Volume 1 Chapter 31: Turmoil
Rationally speaking, Zhao Jiu should not have killed Liu Guangshi, because doing so would have too many disadvantages, not just a matter of what was already done.
First of all, the Song Dynasty favored scholars and officials, but the Song Dynasty did not have the tradition of killing all the generals who voluntarily gave up their military power! It can even be said that this seriously violated the established strategy of Emperor Taizu of Song Dynasty, not to mention that it was such a bad thing for the government to kill people with their own hands?
Therefore, what Lu Haowen said was right, and the prime minister was indeed ... Zhao Jiu was destroying the Song Dynasty system with his own hands, and the Song Dynasty system was precisely the real weapon to maintain the authority of Emperor Zhao in this precarious time.
In other words, Zhao Jiu was digging up Zhao Song's roots with his own hands and messing with the rotten chair under his butt!
Secondly, from another perspective, the Jin army had already arrived in Huaibei at this time, and the two sides were separated by a river, in a state of imminent war. So what was the point of killing such a high-ranking general at this time?
Wang De and Fu Qing were manipulated by Emperor Zhao to rebel, but what if he had failed?
Moreover, Wang De and Fu Qing were fine. One of them was a famous general with a high rank in the central government and had many connections with the central government; the other was a new surrenderer and his subordinates were relatively independent... The relationship between these two people and Liu Guangshi was not so close that they were connected to each other, otherwise they would not have been controlled.
But at this moment, since Liu Guangshi was dead, and was killed by Emperor Zhao himself, what about the 3,000 Western Army troops he left at the foot of the mountain? Qiao Zhongfu and Zhang Jing, the two commanders from the Western Army, were still at the foot of the mountain at this time. Who knows what the result would be? !
What if it’s the other way around?
If we don't resist, what will happen if they mutini and flee?
Even if nothing happened, would there be any good outcome once the news got out?
It can be said that after killing Liu Guangshi, at this moment, among the few armed forces of the Song Dynasty near the Central Plains, except for Zong Ze's Tokyo Garrison and the two generals Zhang and Han, the rest of those messy generals became unreliable!
For example, Fan Qiong, who had a very dark history, had forced the two emperors to surrender with a knife, and killed countless civilians in Tokyo who blocked his way. He was a Zhang Bangchang among military officials. He was finally appeased by Li Gang before, but now he was leading troops to suppress rebellions in Xiangyang and Nanyang. There was another commander in the imperial camp, named Wang Yi, who was also famous for his poor military discipline and excessive domineering. At this time, he was leading troops in Jiangning Prefecture (now Nanjing) behind him to prepare for the emperor's arrival. There were even Liu Zhengyan and Miao Fu, who had spent so much time relying on Liu Yan's strategy to capture Ding Jin, and had delayed such a big event. They had long been worried, and they were also generals of the Western Army, so they couldn't help but have wild thoughts...
Speaking of Liu Guangshi's identity as a general of the Western Army, the remnants of the Western Army were still the main reliance of the Song Dynasty at this time. Qu Duan in Guanxi, the Liu brothers, the Wu brothers, and Yang Weizhong in Hebei... Although everyone should be trustworthy, what if anyone is indecisive?
In short, it would be normal for any of these people to rebel after the news got out. And the words of Zhang Jun, the Chief Censor, were also very pertinent. Zhao Jiu was just messing around on the dangerous edge of national destruction!
But didn't Emperor Zhao say that he would rather lose his country than do this! In other words, he knew about these dangers a long time ago, but he still did it! Or in other words, when he did this, he knew there would be these dangers!
In fact, compared to these predictable and inferred things, the civil and military officials were more worried about what this desperate official would do next? If he would rather lose his country than live a few more times, what would they say when they saw Li Gang and the other officials?
"What does the mountain say?"
At noon, the sun was shining brightly. Looking from the top of Bagua Mountain, the view of the opposite bank was excellent, which made it impossible to conceal the arrival of the Jin army's large group of troops. As if prepared, as the Jin army's large group of troops slowly appeared on the north bank one after another, the south bank of Bagua Mountain, which had been quiet for a whole morning, suddenly became restless and noisy again... Zhao Jiu, who was sitting alone on the top of the northern peak of Bagua Mountain observing the situation, heard the noise and almost without turning his head, he started to inquire.
"Report to the authorities!"
After returning from the foot of the mountain, Yang Yizhong first reported the situation to several important civil and military officials in the hall, and then he had no choice but to disregard the official order and opened the curtain to come here. "Good instructor, you know, in the morning, thanks to the advance relocation of the camp by Wang (Wang De) and Fu (Fu Qing), and the two commanders Qiao (Qiao Zhongfu) and Zhang (Zhang Jing) who were able to see the general situation, the situation was stabilized in the end. But when the main force of the Jin army arrived, the whole camp was in turmoil, and even the subordinates of Wang and Fu were in a panic..."
"Just don't rebel, what's the big deal about being in a hurry?" Zhao Jiu turned around and revealed a hint of sarcasm. I don't know if it was an illusion, but this official Zhao actually gave people a feeling of relief and ease. "Then what? If Wang and Fu's subordinates are like this, what about the three thousand Western troops? They are the ones who are leading the commotion now, right?"
"Exactly!"
"They don't rebel but just make noise. What do they want?" Zhao Jiu seemed to be more and more indifferent. It was unclear whether he was just giving up or opened up a new world after killing someone with his own hands yesterday.
“They want a reward!”
Yang Yizhong lowered his head and carefully glanced at the emperor who stood up and passed by him. He had to admit that after yesterday, he was more or less afraid of Zhao Jiu, because it was too rare for an emperor like Zhao Jiu to kill people with his own hands. "They were making trouble, saying that it was a precedent that the emperor would give rewards to the imperial guards when he ascended the throne, but this time the emperor has not given any rewards since he ascended the throne, and he wants them to work so hard..."
"At least you didn't say it directly because of Liu Guangshi's matter." Zhao Jiu paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, sighing slightly.
"Qiao Zhongfu and Zhang Jing are both veterans of the Western Army who can see the big picture. They won't let these ruffians in the army be so reckless. However, soldiers asking for rewards is a common thing in the army, and it is also the best way to motivate people." At this point, Yang Yizhong, who was following behind Zhao Jiu, became more cautious in his words. "Your Majesty, several ministers and ministers all think that if it is not dealt with quickly, I am afraid that General Wang and Commander Fu's troops will also be involved, and even Commander Huyan and the imperial guards will be unstable..."
"It seems that the troublemakers are all veterans in the army. They know how to make trouble and when to make trouble." Zhao Jiu continued to pace forward, but stopped at the edge of the curtain that served as the palace for him, the Emperor Zhao, and suddenly turned around and asked with a smile. "So what if this reward is not given, and what if it is given?"
"No, they can't rebel without the support of veteran generals at the commanding level. But the 20,000 main forces of the Jin army are in Huaibei. They may take the opportunity to incite them and make the entire camp flee south!" Yang Yi Zhong said sternly.
"No!" Zhao Jiu shook his head immediately, and pointed north. "You can see that the main force of the Jin army has arrived, and it is unknown how long it will take to repair the inner crossing of Xiacai City. Zhang Jun has become a completely isolated army on the other side. If the Huainan Bagongshan camp collapses again, he will have no chance... Either the whole city will collapse overnight, or he will be forced to surrender by his subordinates. It is a foreseeable thing now."
"Then I can only reward you." Yang Yizhong replied carefully. "I just reported to several ministers, and they all have the same idea. They are waiting for you behind the curtains!"
Zhao Jiu nodded, then looked up at the clear winter sky and sighed, not knowing what he was thinking: "Is there really enough money and goods in the camp?"
"It's not enough, but the treasuries of the two big states of Shouzhou and Shunchang are here, so it's still feasible to give a rough reward to the whole army." In fact, the Imperial Censor Zhang Jun, who was on the other side of the curtain, couldn't help but say. "Your Majesty, since your Majesty has appointed me as the Imperial Censor, I have to say... Now that Liu Guangshi has been killed, there is no point in saying more. After all, Liu Guangshi is just one person, and there are thousands or even tens of thousands of people down the mountain. It is impossible to stabilize the situation by punishment alone!"
"You're right. I don't expect to rely solely on punishment..." Zhao Jiu nodded repeatedly across the curtain.
"Your Majesty, please let me know." Another person spoke through the curtain. It was Lu Haowen, the only official minister of the East Palace in the camp. "Even if the money and goods of the imperial court are all gone now, Your Majesty does not need to worry about the expenses of the imperial court and the camp. You must know that Zhang Shumi (Zhang Que) is preparing salt permits and certificates in Huaidong, and everything is going smoothly; Liang Shizhi (Liang Yangzu) is handling the southeastern finances in Yangzhou, and it is also effective... These can all be directly supplied here. Even in the west, after Ding Jin surrendered, the roads were restored, and the money and materials supplied by Chuzhou and other military states can be delivered immediately." At this point, Lu Haowen paused for a moment, and finally continued. "Your Majesty has given appropriate rewards. After people's hearts are restored, you can go south to Yangzhou without worry and temporarily avoid the enemy. Leave this place to Wang De... It's time to promote him to a commander."
"Wang De can indeed be given the title of commander." Zhao Jiu listened for a while through the curtains, and suddenly said, "But since we are talking about the west, if we reward the troops here, don't we need to reward Liu Zhengyan, Miao Fu, Liu Yan, and even Ding Jin in the west? Moreover, Liu Guangshi has just been killed, and they are also from the Western Army, so we need to appease them. And Zhang Suo's whereabouts are unknown... In short, we need a prime minister to go to the west, distribute the treasures escorted from Chuzhou on the spot, and promote them appropriately to appease the people. Prime Minister Lu, Prime Minister Wang, who of you will go?"
There was silence across the curtain for a while, but soon Lu Haowen spoke again: "Your Majesty, you must have at least two officials from the East and West and one prime minister by your side, otherwise people will be uneasy... I think it would be better to appoint Yuwen Xuzhong, the scholar of the Zizheng Palace who was separated in Yingkou before, as the co-director of the Privy Council, and transfer him to Huaixi to appease Liu and Miao, and take care of the transportation of several military states in Huaixi."
"Okay." Zhao Jiu smiled and didn't say much.
"That mountain..."
"Let's prepare the rewards down there!" Zhao Jiu continued to smile with his hands behind his back across the curtain. "General Wang, go tell the generals and commanders first, and ask them to calm the people down. Then spread out the gold, silver, money, cloth, and other valuables on the gentle slope on the south side of the mountain, so that they can see it with their own eyes. Prime Minister Wang will then personally watch over it and find experienced people to distribute it fairly..."
"The government makes a wise decision."
Obviously, many people in the tent breathed a sigh of relief, but Prime Minister Wang Boyan still carefully made a small suggestion. "But sir, it is not good to show money and property in public in front of the soldiers. Otherwise, if some unscrupulous people incite, it may cause chaos."
Zhao Jiu seemed to be thinking about something, then nodded slowly and followed suit: "In that case, then don't make it public. Moreover, since we are worried that someone will instigate again, why not let the officers below Qiao Zhongfu and Zhang Jing in the Western Army... the ones who are causing trouble... go to the small camp on the top of the mountain, and have Lu Xianggong and Zhang Zhongcheng come forward to give them more rewards and appease them. In this way, they will not cause trouble when we reward the army, and we can also see if we can appease the army from the root."
There was silence outside the curtain for a moment, followed by whispers.
However, when Zhao Jiu lowered his head, lifted the curtain and walked in, the so-called important ministers of the imperial court, namely the four people headed by Lu Haowen, Wang Boyan, Wang Yuan, and Zhang Jun, plus the miscellaneous civil and military officials in the imperial palace such as Hu Yin, Yang Yizhong, and Lan Gui, all fell silent.
The leader, Lu Haowen, no longer hesitated, but nodded immediately: "Your Majesty's words are also mature, I think we can give it a try."
Zhao Jiu smiled with his hands behind his back...If there were not last night's bloodstains on the open space in the middle of the curtain, the main force of the Jin army and an isolated city on the other side of the river, and the clamoring rebels at the foot of the mountain, everyone would almost think that the extremely relaxed official in front of them was the benevolent emperor who came to enjoy the mountains and rivers in peaceful times.
Just like that, since everyone had received the order, they immediately turned around and went about their business. At this time, Zhao Jiu suddenly spoke up to remind them, "Bring some money and goods first. I want to personally reward the guards in front of me first!"
This was understandable. Everyone became even more speechless and then even busier.
