Volume 1 Chapter 35: New Year Festival
Beheading twelve people and expelling a ship of fifteen people was a rare victory in the war against the Jin Dynasty. Among them, five or six people were confirmed to be real Jurchen soldiers, which greatly boosted morale. However, in the situation where tens of thousands of troops were confronting each other across regions with cities, mountains and rivers, it was still a small victory and not worth mentioning... Celebrating this victory would be recorded in history books and be laughed at by others.
As for Wang De's promotion to commander, it was not a happy event worth celebrating. It was not even a sign of Wang De's combat capability. It was just something that had been discussed in the first place.
After all, after Liu Guangshi's death, Wang De is now the one with the highest official rank, the strongest subordinates and the most experience among his troops. He himself is a rare person with experience in fighting against Jin. Although Zhao Jiu has formally taken back his original position of Grand Marshal of the Army from Prime Minister Wang Boyan and became the nominal direct commander of the 3,000 Western Army of Liu Guangshi's former subordinates, it is impossible for him to actually command the war.
On the contrary, now in the camp at Bagua Mountain in Huainan, there are 3,000 Western Army led by Qiao Zhongfu and Zhang Jing, divided into left and right wings; there are 3,000 Fu Qing's troops; there are 1,000 Hu Yantong's troops; hundreds of imperial guards; and 2,000 Wang De's troops; and 5,000 to 6,000 civilians who were withdrawn from Huaibei but left behind to build the camp... Leaving aside the helpless empty pay and vacancies, there are a total of 14,500 to 15,000 people, including nearly 8,000 combat soldiers, no less than 5,000 armored soldiers, and 700 to 800 war horses of each army!
These were all the data Zhao Jiu had gathered through the rewards, and it was also because he insisted on personally supervising the rewards. He needed to write down this number in a small notebook in his imperial account, and he did write it down...
In a word, if Zhao Jiu, an inexperienced man, were to command so many troops, it would definitely lead to the destruction of the Zhao State! There must be a real leader! And Wang Yuan, the Grand Commandant, was really hard for Zhao Jiu to trust.
So, as I said before, Wang De’s ascension to the throne is natural, and it is impossible to celebrate this matter.
On the contrary, at this time, the fourth prince of the Jin Dynasty, Wushu, led the main force of the Jin army. The approximate number of over 20,000 was much more reassuring than the previous 100,000, but they were still invincible in field battles and still made the Song army fearful, not to mention the fire that Liu Guangshi set before crossing the river, turning Xiacai City into an isolated city.
Who knows if Xiacaicheng will open the city and surrender in the next quarter of an hour? Then let the Jin army calmly pass such an important town, collect ships from somewhere in Huaixi, cross the Huai River, and then search the mountains and seas.
However, after all that, a few days after the Jin army arrived, the Huainan Bagongshan camp still had an inappropriate feast, and even had lights and decorations... The reason couldn't be simpler, it was the New Year! And the governor of Shouzhou, Lin Jingmo, who had been ordered to lead the people of Huaibei to the south, happened to bring the supplies from the southeast states that Zhao Jiu had been looking forward to, including a lot of wine and meat!
It was freezing cold, they were away from home, it was a festive season, and they were facing a powerful enemy. There was also ready-made wine and meat, so there was no reason not to distribute them to boost morale.
"I am an official who is really..."
In the curtain in front of the imperial tent on the top of the mountain , under the flying Jinwu banner, Emperor Zhao looked at the "special diet" that Governor Lin prepared for him, and he couldn't help laughing.
The important ministers and close officials who were having the banquet together also rarely smiled.
It turned out that, just like that day in Jiegou, because a eunuch happened to buy a bucket of ginger and fermented black beans, the prefect prepared a few buckets of ginger and fermented black beans for the emperor when delivering supplies. This time, probably because Taiwei Zhang Jun was preparing dishes in Feikou and the emperor only had a few kinds of ducks left, Lin Jingmo actually prepared a bunch of Huai-di's famous salted water ducks for Emperor Zhao!
If this gets out, will the nicknames of "Ginger and Chili Emperor" and "Duck Official" be acceptable?
Of course, everyone just laughed it off, because ginger and salted duck were not luxury items after all, and it would not be a big deal if it was spread out, but it would make the emperor seem approachable. A few days ago, in order to boost morale, Emperor Zhao took his squad and officers from the two wings of the Western Army out of the camp every day to shoot wild ducks along the Huai River!
But the more I get used to eating duck, the harder it is to swallow this New Year's saltwater duck.
In fact, after Zhao Jiu made a joke, he only ate one duck leg. He indeed thought it tasted great, but it was too greasy and too salty. He couldn't finish too much of it, so he had to leave the almost whole duck untouched. Instead, he could only have some rice porridge, fried pork and the like to go with the wine. He often cast envious glances at the Secretary of the Central Secretariat Hu Yin... The latter ate almost all the duck in front of him. His speed and good appetite made everyone, including Zhao Jiu, secretly envious.
But let’s not talk about these ducks. After all, it was the New Year, after all, it was thanks to Emperor Zhao’s stubbornness that they survived two major crises, after all, supplies were replenished, after all, the Jin army did not have the ability to cross the river, after all, Xia Caicheng had not surrendered yet... According to the Chinese custom of enjoying life in the moment, the atmosphere of the banquet was still very good.
However, after three rounds of drinking, the drunkenness gradually became apparent, and according to the Chinese drinking rules, some messy things were inevitable:
Wang Yasha, who had just been promoted, probably wanted to express his gratitude, so he had to beat the drum and dance for the official... Beating the drum in the army was fine, but dancing was still allowed;
Then, Wang Yuan and Wang Boyan each "recalled" the past when they had shared the joys and sorrows with the government in Hebei, one crying and the other sighing, which was regarded as another expression of loyalty;
After receiving some words of comfort from Zhao Jiu, Qiao Zhongfu and Zhang Jing suddenly burst into tears. It was unknown whether it was because they were veteran generals of the Western Army and had been unable to fight under Liu Guangshi before, so they always felt wronged, or because they were in a state of panic and fear that day, so they were released today.
However, the real climax came when the sky, which had been clear for several days, began to snow again...Hu Yin, who was particularly good at eating duck, was probably really drunk. He stood up and wrote a poem regardless of anything. On the one hand, he summarized the New Year's Eve, and on the other hand, he missed the "Two Saints" who were nowhere to be found by Zhao Jiu at this time. In the end, he tearfully urged Emperor Zhao to succeed in resisting the Jin army as soon as possible, to attack Huanglong, and to bring back the Two Saints!
This is an irrefutable political slogan, and Zhao Jiu cannot change it easily before he establishes absolute authority. Moreover, it is more or less anti-Jin and is aimed at attacking Huanglongfu directly. It is absolutely on the right track. Even if it is to welcome back the two saints, it can shut up many scholars and officials . Of course, Zhao Jiu had to stand up with a serious expression and lead the civil and military officials of the Huainan camp to solemnly accept it!
After this incident, the snowflakes became heavier, and Zhao Jiu specifically ordered the army to be careful and to assign sufficient personnel to patrol the camps and river banks and keep a close eye on the supplies.
Now that the order had been issued, there was no intention of continuing the banquet in the small tent on the top of the mountain. However, it was New Year's Day, so the ban in the camp was lifted. If the civil and military officials wanted to drink privately again, they could return to the camp and drink there. It would not be a problem.
So, in the snow, everyone gradually turned their eyes to the head of the ministers on the trip, Shangshu Zuo Cheng Lü Haowen, waiting for this minister to lead everyone to say goodbye.
The good-tempered Lu Xianggong did not waste everyone's time. After another round of drinking, he stood up, still drunk, and slowly walked to the table where Zhao Jiu was sitting in the curtain and bowed his head:
"Your Majesty, tonight is New Year's Eve, and we should have a feast until dawn, with the king and his subjects enjoying themselves. However, we are facing a powerful enemy, and we are in a military camp, so we should not drink excessively... I am old and cannot hold my liquor, so please go back to the camp to rest and be a bad guy for a while. Please end the feast and go back to the camp."
Now that the prime minister had spoken, all the other civil and military officials left their desks and followed him in requesting to stop drinking.
Of course, Zhao Jiu had nothing to say, so he stood up and left the table, but he took the opportunity to support the staggering Lu Haowen, and actually wanted to personally escort the prime minister back to the newly built wooden barracks next to the small village on the top of the mountain.
This is a great favor, and there is harmony between the emperor and his subjects.
However, just as the two of them were walking slowly in the snow and finally reached the barracks on the other side of the small camp, and the many generals behind them finally breathed a sigh of relief, Lu Xianggong, who was about to enter the room, suddenly turned around and touched the official's sleeve, then shook his head and sighed:
"You have to tie up your sleeves when wearing a robe. Isn't it too tight?"
Zhao Jiu didn't react for a moment, and just answered casually: "It is indeed much more convenient to tie the sleeves."
Lü Haowen had no choice but to touch the official's waist again: "Why haven't I seen the official wearing a futou and jade belt for a long time? Are there so many things, are they lost?"
Zhao Jiu was stunned for a moment, and finally realized what the other party meant. He smiled slightly and directly retorted: "Mr. Lu is drunk. The emperor is the commander of the world. When he is on the battlefield, he must be prepared to wear armor all the time, right? Jade belts and futou are not appropriate now."
Hearing this, Lu Haowen finally let go, but pointed at the futou on his head and laughed awkwardly: "In that case, it is my head that is out of place."
At this moment, Zhao Jiu felt a little embarrassed, but he had to laugh to cover it up. He asked the eunuch to take Lu Haowen and send him into the room. Then he turned around and waved, asking the ministers to disperse, and then slowly returned to the Beiluan royal tent.
