"Let me start with a trivial matter."

Zhao Jiu understood and smiled. "There was a bit of trouble outside the palace just now. It's said that rumors were circulating, so I took those measures to respond... But please rest assured, everything I said outside the Xinggong was from the bottom of my heart."

Starting with Lü Haowen, the several prime ministers and those involved in this matter, including those who were bestowed with 'famous beauties,' whether they believed it or not, quickly bowed their heads together.

"Besides, as a normal man, I certainly don't want to become a monk. If any of your wives can emulate the Han Liangchen's wives in serving me in military attire, I would accept it..." Zhao Jiu continued with a smile. "Know that I want to learn from Emperor Zhaolie of Han's indomitable spirit, not to abandon my wives and children at every turn. And Xinye is just to the south."

The ministers remained bowed, but someone beside the Emperor suddenly felt a slight stirring in their heart.

"Finally, let this matter end here!" Zhao Jiu suddenly became serious. "After a year of wandering with the Xingzai, the Jin people have just withdrawn their troops, and we've finally found a place to settle down. Absolutely no one is allowed to create trouble for no reason... Zhang Jun!"

"Your Majesty!" Zhang Jun was startled and quickly bowed.

"As the Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, if any censor impeaches the prime ministers or other key officials in the central government, or even anyone else, don't wait for him to submit his memorial. You should submit a memorial to dismiss him first!" The Emperor's tone was extremely stern.

"I obey!" Zhang Jun became even more alarmed, but solemnly accepted the decree.

The two Supervising Censors, Hu Yin and Li Guang, who had recently been appointed and was a man of Li Gang, the Prime Minister Li, also bowed solemnly.

On the other side, Lü Haowen was naturally grateful and moved to tears: "Your subject is incompetent, and can only thank Your Majesty for protecting me!"

The Grand Supervisor Lan Gui, who had caused a great disaster, simply knelt on the ground and also thanked the Emperor for protecting him.

Of course, they had to thank the Emperor for protecting them!

Scholar Lin, who had long since returned to normal, observed coldly from the sidelines, but secretly sighed at Lü Haowen and Lan Gui's good fortune.

Speaking of which, Scholar Lin had already noticed the Emperor's unease on the road. Now, he saw it even more clearly that the Emperor was extremely angry about this rumor. However, what the Emperor was angry about was definitely not some drama about famous beauties or rumors, but rather the suspicion that these rumors arose because some people were impatient and wanted to take the opportunity to create trouble as soon as things had settled down, wanting to pull the weakest of the Prime Ministers, Lü Haowen, from his horse!

However, the Emperor's attitude was already very clear at this time. He wanted to maintain the political stability of the provisional capital and was extremely angry about this kind of mutual sabotage, so he would rather continue to live as a widower and forcibly protect Lü Haowen.

As for Lan Gui, he escaped unharmed by chance because of Lü Haowen.

Thinking of this, Scholar Lin turned his gaze again to the suspected persons – the three of the remaining four prime ministers excluding Liu Ji, Zhang Jun, the Censor-in-Chief who had been frightened, and Yan Xiaozhong, the Vice Prefect of Yan, who had actively participated in the matter.

Among them, judging from their actions and personal style, Zhang Jun was the most suspicious, and Yan Xiaozhong was the least suspicious... As for the three prime ministers, they simply couldn't argue or clear themselves.

In fact, this should be another important reason why the Emperor's proposal to open the selection of officials was passed after only a slight concession – the prime ministers were all under suspicion.

"Your Majesty!"

Just as Scholar Lin's brain gradually returned to normal operation, Yan Xiaozhong, who was dark-skinned, couldn't help but step forward at this juncture and speak out. "Your subject is absolutely impartial in this matter, because with my qualifications as the Prefect of Tangzhou and my experience of being captured, being appointed as the Acting Prefect of Nanyang Prefecture is already an incredible prospect. There is no benefit for me to slander the prime minister at this time!"

"I said!" Zhao Jiu rarely wore a stern face. "No one is wrong in this matter. Don't mention it again!"

Yan Xiaozhong had no choice but to bow in agreement. Seeing this, Zhang Jun and the several prime ministers, who had been slightly moved, also became solemn and dared not say anything more.

"As for the matter of military marriages, we must guard against Zhao Yan's 'living people's wives' affair in Cao Wei. I won't ask about the rest. Prime Minister Lü is experienced and knowledgeable and can slowly take action." Zhao Jiu relaxed his face and spoke calmly again. "Let's all talk about Fan Qiong!"

Lü Haowen felt completely relieved at this time. Upon hearing this, he didn't say anything but directly looked at Wang Boyan. Wang Boyan understood and quickly stepped forward to resume his report, which was much more serious and concise: "Your Majesty, I must inform Your Majesty that my research on Fan Qiong's matter in the past few days is different from the difficulties faced by the other prime ministers. Fan Qiong is in Xiangyang, so there has been much reconnaissance and response. Now, everything is here."

As he spoke, this Deputy Military Commissioner took out a memorial from his arms, and instead of handing it to Lan Gui, who had gotten up and was about to take it, he directly gave it to Lü Haowen on the side, who then passed it on to Lan Gui.

"Indeed detailed... Prime Minister Wang, you've worked hard." Zhao Jiu opened the memorial, and after just one glance, he couldn't help but say slowly. "So, Fan Qiong didn't occupy the entire Xiangzhou, but only concentrated his forces in the Xiangzhou, Dengcheng, and Niushou areas... A force of thirty thousand, that many?!"

"I must inform Your Majesty," Wang Boyan quickly explained seriously. "Fan Qiong started with only three or four thousand soldiers. But when he arrived here and confronted the military bandits Li Xiaozhong and his brothers, he recruited a lot of soldiers from Jingxi South Road and Jinghu North Road... At that time, he was the army, and Li Xiaozhong was the bandit. The military prefectures naturally cooperated properly, so by the time he drove Li Xiaozhong away, he had about ten thousand soldiers in his hands, and these ten thousand soldiers were his foundation and reliance."

Zhao Jiu slowly nodded.

After all, at that time, there was still a possibility of a peaceful resolution with Fan Qiong, so it wouldn't be excessive, and he was subject to the organization and logistics. In fact, at that time, Han Shizhong, Zhang Jun, and Liu Guangshi all had about ten thousand core troops.

"After Your Majesty killed Liu Guangshi and Ding Jin, this man became fearful and began to make some preparations, recruiting some local soldiers, but it was not excessive. Adding them all together, it was only fifteen thousand troops..." Wang Boyan continued seriously. "But Your Majesty, don't forget that Wanyan Yinshuke left in a hurry that day because of the Shanzhou matter, taking only the ten thousand households he brought from Taiyuan, so that many of the defeated soldiers from Jingxi who had surrendered to the Jin in Dengzhou had nowhere to go. And Your Majesty's Imperial Guard army was pressing in, so they had no choice but to imitate Zhao Zongyin and go to Xiangyang."

Zhao Jiu nodded slightly, but also calmly said: "In that case, it's good to destroy them in one fell swoop, saving us time. However, Prime Minister Wang's memorial says that Fan Qiong can still be dealt with by appealing to the great righteousness of the court. What does that mean? Does it mean that even now we should still try to persuade him to surrender?"

"How could that be?" Wang Boyan rarely smiled. "This villain sat idly by as Wanyan Yinshuke rampaged through Jingxi and repeatedly failed to arrive when summoned. Your Majesty's last summons at Fangcheng also went unanswered. It is clear that this man cannot be spared... But Your Majesty, Fan Qiong knows that Your Majesty cannot tolerate him, and he is determined to be a rebellious traitor, but the soldiers and officers under him may not want to follow him. These people are, after all, nominally Your Majesty's subjects and soldiers of the imperial court. Before Your Majesty came, Fan Qiong's intention to rebel was not obvious, and these people could still be at peace. Now that Your Majesty has led a large army to Nanyang, how can they be at peace, how can they not worry about their future?"

Zhao Jiu nodded again... In fact, not to mention Fan Qiong's subordinates, even Fan Qiong himself, who knew he could not be tolerated by the central government, was hesitant and dared not make a firm decision to truly rebel. This could be seen from the fact that in the previous year, countless taxes and goods from Sichuan and Shu were transferred from the Yangtze River to the Han River, passing through Xiangyang to Nanyang, and this man did not dare to intercept the transport.

"Therefore, I have two plans." Wang Boyan cupped his hands again, but became serious again. "First, I ask Your Majesty to issue a clear decree, on the one hand, to declare Fan Qiong as the head of the rebels and publicly offer a reward for his arrest, and on the other hand, to completely pardon the innocent under Fan Qiong and allow them to report to the Imperial Guard with their troops and weapons; second, please use the convenience of Nanyang and Xiangyang to send people south to spread rumors in Xiangzhou, saying that several of Fan Qiong's main generals all want to kill him to offer their heads to Nanyang..."

Zhao Jiu suddenly laughed: "This is a strategy of driving tigers to devour wolves. It will definitely be useful. Prime Minister Wang, you were still laughing before, why don't you laugh now that you've reached this point?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty," Wang Boyan became even more serious. "This is a strategy of using troops, and as the Deputy Military Commissioner, I have no choice but to do it, but such a treacherous strategy should not be rejoiced by men of morality."

Zhao Jiu laughed and asked again: "Then I have said before that I want to personally supervise the army to the south. Does that count as using the dignity of the Emperor to handle dirty matters?"

Wang Boyan was momentarily embarrassed and could only try to explain: "Your Majesty is punishing rebellion with righteousness, which is in accordance with the great path."

Zhao Jiu knew what was going on. It was nothing more than that no one had any psychological pressure when facing someone like Fan Qiong. But if they were to face the Jin people, even if it was only five hundred people last time, these people would never agree.

However, the Emperor was too lazy to say more. He simply pressed down on this memorial, which coincided with Liu Ziyu's strategy, and directly ordered solemnly: "This matter is the most urgent of all. Follow this plan roughly and issue a decree immediately... Only one thing, those who are controlled by Fan Qiong and remain neutral can be pardoned, but those who surrender to the Jin and that Monk Zongyin can never be pardoned! In addition, Nanyang must make good logistical preparations, and Ma Shen of Jinghu North Road behind Xiangyang must be contacted as soon as possible. Once Xiangyang wavers, I will personally supervise the army and quickly send troops to pacify this villain!"

Starting with Lü Haowen and ending with Yan Xiaozhong, all those involved shuddered and were about to step forward to respond.

However, amidst the increasingly obvious rumbling sound, Scholar Lin took the lead and stepped forward, cupping his hands: "Your Majesty, I ask to go to Xiangzhou first and personally carry out this strategy of driving tigers to devour wolves on Your Majesty's behalf!"

Zhao Jiu looked at the indomitable Scholar Lin, secretly praised him in his heart, and nodded slightly: "As Minister Lin says."

After saying this, the Emperor Zhao, who had to live as a widower because of the internal strife of the officials, simply got up and turned to the harem to tease the wild pigeons without waiting for everyone to bow.

For a time, the people in the hall could only look at each other awkwardly – what was so difficult about finding a few wives for the single Emperor? But in the end, it turned out like this, on the one hand, causing everyone to suspect each other, and on the other hand, benefiting themselves, who already had wives and concubines. What was going on?

No wonder the Emperor was angry.

ps: Good night everyone…