Even if Emperor Zhao's family had plenty of real estate, he couldn't escape.

What's more, for Emperor Zhao at this time, these two sons have greater political significance and are inevitably boring compared to his daughters.

So, Emperor Zhao simply picked up his most beloved little princess Yiyou and went straight into the palace, bypassing his two sons.

After returning to the palace, the next few days were filled with a lot of things to do and people coming and going.

Not to mention other things, such as the mutual transfer of the six ministers and the governors of various places, as well as the administrative division integration of the northwest, all involve a huge amount of personnel matters... The people at the top are just the people at the top, and the most terrifying thing is the appointment, dismissal and transfer of a large number of middle-level officials. In addition, there is also the issue of promotion and reward for the soldiers of the imperial camps who have made great contributions this time.

Under such circumstances, Emperor Zhao did not even go to see off Zheng Zhichang, an international friend who had made great contributions this time.

However, during this period, in early September, something suddenly happened, or the arrival of a person, which unreasonably attracted the attention of the entire imperial center... The extremely serious personnel issues in the court and political situation were temporarily obscured with the arrival of this person.

The man's name is Zhe Keqiu.

In fact, Zhe Keqiu did not come alone. He brought many descendants of the Zhe family, as well as the Xixia royal family general Weiming Yunge, Xixia Crown Prince Li Renxiao, and Yue King Li Renyou... these were all alive... In addition, there was also the head of Xixia King Li Ganshun.

This is probably the reason why he delayed going to the capital to meet the emperor until now.

In fact, Zhe Keqiu did perform outstandingly this time. First, he turned the tide at a perfect time, which almost enabled the Song Dynasty to seize the states outside the Yellow River without bloodshed. He also played a very important role in a series of military operations, such as driving out Wanyan Huo Nu, controlling the Khitan tribes outside the Yellow River, and intimidating Hengshan.

It can be said that Emperor Zhao's advance into Hetao would not have been so easy if Zhe had not actually taken control of the situation during the early stages of the attack and defense of Hengshan.

Combined with Li Ganshun’s head and his two sons, his military achievements are beyond doubt.

At the same time, there seems to be no need to discuss the loyalty of many members of the Zhe family who accompanied the emperor. Apart from Zhe Keqiu, there were actually a large number of Zhe family members who were abducted with the two emperors during the Jing Kang period. During the Jian Yan period, they would rather suffer outside the Great Wall than return to Fuzhou after its surrender. They were not sent back home until the two emperors returned south after the Shaoxing Incident.

This can be confirmed by many captives.

There is also Zhe Yanzhi, who has a very high status in the Zhe family. He is already over 50 years old this year. Regardless of the fact that all his children are in the prefectures and counties, he has experienced ups and downs in the past few years. He has been demoted and re-employed without saying a word, and has always been sincere in his work. This time he was transferred from Bashu, and was given the title of Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and the Inspector of Military Equipment, which can be regarded as a promotion to an important official at the level of the Secret Cabinet.

From these reasons, or from these perspectives, even if no one says it out loud, one can feel some subtle atmosphere... To put it bluntly, many people tend to believe that the court can pardon the Zhe family, especially since the contribution of Li Ganshun and his son is indeed a huge step forward.

However, Zhe Keqiu publicly surrendered to the Jurchens during the Jingkang-Jianyan War, while Emperor Zhao issued a no-pardon order before he surrendered.

Of course, the situation is reversed. Now that the court has taken over the entire northwest and its century-old enemy, Western Xia, is gone, no one can deny its trend of revival.

In this case, should we still stick to the previous strict measures?

It would be most appropriate to relax a bit and send a signal to many people in the north, right?

But after thinking about it, these are just fantasies of the people below. After this great march to the northwest, the demise of Western Xia and the Jinhepo Alliance, Emperor Zhao's authority is growing day by day. Everything still depends on the emperor's decision.

Therefore, Zhe Keqiu came to the capital on the same day, and the next day the capital province and the Privy Council jointly submitted a memorial to the emperor, requesting a decision... This could be considered a test, because letting Zhe Keqiu personally present Li Ganshun's head and two children would be a kind of assistance.

The first result of the test made people feel a little relieved. Emperor Zhao promised to summon him to Shiting in the harem the next morning.

After receiving the order, the next morning, Zhe Keqiu and several of the accompanying Zhe family members, dressed in white and took off their hats, accompanied by Zhe Yanzhi, holding the box containing Li Ganshun's head, entered the palace from Donghua Gate, went to the harem, and came before the emperor together with Weiming Yunge and the Li brothers.

"Is this Li Ganshun's head?"

In the nameless stone pavilion beside the fish pond, Zhao Jiu, whose stone table was full of documents, put down the files in his hands when he saw the visitor. Then he presented the head box of Lieutenant General Yang Yi and Li Ganshun...These days, according to the rules, every official who came to Beijing and took up a post in the local area had to be personally checked and received by him as long as they reached a certain level, which was troublesome.

"Yes!" The leader, Zhe Keqiu, bowed to the ground as soon as he came in, not daring to look up. He was about to answer, but was unexpectedly beaten to the punch by the captive Wei Ming Yun Ge. "So that the emperor of the Song Dynasty knows that the head of the king was cut off by a foreign minister himself, and there is no falsehood. Your Majesty, please open it and check it."

In front of the box with a strong stench, Zhao Jiu looked up at Weiming Yunge, and then looked at the two frightened children beside Weiming Yunge. Having just had two sons, he couldn't help but frown: "There's no need to check. How can you check his father's head in front of the children? Take it away! Ren Baozhong will do it, find a proper place to bury it, don't be too disrespectful, but don't let people know that it is the head of the Xixia emperor!"

Ren Baozhong, a close minister who was attending at the side, hurried forward, said that the emperor was merciful, then picked up the head box and turned around and left.

Brother Weiming Yun quickly kowtowed to express his gratitude, but he finally began to cry uncontrollably.

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