Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 821: Sichuan, Shaanxi and Longyou Envoy
Yang Yuan entered Shaanxi in mid-April, and the three armies set off a bloody storm in Shaanxi.

In early May, Tatar cavalry entered Shaanxi.

The Jin Kingdom allowed them the right to do as they pleased, and they burned, killed, raped and looted, leaving devastation wherever they went.

However, the Tatar soldiers could plunder at any time, and their greed and indulgence made them more wild and cruel.

Yang Yuan's northern army was mainly composed of Shi Han and Gao Gan, all of whom were cavalry.

Cavalry against cavalry, galloping back and forth on the northern Shaanxi Plateau, the Song army's cavalry and archery were really no match for these Tatars.

Shi Han's army fought against the Tatar soldiers in the field and suffered repeated defeats.

If they attacked the city, their cavalry units lacked siege weapons, so they were forced to move south and try to join up with Yang Yuan's central army.

Shi Han avoided the fortified city of Dafu controlled by the Jin people and moved southwest along the Yan'an Prefecture Road.

The Tatar soldiers came and went like the wind, chasing endlessly. The two sides fought fiercely along the way, and corpses were scattered all over the field.

At this point, the Shihan tribe had lost its supply from Western Xia and could only attack towns and villages controlled by the Jin Kingdom along the way.

After they leave, the Tatar soldiers will chase them and rob them again.

The Song army of Shihan's tribe only collected food and horse feed, while the Tatar soldiers robbed anything valuable, took women and killed men. Their methods were a hundred times more cruel.

However, when the Shihan tribe passed through the border, some people fled to the mountains or took refuge in the wild in order to collect food.

It was because he escaped the Tatar soldiers who were following him.

……

The central army did not move fast. They advanced steadily, capturing cities and defeating enemies along the way.

Because they were able to capture the fortified city and obtain government warehouses for supplies, the Central Army did not cause any disturbance to the civilians.

Moreover, the Jin army's treasury contained not only grain, but also a large amount of seized silver, money and silk, which Yang Yuan promptly distributed to the soldiers of the three armies as rewards.

The property and food that could not be taken away were distributed to the local people.

Yang Yuan even burned the house deeds and land deeds he had copied from the homes of wealthy Jin people in public.

Yang Yuan sent people to spread the word that the land that the tenants were now cultivating would from now on belong to them individually, and that the landlords no longer had any land deeds.

Of course, if the Jin people come back, the land can be taken back even without the title deed.

But Yang Yuan gave these people hope, which successfully shook the Jin people's rule over this area.

Wu Gong's army in the south made relatively slow progress. The Jin army in Fengxiang had already sent in many reinforcements because of the previous loss of Baoji and the presence of the Song army on Jianxun Ridge.

Wu Gong was unable to conquer the city for a long time and suffered heavy losses, so he turned to conquer Guoxian, Longzhou, and Qishan, and surrounded Fengxiang without attacking it, occupying the surrounding areas.

However, with Fengxiang standing there, Wu Gong did not dare to surrender easily and focused on attacking other places, so the two sides came to a stalemate.

Wu Gong had learned his lesson from the last time the military supervisor Zhao Yi attacked Suzhou, and he was afraid that he would be late for his mission again.

Fortunately, Chang'an is just west of Fengxiang. As long as the central army moves south and the two armies meet, there will be no worries whether they attack Fengxiang or Chang'an.

Therefore, Wu Gong advanced steadily while waiting for Yang Yuan's central army to move south to join him.

While Yang Yuan was attacking cities and strongholds along the middle road, he was waiting for news from Xinjin.

As long as the New Jin invaded Yanjing on a large scale, Wanyan Liang would either transfer troops from the Central Plains or transfer the Tatar mercenaries away in order to ensure that Yanjing would not be lost. By then, the situation in Shaanxi would be greatly eased.

Yang Yuan still had the trump card of Xin Qiji and other underground forces lurking in the Jin Kingdom who could turn into rebels at any time, but he never used it.

Once the hole card is turned over, it loses its function.

It would be effective only if the Song army entered the heartland of the Central Plains and Xin Qiji rose up in rebellion.

If he had launched the attack earlier, Xin Qiji's rebel army would have been unable to support itself and would have ended up fleeing south across the river with the remaining troops. That would have been a pity.

However, Yang Yuan’s opportunity was long overdue.

In the end, the news he received was that the Tatars had launched a war of revenge against the New Jin Empire, and the New Jin Empire had gone to war with the Tatars.

Under such circumstances, it is impossible for Xinjin to attack Wanyan Liang.

There was a flaw in Yang Yuan's prediction.

Will the Tatars fight on two fronts?
Does Wanyan Luti have such determination?

Yang Yuan didn't understand what went wrong. He didn't think this was a conspiracy by those rough guys in the New Jin Empire whose muscles had taken up so much brain space.

As for Shangguan Luo, when Yang Yuan was around, Shangguan Luo was his best assistant, but he never showed off his talents.

After that, Yang Yuan returned to the Song Dynasty. The two sides were separated by the Jin Kingdom and had never fought each other, so Yang Yuan's estimation of his strength was also somewhat off.

In any case, the fact that the New Jin did not move south and the Tatars sent troops to help the Jin were both beyond his expectations.

Yang Yuan could only hope that the Song army in Lianghuai would feint an attack on the Jin Kingdom to create opportunities for him.

However, news came from the imperial court that the two Huai regions were still adhering to the defensive strategy against the Jin.

At this time, Yang Yuan's firearm had run out of ammunition.

It is the hottest month of July. In another sixty days, it will be September when people start giving out clothes.

At this time, they had already penetrated deep into the Jin area, and the problem of winter clothing was unsolvable.

It is impossible to find solutions to these problems later; they must be considered in advance.

In view of this, Yang Yuan decided to join forces with Shi Han's troops and march south.

On August 22, Yang Yuan and Shi Han joined forces and stationed their troops in Bingzhou.

At this time, the Song army had already cut through Shaanxi like a knife.

As long as they sent more troops south and contacted Wu Gong's troops, they would be able to open up the supply line from Dasan Pass in the south.

At that time, they will turn around and manage the western Shaanxi region which has been devastated.

Because now they are in the western part of Shaanxi, they just fight from there, and the ultimate goal is Chang'an.

If we abandon our established goals now and turn around to manage the places we have already conquered, we can completely develop these places into provincial capitals of the State of Song.

If we occupy the west of Shaanxi, the supply from Western Xia will be able to keep up.

By then, the Song and Jin Kingdoms divided Shaanxi into two parts, each occupying half. He could attack or defend, and he could still take the initiative.

But at this time the imperial decree came.

The imperial edict said that several tribal rebellions broke out in succession in the Western Xia region.

The three armies, with Song attacking Xia and Xia attacking Shaanxi, fought for a year and consumed a huge amount of resources. The four routes of Sichuan and Xia were burdened with heavy burdens, and complaints were already rising among the people.

The New Jin Empire went to war with the Tatars. The Jin Kingdom was temporarily free from the New Jin's constraints and was mobilizing troops with the intention of reinforcing Shaanxi.

In view of this, the court decided to stabilize Xixia, ease the tension in Sichuan and Shaanxi first, so as to prevent the good situation from changing hands in an instant.

Therefore, the court ordered Yang Yuan's army to retreat southward, still using Baoji and Tianshui as the front line, and withdrawing the troops from Dasan Pass.

The imperial edict appointed Yang Yuan as the envoy to Sichuan, Shaanxi and Longyou, with his capital in Hanzhong, and sent him back to Beijing to report on his work and discuss the next steps in adjusting national policy.

At the same time, the court appointed Ren Degong as the Grand Protector of Longyou and Liu Qi as the Deputy Grand Protector of Longyou. Shi Han was appointed as the governor of Shaanxi and Lizhong. Wu Gong was still the commander-in-chief of the imperial army in Lizhou West Route.

At the same time, the court appointed Shen Xuzhong, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War and the academician of the Ministry of Justice, as the governor and pacifier of Tongchuan Road...

Several tribal rebellions broke out in succession in the Western Xia region?

Thinking of the Song Dynasty's rough definition of rebellion, three or five migrant workers demanding wages could be defined as a rebellion. Yang Yuan was not sure whether there was really a large-scale tribal rebellion in Western Xia.

However, it stands to reason that the Ren family became the biggest beneficiary of vested interests, and all the other major clans except the Tuoba clan were given important positions. At a time when the Tuoba clan was behaving themselves, they should not have provoked a rebellion.

Moreover, more than half of the troops of the twelve armies of the Western Xia were in the hands of the Ren family, and with the veteran general Liu Qi guarding the Hexi Corridor, it was impossible for anyone to cause any trouble.

However, none of this matters anymore.

Yang Yuan previously served as the Sichuan Xuanfu Envoy, and concurrently served as the Tongchuan Road General Manager and Pacifier.

Now his title sounds scary, the Envoy of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Longyou, but under him there are specific pacification envoys, governors and imperial commanders, and his actual power has been greatly weakened.

Are we going to cook the dog while the cunning rabbit is still alive?

The worst possible situation that the "Inner Records Office" had previously analyzed based on the intelligence sent back by spies in the capital actually occurred.

Yang Yuan wasn't sure who came up with this idea.

He believed it was not Zhao Ju, but Zhao Ju was obviously unable to restrain the little emperor.

Before, Zhao Qu was the executive vice emperor of the Song Dynasty because Zhao Yuan loved and doted on him.

Although the young emperor has not yet taken power, it is only because he is still young and the government is worried that he is too young to govern the country, so a regent or assistant minister is arranged.

The regent has more power than the assistant minister, but in the final analysis, all decisions ultimately have to go through the emperor's hands, and they can only take effect after the emperor's approval and seal.

Yang Yuan was not in the capital when the young emperor ascended the throne, so he had no chance to deal with him. This indeed became the biggest problem of the provincial governor.

If he is given more time, he will have the opportunity to occupy half of Shaanxi.

By then, whenever the imperial court launched a war against Jin, it would have an absolute advantage, at least on the western front.

However, just one day later, the second gold medal arrived.

"Send the order, the army will set off, leave Bingzhou, and head south!"

Yang Yuan issued an order and the three armies immediately took action.

Yang Yuan called Ji Xiang, Hana Yin and Xiao Nai to his side.

"Ji Xiang, you guys leave first. After you leave, you guys..."

After Yang Yuan gave some instructions, the three women left immediately, changed into casual clothes, and quietly left the military camp.

The three girls first returned to Hanzhong via Dasan Pass, then Ji Xiang went to Lin'an, and Hua Yin went to Nanzheng.

Yang Yuan's office was now moved forward to Nanzheng City and was located in the residence of Taiwei Yang Zheng.

Hua Yin has to go to Nanzheng first to meet with the people in the Internal Affairs Office and make some arrangements in advance.

For example, the military equipment research base located in Santaishan in Tongchuan Prefecture.

Now that the court has appointed Shen Xuzhong as the governor and pacifier of Tongchuan Prefecture, Yang Yuan has to make some necessary arrangements in advance.

As for Xiaonai, no one knew where she went except Yang Yuan.

It’s no wonder that Yang Yuan was wary. He was not Yue Wumu, who could stand up for the sword without any regrets.

Logically speaking, the little emperor should be on guard against him. From the little emperor's perspective, this is human nature.

Yang Yuan didn't mind going back to be a "Marquis of Anle".

However, for the court's arrangement, the Goose King should write him a letter and explain it privately, both for public and private reasons.

However, there was no letter from Zhao Qu, which made Yang Yuan deeply uneasy.

Yang Yuan and Shi Han joined forces and marched south in a mighty force.

The Tatars did not dare to pursue too far, and after the two armies joined forces, they were stronger and more powerful, so the Tatars did not want to engage in a head-on confrontation.

So, they ran to the cities that were destroyed by Yang Yuan to "encircle and suppress the Song army."

This time, there was naturally another round of burning, killing, raping and looting.

Yang Yuan, together with Shi Han and Wu Gong, told them the contents of the imperial edict.

"I was the one who took the risk, but I didn't expect the New Jin to be so cunning and keep its troops in place. The Jin people also persuaded the Tatars to send troops to help us, so that you and I can hardly move forward in Shaanxi.

After returning to Hanzhong, this envoy will take a short rest and then return to the capital to report on his work, meet the emperor, and discuss new strategies against Jin with him.

By then, I will return to the northwest and fight alongside you generals!"

In front of Wu Gong's military supervisor Zhao Yi and his own military supervisor Han Jingbei, Yang Yuan spoke to Wu Gong and Shi Han in a high-spirited manner, then waved his hand.

Two bodyguards immediately brought over two trays.

Yang Yuan took a gorgeous and exquisite sword from a tray. It was the Dali sword given to him by Yang Liangao.

"General Wu, this Dali knife can cut iron like mud and cut hair like a blade. I am giving it to you as a gift."

Yang Yuan was the envoy of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Longyou, and Wu Gong's immediate superior.

When he presented the sword to him, Wu Gong knelt down on one knee in a hurry, raised his hands, and said respectfully: "Wu Gong thanks Xuanfu for the sword."

Yang Yuan gave the knife to Wu Gong, took out a set of elephant leather armor from another tray, and looked at Shi Han with a smile.

"General Shi, this set of elephant leather armor is also a rare item. Before, General Shi fought with the Tatars and accidentally injured his shoulder blade. If he had this armor at that time, he would definitely not have ended up like this.

Now I am giving it to you, so that when you charge into battle and serve your country in the future, you will have an extra layer of protection."

Shi Han smiled a little bitterly. Yang Yuan was his superior and also the benefactor who promoted him.

In front of so many generals from Tongchuan Road, Lizhou Central Road and Lizhou West Road, he absolutely had to accept the invitation and thank them.

However, the people watching him include the two military supervisors Zhao Wei and Han Jingbei.

This set of elephant leather armor...

Wu Gong stood up, took off his sword and threw it to his personal soldier, then hung the Dali sword given by Yang Yuan on the leather belt around his waist.

Shi Han took a look and had no choice but to step back and kneel down with military salute: "Shi Han thanks Xuanfu for the gift of armor!"

(End of this chapter)