In the fourth year of Xuanhe, the military officials came and went in order, and the government and the opposition were shaken after the news of the second invasion of Liao was conveyed.

The shadow of the defeat of the previous invasion of Liao has not yet dissipated from the hearts of the officials, but when they heard that His Majesty was determined to attack Liao again, all the courtiers were immediately surprised, but the Son of Heaven had already made a decision, and Tong Guan, Wang Huang, and the powerful ministers and eunuchs supported it, and no one dared to speak out against it.

Because of the opposition to the war of Liao, the Marquis of Ma Le is an example, and now even the title has been taken away by the Son of Heaven, who dares to speak out against it.

After the dispersal of the court, when the ministers left first, the officials who walked behind dared to discuss.

Naturally, Li Gang, Chen Lingyuan, Yuxu and other people walked together.

Yuxu was the first to sigh: "Although Marquis Le rebelled against the will of the Son of Heaven and opposed the Liao, His Majesty took the title of Marquis because of this, is this a little too unkind?" ”

Li Gang also nodded and agreed: "What Lord Yu said is extremely reasonable, after all, Marquis Le has destroyed the Western Xia and passed Fang La's meritorious service in the dynasty, and this time he has returned to the dynasty without rewarding him and being robbed of his title, which is really a little unreasonable." ”

"Lord Li/Lord Yu only knows one thing, I'm afraid I don't know the other!" At this time, there was a household department case next to the three people, Lord Liu, who spoke out, and while speaking, his eyes glanced around, and his eyes were full of vigilance.

Seeing that there were no idle people waiting for him, Liu Si said in a low voice: "The three adults want to come and know that the treasury is empty, the Son of Heaven once went to the Marquis of Le with His Royal Highness King Yun to discuss, and borrowed 13 million yuan in the ticket number, and later it is said that there are palace attendants who have spoken in front of the Son of Heaven, and Marquis Le has threatened to come to the palace to collect debts, His Majesty was furious when he heard this, and he felt even more embarrassed, and he was angry that Marquis Le was disobedient, so he ordered to take the post of Marquis Le. ”

When Lord Liu's voice fell, Chen Lingyuan shook his head and said: "I have said that the Hou Ye and the palace are not on good terms, I am afraid that it is the slander of those powerful eunuchs who intend to enter the Hou Ye in front of the Son of Heaven that will lead to such an end." ”

has been with Lotte for a long time, knowing that Lotte has always been cunning and cunning when he was a servant in Pingyu, and his ability to slap horses and whiskers is not even half a point behind a few ministers, Chen Lingyuan will not believe that he will do such an almost brainless thing. Not only Chen Lingyuan didn't believe it, but even Li Gang and Yuxu didn't believe it either.

Seeing that Chen Lingyuan didn't believe it, Lord Liu hurriedly said: "Lord Chen, don't doubt it, this matter is true, many people in Biandu saw with their own eyes what Lord Shile said when he went to greet the old general of the Taoist Seed Division two days ago, and it has already spread in the community. ”

Even if Liu Si said this, the three of them still didn't believe it.

This was put aside in advance, recalling the affairs of the court, Li Gang couldn't help but sigh: "The reopening of the public land and the bureau have made the country poor and the people poor, and now they have to levy free money, so Your Majesty and the king don't think about the people of the world?" ”

Just in the court, Zhao Ji issued an edict, the edict to recover Yanyun, since the people of Jingdong and Lianghe were trapped in the dispatch, so that Jingxi, Huai, Zhejiang, Jiang, Lake, Sichuan, Fujian, and Guangzhou were exempted from the husband's money, and the period was paid in two months, and the violators were subject to military law.

The so-called free husband money, that is, the recovery of Yan You's Yanshan Ling, the world's men should go out to work, and now you can use the free husband money to avoid labor.

At present, he has to use troops against the Liao State, and he needs to levy and extort money to maintain the operation of the imperial court, which shows how empty the treasury of the Great Song Dynasty is, and Yuxu and Chen Lingyuan can't help but shake their heads and sigh.

"Since the destruction of the party, the imperial court has ordered Lingxia not to collect taxes for two years, and the military resources in Lingxia are very spent, and the financial resources of the imperial court are becoming more and more tight, and after the chaos in the southeast of the previous year, the treasury is even worse......" The head of the household department Liu was busy talking here, and when he saw that there was no one around, he continued to speak: "According to the palace people, because of the abnormal internal and external scarcity of the imperial court, the official family is unhappy, and they are more interested in changing their appearance.

Knowing that the Son of Heaven intended to change his appearance, Wang Xiangxin suffered from gains and losses, and had no choice but to seek a plan. ”

Li Gang asked in a low voice, "How did Brother Liu learn about this?" ”

Liu Si said: "The old official who offered the plan used to be on an errand in the household department, so he was naturally familiar with the many doorways of the yamen, and he ate too much wine with his old colleagues a few days ago, and used this matter to brag and show off, so I only found out!" ”

Chen Lingyuan asked: "Lord Liu has been in the household department and is familiar with Ding Ling in the world, how much money can be levied for this husband?" ”

After thinking for a moment, Liu Si said slowly: "Naitao is a transfer husband, 80,000 in Jingxi, 40,000 in Huainan, 65,000 in Liangzhejiang, 97,000 in Jiangnan, 35,000 in Fujian, 88,000 in Jinghu, 83,000 in Guangnan, 108,000 in Sichuan, and free of money, 20 per husband, and about 20 million yuan in the world!" ”

"The age of the ordinary forbidden soldiers is only the usual surplus of money, plus the money in kind issued by the imperial court, and the income is only two yuan per month, and these twenty yuan is a husband's income for a year, and the burden of the people is so heavy." Hearing this, Li Gang couldn't help but sigh, and then he was even more angry in his words: "And with such a large amount, he Wang Huang can be ruthless to come up with such an idea!" The Son of Heaven is not afraid that the troubled people will not have a good life and complain all over the world? ”

"Lord Li is cautious!" Chen Lingyuan was busy persuading beside him.

"Even Lord Le Hou can't persuade the Son of Heaven, what can I do!" Yu Xu also sighed beside him.

That Liu Si also shook his head and sighed, and said intermittently: "It is said that Your Majesty also intends to edict the clan, the concubine Qili, and the Zaizhi's house to exempt the husband from money!" ”

Out of the Ouchi Palace, the group of people went back to their respective yamen, said goodbye and dispersed.

……

Inside the Donghua Gate, inside the Zuo Chengtian Xiangfu Gate, the Imperial City Division Yamen.

"Your Highness is overjoyed, the slave maid has come to His Highness to report the good news!" Far away from the Imperial City Division's Yamen, there is a sissy that is neither yin nor yang.

Everywhere the voice went, all the attendants stood solemnly, their faces full of flattering smiles, and they greeted each other flatteringly.

"It's Liang Guan!" Seeing the visitor, Zhao Kai, who was reading, took his eyes off the book and nodded to the visitor, and asked, "Why is Liang Guan happy?" ”

"The slave has seen Master Hou!" The person who came was Liang Shicheng, who bowed to Zhao Kai before saying: "Today's court meeting, the slave maid listened to it in front of the emperor, and listened to His Majesty's decision to invade Liao again, and Wang Xiang proposed that His Royal Highness be appointed as the generalissimo of Liao, and he would go out with the army to conquer Daliao in the near future, and restore my Yanyou's homeland......"

"Let me go?" Zhao Kai's face immediately turned pale when he heard it, like five thunderbolts. Zhao Kai also knew about the defeat of Yanyou before, and this time he let himself lead the troops to attack Liao, how could he not be afraid.

Liang Shicheng continued: "Your Majesty, now that the new monarch of the Liao Kingdom has died, and the Liao Kingdom is on the verge of collapse, His Royal Highness can immediately succeed without bloodshed, and His Royal Highness can also make immortal achievements!" ”

Speaking of this, Liang Shicheng lowered his voice: "Your Highness, this time Your Majesty intends to cultivate Your Highness, this is a success, Your Highness's prestige and reputation have risen greatly, and the throne will return to Your Highness in the future." ”

Hearing Liang Shicheng talk about the storage position, Zhao Ji's originally pale complexion gradually slowed down, and the fear in his eyes gradually dissipated, and he became a little excited.

"Your Highness, the slave maid will leave first after the good news!" After reporting the good news, Liang Shicheng was about to leave, and before leaving, he said to Zhao Kai: "The holy decree is now being written in the province, and it will be conveyed in a short time!" ”

Liang Shicheng walked by, the expression on Zhao Kai's face changed, if this guy won his hope of ascending to the position of the Ninth Five-Year Plan, it would be greatly increased, if he was defeated, the consequences would be unpredictable......

When Zhao Kai was thinking, General Xu hurriedly entered the inner hall and reported to Zhao Kaiyu: "Your Highness, the person sent by Your Majesty to spy on Lord Le has been beaten!" ”

"Who did that?" Zhao Kai, who was thinking, frowned.

General Xu replied: "Wu Song, who was under the command of Marquis Le, beat up with a group of subordinates who sent them to monitor the people, and threw these people to Kaifeng Mansion, and gave them a charge of gathering officials and relatives to plot misdeeds. ”

"Le Qing, why bother!" Zhao Kai shook his head.

"Your Highness, what are we going to do?" General Xu asked.

"Forget it, don't send someone to spy on Lotte, he's not the one who can rebel!" Zhao Kai smiled bitterly.

Xu Jiang was originally a person from Lotte, and he was naturally happy to hear Zhao Kai say this, but he still had to make a worried appearance and said: "Your Highness, you have affection and righteousness for Lord Le, but I am afraid that it will not be easy to explain to Your Majesty when you arrive!" ”

"This matter is up to this king to explain to his father, of course, if you still send someone to monitor Lotte, and then you are beaten by the house slaves of Yuefu, this king can say first, and the Imperial City Division is not responsible for medical money!" Zhao Kai said with a smile, after all, Lotte helped Zhao Kai, putting aside the government and politics, Zhao Kai still sees the value of Lotte very clearly.

At this time, Zhao Kaixin seemed to think of something, his eyes were full of joy, and he asked Xu Jiang, "What is Le Qing doing now?" ”

Xu Jiang hurriedly replied: "Back to His Royal Highness, Hou Ye Le is now at home, in addition to making a thousand-mile ship that does not need manpower to burn charcoal to sail, he also made a kind of thing called cement, and recently bought a piece of land near the new bridge in the outer city, which is said to build the tallest building in the Great Song Dynasty." ”

"He's quite Yaxing!" Zhao Kai smiled, paused and asked General Xu: "General Xu, this king asked you something!" ”

"Master Hou, please speak!" Xu Jiang said busily.

"If ......"

"The holy decree has arrived, and Zhao Kai, the king of Yun, has received the decree!" Before Zhao Kai finished speaking, a palace attendant shouted outside.

……

After receiving the decree and sending away the messenger, General Xu hurriedly said: "Congratulations to Your Highness!" ”

Zhao Kai continued the previous words and said: "General Xu, this king asks you, this is Liao, if this king takes Lotte to the expedition, what is the chance of victory?" ”

"The humble post went out with the Marquis of Le to conquer the Western Xia, seeing that the Marquis of Le used many soldiers, if there is Marquis Le, the troops with His Royal Highness can be said to have a chance of winning!" Hearing what Zhao Kai said, Xu Jiang was busy, and then hesitated again: "It's just ......"

Knowing what General Xu meant, Zhao Kaiyan said: "You want to say that it's just that Lotte has never been in favor of cutting Liao, and this king came forward to invite him, and he may not give this king this face?" ”

"That's what I mean!" General Xu hurriedly replied, "Hou Ye Le, Wang Xianggong, Liang Guanzheng have seen many differences, and when the Western Xia was destroyed in the northwest, he rushed to attack Xingqing Mansion in front of Tong Shumi, and it is also a well-known thing that he is not on good terms with Tong Shumi, and Hou Ye Le's disapproval of the war on Liao, I am afraid that he will not help His Highness."

And according to the information obtained by the ministers, the Liao State is on the verge of collapse, and it is very likely that it will be self-defeating, under such a good situation, it is the Marquis of Le who agrees to go on the expedition with His Royal Highness, Tong Shumi, Wang Xiang and Liu Jingluo, who is the leader of the army, will also speak out against it, and even His Majesty will not agree with His Highness's idea! ”

"You have a point!" Zhao Kai nodded and sighed: "This king originally wanted to pull Lotte and ease the relationship between him and my father, so as to restore his title, but he didn't expect that he had a grudge with the Manchu Dynasty, and I really can't figure out how he could become like this when he is so smart." ”

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