[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-shao-song":3,"chapter-shao-song-shao-song-chapter-18":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Shao Song",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1558184,2024,"Chapter 18: Suppressing the Rebellion (Happy Birthday to Boss Zhu Xiaoxiao)","shao-song-chapter-18",18,"\u003Cp>\"I'll trouble Lady Liang. Give it to Academician Yuwen and Censor Zhao first—they're older and civil officials, with weaker constitutions.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"As Your Majesty commands...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Please, Your Majesty, take it first...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Eat!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the central army tent—or rather, the inn's main hall—Lady Liang, Han Shizhong's wife, who was barely past twenty and had hastily risen and dressed, was personally serving rice and dishes to His Majesty Zhao, just like an innkeeper receiving an honored guest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And His Majesty Zhao, in a round-collared red robe with a jade belt, sat with several civil and military officials in purple robes, red robes, and mountain-pattern armor at a makeshift table in the hall, eating a late-night meal, exactly like a traveler waking the inn's waiter for lodging and food in the dead of night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, if there weren't so many armored soldiers inside and outside the inn, and so many of Han Shizhong's officers and men craning their necks to gawk, it would have looked even more like that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But at this moment, there was no time to mind such things. Poor His Majesty Zhao had held a bowl of rice for ages earlier, taken only one bite, and set it down. The others were much the same—all had been on the move from morning till now, the entire day. How could they not be hungry, tired, and thirsty?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, Han Shizhong had personally led troops to Baichi Town to suppress the rebellion, and messengers to the traveling court had long since departed. Here, only Lady Liang was hosting in the inn, and a deputy commander named Hu Yantong was guarding with troops. Aside from eating, drinking, and waiting for news, these lords and ministers seemed to have nothing to say or do... Actually, Zhao Jiu had wanted to gossip with this composed Lady Liang about some legends, but having been out of the capital for months, he at least knew basic social and military customs. Though Han Shizhong was a rough-and-tumble sort who let his wife serve in public, His Majesty Zhao didn't dare pry, lest unsavory rumors spread.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, even just sitting there eating and drinking, the civil and military officials in the hall—including Lady Liang and Hu Yantong, who now knew the full story—all felt that His Majesty Zhao was truly bold and composed... truly possessing the aura of a ruler!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was as impressive as Liu Bei or Cao Cao from those Romance of the Three Kingdoms tales!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Actually, whether he had the aura of a ruler was unknown, but Zhao Jiu's boldness and composure were certainly real—he ate and spoke with vigor. From His Majesty's perspective, this meal might have been the most relaxed and unrestrained he'd had in months.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wasn't it because this was Han Shizhong's central army inn!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, we must speak more of Han Shizhong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, Han Shizhong, courtesy name Liangchen... well, that courtesy name was certainly acquired after he became a high official. More often, everyone called him \"Rascal Han Wu.\" This man was born in Yan'an Prefecture, Yongxing Army Circuit of the Great Song Dynasty (modern Suide County), and was thirty-nine this year. Coming from a border prefecture and a humble family, he was a natural-born rogue, lawless from childhood. With his innate divine strength and martial arts honed since youth, he was the kind of rogue no one could control.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, this fellow was undoubtedly a born military prodigy. Up to now, this experienced general, who had served in the army for twenty years, had accumulated the following—and far more—divine feats:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his teens, as a rogue in Yan'an Prefecture, he nearly killed a fortune-teller with one punch, more impressive than that \"Flowery Monk\" who killed the \"Town-Guanxi Bully\" with three punches... The cause was that the fortune-teller, a \"Suan Guanxi,\" told Rascal Han Wu that his bones were extraordinary and he might reach the rank of a Three Ducal Minister, a deputy national-level leader—which made Han Wu, who didn't even know where his next meal would come from, feel mocked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At twenty-six, after eight years in the army but still a low-ranking officer in the Western Army, he once charged alone into the enemy's central camp, killed the opposing army supervisor—a Xixia imperial son-in-law—and triggered the complete collapse of the Xixia army.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At thirty-three, having risen to the rank of lieutenant or junior officer, he participated in the campaign to suppress Fang La. First, he lured the enemy to annihilate Fang La's main force, then personally led men into Fang La's hiding cave to capture him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At thirty-eight, during the Jingkang Disaster that arose from the Maritime Alliance, the Song army's main force completely collapsed, and the saying \"Ten thousand Jurchens are invincible\" spread across the land. That same year, while patrolling the Hutuo River with fifty cavalry, he encountered two thousand Jurchen cavalry, used decapitation tactics to eliminate their officers, and forced the unit to retreat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And in the winter of that same year, as the Northern Song entered its final collapse and Hebei was effectively lost, Han Shizhong, stranded in Zhaozhou, was besieged in the prefectural city. Taking advantage of heavy snow, he descended by rope, led a hundred armored men to raid the camp, killed the Jurchen commander, and successfully broke the siege!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With such feats and experience, anyone with any sense could see he was a figure like the famous generals of old—a born military prodigy, destined for the history books. In fact, when Zhao Jiu spoke with the palace guards, everyone, no matter where they were from, knew of Rascal Han Wu's great name. They knew he was one of the foremost heroes in the army, and his various legends had long been worn out from retelling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet another fact was that after twenty years in the army and so many divine feats, Han Shizhong only managed to become a Commander-in-Chief because he happened to encounter Zhao the Ninth while wandering around Hebei with a band of soldiers, earning the merit of supporting the new emperor!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Otherwise, he might still be just a famous commander!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back then, when he killed the Xixia army supervisor and imperial son-in-law, the entire Western Army knew of it. But the report went up layer by layer, finally reaching the Western Army's commander, Tong Guan, who at that time hadn't yet planned to campaign against Yan. And what kind of man was Grand Councilor Tong? How could he be fooled by such absurd claims? So, the feat was halved and halved again, then simply erased, with Han Shizhong promoted only one rank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then there was the Fang La affair—a monumental achievement, but it was openly stolen by a superior officer named Xin Xingzong. Because many had witnessed it and privately voiced grievances, this became even more widely known.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the later Jingkang Disaster arising from the Maritime Alliance, Han Shizhong, as a mid-level officer, had been part of the grand scheme since the campaign against Liao. Though he was incredibly formidable, he could only go with the flow, and no one promoted him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was truly only through Zhao the Ninth's ascension that he, relying on the merit of supporting the new emperor, became the Commander of the Left Army of the Imperial Camp, a top-tier powerful military officer. And due to later merit in suppressing rebellions, Li Gang had just promoted him to Military Commissioner of Dingguo Army (an honorary title for generals), allowing him to be called General Han!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then again, hadn't this General Han, just half a month into his new post, rebelled?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hadn't you seen Lady Liang carefully serving plates herself? Hadn't you seen Han Shizhong himself, with his big hairy legs, frantically running out to don his armor?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What was it all for?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back to the present. After Han Shizhong had set out in disarray, Zhao Jiu had taken the initiative to request a meal. Lady Liang had the kitchen rekindle the fire. When the food was ready, the group and the hundred cavalry waited as His Majesty Zhao unrestrainedly finished his late-night meal, then leisurely took up tea... While inwardly admiring him, they suddenly heard noise outside the town—it was Commander Han returning!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your Majesty!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The burly Han Shizhong, clad in armor and bearing arms, threw down his weapons at the hall's entrance, stepped in wrapped in a gust of cold wind and a bloody smell, and bowed low. \"Let Your Majesty know—I have personally dealt with that villain!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he spoke, a junior officer presented a bloody head, kneeling before Han Shizhong so all in the hall could see clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The others—the military men aside—but Yuwen Xuzhong, Zhao Ding, and Zhang Jun, three civil officials, and even Lady Liang, only gritted their teeth and glanced at it before remaining unmoved. Zhao Ding even snorted coldly, clearly recognizing the head. Only Zhao Jiu, who had been sitting motionless and had impressed many tonight with his ruler-like bearing, felt a start. He quickly raised his teacup and swallowed a mouthful of warm tea to cover it up... At least he hadn't lost his composure in fright this time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How did you suppress it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The head was truly gruesome. Zhao Jiu had to exert great effort to follow the others in keeping his eyes straight ahead, but he could no longer rise and approach Han Shizhong to playact like Liu Bei as he had planned. He just sat still.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I led the army toward Baichi Town. When we were still ten li away, he showed no movement, so I knew the scoundrel was unprepared. I left the main force behind, took only a hundred cavalry, and rode lightly there. I woke him in the town, then cut him down with one sword on the street...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>PS: Is the twentieth ally Ye Kuang Xue Ji or Wang Xiaonan? I'm confused, because the names are all too familiar... I can only say I'm still endlessly grateful.\u003C\u002Fp>",1651,"2026-06-06T07:45:46.639Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","6639ecd63039f9d53d19e6077fdcf19e24ce49dc4cde5aae60e7692033ea0569","shao-song-chapter-19","shao-song-chapter-17",489,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fshao-song-cover.jpg"]