The night after Tong Guan and Cai You returned to Beijing, Tong Guan went to Wang Fu's mansion without even visiting his own residence, asking Wang Fu about what happened in the court during his northern expedition to Khitan? Then he discussed an important matter with the palace and asked the palace to invite Yang Jian and Gao Qiu to the palace the next day. After he and Cai You met with the Holy Emperor early in the morning, they all discussed it together.
After discussing the matter with Wang Fu, Tong Guancai rushed back to his mansion and rested.
Early the next morning, Tong Guan and Cai You entered the palace to see Emperor Huizong.
Tong Guan and Cai You prostrated themselves in front of Emperor Huizong's dragon chair and shouted loudly: "Long live my consecration, long live long live!"
Emperor Huizong said: "Pingshen."
Tongguan, Cai You then got up and bowed to Emperor Huizong again.
Emperor Huizong looked unhappy, waved his hand gently and said: "No need, you can talk about the Northern Expedition to Khitan."
Tong Guan reported: "Your Majesty, the war against Liao was going smoothly. The army was expected to capture Youzhou and recover the lost territory of Yanjing. However, I followed the order and recruited Zhong Shidao to accompany the army to conquer Liao. Zhong Shidao was ordered to After Baozhou reunited with the army, he was very resistant to the Northern Expedition to Khitan. First, he used various excuses to hinder the army's campaign to conquer Liao and shake the morale of the army; then he advanced impetuously and killed innocent people indiscriminately, resulting in the failure of the expedition. Your Majesty, Master Zhong's natural appearance is easy to kill, he does his own thing, assists the thieves in their plans, and thwarts the Holy Will. He should bear the responsibility for the failure of this expedition against Liao."
Emperor Huizong was silent when he saw the performance.
In the impression of Emperor Huizong, Zhong Shidao took the overall situation into consideration and understood the principles. He was not the kind of person Tong Guan said. Therefore, Emperor Huizong remained silent, wondering how credible Tong Guan's words were.
Seeing that Emperor Huizong was silent, Cai You also said from the side: "Your Majesty, Zhongshi Dao is arbitrary and unruly and does not obey restraint. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the plan to restore Yan, I beg for military law and severely punish Zhongshi Dao as a warning. Follow suit."
"Why is this situation not mentioned at all in your memorial?"
Emperor Huizong looked at Cai You and asked.
"Here comes the memorial to Your Majesty. I thought that what was said in the memorial was not very clear. Now when I go to see Your Majesty, I will explain it to you in detail."
Emperor Huizong heard the report and said to himself: "My dear sirs, something seems wrong. Based on my impression and understanding, Lao Zhong is upright and upright in his actions. He is not the kind of person you said he was."
Cai Youzhuo said: "Your Majesty, Qizou. People cannot be judged by their appearances, and their hearts are even more unpredictable. People change with the changes in the environment. They are different at this time and that time. Your Majesty, Qizou, it is said that the old people in the past are indeed He is not that kind of person. During the decades of guarding the northwest and northern frontiers, Lao Zhongge fulfilled his duties and made many contributions. However, during this expedition to the Liao Dynasty, Lao Zhong did act abnormally. The emperor announced that the army went north to conquer the Liao Dynasty. , is your special decree, Your Majesty. However, Lao Zhong knew this, but repeatedly persuaded Privy Tong to reconcile with the Khitan. Isn't this a blatant disobedience to His Majesty's will? Privy Tong reprimanded Lao Zhong several times, and Lao Zhong insisted on his opinion. During the operation, he disobeyed the commander's orders and started killing indiscriminately, destroying the imperial court's established recruitment strategy, putting the Khitan to death, and causing the Khitan to resist strongly, resulting in the failure of the Northern Expedition. The emperor's actions were intentional. Sabotage this expedition against Liao! You should be severely punished."
Emperor Huizong saw that Cai You's words were well-founded and seemed to be true, so he thought about it again.
Based on the reports from Tong Guan and Cai You, Emperor Huizong recalled some things in the past and felt that the reason why Zhongshi Dao was like this must be because he had a problem with Tong Guan. He felt that serving under Tong Guanmi would be a humiliation of his talents, so he disobeyed. Tong Guanshuai Ling.
Now, after Tong Guan and Cai You reported some situations about Zhongshi Dao, Emperor Huizong felt a little regretful. Emperor Huizong knew that Tong Guan was at odds with Zhongshi Dao, but he asked Tong Guan to recruit Zhongshi Dao and the army. Isn't this an artificial restraint?
Thinking of this, Emperor Huizong believed Cai You and Tong Guan's words, and became angry with Zhong Shidao. He said angrily: "Two gentlemen, this is because I have not thought about things well. I originally wanted Lao Zhong to stay at the border for a long time. Knowing the situation of the Khitan, he intended to let Zhong Shidao accompany the army in the Northern Expedition and come up with more ideas to achieve victory in the annihilation of the Khitan. Unexpectedly, it backfired. Since this old Zhong did not agree with the expedition to the Liao Dynasty, he revoked his original and concurrent duties and replaced him with other officials. He was transferred back to the northwest and served as the economic and strategic envoy of the four Pinggu Prefectures in Yanqing, specializing in the defense of the northwest. As for military and civilian affairs in the north, Privy Tong was fully responsible. During Privy Tong's reign, Wang Zhen was temporarily in charge, with Liu Yanqing assisting him. .”
Tong Guan and Cai You bowed their waists and shouted: "The Holy One is wise!"
Emperor Huizong continued to make arrangements: "My two ministers, the task of conquering the Khitan and regaining Yanyun's homeland is a big deal. After you two go down, consult with Prime Minister Wang, Grand Master Cai and others to come up with a comprehensive and feasible plan."
Tong Guan and Cai You bowed their waists and replied: "I obey the order!"
Immediately, Tong Guan and Cai You said goodbye and left the palace.
At that time, after Tong Guan and Cai You left the palace, they went directly to the residence of Prime Minister Wang Fu.
The failure of the expedition against Liao was also a huge blow to Tong Guan's self-confidence. What Tong Guan was most proud of was his military ability. Because of the failure of the Northern Expedition, Tong Guan had doubts about his military ability. Tong Guan felt that for now, apart from himself, the only ones with military talents were Song Jiang and Lu Junyi. In addition, those guys had just achieved a great victory in conquering Fangla and were trusted by the Holy One. If If the Holy Emperor loses confidence in himself, he may use Song Jiang, Lu Junyi and others. In that case, he will step aside; if Song Jiang and Lu Junyi succeed in conquering the Liao Dynasty, they will really take back the Sixteenth State of Yanyun, and it will be Song Jiang who will be crowned king in the future. , Lu Junyi, there will be nothing wrong with him.
This is unacceptable to Tong Guan. Therefore, on the way back to Beijing, Tong Guan and Cai You discussed that the first thing to do after returning to Beijing this time was to eliminate Song Jiang and Lu Junyi to prevent them from gaining power and rising again.
In fact, Cai Jing, Wang Fu, Tong Guan, Yang Jian and other traitorous officials had already discussed the matter of murdering Song Jiang and Lu Junyi. At that time, Song Jiang and Lu Junyi conquered Fangla and returned triumphantly. Emperor Huizong made a special trip to welcome him and held a celebration banquet. He gave gold, silver, yellow vests, and high-ranking officials with generous salaries. He also specially approved Song Jiang to return to his hometown to visit relatives, and sent Cai Jing and Cai Jing, who were also present at the time, to Wang Fu, Tong Guan, Yang Jian and others all stood aside and ignored them. They also ordered Cai Jing and others to express congratulations to Song Jiang and Lu Junyi. This was unacceptable to Cai Jing, Wang Fu, Tong Guan, Yang Jian and other treacherous officials. . At that time, due to the face of Emperor Huizong and the great joy of the imperial court in annihilating Fang Lanai, Cai Jing, Wang Fu, Tong Guan, Yang Jian and others forced themselves to be happy and humbly congratulated Song Jiang and Lu Junyi on their victory. They were probably very angry. My belly will burst.
After the banquet was over, several traitors and traitors returned to Cai Jing's Prime Minister's Office and began to discuss the murder of Song Jiang and Lu Junyi.
At that time, in the prime minister's house, Yang Jian was drinking tea and said to Cai Jing, Wang Fu and Tong Guan: "The two prime ministers and the privy envoy are here. I have something to say. I don't know whether I should say it or not?"
Cai Jing laughed when he heard this and said: "Why is Taiwei Yang so polite? What is our relationship? This is the prime minister's house. We are all acquaintances. We are chatting in private. Is there anything we shouldn't say? Taiwei Yang just talks, no need to say more." consider."
Yang Jian looked at Cai Jing and said: "Thank you, Song Jiang and Lu Junyi. They were former thieves and bandits. As the saying goes, once you are a thief, you will always be a thief. You cannot change your rebellious nature. Now, Song Jiang , Although Lu Junyi was successful in conquering Fangla, he has a criminal record after all; now, it is not a good idea for the court to grant Song Jiang high-ranking officials and enjoy generous salaries."
When Cai Jing heard this, he thought, isn't it? ! But on the surface he pretended not to care, just stroking his beard with his hand and smiling without saying a word.
Yang Jian continued: "Nowadays, the Holy Lord regards Song Jiang very highly and treats Song Jiang very well. Seeing that Song Jiang is very favored, this will send bad information to other thieves. Please be kind and considerate. I will do it once." A thief is a thief all his life. It is best to not give Song Jiang and his like a way out. If we give Song Jiang and his like a high-ranking official a generous salary, wouldn't it mean that everyone will fall into the trap of stealing? After all, if someone kills someone, commits a crime, and is recruited, not only will he not be punished, After being punished, he became a high official."
When Cai Jing heard this, he nodded frequently, thinking it was right.
After Tong Guan pondered for a while, he continued: "Lieutenant Yang is overly worried. I think that Song Jiang suffered heavy casualties in order to win over Fang La. There are only a few generals under his command. I think he was originally a hundred and eight generals, and he was worthy of the stars. , with a huge momentum, and now most of them are dead and injured, with only about 20 people left. Presumably there will be no trouble, so there is nothing to worry about. If there are injustices, there are some. I and other ministers are diligent and conscientious. , who have devoted their lives to the imperial court, are not as well-received as Song Jiang and Lu Junyi, who were recruited at the end of the road. As a result, I feel very unfair."
Wang Fu looked at Tong Guan and said: "Privy Tong, Song Jiang's campaign to conquer Fang La is indeed a meritorious service. However, Song Jiang's background is also worrying. If that guy makes a mistake, the court will suffer huge losses. You and I are both high officials of the court. You should worry about the imperial court in case something unexpected happens."
Hearing this, Tong Guan looked at Wang Fu and asked, "Does what Dazai said mean that Song Jiang will rebel again? Song Jiang's campaign against Fang La is not about his strategy, but actually because of his strong soldiers and horses. Now, Song Jiang is alone and lonely. Li, if you can't take care of yourself, how dare you be a thief again and again? According to Dazai's intention, it is possible that Song Jiang and Lu Junyi..." At this point, Tong Guan stopped talking, wiped his neck with his hand, and then looked at Wang Fu.
Before Wang Fu spoke, Cai Jing said with a smile: "It's so troublesome to go to such a big fight for just Song Jiang and Lu Junyi?!"
Wang Fu then said: "What the Grand Master said is absolutely true. We have many ways to deal with things, but why do we use so much trouble? Since the emperor values Song Jiang and Lu Junyi, when he goes to court one day, we will cajole him The Emperor, give Song Jiang and Lu Junyi a bottle of imperial wine as a reward, and then everything will be settled, right?"
Upon hearing this, Cai Jing, Tong Yao and Yang Jian looked at each other and laughed.
Later, because Cai Jing secretly opposed the alliance with the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty, he was dismissed from the position of prime minister for the third time by Emperor Huizong. Tong Guan was also very busy preparing for the conquest of the Khitan, and he took the murder of Song Jiang and Lu Junyi to task. Delayed.
Now that the Khitan campaign had failed, the murder of Song Jiang had become a top priority. Therefore, after meeting with Emperor Huizong, Tong Guan and Cai You came to Wang Fu's house as agreed with Wang Fu last night to meet with Wang Fu and Yang Jian. , Gao Qiu and others discussed specific methods to murder Song Jiang and Lu Junyi.
