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

Chapter 160: Great Powers Have Their Own Role in Governance

The news of Linyi's fall was quickly transmitted westward by post horses.

By the night of August 19, the document had been delivered to Bianliang, and after being passed through layers of government, it was delivered to the Minister of War Wanyan Yuanyi.

Wanyan Yuanyi opened the document and just took a glance at it, then he was stunned on the spot, and his whole body began to tremble violently.

To be honest, the loss of Yizhou would not make the Jin Dynasty's Minister of War feel afraid at all.

What a joke! The Jin Dynasty was a vast country, so losing a prefecture or county was nothing! The Khitans in the north were causing trouble, and it hasn't subsided yet!
But this was just as predicted by the recognized wise man Hesheli Liangbi. This motley crowd, who were not sure whether they were Song troops or civilian forces, actually captured Yizhou.

It was only ten days before Wanyan Yuanyi officially became alert.

Pushandarmo looks like a loyal minister and a good general, so how could he be so vulnerable? Is he pretending all the time?
But then Wanyan Yuanyi remembered Hesheli Liangbi's previous inference and felt even more deeply afraid.

This group of bandits won’t... won’t really be able to overthrow the Great Jin Dynasty, right?
Thinking of this, Wanyan Yuanyi shuddered all over. Then, while clutching the document in his hand, he comforted himself in his heart, "No, there are only a few of these bandits. They were able to capture Yizhou. That was a waste of Pushandarma. That was a blessing from heaven. That was..."

With this feeling, Wanyan Yuanyi hurried to pay a visit to Shangshu Zuocheng Hesheli Liangbi.

But what was unexpected was that after reading this expected document, Hesheli Liangbi was stunned for a moment, and then he actually sighed.

He pointed at the document and said, "Minister Wanyan, do you think that with the Great Jin in such a state, with its civil officials complacent and its military officials frivolous, and its leadership in disarray, is this really a good time to attack the Song?"

Wanyan Yuanyi didn't respond to his words and pretended not to hear them.

What a joke! Do you think everyone is like you, with a Jurchen clan backing them up?

If he dared to agree and Wanyan Liang heard about it, Hesheli Liangbi would be in trouble, and Wanyan Yuanyi would be skinned alive if he didn't die.

"Left Prime Minister, now that things have come to this, I don't want to say anything more. However, as the Left Prime Minister in charge of a great country, shouldn't he give an explanation to His Majesty?"

Wanyan Yuanyi's words made it very clear: at this point, don't try to put the blame on the Ministry of War.

Hesheli Liangbi smiled and said, "Indeed, as the ruler of a great country, I naturally have to take responsibility. I will give your Majesty a warning this very night."

Wanyan Yuanyi had just breathed a sigh of relief, but his heart was lifted by Hesheli Liangbi's next words.

"Minister Wanyan, please come with me. Don't worry, I'll only ask you to be a witness, so I won't let you get criticized at all."

Wanyan Yuanyi had no choice but to follow Hesheli Liangbi and knock on the palace gate.

Even if he was afraid, he had to go. If Hesheli Liangbi wanted to shift the blame onto him, Wanyan Yuanyi could still argue. But if he didn't dare to go, he could only rely on Hesheli Liangbi's integrity.

Nowadays, people who play politics have dirty hearts, and no matter how reliable their ethics are, they cannot be trusted.

Although the palace gates would be closed in the evening, special arrangements would still be made for the joint arrival of a prime minister and a secretary of state. The palace eunuchs opened the corner gate to allow the two high-ranking officials to enter the palace and wait for a while, while sending someone to inform Wanyan Liang immediately.

It was just getting dark and Wanyan Liang was reviewing documents and memorials.

Indeed, the epic lecher of later legends wasn't summoning the dancers and concubines for a naked gathering, but was diligently working. Surrounded by only a few eunuchs, not even a few candles or oil lamps were lit, giving the impression that being an emperor was the hardest job in the world.

It makes sense. Although Wanyan Liang liked to kill people according to the household registration book, his position was still very stable even at this time.

In real history, if his harshness hadn't led to a mutiny on the front lines, and if Wanyan Liang hadn't been killed, he might have turned around and suppressed Wanyan Yong. At that time, Wanyan Yong really wasn't the most popular choice. At least at the beginning, Liu E and other Youyan tyrants, as well as Jurchen clans such as Pushan Zhongyi and Hesheli Zhining, really wanted to kill Wanyan Yong.

But Wanyan Liang died a quick death, and even his sons were killed. Naturally, these people had no other choice but to surrender to Wanyan Yong.

Therefore, Wanyan Liang was able to sit on the throne even after killing so many old ministers and generals. He really had some skills and means. Wanyan Liang also really needed to focus on governing the country, rather than the crotch of men and women.

As for the trivial matter of John's brother's wife, it was mostly for political purposes.

For example, Wanyan Yong's wife was the legitimate daughter of the patriarch of the Wulinda tribe, a powerful Jurchen clan. Wulinda's biological father, Wulinda Shi Heitu, even served as the governor of Tokyo for the Jin Dynasty.

Wanyan Liang couldn't sleep well unless this marriage was broken up.

Of course, since this guy did such a thing, he deserved to be retaliated against and slandered after Wanyan Yong ascended the throne.

"Why do you two come to see me at this time?" Wanyan Liang smiled and nodded behind the desk, and gestured for the two ministers to sit down. Then his eunuch brought tea.

However, Hesheli Liangbi and Wanyan Yuanyi immediately bowed, and Hesheli Liangbi presented the military intelligence with both hands: "I was foolish and forgot the news of Haizhou's fall. Today, Yizhou fell, and I cannot escape the blame."

Wan Yanliang looked curious: "Is this really true?"

As he spoke, the eunuch took the stack of documents and placed them in front of Wanyan Liang.

Wanyan Liang carefully read through them one by one before narrowing his eyes slightly.

The Jin emperor was no fool. In fact, even the history books that tried so hard to discredit him still described him as intelligent. Therefore, Wanyan Liang understood what the other party was trying to do almost instantly.

Is Hesheli Liangbi stupid? This is a huge joke!
Wanyan Liang would rather believe that Zhao Gou in the south had recovered and gave birth to ten big fat boys in one breath than believe that his own left prime minister was stupid!

Then there is only one possibility, that Hesheli Liangbi is using a very new way to persuade Wanyan Liang not to march south.

To be precise, he was trying to prevent the Southern Expedition of the Song Dynasty by creating a fait accompli.

Wanyan Liang's first feeling was anger, immense anger. It wasn't the kind of anger that came from someone saying, "I'm the emperor, you're my subject, and you're not obeying me." It was the kind of anger that came from someone who was supposed to be walking shoulder to shoulder with him, but didn't understand him.

As a rare and wise man, couldn't Hesheli Liangbi see that the Jin dynasty was on the verge of collapse? Didn't he know what the Jurchens would face if the Jin dynasty fell? Didn't he understand why Wanyan Liang devoted all his national resources to the southern expedition against the Song dynasty?

Hesheli Liangbi knew that he knew everything, and even many hidden dangers hidden in the dark were made clear to Wanyan Liang by him.

But he still stood against Wanyan Liang.

Holding onto a glimmer of hope, Wanyan Liang softly asked, "Lousi (Hesheli Liangbi's female real name), now that Yizhou has fallen, transporting goods from the eastern Shandong route to Pizhou will become difficult. What should I do?"

Wanyan Yuanyi was already trembling violently. He knew very well that when Wanyan Liang was cursing and raging, he wasn't completely angry. But when he began to calm down, he was definitely furious and ready to kill according to the household registration.

Hesheli Liangbi kowtowed deeply and said, "Your Majesty, please postpone the southern expedition. At the very least, recapture Yizhou and open up the Yishui Passage. Otherwise, the Huai River and Huai River regions will never be able to support the nation's elite main force."

Wanyan Liang became more and more disappointed, but he said nothing and just stared at Hesheli Liangbi.

After a long pause, Wanyan Liang finally smiled and said, "I understand. Since Lou Shi has demonstrated his resolve, I will demonstrate my resolve to you as well."

(End of this chapter)