Chapter 242: The Ambitious Accompanying Tong Guan

…

Zhao Yu had long known that Song Jiang had gone blood-mad in the south, sparing no official.

In fact, even when Song Jiang was upholding justice in the north, this tendency had already emerged.

But the northern officials were mostly fine officials carefully selected by Zhao Yu to implement the New Policies Two, so the problems were minor; crucially, most had only recently been transferred there, causing little harm to the local areas and having not yet formed close ties with the local gentry, thus giving Song Jiang no excuse for mass slaughter.

The southern officials were different.

To prevent officials from forming local power bases, the Zhao-Song dynasty enforced systems like regional avoidance, so officials typically did not serve long in one place, often being reassigned every few years—such as Department Magistrates and other local leaders, whose terms usually lasted about three years.

But under the maneuvering of southern gentry, local officials were either retained for "outstanding performance" or bound tightly to the local gentry through marriage, alliances, or master-student ties—in short, they colluded with the local gentry.

If they weren't killed, the problem could never be fully resolved.

So, from a practical standpoint, Song Jiang's actions posed no issue.

What then did Zhao Yu think of this?

What could he think?

Anyone who undertakes great endeavors understands the principle of focusing on the big picture and letting go of the small.

For Zhao Yu, this meant he cared only whether the southern gentry and landowners could be purged clean, and whether the imperial court could smoothly implement the New Policies Two in the south; as for how many people Song Jiang killed or whether they were officials, frankly, Zhao Yu didn't care.

As Zhang Chun had said, Zhao Yu also knew that history was written by the victors.

Moreover, from the moment he conceived the idea of crushing the gentry faction, Zhao Yu had already prepared himself mentally to become a twisted, deformed figure himself in the future.

As for how it would ultimately end?

That was simple.

Let strength speak.

As long as Zhao Yu won, he could protect whomever he wished—who could possibly control him?

But if Zhao Yu lost, he'd struggle even to save himself, and Song Jiang would become a disposable pawn.

In short, to Zhao Yu, all of this was trivial; the true great matter was whether he could play the grand game of Jiangnan well—absolutely cannot lose control, or Fang La or Song Jiang might truly carve out an independent domain in Jiangnan, even across the entire south, creating a Northern and Southern Dynasties scenario; everything else paled into insignificance.

……

Late October of the eighth year of Hongwu.

Accompanying Tong Guan, serving as Military Supervisor in the northwest, received Zhao Yu's order: to lead the Western Army with Liu Fa to suppress the Song Jiang and Fang La rebellions in Jiangnan.

Accompanying Tong Guan was an extremely ambitious man. Though a eunuch, he never accepted being confined to the palace's narrow confines, but yearned instead to earn glory on the battlefield, to leave a bold, vivid mark in history through military merit.

Historically,

Accompanying Tong Guan led his troops against Qingtang Tubo, swiftly reclaiming four prefectures, expanding the border by over three thousand li, subduing more than two thousand seven hundred officers, and incorporating over seventy thousand households; the Northern Song's western frontier stretched past Qinghai all the way to the borders of Kucha, achieving one of the rare glorious military triumphs in Zhao-Song military history and striking fear into the northwest.

With such achievements and such renown, Accompanying Tong Guan could have enjoyed lifelong honor and security at court.

But Accompanying Tong Guan was not satisfied. He sought even greater military glory—such as reclaiming Western Xia.

Thus, Accompanying Tong Guan had long been striving toward this goal.

Later, Accompanying Tong Guan led Song forces to a major victory against Western Xia. The Song army captured Yonghe Fort and Geta City, seized Hengshan—the key horse-breeding and troop-supply region of Western Xia—and annihilated its elite field forces; the capital Xingqing City lay directly exposed to the Song army's blades, plunging Western Xia into nationwide panic, forcing Li Qianshun to once again submit to the Northern Song.

From a military standpoint, the Song army held absolute advantage; had they pressed forward, Western Xia would likely have collapsed. Yet just as Accompanying Tong Guan prepared to reclaim Western Xia, Yelu Yanxi dispatched Liao envoys with one hundred thousand iron cavalry to station in Hedong, ostensibly to mediate Song-Xia tensions, but in truth using military force as leverage to coerce the Northern Song into halting hostilities.

News reached Jingcheng, and the court erupted. The Zhuhe Sect ministers immediately petitioned in unison, urging Emperor Zhe to accept Liao's mediation under the pretext of "troops exhausted, people weary—peace is paramount."

Emperor Zhe, gazing at the urgent border reports and recalling the northern frontier that had lain dormant since the Chanyuan Alliance, ultimately inscribed "Approved" on the petition.

On the day the imperial decree reached the army, Accompanying Tong Guan stood atop Hengshan, gazing at the distant, faint walls of Xingqing a hundred li away, and suddenly drove his sword deep into the yellow earth; flying shards cut his wrist, blood seeped into the gravel—just like his shattered ambition.

Accompanying Tong Guan knew: unless he destroyed Liao, he could never reclaim Western Xia.

Moreover, Emperor Shenzong's final edict had declared: "Whoever reclaims Yan-Yun shall be made king." This edict, like a magnet, drew Accompanying Tong Guan's restless, glory-hungry heart.

So much so that even when he was nearly seventy, when the chance arose to reclaim the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan, he resolutely abandoned comfort and led the Song army northward—only to suffer utter defeat, and finally have his head cut off by Zhao Huan.

Throughout Accompanying Tong Guan's life, one could plainly see just how fiercely ambitious he was.

And Accompanying Tong Guan's ambition had not changed, even as history had altered.

In this life, Accompanying Tong Guan possessed the same fierce ambition.

Moreover, because Zhao Yu had awarded the primary credit for reclaiming Qingtang and Western Xia to Zhang Jie, Lu Huiqing, Wang Hou, and others, leaving Accompanying Tong Guan without a chance to lead independently, his full ambition had nowhere to go—like a caged tiger, roaring day and night within his breast.

Two years ago, the Zhao-Song general Wang Hou died; seeing Accompanying Tong Guan's unwavering loyalty, Zhao Yu personally appointed him commander-in-chief of the Western Army.

After assuming command, Accompanying Tong Guan and his partner Liu Fa trained the Western Army relentlessly, preparing to earn glory through its strength.

Meanwhile, Accompanying Tong Guan had been studying how to reclaim Qingtang Tubo and the Western Regions.

In truth, Accompanying Tong Guan wanted to reclaim Yan Di Wuzhou and Pingluan Sanzhou to become a non-imperial king.

But unfortunately, Zhao Yu and his ministers had their own plans for reclaiming Yan Di Wuzhou and Pingluan Sanzhou; Accompanying Tong Guan, stationed far away in the northwest, could not intervene at all.

With no choice, Accompanying Tong Guan turned his attention to the nearer targets of Qingtang Tubo and the Western Regions.

But for now, Zhao Yu was focused on resolving internal Zhao-Song problems and had no interest in expanding borders externally, forcing Accompanying Tong Guan to bide his time.

Beyond this, Accompanying Tong Guan had another problem: he lacked independent military achievements, even any experience commanding troops alone.

If one day Zhao Yu did approve the campaign to reclaim Qingtang Tubo and the Western Regions, Accompanying Tong Guan would likely lack sufficient prestige to be appointed commander.

Thus, Accompanying Tong Guan desperately needed an opportunity to command troops independently—preferably leading a large army to a glorious, decisive victory.

To his great delight, just as he was dozing off, a pillow appeared: Zhao Yu had ordered him to suppress the rebellion in Jiangnan.

This was tailor-made for Accompanying Tong Guan to earn military merit and build prestige.

So, upon receiving Zhao Yu's order, Accompanying Tong Guan immediately summoned Liu Fa, ordering him to ready the army while he returned to the capital to petition the emperor and secure provisions and supplies.

In just seven days, Accompanying Tong Guan returned to Dongjing Bianliang to receive Zhao Yu's direct instructions…

……

(End of Chapter)