"What does Minister Lin think?" Zhao Ding asked frankly.

"Wanqi Jinglüe's move is certainly a move by Xiang Zhuang to attack Pei Gong, but it is not, or is not just to seek to be listed in the eighteen honors." Lin Jingmo also stopped and answered fluently. "Because civil officials are not like military generals, they need to be re-ranked in battle after battle. In the past ten years, the eighteen honors must have been ranked by the emperor. It is not something that can be done by external forces, and Wanqi Jinglüe's methods are too clumsy... I would like to presume that Wanqi Jinglüe's move is because he expected that he would not be ranked in nine out of ten, so he used this opportunity to say that he was wronged and reminded the emperor not to forget him in exchange for real benefits!"

"Besides the honor, is there anything else you should not forget about him?"

Zhang Deyuan looked surprised, while Zhao Yuanzhen simply frowned.

"Yanjing." Lin Jingmo glanced at the two men and answered seriously. "Wasn't there a rumor about moving the capital a few months ago? Compared with the reputation after death, Wanqi Jinglüe probably wants to make further progress in his lifetime, right? If he can take advantage of this opportunity to transfer to Hebei, he will not be far away from becoming the prime minister."

Hearing this, Prime Minister Zhao Ding seemed to have expected it and was not moved at all. Zhang Jun, who had seemed surprised at first, became unexpectedly calm after hearing this, even a little too calm.

After a short pause, the prime minister and leader of the Wood Party turned around and looked at the prime minister, speaking calmly: "Brother Yuan Zhen, in my humble opinion, Yanjing is one thing, but it is also not one thing, because the emperor is back... With the emperor back, there will be someone who can make the decision, and with the emperor back, the country will be peaceful... If we don't want to move the capital, then we don't have to. But if we really want to move the capital, the emperor will definitely tell us directly, and then will we still oppose it? Even if we oppose it, with the emperor's current prestige, can it succeed? If the Northern Wei Dynasty really causes the incident of moving the capital, who will be embarrassed?"

After hearing this, Zhao Ding was silent for a while. After a while, he finally nodded slightly, then turned around and walked away into the shadows of the trees. Seeing this, Zhang Jun turned back to look at Lin Jingmo and continued to follow him calmly.

As the sun sets, there is actually no time for much discussion, and the next day the sacrificial ceremony officially begins.

As we all know, Emperor Zhao's behavior in some matters is actually very ridiculous.

He likes to make people look like gods and write some weird ghost stories himself, but he himself has no respect for ghosts and gods and sacrifices... It’s okay that he had scraped the golden bodies of Taoist ancestors and Buddhas in the past, but he was really helpless at that time... But let’s not talk about other things, just a few months ago, he went to Juhua Island, and as soon as he entered the door, he asked the abbot of the Dalonggong Temple, which had been built by imperial decree for 70 or 80 years, what "imperial construction" meant, and whether the water in the octagonal well can bring immortality, and how long a few fish can live if put in it. The old abbot in his forties was forced to cry, and it is not something that an ordinary official can do.

Back to the present, although Emperor Zhao kept saying that he was grateful to the Taoist for blessing him and that he had accomplished his ten years' hard work, so he came back to fulfill his old wish, but when it came to the real sacrifice, he was just perfunctory... He was very rude in bathing and changing clothes in the first three days, and even went to Wohe River to race horses and shoot ducks during that time. When the sacrifice officially started three days later, he just wore the old ceremonial dress passed down from his ancestors, and acted like a shopkeeper, letting Lu Haowen, Zhao Ding, Lu Benzhong, Yang Yizhong and others to toss around.

When it was really his turn, the official simply went up and lit a stick of incense on the altar outside the Xuanyuan Hall and in front of the golden statue of the Taoist Patriarch inside the Xuanyuan Hall, and that was the end of the matter.

I can only say that it’s fortunate that no handful of incense ash got stuck on the Taoist’s face.

After another day, the emperor actually issued an edict to hold a banquet in front of the altar in the courtyard of Xuanyuan Palace to discuss the matter... No one dared to speak out and accept the advice, but just followed the emperor's lead. There were even a few shameless people who quoted scriptures and insisted that this was the right thing to do.

But to be honest, the standard of the banquet was still very high. In addition to the necessary ministers close to the emperor, civil officials needed to have experience as senior officials in the Central Secret Council or as local governors, and military generals had to start as princes. It seemed that this banquet could really decide a lot of things.

And the government did not disappoint everyone's expectations.

It was a sunny day with a crisp autumn air. The banquet had just begun and before the wine had even finished, Emperor Zhao went straight to the point.

"My Lords."

Zhao Jiu, who was sitting on the high ground in front of the stage, raised his cup and drank, then smiled and spoke. "Laozi said: 'When the work is done, the people will all say: It's natural.' When Han Zhaolie was promoted to the King of Hanzhong, he also said: 'Then the work is done, the ministers will resign and correct their crimes, and have no regrets even if they die.' However, they are saints and famous kings, and we can't compare... Why do we come here to worship? Isn't it because in the autumn ten years ago, we made up our minds not to go to Yangzhou, but to grit our teeth and fight against the Jin? Now that the Jin Kingdom has been destroyed and the northern border has been pacified, it can be said that the work is done, so we came back to report to the old man Daozu... Now that the sacrifice is over, there are some things that we don't have to be humble about... Prime Minister Lu?"

"The old minister is here."

The person closest to Zhao Jiu immediately stood up from his seat.

"No need to get up."

Zhao Jiu poured himself another glass of wine and just raised the cup to indicate. "We can just drink and discuss heroes... The generals want to discuss military exploits, this thing has been settled... Let's talk about the merits of making decisions... Prime Minister Lu, who do you think is the first person to make the merits of making decisions in the ten years of Jianyan?"

The courtyard suddenly became quiet, with only the sounds of cicadas and the swaying autumn trees clearly audible.

Lu Haowen sat back in his original seat and said calmly, "I have heard that everything has a beginning. In the past, during the Jingkang Disaster, the world was in a state of despair. There were countless people who advocated peace and those who wanted to retreat. We were all at a loss. At that time, it was Li Gang, the prime minister, and Zong Zezong, the governor, who insisted on resisting the Jin Dynasty, one inside and one outside. Not only that, at that time, the emperor had just ascended the throne and was exiled. If it were not for Li Gang, the prime minister, who re-established the government in the imperial court, the court would have been difficult to restore; if it were not for Zong Zezong, who had not defended Tokyo, the Central Plains would have been in ruins and the country would have been hopeless... These two people are the red flags of the anti-Jin war and the backbone of the country... Their contributions are invaluable."

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