I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 50: The Responsible King Shen
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Unlike many people who don't even know how they died in political struggles, Zhang Chun was very clear that the reason why she suffered repeated failures, was abandoned by her friends and relatives, and almost suffered a complete defeat was due to her own problems, but also because of Zheng Xiansu's help.

Apart from anything else, Li Lin was supported by Zheng Xiansu and competed with her for the position of leader of several women.

Zheng Xiansu's move, coupled with a few small favors, easily broke up the alliance of the five of them. Li Lin and other time travelers were grateful to Zheng Xiansu, a native, and even obeyed his orders.

Let me put it this way, if Zhang Chun didn't understand history and politics, she probably wouldn't even know how she became enlightened and by whom.

From this we can see how high Zheng Xiansu's political level, especially his harem political level, is.

Such an opponent made Zhang Chun feel afraid, awed, and eager to try.

——Zhang Chun really wants to know, after studying history and understanding politics for so many years, can she compete with real political masters?
Soon, Zheng Xiansu and his party arrived in front of Zhang Chun and Ma Xiaojiao.

Zheng Xiansu did not beat around the bush, but said sincerely:

"Before this, the King ordered the two of us to send my sister to the Queen Mother. We had relied on the Queen Mother's years of favor to help my sister take over our position as our supervisor."

"We owe many favors to save our sister from punishment, and if this matter were to become known, we would surely face the Queen Mother's wrath."

"My sister has caused us so much trouble."

"So I'm feeling angry and have been neglecting my sister lately."

"I spoke to the king today about this matter. He said that my sister possessed magical powers and was preventing the Queen Mother from seeking peace. There must be a reason for this, and it wasn't just a rash act of greed."

"The king has severely reprimanded me, blaming me for not speaking up for my sister. I also know that I almost ruined the great cause of the Song Dynasty. I hope my sister will forgive me."

Zheng Xiansu came to apologize and his attitude was sincere.

But Zheng Xiansu first talked about the kindness she and Wang Yisu had shown to Zhang Chun, and then talked about Zhang Chun's faults, making it clear that she had her reasons for targeting Zhang Chun.

Moreover, Zheng Xiansu implicated Wang Yisu in all matters of Shi En, and she took all the blame for the mistakes.

More importantly, Zheng Xiansu made it very clear that the reason she came to apologize to Zhang Chun was all because Zhao Ya valued Zhang Chun and she was afraid of delaying Zhao Ya's important affairs, showing her overall perspective.

At the same time, Zheng Xiansu also stated that although Zhao Ya favored Zhang Chun, he was closer to her. Otherwise, Zhao Ya would not have severely reprimanded her before she got married. This was obviously a way of teaching his wife behind her back.

Zhang Chun thought to herself, "She's got both the inside and the outside in, and she's won over everyone. She's made it so that no one can say 'no' to her. And she's made sure everyone see her tolerance, her responsibility, her reliance, and her overall perspective. It's flawless. She's truly amazing!!!"

Then, Zhang Chun thought directly to the point: "However, as long as I lick Zhao Ya to make her feel comfortable and make her like me more, no matter how powerful you are, what use will it be?"

That's right.

Zhang Chun found the key to defeating Zheng Xiansu.

The key is Zhao Ya.

Zhang Chun felt that as long as she could make Zhao Ya favor her, just like Li Zhi favored Wu Zetian, Li Longji favored Wu Huifei, and Zhao Xu favored Liu Qingjing, she could defeat Zheng Xiansu even if he was a hundred times more powerful.

As for how to do this?
Zhang Chun didn't believe that Wu Zetian, Wu Huifei, and Liu Qingjing could do it. She, a time traveler who was well versed in history books, understood politics, and had experience that surpassed Wu Zetian, Wu Huifei, and Liu Qingjing by one or two thousand years, couldn't do it!

However, before reaching that level, Zhang Chun still had to be polite and flattering to Zheng Xian.

So, facing Zheng Xiansu's apology, Zhang Chun hurriedly apologized with deep fear: "Sister, I am so ashamed of you. This is all my own fault. I can't blame you. If you hadn't helped me that day, I would have been miserable. How can you say that you owe me..."

After Zheng Xiansu and Zhang Chun opened up, the spark that had just appeared in Zhao Ya's backyard was temporarily extinguished...

……

After leaving Cide Palace, Zhao Ya went to see Zhao Xu overnight. Zhao Xu thought Zhao Ya was asking him to revoke the order to make Liu Qingjing the queen, so he did not meet Zhao Ya.

Seeing this, Zhao Ya had no choice but to go to the home of Prime Minister Zhang Dun that night and said to him, "A servant in my palace overheard the Xia envoy say that Liang was poisoned by Li Qianshun and the Liao envoy. I cannot believe such a ridiculous thing could happen. I was also worried that if it were true, it would hinder national affairs. So I sent my deputy general manager Li Yan to verify the story. Li Yan kidnapped a Xixia servant and tortured him, and he confirmed that it was true."

Afterwards, Zhao Ya asked Li Yan to hand over the Xixia servant to Zhang Dun.

At this critical period of the peace talks between Song and Xia, the Zhao Song Dynasty had access to this important information, which undoubtedly gave it an important bargaining chip.

Zhang Dun was overjoyed!

After the Southern Song Dynasty, the descendants of the old party who survived by surrendering dominated the historical narrative. In the "History of Song Dynasty" compiled by them, Zhang Dun was listed in the biography of treacherous ministers, criticizing him for his autocratic and domineering behavior and his revenge for personal grudges.

Influenced by Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, mainstream historians from the Southern Song Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties also regarded Zhang Dun as a corrupt official, emphasizing his brutal methods of factional struggle.

In short, traditional historical views often emphasize Zhang Dun's negative image and ignore the effectiveness of the reforms he presided over.

As a person of the 21st century, especially a historian who has written many novels about the Song Dynasty, Zhao Ya is well aware that during Zhang Dun's tenure as Privy Councilor, he relied heavily on the famous general Zhang Yu and adopted the strategy of "building cities and advancing". He built military strongholds such as Pingxia City and Lingping Village on the border between Song and Xia, gradually compressing the space for Western Xia activities.

In the Battle of Pingxia City last year, the Song army defeated the Xia army and forced it to sue for peace, creating the most brilliant military achievement in the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty, temporarily stabilizing the situation in the northwest and delaying the decline of the Northern Song Dynasty.

In addition, although the economic measures he presided over failed to save the Northern Song Dynasty, they did alleviate the financial crisis of the Northern Song Dynasty to a certain extent.

This is a real achievement that no one can erase.

Moreover, Zhang Dun refused to give special care to his relatives and did not intervene when his son failed the imperial examination. People at that time called him "heartless."

He was not corrupt during his administration, which was in stark contrast to powerful officials such as Cai Jing.

Of course, this does not mean that Zhang Dun had no problems. In order to consolidate the position of the New Party, he brutally suppressed the Old Party (such as Su Shi, Fan Chunren, etc.), and in the later period of his administration, he was deeply mired in the quagmire of party struggles and could not extricate himself.

But then again, considering the bad things done by Sima Guang and other members of the old party, especially the persecution of members of the new party, and the political environment of either this or that at the time, Zhang Dun's actions were understandable.

In short, although Zhang Dun's ability was not particularly strong, Zhao Ya had a good impression of him, who was known as the "Iron-Blooded Prime Minister."

Zhang Dun advocated active border expansion, especially wanting to help the Zhao Song Dynasty recover Western Xia.

Therefore, with the bargaining chips that Zhao Ya had won for the Zhao Song Dynasty, Zhang Dun felt that he might be able to show his strength.

However, Zhang Dun is now the prime minister of Zhao Xu, and Zhao Xu has been very kind to Zhang Dun. Zhao Ya has indeed been a little too aggressive recently, so Zhang Dun is ready to give Zhao Ya a warning to remind him not to forget that princes are not allowed to interfere in politics.

With this in mind, Zhang Dun looked at Li Yan and scolded him, "You even dared to attack the Xia envoy. If this leads to an escalation of the conflict between the two countries, how can you bear the consequences?!"

What Zhang Dun didn't expect was that Zhao Ya stepped forward, blocking Li Yan's way and addressing him, saying, "Li Yan acted according to my orders and has done nothing wrong. If this incident is truly as Zhang Xianggong said, and it leads to consequences detrimental to the Song Dynasty, I will bear the responsibility. If Zhang Xianggong wishes to hold me accountable, you can report me to His Majesty."

Seeing Zhao Ya shoulder the pressure from the prime minister for him and take all the responsibility on himself, Li Yan's heart was filled with indescribable gratitude and loyalty. He straightened his back, and although he didn't say a word, his resolute posture seemed to declare to everyone: He, Li Yan, was willing to go through fire and water for Zhao Ya, no matter what.

"Farewell."

After saying this, Zhao Ya turned and left.

Li Yan and other men under Zhao Ya all followed Zhao Ya's footsteps with high spirits and confidence.

Looking at Zhao Ya's tall and straight back, Zhang Dun murmured, "He is capable, courageous, and responsible. Prince Shen... what a pity..."

……

(End of this chapter)