Guo Jing stood up and said, "The Crown Prince is young, and the Regent is incapable of making decisions. And you, the regents, are incompetent, leading to the widespread influx of refugees. If His Majesty returns victorious, how will you face his expectations?"
After a round of scolding, everyone was filled with shame. Li Gang and the others bowed their heads and said, "We are guilty."
Chen Guoting said: "I will report the matter of Lai County to the emperor and ask for his decision."
Gao Qiu interrupted him, "That's unnecessary. Your Majesty is busy fighting the Jin in the north, so how can he be distracted from state affairs? The Emperor Retired should be in charge of government at this time, handling all matters of state. When Your Majesty returns victorious, I will hand over the affairs of state to you."
Li Gang and Chen Guoting were shocked. This seemed like an attempt to seize power.
Li Gang said sternly, "Your Highness, Li Gang, begs to differ! A country cannot have two rulers. The Emperor, now retired, is no longer in charge of government affairs. I believe that today's events should be reported to Your Majesty as soon as possible for a decision!"
Chen Guoting pointed at Gao Qiu and called him by name: "Gao Qiu! What is your intention in trying to sow discord between Your Majesty and your son? Come, arrest this traitor and take him to the Heavenly Prison to await Your Majesty's return and judgment!"
The regent was not a title for nothing, and guards immediately came and captured Gao Qiu.
Gao Qiu cried out for help in shock, and Zhao Ji was embarrassed. The imperial power had changed hands, and he was no longer the emperor. Even if he wanted to save Gao Qiu, it was impossible.
Gao Qiu was escorted out of the Purple Palace by the guards. Guo Jing was horrified. He had not expected the regent to be so straightforward and did not dare to say anything for a while.
There was no father-son conflict before the imperial power; even the wise emperor Li Shimin was not immune. Zhao Huan was certainly not so foolish. When he personally led the army to fight, he was worried about the power struggle among the retired emperor. Therefore, he arranged for four of the five regents to be his own confidants, and gave Bai Shizhong the least power, only letting him be in charge of the Ministry of Justice.
These were secondary. The key was that Kang Huojian, the commander-in-chief of the imperial defense, was a loyalist he had personally promoted and held the helm of the entire imperial defense. Even Wang Zongchu was merely his deputy. Furthermore, he was personally leading the army, and with military power in his hands, he doubted they would cause any trouble.
But Zhao Huan had forgotten one thing: a rebellion had broken out in Lai County, and Zhao Ji and his men were now seizing upon this point to make a big fuss.
Gao Qiu, for simply saying that the Supreme Emperor was in charge of government and handling all matters of the court, was thrown into the Heavenly Prison. Zhao Ji, feeling somewhat embarrassed, coughed and said, "Since I have already said that I will no longer interfere in government affairs, I will naturally not intervene. However, since Lai County has rebelled, you, the Regent, have no authority to mobilize troops, so I have no choice but to act. Bai Shizhong, notify the Privy Council immediately and order the garrisons of Qizhou and Mizhou to quell the rebellion."
Bai Shizhong bowed and said, "As you wish!"
Chen Guoting was still protesting: "Grand Emperor, should this matter be reported to the Emperor for a decision?"
Zhao Ji was furious: "Chen Guoting! Do you still respect me? Wait until you tell the emperor and then wait for his decision. I'm afraid the whole of Shandong is full of traitors!"
He was right. If an expedited letter was sent to Nanjing Prefecture, Zhao Huan would review it and issue an order to mobilize the troops. Ten days or half a month would pass by in this back and forth process. Therefore, Chen Guoting and others dared not say anything and tacitly accepted Zhao Ji's right to mobilize the troops.
Zhao Ji continued, "From now on, all war activities in Lai County must be reported to Daojun Palace. I am leaving!"
After saying this, Zhao Ji stood up and was supported by Guo Jing and walked immediately to the Purple Palace, leaving a group of ministers whispering to each other.
Li Gang quietly called Kang Huojian to his side and instructed him, "Although the Emperor has issued an order to suppress the rebels, we still need to inform His Majesty of this. General Kang, please send someone to inform His Majesty immediately and inform him of the events in the capital. And please rest assured, apart from the battle in Lai County, the government affairs of the court will still be handled by us."
Kang Huojian nodded slightly.
…
Wanyan Sheng ordered Wanyan Zonghan, Wanyan Gao, and their comrades to withdraw from the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. Though furious, Wanyan Zonghan and his comrades were no match for the Song army and reluctantly withdrew. The remnants of the Jin troops throughout the Sixteen Prefectures gradually retreated northward. The Sixteen Prefectures issue, which had plagued the Taizu era for a century, was finally resolved under Zhao Huan. The Song Dynasty now had a northern defense barrier, freeing Bianjing from further threats.
The Jin envoys sent people to Nanjing again for peace talks. The talks were unprecedentedly smooth, and this time they also brought back Maji and Shuhu Ximeng.
Maji and Shuhu Ximeng cursed Wanyan Sheng the whole way, their language much harsher than the scholars' insults to Emperor Zhao Huan. It seemed that being an emperor these days wasn't easy; one couldn't avoid the infamy that plagued them.
…
In Wangjia Village, Lai County, Wang Xiaohu and Pan Fengzi rose up in rebellion and took the young and strong men in the village to seize the home of Zhou Paopi, a local tyrant from the neighboring village.
Zhou Paopi and Abe were brothers-in-law, both were large landowners with hundreds of acres of fertile land. Wang Xiaohu and his companions chopped off Zhou Paopi's head, stole his grain, and distributed it to the villagers.
In times of famine, food is everything. Starving people from several surrounding villages heard the news and came to join Wang Xiaohu and Crazy Pan.
The team grew bigger and bigger. By the time Wang Xiaohu and others attacked Laixian County, they had a team of more than 3,000 people.
Abe, the Lai County official, no longer had the prestige and greed of the past. He cowered in the office, trembling in fear: "These unruly people actually dared to rebel! Have the imperial army arrived yet?"
The yamen runner nearby said, "Reinforcements from Mizhou are almost here. These unruly people are just a mob. If the Mizhou army arrives, wouldn't it be easy to capture them?"
More than 800 soldiers from Mizhou rushed to Lai County, but before they reached Lai County, they encountered Wang Xiaohu's rebels at Hongtuopo.
"My lord, there are soldiers ahead!" A refugee pointed ahead with a rusty kitchen knife.
Some of these farmers held spears, others held broadswords, but most of them were armed with sticks, rakes, pickaxes, hoes, and other farm tools.
The common people were illiterate, and in their eyes, the only people who were not afraid of the government were the mountain kings. So they named Wang Xiaohu the Great King, and Pan Fengzi the Second Great King.
Wang Xiaohu also likes this name very much, and he always praises himself as the great king.
At this time, Wang Xiaohu was riding a horse. When he heard that there were soldiers ahead, he was frightened. These people were okay with bullying local tyrants, but they were terrified when dealing with soldiers.
Suddenly, a man on horseback, brandishing a large sword, rushed into the group of soldiers, howling. Everyone looked and saw that it was the second-in-command, Crazy Pan.
As the saying goes, even a rabbit will bite when it is cornered. These people were forced into a state of despair by the government.
Seeing Crazy Pan waving a big knife and rushing into the crowd with his unruly and crazy knife skills, he actually killed an officer with a "click".
The officers and soldiers were so shocked that they forgot to take action for a moment.
The people behind shouted and rushed up with hoes and rakes in their hands.
These officers and soldiers were local soldiers, old, weak, sick and disabled. They were treated very poorly, their wages were often in arrears and their combat effectiveness was low.
When the more than 800 officers and soldiers saw the rebels rushing towards them with howling sounds, they immediately became confused and turned around to run away. The officers and soldiers were defeated at the first blow, and Wang Xiaohu and his men won a great victory.
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