Emperor Zhao's tone was not harsh, and even seemed casual, but his fierce words still made Ma Shen and Li Guang clench their teeth, and also made the faces of the important officials who came today become completely serious.

They really didn't know how to speak.

But someone still has to speak... If you don't speak, wouldn't it be disloyal and unfilial?

"Officials should be careful with their words."

After Zhao Ding, Zhang Jun, and several other important officials including the two of them wanted to speak several times but were unable to do so, the retired Lu Haowen sighed, stepped forward, and responded briefly.

"What is there to be careful about?"

Emperor Zhao, who was sitting there holding a memorial in his hand, did not look up, but only looked at Lu Haowen in front of him. Then he moved his gaze away from Lu Haowen, and after scanning the other important officials of the court one by one, he continued speaking.

"In the final analysis, the Jingkang Incident was not just the loss of a city and the exile of the two emperors, but the loss of tens of millions of miles of land in the two rivers, the loss of millions of lives in the north and the Central Plains, and the actual demise of the old Song Dynasty and the establishment of the new Song Dynasty... Compared with this, the state system, the fatherly love and filial piety, and the etiquette system are nothing... Don't you know this?"

No one said anything.

"You all know." Zhao Jiu looked away and smiled at the memorial in his hand. "You are smart people, the most elite among the scholars and officials in the world, how could you not know? The famous Taoist scholars in the south also know, they are also the elite among the scholars and officials. The local monks and dignitaries also know, even the Koreans know... But some people just like to pretend not to know, as if they can get by by lowering their heads and not thinking about those unspeakable things, and not doing those difficult things. In this case, if there is an Emperor Yuansheng or Empress Dowager Xuanren, even if you are willing to follow me today, you will gradually wear it out in the future, right?"

Someone else couldn't listen any more, and it turned out to be Zhang Jun Zhang Deyuan: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty's test this time has yielded results. There aren't too many people trying to cover up their mistakes. Overall, everyone is united and all follow your lead to the north."

Zhao Jiu shook his head and smiled again:

"Deyuan, you're overthinking. I'm not really mocking or teaching anyone, but I'm feeling something in my heart... There's nothing I can do about it. People just want peace, the literati just want to get by, the officials just want to be dull, the rich and powerful landlords just want their own gains and losses. It's only because I'm still here under this monarch-minister system that we can be of one mind and speak in unison. If there's no emperor who can make up his mind, even if there are some loyal ministers and good generals, they will be worn out by the overall situation... Thinking about it this way, who else but me can cross the river to the north, recover the two rivers, and annihilate the Jurchens? So, my illness is gradually getting better."

Lu Haowen had no choice but to bow and step forward: "I congratulate the emperor on his recovery."

The other important officials also held their noses and stepped forward to bow and congratulate.

"Thank you very much." Zhao Jiu put down the memorial and smiled. "Enough of the small talk, let's get down to business. This time, I failed to lure the snake out of its hole. Or maybe you all in Tokyo City have a little understanding of me and it's hard to coax me... However, there are still some interesting things happening in other places outside. Did you know that the medicine box sent by Empress Dowager Yuanyou yesterday actually contained the self-defense documents written by the two retired emperors?"

Everyone in the hall looked pale, but Ma Shen ignored everything and hurriedly bowed his hands, saying: "Your Majesty! Empress Dowager Yuanyou is far away in Yangzhou, and she doesn't know the situation in the capital, and she may not even know the reasoning between the two emperors and Your Majesty. It would be difficult for her to refuse when the two emperors ask her for help. There is no possibility of collusion between the two parties."

"Yes, I think so too." Zhao Jiu answered casually. "But in this case, it is better to ask Queen Mother Yuanyou to return to Beijing to live. After all, the Yeonbok Palace is large and there are still some vacant houses... The three queens are together, which is convenient for me to fulfill my filial piety, and we can also watch plays and chat together to relieve boredom, and it will be difficult to refuse next time."

Ma Shen immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"There is a man named Cao Yong, who is said to be the fifth-generation grandson of Cao Bin. In his early years, he followed the fleeing entourage of Empress Dowager Yuanyou to Yangzhou. Now he often travels between Nanyang, Yangzhou, Hangzhou and Luoyang. Does anyone of you know him?" Zhao Jiu asked casually.

There are actually people who know him.

Prime Minister Zhao Ding thought for a moment and blurted out, "I have known this man since I was a scholar in Kaifeng Prefecture. He is a cunning and unscrupulous person who relies on his ancestors' influence to get by. He is an ordinary rogue... However, he once sponsored Qin Hui, the current deputy envoy of the Privy Council of the Jin Kingdom, in his early years. Later, when Qin Hui became a little prosperous, he often showed off to others."

"No wonder..." Zhao Jiu sighed. "I cut off Qin Hui's way to return to the south, which means I cut off his way. It is normal for him to be like this."

"This kind of villain, who colluded with the royal family without permission and alienated father and son, monarch and ministers, should be beheaded!" Ma Shen was extremely impatient, especially when he heard the name of his old boss Qin Hui. He felt even more irritated... How could he not know that it was this man who had the connections and passed the documents to the two emperors and Empress Dowager Yuanyou.

"What about Wang Ciweng?" Zhao Jiu mentioned another name.

At this moment, the hall suddenly became quiet, and then many important officials looked at each other in bewilderment.

A moment later, the Imperial Censor Li Guang immediately asked Emperor Zhao in a serious tone, "Your Majesty, may I ask what this man is doing?"

"This person is the one who funded Cao Yong. Cao Yong traveled to many places, and he gave money to many places, and sent letters to various places to ask for smooth travel." Zhao Jiu answered calmly. "I have seen this person's resume, and it seems that he has been opposed to raising taxes on the South since before Jingkang?"

"Yes." Li Guang felt his throat dry. "This man is from Jinan, known as a famous scholar, and ranked first in the Ministry of Rites' second test (a retest for officials' children to avoid cheating). He was in Zhizhou during the early years of the Maritime Alliance. At that time, because Yanyun sent troops to fight, he set up a exemption fee for husbands, so he..."

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