Chapter 1 The Beginning

"It would be one thing if the Jin didn't value the two Emperors and other nobles, but why did they so easily return the five commanderies of Jingdong?" After the Jin envoy brought the peace terms, the discussions in Tokyo became even more heated.

"I don't think so... In my opinion, the overall situation is clear. The key lies along the Yellow River. As for northern Shaanxi and Jingdong, it may take us some time to wear them down. We may even suffer a defeat or two, but sooner or later, we'll be able to take them. Especially Jingdong, which is only a few hundred *li* to the east of Dongjing, is a crucial area that we must take. But for the Jin, these two places are like chicken ribs, tasteless to eat but a pity to discard. If they want to fight, it must be a major battle, but crossing the river to fight a major battle risks another Yaoshan. And if it's just a small battle, it's futile... So it's better to be generous and seek a few years of open and honest stability, which is just right for Aguda's sons to stabilize their internal affairs."

"...What you say does have some merit."

One day, downstairs at a newly opened Zheng store outside Donghua Gate, a group of imperial college students were arguing. Upstairs in the pavilion, Wang Shu, the Minister of Justice, who was eating cold porridge to escape the heat, listened for a long time before chuckling at Chen Gongfu, the Director of the Imperial College, who was sitting opposite him: "These imperial college students are certainly more knowledgeable than before!"

Chen Gongfu, the direct manager of the group of imperial college students below, simply shook his head upon hearing this: "Where did they get their own insights? They're simply copying other people's words... The Emperor sent the *dibao* (official gazette) to Hu Quan, and after all, he took over this matter in a hurry, and could only find assistants from the imperial college students who copy the *dibao*. With the current momentum of the *dibao*, even the chief ministers must gradually express their innocence on the *dibao*... So these students naturally know more of the inside story."

"That's true." Wang Shu nodded in agreement.

While the two were talking, loud discussions came from downstairs again.

"So, these peace conditions are not of great importance to the Jin?"

"I don't think so. In my opinion, the five commanderies of Jingdong don't matter, but the return of the two Emperors is a big concern for the Jin."

"You're talking nonsense... The Jin envoy Ulin Dashi brought it up so casually, meaning it's up to the Emperor to decide whether to return them or not. Everyone knows this, so how could it be a concern?"

"You're the one talking nonsense. Whether the two Emperors return or not doesn't matter, but whether to bring up the matter is crucial... The Jin have people like Qin Hui and Han Fang who know the internal situation of our country. How could they not know that as long as they mention the two Emperors, the Emperor will have to endure and demand their return, no matter how angry he is? And once this happens, whether the matter of the two Emperors succeeds or not is a huge trouble for our dynasty and the Emperor. And if the Emperor is in trouble, wouldn't that be a great advantage for the Jin..."

"Be careful what you say!"

"Why be careful? The people are already talking about it. They say the two Emperors will come back to seize the throne, and some say the chief ministers have put the Emperor under house arrest. We're not in the Imperial College, so what can't we say..."

"Indeed, they have some insights." Wang Shu upstairs couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

"This matter can't be blamed on their shallow knowledge." Chen Gongfu defended the students at this time. "People below are saying the two Emperors will come back to compete for the throne, but the chief ministers are worried that the Emperor will turn around and do something big. But ordinary people think about it and feel that neither is reliable, and they don't know what the Emperor is thinking... Even you and I are just guessing, aren't we?"

"That's true."

"Let's take it one step at a time!" Chen Gongfu shook his head again. "No matter what, what's coming will come. It's only a matter of the next two months anyway."

Hearing this, Wang Shu shook his head repeatedly: "Yesterday, the Council of State summoned Ulin Da Zanmo. You weren't there in person, so you don't know. That fellow agreed to everything, but he quibbled about the annual tribute. But after Zhang *xiang gong* (chancellor) scolded him in person, he didn't mention it again, as if he was prepared... In my estimation, Liu Yu in Jinan has probably been captured by them, and the two Emperors are already on their way. It won't take two months."

"If that's the case, the Jin are really harboring evil intentions." Chen Gongfu frowned even more. "Otherwise, why would they send them back in installments? Isn't it just to deliberately cause chaos in the Emperor and the court?"

"It's already chaotic." Wang Shu sighed even more. "Aren't the two Empress Dowagers arriving in these days? The Department of State requested the Emperor to go to the riverbank to greet them, but the Emperor didn't pay any attention to it, and just stayed in the palace... I heard that even when Consort Pan advised him to go to the riverbank to greet them, she was reprimanded."

Chen Gongfu didn't know what to say.

Wang Shu said again: "There's another matter, which is probably going to be discussed at the Privy Council meeting today. Yue Fei has sent a secret memorial, but it's written openly, and it means to request a battle..."

"What's so special about that?" Chen Gongfu didn't take it seriously. "Yue Fei is from Hebei. He came back from bandit suppression in a hurry. He heard the news of the peace talks on the way, and he wasn't comforted by the Emperor, so he naturally submitted a memorial in a hurry..."

"Han Shizhong and Wu Jie are already on their way." Wang Shu blurted out again.

Chen Gongfu was silent for a moment, but still shook his head: "The two Emperors are about to arrive, and the Emperor can't avoid them. When the time comes, the entire court officials will have to go to greet them. Han and Wu are different from Yue Fei, who was still suppressing the rebellion at that time. They should also come, but since they are far away in Guanzhong, they should call out in advance."

"Whatever you say makes sense!" Wang Shu sneered again, and stood up directly. "Alright! Let's go... It's almost time."

Chen Gongfu nodded slightly and stood up as well.

Both of them were wearing purple robes. They went downstairs together, which startled the seven or eight imperial college students who had just returned from doing the *dibao*. Especially two of them, probably those who had said 'great advantage' and 'what can't we say' before, were so frightened that they jumped up.

But fortunately, the two high officials didn't pay any attention to these students. They just left the restaurant on their own and went to Donghua Gate, which then caused a wave of envy among the group of students who had escaped death... Although the Privy Council had encountered an attack, the court and the public still saw that those who could participate in the Privy Council meetings were beyond the scope of ordinary officials.

Especially since this organizational form had been tacitly approved by Zhao *Guanjia* (Emperor) in the harem... Then it could be said that in extraordinary times, it would become a precedent, and then give the relevant participants a certain political status.

In fact, after this incident, there was a new saying among the people that since the Emperor ascended the throne, he had been intentionally or unintentionally weakening the power of the inner officials and the Inner Attendants' Bureau, and delegating power to the two prefectures, the six ministries, the nine temples, and the five directorates, in order to win over the court and prepare in advance for the restoration of the two Emperors.

Of course, the premise was wrong, and the deduction naturally seemed absurd... It was just that the people recognized it, or rather, they liked to talk about the absurd idea that the two Emperors would be restored as soon as they came back, which is why there was such a rumor.

Back to the present, Wang and Chen left this Zheng store, which had recently reopened, and directly entered the palace city, entered the Chongwen Institute, passed the Council of State, and went to the Privy Council. Before long, the other central officials arrived, but it was still Liu Ji who presided over the meeting.

However, Liu *xiang gong*'s (chancellor) opening remarks left the entire council dumbfounded: "The two Empress Dowagers are trapped on the north bank of the Yellow River. Who will go to receive them?"

"Are the Jin playing tricks on us?!" Wang Shu immediately flew into a rage. "They dare to do such a thing?!"

And it wasn't just Wang Shu, but Li Guang, Liu Dazhong and others also changed their expressions. For a time, the Privy Council was in chaos.

However, seeing the chaos in the council, Liu Ji, the several chief ministers, Zhai Ruwen, the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonials, and Zhu Shengfei, the Minister of Rites, who were clearly in the know, instead looked embarrassed... Obviously, there was an inside story.

After a long while, Liu Ji finally had a chance to speak the truth.

It turned out that, as Chen Gongfu and Wang Shu had discussed before, whether it was done deliberately by the Jin, or whether it was due to the confusion of information channels, the Jin released the prisoners in batches... At first, it was the several imperial princesses and noble ladies of Yanjing, who were probably already in Yangzhou now. Then, it was a batch of imperial princesses and noble ladies from the Five Nations City, as well as a batch of younger members of the imperial clan, who were also on their way to Yangzhou. Then, it was a batch of abducted family members and children of ministers, who had just arrived a few days ago, and the court was discussing commendations and favors. And now, this wave was mainly the Empresses and concubines of the two Emperors... Among them, the most important were naturally the two Empress Dowagers, namely Empress Zheng of the Taishang Daojun Emperor, and Empress Wei, the 'birth mother' of the current Emperor in the harem.

However, perhaps happiness came too suddenly, and these people almost couldn't believe it when they were being sent south... And others were fine, they could only wait with bated breath, but there were some problems with Empress Wei. This Empress Dowager didn't know whether she felt she had something to rely on, or whether she was so afraid of her experience in the north, or whether she was passively made this Empress Dowager and didn't have basic political qualities. Anyway, she did something speechless.

Specifically, on her way south, she first collected some jewelry from the accompanying concubines, which had been returned by the Jin when they came, and rewarded or bribed the Jin soldiers who were escorting them, only to be able to hurry on their way across the river in the hot summer... This was actually nothing, and could even be fully understood.

But the key was that after handing over the last bit of jewelry, she was still a little worried, and actually borrowed two thousand *liang* (taels) of gold from the leading Jin general, and continued to reward and bribe them.

Because of Empress Wei's special status, and because she promised to borrow two thousand and return three thousand when she crossed the river, that *meng'an* (chieftain) was naturally happy to do so.

However, when they reached the river, where could Zhang Rong get three thousand *liang* of gold? Not only Zhang Rong, but even Quan Bangyan, the envoy who had just returned from mourning, didn't have that much money? And even if they had the money, they wouldn't dare to give it?

As a result, the Jin general not only detained the two Empress Dowagers at Xiaowusao, but also stomped his feet on the bank of the Yellow River, cursing the Song people for not keeping their word.

"Even if we have the money, we can't give it!" Wang Shu roared angrily after hearing this. "I'd like to see who dares to give this money?!"

The chief ministers looked at each other and were speechless... This matter wasn't about three thousand *liang* of gold at all, but about the basic position of the country in this peace negotiation of not paying any price. They had worked so hard for so long, bearing the pressure of the Emperor's non-violent non-cooperation attitude, the pressure of the army, and the pressure of the people. How could they dare to show any weakness in the situation?

And after finally coming up with an equal peace treaty that could rank first in the history of the Great Song Dynasty, who would have thought that Empress Wei and three thousand *liang* of gold would pop up?

But on the other hand, it was Empress Wei who caused the trouble, and it was still forgivable, so it was not good to blame anyone.

"What did the Emperor say?" Li Guang also looked a little distressed. "It concerns the Empress Dowager, so he should have replied, right?"

"The Emperor said, please handle it according to the system of the Ministry of Rites." Liu Ji replied helplessly. "But if it's about money, he has saved up for four or five years, but he only has a few thousand *guan* (strings of cash) in assets, so he can't afford three thousand *liang* of gold... If he is forced to pay, according to the rule of 'a son repays his mother's debts', he naturally can't refuse, but please give him a few days to borrow from his relatives."

Too absurd!

All the high officials present had almost the same mentality after hearing this... And this absurdity was not only about the Emperor's attitude towards his biological mother, and his sarcasm towards everyone, but more absurdly, everyone present knew that the Emperor was actually telling the truth.

Unless the harem issued national debt or borrowed from the Emperor's father-in-law, there really wasn't three thousand *liang* of gold in cash!

Then, everyone instinctively looked at Zhu Shengfei, the Minister of Rites.

Zhu Shengfei's expression didn't change, but his back was already covered in sweat... Speaking of which, the Emperor personally said the words 'Ministry of Rites', which left him with no one to pass the buck to. And he had repeatedly been slippery before, pushing big matters up to the chief ministers and small matters down to the Court of State Ceremonials. The Ministry of Rites, which was supposed to be doing this job properly, didn't touch anything at all.

But this kind of inhuman behavior naturally resulted in no one willing to help him now.

"The Ministry of Rites should personally make a trip to Huazhou." After staring at each other for a while, Prime Minister Zhao Ding simply issued an order.

Zhu Shengfei had no choice but to step forward and respond, but he was still unwilling: "Can I ask the *xiang gongs* to be frank, the Jin are brutal and rude. If they insist on the three thousand gold from the two Empress Dowagers, what should I do?"

"You are the Minister of Rites, you have your own way of speaking." Zhang Jun, the Vice Prime Minister, couldn't stand it any longer, and preempted others to dodge.

Helpless, Zhu Shengfei could only bow his hand to Zhai Ruwen, the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonials, behind him: "Minister Zhai, can you first inform the Jin envoy?"

Zhai Ruwen had long been exhausted by Zhu Shengfei these days, and he was too lazy to perfunctorily reply: "Minister Zhu, isn't informing the Jin envoy exposing our shortcomings? What's the difference from begging the Jin? All the face that we worked so hard to establish in the past two months will be lost in one morning!"

Zhu Shengfei was completely helpless.

At this time, Wang Shu stepped forward with a flick of his sleeves: "If the Ministry of Rites is unwilling to go, the Ministry of Justice can go. We must not let the country lose the slightest bit of face... What is there to hesitate about? We just don't have money, and we won't give it! We made it clear about sharing a cup of soup back in Nanjing. Why are we hesitating now?! Is it just because she is the Emperor's biological mother?!"

The others wanted to let him, Wang Shu, go after hearing these words, but no matter what, this job wouldn't fall to the Ministry of Justice, right?

Therefore, after going around in circles, Zhu Shengfei had no choice but to nod, but he publicly put forward a condition: "I will leave in a while, but before I leave, I have one thing that I want to ask the several *xiang gongs* to agree to together..."

Zhao Ding and others frowned together, feeling that this fellow was really too much.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Shengfei sighed, and shook his head in the Privy Council: "I have no other request, I only want to ask you to allow me to resign and live in idleness after this matter is over."

Everyone was stunned and a little surprised.

Speaking of which, it was true that the peace negotiations had made everyone feel like they were dying, but the feeling of the Emperor delegating power and a group of people manipulating national affairs without restraint in the Privy Council was really addictive, and not many people were thinking about resigning and returning home. So for a time, these people didn't know whether he really felt wronged, or whether he was using this as a way to bargain with the chief ministers.

After a moment, Zhao Ding frowned helplessly: "Minister Zhu, you are a dignified Minister, your resignation must be approved by the Emperor."

"I naturally know this." Zhu Shengfei replied calmly. "The Emperor's side is naturally the Emperor's side, and I will have an official document to explain, but first I need you to agree to allow me to resign and stop managing affairs in the Privy Council like the Grand Director of the Imperial Clan Court."

Just as he was about to speak, he saw Zhang Jun, the Vice Prime Minister, preemptively wave his sleeves: "We have no objection, but please ask the Ministry of Rites to bring back the Empress Dowager first?"

Zhu Shengfei was relieved instead.

With this matter settled, the other incidents seemed to be insignificant... Of course, it was only insignificant in theory. Yue Fei's memorial, Han Shizhong and Wu Jie's departure, and the Emperor's self-abandoning attitude, which one could be insignificant?

But as the saying goes, debts don't worry if they are many, and lice don't fear biting if they are many. They had even endured the last riot, so what couldn't they endure?

In this way, the Privy Council meeting ended in a hurry that day. Leaving aside the other places, it was only said that Zhu Shengfei went to Huazhou to join Quan Bangyan and Zhang Rong to receive the Empress Dowager, but he didn't expect that it would be so incredibly smooth... Zhu Shengfei arrived there with the status of Minister of Rites, gritted his teeth and conveyed the clear and unmistakable attitude of the central government, that is, he would not give even a tael of gold. As soon as his attitude was made clear, a military commander of Daming Prefecture, Gao Jingshan, who didn't know where he was hiding, appeared, and whipped the accompanying Bohai *meng'an* directly in the face. The latter obediently released the people, and didn't even dare to ask for the principal.

The two Empress Dowagers crossed the river at this point... The matter was so smooth that it was like a dream.

Since the two Empress Dowagers had crossed the river, how far was it from Huazhou to Tokyo? On the third day, Empress Zheng and Empress Wei, under the escort of Zhu Shengfei and Quan Bangyan, returned to Tokyo.

The Emperor claimed to be ill, and said that he missed the Empress Dowagers and imperial concubines too much, and was afraid that he would faint from crying as soon as he met them, which would damage the etiquette, so he didn't come to greet them.

But except for the Emperor not arriving, the other etiquette was without any problems. Below Liu *gong xiang* (duke minister), the *xiang gongs* led the civil and military officials to greet them ten *li* (Chinese miles) outside the city. Then Consorts Pan and Wu came forward, and with the assistance of the *xiang gongs*, officially received the two Empress Dowagers' carriages at the city gate.

As for how the two Empress Dowagers met and greeted the several *xiang gongs* who were famous in the north one by one, praising them as figures like Zhuge Wuhou; and how they wanted to see Han Shizhong, who had the highest reputation in the north, but couldn't, and only saw Yang Yizhong; and finally, how the two imperial concubines cried with the two Empress Dowagers at the city gate, causing the onlookers to recall the Jingkang Incident and cry together... All kinds of episodes were not worth mentioning.

In the afternoon, the group finally dried their tears and returned to the palace, and went directly to the Jingfu Palace, first watching a performance of "The Legend of the White Snake", and then Master Fahe, the abbot of the Shaolin Temple's Bianliang branch temple, and Taoist Zhang, the abbot of the Wuyue Temple, and other powerful religious figures were waiting here, leading a group of monks and Taoists to pray for blessings and disasters for the two Empress Dowagers... After tossing around until the evening, a grand banquet was finally held in the Jingfu Palace, both to welcome the two Empress Dowagers and the other imperial concubines, and to entertain the civil and military officials, so as to hold a proper celebration ceremony for the Empress Dowagers' return.

At this time, Zhao Jiu, the Zhao *Guanjia* (Emperor), who had previously been 'missing them too much, and afraid that he would faint from crying as soon as he met them', finally came forward, which made the chief ministers and the other accompanying officials almost ecstatic.

Speaking of which, people like Empress Zheng, and Noble Consort Wang, and Noble Consort Qiao, were all characters who could be female protagonists in the harem of Zhao Ji, which was scary enough back then. They were all exquisite in their minds. They just didn't mention the wind and snow in the north, and how could they not ask about the new customs and new Emperor here? Even Empress Wei, after experiencing the incident on the river, was much more careful.

In addition, since all the officials were present at this time, everything was naturally appropriate, and neither side lost face... Empress Zheng did not dare to let the Emperor kneel down to greet her, and had the two noble consorts hold him up long ago, for fear that the Emperor would 'faint from crying'. As for Empress Wei, although she wanted to step forward and speak, after several years of separation, she felt that almost nothing about the other party was the same as before except for his appearance, and she was somewhat timid.

Therefore, the banquet finally opened as usual.

However, although it was called a grand banquet, because the palace was really simple, there was no proper etiquette. The several Empress Dowagers and noble consorts sat above, the Emperor and the two noble consorts plus the other miscellaneous members of the imperial clan who had returned this time sat on one side, and the several *xiang gongs* and high officials sat on the opposite side. As for the lower-ranking civil and military officials, they had been dismissed early... This posture was really like a family banquet after female elders who didn't need to be avoided came to an ordinary official family.

However, interestingly, as soon as the banquet started, without those extremely perfunctory processes, up and down, left and right, men and women, no one moved their chopsticks or bowls. They were just looking at the Emperor thoughtfully, but the Emperor was also speechless, and just sat there leaning to the side, making the scene very awkward.

Finally, after a long pause, Empress Zheng had a task on her shoulders, and she had to open her mouth no matter how difficult it was, so she reluctantly gritted her teeth and said: "Emperor... Several months ago, when we set off from the Five Nations City, the two retired Emperors didn't know about the peace talks. They just clung to the carriage and repeatedly entrusted words to the Emperor, asking the Emperor not to forget the letter that Zheng Yinian sent, and that just a *Taiyi Gong* (palace) envoy was enough to settle down... The Emperor doesn't know, but your elder brother almost fainted from crying in front of the carriage, and was whipped by the Jin. We had no choice but to swear on the spot that if we didn't rescue him, we would all go blind."

Zhao Jiu was stunned for a moment, nodded, but didn't say anything.

The civil and military officials, men and women, all felt their scalps tingle and their hearts chill when they saw this situation, but they really didn't know how to continue. Empress Zheng tried hard to say something, but unexpectedly, as soon as she opened her mouth again, she couldn't help but burst into tears.

Empress Zheng was, after all, an Empress Dowager. She had no more worries after returning this time, and only missed the wind and snow in the north. But the other noble consorts and imperial concubines also thought of the wind and snow in the north, and couldn't help but burst into tears, but they didn't dare to cry too much, for fear of angering the Emperor and preventing their sons from returning and having no one to support them in their old age.

The scene was frozen for a while.

After a while, just as Lu Haowen and Zhao Ding reluctantly got up, preparing to deal with the situation, Empress Wei was still the most confident, and couldn't help but force a smile to reconcile the situation: "Ninth brother is a little wronged... I heard people say on the way here that you usually only light one candle in the palace. I thought it was a rumor, but now that we're holding a banquet in the Jingfu Palace, there's really only one candlestick on each table, with one candle lit. And we're eating pork, chicken, and fish, which is not as good as when your father was around. He would hold a banquet in the evening that was almost like daytime, and eat a hundred sheep in one meal."

As soon as these words came out, the scene became frighteningly cold.

Not to mention the several chief ministers, ministers, and vice ministers, some people sighed softly in the twilight. Even Empress Zheng and those who had political cultivation knew that Empress Wei had said the wrong thing.

However, after all, she was Empress Wei, the biological mother of this body. After a moment, Zhao Jiu finally smiled and opened his mouth: "Empress Dowager is right. If it weren't for the evenings being almost like daytime, and a hundred sheep in one meal, how could I have become a monarch of a fallen country? And even brought the whole family to the Five Nations City? And if I didn't feel that even lighting one candle was a waste, how could I have started anew and become a ruler of a restored country?"

"The Emperor is frugal." In the silence, it was actually Empress Zheng who turned around and spoke for Empress Wei, whose face was pale. "That's why he can accomplish great things."

"It's not frugality." Zhao Jiu put away his smile and sighed in the seat. "But every time I go against Cao Cao, things can be accomplished!"

This time, even Empress Zheng's face turned pale, but Empress Wei's political cultivation was really poor, and after recovering, she still didn't understand.