Volume 4 Chapter 25: A Smile (Part 1)
As we all know, when Qin Hui was captured by the Jin Kingdom, his experience and mentality changed gradually.
At the beginning, he was favored by Nianhan because he wrote well and behaved the most gently and appropriately among the officials of Song Dynasty. Then he was treated preferentially during his journey north.
As far as this matter is concerned, it actually means nothing.
Then, he was successively protected and treated favorably by Jin nobles such as Wu Qimai and Talan, becoming a strange figure between a guest of honor and a prisoner. Although theoretically he was passive, there was already a process of quantitative change leading to qualitative change. Because in this process, Qin Hui had gradually begun to do some writing work for these Jin nobles, received a certain amount of gold and silver rewards, lived in a big house, and even had the ability to influence some things through the Jin nobles.
Then finally one day, he began to follow Talai in the army, writing documents to persuade the enemy to surrender and doing staff work. At this point, the nature of his behavior was completely beyond doubt and it was difficult to clear it up.
But at this time, Qin Hui himself had always been cautious, or deliberately covering up.
The reason is self-evident. Qin Huizhi had already opened his heart to Hong Ya in the historic meeting. He knew deeply that no matter what, the best result would be to return to the Song Dynasty and continue to serve as an official in his lifetime... He was from Huainan, a successful Jinshi, the grandson-in-law of the prime minister, and the student of another prime minister. Returning to the Song Dynasty would bring him real wealth and glory. After witnessing the barbarity of the Jin people and the fate of the captured people in the Jin Kingdom, he did not arouse resistance or sympathy. On the contrary, he only wanted to get out of this quagmire as soon as possible and return to the Song Dynasty to continue to be his superior. At worst, he ignored the people of the two rivers and chose to stay in the Jin Dynasty as an official.
It was for this reason that he always acted cautiously, trying not to show up in public or seek any official position in the north, just in the hope that one day he could return smoothly to the south and make his debut...and what's interesting is that the top leaders of the Jin Dynasty always gave him convenience.
However, all the ingenious ideas and careful calculations were directly shattered time and time again by the Emperor Zhao in the south... just like a hammer hitting porcelain, so direct that it couldn't be more direct.
Sometimes, Qin Hui couldn't help but feel suspicious. Was it because the official in the south was too young and a fool? Then he comforted himself, wondering if he would change in the future? But after comforting himself, he could only lament his situation - curled up all day, when would he be able to grow up?!
And perhaps it was precisely because of this that, once the evil thoughts arose, this Qin scholar instead became somewhat fearless... Whether it was pursuing peace talks and returning to the south, or pursuing a high position in the north through peace talks, he could not tolerate the existence of Nianhan.
It’s all the other person’s fault for standing in front of me!
As the saying goes, when the murderous intent arises, nothing else matters.
Of course, to put it another way...breaking the jar is probably the same idea.
No matter what, Qin Huizhi was stimulated and lamented his situation. He tore off his fear and went back, but he only talked to Wanyan Wushu, who had shown some affection before, for about an incense stick of words, and then left. After Qin Hui left, Wanyan Wushu tossed and turned that night and couldn't sleep for a while.
This is not to say that Qin Hui's idea was not feasible. On the contrary, the Fourth Prince of the Jin Dynasty could never have imagined that a pale-faced scholar could see the situation so thoroughly and easily point out a simple, direct, yet highly feasible path like a butcher cutting up an ox. It was truly a case of using little effort to achieve a great result... and with such a smooth path so clearly laid out before him, the Fourth Prince was actually a little hesitant.
It's not that he doesn't dare. After all, the Fourth Prince has stepped onto the last step of the founding achievement. He has rolled in mountains of corpses and seas of blood. How could he be afraid of this... His momentary hesitation was just because he was worried that such a disposal would bring further turmoil to the country, and then leave a loophole for the owner of the dragon banner in the south.
That’s right!
The Fourth Prince who narrowly escaped death and crossed the river at Yaoshan is no longer the arrogant Fourth Prince as before. His pride, arrogance and arrogance were washed away by the heavy rain on the night of the battle at Yaoshan and the turbulent waves when he crossed the river later!
Not only that, that battle was a bloodbath, whether it was Wanyan Loushi's heroic charge, the overwhelming dragon banner, or Han Chang's sneer by the river, all left him with an indelible impression. He no longer had any doubts about the revival of the Song Dynasty, nor about the decline of the Jin Dynasty's military power. Moreover, when he was floating in the river holding the white wooden dragon, he had already sworn in his heart that if he could survive, he must guard against arrogance and impatience, and must shoulder the heavy responsibility of his family and country... No matter what, he would never allow himself to see the scene of the dragon banner pressing down on Yanjing.
Within two days, Wuzhu was deeply conflicted, but he showed no sign of it on his face, so Qin Hui had no choice but to suppress his anxiety and pretend nothing had happened...until the morning of the third day, when the two of them came to the Marshal's Mansion to "attend court" again.
"That's about all the things that happened today..."
Nianhan, who was in a high position, drank a glass of warm tea and clapped his hands. "In addition to these, there are a few things we need to do. First of all, I think Goryeo should send an envoy to ask for tribute, and this time it should be doubled. Why? Because after Oliyan (Lousi) died in the battle, Goryeo immediately sent an envoy to Bianjing, which shows that they are fundamentally dissatisfied with us, but the more dissatisfied they are, the more strict we should be."
Be it Wuzhu or the others, they all just nodded their heads.
I have to say that Nianhan's handling of the matter was quite appropriate... When the Jurchens were in Liaodong, they really regarded Goryeo as a powerful enemy, and they also regarded the Goryeo Dynasty as a rich place. But later, after they swallowed up Liao and overthrew Song, and took control of fertile land like Hebei, they looked at Goryeo and felt too lazy to even move troops there.
And since there is no intention to destroy the other party, it is extremely necessary to use diplomatic means to intimidate them as much as possible.
Nianhan did not look at anyone else. When he saw Wuzhu nod, he no longer hesitated and nodded directly. Then he continued to speak to the audience: "That's settled. There is one more thing. Yelu Mawu sent a letter saying that Yelu Yudu has been behaving strangely these days... What do you think?"
Wuzhu and others looked at each other in bewilderment. What could they do about this mess?
A high-ranking surrendered general who was deprived of his military power, he was a Khitan who once served as the right military supervisor of the Marshal's Office in the Great Jin Dynasty. When Taizu was in power, this guy begged for children, wives and concubines in the army, which aroused the suspicion of Taizu Wanyan Aguda. Later, when the Jin army went south to destroy the Song Dynasty and created the Jingkang Incident, the Song emperor wrote a letter to lure him into surrender, which further aroused the suspicion of the Jin high-level officials, so that after Jingkang, he was gradually deprived of his military power. Now, Lou Shi died in the battle, and then the king suddenly had a stroke. You, Nianhan, have become Guolun Bojilie and the Marshal of the Capital, and Huo Nu is still making trouble with Balisu across the river. It would be strange if Yelu Yudu did not behave strangely in the west!
So how do you watch it? Sit down and watch it!
Anyway, we have no soldiers left, so what else can we do?
"What I mean is, let Balisu kill him." Nianhan thought for a moment and continued, "In case he runs to the other side of the river and shakes the morale of the army."
"That's true, but if Yelu Yudu is really killed, what will happen to Yelu Mawu and the rest of the Khitan troops in the East and West Armies?" Wuzhu said sternly. "Under the current situation, won't it still shake people's hearts?"
Nianhan shook his head repeatedly: "Of course I know that it will shake the morale of the army, but we have to look at the matter from another perspective. If he runs to the other side of the river, whether he surrenders to the Song people or the Western Xia, or goes to meet Yelu Dashi through Mengwu, no matter what banner he raises, the morale of the Khitan army will always be shaken. If we kill him, it will only shake the army temporarily. As the saying goes, a short pain is worse than a long pain. We can also take the opportunity to show our authority to the Khitan and Xi people in the army..."
Wuzhu immediately came to his senses and was about to nod.
At this time, Nianhan continued, "Besides, he has occupied this position in the Capital Marshal's Office for many years. Now that he is removed, it will be convenient for people like Balisu and Huonu to come up."
Everyone cheered up.
No matter what, the Great Jin Dynasty still had to respect military power...Yelü Yudu lost his military power, so he was treated like a pig and discussed how and when to kill him.
The military power of the Jin Dynasty can be roughly divided into three parts.
The field army was naturally the East and West armies, each of which had nearly 100,000 troops at its peak. In addition to the two armies, there were also a certain number of garrison troops and garrison troops, scattered in Yanjing, Huanglongfu, Liaoyangfu, Datong, etc., that is, all over the former Liao Kingdom. This number, if you add up the scattered troops from the east, west, south, and north, would be about 100,000.
Three hundred thousand was the peak during the heyday of the Jin Dynasty, that is, the year after the Jin Dynasty created the Jingkang Incident.
Of course, the garrison troops do not count. If the garrison troops were really mobilized, the Song Dynasty on the opposite side could now claim to have 500,000 or 600,000 troops. Even those present here know that it is impossible not to leave troops in these places. At most, they serve as a transit route to select some elite troops to join the Eastern and Western armies.
Therefore, the key lies in the eastern and western armies.
But back to the present, even if we only talk about the Eastern and Western Armies, the situation seems a little strange.
First of all, the losses in the defeat at Yaoshan, including the deaths, injuries, and non-combat casualties, plus the losses in Fangzhou before, are similar to what the Song army guessed, and there are indeed more than 10,000 losses. And most of them, or even the vast majority, are core troops under the Meng'an Mouke system. In other words, the battle of Yaoshan directly changed the ratio of Meng'an Mouke and supplementary soldiers in the field army of the Jurchen side, and then the ratio of Jurchen soldiers to soldiers of other ethnic groups also changed... Just now, Wuzhu was worried that killing Yelu Yudu would cause the army to lose morale, and this was also the reason.
There is no way, this is the tragedy of the small number of main ethnic groups, and it is also the fundamental reason why the battle of Yaoshan only killed 10,000 or 20,000 people and shocked the entire Jin Dynasty, so that the king was so angry that his mouth was crooked. The loss of these troops and horses, plus the two Wanhu of the Eastern Army, is the collapse of the entire system, which cannot be compensated by simply filling in the numbers.
However, this is only the direct loss. Another serious problem at the moment is that the command power of the army has been divided after the war.
The Western Army was divided into two, with the main part on the east bank of the Yellow River, but a small number of core troops stayed in northern Shaanxi with Huo Nu; the Eastern Army also split, but this split was not caused by a battle, but rather by the fact that the Jin Dynasty's high-level officials were greatly shocked by the defeat at Yaoshan, and in order to protect themselves, Nianhan suddenly went south to Damingfu and seized the military power from Talan.
Not only that, at that time Wanyan Wushu was in Huguan and Wanyan Erlido was in Hezhong Prefecture. The two brothers certainly had no intention of handing over the troops in their hands. However, the two brothers were brothers after all, and they had always been relatively harmonious, so on the surface they could still be called a group.
But in fact, everyone knows that the Fourth Prince has been defeated in many battles, but his political status has risen again and again, especially his previous contribution in bringing Nianhan back to Yanjing. Now he is qualified to form an independent faction.
In other words, the main force of the Jin army in the field was artificially divided into five. The Western Army was divided into two. One was in Yan'an, controlled by Lou Shi's eldest son Huo Nu, with about 10,000 people; the other was in Taiyuan, controlled by Wanyan Balisu, with about 30,000 to 40,000 people; and the Eastern Army was also divided into three. Wuzhu held two complete Wanhu in Huguan and Henei areas; the three Wanhu in Daming Prefecture were originally held by Talan, the representative of the king Wuqimai, but were directly taken away by Nianhan who rode south alone; then there were three Wanhu, plus the original garrison troops of the Western Army in Hezhong Prefecture, and the 20,000 Haner reinforcements abandoned by Lou Shi after using the elite troops strategy, all of which were there.
"How is the Marshal going to deal with this?" Yin Shuke, who was already old, asked carefully. "Does the living girl have to be promoted too?"
"Simple, just follow the previous post-war arrangements and settle them as usual. There's no need to move the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince's places, and don't worry about the soldiers of the Western Route Army under the Third Prince's place, they're all for the country... Let the Third Prince continue to be the Left Deputy Marshal, and the Fourth Prince will be the Right Deputy Marshal. There's no need to give special instructions to Huo Nu, just give him the title of Shaanxi North Marching Commandery and the Marshal's Right Supervisor, and just do some defense in Shaanxi North, and by the way, lead Hewai Zhe Keqiu's place... Balisu will be the Marshal's Right Supervisor and the Guardian of Taiyuan." Nianhan looked normal, and spoke easily, and he actually pointed out several important positions of the Marshal in the Capital Marshal's Mansion easily. "Tallan will be promoted to Marshal's Left Supervisor, and he will manage the duties of the Capital Marshal's Mansion for me. As for Daming Prefecture, it's better to let Gao Jingshan be the Marshal's Left Supervisor, and watch over Henan in Daming Prefecture."
What was said before was still okay, except for Yin Shuke who was a little depressed because he couldn't deal with the matter of the living girl. But when it came to the end, almost everyone's faces changed... because in the end, it not only meant that Talai would be left in vain, but also that Nianhan would directly swallow up the three Wanhu in Daming Prefecture!
Moreover, if you think about it carefully, the eastern and western armies were completely vacant, and the military power was divided into five parts. Nianhan alone led three of them. In addition, he controlled the Boghile Conference and the Marshal's Office, which was equivalent to controlling the garrison and guard troops in various places. He had control over all sources of troops, let alone the power to appoint and dismiss local officials.
By this calculation, this commander-in-chief is two points stronger than Taizu was when he was at the height of his power!
In fact, what happened in the hall afterwards really verified this point. In the time of Taizu, people could still discuss these key appointments at will, but now, after Nianhan finished speaking in one breath, no one spoke out to refute for a long while.
Who dares to refute?
Being stripped of all idleness? He wanted to refute, but he didn't want to serve medicine to the king. Yin Shuke naturally had opinions about his brother not completely taking over the Western Army, but he had raised it several times, but was refuted by Nianhan several times, so it was doomed to be useless.
After a long pause, the fourth prince Wanyan Wushu sighed in his heart, and then looked at the faces of everyone in the hall one by one. Not to mention Nianhan who was complacent, his eldest brother Wanyan Woben had a sullen face and glared at him; his third brother Wanyan Erlido remained silent; Talai lowered his head and did not meet his face; Wanyan Yinshu seemed to be thinking about something... and finally, when Wushu directed his gaze at Wanyan Xiyin who was eager to try, someone suddenly spoke.
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and discovered that it was the eldest prince Wanyan Woben, who had gone from being the biggest contender for the throne to almost a idler in just half a year.
"Even if the Grand Marshal's Office is an independent entity, doesn't the Grand Marshal need to report this arrangement to the King?" Wanyan Oben slammed the table and shouted in public. "What kind of rule is this? From the time Taizu started the rebellion until a month ago, there was no such rule!"
Nianhan's face suddenly changed, but he twirled his beard and sneered: "The eldest prince is right! How about this, the eldest prince and I will go to report to the king in two days to see if the king has any other opinions. Do you think it's feasible?!"
Wanyan Woben was furious for a moment, but helpless. He simply glared at his two younger brothers and left.
It was Wushu who suddenly spoke up, as if to interrupt and ease the atmosphere: "Marshal, if the troops are almost deployed, shouldn't we also transfer some troops from Liaoyang and Huanglongfu to replenish the losses after the previous battle?"
Upon hearing this, Nianhan quickly became alert: "I will handle this matter personally..."
Wushu sighed and said, "Marshal, I was thinking that among the troops mobilized this time, the other troops are fine, but why not find a big city to station the two Wanhu of the Eastern Army instead of enfeoffment in Hebei? You must know that since the Eastern Army was assigned to Hebei, they have been gambling, fighting and hunting all day long, making the local people miserable, and their own fighting power is gradually insufficient..."
Nianhan raised his eyebrows slightly, and Wanyan Xiyin below also became serious. However, after thinking for a while, the commander-in-chief who held all the power still shook his head and said, "It's not good to shake the morale of the army... The Jurchen soldiers from Liaodong will inevitably feel resentful when they see that others have slaves and belongings, but they don't. Besides, at least two more thousand households must be added this time. If they are added to a city, who will take care of it? Should we give the Marshal's Office to you, the fourth brother, to supervise the army?"
When Wuzhu heard this, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, and he actually smiled lightly, and then he said nothing more.
Behind him, Qin Huizhi, who was sitting there dully, was looking at the profile and mouth of the Fourth Prince. Seeing him smile gently, his whole body felt numb.
By the way, things have become very clear. Qin Huizhi has seen clearly these days that everyone present has something to ask for... For example, Qin Hui wants to escape from the sea of suffering and enjoy wealth and power; and Wanyan Wushu wants to reorganize the army and rebuild the Jin Dynasty.
And what about Wanyan Nianhan?
This commander-in-chief was pushed into this dangerous position by accident. On the one hand, he was full of complacency and wanted to maintain this unbridled situation. On the other hand, he was alert, fearing that once he lost his power, he would end up in the same situation as King Wuqimai… Therefore, to the outside world, Wanyan Nianhan monopolized power and acted recklessly, but on the other hand, he was cautious and would never dare to touch the interests of the army without authorization and cause real danger.
And this is the real reason why he favored the living woman, won over Wuzhu, and left Talan idle.
But it just so happened that Wanyan Wushu had already decided that if he wanted to realize his great ideal, he had to start with the preparation of the army. There was a structural contradiction between the two, and there was no room for maneuver.
In other words, just by seeing the Fourth Prince smile, Qin Huizhi knew for sure that his plan would work. Then, why didn't he feel numb as if he had seen a beautiful woman?
