I studied in modern times

Chapter 754 Zhao Xu: Those who spread rumors and bring disaster to the country should be killed!

The news of Zhang Yu's death quickly spread throughout the city of Bianjing.

In an instant, it attracted the attention of countless people.

It even immediately overshadowed the discussion about Zhao Xu's recall of Yang Ji and Cui Taifu.

no way!
Zhang Dun is currently one of the recognized leaders of the New Party.

His tough, radical yet steady style has earned him great prestige within the New Party.

A southern expedition further established his authority.

The territory was expanded by thousands of miles, and all the land north of the Jiaozhi River was occupied.

Moreover, the cost of the Southern Expedition was extremely low, totaling only a few million strings of cash.

It can be said to be the most economical war ever fought by the Song Dynasty.

The key is that the benefits are also great.

According to the treaty, Jiaozhi had to pay an annual tribute of one million shi of rice and purchase another one million shi from the Song Dynasty.

The two million shi of rice produced this year made it easier for the Song Dynasty to operate Guangnan West Road.

It also made the eight new states prosperous.

Everyone who has been to Guangxi, whether scholars or merchants, praises Zhang Dun's rule.

Not to mention the palace.
Since last year, the Xiang family and the Gao family have been singing praises for Zhang Dun in front of the two palaces every day.

The Gao family, in particular, almost exaggerated Zhang Dun into a modern saint.

Therefore, after Han Jiang retired, Zhang Dun was actually the most popular candidate for the right prime minister in both the court and the public.

Now, Zhang Dun needs to observe mourning.

The most popular candidate for the position of Right Prime Minister has withdrawn from the competition.

All those who aspired to become prime minister were instantly energized.

All kinds of monsters and demons were suddenly revived with full health and became full of energy.

All kinds of small actions began to take place.

At this time, the Xiang family and the Gao family also became anxious.

As soon as he learned the news of Zhang Yu's death, Gao Zunxian, the Empress Dowager's uncle, rushed to the palace to find Zhao Xu.

Gao Zunxian was the youngest son of King Kangmuwu (Gao Jixun).

He is just over 40 years old this year, and is considered the middle-aged and energetic third generation of the Gao family.

That's right, he's not a very nice person, and he always likes to act like the only surviving son of King Kangmuwu (Gao Jixun) and the only uncle of the Empress Dowager.

Zhao Xu had never had any dealings with him, so he was surprised when he learned that Gao Zunxian came to the palace to see him.

"Did Gao Dianzhi tell me why he wanted to see me?" Zhao Xu asked Guo Zhongxiao who came to report.

Guo Zhongxiao bowed and said, "I'm reporting this to your majesty. I'm telling you straight away that this is about Guangxi. I beg to see your majesty!"

Zhao Xu's face suddenly fell, and he said, "Then ask him to go back!"

"This..." Guo Zhongxiao hesitated.

Zhao Xu waved his hand and said, "Please go back now!"

"Don't make things difficult for the country, and don't hurt the kindness of the Grand Mother!"

Guo Zhongxiao then bowed again and accepted the order.

Zhao Xu looked at Guo Zhongxiao's figure, shook his head, and sneered: "What the hell!"

Don't be fooled by the appearance that Gao Zunxian is the only surviving son of King Kangmuwu and the brother of King Gaolu (Gao Zunfu).

The fact is that the Empress Dowager treated her relatives of the same clan differently.

Unfortunately, none of Kangmu Wu's sons and their descendants could get a good look from the Empress Dowager.

On the contrary, Gao Zunyu, Gao Zunhui, Gao Zunli and others, who are cousins, can have a seat in the Qingshou Palace.

The Empress Dowager was particularly close to Gao Zunyu and Gao Zunhui.

The reasons for this result are complex.

Zhao Xu had only heard a little about it. It was said that after King Kangmuwu passed away, there was some unhappiness among his sons over the division of inheritance.

And these unpleasant things continued to ferment in the days that followed.

Unfortunately, Prince Gaolu (Gao Zunfu) has not been in good health.

Therefore, after King Kangmuwu died of illness, he also passed away a few years later, leaving behind only a son and a daughter, who were all lonely and helpless.

When the uncles and aunts see this situation, they will naturally be very "enthusiastic" to help.

The Empress Dowager was sent to the palace with the "enthusiastic help" of her uncles.

The Empress Dowager's younger brother, Gao Shilin, lived a very poor life for a long time.

It is said that later on, Gao Zunyu, the son of Gao Zunfu's uncle (Gao Jizhong), who had a good relationship with him, could not bear it and took Gao Shilin home to take care of him, which prevented Gao Shilin from becoming homeless.

These are just rumors, and Zhao Xu doesn't know whether they are true or not.

However, it is obvious that the Empress Dowager has indeed been deliberately distancing herself from her uncles.

On the contrary, he has a very close relationship with Gao Zunyu, who is more distantly related to him.

Therefore, when Xining was expanding the borders, it was Gao Zunyu who took action instead of the uncles who were more closely related to the Empress Dowager.

At the same time, there is another piece of evidence that proves the Empress Dowager's dislike for her uncles - Gao Zunxian was still only a left-hand palace guard.

He was a relative of the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager's uncle, but he couldn't even get a position as the chief or deputy chief of the various ministries!
You know, even the incompetent brothers of Zhao Xu's biological mother, the Empress Dowager Zhu, were given favors by the court after Zhao Xu ascended the throne and were promoted to the positions of chief and deputy envoys of various ministries to enjoy salaries.

However, Gao Zunxian was always suppressed by the Qingshou Palace and was not promoted.

Every time the Ministry of Rites petitioned to follow precedent and promote Gao Zunxian, it would be rejected by the Qingshou Palace with high-sounding reasons.

It's not just Gao Zunxian!
The same goes for all other uncles.

These people were stuck at the rank of ambassador until their death.

They were all posthumously awarded the titles of chief and deputy envoy of various departments.

The highest official rank awarded posthumously was no higher than Deputy Envoy of the Left Treasury of Xijing.

In contrast, Zhu's stepfather Zhu Shi'an was immediately posthumously conferred the title of Kaifeng Yitong Sansi and Kaizhou Governor after Zhao Xu ascended the throne. This shows the hatred and obsession that the Empress Dowager had for her uncles.

What people say is probably not groundless.

However, Gao Zunxian was unaware of this and had been parading around in public under the guise of being the Empress Dowager's uncle.

Now, they have even raised this banner to Zhao Xu, trying to get free food and drinks.

……

The Qingshou Palace soon learned from Liang Congzheng that Gao Zunxian wanted to see Zhao Xu.

After listening to Liang Congzheng's report, the Empress Dowager stroked her favorite cat in her arms and asked, "Has the Emperor summoned Gao Dianzhi?"

Liang Congzheng shook his head: "I heard that everyone ordered Guo Sheren to scold Gao Dianzhi!"

"Everyone says: Palace guards should not make things difficult for the country, and they should not hurt the kindness of the Empress Dowager!"

The Empress Dowager laughed: "Your Majesty and I are truly a family of one mind!"

In the eyes of the Empress Dowager, the fact that Zhao Xu was able to scold Gao Zunxian showed that this grandson was of the same mind as her.

Because, on the other hand, the other Gao family members.

Especially Gao Zunhui, the government has been promoting and using him.

So she ordered, "Liang Yaban, go and invite the Queen Mother and the Emperor to the Qingshou Palace!"

"Now that Mr. Zhang has lost his father, he needs to return home to observe the mourning period!"

"But Guangxi, Jiaozhou and the imperial court cannot possibly wait for Minister Zhang for three years!"

"But we must decide as soon as possible on the person who will take over from Mr. Zhang to guard Guangxi."

"At the same time, we should also have a plan for the shortage of officials in the capital!"

After Han Jiang retired, the capital was already vacant.

Subsequently, Zhang Xu requested for a county, and Fu Yaoyu was recommended by the court to enter the two governments.

As a result, the Central Office began to be short of staff.

Now, An Tao also requested a county, and the Western Palace also began to be short of staff.

But in the hall, there was constant quarreling over these missing staff members.

Originally, the Empress Dowager thought that the position of Right Prime Minister might be reserved for Zhang Dun.

She had no opinion about Zhang Dun either - the ladies she trusted all said that Zhang Dun was compassionate to the people in Guangxi, promoted education and established schools, and reduced taxes and levies, which won him great praise from the people.

But now, since Zhang Dun had to return to his hometown to observe the mourning period, it was obviously impossible for the court to allow Lu Gongzhu to serve as prime minister alone for three years.

Therefore, the palace really needs to come up with an idea.

Decide on the candidates for the Left Prime Minister, the Western Palace Governor, and the Central Secretary as soon as possible.

……

After receiving the order from the Empress Dowager, Zhao Xu first went to Baoci Palace to meet Empress Dowager Xiang.

When the mother and son met, Empress Dowager Xiang did not rush to go to the Qingshou Palace with Zhao Xu. Instead, she took his hand, sat down and said, "Sixth brother, it hasn't rained in Kaifeng for more than a month..."

"The ministers have been ordered to go to the temple to pray for rain three times, but they have never received a rain..."

Zhao Xu listened and asked calmly, "What did the Queen Mother hear in the palace?"

He said to the Queen Mother: "I will listen to what others say..."

"Perhaps the court does not respect Buddha, so the gods and Buddhas are angry..."

Zhao Xu listened and his expression became serious.

He looked around and asked, "Who told my mother this slander?"

The people around him trembled in fear and knelt down to apologize.

Empress Dowager Xiang held Zhao Xu's hand and said, "It has nothing to do with others. It is my own private thought."

How could Zhao Xu believe it?

It’s good to be a devout Buddhist to the Queen Mother.

But she had been busy with state affairs these days, and even when she went to the temple to burn incense and worship Buddha, she had to send people to go on her behalf.

Where is the time to think about such things?
However, since Empress Dowager Xiang refused to speak, Zhao Xu could not force her to answer, so he could only say: "Mother, I have heard that Buddha has no form, but takes sentient beings as his form; Buddha has no mind, but takes sentient beings' minds as his mind..."

"If the Buddha is like this, how could he randomly bring disaster to the world?"

"What's more, the imperial court collected the pawnshops in the temples in Beijing last year, not for selfish desires, but to provide relief to the victims and alleviate the suffering of the common people!"

"Just as the great Buddhist translator Jin Zongchi said: In the past, the Buddha was compassionate and cut off his flesh to feed the eagle. Now, in the temples of Beijing, money is donated to help the disaster relief. This is the true meaning of the compassion of the monks and the correct way for monks to practice!"

"Therefore, I think that even if the Buddha knew what the court had done, he would only be delighted and would not blame us."

When Empress Dowager Xiang heard Jin Zongzhi's endorsement, which was full of Zen philosophy, she immediately turned her worry into joy and chanted the Buddha's name: "Amitabha, what Master Tripitaka said is very true!"

"Buddha is merciful, it will definitely be so...but...I am still a little worried!"

You know, including this year, this is the third consecutive year of drought.

She was really a little scared.

I'm afraid that the gods and Buddhas will be really angry and will not only bring disaster to the world, but also bring illness to this child.

If so, what can we do?
Zhao Xu could only comfort her: "Mother, please be at ease!"

"According to your estimation, sweet rain will fall in Kaifeng Prefecture within ten days!" he said with great certainty - Zhao Xu was extremely sure of this.

Because in his memory, the drought in the second year of Yuanyou did not last too long.

At the same time, Zhao Xu had already developed the intention to kill.

Using evil words to harm the country and intimidate the Queen Mother!
No matter who it is, he can be killed!

"Don't let me catch you!" He said viciously in his heart: "If I catch you... you should know what the ultimate punishment is!"

He knew that Empress Dowager Xiang was in the palace every day, and even when she went out to burn incense, she sent someone to replace her.

Therefore, the only people who could bring those rumors from outside into the palace were those gossipy women.

Moreover, this gossipy woman must be related to a certain great monk.

(End of this chapter)