"Your Majesty." When Lü Benzhong heard this, he didn't know whether he realized the three words "I can't come back" or because he was forced by the emperor, but tears came down. "I'm really not shirking my responsibility... Your Majesty's kindness and respect for our Lu family, not to mention me, even our whole family should go through fire and water for you... But this matter, this matter is really unbelievable. Not to mention my incompetence, even Minister Xu is actually a loyal minister. He will never support the Supreme Yuansheng Emperor just because of some old favors during the Jingkang period."
"Yes, he is a loyal minister, and so are you... so is your father, Prime Minister Lu!"
Zhao Jiu looked at the other party with emotion for a while, and finally put away the smile that had frightened the other party, but the next words directly froze the other party. "But Lu Qing, haven't you figured it out yet? These people in the southeast are not capable of breaking away from the government system and starting a new one. If they take Liu Dazhong as their leader, they will eventually be under the jurisdiction of Prime Minister Zhao Ding, but if they take Xu Xianggong as their leader, they will inevitably respect your father as a distant leader... Even if your father is also a loyal minister and is unwilling to get involved, the people promoted by your father when he and Xu Xianggong were in power together will still gather together and respect the two of them. As for the fact that I must let you deal with the Supreme Abyss Saint Emperor, think about it, since the Supreme Abyss Saint is not important, then who is important? In other words, what is important in this matter?"
Lu Benzhong was staggering and could hardly stand.
Because Emperor Zhao has made the logic and the answer very clear... If the Northern Expedition fails and Emperor Zhao cannot return, then the opposition will inevitably form a real reactionary political force in the southeast along the cabinet. Once a political force is formed, it will naturally form a party with southeastern giants such as Liu Dazhong and Xu Jingheng, leading to the country's return to compromise and peace talks.
And in this process, Liu Dazhong will basically be connected to Zhao Ding, and behind Xu Jingheng, he will basically be connected to his own father, the former prime minister, and the first minister of the Restoration, Lu Haowen!
He didn't know how the emperor arranged the line between Liu Dazhong and Zhao Ding, but for the line between Xu Jingheng and his father, the emperor wanted him, Lu Benzhong, to destroy it with his own hands. As the eldest son of Prime Minister Lu, under the rule of Prime Minister Xu, he disposed of the Supreme Yuansheng Emperor for the emperor in the heart of the southeast. Naturally, the political appeal of Lu and Xu would collapse in an instant.
By then, even if the Southeast Public Cabinet wanted to form a powerful opposition political force again, it would not be possible so quickly.
This political arrangement was cruel, shameless, and even incredibly unreasonable... But Lu Benzhong could not feel angry, nor did he feel any sense of betrayal, because he knew very well that this was just an arrangement under extreme circumstances, an arrangement based on the fact that the official on the opposite side encountered great misfortune.
For an emperor to ask his subject to do something so absurd and impossible as a way of instructing him on his affairs after his death, something that can only be accomplished by his own self-consciousness... is helpless in itself.
In fact, it seems to be somewhat honest and upright.
"Lü Qing."
Under the candlelight, after a long time, Zhao Jiu finally called out to the other party softly.
"I'm here." Lu Benzhong bowed his head in response.
"Don't laugh at me."
"I dare not."
"I clearly said that after my death, I don't care what will happen. But you still couldn't help but make such a secret plan after my death, and you want you to destroy your own future with your own hands..."
"It is I who cannot share your worries. I know in my heart that if I had any real ability apart from my father and family, I would have gone to the front with you long ago. Only things like this that require my family can be of some use." Lu Benzhong bowed to the bottom. "Even this matter, you don't have to tell me. Given my stupidity in government and military affairs, you could have just asked General Yang to arrange someone, or simply let Ren Baozhong stay in Phoenix Mountain, and then push the responsibility on me... Your Majesty is willing to tell me, which means that you are considering my feelings as a monarch and a minister."
Zhao Jiu was silent for a moment, avoiding the topic: "In that case, you don't have to answer. Remember what I said today. When the time comes, it depends on the situation. It doesn't matter whether you are willing to do it or not. Anyway, I don't know... Let's go back today!"
When Lu Benzhong heard this, he couldn't help himself and almost agreed on the spot... but he gritted his teeth and held back, lowered his head and walked out.
After the people left, it was a long time before Zhao Jiu spoke: "What do you think?"
"I dare not say..." Yang Yizhong, who was standing in front of the door, turned inside and bowed. "I really don't know, but there is no need to say. I have always felt that although this Northern Expedition is not a sure thing, it is enough to achieve results and then preserve it, so it won't have to come to this point."
Zhao Jiu, who was standing under the Buddha statue, shook his head repeatedly: "To be frank, what I said just now is useless. It only shows that I am afraid in my heart... Since the rain in early summer, when I considered that the Northern Expedition was just around the corner, I began to be afraid... That's why I pushed this irrational, unwise, and even unjust thing on him."
"The government is afraid of defeat?"
"At first I was afraid of defeat. After the house collapsed, I made up my mind, but then I became afraid of something else." Zhao Jiu was still honest with Yang Yizhong. "I should be a hero when I live and a hero when I die. I still miss Xiang Yu, who refused to cross the Yangtze River... If I lose, eight years of hard work will be destroyed in an instant. After ten years of hard fighting, I can't recover the land. How can I cross the river and come back? What I am afraid of now is the aftermath of defeat..."
Yang Yizhong instinctively wanted to persuade him, but he didn't know where to start.
"Zhengfu." Zhao Jiu thought for a moment and finally sighed again. "Do you still remember what I said to you on Mount Bagong that day?"
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