A spontaneous arrival of someone like Du Chong brought some comfort to the Zhao Emperor's mind. In fact, that snowy night, Zhao Jiu returned to the imperial residence, and while summoning Du Chong's second son, Du Yan, to issue decrees, he also brought Du Chong's son-in-law, Han Ru, into the palace. Then, with Junior Academician Lin and Yang Yizhong by his side, he meticulously inquired about Du Chong's resume and background... Clearly, he was still somewhat uneasy.

But after hearing about it, he could only nod frequently, sighing in silence.

To point at Du Chong at this time and say he had problems would be absurd. At this point, Du Chong's problems only lay in two areas: one was that his anti-Jin resistance in the early stages was too 'intense.' When defending Cangzhou in the border region, he had killed old people who fled south into the city, considering them Jin spies; the other was that he had abandoned the city while he was in Daming Prefecture.

However, these two things really didn't matter much in this era.

There were plenty of generals within the Song army who were fond of killing. Du Chong only drew criticism because he was a civil official, and being labeled with indiscriminate killing was somewhat beneath his status. Also, Zhao Jiu, who was probably the only one in the court sensitive to such matters, wasn't very clear about the events of the early Jingkang era. Hearing vague words from three years ago, it was unlikely he would truly know what had happened back then.

As for fleeing back from Hebei... to put it bluntly, who hadn't fled back from Hebei?

In fact, the fact that this person retained his treatment after fleeing from Daming Prefecture to Tokyo, and was appointed Prefect of the old capital, effectively becoming a senior official of the Tokyo Garrison Headquarters, showed the attitude of those above and below towards him.

At that time, Zhao Jiu had not yet consolidated power, and many things were entrusted to the four chancellors. Now, looking back, he simply suspected that Du Chong's selection, like Zhang Suo's, was a backup plan designated by the Department of State Affairs for the Tokyo Garrison Headquarters.

Because he was too suitable!

Indeed, compared to those two black marks, Du Chong was far too compatible with the Tokyo Garrison Headquarters.

In terms of seniority, he was a Jinshi from the time of Emperor Zhezong and had also served as the Prefect of Daming Prefecture. His age and experience were very stable. In terms of origin, his Xiangzhou origin was particularly eye-catching...

It must be emphasized here that the reason why this origin was eye-catching had nothing to do with him being a fellow villager of Yue Fei... Zhao Jiu would pay attention to these things, but people like Lü Haowen wouldn't care about them... The main reason was that the Xiangzhou origin in Hebei was of great significance to the Tokyo Garrison Headquarters.

It should be known that the army was divided into factions, and for the previous Song Dynasty, they were divided according to region into the Western Army, the Hebei Imperial Guards, and the Tokyo Direct Imperial Guards.

Han Shizhong, Liu Guangshi, Zhang Jun, and the Da Xin Xiao Xin Tang Xin crowd were all from the Western Army.

The troops of the Tokyo Garrison Headquarters came from various sources and were pieced together by Zong Ze through his personal charisma and ability. A very small portion were from the Western Army, such as Commander Sang Zhong, who was a junior officer under Zhong Shidao. There were also many local Imperial Guards, but most of the courageous and capable fighters were mainly military bandits, refugees, and righteous soldiers who had scattered from Hebei and Hedong. This group naturally carried the local characteristics of Hebei, or rather, it was precisely because they came from Hebei that they dared to fight and were capable of fighting, because they had personal grudges against the Jin people.

Yue Fei was a thorough backbone of this faction, and Yue Fei had a fellow villager named Zhang Yong, who was also a commander in the Tokyo Garrison Headquarters. If Kong Yanzhou was included, there were at most four officials of commander-level or above (including Wang Gui) from Tangyin, Xiangzhou, at the front line.

This shows the importance of origin in that place.

In other words, once Zong Ze, the de facto founder of the Tokyo Garrison Headquarters, passed away, only senior officials from Hebei could stabilize this huge group of military refugees!

Zhao Jiu even suspected that if Zhang Suo hadn't died and Zong Ze had died instead, Zhang Suo, who came from Jingdong, might not have been able to suppress the troops of the Tokyo Garrison Headquarters. In that case, Du Chong would have to step in... You see, at this time, Zong Ze's health should only have had problems, and he hadn't died yet, but this group of people had already run to the southern part of Tokyo to observe the situation.

The natural instability of the refugee group was there. Being away from home, the sense of security from being a fellow villager was too important.

As for how much appeal Zhao Jiu himself had?

Uh, unless he personally went and sacrificed the emperor's face, it seemed a bit doubtful because the Tokyo Garrison Headquarters didn't issue military pay!

That's right, Zhao Jiu could only try his best to support the Tokyo Garrison Headquarters with food and money, and he really couldn't give them full pay... With half of the country, it was already remarkable to be able to support hundreds of thousands of Imperial Guard Left, Right, and Rear Armies through the central finances before seeing the results of financial reform.

Even so, the Imperial Guard Right Army and Rear Army were directly supplied from the Southeast region, and only the accounts were processed through Nanyang.

Back to the present, for some reason, Zhao Jiu thought about it again and again, confirming that Du Chong was indeed suitable, and almost the only choice. After returning to his residence in the inner palace, he was already in bed but still found it difficult to fall asleep, still worrying about the situation.

There was even a vaguely familiar, indescribable, yet somewhat familiar, bizarre emotion mixed in.

To begin with, he came to Nanyang naturally to take care of Guanzhong... Although he had anticipated this invasion and didn't expect to sort out Guanzhong this year, Zhao Jiu was really ashamed to say that he had control over Guanzhong, given the mess that Qu Duan, Wang Xie, Wang Shu, and Zhe Keqiu, the four actual leaders of Guanxi, had made in the past six months.

Qu Duan's arrogance and haughtiness were disgusting; Wang Xie (the one who ran to Hanzhong to invite Zhao Jiu to Sichuan) was clearly incompetent; Wang Shu was a civil official who seemed very useful and was also the nominal highest political figure in Guanzhong before Yuwen Xuzhong entered Guanzhong. He also showed no sign of fearing war, but judging from his previous defeats and his inability to control Qu Duan and manage Wang Xie, he was clearly a military talent equivalent to Li Gang and a political talent equivalent to Lü Haowen. His only redeeming quality was his pro-war stance.

As for Zhe Keqiu, the less said about this person, the better!

In addition, reviewing the entire battle situation, Zhang Suo died and Han Shizhong was besieged, although there were reasons... For example, Zhang Suo was caused by a sudden attack by the Jin army, which also included Kong Yanzhou's sudden rebellion, and even the deep-seated reason that Jingdong had been swept by the Jin army last year; another example was Han Shizhong going to save Zong Ze, and at that time, Zong Ze's situation looked more dangerous. No one could say anything about that rescue, just as most people agreed to save Han Shizhong now.

However, in terms of results, they were, after all, two huge defeats and tragedies.

Zhao Jiu sometimes couldn't help but wonder if he had been a little more careful during the time when the Jin army was delayed by the Hebei righteous army, and if he had made Zhang Suo a little more careful, would he have been able to avoid the collapse of the two routes in Jingdong, and would he have been able to keep Zhang Suo alive?

If he had noticed Zong Ze's abnormality earlier, or even established a more frank relationship with Zong Ze before this battle, instead of treating the other party as a pure 'backer,' then this crisis of the Tokyo Garrison Headquarters, including the ambush of Han Shizhong earlier, might have been avoided.

Honestly, for Zhao Jiu, the progress of the war so far was actually much better than the worst-case scenario he had imagined. Science and technology had not deceived him, or rather, even if Patriarch Dao was watching from the sky, he still paid attention to a basic law.

Therefore, the new-style trebuchet under the principle of leverage had made great contributions.

However, the current situation was also far worse than the best-case scenario he had imagined... Zong Ze's ill health didn't actually have much to do with him, but Zhang Suo's death made it difficult for him to let go; Han Shizhong's siege gave him a strong sense of contrast and bewilderment. He absolutely couldn't accept that his 'scientific' efforts had caused such unexpected losses.

What's more, Han Shizhong himself was his biggest reliance after he came to this world. Although they couldn't be called friends, they were already rare acquaintances.

However, these were just reflections, a common emotion, and not yet 'weird.' In fact, at this moment, looking at the shadows of snowflakes falling outside the door, Zhao Jiu had two final emotions in his heart, and it was these two emotions that made him become 'weird.'

One of them was an old topic that couldn't be shaken off... Zhao Jiu was still jealous of Yue Fei.

Despite having done his best to support him in action, this transmigrator was still jealous of the era's son whom he had never met.

As for the reasons, Zhao Jiu had thought about it for so long that he could probably say a few things.

But overall, it was nothing more than the combination of the transmigrator and the emperor's identity that gave this young man a strong desire... He wanted to replace Yue Fei and become the one who saved the world!

A normal Zhao Emperor wouldn't have this desire, nor should a transmigrator have it, but combined together, it seemed so natural.

And it was difficult to define this desire. To put it vulgarly, it was called being ignorant of one's limitations, or even a bit politically incorrect. But if you had to raise it, you could call it a sense of mission.

If he didn't want to do something for this country and nation, how could he have this desire?

It would be so easy to lie flat in Hangzhou, at most with one more sea drifting adventure in the middle, and then wait a dozen years, until Yue Fei reached his golden age, and his Yue Family Army reached hundreds of thousands, with seventy or eighty thousand in armor. Then, send twelve gold plaques to the front line to urge him to advance for fun... How straightforward?

But if you can take the initiative to do something, why must you lie flat?

If the war ended a year earlier, how many people like Zhang Yongzhen wouldn't have to die, and how many Zhang Yongzhens would successfully return home? Isn't it true that Yue Fei's simple patriotism was formed by his attachment to his hometown? Wouldn't it be better to prevent Yue Fei from becoming a hero, and let him retire at the age of thirty as a pacification commissioner and return to his hometown?

If one can enjoy peace and be a rich and noble person in peaceful times, why should one leave one's hometown and live toward death?

In fact, the reason why this jealous emotion repeatedly lingered was that Zhao Jiu had found this sophistry for himself. According to this line of thought, the more Zhao Jiu reflected, the more proud he became... It seemed that this was an emotion worth being proud of.

However, this pride and the huge pressure brought about by the large-scale invasion of the Jin army brought another, and the last, bizarre emotion to Zhao Jiu—excessive reflection, coupled with the ideal gap brought about by the self-explanation of the jealousy in his heart, made him begin to doubt his efforts again.

These days, Zhao Jiu sometimes thought that compared to the person who gave him this body, he had clearly done so many things—clearly that person only knew how to escape, escaping all the way to Yangzhou, then to the Southeast, and then to the sea, while he, Zhao Jiu, had defended the Huai River, so that the Southeast and Lianghuai were at least not devastated; clearly that person abandoned the Central Plains and only knew how to enjoy himself in Yangzhou, while he, Zhao Jiu, had chosen Nanyang, and personally defended the city and presided over the anti-Jin resistance in the Central Plains; clearly that person only knew how to hold back the front line, while he, Zhao Jiu, had given so much support to Li Gang, Zong Ze, Li Yanxian, Han Shizhong, and Yue Fei, those anti-Jin heroes who were suppressed and abandoned in another time and space...

But why was the situation still so difficult? And why did unexpected things like Han Shizhong's affair happen?

Where did I go wrong?

Could it be that avoiding is more reasonable than facing the challenge?

"Tell me, what would happen if I had gone to Yangzhou from the start?" Zhao Jiu suddenly turned back and asked the person next to his pillow.

There was no answer.

Perhaps because she was too tired from cooking during the day, Wu Yu was already asleep, and Zhao Jiu was not surprised. In fact, if he hadn't known that the other party was already asleep, the Zhao Emperor wouldn't have asked this question.

And this was the most distressing thing for the Zhao Emperor. He had so many words and thoughts in his heart that he couldn't tell anyone, so these emotions accumulated in his heart, day after day, becoming complex and obscure with the difficult situation, so much so that he would often think wildly for half the night.

However, after asking the question, the Zhao Emperor finally gave up thinking wildly tonight, directly blew out the candle, turned around, and prepared to rest, holding the already sleeping Wu Yu.

However, not long after the candle was extinguished, there was a burst of urgent but somewhat restrained knocking on the door outside.

"Your Majesty! Is Your Majesty asleep?"

"Your Majesty! Please, Your Majesty, get up."

The former was Feng Yi, who was in charge of the inner palace, and the latter was Yang Yizhong. The two of them came to knock on the door together, so there must be something wrong.

"What's the matter?" Zhao Jiu couldn't fall asleep, and when he heard the voices of the two of them, he quickly got up and put on his clothes in the dark. "Could it be that Du Yan was captured as soon as he went out?"

"No... Chancellor Lü has suddenly arrived, saying that he wants to meet the emperor privately." Another voice sounded, and it was none other than Lan Gui, the senior clerk in charge of the secret texts of the front hall.

As Lan Gui spoke, the door was carefully opened and then closed, and Lan Gui and Feng Yi entered together to personally light the lamp and serve the emperor to get dressed.

However, when Zhao Jiu heard these words, he only felt a churning in his mind and was puzzled, so he covered the newly lit lamp and frowned, "Which Chancellor Lü?"

"Of course, it's Privy Councilor Lü Yihao of the Privy Council." Lan Gui carefully replied. "Chancellor Lü is on duty in the main hall tonight."

"That's right." Zhao Jiu nodded in realization, then looked back at Wu Yu, who was sleeping soundly, and stood up after putting on his shoes. "Chancellor Lü of the Department of State Affairs couldn't do such a thing..."

Lan Gui immediately bowed his head and said nothing.

In this way, Zhao Jiu put on his clothes, hurriedly went out, and braved the snow, leading Yang Yizhong and others through the empty space in the inner palace's forest that had long been cut down, preparing to turn into the front hall. However, as soon as he came to the corner, he saw Lü Yihao, standing alone and proudly with his hands clasped behind his back.

Zhao Jiu had no choice but to dismiss even Yang Yizhong and approached alone.

"Your Majesty!" Lü Yihao slightly bowed. "To tell Your Majesty the truth, I have just thought of a way that concerns the overall situation. Although it is only a rough thought, it may be feasible, so I hurriedly called Your Majesty to get up, wanting Your Majesty to consider it..."

"Chancellor Lü, please speak." Zhao Jiu, of course, understood what the other party meant, so he suppressed his drowsiness and replied. "If things cannot be done, I will never say anything about it."

Lü Yihao slightly bowed, but only said one sentence, and then said no more.

Zhao Jiu was stunned at first, then immediately woke up, but did not answer. The two of them just nodded slightly, confirming that the information was exchanged correctly, and then said goodbye at the junction of the front hall and the inner palace, and then each returned to rest... Privy Councilor Lü also had his own room in the side room of the front hall.

Leaving aside whether the nearly sixty-year-old Privy Councilor Lü could sleep well after returning, the young Zhao Emperor went back this time, but began to think wildly again, tossing and turning, unable to sleep for a long time.

Obviously, Lü Yihao's suggestion had moved him somewhat... It's just that there was no reason to do it right now.

ps: Thanks to Fifth Seventh Cute lin!

Is this a Junior Academician Lin fan?

By the way, when I was washing clothes today, I don't know how Xiao Jiu got in... I heard a meow when I turned on the water... It scared me to death, and then after I pulled it out, it scratched an opening in my chest through my clothes, bloody.

So... good night.