Where Zhao Fu's eyes fell, Jia Sidao's eyes were full of sincerity.
The words almost came out of his mouth.
"That's not what I meant." Jia Sidao was a little surprised. He restrained his loyal eyes and said seriously: "I have found the method that Wu Qian wanted to use to frame the officials."
"You, you, you... know what?" Zhao Yu asked in surprise, jumping up and down as if trying to escape.
He was really frightened.
Although he is the emperor, he really can't do anything.
He had supreme power, but this power was never in his hands. The civil servants of the Manchu Dynasty had almost all the power to deal with state affairs.
In addition, he has imperial power, but he doesn't know how to use it, and he can't use it at all.
After ascending the throne, he was only representing the imperial power, and behind him there were the queen mother, empress, and clan, who could represent the imperial power for him at any time.
He actually has no power.
Han Kanwei plus the Empress Dowager Wu, Shi Miyuan plus the Empress Dowager Yang can easily abolish the throne.
Jia Sidao can do it too.
Jia Sidao was full of party members and had a good relationship with the Queen Mother Xie...
Zhao Yu was so frightened that he wanted to cry.
He was afraid of Cheng Yuanfeng, afraid of Ye Mengding, and even more afraid of Li Xia. He was really afraid of Li Xia before, but now the person he fears most is Jia Sidao.
I even wanted to kneel down to Jia Sidao.
Fortunately, Jia Sidao comforted him in time.
"I don't know anything else but to be loyal to the official family and to the clan of the Song Dynasty."
Zhao Fu wanted to cry even more and said anxiously: "Xiang Jia, please speak clearly!"
"I am worthy of the trust of the officials."
…
for a long time.
After the monarch and his ministers had a conversation, their attitudes were completely different.
Jia Sidao looked calm, as if he was the king.
Zhao Fu, on the other hand, looked at him like his nephew in front of Jia Sidao.
"Jia Xiang, are you really going to protect me?"
"The officials can rest assured. The officials only need to feel at ease to inherit the incense for the Song Dynasty ancestral temple. As for the difficult state affairs, the ministers must share the worries of the officials."
When Jia Sidao said this, he felt vaguely ridiculous.
As a minister, he was so outspoken that he did not allow the emperor to govern personally. He was like Huo Guang... No, he was the Duke of Zhou.
Zhao Fu didn't feel anything was wrong at all, but he breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this.
"Great! Then we can leave state affairs to Jia Xiang. The queen also said that Cheng Yuanfeng, Ye Mengding and others threatened the emperor, thinking that the Song Dynasty would not be able to survive without them, so he should let them go...right...right?
"
Jia Sidao had to remind: "Ye Mengding and Yang Dong are the emperor's teachers. It is not appropriate for officials to allow them to resign. Cheng Yuanfeng can."
"Then I will definitely no longer listen to Ye Mengding, but all to Jia Xiang."
Zhao Fu tried his best to show kindness and repeated it again.
"I totally listen to Jia Xiang."
He had completely forgotten what he said when he pulled Ye Mengding's clothes back then.
Listening to these kind words, Jia Sidao looked at Zhao Yu's dull eyes and felt Zhao Yu's ruthlessness and selfishness.
King Rong, the late emperor, Guan De, Li Xia, Ye Mengding, Yang Dong... were all the same. No matter how deep their love was with Zhao Su, they all threw it away without any trace of reluctance or pity.
The same must be true for him, Jia Sidao.
But it doesn't matter. Unlike Li Xia, he knew he couldn't control the court, so he only dared to run to the remote countryside of Sichuan.
This Great Song Dynasty Hall is really difficult to master.
Only he, Jia Sidao, can do it...
~~
Wu Shan.
Guan De hurried to the princess mansion.
As I turned around Qingwazi, I suddenly saw a few men blocking the road.
"Who doesn't open his eyes..."
Halfway through Guan De's words, he saw the other party lift up his sleeves, revealing a prosthetic leg. He was slightly surprised, and quickly called the other party forward to confirm the talisman, and then they went into Li's house together.
"I've been corresponding with Chief Guan for a long time, and we just met today. I'm rude."
"Something terrible has happened!"
Guan De was so anxious that he had no time to talk, so he said quickly: "Quickly, send a sealed letter to Li Jieshuai. Recently, the officials don't believe me. Today I have a feeling that Jia Sidao will take action..."
Jiang Fan listened and nodded, saying: "I will report to the commander as soon as possible. Chief Guan is ready to leave Lin'an with me."
"Leave Lin'an?" Guan De jumped to his feet, his eyebrows flew wildly, and he said in surprise: "I am the leader of Da Nei, my family property... No, I left, what will happen to Li Jieshuai's holy scroll?"
"Holy Scroll?"
Jiang Fan murmured and repeated, with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.
"Jia Sidao can have it if he wants it, the commander-in-chief doesn't need that kind of thing."
~~
Jiang Fan sent someone to arrange for Guan De to escape, and then went to look for Jiang Chun.
Jiang Chun is now an idle official. He listens to music in the teahouse on Yu Street every day. When the ginger meal arrives, he is leaning there and dozing off. When he hears a few whispers, his sleepiness disappears.
"Chief Jiang is saying...the right prime minister is about to be dismissed from office?!"
"yes."
"As a result, the rules and regulations are becoming more and more lax, and the people's livelihood..."
Jiang Chun was very surprised and became more and more worried about the country.
At the same time, I felt that Lin'an's officialdom was complicated.
Here, power does not depend on official position at all.
The court was shaken like this, and many high-ranking officials and ministers didn't know the news yet, but he already knew the whole story.
"Magistrate Jiang has no control over the discipline."
Jiang Fan glanced at this teahouse and thought to himself, what kind of people could save the country and people's livelihood by drinking tea here all day long.
The only respect he has for Jiang Chun is that Jiang Chun was once the magistrate of Qingfu County.
"The county magistrate also tried it once. Cheng Yuanfeng did not sincerely invite the commander-in-chief to return to the court. Don't pay attention to these people anymore. You can't get anything done with these people."
Jiang Chun looked ashamed and embarrassed after hearing this.
This time he sought an official position for Li Xia, but failed to find one. After hearing a few words from Cheng Yuanfeng, he wrote a letter asking Li Xia if he wanted to come back as prime minister.
At first he thought he had good intentions, but now that he heard that Cheng Yuanfeng ordered Ma Qian to attack Li Xia, Jiang Chun realized that he had been tricked by Cheng Yuanfeng.
This is the gap between state and county officials and central governors...
Fortunately, after Li Xia beat Jiang Chun once, he stopped pursuing it.
Next, Jiang Chun has only one thing to do.
"This time, the county magistrate no longer needs to ask for an audience with the officials. He shows off his courage and asks who gave Ma Qian the courage to attack two Shu commanders."
"Li Jieshuai is going to challenge the imperial court. I..."
"If you challenge me, challenge me. What are you afraid of?"
~~
The rain in Lin'an City has not stopped.
In the evening, Jia Sidao came out of the palace city. Instead of returning home immediately, he went to the Privy Council and summoned his close aides.
"As soon as Li Xia's memorial arrived, Prime Minister Zuo, Cheng Yuanfeng made no excuses and just begged for illness. Rao Huchen and seven other ministers who threatened to resign that day also submitted their resignations."
"I know. Come up with a list and sweep away all the troublesome rubbish in the court."
"yes."
Jia Sidao raised his hands and weighed his wide sleeves, indicating that he had finally won back his authority.
He spoke, his tone seemed cynical, but there was a certain solemnity in it.
"Today, the officials decided to add me as... Pingzhang, an important military official."
The officials were overjoyed.
The so-called "Pingzhang, the most important military and state affairs", is above the prime minister.
This official position used to be a privilege, and people rarely participated in decision-making on important military and state affairs.
During the Taipei period, only famous ministers such as Wen Yanbo and Lu Gongzhu served as ministers. After the southern crossing, only Qiao Xingjian served in his later years.
When Han Kuanwei took up this special position, it changed from "name" to "real" and became the highest official position with power in the government and the public.
It was by virtue of this position that Han Kanwei was solely in charge of government affairs, monopolized the military, and had the power to unify government and government.
Jia Sidao was the fifth Pingzhang in the Song Dynasty and the second Pingzhang with real power in the Song Dynasty.
He finally transcended the phase struggle.
How can this not make the closest friends ecstatic?
"Congratulations to Prime Minister Zuo and congratulations to Duke Pingzhang."
"Ping Zhanggong can finally let go and reorganize the country!"
"..."
Jia Sidao closed his eyes, chewing on this power.
Afterwards, he raised his hand to stop the congratulations of the officials.
"The national situation is in turmoil, with internal and external troubles. Now is not the time to celebrate. Let me talk about a few important things. The first one is the rebel thief Li Xia..."
After driving away Cheng Yuanfeng, Jia Sidao immediately turned his attention back to Li Xia.
It was precisely because of Li Xia that he reached the top of the world after being silent for more than a year.
Fortunately, there is such a fatuous emperor, and there are so many emperors to blame.
Li Xia had a chance to monopolize military and political power just like Jia Sidao did at this time... As long as he could defeat Jia Sidao in the court battle.
But Li Xia didn't dare and chose another more difficult path.
Maybe he knew he couldn't beat Jia Sidao.
In short, the young man he once admired back then has become farther and farther away from him now.
The positions are completely opposite.
He has become the ruler of the Song Dynasty, and Li Xia has become a rebel of the Song Dynasty.
From the perspective of the Song Dynasty, it doesn't matter if the north of the Yangtze River is lost. But Sichuan and Shu are located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, but they must not fall into the hands of rebels.
"I was delayed for too long by Cheng Yuanfeng and also alerted the snake. I predict that Li Xia will occupy Chongqing Mansion after this incident. I will quickly mobilize Lu Wende to lead the troops into Shu to ensure that Chongqing Mansion is safe first. In addition, we will wait until I add Zhang Jun's state affairs.
arrange……"
Jia Sidao's tone was neither urgent nor slow.
There was absolutely enough time, Ma Qianzhen could live in Chongqing Prefecture.
~~
Chongqing Prefecture.
The Jialing River merges into the Yangtze River here, and Fucheng is sandwiched between the two rivers.
The earliest city was Bajun City built in the Qin Dynasty, and it was Jiangzhou City, the seat of Bajun during the Han Dynasty. During the Shu-Han Dynasty, Li Yan expanded the city.
In the second year of Song Jiaxi's reign, Peng Daya was appointed the prefect of Chongqing. In order to defend against the Mongolian army, he once again expanded the city, which was twice as large as the Jiangzhou city expanded by Li Yan.
The southern city wall was originally on the Yangtze River, while the northern city wall was expanded to the Jialing River.
In other words, the city of Chongqing is surrounded by the river to the north, east and south, and the city walls are built along the river to attack enemy soldiers from a high position.
Without an extremely powerful navy, it would be impossible to attack the city from these three sides.
To the west are the Zhongliang Mountains, Jinyun Mountains and Yunwu Mountains.
In the upper reaches of the Jialing River, Hezhou guards the gateway to Chongqing, forming the horns of each other.
Yu Jie took a fancy to this kind of terrain and moved the Sichuan Zhiji Administrative Office to Chongqing.
The reason why Brother Meng died in Diaoyu City may have been created by Yu Jie at this moment.
…
Ma Qian didn't think Li Xia could attack Chongqing Mansion.
That day, I was sitting in the government office talking to Yu Desheng. He suppressed the grief of losing his son and said: "I am not boasting, I am good at defending the city. In the battle in the sixth year of Xingchang, even if Wang Jian lost the Diaoyu City
, I’m not afraid of Brother Meng coming to attack Chongqing.”
At this point, Ma Qian knew that his words were a bit exaggerated, so he added another sentence.
"After all, Lu Shuai's reinforcements had arrived at that time."
"Li Xia is not a person who has gained fame in vain." Yu Desheng said: "He has fought too many battles that seemed impossible to win."
Ma Qiandao: "I admit this."
He didn't want to admit it.
It is really difficult to admit that the enemy who killed your son is a terrible enemy when your son has died in the hands of the other party and the grief has not yet dissipated.
But guarding Chongqing is a big deal. Know yourself and know the enemy.
"In the past ten days, Mr. Yu has also followed me to see the defenses of Chongqing. If Li Xia wants to attack Chongqing, he will need at least 50,000 troops. And Mr. Yu has sent a message to Lin'an that reinforcements will arrive in Shu within three months. Right now
, Li Xia has no movement to recruit troops. It will take at least two months for him to mobilize troops to Chongqing. Could it be that I can't hold it for even one month? "
Yu Desheng said: "There is absolutely no such intention."
"Not only is Chongqing infallible, I will not let Li Xia capture the entire Kuizhou Road, not even one city or one county."
"I'm just afraid that General Ma will underestimate the enemy."
"I have not underestimated the enemy." Ma Qian said sternly: "I make this conclusion based on my experience in defending the city for thirty years as a soldier."
He stood up, walked to the map, and gave Yu Desheng instructions on the defense strategy for Kuizhou Road.
"Mr. Yu, please see, no matter whether Li Xia sends troops from Chengdu or Hanzhong, I have guarded all river valleys and important roads. There is sufficient food and grass for long-term garrisoning, and we can support each other..."
Although Yu Desheng did not understand military strength, he was smart and sensitive and could understand Ma Qian's narrative.
This is the defensive experience summed up by the soldiers of the Song Dynasty for more than 20 years. From Meng Gong and Yu Jie to Pu Zezhi and Lu Wende, they all deployed the defense of Chongqing.
It is difficult for the Mongolian army to conquer, let alone Li Xia?
Yu Desheng followed Ma Qian's instructions and considered the entire defensive strategy. He really couldn't think of any other possibility for Li Xia to capture Chongqing.
In the end, he could only ask: "Li Xia is good at using time, so there won't be any fine work by Li Xia in Chongqing Mansion, right?"
Ma Qian shook his head and said: "Chongqing has many mountains and a vast territory. Defense depends not only on the city gates, but a small amount of them is useless. And after Mr. Yu returned, I immediately ordered martial law in various places."
"Having said that, you still have to be careful."
"Yes, let's talk about it after Li Xia really launches his troops. I have sent out sentries to find out what's going on in Chengdu and Hanzhong."
"That's good." Yu Desheng said: "Lin'an must have received our news, and the left prime minister is sending troops to help."
Ma Qian was disappointed.
I thought that with the orders from the right prime minister and the protection of the left prime minister, he would be able to achieve great success. Unexpectedly, a son died.
Seeing his expression, Yu Desheng added: "Please rest assured, General Ma. As long as you hold Chongqing Mansion, the Left Prime Minister will still ask for credit for the general."
At this time, the government office was still peaceful. After analysis, the two of them believed that Li Xia had not made any move to send troops so far, so he might not come to attack Chongqing.
It’s better to talk about the future and prosperity...
The next moment, Ma Qian turned around and strode outside the hall, looking at the hurried sentry outside.
"What's the matter?!"
"Report to General, Li Xia..."
Ma Qian sneered, showing an expression of "Sure enough," and asked: "He sent troops from Chengdu?"
"No...it's not...Li Xia has arrived in Hezhou, put up a guard of honor, and ordered...the general to go...to pay an audience..."
Ma Qian thought she heard wrongly.
Why did Li Xia come to Hezhou?
There is no sign of troops mobilizing in Chengdu yet, so why did they end up in Hezhou?
"how many people?"
"I don't know how much, but..."
"What happened to Cao Qi?! Why didn't you take down the rebels?!"
Ma Qianwen's Cao Qi was the governor of Hezhou, and he was his trusted general.
He had already given Cheng Yuanfeng's secret order to Cao Qi, ordering him to guard Hezhou. If he encountered Li Xia, he would not hesitate to kill him.
The news in front of me is really confusing.
Could it be that Cao Qi didn't dare to touch Li Xia? He took down Li Xia first?
"Cao Dutong...Cao Dutong him..."
Ma Qian was furious and shouted: "Hesitation, speak up!"
The sentry turned around and pointed.
Ma Qian turned around and looked outside the courtyard door.
Where his eyes fell, there was another sentry who was holding a head in panic and did not dare to enter.
And that head... turned out to be Cao Qi's.
Before Cao Qi died, his eyes were wide-eyed and full of anger.
"what happened?!"
"Li Xia...Li Xia was shot...by the general..."
Ma Qian grabbed the document that the sentry took out.
Just one glance, and he was already furious...
~~
Yu Desheng was shocked and doubtful, so he stepped forward and asked: "Li Xia's troops have arrived in Hezhou? Why is there no movement at all?"
"Li Xia did not send troops, and Chengdu did not mobilize troops." Ma Qian murmured.
He closed his eyes and thought about his son's death again.
"What do you mean? Li Xia only took his dozens of people to take Hezhou, right? With the general's arrangement, this is impossible..."
"It's time for Zhang Shichang, the deputy governor of Hezhou, to surrender. This person is Wang Jian's old subordinate." Ma Qian looked lonely and said, "I thought Wang Jian was loyal to the country and his subordinates would not rebel, but I didn't expect it."
"Wang Jian? He is from Dengzhou, right?"
Yu Desheng muttered to himself: "Dengzhou is the boundary between Song and Jin. Liu Zheng was born in Rangcheng, Dengzhou, and belonged to the Jin Dynasty. Wang Jian was from Pengqiao, Dengzhou, and belonged to the Song Dynasty... He thought he was loyal to the country, but in the end he was with the people from the north.
The relationship is too deep. No wonder Li Xia recommended Wang Jian to guard Longxi."
Analyzing these, Yu Desheng's eyes always fell on the official document in Ma Qian's hand.
Finally, Ma Qian handed it over.
"Mr. Yu, you can watch it if you want. He is too arrogant."
The document didn't say anything, but from beginning to end, Li Xia had a commanding tone.
"To pay the penalty, I sent Ma Qian, the envoy to Kuizhou Road to appease me. If you dare to send the officers and men under my command to attack important officials of the imperial court, I order you to tie yourself up and go to Hezhou to plead guilty. If you dare not obey, you will not be punished for treason!"
…
Yu Desheng shook his head, feeling bitter in his heart.
Ma Qian is right. If Li Xia starts a war, he will indeed not be able to capture Chongqing Mansion in the short term.
The generals of Shu will not start from rebels like Wu Xi who are good at causing war.
But now, Li Xia went to Hezhou in person, announced that the soldiers and horses of Chongqing were also soldiers under his rule, and questioned Ma Qian sternly... as if Ma Qian was the traitor.
Yu Desheng seemed to still be able to hear Li Xia's sarcasm in his ears.
Want to fight? Can you defend the city?
In terms of name, official position, merit, and the aspirations of the soldiers and the people, what qualifications do you, Ma Qian, have to fight against the mighty Shu commander?
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
I am grateful to the leader of "Chu Liu Fufeng" for the reward. I just took a look at the profile picture and found out that she is a very powerful female video author, so I clicked on "Drunk Pillow Dongdu" to take a look. After watching it for more than ten minutes, I finally remembered me.
This chapter hasn’t been published yet. I wanted to publish two chapters in succession~~ Anyway, thank you and keep going~~