As expected, Emperor Zhao led a few people to discuss the matter on the riverbank again. In the end, Liu Hongdao, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War and the chief water conservancy officer, was given the power to coordinate the operation. He was to liaise with the troops in various parts of the imperial camp, coordinate the selection of battlefields, and even have the power to make specific military supplies reserves.
The matter was agreed upon like this, but what caught Zhang Rong off guard was that in the next few days, Emperor Zhao, who had obviously finished his river patrol, had no intention of moving at all, but just sat in Heyin, and actually stayed there until Yang Zheng in Tokyo sentenced him to immediate execution, and the documents of exile of the imperial concubine's uncle and the Dali Temple Secretary were delivered... This seemed to really confirm the statement that Emperor Zhao came out specifically to avoid trouble.
However, this view soon disappeared, because Emperor Zhao did not move after personally approving these judgments. In the middle of winter, this emperor was hiding in a military camp next to a shipyard with a few scattered ministers and a thousand soldiers?
He really stayed at home, not even going to Zhengzhou, which was dozens of miles away. The ministers tried to invite him back but he refused, which made many people panic...
After all, no matter what, no matter who was not given face in the three major cases, the emperor's trip to the northwest this time did destroy the Western Xia, subjugate the Khitan and Mongolia, and recover many prefectures and counties, right?
His power is increasing, right?
Who is the king and who is the minister never changes, right?
In this situation, who can sleep well when Emperor Zhao is hiding like a tiger by the river just over a hundred miles away from the capital?
And finally, following the official's inexplicable silence and waiting, the first person who couldn't hold on any longer finally appeared.
November 11 was a meaningless day. General Zhang Rong, who was originally on a routine inspection trip to Shaoxing downstream, could no longer endure it. He suddenly turned back that evening and took the initiative to ask for an audience with the emperor.
Although the official had already taken off his shoes and got on the kang, he still chose to summon him immediately.
"Your Majesty, I don't want to hide it from you, but I really can't resist the obligation of loyalty. But after thinking about it, if I don't tell you, it would be considered as a betrayal, and also a disloyalty..." Zhang Rong said some incredible words as soon as he came in.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Zhao, who was lying on the kang and listening to Lu Benzhong reading the court report, just waved his hand. The latter immediately understood, put down the court report, and went out with several soldiers.
At this time, Zhao Jiu sat up, but still did not say anything. He just patted the empty space on the kang where Lu Benzhong had just sat, signaling the leader Zhang who had just entered to sit over. He did not show much surprise throughout the whole process, as if he had guessed that the other party had come back.
"The emperor is just like what You Xuejiu said, he knew it a long time ago." Zhang Rong opened the door and waited for Lü Benzhong to leave. He instinctively took a few steps forward, but he realized his mistake halfway and stopped five or six steps in front of the kang, then intervened and sighed. "I am also ashamed, so I won't sit down. It's fine to stand."
"I know, but I don't know either." Zhao Jiu didn't embarrass him, and probably because he knew his personality, he was too honest. "Let me tell you the truth. I was mainly waiting for someone in Heyin, not just for you..."
Zhang Rong was slightly stunned.
"But when I arrived here on the first day, I knew that you, Chief Zhang, must be hiding something from me. Otherwise, with your heroic spirit, why would you be so restrained when you saw me, and why would you not even dare to put your hands on your waist when you went up the river bank? You must feel that you have made some mistakes!"
Zhao Jiu continued to smile, but as he spoke, he turned around and dragged a bamboo basket from the kang in the barracks. Under the light, he took out an unopened envelope from it and opened it in front of him. "So, these days, I did have people carefully check the Imperial Camp Navy, and I received a lot of relevant reports... The local officials around the Navy's several strongholds and the several commanders under you all have relevant documents... In addition, I also asked your son-in-law to lead people to privately investigate various places in the army, asking officers, soldiers, and Jinshi who followed the army, as well as surrounding military dependents and retired soldiers, from all sides... But I didn't read these messages directly one by one, but asked your son-in-law to read them first, and then asked him to summarize them for me, waiting for you to come to see me, and we will compare them... How about it, should Zhang Qing speak first, or should I speak first?"
Zhang Rong had already been stunned, but when he saw Emperor Zhao holding out his son-in-law's envelope, he was completely embarrassed and simply stepped in and bowed his head: "No wonder my son-in-law didn't talk to me. I scolded him for nothing and said he was useless... Never mind, I'll say it first! Emperor, my biggest mistake was to let the Vegetable Demon Cult spread among the navy of the Imperial Camp! But due to brotherhood, I didn't have the heart to clean it out! This is my biggest mistake, and it's also the hurdle that I can't get over when I see you these days!"
The Emperor Zhao, who had just been calm and composed, was stunned at this moment... Is it okay for the Liangshan heroes to be infected by the Ming Cult? Will their fighting power be off the charts?
However, this absurd thought only lasted for a moment. The next moment, the official hurriedly looked at Yu Yunwen's report under the light. As expected, in the summary report, he saw words like "First, the army is infected with the Ming Cult"... and he sighed on the spot.
Zhao Jiu had been in power for five or six years, and he had heard of the Vegetable Demon Sect, or the Vegetable Eating Demon Sect, or the Ming Sect, or the Manichaeism... whatever it was called... He had even learned a lot about it out of curiosity, but the problem was that the more he learned about it, the more complicated his feelings towards it became.
First of all, this thing has a long history. Over hundreds and thousands of years, the religious logic within it has been very complete, not much worse than those public sects. Therefore, it is the kind that cannot be cut off or eradicated... There are even some Taoist temples and Buddhist temples that appear to be Buddhist on the surface, but are actually Mingjiao inwardly.
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