The emperor swore an oath, and almost everyone except Zong Ze knelt down together. When Guo Zhongxun, Wanqi Xie and others heard the oath, they panicked and tried to persuade the emperor to do something. But the same thing went, since Emperor Zhao and Prime Minister Zong were speaking here, what could they do?
"You are young and beautiful, and I have no desire to live." After hearing the oath, Zong Ze laughed at him, but then asked seriously. "But why did he die without a complete body?"
"Because if I die, I will only die in a direct battle between Song and Jin wearing armor and holding a sharp weapon..." Zhao Jiu answered calmly. "And the armored corpses I saw a few days ago under Changsha City were mostly broken. It was a battle today. The armor of both armies was very good. Once a hand-to-hand fight, most of them would have to cut off their hands and feet first, and then pick off their helmets before they could die. It was rare to see intact corpses."
"I see, that makes me look petty." Zong Ze was stunned for a moment, then suddenly he felt relieved, and his whole body became a little limp. "I have always been rude, I hope your Excellency will forgive me."
"I have behaved badly in the past, and I am ashamed that I could be forgiven by just one word from you, sir." Zhao Jiu said earnestly.
"Let's drink!" Zong Ze tried to smile. "No matter what, I'm actually at a disadvantage today... maybe I can look forward to what will happen in the future."
Zhao Jiu quickly raised his glass.
For a while, there was toasting in the hall.
Not only that, halfway through drinking, Zong Ze was a little tipsy, but he insisted on going to the courtyard to admire the moon... Everyone knew that the weather was still cold, which was not good for his health, but on the one hand, it was a reasonable thing to admire the moon during the Ghost Festival, and on the other hand, everyone could see that this gentleman really couldn't hold on any longer. He had met the emperor today and his wish had come true, but he was afraid that the situation could deteriorate at any time, and there was no point in disobeying him at this time.
So, everyone carefully moved their seats to the courtyard and admired the moon together.
When they were drinking to their heart's content, Zong Xianggong first sighed at the moon, then smiled bitterly: "Today is a festive day with a full moon, and I meet the emperor again in the capital. I should have written a poem to express my feelings, but I am old and incompetent, and I can't even write a single poem..."
People around were sighing, and some were eager to try.
"No." Without waiting for everyone to react, Zong Ze looked at the moon again and shook his head. "I'm not good at this in my life. When I was young, I spent ten years traveling around the world. I'm not a bookworm, so how can I write poetry? However, if I hadn't traveled for ten years and seen the beautiful mountains and rivers of the world, and known the magnificence of the mountains and rivers and the concentration of people, I wouldn't have been so angry about the peace proposal after the Jin people came south, and ended up dying without returning home..."
The people around naturally sighed and agreed.
Seeing this, Zhao Jiu, who was sitting in the hall, remained calm and drank as usual, but his heart was already in turmoil.
Moreover, since the moment he got to the hall, he had wanted to dismiss everyone several times, and then tell Zong Ze frankly that he was not the one who abandoned the two rivers, and that he would definitely do this and that. However, he suppressed this impulse several times, because this impulse was meaningless, and might even make the other party's heart, which had gradually calmed down, fall into fear and doubt... But when he heard these words, Zhao Jiu's heart was in turmoil again, and that impulse once again reached its peak.
After all, since traveling through time, among the people Zhao Jiu had come into contact with, most of the so-called high-ranking civil officials who advocated war were only doing so because of loyalty, Confucian classics, personal grudges, or because of institutional benefits. Very few people could give him a pure and natural sense of family and country like Zong Ruolin just did.
Seeing the magnificent mountains and rivers, he becomes proud and does not allow others to abuse him. Isn't this the way for an elite scholar to inspire the most simple patriotism?
However, if it were just this, Zhao Jiu would at most have just admired and respected this national hero whom he had just met, and he would not have lost his composure like this. The real reason why he had these multiple impulses was actually because of the other party's almost humble attitude today.
It's really low!
Perhaps only Zhao Jiu, who had been an official for more than a year, could notice this almost humble attitude. Others could only see that Zong Ruolin was taking advantage of his seniority and being aggressive.
The key lies in Zhao Jiu's status as an official... To put it bluntly, what is the meaning of swearing an oath for an emperor? What's more, it is an oath sworn in front of only a few people in the hall? And what real harm can those innocuous taunts do?
Not only that, what Zhao Jiu wanted here was the control of the Tokyo Garrison. Does the other party have any substantive excuses or threats?
No! The other party even took the initiative to hand over, okay?
It can be said that this Prime Minister has been dragging his feet until now. In the beginning, he was just waiting for the result from Yanling. After learning the news in the past two days, he was just thinking about whether he could meet with Emperor Zhao and make a symbolic handover in person to reduce trouble.
He didn't even ask, nor did he dare to ask, whether Emperor Zhao would return to Nanyang after receiving the troops and once the situation stabilized, and abandon Tokyo, which he had defended for more than a year?
This is almost humble.
Of course, compared with the hope of restoring the country, this seems to be worth everything - Emperor Zhao is sure that when Zong Ze sees him coming, he is not resentful, but extremely happy and excited.
But this kind of feeling was something that only the two of them could understand, but it came too late... and was destined to be subtle.
"Does the emperor have any poems?" In a trance, Zong Ze asked Emperor Zhao again. "Mr. Hu and Mr. Lin are both good at poetry..."
"How can I have that ability?" Zhao Jiu couldn't help but laugh, and instinctively wanted to refuse, but after he said it, he changed his words as if possessed by a ghost. "However, returning to the old place today, I feel a little emotional, and I have gained a little..."
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