Chapter 36: Crossing in the Snow (Part One)

The snow fell heavier, the sky grew darker, and the mountain was still ablaze with lights both above and below. Zhao Jiu returned to the Northern Ridge, but his mind was utterly unsettled. This was not only because it was his first time celebrating the New Year in this era, inevitably stirring melancholy and nostalgia; nor was it solely due to Lu Haowen's recent remonstrance, which made him realize that his control over every aspect—even just this mere Huainan encampment—was only superficial and temporary…

But more importantly, Zhao Jiu was still worried about the somewhat silent Xiacai City to the north.

One must understand that the New Year festival was an enormous occasion for everyone living on this land. Even the Jin army universally celebrated it. From the excellent vantage point atop the Northern Ridge of Bagong Mountain, looking down and across, one could faintly detect that the Jin army camp was also lit up with feasting and drinking. Yet the vast Xiacai City, though brightly lit, was utterly silent at this moment.

Such a situation could only indicate that the morale of the people there, including Grand Defender Zhang Jun himself, had sunk to an extreme. It was almost imaginable that the arrival of the festival brought Xiacai not an opportunity to catch its breath, but rather catalyzed their despair in this desperate situation.

"Your Majesty!"

Bound by duty, Yang Yizhong, seeing that His Majesty Zhao had been sitting under the dragon banner watching for a long time, with snow already beginning to accumulate on his shoulders, couldn't help but step forward to advise. "It is getting late, and the wind and snow are heavy here. It would be better to return early."

"Can we send something to Xiacai City?" Zhao Jiu stood with his hands clasped behind his back, not even turning his head.

"Absolutely not." Yang Yizhong answered every question, having naturally considered this issue long before, so he spoke almost without thinking. "Your subject knows Your Majesty is worried about the morale of the troops inside Xiacai, but now the inner ferry has been burned. There is no place to dock a boat to deliver supplies or reward the troops."

"What if we don't send large quantities of goods, but just dispatch an envoy to reward the troops?" Zhao Jiu pressed further.

"A single boat would be no problem. During the day, there were river patrol soldiers who delivered Your Majesty and the councilors' words of comfort over there." Yang Yizhong sighed. "But that is all that can be done. The soldiers inside the city are vaguely unstable, and the boats dare not approach. In such a situation, if we truly sent a formal envoy, it might backfire…"

"You mean they would end up like Zhao Yuanzhen?" Zhao Jiu casually mentioned a person—Zhao Ding, who had gone to cross the river to deliver an imperial edict on the day of the great fire, then went missing after the fire started. Only yesterday was it confirmed that he had been detained inside Xiacai City by the angry soldiers of Zhang Jun's unit, and was now being 'protected' by Grand Defender Zhang.

"Yes! If another imperial envoy were detained in the army, it would only increase the instability in Xiacai City. Moreover, in such circumstances…"

"And in such circumstances, among the few civil and military officials in the temporary court, no one is willing to cross the river. From the broader perspective, it's not worth sacrificing their lives for this futile matter?"

"Yes." Yang Yizhong answered immediately, then paused before gritting his teeth and speaking. "But Your subject can go. Your subject originally served in Grand Defender Zhang's army and am familiar with the people there. They won't detain me. Instead, I can persuade Grand Defender Zhang to steady his heart, and perhaps even bring Censor Zhao back."

"Then go!" Zhao Jiu looked up at the snowflakes dancing beside him and falling into the brazier, then gave the order directly. "Take advantage of the dark. Bring my golden tablet. Then issue your own military order, take a squad pretending to patrol the river, board a small boat, and secretly cross the river to the inner ferry at Xiacai opposite."

Yang Yizhong nodded repeatedly and hurried off, only to return again. "Does Your Majesty have any words to convey to Grand Defender Zhang?"

"No! Just comfort him in person!" Zhao Jiu hesitated for a moment, then suddenly shook his head. "After you're prepared, come to my tent to get the golden tablet."

For no reason, Yang Yizhong's heart tightened, but he could only acknowledge the order.

Once Yang Yizhong had left, Zhao Jiu returned to his tent alone and summoned Lan Gui, the Director of the Palace Eunuch Service. He first had the latter fetch the golden tablet, then ordered him to personally help him put on his armor… Lan Gui wore a bitter expression the entire time, yet surprisingly dared not remonstrate.

Moments later, Yang Yizhong returned to the imperial tent. Seeing Zhao Jiu dressed as an ordinary guard, carrying a food box, he was not surprised at all, merely looking up and sighing.

To be fair, like Lan Gui, after the incident with Liu Guangshi and the Western Army deserters, no one in the Huainan encampment could openly defy Zhao Jiu's reckless indulgence anymore. In fact, not to mention a military officer and a eunuch, even someone like Councilor Lu, a true prime minister and the second most important person in the temporary court, could only offer vague advice under the guise of drunken words, couldn't he?

However, this time was still of great importance. Although Yang Yizhong dared not directly remonstrate, he walked slowly along the way. At the riverside ferry, he even used excuses to dismiss idle personnel, stalling endlessly and refusing to start the boat… Zhao Jiu said nothing, letting him perform, until Censor-in-Chief Zhang Jun, having received the news from Lan Gui, arrived at the ferry in a flustered state amidst the falling snow.

"Your… Your Majesty, why on earth are you doing this?"

Zhang Jun arrived at the ferry and saw Zhao Jiu calmly boarding the boat in front of him. He could no longer restrain himself, rushing forward, grabbing the food box in the other's hand, and asking almost tearfully.

"I got two things wrong." Zhao Jiu had one foot on the boat and the other on the gunwale, then let out a soft sigh. "First, I thought Councilor Lu would come; second, I thought Deyuan you would directly remonstrate, but instead you asked this question, which caught me off guard."

"It was your subject who stopped Councilor Lu." Zhang Jun forced himself to reply. "As things stand, with Your Majesty's authority in this temporary court, if you insist on doing something, no one can stop you. And as Censor-in-Chief, the remonstrance officials, it is my duty to liaise between the councilor and the Son of Heaven, so I volunteered to come here. As for my question today, it is also something I have figured out over these past few days. Matters have no inherent right or wrong; it's just about making choices. So I am asking on behalf of all those who do not understand Your Majesty: why must it be this way?"

"I truly don't know…"

"Then let me ask more clearly." Snow fell in profusion, the brazier at the ferry flickered, and Zhang Jun, standing on the wooden planks of the dock, showed no sign of letting go. "Why did Your Majesty have to kill Liu Guangshi with your own hands? Why did you have to personally deal with the deserters? Why, with the situation already so dire and Xiacai beyond recovery, must Your Majesty still hold firm at the Huai River? What is the meaning? And this time, why must Your Majesty personally risk danger to go to the opposite shore? Does Your Majesty not realize that if Zhang Jun harbors ill intentions, or if he cannot control his subordinates, the state faces the danger of collapse? And all the previous actions, and all that may follow, why must Your Majesty insist on going your own way?"

"I still don't know." Zhao Jiu shook his head again upon hearing this. "Deyuan, I know you mean well and are sincere, but some things have no answers, do they?"

Zhang Jun shook his head in silence, his hand still not loosening, clearly dissatisfied with this answer… In fact, since this Censor-in-Chief had mustered the courage to come this far, it seemed he could not be let off without an explanation.

"But I can understand you, Deyuan…" Seeing the other's state, Zhao Jiu instead smiled wryly. "You all have been encouraging me lately by comparing me to Emperor Guangwu. Speaking of Guangwu, on the day before the Battle of Kunyang, everyone said to abandon Kunyang, but Guangwu alone insisted it was impossible. He then left the city with only thirteen men to seek reinforcements. I imagine someone back then also asked, 'General, why must you be so stubborn?' In fact, I want to ask you, Deyuan, with your great learning, why do you think Guangwu was so stubborn back then? According to the situation at the time, wouldn't retreating to Xiangyang have been better? Why was he unwilling to retreat?"

Zhang Jun was momentarily stunned.

"Speaking of Wang Mang, I also want to ask: Wang Mang was a model Confucian for half his life, so why did he act against reason in the latter half?"

"Why did Fuchai spare Goujian? How could Goujian destroy Wu after eighteen years?"

"How could Qin have six generations of wise rulers, advancing step by step, swallowing the world? And why did it fall after just two generations?"

"Why did the Chu minister throw himself into the river? Though Chu had but three clans, why must it be Chu that destroyed Qin?"

Zhang Jun was gradually losing his composure, and even Yang Yizhong behind Zhao Jiu was stunned by what he heard.

"And there is Emperor Zhaolie, whom Councilor Li used to encourage me. When Liu Xuande was defeated at Dangyang, his wife and children scattered, and his own life was nearly lost, why did he insist on crossing the river with the people?" Zhao Jiu continued to ask seriously, with a hint of solemnity. "And why did Marquis Wu of Zhuge futilely march out of Qishan six times?"

Hearing this, thinking of the story from that night, Zhang Jun's grip almost slackened.

"And why did Zhang Xun insist on defending Suiyang to the death? Why did the Hegemon-King of Chu prefer death to crossing the Yangtze? And why did Wanyan Aguda rise in rebellion against Liao?"

Having said this, Zhao Jiu easily removed the other's hand from the food box. "Deyuan, don't you understand yet? Do you think I have been doing these things these past days for no reason? Have I not privately asked myself why I must be so stubborn? And what I asked you today is merely a tiny fraction of my random thoughts. If I mentioned Alexander, Hannibal, or Caesar, you might not know them; speaking of Zhu Yuanzhang or Napoleon would be even more absurd… But no matter how much I think or ask, I still don't know why! I can only console myself: since it's done, it's done—why ask so many questions?"

Having said this, Zhao Jiu, dressed as an ordinary guard, finally sat down in the boat with the food box and was about to order Yang Yizhong to set sail quickly, when he suddenly remembered something and asked Zhang Jun, who was standing on the wooden dock, one more question:

"Oh, by the way, last time in Xiacai City, Deyuan told me about Li Ruoshui. What happened to him later? You know, I truly cannot remember many things."

"He died." Zhang Jun answered in a daze, almost without thinking. "Captured during the Jingkang Incident. When the Two Emperors were humiliated in the Jin camp, he cursed the Jin people aloud. Zhan Han cut out his tongue. Unable to curse with his mouth, he glared angrily and pointed with his hand, so they gouged out his eyes and cut off his hands, finally killing him by dismemberment…"

"You see, that's it." Zhao Jiu sighed softly. "Li Ruoshui had been an envoy to the Jin state in his early years. From what you said that day, I know he understood the barbarity of the Jin people better than anyone. So why did he still curse them?"

Zhang Jun could bear it no longer. He knelt in the snow on the wooden dock beside the boat, grabbed the gunwale, and wept like rain: "Your Majesty, your subject begs to cross the river to Xiacai in your place!"

"If you going would work, I wouldn't have said so much." Zhao Jiu waved his hand helplessly. "But under these circumstances, I am the only one who can reassure Grand Defender Zhang. If you truly mean well, return to the imperial camp and control the situation for me. Try to keep it as secret as possible. It would be best if no one discovers it until I return."

Having said this, Zhao Jiu brushed aside Zhang Jun's already weakened hands and ordered Yang Yizhong to start the boat quickly. Yang Yizhong no longer dared to hesitate… In an instant, amidst the heavy snow on New Year's Eve, the august emperor of the Zhao Song dynasty, riding only a light skiff, braved the snow to cross the Huai River northward.

PS: Goodnight, everyone… That's all.