Simulates history, but Chongzhen is the Divine Emperor at the beginning

Chapter 268 Flourishing, the Jin Army Marches South!
In the 230th year of the Shaoxing reign, at the age of 45, you had just quelled a rebellion that was utterly insignificant, when you were inexplicably praised by the Emperor Zhao as having achieved "unparalleled merit," and were subsequently promoted directly to "Grand Tutor," concurrently in charge of "commanding important military and state affairs"!

[Now you have officially ascended to the pinnacle of power in the Song Dynasty, truly second only to the emperor!]

But instead of feeling joy at this surprise, you only felt a strange and unsettling sense of unease...

The "Grand Tutor," one of the Three Dukes, was the highest-ranking honorary official title in the Song Dynasty!

The "Pingzhang Junguo Zhongshi" (平章军国重事) was a highly powerful official position in the Song Dynasty, overseeing both military and political affairs.

[With two top-tier official positions, one real and one virtual... Honestly, it's hard not to be excited!]

[Let's leave aside everything else and just talk about dreams: From childhood, you've always admired your father's experiences and glory! Therefore, you naturally yearn to be promoted to "Prime Minister" by the emperor, just like him, and then wield immense power to usher in an unprecedented era of peace and prosperity for the people!]

Now, your dream has come true, and you are truly enjoying the same treatment as the Prime Minister! Therefore, it would be impossible for you not to be excited.

However, your experience is vastly different from that of your father, the Chancellor. Although he, like you, rose to power through a meteoric rise, the emperor above him was Zhu Youjian, while yours was Zhao Gou…

Furthermore, given Zhao Gou's methods, your rise to power can be described as that of a classic example of a "treacherous minister," like Qin Hui or Gao Qiu of the past... You are no different from these treacherous officials, because you are all typical examples of those who were unworthy of their positions!

[Your reforms have not yielded any beneficial results for the country and its people, and your military achievements are utterly dismal... With such qualifications for a position, everyone would condemn you as a treacherous and despicable villain!]

And this label is very difficult to shake off unless you truly create a peaceful and prosperous era; otherwise, your image in the public eye will never be good...

Isn't this just a case of praising someone to death?!

[You are deeply worried: Back then, your father was promoted to Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty by the Emperor in one fell swoop, and was once extremely grateful to him, believing it to be a sign of the Emperor's favor... But in hindsight, this undeserved promotion was clearly a ploy by the Emperor to kill you.]

The Divine Emperor's trust in him was not to create a peaceful and prosperous era, but to nurture his ambition and thus provide him with a pretext for slaughter!

Similarly, Zhao Gou should treat you the same way...

But you're also confused: Emperor Chongzhen praised his father to death because his tyrannical power required revenge to justify his massacres! Zhao Gou's power didn't come from such tyrannical revenge, so why would he praise you to death for no reason?

[You are utterly perplexed by this... However, although you cannot understand it, it also makes you extremely cautious: since the precedent set by the Chancellor has precedent, you might as well be a truly loyal minister and try your best not to give Zhao Gou any opportunity to cause trouble!]

With this core principle in mind, you officially began your extremely cautious governing career...

【…】

In the 230th year of the Shaoxing reign, you held the position of "Grand Tutor," ranking first among all officials. The officials were abuzz with discussion: "That such a treacherous and wicked person could hold the position of Grand Tutor is utterly ridiculous!"

[It wasn't just court officials who were talking about you; even among the common people, your legend began to circulate: Why didn't Grand Tutor Zhou hide his experience of selling hooks to the emperor? This story begins back then...]

Anyway, nobody thinks your rise to power was normal. Rather than believing you were truly on good terms with the emperor to become Grand Tutor, it's better to believe in "hook literature" (a fictionalized account of a political maneuver)...

You are naturally aware of the criticisms leveled against you, but you don't know what to do about it. You can only focus on achieving good results, hoping to clear your name of the slander and rebuild a positive image.

So you waved your hand and continued with the reforms!

[You simultaneously cut back on redundant officials and soldiers, reduced costs and increased efficiency, and streamlined the political system... Under your powerful influence, tens of thousands of court officials and soldiers were laid off, leading to widespread resentment!]

Faced with the complaints of the unemployed, you had no better solution than to distribute farmland and money to them… but this would inevitably lead to huge government expenditures, which clearly contradicted your original intention to reduce “redundant expenses.” To make up for the government expenditures, you were forced to further increase commercial taxes along the coast… although this would be met with fierce criticism from wealthy merchants, you really had no other choice but to bite the bullet and continue…

Fortunately, the Song Dynasty has a strong constitution. After your major campaign, both the political and economic systems have shown significant improvement!

In the 231st year of Shaoxing, the Jiangnan region enjoyed a bumper harvest. The farmers who had been allocated land earlier couldn't help but smile. Looking at their granaries full of grain, they couldn't help but praise you: "Grand Tutor Zhou is actually quite good, even though he sold his hooks..."

【you:……】

In the 233rd year of the Shaoxing reign, you once again undertook large-scale construction projects. First, you dredged irrigation ditches throughout the region, and then you raised the dikes along the Yangtze River, greatly reducing the risk of droughts and floods for the people on both banks. As a result, the people praised you again: "Grand Tutor Zhou is truly a wise and capable minister in times of peace, even though he sold his hooks..."

【you:……】

[In the 235th year of Shaoxing, you specifically cracked down on many unscrupulous merchants, and then vigorously promoted the state-run silk weaving industry in Jiangnan, popularizing mulberry planting, silkworm breeding, and spinning, followed by large-scale exports overseas, reaping substantial overseas profits!]

Besides the textile industry, you also established many tea gardens and medicinal herb gardens, which not only produced tea and medicinal herbs but also solved the employment problem for local vagrants... Now the people are praising you again: "Grand Tutor Zhou is truly a great prime minister throughout the ages, even though he sold hooks..."

【you:……】

In short, as the effects of your reforms gradually became apparent, people's evaluation of you improved, but the "selling hooks" incident never truly faded away...

[Of course you're furious about this, but you don't dare to publicly refute it, for fear of making things worse and creating a negative example like the Yongzheng Emperor's "Record of Awakening from Delusion"... So you can only pretend to be deaf and dumb, acting as if you know nothing about the rumors circulating about you, while having court writers pretend to be "pure fools" to refute the rumors for you...]

[But no matter what, your achievements are undeniable; under your rule, the Song Dynasty is truly thriving!]

As long as you maintain your political achievements, your reputation will inevitably grow brighter and brighter until you become a renowned prime minister for all time, just like the late Chancellor! At that time, even if some people still spread rumors about you "selling hooks," they will at most leave a few words in unofficial histories.

But just when everything was thriving, a sudden and unexpected change occurred, shattering the hard-won prosperity you had achieved...

[In the 238th year of the Shaoxing era, the Jin army, which had not launched a major invasion southward for over two hundred years, suddenly marched south!]

The Jin army split into three routes: one crossed the Han River and attacked Xiangyang directly; another crossed the Huai River and swept across the Huai River region; and the third crossed the Wei River and charged straight towards Hanzhong!

However, these three important towns were poorly defended due to your previous reduction of troops, and thus played almost no role in resisting the southward-advancing Jin army...

When the news reached Lin'an, the entire court was shocked, and all eyes involuntarily turned to you, the Grand Tutor!

"Grand Tutor! What should we do?!"

Everyone is watching you anxiously!

But you were more anxious, even panicked and confused than everyone else!

"How could the Jin army possibly be marching south?!"

……

(End of this chapter)