Hua Ju said: "Wenshan, you not only passed the examination, but you also captured Xixia's secret work and exposed Xixia's plot. This is a great achievement."

Hua Ju said: "As a citizen of the Song Dynasty and your Majesty's minister, it is my duty to contribute to the court. I dare not be greedy for credit."

"This is all your credit, how could it be due to others?"

Huizong thought for a moment and said, "Huaju accepted the order."

Hua Ju quickly knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, Hua Ju, accepts the order."

Huizong said: "Commander of the Guards, a bachelor of the Hanlin Palace, Hou Hua Ju of Yongning, with astonishing literary talents, outstanding military skills, uncovered Xixia spies, loyal to the imperial court, and now he is specially awarded a special promotion to assist the country as a general."

The generals of Tejin and Fuguo were respectively Wen and Wu Sanguan, that is, they had no actual duties, but their official ranks were very high, and they were the second rank.

Hua Ju was now the commander of the escort army and held great power. There was no need to give him another position for the time being. Therefore, Huizong had no choice but to grant him high-priced casual officials who could reflect his distinguished status to improve his status in the court.

Of course, although he has no actual position, his salary is very high, and Huaje also has the commander of the escort army, a bachelor of Hanlin Palace, and the salary of Yongning Marquis, which means that every month he can get three

More than a hundred taels of silver, which is more than the salary of Prime Minister Cai Jing.

Seeing that Hua Ju had already held several high-level official positions at such a young age, the officials in the DPRK were envious, helpless, dissatisfied, and hostile.

I am envious because Hua Ju is already in a high position at such a young age, and his future career path is limitless. It is not impossible to become the prime minister at the head of hundreds of officials.

They were helpless, thinking that they had spent countless efforts and spent most of their lives to get to the court, but Hua Ju was already a dignified second-rank official at such a young age, which really made them sigh.

.

Those who were dissatisfied felt that Hua Ju did not take the imperial examination, nor did he achieve military exploits, nor did he contribute to the government. He only relied on currying favor with Yang Jian and Huizong to gain titles and promotions, and was not worthy of being established in the court at all.

They were hostile because the appearance of Huaju not only weakened their power in the court and threatened their interests, but also seriously affected their relationship with Huizong. These people were the treacherous ministers headed by Cai Jing.

group.

Especially Cai Jing and Gao Qiu, their hatred for Hua Ju went deep into their bones. The more Hua Ju received Huizong's attention, the more they hated him and wished they could chop him in pieces.

"Hua Ju, you can be proud now, but as long as I live, I will never let you be arrogant in this court." Cai Jing stared at Hua Ju evilly and thought.

"I thank Your Majesty for your grace."

"Get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Hua Ju stood up and returned to his seat.

Huizong looked at the ministers and said, "I have one more thing to announce to the reserve minister's family."

Hua Ju knew that Huizong was definitely going to announce his marriage to Zhao Jinnu, so he immediately glanced at Cai Jing.

Because according to the regulations of the Song Dynasty, princes-in-law could not enter the court and hold important positions. He believed that as soon as Huizong made an announcement, Cai Jing would definitely stand up and ask Huizong to remove him from the post of commander of the escort army in accordance with the ancestral system.

Although Huizong had vowed before that he would not remove him from office, Huizong was a very unreliable person, and he was not sure whether he could live up to his promise.

Huizong raised his voice and said: "My favorite daughter, Emperor Chongde, has reached the age of marriage, and I have always wanted to find a husband who suits her needs."

Having said this, he looked at Hua Ju and said: "Hua Ju has outstanding literary talent, outstanding military skills, and is similar in age to Emperor Chongde. He is the best candidate for the prince's consort. Therefore, I have made an edict.

, Zhao Huaju is the consort of Emperor Chongde."

"Congratulations to Your Majesty on your son-in-law." All the courtiers congratulated in unison.

Huizong was very happy and said: "I will choose an auspicious day for him and them to get married in the near future, and then all the ministers will have a few more glasses of wedding wine."

"Of course it is. Your Majesty's recruitment of a son-in-law is a great joy, so I will naturally drink as much as I can." Shi Song said with a smile.

Then he raised his fist towards Hua Ju and said, "Master Hua, congratulations."

"Thank you, Master Shi." Hua Ju quickly returned the gift.

"Master Hua, congratulations." Sima Hong and Lu Zhengxin also stepped forward to congratulate.

"Thank you two adults," Hua Ju said in return, cupping his hands.

Cai Jing felt very uncomfortable when he saw Hua Ju and Shi Song chatting happily. He sneered secretly: "Hua Xiaoer, don't get too proud too early. I will stop you from laughing right away."

"His Majesty."

Cai Jing raised his hands and bowed to Cai Jing and said: "Your Majesty, according to the ancestral system of the imperial court, a prince-in-law cannot hold important positions in the imperial court. If your majesty has decreed to recruit Hua Ju as a prince-in-law, he should be asked to hand over the commander of the escort army according to the ancestral system.

power."

Sure enough, it's here, Hua Ju said in his heart, and then looked at Huizong.

Huizong also expected that Cai Jing would say this, and had already prepared for it, saying: "The ancestral system is not irreversible. I have decided that in the future, any talented son-in-law of my son can hold a position in the court."

Cai Jing didn't expect Huizong to say this last night. He realized that he had no idea and froze like a fool.

It took several seconds before he came back to his senses and said: "Your Majesty, the ancestral system cannot be--"

"Okay, I have made up my mind on this matter, so don't talk anymore." Zong interrupted him unhappily.

Cai Jing saw that Huizong's attitude was very resolute, so he knew that it would be useless to say anything else, but would only anger him. He pointed at Huizong and said "yes" in a frustrated voice, and then stopped talking.

Seeing that Cai Jing was interested and didn't mention it again, Huizong's expression improved. He looked at the ministers and asked: "Xi Xia is obsessed with the Song Dynasty. Now that we have learned about the situation of our Song army, there is a possibility of attacking the Song Dynasty at any time. Can you please help me?"

Do you have any good strategies to defend against the enemy?"

Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, the Liao Kingdom and Xixia have been the two most troublesome foreign enemies for the Song Dynasty. They would launch an invasion war almost every few years, which made the Song Dynasty exhausted.

In the past few years, Xixia had been severely damaged, and the border between Song and Xia had only been stable for a few years.

Unexpectedly, Xixia was now ready to make another move. Huizong was very worried, because the Liao Kingdom was also watching with eager eyes. If both sides attacked the Song Dynasty at the same time, the Song Dynasty would be in danger.

Shi Song said: "Your Majesty, although we already know that Xixia will attack the Song Dynasty, we still don't know from which direction they will attack. So all we can do now is to strengthen the defense of the border, be more vigilant, and send more troops to attack the Xixia army.

By spying on the movement, as long as we can grasp the movement of the Xixia army, we can turn passive into active and defeat the attack of the Xixia army again."

Sima Hong and Lu Zhengxin also agreed with Tong Shisong's suggestion.

Seeing Shi Song and others express their views, Cai Jing immediately went out to report: "Your Majesty, in my opinion, although Xixia's soldiers are brave, their national strength is not strong after all, and they were defeated by the Song Dynasty just a few years ago.

The Song Dynasty is still afraid. As long as we immediately strengthen the troops on the Song-Xia border and take precautions, I believe that the Xixia people will not dare to attack rashly after knowing it. Even if they attack, they will never take advantage of it, so there is no need to worry too much. What really needs to be worried is

The one is from the Liao Kingdom.

The Liao State's national power is much stronger than that of Xixia, with more military aids and more ferocious soldiers. Now the Liao State wants the Song Dynasty to raise annual tribute. If the Song Dynasty refuses, the Liao State will definitely attack the Song Dynasty.

Although our Song Dynasty has a large number of troops stationed in the Liao border, the Song-Liao border is not as dangerous as the Song-Xia border. The Liao army can go directly to our border city. Once the border city is lost, the Liao army can march straight into the Central Plains. Then the Song Dynasty

It's dangerous.

Therefore, the veteran believes that it is more important to handle the relationship with the Liao Kingdom well."

Gao Qiu followed Yeban and said: "Your Majesty, what the Grand Master said is true. Compared with Xixia, the Liao Kingdom is the biggest threat to the Song Dynasty. As long as the relationship with the Liao Kingdom is handled well, Xixia is not a problem at all."

Everyone knows that the Liao Kingdom is stronger than the Xixia Kingdom, so Huizong agreed with their statement and asked: "What should you do?"

Cai Jing said: "Your Majesty, although the Liao Kingdom's proposal to increase the annual tribute is a bit excessive, compared with the mobilization of the army, the death and injury of soldiers, and the consumption of food and grass, it is very little. Therefore, the veteran believes that if it can be

If we can exchange for peace between the two countries at a small price, then there is no need to go to war."

"Do you mean to agree to their conditions?" Huizong asked.

Cai Jing said: "Yes, this will not only avoid a war between the two countries, but also allow us to devote more energy to dealing with Xixia, so as to ensure the stability of the Song Dynasty."

Huizong looked at Gao Qiu and asked, "Captain Gao, do you think the same as the Grand Master?"

Gao Qiu said: "Your Majesty, the Song Dynasty has been at war with the Liao Kingdom since the founding of the People's Republic of China, but the Song Dynasty has never taken advantage of it. The total number of soldiers who have died in the war with the Liao Kingdom over the past 100 years and more is millions.

Enough people have died.

Now Xixia has mobilized its troops to attack the Song Dynasty. If we fight with the Liao Kingdom again, we will be attacked from both sides, and the country of the Song Dynasty will be in danger.

Therefore, in order to stabilize the Song Dynasty, we might as well agree to the Liao Kingdom's proposal. If the Liao Kingdom gets what they want, they will naturally not go to war with us again, and we can fully deal with Xixia. In this way, the Song Dynasty will no longer have

Worry."

Huizong did not answer him immediately. He turned to look at Hua Ju and asked, "Wenshan, what do you think of the proposal of Grand Master and Lieutenant Gao?"

Hua Ju laughed mockingly, looked at Cai Jing and said, "Grand Master, which country are you the prime minister of?"

Cai Jing asked with a cold face: "What do you mean?"

"It's not interesting, I just want to know which country's prime minister you are?" Hua Ju said.

"I am naturally the prime minister of the Song Dynasty."

"Haha, the Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty." Hua Ju sneered: "I don't think you look like the Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty, but rather the Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty."

Cai Jing did not react for a moment and asked: "What do you mean by this?"

"You didn't understand, did you? Okay, then I'll explain it to you a little more clearly."

Hua Ju said: "I said you are not like the prime minister of the Song Dynasty, but the prime minister of the Liao Kingdom who took the property and dignity of the Song Dynasty and gave it to the Liao Dynasty."

The courtiers present did not understand the meaning of his words just now. Now after listening to his explanation, they realized that he was mocking Cai Jing for taking the Song Dynasty's property and giving it to the Liao Kingdom.

"Hua Ju, you are such a young, yellow-mouthed child, how dare you humiliate me, I will never let you go."

Cai Jing turned pale with anger and trembled all over. He said to Huizong: "Your Majesty, Hua Ju dares to humiliate the leader of hundreds of officials in front of you. I hope your Majesty can make the decision for me."

"What's wrong with humiliating you? To be honest, if I hadn't seen you older, I would have slapped you twice."

Hua Ju didn't wait for Huizong to speak, pointed at Cai Jing and said stiffly: "As the head of a hundred officials and His Majesty's minister, you should speak from the standpoint of the Song Dynasty and His Majesty. But you, you always stand on the side of Liao Dynasty."

You want to use the property of the Song Dynasty to please the Liao Kingdom. Where do you put the face of the Song Dynasty court and His Majesty? Do you think that the dignity of the Song Dynasty court and His Majesty can be trampled on at will?

?”

"You, you, you are talking nonsense. How have I ever had such an idea? You are trying to frame Zhongliang." Cai Jing's voice trembled when he spoke with anger.

"You are the only one who is loyal and good, bah!"

Huaju glared at Cai Jing, pointed at him and said in a high voice: "An old thief like you who cheats on the inside and outside and helps the Liao Kingdom trample on the dignity of the Song Dynasty court and His Majesty, let alone being a Zhongliang, is not good enough as a human being.

Qualifications. If you still have any self-awareness, you should hang yourself with a rope to avoid being annoying."

"you you you--"
Chapter completed!