Volume 3 Chapter 55: Returning Home
In late February, Lou Shi's entry into Yanjing triggered a three-way competition that was about to decide the winner. In the end, Wanyan Nianhan, the commander-in-chief who was called "Prime Minister" by the people of Song Dynasty, successfully directed a palace coup by relying on his strong strength and political control.
After this incident, Nianhan's authority grew, while the prestige of King Wuqimai's faction plummeted. At the same time, several of Aguda's own sons, who had always been unruly, simply fell into the position of Nianhan's vassals... Whether it was Wuqimai's faction or the other nobles in Yanjing City, or the officers of the Western Route Army to which Aguda's own direct line belonged, it was difficult to imagine that those "princes" who were led over by Nianhan's hands were Nianhan's equal allies rather than vassals.
And when everyone thinks so, then you too.
In fact, Wuqimai's sons, who reacted the next day, had already clashed with their cousins on several occasions, and Aguda's sons also fought back resolutely... Otherwise, is there any explanation?
In contrast, the king's other confidants, such as Talai, who were "forced" to be awakened by Yin Shuke at night, were forgiven by Wuqimai and his son. Especially Talai, who was the first minister to take the initiative to enter the palace to apologize, and it is said that he shook hands with Wuqimai and cried together... I don't know if it's true or not.
All in all, it was a chaotic night. Apart from Nianhan who was the undoubted winner, it was hard to say who the real loser was, especially since this was originally an interesting three-player ranking game.
Not to mention the chaos of the past two days, at the end of February, Wanyan Loushi once again proposed a battle plan to Nianhan, who had already fully grasped the political power in Yanjing.
But it's not that simple.
The plan was proposed again, and Nianhan and the king Wuqimai agreed with Lou Shi's warning in principle. However, when things entered the specific military planning stage, Lou Shi encountered some unexpected but reasonable difficulties.
For example, as Lou Shi's military plan was put on the table, some people soon questioned that since the two routes were combined into one, why not cross the river from the Jingdong area under the protection of the Pseudo-Qi, and then penetrate the two Huai regions in one breath, and then turn around to sweep the Central Plains?
Then some people questioned why they should march from Shaanxi, where there are many gullies and plateaus, and the terrain is not suitable for cavalry field battles at all? Why couldn't they replicate the Jingkang Incident of that day, find an opportunity to cross the river, and directly sweep across the Central Plains with cavalry to surround and attack the reinforcements ? After all, although the Song army's navy won a great victory, its number was not large, and it was difficult to cover the entire section of the Yellow River.
Then someone else suggested that it was already the end of February, and even if they mobilized quickly, summer would soon arrive. The Jurchen cavalry were not afraid of hard battles but were afraid of the heat. Instead of fighting a decisive battle in the summer, why couldn't they wait a few months and fight in the autumn?
At the beginning, Lou Shi patiently explained, talking about geography, people's hearts, and military deployment, but as the reasons these people put forward became more and more absurd, he gradually came to his senses... It is possible to combine the troops, but the gap between the Eastern and Western armies has been formed for decades, and it is simply a fantasy to expect everyone to ignore factional interests.
What about going to Lianghuai, what about going to Pingyuan, what about waiting until autumn, it's all nonsense. The Eastern Army just doesn't want to take advantage of the fire for the Western Army.
Guanzhong is the real strategic location, don't these people know? What the hell is Lianghuai? Don't they know that the water network of the Huaihe River is a must for cavalry?
As for the plains, the Zhao Song imperial camp in the Central Plains had 200,000 troops, both on land and sea, and the whole country's strength was there, so why would they go to the plains? It was as if the cavalry on the Guanxi Plateau couldn't charge!
Moreover, he had already said it directly, that he, Wanyan Loushi, was about to die, and he came here just because he was afraid that he would not be able to wait until the autumn. How could these people not know? Why didn't they say next year?
But at this time, Nianhan didn't know whether it was because he had just "subdued" Aguda's direct line politically, so he didn't want to oppress the Eastern Army, which was the foundation of Aguda's direct line, too much; or because he had just achieved such great political results and didn't want to make large-scale military gambles... but he was ambiguous for a while.
But then again, how could Lou Shi give up?
Given his physical condition, this was his only chance... If he succeeded, he could leave his son with a lifetime of merit, help the Western Route Army gain a nearly perfect territory like Guanzhong, and help the Jin Dynasty increase its national fortune by another point... For both public and private reasons, and given his own character, how could he possibly give up?
So, in order not to waste time, after a little thought, Lou Shi formally proposed to let the eldest prince Wanyan Wuben, or the third prince Wanyan Erlido be the commander-in-chief, and even the specific troops could be divided into the east and the west, as long as they could ensure timely convergence and let him command in the final decisive battle.
As soon as this proposal was made, the resistance was immediately reduced by half. After thinking it over again and again, Nianhan finally decided to trust this general under his command who had never let him down - as long as Lou Shi won on the front line, his position would be more stable in the future.
Just like that, once the highest power center of the Jin Dynasty completed the negotiations, it finally began to prepare to send troops according to Lou Shi’s plan, and at the same time began to carry out some messy things to respond.
And without mentioning what those messed up things were, let's just talk about one fact that has to be acknowledged, that is, although the internal political structure of the Jin Dynasty was so chaotic that even they themselves could not stand it, and although their culture was so backward that a cultural generation gap had emerged among the top leaders in just twenty years, the military system still maintained a very high efficiency, and their military technology was by no means inferior to any country in the world at that time.
This is not sophistry, it is a fact.
From the Turks to the Khitans, from the Khitans to the Jurchens, and then to the Mongols, including the half-Turkic and half-Mongolian Timur, etc., time and again, they have been demonstrating this indisputable fact.
This kind of geopolitical hammer force is born this way. They are next to a powerful and prosperous civilization, but because of the need to survive, they have to focus their main energy on learning and improving their military level, so they have to abandon other branches. Once they have obtained enough military technology and accumulated enough war potential, they will smash from the wilderness to the heights of civilization like a hammer! Then they can easily use their tenacity and cruelty from being used to hard times, plus this high level of military strength, to destroy the advanced civilization in front of them.
But without exception, in the process of destroying higher civilizations, they will be corrupted and controlled by everything in the higher civilizations.
It may be a bit wrong to say corrosion, because there is only this one way, just like water flows to lower places, it is basically a regular thing, but this process often appears more intense because it is accompanied by fierce military conquests... Many civilizations can withstand poverty, hunger and suffocating military pressure, but they cannot withstand such magnificence and refinement.
Therefore, in most cases, they would explode and die.
The few who managed to survive couldn't even tell what family or surname they belonged to.
Of course, these are all later stories. Back to the past, when the Jurchens finally made up their minds to launch a major invasion against Guanxi despite all the disadvantages, the situation in Bianliang in the south was getting hotter and hotter.
It is of course getting hotter and hotter in March, but what is even hotter is people's hearts.
It has been nearly a month since Emperor Zhao's "triumphal return to Tokyo", and although this battle between Song and Jin was not as exciting as the last time, it was undoubtedly the best situation since the Jing Kang Incident, because the Jin people did not make any progress at all and were trapped in Tongguan and voluntarily gave up their intention to invade.
Everybody was talking about it, everybody was guessing, and gradually more and more people came to agree with one view, that is, thanks to the emperor who was like "Chong'er of this age, Guangwu of this age", the Song Dynasty finally did not have to fear the loss of the country and the extinction of the race, and at the very least it could return to the Yellow River line and plan its course slowly and calmly.
In other words, the area south of the Yellow River is safe, and Tokyo City is safe!
Because of this trend of thought, more and more wealthy families returned from Yangzhou, Nanyang, and even Bashu, more and more merchants gathered from the south, and more and more local officials were eager to show their presence in Tokyo through various means.
Emperor Zhao, who was touted by Hu Quan as "the present Chong'er, the reincarnation of Guangwu" according to the content of the letter of persuasion when he ascended the throne, gradually became complacent after a month when he saw that the Jin army had made no move and summer was approaching.
However, the interesting thing is that the so-called sense of comfort, when it came to Emperor Zhao, was manifested in that this emperor began to interfere more and more in daily government affairs... This was a natural trend and behavior of a young official in peacetime. Therefore, although the ministers felt that the emperor was a little hasty, they still tried their best to cooperate with him.
"Rebuilding the Bianhe River Bridge... Of course, a few floating bridges there are inconvenient for both road and water transportation, but can the bridge be built higher?" In the Wende Hall of the Tokyo Imperial Palace, after the prime ministers had finished discussing some major issues, Zhao Jiu, who had brought several documents to discuss the matter, picked up the top one and looked sternly at Chen Gui, one of the four prime ministers.
"I would like to speculate that the emperor wants to build a few bridges on the Bian River that can accommodate ships to facilitate the passage of navy in the future?" Chen Gui was not surprised at all.
"That's right." Zhao Jiu nodded immediately.
"It can't be repaired." Chen Gui answered frankly. "With such a high arch, I don't know how long the bridge will be, and there are four or five of them... With this amount of manpower and material resources, it would be better to dig a new ditch in the north of the city for military use."
"...I know." Zhao Jiu was embarrassed for a moment, then he returned to normal. "There is another thing. It is said that many households returning to Beijing found that their houses were destroyed and occupied by others... Many people came to tell me about this. I hope Kaifeng Prefecture can handle it properly."
Chen Gui was increasingly helpless: "Your Majesty, this matter cannot be properly handled... The Jingkang Incident caused four years of war, and Tokyo was only gradually stabilized last year. The destruction of the mansion is fine, there are many empty houses in Tokyo anyway, and we can divide and arrange them appropriately. But the matter of someone occupying the mansion is difficult, because although the mansion was occupied, most of the people who occupied the mansion had permission from the Tokyo garrison and the court later. How can we properly handle it?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the other ministers and other important officials standing in the hall were all silent... After all, first of all, this matter has a legal dilemma and is really a mess; secondly, those who used to have a mansion in Tokyo and now have the energy to come here specifically to ask for it must be either noble ministers or wealthy people, and they can even find Emperor Zhao to talk about this matter, so there is no need to explain.
"Mr. Chen misunderstood." Zhao Jiu, seeing Chen Gui's somewhat anxious state, quickly responded with a serious expression. "My proper intention is to prioritize public interests over private interests, prioritize the majority over the small, prioritize the poor over the rich... When it comes to city defense, military camps, government offices and other public matters, public matters should be prioritized first; when there is a conflict between a large number of people and a small number of people, the larger ones should be accommodated first; if it is really difficult to decide, compare the wealth of the two families and provide housing to the poor first... This is not only my intention, but also the intention of the two imperial concubines. You can arrange according to these rules. If anyone still disagrees, let them beat the drum and come to me and the two imperial concubines to discuss directly."
Chen Gui felt relieved, and the other important officials looked at each other in confusion and were speechless... because this plan was too much like the official style.
"There is one more thing." Zhao Jiu turned to the third note and continued. "Someone in Yangzhou suggested that we should escort the Queen Mother and the royal family back to the capital... I think Tokyo is not stable and we cannot do that for the time being... What do you think?"
Since Emperor Zhao has said so, who can still think otherwise? Do you think Tokyo is not lively enough these days? If the Queen Mother and the royal family really come back, where to place them, how to place them, what etiquette... it will all be a mess.
The reason why this matter was brought up in the palace was simply because it concerned the Queen Mother and certain procedures had to be followed.
"The last thing is that Han Xiaozhou, the governor of Jiangzhou, wrote a letter saying two things. You should all know about them, right?" Zhao Jiu turned over the last letter and spoke in a slightly slower tone. "What do you think?"
There was a moment of silence in the Wende Hall, because everyone knew that this was the highlight of today's drama.
Having said that, the Song Dynasty shared the world with the literati, and to be honest, the imperial examination system was still very powerful, so it was not a fantasy for children from poor families to become famous officials in the central government. In addition, during the chaos of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms in the late Tang Dynasty, the nobles were trampled on the streets, and those famous families had long been cut off. This meant that the phenomenon of aristocratic families not being systematically reproduced in the Song Dynasty.
But then again, after all, the country has been founded for more than a hundred years, and although it has never been able to form a scale or a specific class, there are always a few special families, vaguely similar to the royal families of the Later Han Dynasty and the famous families of the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
For example, the Lu family of the prime minister Lu Haowen, starting with the number one scholar Lu Mengzheng, has five generations of ministers and four generations of prime ministers.
However, the Lu family, who insisted on passing on knowledge and did not have many descendants, seemed dwarfed by the other family.
That’s right, this is the Han family of Xiangzhou, also known as the Plum Blossom Han… The Plum Blossom Han family is not only a family of nobles for generations, but is also the number one landlord in Xiangzhou. Moreover, compared with competitors like the Lu family, this family is particularly fertile, so that their descendants are prosperous, their intermarriages are extensive, and it is not a problem for them to marry into the royal family. At the same time, it is natural that they are also the local leaders of Hebei.
If I have to give an inappropriate example, this family vaguely combines the qualities of the aristocracy of the early Han Dynasty, the royal family of the late Han Dynasty, the gentry of the Jin Dynasty, and the famous families of the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
Then, according to the backward class struggle thinking in Zhao Jiu's mind, if he had to point to the big landlords, big aristocratic families and other conservative interest representatives within the Song Dynasty court as straw men, then it must be the Han family, and there could be no other family.
But the problem is, haven't the two rivers been lost and Xiangzhou also fallen? At this time, it would be a shame to say that the Meihua Han family, which has lost more than half of its foundation, is a representative of the big landlords.
However, even so, Zhao Jiu did hold an inexplicable wariness and dissatisfaction towards the Han family.
There are specific reasons for this vigilance and dissatisfaction. One must know that Han, as a royal relative and leader of exiled scholars in Hebei, had been staying in Yangzhou before. Later, Zhao Jiu returned to the old capital. Han had to turn back quickly and make a gesture because of his family status, but he played a trick on the people of the world and on Emperor Zhao... The Han family has many branches, but at that time only allowed the fifth branch, the youngest branch that was married to the royal family, that is, the cousins of Emperor Zhao's body, to return to Beijing first.
As a lineage married into the royal family, this lineage actually lost the opportunity for official advancement, so for a long time it has been like a thief guarding the house. Apart from managing money, settling down a home, and running a business, it has no say in its own affairs.
This incident, combined with Yue Fei's incident at the time, was the reason why Zhao Jiu was so angry with his cousin that day.
Back to the present, Han Xiaozhou, who submitted the letter today, although theoretically a generation younger than Zhao Jiu, is the eldest grandson of Han Qi... the kind that everyone in the world agrees will become the prime minister.
No wonder all the ministers and officials in the hall were so solemn.
This grandson of the Han family made two suggestions:
First, the country could not recover quickly after losing the two rivers, and the court's confrontation with the Jin people based on the Yellow River would have to continue for a long time. However, the imperial camp troops were extremely expensive, so he suggested ending the previous temporary resettlement measures and carrying out large-scale farming in Henan, which had suffered several military disasters, to support the imperial camp troops.
Secondly, Han Xiaozhou volunteered to go north as an envoy to the Jin Kingdom, not to negotiate peace against the imperial will, but to take advantage of the great victory to sternly demand that the Jin people return the two saints and many abducted nobles and sons of important officials.
How do you say these two points?
The first one was nonsense. Han Xiaozhou didn't need to say it. The court had already started doing it. It was more like an official document that followed the trend. The second one was the key, but it made Emperor Zhao feel more and more uncomfortable.
In fact, according to Zhao Jiu's previous temper, he would probably tear up the letter and make a fire after reading it... But now, he was a little hesitant, because Han Xiaozhou was the leader of the exiled scholars in Hebei, and also the leader of those scholars who remained in Hebei and were forced to serve as officials by the Jin people. At this time, political influence must be taken into consideration.
"One is acceptable, the other..." After a moment of silence in the palace, Prime Minister Lu Haowen finally spoke. "Maybe?"
"The first one is acceptable, but the second one is too hasty and should not be adopted!" Just as Prime Minister Lu had just expressed his opinion, before Emperor Zhao could say anything, the Imperial Censor Wanqi Xie suddenly stepped out, saluted the Emperor and the Prime Minister in turn, and spoke hastily, refuting Lu Haowen on the spot. "Although the Jin people were defeated this time, they did not suffer a major blow, so how can we take advantage of the opportunity? Moreover, the Emperor has vowed to restore the two rivers and not negotiate peace with the Jin people. If we ask for the two saints at this time, what will happen if the Jin people take the opportunity to negotiate peace? Then the Emperor will be in a dilemma, and it will be difficult to fulfill his filial piety. Therefore, I think it is absolutely not advisable to send an envoy to the north!"
As soon as these words were spoken, several prime ministers and ministers obviously felt relieved. Several people took the opportunity to step forward and echoed the words, but some people also said that as long as Han Xiaozhou could make a firm stand in advance and simply refuse to talk if the other party made any unnecessary suggestions, it would not be impossible... However, this kind of suggestion was doomed to be a bad one, because with Han Xiaozhou's status, once this mission was successful, he would either be a prime minister or a minister. Who would be willing to let him come to this palace?
We all worked hard to follow the government from Huaishang to Nanyang, and from Nanyang to Tokyo, and we finally settled down. Why do you, Han Xiaozhou, jump out at this time and want to take the lead with just a memorial?
Because your last name is Han? Of course you can, but unfortunately, this official is naturally opposed to communicating with the Jin envoys, so even if your last name is Han, it won't work.
"You are right, there is really no need to send an envoy."
As expected, after a discussion, Zhao Jiu regained his spirits and took the opportunity to lower his tone, but then directly raised the issue that he really cared about. "However, the letter from Governor Han reminded me of another thing. Last year, I heard that the Jin people opened the imperial examinations... They used knives to force many scholars to take the exams, and then granted them official positions. What do you think we should do? We must have a proper tone for the scholars in Hebei."
By the way, what Zhao Jiu said was true. People were really forced to take exams with knives, and then they were granted official positions. However, it was not the nationwide imperial examination of the Jin Dynasty, but a mess made up by the Western Court of Nianhan. The scope of granting official positions was also in the territory of the Western Route Army. It was obvious at a glance that it was the work of Wanyan Xiyin.
After the announcement of the successful candidates in this examination, several of them felt that their reputations were humiliated and were depressed for the time being. Later, because the river was controlled by the Song army that year, some of these people were officials in Linhe, so they fled here with their families, and only then did the news spread.
"I think we should not treat such people as enemies." Xu Jingheng, the deputy minister of the capital province, stepped out from the crowd and said straight to the point. "Who can live without family? The Jin people are holding knives and forcing us, and the scholars of Hebei are like a man with a stick in front of the battle... In such a situation, it is natural to fight in the battle and fight with swords, but to use this as a crime is laughable."
Zhao Jiu nodded heavily. Since he did not allow Han Xiaozhou to go north, he was bound to send some obvious signals to the scholars in Hebei through other means. Moreover, Zhao Jiu felt that it was indeed not right to treat people as traitors of the Song Dynasty so easily. He just didn't figure out what legal theory to use to explain it.
"Your Majesty," At this moment, Wanqi Xie, who had not retreated before, also took the opportunity to speak. "Your Majesty, this matter is not only excusable, but also has legal provisions. It does not conflict with your order... You must know that these people were ordinary people when the two rivers fell..."
"I understand." Zhao Jiu suddenly realized. "When the two rivers fell, these people were not officials, but ordinary people. They had no responsibility at all... If there must be someone responsible, it is the court that first betrayed the people of Hebei. If there is any guilt in this matter, it is all on the emperor and his ministers, not them. Therefore, this matter cannot be regarded as an enemy or a traitor. Just think of it as being held hostage as Minister Xu said! And those scholars who surrendered should also be properly resettled."
Now that there was a proper explanation for the matter, everyone should have been excited, but for some reason, many people in the hall felt a little embarrassed... It was obvious that they were embarrassed when they heard the words "Jing Kang Emperor and His Ministers".
How many of those who can stand here are not the emperor and his subjects of Jingkang? Moreover, Emperor Zhao just rejected the suggestion of welcoming back the two saints, and now he is saying that so and so are guilty. How can we connect this?
Zhao Jiu also came to his senses and secretly sighed that he had become increasingly anxious these days, but what if his heart just couldn't calm down for some reason? It was like this before the New Year, and now that he had come back, he thought he could gradually calm down, but because of another thing, he became even more anxious.
But no matter what, today's political affairs have been settled, and Zhao Jiu is ready to return to the harem.
However, just as Zhao Jiu stood up to leave Wende Hall and turned to the side door, he saw Yang Yizhong kneeling on one knee behind the threshold of the side door holding a note.
This position is extremely strange... Logically speaking, the letters from the commanders usually do not involve military intelligence, and serious military intelligence still goes through the Privy Council, so no matter how important the letter is, Yang Yizhong should not present it on this occasion.
And if this note was really extremely important and needed to be known to the prime minister and other important officials, why didn't he just go into the palace and hand it in? Instead, why did he leave it in a place where it couldn't be seen by the court officials?
With some strange mood, Zhao Jiu stepped forward to take it, but after just taking a look, he shook it slightly, then threw Yang Yizhong away and went straight back to the hall, calling out to the ministers who were about to leave.
"My dear nobles." Zhao Jiu looked calm, holding the letter and standing on the throne. "The commander Li Qiong sent me a letter saying that the Jin people suddenly sent envoys to the river, and there was also a letter in it. It was brought by the envoy and sent to me in the tone of the Fourth Prince Wuzhu... He said that he and I had fought against each other several times, and although we were enemies, he regarded me as a hero and a close friend. So he made the decision this time and persuaded the Jurchen nobles to unconditionally return my biological mother, the Queen Mother Xuanhe, and several imperial concubines to cross the river and return home to fulfill his filial piety... So he asked me to send someone to pick them up... What do you think?"
The atmosphere in the hall was silent for seven or eight breaths, and then Lu Haowen calmly saluted: "Your Majesty, this is a filial piety and righteousness that cannot be violated. I think we can send Han Xiaozhou as an envoy... First, to welcome the Queen Mother, and second, to show the people of Hebei that you will not abandon Hebei!"
Zhao Jiu nodded slowly, his expression not changing at all... In the eyes of the ministers, it was as if he had returned to the same state he was in a year ago.
