Zhao Yan originally wanted to go to Su Song in person to ask why the court suddenly helped the Jurchens, but before he could leave Huang Wude, he received a report from his home. Su Song actually came to the mansion to ask for a meeting. It was probably because of this, so Zhao Yan did not dare to delay and hurriedly said goodbye to Huang Wude, and then hurried home.

When Zhao Yan came to the front hall, she happened to see Su Song sitting in the living room and drinking tea. When she saw him in, she immediately stood up and smiled: "Your Highness, you seem to be very interested in the Jurchens. If I had known it before, I should have told you before."

"It's okay, I didn't expect the court to think of helping the Jurchens, but what was going on with this matter? Why didn't I hear any rumors in advance?" Zhao Yan sat down and took a sip of tea and asked.

When Zhao Yan asked this question, Su Song pondered for a moment before speaking, "Your Highness, you don't know anything. Speaking of which, this matter is really a legend. The court would not have noticed a small tribe in the north of the Liao Kingdom, but because of the arrival of a person, the court began to pay attention to the Jurchens..."

Su Song said as he explained the reason why the Song Dynasty suddenly decided to help the Jurchens. It turned out that all this was because of a scholar from the Liao Kingdom named Wang Lun. Wang Lun was not young, his hair and beard were mostly white. It is said that he still had a considerable reputation among scholars from the Liao Kingdom. He was considered a figure like the master of Confucianism. Many nobles of the Liao Kingdom wanted to send their children and grandchildren to study under Wang Lun. However, according to Wang Lun himself, he had never accepted students from other races because of his heart.

Originally, Wang Lun had been living in the Zhongjing Mansion of Liao Kingdom, but for some time, he suddenly took his whole family and secretly fled to the Song Dynasty with his family. Then he entered Sima Guang's mansion through some channels, impressed Sima Guang with his own talent and knowledge. He also proposed to the Song Dynasty to assist the Jurchens in consuming the strength of the Liao Kingdom.

Sima Guang also attached great importance to Wang Lun's suggestion and immediately reported it to Empress Dowager Gao. Then Empress Dowager Gao summoned several ministers to discuss. Although Su Song had not yet been promoted to the prime minister, it was a matter of time, so he was fortunate to participate in this discussion. As a result, Chen Shengzhi suddenly proposed that when Emperor Yingzong Zhao Shu was in power, he had proposed a plan to aid the Jurchens, but later he didn't know why it was left unresolved. As a result, the news provided by Chen Shengzhi made Empress Dowager Gao very happy and was more optimistic about the plan to aid the Jurchens. Now the court is collecting information about the Liao Kingdom and the Jurchens. If there is no problem, the court will take the initiative to send people to the Jurchens to discuss the peace talks.

After hearing what happened, Zhao Yan couldn't help but sigh. It seemed that Huang Wude had a good analysis. Although Empress Dowager Gao and the others knew that Zhao Shu had a plan to aid the Jurchens, they didn't know that the plan was actually because they were wandering to the Jurchens, and they didn't know that the plan was destroyed by themselves. After all, these things are absolutely confidential. Except for the few people who participated in it, others probably haven't even heard of it, and there is no record of this in the Imperial City Department. No wonder Empress Dowager Gao and the others didn't know it.

"Brother Zirong. Do you think the court should help the Jurchens?" Finally, Zhao Yan suddenly asked Su Song. Su Song obviously didn't know the grudge between him and the Jurchens, so Zhao Yan wanted to hear his opinion on this matter.

Su Song thought for a moment after hearing his words, and then spoke very cautiously: "Although the idea of ​​aiding the Jurchens is a bit bold, the Liao Kingdom has always been a powerful enemy of our Song Dynasty. Although we had snatched the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun from the Liao Kingdom before, we still cannot relax against the Liao Kingdom, and we cannot miss any opportunity to weaken them. Now that the Liao Kingdom has been upside down by the Jurchens, we might as well push it. Whether it succeeds or not, we only need to pay some materials and weapons. We don't need to worry about the others."

The meaning of Su Song's words is very clear, and he also agrees with this matter. After all, the Song Dynasty only needs to pay a small price to establish a strong enemy for the Liao Kingdom. The so-called enemy of the enemy is a friend. The Song Dynasty gave them assistance when the Jurchens were weak. Even if the Jurchens were strong in the future, they would remember this favor. So no matter from any aspect, this matter is very cost-effective for the Song Dynasty. Of course, the premise is that the Jurchens cannot expand too quickly, and they cannot destroy the Liao Kingdom in just a few years, which will lead to a threat to the Song Dynasty. Unfortunately, these prerequisites have happened in the history of later generations.

Su Song's attitude also represents the attitude of a considerable number of ministers in the Song Dynasty, which is exactly what Zhao Yan is most worried about. After Su Song finished speaking the above words, he saw that Zhao Yan's expression was wrong, and he couldn't help but ask strangely: "Your Highness, look at your appearance, it seems that you do not agree with the matter of aiding the Jurchens?"

Since Su Song had asked this, Zhao Yan considered it for a while but did not intend to hide it from him. So he smiled bitterly and said, "Brother Zirong doesn't know that our Song Dynasty will definitely not help the Jurchens. And even if the Jurchens accepted our assistance this time, when they became stronger in the future, they may regard our Song Dynasty as a life-and-death enemy, and there is absolutely no possibility of reconciliation!"

"This... why is this?" Su Song couldn't help but ask in surprise when he heard Zhao Yan's words.

"Oh, this matter is very complicated, and it is not something that can be explained clearly in a few words. However, I must not let the court help the Jurchens. It seems that I have to go to the palace to explain this matter to the Empress Dowager and the ministers. Brother Zirong is just here to go with me!" Zhao Yan sighed again. He did not want to interfere in the affairs of the court, but now it seems that this matter is inseparable from him, and he can't do it if he doesn't want to go.

Hearing Zhao Yan say this, Su Song doesn't know how to ask again. He left the villa with Zhao Yan and got on a carriage to the palace. On the way, Zhao Yan was thinking about how to explain the original story to Empress Dowager Gao and the others. Su Song wanted to ask several times, but he didn't dare to disturb him when he saw Zhao Yan's distressed look.

After Zhao Yan's carriage entered the city, he did not go directly to the palace, but went to the Hanlin Academy to find Su Shi. Because Zhao Yan was worried that Empress Dowager Gao would not believe his words, he also called Su Shi, one of the parties involved. Originally, Huang Wude was also an insider of this matter, but Huang Wude was in poor health and he had always had good friends with Zhao Yan. Empress Dowager Gao might not believe his words. In contrast, Su Shi was highly valued by Empress Dowager Gao, so his testimony must be more convincing than Huang Wude.

At first, Su Shi didn't know what Zhao Yan was doing to him. Although he was a Hanlin bachelor, only a few husbands knew about the assistance of the Jurchens. He didn't hear any rumors in his identity. However, after he got on the carriage, Zhao Yan told him what happened. As a result, Su Shi also smiled bitterly after hearing this. He knew that Zhao Yan had killed the leader of the Jurchen Wanyan tribe with his own hands. Now the court still had to form an alliance with the Wanyan tribe, which was simply impossible.

After picking up Su Shi, Zhao Yan's carriage rushed to the palace. However, just as the carriage was about to enter the palace gate, the coachman suddenly stopped, which made Zhao Yan stunned. He opened the window and asked, "What's wrong, why did the car stop?"

"Your Highness, how many people knelt in front of the palace gate and blocked the way into the palace!" At this time, the guard stepped forward to report.

"Someone dares to block the way at the palace gate?" Zhao Yan couldn't help but say in surprise when he heard this. He opened the car door and looked forward curiously. However, when he saw the people in front clearly, he was shocked, because the people in front were actually his acquaintances. Although he could only recognize the other person.

It was precisely because of this that Zhao Yan hurriedly jumped off the carriage and quickly walked to the palace gate. He saw several people kneeling here. Among them, the leader was an old man in official uniform. It was Gu Tianjie who was brought back from Wanyan's tribe. Gu Tianjie was originally sick at that time, but he was rescued by Cao Qi and Zhilugu. Later, Zhao Yan arranged for a position in the military academy and was also an official in the Song Dynasty. However, he was in poor health and had retired from the military academy and returned home to retire. But today he actually came to the palace gate and was wearing formal official uniforms. It was really hard to understand.

Behind Gu Tianjie, the one who was kneeling was his daughter, Bone's husband Zhou Tong, and the marriage between Zhou Tong and Bone was Zhao Yan personally helped them. Besides, beside Bone and Zhou Tong, there were two men and one woman and three children. Zhao Yan had seen these children during the Chinese New Year. They were Zhou Tong and Bone's children. It can be said that Gu Tianjie's family is all here.

"Brother Gu, Zhou Tong, why are you... kneeling here?" Zhao Yan asked in surprise when he came to Gu Tianjie. Gu Tianjie and Zhou Tong both served in the military academy and were considered formal officials. It was precisely for this reason that the guards of the palace gate did not drive them away. Otherwise, if they were ordinary people, they would probably have been arrested before they got close to the palace gate.

"Your Highness! You... cough cough~ why are you here too?" Gu Tianjie's family was also very surprised to see Zhao Yan, but Gu Tianjie's health was very poor. In one sentence, there were several violent coughs, and his face turned pale due to the cough, which made the bone hurriedly kneel down and help his father pat his back.

Seeing Gu Tianjie's health was so bad, Zhao Yan hurriedly helped him up and let the bones help him to rest on his carriage. Then he asked Zhou Tong: "What the hell is going on? Why did your family run to the palace gate and kneel?"
Chapter completed!