Chapter 332: Incognito Visit

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After years by Zhao Yu's side, experiencing countless events, Zhang Chun gradually realized she might never become Empress Dowager.

This Empress Dowager is not that Empress Dowager.

If she were to be an ordinary Empress Dowager, with a filial and enlightened emperor as her son, Zhang Chun felt she would have no problem—and she was confident she'd do better than any other Empress Dowager.

Zhang Chun had no confidence in becoming an Empress Dowager like Lü Zhi, Liu E, or Cixi—who wielded control over an entire nation; that is, she had no confidence in becoming the supreme leader of a state.

Because Zhang Chun gradually realized that offering advice was not hard; bearing risk and making decisions were the hardest parts.

Take Zhao Yu as an example:

Whenever something happened—especially something major—dozens of ministers and strategists surrounded Zhao Yu, sometimes hundreds; even at the lowest count, they always offered three tiers of strategies—upper, middle, and lower—for Zhao Yu to choose from. Not only were their suggestions wildly varied, but sometimes they contradicted each other, and crucially, each one sounded utterly reasonable.

It fell to Zhao Yu to pick out the truly correct one from all these suggestions.

If he chose right, the ministers and strategists earned merit and rewards.

If he chose wrong—especially catastrophically wrong—Zhao Yu would face death and clan annihilation; he might end up like Zhao Ji during the Jingkang Humiliation, captured and imprisoned by enemies, his descendants and clan likewise, his consorts, daughters, daughters-in-law, and the wives and daughters of his kin all turned into playthings of the enemy. Not only he, his heirs, and his clan would suffer humiliation, but also his ministers, craftsmen, artists, palace maids, and eunuchs would be dragged north by the Jurchens, enduring the agony of a fallen state, and finally, he himself would be nailed forever to the rack of historical shame.

More crucially, their escape routes always outnumbered Zhao Yu's. If they thought Zhao Yu was failing, they could simply roll up their mats and seek a new master—like Xun Yu, who said Yuan Shao was "merely a commoner's hero, good at gathering people but incapable of using them," then turned and joined Cao Cao; or Chen Ping, who first served King Jiu of Wei, and after King Jiu's defeat and suicide, swiftly defected to Xiang Yu, then later switched allegiance to Liu Bang during the Chu-Han Contention. They were like wise birds choosing trees; if unsatisfied, they left, never paying for their former lord's failures.

Take Zhang Chun herself: if one day Zhao Yu suffered the Jingkang Humiliation and she was seized by the Jurchens, she was confident she could persuade Wanyan Zonghan, Wanyan Zongwang, and others to employ her.

But Zhao Yu had no such option—he had no room to switch masters, because he was the very "tree." His civil and military ministers, strategists, consorts, subjects, and the foundations he had built were all vines clinging to him. He could only press forward. If he won, all shared in the rewards, and he reaped the greatest benefits; if he lost, all could scatter like birds and beasts, but he alone must bear the worst consequences.

In essence, Zhang Chun and others bet on "wisdom"; Zhao Yu bet on "courage and responsibility."

Zhang Chun and others could simulate countless possibilities on a sand table; Zhao Yu had to pick one path among countless possibilities, then stake everything on it and move forward.

The world had no shortage of people who could offer advice, but it was desperately short of those who could turn advice into action and dare to take responsibility for that action.

Moreover, although Zhao Yu did not possess Zhang Chun's foresight of a thousand years ahead and behind, he was undoubtedly the most outstanding statesman: beyond decisiveness and boldness, Zhao Yu had extraordinary abilities in resource integration and control, as well as immense personal charisma—he could bring together people with wildly different temperaments, even those who despised each other, and make them work as one.

Like Liu Bang, who fused street thugs, noble descendants, and enemy generals into a force that marched all the way to Xianyang; Zhu Yuanzhang, who gathered his Huaixi fellow villagers, Zhejiang strategists, and former dynasty officers to build the Great Ming; Li Shimin, who balanced the Guanlong aristocracy, Shandong scholar-gentry, humble scholars, and ethnic elites, and at age twenty-eight seized the throne through the Xuanwu Gate Incident, then inaugurated the Zhenguan Era.

This relied on profound insight into human nature and politics.

In short, a successful emperor must be a top-tier political monster.

After years of deep exposure to politics, Zhang Chun had to admit she was not such a political monster.

But Zhao Yu could truly stand beside Liu Bang, Zhu Yuanzhang, and Li Shimin.

Precisely because she had seen and understood so much, Zhang Chun grew ever more appreciative of Zhao Yu's remarkable achievements over these years, ever more fond of Zhao Yu, ever more in love with Zhao Yu.

——Perhaps, Zhang Chun saw in Zhao Yu the version of herself she had once idealized.

Of course, Zhang Chun did not undervalue herself, for although Zhao Yu did not blindly obey her, he had adopted countless of her suggestions—so many, in fact, that she could be said to have contributed the most effective advice to him, revealing the immense influence she wielded over him.

This was also why Zhang Chun always felt Zhao Yu was the one she had shaped.

Not long after Zhao Yu decided on his triumphant return to the capital, he set out with the Divine Mechanism Central Army and Divine Mechanism Right Army.

Because Zhao Yu had long ordered the Grand Canal to be dredged anew, and recently extended it directly to Beijing, he could sail all the way back to Dongjing Bianliang.

By the way, the Great Song's newly planned Grand Canal was in fact a "straightening" renovation of the Sui-Tang Grand Canal, bypassing Luoyang and Kaifeng entirely, directly linking Beijing with Hangzhou, primarily flowing through what are today Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang provinces.

However, this did not mean the original Sui-Tang Grand Canal was abandoned; both canals were used simultaneously to maximize grain transport efficiency.

Moreover, several connecting nodes existed between the two canals, allowing vessels to transfer or adjust routes when necessary.

This design preserved the historical legacy of the Sui-Tang Grand Canal while fully leveraging the new canal's economic and strategic value, making north-south commodity exchange far more convenient and injecting fresh vitality into the Great Song's prosperity.

For this return to the capital, Zhao Yu led with the Divine Mechanism Front Army in the vanguard and the Divine Mechanism Central Army in the rear, while he himself sailed with a small flotilla, returning quietly, refusing official receptions along the way and living entirely aboard his ships.

This was convenient, swift, and safe.

Of course, local authorities still had to be notified, since they needed to coordinate the waterways and ensure other vessels gave way to Zhao Yu's fleet.

Along the journey, passing through a village in Jining, Zhao Yu suddenly wished to visit the small village to rest from the fatigue of the voyage.

Thus, Zhao Yu took Zhang Chun, Li Lin, Liang Hongyu, Liang Damei, Liang Xiaomei, Empress Qinxian of Wanyan Aguda (Shi Jingtang), Consort Pusan, Empress Wang of Wanyan Zongjun (Hui Zhao Empress Puca, mother of Emperor Xizong of Jin), Empress Wang of Wanyan Zonggan (Ai Empress Tudan, stepmother of Emperor Hailingwang), and Consort Ci Xian (Da), Empress Tang Kuo of Wanyan Zongwang, Empress Puca and Li Hongyuan of Wanyan Zongfu, along with Wang Shunchen and three hundred elite guards, each capable of holding off a hundred men, into the village.

Seeing a household with its bamboo gate half-open, Zhao Yu knocked and entered.

The household had only an old woman at home, so Zhao Yu chatted with her about everyday matters.