Son of Song Dynasty

Chapter 152 The Scholar
Pan Mei instinctively felt that things were not going well, that they were heading in an extremely bad direction, and a terrible situation might be about to emerge—three thousand soldiers surrounded the crowd, was this a massacre, killing them all?

He is definitely not a pedantic person who is soft-hearted and soft-hearted. Since ancient times, after the victory of the attack, it is actually a common thing to use punishment to strengthen power and eliminate some diehards in the hostile camp. There are many places in the past dynasties, but most of them have choices Targeted killing of one person to serve as an example to others is to achieve certain political goals.

However, almost the entire top dignitaries and ministers of the Southern Han court are gathered here. If they are to be killed all at once, this is definitely a brutal and stupid act, and it may provoke a lot of boldness, and even arouse Lingnan. Chaos is also very possible!

At that time, how should I explain to the court in Tokyo?

Thinking of this, Pan Mei couldn't help shivering, and asked tentatively: "Your Highness, what are you—"

"The son of a thousand sons, you can't sit down. This king is a nobleman, how can he go to a dangerous place lightly?" Zhao Dezhao said calmly, "This king is raising troops to guard against assassins. .”

Pan Mei opened her mouth, and finally swallowed back the curse in her heart. Gathered here were the powerful officials of the Southern Han Dynasty who came to greet Zhao Dezhao. Although there were many people, they were all single and bare-handed, and there was no soldier with them. , where is the need for three thousand soldiers to be on guard?It's just a lie!

"Let's be on guard and guard against assassins, that's what we should do." Pan Mei thought about her words, and carefully raised her objection: "It just seems that so many soldiers and horses are not needed, lest everyone be inexplicably shocked..."

Zhao Dezhao showed a playful smile, and stared at Pan Mei with great interest: "General Pan, guarding against assassins and the like are all excuses and bullshit. You obviously don't believe the reason this king said, but you still pretend to believe it." , this is so interesting, can it be said that the general still disagrees with me so much?"

He paused, smiled, and said solemnly: "You and I are in the same boat, and our achievements complement each other, so we are no different from a family. If you have something to say in the future, please speak up. You can't imitate the hypocrisy of civil servants to make temptations."

After finishing speaking, he waved his hand: "This king has his own reasons for this matter, let's pass the order!"

Pan Mei blushed and was speechless for a while, then she bowed her hands to Zhao Dezhao, said "yes" loudly, then turned around and ordered the troops to be dispatched.

A moment later, three thousand soldiers of the Imperial Army came running in a row. The armor leaves on the soldiers' bodies rattled as they ran. After entering the field, they separated into two teams. The officials and dignitaries of the Southern Han Dynasty surrounded it tightly.

"It's not strong enough." Zhao Dezhao touched his chin and shook his head slightly.

In his opinion, although the elite of the Imperial Guards of the Great Song Dynasty looked quite imposing, their marching array was not very strict, and the spirits of the soldiers were barely passable. *, obviously still far behind.

Zhao Dezhao lightly whipped his horse's buttocks, galloped back and forth in front of the hundreds of dignitaries and dignitaries of the Southern Han Dynasty, pointed at the armored Song soldiers on both sides with the whip, and asked loudly: "Everyone, I am a great soldier of the Song Dynasty. Is it majestic?"

Those hundreds of dignitaries and ministers of the Southern Han Dynasty were terrified by these Song soldiers who suddenly came out of the paddock. They are not ignorant fools. What's the good thing? The timid ones among them are trembling like quails, and they can barely stand still by huddling together, while a few bold ones try to calm down, but their gray faces are enough to reveal their innermost feelings. frightened.

While everyone was still in shock, no one answered Zhao Dezhao for a while.

So, Zhao Dezhao shouted and asked again, this time, everyone seemed to have just come back to their souls, and at first a few people responded with compliments and said "Yes!"

The compliments became louder and louder, and more and more dignitaries of the Southern Han Dynasty came to their senses and realized that they should praise His Highness the Song Dynasty. He had the power of life and death in his hands, even if the flattery was more explicit. There is nothing to be embarrassed about. As for the reputation of scholar-bureaucrats?How much does that stuff cost per pound!
"Your Highness is a good question, the Heavenly Soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty are indeed extremely majestic!"

"This is also His Highness's wisdom and martial arts, and he learned such a fierce warrior just now!"

"Fan Kuai of the Western Han Dynasty once said that with a hundred thousand elite troops, he could run rampant against the Huns. Now, these fierce warriors under your Highness's command do not need a hundred thousand. They only need ten thousand to defeat the Khitan!"

Zhao Dezhao listened to these people's flattery and ridicule, and seemed to be quite receptive to it, so those Southern Han dignitaries and officials became more energetic.

Pan Mei is a straightforward warrior, he really couldn't stand the absurd words, and couldn't walk away in front of Zhao Dezhao, so he turned his head and turned his old face purple.

After a while, Zhao Dezhao came up to Pan Mei on horseback, pointed at the hundreds of dignitaries and officials of the Southern Han Dynasty with the tip of his whip, and said with a smile, "General Pan, do you think these moths and rats are worthy of my courtiers in the Song Dynasty? "

The reason why Zhao Dezhao asked this question was because according to the tradition and practice of treating scholar-bureaucrats favorably in the Song Dynasty, these Southern Han ministers who surrendered, regardless of their virtuous or foolishness, would all be rewarded by the Song Dynasty with official titles and titles, although their official positions must not be comparable to those of the original ones. However, it is not difficult to be a comfortable family of local tyrants in the south of the Five Ridges. A few of them have a little reputation and even be transferred to Tokyo to become court officials; During the Tang Dynasty, it has always been handled in this way, and it is no exception to pacify Lingnan at this moment.

However, Zhao Dezhao felt that in the past, he could do this to pacify Wuyue, Sichuan, Shu and the Southern Tang Dynasty, and objectively it did play some positive effects, but it is not necessary now!

For one thing, it is now roughly determined that except for the Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures captured by the stubborn Northern Han Dynasty and the Khitan, there are almost no separatist forces in the four seas. If you want to be lenient and generous, who can you show it to?The Northern Han Dynasty and the Central Plains Dynasty were irreconcilable enemies and would never do this; could they do it to show off to their powerful enemy the Khitan?Da Song is not qualified yet!

Second, these literati and bureaucrats under the rule of the Liu family in the Southern Han Dynasty were too broken, and they were allowed to be officials in the Song Dynasty. Except for more officials to exploit the people, Zhao Dezhao couldn't think of what these moths could do. positive value.

Pan Mei understood Zhao Dezhao's intention of asking such a question, and he gave a wry smile, feeling helpless and rather embarrassed.

(End of this chapter)