I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 110 Taking Office in Dengzhou and Laizhou
It was a day at the end of March in the third year of the Xuanhe era.

Inside the Hangzhou government office, Zhao Zicheng waited respectfully for the imperial envoy to finish reading the decree before bowing to receive it and instructing a minor official to escort the envoy back to the post station to rest.

When the other officials of Liangzhe Road heard that Zhao Zicheng was leaving, they also came to say goodbye. Some offered their congratulations openly, while others offered their condolences privately.

Because everyone knows that Zhao Zicheng has been feared by the emperor this time, and has been promoted in name only in the hope that he will be sent away from his hometown and roots.

Zhao Zicheng responded appropriately to each question, thus finishing what he started.

After dealing with these officials, Zhao Zicheng finally felt a bit more relaxed upon returning to his own villa.

The Zhao family's manor is located on Phoenix Mountain, within the former Fahui Temple, with some courtyards set aside and slightly renovated. This place is not in the core area of ​​the original Wuyue Royal Palace, so his occupation of it is not considered too taboo.

After the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, most of the ruins of the Southern Song Palace were not rebuilt, but were left as they were as they were in the past, gradually decaying over time.

On the contrary, part of the present-day Fahui Temple, due to its insensitive status, was renovated and rebuilt. Later, during the Ming Dynasty, it became Wansong Academy, and it has been a matchmaking corner in Hangzhou City until the 21st century.

However, these places are now Zhao Zicheng's private property. The scenery here is beautiful and tranquil, making it very suitable for seclusion. After the Murong sisters married him, they spent their days leisurely strolling through the forests and springs, playing the zither, singing, and practicing swordsmanship together, living a very carefree life.

After receiving the imperial decree and finishing his official duties, Zhao Zicheng returned to the manor. Without letting the maid announce his arrival, he strolled alone to the back mountain. There he saw Murong Qiu sitting gracefully at a stone table amidst a bamboo grove, her gentle features as she casually played the guqin. The clear, melodious notes echoed the ethereal and elegant swordplay of her younger sister, Murong Yan.

The two sisters were lost in thought, their minds in perfect harmony, and they didn't even notice their husbands approaching—perhaps because Zhao Zicheng had been diligently practicing the "Wanshou Daozang Xinde" (a Daoist text), and recently his breathing had become increasingly even and his walking had become more and more silent, making no sound when he stepped on the bamboo leaves.

"Ah—" Murong Qiu was not good at martial arts and rarely spent time practicing. Suddenly being hugged from behind by her husband startled her. Her whole body went limp and she leaned back into Zhao Zicheng's arms with a coquettish tone.

Hearing her sister's exclamation, Murong Yan flicked her sword backward, then flipped over and pressed down, executing the move in one fluid motion. Only when she realized it was her husband returning did she immediately stop.

Zhao Zicheng extended two fingers, and as Murong Yan stopped, he gently pinched the tip of the sword and snatched it away with a slight force. Murong Yan did not resist, letting her husband disarm her. Zhao Zicheng casually flicked his wrist, putting the sword back into its sheath beside him.

Then, with a flick of his sleeve, he wrapped the sleeve around Murong Yan's waist and pulled her slightly, causing her to roll into his arms. She and her sister each took one of her husband's shoulders.

"You're always bullying us! You're always sneaking around and scaring us like this, and you don't even let the maids announce it!"

Even though her husband had restrained her, Murong Yan was still restless and punched his shoulder a few times with her small fists.

Murong Qiu seemed to still be in shock, remaining silent and curled up limply.

After comforting his wives and concubines, Zhao Zicheng got straight to the point: "Marrying me has been tough on you all, as you'll soon be traveling far away and working hard again."

Murong Qiu's eyelids fluttered, she straightened up slightly, turned her head to stare into her husband's eyes, as if trying to see something in Zhao Zicheng's eyes.

Seeing that Zhao Zicheng said he was "busy" but actually had no complaints, she felt relieved and quietly went back to her room.

Murong Yan, however, was not good at reading between the lines. She believed whatever Zhao Zicheng said and asked directly with concern, "Could it be that my husband's tyrannical uncle is going to give him another assignment? Is it going to some harsh and cold place?"

Before Zhao Zicheng could answer, Murong Qiu lazily stretched out her soft hand and gently squeezed her sister's hand: "You believe him? He's probably just trying to play the victim in front of us so we'll sympathize with him and he can bully us without feeling guilty. Look at your husband's eyes, there's not a trace of fear in them. He probably already had it all planned out."

Murong Yan recalled for a moment and realized that it seemed to be true. They had only been married for a little over three months, and whenever she was about to throw a tantrum and blame her husband, he would always play the victim at just the right moment.

It's not that I'm busy with countless affairs of state and worry about the country and its people; it's that I'm preoccupied with military affairs and recalling the glorious years of fighting and bloodshed, which makes me overly compassionate and I stop pursuing those trivial matters.

Thinking that she had almost fallen for the same trick again, Murong Yan was so angry that she punched her husband a few more times.

Zhao Zicheng finally forced a bitter smile: having a clever wife really isn't easy. Before, he only had to deal with the straightforward Murong Yan, who could easily play the victim and distract him. But after Murong Qiu entered the family, she repeatedly saw through his tricks.

He was so angry that he secretly exerted force with his left hand, making Murong Qiu feel numb all over. She stopped talking and then opened up: "Madam really knows me. You guessed right again. That's right, I am indeed going to be transferred to a relatively cold place this time, but I don't object. I have already made plans and have a way to deal with it."

Murong Qiu asked in a trembling voice, "Where are you being transferred to? When will you be able to take up your post? How many of your original subordinates will be able to go with you? Doesn't the court offer any other compensation?"

Zhao Zicheng sighed. Talking to smart people really doesn't require any preamble: "Transfer to Dengzhou and Laizhou, same as before, give me three months to take up my post, including the time to hand over the reins with the new prefect of Hangzhou."

There will definitely be compensation. The court assessed my contributions to pacifying Fang La and other rebels in Jiangnan and felt that I had made contributions in both raising military supplies and planning in assisting Wang Bing in pacifying Lü Shinang and Chen Shisi. After all, it was I who suggested that Wang Bing change to the waterway and take a detour to attack Linhai and Wenzhou from both sides. Otherwise, Wang Bing and Yang Zhi would not have been able to pacify Taizhou and Wenzhou so quickly.

Therefore, the court believed that I should have been further promoted and rewarded, but since my official position had been changed to the prefect of Laizhou, which was not as prestigious as that of Hangzhou, I should be compensated in terms of rank and title.

My official rank was promoted from the seventh-rank Chaoqinglang to the fifth-rank Zhongsandafu in one fell swoop. My noble title was also raised from the founding marquis of Jiaxing County to the founding duke of Xiuzhou County.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, titles below "Duke of the Founding State" could generally be granted to ordinary officials. Although some titles included words like "Duke" or "Marquis," they were not actually that valuable.

The titles above the Founding Duke, including those without the word "Founding," such as "Duke of the County," "Duke of the State," and even higher, are truly valuable. These titles can only be obtained by high-ranking officials with significant merits; they cannot be acquired simply by accumulating seniority or rank.

Generally speaking, high-ranking officials in the court who have accumulated seniority but have not made significant contributions, once they reach the fifth rank and have sufficient years of service and seniority, theoretically have the potential to eventually become "Founding Marquis." Once they reach the fourth rank, they theoretically have the potential to become "Founding County Duke." And once they reach the third rank, they might become "Founding Prefecture Duke"—but all of this is only a possibility, not a guarantee; it's simply a hard threshold.

Zhao Zicheng's case clearly breaks through the conventional hard threshold. After his promotion, he was still only a fifth-rank official, and at most a "founding marquis," but the court gave him a higher title, "founding county duke," which obviously took into full consideration the bonus of his imperial family status.

When a member of the Zhao clan performs meritorious service and is granted an official position, the additional title he receives is usually one or two ranks higher than that of an outsider without the Zhao surname; this is customary. In short, he performs the work of a fifth-rank official, receives the salary of a fifth-rank official, and holds a title that is usually reserved for a fourth-rank official.

Murong Qiu had been married to him for two or three months and was gradually learning some common sense about officialdom, so she tried to analyze: "Going to Dengzhou and Laizhou... it seems to be the aftermath of last year's expedient action and public announcement of Zhu Mian's execution. In this dynasty, the most severe exile is to Shamen Island. Shamen Island is in Dengzhou and Laizhou. Although you are not going there as a criminal official, the choice of this place is enough to show the court's intention to warn you."

Zhao Zicheng nodded slightly: "The Emperor should also have this consideration, but there is a very legitimate reason on the surface. He said that he hopes I will quell the situation on the Dengzhou-Laizhou coast and prevent the Shandong bandits from spreading eastward."

He also said that having spent so long in Jiangnan, I am considered one of the most knowledgeable about the navy among the current prefectural officials, and he hoped that I could make the best use of my talents. He added that others might not be able to handle these matters well.

Murong Qiu's eyes flickered: "The official purpose is to go there to train the navy? How many familiar troops can my husband take with him?"

Faced with this question, Zhao Zicheng could only smile wryly: "The Emperor must be wary of me. As expected, he didn't let Yang Zhi, Lin Chong, and Lu Da take any of them with him. They were all left in Hangzhou to prepare the naval forces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu to defend the coast of Taiping and Wenzhou."

This excuse is reasonable, and it was something I myself brought about. Lü Shinang and Chen Shisi have only just been executed; who knows if the situation in Taizhou and Wenzhou can be completely stabilized immediately? It's only right to keep an eye on things and do something about it.

Fortunately, those below Li Jun had always held low-ranking military positions. Even though they had participated in the Fang La Rebellion and earned some merit, they could only rise to the rank of battalion commander at most, which was still not enough to catch the eye of the imperial court. Therefore, all of them could go with him.

The imperial court and the emperor did not have a god-like perspective; they did not understand the situation on the ground. They were only able to keep track of the commanders-in-chief, which was equivalent to the corps and deputy corps level.

As for battalion-level and deputy battalion-level officers, there are too many of them. The higher-ups don't even know these small fry, so there's no question of giving them special attention or being wary of them.

When Li Jun first joined Zhao Zicheng's forces, he only received the rank of deputy captain, a very low starting point. Even after fighting the entire Fang La campaign, he only rose to the rank of battalion commander. The others were even lower than Li Jun.

Moreover, Zhao Zicheng was no pushover. In the imperial decree he was transferred, it seemed that a loophole was made in order to appease him, allowing him to borrow some officers from the imperial guards who were suitable for the northern defense area to assist him in his work.

The court's intention was clearly to "remove some of Zhao Zicheng's trusted and potentially loyal generals from his command, and then mix in some troublemakers who had no connection with him." These individuals would certainly not be of higher rank than Yang Zhi and Lin Chong; at most, they would be of the same rank.

But who is Zhao Zicheng? He is a self-proclaimed succubus of the Song Dynasty. If he can find an excuse to borrow some officers to Shandong, he can subdue them and turn them into his own people in less than two years.

Of course, the list of officers that the imperial court allowed him to select was certainly limited; he could only choose from a limited range.

Therefore, after meeting the imperial envoy, Zhao Zicheng privately selected two court military officers who were qualified to be transferred to suppress Liangshan, based on the range provided to him by the Ministry of War.

One of them was someone comparable to Yang Zhi, and Zhao Zicheng chose Huyan Zhuo, who was still serving as the military commander of Caizhou. Zhao Zicheng had known Huyan Zhuo for two years and had even collaborated with him once. At that time, Zhao Zicheng was transporting the tribute of precious stones and flowers from the Huai River to Yingchuan. He encountered the Wang Qing Rebellion in Caizhou and escaped thanks to the fierce battle fought by Yang Zhi and Li Jun, as well as Huyan Zhuo's rescue.

Now, two years have passed. Zhao Zicheng just asked the imperial envoy and learned that the Wang Qing Rebellion in Huaixi at the end of last year was quelled almost one after the other, just like the Fang La Rebellion in Jiangnan.

Huyan Zhuo also made some minor contributions in the battle to quell Wang Qing's rebellion, but not enough to warrant a direct promotion in rank and military power. Wang Qing was also killed by the government around the same time as Fang La's death; the details of that are unnecessary to elaborate on. In any case, it cost the court a considerable amount of money and resources and significantly depleted its manpower, but ultimately the rebellion was brought under control.

Now that Huaixi has been pacified and Caizhou is too devastated to support so many troops after the war, Zhao Zicheng should be able to get the court to transfer Huyan Zhuo away without objection. Of course, the specific application still needs to go through the process, which will take another month or so.

Anyway, Zhao Zicheng's term as prefect of Laizhou was three months, and he could wait that long.

Besides Huyan Zhuo, Zhao Zicheng also found Xu Ning, who was only a battalion commander at the time, by checking the relevant lists. Xu Ning was skilled in the hook-and-sickle spear. Zhao Zicheng planned to borrow Xu Ning to train his "improved version of the Mandarin Duck Formation" and transform the original wolf-brush soldiers into elite double-hook spear soldiers, as well as to lay some technical groundwork for dealing with the Jurchen cavalry in the future.

Hu Yanzhuo and Xu Ning were originally supposed to be seconded to attack Liangshan, but in the Water Margin, Hu Yanzhuo fell into a trap and was unable to defeat Liangshan, so he was forced to go up the mountain.

Now, Zhao Zicheng certainly wouldn't be polite; he would just take it and use it directly.

He sacrificed his trusted confidants Yang Zhi, Lin Chong, and Lu Da in exchange for Huyan Zhuo and Xu Ning, whom he was not yet very familiar with. This seemed justified by all accounts. In the eyes of the court, this was a weakening of Zhao Zicheng's core faction.

Besides these personnel arrangements, Zhao Zi said that before leaving Hangzhou, there was another internal matter to deal with—during the decisive battle with Fang La last year, he captured too many spoils of war, which were in the form of bulk goods such as silk brocade, tea and porcelain.

After spending these past few months on farming and technology, a considerable portion of his wealth has already been spent, but there is still a lot left to deal with. Selling too much of some things at once in a short period of time would cause prices to plummet, and Zhao Zicheng's profits would be severely damaged.

However, if he were to take a large amount of goods directly north to Shandong to take up his post, it would be inconvenient to transport them and would be too conspicuous.

Therefore, Zhao Zicheng needed to dispose of all the goods before leaving, exchanging them for more valuable precious metals, or even just a portion of the paper money.

To this end, he had already made some arrangements during his tenure as the prefect of Hangzhou. He also submitted a memorial to the court, hoping to reform the Maritime Trade Office in Hangzhou and to use Hangzhou as a pilot to add some new management institutions to the Maritime Trade Offices of the Song Dynasty. These institutions were mainly similar to exchanges in later times, to facilitate the open and transparent centralized buying, selling, and auctioning of bulk goods.

Zhao Zicheng's primary purpose in making this suggestion was, of course, to facilitate his own sale and cashing out, but objectively it also benefited the imperial court. It allowed for more transparent collection of customs duties, reducing opportunities for arbitrage through opaque operations.

The original maritime trade tariff system of the Song Dynasty was too backward, and the assessment of the value of goods and the amount of tax payable was very crude and lacked standards.

Wealthy merchants could evade a lot of tariffs by giving a small bribe to the officials of the Maritime Trade Office.

Although Zhao Zicheng didn't understand much about international trade and import/export in later generations, as a modern person, he certainly knew more than the ancients. Even a little bit of his knowledge would be enough for him and the court to achieve a win-win situation.

Before you leave, finish up this matter and you can travel with peace of mind.

(End of this chapter)