Volume 1 Chapter 23 Honor and Shame
On the first day of the last month of the first year of Jianyan , when it was snowing heavily, Zhao Jiu met Zhang Jun, one of the so-called Four Generals of the Restoration, who was as famous as Yue Fei and Han Shizhong, at Dongtai Pavilion where the Fei River flows into the Huai River, 30 miles west of Shouzhou City!
In fact, Zhao Jiu knew this person. Not only had he heard of him after he came out of the well, but even before he traveled through time, this name was hard to forget because it was simple and direct, and it had always been associated with Yue Han in a negative way... Of course, after he came out of the well, this name became even more well-known.
On the contrary, as for Liu Guangshi, Zhao Jiu was not quite sure whether this man was one of the Four Generals of the Restoration, because he could understand that a famous general had low moral standards, but it was difficult to accept that a general who was known by everyone as a war-avoiding general and a long-legged general could make any contribution to the Restoration... Could it be that when Yue Fei, Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun were fighting the Jin army on the front line, this General Liu relied on his speed advantage and talent for surrendering rebels to deal with all the rebellions in the rear?
But then again, Zhao Jiu, who likes to chat with his squad leaders, now knows very well why Zhang Jun and Liu Guangshi have such prominent positions in the army?
The reason is simple - just like the body occupied by Zhao Jiu, everyone just happened to appear at the necessary opportunity with some irreplaceable capital when the mountains were collapsing and the earth was breaking.
Among them, Zhao Laojiu's capital is naturally his bloodline, while Liu Zhang's capital is their soldiers and horses.
In addition, there may be a saying that Liu Guangshi was the son who succeeded his father; Zhang Jun was similar, but he was somewhat of an heir of the Zhong family army with a different surname.
Liu Guangshi's father was the famous Liu Yanqing, who was one of the longest-legged generals in the Song army! General Liu always liked to avoid battles, miss deadlines, steal credit, and run away. He ran all the way from Baigou to Tokyo, but he was probably not as long as the horses of the Jin army, so he was inevitably stabbed by the Jin army.
And probably for this reason, after Liu Guangshi made his debut, his leg skills became even more amazing, to the point that he surpassed his master!
But no matter what, Liu Guangshi has the connections left over from his father, an old military leader who was one of the most respected in the Song Dynasty, which he had built up over decades... and Liu Yanqing was lenient to his subordinates, and the same was true for Liu Guangshi.
Therefore, when the Jingkang Incident collapsed that day, Liu Guangshi was on his way to Tokyo with his 3,000 soldiers. When he heard that the front had suffered a great defeat, he made a prompt decision. Instead of turning back, he dropped everything and led his 3,000 soldiers from Guanxi to Hebei. He was the first to run to the side of Zhao Laojiu, who was still a figurehead marshal at the time, and from then on he rose to prominence!
You can tell from their official titles that they are all commanders of the Imperial Camp, and above them there is Wang Yuan who is the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Camp. However, Liu Guangshi is in charge of the affairs of the Imperial Camp and the inspector-in-chief of the Imperial Camp... The actual power he has may not be less than that of Wang Yuan.
He was even the first Song Dynasty soldier to be officially awarded the title of Taiwei after the Jingkang period, a title that was just confirmed a few days before Zhao Jiu came out of the well.
As for Zhang Jun and Zhang Boying, their path to rise during the Jianyan period was roughly similar to that of Liu Guangshi.
He also pulled out an army of two to three thousand people during the Jingkang collapse, and then appeared where he should be when there was no one around Zhao Laojiu.
However, correspondingly speaking, Zhang Jun is obviously more capable, because unlike Liu Guangshi, he does not have a good father, so he comes with 3,000 complete soldiers and horses as soon as he appears. After he has mastered both civil and military skills, he can also enjoy his father's natural connections... Zhang Jun was able to inherit the powerful Western Army, the Zhong Family Army, by fighting for his life.
First of all, Zhang Jun really followed Zhong Shizhong in a bloody battle in Taiyuan, and even when the entire army was almost wiped out, he pulled out a remnant of soldiers and broke through the siege; secondly, he maintained his leadership position by relying on his performance on the battlefield and his personal charm along the way.
Of course, there must have been a little bit of luck, for example, he met a nobleman Liang Yangzu, the prefect of Guide Prefecture who first accepted the remnants of the exile such as Zhang Jun, and then took them to see Zhao Laojiu. He was a man who knew how to advance and retreat... When Zhao Laojiu ascended the throne, he discussed preserving the original Grand Marshal's Mansion and wanted this person to be the marshal, but Liang Yangzu took the initiative to give up his military power and central power, and asked to go south to manage finances.
And Zhang Jun inherited this throne, which made him qualified to be the commander of the imperial camp, below Liu Guangshi and above Han Shizhong.
Back to the present.
Amidst the heavy snow, the atmosphere of the meeting in the Dongtai Pavilion was unconsciously becoming tense and stiff. After Emperor Zhao entered the warm pavilion prepared for him by Captain Zhang, he first disrespectfully had the gorgeous curtains removed. He then ordered that most of the delicacies and fine wines in the pavilion be given to Ban Zhi and Huyan Tong's troops who had worked hard in the armored march. Only a few freshly roasted ducks on the stove in the pavilion were left untouched. Then he sat there without saying a word until now.
Poor General Zhang, who was already over forty years old, had been standing on the edge of the pavilion without sitting down, and some snow had gradually accumulated on his shoulders... If this were to get out in the future, wouldn't there be an allusion to "Standing in the Snow on Dongtai" to specifically describe the cold-hearted nature of officials?
After all, considering the emperor's preferential treatment of Han Shizhong that day, and the emperor's change in attitude towards some of his former confidants after he fell into the well that day, it was impossible to stop the civil and military officials present from having wild thoughts.
And to be honest, everyone generally felt a little unfair for General Zhang, because there was no reason why Han Shizhong's subordinates rebelled and got the jade belt, but General Zhang went out of the city thirty miles to pay respect to them, but was treated like this!
Of course, Zhao Jiuzhen didn't mean it, quite the contrary. It was precisely because he knew the importance of General Zhang that he was hesitant and didn't know how to talk to him, and then he lost his mind without realizing it.
"Zhang Qing, please come and sit with me."
Finally, just when Zhang Jun's old subordinate Yang Yizhong was about to break the taboo and give a reminder, Emperor Zhao finally spoke. His casual words made both the civil and military officials in the pavilion breathe a sigh of relief.
"I dare not!" Zhang Jun, who was also relieved, was still extremely respectful. "The emperor and the gentlemen are sitting, where is the place for a warrior like me?"
"Why should I be afraid of that?" Zhao Jiu came back to his senses and laughed. "Han Liangchen passed by here a few days ago. I don't believe that General Zhang didn't see the jade belt on his waist... Han Wu is not even a general, but he dares to wear a jade belt and walk around the border all day long. How dare you, General Zhang, not sit with me?"
Zhang Jun continued to decline.
"Zhang Qing," Zhao Jiu was helpless when he saw this. "Could it be that you knew I had forgotten about the people and things after falling into the well, so you deliberately distanced yourself from me? It is precisely because of this that you and I should be more frank and intimate, so that our past closeness will not become a burden."
After hearing this, Zhang Jun did not dare to hesitate any longer, and walked forward, passing the Chief Censor Zhang Jun, whose name was very similar to his, and sat down with several ministers from the East and West Palaces. However, he sat at the outermost position, leaving only half of his butt on the stool.
Seeing the other party's attitude, Zhao Jiu simply waved his hand and said bluntly: "How about this, please leave for Xiacai (the name of Shouzhou settle down, so as to avoid being cold outside. The rest of the civil and military officials also help to settle down the troops. I have a few words to say to General Zhang in private..."
Everyone was shocked, and when Lu Haowen was hesitating, Zhang Que, who had just returned to the core circle and was in charge of the Privy Council, stiffened his neck and said:
"When the emperor is talking to the Grand Marshal, he must avoid the Prime Minister unless necessary!"
Zhao Jiu had no choice but to change his words: "I'm going to ask General Zhang some personal questions."
"How could the emperor have any private affairs?" Zhang Que almost blurted out.
Zhao Jiu was obviously angry, but he could only stand up and wave his sleeves: "Then please enjoy the wine and ducks here slowly, and General Zhang, please come and ride with me and watch the snow scene on the Huai River!"
Zhang Xu originally wanted to continue to follow, but thinking of the official's well-known horsemanship, and the fact that it was really cold outside the pavilion, he was so angry that he simply didn't stand up to see him off. Instead, he lowered his head and asked someone to bring the duck. The chef in the pavilion had already prepared it, but he served a portion of salted duck first, and then hurriedly demonstrated his roast duck cooking skills to the gentlemen.
When all the civil and military officials saw the emperor and Zhang Jun, who hurriedly followed, riding their horses towards Huaikou, only Yang Yi Zhong and a few other riders followed them from a distance. Maybe it was because of the name, but after Zhang Shuxiang swallowed a mouthful of roast duck, he took his anger out on Zhang Jun, the Chief Censor. He even picked up the duck leg and scolded him in public, saying that Zhang Deyuan, as the head of the censors, had no backbone.
Zhang Deyuan was young and successful, and he knew that he was not on the same side as these old officials, so how could he show weakness? Although he couldn't be as direct as the other party, he also became sarcastic, so that the other officials, civil officials, and Zhang Jun's army entourage who knew the situation tried to persuade him... But no matter what, no matter how much trouble there was in the pavilion, it would be difficult to stop the emperor from meeting with the military officials in private again.
The snow was falling more and more rapidly, and the yellow and white dry grass by the river had already turned pure white. Zhao Jiu, Zhang Jun, Yang Yi Zhong and his companions hurriedly rode their horses and left Dongtai Pavilion where there was a heating stove. After avoiding the large group crossing the Feishui River, their footprints were almost obscured by the wind and snow as soon as they crossed the road.
But in the snow, when Zhao Jiu, led by Zhang Jun, turned onto a gentle slope and stopped to look into the distance, he saw the mist rising from the Huai River, intertwined with the snowflakes. At this time, the sky and the earth were clearly separated, yet hazy. It was a whole, yet the sky, the earth, the mountains and the rivers were clearly separated. It was simply a picturesque landscape... Zhao Guan was born in a small family, how could he have seen such a scenery? Naturally, he was amazed, and the unhappiness he had just felt with Zhang Que disappeared immediately. He almost wanted to recite a poem on the spot.
However, Zhao Jiu was an engineering graduate who only knew how to read online novels. His literary literacy was so shallow that it was difficult for him to copy a poem to suit the occasion, so he just held back!
After Emperor Zhao had looked at the scenery for a long time, he turned around and saw Yang Yizhong standing on his horse a dozen steps away, and a group of imperial guards standing a dozen steps further away. With only General Zhang at his side, he finally got to the point:
"Zhang Qing, do you know what I was thinking about when I sat in silence in the pavilion before?"
"I dare not make a rash guess." Zhang Jun, who had been paying attention to Emperor Zhao's attitude and had already thought of various answers in his mind, spoke up quickly. "Could it be that the emperor thinks that my decoration in the pavilion is a bit extravagant? Don't worry, my emperor knows that life is difficult. Now that I have returned to the imperial court, all the captured supplies will naturally be allocated by the central government. And I will never let my subordinates cause trouble for such a thing."
"You think too much." Zhao Jiu held the reins and continued to look at the steam above the Huai River and said slowly. "I was thinking about how to make General Zhang more sincere and use him for my own benefit, and then I naturally thought of the encounter between you and me as the king and minister, and I couldn't help but think a little more..."
"I am ashamed, but I have something to say." Zhang Jun lowered his head and answered. "I also knew about the emperor's fall from the well when I was away from the court, but the emperor is as important as Mount Tai. I will never forget the emperor's kindness to me. My loyalty and gratitude to the emperor will never be affected by such a small matter..."
"That's what I thought, too." Zhao Jiu suddenly spoke up, and turned his head to stare at him. "I just spent half a day thinking about it in the pavilion, but suddenly I realized that I was overthinking... You are similar to Liu Guangshi, but slightly different from Han Shizhong. We met in Hebei, and we will prosper together and suffer together. There is no need for us to have a belt or not! Right?"
"That's exactly what I meant!" Zhang Jun was overjoyed, and felt that the anxiety he had felt for several months had instantly disappeared. "The emperor is still the emperor."
Zhao Jiu also laughed when he saw this, but after laughing, he immediately pointed at the other person, and then at himself:
"But Mr. Zhang, that was then. Back then, you and I were in Hebei. Without me, you would be a defeated dog on the road, and without you, I would be bait for the Jin soldiers. But what about now? Now, without you, Mr. Zhang, I still have Han Shizhong and half of Jiangnan to rely on; but without me, you and Liu Guangshi will still be defeated dogs on the road like we were in Hebei! Right?"
Not far away, Yang Yizhong was stunned, and Zhang Jun's face changed drastically.
"Okay, let me ask you now." Zhao Jiu became serious. "General Zhang, can we defend the Huai River? I really don't want to run away!"
