The country is broken, but the mountains and rivers remain; in the city in springtime, the grass and trees grow deep.
It was deep spring of the third year of Jianyan (1129 AD). With the Jin army’s retreat, the fourth large-scale battle between the Song and Jin dynasties officially came to an end. However, the scars of war and the various residual problems were a major headache for both sides...
Among them, not to mention how the Jin army suppressed the righteous army in Hebei and how the upper echelons were reorganizing, the Great Song was also in constant turmoil.
First and foremost, how to restore production and order in the Henan region, how to deal with the mess of civil and military officials in Guanzhong, how to deal with the many warlord forces in the Jingdong region, and then how to quell the rebellions in the southeast... It seemed that every matter was urgent and of fundamental importance.
And within these matters, almost every one was inevitably mixed with important personnel, economic, and military issues, making them difficult to handle.
But how should I put it?
Sometimes words can be reversed. These things are right in front of you, and no matter how difficult, you have to bite the bullet and deal with them, right?
In fact, thanks to the results of the previous war, which could barely be called a victory, coupled with the slight reorganization of the troops by Zhao, the Emperor, in Heyin in February, the central government of the Great Song, which had just returned to the old capital of Tokyo and settled down, had something to work with...
That is, taking military affairs as the guiding principle, and using this to spread things out.
As it stands now:
Han Shizhong's Imperial Guard Left Army suffered the heaviest losses in this battle, so the court let him return to Huaixi for rest and reorganization, while being responsible for the security of the hinterland of Henan and Jingxi. Further plans would be made after his troops recovered.
Zhang Jun's Imperial Guard Right Army returned to Xuzhou to contain the Jingdong region, which had largely surrendered to the Jin and formed a state of secession.
Although Li Yanxian received the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard Central Army, his defense zone was too important, and he also returned early... Obviously, the identity of this Commander-in-Chief of the Central Army was not necessarily worthy of the name... However, even so, Xijing (Luoyang) was officially assigned to his defense this time. The righteous armies of various sizes in Zhai and Niu Gao and other areas of Xijing and Ruzhou were reorganized and placed under his command. And Lu Qiong, the former Infantry Commander of the Three Yamen who had been stationed in Xijing, officially resigned from the Three Yamen and was promoted to Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard, leaving the Xijing area.
The Bazijun (Eight Character Army) would certainly have difficulty returning to Hebei. In addition, Wang Yan explicitly stated that he was unwilling to be subordinate to Yue Fei, a former subordinate, so he was appointed as Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard Central Army, ranking alongside Wang De, and stationed in Zhengzhou and the west side of Kaifeng.
Wang De, another Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard, was also appointed as the Defense Commissioner of the Four Walls of Kaifeng and officially stationed around Tokyo.
As for the huge Imperial Guard Forward Army, which was formed by merging the former Jizhou Pacification Commissioner and the Tokyo Defense Command, theoretically, it should have been unified under the command of Yue Fei, the Commander-in-Chief. But in reality, it was divided into two. One part followed the newly appointed Imperial Guard Deputy Commander Lu Qiong to Jizhou and Nanjing, joining forces with Zhang Jun to contain the Jingdong bandits. The other part followed Yue Fei himself south to quell the rebellion in the southeast.
In fact, logically speaking, Yue Fei had been in Jizhou for a long time and was familiar with the local customs and people in Jingdong. For example, Zhang Rong of Liangshanpo must have recognized him, so it would have been most appropriate for him to go to Jingdong and join forces with Zhang Jun to attack the Jingdong warlords... But there was no way. Everything had to be prioritized.
According to the discussion between the Emperor and the chief ministers, the affluent southeast was the fundamental place for the Great Song to raise troops, and the rebellion could not be allowed to continue to spread. In contrast, Jingdong had been in a mess since the beginning of last year. It would indeed be difficult to annex the entire warlord-dominated Jingdong region supported by the Jin army in the short term.
Therefore, it was only natural to concentrate efforts on the southeast first.
As for why Yue Fei was sent to quell the rebellion?
Of course, it was because the discipline of his troops was the best. If you were to replace him with Zhang Jun, who was originally the closest, it would probably be better to let the rebels stay put in Jiangning Prefecture!
Therefore, this awkward military arrangement was formed because of Zhao, the Emperor's, strong push.
Of course, at the moment, these were all expedient measures, plugging holes wherever there were holes. Where was there no awkwardness? And who knew what new troubles and crises would arise at any time?
"What happened?"
Inside Tokyo city, north of the Bian River, next to Xiangguo Temple, in the slightly revived prosperous area of the former inner city, someone leaned out of a window of a restaurant, able to see knights galloping back and forth on Imperial Street from afar. "What team is this today? And they are all coming from the south?"
"Heaven knows..." At the table littered with cups and plates, the one who answered was Fan Zongyin, a drafter in the Chancellery. He laughed when he heard this. "The former Great Song Tokyo is now the northern gateway, and since it is the northern gateway, the news naturally comes from the south. Why bother to care, Brother Tai Fa (Li Guang)?"
This joke was not funny. In fact, after Fan Zongyin finished speaking, several people present, such as Lin Qi, Minister of Revenue, Li Guang, Supervising Secretary of the Palace, and Li Ruopu, Academician of the Hanlin Academy, could only smile bitterly.
"Unfortunately, there are no acquaintances in the Privy Council..." The most experienced Lin Qi stroked his beard and spoke first after the bitter smile. "Otherwise, we would at least know if it's news about the rebellion in the southeast. We are just worried and making a fuss."
"When I was in Nanyang, I befriended Wanqiu Yuanzhong..." Li Guang, who turned away from the window, replied with some embarrassment. "But this person, after this merit of accompanying the Emperor, became complacent, and began to act recklessly in Heyin. After coming to Tokyo, he repeatedly associated with the imperial family and relatives of the Empress, not like a scholar. I broke off contact with him."
"He means to regard himself as a close minister." Lin Qi replied. "It's not good to casually say what kind of character someone has. However, breaking off contact is breaking off contact. I was just being talkative..."
"Liu Ziyu is the descendant of a famous minister and has always been upright. If you want to find someone in the Privy Council, why not contact him?" Fan Zongyin said thoughtfully.
"Liu Ziyu may not come..." Li Guang knew that the other party wanted to say that Liu Ziyu had a high-ranking official from Sichuan behind him, a confidant of the Emperor, but he shook his head repeatedly.
"That's not what I meant." Lin Qi continued to stroke his beard and shake his head. "I mean, in the current situation, whether we know the military situation or not, whether there are acquaintances in the Privy Council or not, it doesn't matter anymore."
"That's right." Li Guang also woke up to the fact. "In the current situation, only if the chief ministers directly come forward will it be useful."
Speaking to this point, everyone in the room looked at the youngest Fan Zongyin.
Fan Zongyin finally shook his head seriously: "To be honest, I did ask yesterday. Chancellor Xu is probably willing to speak for Lord Li, I didn't go to Chancellor Wang at all, as for Chancellor Lu of the Department of State Affairs..."
"What did Chancellor Lu say?" Lin Qi couldn't help but become serious.
"Chancellor Lu said that this kind of thing cannot be decided by the chief ministers at all, it still depends on the Emperor's intentions and the attitudes of the two lords themselves..." Fan Zongyin replied solemnly.
"There is some truth to it." After a moment of silence in the restaurant, Lin Qi sighed. "We are just busybodies, but we have to be busy."
Everyone was completely disheartened.
Let's talk about the fact that these few people gathered together today amidst their busy schedules to discuss a recent disturbance in Tokyo city... You should know that after the army personnel arrangements were roughly made, the titles of the chief ministers were the most important thing. And as everyone expected, Lu Yihao came from behind, relying on the merit of defending Nanyang that day and persuading the Emperor to personally lead the expedition, successfully surpassed Wang Boyan, was promoted to Privy Councilor, and became the official Grand Chancellor of the Western Secretariat as soon as he returned to Tokyo.
However, even though they were both proper Grand Chancellors, the Lu Grand Chancellor was different from the Lu Grand Chancellor.
Lu Yihao had just become the Privy Councilor when he began to seize power and took all the affairs of the Privy Council into his own hands.
If any official in the Western Secretariat dared to disobey him, he would immediately show his displeasure. At best, he would be fined, and at worst, he would be kicked out of the Western Secretariat. As for military personnel matters, anyone who disrespected or was rude to him would inevitably be punished directly, from Han Shizhong to the ordinary commanders of the Imperial Guard Central Army to the various ministers, he was always unapologetic, and he never had the habit of taking revenge overnight.
As a result, everyone was shocked, and Wang Boyan, the Deputy Privy Councilor, was also effectively sidelined.
But that was not all, because there was a tradition of the Emperor sending notes to the four chief ministers to discuss matters... which meant acting as a hands-off shopkeeper... so many major events were simply reported to Lan Daguan in the imperial city behind Xuande Tower, and the four chief ministers would discuss and settle matters in front of the Youye Gate of Xuande Tower, where the former Department of State Affairs and the current Department of State Affairs plus the Privy Council were located.
However, since he became the Privy Councilor, Lu, the Privy Councilor, would often forcibly assign many matters to the Privy Council on the grounds that they concerned military affairs during the four chief ministers' meetings, and naturally, he would handle them in the end.
Among the four chief ministers, Wang, the Privy Councilor, was a deputy, naturally one step lower. Lu, the Chancellor of the Department of State Affairs, was the proper prime minister, but he was afraid to compete. Xu Jingheng dared to compete, but because of the fixed pattern of the Eastern and Western Secretariats, he could not override Lu Haowen's words at all. Therefore, Lu Yihao not only controlled the Privy Council, but also gradually overwhelmed the other three chief ministers, showing a tendency to seize power.
That would have been fine.
Recently, in the past two days, as Yue Fei quickly set off to the south, Lu Yihao suddenly used this as an excuse and repeatedly criticized Lord Li, who was far away in Yangzhou...
To be honest, it was only because there was no precedent for chief ministers impeaching chief ministers in the Great Song Dynasty, otherwise Lu Yihao would have directly impeached Li Gang for misleading the country.
But even if he couldn't directly impeach, with Lu Yihao's almost naked expression of his attitude, the capital was inevitably uneasy.
If Lord Lu were to replace Lord Li and become the head of all officials, who would have a good time then, given his power? Even if he didn't replace Lord Li, but only brought him down, would his power be small?
Therefore, several confidants of Li Gang in the capital contacted Fan Zongyin, who was good at speaking in front of Lu Haowen and Xu Jingheng, in an attempt to appease the situation.
But obviously, the situation was too bad.
Because in the end, it was not only the problem of Lu Yihao's arrogance, the real problem lay only with Emperor Zhao and Li Gang themselves.
Li Gang's own military ability was too poor, and being militarily incompetent but still insisting on managing military affairs was simply original sin in this era. The example of Li Yanxian was there, the contrast of Zong Zhongwu was there, but he still caused trouble again and again... Holding tens of thousands of Imperial Guard Rear Army troops, at the crucial moment, not only could he not help the front line, but he also disrupted his own formation. It was his own fault that he was being attacked this time!
At the same time, what made Lord Li's confidants even more frightened was that they suddenly realized that with Emperor Zhao's great defeat of the Jin army and return to the old capital, the situation where the Emperor and Lord Li had supported each other in the past was no longer meaningful... So far, who would doubt Emperor Zhao's intention to resist the Jin and his strength to resist the Jin? And where was the need for Lord Li's appeal to establish a court foundation for Emperor Zhao?
In a word, Emperor Zhao no longer needed Lord Li's banner to create a persona and seek support. The Emperor's own dragon banner was already effective.
These people were essentially worried that Emperor Zhao would kick them away after they had served their purpose.
"Fan Zhixu is dead." After a moment of silence, Fan Zongyin suddenly revealed a piece of news with a hint of bitterness.
"When did it happen?" Someone looked up in alarm. "How did he die?"
"I don't know, it should have been shortly after arriving in Zunyi. Anyway, when I handled the documents, it said that the forage field he was guarding caught fire, so he died in Zunyi." Fan Zongyin replied casually.
"Just like that?"
"Perhaps..." Fan Zongyin's tone became even more bitter. "But there are other rumors. Zhai Biao, the son of Commander Zhai Chong, recently returned to the Emperor's presence. According to what he said when he was drunk, he went to Zunyi to handle matters and missed the great battle and the credit."
"The Emperor..." Li Guang was incredulous.
"The Emperor cannot calm down!" Lin Qi didn't care. "And what if this matter is made clear? Wasn't Du Chong also killed in public? But then there was the Battle of Yanling, and the Emperor returned to the old capital. Didn't everyone dare not speak?"
Speaking to this point, Minister Lin paused slightly and then sighed again as he stroked his beard: "In fact, this is the fundamental reason why there must be a minister like Lord Li in office. The Emperor is young after all and acts aggressively. It is always good to have a minister to restrain him. And like Privy Councilor Lu, although he is also an aggressive minister, he is only instigating the Emperor, making the Emperor more aggressive, rather than restraining him..."
"Speaking of this, I actually had a conversation with Censor Hu." Fan Zongyin suddenly spoke again.
"Oh?" The others perked up.
"Censor Hu is a straightforward person. He told me that many of the Emperor's confidants believe that this is the time to establish order and build a career. The ancestral laws and regulations of the past may not be reliable, and that those who are ministers should follow the Emperor on a new path..." Drafter Fan carefully repeated. "So many people, such as Academician Lin, know the truth of the matter and do not like Privy Councilor Lu's arrogance, but they also believe that Lord Li is holding the Emperor back, so they remain silent."
"Absurd! How is Lord Li holding the Emperor back?"
"This is the difference in fundamental ideas... Everyone thinks that their own ideas are correct, but there is also conflict. In the past, it was the new and old party politics, and it is not much different now." Fan Zongyin continued.
"..."
"This is not what I said, it is what Censor Hu said." Drafter Fan quickly explained. "I asked Censor Hu what he thought? Censor Hu said these words, and said, 'The road is difficult and long, let's see what the future holds.'"
"Let's see what the future holds?"
"Censor Hu meant that the Jin people will not give us the opportunity for factional strife here. At that time, the overall situation of resisting the Jin will naturally use success or failure to test who is right and who is wrong... And from the current point of view, it is obvious that the Emperor has won slightly, and Lord Li has lost slightly."
"He has already wavered and will not help Lord Li speak this time." Lin Qi sighed. "So what exactly is the Emperor thinking?"
While the streets on both sides of Imperial Street were gradually coming to life, the desolate eastern side of Yanfu Palace was still overgrown with weeds and scattered with rocks, and wild rabbits and foxes appeared irregularly... forming a sharp contrast with the Imperial Street a few miles away.
That's right, this is the site of the former Huashi-Genyue, which the Emperor of Taishang Daojun, Zhao Ji, spent I don't know how many lives and national fortune to create.
However, the reason it became a site was not the work of the Jin army. In fact, the Jin army did not enter the city to carry out large-scale destruction and looting. This was because Emperor Yuansheng, one of the two Sages in the Jingkang Incident, in order to restore order, disregarded the Jin army in front of him and spent a lot of effort to order the smashing of the artificial mountains everywhere, in order to show that he was not in agreement with his father.
It can only be said that these two are a perfect match.
"I think Lord Li cannot be suddenly removed from office."
In the wilderness, spring flowers bloomed and all things grew, it was the season for mating. Zhao, the Emperor, who was wearing casual clothes and tied up his sleeves, sighed after shooting and killing a wild rabbit that was peeking out from next to a well. "Not only because of his merit in re-establishing the court and stabilizing the southeast on his own that day, and not only for the stability of the court, but more importantly, someone must be stationed in the southeast at this time..."
"What does the Emperor mean?" Hu Yin frowned and spoke behind Emperor Zhao. "Before in Nanyang, the terrain was narrow, and the southeast and Jingxiang were naturally divided, so we had to send senior officials to be stationed there. Now that the Emperor has returned to the old capital, the Central Plains are open, and the canal transportation has been restored... Why do we still need to keep people stationed in the southeast? Are you not afraid of it becoming too powerful to control?"
"Because Tokyo is unstable." Zhao Jiu answered simply. "Although the Jin people have suffered a setback, the mere ten or so *meng'an* units and the overall loss of twenty or thirty thousand people have not shaken their national strength and military strength at all. The offensive and defensive situation between the Song and Jin has not changed, but has made them pay more attention to us... And this year or next year, there will inevitably be more invasions. If the Yellow River cannot be defended at that time, what will happen to Tokyo?"
Hu Yin was silent for a moment before nodding: "I understand, Your Majesty. So we still need to let the Empress Dowager and Concubine Pan lead the imperial heir in Yangzhou, and we still need Lord Li to be there as a backup? If so, Sichuan and Huainan must also continue to be maintained to serve as a check?"
"That's right." Facing Hu Mingzhong, who was always too straightforward, Zhao Jiu once again bent his bow and nocked an arrow, but he was aiming at a new prey while being honest... When speaking privately, he preferred this kind of straightforwardness. "In fact, when I was in Nanyang before, Lady Pan wrote many letters saying that she wanted to come over... I have never agreed..."
Halfway through his words, Emperor Zhao's arrow flew out, but it actually missed. Instead, it caused a weasel to dart out from behind a pavilion and disappear.
"Your Majesty is far-sighted and puts the overall situation first." Hu Yin thought for a moment, and could only say that. "If we talk about this, it should indeed be like this, but I was thinking too shallowly..."
Zhao Jiu shook his head slightly, not knowing whether he was regretting the weasel or thinking about something else.
Just when the Emperor had lost interest and was about to personally pick up the rabbit and take it back for dinner tonight, suddenly there was a burst of noise from behind him.
Hu Yin, Lin Jingmo, Liu Yan, and Feng Yi, who were attending, turned their heads together, and were even more puzzled when they saw Yang Yizhong, Lan Gui, and Lu Yihao walking over in a panic... What could make these three people lose their composure to this extent?
"Your Majesty!" When he came to the front, Yang Yizhong and Lu Yihao were actually speechless together, but Lan Gui first kowtowed to the ground, tears streaming down his face. "Your Majesty... The Empress is dead! The two concubines are also gone! Three of the five princesses (imperial daughters during the Jianyan era had been changed back to princesses) are also gone! Only two returned!"
Zhao Jiu was momentarily at a loss. What Empress, what Princess, what was going on?
"Your Majesty." Lu Yihao also rarely trembled his voice, unable to name his loss of composure, and his words were chaotic. "Your servant... A Jin envoy from Huazhou just came and brought a message from the Fourth Prince of the Jin Kingdom, and returned two princesses... It turns out that Empress Xing (Zhao Gou's original wife) and the two concubines, and three of the five princesses, had already died on the road during the Jingkang Incident. The two surviving little princesses were sent back by the Jin people this time, saying that since Your Majesty has such courage, you should have this response... Your servant deserves to die ten thousand times!"
"Your servants deserve to die ten thousand times." Yang Yizhong and Feng Yi knelt down together.
"Your servants deserve to die ten thousand times." Even Hu Yin and Liu Yan turned pale, one clasped his hands and the other knelt down, repeating it after them.
Zhao Jiu, who continued to turn around and pick up the rabbit, stood there and thought for a long time before gradually understanding that he had somehow won a little respect in this battle, and then the Jin people had a little respect and sent back the news of the death of the original owner of this body, Zhao Gou's family, during the Jingkang Incident, and incidentally sent back two little girls who posed no threat, as a gesture.
But speaking of which, Zhao Gou knew that his wife and children had been robbed, but he still wanted hundreds of laundry women and insisted on fleeing south. What kind of psychological quality was that?
No wonder Zhao Jiu felt confused at this time.
At this thought, Zhao Jiu laughed instead of getting angry: "What do you have to die for? Is it not the retribution for some Zhao family descendants suffering this hardship, because some people disregarded people's livelihood and created the Huashi Gang, and then some people disregarded the large army pressing down on the border, and only cared about smashing the Huashi Gang?"
After saying that, he threw down the rabbit in his hand, then looked around, and after a sigh, he raised the bow and arrow in his hand again and shot it hard at a Huashi artificial mountain covered with moss in front of him.
With one arrow, it was actually nailed to the crevice of the stone.
The people below were about to speak, but seeing this situation, they all became speechless.
At this moment, several more people came in a hurry with panicked faces, and it was the two chief ministers of the Department of State Affairs, Lu Haowen and Xu Jingheng, and the Deputy Privy Councilor, Wang Boyan, who had arrived together.
When Lu, Xu, and Wang came to the front, they were also as pale as Lu Yihao before, clasping their hands and bowing, saying that they deserved to die ten thousand times.
"I already know." The emotionally complicated Zhao Jiu said helplessly. "It is the Two Sages themselves who are ridiculously incompetent, leading to this kind of retribution on the imperial family. What does it have to do with you?"
"Your servant is ashamed..." Lu Haowen raised his head, but his face was flushed red. "Regardless of how the Two Sages are, Lord Li does have the responsibility to protect them. He has already submitted a memorial with the news, requesting to enter the capital in a prison cart and await orders."
Zhao Jiu, Lu Yihao, Hu Yin, Lin Jingmo, Yang Yizhong, Liu Yan, Lan Gui, and Feng Yi all frowned.
"What does it have to do with Lord Li?" Hu Yin was impatient for a moment.
"It is naturally Lord Li's responsibility." Xu Jingheng took half a step forward and replied seriously. "Your Majesty entrusted the Empress Dowager and the imperial heir to him. Now that the imperial heir has died, how can he, as a minister, be exempted from punishment?"
"What are you talking about?" Everyone below Zhao Jiu was stunned. "Didn't the Jin people from Huazhou send an envoy?"
"Your Majesty!" Xu Jingheng realized what was going on and panicked for a moment. "Your servants really do not know what happened to the Jin people in Huazhou. We only heard that the Jiangning rebels, hearing that Your Majesty had sent Yue Fei south and heard that the leaders of the rebels were not allowed to be recruited, knew that they could not avoid it, so they desperately fought to gather their troops and tried to cross the river to Yangzhou to kidnap the Empress Dowager and the imperial heir. Although they did not succeed, it caused a riot in Yangzhou city, and the imperial heir, who was already ill, suffered a seizure and then died directly in two days... The news was sent to the Privy Council. Privy Councilor Lu was not there, so they sought Privy Councilor Wang, and Privy Councilor Wang came to the Department of State Affairs to find the two of us... Your Majesty... Your servant..."
When Zhao Jiu heard this, he picked up the rabbit again, and then stood there without any expression for half a day, while the others, seeing the Emperor so distraught, quickly lowered their heads even lower, but Lu Haowen, Xu Jingheng, and Wang Boyan were suspicious in their hearts and finally couldn't help but speak.
"Your Majesty, what happened in Huazhou?" Lu Haowen carefully inquired.
Zhao Jiu did not answer when he heard this, but threw down the rabbit for the second time and turned around to face the site of the Genyue Ruins, and then angrily shot another arrow: "Damn Two Sages, for this Huashi Gang and the Jingkang shame, if there is retribution, it should be on the Zhao family, why bother to involve others? Ruin my situation?! In the future, will I be sent back as a bargaining chip to disgust me? Why didn't you die earlier?"
The surrounding four chief ministers and ministers were all stunned, but no one dared to refute Emperor Zhao's rebellious remarks.
ps: I kowtow to everyone and apologize, can we count this as two chapters, let me get enough sleep... to digest the things in my stomach... so that I can break my promise and get fat.