Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 488

"Haha, it's precisely because they ignored it that those officials wanted to send Empress Dowager Xiao away." Liu Bingcheng said with a laugh.

"Huh?" The Khitan official was very confused when he heard this.

"You'll know then."

Liu Bingcheng shook his head slightly, too lazy to explain.

The systems of the Liao Dynasty and the Song Dynasty were completely different, and they could not understand the delicate relationship between Han officials and the royal family.

In the Han dynasty, officials all tacitly wanted to limit imperial power.

For the officials of the Song Dynasty, this matter was still reasonable. How could they give up?

…………

"Master!"

Shen Xianggong called Han Zhang and quickly stepped forward and asked, "May I bother you for a moment, my Lord?"

Han Zhang was silent for a while after hearing this, and then said, "I recently got some new tea, Mr. Shen, come and try it."

"Then I'd rather obey your command." Shen Xianggong said with a smile.

Han Zhang brought Shen Xianggong to the public housing, took out tea leaves, boiled water and started making tea.

"Try it."

Han Zhang pushed the prepared tea in front of Mr. Shen, and then started making tea for himself.

Mr. Shen picked up the teacup, took a sip, savored it carefully for a while, praised it a few words, put down the teacup, and looked at Han Zhang who was making tea with his head down.

"You should do your job well. The Prime Minister has not even retired yet, but you have already stopped caring about the affairs of the court. This is not the Prime Minister I know." Prime Minister Shen said.

Han Zhang paused while stirring the tea, then continued stirring.

"I have talked with your Majesty before. Do you know who your Majesty has in mind to succeed the Prime Minister?" Han Zhang said.

"Is it Zeng Qingxuan?" Although Shen Xianggong was asking, his tone was very certain.

He knew that Han Zhang had resigned. Although the government did not agree, Han Zhang's age was there, and it would only take one or two years.

He naturally considered who would take over as Prime Minister after Han Zhang retired. After much thought, Zeng Qingxuan was the most likely candidate.

Because Zeng Qingxuan has no bottom line and would do anything to please Zhao Xing.

In their eyes, this was a treacherous minister, but in the eyes of the officials, it was a sign of obedience.

"No."

Han Zhang shook his head slightly and said, "You are the official's choice. I have entrusted many things to you recently. Don't you have any guesses?"

"It's me?" Shen Xianggong was a little unbelievable, and asked, "How could it be me?"

Han Zhang has indeed not been in charge of things recently, and has pushed a lot of things to his subordinates, but he is still the one who does the most.

But he had never thought about it in this regard. After all, the disaster relief he supervised when he went to Jiangzhou last year was not perfect.

Moreover, he did not agree with Zhao Xing's decisions on many issues.

"This is what the emperor said to me personally. In fact, I also thought at first that the emperor would let Zeng Qingxuan take over as the Grand Chancellor."

Han Zhang pondered for a while and said, "We all underestimated your majesty."

He thought about it carefully and concluded that Zhao Xing was very rational.

Zhao Xing intended to turn the court into a one-man show, but he was aware of the importance of the position of Grand Prime Minister.

Although the Song Dynasty implemented a multi-prime minister system, the power of the prime minister was not as great as imagined.

However, the Song Dynasty valued civil officials over military officials, so the Prime Minister could still be considered the head of all officials.

Replacing the prime minister with someone who obeys Zhao Xing's orders seems to have great benefits.

However, such a person must be ambitious and obedient, and at the same time he will cultivate a large number of confidants in the court.

Even if Zhao Xing knew this, he could not avoid it.

After all, Zhao Xing needs the Prime Minister to help him control the court, and the Prime Minister needs to have enough say in the court.

If one simply obeys orders, with the multi-prime minister system of the Song Dynasty, a single prime minister would not be enough to suppress the opposition voices in the court.

But Zhao Xing was aware of the dangers, so he did not do so.

Instead, he chose Mr. Shen, who was not very obedient.

Having such a rational emperor is both a good thing and a bad thing.

The good thing is that Zhao Xing will not ignore someone’s loyalty just because he opposes him.

The downside is that some of Zhao Xing's ideas and concepts are very firm, and once he makes a decision, it is difficult for others to change it.

Shen Xianggong also understood the meaning of Han Zhang's words. After a long silence, he said, "Your Majesty is obsessed with the Queen Mother of Liao. You should know how serious it is. Are you just going to let it go?"

"Do you really think that His Majesty is bewitched by Empress Dowager Xiao?" Han Zhang asked back.

"I don't believe it either, but your majesty has married a divorced woman before. Your majesty is young after all, and it is not impossible that Empress Dowager Xiao used some means to seduce your majesty. Even if there is a slight possibility, we must eliminate it." said Prime Minister Shen.

There are very few examples of a dynasty being destroyed simply because of one incompetent emperor.

The Qin and Sui dynasties perished in the second generation. In addition to the emperor, there were other factors involved.

But the harm caused by an emperor's obsession with a woman is greater than the harm caused by the emperor himself being stupid.

"But your majesty has many concubines in the harem, and only one of them has been divorced. Maybe your majesty likes other people's wives, but your majesty has been on the throne for so long and has never married another person's wife. This shows that your majesty has self-control. If Empress Dowager Xiao really had the means, she would not have been driven out." Han Zhang shook his head.

“But Your Majesty has never neglected state affairs for so long since he ascended the throne, even when the Queen gave birth to the Crown Prince,” Prime Minister Shen retorted.

He was unwilling to believe it, but Zhao Xing's performance made him doubt it.

"Let's not discuss for the moment whether Your Majesty has been bewitched by Empress Dowager Xiao. What do you think should be done with Empress Dowager Xiao?" Han Zhang asked.

"this…"

Upon hearing this, Mr. Shen was speechless for a moment.

He agreed with handing over Empress Dowager Xiao to the Liao Kingdom.

But this is based on the fact that Zhao Xing was bewitched.

If this had not happened, although he had not yet found a way to properly deal with Empress Dowager Xiao, he was unwilling to hand her over to the Liao Kingdom.

No matter how Yelu Yixin carried out the purge, as long as Empress Dowager Xiao and the young emperor were still alive, they would be a hidden danger to the Liao Kingdom.

Because of this hidden danger, Yelu Yixin would even carry out a large-scale purge of Liao officials, and would become suspicious and distrustful of Liao officials.

"It will be beneficial to the Song Dynasty if Empress Dowager Xiao and the young emperor are not handed over to the Liao Kingdom. But in this case, Yelu Yixin will certainly not agree. As long as they are not handed over, war is inevitable. It is only a matter of time. Do you agree, Prime Minister Shen?" Han Zhang asked.

"That's right." Mr. Shen nodded.

"Either hand over the people or fight. What do you think those people in the court will choose?" Han Zhang said sarcastically.

Although Han Zhang always advocated emphasizing culture over military, he himself was a war advocate.

When Western Xia declared independence, most people in the court supported sending troops to attack it.

But there are two opinions on how to fight.

One group, led by Mr. Fan, advocated sending more troops to the border to defend the country. To put it bluntly, it was to force Xixia to send more troops to the border and compete with Xixia in national strength.

If Western Xia could not hold out and sent troops to attack Song, Song would be well-rested and have the advantage of cities.

The other group, led by Han Zhang, advocated active attack.

Han Zhang only looked down on military generals, but in military matters he always advocated fighting and was not timid.

But Han Zhang knew clearly that none of the civil and military officials in the Song Dynasty wanted to go to war with the Liao Kingdom.

Even now, the Liao Kingdom has experienced civil strife and has been severely damaged.

Shen Xianggong was silent for a long time, and then he said in shock: "What the great Xianggong means is that Your Majesty did this on purpose to induce the Liao Kingdom to mobilize troops against the Song Dynasty?"

"Yes, the Liao Kingdom sent troops first, and the Song Dynasty had no choice but to fight. The civil and military officials in the court had no excuse to object. Of course, this is just my guess." Han Zhang said.

Minister Shen opened his mouth. A guess was just a guess after all. But when he thought carefully about what had happened recently, he felt that Han Zhang's guess was very likely.

All the officials had knelt down to persuade Zhao Xing before, but that time Zhao Xing became furious.

This time, however, there was no such thing. People were even watching over him. Once an official fell unconscious, he was immediately sent to the Imperial Hospital for treatment.

Originally he thought that Zhao Xing was in the wrong, but now think about it, if Zhao Xing was bewitched, his reaction would be more intense.

"But going to war with the Liao Kingdom will not bring any benefits to the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty does not have the strength to directly recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun now." said Prime Minister Shen.

When Emperor Taizong led his army to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, he had already conquered most of them, but ultimately failed. The cities he had recaptured were later lost slowly.

That experience had made the Song Dynasty realize that unless it could recapture the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun in one fell swoop and drive the Liao Kingdom back to the grassland completely, it would be of little significance.

"Your Majesty, the purpose of doing this is the Great Wall of the North," said Han Zhang.

"If there is a war, the Northern Great Wall will certainly be destroyed, Your Majesty..."

At this point, Shen Xianggong suddenly had an idea and said, "I understand. The Liao Kingdom is seriously injured and does not want to fight with the Song Dynasty at this time. But Empress Dowager Xiao and the young emperor are in the Song Dynasty, so Yelu Yixin cannot fail to send troops. Your Majesty wants to use this method to consume the strength of the Liao Kingdom and delay the time for the Liao Kingdom to recover?"

It seems that what Prime Minister Shen said is somewhat contradictory. Since the Song Dynasty wanted to delay and the Liao Dynasty did not want to go to war with the Song Dynasty, why did the Liao Dynasty still send troops?
This actually involves a question of attitude.

The Liao Kingdom has always been used to being strong. If this kind of thing was tolerated, not only would the nobles within the Liao Kingdom be dissatisfied.

It would also give the Song Dynasty and Western Xia a sense of weakness.

The Song Dynasty may not send troops, but what about Western Xia?

After all, the Liao Kingdom took advantage of the war between the Song Dynasty and the Western Xia Dynasty, not only threatening the Song Dynasty to increase the annual tribute, but also completely driving the Western Xia out of the grassland.

Western Xia was no match for the Liao, but it was still possible to take back the lost grasslands from the Liao while the Liao was weak.

“That’s right, when wild beasts are injured, they will keep roaring in order to scare others.

The Liao Dynasty was mainly composed of the Khitan people, but there were still many tribes on the grassland that were merely dependent on the Liao Dynasty and had been exploited by it over the years.

This was the reason why Yelu Chongyuan was able to gain support from the tribes on the grassland.

Once the Liao Kingdom shows signs of weakness, many people will choose to take a bite." Han Zhang said.

"But these are just guesses after all. What if something happens?" Mr. Shen was still a little worried.

"Let's see first. If we guess wrong, we can persuade His Majesty to hand over the person. Even if His Majesty is unwilling, isn't the Emperor still here?"

"Even if the Liao Kingdom sends troops, it is only for threat. They dare not easily anger the Song Dynasty at this time. The possibility of directly attacking the city is very small." Han Zhang smiled.

Upon hearing this, Shen Xianggong pondered for a long time, stood up, bowed and said: "I am still far behind you, the great Xianggong."

"You are too modest. You can actually think of these things, but you are too impatient." Han Zhang shook his head.

With Mr. Shen's intelligence, it would not be difficult to figure it out if he thought about it carefully.

However, the ministers in the court all speculated that Zhao Xing was bewitched, and persuaded him to take the lead in persuading Zhao Xing. He followed the crowd and was influenced by his preconceived ideas.

"The duty of the Grand Chancellor is not only to handle government affairs for His Majesty, but also to coordinate the relationship between His Majesty and the officials. If you are too partial to His Majesty, the officials will regard you as a traitor. However, if you are too partial to the officials, His Majesty will also be dissatisfied. Lu Xianggong was a good example."

The Prime Minister Lu that Han Zhang mentioned was the teacher of the retired emperor. He served as the Grand Prime Minister before the retired emperor took power. After the retired emperor took power, he continued to serve as the Grand Prime Minister for many years. In the end, he was impeached and dismissed from his position.

The reason for the impeachment of Prime Minister Lu was that he controlled the government, but in fact, Prime Minister Lu always put the emperor emeritus first in everything, and the emperor emeritus trusted him very much, which led to Prime Minister Lu's great power and caused dissatisfaction among many people in the court.

"Thank you very much for your admonition, Prime Minister. I appreciate your teaching." Prime Minister Shen bowed.

…………

Empress Dowager Xiao fed a cherry into Zhao Xing's mouth and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, the play is almost over now. Can I leave the palace now?"

"What, are you anxious?"

Zhao Xing spat out the pit. The fresh and juicy cherry was sweet and a little sour, and really delicious. He reached out for the plate of cherries, picked up one and put it in his mouth.

"I have been in the palace for so long, I am afraid that my elder brother will be worried."

"Are you worried about your son?"

Zhao Xing said vaguely: "I am very curious about what Dong Jian said to you that made you feel comfortable leaving your son in Hehuang."

"Your Majesty is joking."

Queen Mother Xiao picked up a cherry, put it in her mouth, and leaned over to feed it to Zhao Xing.

Zhao Xing was not satisfied after eating one, thinking that there must be more than one in Empress Dowager Xiao's mouth, so he searched carefully before letting him go.

"Is it sweet?" Empress Dowager Xiao smiled with her hands covering her mouth.

"Sweet, sweeter than anything I've eaten before."

Zhao Xing smiled and slid his hand into Empress Dowager Xiao's clothes, saying, "But it's not as sweet as this."

"Sigh~"

Empress Dowager Xiao took a breath, pushed Zhao Xing, and said angrily, "Be gentle."

Zhao Xing added a little more strength and said, "You haven't answered my question yet."

Empress Dowager Xiao frowned in pain and held Zhao Xing's hand: "Didn't I tell you before? Jun'er is ill and can't travel by boat."

"You should know that this is not what I'm asking."

Zhao Xing said calmly, "I want to know what Dong Jian said to you after you arrived in Hehuang?"

He didn't believe that there was no agreement between Empress Dowager Xiao and Dong Zhen. Otherwise, even if the young emperor of Liao was really sick, would Empress Dowager Xiao dare to leave him in Hehuang?

He had tried many times in the past few days, sometimes he would stop suddenly when he was in the mood, and sometimes he would stop afterwards, but Empress Dowager Xiao was very alert and never said anything.

Zhao Xing is now somewhat losing his patience.

"Will Your Majesty believe what I say?" Empress Dowager Xiao asked.

"How do you know I don't believe it if you don't tell me?" Zhao Xing began to knead it slowly.

Empress Dowager Xiao said with a dazed look in her eyes: "Dong Jian said that when I restore the country, I will allocate a piece of land to him and make him king."

"Hehuang is a large territory. Would you be willing to give it such a large area?" Zhao Xing sneered.

The Hehuang River is long and narrow, but it is more than a thousand miles long.

Although the Liao Kingdom had a large territory, it was actually not that big except for the grassland.

(End of this chapter)