Zhao Yan had extremely puzzled in his heart, so he had to follow Zhao Shu back to the palace. When Zhao Xu saw him on the road, he winked at him several times, as if he had something to tell him, but Zhao Shu directly asked Zhao Yan to accompany him on a dragon chassis. As a result, Zhao Yan had no chance to find Zhao Xu. When he finally returned to the palace, Zhao Shu only let him follow him into the Chuigong Hall alone.

"Father, I wonder if you have anything important to come to me?" It was Zhao Xu's strange reaction on the way that made Zhao Yan feel that Zhao Shu was looking for him today, so he asked immediately as soon as he came in.

"Yan'er, your elder brother has returned from Xixia. It's time to put the matter of establishing a crown princess. Some time ago, I and the queen selected a few spare crown princess candidates. Each of them is a good woman with talent and virtue. I want your elder brother to choose a woman from among them and make him crown princess, but he kept dragging it. It was simply inappropriate!" Zhao Shu said angrily at this time.

When Zhao Yan heard this, he regretted and wanted to hit the wall. He didn't expect that Zhao Shu would find him to be wrong again because of Zhao Xu's establishment of the Crown Princess. Last time, he even went to Xixia specifically because of Hua Zhi's incident. He suffered a lot because of this. He finally came back. He thought that the matter was finally over, but he didn't expect that Zhao Shu would ask him to discuss this matter again?

"Father, it's not a trivial matter to be appointed as a crown princess. It's normal for the elder brother to think carefully, so I think it's better to give him more time. Maybe he will figure it out tomorrow." Although he was very regretful and dissatisfied, Zhao Yan had no choice but to answer, and could only muddle his mind.

"How can that be? Your elder brother was thinking about making Hua Zhi the Crown Princess. Now he finally changed his mind. Of course, I would like to let him determine the Crown Princess now, so as not to have too many dreams!" Zhao Shu said with a glaring eyes.

"That's true!" Zhao Yan pretended to have a meditative expression. In fact, he didn't want to care about this matter at all. So he finally said perfunctorily again, "That's better, father, call your elder brother, and force him to choose one of those selected women, and then let them get married today. When the elder brother and the princess have children, they may support some attention to Hua Zhi."

"Oh. I want to do this too, but your elder brother is good at other aspects, but he is very stubborn in the marriage. He doesn't even listen to my father's opinions, and the queen has no choice but to ask him, so I was worried that if he would bite him to death and refuse to agree, wouldn't my father, come to Taiwan?" Zhao Shu said again at this time, and at the same time, his eyes also looked at Zhao Yan with some expectations.

"I understand. Father, don't you want your son to urge your elder brother?" Zhao Yan asked with a wry smile again. In fact, he had already understood Zhao Shu's intention just now, but he had been pretending to be confused, hoping that Zhao Shu could change his mind, but now Zhao Shu has said everything to this point, which makes Zhao Yan unable to pretend to be confused.

"Haha, Yan'er, you are smart. This time I really want you to come on your behalf. Let's ask which one your elder brother is going to choose?" Zhao Shu said with a smile again. When he came to Zhao Yan, he really wanted Zhao Yan to help him urge Zhao Xu.

Zhao Yan wanted to refuse. But when he saw Zhao Shu's appearance, he didn't know how to refuse. After all, this is a family matter, not a state matter. As a member of this family, he also has the obligation to assume the responsibility of the family, so he had to nod and said, "Okay. I'll ask my elder brother, but he just came back from Xixia, maybe he wanted to take a few more days to rest before considering the matter of taking the crown princess."

Seeing Zhao Yan agreeing, Zhao Shu laughed and said, "Xu'er has the best relationship with you, and he will definitely listen to your words. Speaking of which, he is not young anymore, and the matter of establishing a crown princess cannot be delayed anymore!"

Seeing Zhao Shu's happy look, Zhao Yan could only echo helplessly and then prepared to say goodbye. However, Zhao Shu called him to stop and said again: "Yan'er, the Western Xia has been destroyed, and I, the Song Dynasty, have lost one of the major troubles. Now there is only the strong enemy of Bei Liao. How do you think we should deal with this strong enemy?"

"This..." Zhao Yan didn't expect that Zhao Shu would ask him about national affairs. If he asked him other questions, Zhao Yan could talk about it, but he knew nothing about such national affairs. After all, Zhao Yan was just an ordinary person in his previous life. He had never been exposed to such national affairs except for occasionally looking at current affairs.

Seeing that Zhao Yan didn't say anything, Zhao Shu knew that the question he asked him was a bit difficult. After all, these were not Zhao Yan's strengths at all. He smiled and said, "Yan'er, since our Song Dynasty destroyed the Western Xia, the combat effectiveness of the army has been greatly enhanced. Even if it faces the Liao army, it will not be at a disadvantage. So during this period, the court has been discussing one thing, that is, to cancel the annual tribute to the Liao Kingdom. Do you have any opinions on this?"

"Cancel the annual tribute!" Zhao Yan shouted in surprise when he heard the news, and immediately nodded wildly, "Father, this matter is a great thing. Even Erchen thinks it should have been cancelled long ago, so Erchen also agrees with this!"

Seeing Zhao Yan so excited about this, Zhao Shu sighed and said, "Yan'er, there are still many controversies in the court about the cancellation of the annual monies. Some of them, like you, think that the annual monies should be cancelled, but some people think that the annual monies should be cancelled every year. If they offend Liao by cancelling the annual monies, it may cause Liao to cut off the exchange between us and the Song Dynasty. This loss is much greater than that of the annual monies. Therefore, these people think that even if they pay some annual monies, they should protect the exchange between Liao."

"Father, the account is not calculated like this!" Zhao Yan immediately shouted when he heard this, "Although the annual monies are not large every year, the transaction income with the Liao Kingdom is far more than the annual monies, but father, don't forget that my Song Dynasty was not as powerful as that of the people who agreed to pay annual monies every year in exchange for the Liao army not going south."

When Zhao Yan said this, he paused for a moment, and then said angrily: "And from ancient times to the present, only weak countries have paid tribute to strong countries. Therefore, although the annual monies are not large, it is a shame for me. It is precisely because of these annual monies that we Song people feel a little straight and unhappy when facing the Liao people, which also makes the Liao Kingdom more arrogant towards our Song Dynasty. These are not something that can be exchanged for. Therefore, my son believes that even if we suffer some losses, we cannot pay a penny to the Liao Kingdom!"

Hearing Zhao Yan's passionate words, Zhao Shu also felt the passion in his heart boiling. However, as the king of a country, he naturally could not only consider what Zhao Yan said, so he quickly calmed down and showed a thoughtful look. In fact, he was more inclined to cancel the annual monies. After all, as the king of a country, he had to pay tribute to the enemy country. Although it was nominally an annual monies, in essence everyone knew what was going on.

However, Zhao Shu also had his own concerns, that is, the resistance in the court. After all, there were not many ministers who opposed the abolishment of annual monies, especially those ministers who occupied a part of the interests in the trade with Liao, who opposed it even more. What made Zhao Shu even more troubled was that Han Qi's family also occupied a considerable interest in Hebei and also operated business with Liao. Therefore, Han Qi's attitude towards this matter was also very ambiguous. In addition to respecting the prime minister of the Song Dynasty who helped him to the throne, Zhao Shu also had some concerns, so he had to consider Han Qi's attitude.

"Father, what are you concerned about?" Zhao Yan also saw the meaning of the expression on Zhao Shu's face at this time, and couldn't help but ask. Hearing his inquiry, Zhao Shu couldn't help but sigh, and then he spoke out the resistance he faced in the court.

Zhao Yan did not expect that even Han Qi would oppose the abolition of the annual monies, but it was normal to think about it. After all, even as the prime minister of the Song Dynasty, he was a mortal. Moreover, in the Confucian concept of family and country, the interests of the family are actually the first priority. If the interests of the family conflict with the interests of the country, it would be normal for them to choose the family and give up the country. Even other people would not accuse them of this. This is also the reason why the aristocratic families were rampant in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. By the Northern Song Dynasty, although these aristocratic families had disappeared, the influence left behind was far from dissipated. Many people were trying hard to build their families into new aristocratic families, and Han Qi naturally could not avoid this.

"Father, even if Han Qi opposes it, the other husbands shouldn't oppose it, right?" Zhao Yan pondered for a moment after hearing it, and finally spoke again.

"This is not the case. Ouyang Xiu was very supportive of abolishing the annual monies, and he quarreled with some opposing ministers in the court. However, although Ouyang Xiu had a great reputation, his influence in the court was far less than that of Han Qi. So even with his support, the resistance faced by his father was extremely great!" Zhao Shu sighed again. Although Han Qi did not explicitly oppose it, his attitude on this matter was ambiguous, which was enough to show his attitude, which also influenced the attitude of many ministers in the court.

"Excellent literary reputation?" Zhao Yan didn't hear what Zhao Shu said later, because when he heard Zhao Shu's evaluation of Ouyang Xiu, a sudden flash of inspiration in his mind, and he thought of a way to reduce the resistance to this matter, but this method was a bit too bold, which made him not know whether he should tell Zhao Shu for a while?

"Yan'er, what are you thinking?" Zhao Shu was stunned when he saw Zhao Yan, and immediately asked. He knew that Zhao Yan had always had the most ideas, so he told him about this. In addition to complaining to him, he just wanted to hear what Zhao Yan could do?

Hearing Zhao Shu's words, Zhao Yan's expression changed several times, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "Father, I have a bold idea, but don't be angry if you say it!" (To be continued...)

Chapter 529 Cancel the annual monies:

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Chapter completed!