For a long time, since Zhao Lao Jiu ascended the throne, the core issue here has been whether to go to Nanyang or Yangzhou.

Frankly speaking, Nanyang or Yangzhou seemed pretty much the same: a complete despair for the situation in Hebei and a helpless abandonment of most of the Central Plains, then pinning hopes on a resurgence from the rear.

Moreover, from a rational perspective, Yangzhou seemed even more suitable than Nanyang, because Yangzhou was the starting point of the Grand Canal, naturally able to gather wealth from Jiangnan, and there was also the Huai River to serve as a barrier. In contrast, although the Nanyang Basin was surrounded by mountains, the northeast was relatively flat. Besides Zong Liushou with his army of millions, there wasn't much to rely on.

However, everyone also understood that there was a deeper difference between Yangzhou and Nanyang, which was the fallback option if neither of these places could hold:

If they went to Yangzhou and couldn't defend it, they would have to cross the Yangtze River. And once they crossed the river, anyone with a bit of historical knowledge understood its political meaning: parochialism. There was nothing to hide. This was the true thought in the bones of many people who had experienced the Jingkang Incident: the Jin were too powerful, why not hide?

Therefore, Yangzhou, seemingly reasonable and most suitable, was the unanimous opinion of the pro-peace faction.

So, what about going to Nanyang?

Going to Nanyang allowed them to advance into Guanzhong and retreat into Xiangyang. Not to mention that entering Guanzhong represented a pro-war stance, even retreating into Xiangyang undoubtedly had a stronger political signal of revival than being in Jiangnan. This was made very clear in Zhuge Liang's Longzhong Plan. This place was the starting point for reviving the Central Plains!

Therefore, after weighing the balance between survival and revival, the pro-war faction generally believed that Nanyang should be the temporary capital.

As for Zong Ze's return to the old capital, Yue Fei's crossing the Hebei River to the north, and even Han Shizhong's initial, muddled plan to directly break through the defense zone of Wanyan Lou Shi, the Jin's war god, were basically regarded as nonsense by the mainstream opinion... Even Zong Ze's intermittent requests to return to Bianliang probably stemmed from the fact that he had recognized the nature of some people in Hebei and was using this to play a double act with Li Gang.

They were forcibly restraining and holding back Zhao Guan Jia!

Because in that situation, the only way to restrain this Zhao Guan Jia was with similar moral kidnapping tactics... Didn't you see that even a group of pro-peace advocates only dared to say they were going to Yangzhou to resist the Jin, hiding the idea of crossing the river to live in a corner? Wasn't that because they knew that if they said such things while the "Two Emperors were held captive in the north" and the hearts of the people in the Central Plains and Hebei hadn't dispersed, they would be seized by the pro-war faction and scolded to death, and then beaten to death by the people?

Correspondingly, even the pro-war faction dared not easily speak of war, because that was a reckless way to put the Two Emperors on a path to death, not the kind of thought a son or a subject should have... In fact, even Li Gang could only say that if we strengthen ourselves, the Two Emperors will naturally return.

However, wasn't there a problem with this clear and distinct antagonistic logic?

Because an unknown but unmistakable fact was that since a certain well incident, Zhao Guan Jia, or rather our time-traveler Mr. Zhao Jiu, at the intersection of all the antagonism and unity, contradictions and pulls, had a completely different line of logic in his head:

First of all, Zhao Jiu had never worried about the Two Emperors, nor would he be morally kidnapped by them, because in his eyes, they were two useless burdens who would be better off dead, good for everyone. He didn't even know what the Two Emperors looked like?

Therefore, he never considered those people when considering issues, nor was he interfered with by their existence.

Secondly, Zhao Jiu's determination to resist the Jin was unwavering and unshakable.

This wasn't a matter of nationalism, but from the beginning, this time-traveling Zhao Guan Jia had determined that resisting the Jin was in his absolute interest after analyzing it from multiple perspectives and with a high-level hindsight perspective!

Of course, there was definitely a bit of nationalism involved.

Moreover, after Li Gang returned and the temporary capital began to move, Zhao Jiu gradually came into personal contact with the customs of this era. Obviously, because of the basic moral concepts of modern people, he developed a certain unrealistic sense of responsibility... He personally witnessed many living people in Jiegou, and was subjected to the pressure of that living environment in Shuizibu Town, which somewhat dispelled his numbness towards this era.

However, it was only somewhat dispelled. It seemed like there was still something missing to completely tear open that thin film between the individual and the era.

So, at this time, even Zhao Guan Jia himself probably didn't quite understand his own thoughts... The more this was the case, the more he wanted to tear open this thin film as soon as possible without any worries!

"What is Deyuan (Zhang Jun's courtesy name) thinking?"

In late November, on the banks of the frozen Ying River, a large and bloated convoy was moving down the river. However, even though it was frozen, as the mother river of Shunchang Prefecture, formerly known as Yingzhou, the Ying River still used its aquatic properties to bring great convenience to this moving convoy.

Therefore, even during this relatively smooth journey, the two leaders of a certain section of the convoy still had time to think and talk on horseback.

"To be honest, Yuanzhen brother," Zhang Jun recovered from his thoughts and didn't try to hide anything from Zhao Ding. "I'm wondering what Guan Jia is thinking..."

"I know what Deyuan means." Zhao Ding shook his head with a wry smile, exhaling a cloud of white breath in the cold winter. "You and I both know that Guan Jia is unwilling. How can you and I be willing? But now that we are about to cross the Huai River to Yangzhou, what can Guan Jia do even if he has other ideas? Shunchang Prefecture can still be considered a turning point. There are still options to go to Nanyang or Yangzhou. But once we reach Shouzhou and cross the Huai River, to the due south and slightly west is Dabie Mountain... What is Dabie Mountain? It divides Jiang and Huai in the north and south, and separates Jing and Yang in the east and west. Once we go there, there is only one road to the southeast!"

Zhang Jun repeatedly shook his head. "This is precisely where I'm hesitant. You must know that once we cross the Huai River and continue down that road, we can only go south, and the morale of the world will decline along with it. But Guan Jia's resolute attitude that day, where did it look like he was losing heart?"

"Alright!" Zhao Ding was also helpless, but he sighed as he pointed to the migrating convoy of scholars, commoners, and百姓 beside him. "Let's not talk about the southeast. Let Deyuan think what he wants. But the current situation... tell me, originally, the women, children, and elderly were supposed to be transferred first, the original intention should be a light transfer. How did we end up in this situation? Isn't this truly becoming Liu Bei leading the people across the river?"

"This is also a helpless matter." Zhang Jun finally became serious and began to persuade. "During the Jingkang Incident, the Jin recklessly plundered Dongjing, turning it into a wasteland. At that time, countless Dongjing百姓 fled here... Don't forget how Jiang Chi came to be... Now, the Jin have once again completely broken through Jingdong East Road, still recklessly plundering. More refugees from the two Jingdong roads are coming, Guan Jia is leaving again, and he is also collecting able-bodied men and府库. The scholars and百姓 are panicking and following one another. What can we say? Just try to maintain order. And when these people reach Huainan, the climate is warm, or they simply scatter into the southeast, where there are many towns and it is very prosperous. They will always have something to eat..."

Zhao Ding also became solemn, but he lowered his voice. "How can I not know these principles? And we few have endured all the way from Dongjing. I have seen more chaotic situations than this. What I fear is that the movement here is too great. Once the Jin learn about it, they are only five or six hundred li away... As Guan Jia said before, we are clearly turning our backs to the beasts when they are eating people and seeing blood. Isn't that inviting the beasts to pounce?"

"The Jin will definitely pounce!" Zhang Jun immediately responded. "Guan Jia's analogy is very appropriate. And from a broader perspective, since the temporary capital set out from Nanjing (Shangqiu), it was bound to attract Jin pursuers..."

"I'm talking about the immediate situation."

"The big and the small do not conflict. Since the Jin will inevitably come, why not take the Shunchang Prefecture scholars and百姓 along?" Zhang Jun became even more serious. "Besides, if the Jin want to come, they must first pass Liu Guangshi's barrier. Liu Guangshi already has more than 10,000 men in his hands. This time, he has obtained the defense power of several military prefectures south of Mount Tai, I'm afraid he has no less than 30,000 to 50,000 men. Even if the Jin really come, we don't expect him to fight. As long as he can defend the city and retreat step by step, he can always hold on until spring!"

Zhao Ding repeatedly shook his head, obviously unconvinced, but he didn't argue further.

Although the two were life-and-death friends and staunch political allies, it was clear that the younger Zhang Jun had gained power first and was now focused on how to please Guan Jia in order to stabilize his position. At the same time, Zhao Ding was older and always had cautious thoughts. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been the first to stand up in Shunchang Prefecture as a confidant of Guan Jia and a pro-war advocate to persuade Zhao Jiu... Moreover, the older person was a direct subordinate of the younger person, so there was some awkwardness in their power of speech.

It was like this time. Zhang Jun was clearly responsible for the order of this migration of scholars and百姓, but he kept thinking wildly on horseback. On the other hand, Zhao Ding, who was worried about these scholars and百姓 causing trouble, had been conscientious in maintaining the migration order.

However, since the two were silent, before Zhao Ding could turn around and continue to inspect the convoy, several riders carefully galloped along the riverbank. The two could see clearly that one of them was Hu Yin, the Zhongshu Sheren who should be by Guan Jia's side at this time, and their own brother. They almost simultaneously called out.

Hu Yin heard the call and, without stopping, simply said directly, "A minor officer of Huyan Tong's unit and a Tongpan who had just escaped from the north were encroaching on and seizing the property of the百姓 in the scholars and百姓 convoy led by Xu Dashen. He was arrested by Commander Huyan. Guan Jia was furious and ordered me to take the golden tablet to see Huyan Tong, because he wanted to execute them together!"

At the end of his words, Hu Yin didn't stop at all and disappeared on the embankment... Zhang Jun and Zhao Ding were both horrified!

Let's talk about Huyan Tong's unit, which was a reliable force of a thousand or so soldiers that Han Shizhong left to Zhao Jiu before leaving for Huaidong, but the so-called Xu Dashen refers to Xu Jingheng, who was Zhang Jun's former Imperial Censor. At that time, Zhao Jiu didn't know his position. He just saw that he had defended Zong Ze many times, so he didn't consider him to be a crony of Huang Qianshan. But he just treated him as a tool and casually threw him into the idle positions of the Six Ministries.

Later, when Li Gang returned, he knew the details and used him as an arm. Zhao Guan Jia then realized that this was a core figure of the pro-war faction who was enduring in silence.

Therefore, this time, Li Gang took the lead and left the temporary capital. In order to reassure the people, Zhao Jiu specifically changed Lü Haowen to Shangshu Zuo Cheng and promoted this person to Shangshu You Cheng, Tong Can Zhi Zhengshi, which is to say, he formally entered the Dongfu and became a deputy prime minister, which was also to show that his trust in Li Gang remained unchanged.

There were many similar arrangements. For example, Zhang Que, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, responsible for the financial affairs of the Ministry of Revenue and Deputy Envoy of the Imperial Camp, who was also the Tongzhi of the Privy Council, was originally thrown out by Zhao Jiu as a tool to scrape Buddhist statues everywhere, and it is said that he had resentful words. Now he has also returned to the core power structure... And these old ministers who returned because of the needs of the situation were precisely the reason why Zhang Jun was worried and always thinking about Guan Jia's thoughts.

But in any case, the problem now is not these messy personnel changes due to the migration, but another piece of information revealed in Hu Yin's words—Guan Jia actually took the initiative to kill people! And he killed both civil and military officials together!

What did this represent?

What exactly is Guan Jia thinking at this time?

"He wouldn't be thinking about the Battle of Red Cliffs, would he?" After a long pause, Zhao Ding spoke up after regaining his senses, but he couldn't help but chuckle in self-mockery.

Zhang Jun still didn't speak.

In this way, the two continued to urge the convoy forward. After another two days and nights, bad news kept coming. On this morning, suddenly, there was another commotion in the front of the convoy. Listening carefully, it was actually cheers. After inquiring, it turned out that the front convoy had suddenly discovered that the ice in front was gradually melting, and they realized that the Huai Estuary was not far away. In other words, the border between Shunchang Prefecture and Shouzhou was about to arrive...

Hearing this news, Zhao Ding, who had been working hard along the way, naturally breathed a sigh of relief in an instant, and all his previous worries disappeared.

After all, according to the plan, the temporary capital would have to separate again here. Most of the civil officials would cross the Huai River with the people here, which was considered a successful escort of the Shunchang Prefecture scholars and people to the land of Huainan. At the same time, Guan Jia and a small number of core personnel of the temporary capital would continue east along the Huai River to Shouzhou with thousands of Shunchang militiamen and the money, grain, cloth, and weapons in the Shunchang Prefecture庫, to see the General of the Xu Prefecture Observation and one of the Imperial Camp Commanders, Zhang Jun Zhang Boying, who was Zhang Jun's lucky benefactor.

In other words, after a scare and chaos, the destination was finally about to arrive, and the Jin had not yet caught up. Could there be a better situation than this?

"Yuanzhen brother..."

On the cold north bank of the Huai River, next to the un frozen river crossing, on the eve of parting, Zhang Jun, with a pair of dark circles under his eyes, suddenly exhorted. "After crossing the river, quickly settle down properly. Don't be greedy for the wealth and stability of Huainan, and don't accept any Huainan appointments. Come to the temporary capital to meet me immediately... I would say that after half a year of wandering, the affairs of the world may begin to become clear on the Huai River."

Zhao Ding was skeptical, but he nodded heavily.

ps: I am in a very bad state. Today, I will just write a hasty update. Let me accumulate a wave of energy.