Zhao Zhen and Su Jin stood and sat together, one stood and looked around, and the other fished leisurely; The sea breeze blows slowly, the sun stains the turquoise sea with a layer of golden scales, the crab shells slowly wriggle on the shallows of the sandbar, the sound of the waves is soothing, and everything is calm and serene, which is in stark contrast to the storm in the hearts of the two.

"You and I could have been a good story, but why did it become like this, you ask yourself, I have treated you badly, you were still a student, I did not stick to one pattern and entrusted you with important responsibilities, so you were able to step into the official career, I am also tolerant of you, you have made a lot of big mistakes, I have forgiven you one by one, in just more than ten years, you have become a very human minister, I am not good enough for you?" Zhao Zhen sighed softly.

Su Jin didn't reply: "From a personal point of view, the emperor treats me well, but your starting point is not because I am Su Jin, but because I can bring you returns, to put it bluntly, what you need is my talent, not appreciate me as a person; What I get is what I get in exchange for great returns, and it's not even proportionate; Have you forgotten? After the grain affairs, you only granted me the humiliating position of the Shiguanshe, and after the imperial examination, you had to send me out to the prefect because of your words, but it was Weizhou, a war-torn place, that was released; The financial supply of the Northwest Fourth Road for more than ten years, the imperial court has not pulled out a dime, and I am all responsible for it, in exchange for the position of the envoy of the Northwest Fourth Road; Against Xia and Liao, I didn't take the lead in fighting against Xia and Liao several times, so why did I complain once? Why should you be proud of your achievements because of this? ”

Zhao Zhen said: "Because of this, you Su Jin have become the pillar of my dynasty, I also rely on you, and the ministers respect you, isn't this enough?" Do you have to give you the country to be worthy of your merits? ”

Su Jin said with a smile: "I'm afraid this is what the emperor is worried about day and night, you and I have known each other for more than ten years, and you don't understand what kind of person I am at all; At the beginning, I did have the idea of honoring the ancestors and getting rich, but then everything I did was not for a certain person, I did it for the tens of millions of people in the Great Song Dynasty, I am a native of the Great Song Dynasty, I love the Great Song Dynasty, I love everything here, I don't want the people's lives to be embarrassed, I don't want them to be trampled and enslaved by foreigners, and I don't want them to be oppressed by corrupt officials and corrupt officials, so I want to do something for them; It would be funny if the emperor thought that I was just working hard for you, and then in exchange for an official promotion. ”

Zhao Zhen said: "In this case, you can continue, why did you hide here to fish." ”

Su Jin laughed and said: "Because, I am also an ordinary person, I can suffer and suffer, but I don't want to be angry, especially by the unwarranted suspicion of those who sit back and enjoy their success, this is like a person who does not do anything, eating the rice that others have worked hard to grow, but beating and scolding the person who grows grain, I Su Jin is not cheap, so I don't do it, I give up, can't I?" ”

Zhao Zhen said: "Are you saying that I am the one who sits back and enjoys his success but has no reason to be suspicious?" ”

Su Jin said: "Of course it's you, as the emperor, you can't tolerate people; You want to be peaceful in the world, but you are jealous and jealous, for fear that others will steal your limelight; You want to be praised as a benevolent ruler, but you want the whole country to be a silent lamb, at your command and scolding, how tired should you live? ”

Zhao Zhen said sadly: "In your eyes, am I such a person?" ”

Su Jindao: "It's not just me, no one in the world is a fool, since you used Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi as a shield in the matter of the New Deal, and you didn't dare to openly admit that the New Deal is your responsibility, you have lost my respect; You just want to sit back and enjoy it, but you don't want to take any responsibility for it, and if something happens, you will punish your courtiers, is it a benevolent king's trip? ”

Zhao Zhen said angrily: "I am the emperor, do I still have to sin myself?" The courtier should share the worries for the king, the king is like the father, the minister is like the son, why not the son on behalf of the father? ”

Su Jin dropped the fishing rod, turned around and looked at Zhao Zhen with blazing eyes: "You tell me, apart from the fact that you are the emperor, is there any difference between you and me?" ”

"Different? What do you mean? ”

Su Jin said: "How many eyes do you have, how many noses do you have?" How many pairs of feet? Are you smarter than me? You don't eat the fireworks of the world? Tell me how you are different from me. ”

Zhao Zhen said: "I am not a monster, how can I have more hands, feet, mouth and nose than you?" If I am not a god, how can I not eat the fireworks of the world? ”

Su Jin said: "That's it, since you and I are no different, why can you become the emperor, and become the superior who decides the life and death of others and enslaves others to work for you?" Would you say that you thought your ancestors had shed blood to conquer the country, but did the deeds of the first emperor have anything to do with you? How can you enjoy everything with peace of mind? ”

"Presumptuous, the emperor is the son of heaven, and he is ordered by heaven to command all the people, aren't you afraid of being punished by heaven if you talk like this?" Zhao Zhen definitely didn't expect Su Jin to have such a rebellious thought.

Su Jin waved his hand and said, "Don't scare me, your set can deal with the people, but it is completely ineffective against me; Let me tell you the truth, you are not the son of heaven, there are only the sun, moon and stars in the sky, and no one is the master for you, you are the same as us, you eat food, and what you pull out is stinky feces and urine, there is nothing unusual; You can become emperor entirely because the people don't understand this yet, but you understand it better than anyone else, and unfortunately I understand this; If I don't scare you, you and I are on this desert island, and I can end the life of your proud son at any time, just with a rough stone, you don't have to be afraid, I'm just making an analogy; I just want you to understand that you don't have any special status to control the life and death of others, but others are willing to drive and enslave you, and they haven't understood what I understand. ”

Beads of sweat rolled down Zhao Zhen's forehead, Su Jin's words hit his heart like a hammer, in the middle of the night, Zhao Zhen also thought about this question, why is the lord of the world himself, what is special about himself to be able to command the people? He understands that he is actually just an ordinary person, if he doesn't have a halo on him, he is not bullshit, and because of this, he tries his best to maintain his imperial power and not let anyone threaten his status, maybe this is a manifestation of weakness.

"As early as the time of Li Tang Taizong, the emperor Li Shimin at that time knew." Water can carry a boat and can also capsize a boat', that is, he understands that he is just an ordinary person, relying on the support of the people to sit on the throne, so as the emperor, if you want to maintain the stability of the throne, you only need to do one thing, that is, everything for the sake of the people's peace and contentment, let them live happily; I will never interfere; As you said, the country is yours, and if it collapses, it doesn't matter to me if you can't be the emperor. ”

What Zhao Zhen heard today was the truth he had never heard in his forties, Su Jin spoke to him completely as a normal person, and only used the word 'I' from beginning to end from the sandbank to the present, not the title of 'minister'. That is to show that he did not speak as a courtier at all, Zhao Zhen understood that Su Jin was the kind of person that the emperor was most afraid of, the kind of person who was enlightened, and some people in the pre-Qin Dynasty were also enlightened, at that time they rebelled and shouted the slogan of 'The prince will have a kind of Xiangning', and the current Su Jin neither rebelled nor hyped this consciousness, which was already a great mercy to himself.

"I'm speechless, I don't know how to refute you, and I don't want to; But today I would like to apologize to you for some of my words and deeds in the past, I promise you that I will no longer doubt you, and fully support what you have done, I am here to ask you to take up the post of my great Song Zaifu, you and I will achieve a generation of good stories, are you willing? ”

Su Jin looked at Zhao Zhen for a long time, and said softly: "Your Majesty, I have already said this today, how can you let me live in the world, I know very well in my heart; From your point of view, I understand your actions. Zhao Zhen's heart was beating wildly, the murderous intent he was hiding in his heart was still not noticed by Su Jin, which made him shudder, what if Su Jin killed himself?

Su Jin looked at the sea level in the distance, counting the alum in the sky, and said slowly: "I don't want the Great Song Dynasty to fall into chaos, once you kill me, the Northwest Army to which I belong will definitely rebel, and the country may fall into chaos because of this, this is by no means alarmist, and it is the common people who will suffer in the end, which I don't want to see; So I'm here to discuss with you earnestly, first, I won't reveal half a word of what I say to you to outsiders, that's why I chose to talk to you on the sandbank, speaking here, only heaven and earth can learn, you don't have to worry about words leaking out. ”

Zhao Zhen's heart moved, and he listened quietly.

"Second, you may not have killed me, I won't tell you, I have 5,000 muskets on hand, maybe you don't know the power of the muskets, I just want to say, 5,000 firearms, can be the enemy of 500,000 troops, if you force me to rebel, I will beat you with your head and run away, you weigh it yourself, who in the DPRK can lead the army and I Su Jin as the enemy? Who can stand in my way? ”

"Third, the best result is that you and I are safe, I promise you to go back to the post of prime minister, because I promised the people that there are still a few things to be done, after I finish, at most one year, I will donate Su Ji's mines, silver villages, and businesses to the imperial court free of charge, and then I will disappear from the Great Song Dynasty, and I will never threaten your throne, I will also train some ministers who can manage the Department of Development and Reform, after I leave, they can continue to work for you, this is everything I can do for you, please the emperor at his own discretion."

Zhao Zhen was ecstatic, if Su Jin was right, it would be a great thing for him, all the mines and silver businesses left by Su Jin were enough to be low enough to pay the imperial court a year's tax revenue, and as long as Su Jin disappeared, he could be regarded as letting go of the biggest concern.

"Where are you going? Xia Guo? Tibetan? Or the Uighurs? Zhao Zhen asked.

Su Jin was disdainful, Zhao Zhen was still worried that he would become a hidden danger, and as long as he lived in the world, he would be a big threat, and this idea could not be changed.

"No, I won't tell you what the specifics are, I don't want you to send troops to hunt me down, but I can guarantee that you won't find me, do you agree?"

Zhao Zhen stretched out his hand and said, "A word is a certainty, I will give you a year." ”

Su Jin stretched out his hand and shook him and said, "Just one year, one more day won't stay." ”

Zhao Zhen sighed: "I feel very sad in my heart. ”

Su Jin smiled and said: "I am also very sad in my heart, the emperor mourns." Remember to write a guarantee and stamp it with the jade seal, otherwise I may become a ghost under the emperor's sword as soon as I arrive in the capital, and I will use your guarantee as a shield. ”

Zhao Zhen sighed and said, "I didn't expect that I was already a person who didn't believe in your words in your heart. ”

Su Jin said: "You have been there for a long time. ”