Chapter 1 The Weather Clears Up

The weather cleared up.

Phoenix Mountain seemed exceptionally busy. The Imperial Guards and the Imperial Reserve troops were clearing the collapsed palaces. Countless envoys from local officials and members of the Gong Ge were rushing to pay their respects to the Emperor, though most stopped at the level of Lü Yihào and Liú Hóngdào. Close ministers such as Lü Běnzhōng and Rén Bǎozhōng were also organizing documents, and even the monks of Shèng Guǒ Temple were taking the opportunity to drain the canals and clear the mountain's internal flooding.

Not only that, but at this moment, the entire southeast should be very busy. From Phoenix Mountain, one could see people draining water and clearing silt everywhere in the fields, villages, cities, and towns to minimize losses.

At this point, Zhao Jiu himself had realized that encountering such continuous rainy weather at this time of year in this location was likely due to a typhoon at sea hundreds of miles away.

He just didn't know if it was caused by the flapping of his own butterfly wings.

Of course, he also didn't know that, historically, the summer of this year in the southeast region did have more rainfall than usual, causing a reduction in silk and autumn harvests, but it did not reach the level of a disaster. This matter was clearly known to later generations through the memorials of Zhāng Jùn and other relevant ministers.

Then again, if Zhao Jiu were a high-end historical talent and knew about this, he might ask why his butterfly wings hadn't prevented the typhoon!

Enough idle talk. Back to the present, Zhao, the Emperor, who had experienced a small storm, made an appearance by taking a stroll around, thus calming people's hearts and taking in the scenery after the rain. After returning to Shèng Guǒ Temple at noon, he began trying to revise his poem.

That's right, revise his poem.

Last night's hasty storm, with his own house collapsing and the sounds of *plop, plop*, like frogs jumping into a pond after the rain, might have kept the Emperor up all night. As a result, this Emperor made a huge joke in the early morning while hesitating and in a daze... He actually wrote a terrible poem with incorrect tones and repeated rhymes.

This wasn't just a matter of falling short of his usual standard. Repeating words at the end of a line was a mistake that even a ten-year-old wouldn't make. You could ask that prodigy from the Lù family to try!

And since he repeated words, it couldn't be considered a poem at all. Yet, Zhao, the Emperor, wasn't a monk who could just pass it off as a Zen saying. What made Lü Běnzhōng and the others speechless was that the poem's core was clearly still there, and its momentum and style still matched the Emperor's usual demeanor. Even if someone else wanted to claim it as their own, they couldn't... So, everyone basically concluded that Zhao, the Emperor, had just made a terrible mistake.

Therefore, the Emperor spent the entire morning trying to revise the poem, hoping to avoid losing too much face.

However, Zhao Jiu looked at the poem on the table, thought about it, and didn't know where to start... It wasn't that he couldn't revise it. He could just change one word. For example, changing Yáoshān to Huì Jīnchuān or Guò Dàchuān would directly refer to the Jīn Hé (Golden River) Alliance and the extermination of Western Xia, and it would be passable.

But the problem was that the Western Xia campaign was obviously not comparable to Yáoshān. The most important and greatest achievement of Zhao, the Emperor's so-called eight years of effort, was the Yáoshān campaign. Yáoshān was the foundation, and the Western Xia campaign and the Jīn Hé Alliance were, in some ways, deep strategic results of Yáoshān.

Therefore, if he were to self-narrate his achievements and lament the sages, he couldn't avoid the Yáoshān affair.

But then again, if he insisted on keeping the words "Yáoshān," he would be reluctant to part with the famous line "Gazing north at the Central Plains, one's spirit is like a mountain," because that was the momentum of the entire poem.

So, the Emperor thought back and forth but couldn't find a solution. In the end, he simply gave up on the poem... Anyway, he didn't believe that Lù Yóu would ever go to Dàsànguān to defend Bàshǔ in this life. At most, he would go to defend Yin Mountain... In the current situation, no one owed anyone anything, right?

Besides, in terms of effect, Lü Yihào didn't hesitate to express his determination to go to Hebei to "fill the gullies" after hearing this doggerel, did he? He didn't stand up and say, "Your Majesty, you used the wrong word."

It still had its effect.

However, while Zhao, the Emperor, gave up on it, Lü Běnzhōng suffered again.

As a true poet, Lü Běnzhōng immediately recognized that the poem's core was excellent, so he naturally wanted to revise it and publish it in the Phoenix Weekly as a political statement on behalf of the Emperor.

However, on the one hand, Zhao, the Emperor, was unwilling to revise it, and on the other hand, Lü Běnzhōng couldn't revise it on his own. He was reluctant to give up on the poem, so he gnashed his teeth for most of the day, causing this famous poet to feel extremely frustrated.

But no matter what, Zhao Jiu, who had given up on revising the poem, didn't care about Lü Běnzhōng's thoughts. Since he had abandoned the matter, he didn't return north immediately but remained in the southeast... However, everyone could see that the Emperor was much more relaxed than he had been during the previous six months here.

For example, in the following days, the Emperor repeatedly traveled around the surrounding counties in plain clothes with a small entourage of Chìxīn troops. His footsteps covered Hángzhōu, Húzhōu, Yuèzhōu, and Mùzhōu, but he often didn't enter the cities or question officials, nor did he reveal his identity. He simply walked among the villages and stopped at the markets and docks.

In fact, if Hangzhou hadn't realized the Emperor's travels, the surrounding prefectures might not have known from beginning to end that the Emperor had visited their jurisdiction.

After all, this wasn't a play about traveling incognito and righting wrongs. Unless there were some typical malicious criminal cases, an Emperor overriding and handling some grassroots affairs would often cause confusion far exceeding the affairs themselves. And how could pure super-malicious events appear so coincidentally by his side?

Therefore, the Emperor was mostly just inquiring about customs and inspecting the impact of this summer's rain and flooding, and he didn't intend to interfere locally.

Of course, this was also inevitable. With the Emperor's southern tour lasting nearly a year and the new tax laws being fully implemented, the most important things in the entire southeast were to measure the impact of this rainfall and when the situation in Fújiàn would stabilize.

However, this led to another problem. Some people were secretly complaining that the Emperor had already done what he needed to do, and the affairs of Fújiàn and the rain in the two Zhè were beyond human control. So what was he, the dignified Emperor, still doing here? Could it be that he really liked the prosperity of the southeast and had forgotten about his homeland?

But the old palaces of Wú Yuè had collapsed, and staying in a monastery all day might not be comfortable. Or did he really believe in Buddhism?

However, there seemed to be other things happening. Not long after Liú Hóngdào returned to Dōngjīng, when the Emperor began traveling around in disguise, a new session of the Gong Ge conference began. The Emperor formally issued an edict summoning the Gong Ge members at the level of circuits (Lù) from Liǎng Huái, Jiāngdōng, Jiāngxī, the two Zhè, and Fújiàn to gather at Phoenix Mountain... The Gong Ge of Liǎng Huái, Jiāngxī, and Fújiàn were newly formed and hadn't yet met the Emperor, so this was of course reasonable.

In addition, the Emperor might leave at any time, so organizing a few more successful conferences would be like drawing a circle by West Lake, successfully ending his southern tour, wouldn't it?

Therefore, as summer drew to a close, the southeast and the banks of West Lake once again became crowded, especially the Gong Ge members from Liǎngzhōu who swarmed here from Yángzhōu. Each of them was wealthy, and they had a strong desire to participate in politics because of their opposition to the local government. So their arrival almost instantly brought Hángzhōu back to the situation during the previous martial arts gathering.

Even more so.

Outside Yongjin Gate, it truly became "taking Hángzhōu as Biànzhōu" once again. Even the locals could no longer afford to eat at the Lou Wai Lou restaurant.

However, almost as if it had been arranged in advance, just as the southeast Gong Ge set the date for the conference and began processing the relevant procedures under the Léifēng Pagoda, on this morning, former Deputy Prime Minister of the Dūshěng, Xǔ Jǐnghéng, who had been sent to Fújiàn to appease the region, also officially returned from Fújiàn.

After all, Minister Xǔ had been a Prime Minister before. Since he had returned, he wouldn't compete with those Gong Ge members for an audience with the Emperor. Instead, Yáng Yízhōng, who had gone to greet him, led him directly to the Great Hero Hall of Shèng Guǒ Temple. On the same morning, he paid his respects to the Emperor and gave a report.

The conclusion seemed less than optimistic.

"So, this means that the autumn harvest in Fújiàn this year was still affected?" Zhao, the Emperor, who was no stranger to the Great Hero Hall, asked casually under the Buddha statue.

It is worth mentioning that although this place was spacious, only Lü Yihào and a few close ministers were by the Emperor's side at this time... Fàn Zōngyǐn, Méi Lì and others hadn't returned from Fújiàn yet. Xǔ Jǐnghéng's return seemed more like a special recall by Zhao, the Emperor.

"To let Your Majesty know, it wasn't the autumn harvest, but the autumn taxes," Xǔ Jǐnghéng immediately corrected in the hall. "The clan fights mostly occurred between clans and villages, but when these people fought, they rarely destroyed production or hindered agricultural work... When I say it affected the autumn taxes, I mean that the large-scale clan fights have gradually subsided, but the armed confrontation between local villages and small-scale feuds will continue for a long time. In addition, these brawls were originally caused by the allocation of tax quotas, and I have already taken the liberty of removing all tax quotas involved in the disputes in the Fújiàn region to appease the region... Therefore, under these circumstances, the autumn taxes in Fújiàn will inevitably be affected, but it will not have a significant impact on the actual autumn harvest."

Hearing this, Zhao Jiu breathed a long sigh of relief, followed by a long silence.

Seeing this situation, Xǔ Jǐnghéng, standing in the hall, couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

As a rehired Prime Minister, on the one hand, his height allowed him to understand the core of the problem even when he was away on business—although he only heard a little rumor on the way back, he had already realized that the matter was fundamentally in the Northern Expedition; on the other hand, the sense of responsibility and political alienation caused by his identity, political stance, and origin made him have some complex emotions in the face of this major event.

Not opposing, not participating, but not avoiding... somewhat in a state of being pushed along.

However, as the saying goes, what is coming will always come. After waiting for a while, Zhao, the Emperor, exchanged glances with Lü Yihào under the Buddha statue, and then asked again, "So, the situation in Fújiàn is actually better than here in the two Zhè? There is an impact, but it is mostly limited to the grassroots, and in any case, it won't reach the level of a disaster... Is that right?"

"Forgive me for speaking frankly," Xǔ Jǐnghéng cupped his hands and replied seriously. "Your Majesty's words are inaccurate... Many people died in Fújiàn, and this matter has a far-reaching impact, which may cause long-term feuds in the villages of Fújiàn. In any case, it cannot be said to be better than the two Zhè, which are experiencing reduced production due to the rain! The new tax policy still seems too hasty outside the two Zhè circuits."

"Prime Minister Xǔ is right," Zhao Jiu paused and replied seriously. "I was only thinking about the short-term impact of the two places on the Northern Expedition, but I didn't consider the internal conditions of the two places or the long-term implications... This is not the mindset that an Emperor should have."

Zhao, the Emperor, admitted his mistake and directly pointed out the Northern Expedition. What else could Prime Minister Xǔ say?

After a moment, he reluctantly cupped his hands: "Has Your Majesty made a decision?"

"This is not a matter of whether I make a decision, but rather, if there is no reason to stop, we can only brace ourselves and move forward. And in the current situation, although there are twists and turns in the two Zhè and Fújiàn, and there is some excessive rain in the Central Plains, it has not led to a major disaster. Since there is nothing that requires us to stop, we, the monarch and his ministers, cannot deceive ourselves and avoid the situation," Zhao Jiu replied simply. "Prime Minister Xǔ, 300,000 Imperial troops will be ready in the autumn. Although there are many new recruits among them, there are also Tanguts that can be recruited, Tài Háng righteous armies that can be mobilized, and even Mongol and Khitan allied forces that can be summoned. Therefore, the planned military strength is still sufficient. As for grain, military supplies, and military equipment, although they are less abundant than last year's estimates, they are actually sufficient compared to the measurements three years ago... Under these circumstances, if we don't act, we will lose the trust of the people. What do you say?"

Xǔ Jǐnghéng was forced into a corner. After thinking again and again, he could only cup his hands again and say, "That is indeed the case."

"I wanted those words from Prime Minister," Zhao Jiu said upon hearing this, and once again made eye contact with Lü Yihào, before turning his gaze together to Lü Běnzhōng, who appeared a little nervous.

Lü Běnzhōng swallowed and immediately stepped forward, holding out a sheet of white hemp paper hidden in his sleeve with both hands, and opening it in front of everyone for Xǔ Jǐnghéng to see.

Xǔ Jǐnghéng only glanced at the white hemp paper and felt a buzzing in his head, before directly bowing to the ground out of instinct.

The Song Dynasty treated scholars and officials well. Unless it was some sacrificial or ceremonial occasion, civil officials didn't need to kneel before the Emperor, let alone for an imperial edict.

But that was precisely the interesting part. Prime Ministers with a much higher political status than ordinary scholars and officials, generally could not avoid kneeling before an imperial edict, because when a scholar truly reached the peak of his life, that is, when he was appointed as Prime Minister, he had to formally bow in accordance with the precedent.

That's right, this sheet of white hemp paper had only one meaning for people of Xǔ Jǐnghéng's level, which was that he was going to be reappointed as Prime Minister for the second time, officially returning to the ranks of Prime Ministers.

Of course, in reality, even Xǔ Jǐnghéng was appointed as Prime Minister for the first time... Because when he first became Prime Minister, the imperial court was still in a state of displacement, and it was simply a small court. Where would he get a proper sheet of white hemp paper?

However, Zhao, the Emperor, always prescribed the right medicine for the situation and cooked the right dishes for the people... Just like when he made Wú Jiè a military commissioner and specially used bright yellow silk to deceive those roughnecks in the Western Army, this time, in order to make Xǔ Jǐnghéng feel respected, Zhao Jiu also specially found a sheet of white hemp paper.

It can only be said that the effect was remarkable. As a traditional old-fashioned scholar-official who had rehearsed the reaction when he saw a white hemp paper countless times in his mind when he was young, when he really faced this white hemp paper, Xǔ Jǐnghéng finally bowed directly.

And with this bow, some things were settled.

The imperial edict was written by Lü Běnzhōng, so he wouldn't make the kind of low-level mistakes that Zhao, the Emperor, made in his doggerel. It was symmetrical and full of literary talent. However, after reading it, it had only one meaning: reinstate Xǔ Jǐnghéng as Deputy Prime Minister of the Dūshěng, add the title of Military Commissioner of the Ninghai Army, lead the Two Zhè Circuit as Pacification Commissioner, stationed in Hangzhou, to oversee the six circuits of Jiāngdōng, Jiāngxī, Fújiàn, the two Zhè, Guǎngxī, and Guǎngdōng.

Basically, he would replace Lü Yihào as the Special Commissioner of the Southeast, and he would also have control over the pacification of the two Guǎng provinces.

With the imperial edict issued, the Emperor also issued an oral edict to post this white hemp paper under Léifēng Pagoda and summon the Gong Ge of the southeastern circuits to watch it together... This would be a makeshift completion of the declaration ceremony in the appointment of the Prime Minister... Regardless of whether the people below had room to object, it was always necessary to publicize it and make an appearance.

Under the dilapidated Léifēng Pagoda, the six circuits of the Gong Ge gathered. At this moment, they were still engaging in some messy speeches and discussions, and waiting for the Emperor's arrival in the afternoon. Unexpectedly, they didn't wait for the Emperor, but they first waited for a legendary white hemp paper.

And this white hemp paper immediately ignited the entire West Lake.

Most of the Gong Ge members from the two Zhè, Jiāngdōng, Fújiàn, and even Jiāngxī, held a cautious and welcoming attitude towards this... because Xǔ Jǐnghéng had a very high reputation in the southeast.

Of course, there were also some unspoken reasons that everyone tacitly understood.

However, the Gong Ge members from Liǎnghuái Circuit, who had already left the scope of the Southeast Commissioner after Yáoshān and were now not concerned with the matter, were about to become annoying again. Some of them even said that this appointment was actually not in accordance with the rules... Not because Xǔ Jǐnghéng lacked qualifications, reputation, or talent, but because Minister Xǔ himself was from Yuèzhōu and should avoid his hometown.

In fact, the previous two Special Commissioners, Yǔwén Xūzhōng, who pacified Guānxī, and Lü Yihào, who suppressed the southeast, were both from Jīngdōng.

This of course stirred up a hornet's nest. For a time, the Gong Ge of the two Zhè circuits and the Liǎnghuái Circuit instantly became hostile, almost leading to a mass brawl under the Léifēng Pagoda.

However, no matter where they were from, the true political experts in the Gong Ge maintained seriousness and silence. These people, regardless of their origins, gathered in groups of twos and threes on the edge of the field and discussed the situation in low voices. Obviously, they all smelled a hint of sternness and unease from this white hemp paper.

These people didn't believe that no one had reminded the Emperor of Xǔ Jǐnghéng's origin, nor did they believe that Lü Yihào was simply gone... It must be known that while Minister Lü was strict to the southeast, he was undoubtedly a capable minister to the central government and the Emperor, and the southeast relied on him.

What's more, the military commissioner title on Xǔ Jǐnghéng was enough to make people think.

Or even further, the truly intelligent people had already realized what was going on, but because the imperial edict was not clear, they didn't dare to discuss it in depth.

It can only be said that, as expected, after a moment, Shào Chéngzhāng, the Internal Attendant Supervisor who had just returned, returned to the Léifēng Pagoda with full ceremonial guard and posted another white hemp paper.

The white hemp paper was also symmetrical and full of literary talent, but its true intention was clear to everyone present as soon as it was read, and even the most foolish people understood what was going on.

Nothing else, Lü Yihào received his new assignment: Vice Commissioner of the Censorate, with the added title of Military Commissioner of the Guīdé Army, supervising the military affairs of the Héběi East Circuit, Héběi West Circuit, Hédōng Circuit, and Yànshān Circuit.

This was the so-called Grand Supervisor of Hebei!

This meant that they were going to launch the Northern Expedition!

These southeastern people never expected that the signal for the Northern Expedition would be launched from the West Lake in Hangzhou... Was this reasonable? Were they really taking Hangzhou as Biànzhōu?

However, after the uproar, under the Léifēng Pagoda, in the open space surrounded by Guō Zhòngxún's Qiánzhōu troops, countless Gong Ge members quickly became serious again. No one went to think about the struggle with the local officials, and no one dared to discuss the matter itself wantonly... When the time came, as the most representative ruling class in the southeast region, most of these people felt only fear, unease, irritability, and timidity.

Zhao Jiu was not the only one who would be afraid of the all-out war that was coming.

Even a few passionate people didn't dare to shout with excitement at this time, because the words "Northern Expedition" were not publicly stated after all. Maybe they were just letting Lü Yihào be responsible for the preparations for the Northern Expedition?

Of course, in the eyes of people with a little political common sense, this possibility did not exist, because the Military Commissioner of Guīdé Army was the title used by Emperor Tàizǔ of the Song Dynasty, just like the Military Commissioner of Tàiníng Army used by Emperor Tàizōng, which had a special meaning... Throughout the Song Dynasty, the Military Commissioner of Guīdé Army had not been granted to anyone again, while the Military Commissioner of Tàiníng Army was recognized as the first Military Commissioner, and it had been granted to several people before and after, all of whom were the most important figures in the court. After the Yáoshān battle, Hán Shìzhōng became the Duke of Yán'ān, leading the military commissioners of three garrisons, and the first title was the Military Commissioner of Tàiníng Army.

At this time, Lü Yihào, as a Privy Councilor, added this Military Commissioner title, which could not be taken away by military personnel and had been vacant for more than a hundred years. The only meaning was to use his qualifications, personality, and enthusiasm for the Northern Expedition to serve as the chief supervisor of this Northern Expedition.

When necessary, if the Emperor needed to kill someone, even if he wanted to kill one of the ten military commissioners, he didn't have to do it himself! Because there was a ruthless character here who dared to kill on behalf of the Emperor.

Just as the Léifēng Pagoda was silent, with Shào Chéngzhāng, the Internal Attendant Supervisor, returning for the third time, another imperial edict arrived, and this time it was aimed at the hundreds of southeastern Gong Ge members present.

The imperial edict was very simple. It required the Liǎnghuái, the two Zhè, the two Jiāng, and Fújiàn Gong Ge members present to select a hundred people with both talent and virtue within the Gong Ge scope, based on the members' talents and virtues... Among them, ten would be of the highest grade, twenty would be of the upper-middle grade, and seventy would be of the upper grade. At that time, the Emperor would grant these people positions such as prefect, military commissioner, vice prefect, county magistrate, criminal investigation supervisor, tea and salt supervisor, etc., in the various places of Hebei, Hédōng, and Yànshān according to their grades.

No one was allowed to leave the venue without permission before the selection was completed.

With the imperial edict issued, Shào Chéngzhāng turned back for the third time, leaving hundreds of southeastern elites in a state of embarrassment and disarray under the Léifēng Pagoda under the watchful eyes of more than a thousand Qiánzhōu soldiers from Guō Zhòngxún's command.

These people's moods were really complicated at this moment... On the one hand, the Emperor fulfilled his promise to the Gong Ge, and a large number of people would directly enter actual positions, and they were those kind of generous positions; on the other hand, this so-called actual position was also a blatant empty position!

If the Northern Expedition succeeded, not to mention the Yànshān Circuit, just the three prefectures, eleven provinces, and five armies, fifty-seven counties of the Héběi East Circuit; the four prefectures, nine provinces, six armies, and sixty-five counties of the Héběi West Circuit; and the three prefectures, fourteen provinces, eight armies, and eighty-one counties of the Hédōng Circuit, these hundred positions would be secure, and even other places could follow suit without delay.

But if it failed, this position would be worthless!

Of course, this was also Zhao, the Emperor's, overt plot, which was to get them to support the Northern Expedition! Even looking at the current situation, it was possible that these hundred people would directly follow the army after being selected, so that the rear would be stable, and these people could serve on the front lines and be sent out to manage the places at any time. At the same time, it was like taking hostages. In case the Northern Expedition was a little difficult, maybe these people's families would have to directly repay the country with their family property in the rear, right?

At this thought, everyone's thoughts quickly advanced to whether they should go to the battlefield if they were selected, and whether there would be danger?

But then again, if the Northern Expedition succeeded, then the prefect, military commissioner, vice prefect, county magistrate, and criminal investigation officer and tea and salt supervisor were simply a future that they would never have thought of in their entire lives, right?

In the midst of the panic, they couldn't select anyone, and it was impossible to escape under the surveillance of the army, so they could only talk nonsense and express their chaotic feelings.

In the chaos, after only half an hour, in the afternoon, Lü Běnzhōng, the only Jade Hall Academician accompanying the Emperor and the direct descendant of the Lǚ family of Dōnglái, who had actually surpassed Méi Huā Hán and become the number one prominent family in the court, arrived in person.

He was here to guide the election.

And with the arrival of Academician Lǚ, things suddenly changed... After all, with the eight years of fighting by Zhao, the Emperor, there were always some passionate people who had been brainwashed in the Gong Ge of the six southeastern circuits, and there were also some officials and bureaucrats who were eager for political advancement.

Therefore, after Academician Lǚ took the initiative to guide, dozens of people volunteered and quickly occupied a small half of the hundred positions.

At this time, those who originally had prestige and influence among the remaining people were naturally indignant; and those who were originally not well-known in the Gong Ge were envious and afraid that they would miss this opportunity.

So, after messing around for an afternoon, Academician Lǚ finally took a list of a hundred people and returned to the mountain in satisfaction.

After waiting for a while, around the time of the Léifēng sunset, Shào Chéngzhāng, the Internal Attendant Supervisor, returned for the fourth time. As expected, the Emperor had an oral edict. According to the list, these hundred people could write letters to their families, but they didn't need to go home. They would directly follow the Emperor's procession back to Dōngjīng tomorrow... Those who couldn't ride a horse should prepare mules themselves!

It was expected, but it must be said that this Emperor, who had been on a southern tour for nearly a year, had only now revealed the claws that had been rumored. It was no wonder that the simple southeastern people would be deceived.

Not to mention how this Gong Ge conference gathered inexplicably and disbanded inexplicably, and how the hundred people who were selected were happy, worried, and how they explained to their families and planned for the future... It was said that Academician Lǚ Běnzhōng, who had worked hard all day, returned to Zhao, the Emperor, after completing his task. There was no word in public at the time, but that evening, while packing his luggage in his bedroom in the Shèng Guǒ Temple, he suddenly received a summons from Zhao, the Emperor, and then received an imperial edict in Zhao, the Emperor's, "bedroom," which was like a bolt from the blue.

"I... don't have to follow the Emperor's procession back north?" Academician Lǚ instinctively went behind Zhao, the Emperor, as if he felt that there was a villain there.

However, there was no one behind the Emperor. There was only a Buddha statue more than a meter tall, standing there smiling with a flower. Turning around, there was a Yáng Yízhōng guarding the door, but Yáng Yízhōng should have been here in the first place.

"No need to look. No one advised me. It is my intention," Zhao said directly with a smile, as if he saw through the other party's thoughts. "I want you to stay here and do two things for me..."

Lü Běnzhōng thought for a moment, and tried to suppress the many distracting thoughts, and earnestly asked: "May I ask Your Majesty, is it because you want me to maintain the Phoenix Weekly here, in order to maintain the morale of the southeast during the Northern Expedition?"

"That's right," Zhao Jiu continued to respond with a smile. "But you must pay attention, the Northern Expedition cannot be taken lightly. After I leave, the Phoenix Weekly is not allowed to have any discussions about romance and beauty. It must be rigorous..."

"Yes."

Lü Běnzhōng quickly bowed his head... Speaking of which, although Academician Lǚ felt that this task was a bit of a waste of his talents, it was after all a direction he could think of, and it was also where his daily business was, so he felt a little relieved in his heart. "Then may I ask Your Majesty, is the second thing not that you want me to secretly communicate with Your Majesty at any time and report on public opinion in the southeast?"

"Of course not," Zhao immediately smiled again. "This kind of thing is inherently part of the job. Where is there a need to specifically explain and assign it?"

Lü Běnzhōng quickly nodded, and then waited for instructions.

"The second thing is also simple," Zhao continued to respond with a smile to his own courtier in front of the Buddha's lotus platform. "I will leave a team of armored soldiers for you on Phoenix Mountain... If there is any unfavorable news about me in Héběi, you will personally lead the armored soldiers to the Dòngxiāo Palace not far from here and deal with Yuān Shèng."

Lü Běnzhōng quickly nodded, but then froze, and then his jaw dropped, and finally, under Zhao, the Emperor's, smile, cold sweat broke out for a moment.

The so-called, neither daring to agree, nor daring to refuse, like a fishbone stuck in his throat, like walking on thin ice.

After a long time, he barely mustered up the courage to respond: "Your Majesty, I dare not speak about right and wrong about this... But if Your Majesty wants to do this, why not make Rén Bǎozhōng, Rén Shěrén, stay behind on Phoenix Mountain? Even Commander Yáng... any centurion under Commander Yáng's command can do it, right? And I am just a scholar... Moreover... Moreover, Your Majesty has already made arrangements for your children, and the Prime Ministers and officials in Dōngjīng are united in their hearts, so the two Sacred Emperors are not worth mentioning, right?"

"Lü Qing," Zhao the Emperor said, half-smiling. "What you said is very true... The two Sacred Emperors are not worth mentioning, and how could a scholar like you do this as neatly as Rén Bǎozhōng, or even a rude soldier? But I ask you, since that is the case, why did I still specifically leave you to prepare for this?"

Lü Běnzhōng became even more panicked when he heard this. On the one hand, his cleverness and intelligence keenly reminded him that the Emperor's words contained a huge, serious, and life-and-death mystery; on the other hand, his mind was like paste, and he could not sort it out for a while.

"Forget it, I'll just say it directly," Zhao Jiu could only sneer when he saw this. "First... Although the two Sacred Emperors are not worth mentioning, there is still a risk, especially the Supreme Emperor Yuān Shèng. Many people say that he was only incompetent during the Jìngkāng disaster, but not immoral... It is always right for me to take precautions, right?"

"Yes... Yes!" Lü Běnzhōng spent a lot of effort to spit out these words.

"Secondly, compared to the Supreme Emperor Yuān Shèng himself, what I am more worried about is that the old ministers of the Jìngkāng era, that is, the so-called old faction, will make a comeback after I am gone... so that the second Northern Expedition will become a pipe dream," Zhao Jiu finally sighed, but still smiled. "And who do you think these people will use as the arrowhead to make a comeback if they repeat themselves?"

"The Supreme Emperor Yuān Shèng... No, Minister Xǔ...?" Lü Běnzhōng blurted out, but quickly made a correction.

"It's Minister Xǔ," Zhao Jiu nodded. "In fact, you and I only found out during this southern tour that these so-called southeastern people, from the old faction to the Dáoxué faction, and then to the local scholars and officials, are simply a mess, without a leader or rules. It was only when I established the Gong Ge that these people could gather together and have a place to speak... Under this situation, if I don't appoint Minister Xǔ this time, then these people may go to seek out Liú Dàzhōng and take the path of Zhao Dǐng, and even those Dáoxué scholars will have to look at the situation in the court and find someone to raise the banner of Dáoxué again before they can do anything... But since I have appointed Minister Xǔ and customized the three-level Gong Ge for them, then if something happens to me, and the Northern Expedition fails, they will naturally take the Gong Ge as the system and unite around Minister Xǔ, forming a real opposition party, and then they may shake the court situation."

Lü Běnzhōng was still confused: "If that is the case, Your Majesty can remove Minister Xǔ and not use him, or abolish the Gong Ge and cut off their foundation. How about that?"

"Lü Qing, you must know that my establishment of the Gong Ge in the southeast is fundamentally to appease the southeast and promote the new policies, and the promotion of the new policies is to reduce the burden on the people so that they will not be crushed by the Northern Expedition; the use of Minister Xǔ is fundamentally because of his central experience, political talent, and reputation in the southeast... These are all aboveboard and坦坦荡荡的, and all for the Northern Expedition to have a better chance of success!" Zhao shook his head and laughed. "Do you think that I established the Gong Ge and appointed Minister Xǔ from the beginning for some conspiracy?"

Lü Běnzhōng was stunned on the spot.

"Lü Qing, how can I not know that what I want you to do is a private matter? But the problem is that our 坦坦荡荡的 and aboveboardness were all for the Northern Expedition. And the Northern Expedition, although it is the general trend, is it also a sure thing?" Zhao Jiu continued to shake his head and laugh. "What I said at the beginning was that if the Northern Expedition fails and I can't come back, all our aboveboardness will collapse... At this time, someone has to come out and do these bad things for me."