Volume 2 Chapter 19: Rainwater (Part 2)
In early April, it rained continuously.
But suddenly, the military camps around Nanyang became active. Even the soldiers who went to the city to play on vacation and the officers who went to the east gate of Nanyang City to participate in the imperial "Nanyang Jiayuan" activity all turned back in a hurry... The reason was very simple. The official in the city suddenly left the city and came to the camp at the foot of Yushan Mountain to take charge. Then he issued an order, requiring all the troops in the imperial camp to assemble.
It goes without saying that everyone knew what was going on with such a situation. There must have been a flaw in Xiangzhou in the south, and the emperor had to fulfill his promise made that day at the foot of Fangcheng Mountain and prepare to personally lead the army to fight against the traitor Fan Qiong in the rain.
Regarding this matter, the various units of the so-called imperial camp currently stationed in the secondary capital Nanyang are naturally ready to fight, and everyone is eager to fight... Based on the morale of the army, those who don't know might think that the young Emperor Zhao is a genius, like the resurrected Emperor Tang, who has trained this Song army with complex origins into a brave and iron army in just a few months, and everyone is willing to die for the emperor?
Those who knew would naturally understand. Isn't this going to fight Fan Qiong?
Fighting the Jin people is one thing, but fighting against former colleagues who have turned rebels is another matter entirely. Everyone knows each other well, so who is afraid of whom?
Once the fear was gone, everyone in the army naturally rushed to be the first... The soldiers thought about capturing spoils, the officers thought about getting honors, and even the generals of the various armies in the imperial camp were a little anxious. Everyone wanted to take this opportunity to expand the size of their own troops.
It must be known that the emperor's favoritism towards Han Wu was almost known to everyone. Previously, Ding Jin's 30,000 troops from Huaixi and Zhai Chong's troops who came to rescue the emperor were all assigned to Han Shizhong's Left Army of the Imperial Camp. The so-called Central Army of the Imperial Camp that had always followed the emperor himself had never been replenished.
And this time, no matter what, Han Wu would not come to snatch people.
Not to mention, there are also the chief generals of various departments with special reasons, such as Wang De and Wang Yasha who have always wanted to remove the title of deputy governor-general from their titles, and the Xin brothers who have always wanted to make a difference since they failed to fight in the Battle of Huaishang.
"Brother, can we take some other approach?"
The expedition will start tomorrow. The imperial camp at the foot of Yushan Mountain is almost covered by rain. In a dry military shelter somewhere, two people are sitting on either side of a table, looking at the two notes on the table with frowns, looking a little nervous. They are the Xin brothers. After a while, the fourth brother Xin Yongzong frowned and broke the silence. "What's the point of handing it over directly?"
"It's too late. The drum will sound soon and it will be our last chance." The boss Xin Xingzong sighed. "Not to mention, the people in the central government are trying to avoid us now. How can they be willing to help us easily? Even money won't work."
"That's right." Xin Yongzong was the first to lose heart after hearing this. "Just talking about this matter, isn't it just the emperor's words? But why would the emperor give us brothers face?"
"It's all because of me that we brothers are in trouble. " As the saying goes, an elder brother is like a father, and a younger brother is like a son. Seeing his younger brother's attitude, Xin Xingzong couldn't help but look sad. "Fortunately, the government didn't deliberately exclude us, so we can always make ends meet... If you ask me, just pass it on. If we can't get this vanguard, then don't fight for it. At this point, we brothers might as well live in peace."
When Xin Yongzong heard his brother's words, he hesitated to speak, obviously unwilling, but he was restless and could not come up with any good ideas.
Correspondingly, Xin Xingzong also looked gloomy when he saw his younger brother so uneasy, but he had nothing to say.
Speaking of which, it’s no wonder that Shin Heungjong and Shin Yeongjong acted like this.
You must know that there are four brothers in the Xin family, the eldest Xin Xingzong, the second Xin Qizong, the third Xin Daozong, the fourth Xin Yongzong, plus a cousin Xin Yanzong, which is considered five brothers. They are all influential figures in recent years:
The eldest brother, Xin Xingzong, was the one who competed with Han Shizhong for credit when suppressing the Liao Dynasty in the early years. However, to say that he competed for credit is a bit of an exaggeration, because Xin Xingzong's official position at that time was much higher than Han Shizhong's, and at most he was just bluffing about his credit… In fact, when the Liao Dynasty was subsequently attacked, Xin Xingzong was basically on par with Zhong Shidao and was the commander-in-chief of the Western Army.
Therefore, although the Three Kingdoms were in chaos and this person had no military achievements for several years and was defeated repeatedly, he was able to sit in the position of the commander of the imperial army based on his seniority, which could not be any lower.
The second brother, Xin Qizon, is now in Guanxi and his situation is unclear, but before the situation became unclear, he was the commander of an army of four to five thousand people.
The third brother, Xin Daozon, was the only one among the brothers who tried to become a civil servant. When Zhao Jiu ascended the throne in Shangqiu, he was appointed by the imperial court as the chief judge of Jingzhao (Chang'an). However, he was unable to go due to road blockage (or he died in that situation), so he followed his eldest brother and fourth brother to the southeast to prepare for the imperial court's trip to Yangzhou.
Later, because of the tight situation on the Huai River, Li Gang sent the three brothers back, but was named by Emperor Zhao at Bagong Mountain and led troops to Jingdong with Zhang Suo, the governor of Jingdong and Jingdong.
The fourth brother, Xin Yongzong, follows a similar trajectory to the eldest brother. He is also in charge of an army, but his troops are simply his eldest brother's troops divided into two.
As for the cousin of the four, Xin Yanzong, he was not inferior either. When Zhao Laojiu was still the Grand Marshal, he led his Bazhou soldiers to the Marshal's Mansion. At that time, he was the vanguard commander of the Marshal's Mansion. When fighting, he seemed to be better than Xin Yongzong, the son of the yamen. However, he stayed in the southeast and did not come back. A few days ago, Li Gongxiang sent a document to him, and he was organized into the Imperial Camp Rear Army together with the two generals Miao and Liu, and another commander named Wang Yi, and became one of the main generals of the Imperial Camp Rear Army.
To be fair, these five brothers and five governors were stronger than the nine prefects of the Lin family at this special time. They were really a winning hand... because the nine prefects were appointed one after another over several decades, while the five governors of the Xin brothers were appointed at the same time.
In fact, before the Battle of Bagua Mountain, there was a saying in the army that there were four great generals in the imperial camp: Liu, Zhang, Han and Xin. Liu was Liu Guangshi, Zhang was Zhang Jun and Han was Han Shizhong. These three were generals in independent areas, while Xin referred to Xin Xingzong who led a group of brothers.
However, a hero does not brag about his past achievements, but only says that fate is playing tricks on him now. Xin Xingzong, who is good at welcoming people, would never have thought that he would be robbed of the emperor's favor by the ruffian Han Wu... This is simply the most ridiculous thing in the world!
It's really about splashing Han Wu's water.
Not to mention the Xin brothers themselves, even the people who feed the horses in the imperial camp know that the reason why they brothers ended up in their current situation is simply because of the three words "Han Shizhong".
Apart from the fact that the emperor and Li Gang, the prime minister, deliberately separated the brothers for the known reasons, the two major blows suffered by the Xin brothers were actually at the foot of Bagong Mountain. One of them was that they failed to participate in the Huaibei Camp Breakout, thus becoming a second-rate unit in the imperial camp; the other was that during the reorganization, the very senior Xin Xingzong was stopped at the position of commander and became indistinguishable from the crowd.
However, the planner of the battle in Huaibei was actually Han Shizhong himself. It was not known whether he did it intentionally or unintentionally, but he never mentioned these brothers in front of the emperor. As for the emperor's actions during the reorganization, it was apparently to save face for Han Shizhong... There was no other way. At that time, the emperor was going to march west, and the two sides were the Left Army of the Imperial Camp and the Central Army of the Imperial Camp. According to the tradition of the Song Dynasty army, the two sides were originally in conflict with each other. If Xin Xingzong really showed up, with Han Wu's domineering attitude at that time, I'm afraid he would really turn around and secretly draw his knife!
They all say that the government is partial to Han Wu. The civil officials say so. Zhang Jun also says so. For example, Wang De and Wang Yasha talk nonsense when they drink, saying that if the government had not been partial to Han Shizhong, he would have been so and so by now... However, the civil officials think that partiality is a dispute between civil officials and military officials; Zhang Jun and Zhang Boying think that partiality is simply a fight between the victors for favor; even Wang De, do you think he dares to say "partiality" in front of the government? He talks as if Wang Yasha is not the highest-ranking officer in the imperial camp.
In fact, the biggest victims of the government's partiality towards Han Wu were none other than the Xin brothers. However, compared to Zhang Jun and Wang De, the Xin brothers now had no ability to even protest their injustice...
"defense!"
Just as the Xin brothers were waiting for the drums to sound from the central army, someone suddenly spoke from outside the barracks. "Is the defense there?"
The so-called defense means defense.
A few days ago, several officials in the secondary capital worked with the Ministry of Personnel to sort out the various appointments made in the previous period, and made a rough patch for the various … For example, Zhang Suo, the two-route governor, was someone who Emperor Zhao appointed without even mentioning a cabinet position. However, this time, at the suggestion of the Ministry of Personnel, he was promoted from a direct scholar of the Longtu Pavilion to a scholar of the Zizheng Hall in one go.
There were also Ma Shen, Liu Hongdao and others who were given various benefits. Li Gang was even specially given the title of Jiedushi, making him a unique figure who was both a prime minister and an envoy.
Correspondingly, the commanders of the various departments in the Imperial Camp were also unified in terms of their salary ranks, and most of them were only at the level of deputy envoys. Wang De was only the 30th rank of Wujie Dafu, on par with Yue Fei, and was not yet the chief envoy of various departments. Only Xin Xingzong had the longest experience among them. He was the training envoy of Yao County in his early years, and he did not make any mistakes this time, so the central government had no choice but to give him the title of defense envoy of Yao County.
As for Wang De's recent mumblings, wishing to use this military achievement to be promoted to the position of commander-in-chief and concurrently the defense envoy of the four walls of Nanyang, that is another matter... This assignment is a bit confusing because of the two sieges of Tokyo.
Back to the present, according to the titles used these days, the Xin brothers in the central army of the imperial camp are naturally the Great Xin of Defense and the Little Xin of Doctor. It's a good thing that this is the case, otherwise they would all be commanders. If the five brothers gather together one day, how should they be addressed?
Three Daos are the best in the world? Four Yongs are unrivaled in the world?
"It's Hu Hongxiu." Xin Yongzong was excited when he heard the voice. "He is a rare scholar in the army, a man with his own ideas, and a man of great ability. Let's listen to him."
The eldest brother Xin Xingzong shook his head repeatedly upon hearing this, but he disagreed: "This person certainly has ideas, but they are very ideas, and they have been very distant these days. Given our current situation, I'm afraid there is no way for him to give us any ideas."
But having said that, he had already arrived outside the military quarters. He was a serious scholar who had been with Fan Qiong and his brothers for more than a year in the Jing Kang Hou She. He was also a man with "hands and eyes all over the world". The Xin brothers were in a lonely situation now, so how could they neglect him?
So, the two brothers actually went out together to greet and ushered in this mere 'Baoyi Lang' Hu Hongxiu into the house... Baoyi Lang was exactly the same official title that Niu Gao had just . It was the fiftieth rank among the fifty-three ranks of military officers in the Song Dynasty, and was about twenty ranks lower than Yue Fei's Wujie Doctor.
In history, Niu Gao was Yue Fei's deputy commander, and Hu Hongxiu was Yue Fei's chief of staff and a general of one of Yue Fei's armies.
Let me tell you, Hu Hongxiu is about twenty years old this year, with a white face and tall figure, a full forehead, and long nose. If it weren't for the slightly conspicuous knife scar on his temples and the leather belt he wore, he would be the template of a good boy outside Donghua Gate... In fact, this person was born in the Imperial Academy. He gave up his pen and took up arms during the Jing Kang period. Then he was in charge of guarding the city wall under Fan Qiong. Later, Fan Qiong defected, so he abandoned Fan Qiong and followed the brothers Xin Daozon and Xin Yongzon who were going from Hedong to Nanjing (Shangqiu) in search of the Grand Marshal's Mansion, so he is here.
When this person came in, he sat down casually, just glanced at the notes on the table, and then heard Xin Yongzong's anxious words, and then he shook his head and laughed while wiping the rain off his sleeves:
"You two are really going in opposite directions, trying to catch fish in a tree..."
When the Xin brothers heard this, both the fourth brother, who was very expectant, and the eldest brother, who was originally a little disappointed but still had some expectations, became gloomy.
However, Hu Hongxiu ignored the expressions of the two men. He wrung out his sleeves, tied his belt again, and continued to speak slowly and calmly:
"In my opinion, you two made two big mistakes this time. One is that you didn't know how to advance or retreat in defense..."
Hearing the last two words, Xin Yongzong instinctively wanted to refute, but Xin Xingzong himself had an idea and directly held down his brother.
"General Han was appointed as the military commander of Huaixi. Whenever Nanyang Prefecture issues rewards and honors, General Han is the first to be awarded. When it comes to the ministers, General Han is also the first to be awarded. When it comes to the ministers, no matter how far away they are, General Han is also the first to be awarded... Not only that, but I heard that since the emperor bestowed the jade belt, even though Nanyang and the southeast have paid tribute, he has never worn the jade belt in public for half a year. Even at the last Fangchengshan Grand Court, he only wore a gold belt..."
At this point, Hu Hongxiu, who was sitting on the stool, smiled slightly, and then looked at Xin Xingzong, who had already turned pale, "May I ask, Fang Yu, such favor and important position, can you brothers easily shake it? And according to the grudge between Fang Yu and Han Taiwei, as long as he is here, how can you stand out?"
"Then what should I do?" Xin Xingzong almost blurted out in a trance.
"What can we do?" Hu Hongxiu laughed. "Defense, forgive me for being blunt, but if you don't want to surrender to the Jin people, or end up like Fan Qiong, and you still miss the prosperity of the Song Dynasty... Of course, I'm afraid that's the case... There is only one way, that is to take the initiative to retreat. Once you retreat, the other Xin commanders will suddenly see the light and be able to move forward."
Xiao Xin was furious when he heard this, but Da Xin sighed and said, "I've actually thought of this a long time ago, but no one has explained it to me. Thank you, Mr. Hu, for reminding me."
"It's okay. If I were to say it, let's take advantage of this time. There are seven divisions in the imperial camp, plus the imperial guards, a total of eight divisions. Everyone must want to be the vanguard, but one division must be left behind in Nanyang, which is something everyone wants to avoid. Why not tell the emperor directly about defense, just say that the old injury is hard to bear in the rain, please stay behind, and ask to guard Wuguan after the battle..."
"I understand what Master Hu means," Xin Xingzong glanced at his younger brother and tried to cheer him up. "I'll do this, and then the fourth brother will ask to be the vanguard, and there's a good chance that he'll win!"
The fourth brother Xin Yongzong was standing nearby and was also delighted, but he immediately stood up and personally poured a bowl of ginger soup for Hu Hongxiu.
Hu Hongxiu was not hypocritical. He took the bowl and drank it all. He wiped his mouth, then shook his head and smiled, "This is the other of the two mistakes in defense that I just mentioned. It is also the fundamental reason why I came to find you two this time... In this battle, if you want to gain military merit, how can you compete for the title of vanguard? Being a vanguard is doomed to be a waste of time and effort!"
Without waiting for his eldest brother to speak, the fourth brother Xin Yongzong pulled a stool and sat next to Hu Hongxiu. He imitated the handshake etiquette that was popular in Nanyang recently, took the other person's hand and asked earnestly:
"Brother Hu, please give us some pointers for the future, considering that we have been wandering together for a year!"
"I was going to say it anyway." Hu Hongxiu pulled his hand back calmly. "Xin Wujing (Xin Yongzong's newly acquired rank, Wujing Doctor, the 32nd rank), let me ask you, now that you have won the vanguard, where are you going to fight?"
"Of course, we should follow the Baihe River (Yushui River) all the way south, break Dengcheng and take Xiangyang!"
"Is Dengcheng so easy to conquer?" Hu Hongxiu suddenly asked seriously. "Is Xiangyang so easy to conquer?"
"It can't be that difficult, right?" The young Xin Wujing was obviously puzzled. "So Fan Qiong still has a way out today?"
"It will still take some time." The elder Xin Xingzong next to him was more experienced. "The imperial decree did not pardon the soldiers who surrendered to the Jin Dynasty, and Fan Qiong took advantage of the situation to pile up those soldiers who surrendered to the Jin Dynasty in Dengcheng, north of the Han River, and gathered his own troops in Xiangyang. In other words, the soldiers in Dengcheng have not been pardoned, and with this kind of military force, I'm afraid they will resist stubbornly for a few days, and will only disperse after seeing blood, which can delay for some time. As for Xiangyang..."
"What about Xiangyang?" Xin Yongzong was still puzzled.
"Isn't it raining?" Xin Xingzong sighed. "To capture Xiangyang, we must first capture Dengcheng and then cross the Han River. However, how difficult is it to cross the river in rainy days? Not to mention that by the time we cross the river, the water level will have risen. Even if Fan Qiong is a jerk, he has defended Dongjing City... The troops at the ferry must be his most elite and reliable troops."
Hearing this, Xiao Xin couldn't help but look at Hu Hongxiu again.
Hu Hongxiu did not try to hide the truth, but directly offered a suggestion: "Xin Wujing can ask to be a detachment of the army, go to Niu Shou Town upstream, attack Monk Zong Yin, then cross the river , and rush to Xiangyang City from the south bank!"
The Xin brothers looked at each other. The fourth brother, Xin Yongzong, was obviously asking for help because he didn't understand the benefits of this plan. The eldest brother, Xin Xingzong, was silent for a while, and said awkwardly: "Xiao Hu, I must not have understood the key to this plan... Although Niu Shou Town has few soldiers, the monk Zong Yin who led the troops there has not been pardoned by the imperial decree, not to mention crossing the river alone to attack the famous city of Xiangyang where tens of thousands of troops are stationed. My brother is in charge of 1,500 people. If something goes wrong, won't the whole army be wiped out?"
Hu Hongxiu was extremely helpless and could only explain briefly: "Defense, let me ask you two more questions. Monk Zongyin was not pardoned, but did he surrender to the Jin Dynasty? Was his subordinates not pardoned by the imperial decree? And now it is raining so hard, but the emperor insisted on mobilizing troops at this time. Is the emperor crazy, or are the many soldiers and generals around the emperor all fools?"
"You mean..." Xin Xingzong was silent for a moment, then spoke with some difficulty. "The monk Zongyin must be a weakling. We can promise him his subordinates and lure him to surrender. And there must be a big change in Xiangyang City?"
"What else?" Hu Hongxiu was extremely disappointed when he saw that Da Xin had obviously figured it out but was still hesitant, and Xiao Xin was still confused, so he treated them coldly.
However, what kind of person is Xin Xingzong? He is a general of the Western Army who rose from Tong Guan's side. It is hard to say anything else, but at least he is a first-class observer of people's expressions. Seeing Hu Hongxiu's face turn bad, he also sighed:
"Mr. Hu, I know what you mean. I also know that what you said is very good, but although we brothers are not at the end of our rope, we are also in danger... Let me ask you a few questions, and then make a decision, how about that?"
"Please tell me about defense." Although Hu Hongxiu was puzzled, he was still frank.
"First of all, Master Hu, you have been in our camp for a year. Everyone knows that you regard the Jingkang incident as a shame in your life and you dare not forget it for a moment. However, if you want to do something, you must have a position first." Xin Xingzong sighed as he paced in the military quarters with his hands behind his back. "And you are a student of the Imperial College, you have a wide range of friends, and you have experience in the battlefield. Your father-in-law, Wang Shuzhan, is the Minister of the Ministry of Rites. Your brother-in-law and close friend, Wang Ruohai, was recently selected as a close attendant by the emperor's side. Your sister-in-law is the daughter-in-law of the emperor's uncle Zhao Shilu, who was the emperor's uncle who supported the emperor in Nanjing... In other words, if you want a position, you can always jump to it, but a few months ago, you came back with us from the southeast, and saw so many people around you rising up, why didn't you move at all?"
Hu Hongxiu suddenly laughed again: "Another question, I must want to ask, why did you suddenly jump out like a frog today when you didn't move before? And since you are out, there is a shortage of people everywhere, so why don't I go to my own Taishan, but come to the army to look for two downtrodden generals?"
"Exactly!"
"Then I'll speak frankly." Hu Hongxiu sighed. "Chen Dong and I were close friends at the Imperial College. Although I heard that the government had exiled Huang Qianshan and tarnished Chen Dong's reputation in the southeast, I still felt resentful. I hated Wang Boyan for not demoting him, but I also doubted whether the government had really changed its ways... I couldn't get over this knot in my heart, so how could I be willing to seek an official position?"
"I see." Xin Xingzong suddenly realized. "Yes, you are all influential figures in the Imperial College of Jingkang Middle School, how could you not know each other? I actually never thought of it."
"Don't you think that it's hard to bring back the dead?" Hu Hongxiu sighed. "Also, these days, from Bagong Mountain to Caizhou, and then to Nanyang, although I still feel resentful towards Wang Boyan, I see that the central government has somewhat recovered, and the government seems to be really doing something, not just fooling us like they did in Nanjing. Although I feel uneasy, I still want to come out and test it out."
"Who isn't like this? After going to the southeast, the official seems to have become a different person. Everyone is suspicious of him..." Xin Xingzong could understand it.
"As for why I have some thoughts now, but why I look for you two instead of my Taishan, I have nothing to hide..." Hu Hongxiu laughed bitterly. "First, my brother-in-law Wang Ruohai must be a close friend of the Imperial College in the past, and also a partner of Chen Dong, Ouyang Che, etc., but in the past few months, he has been jumping up and down, trying to please you gentlemen in order to get an official position, and even followed Wang Boyan's path. I feel disgusted with them!"
“…”
"The second reason is, of course, that Fan Qiong and I had a relationship in Tokyo. I wanted to kill him that day, but I was powerless and cowardly. I could only cry and walk out of the city holding the notice of disbanding the city defense. This is one of the greatest regrets in my life!"
"We met on that day." Xin Yongzong at the side couldn't help but interrupt.
When Hu Hongxiu reached this point, he was obviously thinking of the past events in Tokyo, but he paid no attention to the "Four Xins". He was just filled with resentment, which was evident in his words. He paused for a long time before calming down. Then he sat there and continued to speak sternly, pausing every word:
"Third, since the Jingkang Incident, after experiencing the siege, I have determined that if I want to pacify the world, I must put soldiers first! And if there is a chance to restore the two rivers, welcome back the two saints, and avenge the previous humiliation, I, Hu Hong Xiuning, would rather be a centurion than a servant! A mere official position, with its distinction between civil and military, means nothing in front of the millions of people in the two rivers?!"
Xin Xingzong stared at the leather belt on the other person's cuffs in silence for a long time. He ignored the difference in status and bowed to him: "If that's the case, I will entrust my younger brother to Master Hu this time!"
Hu Hongxiu knew that there was a difference of several dozen steps between the two sides, and he failed to dodge in time... However, just as he stood up, a drum sound came from afar through the rain, which startled the two of them and made them solemn.
Without a doubt, this was the Emperor Zhao who made people "suspicious" but couldn't help wanting to jump out and take a look, beating the drum to gather the troops in the center of the army.
