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

Chapter 883 A Great Traitor Appears Loyal, Yet Conceals Cleverness and Deceit (Part 2)
Shi Hao left.

Zhao Shen flipped through the documents in his hand, remaining silent for a long time.

It wasn't until he slowly walked to the Chuigong Hall, where he usually conducted his business, and had the eunuchs hang up the huge map, that Zhao Shen regained some composure. He then paced back and forth in front of the map with his hands behind his back.

The newly appointed Vice Chancellor and Associate Privy Councilor Chen Junqing arrived at the Chuigong Hall. Seeing the Emperor's appearance, he dared not speak or disturb him and stood respectfully with his hands clasped in the center of the hall.

"Master Chen has arrived? What brings you here?"

Chen Junqing was slightly taken aback: "Didn't the Emperor issue an edict ordering me to come?"

Zhao Shen was also taken aback, feeling a chaotic mess in his mind, with a faint rumbling sound. After standing there for a moment, he shook his head and smiled, "Please don't be offended, Minister Chen. I've been very busy today. Alas... it's not easy being an official."

Chen Junqing naturally knew that Shi Hao had already met with the emperor privately, so he immediately asked, "Did the Right Chancellor come to report something important?"

Zhao Shen waved his hand: "It's nothing serious."

Chen Junqing rose and bowed: "Your Majesty, I am the Chancellor. In matters of state, whether large or small, there is no reason for the Emperor and the Chancellor to conceal each other's secrets. I hope Your Majesty will tell me the truth."

It must be said that the prime minister of the Song Dynasty was indeed tough. After all, given his political status and traditions, Chen Junqing was not afraid of Zhao Shen's anger.

Zhao Shen simply shook his head slightly, neither telling the truth nor reprimanding Chen Junqing. Instead, he brought up another matter: "The reason I invited Minister Chen to the palace this time is to inquire about important military and national affairs."

Upon hearing this, Chen Junqing immediately became solemn: "Your Majesty, please ask. I will certainly answer to the best of my knowledge."

After hesitating for a moment, Zhao Shen asked, "You are in charge of the Privy Council and are the Grand Chancellor of the Western Palace. You must tell me the truth: are there enough provisions in Bashu and Jingxiang to supply the front lines?"

Chen Junqing had already memorized the relevant data, and upon hearing this, he immediately replied: "Of course it is possible. The Huai River region is now stable and there is no need for troops. This year's civilian settlements have also yielded results, and the imperial court no longer needs to mobilize grain and fodder from the two lakes for relief."

In this way, the Xiangfan army can obtain food from places like Ezhou and Xiangyang. They will be worry-free for two or three years.

As for Bashu…

At this point, Chen Junqing's expression also turned somewhat grim: "Originally, there were some errors, but... but since Envoy Lu has gone to Sichuan, there's nothing to worry about..."

Chen Junqing stopped speaking halfway through his sentence, filled with resentment.

In the eyes of these scholar-officials, what Lu You did was a terrible violation of the rules.

You could break all of Wang's legs and imprison them all, wouldn't that be fine? How could you kill all the men?

Wherever there are laws and regulations, such reckless behavior would not be allowed.

Of course, for Lu You, simply imprisoning the male members of the Wang family and fabricating a major case according to procedure would only be the beginning of a cesspool brawl.

Lu You won't be able to accomplish anything else in the next two years, so he'll just be arguing about this mess.

Now, by making an example of the Wang family to deter others and securing the support of the Yuwen family, the Fan family has been terrified, and the rest of the powerful clans are nothing but mediocre people. Lu You has completely pacified the area around Chengdu in just a few months and sent a large amount of grain and wealth to Hanzhong, which can be described as extremely swift.

More naturally, such drastic measures are bound to have hidden dangers.

Which powerful clan or local gentry wouldn't be afraid of such an unreasonable person? Given the chance, who wouldn't want to get rid of him?
How could respectable scholars not develop a dislike for Lu You because of this incident?

This one incident alone was enough to eliminate Lu You's chances of becoming a high-ranking official in the central government, and he was destined to toil in local areas from then on.

However, precisely because Lu You's actions were a desperate act of saving the day, regardless of his own future or even his own life, even though upright scholars like Chen Junqing were thoroughly disgusted by his behavior, they still had to hold their noses and defend him.

Although Chen Junqing hesitated, Zhao Shen understood perfectly: "So, both armies are now well-supplied with provisions?"

Chen Junqing nodded quickly: "That's right."

Zhao Shen remained silent for an even longer time this time, until Chen Junqing's legs started to ache from standing before he finally spoke: "Prime Minister Chen, Grand Commandant Wu has been fighting in Guanzhong for four years now, and has only managed to occupy half of Longyou. Hanzhong and Bashu are already exhausted. Seeing that the large-scale military campaign has been fruitless, shouldn't we ask Grand Commandant Wu to withdraw his troops?"

Chen Junqing was dumbfounded, feeling as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

The next moment, Chen Junqing bowed deeply and said, "Your Majesty, you must not! This is a matter of national importance, a matter of the world's strength to fight for. It is precisely the time to grit our teeth and risk everything."

Your Majesty, if our army retreats, even if we manage to return to Hanzhong unscathed, our morale will be compromised.

If the Jin invaders were to completely occupy the Guanzhong and Longyou regions, they would inevitably attempt to attack Hanzhong and Bashu, leaving Sichuan with no peace.

Moreover, without the involvement of Guanzhong, how could Prime Minister Yu have attacked Luoyang and even the Jin region?

"Matters of national importance are interconnected; a single misstep can have far-reaching consequences! To jeopardize one aspect could lead to utter defeat!"

Zhao Shen's mind was in even greater turmoil. After a moment of stunned silence, he hurriedly helped Chen Junqing up, saying, "What is Prime Minister Chen doing? We, as ruler and subject, are discussing important military and national affairs. This is a serious matter. How can you kneel down so easily?"

Chen Junqing, who had just been terrified, felt relieved upon hearing this.

As long as the government doesn't make a firm decision to withdraw its troops, it's fine.

However, Chen Junqing was still worried and repeatedly instructed Zhao Shen: "Your Majesty, I know that with Grand Commandant Wu leading his army out there, there will definitely be villains attacking him. However, the troops under Grand Commandant Wu's command are from Xichuan. From the generals to the soldiers, their families are all in Sichuan. Even if Grand Commandant Wu wants to establish a separatist regime, how many of them would abandon their families and defect?"

Moreover, Wu Taiwei's military supplies and provisions were all provided by the Song Dynasty, and the newly established military farms in Longyou were also managed by officials dispatched by the imperial court, so he simply had no way to rebel.

I urge Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly. Grand Commandant Wu is a senior and veteran official of the state; he must not be suspected!

After speaking, Chen Junqing was already breathing heavily, and his eyes were bloodshot.

Zhao Shen's face showed even more hesitation, but at Chen Junqing's urging, he finally nodded with difficulty: "I understand, I will definitely persevere to the end!"

Chen Junqing relaxed slightly, but immediately after leaving the palace, he wrote a letter to Yu Yunwen, urging him to keep a close eye on Shi Hao.

This current Right Chancellor, who previously advocated war but later shifted to a defensive stance, seems to have developed a pro-peace attitude.

Chen Junqing wasn't stupid. Zhao Shen was fine yesterday, but after a private talk with Shi Hao today, he changed his political stance. If it wasn't Shi Hao's doing, could it be that someone sent him a message in a dream?

Even after writing the letter, Chen Junqing remained restless.

The Right Chancellor is, after all, the head of the current prime ministers, and it would be difficult for him to oppose him alone.

Moreover, Shi Hao had served as prime minister for several years and had a group of confidants. If Chen Junqing were to gather a group of people to impeach him, wouldn't that cause a political struggle?

With military operations underway in both Nanyang and Guanzhong, this is definitely not a good time to start a political struggle!
Chen Junqing was undecided and hesitated, staying in his study until late at night.

Meanwhile, in the palace, Zhao Shen also sat in silence until late at night. In the Chuigong Hall, he looked up at the map and down at the past memorials, his face sometimes showing indignation and sometimes panic.

He paced back and forth in the main hall, his hair disheveled, muttering to himself, like a ghost.

The officials were all panicked, yet dared not stop them.

Zhao Shen was of average appearance, which was to be expected. If he had been born intelligent, wise, and martial, Zhao Gou would never have chosen him as his successor.

Having not become crown prince for many years and living a precarious life, Zhao Shen developed a timid and fearful personality. If it weren't for the successive great victories against the Jin Dynasty, Zhao Shen might not have been able to persevere at all.

Now, Zhao Shen's trusted mentor tells him that those who fought desperately for him in the past actually had ulterior motives, and that their achievements in the Northern Expedition were all for their own benefit, not for the emperor or the Song Dynasty. This quickly plunges Zhao Shen into confusion.

After much commotion late into the night, Zhao Shen finally looked up with a groggy head and ordered, "Summon Long Dayuan, the Director of the Imperial City Guard, to an audience."

The eunuch rushed to Long Dayuan's residence and dragged him from his concubine's arms to the palace.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty..." The palace would be closed at night, and no one except the prime minister could open it without authorization. Therefore, Long Dayuan climbed the palace wall by ladder and ran all the way to the Chuigong Hall. He was already panting when he saw Zhao Shen.

"Huff...huff...has something terrible happened?"

Zhao Shen looked into Long Dayuan's eyes and slowly said, "Sanlang, I don't trust many people, and you are one of them. Now you must answer truthfully."

As an inner court official, Long Dayuan did not adopt the demeanor of a prime minister. He directly kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, please ask. I will certainly tell the truth!"

Zhao Shen: "Do you think Sichuan, Jingxiang, and Shandong might unite to rebel and cause chaos?!"

Long Dayuan trembled.

Even if this guy is stupid, he knows who these three place names represent.

He instinctively felt a little flustered, because since the emperor had asked about these names, he would naturally have suspicions.

Political turmoil often begins with the emperor's slightest suspicion.

Long Dayuan knew he couldn't hesitate, so he immediately looked up and replied, "Your Majesty, Xiangfan will absolutely not rebel, but Shandong will definitely rebel."

Zhao Shen nodded slowly, but remained noncommittal.

"As for Sichuan..." Long Dayuan pondered for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "I only heard that Envoy Lu brought more than a hundred assassins from the north. It was they who carried out the massacre of the Wang family this time."

Zhao Shen's gaze sharpened: "Is this true?"

Long Dayuan nodded repeatedly, but then waved his hand repeatedly: "The Imperial City Guard only found out a little bit. There seemed to be a northern accent that night. As for the specifics, the incident happened suddenly and there was chaos at night, so no one can say for sure."

Zhao Shen slumped into his chair and waved his hand: "You may leave now. Remember, you are not allowed to tell anyone what you just said!"

Long Dayuan hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

He had already informed Shi Hao about this.

Seeing Zhao Shen clutching his forehead, his face full of pain, Long Dayuan didn't dare say anything. He could only offer a few empty words like "protect the emperor's body" before bowing and leaving.

Only after all the eunuchs had left did Zhao Shen raise his head, looking at the map with a complicated expression, muttering, "Sichuan... Sichuan absolutely cannot be in chaos..."

(End of this chapter)