I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 80 Zhu Jie's final desperate move

"It's over... It's over now! Someone actually wants to kill me and has occupied two provincial capitals! And it's still spreading eastward! If this continues, the government will definitely sacrifice the chariot to save the king, and my end will be horrible..."

The first day of September was the day when Zhao Ji finally decided to issue an edict to temporarily remove Zhu Jie from his official position and let Tong Guan prepare to quell the rebellion.

In Suzhou City, Zhu Zhen himself was in a state of panic and expressed such despair.

His level of panic at this moment was far greater than in previous history.

The reason is simple. In history, when Fang La rebelled, no one gave the emperor a heads-up in advance and told him that "if Zhu Zhen is not dismissed, Jiangnan will sooner or later be in chaos."

Although Fang La raised the banner of killing Zhu Zhen, that would not necessarily force the emperor to accept his threat immediately. The emperor also wanted to save face, so Zhu Zhen was not so worried about being liquidated.

But in this life, someone among the emperor's acquaintances had already spoken out in advance about the dangers of Zhu Zhen. Furthermore, the prediction was surprisingly accurate: within a month of the letter being submitted, Fang La actually rebelled.

The impression that "Zhu Zhen = the person responsible for the rebellion in Jiangnan" had been subtly reinforced and repeatedly strengthened in advance, and was imprinted in the emperor's mind.

Zhu Zhen could well imagine how badly he would be in trouble if Zhao Zicheng, after being released, received the emperor's attention and was personally questioned about the situation in Jiangnan. If Zhao Zicheng then fiercely criticized him, he would not only be dismissed from office, but he would also be uncertain whether he could save his wealth.

Zhu Zhen was not born into a scholar-official family, so the Song Dynasty's preferential treatment of not killing scholars and officials was not suitable for him.

Even if the emperor didn't kill him, but only exiled him after dismissing him from office, or even demoted him to a remote military prefecture, given that Zhu Zhen had offended so many people and had so many enemies over the years, there would definitely be people who would try to kill him along the way.

It is completely reasonable for Zhu Zhen to have such an association.

It's like in history, more than a hundred years later, when Jia Sidao was the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, he offended too many people and implemented the public land system. In the end, he was dismissed from office and exiled, and was killed in the toilet by the people who were escorting him.

To be fair, Jia Sidao's plundering was primarily for the benefit of the state, raising military funds for the Southern Song. Zhu Jie's plundering was a hundred times worse than Jia Sidao's. He knew full well that if he fell out of favor and was exiled, he would definitely not survive.

Therefore, when Zhu Zhen heard that Fang La had captured Pujiang, Tonglu and other places, he became extremely nervous and summoned all his confidants to discuss countermeasures.

"If Fang La becomes more powerful, the government will certainly not forgive me. For now, if we want to keep you and me rich and powerful, we have no choice but to take the initiative to send troops to suppress Fang La! We can't let this matter get out of hand."

Zhu Jie first gave a brief account of the main points to his confidants, and then called out their names:
"Dong Chao! You are a member of the local militia. I order you to lead your troops to Hangzhou immediately to assist in the battle. You must strike back in the direction of Tonglu and defeat Fang La!

Then I can write a letter to the court to ask for your contribution, telling the emperor that Fang La is just a minor case and not a cause of concern!"

Dong Tuanlian's face turned pale: "Me?"

Zhu Zhen slammed the table and said, "Aren't you leading the militia? If you don't go, who will? Should we let those commanders go? Suzhou has thousands of strong soldiers. Can't they defeat Fang La?"

Dong Tuanlian swallowed his saliva. He didn't care about the embarrassment at this moment. His life was more important. He directly refused and said, "It's not that I don't want to try my best, but I have never experienced actual combat and have only led the wing troops, not the imperial guards...

"My lord, you mentioned sending the commanders below. This might actually be a brilliant move! That Yang Zhi, although he only brought 500 men, is from the Imperial Guard. I heard that his battalion trained hard last winter while being employed by the local government for corvée labor. They might be able to fight!"

Zhu Zhen almost rolled his eyes when he heard this. He knew Yang Zhi was capable of fighting, but he had too few soldiers. Furthermore, Yang Zhi seemed to have a good relationship with Zhao Zicheng, who had even hired him to perform winter labor with money and grain from Gusu County, and had paid him well.

Zhu Zhen was also a man of his own wits. He had recently been avoiding transferring Yang Zhi, fearing that Yang Zhi would turn to Zhao Zicheng, who had already been imprisoned. At this moment, the rebels had already conquered at least three states. How could he dare to transfer Yang Zhi again?

He gritted his teeth and forced Dong Chao to fight, saying, "Yang Zhi's troops may be unstable and cannot be mobilized. Don't you know that? Even if you want to use his soldiers, you can't use his generals. You will lead his troops into battle yourself, but you must learn to identify and replace all the officers who joined the army with Yang Zhi after returning from Bian Jing last autumn, so as to prevent them from becoming too powerful!"

Zhu Jie's instructions were so detailed that Dong Chao had no choice but to give it a try.

But he soon discovered that Yang Zhi's troops were not so easy to mobilize. Yang Zhi seemed to be finding various ways to delay the process, either because he could not find the responsible officers or because he did not have the necessary weapons and supplies to mobilize them.

These various excuses themselves are not important. If an army wants to delay sending troops, it can always find a reason to delay for a few more days.

The key was that Dong Chao realized that Yang Zhi and the others were probably waiting for something unexpected to happen, something that would come from the imperial court. Suddenly, rumors spread throughout Suzhou, all of which said, "If Fang La makes a big fuss, the government will definitely execute Zhu Zhen to apologize to the world." Thus, the atmosphere of wait-and-see attitude was extremely strong.

It was not just Yang Zhi's soldiers who were like this. Even the local troops in other camps under Dong Chao himself had a strong wait-and-see atmosphere. There were many people who wanted to see Zhu Zhen lose power.

Zhu Zhen was extremely anxious and had to hastily consult his civil servants to discuss countermeasures.

In the end, it was Zhao Lin, one of Zhu Zhen's lackeys, the old rival of Tongpan Wei Xian and the governor of Suzhou, who came up with a bad idea for Zhu Zhen.

"Sir, the only solution now is to find some evidence of Zhao Zicheng and Fang La colluding. Even if we can only find a tiny clue and prove that Zhao Zicheng is Fang La's spy, the current situation can be solved!"

Although Zhao Lin had no grudges against Zhao Zicheng and they had not had much interaction before, his bond with Zhu Jie was too deep.

In the many years before, he had done too many dirty jobs for Zhu Zhen. In order to help Zhu Zhen transport flowers and stones, improve the conditions of the canal, he also extorted too much from the local wealthy families in Suzhou.

Even the "History of the Song Dynasty. Biography of Zhu Jie" clearly wrote that "Zhao Lin built the Thirty-Six Ports Gate, which was an impossible feat. The weather was very cold, and the dead were piled up in piles. Lin wanted to please Jie, so he became more harsh and cruel, and the people of Wu and Yue could not bear the suffering."

The line "Lin's ambition was to flatter Zhu Jie, and he became even more cruel" alone meant that if Zhu Jie died, Zhao Lin would be buried with him. He had no chance to escape, so he had no choice but to continue down this path.

Zhu Jie thought about it and felt that what Zhao Lin said made sense. Although Fang La's rebellion confirmed Zhao Zicheng's suspicions, it could also be falsely accused of colluding with Fang La. They had set up a scheme to frame him, Zhu Jie! As long as they could find evidence of collusion between the two, all the obstacles would be overcome!
However, just when Zhu Zhen felt he saw hope, he soon realized another problem.

"But Zhao Zicheng is a member of the royal family of the Song Dynasty. How could anyone with the surname Zhao collude with the rebels? The emperor wouldn't believe it either. The rebels are rebelling against the Zhao family's foundation."

Although Zhao Lin also had the surname Zhao, he was not a member of the royal family. He was just an ordinary person with the surname Zhao. He gritted his teeth and continued to offer advice:

"Sparing no expense, capture those Zhao Zicheng has recruited and torture them to extract confessions! Whether it's the wealthy families who cooperated with him in the levy, or the officers like Yang Zhi he brought back, capture as many as you can and force them to confess as quickly as possible. Then, deprive Yang Zhi and the others of their military power and hand them over to Dong Chao to lead the attack! At the same time, my lord, tell the people of Suzhou and Hangzhou: Fang La originally wouldn't rebel. It was Zhao Zicheng who colluded with him, and he rebelled to cooperate with Zhao Zicheng!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zhen couldn't help but gasp.

Is it really necessary to make the stakes so high? However, it seems that there is no better choice.

After all, he didn't dare to kill Zhao Zicheng directly in prison. The government would not allow him to be so rampant, and he would have to die if he did that.

Let's start with the scraps and try to force a confession and catch perjury! If this problem can't be solved within a few days, then think of new tricks and increase the pressure.

……

Zhu Zhen was completely desperate and instructed the prefect Zhao Lin to arrest Yang Zhi on the same day.

Until the moment he was arrested, Yang Zhi was very confused and had no idea why he was arrested by the state.

"I am loyal to the court and do my job well. Why are you arresting me?" Yang Zhi cried out in injustice, his eyes bloodshot.

Zhao Lin's face turned pale as he questioned the initial clues he had gathered. "Yang Zhi, since you took office last year, the army has been recruiting numerous soldiers, many of whom have joined from unknown backgrounds. The other day, Commander Dong asked you to send troops to Hangzhou to aid in the battle against Fang La. Why did you refuse? Are you colluding with the bandits?"

Yang Zhi categorically denied it: "Zhao Zhizhou, you actually want to frame a loyal and honest person? As the descendant of General Yang, I bear the glorious name of my ancestors and am loyal to the emperor and my country. How could I do such a thing?"

Zhao Lin: "What about the newly recruited Yuhou and several captains in your army? Yuhou Linghu Chong (Lin Chong's pseudonym), captains Wu Da (Lu Da), and Li Jun, where are they now? Why were they not with you when I asked you to prepare your army for battle the day before yesterday?"

Yang Zhi: "A few days ago, there was another wave of pirates in Dongshan, Taihu Lake. It is said that they are the remnants of Shi Sheng, who were eliminated last year. They led troops to Dongshan to station and investigate. There is a transfer order to verify this. At that time, County Magistrate Zhao was still in office, and all the procedures were in place."

What Yang Zhi said was actually a backup plan that Zhao Zicheng had prepared before he was captured. He also knew that the identities of Lin Chong and Lu Da in Yang Zhi's army were sensitive and prone to reveal flaws. If they were really targeted by the enemy, they would need to be patched up in advance.

Therefore, he preemptively used the excuse that there were new pirates on Taihu Lake near Suzhou, and, following normal procedures, had Yang Zhi dispatch some men to pursue them. Simultaneously, Zhao Zicheng also arranged for the Murong family and other members of his clan, who had previously fully cooperated with him, to temporarily hide on Dongshan Island in Taihu Lake, to prevent Zhu Jie from capturing them and retaliating during his most desperate period. Murong Qiu persuaded his sister and mother to take refuge temporarily, specifically in the Taihu water stronghold that Shi Sheng had left behind the previous year.

At that time, Zhao Zicheng and Zhu Jie had not yet officially fallen out, and Zhao Zicheng had made the arrangements before he realized that he might be arrested, so Zhu Jie could not stop it.

As for Li Jun's absence, it was because he had been responsible for spreading false rumors to Fang La, making Fang La more panicked and forcing him to hastily launch an uprising ahead of time.

Later, Zhu Zhen didn't care about this matter until Fang La's rebellion broke out and Zhu Zhen thought of mobilizing Yang Zhi's troops to prepare for war. Dong Tuanlian went to investigate and found that Linghu Chong, Wu Da and Li Jun were not there.

Yang Zhi also relied on the excuse that "all his troops had not yet been gathered" and planned to drag it out for a few more days. As long as he could wait until the imperial decree to dismiss Zhu Zhen arrived, everything would be solved.

Now, Zhu Zhen finally decided to make a desperate move. So after Zhao Lin captured Yang Zhi and reported the situation, Zhu Zhen ordered Dong Chao to send another detachment of troops to Dongshan Island in Taihu Lake to search for Linghu Chong, Wu Da, Li Jun, and the Murong family. He wanted to see if he could use these last few days to force a confession from them and gather some evidence of Zhao Zicheng's collusion with Fang La, thus turning the tables.

……

Because the wing troops led by Dong Chao still represent the power of the imperial court, and Zhao Zicheng's people cannot turn against the imperial court, so for the time being, they can only avoid the other side in public and cannot directly confront them with force.

Dongshan Island was right there and they couldn't move, so when Dong Chao's wing troops arrived on the island, they saw a group of ordinary soldiers left behind by Yang Zhi, who were diligently doing their duty to clean up the thieves' nest left behind by the pirates last year, but they didn't find any suspicious people.

Dong Chao asked them where Yu Hou and Du Tou had gone. The team leaders and soldiers said that Yu Hou and Du Tou had gone on patrol in a warship to find bandits, and they didn't know where they were on the lake.

Taihu Lake was vast, so Lin Chong and Lu Da could have played hide-and-seek with them for a few days. They had received the scouts' information before Dong Chao arrived, so they quickly moved by boat.

The soldiers under their command were all absolutely loyal and righteous. Since last winter, they had been well fed and well-fed by Zhao Zicheng, and inspired by his heroism and reputation for loving the people, and not a single one of them betrayed Zhao Zicheng or his superiors.

After hiding on Taihu Lake for a day, the people of Murong family, Lin Chong and Lu Da all looked a little haggard, and gathered on a large ship of Murong family to discuss countermeasures.

"I didn't expect Zhu Jie to be so furious. To catch the young marquis and Fang La colluding as false evidence before the court punishes him, he's actually going to great lengths to find us. He's definitely trying to force a confession out of the young marquis!"

Li Jun was the one who understood power struggles the most among the few people. He had a sense of this and said this hatefully.

Lin Chong, the highest-ranking officer among the three, already a Yu Hou, worried, "Are we just going to have to hide here and there until the imperial court issues a ruling? If they send more warships to search and find us, how will we escape? We're flying under the guise of government troops, claiming to be patrolling Taihu Lake for bandits. If they run into us, we won't be able to resist."

The three of them discussed it for a while, but were at a loss. Finally, a woman's voice came from the back cabin. It was the young lady from the Murong family who had listened to their discussion and offered some advice.

"I heard Fang La has already passed Tonglu County, and perhaps even Fuchun. It seems Fang La's goal is very clear: to encircle Hangzhou.

Hangzhou is well-fortified and unlikely to be taken in one fell swoop. If he wants to encircle Hangzhou, he must go around Huzhou from the north. It would be better if we flee far away in the direction of Huzhou. If Zhu Jie's men are cowardly and dare not pursue us, they will not be able to find us.

If we did encounter Fang La's men, the worst we could do would be to engage in a battle with his scouts. We could then return with a legitimate explanation, proving our innocence and our complete lack of collusion with Fang La. Fang La, however, came from the mountains and certainly didn't have any large ships. Even if he had some small patrol boats scouting Taihu Lake, they wouldn't be our match.

Furthermore, if we do encounter Fang La's men, it means Fang La's army is nearby. We can remove the official military flags and disguise ourselves as Fang La's ships. If we encounter Zhu Zhen's men on Lake Tai, we can pretend to be Fang La's soldiers and resist and break out. In any case, we'll definitely be able to hold out for these final few days.

Most of the Suzhou militia troops are useless. As long as Commander Yang doesn't send troops, those useless people may not be willing to fight for Zhu Zhen and pursue him so far. Unless Zhu Zhen himself urges them to do so."

-

PS: I've never tried to write a suspenseful story before, and this book didn't do well, so I wanted to challenge myself and create a plot that's both unexpected and reasonable. My setup might be a little messy and a little stuck, so please forgive me.

But now that it's written, I can only stick with it. I'll reveal it tomorrow, so please don't think it's crude. If you think it's unreasonable, I have nothing to say.

(End of this chapter)