"The Ministry of Revenue said they had no money, the Imperial Camp said they had no soldiers, the Prime Minister said they had no people, several scholars said we could wait a bit, the Imperial Censors... impeached Li Gang and asked for his prosecution? Someone even suggested killing Zhang Bangchang?"
As the rain gradually subsided, Zhao Jiu successfully got rid of the isolation of the five important officials for the first time since he traveled through time. On the evening of the second day, he was officially exposed to the memorials of the civil and military officials in the capital. However, the situation did not seem to have changed at all, as if everyone was a surrenderist.
But what’s interesting is that Zhao Jiu doesn’t seem to care too much.
"Good instructor, you know, this is what people want!" Kang Lu, who was standing next to the light, lowered his head and explained hurriedly. His attitude was much more humble than a few days ago.
"Who is Zhang Bangchang?" Zhao Jiu asked curiously. "I seem to have some impression of him."
Kang Lu was extremely speechless. He could only put aside "what the people want" for the time being and gave a brief explanation.
It turns out that Zhang Bangchang was the prime minister of Emperor Qinzong of Song Dynasty, and he was also the last legitimate prime minister of the Northern Song Dynasty. During the Jingkang period, he mainly did the following things:
First, he obtained the instruction of Emperor Qinzong of Song to replace Li Gang as the head of government, and went out of the city to preside over the surrender to the Jin people;
Secondly, probably because he was good-looking and his words were pleasant, and the then-powerful Marshal of the Jin Dynasty, Wanyan Wuli, was not a cautious person, so after the Jingkang Incident, when the Jin army retreated, they supported this man to the throne, hoping that he would become the emperor of the Han people and be a vassal of the Jin Dynasty;
Finally, as soon as the Jin people left, the Great Chu Emperor Zhang Bangchang invited back the Queen Mother Meng (the queen of Song Zhezong, who was deposed twice), who was widowed at home and worked as a Taoist priest, and returned the throne to Zhao Gou, who had fled to Nanjing (Shangqiu) to observe the situation, in the name of Queen Mother Meng.
Zhao Jiu suddenly realized, he remembered this person, it seems that the history book mentioned him, but it only said that this person opposed Li Gang during the Jingkang period and was a surrenderist, and the subsequent events were not mentioned. Of course, Zhao Jiu still thinks so now, as for Kang Lu's constant chatter about Zhang Bangchang becoming emperor and then coming back, he didn't pay much attention to it... It's okay to say that this kind of person is spineless, it's okay to say that he is incompetent, but at that time, from the emperor down, the entire Tokyo City surrendered, and it's hard to say anything to him with a knife on his neck. If he really kills people because of his weakness, the killing will never stop.
Of course, there must be a reason for killing him. One is that he chose to surrender as a prime minister, and the other is that he became the emperor. But no matter what, he had to be killed at the beginning. There is no reason to exile him for several months and then find fault to kill him. Otherwise, what would the other ministers who were exiled from Tokyo think?
"I didn't have anything to say to this guy at the beginning that day?" I don't know if it's muscle memory, but Zhao Jiu now uses a lot of messed up words when he opens his mouth.
"Yes." Kang Lu collected his thoughts and answered seriously. "When the emperor ascended the throne, he promised him peace and wealth, and also gave him the position of prime minister..."
"Then why did they exile him?" Zhao Jiu felt increasingly strange. "And I've been chatting with the squad leaders these days, and we've talked about a lot of things, but why didn't anyone mention this guy?"
Kang Lu lowered his head and said nothing.
"Sir, please speak frankly." Zhao Jiu couldn't help but frown.
"I won't hide it from you." Perhaps even though he knew it, Kang Lu couldn't hide it, so he whispered a few truths. "When Zhang claimed to be the fake emperor, many people advised us to get rid of him, but even so, we only let him go to Tanzhou for the sake of his return to power. But later we found out about his affair with Madam Jinggong... That's when everyone was furious, and we asked our family to remind everyone that after a while, when everything is smooth, we must issue an order to kill Zhang Bangchang."
"Madam Jinggong?" Emperor Zhao became more and more confused.
"He was a member of the palace of the Taoist Supreme Emperor back then."
Kang Lu also spoke more quietly, as if he was afraid that the guards such as Yang Yizhong in front of the door would hear him. "Back then, when Zhang Bangchang pretended to be the emperor and entered the inner court, the Jin people gave him Madam Jinggong as his queen. Madam Jinggong repeatedly sent fruits to this thief and said nothing about it. It is said that she also met him privately, called him a great lady, and did a few unspeakable things. Even when the thief Zhang left the inner court, Madam Jinggong held his arm and sent him off, and criticized the emperor. Now, Madam Jinggong has been locked up in the imperial palace, waiting for her to confess and get rid of her, but the emperor fell into the well at this time..."
"This is ridiculous!" Zhao Jiu, who had just understood what was going on, suddenly slammed the table and spoke out, shocking Yang Yizhong inside the door and several squad leaders outside the door so much that they all turned around.
"It's really ridiculous!" Kang Lu quickly lowered his head to agree.
"How can you kill people for something like this?" Zhao Jiu was obviously furious.
Kang Lu almost bit off his tongue, as if he was swallowing some words forcefully.
"If we kill Zhang Bangchang, and we kill him in the name of surrendering to the Jin Dynasty, what can people in the world say? Why do we have to change our ways because of this?" Zhao Jiu was furious. "Besides, what's wrong with Madam Jinggong's behavior? In that situation, if Zhang Bangchang hadn't protected her, what would have happened to her, a weak woman? Would she have to be captured by the Jin people to have a good ending? It's reasonable for her to blame the Supreme and fall in love with Zhang Bangchang, right?"
Kang Lu wanted to say something but stopped.
"Let that lady go and let her go find Zhang Bangchang!" Zhao Jiu came back to his senses and also felt bored. "Zhang Bangchang can be killed, but killing him is useless now. Let the lady pass on a message to confine him to Tanzhou for life and not to show off. Just treat it as a prisoner."
Kang Lu was speechless for a long while, until the official turned his head and looked at him coldly, then he nodded.
Seeing Kang Lu's agreement, Zhao Jiu was about to look at the memorial again, but suddenly realized: "How many palace servants are there here?"
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