Volume 4 Chapter 13 Empathy
Even after the capture of Yuanjiang County, Yue Fei and Zhang Jun still did not relax. They had just discussed this issue, so they knew better than anyone that it was too easy to capture such a small southern county and it was not worth mentioning. The key was not to let the two bandit leaders escape.
Once they escape and dive into Dongting Lake, this matter will be over.
But soon, a piece of news came that excited Yue Fei, Zhang Jun, all the government army generals, and even the surrendered generals.
"Does Prime Minister Zhong intend to lead his children and the pseudo-Chu officials to surrender?" Zhang Jun, who had already revealed his identity and sat in the main seat on the slope outside the city, was greatly encouraged. "Hurry up and tell him that as long as he surrenders properly and then pacifies the water forts, cities, and islanders in Hunan for the court, I will guarantee his descendants as the current privy envoy!"
The messenger did not dare to delay and went again in a hurry. Although there were some confusions about the sudden appearance of the so-called Privy Envoy and the request for a written guarantee from Yue Fei, etc., the overall situation was at stake. Therefore, after several exchanges, the good news was finally confirmed: Zhong Xiang was about to surrender.
Everyone was encouraged. This was truly encouraging, because Zhong Xiang's surrender was great news for everyone present.
For high-ranking officials of the empire such as Zhang Jun and Yue Fei, this meant that the stability of the Dongting Lake area after the chaos had reached a new level. At least no one could easily cause chaos from the perspective of Shintoism and witchcraft. For the government troops, although their military merits would be slightly reduced, it also meant that they would no longer have to continue fighting in the face of the possible spring floods, and the rest of the Xiangjiang River basin in Hunan would most likely be conquered by a single order. And for the surrendered local fishermen, lake dwellers, and water bandits, it meant that they would not have to pay any moral price for their surrender.
However, in the end, Bi Jin, as Yue Fei's close lieutenant, went to arrest people and hurried into the city, but did not turn back easily. Not only that, just a little after Bi Jin entered the city, the city, which had originally calmed down, was suddenly disturbed by noise, as if something had happened, which made many people, especially the newly surrendered locals, panic.
However, the noise and disturbance soon disappeared, probably because it was suppressed by the troops in the front of the imperial camp. Not long after, everyone saw countless soldiers carrying dozens of captives wearing strange clothes but obviously inlaid with gold and jade, and they completely relaxed.
"What's going on?" Wang Gui saw Bi Jin approaching to report first, and immediately frowned and asked from afar.
Bi Jin did not dare to neglect it, and leaned forward to report carefully: "Yang Yao refused to surrender and kidnapped one of Zhong Xiang's sons. He tried to escape and has been captured, but the incident happened suddenly. The imperial guards who followed him broke his legs in order to stabilize the situation. Now it is a bit embarrassing..."
Wang Gui turned around to look at Yue Fei, and Yue Fei turned around to look at Zhang Jun... After hearing this news, Yue Pengju knew that the mission to the south was almost over, so he was naturally happy to let the Privy Envoy take over.
Zhang Jun was only slightly startled, then he raised his hand and said, "No problem, bring them all together. Why bother about being respectable now? It's just a matter of surrender or not. If he doesn't surrender, we can deal with him right in front of us."
From Yue Fei onwards, everyone nodded in unison, this was indeed the truth.
Therefore, Bi Jin went to the rear to fetch the person, while Zhang Jun also negotiated with Zhong Xiang's family in front of him.
It is said that Prime Minister Zhong was already middle-aged. After his military defeat, he had lost all his heroic spirit. When he saw Zhang Jun, he just cried and first took off the clothes and hat of the fake King of Chu and presented the seal to him. Then he promised to help the Privy Envoy to surrender the remaining strongholds in the Xiangshui River Basin in Hunan... Things went so smoothly that everyone was a little bored.
"I see that you are so honest and value your children's lives more than your own. You are just like an ordinary rich man. Why do you want to rebel?" After reiterating that he would definitely save the other party's children, seeing that the other party seemed relieved, Zhang Jun couldn't help but feel curious.
"My husband, you don't know. I really have no choice. It's not that I want to rebel, but I'm forced to rebel." After the ropes were removed and the clothes were stripped off, Zhong Xiang was sure that his children could survive. Thinking of his own death, he burst into tears and raised his sleeves to cover his old face. "Our Zhong family has been doing community business in Dongting Lake for generations, relying on the name of the Great Sage. We collect grains and collect money in good years, and give out grains and money in bad years. We collect grains and collect money in prosperous years, and give out grains and money in poor years... For several generations, this community business has been very good, but after Jingkang, the court asked for too much, especially last year's tax increase, which was imposed on the whole of Jingxiang. Jingxiang was in poverty, and our community had no income at all. We were about to go bankrupt, and those people forced us to do something wrong... My husband, I really didn't mean it..."
Besides, Zhang Deyuan certainly knew that Prime Minister Zhong was pretending to be timid and there were many concealments in his words.
Apart from other things, this man's rebellion was always accompanied by some witchcraft and lewd worship, and also by the ambition of the Queen of Jingkang. At that time, this guy began to expand his association and train his troops in Dongting Lake by force, and also began to spread rumors about the gods and ghosts of the King of Chu... However, after Emperor Zhao escaped from Huaishang, he sat down in Nanyang, and then the news that Fan Qiong was buried alive in Xiangyang somewhat reduced the ambition of this half-baked rebel, and then he became trembling with fear.
However, some things are really hard to undo. Since Zhong Xiang crossed the red line after the Jingkang Incident, even if he does not rebel and the court is stable, he will have to deal with this Monkey King.
This is the fundamental reason why Zhong Xiang rebelled.
Then, the society’s business went bankrupt and they had to turn against it.
Of course, in the final analysis, it was just bad luck for this guy... After all, after the scene after Jingkang, who wouldn't think that the Song Dynasty was doomed? There are so many ambitious people, and a lot of them have crossed the red line, so what's wrong with the Monkey King wanting to be the King of Chu?
But, isn't it that the Song Dynasty has been revived and is alive and kicking again? This is embarrassing.
"Why……"
Zhang Jun figured out the whole thing in an instant. He thought this man was ridiculous. He wanted to use this man to surrender dozens of strongholds in Hunan. He sighed and comforted him. "What you said makes sense. We can only say that the general trend is like this. No one can do anything about it. You must know that the emperor once meditated with the monks of Daxiangguo Temple in Tokyo. It is said that a speck of dust in this general trend, when it falls on a person, is a mountain. It's just that you are unlucky."
There is so much truth in this statement. The Monkey King, who had killed countless monks, felt as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning when he heard it. He was deeply saddened and burst into tears.
However, the Great Sage cried even more sadly, but Prime Minister Zhang Deyuan was too lazy to pay attention to him, because his attention was attracted by the other person brought by Bi Jin at this time - a sturdy man who had his armor stripped off and the ropes on his body were cutting into his flesh. His legs were completely powerless, and he was just dragged up the hill, but he still raised his head and looked around, then gritted his teeth and glared at the surrendered generals around him. As far as he looked, except Huang Zuo, who probably felt that the people of Lizhou had been wronged before and was not afraid at all, almost no one who surrendered later dared to look at him.
There is no doubt that this person is Yang Yao, who had previously planned to kidnap Zhong Xiang's son and escape, and he is also the real military leader of the Dongting Lake rebels.
Yang Yao looked around disdainfully, and when he saw Zhong Xiang, who had been stripped of his clothes and was just crying, he could no longer bear it, his eyes were almost bloodshot, and he shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Zhong Xiang! He's dead! Why are you crying?!"
In his words, Yang Yao no longer addressed the other party as Prince or Great Sage Grandpa, but he only spoke to this person after being dragged all the way here... It can be seen that he is half-hearted about Zhong Xiang, but also half-resented and unwilling to give up.
Of course.
You have to know that the term "grandfather" in those days was actually what my father meant. Zhong Xiang sold insurance through a community in Dongting Lake, and insurance is undoubtedly a great business. Therefore, all the people who joined their community, hundreds of thousands of people, called him "grandfather". Coupled with the specific religious color and the word "Great Sage", then in many senses, this Great Sage Grandfather is equivalent to the Godfather on the island of Sicily in later generations.
It’s just that all the mafia organizations in Sicily combined may not be as big as the one in Dongting Lake, and they don’t have the ability to leap onto the stage of history.
Without further ado, let's get back to the present. Not to mention that the Monkey King had already lost his spirit and just covered his face and cried when he heard that, Zhang Jun, who had a lively personality, was slightly moved... After Yue Fei's introduction before, he already knew that Yang Yao was the real leader of the rebels. He was a capable man and even had studied elementary school for a few years. In addition, the court had already made a conclusion, from Zhong Xiang on down, there were layers of distinctions, so this Yang Yao might not be useless... In other words, Zhang Jun had a sudden desire to love talent.
"Yang Yao, are you willing to surrender?" Thinking of this, Zhang Shuxiang did not hesitate to blurt out the answer. His originally perfunctory words now carried a hint of sincerity.
Yang Yao had expected this question, but he did not wait for the soldiers on both sides to put him down. He stiffened his neck yelled at Zhang Jun who was sitting in the middle: "Yue thieves! You court running dogs, first let the officials take away our food and clothing, and then brought a group of Hebei dogs to kill our Dongting Lake brothers. How dare you come to surrender?! Do you think I am such a spineless person?"
These words were expected by everyone, except that Zhang Jun was mistaken for Yue Fei. Even the "Hebei dogs" in Yue Fei's army, after experiencing so many things, did not feel anything about the insults of a dying man.
Zhang Jun was not angry either. He just sneered in response: "Yang Yao, what you said is unreasonable. The war in the north is a national war, which concerns the life and death of the country. It is not just Jingxiang that has increased the land tax. The southeast has also increased the commercial tax, and Bashu has even prepaid a whole year's tax and land tax... Do you know? Even I once donated my property... Everything I did was to protect the Central Plains and Guanzhong, and then to recover Hedong and Hebei. It's like a family encountering difficulties and the whole family is tightening their belts together..."
"Bullshit!" Yang Mo was thrown to the ground, his lower limbs paralyzed, and he continued to curse. "Who are you from?! We are from Jingxiang, and you Yue Family Army are from Hebei. We are fishermen and farmers who can't afford to eat, and you are nobles and good families! What does it have to do with us to protect the Central Plains? What does Hebei and Hedong have to do with us? You want us to spend the food we have worked hard for a year for no reason?! Even if you are from Hebei, you should act like a beggar when you ask us for help. How can you ignore our lives?!"
Zhang Jun sighed, just glanced at Yue Fei and was too lazy to defend himself. He just felt a little sorry for Yue Pengju.
Yang Yao had no idea of this, and just kept on yelling, "Besides, what kind of people are you nobles? Do you think we are stupid? The money and food we collected at the cost of our lives is not enough for you to have a drink in the palace, and how much of it was actually used for the soldiers? Do you really think we have never seen what it's like to be an official... You said you donated your family property, that's because you know that if you win the war, you as a marshal can get ten times the money back, but what about us? Did you get half a penny from returning to Hebei?"
Hearing this, Zhang Jun looked down at the strange pseudo-Chu clothing confiscated beside him, and then looked at Yue Fei, who was clearly trying his best to care for the people of Hunan and Huxi, but at this moment, veins were throbbing in the corners of his eyes. He lost his patience and just waved his hand: "Drag him away and chop him off, and send his head to various places along the shore of Dongting Lake!"
The surrounding soldiers rushed to drag him away, but Yang Yao was not afraid at all. He just stretched his neck and shouted at Zhang Jun: "Yue! Even if my grandfather dies, he will only die for the people of Dongting Lake. There are people in Dongting Lake who remember me. In the future, I can become a god in Dongting Lake! But you bastards who are officials and military ruffians who only know how to suck the blood of the people and drink the fat of the people, who will remember you in the future? Who will remember you?!"
A moment later, without any disturbance, Yang Yao was beheaded amid shouts and curses.
So far, one of the two bandit leaders surrendered and the other died, and nearly half of the so-called forty rebel camps have been eliminated. The rest can only be dealt with by issuing an order or destroying a city or a stronghold, but they will not cause any trouble in the overall situation.
But after this incident, Zhang Jun no longer had the heart to pretend to be a Confucian general. He simply handed the matter over to Wang Gui and asked him to take the surrendered people to deal with it quickly, while he himself sat there without moving.
Yue Fei originally wanted to supervise the establishment of the military camp, but was stopped by Zhang Jun. Everyone knew that these two men, one civil and one military, wanted to speak, so they tactfully withdrew. Even a close teacher like Bi Jin understood and strolled down the slope.
But what's interesting is that while the others avoided the call, Zhang Jun was embarrassed for a moment and didn't know how to start talking when facing Yue Fei, who was obviously affected by Yang Yao's previous scolding and was a little depressed.
Furthermore, Yue Fei suddenly stopped in Hubei for a long time, which caused unanimous attacks from the court and the public, and finally triggered a political trend, and even attracted the prime minister to go south to supervise the war... But if you think about it carefully, these two things seem to be a whole from the outside, but in fact they are two completely different things.
The first one refers to Yue Fei's early delaying behavior, that is, he suddenly changed from suppression to appeasement last winter, and then made all kinds of strange moves, and did not take action until this spring.
This was a purely military incident, and Yue Fei's strange behavior was essentially based on the principle of military confidentiality and was a move made for the purpose of combat effectiveness. People who understand military affairs probably understand that officers and soldiers cannot defeat the pirates, but it is not easy to say it in public, for fear of leaking military secrets and also because it would really affect morale.
Therefore, he had to paralyze his teammates first in order to paralyze the enemy, and changed his military strategy under considerable pressure and accusations. Now, with a sudden thunderbolt, the Zhong Xiang Rebellion was quelled. Afterwards, although some people still think that Yue Fei was making excuses, more people will believe in Yue Fei's judgment and plan.
Among them, not to mention that Yue Fei, as the highest-ranking general, had no reason not to inform Emperor Zhao through the secret memorial system and leave a way out for himself and the front army of the imperial camp.
In other words, the former thing was not risky because it was a reasonable military decision made from a military perspective by a general with special authority based on objective military conditions. There was no problem either in terms of procedure or core thinking.
However, there is another thing, that is, after the beginning of spring, Yue Fei's delay in the spring plowing season in his later years seemed very subtle.
Because this is not a military issue, it is a serious political issue involving political ethics, moral evaluation, and various interests and losses... No matter whether it is before or after the incident, as long as it is spoken out, it will not be easily resolved.
What else?
The emperor and the ministers might be able to recognize Yue Fei's judgment from an overall and utilitarian perspective, and recognize that he preserved more and better spring farming activities from an overall perspective. But the problem is, would the people of Hubei, the three groups of officials, and the Confucianists, Buddhists, and Taoists who escaped from the previous rebellion areas also agree with it?
If they knew the truth, they would only hate Yue Fei to the core... Because what does the overall situation have to do with them? What does Hunan have to do with Hubei? !
Didn't Yang Yao just curse from the bottom of his heart? What does Hebei have to do with Jingxiang?!
Of course, the incredible thing here is that Yang Yao, who had always been resentful of the increase in taxes in Jingxiang due to overall needs, would never know that Yue Fei, whom he scolded, had maintained the greatest goodwill and tolerance towards the people of Dongting Lake from the most overall perspective, especially the people in the west of Hunan, whom Yang Yao cared about the most, who benefited the most.
In fact, Yue Fei was not a fool. Judging from his actions, he obviously wanted to withstand the pressure at the beginning. Anyway, he would say that he was not sure he could convince Huang Zuo, the most important figure, and that he had to delay it until after the spring plowing due to military considerations.
Rationally speaking, this is the most appropriate and correct way to deal with it - it is only because of military needs that we have to wait until now, and there is no need to wait another month for anyone else's sake, so anyone can choose this.
But, isn't this just making me feel depressed and unbearable?
Isn’t this a desire to understand?
Therefore, Yue Pengju could not help but explain everything to Prime Minister Zhang Deyuan, which was equivalent to explaining the whole story to Emperor Zhao who was far away in Tokyo... At this point, how could Zhang Jun and Yue Fei not know that Emperor Zhao, who knew Yue Fei's military plan, took the initiative to send people to supervise the battle. One reason was naturally out of respect for the political rules of the court, and the other was that Emperor Zhao was obviously suspicious of Yue Fei's inaction for a long time.
However, this guess can only be said to be an accomplice. Emperor Zhao was indeed suspicious, but it was not out of some kind of suspicion that the ministers were embarrassed to express. Instead, he firmly did not believe that Yue Fei could not handle this matter after a winter and a summer, and he thought that Yue Fei had encountered some trouble other than military troubles.
That's why Zhang Jun was released.
"Pengju, don't take to heart those incomprehensible words of these villains." After hesitating for a long time, Zhang Jun finally spoke to persuade him.
Yue Fei heard this and sighed for a long time: "How could I not know that Yang Yao is just short-sighted? But the road to annihilate the Jin people is long and arduous. If everyone in the world is short-sighted, it is inevitable that one will sigh a little."
Zhang Jun nodded repeatedly, feeling somewhat emotional, but trying to cheer himself up: "That being said, our cause is a legacy for generations to come, so why should we care about these things?"
"It's not just that." Yue Fei still stood there and shook his head. "To be honest with you, Prime Minister, if Yang Yao was a rebellious traitor who did all kinds of evil, I wouldn't even look at him, but he is still a bit confident after all... Prime Minister, I'm going to say something unpleasant today. No matter what the court says, according to the local people's mentality, after thousands of years of rain and wind, there may really be a statue of Yang Yao on the Dongting Lake, and I, Yue Fei, may just be a thief who has been cruel to the people for thousands of years."
Zhang Jun opened his mouth to speak, but just smiled bitterly.
It's always possible to say polite words, for example, the Song Dynasty will last for thousands of years and these people will never change, but those are just polite words, some things are just so realistic.
Take the obscene worship of Dongting Lake for example. During the Qin, Han, Tang and Song dynasties, whoever was serious about doing things had dealt with it? But was it really stopped? Now that Prime Minister Zhong is so cowardly, if the people are in trouble again one day, they might bring out Yang Yao, who would rather die than surrender, and make him the new Great Sage.
As for Yue Pengju, unless he has the same ability as Guan Yu, and the Emperor Taishang Daojun continues to confer titles on him after a thousand years, his reputation in Dongting Lake may not be as respectable as Yang Yao's.
To put it bluntly, the river flows eastward, and with just a mortal body, how difficult is it to accomplish achievements that will be passed down for thousands of years?
"Pengju."
His mind was full of thoughts, and he felt sad about the spring, but Zhang Jun still spoke quickly. "No matter what, you have avoided spring ploughing after the spring. I have three words for you..."
"Sir, please speak." Yue Fei also tried his best.
"First, I am the Privy Councilor of the current dynasty and the angel supervising the battle. I do think that your handling of the matter was absolutely correct. You have done a good deed and no wrong."
"Thank you, sir."
"Secondly, I know your difficulties. I will never say too much about this matter. I just want to say that you need to train Huang Zuo. You have endured until today and was forced by me to go out to fight. It is still very dangerous... You need to cooperate with this matter and don't refuse. Because once this matter is discussed, even if it is just a discussion, it will cause an uproar and even cause a dispute between the civil and military officials. Even if the government and the central government protect you, it is inevitable that there will be disputes between the upper and lower levels."
"That's what I meant." Yue Fei sighed.
"Third, no matter what, you must trust the emperor. I know you haven't been with the emperor for a long time, and you may be a little nervous, but the emperor really trusts you as much as the Prince of Yan'an... and this time when I go back, I will be responsible for reporting to the emperor privately. But please rest assured, Pengju, I am here to explain your efforts to the emperor. And in the end, the emperor is more powerful and wise than you think."
What else could Yue Fei say but nod heavily.
In February, Dongting Lake was covered with lush grass and singing birds, followed by continuous spring rain. Zhang Jun finally entrusted the cleanup matters to Yue Fei, and then hurried back north in an attempt to talk things over with the government. When he arrived at Jiangling Prefecture, he naturally had to stop to communicate and explain with Ma Shen, the governor of Hubei... After listening to Zhang Jun's words, Ma Shen only said that it was good that the rebellion was quelled, but did not comment on Yue Fei's explanation for not taking any action.
However, it was in Jiangling Prefecture that Zhang Jun received the latest court bulletin, noting the latest relevant developments of the wise and powerful Emperor Zhao.
It was agreed that within one month, the 'practical action' in Xuande Tower to verify the existence of air pressure was forced to be postponed due to the inadequate equipment. The wise and powerful Emperor Zhao had no choice but to personally host a banquet and plead with Hu Anguo and others, urging them to give Lu Benzhong, who had spoken wildly, another half month to refine the equipment.
