Volume 2 Chapter 5 Human Heart (Part 1)
Zhang Jun was panic-stricken, Feng Yi was panic-stricken, and Emperor Zhao was as expressionless as usual.
But soon, Zhang Deyuan resumed the posture of an elite scholar-official. He stood up and bowed solemnly, "Your Majesty, I am the Chief Censor. How could I not understand the family rules of my ancestors and privately hand over the eunuchs? As for Han Shizhong, although I have had some contact with him recently, he definitely did not report to me last night about any confidential military information discussed with Your Majesty. It was just that one of Han Shizhong's attendants came to my house this morning and told me some messy things... If Your Majesty hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known that he came last night and persuaded Your Majesty to change his mind! As for the latter matter, Your Majesty can ask Han Shizhong to confront me after the war. I have never violated the rules."
"Deyuan." Zhao Jiu frowned slightly. "To be honest, I don't believe you would have such a close relationship with the eunuchs. As for your close relationship with Han Shizhong, I deliberately indulged you, and even personally suggested it. The reason for this is that Han Shizhong has a bad character, and most of our military officials have a bad ending, so I hope you can protect him in the court... But you must know that yesterday you took the initiative to follow my wishes to promote the war, but today you changed your usual behavior and advised me not to fight. It's really strange; and when did you have the ability to have such a proper consideration of military affairs?"
Zhang Jun was somewhat relieved when he heard the emperor use "I" instead of "I". After hearing the end, he realized that it was all a misunderstanding and felt relieved. However, he felt helpless when he thought that he was still a "person who knows nothing about military affairs" in the emperor's eyes.
Of course, at this point, he had no way to evade the situation, so he leaned forward and said, "I wonder if Your Majesty knows the story of Ma Zhou during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang?"
Zhao Jiu was at a loss for words.
Zhang Jun couldn't help but cough awkwardly, and then he said tactfully: "During the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong had a minister named Chang He. Chang He was a rough warrior and uncultured. But suddenly, for a while, his memorials were meaningful, and more than 20 of them hit the nail on the head. Taizong was surprised and asked him directly why. Chang He told Taizong directly that the memorial was written by his retainer Ma Zhou... Ma Zhou was only 30 years old at that time, and he was kept in the Ministry of Personnel for consultation. He was promoted three times within a year, and finally became Taizong's most trusted minister in the later period."
Zhao Jiu's political history level also understood it again: "Deyuan said... someone is teaching you from behind?"
"Liu Qian, the Grand Secretary of the Palace of Literature, died during the Jingkang period. His eldest son Liu Ziyu returned home with his coffin. He has just returned and is living with me. These words were originally said by him when I went back to discuss with him." Zhang Jun finally revealed the truth. "Liu Qian was a general during his lifetime. As early as the reign of Emperor Zhezong, he was the Transport Commissioner of Shaanxi. Later, he made great contributions in suppressing the rebellion and resisting the Jin Dynasty. Liu Ziyu followed his father in the tent since he was a child. He was known for his knowledge of military affairs in his early years. It is said that from childhood to adulthood, he would shoot more than a hundred arrows in the alley every morning, just like the officials every evening, so he was not an ordinary civil official..."
Besides, after hearing this name and the narration, Emperor Zhao couldn't help feeling like he was reading a low-quality time-travel novel. He was born into a government family, was a civil servant, understood military affairs, and had national hatred and family feuds... The key point was that the name was too out of place!
However, as Zhang Jun continued to narrate, Emperor Zhao gradually felt relieved and realized that this was a living historical figure... For example, it is indeed out of place that this person is called Liu Ziwu, but that was the fault of a group of failed writers later and had nothing to do with him. He also had two younger brothers, one named Liu Zihui and the other Liu Ziyi. Doesn't this make sense?
Moreover, after Zhang Jun's hint about his father Liu Qian's experience, Zhao Jiu also realized that he, like the old Taiwei Yang Weizhong who had not yet arrived, was one of the people who rose up in the northwest during the reign of Emperor Zhezong. Therefore, he had been on the margins during the reign of Emperor Huizong and could never become the mainstream. This provided a footnote for Liu Ziyu's military career as a teenager.
However, Emperor Zhao still maintained a certain rationality... Because after what happened yesterday, he was wary of all those who only talked about war on paper, including himself. God knows if Liu Ziyu just happened to guess right? And this person's name is so special. If he really did something in this era, there is no reason why Emperor Zhao couldn't remember him? He remembered Niu Gao, right? !
Of course, no matter what, this is the time when we need people, so it would be nice to have such a talent by our side as an advisor, even if he is just good at talking on paper.
After all, there is a saying: Two Zhao Kuo are worth one Zhuge Liang. If everyone can make do with more, it will at least improve the fault tolerance, right?
So, with this in mind, Zhao Jiufu responded with a serious expression: "Why didn't you recommend such a person? You recommended so many people before, and I appointed them all..."
"Your Majesty." Zhang Jun was increasingly helpless. "Liu Ziyu was the person that Hu Yin impeached and wrote down in my notebook the day before. How dare he go against the will of the emperor?"
Zhao Jiu suddenly realized what was going on, and asked the other party to go back quickly and bring Liu Ziyu over, and then asked Feng Yi, who was kneeling there, to stand up... In fact, he had wanted to deal with the latter yesterday, because the eunuch's performance was too much like the so-called eunuchs in traditional dramas, but he couldn't find a suitable reason to deal with him. In fact, because he was on the road, he couldn't even find a suitable place to put him , so he had to put him aside for the time being and treat Liu Ziyu with peace of mind.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Jun came and left quickly, and brought Liu Ziyu here in a moment.
After the greetings, Emperor Zhao offered him a seat. He looked at him casually and saw that he had a dignified appearance and was tall. He sat there with his back straight and looked awe-inspiring... If Yang Yizhong was a natural-born military general, then this man had the typical appearance of a general... Emperor Zhao was of course even more suspicious of this.
You know, how can there be such a perfect person? If he really looks like Yan Xiaozhong, the prefect Yan, maybe Emperor Zhao would believe him a little more.
However, these are all irrelevant matters, and they are just Zhao Jiu's selfish thoughts. In the final analysis, he still needs to ask in person.
However, perhaps due to lack of sleep, Emperor Zhao did not know where to start. He could not just keep his mouth open, so he could only take the opportunity to ask Zhang Jun, who was standing beside him, "How did Deyuan (Zhang Jun's name) come back so quickly?"
"Good, the master knows." Zhang Jun was relieved at this time, so he answered casually. "As soon as I left the place where the master was staying, I met Liu Yanxiu (Liu Ziyu's pen name) on the street. He also heard the news and was about to find Prime Minister Lu to sign up and prepare to go out to recruit peripheral volunteers..."
Zhao Jiu became more and more uneasy after hearing this... You have to know that he made this decision deliberately because the military situation was urgent. In order to seize the city, he had to gamble with the lives of these ministers. He even drove Han Shizhong away overnight... Because if something happened, the news that Han Shizhong came to see him overnight would spread again, and the civil officials would probably vent their anger on Han Liangchen.
Back to the present, if Liu Ziyu did this at this time, he was either a fool who did not understand his own thoughts, or he was loyal despite knowing the danger. But the last possibility inevitably made this person seem even more unreal.
Meanwhile, Liu Ziyu sat at one side of the back hall of the Ruyang government office. After thinking for a moment, he took the initiative to speak: "Excuse me, may I ask if the emperor is worried that there will be a backlash in recruiting the rebel army and seizing the cities in the northeast of Nanyang?"
Zhao Jiu was silent for a moment, thinking that it was better not to take the risk of lying to such a person, so he slowly shook his head: "I am worried that the so-called rebels and bandits in various places have different positions. Among the many people who went today, perhaps not everything will go smoothly, and some people may even die because of it, so I feel quite guilty."
Upon hearing this, Liu Ziyu immediately stood up and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty is kind-hearted, but at this point, our army is weak in field battles. If we want to compete with the Jin cavalry, we must quickly occupy the city. Moreover, at this time, the country is in trouble and the Central Plains is in chaos. People are dying everywhere. As an official, you should not be afraid of danger... Moreover, in my opinion, your move is really clever and not too dangerous!"
Zhao Jiu didn't say anything. It was unclear whether he disagreed or didn't want to comment, or maybe he was simply waiting for the other party to explain.
Fortunately, Zhang Jun was here. With Zhang Xiantai's slight gesture, Liu Ziyu immediately understood and took the initiative to explain:
"Your Majesty, in my opinion, there is really not much risk in recruiting the rebels and bandits from all over the place at this time... There are three reasons. First, General Han and Deputy Commander Wang Deyin have a total of 40,000 to 50,000 people outside, which is enough to deter them. This is power. Second, Your Majesty underestimates the significance of the emperor and the emperor. With Your Majesty staying in Runan and personally sending court officials to pacify them, who among these chaotic people will not recognize Your Majesty's words unless they really have great ambitions? This is benevolence. Third, at this point, if there are really traitors or serious bandits, they should have surrendered to the Jin or established their own country. Those who have not surrendered to the Jin or established their own country can only go with the flow at this time. This is momentum."
This made sense, and Zhao Jiu nodded slightly, but he was not too excited.
To put it bluntly, the man in front of him was not Han Shizhong, so he could not completely trust him. And after yesterday's reflection, Zhao Guanjia could not help but doubt his own "power and virtue", or he could not take this power and virtue seriously.
You know, since ancient times, which tyrant did not think that he still had plenty of power and virtue before his death?
Two or three years before the Jingkang Incident, wasn't Emperor Huizong of Song, one of the two saints, still prosperous and majestic?
What's the result?
Liu Ziyu's speech did not elicit much reaction from Emperor Zhao, and he himself was not discouraged. On the other hand, Zhang Jun became a little anxious, so he took the opportunity to say something in the middle: "If Yan Xiu said this, wouldn't Liu Guangshi and Ding Jin be shocked by these people? I have been worried about this matter before."
"I don't think so." Liu Yanxiu was still proud, but turned to Emperor Zhao and continued to talk. "Your Majesty... Please think about it, who is Liu Guangshi? He is a general for generations. He is the first person to be established in the army after your accession to the throne. He can be called the leader of the military. And who is Ding Jin? He has tens of thousands of soldiers and once blocked the imperial court. He is full of wolfish ambitions. People like them have ended up like this. Not to mention that they have brought it upon themselves, they have also caused shock and vigilance. At this moment, there is only Fan Qiong around! And how can those people in Jingxi who have thousands or hundreds of soldiers compare with these two? How can they empathize with them? How can they not trust your Majesty for this matter?"
Zhao Jiu now found this interesting: "What's going on with these people in Jingxi?"
"That's exactly what I want to say." Liu Ziyu bowed his head and replied. "Your Majesty, the west of Beijing seems to be in chaos right now, with soldiers everywhere and everyone fighting each other, just like the Warring States Period, but in fact, if you break it down, there are only four types of people... The first type is those who surrendered to the Jin people and followed the Jin people to plunder. Now most of them are in Tangzhou and Dengzhou, close to the main force of the Jin people; the second type is those who are loyal to their country. As officials, they are dedicated to their duties, and there is no need to say more. The real distinction lies in the latter two types, which are the two different types of people among the so-called rioters that your Majesty is recruiting this time. I call them the difference between the host and the guest!"
Hearing this, Zhao Jiu was finally moved, and he understood everything all of a sudden as if he had suddenly been enlightened!
It is said that Emperor Zhao still does not know how to combine theory with practice... When he heard the report before, he just thought that Jingxi was really in chaos. In addition, among the thieves he encountered before, Ding Jin, a rising star in this place, left a deep impression on him. Therefore, Emperor Zhao always thought that the situation in Jingxi would be similar, and countless people had become ambitious and no longer took the Song Dynasty court seriously.
But it ’s not.
Combining the previous intelligence with Liu Ziyu's reminder of the word "host" and "guest", Zhao Jiu understood that the chaos in western Beijing was just a natural situation in the war. The reason why it looked scary was because it involved the host-guest dispute that had been going on in China for thousands of years.
There was war in the north, and a large number of refugees and defeated soldiers moved south, but they had no food supplies. Naturally, they had to rely on their short-term advantages in manpower and combat power to plunder. The local people were naturally unwilling to be bullied. In addition, the Jin people happened to plow the land again at this time, so that the officials were emptied and there was a lack of officials to organize and coordinate the conflicts between the two sides. Then, there would inevitably be local powerful people who would rise up and organize troops. No matter who they were, they would be on guard against!
To put it bluntly, the reason why the situation became so chaotic that everyone looked like a criminal and everyone was fighting each other was because there was a fierce conflict between the host and the guest over the means of production necessary for survival. At this time, it would be unfair to judge the Song and Jin countries based on their positions and ambitions.
As for who is right and who is wrong... From the moral sense of ordinary people, they will of course think that it was the refugees and defeated soldiers from the north who acted recklessly, that is, it was the fault of these guests. And in fact, if you think about it carefully, Zhai Chong, Zhai Xing, Zhai Jin, and even Niu Gao, who seem to be the most credible forces at present, are still local forces, and those who have ambitions to rebel are actually mostly defeated soldiers from Tokyo and the Western Army, and they have knives in their hands at the first time.
But in fact, everyone is essentially just seeking a way out, and the only ones who are wrong are the two saints and the Jin people! However, this truth may only be said by Emperor Zhao alone. Those who have paid for the mistakes of the two saints with their lives may not have this awareness. Even if Zhao Jiu speaks in person, he can only say a few words in the line. If it is really released, it will still be temporarily stopped at the Jin people, calling on everyone to be united against the outside world.
So, at this time, Emperor Zhao stepped forward to appease them. Although they seemed to have different personalities and styles of doing things, they had no reason to refuse fundamentally.
Especially under the pressure of the official forces of Song and Jin, there is no one in the west of Beijing who has the power of Ding Jin to become a third party to shake the situation... There is a fierce bandit in Luoyang, Xijing, named Yang Jin, who also formally surrendered to Jin and was used by the Jin people to encircle and suppress the two Zhai.
All in all, Liu Ziyu's words made Emperor Zhao completely convinced that this man had some ability, and he gradually put his mind at ease... If so, as long as the pacification was successful and Han Shizhong could advance quickly, this Wanyan Yinshu would be just a false alarm.
At this thought, Emperor Zhao's brows relaxed slightly, and regardless of the other party still talking, he spoke directly: "Mr. Liu, I see that you are eloquent and a descendant of a loyal and honest man. In addition, the court is in need of someone who understands military affairs, so why not come to the Ministry of War to judge the affairs of the Ministry of Military Affairs..."
"Your Majesty!" Zhang Jun suddenly interrupted Zhao Jiu, and even Liu Ziyu suddenly bowed and bowed.
"What?" Zhao Jiu was confused for a moment.
"Liu Yanxiu is already a fifth-rank civil servant... Under normal circumstances, he could be directly appointed as a prefect, but this assignment seems a bit too light." Zhang Jun reminded carefully. "If the emperor wants to keep him as a military advisor, why not give him a higher-ranking but less busy assignment?"
Zhao Jiu suddenly came to realize that he had made a mistake again, so he followed suit and gave the other party some assignment from the Imperial College, thus putting an end to the matter.
Just like that, Zhao Jiu was comforted by Liu Ziyu and felt less worried about the future of Jingxi. Then he asked Feng Yi to take Liu Ziyu to get some rewards, and had a few words with Zhang Jun in private. Then he asked Feng Yi to send the two of them out, but finally he was too sleepy to take a nap.
Let's not talk about how Emperor Zhao went to catch up on his sleep. Let's just say that Zhang and Liu came out of Ruyang Prefecture, turned into the street, and rode side by side under the bright morning sun. Liu Ziyu couldn't help but ask, "Why didn't the Xiantai let me go out to recruit people or serve as a military governor on the front line? The military advisor beside the emperor is a close minister, but I really don't want to do it because I am confined to the central government."
"Because the most difficult place in the world right now is the emperor's place." Zhang Jun sighed. "You should stay here, enlighten the emperor, and give him advice. That's what you should do most... Ziyu, you are a good person in every way, but you have a limited vision and don't understand the overall situation."
Liu Ziyu opened his mouth to speak but didn't say anything, apparently he was still a little unconvinced.
"Yan Xiu, do you know what the emperor said to me just now when you and Feng Yi went out to receive the reward?" Seeing this, Zhang Jun could only rein in his horse and ask seriously.
"How should I know?"
"He asked me how to expel the innocent Feng Yi!" Zhang Jun sighed. "And when I asked the emperor why he wanted to expel him when he was innocent, the emperor said that Feng Yi served him too well... During this national crisis, he was afraid that he would indulge himself too much!"
Liu Ziyu was surprised for a moment: "I didn't expect the government to be so self-disciplined."
"That's not all!" Zhang Jun shook his head again. "There's one more thing..."
