Chapter 90

Just as the Zhao official had thought, the matter of Junior Academician Lin volunteering to go to Wuguan, combined with Hu Yin's earlier deeds and possibly the Zhao official's seemingly joking remark about Fan Zhixu—"I would rather lose the realm than spare this man"—had greatly stimulated the civil officials at the provisional court, causing efficiency to soar.

Not only that, but as Yang Yizhong subsequently went in person by imperial order to recruit Niu Gao, and Yan Xiaozhong went off to seek out the Zhai clan, many others—such as imperial censors, secretaries, and department directors—also submitted memorials volunteering to risk going to various places around Caizhou to recruit the rebel forces that covered the hills and plains.

However, compared to Niu Gao's complete harmlessness and the Zhai clan's prior collusion with Yan Xiaozhong, the Zhao official felt uneasy about the enthusiasm of the rest, fearing that sending them to their deaths for nothing would instead demoralize everyone. So he hesitated for a time.

And while he was hesitating, that very evening, Han Shizhong, who had been suppressing rebels in the west, suddenly returned alone to Ruyang City and requested an audience that very night, bringing the Zhao official some brand-new, precise, and subversive military intelligence and advice.

"Wanyan Yinshu Ke?" Zhao Jiu, who had barely crawled out of bed half an hour ago, sat dazed in the rear hall of the Ruyang city government office for a long time before realizing what was going on—it turned out to be Yan Xiaozhong's accent problem, making him think it was some ordinary Battalion Commander. "Nichuhe... Yinshu Ke, it's actually him? That second-ranked general under Wanyan Zonghan, second only to Wanyan Loushi, the one who captured the Liao Emperor Tianzuo alive and is now the garrison commander of Taiyuan?"

"It is indeed him." Han Shizhong stood in the hall with clasped hands. "Your Majesty, I heard from Liu Yan outside that Your Majesty intended to surround and annihilate this man's entire ten-thousand-man division, so I turned back immediately... Forgive my bluntness, but this battle cannot be fought!"

Hearing this, the Zhao official's heart sank at once, because if Han Shizhong said it couldn't be fought, then it basically couldn't be fought.

However, Zhao Jiu was, after all, a qualified engineering dog, and he still had the good habit of getting to the bottom of things: "Is it because Yinshu Ke himself is skilled in warfare?"

"That's not one of the reasons." Han Shizhong sneered at this, finally showing a bit of his usual fearless attitude. "If we're talking about generalship alone, I wouldn't put even Wanyan Loushi in my eyes, let alone Yinshu Ke. But his troops are elite and fierce—that's a fact. Relatively speaking, the provisional court now seems to have many troops, but the ones who can truly fight are still those who besieged Wanyan Wushu's camp back then, and we're short of Grand Defender Zhang's three thousand veterans and several thousand casualties and deserters..."

The Zhao official sighed softly, immediately understanding from a mathematical perspective how reckless he had been.

"Besides that, Dengzhou (Nanyang) is open terrain where Jin cavalry can move like the wind, and we have no large cavalry force to use." Han Shizhong finally showed some helplessness as he spoke. "And according to military intelligence from the Tokyo Provisional Headquarters, Wanyan Yinshu Ke's younger brother, Wanyan Balisu, should also be leading a ten-thousand-man division, currently mopping up the Greater and Lesser Zhai around the western capital Luoyang. If we insist on fighting, as long as Yinshu Ke uses the Nanyang Basin to stall for a little time, he can wait for his brother's cavalry reinforcements from the western capital... Then the Jin army, relying on cavalry superiority on the flat central plains, would form a pincer from north and south. With the provisional court's combat strength, we'd likely be crushed in one battle."

Having said this, Han Shizhong rarely showed a serious expression: "Your Majesty, how much cavalry do we have? My Beiwei Army has only eight hundred riders, and Liu Yan's Red Heart Squad has six hundred—that's just two Jin battalions... What can we fight Yinshu Ke with?"

Hearing this, in the slightly sweltering late night, Zhao Jiu, sitting in the rear hall, fell completely silent, actually engaging in serious self-reflection... How ridiculous that he, the Zhao official, had been admonished by Hu Yin before, realizing his political arrogance, and had even pretended to make self-criticism, but in reality?

In reality, he still hadn't truly shed the reckless, aggressive mindset he'd had after the great victory at Shouzhou.

The root cause was only one: after the Battle of Shouzhou, while fully integrating into or accepting this era, he, Zhao Jiu, had forgotten that he was now the Zhao official... And the Zhao official had always been a true solitary ruler, openly wielding core power. Add to that the wartime situation and the so-called prestige gained through the sacrifice of several thousand soldiers, and now there was no one who could truly supervise him.

Think carefully: from start to finish, in this rashly proposed military plan, only he had made the mistake.

Otherwise?

The civil officials at the provisional court were very enthusiastic, but they couldn't be blamed—they were political creatures who only followed the ruler. And if others didn't know, did he, Zhao Jiu, not know the military level of Song civil officials?

From Li Gang to Fan Zhixu, from Yan Xiaozhong to Hu Yin, from Lü Haoqin to Zhang Jun—regardless of their stance or moral level, none of them were anything but military incompetents, just varying degrees of incompetence... As things stood now, Grandfather Zong Ze was practically a war god among Song civil officials!

He, Zhao Jiu, had known all this long ago, yet he had mocked Fan Zhixu while muddle-headedly following Zhang Jun and the others in passing an unrealistic military decision... Jin cavalry was invincible on flat ground—wasn't that the fundamental reason he and Han Shizhong had chosen to fight the campaign at Shouzhou, hugging the Huai River?! How had he forgotten that in a blink?

As for military officials, the only one he could rely on, Han Shizhong, who had been so arrogant before, had still specifically returned that night to admonish him, hadn't he? Even Liu Yan had clearly realized the recklessness in his plan, but that man was always taciturn and had just returned, so he dared not admonish directly. That was why he chose to meet Han Shizhong on the way to Wuguan, letting the one who could talk sense into Zhao Jiu come back. As for Yang Yizhong, it was very possible that Liu Yan had been instigated by him to do this...

In short, whether it was Liu Yan or Yang Yizhong who did this, the fact that a loyal minister had to be driven to remind him in such a way showed that he, the Zhao official, truly needed to reflect deeply.

And when Zhao Jiu reflected, he found that ever since leaving Shouzhou, he had been somewhat "frivolous and reckless," growing increasingly arrogant... Not to mention anything else, from a transmigrator's perspective, the fawning service of new close attendants like Feng Yi and the flattery of the ever-growing bureaucracy were all too obvious... Clearly, someone had lost their revolutionary vigilance!

Of course, back to the present—the night was too dark, and with only one candle lit, the Zhao official sat expressionless, not looking like he was reflecting at all, but rather like he was sulking. This made Han Shizhong and the sole attendant in the hall, Feng Yi, both grow uneasy... In fact, the eunuch director Feng Yi even started giving Han Shizhong meaningful glances, as if wanting him to comfort the ruler.

And Han Shizhong, seeing the ruler silent for so long, was also thinking of how to turn around and comfort him, to save face for the ruler... But Han Liangchen thought and thought and couldn't find any reason, because Wanyan Yinshu Ke really couldn't be fought now—fighting would almost certainly mean defeat. He, Han Wu, had received such favor from the Zhao official that he couldn't just bury the little foundation and prestige this ruler had painstakingly built up.

"I was wrong." After who knows how long, Zhao Jiu suddenly sighed, and Han Shizhong relaxed all over. "But Liangchen, you are my backbone. Today you must give me a clear bottom line... If we can't fight Wanyan Yinshu Ke, then isn't Dengzhou lost? With tens of thousands of troops gathered here, are we to sit by and watch Yinshu Ke swallow up the secondary capital that hasn't even fallen yet? There's something you might not know: according to Tangzhou Prefect Yan Xiaozhong, the Jingxi Fiscal Commissioner Liu Ji has been working hard these days, gathering many granaries and artisans from Sichuan and Jingxi into Nanyang City. If that's lost, and then Yinshu Ke burns the city, won't we have to turn around and head back to Yangzhou?"

"Let me inform Your Majesty." Han Shizhong, now relieved, became spirited again when facing these questions. "I only said we have too few cavalry and too few elite troops to take the initiative and fight Yinshu Ke in the field—I didn't say we can't force Wanyan Yinshu Ke to retreat! Nor did I say we can't hold Nanyang!"

Zhao Jiu's spirits lifted: "How should we fight?"

"Your Majesty." Han Shizhong spoke frankly. "No fighting is needed. Right now, we only need to do two things. One is to 'beat the grass and startle the snake'—make a big commotion to let Yinshu Ke know that the provisional court's main army has arrived, and that it's large and powerful. The other is to quickly seize and subdue the key cities of Ruzhou, Caizhou, Tangzhou, and Yingchang Prefecture! Of course, Wuguan is also important, so after hearing Liu Yan's report, I still urged him to hurry to Wuguan as planned..."

Zhao Jiu, deep in thought, immediately understood: "This is bluffing to force him to turn back?"

"It's not bluffing." In the dim hall, Han Shizhong's eyes were like lightning, and a grim smile curled his lips. "It's a last resort to protect Dengzhou. Otherwise, if he dares to sit by and watch me occupy these dozen or so cities on the northeastern corridor to Nanyang, he'll be waiting to be trapped and starved in Nanyang! But Yinshu Ke is an experienced commander, not a greenhorn like Wanyan Wushu who just stepped onto the battlefield. That's why I'm certain he'll voluntarily give up the meat at his mouth and turn back immediately! And if that happens..." At this point, Han Shizhong added a bit of caution. "As long as Yinshu Ke withdraws, on the Jingxi side, we can claim he retreated because he couldn't defeat us."

That would be falsifying military merit for political propaganda.

However, considering that it would save Dengzhou and force this man to retreat, Zhao Jiu, now with a cool head, could accept it.

So he nodded slowly, then asked seriously: "In that case, what is the key to this battle?"

"Speed!" Han Shizhong said decisively. "If we're even a little slow, either Nanyang will fall, or Yinshu Ke will turn around and seize Tangzhou and Ruzhou, pressing back against the provisional court. So we must occupy those cities as quickly as possible!"

Zhao Jiu nodded heavily again.

That night needed no further words. The next morning, the Zhao official, who had just set a grand plan the day before, seemed undiminished in enthusiasm, gathering his ministers early to discuss the war.

The ministers at the provisional court, struck by a certain special atmosphere, seemed very cooperative.

"It's like this. Yesterday, many officials came forward to volunteer, saying they wanted to go gather the various righteous armies and bandits in Caizhou." The Zhao official got straight to the point. "After some thought last night, I felt I couldn't dampen everyone's spirit... So today, I'm telling you all: I grant all the requests made yesterday!"

Many of the officials in the hall, except for a few self-important grand councilors and one red-robed official who seemed to remain calm, showed joy on their faces.

Not only that, but everyone noticed that although the Zhao official's expression was calm and his speech smooth, his eyes were bloodshot and his voice slightly trembling, as if he hadn't rested well last night and was a bit irritable... So some well-meaning people were already privately considering whether to select a few consorts for the ruler after the war.

But with the war at hand, some matters were best set aside for now.

Of course, the outwardly calm but inwardly tense and helpless Zhao official had no idea what these people were thinking, and probably wouldn't care if he did, because right now he really didn't have the mood to think about consorts or these people.

"Not only that, as far as I know." The Zhao official continued speaking easily, his face relaxed but his heart gritting its teeth. "Since the provisional court traveled west from Shouzhou, many officials without assignments have been following along. We should give them a chance too. Right now, in Tangzhou, Ruzhou, and southern Yingchang Prefecture, after that... that Nichuhe trampled through, the towns are mostly empty, held by bandits and righteous armies, with only a few still in government hands... So why not let these people go a bit farther, to these prefectures in Jingxi to recruit and pacify? Let them settle on the spot, and at the same time serve as reserves for Han Shizhong's fifty-thousand-strong army advancing on Nanyang to surround and kill Nichuhe's few thousand troops?!"

As soon as he finished, Zhao Jiu swept his gaze across the hall and indeed saw that even the grand councilors and others were showing signs of interest... After all, who didn't have relatives, old friends, protégés, or fellow examination graduates following along?

As for the only red-robed official who hadn't shown joy earlier, the Acting Censor-in-Chief Zhang Jun, he opened his mouth as if to speak but didn't dare at the moment.

Seeing no opposition and several people actively jumping up to agree, the matter passed without a hitch.

According to the discussion between the Zhao official and the grand councilors, Grand Councilor Lü would take charge, quickly assigning tasks. Whoever pacified and secured a city would become its corresponding county magistrate based on their rank; pacifying a certain number of troops would also earn corresponding merit. And if anyone could pacify the four major cities on the northeastern corridor to Nanyang—Xiangcheng, Wuyang, Yancheng, and Fangcheng—they would be given temporary authority over a military prefecture!

Thus, the morning meeting quickly dispersed, and almost everyone in the provisional court and even in Ruyang City was celebrating, unaware that the ruler was simply disregarding their lives and using them to seize cities.

But just then, the Zhao official's top trusted civil official, the Acting Censor-in-Chief Zhang Jun, who was still in a state of atonement, returned to see the ruler... This was a very bold move, bound to attract criticism, given the growing number of personnel at the provisional court.

However, Zhao Jiu had no reason to refuse.

"I risk death to beg Your Majesty to revoke the order and stop seeking to annihilate the enemy at Nanyang!" As soon as Zhang Jun saw the Zhao official in the rear hall, though he didn't drop to his knees like the military officials, his immediate bow and words were very similar. "Nanyang is flat as a board, Jin cavalry can gallop freely, and our army may not achieve a quick victory. If we can't win quickly, the western capital is still in enemy hands, and large Jin reinforcements might come. Then Jin cavalry would attack from north and south, and our army might be defeated... Your Majesty, I made a grave mistake yesterday, and I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"

Unexpectedly, the Zhao official, who had held a solo "famous work life meeting" for himself the night before, sat motionless in the rear hall, silent for a long while before finally speaking: "Deyuan, did you bribe Feng Yi, or did Han Shizhong not forget to send you a message when he left last night?"

Zhang Jun looked up in shock, caught off guard, while Feng Yi beside him was so frightened he dropped to his knees.

PS: A bit stuck on the writing, mainly because I've been reading Song history about the Jingxi area recently, and it's really too chaotic... Very sorry, only four thousand words today.