Ye Mengding twirled his long gray beard and glanced at Jia Sidao again, realizing that this usually frivolous and rude man was actually very talkative today.
But he still shook his head and replied firmly: "No, absolutely impossible."
Jia Sidao took a deep breath, patiently, and said slowly: "This matter is not something you and I can give up without agreeing. Granting him the title is just a matter of leading a non-hereditary county king from a distance, which can still show the imperial court's meritorious deeds."
I mean, no matter what, he is still a minister of the Song Dynasty in name. But if he is not granted the title, and he raises his flag and declares himself king, the situation will be a hundred times worse."
"The evidence of Li Xia's rebellion is conclusive, but he is banned without severe punishment. Where is the discipline?!"
When Ye Mengding said this, his voice became more and more fierce, and he shouted loudly: "Everyone can find and punish the traitors and traitors!"
Jia Sidao rubbed his brow and said, "If we can't punish him, Kuimen must have been lost."
"In this case, Jia Pingzhang should quickly mobilize the troops in Jinghu and Guangdong and Guangxi to put down the rebellion."
"Did Xiang Ye hear that? I said, Kuimen has been lost." Jia Sidao's patience was gradually exhausted, "If I had not declared Li Xia's rebellion earlier, he would have seized the entire country in the name of the Sichuan pacification system."
Kuizhou Road.”
"If you lose it, attack it back. Don't you want to get rid of it?" Ye Mengding said aggressively: "The upper reaches of the Yangtze River are not as good as the Central Plains. They are actually the gateway to the Song Dynasty. How can we lightly treason? Since the officials entrusted Jia Pingzhang with important military and state responsibilities, is this what they did?
!”
Jia Sidao rarely had a good temper and was not angry. He closed his eyes and said slowly: "Whether it is the Yangtze River or the Han River, it is so difficult to travel upstream through the natural dangers. The cost of food supply is ten times that of Li Ni...
"
"The national power of the Song Dynasty was more than a hundred times that of Li Ni!"
"The Song Dynasty not only had to get rid of Li Ni, but also..."
"Jia Pingzhang is trying to shirk responsibility..."
"enough!"
Jia Sidao suddenly roared, stood up, and slapped the case hard with a "bang".
"Ye Mengding! Stop being so shameless!"
He finally couldn't bear it anymore, and stopped calling "Ye Xiang" and stared at Ye Mengding with murderous intent in his eyes.
He dared to kill Wu Qian, but since Ye Mengding was the emperor's master, he had already wanted to kill him every time he obstructed him from doing things.
Ye Mengding's hand shook and his expression changed.
Although he was afraid, he still had the courage to face Jia Sidao's anger and said slowly: "I... beg to return home."
"Hozen with a bird in it, I'll fuck you!"
"Jia Sidao! Do you still have any ministerial decency?!"
"You are not as happy as your mother, you are an old and dim-witted prisoner on death row. If you dare to speak louder again, I will kill you with my medicine."
"I'm begging for old age and returning home."
"Prisoner on death row, please listen clearly to me. I tell you to appease Qingliu, make Li Ni king, and build a palace."
Ye Mengding rubbed his neck and said: "I would rather die than join the traitor."
"Don't think I don't know what you are thinking?! You care about feathers, right? The collapse of the world has nothing to do with you, right? Say some nonsense, pat your butt and get out, and wait until I clean up this mess and inherit this bad reputation.
, you dogs and hozens are coming back to fight for power again, you think so!"
"The ancestors would like to entrust Mu to guard the country. I will not do anything to make the rebellious minister king and cause trouble to the country! I can only ask the officials to declare Li Ni's crime and call the world to quell the rebellion. If this fails, you can die."
"Huh? Figure it out, who is it that allowed Li Ni to get to where he is today? Who is it?!"
Ye Mengding didn't answer.
Jia Sidao slammed the table twice more.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Two years ago, the late emperor and I noticed Li Ni's different intentions and summoned him to return to the court. What happened in the end? Who dared to kill the king?"
Ye Mengding closed his eyes, shook his head, and said: "The late emperor did not die because of killing."
"You don't want to admit it, do you? Even if Li Xia goes against the grain again, you won't admit that he committed regicide. Because it's you idiots who let the tiger return to the mountain just to deal with me... you are obsessed with profit, you are hopelessly stupid, and you are appallingly stupid!"
"Nonsense."
"Everyone can see that Li Xia is rebellious. But who is as timid as a mouse, not daring to declare an edict to the world, and only dares to secretly order Ma Qian to do something to scare the snake? It's you idiots again!"
The more Jia Sidao spoke, the angrier he became. He waved his hand heavily, as if he was so angry that Ye Mengding was about to faint.
"Would you rather die than be a traitor? Haha, you would rather die than be a traitor. You old fool, open your eyes and see who is here to clean up your mess now?!"
Ye Mengding still closed his eyes and didn't answer.
Jia Sidao was furious and grabbed his collar.
"I ask you to knock down those miscellaneous officials in the court who chat all day long and reward Li Xia."
Ye Mengding said slowly: "Jia Pingzhang is good at seizing power, but it's not appropriate to force me to rebel, right?"
"Say it for the last time, I ask you to come forward, otherwise I will kill you with medicine."
"The trees and pavilions lean against the green cover, and they are responsible for the wind and rain. Fortunately, they are protected by clouds. How can swords and axes be damaged?"
Jia Sidao was so angry that he lifted Ye Mengding up fiercely and gritted his teeth and said, "I really want to peel off your old face to see how thick it is."
"Welcome to the wind and rain... take responsibility for yourself."
~~
On this day, Jia Sidao suddenly discovered that although he could decide whether the court officials should stay or go, he could not change their minds.
You can't even shut their mouths.
In just two days, half of the people in the government and the public were scolding him for indulging Li Ni.
He couldn't hear who was talking specifically, only the buzzing voice kept sounding.
He also knew very well that even if he made the completely opposite choice this time, half of the people would still scold him for unjustly accusing the hero.
Sitting in this important position of military affairs, everything you do is wrong...
After a long time, he was angry and took up his pen, and with thick ink on it, he started writing on the big wall of the Privy Council.
That was a poem. He no longer only loved to compose poems for crickets as before.
…
"It takes a lot to clean up the world, but it is easy to put it on one's shoulders and difficult to put it down. When I urge you to raise your hands to the sky, how many people around you will look at you with cold eyes?!"
~~
evening.
The sedan slowly walked from the Privy Council to Jia's house by the West Lake.
Jia Sidao sat tiredly in the sedan chair, still wondering whether the medicine had killed Ye Mengding.
As for Li Xia's matter... don't be in a hurry.
Jiang Chun also saw the state of affairs in the court, so it was not difficult for him to write a letter to appease Li Xia first.
Just drag it for a while.
Jia Sidao had always had a guess. Li Xia had said that he wanted to recruit Liu Heima to join him. According to his style, he was afraid that he would not report back after he had already won Guanzhong, and then he would make further progress after he was crowned king.
As for Guanzhong, there is not much to say.
When Kublai Khan comes back, he will definitely attack the key points first. Let's wait until Li Xia can hold on.
The Mongolian envoy Hao Jing is now in Jia Sidao's hands, and he has his own opinions on the situation.
The next two to three years will be a critical moment for accumulating national strength. It is impossible for Li Xia to compare with Mongolia and the Song Dynasty after eliminating long-term disadvantages...
Thinking of this, Jia Sidao lifted the curtain and came out after the sedan landed. He saw Gui He Pu coming forward, somewhat hesitant to speak.
"explain."
"Alang, this..."
"Let you tell."
In the end, Guihepu did not dare to say anything, but whispered: "Alang, please follow me to the Plum Tower."
…
Looking through the crack in the window, Jia Sidao was slightly startled.
I saw Li Huiniang sitting among the flowers and trees, her head lowered, her eyes full of melancholy. A young and handsome servant of the mansion was kneeling in front of her and whispering something.
Li Huiniang laughed alternately sadly, pushed him gently, turned her back and shook her head, then turned around reluctantly...
Jia Sidao closed his eyes and no longer wanted to look at it.
"Alang?"
"Disposed of."
Hearing this faint command, Gui Hepu lowered his head and responded. When he raised his head again, he saw that Jia Sidao had already walked away.
He suddenly felt that after Alang became a highly respected minister, his life was not as happy as before.
In the past, there were concubines in the mansion who had a good relationship with Menge, but they let it go with a laugh.
It was useless to think about this. Gui Hepu recruited a few servants and gave a few instructions in a low voice.
That night.
"puff."
"puff."
Two corpses tied with stones sank into the West Lake...
~~
A few days later.
Gradually no one listened to the storytellers in the teahouses of Lin'an who praised the victory of Ezhou or promoted the battles to recapture Longxi and Dali.
What interests the people in the city even more is a romantic affair about the Prime Minister's Mansion that has been widely circulated recently.
"But aren't Jia Pingzhang and Li Jieshuai both heroes of the Song Dynasty? I heard it yesterday..."
"What else is there to hear? One is a foreign vassal, the other is a traitor, and this time they are colluding."
"No way, military exploits..."
"That's all, what's the point? I heard a secret, so I heard it."
"..."
"Li Huiniang was kidnapped by an old thieves, trapped in a devil's cave, accompanied by tigers and wolves, but she did not forget the humiliation of her body and the revenge of killing her father. In February, she happened to meet Pei Langjun at the West Lake, and she only praised him a few times..."
"It's so cruel."
"The old thief has a heart like a snake and a scorpion, and his conscience is completely gone..."
~~
Privy Council.
"Li Ni's disaster has been severe since Cheng Yuanfeng was in the dynasty. I tolerate it for the time being and just pretend to be entrusted by the king. When I rectify the bad government and take my hand, how can the barren land of Sichuan and Shu resist against the entire prosperous Song Dynasty? Therefore, , the public land law is..."
In the middle of his speech, Jia Sidao saw Liao Yingzhong hurried in. He raised his hand, got up and walked out of the lobby, turning to the back hall for a secret discussion.
"Ping Zhanggong, we have investigated the source of the rumor."
"Ye Meng Ding?"
"It's not Ye Mengding. He has been busy resigning recently and has submitted letters three times."
"Who else?"
After Jia Sidao asked, he didn't get an answer from Liao Yingzhong for a long time. He raised his head and said, "If Li Xia couldn't be so mean, who else could he be?"
Liao Yingzhong hesitated and said thoughtfully: "This time, it does not seem to be someone's handwriting, but it seems to have spread spontaneously. Too many scholars in the city took the initiative to arrange it. In just a few days, it has spread to both Zhejiang and Zhejiang. I'm afraid it can't be stopped... …”
Jia Sidao seemed stunned for a moment.
"Why? Just because I named Li Ni?"
"I'm afraid not." Liao Yingzhong paused, then whispered: "I'm probably here for the public land law."
Jia Sidao's face became increasingly gloomy.
"Ping Zhanggong, there is one more thing."
"explain."
"Lu Wende wrote a letter, mentioning that he had taken refuge with Uncle Xie Fang in his early years, and expressed his willingness to take the blame for Uncle Xie..."
"How many days has it been? He has already received the news?"
"He must be sending people to observe the movements in the court. This time, he is probably trying to express to Pingzhang Gong... that he is unwilling to attack the Three Gorges and enter Shu."
Jia Sidao's hands hidden in his sleeves were already shaking a little.
"Ping Zhanggong, please slow down the public land law and deal with Li Ni first..."
"No, no, instead we should implement the public land law as soon as possible. It's okay if Li Xia dares to be my enemy. Who are those mediocre people who rely on me to live in peace?"
"What about Li Ni?"
Jia Sidao felt more and more pressure, took two steps, and said: "I wanted to delay it a little longer, but I didn't expect that now that the evil people in the DPRK are disrupting the government, we can't delay it anymore. Tell Jiang Chun that he should also make some efforts."