Night had fallen, yet Xi Cai City was brightly lit and filled with bustling noises.

It was said that Prime Minister Lü Haowen had personally crossed the river in the evening to犒赏 the troops. However, because he was worried that the Jin army still had a large force of cavalry in the north with unclear movements, he did not hold a large-scale banquet that day to reward the soldiers. But by nightfall, several members of the temporary imperial court could not change their inherent nature and gathered together again, taking advantage of Zhao Ding, Zhao Da Mu’s residence to drink a small cup to calm their nerves.

"Han Liangchen set up an ambush today and beheaded a general, taking first merit. His wisdom, bravery, and power are comparable to famous generals of ancient times. His meritorious service is enough to be promoted to Jiedushi, right?" The moment everyone drank the first cup of congratulatory wine, before they even had a chance to drink privately, Zhang Jun, Zhang Deyuan, the Deputy Censor-in-chief, couldn't wait to speak.

"Grand Commandant Zhang is also indispensable," Zhao Ding, Zhao Yuanzhen, who was once Zhang Jun's close friend in life and death, and is now the Prefect of Shouzhou, and soon to be promoted, responded immediately. "He already holds the title of Observation Commissioner. This time, he remained calm in the face of danger and commanded decisively. Combined with his previous merit of guarding Xi Cai City alone, it is also enough to be promoted to Jiedushi."

"Alright, you two." Lü Haowen may have smiled for the first time in the past six months. "Now that the officials of both Jingdong routes have been emptied, and even the likes of Yue Fei and Zhang Rong have become Pacification Commissioners, possessing the reality of Jiedushi without the name, what about the two Imperial Guard generals, Han and Zhang, who have contributed to the establishment today? This matter is a matter of course and requires no further discussion."

Zhang and Zhao rose together to apologize and punished themselves with another cup before sitting down.

And once the two sat down, Prime Minister Lü took the initiative to continue, "In my opinion, the most urgent matter is the destination of the temporary imperial court after the war… We can't really stay in Shouzhou forever as Chief Councilor Wang said, right? And before crossing the river today, Lin Maonan (Lin Qi) from the Ministry of Personnel asked me about this matter again, and I was also in a difficult position for a moment."

Unexpectedly, none of the three highest-ranking officials below Lü Haowen, Zhang, Zhao, and Lin, responded, but all remained silent.

Of course, they had to remain silent!

Scholar Lin, who accidentally gained favor in front of Zhao Guanjia (Emperor) today, became increasingly disdainful of Lü Haowen. Although everyone was willing to support you as the leader of this Bagong Mountain temporary court to guard against Prime Minister Li and suppress Chief Councilor Wang, they all had their own opinions on such important matters… Among them, Zhao Ding, Zhao Da Mu, as the Prefect of Shouzhou, desperately wanted the Emperor to stay in Shouzhou. Wouldn't he, a minor official who was only temporarily dispatched to Shouzhou, suddenly become a figure like the Prefect of Kaifeng?

As for Scholar Lin himself, he had already thought it through clearly. His foundation was weak, but he had many brothers who had all served as officials in the Huainan area. His connections were all here. If he could stay in Huainan, with the help of his brothers, nephews, and many others, wouldn't he be able to completely establish himself securely in front of the Emperor?

Therefore, Scholar Lin secretly agreed to stay in Shouzhou.

As for Zhang Jun, there was no need to speak. Scholar Lin knew what this guy was thinking… Nothing more than prioritizing the Emperor's intentions. Before the Emperor expressed his attitude and instructed him, this guy was unwilling to reveal anything.

Just as Scholar Lin was thinking wildly, seeing the atmosphere was not good, Zhang Jun, Zhang Xiantai, had already secretly kicked his little brother, Hu Yin, a drafter of the Secretariat, who was eating heartily beside him.

"It's a pity that we didn't capture Wanyan Wushu, the Fourth Prince of the Jin Kingdom!" Hu Mingzhong immediately put down the meat in his hand after being kicked and spoke nonsense. "Otherwise, we could definitely use him to exchange for the two captured Emperors..."

"..."

"..."

"I... Although the Jin army was defeated, they still have combat power. Moreover, there are still two large armies in the north that can serve as reinforcements. It is helpless that we can't risk chasing them." Zhang Jun took half a day to recover, but he was extremely helpless and quickly smoothed things over. "Even the Jin army's main camp will have to be dismantled and ignored. Corpses and wounded soldiers will also have to be transported across the river tomorrow for resettlement. How can we talk about capturing Wanyan Wushu?"

"Speaking of which, I still don't know the casualties and gains of this battle?" Zhao Ding also hurriedly asked about other matters.

"As far as I know, there are not many lightly wounded in this battle. On the contrary, the seriously wounded and disabled, as well as those killed in battle, account for the majority, totaling about two thousand... As for the gains, it is roughly similar, but there are many Jurchen, Xi, and Khitan people." Hu Mingzhong thought for a moment and immediately replied. "And many Han soldiers have surrendered, totaling about a thousand. This is what the Emperor personally inquired about and verified during the day."

"One for one, a great victory!" Lü Haowen sighed with satisfaction.

"Don't forget the two Meng'an who were prematurely crossing the river and were eliminated earlier. This battle actually wiped out four complete Meng'an of the Jin army before and after!" Zhang Jun also stroked his beard and sighed. "Moreover, unlike the scheme and design of Liangshanbo in the north, taking advantage of the terrain to surround the few with the many, today's battle can be called extracting teeth from a tiger's mouth. Han Liangchen is indeed a famous general!"

"Yue Fei and Zhang Rong are not incompetent people either." Hu Yin replied solemnly again.

"That's right!" Scholar Lin finally interjected.

"It's all because the Emperor has the discernment to recognize talent." Lü Haowen continued to laugh, but suddenly remembered something. "Speaking of which... what has the Emperor been busy with all day today? How does Mingzhong have the leisure to come here?"

The Prime Minister asked about the Emperor's whereabouts, and Hu Mingzhong, as a close minister in the palace, naturally did not dare to neglect him. He immediately rose and solemnly replied, "Reporting to Prime Minister Lü, after the battle this morning, Yang Yizhong returned, and the Emperor personally went on horseback to inspect the battlefield, examining the casualties and gains; in the afternoon, before sunset, he personally sat in the Jin army's camp again, supervising the dismantling of the camp on the one hand and publicly collecting the captured warhorses, armor, gold, silver, and silk on the other hand, and then distributing them to the various departments in public..."

"How were they distributed?"

"The Emperor took three shares for himself, and the remaining were divided into ten shares. Han Shizhong's troops received five shares, Zhang Jun's troops received three shares, Wang De and Fu Qing received one share, and Yang Yizhong, Huyan Tong, Qiao Zhongfu, and Zhang Jing four generals received another share..."

"The distribution is reasonable, but Qiao Zhongfu and Zhang Jing actually took shares with Yang Yizhong and Huyan Tong, rather than being in the same rank as Wang Yacha and Fu Qing. It seems that the Emperor still takes the words of the three thousand soldiers directly under him that day seriously?" Lü Haowen frowned for a moment.

"That should be the intention."

"But it's still somewhat inappropriate." Lü Haowen nodded slowly, then stroked his beard and shook his head again. "The Emperor should not have taken the three shares first... This is not to say that Zhang, Han, Wang, and others will be estranged from the Emperor because of this matter, but to say that in the eyes of these foreign generals, wouldn't these three shares ultimately benefit Yang Yizhong, Huyan Tong, Qiao Zhongfu, and Zhang Jing? And judging fairly from today's merits, the generals in front of the Emperor are far inferior to Zhang and Han." Speaking to this point, Prime Minister Lü paused slightly before continuing, "And if it were always as harmonious and common as in the past, it would be fine, but since we are calculating carefully, three for you and four for me, these three shares seem awkward. In my opinion, the Emperor only needs to have a general idea of the distribution on the martial side, and there is no need to get too involved or too detailed..."

"Prime Minister Lü has misunderstood." Hu Mingzhong immediately responded solemnly after Lü Haowen finished speaking. "You must know that the spoils in the camp are also categorized. The three shares that the Emperor took first in the camp today were all cloth and copper coins, which were used for the pensions and resettlement of the seriously wounded, disabled, and killed in battle. They were not even taken across the river, but were carefully distributed to the generals according to the previously counted casualty distribution. No one in the army was dissatisfied. And Han Liangchen took the lead in entering the camp and took all of the more than two thousand warhorses stored in the camp. The Emperor pretended not to know at first, but later mentioned this matter when distributing the shares, converting the warhorses into two shares. In this way, Zhang and Han had nothing to say about the subsequent distribution."

"I see." Prime Minister Lü looked slightly embarrassed and nodded repeatedly. "The matter is so complicated, and the Emperor has his own decisions. I, this old man, have overthought it again. To be honest, seeing you gentlemen assisting the Emperor in this great victory today, the country may have a chance to breathe. I almost wanted to resign..."

Hearing this, everyone quickly rose together to comfort him... One said that Prime Minister Lü was in charge of the court affairs in the temporary imperial court, and this battle was also a great achievement, and his military achievements seemed to have surpassed Lord Li; another said that the country was still in turmoil, and a great victory was only to boost morale, and it was still far from stability. Prime Minister Lü should not easily abandon the country and the Emperor at this time of national crisis; even Scholar Lin, who had always been scheming, earnestly praised him in the end, praising Prime Minister Lü's hard work in Bagong Mountain for the past three or four months.

Obviously, these important members of the temporary imperial court were still the same, hoping that Prime Minister Lü would continue to be confused and continue to be promoted, sheltering everyone from the wind and rain... It would be best if he could confusedly become Prime Minister and accompany the Emperor to restore the two rivers and recast the country.

In that case, the younger ones among them with shallow qualifications might still be able to follow him and become a proper prime minister under the overbearing aura of Lord Li!

However, Hu Yin, Hu Mingzhong, was still a greenhorn. After everyone finally persuaded Prime Minister Lü, and the atmosphere at the banquet became harmonious, this guy continued to report solemnly:

"To let Prime Minister Lü know, the Emperor distributed the rewards in the evening and visited the wounded soldiers. Then he asked us to return, and he and Yang Yizhong went to find someone to drink with, so I came here!"

As soon as these words came out, the people in the seat immediately fell silent.

"Mingzhong, why didn't you say that earlier?" After a long pause, Zhao Ding, Prefect Zhao, couldn't help but ask.

"Prime Minister didn't ask before." Hu Yin spread his hands.

"Could it be to find Zhang and Han?" Deputy Censor-in-chief Zhang Jun followed closely behind.

"It's not..."

"That's fine." Lü Haowen sighed. "We can't have the Emperor privately facing the generals every time, while you and I, the court officials, are drinking elsewhere, right? Since he didn't go to find Zhang and Han, did he go to drink with the generals in front of the Emperor?"

"It's not... I mean, the Emperor was looking for more than just Zhang and Han. In addition to Zhang and Han, there were also Jie Yuan, Liu Bao, Wang Sheng, and so on, all the way down to the ordinary soldiers in the army, all of whom were conspicuous meritorious officials today, a full hundred people, who went to the Huai River to drink together!" Hu Yin quickly added. "One of them, a squad leader nicknamed Li Laosan, was even personally found by me... That guy was initially reluctant, saying that he had not made great contributions today and had lost two brothers instead, so he didn't want to come to the banquet to embarrass himself. In the end, his commander Liu Bao personally passed on an oral order before he was called over."

After hearing these words, everyone was speechless and felt that the wine in front of them had lost its taste.

"Why didn't Mingzhong finish it at once?" Zhang Jun was also particularly helpless.

"It was Brother Yuanzhen (Zhao Ding) who interrupted me." Hu Mingzhong was still calm.

Everyone became more and more helpless.

Finally, Lü Haowen asked clearly about the reason and smiled slightly, showing the demeanor of a prime minister: "Since the Emperor had said it before the war, he must keep his promise at this time. Why should you and I care? Besides, honor and favor after the war should belong to the soldiers. People like you and I should focus on the court. That is where you and I can display our talents... You say, where should the temporary court go after the war?"

Zhang Jun, Lin Jingmo, and Zhao Ding looked at each other, first looking at Prime Minister Lü together, and then looking at the innocent-looking Hu Mingzhong together, each helpless, with countless thoughts running through their minds... Up and down, these favorites in front of the Emperor are also difficult!

ps: Sorry, there is only this chapter today. I am really having writer's block. I don't even know what to write after it goes on the shelves... Allow me to think it over... Cruel!