"It is indeed these two things. Specifically, it is about Li Shifu's succession to the title." Xu Jingheng responded sternly. "Your Majesty, we are not pedantic people. We are not unaware of the agreement of Jingou that day. Han Shizhong's merits in Huaishang, Yanling, and saving the emperor this time are outstanding. His loyalty and bravery are comparable to the famous generals in ancient times. It's fine to make him a prince, which is better than Tong Guan! But I'm sorry that I can't agree to Li Shifu's matter!"
"Because of the system?" Zhao Jiu became serious again.
"That's right." Xu Jingheng responded in a deep voice. "During the Song Dynasty, except for the Chongyi Chai family, the Yansheng Kong family, the Si Pu Wang (the original branch of Song Yingzong), and the Anding County Prince (Zhao Dezhao, the second son of Emperor Taizu), there was no precedent for hereditary titles. Once this precedent is set, many unreasonable things will inevitably arise. If the government really wants to reward the Li father and son, why not posthumously confer the title of Nanyang County Founding Duke on his father, and then give Li Shifu a proper founding duke based on his normal military merits and military positions?"
"I know this story. Yuwen Xianggong told me all this in person that day..."
"But the emperor still did it?" Xu Jingheng was not Yuwen Xu Zhong, he interrupted Emperor Zhao in person.
"That's right." Zhao Jiu was quite frank.
"Why?" Mr. Xu, the governor of the capital, kept asking.
"I can't say for sure." Zhao Jiu laughed again, but then asked with a smile. "However, judging from Mr. Xu's intention, does the province want to deny this matter?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the pavilion suddenly became even colder.
Speaking of which, although Yuwen Xu Zhong was a man of weak character, he was a minister after all. Although Zhang Jun always followed the emperor's orders, Hu Yin was not one to care about matters. Not to mention Liu Ziyu, who had just dealt with the whole matter in Lantian... But why did these people fail to effectively stop Zhao Jiu's rewards and punishments that were not in line with the system?
It was not that they were unwilling, but when they came to the battlefield, they first helped Emperor Zhao to sort out the post-war affairs, helped him to examine the corpses, helped him to deal with the rewards and punishments in the army, and saw with their own eyes how fierce and earth-shattering the battle was that day. After experiencing the shock and baptism of the battlefield, even those with high qualifications and status like Yuwen Xuzhong and strong points like Hu Yin were temporarily restrained by some emotions and did not dare to forcefully refute the emperor.
After the first battle, not only did the Western Army compete to shoot the eagle, but the entire Guanxi land seemed to dare not disobey the emperor in the slightest.
"Officials!"
Xu Jingheng suddenly laughed. "Your Majesty, do you know that after the great victory at Yaoshan, the news spread to Tokyo, and the whole city went crazy. They all said that your Majesty defeated the Jin army of 200,000 with 400,000 men, and the Jin army was completely wiped out. This battle was comparable to the Battle of Kunyang by Emperor Guangwu, and your Majesty was also the reincarnation of Emperor Guangwu..."
Zhao Jiu also started laughing.
"When I arrived at Sishui Pass, some people said that the emperor and Wanyan Loushi were facing each other with arrows. Loushi drew his bow and drew his arrow first, and the emperor shot his arrow later. He shot Loushi in the shoulder and forced him to abandon his bow and crossbow... As the saying goes, 'The emperor's arrow conquered Yaoshan, and the soldiers sang to recover Hanguan.'"
Zhao Jiu could hardly control his laughter.
"Later, I entered Tongguan. The people along the way all said that the emperor was the true dragon emperor, and he borrowed the power of the Yaoshan Mountain God. When Lou Shi marched down the mountain, the emperor poured the power of Yaoshan down, causing tens of thousands of Jin troops to collapse at once..."
Zhao Jiu suddenly stopped smiling.
"I know that these things are all rumors." Xu Jingheng stopped smiling. "But I think that your victory this time, although tragic, has saved the Song Dynasty from dying, and is no worse than Emperor Guangwu's founding of the country; although he missed the arrows in the battle with Lou Shi, his courage is enough to make the people of the world no longer afraid of the Jin army, which is the so-called bow and arrow of the emperor; and in times of crisis, the emperor came down the mountain to turn the tide, which is enough to compare himself to Mount Tai, and act like Mount Tai pressing down on the top! So after this battle, I dare to ask your Majesty, within the court and the territory of the Song Dynasty, who can really stop you from doing what you want to do? Just a mere inheritance of a title, and a mere founding duke, is it invalid if the capital province does not allow it?"
Zhao Jiu gave a dry laugh.
Then, Xu Jingheng bowed his hands and said, "But as long as I am in the capital, I will not allow it! Because it is against the system! And it is a chaotic order that will cause endless troubles! Once this precedent is set, the title system of the Song Dynasty that has been flawless for more than a hundred years will be abolished overnight."
Zhao Jiu laughed dryly again: "Mr. Xu, wait a minute."
Xu Jingheng bowed and stood solemnly by the side.
Zhao Jiu lifted the gauze on the table and solemnly opened the latest list. Then he personally wrote down the names of Yang Weizhong, the commander of the rear army of the imperial camp, and Zhai Xing, the commander of the central army of the imperial camp. However, he did not close the list in a hurry, as if he wanted to wait for the ink to dry.
Just when Xu Jingheng thought that Zhao Jiu was going to speak, the official took out two pieces of white paper and rewrote the two names he had just written. He then stood up with the two pieces of white paper with the ink still wet, and gestured to Yang Yizhong beside him.
Yang Yizhong led the way, followed closely by Zhao Guanjia. Yuwen Xuzhong and others behind him knew where they were going, so they naturally followed in awe. Even Xu Jingheng was pushed by Yuwen Xuzhong and suddenly set off with the Guanjia and his entourage.
Before long, in the afternoon, they arrived at a construction site on a platform on the mountainside not far from the back door of the military camp... Tens of thousands of civilians had been here before, and there was no shortage of materials. The wooden buildings had already taken shape, and now they were just painting the buildings and the carpenters were carving.
When they arrived here, Xu Jingheng, the only one who had doubts, soon became relieved - this was a temple, not much different from the water temple on Bagong Mountain in Huaishang. And soon, the words of Emperor Zhao also verified this.
"This man is called Hou Dan. He is a fellow townsman, comrade-in-arms, and old acquaintance of Zhang Yongzhen of Huaishang. It was he who killed Lou Shi that day and then died in battle. That's why I made him the mountain god of Yaoshan." Stepping into the hall, Zhao Jiu pointed to the unfinished statue in the middle and spoke slowly.
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