Chapter 279

…

Zhao Yu ordered Liang Shicheng to deliver an imperial edict, commanding Zhao Ji to appear at Yuhua Pavilion for an audience.

Zhao Ji immediately followed Liang Shicheng to Yuhua Pavilion.

Yuhua Pavilion lay behind Xuanhe Hall; when Zhao Ji arrived, the chancellors Cai Jing, Cai Bian, Su Shi; the chief administrators He Zhizhong, Zhang Shangying, Yu Shen; and Zhao Yu's newly appointed central advisors Tang Ke, Li Gang, Zhao Ding, Chen Gou, and Zhong Shidao were all present, along with Lü Yihao, who had come to Dongjing Bianliang with the Jin envoys.

Over the past two years, Zhao Yu's early appointees—Xu Jiang, Li Qingchen, Lü Huiqing, Zhao Tingzhi, and Guo Cheng—had all passed away; the chancellor Zhang Dun, the chief of the Privy Council Ceng Bu, the vice-chancellor Han Zhongyan, and the Right Minister of the Ministry of Personnel Su Zhe had also recently stopped attending court due to illness.

At present, Zhao Yu had appointed Cai Jing as acting chancellor, Su Shi as acting chief of the Privy Council, and Cai Bian as acting vice-chancellor.

In truth, Zhang Dun and the others who had not attended court would never return.

Yet, out of respect for their immense contributions to the Zhao Song dynasty, Zhao Yu had not forced them into retirement; instead, he allowed them to take "paid leave," and whenever major state affairs arose, Zhao Yu would send messengers to consult them at home.

But then again, given their advanced ages, their political careers—and indeed their lives—had already reached their end.

The only thing that surprised Zhao Yu was that Su Shi, who should have died long ago, seemed to have grown unusually robust—perhaps due to Zhao Yu's favor—and at seventy-five, he remained vigorous and full of energy, seemingly capable of outliving his younger brother Su Zhe.

Thus, Zhao Yu promoted Su Shi to acting chief of the Privy Council, placing him in charge of military affairs to counterbalance the Cai brothers.

Moreover, since ascending the throne, Zhao Yu had placed great emphasis on cultivating new talent.

Over the years, Tang Ke had diligently managed the Yellow River; under his governance, while the river had not been entirely free of flooding, the harm it inflicted upon the people of the Zhao Song dynasty had been drastically reduced.

Later, for his success in managing the Yellow River, Zhao Yu promoted Tang Ke to Minister of Revenue.

Historically, when Tang Ke served as chancellor, he strongly advocated for peace negotiations and the cession of the Three Prefectures; when the imperial relief armies gathered, he ordered them not to move, causing them to disband without fighting, leading to his impeachment by the censors and removal from office.

But Zhang Chun analyzed that the Song army at the time was truly incapable of fighting—it was not a question of whether to fight or not; later history had proven this. A calm analysis showed Tang Ke's stance was correct: had Zhao Huan heeded Tang Ke, the Jingkang Humiliation and the fall of Northern Song might have been avoided.

Later, when the Jin demanded the deposal of the Zhao clan and the installation of Zhang Bangchang as emperor, Tang Ke signed the agreement to save the people of the city, but after Dongjing Bianliang fell and the Jingkang Humiliation occurred, he committed suicide by poison, thus giving the Zhao clan a measure of atonement.

Overall, Tang Ke was the most capable among the chancellors Zhao Huan employed, and he had always remained clear-headed.

Facing the charlatan Guo Jing, he directly confronted him, deliberately humiliating him by asking, "Old soldier, is this trickery truly effective?" Guo Jing had no reply.

Later, it was Zhao Huan who dismissed Tang Ke; only then did Zhao Huan and his ministers employ the charlatan Guo Jing, leading to the critical moment of the Song-Jin war, when Zhao Huan's court removed the defending troops and relied on seven thousand seven hundred seventy-seven Six Jia Zheng soldiers to guard the city, only to be slaughtered by five hundred Jin cavalry who stormed into the city and breached Dongjing.

Moreover, Tang Ke's final advice to Zhao Huan was to flee immediately before the Jin arrived, never to remain in the city and fight to the death; at that time, Zhao Ji and Zhong Shidao had also given the same advice, and in hindsight, they were unquestionably the ones who most accurately assessed the situation.

Li Gang and the others were still too young; Zhao Yu had therefore promoted the older Tang Ke to court to provide stability.

Over the past decade, Li Gang and the others had been Zhao Yu's primary trainees; most of them had served at the grassroots level, held posts on the frontier, served as military supervisors in the army, and acted as transport commissioners overseeing economic affairs.

Now, Zhao Yu boldly promoted these relatively young men to the central government to assist in governance, clearly grooming them as future chancellors and chief administrators, and already involving them in the actual work of chancellors and chief administrators.

Seeing Zhao Yu respect seasoned ministers with political experience, dare to appoint capable young officials, and even utilize the strengths of corrupt ministers—for instance, it was Cai Jing who first supported Zhao Yu in removing the shackles from the imperial princes and clan members—Zhao Ji genuinely admired Zhao Yu's talent for selecting officials.

"To govern a great state is like cooking a small fish—you must harmonize all flavors to achieve great success."

Zhao Ji gazed at the scene before him and felt a flood of emotions, wondering whether, had he defeated Zhao Yu, he too could have achieved such excellence.

After waiting a while, Zhao Ji learned that Cai Jing and the others had rushed here because something had happened.

In the winter of last year, Taihu Lake had completely frozen, its ice solid enough to support carts; the bitter cold had killed all the famous tangerines from Dongting Mountain on Taihu; snowfall in Hangzhou had become far more frequent than usual and persisted into late spring.

People in the south were spreading rumors that this abnormal weather was due to the heavy bloodshed in the region over recent years, generating too much resentment to disturb the heavens.

Crucially, such abnormal weather might affect this year's spring planting.

If the weather did not warm soon, this year could face a massive famine due to grain shortages, triggering unrest in the Zhao Song dynasty.

Grain Rain falls in three days, directly tied to the sowing season; if the weather does not turn warm, matters will become dire.

Thus, Cai Jing and the others requested Zhao Yu to personally perform the imperial plowing ceremony, praying to heaven for blessings to calm the people's hearts and to publicly demonstrate that the court was actively responding to the natural disaster and would surely protect its people from calamity.

In addition, the Liao dynasty had belatedly learned that the Jin had sent envoys by sea to the Zhao Song dynasty requesting recognition, and hastily dispatched envoys to Zhuozhou, pleading to be allowed to visit Zhao Song, hoping Zhao Song would avoid contact with Jin and even capture the Jin envoys and hand them over to Liao, which Liao would greatly appreciate.

This matter had become a difficult either-or dilemma.

Many chief administrators were urging Zhao Yu to make a decisive decision, so they could determine how to respond to the Jin and Liao envoys.

After the chief administrators finished their reports, they departed.

Lü Yihao stepped forward to report that he had lodged the Jin envoys at the Tongwen Pavilion outside the city and requested permission to return to Dengzhou…

By the time Lü Yihao finished his report, night had fallen completely.

At this point, Zhao Yu prepared to rise and return to rest.

Zhao Ji hurried forward and said, "May I request a private audience?" meaning he wished to speak privately with the Emperor.

Zhao Yu then remembered—he had summoned Zhao Ji here to talk with him.

But the delay caused by Cai Jing and the others had nearly made him forget.

Zhao Yu sat back down and asked Zhao Ji directly: "Are you unwilling to relinquish your top-scholar title?"

Zhao Ji replied: "Your servant dares not."

Though Zhao Ji's words said he dared not, his eyes flickered with a barely perceptible hesitation and resentment; moonlight streamed through the window lattice, illuminating his face with a complex, subtle expression. He lowered his head slightly, gripping his hands tightly, as if struggling to suppress his inner turmoil.

Seeing this, Zhao Yu sighed inwardly: "Zhao Ji, raised in luxury since childhood, lacks experience; his desire for power and fear of failure intertwine, making him alternately indecisive and stubbornly extreme. Alas, this is still his historical flaw—ambitious yet talentless."

Zhao Yu ordered Liang Shicheng to bring Zhao Ji and Mo Chou's examination papers and handed them to Zhao Ji, asking: "Whose policy essay was superior, yours or Mo Chou's?"

Zhao Ji immediately felt embarrassed.

Although Zhao Ji had always dreamed since childhood of fulfilling the unachieved ambition of all Zhao Song emperors—recovering the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun—he in fact knew nothing about the Sixteen Prefectures, nor about Liao or Jin.

This was not merely a problem of this lifetime.

Historically, Zhao Ji had committed major errors because of this ignorance.

At the time, the Song and Jin had reached a peace agreement.

Logically, the Northern Song dynasty should have issued an official state document to sign the alliance with Jin.

But Zhao Ji and his ministers feared that failing to destroy Liao would leave them open to criticism, so they played a trick: they did not use a state document, but instead had Zhao Ji write a personal letter to Wanyan Aguda.