Fortunately, the two senior officials ignored the students and just walked out of the restaurant and headed towards Donghua Gate, which aroused the envy of the students who had escaped death... Although the Secret Cabinet had encountered a siege, both the government and the public could see that those who could participate in the Secret Cabinet meeting were beyond the scope of ordinary officials.

Especially since this form of organization has been tacitly approved by Emperor Zhao in the harem...it is possible that it will become a precedent in the future when encountering extraordinary situations, and then give certain political identity bonuses to the relevant participants.

In fact, after this incident, a new theory has emerged among the people, saying that since the emperor ascended the throne, he has been intentionally or unintentionally weakening the power of the Internal Affairs Bureau and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and delegating power to the two government offices, six ministries, nine temples, and five academies. He wanted to use this to buy off the court and take precautions against the restoration of the two emperors in advance.

Of course, as I said before, the premise is wrong, so the inference is naturally absurd... It's just that the people have believed it, or they just like to say this ridiculous statement that the Second Saint will restore the throne when he returns, so there are such rumors.

Turning back to the present, Wang and Chen left the main store which had just reopened and went directly into the palace, entered Chongwenyuan, passed Dutang, and went to the Secret Pavilion. Not long after, the other central officials arrived, but it was still Liu Ji who took the lead in presiding over the meeting.

However, when Liu Xianggong opened his mouth, the whole court was stunned: "The two queen mothers are trapped by the Jin army on the north bank of the Yellow River. Who will go to rescue them?"

"Are the Jin people playing tricks on us?!" Wang Shu was immediately furious. "How dare you do such a thing?!"

Not only Wang Shu, but also Li Guang, Liu Dazhong and others were also angry, and the secret room was in chaos for a while.

However, seeing the chaos in the cabinet, Liu Ji, who came out, several prime ministers, Honglu Temple Minister Zhai Ruwen, and Minister of Rites Zhu Shengfei, who obviously knew the truth, became embarrassed... Obviously, there was something going on.

It was only after a long while that Liu Ji finally had time to tell the truth.

It turned out that, just as Chen Gongfu and Wang Shu had discussed before, it was not known whether the Jin people did it on purpose or the information channels were confused, but the Jin people released the captives in batches... At first, it was several princesses and noble ladies from Yanjing, who are probably already in Yangzhou now; then came a group of princesses and noble ladies from the Five Kingdoms City, and a group of younger royal family members, who are now on their way to Yangzhou; followed by a group of abducted ministers' families and children, who had just arrived a few days ago, and the court was discussing commendations and favors; and this current wave was mainly composed of the queens and concubines of the two saints... Among them, the most important ones were naturally the two empresses dowagers, namely Empress Dowager Zheng of Emperor Taishang Daojun, and Empress Dowager Wei, the 'biological mother' of the official in the harem.

However, perhaps happiness came too suddenly, and these people could hardly believe it when they were sent south... Others could only hold their breath and wait, but there was something wrong with Empress Dowager Wei. I don't know if this empress dowager felt that she had something to rely on, or was too scared of the experience in the north, or was forced to become the empress dowager and had no basic political literacy. Anyway, she did something speechless.

To be specific, on her way back south, she first collected some jewelry returned by the Jin people from the concubines who accompanied her, and gave them as rewards or bribes to the Jin soldiers who escorted them, just hoping that they could cross the river quickly in the hot summer... This is actually nothing, and it is even completely understandable.

But the key point is that after handing over the last bit of jewelry, she was still a little worried, but she actually borrowed two thousand taels of gold from the leading general of the Jin army and continued to reward and bribe him.

Because Empress Dowager Wei had a special status and promised to borrow two thousand and return three thousand after crossing the river, Meng'an was naturally happy to do so.

But, when they got to the river, where did Zhang Rong get the three thousand taels of gold? Not only Zhang Rong, but also the welcoming ambassador Quan Bangyan who had just returned from mourning did not have this much money? And even if he had the money, he would not dare to give it?

As a result, the Jin general not only detained the two queen dowagers in Xiaowusha, but also jumped towards the Yellow River and scolded the Song people for not keeping their promises.

"Even if you have money, you can't give it to me!" Wang Shu was furious after hearing this. "I want to see who dares to give this money?!"

The ministers looked at each other, and they were speechless... This matter was not about the three thousand taels of gold, but the basic position of the country in this peace negotiation that it would not pay any price. After working so hard for so long, and under the pressure of the government's non-violent non-cooperation attitude, the pressure of the army, and the pressure of the people, how could they dare to show weakness in the scene?

After finally coming up with an equal peace treaty that would rank number one in the history of the Song Dynasty, who would have thought that Empress Dowager Wei and three thousand taels of gold would appear?

But on the other hand, after all, it was Empress Dowager Wei who did it, and it was understandable, so it's hard to blame anyone.

"What did the emperor say?" Li Guang also had a headache. "Since this is about the Queen Mother, he should have a reply, right?"

"The government said that the Ministry of Rites should handle it according to the regulations." Liu Ji said helplessly. "But if he needs money, he has saved for four or five years, but he only has a few thousand strings of cash. He cannot afford to pay three thousand taels of gold... If he is forced to pay, according to the rule that the son repays the mother's debt, he naturally cannot refuse, but please give him a few days to let him borrow money from relatives."

This is ridiculous!

After hearing this, almost all the senior officials present had the same mentality... and this was absurd, not only referring to the emperor's attitude towards his biological mother, but also his weird attitude towards everyone. What was even more absurd was that everyone present knew that what the emperor said was actually the truth.

Unless the harem issues national debt now or borrows from the emperor's father-in-law, there is really no three thousand taels of gold in cash!

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