"Your Majesty, let us fight!"
"Please issue an edict to deploy troops and crush the rebellion, Your Majesty. Let those Tanguts learn the might of our Great Song's heavenly might!"
Several military officials stepped forward and made their solemn appeal.
"Indeed!"
"Let us fight!"
"Your Majesty, you must not! How can we take up arms so lightly?"
"Please think twice, Your Majesty."
Where some agreed, others opposed.
Several men immediately stepped forward to urge Zhao Zhen to think before acting.
The civil and military officials could not stand the sight of each other, and an argument broke out.
The solemn, dignified Grand Hall instantly became as noisy as a vegetable market.
"This..."
Zhao Zhen frowned.
He was a gentle ruler, a benevolent sovereign of a kind rarely seen in the world-and precisely the sage monarch the Great Song's civil officials dreamed of!
Since his accession, many of his measures for governing the country had come from the guidance of civil officials. As a result, the atmosphere in the Great Song's government had grown considerably more refined and easygoing over the years.
Seated on the Dragon Throne, Zhao Zhen looked at the assembled ministers.
"Gentlemen..."
"Quiet, gentlemen!"
He raised a hand to calm them.
Seeing that the emperor wished to speak, everyone gradually quieted down and turned their eyes toward Zhao Zhen.
"Our Great Song has not fought a major war in decades. Can the Song Army still fight?"
After hesitating over a few words, Zhao Zhen softly posed this question. If they truly had to fight, he would naturally not swallow humiliation for the sake of peace.
But if war could be avoided, that would of course be best.
Moreover, as his question suggested, the Great Song had not fought a war in decades. Could it truly sustain this expedition