Chapter 14: Jin Wushu Has Arrived!

The days of bitter suffering in the wilderness were very difficult, especially when everyone was waiting.

To be fair, Han Shizhong's marching speed was still quite fast. The strategy was set at the temporary imperial residence on the seventeenth day of the tenth month, then military orders were sent by fast horse to various places in Jingdong. It wasn't until the twenty-third that Han Shizhong was found.

There was a small interlude here. It turned out that this Commander of the Left Army of the Imperial Camp had originally been suppressing a rebellion in Shanzhou (present-day Shan County, Shandong), only three hundred li from Jiegou. But he was exceptionally capable in battle. Before the order from the temporary imperial residence had even been dispatched, he had already pacified the rebellion there and accepted the surrender of the bandits. However, he was then summoned by his superior, Liu Guangshi, to lend a hand. By the time the messenger arrived, the rebellion in Liu Guangshi's area had also been mostly mopped up by Han Shizhong.

However, after receiving the order, Han Shizhong showed no delay. He congratulated Liu Guangshi and then directly turned his army of eight thousand around. By the thirtieth day of the tenth month, a fast horse arrived at the temporary imperial residence to report that Commander Han had already reached Mingdao Palace... and would arrive at the temporary imperial residence in another two or three days.

Yet, even so, the officials at the temporary imperial residence couldn't help but feel restless with anxiety... In the past, they could still discuss personnel appointments in various places and talk about assignments and placements in the localities. But now, with the Huainanxi bandits blocking the way ahead and the roads unsafe, after finishing discussions on matters concerning Jingdong and Dongjing, there was truly nothing left to do.

So, the officials of the Great Song began their traditional pastime again: attacking each other.

Over the next few days, first someone impeached Grand Secretary of the Hall for the Propagation of Governance Yuwen Xuzhong and others for their faults during the Jingkang era... This was probably because this Grand Secretary had recently gained more and more of the Emperor's favor and trust, and rumors had spread that he was about to enter the Western Administration (the Bureau of Military Affairs). So, everyone, putting themselves in his shoes, felt the need to be vigilant on behalf of Prime Minister Li;

Then someone else impeached Li Gang for being excessively domineering and abusing his power to such an extent that the temporary imperial residence was stuck in this rural wilderness... This one needed no explanation. Given Li Boji's behavior, who knew how many people wanted to share the Emperor's worries!

However, these were all minor skirmishes, because the proper remonstrance officials had not yet made a move. And to truly move against figures like a Grand Councilor or a Grand Secretary, a Censor had to open fire directly—it was a political tradition of the Great Song: if a Censor openly impeached a Grand Councilor, the Grand Councilor had to resign to prove his innocence.

At this point, the Emperor could handle it according to his own wishes, either keeping the Grand Councilor and dismissing the Censor, or going with the flow and removing the Grand Councilor from office!

Both of Li Gang's previous removals from the Grand Councilor position had followed this procedure... And now, wasn't the Remonstrance Bureau under the Emperor's personal control?

On the first day of the eleventh month, in the evening, Censor-in-Chief Zhang Jun, having no particular business, returned leisurely to his lodgings.

Although it was called lodgings, how could a temple in the wilderness, no matter how tidy, compare to a large-scale imperial palace like Mingdao Palace? So even as Censor-in-Chief, having caught the Emperor's eye at a young age and wielding great power, he was only allocated a quiet side room in the temple, one without even a sitting room. And even so, his neighbors were all Academicians, Ministers, and Censors, many with their families in tow... In such a situation, even a Minister snoring at night could spark a court dispute.

In fact, the young Han Academician of the Ministry of Revenue had been driven early to a corner by several other idle Academicians because his snoring was too loud.

Back to the present, before Zhang Jun even entered, he smelled a rare, rich aroma in the corridor. He shook his head with a wry smile, and pushing the door open, sure enough, he saw a basin of ginger aspic on the table in his room, and his two good friends were playing chess on the couch, waiting for him!

One of them, the older man, seeing Zhang Jun arrive, immediately overturned the chessboard, stood up, and said with a smile, "If Deyuan (Zhang Jun) hadn't come, Mingzhong and I would have starved to death in front of this 'Minister Jiang'!"

"Minister Jiang" was a nickname for ginger aspic.

It must be known that even in the Song Dynasty, with its relatively developed commodity economy, it couldn't defy the seasons. There were few vegetables in winter. Ginger aspic was a meat jelly made primarily with ginger, warming and flavorful. Naturally, it was a rare seasonal delicacy in winter and an excellent accompaniment to wine. In the old days in Dongjing, every official had eaten it. Over time, borrowing an allusion from the Five Dynasties period, it was given the veiled nickname "Minister Jiang."

Zhang Jun was also happy to see these two. He directly closed the door, didn't even greet them, sat down at the table, first reached out and pinched a piece of the meat jelly, and only after eating it did he speak excitedly: "I didn't expect there to be ginger aspic today! Truly rare!"

The two exchanged a glance, then sat down together. The younger one, "Mingzhong," produced a flask of wine from somewhere, actively helped set out the bowls and chopsticks, and then poured wine for the two of them.

The three sat down, and the younger Mingzhong spoke seriously: "Brother Deyuan doesn't know. Ever since that day when the inner attendant went to a distant market town to buy supplies and came back with a bucket of ginger aspic, rumors started in Yingzhou and Chenzhou that the Emperor loved eating ginger aspic. So today, when Chenzhou Prefect Zhao Yuanxian came to pay homage, he specially brought several buckets. Many people got a share! Because Brother Yuanzhen's family is large, I gave my share to his wife, and then we came to Brother Deyuan's place to freeload on the meat."

Hearing this, Zhang Jun shook his head repeatedly with a wry smile: "Let's not talk about that. This is truly an undeserved reputation for the Emperor, quite reminiscent of the 'Stubborn Prime Minister' Wang Anshi's supposed fondness for venison."

At these words, the other two also shook their heads and laughed.

The story goes that on that day, the inner attendant from the palace went out to buy supplies and happened upon a traveling merchant, buying a bucket of ginger aspic. And what happened? That evening, the Emperor only kept one bowl for Consort Pan Xianfei, gave half a bucket to the trusted military officers before him, and half a bucket to the important court ministers, not eating a single bite himself... The place was small, so it became known to everyone in no time. Yet, by the time it spread outside, the rumor was that the Emperor loved eating ginger aspic.

"The Emperor is a sage Son of Heaven!" After laughing, Zhang Jun drank another cup in one go, then sighed seriously. "Even the wise rulers of antiquity might not be able to do this."

"Who says otherwise?" the older man also sighed. "This is the true meaning of sharing one's clothes and food. What's even more commendable is giving away everything one has in a time of hardship... It's a pity some people are still unsatisfied."

Zhang Jun's heart stirred slightly. He picked up a piece of the meat jelly, ate it, drank another cup himself, then looked up and pointed towards the direction of the Central Hall, asking tentatively: "Brother Zhao means that one?"

"Who else could it be?" Brother Zhao, that is, Zhao Ding, styled Yuanzhen, shook his head with a cold laugh again. "As a subject, he shows no propriety of a subject. Think about it, that day the Emperor didn't even eat any himself, and the first person he sent the ginger aspic to was him. Yet after finding out, he instead went to reprimand the Emperor for leaving the temporary imperial residence privately and going to the market, causing some disturbance among the people? Clearly, the Emperor, afraid of disturbing the people, hadn't even entered the market. Even Yang Yizhong and Liu Guangshi, the Emperor's beloved generals, were reprimanded. Yang Yizhong was even demoted by one rank... It is said that that day, several people who lived near him, like Prime Minister Lu and Academician Yuwen, quickly distributed the ginger aspic to their subordinates, afraid of getting into trouble. But when he went back, he instead ate it comfortably with his son."

Zhang Jun also shook his head upon hearing this, but said slowly: "It's nothing, these are all small matters... Besides, after the Emperor fell into the well, his intention to trust Prime Minister Li heavily is known to all. Otherwise, why would he let Prime Minister Li handle everything from the Central Hall?"

"I understand," Zhao Ding said seriously. "The overall situation does require his steady hand. But let's wait and see. In three to five months, when we are settled in Nanyang and move to Luoyang, if he still treats His Majesty like a child, I will certainly impeach him severely to his face."

Zhang Jun nodded repeatedly, clearly agreeing with the other's view in his heart.

As for the young man beside them, Hu Yin, styled Mingzhong, he paid no attention to these topics at all. After pouring the wine, he drank and ate by himself, already having secretly eaten nearly half the basin of meat jelly.

To be fair, Zhao Ding was forty-three years old this year, twelve years older than Zhang Jun, and thirteen years older than Hu Yin, styled Mingzhong, beside him. One was from Shanxi, one from Sichuan, one from Fujian. With different seniority, different ages, different official positions, and different native places, they were originally people who would never cross paths. In the old days within Dongjing city, the only time they could drink together would be at a grand court banquet.

However, things are unpredictable. These three men were now friends through life and death... truly friends through life and death!

Think back to the Jingkang Incident, the fall of the Northern Song. These three men, along with Song Qiyu, the Remonstrance Advisor who was later beheaded by Li Gang, whether out of fear of death or a desire to survive and preserve their integrity, in any case, they fled together to the Imperial Academy, and together abandoned Zhang Bangchang to voluntarily pledge allegiance to Emperor Zhao.

According to conspiracy theories, these few had already effectively formed a political clique with extraordinary potential.

However, although this clique considered each other friends through life and death and were extremely reliable, they clearly lacked a leader and organization (otherwise Song Qiyu wouldn't have been beheaded), and each person's political views were different... For example, Zhao Ding also wanted to resist the Jin, but he believed they should first stabilize the internal situation before pursuing restoration—the so-called 'expel the barbarians only after pacifying the interior'. Hu Yin, on the other hand, was much more radical. He believed that the current Son of Heaven shouldn't even have ascended the throne, but should have headed north from the start to welcome back the Two Emperors. As for Zhang Jun, it was a bit hard to say. There were vague rumors mocking him for currying favor, for only making strategies by guessing the Emperor's intentions!

Of course, overall, that shared experience in Dongjing had made them realize the barbarity and cunning of the Jurchens. So they roughly raised a common banner of no compromise and unwavering resistance against the Jin!

Then, because their official positions had generally been low before, they also had the added selfish motive of wanting to support each other in rising through the ranks.

In fact, Zhang Jun's successful rise to power back then was partly due to their collaboration... After Zhao Jiu issued the decree, the three, who had already become suspicious, made their arrangements. Zhao Ding spoke with mature and prudent words, Zhang Jun with words attacking Li Gang, and Hu Yin with the argument of persuading the Emperor to cross the river and welcome back the Two Emperors. They exerted their strength together.

In the end, after the gamble paid off for Zhang Jun, this Zhang Deyuan did not forget his two good brothers. Zhao Ding was immediately recommended from acting Vice Director of the Ministry of Revenue to Palace Censor, and Hu Yin was recommended from Diarist to Secretariat Drafter. Both were prestigious and important positions, excellent places to have daily contact with the Emperor!

And it was clear that now, with the situation having paused slightly, Zhao Ding, the oldest among them, was getting a bit impatient again. Only Zhang Jun, who was deeply favored by the Emperor, knew that Li Gang could not be easily shaken, so he offered some reassurance.

As mentioned, the temporary imperial residence was crude. After finishing a basin of ginger aspic, and eating two bowls of hot rice with the condiments and ordinary winter vegetables, they were full. Then, among the three, Zhao Ding, being from Hedong and having his family who had fled with him, had to return to the tents outside to take care of them. Hu Yin simply stayed behind, planning to share lodgings with Zhang Jun.

However, just as the three were about to get up and take their leave, they suddenly heard a commotion outside. Then, from afar, they saw torches lighting up in the outer military camp, and several torches were rapidly approaching. It seemed that scout riders or messengers were galloping through the camp despite the late hour, startling some officials' family members.

The three exchanged glances, said nothing, and together hurried towards the Central Hall... But still on the way, they received the exact news:

The main Jin army had suddenly appeared on the lower reaches of the Yellow River. The vanguard, Wanyan Zongbi, that is, the Jin Fourth Prince Jin Wushu, with a force of no less than fifty thousand, had already crossed the river and was heading straight for Jingdong East Circuit! From Liangshanpo eastward, the entire line along the Yellow River was in urgent alarm!

"The Emperor was actually right. Jin Wushu really came!" Amidst the daze and shock, Zhang Jun instinctively recalled the warning Zhao Jiu had sent to Zong Ze back at Mingdao Palace.

PS: First, an apology. I overslept today. When I opened my eyes, it was already past two in the afternoon.

Then, thanks to the editor for such a big recommendation. Also, thanks to the website. I received the New Year gift package too, and it even had a pair of shiny golden chopsticks and a bowl... The only thing I'm sure of is that this stuff looks like gold, but there's no way it's actually gold.

Finally, I'll continue to offer up my new book—"Zhi Wei."