Several days have passed since Wang Yanling and Empress Dowager Liu jointly carried out a coup and took control of the court.
Although he was extremely busy and exhausted, due to the stimulation of power, his face was glowing every day and his spirit was abnormal.
Most of the important officials of Pan's party have been demoted or investigated, and he is satisfied with having the military and political power in his hands. Now he is trying to think of a reason to transfer Di Qing to the border town.
As long as there are no henchmen in charge of the army, Cao Bin will not be in any danger...
In the political hall.
Seeing that it was past noon, Wang Yanling was holding bowls and chopsticks to eat with her colleagues, when she saw Bao Zheng striding forward with angry eyes and holding a wat board:
"Prince Xiang, please go to the palace with your subordinates to advise the Empress Dowager and remove the post of commander of the former department of Gao Lehou Liu Meidian!"
Wang Yanling was stunned for a moment, then put down the bowl and chopsticks unhappily and said:
"What happened to make Xiren so impatient?"
Seeing a few grains of rice on his beard, He Jianzhang next to him hurriedly stepped forward and carefully smoothed his beard, and said with an enthusiastic smile:
"The Prime Minister has many things to do every day, and he has no time to spare during meal time. It is really admirable..."
Seeing this, Bao Zheng couldn't help but frown. He finally understood why He Jianzhang had not been demoted from Beijing for so long.
The dignified prime minister is so flattering. How can Kou Zhun say that this will be a situation where "all the people are upright and the court is prosperous"? This is clearly a case of "the villain gaining the upper hand."
Wang Yanling didn't take it seriously. She just smiled and waved her hand to stop He Jiazhang, and then asked:
"Xiren, Marquis Gao Le is a humble and upright man. Why do you want to impeach him?"
Bao Zheng's face was as sinking as water at this time, he raised his wat board and said:
"Rewards and honors are a national asset, especially the position of commander in front of the palace, which is related to the stability of the capital. How can it be left to mediocre and incompetent people like Liu Mei?"
"Nowadays, soldiers are rampant in the streets and the people are suffering. Liu Mei cannot restrain her, but she still dares to come to our Kaifeng Mansion to demand people. Her shamelessness is rare in the world..."
Liu Mei is indeed not an arrogant and domineering person, and he is relatively low-key, but he was suddenly appointed as the commander of the front department by Empress Dowager Liu, and he also had a task, which was to win over the morale of the army.
He had never led an army before, and he had no ability to convince his subordinates. He was reluctant to pay too much money, so he could only draw a big pie and cultivate feelings to win over his subordinates.
This approach did allow him to win over some military generals, but it also made those people lose their restraints and just thought that they could do whatever they wanted if they were brothers to the uncle.
When Liu Mei saw that the soldiers she had tried so hard to win over were imprisoned by Bao Zheng, she naturally could not show weakness and make them look down upon her, so she went to Kaifeng Mansion to demand people, which made Bao Zheng furious.
After hearing this, Wang Yanling also understood Bao Zheng's mood, but this was the key condition and the basis for cooperation that he had discussed with Empress Dowager Liu.
Without the support of Empress Dowager Liu, it would be difficult for him as prime minister to sit firmly, so he stayed silent for a while and persuaded:
"Xiren, hand over the law-violating soldiers to Marquis Gao Le, and leave military matters to the military. I believe Marquis Gao Le will give you a satisfactory explanation."
He Jianzhang also nodded and said:
"The Prime Minister Wang is right. Lord Bao can make the decision on local affairs such as prefectures and counties, so he should not interfere in military affairs. It would be bad to anger the Queen Mother."
Hearing what they said, Bao Zheng's temper also rose. He flicked his sleeves and said:
"The national law is still there, why should Bao be afraid? Since the two husbands don't care, I will go to the palace on my own to ask for an audience with the Empress Dowager."
After saying that, he turned around and walked to the harem.
Seeing this, Wang Yanling felt a pain in her head and felt helpless.
Although the political skills of Queen Mother Liu, his partner, were good, Jiuli's court lacked confidants, and his relatives did not have much influence. He could not even pick out a decent talent, so he could only make do with Liu Mei, his "brother".
Knowing that Wang Yanling was in a bad mood, He Jianzhang quickly advised:
"Prime Minister, there is no need to worry. Mr. Bao doesn't understand the Prime Minister's painstaking efforts. It's just a fuss. The Prime Minister still has the final say in the court."
He Jianzhang's support made Wang Yanling feel better. Just as he was about to continue eating, he saw an official from the Academy of Music hurried into the Political Affairs Hall and reported:
"Prime Minister, urgent report from Shaanxi."
"Qingtang Tubo, Dong Fei, the eldest son of Jiao Siluo, killed the Liao marriage envoy. The Liao Emperor was furious and wanted to use the Western Xia to conquer Qingtang."
"Xixia also seems to have the intention of sending troops to help. Jiao Siluo sent people to ask for help from the Song Dynasty..."
After hearing the news, Wang Yanling was no longer in the mood to eat, and said angrily:
"Since it was a marriage, why did Dong Fei kill the Liao envoy?"
Jiao Siluo occupies the Hehuang area east of Qinghai Lake and is a die-hard ally of the Song Dynasty in suppressing Xixia. When the Song Dynasty conquered Xia the year before last, he also sent more than 100,000 Tubo tribesmen to help.
No wonder Wang Yanling was angry and said, "Save him." The Song Dynasty had just recovered some of his strength. He really didn't want to go to war. "Don't save him." He couldn't explain to his allies.
The official smiled bitterly and said:
"The daughter of the clan that the Liao Kingdom wants to marry seems to have some relationship with Marquis Zhongjing. Prince Dong Feang thinks this is the Liao Kingdom trying to instigate a relationship between him and the Song Dynasty."
"In addition, the Liao envoy's inappropriate words and arrogance led to this incident."
Wang Yanling was stunned for a moment, then said angrily:
"It's that bastard Cao Bin again. The three dignified envoys are so ridiculous and sentimental. They will only cause trouble for the court."
"Tell the Tibetan envoys that the trouble caused by his prince will be dealt with by themselves."
Seeing that the official was about to retreat, he had to hold back his anger and said:
"Let the Tibetan envoy wait until I discuss it with the Empress Dowager and the ministers. Maybe we can help them with some arms, money and food. This makes sense."
It was also the sea trade in Jiangnan that gave the court some spare money, otherwise he would not have dared to say this. After all, at the beginning of the year, the court was almost so poor that it was selling pants.
When the officials who entered the memorial hall heard this, they couldn't help but twitch their lips. They felt that the prime minister seemed to be sending away beggars... What's the use of this?
But this is beyond his control.
On this day, Queen Mother Pan was sleeping soundly in the palace, but she was awakened by a faint noise. She immediately became energetic and hurriedly asked her personal maid:
"Xiao Tao, what happened? Has Marquis Zhongjing returned to the capital?"
During the few days she was imprisoned, she was so sad and miserable that she didn't even dare to eat, for fear that she would be poisoned and assassinated, and die inexplicably.
She also has a secret decree in her hand, and there is still a glimmer of hope that she can turn around with the help of Cao Bin.
In the past few days, she had thought a lot, and she was so regretful that her intestines were green. She didn't understand why she listened to her biological father and transferred Cao Bin out of the capital.
Although that man is more absurd, he has always been on his side ever since the late Emperor was seriously ill. As long as he is around, who would dare to cause trouble easily?
At this moment, she desperately hoped that Cao Bin would return to Beijing as soon as possible.
After hearing the question, the palace maid said with some excitement:
"Ms. Pang is here to see you, but the eunuch outside won't let you in."
Queen Mother Pan was disappointed for a moment, but she immediately cheered up, holding on to the bed and saying:
"Quick, quick... we must not let Madam Pang leave, just say that I have something important to say to her."
