"What do you mean, Qing?"
"Although Liu Yanzong is loyal to the enemy country, he is quite talented. If Your Majesty can win him over, he can be of use to Your Majesty."
Zhao Huan couldn't help but look at Li Gang with new respect. He thought Li Gang was straightforward and would definitely agree to kill Liu Yanzong, but he didn't expect him to say such a thing. It seems that there is a big difference between straightforward people and people who only act impulsively.
Zhao Huan thought for a moment. There were many people like Liu Yanzong who were loyal to the Liao and Jin dynasties. Strictly speaking, it was the Song Dynasty that caused Liu Yanzong's situation. If the Song Dynasty had not been weak and unable to recover the Yan and Yun regions for a long time, why would the Han people there be like Liu Yanzong?
This situation is fundamentally different from the surrender of Guo Yaoshi and Dong Cai in the face of battle. I still need to distinguish between them, otherwise, how are we any different from those keyboard warriors in later generations who have a furnace on their heads all day long?
After meeting with Liu Yanzong, Zhao Huan went to see Geng Nanzhong.
Zhao Huan showed no pity for Geng Nanzhong. He was Zhao Huan's teacher, not mine. I can kill him as easily as cutting cabbage!
"This guilty subject kowtows to Your Majesty, wishing you eternal peace!"
"Geng Nanzhong, tell me, why do you insist on negotiating peace with the Jin invaders! Why!" the young emperor roared. "I don't want to kill either! I still have many things for you to do! I have ambitions even higher than those of Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han! But you keep forcing me to raise the butcher's knife! Let me tell you, I will not be merciful! At most, I feel sorry that some of my talented people are unambitious and have been killed by me! But I will bear this regret alone!"
"Your Majesty, this old minister is guilty. This old minister is incompetent. In the fifth year of Emperor Shenzong's Yuanfeng reign, this old minister passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi. Since then, I have been able to serve the country loyally. When this old minister first entered officialdom, the Great Song Dynasty was undergoing the reforms of Wang Wengong. Although there was constant factional strife in the court, all the officials spoke of righteousness. Although the Great Song Dynasty could not become as powerful as the Han and Tang Dynasties, the people lived a prosperous life. However, since the reign of the previous emperor, the court and the country have been corrupt, the civil administration has been in decline, Fang La and Song Jiang were forced to rebel, the people's resentment was boiling, and the military was neglected. How can such a Great Song Dynasty fight a decisive battle against the Jin invaders?"
"Geng Nanzhong, what you say sounds reasonable, and I almost fell for your trap. Let me ask you, the people on the walls of Dongjing all vow to fight to the death, so why do you officials, who are supposed to be well-versed in the classics, all want to negotiate peace? Don't you know that Li Gang is indispensable at this stage? Are you deliberately trying to sow discord between me and Li Gang for the sake of the country and the emperor? I truly despise your righteous but shameless faces!"
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