It wasn't important whether Yelu Mawu's small stockade was preserved or not; what mattered was what could be done by taking advantage of the opportunity. Zhao Jiu had made it clear to several councilors that his insistence on coming out wasn't for those five hundred Jurchen cavalry... although the key to the victory at Shouzhou was the annihilation of little more than a thousand elite cavalry... In the end, he merely hoped to use this opportunity to resolve the institutional and moral crisis brought about by the sudden arrival of Zhai Chong's five thousand troops.

After all, in Zhao Guan's view, a refugee court needed to value every bit of strength. Five thousand local soldiers were enough to be taken seriously, not to mention the outstanding performance of the two Zhai brothers, the elder Zhai and the younger Zhai, in Western Capital Luoyang, which made Zhao Guan particularly think highly of this relative, Zhai Chong.

And if he were to give up this opportunity, causing these five thousand men to be slaughtered outside the city by the subsequent large Jurchen force, Zhao Guan could absolutely not accept it.

As for the fact that an emperor insisted on personally supervising a motley army, an act that offended propriety and ancestral laws, and that this would trigger further division between conservatives and radicals in the court, that was an unexpected incident.

But as the saying goes, ancestral laws and propriety were nothing to Zhao Guan, especially when compared to several thousand lives.

If this matter had some benefit, little risk, and could potentially reduce future risks, then he would do it... Not to mention that Zhai Chong's surname, Zhai, gave Zhao Guan some extra thoughts, thinking of the combat power of Zhu Family Village and Zeng Family Fort, he would have come out even if that weren't the case.

Of course, what Zhao Guan didn't know was, regardless of whether the Zhai family was truly related to legendary local tyrants like Zeng Family Fort and Zhu Family Village, at this very moment outside the city, there was indeed a standard historical legend, the Khitan general Yelu Mawu, who had been underestimated by Zhao Guan, Huyan Tong, and everyone else.

In fact, Yelu Mawu's five hundred cavalry were a legendary unit inscribed in Chinese history! The kind that would get extra stars in a low-end game, the purple kind!

Because, in another timeline, it was Yelu Mawu who led these five hundred cavalry as the vanguard, suddenly arriving under the walls of Yangzhou.

At that time, a Zhao Song official named Zhao Gou was indulging in pleasure with washerwomen in Yangzhou, the Chief Councilor of the Eastern Secretariat was Huang Qianshan, the Chief Councilor of the Western Secretariat was Wang Boyan, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guards was Wang Yuan, the head of the Palace Attendants was Kang Lu, and the outer general was Liu Guangshi.

Then, Yelu Mawu, with these five hundred cavalry, broke through Yangzhou, chased away Zhao Gou and his ultra-luxurious entourage, along with tens of thousands of Song soldiers, and directly led to the loss of defense of the entire prosperous Huainan region.

It was even very possible that his five hundred cavalry caused Zhao Gou, who was seeking pleasure at the time, to become impotent and permanently lose his fertility.

Zhao Jiu didn't know any of these things. If he did, he would probably just sigh a few times, because without Yelu Mawu coming to chase him away again, the main actors in that Yangzhou city had already been seized, killed, or demoted by him, leaving only a small fraction.

The few survivors had now reformed themselves.

And thinking about it that way, although Zhao Guan had always lacked imperial dignity and disregarded ancestral laws, drawing criticism from many officials, he had still done some small good.

"Lord Zhai, do you understand?" Zhao Jiu, wearing a bright red robe, was sitting upright in a large tent he had bestowed, with dozens of candles burning together, illuminating the entire tent as if it were daytime.

"Understood!" The person in front of him, the forty or fifty-year-old Zhai Chong, was prostrate on the ground in a manner akin to complete submission, his voice trembling. In fact, his mind was blank. Such a posture could only be described as one thing subduing another; local tyrants were naturally afraid of officials!

"Repeat it!" Zhao Jiu continued to pressure him, his face expressionless.

"Yes!" Zhai Chong still didn't raise his head. "This time, the purpose of driving away Yelu Mawu's five hundred cavalry is not about military merit or spoils, but about the safety of your... but about the future safety of my five thousand troops beneath the city! Because when Wanyan Yinshuke arrives in the future, the armies beneath the city will be in danger of annihilation! Your Majesty is risking leaving the city to save the lives of my five thousand troops!"

"It's good that you know," Zhao Jiu said, his expression unchanged, but his voice much stricter. "Quickly send troops across the river and drive away these five hundred cavalry!"

"Yes!" Zhai Chong responded with all his might, quickly got up, and then hurried out of the tent with his hand on his saber, not daring to look back.

As soon as Zhai Chong left, Zhao Jiu's expression softened slightly, and he looked at a person to his side.

"Your subject is incompetent!" Seeing the Emperor look over, Scholar Lin, who had suffered countless torments in the past few days and whose eyes had been red, instantly burst into tears, stepped forward, and forced himself to bow. "I thought I could share Your Majesty's worries, but I am useless in everything... Zhai Chong was still showing some attitude this afternoon, and I was smugly thinking that I had subdued him, but when it came down to it, I couldn't command him at all... My family has all received the nation's favor, but in times of national crisis, I don't even have the strength of a commoner. I am truly ashamed."

Seeing this, Zhao Jiu quickly wanted to comfort him.

"What nonsense are you saying, Scholar Lin?!"

However, just as Zhao Guan was trying to find the words, a person beside him, seeing Scholar Lin crying incessantly, completely lost his patience. "You are a Hanlin Academician, your job is to write documents for Your Majesty, you should be by Your Majesty's side, enjoying peace, and in times of national crisis, you stepped forward, almost taking your life to do things for the country that others dare not do, so what if you can't do it? You must know that since the Jingkang Incident, how many people have abandoned their jobs and scattered in a panic, and some have even harmed the country and its people! At this time, it is already remarkable to have someone who is willing to do things, how could Your Majesty blame you?! And why would anyone else look down on you?! Do you have to put on airs just because things are hard, tiring, and insignificant, to be considered a renowned official?"

The crowd, hearing the accusatory tone, looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was none other than Yan Xiaozhong, the Prefect of Tangzhou.

And Zhao Jiu, for the sake of unity, was about to say a few polite words when Prefect Yan, regardless of the situation, raised his voice again and continued to advise: "Even I, Yan Xiaozhong, as a prefect, lost my land and was captured, carrying a pole and being whipped as I did hard labor for the Jurchens, I never felt ashamed enough to shed a single tear! Scholar Lin, you have a bright future, why do you need to pity yourself? If you continue like this, you will only make yourself disliked!"

Scholar Lin, hearing these words, couldn't cry anymore, so he could only reluctantly stop crying and thanked the other party.

As for Zhao Guan, he had already given up on speaking.

Zhang Jun, who was accompanying him, said a few words: "Chancellor Lu and the others are just more experienced... their desire to serve the country is no different from ours."

Yan Xiaozhong sneered and directly retorted: "How dare we discuss the various Chancellors? You must know that people like those Chancellors have their own propriety and face, compared to which, in these times of wandering, a mere few thousand lives outside the city are not worth mentioning!"

Zhang Jun didn't say anything more, and Liu Ziyu didn't mean to support his friend... because everyone knew that while the Emperor's trip was to treat and save people, the Chancellors who stayed in the hall to protest also seemed to have their reasons. The two sides weren't in conflict in essence, but for Yan Xiaozhong, the difference between the two was earth-shattering.

Because the army outside the city was initially encouraged by Yan Xiaozhong to come!

Therefore, those who came out with the Emperor today, including Grand Councilor Yuwen Xuzhong, who was eventually ordered to stay in the city, and Wang Yuan, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guards, who was ordered to stay on the city walls, although not intentionally, could be considered to be expressing their trust in Yan Xiaozhong; and the latter, even if they didn't mean to at all, were also considered to be publicly expressing their doubts about this person.

After all, the Emperor had made it very clear that it was correct for the army not to enter the city, but it was a false proposition that people couldn't leave the city. And since the Emperor himself had come out, why should Yan Xiaozhong have to suffer this grievance?

"Alright," Zhao Guan suddenly said after a moment of silence in the hall. "The various Chancellors also have the intention of being experienced... in times of national crisis, we should tolerate each other for the sake of the country. And now that things have come to this, and Zhai Chong has already sent troops, then I will go back first. Prefect Yan will also go with me, Scholar Lin will stay here and wait, and Yanxiu (Liu Ziyu's courtesy name) will stay and help Scholar Lin."

Everyone quickly obeyed the order.

Just like that, Zhao Guan didn't feel like waiting for any battle reports, so he left the tent and prepared to return to the city.

However, when the Emperor came out of the door with a few close officials, he was suddenly stunned by the warm wind outside the tent. It turned out that under the many fire basins and torches outside the tent, a person was lying motionless on the ground, and it was none other than Zhai Chong, who had hurriedly left the tent a quarter of an hour ago.

There were torches and fire basins all around, and the firelight was dazzling, but there was no high place to see the movements in the distance clearly. Zhao Jiu was naturally puzzled, so he simply asked with a straight face: "Lord Zhai, weren't you going to fight?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty!" Zhai Chong still didn't raise his head, but loudly announced: "I was preparing to go, but the small stockade built by the mere five hundred cavalry was already small and dilapidated, and the Jurchens have always been arrogant and careless in their defense, not to mention that the leader is a fake Jurchen Khitan. Therefore, my youngest son, Zhai Biao, led a hundred or so lads, carrying five or six buckets of oil, went through the shallow water downstream, and first set fire to the horse stables, directly scaring away the horses in the stockade. The Jurchens had no choice but to abandon the camp and chased after the warhorses in a flustered manner! The movements earlier were all made by those few who were not satisfied with searching for spoils in the stockade!"

Zhao Jiu was stunned for a moment, but couldn't help but smile: "You only need to say that you have won, and at most add a bit of humor with a line like, 'The children have already defeated the enemy'... Why go to such lengths?"

"Your subject was afraid that Your Majesty wouldn't believe me, so I was a bit verbose, and because I am rude and don't know how to speak nicely, please forgive me, Your Majesty!" Zhai Chong still didn't raise his head.

"Let's not talk about that. Now that things have come to this, according to what we said before, you quickly work with Scholar Lin and this Military Advisor Liu to reorganize things. Divide the army in two, with those whose origins are clear and reliable entering the city tomorrow morning, and the rest temporarily sent to Jinxiang Town to the north to garrison. And all those who crossed the river tonight will enter my Imperial Guards!" Zhao Guan slowly nodded and left with his hands behind his back. When he said the last word, it was already an echo sent by the distant spring breeze.

"Your subject thanks Your Majesty for your grace!" Zhai Chong quickly shouted loudly on the ground, his tone filled with undisguised joy.

After a while, this person got up and secretly glanced at the figure of Zhao Guan going down the city, as if relieved of a heavy burden, as if the red robe, turban, and gold belt on Zhao Guan could continuously press down on him from afar, making it hard for him to breathe.

Speaking of which, regardless of what the local tyrant from Xiping, Zhai Chong, was thinking, on the other side, Zhao Guan calmly entered from the north gate, first greeted Wang Yuan. This Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guards didn't dare to say much, but when he came to the street in the city, where Yuwen Xuzhong had been ordered to wait and preside, and saw that the four Chancellors were all here, he naturally couldn't avoid being questioned.

"Your Majesty, is everything alright outside the city?" Xu Jingheng stepped forward solemnly.

Zhao Jiu laughed upon hearing this, then dismounted, hesitating as if preparing to put on a show.

Just as Zhao Guan was adjusting his posture and emotions, Yan Xiaozhong couldn't wait, and coldly countered: "Let the various Chancellors know that as soon as Your Majesty left the city, he had the children defeat the enemy!"

Zhao Jiu had no choice but to change his tone and said seriously: "That's how it is!"