Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 38

In the early morning after a few days after the Taixue Shangshe University Examination, the white mist in the Taixue Bamboo Forest had not dissipated yet. Imperial Supervisor Pei Xue was hurriedly finding Zhao Xingde who was practicing bowing. See you in the hall."

"It's finally here!" Zhao Xingde restrained his excitement when he had the opportunity to meet the current emperor, to defend Li Ruobing, and to present his interests and interests. He hurriedly packed up his luggage, and was greeted by envious eyes of many imperial scholars. He arrived in front of the White Jade Palace in a four-horse carriage brought by the eunuch who delivered the decree. After passing through many guards, he took a bath and changed clothes before being taken to a side hall by the eunuch to wait for the emperor to summon him.

There are still many officials waiting for the emperor to summon in the side hall, some with gray beards and hair, some in their prime, wearing official uniforms of various colors, sitting upright with their eyes fixed on their noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, noses, and hearts. The famous Zhao Xingde came in, and many people showed surprise in their eyes, but they were stuck in etiquette and didn't whisper to each other about his origin.Even a few people saw that he was young, and thought he was a folk magician summoned by the government, with a look of disdain on his face.

To be summoned by an official family is a great blessing in the eyes of the Taixue scholars. Zhao Xingde thought so at the beginning, but when he saw more than a dozen officials of all sizes waiting in the side hall, he felt that he was very wrong. The country has a population of more than 6000 million and tens of thousands of officials. Zhao You, the official, summons more than a hundred people a day. He is a Confucian, and it is not easy to say a few words with Zhao You. If you want to say a few more words, Even impressing the emperor with words is as difficult as climbing the sky.

Just looking at the eunuchs who entertained and waited for the officials next to him without looking at me, not even a Xiudun who sat down and waited, so he knew his status in the eyes of the officials.If he had followed his indifferent and modest way of life in the past, he would have waited immediately, but today is different.

"Ahhh..." Zhao Xingde coughed in embarrassment, and cupped his hands to the eunuch next to him: "This cabinet chief official, Tianwei mighty, Xiao Ke's legs and feet are a little weak, can you give me a hand?" Xiudun sit down?"

Although his voice was soft, the words were sonorous, and the eunuch in charge didn't agree, and it didn't matter if he didn't agree.Ever since he was on duty in the side hall of the White Jade Palace, he arranged seats for the waiting officials, one according to the rank rules, and the other according to his own likes and dislikes, and low-rank officials, even Zhao Xingde who didn't even have an official position , actually dared to take the initiative to ask for a seat, it was the first time in history.

Playing right in front of the emperor, even the prime minister has no seat, this is the rule set by the emperor Taizu.However, there is no customary rule as to whether the officials have a seat while waiting for the king.After all, eunuchs are nothing more than the emperor's domestic slaves. If the courtiers use this to attack, the officials will kill a scapegoat only based on their mood.

The face of the eunuch in charge changed a few times, and under the watchful eyes of all the waiting officials, he finally ordered the young eunuch next to him to move Zhao Xiangru to sit on an embroidered pier, Zhao Xingde thanked him, and then sat comfortably sat down.

Since Zhang Rang and other ten permanent servants in the Han Dynasty have been in chaos, the disaster of eunuchs has reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, this dynasty is far more careful about guarding against eunuchs than before.Civil officials claimed that scholar-bureaucrats and the emperor ruled the world together, and they also had a kind of resistance and disgust towards eunuchs in their bones.However, today the Shangshang Institute reuses great eunuchs such as Liang Shizhong and Tong Guan, who hold power and are favored by the emperor.Even the prime minister, Cai Jing, was unwilling to offend easily, and even a lot of middle and low-level eunuchs were arrogant, which in turn made the civil servants who were not eunuchs even stronger.

Seeing Zhao Xingde act like this at this moment.There was a tinge of friendliness in the gazes of several waiting officials looking at Zhao Xingde.Liang Shizhong, the literary eunuch known as the "Hidden Prime Minister" who was in charge of drafting the edict for the emperor, learned of this, and warned his subordinates: "Young people are fearful, and you should avoid it."

One stick of incense time passed, Zhao Xingde and all the officials waited respectfully for the emperor's summons, but none of the officials were brought in by roll call, and everyone cheered up.The dry air in the hall was filled with the fragrance of cosmetics and flowers, an hour passed, and the cool breeze was blowing, Zhao Xingde felt a little drowsy.

Inside the Chuigong Hall of the White Jade Palace, the servants on the left and right were pushed back, and the Banzhi guards only stood outside the hall.Emperor Zhao You is discussing matters with his officials.The prime minister Cai Jing, the political adviser Zhao Zhifu, the privy envoy Wang Fu, the privy envoy Li Bangyan, the guard infantry commander Tong Guan, and the imperial city secretary Shen Yun were all present. These six were Zhao You's most trusted confidantes.

"The Khitan envoy, Yelu Dashi, was very rude. He often uttered disrespectful words towards us. The Liao Kingdom has been recruiting barbarians as its vassals for decades, and, in the sixteen prefectures in front of the mountain and behind the mountain, they have been using The Khitan soldiers and horses in the Northern Academy replaced the original Han generals, if we don’t attack Youyan in the north, I’m afraid they will enter Hebei soon.” said Shen Yun, an officer of the Imperial City Department, his face was on other officials and subordinates His face is always straight, making people wonder how happy or angry he is, but this face looks "dumb and honest" when he is in front of Zhao You. They didn't make any drastic moves, but they reached Shen Yun's mouth.The more you describe Yelu Dashi as full of rebellious bones, the more in line with Zhao You's wishes.

Seeing that the officials frowned, Zhao Zhifu, a political adviser, said: "Although the Liao people are aggressive, the Khitan people did not make up the majority of the people in the Liao country. Besides the Khitan people, there are many other tribes in the country. In recent years The Khitan people have become more cruel and cruel, and the barbarians in the country have long been dissatisfied, but they dare not rebel because of the power of the Khitan people. Recently, an envoy from the Wanyan tribe of the Jurchen tribe in Liaodong came to the capital. The sea route aids its food, grass and armored soldiers, and the Jurchens are willing to form an alliance with our dynasty to fight against the Liao Dynasty, and strangle the Khitan people for our dynasty."

After Zhao Zhifu finished speaking, he inadvertently glanced at Prime Minister Cai Jing. Although the two of them competed with each other in the court, they belonged to the new party, and they were consistent in promoting the Northern Expedition of the Song Dynasty to recover Youyan. Zhao Zhifu and Cai Jing also tried and communicated on different occasions about the fact that the tribe hoped to get assistance from Song Dynasty.At this time, Cai Jing remained silent, neither speaking in support nor opposing.

"Oh? There is such a thing?" Zhao Youdun was interested. He has always had the talent of never forgetting. He closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then asked: "The Ryukyu and Japanese envoys said that there are barbarians who are called Jurchens passing by in a small boat." The sea and the coast ran, looting goods, robbing men and women as slaves, and many coastal residents were killed or injured. The Koryo envoys also reported that the Jurchen tribe had crossed the Yalu River many times to plunder food and grass. The Jurchen tribe, which caused these three vassals to be harassed, did not agree with the Is what the prime minister said the same thing?"

"This?" Prime Minister Zhao Zhifu's face showed embarrassment. He knew that the barbarians in the north were tigers and wolves, but he didn't expect the Jurchen Ministry to snatch Ryukyu, Japan, and Goryeo, the few respectful vassals in the Song Dynasty. On the top of his head, he didn't dare to defend the Wanyan tribe, so he could only say: "From what I saw when I was a young envoy to the Liao Kingdom, there are many Jurchen tribes, and this Wanyan tribe is just one of them."

Zhao You snorted dissatisfied.

Only then did Prime Minister Cai Jing open his slightly closed eyes, and slowly said: "Your Majesty, the so-called Dihu barbarians are all people with a human face and a beast's heart. This is well-known. , but its intention is to use the barbarians to control the barbarians, which is still advisable. If the Jurchen tribe is not brave and brutal, it is not enough to be the enemy of the Liao people."

"In the opinion of Prime Minister Cai, how should we deal with this matter?" To Prime Minister Cai Jing, Emperor Zhao You also remained polite.

"In my opinion, Khitan and Jurchen are both Diyi. Although our court supports the Jurchen with some military equipment and food, we must prevent the Jurchen from growing so large that they drive the tigers to eat the wolves. The hungry tigers are not greedy enough to harm them I face myself." Cai Jing said slowly, "The current plan is to support the Jurchen with food, grass and weapons, and to control the Jurchen with food, grass and weapons. You can't take advantage of the victory to grow stronger. On the contrary, you can double your support. In this way, our court can sit back and watch these two kinds of Diyi fight against each other and consume their vitality. The Jurchen tribe is in the Dongdong Road of the Liao Kingdom. If the war continues and expands, the Liao Dynasty will be exhausted. To deal with the northeast direction, it will inevitably lead to the emptiness of Youyan on the Nanjing Road, and then it will be the time for me to attack Youyan."

When Cai Jing said this, Zhao Youfang praised: "Cai Xiang is really a strategy for the country." He asked again, "Sun Tzu's Art of War says that a hundred thousand troops will cost thousands of dollars a day. If I intend to attack Youyan in the north, how much do I need to prepare?" Money and food?"

Li Bangyan, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, saw Zhao You's intentions, and cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty is not worried about the matter of money and food. The imperial court has 83 troops. Food and grass are needed, and the rewards of the four seasons can't be stopped, and wars will consume more ordnance at most." He paused, saw Zhao You nodded slightly, relaxed, and smiled: "The imperial court raises soldiers for thousands of days. If they don't fight, it will be a waste of time. There is too much money and food."

Li Bangyan's tone was quite frivolous, and Zhao Zhifu frowned slightly, but he knew that the officials always wanted to create a prosperous situation, and they had long intended for the Northern Expedition and the Western Expedition. I want to punish the Khitan people, but the officials' actions are always important and subtle, so Zhao Zhifu reminded him: "The cost of nourishing soldiers and defending troops in Hebei is now more than [-] million guan. more than doubled."

However, an increase of 2000 million military expenditures is still within the range that Zhao You can bear. The cost of building the White Jade Palace alone is more than that. , money and food came out.So, Zhao You murmured deeply and then asked the Privy Envoy Wang Fu: "Since the Khitan people always have evil intentions, if Master Wang preemptively attacks Youyan in the north, can the camp in Hebei be worthy of a battle?"