"Zhao Chancellor, you must manage Hu Quan!"

In the Chongwen Institute where the Capital Secretariat was located, Zhao Ding heard these words again, and this time the one who came to advise him was Liu Dazhong, the Minister of Personnel. "If this continues, I fear factional strife will erupt again!"

Zhao Ding, who was handling official duties, sighed inwardly when he heard this, but on the surface, he remained calm. He waved his hand to signal Fan Zongyin, a drafter of the Secretariat, and other officials in the office to temporarily withdraw, before calmly speaking from his seat: "Has Hu Quan issued supplementary publications again without authorization?"

"Unauthorized issuance of supplementary publications is not the issue, the key is the content!" Liu Dazhong was almost exasperated. "If he were issuing supplementary publications discussing original learning practice, telling stories, reporting news, or even promoting Cuju matches, I wouldn't be so concerned!"

"What about the content?" Zhao Ding's expression remained unchanged. "Minister Liu, please sit."

"My son is in the Imperial Academy and happened to be on duty today to copy the court gazette. As soon as he finished copying, he rushed home to tell me that Hu Quan issued the story of Duke Huan of Qi's rewarding the good and punishing the wicked today!" Liu Dazhong flung his sleeves and said, "Tell me, doesn't this mean he wants to directly eliminate half of the central government officials?!"

Hearing this story, Zhao Yuanzhen also felt a headache coming on.

The reason being, this story was too famous. It tells of Duke Huan of Qi coming to a small city and seeing that the place had become ruins. He was curious, and someone told him that the local ruler 'rewarded the good and punished the wicked,' which is why it had been destroyed. Duke Huan, of course, didn't understand. Why would 'approving of good people and hating bad people' still lead to the city becoming ruins?

The locals continued to tell Duke Huan that this ruler approved of good people but couldn't use them, and hated bad people but couldn't remove them, so his city became ruins.

And this story was so famous and ancient that it had become the standard story for everyone to advise the ruler and impeach others. Coupled with Hu Quan himself, who had previously scolded those who advocated peace as spies in the court, and the current situation, the intention was even more obvious.

"Minister Liu, please sit." After a moment of headache, Zhao Ding still tried to maintain his prime minister's composure.

Liu Dazhong sneered and finally found a chair to sit down casually, then waited for Zhao Ding to speak.

It should be said that Liu Dazhong was appointed when Zhang Jun went south to supervise the troops in Dongting Lake, and Zhao Ding was the one who recommended him. Moreover, since this person took office, he had almost always listened to Zhao Ding's words. In fact, everyone knew that the two ministers, Liu Dazhong of the Ministry of Personnel and Hu Shijiang of the Ministry of War, plus Liu Ji, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Capital Secretariat who was extremely cooperative, were Zhao Chancellor's key support in the Capital Secretariat, allowing him to command all affairs of the world as easily as using his own limbs.

Relatively speaking, Zhu Shengfei, the Minister of Rites, was gentle in nature. Although he had always cooperated with the work of the Capital Secretariat, he was recognized as Lu Yihao's man. Lin Qi, the Minister of Revenue, had been in office for three or four years and came from Li Gang's staff. Wang Shu, the Minister of Justice, should have been close to Zhao Ding, but unexpectedly, due to his particularly pro-war stance, he was very close to the Privy Council. As for the Minister of Works, it was Liang Yangzu, who had gone to protect the Emperor with Zhang Jun, Tian Shizhong, and Yang Yizhong, served as Deputy Commander, supervised tea and salt affairs in the southeast, and finally entered Beijing because the very important official position was abandoned after the Yao Mountain battle... This person had extremely strong political capital and came from a famous family (his father was the prototype of Liang Zhongshu in *Water Margin*), but he was always humble and reserved, a fair and impartial gentleman.

In short, in the situation where the six ministers became increasingly important after the Southern Song Dynasty's Nanyang Reform, sitting in such an important position, Liu Shangshu, without asking, knew that he was naturally a figure like Zhao Ding's arm, so facing this person, Zhao Ding had no reason to hide his thoughts.

"Minister Liu, the Emperor speaks of 'achievements' and admires Wang Shu, with *Guanzi* becoming a prominent study. We can't say anything is wrong with Hu Quan publishing this, and the root of the matter is not Hu Quan, but the Emperor." After careful consideration, Zhao Ding was finally honest.

"Zhao Chancellor," Liu Dazhong said, also calming down, but shaking his head repeatedly. "Your words, this official understands, but the Emperor's intentions are so blatant that people can't help but suspect that Hu Quan received the Emperor's instructions!"

Zhao Ding finally sighed.

Speaking of which, the Zhao Emperor's intentions were obvious: he wanted to fight, he wanted to launch a Northern Expedition! This Emperor's attitude had been very clear from beginning to end... The decree forbidding active advocacy of peace negotiations on the Huai River had not been revoked to this day, and anyone coming from the north to deliver letters would be subject to trumped-up charges. The Jin envoy was given only the time it took to burn a stick of incense in the hall, without giving any officials the opportunity to speak, and then he simply left after 'severing the tassel.' What else could he do?

"The Emperor's instructions are certainly not there, this matter is definitely Hu Quan's private act, but the Emperor's ambiguous attitude, deliberately indulging, is also undeniable." Zhao Ding continued to ponder. "My meaning is to figure out the root cause of the Emperor's concern in this matter..."

"Walls have ears, Chancellor, please speak freely." Liu Dazhong frowned slightly, but couldn't help adding half a sentence. "If walls have ears, then this Capital Secretariat Chancellor and this Minister of Personnel might as well not be!"

Zhao Ding ignored the other party's complaint and slowly said from his seat: "I believe there are two key points. First, the Emperor's intention to fight is unwavering. Seeing that half of the court officials have intentions of peace negotiations, he can't help but have the heart of a monarch acting unilaterally..."

"If we could obtain the south of the Yellow River without fighting, and also welcome back the Two Holy Ones, and then negotiate peace slightly to recuperate for several years, wouldn't that be good?" Liu Dazhong shook his head helplessly. Obviously, he had expressed his support for peace negotiations during the last round of division.

"This matter has two sides... If we negotiate peace, everything will be good, but how should we appease the hearts of the people left behind in the two rivers? Even if we don't talk about the people left behind, how many have fled across the river? How do we account for that?"

"Isn't the Emperor focused on achievement?" Liu Dazhong stomped his feet from his seat. "Why does he only talk about righteousness and not about utilitarianism at this time? How about recuperating for a while and then launching a large army for the Northern Expedition?"

Zhao Ding was silent for a moment, but still continued, "Let's not mention this matter for now... Continuing from what I was saying, second, the Emperor seems to have reservations about welcoming back the Two Holy Ones..."

"Not seems to have, but undoubtedly does." Liu Dazhong became serious when he heard this. "Moreover, this official believes that this matter is even harder to say. Chancellor, before, this official was in another place and didn't quite believe the rumors, but today I know that suspicion within the imperial family has actually reached this point!"

"The Emperor may not be suspicious, in my opinion, there is more resentment." Zhao Ding replied seriously.

"Whether it's suspicion or hatred, it's hard to say, and the higher-ups can't say it clearly, and the lower-downs can't say it clearly either." Liu Dazhong said somewhat helplessly. "If we say it's suspicion, the Emperor will say it's hatred. If we say it's hatred, the Emperor might become suspicious... Zhao Chancellor, the key is not here, the key is why the Emperor must do things to this extent when everyone clearly understands some things? Can't the matter of peace negotiations be handled with a little flexibility? Can't the matter of the Two Holy Ones be covered up a little? The consequence of revealing everything without leaving any room for maneuver is that there is now mutual suspicion inside and out, and all dignity is lost!"

Zhao Ding also nodded slightly.

In fact, this was the problem, and the fundamental reason for the strange atmosphere in the court in the few days after the Jin envoy left—the Zhao Emperor's behavior had clearly and unmistakably touched the foundations of Confucian society, that is, the basic Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues.

The patriarchal social system created by Confucianism, whether it's good or bad, is indeed a stable and useful thing. For many years, everyone has adapted to using it to maintain social stability... When Wang Anshi reformed the laws, he and Sima Guang repeatedly argued over the case of A Yun of Dengzhou for decades. Were they idle? Wasn't it a matter of the ethical foundations of Confucianism!

And now, the Zhao Emperor is not only challenging ethical issues himself, but also pushing this ethical contradiction to these officials... You say that the ruler is the bond for the subject, and the father is the bond for the son, but who is your ruler and father now? The ruler and father have made a terrible ethical mistake, what should you do? Oppose it? Then what's the difference between you and the Emperor? Default or agree? Wouldn't that be helping the Emperor violate the moral code?

But if the Zhao Emperor was more secretive, pretended a little, couldn't these things be glossed over? Why make everyone uncomfortable?

It should be known that the Battle of Yao Mountain had a huge impact, whether it was the situation between the two countries, or the internal military, political, and personnel matters of both sides, including the authority of the rulers, there had been drastic changes.

After that battle, people with insight understood that within the internal political situation of the Great Song, the Zhao Emperor had the strength to overturn the table, but the problem was that, as Chancellor, your main historical mission was to prevent this Emperor from overturning the table, wasn't it?

Don't forget, this wasn't the first time the Zhao Emperor had tried the low-end ethical meme of the Two Holy Ones. He had done it once after returning to the old capital, but Lu Haowen had cried him back on the spot... This time, do you, Zhao Ding, have the ability to cry him back too?

"Minister Liu, I think there must be a trade-off between the two things." After nodding, Zhao Ding finally admitted frankly.

"Chancellor's meaning is... to retreat on one and take the other?" Liu Dazhong immediately understood.

"That's right." Zhao Ding finally stated his response. "My meaning is that we should jointly submit a memorial, the Capital Secretariat, the Privy Council, the six ministries, and the nine ministers... Everyone who was in the hall that day should sign it, requesting to plan for the Northern Expedition to show that we are selfless and have no factions. But we also ask the Emperor to show some respect in the matter of the Two Holy Ones!"

Liu Dazhong was silent for a moment.

"Minister Liu, with the Emperor acting like this, peace negotiations are unlikely to succeed after all, and the resistance to this matter is greater than you think... There are two things you may not know. Minister Wang of the Ministry of Justice (Wang Shu) came to me after coming down from the hall that day and said that Hu Quan's words released the pent-up frustration in his chest; and Privy Councilor Zhang just wrote a note, using Hu Quan as a compiler for the Privy Council and the court gazette being related to military secrets as reasons, requesting the Capital Secretariat to transfer the court gazette matter to the Privy Council."

Liu Dazhong looked up in astonishment: "Is this really going to be factional strife?"

"There won't be any strife!" Zhao Ding said sternly. "I've already said, the Emperor's meaning is there! And I, Zhao Ding, as the First Chancellor of the Capital Secretariat, will not allow factional strife to occur in the court again!"

Liu Dazhong sighed for a moment, but finally nodded: "In that case, we must find someone to talk to the Emperor."

"No need." Zhao Ding said seriously again. "First, we can't control the Emperor after all; second, the Emperor is frivolous and stubborn on the surface, but in fact, he has a grand plan in his heart and will definitely understand our meaning."

"Very well!" Liu Dazhong thought for a long time, then finally stood up. "In that case, I will contact the other Capital Secretariat colleagues for you..."

Zhao Ding finally felt a little relieved.

Speaking of which, while Zhao Chancellor was painstakingly maintaining the unity of the court, the Zhao Emperor, who was causing everyone to be disunited, had no awareness at all. On the contrary, he had been in high spirits these days and had been dealing with martial arts academy affairs.

It was said before that the Zhao Emperor was uneducated and knew nothing, and didn't know that Zhao Song had always had a martial arts academy. He thought he was engaging in institutional innovation... In fact, the martial arts academy had existed since the Renzong dynasty, modeled after the Imperial Academy. Students were admitted and taught, cooperating with the martial arts examination system, which was very advanced, just without the high-level martial arts academy that the Zhao Emperor expected, which could interfere with the promotion of military officers.

Not only that, but as the saying goes, "learn from a fall," the Zhao Emperor carefully asked the omniscient Yang Yizhong before he knew that Zhao Song actually had nursing homes, disability shelters, a medical promotion bureau, and a public cemetery system.

However, the systems were all good systems, but the actual implementation varied greatly.

For example, the highest institution of martial arts under the Imperial College had only one professor position year-round, and like the Imperial Academy before the Cai Jing reform, it was only for training for the imperial examinations.

For example, nursing homes and disability shelters were certainly good, but in reality, they generally remained at the level of model projects for some officials, and they only lasted a few years before the Jingkang Incident.

The public cemetery system was similar. The assessment methods were also quite good, but it was mainly impossible to supervise. The monks in charge of the cemeteries' favorite trick was to dismantle corpses like Kindaichi, dismantling five corpses into six, gathering enough numbers to ask the court for ordination certificates... Under such circumstances, many poor people would rather choose cremation than be included in the public cemetery.

The only thing worth mentioning was the medical promotion system... Throughout the Song Dynasty, whether it was official or civilian, the emphasis on medicine and traditional Chinese medicine promotion was unprecedented. Not only were there many famous doctors, but the pharmaceutical administrative agencies, pharmaceutical business agencies, and medical education institutions were also very sound. The central government not only had the Hanlin Medical Officer Academy, the Imperial Hospital, and the Imperial Pharmacy, but also had the Imperial Medical Academy corresponding to the Imperial Academy, and it was more advanced than the martial arts academy, directly sorting and grading it according to the Three Dormitories method. Not only that, but various government offices, military camps, and local areas all had medical officers stationed, and remote areas had to allocate a large number of epidemic prevention medicines every year.

It could only be said that in terms of the pharmaceutical system alone, as Minister Pan explained it in detail, the Zhao Emperor only felt that he was truly ashamed of the times.

However, these things were destroyed in the Jingkang Incident, and the corresponding central institutions were not rebuilt until the third year of Jianyan. Drug purchases only restarted last year, but they still followed the military expenditure route, which was mostly used in military camps... And Minister Pan's meaning seemed to be to ask the Zhao Emperor to allocate some funds to restore the former glory as soon as possible, but in the end, the Emperor brushed it off with vague words.

It would be good enough if he didn't ask this Minister for money, let alone allocate funds?

In fact, the Zhao Emperor had also spent a lot of money on the reconstruction of the martial arts academy. Part of the idle Yanfu Palace behind the imperial palace was taken out to be used as school buildings... It should be known that this place was only separated from the Zhao Emperor's fish pond by a wall.

Returning to the present, it had to be said that Wu Jie was a few points stronger than Zhang Jun, and also more careful. Not only did he send the corresponding military officers for training as agreed, but he also sent dozens of young Guanzhong children to enrich the martial arts academy... This made the Zhao Emperor very satisfied.

"What is your name?" On the temporary martial arts academy's training ground, after chatting with the officers of the Imperial Guards Rear Army and Right Army for a few words, the Zhao Emperor couldn't help but notice the Guanzhong children, so he turned around. Looking at the leading young martial arts student, whose lip hair hadn't even grown in yet, but who was particularly tall and strong, and whose shoulder muscles were particularly thick, he really had a subtle feeling that all the talents in the world were coming into his grasp.

It should be known that just looking at this person's frame, he had some of Han Shizhong's flavor.

"I..." This person was clearly at a loss because of his youth. He wanted to speak but didn't know how to say it, and he wanted to salute but didn't know how to salute, just standing there for a moment.

"Reporting to Your Majesty," Wu Lin, who came to send these officers and martial arts students on behalf of Wu Jie, quickly stepped forward half a step from behind to respond. "This person's given name is Zhongfu, which happens to be the same name as the commanding officer of the Imperial Guards cavalry, Zhang Zhongfu, but his surname is Wang. He comes from a wealthy family in Jingzhao... He entered the county school at a young age, and his progress was good, but he is also a born martial arts prodigy. At only eighteen years old, he has already beaten everyone in Jingzhao. A month ago, the Prince of Yan'an was in Chang'an, and when he heard his name, he went to test him. After testing him, he actually suffered a loss and thought he was a prodigy. He originally wanted to recruit him into the army, but later, when he heard that Your Majesty was going to set up a martial arts academy, he recommended him and asked this official to bring him along."

Zhao Jiu put his hands behind his back and nodded slowly, appearing extremely satisfied, and then went to look at the next student.