The news of the death of Emperor Yelu Dashi of Liao did not shake much in Hangzhou. There are deep reasons for this. First of all, in the minds of the monarchs and ministers of the Great Song Dynasty, the Liao State is already a long memory. The Liao State of the Northern Dynasty in their memories had been destroyed by the Jurchens twenty years ago.

Now, although the Liao State rebuilt by Yelu Dashi has formed a brotherly alliance with the Great Song Dynasty, it was facilitated by Xu Weiyi's efforts, and they are not impressed. Even in the matter of destroying Xia, the monarchs and ministers of the Great Song Dynasty also selectively credited Xu Wei with all the credit, not knowing, or unwilling to know, that in fact, the Khitans also made great efforts, especially the latter Xia.

Therefore, when the news of Dashi's death came, the monarchs and ministers in Hangzhou only expressed their condolences to the envoys in accordance with etiquette. If it weren't for Xu Liang's repeated reminders and persistence, Zhao Jin might have forgotten that he should even send a Song envoy to Liao to express his condolences.

However, several ministers of the Central Committee knew that this matter was very important, especially Xu Liang. Lianliao's attack on Jin, as one of his governance programs, was due to the death of Dashi, and there were variables. Xu Wei's recital made it very clear that once Dashi died, his successor was too young, and it was unknown whether his wife, the Empress Dowager Xiao Ta Buyan would be regent and would completely follow Dashi's route. Moreover, judging from the fact that as soon as Empress Dowager Xiao took power, she transferred Xiao Hanli and others to lead the army back to the country, this matter is enough to choke.

To sum up, how could Xu Liang not be in a hurry?

The atmosphere in today's Zhongshu Provincial Government Hall is a little weird, and all the officials are cautious, and they don't even dare to make a mistake when they walk. Everyone knows in their hearts that the recent phase has not been very pleasant, which is an unprecedented thing.

Zhao Ding and Xu Liang, it is said that the qualifications are not of the same level, and the former can be said to be the predecessors of the latter. However, since Xu Liang entered the court, the two have a high degree of agreement on some major issues. For example, they both advocated the use of military means to solve the problem against Jin, and during the restoration of Emperor Taishang, the two also had the same position and had a friendship in the same boat.

But this time, the two had a disagreement. Zhao Ding wanted to take advantage of the demoralization of the Jin State after the destruction of Xia to send troops to the Northern Expedition. And came up with a specific plan. In view of the changes in the strength of the Jin army in the Central Plains and the Jianghuai region, the troops of the two Xuanfu Divisions of Jinghu and Jiangxi were transferred to march with the former city of Tokyo as the goal, and at the same time, the troops of the Huaixi Pacification Division attacked Huaidong to contain them. Its purpose was to recover the territory south of the Yellow River and drive the Jin army to the north of the Yellow River.

His opinion was endorsed by some ministers, including two key figures, one is Li Ruoshui, the governor, and the other is Zhu Zhuo, the governor. The governor is the deputy prime minister, how many are there in Zhongshu Province? Three! Among the three, there are two supportive phases, even if the courtiers do not support much, this weight cannot be lightened. So Xu Liang had a headache.

Why does Xu Liang have a headache? Isn't he also a staunch fighter? That's right, Xu Liu is the main battle faction, but he is not a radical main battle faction like Zhao Ding, he thinks that Zhao Ding is in a hurry, how long has it been since the last defeat of the Northern Expedition? This is going to start fighting again? This is not a dinner invitation, let's not say "the latter, the murder weapon is also used by the saint as a last resort", at least we have to be cautious, right?

In addition to this reason, there is another point that cannot be taken off the table. Zhao Jin ascended the throne, Zhao Ding, and Xu Liang were both rewarded for their merits and tied for being prime ministers. Zhao Dingsheng is old in seniority and has a good reputation: Xu Liangsheng has a lot of credit and many supporters, and the two are inseparable.

Whether or not to send troops to the Northern Expedition this time was the first major policy after Emperor Zhao Jin ascended the throne. Therefore, all the prime ministers are competing on this matter, and they must strive for the initiative in the implementation of this first major policy.

For this reason, the two had a dispute in front of the emperor, and Zhao Jin was a young master, and he had no idea of his own, so the more the two quarreled, Zhao Yan also involved many courtiers.

In Xu Liang's office hall, the second minister was complaining. Qin Hui, the governor of the political council, sat in front of him and listened quietly. Xu Liang sprayed wildly, saying that those who advocated the immediate Northern Expedition were greedy for merit and rash progress, talking about misleading the country, and only wanted to be happy for a while, and did not think of the consequences at all.

When that was enough, he sat down, still looking angry. Seeing Qin Hui's eyes and nose and heart, he suddenly thought that although Qin Huizhi was sitting in his office hall, he never seemed to have expressed any opinion on this matter in the past few days. Well, at this point, he asked: "Qin Shenzheng, what is your opinion on this matter?" ”

Qin Hui raised his head and didn't say much: "I naturally agree with Xu Xiang's opinion, how can the war start lightly?" Even if you want to fight, you must know whether the troops are complete and whether the food and grass are ready. ”

Xu Liang listened to it, was very satisfied, nodded and said: "That's it, among the ministers, when it comes to knowing soldiers, it's not boasting, who can compare to me?" They only know that they are shouting and making trouble about the Northern Expedition, how do they know how many famous halls there are? Alas, the temper just now is too stubborn. ”

Qin Hui said at this time: "I'm afraid that I'm not just stubborn. ”

Xu Liang was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Of course, the prime minister has different opinions and has his own opinions, of course he has to fight on the basis of reason, although, in my opinion, he has little reason." ”

"It's not." Qin Hui shook his head. "Didn't Xianggong see it? Three are involved in political affairs, and two are supporters. ”

Xu Liang stopped talking, and thought for a while with a gloomy expression before he said: "Within the government, it is common for each to express his own opinions, and there is nothing to worry about." When Qin Hui heard this, he didn't say anything more.

At this time, there was an edict from the inhibition, saying that the Zhao official family summoned the prime minister to the vertical arch hall to discuss something. This is unusual, unless the Zhao official family has a court meeting, or the prime minister asks for a face, they will never take the initiative to summon the prime minister, what kind of wind is blowing today?

Xu Liang immediately left the office hall, and when he was out of the middle school gate, he happened to meet Zhao Ding. Although the two had different political views, Xu Liang still gave a salute first, and made a gesture, asking Zhao Ding to go first, after all, he is an elder. And Zhao Ding didn't look cold, he returned the salute with his hand, and then moved forward.

The two of them were a little ahead, the other a little behind, and they went to the vertical arch hall together. Along the way, the two did not have any conversation, just buried their heads in walking, when they arrived at the vertical arch hall, even the attendant who stood at the door of the palace felt strange, in the past, the two prime ministers have always gone hand in hand, side by side, why not take a road today?

Taking advantage of the waiter's entry to report, the two of them tidied up their clothes. Zhao Ding may have been careless, and threw out a notebook in his sleeve at once, and fell to the ground with a "snap". Xu Liang glanced sideways slightly, it was a notebook, and he even saw a few words above, and immediately frowned.

But Zhao Ding picked up the notebook as if it was fine. The chamberlain came out and said, "The official family summoned the two ministers to enter the inner court. ”

【…… Chapter 738: The Two Fight]