Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

The Emperor has gone mad!

He's going on a northern tour!

They'll send troops out immediately!

He also refused all advice!

The news caused an uproar throughout the Song Dynasty, from the imperial court to the common people.

"Have you heard? The Emperor is going on a northern tour!"

"A northern tour? What for?"

"Fight the Liao! Have you heard? Someone from our Great Song Dynasty has captured Bianjing (Kaifeng), the capital of the Liao Kingdom! And now the Emperor is preparing to go on a northern tour!"

"Does our Great Song Dynasty still have anyone capable of conquering the Liao capital, Tokyo?"

"No, even if someone conquers it, what does it have to do with our emperor? What would he do there? Who would fight for him?"

"Shh, watch your words..."

"Be careful what you say? Be careful what you say? This war will definitely be a waste of manpower and resources. Even if we win, we'll still have to send tribute to others!"

"Those high and mighty people don't care, but what about us? Those annual tributes will all be taken from our own pockets!"

……

The general public in the Song Dynasty was extremely pessimistic about this northern tour. No one thought the Song Dynasty could win; everyone felt that this was just another waste of resources and manpower, and that it would be of no use except for losing money.

It's better to just lose money! That way, we'll waste less!

In the Song Dynasty's officialdom, many officials began to submit memorials after learning of this news!

The memorial was, of course, an advice to Emperor Huizong (Zhao Ji) to stop making trouble and to stay quietly in the capital. If he really wanted to make a northern tour, he could just send someone to make a token gesture.

Emperor Huizong of Song (Zhao Ji) used the excuse of preparing for a northern tour to avoid attending court for three days and refused to see his officials.

But every day, memorials flew in from all over the country, and they were piled up in the Rui Si Hall in baskets!

How many officials were there in the Song Dynasty? How could they have written so many memorials?

Just kidding. The Song Dynasty had 400 prefectures and counties. Even if each prefecture only had 20 officials, and only half of those 20 officials wrote memorials, that would still be 4,000 memorials a day.

Three days, that's twelve thousand!

A memorial of that magnitude could kill Emperor Huizong if it were thrown at him! How could he possibly attend court?

"Yang Daban, is it wrong for me to want to recover Yan and Yun? Why are these people so ungrateful? Do they only feel satisfied if I play the fool?"

Inside the Rui Si Hall, Zhao Ji toyed with the memorial in his hand, but to be honest, he had no desire to open it at all.

Without even a second thought, this is almost certainly a memorial advising me against going on the northern tour.

"Your Majesty, you are the Son of Heaven, and your actions are naturally beyond the comprehension of ordinary people."

Yang Jian is very good at talking.

"Among this group, there are certainly some who are loyal to the Emperor, but these people are too few. Most of them are just people who want to gain fame and reputation. They only want to criticize the Emperor to win some good reputation for themselves."

"So Your Majesty, you don't need to read these people's memorials. Just let them write and see how much they can write."

Yang Jian's move was incredibly cunning. He essentially said, "You can write whatever you want. No matter how much you quote from classical texts, as long as it's not seen, it's just waste paper."

"What should we do with these memorials?"

Zhao Ji pointed to the memorials that had already piled up in the Rui Si Hall.

"Your Majesty, are you hungry?"

Looking at the somewhat bored Zhao Ji, Yang Jian suddenly asked with a smile.

"Hmm, now that you mention it, I am indeed a little hungry."

"Then let the Imperial Kitchen cook some porridge for His Majesty, using these rations."

"Let's see if cooking porridge with these memorials that adults supposedly wrote with painstaking effort will make the porridge more fragrant."

"You're absolutely right, my lord! All these people know how to play the literary game, but when it comes to the battlefield, they're useless. They're just afraid that I'll gain military merit and make them feel ashamed!"

When Zhao Ji heard Yang Jian's idea, he was very satisfied! Indeed, Zhao Ji now had no goodwill towards those who opposed his going out.

In his view, he, Zhao Ji, was a man of exceptional literary talent and first-rate calligraphy and painting skills, and the Song Dynasty was peaceful and prosperous under his rule!

Although a few petty thieves occasionally pop up, they don't cause any real harm.

Therefore, in terms of "civil administration", Zhao Ji felt that he had no problems!

Therefore, he had long been interested in martial arts!

However, Zhao Ji was not a complete fool. He knew that his military skills were indeed mediocre, so he hadn't dared to mention them at all before.

But not mentioning it doesn't mean that Zhao Ji didn't study it; he actually read quite a few military books!

Take the current situation of the Liao Kingdom as an example. Zhao Ji felt that this was a situation where they were taking advantage of the Liao Kingdom's misfortune, trying to kill it while it was weak, and fishing in troubled waters. Under such circumstances, it would be wrong not to fight!

But there was nothing they could do; those officials, or rather, the civil servants, were acting like madmen, preventing them from making a move!

Emperor Huizong refused to believe that those people couldn't see the current situation!

They just don't want to succeed!

Because an emperor who excels in both civil administration and military affairs will make all officials feel useless!

Emperor Huizong believed that if he acquired "martial arts skills," he would become the strongest emperor in the history of the Song Dynasty!

Therefore, everyone who stands in his way is his enemy!

As for the memorials from those military officers, Zhao Ji said that it was normal for those rough men to look down on him, because they couldn't understand someone like him!

Zhao Ji knew very well who those military generals thought of: their brother!

Of course, Zhao Ji knew that he was indeed somewhat inferior to his brother, who was skilled in both literature and martial arts and was very good to his brothers.

Actually, he thinks he's quite happy being the Prince of Duan!

But who could blame him for his brother's short life?

I didn't want to be emperor; everyone made me so. But those military generals just looked down on me and kept comparing me to my brother!

In contrast, people like Yang Daban, Taishi, and Lao Gao understand me better.

Therefore, Zhao Ji was even less inclined to pay attention to military generals.

"Your Majesty, please wait a moment while I prepare porridge for you."

Yang Jian bowed to Zhao Ji and then prepared to leave.

"My lord, what's the situation with the Grand Tutor? These officials can't find me, so they'll probably go to the Grand Tutor, right?"

Zhao Ji suddenly thought of something.

"Your Majesty, after returning to his residence, the Grand Tutor has closed his doors to visitors and refused to see anyone."

"However, after he heard the emperor say in court that he was going on a northern tour, he told all the officials to support the emperor's decree."

"Oh? Grand Tutor Cai actually agreed?"

Zhao Ji was somewhat surprised.

Cai Jing, although he was once one of Emperor Huizong's most trusted people, became increasingly distant from him as he grew older.

He preferred to believe Yang Jian, Tong Guan, and Liang Shicheng.

Perhaps... it's because all three of them were eunuchs...

"Daban, please have one of your men deliver a message, saying..."

Zhao Ji thought for a moment, then called Yang Jian to his side and said in a low voice.

"Old slave, I obey."

Yang Jian listened, but still had a smile on his face.

……

The next day, similar messages suddenly appeared again on the streets and alleys of the capital.

"Have you heard? This time, His Majesty's northern tour was all Cai Jing's idea! He even threatened the officials, making them pressure His Majesty to go on the northern tour!"

"What?! It's Cai Jing! Why him?"

"What else could it be? It's all about vying for power and profit with Tong Guan!"

"Ah, those two are so shameless, disregarding the safety of the Song Dynasty!"

"That's right, I've also heard that everyone's spreading a nursery rhyme these days."

"What nursery rhyme?"

"Splash the vegetables! Smash the bamboo tubes! And the world will be a better place!"

……