The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 502 I am a Military General
The other officials and military officers, who had never seen Zhao Shi before and could not tell the real Zhao Shi from the fake one, did not react at first. But when they heard Li Gang's question, the veteran Han Shizhong's eyes darted around the fastest. After a couple of glances, he immediately understood what was going on and burst into laughter.

Then, one by one, the other civil and military officials also figured it out, and everyone's expressions changed slightly.

Yue Fei's expression changed the most dramatically. He was loyal to the emperor and loved his country; how could he tolerate this...?

Han Shizhong suddenly reached out and grabbed Yue Fei's shoulder: "I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush. At least give Young Master Yue a chance to explain. Don't just draw your sword and attack as soon as you see him."

Yue Fei smiled wryly: "In General Han's eyes, am I really that young?"

Han Shizhong shrugged: "Think about why you went into Fengbo Pavilion but I didn't!"

Yue Fei sighed softly, "I was really too young."

Just then, the tent flap was lifted, and Yue Wenxuan walked in with Qi Chongli, the Prime Minister of the Northern Song Dynasty, and Wu Jialiang, the Minister of War: "Alright, I deliberately came in a little late to give you some time. I'm sure you already understand what happened."

Li Gang, the most upright and outspoken person among those present, immediately jumped up and said, "No wonder, no wonder everyone says that you, Yue Wenxuan, are the mastermind... You created a fake prince to fool the world! You're hiding behind the scenes and controlling everything."

Yue Fei's hand was already on the hilt of his sword... but Han Shizhong grabbed his forearm, preventing him from drawing his sword.

The atmosphere seemed a bit tense!

But then Yue Wenxuan laughed and said, "Gentlemen, if I were really a villain who created a fake prince to act as a puppet and who could control everything, then none of the people who have seen the Seventeenth Prince would have made it here alive. For example, Prime Minister Li, from a conspiracy theory point of view, I would not have let you come here. Wouldn't it have been better to let you go to Lingnan to eat lychees?"

Upon hearing this, Li Gang regained his senses slightly, and his anger subsided somewhat.

Yue Wenxuan then pointed to the eunuch Thirty-Two beside him and the old man Qi Chongli, and said with a smile, "These two have also seen the real Seventeenth Prince. I also let them live well and never killed them to cover it up."

Upon hearing these words, the civil and military officials from the Southern Song Dynasty began to calm down, and even Yue Fei removed his hand from the hilt of his sword.

Han Shizhong stopped holding his forearm, simply patted his shoulder lightly, and withdrew his grip.

Yue Wenxuan: "Why is there such a fake prince? If I explain it to you, you'll probably say I'm spreading rumors. So, let Old Master Qi tell you the story."

Qi Chongli stepped forward, sighed deeply, and recounted in detail the difficulties that the Jiaodong Peninsula faced back then.

Everyone present was intelligent; they didn't even need to hear the whole story. They understood from the very beginning that the Jiaodong Peninsula was fragmented at the time. Besides Gong Yi, there were other forces like Yan Gao and Li Kui who held sway over the region. With the Jin army pressing in, how could all the anti-Jin forces on the Jiaodong Peninsula be united if no prince stepped forward to rally them? How could the people be won over?
Qi Chongli said, "Prime Minister Li, you are an upright and incorruptible official, a well-known outspoken minister. I would like to ask you a question: if you were on the Jiaodong Peninsula at that time, would you have sat and watched the Jurchen invaders ravage Shandong, or would you have created a fake prince like the Wuma Mountain rebels?"

Southern Song officials were shocked: "Are the eighteen princes of Wuma Mountain also fake?"

Li Gang trembled all over and remained silent for a long time.

His loyalty and patriotism wouldn't allow him to impersonate a member of the royal family, but his sense of responsibility to the world and the people wouldn't allow him to ignore the people of Shandong. He couldn't reconcile loyalty and righteousness, which created a bug.

At this moment, a soft, feminine voice rang out. It was the chief eunuch, the Thirty-Second Eunuch, who spoke up: "Lord Li, General Yue, you are so angry because creating a fake prince violates the principles of loyalty, right? But... you don't really think that your Southern Song emperor doesn't know that his seventeenth brother is an imposter, do you?"

Upon hearing this, both Li Gang and Yue Fei were utterly shocked. The thirty-second eunuch chuckled and said, "The Southern Song emperor knew it was a fake the moment he saw the letter from the Jiaodong Peninsula, but do you know what Zhao Gou did?"

Isn't that obvious? Everyone present knows that! Zhao Gou wrote a reply, acknowledging that his seventeenth brother was the real deal, and even told him to act expediently and strongly advocate resisting the Jin. This letter was delivered to Jiaodong by the eunuch in front of us.

The thirty-second eunuch chuckled and said, "So, the creation of a fake prince was actually tacitly approved by your emperor, or rather, it was with his help that the fake was able to pass for the real one. If the emperor hadn't personally replied to the Jiaodong Peninsula, admitting in the letter that he recognized the seventeenth brother's handwriting, how could so many discerning people in Jiaodong have easily believed that he was real?"

Everyone: "!"

The thirty-second eunuch concluded: "Supporting the fake prince is the Emperor's will! Without a doubt, it is the Emperor's will! Therefore, if you are truly loyal subjects, you should respect the Emperor's will! You must also treat him as real in order to be loyal to the Emperor; otherwise, you will be violating the Emperor's will and committing the crime of deceiving the Emperor."

Holy crap, you can say that like that?

Everyone was completely stunned...

Even Yue Fei, the most loyal and patriotic emperor, was suddenly caught in a bug.

Yes, so if that's the case, the fake prince is a figurehead created by the emperor to resist the Jin. The emperor's will is an imperial edict, and if we are loyal subjects, we should listen to the emperor and treat the prince in front of us as real. But... something just feels off?

Li Gang: "Give me some time to calm down, I'm a bit flustered."

Yue Fei was at a loss for words.

None of those who could become renowned ministers were fools. After a brief silence, Li Gang and the others all recovered and understood. Back then, the Emperor personally intervened to officially recognize the fake prince, his purpose being to help him contain the Jin invaders, create a barrier in Shandong, and buy time for him to hide in Jiangnan.

And it did succeed, but I never expected it to be this successful!
His success ultimately threatened his throne, which led to a falling out with the Northern Song Dynasty. But he couldn't very well admit that the prince he had personally promoted was a fake, could he? That would be like slapping himself in the face. To save face, Zhao Gou had no choice but to accept it.

After figuring this out, everyone couldn't help but sigh.

Li Gang asked with some difficulty, "Now that things have come to this, what should we do next?"

Yue Wenxuan: "What to do next is not a question that needs much consideration."

Li Gang: "Oh?"

This time, it was Han Shizhong who answered first: "Next, of course, we must resist the Jin! Who cares if they are real or fake princes, who cares if it's the Emperor's fault or if Young Master Yue is abusing his power, who cares who becomes Emperor. We military generals don't want to care about any of that. I just want to drive back the Jin invaders and restore the land of my Great Song. After that, you can fight all you want, you can make all the fuss. I'm just a military general, I don't know anything. Whoever becomes Emperor, I'm just a small military general."

As he said this, he placed one hand behind Yue Fei's back and poked Yue Fei's breastplate twice.

Yue Fei suddenly realized that Han Shizhong had good intentions. He was being pointed out to him. He had been too young before and had gotten involved in the matter of establishing the heir apparent, which led to the Fengbo Pavilion incident. Han Shizhong was telling him to stay out of the affairs of the throne. He immediately clasped his hands and said, "I am a military general and I don't care about these things. Now I only want to resist the Jin."

(End of this chapter)