The state of the Southern Song Dynasty court during this period was quite conservative.
After Zhang Jun and Chen Kangbo left the court, the original peace faction in the court had the absolute upper hand.
They gradually expelled the original militants to work as idle local officials, and completely took control of the central government.
They continued the traditional politics of the Song Dynasty, which was to implement high-pressure rule internally and pursue pacifism externally, in exchange for Zhao Gou's recognition and indulgence of them.
Because this is also Zhao Gou's hope.
Since the fall of the Jin Kingdom was confirmed, Zhao Gou felt really comfortable and relaxed. He felt that a big stone that had been weighing on his heart for a long time had been moved away. He was so happy that he sang and danced to his heart's content.
What made him even more delighted was that his head, which had not raised its head for more than twenty years, seemed to have a tendency to raise its head again.
When he was getting along with women recently, he obviously had a similar impulse. Although he was unsuccessful in the end, Zhao Gou found such an opportunity, which made him ecstatic.
So he asked the imperial doctor about the reason for this and whether such an opportunity made sense, and then used various medicines to nurse him back to health. Although the results were not fast, according to the imperial doctor, his small head was indeed expected to recover.
As long as he has enough time, he can regain his manly glory!
Zhao Gou burst into tears with excitement!
So all his thoughts were focused on the rehabilitation of Xiaotou, and he was not interested in other things. He didn't like to deal with it anymore. Even the government affairs were left to Tang Situi and others.
Anyway, there was nothing that required his personal intervention.
At this stall, Su Yonglin became the emperor.
This kind of thing is considered a big deal, and Zhao Gou must make arrangements for it.
After the arrangement, the little turmoil when Su Yonglin became emperor was very eye-catching. Zhao Gou couldn't ignore it at all, so he asked someone to discuss it and see what Su Yonglin was doing and what he wanted to do by not becoming the emperor but the human emperor.
What the prime ministers and ministers say to each other is nothing more than saying that Su Yonglin is an alternative who does not follow the rules. It is normal for him to make some showy maneuvers in establishing a new country. Even if he wants to do something, it should be internal, not external. foreign.
Moreover, he has just established a country and is very busy. There are many things that need to be done by him. One Yellow River alone is enough to give him a headache for more than ten years. Why worry about what external intentions he has?
These words touched Zhao Gou's heart.
Zhao Gou was worried that Su Yonglin's actions had any external intentions, worried about what he wanted to do externally, and set his target on the Southern Song Dynasty. As long as he had no external intentions, everything would be fine.
"Although Emperor Ming will not have any intentions, your Majesty, we should give an explanation for the matter of Xia State sending people to contact the court."
Privy Council speaker Wang Lun changed the subject and brought it to the previous matter of Xixia secretly sending envoys to Sichuan to visit the Southern Song Dynasty in the hope of achieving the goal of alliance.
This matter was discussed by the prime ministers and assistants at that time. Some people supported it, some opposed it, some people thought it was a good idea, and some people thought it was too risky.
Zhao Gou was obviously not interested in this.
"We can still send people to our place across the border from Guanzhong, but it's hard for them."
Zhao Gou waved his hand helplessly: "Forget it, do you really think that we don't know what they are thinking? I don't want to get involved in this kind of thing. It will save me trouble. Tell them that this matter needs to be discussed in the long term, so that we can They go back first and we can discuss more."
Zhao Gou's words were obviously conciliatory, and he obviously did not want to form an alliance with Xixia, which made Wang Lun not satisfied.
Wang Lun frowned and said: "Your Majesty, although the Xia Kingdom has bad intentions, their considerations are not unreasonable. Now the Ming Kingdom is like the original Jin Kingdom, and more powerful than the Jin Kingdom. As the saying goes, people should be on guard against others. It’s essential. Faced with such a powerful neighbor, shouldn’t we be more prepared?”
Zhao Gou felt that it made sense after listening to Wang Lun's words.
"What you said is not unreasonable. Then...accept it?"
Shen Gai next to him heard this and immediately dissuaded him.
"Your Majesty, Xia is a small and despicable country that has never been trustworthy. I'm afraid it would be inappropriate for us to form an alliance with it."
"This...is true."
Hearing what Shen should say, Zhao Hua thought of all the grudges between Song and Xia, as well as the past experiences of backstabbing each other, and then said, "The Xia people really can't be trusted?"
Shen Gai nodded immediately.
"Your Majesty, have you forgotten? The current Prime Minister of the Xia Kingdom, Ren Dejing, was a traitor to our Song Dynasty."
Speaking of this matter, Zhao Gou really felt a lot of dissatisfaction in his heart.
During the Renzong period, Wang Yuan, a defeated scholar, was unable to defeat the Northern Song Dynasty court. Since then, the rule of not dismissing scholars in palace examinations has been established to prevent anyone from going against the imperial court in order to retaliate against the imperial court and cause greater trouble.
However, even scholars who are Jinshi and above are not necessarily reliable, and they still go against the imperial court.
As the top leader and actual controller of the border state at that time, Ren Dejing directly surrendered the state to Xixia. He betrayed the court and took refuge in Xixia to save his life when the court was in crisis. It was extremely shameless.
How can we make a good alliance by cooperating with such a despicable and shameless traitor?
He betrayed the Southern Song Dynasty once, and he could betray the Southern Song Dynasty a second time.
No way believable!
Zhao Gou's dissatisfaction took over and he waved his hand decisively.
"Let them go back where they came from! The Song Dynasty is now an ally of the Ming Kingdom, and the Xia Kingdom is a vassal state of the Ming Kingdom. If there is such a secret communication, if the Ming Kingdom finds out, there is no telling what trouble will happen. , no matter what the trouble, if something happens and we are in the wrong, we don’t know how to defend ourselves!”
Wang Lun did not agree with this decision.
"Your Majesty, more precautions are better than no precautions. No one knows what disasters will happen in the future, but at least for now, the Song Dynasty and the Xia Kingdom are on the same page. How can your Majesty, who is so wise and wise, not understand?"
Seeing that Zhao Gou was wavering again, Shen Gai was very unhappy. He disagreed with Wang Lun's words.
"The Xia Kingdom is no longer the Xia Kingdom during the time of Li Yuanhao! It is a small country, a weak country, and it is simply vulnerable. An alliance with it will only plunge the Song Dynasty into a quagmire, which is meaningless! And if the Ming Kingdom finds out, send If someone comes to ask, what should I do?"
Zhao Gou suddenly remembered that Xixia was no longer in the state of martial virtue that it had been during the Li Yuanhao period. The current Xixia army was weak and not strong enough to provide reinforcements.
So he got very angry, stood up and walked away.
"Let them go back where they came from. The Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty are allies, and there is no need for one more!"
After Zhao Gou left, several ministers were left looking at each other.
After a while, Shen Gai mocked Wang Lun.
"Privy King, are despicable small countries like the Xia Kingdom worthy of the Song Dynasty's alliance?"
"Why not? One more friend is better than one more enemy! Doesn't Mr. Shen understand this?"
Wang Lun was very angry.
Shen Gai sneered.
"Having another useless friend, turning a powerful friend into an enemy for nothing, is this a good thing or a bad thing for the Song Dynasty? Privy Wang, don't you understand?"
"Why did the Song Dynasty refuse to alliance with the Xia Kingdom because of the Ming Kingdom? In this case, what is the difference between the previous Jin Kingdom and the current Ming Kingdom?!"
Wang Lun spoke loudly.
Shen Gai was stunned for a moment.
"Of course there is a difference!"
"What's the difference?"
"The difference is..."
Shen Gai thought about it seriously, and suddenly felt that the difference between the two was not very big, so he didn't know what to say, so he could only blush and walk away without saying a word.
Wang Lun won the argument, but could not change the outcome. He could only send away the Xixia emissary sent by Sichuan. In response to the emissary's persuasion, Wang Lun could only tell the truth, saying that this matter was really not something he could decide. .
The Xixia envoy could only leave disappointed.
Seeing the disappointed figure of the Xixia emissary leaving, Wang Lun somehow felt as if he had seen the future.
He couldn't help but said to his trusted subordinates: "Because you are afraid of the powerful neighbor in the north, you dare not increase your strength. How is this different from killing Yue Fei? In this way, even if the Ming Dynasty does not have the intention to go south, it will be difficult for the Ming Dynasty to go south for a long time. Later, similar thoughts will arise, and how should the Song Dynasty deal with itself by then?"
The subordinates did not dare to express any opinions on this topic, so they could only keep silent and pretended that they had not heard such words.
