Kaifeng Bianliang, in the imperial city, Zhao Zhen sat behind the dragon book case, frowning, hesitating, not saying a word, in front of him, stood the top elites of the entire Great Song Dynasty, and these elites were equally silent.

After a while, Zhao Zhen asked, "Everyone, the Xuanyi Army in Hebei is in rebellion, who is willing to go to quell the rebellion?" ”

The ministers pretended not to hear Zhao Zhen speak, bowed their heads and said nothing, the officialdom of the Song Dynasty had this advantage, between the emperor and the courtiers, the distance was very close, and they usually discussed things, and both sides discussed it in line with the principle of equality of identity and mutual help, unless it was a matter related to the emperor's privacy, the courtiers were not good at interjecting, and other major events in the world, even if the emperor forcibly decided something, it would be rejected by the courtiers collectively.

The advantages of this are obvious, the emperor's rights are greatly restricted, not to mention what the emperor wants to do too much, even if the emperor simply wants to be happy, the ministers of the imperial history will speak out, and call the emperor to clean up the name of the government and be diligent and thrifty.

However, there are naturally disadvantages to doing this, especially when encountering an enlightened and diligent monarch like Zhao Zhen, Zhao Zhen is very open-minded to his courtiers, what is the matter, as long as he is brought to the hall to reason, as long as he does not say the other party speechless, Zhao Zhen will never force the other party to do anything, just like now, the war report of the rebellion of the Hebei Xuanyi Army has been sent for three days, and the war report after it is one after another, the urgency of the situation is self-evident, seeing that the entire Hebei is about to be lost, But Zhao Zhen is still here worried about who will be this summoner.

Counterinsurgency is definitely an errand with a lot of oil and water, but in the same way, the benefits are big and the risks are also big, these court bigwigs are already extremely popular ministers, even if the counterinsurgency is successful, what can they do, can they still be emperors above the prime minister, so they can't risk their lives for this matter.

What's more, now that the turmoil of the party of gentlemen has not passed, Fan Zhongyan has died, Han Qifubi has been demoted, and the current prime minister Yan Shu, the privy envoy Xia Zhu, and the governor Wen Yanbo have no experience in commanding front-line combat troops.

If the top three bosses don't speak, the ministers below will dare not speak, and if the ministers don't speak, Zhao Zhen will be even more silent, this is Zhao Zhen's characteristic, and it is also Zhao Zhen's way of doing things.

What kind of famine, what kind of party dispute, what the Yellow River burst, Zhao Zhen used this method to be silent, but this time it is different, Zhao Zhen really has no way to be silent anymore, rebellion, or the rebellion of the border army, this is a major event that has never been seen since Taizu founded the country, is it possible that the ancestors' rivers and mountains are going to be lost in their own hands A huge land of Hebei.

Therefore, after watching the ministers who were silent for three days, Zhao Zhen became angry, Zhao Zhen threw all the things on the dragon book case to the ground, and then pointed to the noses of the ministers below, and began to count them one by one.

It is said that it is a number, and it is really true, a good court education, so that even if Zhao Zhen scolds, he doesn't know how to scold, so he can only find some things that are smooth to find these ministers from the past, and the actual impact on these ministers is almost nothing.

However, most of these ministers have already figured out Zhao Zhen's temper, this time Zhao Zhen is like this, it is already unprecedented anger, as a courtier, naturally have to think about how to calm the emperor's anger, otherwise, with Zhao Zhen's temperament, although he will not say anything to your face, but in the same way, Zhao Zhen will also choose a silent way, telling you to leave the capital and go to other places to be an official.

It stands to reason that such a major matter should be dealt with by the prime minister, but the current prime minister Yan Shu is a person who is about to be a sixtieth birthday, the elder of Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi and others, and the rich old man, old and frail, and now it is a major illness and a minor illness, if you go to Hebei again, I am afraid that Hebei has not yet arrived, and Yan Shu's old bones will fall apart.

Yan Shu can't go when he's old, and the next thing is the privy envoy Xia Zhu, Xia Zhu's privy council is in charge of the movement of soldiers and horses in the world, and what wars there have been in the past, although they are all generals of various armies, but nominally, they are all in command of the Privy Council, so Xia Zhu is the most suitable person to go to quell the rebellion.

But how to say it, flipping through Xia Zhu's previous work history, although he is now sitting in the position of privy envoy, but this position is largely due to Zhao Zhen's decision to balance the power of the Junzi Party, because Xia Zhu has never had a half-dime relationship with the army throughout his life, and Xia Zhu loves to enjoy it most in his life, greedy for wine and lust, poor and luxurious, since he came to Bianliang and knew that there was such a paradise on earth in the world, he tried every means to stay in the capital, what promotion and salary increase, I don't care at all, as long as I can tell him not to go out of Bianliang City, tell him to pretend to be crazy and stupid, pretend to be sick and play tricks, he will use any means.

But he is such a person, his talent is average, his ability is not strong, and he is greedy for enjoyment, but he sat in the position of privy envoy step by step, completely because Xia Zhu can observe words and colors, and figure out the mind of his superiors, officialdom is like this, it doesn't matter how capable he is, the important thing is that the superiors use your hands easily, and you can be promoted.

Thinking about it, Xia Zhu didn't even want to come out of Bianliang

, how could he go to the remote, difficult and dangerous Hebei to take command of the rebellion, so Xia Zhu pondered and meditated, and found a quite reliable reason for himself, that is, this time the Hebei rebellion is very important, and it is a rebellion of the border army, and the counterinsurgency can not be careless, once the troops are dispatched, it must be foolproof, but although he has learned some art of war, it is probably all on paper, in case of delaying the front-line war, how is it good, so please ask the emperor to choose a more secure candidate to go.

Xia Zhu thought it was still good, Zhao Zhen was choosing the commander this time, and he must ask for a victory and take Hebei back, so after thinking about it, he really let Xia Zhu go and carefully studied other candidates.

In fact, it is said that there are 10,000 ways and 10,000, the Song Dynasty has used troops in the northwest for many years, and there are countless generals, choose one person from them, and lead hundreds of thousands of forbidden troops to Hebei, not to mention any rebellion, even if the Liao State fights, there is no need to be afraid, and now in the northwest is the most famous, the most military industry, and the best army, there is such a ready-made candidate, Di Qing.

Thinking of Di Qing, Zhao Zhen sighed again in his heart, this Di Qing is good at everything, but the fault is that he has a bad background, even if he is a civilian, as a general, but Di Qing is from a military background, and he has a gold seal tattooed on his face.

Zhao Zhen doesn't dislike Di Qing for anything, they are all his own subjects, who is not used, but the ministers in the court don't think so, these people are from famous families, they are sage scholars, and they think very highly of themselves, as long as they go out of the imperial city, they may put a bigger shelf than the emperor, but according to military merits, Di Qing, a worthless army, can be on an equal footing with them unconsciously, this is called the Manchu Dynasty's civil and military, how can he stand it.

Therefore, Di Qing is excluded in the court, even if any military general, if he makes the same contribution as Di Qing, as long as he has some relationship in the court, I am afraid that he will have been transferred back to Bianliang and become a general of the third or fourth grade, and Di Qing, since he went out of Bianliang City, he has never come back, even if the annual rewards, road closures, and pensions are the same, but in the hearts of the ministers, the army is the army, and you will never be able to ascend to the hall of elegance, just stay in the northwest honestly, and nothing else will happen to you.

In this way, for the sake of the stability of the government, Di Qing was also excluded from Zhao Zhen's choice, and if you don't use Di Qing, the generals in the northwest will not be able to look down on it, and this road will not work.

At this time, Zhao Zhen set his sights on the last choice, Wen Yanbo. Wen Yanbo's current position is to participate in political affairs, and he is also a member of the top circle of power, and Wen Yanbo is not like Xia Zhu or Yan Shu, he is very smart, has means, and has the ability, Zhao Zhen likes such a courtier very much, plus Wen Yanbo has more experience in commanding the army in the northwest before, especially now that he is in his forties, he is in the prime of life, if he makes a contribution at this time, there is more room for promotion, and there is a reason to appoint him as the prime minister in the future.

How do you think Wen Yanbo is the most suitable candidate, but there is only one question, that is, whether Wen Yanbo is willing to go.

Zhao Zhen is a face-loving person, he doesn't like to give orders casually, but likes the courtiers to take the initiative to ask for help, so it is obvious how well he is governed as an emperor, and the courtiers are not loyal.

Others, Zhao Zhen feels that he can play with it in the palm of his hand, but Wen Yanbo is not, he is too smart, he knows very well what the emperor wants now, what he wants to do, and he also knows what he wants and what he wants to do, so that there is a small generation gap between the two sides, after all, one is the emperor and the other is a courtier, the two have different identities and statuses, and the angle of looking at things is different, maybe the same thing is beneficial to the emperor and harmful to Wen Yanbo, and what is beneficial to Wen Yanbo is harmful to the emperor.

Of course, this situation will happen to the emperor and any minister, but the other ministers are not as smart as Wen Yanbo, most people, for the sake of the emperor's interests, can compromise, anyway, after the compromise, as long as they come back from other places, but Wen Yanbo is different, this guy, smart is smart, and he is very upright, and he recognizes the truth, no matter who you are, there is no way to influence Wen Yanbo's thoughts.

Zhao Zhen has been thinking about it in his heart for a long time, it is said that the matter of taking command to quell the rebellion is definitely a good thing for Wen Yanbo, not only is there no difficulty, but he can increase his qualifications and military merits, and he can also make himself happy, such a good thing, with Wen Yanbo's cleverness, it is impossible not to see it, but why didn't he go? If he doesn't go, he really doesn't have any other good candidates for a while.

So, Wen Yanbo didn't speak, and Zhao Zhen didn't name him, so the silent scene lasted for several days, and finally today, Zhao Zhen couldn't help it, so he started a fire.

After so many days, Wen Yanbo naturally knows what Zhao Zhen thinks in his heart, but Wen Yanbo also has his own ideas, this commander to quell the rebellion, as long as he is not a fool, he knows that it is a credit for nothing, as long as he does not go to the front line to command blindly, anyone can earn this credit, but what kind of person is Wen Yanbo, who claims to be a gentleman, and a gentleman, can he do this thing to snatch credit? Therefore, Wen Yanbo is waiting to see if anyone in the court stands up first, if there is really no one to go, he will stand up again, firstly, he will appear to be righteous and awe-inspiring, and secondly, there will be no suspicion of taking merit.

In fact, Wen Yanbo is not like going out of Beijing, there is another reason, you see that the court looks harmonious, but it is also secretly divided

Out of the faction, this is normal, the court, it is also a small circle, if all the ministers are of the same mind, then wouldn't the emperor be afraid that one day they will also come to a yellow robe and drive themselves out.

Besides, the people's hearts are very wonderful, even if you want to be the original gentleman's party, known as the gentleman's party, but there are many contradictions, otherwise, how can there be civil strife, so that everyone can break down, and the new deal fails.

And now, Wen Yanbo's most taboo is Xia Zhu, who is a privy envoy, Xia Zhu was identified as a villain by the gentleman when he was fighting in the party, and Xia Zhu, who is a villain, was besieged by many gentlemen's parties, but he just stood tall, and in the end, Xia Zhu casually thought of a reason to cripple the gentleman's party, especially this Xia Zhu is still very grudgeful, he was suppressed by the gentleman for so long before, and now Xia Zhu has become a privy envoy, and he has severely suppressed and retaliated against those who had enemies with him before, such a scheming method, How can Wen Yanbo not be careful.

Don't look at everyone standing here now, with a pleasant face, this is because Zhao Zhen has skillfully balanced the forces of all parties perfectly, everyone is comparable, and they can't be blushing and thick-necked, but if Wen Yanbo goes out of Beijing to quell the rebellion, it will be different, the Junzi Party suddenly lacks Wen Yanbo as the pillar of the central pillar, who knows if Xia Zhu will do anything behind the scenes, and when the counterinsurgency is successful, but the fire in the backyard will outweigh the losses.

However, after Zhao Zhen counted everyone down and his eyes fell on Wen Yanbo, Wen Yanbo still stood up and decided to go to Hebei for a walk, because Zhao Zhen's eyes rarely showed a hint of warning, Wen Yanbo immediately judged Zhao Zhen's current mood, if he pretended not to see it now, Zhao Zhen would not say anything at that time, but in a few days, he may become a Zhizhou inexplicably.

Wen Yanbo came out of the class and said, "Your Majesty, the minister wishes that Hebei will put down the rebellion." ”

Zhao Zhen smiled, talking to smart people is to save trouble, although Wen Yanbo has been delayed for three days, but after all, this time is still within his tolerance, and Wen Yanbo finally gave himself a perfect step.

Zhao Zhen nodded with satisfaction and said, "Aiqing is going, how many people do you need?" When will we be victorious? ”

Wen Yanbo thought for a while and said, "I need 100,000 forbidden troops, and within three months, I will definitely send back the good news." ”

Zhao Zhen nodded again, Wen Yanbo is worthy of being a governor of political affairs, and he has a deep understanding of the deployment of soldiers and horses in the world, and he gave that this number is also within his expected range.

Zhao Zhen asked, "Since Aiqing wants to quell the rebellion, don't you know how to leave at the right time?" ”

Wen Yanbo said, "Counterinsurgency, without further ado, now that all of you are here, Wechen immediately asked Lord Xia to write a military order, and the soldiers and horses will send out the symbols, just wait for the transfer of the forbidden army, and Wechen will set off immediately." ”

Now that I know that it is time to delay, what did you do in the previous three days, Zhao Zhen complained in his heart, but Wen Yanbo also showed a good attitude, and Zhao Zhen naturally wanted to commend a few words to show encouragement.

Wen Yanbo hurriedly returned the salute, but out of the corner of his eyes, he kept staring at Xia Zhu, trying to see something from Xia Zhu's expression, but Xia Zhu was still smiling, and then stepped forward to congratulate, not seeing anything unusual at all.

The more this is the case, the more unsteady Wen Yanbo's heart becomes, as the saying goes, biting dogs don't bark, Xia Zhu won't hold back to play a big game for himself, and as soon as he leaves the capital, he will take his own nest.

Wen Yanbo thought about it, and deliberately came to Xia Zhu's face, and arched his hand and said, "Lord Privy Envoy, I want to use 100,000 forbidden troops, I don't know if Lord Xia can transfer it." ”

Xia Zhu returned the salute and smiled, "I am in Bianliang City, plus the left and right Chi County, there are 400,000 forbidden troops waiting for the day, only 100,000, why not." ”

Wen Yanbo asked again, "100,000 troops, but not a small number, it is said that the army and horses have not moved, and the grain and grass go first, I don't know if this grain and grass supply, Lord Xia can guarantee it." ”

Xia Zhu also nodded and said, "This is natural, there are soldiers and there is naturally food, Lord Wen doesn't need to worry about it, I have been a privy envoy for two years, you see the war in the northwest, but there was a grain of grain missing soldiers." ”

Wen Yanbo said again, "Now that Hebei is in crisis, after I leave, I hope that Lord Xia will focus on Hebei in everything, and don't have more complications." ”

Xia Zhu said: "This is nature. ”

After Wen Yanbo finished speaking, he saluted Xia Zhu again, and then left, but Xia Zhu who was left behind was half dead by Wen Yanbo's anger, it turned out that the two of them, a privy envoy and a governor of political affairs, were standing at the forefront of the hundred officials, and Wen Yanbo talked to Xia Zhu, and deliberately said that his voice was very loud, and the dialogue was not leaked, and it was transmitted to Zhao Zhen's ears on the dragon throne.

Xia Zhu's temper is definitely the type of angry person who laughs at people, you see this counterinsurgency Xia Zhu doesn't want to go, but he doesn't want others to go and rob this credit, Wen Yanbo wants to go, which is exactly what Xia Zhu wants, thinking that as long as he gets stuck with Wen Yanbo in terms of soldiers' food and grass, he will definitely ask Wen Yanbo to come back after making a joke.

But now it's okay, with Wen Yanbo's cleverness, he hasn't acted yet, Wen Yanbo stopped Xia Zhu with words, and Zhao Zhen personally testified that if something happens after that, Xia Zhu will not be the main responsibility, Xia Zhu snorted coldly and stopped talking.