On May 26, the sixth year of Xuanhe (1124 AD), that is, on the night before the enthronement ceremony, the prime minister Wang Hao suddenly visited the East Palace, and I was deeply surprised to meet him in the lobby. After the simple salute was completed, Wang Hao first said: Qi Yu Prince, the day after tomorrow will be the crown prince's enthronement ceremony, the old minister knows that the prince has been busy with affairs recently, and he is really uneasy to disturb the old minister at this moment, but the old minister has some words in his heart and wants to tell the prince before, and he has been hesitant and unable to make up his mind, and now he finally musters up the courage to come to your mansion to tell the prince the voice of the old minister over the years.

I looked at the handsome middle-aged man in front of me, and my heart was also mixed, according to his historical trajectory, this person was frequently harsh on the internal government, and he was greedy for ink, and there were many rumors in Beijing that the prime minister had nearly 100 million family properties, and he was reluctant to seek peace with the outside world, blindly showing weakness to the Jin people and seeking peace, advocating the use of increasing the annual coins to the Jin country and seeking peace, it seems that this is just Wang Hao's wishful thinking. Coming to me at this critical moment, I don't know what he will say next, thinking of this, I politely replied: Prime Minister Wang as an important minister of the court, for many years conscientiously and conscientiously engaged in government affairs, my father also often mentioned the merits of Prime Minister Wang, if you feel aggrieved today, the prince is willing to hear the details, although the Prime Minister Wang said, if he is indeed wronged, the prince will be the prime minister of the king.

Seeing that my attitude was so friendly, Wang Hao also felt a little more at ease in his heart, and in front of the emperor and many court ministers, the prince also personally stated that he could not be held accountable for his past mistakes, which also gave these court ministers with criminal records a reassurance. But the prince said this in front of everyone, but after he really ascended the throne, he would not bring up the old things again or find a reason to suppress these former ministers who had bad deeds, so Wang Hao has been hesitating recently, on the one hand, he is also observing the attitude of the emperor and the prince towards him, and on the other hand, he is also struggling in his heart, whether to come to the prince's mansion to explain what he did before, after careful observation during this period of time, the emperor and the prince seem to have no special suppression or favor for him in addition to normal court affairs. The emperor has been busy transporting books, porcelain and other beloved things to Hangzhou recently, and the prince has been studying government affairs with the chamberlain and individual court ministers in the Hanging Arch Hall recently, and it seems that he has no intention of targeting him, so tonight I mustered up the courage to meet the prince to test his true attitude towards himself, which is related to his political future and glory and wealth in the future.

After calming down his mood a little, Wang Hao said: Prince Qiqi, the lower officials have been favored by the emperor all the way since the Jinshi examination in the Chongning period to the prime minister, and since the lower officials first started in politics, they are also determined to serve the country and ask for their lives for the people, but since the lower officials entered the imperial court, they have indeed seen the struggle between the old and new parties, and there are many factions within the imperial court, so the lower officials also have to follow the customs, so as to follow them in the complex court situation, first experienced He Zhizhong, Cai Jing, Liang Shicheng and others, Then step by step to today's position, in fact, what Xia Guan wants to say is that at the beginning, Xia Guan also had the original intention of serving the court, and later saw that many ministers of the court were fighting for personal and family interests, so slowly Xia Guan also went with the flow, and then there was something later.

After being educated by reality, the lower officials did not have the original intention, and at the same time, they were very concerned about cultivating people they could trust, which led to nepotism and only usefulness, with the expansion of selfishness and the increasing favor of the emperor, it made the lower officials more and more emboldened, more and more fearless, and finally swallowed the southern Huashigang, thus betraying the emperor's grace and the trust of the court. For this reason, Xia Guan has also been suffering a lot recently, and he can't sleep day and night, so he came to confess and ask the prince today. After saying that, he got up and bowed to me.

In fact, Wang Hao can confess to me so much tonight, it is also reasonable, first of all, the old man must not have the intention of protecting him, after all, from the aspect of governing the country, Wang Hao is not a great talent, this Wang Hao can also feel it, and then Zhu Mian's visit a few days ago made Wang Hao feel bad, and at the same time, Wang Hao also knew that the prince must know about the Huashigang in the south, because since Zhu Mian saw the prince, he must have confessed everything to the prince, after all, the prince said in front of the emperor that he was not to blame. At this time, the prince will not slap himself in the face at the critical moment of ascending the throne, since Zhu Mian has told everything, it is impossible for him to hide this, so he simply confessed everything to the prince today.

Looking at the standing Wang Huang, I will also smile slightly, the fox's tail is finally exposed, after all, I still can't bear the pressure, I confessed, since you have made your words clear, then the prince is not welcome, everyone will point directly, say it thoroughly, thinking of this, I will appease Wang Huang and say: Prime Minister Wang, please sit down, this prince has also said before, you can wait for the previous things, you can not blame the past, since the prime minister is so honest today, this prince also told the truth, about what the prime minister said just now, The prince does not agree with this kind of calligraphy, the prime minister is also a person who reads, and he should understand the truth of setting things right, since he is dissatisfied with the status quo of the imperial court, why don't he want to change it, but choose to be complicit, is this the case with the education of the Five Classics and the Four Books?

Then let's talk about the matter of the father's southern Huashigang, the original intention was to build the royal garden - Genyue, during which a huge amount of money was allocated from the Ouchi, but the people in charge of the court did in the name of offering to the emperor, wantonly looted the people, which led to the boiling of public resentment in the south and finally triggered the Fangla rebellion, and the court spent a year and a half to calm down the matter. In order to cater to the holy will and out of the desire to enrich their own pockets, they even ignored the suffering of the common people and connived at the emperor to restart the Huashigang project, so that the southeast that was originally in recuperation once again faced a catastrophe, and the prestige and authority of the royal family were severely attacked in the south. However, Prime Minister Wang took the opportunity to enrich his own pockets and became rich and noble.

After listening to my words, Wang Hao was also shocked, it turned out that the prince knew more than I expected, it seems that this Zhu Mian told the prince everything last time in order to survive, and he came to confess to the prince today, otherwise I really don't know what will happen in the future. Thinking of this, he also admitted calmly: The prince Mingjian, the lower officials are indeed excessive, and the lower officials have also regretted their previous actions recently. The lower official is guilty, and he also asks the prince to forgive his sins. After speaking, he knelt down and kowtowed.

Seeing Wang Hao like this, I could only put away the anger that burned slightly in my heart, and said to the kneeling Wang Hao: Prime Minister Wang, please get up, as the so-called knowing mistakes can be changed, good is great, since things have happened, Prime Minister Wang has also recognized the previous mistakes, and the prince also knows, and the current key problem is that in terms of foreign policy, the prince still has different opinions on Prime Minister Wang's policy. Especially in the attitude towards the Jin people, this prince thinks that if the wolf eats the meat, no matter how much meat you feed, you will never be able to satisfy the wolf's more and more greedy appetite, and the wolf will still eat you in the end. And the best way to deal with wolves is to drive them away with sticks, I don't know what Prime Minister Wang thinks?

For this point I raised, Wang Hao is unwilling, after all, Wang Hao thinks that the imperial court army at this time can not defeat the Jin people, and the first to suffer from the war is the common people, this is still very clear, in addition, the imperial court has always been the policy is to value peace, from the Tanyuan Alliance, to the Jin people's maritime alliance is so, according to the established principles and policies of the imperial court is not wrong, and this matter is also in accordance with the emperor's will, he is just an executor, What's more, there are also many ministers in the court who support the compromise policy of the Jin people, such as Zhang Bangchang and others, who are very supportive of the policy of seeking peace.

But since the prince mentioned it, Wang Hao couldn't help but reply without expressing his position: The prince is aware of everything, and the policy of peace with Jin is not the original intention of the lower officials, but the lower officials are based on the actual situation of the imperial court, but the combat effectiveness of our army is indeed not as good as the Jin people, and the battle to recover Yanjing can be seen completely, when the most elite forbidden army in the Beijing division went north to recover the sixteen states of Yanyun, many cavalry could not even go up on horseback, which is also well known in the Beijing division, since the military ability is not as good as the Jin people, Considering that once the war starts, the people in the northeast will be miserable, and at the same time, the grain and grass of the imperial court are not ready, and the financial tension also restricts the decision-making of the lower officials and others, and with the support of other ministers of the imperial court, a peaceful strategy is proposed.

I also believe that what Wang Hao said is true, you can't fight, and there is no money and food, this is indeed no way, but the key problem is the lack of understanding of the Jin people, once they taste the benefits of war coercion, the Great Song Dynasty will never be able to be peaceful, and in the face of a strong enemy, the weaker you are, the easier it is to bully, and the enemy will be more inch-inch. The appetite is getting bigger and bigger, the conditions are higher and higher, and the coins are given more and more every time. I then guided Wang Huang and said: Have you ever thought about it, once we meet the requirements of the Jin people, what should we do next time to satisfy them, if they want Yanjing and other places, or want cities north of the Yellow River, Prime Minister Wang, then we will give or not, the more they indulge them, the more unscrupulous they will be. In the face of the enemy's iron fist, we have no other better way than to gather all our strength to fight back, and I hope Prime Minister Wang will ponder this.

Wang Hao pondered for a while and then said: "Prince Qiqi, the lower officials understand, Prince Xie taught, in the future, in the treatment of the Jin State, the lower officials will never mention peace, and will do their best to fight against it, in view of the increasingly tight finances of the imperial court, if the crown prince does not dislike the lower officials, the lower officials are willing to contribute the wealth of the southeast to the imperial court to reorganize the armament against the Jin army. I looked at Wang Hao with a smile, I feel that this guy understands what I mean, the prince's foreign policy is to return a tooth for a tooth, and he will definitely not pay tribute to sue for peace like the old man, you as the main peace faction, you want to change your position and fully support the prince's tough policy, they are all political old fritters, this kind of interest exchange and exchange for trust and peace of mind, in fact, everyone knows very well in their hearts, since the two sides have reached an agreement, then to achieve my goal, thinking of this, I said to Wang Hao: Very good, Prime Minister Wang The ancients have a cloud of people who are not sages and sages, and I hope that the prime minister will fully assist the prince in the future, and in reality, the prime minister will serve the country and relieve the people's worries in the original intention, so here today, the prince still has to prepare for everything. Seeing that I acquiesced, Wang Hao knew that he had landed safely, and immediately replied in a good mood: Please rest assured that the prince will never hold this old bone to the prince's hind legs, and he will fully support and cooperate with the prince, then the lower official will not disturb the prince, and the lower official will leave first. I nodded slightly, and Wang Hao saluted and walked away slowly......