Inheriting a Taoist temple, the story begins with Wu Zetian offering incense.

Chapter 222 Zhao Xu: After beheading the Western Xia envoy, I will personally lead the army! [Seeking monthly votes]

Early in the morning, Big Head Yang drove to Hunyuan Palace with several boxes of frozen goods. Suddenly, he noticed an incredibly beautiful female Taoist priest following closely beside Zhou Yi.

Big Head Yang wanted to ask who it was, but then thought it best not to pry into the affairs of monks. The fat, big-eared abbot of the Buddhist sect had just been arrested for having an affair, so he didn't want to cause trouble for Xiao Yi.

However, thinking of the beauties who appeared at Hunyuan Palace before, Big Head Yang couldn't help but recall a long-running love-hate drama with over eighty episodes... He really wanted to watch the drama unfold!

After offering sacrifices to the God of Wealth, Da Tou Yang drove down the mountain, and Zhou Yi and Xi Shi moved the offerings to the storage room, put them in the freezer, and began preparing breakfast.

While cooking porridge, Zhou Yi, having nothing else to do, made a jar of fried sauce for Xi Shi using diced pork belly.

The Wu-Yue region is very hot, and other things spoil easily, but fried sauce, which is full of oil, is better at keeping at room temperature for ten days without any problems.

After the meal, Xi Shi packed up her equipment, shouldered her backpack, pushed her bicycle, bid farewell to Zhou Yi, and returned to the Spring and Autumn Period.

Zhou Yi returned to his room, opened his notebook, and discovered that Chen Tang hadn't been idle all night; he had quietly accumulated a lot of merit points.
Chen Tang led his troops to annihilate a medium-sized band of foreign rebels, rescuing thirty Han women. Merit +10

Chen Tang led his troops to annihilate a small group of foreign bandits and rescued thirteen Han women. Merit +4

【…】

There were five or six such notes, which ultimately brought Zhou Yi four taels and three qian of merit, and more than one hundred and fifty women were rescued.

As for Chen Tang himself, his merit increased from two catties, ten taels, and five qian to three catties, eight taels, and four qian.

In terms of merit, saving lives is indeed more meritorious than killing them. Of course, it also shows that this small group of bandits has caused a lot of trouble for the people of Anding County.

During the late Western Han Dynasty, the northern part of Anding, the southeastern part of Wuwei, and the western part of Beidi Commandery gradually became a no-man's-land. By the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Qiang people had settled there and raided Chang'an more than once. By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it had become the territory of the Tufa Xianbei.

Zhou Yi marked this location on the map, intending to advise Chen Tang to write to Emperor Yuan after returning to Chang'an, suggesting that a county be established in this area to suppress the territory of the foreign tribes.

Establishing a county on barren land is quite difficult because it requires a large investment of resources, but if you add potatoes and corn, it will be enough for the basic operation of a county.

We cannot only think about developing Guanzhong and the Central Plains; we must also squeeze the living space of other ethnic groups as much as possible.

As I was looking at it, two more notes appeared on the page:

[Li Shimin announces the construction of the Monument to the Heroes of the Tang Dynasty, merit +5]

[Li Shimin orders the suppression of all foreign religions in various regions, merit +5]

Suppressing the religion of foreigners, the Book of Changes, is understandable, but building a monument to heroes... this doesn't seem like Li Shimin's idea; it sounds more like Wu Zetian's.

This is good too. Wu Zetian, who has studied in modern times, can give Li Shimin a corrective action, allowing the giant ship of the Tang Dynasty to sail more steadily and further.

After reading the notes, Zhou Yi closed the notebook and began cleaning the Hunyuan Palace.

Meanwhile, in the world of Emperor Zhezong of the Northern Song Dynasty, the morning court was in progress. Officials from the Ministry of Rites presented a letter from the Western Xia envoy, demanding the unconditional release of the envoy who had been arrested not long ago.

The Western Xia were not represented by just one or two officials on the Song Dynasty's side, but by a whole group of them. They had a clear division of labor: some were ingratiating themselves with court officials, some were offering bribes and gifts, and some were even opening restaurants to amass wealth.

The Western Xia envoy who was captured by Li Gefei last time is still locked up in the Ministry of Justice prison, and he is almost out of his mind.

The imperial court's continued refusal to release the Western Xia envoy made him restless. Yesterday, he spent the entire day at the Ministry of Rites submitting a letter of credence, hoping for an explanation from the Song Dynasty.

The chief eunuch presented the letter from the Western Xia state to the emperor's desk. After reading it, Zhao Xu suddenly flew into a rage and tore the letter to shreds.

"Shameless Tanguts! How dare they insult our Great Song Dynasty's entire court of civil and military officials, calling them nothing but barking dogs! This is outrageous! Arrest the Western Xia envoys and take them to the Ministry of Justice prison for interrogation overnight!"

Upon hearing this, the Minister of Rites' lips twitched. He had reviewed the official document this morning, and it contained nothing like this at all.

But by this time, the anger of the officials had been ignited. Everyone was filled with righteous indignation and began to denounce the Western Xia people for their lack of manners. Some radical officials even petitioned His Majesty to begin bestowing titles upon the governors of Yinzhou.

Yinzhou was the core area of ​​Western Xia. Although the officials appointed by the Song Dynasty could not take office immediately, they could antagonize Western Xia and deny its legitimacy in law.

Some people also hoped to expel all the Western Xia people from the Song Dynasty and prohibit them from coming to the Song Dynasty.

Although some senior officials wanted to suggest taking a longer-term approach, they wisely refrained from speaking.

His Majesty's intentions are becoming increasingly clear. Once Su Dongpo, the king of traffic in the Song Dynasty, returns and writes a few poems praising the achievements in the Northwest, it may just ignite a martial spirit in the Song Dynasty.

Anyone who dares to disagree at this time will be nailed to the pillar of shame.

Two days ago, Zhao Xu revoked all the honors posthumously conferred upon Sima Guang, and the entire court will gradually be replaced by the New Party.

Of course, it's not accurate to call it the New Party, because Zhao Xu did not fully accept the New Party's propositions. This emperor didn't care about the New Party or the Old Party at all; he only wanted to conquer the country.

As long as you advocate war, you will be my trusted and indispensable minister.

Strictly speaking, Zhao Xu, through the token bestowed by the gods, quickly developed a pro-war faction, squeezing out both the New Party and the Old Party. Although war was not in the interests of the scholar-officials, they now had no choice but to grit their teeth and join the pro-war faction.

When the atmosphere in the court had calmed down, Zhao Xu said:
"I heard that the envoy from Western Xia was surnamed Li and was from a collateral branch of the Western Xia royal family... We took him to the gate of the Imperial Ancestral Temple and beheaded him, and sent his head to the Western Xia front to boost morale."

what?
This order stunned the entire court. They knew His Majesty valued martial prowess, but they never imagined it had reached this level.

Zeng Bu pondered for a moment, then stepped forward to offer his advice:
"Your Majesty, it is a tradition that envoys should not be killed during war between two countries. This tradition has been passed down for thousands of years. If it is abandoned, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Zhao Xu said coldly:

"Our Great Song Dynasty is the suzerain state of Western Xia. The Western Xia envoy insulted our Great Song Dynasty. As the suzerain state, we should behead him and display his head to the public. If we cannot even kill a mere envoy, then we are too cowardly to be the suzerain state."

Another senior official also stepped forward to offer his advice:
"Your Majesty, this move could force Western Xia into a full-scale war with our Great Song."

"That's wonderful! I couldn't be happier!"

Zhao Xu rose and announced something very important to the court officials:
"Issue an order to all regions to conscript eligible young men into the army. Those who join the army will no longer have their faces tattooed. Each person will be rewarded with ten acres of fertile land, and all land taxes will be waived during their service. After five years, they can freely choose to leave the army and return to their hometowns to farm. Once the young men in all regions have been conscripted, they will be trained on the spot. Three months later, I will personally lead the expedition against the Western Xia!"

After making this decision, he ordered the Ministry of Rites to present the Liao envoy with a generous gift, reaffirming the alliance between the two countries.

The so-called "generous gift" was actually just a set of shiny plastic hair ornaments. Once the Liao envoy received it, he would definitely have it sent back to Liao as fast as possible to report back.

At the same time, similar expensive ornaments will appear in the Liao Kingdom, and they will soon become treasures that nobles will compete to buy.

The two matters were discussed one after the other, and the ministers' attention was completely drawn to the words "generous gifts," while they did not discuss much about the emperor's personal expedition three months later.

As the court session was about to end, Zhao Xu placed the token in front of Zeng Bu, the head of the Privy Council:

"Grand Secretary Zeng, can I trust you?"

Zeng Bu knew he couldn't escape this time, so he quickly swore an oath, admitting that he had accepted bribes and embezzled military pay and weapons, but that he advocated for the recovery of Western Xia and was by no means a traitor who would be condemned for all eternity.

Zhao Xu demoted him to Minister of Personnel, while Chancellor Zhang Dun was appointed Privy Councilor, and the former Minister of Personnel Cai Jing was appointed Chancellor.

After a reshuffling of their official positions, Cai Jing, who was most adept at politics, was put in charge of government affairs; Zhang Dun, who loved warfare, was put in charge of military affairs; and Zeng Bu, who liked to find fault, was appointed Minister of Personnel, responsible for the transfer and promotion of officials.

In addition, Zhang Dun was given a stainless steel insulated water cup and two bottles of floral water as a sign of favor.

After announcing this, Zhao Xu adjourned the court, giving the officials no time to react.

The court officials walked out of the main hall in twos and threes, their heads buzzing... In the past, court meetings were always going in circles, with everyone arguing, impeaching, discussing, and revising over the same issue, and it would take at least ten days to half a month to get any results.

But today, it's packed with valuable information from beginning to end, an explosion of content.

The newly appointed prime minister, Cai Jing, walked among the crowd with a calm expression. He showed neither the joy of sudden advancement nor the elation of a prime minister in the court. His mind was filled with thoughts of how to carry out his work in the future, and who should be handed over to handle the matter of confiscating the manor.

Li Gefei walked over and handed him an egg yolk pie:

"This was bestowed upon Zhao'er by the immortal; use it to fill your belly."

Cai Jing accepted it with both hands:

"I can't go to your house to watch episodes five and six of 'Bright Sword' tonight. I have to work through the night to draft various documents to make the prosperous economy of our Great Song Dynasty a boost to our foreign wars."

Li Gefei said:
"You can watch it on your day off. I'll let you watch it all day long, as many episodes as you want."

After saying this, Li Gefei left quickly. He was still responsible for capturing the Western Xia envoy, then escorting him to the gate of the Imperial Ancestral Temple to be beheaded, and then having the craftsmen of the Ministry of Justice carefully preserve him with lime before sending him to the front line overnight.

Soon, news of the execution of the Western Xia envoy spread throughout Bianliang. Some scholars felt it was inappropriate and had a sense of moral decay, but the common people were overjoyed.

After so many years, the Song Dynasty has finally become more assertive in foreign affairs!

At the same time, inside the Hunyuan Palace, Zhou Yi looked at the five coins of merit newly added to his black notebook, somewhat surprised:

[Li Gefei angrily beheads the Western Xia envoy, greatly boosting public morale and earning him +8 merit points.]

Killing the envoy signifies a situation of no return, and Zhou Yi speculates that it was Zhao Xu's doing.

This is actually a good thing. The number of people advocating war will increase rapidly. Regardless of what they really think, they will at least appear on the surface as eager warmongers.

The bottom line of the scholar-officials was still quite flexible; they would help whoever won.

Just then, Huo Qubing's voice rang out in the courtyard:
"Where is Master? I have been traveling for the past few days and have not been able to pay my respects. Please forgive me!"

Zhou Yi walked out of the room, and Huo Qubing, holding a scroll of bamboo slips, bowed and said:
"My uncle sent me a decree requesting that the immortal bestow some primers upon my cousin Liu Ju..."

(End of this chapter)