The palace, the main hall.
The emperor had just received an urgent report from the border town, delivered by express messenger, and slammed his hands on his desk.
Seeing the emperor's reaction, the officials, both civil and military, all bowed their heads and remained silent, clutching their official tablets.
Only a small number of censors stepped forward one after another.
"Your Majesty, please calm down."
"Protecting the dragon's health is of utmost importance!"
Since Song Yanqing reported the prince's crimes, there has been a noticeable reshuffling of officials in the Great Jin Dynasty, with many vacancies now in place.
Qian Lishe, the Minister of Revenue, engaged in factionalism and embezzled funds to support the Second Prince's military forces, a crime he could not forgive.
Qian Lishe was executed in the autumn, and the entire prefecture was sent to the border.
The position of Minister of Revenue is currently being temporarily filled by the Vice Minister of Revenue.
If we were to launch an attack on the Tatars now, the situation would be even more dire than if we had agreed to the marriage alliance with them.
When the emperor saw that there was not a single prince in sight below the main hall, his heart ached.
But now was not the time to think about it; he focused his attention on Song Yanqing.
"What is the Crown Prince of Libei's opinion on this matter?"
Having prepared himself to be called out, Song Yanqing immediately stood up.
"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, this battle is unavoidable for the Great Jin."
The Tatars suffered a snow disaster before the New Year, and their troop strength and food supplies were far worse than before.
If they were to launch an attack on the Great Jin now, it wouldn't be considered that we broke the treaty, but rather that the Tatars broke the treaty first.
The emperor looked at him with a stern face, "You should know what I mean!"
Song Yanqing naturally understood what the emperor meant. At present, the princes were either in the imperial prison or confined to their respective residences.
If he were to volunteer to go to the border city to meet the enemy at this time, the emperor would likely find a reason to pardon the princes whose offenses were minor.
This can also be seen as giving the princes a way out.
But Song Yanqing didn't want to do that. The eldest prince was forced to his death, and the eldest prince's wife and son were also hunted down.
Although the mastermind behind this matter was the Second Prince, the fact that the other princes avoided meeting him clearly indicated their tacit approval of his actions.
If these princes can be easily let go, then the Great Jin Dynasty will inevitably change hands sooner or later!
Song Yanqing lowered his head and said clearly, word by word, "Your Majesty, I do not understand. Please enlighten me."
The emperor stared at him with wide eyes, his face as dark as ink.
At this moment, he even suspected that Song Yanqing might harbor ill intentions towards the throne.
If this trend continues, sooner or later all the civil and military officials will support Song Yanqing to take the throne.
He and the Prince of Li Bei were born of the same mother. If we were to follow the orthodox lineage, the Prince of Li Bei was the son of the former crown prince and was a few years older than him, so it would be more reasonable for him to become emperor.
If Song Yanqing were to ascend the throne one day, the people of the Great Jin would not have any different opinions about the legitimacy of the throne.
And this is exactly the scene he fears most.
Otherwise, he wouldn't want to deliberately suppress Song Yanqing and make himself look like a complete tyrant.
The emperor closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "In that case, the army shall prepare to set off tomorrow."
Since a suitable candidate had not yet been found for the position of Minister of Revenue, the Minister of Personnel, Chen Aiqing, was tasked with handling some matters, with the Vice Minister of Revenue assisting in the process.
Chen Zirong and the Vice Minister of Revenue, who were named, immediately stepped forward to accept the order.
They replied in unison, "Your Majesty, we obey your command."
The emperor did not appoint a general to lead the army, but kept Song Yanqing behind after the court session.
At this moment, the emperor's face showed signs of fatigue.
He was already quite old, and after years of governing the Jin Dynasty, his health had deteriorated considerably.
A few days ago, Song Yanqing discovered that several of his princes had committed serious mistakes that bordered on the bottom line.
In front of all the civil and military officials, he hesitated to issue an order for severe punishment, not knowing how to strip these princes of their titles.
Is the Great Jin Dynasty really going to be handed over to Song Yanqing?
Looking at the dark circles under the emperor's eyes, Song Yanqing stood up straight without saying a word, waiting for the emperor to speak.
The uncle and nephew stared at each other for a long time.
Finally, the emperor sighed and gave a self-deprecating smile, "I never expected my son to be so useless."
Song Yanqing remained calm, but every word he uttered next struck a nerve with the emperor.
He said, "You have it!"
"Back then, the late emperor valued the eldest prince highly and instructed you to nurture him well and to invite a great scholar to teach the eldest prince."
Upon hearing the words "First Prince," the emperor became excited. "I have one! The First Prince is the most outstanding child among all my princes!"
I bestowed upon him the finest mansion and appointed the most outstanding Confucian scholar as his tutor.
I am busy with official duties and can only order someone to investigate whether he is guilty.
You were not in the capital at the time, and all the evidence was laid out before me.
I merely demoted him to a commoner and sent him to the imperial mausoleum to apologize to the ancestors.
Yet he actually committed suicide, without offering any explanation for his actions!
Song Yanqing looked at him with a calm gaze, "Do you not know whether the Crown Prince has offered any explanation?"
You probably know that the eldest prince has been framed, but you have to consider the Jia family and want them to donate silver to the Great Jin.
You keep saying that the eldest prince is your favorite and most beloved child.
But after the late Empress passed away, you abandoned the eldest prince to your grandmother, and even allowed the stepmother's child to ride roughshod over the eldest prince.
Not only do you turn a blind eye to these things, but in order to secure your position, you also use the power of the Jia family.
But you never expected that the Jia family would be such ungrateful wretches.
Even if land is secretly allocated to the Jia family, they will only demand more.
These words had been lingering in Song Yanqing's mind for a long time, but he did not say them all.
After all, he was the ruler, and he was the subject.
That's enough about the issue of insubordination.
The emperor knew he had made a mistake, and he regretted not carrying on the late emperor's will to completely overthrow the powerful families in one fell swoop.
But he knew that nothing he did now would make a difference, especially with his most outstanding son.
He died in factional strife and perished in fratricide.
In the end, the emperor conceded, "Now that the Tatars are about to besiege the city, tell me, how should I employ people?"
Song Yanqing never expected the emperor's change of heart to happen in an instant.
However, he quickly realized that perhaps the emperor had already thought about what happened back then, but was unwilling to admit the mistake he had made.
Thinking of this, he said, "Before I return to the capital, I will instruct General Qin to change the deployment in the border city."
Ajitai's army besieged the city, citing Ajitai's lack of intelligence as the reason.
"General Qin was able to cut off Kedar's head; given her understanding of the border deployment changes she's made in the past six months, obtaining Ajitai's head shouldn't be difficult."
When Song Yanqing's words reached the emperor's ears, they were undoubtedly a reassuring reassurance.
At this moment, if Song Yanqing were to lead troops into battle, the emperor would be quite uneasy without anyone to hold down the fort in the new capital.
The emperor rarely showed a smile. "Very good. I will have the Ministry of Revenue coordinate the grain supply as soon as possible!"
After Song Yanqing took his leave, the emperor's smile gradually faded.
He surveyed the empty hall, his eyes filled with desolation.
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