"Okay." Zhao Jiu nodded, but pressed on. "How big a venue do you need? Can it be in front of Xuande Building?"
Lü Benzhong was trembling with fear. Hu Anguo and others around him could see clearly that it was still chilly in spring, but he was actually sweating. It was as if he had been forced into a corner by Emperor Zhao and was running out of energy.
But no matter what, after Lu Benzhong took a few deep breaths, he nodded heavily: "All up to you, Your Majesty!"
Zhao Jiu nodded repeatedly, extremely satisfied, but turned his head to face Hu Anguo and others: "You have heard it, I will make the decision. From tomorrow on, the court newspaper will stop publishing the dispute between Taoism and Yuanxue. Both sides can discuss privately, but they are not allowed to attack each other. They just need to stop fighting and wait for a month, and then let the world see the result in front of Xuande Tower... Just as Hu Qing said, although I dare not say who holds the truth in this matter, it is enough to decide the winner... Everyone, go away today, I want to continue digging the fish pond."
Hu Anguo and the others felt reassured and wanted to say goodbye, but after thinking about it, they decided to stay with Lu Benzhong and help Emperor Zhao carry a few baskets of soil. Only then did they feel satisfied and leave calmly.
However, let's not talk about the fact that a month later, the two sides will have a showdown in front of Xuande Tower to decide the original student's life or death. In the next few days, the spring gradually warmed up, and affairs piled up everywhere. However, Emperor Zhao was just digging in the palace or going to court ceremonies as usual. When he had a little free time, he would just go to Daxiangguo Temple and Yuetai Camp in the west of the city with Chen Gui, which was really not doing his job.
Of course, it may not be a bad thing for the official with absolute authority not to interfere. After all, the country should rule by doing nothing, and the most important affairs of the country are war and sacrifice... However, with the end of the Lantern Festival and the start of spring ploughing, the debate in the court about a major military and national event became more and more intense, and finally reached the point where the official needed to make a decision.
The matter was simple. Yue Fei had been keeping his troops at Dongting Lake for many days, which triggered fierce protests from the locals! Ma Shen, Liu Hongdao and other local officials, including dozens of military and state officials, all submitted memorials to impeach Yue Fei for nurturing thieves and wasting time, harming the country and the people.
In fact, various central departments had opinions about Yue Fei's stagnation, but they were suppressed by Zhao Jiu.
But now, with the New Year's Day over, news came that Wanyan Wushu rode alone into Daming Prefecture, and then returned north with Nianhan; as spring plowing around Dongting Lake was delayed, the spring flood could arrive at any time; with Yue Fei's tens of thousands of troops stationed on the north side of Dongting Lake, the logistical consumption has created tremendous pressure on the local area, and the common people are suffering. Instead, many people took advantage of the situation to abandon their land and fled into Dongting Lake to steal... All these incidents, both north and south, inside and outside, finally gave everyone a legitimate reason to oppose.
Finally, the Censorate, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of War all impeached Yue Fei one after another, and together with the Jingxiang locals, they demanded that the central government put pressure on Yue Fei to end the battle as soon as possible and not delay the overall situation. Soon, Liu Ji, the deputy prime minister of the capital province and the leader of the Jingxiang local faction, also stood up again and expressed his wish that Yue Fei would end the war as soon as possible.
Under such circumstances, Zhao Ding, the Prime Minister of the capital province, who was already dissatisfied with the stagnation of Yue Fei's military operations, maintained a kind of silence that was hard to tell whether it was good or bad, while Zhang Jun, the Privy Councilor who wholeheartedly supported Yue Fei, had to bear the pressure alone. This young prime minister with an eccentric personality had no choice but to write a public letter, expressing his willingness to guarantee Yue Fei with the lives of more than a hundred members of his family.
At this time, Zhao Ding suddenly wrote a letter suggesting that Zhang Jun go south to lead the army and, in his capacity as Privy Councilor, urge Yue Fei to put down the rebellion.
Zhao Jiu hesitated for a moment and chose to agree... The reason was simple. He was under a lot of pressure and he believed in Yue Fei unconditionally. But the problem was that the logistical pressure at the local level and the worries of the central government were also obvious and reasonable.
After so much experience, Zhao Guanjia, who was no longer a novice in military affairs, knew without thinking that the people in the north of Dongting Lake, especially in Jiangling, were indeed paying a price similar to the destruction of their families for the logistics of Yue Fei's tens of thousands of front-line troops in the imperial camp. This was an indispensable price for using troops in this era. It can only be said that because it was Yue Fei who led the troops, the military discipline was better and the price was much less, but the essence would not change. It was like the Yaoshan Battle prepaid the financial resources of Bashu. It seemed that the gamble was won, but in fact the people of Bashu still had to pay the inevitable sacrifice for it.
In this case, as an official, if he has any sense, he must make a political gesture for his previous decision and pay the corresponding political price.
To put it bluntly, the previous advice and admonitions of Lu Haowen, Wanqi Xie and others were all reasonable. Whether in politics or academics, as an emperor, how could one do business without capital?
PS: Here comes the one hundred and tenth cute thing, the super fierce and arrogant classmate Anna.
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