Cao Bin had no intention of appearing in court so soon.
Since you are pretending to be sick, you must pretend to the end.
But he didn't expect that Wu Zang Heiyun's reply would come so quickly, and he would also be invited to serve as an envoy to Xixia.
It happened that Zhong Shiheng, the pacification envoy of the Yanyan Road Manager, also sent a letter asking Cao Bin to help plan the reconstruction of Hengshan New City.
Previously, he had submitted several letters to the court, but they were all rejected by the Political Hall and the Privy Council because of the lack of financial resources of the court.
After Cao Bin received these two letters, he couldn't help but feel moved.
Compared to Wang Yanling and Pan Renmei, Cao Bin actually believed in Zhong Shiheng's opinions on military strategy more.
And for him, going on a mission to Xixia is no different from traveling on vacation, and it is still at public expense.
We can also take the opportunity to conduct an on-site inspection on the feasibility of rebuilding the new city.
If Zhong Shiheng's plan is feasible, then Xixia will be completely pinned to death in Western Xinjiang, and there will no longer be the worry of invading the Song Dynasty.
Even if it cannot be annihilated quickly, it can always be intimidated and forced to abandon Beiliao and become its loyal "ally".
In this way, there is no need to wait for the young emperor of Xixia to come of age and slowly plan by political means.
After all, there are many possibilities in the future.
Although the emperor's loyalty would give Cao Bin a lot of upper hand, there was also the queen mother above the emperor, and ministers and clans below, all of whom had their own interests.
It is not so easy to make Xixia obey his orders.
Compared with pretending to be ill, going to Xixia as an envoy was much more legitimate. At least he could completely disown his responsibilities, and there were no imperial envoy officials watching him every day, looking for trouble and impeachment.
Although Cao Bin is not afraid of these, he doesn't like scolding either, and even goes out to play in secret.
Therefore, Cao Bin came to the court to discuss the matter of the envoy and gave Li Qingzhao a platform.
Since she doesn't plan to continue pretending to be sick, she doesn't need her to cover it up for herself.
When Queen Mother Pan heard that Cao Bin asked for an audience, she nodded helplessly and said:
"Let him enter the palace."
This guy is quite alert, and whenever he is about to suffer a loss, he always arrives in time.
But this time it’s a matter of style, which is the hardest to defend. And if you come here at this time and are pretending to be sick, aren’t you asking for trouble?
If you don't come, I can still put all the blame on this Li woman and try to eliminate your responsibility. This will be difficult.
Li Qingzhao didn't know what Empress Dowager Pan was thinking, but when she heard Cao Bin hurrying, she instinctively felt certain in her heart.
She had just been surrounded by the officials. Although she tried her best to remain calm and had a calm face, she was already panicking in her heart.
In the past, she always thought that her eloquence was unparalleled and that her ministers were mediocre. But now, she realized that eloquence was based on status.
As a woman, she was still a ninth-grade official, but she was dismissed with just "the opinion of a foolish woman in the boudoir" without giving her a chance to speak.
Even her shocking words are of no use.
And the more those people talked, the more vicious they became. If this continued, even if she was not punished by the court, she would be criticized by thousands of people.
Now she is still young. Although she is smart, she does not yet have the courage to defy the world and dare to sue her husband for divorce.
"Marquis Zhongjing is indeed pretending to be ill!"
When Sima Guang saw Cao Bin showing up, he immediately became energetic and fired up.
"Marquis Zhongjing, you pretended to be ill and derelict in your duties, neglecting your duties and not mentioning it."
"You also brought unmarried women into the Third Division to serve as officials. Do you know that this is the imperial court, not a brothel?"
"What do you want to do by setting this precedent?"
"You are confusing the imperial court, subverting the world, and causing evil to the world..."
He has mastered the art of debating, and now it is rare for him to seize Cao Bin's leverage and gain the upper hand in public opinion. Naturally, he will pursue him fiercely and crucify him completely.
Sima Guang even had some extravagant hopes. Even if Cao Bin was not expelled from the court this time, he would be demoted three levels and released from the capital, with no chance of taking over the central government.
In fact, Sima Guang disliked Cao Bin ever since he first met him.
A martial artist, but also a dandy, you just have to fight hard and listen to the court's instructions.
It is disgusting to think that he actually took up the official position of presiding over the government, controlled the court, served as a general and became a prime minister.
In his heart, even if Cao Bin bullies men and dominates women at home, he is more cute than he is now...
At this time, Sima Guang became more and more excited as he talked. He kept listing Cao Bin's crimes, and he almost didn't ask Bao Zheng to lift the guillotine.
Seeing this, Zhang Dun and others couldn't help but look gloomy, and they were all worried about Cao Bin.
It is really difficult to explain this male-female issue.
Although there are female generals serving in the court now, they all follow their husbands or help their biological fathers. They are watched by relatives and have few opportunities for private contact with other men.
And you, Mr. Cao, have no legitimate relationship with the Li family, but you have created such a close superior-subordinate relationship. Who would believe it if you said there was no personal relationship?
Once this precedent is set, won't the imperial court become a place for clandestine affairs?
When the time comes, the imperial court should stop running the world and do these messy things every day.
At this point, they actually agreed with the tone of what Sima Guang said.
However, justice is justice, and those who support Cao Bin do not want him to be defeated. After all, this is his backer, which is related to his official future.
It’s just too difficult and doesn’t make sense, so how can you win?
At this time, even Li Qingzhao felt powerless.
Concubine Pang frowned when she saw this. She was about to imitate Empress Dowager Pan and pretend to be sick to save Cao Bin, but she saw that he had already walked towards Sima Guang, so she had to shut up and wait and see how he would deal with it.
"Hey, Sima Guang, let's not talk about my problem for now. I want to talk about your problem first."
Cao Bin said with a sinister smile.
Sima Guang frowned, raised his head slightly, glanced at Cao Bin and said:
"Marquis Zhongjing, please don't talk about him..."
Hearing Cao Bin's words, Sima Guang sneered secretly. He was really a martial artist. He wanted to use offense instead of defense? These methods are all leftover from my play.
You can't even think of succeeding!
He was feeling proud when he saw Cao Bin suddenly pull out the sword from his waist with a clang. He was so frightened that he jumped a step and said warily:
"Marquis Zhongjing, what are you going to do? Don't do whatever you want!"
Wang Yanling and others were also frightened. Just as they were about to step forward to stop them, they saw Cao Bin throwing the sword at Sima Guang's feet and laughed:
"Sima Zhiyuan, what did you say back then?"
"As long as Xixia gives in unconditionally and returns the Empress Dowager with courtesy, you will make your own decision in front of Kong Sheng."
As he spoke, he took out a letter and said:
"Now the Queen Mother of Xixia has replied to this prince."
"There is no need for the Song Dynasty to cede territory and pay compensation, and there is no need to pardon Zhao Ji..."
"Now is the time for you to keep your promise!"
"I will not force you to embarrass yourself in front of Confucius. What you are even more sorry for is the late emperor who was polite and virtuous, as well as the thousands of soldiers of the Song Dynasty and the people of the world."
"You can decide for yourself in this court!"
Then, he patted the pale Sima Guang again and said:
"In addition, I will explain my charges to the Queen Mother and the wise ministers in the court, so I won't bother you, a dying man."
Finally he sighed again:
"It's a pity that my green sword has to kill you, an incompetent rat like you who betrays the country and flatters the enemy..."
