I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 150 Young General Han Shizhong

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Upon learning that Zhao Yu was moving all his memorials to Kunning Palace and that he was currently working under Zheng Xiansu, Zhang Chun felt genuine envy and jealousy towards Zheng Xiansu.

—How could Zhang Chun not have imagined that Zhao Yu was doing this to protect Zheng Xiansu? It was clear that even if Zheng Xiansu gave birth to another daughter, he would never allow anyone else to challenge Zheng Xiansu.
'I've come to help you with official duties right after my postpartum period, why aren't you as good to me as you are to Empress Zheng?'

In fact, Zhang Chunman believed that as long as Zheng Xiansu did not have a son, she, who had already given birth to a son, would have the opportunity to become empress.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Yu never even considered having her replace Zheng Xiansu.

Zhang Chun was puzzled. 'Is Empress Zheng really that good? What makes me inferior to her?'

Zhang Chun intended to quit, no longer helping Zhao Yu with official business or offering him advice. At most, she would act like Ye Shiyun, only helping when Zhao Yu asked her, otherwise just eating, drinking, and having fun, never doing anything more than necessary.

But Zhang Chun really couldn't bear to give up this opportunity to get involved in government affairs.

Although she, Liu Mingda, and Zhang Nan are currently only helping Zhao Yu organize and refine memorials and do not have the power to review them, this is still an extremely rare opportunity to enter politics. You should know that they will be able to come into contact with a large number of political events, which will greatly improve their political skills.

Moreover, they, especially she, could offer advice to Zhao Yu, which was a significant political asset.

To put it simply, if one day she were to have the opportunity to rule from behind the curtain, at least she wouldn't be like Consort Zhu, who was completely unable to rule from behind the curtain alone.

Furthermore, whether it was Wu Zetian, Empress Dowager Cixi, or Empress Liu, or any other woman who held the highest power in a dynasty, they all started by helping the emperor review memorials.

In other words, in Zhang Chun's view, what she is doing now is no small matter, but rather a great stride toward her dream of becoming Empress Dowager.

How could Zhang Chun, who never gave up her dream of becoming Empress Dowager, possibly give up this political opportunity that she had worked so hard to obtain?

The key point is that reviewing memorials isn't something only she can do. If she doesn't do it, there are plenty of others who can, and those women who want to get close to Zhao Yu will definitely be vying to do it.

Helpless, Zhang Chun could only suppress her envy and jealousy of Zheng Xiansu, and together with Liu Mingda and Zhang Nan, she led people to move all the memorials to Kunning Palace to continue reviewing them.

Before long, Zhang Chun saw a memorial requesting commendation...

The first year of Hongwu's reign, the eighth month.

Despite the objections of the generals and strategists of Huanqing Road, Zhong Chuan insisted on advancing his troops to the vicinity of Hulu River and presided over the construction of the forward stronghold Xiaoguan.

Sure enough, this move soon led to a large-scale invasion by the Xia army.

Faced with Xia Jun's all-out attack, Zhong Chuan's side inevitably appeared somewhat at a loss for what to do.

Fortunately, Zhang Jie considered the overall situation and dispatched General Zhe Keshi to reinforce Zhong Chuan, which stabilized the front line at Xiaoguan.

However, Zhong Chuan's accidental move also gave Tao Jiefu of Fuyan Road an opportunity.

While Tao Jiefu was engaged in fierce fighting with the Xia army on Jingyuan Road and Huanqing Road, he went to launch a surprise attack on Western Xia.

It turns out that Tao Jiefu had already made up his mind to take Yinzhou City when he was building Luowu City.

Therefore, Tao Jiefu remained on the sidelines, waiting to launch this second wave of attack.

In the past, during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of Song, both the Battle of Luowu City, led by Han Jiang and Zhong E, and the Battle of Yongle City, led by Xu Xi, were campaigns launched to control Yinzhou City.

However, Yinzhou City was located in the heart of Western Xia and was heavily guarded. Therefore, even during Zhao Xu's reign, when someone as capable and skilled in battle as Lü Huiqing was in charge, he never took the crucial step of conquering Yinzhou.

But things are different now under Zhao Yu's reign.

Compared to Lü Huiqing at the time, Tao Jiefu had also captured Luowu City, and was now only a hair's breadth away from Yinzhou.

Tao Jiefu immediately ordered his troops to capture Yinzhou City.

At the time, the officials under the jurisdiction of Fuyan Road expressed their doubts. Due to the lack of intelligence at the time, although Yan'an Prefecture had learned that a large army of Xia was moving out, they did not know that it was heading to Jingyuan Road, and most people still suspected that Xia's army was going to Hedong.

If the Xia army were to attack Linzhou and Fuzhou, which would be the territory of the Zhe family army, the round trip would only take ten days.

It would be far too risky to build Yinzhou City in such a short time.

But Tao Jiefu remained unmoved, and confidently declared: "My plan is well-thought-out! The Xia people will surely march west to Jingyuan. If you gentlemen do not follow me, I will risk my two sons and live or die with my soldiers!"

Because of Tao Jiefu's insistence, the veteran general Geng Duanyan finally stepped forward and led the army of Fuyan Road straight to Yinzhou City.

Tao Jiefu's two sons also resolutely went there.

In just five days, the Song army in Fuyan Road defeated more than 10,000 Western Xia defenders and successfully captured Yinzhou City.

As Tao Jiefu had predicted, the main force of Xia's army went to Xiaoguan, located between Jingyuan Road and Huanqing Road.

By the time the main force of the Xia army returned to rescue, Yinzhou City had already been fortified and completed after several months of repairs, and the Xia army had completely lost its chance to fight.

Although Geng Duanyan was not well-known, he was a brave general who had fought on the front lines of the Song-Xia conflict since the reign of Emperor Shenzong of Song.

More than 20 years ago, during the Yuanfeng era, he followed Zhao Xie to guard Huanqing Road and led 4,000 armored soldiers in a great battle against the Xia army at Heluoping, achieving a great victory.

In this battle, the Song army captured over 30,000 cattle, sheep, old and weak animals, 700 warhorses, and a general from the Western Xia royal family, achieving remarkable military exploits.

Now, Geng Duanyan has followed Tao Jiefu in completing this project of building Yinzhou deep in Hengshan, which can be considered as an old horse still eager to run a thousand miles.

This battle took place not long ago, and Zhao Yu has already rewarded all those who have made meritorious contributions. For example, Tao Jiefu and his two sons were all promoted three ranks, and Geng Duanyan was promoted to Defense Commissioner.

However, the memorial requesting rewards that Zhang Chun saw was not from these people, but from a junior officer.

To people of this era, this young general was merely a novice, insignificant and not worth mentioning.

But when Zhang Chun saw the young player's name, he actually stood up from his seat!

Zhang Chun lost his composure simply because this young general's name was: Han Shizhong!
That's right.

During the Battle of Yinzhou, Han Shizhong, one of the four generals who revived the Southern Song Dynasty, distinguished himself.

When the Song army from Fuyan Road arrived at the walls of Yinzhou, the Xia army, knowing its forces were outnumbered, planned to hold the city and await reinforcements. Geng Duanyan then commanded his three armies to launch a strong attack and scale the city walls.

Han Shizhong swiftly scaled the city wall and, with unparalleled bravery, slaughtered his way through the enemy lines, successfully beheading the Xia army's commander and throwing his head down from the city wall. The Song army's morale soared, and they captured the city in one fell swoop.

After Yinzhou City was well-defended, it was immediately attacked by a large force of Xia troops.

The Song army went out to battle, and the two sides clashed at Songping Ridge.

Han Shizhong once again followed Commander Dang Wan into battle, killing the enemy and forcing them to retreat.

Unexpectedly, when the Song army retreated, they were ambushed by the Xia army. The enemy general leading the attack claimed to be the son-in-law of the Western Xia and was extremely brave.

Even the bravest enemy general, in the eyes of the adolescent Han Shizhong, was a military achievement that could stimulate his hormones.

Without saying a word, Han Shizhong spurred his horse into battle, and within a few exchanges, he indeed beheaded the enemy and returned.

However, when Geng Duanyan reported this achievement to Tong Guan, Tong Guan thought it was just a common soldier bragging. How could a lowly soldier have such a great achievement? So, in the end, only a small part of the achievement was reported to Han Shizhong, which made the soldiers of the three armies indignant.

Unlike in history, where Emperor Huizong of Song (Zhao Ji) only allowed officials of a certain rank to submit memorials to him, Emperor Zhao Yu (Zhao Yu) allowed officials of all ranks to secretly submit memorials to him from the very beginning of his reign.

In any case, Zhao Yu had numerous officials, eunuchs, and female officials under his command, which was equivalent to having countless secretaries. Zhao Yu only needed to read their summarized and simplified memorials, and they could also report to Zhao Yu on matters they considered important.

Because of this mechanism, it would be quite difficult for local authorities and those on the front lines to conceal anything from Zhao Yu.

This time, Zhang Chun saw the memorial praising Han Shizhong through this channel.

Instead of immediately going to Zhao Yu, Zhang Chun asked Liu Mingda and Zhang Nan for all the secret memorials pleading for Han Shizhong's merits.

I don't know if I don't see it, I'm startled when I see it.

Zhang Chun counted them and found that there were a total of fifteen memorials requesting merit for Han Shizhong.

Zhang Chun had every reason to believe that Han Shizhong could have achieved such merits.

However, as is well known, Tong Guan had served Zhao Yu since he was the Prince of Xin, and he had made contributions to Zhao Yu's ascension to the throne, making him a true meritorious official who helped Zhao Yu rise to power.

Therefore, even if Zhang Chun wanted to take action against Tong Guan, he would need solid evidence; otherwise, he might not be able to succeed.

Otherwise, why do you think these memorials ended up in Zhang Chun's hands? It's because everyone felt that it was unnecessary to offend Zhao Yu's favored eunuch Tong Guan for the sake of a lowly soldier on the front lines.

Now that he had received fifteen memorials praising Han Shizhong, Zhang Chun finally had the confidence to deal with Tong Guan.

So Zhang Chun came to Zhao Yu, who was discussing with Zheng Xiansu what name to give their son, and said to him, "Your Majesty, I have an important matter to report."

"Please speak freely, my beloved consort," Zhao Yu said.

Zhang Chun wasn't afraid that Tong Guan would find out she was impeaching him; on the contrary, she was quite willing to use this matter to make a name for herself. Therefore, she reported it frankly:

"When Tong Guan was reviewing the reports of military achievements, he concealed the great merits of the generals who had made contributions at the front, which caused resentment among the soldiers at the front and caused considerable harm. I hope Your Majesty will investigate this matter thoroughly and give the meritorious soldiers the rewards they deserve, so as not to discourage the soldiers at the front. I also hope that Tong Guan will be severely punished as a warning to others."

In fact, Zhao Yu didn't even need to look at these memorials; he already knew that Zhang Chun's report was pretty much accurate.

The reason why Tong Guan enjoyed such high prestige in the Western Army in history was due to factors other than his position and personality:

First, he was willing to spend money; the pensions he gave to fallen soldiers were very generous.

Secondly, he valued loyalty and righteousness. He adopted the sons of fallen generals as his godsons, providing them with food, clothing, shelter, and a good education, and arranging suitable jobs for them.

However, all of these were limited to Tong Guan's direct descendants.

Tong Guan also had a bad habit common to all Western Army generals when it came to those who were not his direct subordinates: he suppressed them.

When the Jingkang Incident occurred, the Song Dynasty had no capable generals to use. They appointed Zhong Shidao, an old-fashioned man who did not approve of war with the Liao Dynasty, and Liu Yanqing, a timid and hesitant fellow, as commanders-in-chief. This was also largely due to Tong Guan's personnel management practices in the Northwest.

Of course, objectively speaking, at that time, the soldiers and military equipment of the Zhao Song Dynasty in Hebei were indeed all unusable. It can be said that the Zhao Song Dynasty was simply not prepared for that battle. This explains why Zhong Shidao and Liu Yanqing dared not easily start a war with the Liao army. Some battles that occurred later proved that Zhong Shidao and Liu Yanqing did have their merits. It was just that the Zhao Song Dynasty at that time was exhausted by Emperor Huizong and his ministers, which prevented Zhong Shidao and Liu Yanqing from exerting their true abilities.

Zhao Yu had long wanted to correct this bad habit among the Western Army.

Therefore, before even looking at the memorial Zhang Chun brought, Zhao Yu had already made up his mind to give Tong Guan a good dressing down and make an example of him.

When Zhao Yu opened the memorial and saw Han Shizhong's name, he immediately understood why Zhang Chun had declared war on Tong Guan.

Although Zhao Yu already knew who was right and who was wrong in this matter, he still read through all fifteen memorials one by one before saying:
"Go and draft an imperial edict ordering Zeng Bu to personally go to the front lines to verify this matter. If it is true, punish Tong Guan for negligence, demote him three ranks, fine him fifty catties of copper, and publicly flog him twenty times. Allow him to remain in his post to make amends for his merits. In addition to the promotion and reward Han Shizhong deserves, promote him three ranks to show his outstanding bravery. If there are any similar incidents, correct them in the same way and hold the relevant responsible persons accountable. No matter who is involved, they shall be severely punished without leniency. We must not let the soldiers on the front lines shed blood and tears again."

Zhang Chun was very satisfied with Zhao Yu's decisiveness.

In Zhang Chun's view, Zhao Yu should be like Emperor Qianlong: if you do a good job, you should be richly rewarded without hesitation; if you do a bad job, sorry, you'll lose your life without question.

Neqin was Emperor Qianlong's childhood friend and a favorite of the court. During the Qing-Burmese War, Neqin's command at the front was ineffective, so Emperor Qianlong ordered Fuheng to take Neqin's grandfather Ebilun's golden knife to the front line to execute Neqin. This was extremely ruthless and merciless.

Furthermore, in the early years of Emperor Qianlong's reign, there was a eunuch named Gao Yuncong. This eunuch had grown up with Emperor Qianlong since childhood, and Emperor Qianlong treated him very well. Once, Gao Yuncong broke a very precious glass screen in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, but Emperor Qianlong did not punish him. He simply said that Gao Yuncong did not do it on purpose, and that it was alright.

As a result, this good-for-nothing, ungrateful as ever, actually leaked Emperor Qianlong's personnel appointment and dismissal decisions to Grand Councilor Yu Minzhong, essentially going to congratulate him in advance. When Emperor Qianlong found out, he was furious and had Gao Yuncong executed by dismemberment.

Zhang Chun thought to himself, 'Without such courage, how can one be a good emperor?'

Zhang Chun made no attempt to hide her admiration for Zhao Yu, and loudly replied, "Your Majesty, I obey."

After Zhang Chun left, Empress Zheng asked, "Will this treatment of Tong Guan disappoint the emperor's trusted confidants?"

Zhao Yu shook his head: "The worst thing for a ruler is to be unclear about rewards and punishments. If Tong Guan can understand my good intentions, I can still employ him. If not, I will send him back to the palace to take up a civil post so that he can live out his remaining years."

Zheng Xiansu didn't say anything more. She knew that Zhao Yu was wise and capable, and that there must be a reason for his actions. She was merely offering a gentle reminder to Zhao Yu, not truly pleading for Tong Guan.

Dealing with Tong Guan and promoting Han Shizhong were only Zhao Yu's second objective. Zhao Yu had another: 'We are about to completely annihilate Western Xia, so we need to thoroughly investigate the situation at the front lines…'

……

(End of this chapter)