I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 116 Zhao Zicheng's Three Agreements
Zhao Zicheng led Zhang Shuye back to the city and hosted a welcoming banquet at the prefectural government office. While doing so, Zhao Zicheng took out the official documents Zhang Shuye had given him and quickly skimmed through them.

These documents include both directives from the imperial court to Zhang Shuye personally, as well as other relatively public official gazettes, and contain a wide variety of information.

The imperial court's requirement for Zhang Shuye was, naturally, to quickly coordinate the various prefectures of Jingdong East Circuit to contain the Liangshan bandits led by Song Jiang. It specifically mentioned the need to guard against Song Jiang continuing his northward advance and colluding with the Liao people.

Although it was unlikely that Song Jiang would defect to the Liao and become a traitor, the officials and even the emperor in Dongjing (Kaifeng) were unaware of this. Based on common sense, they reasoned that since Song Jiang had captured Qingzhou and reached the coast of the Bohai Sea, it was indeed very possible that he could enter Liao territory if he wandered a little further north.

The court's requirements for Zhang Shuye included many details and precautions. Zhang Shuye originally didn't need to show them to Zhao Zicheng, but he did so openly, clearly hoping that Zhao Zicheng would cooperate with him as much as possible.

In addition to the imperial orders, there were also several documents, which were official reports on the political situation intended for high-ranking officials.

Zhao Zicheng clearly saw that one of the reports contained some information about him, saying that after Fang La was pacified, the court had appointed a new Inspector of Liangzhe Circuit to be responsible for pacifying the people of Liangzhe after the war and investigating the abuses of power.

When Zhao Zicheng saw this, he was initially surprised, but without standing on ceremony with Zhang Shuye, he subconsciously asked, "The court has appointed another Inspector of Liangzhe Circuit? Where has the original Inspector Zhao Yue been appointed? Does Your Excellency know?"

Zhang Shuye: "You... you still have time to pay attention to others? Well, it's good that I do know that Prefect Zhao has been transferred to the position of Transport Commissioner of Liangzhe Circuit, and the Inspectorate Commissioner has been taken over by this Liu Yu! You should be looking at the more important points later on!"

Zhang Shuye's casual reply startled Zhao Zicheng.

Liu Yu? Could it be Liu Yu, the puppet emperor of Qi who later defected to the Jin dynasty and became a major traitor?!

He quickly looked down and continued reading the document. Sure enough, it stated that the new Inspector of Liangzhe Circuit was Liu Yu. This name made him gasp slightly.

Zhao Zicheng had read history books in his previous life, but all he knew was that Liu Yu eventually became a traitor to the Han and a puppet of the Jin Dynasty. Moreover, his last official position before becoming a traitor seemed to be the prefect of Jinan Prefecture. That's why he was able to kill Guan Sheng, the then garrison commander of Jinan Prefecture, and then defect to the enemy.

However, Zhao Zicheng couldn't really remember what official positions Liu Yu had held before that. After all, his official career was so long that no one could possibly have read it all, and history books didn't go into such detail.

In fact, historically, Liu Yu was appointed by the court as the Inspector of Liangzhe Circuit after the suppression of Fang La's rebellion, to clean up the mess in Jiangnan.

Liu Yu did initially want to make a difference, and when he arrived in Jiangnan, he did uncover some malpractices and did some good things. However, this also offended many colleagues and high-ranking officials who had been serving in Jiangnan, especially in Liangzhe Road, for a long time.

Later, during the Jingkang Incident, the imperial court fled south, and Liangzhe Circuit became the core of governance. Most of the former officials of Bianjing were captured by the Jin army, leaving many high-ranking positions vacant in the central government. As a result, many local officials of Liangzhe Circuit who had been offended by Liu Yu were promoted to the highest levels of the imperial court.

Liu Yu also wanted to use his connections to escape to the south and become a local official, but he was ostracized by his political enemies and appointed as the prefect of Jinan Prefecture, which was on the front line. In fact, they wanted to settle personal scores and use the Jin soldiers to kill him.

When Liu Yu saw that he had been pushed to the front line to die, he killed his pro-war generals in a fit of rage and defected to the enemy, becoming a traitor and leading the Jurchens. To be fair, there were indeed elements of factional struggle in Liu Yu's being pushed to the front line, but no matter what, being a major traitor and betraying one's own nation is an unforgivable crime.

Even if he was ostracized by his political enemies, he could at worst abandon his post and flee, or even escape to the Jin Kingdom and live as a commoner to avoid being framed; those would still be somewhat understandable. But to directly kill a pro-war general and hand over his territory to the Jin Kingdom—these crimes were absolutely heinous.

However, now is not the time to dwell on such details. Zhao Zicheng quickly looked down at the key points that Zhang Shuye had reminded him of.

“Since Liu Yu took office as the Inspector of Liangzhe Circuit, he has only been in office for half a month, but he has also investigated the corrupt officials who caused the Fang La Rebellion… and he has even come to investigate me?” Zhao Zicheng was secretly shocked.

According to the imperial court, Liu Yu found some evidence that Zhao Zicheng was suspected of privately dividing up the spoils of war after the war against Fang La, as well as illegally occupying unclaimed land in Hangzhou. He also claimed that his cronies also profited from the construction of the Hangzhou Maritime Trade Office's exchange.

Of these two incidents, Zhao Zicheng admitted to having done so, but he believed he had been very restrained and handled them cleanly. As for profiting during the construction of the exchange, Zhao Zicheng insisted he hadn't done so at all. He said it was a new thing, something they were figuring out as they went along, and he had tried his best to plug any loopholes.

At most, he used that exchange to ship a batch of silk and porcelain seized from Fang La, but those were all legal transactions. If anyone is to accuse him, they can only accuse him of the previous private distribution of spoils.

There must be some injustice involved. If the court really wants to investigate, Zhao Zicheng will definitely protest.

"This Liu Yu is utterly slanderous! My role as the head of the Hangzhou Maritime Trade Exchange was entirely for the benefit of the people and to regulate tax sources for the country—a matter that benefits both the nation and the people! Liu Yu is actually framing me with baseless accusations! I will definitely submit a petition to defend myself!"

Upon seeing this, Zhao Zicheng slammed his fist on the table and stood up.

But Zhang Shuye rolled his eyes at him, signaling him to calm down: "What are you arguing about? The court hasn't punished you yet. If they really were going to punish you, you would have seen these things yourself, instead of them just falling into my hands!"

Zhao Zicheng was taken aback, but then realized it himself.

Yes, if the court wanted to punish me, I would definitely know. Since I didn't know, it means that this matter did not result in any punishment.

They haven't even punished you, so what's there to argue about?
"This... could it be that someone in the court is discerning and has seen through Liu Yu's false accusation?" Zhao Zicheng hadn't reacted yet, so he humbly asked Zhang Shuye, a seasoned official, for advice.

"You don't even understand this? Alas, you're still young, ambitious and eager to serve your country, yet you don't understand the ways of officialdom." Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, Zhang Shuye couldn't help but feel that Zhao Zicheng was truly an honest man. Feeling sympathetic, he decided to enlighten the young man and help him clear up his doubts.

"The court did not reject Liu Yu's report, but it did not punish you either, which means that some people in the court are happy to see you seek wealth! Among the military generals of this dynasty, how many who have the ability to quell rebellions and make meritorious contributions do not seek wealth? The emperor and the chief ministers are also happy to see this."

Back then, Emperor Taizu... that is, your ancestor, released his generals from their military power over a cup of wine. How much wealth and high salaries were he willing to give to his arrogant and fierce generals? The excessive spending and redundant officials in this dynasty are so serious. How much of that was to appease the good ministers who are good at fighting!
I thought you could see right through me, but alas, you're still too young. You only know how to do things, not how to navigate the treacherous waters of officialdom.

Zhao Zicheng was taken aback.

The emperor, that uncle, didn't care whether his distant nephew had embezzled money after winning the battle and suppressing the rebellion, nor did he bother to investigate. He simply believed Liu Yu's report.

Even if he genuinely felt his nephew had made a fortune, he was happy for him and hoped his nephew would be after money. A capable member of the imperial clan had truly rendered meritorious service; let him make money, it's better than him having other ambitions.

Zhang Shuye also noticed the change in Zhao Zicheng's expression, and earnestly instructed him: "The court suppressed this matter and did not deal with it, but only privately informed the envoys of the Eastern Circuit of Jingdong. What does that mean?"
This shows that the court also wants to imply to me that if I encounter you again trying to make money, I should turn a blind eye, and it doesn't matter if you really do make money. This is one reason.

On the other hand, the court informed me of all this in the hope that when war truly comes, I can rely on you with more confidence, because you are merely a 'selfish and self-serving' person.

When Zhang Shuye said this, his tone was very calm, and he didn't seem to think that Zhao Zicheng's "selfishness" was anything wrong.

Perhaps he genuinely hoped Zhao Zicheng would be a little greedy when it came to money, or perhaps he understood Zhao Zicheng's difficulties and thought Zhao Zicheng was tarnishing his own reputation. But whatever the reason, Zhang Shuye had already openly expressed his support.

The subtext is simply: Stop worrying about being suspected! At this critical time for the nation, do your job well. If there's anything you need to cover up or conceal, I'll help you share the burden. Right now, the most important thing is to quell the chaos!
After listening, Zhao Zicheng remained silent for a long time, pondering and digesting Zhang Shuye's intentions.

It seems that Zhang Shuye truly trusted those he employed and did not employ those he did not trust. Perhaps in the original history, his ability to defeat Song Jiang's rabble, which had an overwhelming numerical advantage, with only a few thousand soldiers was also due to his ability to unite people's hearts.

For the Song Dynasty army, when fighting internal rebellions, tactical and technical skills were often not the most important factor, because the enemies they faced were also relatively weak.

The most crucial thing is to avoid being hampered, so that the civil officials in the rear can wholeheartedly support the front lines and allow the soldiers on the front lines to fully unleash their potential.

"Since Your Excellency has put it this way, what reason do I have to remain silent and protect myself? Does Your Excellency hope that my Laizhou troops will take the initiative to attack and enter Qingzhou territory to quell the bandits as soon as possible? After I send out my troops, how will Your Excellency cover for me and smooth things over?"

Since the other party was so sincere, Zhao Zicheng naturally had to show a friendly attitude as well. It wouldn't be right to continue hiding and harboring bandits to maintain his own importance. Zhang Shuye finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Zhao Zicheng had taken the initiative to be frank: "It is truly a blessing for the country that the Duke of Xiu is willing to think this way. That's right, I do hope that the Laizhou troops will take the initiative to attack. As for the instructions from above, everything was under my command. No one will say that you crossed the border without authorization."

If necessary in war, I can also coordinate troops from neighboring prefectures to fight alongside you. However, to the outside world, it will only be said that it is an order from the Pacification Commissioner of Jingdong East Circuit. I will retroactively approve and complete the formalities for you afterwards. The documents that the officials in Tokyo see after the war will be absolutely flawless.

Sun Tzu said, "A general who is capable and whose ruler does not interfere with him will prevail. When Duke Xiu was pacifying Fang La in Jiangnan, he won battle after battle. If I, an old man, do not give such a talented person an important position in Jingdong East Circuit, wouldn't I be neglecting what is close at hand and looking far away, or being blind to his own shortcomings?"

Having said all that, Zhao Zicheng stopped being polite and knew it was time to set the specific terms.

He rose from his seat, solemnly cupped his hands to Zhang Shuye, and said, “Since Your Excellency trusts me so much, I will do my utmost to serve the country. Your Excellency said you can help me coordinate the troops of neighboring prefectures. I don’t ask for much, I only ask that Your Excellency coordinate two forces for me, and that they be deployed according to my plan. Otherwise, my Laizhou army can only defend our homeland and dare not act rashly.”

Zhang Shuye nodded: "Tell me first, which two troops do you need to cooperate with?"

Zhao Zicheng said, "To the east of Qingzhou lies my Laizhou, and to the west of Qingzhou lies Jinan Prefecture. In order to trap Song Jiang and gradually nibble away at his territory, we must have troops on both the east and west sides to contain him and achieve complete victory."

If either side makes a mistake, even if the other side defeats Song Jiang, Song Jiang can still flee in the opposite direction, and the situation will inevitably deteriorate. My previous hesitation to act was precisely because of this, fearing it would harm my neighbor.

Zhao Zicheng first gave a brief explanation of his reasoning. His words were very much in line with military strategy. Since ancient times, the most important thing in fighting bandits is to encircle and suppress them. Otherwise, what is the use of simply defeating them on the battlefield? The more you fight and chase, the more they escape, and eventually a large area will be devastated.

When Hong Chengchou later coordinated the elimination of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, he first requested that Emperor Chongzhen grant him the power to coordinate several provinces, allowing him to deploy a blockade from a holistic perspective, "covering the four cardinal directions and six intermediate directions, and setting up a ten-sided net."

Zhao Zicheng doesn't want much now; he only wants the power to coordinate attacks from both the east and west sides of Laizhou and Jinan Prefecture, which is quite reasonable.

Just like when a doctor squeezes a pimple, they should at least prepare iodine-soaked gauze or alcohol swabs. Otherwise, if they carelessly squeeze the pus-filled pus, the pus will flow everywhere, making the infection even worse.

Zhang Shuye was also knowledgeable in military affairs, so he did not object to this request and readily replied, "So, you want the local militia of Jinan Prefecture to be under your command as well?"

Zhao Zicheng didn't want to make things too ugly, so he compromised and said, "Jinan Prefecture also needs to keep enough troops to defend the territory. I only need Guan Sheng, the commander of the Jinan cavalry, and his troops to be under my command. The infantry can be kept to defend the city, while the cavalry is more suitable for pursuing and encircling the enemy to prevent them from escaping."

Zhang Shuye: "Jinan Prefecture doesn't have many cavalry troops; those few people are probably not enough."

Zhao Zi said, "I can transfer some of the cavalry from Laizhou to the western front to fight alongside the cavalry from Jinan Prefecture. As for Laizhou, I only need to defend the territory and launch attacks with my infantry. But it will take some time for me to gather more troops. Song Jiang claims to have tens of thousands of men, and even if there are many rabble among them, it is not something that our two thousand or so can easily defeat."

Zhang Shuye: "Then who else do you need to cooperate?"

Zhao Zicheng then held up two more fingers: "First, I need to further screen and recruit righteous men from Hebei to join the army. I hope that Your Excellency can also support and publicize this expansion of the army in the name of the Pacification Commissioner of Jingdong East Road."

Secondly, I need to coordinate with Hu Yanqing, the commander of the Pinghai Army in Dengzhou, to transfer the Dengzhou navy to Jinan Prefecture, blocking Song Jiang's route northward along the Bohai Sea coast to escape to the Liao Kingdom. This is because it cannot be ruled out whether Song Jiang acquired a large number of ships after capturing Qingzhou.

If Song Jiang obtains seagoing vessels, even if we launch a pincer attack from the east and west, cutting off his land route along the Bohai coast, he can still escape by boat. If he flees to the Liao Kingdom, he will become a major threat to our Great Song Dynasty. Only by blocking the Bohai coastline north of Jinan can we achieve complete victory.

The Huyanqing mentioned by Zhao Zicheng was the naval commander of Dengzhou at that time. Zhao Zicheng's official position was only the prefect of Laizhou, which is the area around Yantai and Qingdao in later times. Dengzhou was located at the tip of the Shandong Peninsula, mainly the area around Weihai in later times.

Zhao Zicheng said that he does not yet have the authority to directly and fully command Hu Yanqing and needs additional authorization and cooperation from Zhang Shuye, the commander at the Lu level.

After Zhao Zicheng took office in Laizhou, he did build shipyards and manufacture warships. However, the construction cycle of the navy was too long, especially since it was starting from scratch in the shipyard. Three months was simply not enough time to build his own fleet.

They could only take advantage of this situation and transfer Hu Yanqing over.

Moreover, there was another benefit to bringing Hu Yanqing here, because Hu Yanqing had been in charge of escorting ships during the maritime alliance negotiations with the Jin Dynasty for several years.

Envoys of the Song Dynasty, such as Zhao Liangsi, had previously relied on the escort and transportation of Huyan Qing's Dengzhou navy to reach the Liaodong Peninsula smoothly when they went to the Jin Dynasty.

However, Huyan Qing's strength was still insufficient, and the imperial court had not invested much in the navy. Therefore, Huyan Qing alone could not defeat the navy of Goryeo, which is why Goryeo was able to slightly hinder the Song Dynasty's negotiations to unite with Jin to attack Liao.

There's nothing shameful about it, after all, Huyanqing only has the resources of Dengzhou.

Just like if, in later generations, Weihai City alone were to try and take on South Korea's shipbuilding industry, it wouldn't be able to. But if the shipbuilding resources of the entire Shandong Province could be mobilized, South Korea would be no threat.

After a moment's thought, Zhang Shuye also felt that the two requests were reasonable, and it was clear that Zhao Zicheng was not greedy and did not ask for anything extra. He only needed the cavalry to cooperate with him from Jinan Prefecture, and only the navy from Dengzhou Prefecture; they were being used where they were most needed.

After reviewing the plan, Zhang Shuye nodded in agreement: "I can agree to both of these points. How long will it take before you launch the attack? Also, if Hu Yanqing of Dengzhou is transferred to the coastal area of ​​Jinan Prefecture and blocks the northward waterway along the Bohai Sea coast, how should we deal with any openings in Dengzhou's route?"
What if, after suffering a defeat in the land battle, Song Jiang fled eastward by sea instead of northward?

To this question, Zhao Zicheng answered almost without hesitation: "Where could he possibly escape to in the east? Song Jiang is a bandit, and his naval forces are at most fishermen fishing in Liangshan Marsh. It's already good enough if their ships can sail along the coastline; how could they possibly have the ability to enter the deep sea?"

If he really tries to escape eastward, he will be putting himself in a dead end. If he dares to land at the tip of the Dengzhou Peninsula, our army will return to defend and block the peninsula's route of attack. He will be dead sooner or later.

If he were to land directly on Shamen Island, it would be suicidal. What else is on Shamen Island besides the most vicious death row inmates? The local food supply isn't even enough for the inmates themselves; within a few months, Song Jiang's entire army would starve to death.

Zhang Shuye: "What if Song Jiang crosses Shamen Island and continues his perilous journey north? What if he reaches the tip of the Liaodong Peninsula?"

Zhao Zicheng laughed: "My lord, have you forgotten that the tip of the Liaodong Peninsula is no longer Liao territory, but Jin territory? Our Great Song and Jin have now reached a maritime alliance to jointly attack Liao."

Although both the Song Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty had their own plans, it was impossible for a bandit like Song Jiang to know such news. He dared not go to the Jin Dynasty, fearing that he would be used as a bargaining chip to be sent back to the Song Dynasty. In that case, he would only die a more miserable death. With the crime of treason and defection to the barbarians, there would be no chance of survival.

Moreover, if I were to discover that Song Jiang was heading east by boat, I would immediately lead the Laizhou and Dengzhou naval forces to strike Shamen Island from the coast of Jinan.

Song Jiang's navy has to sail close to the coastline, a long and winding route. Our army, however, can go straight to Shamen Island. Not only is the journey shorter, but our ships are also better and more suited to sea navigation. We will definitely be able to intercept the sea route north from Shamen Island to the Jin Kingdom before Song Jiang does. Then we can just wait for Song Jiang to starve to death on Shamen Island.”

Zhang Shuye hadn't thought it through carefully, so when Zhao Zicheng mentioned it, he immediately realized that there was no need to worry about that possibility in the end.

"Since that's the case, I'll grant you all three of your requests: I'll place Guan Sheng, the commander of the Jinan cavalry, and Hu Yanqing, the commander of the Dengzhou Pinghai army, under your command. At the same time, in the name of the Pacification Commissioner of the Eastern Route of Jingdong, I'll recruit young men who have fled from Hebei to Jinan Prefecture and expand them into a volunteer force."

However, after I have accomplished these three points, you must launch an attack on Song Jiang within a month. Is that enough time for preparation? Are you willing to sign a pledge?

Zhao Zi said, "As long as you agree to these three points, I will definitely cross the border into Qingzhou and launch an attack on Song Jiang within a month. However, I cannot guarantee when I will be able to capture it. Please rest assured, my lord. The autumn grain has not yet been stored, and Song Jiang is certainly reluctant to leave Qingzhou immediately."

As long as we haven't launched an attack, Song Jiang will definitely wait until he has plundered Qingzhou's autumn grain before making other plans. These bandits have never had any long-term ambitions.

Zhang Shuye: "Alright! It's settled then!"

(End of this chapter)