After all, Xu Churen had publicly supported the Duke of Chongguo, and now that power is shifting, does this indicate that the emperor does not intend to make the Duke of Chongguo the Crown Prince?
The political landscape of the Song Dynasty court became even more complex.
Just at this time, a series of events occurred.
A serious problem has arisen in the new round of recruitment for iron ore mining in Youzhou.
Someone accused Han Lixian, the richest man in Youzhou, of having an affair with Han Qixian, a minister of the Jin Dynasty, and of secretly giving Han Qixian 10,000 catties of iron ore.
Who is Han Lixian? He is the father of the current Imperial Noble Consort!
Who is Han Qixian? He was the Han Chinese prime minister of the Jin Dynasty!
This matter was sent to Tokyo by express courier.
Within just one month, the Dali Temple, the Censorate, and the Imperial City Guard were all mobilized.
The South Korean company was taken directly to Tokyo, and then the matter was quickly suppressed.
It was not disclosed to the public.
Some officials privately said that this matter is actually related to the power struggle at the central level.
The struggle for central power is never isolated, especially before the crown prince is established.
Regardless of whether Han Lixian had the guts to sell, the mere fact that word had spread, and even the Imperial City Guard had found several witnesses who would rather die than betray Han Lixian, was a stark reminder of the situation.
This means that someone in Tokyo is planning to harm Consort Han.
This was a ruthless move, reaching the point of treason and betrayal. Although it was suppressed and no concrete evidence was found to force Han Li to die first.
Although those witnesses were eventually executed for falsely accusing the father of the current imperial concubine.
However, this thorn was planted in the court of the Song Dynasty!
It seems to be a reminder to the ministers of the Song Dynasty that the Imperial Noble Consort's family, the Han family, was once a powerful clan in the Liao Dynasty and is now a powerful clan in the Jin Dynasty.
This is undoubtedly disadvantageous to Zhao Chun.
At least in terms of the struggle for the crown prince position, this is very disadvantageous.
Meanwhile, Zhao Chen, the most popular candidate for crown prince, had already distinguished himself on the front lines of the Southern Continent.
In later generations of this world, some people have speculated that the Han Lixian case was orchestrated by the Zhengshitang.
The emperor's division of power within the Council of State Affairs made the Council feel threatened, prompting it to accelerate its support for Zhao Chen—a self-preservation measure.
Of course, these are all just speculations by later generations, and who can really say for sure what the truth is?
P.S.: Oops, the VIP group I posted last time was wrong! I've created a new one: Group name: Great Song Imperial City Division. Brothers who join, please send a screenshot of your full subscription! We'll discuss the plot and history in this group. Spoilers are welcome!
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