Chapter 281: Ennoblement
"The Crown Princess doesn't allow His Highness to be disturbed." Sanshui said.
"Please clean up the study." Zhao Xing said and walked out.
Zhao Xing walked into the bedroom and saw Zhang Guifen sitting on the couch, her chin supported by her hands on the table, sleeping soundly.
"Greetings to Your Highness!"
Cui'e, who was serving on the side, bowed quickly, and Zhao Xing was too late to stop her.
"Your Highness!"
Zhang Guifen was awakened and when she saw Zhao Xing, she quickly stood up and saluted.
"Why haven't you slept yet?" Zhao Xing asked.
"I heard that Your Highness went to the study again after returning, so I went to the kitchen to make some midnight snack for Your Highness."
Zhang Guifen looked at Cui'e and said, "Quick, bring out the warm food."
"Yes!"
Cui'e and the palace maids brought out the warm food and set it on the table.
Zhao Xing came to the table and sat down. Zhang Guifen sat down beside him and said, "I have warmed up the wine. Your Highness has worked hard all day. Would you like to drink a little to relieve your fatigue?"
"Then let's drink something." Zhao Xing nodded.
"I'd like to drink with Your Highness." Zhang Guifen smiled and poured wine for Zhao Xing and herself.
Zhao Xing raised his glass, clinked it with Zhang Guifen's, then drank it down.
Putting down the wine glass, Zhao Xing said, "Crown Princess, do you want to tell me something?"
Zhang Guifen, who was pouring wine, paused when she heard this, then quickly returned to normal and asked, "Why did your highness say that?"
"You know me, and I know you. It's normal for you to cook supper for me and wait for me when you see me busy until late at night, but you don't prepare wine for me." Zhao Xing said.
Zhang Guifen smiled bitterly when she heard this.
Zhao Xing had told her before that drinking was not good for having children. From then on, whenever Zhao Xing went to her house for dinner, she always told him not to serve alcohol.
Zhao Xing even teased her about this.
"You and I are husband and wife, if you have anything to say, just say it directly. Why do this?" Zhao Xing picked up the chopsticks and started eating.
"Your Highness, I came back from the palace today. My father asked my brother to bring a message to me and asked me to pass it on to Your Highness." Zhang Guifen said.
"Is it because of the matter of sending reinforcements to the north? Doesn't my father-in-law want to lead the troops?" Zhao Xing asked without raising his head.
"Yeah." Zhang Guifen nodded.
"Tell your father-in-law not to think too much about it," Zhao Xing said.
Now, the news of building the Great Wall in the north has not been announced yet, and the imperial court has suddenly sent reinforcements to the north.
The Duke of Ying might have known about the civil unrest in Liao and thought that the imperial court was sending more troops to the north in order to take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun during the chaos.
Given his status, it wouldn't be a good thing whether he won or lost.
"Your Highness, my father is old after all, so why don't you find someone else to take over?" Zhang Guifen advised.
"You definitely didn't tell my father-in-law that the emperor wanted to abdicate to me." Zhao Xing took a bite of the dish and said with a smile.
"This matter has not been announced by the imperial court, so I dare not say anything." Zhang Guifen explained hurriedly.
"Why are you so anxious? I know you didn't say it, otherwise my father-in-law wouldn't have asked you to tell me to change someone." Zhao Xing said.
The reason why the Duke of England did not resign directly but asked Zhang Guifen to convey his message was because he was afraid that this was Zhao Xing's intention.
If he resigned, wouldn't he be offending Zhao Xing in public?
But he certainly didn't know that the emperor had already intended to abdicate.
Otherwise, even if he mistakenly believed that the purpose of asking him to lead troops to the north was to take advantage of the civil strife in Liao to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, he would not refuse.
Because Zhao Xing had just ascended the throne, even if the North could not win, it could not suffer a major defeat.
He didn't trust others, so naturally he wouldn't refuse to lead the troops.
"You can tell me tomorrow... Never mind. You don't have to worry about this matter anymore. I will summon my father-in-law tomorrow and talk to him in person."
Zhao Xing originally wanted Zhang Guifen to tell Duke Yingguo that the emperor intended to abdicate.
He wanted to tell the Duke of England something else, so he decided to just tell him himself.
"Yeah." Zhang Guifen didn't say anything else after hearing that.
Normally, the harem is not allowed to interfere in government affairs, and what she said just now was an overstep.
"Are you hungry too? Come and eat something with me." Zhao Xing said.
"I'm not hungry, Your Highness, please eat more." Zhang Guifen picked up the chopsticks and served food to Zhao Xing.
…………
The next morning, Zhao Xing and Zhang Guifen went to the palace together.
After entering the palace, the two first went to visit their father, then Zhang Guifen stayed there to talk with Empress Cao, while Zhao Xing went to Longtu Pavilion.
When they arrived at Longtu Pavilion, Zhao Xing instructed Eunuch Liu to send someone to summon Duke Yingguo into the palace, and then he began to review the notes.
It was unknown how long it had been before Eunuch Liu reported that the Duke of England had arrived. Zhao Xing put down his pen and stretched.
"Let the Duke of England in." Zhao Xing said.
A eunuch responded and left, and soon led the Duke of England in. "I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" the Duke of England saluted.
"No gift!"
Zhao Xing waved his hand, allowed him to sit down, had someone serve him tea, and sent everyone away before saying, "Father-in-law, do you know why the court suddenly sent more troops to the north?"
"I guess it's because of the civil unrest in Liao, and the court wants to take the opportunity to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun." said the Duke of Yingguo.
"Yes and no. The imperial court's increase in troops at this time has something to do with the civil unrest in Liao, but it is not the main reason."
Zhao Xing shook his head and told the whole story.
"I see!"
The Duke of England suddenly realized that with the current situation of the Song Dynasty, it would be almost impossible to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun even if there was civil strife in the Liao Dynasty.
But as a military general, he had little say, and the imperial edict had already been issued, so he could not stop it.
Now that he heard Zhao Xing explain the reason, he felt relieved.
"Your Highness, I am old and my health is getting worse. I am afraid that I will miss the important matters of the court. Your Highness should find someone else to go." The Duke of England said.
"Father-in-law, do you know that my father has already intended to abdicate?" Zhao Xing said.
"What?" The Duke of England was shocked when he heard this.
"My father has even chosen the day for me to ascend the throne. The news will be announced in a few days," said Zhao Xing.
The Duke of England was silent for a while after hearing this, and then said, "Your Highness, even if it costs me my life, I will ensure that the Great Wall is built smoothly!"
Building the Great Wall in the north cost a huge amount of money.
If the construction of the Great Wall failed right after Zhao Xing ascended the throne, a lot of money would be wasted, which would be very disadvantageous to Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing nodded with satisfaction and said, "Although the focus of my father-in-law's trip is to ensure that the construction of the Great Wall can proceed smoothly and not be harassed by the Liao Kingdom, my father-in-law can also pretend to send troops when the time comes to threaten the Liao Kingdom's border. The goal is to make the Liao Kingdom chaotic for as long as possible. How to do it specifically is up to my father-in-law to decide for himself."
The troops on the border of Liao State were all the Liao Emperor's men. Now that the Liao Emperor is dead, these troops should obey Yelu Yixin's orders.
The purpose of the Song Dynasty's increase in troops was to prevent Yelu Yixin from mobilizing these troops.
Zhao Xing asked Duke Ying to make his own judgment based on the situation, which meant letting him make the decision based on the civil unrest in Liao.
If Yelu Yixin gains the upper hand, he must not be allowed to mobilize troops on the border.
But if Yelu Chongyuan gained the upper hand, he would not be able to put too much pressure on the Liao border.
Although Zhao Xing had never witnessed the Duke of Ying's ability to use troops, a man who could come up with a strategy similar to Wang Shao's "Plan for Pacifying the Rong" must have good strategic vision.
Moreover, in the original drama, after Zhao Zongquan ascended the throne, the Liao Kingdom took the opportunity to invade the border, and it was the Duke of Ying who led the troops as the main general to repel them.
Zhao Xing believes that he can make the right decision at critical moments based on the situation.
"I understand what Your Highness means, but the military supervisor is the deputy envoy of the Privy Council. If he disagrees, it will be difficult for me to do anything." The Duke of England said with difficulty.
"I will give you a secret order. If he doesn't interfere, then forget it. Otherwise, you will take out the secret order and take over the entire army directly!" Zhao Xing said.
He now holds the imperial seal, and the orders he issues are imperial decrees.
"Your Highness trusts me so much, I will definitely live up to your trust!" the Duke of England said excitedly.
The Song Dynasty valued civil officials over military officials. After Emperor Taizong's failed Northern Expedition, there was no precedent for a military general to command an army independently.
When a military general is in charge of a region, he must have a military supervisor. If the two have different opinions, the military supervisor has the right to directly take over the military power.
It is precisely because of this practice that although military generals nominally lead the troops, the real callers are civil officials.
Zhao Xing gave him such a secret order, allowing him to directly control the power at the critical moment. This showed how much trust he had in him.
"I also believe that my father-in-law will live up to my trust, so I entrusted this important task to him. If he has other difficulties, you can raise them now." Zhao Xing said.
"Given the current situation of the Liao Kingdom, they may send troops to harass the Song Dynasty when they learn that it is planning to build the Great Wall in the north, but they will definitely not use troops on a large scale. I have no difficulty with this," the Duke of England said confidently.
"That's good. When the army sets out, I will personally see the soldiers off." Zhao Xing said with a smile.
"Oh, I have something to ask Your Highness!" Duke Ying said, "After the imperial court issued the order to mobilize troops, the soldiers were happy to hear about the battle. However, many soldiers were discussing whether they would be rewarded with land for their meritorious service. If the imperial court could reward them with land, it would surely boost the morale of the army!"
"Of course!" Zhao Xing said, "When the army sets out, I will personally announce the news!"
Zhao Xing did not expect that the soldiers were so enthusiastic about the land, so he naturally would not come back to be stingy with the land.
Once the nationwide farmland inventory is completed, even if the inventory is not thorough, there will be no problem with tens of millions of extra acres of land.
After talking with the Duke of England for more than half an hour, the Duke of England left with a secret decree.
After Duke Ying left, Eunuch Liu reported, "Your Highness, the Grand Chancellor has been waiting in the side hall for a while."
Zhao Xing didn't know why Han Zhang came over, so he asked someone to invite him over.
After a while, Han Zhang came in, bowed and said, "I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"
"No gift!"
Zhao Xing waved his hand, asked Han Zhang to sit down, and asked, "Why did you come here, sir?"
"Your Highness, there are only a few months left until your ascension to the throne. Although it has not been announced to the world yet, time is running out and we should make all the necessary preparations. The reign title, titles to be bestowed upon you, and additional imperial examinations after you ascend the throne have not yet been decided," said Han Zhang.
Zhao Xing frowned slightly when he heard this and asked, "Do you think the Song Dynasty is short of officials now, Grand Minister?"
"Of course there is no shortage of it." Han Zhang said.
"If that's the case, why do we still need to confer titles and hold special examinations?" Zhao Xing said.
(End of this chapter)