Nanyang was experiencing a revival, and the Jin were strategically retreating. Logically, this was the most crucial time for the newly stabilized Southern Song dynasty's exiled regime. They should be exerting every effort to do everything possible, as there was no shortage of things to do.

However, at this moment, the Emperor Zhao suddenly organized an outing under the guise of entertaining guests. Well... of course, he was forgiven.

After all, the Emperor had never been known to engage in such behavior before. It seemed inappropriate to conclude that he was indulging in pleasures and beautiful women based solely on this one event.

Besides, a ruler sharing joy with his subjects and enjoying nature was an activity that perfectly aligned with Confucian ideals and could even be considered politically correct, making it difficult to criticize.

Finally, and most importantly, everyone had been generally exhausted and tense before the Jin retreated. Yet, the Emperor had been sitting in the palace all day, smiling and urging for reports like a debt collector. Today, he was rare to show his face, so who would complain about a mule cart?

Of course, it was also true that everyone was caught off guard when the Emperor suddenly summoned them after they had returned home from court.

Back to the matter at hand, this so-called outing was essentially just eating and drinking in the wilderness. However, for an outing of such high caliber, it was unavoidable to add a touch of culture. But everyone had come from the prosperous era, so they were not intimidated. Moreover, the Emperor had already set the theme for today... The learning of Great Scholar Su was simply mainstream. Which scholar in the Song dynasty hadn't imitated him like Dong Shi?

With this thought in mind, everyone couldn't help but look at the Deputy Capital's recognized foremost poet and almost the leading figure in the contemporary literary world, Minister of Works Ye Mengde... It seemed that this person would surely shine brightly today.

In fact, the theoretical main guests today were also Su Shi's eldest grandson, Su Dan; second grandson, Su Fu; third grandson, Su Yue; and sixth grandson, Su Ji, who were standing behind Ye Mengde, looking excited.

It is said that Great Scholar Su was a man of great romance. In those days, the Three Su stood side by side in the world, and Su's learning was a prominent field of study. However, his three sons had always lingered at the bottom due to the Yuan祐 Party Inscription. The eldest, Su Mai, didn't participate in the imperial examinations at all, spending his life content as a minor official. The third son also settled for a minor, unrated position after failing the examinations once, drifting from place to place. The second son, Su Dai, was outstanding in his studies but only studied under Zhang Zai when he was young. Later, he easily passed the imperial examinations but soon gave up his official career and became a mainstay of Daoism.

By the time of the grandsons, they had basically faded into obscurity.

"Since we are entertaining guests, there must be wine and dishes." Emperor Zhao seemed to be preparing to develop the theme of 'Su Zi'. He had just settled the two drunkards down, and everyone had just begun to speculate when he stood on the riverbank and continued to pretend. "But today we have wine but no dishes. I invite everyone to put in some effort and find something to eat. Let's learn from Great Scholar Su, who didn't mind rough materials but demanded fine food... Those without ingredients will not be allowed to take a seat."

As he spoke, chefs from the palace set up seasonings nearby, and eunuchs and guards piled up pots and chopped firewood.

Everyone looked at each other, not expecting to have to do it themselves. But since the Emperor had spoken and forcefully associated it with Great Scholar Su, acting as if it were very elegant, they could only endure their day's fatigue and pick wild vegetables... Of course, fishing was the most popular.

Having come to the riverbank for an outing with the theme of Great Scholar Su, how could they not eat Dongpo fish?

And a few thoughtful people went to look for fishing rods and indeed found rods that had been prepared in advance. Thus, a group of scholar-officials, especially the elder and more dignified ones, from Prime Minister Lü Haowen of the Deputy Capital downwards, each pretended and became fishermen by the river.

The sun was gradually setting, the weather was fine, and the breeze was gentle. It was truly a scene of 'white water, golden light, ruler and subjects sharing joy, fishing by the river, thinking of deceased friends, and perhaps benevolent policies to be announced later'... Wouldn't it be wonderful?

However, in a short while, the group of scholar-officials by the river were dumbfounded because they saw Emperor Zhao, probably impatient with waiting, take off his linen outer robe, roll up his trouser legs, and wade into the river with several guards to pull a net. Then, together with Yang Yizhong, who was riding a boat into the river, they cast a huge fishing net, forcibly hauling up so many fish that it was enough to feed everyone here, instantly destroying all the elegance.

Seeing this scene, Minister Xu sighed and simply abandoned his fishing rod, washing his feet by the river.

On the other side, after one cast of the net, fish and shrimp were all gathered. Emperor Zhao didn't even care if the mercury previously poured into the river would cause heavy metal poisoning, so how could he care about elegance? Therefore, eunuchs and cooks came up to clean the fish and shrimp, cooking them on the spot... steaming, roasting, frying, boiling, stir-frying, and stewing. Soon, fragrance and fishy smell filled the riverbank.

Zhao Jiu also had no imperial airs. He simply sat cross-legged on the bank, placed a large bowl on his lap, and began to eat with chopsticks, picking out fish bones with his hands after only a few bites... As for Madam Wu beside him, she wasn't so vulgar but held a pot of wine, carefully pouring wine for the Emperor.

Most of the other officials had just returned home from the palace, changed clothes, and were called here. They had been hungry all day, so how could they endure it? Especially after experiencing the Jingkang Incident, many of the people here had experienced displacement. They were no longer particular about things that they used to be particular about. So, they followed the example of Minister Xu, who led the way, threw away their fishing rods, washed their hands and feet, and then sat down along the riverbank with the Emperor and Madam Wu, enjoying the food directly on the ground.

As for the words that those without ingredients would not be allowed to take a seat, everyone simply considered it the Emperor's fart!

In this way, the sun further set, and everyone ate and drank non-stop, but each harbored a thought, which was to compose poems and lyrics after filling their stomachs... A few smart people and related individuals even connected the 'Great Scholar Su themed outing' to the Yuan祐 Party issue that the Emperor had previously dealt with perfunctorily. Naturally, they were even more attentive.

In fact, not to mention these people, even Zhang Jun, who was slightly sober, braced himself, washed his face with river water, and then ate some fish and vegetables to prepare.

And sure enough, when the wine was slightly sufficient and the fish was slightly full, the Emperor put down his hand and sighed slightly... And everyone who had been listening intently to the Emperor became solemn.

"Commander Zong sent another memorial today." Zhao Jiu took a silk handkerchief from Wu Yu (Madam Wu's name) beside him, wiped the grease from his hands, and sighed slightly. "This time, he didn't advise me to go to Tokyo but seriously talked about some things. He advised me to take advantage of the Jin's retreat, take the opportunity to prepare armaments and arrange provisions, and then strengthen the major cities along the Nanyang, Fangcheng, and Yancheng lines. He also recommended several people to be the commanders of these cities... This coincides with the court's considerations but is more detailed."

Hearing this, Yan Xiaozhong, the acting prefect of Nanyang, suddenly stood up and cupped his hands on the bank. "Your Majesty, I still recommend Chen Gui, Director of the Longtu Pavilion and Prefect of Dean Prefecture. I knew him when he was still a county magistrate and know his abilities. If this person can come to manage the defenses of Nanyang, I am willing to yield my position."

"Your Majesty has already transferred Chen Gui to be the Minister of War today." Wang Boyan interjected from the side. "Young Master Yan, please be patient."

Yan Xiaozhong was slightly stunned and then sat down.

It is said that Chen Gui was only the magistrate of Anlu at the beginning of last year. During the Jingkang Incident, he led troops north to try to serve the king, but when he arrived in Caizhou, he found that the Two Emperors had already been taken north. Helplessly, he turned back.

When he returned to Anlu, he found that the local area had already become chaotic, with heroes from all walks of life and a large number of defeated soldiers pouring in from the north all feeling that the Song dynasty was already dead and were eager to try. At the same time, the prefect of the local Dean Prefecture probably also felt that the Song dynasty was already dead and ran away directly... Therefore, the local official forces loyal to the Song dynasty jointly pushed Chen Gui, a county magistrate, to lead the work of the entire prefecture.

Of course, in that situation, this was a great display of loyalty, so the Nanjing (Shangqiu) provisional government at that time directly posthumously granted him the title of Director of the Longtu Pavilion and Prefect of Dean Prefecture.

And once he took office, Chen Gui shone brightly. He led a group of local archers with no combat experience from almost scratch and successively defeated Li Xiaoyi's troops (whose brother Li Xiaozhong was entrenched in Xiangyang), who had more than 10,000 soldiers; persuaded Yang Jin's troops to retreat (later, Yang Jin turned north, first surrendered to Zong Ze, and then betrayed the Song and surrendered to the Jin, and was currently being beaten by Han Shizhong); and annexed Dong Ping, a local strongman who was good at using double spears... By the time the Emperor went west to Caizhou, Dean Prefecture was completely at peace, and Chen Gui had 20,000 troops.

In short, such a person was stationed in neighboring Anlu and had a proper background in the imperial examinations, so it was impossible for the provisional government not to pay attention to him.

In fact, when Emperor Zhao arrived in Fangcheng, on Wang Boyan's suggestion, he made Chen Gui the Pacification Commissioner of Dean Prefecture (now Anlu), Fuzhou (now the Mianyang area), and Hanyang Army (now Wuhan) to be responsible for organizing the Yangtze River waterway. It wasn't heard that he said that this position was inappropriate. When attacking Xiangyang, he even once led troops to Jingmen on the orders of Ma Shen, the Pacification Commissioner of Jinghu North Road, to block Fan Qiong's retreat.

This time, when organizing city defenses and establishing gunpowder workshops, Chen Gui was repeatedly recommended by various people. Zhao Jiu's ears were almost calloused... Thinking about it, it was really rare for such a person to emerge among the civil officials.

Back to the present, Emperor Zhao was interrupted by Yan Xiaozhong and almost forgot what he was going to say. He thought for a long time before he remembered, but it seemed a bit stiff. "Anyway... today is not about these things, but about... I suddenly remembered what Commander Zong said in his previous memorial about the ancestor's great unification... Has the Song dynasty ever really been greatly unified?"

"Your Majesty!"

Hearing this, many ministers from Lü Haowen downwards were startled and quickly moved the plates on their laps, stood up, and then Prime Minister Lü took the lead and responded seriously. "The words 'great unification' originate from the *Chunqiu Gongyang Zhuan*. 'Great' does not mean 'big' in size but 'great' in respect; 'unification' does not mean the unification of the world but the unity of superiors and subordinates! Therefore, the Song dynasty's great unification is by no means empty words."

Zhao Jiu shook his head and smiled again. "I asked Scholar Lin about this before I came. This is the ancient meaning, the original meaning... But Prime Minister Lü, let me ask you, if we had the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, Liaodong, and Liaoxi, and annexed Jiaozhi, Xixia, and Dali, and remotely controlled the Western Regions, all like the Han and Tang dynasties, would we still need to trace back to the ancient meaning when talking about great unification? If it weren't for knowing it clearly, why would Emperor Taizong make such promises, resulting in the eunuch Tong Guan being granted the title of a king with a different surname? Or are you saying that you think Emperor Daojun Taishang was wrong to even recover Yanyun?"

Lü Haowen suddenly froze... He wasn't stumped by Emperor Zhao's question. On the contrary, he suddenly realized what Emperor Zhao was going to say today, and he dared not and didn't want to take on this topic.

"Your Majesty!"

Speaking of which, if Lü Haowen didn't dare to take it on, someone would dare to take it on, or rather, had to take it on... Just as the Prime Minister hesitated, Vice Prime Minister Xu Jingheng suddenly stepped forward and replied with gritted teeth. "If it weren't for the Maritime Alliance and the unauthorized attack on Liao, where would the many disasters of the Jingkang Incident come from? Emperor Daojun Taishang was deceived by the Six Traitors before taking these two actions."

"I don't think so." Zhao Jiu waited quietly for the other party to finish before continuing to smile. "Let's not talk about deception... let's just say it was the Six Traitors' deception! But I think the disasters of the Jingkang Incident lie in the flower and stone program, in abundance and prosperity, in the appointment of the Six Traitors, and in the emphasis on civil affairs and neglect of military affairs, but not in these two things. Recovering Yanyun and the Maritime Alliance are just military strategies, like the deceptive nature of warfare... What's wrong with that? The Jingkang humiliation, in the end, isn't it because the Jin are strong and we are weak?!"

Xu Jingheng wanted to speak but stopped, and Emperor Zhao, seeing the other party speechless, raised his voice and laughed:

"With the Jin's barbarism and Liao's weakness, even without the Maritime Alliance, wouldn't the Jin have seen the Song's weakness sooner or later and come to attack? Such a fluke that pushes the internal general trend onto one or two superficial things... Isn't that something that the most pragmatic Minister Xu should say?"

Xu Jingheng was silent for a long time and finally didn't refute, but as the Emperor signaled everyone to sit down, he didn't sit down but stood there motionless.

Of course, Zhao Jiu knew what the other party meant... In fact, after being here for almost a year, Zhao Jiu's political discernment was not as low as it was at the beginning.

Just like this topic now, from the perspective of personality and the way he does things, the pragmatic Xu Jingheng was the least likely to come out and refute. But a person, especially a prime minister, is destined to have complex characteristics. It is impossible to simply label them with personality, morality, and a few positions.

Take Xu Jingheng as an example:

First of all, he is a pro-war faction. In the initial struggle between Li Gang and Huang Qianshan, he unhesitatingly chose to support Li Gang. He did not waver in the most important matters of right and wrong.

However, although he is pro-war, he is biased towards conservatism, and he initially hoped that the provisional government would go to Yangzhou instead of agreeing with Li Gang to come to Nanyang. Of course, he also firmly opposed crossing the Yangtze River to the southeast.

At the same time, he is also a pragmatist. He remained silent after Li Gang was dismissed from his position as prime minister, thus firmly occupying the position of Censor-in-Chief, to the point that Huang Qianshan ignored him. And in this process, he has been trying his best to protect Li Gang and Zong Ze... until someone crawled out of the well and suddenly kicked him down and replaced him with Zhang Jun.

Moreover, he is also a rare capable minister, working hard and bearing burdens without complaint, and is truly useful.

Finally, Xu Jingheng and Lü Haowen, as well as Ma Shen, the Pacification Commissioner of Jinghu North Road, are all followers of Cheng's learning, or rather, the Luoyang school. And Luoyang was the old party's base in the past, and Cheng's learning itself rose by criticizing Wang Anshi's New Learning.

Understanding these things, you will understand why Xu Jingheng behaved so激烈. The reason is self-evident... Normally, the Emperor could do whatever he wanted, but today the Emperor is likely to directly express his position on the core issue of the New and Old Parties, the Yuan祐 Party, so in the case of Lü Haowen's hesitation, he naturally had to step forward and express his position in advance in the most uncompromising way to put pressure on the Emperor and the officials who came today so that they would have scruples.

As for the fact that the entry point somewhat violated his principles and was blocked by the Emperor's words, it can't be blamed on him because since Emperor Shenzong's Xining Reform, the two factions have been constantly fighting each other and are already irreconcilable... With such an important matter, Minister Xu couldn't care so much.

In fact, Xu Jingheng's actions were still successful. Not to mention whether the Emperor was shocked or not, at least after this interruption, no official dared to take the risk of completely opposing a powerful prime minister and stand out for speculation.

"Alright." After Zhao Jiu waved his hand for everyone to sit down, seeing Xu Jingheng standing there with his neck sticking out, he couldn't help but smile again. "I said the words 'great unification' just to casually join in the fun. Why are you all so serious and talking so far..."

Are you kidding me?

As soon as these words came out, many people on the riverbank cursed silently in their hearts. If you, Emperor Zhao, were just casually joining in the fun, why did you specifically ask Scholar Lin about the meaning? It was obvious that you wanted to use this as a test, but you were blocked by Minister Xu, so you said 'casually joining in the fun'.

"I want to say," Zhao Jiu didn't care that Minister Xu was standing there motionless and continued. "Compared with the Han and Tang dynasties, this dynasty is really inferior in terms of actual territory, morale, and martial arts. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been called the Southern Dynasty by the Liao people for so many years... But in terms of literary brilliance, this dynasty is not inferior to the Han and Tang dynasties."

The expressions of the people eased slightly, but then they were stunned again because the next few words of Emperor Zhao were clearly creating history:

"Not to mention Tang poetry and Song lyrics, just in terms of fundamental articles, since the Tang dynasty, prose has swept away the floridness of parallel prose, and among prose from top to bottom, the Tang and Song dynasties have a total of Eight Great Masters, and this dynasty alone accounts for six of them... Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan in the Tang dynasty are credited with the creation, but Wang Shu Wang (Wang Anshi), Ouyang Xiu, the Three Su, and Zeng Gong in this dynasty have reached the peak and completely established the pattern."

"Your Majesty's words are brilliant." Su Shi's four grandsons bowed down to thank the Emperor, and Minister of Works Ye Mengde also spoke carefully. "These eight people are enough to establish the tripod of prose... However, if ranked by age, how can Wang Shu Wang be before Duke Ouyang? If ranked by achievements, how can he be before Great Scholar Su?"

"That's right." Zhao Jiu followed suit. "If we talk about achievements in writing, Great Scholar Su and Ouyang Xiu are the top people, who can be ranked alongside the two creators, Han and Liu, and the other four are slightly inferior."

As soon as these words came out, people soon began to discuss... For example, some people thought that Zeng Gong's articles were better, and some people said that Wang Anshi's articles were not weaker than Ouyang Xiu's, but on the whole, more people recognized Ouyang Xiu and Su Shi, which meant that the Emperor's summary was quite brilliant?

Of course, Zhao Jiu was thinking simply here... How could he know who was higher? But he often heard about the saying of the Four Great Masters of Prose in addition to the Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song.