Volume 3 Chapter 47 Pinglu
On the last afternoon of the third year of Jianyan, Li Yanxian, the governor of Xingning Army and commander-in-chief of the imperial camp, received the annual rewards from the court in Pinglu City, Shanzhou, as well as the latest issue of "Dibao" delivered by express horses from the army.
By the way, this "Dibao" is a serious Dibao for Li Yanxian, because the "Di" in "Dibao" originally refers to the residences set up in the capital by counties and kingdoms in the Han Dynasty and military governorates in the Tang Dynasty, and the original meaning of Dibao also refers to the process in which the court posts information about relevant major events, and the people in the Dibao copy it and report it to the local counties and kingdoms... isn't it a return to basics to use it on the local commander Li Yanxian?
Without further ado, Li Yanxian, the governor of Xingning Army, who was in Pinglu supervising the southward retreat of some soldiers and civilians in Shanzhou and Hebei, first accepted the reward seriously, and then asked people to entertain the envoys well. After everything was ready, he ignored the general Shao Yun beside him and the endless stream of soldiers and baggage under his feet, and sat directly on the top of Pinglu City, and opened this official report in the sunlight above his head...
There was no way. This newly delivered report was much thicker than the ones he had received in the previous six months, and the paper was also particularly wide and strong. Combined with the "Thank You List" he saw last time in Shanzhou City, Hebei, he thought something big had happened.
However, the more Li Yanxian read from beginning to end, the more confused he became, because there was really nothing major that was beyond his imagination. It was just recorded in exceptional detail and the layout was neat and orderly. But he couldn't help but read it carefully.
For example, there was a whole report about personnel arrangements. In addition to the transfer of officials in the court, there was also a commendation for the combat heroes in the battle of Xiaowusha under Zhang Rong's army.
For example, someone took seven heads in one breath; someone took an unknown head wearing a silk-lined gourd helmet, looking like a general; a certain captain drove a small boat carrying gunpowder bags to the port first, and his merit was the same as that of the first to reach the port... Anyway, Li Yanxian felt a little uncomfortable watching this, because his merits were greater than Zhang Rong's, his Shanzhou soldiers fought more bravely than the Liangshanpo navy, and had always been more brutal, but he didn't even have time to remember their names.
This is a fact.
After the Jingkang Incident, the whole country was in ruins. Even Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun just fled to find "new officials". Only Li Yanxian, who had been suppressed, idled and abandoned by his superiors time and time again, managed to survive and led a group of defeated soldiers to take back Shanzhou, a vital place in the world, from the hands of the Jin army.
Shanzhou, with Shaanxi on the left and Shaanxi on the right, and the river on the north and south, is a strategic location. Not to mention that the Song army's main field forces are actually divided into the Imperial Camp and Guanxi troops, while the Jin army is actually divided into two routes, the east and the west. This makes Shanzhou, which is stuck at the intersection of four major fronts, extremely important.
In fact, if Li Yanxian had not recaptured Shanzhou that day and forced Wanyan Yinshu to end his rampage in western Beijing ahead of time, it would be hard to say whether Zhao Jiu and the small court could gain a foothold in Nanyang.
It is no exaggeration that even if Li Yanxian does nothing from now on, as long as he insists on defending Shanzhou, he will definitely be among the top heroes in the world in the future.
So, to some extent, the Jiedushi of Xingning Army was definitely qualified to maintain his arrogant attitude in front of all the other Song troops.
After admiring the promotions and commendations of Zhang Rong's subordinates, Li Yanxian forced himself to collect himself and went back to look at the political documents. He stared at the information that occupied a large portion of the page and shook his head repeatedly. When he turned to the last two pages, he could not help but be stunned.
It turned out that from this time on, the official bulletin was filled with things that had nothing to do with current affairs.
For example, the second to last page has an article on "Qi" by the great scholar Hu Anguo; an explanation of the new palace newspaper regulations written by Hu Bianxiu; a New Year's greeting in the voice of Prime Minister Lu on behalf of the emperor; and a discussion on why the Tokyo City is so impregnable written by Chen Shuxiang...
And the last one is even more absurd.
Half of the paper was filled with some nonsense poetry and prose... that was fine, but the other half was like a storybook, but there was no signature on it.
It was about Zhang Yongzhen, the water god of the Huai River. He was a figure from the ancient times many lives ago, and was born in the Yanhuang tribe. But how did he meet an immortal, and was taught immortal magic? Then, when he started fighting, how could he easily transform into a 20-zhang-tall Dharma image? How did he kill countless demons and monsters, and even gathered all the weapons to destroy demons and monsters to create a 14-zhang-tall sword. Finally, on the day when the sword was completed, this person followed the Yellow Emperor to fight against Chi You of the Nine Li in Zhuolu, and killed five of Chi You's 81 brothers in the battle. His contribution was so great that he was sealed as the Huai River after the battle.
Such an absurd story was actually reported in the court bulletin. Li Yanxian, who was both civil and military, certainly disdained it, but he could not help reading it two or three times in a row. He also gestured to the city wall in his mind how long a 14-zhang broadsword was. Only then did he put away the court bulletin with a sense of unsatisfaction and handed it to his subordinates, asking them to copy several copies and distribute them to his subordinates, civil and military officials.
However, up to this point, the troops, baggage, and civilians continued to pour into the city, so Li Yanxian had no choice but to continue sitting on the top of the city wall and continue talking with Shao Yun, the Pinglu defender who had been standing beside him for a long time.
"Captain, is there anything reported in the newspaper?" Shao Yun couldn't help but ask this question.
"There weren't many major events. The emperor has been inspecting the Imperial College and the Xiangguo Temple Military Square in recent days and comforting the elders in Tokyo." Li Yanxian continued to sit still, just downplaying it and smiling at his trusted generals. "Besides that, he praised the merits of the Liangshanpo bandits again... It was a follow-up to the last time he thanked those nobles for borrowing money."
Shao Yun nodded repeatedly: "You have worked hard, my Lord... But I still think that borrowing money is ridiculous. I asked the assistants around me several times before I believed it."
Li Yanxian shook his head and asked casually, "Do you think it's absurd for the government to lend money to others, or do you think it's absurd for these nobles to lend money to the government for military expenses?"
"Both." Shao Yun answered earnestly.
"I don't think it's ridiculous." Li Yanxian smiled frankly. "Although the emperor is young and a little frivolous, he is determined to fight against the Jin Dynasty. He is also very determined. In order to raise military funds, the palace almost stopped receiving income... I have been in and out of the palace several times and I can see clearly that it is not fake... Now that Tokyo is gradually getting better, the rich and powerful are coming back with money. How can he not be embarrassed to borrow money?"
"The emperor is indeed a good emperor." Hearing this, Shao Yun sighed with emotion. "I often think that the emperor and the general are actually quite similar..."
"What are you talking about?" Li Yanxian was shocked. "Let's not talk about how to compare the emperor and his subjects. Even if we don't talk about these empty words, the emperor and I are different in age, experience, and habits..."
"That's not what I meant." Shao Yun explained seriously. "I just think that the general is the same as the emperor. Not only is he never vague about resisting the Jin army, but he is also very good to his subordinates... After the Heyin Oath of Brotherhood, the emperor allowed the commander to send a letter directly to the palace. My elder brother (Shao Long) and I discussed that even if we can't write a few words, we should pay our respects to the emperor every month. As a result, the emperor's replies were very detailed every time, asking if the army was short of money and weapons? If the soldiers' families had a place to stay? How are my family? Have the children married? Whether it's public or private, is there anything to worry about? These are no different from what you usually do, general."
Li Yanxian nodded slightly, but then smiled again: "Since you know that the emperor is a good official, why do you think it's absurd for him to borrow money?"
"Because I have always thought that the emperor and the general are very similar, and I also know that if it were the general, he would rather starve to death than ask those high-ranking officials for money, because the general is an arrogant person, and the higher the official, the more he will turn his face away..."
“…”
Since Li Yanxian remained silent, Shao Yun thought that he had said something wrong and did not dare to say anything more. Therefore, there was silence on the city wall, with only a slight breeze from the south and the usual noise underfoot.
After a while, the governor laughed again and again: "Maybe it's you, General Shao, who has a sharper eye... The emperor and I are really a bit alike, but those nobles are nobles to me, but in the eyes of the emperor, they are just idlers, so the emperor doesn't care and borrows them at will."
Shao Yun didn't understand at first and just nodded.
Li Yanxian also continued to sigh: "As for why those nobles are willing to serve the country, in fact, it is still the emperor's family, because the emperor is the emperor after all, and the people below are watching him... The emperor wants to fight against the Jin, and the people below do not want to fight against the Jin, but gradually they will also fight against the Jin; the emperor attaches great importance to the military, and the people below look down on the officers and soldiers, but gradually they will also look up to the officers and soldiers... It is reasonable for them to pay money this time."
Shao Yun nodded even more: "I know this truth... It's like marrying a wife. When she comes into the house, she has one personality, but slowly, her personality will be determined by the temperament of the mother-in-law and the husband."
Li Yanxian was confused for a moment, but after thinking for a while, he nodded repeatedly, because Shao Yun's analogy did make some sense.
People will change, whether they are influenced by what they see or hear, or flatter against their will, they will change unconsciously. Besides, they are talking about the emperor... The King of Chu loves thin waists, many people in the palace starved to death, the emperor wants to resist the Jin, so naturally the whole court is full of "righteous men"!
Just like that, the two of them sighed and talked for a while, and put aside the matter of the official report for a while, but finally returned to the military affairs.
"Captain, I wanted to ask before, if the people of Liangshan Lake really settled down on the Yellow River, and the contribution of little Wu Sha was not fake, wouldn't there be no worries on the river in the future?" Shao Yun asked first. "Can we in Shanzhou also be more secure?"
Li Yanxian came back to his senses and shook his head repeatedly: "How much of the river can be controlled by only thirty ships and a hundred small boats? It's nothing more than protecting the river section in front of Tokyo. Even if you want to provide support, it's hard to go past Sanmenxia... And don't forget that the Pujin Floating Bridge in Hezhong Prefecture has always been in the hands of the Jin people, so it's useless to provide support."
Shao Yun looked slightly disappointed.
"It's not just that." Li Yanxian stared at the tail of the team that had already appeared in the distance, and sighed again. "Have you ever thought about it? If the river in front of Tokyo is controlled by Zhang Rong, the Jin army will lose this route of advance and will have to attack from both sides. We may even be attacked by the Jin army's heavy troops... And if they attack, it would be fine if it was someone else, but Wanyan Loushi is not that easy to deal with."
Shao Yun was slightly startled, then he looked at the troops under the city and whispered, "So that's why the commander ignored the New Year's Day and abandoned many towns in the north, and issued an urgent order for everyone to retreat as far as possible?"
"Yes, I always thought that the Jin army would still go south, and Wanyan Loushi would definitely come." Li Yanxian finally stood up from the top of the city wall, but he stood with his hands behind his back and looked north. "Today is the New Year, so let's take a break, but only today. Tomorrow I will personally take the elderly, the weak, women and children and some soldiers back to Henan... Here, I will leave you 5,000 people and enough food and grass. When the Jin army comes to attack, you are in Pinglu and I am in Shanzhou. We will try our best to stand on both sides of the river. This is the best way. But if the Jin army is strong, you don't have to be afraid. If you can defend, then defend. If you can't, cross the river back to Henan, or turn to Zhongtiao Mountain. It's the same way!"
Shao Yun was silent for a moment, then saluted solemnly on the city wall.
Just like that, since it was the New Year's Day that day, Li Yanxian, as the only commander in the Imperial Camp who had no organizational restrictions and had free disposal of a quota of 30,000 yuan in money and grain, took the initiative and ordered the distribution of rewards and food to comfort the many retreating soldiers and civilians inside and outside the city. The area around Pinglu was unusually lively and jubilant, and it was considered a relatively peaceful New Year's Day in the turmoil.
However, at four o'clock in the night, Li Yanxian, who was keeping watch in the provincial government, suddenly received an urgent report from the scouts - the main force of the Jin army, tens of thousands of soldiers, divided into many routes, suddenly launched a massive attack to the south last night.
Among them, not to mention that Wanyan Saba led a 5,000-man army to capture Jijin, an important town on the east side of the Hebei part of Shanzhou, but Wanyan Loushi's own flag suddenly appeared in Tongguan, the westernmost side of the Henan part of Shanzhou.
Wanyan Loushi's capture of Tongguan was not a military miracle. After all, it was not the first time he captured Tongguan. Moreover, Tongguan had been destroyed and damaged several times in several battles between Song and Jin. It was no longer the impeccable pass where one could defeat ten enemies. It was simply a key stronghold with defensive functions.
Even Li Yanxian could imagine Wanyan Loushi's specific route of advance this time, which was nothing more than crossing the river at Puzhou and then rushing south.
Only the real military commander of the Jin Kingdom's Western Army was so deliberate and waited for the New Year to personally lead the cavalry to carry out this surprise attack... He seemed to be well prepared, and it would be difficult to deal with him.
But if it rains, the girl will marry, and the Jin people will come, what can the Song army do without strategic initiative? Besides, Li Yanxian had already guessed that this person would come.
If I have to express my feelings, I can only say that no matter what, the war has started again, and the fact that the Jin people launched such a surprise attack one day before the arrival of the fourth year of Jianyan can be regarded as maintaining their military tradition of invading the south every year.
When the news spread, in the first month of the fourth year of Jianyan, Henan and Guanxi were shaken throughout.
