Chapter 257 Asking for Advice from Minglan
The government has been hesitant about whether to send troops.
Moreover, he was more inclined not to send troops. Zhao Xing's words were of some use, but at most they allowed the emperor to maintain a balance between sending troops and not sending troops. He was still hesitant and could not make a decision.
Zhao Xing saw this and said, "Father, the Liao Kingdom comes to the Song Dynasty to raid the valley every year. It seems that they just want to rob some money and food, but in fact they have very malicious intentions. The Liao Kingdom raids the valley every year, but the court does nothing, which makes the people in the north more and more disappointed with the court. In the long run, if the Liao Kingdom attacks, the people in the north may not help the Liao Kingdom, but they will not help the Song Dynasty either.
If we don’t seize the opportunity now to win back the people’s hearts, the consequences will be disastrous!”
What Zhao Xing said was not alarmist, but could really happen.
There were various factors that led to the Jin army's rapid march southwards, but one of the factors that must have been the unpopularity of the Song Dynasty in the north was that.
Since ancient times, it has not been uncommon for a small number of troops to defend against enemies that are ten or even dozens of times their number by relying on strong cities and dangerous passes.
The reason why it was able to be maintained was that the role played by the people was very crucial.
During the Three Kingdoms period, Hao Zhao defended against tens of thousands of troops led by Zhuge Liang for more than 20 days with only one thousand soldiers.
If there were no civilians to help transport the city defense equipment, no matter how good Hao Zhao was at defending the city, it would be difficult for him to hold the city with only a thousand men.
Although the people in the north hated the Liao people who plundered them more, the incompetence and indifference of the imperial court also made them completely lose confidence in the imperial court.
It won't help the court at all.
The emperor's face changed when he heard this. Although he was a little weak in character and indecisive, there was one thing he cared about very much, and that was the Zhao family's rule over the world.
He wanted to reform in the first place because there were too many accumulated problems that had threatened the Zhao family's rule over the world.
He gave up the reform because he felt that continuing would undermine the Zhao family's rule.
Reform itself is to stabilize the rule. Since the reform affects the rule, there is naturally no need for reform.
Zhao Xing had already raised the issue of whether to send troops to the level of whether the rule was stable, and the balance in the emperor's heart instantly tilted towards sending troops.
"Fuer is right. I will now order Prime Minister Shen to go north and take charge of this matter." said the emperor.
"Father, isn't the Duke of England in the north? Just leave this matter to him. If Prime Minister Shen rushes over from Bian Jing, it might already be snowing by the time he arrives. By that time, everyone will have withdrawn." Zhao Xing said.
"The Duke of Ying is old after all. If we let him lead the troops to encircle and suppress the rebellion, what will we do if something goes wrong?" the official frowned.
Zhao Xing sighed inwardly. His father said that the Duke of England was too old, but in fact he didn't want him to be the commander-in-chief.
Since Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, there has been a custom in using civil servants as military supervisors during wars.
He is called the military supervisor, but in fact he is the supreme commander, and all the generals leading the troops must obey his orders.
Just now, the emperor did not say to send Prime Minister Shen to be the military supervisor, but rather to let Prime Minister Shen be responsible for this matter. It can be seen that this has become the norm.
It was only because the Duke of England had a high status that a minister was sent there. If it were someone else, I'm afraid a civil servant of the third or fourth rank would have been sent directly.
"Father, although the Duke of England is old, he is still strong. I heard from the Crown Princess that the Duke of England still gets up early every day to practice martial arts, regardless of the cold or hot weather. What's more, as a general, the Duke of England does not need to lead the charge into battle personally. Speed is of the essence in war, and there is no time to lose." Zhao Xing said.
The official pondered for a moment and said, "What Fu'er said makes sense. Let the Duke of England take charge of this matter."
After saying this, he called over Eunuch Liu and asked him to call in the Hanlin Academy scholars who were serving in the palace to draft the decree.
Zhao Xing took his leave and left.
After leaving Longtu Pavilion, Zhao Xing did not leave the palace directly, but went to Renming Palace.
If he didn't pay his respects to Empress Cao every time he went to the palace, he would be criticized the next time he went.
When Zhao Xing arrived, Zhang Guifen was also there, talking to Queen Cao.
"Why did Fu'er come to the palace at this time? Are you afraid that I will make things difficult for the Crown Princess?" Queen Cao joked with a smile when she saw Zhao Xing coming in.
"Mother."
Zhang Guifen blushed when she heard this. Zhao Xing smiled and saluted, saying, "I have something to ask Father, so I naturally have to come and greet Mother."
When Empress Cao heard this, she knew it must be related to the 800-li express delivery. However, the harem was not allowed to interfere in government affairs, so she did not ask any questions and asked Zhao Xing to sit down.
Zhao Xing chatted with Queen Cao about family matters for a while, and when the palace gate was about to close, he and Zhang Guifen left the palace together.
"Your Highness, today my mother has given me a task." Zhang Guifen said.
"What job?" Zhao Xing asked curiously.
"Si Yu married the legitimate son of Marquis Anyang and gave birth to a daughter, but she has never been able to conceive again. Marquis Anyang's wife wanted to take a concubine for her son, but Si Yu tried to stop her. Marquis Anyang's wife then ran to the palace to cry to my mother, and my mother told me to handle the matter, but I had no idea what to do for a moment," said Zhang Guifen with a bitter face.
Zhao Xing smiled and said, "What's the big deal? This is probably a test from your mother. I can't help you."
"Test?" Zhang Guifang was stunned when she heard that.
"Yes." Zhao Xing nodded and said, "Although you don't have to manage the wives of officials, it is common for the wives of the royal family to ask you to make decisions when they have grievances. When you become the queen in the future, you will also need to deal with these."
The empress did not directly manage the wives of officials, but if the wives of relatives by marriage and royal family had any grievances, they would seek the empress's help.
For example, Cao Siyu was a relative of the Empress Cao, and was also the niece of Empress Cao. She tried to stop the Empress from taking a concubine, so Lady Anyang could only go to the Empress to cry and complain.
In fact, this situation exists not only in the royal family, but also in the clans.
The head of the main line is equivalent to the clan leader. If there are any disputes in the clan, the clan leader and the elders will be asked to make the decision.
When the female members of the family have problems, it is not convenient to talk to the clan leader or elders, so they usually go to the mistress of the house. When Zhang Guifen becomes the queen, she will also need to deal with these matters.
After hearing this, Zhang Guifen no longer mentioned asking Zhao Xing to help her with some advice.
I can't always look for Zhao Xing when I have problems in the future.
It is often said that even an honest judge finds it difficult to settle family disputes. It is not that it is impossible to settle family disputes, but it is very difficult to satisfy all parties and not affect the relationship and harmony of the family.
In this matter, it was definitely Cao Siyu's fault. After all, she married the eldest son and was going to inherit the family business in the future. How could she do that without offspring?
Even if he is not the eldest son, there is no reason not to allow him to take a concubine if he cannot conceive a child.
Even though the Hai family's conditions were so harsh, they still said that if a man was still childless after the age of 40, he could take a concubine.
Although I know it, I have to consider Cao Siyu.
Since the Crown Princess spoke, Cao Siyu naturally did not dare to refute and agreed to take a concubine.
But Cao Siyu was unwilling to do so. What would she do if her concubine became pregnant in the future?
By then, the Anyang Marquis' Mansion and the Weiguo Duke's Mansion would become enemies.
Moreover, the attitude of Queen Cao must also be considered in this matter.
If the wife of Marquis Anyang forced her son to take a concubine, Cao Siyu would not dare to violate filial piety and turn against her mother-in-law.
At most, Cao Siyu would just show her displeasure.
Lady Anyang Hou went to Queen Cao to cry and complain. In addition to asking Queen Cao to persuade Cao Siyu to accept it, she also wanted to explain the reason.
It's you, Miss Cao, who has never been able to get pregnant, not me, the wicked mother-in-law, who has always put people in my son's room.
Zhang Guifen’s first thought was to ask the imperial physician to check on Cao Siyu. If Cao Siyu could give birth to a boy, everything would be solved.
However, Zhang Guifen quickly gave up this idea. Given the status of the Cao family, it would not be difficult to find an imperial physician.
After their daughter gave birth to a girl, she was unable to conceive again. The Cao family could not help but seek help from the imperial physician.
Zhao Xing looked at Zhang Guifen, who was thinking hard with a sad face, but did not disturb her.
Some things have to be faced sooner or later. If she can't even handle this matter, she will not be able to handle more complicated things in the future.
After returning to the Eastern Palace, Zhao Xing went to the study, while Zhang Guifen returned to Chunhe Palace.
Zhang Guifen couldn't think of a way to properly handle the matter along the way, so she called Qian's mother over, told her about the matter, and asked Qian's mother for help and advice.
Mother Qian was the maid who came with the Duke of England. Since the Duke of England sent her to accompany Zhang Guifen to the Eastern Palace, it was natural that she had good abilities in all aspects.
But Mother Qian was a servant after all, and she could give Zhang Guifen some advice on how to manage servants and even on the conflicts in the harem.
But she had no way to deal with this matter. Even after she came up with several ideas, Zhang Guifen was not very satisfied with any of them.
"Crown Princess, how about writing a letter to ask the old lady?" Mother Qian said.
Zhang Guifen was tempted when she heard this, but she quickly gave up the idea of going back to ask her mother for help.
She could ask people around her, but she couldn't go back to her mother.
Otherwise, what's the difference between this and asking Zhao Xing for help?
I can't become a queen in the future and still have to ask my mother for help with everything.
Zhang Guifang couldn't think of any good solutions, and the people around her couldn't provide any useful suggestions, which made her very upset.
I have no appetite at dinner time.
Seeing this, Mother Qian was a little worried. Just as she was about to persuade them, Zhang Guifen said, "Mother Qian, send someone to Concubine Sheng's courtyard to invite her sister over."
Mother Qian was stunned when she heard this, and didn't understand why Zhang Guifen suddenly asked her to send someone to invite Minglan over.
But she didn't ask any more questions, just answered and went down.
Zhang Guifen picked up the teacup and took a sip. She asked Mother Qian to go find Minglan, just to see if Minglan had any solution.
One night, when she was chatting with Zhao Xing, Zhao Xing made some comments on several concubines in the palace.
Zhao Xing said that Yu Yanran and Sheng Shulan were the kind of people who were gentle, submissive, and not competitive.
Rulan, on the other hand, is carefree and has no scheming intentions.
In addition, Zhao Xing also made some comments on Li Liangdi.
After listening to this, Zhang Guifen asked, "What about Minglan?"
The reason I asked this is because Zhao Xing did not mention Minglan.
The reason why Zhao Xing did not mention Minglan was because Minglan was not yet a concubine.
But in Zhang Guifen's opinion, Minglan would become a concubine sooner or later, so she asked.
Zhao Xing's evaluation of Minglan is that she is smart, clear-headed and calm.
Smart and clever Zhang Guifen could still understand, and was sober and calm, but Zhang Guifen was a little confused, so she asked again.
(End of this chapter)