Chapter 41 Aftermath

After seeing off Yelu Dashi, Zhao Jiu returned to Xingqing Prefecture. After dealing with some official documents, he led only the Imperial Guards, lightly equipped, across the river to Lingzhou. He stayed there for two days, but then chose to travel south along the Lingzhou River, passing through Weizhou and crossing the瀚海 (Han Hai, a desert), arriving at Huanzhou.

From here, he traveled south along the Jing River, successively passing through Huanzhou, Qingzhou, Ningzhou, Banzhou, Yaozhou, and other places. He stayed for one or two days in some places, and three or four days in others, either inspecting the autumn harvest, checking the granaries, or going deep into the townships. Adding in the time spent on the road itself, it was not until the beginning of August that he entered Jingzhao.

By the time he arrived in Jingzhao, news of the results of the recent chaos in the Northwest had already spread throughout the world, and even the details of the Jinhebo (Jinhe Marsh) assembly were known to all.

As Zhao Jiu had expected, this time, the Song Dynasty had taken the best approach, attacking strategy; second best, attacking diplomacy. Whether it was using skill to overturn the century-old enemy of Western Xia in one fell swoop, taking advantage of the Jurchens' strategic contraction to sweep the Northwest, or holding an assembly to make foreign lands into subjects, all were unprecedented events that excited the Song Dynasty from top to bottom.

There was no other way. Since the Jingkang Incident, the entire Song Dynasty had only received bad news. Even the battle of Yaoshan was a defensive war. This time, although those truly in the know understood that the results were due to the Jurchens' own strategic contraction, it still felt like a dream.

After all, even those who understood had to admit that the Zhao Song Emperor's move to go with the flow was truly brilliant... Everyone in the world still thought that the Jurchens were being beaten back! Moreover, winning in the court, winning through strategy and diplomacy, using the general trend and tactics to avoid war and gain so much territory and results, was in itself something that was extremely in line with their values.

Relatively speaking, they were more frustrated by the haste of the Jinhebo assembly, regretting that they could not participate in this great event.

Therefore, after Emperor Zhao set off from Xingqing Prefecture, memorials and documents congratulating him never stopped along the way. By the time he arrived in Chang'an, he realized the dramatic political, military, and even cultural and economic reactions brought about by this great advance.

For example, Zhao Jiu only discovered after arriving in Chang'an that the various Tibetan tribes had already sent envoys to wait here in large numbers, and the tribute envoys from various parts of the Western Regions had also gathered... According to Yuwen Xuzhong's report, almost all the Qinghai tribes north of Da Jinchuan in Tibet had arrived this time. After losing the protection of Western Xia, and with the Western Regions becoming the territory of the Song Dynasty's allies, these tribes completely lost the foundation for independent existence and could only submit.

On the other hand, in the Western Regions, judging from the time and distance, it was likely that there were more merchants taking the opportunity to disguise themselves as envoys to cheat money... It was also a traditional skill of the city-states of the Western Regions.

Zhao Jiu would not be a fool in this regard. Of course, he would speak kindly to the Tibetans who came, grant official titles where appropriate, incorporate them into the system where appropriate, and provide trade treatment where appropriate, but he would not give them extra money and food.

As for the various 'envoys' from the Western Regions, Zhao Jiu simply had Yuwen Xuzhong meet with them all at once, and proposed a plan to establish an independent, low-tax large market in Lanzhou to serve as a hub for east-west transportation, inviting these experts to participate in the discussion.

Of course, the affairs of Tibet and the Western Regions were ultimately marginal issues, and the dramatic internal reaction was the real key.

First was the plan for administrative divisions... In Tokyo, someone, no one knew who, had directly proposed a plan to integrate the six circuits of Guanzhong.

According to this plan, the entire six circuits of Guanzhong, including the several prefectures outside the river and east of the river that had not yet been included in the administrative plan, would be uniformly merged into three circuits.

These were: Shaanxi Circuit, which included Chang'an and northern Shaanxi, including some areas east of the Heng Mountains, all the way to the three prefectures outside the river and the northernmost Dongsheng Prefecture.

Ningxia Circuit, after removing the Heng Mountain prefectures and counties, would gain Huaide Army, Huizhou, Xizhou, Zhenrong Army, and other places to the south.

As for the remaining part, it would take Qinfeng Circuit as its core, unifying the Northwest region under its control, including Lanzhou, this key hub of the Northwest, forming a new, large-sized Qinfeng Circuit.

This arrangement certainly made sense. For example, in Shaanxi Circuit, the south had Chang'an, the central hub of Guanzhong, with the Grand Councilor stationed there, while the north was mostly war zones. Han Shizhong and his Imperial Guards Left Army, as well as Wu Jie's Imperial Guards Right Army, were clearly going to be stationed here to deal with the military confrontation with the Jurchens, which would facilitate the unified dispatch of logistics and command.

The arrangement of Ningxia Circuit and Qinfeng Circuit also had its reasons, both containing designs to divide the core areas of the Tanguts, and also incorporating some traditional Han-controlled areas into Ningxia Circuit, which would help with sinicization.

Zhao Jiu approved this plan in principle, but suggested that it be delayed slightly, considering that various places had just emerged from military operations, and people's hearts were unstable, and that the autumn harvest in some areas was underway or had not yet been completed.

In a sense, this was a way to objectively reduce taxes in these places for half a year, and to give some convenience to the generals in the military occupied areas.

At the same time, Zhao Jiu himself was not idle.

It must be known that there was already Grand Councilor Yuwen Xuzhong here. According to a kind of unwritten rule since Jianyan, when the Emperor and the Grand Councilor were together, they could legitimately exercise the highest power... Especially sensitive personnel matters, which were far better decided here than back in Tokyo.

Specifically, Wang Yan, the Pacification Commissioner of Qinfeng Circuit, was commended and rewarded for his contributions to logistics deployment, and was recalled to the Imperial Guards as the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guards, concurrently holding the positions of Deputy of the Privy Council and Military Affairs Advisor of the Privy Council.

Hu Yin's Five Route Transport Commissioner was dismissed, and he was changed to Minister of Works, but he would not be transferred until Shaanxi Circuit was successfully reorganized.

Liang Yangzu, the Minister of Works, was transferred to Deputy Prime Minister of the Department of State Affairs, and the Department of State Affairs and the Ministry of Rites were instructed to discuss his various merits since the Jingkang Incident, preparing to add a beautiful title... This meant giving him the status of a Prime Minister and then retiring him with honor, which, considering Liang Yangzu's own political stance and consistent position, was probably what he was seeking.

As for Wang Yuan, Zhao Jiu also remembered his hard work, and added the position of Deputy Envoy of the Privy Council, allowing him to retire with the status of a deputy national leader.

In addition, Zhao Kai, the Transport Judge of Shaanxi and Sichuan Nine Routes, was promoted to Pacification Commissioner of Qinfeng Circuit for his merits, officially entering the highest level of the imperial bureaucracy after several years of hard work, from a local transport judge during the Jingkang chaos.

And the transfers of Hu Yin and Zhao Kai also meant that the Nine Route Transport System and the Five Route Transport System, which were specially used during the war in Guanzhong, were abolished.

At the same time, Liu Ziyu, the Pacification Commissioner of Lizhou Circuit, was transferred to Minister of War, Lin Jingmo, the Pacification Commissioner of Chengdu Circuit, was transferred to Minister of Revenue, Liu Hongdao, the Pacification Commissioner of Jiangxi Circuit, was transferred to Vice Minister of War concurrently serving as Director of Waterways, and Ma Shen, the Pacification Commissioner of Hubei Circuit, was transferred to Minister of Justice.

Hu Shijiang, the Minister of War, was transferred to Pacification Commissioner of Shaanxi Circuit, Lin Qi, the Minister of Revenue, was sent out as Pacification Commissioner of Lizhou Circuit, Wang Shu, the Minister of Justice, was sent out as Pacification Commissioner of Chengdu Circuit, and Lu Zhi, the Vice Minister of Personnel, was sent out as Pacification Commissioner of Jiangxi Circuit.

As for the various other replacements, they also came like a tide.

It could only be said that a series of personnel adjustments was enough to shock the court. At first glance, it seemed that Emperor Zhao, who had always valued stability in the court, was going to stir up trouble.

But in reality, a closer look would reveal that it was nothing more than taking advantage of the Northwest integration and Liang Yangzu's honorable retirement to mutually exchange the major officials who had previously performed well or outstandingly, both inside and outside the court.

This kind of exchange was not to be mentioned in the same breath as the Shaoxing Baima Incident. Even compared to the round of adjustments after Yaoshan, it seemed to be weaker, because at that time, the adjustments were made directly at the level of the Prime Ministers, while this time, in order to maintain the consistency of the court's policies, and also as a response to the excellent performance of the Prime Ministers in the past few years, the four Prime Ministers in the court, the Grand Councilors in Chang'an and the Southeast, were not moved at all.

However, the same action, from the perspective of the high-level officials, certainly showed that Emperor Zhao had no intention of making drastic changes, but in the eyes of some other people, it still produced a certain misjudgment from a certain angle.

Just as Emperor Zhao was carrying out large-scale personnel adjustments in Chang'an, suddenly, an official who had made many hard contributions this time, and was transferred to Prefect of Huangzhou, namely Liang Jiaying, who had a military jinshi background, had also served as a Beijing official, and had also taken a trip to the Western Regions with Hu Hongxiu, directly submitted a memorial, suggesting that Emperor Zhao should not return to Tokyo, but should stay in Chang'an and move the capital there!

The reasons were, of course, sufficient. After pacifying Western Xia and sweeping the Northwest, the entire Guanzhong became completely stable, and the return of the Xingling grain-producing area and the opening of the Western Regions and Hetao trade routes would greatly stimulate the revitalization of Chang'an. As for the usual arguments such as the terrain of Guanzhong, there was no need to ask, it had been tested for thousands of years.

In addition, this memorial also mentioned a point, that is, from Yaoshan to the recent chaos in the Northwest, it had been confirmed that the views of Marshal Yue Pengju and Vice Minister of Personnel Lu Zhi were correct: To eliminate the Jurchens, it was necessary to have a broad overview, sweep Guanzhong, then exit Hedong, occupy the Taihang Mountains, and take a commanding position in order to fully capture Hebei and advance on Yanyun.

Since this was the case, it would be better for the Emperor to stay in Guanzhong to manage and accumulate strength to exit Hedong.

Liang Jiaying was certainly a rising star, but in himself he was completely insignificant. However, today his memorial was truly earth-shattering, completely shaking Chang'an and Tokyo, and even the world.

Even Zhao Jiu was momentarily doubtful.

And then, after waking up, the local officials in Guanzhong successively submitted memorials expressing their agreement. Immediately, the memorials in Tokyo also flew in like snowflakes... But interestingly, not all the opinions in Tokyo were against it. Zhang Jun, the Assistant Administrator of the Central Secretariat, whose home was in Sichuan, was said to have been almost driven mad with regret because he had not followed Emperor Zhao to participate in the assembly, actually expressed his agreement!

Several central officials who were about to be transferred to Guanzhong immediately turned their backs and agreed to move the capital along with the Vice Minister of Personnel Lu Zhi.

Even several marshals on the front line, Han Shizhong, Wu Jie, Qu Duan, and Wang De, also quickly submitted memorials, suggesting that the Emperor stay... Yue Fei, who was still in Lanzhou in charge of pacifying the former Xishou Baotai Military Commissioner's Office of Western Xia, also cautiously submitted a memorial, expressing a certain degree of agreement.

However, the main body of officials at all levels in Tokyo, led by the Administrator of the Central Secretariat, expressed their opposition.

It seemed that the situation at the beginning of Jianyan, when the choice of temporary capital led to a complete division, was about to reappear.

However, Zhao Jiu hesitated slightly, and still dismissed this idea according to the suggestions of Zhao Ding, the Administrator of the Central Secretariat, and Yuwen Xuzhong, the Grand Councilor of Chang'an - in other words, the country needed a long-term stable situation, and policies needed a continuous political situation to guarantee them. The uncertainty brought about by moving the capital was too great.

As for the problem of launching a counterattack from Hedong in the future, the distance between Chang'an and Tokyo was not so exaggerated. At worst, he, the Emperor, could come to Chang'an again at that time.

Since the decision had been made, Zhao Jiu abandoned his original plan to wait for Minister Lin and others. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, he directly set off eastward with Wang Yan, who had arrived earlier, leading the Imperial Guards... He only stopped briefly when passing through Shanzhou, to discuss the possible Hedong strategy with Li Yanxian in person, and also asked Wang Yan to cross the river as much as possible to meet Ma Kuo again and bring him south, and then set off again, passing through Luoyang, to pay tribute to Wang Boyan. Finally, at the end of August, he returned to the long-awaited city of Tokyo.

Returning to Tokyo, with the might of this great victory and the destruction of Western Xia, the officials naturally went thirty miles out of the city to welcome him. Emperor Zhao took the opportunity to ascend Yue Terrace and led the officials to pay tribute to the nameless memorial tablet. Then he returned to the city and finally saw his two noble concubines, each holding a son... That is, the two ugly babies, Zhao Yuanzuo and Zhao Dezuo... to greet him.

This was destined to be another matter worth talking about, and there would certainly be a lot of trouble in the future. Just seeing them made Emperor Zhao's head ache... This was only natural. Which family's son was not a troublesome matter?

Even he, Emperor Zhao, who had plenty of real estate, could not escape it.

What's more, for Emperor Zhao at this time, the political significance of these two sons was greater, and they were inevitably less interesting than his daughter.

Therefore, Emperor Zhao simply picked up his most beloved little princess, Yiyou, and went straight into the palace, bypassing his two sons.

After returning to the palace, in the following days, things were complicated and personnel exchanges were constant.

Not to mention the exchange of the Ministers of the Six Ministries and the Pacification Commissioners of various places, and the integration of the Northwest administrative divisions, all of which involved a massive amount of personnel... The ones at the top were just the ones at the top. The transfer and appointment of a large number of middle-level officials was the most terrifying. In addition, there was also the problem of promotions and rewards for the Imperial Guards soldiers who had made great contributions this time.

Under these circumstances, Emperor Zhao did not even go to see Zheng Zhichang, the international friend who had made great contributions this time, off when he said goodbye.

However, during this period, at the beginning of September, something suddenly happened, or rather, the arrival of a person, which attracted the attention of the entire imperial center against all reason... For the personnel problems that were particularly serious to the court and the political situation, they were temporarily overshadowed by the arrival of this person.

The person who came was called Zhe Keqiu.

In fact, Zhe Keqiu did not really come alone. This time, he brought many members of the Zhe family, as well as the Western Xia royal generals Weiming Yunge and the Western Xia Crown Prince Li Renxiao and Prince Yue Li Renyou... These were alive... In addition, there was also the head of the Western Xia Emperor Li Qianchun.

This was probably the reason why he delayed until this time to enter Beijing to meet the Emperor.

In fact, Zhe Keqiu did perform outstandingly this time. First, the timing of his defection was excellent, which almost allowed the Song Dynasty to seize the prefectures outside the river without bloodshed. Moreover, he also played a very important role in a series of military operations such as driving away Wanyan Huonv, controlling the Khitan tribes outside the river, and coercing Hengshan.

It could be said that without Zhe's early defection in the Hengshan defense stage, Emperor Zhao's great advance into Hetao would not have been so easy.

In addition, there was no doubt about the military merits of the head of Li Qianchun and Li Qianchun's two sons.

At the same time, the loyalty of many accompanying members of the Zhe family did not seem to be worth discussing. Under Zhe Keqiu, the Zhe family actually had a large number of children who were looted along with the two Emperors during the Jingkang Incident. During the Jianyan period, they would rather suffer in the Kanto region than return to Fuzhou after surrendering in Fuzhou. They were not sent back home until the two Emperors returned south after the Shaoxing Incident.

This point could be confirmed by many captured people.

There was also Zhe Yanzhi, who had a very high status in the Zhe family. He was already in his fifties this year. Regardless of the fact that all his children were in Fuzhou, he had been ups and downs for several years, being demoted and re-employed without saying a word. He had always been sincere in his duties. This time, he was just transferred from Sichuan and was also given the title of Vice Minister of Revenue concurrently serving as Director of the Ordnance Department, which could be regarded as being promoted to a prominent official at the Secretarial Pavilion level.

From these reasons, or from these perspectives, some words, even if everyone did not say them, could feel some subtle atmosphere... To put it bluntly, many people tended to hope that the imperial court could pardon the Zhe family, especially since the merits of Li Qianchun and his sons this time were really a great step down.

However, Zhe Keqiu had publicly surrendered to the Jurchens during the Jingkang-Jianyan War, and Emperor Zhao had issued an order of no pardon before he surrendered.

Of course, on the other hand, if you continue to think about it, this was one time and that was another. Since the imperial court had completely captured the Northwest, and the century-old enemy Western Xia was gone, then no one could deny the momentum of revival.

Under these circumstances, was it still necessary to adhere to the previous strict measures?

Appropriately relaxing one or two would be the most appropriate way to send a signal to many people in the north, right?

But after thinking about it, these were all wishful thinking of the people below. After experiencing this great advance into the Northwest, the destruction of Western Xia, and the Jinhebo assembly, Emperor Zhao's authority was growing day by day, and everything would depend on the Emperor's decision.

Therefore, on the day Zhe Keqiu entered Beijing, the Department of State Affairs and the Privy Council jointly submitted a memorial the next day, requesting a personal decision... This could be regarded as a kind of test, because letting Zhe Keqiu personally offer Li Qianchun's head and two children was in itself a kind of assistance.

The first result of the test slightly put people at ease. Emperor Zhao promised to summon them in the stone pavilion in the harem the next morning.

After receiving the order, early the next morning, Zhe Keqiu and several accompanying members of the Zhe family, dressed in white and without hats, accompanied by Zhe Yanzhi, holding Li Qianchun's head box, and Weiming Yunge and the Li brothers, entered the Danei (Imperial City) from the Donghua Gate and transferred to the harem to ask to see the Emperor.

"Is this Li Qianchun's head?"

Inside the nameless stone pavilion by the fish pond, Zhao Jiu, who was sitting at a stone table full of documents, put down the scroll in his hand when he saw the visitors. Immediately, Yang Yizhong presented Li Qianchun's head box... These days, according to the rules, he had to personally check and meet every official who entered Beijing and every official who took office in a local area, as long as they reached a certain level, which was bound to be troublesome.

"Yes!" Zhe Keqiu, who was in the lead, bowed to the ground as soon as he came in and did not dare to raise his head. Just as he was about to answer, he was actually preempted by Weiming Yunge, who was a prisoner. "Let the Emperor of the Great Song know that the head of the Emperor was cut off by this subject himself. There is absolutely no falsehood. Your Majesty can open it and examine it."

In front of the box with a strong smell, Zhao Jiu raised his head to look at Weiming Yunge, and then looked at the two frightened children beside Weiming Yunge. Having just had two sons himself, he could not help but frown: "There is no need to examine it. How can I examine his father's head in front of the children? Take it down! Ren Baozhong, go and find a proper place to bury it. Do not be too disrespectful, but do not let people know that it is the tomb of the Emperor of Western Xia!"

Ren Baozhong, a close minister who was waiting beside him, quickly stepped forward, praised the Emperor for his benevolence, and then picked up the head box and turned to leave.

Weiming Yunge quickly kowtowed to thank him, but finally began to cry uncontrollably.

With the box gone, Zhao Jiu took a few deep breaths before asking with a sigh, "Weiming Yunge, where did you escape to at that time?"

"We escaped to Dijinze," Yunge replied, bowing his head with tears in his eyes. "The place where our ancestors started their family..."

Zhao Jiu was really confused this time. Although he had crammed a lot of Western Xia knowledge before this expedition to Western Xia, most of it was about the current geographical situation of Western Xia, and he still did not know much about the history of the past.

Lu Benzhong, who was beside him, quickly gave a little explanation, and Emperor Zhao then learned that the so-called Dijinze was where Western Xia started its family - when the Great Song Dynasty was founded, the Xia Prefecture was contributed to the Great Song by the Tangut nobles. Li Jiqian, the Grand Ancestor of Western Xia, refused to accept this and led dozens of riders to flee to Dijinze, a desert oasis 300 miles north of Xia Prefecture. There, he accumulated strength, gathered tribes, and finally fought unyieldingly in hundreds of battles. Not only did he recapture Xia Prefecture, but he also fully captured Hengshan, and then occupied Xingling, competing with the remaining forces of Tibet. He died on the road of the Western Expedition and became the de facto founder of Western Xia.

After hearing this, Zhao Jiu could not help but be curious: "Since you had already escaped to that kind of place, which was obviously determined to restore the country, why did you not persist, but instead had infighting?"

Weiming Yunge heard this and cried loudly: "Your Majesty, this subject is not infighting, but acting on orders! The reason why we could not persist was not this subject, nor the Emperor, nor General Weiming (Li) Liangfu, who escorted the Emperor to Dijinze... The country was declining, but the Emperor had been in power for forty or fifty years, and his authority was still there, while the others, after surviving ten deaths, when they arrived at the place where their ancestors revived, which of them was not a loyal minister who was loyal and fearless of death?"

Zhao Jiu became more and more puzzled: "Then why did Li Qianchun lose his ambition again?"

"Because destiny is no longer with the Great White High Kingdom!" Weiming Yunge cried even more bitterly. "This subject only discovered after arriving at Dijinze that the oasis, which used to have abundant water and grass and could be a foundation, had long since withered and was unbearable. Not to mention herding and planting, even drinking water was difficult... We only gathered one or two thousand people, but in just a few dozen days, the spring water was actually dried up... The soldiers deserted day and night, and a few loyal ones wanted to follow us to the death, but they were often困 (kun, trapped) by a pot of water! Later, General Weiming (Li) Liangfu simply killed his own son, partly to save water, and partly to use blood water to supply the soldiers... But this was discovered by the Emperor, who could no longer bear it, saying that he could die, but he could not let the Crown Prince and Prince Yue sink to the point of drinking blood, so he let this subject do it... Then he let this subject and General Liangfu bring the head and the Crown Prince and Prince Yue to Tokyo to ask to see Your Majesty, because the Great Song has always been able to give wealth to surrendered officials, but the Jurchens do not know their nature... As a result, when we were about to reach the edge of the desert, General Liangfu said that he killed his son for the sake of his Emperor, but now that the Emperor was gone, his act of killing his son was like a beast, so he entrusted the last of the water to the Crown Prince and Prince Yue, and he turned back into the desert... This subject had no choice but to continue to lead the Crown Prince and Prince Yue to the southeast, and ran into Zhe's search soldiers."

Everyone heard that the final fate of Western Xia was so tragic, and their faces changed.

Only Emperor Zhao was moved in a different way: "I have already said that Western Xia was overdeveloped upstream, causing soil erosion, but you still didn't believe me..."

When the surrounding ministers heard this, they were stunned, but strangely, they believed it a little.

"Forget it!" Zhao Jiu sighed. "Since this is the case... I will give you a house, and you can take the two children as adopted sons, and live well in Tokyo from now on."

The young Weiming Yunge heard this and burst into tears.

During the trip to Tokyo, Yunge had already learned that it was Yelu Yudu who had provoked this plan to destroy the country. Recalling his words that day, plus the guilt of personally killing Li Qianchun, he wanted to commit suicide several times... But with the Emperor dead, and people like Rento Baozhong turning so quickly, plus Li Liangfu also dead, it would be easy for him to die now, but what about the Crown Prince, who was only seven or eight years old, and the even younger Prince Yue?

Without his care, wouldn't they just die from catching a cold one day?

With this in mind, Weiming Yunge not only suppressed his desire to die, but also kowtowed with tears in his eyes: "This subject asks to use the merit of offering the head to seek a useful origin. The Crown Prince and Prince Yue of the former kingdom are here. This subject will never waver. Please have mercy on me, Your Majesty!"

Zhao Jiu pondered for a moment, exchanged a few words with several close ministers, and then nodded slightly: "In your situation, if I don't use you, people will say that I am stingy. How about this, since you are a local Tangut general, you should know how to raise camels, right?"

"This subject naturally knows!" Weiming Yunge quickly responded. "This subject is willing to imitate Jin Midi and be the one to lead the camels for Your Majesty!"

"You don't need to lead the camels. I am going to rebuild the Directorate of Animal Husbandry, which is your Tangut's Flying Dragon Institute. There is a camel breeding point outside the city of Tokyo. You can be attached to the Imperial Guards as a logistics errand to manage the camels... See if you can help the Privy Council to train a Bo Xi Army... And then you can also enter the Gong Pavilion with Rento Baozhong as a member of the Tangut royal family, to give an account to Ningxia... How about it?" Zhao Jiu asked kindly.

"This subject... This subject is grateful!" Weiming Yunge gritted his teeth and changed his title.

"Then go down," Zhao Jiu waved casually. "Master Lu, go and help them settle down."

Weiming Yunge quickly called Li Renxiao and kowtowed to thank him, pressing down on the ignorant Li Renyou, and then hurriedly left with Lu Benzhong.

With Lu Benzhong gone, Zhao Jiu turned to look at the man in white bowing before him, his tone much lighter: "Are you Zhe Keqiu?"

"This sinful subject is Zhe Keqiu," the man bowed to the ground, not daring to raise his head at all.

"Raise your head," Zhao Jiu instructed under the gaze of many close ministers, his tone clearly unkind.

Zhe Keqiu, who was not wearing a hat, quickly did as he was told. Although he knew that his situation was embarrassing at this time, he still couldn't help but take a look at the young Emperor in front of him... Since the year before, after Yaoshan, he had especially wanted to see this Emperor who had defeated Lou Shi, and after the destruction of Western Xia this year, his desire had become even stronger.

In a sense, he had been persisting until now, largely because he wanted to see this Emperor with his own eyes.

In stark contrast, Zhao Jiu only glanced at Zhe's family head, who was forty-three years old, the golden age of a general, and became impatient:

"Have you finished looking? If you have, let's talk business. You call yourself a sinful subject, what is your sin?"

"This sinful subject cannot maintain his integrity... and actually submitted to the Northern barbarians," Zhe Keqiu quickly replied, lowering his head.

Zhao Jiu heard this and took a long breath. This breath was even more hurried than after the stinky head of Li Qianchun was taken away. After taking a few deep breaths, the Emperor shook his head at the fish pond in the north and said, "I know the process of your surrender. To be fair, as it stands, your sin is unforgivable, but there are mitigating circumstances."

"This sinful subject is able to..."

"But your matter is not just one submission. You have three other great sins," Zhao Jiu interrupted directly before the other party could speak. "One is that in a time of national crisis, you still regarded the three prefectures outside the river as private property, using the land of the three prefectures as a bargaining chip for the continuation of your clan, instead of being like Li Yongqi and Li Shifu, the father and son of Suide, who dared to abandon their land and devote themselves to serving the country; the other is that you sat by and watched Xu Huiyan die for his country in Jinning Army. I have ten thousand reasons to pardon you, but I can't get past a dead Xu Huiyan... You tell me, if I don't punish you, how can I face Xu Huiyan and the Jinning Army soldiers who died with him when I go to Yue Terrace in the future?"

Hearing this, everyone above and below understood the Emperor's intentions, and even Zhe Keqiu lowered his head and remained silent.

"In addition," Zhao Jiu glanced at the other party and continued, "Your third sin is that you actually dared to come to see me! And you brought Li Qianchun's head to see me... What does this mean? Do you think that the head of a mere monarch of a destroyed country can repay your sins? Or do you want the world to say that Emperor Zhao is so generous to the Tangut royal family, but treats the clan that has guarded the border for centuries harshly?"

Zhe Keqiu finally understood completely. He hurriedly raised his head and was about to speak, but he saw the Emperor directly waving his sleeves at him in the stone pavilion: "Give him a sword, and hurry out, go from Xuande Tower, go to Xinzheng Gate, and pay homage to the spirit tablets of Xu Huiyan, Li Yongqi, and others for me at Yue Terrace!"

Zhe Keqiu's words were all choked in his chest. He could only kowtow several times on the ground, then got up blankly and turned to leave. Several members of the Zhe family who were also dressed in white and without hats wanted to follow him, but they were stopped by the Imperial Guards and turned to other places. Only Zhe Yanzhi lowered his head and followed at Yang Yizhong's instruction.

After leaving Linhua Gate, Yang Yizhong, who had been following him, gave him a sword again, asking him to hold the sword and walk.

In the morning, the sun rose slightly. Zhe Keqiu turned to the south from Linhua Gate and walked to Yiyou Gate holding the sword. He regained his clarity somewhat. He knew that the Emperor's intention was to humiliate him and then let him die at Yue Terrace for the world to see, so as to give an account to the world... After his death, the three prefectures outside the river would probably be directly ruled by the imperial court, but his children and the Zhe family would be preserved to some extent.

With this in mind, this person, who had long been mentally prepared, felt a little relaxed again.

However, Zhe Keqiu, who had a desperate mentality, went out of Yiyou Gate and turned left into the Yin Tai Gate to enter the former palace, but suddenly stagnated, because when he arrived here, he saw people coming and going in front of him, all officials and generals who entered and exited the Department of State Affairs, the Privy Council, and the Chongwen Academy, where the Secretarial Pavilion was located, from the side door of Xuande Tower and the Donghua Gate.

Civil and military officials, coming and going, either wearing purple, crimson, or green robes, or wearing armor and carrying swords, all looked around proudly, facing each other on the left and right, the atmosphere was high and warm, so that Zhe Keqiu, who was dressed in white and without a hat, and holding a sword, was immediately surrounded when he stepped on this road.

People have a sense of shame. Although he had long understood that this was Emperor Zhao's intention, Zhe Keqiu could not help but stagnate, and then lowered his head and hurried on.

However, the further he went, the more dense the surrounding civil and military officials became. Moreover, everyone knew about the Emperor's summoning of Zhe Keqiu today, and with Zhe Keqiu dressed like this, and Zhe Yanzhi and Yang Yizhong leading armored soldiers following behind, who could not wake up if they paid a little attention?

Besides, there were actually quite a few people who directly recognized Zhe Keqiu, that is, the so-called old friends of Zhe Keqiu in the court.

Therefore, when Zhe Keqiu arrived at the front gate of Chongwen Academy, many officials in the Department of State Affairs and the Privy Council in the academy had already heard the news and came out to watch one after another. Even the four Assistant Administrators of the Central Secretariat and the Privy Council, and several Ministers, Vice Ministers, and Vice Directors who were working here, heard that Zhe Keqiu had gotten a result and came out to see... Just like the day when they watched Yue Fei lead the banner of "Serving the Country with Utmost Loyalty" pass by here.

At this point, Zhe Keqiu was completely ashamed. His face was red and his ears were hot, and he was almost without a place to put himself. He could only speed up his pace to escape.

However, when he walked to the front of Xuande Tower, he suddenly stagnated again, and then slowed down his pace... It turned out that Yang Yizhong had given the order before he arrived to open the middle door of Xuande Tower wide. At this time, on the Imperial Street in front, there were countless Tokyo citizens curiously looking on, wondering why this door was open? And what kind of character was going to come out of this door?

Could it be even more glorious than Yue Pengju last time?

Zhe Keqiu, who originally thought that he could grit his teeth and walk to Yue Terrace for the sake of his family, and die in front of the altar in exchange for the peace of his family, was shocked at the door, and was in a dilemma for a while, and then completely panicked.

But he did not dare to stop!

As he walked forward slowly, he looked back and saw countless officials of the imperial court swarming behind him, either looking on in astonishment, or standing silently, or watching coldly, or sighing with their hands tied. Of course, there were also many who pointed and talked. Even his nephew, Zhe Yanzhi, who was already over fifty years old, was embarrassed to cover his face.