Moreover, instead of wasting time thinking about these things, it would be better to seize the opportunity to build good relationships with the grassroots soldiers and win their support. This way, when necessary, someone might help take a blow for you; secondly, it could help dissolve the soft control of Henry Carter and Charles Young; and thirdly, it could be a way to obtain and seek out some essential information...

As for maintaining the mystique of the imperial identity to preserve authority—it's not that this is wrong, but as John Harrison had sarcastically remarked to Henry Carter before, since the Jingkang Incident, could the Zhao Song emperors possibly be any more disgraceful?

And finally, there was still a monumental issue placed before this freshly emerged Zhao emperor—having transmigrated into James Harrison, isn't he supposed to resist the Jin invaders?!

Chapter Two: The Loyal Heart Squad

“So, you all come from the ranks of famine refugees from Liaodong?”

In the evening, in a wild field at the very edge of the Mingdao Palace complex, on a ridge of a field that had just been harvested, beside a bonfire, the Zhao emperor casually set down his clay bowl, wiped his mouth without any decorum, and continued his relentless questioning.

“Reporting to the emperor...”

“Just call me ‘everyone,’ that's fine. Sit and speak.” One of the greatest advantages of a transmigrator is being able to let go of airs.

“Reporting to everyone.” The burly man who sat back down on his folding stool with his bowl in hand was clearly one of the few eloquent men in the camp, but at this moment he was at a loss, and even his speech became awkward. “We weren't originally famine refugees; we were just ordinary families from Liaodong... Like me, I used to be a horse trader... But back then, when the Jurchen emperor Wanyan Aguda fought the Khitan emperor, the Khitan emperor levied too much money and grain, and there was no way to make a living in Liaodong, so we became famine refugees. Later, when the Khitans couldn't defeat the Jurchens, they recruited us Han Chinese famine refugees in Liaodong, saying that since we had lost our livelihoods, we all blamed the Jurchens, and called us the ‘Grievance Army.’ Later, a Xi man became emperor and changed our name to the ‘Ever-Victorious Army.’ Now, the eight hundred cavalry who have come with the mobile court are all old veterans from the Yanzhou Camp, one of the eight camps of the Grievance Army back then...”

“Where is Yanzhou?” John Harrison asked out of curiosity.

“To answer everyone, actually our Yanzhou's official name isn't Yanzhou, but Yanyuan Prefecture, next to the old Liao's Eastern Capital Circuit, Liaoyang Prefecture, and to the south, close to the sea...” Someone else couldn't help but interject.

So, they're old hands from Yingkou!

Dressed in a striking round-collared red robe, the Zhao emperor, sitting there, suddenly realized, and couldn't help but nod repeatedly, even slapping his thigh in excitement.

That said, while nodding, the Zhao emperor couldn't help but be moved and let his thoughts wander... First, he had actually been to Yingkou in the past, so a bit of homesickness welled up; second, he understood clearly that this was a ‘beggar army’ with no ties or attachments, connected to no one! And, they were among the few skilled cavalry in the mobile court!

Naturally, this sparked some ideas.

On the other side, the few old hands from Yingkou, seeing the young Zhao emperor deep in thought, assumed that he, as a former prince, didn't know much about court affairs, and so wondered why they had ended up here... But they dared not stop, and could only continue to clearly explain their origins.

It turned out that after this unit was formed, their original commander was called Matthew Lewis, and the Grievance Army, later renamed the Ever-Victorious Army, was commanded by the famous Richard Grant.

Richard Grant was one of the most legendary figures of this era... Not because of his unparalleled martial skills or outstanding military strategy, but because, as a Khitan remnant, after the fall of the Liao dynasty, he repeatedly switched sides along the Song-Jin border. First, he surrendered to the Song, but after witnessing the Song's internal weakness, he surrendered to the Jin, and directly advised the Jin Grand Marshal, the Second Prince Wanyan Wolibu, to strike straight at Bianliang, which in fact led to the Jin army's southward advance and the fall of the Northern Song.

In other words, he was one of the origins of the Jingkang humiliation.

However, among the eight camps of the Grievance Army, later renamed the Ever-Victorious Army and composed mainly of Liaodong Han Chinese, the Yanzhou Camp's commander Matthew Lewis was a true Song man, apparently a scholar from the south, though no one knew why he had ended up in Liao territory in his youth—there was some hidden story there... So, when Richard Grant switched sides, most of the Ever-Victorious Army followed him north, but only this man led the Yanzhou Camp to stay with the Song.

For this, the then Emperor Huizong, to commend the loyalty of this unit, specially bestowed upon them the name “Loyal Heart Squad”!

Later, this unit went through many twists and turns, but always maintained a firm stance, and during the Jingkang Incident, was one of the few units that remained active on the front lines against the Jin, and managed to preserve its structure and combat strength after the war.

The more John Harrison listened, the more ideas he had, to the point of feeling lucky... He had come here partly out of curiosity, but mostly to avoid Charles Young, yet unexpectedly gained so much!

And what was the gain?

It was precisely that this unit came from Liaodong!

You see, throughout history, the more complicated the internal situation, and the more unstable the positions of monarchs and generals, the more likely they were to use foreign troops as their own guards, because these troops had no internal entanglements, and as long as the monarch or general could guarantee their treatment, such foreign troops were often the most reliable.

For example, around this very time, on the religious dividing line in the Western world, many minor lords' guards were precisely from the opposing side... North African Moorish warlords favored Christian guards; Spanish grandees favored North African guards—the logic was much the same.