Poem:

Car wheels rumble, horses neigh, travelers with bows and arrows at their waists.
Parents, wives, and children walk to see them off, dust obscuring the Xianyang Bridge.
Clutching clothes, stamping feet, they cry to block the road, their wails reaching the heavens.

It is said that the scene of war that Zhao Jiu had long anticipated in his heart finally appeared before his eyes for the first time, stark and bare, yet it was likely caused by his own hand.

Know that Shouzhou straddles the Huai River, and the two most prosperous cities, Xiacai and Shouchun, face each other across the river. The two cities are connected by docks, roads, and markets. On a clear day, standing on Mount Bagong south of the Huai River, one can see the grandeur of both cities.

Therefore, the local gentry and people of Huaibei naturally would not find it strange or uncomfortable to flee south of the Huai River when they heard that the Jin people were coming.

However, and this is a big "however," the able-bodied men needed to stay behind to defend the city, but the wealth certainly had to be taken away, the grain had to be handed over, and what was most devastating was the urgency of the military situation... According to Liu Guangshi, all six military prefectures south of Mount Tai under his command were attacked. The closest point, from northern Xuzhou to the bank of the Huai River, was only four hundred *li*. Given the Jin people's demonstrated willingness to fight and their ability to endure hardship in previous years, a well-organized Jin army vanguard could probably arrive in five or six days.

Of course, it could also be seven or eight days, but who would dare to gamble under such circumstances?

Especially since it was still the end of the year!

As a result, the extremely insecure gentry and people of northern Shouzhou, the tense river transport, the skittish civil and military officials, the unstable military morale, and Zhang Jun's troops yielding to greed, led to a chaos that was almost inevitable. And in the chaos, the undisciplined nature of the Song army, the arrogance and selfishness of the officials, and the fear and anger of the people were amplified, causing everyone to fall into a state of agitation and disorder…

In a word, the war had not yet arrived, but the disaster it would bring had already begun.

"Official residences and civilian dwellings were all burned down, not a single item of pottery or furniture was left intact... Men, women, old, and young were increasingly subjected to violence, with some towns having no one left alive, and the stench of corpses could be smelled for a hundred *li*."

On the evening of the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, outside the east gate of Xiacai city, two groups of unarmored local braves were openly fighting, with one of the injured even having his stomach cut open and his intestines spilling onto the ground, only to be frozen by the cold earth, making his survival impossible. Many people were frightened and blocked from entering the city, but they had no choice. On the city gate tower, seeing Zhao Jiu staring intently at the scene below, his face growing increasingly grim, Zhang Jun, the Vice Censor-in-Chief, suddenly spoke.

"What is this?" Zhao Jiu turned his head and asked coldly.

"This is what Li Ruoshui, then a Doctor of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, recounted about the front lines after being sent to Hebei to persuade the Jin people to return north during the first Jin invasion south in the first year of the Jingkang era." Zhang Jun replied with his head lowered. "Your Majesty, these matters are, at most, matters of public order. Once the Jin cavalry arrives, everything will be destroyed, and the slaughtering of cities and burning of towns will be commonplace. Although Your Majesty has a compassionate heart and has witnessed this firsthand, it is alright to manage it, but when the overall situation is pressing, Your Majesty stepping forward to rectify this matter with the Imperial Guards would be penny wise, pound foolish."

Zhao Jiu took a deep breath, trying not to look at what was happening below the gate tower... He knew what Zhang Deyuan meant. Besides explaining the conflict below, this undoubtedly loyal Censor-in-Chief intended to persuade Zhao to cross the river as soon as possible to reassure the people. This was what everyone had been urging him to do these past few days. However, Zhao Jiu was too lazy to respond to his confidant minister, because he was not unwilling to cross the river, but he felt indignant and wanted to try to delay until the last moment to reassure the people.

Both wanted to reassure the people, but the reassurance that Zhang Jun and the others spoke of was to reassure the civil and military officials and the gentry of Huainan, while the reassurance that Zhao Jiu considered was to reassure the people of Shouzhou who were crossing south. The two thoughts seemed not to be contradictory, yet they were completely different.

It can only be said that in these days, because of Zhao's increasingly pointless stubbornness, even those who remained in the imperial entourage were Zhao's confidants, good people, or yes-men, the differences between the ruler and his subjects were becoming increasingly clear.

Moments later, just as the atmosphere on the city gate tower became more and more tense and Yang Yizhong could not help but go down to deal with the situation, Tian Shizhong, a middle-ranking general under Zhang Jun, the Grand Commandant, rushed over, perhaps knowing that Zhao Jiu was nearby. He apprehended the two groups of soldiers at the city gate and killed four or five people as a warning. He also finished off the injured man who was beyond saving, and then, after finding out the reason, personally brought the heads to the city to see Zhao Jiu.

It turned out that one of the two groups of local braves came from Shunchang Prefecture. Because they had joined Zhang Jun's forces earlier, they were responsible for guarding a small ferry outside the east gate, but they extorted a group of local fleeing gentry and people and refused to arrange a ferry for them. Coincidentally, some locals in the extorted group had acquaintances patrolling nearby, so they went to complain... The two groups came to the open space outside the city gate to discuss, and they started fighting directly after a few words of disagreement.

Zhao Jiu, upon hearing this, felt both helpless and increasingly annoyed... It wasn't that he couldn't understand what was happening below the city gate, or that he couldn't understand the limitations of this era, but understanding was one thing, and a soul from that era still felt absurd and disappointed by this kind of infighting between armies on an emotional level.

In fact, after these few days of torment, apart from Zhao Ding, who had voluntarily returned from Huainan and gradually demonstrated extremely sophisticated bureaucratic skills in organizing gentry and people to establish a transit camp on the opposite Mount Bagong, which made Zhao feel a little relieved, there was not a single piece of information that could put a smile on his face.

"Your Majesty!"

Just as the sky was getting dark, and Zhao Jiu was about to turn back after giving Tian Shizhong a few words of encouragement, Zhang Jun, the Grand Commandant, personally came to the city gate to request an audience. As soon as he arrived, he knelt down next to the few bloody heads, and his words were heavy. "It really can't be delayed any longer! Please prepare yourself now and depart from the city tonight, crossing to Huainan!"

"Is there news?" Zhao Jiu took a deep breath, trying to calm his mind.

"Yes!" Zhang Jun replied seriously. "According to military intelligence from the front, Grand Commandant Liu's main force has already reached the Wo River and should be crossing it now. They should be able to reach here tomorrow or the day after..."

"What are they doing here?" Zhao furrowed his brows for a moment. "Didn't I tell him to cross the river from Haozhou (around Fengyang and Bengbu)?"

"They must be pursued closely by the Jin people." Zhang Jun's expression became even more solemn. "Our scouts clearly saw traces of the Jin army on the east bank of the Wo River... Actually, it's a bit late that traces of the Jin people are only showing up now."

Zhao Jiu was speechless and could only nod with difficulty.

Just like that, Zhao had no room for maneuver. That night, the civil and military officials discussed the matter clearly with Grand Commandant Zhang... Zhao and the imperial entourage would cross the Huai River at night and temporarily settle on the opposite Mount Bagong; Vice Commander Wang Yuan would be left in charge of the waterways, controlling the boats to ensure continued smooth passage between the two banks; the local people and fleeing gentry and people who had not yet crossed the river would be allowed to enter the city first when Liu Guangshi's troops arrived, and then be transported and allocated from Xiacai and Linhuai, which were protected by city walls; and all other ferries and boats outside the city would be burned to prevent them from being used by the Jin people.

Zhao Jiu did not participate in these discussions and seemed dazed even when crossing the river that night.

"Your Majesty!"

Before boarding the ship, Zhang Jun, the Grand Commandant, knelt down before Zhao Jiu for the second time. "I have something to say."

"Speak." Despite all the disappointments, Zhang Jun had at least held on to the bottom line of a soldier in this round in Shouzhou. Zhao Jiu really couldn't harbor any extra ill will towards him and couldn't help but take his words seriously.

"Your Majesty, the enemy's power is now at its height, so it is appropriate to cross south. Therefore, after crossing the Huai River, please make some preparations and go further south, using the Yangtze River as a barrier. Then train the army, govern, reassure the people, and wait for the country to stabilize before making a grand move." On the ferry, amidst the chaos, Zhang Jun kowtowed and spoke earnestly. "These are my true words! Only now can I say them so Your Majesty won't think I am a coward. Please consider them carefully."

On the ferry, Zhao Jiu stared fixedly at him... If he remembered correctly, this should be the first time he had heard someone openly propose a strategy of retreating south across the Yangtze River, taking the risk of offending the whole world. In the past, let alone Zhao Jiu, even those pro-peace and capitulationists who secretly desired this would have stood up to scold Zhang Jun first, then give Zhang Jun a protective reason of 'a warrior does not understand ethics and literature', and then discuss the feasibility.

However, in this situation today, Zhao Jiu really couldn't refute it.

"I understand."

In fact, Zhao Jiu remained silent for a long time, but that was all he could say.

ps: There's more