Chapter 255: Appointment
The fact that Privy Councilor Zhang Jun had to leave the capital and head south to supervise the army was seen by both the court and the public as a huge victory for Prime Minister Zhao Ding. However, Zhao Ding himself was very secretive about it and even severely rebuked some people who tried to make a fuss about it and flatter him on several occasions.
However, no matter what Zhao Ding's attitude was, Zhang Jun, who was forced to leave the capital to supervise the army, went south with a strong emotion of frustration and resentment. This young Privy Councilor, who always had a fierce personality, regarded this matter as a great shame and humiliation in his heart... However, he at least knew that he was going south with a serious political mission, and knew that there were major military and national affairs ahead. He also knew that if he wanted to turn the situation around, he had to make his supervision of the army have an immediate effect and let Yue Fei succeed in one fell swoop.
So, as they traveled southwards and arrived in Nanyang, Zhang Deyuan somewhat put aside the affairs in Tokyo and turned his attention to the war in the south.
However, starting from Nanyang, the further south he went, the more he learned about the war in the south, but Zhang Jun became more and more uneasy, because Yue Fei's performance was really hard to accept.
This panic and hesitation reached a peak when Zhang Jun arrived in Xiangyang and met Xi Yi, the new Jingxi Transport Commissioner after Liu Ji came to Beijing, and Ma Shen, the Hubei Governor who took the initiative to come north to greet him.
"Does Prime Minister Zhang Shu think that I am angry with this Yue Dutong?"
The two met in the Xiangyang government office. After just a few pleasantries, they talked about the war. Zhang Jun had just defended Yue Fei when Hubei Governor Ma Shen glared at him and stood up and shouted, "Do you think I am competing with him for merit and slandering him? Lord Zhang, since you are the Lord, you must be fair. Don't protect him at the local level just because you protected him at the central level!"
Zhang Jun had no choice but to stand up and face him, trying to persuade him with kind words and treating him with courtesy.
There was no other way. Ma Shen had a lot of experience and very special political capital. During the Jingkang Incident, when the Jin army succeeded and all the royal family members were detained, and the Song Dynasty actually surrendered, Ma Shen, as a representative of the remaining officials in Tokyo, wrote an extremely tough letter, demanding that the Jin army release the Zhao clan members and continue the Zhao Song dynasty. Although he did not succeed, he made Zhang Bangchang fall into considerable isolation. Not to mention whether this can be regarded as a merit of supporting the throne, compared with Zhao Ding, Zhang Jun, Hu Yin and others who fled to the Imperial Academy, he had great capital in any case.
Among these, it is worth mentioning that Qin Hui, as Ma Shen's superior, did not send the letter directly to the Jin people after receiving it. Instead, he rewrote a new document with softer wording. In the end, he was asked to enter the Jin camp because of this document. He was also valued by Nianhan and never returned... In fact, to be fair, given the situation at the time, it is not easy to say whether Ma Shen's document was more effective or Qin Hui's document was more appropriate, but the difference in their personalities was undoubtedly reflected in the two documents with the same theme but different artistic conception.
"I know Yue Fei has been procrastinating for a while, and I also know the difficulties in Hubei, Jiangxi, and the west of Beijing." Zhang Jun finally persuaded him to sit down, but he had to continue to carefully explain. "But judging from his words and intentions, he ultimately wants to reduce the number of murders and appease the people. The government has always said that the royal family is all in the north, so he regards the people as his relatives and the country as his clan. The emperor's benevolence must also be considered."
Ma Shen sneered: "Of course I know that he not only relies on your protection, Prime Minister Zhang Shu, but also the favor of the emperor."
Zhang Jun didn't know how to persuade him for a moment, and Xi Yi took the opportunity to cough lightly.
Ma Shen understood what he meant, knowing that he was implicitly criticizing the imperial carriage and implicitly mocking the emperor's favoritism towards military men, so he simply stopped talking - he came north to pick up Zhang Jun this time simply to put pressure on him, and to urge Yue Fei to advance quickly through Zhang Jun. Now that his attitude had been conveyed, he was too lazy to say more.
"Prime Minister." Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, Xi Yi, the transport commissioner of Jingxi, stood up and faced Zhang Jun from behind. "The governors of the three routes, Hubei, Jiangxi, and even Jingxi, all impeached Yue Fei. It is impossible that they all had bad intentions... In fact, Yue Fei and his troops in the imperial camp had excellent military discipline, and Yue Fei himself was also known for his loyalty and bravery. At the beginning, the people from all walks of life in the three routes were actually happy to see that he was the one to suppress the rebellion. When he made rapid progress in the early stage, the people from all walks of life praised him. If the prime minister did not believe it, he could have checked the letters submitted by the three routes at that time. Even when he later wanted to change to appeasement and the central government agreed, although the people from all walks of life gradually complained, it was not to the extent of the current situation. It's just that some things are really hard to talk about."
"Just say it straight." Zhang Jun was frustrated and could only urge him.
"It's just my guess." Xi Yi also sighed. "General Yue's actions in Jiangling Prefecture seem to be 'playing with the enemy'."
"What do you mean by playing with the enemy?" Zhang Deyuan frowned, puzzled. He really didn't understand. "If you say to indulge the enemy or to nurture the enemy, that's fine, but what do you mean by playing with the enemy?"
"The word 'play' is very insightful!" Without waiting for Xi Yi to explain, Ma Shen, who was sitting there, laughed. "If he loses the battle, he will have nothing to say. It is precisely because of the word 'play' that the three roads have become resentful."
Xi Yi sighed again, and then calmly told Zhang Jun a very representative incident in Yue Fei's recruitment of the rebellious troops.
It is said that after Yue Fei quickly swept away the bandit troops north of Dongting Lake, he changed his memorial to the emperor to one of appeasement.
During this period, his main force was basically stationed in the north of Dongting Lake. Specifically, except for the fact that the capital of Yuezhou, Baling (later Yueyang), was too important, so 3,000 soldiers were stationed there, most of the troops were actually stationed in Huarong, Yuezhou and Anxiang, Lizhou.
About thirty miles south of Huarong, next to Dongting Lake, there is a water fort set up by Zhong Xiang, called Gulou Fort. There is a general in the fort, called Yang Guang, who is a member of the clan of Yang Yao, the pseudo-Chu marshal… Considering that the water is shallow in winter, Gulou Fort is exposed to the land as a whole. It can be said that there is no strategic location to defend. It is like a piece of meat hanging on the mouth of the front army of the imperial camp.
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