Zhao Zhen frowned slightly, thought for a while, and said, "Then in your opinion, how to deal with it?" ”

Zhang Yaozuo said: "The minister thinks that he should cut through the chaos quickly, and after destroying Liao, he should turn his head and destroy the Xia Kingdom, if it weren't for Lord Su's efforts to stop it, the ministers of the court would have passed the court discussion, and the minister knew that he would raise a tiger to leave a problem, but it's a pity that Lord Su stopped this, and today he has this worry." ”

Zhang Guifei interjected: "This Su Jin is also true, it's not because he and Xia Guo are relatives, one of his two wives is Li Yuanhao's daughter, and the other is Yeli Dulan's niece, can he not face them?" has lived up to the emperor's favor to him. ”

Zhao Zhen frowned and shouted: "National affairs, what are you talking nonsense?" ”

Zhang Guifei said in a low voice: "Originally, who doesn't know that Su Jin has a good relationship with Xia Guo, and he also helped Yeli Dulan to grasp power at the beginning, and people kept Xia Guo to leave a way back for themselves." ”

Zhao Zhen shouted: "Shut up." ”

Zhang Yaozuo hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, forgive the minister, Niangniang's worries are not unreasonable, as a major minister of the Great Song Dynasty, the relationship with other countries is so deep, it will inevitably arouse people's reverie, not only Niangniang thinks so, but many ministers in the court may also have such thoughts." ”

Zhao Zhen shook his head and said: "Su Aiqing will not be like this, he has done his best for my Great Song over the years, my Great Song can have today, Su Jin has great contributions, I don't allow you to say this." ”

Han Jiang, who had never spoken, suddenly said: "It's because the credit is too great, I'm afraid that the people of the world only know Master Su, not the emperor." ”

Zhao Zhen said angrily: "Bold Han Jiang, openly sow discord in front of me, I will severely punish you." ”

Han Jiang hurriedly knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, if you kill the minister, the minister came today with the heart of death, and the minister can't stand what Master Su has done, even if you want to kill the minister, you have to let the minister finish speaking." ”

Zhao Zhen said angrily: "Death? What is there in today's Great Song Dynasty that is worthy of your death? ”

Han Jiang kowtowed and said: "Today's Great Song Dynasty seems to be rich and powerful, but in the eyes of the ministers, it is an undercurrent; In today's world, there is no distinction between the government and the people, and the people are extravagant and indulged in pleasure; The principles of the sages are degraded, the moral conduct is corrupted, the merchants are higher than the scholars, and the women show their heads; The policies pursued by Su Jin seem to be rich countries, but they are actually rotting the foundation of our Great Song Dynasty; Do you know that he ordered that there is no need to teach the sages in the school, but to teach some side door left techniques, advocating what is an official may not be glorified and glorious, and everything can be the champion, etc., so that the children of the people are proud of studying to serve the court for the official, but they are all proud of the drill camp of the side doors, so in the past, how can the court have great Confucianism, and the country has pillars to inherit? I really can't stand it. ”

Zhao Zhen was shocked, and he was silent.

Han Jiang boldly continued: "Su Jin's many deeds have been involved, and his purpose in opening the Pearl Newspaper is to sway people's hearts. He built the entrance of the city and dug roads and ditches, although it was beneficial to my Great Song Dynasty, but for him personally, he used the favor of the court to buy people's hearts; There are nursery rhymes among the people: the day is at the end of the mountain, the moon rises in the middle of the night, the yellow warbler sings the green willows, and the wind is only the eagle...... The day is you, the bright moon is Su Jin, the yellow warbler is you, and the eagle is Su Jin; This is a satire on the decline of your imperial power, allowing Su Jin to do whatever he wants. ”

Zhao Zhen's face turned pale, and he pointed at Han Jiang and scolded angrily: "You...... You are so bold, you dare to talk nonsense to provoke the relationship between my monarch and ministers, if I don't punish you severely, how can I be angry, come to someone, drag him out and beat him to death. ”

The inner attendant came in from outside the curtain, dragged Han Jiang out, Zhang Yaozuo hurriedly knelt down and pleaded: "Your Majesty, the emperor is angry, Lord Han is also a loyal king, has anyone ever said these words to the emperor?" He told the emperor the truth, if the emperor did not allow him, who would dare to tell the truth to the emperor in the future? ”

Zhang Guifei also knelt down and pleaded: "Yes, the emperor, after Han Jiang is a loyal minister, three generations of a family are loyal martyrs of our dynasty, what he said may really have some truth and I don't know, the emperor can't kill him with a stick in a fit of anger, if it comes true afterwards, wouldn't he regret it?" Now that the court is full of people with the same tone as Su Jin, it is rare for someone to dare to say discordant words, who knows that what he says is a vain? ”

Zhao Zhen took a few deep breaths, waved his hand and sat down, "That's it." ”

The waiter put down Han Jiang and withdrew from the door, Han Jiang was frightened for a while, pouting his ass and lying on the ground crying, Zhao Zhen frowned and said: "Get up, such words are never allowed to be said again in the future, Su Jin is my Great Song Dongliang, my Great Song can be inseparable from him today, I salute him for three points, how can you say irresponsible things to him; Even if he made some mistakes, I believed that he was an unintentional mistake, and I reminded him that he would correct them, and he was a smart man. ”

Zhang Yaozuo hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, don't remind you of this matter, this will cause Su Jin's vigilance, and besides, knowing people and faces but not knowing their hearts, the emperor cares about him, and he also treats the emperor wholeheartedly?" Su Jin has meritorious service to the country, which is also due to the emperor's favor, thinking that he was just a businessman at the beginning, and the emperor's wisdom is like a torch to meet him, otherwise he would not be where he is today? Everything he did was given by the emperor, and his meritorious service to the Great Song Dynasty was also to repay the emperor, which was a matter of course; As a human king, how can you have the idea of personal friendship, everything you think about needs to start from the overall situation of society. ”

Zhao Zhen did not blame Zhang Yaozuo for being suspected of overstepping the admonition, he seemed familiar with these words, when he was in power, the old queen mother also said the same meaning to herself, as the emperor, the private feelings can only be put aside, and the problem will always be considered on the premise of the society; At the beginning of the founding of the Han and Tang dynasties, it is not surprising that rabbits and dead dogs cook birds and hide all the bows, in the final analysis, it is to ensure the continuation of the society and the stability of the imperial power.

"I don't want to hear anything like that again."

"The minister didn't mention it, but the minister had to say one thing, one thing can be used to guess whether Su Jin is wholeheartedly for my Great Song Dynasty and whether he is interested in the emperor."

"What's the matter?"

"Playing the emperor, it is the matter of the Xia country, the minister proposed to take advantage of the Xia country and the Uighur Tubo climate is not successful, should be rid of the trouble in one fell swoop, the Xia country lives in the northwest, it has long been a thorn on the back of my Great Song Dynasty, pull it out sooner and stop it sooner; Tomorrow morning, the minister proposed to wave the army to the Xia country, if Su Jin agreed, it was for the sake of my Great Song Dynasty, if he did not agree, the minister could only say that he was selfish at best, and at worst he harbored evil intentions. ”

Zhang Guifei said: "He will definitely not agree, that is his back road, maybe he has already transferred a large amount of money, silver and materials in the Xia Kingdom, is he willing to kill his relatives in righteousness?" Hongu doesn't believe it. ”

Zhao Zhen sighed, frowned and said, "What if...... If he really doesn't agree, what if that's fine? ”

Zhang Yaozuo said softly: "If he doesn't agree, that is to put my Great Song in danger, and then the emperor will be careful, the ministers dare not speak falsely, but how can the imperial power decline, that is, no matter whether Su Jin has any thoughts of non-division, in this matter, the emperor cannot condone him; Either achieve great things for all generations, or sit back and watch the chaos arise, it depends on the emperor's choice, and the minister is on the emperor's side anyway. ”

"The minister is also on the emperor's side, swearing to defend the emperor's supreme majesty." Han Jiang hurriedly expressed his position.

Zhao Zhen frowned, and said after a while: "Let me think about it, don't force me, let me think about it." ”

Zhang Yaozuo and Han Jiang glanced at each other, and the two said in unison: "If the ministers don't disturb the emperor, the ministers will retire." ”

Zhao Zhen waved his hand, and the two bowed and withdrew.

The sky gradually darkened, and the imperial study also darkened, Zhao Zhen did not let the chamberlain hold the lamp, drove everyone out, and sat there alone, the Baoshan incense cake in the brazier had burned out, the temperature in the room dropped sharply, getting colder and colder, and the cold Zhao Zhen curled up on the dragon couch and shivered a little.

This is not the first time that someone has spoken ill of Su Jin, in the past six months, the counselor Yan Wanqing, the imperial history of the Huang Zhongfu, the governor of the Privy Council Lao Zhichen and other people have come to secretly talk to him about Su Jin, some say that Su Jin has accumulated money, some say that he raised private soldiers, and some say that Su Jin will install all the key departments with his own people, under careful investigation, it is not complete nonsense.

Zhao Zhen thought about it carefully, most of the generals in charge of the Great Song Dynasty were now from Su Jin's subordinates of the Northwest Army, and even part of the Praetorian Guard was controlled by Su Jin's domestic slave dynasty Ma Han and others, if Su Jin really had different intentions, he was indeed very dangerous; Moreover, in the DPRK and China, from the political hall to the Privy Council to the three divisions and yamen, all of them are controlled by Su Jin's people, which is very different from the previous situation where the two parties competed for their own arbitration.

But Zhao Zhen can also see that Su Jin does not have any suspicious behavior, at least, all his actions on the surface are trying to make the Great Song Dynasty stronger and richer, and many of his actions are even applauded by Zhao Zhen, if he overshadows himself because of his merits, he will doubt him and suppress him, then wouldn't he become a faint king? Moreover, no matter how much he thinks he understands Su Jin, he still thinks that Su Jin is a mystery, he wants to use him, but he has to guard against him, a person he can't control, his danger will always exist.

Zhao Zhen warned himself that he couldn't be in a hurry, he needed to be tempted step by step, he couldn't provoke Su Jin, he had to let Su Jin understand quietly, who was the supreme authority of the Great Song Dynasty, and whose hands was his fate controlled by Su Jin.