Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 703 Why Blame Ghosts for Bad Things?

Jiangnan, Lin'an.

Long Dayuan, the Director of the Imperial City Affairs Bureau, hurriedly arrived at the Prime Minister's residence. His face was ashen, and he didn't greet anyone as he rushed to the office of the Right Prime Minister, Shi Hao.

Although Long Dayuan was a close advisor to the emperor and was deeply favored by Zhao Shen, he was, after all, in charge of the Imperial City Guard, a secret service agency, and was despised by ordinary scholars and officials.

Therefore, although most of the people Long Dayuan encountered along the way bowed respectfully, they all avoided him, as if he were avoiding a plague god.

Long Dayuan was naturally used to this. After seeing Shi Hao, he ignored the reactions of the other subordinates and officials and directly chased them away, emptying the room.

Although it was extremely impolite, seeing Long Dayuan's anxious expression, everyone, including Shi Hao, ultimately refrained from arguing and silently cooperated.

In ordinary dynasties, if imperial guards colluded with officials outside the capital, they were simply courting death.

However, the Song Dynasty was different. The prime minister had great power and could directly storm into the imperial city at critical moments.

In fact, during many critical moments in the Song Dynasty, prime ministers could sleep directly in the palace in order to respond to emergencies.

Moreover, the two were old colleagues when Zhao Shen was still a prince, and their personal relationship was fairly good. Therefore, although it was a bit strange for Long Dayuan to come to find Shi Hao in person, it was not inappropriate according to legal principles.

"Why the rush?" Shi Hao merely raised his eyelids, and only after he and Long Dayuan were left alone in the government office did he ask indifferently.

Long Dayuan stepped forward and said in a low voice, "The Imperial City Guard has learned that Ye Yiwen, the Prime Minister, is seriously ill, but he has not submitted a memorial to the court. This fellow and Yu Binfu are despicable!"

Shi Hao put down his brush and squinted his eyes: "Is the news true?"

"It couldn't be more real!" Long Dayuan said anxiously, "Don't you know how capable the Imperial City Guard is?! The prescription that Master Ye has been taking recently has been handed to me."

Shi Hao was speechless for a moment.

The Imperial City Guard is certainly capable, but you, Long Dayuan, are a complete waste.

Don't forget, the Imperial City Guard was handed over from Yang Yizhong.

Yang Yizhong had controlled the Imperial City Guard for thirty years, and his influence was deeply entrenched. However, after Long Dayuan left, he took over the reins very smoothly without any personnel changes.

Don't you think something's not quite right?
However, Long Dayuan was completely misled by the advisors, clerks, and agents of the Imperial City Guard, and coupled with his lowly status and lack of trusted confidants, Shi Hao hesitated to offer any advice.

For example, is this incident a reminder from the Imperial City Guard to Long Dayuan?
That was clearly a message leaked by Yang Yizhong to Long Dayuan and a group of Zhao Shen's close advisors!

Upon thinking of this, Shi Hao felt a slight stirring in his heart.

Did Yang Yizhong also want to use Long Dayuan to tell him this news?

Shi Hao then calmly said, "Prefect Long, why are you bringing this up with me instead of speaking directly to the Emperor?"

Upon hearing this, Long Dayuan sighed and found a stool to sit down: "Isn't it all because of Minister Yu? He is now deeply trusted by the Emperor. I am also a favorite of the Emperor, and everyone else is easy to deal with. However, if I were to quarrel with Minister Yu, it wouldn't be about who is more favored, but about who has the ability to govern the country. I... how can I compare to him?"

Long Dayuan seemed a little embarrassed when he said this.

Shi Hao scoffed, "You want me to go and fight Lord Yu?"

Even if Long Dayuan was stupid, he knew there was a trap involved, so he quickly shook his head: "How could that be? I just wanted to tell Minister Shi that the position of Jianghuai Pacification Commissioner is likely to become vacant, and Minister Shi should make preparations in advance."

Shi Hao shook his head directly: "I don't have that many disciples and old friends to place, and it's not my place to place them. Supervisor Long has misunderstood."

Upon hearing this, Long Dayuan spread his hands and said, "Then what should we do? As the head of the Imperial City Guard, I can't just turn a blind eye to such important news. Otherwise, when the truth comes out, wouldn't I also become an accomplice of Minister Ye?"

Seeing that Long Dayuan was still using cryptic language, Shi Hao was too lazy to beat around the bush anymore.

“Prefect Long, what follows is all said in secret. Once we leave this room, I will not acknowledge it.”

Long Dayuan immediately stood up and bowed: "I hope that Prime Minister Shi can provide a clear path. Once it comes out of your mouth, and enters my ears, no one else will know!"

Shi Hao nodded and said, "The reason we didn't launch the Northern Expedition last autumn was because of the opposition from the two ministers, Ye and Yu, who were in charge of the Huai River region."

"And newcomers like Commander Long dream of making contributions in the Northern Expedition to secure their positions, isn't that right?"

Long Dayuan was somewhat embarrassed, but still nodded and said, "Lord Shi's insight is beyond my reach."

Faced with such simplistic praise, Shi Hao simply pretended not to hear it: "Now that Prime Minister Ye is seriously ill, why doesn't Commander Long recommend someone to His Majesty who is qualified to govern the Huai River region and has the will to immediately send troops? Wouldn't that solve the problem?"

Long Dayuan leaned forward: "You mean... Minister Zhang Jun?"

Shi Hao shook his head: "The Imperial City Guard's recommendation is a matter of His Majesty's absolute will; how can I possibly comment on it?"

Long Dayuan still hesitated: "But what about Minister Yu..."

Shi Hao said solemnly, "Chief Inspector Long, what was the Imperial City Guard established for? Wasn't it to protect the Emperor's safety and to gather intelligence so as not to be misled by the outer court? It is your duty to report the important matters you have discovered. If Prime Minister Yu gets angry with you, then it is his fault."

"If Prime Minister Ye is truly seriously ill, then Prime Minister Yu is a despicable man who deceived the Emperor. What are you afraid of him for? If Prime Minister Ye is perfectly fine, you simply need to bow your head and apologize to the Emperor and Prime Minister Yu, and incidentally deal with the Imperial City Guard who spoke nonsense. What consequences could there be?"

Long Dayuan was silent for a moment, then nodded emphatically: "Prime Minister Shi is indeed insightful and wise; he will surely be rewarded handsomely in the future!"

After saying this, Long Dayuan hurriedly left the Prime Minister's office and went to the palace to see Zhao Shen.

A barely perceptible smile appeared on Shi Hao's face.

The next day, news came from the palace that Right Chancellor Shi Hao was summoned to the palace for an audience.

Upon entering the palace and completing the formalities, Zhao Shen dismissed all the palace maids and eunuchs from the room, leaving only him and Shi Hao in the hall.

Shi Hao sat down on the brocade stool and looked at Zhao Shen, whose face was pale, and asked, "What important matter does Your Majesty need me to share your burdens with?"

Zhao Shen handed a document to Shi Hao: "This is a document from the Imperial City Guard. Take a look."

Shi Hao glanced through the document briefly before saying to Zhao Shen, "Your Majesty, if this is the case, Supervisor Long already told me about it yesterday."

Zhao Shen raised an eyebrow slightly: "What did the gentleman say?"

Shi Hao: "To be honest, the Imperial City Guard should not have concealed anything from the Emperor."

Zhao Shen sighed, "But Minister Ye and Minister Yu shouldn't have kept anything from me."

At this moment, Shi Hao spoke up for Yu Yunwen: "What I meant by the Imperial City Guard not hiding anything from Your Majesty was that they should tell you what they know, not that the Imperial City Guard's findings are necessarily correct."

Zhao Shen, who had just been somewhat annoyed with Yu Yunwen, hesitated upon hearing this: "Then... then is the Imperial City Guard useless?"

Looking at his kind and simple-minded student, Shi Hao shook his head inwardly and made his words clearer: "Your Majesty, it is indeed not appropriate to punish state ministers based on the words of the Imperial City Guard. Your Majesty can send the imperial physician to Huaidong to visit the two ministers."

If everything is fine, then some calming medication will suffice; if Lord Ye and Lord Yu are indeed hiding something... then it won't be too late to reprimand them later.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Shen nodded repeatedly, and his anger seemed to have subsided somewhat.

"I just don't understand what Minister Ye and Minister Yu are trying to do. Are they really just after power?"

Zhao Shen waved his hand irritably: "Forget it, let's not talk about him anymore. The news of Lord Ye's serious illness is probably not unfounded. As for the Jianghuai Pacification Commissioner, do you have someone in mind?"

Shi Hao shook his head: "I know nothing about military affairs."

Zhao Shen knew that his teacher belonged to the conservative faction at the time, so he wasn't surprised by the question: "What does the master think of Zhang Jun?"

Faced with the same question as Long Dayuan yesterday, Shi Hao gave a completely different answer: "Absolutely not!"

"Oh?"

“This man is ambitious but incompetent, and is absolutely unfit for any task. If Your Majesty insists on employing him…” Shi Hao stood up, took off his official hat, and placed it on a brocade stool: “I request that you remove me from my position as prime minister.”

Zhao Shen never expected Shi Hao to react so strongly. He hurriedly stood up, grabbed Shi Hao's hand, and said, "Sir, why are you going to such lengths? I... I'll think about it some more."

After much persuasion, Zhao Shen finally managed to calm Shi Hao down.

Shi Hao also used being busy with official duties as an excuse to leave the palace.

As he walked out of the palace, Shi Hao looked back at the palace walls with a playful smile on his face.

Zhang Jun will definitely become the Pacification Commissioner of Jianghuai. As long as Ye Yiwen is no longer able to perform his duties, Zhang Jun will be the best candidate.

The faction advocating for a swift victory needed Zhang Jun to launch a northern expedition immediately.

The pro-war faction needed Zhang Jun to raise the banner of war.

The secret appeasement faction needed to exploit Zhang Jun's incompetence to sabotage the Northern Expedition.

Zhang Jun was the popular choice, and given Zhao Shen's indecisive nature, how could he go against the will of the people?

However, Shi Hao still firmly and vehemently opposed the idea in front of Zhao Shen. This was because Shi Hao wanted to appear before Zhao Shen like a prophetic savior when the front lines suffered a major defeat and the officials were incompetent, thereby gaining the right to oversee all affairs of the Song court.

He eventually became the sole prime minister and ruled the country.

Thinking of this, Shi Hao felt a surge of excitement in his heart.

He quickly suppressed his desires, took one last deep look at the vermilion walls of the palace, and then turned and left.

(End of this chapter)