Chapter 53: Zong Ze's Rampage, Time for the Jin Army to Panic
Li Cui quickly said, "Deputy Marshal Zong, since His Majesty has agreed to peace negotiations, if we dispatch troops now and disturb the Jurchens, will they become reluctant to make peace?"
It was obvious that Li Cui was afraid of the Jurchens.
Historically, in the first month of the second year of Jingkang, Zong Ze arrived at Kaide Prefecture, intending to wage a major war against the Jin army, but Li Cui did not dare to fight.
Furious, Zong Ze threatened to behead Li Cui in front of all the generals to set an example.
Compelled by this pressure, Li Cui had no choice but to fight, and as a result, the Jin army was routed, bringing victory to Li Cui.
This incident tells us: people are often driven to their limits by pressure.
Hearing Li Cui's words, Zong Ze immediately said in a deep voice, "The Jin bandits are treacherous and cannot be trusted! Hear my command: the entire army shall immediately march to Puyang!"
"Deputy Marshal..."
Li Cui tried to persuade him further, but Zong Ze instantly flew into a rage: "Are you saying this because you fear the Jin bandits?"
"N-No... No..." Li Cui turned around and bolted out, shouting, "This subordinate will go mobilize the troops right now!"
On the seventeenth day of the first month, in the Eastern Capital.
The confiscation of the estates of Wang Shiyong and Fan Qiong had been completed, yielding 200,000 guan.
There had been 350,000 guan previously, of which 3,000 guan was spent on paying the salaries of the Directorate of Armaments, leaving 320,000 guan.
Added to the newly confiscated 200,000 guan, the total came to 520,000 guan.
During the last large-scale defense of the city, 10,051 soldiers died in battle, and 22,450 were heavily wounded.
According to the new compensation regulations, the consolation money for those who died in battle amounted to 320,000 guan, and for the heavily wounded, it reached 340,000 guan.
A total of 660,000 guan was required.
It was simply not enough.
Not enough?
How could it possibly not be enough?
Just yesterday, major progress was made in the corruption case of the Directorate of Armaments. The officials implicated, ranging from the Ministry of Revenue to the Ministry of War, numbered as many as ten.
The highest-ranking among them was Li Zhi, a Director of the Ministry of Revenue, and the case also involved five officials from the Bureau of Finance.
The Bureau of Finance was in charge of fiscal revenue and expenditure, and the budget requests of all departments had to pass through it.
The highest-ranking among those five officials was Cao Yuan, Director-General of the Bureau of Finance, who had blatantly abused his power for personal gain, fabricated false accounts, and conspired with Li Chong of the Directorate of Armaments to pass off shoddy goods as quality ones.
Several other implicated officials belonged to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works respectively.
As soon as these people confessed last night, the agents of the Imperial City Department split up and went knocking on doors: Open up, the community is here to deliver warmth!
By this afternoon, after tallying up all the assets, combined with the funds previously handed over by the Ministry of Justice concerning other officials, the total reached 150,000 guan.
Adding this to the current 520,000 guan brought the sum to 670,000 guan.
Zhang Shuye's application for compensation had been submitted for several days, and today Zhao Ning finally wielded his grand brush and stamped his official seal: Take this, go withdraw the funds, and distribute the money!
In the end, only 10,000 guan remained in the state treasury.
It was certainly true that they were poor, but there was nothing else to be done.
By dusk, Zhao Ding entered the palace to report on the recent grain exchanges using the mid-state salt certificates.
"Your Majesty, over the past half-month, a total of 1.5 million guan worth of salt certificates have been exchanged, averaging about 100,000 guan per day."
"How much grain is that?"
Hesitating for a moment, Zhao Ding replied, "A total of 300,000 dan of grain has been exchanged."
"So little exchanged?"
Five guan for a single dan of grain?
Good grief!
This grain price was about to defy the heavens.
One must know that during the reign of Emperor Shenzong, grain cost only 700 wen per dan, which was equivalent to 0.7 guan.
Zhao Ding said, "Grain is in desperate shortage right now, so... this subject is guilty."
"This is not your fault." Zhao Ning sighed, a growing sense of irritation igniting in his heart.
This exposed a fundamental problem.
What problem?
The wealthy elite families of the Eastern Capital needed some discipline!
The court of the previous Great Song dynasty had been far too lenient with them.
With the nation facing an existential crisis, they still dared to extort him with exorbitant demands.
He had already shown them enough grace by allowing them to use salt certificates for the exchange!
He was making a mental note of this debt today.
Zhao Ning asked, "Have all the exchange rosters been preserved?"
"They have all been preserved."
"Good, as long as they are preserved, do not dwell on it too much for now. Gathering the grain and distributing it to the people is more important than anything else."
Zhao Ding was deeply moved; he had been afraid that the Emperor would become reluctant to continue the exchanges upon hearing this news.
After all, those people were demanding too much.
Yet it was clear that His Majesty understood the gravity of the overarching situation.
The Eastern Capital currently held a population of 1.2 million, of whom about 800,000 might face severe grain shortages three months from now.
To sustain each person with another two months' ration, eating sparingly at one catty of grain per person per day:
Daily consumption would be 800,000 catties, totaling 48 million catties over two months.
Forty-eight million catties amounted to roughly 40,000 dan, meaning they were still short by 100,000 dan.
This goal was not far from completion.
At this matter, Zhao Ning finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Next, everything depended on Zong Ze.
On the twentieth day of the first month, the sky gradually darkened.
A troop of soldiers advanced rapidly eastward from the Huazhou region.
According to intelligence previously gathered by Yue Fei, the Jin army had established numerous encampments in the area stretching from Huazhou to Puyang.
Grand Master for Meritorious Deeds Liu Hao was forced to retreat eastward. Hearing that Zong Ze's grand army was about to march south to Kaide Prefecture, Liu Hao intended to go there and rendezvous with Zong Ze's forces.
On the twenty-third day of the first month, Liu Hao accidentally encountered Zong Ze's army at Linhe.
The two forces joined commands there, totaling 20,000 troops, and marched rapidly toward Puyang in Kaide Prefecture.
Liu Hao had originally been reluctant to engage the Jin army in direct combat, and he had urged Zong Ze to go north with him to Daming Prefecture to find Zhao Gou, only to be fiercely reprimanded by Zong Ze.
Consequently, he followed Zong Ze eastward into Puyang.
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, Zong Ze's letters had already reached Northern Circuit Director-General Zhao Ye, Hedong Northern Route Pacification Commissioner Fan Ni, and Prefect of Xingren Zeng Mao, hoping they would dispatch troops to converge upon the Eastern Capital and fight a decisive battle to the death against the Jurchens.
Zhao Ye: Zong Ze is mere scholar-bureaucrat, utterly arrogant!
Fan Ni: Zong Ze was only appointed to chizhou last year and has never led troops in battle. How dare he hold the Jurchens in such contempt? He overestimates his own capabilities!
Zeng Mao: Zong Ze's expedition is courting self-destruction; we had better head to Daming Prefecture to pay respects to the Grand Marshal!
Clearly, the various armies were unwilling to march south.
Why?
Because they were afraid!
On the evening of the twenty-fifth day of the first month, Wanyan Xiyin received a military report from the rear stating that a Song army had suddenly appeared in the Kaide Prefecture area.
He reported the news, but Wanyan Zonghan did not take it seriously.
Three days later, another military report arrived: two fortresses in Kaide Prefecture had been captured by the Song army!
This news caused a minor ripple among the top brass of the Jin army at the front, but still, they did not take it seriously.
On the twenty-seventh day of the first month, yet another piece of news arrived: Puyang City in Kaide Prefecture had been recaptured by the Song army!
This finally shocked Wanyan Xiyin and drew localized attention among the highest echelons of the Jin army.
Yet it remained only localized attention, because the Jin army leadership simply refused to believe that the Song army could pull off any major stunts in their rear.
While the Jin army still remained unconcerned, Zong Ze's army recaptured Kaide Prefecture, swept rapidly westward like a bamboo splitting down its spine, and drove all the way to Huazhou, north of the Yellow River.
Thirteen battles, thirteen victories!
Whenever the Jin army merely heard that Zong Ze's troops were approaching, every single one of them would tremble with fear, and some even cried out in terror for "Grandpa Zong."
Amidst this unexpected war, an unknown nobody also shone brilliantly; his name was Yue Fei.
By the twenty-ninth day of the first month, when news of the drastic turnaround in the situation north of the Yellow River arrived, it finally succeeded in drawing the full attention of Wanyan Zonghan and his peers.
By this time, Zong Ze had achieved legendary renown across the Hebei region.
The military and civilians of every prefecture cheered wildly, scrambling to enlist in Zong Ze's ranks.
Within a mere half-month, the blockade line established by the Jin army north of the Yellow River had been torn wide open by Zong Ze.
Zong Ze's army hung like a sharp sword over the rear of the Jin forces.
Inside the Wende Palace at this moment, Zhao Ning thought to himself: The situation outside must have changed by now. Wanyan Zonghan, let us see how much longer you can afford to act so arrogant!