Twenty days later.
In the capital city of Bianjing, Jiying Palace.
The ministers gathered here looked at the furious emperor in panic.
"This is really unreasonable!"
The young emperor kept banging on the table, and the memorial originally placed on it had already flown out and landed at the feet of the ministers.
But no one bent down to pick it up. On the contrary, Li Zi, who was closest, was timidly moving backwards.
That rhythm reminded some Chen Zi of the three-inch golden lotus in the harem of the Southern Tang Dynasty.
However, the emperor's roar shattered the illusion that followed.
"Under the bright sky, tens of thousands of enemy bandits unexpectedly appeared in Quanzhou. If my mentor hadn't dealt with them in time, it would have been another disaster!"
After saying that, he finally sat back and began to rub his already red palms.
When the ministers saw this, someone finally dared to step forward and pick up the memorial.
Cai Qi, the political advisor, stretched out his hand the fastest. This dear friend and Pang Ji were both Jinshis in the eighth year of Dazhong Xiangfu, that is, 1015. They were in the same year, so naturally they were very concerned about Pang Ji's situation.
However, when he saw it, he was startled and broke into a cold sweat. According to Pang Ji's account, these tens of thousands of alien bandits plundered hundreds of households outside Quanzhou City in just one night, and even Jinjiang, Xianyou and other counties were affected.
If it hadn't been stopped in time, we don't know how much damage it would have caused.
This made him couldn't help but sigh: "Chenzhi has really done a great thing for the country!"
"That's not the case." The emperor heard his sigh. He finally calmed down and took out a secret report and waved it in front of Cai Qi and others. Strange people and strangers, he may not succeed. Especially this strategy to retreat from the enemy was almost made by Li. It is a pity that this person has so many wits and plans, but they are not used by our Emperor Song. Dear Sirs, since Now that the memorial has been handed in, it seems like it’s time to discuss the reward.”
The emperor's voice had a certain accent, and it was obvious that he had a deeper meaning. If you combine the meaning between the lines, it seems to be expressing dissatisfaction with someone.
However, no one is stupid enough to speculate. After all, it’s easier to answer questions on the surface.
Since you want to reuse two people, you naturally have to ask the military commander about his intentions.
Li Zi, the Privy Councilor (Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces), suggested: "It would be better to reward them with a ministerial ban, or a silver wine supervising military officer.
Zuo Shijin and Right Shijin are both minor officials of around eighth rank. However, it was not easy for military generals to be promoted in the Song Dynasty. Some border generals had been fighting for a lifetime, but they might still be low-ranking officials. This low-ranking official meant that they did not have to be appointed or removed by Liu Neiquan, because they were too young and ineligible. They are usually low-ranking officials, such as Jia Tou, Gong Zhi, and generals.
Therefore, the eighth-grade minor official is already a generous reward.
If they can get such an official position, it will undoubtedly be a huge leap in their career for Li Ning and Pu Yane.
However, Cai Qi stood up and said: "Pu Yana is not from China. After learning about Chun, I learned that this person has an official status."
"Oh - it seems that Chunzhi has already communicated with you."
"yes."
"Since you have an official status, you should be promoted according to your seniority. However, this is a wonderful achievement. I feel that I should be given some additional titles."
"Your Majesty is absolutely right. Why don't we follow Privy Li's wishes and give him a job as a silver wine supervisor."
The so-called Yinjiu Jianwu refers to a series of consecutive titles for official positions - including Yinqing Guanglu doctor, Guozijian sacrificial wine, supervisory censor, and Wuqiwei - which are generally used as rewards in suburban sacrificial ceremonies, but there are also cases of rewarding meritorious officials.
And among those cases, one happened to be related to Puyane. It was more than ten years later that Nong Zhigao invaded Guangzhou. Puyana burned it with fierce fire and oil, and successfully retreated the enemy.
Afterwards, it was learned that Wei Guan of Guangzhou reported the matter to the court, and Pu Yana received such a title.
But in this time and space, because history has been traversed by tens of thousands of people - and they come from different periods - he has the opportunity to get this title in advance.
Zhao Zhen thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
At the same time, he also handed the secret memorial to Xiao Huangmen and motioned for him to show it to Cai Qi to read.
Cai Qi took it respectfully and then read it carefully. After a long time, Zhao Zhen continued: "Next, let's discuss Li Ning's reward."
"Your Majesty." Cai Qi was the first to stand up, holding the secret memorandum in hand and said, "Chen Zhi seems to think that Li Ning is young and frivolous and should be tempered. Moreover, he does not seem to have a household registration and is not from the Song Dynasty. Family."
"No household registration?" Cheng Lin, the third commander on the side, joked, pretending to be puzzled, "Is it possible that he still can't do it in the Northern Dynasty?"
"Not impossible."
"Hahaha. Zisi (Cai Qi) filtered it. Maybe Li Ning also came out of the light curtain, otherwise how could he know the bandits so well."
Another guess from Cheng Lin directly shocked Emperor Zhao Zhen.
Cai Qi didn't want this guy to mess around, so he pretended to be righteous and retorted in a loud voice: "Not necessarily. Then Li Ning didn't understand what the rebel army said at first."
The emperor seemed to have heard something about it.
He didn't like Cheng Lin, but he didn't think he needed to worry about it. Therefore, he expressed his position: "This is not the point. As long as his heart is towards the Song Dynasty, it will be fine."
"You're right!" Li Zi finally found a chance to speak.
Zhao Zhen also echoed: "I think his point of view seems to be a plan for the Song Dynasty. If the Northern Dynasty planned it carefully, let alone whether he would go to Fujian to spy on such an important plan, I think he would not talk to our generation. of."
"Your Majesty is wise!" All the ministers praised unanimously.
However, Cai Qi said worriedly: "I'm afraid Chunzhi's opinion is not unreasonable."
"Alas - I know this."
Zhao Zhen is indeed a very humane emperor.
While he affirmed Li Ning's contribution, he was unwilling to use his own will to deprive Pang Ji of his freedom of thought.
Therefore, the final decision turned out to be: Pang Ji decided Li Ning's official position on his own, and the emperor wrote a letter of condolences in his own handwriting to encourage, which was actually to win over Li Ning.
This is the standard meaning of special favors and distant ministers, which undoubtedly shows the importance of Emperor Zhao Zhenzhu and Li Ning - Cai Qi, Li Zi and the Third Secretary Cheng Lin all thought so.
However, this idea only lasted for a short time, because they still had an important issue to discuss.
Fujian Road, should we set up a pacifier? If set, who is the most suitable to use?
"Your Majesty." Cardinal Li Zidianzhang was naturally the first to speak. "The biggest enemy of our dynasty is undoubtedly the Khitan of the Northern Dynasty. The Fujian Road is far to the southeast, and there is absolutely no need to set up a pacification envoy. Besides, Zhao Yuanhao's I am ready to make a move, I am afraid that the place to send troops will be in Shaanxi, not Fujian."
Zhao Yuanhao here is actually Li Yuanhao. But the Song Dynasty gave him a national surname, so he was naturally called Zhao Yuanhao.
As for what Li Zi said was about to start, he was talking about Li Yuanhao's creation of Xixia writing. Although it was based on Chinese character strokes, the form was very different.
Since Qin Shihuang swept across Liuhe, rulers have attached great importance to the unification of characters as the basis of cultural identity. Don’t create a new language or establish an official office. It’s almost a clear signal of rebellion.
Therefore, the knowledgeable people in the Song Dynasty court had already anticipated Li Yuanhao's behavior. As for the ignorant people, then...
Of course, Li Zi was not a knowledgeable person. The reason why he noticed Xixia's situation was related to a gentleman he had recently made friends with.
It's a pity that the gentleman is not around, otherwise he would not have said such words.
Sure enough, Cai Qi immediately stood up and retorted: "Your Majesty, the memorial sent back by Chun Zhi shows that the light curtain can come and go freely. Just like a city gate. Moreover, Li Ning said that getting through the city gate is called crossing, which just fits the purpose of crossing the city. It means door."
"So what?" Li Zi was a little dissatisfied. This guy jumped out to obviously refute himself, but he was so arrogant here, which made people very upset.
Zhao Zhen frowned in dissatisfaction, but he was good-tempered and finally smiled and said: "Li Qing, don't worry. Why don't you let me analyze it for you. If the light curtain can shuttle back and forth like a city gate, it will be equivalent to the Great Song Dynasty. A pass was set up between the country and the country of thieves. That’s why Li Ning advocated controlling it. This was very prescient."
Li Zi quickly bowed and apologized: "I am stupid!"
Zhao Zhen waved his hand to indicate that it was okay, and then asked Cai Qidao: "Zisi, are you going to say that with such a bandit army as a neighbor, it is natural to strengthen the defense of Fujian Road?"
"Your Majesty is wise. You can't let the journey to Fujian hinder your future. After all, Shaanxi is really..."
"I understand." Zhao Zhen nodded and glanced at Li Zi again. Seeing that his expression softened a lot, he smiled and said, "I heard that Zhongxun recently met a Mr. Boya. I wonder if you have ever met him about this. Have you ever talked about it?”
Li Zi trembled with fright.
He now finally knew who the emperor was dissatisfied with.
But he did not say anything about this, but replied respectfully:
"I will ask him for advice as soon as I get back. If I am lucky enough to get a good idea, I will definitely come back and report it to Your Majesty."
"Okay!" Zhao Zhen stroked his hands and chuckled, but his expression suddenly changed and he warned, "However, don't tell others to avoid harmful comments."
Li Zi was startled again. The emperor is saying that the matter of the light curtain cannot be spread outside yet.
It seems that the emperor was still thinking about Haiyan Heqing and the evaluation of future generations behind Haiyan Heqing.
Li Zi also wanted this.
Therefore, he gracefully and calmly bowed his hands and said: "I have recorded it!"
Cai Qi snickered on the sidelines. He saw that the emperor was suppressing Li Zi.
But he soon discovered that the emperor had already made up his mind. He just heard the ninth-five-year-old man take advantage of the situation and said: "Since it is inconvenient to tell outsiders, let's put aside the matter of appeasing the envoy for now, so as to save the government and the public from guessing. . However, there are always situations that must be resolved. Since there are unknown thieves who have invaded the country, let’s set up a recruitment manager first. There is no need to fight for the candidate. Issue an edict to Pang Ji, ordering him not to go to the capital to do anything. The imperial censor knows all the miscellaneous things, so he can be promoted on the spot and become a general manager."
What else could Cai Qi say? He could only praise: "Your Majesty is wise!"
This emperor is indeed wise. Someone in later generations commented: "Apart from being an emperor, I can only do calligraphy, but I can't do anything else."
It's a pity that those who drown are those who are good at water. People who are too good at being emperor will one day fall into the trap of this kind of game. Once the field of vision is limited, it is only a matter of time before fatal mistakes occur.
At this time, Li Ning still didn't know the emperor's difficulties, and he didn't have the time to think about it.
Because he had more important things to be busy with - during the twenty days after the memorial was issued, and the other twenty days while waiting for a reply, this busyness continued without interruption.
As for why he is busy, it stems from his understanding of light curtains - what changes can light curtains across two time and space bring to people? This is a question that Pang Ji cannot figure out immediately.
Therefore, the first post-war exchange between the two was particularly meaningful.
