Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

Liu Fa ultimately failed to resign completely. Zhao Huan wasn't stupid; letting Liu Fa go at this point would do him no good. So, he used a combination of grand principles, emotional appeals, and tears to keep Liu Fa there.

Of course, the leave was approved, a month's leave, so that Liu Fa could go back and rest.

Just after seeing Liu Fa off, Yang Jian arrived. He was also taken aback when he saw Liu Fa leaving Zhao Huan's place.

Liu Fa also saw Yang Jian, but he wasn't familiar with Yang Jian and their relationship was just so-so, so he just nodded and had no desire to greet him.

Yang Jian was already immune to this kind of situation. He smiled, bowed to Liu Fa, and watched him leave.

"My dear, this old general is just too..."

Yang Jian's men spoke up for him, saying, "Liu Fa, you should at least have said hello! You left without even saying hello. Do you look down on us?"

"Forget it, they're different from us, don't overthink it."

Yang Jian took it all in stride. People like Liu Fa, if it weren't for the weakness of the court, would have looked down on eunuchs like him. The current situation was quite good.

"His Royal Highness."

Yang Jian went directly to the Eastern Palace to pay his respects to Emperor Huizong (Zhao Ji).

"Daban, what's the matter?"

Zhao Huan also respected Yang Jian, because he knew that his father trusted Yang Jian very much, even more than himself.

"The Liao Dynasty has fallen, does Your Highness know that?"

Yang Jian went straight to the point and asked the question.

"Yes, I know. The old general just told me."

Zhao Huan nodded, then asked in return:

"This Yi Kingdom is quite formidable. It has already destroyed Cai Jing's Lai Kingdom and Yelü's Liao Kingdom. Fang La's Ming Kingdom is also in dire straits now. Da Ban, what do you think of them?"

Yang Jian was caught off guard by the question. What could I possibly think?

"Your Highness, although Ren Yuan of Shandong was just a strongman before, he and his followers have now become a force to be reckoned with. Your Highness may not know this, but back in the day, there were four heroes in the bandit world of our Great Song Dynasty. In the end, only Ren Yuan survived and developed into the pseudo-Yi Kingdom we know today. To be honest, I think he is a ruthless and ambitious man."

Yang Jian thought for a moment and then told the truth. After all, through his observations over this period of time, he found that Zhao Huan was more willing to listen to the truth than his father.

However, these words were indeed somewhat presumptuous, so Yang Jian lowered his head after speaking, preparing to receive the possible scolding.

"Yes, that's what I think too."

? ?

Yang Jian suddenly looked up, staring at Zhao Huan with disbelief.

No, Your Highness, are you really so receptive to advice? Your father would never have said what you just said.

"What's wrong, Otomo? You seem surprised."

Zhao Huan said, "Why are you so surprised? My father and I are not the same."

"Your Highness, Ren Yuan, though he can be called a ruthless and ambitious man, is still our enemy. But it seems that Your Highness has a good impression of him?"

Yang Jian looked at Zhao Huan and felt that something was a little off, but he would never believe that Zhao Huan was Ren Yuan's man, because that didn't make sense.

"My lord, our Great Song Dynasty has always dreamed of one day destroying the Liao Dynasty. Now someone has actually destroyed the Liao Dynasty, and it was even one of our Song people. How could I not be happy?"

Looking at Yang Jian, Zhao Huan felt completely at ease. He genuinely admired Prince Ren for his role in the destruction of the Liao dynasty.

"But he was, after all, a traitor."

Yang Jian reminded Zhao Huan, "This man is rebelling against your Zhao family's empire!"

"Traitors...Aren't there enough traitors in the world today? Even Grand Tutor Cai, the former pillar of the Song Dynasty, became a traitor."

Zhao Huan shook his head slightly. If he weren't surnamed Zhao, he would probably be working under Ren Yuan right now.

"Your Highness, please be careful with your words. This name is not easy to mention."

Upon hearing Zhao Huan mention Cai Jing, Yang Jian quickly stopped him. After all, Cai Jing was the person who angered Zhao Ji the most. It was Cai Jing who had personally driven Zhao Ji out of Tokyo, forcing him to flee westward. Zhao Ji would remember this humiliation for the rest of his life!

Although the matter became a muddled mess with Cai Jing's death and the fall of the Lai Kingdom, Zhao Ji still felt unsatisfied!

So Emperor Huizong specially commissioned the creation of two plays, one called "Drunkenly Beating the Grand Tutor" and the other called "The New Drunkenly Beating the Grand Tutor," and had them performed daily in his palace.

Compared to Cai Jing, Ren Yuan was nothing!

"My lord, I am still young. Tell me, in this situation, how should our Great Song Dynasty conduct itself?"

Zhao Huan threw the question back to Yang Jian, who was stumped: Who is the crown prince? Is this a question I need to think about?

"I believe we can issue an edict to Ren Yuan, bestowing upon him the title of king. I suggested this to Your Majesty before, but Your Majesty objected. However, judging from the current situation, it is unstoppable for Ren Yuan to be granted the title of king. So why don't we go with the flow and grant him one first, so that he can be used by us?"

Yang Jian forced himself to finish speaking, and even after he finished, he shook his head slightly. He didn't believe these words himself!

"Otomo, are you making fun of me? Given the current situation, even if we offered Ren Yuan the title of king, would he accept it? Besides, he is already a king!"

Zhao Huan shook his head. He suddenly felt that his father might be neglecting Prince Ren too much. Now they were even thinking of bestowing upon him the title of King of Kings?

"The Crown Prince is wise."

Yang Jian can now confirm that Zhao Huan is superior to his father in some aspects. If it were Zhao Ji, he might have already picked up his pen to write the decree of conferring the title of king.

“My lord, it’s just the two of us here. You can tell me your true thoughts. As for Father, I swear that he knows nothing about what you said today.”

Zhao Huan raised his hand as he spoke.

"I am terrified."

Yang Jian had never seen this move before, and quickly stated that he dared not do it.

"Speak, and I will pardon your guilt."

Zhao Huan stared at Yang Jian, wanting to know what Yang Jian was thinking.

"Your Highness, then I would say that, given the current situation, there are three options: best, middle, and worst."

Yang Jian looked at Zhao Huan and thought for a moment before finally speaking.

"Oh?"

Zhao Huan was surprised, not expecting that Yang Jian would actually have three strategies.

"Then tell me."

"Actually, what I just said was the best policy: to confer titles of kings, and even more so, kings who would share the world equally. If they can agree to that, it would be the best outcome."

Yang Jian said that whether this can be done depends mainly on whether Ren Yuan accepts it.

"What about the middle strategy?"

"The middle strategy is... to gather all the current Western Army forces, with His Highness personally overseeing the operation, and launch a counterattack to retake Tokyo!"

"..."

Zhao Huan fell silent. "You call this a middle-ground strategy? You have no idea how capable those men are! Give me back my supervisory role? Are you afraid I won't die soon enough?"

"What's the next step?"

"The worst option is..."

Yang Jian hesitated, glancing at Zhao Huan several times, but ultimately remained silent.

"What is it? Ohtomo, tell me."

Zhao Huan was getting anxious.

"The worst option is for us to surrender, preserve our bloodline, but lose the throne."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Huan was suddenly pleased.

Oh, Otomo, you do have some brains after all!

The kingdoms of Lai and Liao are gone, and the Ming kingdom is about to fall as well. If my Song kingdom does not surrender now, I'm afraid it will be too late to catch up!

Who says this is a bad idea? I think it's the best idea!

……