In the Ciyuan Hall, Queen Mother Xie Daoqing looked out through the bead curtain and saw her brother Xie Yichang sitting there, holding tea in his hand but not drinking, obviously he had something to say.
"You all go down first."
After a while, only the brother and sister were left in the palace.
"Brother should not come to the harem."
"Of course I understand this. Unless there is something important, how can I dare to bother the Queen Mother?" Xie Yichang put down his tea cup and said, "I heard that Jia Pingzhang plans to personally lead the army to the west."
"I haven't heard of it." Xie Daoqing held his forehead and said, "I haven't been feeling well lately and I haven't paid attention to these matters in the court."
"I don't know what's wrong with you, but since you're not sick in bed, you should know that there's going to be another war."
"How many days have passed since Ansheng's birthday? If the courtiers really follow my wishes, they should not provoke Li Xia at this juncture. If the covenant is broken and he wants to invade again, what should we do? This is like
During the Duanping period, the late emperor was determined to regain the three capitals..."
Xie Yichang shook his head and secretly scolded this sister for her long hair and short-sightedness. If she hadn't been the Queen Mother, he would have rebuked her a few words.
"Your Majesty, no matter how much you want peace, the upper reaches of the Yangtze River must be taken back!"
"How can I, a woman, understand these military and state affairs? It has been discussed in court and is left to your Majesty's decision. Why does my brother come to ask me?"
Xie Yichang asked: "After Jia Pingzhang leaves, who will be the prime minister in the court?"
"No matter who it is, my brother is a relative of the country, so there is no need to think about this aspect."
"But someone in the court said that the three generations of relatives of the Queen Mother should be conferred the title." Xie Yichang lowered his voice and said: "My father was posthumously named King of Wei, my grandfather, and my great-grandfather were all posthumously named King of Lu, and the men and women of the clan were promoted and given the same title.
A reward."
Xie Daoqing's eyes lit up slightly, and he was a little happy.
Regardless of men or women, it is a great good thing to be able to honor one's ancestors, not to mention that this is by no means an ordinary honoring one's ancestors.
"Who said that?" she asked.
Xie Yichang did not answer directly, but said: "It's nothing more than a few important ministers of the country in the court. Who among these people is of great use, the Queen Mother can naturally tell."
Only then did Xie Daoqing understand his brother's purpose of coming today.
Before Jia Sidao left, someone was already staring at the spot under his butt.
"Speaking of which, no matter who becomes the prime minister in the court, he will not be as arrogant and rude as Jia Sidao." Xie Yichang added.
Xie Daoqing shook his head and smiled slightly, saying: "Although Jia Sidao has the habits of a teenager, he works diligently and is still respectful to me and the emperor..."
"Boom!"
Suddenly, there was a sound of thunder, and the sky quickly darkened.
Xie Yichang got up, walked to the palace door, took a look outside, and came back and said, "Queen Mother, it's raining heavily."
"Why did it suddenly rain so heavily? The emperor is still offering sacrifices in the Ancestral Temple today, right?"
"Yes." Xie Yichang said, "There are unforeseen circumstances."
The brother and sister lamented the sudden rain and continued talking about the topic just now.
"What do you want me to do, brother?"
"Simple." Xie Yichang said: "Support Jia Sidao to lead his troops to the west. As for the future, we can talk about it after Jia Sidao leaves the court."
"He wants to go?"
"Don't look at his overwhelming power. In fact, he has no choice at all."
Xie Daoqing thought for a while and called in a eunuch.
"I issued an edict in the name of the Ai family. I am very pleased to hear that King Wang has recovered Kuimen. Considering the consumption of military resources and the lack of national supplies, we have reduced the expenses in the palace and reduced the promotion of Ciyuan Palace.
Official, see how much money it can save for the national treasury?"
"Slave, I'll go check it out right now."
After a while, the eunuch came back and said, "If you tell the Queen Mother, I can save ten thousand yuan a month."
"Draw up the decree. The Ai family must support Jia Pingzhang..."
At this time, a palace maid hurried into the palace and whispered to Xie Daoqing: "Queen Mother, Your Majesty has returned to the palace. The Queen Mother felt something was strange, so she sent a slave to report it."
"Going back to the palace?" Xie Daoqing looked at the sky and asked, "Is the sacrifice completed?"
"Probably not."
"Where is your Majesty?"
"At Hu Guifei's place."
Xie Daoqing frowned and turned to Xie Yichang.
Xie Yichang knew that it was inconvenient for him to stay in the palace any longer, so he bowed and resigned.
When he left the palace, he looked up and saw that the rain had stopped. He got on the sedan chair and gave instructions before swaying toward the Privy Council.
When he arrived at the Privy Council, he did not go back to the public room directly, but went to the side hall, where he saw someone warming himself by the fire and drinking tea.
"Mr. Zhang, did you get wet all over?"
Zhang Jian turned around and when he saw Xie Yichang coming, he waved his hands and laughed, saying: "I was soaked in the rain."
He had taken off his official uniform and hung it aside. He was only wearing a middle coat. The fabric was very rough and there were many patches on it.
Xie Yichang had always known that Zhang Jian was honest and honest, and he couldn't help but admire him when he saw that he still hid such frugality in his official clothes.
"Where is Mr. Ping Zhang?"
Zhang Jian sighed and said: "Ping Zhanggong got angry and went home."
Xie Yichang was shocked and asked: "What happened?"
"In the middle of the sacrifice, it rained heavily, so His Majesty went back to the palace without asking Ping Zhang Gong."
"Will the rain stop soon?"
"Yes, Mr. Pingzhang thought that His Majesty would come back to preside over the ceremony. However, when he didn't wait until he found out that His Majesty had returned to the palace, he became furious."
Xie Yichang stroked his beard and smiled, and asked: "I'm afraid it won't end well for Your Majesty, right?"
"Hu Xianzu, the father of Hu Guifei, encouraged Your Majesty to return to the palace." Zhang Jian looked deeply and said: "Next, we just need to see how many people in the court intercede for the Hu family and his daughter."
Xie Yichang glanced around casually and said, "Is this the story of a deer turning into a horse?"
Zhang Jian smiled, looked at him, and said no more in a tacit understanding.
~~
The next day.
"Pingzhang Gong, Your Majesty has dismissed Hu Xianzu from his official position and sent Hu Guifei to a nunnery as a nun. I just ask Pingzhang Gong to calm down."
When the news came, Jia Sidao was sitting there looking at his hands.
His palms opened and closed for a while, as if they held endless power.
"Isn't this a test arranged by you?"
"No, I didn't expect it to rain." Liao Yingzhong responded: "But it's better than the test we arranged."
"Hu Xianzu dares to confront me?"
"No, it was Mrs. Hu who calculated the time and thought that she would be pregnant with a dragon yesterday, so she was anxious for Hu Xianzu to send His Majesty to her palace."
When Liao Yingzhong said this, she felt something in her heart.
In any case, Hu Guifei is also a woman who is devoted to His Majesty. She was sent to a nunnery in less than half a day to live a life of poverty. Even in his opinion, the current His Majesty is a bit too useless.
Jia Sidao seemed confused and said, "It seems very quiet in the court this time?"
"Yes, it's very quiet."
"No one is going against me." Jia Sidao looked around, as if he had lost something, and murmured: "That's not right, how come no one is going against me?"
"This..." Liao Yingzhong was puzzled and asked: "Did Mr. Ping Zhang say that?"
"Everyone wants me to attack Li Xia. The students of the Imperial Palace made a fuss and the officials persuaded the Queen Mother that she would rather reduce the expenses in the palace to support the military. When have you ever seen such a concerted effort in the Song Dynasty? When Duan Ping entered Luo, the battle was completed
What's it like?"
"Then... Mr. Ping Zhang is not going?"
"No."
Jia Sidao patted his knees and said, "I have no choice but to go."
He shook his head, throwing away the uneasy and confusing thoughts that had just made him behind, and finally made up his mind.
The fact is, he has no choice.
Li Xia is about to attack Yanjing. When he regains the Central Plains, his next step will definitely be to go south to conquer the Song Dynasty. Once his navy is allowed to go down the Yangtze River from Sichuan and Shu, it will be impossible to defend Jiangnan.
This was the only chance for the Song Dynasty to regain Sichuan and Shu.
And only if Jia Sidao personally took command could the Song Dynasty have any hope of victory.
~~
Ever since the news of Li Xia's Northern Expedition came, Jia Sidao had already set up a governor's office in Lin'an and mobilized elites from various places.
The Song Army has long been ready to go, and the only thing that has not yet been determined is the person to take command.
Jia Sidao actually thought about taking Zhao Yu on an expedition because he was worried that political enemies would be disadvantageous to him if he was not in the court.
But it is easy to think about it, but there are many worries.
Lead the emperor to fight in person, and when the war is over, he will either rebel, or end up like Kou Zhun with no good end.
Even if you want to rebel, you have to win the battle, and as long as you can win, it doesn't make much difference whether you take Zhao Yu with you or not. On the contrary, if you take Zhao Yu with you, it seems that you will lose easily.
In private, Zhao Fu even knelt down and cried bitterly, begging Jia Sidao not to take him away.
"..."
At the end, only Jia Sidao, wearing a battle helmet, left the tide gate and boarded the warship.
This was his last moment before leaving.
In addition to the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, there were also officials from the Manchu Dynasty and people from all over the city sending them off.
The only person Jia Sidao wanted to see was Han Zhen, the commander-in-chief of the Forbidden Army.
He was so worried that even though he had told me countless times, he still had to give careful instructions at the end.
"Han Zhen, you are the person I trust most. While I am away from the DPRK, you will lead the imperial army to guard Lin'an for me."
"Don't worry, Mr. Pingzhang. As long as the general is still alive, no one can cause trouble to Mr. Pingzhang."
Jia Sidao grabbed Han Zhen's head.
"Remember, if anyone wants to impeach me, kill him."
"yes."
"Anyone who dares to spread rumors about me will be killed."
"yes."
"Anyone who feels that someone has a thought that is not good for me..."
"kill."
Han Zhen pointed to Lin'an City behind him and said: "When Ping Zhanggong left, it was Ping Zhang Gong who had the final say. When Ping Zhang Gong came back, it was even more up to Ping Zhang Gong."
"good."
Only then did Jia Sidao feel that he had arranged everything, patted Han Zhen and asked him to get off the boat.
"Moo!"
There was a long trumpet sound, and the naval generals on each warship shouted: "Sail!"
"Return victoriously! Return victoriously..."
Amidst the cheers, Jia Sidao looked back at Lin'an City again, with a hint of depth in his eyes.
He had to admit that he was too attached to this city.
Who could not love it?
In the southeast, Qiantang has been prosperous since ancient times.
But in such troubled times, someone has to stand up and guard it.
"gone."
The boat was sailing on the Qiantang River, and a cricket box was thrown into the river.
Jia Sidao's face was no longer as frivolous as usual.