The Filature of the Song

Kim Busik returned to Gaegyeong with seventy-eight heads and thirty thousand troops, requesting King Wang Gae of Goryeo to grant him the authority to execute campaigns with the ax. Having spent more than half of his life in the era of Yi Jach'ŏm, King Wang Gae of Goryeo responded without any excess, issuing a decree posthumously labeling the nobles of Seogyeong as rebels while directly granting Kim Busik's request, a response that could be described as appropriate.

Immediately, the two parties held a formal ax ceremony in the palace. The entire process went smoothly, and there was no unnecessary exchange between the monarch and his subject, as if Kim Busik had truly returned from pacifying the rebellion in Seogyeong on Wang Gae's orders, ready to embark on further campaigns against the Jurchens.

Even the troops below, the yangban aristocracy, and the common people did not express much.

The reason was simple. For more than ten of the past twenty years, Goryeo had been under the control of Yi Jach'ŏm... The existence of that era made everyone know where they should go. The monarch knew to be patient and go with the flow; the aristocracy knew to rely on and align themselves, to seize profits; the common people knew to mind their own business.

In fact, this was also the reason why Kim Busik dared to do this. Goryeo at this stage had a tradition of powerful ministers, and because the yangban were interconnected, almost as one, even if a powerful minister was eliminated, it was difficult to pursue his family... For example, Yi Jach'ŏm's nephew was still an important state official, and an important figure in Kim Busik's faction that had participated in the overthrow of Yi Jach'ŏm.

However, after Marshal Kim concluded matters in Gaegyeong (installing his men, setting up contingency plans), and then led the main Goryeo army of thirty thousand out of the capital, he couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive... Although he had prepared for all of this and knew that the probability of success was high, he still felt uneasy.

Because, while he was naturally confident in Goryeo, the situation outside was turbulent and beyond his control. Moreover, he had launched this near-coup precisely because of the changing external situation.

Wielding power in a small country is truly difficult!

Nevertheless, Kim Busik continued to wear his wide robes, ride in his carriage, and grit his teeth as he oversaw the army's march westward, towards the Yalu River.

In the third month of Jianyan year ten, Goryeo officially launched a military operation against the Jurchens, advancing into Liaodong.

Among them, the first to bear the brunt was Basulu (along both banks of the Yalu River). This area was inhabited by a large number of Bohai tribes, as well as many Goryeo people. After the Jurchens seized control, they had always stationed the Pusan ​​tribe, a core Jurchen tribe, here. Before Pusan ​​Beilu, who died at Huolu, was transferred to the position of military commander, he had served as the strategic envoy of this route for many years... So the state of the Pusan ​​tribe at this time was self-evident.

It was entirely conceivable that the Goryeo people might directly advance and threaten the heart of Liaodong, while Khabul Khan of eastern Mongolia would also send troops to attack Zhongjing Road, threatening the Liaoxi corridor. The kind of drama that Zhao Guan Jia longed to see, where the Jurchens would be forced to expose their weaknesses without spending any more troops, was about to unfold.

However, before watching this grand drama, a novel appeared in Hejian Prefecture, and the protagonist of the novel was none other than Zhao Guan Jia himself.

"What is this?"

Within Jingcheng, Zhao Jiu, who had just finished breakfast in his small courtyard and was preparing to go fishing outside the city, asked Hu Yin, the Minister of Public Works who had come to visit, in astonishment, because Hu Mingzhong had requested Zhao Guan Jia to dismiss those around him as soon as he came in. Even Liu Yan and Shao Chengzhang, who were on duty today, had gone out, but after dismissing others, only a stack of manuscripts was handed over.

"This is 'Guan Jia Wen' written by Guan Jia's important ministers," Hu Yin said, much more serious this time. "I am not talented in literature, but I am fast, and I have copied many story plots. This first piece has already been completed."

Zhao Jiu was speechless, but he immediately smiled and said, "You've worked hard, Minister Hu."

"Guan Jia might as well take a look first." Hu Yin suddenly smiled. "Give me an evaluation."

Seeing the usually serious Hu Mingzhong suddenly smile twice in a row, Zhao Guan Jia couldn't help but feel frightened, but he had no choice but to brace himself and read it... And Zhao Jiu's speed in reading novels was so fast, reading ten lines at a glance, it only took half an incense stick of time to finish the story, and then the entire courtyard became silent.

There was no other reason than that the plot of this 'Guan Jia Wen' was too simple and too straightforward.

It told the story of a certain Guan Jia who, after winning a victory, occupied the entire country and had all the barbarians submit. However, worried that his meritorious officials would become arrogant and cause trouble, he often made敲打(qiao da - subtle warnings), so he wrote an article to satirize them. As a result, when he satirized a Prince who established the Eight Character Army on Mount Taihang, this Prince was of a fierce temperament and directly committed suicide by poisoning himself to prove his innocence, and published the story written by Guan Jia.

The Prince's old subordinates had a commander surnamed Fan, who was also a loyal person. In a fit of anger, he simply went up Mount Taihang again. What followed was the plot of Xue Gang rebelling against the Tang Dynasty. The old Guan Jia, who had forced the loyal and good to die, came to conquer, and was shot to death by an arrow due to carelessness, and died. Then, the princes led marshals and princes to compete for the throne, and the world fell apart. Then, Commander Fan went on a rampage and took the opportunity to protect a true dragon, and then recovered the reputation of the Eight Character Army commander Prince.

Zhao Jiu, of course, knew what this article was satirizing, but after a long silence, he was still somewhat unconvinced, so he finally opened his mouth:

"Why didn't Mingzhong speak up that day?"

"Does Guan Jia want to hear the truth, or does Guan Jia want to hear a lie?" Hu Yin finally became solemn again.

"What about the lie?" Zhao Jiu smiled back, pretending to be joking.

"The lie is that I understood it in my heart that day, but I wanted to use my own spear to attack my own shield, and waited until this facetious article was finished before coming," Hu Yin said, with his hands clasped, his expression unchanged.

"What about the truth?"

"The truth is that I was led into it by Guan Jia that day," Hu Yin said calmly. "Later, although I immediately realized it, I thought that now that we have won a great victory, the country is boiling, and Guan Jia is arrogant and conceited. If I directly remonstrate again, there might be some bad results. That's why I used the boat-engraving-for-sword method, waiting for Guan Jia's mood to calm down, and presenting the article as satire."

"How could you, such a clever person, be fooled by my frivolous and country-misleading actions?" Zhao Jiu listened for a long time before forcing down his emotions and laughing, but he still felt that Hu Yin was bullying him.

"Guan Jia..." Hu Yin also did not change his expression. "There are many reasons why I was fooled by Guan Jia... First of all, Zhao Xiang Gong was almost shot to death in the ditch by the Qin Prince's subordinates that day, Qu Duan's subordinates whipped me dozens of times, and the Lu Prince also had a past of protecting the vegetarian demon sect. These things are vivid in my mind and cannot be faked. In addition, Guan Jia's words that day mentioned the things that he had endured for the past ten years before he could no longer bear it. I once thought that the stories that Guan Jia wanted to write were not only to警毖后(jing bi hou - warn against future mistakes), but also to punish those who had made mistakes in the past... In other words, I once thought that these things were all pointing to something real, and had already happened, and Guan Jia had endured it."

Zhao Jiu was slightly stunned, and finally admitted, "I do have a mind to punish the past, but it is mainly to warn against future mistakes... The stories are not so real."

"That's the problem," Hu Yin couldn't help but sigh. "If this article is written to punish the past, it is naturally a lesson, but if this article is written to warn against future mistakes, is it a lesson or a punishment... Even if it is privately issued?"

Zhao Jiu moved his body in the seat to hide the annoyance deep in his heart. Of course, he also knew that it was useless for him to pretend in front of Hu Mingzhong. "I thought that with Han Liangchen's magnanimity, and the relationship between me and him as monarch and minister, it wouldn't come to this... After all, it's just a story."

"Han Liangchen is indeed more than that. Even if he gets angry in private, thinking of Guan Jia's article, he might not dare to look for servants anymore." Hu Yin nodded in agreement. "What about Wang Yan? Can he really bear it? What about the Jin Prince? The Wei Prince..."

"Isn't the Wei Prince complaining that the驸马(fu ma - imperial son-in-law) was beaten with too many military sticks?" Zhao Jiu was completely helpless. "It's true that I didn't think it through completely, but didn't you laugh at the Wei Prince's place?"

"That's because I came from the Wei Prince's army and knew that the駙馬(fu ma - imperial son-in-law) was beaten with military sticks every day, so I informed you on the spot. How would outsiders know when they heard that?" Hu Yin asked.

Zhao Jiu didn't say a word. After a long time, he asked Hu Mingzhong, who was calm and composed, "In the end, it's just a sentence. Why were you so sure that I was punishing the past and warning against the future that day, but now you're mocking me like this?"

"This is where the remaining two reasons come in," Hu Yin said without any confusion. "Guan Jia, which minister would not be grateful for being granted the right to privately advise Guan Jia? That day, I actually already felt that something was wrong, but I was stunned by Guan Jia's punch."

"I'm so powerful that I stunned the dignified national minister Hu Mingzhong with two punches," Zhao Jiu didn't know whether he was mocking himself or satirizing. "Comparable to Lu Zhishen."

"It's not just two punches, it's mainly because I had internal injuries," Hu Yin stepped forward with a straight face and forced himself closer. "Guan Jia... The reason why I was confused by Guan Jia for a while, those are all secondary reasons. What really made me willing to believe that Guan Jia's method was feasible and enjoy it, was that I knew from the beginning what Guan Jia was thinking."

Zhao Jiu's heart finally moved slightly, so he looked at the other party seriously, waiting for the answer.

"Your Majesty," Hu Yin sighed and said with emotion, "When I read that story, I immediately thought of one thing that Guan Jia had to do with all his strength from the beginning of Jianyan year two, including year three, even when the country was in danger... I also remember the words Guan Jia used at that time, '开释人身(kai shi ren shen - liberate the individual)'!"

Zhao Guan Jia's expression finally softened.

"What Qin Prince Jade Guanyin, what Zhang Jun's greed for money, Guan Jia had already said very clearly at that time, it was to tell stories about how these people had no malice, no evil intentions, but just a little bit of temperament or even a negligence led to the destruction of the family." Hu Yin paused slightly. "When I was handling military supplies around the New Year this year, I thought... What is the purpose of fighting this war with all our national strength? It is to restore peace. But what about after the restoration of peace?"

"With the Jin Dynasty there, internal and external pressure overrides everything. When the Jin Dynasty is defeated, the top and bottom are the most touching," Zhao Jiu took over the conversation and took the initiative to summarize for the other party, and took advantage of the situation to dismount. "My original intention was to remind the people of the world that after internal and external affairs, it is time for top and bottom, but I was too hasty and the method was inappropriate... I should wait until the Yellow River is managed well and the Yuan Xue is stable before doing this slowly."

"That's what I mean," Hu Yin frankly admitted. "However, it is precisely because I know Guan Jia's compassionate meaning and anxious heart that I am self-biased and confident. But this matter is really more than that..."

"How do you say?" Zhao Jiu, whose mood had improved, said in a kind tone.

"I have no other intention," Hu Yin stood there with his hands tied, and added softly, "I just want to say that while Guan Jia prides himself on being compassionate, I'm afraid he just forgot that, when it comes to top and bottom, Guan Jia himself is the most top person."

Zhao Jiu looked up in astonishment.

But Hu Mingzhong pretended not to see it, and continued to speak clearly, standing calmly in the spring breeze and offering his advice:

"Therefore, a negligence by Your Majesty will also cause the destruction of families below the Prince, and an impropriety will even cause the country to fall apart... Your Majesty, when it comes to top and bottom, all the princes are below Guan Jia, and when it comes to the world, all the princes are also a part of the world... Just like knowing that Guan Jia's original intention was good is the root of my confusion that day, Guan Jia has repeatedly forgotten this matter after the great victory, which is also the root of why I dare not come to offend the dragon's face... Your Majesty, governing a big country is like cooking a small fish, please be cautious, and please Guan Jia protect yourself."

After saying that, Hu Mingzhong cupped his hands and retreated, leaving behind only "The Record of Commander Fan Re-ascending Mount Taihang" and Zhao Guan Jia, who had been sitting for a long time and lost his words.

On this day, Zhao Guan Jia did not go out until the afternoon, but he did not go fishing, nor did he update his novel. He just blew the spring breeze by the river for half a day.

ps: Thank you Guan Jia for still remembering the first (Long) (remember, but you, I, and she are all old), and the upper萌(meng - cute) of the Gao Leng Niao boss, this is the 221st and 222nd 萌(meng - cute) of this book.