Grenade Fears Water
Chapter 85: Flowing Light (Middle)
Speaking of the other two, let's just talk about the quick-witted Scholar Lin. On this crucial matter, second only to whether to resist the Jin, he had long pondered it deeply, even discussing it with his brothers. So, there was no need for improvisation. He had long decided to strongly support the Shouzhou plan today, because it would bring him tangible benefits and interests...
Here, it's necessary to add a little side note: The Lin family of Scholar Lin was a legendary family from the late Northern Song Dynasty. When I say legendary, his father, Lin Qi, was just an ordinary Jinshi, who became an ordinary prefect. Then, the sons of the old Mr. Lin Qi were also ordinary Jinshi and ordinary prefects. However, the key point is that old Mr. Lin Qi had many, many sons in his lifetime. Eight of them passed the Jinshi examination and became ordinary prefects, so that in his later years, the old gentleman was nicknamed Lin Jiu Mu! (Lin, the Nine Shepherds)
This title is much more high-end than Nine-Tattooed Dragon or Shepherd Zhao! Even if you give him the title of Prime Minister Lin, he may not want to exchange it!
The reason Scholar Lin is called "Xiao Lin" (Little Lin) is not because of his young age, but because he has an older brother who once served as an academician of Yutang (Imperial Academy)! That was Da Lin (Big Lin), and he is Xiao Lin (Little Lin).
Back to the present, due to the Song Dynasty's official appointment system, which emphasized proximity to one's place of origin without being too close or too far, and because the nine prefectures held by the Lin Jiu Mu family were not too far apart in time and did not require avoidance, six or seven of them were in the Huainan circuits, and two or three were in the Jiangnan West circuit. This did not constitute deep-rooted influence, but as long as one remained in Huainan, one would never be bullied.
However, Scholar Lin, who had made up his mind, had been admonished by Prime Minister Lu Haowen last night, hadn't he? As a result, this quick-witted academician of Yutang quickly wavered again. He thought that maintaining the unity of political factions in the current situation seemed to be an important matter, especially since this political faction was already loosely organized and in an absolutely disadvantaged position. Since they had to face the encroachment of rising military men and guard against Prime Minister Li's dictatorial iron fist, he hesitated whether to support Lu Haowen's Yangzhou plan, since Yangzhou was also in Huainan territory.
However, now that he had returned to Mount Bagong today and saw that the Emperor had abandoned the civil officials and proceeded alone, and was deploying troops, how could Scholar Lin not understand that the Emperor was also admonishing certain people?
At first, Scholar Lin had hoped that the Emperor wanted to intimidate the two prime ministers, so he didn't say anything before. But now, as the two prime ministers had each spoken and expressed their views, and were not at all affected by the soldiers and the atmosphere, he had no more doubts – the Emperor was admonishing people like himself!
People like himself were all newly promoted people who had risen to prominence in the Imperial Court because of the Emperor's appointment. The protection of the prime minister and the power of the family were certainly to be considered, but without the Emperor's support, in this chaotic world, even if his family had nine prefects and a Prime Minister Lu, they would not be able to protect him, would they?
This Emperor had personally killed people!
As for the direction the Emperor had truly decided on, it was now self-evident.
With this thought in mind, Scholar Lin quickly stepped forward... Zhang Jun and Zhao Ding were already waiting for him.
"Your sinful subject, Ma Kuo from Di Dao, risks his life to speak!"
At this moment, someone suddenly spoke out forcefully from the corner of the wooden shed behind him, causing everyone to turn around. "If Your Majesty resides in Lianghuai, it may seem foolproof, but what about Guanzhong? Guanzhong still has 200,000 Western Army troops, separated by the He Luo region. Are we to abandon them all? And if we do not gather the Guanzhong troops and develop the strategically advantageous land of Guanzhong, how can we talk about the peace of the Central Plains? Without the peace of the Central Plains, how can we talk about recovering the two rivers? Your sinful subject deserves ten thousand deaths! Please execute Lu Haowen, Wang Boyan, and other treacherous officials to appease the world!"
Before the imperial tent, there was a moment of silence, because since Zhao Jiu had repeatedly simplified the Imperial Court, especially after arriving at Mount Bagong, this kind of particularly激烈的 argument had been rare to hear. After this victory, such words seemed even more abrupt.
Lu Haowen and Wang Boyan were momentarily embarrassed, Zhang Jun and others pondered in vain, and even Emperor Zhao was somewhat dazed. After a long while, Lu and Wang had no choice but to voluntarily remove their hats and plead guilty.
"Please put your hats back on." Unsurprisingly, Emperor Zhao had no intention of pursuing the matter with the two prime ministers. "I said to speak freely, and the prime ministers discuss government affairs, taking care of everything. As long as you don't say things like negotiating peace or surrendering to the Jin, how can you be held responsible for these things?"
"Your臣惶恐..." Before Lu and Wang could express their dismay, Ma Kuo, or Ma Zichong, over there also woke up and immediately bowed to apologize. "Your subject was momentarily anxious and uttered absurd words."
"It doesn't matter." Zhao Jiu's attitude once again made some people in the wooden shed realize something. "I remember that you participated in the Liangshanbo battle with Yue Fei... You should have held an official position long ago, right? Why do you call yourself a sinful subject?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, your subject has an important task. After the Liangshanbo battle, Commander Yue had to守济州城, so your subject could not wait for the angel and rode south directly." Ma Kuo still answered from afar. "And your subject was previously imprisoned in Zhending, Hebei, due to a crime. I only escaped when the Jin army broke through the city..."
"I see." Zhao Jiu's expression remained unchanged, and he beckoned the man to come forward and inquire. "So you came from Hebei?"
"Yes..." Ma Kuo hurried forward and bowed again.
"What is the matter?" Zhao Jiu asked while instinctively looking at Lu Haowen.
Seeing this, the latter helplessly explained, "Reporting to Your Majesty, your subject was in Xiachai just now and had no time to ask the reason. Commander Lan called your subject here, so this Ma Zichong only followed your subject to this place..."
"Your subject has a letter that must be handed to Your Majesty in person." Hearing Prime Minister Lu's uncharacteristically angry tone, Ma Kuo, who knew that his momentary impulse might have ruined a big thing, was both remorseful and hateful. He quickly took out a crumpled letter from his arms, held it up with his hands, and had Yang Yizhong forward it.
Zhao Jiu took the letter and opened it on the spot. He was a bit dazed by the four words "Imperial Brother before your presence" at the beginning. After a while, he looked up at the person in front of him: "What does this mean?"
"This is Your Majesty's eighteenth brother, the Jiedushi of Qingyang and Zhaohua military towns, transferred to Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent, a handwritten letter from the Prince of Xin..." Ma Kuo replied with cupped hands, causing an uproar before the imperial tent.
"Where is he?" Zhao Jiu asked blankly.
"At Mount Wuma in the northern Taihang Mountains!" Ma Kuo quickly explained. "Your subject escaped from prison in Zhending and happened to hear that Your Majesty was calling for righteous soldiers in Hebei at the time. So I raised troops on Mount Wuma and confronted the Jin army... Later, the two Emperors were taken north. The Prince of Xin escaped on the way. Your subject was separated from Zhending by the Jin army at that time and could not hear the holy voice. After hearing this rumor, I went to find the Prince of Xin and took him up the mountain..."
"Preposterous!" At this moment, Zhang Jun, the Censor-in-Chief whose process had been interrupted by Ma Kuo earlier, suddenly scolded sternly. "To call him an imperial prince based on a letter, how can this be? Your subject impeaches Ma Kuo for acting recklessly, listening to one side, and meddling in the affairs of the imperial family."
After Zhang Jun, from Lu Haowen down, including Wang Boyan, Zhang Suo, Lin Qi, and all the way to Hu Yin and others, almost all the important officials of the Imperial Court no longer hesitated, but stepped forward together to impeach Ma Kuo for acting recklessly.
"Your subject also came specifically to ask Your Majesty to distinguish..." Pitiful Ma Zichong, no matter how clever he was, although he had foreseen this, he was completely flustered when faced with such a fierce situation, and could only nod in agreement.
"Don't delay things!" How could Zhao Jiu not understand everyone's psychology, but he himself had already figured it out at this time, not afraid at all, but amused by everyone's reaction. "Ma Kuo, I ask you."
"Yes."
"Before the Prince of Xin went up the mountain, how many soldiers and horses did you have on Mount Wuma? And after he went up the mountain?"
"Thirty thousand before, and more than one hundred thousand after." Ma Kuo answered carefully, then quickly explained. "However, they were all gathered from other mountain strongholds... After the Jingkang incident, the Jin State Lord issued an order, taking Hebei as its territory, allowing the Jin Meng'an Mouke to migrate to Hebei, and arbitrarily dividing the people of Hebei into servants and slaves, causing Hebei to boil with resentment, and everywhere was full of fugitives. And once the people of the two rivers escaped and resisted, eight or nine out of ten would go to the Taihang Mountains. At this time, the southern Taihang Mountains were led by Wang Yan, formerly安置 by Zhang Longtu, and were known as the Eight-Character Army. The northern side was led by your subject...by...by Mount Wuma, known as the Wuma Army... Both have one hundred thousand troops."
"I have already seen clearly," Emperor Zhao seriously listened to these words, and unexpectedly casually put away the letter, and calmly came to a conclusion. "This is indeed the handwriting of my eighteenth brother, you don't need to doubt it."
When Zhang Jun and others saw that the Emperor himself didn't care, they naturally breathed a sigh of relief... The so-called激愤 state came quickly and went quickly, and instead sighed at the 'Prince of Xin's' luck.
However, how could they know that this Emperor Zhao recognized shit handwriting? Zhao Jiu clearly only recognized the 100,000 Taihang Mountain guerrillas! One hundred thousand guerrillas who took the initiative to come and join him, not to mention whether this Prince of Xin was real or fake, even if Ma Kuo found a dog to play the role, he would recognize it!
"I'll take this opportunity to say a few words." Zhao Jiu was in a good mood, and after handing the letter to Yang Yizhong on the side, he continued to speak calmly in the seat. "Prime Minister Lu, Prime Minister Wang, regardless of how impulsive Ma Kuo's words were just now, I only ask you, have you felt the surging of the people of the two rivers? What about Guanzhong?"
Lu Haowen and Wang Boyan were both speechless.
"This is not easy to answer," Zhao Jiu also smiled in the seat. "Because if you say you felt it, how can you insist on Yangzhou and Shouzhou? If you say you didn't feel it, wouldn't it confirm that the two prime ministers are heartless, and as national leaders, they have already forgotten the tens of millions of people in the two rivers and Guanzhong?"
"Your subject is ashamed." Wang Boyan was the first to turn around.
"No need to be ashamed." Zhao Jiu smiled even more. "Because Ma Kuo has just made the reason clear, Shouzhou and Yangzhou are indeed万般好, but 万般好 is no match for a Nanyang that can connect Guanzhong and take charge of the overall situation."
The front of the imperial tent was silent again.
Emperor Zhao took off the slightly crooked Futou (headwear), held it in his arms, and while tidying it up, continued to say: "And I also figured it out after the naval battle that day. If we want to restore the two rivers, the remaining 200,000 or 100,000 Western Army remnants cannot be let go. However, Tokyo is too dangerous, there is no need to be so rash, so the Imperial Court can only go to Nanyang... What do you all think?"
"Your subject agrees!" Wang Boyan, the Privy Councilor, couldn't wait.
"Your subject seconds!" Zhang Jun, the Censor-in-Chief, also immediately spoke out.
Immediately, Zhao Ding, Wang Yuan, and others immediately followed. Lin Qi and Zhang Suo only glanced at each other slightly, and then bowed their heads to obey the order. Even Hu Yin and Little Scholar Lin hurriedly expressed their agreement... Only Lu Haowen was still hesitant.
"Your subject is not forgetting Guanzhong." Lu Haowen, who had become a lonely man in the blink of an eye, finally helplessly bowed his head. "But the financial resources of the Southeast cannot be abandoned, I hope Your Majesty..."
"It doesn't matter," Emperor Zhao said casually. "Since the Southeast is so important, let Prime Minister Li continue to lead the imperial heir and support the Empress Dowager to sit in Yangzhou... I will go to Nanyang with all of you to stabilize the hearts of the people in Guanzhong and the Central Plains!"
Lu Haowen was stunned for a moment, and then bowed his head.
However, many people around him, from Wang Boyan down, seemed to have seen the light and reacted even faster than Lu Haowen:
"Your Majesty's proposal is very appropriate!"
Zhang Suo, Zhang Longtu, and Lin Qi, Lin Tianguan, looked at each other, but in the crowd, they did not dare to easily comment.
"Since it's decided to go to Nanyang." Zhao Jiu continued to hold his hat and calmly said. "You should also listen to some arrangements. If the two prime ministers have nothing to say, then it will be considered that the Eastern and Western Houses have agreed... I intend to let Han Shizhong follow the Imperial Court westward, and also use him to sweep away Jingxiang and Jingxi."
"Your Majesty's decision is good!" Wang Yuan, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard, couldn't wait.
"In that case, let Zhang Jun and Han Shizhong switch places. Zhang Jun will be the Pacification Commissioner of Huaidong, and Han Shizhong will be the Pacification Commissioner of Huaixi, both as Commanders-in-Chief. The upper reaches of the Huai River are shallow, so the fleet will be handed over to Zhang Jun." Emperor Zhao continued to speak eloquently, not knowing how long he had been thinking about it in his mind. "Among them, Zhang Jun is in Huaidong, governing Haizhou, Lianshui Army, Huaiyang Army, Suzhou, and Sizhou, guarding the Jingdong East Road passage, and taking the opportunity to go north to recover Jingdong East Road as much as possible."
"Your Majesty's move is very appropriate!" Wang Boyan nodded again and again.
"Han Shizhong is in Huaixi, governing Shouzhou, Bozhou, Shunchang Prefecture, and Caizhou, first sweeping away the bandits in Huaixi and Jingxi, and then discussing other dispatches."
At this time, Wang Boyan, Wang Yuan, and others had realized that they were somewhat失态, but no one dared to speak casually again.
"And Zhang Longtu, according to previous discussions, add the Pacification Commissioner of Jingdong and Lianglu, stationed in Nanjing. I will give you all the supplies and laborers from Shouchun here. When Jin Wuzhu goes north, you will take the initiative to lead troops over to replace Yang Weizhong... Yue Fei is your old subordinate, you know his abilities, and he also admires you the most. Zhang Rong is also a talent, I hope you use them well. As for Vice Commander Zong on your west, you must also contact him well."
"Your subject obeys the order."
"Zhao Ding's prefect of Shouzhou was originally a temporary dispatch, but this time he made great contributions to the defense of Xiachai, and he is also very experienced and does things very properly. He should be promoted and transferred to the Transport Commissioner of the two Huainan circuits, after Zhang Longtu and Zhang Jun... Especially Zhang Jun, you must persuade him to use his troops carefully."
"Your subject is extremely grateful!" Zhao Da Mu really felt that everything was worth it.
"As for Mount Wuma, I understand what you mean by this trip... Enfeoff the Prince of Xin as the Vice Commander of the Marshal's Office and add Ma Kuo as the Northern Route Commander-in-Chief, taking charge of the war in the northern Taihang Mountains... Don't ask for field battles, large-scale battles, or reckless battles, but it would be excellent if you can preserve your strength to wait for future response."
"Your subject will die ten thousand times without regret!" Ma Kuo was as if in a dream.
"That's all." Zhao Jiu breathed a sigh of relief after saying all this. "If there is anything left out, we will discuss it again. As for the remaining Imperial Court troops, prepare properly, and when Jin Wuzhu leaves, we will set off immediately and go to Nanyang!"
Everyone bowed their heads together.
"Oh," Emperor Zhao put on his Futou again, and suddenly remembered something. "Let Prime Minister Xu Jingheng and Prime Minister Zhang Que come back... They have worked hard these days."
ps: Happy release, good night...