I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 10 Three Talents
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Zhao Si was the original owner's younger brother. Before he was born, Song Shenzong Zhao Xu passed away. When he was five years old, his biological mother, Concubine Lin, also died.

Therefore, the original owner is the closest person to Zhao Si in this world, no doubt about it.

Since childhood, Zhao Si has been following the original owner like a little tail, and listens to the original owner in everything.

It was not until they reached adulthood that the two brothers were separated and each set up their own home.

But even so, Zhao Si still followed the original owner's lead and had a very good relationship with the original owner.

During the day, Zhao Si was stunned by Zhao Ya's fierce confrontation with Liu Qingjing, his public slapping of Zhao Xu, and his resolute defense of Empress Dowager Xiang. He couldn't understand why his usually steady brother was so impulsive this time. The key point was, even if others didn't know, didn't he know that the original owner and Empress Dowager Xiang didn't have much affection?

Zhao Si wanted to stop Zhao Ya from acting impulsively, but he was used to being cautious and did not dare to "disobey" his brother, let alone get involved in the palace political struggle involving Zhao Xu, Empress Dowager Xiang, and Liu Qingjing.

In the end, Zhao Si could only watch Zhao Ya perform.

After this matter was over, Zhao Si hurried to find Zhao Qi, Zhao Ji, and Zhao Si, wanting Zhao Qi and the other three to go with him to find Zhao Xu and plead for Zhao Ya.

Zhao Qi was a good man and agreed on the spot.

Zhao Si also wanted to go with them.

But Zhao Ji said, "Prince Shen acted rashly and defied the emperor's authority. He deserves to be punished. Moreover, my brother has been contradicted by Prince Shen. If we all side with Prince Shen, how will my brother feel?"

After hearing what Zhao Ji said, Zhao Si, who was obviously closer to his brother Zhao Xu, had no choice but to give up.

Zhao Qi and Zhao Si went to Chuigong Hall to ask to see Zhao Xu as soon as possible.

But Zhao Xu never saw Zhao Qi and Zhao Si, so he just left them alone.

Zhao Qi and Zhao Si waited outside the Chuigong Hall until the hour of midnight. Zhao Xu, who did not want to make a big deal out of this matter, sent a eunuch to follow Zhao Qi and Zhao Si to release Zhao Ya.

When Zhao Qi and Zhao Si saw Zhao Ya, they saw that Zhao Ya was lying comfortably on a temporary bed to rest. There was a eunuch and two eunuchs beside him who were tiptoeing to drive away mosquitoes for him. The food boxes brought by Zheng Xiansu and Wang Yisu were empty.

Seeing that Zhao Ya ate well, slept soundly, and did not suffer any harm, Zhao Si felt relieved.

Then, Zhao Si felt a little psychologically unbalanced. He and Zhao Qi had been living in fear until now. They had not eaten a bite of food or drunk a sip of water. Who was being punished?
Zhao Si stepped forward and woke Zhao Ya: "Brother, you're better now."

Zhao Ya opened his eyes, saw Zhao Qi and Zhao Si, and immediately guessed that he was fine.

"Can I go home now?" Zhao Ya asked.

"Your Majesty, please have mercy and forgive my sins." Zhao Si replied.

"Prince Shen, you must never make your royal brother angry again next time, otherwise, you may not be so lucky." Zhao Qi advised kindly.

"Okay, okay, I'll pay attention next time." Zhao Ya said perfunctorily.

"I'm tired and I'm going home." Zhao Ya said again.

Upon hearing this, the eunuch and the two eunuchs immediately stepped forward to help Zhao Ya put on his shoes.

Seeing that Zhao Ya didn't care about their words, Zhao Qi and Zhao Si wanted to persuade Zhao Ya not to fight with Zhao Xu again and not to provoke Liu Qingjing again.

Zhao Ya didn't want to listen to Zhao Qi and Zhao Si leading him into a ditch, so he turned around and asked the three eunuchs and eunuchs who had served him diligently all day: "What are your names? I want to honor you."

The three of them had fallen to the point of guarding the gate of a side hall in the harem that was only used a few times a year. Of course, they longed to be taken away by Zhao Ya - otherwise, they would not have tried their best to find a grand table, writing brushes, inkstones, and a bed for Zhao Ya, and served him carefully all day long.

Seeing Zhao Ya "repaying the favor", the three were overjoyed and rushed to report their names:
"Your servant Huang Jingchen."

"Your servant Liang Shicheng."

"Your servant Li Yan."

When Zhao Ya heard these three names, he was stunned!
Zhao Ya never expected that just because he didn't want to listen to Zhao Qi and Zhao Si's nagging, he actually recruited three celebrities of that era.

Zhao Ya first looked at Huang Jingchen.

Historically, when the Jingkang Incident occurred, Song Qinzong Zhao Huan and a group of incompetent people under his command foolishly believed the absurd words of the charlatan Guo Jing and attempted to resist the Jin army with 7,777 Liujia regular troops.

After this group of so-called Liujia regular soldiers left the city, they were swept away like chickens and dogs by the charge of 500 Jin cavalry.

The Jin army immediately captured Xuanhua Gate, and then marched eastward along the city wall to attack Dongshui Gate.

Wherever the Jin army went, the towers and turrets were set on fire.

Seeing this, the Song army guarding the East Water Gate were terrified and lost all their fighting spirit. They abandoned the city and fled.

Only the eunuch Huang Jingchen remained at his post and refused to flee.

At that time, Huang Jingchen, as the commander of Baode Army, was ordered by Zhao Huan to supervise the east wall.

Seeing the east wall of the city collapsed and the soldiers defeated, Huang Jingchen looked up at the majestic and magnificent palace in the city and couldn't help but feel sad and burst into tears.

He knew that he was powerless to save the crumbling Song Dynasty, so he resolutely jumped into the fire and died.

The Song Dynasty had many eunuchs, all of whom enjoyed the emperor's favor. However, during that national crisis, only Huang Jingchen was willing to die for his country.

His heroic act was comparable to that of the eunuch Wang Chengen who accompanied Chongzhen in hanging himself on Coal Hill.

In the Han and Tang dynasties, eunuchs were the cause of destruction.

If it is used, it will rarely cause trouble.

Who would have thought that Mr. Huang had such profound insights?

With white hair and a pious heart, he will always give advice when hearing something.

Try your best to reach Dongcheng, but it will be difficult if you die.

The name will never be forgotten and will shine forever.

Zhao Ya never expected that the middle-aged eunuch in his thirties and slightly overweight in front of him was actually the most courageous and loyal eunuch of this era - Huang Jingchen!

Zhao Ya was overjoyed!

You can definitely trust a eunuch like Huang Jingchen to work with, as he will never betray you.

Zhao Ya immediately made up his mind to let Huang Jingchen be the steward of his Prince Shen's Mansion and make sure to use him in the future.

As for the original owner's money manager who was good at nothing but making money, just find a random reason to let him go.

The more Zhao Ya looked at Huang Jingchen, the happier he became. This made him somewhat neglect the other two more famous eunuchs in history - Liang Shicheng and Li Yan.

Historically, Liang Shicheng and Li Yan were listed as the Six Thieves along with Cai Jing, Tong Guan, Wang Fu and Zhu Jie.

Cai Jing and Wang Fu were the two most powerful ministers during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song.

Tong Guan was the first military commander during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song.

Zhu Zhen helped Zhao Ji collect the flowers and stones, which led to the Fang La uprising, seriously undermined the foundation of the Zhao Song Dynasty, and indirectly caused the Jingkang Incident and the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Liang Shicheng and Li Yanneng were listed as the six thieves together with Cai Jing and the other four, which shows how serious the harm they caused and how wide their influence was at that time.

In fact, Liang Shicheng and Li Yan, especially the former, are not inferior to the other four thieves in terms of fame or power.

At the peak of his power, Liang Shicheng was in control of confidential matters for many years and was even able to tamper with imperial edicts and impose his will on the government. He colluded with Prime Minister Wang Fu both internally and externally to jointly control the government. People at the time regarded him as the "hidden prime minister". Wang Fu treated him like his father. Even Cai Jing and Cai You, father and son, had to flatter him. He held hundreds of official positions.

It is worth mentioning that Liang Shicheng claimed to be "Su Shi's son" and "Su's remains", that is, he claimed to be Su Shi's son.

Li Yan, on the other hand, acted recklessly in the local area. The "Xicheng Office" under his control crazily plundered people's land, causing countless people to be displaced and social contradictions to intensify sharply.

Historically, to help Zhao Ji overcome his financial difficulties, Li Yan and his predecessor, the eunuch Yang Jian, established the Xicheng Office, declaring the entire 800-li (1,000-mile) waters of Liangshan Lake "public property." They imposed heavy taxes based on the size of their boats for fishing, lotus root harvesting, and cattail cutting. Those found violating these laws were treated as thieves. Unable to pay the heavy taxes, impoverished farmers and fishermen, their long-simmering dissatisfaction with social reality, erupted like a volcano. Led by Song Jiang and thirty-six others, they rose in rebellion.

Liang Shicheng and Li Yan not only caused a lot of public resentment, they also enriched themselves and embezzled a large amount of wealth. They were complete treacherous ministers and there was no need to argue.

Zhao Ya was very happy to get Huang Jingchen.

However, getting Liang Shicheng and Li Yan gave Zhao Ya a headache.

There is no need for these two treacherous ministers. Zhao Ya has already said that he wants to promote them.

The key point is that treacherous ministers are just bad, not incompetent.

Take Liang Shicheng as an example. He was smart and cunning, familiar with grammar, and good at entertaining people. What's more amazing is that he was once a Jinshi in history. He was definitely a first-class talent.

The same goes for Li Yan. After Yang Jian's death, he succeeded him as the chief eunuch, helping Zhao Ji to manage the entire back garden. He also enclosed more than 34,300 hectares of land around the city of Bianliang, harming countless wealthy businessmen and civilians. He killed more than a thousand innocent people alone. He was definitely a ruthless man.

Let’s put it this way, among those who have left their names in history, there are very few who are bad.

If we judge by this standard, Liang Shicheng and Li Yan's abilities are probably above Huang Jingchen's.

Zhao Ya's current dilemma is that not only are there obstacles like Zhao Ji on his road to becoming emperor, but he also has no one available.

——Zhao Yata has already examined the people in Prince Shen’s Mansion and found no talented people who can be reused.

Also, Zhao Ya was a prince, and his status was very sensitive. He could not use Song Dynasty ministers such as Zong Ze, Zhang Shuye, and Zhong Shidao, and it was unlikely that they would come to seek refuge with an idle prince now.

In other words, for Zhao Ya, the best choice now, or even the only choice, is to use eunuchs.

Zhao Ya consoled himself: "If you use people's strengths, there will be no one in the world who is useless; if you use people's weaknesses, there will be no one in the world who can be used. At worst, I can use them to ascend to the throne and seize the imperial power. If they really become treacherous ministers as in history and endanger my rule, I can destroy them with my own hands in time."

"Also, the quality of the ministers depends on how the emperor uses them. Treacherous ministers are often more loyal. A monarch cannot have all ministers of the same kind."

Thinking of this, Zhao Ya suppressed his dislike for Liang Shicheng and Li Yan and said to the three of them, "Tomorrow you will report to my Prince Shen's mansion. I will take care of the rest."

——Zhao Ya is a prince after all, so it’s easy for him to hire three people to guard the gate, right?
Seeing that Zhao Ya was not just talking, but had taken them to Prince Shen's mansion with great determination, Huang Jingchen and the other two were even more delighted. They all bowed to Zhao Ya as if they were his retainers and said loudly, "Thank you, Your Majesty! We are willing to serve you at our utmost..."

……

(End of this chapter)