On the morning of the next day, Emperor Zhao Gou held a military and political meeting in the Zhengshi Hall in the side hall of Ziwei Hall.
In addition to the five prime ministers, several academicians also participated in the discussion.
Zhang Jun and Zhao Ding's return to office was very sudden. Although it is normal for a prime minister to return to office after being deposed, there are usually precursors, and basically he will know in advance.
But this time, there was no sign at all. The sudden decree was issued, which really surprised the two of them. However, they happened to be in Lin'an, so they put on the purple clothes again the next day.
Everyone was talking in low voices. Zhang Jun said to Zhao Ding: "In the past two days, there have been quite a lot of calls from the Central Government for the Northern Expedition. Does Mr. Zhao know about it?"
Wang Ding nodded, "I heard something, and it should be related to Chen Qingdong's expedition. I heard that Chen Qingdong's expedition went smoothly, and the court couldn't sit still."
Zhang Jun hesitated and said: "It is a good thing that the imperial court wants to do the Northern Expedition, but I feel that it seems a bit hasty, more hasty than ever before."
Wang Ding sneered and said: "Bianliang is about to be captured by the Western Army. Can the court not be anxious?"
On the other side, Qin Hui seemed a little uneasy. Zhu Shengfei talked to him about Yue Fei, but he lost his previous enthusiasm.
There is a reason why Qin Hui has been the prime minister for so many years. He is not only good at figuring out the emperor's intentions, but also has strong political acumen. The two poems published in the "Beijing News" yesterday mean that Chen Qing took action in Yue Fei's affair.
Then early this morning, the emperor held an impromptu meeting at the political hall. Will they talk about Yue Fei?
As for the matter of his son Lin Yifei, Qin Hui didn't care much about it. The official family already knew about it, and since he had no children, the official family also sympathized with him, so naturally they would not accuse him of hiding the son from his ex-wife.
The key is that Qin Hui couldn't figure out the emperor's attitude, so his attitude towards Yue Fei became vague and not as tough as before.
At this time, the guard shouted, "Your Majesty is here!"
Everyone stood up one after another, and the Emperor Zhao Gou walked quickly from the side, stood in front of the dragon bed and said apologetically: "My dear friends, I have kept you waiting for a long time!"
Everyone saluted together, "Join Your Majesty!"
Zhao Gou waved his hand, "Please sit down!"
Everyone sat down, and Zhao Gou pondered for a while and said: "Today, my dear friends, we are mainly discussing the possibility of the Northern Expedition. Yesterday I received a joint letter from hundreds of officials, which reminded me of the difficulties of our ancestors in starting a business and maintaining success.
After arriving in Bianliang, I thought of Daqing Palace, and I didn't sleep all night."
Just when everyone thought that the emperor was going to start discussing the Northern Expedition, Zhao Gou unexpectedly changed the topic and said: "But before discussing the Northern Expedition, I want to settle Yue Fei's matter first. Qin Xianggong, Zhu Xianggong, do you have anything to say?"
?”
Qin Hui was shocked. As he expected, he really wanted to talk about Yue Fei first. Moreover, he remembered clearly that the day before yesterday, when the officials mentioned Yue Fei's case, they used the word "case", "Yue Fei's case", but today the case changed.
It became a matter, 'Yue Fei's matter'.
With this small change in wording, Qin Hui knew that the mentality of the officials had changed. I am afraid that the threat Chen Qing published in the "Beijing News" yesterday had taken effect. At this critical moment, Qin Hui also decided to take a step back.
Qin Hui bowed slightly and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, I have nothing to say for the time being."
Zhu Shengfei suddenly became anxious. Yesterday, he talked about convicting Yue Fei together. Why didn't he have any objection today?
Zhu Shengfei ignored Qin Hui. He bowed and said: "Your Majesty, it is clearly written in the memorial of Wei Chen that Yue Fei and Chen Qing colluded privately. He deliberately allowed Chen Qing's army to cross the border, causing the situation on Jinghu South Road to worsen. Wei Chen has
Witnesses' testimonies must be scrutinized strictly, and if their guilt is proven, they will be severely punished!"
At this time, Xu Xiantu stood up and said: "I have different opinions on what Zhu Xianggong said. Please allow me to say a few words."
Zhao Gou nodded, "Mr. Xu, please tell me!"
Xu Xiantu held up a memorial and said: "This is a petition from Dali Temple to the Privy Council early this morning. It is a petition from Yue Fei. I have made a copy and handed the original to Your Majesty."
A eunuch came forward to take the letter and put it on the emperor's desk. Zhao Gou read it and listened to Xu Xiantu's explanation.
"Yue Fei wrote a letter saying that he had never reached any agreement with Chen Qing on the transit of troops, rations, or supplies. Only the first time, with Zhe Yanzhi's permission, he allowed 9,900 cavalry to cross the border to suppress bandits in Jingnan.
, and then there are soldiers returning home to visit relatives and crossing the border. Other than that, there is no such thing as Chen Qing’s army or military rations crossing the border.”
Zhu Shengfei said angrily: "Mr. Xu, is it possible that the letter of exposure from his general Fu Xuan was a false accusation against him?"
Xu Xiantu said calmly: "I also read Fu Xuan's expose letter. It probably refers to the tens of thousands of camels coming from Jingzhao to cross the border many times. Fu Xuan thought it was military rations and military supplies, but
Regarding this issue, Yue Fei also explained in his letter that those camels were carrying ordinary goods and were actually officials and merchants from Jingzhao. He has never interfered with the transit of commercial goods."
Zhu Shengfei sneered: "But who knows whether those are goods or military supplies?"
"Here's the problem. Fu Xuan actually didn't know what the camels were carrying. He also guessed that they were military supplies, but Yue Fei had evidence to prove that the camels were not carrying supplies."
"Ms. Xu, what evidence does Yue Dutong have?" Zhao Ding spoke for the first time. He had a very good impression of Yue Fei, and he did not believe that Yue Fei had any intention of treason.
"The Western Army stationed on Jinghu South Road is affiliated to the Sichuan Road Soldiers and Horses Mansion. Their military supplies and personnel replacements are all arranged by the Sichuan Road Soldiers and Horses Mansion. There will never be a Jingzhao Mansion that bypasses the Sichuan Road Soldiers and Horses Mansion and directly
Sending military rations to the garrison on Jinghu South Road is not allowed by any army, just like our court will never bypass the state capital and go directly to a certain county.
Secondly, it is more convenient to transport grain and grass supplies by water. If there is no good water transport in the Yangtze River, why should we use camels to carry a few grains and grass supplies and travel thousands of miles to Jiangling?"
There was laughter in the hall, and Qin Hui hurriedly smoothed things over: "Xiangong Zhu did not know who the garrison on Jinghu South Road belonged to. He also inferred from common sense that after all, there were indeed more than 9,000 cavalry passing through the border."
At this time, Zhao Gou was a little impatient. His attitude was so clear. What was there to argue about? He waved his hands and said: "Yue Fei may have made some unintentional mistakes, but he has merit in resisting the Jin Dynasty, and his merits outweigh his faults. I
Since we have to consider the Northern Expedition, it would be unjustifiable both emotionally and rationally to convict a general who had been involved in the Northern Expedition. It would make people criticized all over the world, so I decided not to pursue the case. Yue Fei's merits and demerits were balanced, and he was granted the title of Sanfu of the imperial court.
Zhangzhou incident."
Yue Fei finally came out of Dali Temple. It was like a dream. Before he was imprisoned, he had the title of general, Duke of Tangyin County, governor of the capital, and Xuanfu envoy of Jinghu North Road. After being imprisoned, everything was gone. He was completely eliminated.
Jing, after being released from prison, transformed into a fifth-grade civil servant.
Yue Fei looked at the clear sky and let out a long sigh. He knew that he would never have the chance to lead an army again.
Yue Lei was waiting in front of the official office of Dali Temple. He quickly ran up to support his father. Zhang Bao also stepped forward and choked with sobs: "The lord has finally come out!"
Yue Fei smiled bitterly and said: "It's not easy for me to come out! I owe Chen Qing a huge favor. Zhang Bao, I'm going to Fujian Road to be a civil servant soon. Will you still follow me?"
Zhang Bao wiped away his tears and said: "I am an orphan in this humble position. If I don't follow my lord, where can I go? Of course I will follow you."
Yue Fei nodded, "Lei'er, is your mother still in Yuhang County?"
"Let's go! Let's go to Yuhang County."
Yue Fei got on the bullock cart and followed his son and Zhang Bao to Yuhang County.
Three days later, Yue Fei and his family boarded a five-thousand-stone ship at the Qiantang River dock. This was specially arranged by Hu Yun. The ship left the Qiantang River and took the sea route to Zhangzhou to take office.
On the same day that Yue Fei left Lin'an, the Political Affairs Hall passed the "Northern Expedition Initiative" proposed by Tao Lin, a great scholar, and jointly called for by 274 officials. Emperor Zhao Gou officially appointed Zhang Jun as the envoy to Huaibei.
Han Shizhong, in charge of the Northern Expedition, led an 80,000-strong army to the northern expedition to Xuzhou, Suzhou, Haizhou and Pizhou. The front line pointed at Li Qiong's 30,000-strong army.