Chapter 159: Chapter Seventy-Two: Asking Each Other of East and West (Part One)

Zhao Jiu said he wanted to go to Dongjing for the Lantern Festival not to test whether the Dao Ancestor was watching him, but to state a fact, because at this moment, the road from Changshe to Dongjing was open, and he could go directly there.

The same way Yue Fei and his men had come from Dongjing to this place, he could take that route back, as long as he traveled light, he could easily reach Dongjing by the day of the Lantern Festival.

Of course, the prerequisite for reaching Dongjing safely was that Han Shizhong leading sixty to seventy thousand men could not be wiped out in one fell swoop by Yelu Ma Wu and Talan, or that Yue Fei leading over twenty thousand men could not have his defensive line broken through by Jin Wushu within two or three days... As for wanting to settle down there and successfully force the Jin Army back across the Yellow River, ending this major Jin offensive, that seemed to be merely a basic prerequisite.

So this matter, to say it was simple, was simple to the extreme; to say it was difficult, it also had a flavor of trying to carry Mount Tai to leap over the North Sea.

But regardless, after seeing Hu Yin suddenly lose control and his face stream with tears, Zhao Jiu became even more firm in this idea, because he had a reason he must go.

To speak of it, after this battle was won, for the time being one could not say whether the entire chess game on the Henan battlefield had been revitalized, but at the very least, the stage where one had to fight for one's life had been endured. At this time, Zhao Jiu had to make plans for what came after, and with Han Shizhong and Yue Fei managing the situation, he no longer needed to excessively interfere in military affairs, or personally interfere in military affairs, but should instead, from the perspective of a Son of Heaven, do things of greater value.

This matter was to win over people's hearts.

After all, from the concrete situation, Zhao Jiu's trip had almost abandoned Nanyang and stood up Xiangyang. The instability of morale in Nanyang and Xiangyang had become a fact. Moreover, he had also made the drastic move of executing a high-ranking civil official. Therefore, no matter how the war progressed, he had to seek a political high ground as soon as possible, in order to restrain and gather the exiled court of Nanyang and Xiangyang when the war turned back and forth, or to regain control of them after the war.

This political high ground was the Son of Heaven returning to the old capital.

Besides this, this time the Jin Army came south, changing their former policy of indiscriminate plunder and slaughter, and began to forcefully implement a strategy of 'those who obey me prosper, those who defy me perish', and vigorously supported the use of surrendered generals and officials. Large-scale surrenders had already appeared throughout the two capitals region of Henan. After this battle, Zhao Jiu also learned from certain specific prisoners the concrete plans of the Jin high command to try to establish a puppet state...

Therefore, Zhao Jiu had to make a gesture to comfort the people along the Yellow River line.

Of course, the most crucial point, from the long-term overall situation, after more than a year of displacement, Zhao the Emperor had clearly realized that as a Son of Heaven, his greatest, even his only trump card, was this identity as the Son of Heaven... Under the condition that the Jin Army fundamentally would not give him a chance to stabilize, to maximize the use of this identity to 'cash in', he should by all means strive for the people's hearts to the greatest extent, and strive for the hearts of all people, not limited to the camp administrative system he had naturally inherited when he first came to this world.

He had to go out.

In short, returning to the present, just look at Hu Yin and you would know how great a shock and spiritual comfort the new Son of Heaven returning to the old capital would be for scholar-officials and anyone with a shred of idealistic pursuit.

Let alone the people of Henan who had suffered repeated military disasters?

Let alone the people of the two river basins who were looking forward with craned necks?

Not to mention that Zong Ze was critically ill, Du Chong was already dead, and Quan Bangyan was trapped in Huazhou... Just for the stability of the Dongjing Circuit Command, he also had to go to Dongjing, to see with his own eyes and send off that Circuit Commander Zong.

Therefore, once Zhao the Emperor's words fell, there was no further discussion.

The next morning, Zhao Jiu summoned all commanders at the rank of Controller-in-Chief and above, announced his decision, and as he had imagined, these commanders were shaken and split into two groups. Those who understood what this meant naturally understood, and then were lost for words, while those who did not understand were also lost for words... Only, after the battle of the previous day, Zhao the Emperor had enough confidence and authority before these men, so everyone just silently obeyed the orders.

In fact, the military situation and the matter were both urgent, and Zhao the Emperor did not delay. Besides the men brought from Nanyang, he also named Wang Shan, a Controller-in-Chief of the Dongjing Circuit Command, plus an injured Li Kui. The two units combined, also four to five thousand men, set out almost simultaneously with Han Shizhong's pursuing force after breakfast.

That morning, Zhao Jiu arrived at Yancheng.

After gathering the Chief Eunuch of the Inner Palace Service, Lan Gui, who was stationed there, along with a group of Dongjing Circuit Command officials, and resting briefly, the imperial carriage left the city again, crossed the Weishui River, and headed northeast, arriving at Weishi by evening.

That very night, Han Shizhong sent a messenger to report. It turned out that Wanyan Talan had fled north the previous night, directly withdrawing to Xinzheng within Zhengzhou territory. Then, hearing that the Song Army was pursuing with a large force, he did not stop, but continued north, and by now no one knew where he was within Zhengzhou territory. However, as Han Shizhong's vanguard pursued to Xinzheng, one thing could be confirmed: after the Battle of Yancheng-Changshe, Yelu Ma Wu, who should have been the first to react, upon hearing the news, indeed did not dare to be negligent, and abandoned Zhongmou to go west to meet his own marshal.

To be fair, this was not good news, because these two forces had finally merged, adding considerable difficulty to Han Shizhong's combat mission. But at the same time, without a doubt, after losing the threat from Zhongmou, Zhao the Emperor could safely proceed on his way.

Thereupon, Zhao Jiu sent Li Kui with a thousand men to occupy Zhongmou that very night, and the next morning, continued with Wang Shan's unit, traveling light, heading northwest.

By the afternoon, they had already passed Chicang Town and arrived at Qingcheng, the small town south of Dongjing City.

This day was the fifteenth day of the first month.

To speak of it, when Du Chong had set out earlier, Yue Fei had originally left strong generals, or rather the three generals he trusted most, to guard Dongjing City. Tang Huai, Zhang Xian, and another, Xu Qing, who had died by the Yishui River, were all his Xiangzhou brothers, and were left to guard Dongjing.

But around the New Year, Zong Ze's body had briefly improved for two days, so he got up to personally inquire about the situation, and then sent the three generals to Yue Fei at Yancheng for deployment, replacing them with garrison troops from the Dongjing Circuit Command... In his words, if that place was defeated, Dongjing would certainly be lost; if that place won, then Yelu Ma Wu would certainly not dare to attack.

Old matters should not be mentioned too much, but regardless, Dongjing itself had about ten thousand garrison troops to guard against Yelu Ma Wu, deployed at Dongjing City proper, Qingcheng to the south, and Yuetai to the west of the city.

So, when Zhao Jiu arrived here, troops had already come out to scout. Although they saw it was their own flags, they still shouted from afar to halt, ordering the force to stop two hundred paces south of the city, waiting for the Qingcheng garrison to come and verify.

Zhao the Emperor had nothing to say, and directly reined in his horse beneath his own dragon banner.

Immediately after, a force of no more than a hundred men appeared in view. They did not even have complete leather armor, only the leading company commander wore iron armor, and they came on foot. When they reached the central army position and saw the dragon banner, they were startled. Then Guo Zhongxun and Wang Shan rode out together. This man immediately saluted and greeted them, but his gaze kept drifting towards the dragon banner.

After a brief exchange, he directly prostrated himself on the ground, leading his subordinates to kneel and pay homage.

A moment later, Guo Zhongxun and Wang Shan returned together to report that they could proceed. But unexpectedly, at this moment, beneath the central army's dragon banner, most people, at least those from Nanyang, had somewhat gloomy expressions and remained silent.

"Would Your Majesty like to go and comfort them?"

After hesitating, a somewhat nervous Guo Zhongxun tentatively inquired. "This company commander was a Palace Army soldier transferred to Dongjing before the Jingkang Incident. He is an old hand from Dongjing, and might even have seen Your Majesty before..."

As soon as these words were spoken, Lan Gui, who had not spoken before, immediately shed tears, while Hu Yin, Liu Yan, Mo Qixie, and the others each sighed in lament.

To speak of it, on this trip to Dongjing, Zhao the Emperor had kept his dragon banner raised, and starting from Yancheng, following Lan Gui's suggestion, he had changed into a red robe, a black silk headwrap, and a gold belt.

However, along the way, perhaps because the route they took happened to be the area where the Song and Jin armies had been confronting and marching, the scenery along the way was desolate, towns were ruined, fields were barren. Many places still showed traces of habitation, but now there were few people, clearly all had fled... Even the few towns that still had gathered populations, their first reaction upon seeing the large army approach was to strictly guard and not let them in.

In a word, the scene many had fantasized about, of people carrying provisions and following like shadows, bringing tears to one's eyes, simply did not happen, because there were simply no people appearing.

So it was no wonder that Zhao the Emperor and his few accompanying close ministers, returning to the old place, had such heavy hearts, and no wonder that Guo Zhongxun, as the Judge of the Dongjing Circuit Command, was so anxious and made this gesture, having a company commander perform a scene of the ruler and people being one family.

Zhao Jiu came back to his senses, realizing he had been misunderstood. How could he care about this?

One must know that today, beneath the central army's dragon banner, everyone had the right to be sentimental about the times, only he, who had come to Dongjing for the first time, absolutely had no such feelings... The reason he was silent was that, seeing these soldiers still had order, he knew that after entering the city, he would most likely have to face Zong Ze.

In other words, the others were timid approaching an old place; Zhao Jiu was in awe approaching a person.

He did not know what attitude Zong Ze would use to treat him, nor what posture and method he should use to face Zong Ze.

"Your Majesty, how about I, your servant, comfort them on Your Majesty's behalf?" Seeing that Zhao the Emperor remained silent for a long time, the Chief Eunuch of the Inner Palace Service, Lan Gui, who became more proactive the closer they got to the old capital, spoke up.

"I'll go take a look." Zhao Jiu came back to his senses, then smiled in response, and directly dismounted, walking forward.

The others did not dare to be negligent, and quickly swarmed to follow.

"Your servant, Company Commander of the Third Command, Sixth Army, Left Wing, Changning Corps, Bei Yan of the Wuwei Army, kowtows to see Your Majesty." The arriving man, seeing Zhao Jiu dismount and walk this way, shouted his official position and name from afar... Company Commander was the former formal title for a hundred-man unit leader, Changning was the corps designation, Wuwei Army was his place of origin. Clearly, this company commander sent to scout and verify was a glib-tongued fellow.

"Rise." Zhao Jiu came before him and immediately excused him from the formalities.

"Your Majesty returning to Dongjing, we, your servants, are truly overjoyed..." The company commander surnamed Bei stood up and, following the routine, flattered him.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Jiu instead laughed at this: "Truly overjoyed?"

"Truly overjoyed." Bei Yan was first startled in his heart, then alarmed again. "How could we not be delighted at Your Majesty's return? Moreover, Your Majesty coming here must mean the imperial army to the south has won a great victory."

"The imperial army has indeed won, but the Jin Army has not left. If I come here, Dongjing will inevitably become the target of the main Jin forces in the future. You will most likely have to die for it. Can you still be joyful?" Zhao Jiu continued to ask with a smile.

"Your servant..." Bei Yan was only momentarily stunned, then quickly kowtowed again and responded. "We, your servants, are willing to die for Your Majesty!"

However, Bei Yan was a clever man, but the soldiers kneeling behind him did not have such quick wits. They were bewildered, only hastily kneeling again when they saw their company commander kneel.

Clearly, these people were only hurried and flustered at the arrival of the Emperor, and only nervous and fearful at the possibility of the Jin Army coming here.

"However, my coming here also has its benefits." Zhao Jiu smiled again. "At the very least, some money and silk from the southeast, Bashu, and Jingxiang can be brought. Once we drive the Jin Army away this time, military pay can be sent back... You have worked hard these past few years, guarding Dongjing!"

Hearing this, the soldiers of this unit finally showed some signs of encouragement, and this Bei Yan was also suddenly delighted. It was only when he saw the Emperor looking at him with a smile that he hurriedly lowered his head and said again: "We, your servants, have not worked hard..."

But once the words were out, given how clever this man was, he did adopt a somewhat difficult posture.

Zhao Jiu nodded, said nothing more, turned back to his ranks, mounted his horse, and urged the entire army to advance.

And so, by the time evening fell and the moon faintly appeared, the Imperial Dragon Banner of His Majesty the Emperor finally entered Dongjingcheng through the Nanxun Gate.

At this time, the entire city, high and low, had long since learned that His Majesty the Emperor was returning to Dongjing. The anticipated scene of commoners and scholars weeping in welcome had somewhat materialized; Hu Yin and the others could not contain themselves, tears streaming down their faces all along the way…

However, after the Jingkang Incident, Dongjingcheng had suffered enormous population loss. This vast city (possibly reaching fifty square kilometers) now had only a hundred to two hundred thousand people. As for the elders of Dongjing who could rush over upon hearing the news, there were barely a thousand or so. Such a small number, scattered along both sides of the extremely broad Imperial Avenue, appeared terribly sparse—fewer even than the city defense troops who had come out to greet him upon hearing the news.

Under these circumstances, with the sky about to turn dark, His Majesty the Emperor did not delay. He rejected the suggestion of the officials from the Dongjing Marshal Office who came to welcome him to proceed to the Imperial Palace. Instead, after entering through the Zhuque Gate and turning into the inner city, he went directly to the Grand Councilor's residence by the Bian River, where Zong Ze resided.

Upon arriving before the residence gate, Zong Ze's son, Zong Ying, was already kneeling in welcome. Clearly, Zong Ze had long known that His Majesty the Emperor was coming here and had prepared in advance.

Seeing this, His Majesty the Emperor had nothing to say. He merely comforted Zong Ying with a few words before following him into the residence. He had only reached the front of the main hall when he saw a gaunt old man, with graying hair and beard, dressed in coarse cloth and wearing a shabby gray woolen cloak, supported by attendants, standing inside the gate, staring fixedly at the doorway.

Zhao Jiu did not dare hesitate. He immediately stepped forward, preparing to support the man himself.

However, just as he approached, before he could even touch the man's arm, under the moonlight in the twilight that had not yet fully darkened, the old man suddenly sneered at him… His breathing was unsteady, his tone slow, clearly showing physical weakness. Only his words were exceptionally clear, in no way like those of a man at death's door:

"Has Your Majesty come to seize the military authority of the Dongjing Marshal Office because you see that I am about to die, to prevent instability on the throne? Or have you lost the people's hearts in Nanyang and want to use Dongjingcheng to fool the realm?"

An obvious stir arose before the hall.

And Zhao Jiu, with nowhere to hide, was momentarily startled. Yet he still stepped forward, took the man from his attendants, and then, looking down solemnly, replied: "Both. I am ashamed to have Lord Zong see through me."

This time, it was Zong Ze's turn to be momentarily startled, and then he fell silent.

And so, the two stood—one inside the gate, one outside—arm in arm. They waited for a long time before the man inside the gate finally sighed: "On this Lantern Festival, Your Majesty returns to your old home. I, as the defending minister, even if lacking in supplies, must invite Your Majesty inside for a drink…"

Upon hearing these words, the officials from Nanyang and Dongjing behind him clearly relaxed. But Zhao Jiu grew tense, and then became even more serious.

However, after thinking for a long time, he could only support the man and say solemnly:

"I have put you through hardship, Lord Zong!"

PS: Thank you to reader Gunslinger for the 50,000 Qidian coin tip… I am deeply grateful.

Everyone, good night.