Grenade Fears Water
Chapter 1: Mingdao Palace
More than that, at this moment, throughout the vast architectural complex that served as both a temple and an imperial palace, armed soldiers and dignitaries in crimson and purple robes could be seen everywhere, with an unknown number of Great Song civil and military officials stationed there. In particular, the area around the small mountain behind the main hall, the highest point, was heavily guarded and well-ordered. From afar, several banners with three streamers bearing dragon insignias fluttered in the wind.
Anyone with a little knowledge knew that these were Jin Wu banners, reserved for the emperor's use. The presence of dragon banners indicated that the Zhao Song Emperor himself was there.
This situation wasn't entirely uncommon. After all, the emperors of the Great Song Dynasty had a tradition of believing in Taoism. The previous Emperor, in fact, was known as the Taoist Emperor. The Mingdao Palace, home to the Taoist founder, was built by Emperor Zhenzong, so it seemed normal for the current Emperor to come and perform sacrifices.
However, unlike the grand occasion when Emperor Zhenzong came here to worship the Taoist founder, the atmosphere in this royal garden was somewhat heavy and solemn at this moment. The number of armed generals and soldiers was too large, and the Great Song civil officials, usually fond of writing and composing, showed no interest in sightseeing. Instead, they gathered in small groups for drinks, their faces etched with worry.
And they had good reason to worry!
Since the Jingkang Incident, the Jin army had invaded south, the two Emperors had been captured and taken north, and rebellions had broken out everywhere. The Great Song Dynasty was, in fact, on the brink of survival, and the danger of national demise was not an exaggeration.
What was even more troubling was that, at this critical moment, the Zhao Emperor, who had only ascended the throne two months ago, had suffered a senseless accident. The Zhao family had always revered Taoism, so a few days ago, when the Emperor's entourage passed by here on their way south to Huai Dian to resist the Jin, they stopped to pay respects to the Taoist founder, Li Er, at the Mingdao Palace. However, after the young Emperor finished his prayers and was touring the gardens, he inexplicably fell into the Nine Dragon Well near the Mingdao Palace in front of hundreds of civil and military officials, and fainted for a while!
Of course, he only fainted. The Emperor woke up half a day later, and both chief councilors had visited him.
But the problem was that the young and strong Emperor, who was known to ride a horse for half a day and pull a bow requiring five measures of strength, seemed fine after waking up, but he did not continue south as planned. He had only made a public appearance in the company of Kang Lü, the Grand Supervisor of the Palace Attendants, and had not taken any further action.
Two months ago, after the Emperor ascended the throne in Nanjing (Shangqiu), there was a fierce power struggle in the court, which resulted in the death of a remonstrating official and two imperial students, and the dismissal of a chief councilor, before the policy of moving south to Huai Dian and then to Yangzhou was decided. Moreover, the Empress Dowager had already gone to Yangzhou, accompanied by many members of the imperial clan. Several financially astute senior officials had also gone to Huaiyang and Jiangnan to raise funds, and various Imperial Commanders and Pacification Commissioners had gone to suppress rebellions in the surrounding areas to ensure the safety of the roads. Even most of the Grand Supervisors of the Palace Attendants had gone ahead to clear the way. But the most important person, the Emperor, and the civil and military officials of the court, had only traveled a hundred miles from Nanjing (Shangqiu) before stopping in Bozhou. What was going on?
As a result, the atmosphere here was filled with uncertainty.
Some rumors said that the Emperor had not injured his body that day, but had damaged his brain, and no longer remembered Concubine Pan and Supervisor Kang, and might even have become a Song Huidi. Therefore, the chief councilors of the East and West Secretariats and Supervisor Kang of the Palace Attendants dared not leave. Other rumors said that the Emperor, after all, believed in Taoism, so after this incident, he suspected that falling into the well was a special warning from the Taoist founder, advising him not to go south. Therefore, he had changed his mind and was determined to stay in the Central Plains to resist the Jin, so he was hesitating!
Moreover, rumors such as Kang Lü taking the opportunity to imprison the Emperor and carry out a scheme of replacing him with a fox spirit, or the Taoist founder appearing in a dream and instructing a divine general to descend and assist him, were becoming increasingly bizarre as the entourage remained stationary at the Mingdao Palace in Bozhou.
It could only be said that it was fortunate that this was the only legitimate heir to the Song Dynasty after the Jingkang Incident, otherwise, who knew what kind of trouble would have erupted.
"What excellent archery!"
At this moment, in the rear hall, the highest point and the center of the vortex, the Emperor, as usual, bent his bow and shot at the target under the dragon banner before sunset, continuing until he had emptied two quivers of arrows. Kang Lü, the Grand Supervisor of the Palace Attendants, who was waiting nearby, quickly stepped forward to flatter and inquire. "Does Your Majesty want to dine with the palace guards today as well?"
"Why shouldn't I?"
The so-called Emperor, wearing a red round-collared arrow shirt, looked to be about twenty years old, and was quite tall and handsome, clearly a descendant of the Zhao family. Hearing this, he merely smiled slightly, seemingly unconcerned. "Or does Supervisor Kang have something to report?"
"How could this humble servant have anything to report?" Kang, who was about thirty years old and the only Grand Supervisor of the Palace Attendants currently with the entourage, was usually in charge of important confidential documents in the palace, an important position equivalent to a later-day chief eunuch. Hearing this, he clasped his hands and sighed. "It's just that Consort Pan asked this humble servant to inquire, saying that she hasn't seen Your Majesty for many days and misses you very much. This humble servant thinks…"
The Zhao Emperor smiled awkwardly while holding the hard bow in his hand and did not answer, instead turning his head away.
"Moreover, didn't Your Majesty say that you wanted to eat ice cream after the injury?" Seeing this, Kang Lü quickly moved in front of him again, continuing to clasp his sleeves and say, "Consort Pan personally cooked today and made it specially for Your Majesty. Why don't you go and see her, and also see the imperial heir!"
"Is that so?"
The young Emperor was slightly stunned, hesitating for a moment, but soon he came back to his senses and sighed softly. "Let's forget it. Just send the ice cream here. I'll have it with the palace guards who are dining with me today…"
"Your Majesty!"
Kang Lü became anxious and even changed the term of endearment, 'Dajia', which he alone was usually allowed to use when addressing the Emperor. "That was made by Consort Pan herself, how can it be given to the palace guards? What kind of decorum is that? Even Your Majesty can no longer dine with the palace guards. If it gets out, the ministers of the outer court will be dissatisfied, saying that Your Majesty looks down on scholars and values warriors."
"Since the Jingkang Incident, does the Great Song Dynasty really have any decorum left?" Hearing this, the young Emperor not only did not change his mind, but sneered in public. "If there was even half a bit of decorum, how could we have reached this point today? As for what scholars, what dissatisfaction, I don't see them being dissatisfied with the Jin's iron cavalry, but why are they dissatisfied with me?"
After saying that, the Zhao Emperor ignored him and instead walked towards the outside of the rear hall. Kang Lü was about to follow, but unexpectedly, several sword-bearing palace guards who were originally standing beside him got up and followed, directly blocking Kang's path.
Kang Lü, unusually flustered, quickly signaled to a lightly armored officer next to the palace gate. Seeing this, the tall and dignified young officer lowered his head slightly, but still got up and followed the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, their nominal sovereign.
The sword-bearing palace guards seemed to be able to withstand Kang Lü's pressure, but they clearly showed more respect to this person, not only not blocking him, but directly opening the way. Seeing this scene out of the corner of his eye, the Emperor of the Great Song, Zhao Jiu, did not change his expression, but continued to walk forward calmly.
However, after turning out of the hall, Zhao Jiu was not in a hurry to find someone to dine with. Instead, he stood on the slope where the rear hall was located and looked around for a long time. When he figured that Kang Lü had gone to deal with the confidential documents, he suddenly turned his head and gave an order to the young officer behind him:
"Please take a trip, Yang Sheren, and fetch Consort Pan's ice cream for me, and thank her for her hard work."
The so-called Yang Sheren was caught off guard and could only respond publicly, turn around, and leave, while Zhao Jiu, the Emperor, went to a military camp not far from the small slope where horses were neighing incessantly.
That's right!
It was Zhao Jiu, not Zhao Gou. The Emperor of the Song Dynasty had really been possessed as the rumors said! Kang, the Grand Supervisor, and the young officer, Yang Yizhong, the powerful figures in the palace, one civil and one military, were not being presumptuous in their 'concern' for the 'newly recovered' Emperor, but were truly commendable for their loyalty!
If Zhao Gou's soul was still in some object, he would probably be moved to tears.
Of course, the only problem was that the demon who possessed the Emperor of the Song Dynasty was not a transformed fox spirit, but an ordinary person who felt very innocent himself, a person from nine hundred years later!
This fellow was only going home to register his household after graduating from university, and incidentally visited the Taoist founder's temple. Just because he helped an old Taoist save a dog in a cement-made Nine Dragon Well, he woke up and became the Emperor of the Song Dynasty… Who could he reason with?
With the Supreme Lord Lao?
Would the Supreme Lord Lao mock him: You had the accident in Li Er's temple, what does it have to do with me, the Supreme Lord Lao?
In fact, to be fair, a transmigrator transmigrating into the Emperor, and still a twenty-one-year-old Emperor who had just ascended the throne, would be worth it to the transmigrator if there was a mastermind behind it… To sit as Emperor for sixty years of peace, to spend twenty years saving money, twenty years inventing a steam engine, and twenty years colonizing the four seas, to marry a bunch of concubines, have dozens of children, raise hundreds of cats and dogs, and design a zoo, wouldn't that be good?
Wouldn't it be awesome?
Of course it would be awesome. Consort Pan was also quite fragrant, but the problem was that this Emperor was named Zhao Gou, ranked ninth, and later known as Zhao Laojiu. And this year's reign title was Jianyan, which was changed two months ago after Zhao Laojiu had just ascended the throne. The previous half year was called the second year of Jingkang.
In other words, at this time, the extremely humiliating Jingkang Incident had ended, the Northern Song Dynasty had completely perished, Hebei and Hedong had completely fallen, and as for the Southern Song Dynasty, it had theoretically been established, but in reality, it had not yet successfully gained a foothold… The entire Song Dynasty court was actually following Zhao Laojiu in fleeing south, trying to find a place to settle down in Yangzhou.
Regarding this, our transmigrator, Mr. Zhao Jiu, after seeing thousands of soldiers and horses and the non-electrified Huaixi Plain with his own eyes, and repeatedly verifying by asking questions in a more or less fluent Central Plains accent, confirming that he had transmigrated, and transmigrated into Zhao Gou without a doubt, had not been in a good mood these days.
Nothing else, Zhao Gou Zhao Laojiu's reputation was too bad, not to mention the key point was that the timing was even worse! In Zhao Jiu's view, wouldn't it be better to transmigrate two years earlier, before Jingkang, and stage a second Xuanwu Gate Incident? Or two years later, transmigrate to Lin'an and stabilize directly, wouldn't that be more comfortable?
Why did it have to be at this critical moment of fleeing?
The Jin Wuzhu, who was searching the mountains and seas with an army of 100,000, was not a fictional character!
Of course, Zhao Jiu was ignorant of history. He certainly wouldn't have time to stage a Xuanwu Gate Incident two years earlier, not to mention that if he really transmigrated two years later, then this body would be a eunuch, which would be worse than death.
In short, since transmigrating, this Zhao Emperor, Zhao Gou, Zhao Jiu, or rather Zhao Jiu, had not had a single good day.
At the beginning, he was extremely lost and irritable… Wouldn't having air conditioning, computers, mobile phones, and Haidilao be better than being a fugitive emperor? Or even more so, a historically wretched emperor? In fact, although this body was very healthy and young, he, a person with a normal worldview from later generations, still felt a sense of disgust and discomfort.
Moreover, as an ordinary person, didn't he miss his home?
As a result, on the second night after transmigrating, the Zhao Emperor tried again to jump into the Nine Dragon Well in the Taoist founder's temple, in the hope that the Taoist founder would have mercy, but he failed.
After confirming that he couldn't go back, what followed was naturally self-pity!
A young man who was also twenty-one years old before transmigrating, just graduated from university, and hadn't even started working, how mature could he be? So he started crying secretly in the middle of the night, started saying he wanted to eat ice cream, started throwing tantrums and scolding people… making him feel as wronged as in the show "Transformation."
And it was probably because of these continuous abnormalities that this transmigrator naturally aroused the vigilance of Kang Lü and Yang Yizhong.
As for after a few days, when he finally resigned himself to fate and prepared to live as someone else, the Zhao Emperor of the Great Song, who had just come out of the well, had to face a very awkward and tense situation:
Not to mention those Great Song officials wearing hard-winged hats and round-collared purple, red, and green robes, the few key figures around him: Kang Lü, the Grand Supervisor of the Palace Attendants, who was approximately equivalent to a chief eunuch in later generations; Yang Yizhong, the so-called Gemen Zhihou, who was actually the captain of the palace guard; two chief councilors, Huang Qianshan, the chief councilor of the Eastern Secretariat; Wang Boyan, the privy councilor of the Western Secretariat; and Wang Yuan, the Imperial Camp Commander, who was equivalent to the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Army… He didn't know any of them! He had never even heard of them!
However, considering that these were Zhao Gou's confidants, and that these people had assisted Zhao Gou in initiating and leading the southward flight, then they were probably the capitulationists who persecuted the loyal and patriotic and were determined to flee!
Moreover, because of this transmigrator's early gaffes, they were clearly suspicious. Whether it was concern or vigilance, someone had been carefully watching him these days under Kang Lü's leadership, and Zhao Jiu had not fully accessed memorials and courtiers except for the first public appearance to appease the people on the second day after he arrived.
Obviously, he was being deliberately isolated.
In addition, Zhao Laojiu had left Zhao Jiu with a Consort Pan and a month-old baby… Um… This matter was a bit awkward, but it was just awkward, and it couldn't be said that anyone was taking advantage of anyone, because Zhao Laojiu himself was most likely no longer in this world, and the newly arrived one was clearly a pure soul transmigration, without any baggage!
In fact, after learning that the legitimate wife and two concubines of this body had all been captured by the Jin, Zhao Jiu, in addition to mocking Zhao Gou for not being a man, did not feel any empathy (in fact, they were all dead at this time, but Zhao Gou didn't know about it for more than ten years, which also showed that he was really not a man), because he didn't remember anything, not even a little memory fusion.
Or rather, in Zhao Jiu's view, he could take good care of Consort Pan and that baby in Jiangnan, and if there was a chance to bring back Zhao Gou's captured family members in the future, he could also take care of them in Jiangnan, which would be worthy of heaven and earth… It could also be regarded as repaying the favor of Zhao Gou for giving him this relatively versatile body.
Besides, instead of thinking about these things idly, it would be better to seize the time to build a good relationship with the grassroots soldiers and win over people's hearts. In this way, someone could help block knives when necessary; secondly, he could resolve Kang Lü and Yang Yizhong's soft control; and thirdly, he could also use this to obtain and seek some necessary information…
As for maintaining the Emperor's mystique to maintain authority, it was not that it was wrong, but that, as Zhao Jiu said to Kang Lü in a sarcastic tone, since Jingkang, could the Zhao Song Emperor be any more embarrassing?
And finally, there was still a huge matter in front of this Zhao Emperor who had just come out of the well—transmigrating into Zhao Gou, didn't he have to resist the Jin?!
ps: The new book is here… However, there are only 10,000 words of manuscript, and half of them have been uploaded… According to the old rules, I'll write slowly, and everyone can read slowly…