Chapter 83: A Small Drink

It was already late, but the city of Xia Cai was brightly lit and buzzing with voices.

Now, Prime Minister Lu Haowen had personally crossed the river that evening to reward the troops, but because he was worried that the Jin army still had a large cavalry force to the north with unclear movements, there was no grand feast that day to honor the soldiers. However, by nightfall, several civil officials from the temporary court couldn't resist their old habits and gathered together again, taking advantage of Zhao Ding's residence to have a small drink to calm their nerves.

"Han Liangchen ambushed and killed an enemy general today, earning the highest merit. His courage, wisdom, and martial prowess rival those of ancient famous generals. With such great achievements, he should be made a Military Governor, shouldn't he?" As soon as everyone had downed their first celebratory cup and before they could drink privately, Imperial Censor Zhang Jun Zhang Deyuan couldn't wait to speak.

"Grand Commandant Zhang is also not far behind," Zhao Ding Zhao Yuanzhen, Zhang Jun's former sworn brother and now the Prefect of Shouzhou, who might soon be promoted, responded without delay. "He already holds the title of Observer. This time, he remained calm in the face of danger and commanded with composure. Coupled with his previous merit of guarding Xia Cai alone, he too is worthy of being made a Military Governor."

"Alright, you two," Lu Haowen said, perhaps smiling for the first time in half a year. "As things stand now, the civil and military officials of the two Jingdong circuits have been cleared out. Even people like Yue Fei and Zhang Rong have become Pacification Commissioners, having the substance of establishing a commandery without the title. After today, what about the two Imperial Army generals, Han and Zhang, who have the merit of supporting the Emperor's ascension? This matter is only natural and needs no further discussion."

Zhang and Zhao both rose to apologize, then punished themselves with a cup of wine before sitting down.

Once the two were seated, Prime Minister Lu took the initiative to continue: "In my view, the most pressing matter is where the temporary court will go after the battle... We can't really stay in Shouzhou forever, as Hub Secretariate Director Wang suggested, can we? And just before I crossed the river today, Minister of Personnel Lin Maonan (Lin Qi) asked me about this again, and I was momentarily at a loss."

Unexpectedly, the three highest-ranking civil officials below Lu Haowen—Zhang, Zhao, and Lin—all remained silent instead of responding.

Of course they would stay silent!

Little Academician Lin, who had accidentally won favor with His Majesty today, grew increasingly disdainful of Lu Haowen. Although everyone was willing to support him as the leader of the Bagongshan temporary court to guard against Prime Minister Li and suppress Hub Secretariate Director Wang, on such a major matter, each had their own opinions... Among them, Zhao Ding Zhao Damu, as Prefect of Shouzhou, was eager for His Majesty to stay in Shouzhou. That way, wouldn't he, a minor official temporarily assigned to Shouzhou, leap to become a figure like the Prefect of Kaifeng?

As for Little Academician Lin himself, he had already thought it through clearly. His foundation was shallow, but he had many brothers who had all served as officials in the Huainan region, and his connections were all here. If he could stay in Huainan, with the help of his brothers, nephews, and many others, wouldn't he be able to firmly establish himself in His Majesty's favor?

So, Little Academician Lin also secretly agreed with staying in Shouzhou.

As for Zhang Jun, Little Academician Lin didn't even need to hear him speak to know what he was thinking... He would only follow His Majesty's wishes, and until His Majesty expressed his opinion or gave him instructions, this fellow wouldn't reveal a single word.

Just as Little Academician Lin was lost in thought, and the atmosphere was turning sour, Zhang Jun Zhang Xiantai had already secretly stepped on the foot of his younger companion, Secretariat Drafter Hu Yin, who was busy stuffing his face.

"It's a pity we didn't capture that Fourth Prince of the Jin Kingdom, Wanyan Wushu!" Hu Mingzhong, after being stepped on, immediately put down his meat and spoke recklessly. "Otherwise, we could definitely have exchanged him for the Two Emperors..."

"..."

"..."

"I... Although the Jin army was defeated, they still have fighting strength. Moreover, there are still two large armies in the north to support them. It was unavoidable that we couldn't risk pursuing them," Zhang Jun finally snapped out of it after a long while, speaking helplessly as he tried to smooth things over. "We even had to dismantle the Jin army's main camp and leave it be. The corpses and wounded had to be transported across the river tomorrow for disposal. How could we talk about capturing Jin Wushu?"

"Speaking of which, do we know the casualties and gains from this battle?" Zhao Ding also hastily asked about other matters.

"As far as I know, there weren't many lightly wounded in this battle. The majority were either severely disabled or killed in action, totaling about two thousand... As for the gains, it was similar, but there were quite a few Jurchen, Xi, and Khitan among them," Hu Mingzhong replied after a brief thought. "As for the Han Chinese troops, quite a few surrendered, about a thousand. His Majesty personally questioned and verified this during the day."

"A one-for-one exchange is a great victory!" Lu Haowen sighed with relief.

"Don't forget the two Meng'an units that were eliminated when they rashly crossed the river earlier. This battle actually wiped out four complete Jin Meng'an units!" Zhang Jun also stroked his beard and sighed. "And unlike the previous scheme at Liangshanpo in the north, where we used terrain to surround a larger force with a smaller one, today's battle was like pulling a tooth from a tiger's mouth. Han Liangchen is truly a famous general!"

"Yue Fei and Zhang Rong are not useless people either," Hu Yin said seriously.

"Correct!" Little Academician Lin finally chimed in.

"It's all because His Majesty has an eye for talent," Lu Haowen said with a vague laugh, then suddenly remembered something. "By the way... what was His Majesty busy with all day today? How did Mingzhong have the leisure to come here?"

When the Prime Minister asked about His Majesty's whereabouts, Hu Mingzhong, as a close court official, naturally dared not be negligent. He immediately stood up and reported seriously: "To report to Prime Minister Lu, after the battle ended this morning, Yang Yizhong returned. His Majesty then personally mounted his horse to inspect the battlefield and review the casualties and gains. In the afternoon, before sunset, he personally took charge at the Jin army camp, supervising the dismantling while publicly sorting the captured warhorses, armor, gold, silver, and silks. Then, he distributed them to the various units on the spot..."

"How were they distributed?"

"His Majesty took three-tenths for himself. Of the remaining seven-tenths, Han Shizhong's unit got five-tenths, Zhang Jun's unit got three-tenths, Wang De and Fu Qing got one-tenth, and the four generals Yang Yizhong, Hu Yantong, Qiao Zhongfu, and Zhang Jing shared the remaining one-tenth..."

"The distribution seems reasonable, but Qiao Zhongfu and Zhang Jing were grouped with Yang Yizhong and Hu Yantong, rather than with Wang Yecha and Fu Qing. It seems His Majesty took the words of those three thousand directly subordinate soldiers that day seriously?" Lu Haowen frowned for a moment.

"That should be the intention."

"But it's still a bit inappropriate." Lu Haowen nodded slowly, then stroked his beard and shook his head. "His Majesty shouldn't have taken three-tenths first... Not that generals like Zhang, Han, and Wang would become estranged from His Majesty over this, but in the eyes of these external generals, wouldn't that three-tenths taken first fundamentally benefit Yang Yizhong, Hu Yantong, Qiao Zhongfu, and Zhang Jing even more? And speaking fairly in terms of today's merit, the generals of the Imperial Guard are far inferior to Zhang and Han." At this point, Prime Minister Lu paused briefly before continuing. "If he had remained as vague as before, it would have been fine. But since he's making such detailed calculations, with you taking three and me taking four, that three-tenths becomes awkward. In my view, His Majesty only needs to give a general outline for the distribution among the military officials. There's no need to get too deeply or finely involved..."

"Prime Minister Lu misunderstands," Hu Mingzhong said seriously as soon as Lu Haowen finished. "You must understand that the spoils from the camp were also categorized. The three-tenths His Majesty took first in the camp today were all cloth, silk, and copper coins, intended as compensation and settlement for the severely disabled and those killed in action. They never even crossed the river. Instead, they were carefully distributed to the generals according to the previously calculated casualty distribution, asking them to keep them safe. No one in the army had any objections. As for Han Liangchen, he was the first to enter the main camp and immediately took all the two thousand-plus warhorses stored there. His Majesty initially pretended not to know, but when he mentioned it later during the distribution, he converted the warhorses into two-tenths. As a result, neither General Zhang nor General Han had anything to say about the subsequent allocation."

"So that's how it is." Prime Minister Lu looked slightly embarrassed and nodded repeatedly. "With such twists and turns, and His Majesty making his own decisions, it seems I, this old man, was overthinking things. To be honest with you all, seeing you assist His Majesty in achieving such a great victory today, giving the state a chance to catch its breath, I almost wanted to resign..."

Hearing this, everyone quickly stood up to console him... One said that Prime Minister Lu had been managing court affairs at the temporary court and had made great contributions to this battle, even surpassing Prime Minister Li in military matters. Another said that the state was still in turmoil, and one great victory was only a morale boost; stability was still far off. Prime Minister Lu should not abandon the state and His Majesty so easily during this national crisis. Even the usually reserved Little Academician Lin finally spoke earnestly, praising Prime Minister Lu's hard work over the past three or four months at Bagongshan.

Clearly, these key officials of the temporary court were still the same as ever. They hoped Prime Minister Lu would continue to be so muddled, yet also hoped he would continue his successful official career, shielding them from the wind and rain... Ideally, he would muddle his way through to becoming Prime Minister, then accompany His Majesty in restoring the Two Rivers and rebuilding the nation.

That way, when the time came, they, the younger and less experienced ones, might be able to follow suit and become proper prime ministers under the overwhelming influence of Prime Minister Li!

However, Hu Yin Hu Mingzhong was still a bit of a hothead. After everyone had finally managed to console Prime Minister Lu and the atmosphere at the banquet had become all friendly and harmonious, this fellow continued his serious report:

"Let me inform Prime Minister Lu, His Majesty finished distributing the rewards in the evening and then visited the wounded. After that, he told us to go back on our own. He and Yang Yizhong took some wine and went to find someone to drink with. That's why I'm here!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the room fell silent.

"Mingzhong, why didn't you say so earlier?" After a long pause, Prefect Zhao Ding couldn't help but ask.

"No one asked me before," Hu Yin said with a shrug.

"Was he looking for Generals Zhang and Han?" Imperial Censor Zhang Jun followed up immediately.

"No..."

"That's fine then," Lu Haowen sighed. "It can't be that every time His Majesty meets privately with the generals, we civil officials of the temporary court are off drinking elsewhere. Since he wasn't looking for Zhang and Han, was he drinking with the generals of the Imperial Guard?"

"No, not that either... I mean, His Majesty wasn't just looking for Generals Zhang and Han. Besides them, he also summoned Xie Yuan, Liu Bao, Wang Sheng, and others, all the way down to ordinary soldiers who had distinguished themselves today. There were over a hundred people in total. They all went to drink on the Huai River!" Hu Yin quickly finished his explanation. "One of them, a squad leader nicknamed Li Laosan, I had to go find myself... That fellow was being difficult at first, saying he hadn't achieved any great merit today and had lost two brothers, so he didn't want to come to the banquet and embarrass himself. In the end, his commanding officer, Liu Bao, had to personally deliver the oral order before he came."

After hearing this, everyone was speechless, feeling that the wine before them had lost its flavor.

"Mingzhong, why didn't you finish your story in one go?" Zhang Jun said, also feeling helpless.

"Brother Yuanzhen (Zhao Ding) interrupted me," Hu Mingzhong replied calmly.

Everyone grew even more helpless.

In the end, it was Lu Haowen who, after clarifying the matter, smiled slightly, displaying the bearing of a prime minister: "Since His Majesty made a promise before the battle, he must keep his word now. Why should we care? Besides, post-battle honors should rightfully belong to the soldiers. We should focus on the court; that is where we can display our talents... Tell me, where should the temporary court go after the battle?"

Zhang Jun, Lin Jingmo, and Zhao Ding looked at each other. First, they all looked at Prime Minister Lu, then they all looked at the innocent-looking Hu Mingzhong. Each of them felt helpless, their minds racing... Up and down, it was hard being these favored officials before His Majesty!

PS: Sorry, only this chapter today. I'm really stuck on the writing. I don't even know what to write for the next release... Let me think it over... Cruel!