Volume 1 Chapter 39: Buying and Selling (Part 1)
The Jin army envoy was Zhang Jun's fellow villager, a native of Fengxiang Prefecture, and a former comrade-in-arms of the Western Army. He surrendered in the extremely cowardly Battle of Taiyuan. His name was Zhao Qiu. Now he was leading a few hundred people in the Jin army as the deputy of a certain Meng'an (a thousand-man captain). In fact, he was a supplement to the vassal army of this Meng'an.
But no matter what, Zhang Jun naturally gave enough face to his fellow villager and old friend who met in a different place. He personally entertained him in his own residence. No one knew what he said, but everyone saw him leave the city contentedly in the afternoon, so the morale of the army was inevitably shaken; and the newly appointed Shouzhou prefect Zhao Ding heard the news and went to the residence of Zhang Taiwei to inquire, but he did not come out, so the morale of the army became even more shaken!
"That's what he said?"
To the east of Xiacai City, in a newly built open camp near the river bank of the Jin army's main camp, Jin Wushu, who was patrolling on horseback, was overjoyed when he heard the report.
Of course I was overjoyed!
Last night, the fourth prince of the Jin Dynasty was floating on the river. He saw with his own eyes the steep mountains, fast-flowing rivers, strong cities, and the advance arrangements made by the Song army. Although he was confident that the Jin army was invincible in field battles, he couldn't help but feel secretly frightened... To be honest, with such a terrain and preparation, if Liu Guangshi had not run so embarrassedly, Jin Wushu almost thought that he had fallen into the trap of the Song emperor's strategy of luring the enemy, deliberately luring him here alone, and then returning empty-handed to boost morale.
But on the other hand, Liu Guangshi's escape was so embarrassing that it was impossible for him to pretend; an extremely important link in the Huaihe River defense system, that is, the large-scale interactive channel between Xiacai City and Huainan Camp, was cut off again; the strategic goal of this southward march was just on the other side of the river... If Jin Wushu didn't do something about it, he would be missing the opportunity to fight!
Coming back to the present, Zhang Jun's answer was so direct and straightforward that it naturally made Jin Wushu feel that the fog had cleared up - this group of Song people were still the same as most of them after all, and those from Taiyuan and Shanzhou were rare.
"Reporting to the Fourth Prince, he told me personally that he wanted 1,000 taels of gold and 30,000 taels of silver, and the rest of the treasures and wealth would be given by the Fourth Prince as a reward!" Zhao Qiu knelt down and said. "He said that the silver was used to buy soldiers and civilians in the city, the gold was used to buy officers, and the treasures and wealth that came later were the Fourth Prince's reward to him personally... He also asked the Fourth Prince to write a receipt so that he wouldn't regret it later!"
"I regret it!" Jin Wushu laughed even louder, causing the Jurchens around him to laugh as well. "But this general is too greedy... I believe he can bribe officers, but how can he bribe soldiers and civilians? He just wants to enrich himself. Go back and tell him that I do have some treasures in my account, and I can give him half of them, but how can you ask me to find so much gold and silver in such a short time?"
Zhao Qiu wanted to say something but hesitated, but did not dare to refute at all. He just accepted the order and left.
After Zhao Qiu left, the short Ali next to him couldn't help but frowned: "Fourth Prince, since Xiacai City is shaken, after the men drive the surrounding Han people here to cut wood and start construction, should we use siege equipment first, or build a floating bridge and pull boats first?"
"No matter whether Xia Caicheng is shaky or not, we must first build a floating bridge to pull the boats." Jin Wushu replied with a disdainful look. "I have said it many times, this battle is mainly about the man on the southern mountain range of Huaibei! What's the use of the troops and horses in other prefectures? If we really want to take the military prefectures, aren't there seven or eight military prefectures south of Taishan available for us to take now? And why does General Ali have to pretend? If I want to attack the city first, why don't I put this timber yard to the north of the camp to protect it? Putting it here is to cross the river first! Of course, if we can take Caicheng without fighting, that would be great!"
Ali frowned more and more: "I heard that there were only flags on the other side, and the Emperor of Song had already fled..."
"No!" Wuzhu answered proudly. "I saw it with my own eyes in the river last night. The camp on the other side was very orderly. If there was no Emperor of Song, how could Liu Guangshi's defeated soldiers obey the command so well? Even Wang Yasha couldn't control them! Anyway, General Ali, if you are sober, don't say too much. Although I am leading a large army for the first time, I grew up in the army. I did nothing wrong in the two battles in Jingdong East Road. Why do you want to point fingers at me?"
Ali was helpless and frowned without saying a word. Even Erlubu, another captain who was about to speak, had no intention of saying anything.
However, another Han surrendered man, originally a county magistrate in Jingdong Road, saw an opportunity and could not help but speak carefully: "Fourth Prince?"
"If you have something to say, just say it!" Wuzhu rode on his horse without turning his head . "Are you afraid that I will eat you?"
"Yes... although the official... although the Zhao Song official may indeed be in Bagong Mountain in the south, the inner ferry of Xiacai City in the north has been burned down, and the two sides can only communicate through messengers. Therefore, ordinary soldiers in Xiacai City may not believe that the Zhao Song official is still here. Why not take advantage of the unrest in the city and forge letters and notices, saying that the Zhao Song official has indeed fled, and there is only a dragon flag here to deceive them, and then let that Zhao Qiu Zhao... Zhao Taiwei bring him into the city to shake Zhang Jun's determination?"
"Forget about Zhao Qiu." Jin Wushu seemed to be thinking. "Because Zhang Jun is a general who leads 10,000 people, it's up to him whether he believes this or not. But the soldiers in the city can give it a try... This is a good idea. I will promote you to be my assistant and do this!"
"Thank you, Fourth Prince, for your grace!" The man was excited for a moment, quickly dismounted and bowed, then hurriedly got on his horse and left.
After the man left, Wuzhu inspected the area again. In addition to continuing to urge people to drive the surrounding Han people to come and cut wood for work, he ordered the separation of three elite Meng'an (a team of one thousand men, with a captain of one thousand men)... One team went to the north to sweep, in order to get in touch with the troops that had gone to Jeju before and open up a retreat; the other two teams went east along the Huai River, and the other team bypassed Xiacai City and crossed the Feishui River, in order to collect boats along the way, find a suitable ferry, and gather military intelligence .
These are the duties of a military commander, of course.
After issuing these orders, Jin Wushu was full of ambition, but he had nothing to do, so he simply returned to the camp with the two captains. But before he could return to the military camp, Zhao Qiu, who had entered the city for the second time, turned back again.
"Zhang Jun has not changed his conditions. Is he very determined?"
This time it was Jin Wushu's turn to frown slightly, and the fourth prince stopped his horse in front of the gate and thought for a long time, looking at Xia Cai Jiancheng not far away, but he couldn't help but ask the other party's opinion. "You are an old friend of Zhang Jun, do you think his words are credible? Since you want to surrender, why dare you bargain with me like this?"
"I think it's credible." After hesitating for a while, Zhao Qiu gritted his teeth and said, "Let the Fourth Prince know that Zhang Boying is good in everything except greed. His reputation as a greedy person is known to everyone from Fengxiang Prefecture to Taiyuan Prefecture, from Jingdong Prefecture to Huaishang Prefecture. And this time he also said..."
"say what?"
"He said that the Zhao Song government had actually been kind to him. If Liu Guangshi had not burned Nei Du and Xia Cai had not become an isolated city, he would not have surrendered. But the current situation is like this. If he is really forced to surrender, he is not prepared to lead troops to fight against the Zhao Song government... Therefore, he has more than 10,000 people in the city, plus 10,000 strong civilians from Shouzhou, and 7,000 to 8,000 defeated soldiers from the Jingdong Road who fled with Liu Guangshi, a total of 30,000 people, countless food and fodder, and 7,000 armored soldiers. He can hand them all over! He only asks for a county magistrate or a magistrate in his hometown in Guanxi, so that he can become a rich man..."
"I understand what he means. This money is not only for buying him, but also for buying his soldiers and horses. Is that right?" Jin Wushu was very interested.
"That's what I mean." Zhao Qiu continued to speak hard on his horse, sweating profusely. "And he also said..."
"Can't you just say it all at once?" Before Jin Wushu could even open his mouth, another captain named Elubu who had followed him back was already furious.
"Hurry up and speak!" Jin Wushu urged excitedly.
"Zhang Boying also said that he knew that the Fourth Prince's army must have such a large sum of money, including gold and silver. The price he offered was not false, and he asked the Fourth Prince to show a little sincerity..."
"Nonsense!" Jin Wushu shouted immediately. "I have been chasing Liu Guangshi all the way here, and I didn't have time to plunder along the way. Where did all this gold and silver come from? Even if there is some in the north of Mount Tai, is it too late to send it here now?"
Zhao Qiu hesitated to speak.
"Speak!" Elubu was completely furious and whipped Zhao Qiu's helmet directly.
Zhao Qiu quickly bowed his head and gritted his teeth and said, "Zhang Boying said that Liu Guangshi definitely has this money! Liu Guangshi's usual rule is to keep the gold and silver for himself and give out copper coins as rewards. This money must have been obtained by the Fourth Prince at this time!"
Jin Wushu, Elubu and Ali looked at each other, but they didn't know what to say... because Zhang Jun got the truth of the matter right!
That evening, after careful discussion, the three Jurchen nobles in the army decided to send Zhao Qiu into the city overnight, which was considered as an agreement in principle.
There are many reasons for this:
First of all, this money is absolutely worthwhile to buy the 20,000 to 30,000 people in Cai Cheng and Zhang Jun's hands. It is a great value for money. Jin Wushu and the other two have not fallen to the point of thinking that the army is inferior to gold and silver.
Secondly, after destroying Liao and Song, especially after the Jingkang Incident, the Jin army obtained a huge amount of gold and silver spoils. The Song Dynasty's century-long savings were all in the city of Dongjing, but they were seized by the Jin people in one day. In other words, although this money was a lot, it was not worth mentioning in the eyes of the three powerful nobles of the Jin army. Their stocks in Yanjing were real gold and silver!
Not only that, the leader of this march, the Fourth Prince Jin Wushu, also promised the two captains a temporary loan, thus taking on the debt risk this time.
Finally, they specially found a number of surrendered people from the Song State and carefully inquired about Zhang Jun, and the results they came to were the same... This man was indeed notoriously greedy for money, and it was said that he was better at doing business than fighting!
However, these are just public discussions. The three of them actually have two important reasons that they all understand:
First, although Taiyuan was eventually conquered by the Jin army, they did not think that Shanzhou would be conquered by Wanyan Loushi in the end. However, this kind of siege war of attrition was still too scary for the sparsely populated Jurchens, and it still left a deep impression on the high-ranking officials of the Jin army. In fact, it was in line with the simple military knowledge that the Jurchens had acquired from their fishing and hunting life to avoid siege cities. The barbarity and stupidity were just misunderstandings of the hard-working style of the Jin people in battle by the Song and Liao countries.
Secondly, the war was still going on, and the Jurchens still followed some rules when treating surrendered people with troops. Perhaps that was why Zhang Jun made this condition , and perhaps Jin Wushu would not go back on his word... But as the saying goes, you always have to put bait when hunting prey, but once the prey is caught, the hunter has to turn even its fur into clothes. This time, if Zhang Boying took so much money to Shaanxi, Jin Wushu would have ten thousand ways to make him spit it all out in the future!
In short, these reasons, combined with the fact that Xiacaicheng is indeed an isolated city and the widespread existence of surrendered people from the Song Dynasty, the Jurchens, or Jin Wushu, still felt that this deal could be made!
Of course, they couldn't agree to it all at once. This was Zhao Qiu's third entry into the city in one day. The condition he brought was that the document could be written and the Fourth Prince could even sign it in person. However, a lot of gold and silver had indeed been lost from the camp and it was difficult to gather the money together. So he hoped to pay half of it first, and then pay the other half to Zhang Jun after he opened the city, handed over his troops, and took office in Guanxi!
What kind of person is Zhang Jun? How could he possibly accept such a foolish account? Not only did he insist on it, but he even put on armor in front of Zhao Qiu that night and joined the night patrol on the city wall.
On the second day, which was the afternoon of the second day of the first lunar month, Zhao Qiu entered the city for the fourth time. He changed his mind and asked Jin Wushu to pay 70% of the gold and silver first, and put forward the final condition that Jin Wushu was willing to give Zhang Jun some more treasures and goods!
This time, Zhang Jun pondered over it again and again, and finally agreed reluctantly. He agreed that once he saw the gold, silver and other valuables entering the city, he would count and distribute them in front of the envoy, and then he would open the city to surrender the next day to welcome the Jin army!
