Chapter 1 The Filature of the Song

After three days of pork price increases, the West Lake Political Consultation Conference officially began.

Because Hangzhou was known as Wulin in ancient times, and the current emperor was the Jianyan Emperor, this conference had already earned a nickname during the three-day Dongpo pork price surge, called the Jianyan Wulin Conference.

But whatever it was called, it didn't stop West Lake from being crowded with people. The enthusiasm of the scholars, commoners, and ordinary people was so great that even Zhao, the instigator, was a little surprised.

In fact, the reason for this phenomenon was simple and self-evident, which was that although top-notch scholar-officials emerged in the southern region, that was only the personal achievement of these scholar-officials. It did not prevent the South from being a political depression as a whole since ancient times, and the southern group was naturally at a political disadvantage in terms of region.

Similar to this was the Shu region, while the political status of the two Huai regions across the river was much higher.

This situation had been very obvious since the establishment of the Great Song Dynasty. At that time, as the conquered South, it was a region that the rulers naturally distrusted. After the Jingkang Incident, the Jianyan Emperor pioneered the trend of political consultation and greatly transferred imperial power. The power of the chief ministers and the nine ministers of the six departments was greatly increased. The political status of the members of the Gongge and Mige gradually established, and the Taixue political consultation had become an important matter of the country. However, the South was still far away from the capital and could not be involved in these matters, which created a strong sense of political alienation and political hunger.

At the same time, after experiencing the Jingkang Incident, both He Provinces were lost, and the Central Plains, Guanxi, and Jingdong were all damaged. The importance of the South within the country was greatly improved in disguise, and the country still needed the Northern Expedition, which required the financial and material support of the South.

In this case, contradictions naturally emerged.

And this contradiction was precisely a basic background for the gradual merging of the southern scholar-official group with frustrated Daoism and unemployed officials... According to everyone's understanding, Zhao was going south to resolve this contradiction.

The so-called Political Consultative Conference, as it stood, was undoubtedly a good method for resolving contradictions, modeled after the established example of the Taixue political consultation. At the very least, the format was correct. The opposition was in the minority. Everyone's original intention was still to be loyal to the imperial court and His Majesty. If Jiangnan was shaken up and the establishment was united, the situation would still be very good.

Speaking of which, perhaps because of the small spring in October in Jiangnan, after a light early winter rain, not only did the temperature not drop, but it actually felt a bit mild. At this time, as the conference officially opened, the enthusiasm of the people on the West Lake could not help but increase.

On the first day, many people submitted letters collectively, and this kind of collective submission was very interesting, mostly divided by region. Usually, respected elders and celebrities within a state or county took the lead, and the form of submission was also a whole article with flamboyant writing, but when you looked closely at the content, it was mostly old clichés or even largely the same.

The first point must be that Zhao should be close to virtuous ministers and keep away from villains, followed by the need to be virtuous and carry things, definitely advocate thrift and eliminate extravagance, definitely broaden the channels of speech, definitely treat the people kindly, and definitely be friendly to brothers...

These were of course very correct suggestions, but whenever Zhao earnestly asked them in person who were the virtuous ministers and who were the villains, they often performed terribly... At least more than half of the people were timid. After handing in the documents in person, they swayed in front of Zhao and the three chief ministers, and stuttered as soon as they opened their mouths; and even the other half of the decent people who could maintain their composure in answering questions mostly changed the subject after mentioning a few ministers with better reputations.

What a joke?

Although the South had resentment against several ruling chief ministers because of the tax increase, they really didn't dare to say who was a villain in front of Lu Yihao. The common people in the southeast had a much deeper impression of Lu Xiang's reputation for not holding grudges than the central government!

Was it okay to say bad things about the prime minister and the privy councilor from a distance?

It was not okay to talk about the Minister either! Didn't you see that the Vice Minister who talked about the Minister was directly killed by Zhao?

Better not to say anything.

As for advocating thrift and eliminating extravagance, Zhao asked them in detail, and they also hesitated, probably because they felt that Zhao's digging a fish pond in Tokyo was too bizarre, and they had never seen it, so it might not be true, but it would be embarrassing to say it in person.

As for the scarlet robe worn by Zhao, it was also half old, so it was even more difficult to say anything.

When talking about lenient sentences and benevolence, Zhao asked them again where exactly the previous "Criminal Statutes" had been modified inadequately? They didn't even know that after Yaoshan, in order to appease the people, the "Criminal Statutes" had already been greatly revised in the direction of leniency.

Most of the other things were the same. Looking at the articles, they were probably written very well. When asking about the details, they often couldn't say a few decent words.

However, even for such documents, Zhao mostly just smiled, and then asked two Hanlin scholars who looked like wealthy and noble to come forward and solemnly accept the documents according to etiquette. At the same time, he would personally avoid his seat and give the other party a seat, which was intended to have the leader 'available for consultation' in the subsequent political consultation process.

In addition to this, if the article was written exceptionally well, or the answer was considered decent, he would generally ask if they had any achievements or origins. If not, he would naturally bestow a "Presented Scholar" title on the spot. If the recommended person was a person living in Jiangnan, he would also issue a 'Red Heart Cavalry' to conscript them, inviting the other party to come to the scene to reply.

It was said that at the beginning, Lu Yihao, one of the three accompanying chief ministers, was very dissatisfied with this kind of thing. He felt that this link was meaningless. Although Li Gang did not object, he did not object only because his political rise originated from the Taixue students kneeling at the palace gate, so it was not good to directly object. In fact, he looked down on these middle-aged scholars who had already decayed, and thought it would be better to directly summon some young people and well-known scholars to ask.

But soon, as this kind of formalism-greater-than-substance submission became a trend, Li and Lu immediately realized the true significance of Zhao's actions - the significance actually lay in the political consultation itself.

These scholar-officials below were not some kind of conspiracy group. Looking at the way they formed groups to submit letters, they still formed groups according to region. Because in this era, they could not cross the limitation of region even if they wanted to collude. The documents they submitted were mostly muddied, obviously nonsense that neutralized the comprehensive positions within the region... In addition, they were all Confucian scholar-officials, and it was unlikely that they would really experience any personal economic pressure due to those taxes. Where did so much resentment come from?

At this time, Zhao came to Hangzhou, showed them an attitude, and gave them certain political treatment, which itself could achieve the purpose of winning over and easing the atmosphere of opposition.

Therefore, even this obviously formalistic political consultation still achieved unprecedented success... Many people had never seen the emperor in their lives, and could not pass the imperial examination. This time, they could represent a state or a military, lead a group of fellow villagers to see Zhao, and make suggestions in person. Even if they could not speak fluently, they could still be accepted from a formal point of view and receive courtesy, which was probably the peak of their lives.

And since they had reached the peak of their lives by borrowing Zhao's shoulder as the Son of Heaven, they would naturally change their positions and become standard members of the establishment. Turning around, if anyone said bad things about the imperial court in front of him, he would definitely refute it angrily. If anyone said that the imperial court's strategy was not good, he would definitely painstakingly explain the difficulties of the imperial court and defend the imperial court's grand strategy.

By the second day, even the local states and counties that had not made similar preparations at the beginning had hastily gathered together, elected celebrities, and written documents overnight to replace the local government in carrying out this strategy... in order to complete this very meaningful thing.

In this way, for two consecutive days, Zhao and the three chief ministers almost met all the 'proposal groups' from Liangzhe Road, most of Jiangnan East Road and Fujian Road, and a small part of Lianghuai Road, which greatly satisfied the vanity of a considerable number of scholar-officials and made the voices of praise in Hangzhou gradually become obvious.

It seemed that a united conference would come to a victorious conclusion.

However, that was all.

Starting on the afternoon of the second day, some decent submissions began to appear one after another, and many people who really wanted to discuss practical issues also showed up.

For example, the previous Jiangyin scholars Su Bai and Li Tao led a group of young scholars from Changzhou to submit a separate memorial, writing more than a dozen items, all of which were specific measures.

Among them, the suggestion to gather the seagoing ships of the southeast and land the 'Ten Thousand Imperial Troops' from Cangzhou to directly capture Yanyun was of course a typical scholar's view... If the Ten Thousand Imperial Troops were really sent to that place, they would face the fate of being encircled and annihilated after losing their logistics. The island-hopping tactic could not jump so far, and the southeast was already very exhausted. If ships were forcibly requisitioned again, merchants might be forced to become pirates.

However, the method of setting up local public pavilions in various places, like the Three-House Law, to transmit information layer by layer in order to broaden the channels of speech coincided with the clauses that Zhao had discussed with the chief ministers before coming.

Therefore, Zhao immediately granted the two of them "Presented Scholar" status and awarded them the title of Secretary Lang, requiring the two to unite with those local scholar-official leaders 'available for consultation' to raise funds for this matter, starting from the southeast.

This matter further ignited the enthusiasm on the West Lake.

But just as everyone was preparing to continue to speak enthusiastically, an imperial decree was issued that night. The emperor had summoned scholar-officials for two consecutive days. The merchants, monks, Taoists, and ordinary workers had not had the opportunity to meet him. Therefore, on the third and fourth days, the emperor would suspend the audience of scholar-officials and instead summon those people... The political consultation would resume on the fifth day.

This decree was grand and impossible to object to.

However, the retired Xu Jingheng, Chief Minister Xu, expressed some worries at this time... He was afraid that leaving only one more day for the scholar-officials, leaving two days of leisure, plus Zhao's amiable attitude, would likely allow some truly resentful scholar-officials to take the opportunity to complete the final step of collusion and create real big news on the last day.

Chief Minister Xu's worries were of course not without reason, but Li and Lu, plus Zhao, seemed not to care at all, so there was nothing they could do.

Let's not mention Chief Minister Xu's worries for the time being, but only say that in the next two days, it was the turn of monks, Taoists, merchants, and ordinary people to participate in this Wulin Conference, and their method of participation was completely different from that of scholar-officials... Most of the monks and Taoists came to spend money to seek royal protection, the so-called precedent in Yangzhou... and Zhao was happy to sell official positions and titles for money, a clear transaction.

What were the five Zen temples in the southeast, what were the merchants in Fujian, or those who opened kiln factories or made silk transfers, whether you were talking Zen or silent Zen, whether you were going to Nanyang or Dongyang, as long as you gave money, everything was easy to discuss.

By the way, these wealthy merchants, monks, and Taoists who came to speak also became figures 'available for consultation', ready to be incorporated into the local public pavilion system and become glorious members of the system.

As for the ordinary people who came to see the emperor, to be honest, their numbers were particularly small compared to those scholar-officials, wealthy merchants, monks, and Taoists, and they came more to file complaints... who was divorcing whom, who was arguing with whom about property, who felt that their family member had suffered injustice, and some even came to secretly report the Vegetarian Demon Sect!

In response, Zhao's handling was even simpler, transferring them all to the relevant departments... that is, the legendary relevant departments.

Only one informer of the Vegetarian Demon Sect, because they were entrenched in Xiaoshan across the Qiantang River, no one dared to neglect it. Liu Yan, the commander of the Imperial Guards, personally led 500 Red Heart Riders, crossed the river overnight, and galloped lightly to Xiaoshan. On the morning of the second day, they brought the leader of the Vegetarian Demon Sect and dozens of key members back to Hangzhou.

This day was the last day of October and the last day of the Jianyan Wulin Conference.

Everyone knew that today would not be peaceful... not because of the Vegetarian Demon Sect, but because, as Xu Jingheng had worried before, the previous two days of free time, coupled with having become familiar with the operation of the conference, and Zhao had finally shown a 'wise monarch' demeanor, these scholar-officials had finally mustered up the courage to complete the final, transcending regional boundaries, and centered on political positions.

And these collusions were basically semi-open. Those famous scholars in Jiangnan occupied the restaurants, cited scriptures and quoted classics, jointly recommended, who would replace whom to submit letters. There was no need for Yang Yizhong to investigate, they themselves were clamoring so loudly that even the carp under the West Lake knew.

Sure enough, in the morning, before long, Zhao received a very interesting submission.

"A general amnesty?"

On the open space south of West Lake and at the foot of Phoenix Mountain, Zhao, wearing a half-old scarlet robe, sat with his back to the mountain and facing the lake. The chief minister, Lu Yihao, as an incumbent chief minister, sat directly to the left of the desk. Then, Li Gang and Xu Jingheng took the lead on the left and right, and hundreds of scholar-officials, wealthy merchants, monks, and Taoists 'available for consultation' were arranged on the left and right, following the slightly undulating mountain terrain downwards... In addition, there were several close ministers behind the emperor, and hundreds of Imperial Guards in full armor stood in neat rows like a forest on the periphery... The clear demarcation was also quite imposing.

"That's right, a general amnesty."

Even though he was prepared, the middle-aged scholar who came to this occasion to make suggestions couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Recalling how he had greatly ridiculed those scholars who couldn't speak in front of the emperor in the restaurant before, he felt even more embarrassed and ashamed... Of course, this person was a bold one after all. After slightly easing up, he still stood firm and spoke his suggestion. "Your Majesty, I believe that seven years have passed since the Jingkang Incident, and the rights and wrongs of the past have long been unrecognizable. Now, when the country is about to launch a Northern Expedition, why not take benevolence and forgiveness as the priority and grant a general amnesty to the world to show your clarity?"

"The rights and wrongs of the Jingkang Incident... But I have granted amnesty before?" Zhao said as if at a loss. "The rebel troops in the Central Plains were all pardoned after a year of land reclamation, and were distributed to the abandoned fields in the Central Plains for resettlement... This matter was presided over by Chief Minister Xu."

Xu Jingheng nodded slightly, stroking his beard and frowning, causing the middle-aged scholar to panic for a moment. However, soon, this person gritted his teeth and responded, "Your Majesty, I am not referring to the rebel troops who caused trouble during the Jingkang Incident!"

"Then it would be those who surrendered to the Jurchens?" Zhao sighed in response. "I made a vow on Mount Bagong that I would never coexist with them... Absolutely unforgivable!"

The man hesitated for a moment, but still cupped his hands and responded, "Since the Jingkang Incident, it is not only those who surrendered to the Jurchens who have been convicted..."

Zhao asked sternly, "In that case, why don't you directly say who these people are?"

"Important officials such as Ye Mengde and Huang Qianshan, and royal relatives such as the emperor's brothers... I believe that all can be pardoned, to show Your Majesty's benevolence." This person finally told the truth.

"Then should Zhang Bangchang and the Supreme Emperor Yuansheng, who is in the west of the city, be pardoned?" The chief ministers all frowned and said nothing. Zhao finally flicked his case and smiled mockingly, which caused the hundreds of scholar-officials, wealthy merchants, monks, and laypeople 'available for consultation' to be greatly startled.

It could only be said that this emperor was a bit like the rumors... frivolous and not like a ruler!

"Zhang Bangchang did surrender to the Jurchens after all, so he cannot be pardoned..." The man quickly explained. "As for the Supreme Emperor Yuansheng, he is already being cared for in the Dongxiao Palace, so there is no question of pardoning him. But if the Supreme Taoist Emperor and the Supreme Emperor Yuansheng could be allowed to return to Tokyo, the people of the world would surely praise Your Majesty's filial piety..."

"You claim to be from Chuzhou, which is Ye Mengde's hometown." Zhao suddenly interrupted the other party. "And I have vaguely heard that you have a reputation for poetry, and that you once studied under Ye Mengde..."

The middle-aged scholar was stunned for a moment, and then quickly bowed and explained, "I am acting in the public interest."

"Your intention in taking this measure is probably to plead for Ye Mengde, and I also know that Ye Mengde's punishment that day was unclear, and outsiders feel wronged for him." Zhao lowered his head to look at the document on the case, shaking his head slightly, his tone still calm. If one didn't know better, they would think he was talking to himself. Fortunately, it was so quiet by the West Lake at the foot of Phoenix Mountain, and everyone was listening carefully, barely understanding the meaning. "But since you are pleading for Ye Mengde, why bother to include someone like Huang Qianshan? Do you really think that the more people you drag in, the more selfless you appear? Or do you think that the more people you drag in, the more you can use the way of benevolence to make me submit?"

"I dare not."

"Whether you dare or not, some people really cannot be pardoned... such as that Huang Qianshan, although he did not have the reality of surrendering to the Jurchens like Zhang Bangchang, he had the policy of abandoning territory, and he even had the conspiracy of colluding with eunuchs to isolate the inside and outside. If I were to pardon him, it would actually be simple, because he is now an old and decaying scholar... but once pardoned, may I ask how I can face Li Gang, Minister Li, who was then advocating war but was driven out of the court by Huang Qianshan?" As he spoke, Zhao casually pointed.

The middle-aged scholar glanced at Li Gang and finally couldn't hold on, starting to panic. However, Li Gang himself, seeing this, simply sighed and said nothing.

"Not only Minister Li, how can I face Lu Haowen, Minister Lu, and Zhang Jun, Minister Zhang, who saved me from the Mingdao Palace that day, and the two commanders, Yang Yizhong and Liu Yan, who are standing here now and had meritorious service in saving me at that time?" Zhao raised his head and continued to point to the back with his hand, causing Yang and Liu to quickly bow and salute in armor.

The scholar became even more flustered and quickly pleaded guilty, "I am ignorant..."

"And my brothers..." Zhao ignored the other party, but looked around, explaining in a slightly louder voice. "Pardoning is of course possible, what's impossible? But the imperial court has just issued a plan for the reform of the royal family to save money. Now pardoning them and restoring their titles, what about the laws of the imperial court? Will the other distant royal relatives say that I am partial and that the imperial court is targeting them?"

The scholar had already bowed his head and dared not raise it.

But Zhao still did not stop, but continued to sigh in front of the many southeastern scholar-officials and wealthy celebrities, "As for the two sages... Do you think that bringing them back to Tokyo is a good thing? You go ask Emperor Yuansheng now, does he dare to follow me back to Tokyo? You say you are pleading for Ye Mengde, why make such a big deal out of it?"

The scholar could hardly stand.

"Fine, although you have made a mess, your original intention is still commendable. The country will launch a Northern Expedition, and it should be slightly pardoned to show unity and reconciliation. Let the internal system draft an imperial edict to pardon Ye Mengde and let him return to his hometown of Chuzhou to write his poems."

As Zhao said calmly, the student of Ye Mengde, who thought he had harmed his teacher, felt a turn for the better. In his joy and sorrow, he quickly kowtowed to thank him.

Xu Jingheng, who had not said a word, suddenly got up, bowed, and thanked Ye Mengde on his behalf, praising the emperor's saintly virtue, which immediately attracted countless imitations from the 'available for consultation' and chuckles from the other two chief ministers.

Those below didn't know, but how could these two not know?

Ye Mengde was convicted that day because the imperial court had just stabilized in Nanyang, and he couldn't wait to provoke a new and old party struggle and erect the banner of the old party. At that time, his actions were supported by Lu Haowen and Xu Jingheng. In the end, in order to maintain the stability of the court, the emperor let go of Lu Haowen and Xu Jingheng on the one hand, and heavily punished Ye Mengde on the other hand. In essence, he intended to kill the chicken to warn the monkey and let Ye Mengde take the blame for Lu and Xu.

Therefore, now that Ye Mengde was pardoned, Xu was of course relieved.

Seeing this, Zhao still shook his head and decided to make things clear: "The pardon has been granted, but I must make one thing clear to you... Ye Mengde was convicted that day because he was impatient and wanted to provoke a new and old party struggle, and I am pardoning him today in order to reduce internal friction and eliminate resentment before the Northern Expedition, but it is not because I recognize his innocence... When he comes back, you tell him to behave himself. As for Huang Qianshan, don't even mention him!"

Ye Mengde's student experienced great ups and downs, and finally obtained a result for his teacher, and was already overjoyed. Where did he care about these things? He just kowtowed and thanked him non-stop, and then hurriedly left to wait for the Hanlin scholars to draft the edict, easily leaving behind the two sages, the royal relatives, and Huang Qianshan.

However, in any case, Ye Mengde's student's first attempt to touch on sensitive practical issues was actually effective, which inspired and encouraged those who came later.

Next, several people came on stage, and they also had many 'gains'.

For example, someone pointed out in person that the emperor should not allow his relatives to contract national debt, which was suspected of favoritism.

Someone else pointed out that the emperor claimed to be fond of learning, but did not often set up classics lectures, making people suspect the truth of Zhao's fondness for learning.

In addition to this, someone accused Zhao of not restoring the historians for a long time; someone publicly impeached that some temples' seedling loans had begun to be coercive, which would inevitably become a great evil policy; someone accused Zhao of writing novels indiscriminately, causing political chaos, so that ministers actually had to speculate on the emperor's intentions by reading novels; some people also accused Zhao of not having enough security measures, causing the Jurchens to start trying to build hot air balloons themselves; there were also a lot of people who hoped that Zhao would maintain the Confucian way of filial piety and allow the two sages to return to the capital.

Even, as soon as someone came up to say that Zhao should take the Supreme Taoist Emperor as a warning and never learn Taoism, someone else came up and pointed to a group of bald heads who had donated money next to him, saying that Zhao was a follower of Buddhism, scaring a large group of monks 'available for consultation'!

For these, Zhao fully played the saintly monarch to the extreme. Anyone who came to scold him basically said 'nodding in agreement, and then I will change', and encouraged them on the spot, gave them seats, and joined the ranks of 'available for consultation'.

As for those who accused specific things and people, he would definitely investigate immediately, first putting on a show, but he would never compromise on the imperial court's major policies... Of course, no one directly touched the imperial court's major policies.

The only one who had something to do with this major policy was a scholar from Xuancheng, Jiangdong. This person publicly pointed out that the chief minister Yuwen Xuzhong, the privy councilor Zhang Jun, and the former treacherous chief minister Cai Jing were related by marriage, and Zhao Ding, Zhang Jun, and Hu Yin had old friendships, and Liu Ziyu, Hu Yin, Lin Jingmo, including Li Gang who was sitting there, were all fellow villagers who had settled in Fujian... He said that they were tolerating each other for the sake of the country, but in reality they were colluding with each other and were suspected of forming a party, and they should all be dismissed!

Everyone who understood knew that he wanted to seek fame, but Zhao still smiled at him, first criticized the other party, but still gave him a seat for consultation.

His attitude was really good.

Of course, with more and more suggestions and submissions appearing, several close ministers gradually noticed Zhao's anxiety and impatience... He seemed to be forcibly enduring and waiting for something to appear.

In public, everyone had their own understandings, but it was not good to speak out.

Finally, with the arrival of the afternoon, the appearance of a name made the whole audience stir, including Zhao and the three chief ministers, who also cheered up again.

Yaban Shao Chengzhang shouted clearly, Zhang Jiucheng, a commoner scholar from Hangzhou, was kneeling to request an audience to submit a memorial.

It was said that Zhang Jiucheng, styled Wugou, was a native of Yanguan County, Hangzhou. He was about forty years old this year and was recognized as a model for civilian scholars in the southeast. Zhao had heard of this person's name before he came to the southeast, and he had heard of him many times after coming to the southeast. Even Lu Yihao had directly recommended this person to Zhao, saying that although he studied under Yang Shi of the Luo School, his character and learning were both top-notch, and he was definitely a talent for chief minister.

When this Wulin Conference was held, this person had the advantage of being in his home field, but he had always lingered on the West Lake. Although scholars from the Daoist School around him were coming and going, and letters were constantly being exchanged, he had never knelt to request an audience, as if he was hesitant and preparing. When everyone began to call friends and invite companions in the previous two days, this person suddenly disappeared. At that time, everyone determined that he either gave up the idea of making suggestions because of his Daoist origins, like other famous Daoist scholars, or he was preparing to shock the world and show Zhao his 'righteous and great spirit'.

It could be said that he was the focus of everyone's attention.

In fact, with Shao Chengzhang's announcement, it was not only the focus of everyone's attention, but the whole scene was somewhat agitated. Zhao also rarely smiled and showed anticipation... He really wanted to see what kind of person Zhang Wugou, the idol faction celebrity in the southeast who was almost 'it's useless to be a hero if you don't know Chen Jinnan', was really like?

After a while, he finally saw a middle-aged Confucian scholar wearing a soft turban, wearing a plain long robe, and hanging a jade pendant walking along the West Lake. When he turned around in front of Phoenix Mountain, before he even came to the front of the emperor, he felt that his demeanor was calm and his body was straight. This caused countless 'available for consultation' to look up together, wanting to see what this Mr. Wugou looked like?

However, there happened to be a monk Dahui among them, who peered at this scene from afar, and then peeked at Zhao, who was sitting in the seat with an expectant expression, and sighed in his heart, chanting a ditty in the chaos.

As the saying goes:

"Beat the stone man's head, expose the facts.

No need to hold Zen meetings, no need to hold Taoist meetings."

After chanting, Monk Dahui felt good about himself, and recited it two more times in his stomach, preparing to copy it down when he returned.

However, just as Monk Dahui had just recorded his new creation, Zhang Jiucheng had also arrived in front of the emperor, and then he was about to salute and greet... It was at this time that suddenly, a large flock of crows suddenly flew out of Phoenix Mountain behind Zhao, and then made a lot of noise for a while, flying over everyone's heads like a cloud of self-sounding black clouds, causing everyone to change color suddenly, but they didn't know what to say.

It was said that everyone in Hangzhou knew that there were many crows on Phoenix Mountain.

Even Zhao knew, because this was the location of the old palace of Wuyue. Zhao himself was staying here, which was why this Wulin Conference was held on the West Lake... It was not that Zhao was indulging in elegance, but that this place was in front of his door.

After living for several days, he of course knew that there were many crows here, so many that he heard crows crying every night and couldn't sleep.

However, knowing was one thing, but it was still inevitable that everyone would become suspicious at this time, especially when the crows flew over and quickly exploded over the West Lake, most of them flying away in groups, but a small number of them actually turned back to Phoenix Mountain and kept crying.

"It's okay, let's just treat it as accompaniment."

After waiting for a long time, the crows kept crowing intermittently, and Zhao was too lazy to pay attention to it, so he directly smiled and signaled to Zhang Jiucheng, "Sir Zhang, please speak."

"I am ashamed." Zhang Jiucheng came back to his senses, but felt that he was somewhat out of line. He quickly bowed and saluted, "I would like to ask Your Majesty's well-being."

"I am well." With a loud crowing sound coming again, Zhao also became serious, "Sir Zhang, do you have anything to teach me?"

"Before submitting a memorial, I dare to ask Your Majesty one thing." Zhang Jiucheng was indeed extraordinary from the beginning. He was not the same kind of flamboyant goods as those 'available for consultation' next to him.

Zhao also nodded slightly and responded earnestly, "Not only is it today's political consultation, but this southern tour of mine has only one sincere attitude."

Zhang Jiucheng nodded slightly, and then continued to stand in front of the emperor, holding the document in his hand and asking, "I also believe that Your Majesty's southern tour, from its original intention to this Wulin Conference, is all a sincere attitude... Everyone is watching, everyone knows, this cannot be faked."

Zhao was slightly proud.

"But I dare to ask Your Majesty, if Your Majesty is sincere to people outside, seems sincere when coming south, and is sincere at the Wulin Conference, then are you always sincere in Tokyo? Do you remain sincere when you return to the harem? In private, are you also sincere to your concubines and close ministers?" Zhang Jiucheng continued to ask.

Hearing this, Zhao finally changed his expression slightly, but he hesitated for a moment, not knowing what he was thinking.

After waiting for a while, seeing that the emperor could not speak directly, Zhang Wugou raised his head and interrupted directly, "If Your Majesty hesitates, I am afraid that you cannot admit your sincerity."

Zhao chuckled, shook his head, and then nodded to those in the seat, "Sir Zhang is right. My hesitation just now was already a lack of sincerity... Moreover, I really cannot achieve prudence in solitude, and I cannot be sincere to everyone."

The two met, and Zhang Wugou took the lead in the first confrontation, but the victorious Mr. Wugou did not show any joy. Instead, he became more respectful, bowing and presenting the document in his hand respectfully with both hands.

Yu Yunwen, a writer from the Central Secretariat, came forward to take it, and then presented it to the emperor.

With the document in hand, Zhao opened it on the case in front of him. He glanced at the format of the beginning, closed it directly, and then said sincerely to the people below:

"Zhang Wugou, I have long admired your reputation. As early as in Tokyo, Prime Minister Zhao Ding mentioned your name, saying that you are a talent for chief minister. When I arrived in Hangzhou, Chief Minister Lu also told me that you are a talent for chief minister. Not only that, but Privy Councilor Zhang Jun, although he did not mention you, said that there was a monk Dahui in the southeast who was sensible and obedient. If I were to deal with the temples in the south, this person might be more useful than the abbot of Shaolin Temple. When I came to the southeast, I asked a little and learned that you and that monk Dahui are close friends, which made me even more expectant of you..."

At this point, Zhao and Zhang Jiucheng almost looked at Monk Dahui, who was practicing silent Zen in that row of bald heads, causing the latter to feel frightened... At this time, this great monk only felt that this emperor was too sophisticated. Since he knew that he was related to Zhang Jun's family and knew that he and Zhang Jiucheng were so close, he did not come to ask him, and he did not even show it at all, but just pretended to force himself to pay two hundred more shi of new rice.

Why was it like this?

In his panic, he was also worried about his friend Zhang Jiucheng, fearing that this Zhang Wugou would be beaten back to his original form by this emperor with deep internal skills at today's Wulin Conference.

"Of course, I also know that you are a disciple of Yang Shi, and I know the difficulties in your position, so I did not directly demand it. Now that we have met today, I will not look at your documents. Whatever you want to say, whatever you think, let's take the word 'sincere' as the basis today and speak clearly face to face." Zhao just glanced at the monk lightly, but he didn't know that the monk had so many dramas in his stomach.

On the other side, Zhang Jiucheng was somewhat moved by this, but he also left Monk Dahui aside and respectfully saluted Zhao, "Your Majesty is so sincere, I would be ashamed if I could not speak frankly."

"Speak!" Zhao waved his hand to signal.

"The major thing that I want to say is that although the Jingkang disaster has shaken the world, I ask Your Majesty not to worry about it, because in my opinion, although the Jin state is powerful, it will inevitably not last long, and although China is temporarily trapped, it will inevitably be able to revive!" Zhang Jiucheng straightened up and responded proudly.

Zhao's expression did not change, and he was calm as usual, just nodding slightly: "I know what you want to say, but in my opinion, there is only half a truth in this... This half of the truth is that the Jurchens are like wild beasts coming out of the forest. Once they get the fertile land of the two rivers, their wildness will be worn away and their corruption will be extremely rapid, so it is indeed difficult to last long. Although China has the Jingkang Incident, the overall situation is still there, and the local governments have not reached a point where they cannot be maintained, so it is still no problem to rise again... But I still think that it is up to people to make things happen. If the Jurchens can have the determination to transform themselves, they may not be able to imitate the Liao state and survive in the north for a long time. If China relies on destiny to descend from the heavens and