I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 49: I wonder what my nephew thinks about Taizu passing the throne to Taizong

Zhao Ji asked his attendants to let Zhao Zicheng, Chen Dong and a few others go upstairs, and Li Shishi also took Murong Yan to a separate room.

Everyone came to the third floor, where the banquet was quickly set up and they began to eat and drink while talking freely.

Both Zhao Zicheng and Chen Dong were on the third floor for the first time. Chen Dong had no hidden agenda and seemed genuinely curious, enjoying the fun. Zhao Zicheng was a bit more reserved, but neither overbearing nor servile, and certainly not reserved.

The dining utensils on the third floor were indeed much better than those on the second. The drinking vessels were all golden cups and jade pots, and the porcelain dishes and teaware were also extremely luxurious.

Zhao Ji naturally had no interest in these utensils and food, so while he was drinking, his mind was completely focused on observing everyone.

Seeing that Zhao Zicheng was eating and drinking with ease, and didn't look like a country boy in the city at all, he casually asked, "My dear nephew, are you also used to fine clothes and delicious food?"

Zhao Zicheng put down his silver chopsticks and replied with a bow, "My nephew is back home in Xiuzhou. Our family relies mainly on my father's annual salary of 40 strings of cash and 20 dan of rice. Fortunately, we have some farmland and mulberry gardens, and we have a few tenant farmers who can collect rent, but that's all."

Zhao Ji had no idea how remote and impoverished the royal family of Zhao Zicheng was, and had no idea about this. When he heard that the annual income was less than a hundred strings of cash, he was surprised and said:

"Among the royal family of the Great Song Dynasty, are there still those who are so poor... destitute? What rank did your father hold, or what was his official rank?"

Zhao Ji wanted to say "poor and humble" but realized the wording was inappropriate when the words came to his lips. As long as one is a member of the royal family, it is impossible to be poor, at most one can only be poor.

Zhao Zi said: "Ninth rank, right guard of the palace."

Zhao Ji: “…”

It was not until this moment that Zhao Ji realized that he had made a big misunderstanding.

Seeing that Zhao Zicheng was able to make a name for himself in the Imperial Academy and knew so much about craftsmanship and strange arts, he realized that he must be a rich young man who had been able to cultivate his interests and hobbies freely since childhood and had made his fortune through money.

As for Zhao Zicheng's two A's in the Imperial College Shangshe examination, although Zhao Zicheng did not actually cheat, Zhao Ji had a preconceived notion that he must have cheated by relying on his noble birth.

Because Zhao Ji himself had helped others cheat - Zhao Ji's favorite son was the third son, Prince Yun Zhao Kai. Last year (1118), Zhao Kai was appreciated by his father for his calligraphy, painting and poetry. Zhao Ji felt that this son had more prospects than the crown prince Zhao Huan, so he ridiculously allowed him to take the exam secretly.

In the end, Zhao Kai, despite being a prince, actually got the first place in the exam. Zhao Ji was afraid that the matter would get out of hand, so he promoted a man named Wang Ang, who was originally ranked second, to the first place in order to cover up the matter.

It is unclear whether Zhao Kai cheated in the exam, or whether any examiners or court officials marked the prince's paper and deliberately gave him a high score when grading. However, Zhao Ji knew the truth, so when he heard about Zhao Zicheng's deeds, he also felt that something was fishy.

In particular, Zhao Zi said that he took the exam in February this year, just one year later than Zhao Kai. Zhao Ji had such a deep impression of what happened last year that he had a preconceived notion about it.

Seeing how poor he is now, he probably doesn't have the ability to cheat.

"It seems that all his knowledge is real talent and learning. He relied on himself to take the exam, no wonder his ranking is not high, he just passed the two A's, that's all." Zhao Ji stroked his exquisite goatee and thought to himself.
"Looking at his age, he's only a year younger than Kai'er and a few months older than Shu'er. What a coincidence. Kai'er took the exam secretly last year, but he took it openly this year."

After thinking about this, Zhao Ji's original suspicion and vigilance were slightly relaxed.

After all, people are emotional. When he finds that a distant nephew has certain similarities with one of his favored biological sons, this kind of compassion is easily aroused.

This is reasonable and does not mean that Zhao Zi is cheating.

Zhao Ji had many sons, but he didn't have deep feelings for most of them. He already had 27 sons, six of whom died young, leaving 21 alive. He could have had many more in the future—even in history, after his "Northern Expedition" and his arrival in the Jin Dynasty, he still had six recorded sons.

The so-called records are that the birth mothers of these children were all concubines who were abducted from the south to the north. As for the children Zhao Ji had with local women in the Jin Dynasty in the future, because it was too embarrassing, the historians did not record it for him, and it is unknown whether it actually happened.

However, Zhao Ji still had some affection for his older sons. This was especially true for his early children, who had a high mortality rate. Of the first six children, three died young, and all those with even numbers died young, accounting for half of the total number of his sons who died young.

Therefore, he felt a little guilty towards his eldest sons who survived, and wanted to make amends to them. The eldest was Crown Prince Zhao Huan, the third (the second surviving) was Prince Zhao Kai of Yun, and the fifth (the third surviving) was Zhao Shu.

Zhao Zicheng was just over a year younger than Zhao Ji's second and most favored surviving son, and a few months older than his third son. Like his second son, he possessed some talent, a wide range of interests, and a knack for everything, a trait that set him apart from the other royal family members.

However, Zhao Ji still had to investigate what he needed to investigate.

Fearing he might waver if he hesitated too long, he ate and drank a little more before turning the conversation to the Flower and Stone Gang. He asked Zhao Zicheng why he had to develop "cement imitation stone" technology to replace the huge stones shipped from Jiangnan for garden construction, and why he was studying the technology of artificially inducing the growth of exotic flowers and trees to reduce the number of flowers and trees donated from all over the country.

Zhao Zicheng naturally had to revisit these issues in detail, dwelling on the fundamental principle of "If the people are well-off, who can be less well-off? If the people are less well-off, who can be less well-off?" He even alluded to Mencius's "people are the most precious" philosophy. However, at the dinner table, the atmosphere was more open, allowing for more casual conversation. Zhao Zicheng carefully crafted his words, recounting his experiences in Jiangnan, the plight of some common people, even the wealthy, and the reasons why he had been drawn into the Flower and Stone Gang and arrived in Bianjing.

He did not report Zhu Jie directly, as he knew that it would be useless and would only backfire, so he just made a brief mention of the matter and left as soon as he got involved.

As they chatted, Zhao Ji, out of curiosity, also asked about his experiences following the Flower and Stone Gang to the capital. Zhao Zicheng could only pick out some colorful and dangerous experiences to tell, which made Zhao Ji, who had never personally witnessed the dangers of war, eager to try it out, and even the other listeners were amazed.

However, Zhao Zicheng was sitting next to Chen Dong and two other Tai students - mainly Chen Dong. The other extras had no fighting power at all and would not offend anyone casually.

So Chen Dong, this super social leader, unexpectedly said something that almost made the situation out of control.

"I never expected that Brother Zhao had such a deep concern for the people. I never really knew you, and I underestimated you. Furthermore, you possess both literary and martial prowess. You delve into casting unusual stones, replacing the Flower and Stone Gang, and cultivating white sedge flowers. And you wield a sword to slay bandits. You truly are a descendant of the Taizu, possessing the spirit of a hero."

"Alas, our Song Dynasty has been oppressed by the four barbarians for so many years. Back in the days of Emperor Taizu, we could still suppress the Liao dogs and could not revolt against the Xia bandits. Later generations have been worse than the previous one. Emperor Taizu might as well have passed the throne to Prince Dezhao!"

As soon as these words were spoken, one could hear a pin drop in the box, leaving only the sound of Zhao Zicheng eating his food calmly.

The other two students were so frightened that they froze in place, not daring to speak. Although Zhao Ji did not reveal his identity, his public identity was that of a Duke of a certain lineage of the descendants of Prince Pu.

Nowadays, except for a very few descendants of Taizu such as Zhao Zicheng, seven or eight out of ten royal families in the world are descendants of Taizong, and the descendants of Taizong obviously have a much higher status than the descendants of Taizu.

After Taizu, there were only a few founding marquisates left, and that was the limit. After Taizong, there were a large number of princes and dukes.

The two remaining students were convinced that Chen Dong had gotten too drunk and started talking nonsense!
Zhao Ji also heard these remarks, which obviously touched upon the most taboo point in his heart at the moment.

"What a fool! He's really foolish. He even brings up this cliché that's been around for over a hundred years. Chen Dong is truly useless." Zhao Ji thought to himself, "However, this kind of lunatic is surprisingly useful in this kind of situation. He even said something like this. It's a good opportunity to see if Zhao Zicheng can follow up on this and what he thinks.

If he's deliberately lying and trying to flatter me, I'll naturally see through it! Then I'll cut short his career, but if he truly has insight and genuinely understands current affairs, then everything will be fine."

Zhao Ji thought of this and a slightly strange smile appeared on his face. The smile was fleeting, and then Zhao Ji pretended to be drunk and asked Zhao Zi in a warm tone: "My dear nephew, you should also be familiar with the historical materials of this dynasty, right? You can also tell me your own opinion."

When asked about such a sensitive topic that could threaten one's life, Zhao Zicheng couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

He had long thought that a guy like Chen Dong, who was not careful with his words, might be used by Zhao Ji, but he still didn't expect that Chen Dong could cause such a big trouble.

At this time, even if you don't know that the other party is the emperor, at least you know that the other party's official identity is the descendant of Prince Pu. If you can't come up with a shocking and self-consistent truth, then even if you say without hesitation and firmly that "Taizu should pass the throne to Taizong", the other party will think that you are deliberately flattering him, pretending, and deceiving the emperor.

Then your future will be over.

Therefore, he not only had to say that Taizu was right to pass the throne to Taizong, but also had to explain the reasoning in a brilliant way, with a broad perspective that could withstand the test of history. Every word had to be the truth, and this truth had to be able to be used by him without laying a hole for his future program of seizing power and restoring the country.

Meeting so many conditions simultaneously was a definite "both and more" kind of thing. He wasn't a political science PhD in his previous life, nor did he specialize in orthodoxy and the sources of legitimacy. How could he possibly have accomplished such a difficult feat so easily?

In just a few seconds, Zhao Zicheng's forehead was slightly sweaty. Fortunately, he had also drunk some wine, so others just thought that he was sweating because of alcohol.

Finally, Zhao Zicheng felt a sudden inspiration and took a deep breath. "When Taizu passed the throne to Taizong, it was naturally an extremely wise decision. It was this decision that ensured the long-term legitimacy of the Song Dynasty and ensured that the Song Dynasty's replacement of the Chai family was the destiny of heaven!"

"Oh? Although it is true that Taizu passed the throne to Taizong, you don't have to say it like this! Brother Zhao, how did you become such a flatterer!" Chen Dong, who was drunk, suddenly became dissatisfied and rolled up his sleeves to have a debate with Zhao Zicheng.

Zhao Ji's expression became more and more exciting, and he was happy to pretend to be invisible and watch their performance.

"It's a good idea to invite this foolish man named Chen to stir up trouble today. I want to see what kind of truth my nephew Zicheng can come up with." Zhao Ji was secretly delighted and wanted to watch the show even more.

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PS: Sorry, my grades are not good anyway, so I let myself go again. I originally wanted to control myself and not post any content related to political philosophy and legitimacy of rule before putting it on the shelves.

But since I can't make any money, I can't bear it anymore and I'm going to start criticizing again.

(End of this chapter)