I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 25 Lost in Development
...

Zheng Xiansu and Wang Yisu are women after all, not the men Zhang Chun wants to devote herself to.

Moreover, Zhang Chun knew that Zheng Xiansu and Wang Yisu, especially the former, inherited the tradition of "pleasantly introducing ladies" in the Song Palace and were willing to give women to their men to show their generosity.

Based on this, although it was a bit difficult to say it, Zhang Chun still said hesitantly: "Little sister... little sisters heard that they are going to select and teach palace maids..."

Zheng Xiansu's phoenix eyes moved, and he calmly asked tentatively, "It is true. Are you sisters willing to teach the king about the private life of the king?"

Zhang Chun quickly explained, "My younger sisters know that the two elder sisters need to send people to manage the business, so we dare not ask for four places, just one or two will be enough."

After taking a look at the cautious Zhang Chun and then at the four daughters of Li Lin who didn't care much, Zheng Xiansu couldn't help but understand who wanted this opportunity.
Zheng Xiansu took Zhang Chun's hand and said, "My sisters are so understanding. We two must each send one person to manage the palace and household affairs for the king. Moreover, for the sake of harmony in our family, whether Miss Guo needs it or not, we must reserve a place for her, right? So I can only give you sisters one place. I hope you can understand."

Zhang Chun thought to himself, "All right! I'm really feeling a bit like 'Mastering the Three Strategies of Literature, Understanding the Six Strategies of Martial Arts, Planning from Within the Curtain, and Winning Victories from a Thousand Miles Away.'"

Unexpectedly, Zhang Chun's joy soon turned into sorrow.

Zheng Xiansu changed his tone and continued, "Actually, a few months earlier or later won't make much of a difference. How about letting this little sister manage things for you for a while, and then the rest of us can go home together in a few months?"

Zhang Chun looked in the direction of Zheng Xiansu's finger and saw that the person Zheng Xiansu was pointing at was actually Ma Xiaojiao.

Zhang Chun immediately became furious. She thought to herself indignantly, "Why is it Ma Xiaojiao and not me?"

Instantly, countless conspiracy theories surged in Zhang Chun's mind. For example, Zheng Xiansu was afraid of her and didn't want her to take the position.

At this time, Zheng Xiansu took the initiative to explain why she chose Ma Xiaojiao over Zhang Chun: "I know that you are anxious to conceive a prince's heir. However, you are still young. If you try to conceive too early, it will cause great damage to your bodies. If you are not careful, it may cause you to be infertile for life."

At this point, Zheng Xiansu looked at Zhang Chun and said, "Especially you, you are the youngest, right? I suggest that you wait two years before serving the emperor. Don't let your impatience lead to lifelong regrets."

Zhang Chun wanted to say, "How do you know I'm the youngest? Whether in my last life or this life, I'm not the youngest among the five of us, okay?"

Just as Zhang Chun was about to correct Zheng Xiansu's mistake, she saw Zheng Xiansu looking at her chest.

Zhang Chun looked down and saw her flat belly at a glance.

In an instant, Zhang Chun understood the basis of Zheng Xiansu's judgment.

Not only Zhang Chun understood, but Li Lin, Ye Shiyun and Yuan Qingcheng were also laughing over there.

Only Ma Xiaojiao was still a little dizzy, not understanding how this opportunity fell on her?
Zheng Xiansu turned his head to Ma Xiaojiao and said, "Among you, this girl is the one who has developed well. You can give it a try. The others can wait a little longer."

Zhang Chun wanted to refute, but when she saw Ma Xiaojiao's bulging chest and thought about how she was already in her twenties in her previous life and had the nickname "Little Prince Milk", she suddenly felt that no matter what she said, it would be pale and powerless.

Zhang Chun never expected that after all her planning, she would ultimately lose because of her development.

Ma Xiaojiao, who was lucky enough to pick up this godsend opportunity, had no idea how much she had delayed Zhang Chun's business.

In Ma Xiaojiao's opinion, being chosen just meant that she arrived at Zhao Ya's side a few months earlier than others. Maybe... she could do something to help Zhao Ya.

As for how Zhang Chun would give Zhao Ya advice in this situation, Ma Xiaojiao had no idea...

……

After a period of reorganization, the Shen Palace completed a major reshuffle. Huang Jingchen, Liang Shicheng and Li Yan, who had been frustrated and unhappy, had good luck and became Zhao Ya's confidants and the new elites of the Shen Palace. They were surrounded by people wherever they went and were respected wherever they went.

Zhao Ya sighed, "Perhaps this is why so many people seek power?" One day, Huang Jingchen came to Zhao Ya and said, "Your Highness, I have a good friend who is both civil and military. I would like to bring him into the palace."

Zhao Ya said cheerfully, "Bring him here so I can have a look at him."

Huang Jingchen didn't move, but took the initiative to say: "This good friend of mine is the adopted son of the late General Li. He once followed General Li to defeat the Xia army in the northwest..."

"The late General Li? Defeat the Xia army?"

After a moment's reaction, Zhao Ya realized that Huang Jingchen was talking about Li Xian, the eunuch who was active in the northwest border during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of Song Dynasty. Together with Wang Shao, who was known for his "strange strategies, strange speeds, and strange rewards" and was jokingly called the "Three Strange Deputy Envoys", he recovered Hezhou, defeated the Tubo leader Xia Muzheng, and conquered Lanzhou. He was in charge of the military affairs of Qinfeng Road and Xihe Road, and was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the five northwest routes, holding important powers in control of all routes.

"Li Xian's adopted son...isn't that Tong Guan?!"

Zhao Ya immediately guessed that Huang Jingchen wanted to introduce Tong Guan, one of the six thieves, to him.

In "Water Margin", Tong Guan is portrayed as an incompetent fool. He led an army of hundreds of thousands to attack Liangshan Marsh, but was ambushed by the heroes of Liangshan. He was defeated and fled back to the capital alone.

But this is just a fiction.

The real Tong Guan in history was not like this.

In history, Tong Guan led his troops to attack Tubo and Xixia, and made outstanding military achievements. He recovered vast territories for the Song Dynasty, eased the military pressure on the northwestern border of the Song Dynasty, and dominated the northwest, but he did not attack Liangshan Marsh.

The peasant uprising suppressed by Tong Guan was the largest peasant uprising in the Song Dynasty - the Fang La Uprising.

These are Tong Guan’s achievements that can never be erased, and this is also the main reason why Tong Guan became the third eunuch to be crowned king in history.

On the other hand, Tong Guan and Cai Jing colluded with each other, eliminated dissidents in the court, formed a powerful political force, seriously disrupted the political order at the time, led to corruption in the government, and made the people live in misery.

Moreover, in the war with the Liao Kingdom, Tong Guan performed poorly as the commander of the Song army. He first failed in the attack on Liao and had to beg for help from the Jin army to take Yanjing. Later, when the Jin army attacked the Song Dynasty, he heard the news in Taiyuan and fled back to Bianliang City. He fled south with Zhao Ji, causing the Jin army to advance straight ahead and accelerating the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty.

In addition, although Tong Guan successfully put down the Fang La uprising, his methods of suppressing the uprising were cruel, which brought heavy disasters to the local people and exacerbated social unrest.

In addition, Tong Guan used all means to collect rare treasures for Zhao Ji to squander and enjoy, and thus gained power; he also liked to use money to win over his subordinates and make them obey his orders.

In short, Tong Guan in history was very powerful and controlled military power. He played an extremely critical role on the political stage in the late Northern Song Dynasty.

A Tong Guan like this, even if he is not the top talent, is definitely more useful than ordinary talents. For Zhao Ya, who is now penniless, the more he has, the better.

However, Zhao Ya was a little puzzled. Why was Tong Guan willing to come to him, an idle prince? Shouldn't he be a person with great political ambitions?

After Huang Jingchen's introduction, Zhao Ya finally understood:
It turned out that during Gao Taotao's reign, the old party headed by Gao Taotao and Sima Guang completely denied Wang Anshi's reforms.

To this end, they even returned all the vast territories that Zhao Xu and his ministers had conquered with great difficulty to Western Xia, and also settled accounts with all the heroes of the time.

In such a political context, Li Xian was impeached for "being greedy for fame and fortune", "deceiving the superiors and harming the people, bringing disaster to the country", and was demoted again and again by Gao Taotao, Sima Guang and others, and finally died in depression.

Tong Guan was implicated by Li Xian and was demoted to a small palace official. His main task was to convey imperial edicts to Shaanxi. He was not given any important position and his future was bleak.

Zhao Ya suddenly realized something, and then sighed: "Others who traveled through time were able to recruit loyal ministers, brave generals, and talented people. Why is it that when I traveled through time, I could only recruit eunuchs, and all of them were treacherous ministers? Could it be that I have the potential to be a tyrant?"

……

(End of this chapter)