Volume 3 Chapter 29: Injustice
When Liu Lin heard that question, he knew that he had no chance of survival today.
To put it bluntly, it doesn’t matter whether the melon is sweet or not… Of course, Liu Lin had just eaten it at noon, so it must have been sweet… But the problem is not the melon?
The current situation is that one side wins and the other side loses, and it is a complete victory and defeat. The winner is like Zhang Rong holding the knife in his hand, and the loser is just like the melon in the car, at the mercy of anyone who cuts it. There is an asymmetry between the two sides. Once the one holding the knife suspects that you are not sweet, you will not be sweet either, not to mention that you are not sweet to begin with!
So, thinking of this, Liu Lin was quite frank. He stood up calmly in the mud, saluted, and then said proudly: "Captain Zhang, I am Prince Liu Lin of Qi. I was lucky enough to escape from the Shutou Beach of Liangshanpo in the past, but I have always remembered the singing of Captain Zhang on the boat. Today, I finally fell into the hands of the leader, but I have nothing to say. I only ask you to let go of the surrounding followers..."
Hearing this, several attendants wanted to stand up, but the surrounding Dongping Prefecture soldiers roared and surrounded them early.
In the dim rain, Zhang Rong, who was holding a knife and groping for melons, was stunned for a moment, and then he sneered: "As expected of a scholar, you speak so logically, unlike me, Zhang, who can only sing fishermen's songs that make people laugh... But why did such a scholar surrender to the Jin people and become a rebel, making us rough people look down on you?"
Liu Lin, dressed in shorts, did not hesitate and immediately bowed his hands in earnest, "It is true that we surrendered to the Jin people. Leader Zhang is a hero in the world. It is understandable that he looks down on my father and son, but I, Liu Lin, would never want to be called a traitor even if I die... Leader has been in Liangshanpo for many years. Don't you know what it means to force the people to rebel? It was the Zhao family who betrayed the world first. My father and I rebelled, but we are only traitors of the Zhao family, not traitors of the world!"
At this point, Liu Lin sneered, pointed his finger at the other party, and shouted: "Captain Zhang, don't you understand? We are from the same group!"
Zhang Rong nodded repeatedly, but quickly shook his head: "Prince Liu, you are so nice and powerful. If I hadn't been your neighbor in Jinan in Liangshanpo, I would have believed you... I just want to ask you, even if I am Zhang Rong, I have indeed suffered from the defeat and implicated the local people, but no matter what, I have never deliberately bullied the people of Dongping, right? But your family has become the emperor, and you have recruited soldiers in Jinan and plundered Yanzhou. How many people have fled and are almost catching up with Hebei. Do you really think I am blind?"
Liu Lin was speechless for a moment, because he knew that what the other party said was the irrefutable truth.
It is said that after the establishment of the Qi Dynasty and the accession of the Liu family to the throne, the Liu father and son felt that they were irreconcilable with the Zhao and Song dynasties. In order to protect themselves, they did their best. On the one hand, they respected Confucius, and on the other hand, they opened the imperial examinations; on the one hand, they issued a manifesto to criticize and scold the three living officials of the Zhao and Song dynasties, and on the other hand, they begged for military aid from the Jin people in Hebei; turning around and recruiting troops on a large scale, on the other hand, they tolerated the separatist warlords such as Kong Yanzhou and Li Cheng to act recklessly… Although Jinan Prefecture was a famous large prefecture in the world, after several wars, its population was almost the same as that of Dongping Prefecture. This time, Liu Lin led more than 20,000 soldiers, and his father had more than 10,000 soldiers in Jinan, all of whom were recruited in a hurry. Could it be that the burden on the people was lighter than that of the Zhao and Song dynasties?
Not only that, some things cannot be seen just by looking at the surface.
For example, Zhang Rong also had more than 20,000 soldiers in Dongping Prefecture, but a considerable part of his troops were fishermen who had left agricultural production and refugees from Hebei who had fled there.
Although Kong Yanzhou dug a lot of dirt in Yanzhou, perhaps because he was born a rogue, his extortion was mostly limited to the rich and middle class, and he rarely targeted the poor.
On the contrary, in order to gain the basis of rule, the Liu family father and son treated the scholars and powerful people with great favors. However, they needed to prepare a large army to show the value of their existence to the Jin people, which meant that they were destined to extort the power of the poor people...
In short, there are some things about the suffering of the people that affect the rise and fall of a country that cannot be explained by reason or words. Although Liu Lin's words were deceptive enough, Zhang Rong was staying in Liangshanpo, which borders Jinan, and he knew it clearly.
Of course, Liu Lin's behavior was also a desperate attempt to find another way out. When this failed, he became frustrated. "Captain Zhang, I have no other intentions. I just ask you not to send me to Tokyo... Why not take me to my father and exchange for a large sum of gold, silver and weapons?"
The vision was getting dimmer, but Zhang Rong could still be seen shaking his head in front of the car. "If it was a month ago, I would have agreed. But I won't hide it from Prince Liu. This time, not only have I owed a huge favor to General Yue, but it would be hard for me to refuse from Emperor Zhao Song... If it weren't for Emperor Zhao's imperial guards who desperately blocked Li Cheng for a long time at Beixin Bridge, I'm afraid I would have died in Pingyin City first... If you ask me, Prince Liu, since you are so magnanimous, I will treat you sincerely. Let's go to Tokyo together. You will definitely have a good last meal in Tokyo!"
After hearing this, Liu Lin knew that he could not change his mind. However, this man was a person who was determined to survive and was not willing to give up easily. So despite his frustration, he still had some thoughts in his mind. He just thought that Zhang Rong was a separatist rebel who was hastily recruited. If he could not convince him today, he would try again on the way to persuade him, at least to give him a chance to survive.
Just shut up temporarily.
Not to mention what Liu Lin was thinking when he was taken away to change clothes, Zhang Rong captured Liu Lin, which was considered as revenge for last year's attack, but he did not show a happy face. Not only that, many close leaders and generals around him who heard what their leader had just said also had grim expressions.
As the rain got heavier, the troops from Dongping Prefecture and Liangshanpo did not return to the city. Instead, they took advantage of Liu Lin's camp and returned to their original central army camp. Then, they lit torches in the central army tent and prepared fruits, wine, meat and stir-fried dishes to celebrate.
However, seeing the leaders of the various armies returning victoriously from the sweeping operations ahead, they were all extremely excited at first, but after drinking a few cups, their expressions gradually became as unmoved as Zhang Rong's.
Even among them, there are many rude and unscrupulous people who just say whatever comes to their mind...
"Brother, are you really going to Tokyo to accept the amnesty?" A man who was a little drunk suddenly brought up the matter.
"Why are you still asking for amnesty?" Zhang Rong's expression remained unchanged when he heard this, or rather, his dark face hardly changed color. "Didn't we accept the amnesty two years ago? I became the pacification envoy, you became the commanders and leaders, and Lao Xiao and his brothers became county magistrates."
"That's not what Lao Wu meant."
Another drunken man spoke directly, but he sat closer to Zhang Rong, almost on his left and right hands. He was Zhang Rong's trusted military advisor, called You Xuejiu. "Brother, why should you refuse? Two years ago, the Song emperor was trapped on the Huai River, and the world was in chaos. We used his name to contact the surrounding government troops to drive away the golden dog by the water. It was a temporary measure to accept the amnesty. But today, the Song emperor is in Tokyo, and General Yue led the army to bypass us. If we are slow, we can take Yanzhou and surround us slowly; if we are impatient, we are surrounded now. If General Yue is more ruthless, what will happen if he kills us directly..."
"You know we're being controlled by someone?" Zhang Rong, who usually loves to laugh, interrupted him coldly. "You said so much and so clearly, are you trying to persuade me to go to Tokyo, or do you not want me to go?"
"Of course I don't want you to go!" You Xuejiu responded earnestly, but he was so anxious that tears came down. "I just want to say that if we go to Tokyo, the fake recruitment will become the real one. By then, a transfer order will separate us brothers to different places, and neither you nor I can live so freely anymore!"
"But the situation is like this, what can we do?" Zhang Rong sighed. "If we really pretend not to understand and force ourselves not to go, if General Yue receives an imperial decree to suppress us, can we really hold on to Dongping?"
"At worst, we can go back to Liangshan Lake!" The first person who spoke up threw down his wine bowl, pulled off his clothes, revealing a tuft of black hair on his chest, and started to get drunk in the tent. "Once we enter the lake and Liangshan, it's our world. Unless someone flies over here, who can stop us?"
Hearing this drunken talk, many people in the tent frowned slightly, and when the scholar You heard this, he couldn't help but knock on the table with his wine bowl: "Old Five, you idiot, you insist on saying that Yue Fei flew over? Don't you know that Yue Fei's name is Fei? I'm afraid what you said will come true!"
There was a sudden commotion in the tent, which became increasingly chaotic.
One talked about gods, that one talked about the Dragon King, one drank wine, that one clapped his hands on the table, you talked about military affairs, he talked about God's will, but the situation was getting more and more unbearable... In the end, the vulgar and arrogant ones had already shouted the slogan "Fight to Tokyo and let my brother become an official"; and the timid and dissatisfied ones gradually became impatient and began to speak coldly.
Seeing that the noise was getting more and more outrageous, Zhang Rong became impatient and suddenly stood up. He kicked over the table in front of him with a loud bang, and then he pulled out a knife and stabbed it directly into the wet ground in front of him.
The tent suddenly became quiet, with only the sound of rain and frogs croaking outside.
"Stop talking nonsense!" Zhang Rong, shirtless and wearing a silk waistcoat, stood there with a proud look, looking at me coldly. "Those who say they are fighting the government army and General Yue are all idiots! Ask yourself from the bottom of your heart, if there is a chance of winning, why would I think of going to Tokyo? If you are fooling around like this, where are the lives of our brothers? If you want to fight, you have the final say, fight first and then I will bring it up!"
At least 30% of the people in the tent were stunned for a moment.
"And those who say weird things, don't think that I, Zhang, don't understand... Don't you have the same idea as those people who abandoned me after a defeat last year? You came out of the marshes, became officials in a county or a township, and have ambitions. You don't want to go back to the marshes to live a hard life." Zhang Rong continued to glance coldly in the tent. "So you feel uncomfortable when you hear about going back to Liangshanpo! But I, Zhang, feel uncomfortable too!"
Another thirty to forty percent of the people in the tent were terrified.
"But even though I feel disgusted, I don't blame you." Zhang Rong suddenly sighed. "It's because you only have this little world, or you only want to live a comfortable life in Liangshan, or you want to be recruited one day to bring honor to your family... But have you ever thought about my world?"
At this moment, even people like You Xuejiu became cautious and just listened with their ears closed.
"Old Five." Zhang Rong pointed at the man who had taken off his clothes and shouted that he would fight to the capital to exchange officials and said sternly. "You hate the government and the Song Dynasty, but I don't hate them either? Why did I become a bandit back then? It was because that old official Zhao who practiced Taoism wanted to transport some flowers and stones from the southeast to the capital. There were so many stones, one boat after another, that they filled up the canal. When the canal was not full, they went through the Sishui River and turned to the Jishui River from our Liangshan Lake. As a result, the Sishui River was narrow and the ferry was very slow... Because of those stones, fishing and ferrying were not allowed. For several months, people were starving to death. So they elected me as the leader and told the county magistrate. The magistrate didn't meet him, but the duty captain met him. He beat me with a stick and put me in jail. Everyone was so angry that they robbed the prison and rescued me. I killed the officials and rebelled, and then I went to Liangshan! You, Old Five, keep saying that you can't forget this kind of thing, but how can I forget it?"
The fifth brother's face turned red and dark, he wanted to say something but stopped, so he could only lower his head.
"But what makes me better than you, and better than those who forget their roots after becoming officials, is that I never forget the basics." Zhang Rong suddenly became more fervent. "I remembered from the beginning that being the leader of Liangshanpo is basically to ensure that the people around can fish and farm, so that they don't lose their lives in vain when the officials exchange countless lives for stones!"
"But..." The fifth man below finally couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to interrupt.
"But today, it is not the officials in Tokyo who are preventing the people around Liangshan Lake from living in peace, but the Jin people from the north!" Zhang Rong's voice was stern, like a roar. "Why can't you figure it out? How could you forget who used the people of Jeju as targets to practice archery in the south of Shuibo two years ago? Who was it that massacred more than a dozen towns in Jingxi last year in the east of Shuibo? Even if they have never been to Jingxi, so many brothers from Hebei say that the Jin people treat Hebei people as livestock and give them to the Meng'an and Mouke as private slaves. Are they all lying? If the Jin people cross the Yellow River again, and we hide in Shuibo, what will happen to so many folks in Dongping Prefecture? You can hide, but I, the big leader and pacification envoy, dare not hide again! At this time, what should I do if I don't go to Tokyo to accept the amnesty?!"
The whole camp was in complete silence.
By this point, Zhang Rong had already shouted out his long and somewhat illogical speech. By this point, he was already hoarse and his veins were exposed, but he was still indignant.
The man pulled off his silk waistcoat, put away the knife in front of him, and walked out with his black arms bare. When he reached the door, he couldn't help but turned back and added:
"What a bunch of thieves!"
After saying this angrily, he went out alone in the rain.
Zhang Rong had been the chief of Liangshanpo for many years. In another time and space, the Jin people completely controlled Jingdong. He simply led his entire gang to protect countless Liangshanpo fishermen and went south along the Sishui River, and forcibly moved the entire Liangshanpo to the Huainan area. What kind of prestige did this mean?
Therefore, since the chieftain was really angry and left, all the chiefs and officers in the tent were embarrassed. No one dared to move for half a day, but they only looked at the scholar You. The scholar You was helpless and hesitated for a while before he carefully got up and chased after him.
When he went out to ask, he found that the chieftain had actually left the central army camp and went to the place where Liu Lin was captured before. When he chased him, he found that he was actually holding a crisp melon and enjoying it in the rain with his bare arms. He even broke it off and took the initiative to give a piece to his own scholar when he saw him chasing after him:
"Is everything alright?"
"It's peaceful." The scholar also followed his leader's example and squatted under the car, eating melons in the rain.
"I will go to Jingdong, and the scholar will take them to listen to General Yue for a while..." Zhang Rong had obviously calmed down, but he was eating melons while giving orders. "General Yue has been with us for a long time, and he is a trustworthy person, but as long as I am not back, you must control the people for me. Don't let General Yue win their hearts, and don't let these people mess around and cause trouble."
"Yes." The scholar nodded, holding the melon. "Brother, you must be careful too. First, be careful that Liu Lin might cause trouble on the road. Second, be careful that the officials in Tokyo are not good people. Don't harm your brother."
"I'm not afraid of the first one. What I just said in the tent was all from my heart. How could he deceive me?" Zhang Rong shook his head repeatedly. "But if the second one really wants to harm me in Tokyo, I can only say that it depends on fate!"
You Xuejiu sighed: "I didn't dare to say this in the tent just now. If I say it, something bad will definitely happen."
Zhang Rong continued to shake his head: "So I am unwilling to give in... I still want to see the sincerity of the government troops."
"Brother, what do you mean...?"
"I'll wait one more day before setting off to see if Yue Pengju can come to see me in person." Zhang Rong finished eating half a melon, sucked his fingers, and then answered calmly in the rain. "Of course I know it's a bit unreasonable to think this way, but Yue Pengju dared to come to my tent alone to see me, which can make me feel a little relieved, right? However, even if he doesn't come, we can't do anything about it."
You Xuejiu hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.
Just as Zhang Rong was about to take out the second melon from under the car, he suddenly heard the ground shaking slightly. Then, there was a sound of chaos at the location of the back door of Liu Lin's rear camp, which was now the front door of the front camp... It seemed that they were attacked at night and the situation was really chaotic.
Fortunately, it was not a night attack. After a while, someone came to report that the commander-in-chief of the front army of the Song Dynasty Imperial Camp, his old friend Yue Pengju, came to see him.
Zhang Rong and You Xuejiu looked at each other, speechless for a moment... Then, Zhang Rong went to the front to greet them, while You Xuejiu went back to the central army tent to tidy up the filth and mess.
However, after finally tidying up the situation, the two big men did not come to the tent to drink. Helpless, You Xuejiu went to look for them again, but he still saw Zhang Rong at the melon cart that turned the rear camp into the front camp... The latter was just squatting on the ground eating melons as before. If it weren't for the reflection of the brazier in the tent on one side, which showed a bloody head in the mud beside the big leader, Xuejiu almost thought he had just had hysterics.
"So?" the scholar asked earnestly.
"Since you're here, what can I say?" Zhang Rong didn't care, and seemed to be in a good mood. He spit some melon seeds at the head of the person at his feet before continuing. "Xiao Yue is still kind. He came in person. The Beiwei Army stopped outside, and he entered the camp alone. He held my hand and said some honest words. He also sent Kong Yanzhou's head to me and asked me to send it to Tokyo so that I could explain to those officials in Tokyo..."
"Of course that's great." You Xuejiu had already guessed that the head belonged to Kong Yanzhou, but he couldn't ask any more questions. "The key is, when we go to Tokyo, does General Yue have any other explanation?"
"Yes!" Zhang Rong stood up and threw away the melon he had only taken two or three bites of, but he looked a little strange. "He said that when we get to Tokyo, we should not go to the capital or the Privy Council, but first go to find Mr. Xiaolin, who said that this person was my guarantor when I was the governor, and he is also a powerful person. If Mr. Xiaolin directly meets the emperor, everything will be fine..."
"So what if he only said looking for someone but didn't say meeting the emperor?" The scholar was still puzzled.
"I asked that question as well." Zhang Rong's expression became more and more strange. "Xiao Yue said that as long as we meet the emperor, it will be fine, because the emperor is as loyal as I am."
You Xuejiu was also at a loss... No one could clearly imagine what the image of a loyal official was like.
But no matter how confused he was, as Zhang Rong had said in his speech in the tent before, the current political and military situation did not allow Liangshanpo and Dongping Prefecture to continue to maintain a semi-independent situation. And Zhang Rong was a person who could see the overall situation with the simplest truth, and knew that the Jin people were the biggest enemy, so the trip to Tokyo was inevitable.
In addition, Yue Fei also expressed his sincerity at the first time, so the next morning, Zhang Rong, who had made up his mind, found some cavalrymen in his army, took Liu Lin and the head with some melon seeds stuck on it, and went west along the Jishui River directly to Tokyo.
Moreover, Zhang Rong was an impatient person. Since he had made up his mind, he did not hesitate at all, nor did he greet the local officials along the way. He just rode his horse at full speed, tied Liu Lin to the back of the horse and galloped away without stopping... Pingyin was exactly 500 miles away from Tokyo, but Zhang Rong was born a fisherman and only became proficient in riding in recent years, so it was a bit awkward for him and it took him three and a half days to reach Tokyo.
At noon that day, the group arrived at the famous Nanxun Gate in Tokyo City. Because Emperor Zhao had been here for half a year, the population and economic and trade exchanges had recovered rapidly at an accelerated rate. The so-called recovery speed was getting faster and faster. In addition, the recent opening of the special examination attracted countless scholars and wealthy families from the south, and it has indeed regained some of its liveliness. Zhang Rong and others were even more astonished. They couldn't believe that this was the capital of the Song Dynasty that was almost an empty city years ago.
But no matter what, he reported his name and official position, took out his official seal, showed the miserable Liu Lin on horseback, and displayed the already stinking head in the fishing net. Bei Yan, the captain on duty at Nanxun Gate who often boasted of his acquaintance with Marshal Yue, certainly did not dare to neglect it. He patted his chest and promised to personally lead Zhang Zhenfu to the provincial government and the Privy Council to report.
But since Zhang Rong received Yue Fei's order, he was not willing to go to the capital or the Privy Council. He just wanted to see Scholar Kobayashi... Bei Yan, a captain, was helpless. He could only arrange the other party and the head to the Daxiangguo Temple, which was under military control, while personally leading Zhang Rong's subordinates to find the residence of Scholar Kobayashi. At the same time, he also asked his subordinates to report to the capital and Kaifeng Prefecture respectively.
The Daxiangguo Temple had a quiet environment. When the monks, who had been under military control for many days, heard that a pacification envoy had entered the temple, they naturally did their best and even pretended not to hear of the death penalty.
Zhang Rong took a shower in the temple, ate some meat buns brought by the monks, and sat in the quiet courtyard far away from the workshop to rest for a while. Although he felt completely refreshed, he gradually became uneasy.
He really didn't know what to do if Mr. Kobayashi didn't arrive yet and the people from the Privy Council of the Province came first.
Only the scholar was not there and there was no one to talk to, so the governor had no choice but to place Kong Yanzhou's head and the fishing net on the stone table under the shade of a tree in the courtyard, and then called Liu Lin, who had regained some spirit.
"Let Chief Zhang know. I don't know who will come first." Liu Lin answered with a sullen face. "Normally, the capital province is under the prime minister's jurisdiction and takes care of everything, while the Privy Council is under the Privy Envoy's jurisdiction and is mostly in charge of military affairs. So the capital province and the Privy Council should have rushed to handle your case... But you saw it in front of the city gate. The special examination is being held at this time. The capital province and the Privy Council may neglect you, and they really let that scholar Xiao Lin come first."
"Isn't that just right?" Zhang Rong, who had changed into a loose silk robe but felt awkward, was relieved after hearing this. "Prince Liu, you've been in such a mess all the way, and now you're in the capital, you're going to die, why are you still pretending?"
Liu Lin, who also took a bath and ate steamed buns, became more serious: "I will die, but I, Liu Lin, will save enough strength to scold the Zhao Song officials in public in the capital and die heroically, so as to be recorded in history."
Zhang Rong nodded repeatedly but was too lazy to pay attention. He just sat quietly in a courtyard of the slightly smelly Daxiangguo Temple waiting for news.
As the sun set, just as Zhang Rong was becoming increasingly anxious, suddenly, the confidant who had followed Nanxunmen Beidutou to find Scholar Xiaolin finally came back, followed by two men who were casually dressed but looked wealthy, one young and the other slightly older. Zhang Rong hesitated for a moment, not knowing which one was the real scholar.
But there was no time to think about it. After the two men came in, two armored generals suddenly led dozens of fully armed soldiers to force their way in, regardless of the heat, and locked the courtyard on the spot, causing Zhang Rong to be nervous for a moment.
"I bow to the emperor!"
At this moment, Prince Liu Lin of Qi suddenly bowed his head in front of the stone table, and when he looked up again, he burst into tears. "Your Majesty, please be wise. My father and I were forced by the Jin people to become emperors. We did not really want to be emperors! Your Majesty can pardon Qu Da, but why can't you pardon me and make me a horse bone?"
The young man, Zhao Jiu, did not say anything, but just raised his hand to signal, and an armored general with an angry face came forward and dragged Liu Lin out.
Liu Lin was completely desperate at this point, but he was dragged while shouting: "What can I do if I have such a father?!"
He shouted once and was about to shout a second time when the armored general punched him in the stomach from above. Even the bun he had just eaten spat out and he had to stop abruptly.
At the same time, the Zhao official had already said nothing, but walked to the stone table without stopping. He first looked at the interesting head with interest, and then reached out and held the two hands of the somewhat flustered Zhang Da leader, and said earnestly:
"Captain Zhang, I have long heard of your great name. You want to kill me!"
Qu Duan, who had just dragged Liu Lin out, turned back into the courtyard and felt extremely aggrieved when he heard this... Why were all the domineering people entering the capital, and he was given twenty killing whips in front of the palace, but this guy came to Xiangguo Temple on his own initiative to shake hands and chat?
The government is unfair!
