Chapter 15 The Filature of the Song's Officials in the Rain

It is said that among these Jin dignitaries by the small river, there must be some who are clever and some who are not. But even the clever ones, seeing themselves blocked on both ends by so many armored riders, how would they dare to utter a word... Moreover, even if they were clever, they might not know whether to stay put or step forward.

And so, for a time, apart from a very few who were both clever and well-read and remained calmly in place, the rest, regardless of their thoughts or intentions, all chose a path.

Some rushed north in a panic, some rushed south in a frenzy, and some remained steadfastly in place. But none could escape.

"You who claim to be here to rescue the emperor, do you truly want to rescue him, or do you seek to rebel in the chaos?!"

Once the three groups had settled, Prince Wushu of Wei, on the small slope, indeed drew his blade and turned his face on one of the groups on the spot.

For a moment, not only those who were not clever below the slope, but even the clever ones, and even those on the slope in safe positions, including several truly outstanding figures who had foreseen the situation, became apprehensive.

To put it bluntly, no matter how clever you are, how many ideas you have, how much you understand power struggles, how well you can discern these political ploys, or how far-sighted you are, you can't overturn the situation at hand... Once Prince Wei is determined to kill someone, there is truly no escape!

This is called a thousand strands of silk around the finger, no match for a hundred-forged steel blade.

In fact, even the young emperor, Wanyan Helan, after initially being slightly stunned, quickly became serious and remained silent... Although he couldn't grasp the current situation, he clearly remembered the day his fourth uncle had summoned him to the Shangshu (Ministry) Hall, and what had happened after he left.

The dignified Grand Marshal, a pillar of the Great Jin Dynasty, a figure as precious as purple and gold, was still high above, using his position as a decision-maker to evaluate himself, and the next moment he was hammered to death on the threshold of the main hall of the Shangshu Hall, turning into a broken sack.

He had no military power of his own, and he could not easily defy his three uncles, and besides, his three uncles had no reason to deal with him.

The emperor, high above, especially a young emperor, could of course remain silent. But to the surprise of Qin Hui and other Han officials, the first group pointed out did not beg for mercy, nor did they argue. They, who had been muddle-headed just a moment ago, were now silent, standing there with their hands tied, coldly facing each other.

"And what about those heading to the front lines?" In the faint lingering smoke of the early morning, Wanyan Wushu raised his blade again and pointed at another group. "You claim to be going to meet the enemy, but who can prove that you don't intend to meet up with Puluhu?!"

Still, there was a deathly silence. On the contrary, the armored riders on both sides became slightly impatient. From behind the smoke, there was a distinct sound of weapons rubbing against metal, and the sound of warhorses neighing and stomping the ground.

"And you." Not satisfied with this, the grim-faced Prince Wei then pointed to the group below the slope who had not moved at all. "In the midst of such chaos, you do nothing. What are your intentions?!"

Wanyan Wushu's three sentences showed that he did not intend to let anyone off!

And at this point, there was finally a commotion below... Some clamored, some reached for their weapons, some pointed at Prince Wushu and shouted curses, and others questioned the emperor, asking why he sat idly by while such a rebellious minister slaughtered the innocent.

Wanyan Helan was young after all. Seeing this scene, especially as there were young noble sons among them whom he had taken a liking to in recent days, his previous determination was immediately thrown into confusion.

Then, he actually couldn't help but want to say something.

But just at this moment, he unexpectedly felt someone reach out and pull him back... Helan turned around and saw that it was his teacher, Han Fang, and immediately lowered his head obediently.

This scene was clearly seen by Qin Hui and Hong Ya. And not only Han Fang, but Qin Hui, in a slightly flustered state, glanced to the side and found that even Wulinda Zanmu and Wanyan Xiyin, the two true top Jurchen civil officials, were also standing solemnly, without the slightest intention of speaking out to stop it.

After a moment, someone finally spoke, but it was only Prince Wei himself responding to the group below the slope.

"How am I going to kill everyone?"

Wushu smiled coldly as he sheathed his blade, then leisurely continued. "We all know very well that there are obviously members of Puluhu's faction among these people. The Emperor and I knew this in Yanjing, and we cannot let you deceive us... So now we must arrest you all and quickly identify them. The remaining people will naturally be pardoned by the Emperor, and you will remain high officials and enjoy your blessings!"

This was to act according to the plan, to eliminate them one by one... Hearing this, everyone, from top to bottom, relaxed. Those below the slope, who had been about to clamor, immediately became dejected, and many were even enraged, cursing Prince Wei for acting against the traditional tribal morals, and for resorting to a surprise attack when he clearly had a large army at his disposal.

At this point, Qin Hui still thought that Wushu had listened to his advice and was going to raise his hand high and drop it lightly... But soon, he witnessed what it meant to raise his hand high and drop it lightly during the nationalization period of the northern tribal alliance:

As Prince Wei Wushu sheathed his blade, Wendun Sizhong and Wulinda Taiyu stepped forward from the left and right, took out pre-prepared lists, and directly dispatched armored riders to arrest people... The only difference was that Wendun Sizhong beheaded those he caught directly by the small river, while Wulinda Taiyu was slightly slower, beheading them together only after he had gathered ten people.

Starting from the morning, it took only half an hour to kill a full third of these hundreds of dignitaries. Then, without imprisoning or restraining them, they directly abandoned these people and turned back to the opposite camp to continue searching for their sons, attendants, confidants, and so on.

It can only be said that fortunately, Qin Hui had some mental preparation from the beginning, so after his mood fluctuated, he finally came back to his senses on the small slope and paid attention to his surroundings. As he had initially thought, about 30% of those killed by Prince Wei were from the old Emperor's faction, 30% were Khitan, Xi, Han, and Bohai big clans who were relatively detached and somewhat rebellious, and the remaining were mostly Jurchen military meritorious nobles who were dragging their feet on the central government's Sinicization reform.

This level of purge was already the limit that Qin Hui could imagine. But he couldn't believe that after the killings, the entire group, from the Emperor down, would directly establish a small camp east of the river, and then the Emperor would bestow a banquet, and Prince Wei and those nobles who had just survived on the slope would directly raise their cups to each other?

As if nothing had happened at all!

Perhaps because of the great fire last night and the excessive smoke and dust, the clouds in the sky gradually congealed in the morning, resulting in a state of overcast rain. By the afternoon, it was raining.

At this time, Qin Hui, Hong Ya, and Zheng Xiunian, who had left the banquet, all had dark faces, but simply sat in a newly erected small tent and looked at each other... This was not only because their servants had all been lost in the chaos, but more importantly, the three of them gathered together at this time because they felt safe.

To put it bluntly, they were scared.

The reason they were scared was not because of the killings, but because even though they had been mentally prepared, they still hadn't expected that around the highest power of the Jurchens, even if Wushu had personally expressed a tolerant attitude, so many people would still be killed, and in such a direct and crude way!

What was even more terrifying was that everyone felt that Wushu was tolerant... Frankly speaking, Qin Hui even suspected that Wushu had really wanted to kill all those people from the beginning?!

"I knew you would be here."

Suddenly, a person lifted the wet tent flap and walked straight in, almost scaring Zheng Xiunian out of his skin. It was only when he saw that it was the Deputy Prime Minister of the Central Secretariat, Wanyan Xiyin, that he barely managed to compose himself.

"Prime Minister Xiyin." Hong Ya, as Wanyan Xiyin's direct subordinate, his actual deputy, quickly got up to salute.

Qin Hui and Zheng Xiunian followed suit.

"No need for formalities." Wanyan Xiyin stood at the tent flap, dripping water from his back, with a complex expression, but he didn't come in at all. "I'll just say a few words and leave... Do you think the Jurchens are too barbaric and too crude? They could have been imprisoned, they could have only punished the ringleaders, but they still killed so many people, and this is still the result of Prince Wei raising his hand high and dropping it lightly? And everyone up and down actually thinks that this is an acceptable and normal thing?"

Qin Hui and the other two remained silent, because Xiyin's questions had almost hit them right in the heart.

"You don't understand, everything must be in accordance with tradition, just like you Song people have to talk about ancestral laws and past precedents when you do things." Seeing this, Xiyin became even more emotional, and looked back at the dark pine forest smoldering in the rain, before looking again at Qin Hui, the leader of the three in the tent. "Prime Minister Qin, the Pingdi (level ground) pine forest is the ancestral land of the Khitans, and many Khitan anecdotes have occurred here. You are erudite and talented, but do you know one thing that Empress Shuluping, the wife of Yelü Abaoji, the founding emperor of the Khitans, did nearby?"

Qin Hui forced a smile. "Prime Minister Xiyin is joking. Even if I knew, I am so confused right now that how would I know which event you are referring to?"

"It's the matter of cutting off hands for burial." Xiyin nodded and said slowly, "When Emperor Taizu Abaoji of Liao died, Empress Shuluping took power. She disliked her eldest son, Yelü Bei, for being weak and wanted to abolish the eldest and establish the youngest. But the eldest son was the eldest son after all, and he naturally won the hearts of the people, so he had a somewhat fully fledged posture. So Shuluping took advantage of the opportunity to bury Abaoji to gather all the central civil and military officials who supported the eldest son, saying that they were all Abaoji's confidants and should be buried with Abaoji... The so-called call one person up, kill one person."

Qin Hui and the other two remained motionless, already numb.

"And among them, when it was the turn of a Han official, he finally stopped Shuluping with his words, and asked Shuluping why she, as Abaoji's closest person, did not personally go to be buried with him? So Shuluping chopped off one of her hands on Abaoji's coffin, and then stuffed it into her husband's coffin, saying that she was using her hand in place of a person... After this, the remaining people could only allow this Khitan empress to kill all of her faction in front of the Taizu's spirit. However, this Han official was appreciated and greatly reused."

Xiyin finished speaking, still standing at the tent door, but paused for a while, staring blankly at the increasing rain outside.

After a while, this core member of power, who was probably the most learned among the Jurchens, turned back and continued to say with emotion:

"The three of you, what I am saying today is to tell you that the north has always been like this since ancient times. It's fine if you don't act, but once you act, this is the minimum situation... And the trap that Prince Wei set up today, if he only drove away seventy or eighty people and changed a place name like that Zhao Emperor in the south, he would immediately lose his prestige, and then the counterattackers would be as numerous as clouds... As for the things you are thinking about, I know them all, but they don't exist here."

The three looked at each other, their faces ashen, but they could no longer remain silent.

Finally, Qin Hui led the way and bowed his head. "Thank you for your guidance, Prime Minister."

"Guidance on what?" Xiyin stood there, his face not looking good either. "Is this kind of thing worth boasting about? Do you think I don't envy the Zhao Emperor in the south who can purify the court by driving away a group of people and changing a place name? If I didn't think it was absurd, why would I wholeheartedly want to change to the Han system? Moreover, did Prince Wei's actions really not frighten those people and cause future troubles for him? Was there no reason in Prime Minister Qin's advice to the Emperor and Prince Wei this morning? It's just that the arrow is on the string and must be fired!"

Qin Hui and others bowed their heads even more deeply, not daring to look up.

"I am only here to tell you why everyone from Academician Han to Secretary Ulingda, including me, did not stop Prince Wei this morning." Wanyan Xiyin finally sighed. "I also want to tell you why Prince Wei and the Emperor didn't listen to your advice... And I hope that you will cherish the situation that Prince Wei has created, regardless of his personal gains, and work hard!"

Qin Hui and the others only bowed... There was really not much they could do at this time.

"Forget it." Seeing this, Wanyan Xiyin finally shook his head. "The Emperor has ordered you to learn from the south and move out some structures... You organize them and hand them over to Hong Chengji, and Hong Chengji will come to me... In short, today's matter is over, so please do your work in peace!"

After speaking, Xiyin turned and left, not caring that the rain behind him was getting heavier and heavier.

Qin Hui and the other two sat back blankly, and then only looked at each other again and again.

I don't know how long it had passed, and the sound of the rain outside the tent gradually lessened. Hong Ya was the first to smile bitterly. "It's absurd to say, but we clearly want to change these things, but we have to do these things first; it's clearly someone who personally does these things again and again, but it's the person who hates these things the most who is forced to do so... Prime Minister Qin, which side is easier than the other?"

Qin Hui opened his mouth to speak, but could only sigh and remain silent.