The original lively and lively Hallolive Royal Banquet, at least on the surface, was made of a completely unpleasant atmosphere because of Han Tonghan's glaring crying and scolding, and the civil and military generals who participated in the banquet were naturally not in a good mood. Those who sympathize with Han Tong are worried about his future and fate, and those who dislike Han Tong are secretly scolded for disturbing their good mood of drinking wine and eating meat and having a happy holiday. However, whether they sympathize with Hantong or dislike Hantong, they all think that Hantong has definitely stabbed the hornet's nest this time and will not end well. Don't look at the banquet, Song Guogong did not attack on the spot, but only Zhang Weixin, who inspected the school, the founding marquis, the secretary of the ministry, and the Tongping Zhangshi, came forward and ordered the palace guards to drag Han Tong down to sober up. But all the officials present know very well that after this scolding, this Han Tong is not only an official, but even his head will be moved.

However, to everyone's surprise, three days passed, and the imperial court, which was controlled by the ministers of the Beiping Army, not only did not cut off Han Tong's head, but even did not cut off his official position, but after he sobered up, he was escorted back to the palace by the palace guards to think about it behind closed doors. For a while, there were many discussions inside and outside the Later Zhou Dynasty, the government and the opposition, and everyone couldn't figure out what kind of medicine was sold in the gourd of Song Guogong and the "Qingyuan" brothers.

Speaking of which, since Han Tong borrowed wine to go crazy at the court banquet on the Wanshou Festival, and scolded the ministers of the Beiping Army headed by the prince of the Song Kingdom, Kun Jun, the fate of him and his family has been doomed. Although the brothers of the crossing team have always adopted a policy of appeasement, gentleness, and leniency towards the old ministers of the Later Zhou Dynasty, after entering Kaifeng, not only did they not kill or arrest those old ministers who were loyal to the Chai family, but even their official positions were retained intact, at most, military generals like Han Tong were no longer allowed to hold actual positions and control military power. But in the face of the "Han Tong Scolding Palace", which openly challenges the authority of the crossing team and the "Qingyuan" brothers, it is absolutely not allowed. Otherwise, the other old ministers of the Later Zhou Dynasty who were still loyal to the Chai clan and were angry about the Beiping Army's entry into Kaifeng and the control of the government would inevitably follow the same example, put their noses on their noses and faces, and make the accusations, discussions, and dissatisfaction against the Beiping Army and the "Qingyuan" brothers publicly and brought them to the table in a grand manner. In this way, it will not only affect the authority and power of the crossing team in the imperial court, but also weaken its influence and prestige among the people. Therefore, at the committee meeting held after the banquet, the four committee members had very unanimous opinions on how to deal with Han Tong - not killing was not enough to calm the anger in the hearts of the brothers of the crossing team, not killing was not enough to deter those who were still loyal to the Chai clan, and never forgot to expel the "Qingyuan" brothers of the Beiping Army, and not killing was not enough to strengthen and establish the authority and prestige of the crossing team in the Later Zhou court and the people.

However, although there is a lot of unity of opinion on how to deal with Han Tong, several members of the committee are divided on how to use this incident to rectify the Zhou Dynasty, expand the authority and prestige of the crossing team, and consolidate its position and power. And until this difference is bridged, it is natural that Hantong himself cannot be dealt with immediately. As for the differences of opinion among the committee members, it is actually very simple, and it can be summed up in one sentence: whether to take advantage of the "Han Tong scolding the palace" incident, while vigorously rectifying the Later Zhou Dynasty and eliminating the old ministers who are still loyal to the Chai family, to carry out the work of seizing the supreme power of the Later Zhou Dynasty to the last step, force Chai Zongxun to abdicate and surrender the emperor's throne.

In terms of personal wishes alone, Zhang Weixin, Xu Shaoan, and Li Junwu all hope to be able to do it in one step, and use the crossing team to fight in the south and north in recent years, expand the territory, and make the internal affairs of the people, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and the economy is prosperous. In this way, it can not only make the "Qingyuan" brothers have a righteous name, so as to prevent those with ill intentions such as Han Tong from taking advantage of the problem and creating chaos, but also make the brothers of the crossing team full of confidence and devote themselves to the great cause of restoring the majesty of the Han and Tang dynasties and rebuilding the glory of the empire with greater enthusiasm and higher morale.

But the problem is that Zhang Weixin, Xu Shaoan, and Li Junwu are eager to try and want to solve the title of the fifth brother (fifth brother) once and for all, but Wang Kunjun, who is the protagonist, is a little hesitant about this, and still can't make up this decision. Of course, Wang Kunjun couldn't make up his mind, not because he couldn't bear to seize Chai Zongxun's imperial throne, nor because he was not worried about himself, his brothers, and the abilities of the civil servants and generals under his command, nor was he afraid of the opposition of those old ministers in the court who were still loyal to the Chai clan -- history since the Tang Dynasty has shown that in the face of people who have knives and handles in their hands and can decide their life and death with one word, the so-called loyal ministers do not serve the two masters, never serve the rebellious ministers and thieves, would rather die than give in, and pay attention to integrity, and so on are just jokes. You don't see the tumbler Feng Dao, who died a few years ago, experienced four dynasties, four surnames, six emperors and was at ease, and was the prime minister for more than 20 years, and in his previous life, he hated Zhao Kuangyin for usurping the throne, and in this life, he had a lot of complaints about the "Qingyuan" brothers' control of the government, but in the end, he still bowed his head and bent his waist, and bowed to the ground Wang Pu, Fan Zhen and others, which one of them had the integrity, backbone, and determination and courage to humiliate the ministers to death.

In fact, the fundamental reason why Wang Kunjun hesitated was because he was worried about his brothers, worried about whether he could convince the public, and worried about whether his brothers would agree to sit on that chair. After all, although the crossing team is monolithic and indestructible on the surface, he is well aware that there are many mountains and factions within the team. In the past, we were able to put aside our differences and work together for a more ambitious goal, but now in the face of such huge interests, it is uncertain whether we will be able to unite as much as before. In Wang Kunjun's heart, the unity of the brothers is far more important than their own status, power and interests. If he had to choose between sitting on the dragon chair and uniting with his brothers and avoiding division, he would rather continue to control the government as a national prince with infamy on his back than tear the crossing team apart in order to reach the pinnacle of power personally.

This is not to say that Wang Kunjun is indecisive, unambitious, and enterprising, but he knows very well that the source of strength for himself and the entire crossing team or on which he relies is the concerted efforts of more than 40 brothers. When there is a split within the team, the foundation collapses, and the strength built on it falls apart. At that time, either the brothers will split into several parts, attack each other, kill each other, and drag the great rivers and mountains that have just recovered some vitality into the turmoil again, and continue the state of division and division since the Tang Dynasty, until one of them kills all the other brothers and dominates the world. Either the brothers are used by those with ulterior motives, and become the tools of others to compete for the throne and plot the world, and finally become the hidden bow and cooked lackeys after the death of the birds and the cunning rabbit. Therefore, when Zhang Weixin proposed at the committee meeting to take the opportunity of "Han Tong scolding the palace" to eliminate dissidents and seize the throne, Wang Kunjun did not nod, but only agreed to deal with Han Tong severely, and vigorously attacked those Hou Zhou ministers who had the same thoughts as Han Tong.

Seeing that the fifth brother would not let go of the matter of seizing the throne, Xu Shaoan on the side couldn't help but be a little impatient, and shouted: "Fifth brother, what are you hesitating about?" If today, the location, and the people are all in the hands of our brothers, let's let that Chai Zongxun edict the Zen position, and he dares to say the word 'no'? As for those Hou Zhou ministers, there is no need to worry. When the time came, my brother and I stood in the hall with five hundred guards, loaded with guns and unsheathed knives, to see which of them dared to speak out against them. I'm going to see if it's the hard steel knife in my brother's hand, or the hard neck of these guys who don't know how to practice. ”

"The old eight can't make mistakes." Wang Kunjun rebuked in a low voice, "Our brothers entered Kaifeng and controlled the government in order to calm the chaos, return the people to a peaceful and prosperous era, and restore the heroic style of the Han and Tang Dynasties, not to make the courtiers tremble and everyone to be in danger, and make the people of the world talk a lot and the hearts of the people fluctuate." If that's the case, when we first enter Kaifeng, we can use the name of counterinsurgency to kill him in the court, and kill all the ministers who may oppose us, and then force the little emperor Chai Zongxun to step down from the throne, so why bother to grab power step by step and make trouble for yourself. ”

"Fifth brother, don't be angry, although the old gossip is a little rough, but the words are not rough." Zhang Weixin saw that Wang Kunjun was a little unhappy, and hurriedly spoke up, "Since the chaos in the Tang Dynasty, Liang, Tang, Jin, Han, Zhou, these dynasties seized the power of the Central Plains, and it was not the sword and sword shadow that flowed like a river of blood to sit on that dragon chair. said that they are those lords in a remote corner of the south of the Yangtze River, and they are also you who kill me, I kill you, and climb up by stepping on other people's corpses.

In this era of the supremacy of strength and the respect of force, whoever has a knife in his hand, the truth is on his side. The history of nearly two hundred years after the Anshi Rebellion and the division of feudal towns and fighting each other has long taught the civil and military generals of this era this truth. Although it is necessary to have a certain amount of comfort and tenderness for the old ministers of the former dynasty, there is no need to be too merciful. Punish when we should be punished, and kill when we should be killed, so as to consolidate our position in the DPRK and establish sufficient authority.

As far as the matter of replacing Zhou is concerned, we will now take a Zen position to let the virtuous go through the motions, give the world an explanation, and give the Chai clan a way to live, which can be regarded as the end of benevolence and righteousness. Besides, don't look at what Lao Ba said so viciously, in fact, judging from the current situation in the Later Zhou Dynasty and the local and folk courts, there are very few people who are really determined to oppose us replacing Zhou. According to my estimate, when it is really time to announce the Zen position, there is no need for hundreds of guards, as long as the eighth man himself carries a long knife and stands in front of the ministers, those guys are fiercely opposed, but I am afraid that they will not even dare to breathe. ”