Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 1001 The Emperor and His Ministers Gaze at Each Other, Shedding Tears of Blood

In the last month of the early Hongwu period.

Whether it was the Han Dynasty, the Western Jin Dynasty, or the Song Dynasty, everything was in complete chaos.

The newly established Han Dynasty was naturally filled with happy troubles. For example, Xin Qiji had captured too many prisoners, making it difficult to settle them all at once; too much territory had been recovered, making it hard to sort out; and suddenly, it was discovered that the main forces of the other two countries had been completely wiped out and were at our mercy, leaving us unsure whether to eat Kansai lamb chops or West Lake vinegar fish.

But people's joys and sorrows cannot be shared, and for the other two countries, it truly felt like the sky was falling.

In Chang'an, Wanyan Zonghao, the former governor of Shangjing and prefect of Linhuang, was enjoying a roasted pork hock.

Wanyan Zonghao is the son of Wanyan Bendu. Although he belongs to the Zong generation, he is much younger than Wanyan Bendu and is only in his thirties.

At this age, he naturally did not experience the hardships of the founding of the Jin Dynasty. He was born into a life of great wealth and honor. Therefore, Wanyan Zonghao was a Jurchen who was completely Sinicized. He had no shortage of fine clothes, wine, women and literature in his daily life.

Of course, this doesn't mean that this fellow was a scholar-official who couldn't lift a finger.

However, his current dark and gaunt appearance is a stark contrast to his usual handsome and dashing demeanor.

Wanyan Liang sat on the main hall of the palace without saying a word, just staring at Wanyan Zonghao as he ate heartily, occasionally asking the palace servants to add more soup and rice to his bowl.

After a long while, Wanyan Zonghao finally let out a burp, and without even wiping the grease off his hands, he knelt down on the ground: "Your Majesty! Your subject... sob sob sob..."

After only one call, Wanyan Zonghao burst into tears.

Wanyan Liang looked somewhat somber, but still forced himself to speak, “Zonghao, stop crying. Crying day and night won’t kill Liu Dalang. Now that the Great Jin has reached this point, our Wanyan clan should work together.”

Wanyan Zonghao cried for a while before calming down: "Your Majesty is right, I lost my composure."

Wanyan Liang personally poured a cup of hot wine and handed it to Wanyan Zonghao: "Warm yourself up first, and then tell me about the situation in the east."

Wanyan Zonghao was about to cry again, but he forcibly stopped himself under Wanyan Liang's gaze: "There's not much to say about the east. It's just that Liu Dalang's invasion was like a raging fire, and Your Majesty... our army suffered a crushing defeat."

Wanyan Liang remained silent for a moment before finally asking with difficulty, "Wulu...is Wulu still alive?"

The hatred between Wanyan Liang and Wanyan Yong stemmed from the murder of Wanyan's wife and the usurpation of the throne; their enmity was as high as the sky and their resentment as deep as the sea.

But given the current dire situation, the two, both members of the Jurchen royal family, could only huddle together for warmth, like two hedgehogs, no matter how unwilling they were.

Wanyan Zonghao avoided Wanyan Liang's gaze: "Liu Dalang has captured Yanjing. Before I came, I had not heard any news of His Majesty. I suppose... he must have already died for his country."

However… I heard rumors in Linhuang Prefecture that His Majesty abdicated the throne to Wanyan Fushou in Yanjing…”

Wanyan Liang knew that Wanyan Zonghao must have been terrified and fled to Guanzhong after hearing that the Han army was attacking Yanjing. He probably knew less about the specific military situation than Wanyan Zonghao, so he gave up his idea of ​​inquiring about Wanyan Yong and asked about other things instead.

"Tell me in detail what you saw and heard along the way from Linhuang Prefecture to Guanzhong."

"As you command." Wanyan Zonghao swallowed hard. "I actually noticed something was wrong last year because the Mongols have risen too quickly, and Your Majesty... Wulu wants to make peace with the Mongols and borrow troops to suppress the bandits, which is really unwise."

“Starting this year, the Dongmengwu tribe has been making trouble, and then in September they entered Yanmen Pass and joined forces with the Jin army.”

"When I was in Linhuang Prefecture, my main reliance was the Jurchen army, while the Jurchen and Han Chinese armies numbered only a few thousand."

The Jurchen army consisted of Khitans and Mongols. The Khitans had already betrayed the Jin dynasty and fled to the Yanshan Mountains, severely weakening my forces. Now, separated from the Mongols and with the regular army conscripted, I have less than two thousand troops left in Linhuang Prefecture.”

At this point, Wanyan Zonghao was somewhat amused and exasperated: "These troops are simply not enough to suppress the Eastern Mongols. However, after the Mongols entered the pass, they were blocked inside Yanmen Pass and not a single horse was able to return north. Therefore, the Mongols are also in a state of panic. There is no need to worry that the Mongols will rebel."

Wanyan Liang was incredibly intelligent, and he immediately realized something: "The Mongols are exhausted, have the Khitans returned?"

Wanyan Zonghao sighed: "That's right. Although most of the Khitan people want to escape the winter in the Yanshan Mountains, the able-bodied men are already eager to return to their ancestral homeland of Linhuang Prefecture."

"If I hadn't sensed something was wrong and immediately led my troops west, I might have already been captured and killed by Liu Kuo."

Wanyan Liang was somewhat helpless.

The saying "when the sky collapses and the earth cracks, mud and sand are swept away" perfectly describes this situation. When a nation's fortunes are on the rise, not to mention the Khitans, even the Han Chinese lost the Central Plains and Hebei. However, now that the Jin Dynasty has become a drowning dog, it is only natural that it has been driven to the brink of destruction by the peoples it previously oppressed.

The law of cause and effect dictates that retribution will inevitably follow. Buddhism flourished in the Jin Dynasty, so these Jin nobles should have been aware of this principle.

Wanyan Zonghao drank a cup of hot wine and continued, "I originally led two thousand soldiers westward, but in just one night, more than a thousand of them were separated. Almost all of the Mongol-originating Nyain troops fled and went home."

The next day, the hundreds of regular soldiers under my command were also completely demoralized and terrified. Their families were all in Hebei and they had no intention of coming to Guanzhong. I could only part ways with them amicably.

On the third day, only about twenty personal guards remained who had followed me. Several more died along the way, leaving only nine who actually reached Kansai.

Thinking of the hardships he had endured along the way, Wanyan Zonghao was about to shed tears again.

Completely helpless, Wanyan Liang could only take the initiative to ask, "Have you encountered any other troops along the way?"

"some."

“I made a special trip to Datong to try to persuade Wanyan Yongdao to come and join Your Majesty with me, but he said a lot of arrogant things, such as how a great man should not remain subservient to others for long. He wanted to gather troops and fight the Han army to the death. I had no choice but to flee first.”

"Then I encountered several Mongol tribes along the way. They were all left with only the old and weak. When I went to take a sheep, no one stopped me. They just asked if my father and brothers might return from Han territory. I didn't know how to answer, so I could only give them a perfunctory reply."

"When I traveled south from the grasslands, I encountered another heavy snow. The Mongol people... at least the able-bodied men of the Eastern Mongol tribes took their grain and livestock to the interior of the pass. The Mongol tribes will not survive this winter."

As he recounted the events in a rapid, unrestrained manner, Wanyan Liang gained a general understanding of the situation on the grasslands and in northern Shanxi, and his heart immediately sank.

In the Battle of Huolu and Zhending, the Han army gained tremendous benefits, almost bringing thirty years of peace to the northern frontier in one battle. Tens of thousands of Mongol youths were surrounded and annihilated by the Han army, resulting in enormous losses.

But Wanyan Liang understood even more clearly that the Eastern Mongol and the Western Mongol, which were later known as the Tatars and the Oirats, were not to be confused at all.

Since the war took place in Hebei, among the tens of thousands of Mongol people surrounded by the Han army, the majority must have been Eastern Mongol people, and the minority were Western Mongol people.

Now that the territory vacated by the Eastern Mongols will soon be taken over by the Khitans, the Western Mongols will be unable to fight the Khitans head-on after the snow disaster, let alone launch a thousand-mile eastward expedition to attack Hebei. They are very likely to take action against places like the Hetao region.

That place was the former territory of the Western Xia, a newly annexed area, a fertile land that was the only source of wealth amidst the many harms of the Yellow River, and a good escape route that Wanyan Liang had prepared for himself!
How the hell did we get targeted by the Mongols?!
Wanyan Liang felt a thousand nausea and ten thousand disgusts. He never expected that the aftermath of the Battle of Huolu would reach him so quickly.

After drinking a cup of hot wine, Wanyan Zonghao, slightly tipsy, rubbed his forehead and said, "Your Majesty, forgive my ignorance, but I really can't think of any way to break this deadlock. Does Your Majesty have any other ideas?"

Wanyan Liang sighed: "Zong Hao has been honest with me, so I shouldn't hide it from you..."

As he spoke, Wanyan Liang recounted the defeat at Fufeng Pass from beginning to end, ignoring Wanyan Zonghao's dumbfounded and horrified state. He finally concluded: "Now, it's only because a major event occurred within the Song Kingdom that Prime Minister Lu did not press his advantage and returned to Shu. Otherwise, it's uncertain whether Chang'an would still be in my hands."

Wanyan Zonghao jumped up, his knee knocking over the table in front of him.

Wanyan Liang reacted quickly, catching the wine pot that was about to fall. He then bent down to pick up the bronze cup, stood up, poured another cup of wine, and handed it to Wanyan Zonghao: "The Great Jin has already reached this state. It is necessary for loyal ministers to unite and fight to the death. I hope Zonghao can lend me a hand."

Wanyan Zonghao's hands trembled uncontrollably, but he still forced himself to suppress his fear, reached out and took the wine cup, and drank the already somewhat cold wine in one gulp.

As the saying goes, the Wanyan clan is full of tigers and wolves. After drinking this cup of cold wine, Wanyan Zonghao felt a churning in his stomach, but he gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "Your Majesty! Since there is even a sliver of a chance of victory, you should give it your all. Your subject will serve you with utmost loyalty!"

Wanyan Zonghao bowed deeply and kowtowed.

Wanyan Liang helped him up with great satisfaction, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Zonghao is indeed General Bendu's prodigy. In that case, I will lead you to fight for a way out!"

On that day, the emperor and his ministers were in high spirits and expressed their views to each other.

Wanyan Zonghao returned to the large mansion newly bestowed upon him by Wanyan Liang, enjoying the long-lost warmth of his bed, and drifted off to sleep with a heart full of ambition.

After gaining the loyalty of a high-ranking official, Wanyan Liang felt a little more relaxed, and the gloom he had felt over the past two days dissipated considerably.

Everything seemed to be developing in a thriving direction. If it continued, regardless of success or failure, it would be a beautiful story of a harmonious relationship between ruler and subject.

It would have been even better if Wanyan Zonghao's personal guards hadn't discovered that he had hanged himself the following morning.

(End of this chapter)