Volume 2 Chapter 40 Scolding
The doubts and waiting of Emperor Zhao and the Nanyang Central Command did not last too long, because the Jin people could not waste too much time and watch the opportunity slip away... Whether the early raid was successful or not, they had to continue to advance. So in late autumn in September, it was probably because the Jin follow-up troops gradually gathered successfully, and the clues of the main force of the Jin people also appeared one by one.
Among them, Wanyan Loushi's message was the first to arrive.
This general, who was recognized by the Jin army internally and probably also by the Song army, was the most victorious general of the Jin army and the most reliable general under Wanyan Nianhan. He led the main force of the Jin army's western route of 50,000 across the Yellow River, landed at the mouth of the Yan River, went upstream and directly took Yan'an.
The news came with a long delay, not much later than the five-way raid. Moreover, according to what Yuwen Xu relayed to the local governor Wang Shu, Qu Duan, the governor of Yan'an Prefecture, gave up resistance and chose to withdraw directly. It is possible that Yan'an had already fallen by then.
Emperor Zhao and the other officials in the central government could not say anything to blame them.
After all, the gap in troop strength is so huge, and Wanyan Loushi's record and reputation are there, so avoiding frontal combat to preserve strength is a reasonable choice. What's more, Guanxi and Li Yanxian, and everyone in Nanyang have already made an agreement that they will drag it out as long as they can, and they will hold out as long as they can, without any additional requirements... So there is really nothing to worry about Qu Duan's actions this time.
The only thing he fears is comparison. The news that a minister of Zhang Suo's rank died for his country and that Xin Daozon, a Yanei whom Emperor Zhao had secretly looked down upon, died in battle had just arrived, and then Qu Duan took the initiative to give up Yan'an, which inevitably made people compare.
But as I said before, from the current perspective, the only news we know is that he gave up Yan'an, which leaves us speechless.
The second general exposed after Wanyan Loushi was somewhat surprising, but also reasonable... He was also from the Western Route Army, the so-called Taiyuan garrison Wanyan Yinshuke.
Due to Li Yanxian's successful counterattack, Wanyan Loushi led the main force of the Western Army across the river, and the military situation in Shanxi and Hedong areas gradually emerged in the vision of the Song Army. At this time, everyone knew that Wanyan Yinshu, the second-in-command of the Jin Kingdom's Western Army, did not move at all and was stationed in Taiyuan.
His presence not only successfully supported the defeated Wanyan Saba, but also caused Li Yanxian's bold strategic plan to fail in the womb, and Hedong soon fell into a stalemate.
So far, the deployment of the Jin army's western army has been roughly determined:
Wanyan Loushi actually assumed the task of commanding the main force of the attack, leading 50,000 troops across the Yellow River to sweep Shaanxi;
Wanyan Yinshu could lead 20,000 troops to garrison Taiyuan (Taiyuan Basin), while Wanyan Gushen and Yelu Yudu, whose forces were unknown, were stationed in Hezhong Prefecture (the area around Linfen in later generations), working together to ensure the Jin people's control over the Hedong area of Shanxi, while also ensuring Wanyan Loushi's retreat.
Wanyan Saba (Wanyan Seri's younger brother), Wanyan Balisu (Wanyan Yinshuke's younger brother), and Yelu Mawu each led 5,000 to 10,000 troops to participate in the raid.
Up to this point, there may be some unclear details such as the sudden rise of Yelu Ma Wu's army, the transfer of Yelu Yudu's military power, and the unknown strength of Wanyan Gushen's army, but the deployment of the Western Army from top to bottom has been clearly demonstrated from a strategic point of view, with both offense and defense, both normal and unconventional.
This seems to prove once again that the Jin Dynasty's Western Army was still the strongest, most combative, and most strategic and tactical force among the Jin people.
Time continued to move forward, and before the Double Ninth Festival on September 9, with the continuous arrival of messengers from the Tokyo Garrison, the rest of the Jin army's deployment was completely exposed, and this time it was much simpler - Jin's capital marshal Wanyan Nianhan, the left deputy marshal and the third prince Wanyan Erlido, the right deputy marshal Wanyan Talan, and the marshal's left supervisor and the fourth prince Wanyan Wushu were all in Damingfu. Moreover, after the arrival of follow-up troops, Wanyan Talan and Wanyan Wushu immediately divided their troops and crossed the river to the south. The former went out of Puzhou (northeast of Kaifeng) and the latter went out of Zhengzhou (west of Kaifeng), bypassing Huazhou (due north of Kaifeng), where the resistance was the most intense, in an attempt to launch a fierce pincer attack on Tokyo .
"The troops of Wanyan Balisu and Yelu Mawu should be regarded as the support of the Eastern Army by the Western Army. If we count them as 20,000, then the area around Tokyo is the main force of the Jin Army of 120,000?!" In the military quarters of Yushan Camp, which has been getting more and more lively and crowded recently, Chen Gui, the Minister of War who visited today, looked grim after hearing this military situation.
"What about 120,000?" Prime Minister Lu Yihao responded coldly. "It's only 20,000 more."
"So what if there are 120,000?" Chen Gui almost laughed out of anger. "Prime Minister Lu! Prime Minister Lu! The Jin army has 20,000 more troops, and we lost 20,000 troops because we lost Zhang Suo. With one increase and one decrease, doesn't it mean that the original 200,000 to 100,000 has become 180,000 to 120,000? It was 2 to 1 before, and now it's 3 to 2. This is dangerous enough."
"Wanyan Nianhan and Wanyan Erliduo will not cross the river. According to the Jin people's fighting habits, they should stop in Damingfu and Puyang to supervise the army. Wanyan Erliduo may withdraw as soon as possible." Hu Hongxiu has been beaten by officials for a few times and has become more honest. At this moment, he is cautious. "And in order to protect the retreat, Damingfu and Puyang should leave 20,000 to 30,000 people as backup and support."
"Is this what a military officer of the Privy Council should say?" Chen Gui, who was almost sixty years old, immediately retorted, leaving Hu Hongxiu afraid to reply. "The Jin people are leaving a large number of troops in Daming Prefecture to control the Yellow River. Doesn't Zong Liushou in Huazhou have any troops to guard against it?"
"Minister Chen." Liu Ziyu bowed. "General Hu's point is that things have come to this point. From the overall perspective, we are not without troops to deploy, but we are also constrained by the overall situation. What we can do is actually limited."
"Are we going to sit back and watch Tokyo fall into enemy hands again? That's the country's capital!" Chen Gui responded angrily. "It shouldn't have been lost during the Jingkang Incident! It's not like I haven't been there before. It's such a big city, with so many soldiers and the treasury full of supplies. It should have been defended!"
"What's the point of talking about the past events of Jingkang now?" Hearing this, Lu Yihao clasped his hands and sighed, and once again stood with Liu Ziyu, his nominal subordinate. "Minister Chen, we all know that you regretted not being able to serve the king that day, and because you were gradually recognized by the world as being good at defending the city and knowing the army, you have always felt regretful. Now you even want to stay and guard Dongjing City in place of the emperor... But most of us have personally experienced the Jingkang Incident, and we feel that the current situation is ten or a hundred times better than during the Jingkang period. At least we don't have to suffer for our superiors , and then be tied up and sent to the Jin camp by subordinates without knowing why."
Chen Gui was slightly startled, and everyone else in the room fell silent.
However, Lu Yihao continued to clasp his hands and sighed: "What happened during the Jingkang period was a time when the country was about to perish and evil spirits appeared frequently. All kinds of incidents seemed to make sense at the time, but now looking from afar, they seem absurd... For example, fathers and sons quarreled, and brothers quarreled. Can you imagine that a person as accommodating as Yuwen Xianggong was also involved in it? And once you get involved in such a thing, what kind of absurd and ridiculous things can't you do? But what about him today?"
The room had already been completely silent, and everyone from Wang Boyan down seemed to be lost in thought or reminiscing about something.
"There is also a dispute between the new party and the old party..."
Lu Yihao continued to stand in front of the big case that was just opened half a month ago and sighed slowly. "It is said that Lu Xianggong in Nanyang City is a three-line Xianggong, and Xu Xianggong in Xiangyang City is a pile of Xianggong. But as Zhang Deyuan said before on the Baihe River, during the siege of the city in Jingkang, it was these two who urged Yuan Sheng to change the teaching content of the Imperial College, pardon the Yuanyou Party, and remove Wang Shuwang from the worship of the Great Saint Teacher, so that the people in Dongjing City made up a joke to mock... I am old and can't remember it clearly. What did they say? Who still remembers it?"
"Reporting to the Prime Minister."
Wan Qixie, a newcomer to the Privy Council who had just returned, stepped forward and bowed. "I was in the Imperial College at that time, and I just happened to remember. So-called... I don't care about Taiyuan, but I care about the Imperial College. I don't care about the defense of autumn, but I care about the Spring and Autumn Annals. I don't care about the artillery stones, but I care about Anshi. I don't care about the Prince of Su, but I care about the Prince of Shu. I don't care about Yanshan, but I care about Nieshan. I don't care about Tokyo, but I care about Cai Jing. I don't care about the border of Hebei, but I care about the exemption of candidates. I don't care about Hedong, but I care about Chendong. I don't care about the second prince, but I care about the establishment of the prince."
"Yeah, that's it... it's really funny!"
Lu Yihao continued to clasp his hands and sighed again. "There is also the matter of the evil man Guo Jing, and the matter of the monk Zong Yin who was killed before. If you want to make sense, of course it makes sense... Tian Dan was trapped in Jimo, and every time he decided whether to send troops, he would consult divination to ask for good or bad luck, and then he won all the battles; even when Zong stayed in Hebei before, he also consulted divination every time he sent troops, but he was defeated all the time... Isn't it the same idea? In the so-called extraordinary times, when prestige is insufficient, ghosts and gods must be used to fool the people below, so as to reassure the people and encourage the soldiers. But throughout history, the only people who got themselves into trouble by doing these things and ended up using these things as a life-saving straw were the two incidents during the Jingkang period!"
There was complete silence in the barracks, and when Lu Yihao said this, he waited for a moment, then suddenly turned around and said to Chen Gui, "Minister Chen!"
"Mr. Lu." Chen Gui was shocked and quickly bowed to him.
"I ask you, what is the purpose of your outburst today?!" Lu Yihao seemed to be smiling, but he was clearly scolding. "You keep saying something about Jingkang, but what is the difference between your actions and those idle people in Jingkang who relied on the emperor's favor and did bad things when the disaster struck?!"
Chen Gui was dumbfounded and wanted to explain.
"You don't need to say more." Lu Yihao sneered. "Don't you just think you have the ability to do something? But the government didn't let you do it? A mere county magistrate with a degree in science and technology, first a pacification envoy, then a minister of war, and a purple robe in one year, how trustworthy is that? You said you can defend the city, but Nanyang is now the secondary capital, and the government and the central government are in your hands, aren't they?! Haven't they gradually transferred troops to Nanyang City in the past few days? In the past few months, haven't you been allowed to recruit civilians to rebuild the city defense at will? As for the overall military situation on the front line, dozens of people from the Privy Council live and eat in this military camp, working day and night. What methods have we not thought of? Even for today's matter, whether to go to support is just a matter of decision. How can you have the right to make a scene and question in front of two prime ministers and the entire Zhifang Department?!"
"I am ashamed." Chen Gui's face flushed and he looked embarrassed.
"You don't have to feel ashamed." Lu Yihao continued to clasp his hands and sneer. "If it were in the past, I would have driven you out of the court even if I had to give up my job as a husband, but the emperor has determined that Nanyang City will rely on you in the future, so I will let you go for now and see how you defend the city... Hurry up and mobilize your troops, don't let the emperor down."
Chen Gui had no choice but to bow his head respectfully and then say goodbye and leave.
Besides, as the saying goes, there is always someone who can defeat someone else. Chen Gui was nearly 60 years old and was the Minister of War. In fact, at that time, there were only two ministers in the military quarters who were older and had higher official positions than him and could teach him a lesson. But Chen Gui was the new favorite of the emperor, and Wang Boyan's temperament was not likely to offend him. So in the end, he fell into the hands of Lu Yihao, who was known for his harshness and brutality.
But it's not surprising.
Chen Gui came and left in a hurry, and the noise and arguments in the barracks resumed as before. Lu Yihao also closed his eyes and rested as usual.
Wang Boyan, who had been silent before, looked at the empty chair at the far end of the large desk, frowned slightly, and called out to Wanqi Xie in a low voice:
"How long has the official been out? Who has been accompanying him?"
"They have been out for an hour." Wan Qixie hurriedly replied respectfully. "Only Madam Wu accompanied them in her military uniform and sword, Deputy Commander Liu (Liu Yan) led the guards, and Scholar Xiaolin accompanied them. It is said that they saw that the weather was very good and it was the Double Ninth Festival, so they went to Yushan to climb the mountain... Maybe they were thinking about the two saints from afar."
"I'm not thinking about the two saints, I'm making a decision." Wang Boyan sighed. "You are young and have good legs. Go to the mountain and wait for the officials to come back."
"Yes." Wanqi Xie was eager to take on this task, so he responded and left immediately.
Wang Boyan kept shaking his head as he looked at Wanqi Xie's hurried back.
