Volume 4 Chapter 40 Things
On the afternoon of June 28th, civil and military officials escorted the imperial carriage back to Tokyo. By then, the city of Tokyo was already in turmoil.
This is of course true. Although the proper daily court bulletins could not be printed so quickly, and the handwritten supplementary court bulletins could not be circulated on a large scale in such a short time, some basic information about Baima Shaoxing had already been spread by word of mouth through the court bulletins and officials who returned to Beijing early... and unexpectedly, for this serious political event that could almost be called a major change, there were only two things that were widely discussed and controversial in the various speeches on the streets.
The first thing, of course, is that if the peace talks fail, war will probably continue.
The other incident was that the government publicly ridiculed the two saints in Shaoxingjin, and sent the two saints and the royal family members directly to Shaolin Temple, Dongxiao Palace, and Nanyang across Tokyo City... For the common people, this blatant violation of "filial piety" was the most shocking, and many people found it difficult to understand.
Even though everyone knew that the two saints were really worthless, and even though some people took the initiative to defend themselves, saying that heaven and earth were above the emperor and parents, it was still impossible to stop the private discussions initiated by the lower-class people based on the ethics of filial piety. It can be imagined that from now on, this young official was destined to have another moral stain that could not be washed away.
Zhao Jiu's scolding of his relatives is probably on par with Li Shimin's imprisonment of his father.
Not only that, the seventy or eighty important officials who were purged were also labeled as loyal officials and filial sons who resigned in anger because they could not uphold the great principles of filial piety and brotherhood. Emperor Zhao even encountered the classic Xuande Tower blocking the carriage - several elderly Confucian scholars petitioned Emperor Zhao to take the Emperor Taishang Daojun back to the palace to take care of him.
The reason, of course, is that it is impossible for the two saints to seize the throne.
However, even though it was a little unexpected, Zhao Jiu was too lazy to care about it... What else could he do? Now that the matter was done, he had to look to the future, and there were a lot of things to do. Did he have to call the newly appointed Shaolin Temple Abbot Fahe over just because of a few old men, and then stuff two kilograms of arsenic into his mouth?
Sooner or later, those two guys will be forgotten by everyone and will be remembered by history alone.
Therefore, Emperor Zhao ignored the elderly Confucian scholars who were kneeling at the palace gate, nor did he punish them. Instead, he rode his horse past them and entered the main gate of Xuande Tower.
However, since Emperor Zhao showed an attitude of refusal, as if a dead pig was not afraid of boiling water, some people began to take the initiative to speculate.
Only on the second day, the Imperial Censor Wanqi Xie submitted another memorial, requesting the reorganization of the ancestral temple and the clarification of the clan system in the name of the brothers Taizu and Taizong; the successor of Yingzong; the brotherhood of Zhezong and Emperor Taishang Daojun; the brotherhood of Yuansheng and the current emperor... that is, the brotherhood of Emperor Zhao.
To be honest, with Zhao Jiu's low-level knowledge of clan law, he might not even understand what the clan system was, or the rules of the seven and nine temples. It was only because it was Wanqi Xie who made the report that he did not misunderstand that this matter was the same as the Confucian scholar who blocked his way yesterday. However, it was also Wanqi Xie who made the official understand instantly and realized that there must be something fishy going on.
Because no matter what, with two Shangshu, one Shilang, two Jiuqing, and one Jiancheng vacant, and Wanqi Xie having made his position clear on that day, it was impossible that this fellow's action at this time was to disgust Emperor Zhao.
So Zhao Jiu called the know-it-all Yang Yizhong, and after asking him a few questions, he immediately came to his senses.
It turns out that since ancient times, the number of positions in the ancestral temple that will be passed down for eternity has been limited, about seven or nine. Whether it is seven or nine, the rules of the great Confucian Zheng Xuan or the theory of the famous Confucian Wang Su, in any case, there is only one ancestor... For example, the Western Han Dynasty had the Han Taizu Gaohuangdi Liu Bang, and the Later Han Dynasty had the Han Shizu Guangwudi Liu Xiu... And as for the Zhao Song Dynasty, there was a dispute over the temple name of Taizu because of the issue of Taizu and Taizong from the very beginning.
When Yang Yizhong said this, Zhao Jiu already understood what he meant.
Although he didn't know the complicated rules of etiquette and law involved, Wanqi Xie's memorial had already pointed out a key point, that is, since he, the Emperor Zhao, was trying to establish a 'New Song', he might as well make a certain separation from the previous Zhao Song by manipulating etiquette and law, thereby laying the political and legal foundation for him, Zhao Jiu, to be the founding emperor of the 'New Song'... In this way, when he, Zhao Jiu, died, he could also learn from Emperor Guangwu and become the Emperor Taizu.
But how to say it?
Zhao Jiu was tempted for a moment, because it seemed that this was something he had to do sooner or later, but he also understood that with his current achievements, he probably wasn't qualified to do so... The time would come when he could attack Huanglong directly, destroy Xixia, pacify Dali, recover Nanyue, and plant a flag in the Western Regions, that would be the real time to do such a thing.
Therefore, after a little hesitation, Emperor Zhao kept the memorial and did not send it out.
However, this action immediately caused a misunderstanding... and it was a misjudgment on both sides. Subsequently, many opportunistic officials who remained in office submitted petitions requesting the reorganization of the ancestral temple. Even those who were originally planning to leave Beijing and return home were like being stung by a hornet. They immediately submitted petitions with their retained official status, requesting Emperor Zhao to ensure that the Zhao and Song dynasties be integrated.
Even many senior officials within the imperial court were opposed to discussing the issue of the ancestral temple at this time.
This meaningless incident, coupled with the need to fill vacancies in as many as seventy or eighty key positions and the debate among the people about the officials' unfilial behavior, quickly turned the entire Tokyo city into a mess.
Things were once again somewhat unexpected… Zhao Jiu had wanted to make his feelings clear, but unexpectedly, after discussing with Lu Haowen and several other husbands, he chose to continue to remain hesitant.
The reason is very simple. According to Zhao Ding, after the execution of Bai Ma to establish Shaoxing, there will inevitably be huge political aftermath... and the situation in Qingzhou is unclear at this time. Compared with the current debate, the war on the front line is what is actually most concerning. So at this time, it may not be a bad thing to limit the political aftermath to some meaningless things, let everyone focus on these things, and prevent the political tide from affecting the Qingzhou war.
Of course, there is another meaning here, that is, Yue Fei worked hard for more than half a year and just returned to the north, and now he has to go into battle again. Will the troops lack rest? Will the combat effectiveness be insufficient? Moreover, the attack was launched from a mountainous area like Yizhou. If it failed, how would he explain it to the world?
In this regard, although Zhao Jiu had a blind trust in Yue Fei, he still followed his advice.
By the way, Zhang Boying and Yue Pengju certainly didn't know the complicated thoughts of the emperor and the ministers at this time, nor did they know that Bai Ma had become Shaoxing, and they didn't know that such a big political wave had arisen in Tokyo... After all, if you calculate the time, you will know... Yue Fei arrived in Xuzhou in early June, and according to the instructions of Emperor Zhao, he and Zhang Jun were to ensure that they occupied a county in the direction of Qingzhou by the end of the month. Even the nearest strategic target, Qingzhou capital Yidu, was six or seven hundred miles away from Xuzhou, and they had to cross the Yimeng Mountain Road. So he and Zhang Jun certainly couldn't delay any longer.
In fact, the front army of the Imperial Camp only rested for five or six days before they selected 20,000 troops and marched together with the right army of the Imperial Camp, which was responsible for the defense of this area.
It is worth mentioning that during this expedition, Zhang Jun let his own troops serve as the vanguard, on the grounds that Yue Fei had worked hard for most of the year and fought back and forth between the north and the south, and then let Yue Fei lead the vanguard of the imperial camp as the rearguard.
Although this move was obviously intended to steal the credit, Yue Fei had no room for rebuttal.
Moreover, just when Emperor Zhao was welcoming the two saints in Shaoxing, Zhang Jun's troops had already killed a lot of people... By the last day of June, which was the last day of summer in the fifth year of Jianyan, not only did Qingzhou fall into the hands of the Song army, but Weizhou and Laizhou also chose to surrender in astonishment.
The reason is ridiculous. Li Cheng and his main force were not in their old nest in Qingzhou at all, but went to Jinan Prefecture in the west.
After all, don't forget that before this, everyone thought that peace talks would be possible, and the Jin Kingdom was prepared to return the entire Qi area to the Song Dynasty. So Liu Yu, who was desperate at the time, persuaded Li Cheng, who was actually a de facto separatist, to join forces with him in the west to fight for self-preservation.
Of course, as everyone knows, as soon as Liu Yu made some moves, Jin's Wanhu Elubu crossed the river directly and captured him. However, because of the misplaced information, Li Cheng gritted his teeth and emptied his family's wealth, then mobilized all the troops from the three counties and led the army directly to Jinan... I don't know what the result is now.
This allowed the Right Army of the Imperial Camp to take Qingzhou, Weizhou and half of Laizhou for no reason.
It can be said that Zhang Jun alone completed the task beyond the scope of the assignment.
"General Zhang is not in Qingzhou?"
On the first day of July, Yue Fei's troops arrived in Linqu and met Hu Cheng, an acquaintance of the Right Army of the Imperial Camp stationed there, the commander, and Tian Shizhong, who was a little surprised. After listening to a few words, Fang couldn't help but frown. "Going east or west?"
"To the east." Tian Shizhong bowed his head and answered immediately.
Yue Fei, who already had some understanding of the military situation, could not help but frown. Even the generals behind Yue Fei were disdainful... The reason was very simple. Right now, Jinan Prefecture, west of Qingzhou, had gathered the main forces of the Jin Army, Liu Yu's troops, Li Cheng's troops, etc., so going west would be a head-on confrontation. But going east would be different. Dengzhou and Laizhou in the east were both first-class wealthy prefectures in the world, but there were almost no defenders.
Now Zhang Jun led his troops directly there. It might be that his old habit came back. He knew that Emperor Zhao was paying close attention to this battle, but he still couldn't help but plunder to the east.
Seeing that Yue Fei had a blank expression on his face and many of the generals in the imperial camp behind Yue Fei looked disdainful, Tian Shizhong did not directly argue. Instead, he turned his head and glanced at Hu Cheng beside him.
"Yue Jiedu..." Hu Cheng, who was born into a wealthy family in Yizhou, saw Tian Shizhong's look and quickly defended his boss. "My Taiwei went to the east for a reason. He said that the emperor had told him before that after retaking Jingdong, he would organize a navy. First, to control Bohai, he could attack the Jin people; second, he could suppress Goryeo and force it to change its direction; third, the country lacks money and food for military operations , and the East China Sea trade has always been a big profit... He was confronting the Pseudo-Qi in Huaidong, and he always knew that the Pseudo-Qi had a navy in Dengzhou, which was controlled by the Pseudo-Governor Li Qi. He was going to lead his troops to attack and capture all the Pseudo-Qi ships."
Yue Fei's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this, he just nodded casually: "If that's the case, then that's great."
Besides, as a frontline tyrant outside the establishment, it is hard to say whether Hu Cheng is on the official roster of the Right Army of the Imperial Camp. The reason why he is waiting here is, firstly, because he is a local tyrant in Yizhou and is familiar with the geography of the vicinity; secondly, it is because Zhang Jun has taken a fancy to his personal relationship with Yue Fei, so he talked to him and asked Tian Shizhong to watch him waiting here specifically as an explanation... After all, Yue Pengju is also a great commander-in-chief of the Imperial Camp and a beloved general of the emperor. If he is really caught by him and a lawsuit is brought in front of the emperor, who knows who will be the one to suffer the consequences!
As expected, Hu Cheng glanced at Tian Shizhong and quickly continued:
"It's not just the ships, but also the direction of Jinan Prefecture in the west. What my general means is that now Li Cheng has led tens of thousands of troops, including Liu Yu's original subordinates, and an unknown number of Jin troops are all in Jinan. If we forcefully attack, it may not be useful; and if we can quickly sweep the other four counties, I dare not say anything about other places, but I can only say that Li Cheng has lost his foundation, and his tens of thousands of troops will inevitably scatter. At that time, it will be most appropriate to go to Jinan and arrange with the government to attack from both sides. Therefore, he wants to ask General Yue to go north to Yidu to rest, and wait for him to lead his troops to sweep the east and then join forces to march west."
After hearing this, Wang Gui, Zhang Xian and other generals behind Yue Fei sneered even more... It turned out that Zhang Jun not only wanted money, but also wanted the credit. If this arrangement was followed, he would not be willing to give any of the great credit to the front army of the imperial camp.
However, after sneering, the generals also felt that Zhang Jun was an old soldier after all, and although this arrangement gave his Right Army of the Imperial Camp an advantage, it made sense from the overall perspective and would not cause any problems.
I think it is because General Zhang knew that the emperor was putting a thousand or ten thousand thoughts into this battle and did not dare to go too far.
Unexpectedly, just when they thought that the matter was settled and the Imperial Camp Vanguard could only go to Yidu as arranged by Zhang Taiwei, Yue Fei, although his expression remained unchanged, shook his head openly: "General Hu, you are my lifelong friend who I have entrusted my mother and wife to, and I will not hide it from you... Zhang Taiwei is doing this for the public or for personal gain, for money or to take credit, and naturally the government will have a dispute with him after the war. I have returned from the Southern Camp Vanguard after suppressing the rebellion, and I have made enough contributions this time. The troops are indeed a little tired, so I don't care about these arrangements... The only worry is that he underestimates the enemy."
Hu Cheng was slightly stunned, but obviously confused.
Tian Shizhong immediately became solemn, but took a step forward and bowed, saying, "General Yue, this time it is thanks to your blessing that Li Cheng led tens of thousands of people to be trapped in Jinan by mistake clear. In terms of military affairs, my general has made very appropriate arrangements. It should not be considered as underestimating the enemy, right?"
Yue Pengju didn't look at him when he heard that. He just turned around and pointed at the intersection of the surrounding hills and plains in front of the gate of Linqu City, then shook his head and said, "It looks like a smooth road, but in fact, just like this terrain, you will know that it is still a bit rugged when you really walk... Let's not talk about others, just Li Cheng, this man is very powerful. According to the surrendered people, he is leading 30,000 to 40,000 people to the west this time. What if he suddenly returns to the army? Will the Jin people really stop us? Moreover, since we have sent troops, the Jin people will also wake up. Not only will they not stop us, but they will formally make peace and urge him to come over, right?"
Tian Shizhong still disagreed: "That's why my general asked General Yue to go to Yidu and Linzi in the north of Qingzhou, to ask General Yue to lead his troops as a shield..."
"I know a little bit about Li Cheng... If I were Li Cheng, I would want to save my home base. I would not follow the Jishui River to attack Linzi and Yidu even though I knew tens of thousands of government troops were here." Yue Fei still squinted his eyes and stared at the intersection of the hills and plains on the west side, then raised his hand. "I will come from here... to attack Linqu! If Linqu is lost, the passage to Yizhou will be cut off. Not only can we take back Qingzhou, but we can also turn defeat into victory and lock tens of thousands of imperial camp government troops on this Jingdong Peninsula. At that time, you will see if the main force of the Jin army in Damingfu will come to fight hard?!"
Tian Shizhong was stunned for a moment, then hesitated to speak.
It's not that he didn't want to talk, nor that he didn't realize Yue Fei's intention... Yue Fei had said it as clearly as he could. The key point was that after he realized it, he instinctively wanted to close the door and beat the dog, but he felt a little embarrassed. Then he wanted to change to catching the turtle in the jar, but that was even more embarrassing.
It's just that I couldn't find the right words at the moment.
"If that's the case, and Li Cheng really succeeds, wouldn't that be like closing the door and beating the dog?" At this moment, Hu Cheng, who had come to his senses beside Tian Shizhong, blurted out.
"It's a situation of catching a turtle in a jar." Zhang Xian behind Yue Fei also frowned.
Tian Shizhong looked at Zhang Xian, with whom he had fought alongside several times. Yue Fei also turned his head to look at Hu Cheng, his close friend. The two of them did not speak for several breaths.
"Ahem!" At this moment, Wang Gui coughed dryly and looked at Zhang Xian sternly. "Jiedu, if that's the case, why don't we just stay here and wait for the enemy to tire out?"
"No." Yue Fei turned around and said, "If we defend here, what will happen if Li Cheng relies on his cavalry to take Linzi and Yidu? After all, the Qingzhou line is too long from north to south!"
"What should we do then?" Tian Shizhong also asked quickly.
"We should do the opposite. We should go west from here and block him in Zibo! This is the only way to be safe and live up to the trust of the government!" At this point, Yue Fei looked at Tian Shizhong with disdain and frankly told him his plan. "My troops are few. I wonder if General Zhang has any instructions for General Tian before he leaves. Can you go with me?"
Tian Shizhong was silent for a moment. He wanted to refuse and move directly to Yidu. After all, if his several thousand heavy infantrymen followed Yue Fei's army, according to the old rules , they would be sent to die as the vanguard. But for some reason, after glancing at Zhang Xian opposite him and thinking of the experience at Yaoshan, he nodded heavily as if possessed by some ghost:
"I wish to follow the general to the west!"
Yue Fei just nodded without saying much, and directly ordered the entire army to turn around. They did not enter Linqu at all during the whole process. Tian Shizhong also left Hu Cheng as the rear guard of Linqu, and led 3,000 elite troops from his own army to accompany him.
The army of 23,000 people, plus 2,000 civilians provided by Hu Cheng, marched westward along the road formed by the intersection of hills and plains... Nothing happened that night, and the scouts did not find any enemy situation when they reached Zibo Water.
A day later, at noon, the army was crossing the Zibo River. The scouts who had crossed the Zibo River first suddenly reported that a large group of enemy troops with full armor and well-organized troops had just emerged from the hills beside Zibo City, 20 miles away. It was obvious that they had just crossed the Longshui River and then passed Zibo City without entering, intending to go straight to Yidu or Linqu!
Looking at the flag, it’s Li Cheng!
There is no doubt that Yue Fei's judgment was correct.
Afterwards, the scouts of both sides kept going back and forth, directly on the hills and plains, engaging in fierce scout battles, but at the same time, they passed the intelligence of both sides to their respective coaches who were somewhat caught off guard... Not only did Li Cheng not expect that his decision to launch a counter-attack on Linqu would be seen through, even Yue Fei did not expect Li Cheng to come so soon!
Not only that, soon, as intelligence was gathered, another thing that put pressure on Yue Fei and the generals in the imperial camp was that the number of Li Cheng's troops seemed to be larger than expected.
Let me add one more thing here. Li Cheng originally occupied Qingzhou, Weizhou, and Laizhou in the Pseudo-Qi, and was considered powerful. It was only because he lacked a political banner that he bowed to Liu Yu. After the battle of Dongping Prefecture, Liu Yu's eldest son was captured, and another general of the Pseudo-Qi, Kong Yanzhou, nicknamed Little Yue Fei, was killed. Only he preserved his strength and successfully escaped through the battlefield. Afterwards, he did not change his warlord habits. He actually took advantage of the situation and merged Zibo, which could have been influenced by Liu Yu, into Qingzhou. In name, he was still the master of three counties, but in fact, he was the master of four counties. He was more like the master of the Pseudo-Qi than Liu Yu... And these three counties plus Dengzhou and Jinan are actually the source of the saying of the five counties in Jingdong during the peace talks.
Back to the present, according to the surrendered people from Qingzhou, Li Cheng was waging war in these recognized large counties in the world, and he had a total of 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers, including regular and auxiliary troops. This time he brought 35,000 troops, which was much more than the 20,000 brought by the front army of the imperial camp. That was why Yue Fei asked Tian Shizhong to send troops to help.
However, according to the scouts, Li Cheng's troops were densely packed with both cavalry and infantry, and there were no less than 40,000 of them! Among them, there were even thousands of people dressed as Jin cavalry!
"General Yue, while there is still time, do you want to retreat to the back of the Zibo River and defend it by the river?" Tian Shizhong looked unhappy.
To be honest, Yue Fei was shaken for a moment. After all, he had met with Li Cheng's army and was deeply impressed by this man. He knew that this man was capable and competent, at least not worse than Zhang Rong. It was a pity that he was too ambitious... So one of them turned from a government soldier into a bandit, and the other turned from a bandit into a government soldier.
Such a person has been managing three counties in Jingdong for several years. At least the combat effectiveness of his troops is worth seeing... and the report from the scouts also verified this. An army of tens of thousands marched in to rectify the situation. This was not something that ordinary people could do, nor was it something that ordinary rebels could match. With such an army, they came in the form of returning troops, and there were several thousand cavalry reinforcements who were not sure whether they were from the Jin people. This was really the limit of the front army of the imperial camp.
"Can't."
But he was only hesitant for a moment, and Yue Fei immediately made up his mind, even drawing his sword and waving his hand to give the order. "First, the arrow is on the string, and it must be shot; second, we meet on a narrow road, and we have to fight for our lives... To be honest, we may not win if we go head-on, but if we retreat now, we will definitely lose! Pass on my order, after crossing the river, the whole army will be in formation, and march west without stopping!"
"east!"
After hesitating for a moment, Li Cheng, who had lost his two swords for a long time, had red eyes, but he finally slowly pulled out an ordinary sword from his waist, and then swung it heavily to the east. "All troops, line up and press eastward! We must not retreat now!"
