Chapter 43 Traces of the Emperor's Heart

On the same night, the same pillar of the capital of Song, but the bright lights here are contrary to the gloom of the small dark room, and what is different from there is the luxury shown here. The furniture placed in each appropriate place is made of high-quality wood, and the patterns of flowers, birds, fish and insects are carefully carved by famous craftsmen, each of which is worth a lot of gold. In addition, there are several rows of bookshelves on the edge of this room, which are full of various classics. Judging from the styles of those books, they are all classics.

In such a luxurious study, only two people stayed quietly and sat and stood alone. Sitting was an old man of about 60, wearing brocade clothes, and it was more faintly visible that there were nine golden dragons embroidered on his clothes. Although he only sat in front of the desk, there was a momentum that made people want to kneel. And the one standing was a fifty-year-old servant, standing behind with low eyebrows and dared not make any movement.

This is the imperial study of the Qinzheng Hall of the Song Dynasty Palace, and the sitting old man is naturally Zhao Zhe, the emperor of the Song Dynasty. At this time, he was looking at the memorials of the courtiers submitted by the General Administration, but after reading five or six copies, his eyebrows had frowned tightly. When he saw the tenth, the anger on his face was uncontrollable. He raised his hand and smashed a memorial in his hand on the imperial case.

The old servant behind him raised his eyebrows, and he, who had served the emperor for 20 years, could already feel the fiery anger in the emperor's heart from the other party's behavior. Zhao Zhe is not an irritable person, and even happy and angry. If it hadn't been for the fact that made him angry, he wouldn't be so out of shape.

But the seriousness of the situation was still beyond the expectation of the old servant. After smashing the memorial to the ground, the emperor pushed it forward fiercely with his hands and pushed dozens of neat folds in front of him to the ground: "How can this be true! These people are really getting bolder and bolder. Do they still regard me as emperors? Do you still know that I'm the king of a country!"

"Your Majesty's anger, don't be angry with the dragon's body because of some small things!" Seeing this, the old servant also panicked and hurried forward, knelt down in front of the emperor, and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Something? Can this still be called a little thing? They are forcing me to listen to what they want to do!" Zhao Zhe's well-maintained face twisted, and he almost gritted his teeth and said, "Six nine ministers, plus all the officials have made the same intention. Is it still a small matter?"

Ah? But what are they going to do?" The servant had no consciousness as a person in the harem and asked in surprise after hearing the emperor's words. According to the laws of the Song Dynasty, women and eunuchs in the harem are not allowed to engage in politics, but the situation of this old servant who follows the emperor is obviously a little special.

"What else can be done? They just want to take down Wang Chong with this small defeat in the southwest." After a little anger, the emperor calmed down a little: "First, the spokespersons of various subjects were impeached, and then some officials of the fourth and fifth grades seconded. Now even the six minister and waiters have said the same thing. What are they forcing the palace?"

Now the old servant did not dare to talk nonsense. Things have completely become big. No wonder the emperor is so angry.

A few days ago, the southwest military report came, and Wang Chong's southwest army was actually defeated. The Xizhou army lost more than 10,000 soldiers, which immediately became an excuse for the courtiers to attack Wang Chong. Although the emperor rejected them on the grounds that the war in the southwest had just started and that they could not change the commander casually, the courtiers were determined this time and did not change because of the emperor's attitude. Especially after this defeat, Southwest did not want to send troops to revenge, but withdrew the news of Dingxi. The officials in the court made a lot of remarks, saying that Wang Chong was afraid of the enemy and nourishing himself, which was disloyalty to the imperial court. Therefore, the courtiers continuously gave the emperor a discount, asked him to issue an imperial edict, and directly seized all the official positions of Wang Chong and escorted him back to Beijing for trial.

Such continuous sparseness has made the emperor a little overwhelmed. Today, the same is true of the six nine ministers, which makes Zhao Zhe even more unbearable, which is why he has just lost his temper.

"They obviously did this to deal with Wang Chong, but in fact they came for me. Now that all the political affairs in the dynasty have been in the hands of those families, I can only rely on those soldiers and horses. If even this last bit of power is controlled by them, I and Song Jiangshan will be completely controlled by these rebellious ministers.

"Wang Chong, as the leader of the three armies in the southwest, if one of my decrees has been escorted back to Beijing, no matter what his final result is, those subordinates will inevitably be hostile to me. At that time, the power in the southwest army will not be owned by me. Moreover, this will also make Peng Ziming of the northern army also think of him. At that time, the two most elite teams of the Song Dynasty will be separated from me, and those families will be even more unscrupulous!

"I absolutely can't let such a thing happen. I have endured for 30 years and prepared for 20 years. I must not let the original plan flow because of this matter, otherwise I will be ashamed of my ancestors of the Song Dynasty!"

After cheering himself up, the emperor's face showed determination again: "They are trying to deal with Wang Chong with the wind and air 30 years ago, but I will no longer let their treachery plan succeed."

"Your Majesty is wise, we can't make the same mistake again, but I don't know what your Majesty cares about?"

Thirty years ago, Feng Liekong was a firm royalist, and he had more than 100,000 northern troops in his hands. However, because Zhao Zhe was still young and did not know anything about political affairs at that time, he was deceived by the seven people who united with the courtiers. Finally, he believed their nonsense, so that Feng Liekong was overshadowed by Ye Mingyang's command power and finally died in northern Xinjiang.

Now that I think about it, Zhao Zhe really regretted the confusion at that time. If he had not issued the deadly edict at that time, as long as the wind was still there, even if the seven people were still in the court, this power would not have threatened the imperial power. However, everything in the past has been irreparable. Feng Liekong has long become a legend, and the power of the seven people has also spread all over the important offices of the imperial court. The emperor's power has been compressed to an extreme, leaving almost only the use of the imperial edict.

However, Zhao Zhe will never admit defeat. He is the emperor of the Song Dynasty and the descendant of Emperor Taizu. This world is his Zhao family. It is absolutely impossible for him to let the seven people rob the foundation of his ancestors. Therefore, over the years, he has been making a plan to take back the power in the hands of the seven people as long as the time is ripe!

After 20 years of preparation, Zhao Zhe has some potential power, but it is a pity that the seven masters have developed faster, so he still wants to rely on the elite Song Jun in the southwest and north. As long as you can use the strength of these two armies, it is not difficult to deal with the seven.

However, what Zhao Zhe did not expect was that he had not taken any action. Because of the invasion of the southwest barbarians, the courtiers found an opportunity to solve the hidden danger of Wang Chong. Now, with the pressure of the courtiers, the emperor has obviously felt the pressure, and he has to do something.

After a moment of silence, a trace of murder flashed in the emperor's eyes: "Then let them do it. As long as the matter is big enough, it can attract the attention of the courtiers. I will delay for another period of time. As long as the war in the southwest can get better and Wang Chong can win two battles, then they can't get rid of his plan as an excuse.

"But Your Majesty, in this way, our arrangement has been in danger of exposure for several years..." The waiter seemed to be a little unwilling: "This is Your Majesty's last killer. If you take action early to make them notice or even see through, things will be difficult to deal with."

"I can't care so much now. Wang Chong is an indispensable key to my chess game. If he falls, even if the power in our hands is still there, it is impossible to successfully get back the power of the government. Now we have to fight. As for the series of changes caused by this, we have to clean it up slowly. I hope Wang Chong will not let me down. This battle against the barbarians in the southwest must end with victory, otherwise..."

"Your Majesty, rest assured that Marshal Wang is a rare general in the Song Dynasty, and the barbarians are not his opponents. What's more, there are the most elite border troops in the Song Dynasty in the southwest. The chamberlain quickly comforted.

"I hope as you said, I don't want my ancestors to be taken away like this!" After sighing, the emperor suddenly asked, "What have I done recently?"

"Serious Highnesses are studying departments in their respective government departments, and they are all diligent. But..." The waiter said and hesitated a little.

"Huang Yue, don't hesitate. If you have anything to say, just say it. I won't blame you."

"Yes, as far as I know, the second and third highnesses and Ye and Lu are very close, I'm afraid..."

When the emperor heard this, his face suddenly turned gloomy: "I'm afraid these two fools will soon be bought and used. What about the boss and the fourth?"

"The prince is as usual, and the Fourth Highness doesn't like directors very much, but likes to make friends and play in the capital."

"Well, this fourth brother is the most reassuring for me, but he also reassuring me the most." After saying such seemingly contradictory words, the emperor waved his hand and said, "Go down and do what I just said. I'm going to rest."

In the southwest mountain forest, with the passage of winter and spring, those small animals that have been cats in the cave for several months began to come out for food again. A gray rabbit jumped on the ground alertly and soon saw a new sprouted grass. It lowered its head and nibbled happily. It had not eaten so well for three or four months, so it would naturally not be polite.

But the rabbit didn't see it. On top of its head, a mountain eagle was hovering and it was also looking for food. Winter is also a difficult season for eagles. The small animals that can be used as food hide, which makes it take more time to find prey. Now, it has found this rabbit, and the spirit of the mountain eagle suddenly comes.

The mountain eagle flying in the sky suddenly paused, then swooped down from the air, and its claws were even bigger, waiting for the rabbit to catch the target. And the rabbit was still eating grass happily without knowing that the danger was coming. Suddenly, the eagle has rushed into the air, grabbed the unlucky rabbit, and then flew up.

At this moment, a feather arrow shot out of the oblique thorn, and the mountain eagle drilled its flying mouth from its fist-sized head and pierced it from under the eagle's beak. And the speed of the arrow's fall has not stopped because it penetrated the head of the mountain eagle, and it was directly nailed to the side ground with the dead mountain eagle.

This sudden arrow not only killed the mountain eagle, but also saved the life of the unlucky rabbit. Because this arrow passed through the head of the mountain eagle, the extremely tenacious eagle suddenly died. Its iron claws holding the rabbit were loose, and the struggling hare was able to escape from it. While running into the grass, the hare also glanced at the forest not far away with frightened red eyes.

In that forest, Wang Junqing couldn't help shouting: "Okay!" Then he said, "It seems that Xiao Xu has had a deep understanding of the way of bow and arrow in just five days. The strength, speed, angle, and even timing of this arrow are extremely accurate, and that's what I'm afraid of."

The other soldiers stared at Xu Jinghong, who had taken the bow with surprise and admiration. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they really couldn't believe that someone could have such a powerful archery five days after touching the bow and arrow. This shot through a mountain eagle flying for food from nearly ten feet away, and it shot through its head with an arrow, which is not what ordinary people can do.

In the face of everyone's exclamation and praise, Xu Jinghong just smiled faintly: "This has to be taught by General Wang, otherwise how could I Xu Jinghong make such progress?"

"You don't have to be modest. I am also a professor of these brothers, but which of them has 30% of your ability? It seems that you are born to be a sharpshooter, which will definitely be of great help to our action this time. Wang Junqing laughed again.

This is the fifth day that Xu Jinghong and others left Dingxi to look for the remnants of the barbarians, and they have also come to the depths of the mountains and forests. Two days ago, they rushed to the place where the Yunzhou army fought with the barbarians that day, and took this as a starting point to search for the whereabouts of the barbarian remnants.

Because they can be sure that the barbarians dare not continue to march north and attack the border cities of the Song Dynasty, they can finally conclude that the barbarians have hidden in hundreds of miles of mountain forests centered on the official road. In this way, it was not so easy to find the whereabouts of the barbarians. Wang Junqing dispersed his 500 men and took 100 people as a team to carefully search for clues. Once they found something, they would contact each other.

But two days later, the five teams have also searched the area of nearly 100 miles, but still haven't found any clues, which makes the scouts feel a little tired. Because of this, they rested in the woods. Xu Jinghong hit the mountain eagle with a bow and arrow on a whim.

Although everyone admires Xu Jinghong's archery, they are a little disapproving of Wang Junqing's words in the second half. After searching for so many days, there is still no whereabouts of the barbarians. How can they be annihilated? Some people have even had an idea: have the barbarians dispersed and returned to their own territory?

Xu Jinghong also obviously felt everyone's thoughts, so he just smiled and said, "As long as we look for it with our heart, we will definitely gain something. The emperor will live up to our painstaking efforts!" With that, he went out of the forest and went to pick up his prey.

This mountain eagle is quite big, and Xu Jinghong is also a little complaous. Although the eagle meat is not very good, it is also a big harvest, so he will not abandon it. As soon as he came forward and grasped the tail of the arrow, he would pick it up with an arrow and an eagle. But under a pull, Xu Jinghong's heart moved: "Oh!" He felt that the power in his hand was wrong. The arrow seemed to shoot deeply, but it was pulled out without much force. What's going on?

With doubts in his heart, Xu Jinghong didn't care about the dead eagle beside him, but moved it and the arrow aside, and then slapped it nearby with the scabbard. Sure enough, the soil here showed signs of subsidence after being exerted, which made Xu Jinghong dare not relax and dug up hard on the soil with a knife.

"Xiao Xu, what are you doing?" Many soldiers looked strangely at Xu Jinghong digging a hole and asked.

"General, something is wrong here!" Xu Jinghong turned back and said.

"Isn't it a beast's nest?" The soldier familiar with the mountain forest couldn't help asking, which is also a normal judgment. There are many animals living in the mountain forest. If these soldiers find it here, I'm afraid they won't pay more attention to it, but Xu Jinghong's experience in this regard is pitifully poor.

But Xu Jinghong's judgment was correct. Just after he dug half a foot, some ashes appeared in the hole. Beasts don't know how to use fire, and in this remote forest, except for the barbarians they are looking for, I'm afraid that no one else will break in to make a fire and hide the ashes.

Wang Junqing's eyes suddenly lit up: "Xiao Xu, you have made a great contribution this time! I didn't expect that your arrow not only shot a mountain eagle, but also shot traces of barbarians. It's really surprising. With that, he immediately ordered his men, "You immediately look around carefully to see if there are any other clues, then shoot Mingdi, and let the other teams come quickly. Since there are traces of barbarians here, there should be no gain in the other directions!"

Seen the soldiers were ordered to act. With clues, their slackness in their hearts has completely disappeared, and they have more spirit, because they feel that they can find traces of barbarians in this way, so the idea of annihilating the enemy this time should be realized soon!