Volume 1 Chapter 27 Just Walk Away
The poem says:
The wheels rumble, the horses neigh, and the travelers have bows and arrows at their waists.
My parents and wife saw me off, but the dust obscured the view of the Xianyang Bridge.
He pulled her clothes and stamped his feet, crying in the road, and his cries reached the sky.
By the way, the tragic scene of war that Zhao Jiu had imagined in his mind for a long time finally appeared nakedly before his eyes for the first time, but it was very likely caused by him himself.
It should be known that Shouzhou straddles the Huai River, and the two richest twin cities of Xiacai and Shouchun are separated by the river. The two cities are connected by docks, roads, and markets. Even on a sunny day, you can see the splendor of the two cities at the same time by standing on the Bagua Mountain south of the Huai River.
Therefore, when the local people in Huaibei heard that the Jin army was coming, they naturally did not feel any confusion or discomfort about fleeing to Huainan.
But, so to speak, the young and strong men needed to stay behind to defend the city, the property must be taken away, the grain had to be handed over, and the most frustrating thing was that the military situation was too urgent... According to Liu Guangshi, the six military states south of Mount Tai that he led were all attacked. The nearest Xuzhou in the north was only 400 miles away from the Huai River. At a distance of 400 miles, considering the courage and fearlessness of hardship that the Jin people had shown in the past few years, a complete and combat-ready vanguard of the Jin army would arrive within five or six days.
Of course, it could also be seven or eight days, but who would dare to gamble in this case?
Especially now it’s the end of the year!
As a result, the people in northern Shouzhou who were extremely insecure, the tense river transportation, the unstable morale of the civil and military officials, and the greed of Zhang Jun's troops led to an almost inevitable chaos. In the chaos, the lack of discipline of the Song army, the arrogance and selfishness of the officials, and the panic and anger of the people were magnified in turn, causing everyone to fall into a state of restlessness and disorder...
In a word, the war has not yet come, but the disaster it causes has already begun.
"Official residences and civilian dwellings were all burned down, and not a single bottle, pot, door, or other item was left intact... Men, women, old, and young were mutilated day by day, and in some towns no one was left alive, and the stench of corpses could be smelled for a hundred miles."
On the evening of the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, outside the east gate of Xiacai City, two groups of unarmored militiamen were fighting openly. One of the wounded had his stomach cut open, his intestines spilled all over the ground, and were frozen by the cold ground, making it seem as if he could not survive. The surrounding people were frightened and tried to stop him, but they had no choice because they wanted to enter the city. On the city gate tower, seeing that Emperor Zhao was staring at the city and his face was getting uglier and uglier, the Imperial Censor Zhang Jun suddenly spoke.
"What is this?" Zhao Jiu turned around and asked coldly.
"It was the first year of the Jingkang reign, when the Jin invaders first marched south. Li Ruoshui, then a doctor of the Imperial Household, was sent to Hebei to persuade the Jin invaders to return north. He came back and told me about the frontline." Zhang Jun bowed his head and responded. "Your Majesty, these things are at most just public security matters. Once the Jin invaders come, everything will be destroyed. Massacres and burning of towns are common. Although your Majesty is kind-hearted and considerate, and you are here to see this matter in person, it is okay for you to intervene. However, when the overall situation is imminent, your Majesty will step in to rectify this matter with the imperial guards, which will be a loss for the greater good."
Zhao Jiu let out a long sigh and tried not to look at what was happening below the gatehouse... He knew what Zhang Deyuan meant. In addition to explaining the conflict below, this was undoubtedly his personal censor's intention to persuade him, the Emperor Zhao, to cross the river as soon as possible to calm people's hearts. This was what everyone had been persuading in the past few days. However, Zhao Jiu was too lazy to respond to his trusted minister, because it was not that he was not prepared to cross the river, but that he was dissatisfied and wanted to try to delay until the last minute to calm people's hearts.
They all wanted to calm the people's hearts, but what Zhang Jun and his people meant by calming the people's hearts were the hearts of the civil and military officials as well as the literati and officials in Huainan, while what Zhao Jiu was thinking about were the hearts of the people in Shouzhou who had migrated south. The thoughts of both sides did not seem to be contradictory, but they were completely different.
It can only be said that these days, because the emperor has become more and more unnecessarily stubborn, even though those who remain in the imperial court are the emperor's confidants, good guys, or yes-men, the differences between the monarch and his subjects are becoming increasingly clear.
A moment later, just as the atmosphere on the city gate tower became more and more tense, Yang Yizhong could not help but go down to deal with it. Perhaps knowing that Zhao Jiu was nearby, Tian Shizhong, the general of the central army under the command of Zhang Jun, the Grand Commandant, hurried over and captured two soldiers at the city gate, killing four or five people in a row as a warning , and by the way, he killed the almost hopeless wounded, and then asked the reason before personally bringing the head up to the city to see Zhao Jiu.
It turned out that one of the two militias came from Shunchang Prefecture. Because they were incorporated into Zhang Jun's army earlier, they were responsible for guarding a small ferry outside the east gate. However, they extorted a local fugitive team during the guarding process and refused to arrange a ferry. As luck would have it, there was a local villager in the extorted team who had an acquaintance patrolling nearby, so he went to complain... The two groups came to the open space outside the city gate to discuss, and they started fighting directly after a few words of disagreement.
Zhao Jiu felt helpless when he heard this, but he became more and more unhappy... It was not that he could not understand what was happening downstairs of the city gate, nor that he could not understand the limitations of this era, but understanding was one thing, and as a soul from that era, he still emotionally felt that this kind of fight between armies was absurd and disappointing.
In fact, after these few days of suffering, except for Zhao Ding who took the initiative to return from Huainan and organized the people to set up a transit camp on the opposite Bagua Mountain, gradually showing extremely sophisticated bureaucratic skills, which made Emperor Zhao feel a little relieved, there was no .
"Officials!"
As the sky was getting darker, Zhao Jiu encouraged Tian Shizhong a little and was about to turn back, when suddenly, Zhang Jun, the Grand Commandant, came to the city gate tower to ask for an audience. As soon as they met, he bowed down beside several bloody heads and spoke in a heavy tone. "It really can't be delayed any longer! Please pack up now and leave the city tonight and head to Huainan!"
"Any news?" Zhao Jiu took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.
"Yes!" Zhang Jun answered seriously. "Military situation at the front, most of General Liu's troops have already reached Woshui River, and should be crossing the river now. They will be here tomorrow or the day after tomorrow..."
"What are you doing here?" Emperor Zhao frowned. "Shouldn't we ask him to cross the river from Haozhou (the area around Fengyang and Bengbu)?"
"We must be being chased by the Jin army." Zhang Jun's expression became more serious. "Our scouts saw clearly that there were indeed traces of the Jin army on the east bank of the Wo River... In fact, it's a bit late for the Jin army to find traces now."
Zhao Jiu was speechless and could only nod reluctantly.
Just like that, Emperor Zhao had no room for maneuver. That night, the imperial civil and military officials discussed it clearly with General Zhang... The emperor and the imperial court crossed the Huai River at night and temporarily settled in the opposite Bagua Mountain; Wang Yuan, the commander-in-chief, was left as the water manager to control the boats and ensure that the two sides continued to be unobstructed; whether it was the local people who had not yet crossed the river or the fleeing civilians, even if Liu Guangshi's troops arrived, they would first enter the city, and then be transported and transferred from Xiacai Linhuai, which was protected by the city wall; and except for the inner ferry, all other ferries and boats outside the city were burned to prevent them from being used by the Jin people.
Zhao Jiu did not participate in these discussions, and even seemed confused when crossing the river that night.
"Officials!"
Before boarding the ship, Zhang Jun, the Grand Commandant, knelt down to Emperor Zhao for the second time. "I have something to say."
"Tell me." Despite all the disappointments, Zhang Jun's performance in Shouzhou this time maintained the bottom line of a soldier. It was difficult for Zhao Jiu to have any extra bad thoughts about him, and it was also difficult for him not to take his words seriously.
"Your Majesty, the enemy is now in full force, so we should cross the river to the south. After crossing the Huai River, please make some preparations and then go south again. Take advantage of the river, and then train the troops and politics, calm the people's hearts, and wait for the national situation to stabilize. It will not be too late to make a big move." The ferry was in a mess. Zhang Jun bowed his head regardless of everything and spoke sincerely. "This is what I really think! Only now will Your Majesty not think that I am a coward. Please think carefully about it."
At the ferry, Zhao Jiu looked at this man steadily... If he remembered correctly, this should be the first time he heard someone publicly propose the strategy of crossing the river and living in peace despite the world's disapproval. In the past, not to mention Zhao Jiu, even those peace advocates and surrenderists who longed for this in their hearts would have to stand up and scold him first, and then give Zhang Junan a protective reason that a military man does not know the moral articles, and then discuss the feasibility.
However , today, under the circumstances, it is really difficult for Zhao Jiu to refute it.
"I see."
In fact, Zhao Jiu was silent for half a day, but he could only say this.
