Chapter 280 Candle
"It would be fine if the Jin people did not value the two saints and the other nobles, but how could they return the five counties of Jingdong so easily?" After the Jin messenger brought the peace terms, the discussion in Dongjing City naturally escalated.
"But I don't think so... In my opinion, the overall situation is clear at the moment, and the key lies in the Yellow River line. For example, northern Shaanxi and Jingdong may take time for us to kill, and even if we suffer one or two defeats, we will be able to take them down sooner or later, especially Jingdong, which is just a few hundred miles east of Jingdong. It is an important place that must be taken down at all costs. For the Jin people, these two places are like chicken ribs, which are tasteless to eat and a pity to abandon. If we want to fight, it must be a big war, but crossing the river to fight a big war may be another battle, and a small war will be futile... It is better to be generous and ask for a few years of open and stable life. It just so happens that Aguda's sons also need to stabilize their internal affairs."
"...You do have some truth in what you said."
On this day, a group of students were discussing something downstairs in a newly opened store outside Donghua Gate. In the pavilion upstairs, Wang Shu, the Minister of Justice, who was eating cold porridge to escape the heat, listened for a while before sneering at Chen Gongfu, the chief priest of the Imperial College, who was sitting opposite him: "It does make sense. Today's students are not as knowledgeable as before!"
The direct manager of the group of students below, Chen Gongfu, the Imperial College's chief academic officer, just shook his head when he heard this: "How can this be their own knowledge? They are just copying other people's words... The government sent the court reports to Hu Quan, and he took over this matter in a hurry after all, so he could only find assistants from the students who copied the court reports. But now that the court reports are so powerful, even the prime ministers will gradually express their innocence in the court reports... So these students can't help but know more about the inside story."
"That's true." Wang Shu nodded in agreement.
While the two were talking, they could hear loud conversation downstairs again.
"So, the conditions for the peace talks are not a big problem for the Jin people?"
"I don't think so. In my opinion, the five counties in Jingdong are not a big deal. On the contrary, returning the two saints is a big obstacle for the Jin people."
"You are just empty talk... The Jin envoy Wulinda came up so casually. It's okay to return it or not. It's up to the government to ask for it. Everyone knows about this. How can it be a problem?"
"You are just talking nonsense. Whether the two saints return or not is naturally irrelevant, but whether this matter is thrown out or not is a critical point... The Jin people now have people like Qin Hui and Han Fang who are familiar with the internal affairs of the country. How can they not know that as long as the two saints are mentioned, the emperor will have to hold back and ask for them no matter how upset he is? Once this happens, whether the matter of the two saints succeeds or not, it will be a huge trouble for our dynasty and the emperor, and if the emperor is in trouble, it will be a huge benefit for the Jin people..."
"Be careful with your words!"
"Why should we be so careful about what we say? People have been saying all sorts of things about this matter. They say that the two emperors have returned to seize the throne, and some even say that the ministers have placed the emperor under house arrest. We are not in the Imperial College, so why can't we say anything..."
"He really has some knowledge." Wang Shu upstairs couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.
"It's not their fault that they are short-sighted in this matter." Chen Gongfu defended his students. "Everyone below is saying that the two emperors are coming back to fight for the throne, while the ministers are all worried that the emperor will do something big in return. But ordinary people think that both sides are unreliable, and they don't know what the emperor is thinking... Even you and I are just guessing, aren't we?"
"That's true."
"Let's take it one step at a time!" Chen Gongfu shook his head again. "No matter what, what is coming will come, anyway, it will be in the next two months."
Hearing this, it was Wang Shu's turn to shake his head: "Yesterday, the capital summoned Wulinda Zanmo. You were not there, so you didn't know. He promised everything, but he was entangled in the annual tribute. But after being scolded by Zhang Xianggong, he didn't mention it again. It seems that he had prepared for it... According to my guess, Liu Yu in Jinan may have been captured by them, and the two saints are on the way. It will take less than two months."
"If that's the case, the Jin people are really harboring evil intentions." Chen Gongfu frowned even more. "Otherwise, why would they send them one by one? Aren't they deliberately trying to cause chaos in the government and the court?"
"It's already in chaos." Wang Shu sighed more and more. "Aren't the two queen dowagers going to arrive in the next few days? The provincial government asked the emperor to go to the riverside to welcome them, but the emperor ignored it and just stayed in the harem... I heard that even Concubine Pan suggested going to the riverside to welcome them, but she was still rejected."
Chen Gongfu didn't know what to say.
But Wang Shu said again: "There is one more thing. I guess it will be discussed at the secret cabinet meeting today. Yue Fei has sent a secret letter, but it is written publicly, which means to ask for war..."
"What's this?" Chen Gongfu didn't care. "Yue Fei is from Hebei. He came back from suppressing bandits in a hurry. He heard about the peace talks on the way. He was not comforted by the government, so he wrote the letter in a hurry..."
"Han Shizhong and Wu Jie are already on the way." Wang Shu blurted out.
Chen Gongfu was silent for a moment, but still shook his head: "The two saints are coming, and the emperor can't avoid them. When the time comes, all the civil and military officials in the court will go to welcome them. Han and Wu are not like Yue Fei who is still suppressing the rebellion at that time, so they should come too, but they are far away in Guanzhong, so they have to be called in advance."
"Whatever you say makes sense!" Wang Shu sneered again, but stood up directly. "Well! Let's go... It's almost time."
Chen Gongfu nodded slightly and stood up as well.
The two men, both in purple robes, went downstairs together, startling the seven or eight students who had just returned from reporting to the emperor and making them stand up. Two of them in particular jumped up out of fright, probably because of what they had said before about "lucky money" and "unspeakable".
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