met free Page 200
Page 200
Emperor Huizong asked, "Did the Jurchens make any unreasonable demands?"
"Your Majesty, rest assured, the Jurchens live in Liaodong and their lives are harsh. All they need are food, weapons, and armor."
Tong Guan laughed and said, "The Liao people are the great enemy of our Song Dynasty. Now, we only need to provide some food, weapons and armor to make the Jurchens fight the Liao people to the death. While they are fighting, the Liao people will have no time to pay attention to the Yan and Yun regions, which will be the time for our dynasty to send troops."
"At that time, Your Majesty will recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, fulfilling the regret of previous emperors. This achievement alone will be comparable to that of Emperor Taizu."
"I hope so,"
Emperor Huizong stroked his long beard with satisfaction.
"By the way, is this golden man really harmless? Could it really be as that martial arts champion said, that we've raised a tiger that will eventually cause trouble?"
"Your Majesty, rest assured, the entire Jurchen population is only a few hundred thousand, while our Song Dynasty is a great nation with a population of over one hundred million. How could we possibly fear such a small Jurchen?"
Tong Guan sneered, "That martial arts champion Xu Guanzhong is spouting nonsense in broad daylight. He has clearly been bribed by the Liao people and is deliberately sabotaging the strategy of allying with the Jin to attack the Liao!"
"Such ungrateful wretches deserve to die, even if they are killed!"
Chapter 278 The Rules Have Changed
Emperor Huizong (Zhao Ji) and Tong Guan were talking upstairs.
Suddenly, they heard cheers of approval from the people below.
The two looked down.
A muscular man with a round head and face stepped onto the ring.
"Indeed, our Song Dynasty still has brave men,"
Emperor Huizong clapped his hands in praise.
Tong Guan, standing to the side, inwardly groaned.
Emperor Huizong suddenly felt like going out of the palace for a stroll today.
We had originally planned to go to Wansui Mountain.
No one expected that the emperor would be on his way...
I overheard the people talking about the golden statue arena in front of Fanlou.
On a whim, I ended up here.
If the emperor were to witness the Song people being killed by the Jurchens, wouldn't that be...?
Just as Tong Guan was feeling uneasy,
Suddenly, he heard Zhao Ji beside him laugh loudly.
"Good fall!"
Tong Guan peered down and saw that on the arena below,
The golden statue had already been thrown to the ground by the round-headed, round-faced man and pinned directly onto the arena.
"Good fall, a really good fall!"
Tong Guan quickly echoed, but in his heart he began to think...
How should we deal with the Jurchens' accusations later?
At this moment, on the arena,
The golden statue had already been thrown off the stage by the round-faced man.
Soon, another golden man roared, rolled up his sleeves, and stepped onto the arena.
Then, in a short while, he followed in his companions' footsteps.
......
In the short time it takes for an incense stick to burn,
That round-faced man had already knocked down three golden statues in succession.
The many onlookers cheered with delight.
Seeing this, Zhao Ji on the third floor naturally beamed with joy.
"Minister Tong, this round-faced man's sumo wrestling skills are truly impressive. Let's recruit him into the Palace Guard as well."
"Yes!"
Tong Guan had just responded when
Suddenly, the people below began to stir.
Zhao Ji, standing beside him, also frowned deeply and said unhappily,
"Weren't you bare-handed? Why are you suddenly armed?"
......
On the arena below Fanlou,
That round-faced man was none other than Jiao Ting.
At this moment, he was also staring with a grim face at the golden man wielding an iron hammer opposite him.
"Wasn't it supposed to be a bare-handed fight? Why is this guy armed?"
Jiao Ting asked the Golden Man translator beside him.
This translator was a minor official in the Privy Council's Department of Rites.
The Privy Council's Department of Rites was the department in the Song court in charge of diplomatic affairs, including correspondence, dispatch of envoys, and all reception matters.
Recently, the imperial court has been discussing the strategy of "allying with the Jin to attack the Liao."
Because this minor official was fluent in the Jurchen language, he was assigned to take care of the Jurchen people's daily life.
He thought this was a good opportunity for promotion.
After just a few days, he witnessed firsthand the Jurchens killing a Song man in the arena, and how they were usually extremely arrogant and domineering towards him, constantly ordering him around.
The minor official was already filled with anger.
Just now, seeing Jiao Ting easily defeat the three Jin men,
The minor official was overjoyed, but fearing to anger the Jurchen man beside him, he dared not cheer loudly.
Now, the Jurchens are cheating, actually changing the rules of the contest halfway through.
The minor official was naturally filled with resentment.
However, due to his duty, he could only translate truthfully.
"The Jurchens have just changed the rules, saying that there are no restrictions on weapons or equipment on the arena!"
The words had barely left his mouth when
The crowd below the stage erupted in uproar.
"That Jurchen is shameless! Seeing how strong this sumo wrestler is, he immediately changed the rules!"
"Barbarians! They truly are barbarians! They have no credibility whatsoever!"
"If you can't handle the game, then get lost! How can you be so shameless!"
......
Not only were the people in the audience outraged,
Emperor Huizong, on the third floor, also looked displeased.
"How can you change the rules of the arena halfway through? Go down and explain this to those Jurchens!"
"This... Your Majesty,"
Tong Guan wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"These Jurchens are barbarians, living in the wilderness. They set up this arena to avenge their comrades. If we don't let them vent their anger, our alliance with the Jurchens to attack the Liao Dynasty might be in jeopardy..."
"So we're just going to let them be so arrogant?" Zhao Ji said angrily, his face darkening.
"Your Majesty, the one suffering losses now is just an ordinary civilian. Although he has some sumo wrestling skills, there are plenty of people like him in our Imperial Guards."
Tong Guan advised, "If the Jurchens get angry and we fail to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, we may never have another chance."
Upon hearing this,
Emperor Huizong snorted coldly, but indeed remained silent.
As the emperor, what right did he have to care about the lives of those who fought in the arena?
For him, it was just a small matter.
The reason he was angry just now was simply because he felt the Jurchens were being arrogant and domineering in Bianliang, which made him lose face.
Now, after listening to Tong Guan explain the pros and cons...
In Zhao Ji's heart, the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun were naturally more important.
As for the man who fought in the arena, what does it matter if he dies?
......
On the stage,
Seeing the Jurchen man brandishing his iron hammer and walking towards Jiao Ting,
The interpreter from the academy hurriedly shouted, "Brave warrior, quickly grab a weapon!"
Jiao Ting snorted coldly, but shook his head.
Firstly, to make entering the city easier, he didn't bring any weapons at all.
Secondly, unarmed sumo wrestling was Jiao Ting's forte.
Although he was on Liangshan Mountain, he also learned some weapon skills from other leaders.
However, compared to the Jurchens who had been fighting for years, they were clearly still lacking in experience.
Jiao Ting, his face grim, watched as the golden man approached.
He was trying to concentrate on dealing with it.
Unexpectedly, he suddenly felt someone tap him on the shoulder.
Jiao Ting turned his head and saw that it was Zhao Yuan!
"elder brother!"
"I'll take care of the rest (of De Nuo's horses). You go and look after the horses!" Zhao Yuan instructed.
"Yes!"
Jiao Ting responded and then jumped off the stage.
Seeing him leave, the golden man immediately started making a fuss.
The seven or eight golden statues that were idle on the side immediately stepped down and surrounded Jiao Ting in the middle.
"Tell them I'll fight the rest of the matches for him!"
Zhao Yuan said to the translator.
The minor official translated it to the Jin people.
Before he could finish speaking, he was slapped across the face by a Jurchen.
The clerk said with a dark face, "These Jurchens said that the fighting cannot be interrupted; either you win or you die on the stage."
"That's really domineering,"
Zhao Yuan sneered, "Tell these Jurchens that they're looking for that burly, dark-skinned man who killed one of them a couple of days ago. I am that man's brother. If they want revenge for their comrade, they'll miss this opportunity."
Chapter 279 The Humiliation of Jingkang
"what?"
The clerk who was translating was visibly taken aback when he heard Zhao Yuan's words.
"My lord, you should think this through! These Jurchens are barbaric and cruel. If I translate it this way, you might..."
Zhao Yuan glanced at this minor official who seemed to have a conscience, and a confident smile appeared on his face.