After the generals retreated, Yelu Dashi stopped Tong Guan and asked, "King Zheng, how feasible do you think King Jin's strategy is?" ”

Tong Guan was a little flattered, and hurriedly replied: "King Jin's strategy is very feasible. He paused for a moment, then added, "It's just that I can't be in a hurry." He subconsciously looked at the door of the imperial account. Although King Yelu of Jin is not favored, for some reason, Tong Guan is a little afraid of him. When he was left by Yelu Dashi to ask for his opinion on Yelu's situation, he was both excited and uneasy.

"In a hurry? What is the meaning? ”

Tong Guan said cautiously: "When the minister was in the Southern Dynasty, he also saw similar things. If the minister is impeached at the beginning, the official family will definitely not believe it, however, there are always some doubts in their hearts, at this time, if the political enemy jumps out in a hurry to play, it is not yet known who will die. At this time, you have to be in a hurry, telling the official family one thing today, and telling the official family another thing tomorrow, it is irrelevant, but it secretly matches the original suspicion of the official family. Over time, the suspicion of the official family became heavier and heavier, and instead hoped that the powerful minister would come out to bring down this person, at this time, the official family itself would reveal this meaning. When he finished speaking, he lowered his head and did not dare to look at it.

Yelu Dashi thought for a while, was silent for a while, shook his head and smiled: "It seems that it is not easy to be a traitor. ”

This sentence frightened Tong Guan's heart and gall, and he hurriedly pleaded guilty: "Your Majesty has seen thousands of miles, and the minister does not dare to deceive, so this is just a truthful report." Your Majesty, yesterday's minister is dead, since the return to Your Majesty, the minister seems to have regained his life, the old slave to the Great Liao, to His Majesty's loyalty, every day can be seen. ”

"Alright, alright." Yelu Dashi waved his hand, he looked at Tong Guan with a playful smile in his eyes, "The more traitorous the Southern Dynasty, the more loyal my Daliao is the more." The orange of Huainan, the orange of Huaibei, maybe this is the destiny of my Daliao? His joking tone, Tong Guan would never believe it. Speaking of the Mandate of Heaven, he didn't dare to argue, but he heard Yelu Dashi say again: "One thing descends one thing, Zhao Qi is making such a big fuss in Xiangyang, I can't say that I have to borrow his imperial brother to suppress it, but, I heard that Zhao Ke is not very obedient now?" King Zheng, do you have any way to make Zhao Ke's heart go to me? ”

The so-called companion is like a tiger, and unconsciously, Tong Guan's vest is already sweaty. It was also his errand to monitor Zhao Ke and the servants around him, but this time in the southern expedition, Yelu Dashi left Zhao Ke in the Liao army camp on the outskirts of Bianliang, but took Tong Guan with him. I don't know whether it's defense or reuse, this alone makes Tong Guan a little frightened. He couldn't guess what Yelu Dashi's intention was in asking this question, so he could only bow his head and say: "Zhao, Zhao Ke is half-hearted, most likely instigated by the people around him. He thought about a few people, and said, "Queen Zhu is the daughter of Zhu Bernard, the envoy of the first Wuchang Army, and her father resisted stubbornly in Zhu Xianyi and was killed by Wang Shi. Prime Minister Zhao Zhifu and others, although they are deferential on the surface, are still quite hostile to our dynasty. The so-called red ones who are close to Zhu and black ones who are close to ink, the old slave thinks that if these people are gone, Zhao Ke's side will be replaced by a group of ministers who are more loyal to my Daliao, and most of them will have some impact on Zhao Ke. ”

Yelu Dashi thought for a moment, nodded and said, "What King Zheng said is right. However, the world is undecided, and I still want to use Zhao Zhifu, the former ministers of the Song Dynasty, as signboards, to temporarily restrict him from meeting with Zhao Ke. As for that Empress Zhu? Let Zhao Ke abolish her by himself, in the future, Da Liao and Da Song will be the same family, and I will instruct the North Courtyard to select a woman from the Yelu clan and set up another queen for him. ”

............

Zhao Qi suddenly announced that Xiangyang was in action, which put a lot of pressure on Chen Dong. In recent days, Ezhou has been very lively, and there are sixty or seventy prefectures and counties that have learned to sacrifice wine to Ezhou. These people inevitably visit each other. According to Huang Zhoushan's statement, in order to make the ministers of the DPRK and China work together, the official positions such as the six Shangshu were determined by the prime minister, which involved the interests of many people. Chen Dong couldn't get out of these contacts, and he didn't dare to slack off on these people, and after working hard during the day, he dealt with political affairs at night. At dusk that day, someone suddenly reported that Mr. Huang Zhoushan was visiting. Chen Dong was overjoyed, and ordered the servants to hurry up and invite Zhao Xingde to come over the mansion, and personally went to the gate of the mansion to welcome Huang Jian in.

"When did Mr. Zhoushan arrive in Ezhou?" After sitting down, Chen Dong smiled and said: "Chen Mou had the intention to visit Mr. Chen a long time ago, but because of all the complicated things, he couldn't be separated. ”

Huang Jian looked at the layout of the hall, and he had a strange feeling about the upcoming election of the prime minister in Ezhou, as if his children had suddenly grown up, but he felt a little strange. He actually arrived in Ezhou a few days ago, but he has been secretly observing, wanting to listen more and see more about the situation in Ezhou. However, this time I came to see Chen Dong for the sake of donating my life.

After a while, the servant had already made new tea for the guests and hosts from Wuyi Mountain, Fujian. Although Chen Dong has a rich family, after arriving in Ezhou, he used money everywhere, often taking money from his own pocket to make up for it, and his benefits from Yajiaoxing were no longer enough to make ends meet. In order to be an example of a hundred officials, he deliberately paid attention to thrift and self-worship. Therefore, if it weren't for a visit from a master like Huang Jian, he would not have brought out such a good tea to entertain him. After the two exchanged pleasantries, the topic turned to the election of the prime minister, which is now in full swing.

"Shaoyang," Huang Jian's face was clear, he took a sip of tea, and frowned slightly, "Huang proposed that the state selects scholars by imperial examinations, selects talented people by building schools, and the school elects state and county prime ministers by public discussion, and has the right to supervise impeachment." The original intention is to combine the power of the sages of the world to create a peaceful and prosperous world. However, along the way, Huang saw that many states and counties were flooded with donors, and even in some places, the number of donated students had exceeded the original number of scholars. In this way, the power of state and county officials, prime ministers, and even future supervision and impeachment seems to be entrusted to some people, right? ”

Huang Jian's words made Chen Dong a little embarrassed. In the prefectures and counties where the Son of Heaven did not obey the orders of chaos, not only did he open an opening for donating his life, but also broke through the quota of county schools set by the imperial court during the Chongning period, and the number of students far exceeded the limit of 50 in large counties, 40 in middle counties, and 30 in small counties. There are even people who advocate that the size of the county should be considered when electing the prime minister, and the small counties with few births can only be nominated by one sacrificial wine, while the large counties with many births will send three people to participate in the election of the prime minister. In Chen Dong's eyes, the matter of electing the prime minister has been extremely messy, and at this time, Huang Jian, the great Confucian of the time who first advocated the public election system, came to the door, which made him feel like he was caught on the spot.

After pondering for a while, Chen Dong still decided to tell the truth, and sighed: "Don't hide it from Mr. Huang, the situation in front of you is easier said than done." Now the Liao army is pressing, and the original treasury of the southeast prefecture and county is extremely empty. If you want to expel the northern captives, you have to recruit and raise soldiers, and if you want to recruit and raise soldiers, you need money and food. ”

Huang Jian shook his head and said: "In this way, the local tyrants control the prefectures and counties, and the system of public elections is implemented, not the sages rule the world, but the powerful and rich households govern the world." Most of these donors donate money to enter the county school, not for the sake of Xiaochang etiquette and righteousness, to help the world and save the people, but the officials they elect must be biased towards the rich and powerful, and even the common people. They will even treat donating lives and electing officials as a business. Since then, it has been like selling officials in the Eastern Han Dynasty. There was a deep melancholy on his clear countenance.

"That's what the gentleman said." Chen Dong felt guilty in his heart, and he didn't know if Huang Jianxiao didn't know that the Li Society was also secretly funding the poor scholars in those societies to donate their students to school, explaining, "This is just an expedient measure, after the expulsion of the northern captives, after the restoration of the old mountains and rivers, the imperial court will not lack money and food, so it is natural to cancel this donation system." But now the situation has to be like this. The younger generation thought that the top priority was to expel the northern captives. A county school can get 500 yuan for donating students, it can support 10 soldiers, 1,000 donors can raise 10,000 soldiers, and ordinary people don't need to pay a penny more......" said this, his eyes were a little bright, "Don't hide it, sir, this fake prime minister who controls the situation, Chen is determined to come out and bear it." This road is not easy to walk, and Chen has discredited him and has ignored it. This move is not for personal fame, but for the world! After the world is peaceful, Chen should hang his crown and leave, or let the people of insight in the world choose another meritocracy. I also hope that Mr. Zhoushan will support the younger generation. After finishing speaking, Chen Dong stood up and bowed deeply to Huang Jian.

Huang Jian's eyes were complicated, and he sighed deeply. Today's situation, with his fame, is very important.

In the Yellow Crane Tower, a group of scholars from various states and counties are gathering for a banquet, and the center of everyone's discussion is still the choice of prime minister. Chen Dong is naturally the first to be expected, and some people respect Hou Huanyin, who pacified Jingdong and the two roads, and choked the back of the Liao thief, and some people feel that the current situation is turbulent, both civil and military, and Zhao Xingde, who has just defeated the Liao army, is more suitable to be the prime minister.

"Although Mr. Zhao Yuanzhi is good, his subordinates are not strict, and the troops harass the prefectures and counties, and the local people are full of complaints. It's not appropriate, it's not appropriate. Xu Guodong heard someone muttering beside him, and couldn't help but look at each other angrily. Ma Yuan hurriedly pulled his sleeve and persuaded: "Don't make trouble for this, what good things can people who don't want Mr. Zhao to be the prime minister say?" Liu Wengu, Jia Yuanzhen and others also nodded yes.

At this time, some people were chirping and muttering: "Chen Dong himself flaunts the clear stream of science, but marries a Bianliang singer as his wife, which is really hypocritical." In my opinion, compared with Mr. Jingdong Hou, who is consistent in his words and deeds, he is a complete villain. Someone next to him actually praised him and said: "Brother Tai is really as wise as a torch, and he can see through the true face of this hypocrite at a glance." ”