Volume 4 Chapter 11 Appointment
The fact that Privy Councilor Zhang Jun had to leave the capital and head south to supervise the army was seen by both the court and the public as a huge victory for Prime Minister Zhao Ding. However, Zhao Ding himself was very secretive about it and even severely rebuked some people who tried to make a fuss about it and flatter him on several occasions.
However, no matter what Zhao Ding's attitude was, Zhang Jun, who was forced to leave the capital to supervise the army, went south with a strong emotion of frustration and resentment. This young Privy Councilor, who always had a fierce personality, regarded this matter as a great shame and humiliation in his heart... However, he at least knew that he was going south with a serious political mission, and knew that there were major military and national affairs ahead. He also knew that if he wanted to turn the situation around, he had to make his supervision of the army have an immediate effect and let Yue Fei succeed in one fell swoop.
So, as they traveled southwards and arrived in Nanyang, Zhang Deyuan somewhat put aside the affairs in Tokyo and turned his attention to the war in the south.
However, starting from Nanyang, the further south he went, the more he learned about the war in the south, but Zhang Jun became more and more uneasy, because Yue Fei's performance was really hard to accept.
This panic and hesitation reached a peak when Zhang Jun arrived in Xiangyang and met Xi Yi, the new Jingxi Transport Commissioner after Liu Ji came to Beijing, and Ma Shen, the Hubei Governor who took the initiative to come north to greet him.
"Does Prime Minister Zhang Shu think that I am angry with this Yue Dutong?"
The two met in the Xiangyang government office. After just a few pleasantries, they talked about the war. Zhang Jun had just defended Yue Fei when Ma Shen, the governor of Hubei, glared at him and stood up and shouted, "Do you think I am competing with him for merit and slandering him? Lord Zhang, since you are the Lord, you must be fair. Don't protect him at the local level just because you protected him at the central level!"
Zhang Jun had no choice but to stand up and face him, trying to persuade him with kind words and treating him with courtesy.
There was no other way. Ma Shen had a lot of experience and very special political capital. During the Jingkang Incident, when the Jin army succeeded and all the royal family members were detained, and the Song Dynasty actually surrendered, Ma Shen, as a representative of the remaining officials in Tokyo, wrote an extremely tough letter, demanding that the Jin army release the Zhao clan members and continue the Zhao Song dynasty. Although he did not succeed, he made Zhang Bangchang fall into considerable isolation. Not to mention whether this can be regarded as a merit of supporting the throne, compared with Zhao Ding, Zhang Jun, Hu Yin and others who fled to the Imperial Academy, he had great capital in any case.
Among these, it is worth mentioning that Qin Hui, as Ma Shen's superior, did not send the letter directly to the Jin people after receiving it. Instead, he rewrote a new document with softer wording. In the end, he was asked to enter the Jin camp because of this document. He was also valued by Nianhan and never returned... In fact, to be fair, given the situation at the time, it is not easy to say whether Ma Shen's document was more effective or Qin Hui's document was more appropriate, but the difference in their personalities was undoubtedly reflected in the two documents with the same theme but different artistic conception.
"I know Yue Fei has been procrastinating for a while, and I also know the difficulties in Hubei, Jiangxi, and the west of Beijing." Zhang Jun finally persuaded him to sit down, but he had to continue to carefully explain. "But judging from his words and intentions, he ultimately wants to reduce the number of murders and appease the people. The government has always said that the royal family is all in the north, so he regards the people as his relatives and the country as his clan. The emperor's benevolence must also be considered."
Ma Shen sneered: "Of course I know that he not only relies on your protection, Prime Minister Zhang Shu, but also the favor of the emperor."
Zhang Jun didn't know how to persuade him for a moment, and Xi Yi took the opportunity to cough lightly.
Ma Shen understood what he meant, knowing that he was implicitly criticizing the imperial carriage and implicitly mocking the emperor's favoritism towards military men, so he simply stopped talking - he came north to pick up Zhang Jun this time simply to put pressure on him, and to urge Yue Fei to advance quickly through Zhang Jun. Now that his attitude had been conveyed, he was too lazy to say more.
"Prime Minister." Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, Xi Yi, the transport commissioner of Jingxi, stood up and faced Zhang Jun from behind. "The governors of the three routes, Hubei, Jiangxi, and even Jingxi, all impeached Yue Fei. It is impossible that they all had bad intentions... In fact, Yue Fei and his troops in the imperial camp had excellent military discipline, and Yue Fei himself was known for his loyalty and bravery. At the beginning, the people from all walks of life in the three routes were actually happy to see that he was the one to suppress the rebellion. When he made rapid progress in the early stage, the people from all walks of life praised him. If the prime minister did not believe it, he could have checked the letters submitted by the three routes at that time. Even when he later wanted to change to appeasement and the central government agreed, although the people from all walks of life gradually complained, it was not to the extent of the current situation. It's just that some things are really hard to talk about."
"Just say it straight." Zhang Jun was frustrated and could only urge him.
"It's just my guess." Xi Yi also sighed. "General Yue's actions in Jiangling Prefecture seem to be 'playing with the enemy'."
"What do you mean by playing with the enemy?" Zhang Deyuan frowned, puzzled. He really didn't understand. "If you say to indulge the enemy or to nurture the enemy, that's fine, but what do you mean by playing with the enemy?"
"The word 'play' is very insightful!" Without waiting for Xi Yi to explain, Ma Shen, who was sitting there, laughed. "If he loses the battle, he will have nothing to say. It is precisely because of the word 'play' that the three roads have become resentful."
Xi Yi sighed again, and then calmly told Zhang Jun a very representative incident in Yue Fei's recruitment of the rebellious troops.
It is said that after Yue Fei quickly swept away the bandit troops north of Dongting Lake, he changed his memorial to the emperor to one of appeasement.
During this period, his main force was basically stationed in the north of Dongting Lake. Specifically, except for the fact that the capital of Yuezhou, Baling (later Yueyang), was too important, so 3,000 soldiers were stationed there, most of the troops were actually stationed in Huarong, Yuezhou and Anxiang, Lizhou.
About thirty miles south of Huarong, next to Dongting Lake, there is a water fort set up by Zhong Xiang, called Gulou Fort. There is a general in the fort, called Yang Guang, who is a member of the clan of Yang Yao, the pseudo-Chu marshal… Considering that the water is shallow in winter, Gulou Fort is exposed to the land as a whole. It can be said that there is no strategic location to defend. It is like a piece of meat hanging on the mouth of the front army of the imperial camp.
Therefore, it is natural that Yue Fei's appeasement work started from here, and the effect can be said to be immediate. Yang Guang looked left and right, and found that he was indeed in a desperate situation, so he chose to surrender immediately.
Correspondingly, Yue Fei neither disarmed Yang Guang's subordinates nor occupied Gulouzhai. Instead, he directly granted them a military position as a Jiedushi, and rewarded them with precious logistical food and military equipment. Then he still let this man lead his old subordinates to garrison in Gulouzhai.
Such a move can only show that Yue Fei was truly magnanimous. Although the surrounding military and state commanders were dissatisfied, they had nothing to say... After all, it would cost a fortune to buy a bone, right?
However, just two days later, when Yue Fei continued to move westward and southward along the west bank of Dongting Lake to pacify the water strongholds, Yang Guang, as the first person to surrender, accepted the money, food and official position from the government army. It is not known whether he contacted Zhong Xiang and Yang Yao on the south bank of Dongting Lake behind him, or whether he had planned it in advance, or whether he had never been convinced. Anyway, he took advantage of Yue Fei's trip to the west of the lake and suddenly chose to raise his flag again and openly betray.
Yang Guang's repeated changes also made many large and small water forts and leaders who were in contact with Yue Fei on the west side of Dongting Lake hesitate, and they immediately gave up contact with the government army.
So far, there is still no problem... This kind of thing is too common, and no one can blame Yue Fei for it.
However, Yue Dutong’s subsequent actions were incomprehensible.
After hearing the news, Yue Fei immediately set out with great force. He led his army to Gulou Village in one day and one night. Yang Guang was caught off guard by the might of thunder and could only ask for surrender. Yue Fei actually agreed to the other party again. Moreover, he did not send troops to Gulou Village, nor did he talk to Yang Guang face to face. He directly recognized the other party's surrender and then returned to Huarong.
That was not all. After returning to Huarong, he issued another military appointment document to Yang Guang, which gave him a higher official position. Also, a new batch of food, fodder, and money arrived at Gulouzhai along with the document.
Hearing this, Zhang Jun looked a little helpless, but smiled bitterly: "I guess Yang Guang rebelled again later? If so, Yue's move is indeed a bit absurd. A famous general of the country was played around by a little thief."
"Four times." Xi Yi suddenly stretched out four fingers.
"What?" Mr. Zhang Deyuan obviously didn't react.
"Within two months, Yang Guang was pacified four times and rebelled three times." Xi Yi's expression remained unchanged, and his words were calm. "General Yue also granted him a military post four times, each time higher, with more food and money, and each time he did not occupy Gulouzhai... To be honest with you, the three armies and prefectures, especially the prefecture schools that settled the fleeing soldiers and civilians, have been setting up bets recently, betting on when Yang Guang will rebel for the fourth time?"
Zhang Jun was stunned.
"If that's all, it's fine!" Ma Shen, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly interrupted. "He is a general, and he has his own considerations for marching and fighting. Whether it's for personal face or he wants to show his sincerity by capturing Meng Huo seven times in the storybook, it's always his decision... Since the Jingkang period, what kind of warriors have we not seen? Only I am here as the envoy of Hubei, but I have only seen him waste tens of thousands of troops for a small camp and a Yang Guang for several months. And the traitor Zhong Xiang has set up a total of forty such lakeside camps! Not only that, but also the camps in the west of the lake have been talking with him for more than a month, but because Yang Guang kept changing his mind, no camp surrendered, and he kept asking for money! According to the private rumors in the camps in the west of the lake, if those camp leaders had not been beaten by Yue Fei in Hubei before, they would almost regard this dignified commander-in-chief and national general as a fool!"
Zhang Deyuan had already been exhausted and unable to cope.
"Not only that, these days, although Zhong Xiang, Yang Yao and other rebels have lost all the land in Hubei, they have taken the opportunity to expand in Hunan." Without waiting for Zhang Jun to respond, Xi Yi continued to add calmly. "Zhong Xiang was originally called the Great Saint Grandfather, and also called the King of Chu. His son was called the Crown Prince. Yang Yao was called the Marshal, and was called the Equalizer and the Eliminator. Wherever he went, he killed officials, clerks, scholars, monks, and Taoists, and then divided the land of these people and exempted the land tax of that place. It was just a lie to confuse the people..."
"They originally rebelled because of the tax increase in the past." Zhang Jun was already exhausted. "It is normal to take such action, and it is impossible that there is really no taxation, otherwise where would the troops, money and food come from?"
"It must be so." Xi Yi remained calm. "But how would the people know? They only know that there is no tax in Hunan and there are still lands, but in Hubei, people have to sell everything they have to supply tens of thousands of troops and send their men to work... In the winter, some things could be ignored, but in the past spring farming season, some things have become apparent, and the local officials can't help but jump up and down."
Zhang Jun remained silent. Although he had no experience as a grassroots local official, no matter how stupid he was, he knew that spring ploughing and agricultural production were the biggest indicators of a local official's performance. It was completely understandable that the three groups of grassroots officials had launched a wave of impeachment against Yue Fei after the New Year. This meant that the central government had to admit that the current situation of massive destruction of spring ploughing was caused by Yue Fei's wanton behavior, not their irresponsibility.
However, after all, it was still Yue Fei's problem. With tens of thousands of troops under his command, he was just "playing with the enemy" there. The national strategy of the central government was delayed, and the spring farming production in the local area was delayed. The senior local officials caught in the middle had to bear the pressure of the war situation, but they could not bypass the central government to interfere with the official's favorite generals.
So whether from the perspective of official logic or from the perspective of basic political and military responsibilities, it was not an exaggeration for Yue Fei to be impeached and besieged.
"Prime Minister," Xi Yi continued, pouring water on Zhang Jun again. "Now there is another important matter... The spring ploughing has passed, and it is too late to pursue it. According to experience, the spring flood will come as soon as February arrives. By then, the water level of Dongting Lake will rise, and it will be twice as effective to suppress it. The Zhongyang traitors will also have a lot of confidence. By then, even if we want to pacify them, it will be difficult."
Zhang Jun was completely speechless and could only nod his head in acknowledgment of defeat: "I already know all of Yue Fei's misdeeds. I will immediately head south to Huarong and make sure Yue Pengju gives me a deadline for suppressing the rebellion!"
Ma Shen and Xi Yi looked at each other and sighed... This was exactly the ultimate purpose of their trip, what else could they do?
In this way, Zhang Jun, as the prime minister, hurriedly arrived in Xiangyang. He only talked with two local officials in the city and realized the embarrassment and difficulty of the situation. Then he left the city and headed south again without staying overnight. Ma Shen, as the governor of Hubei, also went south, but Xi Yi, the transport envoy of Jingxi, who had been sorting out logistics in Xiangyang these days, did not need to follow him any longer.
It was this Xi Yi who, after sending the other two out of Xiangyang City, could not help but sigh when he saw them mount their horses and prepare to quickly head south under the escort of the imperial guards: "Prime Minister, I have one last word..."
Although they had only met once, Zhang Jun had a good impression of Xi Yi, so he nodded immediately and said, "Master Xi Cao, please go ahead and tell us what you want to say."
"The current situation is still the same. The Jin people are still raising a strong army in Hebei and eyeing us covetously. The two emperors are still hunting in the north, and the pseudo-Qi is still lying on the bed." Xi Yi sighed under his horse. "So the emperor treats the generals and generals well, and actually separates the civil and military officials, and keeps the generals and generals in the inner court. But many civil officials don't realize this at all. They just think that after the Battle of Yaoshan, the world has become stable and the situation should be restored. Therefore, they often look at the generals with the mentality before Jingkang, and consciously or unconsciously want to urge the court to take back the power of the generals... Little do they know that the officials in the palace have their own heroic style and will never allow such things to happen. The prime minister, as the privy envoy, is between the emperor and his ministers, and between the civil and military officials. It is inevitable to face such things. Please be cautious, fair, and clean, so that you can report to the emperor and keep all officials safe."
As soon as these words were spoken, Ma Shen, one of the two men on horseback, was the first to change his expression. After a little thought, Zhang Jun simply dismounted, held the reins, and bowed to Xi Yi.
And then, Ma Shen also bowed slightly on his horse.
But that was all. The military situation was urgent, so the two men exchanged politeness and hurriedly reined in their horses and headed south. When they reached Jiangling Prefecture, Ma Shen went into the city to handle miscellaneous affairs, while Zhang Jun had to continue marching south with the imperial cavalry.
However, as soon as he entered Yuezhou, Zhang Jun became a little panicked, because there were continuous spring thunders and sudden spring rains, and the so-called spring flood seemed to have arrived.
In fact, when Zhang Deyuan and the imperial cavalry arrived at the Huarong camp, they were already in a state of disgrace. These people, who had never seen the power of rain in the Yangtze River Basin, thoroughly experienced the so-called "spring rain is as precious as oil". The gorgeous purple robes and armor were covered with mud, the horses fell and were injured, and everyone was like a drowned chicken. Among them, the cavalry was in a state of disgrace, and they were not expected to fight, but the prime minister Zhang Jun was disappointed because of the spring rain.
He didn't know what kind of promise Yue Fei could give him under such circumstances, and how he should face the emperor, his political enemies in the central government, and the local officials in Jingxiang.
"I'm done."
At the Huarong camp, Zhang Jun, who was covered in mud, did not take a shower or eat. Instead, as soon as he arrived at the military camp, he sat directly in Yue Fei's seat in the central military camp, and then repeated the situation in the capital and the words of Ma Shen and Xi Yi to Yue Fei and the generals of the imperial camp. "Is there anything untrue in what they said?"
"No." Yue Fei and all the officers in the camp bowed their heads.
"Do you have any verbal defense?" Zhang Jun continued to ask with a hint of expectation.
"No." Yue Fei thought for a moment and continued to answer with his head down.
"I have." Zhang Deyuan, who was covered in mud, suddenly got angry in public. "I don't know what you are thinking and what you are planning. But the world is not just about military affairs, and the world is not just about your subordinates and the bandits in front of you. There are also civil and military officials, monarchs and ministers, and colleagues. As a general, you not only have to fight, but also report to the emperor, and take care of your colleagues and superiors... At this point, even if you have a big plan and insight into the enemy, you have already made a big mistake! What can I do with my family of more than a hundred people to guarantee your success? The government's strategy of dividing civil and military officials for great use has been ruined by you. Ten Dongting Lakes can't come back! Do you think this is still the chaotic world before the Yaoshan War?!"
Even though Zhang Jun was young and had an unstable personality, he was, after all, the Privy Councilor, the prime minister of the dynasty, and theoretically the superior of all military officials. Therefore, when he got angry, in the drizzling rain, all the officers of the front army of the imperial camp, from Wang Gui down, all changed color.
Only Yue Fei just lowered his head and remained silent.
"I only want to ask you one thing now. How many days do you have to defeat Zhong Xiang and Yang Yao?" Zhang Jun's breath gradually calmed down, but his true intentions were exposed. "You have to give me a specific deadline today!"
Yue Fei was silent for a while, and finally raised his head, revealing a pair of eyes that were obviously different: "Please ask the Prime Minister to sit here in Huarong, and then give me ten days."
Zhang Jun looked down at the mud on his body and laughed in anger: "Ten days?"
"Yes." Yue Fei narrowed his eyes and spoke firmly. "Within ten days, I will definitely wipe out the forty strongholds in Dongting Lake and the four states and seven counties in the west of Hunan, and give an explanation to your majesty, the prime minister, the prime minister, the three local colleagues, and the people of the two lakes... I am not joking, and I did not deliberately delay the enemy before. I originally wanted to take advantage of the spring flood to reach Jingxiang."
Outside the central army camp, the sound of raindrops became more and more rapid, mixed with the rumbling of spring thunder.
Zhang Jun stared at the man in front of him, and sneered again after a long while: "Yue Pengju, at this point, I am too lazy to ask you the truth... Maybe you are just a lucky Zhao Kuo; maybe you are a real famous general like Han Baiwei Huo, but you can never show your talents... But it doesn't matter. I am only 34 years old this year, and I can still ride a horse with the army. Within ten days, I will not say a word and just follow your central army. Wherever you go, I will go! Four states, seven counties and forty water forts, let's see how you can defeat the enemy!"
