Chapter 323: Chapter Seventy-Four: Imperial Favor

"Are you Weiming Heda?"

On the twenty-second day of the fourth month, in the afternoon, with warm breezes blowing in gusts, Zhao Jiu met Xiao Heda at the crossroads outside Jintang Fort in Bao'an Army. Whether by design or accident, he used an awkward form of address right from the start.

"The foreign vassal pays homage to Your Majesty, the Emperor of the Great Song."

Xiao Heda, who had come forward with several attendants and a few Dangxiang tribal chieftains, no longer bore any of his former unruly airs from the Hengshan Mountains. He knelt submissively before the horse, then lowered his head to explain. "Let Your Majesty know that since the foreign vassal has returned to the righteous cause, he has also restored his original surname and now goes by Xiao Heda once more... The surname Weiming was bestowed upon me in the past at Xiazhou, when I was deceived by the bandit Li Qianshun, and I accepted it temporarily."

"General Xiao, you have endured humiliation and borne a heavy burden. You have worked hard. Rise." Zhao Jiu reined in his horse and stood still, readily accepting the correction. "But as the saying goes, 'When the Duke of Zhou feared slander, and Wang Mang feigned humility before usurping the throne'... At that time, how deferential was Li Qianshun to the Khitans? And if not for the Khitans saving him several times, the Western Xia would have perished back in the reign of Emperor Zhezong. Who could have imagined that, seeing the tide turn, he would abandon the Khitans and follow the Jin dogs? Following the Jin dogs is one thing, but to have his wife of decades and his own flesh and blood killed off—is that even human? One can only say that it is no wonder General Xiao was deceived in the past, and no wonder he has risen in righteous indignation today."

Xiao Heda stood up alone. He had only time to glance at the famous dragon banner fluttering loudly in the summer wind behind the Zhao official, when he heard these words. Then this stalwart general's eyes reddened—whether feigned or a genuine outpouring of emotion was hard to say.

This was truly hard to say.

Logically, Xiao Heda was a vassal of Princess Nanxian, sharing her fortunes and those of her son. Some emotional attachment would be only natural.

However, looking at this man—he did not rebel when the Western Xia fully sided with the Jin state, nor when Princess Nanxian and her son died one after another. It was only upon hearing that Yelu Dashi and the Great Song were jointly attacking the Western Xia that he rebelled. One could not help but suspect that it was only after Princess Nanxian's death, when he felt the status of these Khitan vassals in the Western Xia had plummeted, and when he himself was dissatisfied that his power in the Hengshan region was being encroached upon by the Western Xia's royal clan, that he gradually developed rebellious intentions.

Of course, to put it another way, at that time he saw no hope of successful resistance and endured for a while—that was also possible. One could not simply say he acted only for his own wealth and power.

With this thought, Zhao Jiu looked down at the man from his horse, then laughed aloud before the crowd: "General Xiao, I see you as a loyal and righteous minister. You have rendered great service this time, and you are a minister without a master in a fallen state. I hold you in great esteem in my heart... I am minded to appoint you as the Commander of the Imperial Guard. What do you say?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere around them became subtly tense:

First, everyone had expected such a critical matter to be discussed after entering the city. They never imagined the Zhao official would be so direct, raising it after only a few exchanges on the road. Second, everyone present beside the imperial carriage knew that the Commander of the Imperial Guard was an extremely powerful post. The Zhao official, while applying pressure, was also showing considerable sincerity.

Therefore, the civil and military officials around exchanged glances repeatedly, but in the end, they all fixed their gaze on Xiao Heda, who had just risen.

Xiao Heda, whose weapons had been confiscated in advance, was also drenched in sweat.

Sweating profusely at this time was certainly no problem. It was late April, the weather was already hot, and Xiao Heda had ridden hard from Hongzhou, toiling for most of the day. Sweating was only natural... But sweating aside, the official had asked a question and offered such a fine post. He had to answer, didn't he?

"The foreign vassal is ashamed." Xiao Heda had sweated a great deal, but in the end, he steeled himself to reply. "The foreign vassal is a Khitan by birth, and since the Great King Dashi has formed an alliance with Your Majesty, it is only right that the foreign vassal should return to the Liao..."

"That is one way to put it." Zhao Jiu seemed to ponder, continuing to press him from horseback. "But have you considered this, Minister? What I promised to Yelu Dashi were the six prefectures west of the Yellow River, plus the four army commands of Heishui, Heishan, Baima, and Youxiang. The seven prefectures of the Hengshan region, by reason, by treaty, and by fact, are Song territory... Therefore, if you wish to return to the Liao, I naturally have no objection. But the Xiazhou where you have lived for twenty years will be under the jurisdiction of this Transport Commissioner Hu. The ten thousand or so native Xiazhou soldiers you command will also be under the command of Commander-in-Chief Wu of the Imperial Rear Army. Are you willing to abandon your twenty-year foundation and return to the Liao empty-handed?"

Xiao Heda was not only drenched in sweat but also looked terrified. At this moment, he could neither agree nor disagree.

If he agreed, it meant giving up the ten thousand troops in Xiazhou and the tens of thousands of Khitan tribesmen who had fled to Xiazhou after the Liao state's fall. If he disagreed, it meant the emperor before him could turn hostile at any moment, and a hostile emperor could have him, this so-called fearsome commander of Xiazhou, killed on the spot... Heaven have mercy, what was a general who dominated the Hengshan Mountains worth before a Chinese emperor? Especially when his son and his army were left behind in Hongzhou, enveloped by Wu Jie's twenty-thousand-strong Imperial Army, while he himself had come almost alone before the imperial carriage.

"Minister Xiao?" Zhao Jiu finally grew impatient and urged him on with half a sentence.

And with these words, whether it was an illusion or not, several fully armed generals behind the official unconsciously moved forward half a step, causing a group of armored cavalry to also advance half a step.

"The foreign vassal should naturally return to the Liao." Forced into a corner, Xiao Heda gritted his teeth and replied with effort, still clinging to the hope of securing the best possible outcome, relying on nothing more than the alliance between Yelu Dashi and the man before him. "But the tens of thousands of Khitan tribesmen in Xiazhou, as well as the Khitan soldiers in the army, I beg Your Majesty to be generous and grant them, allowing me to take them west of the Yellow River..."

"Those are my subjects. Why should they migrate with you?" Zhao Jiu immediately turned hostile, clearly having already calculated this. "Minister Xiao, are you not being a little too arrogant about your merits?"

Xiao Heda's heart sank.

"Your Majesty!" Just then, a civil official suddenly reined in his horse and spoke, his expression stern. It was none other than the Central Secretariat Drafter Zheng Zhichang. "I believe that Xiao Heda, relying on his military strength to hold himself dear, is waiting for the best offer. He regards his subordinates and fellow tribesmen as his private property and uses them to defy his sovereign. This trend must not be allowed to grow. He should be executed to set an example!"

Xiao Heda was dumbfounded... He had no idea how he had offended this unfamiliar Song minister. But soon, this commander of Xiazhou realized that he had not offended this minister at all—he had offended the Zhao Song official himself. Because upon hearing this remonstrance, the Zhao Song official did not even think before nodding directly.

And then, before Xiao Heda could react, as the official gave a slight nod, several stalwart armored soldiers dismounted and rushed at him. Dozens of armored cavalry rode around to encircle him, directly seizing him. They even had a gag and ropes prepared in advance.

Only then did Xiao Heda completely abandon his wishful thinking, his heart turning cold.

Heaven have mercy, Xiao Heda was not unaware of an emperor's authority, nor was he unaware that he was but an ant before him. But having dealt with Li Qianshun for so long, he had developed some bad habits, and only now did he remember that the Son of Heaven of the Zhao Song before him was a mounted emperor who could personally kill a Military Governor like Liu Guangshi, a de facto Regent like Du Chong, and even exchange arrows face-to-face with Wanyan Loushi!

If he fell out of favor now and was killed, it would be done directly.

To make matters worse, he had been gagged and bound from the start, unable even to repent and beg for mercy... This patch of yellow earth beneath him was clearly to be his burial ground.

"G-Great Emperor!" Just as Xiao Heda, gagged, was being dragged away to the periphery, a Dangxiang man in plain clothes, who had been kneeling all along, suddenly raised his head and spoke to the Zhao official in halting, almost stammering Chinese. "Y-You should not kill Commander Xiao!"

The nearby Dangxiang tribal chieftains of the Hengshan Mountains, who were dressed in finery but had been kneeling with heads bowed, the accompanying civil and military officials, officers and soldiers, and even the Zhao official himself were all momentarily stunned. The armored soldiers dragging Xiao Heda also stopped abruptly at a signal from Yang Yizhong... At the crossroads outside Jintang Fort, the entire scene seemed to fall into a strange, frozen silence.

Only the dragon banner flapped loudly, reminding everyone that time was still passing.

"Why can I not kill this Xiao Heda?" Zhao Jiu suddenly laughed. "What is wrong with me killing a military chieftain who defies me and wants to take away my subjects? Is it only because he is your attendant, and he is your superior and benefactor?"

"Y-Your Majesty!" The man's face was flushed red, sweat pouring down. He first knocked his head on the ground several times before managing to speak with effort. "Although I am Commander Xiao's attendant, I am also the director of the Flying Dragon Bureau in Youzhou, a subject of Your Majesty... I speak from the position of Your Majesty's subject... I wish to say that killing this man does not accord with the law! It does not accord with reason!"

Zhao Jiu laughed even more, and most of the civil and military officials around joined in the laughter.

Amid the laughter, this man, A Hua, gradually became more fluent in his speech: "Your Majesty, in this situation, the seven prefectures of the Hengshan Mountains are destined to become Your Majesty's prefectures. The people, officials, tribes, and armies of these seven prefectures are all destined to become Your Majesty's subjects... But these seven prefectures have been separated for a hundred years. Their sudden return will inevitably cause unrest among the people. To win their hearts, Your Majesty must now speak of law, of righteousness, and also of benevolence... Xiao Hada chose to become a foreign vassal himself, yet he was still greedy. That is certainly his fault. But he has been in Xiazhou for twenty years, and the people are attached to him. Killing him now might cause some foolish people to misunderstand and harbor improper thoughts. I beg Your Majesty to make a wise decision."

Zhao Jiu nodded with a smile, then turned to look at Hu Yin, who had not been laughing at all.

This entire scene had been arranged and discussed by Zhao Jiu with Hu Yin, Lu Benzhong, Yang Yizhong, and others after receiving Wu Jie's report on the road... After all, leaving aside the military aspects of this campaign, there had long been plans and discussions regarding how to treat the various tribes in the newly recovered territories. The Dangxiang were, of course, to be absorbed, courted, digested, and employed. As for the Khitans in the Hengshan region, their only use at this point was to be quickly brought under control and used as a card to effectively check Yelu Dashi.

The significance of several tens of thousands of Khitans to Yelu Dashi's Western Liao regime at this time was self-evident.

And to control these tribes, their leader naturally had to be separated from them. But it could only be separation—it would not do to harm him and break the alliance.

In fact, even if this Dangxiang man had not spoken up, Hu Yin was supposed to step in according to plan, suggest sparing Xiao Heda's life, and then have him sent promptly to Yelu Dashi to remind the latter not to be half-hearted.

But no one had expected a Dangxiang man—whether a loyal and righteous man or one who had seen through the Zhao Song court's policy direction early on—to suddenly appear and disrupt the plan... Of course, calling it a disruption, the effect was actually better.

At the very least, it also served to pacify the Dangxiang in one go, saving trouble.

Returning to the present, after exchanging a glance with the Zhao official, Hu Yin, the Transport Commissioner who had had his big scene stolen, finally reined his horse forward. He stopped before the imperial carriage and asked the Dangxiang man seriously: "What is your name?"

"A Hua."

"No surname?"

"My ancestors were of the Xifeng clan..."

"What kind of post is Director of the Flying Dragon Bureau?"

"The director in charge of raising military horses in the prefecture."

"What is your background?"

"I come from a Dangxiang tribe in the Hengshan Mountains under Longzhou."

"Have you studied, attended school?"

"I studied for two or three years."

"How large is your tribe?"

"Over a hundred men and women..."

After finishing his questions, Hu Yin turned and cupped his hands to the emperor: "Your Majesty, I request that this man be temporarily appointed as Vice Prefect of Hongzhou. I also beg Your Majesty to heed his advice, release Xiao Heda to return to the Liao empty-handed, to cut off his improper thoughts and to preserve his loyalty and righteousness."

The Zhao official readily accepted the suggestion, nodding directly. A Hua, overjoyed, did not even thank him for the favor but collapsed to the ground, feeling that his plain cloth robe was completely soaked through.

Zhao Jiu did not take offense either. Instead, he dismounted directly, not minding the man's heavy body odor, and personally helped him up from the ground, saying something along the lines of "If not for you, I would have nearly made a grave mistake."

This caused Lu Benzhong, Zheng Zhichang, and the others to sigh with emotion repeatedly, almost composing poems in praise.

After the Zhao Emperor finished pacifying this local Tangut exemplar according to the established procedure, knowing that his scheduled performance had already exceeded its target thanks to this man's cooperation, he relaxed and prepared to mount his horse and return to Jintang City.

But just as he was about to move, he caught sight of the Imperial Personal Guards dragging over the disheveled Xiao Heda, then releasing him and removing his gag. A sudden mischievous impulse arose in his heart... of course, it also served as a warning to Yelu Dashi, who had just returned within the passes... So he immediately turned his head and spoke:

"Minister Xiao, do you resent me?"

Xiao Heda shook his head repeatedly, tears streaming down his face: "This foreign subject was just blinded by sheep fat, committing a grave error first. Now I only feel grateful for Your Majesty's benevolence and tolerance..."

"Even so, I still feel somewhat ashamed." Zhao Jiu mounted his horse and also shook his head with a sigh. "What do you think of this, Minister? I intend to bestow the Zhao surname upon Ahua, and also upon you as compensation. I hope that when you return to Grand Secretary Yelu's side, you can, like Yelu Yu, contribute to the friendship between our two nations... How about it?"

The people around were dumbfounded, both surprised and doubtful. Of course, Zhao Ahua quickly dismounted to kowtow in thanks.

Xiao Heda, however, pressed his lips together in response, but only for a moment before he followed Ahua in kneeling on the spot: "This foreign subject is fearful and ashamed, yet dares not refuse. Brazen-faced, I accept the great Song imperial surname."

Zhao Jiu nodded, then led the group as they spurred their horses away... And Xiao... Weiming... Zhao Heda, along with the newly appointed Vice Prefect of Hongzhou, Zhao Ahua, and the others, were enveloped by the army and entered Jintang City.

Thus, on the twenty-third day, the garrison of Youzhou, led by Weiming Yunge and Weiming Renli, abandoned the city and fled west.

The next day, Wu Jie advanced in force toward Yanzhou. At the same time, new intelligence from Yue Fei arrived via Huanzhou, informing them of the fact that Yelu Dashi had likely gone north to the Houtao region, and that Li Qianshun and his son might also be in Houtao.

Upon receiving this intelligence, Zhao Jiu did not hesitate. He directly sent Zhao Heda out, who, escorted by some Imperial Personal Guards, carried a letter personally signed and sealed by the Zhao Emperor, traveling through Yanzhou to Xingqing Prefecture, and then heading north to Houtao.

This day was the twenty-fourth of the fourth month.

At this time, Weiming Chage's main force had successfully joined with the vanguard at Lingzhou. Huonu, upon hearing that the Song Zhao Emperor's dragon banner had appeared behind the Song army's lines, suddenly launched an attack on the Song forces. And on this day, the Khitan vanguard had successfully reached Houtao and joined forces with the previously deployed detached force in the Yinshan region, that is, the Mongol tribes led by Yelu Yanshan.

On this same day, the Jurchen vanguard, Wanyan Zhehe, arrived at Dongsheng Prefecture, located at the upper right turning point of the Yellow River's zigzag, thus entering the outermost edge of the Hetao region.

Compared to the minor battlefield episode of Zhao Heda and Zhao Ahua, this battle was still several inevitable... annihilation battles, repulsion battles, pursuit battles, and encounter battles away from its conclusion... because, with a battlefield of several hundred thousand men and the gain or loss of over a dozen prefectures and counties, someone had to be responsible for bloodshed, death, and defeat.

PS: Thanks to the big shot Man·Liuyun Zhishang for the sponsorship, this is the 138th sponsorship. Of course, also thanks to the big shot Fengxiao Qianghuang for the sponsorship, this is the 137th sponsorship of this book, and it should be this big shot's third alt account... Big shots really know how to play.

Then, as usual, I recommend the new book *The Great Song Has Guts*, Da Luoluo's new book. I grew up reading Da Luoluo's books.