivered it to him. It's just that although Zhao Ji is a great calligrapher, he knows nothing about foreign languages. He only looked through it a few times and said: "Go to the Hanlin Academy to find someone who is familiar with Liao, Xia and other Chinese languages to translate these letters for me."
When the chamberlain took orders and went out to make arrangements, Sun Tu continued: "Your Majesty, I think this matter is too important, so I have to say something."
"you say."
"Your Majesty, as far as I know, the Song Dynasty has begun to prepare to use troops against the Liao Kingdom in the north, right? What if at this time, the Liao people bribed some people in Tokyo, and even bribed important officials in the DPRK through them? Officials, what will happen to the war ahead? I am afraid that hundreds of thousands of troops will be defeated by the Liao people. By then, let alone regaining the Sixteen Youyun Prefectures, it will become extremely difficult to defend the Yanmen Pass area. The Song Dynasty is in danger, Tokyo is in danger, and the prosperity of our Song Dynasty, which Your Majesty has worked so hard for many years to create, is really going to be destroyed in one day. What I said is by no means alarmist, and I hope Your Majesty will learn from it."
Zhao Ji is not an idiot. Although he does not know much about military affairs, he also knows that if there is a continuous flow of food from the Song Dynasty to the north, and if the crossbows that the Song Dynasty relies on as an important weapon of the country are really obtained by the enemy and copied, then The next Northern Expedition plan may really be ruined!
This time, the emperor was really furious and shouted again: "I will definitely investigate this matter to the end. No matter who is involved, I will never tolerate it!"
Sun Tu seized the opportunity and spoke again: "Your Majesty, as far as I know, the Gu family has long had deep friendships with many officials in the court by virtue of their family's hundreds of thousands of dollars. Therefore, if we really want to investigate this matter, it will definitely be implicated." They have seen countless people, and the officials in the DPRK and the Central Government dare not say that officials protect each other, but they have some concerns. I am afraid that it will not be easy to thoroughly investigate this matter. Ordinary officials simply do not have the courage to do it. I don’t think so. I thought that only I, who had just arrived at the court and had not had much connection with the ministers, could investigate this case to the bottom of the matter without fear of criticism, regardless of my closeness!"
This was the real purpose of his Sun Tu, who did not hesitate to offend the officials of the Manchu Dynasty, and directly stated the pros and cons of the case with the goldfish bag noodle!