Volume 1 Chapter 16: The government is at its wits’ end! (Part 1)
"How can Han Shizhong rebel?!"
The one who scolded Zhao Ding was not Zhao Jiu, but Li Gang, the Shangshu Zuo Pushe and Menxia Shilang of the Song Dynasty, that is, the Prime Minister. He caught a cold after a night of cold wind, and then presided over meetings, relocations, and dispatching troops. Then he braved the severe winter cold to trek here. He was already exhausted, but when he heard the words, he still forced himself to be the first to express his opinion.
"That's right." Zhao Jiu also came to his senses. "Why would Han Shizhong rebel?"
"I also thought that he would not do that!" Zhao Ding was covered in mud and looked furious, but he only answered Emperor Zhao. "But he really rebelled. I saw it with my own eyes."
"Impossible." Zhao Jiu shook his head repeatedly, even lowering his head to take a bite of rice to try to remain calm. "There must be a misunderstanding. Censor Zhao, why don't you take a break and analyze it carefully!"
"No need to argue!" Zhao Ding knelt down beside the bonfire in the tent. "Your Majesty, please leave quickly! It will be too late if you don't leave now! The Imperial Censor Niu who was traveling with me has been killed by the rebels, and they are only twenty miles away from here!"
Zhao Jiu was stunned again.
Li Gang, who was about to stand up to speak again, suddenly fell back down.
"Tell me in detail!" Zhao Jiu came back to his senses and still didn't believe it, but he had to analyze it.
"Your Majesty, I and Niu Yushi were ordered to go meet Han Shizhong, but we ran into his troops in Baichi Town, Wanshou County in the east. At first, the scouts in front were fine, and they could talk to us normally and explain the military situation. But when we met a commander in the town, he spoke dirty words and even drew his sword later!" A group of important officials who were originally in the tent of the emperor had already surrounded him, and Zhao Ding became more and more angry as he spoke. "When Niu Yushi and I saw that the situation was not good, we wanted to escape, but they let their horses and drew their bows behind us, deliberately forcing us into the Winter River, and then used bows and arrows to force us, watching and having fun. I tried my best to hold on to the horse and escape, but Niu Yushi was fat and couldn't struggle out , and he actually drowned in the river. They were still laughing on the shore..."
Zhao Ding was already in tears when he said this, but he tried to speak again: "I fled in a panic, and they are still shouting from behind across the ditch, saying that I can hide today but not tomorrow, because they are coming to perform this shooting game in front of the emperor! Kill all the civil officials! Emperor! Let's go quickly! Baichi Town is only 20 miles away from here. I met the rebels this afternoon. If the rebels are determined to catch up with me, I am afraid they will do something unbearable at any time!"
The people around him all changed their expressions, but Zhao Jiu seemed to have grasped something, "So, Han Shizhong's troops in Baichi Town are planning to revolt because of the treatment of the civil and military officials, but we haven't seen Han Shizhong personally planning to rebel?"
"Your Majesty!" Before Zhao Ding could say anything else, Yang Yizhong, who was standing beside him, turned pale and knelt down to persuade him. "It's not a question of whether Han Shizhong himself has any intention of rebelling. Han Shizhong himself has no intention of rebelling. His vanguard surrounded the imperial court and did unspeakable things. What's wrong with telling him the Chenqiao story? Even if Han Shizhong is loyal, what can we do if he kills his vanguard afterwards? Han Shizhong has 7,000 to 8,000 soldiers and horses, and at least 2,000 vanguard soldiers, but we only have a few hundred squads here!"
Zhao Jiu suddenly realized what was going on, but still did not stand up. Instead, he leaned sideways with the bowl in his hand and tried to argue: "Even the front army does not seem to have completely rebelled. Maybe we can appease them a little bit..."
"It's useless!" Yang Yizhong was getting more and more anxious. "Your Majesty, you don't know what's going on in the army. Even the front army has no intention of rebellion at this time, but based on the incident of mock killing of the censor, they have already started a killing spree. Once the killing starts, the chaotic soldiers will be wanton and even gods can't restrain them! Your Majesty, read a lot of history books, don't you know what will happen to the body of the Supreme Liuli when he encounters the chaotic army? So let's leave quickly!"
Not only that, Li Gang, who had been silent for a long time, also struggled to stand up with the support of his son. He burst into tears, but bowed his head and apologized: "Your Majesty, today's disaster is all caused by my carelessness. Please leave quickly, I will take the responsibility here."
Zhao Jiu realized the situation, his hands and feet turned cold and he was speechless.
Besides, since this poor Zhao Guanjia traveled through time, facing such a chaotic situation in the world, as a modern young man with a strong sense of superiority, hasn't he ever fantasized about being a Han Wu or Tang Zong? However, now it seems that he is not as good as the original Zhao Laojiu, at least the original Zhao Laojiu ran decisively!
What about me? My hesitation in Mingdao Palace seemed to be the source of today's disaster. Otherwise, why would I be blocked by the Huaixi bandits and encounter the news of the Jin invasion here? And then why did I cause today's disaster?
In a sense, if he really died today, even his conservative fate of going to Hangzhou to sing and dance would be ruined by his own hands.
However, if I think about it the other way around, what's the harm in dying? Have I integrated into this era at all? Can I go back after I die? Daozu has to be responsible, right?
And even if he really died, or people like Han Shizhong and Yue Fei rose up to fight for the world, or let Li Gang protect the baby and live in peace in the south of the Yangtze River, it might not be worse than the original situation, right?
With these absurd thoughts, Zhao Jiu's hands and feet suddenly became warm again for some reason, but he kept shaking his head: "It has nothing to do with Li Xianggong. It's my own fault. I didn't regard the situation here as a chaotic world. And now is not the time to pursue responsibility... You all said to let me go, but where can the current situation go?"
"Cross the river! Go find Liu Zhengyan and Miao Fu!" Chief Censor Zhang Jun suddenly interrupted.
"I am willing to go to Baichi Town to pacify the rebels." Yuwen Xuzhong also interrupted.
"You can ask Yang Yizhong to lead the guards to escort you across the river!" Li Gang said with all his might. "But don't alarm the rebels. If you try to appease them now, they will only know your true intentions and it will cause trouble! And after crossing the river, you should not look for Liu and Miao. It's best to rush along the river to Shunchang Prefecture (formerly Yingzhou, later Fuyang) while sending someone to transfer Liu Yan's loyal team back! After entering the city, talk to Han Shizhong and Liu Zhengyan."
This seemed to be a feasible solution. Zhao Jiu suddenly stood up, threw down his bowl, and went to untie the mount behind him.
However, as soon as he touched the reins, he came to his senses again, and then turned around to ask: "Whether I cross the river to the state capital or to find Liu Miao, how many soldiers should I bring? And if the rebels come, the civil and military officials and their families here are completely defenseless, what will happen? And Concubine Pan and the royal heir, they can't possibly follow the army... What will be the result? Besides, as soon as I leave, this place will immediately be in chaos!"
"Your Majesty!" The others were speechless for a moment, except Zhang Jun, who bowed his head and whispered in a low voice. "Your Majesty just said that the situation here is already a chaotic world, and since ancient times, rulers have encountered chaotic times. Isn't this a rare occurrence?"
Zhao Jiu shook his head repeatedly, but then put down the reins and turned back to face him: "I have little education, but I know a lot about the Three Kingdoms... Zhang Qing, I can be Emperor Xian of Han, but you can't be Dong Cheng! In this situation, all Han officials should only think about being Marquis Wu."
By the campfire, not only Zhang Jun looked up in shock, but everyone else was completely speechless.
