Volume 2 Chapter 55: Candidates
"Does the emperor really want to use Yue Fei?"
Unexpectedly, after a pause, it was Lu Haowen who spoke this time, rather than Lu Yihao whose prestige was becoming increasingly apparent.
"If we don't use him, who else can we use now?" Under the snow, Zhao Jiu turned his head with his hands behind his back to look at the main camp of the Jin army in the north which was gradually becoming more solid, and then he sighed.
Whether it was Lu Haowen or the others, they were all stunned at first, and then they all sighed a little... because as the emperor said, who else could they use at this time?
Besides, the reason why Emperor Zhao used Yue Fei is self-evident. For him, a time traveler, the two words Yue Fei are already a reason. Together with the three words Han Shizhong, they give him the basic courage to act accordingly. But even if we put aside this reason, who else can be used at the moment?
You must know that at this moment, looking around the entire battlefield, the Tokyo Garrison still has some spare troops and can take some action.
So, no matter who it is, he has to go to Tokyo to take charge of the situation.
Of course Zong Ze can be used, but according to Emperor Zhao's guess, he must be seriously ill and in critical condition.
After the Jingkang Incident and the current chaos in the southeast, Li Gang had made everyone lose confidence in his military ability.
Li Yanxian is definitely useful, but Shanzhou is the connection point between the Central Plains and Guanxi and Hebei, and it is itself a critical node. Its survival is related to whether the Song-Jin front can maintain the Yellow River line. And don't think that the situation in Shanzhou is slightly better now, that's just that the main force of the Western Route Army has not come to Shanzhou. Once Li Yanxian is sent to Tokyo to lead the troops, will it immediately attract Wanyan Loushi or Wanyan Yinshu to counterattack Shanzhou? At that time, the gates are opened, and the Jin army's eastern and western armies merge, which is a dead end.
By the same token, Zhang Jun cannot make dispatches easily, otherwise the gates of Jianghuai will be wide open, and if a Jin army suddenly marches south to Yangzhou, that would be a big trouble!
After much thought, even in the eyes of the central ministers, the only person in Jingdong and Jingxi who had some military achievements and could be trusted was Yue Fei, the pacification envoy who was a death row prisoner a year ago.
Therefore, he must be used. There are not many generals available now, but it is impossible to give him a super-class title, otherwise it will be bad.
This can be seen by looking at Li Yanxian, Han Shizhong, Zhang Jun, Qu Duan, and the rebellion in the southeast.
Why did Li Yanxian change his name to Kangjin?
Wasn't it because he had been dissatisfied with Li Gang's military strategy from the very beginning and slandered Prime Minister Li Gang as a military waste, which led to him being wanted?
Han Shizhong watched the new emperor ascend the throne in Nanjing, looked at the troops gathered, and said what was in his heart after drinking too much - "We are the first in the world!"
What does it mean?
The rest of the people are trash!
As for Zhang Jun and Qu Duan, they are both veterans of the Western Army and there is no need to mention them further.
There is also the rebellion in the southeast. You put Wang Shunchen in power. He has a big name, but he has not been involved in the army for decades. Who will accept him?
Oh, there is also the deceased Liu Guangshi. He didn’t care about status and rarely felt dissatisfied. He just liked to take advantage of his neighbors.
Things in the military are not that simple. It is one thing to have arrogant soldiers and brave generals, but the fundamental problem is that if so many people want to entrust their lives to one person, there must be some evidence.
Not to mention, most of the soldiers in the Tokyo Garrison were refugees from Hebei and bandits from the two capitals. If something bad happened, these people would not have much psychological pressure to turn into bandits.
However, to be honest, it was a bit unexpected that things had come to this point, because Zhao Jiu had worked extremely hard in Nanyang before and had considered this difficult situation.
Emperor Zhao didn't know how long Zong Ze lived in history, but he knew that Zong Ze died of grief and anger in Tokyo. Plus, given his age, he set up a special insurance policy from the beginning to ensure Yue Fei's performance.
And this insurance was provided by Zhang Suo, the two-route governor of Jingdong.
Zhang Suo had set up a camp in Huazhou very early and got along very well with Zong Ze. A considerable number of Zong Ze's subordinates had served under Zhang Suo. More importantly, this man, like Zong Ze, was Yue Fei's mentor and his trust in Yue Fei was unquestionable...So according to the original plan, even if Zong Ze got into trouble, it would just be Zhang Suo, a senior official in Nanjing, who would take over the Tokyo Liaison Office, and Yue Fei would definitely gain stronger protection and more room to play.
But it’s no use saying all this... Kong Yanzhou defected in the middle of the battle, and Zhang Suo died for his country!
"This matter is not so simple, we need to think about it more." Perhaps because he had waited for a long time without hearing Lu Yihao's words, Lu Haowen had to continue speaking with some hesitation. "Your Majesty... I wonder if your Majesty has thought about the matter in Nanyang when considering other situations?"
"What is it?"
"This was mentioned by Minister Chen before, and I agree with it." Lü Haowen turned his head to look at Chen Gui, which attracted the cold eyes of another Minister Lu. Lü Haowen didn't have time to care about it, but pointed to the shadows and lights in the north under the gradually dense snow and turned back to speak seriously. "The Jin army is afraid of our artillery, so they dare not approach the city and have no siege, but are the Jin army really powerless? It is understandable that they are surrounded on three sides and lack one, but with so many cavalry, can't they stop the messengers from coming and going? Why do they just let the messengers go in and out?"
"Of course I know what they mean." Zhao Jiu looked at the Jin army camp outside the city with his hands behind his back and answered frankly. "It's a psychological tactic. Since Nanyang's defense is excellent, they can simply use this tactic to force us to mobilize. Once we mobilize, we will inevitably reveal flaws, which will be an opportunity for them to fight... But this is an open conspiracy. You can't say that Han Shizhong is in danger, the Tokyo garrison is stagnant, and the situation in Guanxi is worrying. Are they all false?"
Lu Haowen opened his mouth, but finally nodded: "It's good that the emperor understands it in his heart... But I have another question. Since the emperor knows that the Jin army outside the city is attacking the heart and deliberately sending the northern front to a difficult situation, why does he still force the deployment? What exactly do you want to do with Yue Fei? Is it just to replace Zong Liushou and take charge of the affairs of Tokyo? At the moment, Zong Liushou should just be seriously ill, and Yue Fei is not restricted in Tokyo..."
"Mr. Lu." Zhao Jiu sighed. "Chen Gui only told you that the enemy was deceiving, but did he tell you that sitting in the withered city was a way to wait for death? In the current situation in Nanyang, don't we have a new artillery vehicle as a counterattack weapon?"
Lu Haowen and Chen Gui both lowered their hands slightly, but neither of them refuted anything.
Emperor Zhao also made it clear: "I want to save Han Shizhong... Han Liangchen cannot die! He is my pillar of support! I dare not think about who will be able to support the situation in the future if Han Shizhong dies in Changsha? Yue Fei is a talented person, but you also said that he is only 27 years old, and the sword has no eyes. If Han Shizhong can die in the prime of his life, who knows what will happen to him in the future?"
On the city wall, everyone looked at each other in silence, but no one was surprised. According to the government's previous care for Han Shizhong, this reason was absolutely credible.
"It is understandable that the emperor wants to rescue Han Taiwei. Han Shizhong is a great general of the country and must be rescued, but where will the troops come from?" At this moment, Lu Yihao suddenly put his hands together and asked before Lu Haowen. "According to the military intelligence collected by the Privy Council in the past few days, although Wanyan Talan has divided his troops everywhere, he should be stationed at the foot of Changsha City and personally besiege Changsha. In addition, the surrounding troops, from Yelu Mawu in Zhongmu in the north to Pucha Hubalu, Talan's son-in-law in the south, have a total of 40,000 troops, and most of them are cavalry... If the siege cannot be lifted in three to five days, the Jin army will only annihilate the city... A large army is needed!"
"That's right." Lu Haowen also nodded seriously.
"There are 20,000 to 30,000 in Tokyo city and 30,000 to 40,000 in the south of Kaifeng. If we let Li Yanxian abandon Hebei and just defend Shanzhou, maybe he can gather some more. Add to that the remnants of Liu Bao and Tian Shizhong... if we gather them all together, 100,000 is unlikely, but 70,000 to 80,000 is at least possible, right?" Zhao Jiu answered seriously.
"Don't you care about Tokyo anymore?" Minister of War Chen Gui immediately responded in panic.
"If we save the land but lose the people, we will lose both the land and the people. If we save the people but lose the land, we will save both the land and the people." It was Prime Minister Lu Yihao who answered Chen Gui. "Of course, Dongjing City is important, but it is not as important as Han Liangchen... If we save Han Liangchen, even if Dongjing is lost, we will be able to fight back sooner or later! But if we continue to waste time like this, the cities in Wuhe will fall one by one sooner or later. What will we have to protect Dongjing by then?"
Chen Gui was speechless for a moment.
"I have thought about this carefully." Zhao Jiu hurriedly stopped the two from fighting. "Dongjing is only 200 miles away from Changsha, and the Jin army closest to Dongjing is Yelu Ma Wu's army from Zhongmu, with 10,000 men, 50 miles away... Attacking a city and relieving it are not the same thing. If we can gather troops to rescue Han Shizhong and then return to Dongjing to rest, Yelu Ma Wu will not have enough time to capture Dongjing."
Everyone fell into thought again.
But a moment later, Hu Yin spoke seriously: "Your Majesty is right. Han Shizhong is a famous general of our dynasty. We must save him!"
Then, Xiao Lin, a scholar, stopped being silent: "Han Shizhong must be rescued!"
"I also think we should save him!" Yan Xiaozhong, who had been silent all this time, finally bowed without hesitation, regardless of his friendship with Chen Gui. "Otherwise, how can people in the world see the sincerity of the government?"
On the top of the city wall, a prime minister, an internal governor, a prefect of Nanyang, and a chief censor all expressed their agreement with the emperor, and the matter was irreversible.
In fact, Lu Haowen no longer insisted, but bowed and returned to the crux of the matter: "If this is the case, and the condition of Zong Liushou cannot be made public, we can only find a minister to serve as Zong Liushou's deputy, and then supervise Yue Fei to go south and integrate the Tokyo Liushou Division."
"That's the only way." Zhao Jiu was silent for a moment, and finally gave up the possibility of letting Yue Fei directly become the commander, but he was still a little worried. "But I'm afraid that the commander-in-chief in Tokyo and the surrounding areas cannot be given to Yue Fei."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty." Lu Haowen sighed. "I've thought about it and I think there's a good candidate... Now that the deputy governor of Tokyo, Quan Bangyan, is trapped in Huazhou, and the general, Lu Xing, is trapped in Xiangcheng, there are only two candidates left. Your Majesty needs someone to look after Yue Fei, so you have to get rid of Wang Yan who has a grudge against Yue Fei. So there is only one person left, and this candidate is just right."
Zhao Jiu's heart moved slightly, but he didn't have time to think about it, instead he blurted out: "I know who you are talking about. The last person is naturally Du Chong, the former governor of Daming Prefecture and the current prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture... But didn't he escape from Daming Prefecture? Can he be used? Does he dare to fight? I heard that he is a man who kills indiscriminately."
"Sir, the current situation is that there are only a few people with this qualification, and this person is just right for the job." Lu Haowen explained. "The most important thing is that this person is from the same hometown as Yue Fei."
Zhao Jiu suddenly realized that in this day and age, fellow townsmen are a huge guarantee for personal relationships. What's more, and more importantly, the implicit meaning that Lu Haowen didn't say is that most of the military commanders of the Tokyo Garrison were refugees from Hebei. So Du Chong's hometown is also a guarantee for Tokyo. If you replace him with a senior official who is not from Hebei, those military commanders may not be convinced... However, Emperor Zhao obviously had no impression of the name Du Chong, and didn't know what the historical image was, so he quickly turned back to look at Yang Yi Zhong.
Yang Yizhong had no room to interrupt in this situation, but as the official data query tool of Emperor Zhao, General Yang ignored the thin layer of snow on his shoulders and quickly bowed and gave the answer:
"Reporting to the emperor, what Prime Minister Lu said is not wrong. The two are from the same hometown and have a good relationship... Yue Fei is a rare scholar among the warriors, and Du Dayin once said in Tokyo that there are many heroes in Xiangzhou, but most of them are rude. The only one who can get along with him as a fellow villager is Yue Pengju... Although these words may be more of a mockery of Zhang Yong, the commander of the Tokyo garrison who is also from Xiangzhou, it can still be seen that Du Chong and Yue Fei get along well."
At this point, Yang Yizhong paused for a moment, then whispered, "Not only that, Du Dayin's eldest son Du Song and third son Du Xuan are both in Xiangyang; and his son-in-law Han Ru and second son Du Yan are both in the city right now."
This is what it means to have hostages and be at ease.
Zhao Jiu felt relieved for a moment, but then shook his head slightly.
By the way, when things had come to this point, how could he not know that there was such a good candidate ready in Tokyo, and it could even be said that he was the natural candidate. His qualifications, current official position, and place of origin were all the most suitable... It was understandable that Lu Yihao was not clear about the personnel matters as he had just arrived in Nanyang, but Lu Haowen, who was in charge of the province and had personally participated in arranging official positions for the past six months, had delayed providing them until now. It was obvious that he was still conservative and was unwilling to take the initiative to cause trouble.
Of course, as the saying goes, having a solution is always better than having no solution, and Lu Haowen provided such a suitable candidate under pressure from himself, so what else is there to think about?
If we don't use him, who else can we use?
Emperor Zhao did not repeat what he had said before. Instead, he made a decision on the spot with a sense of relief and fatigue: "Then send an envoy to Tokyo. No need to send a letter to prevent it from being intercepted by the Jin army. Let the envoy go to Tokyo to meet Zong Ze and explain the matter to him in person!"
"Your Majesty!" Lu Yihao interrupted and added a little. "You can issue an irrelevant decree to confer an official title on Yue Fei, and let Du Chong's second son Du Yan be the envoy... The decree is for the Tokyo Resident Office to verify the authenticity. In this way, regardless of whether Zong Resident Office is awake or not, the Tokyo Resident Office will know the emperor's intentions; and Du Chong will naturally understand the emperor's intentions when he sees his own son. At that time, even if he is afraid of difficulties, his son can convey the emperor's intentions clearly, and he will not dare not go south to rescue Han Liangchen, nor will he not use Yue Fei."
Hearing this, Zhao Jiu almost completely relaxed: "Then there is something to look forward to! Hurry and do it, get Du Yan out of the city overnight! Don't delay for a moment!"
Everyone bowed together and said no more.
