Chapter 463: Disguised Night Fishman
Zhao Yulin proposed that the Central Council hold a special meeting to discuss the affairs of Liangzhe.
Meng Gong and Yu Jie had no objection.
The next day, King Zhao Feiyan summoned three old professors from the Central Academy, Taijiantang and Caotang Academy to discuss the affairs of Liangzhe.
Zhao Yulin spoke first: He said that Liangzhe has now become a de facto country within a country, which is something that no major country would allow. If it is delayed for too long, it will set an example for those scoundrels who want to split the land and become king. The problem of Liangzhe must be resolved quickly.
Cao Youwen had just returned from Jiankang Prefecture and was very familiar with the situation in Jiangdong. He said that at present our Shenwei Army's infantry and navy have completely surrounded Liangzhe. If we fight, it will definitely be an overwhelming victory.
But he still did not advocate immediate use of force. He believed that the court should send a letter of persuasion to the officials in Liangzhe, just as it had done when Lin'an instigated the New Song officials to rebel, advising them to recognize the situation and take the initiative to return to the rule of the New Song.
Hua Yue of the Censorate followed suit and believed that Shi had done many evil things that harmed both himself and others whether he was an official in the previous dynasty or when he was ruling Liangzhe alone. This thief and the false emperor Zhao Bing had fought a fierce battle in Lin'an City for power, causing great suffering and the death and injury of many innocent people. This was a great crime and he had no right to discuss the merger and return with the Central Council.
At present, our Shenwei Army is powerful and powerful, and there is no need to negotiate any conditions with Shi Ze. Even the Central Council should thoroughly settle accounts with the officials who are separatist in Liangzhe.
When Hua Yue said this, everyone's minds were opened up and the meeting hall became lively with everyone talking.
The Shi thief that Hua Yue mentioned was the son of Shi Xiang, the prime minister of the Lin'an court. This thief did not do any good things, but did all kinds of bad things in order to gain power above all others. Most officials from Lin'an knew this clearly.
Du Fan went on to say: This is a change of dynasty. We have done our best by urging them to return to the rule of the New Song Dynasty. We cannot allow them to continue to rule indefinitely, otherwise, as Commander Zhao said, it will become a de facto country within a country.
However, if our Central Council does not promise to save the lives of the officials of the previous dynasty in Lin'an, he is worried that it will be difficult for Liangzhe to accept the unconditional surrender of the court.
If the imperial court sends more troops to the border, it will inevitably intensify the conflict and lead to war.
At this time, Qiao Xingjian, a special professor at Caotang Academy, spoke. This old gentleman had served as a prime minister in the Lin'an court.
The old man thought that whatever decision the Central Court made was not excessive, as the change of dynasties always meant the loss of some heads. However, considering that Lin'an and Chengdu were both part of the same world and belonged to the same family, it was better to resolve the issue peacefully if possible.
He agreed with Cao Youwen's opinion that Chengdu could also issue orders to persuade officials in Lin'an to surrender and submit, and the court could authorize the infantry and navy around Liangzhe to accept invitations from surrendered officials and troops in Liangzhe to enter prefectures and counties at any time, forcing the stubborn elements to recognize the situation and voluntarily give up the fantasy of secession and autonomy.
As soon as Lord Qiao finished speaking, Yu Jie spoke up. He fully agreed with Lord Qiao's idea that troops must be sent to threaten Liangzhe, otherwise these people would continue to dream like a frog in the well.
Zhao Yulin nodded and proposed that the Public Affairs Office organize the opinions of the officials and formulate a public edict from the Central Council to Liangzhe. After the officials' deliberation, the edict would be announced in the Chengdu Weekly, urging Liangzhe to dismantle the separatist regimes on their own.
Zhao Feiyan quickly handed the records in her hand to Shunzhidi, and the girl immediately went to work with two secretaries.
Cao Youwen asked with a smile: Today, all of you have gathered in the temple to discuss the affairs of state. Will the King of Feiyan reward you by giving you a meal?
Zhao Feiyan immediately said with a smile that Lord Cao was teasing her again. It had been arranged long ago. Please go to the back hall for dinner. Recently, Wenjiang County dredged the Yangliu River and caught a lot of fresh crucian carp. Let's try some.
The gentlemen were delighted and called for everyone to go to the small hall in the back hall. On the table , in front of each seat was a half-pound-sized crucian carp.
Zhao Yulin was surprised. Yangjin pulled him to sit down and asked in a low voice, "What are you doing?" "My brother brought me here to eat this. The chef said that only crucian carp of this size has fresh and tender meat."
Haha, haha, turns out it was her idea.
Zhao Feiyan was already inviting everyone to eat. Fish should be eaten while it is hot to taste its freshness. The little woman didn't care about what was going on and picked up her chopsticks to start eating.
The next day, Chengdu Weekly published an imperial edict from the Central Council of the New Song Dynasty, ordering Liangzhe to immediately abolish their autonomous regimes and accept the control of the Central Council of Chengdu. It authorized the garrisons of Jiangxi, Fujian and Jiangsu to enter Liangzhe at any time and ordered the South China Sea fleet to patrol Hangzhou Bay on a regular basis.
Zhao Feiyan summoned important officials from Lin'an, including Fan Zhong, Du Fan, Meng Gong and Yu Jie, to divide the work, write letters to persuade officials from Liangzhe to surrender, and encourage local officials from Liangzhe to directly raise their flags and accept orders from the Chengdu Academy.
Since the Ministry of Rites put newspapers to good use, they have published articles in the newspapers for three consecutive days demanding the return of Liangzhe. Qiao Xingjian, a special professor at Caotang Academy, wrote an article himself, listing the deeds of the Liangzhe small court that harmed the country and the people, and advised Shi's son to recognize the situation and follow the trend to surrender.
Qiao Xingjian did not use the word "surrender" but "surrender" to advise Shi's son and his group of calculating people to give up their unrealistic fantasies and surrender as soon as possible, which shows that Qiao is clear-headed. The separatist forces in Liangzhe no longer have the capital to challenge the New Song Dynasty, so why are they still holding on?
Zhao Yulin was very impressed with the Central Court's operation. He was reading the newspaper with great interest when Yang Jin quietly came in and screamed "Wow!", which frightened him greatly. He patted his chest and said exaggeratedly , "I am so amused! Are you trying to murder your husband?"
Yang Jin went up to him, grabbed his ears and pulled them, shouting, "How dare I plot against you? I'm afraid that before I even start, the women around me will eat me up."
Zhao Yulin chuckled and told her that since so much land had been recently recovered, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue should carefully plan the adjustments and the establishment of official positions in various areas. As he spoke, he sat down and continued to read the newspaper half-lying down.
Yangjin said with a smile that he was still nagging, he was really an old man, he was already doing it. She said that the most important thing at the moment was the stability of the backyard, so let's bring Hulan back.
Zhao Yulin ignored her and said that she was just worrying about nothing and didn't see that Hu Lan was busy.
After Yangjin ordered the maid to change the tea, she said that they were all women. Hulan, who was so young, ran to Daojiang County alone to guard the street. Anyone who understood could tell at a glance that she was angry. If she was not brought back, others would think that the women in our family were jealous of each other and that there was a conflict between the sisters.
Si Niang has written to us.
As Yangjin spoke, she handed him the letter from Si Niang.
Zhao Yulin opened the letter and saw that Si Niang praised Hu Lan and the children in great detail. At the end, she specifically mentioned that Hu Lan would not go home for the New Year and would stay in Linshui Street. How could this be possible?
Si Niang asked him to go to Dujiangyan and encourage the children.
Of course Zhao Yulin understood that it was clearly Si Niang who wanted him to go see Hu Lan.
He asked Yangjin and Ma Ling'er to go and take a look first, and told Hulan that he would also go to Water Street during the New Year.
Yangjin was delighted and told him that she was planning to buy a house for her father, so they went to Linshui Street to pick one to live in first, and when her father retired, they could live in Dujiangyan.
He asked: Dad is going to enter Taijiantang, but it’s still too early for him to retire.
Yangjin couldn't say anything. Her father thought that the Zhao family did too much work in the court, and he was very satisfied with being the pacification envoy. When he reached retirement age, he would quit his job and do nothing but take care of their children at home.
He said that road-level officials retire at the age of 60. Doesn't that mean our father will be back in two years?
Yangjin said with a smile that she was going to Dujiangyan to choose a house.
In Jiangdong Lin'an Prefecture, Xie Lingyun returned by boat the same day after his failure in Chengdu. He hurried to the government office and solemnly reported to Shi that his son's surrender could not be delayed any longer.
At the beginning, when the political situation in Chengdu was unstable and the northern barbarians were eyeing the Central Plains, the New Song Dynasty court was still wary and agreed to a high degree of autonomy in Liangzhe. Now that the Shenwei Army has defeated the northern barbarians in succession and its power has been greatly boosted, the power of the grassland empire is about to withdraw from the entire territory of the Song Dynasty.
The Central Court in Chengdu is in charge of a million soldiers. The land of Sichuan and Shu is peaceful and harmonious, and the country is strong. What conditions do you want to negotiate with us?
Shi's son also understood this principle, and said with some reluctance that he understood it all.
Newspapers from Chengdu all flew to Lin'an. Not only was the Chengdu Weekly advising Liangzhe to make a decision as soon as possible, but even Jiankang Prefecture on the other side of the river was urging Lin'an Prefecture to surrender immediately. Their prefecture school was upgraded to Jiangdong Academy, and a large number of young students from Liangzhe were crossing the river to study.
The Jiangdong Academy even published the "Jinling Weekly" and sent it to Liangzhe, vigorously promoting the new Song Dynasty's republican ideal of equality for all, and the people scrambled to read the newspaper.
Qiao Xingjian, who had served as prime minister of the Lin'an court, wrote an article in the Chengdu Weekly to criticize Liangzhe for being ignorant of the current situation, wantonly provoking war and increasing taxes to harm the people without caring about the lives of the people in Liangzhe.
Shi's son was reading an article in the newspaper that listed the crimes of Lin'an Prefecture. Every single one of them was true, and every evil deed had his contribution, so the pressure on him increased sharply.
At this time, a group of his loyal ministers rushed in, each holding a newly received "Chengdu Weekly" in their hands, and shouted: "My Lord, it's bad, Chengdu is going to declare war on our Liangzhe."
Yang Daquan held up the newspaper in his hand and said: The ruler of Feiyan has issued an edict: ordering us to immediately cancel our autonomy and unconditionally accept the order of the Chengdu Central Council...
Others continued to report to him at once, and the most confusing one was: the Chengdu Central Council directly ordered the Shenwei Army's navy and the infantry stationed in the surrounding areas in the newspaper to attack the Liangzhe rebels who dared to provoke, and to accept the Liangzhe counties and cities that voluntarily surrendered.
Shi's son grabbed the newspaper from Yang Daquan's hand and read it. On it was the New Song Dynasty's edict printed in big red characters: The king authorized the New Song Dynasty's army to attack all enemies who dared to provoke and accept the surrender of the Liangzhe army and various prefectures and counties.
Shi's son was immediately confused.
Damn, Chengdu also did this to him.
At that time, he conspired with the false emperor Zhao Bing to write and print a large number of manuscripts about the orthodoxy of the Lin'an court and sent them to various places in Chengdu, attempting to confuse the public and disrupt the newly established New Song Republic.
