Chapter 15 Han Shizhong rebelled!
The news of the sudden appearance of the main force of the Jin army, even though they were six or seven hundred miles away, frightened almost all the civil and military officials in the imperial court.
Someone cried and asked to see Zhao Jiu, requesting the removal of Li Gang from his position as prime minister, on the grounds that the Jin people were clearly lured in by using the pro-war Li Gang, otherwise why had nothing happened in the previous two months?
Some people even requested that the emperor personally lead the army to fight the Jin Dynasty... However, they wanted Zhao Jiu to personally visit Guangzhou, located in the upper reaches of the Huai River, as the emperor and persuade Ding Jin, who was gathering troops there, to surrender. This way, they could travel quickly and they wouldn't even have to wait for Han Shizhong!
It's not that no one advised Zhao Jiu to turn back, but he only needed to go back to Mingdao Palace because Han Shizhong was there. By then, the emperor and Han Shizhong would have a combined force of 13,000 or 14,000 soldiers. They could completely abandon Ding Jin, take a detour to Huaidong and go south to Yangzhou, or even Hangzhou!
In short, the four words "true colors revealed" are extremely appropriate at this time.
Regarding this, Zhao Jiu, who was for some reason exceptionally calm and unperturbed, was half worried and half happy.
What worried him was that, although he had been prepared, these civil and military officials looked really decent and capable of both civil and martial arts on a daily basis, so much so that he almost believed in their ghosts. But when the Jin people really came, they finally returned to their original forms. But what made him happy was that, after all, it was only almost, there were still a few people who were not scared, and there were still some people who stood their ground.
Needless to say, Li Gang was almost the only one who remained calm along with Zhao Jiu. At the critical moment, the Shangshu Zuo Pushe temporarily dismissed several people, forcibly expelled those courtiers who went to Zhao Jiu to cry and complain, and demanded to convene a meeting of the Political Affairs Hall the next day on the grounds that the Jin army was very far away... In the end, he actually slept directly in the main hall of the Buddhist temple with his son's service, and opened the door in the middle of winter for people to watch, which barely stabilized people's hearts.
Then, Zhang Jun and the young people recommended by Zhang Jun recently did not disappoint Zhao Jiu. At the critical moment, they did not cause any trouble. Instead, they stood firm and chose to support Li Gang.
What surprised Zhao Jiu the most was Yuwen Xu Zhong, the Grand Secretary who was in charge of peace talks with the Jin people during the Jing Kang period. This time, he showed great restraint and demeanor, but his position was unclear, otherwise Zhao Jiu really wanted to immediately appoint him as prime minister of the East and West Palaces. Yuwen Xu Zhong said that he was in charge of peace talks that day but went to the north to hunt the two emperors, and the country was on the verge of extinction. He often blamed himself, so he asked to go north, firstly to try to delay for a while; secondly, to see if he could persuade the other side to withdraw troops; thirdly, to see if there was any hope of welcoming back the two emperors.
Of course Zhao Jiu refused, and then Yuwen Xuzhong and others were expelled from the back hall by Li Gang.
However, as the saying goes, when you stand on the bridge to enjoy the scenery, you don't realize that you are also a part of the scenery. Since the commotion last night, the most surprising thing for everyone in the entire troop, both civil and military, was not anything else but Zhao Jiu's calmness!
It is even more astonishing when thinking about his previous communication with Zong Ze, that he made an amazing judgment about Jin Wushu leading the main force of the Jin army to move south.
"What's so surprising about that?"
The next morning, another meeting was held in the Imperial Court, the Buddhist Hall, and the Political Affairs Hall. Zhao Jiu was still calm and as numb as Koda duck, and his face was expressionless when he spoke. "The Jin people originally came from an alliance of fishing and hunting tribes. At that time, they did not know what luxury and frugality were, what power struggles were, and what monarchs and ministers were. They rose up thirteen years ago, and even though they were quickly infected with these things, they were extremely simple... It's not that you don't understand, but you think too much."
"Why Jin Wushu (Wanyan Zongbing)? It's because he is Aguda's fourth son, that's all."
"Think of the Jin Taizu Aguda, a great man of his generation. He died after achieving success, and the throne was passed to his younger brother Wuqimai. However, his prestige as a founder of the Jin Dynasty was truly inviolable. Therefore, although the second prince Wuliebu (Wanyan Zongwang) died, the Jin Dynasty's ruler Wuqimai and the marshal Nianhan (Wanyan Zonghan) were unable to shake the power of Aguda's sons at all."
"Another reason is that the Jin people's military tactics were passed down from hunting, and the division of troops into left and right wings has become a fixed pattern and tradition, which cannot be easily changed. Aguda's sons are still young, and the second son Wulibu has died, so there are only three of them... The Jin Kingdom uses Bogile to hold power, and the eldest son Wuben (Wanyan Zonggan) must continue to be Bogile in the center; and the third son Erliduo (Wanyan Zongyao) was originally under the command of Nianhan of the Western Army and has a lot of foundation. Whether he is independent this time to control the Yanjing Central Army or what, he will never abandon his headquarters; therefore, although Jin Wushu is young, he is the only candidate pushed by his brothers to inherit Aguda's power in the Eastern Army!"
After a long speech, the temple, where the Tathagata Buddha statue had been dismantled (to scrape off the gold powder), was completely silent. After a while, someone exclaimed in admiration:
"Your Majesty is truly as perceptive as seeing through fire, illuminating thousands of miles away!"
Zhao Jiu still had a blank expression on his face, but he couldn't help but secretly complain in his heart - if you knew the answer, you could also deduce such a process, and it might be more reasonable than mine!
"But why did your majesty know that the Jin army would invade again?" Zhang Jun, the Imperial Censor, could not help but ask. "If we count from June, it's only been April, and the Jin army has already returned."
"You have come from Tokyo and have experienced much more than I have. Why do you still have any illusions about the Jin people?" Zhao Jiu was finally moved by this, but he couldn't stop sneering, and his sarcasm was evident in his words. "The Jin people can't be called good or evil, they are just barbaric and cunning, just like wild beasts. How can a wild beast eat meat for free and then never come back?!"
At this point, Zhao Jiu looked at Yuwen Xuzhong again, and his tone became more serious: "If we don't hurt the beasts, there is no point in reasoning with them!"
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