Chapter 357 Huaizuo
July is not a good time to travel.
Especially going south.
For Emperor Zhao, July was particularly inappropriate, because if he left, this year's Mid-Autumn Festival sacrifices would be postponed with the Imperial College's Shangshe examination and the palace examination, and the birth of Concubine Wu's second child would also be postponed... None of the children had their biological father by their side before they were born.
However, as an official, when can I leave the capital without causing any trouble?
It's nothing more than a question of whether it's worth it.
This southern tour was the result of detailed discussions among the court officials and Zhao Jiu's own long reflections, and was a decision that was made only after... It was not a coincidence that several officials proposed the southern tour at the same time. It was because since they were going to march north, they had to take the emotions in the south seriously, whether it was to suppress them or to channel them. They had to make a trip before the northern expedition, and they couldn't let the north and the south continue to confront each other.
Otherwise, whenever the center encounters a problem, it will think that the South is holding it back, and whenever the South sees a move, it will think that the center is targeting them. The result is that there is no party shackles, but in fact a phenomenon similar to party shackles is formed, which in turn leads to the re-emergence of new, large-scale, and fierce party struggles.
From this perspective, as Emperor Zhao repeatedly cleaned up the court and implemented policies related to the Northern Expedition, the exclusion of minorities such as Ma Shen and Li Guang in the court became more and more obvious, to the extent that Emperor Zhao himself often avoided these two important ministers, which was essentially a manifestation of a similar phenomenon.
Of course, this is definitely not good, and Zhao Jiu also knows it is not good... But all those who understand also know that the "beginning" of this matter was not only in the court, but also in the south.
In addition, Zhao Jiu himself also hopes to go to the South to see for himself what the local social structure is like, to find out how heavy the burden on the southern people is, and what the anti-war sentiment in the South is from top to bottom.
Finally, is it possible to alleviate the burden on the people in the South slightly without affecting the fundamental plan of the Northern Expedition?
Therefore, whether it is to stabilize the country before resisting foreign aggression, to understand the people's sentiments, or to promote harmony between the north and the south of the country, we should always go.
However, even if you have made up your mind to go south, you still have to be well prepared...
In early July, the imperial court issued a series of decrees, first recognizing and commending the contributions of envoy Lu Yihao in the southeast, further increasing Lu Yihao's fiefdom, and according to the level of the fiefdom, conferring the title of Duke.
Then, he posthumously awarded Zhang Zai, a scholar of Guan School, the title of Meibo and had him worshipped in the Confucius Temple together with Wang Anshi.
Soon after, he revoked the posthumous award given to Sima Guang by Emperor Taishang Yuansheng during the Jingkang period and stripped Sima Guang of his title of Duke of Qin.
According to the original words of Emperor Zhao in the palace bulletin, Sima Junshi was a gentleman in his character and a role model in his scholarship, but he was a misleading minister to the country. It was precisely because of his lack of knowledge and ignorance in politics that he started the fierce party struggles and the origin of the Jingkang Rebellion.
In addition to publishing these three latest edicts, the court bulletin also specifically mentioned Emperor Zhao's "pardon" of Su Shi and other Yuanyou Party members in Baihe, Nanyang. Then, with the joint signatures of the four ministers, it clearly reiterated the court's basic attitude towards the new and old parties... respect the new party, but do not convict and prosecute the Yuanyou old party.
All these combined are exactly the tone that Emperor Zhao conveyed to southern public opinion before his trip to the southeast - there is no malice, but don't expect to take advantage of the opportunity to turn the tables at a basic level, because some things will not be shaken.
After the decree, the accompanying personnel will be selected.
Not to mention the attendants Yang Yi Zhong and Liu Yan, the decision to bring 2,000 cavalry was made after a long period of hesitation. Although it was somewhat embarrassing to be on guard during a domestic inspection, if something really happened, or if Emperor Zhao himself was planning to do something, having a mobile force would make it easier to suppress and control it.
As for the commander of the cavalry, the court discussed it for a long time, but in the end, they did not dare to let the cavalry commander Qu Da go, nor did they let Li Shifu, whose subordinates were all foreign cavalry, lead the team. After much discussion, they finally chose Liu Qi, who came from a military family and had the demeanor of a Confucian general, to lead the army.
As for the rest of the close ministers who accompanied him, it was very simple.
There are two Hanlin scholars. One is Fan Zongyin, who is considered to be a leader in terms of seniority and reputation in the internal system group... Don't look at the fact that the Sanzhao scholar has only a face. When he was a subordinate in Yangzhou, Wang Anshi once complained about Han Qi that this person only has a face... The fact that he has a face speaks volumes; the other one is of course the Hanlin scholar Lu Benzhong, who is a true descendant of three generations of officials, and his hometown is also Huainan, so it will always be useful to bring him along.
In addition, the cabinet gate attendant Ren Baozhong, the Secretariat Secretary Mei Li, the attendant of the military statistics department Yu Yunwen, and the new secretary Lang Zongying also accompanied him.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs also had a guard named Shao Chengzhang who had long lived with the Empress Dowager Yuanyou in Yangzhou.
At the same time, in order to ensure smooth operation of Tokyo and not delay government affairs, one prime minister, four ministers, one chancellor, and six secretaries all stayed behind, without any important officials from outside the court accompanying them.
In a sense, it can be considered a light trip.
To put it another way, it even has the meaning of a lone hero going into the tiger's den.
Anyway, after a lot of trouble, in early July, after updating the latest chapter of "Water Margin", which tells the story of Chao Gai being shot to death by an arrow after going down the mountain, Emperor Zhao officially set off and headed southeast along the Grand Canal.
The first stop was Nanjing (now Shangqiu), which was about 200 miles away from Kaifeng and had always been a secondary capital alongside Luoyang, the Western Capital. However, like Luoyang, it also suffered a fatal large-scale military disaster. In the second year of Jianyan, two generals of the Eastern Route Army of the Jin Kingdom, Erlubu and Ali, led their troops southward and attacked here, causing Zhang Suo, a senior official of the Song Dynasty who was in charge of the eastern line, to die for his country, which then led to the collapse of the entire eastern defense line of the Dongjing Liushou Division.
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