Northern Song Dynasty gangster: Start the game with a dog's head, and Mr. Bao spares his life

Although Zhao Ji was deprived of the throne by the first emperor himself and demoted to a commoner, he had not had time to be formally convicted by the court.

Under the pressure of "benevolence and filial piety" and Liaoxia, the ministers may not compromise.

Especially when the little emperor was often ill and could not stabilize the hearts of the court, it was easy to breed speculators.

What's more, the Liao and Xia countries may also secretly help Zhao Ji.

This move hit Empress Dowager Pan's seven inches.

Thinking of her sick son in the harem, she suddenly became anxious and hurriedly looked at the positions of Cao Bin and Pan Renmei.

However, what made her flustered was that Cao Bin's place was empty, and she quickly opened her lips and asked:

"Why isn't Hou Zhongjing here?"

Wang Yanling came out of work and replied:

"Empress Dowager, Zhong Jing waited for someone to take sick leave, and did not attend the court meeting today."

Empress Dowager Pan was very depressed, and was about to ask in detail, when Pan Renmei came out to play and said:

"Queen, this is Liao Xia's trick, don't pay attention to it."

Hearing her father's response, the Empress Dowager Pan relaxed a little, looked at the ministers and said:

"What the grand master said is reasonable, what do you think?"

Someone from the Political Affairs Council suddenly came out of class and asked:

"Dare to ask the grand master, if you ignore it, where will you put the empress dowager?"

"When the first emperor was dying, he still couldn't forget the empress dowager. You are living up to the grace of God!"

When Pan Renmei saw this little-known official talking to her like this, she immediately became furious and scolded:

"Presumptuous, who are you, dare to lie to the old man about government affairs?"

"Now that the Xixia country is in danger, and the Liao people are newly defeated, I only need an elite army to force them, and Xixia will definitely bow their heads!"

As he spoke, he held up the wat board calendar and shouted:

"You dare to slander the old man for disregarding the safety of the Empress Dowager, what is your intention?"

He roared, and he was full of tiger power, scaring the official back again and again.

Seeing that her father was so strong, Queen Mother Pan suddenly felt relieved, as long as Zhao Ji was not pardoned, it would be fine.

At this time, Sima Guang, the co-prefect of the Court of Rites, walked out of the court class and said solemnly:

"Don't be angry, grand master. We didn't say that you don't care about the safety of the empress dowager."

"It's just that although Liao Xia is exhausted, he is united together."

"Xixia has the support of Liao people, can you guarantee that it will bow its head and admit defeat?"

Before Pan Renmei could refute, Sima Guang looked around and continued:

"Everyone knows that our Great Song Dynasty has no strength to use troops. Where did the Grand Master's elite soldiers come from? How much should we send? Where is the money and food?"

"Once we can't control it, if we go to war with Xixia, the Liao Kingdom will definitely take advantage of the fire and rob us. At that time, our Song Dynasty will be attacked on both sides. How will it end?"

"The most critical point is that the Empress Dowager is still in Xixia. If the situation is ruined and she is humiliated by the other party, how can I have any face in the Song Dynasty? How can I explain to the late emperor?"

In the minds of most courtiers, Liao Xia was arrogant and rude, willing to fight, and daring to fight with all his might, so he was not as delicate as Song Dynasty.

So when he thought of the fish dying and the net broken, Da Song didn't have the confidence, and didn't even dare to test the other party's bottom line.

Pan Renmei also has this kind of mentality. He only thought of forcing Xixia to bow his head, but he never had the courage to compete with the other party who is not afraid of death.

At this time, Sima Guang's series of questioning was difficult to refute.

Seeing this, an official from Pan Renmei's family couldn't help but ask back:

"Zhao Ji is the great crime of treason committed by the first emperor. Is it possible to give up because of Liao Xia's persecution? This will make my Song Dynasty lose face!"

Sima Guang shook his head and said:

"Liaoxia's mediation of the dispute between us is nothing more than an excuse. According to my ministers, they just want to get some financial benefits."

Hearing this, the Zhiyuan of the Foreign Affairs Institute nodded quickly and said:

"What Sima Zhiyuan said is right, Xixia also asked the court to give one hundred thousand coins to support the Empress Dowager..."

Hearing this, Sima Guang suddenly became confident, nodded with a smile and said:

"The barbarians of that generation are indeed greedy for small profits, but it's only a hundred thousand guan, so just give it to him."

Zhang Dun, who had been listening all the time, turned gloomy, and couldn't help scolding in a cold voice:

"Sima Junshi, traitor, don't lie."

"Don't say that the third division has no money, even if it has money, it will not be given to Xixia."

"Then Liaoxia is greedy, and they will definitely threaten us with the Empress Dowager?"

"Ask for money today, ask for land tomorrow, where is the end?"

Sima Guang's face was livid after being scolded by Zhang Dun, and he said angrily:

"If Cao Bin hadn't provoked Liao Xia, what would have happened today? You officials don't want to repent, how dare you stand up for him?"

As he spoke, he cupped his hands upwards and said:

"Queen Mother, I want to impeach Cao Bin..."

Seeing Concubine Pang looking at him sullenly, Sima Guang didn't take it seriously, but just looked at Queen Mother Pan.

Empress Dowager Pan waved her hands speechlessly, and said angrily:

"Okay, the envoys of the Liao and Xia countries have also questioned this matter, so don't worry about it, why don't you talk about how to welcome the empress dowager back and arrest Zhao Ji?"

"The court has no money for him, what should I do?"

Sima Guang didn't take it seriously and said:

"For the time being, it's all in debt."

Empress Dowager Pan hesitated and said:

"Will they agree?"

Sima Guang said confidently:

"Actually, King Duan may not have been instigated by Li Zhaoming to coerce the palace, and the late emperor did not investigate in detail."

"The imperial court can pardon him first on the grounds that there is no evidence to find out, so that Liao Xia has no excuse to attack, and this will not damage the prestige of the imperial court."

"This is a show of prestige!"

"Then give him money and silk."

"Show me kindness!"

"With such kindness and power, I expect Xixia will hand it over and send it back to the Queen Mother."

"The imperial court spent only one hundred thousand guan in money and silk."

When Empress Dowager Pan heard this, Yubai's face suddenly darkened, and she said:

"That's your idea?"

At this time, Wang Yanling took a step forward, cupped his hands and said:

"Empress Dowager, the most important thing is to welcome back the Empress Dowager as soon as possible, please make a quick decision!"

Following his speech, almost half of the courtiers bowed and said:

"Please make a quick decision, Queen Mother."

Kou Zhun wanted to refute, but he didn't move after all.

The number of [-] guan is not much, it would indeed be a good thing if the Empress Dowager can be exchanged.

Seeing so many ministers pleading for orders, Pan Renmei had no words to refute. Empress Dowager Pan only felt that riding a tiger was difficult, and her face was extremely ugly.

At this moment, a little palace maid stepped forward and whispered in her ear:

"Empress Dowager, Marquis Zhong Jing heard that the emperor was ill, and asked to enter the palace for treatment alone..."

When Concubine Pan Guifei heard this, her heart tensed at first, she was wondering where Cao Bin got the news, but then she relaxed, since Cao Bin came, Zhao Ji might not be able to turn the case over.

It's just that this guy pretended to be sick first, and then quietly entered the palace. What does it mean?

The ministers advocating compromise occupied the upper peak and aggressively forced Queen Mother Pan to agree to pardon Zhao Ji, which made her very depressed.

Now that she heard that Cao Bin had arrived, she suddenly felt confident.

Although Cao Bin has just come to power, and the power of the court is much worse than that of Wang Yanling and Pan Renmei, the Empress Dowager Pan has no reason to have confidence in him.

In some respects, he gave Empress Dowager Pan a more reliable feeling than Pan Renmei.

It's just that Cao Bin Bijing is an outsider, and he is not as caring as Pan Renmei's father in terms of interests, so Queen Mother Pan couldn't help but want to make some decisions.

Of course, there are also some reasons why her daughter-in-law became a mother-in-law and suddenly ascended to the position of queen mother, which caused some reasons for her unstoppable ambition.

Take her objection to the pardon of King Duan this time as an example. In fact, apart from worrying about the stability of her son's throne, she also had some self-esteem at work.

I have just come into power, and I don't hesitate to regret my foreword, overturn the previous emperor's decision, and compromise with Liaoxia, what will the people of the country think of me, and what will the world think of Song?

I dare not compare myself to Empress Dowager Xiao of the Liao Kingdom. After all, that woman has put Taizong down, but she can't be bullied to such an extent, is she too useless?

"Zhuqing, Ai's family suddenly feels unwell, so please suspend the court discussion, and discuss it after an hour."

After finishing speaking, she couldn't wait to get up, and left behind the bead curtain, while whispering to the eunuch beside her:

"Quickly invite Zhong Jinghou to enter the palace."

Hearing this, Concubine Pang couldn't sit still anymore, she got up quickly, without even looking at the courtiers, she followed her away quickly.

Seeing this, all the ministers couldn't help but look at each other in blank dismay. This trick was called sick and delayed, and Empress Dowager Pan was almost exhausted.

Seeing Sima Guang and others looking eagerly at him, Wang Yanling shook his head slightly and said:

"Colleagues, let's take a rest first, I'm afraid it will be difficult to conclude what happened today."

As he said that, he walked to the waiting courtyard first.

Sima Guang and others followed behind him, whispering:

"I'm afraid the Empress Dowager is looking for reasons to postpone it. Now that the funeral of the late emperor is imminent, it is not appropriate to delay the matter of Liaoxia for too long."

Wang Yanling sighed and said:

"So what? It's so difficult that the old man will take you to the palace?"

Sima Guang was stunned for a moment, and could only say:

"Well, there is no other plan at this time, the queen mother can't just delay."

Although Song Dynasty favored scholar-bureaucrats, Li Zhaoming's incident happened not long ago, and a group of internal guards were also dealt with in the palace. It was a sensitive period, and they did not dare to go too far beyond the palace's rules.

Not long after Empress Dowager Pan returned to the harem, she saw Cao Bin walking in with the little eunuch swaying in purple court clothes.

Behind him, Pan Renmei sneaked over without knowing when.

Seeing Cao Bin salute, Empress Dowager Pan glanced at him, fumbled for Yu Ruyi in her hand and said:

"Isn't Zhong Jinghou sick? This is the crime of deceiving the emperor!"

Cao Bin coughed and said with concern for the country and the people all over his face:

"Your Majesty is indeed ill, but I am worried about His Majesty's health, so I have to go to the palace to visit..."

Empress Dowager Pan waved her hands speechlessly, threw Yu Ruyi on the table, turned sideways to stare at him and asked expectantly:

"Okay, the emperor is fine... Cao Bin, is there any way for you to let Liaoxia kill Zhao Ji? Or send him back to Song Dynasty for questioning?"

Cao Bin shook his head like a rattle and said:

"I listen to the opinions of the Queen Mother and the ministers. I just came to the palace to visit Your Majesty."

"Since His Majesty is fine, I will retire, and I will go back to my residence to recuperate..."

After finishing speaking, he winked at Concubine Pang, turned around and left.

In fact, he didn't know the news of the little emperor's illness, and he just took this opportunity to hit the Pan family father and daughter.