The rise of the late Song Dynasty reigns supreme

Chapter 151
Empress Dowager Xiang was originally from Hanoi, but her family moved to Xunyang due to an accident. She is the great-granddaughter of Xiang Minzhong, the Prime Minister, and Empress Zhao Xu of Song Shenzong. In 1085, Song Zhezong succeeded to the throne and was honored as the empress dowager. Song Zhezong died in 1100, and the queen mother came to listen to the government and took charge of all military and political powers in the court.

Prime Minister Zhang Dun supported Chu Wang Zhao Si, and Queen Mother Xiang supported Duan Wang Zhao Ji, so there were constant disputes between the two at home and abroad.Although the Empress Dowager Xiang is the Empress Dowager of the Great Song Dynasty and holds great power in her hands, the Prime Minister Zhang Dun is not afraid, because he is loyal to the Emperor, not the Empress Dowager, so he argues vigorously.

At this time, the Queen Mother Xiang was reviewing the memorials in the imperial study, and heard that the eunuch came to report that it was Duan Wang Zhao Ji who came to ask for an audience.Even though the queen mother was a little surprised, she still asked Zhao Ji to come to see her.Generally speaking, Zhao Ji has always lived in Duanwang's mansion, and has never stepped out of the mansion. If it wasn't for her order, he would rarely go out. I don't know why he came here today.

"My lord, I wish the Empress Dowager Shengan!" Zhao Ji knelt on his knees and bowed.

"Get up!" Smiled to the Queen Mother, and said, "Prince Duan should call you Queen Mother! You don't need to be called Queen Mother. You are not in court right now, so don't be so restrained!"

"The minister leads the decree!" Zhao Ji stood up, and then said: "Mother, my son met a chivalrous man in the mansion. He is a man of great martial arts and is a rare talent. My son wants to ask my mother to call him Enter the palace and serve the court!"

"Oh, what skills does this person have, let's talk about it!" The Queen Mother asked curiously after hearing the words.

Therefore, Zhao Ji told Fang La's deeds, even Zhao Si was not his opponent in the martial arts competition with him, and mentioned that this person's martial arts competition with Zhou Tong was only slightly inferior.In addition, Fang La also said the opinions that Fang La mentioned before.

After pondering for a long time to the Queen Mother, she also felt that Fang La was indeed a rare talent.However, she was worried that Fang La was born recklessly and didn't know the etiquette of the court. She was afraid that there would be more things in the future.Then, Zhao Ji said that he could be dispatched as a general to expand the territory of the Song Dynasty.

Empress Dowager Xiang thought the proposal was good, so she allowed Zhao Ji to recruit this person, and said with a smile: "Prince Duan came to look for Ai's family today, there should be other things!"

"The queen mother predicts things like a god!" Zhao Ji smiled contemptuously, conveyed his thoughts to the queen mother, and then said: "This person has left the capital and went to Yunxin Temple. I want to go to recruit him in person. If you have friendship with him, you will be able to persuade him with affection and reason. In addition, the minister also wants to go to Yunshan Temple to pray for his mother. According to legend, there is a blessed place there, which will surely protect her mother's health and well-being."

Nodding gratifiedly to the Queen Mother, said: "It's rare that my son has such a heart, so I will allow you to go to Yunxin Temple. You must remember to go and return quickly, and you can't stay for too long, otherwise the prime minister and other adults will definitely have opinions. , when the time comes, the pressure on the empress will double!"

"Thank you for your mother's success, and my son will go back immediately!" After Zhao Ji was overjoyed, he hurriedly got up to say goodbye and left, and hurried back to Duanwang's mansion.

Seeing the empress dowager Zhao Ji's anxious departure, and seeing his filial piety, I feel very comforted in my heart.Although Zhao Ji was not her biological son, this kind of filial piety did make her somewhat gratified.Zhao Ji's mother was the Chen family, who died shortly after the death of Song Shenzong, so Zhao Ji did not enjoy maternal love, and mostly cared for and raised her with the Queen Mother.

Coincidentally, Queen Mother Xiang has no heirs, so she regards Zhao Ji as her own son.Of course, there are also several princes under the Empress Dowager, but it is a pity that Zhao Ji is the most favored one. Because of his literary talent and filial piety, the Empress Dowager Xiang will defy all opinions and insist on making Zhao Ji the future emperor of the Song Dynasty.

Although the queen mother knew that Zhao Ji went to Yunxin Temple to pray for herself, her real idea was to go there to help Fang La.However, the Empress Dowager is not just saying it, because Zhao Ji is still a little moved by her filial piety.As for her own lifespan, she is well aware of it.

"Yunxin Temple? I seem to have heard of this somewhere!..." Empress Dowager Xiang muttered to herself, as if remembering something, but forgot the specific affairs, and could not help frowning.

"Brother Huang, how is the matter going?" Zhao Si stayed in Prince Duan's mansion all the time, pacing back and forth, fidgeting, raised his head and saw Zhao Ji coming, and asked in a hurry.

Zhao Ji excitedly said: "Thirteenth brother, we can set off immediately, the queen mother has already agreed."

"Really?" Zhao asked in disbelief.

He saw Zhao Ji nodding his head firmly, so he believed it, so he also went back to Chu Palace to clean up and got up to leave.Afterwards, he left with Zhao Ji.If Zhao Si went with Zhao Ji, he would not get permission, because the Queen Mother didn't like him.

The reason for everything is his mother and concubine Zhu. Her father passed away since she was a child, and her mother remarried again. She can't make decisions about everything and follow the arrangements. Therefore, her character is gentle and respectful, and she is very gentle with people. Chong Xing never interfered in government affairs.

Moreover, the Zhu family is also Song Zhezong's biological mother, Zhao Si's mother.However, after Song Zhezong came to the throne, he was not named the empress dowager, but was honored as the empress dowager.Because of her personality, the Queen Mother didn't like her, and she often reprimanded her, but never took it to heart, which made the Queen Mother even more displeased.

Empress Dowager Xiang was born in a famous family, she is a lady, she is proficient in all kinds of piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and she has her own opinions. What she respects is not that kind of lady, but like a generation of empress Wu Zetian, who is methodical and has her own unique insights. Shi's character is a bit unpleasant, so that she doesn't like Zhao Si either.

On the one hand, it was because Zhao Si was born in the Zhu family. On the other hand, Zhao Si was fond of martial arts.Moreover, she told the queen mother that Zhao Ji should not be with him, lest he be the same as Zhao Si, and her painstaking efforts would be in vain.

Zhao Ji and Zhao Si rode their horses straight to Yunxin Temple. They traveled non-stop along the way and arrived at Yunxin Temple after seven days of traveling day and night.Zhao Ji was attracted by the scenery of Yunxin Temple and lingered; Zhao seemed to be well-informed, and was deeply shocked by the scenery in front of him.

It wasn't until I came here that I realized the meaning of "ten gates and nine unlocked". What I saw were endless rocky cliffs, like a group of stone gates standing for thousands of years.On the stone gate, there are many clever stones, which are like people and objects, and they are lifelike. Among them, the top ten heads of Nuwa, Fuxi, Tathagata, and Guanyin are even more amazing, which is amazing.

Moreover, from a distance, one can clearly see waterfalls flying down one after another, and the deafening sound of waterfalls can be heard even if they are far away from the rocky cliffs, as well as the beautiful colorful rainbow formed by the condensation of water mist. The two of them were dumbfounded.

Zhao Ji couldn't help sighing: "It's really a good place, it's worthy of being a blessed place, it's really a beautiful place on earth!"

Zhao Shi nodded in agreement, and said: "Brother Fang listed this place as the main altar. It is really a good strategy. Here are endless mountain peaks, rocky cliffs, waterfalls and other landscapes at a glance. It's really easy to defend but hard to attack, if you want to climb up, I'm afraid it will be difficult to climb to the sky."

"Thirteenth brother, this place is so big, how can we find brother Fang La?" Zhao Ji looked at the vast and vast place, and the mountains and hills. Looking for someone is like looking for a needle in a haystack, so he couldn't help but feel troubled.

Zhao Si smiled bitterly and said: "Brother Huang, I didn't know that this place is so big. If you really search for it one by one, you won't be able to find it in three or five years. If it doesn't work, we will go to Yunxin Temple to wait. I mentioned it before. , presumably there must be people living there, and I will inquire about it when the time comes, and someone should know!"

"Right now, I can only go to Yunxin Temple to make plans, and I also want to pray for my mother!" Zhao Ji nodded helplessly.

Then, Zhao Ji and Zhao Si went up the mountain to Yunxin Temple.However, the two of them didn't know that they would meet a person when they came here this time, and it was this person who broke the relationship between them and Fang La, turning from close brothers of the opposite sex into enemies of life and death.

(End of this chapter)