"Brother," Zhang Fei said, wiping sweat from his neck, "tell me honestly. Can this Yue Fei actually save the Song?"
Sometime earlier, Zhang Fei had returned to the General's Residence. Liu Bei took one look at him and immediately understood. Dust on his face, sweat on his neck. The man had clearly gone to the training grounds to punch his frustrations into the ground.
Liu Bei, in truth, already had an answer in his heart.
From those earlier records. From the scathing judgment of Zhao Gou. From the name Qin Hui being dragged out into the light. From the story of the tattooed back.
All of it pointed in one direction.
Especially that detail about being a prisoner. That alone was enough to make Liu Bei's mood sink.
But instead of answering directly, Liu Bei raised an eyebrow and asked calmly,
"Then tell me, Yide. Do you want Yue Fei to save the Song… or not?"
"Of course I want him to save the Song!"
Zhang Fei looked both indignant and helpless, as if even he didn't quite understand his own emotions.
"When the nest is overturned, can any egg remain unbroken?"
For the first time in his life, Zhang Fei felt his reading had been completely insufficient to sort out what he was feeling.
The rivers and mountains were shattered.
So who was the real traitor?
The Son of Heaven and the common people. Who truly represented the state?
These thoughts, dangerous and confusing, crashed around in Zhang Fei's head. This was a man who could face ten thousand enemies on the battlefield without blinking, yet now he was genuinely lost.
And so, for the first time in a long while, Zhang Fei found himself envying the strategist.
If it were the military advisor, surely he could untangle this mess of thoughts, right?
Or maybe…
Tonight, he should go bother the strategist for a talk.
Inside the palace hall of Bianliang.
Perhaps because he had already heard about the fall of Northern Song more than once, Zhao Kuangyin, after his initial fury, had forced himself back into calm. He stood with hands behind his back, staring up at the glowing curtain.
Zhao Pu felt that His Majesty's expression had grown darker and darker. So dark, in fact, that it was impossible to read his thoughts.
Zhao Pu actually wanted to discuss the Taiyuan campaign or the siege of Bianliang. The future maps on the curtain were extremely detailed. If they analyzed them properly, they might even gain some fresh ideas for the upcoming campaign against Northern Han.
Unfortunately, Court Physician Liu Han had latched onto Zhao Pu and was firing off excited questions nonstop, killing any chance of that discussion.
"Duke Zhao, this Yue Fei is this fierce? Then surely he can drive out the Jin barbarians, right?"
"That Yue Fei's mother truly carried the nation in her heart. No wonder she raised such a famous general!"
"Duke Zhao, we are Song. What's this nonsense about Southern Song and Northern Song?"
Zhao Pu could also tell that Liu Han was extremely curious about the matter of the Prince of Jin, but given the atmosphere, there was no way to ask directly.
So Zhao Pu changed tactics and asked,
"Does Attendant Liu hope that Yue Fei's northern campaign will succeed?"
Liu Han's excitement dimmed slightly. He sniffed and said,
"Who would want their descendants to become subjects of those bandit barbarians?"
He let out a bitter laugh.
"My family has practiced medicine for generations. Thanks to Your Majesty, I was able to live in peace and focus on medical studies."
"In the Xiande era, I came to Bianliang and presented over sixty volumes of my family's medical texts. Only then did I receive a position as a Hanlin medical officer."
"And now, to be entrusted by Your Majesty to revise the Compendium of Materia Medica… this fulfills the wish of my lifetime."
As he spoke, Liu Han hurriedly clasped his hands toward Zhao Kuangyin. Zhao Kuangyin's expression finally softened, and he even offered a few words of encouragement.
Then Liu Han sighed again.
"To refine medical knowledge, one man's effort is never enough."
"If the barbarians enter the Central Plains, how would those savages understand medicine?"
Perhaps because he had spent the past two years buried in revising medical texts, Liu Han became increasingly talkative.
But whether it was his longing for his hometown of Cangzhou, or his obsession with preserving his family's medical heritage, both Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Pu understood him perfectly.
From Zhao Pu's perspective, it was even clearer. Looking from the future's angle, medical advancement absolutely depended on state funding and the cultivation of medical students.
If the Jin army swept through, war would destroy everything once. Then ignorant barbarians would wreck things again. Then the knowledgeable physicians would be killed off.
In that case, a century of accumulated medical knowledge would be wiped out in a single sweep.
In the end, Zhao Pu had to cut off Liu Han's rambling.
"His Majesty will never allow your descendants to be forced to abandon their customs."
On the glowing curtain:
[Lightscreen]
[Yue Fei, on his third enlistment, was already a seasoned veteran. He handled matters with ease.
After joining, his first task was still suppressing bandits. This time, however, Yue Fei didn't even bother bringing troops.
He walked straight into the bandit stronghold alone and asked whether they would accept amnesty. Anyone who refused got slapped unconscious on the spot.
In the end, Yue Fei single-handedly pacified an entire bandit den.
His superior, Liu Hao, trusted him greatly. Better treatment and heavier missions followed. Yue Fei accepted everything without complaint, and his reputation quickly rose.
This enlistment finally looked like his luck was turning.
At the same time, Prince Kang Zhao Gou's authority rose again.
Emperor Qinzong secretly appointed Zhao Gou as Grand Marshal of Hebei, granting him independent command authority and ordering him to lead militia forces to relieve Kaifeng.
Yes. Kaifeng was under siege again. Again.
Yue Fei, stationed nearby, naturally became one of Zhao Gou's "employees."
But Zhao Gou? Fight? That was a fantasy.
Run? He could do that twice as fast as anyone.
From the very start, Zhao Gou had wanted to seek appeasement and partial peace. He quickly clashed with the pro-war deputy commander Zong Ze.
Then Zhao Gou made a decisive move.
He ordered Zong Ze to go reinforce Chanyuan to try to relieve Bianliang… and used Zong Ze as cover to retreat south at full speed.
At the beginning of the first lunar month, Zhao Gou was still in Daming Prefecture. By the end of the second month, the Grand Marshal of Hebei had already fled to Jizhou.
If not for militia forces along the way fiercely opposing him, Zhao Gou would have absolutely "supervised the war" from Henan by then.
The Jingkang Humiliation happened precisely during Zhao Gou's southward flight.
Emperors Huizong and Qinzong. Zhao Gou's mother, wife, and daughters. Palace women and nobles. Along with tens of thousands of Kaifeng civilians.
All were captured and escorted north as slaves.
When Zhao Gou heard the news, he wept bitterly. Then he issued proclamations calling on the realm to rescue the emperor.
Then… he continued fleeing south.
By the end of April, Zhao Gou had reached Nanjing Yingtian Prefecture, Zhao Kuangyin's old power base.
There, he held grand ceremonies to sacrifice to Heaven and ascended the throne.
The Southern Song Dynasty officially began.
Zhao Gou, standing there, was "full of ambition."
Once things were prepared, he planned to continue south.
Above all else, he intended to keep himself alive.
Yue Fei, who had followed Zhao Gou all the way south, finally snapped.
Watching the new emperor feast and enjoy music in Shangqiu. Listening to nobles casually discuss how they should continue fleeing south.
Yue Fei could no longer endure it.
He wrote a memorial thousands of words long and submitted it directly to the Petition Drum Office.
The Song Dynasty's complaint hotline.
Yue Fei had never been involved in politics during his earlier enlistments, so this memorial was extremely straightforward.
In essence, it said:
Zhao Gou, I curse your ancestors. Are you going to resist the Jin or not?!
The newly established Southern Song court responded with unprecedented efficiency.
Nonsense.
Stripped of rank. Reduced to a commoner.
Over the next month, Zhao Gou quickly forgot about the matter.
On the advice of new ministers, he elevated Zong Ze and Li Gang, praising the pro-war faction loudly but granting them no real power.
At court, he even shouted slogans like:
"I shall personally command the Six Armies to relieve the capital and all circuits of Hebei and Hedong, and fight the Jin to the death!"
Then, a few days later, he issued another decree:
The capital is too desolate. I will tour the southeast first. I'll return next spring.
Yue Fei packed his belongings.
He didn't look back.
He headed north.
His old mother and his wife were still in their homeland, still under Jin iron hooves.
He would resist the Jin.
He would go north.]