I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 513: Crown Prince? Auspicious Stone, Natural or Artificial
At dawn, the sky turned pale.

In the wilderness, the smell of blood was very strong.

After three hours of fierce fighting, the 500 Dragon Feather Army and 500 light cavalry of the Song Dynasty finally wiped out the 600 Iron Harrier Army of the Western Xia.

Xu Mang, the commander of the Longyu Army, sat on a slope, breathing heavily.

The clothes were covered with the blood of the enemy.

at this time.

A soldier from the Dragon Feather Army walked up to him.

"Commander, we lost fifty-two men in the battle, thirty-seven were seriously injured, and the enemy army was completely annihilated, with no one surviving."

Xu Mang nodded.

This battle will not be easy.

The Longyu Army won by surprise attack. If not for the surprise attack, the casualties would probably be even greater.

The coordination and combat effectiveness of the Iron Harrier Army are not much weaker than those of the Dragon Feather Army. In fact, in hand-to-hand combat, they are more vicious and more difficult to deal with.

Next.

The dead and seriously injured soldiers will be accommodated by the follow-up logistics soldiers.

They will also clean up the battlefield.

The dead and seriously injured Dragon Feather Army soldiers will be replaced by the accompanying light cavalry, always maintaining a force of five hundred.

Half an hour later.

Xu Mang rode on his horse and shouted to all the soldiers: "Let's go!"

Since the end of the battle, Xu Mang has remained expressionless because he knows that there will be four more fierce battles to come.

This time.

The Iron Harrier Army of Western Xia must be annihilated, even if it requires the Dragon Feather Army to fight until all of their men are killed!

……

The last day of March.

Su Liang rushed back to Bianjing City, and then reported the current situation of the Hebei Imperial Guards to Zhao Zhen and other ministers.

Zhao Zhen couldn't help but be overjoyed.

Among all the civil and military officials in the court, only Su Liang could do things so beautifully.

in fact.

The imperial court had already decided that the Hebei Imperial Army would be the main attacking force to recapture Yanyun.

Otherwise, all the military merits will be taken away by the Western Army, and big problems will arise within the Imperial Guards.

……

April 7th, near noon.

Su Liang, who was in the Censorate, received the news.

Three days ago, Japan captured the capital of Goryeo and Goryeo was destroyed.

This is half a month earlier than Su Liang expected.

After he read the complete intelligence, he realized that it was Yelu Hongji who was involved, which led to the early end of the war between the two countries.

The eldest prince of Liao, Yelu Hongji, went to Goryeo in person and persuaded the king of Goryeo that surrender would save the life of the Goryeo royal family.

The King of Goryeo was a coward. He knew that Goryeo was doomed to fail, so he chose to surrender.

He would rather be imprisoned and live in misery than have the courage to fight again.

As a result, the entire city surrendered and all the Koreans became prisoners.

Followed by.

Another piece of information reached Bianjing City.

Dongying and Liao divided the wealth of Goryeo equally, and the land belonged to Liao. Then the two countries signed an alliance contract, calling each other: the alliance of life and death.

A life-and-death alliance.

That is, the destinies of our countries are linked, and we live and die together.

This alliance was obviously aimed at the Song Dynasty.

Japan once secretly sent envoys to form an alliance with the Song Dynasty to deal with the Liao Dynasty, but the Song Dynasty was unwilling to associate with them.

So they took this opportunity to form an alliance with the Liao Kingdom.

Put it in the past.

The Liao Kingdom formed an alliance with Japan and connected with Goryeo in the middle, almost monopolizing most of the sea area. The Song Dynasty was bound to be nervous.

But now, the court does not take it seriously at all.

Even the people in Bianjing City showed disdain on their faces when they heard the news.

After the two sides formed an alliance, they publicized it in a high-profile manner.

In addition, the Liao Kingdom added hundreds of merchant ships and warships at sea, intending to monopolize trade in the North Sea.

After Zhao Zhen learned about this.

He immediately ordered the three departments to pay 300,000 strings of cash to the Haizhou Maritime Customs and ordered the latter to build 200 sea warships.

Strength determines everything.

This is the best and most courageous response.

……

Another day, the sky was clear and the air was fresh.

The streets of Bianjing City are full of green trees and busy with people and cars.

Inside the courtyard of the Censorate, Su Liang placed his legs on a bench, leisurely reading the recent court bulletins.

The Palace Attendant Censor Fan Zhen walked over quickly.

"Zhongcheng, I'll show you something good, something good!" Fan Zhen said excitedly.

The voice comes before the person arrives.

He walked up to Su Liang, took out a piece of paper from his arms, then quickly unfolded it and placed it on the table.

Su Liang took a closer look and found it was a rubbing.

There were four words written crookedly on it, and they were a little blurry.

The so-called rubbings.

It is a piece of paper that is copied from the words or patterns on inscriptions, stone carvings, bronze ware, etc.

"This doesn't look like the official flying white calligraphy! To be honest, it's not well written, or maybe I can't appreciate it!" Su Liang shook his head slightly.

"No, I'm not asking you to comment on the calligraphy. Look at the content, read it carefully and read it out loud!"

Fan Zhen, who is usually calm and composed, was very excited.

It was as if I had discovered a treasure.

Su Liang picked up the piece of paper and looked at it carefully.

After a while, he murmured, "It seems to be "pass...pass...something..."

Feibai script can be used to guess the content by combining the overall style.

But these four words were not only blurry, but the font was also distorted.

Su Liang only recognized three words and couldn't be sure whether they were right or wrong.

"No, it means passing the throne to a son." Fan Zhen said.

"Pass the throne to one son? What does that mean? What? Pass the throne to one son!" Su Liang suddenly raised his voice and understood.

The entire Song Dynasty.

The only person who could pass on the throne was Zhao Zhen.

The first son is naturally the current eldest prince Zhao Xun.

He passed the throne to one son, and made the eldest prince Zhao Cong the crown prince.

"Where does this word come from? Who wrote it?" Su Liang asked.

These four words are of great significance.

Except for Zhao Zhen who dared to speak out, all the ministers dared to speak out in their memorials. It was taboo to discuss in private or to scribble.

Fan Zhen said: "In a forest ten miles south of Xiangzhou City, a farmer found a large stone about ten feet high. The stone was covered with moss. In the moss, these four words were outlined. It seemed to be formed naturally."

"Xiangzhou Zhizhou Lu Wenyuan reported to the Zhongshu and had the stone transported to Bianjing City. It is expected to arrive in Bianjing City in three days."

If a local area encounters auspicious signs, they must be sent to Bianjing City as soon as possible.

"After this rubbing was released from the Secretariat, officials have submitted petitions one after another, requesting the emperor to appoint a successor. Should we follow suit?"

Su Liang looked at the rubbing.

"The eldest prince is the eldest son, and becoming the crown prince is only a matter of time. It has nothing to do with auspicious signs or not."

"I suggest you wait a little longer and take a look at the big rock before you speak rashly!"

As the director of the Censorate, Su Liang always paid attention to facts when submitting memorials and never advocated reporting matters based on hearsay.

The court officials were so enthusiastic because they all wanted to gain the merit of following the emperor.

Moreover, with so many officials submitting memorials, anyone who did not do so would appear to have something against the eldest prince.

But Su Liang didn't care about that.

The court officials were talking about it, and naturally the news spread to the streets of Bianjing City.

"This is destiny. The crown prince of our Song Dynasty should be the eldest prince. No one can take him away from him!"

"Please appoint the eldest prince as the crown prince. This is a great joyous event for our Song Dynasty!"

"With the eldest prince as the crown prince, the Song Dynasty will be more stable. It's time to appoint a crown prince!"...

Inside the Chui Gong Hall.

In front of Zhao Zhen's imperial desk were piles of petitions requesting the establishment of a crown prince.

Except for the officials of the Censorate and Bao Zheng, the prefect of Kaifeng, everyone else wrote a memorial requesting the establishment of a crown prince.

The current Censorate has always been like this.

They basically don't report matters that all other officials have to report.

As for Bao Zheng, he always has his own ideas.

The past.

If there were so many memorials piled up on the imperial desk, Zhao Zhen would definitely be very angry, but today he was quite happy.

Compared with Taizu and Taizong, he could be considered a man who had a son in old age.

Although he had two sons, according to ancestral teachings, the eldest prince Zhao Xun was the eldest son and had good character and talent, so it was not surprising to make him the crown prince.

Zhao Zhen thought for a moment, and said to the Prime Minister Wen Yanbo and the Deputy Prime Minister Fu Bi, "Prime Minister Wen, Deputy Prime Minister, I want to place this auspicious stone in the Daqing Hall for all officials to view. After viewing it, I will formally issue an edict to establish a crown prince, and then grant amnesty to the whole country. What do you think?"

"I think this is a very good move." Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi bowed at the same time.

The rulers and ministers of the Song Dynasty liked the saying "the destiny is in our hands" the most.

With the auspicious stone as a backdrop, the matter of establishing a crown prince will become a beautiful story passed down to future generations.

Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi both breathed a sigh of relief.

After the crown prince is appointed, if Zhao Zhen ever thinks of going on a tour or leading an army in person, they will definitely not dissuade him again.

……

Three days later, early morning.

Lu Wenyuan, the governor of Xiangzhou, arrived outside the city of Bianjing with a convoy.

In the middle of the convoy was a large stone wrapped in red cloth.

It is the auspicious stone.

After Lu Wenyuan and his party arrived at the West Water Gate of Bianjing, they placed the auspicious stone on a large ship, sailed along the Bian River, crossed the Jinliang Bridge, and headed east.

The stone on the water is a symbol of good fortune.

And transporting such large stones is smoother by water.

Afterwards, the boat stopped at Zhou Bridge and was replaced by a horse-drawn carriage to transport the auspicious stone until it entered the Xuande Gate and the Daqing Hall.

This journey lasted from early morning to almost noon.

At this moment, Su Liang and other civil and military officials were already waiting in the Daqing Hall.

……

A moment later, inside the Daqing Palace.

A large stone stood in the center of the hall, covered with a red cloth. Civil and military officials stood on both sides, their eyes fixed on the stone.

Lu Wenyuan, the governor of Xiangzhou, stood beside the boulder and said, "Your Majesty, this auspicious stone was found by a farmer in Xiangzhou. He thought it was a word and reported it to the government. After we found that these four words were unusual, we immediately reported it to the court and transported the stone to Beijing."

Zhao Zhen nodded and said loudly: "Uncover the red cloth!"

Immediately, Lu Wenyuan pulled the red cloth.

"Wow!"

The boulder was fully revealed to everyone.

Zhao Zhen walked down from the dragon throne with a curious look on his face.

this moment.

The entire Daqing Hall was filled with the smell of damp moss.

Zhao Zhen looked towards the top of the boulder and saw those four big characters: Pass the throne to one son.

Although the handwriting is sloppy, the more you look at it, the more similar it becomes.

The fonts show signs of weathering, and are obviously from a long time ago.

Zhao Zhen looked excited. After watching for a while, he said, "It is indeed the will of heaven that the throne will be passed on to one son!"

"My fellow lords, come and take a look!" Zhao Zhen waved his hand.

Immediately.

The ministers led by Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi were the first to come over and watch.

after that.

Su Liang, Bao Zheng and others also strode over.

Su Liang walked to the boulder, looked at the four words, and murmured, "It is indeed those four words. From the outside, they don't look like they were man-made, but even if they were, they probably didn't have any malicious intent."

When Bao Zheng, who was standing behind Su Liang, heard this, he frowned and shook his head.

The officials watched and talked about it, all with words of praise.

Such auspicious signs can make countless people believe that the Song Dynasty will be eternal.

Zhao Zhen was sitting on it, his face also full of joy.

This is a great happy event for the Song Dynasty.

About half an hour later, all the ministers finished watching.

Zhao Zhen smiled and said, "It seems that this is really destiny! It is indeed time for me to appoint a crown prince."

"After the crown prince ceremony is over, this stone can be placed in front of Xuande Gate for the people to admire for seven days, and then placed in Tianzhang Pavilion for the royal family to admire!"

"The emperor is wise!" the ministers shouted.

Immediately, Zhao Zhen looked at the eunuch beside him.

An eunuch immediately took out the edict on appointing a crown prince that had been drafted by the Secretariat long ago.

He was just about to read it.

Bao Zheng suddenly came to the center of the hall.

"Your Majesty, I do not recommend appointing a crown prince at this moment!" Bao Zheng said loudly.

Suddenly.

Everyone looked at Bao Zheng, quite surprised, wondering what the reason was for Bao Zheng's objection.

"Bao Qing, why do you object?"

Bao Zheng cupped his hands and said, "I also agree that the eldest prince should be appointed as the crown prince, but I am skeptical about the authenticity of this stone. The four characters on this stone may be fake. I suggest that you make a decision after investigating it thoroughly."

At this time, an official from the imperial court could not help but stand up.

"Master Bao, it is only a matter of time before the eldest prince is appointed as the crown prince. Now that this auspicious sign has occurred, it is double the joy. If you make a wrong judgment, it will be a disappointment!"

Many officials nodded.

Their reason is: it doesn’t matter whether it’s true or not.

What is important is that establishing a crown prince under such circumstances was double joy, proving that the king's power was granted by God and helping to stabilize the Song Dynasty.

Bao Zheng said solemnly: "True is true, false is false. I am worried that someone will use the matter of establishing a crown prince to achieve his own goals."

"What is your purpose? Isn't the eldest prince worthy of becoming the crown prince of the Song Dynasty?"

"Master Bao, you are ruining everyone's good mood!"

……

Officials came forward to accuse Bao Zheng.

Bao Zheng was unmoved. He took a step forward and said, "Your Majesty, please give me half a day to transport this stone to Kaifeng Prefecture, and then call on the stonemasons from the Baijia Academy to inspect it."

Hearing this, Zhao Zhen curled his lips slightly.

Once the inspection was done, it was already afternoon, and it was extremely unlucky to appoint a crown prince in the afternoon.

It can only be postponed until tomorrow.

In his eyes, even if the stone was fake, he was willing to take it as real, because it was a good omen and a good story that would be passed down to future generations.

"Please allow my request!" Bao Zheng bowed again.

At this time, Su Liang stood up.

"Your Majesty, I think we should be more cautious. Today we trusted this stone. What if the words written on this stone are not these four words in the future? It will mislead the people of the world."

After Su Liang finished speaking, Wang Anshi stood up.

"Official, I second the proposal."

As soon as Wang Anshi stood up, the officials knew what he was talking about.

He never believed in destiny.

Su Liang, Bao Zheng and Wang Anshi were the three most stubborn men of that dynasty.

But the three of them were stubborn.

But it often proves that the truth is in their hands.

If these three people spoke at the same time, the officials would have to debate for at least half a day, and they might not necessarily win.

Zhao Zhen thought for a while.

"We should be more cautious, Bao Qing. Give me an answer before tomorrow morning. If you can't find it's fake, you can't block the establishment of the crown prince anymore."

"I obey your command!" Bao Zheng bowed, and Su Liang and Wang Anshi on the side also bowed deeply.

Su Liang supported Bao Zheng purely because he believed in Bao Zheng, and Wang Anshi seconded the proposal purely because he believed in Su Liang.

present.

These three people are needed to work together to prove the authenticity of the words on the stone and whether there is a conspiracy.

(End of this chapter)