"I am...ashamed." This was all Zhao Ding could say.
"However, I didn't know your character when I appointed you." Zhao Jiu continued to laugh. "I appointed you because you had the rank and achievements you deserved, and you were someone I always kept in mind, without having to write down in my notebook. Secondly, there were two things in your resume that I valued very much..."
At this point, Zhao Jiu paused for a moment, and then he resumed his serious expression before continuing, "First, you were born in Hedong, and you are a displaced person; second, you are a dignified Jinshi, but you have been working in the two positions of Luoyang Magistrate and Kaifeng Prefecture Yicao for nearly twenty years... The former makes me not worry about your position, and I feel that I can stand by you; the latter really makes me trust your ability to handle affairs, and I can trust you to entrust the affairs of the world."
Zhao Ding finally sighed...the problem lies in the issue of advancing and retreating together.
"Prime Minister Zhao, you are good in every way, but you shouldn't be so selfless." Zhao Jiu really became more serious. "Such selflessness only makes it difficult for me... Because I use you to suppress the responsibility of advocating peace by using your northern identity, not to let you unite the hundreds of officials and do some paperhanger here! You bring such a thing to see me, I can't refuse it, but if I accept it, will the people below think that I tacitly agree that I should give in in other places? When you were in Huainan, Prime Minister Li Gang wrote to me, saying that you are knowledgeable, talented, virtuous and kind, and handle things well, but you are not very clear about the righteousness... It seems that you have foresight."
"I would like to resign!"
"That's not the case." Zhao Jiu became more serious. "It has been a national policy since the beginning of Jianyan that a prime minister cannot resign for empty words. For a prime minister, resigning at will is just a move to seek fame... It's easy for you to resign as prime minister, but who will be responsible if the country's political situation becomes turbulent? If you resign, will the Minister of Personnel Liu Dazhong and the Minister of War Hu Shijiang also resign? Moreover, this time, I was wrong first. I didn't face you frankly and tell you exactly what I wanted. Why did you do this?"
Hearing this, Zhao Ding was silent for a moment, but he saluted and said: "Your Majesty, if that's what you say, I have something to say today."
"That's right!" Zhao Jiu nodded. "We, the king and his subjects, should be honest with each other."
Upon hearing this, Yang Yizhong immediately turned around and signaled the military officers present to step aside.
"No need to do that. The emperor and the prime minister said nothing that could not be told to others." Zhao Jiu turned around and stopped Yang Yizhong, then turned back to Zhao Ding. "Go ahead, sir."
"Your Majesty, the root of my doubts is not only that the officials and people in the South are not happy about the Northern Expedition, but I am also worried that if we rush to the Northern Expedition, there may be some setbacks, which will arouse even greater rebellion. It would be better..."
"Why not reorganize a bit, recuperate for a few years, and then join the army to march north?" Zhao Jiu almost blurted out.
"yes!"
"Believe it or not, as long as I put aside the words 'temporary peace', or stop the agenda of suppressing the rebellion and advancing, the court will become lazy, and by then, if we want to march north again, it will be difficult for the whole country to even move?!"
“…”
"As for the slight setbacks... it's just doing our best and leaving the rest to fate!" Zhao Jiu sneered again. "I know that I am just an average person, and I am a hastily appointed emperor. I don't know the mind of an emperor. I also know that this court has been in tatters after this great change, and I know that the problems of the Song Dynasty for hundreds of years are difficult to clean up. But I don't believe it. I will cut the expenses of the palace to the minimum, treat you important ministers as sincerely as possible, give the generals and officers as much preferential treatment as possible, and assemble the most complete equipment for the soldiers. I will talk about the national justice in the court reports and in the mouths of those Jinshi who follow the army. I will suppress the peace-loving attitude in the court for a day, and do it one by one. Even if it is taken out individually, it may not be worth the loss, and it may backfire. But if I keep doing it like this, can it be worse than not doing it?!"
"His Majesty……"
"Mr. Zhao." Zhao Jiu looked at him solemnly. "I am going to say something that will hurt your heart... If you want me to stop thinking about destroying the Jin Dynasty, there is only one way, that is to drive me out and replace me with someone else to be the emperor!"
"Don't be angry, sir!" Zhao Ding quickly stopped the officers before they could completely panic. "With your power and virtue, no one can shake your majesty now, and no one has the intention to do so!"
"It won't work with power or virtue, but it will work with courtesy and law." Zhao Jiu still stood with his hands behind his back. "If we welcome back the two saints, won't there be someone who can shake me? Or just two... When the time comes, those who advocate peace will help them take the position again, wouldn't everyone be happy? Even those who keep saying that they want to welcome back the two saints, maybe they see that my determination is unshakable and have some intention of playing some tricks on me!"
Emperor Zhao's words were so brutal and unbridled that the shooting range had already fallen silent. Everyone around him had a pale face, except Yang Yizhong, whose expression remained unchanged. He just lowered his head slightly.
As for Zhao Ding, he remained calm and just sighed: "Why did the emperor do this?"
Zhao Jiu did not speak directly, but formally opened the note behind his back, and then carefully read it in front of him: "I have received the intentions of the ministers. Prime Minister Zhao may as well go back and tell everyone that I will definitely follow their wishes and be determined to fight the Northern Expedition. I will never waver."
This time, Zhao Ding was silent for a long while, and finally could only bow and say goodbye.
"So this is what the young emperor of Song said?"
In Yanjing, at the Marshal's Office, the powerful minister of the Jin Dynasty, Nianhan, sat on the imperial chair and listened to Wulinda Zanmo's report, but he just frowned. "Do you really think that you will be invincible if you win a battle?"
This was not a serious inquiry, so Wulin Dazanmo did not answer verbally, but just stood solemnly and lowered his head.
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