Giant Ship Across the Song Dynasty: My Supplies Come from My Motherland

Chapter 70, On Why the Great Song Dynasty Was So F***ing Weak

When the prince invited them to dinner, it was naturally a feast. Lin Zhou didn't care about anything else and just sat there showing off his lamb trotters. But Lu You was too embarrassed to accept, and he was the one who felt the most uncomfortable at that moment.

Sitting at the bustling dining table, opposite him sat a prince of the Jin Kingdom, a prince who had once led troops to attack Bianjing.

The hatred in my heart goes without saying, but I am helpless about it.

"Eat up." Lin Zhou patted Lu You on the shoulder. "What are you looking at? There aren't any girls to toast you. We still have to go rescue a girl tonight."

"Hahahaha..." King Rui laughed loudly: "You really don't know how to read people. I guess this young brother is hesitant because I am a golden man."

"Indeed, Your Highness is right. I, Lu You, have never thought about the Northern Expedition in my entire life, but now I am dining with a prince from the north. I feel quite emotional."

"Then let's fight." Prince Rui picked up a goose leg and placed it in Lu You's bowl: "Fight with all your might and make a name for yourself on the battlefield."

Lin Zhou looked up and exclaimed, "Wow, Your Highness is so generous!"

Prince Rui laughed heartily: "It's not about being magnanimous or petty, but rather that war between two nations is driven by grudges, interests, and pride. The conflict between Jin and Song is nothing more than a back-and-forth exchange. The world is nothing more than this, a back-and-forth where the winner takes all. The loser is naturally unwilling to accept it. Can the winner make the loser willing? My Jin Kingdom cannot destroy the history books nor silence the world's voices, so let it be."

After saying that, he laughed again: "A man should accept defeat when he loses. What's the use of trying to win with words? If you have the ability, win it back on the battlefield. If one day your Song Kingdom defeats the Great Jin, I will sit here with you and say the same thing: accept defeat when you lose."

Lu You smiled, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to the prince, his smile carrying a hint of helplessness and melancholy.

"Our Song Dynasty did not lose to the Jin Dynasty."

"Yes, you didn't actually lose to the Jin Kingdom, but a loss is a loss." The prince shook his head. "The best strategy is to subdue the enemy without fighting; the next best is to disrupt their alliances; the next best is to attack their army; and the worst is to besiege their cities. You lost in strategy, alliances, army, and cities. Who's to blame? My Great Jin? Isn't the law of the jungle the ultimate truth? Otherwise, why would you honor Qin Shi Huang as the First Emperor of the World? Shouldn't you in Lin'an be believing in King Fu Chu of Chu?"

At this point, he added with a smile, "The Jin Dynasty didn't stop your Song Dynasty from fighting back."

Lu You was young after all, and these words left him speechless.

It was Lin Zhou who spoke up at this moment: "Hey, Your Highness. Have you obtained the Imperial Seal of the State yet?"

"Eat your food!" The prince glared fiercely at Lin Zhou.

Lin Zhou was indifferent; he was already used to the rooster-shaped map. In this place, he was just a poor, unfortunate official on a business trip. But for Lu You, the prince's words were like a coffin nail, directly nailed to the tip of his heart.

The Song Dynasty's last hope was not lost on the battlefield, but in the court. It was defeated by the sycophantic and self-serving pronouncements of the masses. The Song Dynasty's defeat was not unjust. The Jin Dynasty won, and won fairly, leaving the Song Dynasty with nothing to say.

"If Yue Fei hadn't died, you would all be sitting on the Bianjing Bridge today, drinking and enjoying the scenery. But he's dead. I should be happy that he's dead, but I can't be happy at all. I couldn't beat him, my father couldn't beat him, and none of the civil and military officials of my Great Jin could beat him. We once thought that if he had gone north, we would have retreated back to the Changbai Mountains and the Heilongjiang River. But he's dead." Prince Rui picked up his wine and drank it all in one gulp. "Such a hero, dying so pathetically. As the saying goes, 'the rabbit dies, the fox grieves.' I feel bad too, because if he died like this, my father would have died too, and so would I."

"But this is fate. Young man, defying fate is not for us old men, but for you young men. You should hate your court now, not the Jurchens. What good is it to hate the Jurchens? No matter how much you hate them, we will not retreat beyond the Great Wall because of your hatred." The prince raised his head: "If you have the ability, take your Song army and fight back for us."

"Oh no! We can't fight!" Yangti suddenly cried out. "If we really fight, won't I be unable to stay in Lin'an? My Panpan, Lili, Mengmeng, Qingqing..."

"Shut up!" The prince raised his hand and pinched his foolish son's mouth shut. "Don't embarrass me!"

Lin Zhou looked up, glanced around, and then silently took the goose leg from Lu You's bowl: "Let me try yours and see if it's good."

Halfway through the meal, Lin Zhou suddenly looked up and said, "I'm telling you, Your Highness, Wanyan Liang hates you. He'll definitely kill you when the time comes."

"I know," the prince replied without hesitation. "Do you even need to tell me?"

"Huh?" Lin Zhou was taken aback. "You knew but didn't say anything?"

"How can I say it?" The prince spread his hands. "Who in the world doesn't know? But Wanyan Liang was promoted precisely to keep my father's lineage in check. It's a system of checks and balances. All emperors in the world are like that. Am I supposed to go and tell my Great Jin Emperor that Wanyan Liang is going to get rid of our lineage, and you should get rid of him? He was put on the throne precisely to get rid of us. You're just a child, you should be playing happily. This kind of thing is none of your business, and you can't worry about it anyway. I'm telling you, this is fate."

"He became the commander of the army, second only to my father, at the age of twenty-one. At twenty-one, I was still a captain in the camp, and he became a marshal. Who among us wasn't a direct descendant of Emperor Taizu? But as soon as Yue Fei died, he became a marshal. Why? Wasn't it because my father's power was too great, which aroused suspicion? Do you need to remind me of that?"

Lin Zhou realized that his brain wasn't working properly. He had always thought it was a conspiracy, but he didn't expect that they were playing their cards openly, and could even guess his own outcome.

Isn't this like dancing on a knife?

"Young man," the prince's eyes suddenly softened, and he smiled at Lin Zhou, "Do you know why I entrusted Wulin to you so easily? Do you think I don't know that there's no love between you two, just a little girl's infatuation?"

"Huh? I don't know..."

"Because you're a brute, because you wouldn't sell Wulin for a high position and a good salary. She's still young, she shouldn't be ruined along with us."

At this moment, Yangti pointed at himself: "Father... I... me! And me too!"

"You're marrying him too?" the prince asked Yangti, pointing at Lin Zhou. "Men of the Wanyan family must learn to be unyielding and indomitable."

"But..." Lin Zhou was confused at this moment: "But you all know, so why don't you..."

"Not what? Not rebelling?" Prince Rui exclaimed, shaking his head slightly. "When Yue Fei received his first gold medal, did he not know that retreating back to court would mean certain death? If the ruler commands the subject to die, the subject's refusal is disloyalty. Disloyalty, injustice, inhumanity, and filial impiety are grave taboos. If I didn't die, many more would die for me. I respect Yue Fei, not just because he was a skilled warrior!"

Lin Zhou leaned against the wall, scratching his head incessantly.

He was actually a little lost at this moment, after all, before today, he had never really come into contact with the issue of life and death.

While researching, no one told him about the thoughts and feelings of these historical figures before their deaths, but now he has learned some things from the real historical figures themselves.

It turns out they all knew their fate; they just didn't know how it would end.

"Alright, everyone." The prince stood up and downed the wine on the table in one gulp. "Tonight I'm going to a palace banquet. My wife and I will be there too. Apart from a few guards, only Wu Lin is left at home. Don't even think about rescuing her. I won't tell you that the key to her lock is in the second drawer of the bedside table."