"There is one more thing." Zhao Jiu turned to the third note and continued. "Someone in Yangzhou suggested that we should escort the Queen Mother and the royal family back to the capital... I think Tokyo is not stable and we cannot do that for the time being... What do you think?"
Since Emperor Zhao has said so, who can still think otherwise? Do you think Tokyo is not lively enough these days? If the Queen Mother and the royal family really come back, where to place them, how to place them, what etiquette... it will all be a mess.
The reason why this matter was brought up in the palace was because it concerned the Queen Mother and certain procedures had to be followed.
"The last thing is that Han Xiaozhou, the governor of Jiangzhou, wrote a letter saying two things. You should all know about them, right?" Zhao Jiu turned over the last letter and spoke in a slightly slower tone. "What do you think?"
There was a moment of silence in the Wende Hall, because everyone knew that this was the highlight of today's drama.
Having said that, the Song Dynasty shared the world with the literati, and to be honest, the imperial examination system was still very powerful, so it was not a fantasy for children from poor families to become famous officials in the central government. In addition, during the chaos of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms in the late Tang Dynasty, the nobles were trampled on the streets, and those famous families had long been cut off. This meant that the phenomenon of aristocratic families not being systematically reproduced in the Song Dynasty.
But then again, after all, the country has been founded for more than a hundred years, and although it has never been able to form a scale or a specific class, there are always a few special families, vaguely similar to the royal families of the Later Han Dynasty and the famous families of the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
For example, the Lu family of the prime minister Lu Haowen, starting with the number one scholar Lu Mengzheng, has five generations of ministers and four generations of prime ministers.
However, the Lu family, who insisted on passing on knowledge and did not have many descendants, seemed dwarfed by the other family.
That’s right, this is the Han family of Xiangzhou, also known as the Plum Blossom Han… The Plum Blossom Han family is not only a family of nobles for generations, but is also the number one landlord in Xiangzhou. Moreover, compared with competitors like the Lu family, this family is particularly fertile, so that their descendants are prosperous, their intermarriages are extensive, and it is not a problem for them to marry into the royal family. At the same time, it is natural that they are also the local leaders of Hebei.
If I have to give an inappropriate example, this family vaguely combines the qualities of the aristocracy of the early Han Dynasty, the royal family of the late Han Dynasty, the gentry of the Jin Dynasty, and the famous families of the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
Then, according to the backward class struggle thinking in Zhao Jiu's mind, if he had to point to the big landlords, big aristocratic families and other conservative interest representatives within the Song Dynasty court as straw men, then it must be the Han family, and there could be no other family.
But the problem is, haven't the two rivers been lost and Xiangzhou also fallen? At this time, it would be a shame to say that the Meihua Han family, which has lost more than half of its foundation, is a representative of the big landlords.
However, even so, Zhao Jiu did have an inexplicable wariness and dissatisfaction towards the Han family.
There are specific reasons for this vigilance and dissatisfaction. One must know that Han, as a royal relative and leader of exiled scholars in Hebei, had been staying in Yangzhou before. Later, Zhao Jiu returned to the old capital. Han had to turn back quickly and make a gesture because of his family status, but he played a trick on the people of the world and on Emperor Zhao... The Han family has many branches, but at that time only allowed the fifth branch, the youngest branch that was married to the royal family, that is, the cousins of Emperor Zhao's body, to return to Beijing first.
As a lineage married into the royal family, this lineage actually lost the opportunity for official advancement, so for a long time it has been like a thief guarding the house. Apart from managing money, settling down a home, and running a business, it has no say in its own affairs.
This incident, combined with Yue Fei's incident at the time, was the reason why Zhao Jiu was so angry with his cousin that day.
Back to the present, Han Xiaozhou, who submitted the letter today, although theoretically a generation younger than Zhao Jiu, is the eldest grandson of Han Qi... the kind that everyone in the world agrees will become the prime minister.
No wonder all the ministers and officials in the hall were so solemn.
This grandson of the Han family made two suggestions:
First, the country could not recover quickly after losing the two rivers, and the court's confrontation with the Jin people based on the Yellow River would have to continue for a long time. However, the imperial camp troops were extremely expensive, so he suggested ending the previous temporary resettlement measures and carrying out large-scale farming in Henan, which had suffered several military disasters, to support the imperial camp troops.
Secondly, Han Xiaozhou volunteered to go north as an envoy to the Jin Kingdom, not to negotiate peace against the imperial will, but to take advantage of the great victory to sternly demand that the Jin people return the two saints and many abducted nobles and sons of important officials.
How do you say these two points?
The first one was nonsense. Han Xiaozhou didn't need to say it. The court had already started doing it. It was more like an official document that followed the trend. The second one was the key, but it made Emperor Zhao feel more and more uncomfortable.
In fact, according to Zhao Jiu's previous temper, he would probably tear up the letter and make a fire after reading it... But now, he was a little hesitant, because Han Xiaozhou was the leader of the exiled scholars in Hebei, and also the leader of those scholars who remained in Hebei and were forced to serve as officials by the Jin people. At this time, political influence must be taken into consideration.
"One is acceptable, the other..." After a moment of silence in the palace, Prime Minister Lu Haowen finally spoke. "Maybe?"
"The first one is acceptable, but the second one is too hasty and should not be adopted!" Just as Prime Minister Lu had just expressed his opinion, before Emperor Zhao could say anything, the Imperial Censor Wanqi Xie suddenly stepped out, saluted the Emperor and the Prime Minister in turn, and spoke hastily, refuting Lu Haowen on the spot. "Although the Jin people were defeated this time, they did not suffer a major blow, so how can we take advantage of the opportunity? Moreover, the Emperor has vowed to restore the two rivers and not negotiate peace with the Jin people. If we ask for the two saints at this time, what will happen if the Jin people take the opportunity to negotiate peace? Then the Emperor will be in a dilemma, and it will be difficult to fulfill his filial piety. Therefore, I think it is absolutely not advisable to send an envoy to the north!"
As soon as these words were spoken, several prime ministers and ministers obviously felt relieved. Several people took the opportunity to step forward and echoed the words, but some people also said that as long as Han Xiaozhou could make a firm stand in advance and simply refuse to talk if the other party made any unnecessary suggestions, it would not be impossible... However, this kind of suggestion was doomed to be a bad one, because with Han Xiaozhou's status, once this mission was successful, he would either be a prime minister or a minister. Who would be willing to let him come to this palace?
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!
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