The dangers in times of turmoil are always inexplicable and confusing, just like this rebellion of Han Shizhong. It's indeed absurd, but the danger is real, because people are capable of anything when unrestrained.

In theory, this isn't the first time our Lord Zhao has encountered something similar. Before, in the temporary capital, members of the Red Heart Squad misunderstood his words, thinking the Jin army had arrived, and planned to capture him as a stepping stone to return to Liaodong.

Conversely, this won't be the last time. Judging by the style of Chinese professional armies after the Tang separatist regimes, right up to the end of the Song Dynasty, and even into the late Ming Dynasty, similar incidents recorded in history are countless.

However, this particular false alarm is special... because, forced into a corner, Zhao Jiu gained not only an unprecedented sense of security and a burgeoning confidence in himself, but also a subtle shift in how others perceived him.

"Prime Minister Li is ill and truly unable to serve?"

Under Han Shizhong's personal guard, Zhao Jiu, wearing a leather belt, had just arrived outside Shunchang Prefecture (also known as Yingzhou, present-day Fuyang) around noon on the fifth day of the eleventh month when he heard Deputy Chief of the Department of State Affairs, Lü Haowen, deliver this report.

Yet, like everyone else, Lord Zhao showed neither great surprise nor excessive concern.

This was because the reason for Li Gang's previous illness was widely known, and this deeper affliction was anticipated. Moreover, Li Gang was only forty-five years old, normally strong and energetic. Plus, having arrived in a major city like Shunchang Prefecture, where medicine was readily available, he could receive proper care, so worrying excessively about a random cold was unnecessary.

However, everyone was also aware that while Li Gang was an outstanding administrator, a skilled hand at managing the court, he was also brash and rash, having offended many and leaving many secretly wishing for him to take a break and give everyone some breathing room.

Besides, wasn't there also a Lord who quelled rebellion with a hundred riders and conveniently used a belt to tie up military power? They wouldn't be without a central figure.

Returning to the present, Han Shizhong, leading seven or eight thousand soldiers, naturally couldn't bring his army into the city. He went to arrange defenses and set up camps outside the city, while Zhao Jiu, surrounded by civil and military officials from the temporary court, entered Shunchang Prefecture. By the time he'd led the officials to visit Li Gang and settled down, it was already evening.

However, as soon as the Lord sat down in the government hall, ready to explain what happened and update everyone, Vice Chief of the Department of Military Affairs, Wang Boyan, cautiously stood up... it turned out that Shunchang Prefecture (Fuyang) was an important town on the Huai River, connecting the two Huai regions and serving as a hub for both water and land transport. Consequently, news from all directions had converged here in just three to five days. Wang Boyan, as the leader of the Department of Military Affairs stationed here, dared not fail to report.

"Jinan Prefecture (formerly Qizhou, now around Jinan) fell in five days?" Zhao Jiu stared in disbelief. "I've seen the map. Jinan Prefecture is so large, and the capital of Jingdong East Circuit. Jinan City is also a famous city with a large population. How could it fall in five days? It would take the Jin army five days just to ride past it!"

"Reporting to Your Majesty," Wang Boyan said even more carefully. "Prefect of Jinan, Liu Yu, surrendered Jinan to the Jin. Guan Sheng, the original garrison commander of Jinan, intended to lead troops out of the city to defend against the enemy, but was poisoned by Liu Yu. This happened more than ten days ago..."

Zhao Jiu was momentarily bewildered, then thoughtful.

Of course, he was thoughtful. First, the name Guan Sheng was too familiar. Second, the name Liu Yu also vaguely rang a bell, probably a well-known traitor. Now that this confusing information was piecing together, Zhao Jiu roughly understood that this was probably a cutscene or a plot kill... he was seven or eight hundred miles away, never interfered in Shandong affairs, and the butterfly effect probably hadn't reached there, so there was nothing he could do.

However, Lord Zhao was mistaken. He certainly didn't know that this matter was entirely his doing, or rather, the massive butterfly effect had started from his stay in Bozhou, sweeping across the entire country!

Take this matter, for example. In reality, if Zhao Jiu hadn't recalled Li Gang and instead fled south to Yangzhou, then this famous traitor might have waited until next year to take office in the already ruined Jinan and surrender there to the Jin. But now, because Lord Zhao had stayed in Bozhou for so long and waited for Li Gang to return and drastically reorganize the court, Liu Yu, a judicial officer who had fled back from Hebei, didn't have time to take a detour to Jianghuai and took office in Jinan Prefecture early.

But it didn't matter. Under the overall situation, there were plenty of civil officials like Liu Yu who were terrified of the Jin army and hated the government to the bone when they heard they were going to take office near the Yellow River! And frankly speaking, Jinan Prefecture was the first to bear the brunt of the attack. Even if it could hold out for a day or two against the main force of the hundred thousand Jin troops marching south, it would only delay them for a few days or force them to divide their forces to besiege the city.

What else could they do?

Did Zhao Jiu have troops to send to rescue them? It would be a blessing if Liu Guangshi could hold his ground south of Mount Tai.

Conversely, people like Liu Yu, as high-ranking officials, probably knew the truth about the Central Plains. Plus, being a bit spineless and evil-minded, they became traitors without any pressure.

"Behind Jinan Prefecture is Zizhou (now around Zibo, Shandong), right?" After Zhao Jiu 'understood,' he wasn't too surprised and didn't dwell on the matter. This naturally seemed quite composed to the civil and military officials of the temporary court. "Who is the Prefect of Zizhou?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, it is Zhao Mingcheng," Deputy Chief of the Department of State Affairs, Lü Haowen, replied immediately. Knowing that Zhao Jiu had forgotten a lot of people, the Deputy Prime Minister proactively added a few words. "Zhao Mingcheng, courtesy name Defu, is the third son of the former Chancellor Zhao Tingzhi. He was falsely accused by the traitorous minister Cai Jing and lived idly in Qingzhou for more than ten years. He was reappointed a few years ago, serving in Qingzhou and Zizhou. This time, Prime Minister Li has appointed him nearby..."

Hearing this, Zhao Jiu suddenly shook his head and laughed. "Of course, I know him. He's the husband of Layman Yi'an! This person shouldn't surrender to the Jin, right?"

"Of course not!" Lü Haowen replied extremely quickly. "How could the son of a Chancellor surrender to the Jin? Only a rogue from Hebei like Liu Yu would do such a thing!"

"That's good." Zhao Jiu sighed and then spoke clearly. "The temporary court is still cut off from the roads. After the rebel troops of Huaixi are defeated and Prime Minister Li wakes up, the aftermath will be discussed by the generals and ministers... The immediate priority is to find out what is happening on the front lines in Caizhou and Guangzhou."

Hearing this, the civil and military officials of the temporary court breathed a sigh of relief... People's mentality is really strange. When Li Gang was in power, everyone felt that he was too violent and impetuous, hoping that the Lord would intervene. But after Li Gang fell ill and the Lord temporarily took charge, everyone remembered the Lord's previous words, such as 'Can we fight?' They were worried that the Lord would go berserk and hoped to continue following Li Gang's original roadmap.

But regardless of what the civil and military officials of the temporary court thought, or their fear and shock after later learning about the 'Prince's' words, after the Lord returned and convened this court meeting, roughly stating that he wouldn't arbitrarily change the roadmap, the Song Dynasty's exiled court finally calmed down for a few days.

However, this tranquility was only superficial, a temporary stability amidst the overall collapse... In the following days, as Liu Zhengyan fared poorly in the southwest, or rather, as the rebel troops of Huaixi, knowing their own weakness, gathered their heavy troops and defended the city without coming out, leaving Liu Zhengyan helpless for a time; coupled with Li Gang's illness coming like a landslide and leaving like drawing silk, his condition, although stable, remained difficult for him to come out and preside over the situation... The stability of Shunchang Prefecture became increasingly ridiculous, and a sense of unease permeated the entire city.

On the thirteenth day of the eleventh month, another message arrived—Several days earlier, Zhao Mingcheng, the son of the Chancellor and husband of Layman Yi'an, the Prefect of Zizhou, although he hadn't surrendered to the Jin, had, like many Song civil officials in recent years, chosen to abandon the city and flee. He had taken several thousand local military commanders from Zizhou to the neighboring Qingzhou, and Zizhou had fallen after eight days.

Now, the temporary court was in total panic, and some people started advising Lord Zhao to take the opportunity to change course from Shunchang Prefecture to the southeast, to Yangzhou!

Of course, this person encountered Zhao Jiu's first manually operated punishment since leaving the well... Didn't he want to go south? Fine, he could go to Qiongzhou and wait for Huang Prime Minister!

However, on the fifteenth day of the eleventh month, just two days later, shortly after the temporary court had issued a prompt to Liu Zhengyan, another bad news arrived:

It was said that Liu Hongdao, the Prefect of Qingzhou, was a good man. Not only did he not surrender or flee, but he also gathered the escaped soldiers from Jinan Prefecture and Zizhou, plus the local troops of Qingzhou, totaling tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians. He put them under the command of the General Zheng Zongmeng of the state. Zheng Zongmeng didn't chicken out either. He took the initiative to lead troops to the border between Qingzhou and Zizhou, taking advantage of the terrain to engage in a field battle with the main force of the Jin army!

As a result, he was defeated in one battle by Wuzhu of Jin, who had five ten-thousand-households under his command!

At this point, the official forces of the Song Dynasty in Jingdong East Circuit were basically wiped out, and the entire Jingdong East Circuit could be declared completely lost.

The temporary court was so shocked that it lost its voice for a whole day. The news of Zhang Kan, the County Magistrate of Qingzhou, dying for his country, and Liu Hongdao and Zhao Mingcheng fleeing south together were subsequently reported, but no one cared anymore... Because the entire temporary court was in chaos. A large number of memorials requesting Lord Zhao to immediately set off to the southeast poured in. A few suggested arranging defenses along the Huai River. Accusations of Liu Zhengyan's incompetence and requests to replace him with Han Shizhong were almost required in every memorial.

Amidst this chaos, in the afternoon, several central ministers, having jointly suppressed the intelligence that Wanyan Zongbi's main force had appeared around Luoyang and Shanzhou, returned from visiting Li Gang, led by Deputy Chief of the Department of State Affairs, Lü Haowen, and immediately went to see the Lord, preparing to hold an emergency meeting of the Department of State Affairs... Then they were shocked to discover that Lord Zhao had abandoned the civil and military officials in the city at this critical moment and secretly left the city to go to Han Shizhong's military camp by the Ying River.

"Why doesn't Liangchen wear his jade belt?" Zhao Jiu stood on the river embankment for a long time, finally waiting for the hurriedly arriving Han Shizhong. As soon as he turned around and spoke, Yang Yizhong next to him felt a slight pang of jealousy.

"Such a precious treasure, how can this humble subject really wear it every day?" Han Shizhong, who had just climbed the embankment, quickly bowed and grinned. But this time he stood up straight. "I keep it in the camp for my wife to store!"

"As long as it doesn't delay going into battle, this kind of thing should be worn on your body every day to show off to others." Zhao Jiu didn't mind. "What's the point of storing it?"

Han Shizhong nodded repeatedly... That's what he thought too. Let people be jealous, isn't it more fun that way?

"Let's not talk about this," Zhao Jiu turned around formally, taking the opportunity to change the topic, but becoming serious. "Does Liangchen know what I'm asking you about in private?"

"I know!" Han Shizhong pointed to the sky, straightforward. "If Your Majesty gives me ten days and I don't break Ding Jin, this subject will offer my head!"

"What is Ding Jin?" Zhao Jiu shook his head with his hands behind his back. "No matter how incompetent Liu Zhengyan is, it's only a matter of a few more days..."

"Then Your Majesty..." Han Shizhong was a rogue, but not a fool. He almost instantly associated it with some rumors he had heard these days, and then he woke up slightly.

"Liangchen, I've been forced into a corner by the situation again. Tell me the truth." Saying this, Zhao Jiu secretly gritted his teeth, but took two steps forward, actively grasped Han Shizhong's hand, and asked a question that had been hidden in his heart for a long time. "In the current situation, can we really not fight the Jin head-on?"

Han Shizhong's hands were grasped, and he wanted to speak several times, but stopped several times... How could he not know the disputes in Shunchang City, how could he not know the current situation? How could he not know that his words might contribute to the next major direction?

But after who knows how long, this famous general, relied on by Zhao Jiu as his courage, finally made a formal and serious reply: "Reporting to Your Majesty, in the flatlands of the Central Plains, the Jin cavalry numbers in the hundreds of thousands, it is really difficult for us to fight..."

Zhao Jiu was momentarily dejected.

ps:

First, thank the old leader, Advanced Sexual Construction Boss, for becoming a new leader, and wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Finally, continue to promote books as sacrifices, a martial arts masterpiece "Zhuodao Ji"!

Lastly, I want to ask, why is everyone so happy at the end of the year? How are you supposed to let people like me live?

The very last thing is to apologize. As a book friend pointed out, Yingzhou was renamed Shunchang Prefecture in the late Northern Song Dynasty. This has been corrected.