Zhang Shixun felt relieved when he saw the vegetable buns.

He has now become a thorn in the eyes and flesh of many people. These people dare not cause trouble for him, but they cannot guarantee that they will not take action against those around him.

As for Li Shishi, he had already made a plan. He could no longer let her be a prostitute. He planned to find a special time to discuss this matter with her.

"Brother, can you come out for a moment?"

Someone was shouting outside, and the voice sounded like Gao Yanei.

Zhang Shixun looked over and saw that it was indeed this guy.

"What do you want to talk to me about?"

"I told you a few days ago that my father wanted to see you."

Zhang Shixun said, "I was planning to go there in the next two days."

"Don't plan it. You have nothing to do now, right? Just go now."

"Alright!"

Zhang Shixun and Ding Dusai greeted each other and followed Gao Yanei to Gao's house.

Gao Qiu was lying on a Hu bed with his eyes closed, resting. Seeing Zhang Shixun coming, he sighed and said, "I have had a stroke and am paralyzed on one side of my body. I can only talk to you while lying down."

Zhang Shixun consoled him, "General, it's just a stroke. As long as you take good care of yourself, you'll recover."

Gao Qiu's disease was actually high blood pressure, which was difficult to control with Chinese herbal medicine in that era, especially in the middle and late stages, when complications gradually emerged.

The so-called stroke, as later generations called it, was a cerebral infarction. This complication was very serious and there was a high probability of death. For someone like Gao Qiu, who only suffered hemiplegia, it was considered a mild complication.

Gao Yanei walked to the bedside and considerately placed a thick pillow behind his father so that he could half-lean and half-sit, making it easier to talk.

Gao Qiu looked at Zhang Shixun carefully and smiled slightly. "Shixun, I heard from Chengzong that you did a lot of things outside during the siege of the city by the Jin army."

Zhang Shixun bowed slightly and said modestly, "I have done some things, but they were all trivial and not worth mentioning."

"Otherwise." Gao Qiu shook his head. "Things you have done may seem insignificant, but their impact on the war situation cannot be underestimated."

"You are too kind, Grand Marshal. I hold no official position, and my power is limited. What I can do for the Song Dynasty is truly limited."

"The Jin army's attack on Song wasn't a sudden impulse; it was a long-planned one. After crossing the river, the traitor Guo Yaoshi led the vanguard, heading straight for Moutuogang. Their goal was to seize the horses and food supplies there. However, they failed at the last moment. You got ahead of them and took the horses and food supplies, and burned what they couldn't transport."

Zhang Shixun smiled slightly and did not respond.

"Nearly 100,000 Jin troops attacked Kaifeng. The freezing weather made the Jin army's training a top priority. One of the reasons they negotiated peace with the Song Dynasty was because they were running out of food and fodder. If they had access to the military horses and fodder at Moutuogang, it would be hard to say whether they could negotiate peace."

Zhang Shixun still did not interrupt and continued to listen to the old man's analysis.

"...You displayed your magical powers in Zhang Xiaozhuang, thwarting the Jin army's probing attack. You truly intimidated them. They were momentarily unsure of your true nature, and they didn't dare to provoke you again."

"Taiwei, the Jin army is not afraid, but they don't want to cause trouble. After all, the capital is their target, and there is no need to compete with a poor village."

"That being said, your presence makes the Jin army quite wary."

"Yes! That's true... To be honest, I also caused the Jin army to suffer two major losses in Shanxi."

Gao Qiu nodded, "I already know. I heard that you killed several Jin generals and used heavenly thunder to destroy more than 10,000 Jin soldiers."

Zhang Shixun was quite surprised when he heard this. "General, that's too much! Who told you this?"

Gao Yanei grinned and said, "I heard all this outside and told Dad when I got home. After all, it's just rumors, so some exaggeration is inevitable, hehe!"

"That's an exaggeration." Zhang Shixun shook his head and said to Gao Qiu with a wry smile, "I only captured two Jin generals, one Mouke and one Meng'an, and beheaded them after displaying them to the public. I also annihilated a few hundred Jin soldiers. I didn't kill many of the remaining thousand or so soldiers. After they surrendered, they were all released."

Gao Qiu laughed and said, "You personally went into battle in armor, riding a black horse, wearing a black helmet and armor, wielding a Fang Tian Hua Ji (a painted halberd), and you slaughtered the Jin soldiers like a pack rat... Shi Xun, in the eyes of the people, you're practically a god descending from heaven."

“Shame on you!”

Zhang Shixun did not expect that he would be reported in this way.

"General, I don't understand. I've done so much, but why hasn't the court responded at all? They didn't even ask."

Gao Qiu stroked his beard and sneered, "The government wouldn't dare employ someone like you, and the ministers would be wary of you. So, no matter how great your achievements, they'll pretend to be deaf and dumb. That way, there's no need to reward you, and no need to employ you."

"So, I can do whatever I want?"

"You're overthinking it. Even though they don't need you, your every move is under the imperial court's surveillance. If they find any signs of misconduct on your part, they will..."

Zhang Shixun interrupted Gao Qiu and asked, "General, you said that my every move is under the surveillance of the court. What do you mean by that?"

“That’s what it means.”

"The Grand Marshal is saying that there are spies planted by the imperial court around me?"

"I have a piece of advice for you. Never think you're the smartest and everyone else is a fool. The Song Dynasty has been established for a hundred years, and it's not easy to get to where we are today. The court has a set of institutions specifically for oversight, such as the Imperial City Bureau."

"I know the Imperial City Division. Prince Yun once served as the chief officer of the Imperial City Division."

Gao Qiu curled his lips and said, "You only know the basics. Prince Yun is just a figurehead in the Imperial City Department. The real person in charge is the eunuch, and it must be a eunuch."

"Indeed, the eunuchs are the only ones the emperor trusts the most."

"Under the name of the eunuch in charge, there are less than a thousand people on the surface. In reality, according to my estimation, there are at least several thousand people."

Zhang Shixun was surprised. "So many? I thought the Imperial City Division only had a few hundred people."

"The Imperial City Bureau's responsibilities are, first, to protect the safety of the emperor, his sons, concubines, and others. Second, to infiltrate the military and uncover any illegal activity within it. Third, to supervise and monitor all officials, even civilians. Their power is immense."

"The commander told me this to warn me that there might be an inspector from the Imperial City Department hiding among me?"

"It's not a possibility, it's a certainty."

"Haha! A person of integrity has nothing to fear. I, Zhang Shixun, do things with integrity, and everything is for the sake of the Song Dynasty. Even if there are detectives from the Imperial City Bureau hiding by my side, I have nothing to fear."

Gao Qiu sneered, "What you and Wang Dong did couldn't be hidden from the emperor's eyes... Let me ask you, where did all those horses and food supplies at Moutuogang go?"

Before Zhang Shixun could reply, Gao Qiu continued, "You burned the fodder, and most of the horses were shipped across the Yellow River, where they were taken by bandits from the Taihang Mountains. You also shipped the black beans back to Gao Laozhuang and Zhang Xiaozhuang, where you made some into compressed rations and hid some in the tunnels. As for the ones you gave to Li Gang, they were old and sick horses that were no longer useful."