Chapter 1569: The Emperor summoned the ministers

If Lu Wende knew that he was giving a gift to an enemy, he would probably cry out in injustice!

After all, he also wanted to give Chang Xi a valuable gift.

But he has no money!

Since Su Mingzhe was appointed by the court as the envoy of the southwest route of Beijing, he had to purchase supplies, vigorously produce grenades and landmines, and develop firearms, while at the same time rewarding cavalry in preparation for the subsequent decisive battle.

All these things cost money.

In the past, when Guo Jing was in charge of resisting the Tartars, whenever he was short of money, the big guys in the martial arts world and the disciples of the Beggars' Sect would donate to him.

Taohua Island also has a lot of heritage.

It was Su Mingzhe's turn to be in charge, and then there was no money.

He was also embarrassed to ask for money from gangsters.

In desperation, he could only discuss with his subordinates and ask them to donate some money.

As Su Mingzhe's "first capable man", Lu Wende has a strong spirit of contribution. After learning that Su Mingzhe was short of money, he directly donated all the assets in his family.

After the war, Su Mingzhe returned the favor and shared a lot of Lu Wende's credit.

However, the warehouse in the Lu Mansion was so empty that it could scare away mice, and there was nothing decent to give as a gift.

……

"Master, Master's Wife! Are you going back to Peach Blossom Island now?"

Su Mingzhe did not expect that just after he received the imperial edict of reward from the court, Guo Jing and Huang Rong would leave first.

"Now that Xiangyang is stable, and Xiang'er and Po Lu are too young, your master and I should return to live on Peach Blossom Island."

Huang Rong looked at the eldest disciple she had taught, her eyes revealing an unconcealable satisfaction and relief.

It's a pity that this eldest disciple found a wife for himself, otherwise, she would have wanted to marry Fu'er to him.

what a shame.

Guo Jing didn't have any regrets about Su Mingzhe, his eldest disciple.

Before leaving, he held his disciple's hands tightly, kept reminding him, and instilled in Su Mingzhe the ideas of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.

After hearing this, Su Mingzhe nodded repeatedly and said that he would definitely learn from Yue Fei. If the court told him to go east, he would never go west. If the court told him to beat a dog, he would never chase a chicken.

Guo Jing and Huang Rong left with their family not long ago.

Su Mingzhe sent away all the heroes.

These people are the foundation of my future uprising.

……

End of June.

The families of Su Mingzhe and Lu Wende followed Chang Xi back to Lin'an.

The next day, after only a day's rest, the two were summoned by Emperor Zhao Yun.

The Song Dynasty favored officials and emphasized that "the literati and the emperor should rule the world together."

Unless there was a grand ceremony or celebration, the scholars and officials did not need to kneel down and kowtow to the emperor.

Moreover, when a first-rank official in the court bowed to the emperor, the emperor would generally return a half-boo.

This means that the emperor treats wise men with courtesy.

Although Su Mingzhe was born a military general, he was generally not well-liked by literati and was even suspected by the emperor.

However, Zhao Yun was an ambitious emperor who was obsessed with recovering his homeland, so he was more fond of capable military generals like Su Mingzhe.

What's more, Su Mingzhe is the Duke of Jining County and a first-rank official. When he meets the Emperor Zhao Yun, if he doesn't perform the kneeling ceremony, no one can say anything.

Su Mingzhe and Lu Wende entered the hall and bowed from a distance.

The basic gesture of bowing is to put the left hand into a palm, clasping or covering the right fist, standing naturally with both feet in a slight figure eight shape, and bowing forward.

At this time, the emperor had to stand up from the dragon throne, lean forward slightly, and make a gesture of returning the greeting.

The ceremony is over.

The emperor granted a seat.

Zhao Yun looked at Su Mingzhe and remained silent for a long time. After a long while, he suddenly exclaimed:

"I have long heard that Lord Su has the looks of Pan An, the bearing of Lan Ling, and the ability to impersonate a general. Now that I have seen him, I know that what he said is true!"

"Thank you for the praise!"

When Su Mingzhe heard the compliment, he stood up and bowed in accordance with etiquette to express his gratitude. He then sat down again and continued, "Your Majesty, I was born in a humble family and rose from the grass roots. I am honored to have received Your Majesty's grace and praise. I am willing to sacrifice my life to repay Your Majesty's kindness!"

First meeting.

No one talks about anything serious.

However, you still need to have the attitude you should have.

The scene of Zhao Yun and Su Mingzhe understanding and getting along well with each other as a ruler and his subject made Lu Wende next to them extremely envious.

In fact, Zhao Yun originally liked Lu Wende very much.

After all, the Southern Song Dynasty lacked good generals, and there were not many capable ministers like Lu Wende who could independently resist the Tartars for twenty years.

However, when Chang Xi returned, he exaggerated the story to Zhao Yun about how Lu Wende had claimed the credit for defending the city from Su Mingzhe's master Guo Jing.

When Zhao Yun learned that Lu Wende was not only incompetent but also had no manners, he wanted to find someone to dismember this guy to vent his hatred.

Fortunately, Zhao Yun knew very well that punishing an innocent minister would make his subordinates panic, so he endured the disgust and summoned Lu Wende.

It’s just a summons.

During the entire meeting, Zhao Yun was basically chatting with Su Mingzhe and didn't say a word to Lu Wende.

The summons is over.

Su Mingzhe and Lu Wende left the palace together.

Lu Wende congratulated Su Mingzhe with a flattering look on his face:

"Congratulations, sir. Jian is in the emperor's favor. A meteoric rise to prominence is just around the corner!"

"Master Lu, I will have to trouble you in the future!"

Su Mingzhe's next appointment should be related to the Northern Expedition, and it is impossible for him to stay in Lin'an for a long time.

Lu Wende's destination has already been decided. He will go directly to the Ministry of War and serve as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War.

After hearing Su Mingzhe's words, Lu Wende was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, and hurriedly explained his current predicament.

On the surface, the military power of the Song Dynasty was divided into three parts: the Ministry of War, the Privy Council, and the Three Yamen.

In fact, the Ministry of War is just an empty shell.

The Shangshu and Shilang of the Ministry of War are both sinecure positions without any real power. They can only act as mascots on weekdays.

Su Mingzhe naturally understood these situations.

However, Su Mingzhe knew better that Lu Wende was a descendant of Lu Mengzheng, the prime minister of the early Song Dynasty.

According to the Song Dynasty literati's habit of "admiring each other", even if Lu Wende had no real talent, he could get by in the court just by relying on his identity as the "descendant of Lu Mengzheng".

……

Separated from Lu Wende halfway.

Su Mingzhe rode back to his Jining Mansion.

As soon as I entered the door, I saw the old servant at the gate bowing to me:

"I am Jiang Huai, and I want to greet the master!"

"Get up."

Su Mingzhe was about to walk in when he was stopped by the old servant, who handed him a dozen visiting cards:

"Master, many ministers sent people to give gifts today. These visiting cards were also sent by the ministers..."

Su Mingzhe took the visiting cards and took a look. The first one was actually from Prime Minister Shi Songzhi.

Shi Songzhi was the nephew of the powerful prime minister Shi Miyuan.

After the death of the powerful prime minister Shi Miyuan, Emperor Zhao Yun liquidated his followers.

However, as Shi Miyuan's nephew, Shi Songzhi was spared by Zhao Yun and was constantly reused.

In the fourth year of Jiaxixi, that is, three years ago, Shi Songzhi was recalled to Beijing and appointed as the right prime minister and concurrently the privy councilor.

The national defense and military mobilization of the Southern Song Dynasty in recent years were basically the work of Shi Songzhi.

Among the many prime ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty, Shi Songzhi was considered relatively capable.

When Su Mingzhe saw that Shi Songzhi had sent him a visiting card, he curiously opened it and took a look. It turned out to be an invitation to visit West Lake.

In order to prevent officials from forming cliques for personal gain, the Song Dynasty originally strictly prohibited private meetings.

However, under the influence of Emperor Huizong of Song, if the ministers went to visit prostitutes and happened to meet them, they would not be reported.

Su Mingzhe put away the first post and continued to check the second one:
"Grandmaster Yang Gu, if I remember correctly, this man should be the emperor's cousin!"