It was at this time that Yue Pengju finally learned about the Tokyo peace talks.
Moreover, he already knew everything he should and shouldn't know.
This is not to say that the people in the front army of the Imperial Camp in Tokyo City who were responsible for copying the court bulletins would know of his return so quickly and send the summary of the news over, but that during this period, the dispute over war and peace in the court became increasingly fierce, and had clearly gone beyond the scope of ordinary discussion. Not only had the situation become tense in the central government, it had even spread to the southeast region... And don't forget that in Jiangnan, there are Li Gang and Lu Yihao, two heavyweight players and opponents with clear positions. The two of them had already set up their carriages and horses in the southeast and started an open debate.
Yue Fei was sitting in Jiangzhou. With his current status, how could he possibly avoid these messages?
Speaking of which, as the governor of Liangzhe Road, Lü Yihao had great power and responsibilities, rich experience, and he had always been able to control his subordinates. Therefore, no one in the surrounding officials dared not to advocate war. Almost all prefectures, states, armies, and prisons wrote to Bianliang, asking the government to stick to its own views, not to listen to the words of villains, and not to negotiate peace on its own... It was not possible to not say this, because Jinglü would never hold a grudge overnight.
Even Li Gang, who once served as a prime minister and is now the spiritual leader of a major faction in the court, suffered directly.
Li Gang wanted to follow the procedure at first, so he wrote a letter to express his agreement with peace talks. However, unexpectedly, as soon as the memorial was made public, Lu Yihao, as his superior, publicly rebuked him!
This official document, which was sent almost everywhere in Liangzhe, Jiangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Lianghuai, enumerated the various mistakes made by Li Boji since the siege of Taiyuan, such as "not knowing how to fight and sacrificing hundreds of thousands of the country's brave men, causing the fall of the two rivers and the Jingkang Incident", "not knowing people and losing the east of Jingdong and destroying Guanzhong", "being a prime minister and pushing Huai Shang to the emperor", "being a regent and causing unrest in the southeast", and even publicly scolding people for "the loss of the royal heir". Some people should have taken the three-foot white silk to prove their innocence, but they lingered on, hiding in the south of the Yangtze River, remotely controlling their cronies and playing power games. They are extremely shameless!
This is of course nonsense... According to this statement, the whole world was ruined by Li Gang, so what did the two saints and the surrender faction in Jing Kang do?
However, Li Gang was furious, but he could not explain the issue of the royal heir clearly and had no way to defend himself. He had no choice but to swallow his anger and turn to the people. He discussed the matter with influential scholars in the folk many times through writing letters, holding tea parties and poetry gatherings in order to refute Lu Yihao.
However, people were discussing the matter in various places, but it was obvious that more people supported peace talks... Even Lü Yihao, who had previously advocated increasing taxes in the southeast and Jingxiang in order to advocate war, ended up being labeled a "stubborn prime minister" among the people. When Yue Fei stayed in Jiangzhou for a while, he heard many nursery rhymes and essays mocking and insulting Lü Yihao.
He even heard with his own ears that some common people called the iron-necked free-range rooster they raised "Lü Jinglüe" and sold it for only three hundred coins. After it was shredded and drained, it was only three hundred and fifty coins, which was much cheaper than the ones in the north. The soldiers in the front line of the imperial camp were paid in full. For example, Guo Jin bought one and ate it with a ladle.
Of course, even so, Yue Fei didn't want to get involved.
Because even Li Gang and his people never claimed to be in favor of peace. They believed in "defending first and then attacking", calling themselves the defense faction or the slow-down faction. The original intention was to rest for a few years before heading north... This was obviously the result of both sides adjusting their positions after the debate.
Even though Yue Fei's inclination was self-evident, he didn't know how to refute this statement, so he just waited for the supplies to arrive and then hurried back to the north.
Of course, the military supplies did not have to wait long. The supplies from Jiangdong were delivered first, and soon the supplies from Jiangxi were delivered as well... However, along with the 20,000 shi of rice and 100,000 strings of money raised by Jiangxi, Liu Hongdao himself, the governor of Jiangxi, also arrived.
Liu Hongdao, as a general, chased after the governor. No matter what unpleasant things had happened in Jiangxi before, Yue Fei would certainly not neglect him. He, who had always been frugal, quickly asked local officials to find a famous restaurant outside the city, which was Xunyangjiang Zhengku (an official store recognized as having the qualifications to brew its own wine), and the location of Xunyang Tower named by Su Dongpo. Then he personally hosted a banquet to entertain him.
Both sides were top officials, so there would not be any verbal mistakes. After three rounds of drinks, Liu Hongdao made some compliments and praises on Qianzhou's suppression of the rebellion, but he took the initiative to mention another matter.
It was nothing else but the problem with the previous colleague who was the governor of Fuzhou. Liu Jinglüe meant that he hoped Yue Jiedu could be properly resettled, and it would be best to set up a logistics and military farm in Jiangxi and let this person be in charge.
Of course, it is the government that is angry, and Jiangxi will certainly not make things difficult for everyone and will definitely handle the matter properly.
The governor came in person to speak with such a humble attitude, and it was within his authority and responsibility, so what could Yue Fei say? He readily agreed.
After talking about this, both parties seemed to be very happy and drank two more cups of wine.
However, after two cups, Liu Hongdao suddenly stood up, took Yue Fei's wrist, and said that they wanted to go up to the top attic together to enjoy the magnificent scenery of the river.
The civil and military officials around knew that the two senior officials had something to say, so they all tactfully stopped talking in their seats, and then allowed the two senior officials to leave the crowd and go up one floor to look into the distance.
To be fair, it was summer, and the view from the upper floor was clear and unobstructed. The scenery outside the Xunyang Tower was of course excellent... The carved eaves reflected the sun, and the painted buildings were like flying clouds. The green railings were low to the windows, and the green curtains were high above the windows. To tire out drunken eyes, lean against the blue sky with thousands of clouds and mountains; to seduce the poetic soul, turn over the misty water of the river with auspicious snow. At the Baiping ferry, you can hear the fisherman's gong; at the Hongli beach, you can see the fisherman rowing.
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