Chapter 375: Persuading the Emperor to Become the King

"Now that Lin'an has surrendered and the Emperor of Song has surrendered, I dare to ask His Royal Highness the King of Tang to ascend the throne and become the emperor to calm the people's hearts!"

Among these Southern Song ministers, there are many opportunists who flatter their superiors with clever words.

Now someone has seized the opportunity and intends to compete for the great merit of this minister who follows the dragon.

As soon as these words came out, the court hall fell silent.

The ministers looked at each other, and some even raised their heads secretly to see the reaction of the person on the throne in the hall.

But before Lin Chen could react.

There were ministers such as Lu Xiufu and Wen Tianxiang who had their hearts in the Southern Song Dynasty glaring at him.

On the contrary, Liu Mengyan, who had made the offer, did not agree with it. Instead, he was complacent, as if he had taken the lead.

What Liu Mengyan did in the original history can be called treacherous.

According to historical records, this person was smart and studious in his early years, and he was still concerned about his reputation.

In the same year, he took the imperial examination and won the first place in the imperial examination. His career was quite smooth.

He was promoted from Shaoqing of the Hanlin Academy to Counselor of the Privy Council, and later he was appointed Right Prime Minister and Privy Envoy.

Liu Mengyan also had a close relationship with Jia Sidao and they called each other good friends.

However, after Jia Sidao was defeated in Dingjiazhou and returned to Beijing in a panic, Liu Mengyan did not help his former friend, but watched him being demoted until he was killed on the way.

Of course, one of the reasons was that the Mongolian army was unstoppable, and Liu Mengyan was frightened and stayed at home on the pretext of illness until Xie Daoqing personally visited him at home, and then he was appointed as the Left Prime Minister.

According to the original history, Liu Mengyan would abandon his official position and flee when the Mongolian army approached Lin'an, and then surrender in the name of Left Prime Minister after the Mongolian army took Lin'an.

The literati of the same period had only two words to evaluate him: he was treacherous and opportunistic.

In other words, Liu Mengyan was a complete fence-sitter.

As for why Liu Mengyan did not flee home when the Tang army arrived in Lin'an?

The reason was even simpler.

Lin Chen came so fast that the fleeing prime minister had not reacted yet and he became one of the captives.

According to Liu Mengyan's character, it was normal for him to advise Lin Chen to become emperor.

Lin Chen looked at the expression on the face of the left prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, and a hint of amusement flashed in his eyes.

Looking at Zhang Shijie again, the old man who had led the army, his eyes were wide open.

It seemed that he was going to raise his fist to give Liu Mengyan a good beating in the next second, but he was a prisoner and could only endure it.

On the other hand, the other Southern Song ministers in the hall who had similar thoughts to Liu Mengyan also hurriedly agreed, fearing that they would fall behind.

Qiao Xuan glanced at his colleagues behind him and remembered these guys who spoke.

Obviously.

As a confidant who knew the thoughts of his master, he naturally disdained to have any deep friendship with these insects.

"Humph."

Wen Tianxiang couldn't help but sneered. "Prime Minister Liu, please be more respectful when you speak!"

The implication is to remind Liu Mengyan not to be too shameless.

"Brother Song Rui, I am not the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty."

Liu Mengyan seemed not to hear the sarcasm in Wen Tianxiang's words, but smiled and called Wen Tianxiang by his name.

Seeing Wen Tianxiang speak, some ministers in the hall who still cared about the Southern Song Dynasty opened fire.

Of course.

It's not that there are no ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty who sincerely serve Lin Chen.

Chen Yizhong is one of them.

He was also a senior official of the court appointed by Xie Daoqing, and was appointed as the right prime minister.

However, since the Mongolians came south, Chen Yizhong has made no other achievements except for fighting with Jia Sidao.

If he surrendered to Mongolia, maybe the name Chen Yizhong would be ranked with Liu Mengyan.

But after the fall of Lin'an, Chen Yizhong defected to the newly established King Yi, supported him as the master, and became the left prime minister again.

Prince Yi died of illness, and then served Prince Wei to enter Guangzhou.

Until the Battle of Yashan, Chen Yizhong fled to Siam when he saw that the situation was hopeless, and never entered the Central Plains again in his life.

It can be seen that this person has some moral integrity, but not much.

After Lin Chen entered Lin'an, he saw that he had not massacred the people and scholars, so he willingly followed the new king.

"Your Highness, now that various places are still unstable, we should send troops to annex them, and we must also be vigilant against the barbarians in the north. The matter of becoming emperor needs to be discussed separately."

Chen Yizhong's advice is reasonable and well-founded.

Although Lin'an surrendered, the Southern Song Dynasty was legally destroyed.

But to the south of Lin'an, there are still many prefectures in the hands of the old ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty, and they have not yet surrendered to the Tang army.

No matter how you look at it, you should send troops to surrender these places, and then be vigilant against the Mongols in the north.

Only when the south is completely stable, it will be a good time for Lin Chen to become emperor.

Chen Yizhong's words were also agreed by many court officials.

As for the diehards like Wen Tianxiang and Lu Xiufu, they pretended to close their eyes and rest, and played the main game of not cooperating or resisting.

Lin Chen looked at the expressions of the ministers in the palace and shook his head imperceptibly.

How could he not know the principle of storing up grain and delaying the title of king?

He had not planned to discuss the matter of becoming an emperor today.

For Lin Chen, being a king or an emperor was just a ritual.

It was just that Liu Mengyan was being clever.

Just when Liu Mengyan was about to argue with Chen Yizhong, he saw Lin Chen's slightly cold eyes sweeping through the palace.

Then, a compelling pressure spread throughout the palace!

Immediately, the palace fell silent.

"Let's discuss this matter later."

Lin Chen spoke slowly and made a conclusion on the matter of becoming an emperor.

"Where is Junshi?"

Junshi is Lu Xiufu's name.

When Lu Xiufu heard Lin Chen summon him, he had to open his eyes and bow out.

He never expected that he would be detained by Lin Chen that day and would not regain his personal freedom until the Southern Song Dynasty was gone.

What puzzled Lu Xiufu even more was that

This Tang King seemed to think highly of him.

As expected.

The ministers in the palace noticed Lin Chen's friendly attitude towards Lu Xiufu and looked over.

Lu Xiufu was angry in his heart, but his face remained calm.

He was determined not to work for the Tang King.

However.

What Lin Chen said next made him stunned.

"I heard that the people are still implementing the policy of buying public land?"

The so-called buying public land refers to the government forcibly buying the land of ordinary people, and the money they give is worthless paper money!

In other words.

This policy of buying public land is no different from robbing from the hands of the people!

The policy of buying public land should be attributed to Jia Sidao.

When he controlled the court of the Southern Song Dynasty, the treasury was seriously depleted, so he came up with this method like a clever ghost.

The government robbed the land from ordinary people, but the powerful and wealthy could take the opportunity to conceal their land and pay less taxes next year.

Now that the Southern Song Dynasty is full of refugees, Jia Sidao has made an indelible contribution.

As a man of great ambition, how could Lu Xiufu not know the harm that buying public land would cause to the common people?

However, he knew it, but he could not do anything about it.

Now that Lin Chen mentioned this, Lu Xiufu was surprised and wondered what the other party was up to?

What was Lin Chen's intention?

Of course, he planned to let a loyal minister like Lu Xiufu solve the mess.

It is no exaggeration to say.

The Southern Song Dynasty had long been exploited by the termites headed by Jia Sidao.

If it was left alone, before Kublai Khan came, peasant uprisings would have broken out in various parts of the south.

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