The Minister of Rites, Xu Lirong, hurriedly walked out of the platoon and knelt down.
"Your Majesty, you can't, you can't. Although Xixia is small, it's the horn of the Liao Kingdom. If you insult the Xixia emissary, I'm afraid it will push Li Xia Kingdom to the Liao Kingdom's side, which will be detrimental to our dynasty.”
Minister of Revenue Qian Youqing seconded." Your Majesty, please retract your order. The current plan is to not agree to the request of the Western Xia. There is no need to expel and humiliate them.”
The Minister of Official Personnel Affairs, Wu Xianfei, also came out with an ivory board and reported,"Your Majesty, Xixia has been established for thirty years, while Liao has been established for more than a hundred years. Now is the time for us to form an alliance with Xixia. We can resist the Khitans in the north, Tubo and Uighurs in the west. I beg Your Majesty to withdraw the order and stabilize the Great Wall.”
The Minister of War Yu Hui, the Minister of Justice Mao Jingyu, the Minister of Works Yu Li Chao, and the other ministers all followed suit…
Zhao Xu stood up abruptly and said in a clear voice,"
"I have already made up my mind. There is no need to say anything more. Xixia has been a vassal state of Great Song for more than 80 years. It is already rebellious to become an independent country.”
"This is an edict. If anyone mentions taking back the order again, they will be executed immediately!”
In an instant, the throne room fell silent. Zhao Xu's imposing manner immediately suppressed those officials who were good at political debate.
Even Sima Guang was slightly moved. The new Emperor's words of righteousness and strictness were also true. However, it had been too long since the Emperor had said these words. Ever since the Zhenzong Dynasty, the Imperial Court had always valued peace with the outside world.
To put it bluntly, it was like spending money to beg for peace. It was extremely cowardly. However, after decades, the ministers and the people had gotten used to it and were content with it.
Although the Emperor was young, his strategic vision was extraordinary. Sima Guang slowly walked out of the line and bowed,"
"Your Majesty is wise. This is a matter of great right and wrong. The punishment of pricking words is appropriate. Your Majesty is arbitrary and protects the might of the Great Song.”
When everyone saw Sima Guang like this, they all retreated back to the line and looked at Sima Guang with a bitter expression.
"Sima Guang, how is your Zi Zhi Tong Jian?”Zhao Xu sat down and asked.
"Your Majesty, the late emperor set up a bureau to hire me to compile a book called Zi Zhi Tong Jian. I have led 200 scholars from the Imperial Academy and the Dragon Pavilion to compile the history of the Northern and Southern Dynasties.”
"This matter is important. I have already ordered Ouyang Xiu of Chuzhou and Su Shi of Lingnan to return to the court to assist you in compiling. In addition, Wang Anshi will return to the court. I am prepared to promote Wang Anshi to the position of Minister of Political Affairs.”
"Thank you, Lord!" Sima Guang hurriedly knelt down, his heart filled with joy.
Sima Guang was the representative of the scholar-bureaucrats and one of the leaders of the literary world.
As long as one was a scholar-bureaucrat, there was no one who did not regard the prime minister as the highest ideal, because only in this way could they realize their ambitions.
Of course, Sima Guang would never know if his ambition and Emperor Zhao Xu's ambition were in conflict.
The reason why Zhao Xu promoted Sima Guang as prime minister was due to his full consideration. Sima Guang and Ouyang Xiu were the representatives of the officials, and the other was Wang Anshi.
Wang Anshi's official position was not as good as Sima Guang's because Wang Anshi was not a party member. Ouyang Xiu and Sima Guang were particular about party struggles.
If Wang Anshi was promoted to Prime Minister, there would be a huge storm in the court.
This was in conflict with Zhao Xu's administration. What Zhao Xu needed now was the unity of the monarch and his subjects to get through this extraordinary period of time when he had just ascended the throne.
After all, it would take some time to digest the fact that the Empress Dowager was under house arrest and Prime Minister Han Qi was ousted.
Sima Guang being the Prime Minister was in line with the expectations of the officials in the court. Han Qi was too slippery as an official, mediocre, and had no strength of character. His students and old officials slowly left him and joined Sima Guang and Su Xun.
The year was called Xining, and Zhao Xu's first day of court was fierce, shocking all the officials.
When they found out that the Empress Dowager had been placed under house arrest and that the power of the Imperial Army had been taken back by the new Emperor overnight, all the officials were speechless. Was this the return of Taizu Zhao Kuangyin's ruling style?
However, it didn't seem like it. Even Zhao Kuangyin didn't dare to make such a big fuss and put the Empress Dowager under house arrest. This was simply the style of the First Emperor.
Was Great Song going to change the world?
After the court session ended, the ministers whispered to each other and began to discuss.
In the Great Song's officialdom, there was freedom of speech. The officials spoke freely and were used to the discussions in the internal court.
A few third-rank officials and above began to discuss anxiously outside the palace gate.
"Minister, His Majesty is wise and divine. He is simply a different person from when he was the Crown Prince! It was hard to imagine whether it was a blessing or a curse.”
"Imperial Censor, this old man also has this doubt. This old man once served the current emperor in the Crown Prince's residence, it's like a completely different person.”
"Milords, be careful that the walls have ears. From my point of view, the current Emperor is different from the previous emperors. I only stole a glance at the Emperor and felt that it was as if I could see through your thoughts. Perhaps a promising ruler has arrived in my Song Dynasty. The matter of the current dynasty berating the Western Xia is proof.”
"Lord Gu's words hit the nail on the head. This lowly official also feels the same way.”
……
In Yanfu Palace, Zhao Xu was reading the memorial.
These memorials were all found in the Empress Dowager's bedroom. It turned out that when Yingzong was seriously ill, the old lady had already ordered Prime Minister Han Qi to send all the memorials to her.
Zhao Xu frowned slightly. When he remembered that the old lady had been placed under house arrest, he relaxed and focused on reading the memorial.
There were many memorials, including one sent by the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Lu Wenzhong, requesting the Imperial Court to send troops to support Jiaozhi, as well as money and grain.
There was a memorial from Fan Quanfu from Hebei Province to the Liao frontline requesting for military rations.
The Minister of Revenue Qian Youqing petitioned for the distribution of relief silver, but he said that the national treasury had less than 200,000 strings of money.
……
There were a total of eighty-seven memorials.
They were all asking for money, and the national treasury had no money.
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