I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 159 First, seize the five routes as a foundation, then plan to oversee the country and save the world.

"Your Highness! Tokyo has been captured by the Jurchens! The Emperor and all the princes have been taken prisoner! The Jurchens are also looting and plundering on a large scale! We urge Your Highness to make a decision as soon as possible!"

One day at the end of October in the first year of the Jingkang era, Zhao Zicheng was in Jinan City reorganizing the situation, meeting with officials, and preparing military supplies when a piece of bad news was delivered to Jinan by express courier and arrived in Zhao Zicheng's hands.

At this point, only two months had passed since Zhao Zicheng arrived in Jinan and beheaded the notorious traitor Liu Yu.

Two months may not seem like a short time, but it's far from enough to take control of the entire Jingdong East Road, and even Xuzhou in Jingdong West Road, to deploy defenses, reorganize internal affairs and military equipment, and shift the local government's ruling model and economic governance to a wartime track.

In all honesty, Zhao Zicheng has been incredibly busy lately, running around to various prefectures and counties, inspecting and getting acquainted with officials, persuading local authorities to audit accounts and investigate the vacancies of local troops, and ensuring the payment of soldiers' salaries. That alone has kept him too busy to sleep.

The original system of the Song Dynasty was completely unsuitable for wartime conditions. Soldiers were supposed to receive 30 strings of cash in military pay per year, but in reality, this was impossible. The problem of receiving pay without working was so serious that this is why the fighting capacity has been so low over the years.

Historically, after Zhao Gou ascended the throne in the early Southern Song Dynasty, in order to effectively resist the Jin invaders, the soldiers' pay was generally increased to at least fifty strings of cash. In critical moments requiring desperate fighting, the pay could even reach seventy or eighty strings of cash a year. This was rigorously implemented and ensured to be paid in full, which allowed them to weather the most dangerous period.

Of course, this is by no means to say that Zhao Gou was particularly conscientious; he was forced to do so to save his own life in a life-or-death situation. After the crisis passed, the rulers of the Southern Song Dynasty quickly became corrupt and reverted to their old ways.

Although Zhao Zicheng enjoyed high prestige in the region, he could not defy the laws of nature. Prestige could only last for a while. If he wanted the soldiers and civilians of Jingdong Road to fight to the death with him for a long time, he still had to pay them their full amount of food and wages.

He might not need to promise 70 or 80 strings of cash a year, but like Zhao Gou of the same historical period, he definitely needed to receive the full amount of 50 strings of cash, otherwise no one would be willing to risk their lives for him.

The change from extorting and embezzling thirty strings of cash to actually receiving fifty strings is a seemingly insignificant number. However, it actually requires a complex overhaul of the bureaucratic governance system and a major transformation of the entire socio-economic operating model. It cannot be completely reversed in just two or three years.

For now, we can only do what we can.

It was at this critical juncture that Zhao Zicheng suddenly received the devastating news that his elder brother had been captured and the capital had fallen. This was truly not his fault; he had already been busy with everything he could.

……

"Wh...what? Didn't I just hear last month that Bianjing was besieged? I even wrote to my brother, the Emperor, urging him to defend it with all his might, so that I could organize the troops in the Jingdong region and fight our way through the Jin troops in the Yun, Yan and Guide areas."

If we truly cannot break through, I will march south along the Huai and Si rivers, then upstream along the Huai to Chen and Cai, before heading north to reinforce the capital. But why couldn't my brother hold out even for a little while? Last time the Jin army attacked Bianjing, the court at least fought to the death for four months!

Upon hearing the sudden bad news, Zhao Zicheng was also shocked, even by his subordinates Zhang Shuye, Chen Guoting, Huyan Qing, and others.

Zhang Shuye, Chen Guoting, and Huyan Qing all knew that His Highness Prince Xiu was genuinely shocked, because they had all witnessed how busy and hardworking he had been these past few days.

The Emperor's request for help was indeed only sent last month. Subsequently, all the civil and military officials of Jingdong Road held a collective meeting to discuss how to rescue the Emperor. They pooled their wisdom and efforts, and it was definitely not a case of Zhao Zicheng making a one-man show.

Finally, even Zhang Shuye and Hu Yanqing, who were knowledgeable in military affairs, advised Zhao Zicheng to make two preparations based on sound military considerations: on the one hand, to try to break through the Jin army's defense line along the Yanzhou and Songzhou lines as quickly as possible; if they could break through, that would be best, and they would not have to take a detour.

On the other hand, to be on the safe side, they also kept a backup plan, preparing a transport fleet to take a roundabout route south by water to rescue the capital. They could only hope that the Jurchen flanking force hadn't had time to advance further south and cut off the Huai River waterway. If the north bank of the Huai River was already occupied by Jurchen cavalry, then this route would be blocked, and reinforcements would be even slower.

But in the end, it was simply impossible to carve a bloody path directly from Yanzhou and Yunzhou. The Eastern Route of Jingdong didn't have many regular troops, and Guan Sheng and his men had been restricted by the court from expanding their army indefinitely. Their limited forces were only capable of defending local areas and were powerless to launch a counterattack in open battle against the Jin army.

It was possible to send reinforcements by waterway, but ultimately it was Zhao Huan who collapsed too quickly and couldn't hold on. This can't be blamed on Zhao Zicheng; everyone saw it.

Zhao Zicheng sighed and felt resentful for a while, but he didn't faint like other loyal ministers and righteous men—mainly because he was too healthy and had unparalleled martial arts skills, and it was impossible for him to faint from excitement in this lifetime.

He was just feeling a bit tired, and he slumped down at his desk, his eyes vacant, sighing repeatedly.

Finally, Zhang Shuye, the oldest and most senior among his colleagues, spoke first: "Your Highness, since the Emperor and the princes of the close relatives have been captured, and the country is in dire straits at this time, the nation is in utter ruin. In order to preserve the Han people's clothing and customs, the country cannot be without a ruler for even a day... Otherwise, who can unite the people and drive out the Tartars?"

Many years ago, Zhang Shuye served as a pacification commissioner in the Eastern Circuit of Jingdong. Later, he was transferred to other places, including Hebei Circuit, but Hebei Circuit had long been completely destroyed by the Jin people, leaving no territory behind. Zhang Shuye could only wander from place to place. However, he had a long service record in the Eastern Circuit of Jingdong and had many former students and officials. Everyone was happy to see him return to assist Zhao Zicheng.

“No! I am only a prince, a title bestowed upon me by the late emperor… by my elder brother at the beginning of the year. In terms of lineage and seniority, the main line has been separated for six generations. How can I harbor such a presumptuous idea!” Zhao Zicheng immediately shouted, rejecting Zhang Shuye’s rash proposal.
Of course, Zhao Zicheng didn't make things difficult for everyone. He wasn't the kind of person who would destroy the old and not build the new. After rejecting the idea, he immediately pointed out another clear path for everyone.
"The best course of action now is to first see if there are any virtuous princes from closer branches of the imperial clan scattered in various places, and then make other plans. We must not act rashly! I will not punish you for what you said today, since it was said in private. Ji Zhong is quite old, and I don't think he is someone who seeks advancement by chance."

Zhao Zicheng had already made it very clear that he needed to confirm whether all those closely related to the emperor by blood had truly been caught in one fell swoop, and whether any had escaped. This was crucial for his subsequent decisions.

Zhang Shuye was just testing him. Seeing that Zhao Zicheng was capable, measured, and ambitious, he felt a little more at ease.

Over the years, Zhao Zicheng's saying, "Those who eat meat plan for the downfall of a country, and every citizen is responsible for the downfall of the world," has not been unfounded. Moreover, from Zhao Ji to Zhao Huan, they all agreed with this theory. Therefore, in recent years, this view has basically become the official ideology of the Song Dynasty and a prominent school of thought.

Neither Zhao Ji nor Zhao Huan expected that this theory of legitimacy and rule would ultimately benefit Zhao Zicheng, as if it were tailor-made for him.

Perhaps this is also a manifestation of fate.

Zhang Shuye was a learned and reasonable man, not blindly loyal. After seeing so many coincidences, he couldn't help but think that "perhaps Prince Xiu is truly the chosen one."

This is equivalent to Emperor Shizong of Zhou seeing a wooden plaque that read "Made by the Inspector" before his death, becoming very worried, and quickly replacing Zhang Yongde, the Inspector of the Palace Guard, with Emperor Taizu. However, a few months later, Emperor Taizu happened to become the emperor.

In the Song Dynasty, quite a few scholars and officials regarded the extraordinary fortune bestowed upon Zhao Zicheng as a divine decree that Emperor Taizu had no choice but to grant.

The more people try to defy this divine decree, the more they find themselves unable to resist fate. No matter how hard they try to escape, they end up coming full circle.

Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons and discussing it with Chen Guoting on the spot, Zhang Shuye and Chen Guoting jointly came up with a proposal:
"Since Your Majesty is so humble, those important matters can be put aside for now and investigated gradually. However, Your Majesty was temporarily appointed as the Pacification Commissioner of Jingdong Road. Now that the heavens and earth have collapsed, it is necessary for all officials of Jingdong Road to declare their loyalty to Your Majesty. Only in this way can we unite the people's hearts to resist the Tartars."

In addition, before coming to Jingdong Road, Your Majesty also held the official title of Pacification Commissioner of Liangzhe Road. When the Emperor hastily sent Your Majesty here, it is said that there was no time to appoint another Pacification Commissioner of Liangzhe Road.

Your Majesty, please immediately dispatch your subjects to Liangzhe Circuit to issue a decree, ordering the local military commanders, transport officials, and judicial officials such as Zhao Yue and Wei Xian to submit to Your Majesty and accept Your Majesty's unified command. Many of the soldiers and generals of Liangzhe Circuit have previously fought alongside Your Majesty in suppressing rebellions and eliminating bandits.

For example, the Liang family of Zhenjiang Army, along with generals Yang Zhi and Lin Chong of Zhenhai Army, requested Your Majesty to act swiftly in this urgent situation and immediately dispatch elite troops from the Liangzhe region by water and land to the north to defend Your Majesty and unify command.

Furthermore, one can also mediate and persuade the officials of Huainan Road and Jiangnan East Road to cooperate. Huainan Road and Jiangnan East Road are sandwiched between my Jingdong Road and Liangzhe Road; if the local officials are inflexible and refuse to cooperate, it could jeopardize the entire operation. If such a situation arises, Your Majesty can act expediently in an emergency and eliminate the incompetent and treacherous officials! Back at the end of the Han Dynasty, when Dong Zhuo usurped the throne, and Sun Jian was campaigning against him, the officials of Nanyang and Jingzhou refused to supply military provisions and obstructed the campaign; all were executed by Sun Jian. However, Sun Jian himself came from humble origins and used brutal methods, which is why he was criticized. But Your Majesty is different. As a descendant of the imperial family, Your Majesty's benevolence and righteousness are known throughout the land. Now, you fight for the distinction between Chinese and barbarians, for the sake of the world's civilized society; anyone who hinders you is a traitor!
Your subject believes that we should invite Zhu Shengfei, the Deputy Chief Administrator of the Eastern Circuit who is also in the Jingdong Circuit, to come together to discuss this matter and jointly issue a proclamation to the Huainan Circuit and the Jiangnan East Circuit to persuade our local colleagues to cooperate.”

Zhu Shengfei, whom Zhang Shuye mentioned, was also an important local official at the time. "Eastern Circuit" included Jingdong East Circuit and Jingdong West Circuit, as well as some other jurisdictions. When the Jin army invaded the south, the "Eastern Circuit Commander" died when Songzhou in Yingtian Prefecture was captured, leaving only Zhu Shengfei, the deputy commander, as the most important figure in the area.

Historically, Zhu Shengfei was also an important figure in the later decision to support Zhao Gou, and Zong Ze and others were nominally under his control.

However, history has now been altered because the Jin army's route of attack on Bianjing (Kaifeng) has undergone a major change; instead of attacking from the northwest, they have advanced from the northeast. Therefore, there is no longer any Song Dynasty government force stationed northeast of Bianjing.

Zong Ze was not in the Cizhou area (Cizhou is northeast of Kaifeng), but was forced to the northwest of Kaifeng. Li Gang was also in the northwest war zone of Kaifeng, so it was temporarily impossible for him to contact Zhao Zicheng.

These people were active roughly from the Heluo Basin all the way to Zhengzhou, or perhaps they were fighting in the Henan area east of the Taihang Mountains and north of the Yellow River. In any case, Zhao Zicheng did not know their current situation and could only make an estimate.

After some thought, Zhao Zicheng accepted the suggestion. Regardless of whether he declared himself emperor or not, or whether he oversaw the country, the most crucial thing was to consolidate the real territory and maintain order.

Build high walls and store ample grain; delay declaring yourself king. The matter of becoming emperor can wait until you've gathered information about the other members of the royal family and made a well-thought-out plan. At this time, there's no need to rush; those without the strength to act prematurely are simply courting death.

Historically, before Zhao Gou ascended the throne, some members of the Zhao Song imperial family considered rushing to become emperor, especially several collateral branches of the imperial family that lived closer to Bianjing (Kaifeng). They oversimplified the issue, thinking that "after the emperor is gone and the Jin army retreats, whoever rushes back to Bianjing first will become emperor," and thus became the first to act.

Historically, those who held this view included Zhao Shuxiang, a descendant of Zhao Tingmei, and Zhao Shikuang, a collateral branch of the Prince of Pu. Both of them had done things like "taking advantage of the Jurchens' looting and withdrawal, rushing back to Bianjing, and then declaring themselves emperors." As a result, both of them were later executed by Zhao Gou for treason.

For someone without real strength, having the advantage of being early is utterly useless. Besides, Zhao Zicheng's territory was too far from Bianjing, putting him at a disadvantage in such matters, so he simply chose not to be the first to act.

Therefore, after careful consideration, Zhao Zicheng quickly devised a first step of his strategy with the unanimous agreement of the three main civil officials:
First, try to control as much of the Jingdong Road, Huainan Road, Jiangnan Road, and Liangzhe Road as possible, and consolidate as much territory as you can.

Then, I'm not thinking about becoming emperor for the time being, but I can consider overseeing the country and resisting the Jin dynasty first.

The position of regent is flexible and can be extended or relegated at will. It is indeed in line with the current situation where there is no ruler in the country, but there is a need to resist powerful foreign enemies. Regents can usually serve for half a year without any problems, and then a decision can be made after the situation becomes clear.

Moreover, even someone with a very close bloodline like Zhao Gou couldn't immediately declare himself emperor after his elder brother was captured. Historically, Zhao Huan was captured at the end of February in the second year of the Jingkang era, and Zhao Gou had to wait until the first day of May to declare himself emperor and change the era name.

Even with Zhao Gou's lineage, it would take nearly three months to gather intelligence, notify various regions, and go through the proper procedures. Zhao Zicheng's lineage is even more distant, so even if he eventually reaches that point, the preparation time he would need would certainly be longer than Zhao Gou's.

After finalizing the roadmap, Zhao Zicheng acted swiftly, notifying Zhu Shengfei within five days and bringing him to Jinan to discuss important matters. After a brief persuasion, Zhu Shengfei joined Zhao Zicheng's staff.

Besides Zhu Shengfei, there was also Quan Bangyan, a key local official in the Jingdong West Road region who had previously been in charge of procuring and transporting military supplies. Because Yunzhou and Yanzhou had been captured and their jurisdictions lost, Quan Bangyan had followed Zhao Zicheng when he sent people to recruit Zhu Shengfei.

Although Quan Bangyan lacked real power, he was at least a figurehead. In a situation where the imperial clan needed to win over more influential officials to their side, having another prominent figure in the fold was never a bad thing. He could also be sent out as a trusted confidant to fill vacancies in other regions due to unforeseen circumstances, thus better controlling their territories.

After dealing with these people, Zhao Zicheng then instructed Zhu Shengfei, Zhang Shuye, Quan Bangyan, and Chen Guoting to handle the matter together, and to contact various parties separately.

Within just over half a month, Zhao Zicheng's men made contact with Zhou Ge, the Huainan Circuit Pacification Commissioner stationed in Yangzhou.

There was also Zhao Mingcheng (Li Qingzhao's husband), who happened to be in Jiangning (Nanjing) and was temporarily appointed as the chief official of Jiangnan East Road.
And Zhao Yue, Wei Xian, and other officials of Liangzhe Road who were in Hangzhou and Suzhou.

There was even the unexpected arrival of Huang Shang from Fujian. Fujian was originally a place where military strategists did not fight, and Huang Shang, who was an extremely long-lived, perpetually idle player, had never had much presence. Ever since Zhao Zicheng started working on the "Wanshou Daozang Xinde" (a book on Taoist scriptures for longevity), Huang Shang had been staying at home in Fuzhou. Now, a full eight years had passed, and he still hadn't moved an inch.

Without exception, these people were all attracted by Zhao Zicheng's status, reputation, and personal charm. Some considered their previous friendship with him, while others felt that they had just risen to power by chance and their foundations were unstable. They all chose to "temporarily obey Zhao Zicheng's orders in order to jointly fight against the national crisis and resist the Tartars." In any case, it didn't matter if they didn't know how to fight or had troops, as long as they were willing to contribute money and food to support the resistance.

As an aside, Li Qingzhao's husband, Zhao Mingcheng, was also a member of a remote branch of the Song Dynasty imperial family, a descendant of Zhao Kuangyin, and a seventh-generation descendant. Zhao Mingcheng's father, Zhao Tingzhi, was of the same generation as Zhao Zicheng and even served as Right Minister of the Imperial Secretariat. This shows that during the Northern Song Dynasty, there were few restrictions on remote members of the imperial family who were well beyond the fifth degree of kinship to hold official positions, because those with very distant bloodlines were generally considered to pose no threat.

However, in Zhao Mingcheng's branch, several generations were the eldest sons, so they were quite old. Zhao Mingcheng, a middle-aged man in his forties approaching fifty, should, according to the family genealogy, call Zhao Zicheng, a young man who is only twenty-five, "uncle."

It's because Zhao Zicheng's family has always been the youngest branch of the family, and each generation is ten years older than the last. Over six generations, that's a total of fifty years.

After all that effort, Zhao Zicheng managed to secure support at a cost of almost nothing, equivalent to the combined territory of four provinces in later generations: Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian. The entire process took just over a month.

Then, he began to consolidate his territory and consolidate military power, gradually transferring the troops of Yang Zhi, Lin Chong, and Lu Da in Liangzhe Road, as well as the Liang family's Jiangshui army, to the north.

The naval forces originally stationed in the Yangtze River were promptly moved north to ensure the Huai River defense line was not lost. As for the northern generals like Yang Zhilin, they were more skilled in land warfare than naval warfare. They were only placed in the Zhenhai Army for several years under the pretext of driving out the remnants of Fang La along the coast.

Now that Zhao Ji and Zhao Huan no longer exist, there's no need to continue the performance. Let them return to the army organization and integrate the navy into the Liang family or another naval command system.

The territory in Goryeo can also be gradually whitewashed. For example, Song Jiang can be openly granted amnesty and become a court official. When the time is right, Zhao Zicheng can summon Song Jiang to the court as regent and then gradually turn the Goryeo territory into a directly administered territory.

Of course, Zhao Zicheng can only easily consolidate so much territory at the moment. Gaining more support will require a significant increase in time and effort, as there are no direct advantages from official positions, titles, or relationships with colleagues and friends.

He might be able to win over some central court officials or military generals of the Western Army, but it wouldn't be so easy to win over powerful local officials. As for other local officials, Zhao Zicheng had virtually no connections with them.

He could only hope to fight a real battle against the Jurchens and win a decisive victory to solidify the banner that "Prince Xiu is the only one who can save the Song Dynasty and the Han people's world," so that the central court officials could collectively turn to him.

Fortunately, in times of national crisis, opportunities for war are never lacking. After capturing Zhao Huan and occupying Henan and Hebei, the Jurchens quickly launched a new offensive.

The Jurchens were extremely arrogant and split their forces into two routes, one heading east and the other west. The western route was naturally intended to enter the Heluo Plain and pursue the remnants of the Song Dynasty's western army.

When Bianjing fell, Liu Yanqing also died among the fleeing soldiers. Although he didn't fight to the death in a direct confrontation but died in the chaos of battle while fleeing, he still died, which can be considered a martyrdom. The Western Army, which retreated westward to the Luoyang area, is now being held up entirely by young generals such as Liu Guangshi and Han Shizhong.

Wanyan Zonghan dispatched a detachment to attack westward, while simultaneously sending his fourth son, Wanyan Zongbi (Jin Wuzhu), with 50,000 troops eastward to attack Zhao Zicheng's territory.

(End of this chapter)