Chapter 95 Travel

The situation at hand is actually quite simple:

If the rebels were allowed to enter the city, Ruyang City would most likely be completely safe, but there was a small possibility that it would directly ruin the fate of the Song Dynasty.

If the rebels were not allowed to enter the city, Ruyang City would most likely remain safe, but the rebels would face considerable risks and would resent Emperor Zhao in the city. They might also be captured by the main force of the Jin army that was about to arrive, and cause unnecessary trouble.

At this moment, no matter what he does, it is right or wrong. From Zhao Jiu's personal perspective, it is nothing more than the distinction between rationality and sensibility... rationality tells him that he must not let the rebels enter the city, otherwise, not to mention the fate of the Song Dynasty, it would at least be irresponsible for the lives of the people in the city; but emotion reminds him that if the rebels are slaughtered outside the city by the Jin people because they cannot enter the city, and finally cause mutual disunity, that is something that the soul of a time traveler cannot tolerate, because the lives of the rebels outside the city are also lives.

This seems to form a classic moral paradox.

At this time, the suggestions of Yan Xiaozhong and Mr. Kobayashi are very valuable. No matter what, we should tolerate each other and do our best for the country.

"Go and have a look first..." Zhao Jiu hesitated for a moment, but gave the order directly. "Just find out what Zhai Chong is thinking, and be honest with him."

Scholar Kobayashi said nothing more, but just bowed, and then a group of people brought a large basket and hung him directly below the city wall... Then, everyone on the city wall watched Scholar Yutang and the somewhat surprised Yan Xiaozhong move into the team not far away.

Without mentioning what happened on the city wall, let's just say that Scholar Xiaolin followed Yan Xiaozhong and led the donkey to meet Zhai Chong and the other leaders. At this time, seeing that Yan Xiaozhong did not call for the door to be opened, but someone came down in a large basket, they more or less understood the doubts or "caution" of the people on the city wall. The leaders all felt a little embarrassed... Anyone who came here full of enthusiasm but was poured a basin of cold water would feel the same... but surprisingly, they did not complain or feel resentful.

To put it bluntly, just as many officials and soldiers of the Song Dynasty were terrified by the word "Jurchen", these local tyrants also had an inexplicable respect and fear for the three words "Emperor Zhao", even though these people were the cause of the instability of the previous Song Dynasty's rule.

In fact, when Emperor Zhao came out to talk with Prefecture Governor Yan on the city gate tower just now, these people were just looking at them from afar instead of going forward to spy without permission, as if they always felt that their level was not high enough.

Only today, in order to appease the people, Emperor Zhao did not wear a red robe and a fu hat, but just ordinary clothes, so it was impossible to see clearly which one he was wearing.

"I am a Hanlin scholar, a master of imperial edicts, and my common name is Lin Jingmo." Xiao Lin scholar came to the group of leaders, and after asking who Zhai Chong was, he simply bowed and spoke. "You should know what is commonly known as Yutang scholar and internal imperial edict Hanlin."

Who doesn’t know this?

The Song Dynasty has been established for more than a hundred years, and the importance of Hanlin scholars is well known. Many imperial edicts were written by these people. Even if the place in Jingxi is very rich, it still has the word "Jing" in its name! Especially this scholar Xiaolin, who is more than thirty years old, tall and handsome, even though his beard is stuck together by sweat, he looks handsome under the reflection of the four words "Yutang Scholar". He forms a sharp contrast with Yan Xiaozhong, the governor of Tangzhou, who is holding a donkey beside him. At first glance, he is a real elite of the Song Dynasty!

As a result, many leaders of the rebel army, including Zhai Chong, became solemn at once, and then bowed their hands one after another. There was even an older man who was about to kneel down in panic.

Scholar Xiao Lin remained calm, and he held the man with his hand, and continued, "I... am not good at speaking, and I always think before I speak, so please don't ask me any more words for now, and listen to me first, and then we can talk about other things, how about that?"

Zhai Chong and others naturally agreed quickly, and then became solemn.

"It's like this. My father, Lin's name was Qi. He was a Jinshi in the reign of Emperor Renzong. He served in Kang, Ya, Tai and Zibo prefectures. When he was in Taizhou, he built a seawall and restored thousands of acres of fertile land. His achievements were ranked first in Huainan. Then there were more than a dozen brothers in my family, eight of whom passed the Jinshi examination and became prefects. The eldest brother Jingyuan was the prefect of Huizhou; the second brother Jingwei was the prefect of Sizhou; the third brother Jinghui was the prefect of Xuzhou; the fifth brother Jingda was the prefect of Suzhou; the sixth brother Jingyuan was the prefect of Changzhou; the seventh brother Jingzhen was also the prefect of Suzhou; and the tenth brother Jingheng was the prefect of Huazhou; the youngest brother Jingrui is the prefect of Changzhou; I, the ninth child, was also the prefect of Shouchun Prefecture..." Scholar Kobayashi talked eloquently, but he also mentioned some unrelated topics. However, even so, the local tyrants around him were dumbfounded when they heard what he said.

In fact, not to mention the local tyrants below Zhai Chong, even Yan Xiaozhong who had remained calm before was a little confused... Is the gap between people so big?

Poor Yan, he studied hard for many years and finally passed the imperial examination at the age of 30. However, because of his appearance, he was not favored by one of the two saints, so he worked hard for more than ten years before he was promoted to the position of governor of a lower state like Tangzhou. But he was lucky. When he was a child, there were a bunch of jinshi who taught him how to study...

Let's not talk about what Prefect Yan was thinking. On the other hand, when he got to this point, Scholar Xiaolin looked at Zhai Chong again, and then slowly asked a question that was so straightforward that it didn't seem like a question that a Yutang scholar should ask:

"General Zhai, do you think I am of high status? Is my family prominent?"

"The status of a bachelor is naturally valuable, but as for his family, it is simply better than mine... ten times, a hundred times better than my family!" Zhai Chong, who is already in his late forties, sighed.

"Then let me ask you again, you people have spent several lifetimes building up your family business, risking your lives and wealth, isn't what you want just for your family to be as glorious as our Nan'an Lin family?" As Scholar Kobayashi spoke, he glanced at the Khitan cavalry who were setting up camp in the distance on the opposite bank.

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