Volume 1 Chapter 18: Suppressing the Rebellion
"Excuse me Madam Liang, please give it to Yu Wenshi and Zhao Yushi first! They are old, civil officials, and weak."
"I will obey the orders..."
"Please first..."
"And use it!"
In the central army tent, or in the lobby of the inn, Han Shizhong's wife Liang, who was no more than 20 years old and had hurriedly gotten up and dressed, was personally serving rice and dishes to Emperor Zhao, just like an innkeeper meeting a distinguished guest.
Emperor Zhao, who was wearing a round-necked red robe and a jade belt, and several accompanying civil and military officials dressed in purple, red and mountain-patterned armor, sat at a makeshift table in the hall and had a midnight snack, just like a guest who woke up the waiter in an inn in the middle of the night to stay overnight.
Of course, it would be more like it if there weren't so many soldiers inside and outside the store, and so many officers and soldiers from Han Shizhong's army who were peeking in to see what was new.
But there was no time to care about so many things at this moment. Poor Emperor Zhao had spent half a day carrying a bowl of rice, but he only took one bite and threw it away. The rest of the people were in the same situation. They had been running around since morning. How could they not be hungry, tired or thirsty?
Moreover, Han Shizhong was now personally leading the troops to Baichi Town to quell the rebellion, and the people who had reported the situation there had already set out. There was only a Madam Liang entertaining them in the inn, and a deputy commander named Huyan Tong was leading the troops for guarding. Apart from eating and drinking and waiting for news, these emperors, ministers, civil officials and military officers seemed to have nothing to say or do… Actually, Zhao Jiu had wanted to find this well-mannered Madam Liang to gossip about some legends, but this Emperor Zhao had been out of the well for several months, and he knew a little bit of the social and military customs. Although Han Shizhong was a carefree person and asked his wife to serve him in public, Emperor Zhao didn't want to say much, for fear of any indecent news.
However, even though they could only sit there and eat and drink, the civil and military officials in the hall, including Madam Liang and Huyan Tong who already knew the whole story, all felt that Emperor Zhao was really courageous and calm... He really had the air of a leader!
He is just as powerful as Liu Bei and Cao Cao in the Three Kingdoms storytelling!
In fact, it is unknown whether he has the spirit of a master, but it is definitely true that Zhao Jiu is full of courage and calm, because he even eats and talks with vigor. Even from the perspective of this official Zhao, this meal may be the most relaxed and unscrupulous one he has eaten in the past few months.
Why?
It’s because this is Han Shizhong ’s central military inn!
So, we have to talk about Han Shizhong again.
Let's talk about Han Shizhong, whose courtesy name is Liangchen... Well, this courtesy name must have been given to him after he became a high-ranking official. Most of the time, everyone calls him Po Han Wu. He was born in Yan'an Prefecture (now Suide County) in Yongxing Army Road of the Song Dynasty. He is 39 years old this year. He may have been born in a frontier state army. In addition, due to his family background, he is a born scoundrel. He has been lawless since he was a child. Because of his natural supernatural power and the martial arts he has cultivated since he was a child, he is the kind of scoundrel that cannot be controlled.
However, this guy is undoubtedly a natural born general. Up to now, this general with rich life experience and twenty years of military service has accumulated the following but not limited to various miraculous achievements:
When he was a teenager and a hooligans in Yan'an Prefecture, he almost killed a fortune teller with one punch, which seemed to be more powerful than a certain flower monk who killed Zhen Guanxi with three punches... The cause of this incident was that the 'Guanxi fortune teller' told Han Wu that he had a special bone structure and might be able to reach a high position of the three highest officials in this life, and become a vice-state-level leader. Han Wu, who didn't know where to get his next meal, felt that he was being teased;
At the age of twenty-six, when he had been in the army for eight years and was still a junior officer in the Western Army, he once rode alone into the enemy's central army tent, beheaded the Xixia prince consort who was supervising the army, and then caused the entire Xixia army to collapse;
At the age of 33, he had already risen to the rank of lieutenant general and lieutenant colonel, and participated in the battle against Fang La. He first lured the enemy and annihilated Fang La's main force, and then personally led people into the cave where Fang La was hiding and captured him.
When he was 38 years old, the Jingkang Rebellion started from the Sea Alliance. The main force of the Song army collapsed completely, and the word that the Jin army was invincible spread throughout the country. In the same year, he was patrolling the Hutuo River, and encountered 2,000 Jin cavalry with 50 cavalry. He used the decapitation tactic to eliminate the enemy officers and forced the army to retreat.
In the winter of the same year, the Northern Song Dynasty actually entered the process of destruction, Hebei actually fell, and Han Shizhong, who had fled to Zhaozhou, was besieged in the city. As a result, he took advantage of the heavy snow, escaped by hanging a rope, and led hundreds of soldiers to raid the camp, killing the main general of the Jin army, and successfully broke the siege!
Besides, with this kind of record and qualifications, anyone with a bit of brains would probably be able to see that this is a figure like a famous general in ancient times, born to be a general, destined to be recorded in the history books. In fact, Zhao Jiu talked with those squad leaders, and almost everyone, no matter where they were, knew the name of Po Han Wu, and knew that he was one of the most outstanding heroes in the army, and his various legends had long been spread throughout the army.
However, another fact is that Han Shizhong, who had been in the army for twenty years and had so many amazing military achievements, was finally able to become a commander-in-chief entirely because he was wandering around in Hebei with a group of soldiers and happened to meet Zhao Laojiu, thus gaining the credit of following the dragon!
Otherwise, he might be a world-famous commander!
Back then, the killing of the Xixia military supervisor's son-in-law was known to everyone in the Western Army, but the news was reported up the chain of command, and finally to Tong Guan, the commander of the Western Army, who had not yet thought of governing Youyan. And Tong Guan was such a person, how could he be deceived by such an absurd thing? Therefore, this record was cut in half again and again, and finally simply wiped out, and Han Shizhong was only promoted one level.
There was also the case of Fang La, whose merits were taken away by a superior named Xin Xingzong in public. This incident became more widely known because many people witnessed it and complained about it privately.
As for the later Jingkang Rebellion which started from the Sea Alliance, Han Shizhong, as a middle-level military officer, had been in the overall situation since the expedition against Liao. Although he was extremely powerful, he could only go with the flow, so no one promoted him.
It was really because of Zhao Laojiu's ascension to the throne that he became the commander of the left army of the imperial camp and became a top military officer with real power. And because of his merit in suppressing the rebellion later, Li Gang just promoted him to the rank of Chengxuanshi of Dingguo Army (a military officer's additional title), and from now on he can be called Han Taiwei!
But it seems that we have to say it again. Didn’t General Han rebel again after just being in office for half a month?
Didn't you see Mrs. Liang carefully carrying the plate herself? Didn't you see Han Shizhong himself hurriedly running out to put on his armor with his big hairy legs?
What for?
Back to the present, after Han Shizhong had led his troops in a panic, Zhao Jiu took the initiative to ask for a meal, and then Madam Liang asked the kitchen to light the fire again. When the meal was ready, a group of people and the hundred cavalrymen waited for Emperor Zhao to finish his midnight snack unscrupulously, and then drank his tea leisurely... While they were full of respect, they turned around and saw a commotion outside the town. It turned out that Commander Han had returned!
"Officials!"
Han Shizhong, a burly man, threw down his weapon before entering the hall, and then bowed his head. "Good instructor, you know, that thief has been killed by me personally!"
As he spoke, a lieutenant presented a bloody head and bowed it in front of Han Shizhong so that everyone in the hall could see it clearly.
The rest of the people, not to mention the soldiers, but Yuwen Xuzhong, Zhao Ding, Zhang Jun, the three civil officials, and even Madam Liang, all just gritted their teeth and took a look, and then remained indifferent. Zhao Ding even snorted coldly, as if he recognized the head. Only Zhao Jiu, who had been sitting still before and made countless people think that he had the potential to be the master tonight, was startled. He quickly picked up the teacup and swallowed a mouthful of warm tea to cover it up... It can only be said that this time he was not scared to death on the spot.
"How did you make it level?"
The sight of so many heads was so frightening that Zhao Jiu took great effort to imitate the others and keep his eyes straight ahead. However, it was no longer possible to do as he had planned. He stood up and approached Han Shizhong to imitate Han Zhaolie's pretense, but he remained seated motionless.
"I led the army to Baichi Town. When there were still ten miles to go, he still showed no signs of movement. I knew that he was unprepared, so I abandoned the main force and led only a hundred cavalrymen to rush to the town. I woke him up in the town, and then killed him with a knife on the street..."
“…”
