The atmosphere in the palace was extremely tense, although Tong Guan tried his best to hide the news, but the paper could not contain the fire, and the news of the defeat of the Western Front Army was still secretly written to Cai Jing by the officials of Jingzhao Mansion, and the entire high-level of the imperial court was already known.

Li Yan, the chief administrator of the inner house, would not hide it for Tong Guan, and immediately told the unfortunate news to Zhao Ji, the son of heaven, Zhao Ji was extremely angry, and he was furious in the palace for two days, smashing countless dishes and teacups, and the palace maids and eunuchs were terrified, and they rarely saw the Son of Heaven, who had always been soft-spoken, so angry.

At dusk, more than a dozen eunuchs rushed out of the inner palace and ran to inform the important ministers that the Son of Heaven was going to convene military and political discussions.

In fact, almost all the important ministers did not return home, they knew that there would be an urgent matter tonight, and in a short time, a dozen important ministers arrived from various official offices.

Cai Jing sat in a sedan chair and went to Yanfu Palace, the sedan chair was developed from the Sui and Tang dynasties, the frame was surrounded by a fence, a top cover was added, no fear of wind and rain, and there was privacy, it was extremely popular in the Song Dynasty, it can be seen everywhere in the "Qingming Riverside Map", even ordinary people can use it, but the sedan chair is mainly used by women, and men generally ride horses or donkeys.

Horses were not allowed to run in the palace, but many ministers were old and had difficulty walking, so the sedan chair became a very practical means of passage in the palace.

"Cai Xianggong, please stay!"

At this time, Cai Jing heard someone behind him calling himself, it seemed to be the voice of Taiwei Gao Yu, and he immediately ordered: "Stop the sedan chair!" ”

The sedan chair stopped, and Cai Jing walked out of the sedan chair, only to see Gao Yu panting and catching up from behind.

"I'm already late, I can't imagine that Captain Gao is later than me." Cai Jing said with a smile.

Gao Yu rushed forward, took two breaths and said, "It's just a bit of a hurry to delay." ”

Gao Yu and Cai Jing walked side by side, and Gao Yu cautiously probed: "It seems that the rumors of the defeat of the Western Expedition are true!" ”

"Hey!"

Cai Jing sighed lowly, "It's really unexpected and hard to accept." ”

Gao Yu looked at both sides, lowered his voice and said, "Don't you think this is a good thing?" ”

Cai Jing said lightly: "It depends on whose position it is, it may be a good thing for Western Xia, but it is extremely unfortunate for our Great Song Dynasty, Taiwei said, isn't it?" ”

Gao Yu secretly cursed in his heart, immediately changed his tone, and said with a haha: "That's!" Is that! It's infuriating that the casualties are so high. ”

"Let's go in a sedan chair! Don't keep the officials waiting. ”

Cai Jing obviously had no intention of saying more to Gao Yu, Gao Yu had to return to his sedan chair, the two of them got into the sedan chair respectively, and the guards carried them to Yanfu Palace quickly.......

In the Liangyi Hall of Yanfu Palace, Cai Jing unexpectedly found that the crown prince Zhao Huan was also there, although the prince also participated in various ceremonial dynasties, but to discuss important military affairs, the prince seemed to be attending for the first time, which made Cai Jing feel a little abnormal in his heart.

"The Son of Heaven has arrived!"

Cai Jing didn't have time to think carefully, only listened to the shouts of the guards, everyone stood up one after another, surrounded by a team of palace ladies, Zhao Ji Tie walked into the hall with a blushing face, and more than a dozen important ministers bowed down together, "See Your Majesty!" ”

"Excuse me!"

Zhao Ji waved his hand, he sat down on the dragon chair, tried to calm down the anger in his heart, and said slowly after a while: "Presumably all the secretaries know why I summoned you to come to discuss, I have received a report from Tong Guan today, saying that the Western Expedition has suffered a major setback, that is, admitting that the rumors are true, the Western Front Army has been wiped out, and now there is still the Eastern Front Army struggling to support in Shizhou, Zhongqing said Look, what should we do now?" ”

Everyone looked at Cai Jing together, he was the head of the hundred officials, of course he should make a statement first, but Zhao Ji looked at the crown prince Zhao Huan, "The prince will speak first!"

Zhao Huan is only twenty years old this year, medium stature, fair skin, gentle and elegant, he was more active in the past few years, plus he loves hunting, and often goes out of the city to hunt with some powerful children, but since his father asked his third brother Zhao Kai to go to Suzhou to investigate Zhu Mian, Zhao Huan suddenly became mature, and no longer messed with the children of the powerful, living in a simple place all day long, and the ministers rarely saw him.

Zhao Huan walked out of the column and saluted deeply: "Father, the son also knows that military law is like a mountain, defeat must be punished, victory must be rewarded, rewards and punishments are clear is the way to be handsome, no matter that Captain Tong has thousands of reasons and explanations, in his hands the loss of 100,000 troops and countless money and grain is ironclad facts, so the sons suggest that he immediately revoke his post as a strategic envoy of the two routes, and order him to return to Beijing for questioning." ”

Zhao Ji nodded, it seemed that his son's words were on his heart, but he didn't immediately draw conclusions, so he glanced at Cai Jing, "What about Cai Xiangguo's opinion?" ”

Cai Jing had already had a draft, he came out and saluted the Son of Heaven and the prince, and said unhurriedly: "Although the defeat of the Western Front of Captain Tong should be held responsible, the old minister believes that now is not the time to be held accountable, after all, the war against the Western Xia has not yet ended, and the Eastern Front is still fighting fiercely. ”

Everyone didn't expect Cai Jing to exonerate his rival Tong Guan, which really surprised everyone, everyone thought that he would fall into the well and take the opportunity to bring down Tong Guan, but he was interceding for Tong Guan, and everyone looked at each other, wondering how Cai Jing would be soft at the critical moment.

Zhao Huan was really dissatisfied in his heart, and immediately questioned Cai Jing, "May I ask Cai Xiangguo, the command is helpless, resulting in the annihilation of the 100,000-strong army, nearly a million stone of grain, hundreds of thousands of pieces of armor and countless siege weapons were taken away by the enemy, who should bear this responsibility?" Take 10,000 steps back and say, even if there is a special reason for failure, what is the special reason? Should the court ask clearly? As for saying that his entry into Beijing will affect the Eastern Front, it is even more nonsense, and the command of the Eastern Front campaign is the sole responsibility of the Seed Master, so what does it have to do with Captain Tong? ”

Zhao Huan's series of loud questions made Cai Jing speechless for a long time, and he had to reluctantly smile and say: "Regardless of whether Captain Tong actually commanded the Eastern Front or not, he is undoubtedly the commander of this Western Expedition, and Lao Chen does not want to excuse him, but he just thinks that he should wait and see if the Eastern Front can reverse the situation." ”

Zhao Huan snorted, "Does Cai Xiangguo think the situation can be reversed?" ”

"It's hard to say, the Western Xia attacked Shizhou for nearly half a month and failed to break the city, if we continue to increase troops to the eastern front, let Captain Tong make meritorious atonements, and then lead the army to support the eastern front, maybe the situation can be reversed."

"He supports the Eastern Front, and it will only wipe out the Eastern Front!"

"Enough, don't fight anymore!"

Zhao Ji interrupted the argument between the two impatiently, in fact, he already had a plan, he just wanted everyone to discuss it, but he now had no patience to continue the discussion, so he coldly ordered: "It is indeed not appropriate for Taiwei Tong to stay in Jingzhao for a long time, he must immediately return to Beijing to report on his work, the Shaanxi Road is defeated, and the border defense is weak, Liu Yanqing can be appointed as the defense envoy of the Shaanxi Road, and the fire rate of 50,000 troops will be stationed in the Songxia border pass for defense, and the 100,000 forbidden troops from Bianjing will be transferred to Hedong to support the battlefield on the eastern front, and handed over to the division to control, The required heavy grain and grass transportation are organized by Hedong Road, and we have made up our minds and will implement them immediately! ”

Only then did everyone understand that the Son of Heaven had already decided, so they bowed down together and said, "Your Majesty Shengming! ”

Zhao Ji flicked his sleeves and walked away, and the ministers retreated in twos and threes, Cai Jing slowly walked in front of the crown prince Zhao Huan, and said with a smile on his face: "His Royal Highness the prince has seen the situation thoroughly, and the old minister is ashamed of himself." ”

Zhao Huan because of the threat of his third brother Zhao Kai, he couldn't really turn his face with Cai Jing, so he also smiled and said: "Cai Xianggong abandons personal grievances and focuses on the overall situation, which makes me deeply admired, it seems that the imperial court still needs Cai Xianggong at a critical moment to understand the overall situation and understand the general situation!" ”

Zhao Huan is also hinting to Cai Jing that as long as he supports him, he will need an old minister like him to take the throne in the future, of course, Cai Jing is over seventy years old, whether he can wait until Zhao Huan ascends the throne is one thing, and Zhao Huan's statement is another thing.

Cai Jing smiled and narrowed his eyes, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's young wisdom is the luck of my Great Song!" ”

.......

When Liang Shicheng left the palace, it was already dark, but Wang Huang was waiting for him by the palace gate, and when he saw Liang Shicheng coming out, he smiled from afar: "Taifu, let's go back together!" ”

The two of them are neighbors, Wang Hao's mansion is next door to Liang Shicheng, Liang Shicheng was a little heavy at this time, so he nodded, "Wang Zhongcheng, please get in the car!" ”

Wang Hao got into the carriage, and when the carriage left the imperial city, he couldn't hold back any longer, and said in a low voice: "It's really strange, how could Cai Jing speak for Captain Tong today?" ”

Liang Shicheng snorted coldly, "Rabbit dead dog cooking, has Wang Zhongcheng heard of it?" ”

Wang Huang was stunned for a moment, "Could it be that Tong Guan was severely punished, and Cai Jing would also be implicated?" ”

"Of course, the official family can maintain the balance of power in the court because of their vicious fighting, if Tong Guan is demoted, the power of the court will be unbalanced, and Cai Jing's phase will not be kept, Cai Jing is cunning and cunning, how can he not understand the stakes, so he must keep Tong Guan, and his position as public minister will sit firmly!"

Wang Hao nodded silently, Jiang was still old and spicy, and he could see it better than himself.

He asked again: "Why did the official family let Liu Yanqing go to Shaanxi Road, I thought it was to let Tan Zhi go." ”

"Of course Tan Zhi is going, he is going as a prisoner, and this time Tong Guan may not be able to escape."

"Is it that serious?"

Liang Shicheng nodded, "The official family wants to leave his position in the Taimiao, he spent nearly two years preparing for this northern expedition to Western Xia, at all costs, but now the ambition in his chest has been ruined by Tong Guan, you can imagine the anger in the heart of the official family towards Tong Guan, Tong Guan's demotion is a foregone conclusion, as for whether Cai Jing can keep his phase, I don't know very well, Wang Zhongcheng, if Cai Jing's phase is not guaranteed, your opportunity will come." ”

The reason why Liang Shicheng let Wang Hao get into his carriage for the first time was because he understood Zhao Ji's mind better than anyone else.

Wang Hao's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked cautiously, "What should I do with my humble position?" ”

"Didn't Wang Zhongcheng already do it?"

Liang Shicheng said lightly: "You got into my carriage in front of the palace, do you think the official family will not know?" ”

Wang Hao suddenly realized that if Tong Guan was demoted, Cai Jing was demoted, and Gao Yu and Tan Zhi of Li Yan's faction controlled the army, the official family would never allow one faction to dominate, and the new Xiangguo would definitely come from Liang Shicheng's faction.

=======

[I would like to ask for a monthly pass and a recommended ticket from all book friends!] 】