Volume 1 Chapter 38: Snow Crossing (Part 2)
"Sir, we are about to enter the city!" Seeing the city wall that protected the inner ferry right in front of him, and the watchtower on the wall was brightly lit, Yang Yizhong suddenly turned back to remind him. "I heard from the people who came here before that there are burned ships and wooden fences in the river, and several water gates are also broken. We need someone to guide us to pass. Sir, please don't speak for the time being."
"Just like that." Zhao Jiu held the food box in his arms and didn't care.
"How dare you come to Xiacai?" Seeing the ships coming in and the Song sailors shouting, the soldiers guarding the water gate of Xiacai City actually started to curse. "You bastards are living a good life in Henan, and you left us here. Do you have any conscience?"
“Get out of here!”
Before Yang Yizhong could say anything, a man dressed as an officer flashed out from the watchtower on the city wall and was more direct. "If you dare to bother me again, I will shoot you with an arrow!"
"Is it Li Laosan from Hezhong Prefecture?!" When Yang Yizhong heard the man's voice, he almost immediately flew into a rage. "Who gave you the courage to do such dirty things to me? I have an imperial decree on me, and I want to see General Zhang. Now quickly send someone down to lead the way, and then find Commander Tian (Shizhong) to come to the inner crossing to meet us, don't make trouble!"
The man seemed to recognize Yang Yizhong's voice. After a while, he sent someone to report and personally came down with a lantern to point the way. However, when he arrived at the water gate, he couldn't help but mutter on the shore: "Yang Dalang is now a popular figure in front of the government, so he is naturally powerful. How could he know our hardships? We were abandoned here, and the ferry was burned. It's like we are orphans..."
"Li Laosan!" Under normal circumstances, Yang Yizhong would have just listened to the other party's nonsense, but today there were people on the boat, so how could he let the other party chatter on and on. "The emperor has already beheaded Liu Guangshi. In the current situation, the officials on the other side have repeatedly advised the emperor to leave first, but the emperor is unwilling to leave. Isn't it because of you? Now that things have come to this, what can I complain about? You are in this position, just look at the dragon flag of the emperor on the opposite side!"
"Go this way, there's no need to pull the sluice gate, this side is more than half burned, the boats can pass directly..." Li Laosan stood on the shore inside the gate and directed the boats to enter the city, but he couldn't help but deliberately muttered loudly. "Who knows if it's just a dragon flag, the emperor himself has already fled to Yangzhou? I heard that Yangzhou is a sea of gold and silver... And Liu Guangshi, he only knows how to bluff me, a general, higher than General Zhang, his father is the general, how can he be killed? Who are you trying to fool? Send your head to me and let me see!"
Yang Yi was so angry that he almost died, but seeing that the official didn't make any movement, he had to pretend that he didn't hear anything.
In this way, after the boat entered the inner crossing protected by the city wall through the water gate, although the water was open for a while, due to the complicated water conditions, it twisted and turned for a long time. It also listened to the complaints of the third brother for a long time along the way before it found a suitable place to go ashore... At this time, Tian Shizhong, the general of the central army under Zhang Jun, had already been waiting here.
"Don't make a sound, don't look around, the emperor is here." As soon as Yang Yizhong got ashore, he shook his former colleague and whispered. "Don't alarm others, take us to see the general quickly."
Tian Shizhong was filled with surprise and doubt, but did not dare to say much. He just turned around and ordered his subordinates to fetch some horses. Then he could not help but take the opportunity to steal glances at them one by one, until he caught a glimpse of Zhao Jiu holding the food box. He then quickly turned around, and when the horses arrived in a moment, he led the way again.
This time, perhaps because it was late at night and the snow was quite deep, the road was not very congested. Almost a moment later, the group arrived at a spacious mansion that had already become quiet.
It is said that Tian Shizhong was the most trusted of Zhang Jun's trusted confidants, and the most trusted of his confidants, so there was no need for any communication. Someone was sent from the front to wake up Zhang Jun, and Commander Tian in the back directly led Zhao Jiu and Yang Yizhong all the way to Zhang Jun's bedroom in the backyard. At this time, the light in the bedroom had just been turned on.
After waiting for a while, a maid opened the door, and Zhao Jiu no longer concealed himself and went in alone, carrying the food box.
"Officials!"
Zhang Jun was half naked, and there were two naked concubines on the bed. When he saw the man coming, he wanted to scold him, but when he put down the food box and took off his helmet, he was so shocked that he quickly turned over and knelt. "Why did the emperor come here? The prime minister, the censor, the eunuch, and Yang Yizhong should all be beheaded!"
Seeing this, Zhao Jiu first waved his hand to signal the two frightened concubines and the rest of the maids in the room to leave wrapped in blankets. He then waited until Yang Yizhong and Tian Shizhong, who were supposed to be beheaded, cleared the area and closed the door before he sat down shivering beside a stove in the room.
"It's cold, I've crossed the river, my hands are cold, so I won't help you, General Zhang, get up and sit down... I'm just here to deliver a few things and chat a little, I can't stay for long!"
Zhang Jun got up hurriedly upon hearing that, but found an exquisite silver heater on his bed and handed it to him. Then he fastened his clothes awkwardly and sat carefully opposite Zhao Jiu, but his mind was still blank.
"Open it and take a look." Zhao Jiu pointed to the food box on the table.
Zhang Boying did not dare to delay and opened the food box directly. However, he was shocked to see a saltwater duck with one leg missing in the box. He didn't know what to say for a moment.
"Today is New Year's Eve. I'm hosting a banquet at the North Ridge of Bagong Mountain in Huainan to entertain the civil and military officials. This is specially prepared for me by Lin Jingmo, the governor of Shouzhou." Zhao Jiu said while holding the stove. "After eating a leg, I suddenly remembered what you and I said at Dongtai Pavilion in Beifeikou. I thought I had to send it to you no matter what... It's not tasty now, so I'll steam it tomorrow morning!"
Zhang Jun opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.
"There is another layer underneath!" Zhao Jiu continued to say.
Zhang Jun quickly pulled out the interlayer, but fell back in shock. It turned out that the bottom of the food box was covered with a layer of snowflakes and ice chips, and on the ice chips there was a frozen head. The head was lifelike, and it was Liu Guangshi, the Grand Commandant! At this point, we can only say that it is a pity that the people who were once the generals of the Western Army for generations have fallen into a situation worse than a duck after their death. It is really lamentable.
"In fact, I didn't want to bring Liu Guangshi's head." Zhao Jiu continued to speak hastily. "It's New Year's Day, bringing this would be a bit of a letdown, but if I don't bring it, I don't know what else I can bring..."
"Liu Guangshi is really dead?!" Zhang Jun finally couldn't help but speak, but he didn't know whether it was a sigh or a question.
"He's really dead." Zhao Jiu answered calmly. "He died the night we crossed the river. I asked Wang De to hold his left hand and Fu Qing to hold his right hand. I personally drew the knife and killed him in front of me... Then I cut off his head and showed it to the three armies. I brought it here tonight specifically for you to see because I was afraid you wouldn't believe it."
Zhang Jun was quite embarrassed: "When the other side sent an imperial edict to tell me about this matter, I thought it was just a rumor."
"Let's not talk about this anymore." Zhao Jiu said as he put down the stove and took out something from his arms. It turned out to be a bunch of frosty grapes. When he put it on the table, it made a clanging sound. "This is for you, too."
Zhang Jun reached out to touch it, only to find that such lifelike grapes were actually made of glass. Needless to say, this was an extremely valuable treasure.
"This is something the governor of Yangzhou sent as a tribute." Without waiting for Zhang Boying to pretend to thank him, Zhao Jiu continued to explain. "This time, the military states in the southeast sent a lot of good things, and Prime Minister Lu advised me to smash them all to show my frugality... If Prime Minister Li (Li Gang) was here, I'm afraid I would have to smash them, but since it was Prime Minister Lu, I said it was unnecessary, so I kept them, and then gave them all away during the day during the New Year. And I guess this bunch of grapes should be the most valuable one among them, and I happened to hear that you are a good person in other aspects, but you are greedy for money, so I left it for you alone."
Zhang Jun opened his mouth to speak, but still didn't know what to say.
"In fact, the civil and military officials on the other side have been discussing these days, saying that you will definitely surrender, and then advised me to leave here as soon as possible and go to Yangzhou." Zhao Jiu continued to hold the stove and said. "And I also think so, because people who are greedy for money will definitely be greedy for life... and in the current situation, if you suddenly surrender, or abandon the city and run away, I really have nothing to say."
Zhang Jun was about to kneel down again, but Zhao Jiu reached out and grabbed his arm. Zhang Jun didn't dare to move and could only sit back with difficulty.
"General Zhang, I came here today to reassure you, but I don't know if my coming here will be of any use. If I don't come here to give you this duck, this head, this bunch of grapes, and say these few words of nonsense, what else can I, the emperor, do at this moment?"
At this point, Zhao Jiu put down the stove with one hand and sighed. "I came here today for this reason... First, to give you a New Year gift and to reiterate the promise I made to Dongtai Pavilion that day. As long as you can fight against the Jin, I will not be stingy with what I can give you. Second, I want to make a gentleman's agreement with you. Liu Guangshi caused a disaster and made Xiacai City an isolated city. So if you can defend this city, you can defend it. If you can't defend it, you can surrender or abandon it. I don't blame you. But if my dragon flag is still on the other side by then, please be sure to give me a message in advance for today's sake! That's all!"
Having said that, Zhao Jiu didn't delay any longer. He stood up, put on his helmet, and was about to leave.
Zhang Jun stood up in a daze, ready to follow, but Zhao Jiu raised his hand to stop him. He could only let Emperor Zhao come and go in a hurry... After a full half hour, when it was already beginning to get dark, Tian Shizhong, who had sent Emperor Zhao back on board, came back, only to find that General Zhang was still sitting at the table, staring in a daze at the saltwater duck that was beginning to turn into oil, the human head that was turning into blood, and the bunch of grapes that never faded.
"What's wrong with the commander today?" Tian Shizhong entered the room and first glanced at the head. After swallowing for a long time and recovering, he couldn't help but look puzzled. "Yang Dalang and I sat outside and listened for a long time. The emperor is really sincere. If the commander wants to leave, why not take this opportunity to say it? If he wants to stay, why not take this opportunity to show his loyalty? Why has he been so submissive for half a day without saying a word?"
"I am still dreaming!" Zhang Jun suddenly raised his head, revealing two red eyes. "Xiaotian, you said that such a sincere person, who is soft but tough, is really a Zhao Song official?"
Tian Shizhong was also silent for a moment.
After a full stick of incense, Master Tian said with emotion: "I'd like to let the commander know one more little thing... Yang Dalang secretly asked me for Zhao Yushi in the courtyard before, so I secretly arranged for someone to send Zhao Yushi to the ferry to meet the marquis."
"That's right." Zhang Jun answered casually.
"Then, after meeting the emperor at the ferry, Censor Zhao was unwilling to cross the river south and return. Instead, he stamped his feet and made up his mind, saying that he would stay to help the commandery defend the city. The emperor also awarded him the right to be sent to Shouzhou... Now he is the prefect of Zhao."
Zhang Jun looked at Tian Shizhong in a daze, but was speechless.
It is said that the heavy snow gradually stopped overnight. Before dawn, the two small boats intersected again in the Huai River. Their outlines became clearer, but they still ignored each other and each carried the key figures on their boats back to the camp.
When the sky was getting light, the second year of Jianyan officially arrived. The Song army on the south bank continued to break ice along the river, and the Jin army on the north bank continued to scout as usual. Most of them had no idea what their commanders had done at night. Even Xiacai City, which had a frustrating New Year, finally began to become active.
In the morning, the Jin army suddenly sent an envoy into the city to persuade them to surrender... No matter what, the situation keeps changing, just like the Huai River never stops flowing, and the rhythm of the war never changes, just like Bagua Mountain has not been shaken for thousands of years.
