Chapter 85: Flowing Light (Part 2)

As for the other two, let us set them aside for now and speak only of the quick-witted Junior Academician Lin. On this crucial issue, second only to whether to resist the Jin, he had long since pondered it deeply, even discussing it with several of his elder brothers. Thus, with no need for on-the-spot improvisation, he had long resolved to vigorously endorse the Shouzhou plan today, for it would bring him tangible benefits and advantages.

Here, a digression is necessary: Junior Academician Lin's family was a legendary one in the late Northern Song. Legendary, because his father, Lin Qi, was merely an ordinary *jinshi* who served as an ordinary Prefect, and Lin Qi's sons were also ordinary *jinshi* and ordinary Prefects. However, the crux of the matter was that Old Master Lin Qi had fathered many, many sons in his lifetime, eight of whom became ordinary *jinshi* and served as ordinary Prefects, to the extent that in his later years, the old master earned the nickname Lin Nine Shepherds!

This title was far more prestigious than something like Nine-Dragoned Lin or Zhao the Great Herdsman! He might not even be willing to trade it for the title of Grand Councilor Lin!

As for why Junior Academician Lin was called "Junior," it was not because he was young, but because he had an elder brother who had also once served as an Academician of the Jade Hall! That one was Senior Lin, and he was Junior Lin.

Returning to the present, due to the Song dynasty's official appointment system, which emphasized a distance neither too far nor too close from one's ancestral home, and since the nine Prefects of the Lin Nine Shepherds family served in eras neither too distant nor too close, it could not be considered a taboo violation. Thus, six or seven of them were in the two Huainan circuits, and two or three in the Jiangnanxi circuit. It could not be called an entrenched network, but as long as they remained in Huainan, they would never be bullied.

However, having made his resolve, wasn't Junior Academician Lin given a rare reprimand last night by Grand Councilor Lü Haowen? Consequently, this sharp-witted Academician of the Jade Hall quickly began to waver again. In the current situation, maintaining the unity of the political faction seemed also an important matter, especially since this faction was inherently loose and at an absolute disadvantage, having to face both the encroachment of rising military men and guard against the iron fist of Grand Councilor Li's autocracy. Thus, he once again hesitated over whether to endorse Lü Haowen's Yangzhou plan, after all, Yangzhou was also within the Huainan region.

However, returning to Bagongshan today and witnessing His Majesty first abandoning the civil officials to proceed alone, then deploying troops and formations, how could Junior Academician Lin not understand that His Majesty was also reprimanding certain people?

At first, Junior Academician Lin harbored a sliver of hope, thinking His Majesty intended to intimidate the two Grand Councilors, so he had remained silent earlier. But now, with the two Grand Councilors having each finished stating their positions, completely unaffected by the soldiers and the atmosphere, he had no more doubts—His Majesty was reprimanding people like them!

People like themselves were all newly promoted, relying on His Majesty's appointment to become prominent in the temporary court. While the shelter of the Grand Councilors and the power of their families were certainly considerations, without His Majesty's support, in this chaotic era, could a family of nine Prefects, plus one Grand Councilor Lü, protect him?

This His Majesty had truly killed with his own hands!

As for where His Majesty had truly decided to go, it was now clear without asking.

With this thought, Junior Academician Lin quickly stepped forward... Zhang Jun and Zhao Ding were already waiting for him.

"Your guilty subject, Ma Kuo of Didao, risks death to speak one word!"

Just then, from a corner of the wooden shed behind, someone suddenly spoke out with effort, causing everyone to turn their heads. "If Your Majesty resides in the Two Huai, it may seem perfectly safe, but what of Guanzhong? There are still two hundred thousand Western Army troops in Guanzhong, separated by the Heluo region. Are they to be completely abandoned and ignored? Without gathering the troops and horses of Guanzhong and exploiting the advantageous terrain of Guanzhong, how can we speak of the Central Plains' eternal peace? If the Central Plains are not pacified, how can we speak of recovering the Two Rivers? Your guilty subject deserves ten thousand deaths, but I beg you to behead traitors like Lü Haowen and Wang Boyan to apologize to the realm!"

Before the imperial tent, there was a moment of dead silence. Since Zhao Jiu had continuously simplified the temporary court, especially after arriving at Bagongshan, such extremely fierce rhetoric had been rarely heard. After this victory, such words seemed even more jarring.

Lü Haowen and Wang Boyan were momentarily embarrassed, Zhang Jun and the others were also lost in thought, and even His Majesty Zhao seemed somewhat dazed. After a long while, Lü and Wang, having no other choice, could only take the initiative to remove their official caps and beg forgiveness.

"All of you, put your caps back on." As expected, His Majesty Zhao showed no intention of holding the two Grand Councilors accountable. "I said speak freely, and when the Grand Councilors discuss state affairs, nothing is off-limits. As long as words like 'sue for peace' or 'surrender to the Jin' are not spoken, how can there be blame for this?"

"Your subject is terrified..." Before Lü and Wang could say they were terrified, Ma Kuo, styled Ma Zichong, came to his senses and immediately prostrated himself to beg forgiveness. "Your subject was momentarily anxious and spoke absurdly."

"It's fine." Zhao Jiu's attitude once again made some people in the wooden shed realize something. "I remember you participated in the Battle of Liangshanbo with Yue Fei... You should have had an official position long ago, right? Why do you call yourself a guilty subject?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, your subject was carrying an important mission. After the Battle of Liangshanbo, Commander Yue had to strictly guard Jizhou City, so your subject could not wait for the imperial envoy and directly rode south with light troops." Ma Kuo continued to answer from a distance. "And before that, your subject was imprisoned for a crime in Zhending, Hebei. It was only after the Jin broke through the city that I managed to escape..."

"I see." Zhao Jiu's expression remained calm, and he beckoned the man to come forward for questioning. "So, you came from Hebei?"

"Yes..." Ma Kuo hurried forward and prostrated himself again.

"What is the matter?" Zhao Jiu asked, instinctively looking at Lü Haowen.

The latter, seeing this, explained helplessly: "Let Your Majesty know, your subject had just arrived at Xiacai and hadn't had time to ask the reason when the eunuch Lan summoned me here. So this Ma Zichong followed me here..."

"Your subject has a letter that must be delivered to His Majesty in person." Hearing Grand Councilor Lü's rare tone of indignation, Ma Kuo, knowing that his momentary outburst might have ruined a major matter, was both regretful and resentful. He quickly took a crumpled letter from his bosom, prostrated himself, and held it up, which Yang Yizhong stepped forward to present.

Zhao Jiu took the letter, opened it while seated, and glanced at it. The opening words, "Before Your Imperial Elder Brother," stunned him for a moment. It was a long while before he looked up to examine the man before him: "What is the meaning of this?"

"This is a personal letter from His Majesty's eighteenth younger brother, the Prince of Xin, who holds the military governorships of Qingyang and Zhaohua, and the title of Acting Grand Guardian." Ma Kuo replied with a bow, causing an uproar before the imperial tent.

"Where is he?" Zhao Jiu asked blankly.

"On Mount Wuma in the Northern Taihang!" Ma Kuo explained quickly. "After I escaped from the prison in Zhending, I heard that His Majesty was then calling for volunteer armies in Hebei, so I raised troops on Mount Wuma to fight the Jin... Later, the Two Emperors were taken north, and the Prince of Xin escaped along the way. At that time, I was cut off in Zhending by the Jin army and could not hear the imperial voice. When I heard this rumor, I went to find the Prince of Xin and brought him up the mountain..."

"Absurd!" Just then, Zhang Jun, the Censor-in-Chief, who had been interrupted by Ma Kuo, suddenly shouted sternly. "A single letter, and you claim it's an imperial prince? How can this be?! I impeach Ma Kuo for reckless and arbitrary actions, for being credulous, and for improperly involving himself in imperial family matters."

After Zhang Jun, from Lü Haowen down to Wang Boyan, Zhang Suo, Lin Qi, and even Hu Yin, almost all the important ministers in the temporary court no longer hesitated but stepped forward together to impeach Ma Kuo for his recklessness.

"Your subject also came specifically to ask His Majesty to discern the truth..." Poor Ma Zichong, though quick-witted and having anticipated this, was utterly flustered by such a fierce reaction and could only stammer a reply.

"Don't cause trouble!" Zhao Jiu understood everyone's psychology perfectly, but he himself had already figured things out and was not at all afraid. He found their reaction rather amusing. "Ma Kuo, let me ask you something."

"Yes."

"Before the Prince of Xin came up the mountain, how many troops did you have on Mount Wuma? And after he came up?"

"Before, thirty thousand; after, no less than one hundred thousand." Ma Kuo answered carefully, then quickly explained. "But they were all gathered from other mountain strongholds... After the Jingkang Incident, the Jin emperor issued an edict, claiming Hebei as their territory, ordering the Jin *mouke* and *mou'an* to relocate to Hebei, and arbitrarily designating the people of Hebei as servants, slaves, or households. Hebei was in an uproar, boiling over, with refugees everywhere. Once the people of the Two Rivers escaped and resisted, eight or nine out of ten would go to the Taihang Mountains. In the south, it was led by Wang Yan, the Grand Commandant, formerly appointed by Zhang Longtu, calling themselves the Eight-Character Army; in the north, it was led by your subject... by... by the Mount Wuma group, calling themselves the Five Horse Army... both numbering over one hundred thousand."

"I have seen clearly," Zhao Jiu said after listening attentively, then casually put away the letter and calmly concluded, "This is indeed the handwriting of my eighteenth younger brother. None of you need to doubt it any longer."

Seeing that His Majesty himself did not care, Zhang Jun and the others naturally breathed a sigh of relief... Their indignation came quickly and went quickly, and they instead began to lament the luck of the "Prince of Xin."

But how could they know that this His Majesty Zhao recognized not a damn thing about handwriting? Zhao Jiu clearly only recognized the one hundred thousand guerrillas of the Taihang Mountains! For one hundred thousand guerrillas voluntarily coming to pledge allegiance, even if Ma Kuo had found a dog to play the prince, he would have acknowledged it!

"I will take this opportunity to say a few words." Zhao Jiu was in a good mood. He handed the letter to Yang Yizhong beside him and continued speaking calmly from his seat. "Grand Councilor Lü, Grand Councilor Wang, regardless of how impulsive Ma Kuo's words just now were, I only ask you: have you sensed the surging anger of the people in the Two Rivers? And what of Guanzhong?"

Lü Haowen and Wang Boyan were both struck silent.

"This is not easy to answer," Zhao Jiu said with a smile from his seat. "Because if you say you have sensed it, then how can you persist with the Yangzhou and Shouzhou plans? If you say you have not sensed it, wouldn't that confirm that you two Grand Councilors are heartless, that as the nation's chief ministers, you have already forgotten the tens of millions of people in the Two Rivers and Guanzhong?"

"Your subject is ashamed." Wang Boyan was the first to change his stance.

"No need for shame." Zhao Jiu laughed even more. "Because Ma Kuo has just made the reasoning clear. Shouzhou and Yangzhou are indeed perfect in every way, but all those perfections cannot compare to Nanyang's ability to connect with Guanzhong and oversee the overall situation."

Once again, there was dead silence before the imperial tent.

His Majesty Zhao took off his slightly crooked *futou* cap, held it in his arms, and while tidying it, continued: "And I also figured it out clearly after that naval battle the other day. To revive the Two Rivers, whether the remaining two hundred thousand or one hundred thousand, we cannot let go of the Western Army remnants. But Dongjing is truly too dangerous; there is no need to be so rash. So the temporary court can only go to Nanyang... What do you, my ministers, think?"

"Your subject agrees!" Huben Grand Councilor Wang Boyan could not wait.

"Your subject seconds the motion!" Censor-in-Chief Zhang Jun immediately spoke up.

Immediately, Zhao Ding, Wang Yuan, and others followed suit. Lin Qi and Zhang Suo merely exchanged a brief glance before bowing their heads in assent. Even Hu Yin and Junior Academician Lin hastily expressed their agreement... Only Lü Haowen remained hesitant.

"Your subject has not forgotten Guanzhong." Lü Haowen, who had become isolated in an instant, finally bowed his head helplessly. "But I am saying that the wealth and taxes of the Southeast cannot be abandoned. I beg Your Majesty..."

"It's fine," His Majesty Zhao said casually. "Since the Southeast is so important, let Grand Councilor Li continue to lead the imperial heir, with the Empress Dowager, and hold Yangzhou... I will go with you all to Nanyang, to stabilize the hearts of the people in Guanzhong and the Central Plains!"

Lü Haowen was stunned for a moment, then bowed his head.

However, around him, from Wang Boyan down, countless people felt as if a fog had lifted, reacting even faster than Lü Haowen:

"This proposal by His Majesty is most appropriate!"

As for Zhang Suo, the Dragon Diagram Academician, and Lin Qi, the Minister of Personnel, they looked at each other but dared not easily interject among the crowd.

"Since it is decided to go to Nanyang," Zhao Jiu continued calmly, still holding his cap, "listen to some arrangements. If you two Grand Councilors have no objections, consider it approved by the Eastern and Western Bureaus... I intend to have Han Shizhong accompany me on the westward journey, also to use him to sweep clean the bandits in Jingxiang and Jingxi."

"An excellent decision by Your Majesty!" Wang Yuan, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard, could not wait.

"In that case, let Zhang Jun and Han Shizhong swap positions. Zhang Jun will be the Pacification Commissioner of Huaidong, and Han Shizhong the Pacification Commissioner of Huaixi, both as Commanders-in-Chief. The upper reaches of the Huai River are shallow, so the fleet will be handed over to Zhang Jun." His Majesty Zhao continued to speak eloquently, as if he had been thinking about it for a long time. "Among them, Zhang Jun in Huaidong will govern Haizhou, Lianshui Army, Huaiyang Army, Suzhou, and Sizhou, guarding the passage to Jingdong East Circuit, and await opportunities to move north, striving to recover Jingdong East Circuit."

"This move by Your Majesty is most appropriate!" Wang Boyan nodded repeatedly.

"Han Shizhong in Huaixi will govern Shouzhou, Bozhou, Shunchang Prefecture, and Caizhou. He will first sweep clean the bandits in Huaixi and Jingxi, before discussing other deployments."

At this moment, Wang Boyan, Wang Yuan, and the others had already realized they had lost their composure somewhat, yet no one dared to speak casually anymore.

"And Zhang Longtu, as per our earlier discussion, I appoint you Military Commissioner of the two Jingdong circuits, stationed at Nanjing. I will give you all the supplies and civilian laborers from Shouchun. Once Jin Wushu retreats north, you will take the initiative to lead troops over and relieve Yang Weizhong… Yue Fei was once your subordinate—you know his abilities well, and he respects you the most. Zhang Rong is also a talent. I hope you will make good use of them. As for Deputy Commander Zong to your west, maintain close contact with him."

"Your servant obeys the decree."

"Zhao Ding's post as Prefect of Shouzhou was originally a temporary assignment, but this time he rendered great merit in defending Xiashou. He is also deeply experienced and handles matters with utmost reliability. He should be promoted beyond the usual rules and reassigned as Fiscal Commissioner of the two Huainan circuits, to support Zhang Longtu and Zhang Jun… Especially Zhang Jun—you must earnestly urge him to focus on military operations."

"Your servant is overwhelmed with gratitude!" Zhao Damu truly felt that everything was worth it.

"As for Mount Wuma, I understand your intention in going there… Appoint the Prince of Xin as Deputy Commander of the Marshal's Office, and promote Ma Kuo as Chief Commander of the Northern Circuit, to oversee all military affairs north of the Taihang Mountains… I do not require field battles, major engagements, or reckless fighting. As long as you can preserve your strength to respond when the time comes, that will be excellent."

"Your servant would die ten thousand deaths without hesitation!" Ma Kuo felt as if he were in a dream.

"That's all for now." Zhao Jiu finished speaking in one breath and then relaxed. "If there is anything I've missed, we can discuss it further. As for the remaining troops here at the temporary court, prepare them well. Once Jin Wushu leaves, we will set out immediately and head for Nanyang!"

Everyone bowed their heads in unison.

"Oh," the Emperor, having put his turban back on, suddenly thought of something else. "Recall Xu Jingheng and Zhang Que, both gentlemen… They have worked hard these days."

PS: Happy going live, good night…