Tong Guan secretly scolded Zhao Huan for being corrupt and perverting the law. Even with Tong Guan's handwriting, he would have swallowed half of it at most, leaving Zhao Ji fifteen thousand taels of silver.
Zhao Huan was lucky. After one gulp, not even a bit of dregs was left.
Will Your Majesty accept the five hundred taels of silver or not?
As Tong Guan expected, although Zhao Ji wanted to strangle Zhao Huan to death, he pretended to be very heroic on the surface and waved his hand: "Prince Ding has successfully organized the Xiaoyuan Poetry Fair. I will reward you with these five hundred taels of silver."
Tong Guan sneered faintly, whenever His Majesty rewards gold and silver, it must be at least a thousand taels.
Five hundred taels of silver is no different than sending a beggar to be rewarded openly and devalued secretly.
Just when everyone thought that Zhao Huan would be ashamed of himself, this guy shamelessly bowed his hands and accepted it gratefully.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. These are all things a son should do."
"I will donate these five hundred taels of silver to the people of Yizhou on behalf of Your Majesty."
As soon as these words came out, everyone from the monarch to the courtiers showed doubts in their eyes. How thick-skinned is this guy?
How could Tong Guan let Zhao Huan show off?
The war between the Song and Jin Dynasties was a foregone conclusion. It was a fact recognized by the court that the Jin army concentrated its forces to attack Taiyuan Prefecture.
The only right way is to gather troops and fight the Jin people in Taiyuan Prefecture.
Tong Guan, who was granted the title of Prince of Guangyang, would naturally become the commander-in-chief of the Anti-Jin Dynasty. If he succeeded, he would leave his name in history, and if he failed, he would move south.
But at this time, Cheng Yaojin appeared on the way, and Zhao Huan insisted on promoting something, the theory of decisive battle in Yizhou.
Once the national power of the Song Dynasty tilted eastward and financial and military supplies flowed to Yizhou, the importance of Taiyuan Prefecture would be seriously weakened.
Even if we lose this battle, we must not let the power go to others!
Tong Guan immediately started joking in a weird way: "The Xiaoyuan Poetry Club has chosen to be held today. It's such a blessing."
"The ten-day period in Yizhou has arrived. Even King Yun, who has been away for many years, has already entered the capital and will surely arrive at Genyue soon."
"I wonder when the generous gift prepared for His Majesty, King Ding, will be delivered?"
The courtiers at the scene all showed joking looks. No one believed that Zhao Huan could bring the promised two hundred rebel leaders back to Bianjing.
Whether today's Xiaoyuan Poetry Recital will be a happy event or a funeral event is probably a foregone conclusion.
Tong Guan was extremely proud.
Just two days ago, he received news that Yue Fei defeated a battalion of 500 men of the Ever Victorious Army with only 70 men, and captured more than 300 heads.
The battle losses of both sides were...zero to three hundred...
Tong Guan holds military power and knows better than anyone else how cruel and dangerous the battlefield is!
If there are one hundred heavily armored soldiers, it is not difficult to defeat five hundred rebels with zero casualties.
However, Yue Fei only had twenty-one heavily armored soldiers in his hands. He could achieve such a feat. I dare not say that there is no one before or since, but it is definitely unparalleled in the world!
Tong Guan never expected that the big-headed soldier Zhao Huan "picked up" could be so brave.
Shocked, he immediately ordered troops to intercept and kill him.
As soon as Yue Fei died, Yizhou's unparalleled achievements were instantly wiped out, and Zhao Huan's theory of Yizhou was self-defeating.
Feeling the gloating looks around him, Zhao Huan didn't take it seriously.
"Why is the Prime Minister paying so much attention to Yizhou? Is it possible that the Prime Minister no longer plans to go to Taiyuan Mansion to take office, but instead wants to get a share of the Yizhou pie?"
Zhao Ji and Tong Guan both frowned.
Zhao Ji canonized Tong Guan as king and asked him to go to Taiyuan Mansion to lead troops to fight against the Jin Dynasty, but the specific government order has not been issued yet.
Only the inner court knew about this matter.
Zhao Huan seemed to be able to predict the future, and nothing could be hidden from his eyes.
If he said that he didn't have an informant in the inner court, even the treacherous king and his ministers would not believe it.
Tong Guan's face darkened and he responded coldly: "It is up to Your Majesty to decide whether to go to Taiyuan Mansion or not. As ministers, we only need to follow orders."
Zhao Huan raised his brows lightly and joked unscrupulously: "Courtesy? I just need to call myself a minister, but don't call yourself a minister at will, so as not to make people laugh."
No one present could fail to realize that Zhao Huan was sarcastically saying that Tong Guan was an eunuch who had already cut off his descendants.
In the whole world, only Zhao Huan, a lunatic, dared to expose people's shortcomings in this way in front of His Majesty and Tong Guan.
As expected, Tong Guan's face turned livid with anger, and he clenched his fists tightly, wishing to eat Zhao Huansheng alive.
He has been granted the title of king. Although he is only a county king, he is still "the ultimate minister".
But Zhao Huan had to emphasize that he was an eunuch whenever he had something to do, which not only satirized Tong Guan, but also mocked Zhao Ji.
He scolded Tong Guan, an eunuch, for interfering in politics and disrupting the Song Dynasty. He scolded Zhao Ji for reemploying eunuchs and digging his own grave.
However, Zhao Huan was the eldest son of the emperor. Even though Tong Guan was extremely resentful, he could only break his teeth and swallow it in his stomach, not daring to refute him face to face.
Looking at Tong Guan's depressed look, Zhao Huan did not hide the smile on his face.
He just felt unhappy with the eunuchs and would deal with each one when he saw them, so what could he do?
Looking at the five thousand years of Chinese history, there are so many eunuchs, millions of them. Are there only Zheng He, Wang Chengen, Gao Lishi and other capable ministers? They can be counted with a slap of the hand.
This yield rate is so horribly low that it can even be used as a special case and not enough for reference.
When eunuchs gain power, a country will perish. This is the experience and lesson learned by all dynasties.
Everyone knows it, how could Zhao Ji not know about it?
It's just drinking poison to quench thirst. Even though you know it's poison, you still have to bite the bullet and swallow it in big mouths in order to feel happy for a while.
The ministers present had long seen through that Zhao Huan just didn't like Tong Guan. Every time they met, he would scold Tong Guan and make him feel ashamed.
No matter how Tong Guan gained power, on the surface, he was always inferior to Zhao Huan.
All the ministers tried to smooth things over one after another.
"Today is a great day. The Xiaoyuan Poetry Club will be a happy one. Prince Ding and the concubine should stop quarreling with each other, lest they spare Yaxing."
"That's right, harmony brings wealth. The Prime Minister is the pillar of the country, and King Ding is the leader of righteous men. They are all capable ministers of the Song Dynasty. They should join hands and work together to contribute to the Song Dynasty."
"The two princes are quarreling here, I'm afraid it's rude."
Everyone thought that Zhao Huan would borrow Po Xia's donkey, but...
Zhao Huan raised his eyebrows directly: "Two princes? Do you think that I, the prince, and my wife are on par with each other and have the same status?"
Oh shit!
All the ministers sighed inwardly. This Zhao Huan was obviously a thorn in the side. He would not eat soft or hard things, but would bite anyone he caught.
Zhao Ji's face was extremely ugly, and he secretly blamed Zhao Huan for not knowing the general situation.
"Enough!"
"I came to Genyue today not to watch you behave and wallow."
"The ten-day period has arrived. Before the end of the Xiaoyuan Poetry Meeting, if King Ding fails to fulfill his promise, I will win!"
"Whoever disturbs my elegance again will be severely punished!"
Facing the furious Zhao Ji, Tong Guan and the court officials naturally stopped talking.
Zhao Huanze, with his hands behind his back, still relaxed and chic, walked to the window and was about to announce the beginning of the poetry meeting when a high-pitched shout came first.