"Yes." Zhao Jiu nodded slowly. "What you said is roughly correct, but there is still one thing missing... That is, after Li Xianggong was reinstated as prime minister, he still looked down on me. When I was on the road, I could hardly speak, and he had no financial or military strategies along the way... At that time, he was in charge of civil and military affairs, and he didn't understand why I wanted to recall him! I didn't say anything on the surface, but I was very angry with him in my heart! So much so that during my southern tour this time, many old ministers actually remembered this matter and wrote to me privately, discussing old things and impeaching Li Xianggong for many serious crimes! Zhang Wujiu, let me ask you, do you think Li Xianggong is the kind of prime minister with both talent and virtue you said? Can I deal with him?"

At this point, Lu Yihao and Xu Jingheng could no longer sit still, but Li Gang still had a sullen face and sat still without saying a word, as if he was listening attentively to the crows crying at Phoenix Mountain behind him. This made people suspect that he was ready to risk his life to clear his name if he was publicly humiliated.

Of course, more people who were "for consultation" did not have so much drama... They just thought that there had been discussions among the people before that the emperor would eventually deal with Li Gang during his southern tour, and now he was finally going to do it.

What else?

In the past, this domineering prime minister had offended everyone he could, from the emperor to the ministers. Now, whether it was the emperor, the prime minister in power, or even the two generals who were recognized as having the best moral character, they all had a clear grudge against him. Even the scholars and people in the southeast were dissatisfied with this prime minister because he could not restrain the army and control the military chaos.

What's more, there is the issue of the royal heir that cannot be avoided.

"Of course not." Zhang Jiucheng did not hesitate. "I think your majesty may be just being selfless, but Li Gang was the prime minister during the chaos, and he was unable to make financial plans and quell the military chaos. He was obviously incompetent and guilty! As for the ministers, losing the royal heir, the emperor is just a normal person, and can't say anything... but..."

"But, I will not punish Li Xianggong, nor should I punish him." Emperor Zhao nodded slowly, his tone calm, but it suddenly changed the situation. "Because everything has a beginning, and my beginning, the beginning of the country, all started with Li Xianggong... It is recorded in the history books. Just because Li Xianggong has a bad temper and is incompetent in military and financial strategies, his achievements, his virtues, and his talents will not be destroyed! This kind of thing, not only I cannot do it myself, but also I will not allow others to do it."

Everyone looked at each other in shock. Li Gang rolled his eyes slightly, looked deeply at Emperor Zhao, but still sat solemnly still.

"Zhang Wujiu, I'll ask you again, you need to raise your vision and tell me, based on historical records, who exactly is Mr. Li?" Zhao Jiu suddenly raised his voice.

Zhang Jiuchen opened his mouth to speak but was at a loss for words… His hesitation did not mean that he was not sincere enough, but that this well-read Mr. Wuqiu was shocked to find that he really lacked the ability to evaluate Li Gang from a certain perspective… Over the years, he had been studying those subtle ideas all day long, but had never thought about specific issues from this perspective.

"Let me tell you who he is." Zhao Jiu raised his head slightly, and spoke in a manner that was not sure whether it was arrogance or something else. His tone was clear and his pronunciation was distinct. "Mr. Li is a famous minister who fought against the Jin Dynasty, a Chinese hero, and a role model of the time! This statement will never change even if it lasts for thousands of years!"

The field was quiet for about a few breaths, and then there was a loud bang. Even Li Gang himself could not help but shake his body under the inexplicable and complicated gazes of Lu Yihao and Xu Jingheng opposite him.

Emperor Zhao continued his declaration with his hands behind his back: "During the Jingkang period, the Jin cavalry swept across the two rivers and headed straight for the capital. The Supreme Daojun Emperor abandoned the country and fled. At that time, China was in a state of collapse and chaos. After the Supreme Yuansheng Emperor ascended the throne, within just one year, 26 people successively ascended to the position of prime minister to assist the country... Among these people, some knelt down and surrendered, some advocated peace and ceded land, some advocated war, and even some, like the deceased Cai Mao, who would not fight or make peace but would only flee... In any case, the Jingkang disaster has proved that those who advocate surrender and those who advocate peace are the iron of the nine states, and only then can they make a huge mistake. ! The country lasted for a hundred years, but was cut down by the wrong knife made by itself... The so-called "I cut myself, I killed myself" is probably such a sad, ridiculous and lamentable thing! And their mistakes, with the rise and fall of a country, proved the correctness of Li Xianggong and others! Now that things have come to this, I can clearly tell the people of Southeast China, or simply tell the world that during the Jingkang period, Li Xianggong, who almost single-handedly fought against those people who ruined the country, is the hope of the world, the hero of China, and the role model of the time! Changes of dynasties and revisions of history books cannot shake this evaluation!"

Zhao Jiu finished explaining his opinion of Li Gang in one breath. His tone did not slow down at all. Instead, he looked around in a condescending manner, and asked Zhang Jiucheng a question:

"Mr. Zhang, I want to ask you... those who you mentioned as having both talent and virtue, or those who have both talent and virtue, such as Lü Haowen, such as the late Prime Minister Xu, such as Prime Minister Zhao of Tokyo, such as your teacher Yang Shi, such as Liu Dazhong, and even such as me, such as you, and such hundreds of wise men in the southeast... What were Prime Minister Li doing when he stood out from the crowd? Are these people really more talented and virtuous than him?"

Hundreds of wise men who were "waiting for consultation", including Prime Minister Xu behind him, were all silent. Zhang Jiuchen tried to apologize amid the crows' cries, but found that he was timid for the first time... Because he had realized that Emperor Zhao's evaluation of Li Gang on this occasion might soon become the final verdict on Li Gang and go down in history, and he might very well serve as a foil.

The more you talk about the possibility of this foil, the greater the possibility becomes.

"I have made it clear that this evaluation has nothing to do with whether he knows military affairs or financial strategies, or whether his ideas at that time were naive, including whether the use of Chen Dong and those students to besiege the palace was suspected of rebellion!" Zhao Jiu spoke sternly, with his hands behind his back. "Because at that time, the whole world, from top to bottom, had no integrity. Li Xianggong rose up against expectations, which was simply in accordance with the will of heaven. It was simply the embodiment of the spirit that the country had nurtured for scholars for a hundred years and had saved for the literati."

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!