Chapter 148 An All-Round Understanding

Ren Baozhong and Liu Hongdao's crying, especially their wailing in the rain and mud, was clearly beyond Zhao Jiu's expectations... because he hadn't seen such an extremely undignified display of emperor-and-minister theatrics for many years. The last time was eight years ago, on the way to exile, when he decided to see Han Shizhong, or four or five years ago, before the Battle of Yaoshan, when he entrusted his son to Yi Youmen?

It was truly blurring his memories.

Besides, if it could be said that Ren Baozhong had experienced a lot and was a bottomless character, so he was good at acting, how could Liu Hongdao, a proper high-ranking scholar-official, act so realistically and coordinate so well with Ren Baozhong?

He had only arrived in Hangzhou yesterday.

In other words, these two might not be faking it... and even if they were, could Zhao, the Emperor, just stand there?

"Both of you, rise."

Zhao Jiu quickly came out from under the umbrella and walked quickly into the mud. With the assistance of two Chi Xin Dui (Red Heart Squad) guards, he helped them up, one in each hand, and earnestly comforted them. "Isn't it just discovering that your house has collapsed? Why are you both so distraught? It was just the leaking side room, and the front hall was slightly affected. The bedroom only had a few tiles knocked loose. If Yang Yizhong and the others hadn't forced me, I would have continued waiting in the bedroom."

The two men were clearly beside themselves and were helped by Zhao, the Emperor, and the guards to sit down on the side. They didn't hear a word he said and took a long time to regain their ability to speak.

Ren Baozhong was clearly quicker to recover. He wiped his face with his muddy sleeve and then sat on the stone steps in the empty space behind the hall, looking mournfully at Zhao Jiu. "This old minister only met such an enlightened ruler at this age. My utmost loyalty is all focused on Your Majesty. Please forgive my momentary lapse."

He had listened to too many storytelling segments about the Three Kingdoms.

But in a sense, it was also the truth. Without Zhao Jiu, this old thief would probably have disappeared as a failed old politician from the poor backwater of Hengshan for the rest of his life, his body and spirit both turning to dust and being forgotten. Who would have thought that he would regain access to core power in the final stage of his life, and at an even higher level?

To put it bluntly, who would use an old Qiang dog like him except for Zhao Jiu, who was thinking of launching a major campaign against the Tanguts in the Northern Expedition?

"This minister truly dares not imagine what would happen to the country if anything were to happen to Your Majesty?" In comparison, Liu Hongdao, who spoke next, was much more sincere. Still in shock under the umbrella, he spoke without thinking. "What would happen to the Northern Expedition? Would the North and South be forced to confront each other like the story of the Liao Dynasty? If that were the case, the national hatred of Jingkang and the personal shame of Qingzhou would likely make it difficult for this minister to resolve the depression in his heart for the rest of his life!"

That was pointing out the stakes.

Liu Hongdao's greatest hatred and shame in his life was the heavy casualties and rivers of blood in the Battle of Qingzhou, after which he could only abandon his hometown and position and flee in a sorry state.

In the Song Dynasty, Han Shizhong was not the only one who hated Wanyan Wushu and Wanyan Talan to the bone.

In any case, in the rainy night, amid the chaos, Zhao Jiu understood their loss of composure and quickly spoke some nonsense. "I have always known your loyalty. Now, just be relieved that I am safe and sound."

With the help of the lanterns held by the surrounding guards, the extremely disheveled Ren Baozhong and Liu Hongdao exchanged a glance, both seeing a tacit understanding in each other's eyes—they both clearly wanted to take the opportunity to ask Zhao, the Emperor, about his thoughts, to ask him why he was hesitating about the Northern Expedition? They even wanted to take the opportunity to state the stakes and persuade this Emperor.

But at the same time, after this incident, they both felt that it was fortunate that this Emperor was alive. As long as he was alive, they could discuss matters in the long term, and some things were not as urgent as they had previously thought.

Just as the two men had reached a tacit understanding, Zhao, the Emperor, who had already turned to look at the search and rescue efforts, began to let his thoughts wander, based on their behavior.

The truth was that Zhao Jiu knew very well that although the two men's loss of composure today was indeed sincere, it was not because of his ability to win people over… After all, Liu Hongdao was somewhat unfamiliar with him, the Son of Heaven, and Ren Baozhong was a man of shallow virtue. Therefore, their loss of composure just now could not have been due to emotional factors… Roughly speaking, about three parts were opportunistic acting, three parts were emotional fluctuations under great shock and joy, and another three parts or more were due to the fact that their political ambitions, future ideals, and even life values were all tied to him, Zhao, the Emperor.

Specifically, it was tied to the Northern Expedition that Zhao, the Emperor, had been preparing for a long time and was about to promote.

Publicly and privately, everyone had formed a community of interests.

And this community of interests also included Duke Xiang, who still had political influence, four incumbent chancellors, two envoys, plus the six ministers, ten Jiedushi (military governors), and eleven vice ministers, nine ministers, and four directors other than Liu Hongdao, plus the Dukes' Pavilion in Tokyo and the Southeast, the wealthy merchants of Lianghuai and Jingdong, and the temples and monasteries in the Central Plains, Guanzhong, and the Southeast.

Of course, there was also Zhao, the Emperor, himself, and the close officials directly attached to him, plus the Imperial Army, which would soon number 300,000.

Perhaps, there were also millions of people in the two rivers.

Thinking of this, Zhao Jiu, whose clothes had finally become wet from helping and comforting the two men, smiled bitterly in the rainy night—this was also inevitable, because carefully calculating, this year was already the ninth year of Jianyan. Counting from that autumn day of the first year of Jianyan, it was almost eight years.

In the past eight years, he, the transmigrator, had been emphasizing the resistance against the Jin as Emperor at all times, encouraging war against the Jin at all times, and trying to eliminate the appeasement faction in the court at all times… From the surrender faction at the beginning, to the peace faction, then to the defense faction, and now even the gradualist Li Gang had been respectfully invited out of the court by him. So, who were the remaining people?

However, when the court gradually reached a consensus, the opposition gradually fell silent, the people also accepted this demand, the army was assembled and prepared, and the military supplies were finally almost ready, he, the initiator, became timid instead.

That's right, Zhao Jiu had long noticed his "hesitation" and knew that the people around him had noticed his "hesitation" and knew that these people were testing him. But to be honest, his "hesitation" was never about the turmoil in Fujian Road or the autumn harvest in Liangzhe Road.

Because the former was a grassroots problem that could not be solved in the feudal era. Thinking of governing the grassroots well in this era was as easy as thinking of building cannons and steam engines. And the latter, to put it bluntly, was a celestial phenomenon. Could he decide this celestial phenomenon?

As the saying goes, if the heavens want to rain and the mother wants to marry, it would be simple to postpone the troops for half a year to first relieve the disaster if the rain really caused a disaster.

So, what was Zhao Jiu's hesitation about the increasingly imminent Northern Expedition? In fact, it was very simple. The answer was only one, still the simplest and most direct answer—he was afraid of losing the battle and was also afraid of returning without success.

Because this Northern Expedition was eight years of effort for him, a test of his ultimate value in this era. He was no different from those who cried and lost their composure, who tied their life ambitions, future, and value to the Northern Expedition.

Didn't he know it himself if others didn't? He, who was standing in the rain at this time, pretending to be fine, was never a true dragon emperor. In the past eight years, his own timidity, fear, incompetence, confusion, anger, shame, and the current "hesitation" were all objectively present.

Even when the house collapsed just now, he was actually so frightened that he jumped straight out of bed.

It's just that he had always concealed it well and played the role well.

"Your Majesty."

In the rain, just as Zhao Jiu was absentmindedly looking at the old palace of Wuyue in front of him, the slightly strange accent of Ping Qingsheng of the Chi Xin Dui came from afar. "Academician Lü has arrived. The monks who came with the Academician were stopped outside… We found the seven or eight wounded and handed them over to the monks."

Zhao Jiu nodded, just about to respond when Lü Bentong, supported by Ping Qingsheng, came to the firelight nearby. Seeing Zhao, the Emperor's face, he reacted in the same way as the previous two, collapsing into the mud with a thud and covering his face to cry.

Seeing this, Zhao Jiu had no choice but to transform back into Zhao, the Emperor, and learn from the previous situation to step forward to help people up, then comfort them properly, and go through another round of emperor-and-minister theatrics.

Of course, at this time, Liu Hongdao and Ren Baozhong, who had gradually calmed down behind him, inevitably showed more and more differences—Assistant Minister Liu was already somewhat embarrassed, while Director Ren was still wiping his tears.

This was not over yet. After a while, Zong Ying and Guo Zhongxun arrived one after another, also sitting on the ground with two thuds… Even the guards in front of the Emperor were embarrassed, but Ren Baozhong was still wiping his face, and those who didn't know would have thought that he had splashed a face full of water under the umbrella.

But even so, Zhao Jiu still dared not leave, because Lü Yiyi, who was in Hangzhou City, had not had time to come over. He had to wait for this Chancellor to come over and report the news before he could leave.

Sure enough, after waiting for a while, seeing a fire dragon rushing from Hangzhou City towards this place in the rain, Yang Yizhong, who had been waiting in front of the main hall, hurriedly returned to report, "Your Majesty, Chancellor Lü has arrived!"

After speaking, Yang Yizhong hurried back to greet him again, while Zhao Jiu wanted to go forward in the rain immediately after hearing the news. However, the people behind him stood up one after another and stopped him… The collapsed part of the palace was in the middle, Zhao Jiu had retreated to the back, and Lü Yiyi was coming from the front. At this time, a true gentleman would not stand under a dangerous wall.

However, although there was a rear hall and a pile of bricks and tiles between them, Lü Yiyi had a completely different aura from others once he arrived. He had a strong voice and shouted remotely in the rain to greet them, "Envoy of the Southeast and Chancellor Lü Yiyi is here. Where is Your Majesty? I greet Your Majesty and ask Your Majesty to return!"

As soon as this voice came out, the originally noisy scene immediately quieted down, with only the faint sound of crows and rain remaining.

Zhao Jiu did not dare to neglect and immediately responded from afar, "I am here and unharmed… The palace has become a dangerous wall. Chancellor Lü does not need to come over. Please return to Hangzhou City to appease the people. I will also go to Shengguo Temple to rest."

"This minister obeys the decree." As soon as the voice fell, Lü Yiyi's strong voice rang out again from the opposite side. "There are a few questions, please Your Majesty be sure to speak frankly… Are there any casualties this time?"

"It's dark, so it's hard to say, but several people have been rescued, all with minor injuries. More people were injured because the rain was slippery at night and you all rushed here from various places." Zhao Jiu answered crisply.

Immediately, there was another sentence from the opposite side, "Are there any omissions in the court documents, memorials, and secret documents? Are there any losses of Your Majesty's imperial treasures and private seals?"

"The bedroom and the main hall are all fine. There are no omissions in the documents, memorials, and secret documents. The seals are all here." Zhao Jiu also raised his voice.

Soon, there was the last sentence from the opposite side, "In that case, please the commander of the Imperial Guards, Liu Yan, escort Your Majesty to Shengguo Temple, and the commander Yang Yizhong will stay behind at the palace. This minister will return to Hangzhou Prefecture City to rest!"

After these words were finished, there was immediately some commotion on the opposite side, presumably because Lü Yiyi had directly turned back. On this side, Zhao, the Emperor, also immediately set off for Shengguo Temple after receiving these words, not listening at all.

Liu Hongdao and others followed in a panic at this time but could only be astonished at the decisiveness of this emperor and his minister.

Without further ado, it is only said that Zhao, the Emperor, and his entourage turned to Shengguo Temple, and the imperial carriage directly entered a bedroom owned by the abbot himself, and then took off his clothes and went to bed… This was inevitable. Even if this Emperor had no sleepiness at this time, he had to pretend to appease the people.

Relatively speaking, the other ministers, civil and military, were much more practical—after experiencing such exciting things, rolling around in mud, and experiencing great sorrow and joy, how could anyone fall asleep? So, regardless of civil or military, or class, they hurriedly gathered in the Great Hero Hall to "protect the Emperor."

At this time, the topic would naturally have to touch on Lü Yiyi.

There was no way around it. This Chancellor Lü was too dazzling, not only because of his status, but more because of his style of doing things. His directness and competence just now really overwhelmed everyone.

However, after praising him a few words, the topic could not continue, or rather, this Chancellor Lü's reputation was really not good, and the related anecdotes were all about his being overbearing and taking revenge overnight. So, as they talked, it became a convention of bizarre tales.

"I heard people say in the past that when Chancellor Lü was the Deputy Director of the Privy Council in Nanyang, a commander did not salute in time, and he was fined half of his salary that day."

"What's that? Still in Nanyang, it is said that a clerk in the Privy Council did a bad job of paperwork. He actually went down directly and slapped off the other party's futou (turban). The clerk was wronged and said, 'Since ancient times, there has been no rule for prime ministers to slap off the turbans of hall clerks.' As a result, Chancellor Lü replied on the spot, 'There is from me.' As a result, the Privy Council was orderly for a time, and no one dared to shirk official duties."

"What's that? Later, Chancellor Lü went out to be an envoy and chancellor to pacify the Southeast. Once, when he was inspecting the prefectures and counties, a certain prefect argued with him. He actually slapped the document directly on the other party's face and scolded him… The prefect can slap the document on the face, so what is it to be slapped off the futou by the hall clerk?"

"The most famous is probably the time when he quelled the military rebellion in the Southeast, right? He replaced Duke Li as the chancellor to return to the Southeast to pacify. The military rebellion had not been completely quelled. He once summoned a certain commander to surrender. The other party replied awkwardly, so he simply entered the rebel city directly as an envoy and chancellor, as if in his own military camp, and ordered the other party to kneel and take off his hat, confessing his crimes… The rebel general did not dare not to follow and surrendered the city on the spot."

"I know this. In fact, the matter is not limited to this… After the rebel general surrendered, Chancellor Lü directly asked why he did not see the documents before surrendering? The rebel general pointed to a military officer and said that they had made suggestions. As a result, Chancellor Lü directly ordered on the spot to have the rebel general cut off the feet of the military officer who made the suggestions and nail them on the bridge in front of the city… They wailed for several days before dying… The remnants of the military rebellion, after this incident, surrendered at the sight of the wind."

"…"

"…"

"In general, the intention is good, and the result is also good." After a long pause, Liu Hongdao, who had the highest status here, awkwardly smoothed things over. "In fact, Chancellor Lü's pacification of the military rebellion is similar to Your Majesty's seizure of power in Yanling before… The encounter and understanding between the emperor and his ministers is probably like this."

"Not bad…"

"Naturally so…"

Everyone quickly responded.

And for some reason, just as Liu Hongdao was glossing over this matter, preparing to change the topic to get through the remaining half of the night, suddenly, a jolt arose in the mind of the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, as if he had caught something. After hesitating for a moment, he suddenly spoke in a low voice:

"Chancellor Lü's life experience is there. He was also captured by the rebel army before the Jingkang Incident and offered to the Jin camp as a prisoner, which he deeply shamed… His desire for the Northern Expedition is obviously no less than ours! Moreover, his character is so rough and impatient, and he is the only chancellor in front of the Emperor after Duke Xu and Duke Li went to Fujian. With this person's situation, seeing Your Majesty's hesitation, he should have offered advice and memorials, right?"

The matter was asked suddenly, and there were many people staying behind in the Great Hero Hall—even without counting the middle-level military officers of the Imperial Guards who were staying behind, there were six or seven people with seats at this time, including Lü Bentong, Liu Yan, Ren Baozhong, Guo Zhongxun, and Zong Ying.

Therefore, everyone looked at each other, and no one dared to answer such a sensitive question rashly.

However, after a moment, after exchanging glances and recalling everyone's general loss of composure before, these people gradually realized that everyone's position was consistent and clear, or even if there were people like Lü Bentong whose position seemed to be somewhat out of sync, in front of this overall situation, they could only maintain consistency with everyone… But still no one dared to respond.

However, there was no need for these people to reply.

"Then there is only one explanation." Liu Hongdao suddenly felt relieved. "Although Your Majesty has doubts outwardly, it is only due to the circumstances and does not mean to stop the overall strategy of the Northern Expedition at all… On the contrary, we are so eager, but we are not as good as Your Majesty, so we are panicking when faced with major events."

Everyone still looked at each other, no one daring to answer or respond.

In the abbot's incense-filled bedroom, Zhao Jiu, who was staring at the roof with wide eyes and listening to the sound of raindrops, finally couldn't help but turn over.

After the stimulation of this night, this transmigrator had also thought it through—as the saying goes, the overall situation of the world is like a galloping horse, and people are like the riders, who can only guide, not rein.

Now that things have come to this, where is there any retreat?

Or rather, as long as he does not actively call a halt, this galloping horse will have to step in the established direction step by step.

Early the next morning, the rain was slightly lighter, with only a dripping sound, and it looked like it was gradually clearing up. Zhao, the Emperor, and the civil and military officials in Shengguo Temple knew this very well… If it cleared up like this, it would be the same as the rain at the beginning of summer. The reduction in production was a reduction, but it could not be called a disaster.

And this series of rain in the North and South, coupled with the turmoil in Fujian, at most would turn what was originally "the South has been settled, and the armor has been sufficient" into "the South has been slightly settled, and the armor has been slightly sufficient."

"Minister Liu." Zhao, the Emperor, ate extremely slowly, as if waiting for someone or thinking about something. Only after everyone had finished eating did he slowly finish eating, and then, without getting up, he directly called Liu Hongdao while sitting. "Military supplies and materials have been arranged. You cannot change the plan temporarily. I will allocate materials and manpower to you to repair the Shaanxi-Hejian plank road."

"Yes." Liu Hongdao quickly got up. Although his eyes were slightly red, his spirit was still good. "This minister knows the stakes."

"It's good that you know."

Zhao Jiu looked at the gradually revealing sunlight outside the door, listening to the gradually noisy sounds inside the temple. He shook his head repeatedly but suddenly raised his hand and tapped the rice serving table in front of him with his knuckles, reciting something.

"In my early years, I did not know the hardship of the world, looking north to the Central Plains, my spirit was like a mountain.

Building ships passed over Huai Dian on snowy nights, iron horses went down Yaoshan in the gentle breeze.

I vainly promised the restoration of Guangwu, but the gray hair in the mirror had already appeared.

The table of departure is truly world-famous, who can compare with him for thousands of years?"

"Gentlemen." This poem is not good, too hasty, just like the current situation, so that there are hard injuries. But at this point, Zhao Jiu did not give everyone any room for consideration. He directly looked back at everyone in this kitchen, his tone full of emotion. "We already have a 60% certainty, and we are still hesitant to this point. Then what kind of spirit did Zhuge Wuhou have that day? Until this time, how could anyone know how important his decision to attack Qishan six times was?"

"This old minister does not dare to compare with Zhuge Wuhou, but fortunately, my old body is still here, and I can still fill the ravines of Hebei!" At this moment, Lü Yiyi, who had stopped outside the door before Zhao, the Emperor, recited the poem, suddenly stepped into the kitchen before Yang Yizhong, and then responded crisply before everyone else, bowing respectfully and speaking generously. "To help Your Majesty achieve the restoration of Guangwu!"

Zhao Jiu nodded lightly, then wiped his mouth and stood up.

ps:…Offering a book, *Ge Qin* (Revolutionize Qin)… Continue to wish everyone an early Happy New Year.