Chapter 439: Broken, I Became a Pig

Cai Jing had been in power four times, with a tenure of seventeen years. He had wisdom; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to stand for so many years.

Ever since Gao Qiu was gone, he always felt that Zhao Ji's eyes looking at him were a bit strange, different from the past. That gaze was so hot and bright that it was scary, as if he were looking at some treasure, and his words also began to pick small faults, which made him afraid.

Influenced by this, he suffered from insomnia. There was no way; if the leader had an abnormality, the subordinate should guess and understand, think what the leader thought, and worry what the leader worried—this was his secret to holding great power for many years. If he couldn't figure out what the leader meant, it would be strange if he could sleep.

After pondering for a while, he suddenly realized. First, the time as prime minister was a bit long, and there were too many relationships in the court, which had made Zhao Ji a bit uncomfortable. No emperor had a sense of security and always wanted to control everything. He was connected to so many people up and down, which was indeed about enough.

Second, it was that dog-day Wang Yan who let Zhao Ji see the way to get money. Gao Qiu had one million two hundred thousand strings of cash in family assets, and counting those involved merchants, it was nearly two million strings of cash. Then how much money did a prime minister who had been in power for many years have? How could an emperor who was bent on spending money not be concerned about this?

Broken, I became a pig...

After reacting, he was truly shocked into sitting up from his deathbed, breaking into a cold sweat. He understood; he understood what that look in Zhao Ji's eyes was. It was the look of a pig waiting to be slaughtered, sharpening his knife and studying how to take action, while at the same time looking forward to its delicious meat—that was the look of looking at livestock.

At this moment, he was extremely regretful. Why had he fooled Zhao Ji, who was still inexperienced in the business of being an emperor, lived quite frugally, and was quite diligent in government, saying something like "Prosperity and Abundance," fooling him into spending money recklessly? Now this was purely lifting a rock to smash his own feet.

Of course, he also knew that he had originally taken a fancy to Zhao Ji's original nature, which was why he had catered to his preferences and prescribed the right medicine. Even if he hadn't instigated it, once Zhao Ji became proficient in business, he would have been the same anyway, so it couldn't be blamed entirely on him. Besides, if he hadn't done so, perhaps he wouldn't have had his current power over the court. One drink and one peck, naturally, had long been destined.

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They all said that thunder and rain were all imperial grace. Toward Zhao Ji, even though he had resentment in his heart, he didn't dare to reveal it. Then there was no way; he could only curse that dog-day Wang. He had originally thought he was treacherous enough, but he hadn't expected there to be someone more treacherous than him in the world; he was truly a great disaster that caused chaos in the court.

But what could cursing do? After all, there were not a few who cursed him, and it didn't hurt or itch. He was still going to solve the problem. He knew that if he didn't understand, Zhao Ji would help him. Having been an official for so many years and experienced so many things, if he really wanted to investigate, he could always find some things.

As prime minister, as a close minister who had served Zhao Ji for many years, and as a guide who helped Zhao Ji open the door to spending money, his end was naturally better than Gao Qiu's, but not much better. He was over seventy, and just sending him to Qiongzhou to see the sea would basically be the end of him. This would be his last publicly funded trip in this life, dying in a foreign land. If possible, he still wanted to return to his hometown in Xianyou, listen to the familiar hometown sound again, and drink a sip of hometown water again...

In the second year of Xuanhe, shortly after the Lantern Festival, Cai Jing submitted a memorial to plead guilty, saying that he hadn't disciplined his family well, and his clansmen had committed crimes, ruining his reputation, encroaching on land, colluding with merchants and local officials, forcibly seizing women, and acting recklessly. The money, farmland, and supplies worth two million strings of cash that had been confiscated had been escorted to the capital, and all the criminals had been arrested and brought to the capital, requesting Zhao Ji to handle it.

There was still some sentiment. Since Cai Jing was so sensible, what else could Zhao Ji say? Naturally, it was a "You are confused" full of regret. And then he magnanimously didn't execute anyone, all tattooed and exiled to the regional armies in various places. As for Cai Jing, who "didn't discipline well," he was allowed to retire and return to his hometown in Xianyou to spend his later years...

Everyone knew that this time Cai Jing was finished, and it was impossible for him to be prime minister for the fourth time. And even if he returned to his hometown, he had to be honest. Because everyone knew that when he took out two million strings of cash to buy his life, there must have been a lot of money left. Although Zhao Ji let him go decisively, that was just because he looked at the past many years and Cai Jing was still useful.

If he looked for trouble after returning to Xianyou, then Zhao Ji definitely wouldn't be polite. And if he didn't look for trouble, once Cai Jing died, Zhao Ji wouldn't let the old Cai family go either.

The reason he let him go decisively this time was because he felt Cai Jing didn't have many years to live. There was still some sentiment, so he spared him for the time being, and could also have a reputation as a good leader, letting others rest assured. He had easily gotten two million strings of cash, and many of these were money confiscated from merchants, with very little involvement of the Cai family's direct or collateral branches. Zhao Ji naturally also missed the ones that hadn't been taken out, and he didn't believe that old fogey could live longer than him.

And Cai Jing's successor was Wang Fu, who was also one of the famous six thieves. He had helped Cai Jing return to power and treated Liang Shicheng like his own father. This was also a ruthless person, robbing people of their concubines, embezzling rare treasures—he was a disaster. Even the things he offered to Zhao Ji were less than one-tenth, and the rest of the things he collected were all taken by him.

In terms of looking at people, Zhao Ji truly had an eye for it; he could always find such people...

In the imperial palace, watching Zhao Ji playing with the child happily, Wang Yan shook his head and smiled, sitting there drinking tea by himself.

In fact, without the Gao Qiu incident, according to the original history, Cai Jing should have gone down this year too. The difference was that there were four returns to power originally, but now there wouldn't be. Not to mention Zhao Ji staring at Cai Jing, he was staring at him too. And because Cai Jing was riding the wall, the new and old factions were dissatisfied with him, and the pure stream officials simply couldn't stand Cai Jing. Once there was something wrong, they would impeach Cai Jing to death, and most people didn't want to see Cai Jing rise again. Zhao Ji wouldn't protect him to the death either, just going with the flow and confiscating his home.

"Ziyan, this little thing's eyebrows and eyes are like yours. You, you just have a pair of eyebrows and eyes that are refined. As for the rest, this nose and this mouth, they are all like me." Zhao Ji held the child and swayed in the main hall, not forgetting to mock Master Wang a little. Just a pair of eyebrows and eyes that were refined—didn't that mean everything else was vulgar? Vulgar meant it was a bit lacking, just average.

"I am just a wild boy from the countryside. Being able to have a pair of refined eyebrows and eyes is already a great fortune; how dare I ask for more? This kid is also good at being born, inheriting Your Majesty's heavenly face."

"Flattering again." Zhao Ji shook his head and smiled: "Let Yupan stay in the capital for a few more days this time. I see the child likes it."

Zhao Yupan replied: "Father, I originally planned to return after the dog days."

"Good, that's good. Go, take the little thing to see your mother; she's also looking forward to it." Zhao Ji handed the child to Yupan, letting her take the child away. She had just entered the palace and arrived here; she hadn't been anywhere else yet.

"Ziyan, the Fu Bei Army has been trained for two years. When can it fight?"

"Does Your Majesty want to start the northern expedition?"

"Yes. If I don't take action for a day, I won't feel comfortable for a day. The day before yesterday, the Imperial City Department reported that Lu Zhishen, in cooperation with the Liao Kingdom, attacked from front and back, fighting a great battle in the Yizhou (Yixian) area, breaking the fifty thousand troops of Wanyan Aguda, beheading four thousand, and capturing eight thousand. After the battle, Lu Zhishen sent troops across the sea to directly take Yuguan (Shanhai Pass) and Chrysanthemum Island (Juehua Island). Occupying the strategic location, he split the Liao Kingdom's Central and Southern Capitals, and with the benefit of sea transport, material supplies could all be sent by ships from Suzhou, so even an isolated city could be defended. They also occupied Jinzhou. The Liao Kingdom dared not mobilize troops for a strong attack, so they could only let him hold their throat. This is truly a good opportunity for the northern expedition; recovering our Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun is just around the corner."

Wang Yan naturally knew about this news, and it was far earlier than Zhao Ji; after all, it was planned by him. Zhao Ji was right; he occupied Yuguan and took Chrysanthemum Island just to split the Liao Kingdom's forces. The south belonged to the south, and the north belonged to the north. The "First Heroic Pass in the World" wasn't called that for nothing; its terrain determined its importance. The Liao Kingdom's resources had to pass through Yuguan. Now that he had directly launched a sneak attack and occupied it, if the Liao Kingdom wanted to mobilize supplies, they would have to take a detour. Plus, the Liao Kingdom now had internal and external troubles, so this blow couldn't be considered small.

And if the Liao Kingdom really took action to fight him, Jinzhou wasn't far from Yuguan, and that was his bridgehead. If they wanted to take back Yuguan, they had to mobilize heavy troops, which would inevitably lead to mobilization in other places. Once mobilized, it would be easy to get chaotic, and it would be easy to have trouble. Wherever they were weak, he would hit them. And he could also partner with the Jin Kingdom to exert pressure on the front line—this was to take their lives.

To say that the Liao and Jin countries would join forces to fight him, this was possible, but very small.

First, on the surface, he was still the weakest side, riding the wall and seeking survival.

Second, his business was big, and the nobles of the Liao and Jin countries all had dealings with him, which involved quite a bit. Moreover, for the sake of fighting, the Jin Kingdom's livelihood development was very poor. To put it bluntly, the supplies for the Jin Kingdom's war, except for those captured from the Liao Kingdom, were all sold by him. Taking the supplies he sold to fight him—if they succeeded, it was fine, but if they didn't, it would be a devastating disaster for the Jin Kingdom.

Third, the three parties of Liao, Jin, and Lu Zhishen had been deceiving each other for many years, and trust was a big problem. The Liao and Jin countries joining forces to fight Lu Zhishen—this was possible, but what if Lu Zhishen turned around and joined the Liao to attack the Jin, or joined the Jin to attack the Liao? Who dared to guarantee it wouldn't happen?

The basis for these was strength. Although they looked weak, the Liao and Jin countries had both fought Lu Zhishen one-on-one and were beaten until their heads were covered in bumps; he was a hard bone. So without a great deal of certainty, even if they hated him to the bone, they had to hold it in.

Fighting until now, it had been five years, and his troops were getting stronger the more they fought. This was because his training was sufficient, and most importantly, his logistics were powerful. Not to mention military equipment, food, and drink, he even had military doctors in the army, and he even produced penicillin. In cold weapon duels, those who died directly on the battlefield were ultimately a minority; most died from diseases that couldn't be treated. His military equipment and materials had an advantage, which had protected the soldiers very well, and those who were injured had penicillin to reduce inflammation, alcohol to disinfect, military health management regulations in the army, and guaranteed food and drink, which had saved the wounded to the greatest extent.

From this came a batch after batch of veteran soldiers who had fought a hundred battles. The more they fought, the more such veteran soldiers there were, so they were stronger. The Liao and Jin countries, one with internal chaos and one not nurturing the people's livelihood, how could they compete with him?

But to Zhao Ji, this kid just didn't have a sense of proportion. He fought Western Xia for four years and almost collapsed himself. Now that he had only rested for two years, he was thinking of fighting the even fiercer Liao Kingdom? What kind of spring and autumn dream was he having?

And speaking of which, these two years hadn't really been about the people's livelihood; they had been harmed just as much. It was just that there was no war, so the expenses were much less. If war broke out again, the civil and military officials would take their share, and it wouldn't be easy to fight. Besides, the Great Song hadn't not used troops against the Liao Kingdom in the original history, and they were still beaten until their heads were covered in bumps.

Over these years, the money he had sent had been at least tens of millions of strings of cash, satisfying Zhao Ji's expenses and supporting part of the funds for repairing the garden, which was actually quite good. But now the officialdom was not clean, the government was not benevolent, taxes were added, the military was slack, and so on. These problems hadn't been properly solved, and even intensified. Under these circumstances, wanting a northern expedition was looking for death.

Pondering for a moment, Wang Yan said: "Your Majesty, allow me to express my thoughts."

"I'm asking you; speak."

"Yes, Your Majesty. Now the three parties in Liaodong are vying for dominance, and they are in a stalemate. If our Great Song mobilizes troops for a northern expedition, it will break the current stalemate. By then, if that Lu Zhishen joins forces with the Jin Kingdom to destroy the Liao Kingdom, it will also be just around the corner. By then, Lu Zhishen and the Jin Kingdom will be evenly matched, and they will border our Great Song. Our Great Song's wealth is known to the world. They won't be able to do anything to each other, so they will definitely invade our Great Song's borders. Your Majesty also knows the strength of both sides. If they destroy the Liao Kingdom, they will only be even stronger. With our Great Song's troops, we can deal with one side, but dealing with two sides will be difficult."

Without waiting for Zhao Ji to find a reason, Wang Yan continued: "Your Majesty, the commoners have many complaints about Cai Jing and Gao Qiu. It is because they only care about themselves and not the lives of the commoners, frequently adding taxes, issuing government decrees that harm the country and the people, and there are countless people harmed by harsh government. I heard that there is a situation of 'not raising children' in Jiang Nan, where newborn infants are not raised but directly drowned, because they can't afford to raise them and can't afford the taxes. This is just one of them; there are also other things like encroaching on farmland, causing refugees to sell their children, and so on. The people's livelihood is difficult."

"These things can all be covered on Cai Jing's head. Your Majesty practices the way of the sages and rules by doing nothing, but Cai Jing has blinded the holy hearing and harmed the country and the people. This is ruining Your Majesty's reputation. Fortunately, Your Majesty has fiery eyes and sees everything clearly, even if you removed Cai Jing from his position. Your Majesty might not know that now the commoners are full of praise for Your Majesty sending Cai Jing back to his hometown in Xianyou, all calling you wise.

I believe that we should take this opportunity to take a batch of corrupt officials, first to clear the atmosphere of the officialdom and urge others to be loyal and serve the country with a solid heart. Second, this time we confiscated two million strings of cash from Gao Qiu, and Cai Jing also sent back two million strings of cash. The corrupt officials in the court and provinces must have some money, which can be used to buy land from Your Majesty to expand the imperial palace, or prepare some supplies for the northern expedition. Third, after taking down this batch of corrupt officials, positions will be vacated, and Your Majesty can choose some loyal people to serve the country, which can also timely understand the local situation and avoid court ministers blinding the holy hearing and whitewashing the peace."

"And I believe Your Majesty should go out and walk around; staying in Bianjing is inevitably boring. Your Majesty practices Taoism, the so-called Tao follows nature. If Your Majesty goes out and walks around, you can better understand nature and have a better realization. Furthermore, Your Majesty bears the weight of the four seas and nine provinces. Governing the country is about looking at the big picture. This tour of our Great Song territory can also allow you to see the people's livelihood on the spot and see the details under the big picture."

"If Your Majesty really wants to mobilize troops, I believe we should still focus on destroying Western Xia, so as not to have Western Xia cause trouble when our Great Song launches a northern expedition. Now the training of the Fu Bei Army, although still a bit lacking, must also experience battle and accumulate experience. To avoid trouble, I request to lead the Fu Bei Army to enter the northwest and harass and train in Western Xia territory. With only a force of fifty thousand, and cavalry that can act freely, we can live off the enemy, which can save our Great Song's supplies. If we have an opportunity through cavalry harassment, our main army can also cross the Great Wall and directly strike at the heart."

"What does Your Majesty think?"

He said this quite well. There was no way; wanting to tell some real situations, he had already tried his best to consider Zhao Ji's emotions. It was also because it was really not easy to fight a war now. Not saying some real words, then Wang Fu would incite, plus Zhao Ji still had a ball team, and that ball team were all talents. They didn't care about those below. As long as Zhao Ji was happy, they would follow along, and the more Zhao Ji talked, the more energetic he would be, and that would be terrible.

However, he had thought wrong, because Zhao Ji was pondering for a long time, and his focus was obviously not on the small real situations he mentioned: "Go out and tour? And fight Western Xia again?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Go out and tour; Your Majesty doesn't have to have the big pomp of Emperor Yang of Sui, because Your Majesty is for understanding nature and observing the people's feelings. If the pomp is big, you will see less. And fighting Western Xia, this time it is not only to practice troops, but also to consume Western Xia's national strength. If we are lucky enough to open up the grassland, we can also buy cattle, horses, and sheep from there at a low price, which is another new trade route with high profits."

There were only five things that could move Zhao Ji: fresh things, beautiful women, calligraphy and paintings of famous people, making money, and spending money. Now the things he said basically occupied four of them. Going out to tour, there were fresh things, and even more beautiful women. Fighting Western Xia, he could make money, and once he got the money back, he could spend it.

Zhao Ji nodded, which was considered recognition of Wang Yan's words: "The matter of touring will be discussed in the morning court in a few days. As for the matter of the Fu Bei Army going to Western Xia to harass and train..."

"Your Majesty, rest assured. This time, if we lose troops and generals without achieving any merit, I will have people carry the corpses back."

"Hey..." Zhao Ji shook his head and waved his hand: "I am worried that you haven't experienced battle and will have some shortcomings; what should I do then?"

"I thank Your Majesty for your sympathy. However, over these years, I have practiced martial arts without stopping, and I have also practiced charging with the Fu Bei Army's brave men. Saving my life on the battlefield is no problem. As for command, Your Majesty has given me much guidance over these years. You have the ability of temple calculation, and I have also learned some fur. I should be able to respond to changes on the spot. In addition, there are eunuchs and civil officials accompanying as army supervisors. Your Majesty, rest assured. The Fu Bei Army was trained by me, and now it cannot be considered a formed army. This time, it can be considered my last teaching to them."

"Hey, I can see it now. You have such good martial arts; if you don't take them out and use them, you won't be reconciled in this life. Forget it, forget it, follow you. However, horses stumble and people make mistakes; you must be careful and don't have any accidents. When are you preparing to break camp and march north?"

"Since it is cavalry, naturally we can leave at any time. Today I will go home and talk to Yupan and the other two concubines. Tomorrow morning, I will set off north."

The Fu Bei Army always had to test its combat effectiveness. Although two years was short, they had practiced what they should practice. Zhao Ji, the emperor, was in a hurry, so there was no way; they had to do it. He was indifferent; it was just right that he hadn't been active for a long time, and he hadn't hacked anyone on the battlefield for two hundred years. Going out for a walk was also good. Holding a horizontal sword and standing on a horse, although it was truly tragic, it was also the ultimate romance of a man.

Zhao Ji nodded, then took Wang Yan to stroll in the garden, wandering around and talking about useless things, and asked casually: "Ziyan, do you still remember the matter of restoration?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, I know. Last winter, my steward's son got home leave. He and the restoration faction's chief, Li Tu, were classmates and had a good relationship. Just following him to Wang Family Village to take a look, they talked quite a bit. I heard about this from the steward and chatted with that Li Tu for a long time, and kept them for a meal."

"There was such a thing? What do you think of that Li Tu?"

"He didn't go to the battlefield in vain; he knows how to cherish his life, which is a good thing. As for the 'taking the people as heaven' they are shouting, it's just the foolish words of a scholar who has read too much. Now the scholars of the restoration faction are all young people with hot blood. No matter how big the noise, it's hard to last long."

Zhao Ji shook his head and laughed: "Let them make noise, let them make noise. I'll just see how much ability they have." ===== CHAPTER 440 =====