I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 24 Understanding Applause
Zhao Zi said that he accepted Li Jun, of course not because he had a hobby of collecting Water Margin stamps, or because he blindly believed that "people who are awesome in books must be awesome in real life too."

Zhao Zicheng's deeper thought was to leave a loophole to ensure that he would not be classified as "brainlessly supporting Zhu Jie" in the future. That would be very disadvantageous for his future plans.

Li Jun was just an initial example. As long as Li Jun survived, and he had a little fame in the green forest, when Zhao Zicheng encountered a green forest hero he was not willing to deal with in the future, he could use this model case to prove his vision and magnanimity, making the subsequent recruitment smoother.

Even if the heroes he meets in the future don't know Li Jun, it doesn't matter. Zhao Zicheng can still take the initiative to introduce this case:

Even someone like Li Jun who has offended me, as long as it is clarified that it was a misunderstanding and he is sincerely repentant, and he is indeed capable and willing to follow me to pursue a future, I can ignore his flaws and employ him based on his talents, let alone other people?
Understand the applause.

With Li Jun's surrender, dozens of other pirates naturally followed suit and surrendered one after another.

Zhao Zicheng would not just use benevolence, but would also use both kindness and severity.

Tie them up if necessary, keep them under guard if necessary. Or let them first replenish the casualties, do some physical work like rowing, and then go through the official procedures.

Zhao Zi said that there was no need to treat these people specially. Everyone's previous crimes must be carefully identified and treated appropriately. Otherwise, it would be a complete 'big pot' approach, with good and bad people treated the same, which would not be conducive to encouraging good deeds.

These details will be put aside for now.

……

Zhao Zicheng had just subdued the surrendered bandits, and the Zhenjiang Prefecture's navy upstream finally arrived at the battlefield slowly.

Seeing that Zhao Zicheng's fleet had already accomplished everything and there were only some abandoned empty ships floating on the river, the naval officer leading the fleet also became a little bored.

It’s a good thing that we don’t have to fight, but it’s a shame that we didn’t achieve any results at all, and didn’t even get any kills or any benefits.

But Zhao Zi said that he had asked Yang Zhi to use the banner of Yingfeng Bureau, so the other party did not dare to act rashly - in order to keep a low profile, Yang Zhi had never used the banner of Yingfeng Bureau before, but now it has been snatched away, and he can't hide it anymore, so he started fighting temporarily.

This flag is not very effective against bandits, but it is very effective against government officials.

When the leading officer saw the flag, he immediately drove the boat over politely and asked if there was any damage and whether they needed any cooperation.

Yang Zhi said that the matters here were not his responsibility, he was just the one who used the knife, and asked for specific instructions from Mr. Zhao on the boat next to him.

The leading officer took the trouble to drive the boat to Zhao Zicheng's side, sailed side by side, and personally descended the rope ladder to Zhao Zicheng's boat to greet him.

"I, General Liang Feng, have the honor of being the commander of this prefecture's river patrol. May I know your official's name? Did you not suffer any harm from the pirates today?"

Zhao Zi said that he was not wearing official uniform, and the other party could not tell whether he was a civil servant or not, so they just said that he was on duty.

Zhao Zicheng only felt a little sad after hearing this. In the Song Dynasty military system, each battalion had 500 men and a commander. Ten battalions had 5,000 men and a chief commander.

The officer in front of him was, after all, a battalion commander of 500 men, but when he met a clerk whose rank he could not tell, he had to speak humbly.

Of course, Zhao Zicheng’s current identity is easy to be misunderstood. After all, he is a clerk in the Yingfeng Bureau and cannot be taken lightly.

Zhao Zicheng coughed lightly. "Commander Liang, there's no need to be so polite. I'm not from the Yingfeng Bureau, nor do I hold an official position yet. I simply happened to be here. I've already dealt with these pirates myself, so there's no need for you to worry."

After that, Zhao Zicheng briefly introduced his identity and omitted unnecessary content.

But when the other party learned that he was a member of the royal family and had passed the imperial examination with the highest marks and was about to be appointed to an official position, they respected him even more.

Even if Zhao Zicheng started out as just a county magistrate, he was still someone that the commander of the wing army camp had to look up to.

Moreover, a scholar could kill over a hundred bandits in a casual manner, and even kill several of them with his own hands. What kind of existence is this? It is not an exaggeration to call him a Confucian general.

And there are actually such heroes among the royal family?
For a moment, Liang Feng thought of the deeds of the great ancestor who "conquered four hundred military states with a coiled dragon stick" before he became famous.

This association was truly outrageous. Liang Feng only dared to let it flash through his mind for a split second before quickly dispelling this horrible thought. However, his expression became increasingly respectful.
"Young Master Zhao is truly a hero, a master of both civil and military skills! If it weren't for Young Master Zhao's bravery, I would have been late in arriving as reinforcements today, and would have almost caused a disaster!"

Zhao Zicheng waved his hand, stopping the other party's flattery, and simply said: "You are polite. However, there is something I want to ask you. When we were killing the bandits just now, they outnumbered us. In order to cut the Gordian knot quickly, I let the servants shout and win their hearts in the chaos of the battle. Those who defected in the middle of the battle were forgiven, so I forced dozens of people to surrender.

According to the law, can I deal with these prisoners on my own? If not, can I hand them over to Liang for instructions? Can I guarantee that I will keep my promise and fulfill it?

Li Jun and others were quite moved and excited after hearing Zhao Zicheng's cover-up. Zhao Zicheng simply said "calling for a change of sides in battle" and changed the nature of their surrender.

Li Jun could only be considered to have surrendered out of desperation, and his fate would have been much worse if he had been investigated by the officials. However, Zhao Zicheng could absolve him of a considerable portion of the blame by saying that they surrendered at the critical moment of battle.

Even though Zhao Zicheng did not hold an official position and could not accommodate all of them for the time being, his willingness to help by saying this was already a great favor.

After all, if Li Jun and his men were intercepted and captured by Liang Feng, their fate would be even worse. At that point, they would have no choice but to fight to break through, and it was hard to say how many of them would survive. However, Liang Feng, a member of the imperial army, was quite surprised to hear this and subconsciously asked, "Master Zhao, are you going to keep your word to these surrendered bandits?"

Zhao Zicheng's face immediately darkened: "I, Zhao, am a man of my word, and naturally I will keep my word to everyone."

Liang Feng's heart trembled. "I have spoken out of turn. Since you have defected, most of your previous crimes can naturally be pardoned. However, since you are not yet an official, and you have to escort important items to the capital, it would be inconvenient to directly take in these prisoners."

How about this? My lord, if you want to take a few of them in, I'll help you out and turn a blind eye. But among these captives, I'll also pick out some of those who are relatively guilty of serious crimes and take them back as captives, so that we can report back and put an end to this.

Otherwise, if such a large-scale pirate incident occurred at this crucial Yangtze River crossing, and no prisoners were reported, the court would be in vain. I can assure you, sir, that I will spare the captives' death penalty. At most, I will punish those who have committed serious crimes with caning as a warning to others. I will never break your promise."

Liang Feng's attitude was still relatively low, and he used a negotiating tone to coordinate with Zhao Zicheng. Zhao Zicheng thought it made sense. He had just screened these pirate captives, and some of them had committed crimes that were indeed outrageous.

As long as he doesn't behead or exile, just beating him with a stick to show off his power is also acceptable.

Li Jun was also convinced by this decision. Finally, Zhao Zicheng handed over most of the captives who could not be taken away to Liang Feng for custody and would deal with them after he returned from Bian Jing.

Liang Feng wanted to maintain a good relationship between the two parties, so he agreed to everything and finally asked Zhao Zicheng if there was anything else he could do for him.

Zhao Zicheng thought for a moment and pointed at Murong Yan beside him: "This brother, you and I are friends in need. I got into trouble with these pirates because their accomplices tried to frame me and this brother Murong.

He was slightly injured in today's battle. Commander Liang, is there a good doctor among the troops?

Liang Feng immediately said, "These are all trivial matters. How about I send some troops to escort the Hua Shi Gang ship to the north bank? The two of you will return to Dantu County with me. I will find a good doctor in the army to treat this young master."

Zhao Zi said, "That's not necessary. To prevent any further complications, I'll go to Yangzhou in the north of the Yangtze River and look for another one."

Liang Feng quickly added, "Then I'll have my family invite a good doctor to come to Jiangbei to see you. Something has happened to the Flower and Stone Gang in our area, and I'd be uneasy if we weren't allowed to show some hospitality."

Zhao Zicheng knew that the other party was not respecting him, but was afraid of Zhu Jie. He used various benefits to shut him up, in order to prevent Zhao Zicheng from mentioning to Zhu Jie after returning that "the navy of Zhenjiang Prefecture was incompetent and I was robbed by pirates when I crossed the river in Zhenjiang."

This kind of worry may be a bit of a petty-minded approach, but it will not do any harm to Zhao Zicheng, so he is too lazy to explain.

……

Liang Feng immediately divided his navy into two teams. One team returned to Zhenjiang Prefecture to report the news and battle situation, and to ask for a military doctor.

The other team escorted Yang Zhi and Zhao Zicheng to the Guazhou Ferry in Yangzhou on the north bank.

The officials and patrol officers at Guazhou Ferry were very familiar with the patrol officers of Zhenjiang Prefecture on the opposite bank, so everything went very smoothly.

Liang Feng cleared out an entire clean inn for Zhao Zicheng, so that everyone on the Hua Shi Gang fleet could rest and recuperate. In today's battle, Zhao Zicheng's side also suffered dozens of casualties, including more than a dozen deaths, and the rest suffered injuries of varying severity.

Zhao Zi said that when he asked for a military doctor just now, it was not just for Murong Yan alone. These ordinary soldiers and servants also needed good treatment. This was the way to lead troops.

Otherwise, you would be putting women before friends.

Liang Feng also served at his side, ordering people to bring wine, meat, and rice porridge. The soldiers who were not injured drank wine and ate meat to celebrate their victory and relieve their fatigue. The wounded first drank porridge and ate a little warming meat while waiting for the military doctor to treat them.

Zhao Zicheng was also tired. He was extremely nervous after today's battle. After lunch, he took a bath to wash away the blood from the bloody battle. Then he lay down in his clothes and took a short nap.

When he woke up again, the Zhenjiang Prefecture's naval forces sent some people to express their condolences.

Zhao Zicheng was a little surprised to see the other party so serious, and quickly stood up to respond.

"Master Zhao, this is my father, the commander-in-chief in charge of patrolling the Yangzhen River. These excellent military doctors were also just brought in from the Dantu military camp by me."

Liang Feng respectfully introduced the two parties. Behind him stood a veteran in his fifties. He was wearing distinctive armor and had a slightly gray beard, but he still looked majestic.

Zhao Zicheng had just woken up from a nap and his reaction was not very fast. After thinking for a while, he remembered that the commander-in-chief was in charge of ten battalions.

It seems that this family surnamed Liang is a military family. The father is a commander-in-chief in charge of 5,000 people, and the son is a commander-in-chief in charge of 500 people.

Of course, in reality, given the decadence and corruption of the late Northern Song Dynasty, it is hard to say how much money was wasted. It is hard to say whether the actual number of soldiers was one-third of the quota.

"So it's Liang Dusi. I'm sorry." Zhao Zicheng was not arrogant. Since the other party held a high position, he still had to give him the necessary respect.

Liang Feng said to a young girl running errands on the other side, "Xiaoyu, why don't you bring the military doctors here?"

(End of this chapter)