“It is indeed God’s blessing for the Song Dynasty that such a good recipe has appeared in the world!”
In the court, all the officials congratulated one after another, and Zhao Xu was also excited. Once pesticides were promoted and the Song Dynasty's grain production increased by 30%, it would lay a solid foundation for him to defeat Liaoxia.
"To the official family, Taiwei Meng Yuan is here to congratulate the official family on taking charge!"
Suddenly another memorial was handed in, and all the officials in the court were shocked. Taiwei Meng Yuan was the most die-hard supporter of Empress Dowager Gao, and he also controlled the imperial army in Kaifeng City. His statement meant that Zhao Xu's power had spread. to the military.
Zhao Xu breathed a sigh of relief. Queen Meng had indeed lived up to his trust and finally convinced Meng Yuan to side with him.
Then one after another military generals also came forward to support the pro-government government, and even the Cao family, the in-laws of Empress Dowager Gao, also came forward. As the emperor, Zhao Xu finally took control of the most important power in the imperial power-military power.
At this point, Zhao Xu's momentum has been achieved.
All the officials in the court bowed their heads, and no one dared to question it. Everyone understood that Zhao Xu was already in control.
However, Zhao Xu is not resting easy. He still has one of the biggest hidden dangers that he has yet to solve, and that is Empress Dowager Gao.
……………………
In the palace of Empress Dowager Gao, there were waves of curses, and then, the ministers who came to persuade Empress Dowager Gao one by one were driven out of the palace of Empress Dowager Gao in embarrassment.
When Zhao Xu saw this, he couldn't help but look embarrassed. He didn't expect Empress Dowager Gao to be so stubborn. Even though the situation was over, she still refused to write the edict to return the government.
"I would like to inform the officials that the resentment in the heart of the Empress Dowager will surely lead to disaster in the future. I ask the officials to make a decision early, otherwise there will be endless troubles." Wang Di, the new imperial minister, said coldly.
Wang Di led the imperial students to petition for orders, used the influence of the New Party to arouse public opinion among the people, and made great contributions to Zhao Xu's rise to power. He was appointed by Zhao Xu as a scholar in the Imperial Academy and accompanied him at his side.
Zhao Xu's expression changed. Empress Dowager Gao had been in power for eight years and had countless followers. If Empress Dowager Gao was given a chance, she would probably end up no better than Xia Huizong!
"After all, the Empress Dowager raised me up? If you do it too harshly, I'm afraid it will attract criticism." Zhao Xu said with concern.
Wang Di sneered and said: "Do the officials really think that the Empress Dowager is wholeheartedly supporting the officials? If so, the officials are old enough, why doesn't the Empress Dowager take the initiative to return to power?"
Zhao Xu's expression suddenly changed. Wang Di's words hit Zhao Xu's heart. If Empress Dowager Gao had returned to power in time, what would have happened today.
Wang Di continued: "The officials know why Cai Xianggong suffered such brutal revenge. It was only one of the reasons why he offended the old party when he was in power. The main reason was that he discovered that the Empress Dowager had the intention to depose the officials. Cai Xianggong I openly wrote a letter to hold the Empress Dowager accountable and saved my official position, but I received the most severe retaliation among all the prime ministers in history.”
Zhao Xu frowned. The Song Dynasty was very tolerant to scholar-bureaucrats. Even if the court battle failed, the worst treatment would still be to be demoted to the local government and become a prefect?
Fan Zhongyan and Wang Anshi are all like this.
Cai Que was first demoted, and then sent to Lingnan. He was indeed the most miserable prime minister in the past. It turned out that there was such a secret. Combined with the refusal of Empress Dowager Gao to return to power, and the pressing pressure of King Yong Zhao Hao, Zhao Xu couldn't help but believe it. suspect.
"The Empress Dowager is a treacherous person who wants to abolish the country for the sake of power. Why should the officials think about their old feelings? Why not just abolish her title of queen and completely cut off her authority to avoid future troubles." Wang Di said with a fierce look on his face. .
Although Wang Di is Wang Yu's stepson, his behavior is very similar to Wang Yu's, and he will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals.
Zhao Xu thought about how he could only see the grievances on the backs and buttocks of hundreds of officials in the court, the crisis that King Yong was pressing every step of the way, and the order he issued for the first time to punish rape and eradicate evil, but was almost abandoned by Empress Dowager Gao. Old and new hatreds welled up in my heart.
"The official is charged with the important task of revitalizing the Song Dynasty, so how can the rear be unstable? Remember that when Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty launched the Xuanwu Gate Revolution, he still became the emperor for eternity, not to mention that the official is the legitimate emperor." Wang Di said again. encouraged.
After hearing this, Zhao Xu was heartbroken. Fan Zheng had suggested that he learn from history. Tang Taizong was the emperor he admired. With the example of Tang Taizong, he no longer hesitated and immediately ordered Wang Di to draft an edict to abolish the position of Empress Dowager Gao. , completely cutting off the possibility of counterattack.
Empress Dowager Xiang was shocked when she heard the news and quickly stopped her: "Think twice, officials! When the late emperor was in danger, there was quite an intention to establish King Yong in the court. It was all thanks to the Empress Dowager's strong support for the officials and ordered Eunuch Liang to secretly sew a ten-year-old child. The dragon robe worn ensures that the official ascends to the throne."
Although Empress Dowager Xiang agrees with Zhao Xu's position as emperor, she does not want Empress Dowager Gao to completely abolish her position as queen. If the official family can abolish Empress Dowager Gao's position as queen today, they can abolish her position as queen in the future.
Zhao Xu frowned. The incident at the age of ten was a long time ago for him. In addition, he was a child at the time and did not understand the inside story.
"If the officials don't believe me, they can ask Concubine Zhu. She will definitely know the details." Seeing that Zhao Xu didn't believe it, Empress Dowager Xiang pulled Concubine Zhu over. She knew that Concubine Zhu was soft-tempered and would definitely not hold a grudge against Empress Dowager Gao.
Sure enough, Concubine Zhu came over and immediately interceded for Empress Dowager Gao and proved what happened back then.
Zhao Xu frowned and asked: "Since my aunt and concubine knew what happened back then, they must have known that they agreed that when I came of age, the Empress Dowager would return power to me. Did the Empress Dowager do it?"
Empress Dowager Xiang and Concubine Zhu were immediately speechless. After all, Empress Dowager Gao was indeed at fault in this matter.
Empress Dowager Xiang whispered to Concubine Zhu: "The concubine will first persuade the officials, and the Ai family will ask Fan Taicheng to come. Now only he can persuade the officials to change their minds."
She knew that the New Party must be behind the instigation of Zhao Xu to be so radical. Currently, the only one who can persuade Zhao Xu is Fan Zheng.
……………………
In the Taiyuan Hospital, Fan Zheng took a deep breath as he looked at the energetic Cai Que in front of him. Without him, Cai Que seemed to be in excellent spirits, but in fact he was in a state of recovery.
Qian Yi nodded heavily.
Fan Zheng frowned and said: "Master Cai was once a very popular minister, and Fan naturally does not need to hide it. If he had not taken the medicine of tiger and wolf, Fan could have prescribed a prescription for Master Cai to prolong his life for a while. Now it is too late."
Cai Que's face darkened, and then he said calmly: "I am lucky to be able to see that the official family is in charge and the Song Dynasty Reform is about to happen. Cai wanted to meet the evil man today who called the Xining Reform a recipe for failure. What a beautiful medical model!"
Hearing this, Fan Zheng frowned and said, "It's not like the Song Dynasty didn't give you a chance. It's unprecedented in ancient times and modern times that the reform was not completed in sixteen years."
Cai Que was immediately speechless when he heard this. No matter they had thousands of excuses for failure, the Song Dynasty did give them sixteen years, but they failed to make the Song Dynasty strong.
Cai Que asked back: "Fan Taicheng thinks he can succeed in reforming the Song Dynasty?"
Fan Zheng said proudly: "There is no difference between reform and treating diseases and saving lives. All you need to do is find the source of the disease and prescribe the right prescription. This is Fan's expertise."
"I wonder what Fan Taicheng thinks is the root cause of the Song Dynasty?" Cai Que asked solemnly.
"ancestral system!" Fan Zheng said every word.
Cai Que smiled bitterly and said: "We are not afraid of destiny, our ancestors are not lawful, and people's words are not compassionate. You think the new party does not know the root of the disease of the Song Dynasty."
Fan Zheng sneered and said: "The people in the Song Dynasty wanted to reform because they wanted to have food to eat, not to let the new party smash the pot! The people do not increase taxes but the state uses people. It takes a long time to operate. Where will the money come from in a short time? It has not come from the scholar-bureaucrats, and the people have not received benefits, so how can the new party not arouse public anger? If the new party had the determination to directly abolish the old currency and sink the boat, I am afraid that the reform would have been successful long ago."
Cai was speechless.
Suddenly, the eunuch beside the Queen Mother hurried over and whispered to Fan Zheng.
Fan Zheng suddenly condensed, stared at Cai Que and sneered: "After Mr. Wang, he still acted so aggressively, regardless of the consequences."
Cai Que said calmly: "This is a once and for all solution so that the officials no longer have any worries."
"Once and for all? Empress Dowager Gao has been treated like this just after she seized power. I'm afraid everyone in the court will die and the fox will be sad. The new party is deliberately provoking party strife, provoking the old party to resist, and wiping them all out." Fan Zheng directly stated the purpose and purpose of the new party. Do it one by one carefully.
Cai did not hesitate to say: "Besides, does Fan Taicheng have a good way to make Empress Dowager Gao put aside her prejudices and take the initiative to delegate power?"
Fan Zheng nodded proudly and said: "As long as the source of the disease is found, difficult and complicated diseases can be solved. Although Empress Dowager Gao is stubborn, she is not without weaknesses. There is only one reason why Empress Dowager Gao can let go of the prejudice of being deprived of power, and that is the Song Dynasty. Benefit."
This time, Fan Zheng and Zhao Tingzhi's views were surprisingly consistent. For the benefit of the Song Dynasty, Empress Dowager Gao moved King Li Yong's thoughts, and for the same benefit of the Song Dynasty, Empress Dowager Gao might also let go of her prejudice against being deprived of power.
At that moment, Fan Zheng rushed to the palace and saw that the harem was in chaos. Even though Princess Zhu and Queen Mother Xiang tried to persuade each other, Zhao Xu still did not change her mind.
Queen Mother Xiang couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Fan Zheng arriving.
"I kindly ask the officials to give Wei Chen half an hour to convince the Empress Dowager!" Fan Zheng stepped forward and volunteered.
"Fan Taicheng"
Zhao Xu frowned. You must know that many important ministers had gone to persuade Empress Dowager Gao just now, but all of them were scolded and left in a mess.
Fan Zheng was the culprit behind Empress Dowager Gao's seizure of power, and he would only be bringing humiliation to himself if he entered.
"Half an hour?" Wang Di sneered in his heart, but advised in his mouth: "Fan Taicheng always has a strange recipe. If he uses it himself, I think it must have miraculous effects."
The relationship between Fan Zheng and Zhao Xu is too close, which has aroused the dissatisfaction of the New Party? Now that Fan Zheng has humiliated himself, Wang Di is naturally happy to see Fan Zheng make a fool of himself.
Zhao Xu thought for a while, it would be great if Empress Dowager Gao could take the initiative to delegate power, and then nodded slowly.
When Fan Zheng stepped into the palace of Empress Dowager Gao, the entire palace was in a mess. It was obvious that the stubborn and strong Empress Dowager Gao expressed her dissatisfaction in the most direct way.
"Fan Zheng!"
Empress Dowager Gao gritted her teeth when she saw this person coming this time. She had today's ending, and Fan Zheng was the culprit.
"Wei Chen came here today to announce the good news to the Empress Dowager!" Fan Zheng said first.
"Good news?" Empress Dowager Gao laughed angrily, "Do you think the Ai family's situation can bring good news?"
Fan Zheng nodded and said: "On that day when Wei Chen entered the palace, the Empress Dowager once said that Wei Chen should cure the official's heart disease. Now that the official's rebellious heart disease has been cured, it is natural to report this good news to the Empress Dowager."
"Rebellious heart disease?"
Queen Mother Gao couldn't help but be stunned. If Fan Zheng hadn't brought it up on his own initiative, she would have almost forgotten about it?
"The Ai family asked you to cure their heart ailments, didn't they ask you to instigate the officials to force the palace to rebel?" Empress Dowager Gao roared.
Fan Zheng asked rhetorically: "The official family is your Majesty, so how can you talk about rebellion?"
Empress Dowager Gao suddenly stopped speaking.
Fan Zheng did not wait for Empress Dowager Gao's rebuttal and continued: "In the Empress Dowager's view, the official family is an unworthy descendant. However, for the Song Dynasty, it was fortunate to meet a British master."
"Master of England?" Empress Dowager Gao couldn't help but sneer.
Fan Zheng said solemnly: "Back then, His Majesty Taizu Chen Qiao rebelled, and the Song Dynasty unified the Central Plains. Now the officials are strategizing and taking the initiative to seize power. These methods are comparable to Taizu. The Empress Dowager cultivated such a heroic leader for the Song Dynasty. The merit is immeasurable.”
Empress Dowager Gao was immediately speechless by Fan Zheng's sophistry. Zhao Xu did have methods, but these methods were used on her.
"For the sake of the Song Dynasty, we cannot let the officials mess around." Empress Dowager Gao angrily rebuked.
Fan Zheng asked: "The Empress Dowager of Liang of Xixia said the same thing back then. As a result, now Xixia has one sect and two Empress Dowagers of Liang. The mother party has exclusive power. I can guarantee that in up to ten years, the Empress Dowager of Xixia will witness the death of Xixia with her own eyes!"
Empress Dowager Gao was addicted to power, but she didn't know that this power was just the Zhao family letting her take charge for a period of time. After a long time, Empress Dowager Gao thought that the power was her own.
"Queen Mother Liang?"
Empress Dowager Gao suddenly fell silent. Empress Dowager Liang held the power, which was very similar to her situation.
"Is an official who is cowardly and obedient, and waits until the Empress Dowager is old before taking charge of the government, really what the Empress Dowager wants? Is it really what the Song Dynasty needs?" Fan Zheng asked again.
Empress Dowager Gao opened her mouth to speak but stopped.
"Such an official family has lost its vigor and even the Empress Dowager does not resist, so how can it resist the accumulated power of the Western Xia and Liao Kingdoms." Fan Zheng asked again.
"Renzong!" Empress Dowager Gao couldn't help but think of a name.
The Song Dynasty once had such an emperor, His Majesty Renzong, a good old man who even the empire shed tears after his death. He failed to change the outcome of the Song Dynasty, but doubled the money of the Song Dynasty.
"Back then, His Majesty Shenzong chose the Empress Dowager to listen to politics behind the curtain to avoid the tragedy of His Majesty Renzong. Now the Empress Dowager is holding on to power. How is it different from Empress Dowager Liu back then?"
"When all the officials went to court, they all faced the Empress Dowager. The officials could only see the officials' backs and buttocks. Could it be that the Empress Dowager couldn't notice it at all?"
Fan Zheng asked a series of rhetorical questions, and Empress Dowager Gao could not argue at all.
"Not to mention the Empress Dowager, it is for the great Song Dynasty. Everyone knows Sima Zhao's heart. Everything is just for power!"
Fan Zheng directly unveiled the last fig leaf of Empress Dowager Gao.
Empress Dowager Gao became angry and said: "So what? If Zhao Xu has the courage, he will really depose the Queen of the Ai family, put her in the cold palace, and give the Ai family three feet of white silk."
Fan Zheng shook his head and said: "Tang Taizong killed his brother and imprisoned his father, and still became the emperor of the ages. The official family was destined to become the hero who unified the world. He abolished the annual currency, destroyed Xixia in the west, conquered the sixteen states of Yanyun, and completed the unfinished business of the emperors of the Song Dynasty. The ambition to complete, even in the future, to unify the grassland and complete the unfinished achievements of Emperor Qin and Han Dynasty, naturally cannot leave any stain."
Empress Dowager Gao sneered: "I don't think he dares!"
"The Empress Dowager does not think about herself, but also thinks about the Gao family. In order to rescue the Empress Dowager, General Gao mobilized the soldiers without tiger talismans to send troops, but has been controlled by Taiwei Meng Yuan. The imperial censor Zhongcheng Zhao Tingzhi secretly sent someone to His Highness King Yong Send a letter to ask her to raise troops in Huainan to rebel. If the Empress Dowager persists in her insistence, she may regret it too late." Fan Zheng threatened.
Queen Mother Gao's expression suddenly changed.
In less than half an hour, Fan Zheng walked out of the Empress Dowager's palace and saw Zhao Xu, Empress Dowager Xiang and others already looking forward to it.
"I'm so lucky to have lived up to my command! The Empress Dowager has personally written the edict to return the government!"
Fan Zheng handed over a brand new edict.
Zhao Xu took it and saw that it was indeed the edict written by the Empress Dowager. He immediately said in his mind: "Come here, please spread this edict throughout the three divisions."
With this edict to return power, he has eliminated the last obstacle to his pro-government, and has not been stained with unfilial piety.
"Fan Aiqing has never let me down!" Zhao Xu looked at Fan Zheng and said kindly.
"This is what I should do, but...". Fan Zheng was about to tell Empress Dowager Gao’s conditions.
"I will ensure the prosperity of the Gao family and King Yong." Zhao Xu said directly.
"The officials are wise!" Fan Zheng said with a knowing smile.
Seeing such a tacit understanding between Zhao Xu and Fan Zheng, Wang Di suddenly felt jealous. In his opinion, Fan Zheng's current status should belong to him, but Fan Zheng came out of the blue and took away the opportunity that should have belonged to him.
(End of chapter)
