Volume 2 Chapter 60: One Zhang Qing
Emperor Zhao was right. There was a delay in the transmission of information. When the military intelligence was sent to Nanyang, when the main force of the Jin army sat idly by and Wang De used his great power to defeat the vassal army in the east of the city, the 20,000-strong Eight Character Army, led by Wang Yan, had successfully crossed the river and arrived in Tokyo.
During this process, Nianhan, the first person in the Jin army who was the least likely to be a waste, reacted immediately. He sent a troop of 5,000 people and gave the leader Gao Jingshan the power to command.
However, Gao Jingshan followed Wang Yan to the bank of the Yellow River and watched him cross the river, but he never launched an attack. Instead, he turned directly back to Daming Prefecture.
The reason was simple. Gao Jingshan, a veteran general of Goryeo ethnic group, believed that his 5,000 soldiers could not defeat the enemy.
Moreover, since the Song Dynasty actually gave up the two rivers, the Eight Character Army has been active in the Taihang Mountains. For about a year and a half, they have been fighting almost every day. They may have been defeated and retreated all the time, but they kept fighting and growing stronger. They did not even realize that they had become the army with the most combat experience and the least fearful of the enemy when facing the Jin Army.
Moreover, this army was different from the pure righteous army at Wuma Mountain. They also had the unquestionable tradition and genes of the Song Dynasty officials. This year, they somehow missed the Jin army's early sweep and spent the autumn safely as if they were gathering strength. They were well-trained and well-fed. Once they were assembled, the 20,000 people went south in an orderly manner. Gao Jingshan had 5,000 Jurchen cavalrymen who had just been rotated from the Huazhou battlefield, but he actually lost the courage to fight them in the field!
Just like that, both sides parted ways without firing a single arrow.
When the Jin army returned to Daming Prefecture, Nianhan did not blame Gao Jingshan. On the contrary, having suffered at the hands of the rebels before, he almost immediately agreed with Gao Jingshan's judgment, and deep in his heart he lost the desire to capture Tokyo.
It's a deserted city. All the gold and silver craftsmen and women have been squeezed dry. Now they are dry and hard. It would be better for them to stay in Daming Prefecture and watch Wanyan Talan, Wanyan Wushu and Wanyan Loushi fend for themselves.
In fact, Nianhan was paying more attention to Jinan Prefecture at this time.
This was not because of how the father and son of Liu Yu in Jinan Prefecture could flatter people. In fact, Liu Yu's backer was Wanyan Talan. The Jin Dynasty's high-level officials had already had an established strategy to set up Han vassal states on the south bank of the Yellow River, which was itself promoted by the faction of the state leader to which Wanyan Talan belonged.
However, after experiencing the great uprising of the Hebei rebels and the months of battles in Henan which were both smooth and difficult, Nianhan, as a top politician of the Jin Dynasty, had keenly realized that it was a pipe dream to use the Jurchens to completely rule the whole of China, and that the "vassal policy" of the king Wanyan Wuqimai and the right deputy marshal Wanyan Talan might be more correct to a certain extent.
Therefore, the leader of one of the three major factions of the Jin Dynasty and the supreme leader of the army not only has no intention of taking any military action, but is instead determined to settle the matter before Wanyan Talan, Liu Yu's former backer, so as to take this political achievement into his own pocket!
According to his recent communications with Shanxi, he should set up three Han vassal states south of the Yellow River: Qi State headed by Liu Yu in Shandong, Qin State headed by Zhe Keqiu in Guanxi, and then, after the Nanyang incident was resolved, he would find a similar Han hero to establish Zheng State or Chu State.
There is no need for Zhao Song to stay!
That's right... Liu Yu only bribed Wanyan Talai, and after Wanyan Talai traveled west to the west side of Dongjing, the number one Song traitor was worried that he would be framed. However, he never expected that the real bosses of the Jin army were already vying to make him a Han emperor!
This is simply destiny, isn't it? It's much more reliable than killing a white snake or a fox!
It is much better than Zhao Song bullying orphans and widows!
Not to mention that Wanyan Nianhan gradually lost his interest in military affairs and was only thinking about political issues, and treated Gao Jingshan as warmly as a spring breeze.
On the other hand, Wang Yan led an army of 20,000 into Tokyo, but things were not harmonious at all - the problem was with Yue Fei, the actual military commander in Tokyo.
As everyone knows, Yue Fei and Wang Yan had some grudges. Because of that incident, Yue Fei was almost beheaded in Hebei by Wang Yan's subordinate Xiao Fan, and when he arrived at the Tokyo Liaison Office, he was almost beheaded by the officials of the Tokyo Liaison Office... Of course, each side had its own reasons, and Wang Yan finally gave Yue Fei a sentence to clear the matter. After all, the two sides were not mortal enemies.
Later, Yue Fei was promoted three times a day under Zong Ze, and won a great victory at Liangshanpo, becoming the pacification commissioner. The situation was different... The difference was on two levels. One was his status and he was leading the army independently, so there was no reason for conflict. The other was that Yue Pengju was growing up, and when he became the pacification commissioner and a big boss, he felt embarrassed about leaving the team without permission.
Therefore, as soon as Wang Yan crossed the river, Du Chong ordered Wang Yan to lead the Eight Character Army to station at Qingcheng, south of Tokyo. Yue Fei took the initiative to send troops to support them, and at the same time sent Fu Xuan as an envoy to meet Wang Yan. He told him to take the Yuetai route west of Tokyo, as he wanted to meet him in person and then offer wine to apologize.
In response, Wang Yan not only hosted a banquet to entertain his old subordinate Fu Xuan, but also readily accepted Yue Fei's invitation.
Then, on the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month, Wang Yan led 20,000 soldiers of the Eight Character Army and marched through the area between the small town of Yuetai and the city of Dongjing, preparing to head towards Qingcheng, south of Dongjing.
Yue Fei, who had specially rushed to Yuetai City where Zhang Xian was stationed, also arranged a banquet in the city early with Fu Xuan. They changed into their regular clothes, wrapped their hats with furs, and acted as sincere subordinates. Braving the cold wind, together with Zhang Xian and others, they gathered a large group of people and stood by the road waiting for them.
However, Wang Yan, who had promised well before, rode a tall horse, surrounded by countless Eight Character Army soldiers, and took his close aides such as General Xiao Fan, and crossed Yuetai and went to Qingcheng without changing his expression. From beginning to end, he did not even glance at the roadside.
Now, tens of thousands of people from both armies knew about it immediately. Yue Pengju came to apologize eagerly, but ended up humiliating himself.
"Brother!" Zhang Xian was dumbfounded, watching Wang Yan riding past without looking away. It took him half a minute to realize what was happening, but his face flushed and he could no longer endure it. "This guy is humiliating you!"
"I know."
Yue Fei stood by the road with his hands clasped together and sighed, but he just glanced at the continuous Eight Character Army in front of him. These Eight Character Army passing by here also stared at the group of people on the road with strange expressions, as if they realized something.
"How can you still endure this?" Zhang Xian was so angry that he would have almost drawn his sword if it weren't for the strict military discipline.
In fact, Zhang Xian had no choice but to do so. That was the style of the Song army. It was common for armies under different organizations to fight each other because of quarrels. If there was a disagreement, the commander of one side would chop down the commander of the other side, and the commander of the other side would kill the military supervisor of this side. These were all common things.
In another time and space, Wang De once refused to accept Han Shizhong's leadership and directly chopped down the deputy general sent by Han Shizhong. Although he was imprisoned for this, nothing happened in the end.
The most crucial point is that at this moment, as Yue Fei publicly invited Wang Yan to drink and apologize, and then Wang Yan publicly humiliated Yue Fei, if Yue Pengju did not fight back, then I am afraid that based on the military atmosphere of that year, everyone would speculate that the responsibility for that case was Yue Fei's.
Otherwise, why can you swallow this breath ? !
"So what if I can't bear it?" Yue Fei finally turned around and asked. "Chop him down? We're about to go to war, and we start a civil war first? And we're going to implicate General Fu?"
Fu Xuan was originally extremely embarrassed, but when he saw Yue Fei like this, he was angry that Wang Yan even humiliated him, but at the same time he was grateful to Yue Fei for saving his face, so he bowed repeatedly.
Zhang Xian was speechless, but still a little angry. He stamped his feet and said, " Brother, you are now the governor, not his subordinate. Why do you still tolerate him?"
Fu Xuan could only sigh upon hearing this.
Yue Fei laughed instead of getting angry when he heard this: "If I were still a minor general, do you believe that Wang Taiwei would personally dismount and comfort me? It is precisely because I am now the pacification envoy that he has gone to such great lengths to humiliate me! As for General Fu, he is just an innocent victim."
Zhang Xian was confused for a moment, but Fu Xuan understood a little and then shook his head repeatedly.
Yue Fei sighed quietly, "Wang Taiwei is a man of good family background and high talent. He is just like Guan Yu, arrogant to his superiors but lenient to his subordinates... That's why he gave me a way out when I was so resistant to him that day. It's also why he treated Fu Tongzhi sincerely when he went to him before. But now I am the governor, almost on an equal footing with him, which has aroused his arrogance, so what happened today happened."
Zhang Xian thought about it again and again, but he was still angry: "Just let it go like this?"
"The war is about to begin. If you keep making trouble, I will deal with you first!" Yue Fei's face suddenly changed.
Zhang Xian was helpless.
Having said that, although Yue Fei endured such humiliation in a way that he swallowed his pride, since such an incident had happened, it would be a bad idea for him to continue to stay on the roadside as an exhibition.
Zhang Xian returned to the small town of Yuetai, where he ate and drank behind closed doors out of spite, while Yue Fei and Fu Xuan immediately mounted their horses and headed for the city of Tokyo.
In the afternoon, when the two had just entered the city, Commander Li Kui was already waiting there and took the initiative to report: "Pacify the city! I heard that the 'One Zhang Qing' from Captain Ma's family entered the city from the South Gate this morning. He first went to visit the governor Zong, and now he is probably going to see the deputy governor Du!"
Yue Fei was delighted, but nervous at the same time. He gave up his original plan to visit Zong Ze and galloped directly on the wide road in the empty city, leading Fu Xuan and Li Kui to the Kaifeng government office where Du Chong lived.
When he walked to the government office, as luck would have it, he bumped into a middle-aged woman wearing an iron belt, about 28 or 29 years old, who was none other than the 'One Zhang Qing' Madam Ma!
"Sister-in-law!"
Upon seeing this, Yue Fei immediately dismounted and bowed respectfully to the woman. Fu Xuan and Li Kui also dismounted and saluted.
In fact, if Ma Gao, a young and handsome man and senior commander of the Tokyo Garrison who was highly regarded by Zong Ze, was present, Yue Fei might not need such courtesy, and even Fu Xuan might not need to perform the ceremony, but Mrs. Ma herself was an exception.
This is because although Madam Ma is just a woman, she is born with great strength, which can be seen from her nickname... Yi Zhang Qing refers to a giant python with great strength. During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Taoism, among the thirty-six leaders of Song Jiang's bandits, there was one called Zhang Heng, whose nickname was also Yi Zhang Qing... From this we can see that Madam Ma's strength and kung fu are truly amazing.
In fact, Mrs. Ma herself often wore armor and wielded weapons, riding horses into battle with her husband, and was considered a brave general of the Tokyo Garrison.
However, although everyone knew that Mrs. Ma was the second-in-command of Ma Gao's army and was in fact a general in the Tokyo Garrison, according to the rules of that time, it was impossible to include her in the official military roster. So Mrs. Ma had no title or position and could only rise and fall with her husband Ma Gao.
So no matter how high the official position Yue Fei held, as long as he did not get rid of his current identity as a pure military man and became a husband, he would not be able to control the other party when he saw her. He could only follow the customs of the underworld and call her sister-in-law and be respectful to her.
And to be honest, Yizhangqing did take good care of him in the past.
In fact, Yizhangqing, because of her special status in the Tokyo Liaison Office, is able to say things that her husband is not comfortable with, go to places that her husband is not comfortable with, and do things that her husband is not comfortable with. In addition, she is warm-hearted, so she is known as everyone's "sister-in-law".
The fact that Commander Ma Gao was slightly superior to the other commanders in the Tokyo Garrison was probably due to this lady.
"Wulang!" Mrs. Ma was delighted to see Yue Fei, and she dismounted to meet him. "I haven't seen you for a year, right?"
Yue Fei hurriedly bowed again and said: "Sister-in-law, in fact, it's not a year. I left after the Lantern Festival at the beginning of the year, and there is still a month left."
Seeing that he was still as honest as before, Madam Ma could not help but pull the reins and shake her head and smile: "No matter what, it's good to be back! You are from Hebei, why are you going to Jingdong to get involved with those Jingdong locals? Now Marshal Zong is in poor health, Du Dayin is about to be promoted, and you are Du Dayin's fellow villager, and you are also the pacification envoy... We are talking about it in the south, saying that you may be able to become a deputy governor or a commander this time!"
Yue Fei didn't care about these things when he heard this. Instead, he immediately became serious: "Sister-in-law, what do you think in the south? I heard that before the twelfth lunar month, ten commanders in the south actually swore brotherhood together. Do you have any plans? As an official army, you learned to swear brotherhood like bandits. If the news spread to the marshal, the magistrate, and the court in Nanyang, what would they think? And this time, magistrate Du received the imperial edict and specially summoned ten commanders to come together. Why are you the only one here?"
"We are all family, sister-in-law, I won't hide it from you." Yi Zhang Qing was straightforward, and he stepped forward and whispered. "It was Sang Zhong's idea to swear brotherhood before. The head of my family also thought it was not a good idea and did not agree at first, but later, seeing that Marshal Zong was in poor health and did not have any military orders, and the Jin army was fighting fiercely in the west of Beijing, it was difficult to make a slap, so he agreed and became the eldest brother. But in fact, it was just because the situation was so bad and there was no one to lead, everyone was afraid, so they swore an oath. According to Sang Zhong's words, it was just to prevent someone from breaking the rules and causing a fight, so they took precautions in advance! However, when the south heard that Du Dayin took over, they were still happy, after all, Du Dayin was from Hebei..."
Yue Fei frowned as he listened, but given the current situation, it was not a good idea to say anything more.
By the way, at this time last year, Yue Pengju might have directly believed Yizhangqing's words... In fact, he still believes it now, because he knows that Ma Gao and most of the Tokyo Garrison commanders who participated in the brotherhood are just more like gangsters. In the previous situation, nine out of ten times they were just trying to survive together and had no bad intentions.
Especially the Yizhangqing couple. The husband Ma Gao is older and has the demeanor of an elder, while Yizhangqing herself has little knowledge. She is just a passionate woman with extraordinary martial arts skills.
These two people cannot possibly have any ill intentions.
So what's the problem?
It was very simple. During the past year, Yue Fei had almost no free day in Jeju. He practiced martial arts, read books, trained soldiers and fought battles. However, he had different experiences than before. He knew clearly that the history books clearly recorded that the founding emperor of this dynasty was able to rise to power because of the help of his ten brothers in the Yishe Society, and finally he was crowned with the yellow robe.
At this time, these ten men have thousands of soldiers under their command and are in a time of national turmoil. What will the central government and Tokyo think when they come up with a sworn brotherhood?
Not only that, Sang Zhong, who started the commotion first, was no ordinary person... Sang Zhong was a junior colonel under Zhong Shidao, and like Li Qiong who stayed in Tokyo City, he was a knowledgeable man. He might be aware of this story, but if he knew it, and still did such a thing, what was his intention?
I should add here that Yue Fei's experience at this time was different from before. He had been the pacification envoy for more than half a year and had experienced so many things. When he looked at his former colleagues in the Tokyo Garrison, he could already roughly guess who was capable and who was incompetent, who could be used and who should be guarded against.
For example, if we only talk about their abilities, the six families of Li Qiong, Sang Zhong, Cao Cheng, Wang Shan, Zhang Yong, and Ma Gao and his wife are the best at fighting;
For example, if we only talk about reliable people, the Ma Gao couple, Zhang Yong, Liu Wenshun (Liu Heshang), Li Bao (Sick Guan Suo), and Li Qiong who was secretly at odds with Yue Fei were more reliable.
There were a few people who followed the crowd, including Li Hong, Ma You, Xu Yan and others;
Apart from these, Sang Zhong, Cao Cheng, Wang Shan and Zhang Yu who surrendered to the Jin people were either arrogant or dissatisfied with the internal system of the Song Dynasty. They often made inappropriate remarks and behaviors. It was just that Zong Ze was a little bit skillful, which meant that they were a little inappropriate. When Zong Ze fell ill this time, he should have been on guard.
However, despite this, the Jin people's southward march has stirred up a mess, and everyone has already had their own circumstances and performances due to their situations and positions:
When Zhang Yifeng encountered the main force of the Jin army, he simply surrendered to the Jin army;
Wang Shan, who usually said "the world is in chaos, the rich and the poor will be re-determined", had nothing to say because he and Han Shizhong were stationed in the same city. He was more reliable than anyone else.
Li Qiong was from Xiangzhou, a scholar, good at both civil and military affairs, and friendly to others. He just came late and had only been a commander before. But under the pressure of the overall situation, he happened to stay in Dongjing City and met his fellow villager Du Qiong who was promoted to a position, so he was immediately promoted to commander, taking charge of the remaining forces of the Dongjing garrison in the city, and became the second most powerful general in Dongjing City after Yue Fei... But for some reason, after becoming the commander, Li Qiong, who had always been kind to others, showed some resentment towards Yue Fei;
As for Zhang Yong, he was a reliable general, but he was stationed in Yanling, which was close to the front line. Facing Wang Sheng, a general under Han Shizhong, who repeatedly asked him to attack and save Han Shizhong, he was quite dissatisfied. Instead, he simply abandoned the city and retreated to Fugou behind him.
There were many defeated troops and generals like Zhang Yong around Fugu. The ten commanders who swore brotherhood this time gathered there. They included Ma Gao, Sang Zhong, Zhang Yong, Cao Cheng, Liu Wenshun, Li Hong, Ma You, Xu Yan, plus two new arrivals this year, Qi Fang and Liu Zhong, whom Yue Fei didn't know. There were exactly ten commanders who chose to stand aside and watch when the country was in danger, and became the ten sworn brothers!
Once the ten brothers became sworn brothers, the remaining soldiers and horses of the ten families would be gathered together, numbering about 30,000 to 40,000 people, which would be difficult to deal with.
Back to the present, Yizhangqing came as an envoy, and faced Yue Fei's questioning, but he said their meaning very straightforwardly:
First, they were willing to accept the promotion of Kaifeng prefect Du Chong, who was from Hebei Province.
But at the same time, because of the previous defeats and various actions, plus Zong Ze's illness, they were a little panicked, fearing that they would be killed by Du Chong, who was known for his "bloodthirsty" character. So the ten commanders did not dare to come to Tokyo in person for the time being, but expected Du Chong to lead the troops over so that they could redeem themselves for their crimes.
Yizhangqing told Yue Fei these words because he wanted to ask Yue Fei, a fellow villager of Du Chong, to be a middleman.
What else could Yue Fei do? He had endured Wang Yan's humiliation before, let alone this kind of thing?
Therefore, Yue Pengju took the initiative to ask for a meeting with Du Chong, and conveyed Wang Yan's arrival and the intentions of the ten commanders in the south of the capital, but surprisingly did not mention anything like the ten sworn brothers.
"So, Wang Yan really brought 20,000 soldiers here?"
Du Chong was a Jinshi during the reign of Emperor Zhezong. He is sixty years old this year. His three sons and one son-in-law have all entered officialdom. He is recognized as a minister with seniority and qualifications. In addition, his dignified and serious appearance shows the demeanor of a minister. However, when he heard such good news in the back hall, he was somewhat disappointed.
"Yes!" Yue Fei bowed and responded seriously, causing Li Qiong who was standing next to him to watch coldly.
"The ten commanders in the south of the city are also willing to obey my orders, but they are afraid for the moment, so they are willing to reorganize the troops and wait for me in the south?" Du Chong continued to ask with his hands behind his back.
"good."
"How many soldiers do they have? Tell the truth." Du Chong stroked his gray beard and sighed.
"I have asked Madam Ma, and there are actually still 36,000 to 37,000 people." Yue Fei answered straightforwardly.
"There were originally 20,000 soldiers in the city, 10,000 defenders, and 10,000 scattered soldiers in the surrounding areas. You brought another 160,000 or 170,000, which adds up to 70,000. Add to that Wang Yan's 20,000. Don't worry about Han Shizhong, Li Yanxian and the like. We already have 90,000 soldiers. Can we really send out an army of 80,000 immediately?" Du Chong frowned more and more.
"good."
"And they are willing to follow my command..." Du Chong shook his head. "In this case, we can no longer delay and must send troops immediately?"
Yue Fei didn't understand what he heard, so he instinctively asked, "Isn't Prime Minister going to send troops ?"
Du Chong shook his head repeatedly, but this time he said nothing.
