"I understand..." Liu Hongdao paused for a moment before responding in a low voice.
"Councillor Xu sent a letter from the south the day before yesterday, saying that Guangnan received the news late, and many people thought that the Jingkang incident was not over yet, so they donated their property to serve the king. As a result, they led their troops to the Jiangnan West Road area and found out that the country had been destroyed. In addition, the traitor Huang Qianshan was in power at that time, and he actually regarded them as thieves and did not allow them to cross the river, so they lost their way." Zhao Jiu continued to speak slowly. "I will keep all your previous official status and give you the assignment of the governor of Jiangnan West Road. Go there to collect troops. After the troops are in hand, first stabilize the local security in Jiangxi, and then lead the troops to Huaishang to support the emperor... Can you do it?"
"This is easy!" Liu Hongdao immediately felt relieved. "I will never let down your grace and forgiveness today."
"That's good." Zhao Jiu was also relieved, and then suddenly sighed. "In fact, since ancient times, the only way to survive is death. The two saints can't die with honor, so why should you die with honor?"
The hall was full of important officials who had fled, plus Lu Haowen, all of them were dismayed.
But Zhao Jiu remained unmoved, and continued to sigh: "Even I fled all the way from Nanjing (Shangqiu) to Huaishang, how can I charge you with similar crimes?"
The ministers were slightly relieved.
Zhao Jiu's voice did not stop, but became louder and louder: "However, when the country was in ruins, there were still people like Li Ruoshui and Zhang Shuye among the civil officials who dared to die for their loyalty, and there were still people like Zhang Yongzhen among the military generals who dared to fight alone to the north... So, although it is tolerable to live in disgrace, it cannot be tolerated forever. Besides, you and I, the king and the minister, should know what is right and wrong, right? And we should also know what is shame, right?"
The civil officials did not dare to be negligent and bowed their heads again to confess their crimes.
"No need to apologize." Zhao Jiu ignored them and continued. "This is why I don't want to retreat again! I also want to remind you that since I won't retreat at the Huai River, if you dare to retreat after crossing the Huai River, even if you are a civil official, you can still be killed! So there will be no next time!"
The atmosphere in the hall was solemn, but Zhao Jiu simply stood up:
"Before we leave today, I would like to give you a famous poem written by Li Qingzhao, a poet from Yi'an, which is said to mock you and me. Please remember it in your heart, and use it as both a spur and an encouragement... Live as a hero, and die as a ghost hero. I still miss Xiang Yu, who refused to cross the Yangtze River!"
After saying that, Zhao Jiu ignored the rest of the people including Zhao Mingcheng, the governor of Zibo Prefecture, and just left.
As soon as Emperor Zhao left, the others all looked at Zhao Mingcheng. Zhao Mingcheng's face turned red, but he could only spread his hands and stamp his feet: "There is no such poem! This poem must be because the Emperor hates us so much that he abandoned us, and he is just mocking us!"
PS: Sorry, my parents are coming for the Chinese New Year, so I am working overtime to adjust my leave, so the update is still very hasty... Attached is the Shaosong reader group,
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