"Because..." After a moment of silence, Zhao Ding raised his head and said, "Because the government wants to borrow our respect."
"That's right." Lu Haowen nodded slightly, then became serious. "But thinking back, we have been prime ministers for more than a year, and there are some things that you and I are too cautious about... Let's not talk about anything else. If Lu Yihao was here, the peace talks and welcoming of the two saints would never have happened! The Shaoxing incident would not have happened! The so-called public opinion can only blame him, Lu Yihao, because long before that, Lu Yihao could have driven out those who resigned in Shaoxing! Everyone, no matter how small the turmoil was later, in the Shaoxing incident, letting the emperor personally deal with the two saints and letting the emperor personally dismiss those seventy or eighty people is still a dereliction of duty for you and me as a so-called cautious prime minister!"
Prime Minister Zhao Ding's face was pale, and the other ministers, including the Chief Censor Li Guang, also looked serious. Even the Privy Councilor Zhang Jun was completely solemn. Because at this moment, someone finally held the ministers accountable for the political trend of the previous few months... However, this accountability did not come from Emperor Zhao, nor from the young officials and students after the Secret Cabinet incident, so it was not so formal and serious.
Moreover, Lu Haowen effectively avoided possible political risks by including himself, a public minister who was not responsible for the incident, in the accountability pool and conducting self-examination in private.
But this is still a standard accountability exercise against the executive team.
At the same time, everyone present knew that the responsibility for this matter could not possibly be borne by Lu Haowen, who did not care about mundane affairs.
The persons responsible are the four ministers plus the Chief Censor, who can be called half-prime minister. The blame is placed on the four ministers and the chief censor for failing to successfully manage risks, for failing to demonstrate the responsibility and ability of a prime minister in a political crisis, and for failing to maintain the political image of the emperor.
This is their collective dereliction of duty.
"I..." Zhao Ding wanted to say something but didn't know what to say.
"It's over now. The emperor has already taken responsibility for the people's complaints and has personally driven those people away. There's no point in saying more now. Besides, you and I both know that the emperor never cares about these things, and it's not something you and I can control." Lu Haowen changed the subject, still serious. "But you and I must learn from our mistakes. What we should care about now is what to do in the future. Otherwise, how can we carry on the past and help the king accomplish great things... Prime Minister Zhang?"
"Huh?" Zhang Jun was caught off guard and could only respond.
"After the battle of Yaoshan, the public was agitated. I heard that Guanxi made some aggressive remarks at that time. You and the others in Guanxi thought that the position of prime minister was in your pocket, but the government arranged Hu, Lin, Lu, Liu and others outside, and put Prime Minister Zhao first, and you second... Are you dissatisfied?"
Zhang Jun was stunned... It was Lu Hao who asked this question?
But even though he was dazed, Zhang Deyuan immediately came to his senses. The other party was questioning him in a condescending manner as a prime minister, and this place was at the junction of the harem and the front palace. He had to be fair and impartial, and could not afford to make any mistakes.
Therefore, he immediately responded with a serious face: "Absolutely not!"
"That's good." Lu Haowen was still serious. "I think that the emperor's arrangement was remarkable. Because the emperor himself was thinking about the overall situation, worried that the country would be hijacked by the military, ignoring the livelihood of the people in the south, and rushing north, so that both the inside and the outside were lost... So he appointed the steady Prime Minister Zhao as the Prime Minister of the capital province, and the aggressive Prime Minister Zhang as the prime minister, in order to achieve a balance. However, no one expected that the officials in the court of the Song Dynasty naturally sought stability, and those who advocated peace gradually became more powerful and caused such trouble. At that time, it was indeed me and Prime Minister Zhao who were more responsible, because we, the steady prime ministers, should have stopped this trend from the beginning."
At this point, Lu Haowen just stared at Zhang Jun and replied slowly: "Now, whether they advocate peace or defense, they have all been removed. The people have scolded them, and the ministers have been cleared. The key positions that have been replaced are mostly young officials who supported the war during the previous turmoil..."
At this point, Li Guang couldn't help but glance at his best friend Chen Gongfu in the crowd, but the latter just listened with a serious expression and his hands down.
"As the saying goes, it's different times." Lu Haowen continued to look at Zhang Jun sternly. "Prime Minister Zhang, I mainly want to tell you today that you are the leader of the pro-war faction. If you think that you have succeeded and will ignore the country's livelihood and allow those young people to collude with the generals and make a fuss in the military, you will actually make the same mistake as Prime Minister Zhao and I did before... You just got the direction wrong and ruined the emperor's efforts!"
Zhang Jun smiled bitterly and could only spread his hands: "Prime Minister Lu, what you said makes a lot of sense, but I didn't do anything, right?"
"It will be too late when things come to light." Lu Haowen sighed solemnly. "Some things have to be said sooner or later, so it's better to say them earlier... Mr. Zhang!"
"I'm here!" Zhang Jun responded helplessly.
"You must remember that you are a prime minister, and you are not even one of the top three ministers in the country. You should consider the overall situation of the country, understand the emperor's wishes, resolve conflicts, and balance yin and yang to ensure the smooth operation of the country. Only then can you think about achievements and reputation. In other words, as long as you do your job well, how can you miss out on your honor if the country achieves success in the future? The emperor has entrusted the country to you, just like the recent discussion of force and speed in the original school. Suddenly, there is an acceleration somewhere, which may be positive, may be crooked, may be backward, or may be forward. What you should do is not to wait for this speed to rise, but to apply a counterforce to offset it."
Zhang Jun listened for a while and had no way to refute it. However, he was still young and could not help but said, "Prime Minister Lu... How come your words today are so different from what you said on Bagong Mountain? Is it you who has changed, or is it the emperor?"
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