Volume 1 Chapter 36: Snow Crossing (Part 1)
The snowflakes grew heavier and the sky darkened. The lights on the mountain were still bright. Zhao Jiu returned to Beiluan, but he was upset. It was not only because it was the first time he celebrated the New Year in this era, and he couldn't help feeling sad. It was also because Lu Haowen's advice just now made him realize that he had control over all aspects, even if it was just a Huainan camp, it was only superficial and temporary...
But the more important point is that Zhao Jiu is still worried about the slightly quiet Xiacai City in the north.
It should be noted that the New Year is a very important day for Even the Jin army generally celebrates the New Year. From the excellent position of the northern peak of Bagua Mountain, looking down from afar, one can vaguely perceive that the Jin army camp is also lighting lanterns and feasting. However, although the huge Xiacai City is brightly lit, it is silent at this time.
Such a situation can only mean that the people there, including Zhang Jun, the Grand Commandant, have been extremely depressed. It is almost conceivable that the coming of the festive season at this time did not bring Xia Cai an opportunity to take a breath, but instead catalyzed their despair in their desperate situation.
"Officials!"
Yang Yizhong had a duty to fulfill. Seeing that Zhao Guanjia had been sitting under the dragon flag for a long time, with snowflakes starting to fall on his shoulders, he could not help but step forward to remind him. "It's getting late, and the snow is very strong here. It's better to go back early."
"Can you send something to Xia Caicheng?" Zhao Jiu stood with his hands behind his back, without even turning his head.
"Of course not." Yang Yizhong answered every question, and naturally had thought about this question before, so he almost blurted it out. "I know that the emperor is worried about the morale of the army in Cai, but the inner ferry has been burned, and there is no place to stop the ship to transport supplies to the army."
"What if they don't send a large amount of money and goods, but just send an envoy to comfort the troops?" Zhao Jiu asked without delay.
"Of course, a single boat is no problem. During the day, there are soldiers patrolling the river to deliver the consolation orders from the officials and ministers." Yang Yizhong sighed. "But that's all we can do. The soldiers in the city are a little unstable, and the boats dare not approach. Under such circumstances, if we really send a proper envoy over, I'm afraid it will backfire..."
"You mean he will end up like Zhao Yuanzhen?" Zhao Jiu mentioned a person casually. It was Zhao Ding who went to cross the river to deliver the imperial edict when the fire broke out that day, but disappeared after the fire. It was confirmed yesterday that he was detained in Xiacai City by the angry soldiers of Zhang Jun's army, and now he is being "protected" by General Zhang.
"Yes! If the angel is detained in the army again, it will only contribute to the instability in Xia Cai City. Moreover, this way..."
"Moreover, in such a situation, among the few civil and military officers in the line, no one is willing to cross the river. From the overall perspective, it is not worth sacrificing the lives of civil and military officers for this matter in vain."
"Yes." Yang Yizhong answered immediately, then paused for a moment before gritting his teeth and saying, "But I can go. I came from the army of General Zhang, and I know the people there well. They won't detain me. Instead, I can persuade General Zhang to calm down, and maybe even bring Censor Zhao back."
"Then go!" Zhao Jiu looked up at the snowflakes flying around him and falling into the brazier, and gave an order directly. "Take advantage of the darkness, take my gold medal, and then you can issue a military order yourself, lead a team of people to pretend to patrol the river, take a small boat, and secretly cross the river to the opposite side of Xiacai."
Yang Yizhong nodded repeatedly, left in a hurry, and then came back: "Does the emperor have anything to say to Zhang Taiwei?"
"No! Just comfort him in person!" Zhao Jiu hesitated for a moment, then suddenly shook his head. "When you are ready, come to my tent and get the gold medal."
For no apparent reason, Yang Yi felt panic in his heart, but he had no choice but to respond.
After Yang Yi Zhong left, Zhao Jiu returned to the tent and called Lan Gui, the supervisor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He first asked the latter to get the gold medal, and then asked him to help him put on the armor... Lan Gui had a bitter face throughout the whole process, but did not dare to advise him.
A moment later, Yang Yizhong returned to the imperial tent and saw Zhao Jiu, dressed in ordinary uniform and carrying a food box. He was not surprised at all, but just looked up and sighed.
Moreover, like Lan Gui, after the incident with Liu Guangshi and the deserters of the Western Army, on the surface, no one in the Huainan camp could resist Zhao Jiu's wantonness. In fact, let alone a general and a eunuch, even a legitimate prime minister like Lu Xianggong, with the existence of the second person, couldn't he only make a few vague advices in drunkenness?
However, this time the matter was of great importance. Although Yang Yi Zhong did not dare to give direct advice, he walked slowly along the way. When he arrived at the riverside ferry, he even used the excuse of sending away idle people to delay and was reluctant to set sail for a long time... In this regard, Zhao Jiu said nothing and just let him perform until Zhang Jun, the Chief Censor, got the news from Lan Gui in the snow and came to the ferry in a panic.
"Official... Official, why is this happening?"
Zhang Jun arrived at the ferry and saw Zhao Jiu calmly getting on the boat in front of him. He could no longer bear it, so he rushed up to him, grabbed the food box in his hand, and asked him in a crying voice.
"I made two mistakes." Zhao Jiu put one foot in the boat and one foot on the side of the boat, then sighed. "First, I thought it would be Mr. Lu who came; second, I thought you would directly advise me, but you asked such a question, which caught me off guard."
"It was I who stopped Prime Minister Lu." Zhang Jun tried to answer. "At this point, with the authority of the emperor, if he insists on doing whatever he wants, no one can stop him. I am the Chief Censor, the so-called censor, and I have the responsibility to contact the prime minister and the emperor, so I volunteered to come here. As for my question today, it is also because I have figured it out in the past few days. There is no right or wrong in things, but there are choices to be made. So I am asking on behalf of all those who don't understand the emperor, why is he doing this?"
"I really don't know..."
"Then I'll ask more clearly." Snow fell, the brazier at the ferry swayed, but Zhang Jun, standing on the wooden planks at the ferry, had no intention of letting go. "Why did the emperor have to kill Liu Guangshi himself? Why did he have to deal with the deserters himself? Why did the emperor have to hold on to the Huai River when the situation was already so bad and Xia Cai was hopeless? What was the point? And this time, why did the emperor have to take the risk to go to the other side? Didn't the emperor know that once Zhang Jun had evil intentions or he couldn't control his subordinates, the country would be in danger of overthrowing? And why did the emperor have to do it anyway?"
"I still don't know." Zhao Jiu shook his head again. "Deyuan, I know you mean well and are sincere, but there are some things that don't have answers."
Zhang Jun shook his head and said nothing, with no intention of loosening his grip, as if he was dissatisfied with the answer... In fact, since the Chief Censor had mustered up the courage to do this, it would not work if he was not given an explanation.
"But I can understand Deyuan..." Zhao Jiu laughed when he saw the other party's expression. "You always use Guangwu to encourage me these days. Speaking of Guangwu, before the battle of Kunyang, everyone said that they should give up Kunyang, but Guangwu insisted not to. Then he only took thirteen people out of the city to seek reinforcements. I think some people would ask why the general insisted on doing it. In fact, I also want to ask Deyuan, you are very knowledgeable, why do you think Guangwu insisted on doing it? According to the situation at that time, wouldn't it be better to retreat to Xiangyang? Why didn't he want to retreat?"
Zhang Jun was slightly startled.
"Speaking of Wang Mang, I would also like to ask, Wang Mang was a Confucian role model for half of his life, so why did he do evil things in the second half of his life?"
"Why did Fuchai let Goujian go? Why did Goujian take 18 years to destroy Wu?"
"Why did Qin last for six generations of wise rulers, advance step by step, and annex the world? And why did it perish in the second generation?"
"Why did the officials of Chu jump into the river and leave? Even though there were only three households in Chu, why did Chu have to be the one to destroy Qin?"
Zhang Jun gradually lost his composure, and even Yang Yizhong who was standing behind Zhao Jiu was stunned.
"And the Emperor Zhaolie that Li Xianggong used to encourage me, Liu Xuande was defeated and fled to Dangyang, his wife and children were separated, and his life was in danger, why did he insist on taking the people across the river?" Zhao Jiu continued to ask seriously, with a hint of awe. "Why did Zhuge Wuhou go to Qishan six times in vain?"
Hearing this, Zhang Jun thought of the story that night and almost lost all his strength.
"And why did Zhang Xun insist on defending Suiyang? Why did the King of Chu refuse to cross the Yangtze River even if he died? Even Wanyan Aguda, why did he start a rebellion against Liao?"
At this point, Zhao Jiu easily took away the other person's hand on the food box. "Deyuan, don't you understand yet? Do you think I have been doing these things for no reason these days? Haven't I privately asked myself why I am so stubborn? And what I asked you today is just a small part of my wild thoughts. You may not know Alexander, Hannibal, and Caesar; it is even more ridiculous to talk about Zhu Yuanzhang and Napoleon... But no matter how much I think about it and ask more questions, I still don't know why! I can only comfort myself that things have been done, why ask so many questions?"
After saying that, Zhao Jiu, dressed in formal attire, finally got on the boat with his food box in his arms. He was about to order Yang Yizhong to start the boat quickly, but he suddenly remembered something and asked Zhang Jun, who was standing on the wooden plank at the ferry:
"By the way, what happened to Li Ruoshui that Deyuan told me about last time in Xiacai City? You know, I really can't remember many things."
"Dead." Zhang Jun replied blankly, almost blurting out. "He was captured during the Jingkang period, and the Second Saint was humiliated in the Jin camp. He started to curse the Jin people, but was cut off by Nianhan. He couldn't curse with his mouth, so he glared at them and pointed at them with his hands. He was also gouged out of his eyes and cut off his hands, and finally died by pieces..."
"Look, that's it." Zhao Jiu sighed slightly. "Li Ruoshui was sent as an envoy to the Kingdom of Jin in his early years. From what you said that day, I know that he knows better than anyone how barbaric the Jin people are. But why did he still curse?"
Zhang Jun could no longer bear it, so he knelt down in the snow on the wooden plank beside the boat, then grabbed the boat's side and cried like rain: "Your Majesty, I beg you to cross the river to Xiacai on your behalf!"
"If you can go, I won't say so much." Zhao Jiu waved his hand helplessly. "But under the current situation, I am the only one who can protect General Zhang! If you really want to, go back to the Imperial Camp and control the situation for me. Try to keep it a secret. It would be best if you don't find out until I come back."
Having said this, Zhao Jiu still brushed away Zhang Jun's exhausted hands, and asked Yang Yi Zhong to start the boat quickly. Yang Yi Zhong no longer dared to hesitate... In a moment, heavy snow fell all over the sky. On the New Year's Eve, the dignified official of the Zhao Song Dynasty actually took a light boat to cross the Huai River to the north in the snow.
