Kim Bu-sik returned to Kaesong with 78 heads and 30,000 troops, and requested King Wang Gae of Goryeo to grant him the power to lead the army. King Wang Gae, who had spent most of his life in the era of Lee Ja-kyeon, did not react at all. Instead, he issued an edict to recognize the nobles of Seogyeong as rebels, and directly agreed to Kim Bu-sik's request, which was a proper response.
Soon after, the two sides held a formal axe ceremony in the hall. There was no chaos throughout the whole process, and there was no unnecessary communication between the emperor and his ministers. It was as if Jin Bushi had really returned from Xijing to quell the rebellion on Wang Kai's orders and was going to conquer the Jurchens again.
Even the army, nobles, and even the common people did not express much.
The reason is very simple. In the twenty years before Goryeo, more than ten years were the era of Li Ziqian's autocracy... The existence of that era made everyone know where they should go. The king knew how to endure and go with the flow; the nobles knew how to rely on and take sides, and how to extract benefits; the people knew to stay out of things that did not concern them.
In fact, this is also the reason why Kim Bu-sik dared to do this. Goryeo at this stage had the tradition of powerful ministers, and because the two classes were interconnected and almost integrated, even if the powerful minister was eliminated, it would be difficult to hold his family accountable... For example, Lee Ja-kyeon's nephew is still an important official of the country, and an important figure of the Kim Bu-sik faction that participated in the overthrow of Lee Ja-kyeon.
However, after Marshal Jin had finished the affairs of opening the capital (placed private individuals and made backup plans) and then led the main Goryeo army of 30,000 out of the capital, he couldn't help but feel a little scared... Although he had been prepared for all this and knew that the probability of success was very high, he was still worried.
Because, of course, he was confident in Goryeo, but the situation outside was turbulent and he had no control over it. Moreover, he launched this incident, which was almost a coup, because of the change in the external situation.
It is really difficult to control a small country!
However, even so, Kim Bu-sik continued to wear a wide robe, ride in a carriage, gritted his teeth and led his troops westward to the Yalu River.
In early March of the tenth year of Jianyan, Goryeo officially launched a war against Jin and advanced into Liaodong.
Among them, the first to be hit was the Posu Road (both sides of the Yalu River), where a large number of Bohai tribes and many Koreans lived. After the Jurchens succeeded, the core Jurchen tribe, the Pushan tribe, had been stationed here. Before Pushan, who died in Huolu, returned to Lu and was transferred to be a Wanhu, he had been the governor of this road for many years... So it is self-evident what state the Pushan tribe was in at that time.
It is entirely conceivable that next, the Koreans will most likely advance directly to threaten the hinterland of Liaodong, and Kubula Khan of Eastern Mongolia will also send troops to attack Zhongjing Road and threaten the Liaoxi passage. The drama that Emperor Zhao longed to see, in which the Jurchens were forced to lose their footing and reveal their flaws without wasting troops, is about to be staged.
However, before watching this drama, a novel appeared in Hejian Prefecture, and the protagonist of the novel was Emperor Zhao himself.
"What's this?"
In Jingcheng, Zhao Jiu, who had just finished breakfast in the courtyard where he lived and was about to go out of town to fish, asked the visiting Minister of Works Hu Yin in surprise, because as soon as Hu Mingzhong came in, he asked Emperor Zhao to dismiss his attendants, even Liu Yan and Shao Chengzhang who were on duty today were sent out. However, after dismissing everyone else, only a stack of manuscripts was handed over.
"This is the 'official article' that the emperor wants me to write." Hu Yin was much more serious this time. "I may not have enough literary talent, but I am still fast. I copied a lot of story segments and I have finished the first one."
Zhao Jiu was speechless, but he immediately smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Hu."
"You may as well take a look first." Hu Yin suddenly smiled. "Give me your evaluation."
Seeing the usually serious Hu Mingzhong suddenly burst into laughter last time and today, Emperor Zhao was frightened for a moment, but he could only bite the bullet and read on... And Zhao Jiu read novels very quickly, he could only read ten lines at a glance, and finished the story in less than half an incense stick of time, and then the whole yard became silent.
There is no other reason, the plot of this "official article" is too simple and straightforward.
It is said that after a certain official won a victory, he controlled the whole world and all the barbarians submitted to him. However, he was worried that his ministers would take credit for themselves and cause chaos, so he often criticized them. As a result, he wrote articles to satirize them. When he satirized a prince who set up an Eight Character Army on Taihang Mountain, the prince had a strong temper and committed suicide by taking poison to prove his innocence. He also published the story written by the official.
The prince's old subordinates had a commander named Fan, who was also a loyal man. In a rage, he simply went up Taihang Mountain again. What followed was the same routine as Xue Gang's rebellion against the Tang Dynasty, forcing the old loyal official to come to the expedition. Due to carelessness, he was shot to death by an arrow and died. Then the sons each led marshals and princes to fight for the throne, and the world fell apart. Then Commander Fan cheated all the way and took the opportunity to protect a real dragon, and then recovered the reputation for the prince who commanded the Eight Character Army.
Zhao Jiu knew exactly what this article was mocking, but after a long silence, he still felt a little unconvinced, so he finally spoke:
"Why didn't Mingzhong say anything that day?"
"Does the emperor want to hear the truth or a lie?" Hu Yin finally became serious again.
"How about if it's a lie?" Zhao Jiuqiang smiled jokingly.
"It is a lie. I knew it clearly that day. I just wanted to use my own spear to attack my own shield, so I waited until I finished writing this humorous article." Hu Yin stood with his hands clasped, his face unchanged.
"What about the truth?"
"The truth is, I was tricked by the emperor that day." Hu Yin remained calm. "Although I woke up immediately later , I thought that now that we have won a great victory, the country is boiling, and the emperor is arrogant. If I directly remonstrate with him, there is no telling what will happen. That's why I wrote this article to make a satire, and when the emperor's mood calms down a little, I will present it to you as a satire."
"How could a smart person like you be fooled by my frivolous and misleading behavior?" Zhao Jiu listened for a while before he suppressed his emotions and smiled, but in his heart he still felt that Hu Yin was bullying him.
"Your Majesty..." Hu Yin also remained calm. "I was fooled by your Majesty for many reasons... First of all, Prime Minister Zhao was almost shot dead in a ditch by the King of Qin's subordinates, and I was whipped dozens of times by Qu Duan's subordinates. King Lu also had a history of protecting the Vegetable Eating Demon Cult. These things are still fresh in my mind and cannot be faked. In addition, your Majesty said that day that he could no longer tolerate what he had tolerated in the past ten years. I once thought that the stories you wanted to write were not only for warning the future, but also for punishing the past... In other words, I once thought that these deeds were really pointed out and had already happened, and your Majesty just kept it to himself."
Zhao Jiu was slightly startled, but finally admitted: "I did have the intention to punish the past, but it was mainly to prevent the future... The story is not that true."
"That's the problem." Hu Yin couldn't help but sigh. "If this article is written to punish the past, it is naturally a teaching. But if it is written to warn the future, is it a teaching or a punishment...even if it is written privately?"
Zhao Jiu shifted his body in his seat to hide the irritation hidden in his heart. Of course, he also knew that it was useless to pretend in front of Hu Mingzhong: "I thought that with Han Liangchen's open-mindedness and the friendship between him and me as a monarch and subject, it wouldn't have come to this... After all, it's just a story."
"Han Liangchen is indeed more than that. Even if he gets angry in private, thinking of the official's article, he may not dare to look for servants anymore." Hu Yin nodded in agreement. "What about Wang Yan? Can he really bear it? What about the King of Jin? The King of Wei..."
"Isn't it that the King of Wei dislikes that his son-in-law has been beaten with too many military sticks?" Zhao Jiu was completely helpless. "It's true that I didn't think it through, but didn't you laugh at the King of Wei?"
"That's because I came from the King of Wei's army and knew that the prince consort was beaten with military sticks every day, so I informed him on the spot. How would outsiders know if they heard that?" Hu Yin was unable to ask.
Zhao Jiu said nothing for a long time before he asked Hu Mingzhong, who was calm and composed, "After all, it was just a sentence. Why did you insist that I was punishing the past and preventing the future, but you are mocking me like this today?"
"That brings us to the remaining two reasons." Hu Yin was not at all flustered. "Your Majesty, how could a minister not be grateful for the privilege of privately advising you? I had already felt that something was wrong that day, but you just gave me another punch and I was stunned."
"I'm really good. I knocked out the famous minister Hu Mingzhong with two punches." Zhao Jiu didn't know whether to mock himself or be sarcastic. "Comparable to Lu Zhishen."
"It's not just two punches, the main reason is that I have internal injuries." Hu Yin stepped forward with a stern face and pressed forward. "Your Majesty... the reason why I was confused by you for a while was secondary. What really made me willing to believe that your method was feasible and willing to do it was that I knew what you were thinking from the beginning."
Zhao Jiu's heart finally moved, and he looked at the other party seriously, waiting for the answer.
"Your Majesty," Hu Yin sighed, and said with emotion. "When I read that story, I immediately thought of something that the emperor had to do since the second year of Jianyan, including the third year, even when the country was in danger... I also remember the words the emperor used at that time, 'release people'!"
Emperor Zhao's expression finally eased.
"What about the Qin Wang Jade Guanyin, what about Zhang Jun's greed for money, the government had already made it very clear at the time, that is, to tell the story that these people had no ill intentions, no bad intentions, but once their nature was revealed or even a negligence caused the people below to be ruined." Hu Yin paused slightly. "When I was dealing with military supplies around the New Year this year, I thought about it... Why did we devote so much national strength to the war? It was to restore peace. But what happens after restoring peace?"
"When the Jin Kingdom is in existence, it is the internal and external that are overwhelming. When the Jin Kingdom is defeated, it is the upper and lower that are the most touching." Zhao Jiu took over the conversation, took the initiative to summarize for the other party, and took the opportunity to dismount. "I originally wanted to remind the world that after the internal and external, it is the upper and lower, but it was still too hasty and used the wrong method... We should wait until the Yellow River is well managed and the original knowledge is stable, and then slowly do this."
"That's what I meant." Hu Yin admitted frankly. "However, it is precisely because I know the emperor's compassion and concern that I am self-confident. But this matter is more than that..."
"What do you mean?" Zhao Jiu's tone became much kinder as his mood improved.
"I have no other intention." Hu Yin stood there with his hands behind his back and added softly, "I just want to say that while the emperor boasts of his compassion, I'm afraid he has forgotten that in terms of superiority and inferiority, the emperor himself is the most superior person."
Zhao Jiu looked up in surprise.
But Hu Mingzhong pretended not to see it, and continued to speak clearly and calmly in the spring breeze:
“So, if your Majesty is careless, the families of the princes and below will be destroyed, and if you make a mistake, the whole world will fall apart… Your Majesty, in terms of superiors and subordinates, the princes are all below you, and in terms of the whole world, the princes are also part of the whole world… Just as knowing that your majesty’s original intention was good was the root of my confusion that day, your majesty was so infatuated with this matter after the great victory that he repeatedly forgot about it, which was also the root of my fear of not offending your majesty… Your Majesty, governing a big country is like cooking a small fish, so please be cautious, and please protect yourself.
After saying this, Hu Mingzhong bowed and left, leaving behind only "Records of Fan Tongzhi's Return to Taihang Mountain" and Emperor Zhao, who had sat there for a long time and was speechless.
On this day, Emperor Zhao had just gone out in the afternoon, but he did not go fishing, nor did he update his novel. He just enjoyed the spring breeze on the river for half a day.