Volume 2 Chapter 4: Delusion
Just as Emperor Zhao had thought, the fact that Scholar Kobayashi volunteered to go to Wuguan, coupled with Hu Yin's previous deeds, and possibly Emperor Zhao's seemingly joking remark to Fan Zhixu, "I would rather lose my country than not kill this man", greatly stimulated the civil officials in the court and greatly improved the efficiency of the court.
Moreover, as Yang Yi Zhong was ordered by Emperor Zhao to personally go and pacify Niu Gao, and Yan Xiaozhong went to look for Zhai, many other people, such as the censors, servants, and heads of various departments, also wrote letters requesting orders, each of them taking the risk to go to various places around Caizhou to pacify the rebels who were everywhere in the mountains.
However, compared to the fact that Niu Gao was 100% harmless, Zhai had long been in collusion with Yan Xiaozhong. Emperor Zhao was somewhat uneasy about the enthusiasm of the others, fearing that by sending these people's lives in vain, it would discourage people's hearts, so he hesitated for a moment.
While he was hesitating, Han Shizhong, who had been suppressing the rebellion in the west, suddenly returned to Ruyang City alone that evening, and requested an audience with the emperor overnight. He also brought some new, accurate and subversive military information and military suggestions to Emperor Zhao.
"Wanyan Yinshuke?" Zhao Jiu, who had just gotten up from the couch, was stunned for a long time in the back hall of the Ruyang City government office before he realized what was going on. It turned out to be Yan Xiaozhong's accent, which made him think he was just an ordinary official. "Nichuhe... Yinshuke, is this the man? The second-ranked general under Wanyan Nianhan, second only to Wanyan Loushi, who captured the Liao Dynasty Emperor Tianzuo alive and is now the garrison commander of Taiyuan?"
"It is this man." Han Shizhong stood in the hall and bowed. "Your Majesty, I heard from Liu Yan outside that Your Majesty intends to annihilate this man and all the households, so I immediately turned back... Please forgive me for being frank, but this battle cannot be fought!"
Upon hearing this, Emperor Zhao's heart sank immediately, because since Han Shizhong said that we cannot fight, then we basically cannot fight.
However, Zhao Jiu was a qualified engineering student after all, so he still had the good habit of asking questions: "Is it because Yin Shuke is good at using troops?"
"That doesn't count." Han Shizhong looked disdainful upon hearing this, and finally showed a bit of his usual fearless attitude. "If we really talk about the generals, let alone Yin Shuke, Wanyan Loushichen is not taken seriously, but it is a fact that his troops are elite and brave. Relatively speaking, although the current emperor seems to have a large number of troops, they are not truly reorganized, and the ones who can really fight are actually the ones who besieged Wanyan Wushu's camp that day, but they are still missing the 3,000 veterans of Zhang Taiwei, and the thousands of dead and wounded who left the team..."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Zhao sighed slightly, but he immediately realized his own recklessness from a mathematical perspective.
"Besides that, Dengzhou (Nanyang) is a wide open area, and the Jin cavalry is moving around like the wind, but we don't have a large cavalry unit available." Han Shizhong finally looked helpless when he said this. "According to the military intelligence previously transmitted by the Tokyo Resident Office, Wanyan Yinshu's younger brother Wanyan Balisu should have led a 10,000-man army, and is currently encircling and suppressing the Big Di and the Small Di in the Xijing Luoyang area. If we insist on fighting, as long as Yinshu relies on the Nanyang Basin for a while, we can wait for the cavalry reinforcements sent by his brother from Xijing... By then, the Jin army will rely on the advantage of cavalry to attack from the north and south in the flat land of the Central Plains. With the current combat power, I'm afraid we will be defeated in one battle."
At this point, Han Shizhong rarely showed a serious attitude: "Sir, how many cavalry do we have? My Beiwei Army has only 800 cavalry, and Liu Yan's Chixin Team has 600 cavalry, but they are just two Meng'an of the Jin Army... How can we fight against Yin Shu?"
Hearing this, Zhao Jiu, who was sitting in the back hall in the slightly hot late night, fell completely silent, but he was actually seriously reflecting on himself... It was ridiculous that Emperor Zhao had been advised by Hu Yin before and realized his political arrogance, and he even pretended to make self-criticism, but what was actually happening?
In fact, they have not really changed their reckless mentality after the Shouzhou victory from the bottom of their hearts.
There is actually only one reason for this. That is, after the battle of Shouzhou, Zhao Jiu completely integrated into or accepted this era and forgot that he is now Emperor Zhao... and Emperor Zhao has always been a true dictator, holding the core power openly. In addition, it is wartime now, and he has gained some so-called prestige through the sacrifice of thousands of soldiers, so no one can really supervise him at this time.
If you think about it carefully, from beginning to end, he was the only one who made mistakes in this hastily proposed military plan.
What else?
The civil officials were very enthusiastic, but it was not their fault. They were political creatures and would only follow the government. Besides, others didn't know, but didn't Zhao Jiu know the military level of the civil officials of the Song Dynasty?
From Li Gang to Fan Zhixu, from Yan Xiaozhong to Hu Yin, from Lu Haowen to Zhang Jun, no matter what their positions or moral levels are, they are all waste in military terms, it's just that the degree of waste is different... At the moment, Grandpa Zong Zezong is simply the god of war among the civil officials of the Song Dynasty!
Zhao Jiu had known all these things for a long time, but he actually mocked Fan Zhixu while following Zhang Jun and his people in a muddle and passed an unrealistic military decision... The main force of the Jin army's cavalry was invincible on plain ground. This was the fundamental reason why Han Shizhong and his Emperor Zhao chose to launch the battle in Shouzhou next to the Huai River in the first place, okay? ! He forgot it in the blink of an eye?
As for the military officials, the only one they could rely on was Han Shizhong, who was so arrogant before, and he came back overnight to persuade him. Even Liu Yan was obviously aware of the risk in Zhao Jiu's plan, but he was always taciturn and had just returned, so he didn't dare to persuade him. That's why he chose to meet Han Shizhong on the way to Wuguan and let this person who could persuade Zhao Jiu come back. As for Yang Yizhong, it's possible that Liu Yan was instigated by him...
In short, no matter whether it was done by Liu Yan or Yang Yi Zhong, the fact that they forced a loyal minister to use this method to remind himself shows that Emperor Zhao should indeed reflect deeply.
However, when Zhao Jiu reflected on himself, he found that he seemed to have been a little "frivolous and reckless" and increasingly arrogant since he left Shouzhou... Let alone anything else, from a time traveler's perspective, the careful service of new fawning attendants such as Feng Yi and the flattery of the growing bureaucracy were all too obvious... Obviously, someone had lost their revolutionary vigilance!
Of course, back to the present, it was too dark, so Emperor Zhao sat there with a lit candle with a blank expression on his face. He didn't look like he was reflecting at all, but rather like he was sulking. This made Han Shizhong and Feng Yi, the only attendant in the hall, feel uneasy... Even Feng Yi, the head of the eunuch department, began to wink at Han Shizhong, as if he wanted Han Shizhong to comfort the emperor.
Han Shizhong watched the emperor remain silent for half a day, and was thinking about how to comfort him so as to save some face for the emperor... But Han Liangchen thought about it and couldn't think of any reason at all, because Wanyan Yinshu really couldn't fight at the moment, and he would be defeated in nine out of ten cases. He, Han Wu, had been so kind to the emperor Zhao, and he couldn't destroy the fortune and prestige that the emperor had worked so hard to build up.
"I was wrong." After an unknown amount of time, Zhao Jiu suddenly sighed, which also made Han Shizhong feel relieved. "But my good minister, you are my confidant. Today you must tell me something... If we can't defeat Wanyan Yinshuke, won't Dengzhou be in danger? With tens of thousands of troops coming together, are we going to sit back and watch Yinshuke swallow up the secondary capital that hasn't been lost yet? There is one thing you may not know. According to Yan Xiaozhong, the governor of Tangzhou, Liu Ji, the transport envoy of Jingxi, has worked hard these days to raise funds. Many warehouses and craftsmen in Sichuan and Jingxi have been gathered in Nanyang. If we lose it and Wanyan Yinshuke burns the city, won't we have to turn around and go to Yangzhou again?"
"Good instructor, I know." Han Shizhong was relieved and responded to these inquiries with a proud attitude. "I just said that we have few cavalry and elite soldiers, and we cannot take the initiative to fight Yin Shuke in the field, but I don't mean that we can't force Wanyan Yin Shuke to leave! And I don't mean that we can't defend Nanyang!"
Zhao Jiu's heart was lifted: "How should we fight?"
"Your Majesty," Han Shizhong said frankly. "There is no need to fight. There are only two things to do now... One is to alert the enemy and make a big noise, so as to tell Yin Shuke that our army has arrived, and it is huge in number and powerful ; the other is to quickly seize and surrender the key cities of Ruzhou, Caizhou, Tangzhou, and Yingchang Prefecture! Of course, Wuguan is also very important, so after listening to Liu Yan's words, I still urged him to go to Wuguan as before..."
Zhao Jiu was thoughtful, and then realized: "Is this a trick to force him to return?"
"I'm not being mysterious." In the dark hall, Han Shizhong's eyes were like lightning, and the corners of his mouth were ferocious. "It's just that I have to do this to protect Dengzhou. Otherwise, if he really dares to sit back and watch me occupy all the dozens of cities on the northeast passage of Nanyang, he will be trapped in Nanyang! Only Yin Shu is experienced in using troops, and he is definitely not a stupid person like Wanyan Wushu who is new to the battlefield. That's why I believe that he will take the initiative to give up the meat at his mouth and return to the army immediately! And if so..." At this point, Han Shizhong became a little cautious again. "As long as Yin Shu can withdraw his troops, we can say that he is defeated by the enemy in Jingxi."
This is a case of falsely reporting military achievements for political propaganda.
However, considering that it would save Dengzhou and force this man to retreat, Zhao Jiu, who had calmed down, was able to accept it.
So he nodded slowly, and then asked seriously: "So, what is the key to this battle?"
"Hurry!" Han Shizhong said firmly. "If we are a little slow, either Nanyang will fall, or Yin Shu will seize Tangzhou and Ruzhou and force the emperor to surrender, so we must seize those cities as soon as possible!"
Zhao Jiu nodded heavily again.
Needless to say, the next morning, Emperor Zhao, who had just made a big plan yesterday, seemed to be in high spirits and gathered all his ministers early in the morning to discuss the war.
In response, the ministers who were overwhelmed by the special atmosphere seemed to be very cooperative.
"It's like this. Didn't many officials come here yesterday to recommend themselves, saying that they wanted to go to Caizhou to gather the rebels and bandits?" Emperor Zhao said straight to the point. "And I thought about it last night and felt that I couldn't dampen your spirits... So today I want to tell you that I have approved all your requests yesterday!"
Among the many officials in the hall, except for a few officials who were proud of their status and an official in a red robe who seemed to remain calm, the rest were all very happy.
Not only that, everyone saw that although Emperor Zhao looked calm and spoke fluently, his eyes were red and his voice was trembling, as if he had not rested well last night and was a little angry... Therefore, many well-intentioned people were secretly considering whether to choose a few concubines for the emperor after the war.
However, since we are about to go into battle, it is better to put some things aside for the time being.
Of course, Emperor Zhao, who appeared calm on the outside but was nervous and helpless on the inside, had no idea what these people were thinking. He probably wouldn't care even if he knew, because right now he was in no mood to think about his concubine or these people.
"It's not just that. As far as I know." Emperor Zhao continued to talk, looking relaxed, but secretly gritting his teeth in his heart. "On the way west from Shouzhou, there have been many officials who have no assignments accompanying us recently. We must give them a chance. And now, since that silver...that Ni Chuhe waded through there, the towns in Tangzhou, Ruzhou, and the southern part of Yingchang Prefecture are basically vacant, mostly occupied by bandits and rebels, and only a few are still in the hands of the government army... In this case, why not let these people go further and recruit and and by the way, provide backup for Han Shizhong to lead 50,000 troops to Nanyang to encircle and kill Ni Chuhe's thousands of soldiers?!"
As soon as the words were spoken, Zhao Jiu looked around the hall and saw that everyone, including several husbands, were interested... After all, who doesn't have relatives, old friends, nephews, and friends from the same subject who have been following him all the way?
As for the only red-robed official who had not shown any joy before, that was Zhang Jun, the Trial Chief Censor. When he heard this, he wanted to speak for a moment, but did not dare to.
Seeing that no one objected, several people took the initiative to jump out to express their agreement, and the matter was passed without any problems.
According to the discussion between Emperor Zhao and several ministers, this matter will be under the overall charge of Minister Lu, who will quickly assign people according to their official rank. Whoever pacifies and stabilizes a city will be the corresponding county magistrate; whoever pacifies a certain number of soldiers will also receive corresponding merits; and whoever can pacify Xiangcheng, Wuyang, Yancheng, and Fangcheng, the four large cities on the northeast passage of Nanyang, will be given the power to command a military prefecture!
Therefore, the meeting was hastily dispersed in the morning, and almost everyone in the imperial court and even in Ruyang City was celebrating, but they did not know that a certain official simply did not care about their lives and was just using them to seize the city.
However, at this time, Emperor Zhao's most trusted civil official, Zhang Jun, who was serving a sentence as the Chief Censor, returned and took the initiative to see the Emperor... Considering the increasing number of people in the imperial court, this was a very bold move, and was doomed to be criticized.
However, Zhao Jiu had no reason to refuse.
"I risk my life to ask the emperor to take back his order and stop asking to annihilate the enemy in Nanyang!" Zhang Junfu saw the emperor in the back hall. Although he did not kneel down like the other military officials, his posture and words were very similar. "Nanyang is a flat land with Jin cavalry everywhere. Our army may not be able to win quickly. If we cannot win quickly, Xijing is still in the hands of the enemy. I am afraid that a large number of Jin reinforcements will attack. When the Jin cavalry attacks from the north and south, our army may not be able to defeat them... Your Majesty, I made a big mistake yesterday. Please punish me!"
Unexpectedly, the Zhao official who had held a one-man classic reading meeting for himself last night sat still in the back hall, silent for a long time, and then suddenly said: "Deyuan, did you bribe Feng Yi, or did Han Shizhong remember to inform you when he left last night?"
Zhang Jun looked up in shock, panicking for a moment, while Feng Yi next to him was so frightened that he knelt down.
