I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 34: You can use cheats, but you can’t live without them - Part 2

"How could such a weak scholar kill more than ten thieves with his own hands?"

Even though Liang Shicheng had been in a high position for a long time and was knowledgeable, he was still slightly surprised after hearing Zhao Zicheng's self-narration.

When he looked at Zhao Zicheng again, his eyes were more serious. Only then did he notice that although this scholar had a gentle temperament, he was indeed tall and upright, with a strong and heroic spirit.

It is not necessarily an exaggeration to say that he is good at martial arts and can kill bandits with his own hands.

However, Liang Shicheng was ultimately holding him and Yang Zhi accountable for delaying the Flower and Stone Gang. Even if he felt a little bit of appreciation for talent and curiosity, he would not let go of this topic immediately.

Liang Shicheng pondered for a moment and then said, "If the delay was caused by the bandits, then it's certainly not your fault. However, words alone are not enough to prove anything. Since you've already killed over ten bandits, why not demonstrate your martial arts skills in public? If it's true, then we won't mention the delay."

Liang Shicheng said this, without waiting for Zhao Zicheng's consent, he waved his hand casually and called over a grassroots imperial guard officer who was patrolling the construction site nearby, and asked both of them to take a short wooden stick as a substitute for swords, and stopped there.

The Song Dynasty valued literature and suppressed military power. Asking scholars to perform martial arts in public was somewhat like using martial arts to entertain people. Scholars would most likely refuse such performances.

However, Liang Shicheng's words were meant to be verified. He had agreed that it was only to prove that what Zhao Zicheng said was true, so that the delay of the flower and stone donation could be written off.

This is a fair and impartial accountability matter. If Zhao Zicheng accepts the challenge, it will not be considered as entertaining others with martial arts.

Zhao Zicheng agreed without hesitation, took a short wooden stick, bowed politely to the other party, and said some words of thanks.

Zhao Zicheng, while bowing, observed the other man. He was just an ordinary, low-ranking officer of the Imperial Guards. Judging from his uniform, it was hard to tell whether he was a captain or a captain. He was tall and strong, but his steps were unsteady.

The other party's expression was filled with a mixture of disdain and awkwardness. He probably disdained to fight with a scholar, but was also afraid of losing his composure in front of an important official like Liang Xianggong and wasting a rare opportunity to show off.

Seeing the opponent like this, Zhao Zicheng changed his mind and became more confident of winning.

He has been practicing martial arts for more than two months, and has been practicing diligently these days. In the art of swordsmanship, he practices the basic family sword technique taught by the Murong family, which is said to be derived from the Bodhidharma sword technique - well, when he played "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" in later generations, it seemed that the Murong family directly used the Bodhidharma sword technique.

The introductory part of this sword technique is not very difficult, and the moves are relatively clean and neat, with large movements and direct movements. It is somewhat similar to the well-known Fuso Kendo Chessboard Slash in later film, television and game works.

Since the opponent wanted to perform better in front of Liang Shicheng and make it more fancy and entertaining, Zhao Zicheng took advantage of this psychological weakness and launched a sneak attack.

He took advantage of the moment when he had just bowed and said "thank you", bent down, took a step forward, lowered his body, and leaped forward, while the wooden stick in his left hand also stabbed forward.

The two men were originally standing more than ten feet apart. Even if one were to calculate the attack range based on the arm and the stick, it would only be six feet at most.

Zhao Zi said that one must instantly leap forward more than five feet to strike the opponent, and even then, the issue of force must be considered. If the force is applied too early, the sword will be too weak and the follow-up force will be insufficient, so even if the attack is successful, it will not have much impact.

The officer was still thinking about how to fight more beautifully, and he didn't expect that the weak scholar would launch a sneak attack.

He had originally raised his wooden stick very high, in a posture for upper attack and defense, but his middle door was wide open. He tried to switch to defending his lower body, but it was too late.

He could only ignore the danger of losing his balance, smashing the wooden stick down, attacking and defending at the same time, while urgently stepping back with the Seven Star Step to create distance.

Zhao Zi said that he had already used up all his strength in this leap. Now that his body was in front of his legs and his back was behind, it was impossible for him to rely on the power of his legs landing on the ground to leap further, or to move left or right.

But he saw the opponent's momentum of retreating and falling, and when he leaped up, he gathered his energy and breathed, pushed his right arm hard against the ground and swung it, and his whole body accelerated further to rush forward.

At the same time, his right arm exerted a lateral force on his body as it supported itself on the ground, causing his body to shift more than a foot to the left as it leaped forward. Even if the opponent's wooden stick came down, it would not hit him.

With a muffled "pop," Zhao Zicheng's wooden stick struck the opponent's shin. The opponent, who had been primarily defending the upper lane, had left his lower body wide open. After being struck, his lower body lost its stability and he fell to his knees, the stick still surging, sending a splash of dirt to the ground.

Zhao Zicheng was destined to lose his balance in this leap, so he rolled to the side and quickly stood up. His elegant Suzhou embroidery clothes were also stained with mud.

"Practicing martial arts is to strengthen the body, to kill bandits and make meritorious contributions to the country and resist foreign aggression, not to look good!"

Zhao Zi claimed that he had succeeded in his attack, and after saying a few polite words, he also tried to save face because his clothes were stained with mud.

The other party leaned over and rubbed his calf fibula, which was beaten to the point of being broken, and was filled with indignation: Who could have thought that such a respectable scholar would not only launch a sneak attack, but also use this kind of fighting style that was similar to a ground knife and did not care about etiquette right from the start!

There are quite a few scholars in the Song Dynasty who practice swordsmanship. Is there any of them who doesn't mind rolling around in the mud right from the start?

But he was powerless to refute. Of the two bones in the calf, the inner tibia was thicker and the primary weight-bearing bone, while the outer fibula was relatively fragile. Zhao Zicheng struck him on the fibula with his stick, and if he didn't break it, he was showing mercy. The officer could only hold his leg and gasp for air.

Liang Shicheng and the other civil servants and clerks who were watching the battle didn't understand martial arts, but they could still understand the outcome. A captain of the imperial guards, an officer commanding dozens of elite soldiers, was defeated by Zhao Zicheng with a single move. His martial arts skills were so impressive that he could easily have killed more than a dozen thieves along the way.

Seeing the other man rubbing his legs in submission, Zhao Zicheng dropped his stick, patted the mud off his hands, and sighed casually: "The sword is hidden in the box, and the world's soldiers should be at peace. But how dare this crazy Hu boy ask for gold and silk!"

These words were not written by him. Ouyang Xiu wrote them decades ago.

Ouyang Xiu's original text stated, "It is possible to put an end to the wars of the whole world," but that was clearly just wishful thinking, and in reality, it was impossible to achieve. For sixty or seventy years thereafter, the Song Dynasty continued to be oppressed by the Liao and Xia dynasties. Therefore, Zhao Zicheng, feeling deeply moved, changed the word "can" to "should," shifting from "should" to "expected" to be possible in the future.

Liang Shicheng was fond of writing and considered himself the son of Su Shi. Ouyang Xiu was Su Shi's teacher and a literary leader of an earlier generation. It was Ouyang Xiu who helped Su Shi pass the imperial examination.

After Zhao Zicheng defeated his opponent with one sword, he recited the ancestor's poem which was so appropriate for the occasion, and casually changed one or two words to make it suitable for the present time. Liang Shicheng immediately looked up to him.

Liang Shicheng couldn't help but think to himself, "He's a man of talent, both literary and martial. No wonder he's so unruly, yet dares to criticize current ills and speak out so bluntly. If a young man doesn't have a strong temper, can he still be considered a young man?"
He is from a royal family, so his integrity is actually a good thing, showing that he has no scheming. If he is a person who is full of self-preservation and scheming, he will be difficult to appoint.

Liang Shicheng immediately changed his expression and pretended to be open-minded, saying, "I was just joking. You are indeed a man of both civil and military talents. There is no need to mention the delay in the flower and stone transport. Zhu Jie is very discerning in making an exception and employing you."

Zhao Zi said that he would stop while he was ahead and said that he didn't dare to do it.

Liang Shicheng patted him on the shoulder and said earnestly, "However, whether the construction of Genyue was wasteful or whether the Flower and Stone Gang was necessary is not for you to judge. You'd better be more restrained in the future. If you have other opinions, please express them in a polite way, and don't just be angry."

Everyone appreciates talent. Liang Shicheng likes literature and bullies Zhao Zi for being young and naive. He thinks Zhao Zi is easy to control, so he says these words to show his seniority.

Sometimes, older people like to show off their rich life experience in front of younger talents. This is very normal, even if the young person is not related to them.

Zhao Zicheng was well aware of this mentality. He had just been thinking about how to deal with the current situation, how to maximize his own interests, and preferably how to help himself get rid of Zhu Zhen. That was why he had just put on that determined attitude of being wholeheartedly devoted to the country and the people, not caring about personal gains and losses.

Because if he acted very cunning, but in the end revealed that he wanted to use Liang Shicheng to get rid of Zhu Zhen's control, Liang Shicheng would definitely think that he was a cunning and disloyal person.

But if he showed from the beginning that he was just talking about the matter at hand and had no ulterior motives, and if he wanted to get rid of Zhu Zhen in the end, then it would be like "he was speaking out for justice, and he couldn't stand the Flower and Stone Gang's exploitation of the people's wealth, and he was forced to get involved, and he never wanted to do anything for Zhu Zhen."

Zhao Zicheng had acted very prudently in front of Zhu Zhen before, but became reckless and aggressive after meeting Liang Shicheng. Although their personalities seemed to be completely opposite, their goals were the same.

So in the face of Liang Shicheng's preaching, Zhao Zicheng immediately took the opportunity to promote an idea he had just thought of:
"Please understand, my lord, I never dared to question the emperor's building of the garden. Building the garden and promoting Taoism were all for the sake of peace in the world, so that the ignorant people could understand the splendor of your majesty's destiny. The wonders and grand occasions created by this were far superior to those of previous generations.

But I think that if we can save money and use less manpower to accomplish the same task, then we can achieve the best governance among all good governance. As a Jiangnan resident, I know how many bandits were caused by the Flower and Stone Gang and how many families were destroyed.

I dare not speak rashly on behalf of the people, but if we can mobilize skilled craftsmen from all over the world to work together and find ways to reduce the cost of building the rockery and the number of huge stones transported thousands of miles from the south of the Yangtze River, while ensuring that Genyue can still be completed on schedule, or even earlier, wouldn't that be wonderful?

Liang Shicheng's eyes lit up slightly after hearing this, then narrowed again. "Your Majesty, you are renovating Mount Genyue in order to socialize with the gods. How can you be stingy with money? If you use some tricks to make the mountains look similar but not the same in spirit, you absolutely cannot do that!"

Zhao Zicheng insisted on asking for permission, and decisively pointed out a key point: "Although your Excellency is sincere, I entered the city today and saw that the Imperial Preceptor Lin Lingsu was dismissed. The world has suffered for a long time. Your Majesty is kind and compassionate. Perhaps you will take the initiative to reduce expenses?

Whether His Majesty would harbor such a desire is not something a minister should speculate on. However, as a minister, I can only do my best to share the worries of the king and father..."

Zhao Zicheng had half a sentence to say, but it was difficult to finish it in front of everyone, but the meaning was already very clear.

The emperor may not want to save money or speed up the completion of the project.

But if the emperor thinks so, the people below should be able to come up with modification plans to implement the emperor's adjustments.

You can choose not to use the money-saving technology or the technology for making fake rockery, but you cannot do without it.

This sales pitch is incredibly effective in later generations. Even those who sell cheats in games will first use them to kill normal players a few times, then sell their strategy: "Brother, I know you're a good person and don't use cheats. You don't have to use cheats, but you can't live without them. Now that you have cheats, if you run into a cheating scum like me, you can get back at me and kill me."

This is also what people who promote nuclear bombs say.

You can do without it, but you can't live without it. Only when you have it, you can speak with confidence.

When building a project for the emperor, you certainly can't save money, but what if the emperor himself wants to save money? It always helps to prepare and understand the situation first.

Even a cunning and treacherous person like Liang Shicheng could not resist such a sales quote that was the essence of thousands of years.

Well, it wouldn't hurt to learn more, right? I won't be using it myself.

(End of this chapter)