To establish the emperor's younger brother?
Everyone turned their attention to Baoning and Wuning military governors, Taibao, and Su Wang Zhaoshu who were standing in the corner and wandering around the Qinhuai River.
Zhao Shu is living a comfortable life now. Because the two younger brothers, Zhao Zhi and Zhao Zhen, became prosperous under Zhao Kai and became powerful kings leading troops, Zhao Huan had to treat his brothers better. Real power cannot be given... Zhao Huan's approach is to use civil society to control military force to the most thorough way. Scholars are already in charge of the army. How can the prince be allowed to touch real power?
But Zhao Huan's court is rich now!
Although the Song Dynasty suffered a huge setback during the Xuanhe War and even split into two, it was a blessing and a disaster, and this disaster was not without some positive aspects. Not to mention Zhao Kai's side, Zhao Huan's side also had blessings in disguise, and the biggest gain was that the redundant troops were gone!
Originally, the Song Dynasty court had five to six million forbidden troops on its books. During the war, they didn't know where to find them. After Zhao Huan arrived in Jinling, he asked the four general managers to carefully check the troops. The final number was that there were only more than 60,000 Song Dynasty forbidden troops on the ground in Lianghuai, Liangjiang, and Jinghu, including those in Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangxi. The Forbidden Army, that is, more than 80,000 people. It’s over 80% in one go!
The second is the great decrease in the royal population.
In later generations, people often said that the royal family of the Ming Dynasty had too many people, and they were all eating and waiting to die, which led to the collapse of the Ming Dynasty.
In fact, the Song Dynasty also had similar troubles. Although the number of people in the direct line of the Song Dynasty royal family was always a bit thin, the number of people in the collateral line was pretty good. Decades before the Xuanhe Disaster, Kaifeng Mansion could no longer accommodate the crowds, so some were relocated to Luoyang, Xijing, and Yingtian Mansion (Songzhou), Nanjing. Basically, these royal children were just hanging around and waiting to die. Only a handful of people can pass the imperial examination and become an official.
Most of these people failed to follow Jiangnan - some lived in Luoyang and Zhao Kai didn't care about them and became common people; some disappeared when they ran away from Kaifeng Mansion and Yingtian Mansion.
The third is that the number of redundant officials has been greatly reduced.
Aren't the three redundancies of the Song Dynasty namely redundant officials, redundant soldiers, and redundant expenses? In addition to the highest number of officials in the imperial examinations in all dynasties, there is also the big pitfall of getting officials through yinbu - there are more yinbu officials than officials through the imperial examination!
Moreover, the legal income of officials in the Song Dynasty was much higher than that of previous dynasties. With so many officials, how could the expenses be reduced?
And the fourth thing is that Song Zhuangzong Zhao Ji, the copper coin crusher, is gone... He spent more than anyone else!
Therefore, the Song Dynasty court who fled to Jinling is now extremely rich. Zhao Huan only needs to scrape a little bit of it and distribute it to the brothers who followed him to Jinling - he also has to use money to deal with these people!
Because Zhao Huan already knows Zhao Ji’s last words! It is said that it is located in Sanlang Zhao Kai!
Moreover, Zhao Huan also knew that almost all the brothers who ran away with Zhao Ji had heard it and could testify for Zhao Kai... And Zhao Huan could not kill them to silence them now!
Because one of them, Zhao Zhen, is far away in Chang'an and cannot be killed!
If Zhao Huan killed all the other brothers who knew about this, wouldn't it make Zhao Zhen's testimony more authentic?
Therefore, Zhao Huan could not kill his brothers, and he had to find a way to stand up for himself... Therefore, Zhao Huan, who originally did not like a group of younger brothers, became a "Brother Supporting Demon" after arriving in Jinling. Every now and then, he would give his brothers land, houses, and money. Now, the brothers in Jinling have become rich.
But the courtiers never expected that Zhao Huan, the elder brother, would actually "support his younger brother" to the point where he wanted to have a brother-in-law relationship.
Zhao Huan's second brother Zhao Tao and fourth brother Zhao Ji both died young. So the next ones are Sanlang Zhao Kai and Wulang Zhao Shu.
Now that Zhao Kai is not in Jinling, the one who should be the emperor's younger brother is Su Wang Zhao Shu!
Zhao Shu was wandering outside the palace, so he didn't hear what his brother was saying. When everyone turned their attention to him, he was still squinting and wondering what he was thinking.
He doesn't look like a wise king! Is it possible to pass the position to him?
Zhao Shu, who didn't look like Ming Jun, suddenly realized that everyone was looking at him and was a little stunned. What happened? Why are all these ministers looking at me?
Could someone impeach this king? This king is so law-abiding... No, he must have drunk too much in the Qinhuai River restaurant yesterday and told the story about the late emperor passing the throne to his third brother!
Thinking of this, Zhao Shu suddenly broke into a cold sweat! He was almost about to kneel down to Zhao Huan... Just when he was about to kneel down, his sixth brother King Jing Zhao Qi suddenly said: "Fifth brother, why are you still standing there? The officials are going to make you the emperor’s younger brother..."
"What?" Zhao Shu couldn't believe his ears.
"Fifth brother, the eldest brother just said that he wanted to establish the emperor's younger brother!" Zhao Xu, the old Qiji king, interjected, "Now that third brother is gone, it's you... why don't you give in quickly!"
Yiyi means pretending to refuse. Being the emperor, prime minister, or the emperor's younger brother is a good thing. Usually, you have to push it several times. In the end, you have no choice but to reluctantly accept it!
But Zhao Shu was not mentally prepared at all, and he didn't want to be the emperor's younger brother at all-Zhao Huan's official family had a shady reputation. If Zhao Huan hadn't been rich and given a lot of money, he would have started it long ago. Sneaked away to Chang'an.
And after he settled down in Jinling, he sent his confidants to sneak to Chang'an to contact his third brother Zhao Kai in the name of doing business... He is now the undercover agent sent by his third brother in Jinling! What's going on when an undercover agent becomes an official?
Thinking of this, Zhao Shu quickly knelt down to Zhao Huan who was on the throne and was as shocked by the words of his two stupid brothers, and kept saying: "In the official family, my brother is not the emperor's younger brother. You should hire someone else." ...Why don't we let Sixth Brother and Seventh Brother take the blame?"
King Jing Zhao Qi and King Ji Zhao Xu were not willing to be the emperor's brother who carried thunder, so they quickly declined.
"In the official family, the idle younger brother is too embarrassed to be used. It is better to let Ninth Brother become the emperor's younger brother!"
"Yes, yes, I also recommend Brother Ninth!"
Zhao Ji's eighth son, Zhao Ji, died for his country along with Zhao Ji, so Zhao Gou was the next king of Ji, Zhao Xu.
Hearing that Wang Zhao Qi and Ji Wang Zhao Xu both recommended Zhao Gou to be blamed, Zhao Shu also quickly recommended Zhao Gou, "Brother, the emperor, and my younger brother also recommended Ninth Brother. Ninth Brother is tall and mighty, with a dignified appearance, and someone who looks like a king." ....”
He's pretty good at reading faces!
However, Zhao Huan was angry with the three living brothers... He had never thought of making one of them the emperor's younger brother, and certainly he had not thought of making the perfect one who had already recognized the wild father. Yan Gou came to be the emperor's younger brother.
"I know that the three of you don't want to be the crown prince," Zhao Huan said angrily, "so I don't want to force others to do anything... You all get up! But Brother Ninth cannot be the crown prince. He is still trapped in the Kingdom of Jin. , and he also recognized the emperor of the Jin Kingdom as his father, how could I make him the crown prince?"
"Who does the emperor want to be the crown prince?" Zhao Shu asked after standing up.
Zhao Huan said: "The appointment of a heir should of course follow the order of elder and younger... I am the eldest brother, and the second brother died young, so the third brother after me is the third brother! I want to establish He is the crown prince, what do you brothers think?"
What?
Make Zhao Kai the emperor's younger brother?
But he is already the emperor, how could he return to the throne and become the crown prince again?
"Brother Imperial," Zhao Shu kindly reminded, "the third brother has already established himself as an official..."
"I know!" Zhao Huan sighed, "This matter was caused by a misunderstanding. At that time, the third brother was in Hedong and mistakenly thought that gold thieves had flooded Kaifeng Mansion. Both myself and the late emperor were dead, so he ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor... ...As a result, the good Song Dynasty was divided into two, which was really unworthy of the ancestors! And if things go on like this, it is inevitable that the same brothers will be at war, and the country will not be the country. After thinking about it again and again, I thought of establishing Saburo as the emperor's younger brother. .....Of course, his Emperor Chang'an can follow suit. As long as I can be allowed to live in Jinling until my death, after I live forever, Sanlang will inherit the land of the Ten Routes and Two States, and the two Song Dynasties can be unified."
Is there such a thing?
Brother Zhao Shu, Zhao Qi, and Zhao Xu were all moved by Zhao Huan's noble character and integrity! The three of them still judged a gentleman with a villain's heart, and always regarded Zhao Huan as a usurper. They were really ashamed!
"Brother Emperor, you are really better than Yao and Shun, I admire you!"
"Brother Emperor, if the two Song dynasties can really be reunited like this, it will be a blessing to all people!"
"Brother Emperor, with a wise king like you in the Song Dynasty, the great rejuvenation of the Song Dynasty will be just around the corner!"
Listening to the flattery of the three brothers, Zhao Huan couldn't help but feel proud... He had racked his brains to come up with such a clever trick as establishing Zhao Kai as the emperor's younger brother!
In his opinion, Zhao Kai is of course a traitor and traitor! But the problem is that Zhao Kai, the rebellious minister and traitor, has an army of more than 300,000, while Zhengshuo, the great Song Dynasty, only has 80,000 troops at hand. And these 80,000 people are not very capable of fighting... If Zhao Kai hadn't been restrained by the gold thieves and was temporarily unable to move eastward, he, Zhao Huan, would have been killed by Zhao Kai.
After this round of the Central Plains War, the flood area formed by the Yellow River bursting its banks will cut off the traffic between Gyeonggi, Jingxi and Jingdong. The contact areas between Hedong and Hebei, where Zhao Kai and Jin Thieves belong, are both dangerous and conducive to defense.
Therefore, after Zhao Kai calms down, he will most likely use the method of first south and then north to solve the problems of the ten southeastern roads and two states first, and then deal with the gold thieves.
Therefore, Zhao Huan came up with this method, which was both a delaying tactic and a moral kidnapping!
It’s not easy for Zhao Kai to refuse!
"Fifth brother, sixth brother, seventh brother," Zhao Huan sighed, "There is a deep misunderstanding between me and the third brother, I am afraid that he will not be willing to be the crown prince... You are all us You two younger brothers, why don't you go to Chang'an for your elder brother and talk to Sanlang together... Tell Sanlang that my eldest brother's health is failing and he is getting worse day by day. I only have a sick son behind me. It looks like he doesn’t have the ability to rule the world, so I don’t make him the crown prince. Instead, I make Sanlang the emperor’s younger brother. As long as Sanlang is willing to let me stay for a few years, the land of the ten southeastern states and two states will all be his! "
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