Chapter 293: Gods and Buddhas

In early autumn, Yue Fei, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard Forward Army, along with Deputy Commander-in-Chief Wang Gui and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard Right Army Tian Shizhong, crushed the main force of the puppet Qi between the Zi River and Long River.

In that battle, over twenty thousand enemies surrendered, and more than eight thousand warhorses were captured. Even Li Cheng, the Grand Commander of the puppet Qi, was slain by Guo Jin, a regular general under the command of Zhang Xian, a Controller-General in Yue Fei's army.

Two days later, the main force of the Imperial Guard Forward Army rapidly advanced on Zhangqiu again, completely overturning the military situation in Jingdong.

It was truly an earth-shattering change. One must understand that when Li Cheng set out this time, he brought not only his own personal forces but almost all of the puppet Qi's effective strength... Poor Liu Yu had heavily plundered Jinan Prefecture, but the main force he had previously accumulated was sold off cleanly by Li Cheng in Dongping Prefecture. Not only that, but this time, the warhorses and soldiers he had painstakingly gathered again were casually handed over to Li Cheng by the Jin Army Battalion Commander Elubu, and then they were delivered cleanly once more.

Therefore, after this battle, apart from the nest of pirates under Li Qi in Dengzhou, who might or might not have been suppressed by Zhang Jun, the troops of the puppet Qi were essentially wiped out.

And without basic field military strength, how could a regime, even a puppet regime, stand?

Not only that, as Yue Fei advanced to Zhangqiu, he also connected with the Imperial Guard Forward Army's original control area, namely Yanzhou and Dongping Prefecture... It was essentially like a knife thrust in from the abdomen and coming out through the neck. In an instant, the puppet Qi, which had once been quite formidable, was left with only Jinan Prefecture as its territory.

At this point, anyone with a modicum of military knowledge could see that the puppet Qi was beyond saving, unless the Jin Army crossed the river in force to support them.

However, after Yue Fei pressed forward to Zhangqiu and learned that the peace negotiations had completely broken down, he indeed, as Li Cheng had predicted, took the initiative to stop there. Then, on one hand, he contacted Lu Qing in Nanjing (modern Shangqiu) and Li Qiong, who had come to aid Dongping, continuously dispatching troops to encircle Jinan from three sides. On the other hand, he proactively submitted a memorial to the Eastern Capital, proposing to temporarily hold his position and lure the Jin Army across the river to reinforce, thereby ambushing them.

The Zhao Emperor and the chief ministers, greatly encouraged, immediately approved this plan and dispatched Qu Duan to lead the Imperial Guard Cavalry Army to provide support swiftly.

Of course, to be fair, everyone could imagine that the Jin Army would most likely not come to reinforce, but everyone still couldn't help but want to try... because the temptation of this plan was too great.

Just look at the map: the entire Jingdong East Circuit lies south of the Yellow River, and Licheng, the capital of Jinan Prefecture, as its name implies, is south of the Ji River. If the Jin Army came to reinforce, they would need to cross two major rivers, the Yellow River and the Ji River, during the high-water season, which would almost be like throwing their troops into an encirclement with no retreat.

In fact, even if they didn't come to Licheng, as long as the Jin Army dared to cross the Yellow River to evacuate the people of Jinan Prefecture, they would pay a heavy price. The Ji River, which runs almost parallel to the Yellow River, is also one of the Four Great Rivers of the realm. However, due to years of human control over the Yellow River's course, the narrowest point between the two rivers is only twenty to thirty li, and the widest point is just over a hundred li.

As for such a place, Jiang Ziya had something to say about it; he considered it a classic 'death ground' for cavalry.

In the following days, facts proved that the Jin Army, having lost the main force of the puppet Qi, had no interest whatsoever in fighting across two major rivers. Just as Yue Fei's memorial was sent up, the sovereign and ministers in the Eastern Capital were immensely excited, and Li Qiong had not yet finished coordinating with Yue Fei... Elubu, the veteran Jin general and Battalion Commander stationed in Licheng, made a decisive decision. After a brief plunder of the city's gold and silver, he rounded up a group of puppet Qi officials and directly crossed the Ji River northward.

Before leaving, knowing the peace talks had failed, Elubu did not forget to set a fire in the city. However, no sooner had the Jin Army left the city and crossed the river than eminent monks from the Lingjiu Temple stepped forward to organize firefighting, then gathered the scattered troops, took over the city's defense, and sent word to Zhangqiu to find the government army. At this time, Zhang Jun was still in Dengzhou fighting pirates, and Qu Duan was still on his way, riding his iron elephant.

Now, as people who could eat their fill and receive some cultural education in those days, the average level of monks was certainly decent. One couldn't deny this objective fact just because Fan Zhixu had employed a monk named Zongyin... For instance, Liu Wenshun, a Controller-General under Yue Fei, was originally a monk from the Lingjiu Temple in Jinan. He organized troops to come to the emperor's aid during the Jingkang Incident, then moved through Jingdong and Kaifeng, was recruited by Zong Ze, and only then had all his subsequent experiences.

The fact that the Lingjiu Temple could become an early government army informant was also due to this connection.

In fact, since the Jingkang Incident, order had collapsed across the land, and heroes had risen in force. Among those who initially generally rallied under the banner of righteous armies to aid the emperor, but whose paths eventually diverged in countless ways, the mainstream were four types: local strongmen, religious figures, bandits, and government troops.

Interestingly, local strongmen and religious figures were generally steady and had regional characteristics. As long as pressure was applied by the government army, they could quickly accept official reorganization. Bandits and government troops, on the other hand, were highly mobile, and the final outcome of their divergence was the most complex.

Of course, regardless, by the autumn of the fifth year of the Jianyan era, with the southern rebellions pacified, the Two Emperors returned south, and the confrontation between the two great powers along the Yellow River in the north gradually taking shape, marked by Li Cheng's death at Long River and Liu Yu and others being taken north by Elubu, it could essentially be said that all the various so-called heroes who had risen with the times had vanished like smoke and dispersed like clouds.

The era when one could be a bandit in the morning, a Controller-General in the evening, a Fiscal Commissioner in a year, and a Grand Councilor in three years, was gone forever, never to return.

Turning back to the present, Elubu's decisive withdrawal put an end to the plan of besieging without attacking. Yue Fei could only send cavalry to take Licheng lightly, while personally leading the main force across the Ji River to sweep through the Yellow River-Ji River corridor, occupying cities and holding ferry crossings.

Then, he again memorialized the court, officially announcing the destruction of the puppet Qi... And at this time, Qu Duan was still on his way, riding his horse.

When the news arrived, the entire Eastern Capital was shaken, and the court and the public were momentarily relieved... After all, such rapid and effective military progress greatly alleviated the political and public opinion pressure the Zhao Emperor was facing at the time, especially since the ownership of Jingdong itself was directly related to the peace negotiations.

After several exchanges of swift messages with Yue Fei, confirming that the Great Ming Prefecture troops would find it difficult to cross the obstacles of several old Yellow River courses and that Jingdong was indeed militarily secure, Zhao Jiu issued an edict, ordering Yue Fei to temporarily hand over command of the troops to Deputy Commander Wang Gui and to come to the capital with Tian Shizhong for an audience and rewards.

At the same time, the Emperor specifically named Zhang Xian, Guo Jin, Yang Zaixing, and Yue Fei's eldest son, Yue Yun, who was only twelve or thirteen years old, requiring them to come for an audience as well.

Upon receiving the order, Yue Fei dared not be negligent. He immediately handed over military affairs to Wang Gui, then hastily set out, arriving in the Eastern Capital in mid-July. At this time, Zhang Jun had just sent a memorial stating that his campaign against Li Qi in Dengzhou was showing significant results. As for Qu Duan, he was riding his iron elephant, now reassigned to inspect the Jingdong East Circuit and maintain order in the localities.

Han Shizhong and Wu Jie, for some unknown reason, had both hastily returned west one after another, unfortunately missing the tail end of the events.

"So, you're saying the Emperor really sent the Retired Daoist Emperor to Shaolin Temple?"

Now, as early as the era of Zong Ze, Yue Fei had a residence within the Eastern Capital. Upon his return this time, he naturally had a place to stay. However, no sooner had the group arrived in the capital and summoned the staff and servants who had remained at the capital residence, than they were inundated with all sorts of news.

"Not only that, he publicly rebuked them, saying, 'What are the Two Emperors?'... It was witnessed by thousands, spoken with certainty, impossible to cover up. On the way back, some Confucian scholars even blocked the imperial carriage, begging the Emperor to properly handle the Two Emperors, but the Emperor just rode his horse right past them. It shows the Emperor doesn't even want to hide it."

"Speaking with certainty is one thing, not wanting to hide is another, but can something like this be said so directly?"

"The Emperor doesn't care; he just lets people talk freely below... However, it's also true that this dynasty has always had this tradition of street-level political discussion, and besides, the Emperor has even started the practice of political debate at the Imperial Academy and discussing affairs in the Capital Gazette."

"I see."

"At first, people below all said the Emperor did this to prevent the Two Emperors from seizing the throne, because the Emperor only had a few princesses. But in recent days, the two Imperial Consorts have begun to show their pregnancies. It's clear that at least before the peace talks, both Consorts were already pregnant. So, the common folk now say it shouldn't be about fearing a usurpation, but rather about venting Empress Xing's private grievances. However, some also say that it was precisely because of the pregnancies that the two Consorts became fearful and persuaded the Emperor to do such a thing in the harem."

"..."

"It's not just the Two Emperors. It's said that the two Empresses Dowager in Yanfu Palace now also keep to themselves, rarely making any moves... At first, there were rumors that the Emperor forbade them from moving about freely, because the court had issued an edict saying that with three Empresses Dowager and two Retired Emperors, it was too many, so they should share one Heavenly Saint Festival, and designated it to be on the birthday of the Empress Dowager from Yangzhou. But later, because the harem treatment was generous, it's now mostly said that the two Empresses Dowager had some unspeakable experiences during their journey to the north and, fearing gossip, dare not show themselves anymore."

"Is it only these imperial family matters?"

"Of course not... The court is also engaged in a major undertaking right now. According to the Emperor's request, they are revising the 'Great Song Criminal Code.' Led by Councilor Zhao and Minister Wang, based on the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court, with the participation of some academicians, famous Confucian scholars, and Imperial Academy students, they are also publicly soliciting examples of bad laws. During the revision of the 'Criminal Code,' commoners and scholars are allowed to submit written statements to the old provincial office building outside Xuan De Tower, and local officials are also permitted to submit memorials to the Department of State Affairs for discussion... According to the Capital Gazette, the focus is on the clauses that most oppress the common people's livelihood, with the intention of revising them towards leniency and relaxation."

"This is a benevolent policy."

"It is naturally a benevolent policy."

"Is that all?" Yue Fei, who had been silent all along, suddenly interjected.

"There are some other things, serious news about personnel appointments, which the Military Governor should probably already know." Seeing their commander inquire, the several reporting staff members also became serious. "The Minister of Personnel has been appointed as the former Director of the Imperial Academy, Chen Gongfu. The Minister of Rites has been appointed as the former Chief Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, Zhai Ruwen. The Chief Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial is filled by Vice Minister Wang Lun. The Imperial Academy is filled by Chen Kangbo, who made a big splash in the Imperial Library before... The only somewhat novel appointment is the Chief Minister of the Supreme Court. It was originally said that Palace Censor Wanqi Xie would take the position, but now there are faint rumors that this person will follow the precedent of former Censor-in-Chief Hu and Academician Lin and be sent out as a local official, seemingly to become a Grand Coordinator for the Jingdong East Circuit."

"If Censor Wanqi goes to the Jingdong East Circuit, that would be a good thing... Although he is a bit slippery in his actions, he is steady at his core and has dealt with the military many times... But with his seniority, how can he become a Grand Coordinator?" Yue Fei thought for a moment and continued asking. "Moreover, Jingdong has just been pacified; shouldn't it be a Pacification Commissioner?"

"The Military Governor may not know," the staff member below immediately explained further. "Since Grand Coordinator Lu Yihao of the southeast memorialized after the Yaoshan battle to abolish a host of temporary posts, no more Pacification Commissioners or Fiscal Commissioners have been appointed. It seems they are all uniformly called Grand Coordinators now."

Yue Fei nodded again. "This is a good thing."

"It is naturally a good thing... By the way, the position of the Imperial Library is also to be stabilized... There are rumors currently that the Emperor intends to abolish all literary academy posts except for the Jade Hall Academicians. Major officials will uniformly be given the concurrent title of Imperial Library Councillor to turn the virtual into reality."

Yue Fei nodded again.

After saying this, the staff member below seemed to have something more to say but hesitated.

"If you have something to say, say it. I asked you all here today precisely to hear what you have to say." Yue Fei urged him.

"There are rumors that the Emperor is giving power to the officials and lenient laws to the common people in exchange for the world ignoring his act of placing the Two Emperors under house arrest..." The staff member smiled bitterly.

Yue Fei immediately shook his head. "The mere Two Emperors are not worth the Emperor going to such lengths. Rather than saying he is using these things to exchange for the world ignoring the matter of the Two Emperors, it's more accurate to say he wants to use this to exchange for the world continuing to support his Northern Expedition... And in my view, there will be many more similar things. Especially since the puppet Qi was eliminated so quickly, even I didn't expect it, so the court naturally needs to be even more hurried."

The staff members below exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.

After these words, someone else brought up another matter. "Military Governor, Tian Shizhong has impeached you, and Grand Defender Zhang has also impeached you..."

"It's fine. The Emperor has fought wars; he knows what's going on." Yue Fei raised his hand in response. "You don't need to worry about this matter."

Everyone nodded, and the matter was dropped for the day.

Early the next morning, everyone washed up and quickly changed clothes. Even Yue Yun, only thirteen years old, obediently abandoned his usual attire and put on the kind of clothes a young official's son should wear. Then, led by Yue Fei, they entered the Great Inner Palace through the east side gate of Xuan De Tower, turned to Chongwen Institute, and arrived at the legendary Hall of All Affairs.

Once there, the group first took a turn around the famous Imperial Library. But Yue Fei, being prudent, did not dare to enter recklessly. Instead, they went to the east side to pay respects to the Councilors of the Department of State Affairs, Zhao Ding and Liu Ji, as well as the various Ministers and Vice Ministers. Knowing that Yue Fei, who had achieved the greatest merit this year, had arrived, these high officials all came to meet him. After a round of socializing, they then went to the west side, where the Bureau of Military Affairs was located, to submit documents. There, they inevitably spent time getting close to Zhang Jun and the more familiar officials of the Bureau of Military Affairs.

Amidst various idle chatter, one interesting thing was that when Zhang Jun saw Yue Yun, he was truly amazed... One must know that Han Shizhong, who had always been fixated on wanting a son, had his wife Liang Hongyu become pregnant for the first time only this year. She should have given birth by now, but the child's gender was still unknown. Zhang Jun was in a similar situation; one of his concubines had just become pregnant not long ago, and it was still unknown whether the child would survive, or whether it would be a boy or a girl. As for Yue Fei, he was not yet thirty, but his eldest son was already thirteen, and such a big lad at that. Not only that, he also had a second son, Yue Lei, born on the eve of the Jingkang Incident, and a third son, Yue Lin, born in the first year of his marriage to his new wife in Jizhou after divorcing his first wife, who was already one or two years old.

It can be seen that when it comes purely to the level of having sons, Yue Fei could beat ten Han Shizhongs, and even with Zhang Jun added, he could still beat ten.

Of course, those with insight understood that the reason for this was not any problem with Han Shizhong or Zhang Jun themselves, but rather the limitations of the era… In fact, even with Yue Fei being so prolific, the age gap between his second son Yue Lei and third son Yue Lin revealed the issue.

During times of war, everyone was displaced and wandering, barely spending a few nights sleeping with their wives—how could they have children?

Not only could they not have children, even marriage was hindered. For example, the eldest son of Chief Councilor Zhao Ding, Zhao Fen, would have been married long ago in normal times, but now no one considered him an old bachelor… This was not just because a councilor's son had no trouble finding a wife; the key was that everyone knew the chaos of the past few years had made it truly impossible and unthinkable to discuss marriage. There was a whole crop of similar older unmarried youths.

It was just that once the situation stabilized, people started getting married and getting pregnant in droves.

In fact, it wasn't just Zhang Jun, Han Shizhong, and Yue Fei. Even Tian Shizhong's father-in-law, Zhang Jun, who stood awkwardly to the side with nothing to say, had lost his eldest son and relied entirely on a few nephews and sons-in-law to keep up appearances. But after settling down in Xuzhou these past two years, he too, like a rooster laying eggs, had suddenly gained several more daughters and sons.

Even the more closely watched Imperial Majesty and the two Imperial Consorts followed the same logic.

Not long after the idle chat, as the memorial was delivered to the rear palace, an edict soon arrived, summoning Yue Fei and his party to the rear palace for an audience. The group quickly took their leave of Zhang Jun and set off again. On the way, they encountered Yang Yizhong, who had come to receive them, and soon entered Linhua Gate, stepping into the world-renowned Fishpond Rear Garden.

"Which one is Yang Zaixing, and which one is Guo Jin?"

Imperial Majesty sat upright in the famous Nameless Stone Pavilion, his brows relaxed and his spirit refreshed. He came straight in with great enthusiasm. Considering that both Imperial Consorts were pregnant, and given his previous case of getting heatstroke in summer, this truly made people marvel.

Of course, to make a long story short, upon hearing His Majesty's question, Yue Fei dared not be negligent, and Zhang Xian also grew tense. They each fixed a stern stare on those two reckless brave generals, afraid that the two might cause some blunder or embarrassment.

But fortunately, it could only be said that the repeated exhortations from yesterday and this morning had worked. At least the two knew that the man in front of them, dressed in cotton clothes, was His Majesty. They directly and obediently performed the rites and announced their names… Yang Zaixing did not dare to test whether His Majesty was a true hero, and Guo Jin did not dare to say that he had a kind heart and couldn't bear to see His Majesty suffer. They simply stood with their hands clasped, answering only when asked.

However, a person's character was plain to see. After Zhao Jiu asked a few more detailed questions, he clearly detected Yang Zaixing's wildness and Guo Jin's simple honesty. After finishing some idle talk, he couldn't help but shake his head again with a smile from his seat and said: "I hear that that traitor Guo Yaoshi has now been stripped of military power and made Prefect of Jinzhou. If one day we need to capture that villain, I will definitely have you two do it."

Yue Fei immediately led the two in bowing their heads in agreement: "If one day we strike straight into the Yellow Dragon, I will certainly use these two as the vanguard."

Zhao Jiu knew that no one present understood his joke, so he gave a dry laugh and nodded slightly. He had Yue Fei, Tian Shizhong, and Zhang Xian take their seats, and also had Wang Zhongfu, a student of the military academy who had been waiting for a long time, present apricots freshly picked from Apricot Mountain as refreshment.

The atmosphere eased slightly, and His Majesty then fixed his gaze on Yue Yun, who was only thirteen: "Pengju, did you get this child when you were sixteen?"

"Yes." Yue Fei glanced at his eldest son, who was sitting upright and didn't even dare to eat an apricot, and answered seriously. "This child is somewhat dull, has read few books, has just started practicing horse-riding skills, and lacks perseverance. He really isn't up to par…"

"How can a father keep saying his own child isn't good enough?" Zhao Jiu disagreed. "I think he's perfectly fine… In this regard, you became a father too early, which makes you a bit off track."

Yue Fei was speechless inside, not knowing where His Majesty got his experience in being a father, but he could only nod.

"Han Shizhong is no good either." Zhao Jiu shook his head even more. "I originally wanted him to stay and wait for you, but Lady Liang is clearly about to give birth, so I dared not delay him and let him request to return directly… He only got a child at forty, and before leaving, he was completely flustered, first asking me to help name the child, then asking me to grant an official post by imperial favor—completely the opposite of you."

Yue Fei found this even harder to respond to.

"Finally, since both Imperial Consorts happen to be pregnant, I made him a promise face to face: if it works out by chance, we'll become in-laws through our children. Only then did he let it go." Having said this, Zhao Jiu ignored the suddenly enlightened Yue Fei and Tian Shizhong, and instead pointed at Yue Yun. "Boy, does your grandmother believe more in Buddha or in the gods?"

Yue Yun, who had been secretly sizing up the thick knuckles of Wang Zhongfu beside him, was startled, clearly not understanding the implication, and blurted out: "Reporting to Your Majesty, my grandmother believes in both Buddha and the gods!"

"That won't do." Zhao Jiu instantly became serious. "Buddhas and gods will fight each other; you can only pick one."