The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 473 Be more respectful to my seventeenth brother
Scholars tend to think a lot.

Before long, the scholars came up with all sorts of bizarre reasons.

For example: "Zhao Gou took advantage of the heavy losses suffered by the Northern Song Dynasty after its fierce battle with the Jin army to reap the benefits."

"Zhao Gou adopted the attitude of a younger brother who should yield to his older brother, forcing the seventeenth prince to cede the city."

They came up with a bunch of reasons, but since no definite news had come back from the front, none of these reasons could be put into practice yet. In fact, they weren't even sure if they had recaptured Ye County.

However, the truth about this matter will soon be revealed...

A rider on horseback charged into Lin'an City, shouting as he rode: "Great victory! Great victory! The Emperor personally led the expedition, a great victory! We have recaptured Ye County and restored our homeland!"

The news was shouted all the way from the city gates to the palace gates, and then more details began to spread among the people.

This was an official military intelligence report from the imperial court, not just hearsay from beggars. Everyone could finally listen with peace of mind. However, the report said that the emperor had personally led an expedition to Ye County, joining forces with the puppet Song army to attack the county seat.

The Emperor personally went to the front lines, braving a hail of arrows to command with unwavering composure. Under his brilliant and skillful command, the army defeated the Jin army and captured Ye County. Seeing the Emperor's wisdom and prowess, the puppet Song army felt ashamed and obediently retreated, daring not to contest Ye County with the Song Dynasty.

Same result, different process.

This is where the soul-searching question comes in: do you believe the official report from the court, or the rumors spread by the beggar? Which one do you believe?
At this point, we have to mention something else.

That thing is called "public credibility".

If the imperial court has always treated the people well, and its actions match its words, and its governance is efficient and harmonious, its credibility will naturally be high.

However, if the imperial court continues to plunder and extort from the people, saying one thing and doing another, its credibility will naturally suffer.

Did Zhao Gou have public credibility?
The answer is: No!

The common people preferred to believe the beggar's words rather than the official announcements from the imperial court.

They even thought the beggar was amazing, as the news came several days before the official announcement.

Zhao Gou thought that his personal military campaign would win the hearts of all the people, but he never expected that public opinion of him would only worsen...
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Ye County!

Zhao Gou's imperial entourage entered Ye County.

Zhao Gou was standing in front of the large hole in the city wall, his expression somber.

He saw with his own eyes through his binoculars how the Northern Song army opened the large hole. In the chaos, a group of soldiers, carrying shields, rushed to the city wall, dug a small pit, buried something that looked like an oil paper package in the pit, lit the fuse, and ran away.

Then came a deafening roar, and the city wall collapsed and shattered instantly, revealing such a large hole.

He's currently preoccupied with wondering what kind of thing it is.

"Your Majesty! It's windy, please go back inside." Han Shizhong bowed beside him.

Zhao Gou pointed to the breach in the city wall: "Minister Han, what exactly caused this?"

Han Shizhong whispered, "Gunpowder!"

Zhao Gou: "We also have gunpowder, so why have we never seen it used like this?"

Han Shizhong said in a low voice, "Our gunpowder burns out with a 'hiss' after being lit, but the gunpowder of the pseudo-Song Dynasty explodes with a 'boom' after being lit, with amazing power! I don't know what kind of weird stuff they added to the gunpowder to achieve such an effect."

After speaking, Han Shizhong took out his cannon. (For those who forgot, please refer to chapter 386.)
He placed the cannon far in front of Zhao Gou to prevent it from accidentally injuring him, and said, "This is our cannon. Once lit, it will mainly injure the enemy by burning. I have also ordered the craftsmen to come up with many ideas, but we still can't get it to explode with a 'boom'."

Zhao Gou's brows furrowed even deeper...

He felt a little panicked!

Previously, he considered himself the legitimate ruler of the Song Dynasty, while his seventeenth brother was merely a worthless nobody with no rightful claim. But after witnessing a battle firsthand, he realized that he himself might be the worthless one. His seventeenth brother's strength far exceeded his expectations; in his current view, his seventeenth brother was even stronger than the Jin invaders. What should he do?

Zhao Gou: "If our army were to fight the puppet Song army, what would our chances of winning be?"

He really asked the wrong person that question...

If you were to ask Yue Fei, you would probably get a very upright and objective answer.

But if you ask a seasoned veteran like Han Shizhong, the result is predictable. Without even thinking, Han Shizhong replied, "We haven't fought yet, so I don't know. Maybe we can win, but maybe we can't. It depends on the timing, location, and the people, the use of conventional and unconventional tactics, strategy... and all aspects."

He neither said he couldn't beat them, nor did he say he could.

He simply wouldn't give a straight answer!

The clever Han Shizhong had already figured it out: answering either "I can win" or "I can't win" would be disadvantageous to him.

His rambling and incoherent answer offered Zhao Gou no useful advice whatsoever.

Zhao Gou could only sigh deeply and rely on his meager military knowledge to make a judgment...

The conclusion was: "We can't win! We're doomed to lose!"

What he didn't expect was that the thoughts in his mind now were exactly the same as those Qin Hui had when he returned from his trip to the Jin Dynasty and was taken to the Northern Song Dynasty by Yue Wenxuan.

After that trip, Qin Hui completely switched sides.

And Zhao Gou...

He can't switch sides!

He only felt numb all over and his head was buzzing.

A voice echoed in his heart: Fortunately, my seventeenth brother negotiated peace with me and we fought against the Jin together. If he had attacked me, wouldn't I have been doomed?

Not good!
I used to call him a traitor, but luckily he has a good temper and didn't get angry. If he had really attacked me, I wouldn't even know how I died. From now on, I can't call him a traitor anymore, and I can't provoke him. From now on, I'll call him my seventeenth brother in all public places and try to repair my relationship with him...

That thought was running through his mind.

Liu Guangshi walked over from the side and bowed: "Your Majesty, the envoy from the false Song Dynasty..."

“What pseudo-Song?” Zhao Gou immediately interrupted him, saying, “From now on, in public, refer to them as the Northern Song! That is, the Great Song of the Jiangbei region! No longer call them pseudo-Song. Be more respectful to my seventeenth brother. After all, he is my brother. It sounds very bad for you to call him a traitor. Change your address to Prince Seventeen.”

Liu Guangshi: "..."

Qin Hui stood by, smiling without saying a word. With his superior understanding of Zhao Gou, he already knew what to do next.

Liu Guangshi awkwardly paused to gather his thoughts before speaking: "Your Majesty! An envoy from the Northern Song Dynasty requests an audience."

Zhao Gou: "Please invite him over!"

Before long, the envoy from the Northern Song Dynasty arrived.

Zhao Gou took a closer look and was taken aback. The person who came was actually a child of about ten years old, dressed in a scholar's robe, and looked like a precocious child.

The child bowed deeply to Zhao Gou and said, "This humble boy, Ma Congyi, pays his respects to Your Majesty of the Song Dynasty."

Zhao Gou: "No need for formalities, rise!"

The child stood up, his movements were calm and his demeanor was measured, which made Zhao Gou exclaim "Eh!" in his heart, thinking to himself: What an amazing child.

(End of this chapter)