Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 512: People in Bianliang City Feel Insecure

When the Jin Dynasty transformed from tribalization to sinicization, some changes also took place in its central institutions. To be more precise, its governance methods were completely copied from the Han system.

Specifically, the central government is divided into three departments: the Secretariat, the Ministry of Palace Affairs, and the Secretariat.

During the reign of Wanyan Liang, in order to monopolize power, he abolished the Secretariat, which was responsible for decision-making, and the Ministry of Personnel, which was responsible for deliberation, leaving only the Secretariat. Together with the Marshal's Office, which was actually responsible for military affairs, he was able to directly control both civil and military power.

The Secretariat was composed of nine senior officials, all of whom could be given titles such as Prime Minister and Xianggong, but it was often not fully staffed.

Hesheli Liangbi, the Shangshu Zuo Cheng who showed great power in Liaodong, and Li Tong, the Shangshu You Cheng who was following Liu Huai at this time, were both senior officials in the Shangshu Province.

The person in charge of the Secretariat was the Shangshu Ling.

The Shangshu Ling was the head of the civil officials and held a high position with great power, so it was not a permanent position. In history, it had been vacant for a long time since Wanyan Liang, and became an honor given to elderly and important officials for promotion.

But at this time Wanyan Liang was on a southern expedition, leaving only a half-grown child as regent. With the young ruler in power and the country in doubt, he had no choice but to hand over power and appoint Zhang Hao as Shangshu Ling to assist the prince in governing the country.

Therefore, according to the Ming Dynasty, Shangshu Ling Zhang Hao was the real prime minister of the Jin Dynasty.

But after Wanyan Liang's southern expedition, the Shangshu Ling's hair, which had been well maintained with more black than white, began to turn gray. After learning that Wanyan Liang was defeated in Chao County, his hair turned snow-white overnight.

At this time, Zhang Hao was reviewing documents in the government hall, while the Vice Minister Jing Sihui and the Left Prime Minister Xiao Yu were pacing around anxiously beside him.

Finally, Jing Sihui couldn't bear it any longer and snatched the document from Zhang Hao's hand: "Mr. Zhang, how can you still calm down and write these things at this point?!"

Zhang Hao didn't get angry, but simply held out his hand: "This is the document demanding food from Nanyang. If it's not sent out today, the army will really starve."

"You, ah!" Jing Sihui sighed deeply, put the document back, and stomped his feet on the spot again.

Although Xiao Yu was also anxious, his brows remained calm: "What should I do? I still need Mr. Zhang to make a decision!"

Zhang Hao unfolded the document he had just read, shook his head and smiled, "What ideas do I have? You and I are both trapped in Bianliang City. We can't get any leverage, so how can we break the deadlock?"

Jing Sihui took a few steps forward and whispered, "I heard that Zhang Xianggong's cousin, Shousu, sent a letter from Wokou. What did he say?"

Zhang Hao didn't seem surprised at all, and he pulled out a letter from his pocket. "It's exactly the same as what Yuan Zhong said. It's nothing more than killing the crown prince and supporting Duke Cao."

Jing Sihui had just received the letter and hadn't had time to read it when a horseman came to report: "Minister Liang of the Ministry of Revenue has returned and is outside the government hall right now!"

This time, not only Jing Sihui and Xiao Yu, but even Zhang Hao, who had just been indifferent and arguing with the clerk, suddenly stood up.

As the Minister of Revenue, Liang Qiu could naturally enter and exit the government hall at will. He walked in hurriedly, then slumped down in a chair and gulped down a pot of tea.

"Minister Liang...what are you doing...what are you doing..." Zhang Hao was speechless upon seeing this.

Liang Qiu panted and said, "Don't ask too much. Let me make it short. After the battle in Chao County, I went to Jiankang City in the State of Song as an envoy. I met with His Majesty, the Emperor Zhao, and the prime ministers and generals of the State of Song."

As he spoke, regardless of the stunned gazes of the other ministers, Liang Qiu gulped down another cup of tea before saying, "Your Majesty is fine, he's not missing any limbs, but he's being closely guarded, making it difficult for him to escape."

Jing Sihui's lips moved for a long time before he said, "The Battle of Chao County...how...how could it be..."

Liang Qiu waved his hand and said, "We've all done our best. Wanyan Alin and Han Tang were both killed in actual combat. The 3,000 elite soldiers from the Huaidong 30,000 households were also completely wiped out. There were no tricks involved; they were defeated in a pure head-on confrontation. There's no point in saying more."

Xiao Yu slumped in his chair, muttering, "So, besides joining Duke Cao, isn't there any other way out?"

Liang Qiu shook his head and replied, "That's not necessarily true, because the Song State seems to be planning to release His Majesty."

The three prime ministers were slightly stunned. They were all smart people and reacted immediately.

"What the Song court wants is..." Jing Sihui trembled violently as he slowly spoke out his guess: "They want to release His Majesty when the Great Jin, that is, Duke Cao of Liaodong, inherits the throne but has not yet fully gained the loyalty of all other places. In this way, they can trigger another civil war in the Great Jin! What a vicious plan!"

"What a vicious plan!" Jing Sihui roared to the sky.

This is an open conspiracy.

No matter who it was, once they took this step, there was no turning back. Would Wanyan Liang give up and return to his homeland? Or would Wanyan Yong give up and ascend the throne?

It's impossible!
By then, Wanyan Liang would control Guanzhong and half of Henan, and Wanyan Yong would control Youyan and Liaodong. Even if great generals like Pushan Zhongyi, Tushan Zhen, and Wanyan Guying remained neutral, both sides could turn the entire Jin Kingdom into a hot kiln.

Originally, these three ministers were all loyal to Wanyan Liang and were looking forward to their emperor's return. Now it seems that Wanyan Liang might as well have died in Chao County!
At the critical moment, Zhang Hao remained calm. He waved his hand and said, "If you want to accomplish this, you need to grasp the timing. It won't work if it's too early, and it won't work if it's too late. Zhao Gou is more of a hindrance than a success. He definitely doesn't have the ability to do this."

Jing Sihui and Xiao Yu thought about Zhao Gou's past battle records and immediately felt reassured.

That's so damn true!

But Liang Qiu still had some concerns: "Song State still has a few capable prime ministers and generals. Forget it, let's not talk about this."

As soon as he opened his mouth, Liang Qiu changed the subject and said seriously, "I heard that the prince is dead. Who killed him?"

Xiao Yu sighed upon hearing this. "Who else? That Ugulun Yuanzhong. As the eldest son-in-law of Duke Cao, why wouldn't he stand up for his father-in-law?"

Liang Qiu was startled, then curiously asked, "Since you've done something like this, why are you still hesitating? Even if you weren't the one who did it, how can you escape responsibility later? Why don't you quickly surrender to Duke Cao?"

Jing Sihui shook his head and slumped in his chair. "If it were that simple, it would be fine. The Crown Prince wasn't identified after being beheaded, and Yuan Zhong didn't have the guts to do that. The other day, there was a fire in the East Palace, and the Crown Prince was burned to charcoal."

"Those surrounding the Eastern Palace are Ugun Yuanzhong's men. This is probably what he did. Originally, when things got this far, we old ministers could only cry and send the empress back to her parents' home to be raised."

"But just one day later, Yuan Zhong claimed that the deceased wasn't the prince, and that someone must have hidden him. He wanted to search the entire city. That was simply ridiculous."

"As a result, all the nobles and officials in the city were in a state of fear, worried that Yuan Zhong was coming to purge the court on the orders of Duke Cao."

As he spoke, Jing Sihui shook his head and sighed.

Liang Qiu nodded.

That makes sense.

Because at this time the only person who could resolutely take action against Crown Prince Wanyan Guangying was Ugun Yuanzhong, and this guy also led his troops to surround and burn down the Eastern Palace. In any case, the matter should be over at this point, and the officials and nobles in Bianliang had accepted their fate.

But Ugun Yuanzhong actually said that the prince was in hiding and that the whole city should be searched. This really looked like a move to implicate others.

It is no lie to say that everyone in Bianliang City was in danger. The noble officials used their private soldiers to protect themselves. While guarding against Wugun Yuanzhong, they were also on guard against each other.

And with no large army around to win over, Ugun Yuanzhong had no way of accomplishing anything.

If he wanted to use the hundreds of soldiers in his hands to kill one family first, the others would unite to deal with him. Even if he couldn't afford to offend Wanyan Yong, he would put him under house arrest to prevent him from doing whatever he wanted.

Wugulun Yuanzhong was not a foolish man and would not cause chaos in Bianliang at this stage. From this perspective, it is possible that he had discovered some clues and that Wanyan Guangying was not dead, but was hidden by a senior official.

Thinking of this, Liang Qiu narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at the three prime ministers in the government hall.

The only ones who have the ability, willingness, and wisdom to do such a thing are the three people in front of us.

"Minister Liang, how many soldiers and horses did you bring back?" Xiao Yu thought of something and asked anxiously.

In this situation where everyone is in danger and hesitant, the entire Bianliang city has become a large military camp, and people are gathered together in groups of streets and markets to guard against each other.

But there were not many private soldiers. The most were only the nearly 1,000 soldiers of those Jurchen nobles.

In this situation, more soldiers mean more hope of survival. To put it bluntly, even if you really can't survive and want to seek refuge in the State of Song, don't you still need soldiers to protect you on the road?
"There are only two hundred of them, and they are all very tired." Liang Qiu said calmly, "I will take them to the vicinity of the Political Affairs Hall to protect the Imperial Palace and the Empress."

Jing Sihui's heart skipped a beat, and then he nodded: "I will bring my family to the Government Affairs Hall now and find a house for them to stay in."

The more soldiers and horses we have now, the better. Besides, the queen is still in the palace, so there is always a reason to gather troops.

Liang Qiu waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, I'll go find Yuan Zhong first and persuade him not to let his father-in-law down!"

(End of this chapter)