When the news came, the entire Tokyo city was shocked, and people from all walks of life were relieved for a while... After all, such a rapid but effective progress in the war greatly eased the political and public opinion pressure faced by Emperor Zhao at the time, especially since the ownership of Jingdong itself was directly related to the peace talks.
After Zhao Jiu had several exchanges with Yue Fei on horseback and confirmed that it would be difficult for the troops from Damingfu to cross the blockade of several old courses of the Yellow River and that Jingdong was militarily stable, he also issued an edict, requiring Yue Fei to hand over the troops to Deputy Governor-General Wang Gui for temporary leadership, and then go to the capital with Tian Shizhong to meet the emperor and receive rewards.
At the same time, the emperor specifically named Zhang Xian, Guo Jin, Yang Zaixing, and Yue Fei's eldest son Yue Yun, who was only twelve or thirteen years old, and asked them to come to see him at the same time.
Yue Fei did not dare to neglect the order and immediately handed over the military affairs to Wang Gui, then hurriedly set off and arrived in Tokyo in mid-July. At this time, Zhang Jun had just sent a memorial saying that his campaign against Li Qi in Dengzhou had achieved remarkable results. As for Qu Duan, he rode on an iron elephant and changed his patrol to the east of Jingdong Road to suppress the local situation.
For unknown reasons, Han Shizhong and Wu Jie hurried back to the west one after another and unfortunately did not make it to the final round.
"So, the emperor really sent the Supreme Taoist Emperor to Shaolin Temple?"
It is said that as early as the time of Zong Ze, Yue Fei had a mansion in Tokyo City. When he returned at this time, he naturally had a place to stay. However, as soon as they arrived in the capital and called the staff and servants who stayed in the mansion in the capital, they were immediately overwhelmed by all kinds of news.
"Not only that, he also scolded them in public, saying 'what are the two saints'... Everyone was watching, and the words were so sure that they could not be concealed. So much so that on the way back, a Confucian scholar knelt down to the palace and asked the emperor to properly deal with the two saints, but the emperor just rode his horse over and passed them over. It can be seen that the emperor was unwilling to even cover it up."
"You may be sure of what you say, and you may not want to hide it, but can you say this directly?"
"The government doesn't care, it just lets the people below say whatever they want... However, it is true that this dynasty has always had this kind of discussion of politics among the common people, not to mention that the government has also started the trend of discussing politics in the Imperial Academy and discussing matters in the imperial newspapers."
"I see."
"At first, everyone said that the emperor was trying to prevent the two emperors from usurping the throne, because the emperor only had a few princesses. But in the past few days, the two concubines gradually became pregnant, so we know that at least before the peace talks, the two concubines were pregnant. So people said that it was not because they were afraid of usurping the throne, but to vent Queen Xing's personal anger. But some people also said that it was precisely because of the pregnancy that the two concubines became afraid and persuaded the emperor to do such a thing in the harem."
“…”
"Not only the two emperors, but it is said that the two queen mothers are now living in seclusion in the Yanfu Palace, and they don't want to make any noise... At first, there were rumors that the government didn't allow them to go out at will, because the court issued an order at the time, saying that three queen mothers and two emperors were too many, and that they could share one Tiansheng Festival, and also designated it as the birthday of the queen mother in Yangzhou. But later, because the treatment of the harem was generous, now most people say that the two queen mothers were quite secretive in the northern country, and they were afraid of rumors, so they dared not show their faces again."
"Is this all royal stuff?"
"Of course not only that... The court is also doing a serious thing at this time, which is to revise the "Great Song Criminal Code" according to the emperor's request. It is headed by Prime Minister Zhao and Minister Wang, and the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple are the basis. Some scholars, famous scholars, and students are involved, and they are openly soliciting bad laws and regulations. During the revision of the "Criminal Code", Xu Shimin submitted a statement to the old building of the provincial court outside the Xuande Building. Maybe the local officials submitted letters to the provincial government for discussion... According to the rumors in the court reports, they want to focus on the regulations that are the most detrimental to the people's lives, and then change them in a lenient and slow direction."
“This is a benevolent policy.”
"It is a benevolent policy, of course."
"Is that all?" Yue Fei, who had been silent all this time, suddenly interrupted.
"There are some serious personnel news, which the governor should have known long ago." Seeing their commander asking questions, several staff members who were reporting also became serious. "The Minister of Personnel has appointed Chen Gongfu, the former Imperial College Priest, and the Minister of Rites has appointed Zhai Ruwen, the former Minister of Honglu Temple. The Minister of Honglu Temple is replaced by Wang Lun, the Junior Minister, and the Imperial College is filled by Chen Kangbo, who was in the limelight before in the Secret Chamber... The only new thing is the position of the Minister of Dali Temple. It is said that it was originally held by Wanqi Xie, the Imperial Censor, but now there is a rumor that this person is going to follow the example of Hu Zhongcheng and Xiaolin Xueshi and let him go. It seems that he is going to go to Jingdong East Road to be the governor."
"If Wanqi Yushi goes to Jingdong East Road, it would be a good thing... Although he is a bit slick, he is very capable and has dealt with the army many times... But with his qualifications, how can he be a general?" Yue Fei thought for a while and continued to ask. "Besides, Jingdong Fangan, shouldn't he be a pacification envoy?"
"The governor doesn't know," the staff immediately explained. "Ever since the Battle of Yaoshan, when Lu Yihao and Lu Jinglüe of the southeast reported to the emperor and abolished a number of non-permanent positions, we haven't seen any pacification envoys or transportation envoys since then. It seems that they are all Jinglüe envoys."
Yue Fei nodded again: "This is a good thing."
"Of course it's a good thing... By the way, the position of the Secret Council must also be stabilized... There are rumors that the government is going to abolish all literary positions except for the Jade Hall Scholars, and the real officials will all be assigned to the Secret Council to discuss matters and be given titles, turning the virtual into the real."
Yue Fei nodded again.
After saying this, the person below seemed to be hesitant to speak again.
"If you have something to say, just tell me. I asked you to come here today so that you can tell me what's going on." Yue Fei urged hurriedly.
"There are rumors that the emperor is giving power to officials and lenient laws to the common people in exchange for the people of the world not paying attention to his act of placing the two saints under house arrest..." The people in that scene smiled bitterly at each other.
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