It may have been due to the large number of scholars who came from afar specifically to participate, but this year's Taixue (Imperial Academy) political discussions were particularly lively and substantial, continuing for two full days before concluding.

One can only say that the enthusiasm of the scholars for participating in politics and discussion is still worth advocating and encouraging.

However, a slight imperfection was that, for some reason, the Emperor had been acting somewhat listless these past few days, mostly just sitting there woodenly, letting the officials and scholars, as well as the Taixue students, communicate... According to rumors, the Emperor was said to have caught a cold and was feeling unwell. However, some high-ranking individuals revealed that Zhao Guan Jia (the Emperor) had always been of such a wooden disposition, and it was only last year, when there was a war to fight, that he had been constantly tense, appearing spirited. Now that the war was over, he suddenly relaxed, naturally becoming serene and Buddha-like, with a touch of listlessness.

Regardless, the bustling twelfth month quickly passed. Before the New Year holidays, the political discussions ended, the national bonds were sold, and the Cuju (ancient football) and Sumo competitions also came to a close. After Zhao Guan Jia hosted a banquet, the various military commissioners also returned to their respective jurisdictions to continue their official duties.

But unsurprisingly, with the increase in various political activities at the end of the year, and the large number of political issues being placed on the agenda, the conflict between the Chancellor of the Department of State Affairs, Zhao Ding, and the Commissioner of Military Affairs, Zhang Jun, became increasingly apparent.

By this time, many people had already become aware of the opposition and impropriety between these two.

Frankly speaking, Zhao Ding was in his forties this year, born in the occupied territories of Hedong, and had struggled through the ranks for half his life, making him steady and somewhat conservative. Zhang Jun, on the other hand, was in his early thirties this year, born into a wealthy family in the Shu region, achieved early success, and was unconventional and somewhat impetuous... It was simply impossible for the two of them to get along.

As for personal relationships, it would be laughable to talk about personal relationships at this level.

However, it is worth mentioning that Zhao Ding was the senior Chancellor of the Department of State Affairs, with a naturally higher position and title, and he was familiar with administrative matters and grassroots operations, skilled at uniting officials. In addition, with the situation of North-South confrontation, people naturally tended towards stability, so he should have been able to easily suppress Zhang Jun with the weight of the general trend... But in reality, this was not the case. After all, Zhang De-yuan (Zhang Jun) naturally had a closer relationship with the Emperor, was better at discerning the Emperor's intentions, and often came up with surprising strategies. Many people also realized this, and gathered around him, forming a certain force.

Therefore, the two had always been considered evenly matched, neither one being significantly weaker than the other. This sudden intensification was considered a fierce and evenly matched struggle.

However, this struggle had barely begun to show fierce signs when it was forced to be temporarily suspended, because with the arrival of Yuanri (New Year's Day), the seven-day New Year holiday also arrived... Having a seven-day holiday for the New Year was an old custom that had started in the Tang Dynasty, but in previous years, the Song Dynasty had been in such a state of disrepair that this Yuanri holiday in the fifth year of Jianyan and the first restoration of the New Year's routine awards seemed very symbolic.

Returning to the present, this day was the first day of the New Year. The Yuanri Grand Court in the morning, of course, was not conducted according to the so-called Zhengdan (New Year's Day) Grand Court regulations, but simply had Zhao Guan Jia sit on the throne, and then Duke Lü Haowen led the officials in a ritual bow, presented a New Year's congratulatory memorial, and quickly ended it.

Immediately afterwards, the officials dispersed, and the holiday officially began.

Among them, middle and lower-level officials generally went to the old Ministry of Rites (Shangshu Sheng) across from Xuande Tower to receive their New Year's rewards in order to spend the New Year. It is said that Chancellor Zhao Ding of the Department of State Affairs, of course, did not need to personally receive them, as clerks would personally deliver them... But he still took the initiative to go there, personally overseeing the process, and would not rest until he saw that the lower-level officials had properly received their rewards.

That was not all. After the matter at the old Ministry of Rites was concluded, he personally took some supplies and had people drive a mule cart to the Taixue, preparing to comfort the few Taixue students who were too poor to return home.

However, this time he was a step late. Commissioner Zhang Jun, Zhang De-yuan, was faster than him, and had arrived here with supplies a step earlier.

Helplessly, Zhang and Zhao could only exchange greetings and pleasantries, and then lingered in the Taixue for a while together before bidding each other farewell and returning to their respective homes.

Leaving aside what Zhang De-yuan did upon his return, Zhao Yuanzhen (Zhao Ding) only returned home in the evening. Being older and having worked hard for many days before the New Year, he was already exhausted. As soon as he arrived home, he prepared to take a good bath and rest early... But since he had gone to such lengths, there were some things that he could not easily avoid.

"Who is it?"

Zhao Ding, who was being helped out of the carriage by his son Zhao Fen, did not hear clearly.

"Zhang Jun's nephew, Zhang Zigai," Zhao Fen repeated in a low voice in front of the carriage.

Zhao Ding stopped and immediately frowned, stroking his beard: "You should call him Grand Commandant Zhang... But how is Zhang Zigai in the capital at this time? Didn't he go back with his uncle?"

"It is said that his uncle, Grand Commandant Zhang, specifically sought the Emperor's grace a few days before leaving, and sent him to the Imperial Guard," Zhao Fen immediately corrected himself. "He also said that now that Father is the Chancellor of the Department of State Affairs, it is not the same as before, so Grand Commandant Zhang dared not easily disturb him during his stay in the capital to avoid suspicion of impropriety. That's why he came at this time."

"It's good that he still has some sense," Zhao Yuanzhen nodded. "Zhang Bo-ying and Father have had many interactions on the Huai River, he is not an ordinary military man. I will wash my face, you take Zhang Zigai to the back hall to meet him..."

Zhao Fen immediately responded.

A moment later, Zhao Ding indeed came to the heated back hall to meet Zhang Zigai. After the two exchanged some New Year's pleasantries, Zhang Zigai, being young and a military man, simply stated his purpose directly.

"Unease?" Zhao Ding, sitting calmly in the highest seat, held his ginger tea, feigning incomprehension. "Where is the unease, who is uneasy, why is there unease?"

"Chancellor," Zhang Zigai carefully replied. "To be honest, my uncle has been increasingly uneasy since he met with the Emperor a few days ago, and I have also felt some unease since I came here to take office... My uncle is uneasy because he feels that his contribution in the Yao Mountain battle was the least, and I am uneasy because I came here to be a member of the Imperial Guard, but I have not even received a cabinet post, not even a Xuānzàn shěren (Military Attendant), and I am worried that I will be looked down upon."

Zhao Ding put down his teacup and sighed with a frown: "The matter of war merit cannot be blamed on your uncle. His jurisdiction is in the easternmost part, and Yao Mountain is in Guānxi. It is already the limit that he could send Tian Shizhong and those three thousand axe soldiers there, so there is no need to belittle himself. As for you not obtaining the status of a military attendant, I can tell you, you may not believe it, but the fact is that eight or nine times out of ten, the Emperor is too lazy to remember these formalities, so he forgot... And the Department of State Affairs, the Privy Council, and other government agencies are unwilling to intervene and remind him about this kind of trivial matter because the Imperial Guard involves the Imperial City Guard, to avoid embarrassment... In my opinion, seeking me to handle this matter is not as good as forgetting about this so-called attendant and simply being your Yùqián chāiqiǎn (Imperial Messenger) outright."

Zhang Zigai opened his mouth, but could only nod.

"Is that all?" Zhao Ding continued to press, seeing this. "Your uncle and I have been colleagues for many years, and our relationship is not ordinary, you don't need to conceal anything."

Zhang Zigai nodded, but cautiously replied again: "To be honest, what makes my uncle uneasy is not just the lack of war merit. Before he left at the end of the year, he talked to me late into the night. He said that he had built seven or eight large mansions on the Huai River in three or four years, acquired several thousand acres of fertile land, married four or five concubines, and had three sons and a daughter, but the Emperor has been poor from Nanyang to Tokyo... Before Yao Mountain, it could be said that he was enduring hardship and biding his time, but after Yao Mountain, he originally thought that the Emperor would at least want, want..."

"Want to follow the old system," Zhao Ding casually interjected. "Not to say indulgence, just to say that according to the old system, repairing the dilapidated harem, recruiting a few hundred eunuchs, and collecting a few hundred palace maids, no one would say anything, and even the government agencies had already advised the Emperor, but the Emperor simply turned a deaf ear, preferring to use the money for the Cuju League, rather than renovating the harem... It's not just your uncle, we also feel that the Emperor is being a little too frugal."

Zhang Zigai nodded repeatedly: "I was also very shocked when I joined the Imperial Guard... It's no wonder my uncle is uneasy."

"In fact, the Emperor must know about your uncle's actions," Zhao Ding picked up his ginger tea again, but sighed softly. "Military generals, if they are not greedy for wealth and lust, and are truly incorruptible, won't they be stared at by those censors like Yue Fei? As for the Emperor, perhaps it is because the court's finances still have some loopholes, so he doesn't want to give people a reason to criticize him? After the Dongting Lake rebellion is quelled this year, and we make it to after the summer, when we have more vitality and the finances improve, we will persuade him again."

"That's all we can do," Zhang Zigai also sighed for a moment. "I think my uncle lamented that day, it's difficult to be a military official, if you are greedy, your conscience is uneasy, if you are not greedy, you are afraid that the Emperor will be suspicious... Chancellor..."

Zhang Zigai kept talking, about to say more, but saw Zhao Ding expressionless, sipping ginger tea continuously, and suddenly realized, he quickly stood up: "Chancellor, thank you for your enlightenment today, I will take my leave... I will come to find some fellow young nobles to play in a few days, but I won't disturb the Chancellor."

Zhao Ding smiled and watched as his son sent the other party out.

A moment later, Zhao Fen returned, shaking his head repeatedly: "Father, this Grand Commandant Zhang is too shameless... What do you mean, 'not greedy and afraid that the Emperor will be suspicious?' Has the Emperor ever suspected Marshal Yue?"

Zhao Ding, who had already put down his ginger tea, shook his head, but then nodded: "Zhang Bo-ying's situation is somewhat special, the Emperor secretly promised him to be so greedy, it was what he exchanged for his war merits on the Huai River that day. In addition, this time he sent Tian Shizhong over, so in the matter of great principle, he is ultimately not at a loss... However, in the end, it is because his greed is difficult to change! Otherwise, how could he have been thrown so far behind by Han Shizhong? And let Li Yanxian, Yue Fei, and these people catch up? Now, in the Emperor's mind, he is probably even less than Zhang Rong and Wu Jie, and only slightly better than Qu Duan."

Zhao Fen nodded heavily.

"Did you not accept any heavy gifts from him?" At this point, Zhao Ding suddenly thought of something.

"No," Zhao Fen replied respectfully. "Don't worry, Father, I have my own plans."

Only then did Zhao Ding nod heavily, and finally put down all matters, only to take a comfortable bath and prepare to enjoy the holiday.

One night of ease aside, the next day, which was the second day of the New Year, the Chancellor of the Department of State Affairs rarely slept in until late in the morning. After getting up, he slowly and leisurely washed and bathed, and only used some porridge and snacks, then had the servants close the door to refuse guests. He then turned to the courtyard under the warm early spring sun to sit down comfortably, and had his son bring the latest Dibao (official gazette) to read to him.

As the first new gazette after the New Year, it should have been issued yesterday evening and copied out today, so there were no new events to speak of.

And indeed, as Zhao Fen read on, he heard about the etiquette of the Yuanri court, then about Chancellor Lü Haowen leading the four ministers to greet the Emperor on behalf of the country, and then even about Zhao Ding, the Chancellor of the Department of State Affairs, and Zhang Jun, the Commissioner of Military Affairs, going to the Taixue to comfort the Taixue students. Finally, several well-written New Year's greetings were listed, and the so-called official political journal was considered finished.

Next, turning to the last two leisure journals, the first one, of course, was the *Journey to the West: Subduing Demons Miscellaneous Records* which was published by the palace, signed by the pseudonym "Blue Bridge Heavenly Person" and had been serialized for two or three months.

Today's plot was about Sun Wukong fighting the Black Bear Spirit, but he was unable to defeat him. He wanted to point to Guanyin Temple to seek Guanyin Bodhisattva for reasoning, but it stopped abruptly.

After reading it, half feeling unsatisfied and half feeling exasperated, Zhao Fen couldn't help but get up: "Father, you say that the Emperor is forcibly making the story such that Sun Wukong cannot win. What abilities does the Great Sage Equal to Heaven have? How could he not defeat a Black Bear Spirit?"

Zhao Ding was not flustered, staring at his son and calmly answering: "First, the Emperor never said that he wrote this thing; second, it is not certain whether this was written or ghostwritten by Madame Wu; third, if you ask Father, the fact that the Great Sage Equal to Heaven cannot defeat the Black Bear Spirit is simply wonderful... Otherwise, how could he go and invite Guanyin Bodhisattva to come?"

"Father's teachings are correct," Zhao Fen suddenly realized and smiled. Just as he was about to lower his head to read again, he suddenly thought of something and smiled smoothly by his father's side. "However, given the suspicion of impropriety, and that this came out of the palace, and with this pen name, it is really suspicious... Father doesn't know, since this *Journey to the West: Subduing Demons Miscellaneous Records* came out, the monks and Taoists in Tokyo have been arguing endlessly all day long. The monks say that this story venerates Buddhism and suppresses Taoism, and the Taoists say that this story venerates Taoism and suppresses Buddhism... I wonder what Father thinks?"

"The Emperor is the son of heaven who even scrapes the gold powder off the bodies of the Taoist Ancestor and the Buddha Ancestor to use as military expenses, how could he venerate Buddhism or Taoism?" Zhao Ding lay in his seat, closed his eyes and sneered. "This story originally had a circulation. The Emperor borrowed it and interpreted it, which is naturally fine. If one must put a spin on it, it seems to be mocking the past misdeeds of the Emperor, the Taishang Daojun (Huizong)..."

Zhao Fen was thoughtful, but then suddenly realized, and then was speechless... His own father did not allow his son to say it directly, but how did it get to his own mouth that he openly said the Emperor "interpreted" it?

Of course, in the end, he was still his own father, so Zhao Fen didn't say much, but continued to sigh: "Speaking of which, there are many storytellers in this dynasty. In the past, after a story came out, the storytellers would take it and compile it into segments, and then the dignitaries would listen to it. But now, the Emperor is actually compiling segments, and then the storytellers take them to read to the people of the world?"

"This is originally an intention of the Emperor to carefully manage the gazette," Zhao Ding replied with his eyes closed, his tone already slow, but seeming somewhat sleepy. "To convey his intentions directly, bypassing the Department of State Affairs and the Privy Council... Is there anything else? First, read the titles."

Zhao Fen quickly flipped through it and immediately reported several remaining article topics published in the leisure journals: "Mr. Qingshan (Hu Anguo) is again talking about his 'Qi'..."

"Useless, no need to read it anymore."

"Yes... There is a miscellaneous article written by Lü Benzhong, the eldest son of Duke Lü, talking about the Jiangxi School of Poetry..."

"Let him be, he is old, but he has lost his future by a twist of fate, and he can only engage in these idle matters all day long... I'm not interested today, forget it."

"There's also one..." Zhao Fen suddenly stopped speaking.

"What else is there?" Zhao Ding still had his eyes closed, and his sleepiness was growing stronger.

"There is a short article signed by Duke Lü, talking about Tianli (Heavenly Principle)," Zhao Fen became slightly more serious. "The article is extremely short."

Zhao Ding was helpless and could only reluctantly open his eyes, and then sat up with obvious weariness: "The Lü family's teachings are mostly a mixture of Buddhism and Confucianism, and may not be as nonsensical as Hu Anguo's 'Qi', but in the end, he is a person who discusses important military and national affairs, and the current Duke, so we must treat him with caution... Read it carefully."

"Yes," Zhao Fen immediately stood up straight and read aloud: "Heavenly Principle is the basis, initially forming Taiji (Supreme Ultimate), Taiji suddenly gives birth to Yin and Yang, and then there is the origin of Heaven. Since the origin of Heaven bears the principle of Heaven, it becomes all things. Man is the spirit of all things, born without stability, so he should follow human desires and argue about Heavenly Principle. To argue about Heavenly Principle, one must investigate all things. To investigate all things, one must learn and practice, be practical and practice, to achieve morality. When morality is complete, the supreme principle of life is to become a Sage."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Ding's eyes were already shining, shocked and surprised.

How could Chancellor Zhao not know? With Lü Haowen's current status, in the gazette directly controlled by the Emperor, during such a window period when the court and the public cannot speak out, producing such a thing... Does this not mean that he wants to turn the world upside down?

But what can be done even if he knows?

In the current situation, who can shake the Emperor's and Duke Lü's alliance? Not to mention that this thing sounds like it vaguely has some truth... At least it is more coherent than Hu Anguo's "Qi"... Even if it makes no sense, wouldn't one have to accept it?

With this thought, Zhao Ding lay back again, but his eyes were bright and it was difficult to have even a trace of sleepiness.

Zhao Yuanzhen was not thinking about any Heavenly Principle, but he suddenly realized that he seemed to have never understood the Emperor's intentions at all.

And as the Chancellor of the Department of State Affairs, the actual overseer of all administrative affairs, yet he did not know the intentions of the Emperor who held absolute authority above him; or rather, he was ignorant of the Emperor's fundamental intentions, yet he had become the dignified Chancellor of the Department of State Affairs... This in itself was a very absurd thing.

"Father, I really don't want to go..."

At the same time that Zhao Ding, the Chancellor, and many others were distracted, in a residential area for dignitaries in the west of the city, in a garden that was somewhat excessively large, a thin teenager about sixteen or seventeen years old was pleading with a righteous-looking, jade-like middle-aged man in plain clothes with a bitter face. "I'm not cut out to be a scholar!"

"Kneel!"

The middle-aged man in plain clothes, holding a newly copied gazette in his hand, immediately turned around and became angry when he heard this.

The teenager was startled and immediately knelt down.

"You all go down." The middle-aged man in plain clothes turned his head and became kind and amiable to the surrounding servants. Coupled with his righteous face, he really made people feel good about him.

The surrounding servants did not dare to be negligent and stepped away.

As soon as the people left, this middle-aged man in plain clothes, who was the head of the Pearl Wu family, one of the two current Imperial Uncles, Wu Jin, coldly looked at his son kneeling in front of him with his hands behind his back: "Wu Yi!"

"Yes!" Wu Yi, who was only sixteen years old, actually shivered on the spot.

"You were originally born of a concubine, and family property and future prospects have nothing to do with you, but who told your sister to become a Noble Consort? Therefore, whether you like it or not, the future of our Wu family can only be placed on your shoulders... Your brothers can't even compete!" Wu Jin rarely sighed. "Otherwise, do you think I would be willing to care about you? I let you grow up freely for eleven or twelve years before suddenly forcing you to do this and that?"

"Father," Wu Yi on the ground burst into tears, appearing to have suffered as much as his sister in his studies over the past few years. "It's not that I don't want to work hard, but I'm really not cut out to be a scholar... And I've already studied arithmetic for several years and finally learned to manage accounts, but it's useless..."

"Let me tell you," Wu Jin became even more impatient when he saw the other party crying. "This matter is beyond your control, and beyond my control, and even beyond your sister's control... Who told us to be the maternal relatives of the imperial family? The Emperor has no close relatives at present. As maternal relatives, some things are really beyond our control!"

Wu Yi on the ground stopped crying for a moment, but then became somewhat dazed.

"Let me tell you," Imperial Uncle Wu became even more saddened when he saw this, and his words became sincere. "If the Emperor were a two-faced, outwardly tolerant and inwardly suspicious person, you wouldn't be allowed to do business, study, or calculate accounts. You could only venerate Taoism and Buddhism and become a 'celestial person,' and the family's business would have to be left to your brothers to manage, without you being able to interfere."

"If the Emperor were a romantic figure like the Taishang Daojun Emperor, you would only be able to be a romantic helper, filling in lyrics, writing frivolous poems, and playing Cuju and chess, like Xiao Yi Ge (Brother Xiao Yi) of Daming Prefecture in the past, and like Gao Taiwei (Grand Commandant Gao) in front of the Emperor in the past... To make it easier to accompany the Emperor to visit brothels."

"And if the Emperor is a talented and ambitious person who uses people casually, even if you are afraid of death, you have to eat well and become strong, and then put on armor, waving swords and spears all day long, pretending to be the Emperor's Wei Qing, and then before going into battle, grit your teeth and learn from Huo Qubing's sudden death, dying before you could finish your mission, which would be beneficial to the country and the family."

"But now, the Emperor has neither asked you to die, nor asked you to help him go whoring, but only asked us to find a way to support Duke Lü's 'Principle Studies.' As for you, you are only asked to be a Mengchang Jun (patron) who scatters money in the Taixue... When you see someone who is willing to investigate things according to the Principle Studies, you have to praise them and blow them up!" Wu Jin finally became somewhat resentful. "How can you not understand such a simple thing? Who really wants you to study in the Taixue? Read, read, and get a doctorate? What's the use? Can maternal relatives become officials? Letting you go to the Taixue is for you to enjoy yourself!"

Wu Yi had a sudden realization.