Chapter 451
Zhao Yu's Favored Minister
...
After Zhao Yu's fleet left Tokyo and headed south, it soon arrived at Shangqiu.
Before the reign of Emperor Zhao Yu, the Song Dynasty called Shangqiu the Southern Capital, also known as Nanjing, which was one of the four capitals of the Song Dynasty at that time. During the Tang Dynasty, Shangqiu was called Songzhou. Later, the Song Dynasty established Yingtian Prefecture there, and later it was elevated to Nanjing.
After Zhao Yu conquered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, renamed Yanjing as Beijing, and then renamed Jiangning Prefecture as Nanjing, and built Nanjing City in Jinling, Shangqiu lost its status as the southern capital.
Zhao Yu and his entourage did not stay in Shangqiu for long before continuing south.
When the boat reached Sizhou (northwest of Xuyi, Jiangsu in later years), it happened to be the Mid-Autumn Festival on the fifteenth of August. Zhao Yu took his concubines ashore and went to the riverside market to buy fish.
Zhao Yu was very familiar with the current prices, and he bargained with the fishmonger, refusing to budge an inch.
It's not that Zhao Yu was short of money, but rather that he thoroughly enjoyed pretending to be an ordinary citizen.
The two argued incessantly, and the fishmonger referred to Zhao Yu as "Baoyi".
"Baoyi" means Baoyi Lang, which is a military rank, formerly known as Youban Dianzhi.
In the fishmonger's eyes, Zhao Yu must be a high-ranking official with so many wives and concubines, probably the highest-ranking official he knew, Bao Yi Lang.
Zhao Yu bought a lot of fish and then had the royal chefs who accompanied him prepare a whole fish feast for himself and his concubines.
Zhao Yu and his concubines all enjoyed the meal.
After the meal, Zhao Yu and his concubines enjoyed the moon on the boat.
Zhao Yu was deeply moved, and thus composed a short poem entitled "Linjiang Xian":
The eight directions are unified, the smoke of war has died down; the moon shines brightly on the lonely boat on the riverbank. I casually exchange my dragon crown for a straw raincoat. I fight over fish for a cheap price; an old man in the fields calls out to me, "My beloved."
The bright moon floats in the sky, the river like a ribbon, and the sounds of music drift on the autumn breeze. How deep is the feeling on this boat tonight! With the world at our fingertips, we admire the lotus blossoms under the moon.
Zhao Yu's poems were really mediocre, even lacking in literary flair, but he was still flattered by those around him.
This person said, "Your Majesty's poem is truly a masterpiece for all time! The line 'The eight directions are unified and the smoke of war has died down' perfectly captures the image of peace and prosperity throughout the land. With just a few words, one can see the breadth of the Emperor's mind, which is beyond the reach of ordinary poets!"
The person said, "Your Majesty used the phrase 'changing the dragon crown for a straw raincoat' in your poem, blending the charm of ordinary people with the majesty of the emperor, making it both endearing and respectable. Moreover, the line 'fighting for fish to pay a low price' shows Your Majesty's compassion for the people and your understanding of the hardship of daily life. Such benevolence surpasses even the most magnificent poems."
Others say: "The last line, 'With the world at peace in the palm of one's hand, one can admire the lotus under the moon,' is so magnificent! With the world at peace, the wind and moon are more intimate. It has both the ambition of an emperor to govern the four directions and the leisurely sentiment of a scholar to find solace in nature. It should be recorded in the national history and passed down to future generations!"
Liang Shicheng then subtly and skillfully remarked, "Your Majesty's poems are unadorned; every word comes from the heart. For example, 'The old man calls out to me,' which is simple and genuine, as if the scene were right before my eyes. Compared to those who merely search for phrases and sentences, it is more than a hundred times better!"
For a moment, cheers and applause filled the dragon boat.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yu stroked his beard and laughed, saying, "What you say is rather flattering. It was merely a casual remark on this auspicious Mid-Autumn Festival night, meant to amuse you."
After speaking, he ordered the eunuchs to bring the imperial wine and distributed it to everyone. He then said, "The moonlight is just right tonight. Let us drink this cup together with all my beloved concubines and not waste this beautiful autumn moon and breeze."
The women all expressed their gratitude and raised their glasses in celebration. The music and singing on the boat resumed, blending with the river breeze and moonlight, and the festivities continued until midnight.
Upon arriving at Sizhou City, Zhao Yu ordered the fleet to stop and rest there for a few days.
Sizhou City is located in the lower reaches of the Huai River, where the Huai River connects with the Bian River. It is a vital transportation hub between the north and south and has a very important strategic position.
This region has also nurtured many prominent families that have lasted for generations and possess both prestige and influence. Among them, the Li family of Linhuai, the Wang family of Sanhuai in Sizhou, and the Lü family are all relatively well-known prominent families.
Among them, the most famous is the Li family of Linhuai.
Their family motto was "Passing down virtue through generations," and they were renowned throughout the Song Dynasty. Li Zhi was a prominent figure in their family.
Li Zhi was influenced by his family's traditions from a young age and was of noble character. He was known in his hometown for his intelligence and benevolence in his youth. He was appreciated by Su Shi and became a close friend. He was also praised as a "national hero" by the historian Chao Wujiu and married his daughter to him.
His family has made achievements in both official careers and moral character.
When Zhao Yu recovered the Northeast, Li Zhi was responsible for transporting a million taels of grain and a large amount of gold and silver jewelry from the Jin Kingdom. He led his men through more than ten battles and successfully completed the mission, earning Zhao Yu's praise and high regard.
This time, when Zhao Yu went south, the Li family of Linhuai, the Wang family of Sanhuai in Sizhou, and the Lü family all participated in the donation, and each family donated more than one million strings of cash.
Among them, the Li family of Linhuai donated the most in Sizhou.
Zhao Yu then instructed the Li family of Linhuai to take the lead in hosting his party.
Therefore, the Li family of Linhuai, along with the Wang family of Sanhuai, the Lü family, and other prominent families in Sizhou, prepared a temporary palace for Zhao Yu that, while not particularly large, revealed their thoughtfulness in every detail.
Of course, to the outside world, the Li family of Linhuai announced that this was their newly built residence.
Zhao Yu gave face to the Li family of Linhuai, his patron, by naming his new home Zhiwei Hall and personally inscribing the name.
Zhao Yu also took the time to meet with representatives of the powerful families in Sizhou who had donated money to him, and they discussed the economy and the reconstruction of the newly recovered areas of the Song Dynasty.
These people were all shrewd; they immediately understood where the Song Dynasty's policy focus would be for the foreseeable future.
Putting everything else aside, just seeing Zhao Yu alone made the money they spent worthwhile.
However, these people's greed clearly didn't stop there. They sent their best daughters to serve Zhao Yu in proportion to the amount of money they paid, hoping that Zhao Yu would choose them and take them away.
Here, there were cunning men who, knowing their own daughters were not pretty enough, would buy beautiful girls from the common people to adopt as their daughters, or simply buy courtesans trained in brothels to adopt as their daughters, treating them well so that they could seduce Zhao Yu.
In short, these people all knew that Emperor Zhao Yu was fond of women, so they attacked his weakness relentlessly.
Emperor Zhao Yu was truly "unworthy of respect." Not only did he sleep with more than a dozen women who served him during his three-day stay at Zhiwei Hall, but when he left, he took all the women who served him with him without any hesitation, except for the few he didn't like.
This made almost all the wealthy donors who donated money to Zhao Yu beam with joy.
As for those who weren't chosen by Zhao Yu, they can only blame themselves for not being good enough. Otherwise, out of dozens of people who came to serve, why were you the only ones eliminated?
After leaving Sizhou, Zhao Yu and his party's next stop was Yangzhou.
The prominent families of Yangzhou (including Jiangdu, Gaoyou, Hailing and other subordinate counties) held a place in the Song Dynasty, whether through imperial examinations and officialdom, literary traditions, or local prestige.
The Qin family of Gaoyou (also known as the Huaihai Qin family) had Qin Guan, Qin Yong, and Qin Zhan as its core figures. From the Five Dynasties period to this time, the family had been rooted in Gaoyou, passing down their literary tradition. Qin Guan's poems, lyrics, and prose were famous throughout the country, and many family members entered officialdom through the imperial examinations. They possessed both literary fame and local influence, making them a model of a literary family in Yangzhou.
Like the Zhong family of Jiangdu, their family was a typical family of officials who passed the imperial examinations, with "four generations succeeding each other in the imperial examinations," and they established themselves through poetry and books.
Another example is the Xu family of Weiyang (also known as the Xu family of Hailing), which, along with the Zhou and Cha families, was known as one of the "Three Prominent Families of Hailing," and there was a saying that "one should learn from the Xu, Zhou, and Cha families."
Wait, wait, wait...
The leading family in Yangzhou is the Zhang family of Yangzhou, also known as the Zhang Kang family.
Zhang Kangguo was a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) who rose to the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Zhang Bangchang and Zhang Bangji were his nephews; one was a high-ranking official, and the other a renowned writer. Their family was a typical example of a powerful official and literary family in the Song Dynasty. Zhang Kangguo rose to the rank of prime minister, while Zhang Bangchang was not only a high-ranking official in the Song Dynasty but also served as emperor for several dozen days. Zhang Bangji's works, written in the form of notes, include "Mozhuang Manlu" (Random Notes from the Ink Studio). The family possessed both political influence and cultural contributions. Zhang Bangchang initiated the Yangzhou incident; he now holds the position of Vice Minister of Rites and is a favorite minister of Emperor Zhao Yu.
Correct.
You read that right.
Zhang Bangchang was a favorite minister of Zhao Yu.
Despite the fact that Zhang Bangchang served as the puppet emperor of Chu for only a few dozen days in history, many films and television dramas have portrayed him as a major traitor.
However, in Zhao Yu's view, Zhang Bangchang was actually one of the most loyal ministers of the Song Dynasty.
Although Zhang Bangchang may not have been particularly principled during the Jingkang Incident, his loyalty to the Song Dynasty was unquestionable.
At least that's how Zhao Yu saw it.
At that time, the Jurchen cavalry trampled through the capital city of Bianliang, and Zhao Ji, Zhao Huan, and all the imperial family members of the Song Dynasty were imprisoned in the Jurchen army's camp, and the ancestral temples of the Song Dynasty were covered in dust.
The Jurchens were unwilling to directly rule the Central Plains, so they forcibly installed an emperor of a different surname to check and balance the government. They searched through all the officials and eventually pointed the finger at Zhang Bangchang.
At that time, the Jurchens' swords hung over the heads of the people of Bianliang. The Jurchens made it clear that if Zhang Bangchang refused to become emperor, they would exterminate the Zhao clan and massacre the city of Bianliang.
Wang Shiyong and other officials also pleaded with him, saying that disobeying orders at this time would mean losing one's head and even severing the Zhao family's bloodline. Under the coercion of the Jin people and the tearful pleas of his officials, Zhang Bangchang finally accepted this hot potato of an imperial throne.
At that moment, Zhang Bangchang knew that he would not have a good ending.
But Zhang Bangchang ultimately stood up and embarked on this dead end.
Throughout the puppet Chu regime established by Zhang Bangchang, there was a sense of unease and restraint on the part of the subjects.
On the day of his ascension to the throne, Zhang Bangchang refused to accept the imperial throne that faced south and sat in a corner of the palace. He only dared to sit in a corner to the side of the palace and greeted all the officials with the respect due to a subject. He never allowed anyone to shout "Long live the Emperor!"
When officials presented their memorials, Zhang Bangchang forbade them to use the term "imperial edict," only allowing them to be called "handwritten documents." He also refused to touch any imperial items in the palace, as if staying away from these regulations would keep him away from the word "usurpation."
Perhaps Zhang Bangchang knew better than anyone that the throne was a shackle placed around his neck by the Jurchens, and that if he truly adopted the demeanor of an emperor, he would be nailing himself to the pillar of historical shame.
After the Jin army withdrew, Zhang Bangchang led the soldiers and civilians of the city to pay homage to Zhao Ji and Zhao Huan, who were heading north.
Once the Jurchens had gone far away, the first thing Zhang Bangchang did was to dismiss all the officials of the puppet Chu regime, ignoring their arguments that abdicating at this time would mean certain death. He sent people to welcome Prime Minister Meng into the palace to preside over the government, and sealed all the imperial seals, carriages, and robes in the palace, not daring to use even a single one of them.
Afterwards, Zhang Bangchang, with the courtesy due to a subject, sent someone to Jizhou overnight to present the Imperial Seal of the State to Zhao Gou, who had fled there, and requested to relinquish his imperial title, while still considering himself a subject of the Song Dynasty.
Zhang Bangchang must have been hoping for a lucky break, thinking that by sacrificing his reputation to save the people of Bianliang from slaughter and by voluntarily returning power to the Zhao family, he might be able to have a peaceful end.
However, Zhang Bangchang ultimately underestimated Zhao Gou's magnanimity.
Zhang Bangchang's former imperial throne became an indelible original sin for him.
The Southern Song court fabricated charges against Zhang Bangchang, claiming that his usurpation of the throne was a heinous crime. Unable to find any evidence, they concocted the baseless charge that he had slept with palace concubines.
To be honest, even if that concubine was forced upon him by the Jurchens to be their spy, he never overstepped his bounds. To put it another way, even if he had slept with a concubine at that time, what would that be compared to preserving the Zhao family line for the Song Dynasty?
Ultimately, Zhao Gou issued an edict ordering Zhang Bangchang to commit suicide.
In the meticulous writings of history, Zhang Bangchang was portrayed as a treacherous minister who recognized the enemy as his father. These people simply failed to see that, bearing eternal infamy, he single-handedly protected the last vestiges of dignity for the Zhao family and the lives of the people of the city under the swords of the Jurchens.
If this isn't obvious, it becomes clear when compared to another person.
This other person was Liu Yu. After establishing the puppet Qi dynasty, he wholeheartedly became a lackey of the Jin people, helping the Jin state to fight against the Southern Song dynasty. Not to mention that, he also dug up the Zhao family's imperial tombs and took out the burial objects to use against the Southern Song dynasty.
Looking at it this way, isn't Zhang Bangchang an extremely rare and loyal minister?
Anyway, Zhao Yu quite liked Zhang Bangchang.
Moreover, Zhang Bangchang was actually quite talented.
He passed the imperial examination with top honors, demonstrating his genuine talent and ability. He excelled in any position, rising step by step from the bottom to become the Vice Minister of Rites and a Hanlin Academician through his own merit.
Most importantly, Zhang Bangchang was very obedient; he would do whatever Zhao Yu told him to do, and he didn't have many opinions of his own.
What's even more remarkable is that Zhang Bangchang was able to do everything quite well.
It is worth mentioning that Zhang Bangchang's wife, surnamed Deng, was the daughter of Deng Xunren, who was the son-in-law of Wang Gui, a prime minister of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Wang Gui was Li Qingzhao's maternal grandfather (Li Qingzhao's mother was Wang Gui's daughter), therefore Deng and Li Qingzhao were cousins.
Zhang Bangchang married Deng, thus becoming Li Qingzhao's cousin-in-law.
In this way, Zhang Bangchang could also be considered a relative of Zhao Yu.
All of this made Zhao Yu very fond of Zhang Bangchang, and he personally promoted Zhang Bangchang to his current position as Vice Minister of Rites.
This time, Zhao Yu went to the south of the Yangtze River.
Zhang Bangchang actively contacted the gentry and prominent families around Yangzhou, urging them to donate as much money as possible.
The Zhang family of Yangzhou even donated three million strings of cash.
Moreover, under Zhang Bangchang's call, the gentry and prominent families of Yangzhou, including the Qin family of Gaoyou, the Zhong family of Jiangdu, the Xu family of Weiyang, the Xu family of "Donghaitang" in Gaoyou, and the Gao family of Weiyang, generously donated money.
This resulted in Yangzhou alone sponsoring Zhao Yu with over ten million strings of cash.
Therefore, Zhao Yu would naturally have to stay in Yangzhou, or more precisely, at the Zhang family's house in Yangzhou for a few days.
To accommodate Zhao Yu and his entourage, under the organization and leadership of the Zhang family of Yangzhou, the gentry and powerful families of Yangzhou built a very luxurious palace for Zhao Yu in just three months, which was then registered under the name of the Zhang family of Yangzhou.
Emperor Zhao Yu named this palace Zhongyi Garden and personally inscribed the name for it.
Zhang Bangchang, as one of the accompanying officials, also went to Jiangnan with Zhao Yu.
When Zhao Yu named his family's garden "Loyalty and Righteousness Garden," he felt much lighter and hurriedly led his entire family to express their gratitude.
After settling Zhao Yu in, Zhang Bangchang summoned Zhang Bangji and asked him, "Have you found the extraordinary woman I told you to find?"
Zhang Bangji answered in a low voice, "They've found him. Arrange for him to serve in His Majesty's room..."
...(End of chapter)