Volume 2 Chapter 9: The Envoy
The situation at hand is actually quite simple:
If the rebels were allowed to enter the city, Ruyang City would most likely be completely safe, but there was a small possibility that it would directly ruin the fate of the Song Dynasty.
If the rebels were not allowed to enter the city, Ruyang City would most likely remain safe, but the rebels would face considerable risks and would resent Emperor Zhao in the city. They might also be captured by the main force of the Jin army that was about to arrive, and cause unnecessary trouble.
At this moment, no matter what he does, it is right or wrong. From Zhao Jiu's personal perspective, it is nothing more than the distinction between rationality and sensibility... rationality tells him that he must not let the rebels enter the city, otherwise, not to mention the fate of the Song Dynasty, it would at least be irresponsible for the lives of the people in the city; but emotion reminds him that if the rebels are slaughtered outside the city by the Jin people because they cannot enter the city, and finally cause mutual disunity, that is something that the soul of a time traveler cannot tolerate, because the lives of the rebels outside the city are also lives.
This seems to form a classic moral paradox.
At this time, the suggestions of Yan Xiaozhong and Mr. Kobayashi are very valuable. No matter what, we should tolerate each other and do our best for the country.
"Go and have a look first..." Zhao Jiu hesitated for a moment, but gave the order directly. "Just find out what Zhai Chong is thinking, and be honest with him."
Scholar Kobayashi said nothing more, but just bowed, and then a group of soldiers brought a large basket and hung him directly below the city wall... Then, everyone on the city wall watched Scholar Yutang and the somewhat surprised Yan Xiaozhong move into the team not far away.
Without mentioning what happened on the city wall, let's just say that Scholar Xiaolin followed Yan Xiaozhong and led the donkey to meet Zhai Chong and the other leaders. At this time, seeing that Yan Xiaozhong did not call for the door to be opened, but someone came down in a large basket, they more or less understood the doubts or "caution" of the people on the city wall. The leaders all felt a little embarrassed... Anyone who came here full of enthusiasm but was poured a basin of cold water would feel the same... but surprisingly, they did not complain or feel resentful.
To put it bluntly, just as many officials and soldiers of the Song Dynasty were terrified by the word "Jurchen", these local tyrants also had an inexplicable respect and fear for the three words "Emperor Zhao", even though these people were the instability factor of the previous Song Dynasty's rule.
In fact, when Emperor Zhao came out to talk with Prefecture Governor Yan on the city gate tower just now, these people were just looking at them from afar instead of going forward to spy without permission, as if they always felt that their level was not high enough.
Only today, in order to appease the people, Emperor Zhao did not wear a red robe and a fu hat, but just ordinary clothes, so it was impossible to see clearly which one he was wearing.
"I am a Hanlin scholar, a master of imperial edicts, and my common name is Lin Jingmo." Xiao Lin scholar came to the group of leaders, and after asking who Zhai Chong was, he simply bowed and spoke. "You should know what is commonly known as Yutang scholar and internal imperial edict Hanlin."
Who doesn’t know this?
The Song Dynasty has been established for more than a hundred years, and the importance of Hanlin scholars is well known. Many imperial edicts were written by these people. Even if Jingxi is a place of nobility, it still has the word Jing in its name! Especially this scholar Xiaolin, who is over thirty years old, tall and handsome, with a plump face. Although his beard is stuck together by sweat, he looks handsome under the reflection of the four words "Yutang Scholar". He forms a sharp contrast with Yan Xiaozhong, the governor of Tangzhou, who is holding a donkey beside him. At first glance, he is a real elite of the Song Dynasty!
As a result, many leaders of the rebel army, including Zhai Chong, became solemn at once, and then they all bowed their hands, with an older man even wanting to kneel down in panic.
Scholar Xiao Lin remained calm, and he held the man with his hand, and continued, "I... am not good at speaking, and I always think before I speak, so please don't ask me any more words for now, and listen to me first, and then we can talk about other things, how about that?"
Zhai Chong and others naturally agreed quickly, and then became solemn.
"It's like this. My father, Lin, whose real name is Qi, was a Jinshi in the reign of Emperor Renzong. He served in Kang, Ya, Tai and Zibo prefectures. When he was in Taizhou, he built a seawall and restored thousands of hectares of fertile land. His achievements were ranked first in Huainan. Then there were more than a dozen brothers in my family, eight of whom passed the imperial examination and became prefects. The eldest brother Jingyuan was the prefect of Huizhou; the second brother Jingwei was the prefect of Sizhou; the third brother Jinghui was the prefect of Xuzhou; the fifth brother Jingda was the prefect of Suzhou; the sixth brother Jingyuan was the prefect of Changzhou; the seventh brother Jingzhen was also the prefect of Suzhou; and the tenth brother Jingheng was the prefect of Huazhou; the youngest brother Jingrui is the prefect of Changzhou; I, the ninth child, was also the prefect of Shouchun Prefecture..." Scholar Kobayashi talked eloquently, but he also mentioned some unrelated topics. However, even so, the local tyrants around him were dumbfounded when they heard what he said.
In fact, not to mention the local tyrants below Zhai Chong, even Yan Xiaozhong who had remained calm before was a little confused... Is the gap between people so big?
Poor Yan, he studied hard for many years and finally passed the imperial examination at the age of 30. However, because of his appearance, he was not favored by one of the two saints, so he worked hard for more than ten years before he was promoted to the position of governor of a lower state like Tangzhou. But he was lucky. When he was a child, there were a bunch of jinshi who taught him how to study...
Let's not talk about what Prefect Yan was thinking. On the other hand, when he got to this point, Scholar Xiaolin looked at Zhai Chong again, and then slowly asked a question that was so straightforward that it didn't seem like a question that a Yutang scholar should ask:
"General Zhai, do you think I am of high status? Is my family prominent?"
"The status of a bachelor is naturally valuable, but as for his family, it is simply better than mine... ten times, a hundred times better than my family!" Zhai Chong, who is already in his late forties, sighed.
"Then let me ask you again, you people have spent several lifetimes building up your family business, risking your lives and wealth, isn't what you want just for your family to be as glorious as our Nan'an Lin family?" As Scholar Kobayashi spoke, he glanced at the Khitan cavalry who were setting up camp in the distance on the opposite bank.
"I dare not think about it..." Zhai Chong followed the other person's gaze and turned his head to look at the Jin cavalry on the other side of the river, then looked at the few young armored warriors behind him, and then he said a huge truth in confusion. "My family has eight or nine sons and nephews, but if we could have a Jinshi who became a prefecture governor, I and the old women would have been vegetarians and Buddhists for the rest of our lives! But these guys, who can only use guns and sticks, tattoo and sing songs on weekdays, can only be called the Eight Tigers of Xiping County, and the most capable Old Nine is only called the Ninth Tiger. How can they compare with Lin Xueshi's family who has a bunch of prefecture governors?"
"That's what I'm saying."
小林学士撒开那个之前作势下跪之人的手，然后按照之前想好的步骤，学着赵官家的步伐，上前一步握住了翟冲那双满是茧子的硬手，然后诚恳出言。“若在太平时节，你们翟氏全族再猖狂于地方，也比不上我们林氏一点风华之态，但眼下呢？眼下国家有难，官家也流落至此，我这种随行的文华之士，上了马便颠簸南行，下了马便两股战战，闻得前方军事惊惶无度，见到路上惨像便……便失控丢脸，真的是殊无大用！反倒是你们，正所谓学成好武艺，卖与帝王家，以往帝王家不收你家的货，今日却收了……翟统制一定要抓住这摆在眼前的泼天机会！”
After hearing this, Zhai Chong felt that the other party had hit the nail on the head. If it weren't for this, he would have just been a local tycoon in Xiping. Why would he get involved in such matters... He nodded repeatedly.
"But now there is something." Scholar Xiao Lin took another half step forward and almost leaned against the other person's body and said, "General Han's 50,000 troops are all outside. You should know that the emperor has only 4,000 soldiers in the city, and they have to protect the emperor, the four ministers, and hundreds of ministers. So when you came over just now, you, as an experienced person, naturally understood the difficulties of the ministers on the city..."
"I understand."
"It's good that you understand. That's why the emperor asked me to come down and tell you my heart and soul. I just want to ask Commander Zhai, can you assist me, a scholar who knows nothing about military affairs, to set up a camp under the city with our backs to the city and lean against the water, and together we can defend the north of the city for the emperor?" Scholar Kobayashi finally revealed his true intentions.
"Does Master Lin want to stay outside the city with us?" Zhai Chong also suddenly realized what was happening, but immediately bowed down to the other party. "I am willing to be loyal to the emperor and serve the master!"
The people around him also came to their senses and followed Zhai Chong's example, bowing and expressing their willingness to serve.
At this time, Lin Xueshi turned his head and gestured to Yan Xiaozhong who was a little dazed: "Zhizhou Yan, please go to the city and tell the emperor that the people outside the city are all loyal and filial, and they can be relied on."
Yan Xiaozhong, who had long since recovered, bowed slightly and turned away.
In this way, Bachelor Kobayashi went out of the city alone, appeased a group of local tyrants, and began to set up camps on the spot under the city, digging trenches and building fortifications. Soon, with the entry of Yan Xiaozhong, wine, meat, tents and other things were hung in the city. When Yan Xiaozhong came back in the evening, he brought back a bunch of formal appointments.
Up to this point, the sudden problems caused by the sudden arrival of the rebel army and the vanguard of the Jin army seemed to have disappeared.
The matter was perfectly resolved, and the previous tension in Ruyang City had long since disappeared. Emperor Zhao naturally returned to the backyard of the government office to prepare for dinner and then go to bed early.
However, as the sun was setting, Zhao Jiu sat in the corridor in the backyard of the government office with a great view. He just drank a few mouthfuls of porridge facing the spring breeze and flowers, and then suddenly put down his chopsticks and remained silent... In the final analysis, he always felt that something was wrong!
It's not the kind of sixth sense of crisis, but the kind of feeling of being in front of a math problem with all the necessary conditions, where you clearly see part of a simple and effective solution but can't figure it out for a moment, and end up having to resort to a stupid method that doesn't suit your taste to answer the problem.
Of course, this is the thinking of a straight male chauvinist who majored in engineering. If Zhao Jiu was not a professional student before traveling through time, but a chef who truly served the people, he should have quoted the more literary and historical way of thinking of "butchering an ox" to analyze his own operations.
The emperor didn't want to eat, but Feng Yi, who was always good at welcoming and serving others, didn't dare to say much. He just stood there with his hands clasped in silence. This was not only because the atmosphere was different from before due to various unexpected events today, but also because this eunuch with the same seniority as Kang Lu and Lan Gui quickly adapted to the emperor's "new temper".
Then, unlike Lan Gui who was already in the highest position among the eunuchs and was therefore cautious, this person quickly integrated into the role and environment and wanted to go a step further and become a regular escort.
He knows how to go along with a person's temper.
However, back to the present, just as it is difficult to kill a cow and difficult to solve math problems, Zhao Guanjia is not a genius. Until the sunset, after a whole night of wind, he still drank the cold porridge in a depressed mood and turned back to the house to rest.
But at midnight of that day, or rather the early morning of the next day, in short, when it was pitch black outside, Zhao Jiu was awakened again.
"What happened?" The weather was warm, and Emperor Zhao came to the back hall wearing only a middle coat and an outer coat. He then met two of the four ministers directly, and then Zhang Jun, Wang Yuan, Liu Ziyu were also there, and even the unexpected Yan Xiaozhong, who was puzzled for a moment.
"Good instructor, I know that there was an incident outside the city." Before he could say anything about the emperor's clothing, Yuwen Xu Zhong, one of the prime ministers, stepped forward, bowed, and informed him seriously.
"What do you mean?" Emperor Zhao's heart sank and he also became serious.
"Reporting to the emperor," Yan Xiaozhong's dark face seemed to be a little shiny under the candlelight, obviously reflecting the sweat. "I don't know what happened... It seems that someone was eager to make a contribution, and seeing that the Jin army had few soldiers and they were all Khitans, they secretly crossed the river to rob the camp at night! In the middle of the night, I can only roughly guess that it may be that a few young men of the Zhai family were provoked during the day and wanted to do it, that's all."
Zhao Jiu's heart was slightly moved: "How is the battle going?"
"The Jin army saw that thousands of righteous soldiers were not allowed to enter the city in broad daylight, and the people on the city walls were guarding the city walls tightly, so they became quite arrogant and even mocked us across the river. Now we are caught off guard and have fewer people, so we are temporarily shaken. I am afraid they are faking it."
"How did Zhai Chong react?" Emperor Zhao asked again.
"It happened suddenly, and I was hesitant!"
"What was Huyan Tong's reaction when you came up from the city?" Zhao Jiu continued to ask.
"General Huyan obviously has some intention, but he dares not act rashly because he has the responsibility to defend the city." The one who answered Zhao Jiu was Wang Yuan. It can be seen that this person has been very active recently.
Zhao Jiu pondered for a moment and was about to speak when Lu Haowen, who had hurried in from outside, spoke as soon as he stepped into the door: "Hu Yantong cannot go out, and the city defense cannot be changed for a moment! Your Majesty, we discussed it repeatedly last night and we all think this is the bottom line! We must not send troops recklessly and ruin the overall stability!"
Zhao Jiu had no expression on his face and nodded slowly: "I agree with you!"
Everyone was stunned, seemingly unable to react for a moment. But when they came to their senses, they all felt relieved.
"Therefore, we cannot move Hu Yantong's troops. Instead, we should urge Zhai Chong to use his troops to cross the river and defeat the 500 cavalry who have already wavered!" Zhao Jiu continued slowly.
Lu Haowen and others looked at each other and felt that this statement seemed to be correct.
"But the incident happened suddenly, and the situation is unclear. Zhai Chong and the other rebels are all from wealthy families, so they naturally like to preserve their strength. So they are hesitant and indecisive... Then at this time, someone must go down and urge Zhai Chong to fight!" Emperor Zhao continued slowly by the candlelight. "Don't you think so?"
At this time, Wang Boyan also hurried over, and all the ministers were present. From the four ministers onwards, everyone looked around, still speechless, but nodded one after another... Only Zhang Jun wanted to say something but stopped himself, but after meeting Emperor Zhao's gaze, he finally chose to remain silent.
"However, Scholar Lin went out of the city as a hostage as a Yutang Scholar, and Magistrate Yan followed him as an old friend. I even gave him the position of a commander before, but he still didn't move. What should I do?" Zhao Jiu withdrew his gaze from Zhang Deyuan and continued to look around and ask.
"There's nothing we can do about this," sighed Wang Boyan, the last and oldest person to arrive. "This is the nature of the so-called righteous army. They have no hatred or grudge against the Jin people. They just saw that the army was strong and the Jin people would leave sooner or later, so they came here to fight for their own survival."
"That's right." Xu Jingheng finally spoke up. "These people seem honest, but they won't do anything unless it's for the benefit of the people. For the sake of the military capital, they don't even care about their own children and nephews. How could they be urged by Master Lin and Prefect Yan?"
"That's true, so only if I go out of the city myself can I force him to send out his army." Zhao Jiu nodded casually, then turned to Feng Yi who was standing by and gave him an order. "Bring my red robe, my hat, and the golden belt!"
Feng Yi was stunned for a moment, glanced at the ministers and important officials in the hall, and then walked away.
The hall was silent for a while. It was obvious that many people did not react for a while. But after they realized what was happening, they felt it was ridiculous.
"What kind of joke is this, Government?!" Xu Jingheng almost jumped up.
"How could I be joking?" Zhao Jiu replied calmly. "Isn't the truth obvious?"
"What you said before is true, but what about the safety of the emperor?" Xu Xianggong was furious. After questioning Zhao Jiu, he turned his head to look at the flustered Lu Haowen and Wang Boyan. "Is this how you treat your husband in Shouzhou?!"
"Mr. Xu, please be patient." Zhao Jiu quickly raised his hand to stop him. "I am not deliberately taking risks, but I just realized that this trip is actually not dangerous. It is completely different from the day when Xiacai was forced to go because of the urgent situation!"
Xu Jingheng laughed in anger: "Although I was not on the city wall during the day, I also know what people are saying. It is clear that even the rebels are not allowed to enter the city, so how can we let the emperor leave the city?"
"Because if the rebels enter the city, there will be risks, but if I leave the city, there will be no danger..." Zhao Jiu said this calmly, pointing to Wang Yuan and Liu Ziyu. "Lord Wang, Lord Liu, do you remember the real reason why you refused to allow the rebels to enter the city at noon today? Was it because Zhai Chong and Prefect Yan were unreliable? It was just that the timing was sensitive, and there were other troops outside the city besides Zhai Chong, so we didn't have time to identify them. Is that right?"
Liu Ziyu and Wang Yuan looked at each other and spoke, their hearts moved slightly, as if they were thinking about something.
But before the two of them could speak, Emperor Zhao suddenly stood up, put on his clothes and calmly faced the ministers in the hall: "To be honest with you, I felt something was wrong during the day, and I just figured it out... The reason why the rebels were not allowed to enter the city was because the timing was too sensitive. With the involvement of the Jin army outside, once there were a small group of bad people in the rebel army, they would collude with the Jin people and attack from both inside and outside. If the city gates were opened, the city would be in danger of overturning. Once the city was overturned, I and you would naturally be like eggs in an overturned nest... In other words, the danger of the rebels entering the city has always been only the obstruction to the defense of Ruyang City, not me! No one would think of assassinating the king, and Zhai Chong and Yan Zhizhou would not do so! In fact, think about it, if someone really felt that these two people were untrustworthy from the bottom of their hearts, they should have driven them to other cities to station in the afternoon before the Jin army arrived. Why did they leave them to rely on in front of the city? Isn't it because I think Yan Zhizhou and Zhai Chong are still reliable and available?!"
After these words were spoken, many people fell silent. Even Xu Jingheng was slightly startled. His previous indignation disappeared, and he turned to look at Yan Xiaozhong, who was short but had a straight back, along with the others.
"In short, if Zhai Chong is reliable, then I would like to ask if I can just go down to the city and sit at his central army headquarters for an hour to urge him to send troops to defeat Yelu Ma Wu, who only has 500 cavalrymen. What's the harm?" Zhao Jiu finally smiled at this point. "If it doesn't work, we can come back... and once Yelu Ma Wu is defeated, without the involvement of the Jin army, we can completely rush to let Zhai Chong lead the reliable elite troops into the city , and then send the rest of the troops to the surrounding cities for settlement. Only then will it be truly foolproof. Gentlemen, what do you think, is my analysis correct?"
Everyone was in a daze and did not answer.
"That's all right. You all stay in the city and I will be back soon." Seeing this, Emperor Zhao, with a hint of joy at successfully solving the problem and an engineering student's persistence in logic, simply threw down his casual clothes, took the round-necked red robe from Feng Yi who had rushed back, put it on in the hall, then calmly put on his hard-winged turban, tied a golden belt, and finally changed into leather boots for ease of movement, and left.
The whole hall of civil and military officials was divided into two groups. Yuwen Xuzhong, Wang Yuan, Zhang Jun, Yan Xiaozhong, Liu Ziyu, and Feng Yi quickly turned around and followed him, but Lu Haowen, Xu Jingheng, and Wang Boyan did not move at all.
When Emperor Zhao came out of the door and mounted his horse on the street, he turned around and saw the person following him. He was slightly startled, but did not say much.
It can only be said that matters of stance in the world are never decided simply. After Emperor Zhao made a one-size-fits-all decision on the sides of war and peace, they are now divided into conservatives and radicals...Among them, the conservatives are destined to be powerful, and among the radicals, due to the existence of Emperor Zhao, there are destined to be speculators involved, or most of them are just speculators. On the contrary, the conservatives on the opposite side are mostly trustworthy people in terms of morality and behavior.
Zhao Guanjia knew this truth when he was fifteen years old and reading high school history textbook, so he didn't care about it.
Back to the present, the street was actually quite bright at this moment because the lights were not allowed to be turned off easily according to the previous order of Emperor Zhao. Zhao Jiu rode his horse forward, feeling the spring breeze blowing in his face, but he felt more and more that Yelu Ma Wu's small village was in danger.
