I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 62: Finishing the job and leaving, hiding his achievements and fame

August 22, before noon, Rencheng County.

After Guan Sheng finished his work early in the morning and hurriedly completed his daily official duties, he was about to find a place to have a few drinks and some meat as usual.

As a result, just a few dozen steps out of the county government office, he was stopped by a smiling fat man wearing a Suzhou embroidered brocade robe at the first alley of Yaqian Street.

"Excuse me, are you the head of this county? My master has some minor matters to attend to, and I'd like to invite you to discuss them. I've already prepared some wine at Wanfu Tower, and I hope you'll take the time to come."

This fat man was none other than Deng Yue, the steward of the Murong family. Zhao Zi remarked that the other heroes he had brought with him were too savage and had never seen the life of a wealthy family. He said that even if they were asked to play the role of a henchman of such a wealthy family, they wouldn't be able to act like one. It would be better to let someone who already did the job play the role in person.

Guan Sheng was still only a low-ranking military officer, and had never seen much money. Shandong by the end of the Song Dynasty was far less prosperous than it had been at the beginning. During the Song Dynasty, the pressure of Hebei's border defense also led to Shandong shouldering a considerable burden of taxes and grain. Apart from the dignitaries, few people in the area wore Suzhou embroidered brocade robes.

Guan Sheng saw the man's clothes and thought, "A common steward is dressed like this, so you can imagine who his master is." He didn't dare to neglect him and went with him. Anyway, he just wanted to have a drink first and listen to what he had to say. If it was a difficult matter, he would just refuse.

Arriving at the banquet venue, climbing up to the top floor and entering the private room, Guan Sheng saw a tall, slender-limbed young man in fine clothes standing at the window with his back to him. He turned around when he heard the door open, raising his hand to invite him to sit down.

Guan Sheng, upon seeing the other man's attire and appearance, dared not neglect him: "May I know your name, sir? And why are you looking for me?"

Zhao Zi said, "My surname is Zhao, and I am descended from the lineage of the King of Qin and the Duke of Ying. This year I passed the imperial examination and was appointed by the Ministry of Personnel to the position of Magistrate of Gusu County. On my way to take up my post, I happened to stop by Jingzhou. I heard that Guan Dutou is a well-known and loyal hero in the area, so I took a short detour to come and visit him."

Guan Sheng was shocked when he heard this: "Are you Mr. Zhao? The one from the royal family who suppressed the Mangdang bandits on his way to take office a few days ago?"

Now it was Zhao Zicheng's turn to be stunned. He didn't expect that the little fame he had just gained in Xuzhou had spread to Jeju.

On his way here, he was still hesitating whether to tell Guan Sheng the truth right away. Now it seems that the decision to tell the truth directly was the right one.

Zhao Zicheng did not completely deny it, but just said modestly: "I am just a civilian official. It is not my job to directly command the troops to fight. I can only provide strategies from the side. The Mangdang bandits were suppressed by Commander Yang Zhi. How can I covet my friend's achievements for myself?"

Guan Sheng quickly recalled that, indeed, it was Yang Zhi who led the troops in the battle of Mangdang Mountain. However, the most popular legend among the people recently was about this Mr. Zhao.

Because the military officers of the surrounding prefectures and counties were more or less aware of Fan Rui's strength. It wasn't his battle skills or martial arts, nor was it the sheer number and bravery of his men, but rather his powerful sorcery and his ability to undermine the morale of the government troops. The government troops had come against him several times before, but his inexplicable tricks had always caused the morale of the troops to collapse and they fled in panic.

It was said that this great official, Zhao, possessed a righteous spirit, like a divine blessing, which overwhelmed Fan Rui's magic and ultimately killed him. The common people and warriors, ignorant of science, spread the story in a more bizarre way, embellishing it until even Zhao Zicheng himself felt embarrassed to hear it.

As a military officer, Guan Sheng was very concerned about these things. After hearing them many times, although he did not believe them completely, he also imagined Zhao Zicheng as a royal family hero like Liu Bang or Liu Bei.

How could anyone be an ordinary person who could kill snakes and insects in Fengxi Lake and avoid being harmed by the poison of the demon? Moreover, he could break the demon's spell and his surname was Zhao... all kinds of legends were piled up.

If Guan Sheng hadn't been a government official and hadn't been assigned an errand, he would have wanted to go and take a look himself. Unexpectedly, he came to visit today.

Guan Sheng quickly made a heavenly bow, bowed deeply, and said, "I have long admired you. I didn't expect that Mr. Zhao would be so respectful and humble, and would even take a special detour to visit us warriors. I am truly ashamed."

Zhao Zicheng quickly supported him and pulled Guan Sheng to sit down at the table.

Guan Sheng had been trying to exert himself, hoping to bow for a few more seconds, but Zhao Zicheng's hand rested on his arm, and Guan Sheng was startled. This scholar had some arm strength. While he was certainly smaller than him, it was definitely rare among civil servants.

Guan Sheng didn't dare to argue anymore and immediately agreed to the other party's wishes. Zhao Zicheng offered three rounds of toasts and Guan Sheng drank every glass.

The atmosphere of the first meeting was so harmonious that Zhao Zicheng didn't have to do a lot of preparation. After three rounds, he took the initiative to mention his real purpose.

"I'm here because I have a merit I can't claim. Looking around the surrounding counties, I see only a man of integrity like Guan Dutou who deserves this achievement. Therefore, I'm willing to escort you. There are no other conditions. As long as Guan Dutou keeps it a secret, that's all that matters."

Guan Sheng already admired her, and upon hearing this, he was even more surprised. "I don't know what exactly this is about. It's not that I'm greedy, it's just... This sounds so bizarre that I'm baffled."

Zhao Zicheng roughly told the story of how one of his men had killed Wang Lun but was unable to claim credit for the killing.

"...That's what happened. We have the head of Wang Lun, the leader of the Liangshan bandits, here. But to be honest, I'm guilty of killing that hero, Wang Lun, and I was framed by a traitor.

While I was waiting for a vacancy in Tokyo, I happened to learn of his deeds. Unable to bear the injustice done to such a righteous man, I devised a plan to save him. Unfortunately, the official who framed him held such high power that I could only force him to remain in hiding, unable to reveal his former identity. Therefore, Wang Lun's head is useless in my hands."

As Zhao Zicheng spoke, he clapped his hands lightly, and Deng Yue brought over a wooden box. Zhao Zicheng raised his hand to open the lid, revealing a bloody human head inside. It had not yet been pickled with lime, so it must have been dead only two days ago.

Without lime pickling, they naturally didn't want the head to change color and dry out immediately, which would be unfavorable for the demonstration. However, in such hot weather, without any preservation, it would have become smelly in two days, so Zhao Zicheng had Cao Zheng pickle it lightly with a large amount of salt beforehand to sterilize it.

Cao Zheng was born into a family of butchers and was very good at pickling meat. Pickling human heads was also his specialty, which was why he was able to preserve Wang Lun's head so lifelike.

Even though Guan Sheng was used to seeing life and death, he was still slightly horrified to see a human head in this state. He saw Zhao Zicheng was still so calm and composed, taking out a bloody head right after finishing a glass of wine, and even taking off the lid and drinking another glass of wine.

Guan Sheng was completely impressed by his demeanor before he even heard the details of his plan.

"Young Master, your generosity is truly unmatched by any ordinary civil servant. I admire you! Such noble generosity is beyond my comprehension. However, I am in Jeju, and the governor and county magistrate will not send me across the border to Dongping Prefecture to pursue the Liangshan bandits. If this achievement must be attributed to me, I'm afraid I won't be able to convince you. For your safety, it would be better to find a military officer in Dongping Prefecture..."

Zhao Zicheng raised his hand, firmly rejecting the other party's refusal. "I'm unfamiliar with the place, and I can't trust other people's character. In matters like this, if you're not discreet, you'll be blamed. If this credit doesn't go to Guan Dutou, then I'd rather burn Wang Lun's head and pretend nothing happened."

When Guan Sheng heard this, he was so moved that he burst into tears of gratitude.

The other party was afraid of leaking secrets, so he didn't want to get involved. But he trusted me, and how could I not repay such unconditional trust?
As the saying goes, a gentleman will die for his confidant. In the Song Dynasty, the trust that civil officials had in military men was a friendship that could be trusted with life and death.

"In this case, Guan will not be pretentious. Sir, please tell me how to proceed in order to subdue the public's voices?" Guan Sheng sighed and bowed for advice.

Zhao Zicheng opened a folding fan that was originally placed on the wine table with a "snap" and fanned it twice gently to dispel the smell of blood.

It was the Mid-Autumn Festival in August, and although the heat had subsided somewhat, this action didn't seem out of place. Deng Yue, who was standing by, saw the young master fanning himself and immediately closed the wooden box containing the human head and took it aside.

Zhao Zicheng said, gently waving his folding fan, "It's not that difficult. These past few days, a small group of Liangshan bandits have been raiding the prefectures and counties, attacking from the Dongping border and harassing Rencheng. Times are not peaceful these days, and I've already made inquiries. The officials in charge of Dongping Prefecture and Jizhou don't strictly guard the borders of their prefectures. If they encounter bandits, they'll want to harm their neighbors."

Therefore, if a small group of thieves with unknown origins suddenly appeared in such a lawless place, they would not be dealt with immediately by the government. They would still hope that they would be driven into Linzhou. And if this group of thieves approached Rencheng, and the captain volunteered to the county lord or even the prefectural lord to go out of the city to track down and drive them away, they would definitely be eager for someone to do so.
By then, the captain will have only a small force, ostensibly to drive out the bandits, but in reality, they'll have engaged them in battle, captured their leader's head, and with the help of a few of their captives, they'll be able to testify to his identity, and invite the county's gentry who have seen him to come forward and identify him. That will be enough. After this, the captain will likely be promoted to commander-in-chief at the very least, and perhaps even to Du Yuhou if he performs better in the future."

Zhao Zicheng's last statement was actually a bit overstated. The main reason was that Liangshan hadn't yet become a major force; it was just a small-time band of thieves, and the leader's head wasn't that valuable. The commander was still okay, but Du Yuhou was a bit delusional.

If you could kill Song Jiang during the later heyday of Liangshan, you could definitely become the Chief of Police with Song Jiang's head. If you could completely wipe out Liangshan, you could directly become the Chief of Police.

Wang Lun's current head was still far less impressive than Song Jiang's in the future. However, Guan Sheng obviously didn't dwell on these details. He simply followed Zhao Zicheng's logic and thought about it, and suddenly realized that this was a very safe approach.

Guan Sheng had been in Jeju for a long time, and he knew very well the extent to which the local civil servants condoned the banditry and were afraid of and avoided it.

If a small group of unknown thieves sneaked in from the border of Jeju and Dongping Prefecture, the civil servants would most hope to drive them away quickly. As long as they did not enter the country and harm the neighbors, he would never take any action.

If the administration in Shandong had not become so corrupt in the late Northern Song Dynasty, Song Jiang would not have become so powerful so quickly.

At that time, I would take the initiative to step forward and be willing to help the prefectural and county officials share their worries, and take the initiative to go out of the city to drive out the thieves. The prefect and the county magistrate would be grateful to me and burn incense to express their gratitude.

The military officers of other counties must have hoped to close the city gates and do nothing, just to avoid angering the thieves and hope that the thieves would move to another place to cause trouble.

After Guan Sheng sorted out the situation, he sighed deeply. "Since Master Zhao has already devised a plan, I would be remiss if I could not." Guan Sheng also spoke from the bottom of his heart. Merit and promotion are external things, but Master Zhao has trusted me so deeply and confided in me simply because of my reputation. This trust is truly sincere and precious.

Even if I don't receive a promotion this time, with your trust, I can do whatever I want in my life. I was thinking of abandoning my position to follow you, but since you've given me this credit, you must think I still have some use for this position. If I had rashly abandoned it, I would have offended your kindness. I can only wait for another opportunity to repay you.

Seeing that he had made up his mind, Zhao Zicheng also picked up his wine glass and drank together. "Don't worry, I became the county magistrate when I was seventeen or eighteen years old. How can I stay in this position forever? These are turbulent times, but there is still a long way to go. When I reach a higher position in the future, there will always be a time for you and me to work together."

Guan Sheng finished the wine tremblingly, and was so moved that he was speechless.

……

In the evening of that day, warnings of theft were received from around Rencheng County.

It seems that there is a bandit from Dongping Prefecture who fled here from Wenyang County of Dongping Prefecture and is now prowling at the border between the two prefectures.

When the news reached the county seat, both the prefecture and the county were shocked.

The local useless prefect and county magistrate directly ordered the city gates to be closed and guarded tightly, hoping that the thieves would have no rich houses to rob and would retreat on their own and find other places with more money to cause trouble.

The next morning, Guan Sheng, the county captain, saw that the people were in a state of turmoil and unrest. Unable to bear this, he plucked up his courage and petitioned the magistrate: "Sir! Please allow me to lead some of my men out of the city to investigate the enemy's situation and force them to return to Dongping Prefecture!"
If we simply close the city gates and hope that the bandits will retreat, we will undoubtedly harm the interests of countless merchants. If the bandits target the merchants and grain ships on the Jeju River, the disaster will be even greater!"

The Rencheng County Magistrate also knew that what Guan Sheng said made sense, but he did not have the ability to mobilize so many local militias or even the Xiang army to do the job. Firstly, he was afraid of being defeated, and secondly, mobilizing troops would require a large amount of money and food, and the Xiang army soldiers and grassroots officers would definitely not want to move.

The local militia are from the county, and the garrison troops are from the state. Because Rencheng is the state capital and the state and county are in the same city, there are garrison troops stationed there permanently, but these people cannot be mobilized by the county magistrate.

Fortunately, Guan Sheng was known for his bravery, and he immediately said with righteous indignation, "I understand that it will be difficult for the county lord to mobilize the garrison troops, and that you will need to consult with the prefectural lord. However, I can do without the garrison troops. I can just take a few local archers and my trusted brothers, go out of the city to investigate the situation, and try to drive out the bandits. Even if we fail, it won't harm anyone else."

The magistrate was stunned upon hearing this. "How could the captain of the guard be so loyal and brave? He dared to drive out the bandits with only a few trusted local militia archers?"

Guan Sheng quickly said that the matter was not that serious. He was just going to investigate first and would act according to circumstances. He would not act rashly.

The magistrate was overjoyed and immediately approved his request. Then at noon that day, Guan Sheng left the city with a few of his trusted brothers who were trembling with cramps in their calves.

In the end, even Sun Mo, the governor of Jizhou, was alarmed. He verbally praised and encouraged Guan Sheng and selected a few good horses for him so that he could carry out the mission smoothly.

The prefect, Sun Mo, kindly reminded him to be careful, "Captain Guan, your courage is commendable, but with so few men, we can only serve as scouts. If things get too difficult, hurry back to the city."

He was temporarily given a good horse to help him escape.

Guan Sheng did not refuse. He rode his good horse out of the city and went to various places in the border areas of Jizhou and Dongping Prefecture to inquire about the places where the bandit reports had been received before.

Guan Sheng did not return to the city that night, perhaps because the journey was too long and he was too late. Sun Mo and the county magistrate were both terrified all night, fearing that something might go wrong.

As a result, the next morning, Guan Sheng returned to the city carrying a big knife and a bloody head.

Although the bloodstains were actually slightly flawed, because there were several layers of bloodstains, the original bloodstains had become sticky and black.

Later, temporary new blood was used to cover the old blood to make new blood.

But the head is definitely real, and there are people in Rencheng County who recognize Wang Lun. Even if they don’t recognize him, it doesn’t matter, because there will always be someone in the neighboring Dongping Prefecture who knows him.

When the mandarin duck bells rang, he rushed to the county government office and threw his head to the ground; his blood was still warm.

Guan Sheng first bowed to the county magistrate, then to the prefect, Sun Mo, and said, "I have fulfilled my mission. Last night, while investigating the bandits, I stumbled upon their encampment. I launched a surprise attack on horseback, beheaded the leader, and wounded and captured several of their followers. I request that the governor and county magistrate send someone to identify them."

Both the prefecture and county levels were shocked, but after a final emergency inspection and repeated comparisons, they confirmed that it was Wang Lun's head.

Later, they sent people to contact Dongping Prefecture. Dongping Prefecture also repeatedly verified and finally learned that Wang Lun, the leader of the Liangshanpo bandits, had indeed disappeared recently. The new leader was Du Qian, the former second in command.

However, the people in the stronghold probably didn't want to tarnish their reputation as to how the leader of the stronghold died, so they didn't publicize it and outsiders had no way of knowing.

In Jeju, Guan Sheng was given the normal credit for his merits, and he was sure to be promoted within the year. In fact, by the end of the Song Dynasty, even killing innocent people and claiming credit was not uncommon, not to mention that Guan Sheng's head was indeed the head of a real bandit leader.

By the time Guan Sheng reported his achievements, Zhao Zicheng had already left Rencheng, and the group hurried back to Xuzhou overnight. From Xuzhou, they sailed down the Si River and embarked on the journey back to Jiangnan.

He has a solid alibi; none of this has anything to do with him.

After traveling in Sishui for three or four days, the group arrived in Huaiyin, turned into the Han Canal, and traveled for several more days to Yangzhou. They crossed the river at Guazhou and did not speak a word along the way.

Passing through Zhenjiang, Zhao Zicheng had a drink and chat with Liang Xin and Liang Feng, the father and son, generals of the Zhenjiang wing army, and chatted with them, and also met Liang Hongyu again.

When the Liang family learned that he had officially obtained a real position in the court after not seeing him for several months, and that he was indeed from a top-notch wealthy place like Gusu, they could not help but look at him with a higher opinion and were more willing to deepen their friendship and cooperation with him.

Zhao Zicheng socialized for several days and traveled along the Jiangnan Canal for several more days, and finally arrived in Suzhou safely on the tenth day of September.

Although he encountered many problems along the way, he still had twenty days left in the three-month deadline given to him by the court.

(End of this chapter)