Volume 2 Chapter 10: Lightness and Severity
It was not important whether Yelu Mawu's small fortress could be saved or not, what was important was what could be done with this opportunity. Zhao Jiu insisted on coming out this time, and he made it clear to several of his men that it was not for the five hundred Jin cavalrymen at all... Although the key to the victory in Shouzhou was only the destruction of the core combat force of more than a thousand cavalrymen... In the final analysis, he just wanted to take this opportunity to resolve the institutional and moral crisis caused by the sudden arrival of Zhai Chong's five thousand troops.
After all, in the eyes of Emperor Zhao, every bit of strength of an exiled court must be valued, and five thousand local soldiers and horses are enough to be taken seriously, not to mention the outstanding performance of the two brothers of the Zhai family, namely the elder Zhai and the younger Zhai in Luoyang, the Western Capital, which made Emperor Zhao look upon their cousin Zhai Chong with a special regard.
If they really gave up this opportunity and let these 5,000 people be slaughtered outside the city by the subsequent Jin army, Emperor Zhao would absolutely find it difficult to accept it.
As for the fact that an emperor insisted on supervising a battle in an army of ragtag troops, this act, which was against the rules and regulations of the ancestors, aroused great dissatisfaction among the cautious ministers in the court, and then triggered a second round of stances between conservatives and radicals. This was an unexpected incident.
But the same thing goes, the ancestral family rules and etiquette are nothing to Emperor Zhao, especially when compared with thousands of lives.
This matter has certain benefits and not much risk, and it may reduce future risks, so he did it...Don't say that Zhai Chong's surname is Zhai, which made Emperor Zhao have some unnecessary thoughts. Thinking that the fighting power of Zhujiazhuang and Zengtou City is the same, even if it is not, he will come out.
Of course, what Emperor Zhao didn't know was that, regardless of whether the Zhai family had any connection with legendary local tyrants like Zengtou City and Zhujiazhuang, at the moment, there was indeed a standard historical legendary figure outside the city, and that was Yelu Ma Wu, the Khitan general who was looked down upon by Emperor Zhao, Huyan Tong, and everyone else.
Even Yelu Ma Wu's 500 cavalrymen are legendary troops engraved in Chinese history! They are the kind that require stars in some low-end games, the purple ones!
Because, in another time and space, it was Yelu Ma Wu who led these 500 cavalry as the vanguard and suddenly arrived at the city of Yangzhou.
At that time, an official of the Zhao Song Dynasty named Zhao Gou was living a life of debauchery with the laundry women in Yangzhou City. The Prime Minister of the East Palace was named Huang Qianshan, the Prime Minister of the West Palace was named Wang Boyan, the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Camp was named Wang Yuan, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was named Kang Lu, and the general of the outer court was named Liu Guangshi.
Then, Yelu Ma Wu, relying on these 500 cavalry, broke through Yangzhou, drove away Zhao Gou and his super luxurious lineup, plus tens of thousands of Song troops, and directly led to the entire loss of defense of the prosperous Huainan.
It is even very likely that it was these 500 cavalrymen who caused Zhao Gou, who was seeking pleasure at the time, to become impotent and permanently lose his reproductive function.
Zhao Jiu knew nothing about these things. Even if he knew, he would probably just sigh a few words, because there was no need for Yelu Ma Wu to chase him away again, as most of the leading actors in Yangzhou City had already been possessed by him, killed, or demoted.
The few that remain seem to have reformed.
Thinking about it this way, although Emperor Zhao has never had the dignity of an emperor and did not care about the ancestral rules, which has attracted criticism from many ministers, he has still done some small work.
"Did you understand, Zhai Qing?" Zhao Jiu, dressed in a bright red robe, was holding his belt and sitting in a large tent that he had been rewarded with. Dozens of candles were burning in the tent, illuminating the entire tent as if it were daytime.
"I understand!" The man in front of him, Zhai Chong, who was in his forties or fifties, almost prostrated himself on the ground, his voice trembling. In fact, his mind was blank. With such an attitude, it can only be said that there is always something that can defeat something else. The local tyrants are naturally afraid of the government!
"Repeat it!" Zhao Jiu had a blank expression on his face and continued to oppress the other party.
"Yes!" Zhai Chong still didn't raise his head. "This time, we drove out the five hundred cavalrymen of Yelu Ma, not for the merits and spoils, but for you... and for the future safety of my five thousand people under the city! Because if Wanyan Yinshu comes in the future, the army under the city will be destroyed! The emperor risked leaving the city to save the lives of my five thousand people under the city!"
"Good to know." Zhao Jiu's expression remained unchanged, but his voice became much more severe. "Quickly send troops across the river and make sure to drive away these five hundred cavalrymen!"
"Yes!" Zhai Chong responded with all his might, then quickly stood up, and without even daring to look behind him, he quickly walked out of the tent with his sword in hand.
As soon as Zhai Chong left, Zhao Jiu's expression relaxed slightly, and he looked at the person beside him again.
"I am incompetent!" Seeing the emperor coming to look at him, Xiaolin, who had been suffering so much in the past few days, burst into tears immediately, and then stepped out of the line and bowed with all his strength. "I thought I could share the emperor's worries, but I am incompetent in everything... Zhai Chong was so pretentious in the afternoon, and I was complacent, thinking I had subdued him, but when he came to me, I couldn't drive him at all... My family has received the grace of the country, but in times of national crisis, I am powerless, I am really ashamed."
Seeing this, Zhao Jiu hurried to comfort her.
"What nonsense is Master Lin talking about?!"
However, just as Emperor Zhao was thinking of words, someone beside him was completely impatient as he saw Scholar Xiao Lin crying. "You must be a Hanlin scholar. Your job is to do clerks for the emperor. You should be by his side and enjoy peace. But you stepped forward in times of national crisis, almost risking your life to do something for the country that others dare not do. So what if you can't do it? You must know that since the Jingkang period, how many people have abandoned their jobs and scattered, and some even went astray and harmed the country and the people! At this time, it is already a great thing to have someone doing things. How can the emperor blame you?! Why do others look down on you?! Do you have to put on airs just because the work is hard, tiring, or insignificant? Is this the attitude of a famous official?"
Everyone heard the sarcasm in the words and looked in the direction of the voice, only to see that it was Yan Xiaozhong, the governor of Tangzhou.
Zhao Jiu was about to say a few polite words for the sake of unity, but the prefect Yan ignored him and continued to persuade him: "Even if I, Yan Xiaozhong, was the prefect, I lost my territory and was captured, and I carried a pole and was whipped to do hard labor for the Jin army, I was not ashamed to shed a single tear! Mr. Lin has a bright future, why do you have to complain about yourself? If you continue like this, you will be despised!"
After hearing this, Mr. Kobayashi could no longer cry. He could only try his best to keep quiet and bow to thank the other party.
As for Emperor Zhao, he had already given up speaking at this time.
Zhang Jun, who was accompanying him, said a few words: "Mr. Lu and his companions are just a little more mature... their desire to serve the country is the same as ours."
Yan Xiaozhong sneered and refuted directly: "How dare we talk about you gentlemen? You must know that people like those gentlemen have their own dignity and face. Compared with them, when we are displaced, the lives of a few thousand people under the city are nothing to mention!"
Zhang Jun didn't say anything more, and Liu Ziyu had no intention of cheering for his friend... Because everyone knew that the emperor came here to cure diseases and save lives, and the ministers who stayed in the hall to protest seemed to have their reasons. In essence, there was no conflict between the two sides, but for Yan Xiaozhong, the difference between the two was earth-shaking.
Because the army outside the city was initially instigated by Yan Xiaozhong!
Therefore, those who came out with the emperor today , including the prime minister Yuwen Xu Zhong, who was eventually ordered by the emperor to stay in the city, and the commander of the imperial camp Wang Yuan, who stayed on the city wall, expressed their trust in Yan Xiaozhong, although it was not their original intention; and the latter, even if he had no such intention at all, in fact publicly expressed his doubts about this person.
After all, the emperor said it very clearly. It was correct that the army could not enter the city, but it was a false proposition that people could not leave the city. Moreover, the emperor himself had come out, so why should Yan Xiaozhong suffer this injustice?
"All right." After a moment of silence in the hall, Emperor Zhao suddenly spoke. "My dear ministers, you are also mature... When the country is in danger, we should be patient for the sake of the country. Now that things have come to this, Zhai Chong has already sent troops, so I will go back first, and Prefect Yan will follow me. Scholar Lin will remain here as marquis, and Yan Xiu (Liu Ziyu's courtesy name) will stay to help Scholar Lin."
Everyone quickly accepted the order.
Just like that, Emperor Zhao didn't bother waiting for any battle reports, so he left the tent and prepared to return to the city.
However, when the official and several of his close ministers came out of the tent, they were suddenly stunned by the warm wind outside the tent. It turned out that under the many braziers and torches outside the tent, there was a man lying on the ground motionless. It was Zhai Chong who hurried out of the tent a quarter of an hour ago.
There were torches and braziers all around, the flames were dazzling, but there was no high place to see what was going on in the distance. Zhao Jiu was naturally puzzled, so he simply asked with a straight face: "Zhai Qing, didn't you go to the battle?"
"Reporting to the emperor!" Zhai Chong still did not look up, but tried to speak loudly. "I was going to go, but the small camp of only 500 cavalrymen was small and dilapidated, and the Jin people were always arrogant and their defenses were not good, not to mention that the leader was a fake Jurchen Khitan. So my youngest son Zhai Biao led a hundred men, carrying five or six barrels of oil from the shallow water downstream, and set a fire in the stable first, which scared the horses away. The Jin people had no choice but to abandon the camp and fled in a panic chasing the war horses! The previous noise was all caused by those unsatisfied people who were looking for spoils in the camp!"
Zhao Jiu was stunned for a moment, but couldn't help laughing: "You just say you won, at most you can just join in the fun and say 'the kids have defeated the enemy'... Why do you have to do this?"
"I was afraid that the emperor would not believe me, so I was a little long-winded. Also, I was rude and did not know how to say nice things. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!" Zhai Chong still did not look up.
"Let's not talk about this anymore. Things have come to this point. According to what we said before, you should quickly work with Scholar Lin and this Lieutenant Liu to make arrangements and divide the troops into two. Those who are reliable and have clear backgrounds will enter the city early tomorrow morning, and the rest will be sent to Jinzhen Town in the north to stay temporarily. And those who crossed the river tonight will all join my team!" Emperor Zhao nodded slowly, then left with his hands behind his back. When he said the last word, it was already the lingering sound of the spring breeze.
"I thank the emperor for his grace!" Zhai Chong hurriedly shouted on the ground, his joy hard in his tone.
After a while, the man stood up and glanced at the figure of Emperor Zhao who was heading towards the city from afar. He felt relieved, as if the red robe, fu hat, and gold belt on Emperor Zhao were pressing him down from a distance and making him unable to breathe.
Speaking of which, let's not talk about what Zhai Chong, the local tyrant of Xiping, was thinking. On the other side, Emperor Zhao calmly entered from the north gate and first met Wang Yuan. The commander of the imperial camp did not dare to say much, but when he arrived at the street entrance in the city, where Yuwen Xu Zhong was ordered to preside over the place, he saw the four ministers were all here, so naturally he couldn't help asking some questions.
"Sir, is everything okay outside the city?" Xu Jingheng walked forward with a serious expression.
Zhao Jiu burst out laughing when he heard that, then he got off his horse, wanting to say something but stopping himself, as if he was preparing to put on a show.
While Emperor Zhao was adjusting his attitude and mood, Yan Xiaozhong behind him could not wait and said coldly: "Let all the gentlemen know that as soon as Emperor Zhao left the city, the young boys defeated the enemy!"
Zhao Jiu had no choice but to change his tone and say, "That's it!"
