Volume 3 Chapter 52: Slap
"Wuliyan (Lou Shi's nickname, real name) heard that the king was going to die, so he came all the way from Shanxi specifically. He wanted to see the king for the last time... He came too late, and I'm afraid we may never see each other again in this life." Wanyan Lou Shi, wearing full armor, said this while holding the hand of king Wuqimai, which immediately caused a commotion in the hall.
After all, this statement is too thought-provoking.
Several young "princes" thought that Nianhan was getting too aggressive. It was not enough to bring Wanyan Yinshuke and Wanyan Xiyin (Wanyan Gushen) into the central government, but he actually wanted to learn from the southerners and carry out "military remonstration"?
However, whether it was Nianhan or Wuqimai, including the eldest prince Wanyan Oben, the right deputy marshal of the Capital Marshal's Office Wanyan Talan, the new central noble Wanyan Yinshuke who was in charge of Yanjing, and Wanyan Xiyin (Gu Shen) who was pushing for the reform of the official system and wanted to become the prime minister, none of the slightly older powerful and noble people had this idea.
Because they knew that, unlike the other people present, this man who suddenly arrived would not take the initiative to get involved in such matters. He must have come for official business.
Therefore, the commotion in the hall was almost instantly suppressed by the eyes of several elders.
The king, Wanyan Wuqimai, was embarrassed because he didn't know the other party's intention, so he could only play dumb and smile bitterly: "Woliyan (Lou Shi's original name, nickname), I don't even know how I'm going to die, how do you know, did you hear the wrong message?"
"Reporting to the Lord."
Lou Shi stared into the other person's eyes and continued to answer in that loud but calm voice. "I guessed."
This time, Wu Qimai had no idea what to say.
However, at this moment, a young nobleman dressed in luxurious clothes, who was almost indistinguishable as a Han or a Jurchen, seemed to have seen the king's embarrassment, and simply stood up and scolded: "Lou Shi, how could anyone have speculated that the king would die? For this, you should be caned twenty times..."
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was Wanyan Alubu, the fourth son of the current king, who was only in his twenties.
As soon as Alubu opened his mouth, the king was indeed freed... Wuqimai felt as if he had been pardoned. He immediately let go of Lou Shi's hands, rushed to his son, grabbed the other's silk collar with one hand, and repeatedly whipped him with the other hand, and slapped his son more than a dozen times in the lobby of the Shangshu Province in Yanjing.
Well, I have to say a little more here. In theory, Alubu, who got what he wanted, did not make a fool of himself, because according to the glorious tradition of the Jurchens, the former tribal leader and the current king have the power to slap other people in the face during meetings, just like other people can drag the king down and beat him with a stick... these are all standard and fine traditions.
When the king is beaten with a stick, it means that the upper and lower levels are united and the law is enforced as strict as a mountain. However, when the king slaps someone in the face, it is also said that he does so to maintain order and demonstrate his authority.
All in all, no matter what, this slap itself did not have any deliberate intention to insult personality, but even represented trust and intimacy to some extent, and Wu Qimai was just using this behavior to change his hands this time... Wasn't it Alubu who was eagerly serving as a tool to ease the embarrassment?
But the question is, what era is this?
People like Alubu grew up in a wealthy family and were influenced by Han culture since childhood. However, they did not have rich military experience like their slightly older peers like Wanyan Wushu... Wanyan Wushu joined the army when he was a teenager and was the last batch of royal family members who participated in the war for the rise of the Jin Dynasty. Those younger than him could not be called founding members of the country.
This is also another important reason why the wars led by the Fourth Prince Wuzhu have not been going well, but he has been able to get closer and closer to the core power - even Wuzhu is now a qualified founding general.
No matter what, back in the present, Alubu was slapped for nothing, and he was ashamed and angry, but he could only lower his head and sit down. However, only a few young nobles under Wanyan Wushu showed a slight sneer, and most of the powerful nobles did not care.
Everyone just wanted to hear what Lou Shi had to say.
"Wuliyan (Lou Shi)." Nianhan, who was sitting at the top, saw this and spoke at the right time. "Although Alubu doesn't know etiquette, your words are really strange... The king is in good health and there is nothing wrong with him. How can you guess that he is going to die? There must be evidence, right?"
"Not only the king, I think the marshal is about to die as well." Lou Shi saluted his boss sincerely.
Nianhan was stunned for a moment, laughed, then immediately stopped laughing, said nothing, and went straight to the tea on the table in front of him.
That was not all. Lou Shifu turned to his old friends Yin Shuke and Wanyan Xiyin, and said in a loud and sincere voice, "Not only the Marshal, I came here to see you, Yin Shuke, because I'm afraid you're dying... But the Right Commander (Wanyan Xiyin) is a man of both civil and military talents. He has a good character and may live a long life."
Yin Shuke and Wanyan Xiyin looked at each other in bewilderment but said nothing... There was nothing they could do, they were too familiar with Lou Shi, and they knew from the beginning that this man only knew how to talk about military matters, so they just listened to what he said before, and ignored it unless it was a military issue.
Of course, Lou Shi had no intention of keeping the secret, so when he saw that Qing Jing had the chance to speak, he turned around and continued to speak sincerely to Wu Qimai:
"Your Majesty, I am not speaking nonsense... Think about it, last year, Anbanbojilie Xieye (Wanyan Xieye, the crown prince's younger brother) died of illness, Xijing (Datong) governor Jiemu also died of illness, and last year, my health has been gradually getting worse. When it rains, I feel unbearable pain all over my body, as if I am being tortured. It seems that I will not live for another year or two... So I presume that those of us who used to drive in front of Taizu's horse are now in our forties or fifties and are gradually unable to hold on."
As soon as these words were spoken, Wuqimai stood beside his son, Nianhan held the tea and did not move, and several elderly founding heroes in the hall were also depressed for a moment... The whole hall was silent for a while.
Because these people knew very well that what Lou Shi said was the absolute truth.
"More than two uncles?" In the midst of the silence, the first to break the silence was the fourth prince Wanyan Wushu, who had shaved his beard and looked much younger. His sitting posture was strange, but his words were sincere, which attracted the attention of people in the hall. "My second brother (Wanyan Wulibu, the commander of the Eastern Army) was only over thirty years old when he suddenly died of illness; my other uncle Wusai, I remember that he was the commander-in-chief of the Western Front against Goryeo, and General Loushi was just a soldier under him, and he also died of illness in his thirties; and my eldest cousin Mou Lianghu, my father promised him to be the marshal, and he was the best to my brothers, but he died before he was forty? My eldest brother even married his wife to take care of him..."
One familiar name after another floated past their ears, and the many Jurchen nobles in the hall became more and more sad.
But what can we do?
As the first generation to start a business, what hardships did you suffer when you were young? What did you eat and use? Who hasn't been hungry and cold? How many obvious and hidden injuries did you suffer in the war? It is common to die in your thirties or forties, and dying in your forties or fifties is probably a happy funeral!
So logically speaking, if you die, you die!
Only wealth, glory, power and profit are right before our eyes, and life is no longer the same as before, and everyone is unwilling to accept it.
Speaking of which, we must first review the turmoil within the Jin Kingdom last year.
First of all, it must be confirmed that the Jin Kingdom had no intention of going south last year, and it was not a trick. Even this New Year's Day military expedition was really just a separate action pushed by Wanyan Loushi, and the Eastern Route Army was not mobilized at all.
The reason was that Jin was plagued by internal and external troubles, and many problems occurred intensively within a year...
The most obvious one is, of course, that the Crown Prince Wanyan Xie suddenly became seriously ill and then died, leaving the throne vacant, which then triggered a fight among the three major factions for the throne. Needless to say, this was a fight for the foundation of the country.
While fighting for the throne, the Mongols also launched an uprising and declared war;
In addition, Liu Yu's pseudo-Qi army was defeated in Jingdong.
The Meng'an and Mouke people in the northern region also collectively petitioned in the autumn to expand their territorial rights.
A more serious external threat was that it was in this year that Yelu Dashi completely integrated the remaining forces of the Liao Dynasty in the Western Regions.
This great general of the Liao royal family and Khitan Jinshi, who had been captured by Wanyan Loushi in the past, relied on his two hundred remaining cavalrymen to maneuver in the Western Regions. In seven years, he managed to link up eighteen coalition forces, integrate the entire Western Regions, and raise the banner of the Liao Dynasty again. Moreover, just since last autumn, he began to gather troops on a large scale, as if he was about to make a big move.
When the news came, even though there were Mongols or Xixia people in between, the three words Khitan, Liao and Yelu were still taboos that had to be taken seriously by the Wanyan clan of the Jurchen Jin Dynasty.
As expected, following an accident, the Khitan nobles in Datong, Xijing, suddenly rebelled in response to Yelu Dashi and Mongol Kubula Khan.
Then, there was the incident of the loss of all the ferry boats in Little Gossa during the Chinese New Year...
These things happened one after another, and it was understandable that the Jin central government was overwhelmed and decided to slow down its march southward.
However, returning to some fundamental issues behind the matter, the reason why the country is in such a mess is that the founding people mentioned by Lou Shi are gradually dying out, which is a factor that cannot be ignored.
For example, wasn't the issue of the crown prince that led to the fierce fighting among the three major factions because the crown prince Xieye suddenly collapsed, which completely invalidated the order of succession arranged by Wanyan Aguda and subsequently broke the balance among the three major factions?
Moreover, in the process of fighting for the throne, what caused the situation to become unbalanced was nothing else but the death of Aguda, Wuqimai, and Xieye's other brother, Jiemu, who was the governor of Datong, the Western Capital of the Jin Dynasty.
Wanyan Jiemu died suddenly of illness, and the consequences were no less serious than the death of the crown prince Xieye.
This man was the military supervisor placed by Aguda in the Western Army of Nianhan. He had outstanding military achievements and was the theoretical superior of Lou Shi and Yin Shuke. He was the Left Supervisor of the Marshal as early as the establishment of the Capital Marshal's Office. He was one of the few close relatives and generals in the Western Army who could effectively pin down Nianhan.
Later, Talai used a trick to come to power, and this man resigned from the post of Marshal and Left General, and was instead appointed as the governor of Datong, the Western Capital. However, he still sat in charge of the capital and enjoyed a very high political status. Then, he was still like a dagger, firmly behind Nianhan.
Although Nianhan had successfully consolidated and expanded his authority by raising prices among Aguda's direct line and Wuqimai's line before Jiemu's death, the death of Jiemu made Nianhan completely fearless in politics and military affairs.
Wanyan Yinshu was promoted from the governor of Taiyuan to the governor of Yanjing, and Wanyan Xiyin (Gu Shen) was ordered to enter Yanjing and announced that he would carry out political reforms. All of these were direct consequences of the death of Jiemu.
That’s not all. The Khitan rebellion in Datong, Xijing, was undoubtedly another direct consequence of Jiemu’s death, and it was Lou Shi who was later responsible for cleaning up the mess.
In addition, during the fight for the throne, Jayamu had always supported Aguda's eldest son Wanyan Oben. His presence and stable attitude kept Aguda's direct line, one of the three major factions, closely united. But when the emperor's uncle suddenly died of illness, everyone in Yanjing knew about it, and the third prince Wanyan Erlido began to think about fighting for the throne himself.
Therefore, not to mention that the dispute over this matter was like a farce, and not to mention that it concerned the fundamental issue of the throne, no one was willing to give up. Just saying that the brothers Xieye and Jiemu died one after another, had made this fierce dispute and struggle come to the present moment, and Nianhan had already won!
But today, Lou Shi suddenly arrived, and his words made everyone realize... The situation was so terrible, not only because of the two major problems left over from the founding of the country, that is, the inability to establish a reasonable law of succession to the throne, plus the problem of confrontation among the three major factions, but also because of the large-scale renewal of the top leaders of the Jin Dynasty.
It has been less than 20 years since Aguda actually unified the Jurchens, but because of the poor living conditions when they were young, the founding ministers are indeed dying out, and the rise of newcomers is unstoppable.
If things go wrong at the turn of the old and the new, the foundation of the country may be shaken.
Of course, over the past six months, this naked political struggle that was almost a farce has actually shaken the foundation of the country, but they may not be willing to admit it.
"Woliyan (Lou Shi) is thoughtful."
Wu Qimai was depressed, and then he came back and held Lou Shi's hand again. "Although I am also ill, it is not that serious. On the contrary, you are really not well anymore, right?"
"If I lie down at home, I might only have two or three years to live." Lou Shi's words were as calm as ever.
But most of the people around smiled bitterly, because those who really knew Lou Shi knew that this man would never go home to enjoy his life, and he would die in the barracks. When they thought of this, Yin Shuke and Wanyan Xiyin (Gu Shen), two comrades who were familiar with Lou Shi, had already begun to test each other with their eyes. They vaguely guessed something.
"Is there anything you need to tell me?" Wu Qimai thought for a moment and asked seriously. "Or if you have something to ask for, just tell me..."
"That's true," Lou Shi answered seriously. "My two children, Huo Nu and Mou Yan, are useless, and now I'm going to die, but I'm afraid they won't have a good ending in the future..."
Wuqimai could not help but look back at Nianhan who was silent behind him, and he was unusually excited - although the King of Jin knew very well that Lou Shi's visit might have a lot to say, but no matter what the reason was, since things had come to this point, he would definitely show this favor to Nianhan.
Thinking of this, Wu Qimai simply answered:
"Wuliyan has made great contributions and I have long wanted to give you a golden medal of immunity from death."
"I thank you for your kindness, but my two sons are not the kind of people who would break the law and cause trouble. Although the gold medal is good, it is of little use." At this point, Lou Shi finally laughed. "And I won't hide it from you, my Lord. What I am worried about is that even if my two sons don't cause trouble, they will inevitably die one day and their clans will be destroyed..."
After these words were spoken, the Jurchen nobles in the hall felt awkward again... because these words sounded like a mockery of the excessive infighting in the central government over the past six months.
"No." Wu Qimai couldn't help but laugh dryly to cover it up, but he looked around. "Even if we were all dead, who among the young people in the hall would touch the son of Wuliyan? Why would you say that you will die and your family will be destroyed..."
"The Song people will! That Cangzhou Zhao Jiu will!"
Just when Lou Shi was about to get to the point, Wanyan Wushu spoke again, causing him to stare at the young Fourth Prince.
Wuzhu ignored Lou Shi and stood up and turned around. After scanning the many Jurchen nobles in the hall, he pointed to the sky and continued to speak:
"Not only the sons of Wuliyan, but also your sons will be killed by him! Your wives and daughters will be taken to Tokyo and assigned to the Song soldiers just like the women of the Zhao family! You fight for power here all day long, not caring about the military and national affairs. I want to ask you this through General Loushi's visit today: when the Great Jin Kingdom is gone, how can your descendants not die and be exterminated?!"
Seeing that Wuzhu was behaving crazily and talking nonsense again, King Wuqimai, Marshal Nianhan, Crown Prince Oben, and Third Crown Prince Erlido, the only four people present who were qualified to restrain Wuzhu, stood up almost at the same time and prepared to scold him!
Wuqimai even let go of Lou Shi and turned around, not knowing whether he was going to slap Wuzhu again.
However, at this moment, Lou Shi suddenly spoke up: "Let the king, the marshal, and the princes know... What the fourth prince said is exactly what Oriyan must say today. If we continue like this, the Great Jin Kingdom may not be a match for the Song people in the future."
Wuqimai had already taken three or five steps when he froze in place. Nianhan, Oben and Erlido, the three people who had stood up, were also stunned as if they were under a spell. Even many dignitaries around were stunned for a moment... because the same words, spoken by different people, would sound completely different.
In fact, even Wuzhu was a little confused.
After a while, the first person to make a noise was Wanyan Yinshuke. The newly appointed governor of Yanjing could not help but move his buttocks, revealing his uneasy mentality... After all, if there was one person in this world whose military judgment Yinshuke could unconditionally believe in, it could only be Wanyan Loushi standing in the hall.
Yin Shuke was frightened, and so were the others.
