I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 115 The enemy cannot move, I cannot move

"Song Jiang is attacking?! This traitor actually launched an attack on Qingzhou?"

When Zhao Zicheng heard the news of Song Jiang's attack, he was genuinely surprised for a moment, even though he had been calmly farming for a month or two.

For a moment, he felt a little dazed, unsure whether the world was moving towards official history or towards the Water Margin.

According to official history, Song Jiang did indeed delay his attack on cities and territories until the third year of the Xuanhe era, but he was quickly defeated by Zhang Shuye. Historically, the uprisings of Song Jiang and Fang La overlapped; Song Jiang likely started his rebellion first, but remained in the waters and the Yimeng Mountains for fighting, while Fang La's rebellion began. Subsequently, Song Jiang was defeated first, and within six months, Fang La's remaining forces were also wiped out.

However, in this lifetime, due to Zhao Zicheng's intervention, a significant portion of Liangshan's early-stage forces were wiped out, slowing down Liangshan's already slowed development. Furthermore, Zhao Zicheng's appointment as an official in Jiangnan further accelerated Fang La's downfall, ultimately resulting in Song Jiang's development falling behind Fang La's.

Based on the timeline, it's reasonable that Song Jiang is only now beginning a large-scale attack on prefectures and attempting to seize cities. Given the speed of Song Jiang's army expansion and the need to recruit more men to resist the imperial court, once his forces reach tens of thousands, even twenty or thirty thousand, the supplies he can obtain from the vicinity of the marshland and the resources he can plunder from the Yimeng Mountains will certainly not be enough to sustain him.

The Shuibo and Yimeng mountain areas were too poor, so Song Jiang had to move to relatively wealthy large cities with more agricultural wealth to plunder government granaries and replenish his supplies in order to maintain his large army. Historically, his later willingness to accept amnesty was also strongly related to this predicament.

However, Zhao Zicheng recalled that in the original history, after Song Jiang developed to this stage, he chose to fight south along the Ji River, and then moved eastward to the coast to approach Haizhou (now Lianyungang), attempting to seize the imperial fleet of large ships that were at Haizhou Port.

It was only because Zhang Shuye, the prefect of Haizhou in another timeline, was shrewd and cunning, that he foresaw Song Jiang's plan in advance. Therefore, he moved some of the ships into the city ahead of time. As for those that could not be moved, Zhang Shuye would rather burn them himself, so that Song Jiang's plan to seize the ships would be completely ruined. Thus, Song Jiang was unable to bypass the city and seize the ships to go out to sea for relocation.

Ultimately, Song Jiang had no choice but to confront Zhang Shuye head-on in an attempt to capture Haizhou. However, his army's ability in direct combat was clearly lacking, and they were defeated by Zhang Shuye, leading him to choose to surrender.

In this life, in September of the third year of the Xuanhe era, after Song Jiang left the Yimeng and Taishan mountain areas, he surprisingly did not choose to attack south, but instead attacked north, launching a surprise attack on Qingzhou and killing the prefect of Qingzhou, Murong Yanda. This direction of advance seems less like historical fact and more like the setting of the Water Margin world.

Zhao Zicheng was momentarily stunned, but calmed down and slowly reviewed the situation. Hu Yanzhuo and Xu Ning, standing to the side, dared not utter a sound, afraid of disrupting the prefect's train of thought.

Zhao Zicheng pondered for a long time and finally came up with a possibility:
"Could it be because I destroyed Fang La in Jiangnan beforehand and became infamous that Song Jiang felt there was no way out even if he fled south and would eventually be wiped out, so he changed his course and went north? Hmm, that's very possible. After all, in the original history, Song Jiang destroyed Fang La first and then Fang La was destroyed later. Now, Fang La was destroyed first and Song Jiang has not yet been destroyed."

Especially after Fang La's defeat, Tong Guan had just returned from Jiangnan. Under these circumstances, if Song Jiang were to continue his campaign south along the Grand Canal or the coastline, wouldn't he be walking into a trap?

Zhao Zicheng went through this line of thought several times, and the more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. But then he realized a new problem: after Song Jiang changed his mind and headed north, did he have any longer-term plans? Surely he wasn't just going to rob Qingzhou to replenish his supplies and then escape? Would he go further and attack Dengzhou and Laizhou?
Zhao Zicheng had never thought about this question before, so he had to think about it and deduce it on the spot. He first recalled that in the original history, Song Jiang's last act before his downfall was to go to Haizhou to seize a sea ship. Where exactly was Song Jiang planning to go that time?

"I hadn't even considered this question before... Historically, when Song Jiang went to Haizhou to seize ships, he was mostly planning to head south to the Jiangnan coast. Now that he's come to Qingzhou in the north, which is also a coastal area, there must be ships there as well."

Song Jiang might have just robbed it and gone back, or he might have had his eye on the sea vessel. If he really wanted the sea vessel, would he cross the Bohai Sea to become a traitor to the Liao Kingdom? That's unlikely. Even if he was short-sighted, he would know that the Liao Kingdom was about to collapse.

Would he dare to betray his country and become a traitor to the Jin? Probably not. First, his reputation would be utterly ruined, and he would be despised by the world. Second, he should know that the Song and Jin were currently allies. So, if he betrayed his country and was used as a bargaining chip by the Jin, he would be doomed.

If neither of these options is possible, is he perhaps hoping to find some islands to become a pirate when he has absolutely no other choice? Or at least temporarily lay low and wait for the right opportunity to act? Or perhaps pick on some other easy targets?

Zhao Zicheng went through a series of possibilities and finally found that the third one seemed to be the most likely.

Although it still seems unlikely intuitively, as Holmes famously said: "When all other possibilities have been eliminated, the last one that remains, however improbable, must become possible."

After all, in the original history, Song Jiang really did try to steal a ship to escape, but he was beaten by Zhang Shuye and failed to do so.

"It seems I need to observe further and see if Song Jiang makes any moves to seize ships after arriving in Qingzhou. If not, then he might just rob a few ships to alleviate the pressure on money and supplies before returning to the marshland or the Yimeng Mountains. If he does, then he's nine-tenths likely planning to go out to sea to find an easy target along the coast to hide in."

With this in mind, Zhao Zicheng finally understood the general direction for dealing with Song Jiang.

He glanced around and noticed that the messenger, Huyan Zhuo, and Xu Ning were all staring at him eagerly, clearly waiting for his instructions.

"Has Your Excellency considered how to deal with the calamity posed by Song Jiang in this prefecture?" Huyan Zhuo asked in a low voice when he saw that his eyes had become sharp again.

Zhao Zicheng nodded slowly: "We've made some progress. After all, we are the Laizhou Xiang Army, and we only have the responsibility to defend our territory. We can't launch attacks without authorization. Don't blame me for being afraid of trouble. I was in the same situation in Jiangnan before. As the Vice Prefect of Suzhou, I had to wait until Fang La's generals reached Wujiang County in Suzhou before I could launch a counterattack and pursue them across the border."

If Fang La hadn't sent Shi Bao to Wujiang, I might have been forced to watch helplessly as he swallowed up Hangzhou, Huzhou, and Xiuzhou, only able to resist when he was practically at my doorstep. Who told me I also had to be a member of the imperial clan? If I possessed even a modicum of military talent, the court would be so wary of me that they couldn't sleep at night. It's truly a hardship for you all to serve as a prefect like me.”

Hu Yanzhuo and Xu Ning quickly said in unison that they dared not, and expressed their deep regret for Lord Zhao, who was so loyal to the emperor and loved his country, yet was suspected because of the rigidity of the court.

Then Huyan Zhuo asked, "So we should just hold the counties of Laizhou and wait for the enemy's situation to change? Should I lead my troops to Haicang County to hold it? Haicang is located at the mouth of the Wei River and has a seaport, which is the gateway from Qingzhou to our Laizhou."

Zhao Zicheng quickly waved his hand: "No need. If Song Jiang really dares to come, let him come! We don't need to alarm him for now."

I hereby make the following arrangements: Xu Ning, you will lead two battalions of infantry to advance to Haicang County and defend the prefecture's territory. In addition, before defending the city, you must search and seize all civilian ships, including fishing boats that can go to sea, and you must not allow Song Jiang to find any ships in Laizhou.

The remaining troops of this prefecture remain stationed in Yexian, awaiting changes in the enemy's situation. If Song Jiang dares to attack, the garrison at Haicang can hold their ground to wear down the enemy, and once the enemy is complacent, the main force of Yexian can then advance to their aid, thus securing a complete victory.

Xu Ning accepted the task of guarding the city without feeling any danger, and immediately roared in agreement.

Huyan Zhuo, who was in charge of leading the rest of the troops to stand by on the second line, was somewhat worried about this arrangement. He had also served as the military commander of a prefecture and had just participated in the battle against Wang Qing, so he was quite knowledgeable about practical combat deployment.

He then advised, "If the enemy forces besiege Haicang County and then attack the reinforcements after the city is besieged, what will our army do? Our prefecture only has more than two thousand local troops, while the rebel army has at least ten thousand. After breaking through Qingzhou, they will further coerce the innocent, and there is a possibility that there will be twenty or thirty thousand or even more."

If we defend the city with two thousand elite troops, we can still hold out. A few hundred elite soldiers plus local militia are very likely to fail. If the remaining one or two thousand are sent to reinforce, we might be forced into a field battle with Song Jiang. If our entire army is concentrated in one place, we can most likely defeat Song Jiang in a defensive battle, but a field battle is less certain.”

Zhao Zicheng smiled and shook his head: "You don't need to worry about that. Even if Song Jiang dares to go all out to attack Haicang, I can choose to send reinforcements by sea. Haicang County is located at the mouth of the Wei River where it flows into the Bohai Sea, and it can be reached directly by sea."

No matter how numerous and powerful the rebel army was, they could only block the land route to Haicang County. The sea route could not be completely blocked. Song Jiang did not have any decent warships. He could only rely on the small boats and fishing boats that he temporarily collected after arriving in Qingzhou. No matter how many people there were, they were not a threat.

Moreover, if our army focuses all its efforts on defending Haicang, it might actually be more dangerous. Song Jiang, a roving bandit, doesn't care about supply lines. If he really comes to Dengzhou and Laizhou, seeing the heavy defenses at Haicang, he might simply bypass it. Then, it would be even more difficult for us to return to defend the hinterland.”

Huyan Zhuo was taken aback, then realized he had indeed been blind to his own shortcomings. Huyan Zhuo was a land-based general, and possessed some of the habits of a nomadic people, spending his days studying cavalry. Having been initially transferred to coastal operations, he hadn't considered the possibility of deploying troops by sea.

Huyan Zhuo sincerely admired him: "So that's how it is. Since troops can be mobilized by sea, then the Prefect's plan is perfect! The Prefect is truly a genius, with a comprehensive understanding of the situation. I only know one side of the story."

Zhao Zicheng's plan went far beyond that. After reaching a consensus with Huyan Zhuo and Xu Ning, he added a series of supplementary arrangements:

"In addition to maintaining a defensive posture, the following supplementary arrangements should be made: First, spies should be sent out to find out which leaders of the attacking Liangshan bandits are present, and which leaders remain to guard the marshland. It should also be found out whether Song Jiang has seized any ships in Qingzhou."

Secondly, under the pretext of guarding against the Liangshan bandits, they should quickly recruit reliable young men from among the displaced people to serve in the army and accelerate its training. Since there had been no bandit activity previously, the local garrison should not be expanded too much without good reason.

Finally, remember not to flaunt our strength; try to appear as weak as possible. I am traveling by sea along the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea to take up my post in Laizhou, and I have not passed through the Shandong hinterland. Song Jiang is merely a local bandit; he may not be well-informed about official matters. Laizhou is also isolated; he may not know I have arrived there. If we can use this to lure the enemy, it would be a service to the country.”

After receiving the order, Hu Yanzhuo and Xu Ning immediately carried it out. As for the other matters that did not require their attention, there were other people specifically responsible for them.

For example, Zhao Zicheng assigned intelligence gathering tasks to Li Jun, who was in charge of the Laizhou navy. Since Qingzhou, which had been captured by Song Jiang's scheme, was a coastal prefecture, Li Jun's men could easily infiltrate it by sea, disguised as fishing boats, and gather intelligence directly behind enemy lines.

In contrast, if one were to enter Qingzhou territory by land to gather intelligence, it would require passing through layers of enemy-occupied areas, which would make it easier to be exposed.

Subordinates quickly got to work in an orderly manner, and within seven or eight days, all the arrangements Zhao Zicheng needed were implemented.

Xu Ning has already advanced to Haicang County to set up defenses, and Huyan Zhuo has also quietly gathered the general reserve of the cavalry and infantry of this prefecture.

Li Jun then obtained a list of the main personnel of the Liangshan forces—this didn't require Li Jun to have particularly outstanding espionage skills, but rather because Song Jiang hadn't intended to keep such information secret in the first place. Zhao Zicheng carefully read through the results Li Jun had gathered.

"The main leaders of Liangshan today, besides Song Jiang and Wu Jialiang, include Qin Ming, Huang Xin, Hua Rong, Li Kui, Wu Song, Chai Jin, Zhang Shun, Shi Jin, Zhang Qing, Liu Tang, Ruan Jin, Ruan Tong, Ruan Qi, Pei Xuan, Wang Ying, Yan Shun, and Yang Lin. Hmm, there are also some people left behind in the stronghold whose fighting ability is not worth mentioning."

It seems that, according to this list, only a small portion of the heroes from Liangshan's heyday have been gathered. I've already recruited some; Yang Zhi, Lin Chong, and Lu Da are all under my command, and Guan Sheng certainly won't join the bandits. Most importantly, Lu Jinyi's group doesn't seem to be on the list either.

This indicates that Song Jiang hadn't had time to expand into Hebei, and a large portion of his Hebei network was absent. This meant Liangshan was at least half its former strength.

According to "The Story of Xuanhe in the Great Song Dynasty", the eleven heroes from Hebei, led by Lu Jinyi, initially established their own stronghold in Hebei and even joined the outlaws in the Taihang Mountains. Later, when they could no longer make a living there, they came to Shandong to join Song Jiang.

Therefore, in "Water Margin", Lu Junyi was directly listed as the second-in-command. There is a reason why he could be ranked higher than the strategist and advisor Wu Jialiang, because he was originally the leader of the Hebei faction. After the two factions merged, the top seats of their respective factions naturally had to be divided among the first and second-in-command.

It now seems that Lu Jinyi, Li Ying, and other heroes from the Zhu Family Village, along with Dong Ping, Yan Qing, and others, plus Yang Xiong and Shi Xiu from Hebei, are likely still operating their own strongholds in the Taihang Mountains. If Song Jiang's capture of Qingzhou is left unchecked, people from Hebei might come to join him in the future, but all of this will take time.

In conclusion, due to Zhao Zicheng's butterfly effect, the development of Liangshan has been completely disrupted.

After a thorough assessment, Zhao Zicheng quickly came to two conclusions: compared to Fang La of the past, Song Jiang was not a threat at all.

Given some time to expand his army and prepare for war, Zhao Zicheng is quite confident in defeating Song Jiang. Even if he didn't bring many of his own troops with him on this northward journey, and still needs to rebuild his military strength in Shandong.

In contrast, Zhao Zicheng should think more carefully about how to use Song Jiang as an excuse to expand his power again and break through the various constraints imposed by the imperial court.

Yes, Zhao Zicheng was of course still a loyal subject of the Song Dynasty, and he certainly did not intend to "raise a bandit to enhance his own power."

……

Zhao Zicheng chose to maintain a low profile and defend the territory, avoiding any proactive conflict with Song Jiang. Song Jiang, after capturing Qingzhou, also needed time to consolidate his gains.

Moreover, there was probably some brief period of chaos within Song Jiang's camp—perhaps because Song Jiang himself didn't know where to go next. Should they continue eastward, or head north? Should they use sea routes to relocate, or transport their money and supplies back to their stronghold in the Liangshan and Yimeng mountain areas?

In conclusion, judging from both the phenomena and the results, Song Jiang's army hesitated for half a month in Qingzhou after killing Murong Yanda.

This is a common problem for peasant armies without a clear program; they just take things one step at a time and don't need to be given a special "idiot" aura.

Zhao Zicheng's low-key defense of the territory quickly attracted the attention of high-ranking officials in the Jingdong East Road area.

The local officials in Laizhou could remain oblivious to outside affairs as long as the enemy did not enter Laizhou territory, but the officials in the Jingdong East Road could not do so; they had to make overall plans for the stability of the entire Jingdong East Road.

So one day in mid-September, about ten days after Song Jiang entered Qingzhou, a high-ranking official of the circuit level finally arrived in Laizhou in a low-key manner to discuss countermeasures and deploy defenses with Zhao Zicheng.

Zhao Zicheng already knew the identity of this person; he was Zhang Shuye, the Pacification Commissioner of Jingdong East Circuit. Historically, Zhang Shuye should have been the Prefect of Haizhou at this time, but perhaps it was a butterfly effect caused by Zhao Zicheng, or perhaps Zhang Shuye had made some extra contributions beforehand.

In short, at this point in time, Zhang Shuye has become the Pacification Commissioner of Jingdong East Road, making him practically Zhao Zicheng's superior.

Upon learning of Zhang Shuye's visit, Zhao Zicheng naturally did not neglect him. He concealed much of his strength that did not need to be revealed beforehand, only displaying the necessary strength, and then personally went out of the city to welcome Zhang Shuye.

"Your humble servant Zhao Zicheng greets the Pacification Commissioner."

When the two met for the first time, Zhao Zicheng dismounted from his horse and bowed from a distance.

Zhang Shuye was already an old man of fifty-seven or fifty-eight, while Zhao Zicheng was only nineteen years old. The two were nearly forty years apart in age. Out of respect for the elder, Zhao Zicheng treated him with great courtesy, which was not a loss for him.

Accompanying Zhao Zicheng to greet him were Huyan Zhuo and his three hundred elite cavalry.

Zhang Shuye, accompanied only by a few dozen personal attendants, glanced briefly at Zhao Zicheng's battle preparations, then dismounted and patted Zhao Zicheng's hand on the back:
"The Duke of Xiu is a young man of great talent, and I have long admired him. It is an honor to meet you today."

Zhang Shuye addressed him as Duke of Xiu, which was, strictly speaking, a bit excessive. Zhao Zicheng had only been granted the title of Duke of Xiuzhou as a consolation prize by the emperor, a title that any fourth-rank civil official could hold.

If a minister from a different clan were to be granted such a title, Zhang Shuye would absolutely not address him in this way.

Because above the Founding County Duke is the Founding Prefecture Duke, and only then comes the proper State Duke. A lower-ranking duke with the title "Founding" should not omit the "Founding" designation.

However, since Zhao Zicheng's surname was Zhao, Zhang Shuye gave him face and didn't nitpick over the wording.

Zhao Zicheng quickly returned the greeting, and then Zhang Shuye got straight to the point without much pleasantries: "I have come here today to coordinate the encirclement and suppression of Song Jiang. From what I have seen today, the troops of Duke Xiu's Laizhou are quite strong and well-equipped. Song Jiang has been in Qingzhou for more than ten days. Why does Duke Xiu not take the initiative to intimidate Song Jiang?"

Zhao Zicheng quickly replied modestly, "The Pacification Commissioner is too kind. How could Laizhou dare to claim that its troops are strong and well-equipped? It's just a show of force. Apart from these three hundred cavalry, the prefecture has no other cavalry. The infantry and navy combined number only two thousand. How can we possibly defeat Song Jiang's tens of thousands of brutal troops? Therefore, we can only defend our territory for the time being."

To my shame, this Commander Huyan adopted a strategy of elite troops, believing that cavalry should be of high quality rather than large numbers. So, while they appeared formidable at first glance, their numbers were actually too small.

Zhang Shuye nodded: "In that case, it is necessary to expand the army quickly. After the local militia are expanded to be enough to guard the counties, the main fighting force can be transferred out. Even if we do not attack, we should make a show of shouting and clamoring along the Wei River between Laizhou and Qingzhou to spread the word and attract and deter Song Jiang."

Faced with Zhang Shuye's request, Zhao Zicheng immediately complained, "How could I not want to do what the envoy says? But as a member of the imperial family, I was previously resented by my colleagues in Suzhou and Hangzhou because I was concerned about the country and its people and was eager for quick success."

Later, in the battles of Hangzhou, I achieved several victories against overwhelming odds against Fang La, which kept many people up at night. This led to my being "exiled" to Laizhou, where Shamen Island is located. Now I have learned my lesson and will never voluntarily share the burdens of the country, unless Song Jiang invades my Laizhou territory. In that case, I will naturally have a duty to defend the land, and as long as Song Jiang does not enter, I will never provoke him.”

With just a few witty remarks, Zhao Zicheng managed to shut Zhang Shuye down.

He wasn't trying to refuse Zhang Shuye, but rather hoping that Zhang Shuye would help him share the potential pressures of officialdom in the future.

Everyone knows how suspicious and restrictive the capable ministers were during the Northern Song Dynasty.

Zhao Zicheng's seemingly petulant complaint successfully fooled Zhang Shuye.

Zhang Shuye could understand his grievances by putting himself in his shoes. He had made such great contributions in the fight against Fang La, but all the key generals he had deployed and appointed during that campaign had been reassigned by the court.

At the time of the Battle of Qingheyan, Zhao Zicheng commanded about 10,000 troops on the battlefield. Even if we exclude the Western Army that temporarily cooperated with him, there were still at least 8,000 troops from the various prefectures in Jiangnan, including the patrol naval forces of Zhenjiang Prefecture.

But of those eight thousand-plus people, how many could Zhao Zicheng have actually brought to Laizhou? On the surface, there were at most a few hundred. In reality, although there were over a thousand, many were disguised as local militia disguised as laborers or household servants.

If you win, they'll transfer your trusted men away and then let you lead newly recruited or transferred people, leaving you with "soldiers who don't know their generals and generals who don't know their soldiers." Who would want to be the first to stand out then?

Zhang Shuye could only sigh and comfort him, "How could I not know that Lord Xiu is dedicated to the country and its people? These grievances will eventually be dealt with fairly, but now is not the time to dwell on them."

"As long as you put your heart into it, I will be more lenient with you. Even if some things are difficult to explain in the future, just say that I asked you to do them—look at these few official documents from the imperial court, I've already taken the blame for so many things for you!"

As Zhang Shuye spoke, he took out several official documents from his sleeve and tossed them to Zhao Zicheng, telling him to take a close look at them after returning home. Only then could they openly discuss the important matter of eliminating the rebels.

(End of this chapter)