Compared with the imperial city under the Phoenix Mountain, the lonely mountain with the fragrance of flowers and birds has an extra layer of secluded paths and isolated artistic conception.

In recent years, under the renovation and expansion of Emperor Zhao Yan from time to time, coupled with the backdrop of West Lake, Gushan has become more and more extraordinary, and it has continued to develop in the direction of fairyland.

All kinds of buildings and pavilions can be seen everywhere in the lonely mountain, but they can be properly combined with the topography and other factors of the lonely mountain, so that today's lonely mountain, after a trace of royal majesty, has an extra layer of mysterious otherworldliness.

The path of the secluded path is perfectly combined with the mountain, and under the afternoon sun, the old Zhao Yan is already silver-haired, and under the service of Guan Li and several other eunuchs and palace maids, he sat down in the corridor pavilion again.

In the past two years, this has become a habit that Zhao Yan can't move, and even when the sky is drizzling, Zhao Yan will come here to sit for a while.

From the corridor pavilion here, you can not only take the beautiful scenery of most of the lonely mountains into your eyes, but also turn the sparkling West Lake into the scenery in your eyes.

Zhao Yan, who had a good complexion, silently swept all the scenery in front of him, and then his eyes were fixed on the West Lake, which made his eyes gloomy and brighter because of the West Lake in the distance.

"How many days will Rong Guogong hear from him?" Zhao Yan asked quietly.

Over the years, Guan Li, who has been serving on the side, softly replied no.

At the same time, at the mountain gate of the lonely mountain, the right minister of the current imperial court, the Dali Temple, and the military department Shangshu Qian Xiangzu, under the leadership of the eunuch, slowly walked along the stone steps to the Langting where Zhao Yan was located.

On weekdays, whether it is Liuzheng or Bi Zaiyu, or Qian Xiangzu, it is difficult to come to Lonely Mountain once, and now that the first day is approaching, it naturally allows them to come to Lonely Mountain justifiably to visit Zhao Yan.

Zhao Yan's gaze slowly shifted from the West Lake to the three of Liuzheng, and his gloomy eyes faintly flashed a hint of fierceness, although Zhao Ruyu died in Dali Temple, but the real murderer, and in front of himself, the person who killed Zhao Ruyu was Ye Qing.

This incident was like a thorn in Zhao Yan's heart, stinging Zhao Yan's nerves and face all the time, a royal clan died so easily in the hands of Ye Qing, which was completely unacceptable to Zhao Yan, who had stopped Ye Qing before Zhao Ruyu's death.

Although when Ye Qing was still in Chang'an, Zhao Yan had to make a compromise and acquiesced in the fact that Zhao Ruyu was executed by Ye Qing, but it was precisely because of this incident that he made up his mind to get rid of Ye Qing, who was growing stronger and stronger for the imperial court.

At the beginning of the Yan family courtyard in West Lake, the night before Zhao Ruyu was killed, Zhao Yan also filmed seventy-four good hands to assassinate Ye Qing, but the final result was that Ye Qing was still alive on the second day, and his move accelerated Zhao Ruyu's killing by Ye Qingyu.

Scenes of the past surfaced in Zhao Yan's mind, and sometimes even Zhao Yan didn't know very well how Ye Qing had come to this point today, in a high position that no one could reach in the Northland.

Thinking back and forth about Ye Qing's rise process, Zhao Yan's heart always rose with helplessness, the Northland territory was recovered by Ye Qing one after another, this temptation was obviously an important reason why it was difficult for the royal family to make up their minds to get rid of Ye Qing.

And it is precisely because of this that Zhao Yan will regret it from time to time, when Emperor Gaozong wanted to kill Ye Qing in Dali Temple, he actually secretly protected Ye Qing at that time, and now it seems that this is definitely the most wrong place for him Zhao Yan.

Emperor Gaozong of that year had obviously seen the situation that he couldn't see at that time, as well as Ye Qing's wolf ambitions. That's why before he died, he wanted to get rid of Ye Qing in one fell swoop, and Zhao Yan at that time, it was precisely because of the situation in the court that he had to secretly protect Ye Qing, so that Ye Qing could be used by him.

After all, recovering the lost territory and going north to conquer gold has always been his ambition, and at that time, no one in the court except Han Yanxuan could take on the task of the Northern Expedition.

The threat to the imperial court from Han Cheng and Han Yanxuan's father and son above the court was obviously more fearful to Zhao Yan than Ye Qing at that time, so in the current situation, Zhao Yan can be reused, and only Ye Qing can be trusted.

"The times create heroes, and troubled times produce heroes." Looking at Liuzheng, Qian Xiangzu, and Bi Zaiyu, who were standing in front of him, Zhao Yan, who came back to his senses, said with a smile.

The three of them looked at each other a little, and they didn't know why the emperor suddenly said such a sentence.

"Sit down." Zhao Yan glanced at Guan Li, and then Guan Li motioned to the eunuchs and palace maids who had been serving beside him to step down, and he slowly retreated from the pavilion after looking at Zhao Yan again and ignoring his gaze.

Bi Zaiyu's gaze met slightly in the air with Guan Li, who had exited the pavilion, and then the two quickly moved their gazes to other places again.

"The Ministry of War is now ...... Ye Qing What do you think about being assertive in the Northland? Zhao Yan opened his mouth and asked Qian Xiangzu directly.

Among the three of them, there is no need to doubt Liuzheng's loyalty, not to mention that when he stopped Ye Qing from returning to the Song Dynasty in Guanshan, it was Liuzheng who secretly negotiated with the Jin people, so that the Jin people agreed to pursue and intercept Ye Qingwei in Guanshan, although they failed in the end, but this matter had nothing to do with Liuzheng.

On the contrary, the grievances between Liuzheng and Ye Qing are also quite deep, but Zhao Yan has always been very curious, Ye Qing returned to Lin'an after the battle of Guanshan, he originally had the opportunity to retaliate against Liuzheng, but in the end, not only did he not retaliate, but he did not even have a word of objection to obstructing Liuzheng from serving as the right minister.

This is obviously completely different from Ye Qing's attitude towards other political enemies, such as Zhao Ruyu's revenge attitude, Ye Qingcheng's government is extremely deep, and his methods are ruthless, it stands to reason that even Zhao Ruyu dares to retaliate, why did he not do anything to Liuzheng, but let him sit in the high position of the right minister, Zhao Yan has always been puzzled at this point.

But no matter what, Liuzheng's loyalty to the imperial court and the royal family is beyond doubt, even compared to the Qian family, who has always been very close to the Zhao and Song clans.

Qian Xiangzu, the secretary of the Ministry of War, is the only Qian disciple who has been able to hold a high position above the court of the Zhao and Song clans over the years, and since the founding of the Zhao and Song dynasties, the Qian family has always been the loyal party of the Zhao and Song clans, so Zhao Yan also believes in the loyalty of the Qian family to the Song court.

Bi Zaiyu was born in the army, and then joined the office, although he has not been like others over the years, either with a prominent status or a prominent family background, but now he can be in the position of Dali Siqing, which is enough to show that Bi Zaiyu's ability is enough to take on a big responsibility.

The reason why Bi Zaiyu was summoned to Gushan, Zhao Yan also did not doubt Bi Zaiyu's loyalty to the imperial court, completely because Zhao Ruyu died in Dali Temple at that time, and now he attaches importance to Bi Zaiyu, hoping that one day in the future, Bi Zaiyu can impeach Ye Qingyu for killing the clan.

"Ye Qing had served as a privy envoy of the Privy Council for more than a year, and since then, the soldiers and horses in the north are no longer controlled by the imperial court, and even if they are controlled, they are not too much in name. The appointment and dismissal of soldiers at all levels is completely decided by Ye Qing alone in the north. Qian Xiangzu replied respectfully, and after glancing at Zhao Yan, who was as calm as water, he continued: "Now that the Privy Council has been abolished, although the Ministry of War has regained the authority of my Great Song Dynasty soldiers and horses, but when Ye Qing was the privy envoy, he had already revised the legal code for the dispatch of soldiers and horses in the north, although the Ministry of War also thought about taking back the right to appoint and dismiss the dispatch, but ...... Ye Qing lives in the Northland, and has always used the current war in the Northland as an excuse not to give the ministers a chance to hand over and make corrections. ”

"Doesn't the Holy One have any objections to this?" Zhao Yan knew that it was in vain to ask, but he still had a glimmer of hope in his heart.

Qian Xiangzu and Ye Qing can be said to be from the prince's mansion back then, and now that the prince has become a saint, Qian Xiangzu has also sat on the dispatch of the secretary of the military department, so now, the northern land and the military department can be said to be in the holy place, and nominally the power of the soldiers and horses is in their hands.

But now Ye Qing is becoming more and more powerful in the north, and even has the tendency to be uncontrolled by the imperial court, especially with the battle of Guanshan, and after King Qing and Chongguo were invited to Chang'an by Ye Qing, the situation in the court has become more and more complicated, and Ye Qing's thoughts in the north have become obvious.

Therefore, at this time, it stands to reason that the saint should be worried about Ye Qing's various actions in the northland, but unfortunately, now the saint is still unaware, and even continues to let Ye Qing gallop and grow in the northland.

Zhao Yan wanted to remind the current saint Ye Qing of the threat to the imperial court in the north, but because of the Zen throne back then, the relationship between their father and son was stiff, and the queen was in the way, so he had to cultivate himself in the lonely mountain and not ask about state affairs.

"Now that the war in the Northland has stopped, Qian Shangshu may be a good opportunity to communicate and hand over with the Northland. What do you think? Zhao Yan said to Liuzheng and Qian Xiangzu, but his eyes were looking at Bi Zaiyu and asked.

"Back to the emperor, the minister thought that if he wanted to control the military power in the north by the military department, I am afraid that Ye Qing would need to return to Lin'an now, if Ye Qing has been in Chang'an City, the court will ...... I'm afraid there is nothing I can do about him for a while. "What he said left a lot of face for Zhao Yan and the court.

After all, at the time of the Northern Expedition, Wang Huai, who was still the left minister, also noticed the signs of Ye Qing's gradual uncontrol in the north, so he invited Zhao Yan, who was not yet in the Zen position at that time, several times, but the fourteen holy decrees that summoned Ye Qing back to Lin'an were all ignored by Ye Qing.

And now, Ye Qing's power in the north is much stronger than it was back then, if the imperial court can't show full sincerity, I'm afraid it wants to let Ye Qing return to Lin'an...... It's like ascending to the sky.

"Some time ago, the front line in Yanzhou was tight, Ye Qing wanted the imperial court to send troops from all walks of life to help, can the military department make a move?" Zhao Yan's eyes darkened slightly with Liuzheng's words, and then quietly shifted the topic to recent events.

For the pity in Liuzheng's tone, Zhao Yan was naturally very clear, at that time, because of the death of Emperor Gaozong, he had no mental politics, and everything such as court affairs was handed over to Wang Huai to take care of, so he once again missed the best opportunity to get rid of Ye Qing.

In addition, when Ye Qing returned to Lin'an, because of the open and secret struggle between Han Cheng and Wang Huai, and the trouble between him Zhao Yan and the crown prince because of the Zen throne, the people in the court were panicked, so that no one cared about Ye Qing, so that he escaped again.

And Ye Qing, who returned to Lin'an at that time, was unswervingly on his side because of the prince's persecution of his Zen position, which made the indecisive Zhao Yan once again deceive himself and misjudge the situation.

Therefore, Ye Qingneng's achievements in the north today are not so much completely on his own, but rather in response to Zhao Yan's words: The times create heroes, and troubled times produce heroes.