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

Chapter 824 Meeting a Wise Ruler Amidst High Mountains and Long Roads

After Long Dayuan left, Shi Hao continued to handle political affairs and listened to reports from various parties.

Perhaps it was because Long Dayuan's last few words struck a chord with him, but Shi Hao remained somewhat uneasy and ended up making two very minor mistakes, which even alerted the officials and subordinates who came to report to him that something was wrong with him.

"Is there something wrong with Prime Minister Shi's health? Should we summon the imperial physician for a consultation?"

Faced with an inquiry from an official, Shi Hao could only shake his head with a wry smile: "It's nothing, I'm just tired."

The eunuch bowed and said, "These days have truly been hard for you, Prime Minister Shi. If it weren't for your tireless efforts in preparing the logistics and supplies, how could we have achieved such a great victory at the front?"

"But now all the fame has gone to Prime Minister Yu, while Prime Minister Shi remains hidden behind the scenes, which I find unfair."

Shi Hao paused slightly, then smiled and said, "Isn't it because you know my good intentions?"
Serving the country is paramount; fame and official rank are secondary. My only wish is for peace and prosperity throughout the land.

Everyone present admired the gentleman's magnanimity, but they did not want to disturb Shi Hao any further, so they all took their leave.

Shi Hao sat upright in the Hall of State Affairs. Only after everyone had left did his expression slowly darken, and a surge of resentment rose in his heart.

Just as Long Dayuan just said, Yu Yunwen will be promoted and given a higher rank after returning to the court following his great victory in the Northern Expedition.

At this time, Yu Yunwen was already a prime minister. If he wanted to advance further, either Shi Hao would be promoted to left prime minister and Yu Yunwen to right prime minister, or Yu Yunwen would rise to the top and become the left prime minister, the pinnacle of the scholar-official class.

Neither outcome is what Shi Hao wants to see.

The two prime ministers, the left and right prime ministers, were the most powerful and influential figures in the Han dynasty system.

Although there is a clear distinction in rank between these two prime ministers, it does not mean that the left prime minister can necessarily suppress the right prime minister to the point of being powerless.

The two will definitely share power!
Even if Yu Yunwen were to rise above him in one fell swoop, Shi Hao would still find it impossible to tolerate Yu Yunwen becoming the Right Chancellor.

Especially since Yu Yunwen will definitely lead his army on another northern expedition to establish greater achievements, wouldn't Shi Hao then only be Yu Yunwen's deputy and no longer be able to make decisions?

On the other hand, Shi Hao truly did not believe that his abilities and contributions were less than Yu Yunwen's.

Indeed, the battles on the front lines are truly a matter of life and death, and are extremely arduous.

But is it really that simple for Shi Hao to gather provisions and troops in the rear and subdue the local tyrants?
Now, Yu Yunwen has taken all the fame and credit, leaving Shi Hao with only hard work. How can he tolerate this?
However, Yu Yunwen was not a military general who only needed to charge into battle, so the argument of meritorious service being attributed to him was not applicable.

After all, Xiao He was one of the Three Heroes, and Han Xin was also one of the Three Heroes. One was in charge of civil affairs, and the other was in charge of military affairs. It was impossible to tell who was superior or inferior, which could only make Shi Haosheng feel frustrated.

This was also the fundamental reason why Shi Hao urged Long Dayuan to file a complaint; he genuinely didn't want Yu Yunwen to advance any further.

But who would have thought that Yu Yunwen was one step ahead and had already made a response?
Shi Hao sat in the Hall of State Affairs for a long time, when suddenly he remembered something.

"Someone is coming."

Any subordinate officials in the side rooms of the government office should immediately enter and await orders.

Shi Hao asked, "Has the news of the victory been delivered to Deshou Palace?"

"No, the good news was just delivered today. The ministers and several other ministers are all very busy. So far, only Minister Chen has prepared the carriages and horses, but no one has actually gone there yet."

Shi Hao shook his head: "Even if the Emperor Emeritus abdicates, he cannot be neglected, otherwise wouldn't that be putting the Emperor in a position of great filial impiety?"

The subordinate officials dared not speak.

The reason why everyone didn't want to go was simple: Zhao Gou was a proponent of peace, or rather, a surrenderist, and he would certainly not be in a good mood after seeing the news of victory.

However, since he was the retired emperor, the proper etiquette could not be omitted, especially for such a major event as the great victory in the northern expedition. Ultimately, a high-ranking official had to go and report the event with a ceremonial procession, so the matter was delayed.

Seeing his subordinate's expression, Shi Hao didn't want to make things difficult for him. He simply shook his head and smiled, "Bring out the ceremonial carriages and horses now. I will personally go to report the victory."

The subordinate officials dared not delay and immediately began preparations.

Furthermore, the Deshou Palace, where Zhao Gou resided, was not located within the main palace complex, but rather to the north of the palace.

This place was originally the residence of the treacherous minister Qin Hui. Qin Hui chose this location for his residence because a fortune teller said that this place had the aura of a king.

Logically speaking, even without the existence of real royal aura, the mere existence of such rumors would be enough to enrage the emperor and lead to his execution.

However, Zhao Gou and Qin Hui were not in an ordinary relationship as ruler and subject, and Qin Hui was not an ordinary prime minister of the Song Dynasty, but rather existed as the Jin Dynasty's agent in the Song court.

Zhao Gou dared not say anything about this, and even on the day Qin Hui's mansion was completed, he personally wrote the words "One Virtue Reaches Heaven" as a plaque and hung it high.

Such a prestigious title, coupled with the final judgments made by Zhao Gou and Qin Hui by later generations, can only be described as absurdly ironic.

Of course, given the relationship between these two, it was a given that they would get along well. In fact, Zhao Gou had long coveted Qin Hui's residence.

After Qin Hui's death, Zhao Gou expelled Qin Hui's family and expanded the Qin residence into the vast palace complex that is now located near the Imperial Ancestral Temple, the Imperial Street, and West Lake. Therefore, Shi Hao, accompanied by his entourage, simply left the Hall of State Affairs and walked along the Imperial Street for less than a quarter of an hour before arriving at the gate of Deshou Palace.

After being granted entry, Shi Hao walked for almost half an hour before finally seeing Zhao Gou fishing by the Great Dragon Pool.

"Greetings to the Retired Emperor."

Zhao Gou's face showed no emotion, but he remained silent for a long time before saying, "Prime Minister Shi is indeed a kind man. Now that I am gone and the relationship has cooled, only you dare to continue to come over."

Zhao Gou also had his own information network. Although Yang Yizhong had stepped down from his post as the Director of the Imperial City Guard, he was still deeply entrenched in the system. There was no information that the Imperial City Guard knew that he did not know.

Once Yang Yizhong found out, Zhao Gou naturally found out as well.

Therefore, Zhao Gou already knew about the great victory in Huaibei, and even knew about the deaths of Zhang Jun and Liu Bao.

To be honest, when he learned of the great victory, Zhao Gou smashed his house to pieces and broke countless of his treasured gold and jade cups.

His first reaction was to angrily curse Zhang Jun.

Aren't you the one who's most likely to cause trouble?

They ruined the situation in Guanzhong, then they ruined the situation in Huaixi, so why can't they ruin the situation in the Central Plains as well?

And to make matters worse, he died so swiftly and decisively that Zhao Gou had nowhere to vent his rage.

The good news was only one aspect; what terrified Zhao Gou even more was the loss of power.

As the de facto leader of the surrender faction, Zhao Gou knew all too well the political integrity of those scoundrels under his command. With the main force of the Jin Dynasty lost and the country on the verge of destruction, surrendering would be too inappropriate. These people would either switch to the pro-war faction or be demoted and sent home.

Without the staunch support of the surrender faction, how could Zhao Gou retain the pro-peace and pro-defense factions?

In particular, the pro-peace faction included not only scoundrels who truly abandoned half of the country's territory, but also scholar-officials who felt they couldn't defeat the Jin Dynasty and sought temporary peace to accumulate strength.

The latter is particularly numerous.

Regardless of whether these peace advocates are feigning or genuine, given the current state of the Jin Dynasty, should we still negotiate peace with them?
If the goal is to wage war and recover the north, why stand in the same trench as Zhao Gou? Wouldn't Zhao Shen, who has already achieved results, be a better choice?

This is actually the real reason why the chief ministers did not want to come to Deoksugung Palace today.

This is also the root cause of Zhao Gou's panic.

With this great victory, Zhao Gou inevitably lost his power.

Shi Hao glanced at Yang Yizhong, who was standing solemnly to the side, and ignored Zhao Gou's words. He simply cupped his hands and bowed again, saying, "Great victory at Xia Cai and great victory at Nanyang. I congratulate the Great Song Dynasty and the Emperor Emeritus."

Zhao Gou tightened his grip on the fishing rod slightly, but turned back with a smile: "Prime Minister Shi has worked hard, but I don't know how much has been spent. If the national treasury is short of funds, then let's stop the expenses of Jingfu Palace for now. I still have a few wine cellars, which are enough to support myself."

Shi Hao cupped his hands in greeting: "The Emperor Emeritus is merciful."

Zhao Gou scoffed: "What benevolence or not? With what you've done, my brother, I might end up with the same reputation as Emperor Hui of Jin in the history books."

Shi Hao said solemnly, "Without the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing, how could Emperor Wu have launched a northern expedition against the Xiongnu and achieved such great success?"
There are so many ordinary and foolish people in the world. Isn't strategizing and accumulating strength a thousand times, ten thousand times, more difficult than winning a decisive battle? Judging by history books and over a thousand years, the retired emperor will ultimately be praised.

Zhao Gou's gaze sharpened as he pondered Shi Hao's words, then his smile widened: "What you say is absolutely right, Prime Minister Shi. For example, it is naturally difficult for Prime Minister Yu to lead the generals in this attack."

But without Prime Minister Shi's tireless efforts in the rear, how could we have defeated the Jin Dynasty? Isn't this the very point of the debate about meritorious officials versus those who merely serve? In my opinion, Prime Minister Shi is truly the greatest contributor to this battle, and a man of exceptional talent capable of ruling the empire!

The two intelligent people understood each other's intentions after only a brief exchange, and Shi Hao then took his leave.

Only after Shi Hao left did Yang Yifang ask incredulously, "Your Majesty, why did Prime Minister Shi come? Is a mere Right Prime Minister not enough to satisfy his appetite?"

Zhao Gou slowly shook his head: "This is the second Qin Huizhi."

Yang Yizhong's expression changed, but he heard Zhao Gou continue, "However, he has the temperament, desire for power and ability of Qin Huizhi, but he is destined not to have a great power like Jin Kingdom to rely on, so he can only come to me for support."

At this point, Zhao Gou couldn't help but chuckle.

"Heh, I never realized there was such a person in the court before."

Yang Yizhong said with some concern, "Can this person be trusted?"

Zhao Gou chuckled and shook his head: "As long as this man isn't the sole prime minister, he can be trusted. This position of ruling the world is just bait..."

As they spoke, the fishing float sank on the lake, and Zhao Gou felt a sudden weight in his hand. A look of delight appeared on his face: "It's on the hook!"

Yang Yizhong looked out at the lake, where the water shimmered under the setting sun, and it was indeed a big, fat fish.

(End of this chapter)