Volume 3
The five-colored stream from Kunlun was sent out, and one yellow and turbid stream penetrated the Central Plains.
The sand and waves are blown away for thousands of miles, and there is nowhere to turn for help.
Chapter 1: The Country is Destroyed but the Mountains and Rivers Remain
The country is destroyed but the mountains and rivers remain, the city is overgrown with grass in spring.
In the late spring of the third year of Jianyan, as the Jin army retreated, the fourth large-scale war between Song and Jin officially came to an end. However, the numerous holes and various legacy issues brought about by the war were a big problem for both sides...
Among them, not to mention how the Jin army suppressed the rebel army in Hebei and how the upper class became destabilized, there were also various disturbances in the Song Dynasty.
First of all, how to restore production and order in Henan, how to deal with the chaos of civil and military affairs in Guanzhong , how to deal with the many warlord forces in Jingdong, and how to quell the rebellion in the southeast... It seems that every matter is urgent and fundamental.
Among these, almost every matter is inevitably mixed with important personnel issues, economic issues, and military issues, so it is inevitably difficult to deal with.
But how to say it?
Sometimes things can be said the other way around. These things are right in front of us, so no matter how difficult it is, don't we have to bite the bullet and do it?
In fact, with the result of the previous war that could barely be called a victory, and the fact that Emperor Zhao reorganized his troops in Heyin in February, the Song Dynasty Central Committee, which had just returned to the old capital of Tokyo and settled down, had a place to start...
That is to say, using military as the guideline to unfold things.
For now:
Han Shizhong's Imperial Camp Left Army suffered the most damage in this battle, so the court asked him to return to Huaixi to rest and recuperate first, and at the same time be responsible for the security of Henan and the hinterland of Beijing. After his troops recovered, he would be dealt with again.
Zhang Jun's Right Army returned to Xuzhou to control the east of Beijing, which had surrendered to the Jin Dynasty and formed a separatist state.
Although Li Yanxian was given the title of the commander-in-chief of the central army of the imperial camp, his defense area was too important, so he returned early... Obviously, this identity of the commander-in-chief of the central army was not necessarily worthy of the title... However, even so, Xijing Luoyang was officially assigned to his defense this time. The rebel armies in Xijing and Ruzhou, such as the Big and Small Zhai, Niu Gao, were reorganized and led by him. The former commander of the three yamen, Lu Xing, who had been stationed in Xijing, officially resigned from the three yamen and was promoted to the deputy commander-in-chief of the imperial camp, leaving the Xijing area;
It would be very difficult for the Eight Characters Army to return to Hebei. In addition, Wang Yan clearly expressed his unwillingness to be under his former subordinate Yue Fei, so he was appointed as the deputy commander of the Imperial Camp Central Army, alongside Wang De, stationed in Zhengzhou and the west of Kaifeng.
Another deputy commander of the imperial camp, Wang De, was appointed as the defense commander of the four walls of Kaifeng and officially stationed in the vicinity of Tokyo.
As for the huge Imperial Camp Vanguard formed by the merger of the former Jeju Pacification Commissioner and the Tokyo Garrison, theoretically, it should have been used by Yue Fei, the commander-in-chief, but in reality it was divided into two. One part followed the new Imperial Camp Deputy Commander-in-Chief Lu Xing to Jeju and Nanjing, and worked together with Zhang Jun to clamp down on the bandits in Jingdong, while the other part followed Yue Fei himself south to the southeast to quell the rebellion.
In fact, logically speaking, Yue Fei had been in Jeju for a long time, and he was familiar with the geography and customs of Jingdong. For example, Zhang Rong of Liangshanpo would definitely recognize him, so it would be most appropriate to let him join forces with Zhang Jun to attack the Jingdong warlord... But there was really no other way, everything had to be prioritized.
According to the discussions among officials and ministers, the prosperous land in the southeast is the foundation for the Song Dynasty to maintain its military, and the rebellion must not be allowed to continue to spread. Relatively speaking, Jingdong has been in chaos since the beginning of last year. In the short term, it may be a bit difficult to annex the entire Jingdong region, which has become a warlord area and is supported by the Jin army.
Therefore, it is only natural to focus on the southeast first.
As for why Yue Fei was the one to quell the rebellion?
Of course it is because his subordinates have the best military discipline. If you replace them with Zhang Jun who is originally the closest, it would be better to let the rebels stay in Jiangning Prefecture!
Therefore, this awkward military arrangement was formed because of Emperor Zhao's strong push.
Of course, these are just temporary measures, to fill the gaps, which is awkward. And who knows what new troubles and crises may arise at any time?
"What happened?"
In the city of Tokyo, north of the Bian River, beside the Xiangguo Temple, the once prosperous place in the inner city has regained some vitality. On a restaurant, someone leaned out of the window facing the street and could see knights galloping on the Imperial Street from afar. "Which team is this today? Are they all coming from the south?"
"God knows..." The person who answered the question was the secretary Fan Zongyin, who laughed when he heard the words. "The former capital of the Song Dynasty is now the northern gate of the country. Since it is the northern gate of the country, the news must come from the south. Why should Brother Taifa (Li Guang) care?"
This joke is not funny. In fact, after Fan Zongyin finished speaking, several people present, such as the Minister of Revenue Lin Qi, the Palace Censor Li Guang, and the Hanlin Academician Li Ruopu, could only smile bitterly.
"Unfortunately, there is no one in the Privy Council who knows him..." The most mature Lin Qi smiled bitterly and was the first to speak. "Otherwise, we would know if it was a rebellion in the southeast. We are also worried and confused."
"In the past, when I was in Nanyang, I once made friends with Wanqi Yuanzhong..." Li Guang, who had turned his attention from the window, answered with some embarrassment. "But after this meritorious service as an imperial attendant, he thought he had a solid foundation and started to act rogue in Heyin. After coming to Tokyo, he repeatedly made friends with the royal family and relatives, not acting like a scholar, so I cut off contact with him."
"He is considering himself as a close minister." Lin Qi said. "It is not appropriate to judge his character without authorization. However, it is over now, and I am the one who said too much..."
"Liu Ziwu is the descendant of a famous official and has always been upright. If you want to find someone in the Privy Council, why not contact him?" Fan Zongyin seemed to be thinking about something.
"Liu Ziyu may not come..." Li Guangqing knew that the other party wanted to say that there was a senior official from Bashu or a confidant of the government behind Liu Ziyu, but he kept shaking his head.
"That's not what I meant." Lin Qi continued to twirl his beard and shook his head. "What I meant was that in the current situation, whether or not we know the military situation, or whether or not there are people in the Privy Council who know us, is no longer important."
"That's right." Li Guang also came to his senses. "In the current situation, it will only be effective if the prime minister directly steps in."
Having said this, everyone in the room looked at the youngest person, Fan Zongyin.
Finally, Fan Zongyin shook his head seriously and said, "To be honest, I did go and ask yesterday. Lord Xu was probably willing to speak for Lord Li. I didn't go to Lord Wang's place at all. As for Lord Lu from the capital..."
"What did Mr. Lu say?" Lin Qi couldn't help but become serious.
"Minister Lu said that this kind of thing is not something that the prime minister can decide. It still depends on the emperor's intentions and the attitudes of the two ministers themselves..." Fan Zongyin replied seriously.
"That actually makes sense." After a moment of silence in the restaurant, Lin Qi sighed. "We are just busy doing nothing, but we have to be busy."
Everyone was completely dejected.
Now, these people got together today despite their busy schedules because of the recent disturbance in Tokyo City… You know, after the military personnel were roughly arranged, the title of prime minister became the top priority, and as expected, Lu Yihao came from behind and successfully surpassed Wang Boyan to be promoted to Privy Councilor with his merits of defending Nanyang and persuading the emperor to lead the army in person. As soon as he returned to Tokyo, he became the official Prime Minister of the Western Palace.
However, although they are both serious ministers, this Minister Lu is different from the other Minister Lu.
Lu Yihao had just become the Privy Councilor and he began to monopolize power, taking on all the affairs of the Privy Council.
If any official in the Western Palace dared to disobey him, he would turn his face away on the spot. At the very least, he would deduct their salary; at the worst, he would expel them from the Western Palace. As for military personnel, anyone who was disrespectful or rude to him would be punished directly. From Han Shizhong to the ordinary commanders of the imperial army, and to the ministers of various departments, he would never give them a cold shoulder and had no habit of taking revenge overnight.
As a result, everyone was shocked, and Wang Boyan, the deputy privy envoy, was also sidelined.
But that’s not all, because there is a tradition of officials passing notes to the four ministers for discussion... which means being a hands-off manager... so many important matters were just reported to Official Lan in the imperial city behind the Xuande Building, and the four ministers would then discuss the matter in front of the Youye Gate of the Xuande Building, where the former Shangshu Province, now the Metropolitan Province and the Privy Council, were located.
However, ever since he became the Privy Councilor, this Prime Minister Lu would often use the excuse of military affairs as an excuse to forcibly assign many matters to the Privy Council during the Four Ministers' meetings, and naturally he would be the one to handle them in the end.
Among the four ministers, Prime Minister Wang was a deputy and naturally a head shorter than them. Prime Minister Lu of the capital province was the official prime minister but one who dared not compete. Xu Jingheng did dare to compete, but because of the grouping pattern of the East and West Palaces, he could not speak past Lu Haowen. Therefore, Lu Yihao not only controlled the Privy Council, but also gradually overwhelmed the other three ministers, and seemed to be monopolizing power.
That's fine.
In the past two days, as Yue Fei quickly set out to the south, Lu Yihao suddenly took advantage of the situation and repeatedly criticized Li Gongxiang who was far away in Yangzhou...
To be honest, there was no precedent of a prime minister impeaching another prime minister in the Song Dynasty, otherwise Lu Yihao would have directly impeached Li Gang for harming the country.
But even if they couldn't impeach him directly, following Lu Yihao's almost naked statement, people in Beijing couldn't help but feel uneasy.
If this Lu Xianggong really replaced Li Gongxiang and became the head of all officials, who would be able to survive with his power? Even if he did not replace Li Gongxiang, but just overthrew him, would his power be reduced?
Therefore, several of Li Gang's confidants in Beijing contacted Fan Zongyin, who had spoken appropriately in front of Lu Haowen and Xu Jingheng, in an attempt to appease them.
But it was clear that the situation was too dire.
Because in the final analysis, this is not just a problem of Lu Yihao's arrogance. The real problem lies with Emperor Zhao and Li Gang.
Li Gang's military skills were too poor, and it was a sin in these days to force himself to control the military affairs even though he was not good at it. The example of Li Yanxian and the contrast of Zong Zhongwu were there, but he still caused trouble again and again... He had tens of thousands of troops in the rear of the imperial camp, but at the critical moment, he not only could not help the front line, but also disrupted his own formation. It was his own fault that he was criticized this time!
At the same time, what made Li Gongxiang and his confidants even more panic was that they suddenly realized that with Emperor Zhao's defeat of the Jin army and his return to the old capital, the situation of mutual support between Emperor Zhao and Gongxiang was no longer meaningful... Up to now, who would still doubt Emperor Zhao's intention and strength to fight against the Jin? And why did they need Li Gongxiang's appeal to help Emperor Zhao organize and establish a court team?
In a word, Emperor Zhao no longer needs Prime Minister Li's banner to establish his image. If he asks for support, his own dragon banner is already effective.
This group of people are essentially worried that Emperor Zhao will destroy his bridges after crossing them.
"Fan Zhixu is dead." After the scene was quiet for a while, Fan Zongyin, who had been thinking for a long time, suddenly revealed a piece of news with a hint of bitterness.
"When did it happen?" Someone looked up in panic. "How did he die?"
"I'm not sure. It should have happened not long after he arrived in Zunyi. Anyway, when I handled the document, it said that the hay barn he was guarding caught fire, so he died in Zunyi." Fan Zongyin answered casually.
"That's all?"
"Perhaps so..." Fan Zongyin's tone became more bitter. "But there are other rumors. The son of the commander Zhai Chong, Zhai Biao, has just returned to the imperial court. He said to others when he was drunk that he went to Zunyi to handle affairs and missed the battle and the achievements."
"Official..." Li Guang couldn't believe it.
"The emperor is upset!" Lin Qi didn't care. "And even if the matter was made public, what would happen? Wasn't Du Chong killed in public? But then there was the Battle of Yanling, and the emperor returned to the old capital, so wouldn't everyone dare to speak up?"
At this point, Minister Lin paused for a moment, then twirled his beard and sighed again: "In fact, this is the fundamental reason why we need a minister like Li Gongxiang in office. After all, the emperor is young and acts aggressively, so it is always good to have a minister to restrain him. As for Lu Shuxiang, although he is also a radical minister, he only instigates the emperor and makes him more radical, rather than restraining him..."
"Speaking of this matter, I actually had a conversation with Hu Zhongcheng." Fan Zongyin suddenly said again.
"Oh?" The others all cheered.
"Hu Zhongcheng is a straightforward person. He told me that many of the emperor's confidants think that this is the time to settle the chaos and establish a career. The laws of the ancestors may not be reliable, and the officials should follow the emperor to take a new path..." Fan Sheren repeated carefully. "So many people, such as Xiaolin Xueshi, who knew the whole story and disliked Lu Shuxiang's arrogance, thought that Li Gongxiang was also holding the emperor back, so they kept silent."
"Ridiculous! How can Minister Li hold the government back?"
"This is the fundamental difference in ideas... Everyone thinks that what they think is right, but there are disputes. In the past, it was the new and old parties and governments, and it is almost the same now." Fan Zongyin continued.
“…”
"It wasn't me who said that. It was Hu Zhongcheng who said that." Fan Sheren quickly explained. "I asked Hu Zhongcheng what he thought. Hu Zhongcheng said that and said, 'The road ahead is long and difficult, so let's wait and see.'"
"Let's see what happens in the future?"
"Hu Zhongcheng's point is that the Jin people will not give us a chance to fight over factions. The overall situation of the anti-Jin war will determine who is right and who is wrong... and from the current situation, it is clear that the emperor is slightly better, while Minister Li is slightly worse."
"This means that he has already wavered and will not help Minister Li this time." Lin Qi sighed. "So what does the emperor think?"
Just as the two sides of the Imperial Street were gradually coming to life, to the east of the deserted Yeonbokgung Palace, in an abandoned wasteland, there were still overgrown weeds, scattered rocks, and wild rabbits, foxes, and rats appearing and disappearing... forming a sharp contrast to the Imperial Street several miles away.
That’s right, this is the Hua Shi-Gen Yue ruins that the former Emperor Zhao Ji, the Supreme Taoist Emperor, spent countless lives and national destiny to build.
However, the reason why it became a ruin was not because of the Jin army. In fact, the Jin army did not enter the city to destroy and plunder. This was because after the Yuansheng, one of the two saints in the Jingkang period, ascended the throne, he took great pains to order the smashing of various rockery in order to restore order despite the Jin army in front, to show his irreconcilable intention with his father.
All I can say is, these two are a perfect match.
"I think that Prime Minister Li should not leave his position suddenly."
In the wild, spring flowers are in full bloom, everything is growing, it is the mating season, and the official Zhao, who is wearing casual clothes and has his sleeves tied up, shot a wild rabbit hiding at the wellhead and then sighed. "It is not only because of his merits in re-establishing the court and stabilizing the southeast that day, nor is it only for the stability of the court, but more importantly, someone needs to be in charge of the southeast now..."
"What do you mean, Your Majesty?" Hu Yin frowned and asked behind Emperor Zhao. "Before in Nanyang, the terrain was narrow, and the southeast and Jingxiang were naturally divided, so we had to send a senior official to take charge. Now that Your Majesty is back in the old capital, the Central Plains are open, and the grain transport has been restored... Why do you still need to leave someone in the southeast to take charge? Aren't you afraid that it will become too big to be removed?"
"Because Tokyo is unstable." Zhao Jiu answered straightforwardly. "Although the Jin people suffered a setback, the loss of only a dozen meng'an and 20 to 30,000 people did not shake their national strength and military power. The offensive and defensive situation between Song and Jin did not change. Instead, they paid more attention to us... And this year or next year, there will definitely be another invasion. If the Yellow River cannot be defended by then, what about Tokyo?"
Hu Yin was silent for a moment before nodding his head: "I understand. So should we let the Queen Mother and Concubine Pan lead the heir to Yangzhou, or should we let Minister Li make preparations there? In this case, should we continue to maintain Bashu and Huainan as a check and balance?"
"That's right." Facing Hu Mingzhong, who was always too straightforward, Zhao Jiu once again drew his bow and arrow, aiming at a new prey while being honest... In private, he preferred this kind of straightforwardness. "In fact, before in Nanyang, Madam Pan wrote to me many times, saying that she wanted to come... but I never agreed..."
Halfway through his words, Emperor Zhao shot an arrow, but it missed the target. Instead, it attracted a weasel to rush out from behind a pavilion and then disappeared.
"Your Majesty is thoughtful and considers the overall situation." Hu Yin thought for a moment and could only say this. "If this is the case, then it should be so. I am just being superficial..."
Zhao Jiu shook his head slightly, not sure whether he was feeling sorry for the weasel or what he was thinking about.
Just when the official lost interest and was about to pick up the rabbit himself and take it back as dinner for the day, he suddenly heard a loud noise from behind him.
The attendants Hu Yin, Lin Jingmo, Liu Yan and Feng Yi turned around together, and when they saw Yang Yizhong, Lan Gui and Lu Yihao approaching in a hurry, they became even more puzzled... What could have happened to make these three people lose their composure to such an extent?
"Your Majesty!" When they came to him, Yang Yizhong and Lu Yihao were both speechless. Lan Gui was the first to kowtow to the ground, weeping. "Your Majesty... The queen is gone! The two wives are gone too! Three of the five princesses (During the Jianyan period, the princesses were changed back to princesses) are gone too! Only two have returned!"
Zhao Jiu was confused for a moment. What queen? What princess? It was so confusing!
"Your Majesty." Lu Yihao's voice trembled, and he lost his composure and spoke incoherently. "Your Majesty... Just now, a Jin envoy came to Huazhou, bringing news on behalf of the fourth prince of the Jin Kingdom, and sent back two princesses... It turned out that Queen Xing (Zhao Gou's original wife) and two wives, as well as three of the five princesses, had already died on the way during the Jingkang period. The two surviving little princesses were sent back by the Jin people this time, saying that since Your Majesty is so courageous, this should be the response... Your Majesty, I wish you all the best!"
"We are willing to die a thousand times." Yang Yi Zhong and Feng Yi knelt down together.
"We are willing to die." Even Hu Yin and Liu Yan had pale faces. One of them bowed and the other knelt down, then repeated it.
Zhao Jiu turned around and picked up the rabbit, thinking there for a long time, before he gradually figured it out. It seemed that he had won some honor in this battle, and then the Jin people had a little respect for him, so they sent back the news that the original owner of this body, that is, Zhao Gou's family, had died in the Jing Kang Movement that day, and by the way, sent back the two little girls who posed no threat as a gesture.
But then again, Zhao Gou knew that his wife and children had been taken away, but he still sought help from hundreds of laundry maids and tried to flee south alone. What kind of mental state did he have?
No wonder Zhao Jiu felt confused when he thought about it at this moment.
When Zhao Jiu thought of this, he laughed instead of getting angry: "Why are you dying? The descendants of the Zhao family are in such trouble. Isn't it the retribution for some people who ignored the people's livelihood and tried to get the Flower and Stone Gang, and then some people ignored the army approaching and only cared about destroying the Flower and Stone Gang?"
After saying this, the man threw the rabbit down, looked around, sighed, raised the bow and arrow again, and shot it hard at a moss-covered rockery in front of him.
As soon as the arrow was shot, it actually hit the crack in the stone.
The people below wanted to speak, but after seeing this situation, they were all speechless.
At this moment, several people came hurriedly with panic-stricken faces. They were the two ministers of the capital province, Lu Haowen and Xu Jingheng, and the deputy privy envoy Wang Boyan.
When Lu, Xu and Wang came up to him, they were just like Lu Yihao before, with pale faces, bowing with their hands clasped, and saying they were willing to die.
"I already know." Zhao Jiu said helplessly with mixed feelings. "It was the Second Saint's own ridiculous incompetence that brought about such retribution on the royal family. What does it have to do with you?"
"I am ashamed..." Lu Haowen raised his head, but his face was red again. "Regardless of the two emperors, Minister Li is also responsible for the protection of the emperor. He has already submitted a memorial with the news and requested a prisoner's carriage to be brought to the capital to be dealt with."
Zhao Jiu, Lu Yihao, Hu Yin, Lin Jingmo, Yang Yizhong, Liu Yan, Lan Gui, and Feng Yi all frowned.
"What does this have to do with Prime Minister Li?" Hu Yin was impatient for a moment.
"Of course it's Li Gongxiang's responsibility." Xu Jingheng stepped forward and answered seriously. "The emperor entrusted the queen mother and the heir to him. Now that the heir has passed away, how can he, as a minister, be exempted from the blame?"
"What are you talking about?" Zhao Jiu and everyone else were stunned. "Didn't the Jin people from Huazhou send an envoy?"
"Your Majesty!" Xu Jingheng finally reacted, panicking for a moment. "I don't know what the Jin people in Huazhou did. It's just that the Jiangning rebels heard that your Majesty sent Yue Fei south and that they were not allowed to recruit the main culprit. They knew it was inevitable, so they fought to the death and gathered troops to try to cross the river to Yangzhou to kidnap the empress dowager and the heir. Although they failed, they caused a riot in Yangzhou. The heir was ill and suffered a seizure, and then died two days later... The news was sent to the Privy Council. Prime Minister Lu was not there, so they found Prime Minister Wang, and Prime Minister Wang came to the capital to look for us two... Your Majesty... Your Majesty..."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Jiu picked up the rabbit again and stood there motionless for half a day with no expression on his face. When the others saw the official losing his composure, they lowered their heads even more. Only Lu Haowen, Xu Jingheng and Wang Boyan were suspicious and fearful and finally could not endure it any longer.
"Sir, what's going on in Huazhou?" Lu Haowen asked carefully.
Zhao Jiu did not answer after hearing this, but threw the rabbit down for the second time, turned around, and shot another arrow at the Genyue ruins: "You two damn saints, for this flower and stone gang and the Jingkang shame, if there is retribution, it should be on the Zhao family, why bother to implicate others and ruin my situation?! Will you be used as a bargaining chip and sent back to disgust me in the future? Why didn't you die earlier?"
The four ministers and other officials around were all stunned, but no one dared to refute Emperor Zhao's outrageous remarks.