I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 28: After one punch, there are no hundred punches
Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

While the Liang family was developing their own financial resources and rectifying military discipline in Yangzhen, Zhao Zicheng and his entourage left Yangzhou in mid-April and continued northward, having no problems along the way. They reached Huaiyin in just four or five days, and then turned into the Huai River from the Han Canal.

The entire journey from Yangzhou to Huaiyin is along the canal, with calm water flow and no waves, making it very safe.

Although there were occasionally a few thieves who thought that the fleet was transporting a large amount of treasure and were tempted by the money, they were all impulsive and not premeditated, and were completely insignificant.

With a master like Yang Zhi escorting him, and fighting on foot in a place without wind or waves, no matter how many small thieves came, they would not be enough for him to kill. After killing three or five, no one came to die.

During these few days, Li Jun, An Daoquan, and other companions who had joined the gang for various reasons also witnessed Yang Zhi's true ability and Zhao Zicheng's strategic planning, and their respect for him grew even greater. Li Jun, in particular, deeply regretted being used before and dared not harbor any dissent.

However, although there was no external threat, there were some minor internal incidents.

During the days since heading north from Yangzhou, Murong Yan has been staying in the cabin, feeling depressed.

Zhao Zicheng initially thought she was upset because she was injured, and since he had nothing else to do, he personally prepared and changed the medicine for her. After all, Murong Yan had only suffered minor injuries in order to protect him and mitigate Zhang Heng's fatal attack, so Zhao Zicheng knew what was good for her.

Two days later, thanks to An Daoquan's good prescription and medicine, the minor wound had healed, but Murong Yan still looked unhappy every day and just wanted to sleep. Zhao Zicheng then felt something was wrong.

"My dear sister, you have recovered from your injury, why are you still so unhappy? If you are really upset, you can rest in Huaiyin for two or three days, and I will accompany you for a walk in the city." When they were about to arrive in Huaiyin, Zhao Zicheng took the opportunity to enlighten Murong Yan while changing the dressing.

"I don't dare to delay my brother's important work. Don't bother with me." Murong Yan politely refused coldly.

Even though Zhao Zicheng was not good at dealing with women, he could tell she was angry. She had previously called him "Brother Zhao" but now she was calling him "brother" in a serious manner. She must be feeling uncomfortable.

Zhao Zicheng said kindly, "Sister, what are you so angry about? If I did something wrong, just say it directly. We are children of the Jianghu, why should we be so shy? Are you angry that your female body was discovered when you took your pulse?"

If you're worried about that, there's no need to worry. I privately told Doctor An the other day. He knows the severity of the situation and will keep it a secret. I've been changing your dressings personally these past few days because I'm worried your secret of being a girl might be discovered."

Zhao Zi said that he had been very polite during the past few days when changing Murong Yan's dressings, without any frivolous behavior. Murong Yan's wound was on her arm, and the location was not sensitive at all.

An Daoquan had examined Murong Yan's pulse several times, and with his medical skills, he could certainly tell she was a woman. So, from the second pulse check onward, An Daoquan tactfully stopped staring at her and even used the silk cloth Zhao Zicheng had given him to cushion his hand before pressing.

Zhao Zicheng felt that this was not an oversight.

Seeing how attentive he was, Murong Yan was slightly touched, and she finally stopped being so reserved. "Who cares about those little things? That day in Zhenjiang, you opened up to the Liang family for no reason, even giving them advice on how to make money. Don't you know it's a taboo for a royal family to associate with a military official?"

Zhao Zi said that he didn't expect Murong Yan to be angry for such a strange reason, so he repeated his concerns.

Murong Yan had actually heard all these superficial reasons that day. Hearing them again, she only felt more annoyed. She could only speak directly and clearly:

"Don't lie to me! That day, you didn't care about the Liang family at all. But after seeing that girl from the Liang family, you changed your attitude and became so enthusiastic about helping the Liang family!"

Zhao Zicheng suddenly understood.

Is this jealous?
But after thinking about it carefully, Murong Yan's observation was really meticulous.

At first, he really didn't think of helping the Liang family. It was only after he learned that the little girl was Liang Hongyu that he changed his mind.

Women are always more sensitive than men in this regard. Neither the Liang family father nor their son noticed the change in Zhao Zicheng's attitude, but Murong Yan, as a bystander, saw it and was still upset.

Zhao Zi knew that a direct explanation would not be enough to explain this matter, so he turned the defense into offense: "Are you jealous, my dear sister?"

Murong Yan blushed immediately and turned away, no longer looking at him. She just said angrily, "I...why should I be jealous! I'm thinking about you! I'm worried that you'll get into trouble!"

Zhao Zicheng ignored this cover-up and continued to talk to himself, "Indeed, my virtuous sister shoulders the heavy responsibility of the family and has to present herself as a man. What is there to be jealous of? Even if I have feelings for you, I can't propose marriage to you in a short time.

"But you underestimate yourself too much. You feel threatened by a mere Miss Liang. You are so insecure."

When a woman is jealous, explanations are useless and will only make things worse. It is right to praise her at this time.

Murong Yan certainly knew how outstanding she was, but she just couldn't understand why Brother Zhao cared so much about the Liang family because of that little girl named Liang. In addition, she had never been in public or had any contact with men before, so she was not confident for a while.

At this moment, being praised by Zhao Zicheng as if it was a matter of course, most of her unhappiness immediately dissipated.

Zhao Zicheng knew from her expression that she had been coaxed.

The girls in ancient times had never seen the world and were much easier to coax than girls in later generations.

Zhao Zi said that if the level of what he said just now were to be used in the future, he would probably not be able to appease even a junior high school girl.

Murong Yan was flustered and blurted out, "Nonsense! Even though I'm disguised as a man, if you really want to marry me, there's no way I can help you! I look like my sister, and my mother promised me that if I meet my ideal husband first, it would be a rare opportunity. Then let my sister pretend to be me and support the family business as a man, and I'll pretend to be my sister and marry as her."

Zhao Zi said that he didn't expect that a simple attack from him could make Murong Yan surrender on the spot, and he was stunned.

He couldn't help but laugh and said, "How could you come up with such a stupid idea? If you take over your sister's identity and marry, your sister will have to pretend to be a man for the rest of her life and never marry?"

Murong Yan stamped her feet in embarrassment: "There is always a way. At worst, I can wait a few years and say that I'm dead. I still have a sister at home."

Murong Yan didn't want to continue discussing this topic. She was so embarrassed that she pushed Zhao Zicheng out of the cabin and ignored him for the whole day. She only returned to normal the next day.

However, since that day, Murong Yan always felt a little uncomfortable. She could no longer be as carefree as she was at the beginning, and was always a little absent-minded.

Zhao Zi said he knew she needed to be alone and figure things out slowly, so he didn't disturb her.

After all, women in ancient times were too thin-skinned.

……

Zhao Zi said that he couldn't chat and laugh with the girls, so he could only spend all his energy on practicing martial arts with the men and building up his strength.

After the fleet entered the Huai River, Zhao Zicheng continued to consult Yang Zhi every day about spear and sword techniques. In particular, he consulted Yang Zhi about the lessons learned from the battle on the river that day when he fought Zhang Heng to the death.

In addition, Zhao Zicheng would also discuss with Li Jun some techniques and tips of water combat, talk about local customs and experiences, and learn more about the situation in the north.

Finally, he tried to win over An Daoquan, who had just been seconded, and asked An Daoquan to help him see if there were any techniques that were both safe and could speed up his progress in martial arts training and improve his body's recovery ability.

After arriving in this era and practicing martial arts for more than a month, Zhao Zicheng had a personal experience that made him quite painful. That is, there was no systematic physical therapy for recovery after exercise in this era. In later generations, even if you go to a gym, as long as it is a slightly high-end and professional place, after you train hard, there will be a coach to teach you scientific stretching. Some even have special physical therapists and acupuncturists.

However, in the Song Dynasty, although there were some methods to teach people how to relax their bodies after practicing martial arts, they ultimately lacked a scientific system.

Zhao Zi said that as he practiced, he began to miss the scientific relaxation and physical therapy systems he had experienced in the gym in his previous life.

He was unable to solve this problem before, but after meeting An Daoquan, after several days of observation, he found that An Daoquan, who was a military doctor, was best at dealing with bruises, internal injuries, and other injuries caused by swords, guns, and arrows.

Since this was the case, Zhao Zicheng became interested and often discussed scientific medical theories with An Daoquan. Although Zhao Zicheng was not an expert, some of the concepts he brought up really made An Daoquan see the light of day, and he was amazed.

"Young Master Zhao's idea is truly remarkable. He actually conceived of using acupuncture to alleviate hidden injuries from martial arts practice before they've even been injured? And then, using the acupuncture method to alleviate muscle damage from external martial arts training? Where does this theory originate?"

An Daoquan had originally been indifferent to being seconded. He was simply a paid employee, and if the Zhenjiang government wanted to loan him out, he would do it as long as the new employer treated him well. There was no personal connection or loyalty to be had.

After such a deep conversation with Zhao Zicheng, I felt a deep affinity with him. Few scholars of this era studied medicine, and even fewer shared a common language with doctors. Zhao Zicheng, a scholar about to be appointed an official, possessed both martial arts and the ability to combine them, a true soulmate.

An Daoquan said that he would think carefully and come up with an effective method as soon as possible to help martial artists recover faster.

Zhao Zicheng also struck while the iron was hot and shared with An Daoquan some common post-workout recovery tips and even some nutritional knowledge that he had learned in the gym.

For example, we could first invent a fascia knife, and after training, let An Daoquan learn the technique to help him scrape away the "lactic acid" accumulated on the fascia.

After practicing martial arts, how should you match your diet, how much carbohydrates, how much eggs, milk, fish, shrimp, and beef should you eat, what proportions should you use for grains and vegetables, and what proportions should you use for raw and cooked food.

Especially the ratio of raw and cooked foods, which the ancients had no idea about, because it was impossible for them to know the existence of "vitamins", and many water-soluble vitamins would be destroyed when heated. The ancients did not know how to properly match raw foods, and if they did not eat enough fruits, vitamin deficiency would be common.

After listening to this for two or three days, An Daoquan was completely mesmerized, as if he had heard the truth. He was completely devoted and wanted to follow Zhao Zicheng. Even if this matter was over, he didn't want to return to Jiangning to serve.

Whenever he came up with a new skill, An Daoquan would first experiment with Yang Zhi and Li Jun to practice the skill to perfection, ensuring that the "physical therapy recovery effect after learning martial arts" was indeed good and had no side effects, and only then would he give it to Zhao Zicheng.

The days of sailing on the Huai River passed quickly as the group of warriors learned from each other.

In a blink of an eye, the fleet arrived near Caizhou, which is Zhumadian in Henan in later generations and Runan in ancient times. Here, the fleet will turn from the Huai River to the Bian River.

After entering the Bian Canal, because it is an artificial canal, the water flow is slow and the river channel is narrow, so there will naturally be no more pirates. From then on, it should be safe all the way to Bian Jing.

Zhao Zicheng had been worried and on guard for days, but now he was finally relieved. It seemed that in the battle at Zhenjiang, he had truly struck a decisive blow, preventing a hundred blows from coming and completely eradicating the bandits who coveted him.

He established his authority without letting the news leak out too quickly. On the Jiangbei side, there were no thieves with long-planned plans who could threaten him along the way. The occasional thieves he encountered were just petty thieves who acted on impulse and were easily dealt with.

(End of this chapter)