Chapter 34: Public and Private

"I was truly foolish, really."

Lu Xiang Lu Haowen stood atop the small mountain stockade, hands clasped before him, gazing into the distance at a gentle slope on the southern flank of Mount Bagong. His stern expression was clearly tinged with a trace of sorrow...

There, in a place Lu Haowen's vision could not fully encompass, before a row of wooden poles freshly topped with human heads, the Zhao Song Emperor sat motionless in his armor. Behind the emperor, across the poles and heads, stood sixty or seventy Western Army officers who had received floggings yet now held rewards and stood at attention. On both sides were two hundred fully armored Imperial Personal Guards. And the Zhao Emperor sat there with this formation, silent, supervising the distribution of rewards to the entire army.

"I thought His Majesty would stop after killing Liu Guangshi yesterday, but I never expected him to be so brutal again today!" After watching for a long while and seeing nothing but orderly discipline there, Lord Lu still refused to turn back, yet continued his self-pitying lament.

Behind Lord Lu stood the Censor-in-Chief, Zhang Jun Zhang Deyuan. Hearing this, he initially wanted to remain silent, but for some reason—perhaps the events of these past days had also severely shaken him—this Censor-in-Chief could not hold back:

"Lord Lu, why deceive yourself? His Majesty's actions were foreshadowed long ago. At noon today, before the imperial tent's curtain, not just you and I, but even Lord Wang and the others had already guessed... It's just that none of us could do anything about it!"

This time it was Lu Haowen's turn to fall silent.

And Zhang Jun, having broken the decorum and reserve expected of an elite scholar-official, now spoke without restraint, since no one was nearby: "Now among the four high ministers in the temporary court, Lord Wang and Grand Commandant Wang already took a huge fall at Mingdao Palace. Though they've slowly recovered some breath these past few days by borrowing from Lord Li's (Li Gang) illness, after last night's events they are utterly powerless, and must be careful even when meekly agreeing with His Majesty! As for me, I rose young to prominence solely through His Majesty's promotion. Without His Majesty's full support, I couldn't even hold this Censor-in-Chief post steady—I'd have been disposed of by any one of the lords long ago! Only you, Lord Lu..."

"What about me?" Lu Haowen turned back helplessly, utterly dejected. "I too was once dealt with by Lord Li. Back then I was nearly forced to leave the temporary court, cut off from the central government. If His Majesty hadn't fallen into the well and undergone a drastic change of heart, needing an experienced minister..."

"Setting aside the well incident, you, Lord Lu, are not only the sole Eastern Court minister here in the temporary court, but also from a family of chancellors and a nationally renowned Neo-Confucian scholar. If anyone here can slightly restrain His Majesty, it can only be you, Lord Lu." Zhang Jun's words were sincere, as if urging Lu Haowen to step forward.

"Why would I begrudge a chancellor's position?" Lu Haowen, pressed to the wall, finally stated his position. "If the state were stable and everyone were vying for power, I would have long abandoned this post, taken a prefectural appointment, then gracefully resigned, and returned home to focus on scholarship. But isn't the state in peril now? The Jin are right across the river, the situation is precarious. As long as His Majesty and the temporary court cannot find peace for a single day, I cannot abandon the central government and leave!"

Zhang Jun was instantly speechless... But didn't he also know that this was precisely His Majesty's strategy? It was taking advantage of Lord Lu being a moral scholar who was easy to bully. If not for that, the Grand Counselor Xu and Grand Councilor Zhang, who had been sent to Huaidong and to handle matters behind the scenes, would be far too wronged!

"His Majesty's original intention was to set up a small situation in Shouzhou, to draw a small main force of the Jin army there, defend directly, not to annihilate the enemy, nor to win a great or small victory, but simply to let the Jin army exhaust itself and retreat on its own. This would let the world know that the Jin army is not invincible, that our army can fight, and would slightly boost morale and calm people's hearts!" After a pause, Zhang Jun finally spoke, but then actively defended Zhao Jiu. "His original intention was not to kill Liu Guangshi last night, nor to personally execute deserters today!"

"What difference does it make?" Lu Haowen grew even more dejected. "Can a state that has fallen to this point be restored in a single morning or evening? Setting aside the fact that Shouzhou can no longer be held, even if there were no Liu Guangshi affair and Shouzhou were held, so what? If held, morale would indeed improve, but once the Jin army returns with a full force of a hundred thousand, can it be held again? The current turmoil in the state stems from the instability of the temporary court. Instead of fighting for a breath of pride here, why not establish a foothold in Nanyang or Yangzhou as soon as possible! Once a foothold is secured, morale will naturally rise!"

"But you can't say His Majesty is doing something useless for the state, can you?" Zhang Jun pointed to the scene on the mountainside.

"It's not useless." Lu Haowen turned and came before Zhang Jun, taking his hand and saying, "It makes us useless... Now the state is collapsing, bandits are rising everywhere, the imperial army is incompetent. At this point, can anything His Majesty does make the situation worse? But the key is, in these actions, His Majesty has chosen personal will over the greater situation; he has chosen military men over relying on civil officials; he has chosen selfishness over public-mindedness..."

"How can it be called selfishness?" Zhang Jun, momentarily confused, couldn't help interrupting. "Since going into exile, His Majesty hasn't even used a single piece of ginger or fermented bean paste. His clothing and food are simpler than imaginable. Now he personally faces a desperate situation, personally lures the enemy and reorganizes the army. He seems utterly unrelated by blood to the Two Emperors..."

"But now he is the only one of Zhao Song's bloodline!" Lu Haowen exhaled a long breath of white air, then suddenly interrupted him. "If he is lost, Zhao Song will truly perish!"

Zhang Jun was instantly struck dumb.

"In the eyes of this current emperor, there is only himself. Gathering troops, binding generals, winning hearts—if he succeeds, it's all his; if he fails, the whole world must be buried with him!" As Lu Haowen spoke, tears actually fell. "He abandons a safe path, discards the ancestral systems and family laws, and acts willfully. Isn't it because even if that path succeeds, the credit would go to the ministers, and he would have little to do with it? Before falling into the well, he was selfish in his timidity. After falling into the well, I once thought he had changed, but in just a few months, his old nature has re-emerged, only reversed into another kind of selfishness—what might be called selfishness in recklessness!"

Zhang Jun could not refute this, so he could only hold the other's hand and console him softly: "Lord Lu, His Majesty is still young after all. Having suffered such a great upheaval, it's only natural that his temperament is unsettled for a time... Even you and I, after the Jingkang Incident and escaping from Dongjing, haven't we also changed our former natures?"

"It's different." Lu Haowen let out another long sigh. "I am old and declining, incapable of handling affairs, and rose through the patronage system with no great ambition. After this great upheaval, I can only use my seniority and prestige to help His Majesty patch things up as best I can. But you are not yet thirty. In normal times, being a seventh-rank capital official would already be a stroke of fortune. The future holds infinite possibilities for you... So Deyuan, you must listen to me: being able to recognize talent, use talent, accumulate experience, and gather staff—these can all come slowly. But you absolutely must have your own opinions, firm convictions, and decisiveness. Otherwise, even if you enter the Eastern or Western Courts and become a chancellor, you will end up just like me!"

Zhang Jun was deeply grateful, forgetting that he had originally come to urge this Eastern Court minister to step forward, and was instead moved by the other.

And Lord Lu, having spoken thus, grew even more emotional. Still gripping the other's hands, he continued: "Deyuan, things have come to this. More words from us are useless. But now military affairs are perilous, and His Majesty is acting willfully. It seems he cannot be persuaded to retreat. Yet if the Jin army truly crosses the river and brings disaster, I am old and frail, and I fear I will not escape this Mount Bagong. At that time, nothing else matters, except that I have some manuscripts with me in the temporary court, the fruits of many years of careful work. Starting tonight, I entrust them to you. I do not ask you to promote them, only that you might organize them for me in the future..."

Hearing this, Zhang Jun nearly shed tears himself.

So the two ministers, a hundred times more intelligent than Zhao Jiu, stood hand in hand atop the small mountain stockade, their eyes moist, rarely so candid. They discussed the shattered mountains and rivers, the fate of the state, their personal futures, and entrusted the future to one another, seemingly on the verge of developing from a temporary political alliance into a lifelong friendship. But before they could say much more and cement this admirable feudal scholar-official friendship, a sudden commotion broke out on the mountainside, clearly indicating something had happened. Startled, the two quickly let go and sent a Personal Guard to inquire. They learned that the Jin had taken the opportunity to cross the river!!

Even though the two claimed to be pillars of the Great Song, they could not help panicking at this moment... This was not their fault. In fact, even Zhao Jiu, who had recently been brimming with 'heroic spirit' on the mountainside, was also uncontrollably alarmed—otherwise, there would have been no commotion.

However, when the two hastily set off and rushed to the mountainside, they found that the Zhao Emperor had personally led Grand Councilor Wang, Grand Commandant Wang, and a group of officers and core elites down the mountain. Horrified to death yet not finding it strange, the two hurriedly chased after them again, but only halfway there they heard a thunderous cheer erupt from the wilderness east of the ferry landing at the foot of the mountain.

The two temporary court officials went to investigate further and learned the details.

It turned out that the Jin simply did not have organized ferry boats, nor could they have made thorough preparations for crossing. It was merely that the Jin army's commander, the Fourth Prince Jin Wushu, had arrived in person, sensed the unusual activity south of the river, then personally reined in his horse on the northern riverbank and issued orders for a reconnaissance crossing. The Jin scout cavalry, relying on their arrogance over the past few years and wanting to show off before their commander, had then brazenly taken two small boats of unknown origin across the river to have a look!

There were no more than twenty or thirty of them!

As for Zhao Jiu, upon learning the specifics, he naturally regained his composure. Then, while personally descending the mountain, he took the opportunity to summon Wang De, pointed at the boats, and promised him the position of Imperial Camp Commander on the spot, wanting to see what this 'Yaksha Wang' could do!

And who was Wang De? Back when the Jin army had a hundred thousand men, he had dared to charge their camp and seize prisoners. Today, with a mere twenty or thirty men, why would he be afraid? He immediately mounted his horse. Without using the main army or bows and crossbows, under the gaze of ten thousand eyes, he led several dozen cavalry from his personal troops out of the stockade. On the frozen-hard riverbank, he personally beat to death the dozen or so bold Jin soldiers who had come ashore in hand-to-hand combat, startling the boat behind them into turning back mid-river!

And the Song army, rarely gathered together, let out a wild cheer.

Lu Haowen and Zhang Jun were drenched in cold sweat from fright. They looked at each other in silence, speechless... Meanwhile, on the other side of the river, a man who had witnessed this from afar and awaited reports was also stunned into a daze.

"The men on the boat that escaped back said it was Yaksha Wang on the other side. That they lost a boatload of men, I have nothing to say about. But they also said they saw the imperial regalia across the river—that the new Zhao Song emperor hadn't fled at all, and that Yaksha Wang had been ordered into battle on his command..." Jin Wushu sat on his horse, standing by the riverbank and watching for a while, then couldn't help turning to ask a Song defector beside him. "Is it true or false?"

"It should be true that he hasn't fled," the defector, formerly a Vice Prefect of Jingdongdong Circuit, who was currently in favor and had been promoted to Staff Officer for his tireless efforts in pointing out roads, cities, and granaries along the way, naturally hastened to explain. "First, our Great Jin army advanced so swiftly that the Song army could hardly have set up a complete deception in such haste. Second, Fourth Prince, please look over there... On the northern peak of Mount Bagong opposite, is there not a banner standing tall?"

"What of that banner?" Wushu was momentarily puzzled.

"Let me inform the Fourth Prince: anyone with a modicum of common knowledge should recognize that as the Imperial Gold-Inlaid Banner, used exclusively for the imperial carriage. If the dragon banner is here, it means the Zhao Song emperor must also be here!" The man quickly explained. "Corroborating each other, this further proves the Zhao Song emperor hasn't fled... Allow your subject to congratulate the Fourth Prince here!"

Wushu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly waved his hand behind him: "Cut this fellow's throat!"

The man was stunned for a moment, but before he could react, Jin soldiers had already come forward, seized him on horseback, and slit his throat with a single, easy cut. The man struggled for a moment, then immediately fell from his horse.

Wushu didn't even look at the still-twitching body beneath the horse, but shook his head repeatedly: "These Song people are always putting on airs... 'Anyone with a modicum of common knowledge should recognize it'—I didn't recognize it, so what? Even in a fallen state as a defector, he still has to show off. Truly ridiculous!"

With that, he turned and went back to camp on his own, leaving only the corpse of a defector who died without knowing why, frozen stiff by the riverbank.

PS: Happy New Year, everyone! I got up at 4:45 PM. What about you all?