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[For the Southern Song court, the storms of politics rose and fell like tides.
But to Xin Qiji, none of that mattered in the slightest.
After receiving Zhao Gou's personal commission in Lin'an, the young man left in high spirits and headed north again, planning to bring good news to his old commander Geng Jing.
At twenty-three, he still carried that restless fire unique to youth.
Not arrogance. Not recklessness.
Just the certainty that as long as one still breathed, things could still be set right.
Yet before he even reached Shandong, thunder struck from a clear sky.
By the time he arrived at Haizhou, word spread that the Shandong rebel army had erupted into internal mutiny.
Generals Zhang Anguo and Shao Jin had murdered Geng Jing.
Worse still, they had raised the banner of surrender to Jin.
For most people, that would have been the end.
Not long ago, Xin Qiji had just secured imperial recognition to establish the Tianping Army. Now that very army was about to switch allegiance.
What now?
Anyone else might have frozen in place, unsure whether to advance or retreat.
Xin Qiji did neither.
He simply thought about it for a while in Haizhou… then went straight to find the local Song commander.
"I need troops," he said plainly.
The commander frowned.
"How many?"
Xin Qiji answered with complete calm.
"Fifty cavalry will do."
The room fell silent.
Not five hundred.
Not five thousand.
Fifty.
But the young man's expression showed no hint of hesitation.
For him, betrayal was nothing new.
When faced with treachery, only blood could answer the spirits of the loyal dead.
Just like the monk Yiduan who once betrayed him, this time too Xin Qiji chose the simplest method possible.
Kill the traitor.
Even if that traitor sat amid ten thousand men.
Fifty riders departed at once, traveling day and night.
When they reached Jinan, Xin Qiji did not scout or hesitate.
He rode straight toward Zhang Anguo's camp.
The monk Yiduan, whom Xin Qiji had personally slain before, had once gasped out a final judgment:
"You possess the strength of a green rhinoceros, enough to kill with your bare hands."
Xin Qiji had never cared for the comparison.
Still, it was not inaccurate.
None of this was known to Zhang Anguo.
In the rebel army, Xin Qiji had only served as a clerk. After his lone pursuit of an enemy rider, Geng Jing had immediately sent him south on a mission. Most commanders barely knew the young man at all.
To them, he was just a junior officer who wrote documents.
Not a man who could storm a camp with fifty riders.
So Zhang Anguo continued indulging himself in wine and women, still calculating how much price he could demand from both Song and Jin.
By the time Xin Qiji's men burst into camp…
By the time ropes bound him to a horse…
By the time the drunken haze cleared…
He probably still could not understand where this young man's terrifying strength had come from.
Fifty banners rose boldly in the wind.
They broke formation, seized the general, and rode south.
Only after their commander had been dragged away did the rebel camp erupt into chaos.
But after Geng Jing's death, the rebel army's spirit had already collapsed.
Though thousands remained, most were merely men hoping to curry favor with Jin.
Faced with riders whose morale burned like iron fresh from the forge, they hesitated.
Under Xin Qiji's command, the fifty-odd cavalry smashed through encirclement and rode off toward Haizhou exactly the way they came.
No one dared stop them.
Zhang Anguo was later delivered in chains to the traveling court at Jiankang.
His crimes were read aloud.
The execution followed immediately.
With Geng Jing dead, the Shandong rebel forces scattered beyond recovery.
Xin Qiji, with nowhere else to go, remained in the Southern Song and entered official service.
At the time, men like him were not rare.
After Wanyan Liang's massive southern campaign collapsed, many fighters from the north returned to Song rule.
For example, another fierce rebel leader, Wang Youzhi, had raised more than ten thousand men, captured Daming Prefecture, and later brought his entire force south after Jin's defeat. He was rewarded with the title of Tianxiong Military Commissioner and even helped retake Haizhou from Jin.
So Xin Qiji being able to borrow fifty elite cavalry there was not entirely coincidence.
Behind the scenes, Wang Youzhi's influence played a quiet role.
As more and more northerners returned south, the Southern Song court found itself forced into a famous debate.
At the time, Zhao Gou had not yet abdicated.
Zhang Jun, a strong advocate of northern campaigns, repeatedly memorialized the throne urging the emperor to move to Jiankang and personally direct the reconquest.
He summed up his argument in one line:
"The Central Plains have long been lost. If we do not reclaim them now, heroes will rise and reclaim them themselves."
Prime Minister Shi Hao, who favored defense, dismissed this completely.
"There are no heroes in the Central Plains," he said coldly.
"If there were, why have they not risen and destroyed Jin already?"
Zhang Jun tried to explain.
"The common people have no weapons. They cannot rise alone. They wait for our army to arrive so they can respond from within."
Shi Hao sneered.
"Chen Sheng and Wu Guang overthrew Qin with farm tools. If these people must wait for our army, then they are no heroes."
From the structure of that argument alone, one could tell Shi Hao, if born in a later age, would easily rank among top-tier debate trolls.
He ignored the strategic question entirely and fixated only on the word heroes.
His conclusion left Zhang Jun speechless:
"If they truly were heroes, they would not need us."
This exchange, in truth, shaped how later returnees like Xin Qiji were treated by the Southern Song court.]
"How is Xin Qiji not a hero?"
Zhang Fei's voice thundered across the hall.
"Even setting aside the fifty riders, that Wang Youzhi seized cities and opened a path south. If those men are not heroes, who is?"
Liu Bei had been about to calm him, but before he could speak, Zhang Fei added angrily:
"If Southern Song really had Chen Sheng and Wu Guang types, that court wouldn't even exist anymore!"
Liu Bei blinked… then laughed.
For once, he completely agreed with his sworn brother.
After a moment he sighed.
"The two Songs never lacked capable generals. They only lacked the chance to use them."
Xin Qiji's feat sounded exaggerated.
But to Liu Bei, was it really more shocking than Guan Yu cutting down Yan Liang in the midst of ten thousand troops?
Not at all.
Instead, Liu Bei found himself analyzing the deeper cause.
A righteous army rises through righteousness.
It also collapses when that righteousness dies.
Geng Jing raised the banner against Jin for justice.
Zhang Anguo betrayed it for gain.
Once that happened, the army's sharpest spearhead snapped.
Even if ten thousand remained, they were nothing but clay chickens and tile dogs.
Xin Qiji's riders, charging across hundreds of miles with momentum at its peak, were naturally unstoppable.
If one thought further, Zhang Anguo's camp might not even have been able to gather fifty loyal cavalry to stop him.
Liu Bei suddenly remembered the Yellow Turban rebels he had seen in youth.
Without weapons they carved spears from wood.
Without armor they drank talisman water to stiffen courage.
All they truly relied on was righteous fervor.
That alone let them shake the world.
Zhang Anguo's betrayal had severed exactly that source of strength.
So the outcome was inevitable.
Zhuge Liang smiled.
"Men who recommend themselves are common. Lords willing to humble themselves and accept such men, like Lord Pingyuan with Mao Sui, are rare."
This reminded him of a phrase often used by later historians to praise Li Shimin.
Open-minded enough to accept remonstrance.
Hearing this, Zhang Fei instantly puffed up with pride.
"That's right. My elder brother always knew how to recognize talent."
Liu Bei stroked his beard.
He knew Zhang Fei was praising the bond between himself and Zhuge Liang.
But when he remembered Mi Fang and Shi Ren… the men whose betrayal cost Guan Yu his life…
The praise suddenly felt heavy.
He sighed quietly.
Unfortunately, when he raised his head, he met Zhang Fei's sincere gaze.
Liu Bei knew that look all too well.
"Ten thou—"
"Silence!"
He cut Zhang Fei off instantly.
The latter could only pout in frustration.
Nearby, Lu Su, who had nearly been dragged into the moment, remained focused on the screen above.
He frowned slightly.
"They returned south, yes. But what exactly does this term 'returnee subject' mean?"
He remembered what Zhuge Liang had once said about the Tang dynasty's Guiyi Army.
The name sounded honorable.
In reality, it often carried hidden contempt.
Was the Southern Song planning to repeat that pattern again?