"The Ministry of Revenue says there's no money, the Imperial Guards say there are no soldiers, the Prime Minister says there are no men, several academicians suggest delaying the matter, and the Censors... are impeaching Li Gang one after another, requesting to pursue his crimes? Some are even suggesting killing Zhang Bangchang?"

As the rain gradually subsided, Zhao Jiu, since his transmigration, successfully shook off the isolation of those five key officials with his first outburst. On the evening of the following day, he formally began to access a large number of memorials from the civil and military officials in the temporary capital. However, the situation seemed unchanged, as if everyone was a surrender faction.

Interestingly, Zhao Jiu didn't seem too concerned.

"Your Majesty, this is what the people want!" Kang Li, standing beside the desk in the lamplight, hurriedly bowed and explained, his attitude much more humble than in previous days.

"Who is Zhang Bangchang?" Zhao Jiu asked curiously. "I seem to recall the name."

Kang Li was speechless, forced to temporarily abandon the 'what the people want' line, and briefly explained.

It turned out that Zhang Bangchang was the Prime Minister under Emperor Qinzong of Song, and could be considered the last legitimate Prime Minister of the Northern Song Dynasty. He mainly did the following during the Jingkang Incident:

First, with the authorization of Emperor Qinzong, he replaced Li Gang as the head of the court and went outside the city to negotiate surrender with the Jurchens.

Second, probably because he spoke well and was handsome, and because Wanyan Wolibu, the Jurchen commander in charge at the time, was not a cautious man, after the Jingkang Incident, when the Jurchen army withdrew, they supported him as Emperor, hoping he would be a Han Chinese Emperor, a vassal of the Jurchen state.

Finally, as soon as the Jurchens left, Emperor Zhang Bangchang of Great Chu invited Empress Meng (Empress of Emperor Zhezong of Song, deposed twice), who was living as a Taoist recluse, back to the capital. In Empress Meng's name, he returned the throne to Zhao Gou, who had fled to Nanjing (Shangqiu) to observe the situation.

Zhao Jiu suddenly understood. He remembered the man; he seemed to have been mentioned in history books, but only as an opponent of Li Gang during the Jingkang years, a surrender faction. Of course, that's how Zhao Jiu saw him now. As for Kang Li's incessant babbling about Zhang Bangchang becoming Emperor and then returning the throne, he didn't pay much attention... There was no problem in calling such a person a spineless coward, or even incompetent. However, from the Emperor down, the entire city of Dongjing had surrendered, and with a knife to their throats, it was hard to blame him. If they were to start killing people for being cowards, there would be no end to it.

Of course, if they really wanted to kill him, there would be reasons: one, as Prime Minister, he chose to surrender; two, he became Emperor. But in any case, they would have had to kill him from the start. There was no reason to exile him for several months and then find an excuse to kill him. What would the other officials who had fled from Dongjing think?

"Did I say anything specific to this fellow back then?" Zhao Jiu asked, perhaps out of muscle memory, using some rather strange vocabulary.

"Yes, you did," Kang Li replied seriously. "When Your Majesty ascended the throne, you promised him peace, wealth, and the position of Grand Tutor..."

"Then why was he exiled later?" Zhao Jiu found it even more bizarre. "And I've been chatting with the palace guards a lot these days, talking about many things. Why hasn't anyone mentioned this fellow?"

Kang Li lowered his head and said nothing.

"Speak plainly, Grand Eunuch," Zhao Jiu frowned.

"To be honest," Kang Li said softly, knowing he couldn't hide it, and actually spoke some truth. "Back then, when Zhang held the throne as a fake emperor, many people urged you to get rid of him. But even so, you only allowed him to be exiled to Tanzhou, considering that he returned the throne. It was only later when we found out about his affair with Consort Jinggong... that everyone was enraged. At the time, I was told to remind you that once things were settled, an edict must be issued to kill Zhang Bangchang."

"Consort Jinggong?" The Emperor was even more confused.

"She was a member of the palace of the Retired Emperor Huizong."

Kang Li spoke even more softly, as if afraid that the guards outside the door, including Yang Yizhong, would hear. "When Zhang Bangchang became the false emperor and entered the inner court, the Jurchens gave Consort Jinggong to him as his Empress. Consort Jinggong repeatedly sent fruits to that traitor, and it is said that they even met privately, calling him 'Your Majesty', and engaged in some unspeakable acts. Even when Zhang retreated from the inner court, Consort Jinggong held his arm as she saw him off, and spoke words criticizing the Retired Emperor. Now, Consort Jinggong has been imprisoned in the temporary capital, waiting for a clear confession, to be executed along with him. It's just that Your Majesty has fallen into this predicament at this time..."

"This is absurd!" Zhao Jiu, finally understanding what was going on, suddenly slammed his hand on the table, startling Yang Yizhong inside the room and several guards outside.

"Indeed, it is absurd!" Kang Li quickly lowered his head in agreement.

"How can people be killed for such a reason?" Zhao Jiu was clearly exasperated.

Kang Li almost bit his tongue off, forcibly swallowing back some words.

"If Zhang Bangchang were to be killed, killing him openly as the Prime Minister who surrendered to the Jurchens would leave no one in the world able to object! Why change course because of this matter?" Zhao Jiu was indignant. "Furthermore, what was wrong with Consort Jinggong's actions? In that situation, if Zhang Bangchang hadn't protected her, what fate would have befallen her, a weak woman? Would it have been better for her to be captured by the Jurchens?! It's only natural that she would criticize the Retired Emperor and develop feelings for Zhang Bangchang!"

Kang Li hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back.

"Release that Consort or whatever, let her go find Zhang Bangchang!" Zhao Jiu, calming down, found it all rather pointless. "Zhang Bangchang can be killed, but killing him now would be of no benefit. Let that Consort pass on a message, telling him to be confined in Tanzhou for life, never to come out and cause trouble. Consider it imprisonment."

Kang Li was silent for a long time, until the Emperor turned his head and looked at him coldly, before he finally nodded.

Seeing Kang Li agree, Zhao Jiu was about to look at the memorials again, but suddenly realized, "How many palace women are here in the temporary capital?"

"Not many, three or five hundred..."

"How about this," Zhao Jiu said slowly. "Since the Two Emperors have both been taken north, and these women are truly innocent, and since many ministers and officers who escaped from Dongjing, Hebei, and Hedong have families scattered, bestow the palace women upon them... Find the older, more virtuous ones... This could be a win-win situation."

Kang Li remained silent, his head bowed.

"What do you really mean?" Zhao Jiu was too lazy to play charades with him. "Tell me directly if there's something I don't know."

"Among them, one or two hundred are 'Laundresses' that were specifically sought out in Dongjing and Nanjing after Your Majesty ascended the throne..."

"Am I... Zhao Jiu... Am I really that scummy?" Zhao Jiu suddenly understood half of what the other person was saying, and then exclaimed in astonishment.

After ascending the throne, which was only a few months ago, after the Humiliation of Jingkang had just ended, where would this Zhao the Ninth have found the time or inclination?!

"Those are all slanders against Your Majesty by people like Chen Dong!" Although he didn't understand what 'scummy' meant, Kang Li seemed to have grasped some of the Emperor's ways, and immediately explained. "How can Your Majesty do without palace women after ascending the throne? Who will serve Consort Pan and the Imperial Heir, if not them?"

"Chen Dong died because he said this?" Zhao Jiu suddenly understood, but was also speechless. "Forget it... Keep twenty people to take care of Consort Pan and the Imperial Heir, and then keep some older, homeless women to do the palace laundry. All the other young, good-looking ones, pick them out and bestow them upon the young officers who have been separated from their families... But they must be settled here in the temporary capital, not allowed to travel with them, and certainly not allowed to follow the army."

"Your Majesty is wise!" Kang Li nodded repeatedly, having finally learned to be obedient.

However, after agreeing to all of this, seeing that Emperor Zhao was preparing to continue reading the memorials, Kang, adjusting his mindset slightly, finally returned to the topic he had originally wanted to discuss:

"Speaking of which, Your Majesty may not remember, but the one who wanted to kill Zhang Bangchang the most back then was none other than Prime Minister Li!"

"How so?" Zhao Jiu put down the memorial from Academician Lu Haowen of the Zizheng Hall and opened another memorial from some Censor. The moment he saw it, he couldn't help but frown slightly.

"There are some rumors about this... One, of course, is that Prime Minister Li is deeply hateful of evil and cannot tolerate those who fail to uphold their integrity. He cannot rest until they are killed!"

"What about the second?"

"The second is that some people say Prime Minister Li has a private feud with Zhang Bangchang. At that time, the court was newly established, and he wanted to use this as an opportunity to kill people to establish authority and stabilize the situation."

"Is there a third?"

"Yes..."

"Speak."

"The third is that Prime Minister Li is helping Your Majesty rebuild the court, and while his contributions are great, it cannot be denied that he treats Your Majesty like a child and intends to seize this opportunity to take power and control the court."

The lamplight flickered, and Kang Li, standing with his hands clasped in front of him in the play of light and shadow, spoke slowly. "Therefore, his two major proposals in the court back then, one was to go to Nanyang. On the surface, he naturally said that Nanyang could connect to Guanzhong, to pacify the people of the northwest. But whether he intended to use this to suppress your close confidants from the original Grand Marshal's office, it is hard to say. Because Prime Minister Huang and others had agreed to go to Yangzhou before Prime Minister Li arrived. Even Vice-Minister Liang had gone to the southeast to raise funds... Your Majesty, it's not that those of us old men from the Grand Marshal's office don't want to resist the Jurchens, it's just that there are no defensible positions in the Central Plains, and we have already prepared properly in Yangzhou, so it's not easy to change our minds. Even Your Majesty yourself agreed with this idea, which is why Prime Minister Li was dismissed."

"I see... And then? What about Zhang Bangchang?" Zhao Jiu continued to look at the memorial in his hand, without raising his head.

"Zhang Bangchang... In fact, according to the previous Nanyang-Yangzhou debate, Prime Minister Li insisted on killing Zhang Bangchang. Some people say that he was pretending to advance on one path while secretly taking another, wanting to use this opportunity to remove a group of old officials from Dongjing, so that he could fill the court with his own people while being the sole Prime Minister, and thus achieve the goal of monopolizing power."

Zhao Jiu suddenly laughed as he looked at the memorial in his hand.

"Your Majesty doesn't believe it?" Kang Li was happy rather than worried to see this. "In that case, why not summon some old officials from Dongjing to ask? Isn't Your Majesty just wanting to meet the officials in the temporary capital to inquire about the defense of the Central Plains?"

"Which old officials from Dongjing are there?" Zhao Jiu turned his head and asked with a smile.

"Academician Lu Haowen of the Zizheng Hall is a famous scholar of Taoism. He resigned from his position as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel early on and was supposed to go to Xuanzhou, but the roads were unstable, and he was worried about Your Majesty's health, so he didn't have time to leave. Surveillance Censor Zhang Jun of the Palace is always upright... Both of these men are recognized as moral figures, and they both escaped from Dongjing. Why doesn't Your Majesty meet them?" Kang Li quickly pointed to the memorials in Zhao Jiu's hand and said with a smile. "Moreover, aren't these two memorials the ones that Your Majesty has been reading the longest tonight?"

"Since it's a recommendation from Grand Eunuch Kang, then let's meet these two gentlemen tomorrow!" Zhao Jiu touched the memorial from Surveillance Censor Zhang Jun of the Palace and laughed even more, seemingly still confident.

ps: Thanks to book friends Huang Lao Jiu and the one who hates being poor and ugly for their alliance, and also thanks to the many other friends who rewarded and gave recommendation tickets... Thank you all for coming back.