"I am by no means flattering Your Majesty, but even His Majesty cannot defeat Master Li, let alone King Ding?"
"This chessboard coincides with the war situation in Yizhou. King Ding took the initiative to fight in the streets to deal with the siege of three times his own force. It is very likely that he will be surrounded and annihilated."
After hearing the thoughts of the officials, Zhao Ji nodded thoughtfully: "I am not optimistic about this so-called active street fighting, but King Ding is the chief official of Yizhou, so naturally he has full authority to decide the battle of Yizhou."
Cai Jing, who had been watching the situation quietly, added at the right time: "The battle of Yizhou is related to the fate of the country and should not be trivial."
"More than 90% of the ministers in the court are strongly opposed to street fighting. Even if the prince knows the affairs of Yizhou and serves as the governor, he cannot be a one-spoken official."
Han Mulu echoed from the side: "Since the founding of the country by our ancestors, the Song Dynasty has had a rule that officials who speak out are not guilty. Under any circumstances, you cannot be punished for speaking out against officials."
"But many officials in the court are afraid of King Ding's ferocity and dare not speak freely in front of him. Isn't this a violation of the clan system?"
How could Zhao Ji not know the reputation of his eldest son among the officials?
But Zhao Ji didn't care. He was not stupid. He naturally knew that many officials opposed Zhao Huan purely for the purpose of opposing him.
However, in order to appease the ministers, Zhao Ji still pretended to ask: "Is there no one who dares to refute King Ding?"
An official from the Ministry of War said with a sad face, "I did refute it in person, but...but King Ding said..."
Zhao Ji waved his hand: "But it doesn't matter. I forgive you for not being guilty."
The officer from the Ministry of War turned red in the face and whispered: "King Ding tells me to get away as far as I want. If you dare to be verbose, I will make you suffer a lot."
"I still don't understand what a big bag is."
The officials present were also confused and began to discuss what a big bag was.
Zhao Ji almost laughed on the spot. Although he hated Zhao Huan, it was undeniable that Zhao Huan did have a good way of dealing with Yan Guan.
Sometimes, even Zhao Ji hated his ancestors and emperors for setting the rule of "no guilt for official speech".
In other words, even if the Jin army arrives outside the palace, officials in the DPRK and China can rely on the golden medal of "exonerating one's official words" to talk about capitulationism without restraint.
This had a very bad impact on morale, but Zhao Ji had nothing to do with them.
Now that Zhao Huan is a hawkish prince to the extreme, it is by no means a bad thing for Zhao Ji.
"I will naturally inform King Ding of the suggestions of the ministers."
"Watch the gambling show first."
Seeing that Zhao Ji always turned a blind eye to Zhao Huan's violent behavior, Cai's party members knew that if they wanted to bring down Zhao Huan, they had to take advantage of Li Shishi.
"I am happy today. I have given permission for all the ministers to relax for once and bet on the winner of their choice. The odds for the winner will be five, and the odds for Master Li will be one. I will be the host."
In addition to dancing and writing, one of Zhao Ji's favorite activities is gambling.
It is said to be a "concession", but in fact there are seven or eight concessions every month. It is precisely because the upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked, bad gambling is popular in the palace, not to mention the public?
The Song Dynasty banned gambling the most severely, but the gambling industry was the most developed, which is really contradictory and ironic.
In order to please Zhao Ji, most officials, except for the noble ministers like Zhou Pu, had the habit of participating in gambling.
What's more, he gambled with Zhao Ji and lost thirty thousand taels of silver in one night, and finally had to borrow money to repay it.
Under the leadership of Zhao Ji, there was a burst of joy in the restaurant, and all the officials placed heavy bets on Li Shishi, ranging from a few hundred taels to a thousand taels.
Even Cai Jing paid a thousand taels of silver.
Hearing the sound of gambling coming from next door, Zhu Lian couldn't help shaking his head and sighing: "It is rare in ancient and modern times for Your Majesty to lead his ministers to participate in gambling. How can the Song Dynasty survive?"
Xiaoxia and Chen Yushu looked at each other and quickly closed the door tightly, fearing that Zhu Lian's voice would spread out and lead to death.
Zheng Qingyun only felt that it was an eye-opener: "No wonder His Majesty often gambles heavily with the prince. It turns out that he has had this habit for a long time."
Zhu Lian couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Who in the whole of Bianjing doesn't know that His Majesty is addicted to Guanpu Bo? The Xiaoyuan Poetry Recital held every month will eventually turn into a big gamble. It was only because the prince disrupted the situation this year that the gamble did not succeed."
"Now that you have the opportunity, Your Majesty will naturally indulge you."
Zheng Qingyun felt as if she was listening to a book from heaven. In her understanding, gambling was a common activity for ordinary people in the city. She did not expect that even His Majesty would be addicted to it.
Just at this moment, there was a sudden knock on the door.
When Xiaoxia opened the door nervously, it turned out to be a Wudesi guard.
"Your Majesty ordered his subordinates to come and inquire. I wonder who Princess Ding intends to suppress?"
What?
Zhu Lian's heart sank, and her face suddenly fell. She still enshrined the memorial tablet of a righteous soldier from the northern frontier in her home. How could she do such a thing that would endanger the country and the country?
"I don't have this kind of elegance!"
Faced with Zhu Lian's unhesitating rejection, the Guardsman Wude changed his face and said, "In this case, I will go back and report to Your Majesty that gambling is prohibited in the palace."
Speaking of this, the Wudesi guard took a deep look at Zheng Qingyun.
Only then did Zhu Lian realize that Zheng Qingyun's life and death depended on the huge bet between Zhao Huan and His Majesty.
If the palace bans gambling, wouldn't it be equivalent to canceling the agreement between Zhao Huan and His Majesty?
For Zheng Qingyun, Zhu Lian had no choice but to bite the bullet and said: "I have no money, so I will give you fifty taels of silver to support your majesty's elegance."
Guard Wude Si put it bluntly: "As a princess, I have at least one thousand taels of silver."
"The prince's odds are five. As long as the princess wins, one thousand taels of silver will turn into five thousand taels in an instant. Wouldn't it be great?"
Zhu Lian hated gambling very much, but she had no choice but to ask Xiao Xia to go back to her hometown to get a thousand taels of silver and put it on Zhao Huan.
Zhu Lian's heart was bleeding when he saw the Wudesi guards leaving with the banknotes.
"A thousand taels of silver were wasted like this. It's really a crime."
Although Zheng Qingyun also hated gambling, seeing Zhu Lian feeling so distressed, he couldn't help but ask: "Sister, do you think the prince will definitely lose?"
Zhu Lian sighed softly: "Although I don't want to admit it, the prince's odds are so high, which shows that his winning rate is very low."
"Your Majesty and the ministers are all masters of gambling, so they will not easily engage in money-losing business."
Speaking of this, Zhu Lian sent Xiaoxia to wait and see next door. Even if she lost, she still wanted to know how she lost.
At the same time, Zhao Huan and Li Shishi began to play chess under the cheers of countless dignitaries.
Li Shishi was the attacker, so he naturally had the initiative and took the lead.
Each singer can only move forward one step at a time. If only one singer moves, the steps of the other singers can be accumulated for the same person.
In other words, a singer can take up to fifteen steps.