In late February, Lou Shi's solitary ride into Yanjing catalyzed the originally imminent conclusion of the three-way power struggle. Ultimately, Wanyan Zonghan, the Grand Marshal referred to as the 'State Chancellor' by the Song people, successfully orchestrated a palace coup through his formidable strength and political manipulation.

Following this event, Zonghan's authority grew daily, while the prestige of Emperor Wuqimai's lineage declined sharply. Simultaneously, several of Aguda's sons, who had always been rebellious, simply deteriorated into dependent positions under Zonghan… Whether it was Wuqimai's faction, the nobles within Yanjing, or even the officers of the Western Route Army to which Aguda's direct descendants belonged, it was hard for them to imagine that those 'princes' led by Zonghan hand-in-hand were equal allies rather than subordinates.

When everyone thinks you are, then you are.

In reality, Wuqimai's sons, upon realizing the situation the next day, had already engaged in several conflicts with their cousins, and Aguda's sons had also launched resolute counterattacks… What else could they do, explain themselves?

In contrast, individuals like Talhai, who were 'forcibly' awakened by Yinshuke at night, were forgiven by Emperor Wuqimai and his sons. Especially Talhai, who was said to be the first minister to voluntarily enter the palace to plead guilty afterwards, reportedly shared handshakes and wept with Emperor Wuqimai and his brother… Though the truth of this account remains uncertain.

In short, amidst this chaotic night, apart from Zonghan being the undisputed victor, it was difficult to pinpoint the true losers, especially given the inherently interesting nature of this three-way ranking game.

Without dwelling on the two days of chaos, at the end of February, Wanyan Lou Shi once again presented a battle plan to Wanyan Zonghan, who had fully grasped political power in Yanjing.

However, things were not so simple.

The plan was presented again, and both Zonghan and Emperor Wuqimai agreed in principle with Lou Shi's warnings. Yet, when the matter entered the specific military planning phase, Lou Shi encountered some unexpected but logical difficulties.

For example, as soon as Lou Shi's military plan was put on the table, someone quickly questioned, if it was a combined force, why not take advantage of the puppet Qi regime's cover in the Jingdong area to cross the river, pierce through Lianghuai in one fell swoop, and then turn around to sweep the Central Plains?

Then someone else questioned, the Shanxi region has numerous ravines and plateaus, and the terrain is simply unsuitable for cavalry field battles. Why advance from Shanxi? Why not replicate the Jingkang Incident, find an opportunity to cross the river, and directly sweep the Central Plains with iron cavalry, besieging points to strike at reinforcements? After all, although the Song army's navy won a great victory, its overall numbers were not large and it would be difficult to protect the entire Yellow River section.

Then someone proposed that it was already the end of February, and even if they mobilized and fought quickly, they would soon enter summer. The Jurchen cavalry was not afraid of hard fighting, but they were afraid of the summer heat. Instead of fighting a decisive battle in the summer, why not wait a few months until autumn to fight?

At first, Lou Shi patiently explained the reasons, talking about geopolitics, geography, popular sentiment, and military deployment. But as the reasons proposed by these people became more and more absurd, he gradually realized… Combining the troops was possible, but the decades-long estrangement between the East and West Route Armies had essentially formed. Wanting everyone to ignore factional interests was simply a pipe dream.

What go to Lianghuai, what go to the plains, what wait until autumn, it's all nonsense. It's just that the East Route Army is unwilling to pull chestnuts out of the fire for the West Route Army.

Isn't Guanzhong the true strategic location? What the hell is Lianghuai? Don't they know that the river network of the Huai River is a dead end for cavalry?

As for the plains, the Central Plains Zhao Song has 200,000 imperial troops, both land and water, and they have concentrated national strength there. Go to the plains? It's as if the Guansi plateau cavalry can't charge!

Moreover, he had already said bluntly that he, Wanyan Lou Shi, was about to die, and that he was afraid of not being able to wait until autumn before coming here. Don't these people know? Why not say next year?

It just so happened that at this time, Zonghan did not know whether it was because he had just 'subdued' Aguda's direct descendants politically, so he was not good at putting too much pressure on the East Route Army, which was the foundation of Aguda's direct descendants; or because he had just achieved such great political results and did not want to engage in large-scale military gambling… He was ambiguous for a while.

But then again, how could Lou Shi give up?

His physical condition was what it was, this was his only chance… If he succeeded, he could leave his son a lifetime of enjoyment, gain Guanzhong, a near-perfect territory, for the West Route Army, and increase the Jin Dynasty's national fortune by three points… Both publicly and privately, and given his own personality, how could he give up?

Therefore, in order not to delay time, after only a little thought, Lou Shi formally proposed that the Grand Prince Wanyan Wuben, or the Third Prince Wanyan Eliduo, should be the commander, and even the specific troops could be divided between East and West, as long as it was ensured that they merged in time, and that he would command at the final battle.

As soon as this proposal was made, the resistance was greatly reduced, and Zonghan, after thinking it over again and again, decided to trust this general under his command who had never let him down – as long as Lou Shi won on the front line, his position in the rear would be even more stable.

In this way, once the highest power center of the Jin Dynasty completed its consultation, it finally began to prepare to forcefully send troops according to Lou Shi's plan, and at the same time began to operate some messy things in response.

And not to mention what those messy things were, just to say one undeniable fact, that is, although the political structure inside the Jin Dynasty was so chaotic that they themselves could not stand it, and although their culture was so backward that a cultural gap had emerged at the high level in just twenty years, the military system still maintained a very high efficiency, and their military technology was by no means inferior to any country in the world at that time.

This is not sophistry, it is a fact.

From the Turks to the Khitans, from the Khitans to the Jurchens, and then the Mongols, including the semi-Turkic, semi-Mongol Timur, and so on, time and time again, they are constantly demonstrating this undeniable fact.

Such geopolitical hammer forces are born that way, they are adjacent to powerful and prosperous civilizations, but because of the need for survival, they have to focus their main energy on learning and improving their military level, so that they have to abandon other branches. And once they have obtained enough military technology and accumulated enough war potential, they will smash towards the civilized highlands from the wilderness like a hammer! Then they can easily use their tenacity and cruelty, which they are used to living in hardship, coupled with this high level of military strength, to destroy the higher civilizations standing in their way.

But without exception, in the process of destroying higher civilizations, they will be corrupted and controlled by everything of higher civilizations.

Saying corruption may be a bit wrong, because there is only this one way to go, just like water flows to low places, it is simply a kind of regularity, but this process often seems more violent because it is accompanied by fierce military conquest… Many civilizations can withstand poverty, hunger, and breathless military pressure, but they simply cannot withstand this magnificence and exquisiteness.

As a result, eight or nine out of ten, they will directly explode and die.

A few who manage to survive simply can't tell what family or surname they belong to.

Of course, these are all things of the future. Returning to the present, just when the Jurchens finally made up their minds, in spite of all the disadvantages, to launch a major invasion against Guanxi, Bianliang in the south was becoming increasingly hot.

In March of the spring, of course it is getting hotter day by day, but even more restless is the human heart.

Counting from when Zhao Guan Jia once again 'triumphantly returned to Tokyo', it has been nearly a month, and although this Song-Jin confrontation was not as exciting as the last time, it was undoubtedly the best situation since the Jingkang Incident, because the Jin people did not make any progress at all, and were directly sandwiched at Tongguan and took the initiative to abandon their intention to invade.

Everyone was talking about it, everyone was guessing, and gradually more and more people agreed with a view that, thanks to that 'contemporary Chong'er, Reborn Guangwu' like official family, the Great Song Dynasty finally did not have to be frightened by the fear of national subjugation and racial extinction, and could at least return to the Yellow River line, slowly figuring things out, and leisurely planning things out.

In other words, the area south of the Yellow River is safe, and Tokyo is safe!

Because of this trend of thought, more and more wealthy families returned from Yangzhou, Nanyang, and even Bashu, more and more merchants gathered from the south, and more and more local important officials could not wait to show their presence in Tokyo in various ways.

And Zhao Guan Jia, who was praised by Hu Quan as 'Contemporary Chong'er, Reborn Guangwu' according to the content of the enthronement petition at the time of his accession to the throne, after a month, seeing that the Jin people had no movement at all, and the summer was approaching, he could not help but gradually feel at ease.

However, the interesting thing is that the so-called peace of mind, when it came to Zhao Guan Jia, was manifested in the fact that this official family began to intervene more and more in daily government affairs… This is a natural trend and behavior of a young official family in a peaceful era. Therefore, although the prime ministers felt that the official family was a little anxious, they still tried their best to cooperate.

"The reconstruction of the Bianhe Bridge… This is natural. With several pontoon bridges placed there, it is neither convenient for land traffic nor convenient for water traffic, but can the bridge be built higher?" In Wende Hall of the Tokyo Imperial Palace, after the prime ministers and important officials had discussed some major issues, Zhao Jiu, who had specifically brought several notes to discuss, also picked up the topmost one, and then solemnly faced Chen Gui, one of the four prime ministers.

"This minister presumes that the official family wants to build several bridges over the Bian River that can allow ships to pass, so as to facilitate the passage of the navy in the future?" Chen Gui was not surprised at all.

"That's right." Zhao Jiu nodded immediately.

"It can't be built." Chen Gui said frankly. "With such a high arch, I don't know how long the bridge will have to be, and there are four or five of them… This amount of manpower and material resources would be better spent digging a new canal in the north of the city specifically for military use, which would be more cost-effective."

“…I see." Zhao Jiu was embarrassed for a moment, and then returned to normal. "There is another matter, saying that many people who have returned to the capital have discovered that their houses have been destroyed and occupied by others… Many people have come to tell me about this matter, and I hope that Kaifeng Prefecture will properly handle it."

Chen Gui became more and more helpless: "Official family, this matter cannot be properly handled… After the Jingkang Incident, there were four consecutive years of war. It was not until last year that Tokyo gradually stabilized. It's fine if the house is destroyed. Anyway, there are many empty houses in Tokyo, and they can be appropriately divided and arranged. However, it is difficult to deal with the incidents where houses have been occupied by others, because it is true that the houses have been occupied, but most of those who occupied the houses have the permission of the Tokyo Garrison Division and the later court. How can it be properly handled?"

As soon as these words came out, the other prime ministers and other important officials standing in the hall were silent… After all, first of all, there is a legal dilemma in this matter, which is really a mess; secondly, those who had houses in Tokyo in the past and now have the energy to specifically ask for them are either nobles and ministers or wealthy households, and they can also find Zhao Guan Jia to talk about this matter, so there is no need to explain it further.

"Chen Qing has misunderstood." Zhao Jiu, seeing Chen Gui's somewhat distressed state, quickly said solemnly. "My intention of proper handling is to put public affairs before private affairs, the majority before the minority, and the poor before the rich… When public affairs such as city defense, military camps, and government offices are occupied, public affairs should be given priority; when there is a dispute between many people and few people, the settlement of the many should be given priority; if it is really difficult to determine, then compare the wealth of the two families and give priority to providing housing for the poor… This is not only my intention, but also the intention of the two noble consorts. You can arrange it according to these rules. If there are still people who are not satisfied, let them knock on the Dengwen Drum and come directly to me and the two noble consorts to discuss it."

Chen Gui was relieved, and the other important officials also looked at each other in dismay and were speechless… Because this plan was too much like the style of the official family.

"There is one more thing." Zhao Jiu opened the third note and continued. "Someone in Yangzhou has suggested that the Empress Dowager and the imperial clan should be brought back to the capital… I think that Tokyo is unsafe and it is not possible for the time being… What do you Qing think?"

Since Zhao Guan Jia had said so, who else could think otherwise? Wasn't Tokyo lively enough these days? If the Empress Dowager and the imperial clan really came back, where would they be placed, how would they be placed, what etiquette would be required… It would all be a mess of trouble.

The reason why this matter was brought up in the hall was just because it concerned the Empress Dowager and a procedure had to be followed.

"The last thing, Han Xiaozhou, the prefect of Jiangzhou, has submitted a memorial, saying two things. All of you gentlemen should know about it, right?" Zhao Jiu opened the last note, and his tone slowed down slightly. "What do you all think?"

The Wende Hall was silent for a while, because everyone knew that this was the main event of the day.

Speaking of which, the Great Song Dynasty shared the world with the scholar-officials, and to be fair, the imperial examination work was still very effective. Therefore, it was not a vain thing for children from poor families to jump to become famous ministers in the central government. In addition, after the chaos of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the so-called bones of nobles and ministers were trampled all over the streets, and those famous families had long been cut off. This made it so that the Song Dynasty did not systematically reproduce the phenomenon of aristocratic families.

But then again, after all, the country had been established for more than a hundred years. Although it was impossible to form a scale and a specific class, there were always a few special existences that vaguely resembled the imperial clan of the Later Han Dynasty and the famous families of the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

For example, the Lu family of Prime Minister Lu Haowen's family had been five generations of nobles and four generations of prime ministers, counting from the top scholar Lu Mengzheng.

However, the Lu family, which insisted on passing down their family through learning and was not too prosperous, seemed insignificant in front of another family.

That's right, this is the Han family of Xiangzhou, also known as the Prunus Han family… The Prunus Han family was not only a family of nobles for generations, but was also the number one landlord in Xiangzhou. Moreover, this family was particularly fertile compared to competitors such as the Lu family. As a result, their descendants were prosperous, their marriages were extensive, and they were even related to the royal family. At the same time, they naturally served as local leaders in Hebei.

To give an inappropriate example, this family vaguely combined the status of the nobles of the Former Han Dynasty, the imperial clan of the Later Han Dynasty, the aristocratic families of the Two Jin Dynasties, and the famous families of the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

Then, according to Zhao Jiu's backward ideology of class struggle, if he had to designate a straw man within the Great Song court to represent the interests of landlords, aristocratic families, and other conservatives, then it would definitely only be the Han family, and there could be no second family.

However, the problem is that weren't the two He rivers lost and Xiangzhou also fell? It would be unconscionable to say that this Prunus Han family, which had lost a large part of its foundation, was a representative of the great landlords at this time.

However, even so, Zhao Jiu did have an inexplicable sense of vigilance and dissatisfaction towards the Han family.

This vigilance and dissatisfaction had specific reasons. It must be known that the Han family, as the imperial relatives and leaders of the Hebei refugee scholar-officials, had been in Yangzhou before. Later, when he, Zhao Jiu, returned to the old capital, the Han family had to quickly return and make a gesture due to the family's status. However, they played a trick on the people of the world and him, Zhao Guan Jia… The Han family had many branches, but at that time, they only allowed the youngest branch of the fifth room, which was related to the royal family, that is, the cousins of Zhao Guan Jia's body, to return to the capital first.

This branch, as the branch related to the royal family, had actually lost its progress in its career. Therefore, it had long been like a family thief, and apart from managing money, setting up a home, and doing business, it could not make its own decisions.

And this matter, together with Yue Fei's matter at the time, was the reason why Zhao Jiu was furious at that cousin that day.

Returning to the present, Han Xiaozhou, who submitted the memorial today, was theoretically a generation younger than Zhao Jiu, but he was the eldest grandson of Han Qi… The kind that everyone in the world defaults will become the prime minister.

No wonder the gentlemen and important officials in the hall were all solemn.

This eldest grandson of the Han family proposed two suggestions:

First, the country has lost the two He rivers and it is impossible to recover them quickly. The court's confrontation with the Jin people based on the Yellow River is likely to last for a long time. However, the Imperial Army consumes a lot of resources. Therefore, he suggested ending the previous temporary settlement measures and carrying out large-scale land reclamation in Henan, which has suffered several military disasters, to support the Imperial Army.

Second, Han Xiaozhou himself requested to go north as an envoy to the Jin Dynasty, but not to violate the official family's decree to negotiate peace, but to take advantage of the great victory to sternly demand that the Jin people return the two emperors and many captured nobles and children of important officials.

How to say these two things?

The first one is nonsense. The court had already begun to do it without Han Xiaozhou's suggestion. It was more like a perfunctory formality. The second one was the key, but it made Zhao Guan Jia even more disgusted.

In fact, according to Zhao Jiu's past temper, after reading this note, he would probably tear it up to start a fire… But at the moment, he was a little hesitant, because Han Xiaozhou was the leader of the Hebei refugee scholar-officials, and also the leader of those scholar-officials who remained in Hebei and were forced to serve the Jin people. At this time, it was necessary to pay attention to political influence.

"The first one is acceptable, the second one…" After the hall was quiet for a while, Prime Minister Lu Haowen finally spoke. "Perhaps it is possible?"

"The first one is acceptable, the second one, I think it is too hasty and unacceptable!" Just as Prime Minister Lu had just expressed his opinion, before Zhao Guan Jia could speak, Wan Qixie, the supervising censor of the palace, suddenly came out, righteously and sternly, saluted the official family and the prime minister in turn, and at the same time spoke hastily, refuting Lu Haowen on the spot. "Although the Jin people have also retreated in defeat this time, they have not suffered a major blow. How can we talk about taking advantage of the opportunity? Moreover, the official family has sworn to restore the two He rivers and not to negotiate peace with the Jin people. If we ask for the two emperors at this time, what if the Jin people take the opportunity to negotiate peace? At that time, the official family will be in a dilemma, confused between filial piety and righteousness. Therefore, I think it is absolutely impossible to send an envoy to the north!"

As soon as these words came out, several prime ministers and ministers obviously felt a sense of relief, and several people took the opportunity to come out, with many agreeing words, but some people also discussed that as long as Han Xiaozhou was firmly in his position in advance, and he directly refused to talk if the other party made extra suggestions, it was not impossible… However, this kind of suggestion was destined to not find good results, because with Han Xiaozhou's status, if this mission was successful, he would either be a prime minister or a minister. Who would be willing to let him come to this hall?

Everyone has worked hard to follow the official family from Huaishang to Nanyang, and from Nanyang to Tokyo. It has been difficult to settle down. Why should you, Han Xiaozhou, jump out at this time and surpass everyone with just one memorial?

Because your surname is Han? Of course, you can, but unfortunately, the official family's naturally resistant attitude towards communicating with Jin envoys is there. Even if your surname is Han, it won't work.

"What you gentlemen said is very true, there is indeed no need to send an envoy."

And sure enough, after a period of discussion, Zhao Jiu's spirits were slightly lifted, and he took the opportunity to press down on the keynote, but directly raised the matter that he really cared about. "However, Han Zhizhou's memorial has reminded me of another matter. Last year, I heard that the Jin people held imperial examinations… They forced many scholars to take the exam with knives, and then granted them official positions. What do you gentlemen think should be done about this? We must have a proper keynote for the scholars in Hebei."

Speaking of which, the matter that Zhao Jiu said was true. They really forced people to take the exam with knives, and then granted them official positions, but it was not an imperial examination on a national scale in the Jin Dynasty, but a mess made by Zonghan's Western Court. The scope of official positions was also in the territory of the Western Route Army. It was obvious at a glance that it was the work of Wanyan Xiyin.

After the list of successful candidates in this imperial examination was released, a few of those who were on the list really felt that their reputation was insulted and had been depressed. Later, because the river was controlled by the Song army this year, some of these people were officials in Linhe, so they directly fled with their families, and only then did the news spread.

"I think we should not treat these people as enemies." Xu Jingheng, the deputy prime minister of the Capital Province, stepped forward and said straightforwardly. "Who can be without family members? The Jin people are forcing them with knives. The scholars in Hebei are like a Han soldier in front of a battle… In this situation, it is natural to have nothing to say when fighting each other on the battlefield, but to punish them for this would be a joke."

Zhao Jiu nodded heavily. Since he did not allow Han Xiaozhou to go north, he was destined to give the scholars in Hebei some clear signals through other channels. Moreover, Zhao Jiu originally felt that he should not easily treat people as Song traitors, but he did not understand what kind of legal basis to use to explain it.

"Official family," At this time, Wan Qixie, who had not retreated before, also took the opportunity to speak. "Official family, this matter is not only excusable, but there is also a saying in the law, which is not in conflict with the official family's decree on Huaishang… It must be known that these people were all ordinary people when the two He rivers fell…"

"I see." Zhao Jiu immediately understood. "When the two He rivers fell, these people were not officials, but just ordinary people, and they had no responsibility to bear at all… If there must be someone responsible, it is the court that failed the people of Hebei first, and if there is any fault in this matter, it is all in the Jingkang emperor and ministers, and has nothing to do with them. Therefore, this matter cannot be discussed in terms of enemy traitors, but only as Xu Xiang Gong said, we can think of them as being held hostage! And those scholars who have come over should also be properly settled."

This matter had a proper explanation. In principle, everyone should be excited, but for some reason, many people in the hall were a little embarrassed… Obviously, they heard the words Jingkang emperor and ministers and were embarrassed for a moment.

How many of those who could stand here were not Jingkang emperors and ministers? Moreover, Zhao Guan Jia had just denied the suggestion of welcoming back the two emperors, and now he said that so-and-so was guilty. How could they respond to this?

Zhao Jiu also realized that he had been increasingly anxious these days, but his heart could not be calmed down for some reason. What could he do? It was like this before the New Year, and now that he had returned, he thought he could gradually settle down, but because of another matter, he became even more anxious.

But no matter what, the political affairs of today were properly settled, and Zhao Jiu was also prepared to return to the harem.

However, just as Zhao Jiu got up to leave the Wende Hall and turned to the side door, he saw Yang Yizhong, who did not know when, directly holding a note and kneeling on one knee behind the threshold of the side door.

This position was extremely strange… In principle, the notes of those commanders did not involve military intelligence, and serious military intelligence still went through the Privy Council. Therefore, no matter how important the note was, Yang Yizhong should not have presented it on this occasion.

And if this note was really exceptionally important and needed to be known by the prime ministers and other important officials, then why didn't he simply skip the order and enter the hall to present it? Instead, he stopped in that position that could not be seen by the courtiers?

With some strange feelings, Zhao Jiu stepped forward to take it, but after just one look, he swayed slightly, and then threw down Yang Yizhong and directly returned to the hall, stopping the prime ministers and important officials who were preparing to leave.

"All of you gentlemen." Zhao Jiu's face was as usual, holding this note and standing calmly on the steps. "Commander Li Qiong has sent a note, saying that a Jin envoy has suddenly arrived on the river, and there is a letter enclosed in it, which was brought by the envoy and sent to me in the tone of the Fourth Prince Wushu… Saying that he and I have fought several times, and although we are enemies, he regards me as a hero and can be called a soulmate. Therefore, he has insisted on making the decision this time and has persuaded the Jurchen nobles to prepare to unconditionally hand over my biological mother, the Empress Dowager Xuanhe, and several princesses across the river to return home, so as to fulfill filial piety and righteousness… Therefore, he asked me to send someone to pick them up… What do you think?"

The hall was silent for seven or eight breaths, and then Lu Haowen frankly saluted: "Official family, this matter concerns filial piety and righteousness and cannot be violated. I think we can send Han Xiaozhou as an envoy… First, to welcome the Empress Dowager, and second, to show the people of Hebei that we have not abandoned the heart of Hebei!"

Zhao Jiu nodded slowly, his face unchanged at all… In the eyes of the courtiers, it was as if he had returned to the way he was a year ago.

ps: Sorry, this chapter has been revised for a long time… Various dissatisfactions.