"I'm really stupid, really."
Lu Haowen stood in the small village on the top of the mountain, with his hands clasped in front of him, looking far away at a gentle slope on the southern waist of Bagong Mountain. There was obviously a trace of sadness in his serious expression...
Over there, in a place that Lü Haowen couldn't see completely, in front of a row of wooden poles with human heads on them, the Emperor of Zhao Song was sitting still in armor. Behind the Emperor, separated by wooden poles and human heads, were sixty or seventy Western Army officers who had been beaten with military sticks and were holding rewards, standing still. On both sides were two hundred fully armored imperial guards. Emperor Zhao was sitting there with this lineup, silently supervising the distribution of rewards to the entire army.
"I thought the emperor would stop after killing Liu Guangshi yesterday, but I didn't expect he would be so brutal today!" After watching for a long while, Prime Minister Lu, who felt that the place was in good order, was still unwilling to turn back, but continued to complain to himself.
The Chief Censor standing behind Prime Minister Lu, that is, Zhang Jun Zhang Deyuan, wanted to remain silent upon hearing this, but for some reason, perhaps because of what happened in the past few days, he was seriously stimulated, so the Chief Censor could not help but:
"Why is Prime Minister Lu deceiving himself? The emperor's behavior had already foreshadowed the situation. When we were standing in front of the emperor's tent at noon today, not only you and I, but also Prime Minister Wang and the others had guessed it... but there was nothing you and I could do!"
This time it was Lu Haowen's turn to remain silent.
Zhang Jun, who had broken the dignity and concealment of an elite scholar-official with his words, took advantage of the fact that no one was around to be completely reckless: "Now there are four important ministers. Prime Minister Wang and General Wang have already suffered a huge setback in Mingdao Palace. Although they have gradually recovered a little in the past few days due to Prime Minister Li (Li Gang) falling ill, they are completely incompetent after what happened last night. They even have to be careful when they are submissive to the emperor! And I have achieved success at a young age, all thanks to the emperor's promotion. If it weren't for the emperor's strong support, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to hold the position of Zhongcheng, and I would have been dealt with by any prime minister long ago! Only you, Prime Minister Lu..."
"What about me?" Lu Haowen turned back helplessly, looking dejected. "I was also dealt with by Li Xianggong that day. I almost left the imperial court that day and had nothing to do with the central government. If it weren't for the emperor's fall into trouble and his change of heart, I would have needed an experienced Xianggong..."
"Let's not talk about the time when you fell into the well. Just say that you, Prime Minister Lu, are not only the only prime minister of the East Palace here, but also a Taoist scholar from a prime minister's family and a world-renowned scholar. If there is anyone here who can stop the emperor a little, it can only be you, Prime Minister Lu." Zhang Jun's words were sincere, and he actually wanted to persuade Lu Haowen to step forward.
"Why should I care about my position as a minister?" Lü Haowen was forced to express his opinion. "If the country was safe and everyone was fighting for power, I would have given up this position long ago and become a prefect, then resigned gracefully and stayed at home to run academic affairs. But now, isn't the country in danger? The Jin people are on the other side of the river, and the situation is precarious. As long as the emperor and the emperor are not safe, I will not abandon the central government!"
Zhang Jun was speechless for a moment... But how could he not know that this was exactly the government's strategy? It was to bully Mr. Lu, a moral gentleman who was easy to bully. Otherwise, it would be too unfair for Xu Da, who was dealing with things behind his back, to go to Huaidong and Zhang Shuxiang!
"The emperor's original intention was to set up a small situation in Shouzhou, so that a small force of the Jin army would come here and defend it. He didn't want to annihilate the enemy, nor did he want to win a big victory or a small victory. As long as the Jin army was exhausted and retreated on its own, it would let the world know that the Jin army was not invincible and our army was not incapable of fighting. It would slightly boost morale and make people feel at ease!" After a long pause, Zhang Jun finally spoke, but took the initiative to defend Zhao Jiu. "The original intention was not to kill Liu Guangshi last night and kill the deserter today!"
"What's the difference?" Lu Haowen was getting more and more frustrated. "The country has fallen to this point, can it be fixed overnight? Not to mention that Shouzhou can no longer be defended, even if Liu Guangshi didn't happen, Shouzhou was still defended, so what? If it is defended, the morale of the people will certainly be improved, but if the Jin army returns and prepares a large army, can it still be defended with 100,000 troops? The country is in turmoil now, and the root cause is the instability. Instead of fighting for a breath of air here, why not gain a foothold in Nanyang or Yangzhou as soon as possible! Once it is established, the morale of the people will naturally rise!"
"But we can't say that the government is doing something useless to the country, right?" Zhang Jun asked, pointing to the situation on the mountainside.
"It's not useless." Lu Haowen turned to Zhang Jun, shook his hand and said, "It makes us useless... Now the country is collapsing, bandits are everywhere, and the government army is incompetent. What the government does at this time will make the situation worse? But the key is that the government's actions are to choose personal sentiment over the overall situation; to choose military men over civil officials; to choose private interests over public interests..."
"How can you say it's selfish?" Zhang Jun was puzzled and couldn't help interrupting him. "Since the emperor went into exile, he has not even eaten a bite of ginger and fermented black beans. His food and clothing are simple beyond imagination. Now he is in a desperate situation and personally luring the enemy to organize the troops. He is definitely related to the two saints by blood..."
"But he is the only one of Zhao Song's bloodline now!" Lü Haowen exhaled a long breath, then suddenly interrupted him. "If he is gone, Zhao Song will really perish!"
Zhang Jun was suddenly speechless.
"In the eyes of this official now, there is only himself. He gathers troops, appoints generals, and wins the hearts of the people. If he succeeds, everything belongs to him. If he fails, the whole world will be buried with him!" Lu Haowen actually cried as he spoke. "He ignored a proper way and abandoned the ancestral system and family rules, and insisted on doing it his own way. Isn't it because even if the way he did succeeded, it was all the credit of the gentlemen, and it has nothing to do with him? Before he fell into the well, he was so selfish, but he was selfish and cowardly. After he fell into the well, I thought he had changed, but unexpectedly, after just a few months, he was still as selfish as before. He was just another kind of selfishness, the so-called selfishness of recklessness!"
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