Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

"The Prince of Zhenbei? How could I possibly appoint him as the Prince of Zhenbei! Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Although Yang Jian's idea sounded quite good, Zhao Ji rejected it immediately!

He was adamant about not giving Ren Yuan any reward, not even a fake one!

"Your Majesty, this is just a temporary measure. He has not actually been granted a title; it is merely a name."

"Bearing this label on Ren Yuan will force him to face the shackles of righteousness. If he is unwilling to serve the country, then the label of traitor will be confirmed. The people who have finally returned from Yanyun will definitely have a lot of complaints about him because of this. After all, our Great Song is the rightful heir!"

Yang Jian was helpless. He really wanted to help, but Zhao Ji was just too difficult to manage!

Of course, Yang Jian himself also had some problems, namely that he oversimplified some issues, such as the issue of legitimacy. In any case, judging from the current situation, the people of the newly reclaimed Yanyun region do not consider the Zhao Song dynasty to be the legitimate dynasty.

"I would never, ever make him a king! Absolutely not!"

Zhao Ji was simply too proud to admit his mistake. He didn't want to bestow a title upon Ren Yuan because he was unwilling to acknowledge his error. If he did, it would mean that he had misjudged Ren Yuan.

Emperor Huizong of Tang (Zhao Ji) would never do something that would contradict himself!

Seeing Yang Jian's pained expression and as if he wanted to say something, Zhao Ji waved his hand and continued:

"However, for the sake of my Grand Chamberlain, I can only grant him the title of Marquis of Zhenbei at most, no more! Also, I want people from the Zhong and Zhe families to serve as military supervisors in his army! If he doesn't accept, then he is a traitor!"

"...Thunder and rain are all the Emperor's grace, listen to His Majesty."

Yang Jian understood that he had done all he could, and the current situation was beyond his control.

He didn't know what to say for a moment, and now he even envied Tong Guan.

They are all rootless people. The master that Tong Guan has found this time is really powerful.

"Yes, Your Excellency, then go and do it. I hope this Ren Yuan has some self-awareness. He's just a peasant; he should be content with being a marquis in the court."

……

The Western Army, Zhe Family Ancestral Hall.

The Zhe family is holding a clan meeting today. Most of the ninth and tenth generations have arrived, but Zhe Keqiu, the head of the ninth generation, hasn't arrived yet, so everyone started whispering among themselves:

"Have you heard? Yan Yun has returned."

"Well, that Ren Yuan is really something; he actually led his men to capture three of the five capitals of the Liao Kingdom,"

“Ren Yuan… I remember now, isn’t this the former leader of Liangshan? But he was just a bandit.”

"Mountain bandits? Are mountain bandits this fierce now?"

"What are they all talking about? Why is it so lively?"

After the ninth leader, Zhe Keqiu, and one of the tenth leaders, Zhe Yanye, entered, the ancestral hall finally quieted down.

"Uncle Qiu, elder brother, everyone's here."

After counting the number of people, Zhe Yanzhi spoke to his uncle and elder brother.

"Okay, let's get started."

Zhe Keqiu is currently the leader of the Zhe family army. Although he is young, he is of high seniority. Moreover, there is no one in the eighth generation of the Zhe family who can hold the fort.

"I called you all here today to tell you something, which you may have already heard: Yan and Yun have returned to Han hands."

Upon hearing this news, the younger members of the Zhe family all spoke up:

"Uncle, this is great news!"

"That's right, Uncle. For so many years, we've been saying we want to restore Yan and Yun. Now that Yan and Yun have been taken back, shouldn't we celebrate?"

"That's right, that's right, this is all thanks to the first incense offering in the family genealogy!"

……

"quiet!"

Zhe Yanye frowned slightly as he looked at the noisy group of young people and shouted.

"Don't we know this is a good thing? The problem is, Yan Yun wasn't taken back by the imperial court, it was taken back by a bandit! And this bandit has already declared himself king!"

"His Majesty is very dissatisfied with Ren Yuan. What do you think our Zhe family should do under these circumstances?"

The Zhe family members were stumped for a moment. Oh right, this is a big question!

The current court was re-established by the Zhong family, Zhe family and other Western Army families, but the throne still belongs to the Zhao family. If the Zhao family has objections to this position or even wants to send troops to attack, will the Zhe family send troops or not?

"Hmph, I've said it before, Zhao Ji is not suitable to be emperor, so why do we have to reinstate the court for him?"

Zhe Kecun spoke coldly. As a military general, when he learned that Zhao Ji had abandoned his soldiers and fled halfway through his northern expedition, his already meager goodwill towards Zhao Ji plummeted to almost zero.

On the contrary, Zhe Kecun had a great fondness for Liangshan, after all, he was the one who represented the Zhe family in negotiating a cooperation with Liangshan, although not many members of the Zhe family knew about this cooperation.

“Uncle Cun, you can’t say that. Our Zhe family is, after all, the Zhe family of the Great Song Dynasty, and Zhao Ji is the rightful emperor. If we don’t protect him, General Liu and the Zhong family will definitely not agree.”

Zhe Yanzhi explained that it wasn't that they necessarily wanted to curry favor with the Zhao family; the main issue was that the Western Army had always stood together on major issues. For example, in the fight against the Western Xia, everyone pitched in together, sharing both good and bad fortune. After Zhao Ji came to the Western Army, he first sought out General Liu Fa, and under the general's leadership, the Zhong family also joined in. How could the Zhe family possibly disagree?

"Why should I care whether they agree or not?"

Zhe Kecun, young and impetuous, immediately stood up.

“Before my father passed away, he said that he had two biggest regrets in his life: one was that he failed to completely destroy the Western Xia, and the other was that he failed to recover Yanyun. He told me before he left that if Yanyun ever returned, I must tell him.”

"Now that Yan Yun is back, and the Zhe family didn't contribute a single bit during this process, yet you're thinking of punishing the person who brought Yan Yun back? Where is your conscience? Do you even deserve to be called the Zhe family army?"

"What? Am I supposed to tell my father in front of his memorial tablet that not only did our Zhe family not contribute to the recapture of Yanyun, but now we're attacking the people who took back Yanyun?"

Zhe Kecun said this while looking at Zhe Yanzhi, because in his opinion, Zhe Yanzhi was more supportive of Zhao Ji.

"Uncle Cun, that's not what I meant."

Zhe Yanzhi quickly waved his hand in denial. His uncle was extremely powerful, and if he got angry, coupled with the seniority difference, Zhe Yanzhi would only be beaten.

"Brother Cun, please calm down. It's not that bad yet."

Seeing this, Zhe Keqiu quickly tried to stop his younger brother. There was no other way; Zhe Kecun was not only the ninth generation's martial arts leader but also one of the absolute main forces of the Zhe family army. If he caused trouble, the Zhe family army would definitely be in chaos.

"Hmph, none of you are focused on martial arts training or military strategy; you're all just scheming and plotting. Do I need to explain what the foundation of the Zhe family is?"

"Brother Qiu, let me be blunt today. If Zhao Ji wants the Zhe family to fight Ren Yuan, I will be the first to disagree. If you really force me, then I will take my family to Liangshan!"

"Alright, I'm going to the barracks. You guys continue."

After Zhe Kecun finished speaking, he left the room without giving the rest of the people any face. Even Zhe Keqiu could only watch him leave with a wry smile, so the others were even more helpless!

"Uncle Qiu, Uncle Cun, he..."

Zhe Yanye and Zhe Yanzhi watched Zhe Kecun leave with great helplessness. Although they were the leaders of the tenth generation, they couldn't control Zhe Kecun!

"Forget it, let's ignore him for now and see how things go on His Majesty's side."

Zhe Keqiu was also very helpless.

Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you have truly put the Zhe family in a difficult position this time!

……