The capital of the Song Dynasty, Jinling Palace, outside Chongzheng Hall.

Song Jiang went through the etiquette of meeting the emperor carefully in his mind, and then carefully touched the green robe on his body, showing a strong look of cherishment.

This is an official robe.

His determination to serve the country with fists and fists was finally appreciated, and he became an official on the recommendation of Zhang Xianggong and became a right-level official, commonly known as Baoyi Lang.

When this was certain, Song Jiang couldn't wait to send a message to his younger brother Song Qing, asking him to connect his father to Jinling to witness his son's glorious moment from being a clerk to an official.

What makes Song Jiang happy is that not only himself, but also the brothers around him, Li Kui, Zhang Qing, Wang Ying, Bao Xu, Mu Hong, Mu Chun, and Deng Fei all put on official robes, that is, except for Sun Erniang, who is a woman

In the future, I can only seek a royal title, but I will become an upright official of the court, contribute to the country, and honor my ancestors.

What made Song Jiang even more ecstatic was that he could bring his brothers to meet the officials together.

According to Zhang Dun's wishes, these civilian righteous men who can exterminate traitors can all be recognized as saints. However, due to the appearance of his brother, especially Li Kui's temperament, Song Jiang would never dare to take him into the palace.

Yes, after much thought, I decided to let Mu Hong and Mu Chun follow.

In their hometown, these two people often interacted with people in the government and had seen the world. Their appearance was not bad, and they looked like normal people when they put on official robes.

But when they actually arrived at the palace, the Mu brothers, who were once bullies in the town, also froze, twisting their bodies from time to time, and the sound of swallowing could be clearly heard.

Song Jiang's glances several times could not suppress their uneasiness, so he ignored them. After all, besides them, several people on the other side were even more unbearable.

That was the rebel gang headed by Guo Kang. Now that they had been recruited, they also put on official robes, but nervously looked at the groups of Ban Zhi guards coming and going, as if these tightly guarded Forbidden Army were about to pounce at the next moment.

, pushing them to the ground.

Zhang Dun, who was standing at the front, turned a blind eye to these small movements behind him, with his waist straight and calm. Only his gray hair was slightly exposed under the head of the long-footed robe, and his eyes looking straight at the palace in front also showed a bit of unconcealable anger.

exhausted.

"Call Zhang Gong, Guo Kang, Song Jiang... to meet you!"

Finally, the high-pitched voice of the chamberlain sounded, and everyone outside the palace became excited. Zhang Dun also strengthened his spirits and walked towards the palace under the guidance of the chamberlain.

Song Jiang followed Zhang Dun and stepped into the palace. The light around him dimmed. He couldn't help but raise his head and saw that there were already more than a dozen officials standing in the hall, all of them were nobles and nobles. He felt a surge in his heart.

Trembling, he quickly lowered his head and walked forward with gentle steps.

Along the way, the official boots with black wooden soles made a crisp sound on the ground. The incense smelled in the nose not only had no effect on calming the mind, but also made the body more and more hot. Sweat poured out from behind, soaking the clothes.

"I will pay my respects to Your Majesty!"

Fortunately, they followed Zhang Dun and finally reached the steps. Zhang Dun bowed and saluted, while Song Jiang and others all knelt down. Among them, the rebel Guo Kang shouted the most fervently: "Long live your Majesty!"

He knelt three times and kowtowed nine times until he stood up, with his head bowed deeply. He did not dare to look at the layout of the palace, and as for the officials themselves, he did not dare to take a rash look.

Song Jiang suddenly felt very interesting.

Guo Kang once caused this man to rebel, but when he was in front of him, he didn't even have the courage to look at him.

It seems unreasonable, but it makes sense.

At this moment, a young voice sounded: "Without courtesy, I will give Zhang Gong a seat!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After thanking him, Zhang Dun slowly sat down and looked at Zhao Ji with no expression on his face, as if nothing happened before.

Although he knew that this was a city that a prime minister should have, Zhao Ji breathed a sigh of relief, and then looked over with expectant eyes: "Zhang Gong internally discussed the truth of Taoism and established the state, and externally he had the idea of ​​opening up borders and restoring the universe.

I am at peace when I return to the court... Today, the world is in chaos and the court is restless. I hope that Mr. Zhang can make plans for the country and protect the country and the country!"

The compliment was very explicit and the request was very direct.

He Zhizhong resigned and returned to his hometown to find an excuse for Zhang Dun to return to the prime minister. However, the civil and military officials in the court knew very well that Zhang Dun could come back precisely because wars were everywhere and rebels were everywhere. The authority of the imperial court was declining day by day.

The country of Song Dynasty was already in danger.

In this case, Zhao Ji no longer kept secrets, and simply asked directly. The other officials in the palace had different expressions when they heard this, some looked expectant, and some had cold eyes, but they all looked like they were listening, wanting to see this person.

How does the old husband resolve various current problems.

Zhang Dun's sonorous and powerful voice soon sounded: "Today's chaos is caused by the northern barbarians tearing up the alliance and invading south. The war caused the people to lose their homes and their lives were ruined. Some ambitious people took advantage of the situation and committed treason...

"

"For example, Jinghu Fangla, who colludes with the Mingzun cult, deceives the people's hearts, and commits evil deeds that are too numerous to describe. Such evildoers are unpardonable and should be cut into pieces as a warning to others!"

"There are also corrupt officials in the imperial court who do not know how to make decisions for the people, but instead impose excessive taxes and excessive taxes, causing the officials to force the people to rebel. For example, Guo Kang of Xiangyang was originally a good citizen, but he was forced to rebel under heavy taxes. Later he woke up and abandoned the dark side and turned to the bright side."

"Although these righteous men have made mistakes, they repented in time and performed meritorious service. Their circumstances were excusable. They were also given an edict by Your Majesty to pardon their crimes, were summoned to surrender, and paid homage day and night. How generous and virtuous they are... They should be given scarlet robes and seals again."

The wife’s shadow declares it to the world as a reward!”

As soon as these words came out, there was a faint commotion in the hall.

Even if many ministers knew that Zhang Dun advocated recruiting peace, they still showed dissatisfaction with such remarks.

In terms of time, Guo Kang was one of the first rebels in Xiangyang. He was of a bad nature. At his peak, he had hundreds of thousands of naval troops under his command. The imperial court was so frightened that he frantically urged the Western Army to return to defense, fearing that he would invade all the way to the south of the Yangtze River. On the contrary,

Fang La from Jinghu took nearly a year to make his mark.

Now that Guo Kang was being recruited, most of his officials disagreed. They wanted to directly ask him to kill him as a warning to others, but Zhang Dun actually gave him a scarlet robe, granted him the title of wife and son, and declared him to the world. It was really an exaggeration.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Mu Hong and Mu Chun's face changed slightly, and Song Jiang also felt a strong sense of discomfort in his heart.

If Guo Kang received this reward, it would be a golden belt for murder and arson. His official rank would be higher than theirs. How could he accept it?

"This is what Zhang Gong said..."

Even Zhao Ji frowned, not because of fairness in reward and punishment, but because he hated these rebels so much in his heart, how could he be willing to give them such good treatment.

Zhang Dun sighed secretly, if Zeng Bu, Cai Bian, and Fan Chunli were still here, even Han Zhongyan would know his intentions.

It is a pity that this group of people and even their cronies were saved by Zhao Ji. Now, those who remain in high positions in the court are mostly Jiangnan officials. They may be able to do their jobs well, but once they encounter such a disaster

, after all, the pattern is still not enough.

In this case, he said it more straightforwardly: "Your Majesty, in view of the disaster of the former Tang Dynasty King Xianzhi and Huang Chao, please appease the public opinion and do not chill the hearts of the righteous people in the world!"

There was a sudden silence in the hall, many of the ministers looked shocked and angry, and Song Jiang was shocked all over.

Taking Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao as examples, and comparing it to now, it is obvious that Zhao and Song Dynasties are going to perish!

"Is this old guy coming back to see my jokes? No... what he said makes sense..."

Zhao Ji was first filled with shock and anger, then looked at the trembling Guo Kang, and thought about the lives of Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao, and became thoughtful.

Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao were the rebel leaders in the late Tang Dynasty. They were both private salt traders. Their families were rich in property and they were good at riding and shooting. Some people in later generations roughly attributed all non-bureaucratic rebellions to peasant uprisings. However, there are also many scholars who have different opinions on Wang Xianzhi, Huang Chao and others.

The definition of their gang is "an alliance of bandits".

"This is not an army of farmers. On the contrary, it creates terror in the countryside, robs farmers of everything by force, and has never been committed to promoting the interests of farmers. Once conditions are favorable, it is eager to accept the imperial court's recruitment." Such a characterization is actually more accurate.

Don't think that the imperial court is corrupt and those who rebel are all active peasant uprisings. Sometimes the opposite of black is black, and it is not a simple opposition between black and white.

However, there were differences between the two men. Wang Xianzhi was happy to be recruited, while Huang Chao prevented Wang Xianzhi from surrendering to the Tang Dynasty in Qizhou, split his troops and fought independently. At first glance, this seemed to be a staunch anti-imperialist faction. In fact,

otherwise.

Huang Chao had been taking the imperial examinations in his early years, but failed many times. Finally, after failing one time, he wrote the most famous anti-poem in history, "Ode to Chrysanthemums for Not the Empress". Listen to the name of this poem, "Not the Empress"

” Fu Ju, and then raised troops to rebel.

Later, the imperial court recruited Wang Xianzhi, and the imperial court gave Wang Xianzhi the title of "Zuo Shence Army Administrative Officer and Supervisory Censor", which sounded very good, but he was an eighth-grade sesame official. Wang Xianzhi was already overjoyed and celebrated with his brothers, and then Huang Chao

Erupted.

The reason is very simple. He was not included in the recruitment and reward list. Wang Xianzhi came ashore and he was pulled down. The slogan during the rebellion was "Heaven makes up for the average". How come I was missing my brother when I was an official?

This record in the history books is: "Xianzhi was happy, but Chao hated that he could not be rewarded. He asked: 'Your Majesty surrendered, and only got an official position. What can I do with five thousand soldiers? I have no soldiers left.' Because of the attack on Xianzhi, he was injured in the head."

"

Huang Chao was so angry that he broke up with Wang Xianzhi, hit him on the head, and parted ways. Therefore, if the court had given him another eighth-grade official, Huang Chao would have been among the overjoyed people, and there might not have been a "Sky-high General."

Now, I want to be an official!

Of course, this is impossible to say, because at that time, the party struggle in the court was fierce, and the two factions of ministers adopted completely different attitudes towards recruitment. Even if Huang Chao was included in the list, he would probably be disturbed later. After all, this is how Wang Xianzhi failed to recruit, and he ended up going around.

After a while, Huang Chao will still advance into Chang'an...

Now Zhang Dun uses "Wang Xianzhi, Huang Chao" as an example. His intention is very simple, that is, to use the method of recruiting people to prevent the emergence of Huang Chao, the gravedigger of the dynasty. In his words just now, he classified the rebels into two categories.

One type is Fang La, who has a given year and has become powerful with the help of Ming Zun's teachings. They are "unpardonable sins and should be cut into pieces as a warning to others";

The other type is Guo Kang, who "has extenuating circumstances and should be given the title of wife and son-in-law and declared to the world." There are more than ten rebel leaders in the south, big and small. Obviously, these people can be arranged in this way, and

As long as the rewards are in place, they will be willing to surrender just like "Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao".

Of course, this is humble.

But there are many things that cannot be circumvented, but once they are circumvented, that's what happens.

When the imperial court is weak, it must be humble.

After being humbled, one can no longer worry about face. Instead, before the influence of more than a hundred years of rule is completely dissipated, use it as much as possible to recruit and divide the enemy, use thieves to control thieves, and strive for the last possibility of resurrection.

Just like in the Tang Dynasty, it was already dusk in the Western Mountains tomorrow, but I still had to act coy, and eventually I was beaten directly into Chang'an by the rebels.

Of course, Zhang Dun had another intention. He wanted to learn from the lessons of the collapse of the former Tang Dynasty. When the country was in turmoil, there must be no party fighting.
To be continued...