Chapter 165: Balancing Left and Right (Part 2)

That evening within Heyin city, His Majesty personally hosted a banquet for seven high-ranking generals—Han Shizhong, Li Yanxian, Zhang Jun, Wang Yan, Yue Fei, Wang De, and Lu Qing—while feasts of all sizes were held throughout the city.

After all, whether civil officials or military officers, no one could remain calm on personnel matters.

The civil officials naturally formed factions, schemed against each other, and flattered and fawned; the military officers were equally crude, calling each other brothers and boasting of their achievements... This was unavoidable. The lingering atmosphere since the Jingkang Incident was still there, compounded by the unrestrained mood after a great battle—it couldn't be expected to change overnight.

Among them, Vice Director of the Bureau of Military Affairs Moqi Xie was, of course, an unquestionable anti-Jin hero... Who dared say he wasn't? And, thanks to his merit of clutching the imperial banner and breaking out with His Majesty, he had unsurprisingly become a rising star with a brilliantly bright political future, receiving countless invitations for a time.

Those of lower rank wanted to curry favor with him, those of higher rank wanted to win him over, and familiar colleagues wanted to sound him out about what His Majesty had done and planned in Dongjing—he was truly in high demand.

Interestingly, however, faced with all these invitations, Moqi Yuanzhong's choices were somewhat unexpected—he declined the invitation from Wang Boyan, the Privy Councilor who was vying for the position of Privy Council Director, and instead accepted an invitation from his colleague Hu Hongxiu on behalf of his father-in-law Wang Shuzhan, attending a private banquet hosted by another Wang.

Now, this Wang Shuzhan had previously served as a Grand Master of Ceremonies, but because he had presented an alchemist, he fell out of favor with His Majesty Zhao and was stripped down to a commoner. It wasn't until later, when the Jin army marched south, that he took the initiative to submit a memorial supporting His Majesty's stay in Nanyang, thereby recovering some political status—yet he remained merely a retired official at home... He was widely recognized during the Nanyang period as one of the top-tier unlucky fellows, alongside Ye Mengde and Zhao Mingcheng.

However, although Wang Shuzhan had been stripped of his post, he still possessed considerable political influence, because while he had fallen, his in-law Zhao Shi? in Yangzhou had not, and was almost impossible to topple. This man was the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan, His Majesty Zhao's "Imperial Uncle," and had escorted the Dowager Empress Meng to Nanjing back in the day, earning merit for supporting the succession.

Not only that, Zhao Shi? had also impeached Huang Qianshan early on, maintained an extremely stable political stance, and given the objective condition that the close imperial branches of the Zhao Song dynasty had been swept clean, this man was destined to be an unshakable figure in politics.

Beyond this, Wang Shuzhan's son Wang Ruohai, his eldest son-in-law Zhao Bufan, and his second son-in-law Hu Hongxiu were all talented young men currently in His Majesty's favor, so this old man had plenty to look forward to!

And this was probably the real reason Moqi Xie came here... First, to find a quiet refuge and avoid getting caught up in the big trouble of the Privy Council Director dispute; second, as Adjutant Moqi, he felt his prospects were bright and it was time to seek some low-key yet practical connections to solidify his foundation.

In other words, Moqi Xie truly wanted to make friends this time.

And surprisingly, the results were astonishingly good.

Never mind that Hu Hongxiu, the intermediary, lacked political acumen; Wang Shuzhan and his son were typical sharp minds, sharing the same political animal nature as Moqi Xie... On one side, there was a party with connections and political foundation but whose leader was in a slump and whose powerful external ally had yet to return, so they were seeking rising political allies; on the other side, there was a rising political star with no political foundation... The two sides were a perfect match!

So, after a brief conversation and mutual probing, they immediately found a kindred spirit and hit it off. After three rounds of wine, Moqi Xie even knelt on the spot, acknowledging Wang Shuzhan as his "honored uncle" on equal footing with Hu Hongxiu and Wang Ruohai, before sitting back down to continue drinking.

At this point, they were all on the same side, and Moqi Xie, feeling less restrained—especially since the previous tension of battle had made it hard to relax—gradually let loose and said things he would normally never dare to speak: "His Majesty is truly taking on the bearing of a sovereign more and more these days."

"Who says otherwise?" Wang Shuzhan stroked his beard and smiled. "But which specific matter is my worthy nephew Moqi referring to?"

"Everything lately shows it." By the candlelight, Moqi Xie covered his cup and smiled.

Wang Shuzhan chuckled softly and was about to speak again.

Just then, Hu Hongxiu, who had been somewhat impatient with this banquet, seemed to remember something and suddenly spoke up: "Brother Moqi, that poem 'Green Jade Cup' by His Majesty..."

"That 'Green Jade Cup' is superb!" Moqi Xie immediately replied solemnly. "The poem itself is superb, and the timing of its use is also superb... Ever since Master Qu Yuan, the beauty bestowed with favor has often been compared to the bond between ruler and minister. That night, after His Majesty wrote this poem, I glanced at it, and when I saw 'But when I turn my head, there she stands, where the lantern light is dim and sparse,' I knew that Zong Zhongwu would set aside all past grievances and depart with an open heart."

"Was this poem actually meant for Minister Zong?" Hu Hongxiu was slightly startled. "I thought His Majesty was truly recalling events in Dongjing and had some stunning encounter during the Lantern Festival."

Stunning encounter, you blockhead!

Everyone present was familiar with Hu Hongxiu, but they still couldn't help cursing him silently in their hearts.

"At this point, whether he recalls it or whether he lost his memory when he fell into the well doesn't matter anymore." After cursing inwardly, Moqi Xie continued with a sigh. "Even Zong Zhongwu didn't care about those things before he fell into the well, thanks to this poem—let alone others."

"True." Wang Shuzhan stroked his beard and sighed. "On this northern journey, this 'Green Jade Cup' spread through the ranks along the way and caused a stir. Everyone copied it down. But I hear that only the various councilors, upon hearing it, each lost their composure on the spot, then fell silent for a long time, not transcribing it until evening. It shows that Councilor Lu and the others were still somewhat envious."

"How could they not be envious?" Moqi Xie couldn't help but laugh and interject. "But even if Minister Li Xiang knew about it now, he would probably be envious too."

Wang Shuzhan laughed along: "Who says otherwise? Afterwards, we old fellows discussed it. First, this poem could be the crown of Lantern Festival poetry—His Majesty's talent is overwhelming, he just used to hide it too much. Second, Zong Liushou's achievements were already extraordinary, and with this poem's story, his future reputation will surely reach even greater heights... And today, His Majesty also granted the posthumous title of Zhongwu—it's perfect!"

"Yes." Wang Ruohai also chimed in, rare for him. "Today, many people were also discussing that after today, Zong Liushou wouldn't dare compare himself to Marquis Wu of Zhuge, but he's no less than Wang Grand Coordinator. And if His Majesty can truly revive the great unification of our ancestors, then Zong Liushou's legacy will be even more open to debate..."

"He will surely revive it." Hu Hongxiu replied solemnly, though somewhat gloomily.

"Actually, in my humble opinion, today's events also show His Majesty's skill." Moqi Xie, showing slight signs of drunkenness, glanced at Hu Hongxiu but didn't lose his enthusiasm, continuing the previous topic.

"True." Wang Shuzhan continued stroking his beard in response. "For a sovereign, balancing left and right, using one force to counter another, is common. His Majesty has been on the throne for nearly two years and is already adept at it, but today's move seemed especially exquisite... Using the position of Privy Council Director, plus the condition of not letting Minister Chen join the council, he kept the various councilors on a string, making them willingly help His Majesty rein in the various military commanders. And the most exquisite part is that Minister Chen himself didn't mind—he was sold out by His Majesty and still felt so energized."

Hu Hongxiu frowned deeply.

Moqi Xie laughed even more at this: "Honored uncle only knows one side of it, not the other..."

"Is there more to it?" Wang Shuzhan was slightly taken aback.

"I believe there is." Moqi Xie said bluntly. "The various councilors seemed to be trading with His Majesty, exchanging others and other matters, but they were completely unaware that they had fallen into His Majesty's trap... With ease, the various military commanders became directly subordinate to His Majesty, and after this collective promotion and elevation, the trend of using civil officials to control military ones will probably become even harder in the future."

Wang Shuzhan thought for a moment and nodded in agreement: "My worthy nephew has a point... Actually, I heard from a colleague who returned from outside the city this afternoon that before Councilor Lu finally responded, Councilor Xu suddenly tugged at him from behind, which made Lu speak up quickly... I thought before that Xu was urging him, but now that you mention it, it seems more like a reminder."

This time, it was Moqi Xie's turn to be slightly startled.

"Father-in-law, Brother Moqi!" At this point, Hu Hongxiu could no longer hold back and threw his chopsticks onto the table. "Isn't everything you two talking about just the general trend? And wasn't His Majesty's behavior today, or his recent actions, all open schemes? Where is all this underhanded trickery? In the end, after the Battle of Yanling-Changshe, His Majesty's prestige in the military was already established, and after heading north to the old capital, the entire central government was invigorated... Under such a trend, His Majesty might use some clever tactics, but could the councilors or the generals truly defy him? Even if His Majesty didn't use these tricks, could they really disobey? It's just His Majesty giving them face!"

At these words, everyone at the table was stunned, looking at Hu Hongxiu with some surprise.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Hu Hongxiu said helplessly, picking up his chopsticks again. "This is the general trend of military strategy—after a great victory, what can't be done? Father-in-law and Brother Moqi, you don't understand even this?"

The others at the table exchanged glances, and then Moqi Xie sighed slightly: "Liangbi (Hu Hongxiu's courtesy name) hit the nail on the head! It's just that my vision was too narrow, and I was too fixated on the details..."

"So that means Councilor Xu was indeed urging him, and Councilor Lu's hasty response was actually suspicious." Wang Shuzhan also seemed thoughtful. "And as for His Majesty's banquet tonight for the various commanders, it probably won't cause any trouble, right?"

"Exactly!" Moqi Xie said decisively.

Leaving aside how Moqi Xie and the Wang family overestimated His Majesty Zhao's abilities, on the other side, His Majesty Zhao, who was hosting a banquet for the high-ranking generals, was already feeling somewhat powerless... He gave them face, but some people really didn't take it.

Despite how effortlessly he had seemed to settle the major matters during the day, in reality, Li Yanxian and Zhang Jun were still unhappy about being ranked alongside Yue Fei, Wang De and Lu Qing were also indignant, and Wang Yan was somewhat dissatisfied as well.

During the day, with so many people present, the Son of Heaven and the councilors spoke with one voice, and under their accumulated authority, these men held back for a time. But by evening, when His Majesty hosted a special banquet to appease them, after a few catties of wine, they all let loose and behaved outrageously.

Then all sorts of nonsense and all sorts of things came out.

It couldn't be helped, because in this era, Song military officers were basically like this. If you wanted to compare who was worse, they could be as bad as it got. They were meritorious officials, anti-Jin heroes—that didn't stop them from being scoundrels!

In fact, just look at Han Shizhong, who had been helping His Majesty Zhao maintain order all day. This man's ability and loyalty were universally recognized as phenomenal—the kind of hero called an "ancient famous general"—but he also had every flaw common to Song officers.

Lecherous! Lax military discipline! Arrogant and conceited! Embezzling salaries and exploiting soldiers! Which of these did he lack?

And in another timeline, this Grand Defender Han even pulled off a stunt like this—he had his trusted general, Wang Sheng the Black Dragon, acknowledge the favored imperial physician Wang Jixian as his godfather, all to compete with Zhang Jun over petty jealousies and fight it out.

With these kinds of sordid deeds, if you covered up the name, he'd look like a thoroughly rotten piece of trash. But when you saw the name, you realized this was a loyal and brave general of this era, on par with Yue Fei, historically known together as Yue and Han, comparable to Wei Qing and Huo Qubing in the past, and equal to Xu Da and Chang Yuchun in later ages—a famous historical general. Could you believe it?

But in the end, fortunately, His Majesty Zhao knew this was Han Shizhong, not just some nobody, or else he, as the emperor, would have been finished during that rebellion incident back then.

As for the other main guests at today's small imperial banquet... Zhang Jun was a greedy scoundrel who dared to acknowledge Wang Yuan as his godfather—no need to say more;

Li Yanxian was a difficult character—he only drank when His Majesty Zhao personally urged him, ignoring Wang Yuan, Yang Yizhong, and other accompanying guests;

Wang Yan carried a scholar's pride. Although he had been rewarded this time, he was still dissatisfied with being ranked below Yue Fei. So at first, when everyone hadn't yet shown their true colors, he was fine, but later, he also took the opportunity to vent his grievances—equally hard to please;

Lu Qing was the most seasoned among the generals, seeming decent at first glance, but like Wang Yan, after drinking too much later, he was full of sour complaints;

As for Wang De, needless to say, he was a pure brute. After drinking too much, he was the first to cause trouble—stripping off his clothes to show His Majesty his wounds, crying that his position as Defense Commissioner of Nanyang's four walls was worthless, then turning around to provoke Han Shizhong, Li Yanxian, Zhang Jun, Wang Yan, and Yue Fei—the five great meritorious officials His Majesty had designated—in order!

But it was this last incident that taught His Majesty Zhao something new today—he only now realized that Yue Fei also had poor drinking manners... Wang De provoked everyone in turn, and the others maintained some restraint, not wanting to make a fool of themselves before His Majesty alongside this oaf. But when he provoked Yue Fei, Yue Pengju simply stepped down and personally beat this "Nightmare Wang" flat in front of the banquet table.

This post-drinking impulse was hardly a good thing.

However, what Zhao Jiu did not know was that historically, Yue Fei not only had poor drinking manners—it wasn't just a matter of being "not good"—but his drinking was absolutely terrible! He had caused trouble more than once after getting drunk. The first time, a drunken brawl cost him his job. The second time, he was already a commanding general, thirty years old, and yet he flew into a drunken rage and beat a Commanding Officer, nearly beating him to death.

Of course, Wang De hadn't been beaten to death this time, and regardless, Yue Pengju was still the most exemplary in personal virtue among the seven great generals here. As for his methods of governing the army and maintaining military discipline, there was no need to even mention them. Based on Zhao Jiu's previous observations, compared to the others, Yue Fei was practically a saint.

Back to the present, after Wang De was beaten, seeing that all seven were clearly drunk, the Imperial Majesty ended the banquet. Then, as per the Imperial Majesty's prior arrangements, the accompanying guests—Academician Xiao Lin, Yang Yizhong, Liu Yan, Lan Gui, Feng Yi, and others—each took charge of one of the seven.

Han Shizhong, dead drunk like mud, was directly sent to lodge in the rear courtyard of the Heyin County yamen where the Imperial Majesty resided. Lady Liang was invited to look after him. That night, his snoring was like thunder, and he was simply in the room next to the Imperial Majesty and Lady Wu.

Zhang Jun, gloomy and unhappy, returned to his lodgings, only to find a large quantity of gold, silver, and treasures that the Imperial Majesty had sent ahead. Among them were several hundred bolts of Shu brocade, which Zhang Jun had gradually sent from Sichuan and Shaanxi during the war. These were the most precious batch of goods among the wealth transported here from Xiangyang. Now they were all given to Grand Commandant Zhang. The Imperial Majesty and Lady Wu had not kept a single bolt to make new clothes... it was rather shabby.

As for Li Yanxian, this young general (36 years old) who had been somewhat unhappy upon first meeting the Imperial Majesty, returned to his own lodgings. Unexpectedly, early the next morning, the Imperial Majesty made a grand show of it, sending Inner Court Academician Xiao Lin and Chief Eunuch Lan Gui together to officially issue an edict. With much fanfare, he bestowed a military banner inscribed with "Pillar of the State."

As for Wang Yan, Wang De, and Lü Qing, they each received separate rewards, consolation, and pardons the next day—no need to mention that in detail. The only special case was Yue Fei. Early the next morning, Zhao Jiu sent Yang Yizhong to deliver an oral decree. The words were harsh, clearly telling him that in the future, he was not permitted to drink alcohol while in the army!

These matters, in the small town of Heyin that was nearly bursting with high officials and nobles, could not possibly be kept secret.

And as the news spread instantly, this morning was bound to be filled with gossip and idle talk.

"Civil officials are in decline, military men are ascendant—this is the general trend." In a certain part of the town, Vice Grand Chancellor Xu Jingheng stroked his beard and sighed to the Grand Chancellor Lü Haowen, who had shared the same courtyard the night before. "But among the great generals, I originally thought Han Shizhong enjoyed the most imperial favor. Yet looking at this, this Yue Pengju seems not inferior either... Brother Shuntu (Lü Haowen's courtesy name), what do you think?"

"Why think about all this?" Lü Haowen, who was sipping porridge in small mouthfuls, shook his head repeatedly, then said helplessly, "Don't we have to accompany the Imperial Majesty for the troop inspection this morning? Don't we have to accompany the Imperial Majesty for the grand banquet this afternoon? There are over thirty Commanding Officers alone! Even after this Heyin business is settled, don't we still have to consider suppressing the rebellion in the southeast and tidying up the ruined lands of Henan? You people, where do you get all this mental energy? With all that energy, what's wrong with drinking another mouthful of porridge?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Jingheng also picked up his porridge bowl, but then set it down again and sighed: "To be honest with you, Brother Shuntu, I always feel the Imperial Majesty won't be so well-behaved. He didn't cause trouble yesterday, but there will surely be some incident today..."

"And if so?" Lü Haowen put down his porridge bowl and asked back helplessly.

Xu Jingheng was momentarily stunned, then simply picked up his porridge bowl.

PS: This chapter counts as tonight's. No need to wait tonight; I'll take the opportunity to adjust my sleep schedule... writing the end of this volume... Good afternoon, everyone.