In the early morning, although there is a cool breeze, the doors and windows of the palace are deeply hidden, so the whole hall is still stuffy. The palace maids standing in the hall are soaked with sweat and clinging to their bodies. However, the current owner of the palace really doesn't have this interest.

Zhao Zhushi Le was lying on his back on the high couch, his body was half-covered, his face was flushed and swollen and full of sickness, and there was frequent fine sweat between his sideburns. The years are the most ruthless, and all the people who are alive, whether they are noble or humble or not, will inevitably be strengthened by the spring and autumn period. In previous years, he was seriously injured and his flesh and blood were blurred, and he was still able to fight fiercely, but now he has not improved even when he feels the wind and cold, and he has repeated it repeatedly.

Even more unbearable than the sick body was the anxiety in his heart, and the small setback suffered by the Southern Expedition, although Shi Le was quite dissatisfied, but it was not difficult to accept, after all, there was no battle to win. No one knows this better than Schler. However, a series of changes caused by this in China have made the already complex situation even more unclear.

The defeat on the front line has made many existing disputes more acute, and some contradictions that were originally just undercurrents have also surfaced one after another and turned into-for-tat entanglements.

For example, who should be responsible for this failure, and how to deal with and remedy it, there are different opinions inside and outside the government and the opposition.

Some say that the defeat and humiliation of the army caused by the light of the enemy by the king of Zhongshan, and he should be severely punished to set an example. Some said that this was not a good opportunity to pursue the remnants of the Jin, and that the army was too hasty to move south this time, without a thorough preparation. Others blamed the front-line generals on the constraints of each other and the inability to unite as one, thus giving the southerners an opportunity to take advantage of.

Of course, there is another argument, that is, the reason why the army was defeated was mainly because Shi Le transferred Shi Kan, the king of Pengcheng, back to the country, which caused Xu Zhen to fall into chaos, and it was a military taboo to change the generals in battle, and now he has tasted the consequences, which is a matter of course.

Although few people dare to talk about this kind of view publicly, it is bound to exist. Many arguments, each with its own opinion, are all organized and orderly, and it is impossible to argue. But in fact, Shile was the founder of the beginning, so why should others talk about military gains and losses! Many arguments are of no avail, but only add to the annoyance.

Of course, Shi Le also knew in his heart that these people seemed to be talking about current affairs, but in fact, they were just using this incident to express their respective demands and positions. They all seem to be concerned about the society and put state affairs first, but if you tear off that layer of skin, the inside is full of private schemes, meaningless loyalty and treachery, and they are all punishable!

Perhaps because of his old age and declining ambition, Shile has been reminiscing about his deeds lately. At that time, although he was only a humble and humble man, and he did not eat two meals all day, he did not have to face so many troubles now, and he was able to run rampant in the countryside with his bravery, which can be described as enjoyable.

Now he is the lord of the Central Plains, and all the people in the Shishu are worshiped at his feet, and he is respected, but every day when he opens his eyes, there are endless troubles in front of him, and he does not dare to slack off. He ruled the Central Plains with Hu Zhong, and the difficulties were several times greater than that of Liu Yuanhai, who pretended to be a Han protégé, so the effort and hardship required were also several times greater. Lest for a moment that the seemingly obedient people will reveal their true nature as jackals and will turn against their masters!

In order to avoid listening to those objectionable voices, Schler simply stopped the fixed court meeting, but the disturbance in the country was by no means so that it could be pretended to be invisible. Even if the country can be suppressed by its prestige, Siyi has to be guarded against.

The southern expedition was frustrated, and Shi Le himself was also remorseful, he had always felt that the remnants of Jin were weak and vulnerable, but now it seems that he is still too optimistic about the enemy. In particular, it has to be said that it is a little sloppy to transfer Shi Kan back to China for internal use.

But even if he realized this, even if he could start all over again, Schler would have to do so. This is his helplessness as the master, and it is also the inevitable result of the current situation in China.

Even if the martyr is in his twilight years, Shi Le has to admit that at his current age, it is difficult to have more opportunities and space for development, and more energy needs to be focused on the inheritance of the heir. This is not only to preserve his life's work, but also to give an account to a kind of followers.

Shiler himself was not a mean monarch, and he was willing to give his followers a satisfactory result. But the problem is that people have endless desires, and they all compete for the top, and if they ask for and take, then the world will never be peaceful.

There are many truths that Shiler does not understand, but understanding does not mean that there is a way to solve them. For example, as to how his nephew Shi Hu should be placed, Shi Le's heart is full of contradictions. From the bottom of his heart, Shi Le is willing to believe in Shi Hu and entrust him with a heavy responsibility, but the problem is that Shi Hu is too sharp and flamboyant, and even he has to be on guard against it. It is really a blessing and a curse for such a strong minister to leave to his children.

But what could he do? Although the prince Shi Daya is quite worthy of the name of benevolence and righteousness, or has more than enough to keep it, he really does not have the eloquence to create a great cause. As for the other sons, they are either unbearable in talent or young age, and it is difficult to reuse them at all.

Therefore, the existence of Shihu, the king of Zhongshan, is the guarantee that his family's meritorious deeds can be preserved and passed on. Even if there is a lot of dissatisfaction with Shi Hu in his heart, he can't directly get rid of Shi Hu and do that kind of stupid thing to destroy the city.

But Shi Hu is a sharp blade, and if he hurts others, he can also hurt himself, if there is no checks and balances, it is really difficult to control. He can still suppress the situation now, Shi Hu has been disrespectful, if he is an heir in the future, you can imagine how arrogant he will be.

In fact, Shi Le did not think about the possibility of passing on the heir to Shi Hu. But one is inevitable after all, he is selfish, worried that Shi Hu will not be able to treat his descendants well, and secondly, it is really contrary to the law to abolish his heirs, and it is inevitable that he will be regarded as despicable, and Shi Hu himself is not able to subdue the choice of the public. This is not a good choice, both in public and private.

During this period of time, there have been constant discussions in China about how to deal with King Zhongshan, which is generally manifested in two attitudes. One is that the king of Zhongshan defeated the enemy, which insulted the majesty of the national body and must be severely punished. On the other hand, they believe that victory and defeat are common, and that the people of the country are not good at water warfare, and it is really unreasonable to severely punish the commander of the army if they lose the first battle.

The former wanted to take the opportunity to attack the King of Zhongshan, mostly out of consideration for self-consolidation, and did not consider what kind of bad impact it would have on the army of the Southern Expedition if he did so. And the latter's connivance and protection of Shi Hu is obvious, which is also where Shi Le's worries lie.

These two arguments were at odds, and Shile himself was so difficult to make a decision that he simply hung in the air, waiting for a turn in the south.

Another problem that troubles Shiler is that the recent big moves in the country have been frequent, all of which are planned for long-term peace and stability, but they have also violated the interests of some people. Taking advantage of the unfavorable war in the south, many voices of argument that wanted to stop the new policy were also heard inside and outside the government and the opposition.

In particular, some elders of the Qiang nationality expressed their opposition hoarsely, and even some people said that Shi Le's doing this was to give up the hard-won Qiang Kingdom to the Jin people. And these people are also the ones who are trying to protect the Zhongshan King Shihu. Not only were they dissatisfied with many of Shi Le's new policies, but they were even dissatisfied with the fact that the crown prince Shi Daya was born to the Jin people, and they had already regarded Shi Hu as the protector of their rights and interests.

If someone else dared to resist so blatantly, Shi Le could have raised the butcher's knife high and suppressed it bloodily. But in the face of the people's dissenting thoughts, he felt quite a sense of helplessness.

He was already sick and sick, coupled with many troubles in his heart, which made Shi Le feel that the dignity of the emperor was not as calm as that of the Hanfu's pawn, and his spirit was even more sluggish and tired, and he almost couldn't sleep all night.

At this time, Yan Zhen, the regular attendant, reported that Cheng Yao was knocking outside the palace to invite him to see.

Shi Le has recently dismissed the affairs of the court, and if there is no edict, it is rare for the foreign ministers to see him. Hearing Yan Zhen's announcement, Shi Le's eyes couldn't help but skip a trace of gloom and disgust, and he just turned over and sat up from the couch, not saying whether he was summoned or not.

Seeing this, Yan Zhen naturally didn't dare to urge, but just hung his head and stood by.

After another while, other courtiers invited to see him, Shi Le cheered up, sorted out his clothes after drinking the decoction, and turned to the side hall to summon him, but he never mentioned Cheng Yao in his words. In this way, it was not until the evening that he casually asked Yan Zhen: "Is he still outside the palace?" ”

After receiving an affirmative answer, Shi Le sneered and said: "The traitor is disgusting, wasn't he terminally ill and didn't dare to see the filthy body before?" If he is really sick to death, he can give him a mourning. ”

Despite saying this, Shi Le still asked Cheng Yao to summon Cheng Yao to the palace.

After a short time, Cheng Yao hurriedly entered the palace, kowtowed and asked for sin, saying that he was sick out of place, and he couldn't share the labor when the state affairs were busy, which was really disappointing.

The relationship between the monarch and the minister has been extremely bad, and for Cheng Yao, Shi Le is even less polite on the surface, and after hearing the words, there is no lack of ridicule: "I don't know when your house invited a sage of medicine and Taoism, the day before yesterday was still very sick, and today he can talk steadily and lively." ”

Cheng Yao's face couldn't help but become even more ugly after hearing this, but he kowtowed again and again, not daring to say more. He naturally knew that it would be difficult for him to get a good face, but he had to come. Previously, Xu Guang said that in his mansion, Liu Shizhong, his name was Liu Yan, and he was the brother of Queen Liu. Liu Yan himself is nothing, but Tu Ge is just a lowly person, not only from a humble background, but also even more unbearable, but because of the relationship between the queen, he is still in the court.

Previously, Cheng Yao didn't take Liu Yan in his eyes, because Shi Le also knew that Liu Yan's talents were unusable, and he was just idle in the court. But now he is being left by Shi Le's side, and there is no lack of meaning to promote cultivation, which makes Cheng Yao feel a strong crisis. It is true that he is the prince's own uncle, but the queen is the prince's mother-in-law, and in terms of Fali, Liu Yan's status as an uncle is even higher than that of Cheng Yao.

Shi Le's attitude is obviously extremely dissatisfied with Cheng Yao, and he is even about to replace him with Liu Yan. Liu Yan alone is not enough to pose a mortal threat to him, but if you add Pengcheng Wang Shikan, the adopted son of the queen, it will cause him huge pressure, and even directly replace his position next to the prince in the future! In this way, how dare Cheng Yao be willful and awkward, after weighing the house for a night, he hurriedly entered the palace before dawn to watch the direction of the wind.