The reasoning of this great scholar is somewhat similar to that of Emperor Zhao - once peace is negotiated, the momentum of the Jianyan Restoration will be cut off and it will be difficult to continue again, and even if they want to fight again in the future, they may not be able to do so.
Faced with this situation, as an important official in the court, he still had to do the same as before - try his best to maintain the overall situation and not let anyone overturn the table.
"We can't deal with Hu Quan." After thinking for a long time, Zhao Ding said with a stiff upper lip. "If we deal with Hu Quan now, we will be seen as partial to our own interests... You must know that the purpose of negotiating peace now is just to welcome back the two saints, take over Jingdong, and cultivate ourselves a little, not to really abandon the two rivers and live in peace from now on!"
Liu Dazhong kept shaking his head.
At this point, Zhao Ding seemed to have remembered something and looked at Zhai Ruwen again: "Guest Zhai, don't even mention the Brotherly Country. If we establish this Brotherly Country now, how can we fight again in the future?"
Zhai Ruwen bowed his head and couldn't help but sigh.
At this time, the Prime Minister Zhang Jun, who had been silent, also sighed: "You all sigh one by one, how can you be embarrassed in the Privy Council? I don't know how I should respond if Yue Pengju writes to question me from the front line."
Liu Dazhong said, "Yue Fei can ask the emperor in a secret letter! Why should we worry about it?!"
"How can you be so self-righteous in matters of military and national importance?" As soon as the Minister of Personnel Liu Dazhong finished speaking, his subordinate, the Vice Minister of Personnel Lü Zhi, sneered at him. "It's only been a few years since we've lived in peace? Do you regard military affairs as nothing? Most of the front troops of Yue Pengju's imperial camp are refugees from Hebei. Li Qiong and the Eight Character Army he is currently leading around Tokyo City are also refugees from Hebei. If a mutiny breaks out, who will be held responsible?! The emperor entrusted this matter to you in the secret cabinet, and you are just sighing and complaining every day?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Liu Dazhong and others naturally became furious, and Zhao Ding was also upset, because this kind of behavior, which had no solution to the problem but only confrontation and ridicule, was the most hated behavior by the prime ministers who were pursuing stability at the moment.
"We must take this into consideration." But even though he hated it, Zhao Ding had no choice but to speak seriously before Liu Dazhong lost his temper. "And we must respond quickly... Minister Hu, what do you have to say?"
Under Lü Zhi's complicated gaze, the Minister of War General Hu Shi stepped out in a deep voice and said sternly, "My fellow ministers and colleagues, I think we can send a senior official to stay in Li Qiong's army to appease him and tell him that the court has no intention of abandoning the two rivers... As for Yue Fei, it is better to take advantage of him and temporarily cut off the news and not tell him about the peace talks... If the emperor wants to talk to him, he will naturally tell him, and we should not interfere here."
"Let's do it!" Zhao Ding made a serious decision. "Who will go to Li Qiong's army?"
General Hu bowed his hands and said, "It is my duty."
Zhao Ding nodded and was about to agree, but at this moment, suddenly, there was a loud commotion outside the window of the secret chamber, as if some people suddenly gathered and shouted. Like everyone else, the prime minister of the current province was also startled.
The Minister of Revenue Lin Qi and the Grand Chancellor Zhao Shi, who was just pretending to be asleep, were closest to the window and instinctively leaned over to look, but unexpectedly, a boot came at them from two floors away, instantly hitting Uncle Zhao's nose and making it bleed. The boot then bounced onto Minister Lin's face, and the two of them squatted down and covered their faces in pain.
At this moment, all the important officials on the third floor of the Secret Chamber were naturally eclipsed.
At this time, the noise became louder and louder, and many words could not be concealed across two floors. The people upstairs knew what happened below before they could rescue the two people.
Soon, the officer on duty hurried upstairs and reported clearly what had happened downstairs - a group of middle and low-level officials from the provincial governments, the Privy Council, the Six Ministries, the Nine Temples, and the Five Institutions seemed to have made an agreement in advance. Suddenly, they rushed out during the secret cabinet meeting. There were dozens of them, and they demanded to meet with the important officials in the secret cabinet and ask them some questions in person!
Everyone felt something was not right when they heard this, and they were inevitably a little panicked for a moment, but the matter was not over yet. Soon, the officer on duty came in a panic to report that more than a hundred students from the Imperial University had gathered at the Xuande Building on donkey carts from the Imperial Road, and they wanted to submit a public petition.
At this moment, everyone in the secret chamber was in an uproar... After all, even the youngest among them had experienced the Jingkang period, so how could they not know that this was a re-enactment of the Jingkang scene? !
At that time, the Jin people were conquering cities and territories, the court was arguing over war and peace, the ministers were arguing endlessly, and a state of division was formed. Scholars and students also wrote public letters. That kind of political chaos directly led to the replacement of 26 prime ministers in just over a year of Yuan Sheng's reign, and the number of other six ministers, nine officials and five supervisors was countless.
"Is it the emperor?" Hearing the noises getting louder downstairs, the Imperial Censor Li Guang supported the Minister of Revenue Lin Qi, who was still covering his face, but couldn't help but speak in frustration. "Retreat to advance? Why does the emperor have to use such a trick?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the secret chamber fell silent again.
"Not an official!"
"This is not an official gesture!"
"It won't be the government."
After a moment, Lu Haowen, Zhao Ding and Zhang Jun almost all denied it.
But the difference between the three was that after Lu Haowen finished speaking, he stopped talking and his expression showed sadness again; Zhang Jun kept shaking his head and seemed to be thinking about something; but Zhao Ding continued to grit his teeth and give orders, asking Ban Zhi to go down and ask the lower level to choose a representative to go upstairs and speak, and also asked Chen Gongfu, the chief academic officer of the Imperial College who had been perfunctorily attending the secret cabinet meeting, to quickly leave the Xuande Building and take over the books submitted by the students.
After a few words and instructions, the Secret Chamber finally restored a lot of order. And when the representatives of middle and low-level officials went upstairs after the chaos, the important officials in the Secret Chamber were already on high alert.
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