With the arrival of midwinter, the weather is getting colder and colder. At the same time, Zhao Guan's condition has become increasingly erratic. He will often feel better in a few days and then bedridden within a few days.

Gradually, but naturally, some rumors arose.

At the beginning, the rumors were only about the official's illness itself, such as how serious it was, what would be the consequences of repeating it, and whether he should be replaced by a famous private doctor or something like that.

By this time, it had actually caused turmoil in the hearts of the people. By November, after officials once again missed the early-month meeting of the imperial court, even the monthly fixed amount of Northern Expedition treasury bonds were unsaleable to a certain extent in Tokyo.

It should be noted that according to the current policy of the imperial court, the national debt quota has already been refined to each month in order to smooth the flow of water. The monthly quota of 150,000 is distributed in Tokyo, Nanjing, Jinan, Xiacai, Yangzhou, Nanyang, Chang'an,

Chengdu, Hangzhou, Jiangling, Quanzhou, Guangzhou, Jiangling and many other cities. In this case, the share borne by Tokyo City has been greatly reduced, but due to political and economic particularities, this city still looms large in the national debt market.

It is extremely strong, and the monthly quota of tens of thousands of guan is often sold out immediately within the ten-day protection period as soon as it comes out.

In fact, according to the arrangement of the high-level officials of the imperial court, until the end of the year and in the middle of the year, the government will still have to allocate a certain large amount of national debt to dignitaries, court officials, and even the powerful and wealthy businessmen in the government... The so-called fishing from the lake means that you can catch whatever you can.

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Therefore, when November entered, the sales of government bonds here in Tokyo lagged slightly, which immediately aroused everyone's attention.

Even if the Japanese and Goryeo ships returned one after another and the national debt was quickly sold out, it would not change the people's hearts touched by this incident.

Sure enough, immediately afterwards, there were some additional explanations about the official's illness... For example, it was the retribution of the official for imprisoning his father and brother;

Not going to the Eight Tombs in Luoyang to offer sacrifices resulted in punishment from the ancestors; for another example, in the early years of Jianyan, officials raided temples several times, and all the Buddha's golden bodies were scraped off, triggering retribution for the Buddha.

Of course, such words are not polite, but if you can't stand it, it will spread among the people, because the common people like this kind of flowerheads. Even the contact persons of the temples and temples who stayed in Tokyo spontaneously organized some blessing ceremonies for the officials, and they were also criticized.

Said it was forced by the imperial court.

By the middle of the month, as the official family still stayed at home and there were rumors that he was seriously ill and difficult to recover from, these rumors finally gradually converged, and finally formed a complete version that was unbearable both inside and outside the court.

According to this rumor, when the official came to the throne, he promised to return the throne to the two saints when they returned, so he only tried his best to fight against the gold in the middle. His determination not to negotiate for peace was not for other reasons, but to secretly destroy the two saints.

, the Queen Mother and her brothers died, enjoying the high position alone.

After the return of the Second Saint, instead of returning the great power, the officials directly imprisoned the father and brother in the temple. As for forcing the father and brother to write an insulting "Memoirs", blaming all the faults of the Jingkang Incident on the father and brother, this is even more outrageous.

An act of unfilial piety and disloyalty.

What's more, since he came to the throne, Emperor Jianyan has always valued martial arts over literature, treated his clan elders harshly, killed ministers, expelled loyal people, violated the sacred teachings, looted and abused, and unfairly rewarded and punished him. He should have abdicated long ago to repent, and now he is seriously ill.

Disease is also the place of retribution.

Furthermore, since the heir is young, it is appropriate for him to return to Taishang Yuansheng or Taishang Daojun. If it is not possible, he should choose a worthy successor from among the clan brothers.

If this is not possible, we should establish sons and successors, a virtuous king, and a virtuous queen to govern the country.

Otherwise, in the future, the young master will be suspicious of the country and the world will change, which will be the consequences of the current emperor Jianyan's insistence on going his own way.

This rumor is not so much made out of nothing as it is made up of a spliced ​​structure. It pieced together all the controversial and dissatisfying things that Emperor Jianyan did today, and then came to an incredible conclusion. In the end

He gave a bunch of extremely absurd suggestions.

In addition, anyone with a little common sense knows that such large-scale and combined rumors cannot be formed spontaneously. There is no doubt that intentional people have specially intervened.

And this point does not need to be inferred at all, because the evidence is there... hundreds of pieces of paper with rumors, written crookedly, were sprinkled on both sides of Imperial Street at night, inside and outside Jingyuan, and on the main street of Ma Xing Street.

In front of stores and warehouses.

Any fool knows that someone is deliberately causing trouble.

Therefore, with the emergence of this extremely malicious rumor, overt political turmoil finally occurred in Tokyo.

First, it was at the Secret Pavilion. In the afternoon, at the daily meeting after the official fell ill, Da Zongzheng Zhao Shi?, who had been absent from the meeting on the excuse of reporting illness, came in person and first severely criticized Zhao Ding, Zhang Jun and other prime ministers for their incompetence.

, allowing such rumors to exist was a disservice to the official government; then he asked Ma Shen, the Minister of Punishment, to set a time limit on the spot to investigate the matter; then, he handed Zhang Jun the memorial he had written in front of the court, and asked the Privy Council to forward it to him.

, please establish the prince's book, which clearly mentions that the two saints and the nearby clans of Nanyang have lost their qualifications to be successors, including those who care about fate, after the Jingkang Incident and the Northern Hunting. Finally, it is Mr. Chen who requests.

Resign.

His fierce words, excited emotions, and hidden resentment and dissatisfaction really made several officials unable to bear it.

Even the Imperial Academy official Chen Kangbo, who was originally scheduled to launch a large-scale attack on behalf of the Young Zhuang Sect, later lost some of his momentum.

It can only be said that Da Zongzheng had experienced the Yaoshan Tuogu incident, and had some immunity and some intuition about this kind of thing. He also had a clear understanding of Zhao Guan's family, so he dared to carry a gun with a stick and stab him to the end.

Thanks to the outbreak of Da Zongzheng, after the Secret Pavilion, the Gongge also hurriedly gathered, and then jointly submitted a letter to the court, but they basically followed Da Zongzheng's copy... However, they not only blamed the Prime Minister, but also the entire Secret Council.

As the ruler who is entrusted by the government to the imperial court, letting such rumors go unchecked is truly evil. Then he still targets the secret court and requires the secret court to investigate the rumors within a time limit. Then of course he also invites the crown prince to express his condolences to the official family, and at the same time, he goes on a rampage.

The two saints and the brothers in the official family were criticized; in the end, Han and Kong Zhiliu, who were said to have been "unfairly rewarded and punished", took the opportunity to write a letter asking to withdraw.

After the Imperial Palace, Taixue vigorously criticized this rumor, and the results of Taixue's criticism were directly published in Di Bao. That is to say, during the debate on Taixue, the descendants of the clan clans who were placed in Nanyang woke up.

What was going on? They all went to public channels to write letters, asking about the official's health, requesting to investigate the rumors, and then confessed their lack of ethics and integrity, and asked the official to establish a prince as soon as possible.

At the same time, you don’t need to think about it. The ten festivals, twelve commanderies, and hundreds of commanders have probably already gone through secret channels to greet the officials and express their loyalty... It is impossible to say that some of them do not understand the rules.

, directly asked for the crown prince in the secret letter.

In other words, the Zhao Guan family's fishing and law enforcement operation can be declared a failure from the very beginning.

However, throughout November, noisy expressions of loyalty were made everywhere, but no real results were produced at all.

Zhao Guan's family is still in the harem, but it is said that they have listened to the daily intelligence summary once every three days, and the source of the rumors still cannot be found. Instead, because the central government paid special attention to it, it became known to the whole world.

The prince was not established, and no one was punished. Of course, there was no change in the army...According to the words of a drunk commander, Zhao Guan's family replied eight words in his secret letter, which was, 'I don't care about you, don't do it.

blend'.

It seems like things have just stopped.

However, in December, the official family was still absent from the imperial meeting at the beginning of the month. In addition, the memorials from distant clan clans in Yangzhou were sent, and even the public atmosphere became a bit strange after all.

In other words, at this time, most people's judgments on this matter have gradually moved in the same direction.

And sure enough, after the last memorial was delivered, the Zhao family, who had failed in fishing, finally made a public appearance...or rather a semi-public appearance, because the location was chosen in the front hall of his palace, Gyeongbokgung Palace, which is the so-called Yeonhwajeon.

, and the important officials from the outer court who were summoned only included one public minister, four prime ministers, one censor Zhongcheng, and six ministers.

Of course, the various ministers who had been accompanying him on a daily basis were also able to attend...but they obviously did not have a say.

As the monarch and his ministers faced each other, the important ministers in the outer court instinctively focused on the official's posture and description, and the official did not cover up at all. He walked in from the backyard, walked easily, sat down in the palace and raised his head,

His face was rosy, his body was calm, and he looked like he had recovered a long time ago.

Seeing this scene, Lu Hao asked the following, but most of the people remained calm.

Of course, that's just the vast majority of people.

"Are they saying that I am causing trouble out of nothing?" After Zhao Guan's house was seated, Lan Gui, the commander of the Imperial Guard, Liu Yan, the direct commander of the imperial class, and Ren Baozhong, the chief minister of the pavilion, came forward to move piles of compiled memorials to the official's house.

On the previous case, and taking this opportunity, the official spoke directly, but he seemed to be smiling but not smiling.

"Officials should not use deceitful methods to govern people."

Censor Zhongcheng Li Guang, who had almost lost it when the official came in just now, finally couldn't hold it back at all this time. He stepped forward directly, raised his hands and admonished Zhao Guanjia who was sitting in the hall. "Don't the official know that his own safety is involved?

Is the country fundamental? And how many people have been in turmoil and how many unprovoked things have happened in this month? Who advised the officials to pretend to be sick for so long? I beg you to kill them to thank the world!"

Zhao Jiu looked at the piles of memorials on the cases in front of him and shook his head: "It was my own idea."

"Your Majesty!" Li Guang was furious for a moment.

"Li Qing, please be patient." Zhao Jiu remained calm and calm. "Actually, I would like to ask you to think about it. I had doubts for a while while I was ill and couldn't help but test it out. But later I recovered.

Why is this happening? Why should I really be there causing trouble?"

"Your Majesty." Ma Zhan, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, took a half-step forward with a dark face and raised his hands. "I take the liberty of saying that your Majesty's 'testing' means admitting that those rumors actually come from the palace?"

"Of course." Zhao Jiu said proudly, "I was the one who let him out!"

"Dare I ask why the officials are so ridiculous?!" Ma Shen was obviously more angry than Li Guang.

He couldn't help it, he was having a harder time than everyone else these days... Everyone regarded attacking him as a way to show their loyalty to the officials.

"Because I was really seriously ill at the end of October." Zhao Jiu answered calmly. "At that time, the whole day passed as soon as I closed my eyes and opened them. I was really afraid that I would directly see Daozu in a bad dream. I will never wake up. When the time comes for the situation that I have worked hard for six or seven years to create, who knows whether some great emperor, wise king, or wise empress will come out and change things, just like Yuan You changed after Shenzong?"

"Yuanyou..." Ma Shen stopped talking.

"Yuanyou's reform is just a party struggle after all." Zhao Jiu interrupted the other party, and then casually looked through the memorials in front of him. "But today's situation is related to the unity of the country. How can I allow people to destroy the government?" Appearing at this time? Therefore, at the end of October and the beginning of last month, I had actually made up my mind. If someone really dared to connect without authorization... hum... If the two saints dared to compete for the throne, I would really dare to be the candle shadow axe. and if the three empress dowagers and two noble concubines are involved, I will really dare to follow the example of Han Wu in killing his son and establishing his mother; and if there is some wise king, a powerful eunuch, etc. who dares to show up, I am too lazy to look for anything. It’s an allusion, it’s just a trick... In the final analysis, I will never allow the country to be peaceful! Even if there is the slightest tendency! I am alive, holding and dragging this country to fight against the Jin and the Northern Expedition. I am dead. , take away as many disasters as you can!"

Zhao Guanjia's tone was not harsh, even a little casual, but the eloquent words of tiger and wolf still made Ma Shen and Li Guang gradually grit their teeth, and the faces of the important ministers who arrived today became completely serious.

They really don't know how to say anything.

However, someone still has to speak... It won't work if you don't speak. Wouldn't it be unfaithful and unfilial not to speak?

"Officials be careful what they say."

After Zhao Ding, Zhang Jun, and several important ministers including the two tried to speak but were unable to do so, Lu Haowen, who had retired, sighed, stepped forward, and responded briefly.

"Is there anything you should be careful about?"

Zhao Guanjia, who was holding the memorial in his hand, did not raise his head, but only raised his eyes to look at Lu Haowen in front of him, then moved his eyes away from Lu Haowen, and then scanned the other important officials one by one before continuing to speak. road.

"In the final analysis, the Jingkang Incident was not just the gain or loss of one city plus the hunting of two saints in the north, but the loss of thousands of miles of land across the two rivers, the loss of millions of lives in the north and the Central Plains, and the actual demise of the old Song Dynasty and the new The chaos of the Song Dynasty... Compared with it, what kind of national decency, what kind of father and son are filial, what kind of etiquette system are nothing... Don't you all know this truth?"

No one said anything.

"Everyone knows." Zhao Jiu retracted his gaze and looked down at the memorial in his hands with a smile. "You are smart people and the most elite among the scholar-bureaucrats in the world. How can you not know? Those famous Taoists in the south also know that they are also the elite among the scholar-bureaucrats. .Local monks and lay dignitaries also know it, even the Koreans know it... However, some people just like to pretend not to know, as if they lower their heads and don't think about those unbearable things, don't do those hard things, just You can survive as long as you can. In this case, once there is Emperor Yuansheng, Queen Mother Renxuan, you guys, if you are willing to work hard with me today, it will gradually fade away in the future, right?"

Someone else couldn't stand listening anymore, but it turned out to be Zhang Jun and Zhang Deyuan: "Guan family! The results of the official family's test have been produced. There are not many people who are hiding their ears and stealing the bell. Generally speaking, everyone is still united, and they are all from the official family to the government."
To be continued...