Return to the Song Dynasty

The team of people who attracted people's attention quickly approached, finally feasting the eyes of curious people.The small but curious second son of the Gu family also sat on his father's neck as he wished, stretched out his round head and kept looking around, and his two fat little hands were still holding his father's head tightly, for fear of falling off .

"Little Fatty, be gentle, you're going to loose Daddy's bun." Master Gu patted his younger son's chubby hand helplessly, and said softly.Mr. Gu still dotes on this cute little son very much.The eldest son beside him snorted dissatisfiedly.

Parent Gu's son: Why can my younger brother sit on my father's shoulder to watch, but I have to stand underneath, crowded around by a group of adults, and I can't see anything even on tiptoe? !

Father Gu Xianlin: Don't you see how old you are? !Do you still want to be on your father's shoulders? !You want to crush your father to death!Or do you think your father is too healthy and lives too long? !

It is said that experts watch the way and laymen watch the fun.The ordinary people watching the excitement only care about who is handsome, who rides handsomely, which horse is the strongest, and so on.Gu Xianlin, who was the official of the imperial court, took a casual glance and saw something.

'The official rank of this group is not low.There are at least three or four officials at the level of the governor in the team, and these people can be escorted all the way. The person in the car must be a feudal official, but I don't know who it is.Well, I guess I don't know him either, so don't go up to annoy others. Master Gu muttered to himself, and followed the crowd to watch the excitement seriously.He has been in Guizhou for so many years, he is used to seeing slender southerners, and he really misses the burly northern men.

"Father, daddy, are they all generals?" The eldest son jumped up and down with difficulty, finally showing his head twice, and saw soldiers in armor riding on horseback.

"Of course they're not all generals. You see, their armors are different. This one with a big beard has a higher rank, so he can be called a general. This..." Gu Xianlin asked the elder son's question. He was quite patient, bent slightly and explained to the child in a low voice.

"Oh, that's it. Then there are two people who didn't wear armor! What are they?" The eldest son continued to ask curiously.

"Aren't they generals? But I think the elder brother in the blue robe looks good! He looks so handsome riding a horse! The clothes are also pretty! He looked at me! He looked at me!" The second son, chubby, was suddenly excited When he got up, the chubby stopped grabbing Mr. Gu's head, and desperately waved his two chubby arms, trying to say hello to the good-looking brother.

The poor humanoid pedestal, Mr. Gu, was so shaken by his youngest son that he almost couldn't stand still. "Be honest, don't shake around, you are not a little girl, what do you care about people's good looks!" Master Gu was in a hurry, and patted the little guy's fat butt twice before raising his head to follow.

Among a group of big men with big arms, round waists, burly figures and wearing shining armors, except for the carriage in the middle, there are only two people who are the most eye-catching.Neither of them was wearing armor, but wearing elegant scholar robes. One of them was a middle-aged man in a gray robe, with three long beards and a serious face. Although he was not ugly, he was definitely not good-looking. .

The rest is the young man in the blue robe that the little fat boy said.This person has a slender figure, a tall and straight posture, wide shoulders and narrow hips, and with this green shirt, he looks like a clump of bamboo, elegant and resilient, full of the positive vitality of young people.Gu Xianlin looked up intently, intending to see what the young man praised by the little fat boy looked like.As a result, as soon as he saw the young man's face, he instantly petrified and stood there dumbfounded.

'That is, isn't that His Royal Highness King Shen? 'That face Gu Xianlin will never forget for the rest of his life.Back then, he was not crowned king, and he was just an ordinary prince. At the court meeting, he was quick-witted and eloquent, with those narrow and long phoenix eyes, the slightly raised eye ends, and his calm, half-smile That expression was already deeply imprinted in Gu Xianlin's mind.The one in front of me is obviously the adult version of His Royal Highness King Shen.But shouldn't he be in town?How come here?

Master Gu turned his head to look at the Bianliang City Gate in front of him, and then turned to look at the dusty horse riding on the horse, obviously His Royal Highness King Shen who had just rushed to the city from another place, and he seemed to have come back with the people in the carriage. Who is that in the carriage?official? !No way!But besides the officials, who else could let a prince guard him?It can't be the queen mother!I always thought it was a bit of a fantasy.What's even more mysterious is that His Royal Highness Shen Wang smiled and nodded at him all the way away.

Of course what Master Gu saw was Zhao Man, and that team was naturally the Northwest Army team led by Zhang Wei, who had returned to Beijing to report his duties.In fact, it was Zhao Man who saw Gu Xianlin's chubby boy waving his little fleshy hands on his head. He was smiling at that cute little baby, but it didn't matter to you, Mr. Gu.People don't see clearly whether you are round or flat, okay?

Then?Then His Royal Highness King Shen and his party passed by, and directly showed their credentials to enter the city.Only the masses of people who eat melons are still commenting and discussing, and... Gu Xianlin, the governor who has not figured out what's going on.

It was already afternoon when Zhang Yi brought this group of younger brothers into the city. He settled down at the post station and went to report. When the news reached the palace and the officials knew they had arrived, it was already evening.Moreover, the next day was the grand ceremony of worshiping the sun. Zhang Wei also heard that the official Zhao Xu's health was not good recently, and he had not been able to face the court for many days, so he thought that he must have to wait a few days before he could face the saint.Unexpectedly, that night, people from the palace announced an order to invite Zhang Yu to the palace to have an audience, but only Zhang Yu was announced, and the rest of the people still had to wait until after the ceremony to be summoned.

However, Mr. Zhang was not happy with such preferential treatment, on the contrary, he looked a little worried.All because the servant who came to pass the decree told him that His Majesty will meet him in Funing Palace.The Funing Palace is located behind the Chuigong Hall, and it was the sleeping palace of the officials of the past dynasties. This is nothing unusual, but the strange thing is that the officials generally do not receive ministers in the sleeping palace.unless……

With doubts and uneasy conjectures full of doubts, Zhang Yu got into the carriage entering the palace.It's not that Zhang Yi is too worried, but that there have been too many rumors recently. As the cousin of Prime Minister Zhang Dun, Mr. Zhang, of course, has obtained first-hand news. The official's health is deteriorating, which is really worrying.

As far as Zhang Yu is concerned, the official Zhao Xu should be regarded as a good emperor who worked hard to govern.After experiencing the "Xining Reform" and "Yuanyou Reform", the new party and the old party were in dispute, and the political situation was turbulent. Finally, the current official Zhao Xu took charge of the government, and then set the tone for continuing the reform. My younger brother Zhang Dun and other New Party officials were also able to return to court.

Leaving aside party disputes, let’s discuss the facts as they stand.For the Song Dynasty at this time, internal and external troubles, it is indeed a wise move to persist in reforms, continue to increase treasury revenue, stabilize the current situation, and accumulate strength for the outside world.This is exactly what Zhao Xu did. He supported the new party, fully supported the reform, and took a tough attitude to use troops against Xixia. This is undoubtedly to continue the life of Song Dynasty.

The young official may not have seen the dangers under the song and dance of the Song Dynasty. Maybe he is just young and vigorous, wants to change and fight, but his actions coincide with the current situation.Today's Great Song Dynasty needs such a ruler who is determined to forge ahead and dare to fight.

However... Zhang Yu didn't want to think about it.If Zhao Xu died suddenly, there would be no successor for the royal family.The only son of the official family died early, and there are no other heirs. The children of several princes are still children in a bun. The younger brothers of the official family are of the right age, but...

Alas, listening to what my younger brother Zhang Dun said inside and outside the meaning, there is no one who is capable and virtuous to inherit the great rule.His Royal Highness Duan Wang is famous for his talents, but unfortunately he lacks interest in politics and politics, so he might not be a good candidate.And it is difficult enough to decide whether to be the child of the younger brother or the younger brother.Alas, as a minister, he has to worry about the heirs of the royal family all the time, it is really bitter tears to say.

In fact, I can’t blame Zhang Yi for eating radish and worrying about it. If the emperor changes to a bad one, it will still have a great influence on the ministers, especially the ministers who want to do something practical. For example, if they fight Xixia or something, they must get Only the trust and support of the officials can make things happen. It seems that victory is about to happen. At this juncture...

Sigh~ Zhang Yi sighed countless times in his heart, feeling all kinds of sadness in his heart, and finally thought about why his life was so long, the official family always left first... Bah, bah, bah, the official family hasn't left yet.The officials must survive it!

Feeling all sorts of apprehensions in his heart, Mr. Zhang, who kept praying for the officials all the way, finally arrived at Funing Palace, which was still brightly lit in the cold night.As soon as he entered the door, the strong smell of medicine in the room made Zhang Wei's heart sink completely.Looking inside, Zhao Xu, an upright and mature man, was already skinny and skinny, with sunken cheeks, pale complexion, and bloodless lips, no matter how you look at it, he looks terminally ill.

Zhang Wei came out of it, and was about to salute, when he heard Zhao Xu's weak voice: "Zhang Qing excuse me, give me a seat, cough cough." Zhang Wei hurriedly thanked the official, and sat on the chair brought by the servant .At this time, he had time to look around, and found that besides his cousin Zhang Dun, there were also Liu Shouren, the political adviser, Su Zhe, the imperial censor, Zeng Bu, the deputy envoy of the privy, Ma Yun, the deputy envoy of the privy, and Zhang Pu, the third envoy. Court officials.

When Zhang Yi saw the battle, it was estimated that the officials wanted to discuss something.Sure enough, as soon as Zhang Wei greeted his colleagues present, the official said: "I called you here mainly for the affairs of Xixia. Cough cough." The clever little servant quickly handed Zhao Xu a handkerchief , and stuffed two pillows behind him to make him more comfortable.

Zhao Xu slowed down and continued: "The envoy of the Liao Kingdom arrived the day before yesterday and brought the letter of credentials of the Liao Kingdom, ahem, mainly to mediate the affairs of Xixia, saying that Xixia has been defeated, and is willing to pay compensation, ahem, Surrender to my Great Song Dynasty. Xixia has also sent envoys and will arrive in Bianliang soon. Cough cough cough, I want to hear the opinions of the audience first."

Zhao Xu coughed intermittently, and finally managed to say this long paragraph.The officials below did not speak immediately, they looked at each other and then at the officials, but they did not speak first.In the end, Zhao Xu gave Zhang Dun an encouraging look and motioned for him to speak first.

Zhang Dun has no worries, he has always been the main fighter, and at this time of course he advocates fighting to the end, not accepting the surrender, and directly destroying Xixia and merging it into the territory of the Song Dynasty.As soon as Zhang Dun finished speaking, the privy envoy Zeng Bu and the privy envoy Ma Yun also voiced their support.Liu Shouren, the political advisor, and Su Zhe, the imperial censor, did not say a word. These two obviously hesitated.Naturally, Zhang Yu would not rush to talk indiscriminately, and it was inconvenient to express.

Official Zhao Xu was very relieved to hear that there were so many people in the main battle. If there is anything he cares about now, it is undoubtedly Xixia and the succession of the throne.If Xixia can take back the territory of the Song Dynasty in his hands, he will die and rest in peace.He tugged at the corner of his mouth with great effort, trying to smile.

However, before Zhao Xu's smile could fully bloom, some people couldn't sit still.He is Zhang Pu, the third envoy, and he quickly stood up from his seat. After a salute, he said eagerly: "I am not proficient in military affairs, but I am in charge of financial revenue and know the state of the treasury. I... I want to say that the treasury has no money."

"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough..." As soon as Zhang Pu finished speaking, he heard coughing from the official's house. It seemed that the official's house didn't want to hear this.However, as the third envoy in charge of the world's wealth, Zhang Pu had no choice but to bear the pressure and continue talking while wiping the sweat from his brow when he thought of the empty treasury.He didn't even dare to look up at the faces of the officials and the prime minister.

"Officials, the state treasury is short of money and food. In the past few years, my Song Dynasty has been fighting Xixia for a long time, and it has consumed a lot. This battle alone has consumed as much as 10 taels of silver. Sacrificing the pensions of soldiers. If you want to fight again, you must add new soldiers, as well as replenish and repair strategic materials such as horses and weapons and equipment. You also need to prepare adequate food and supplies, and you need to transport vehicles, soldiers and other manpower and material resources... Even if we only start a war once, it will cost tens of thousands of taels. What's more, if we want to completely destroy Xixia, we must continue to fight countless times, and now..."

Zhang Pu gritted his teeth, and finally said: "Now the national treasury only has 8000 taels of balance, and it still needs to maintain the normal operation of the court and the country. It is already stretched. It is really unable to support the needs of the war. Please learn from the officials!" Zhang Pu After finishing speaking, he fell to his knees with a plop and didn't get up again.

There was silence in Funing Palace, only the occasional coughing of official Zhao Xu could be heard.The rest of the people did not dare to speak out, and the atmosphere suddenly became dignified. "Cough cough, cough cough" Zhao Xu was obviously very angry, and just wanted to scold Zhang Pu.Su Zhe stood up.