Yang Yizhong's arrival made the young Zhao Jiu extremely vigilant. The feeling of being constantly monitored was terrible!

That evening, the Zhao Emperor erupted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. He ordered the ice cream made by Consort Pan... actually, it was just some kind of milk-skin dessert... to be distributed to the Red Heart Army soldiers. Then, he simply and forcibly stayed overnight in the Red Heart Army's camp!

For this matter, Kang Lu sent people to plead with him again and again, but they were all driven back. Yang Yizhong, along with Liu Yan, the Red Heart Army's battalion commander who had also arrived early but dared not speak, knelt down and pleaded bitterly, but could not shake the Zhao Emperor's determination.

In the end, with no other choice, everyone from above and below could only let the Emperor have his way.

However, that night, the autumn wind rose sharply. In the middle of the night, Zhao Jiu suddenly heard a commotion outside the tent, and the flickering firelight illuminated the camp. He was startled and sat up.

"What's going on?"

Just as Zhao Jiu was about to go out, he noticed a familiar figure being illuminated by the campfire outside the tent. He simply lay back down on the couch.

"To inform Your Majesty, a few Red Heart Army rogues, based on misinformation, misunderstood Your Majesty's previous words and thought that the Jin army was about to arrive. They wanted to rebel and kidnap Your Majesty to surrender to the Jin..." Yang Yizhong said softly through the tent.

"..."

"But Your Majesty, do not worry. Most people still cherish Your Majesty's kindness. Liu Yan also has the deep support of the Red Heart Army. It's just three or five traitors, and they were tied up by their tentmates as soon as they started conspiring."

"I'm not worried!" Lying on the couch, Zhao Jiu felt irritable and could only sigh. "I just don't know where the future lies!"

"If Your Majesty really doesn't want to go to Yangzhou, perhaps you can discuss it with the ministers again," Yang Yizhong replied reluctantly after a moment.

But the response to Yang Yizhong was silence.

The truth was, Zhao Jiu didn't feel any fear or anxiety, nor did he feel anger at the sudden emergence of a few rebels from the Red Heart Army, who had seemed so loyal in the evening... This wasn't to say that he had a strong heart, a wise mind, or a broad mind. To put it bluntly, he still hadn't developed a strong sense of identification with this body and the current situation. He still felt out of place.

As for the reason for this feeling of being out of place, besides a lack of necessary time to settle in, it was largely because he didn't know what he could do.

Logically speaking, a time-traveler coming to this era should definitely resist the Jin. This was true from both the perspective of national righteousness and morality, and also from a selfish point of view... After all, who would want to end up with the same reputation as Zhao Gou in the original alternate timeline? The most cowardly, or rather the most irresponsible, approach would be to continue singing and dancing in Lin'an while supporting Yue Fei's direct assault on Huanglong, right?

And from a rational perspective, he also had to resist the Jin, because even if Zhao Jiu didn't have much historical knowledge, he had at least gone through nine years of compulsory education. He at least knew that it was impossible to appease the Jin, a barbaric race. The Jin would definitely take the initiative to attack you as long as they felt they had the opportunity and the strength!

The more you yield, the more they will bully you!

Even if Zhao Gou was able to negotiate peace successfully in history, wasn't it because Yue Fei and Han Shizhong had fought for it on the front lines?

Even from a supernatural perspective, he should resist the Jin!

Zhao Jiu had time-traveled in a Taoist temple. If there really were gods and monsters, then the Taoist patriarch wouldn't have sent him here to lead the Song Dynasty to surrender to the Jin and complete national integration sooner, right?

So, Zhao Jiu had thought it through early on. Since he couldn't go back after coming here, he had to resist the Jin! This was the main mission of him, this time-traveler, and he couldn't avoid it!

And historically, the Song-Jin War was in fact the most important conflict in China for decades to come.

But, as far as the present situation was concerned, he really didn't know how to resist the Jin?

You must know that, as the Zhao Emperor, Zhao Jiu hadn't been idle these past few days. Even if some people were deliberately isolating and fooling him, he had learned some information from other sources (mainly the lower-level guards) given the chaotic scene and situation... Such as the fact that the Song Dynasty's army had basically suffered no military victories since it tried to retake the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, and the army was being sent to its doom again and again!

When the Song and Jin forces jointly attacked Liao, Tong Guan lost 200,000 of the most elite field troops in Youyan!

During the first Jin invasion, which started the first half of the Jingkang humiliation, Liang Shicheng first lost hundreds of thousands in Hebei! Then, under the cities of Taiyuan and Bianliang, the wise men of the Song Dynasty's central government and the famous generals of the Western Army, but mainly the Huizong and Qinzong emperors themselves, jointly lost another 200,000!

After finally surviving this wave with the efforts of various royalist forces and the pro-war factions in the city, the two emperors then dismantled their own Great Wall, disbanding the army themselves. As a result, when the Jin army suddenly launched its second invasion, which was the one that had just passed and led to the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, there were practically no soldiers left to fight under the city of Tokyo!

It was a joke, but the Song Dynasty's century-long problem of having too many soldiers, which Wang Anshi had struggled to solve, was actually solved jointly by the Khitans and Jurchens in just a few years!

Of course, the country also fell, and the finances also collapsed... The century-long policy of strengthening the trunk and weakening the branches had concentrated the country's essence in a small city of Tokyo, so once it fell, the entire country's army, finances, officials, craftsmen, and strategic reserves were wiped out in one fell swoop!

That was why, even though this body was the biological son of Emperor Huizong of Song and had been enthroned in Nanjing (Shangqiu), he was still referred to as the ruler of a new regime.

So, back to the present situation, the only organized, large-scale professional army of the entire Song Dynasty was currently in Guanzhong and the Northwest, which was the remnant of the so-called Western Army, but the road was blocked by the Jin's ever-victorious general, Wanyan Loushi; while the Southeast, Jingxiang, and Bashu, which were capable of collecting taxes, also needed time to transport and coordinate.

At this moment, traveling here, including those troops sent out to suppress bandits, there were only a little over 10,000 soldiers in total, most of whom were temporarily conscripted militia; the Central Plains region they were in was full of rebel armies and mutineers, with several people even claiming to be emperors; and the finances were basically being temporarily maintained by plundering royal Taoist palaces everywhere... And yet, they didn't know when Wuzhu of Jin would lead his 100,000 troops to search the mountains and seas!

Of course, these crises hadn't actually arrived yet. What Zhao Jiu found most unbearable was that he couldn't find anyone to communicate with under this kind of survival pressure.

Kang Lu and Yang Yizhong, needless to say, were guarding against him as if he were a thief; the two chief ministers, Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan of the eastern and western offices, had only seen him twice, and both times they had urged him to travel south after seeing that he was unharmed... In fact, not to mention these two people, Zhao Jiu didn't have any illusions about the civil officials of the entire Song Dynasty's provisional government traveling here! In his eyes, the only difference between these people was the color of their robes: purple, red, or green!

After all, if the Song Dynasty's civil officials had been useful, would they have created the Jingkang Incident?

Moreover, they were currently on the run to the south, and the few pro-war civil officials had long been driven away... Li Gang, who was in the history books, had been dismissed as chief minister and was now who-knew-where; Zong Ze was being squeezed out in Tokyo and couldn't get away at all; and even, as far as he knew, the civilian pro-war activists who were also in the history books, the imperial students Chen Dong and others, had just been beheaded by the owner of this body in Nanjing (Shangqiu)!

Under these circumstances,

How could he communicate with people? With whom could he communicate? Would anyone believe him if he did communicate? And what was most frustrating was that he couldn't refute it... Because he really didn't know how to resist the Jin, or what to use to resist the Jin?

Did he really have to flee to Lin'an first and then plan slowly? But he was unwilling!

It could only be said that it was no wonder that the Red Heart Army soldiers from Liaodi mistakenly thought that the Jin army was coming and developed disloyal intentions!

"Your Majesty!"

The noise outside the tent had gradually subsided. Amidst the howling wind, Yang Yizhong spoke again. "Tongzhilang Liu Yan is requesting to be punished before the tent..."

"It's not his fault. Those few people should also be pardoned and released!" Zhao Jiu replied casually through the tent. "They are originally from Liao, let them go wherever they want. I won't pardon and appease them in person."

"Yes!" Yang Yizhong replied after a moment of silence.

After a flurry of activity, the figure of this tall general was once again illuminated on the tent by the firelight outside, but he remained seated motionlessly, still holding his sword and wearing his armor.

The monarch and his subject remained silent for a long time across a buffalo hide tent. Yang Yizhong suddenly took the initiative to speak: "Your Majesty seemed to be looking for Yue Fei, Yue Pengju, before?"

"You know him?" Zhao Jiu frowned slightly, too lazy to care about the fact that the other party was constantly monitoring him.

"A native of Xiangzhou, Hebei. His surname is Yue, his given name is Fei, and his style name is Pengju. He was originally under the command of Deputy Commander Liu of the Marshal's Office, and was later rewarded with the title of Wu Yilang, known for his martial arts... I drank with him once in the Marshal's Office before, so he should be the person Your Majesty is talking about."

"Where is he now?"

"More than two months ago, Your Majesty ascended the throne in Nanjing (Shangqiu), and then the then-incumbent Chief Minister Li... That is, Li Gang, Li Boji." Yang Yizhong took the initiative to explain, as if he knew everything about the Emperor's 'amnesia' after falling into the well and knew what to say. "Chief Minister Li wanted Your Majesty to inspect Nanyang, while Chief Ministers Huang and Wang wanted Your Majesty to inspect Yangzhou. They argued endlessly. When Yue Pengju heard about this, he violated the system and submitted a memorial to Your Majesty out of order, urging Your Majesty to resist the Jin and impeaching the three chief ministers for ruining the country. As a result, he was directly dismissed from all military posts and kicked out of the army!"

"Yue Fei impeached Li Gang for ruining the country?" Even Zhao Jiu, who was prepared for the absurdity of some things at this time, couldn't help but stare in disbelief. "He was kicked out for this?"

"Yes!"

"Aren't they both resisting the Jin?" Zhao Jiu felt increasingly absurd. Yue Fei was actually dismissed for impeaching Li Gang. "Li Gang is the banner of resistance to the Jin under heaven!"

"That is where Yue Fei's fault lies," Yang Yizhong's voice was still calm. "As a Wu Yilang, his official position was extremely low, and he was a military official. He didn't know anything about the overall situation of the court or the situation on the front lines, yet he submitted a memorial on state affairs, to the point that he even impeached the wrong people. How could he not be punished? At that time, Li Gang was still the main person in charge, so it was likely that he was expelled by Li Gang's confidants."

"Let's not talk about these things," Zhao Jiu said after a moment of silence, amid the sound of the wind. "Do you know where Yue Fei is now?"

"His whereabouts are unknown, but he is a native of Xiangzhou, Hebei. Because his hometown is in chaos, he is very determined to resist the Jin. Now that he has left the army, he is probably going back to Hebei to join the volunteer army to continue resisting the Jin, right?" Yang Yizhong replied reluctantly again. "But most of Hebei has fallen, and it is ravaged by war. It will be too difficult to find him."

Zhao Jiu was completely helpless, but still asked with a hint of unwillingness: "Does Officer Yang remember what he said in his memorial?"

"It was nothing more than advising Your Majesty to personally lead the six armies across the Yellow River to attack the Jin and go to Xiangzhou to resist the Jin, and not to go south..."

Zhao Jiu was momentarily dazed... Even he knew that the main force of the Song army had been completely wiped out, Hebei was flat, and the main force of the Jin was currently in Hebei, including no less than 100,000 cavalry consisting of Jurchens, Khitans, and Han Chinese from Liaodi. Was he supposed to lead 10,000 people to Hebei to die?

Moreover, where did he get the six armies?

Not to mention, the Red Heart Army people had said something before, that Zhao Gou had also fought when he was a marshal in Hebei before he ascended the throne, and he had Zong Ze fight, but the result was still a complete defeat.

This Yue Fei...

"How old is this Yue Fei this year?" Zhao Jiu's mood was getting worse and worse.

"Twenty-four, one year younger than me," Yang Yizhong replied softly.

Zhao Jiu had expected this, but he still couldn't help but sigh. He really wanted to ask the vast wilderness, where was his, the Emperor's, confidant?

With a sigh from inside the tent, the Zhao Emperor ultimately didn't ask the question. Instead, the attendant outside couldn't help but ask in a low voice: "Why does Your Majesty have to find this person?"

"I really want to stay in the Central Plains to resist the Jin," Zhao Jiu replied almost weakly. "I heard people in the guards the other day say that he is a talent with unparalleled martial arts, and he is also from Hebei and very determined to resist the Jin. I thought that perhaps he could be of use."

"Leaving aside this person, this trip to Yangzhou, wasn't it a decision that Your Majesty made after much deliberation?" Yang Yizhong rarely asked so persistently. "Why do you want to stay in the Central Plains again?"

"Ha..."

Zhao Jiu sneered and didn't reply.

Actually, it was still that question. Telling the truth was useless... For the appeasement faction traveling here, even if you told them that even if they went to Yangzhou, or even Jiangnan, the Jin would not let them go, they would just think it was absurd.

Just think about it. If they didn't have illusions about partial peace, where would the appeasement faction, or to put it more nicely, the pro-peace faction, come from?

"Why is Your Majesty laughing?"

The number of times Yang Yizhong had taken the initiative to speak tonight seemed to have exceeded the sum of the previous days facing this Zhao Emperor.

"Isn't it only natural that I, Zhao Jiu, resist the Jin?" Zhao Jiu had no choice but to casually perfunctorily reply on the couch. "Doesn't Officer Yang understand the four words 'national hatred and family feud'? Why do you always think that I want to live in partial peace?"

The autumn wind howled ceaselessly, the night was thick, and until the eastern side of the Huanghuai Plain gradually turned white, neither inside nor outside the tent spoke another word.