Chapter 5: The Meeting

"I want to recall Lord Li!"

That day at noon, as soon as he returned to the temporary palace, Zhao Jiu told the chief eunuch Kang Lü that he wanted to see the two chief councilors from the Eastern and Western Administrations and the Imperial Camp Commander-in-Chief Wang Yuan. His attitude was so forceful it was astonishing, and with dozens of Red Heart Cavalry following him, Kang Lü had no choice but to respond publicly on the spot.

And as soon as he saw the two chief councilors in the main hall of the rear palace, this Emperor Zhao startled the autumn rain like a thunderbolt!

It really was startling the autumn rain, because after sunrise the sky had gradually darkened, and by mid-morning, the first autumn rain of the first year of the Jianyan era had begun to fall over the Mingdao Palace.

"Your servant... your servant..."

Privy Council Director Wang Boyan was slightly better off, but the actual chief councilor Huang Qianshan couldn't get out a single coherent sentence for half the day—whether from innate incompetence or some other reason was unclear.

"Your Majesty!" Kang Lü couldn't bear to watch any longer. Taking advantage of the fact that this was the rear palace rather than a formal court session, he set aside propriety to speak up in support. "Lord Li has just been dismissed from the chancellorship—how can an order be reversed so soon?"

"Correct." Lord Huang also recovered and immediately voiced his opposition. "Let Your Majesty know, this dynasty has no such precedent!"

"What precedent is there to speak of when the state is broken?" Zhao Jiu, sitting rigidly on his chair with his clothes still faintly damp, retorted before the other's words had even landed. "Lord Li was only dismissed from the chancellorship, not removed from office for a crime—is there any law forbidding his recall?"

The autumn rain drizzled on. Huang Qianshan, nearly fifty years old, was drenched in sweat: "Your Majesty, your servant..."

"Your Majesty." Kang Lü once again cupped his hands and spoke to assist. "Your Majesty fell into a well before and has forgotten many things. You probably don't know that back in Nanjing (Shangqiu), over the matter of Lord Li, one Remonstrance Advisor and two Imperial Academy students died one after another... Remonstrance Advisor Song Qiyu was killed by Lord Li, braving the world's condemnation, merely for arguing that Lord Li was an armchair strategist whose policies were useless—breaking the great taboo of not killing scholar-officials under heaven. The two Imperial Academy students supported Lord Li, but to rally for him they openly slandered Your Majesty's private conduct... Let Your Majesty know, the reason Your Majesty cast aside this man before was not only because he wanted to flee to Nanyang, but also because he was overbearing and lawless, arrogating power and blessings to himself, and treating Your Majesty like a child!"

"Treating like a child" meant regarding someone as a little child... Upon hearing this, Zhao Jiu actually believed it, because the truth might really be that way. Otherwise, with Li Gang's immense merit in helping Zhao Gou rebuild the central government in just a month, such a violent conflict couldn't have arisen so quickly—to the point that less than three months after Zhao Gou's enthronement, a political struggle causing the deaths of a remonstrance official and Imperial Academy students had already occurred, leading to Li Gang's dismissal.

And the reason Li Gang treated Zhao Jiu like a child was self-evident.

One reason was that this body was indeed young, and the civil officials of the Great Song Dynasty had always enjoyed fooling the Emperor—it was a traditional skill of senior, prestigious ministers in the Zhao Song court. Another reason was probably that these ministers with firm anti-Jin views, having experienced the Jingkang Incident, had seen through the Zhao family's cowardice and incompetence when facing the Jin, knew the inner fears of each Zhao Emperor, and had no choice but to use moral blackmail and deliberate blindness to deal with the situation.

But they simply forgot that the Emperors of the Great Song and the vast majority of its scholar-officials had always been incompetent at external struggles but expert at internal ones—which was why Zhao Jiu discovered upon crossing over that three of the anti-Jin exemplars named in history textbooks—Chen Dong had been killed by himself, Li Gang had been driven away by himself, and Zong Ze had been abandoned by himself.

Just from these matters, the original owner of this body definitely had some skill.

"Is that so?"

With a complicated mood, Zhao Jiu forcibly kept a straight face as he swept his gaze over the five key figures in the room—also the five barriers he had faced since crossing over. He saw Chief Eunuch Kang Lü frantic and flustered; Chief Councilor Huang Qianshan stunned and at a loss; Privy Council Director Wang Boyan silent and wordless; Imperial Camp Commander-in-Chief Wang Yuan looking left and right; only Yang Yizhong, Yang Zhengfu, remained expressionless, standing to one side with hand on sword.

Of course, Yang Yizhong, as the only sword-bearer in the room who had just switched sides, along with Liu Yan standing guard outside the hall, was precisely the greatest confidence this Emperor Zhao had in deciding to abandon the recently popular cautious approach and go for a reckless charge.

"Exactly so!" Kang Lü quickly answered again, and without hesitation stomped heavily on the ground.

At this, the two chief councilors and the commander-in-chief all came to their senses and bowed in agreement, forming a solid front. And what was absurd was that the reason these people had been able to unite before was precisely because they had all been Zhao Gou's confidants.

"Then let's drop the matter of recalling Lord Li for now!" Zhao Jiu watched coldly for a while, then suddenly smiled again. "I want to recall Vice Marshal Zong... Zong the Defender-in-Chief was the Vice Marshal of the Marshal's Office in Hebei, with merit in supporting the enthronement no less than any of you. He is also someone I have always been close to and respected. He's in Dongjing, we're in Bozhou, barely three hundred li apart—he can be here in ten days. What do you think?"

Kang Lü and the others changed color again—Zong Ze, on the surface, came from the same Grand Marshal's Office as them, but that old man was even stiffer and harder than Li Gang. If he were brought here, wouldn't there be another bloody storm?

But this time they couldn't use the previous excuse to stall, and the intentions this Emperor had revealed in today's surprise attack truly made these key ministers in the temporary palace's hearts pound with fear.

"Your Majesty!" Kang Lü changed his address again. "Vice Marshal Zong is in Dongjing, in a critical position. He cannot be summoned lightly. Let Your Majesty know, the Jin troops have already crossed the river again and are advancing on Sishui Pass! If we summon Zong the Defender-in-Chief now, wouldn't Dongjing's gates be wide open?"

"Then how about I go with you all to Dongjing to see him?" Zhao Jiu pressed again.

Kang Lü was utterly panicked and could only turn back for help.

Privy Council Director Wang Boyan, nearly sixty years old, could no longer avoid it and finally spoke helplessly: "How can we let the Supreme One fall into a death trap again? Your Majesty... Your servant knows the Privy Council and has always been aware of military intelligence. Since the Jingkang era, Dongjing's population has scattered; it is truly an empty city. The surrounding military is hollow, famine never stops, and there are only millions of routed soldiers, refugees, and bandits looting without restraint. Moreover, it directly faces the main Jin army. Going there now is truly inadvisable."

"Then what do you say?" Zhao Jiu sneered repeatedly. "You keep urging me to go south to Huaidian and Yangzhou, but without a proper arrangement behind us, how can we easily go south? By then, not to mention Hebei and Hedong, wouldn't the people of the Central Plains think that I and all of you are abandoning them? And if something happens because of that, what then? I fell into a well and lost my composure—you all know that—so I take some stories as mere news... The day before yesterday, I heard a guard say that during the Jingkang era, when I went as an envoy to the Jin and let the deputy envoy go first, when he reached Xiangzhou, the Hebei people, hearing he was going to negotiate peace, beat that innocent deputy envoy to death right on the street... Is that true?"

"It is." Wind and rain raged outside the hall, and after a long silence inside, Privy Council Director Wang Boyan finally forced himself to speak. "Wang Jizhi was beaten to death on the road by the people of Xiangzhou for going north to sue for peace."

"Aren't you afraid of being beaten to death?" Zhao Jiu asked softly, as if inquiring what these key ministers in the temporary palace had eaten for breakfast.

The wind and rain outside the hall came and went abruptly, and within the rear hall of Mingdao Palace, it was also a time of precariousness. These powerful officials in the temporary palace seemed to have been knocked senseless by this Emperor Zhao's surprise attack.

After exchanging glances, they had no choice but to have Chief Councilor Huang Qianshan steel himself and speak: "Then what does Your Majesty think should be done?"

"Issue an edict clearly, allowing all civil and military officials in the temporary palace, regardless of rank, to submit memorials discussing the defense of the Central Plains." Zhao Jiu finally grasped a thread of initiative for the first time, and seemed to have finally revealed his ultimate goal. "I want to see what the civil and military officials at court are really thinking."

The several key ministers, in a sorry state, looked at each other and finally bowed in acceptance of the order.

And Emperor Zhao did not press further, simply withdrawing to the rear to rest... After the night's turmoil, he had not actually rested properly.

Not to mention how refreshed Zhao Jiu felt after this reckless charge, on the other side, the five powerful officials of the temporary palace left the rear palace, each going their separate ways, but a quarter of an hour later, under Kang Lü's organization, they met again in a side room of the central hall of Mingdao Palace.

This was the place temporarily occupied by the Privy Council, and under Song court regulations, the exchange of confidential documents between inner and outer courts was conducted here. So after the Emperor's accident, it had become their usual meeting place (sometimes Yang Yizhong did not come).

"Chief Eunuch Kang, what's wrong with His Majesty?"

Rainwater dripped outside the side room. Huang Qianshan, just turned fifty this year, showed the most panic, having been the most flustered in the hall just now.

Of course, Zhao Jiu might not understand, but these people knew well what Lord Huang was worried about... Whether Li Gang or Zong Ze, both directly threatened his position. But more critically, the struggle between Lord Huang and Lord Li had drawn blood on both sides!

So once the Emperor's mind turned, Huang Qianshan would not simply be removed from office—he might well end up taking a trip to Qiongzhou Island.

Kang Lü said nothing, just stared at Yang Yizhong.

Yang Yizhong, always adept at flattery, understood and immediately bowed respectfully to report, detailing last night's events and the Emperor's itinerary without concealment to the several key ministers, only omitting his own defection at dawn, and finally adding a speculative remark:

"His Majesty was probably moved by last night's events, thinking that the people of the north all do not wish to go south, and fearing that without proper arrangements, such incidents might occur on the road."

"That reasoning makes sense." Commander-in-Chief Wang Yuan breathed a slight sigh of relief. "It's human nature. Chief Eunuch Kang should do more to persuade His Majesty."

"It's fine if there's a reason, but that's just the surface." Kang Lü showed no relaxation at this, his expression instead growing darker. "The key is still that fall into the well. After waking up, His Majesty suddenly didn't recognize you or me, and his behavior was strange, as if he had become a different person..."

"Chief Eunuch Kang, be careful with your words!" Privy Council Director Wang Boyan immediately interrupted with a stern expression. "His Majesty is His Majesty. Just because he was injured and forgot some people and matters doesn't mean he isn't His Majesty."

"Correct." Wang Yuan also quickly agreed. "Consider just one thing: if the one in the rear palace isn't His Majesty, then where is His Majesty? And the hundreds of civil and military officials in the temporary palace, the hundreds of prefectures and armies under heaven, the billions of people—they only recognize this His Majesty. He speaks clearly, moves freely—so he is His Majesty! If the few of us say he isn't His Majesty, I'm afraid when military commanders like Zhang Jun return, they'll first purge the court of evil influences!"

"I understand that reasoning well enough!" Kang Lü could still maintain courtesy toward the two chief councilors, but toward the military-born Wang Yuan, he was full of impatience, even though the latter was the dignified Imperial Camp Commander-in-Chief, the actual military commander of the current small court. "I am a eunuch. I need this His Majesty in the rear palace more than you do! Without this His Majesty, you would merely lose your positions and power, but what would I be? Even if demoted, you would all go to Qiongzhou Island, but I would go to Shamen Island! But after the well fall, His Majesty's mind has changed, his heart has been clouded by something, and now he actually wants to stay in the Central Plains to resist the Jin—that is the truth."

The people in the side room fell silent.

There was no help for it—this matter was too disastrous. What a good Emperor he had been before—how could a fall into a well change him like this? And they couldn't exactly post a notice in front of the main hall of Mingdao Palace asking the civil and military officials of the temporary palace to submit anonymous answers.

Little did they know, while Zhao Jiu, Emperor Zhao, felt stifled these days, these few felt as if the sky were falling!

"Then Chief Eunuch Kang, what do you think should be done?" After a long silence, Chief Councilor Huang Qianshan forced himself to adjust his emotions and speak again, still unconsciously treating Kang Lü as his main consultant.

"I understand the stakes." Kang Lü thought briefly and gave a bottom-line response. "But no matter what, we have to find a way to get through the present, and then safely guide His Majesty to Yangzhou. Once in Yangzhou, a thousand li away, there will be no need to worry about the Jin army, and His Majesty will naturally stop caring about the words of these thieves who keep clamoring to resist the Jin... Then we can serve His Majesty well, let him settle down and enjoy himself, and everything will naturally resolve."

"But how do we get through the present?" Huang Qianshan remained uneasy. "His Majesty's demands cannot be blocked. The crime of cutting off communication between inner and outer courts is not one you or I can bear. When the time comes, without His Majesty even needing to act, the Hanlin academicians and censors in the temporary palace could send us to Qiongzhou Island."

"This matter is simple enough." Kang Lü replied sternly. "First, we must let His Majesty know that most of the civil and military officials in the temporary palace still want to go to Yangzhou. Those rebels among the Red Heart Cavalry are just one or two barbarians from the Liao lands—they don't represent public sentiment. Second, we must make His Majesty remember and understand that people like Li Gang and Zong Ze are far less devoted to him than we are..."

"The first is easy enough. Since his injury, His Majesty rarely asks about state affairs, and memorials mostly pass through our hands. This time His Majesty wants to open up channels of opinion, we can put in more effort, carefully instruct those who might talk nonsense, and then thoroughly examine everything here in the Privy Council." Huang Qianshan also grew serious. "But the second..."

"Does Lord Huang not understand the second?" Kang Lü sneered without stopping. "A little over a month ago in Nanjing, how did you kill Chen Dong? How did you drive away Li Gang? Has His Majesty forgotten the old affairs—have you forgotten them too?"

Huang Qianshan fell silent at once, but he understood.

As the saying goes, no one is a sage—who can be without fault? And another saying goes, three people spreading a rumor can make a tiger appear, and even Zeng Shen could be said to have killed someone.

Since ancient times, petty men at the center of power, by leveraging their advantage of controlling the information channels around the monarch, and after figuring out the monarch's character, would present the things the monarch cared about or hated most—then some people would naturally be in for trouble... This kind of thing happened in antiquity and will inevitably happen in the future.

Of course, as key figures in the Council and the inner court, and with His Majesty recently showing obvious impatience with the five men in this side chamber, some matters certainly could not be handled by them personally.

"Pick a good candidate!"

Kang Lü reminded the Grand Chancellor of the Great Song once more, then clasped his hands and turned to leave. Yang Yizhong, not daring to be negligent, actually followed him out directly and, despite his own esteemed status as a Palace Attendant, personally held up a paper umbrella to shield this Chief Steward of the Great Song's Inner Palace Service from wind and rain.

The remaining three men in the chamber looked at one another in dismay and said nothing more.

PS: Thanks to the new alliance leaders "You're Sick, See a Doctor," "I'll Move the Train Station Over," "Sky Mirror 1900," as well as "Wei Mang 0930," "Eat Gaba Cai," "Shao Ni Le," "Drunken One Sword," "Wei Xiao Wang," "A Bowl of Instant Noodles," "Qing Wei," and many more... All are old readers of *Covering Han* coming to support—endlessly grateful.

In the dead of night, I pressed Xiao Jiu's head to kowtow in front of the screen—one kowtow for each tip, not a single one missed.