Chapter 276

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your great kindness; even if this servant were to be crushed to pieces, it would be hard to repay a ten-thousandth of Your Highness's great grace."

The little eunuch Li Goudan, no, it should be Li Dequan, was overjoyed and kowtowed repeatedly, his words ringing with sincerity.

He had not expected that he, who had nowhere to go

and was forced to stay in this hall, would actually receive such a heaven-sent opportunity.

To be named by the Emperor; this was a treatment only those great eunuchs of the past had.

As for the May May Ren Wang before him not yet being the Emperor?

Now, as long as one had discerning eyes, who couldn't see who was the new master of the world?

This His Highness the May May Ren Wang was only one set of enthronement ceremonies away from that supreme position!

"What a lucky kid."

Looking at Li Dequan, who was kneeling in front of Zhang Jie and kowtowing continuously,

even Song Wan felt a lot of jealousy in his heart.

You have to know that there was no such creature as a eunuch on Liang Shan,

and once Zhang Jie took over the Imperial Palace, wouldn't this little eunuch, who had received Zhang Jie's naming

and seized the opportunity, rise to the top in one step,

leaping to become the Grand Manager of the Inner Palace, who was below one person and above ten thousand?

That treacherous chancellor Cai Jing was known as someone who could summon wind and rain and cover the sky with one hand in the outer court, but in the inner palace of the Great Song,

there were also Tongguan and Liang Shicheng, these two great eunuchs, who were on par with him.

Even the status of the great eunuchs was above his:

There was a saying in the Song court that Tongguan was the "Public Chancellor" and Cai Jing was the "Matron Chancellor"!

In terms of the relationship with the Emperor, these eunuchs, who had lost their roots, their families, and their brothers and sisters,

and could only rely on the Emperor, were naturally closer than the civil and military officials who were outer ministers!

"Get up."

Zhang Jie looked casually at Li Dequan, whose forehead was already bright red, and said in a calm tone.

Naming him Li Dequan was originally just a bit of mischievous humor and a casual move;

it would be great if it could be used, and it wouldn't be a pity if it couldn't.

If it weren't for the fact that the hundreds or thousands of eunuchs in the Imperial Palace couldn't be dismissed directly,

to be honest, as a modern person before transmigrating, he didn't want to use eunuchs.

For anyone with a conscience and a basic sense of right and wrong, the system of eunuchs, which artificially created incompleteness

just to satisfy the selfish desires of those in power, was inhumane.

After all, for a man, when his body's important parts were incomplete,

then his spirit and soul were no longer complete either.

It was not without reason that there were so many perverts among eunuchs.

But now was not the time to think about eunuchs;

what was important now was how to deal with these two Great Song Emperors.

Zhang Jie turned his head to look at Song Huizong Zhao Ji, whose face was pale and bloodless, and smiled:

"Your Majesty, we meet again."

He felt some emotion in his heart; during the palace examination, Zhao Ji didn't even look at him,

and just because of a poem "Mountain Slope Sheep: Thoughts on Tongguan" that he had borrowed, he demoted him directly.

It was only because he was a transmigrator that he had no feelings for the Great Song.

Otherwise, for an ordinary scholar, not being liked by the Emperor,

and being demoted to the position of Vice-Commander of the Qingzhou Militia—a "three-no" official position with no power, no money,

and no future—would basically mean his life was ruined.

But today, although Zhao Ji was still sitting on the dragon chair, the situation of offense and defense had changed.

"Official Zhang, long time no see."

Zhao Ji, whose face was pale and bloodless, managed to squeeze out a smile and replied dryly.

"Please address His Highness the May May Ren Wang with respect, Your Majesty!"

Song Wan heard Zhao Ji's address to Zhang Jie and couldn't help but widen his eyes in anger.

A mere Emperor of the fake Song, what qualification did he have to dare to call their master "Official"?

Looking at the blade still dripping with blood in Song Wan's hand, Zhao Ji was shocked, knowing that times were different now,

and Zhang Jie was no longer the Top Scholar he could knead at will, so he had to say again:

"Your, Your Highness the May May Ren Wang, long time no see."

"I am reminiscing with the Emperor; why are you interrupting, and why don't you step back?"

Zhang Jie scolded Song Wan with feigned anger.

Although he also looked down on Zhao Ji, who was ambitious but lacked talent, and could do everything

except be an Emperor, he still had to keep up appearances.

"Yes."

Song Wan lowered his head and responded, obediently stepping back a few paces,

but his two eyes were still fixed on Zhao Ji and Zhao Huan,

and if there was anything wrong, the big blade in his hand would slash at them.

"Your Majesty, my subordinate doesn't understand things; I hope you were not frightened."

Zhang Jie smiled apologetically at Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji hurriedly smiled back: "Not at all, not at all, it's just a small matter."

Although he saw that Zhang Jie was just putting on an act, he knew it was best not to expose him.

After all, Zhang Jie was now the butcher's knife, and he was the fish, and his life was only in Zhang Jie's words.

Watching the two smiling tigers smiling and exchanging pleasantries there, as if one were not the emperor of a fallen state,

and the other were not the number one rebel who had overthrown the Great Song, but rather like old friends who hadn't seen each other for years,

Zhao Huan, whose depth was still shallow, couldn't help but ask the question they were most concerned about now:

"Your Highness the May May Ren Wang, I wonder how you will deal with us father and son later?"

Hearing this, Zhao Ji, who was pretending to be calm, could no longer keep it up.

Thinking of what his ancestors had done to the last rulers of the Later Zhou, Later Shu,

Southern Tang, and Wuyue, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

Although since Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin came to power by wearing the yellow robe at Chen Qiao

and seized the empire of the Later Zhou Chai family, he had always emphasized treating the Later Zhou royal family well,

for example, demoting the Later Zhou Emperor Gong, Chai Zongxun, to the Prince of Zheng, moving him to the Western Capital Luoyang,

and later moving him to Fangzhou, while always maintaining the treatment of an emperor.

He also guaranteed that the sacrifices to the Later Zhou ancestral temple and imperial tombs would not be interrupted, and sent officials to worship and sacrifice on time.

He also built a Later Zhou ancestral temple in Luoyang and sent special personnel to be responsible for sacrificial matters.

After Chai Zongxun passed away, Taizu even wore plain clothes to mourn,

suspended the court for ten days, posthumously titled him Emperor Gong, and buried him next to the Later Zhou imperial tombs.

But the many twists and turns in this, others might not know,

but he, the Great Song Emperor who had governed the Great Song for more than ten years, knew it clearly.

Chai Zongxun was enfeoffed as the Prince of Zheng, and 13 years later he suddenly "fell ill" and died, with an unknown cause of death.

Other members of the Later Zhou royal family, such as Chai Xijin, died unclearly in the early Great Song,

and others like Chai Xihui and Chai Xirang disappeared without a trace.

It could be said that most of the sons of the Later Zhou Emperor Shizong, Chai Rong, did not have a good end.

The Chai family, which still held the iron certificate of immunity issued by Taizu,

in terms of blood relationship, actually had little to do with the Later Zhou Emperor Shizong, Chai Rong.

If it could be said that Taizu Zhao Kuangyin at least maintained a superficial decency,

then Taizong Zhao Guangyi was nakedly direct; the last ruler of Southern Tang, Li Yu,

the ruler of Later Shu, Faced Meng Chang, and the ruler of Wuyue, Qian Chu, all died at his hands.

In the third year of Qiande (965), the ruler of Later Shu, Faced Meng Chang, was escorted to Kaifeng,

enfeoffed as the Duke of Qin, and died suddenly seven days later; the cause of death was related to the wine bestowed by Taizong.

The last ruler of Southern Tang, Li Yu, on his 42nd birthday (978 AD) on the Qixi Festival,

because he wrote "Yu Mei Ren" to express the pain of his fallen state, was poisoned to death by Taizong with "Qianji" wine.

On the 60th birthday of the ruler of Wuyue, Qian Chu (988 AD),

he died suddenly after being bestowed wine by Taizong's envoy at his birthday banquet.

It could be said that not a single fallen ruler had a good end at the hands of the Great Song.

For a moment, regarding his own future, Zhao Ji only felt it was dark, without a shred of light,

fearing that in the next second Zhang Jie would send a three-foot white silk or bestow a cup of poisoned wine.

"The first two generations of the Zhao family were also ruthless enough; they deserve to be the ruthless men who killed their way out of the chaotic times of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, where warriors ran rampant, human life was as cheap as grass,

and slaughtering cities and eating people was a common occurrence."

Also thinking of the ruthlessness of Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi's methods, Zhang Jie couldn't help but click his tongue.

While clicking his tongue, he also glared at Zhao Ji and Zhao Huan with hatred for their lack of ability.

If they could have had three-tenths of the ability and ruthlessness of Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi,

how could they have brewed the Jingkang Incident, which could be called a scandal for the ages?