Volume 4 Chapter 44: Gods and Buddhas
In early autumn, Yue Fei, the commander-in-chief of the front army of the Imperial Camp, together with his deputy commander-in-chief Wang Gui and deputy commander-in-chief Tian Shizhong of the right army of the Imperial Camp, defeated the main force of the Pseudo-Qi between Zibo River and Longshui River.
In this battle, more than 20,000 enemies surrendered and more than 8,000 war horses were captured. Even Li Cheng, the Grand Commander of the Pseudo-Qi Army, was killed by Guo Jin, a general under Zhang Xian, the commander of Yue Fei's army.
Two days later, the main force of the Imperial Camp's front army marched rapidly into Zhangqiu again, completely turning the battle situation in Jingdong upside down.
It was truly earth-shaking. One must know that this time, Li Cheng came out with not only his own family wealth, but almost all the manpower of the Pseudo-Qi... Poor Liu Yu plundered a lot in Jinan Prefecture, but the main force he had accumulated before was sold out by Li Cheng in Dongping Prefecture. This time, he finally managed to accumulate some war horses and soldiers, but they were thrown to Li Cheng by the Jin army's Wanhu Elubu, and then they were sold out again.
Therefore, after this battle, the troops of the Pseudo-Qi were basically wiped out, except for the pirate group of Li Qi in Dengzhou, who was not sure whether they were suppressed by Zhang Jun or not.
Without basic field military power, how can a regime, even a pseudo-regime, survive?
Not only that, as Yue Fei advanced to Zhangqiu, he also connected with the area originally controlled by the front army of the imperial camp, that is, Yanzhou and Dongping Prefecture... It was basically like a knife stabbing into the abdomen and coming out from the neck. In a moment, the once powerful Pseudo-Qi was reduced to only Jinan Prefecture.
At this point, anyone with a little military knowledge could see that the Qi Dynasty was doomed unless the Jin army crossed the river in large numbers to provide support.
However, after Yue Fei approached Zhangqiu and learned that the peace talks had completely failed, he stopped here on his own initiative as Li Cheng had expected. Then he contacted Lu Xing in Nanjing (now Shangqiu), Li Qiong who came to support Dongping and others, and kept dispatching troops to encircle Jinan on three sides. At the same time, he took the initiative to write a letter to Tokyo, proposing to keep the troops in place for the time being to lure the Jin people to cross the river for help.
Emperor Zhao and the ministers were excited and immediately agreed to the plan. They sent Qu Duan to lead the imperial cavalry to provide support.
Of course, to be fair, everyone can think that the Jin people are unlikely to come to support, but everyone still can't help but want to try it... because this plan is too tempting.
A look at the map shows that the entire Jingdong East Road is south of the Yellow River, and Licheng, the capital of Jinan Prefecture, is, as the name suggests, south of the Jishui River. Once the Jin army came to help, they would need to cross the Yellow River and the Jishui River in succession during the flood season, which would almost throw their troops into an encirclement with no retreat.
Even without coming to Licheng, if the Jin people dared to cross the Yellow River to support the retreat of the people in Jinan Prefecture, they would pay a heavy price - the Jishui River, which is almost parallel to the Yellow River, is also one of the four great rivers in the world, but because of the human control of the Yellow River for many years, the narrowest part between the two rivers is only 20 to 30 miles, and the widest part is only more than 100 miles.
As for this kind of place, Jiang Ziya had something to say. He felt that this was a typical "death place" for cavalry.
In the next few days, it was proved that the Jin people had no interest in fighting across the two rivers after the main force of the Qi Dynasty was completely lost. Just when Yue Fei's memorial was delivered, the emperor and his ministers in Dongjing City were extremely excited, and Li Qiong had not yet made arrangements with Yue Fei... the veteran general of the Jin army, Wanhu Elubu, who was stationed in Licheng at this time, made a prompt decision, plundered some gold and silver in the city, and then took a group of Qi officials with him and crossed the Jishui River directly to the north.
Before leaving, Erlubu, knowing that the peace talks had failed, did not forget to set fire to the city. However, as soon as the Jin army left the city and crossed the river, the great monks of Lingjiu Temple immediately came out to organize the fire, and then gathered the defeated troops, took over the city defense, and went to Zhangqiu to find the government troops. At this time, Zhang Jun was still fighting pirates in Dengzhou, and Qu Duan was still on his way on his iron elephant.
Moreover, as people who could have enough food to eat and receive a certain level of cultural education in that era, there must be an average level of monks. We cannot deny this objective fact just because Fan Zhixu became a monk named Zong Yin... For example, Liu Wenshun, the commander of Yue Fei's army, was actually a monk from Lingjiu Temple in Jinan. He then organized troops to defend the king during the Jing Kang period, and traveled to Jingdong and Kaifeng, and was surrendered by Zong Ze, which led to all the things that happened later.
The reason why Lingjiu Temple was able to become an internal supporter of the government army at an early stage was also because of this relationship.
In fact, since the Jingkang Incident, the world has been in disorder and heroes have emerged. Among the group of people who generally raised the banner of the loyal army at the beginning and then flowed into various channels in the end, the local tyrants, religious figures, thieves, and government troops were the mainstream.
What’s interesting is that local tyrants and religious figures are generally stable and have regional characteristics. As long as the government and the army put pressure on them, they will quickly accept official changes. On the contrary, bandits and government troops are extremely mobile, and the final division results are the most complicated.
Of course, no matter what, in the autumn of the fifth year of Jianyan, with the suppression of the rebellion in the south and the return of the two emperors to the south, the two major powers gradually formed a confrontation along the Yellow River in the north, marked by Li Cheng's death in Longshui and Liu Yu and others being abducted to the north by E'lubu. It can basically be said that all the so-called heroes who had taken advantage of the situation before have disappeared.
The era when one was a bandit in the morning, a commander in the evening, a transport envoy for one year, and a prime minister for three years is completely gone forever.
Back to the present, Elubu decisively withdrew, and the siege without fighting came to an end. Yue Fei could only send cavalry to easily capture Licheng, while personally leading the main force to cross the Jishui River to sweep the Huangji Passage, occupy the city and guard the ferry.
Then, he submitted a memorial to the court again, formally announcing the demise of the Qi Dynasty... At this time, Qu Duan was still on his way on horseback.
When the news came, the entire Tokyo city was shocked, and people from all walks of life were relieved for a while... After all, such a rapid but effective progress in the war greatly eased the political and public opinion pressure faced by Emperor Zhao at the time, especially since the ownership of Jingdong itself was directly related to the peace talks.
After Zhao Jiu had several exchanges with Yue Fei on horseback and confirmed that it would be difficult for the troops from Damingfu to cross the blockade of several old courses of the Yellow River and that Jingdong was militarily stable, he also issued an edict, requiring Yue Fei to hand over the troops to Deputy Governor-General Wang Gui for temporary leadership, and then go to the capital with Tian Shizhong to meet the emperor and receive rewards.
At the same time, the emperor specifically named Zhang Xian, Guo Jin, Yang Zaixing, and Yue Fei's eldest son Yue Yun, who was only twelve or thirteen years old, and asked them to come to see him at the same time.
Yue Fei did not dare to neglect the order and immediately handed over the military affairs to Wang Gui, then hurriedly set off and arrived in Tokyo in mid-July. At this time, Zhang Jun had just sent a memorial saying that his campaign against Li Qi in Dengzhou had been effective. As for Qu Duan, he rode on an iron elephant and changed his patrol to the east of Jingdong Road to suppress the local people.
For unknown reasons, Han Shizhong and Wu Jie hurried back to the west one after another and unfortunately did not make it to the final round.
"So, the emperor really sent the Supreme Taoist Emperor to Shaolin Temple?"
It is said that as early as the time of Zong Ze, Yue Fei had a mansion in Tokyo City. When he returned at this time, he naturally had a place to stay. However, as soon as they arrived in the capital and called the staff and servants who stayed in the mansion in the capital, they were immediately overwhelmed by all kinds of news.
"Not only that, he also scolded them in public, saying 'what are the two saints'... Everyone was watching, and the words were so sure that they could not be concealed. So much so that on the way back, a Confucian scholar knelt down to the palace and asked the emperor to properly deal with the two saints, but the emperor just rode his horse over and passed them over. It can be seen that the emperor was unwilling to even cover it up."
"You may be sure of what you say, and you may not want to hide it, but can you say this directly?"
"The government doesn't care, it just lets the people below say whatever they want... However, it is true that this dynasty has always had this kind of discussion of politics among the common people, not to mention that the government has also started the trend of discussing politics in the Imperial Academy and discussing matters in the imperial newspapers."
"I see."
"At first, everyone said that the emperor was trying to prevent the two emperors from usurping the throne, because the emperor only had a few princesses. But in the past few days, the two concubines gradually became pregnant, so we know that at least before the peace talks, the two concubines were pregnant. So people said that it was not because they were afraid of usurping the throne, but to vent Queen Xing's personal anger. But some people also said that it was precisely because of the pregnancy that the two concubines became afraid and persuaded the emperor to do such a thing in the harem."
"... "
"Not only the two emperors, but it is said that the two queen mothers are now living in seclusion in the Yanfu Palace, and they don't want to make any noise... At first, there were rumors that the government didn't allow them to go out at will, because the court issued an order at the time, saying that three queen mothers and two emperors were too many, and that they could share one Tiansheng Festival, and also designated it as the birthday of the queen mother in Yangzhou. But later, because the treatment of the harem was generous, now most people say that the two queen mothers were quite secretive in the northern country, and they were afraid of rumors, so they dared not show their faces again."
"Is this all royal stuff?"
"Of course not only that... The court is also doing a serious thing at this time, which is to revise the "Great Song Criminal Code" according to the emperor's request. It is headed by Prime Minister Zhao and Minister Wang, and the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple are the basis. Some scholars, famous scholars, and students are involved, and they are openly soliciting bad laws and regulations. During the revision of the "Criminal Code", Xu Shimin submitted a statement to the old building of the provincial court outside the Xuande Building. Maybe the local officials submitted letters to the provincial government for discussion... According to the rumors in the court reports, they want to focus on the regulations that are the most detrimental to the people's lives, and then change them in a lenient and slow direction."
“This is a benevolent policy.”
"It is a benevolent policy, of course."
"Is that all?" Yue Fei, who had been silent all this time, suddenly interrupted.
"There are some serious personnel news, which the governor should have known long ago." Seeing their commander asking questions, several staff members who were reporting also became serious. "The Minister of Personnel has appointed Chen Gongfu, the former Imperial College Priest, and the Minister of Rites has appointed Zhai Ruwen, the former Minister of Honglu Temple. The Minister of Honglu Temple is replaced by Wang Lun, the Junior Minister, and the Imperial College is filled by Chen Kangbo, who was in the limelight before in the Secret Chamber... The only new thing is the position of the Minister of Dali Temple. It is said that it was originally held by Wanqi Xie, the Imperial Censor, but now there is a rumor that this person is going to follow the example of Hu Zhongcheng and Xiaolin Xueshi and let him go. It seems that he is going to go to Jingdong East Road to be the governor."
"If Wanqi Yushi goes to Jingdong East Road, it would be a good thing... Although he is a bit slick, he is very capable and has dealt with the army many times... But with his qualifications, how can he be a general?" Yue Fei thought for a while and continued to ask. "Besides, Jingdong Fangan, shouldn't he be a pacification envoy?"
"The governor doesn't know," the staff immediately explained. "Ever since the Battle of Yaoshan, when Lu Yihao and Lu Jinglüe of the southeast reported to the emperor and abolished a number of non-permanent positions, we haven't seen any pacification envoys or transportation envoys since then. It seems that they are all Jinglüe envoys."
Yue Fei nodded again: "This is a good thing."
"Of course it's a good thing... By the way, the position of the Secret Council must also be stabilized... There are rumors that the government is going to abolish all literary positions except for the Jade Hall Scholars, and the real officials will all be assigned to the Secret Council to discuss matters and be given titles, turning the virtual into the real."
Yue Fei nodded again.
After saying this, the person below seemed to be hesitant to speak again.
"If you have something to say, just tell me. I asked you to come here today so that you can tell me what's going on." Yue Fei urged hurriedly.
"There are rumors that the emperor is giving power to officials and lenient laws to the common people in exchange for the people of the world not paying attention to his act of placing the two saints under house arrest..." The people in that scene smiled bitterly at each other.
Yue Fei immediately shook his head: "The emperor would not do this to the two saints. Rather than using this to exchange for the world to ignore the two saints, it is better to use this to exchange for the world to continue to support his Northern Expedition... In my opinion, there will be many similar things, especially since the Pseudo-Qi was eliminated so quickly, even I could not have imagined it, so the court will naturally be more hasty."
The staff below looked at each other and nodded.
After saying these words, someone mentioned another matter: "Jiedu, Tian Shizhong impeached you, and Zhang Taiwei also impeached you..."
"It's okay. The emperor has fought in wars before, so he knows what's going on." Yue Fei raised his hand. "You don't have to worry about this."
Everyone nodded, and the matter was dropped that day.
The next morning, after everyone finished washing up, they quickly changed their clothes. Even Yue Yun, who was only thirteen years old, obediently abandoned his usual attire and put on a set of attire for a government official. Then, led by Yue Fei, they entered the palace from the east gate of Xuande Building, went to Chongwenyuan, and arrived at the legendary Dutang .
When they arrived here, the group first took a walk under the famous Secret Chamber. After all, Yue Fei was cautious and did not dare to go in rashly. He just went to the east side to pay a visit to the provincial prime minister Zhao Ding, Liu Ji, and the other ministers and vice ministers. The officials knew that Yue Fei, who had made the greatest contribution this year, was here, so they all came to see him. After a lot of hustle and bustle, they went to the west side to submit documents to the Privy Council. Unavoidably, they got close to Zhang Jun and a group of more familiar Privy Council officials.
Without mentioning all the gossip, what is interesting is that when Zhang Jun saw Yue Yun, he was really amazed... You know, Han Shizhong, who had always wanted a son, had his wife Liang Hongyu get pregnant for the first time this year. She should have given birth by now, but she didn't know whether it was a boy or a girl; Zhang Jun was the same. His concubine had just gotten pregnant, and he didn't know whether he could keep the baby or whether it was a boy or a girl; but Yue Fei, who is not yet thirty years old this year, has an eldest son who is already thirteen and so big. Not only that, he also has a second son, Yue Lei, who was born on the eve of the Jingkang Rebellion, and a third son, Yue Lin, who was born in the first year after he married a new wife in Jeju after divorcing his first wife. He is already one or two years old.
It can be seen that in terms of the level of having sons, Yue Fei can beat ten Han Shizhongs, and together with Zhang Jun, he can also beat ten.
Of course, some people understand that the reason for this is not because there are problems with Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun, but because of the limitations of the times... In fact, even though Yue Fei was so fertile , the age difference between his second son Yue Lei and his third son Yue Lin showed that there was a problem.
During war, everyone is displaced and their wives have never slept together for a few nights. How can they have children?
Not only can they not have children, but even their marriages are hindered. For example, Zhao Fen, the eldest son of Prime Minister Zhao Ding, would have been married long ago, but now no one thinks of him as an older bachelor... This is certainly because the prime minister's son will have no trouble finding a wife, but the key point is that everyone knows that after such a chaotic few years, he really has no way and no mind to talk about marriage. There are many similar older unmarried young people.
But once the situation stabilizes, people start getting married and pregnant in large numbers.
In fact, it was not only Zhang Jun, Han Shizhong, and Yue Fei, but also Tian Shizhong's father-in-law Zhang Jun, who was standing aside at this moment, embarrassed and speechless. His eldest son had died, and he relied on several nephews and sons-in-law to support the family. However, he had settled down in Xuzhou in the past two years, and he had several daughters and sons, just like a rooster laying eggs.
Even for the more popular Emperor Zhao and the two imperial concubines, the same principle applies.
The chat did not last long as the proposal was delivered to the harem and soon an imperial decree came, ordering Yue Fei and his entourage to go to the harem for an audience. They hurriedly said goodbye to Zhang Jun and set off again. On the way, they met Yang Yi Zhong who came to pick them up, and they quickly walked through Linhua Gate and entered the world-famous fish pond back garden.
"Which one is Yang Zaixing and which one is Guo Jin?"
Emperor Zhao sat in the famous nameless stone pavilion, his brows relaxed and his spirits refreshed. He was in great interest from the start, which was really amazing considering that the two imperial concubines were pregnant and he had a history of getting a sore throat in summer.
Of course, without further ado, Yue Fei did not dare to neglect the matter when he heard the emperor had asked about the matter. Even Zhang Xian became nervous and each of them stared at the two brave generals, fearing that they would make any mistakes or make a fool of themselves.
But fortunately, it can only be said that the repeated instructions yesterday and this morning did work. After all, the two of them knew that the person in cotton clothes in front of them was the emperor, so they just performed the etiquette and reported their names obediently... Yang Zaixing did not dare to test whether the emperor was a real hero, and Guo Jin did not dare to say that he was kind and could not bear to see the emperor suffer. They just intervened and stood still, answering each question.
However, people's personalities are there. Zhao Jiu asked a few questions carefully and still clearly noticed Yang Zaixing's wildness and Guo Jin's honesty. After asking some gossip, he couldn't help but shake his head and laughed again, "I heard that the villain Guo Yaoshi has been dismissed from his military power and is now the governor of Jinzhou. If we want to catch this villain one day, we must let you two do it."
Yue Fei immediately led the two men to bow their heads and said: "If one day we can attack Huanglong, I will definitely use these two as the vanguard."
Zhao Jiuqing knew that no one understood his joke, so he chuckled dryly and nodded slightly. He asked Yue Fei, Tian Shizhong and Zhang Xian to take their seats, and asked Wang Zhongfu, a martial arts student who had been waiting for a long time, to serve them the apricots that had just been picked from the Apricot Mountain as a treat.
The atmosphere eased slightly, but the official stared at Yue Yun, who was only thirteen years old, and asked: "Pengju was sixteen when he got this child?"
"Yes." Yue Fei glanced at his eldest son, who was sitting upright and not daring to eat even an apricot, and answered in a serious tone. "This child is a little dull, has read few books, has just started to practice horse riding, and his perseverance is a little lacking. He is really not good enough..."
"How can a father keep complaining about his own child?" Zhao Jiu disagreed. "I think it's very appropriate... In this regard, you became a father too early, which is a bit wrong."
Yue Fei was speechless, and he didn't know where this official got his experience in being a father, but he could only nod.
"Han Shizhong can't do that either." Zhao Jiu shook his head even more. "I originally wanted him to stay and wait for you, but Madam Liang saw that she was about to give birth, so she didn't dare to delay and asked to go home directly... She had a child at the age of 40, and she was completely confused before leaving. She asked me to help her name him and asked me to give her an official position. You did the opposite."
Yue Fei found it even more difficult to respond to this.
"Finally, weren't both of the imperial concubines pregnant? I promised him in person that if it happened, we would marry our children, and he gave up." At this point, Zhao Jiu ignored Yue Fei and Tian Shizhong who had suddenly realized something, and pointed at Yue Yun. "Boy, does your grandmother believe in Buddhism or God more?"
Yue Yun, who was secretly looking at Wang Zhongfu's thick joints beside him, was suddenly startled, as if he didn't understand the meaning, and blurted out: "Reporting to the emperor, my grandmother believes in Buddha and gods!"
"That won't do." Zhao Jiu suddenly became serious. "The gods and Buddhas will fight each other, so you can only pick one."
