Chapter 145: Random Thoughts

Moqi Xie was indeed acting like a petty villain... there was no doubt about that.

That said, if one had to blame something, it was that this man's name was too conspicuous and too easy to remember, which was why Zhao Jiu, even if he couldn't remember Du Chong or Zhang Jun, had noticed this man's name from the very beginning; otherwise, he wouldn't have sent this man to Dongting Lake.

Returning to the present, this man, when he got to the later part, spoke with righteous indignation, appearing as a loyal minister forced into a corner... but the Imperial Lord instinctively realized that this was simply this Adjutant Moqi seeing a golden opportunity to knock down the roadblock to his promotion in the Privy Council, and he couldn't restrain himself.

In essence, this fellow was still tattling on his direct superior and colleague, stirring up trouble, using this perfect chance to plant a thorn in the Imperial Lord's heart against Liu Ziyu.

Zhao Jiu could even be certain that if Liu Ziyu hadn't recently been awarded a prominent position as Chief Drafter of the Privy Council due to merit-based rewards, arousing Moqi Xie's jealousy, this "Vice Chief Drafter" definitely wouldn't have come.

Having become Vice Chief Drafter of the Privy Council, of course he wanted to become Chief Drafter, just like how Wang De, having become Vice Commander-in-Chief, always wanted to become Commander-in-Chief—understandable.

In short, what Moqi Xie definitely didn't know was that this maneuver of his had also planted a thorn for himself in the Imperial Lord's mind.

But the problem lay in that word "also"... because Zhao Jiu almost instantly understood that what Moqi Xie was reporting wasn't necessarily a false accusation.

Liu Ziyu might indeed have acted out of personal motives, deliberately erasing the presence of the Hebei volunteer army from the very beginning, because the time Ma Kuo was imprisoned coincided with when Liu Ziyu and his father were actually directing the resistance against the Jin in Zhending Prefecture... in other words, the personal grudge between these two was beyond doubt.

In fact, Ma Kuo had been released by the Jin army; he had once been an envoy to the Jin state and had close ties with the highest levels of the Jin.

So the situation was this absurd: a hero later proven to have abandoned his family and property to resist the Jin to the end was thrown into prison by a colleague whose anti-Jin stance was equally unquestionable, yet was released and treated well by the enemy.

And this very obvious fact made Zhao Jiu somewhat weary.

Because he knew in his heart that this was destined to be another matter with no happy ending. Morally, one could certainly accuse Liu Ziyu of letting personal motives harm the state, but that was only moral; you couldn't prove openly that he had actually done such a thing. He wasn't the only one who had ignored the Hebei volunteer army.

It was even possible that Liu Ziyu, personal grudge aside, genuinely believed the Hebei volunteer army was useless simply because of that grudge.

And most critically, this was wartime, with clear lines between friend and foe. Ma Kuo was the frontline commander against the Jin in Hebei; was Liu Ziyu not also resisting the Jin? He was the actual manager of the daily operations at headquarters.

Such matters could not be dealt with or discussed, otherwise it would truly be a case of grieving one's own and delighting the enemy.

A similar situation was the dispute in the court today; between military technicians and upholders of righteousness, they were completely at cross-purposes... did you have to decide who was right and who was wrong?

If you really had to decide, Hu Yin and Li Guang were definitely the ones in the wrong today, but that was their consistent stance. Hu Yin had openly proposed back then that Zhao Gou should not have ascended the throne, but should have crossed the river north, personally fought to the death, and welcomed back the Two Emperors... as absurd as such talk was, it represented the restorationist and anti-barbarian ideology within the Confucian officials, which was of great use. The Imperial Lord needed to use this posture to control and suppress the so-called "old-timers" among the Confucian officials, so Hu Yin was actually someone the Imperial Lord had to protect.

As for Li Guang, behind him was Li Gang...

To be honest, Li Gang had too many problems. Not only was he militarily incompetent, but his direct conflict with Li Yanxian, the most outstanding general on the front lines, was not an isolated case. One could only say that this man had indeed done a poor job of uniting the pro-war faction.

This could be seen from the early Jianyan period, when Li Gang and Zong Ze had clearly formed the base of the pro-war faction to oppose the pro-peace faction represented by Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan, yet ultimately lost quickly... at that time, there was certainly the factor of Emperor Zhao Gou himself getting involved, but looking back now, it wasn't entirely that.

The biggest problem was that within the pro-peace faction, Wang Boyan was just echoing others, so Huang Qianshan basically held all the power and led the pro-peace faction; in other words, the pro-peace faction was tightly united.

On Li Gang's side, although he held the hopes of the realm and was an unquestionable leader, he simply could not unite everyone to form a strong political faction.

The fact that Zong Ze didn't say a word when Li Gang was demoted was clear proof... the two had vastly different understandings of the Imperial Lord. Zong Ze clearly took into account the Imperial Lord's pro-peace tendencies, so he used more drastic methods to pressure the central government, while Li Gang believed that Zong Ze's actions actually undermined his own authority at the center.

Later on, when Zhao Jiu arrived, Li Gang had already been demoted and then formally recalled. The two should have learned from their mistakes and united, but it wasn't until Li Gang came before the Imperial Lord and reiterated his political platform that Zong Ze stopped talking about returning the capital to Dongjing, which hinted at some discord.

Not only that, Zong Ze had always been on the offensive; right before this major Jin invasion, he was still contacting the Hebei volunteer army, while Li Gang had always believed they should stabilize first, hold the line, and then plan a counterattack.

In fact, it was impossible to verify who was right or wrong on these issues; it was just a matter of being more radical or more moderate.

But the problem was that Li Gang, as an unquestionable leader, was unable to restrain Zong Ze, and even now was in conflict with so many pro-war figures—this was very awkward.

So, coming back to the present, was Li Gang a traitor, or was Zong Ze a traitor? Was Yue Fei a traitor, or was Li Yanxian a traitor? Was Hu Yin a traitor, or was Hu Hongxiu a traitor? Was Ma Kuo a traitor, or was Liu Ziyu a traitor?

None of them. From a traditional moral standpoint, the Imperial Lord could only conclude that Moqi Xie, who had come to reveal the truth, was the traitor.

As for the rest.

Li Gang was the banner of the pro-war faction, holding the hopes of the realm. With him sitting in the Chancellor's seat, everyone believed the court was truly committed to resistance.

Zong Ze was the actual frontline manager of the pro-war faction; the Dongjing headquarters he had single-handedly established accounted for half of the current anti-Jin strength.

As for Yue Fei and Li Yanxian, there was no need to mention them; both were heroes who resisted the Jin at all costs, no matter what, even if they had to endure humiliation—they were the most steadfast and capable generals of this era.

The stances of Hu Yin and Hu Hongxiu were also beyond doubt.

Even Liu Ziyu, who had just seemed to disregard the bigger picture and had a fierce conflict with Li Gang and Hu Yin—who could say his anti-Jin stance was unstable?

His father had died for the country during the Jingkang Incident, and his younger brother's family had been slaughtered by the Jin, leaving only one survivor—this was national hatred and family vengeance!

Yet these people were absolutely not united; they were still competitors, adversaries, even political perpetrators and victims.

This was politics, this was reality, this was the naked history stripped of wishful-thinking anti-Jin dramas.

This was also why the Imperial Lord suddenly felt mentally exhausted.

On ordinary days, he could barely mediate and suppress, but under the pressure of the Jin invasion and the overall situation, facing these contradictions, he felt somewhat inadequate.

What could he, as the Imperial Lord, actually do? And what should he do?

"Your Majesty!"

Just as Zhao Jiu was standing in the snow lost in random thoughts, someone suddenly called out softly behind him.

Zhao Jiu recognized the voice without turning around: "Chief Eunuch Lan, what is it?"

"Your Majesty." Lan Gui approached cautiously. "The two Chancellors and the other ministers are still waiting in the hall."

"Let them disperse for today. If there is urgent military intelligence, report it to me." Zhao Jiu raised a hand in response but did not turn around, because he knew his fatigue must be hard to hide at this moment.

"As you command!" Lan Gui hurried away.

But soon, while the Imperial Lord was still standing in the snow-covered field of tree stumps pondering something, Chief Eunuch Lan returned, this time bringing Liu Ziyu, the Chief Drafter of the Privy Council, along with Yang Yizhong.

"Your Majesty." Liu Ziyu cupped his hands in greeting and went straight to the point without any preamble. "The Privy Council has just received military intelligence sent by Du Chong, the new Vice Defender of Dongjing..."

Zhao Jiu's spirits lifted sharply: "What does it say? Did it mention Defender Zong's illness? Has he already dispatched troops?"

Liu Ziyu shook his head repeatedly: "Your Majesty, these reports could be intercepted by the Jin army. How could they contain such information? Even this report is merely some outlandish statements as a cover."

Zhao Jiu suddenly understood and asked seriously, "What exactly is going on?"

"Vice Defender Du said that after receiving the imperial decree, he immediately sent messengers to muster the twenty thousand troops of the Eight-Character Army from Mount Taihang in Hebei, intending to have them cross the river to reinforce. Then, with greater strength, he could march south to gather the routed soldiers..." Liu Ziyu sighed at this point. "Your Majesty, forgive me for speaking bluntly, but Vice Defender Du is afraid and is deliberately using this to delay."

"What do you mean?" Zhao Jiu's expression did not change, but his tone was slightly puzzled.

"The Eight-Character Army has been in Hebei for a year. Although they have a reputation, where have they ever won a battle? How reliable are they?" Liu Ziyu also looked exhausted. "Moreover, although the Yellow River is frozen now, making travel convenient, Nianhan is at Great Ming Prefecture, and Yelu Ma Wu is at Zhongmou. The Eight-Character Army can only cross south through the narrow gap between Yangwu and Suanzao... Do these volunteer troops have the courage? Aren't they afraid of being exposed in the open and broken by a swift Jin attack? As for Vice Defender Du, he was originally the Defender of Great Ming Prefecture before being transferred to Prefect of Dongjing. He knows the situation of the Hebei volunteer army better than anyone. Saying he wants to wait for the Eight-Character Army is nothing but self-deception to delay the deployment! By the time Changshe falls and Grand General Han is defeated, he will be free of responsibility."

Zhao Jiu remained silent for a moment, then nodded slightly: "I understand. You may go now... Only one thing: Chancellor Li is the Prime Minister, and Hu Yin is the Censor-in-Chief. Although they are somewhat unfamiliar with military affairs, you may point it out, but do not deliberately attack them again. With a great enemy before us, we must guard against sowing discord in our own ranks."

Liu Ziyu was silent for a moment, then said, "I have received your decree," and cupped his hands in salute before taking his leave.

A hundred li away, this matter was set aside for the moment. The next day, the Song army sent a small detachment out of the city to the southeast to rendezvous with Zhang Jing, and the Jin army indeed sat idly by and did nothing.

For a time, the city was thoroughly invigorated. More than one person requested to go into battle, and even the military commanders were tempted—Wang De requested permission to attack Zhang Yu's camp east of the city.

And this plan also received the approval of several staff officers at the Privy Council... Of course, the reasoning of those staff officers differed from everyone else's—they were convinced that the Jin Army was deliberately indulging them, so they focused on the word "probing."

If they won, of course that would be even better!

But if they lost, it would also sober up those inside the city!

And Zhao Jiu hesitated for a long time before finally nodding his head on this plan.