Jiangling is an important town on the Yangtze River, and the Jinghu Zhizhi Department once moved here, so the government office is very grand. It is also more magnificent than Li Xia's palace in Chang'an.
But that night, the atmosphere in the lobby had changed from the joy of the first victory to a serious, slightly heavy one.
"Your Majesty, in the battle at Jiangling, the people in the city suffered countless casualties. Someone needs to take responsibility for this."
"Chen Yi, the former prefect of Jiangling in the Song Dynasty, led the Mongolian prisoners into the city, and he was the sinner of Jiangling City."
"I believe that Ma Shilong's merits and demerits are equal to each other, so it is not appropriate to award him a reward."
Li Xia was quite patient and said: "More than 10,000 troops were stationed in various parts of Jiangling. The Yuan army stormed Shashi Town. After Jiang Cai led his troops to support, the defenders in Jiangling City were only about 2,000 lone soldiers... If it were me, I might not be able to defend it.
"
"Ma Shilong has meritorious service, and I understand it. However, the people of Jiangling do not understand, the families of the deceased who were massacred by the Yuan army do not understand, and the people of the world do not understand... Someone needs to take responsibility for this to show that His Majesty is clear about rewards and punishments."
"Then let them understand."
"I am guilty."
Li Xia could only say: "You are not guilty."
"I am incompetent. I cannot teach the world the details of the Battle of Jiangling. When the news comes out, others will only say that Max Long lost the city gate, causing the Yuan army to massacre the people..."
"That's enough. If you want to hate them, you should also hate the Yuan army, not the soldiers under my command who fought bloody battles."
"This is the truth, but what I'm talking about is not truth, but human feelings..."
"I think what you said is unreasonable."
"However, when the emperor governs the country, he must take into account the principles that the people of the world want."
Shi Jun stood aside and looked around. Seeing that Li Xia was about to lose his patience, he had to cough and step forward to resolve the matter.
When he opened his mouth, he talked about something else.
"Your Majesty, Jiangling is a big city. There are several great scholars who are famous all over the world. I would like to recommend them to Your Majesty."
"Shi Qing, please speak."
"There was Wang Yinglin, a lay scholar from Shenning. He was once appointed as the Minister of Rites of the Song Dynasty. He was demoted to Changde Army for offending Jia Sidao. When he went to Jiangling, he happened to meet Wang Shi and stayed here. Wang Yinglin mastered the Six Classics at the age of nine and became a master of the Six Classics at the age of nineteen.
Zhongjinshi. In the fourth year of Xingchang, the examiners for the palace examination were Dian Wenyunsun, Lu Xiufu, Huang Zhen, Hu Sansheng, Dong Kai, Yang Qixin..."
After hearing this, Li Xia already roughly understood that Wang Yinglin was very famous.
Most of the officials Wu Qian transferred to Hanzhong at that time were Jinshi in that year, and they could all be regarded as Wang Yinglin's disciples.
Listening to Shi Jun talking about his works, and even saying that the "Three Character Classic" was also written by Wang Yinglin, Li Xia even wanted to win over this person.
"There is also Mr. Cao Chuang Zhou Mi, who has a wide network of friends and is famous all over the world for his poems. He also offended Jia Sidao and was dismissed from office. He recommended himself to Jiangdong's pacifier Ma Guangzu to assist in water transportation and was on official business in Jiangling; and Dai Biaoyuan,
He is a student of Wang Yinglin, and he was known as the 'Master of Southeast Asian Articles' at a young age..."
Shi Jun spoke for a while. Li Xia nodded and said, "Shi Qing just recruited them for me."
"I obey the order, but..."
Li Xia didn't agree with him and said calmly: "Just say what you want to say."
"I dare to ask Your Majesty what you think a 'benevolent king' should look like in the eyes of scholars."
"I know what you want to say." Li Xia said: "You all say that I shouldn't praise Max Long. In fact, what you want to say is not Max Long. You want me to commit suicide for the people who died for Jiangling City, right?"
Shi Jun was silent for a while, sighed, and said in a low voice: "Now is the time for your Majesty to compete with Zhao and Song for the hearts and minds of the people. This time the Yuan army massacred Jiangling, and many people died. The people of Jiangling will definitely blame your Majesty. So instead of
Waiting for them to blame me, why not ask Your Majesty to 'I am the one to blame' first."
After he finished speaking, he immediately added another sentence.
"I don't think your Majesty is guilty, but because..."
"I understand."
Li Xia interrupted Shi Jun.
There are many famous Confucians in Jiangling City. When the news of the Battle of Jiangling spreads, whose hands will control the right and wrong in the eyes of the people of Song Dynasty? It is in the hands of these famous Confucians.
Shi Jun hoped that he would act like a "benevolent king" in front of these famous scholars and win their favor.
If you want to be an emperor, this is what you should do.
"I understand." Li Xia repeated it again, turned to look at the other officials in the hall, and said, "Is this what you mean too?"
"Your Majesty cannot reward Ma Shilong at this time. Please be considerate of the people of Jiangling."
"I heard it, please go down."
Li Xia dismissed the courtiers in the hall, rubbed his forehead, and instead of resting, he casually put on a black cloak, passed Huo Xiaolian, and said: "You don't need to bring anyone else with you, just follow me for a walk in the streets and alleys."
.”
~~
There were cries everywhere in Jiangling City.
After the Yuan army entered the city, they were busy fighting with the Tang army. They did not deliberately massacre the city, but they did not care about the people. The exact number of people who died is still being counted. It can only be said that it was much better than massacre, but after all, it was still a human tragedy.
Walking through the streets, you can hear crying from every house.
The Tang army did not ask each household to identify the bodies, but tried their best to treat the injured and bury the dead together.
"Do you think they are right?" Li Xia suddenly asked.
Huo Xiaolian was in the hall when he was discussing with the ministers at night, and he knew the details, but after thinking hard, he still replied: "The final general is stupid and doesn't want to understand."
"So many people have died, I can accept that it's all my fault." Li Xia said.
He thought very clearly that since he wanted to be the emperor, these were the responsibilities he should bear.
Just like Liu Bei cried when he was crossing the river with his people, he cried, "How can I live if the people suffer this disaster just because of me?!" Today he, Li Xia, also had to cry.
It's not that Liu Bei is hypocritical, it's just that he has a different temperament. It's hard to imagine Cao Cao crying for the people.
As for Li Xia, he has always been "upright" in temperament. Deep down in his heart, he felt that the fault lay with the Yuan army and the people who led the way in surrendering. When he lowered his head, he seemed to be atone for the sins of these people. He vaguely felt that he was not sincerely guilty but that he was guilty.
Take advantage of the dead.
On second thought, these principles seem to make no sense.
He hoped that when people faced the persecution of aliens and traitors, they would dare to face these real perpetrators. He had done his best, and Ma Shilong had done his best, and he should not be the target of blame.
Anyway, I feel like something is wrong.
"Hypocritical."
Li Xia then scolded himself.
He just wore a black cloak and walked around the city like a ghost.
"Fu'er! Where are you?! My Fu'er..."
There was another cry from ahead.
It was an old woman lying in the mud crying, her hair covered with white hair, and she was crying hoarsely.
Li Xia motioned to Huo Xiaolian to come forward and help her, but Huo Xiaolian was still wary of the assassin and wanted to wait for the patrol around the corner to come over.
In fact, the assassin could tell by looking at the old woman's appearance that Li Xia simply stepped forward and gave her a hand.
"Fu'er?"
When the old woman raised her head, her eyes were swollen from crying. Li Xia looked through the firelight and could barely see her pupils, knowing that she was half blind.
"Fu'er? Are you okay?"
The old woman was very excited, holding Li Xia's arm and stroking it, and kept crying.
"My son, you're okay...you're okay...go home, mother cooked fish soup for you..."
She was stimulated and obviously lost her mind.
Li Xia stopped trying to pull the old woman away from Huo Xiaolian, simply supported the old woman and followed her.
Until I entered a very dilapidated cabin.
As for the so-called fish soup, there was only a small fish as thick as a finger, which had been stewed to a pulp...
~~
The next day it was dark and bright, so we went to school in Jiangling Mansion.
Many scholars in the city gathered here on this day, all wrapped in white cloth to express their condolences.
In front of the sculpture of Confucius in the main courtyard, everyone was discussing something.
"The one who brought chaos to the world is none other than Li Ni."
Anyone who dares to say such things is a person of no rank.
This is a student of Fu Xue, his name is Fang Zongchang, also known as Changqi. He has a younger brother who died in the war yesterday.
As soon as he opened his mouth, many people started to curse him.
"A rebellious and disloyal minister, an ambitious man, who had some military exploits, wanted to seek the throne and usurp the throne. Seeing that the Song Dynasty and the Meng Yuan Dynasty had negotiated peace, he had no chance to claim credit for himself, so he immediately rebelled and bombarded Jiangling for a month.
He also led Meng Yuan to kill him... I wish I could kill this thief!"
"Li Xiacheng is a traitor. He is arrogant based on his achievements. He colludes with the former emperor's concubines and rebels across the world. The territory is divided and the whole world is unruly. The people and gods are resentful and there is no escape..."
"Brothers, brothers, hush! I don't dare to say it anymore, I don't dare to say it anymore, and I don't want to see who is holding Jiangling City now..."
"You are afraid of him, but I am not afraid of him."
"Even if you are not afraid of him, what's the use of scolding him like this?"
"It's useful. I will write down the evidence of his crime and tell it to everyone in the world."
"Yes, that's exactly why I invited my classmates here today!"
"..."
Across a courtyard, Shi Jun was sitting opposite an old man.
After listening for a while, he shook his head and raised his hand to invite the other party to walk across the path.
"These scholars are extremely ridiculous."
"It's just that the positions are different. Zi Pangruo is in another position. He has been trapped in Jiangling for several months and his family was massacred. Do you still have a good impression of the King of Qin who besieged Jiangling?"
Shi Jun sighed and said: "Your Majesty really wants to run Jiangling well. This place is an important port for future transportation..."
"I believe in the sincerity of the King of Qin. Is this good? I can promise Zi Pang that if anyone asks me in the future, I will tell the truth about the battle of Jiangling."
Shi Jun smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty is thirsty for talents and receptive to advice. Can you please meet me?"
Zhou Mi who met him also sighed.
To be honest, he didn't have much fondness for Li Xia. He was just worried that Li Xia would persecute these scholars, so he dealt with Shi Jun.
If not, after what happened in Jiangling, I would definitely write an article to scold Li Xia severely.
As for meeting Li Xia... Although Zhou Miguan is not a high-ranking official, he is famous all over the world. If he wants to join Li Xia, he will have to pay for the reputation accumulated by the five generations of high-ranking officials.
He also had to take action to resolve the grievances in Jiangling City.
He then shook his head to show his unwillingness.
Shi Jun had no choice but to clasp his hands again and again and said seriously: "Your Majesty is a benevolent monarch who only meets once in the ages. Mr. Cao Chuang must never miss the Ming Lord..."
~~
Zhao Jin didn't sleep all night, and he didn't know what he was thinking about. He was very lost in thought.
After dawn, she opened her mouth and murmured: "Actually, I have known for a long time that the Zhao family will perish sooner or later..."
After a while, she didn't get an answer from Yan Rong. She turned around and saw that Yan Rong had walked outside the door and was talking to Tang An'an.
Zhao Jin then stood up and walked over, faintly hearing their conversation.
"Probably because you are angry with those ministers, Your Majesty came all the way from Ezhou. He expected that the Song army could let the Meng Yuan enter the country, and that the prefect of Jiangling could lead the Yuan army into the city. He really thought he was a god. No one in the world would save the world.
, can’t he save it alone?”
"Sister, don't be upset. I actually want your Majesty to show off so that you can attract famous scholars like Shen Ning."
"Wang Yinglin? That's worth it."
"Not only Mr. Wang? There is also the heart of a Jiangnan scholar."
"Oh, these scholars just want to make His Majesty behave coyly, force him to change his temper, and then give advice like a stream from now on..."