"……?"

"Wang Zhi, a native of De'an Prefecture, a descendant of Ouyang Xiu, a lay scholar, and the son-in-law of former Prime Minister Zeng Bu, recently sued Minister Chen, saying that during the chaos in the past, Minister Chen, who was then the prefect of De'an, took away 40,000 volumes of his books on the pretext of avoiding disaster, and has not returned them to this day. He really couldn't stand it, so he appealed to the Ministry of Justice... When Minister Wang Shu first came, he only sent a letter to mediate, but Minister Chen claimed that the 40,000 volumes of books were scattered in De'an Prefecture and Nanyang Prefecture." Zhao Boyao hurriedly said carefully. "There was a lot of discussion about this matter before, but it was suppressed for a while because of the disturbance caused by Wang Xie's murder... Everyone knows that it was Minister Chen who took away the 40,000 volumes of Wang's collection of books."

"My son also knows about this." Wang Yi was also thoughtful. "It is said that Chen Gui once scolded Wang Zhi privately, saying that Wang Zhi was incompetent. The 40,000 volumes of books were just gathering dust in Wang's house. They were useful in his hands... People in the capital said that Minister Chen was a thief who really stole the 40,000 volumes of books and was not magnanimous enough."

Wang Boyan was stunned for a long time, but suddenly he sneered: "How can a scholar's work be called stealing? Moreover, even if he is not qualified to be a deputy envoy of the Privy Council, can't he be a signatory of the Privy Council?"

After saying this, the Western Palace official directly opened the letter and carefully filled in the name of Chen Gui, the Minister of War who was a thief and graduated from the Ming Dynasty Law School, on the already written recommendation letter.

After finishing writing, Mr. Wang felt relieved for a while.

At this time, Wang Yi had already been lost in thought, but the newly crowned champion could not help but say, "The emperor's original intention is to ask you and the two governors to jointly guarantee and recommend Minister Chen?"

"That's right, but it's more than that." Wang Boyan turned his head to face his son-in-law, twirling his beard and sighing. "With the power of the government now, if they really want to promote him, they will. But after all this, they let us be the ones to promote him. It's not something that can be explained away by saying that they are protecting their reputation."

"Please give me some advice, sir." Zhao Boyao became more earnest.

"I presume that the emperor was originally hesitating between Minister Quan Bangyan and Minister Chen, and since Minister Quan was in mourning, Minister Chen should have been decided and was to be responsible for the defense of Tokyo." Wang Boyan said seriously. "As for this disposal, it is because there has been no war in the capital for seven or eight months, and people are at peace. The emperor is afraid that we will insist on following the precedents and rules and neglect the overall military situation, so he made an effort to remind us... In my opinion, the emperor's problem is three-tenths because Minister Chen did not cultivate himself and gave others an advantage, and seven-tenths because the old customs in the court have resurfaced and forgotten that the Jin people are coming. Shi Yan (Zhao Boyao's name)!"

"I'm here." Zhao Boyao was shocked.

"When you go to Ruzhou this time, you must not talk about empty etiquette, and put the overall situation of resisting the Jin Dynasty first... If there are any mistakes, I hope you can learn from my student Qin Huizhi and be a man of integrity!" Wang Boyan reminded him. "Don't forget, you are the first number one scholar since the emperor ascended the throne, and you are also from the royal family! The hatred of the country and the family are all in one thought!"

Zhao Boyao stood up solemnly and bowed solemnly.

At almost the same time, in the Prime Minister's Mansion of the capital province, Lu Haowen, who was sitting alone in the study, looked at the two circles of "Chen Gui" drawn in front of him, sighed slightly, and then began to write a letter of recommendation.

On the second day, the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15, three prime ministers each submitted a memorial, recommending candidates to guard the Privy Council on the grounds that the Jin army might move south after the autumn, the military affairs in the capital were complicated, and the Privy Council was vacant... Prime Minister Lu Haowen of the capital province and Deputy Privy Councilor Wang Boyan both recommended Chen Gui, the Minister of War and Prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture. Deputy Prime Minister Xu Jingheng of the capital province jointly recommended Hanlin scholar Lin Jingmo, Minister of Rites Zhu Shengfei, and Minister of War Chen Gui.

The emperor, who was still ill, was willing to accept the advice. He believed that the public opinion could not be violated and that military affairs were serious. He issued an imperial decree to follow the old rules and sign the affairs of the Privy Council. He also restored the old practice of Nanyang, put the entire city under military control, and moved the capital province and the Privy Council to the Chongwenyuan in the palace. He also had the prime ministers take turns to be on duty in the palace at night for consultation.

In the afternoon of the same day, the capital province and the Privy Council each issued an official order, which was issued to the entire city through Kaifeng Prefecture... The capital province advised civilians, women and children that if they could rely on the south, they could leave the capital, but young and strong military personnel were not allowed to leave at will without the approval of Kaifeng Prefecture, and were not allowed to take military supplies and food with them. The Privy Council announced that all property in the city would be placed under military control that day, and if there were military needs, such as house demolition and requisitioning, no one should disobey. All young and strong people in the city would be registered for possible deployment!

When the decree and imperial edict were issued, the whole city was shocked. The population of Tokyo, which had been expanding, suddenly stagnated and even began to flow back... In a trance, the prosperity of the previous six months seemed like a mirage.

A day later, after bidding farewell to the emperor, whose situation had improved somewhat, at Yeonbok Palace, the generals led their personal soldiers, fully armored, out of Tokyo City and assigned to various defense zones.

The state of war preparedness can no longer be concealed.