Emperor Zhao spoke calmly and with a kind expression, but the civil and military officials below were actually panicking.
After all, how could everyone not understand what Emperor Zhao meant by this? Moreover, all these officials had experienced the city of Dongjing before the Jingkang Incident. After the panic, many of them became depressed.
After waiting for a while, seeing that the emperor had listened to a long speech, Lu Haowen sighed, then led all the officials out of the hall, bowed and apologized.
"What does this have to do with you? Isn't it because the Second Saints neglected state affairs and the six thieves caused chaos in the country?" Zhao Jiu suddenly turned the topic back to the Second Saints.
Now, some loyal ministers who had just tried hard to ignore the previous words "bringing shame upon oneself" could no longer bear it and wanted to speak immediately.
But Zhao Jiu seemed to have expected this, and did not let these people bow. Instead, he suddenly raised his hand and gave an order, saying something abrupt: "Close the door!"
Upon hearing the king's order, Liu Yan, who had been prepared in front of the door, immediately led dozens of soldiers to close the main door of the main hall. Not only that, the side doors on the left and right, and some side windows were also closed... Although it was morning, the doors and windows of the huge palace were all closed, and there was no candle inside, so the light suddenly dimmed, and only dark shadows could be seen.
The civil and military officials gathered in the middle of the hall were horrified and panicked for a moment, but did not dare to move.
"Your Majesty!" In the darkness, several ministers questioned almost at the same time.
"Don't panic. I have always wanted to be frank with you all, but I also know that some things cannot be said in person. If we really say them, there will be no room for maneuver between the monarch and his subjects." Zhao Jiu, who was sitting on the throne, spoke seriously in the dim light, which was not dark enough. "Now, I want to imitate the story of King Zhuang of Chu and make a decision with you all... First, all of you take a few steps back and disrupt the order in the middle of the hall."
There was obvious hesitation and wavering among the ministers in the palace, but under the leadership of the few ministers in the front who had fallen silent, they retreated collectively in accordance with the king's order and disrupted the order of official ranks.
"Stop!" Zhao Jiu said at the right time. "At this time, let's not worry about the small details, just talk about one important thing... Those of you who really think that we can negotiate peace unconditionally, now lower your heads and go to the left, and those who think that we can't negotiate peace, go to the right, but you are not allowed to stay in the middle... I only look at the number, I will not distinguish."
The ministers instinctively raised their heads to look at the figure on the throne, and sure enough, there was only a rough outline of the figure, and they were also shocked.
After a moment, one person actually went to the left, and the rest of the people, after a slight hesitation, went to the right.
"I understand, come back!" Zhao Jiu waited for a moment and took the initiative to say again.
And the man really lowered his head and turned back to the queue.
"If the Jin people promise to return northern Shaanxi and eastern Beijing, and all the land on this side of the Yellow River, as a way to negotiate peace...if you think this is acceptable, go left."
This time, the scale of hesitation and commotion was even larger, and soon, under the leadership of the previous person, one quarter of the people went to the left, and three quarters of the people went to the right.
Emperor Zhao did not have any extra reaction to this. He just asked someone to come back and said, "If the Jin people promise to return the two saints and the women and children of the captured nobles in Bianliang, and you think it is a good way to negotiate peace, then go left."
The commotion was obviously getting bigger, and soon, without the person taking the lead at the beginning, the division was completed directly... about one third on the left and two thirds on the right.
In other words, more people agreed to negotiate peace on this condition than on the condition of returning the land.
Zhao Jiu on the throne also fell into silence for a while... Obviously, he still underestimated the influence of filial piety and brotherly love on Confucian officials. In the end, the emperor actually waited for several breaths before letting these obviously uneasy officials come back together.
"For the last time, the biggest concession the Jin people could make is to return the two saints and other captives, hand over the three states of Jingdong, northern Shaanxi and Hewai, and send Liu Yu and Zhe Keqiu back for disposal. Both sides are equal in name, and this is how they negotiate peace... Who thinks this is acceptable?"
This time, because they were already familiar with each other from the previous three times, many people did not hesitate at all and directly divided their forces... The numbers on both sides were surprisingly almost the same.
Zhao Jiu fell silent again... He was not surprised, but sighed. He sighed at the bureaucracy's unconscious desire for stability and peace, as well as their unconscious conservative trend.
Zhao Jiu knew very well that if the door was opened and the light was on, most of these people would choose "disharmony", that is, to be consistent with his position as an official. Even if there were a few who dared to publicly choose "peace can be negotiated", they would most likely be persuaded if he personally went to do the work, or at least be willing to remain silent.
In other words, if he picked out any one person at random from this group, they would all be flawless, as they were all outstanding "trusted and important officials of the government", but in reality, deep down, this group was undoubtedly tending towards conservatism.
There are many reasons... For example, due to financial difficulties, most of the income was thrown into the imperial army. The issuance of national debt last winter was a clear proof of this. In this case, it is normal for relevant officials who have contact with finance and have some sense of responsibility to want to reduce military spending through peace talks and then make improvements. For example, the taxes on the people in the south are heavy. If an official from the south wants to express his instinctive love for his hometown, it is natural.
Tolerating each other for the sake of the country! This phrase has been used for four years.
Before the Battle of Yaoshan, the result of being unable to tolerate each other was death without a burial place, so most people were willing to persevere. The corresponding resistance came in part from the poor objective conditions, and another part from the "giving up" faction who advocated retreating to the southeast. However, these people had long been thrown into the garbage dump of history, so it is better not to mention them.
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