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

Chapter 162 This trip can comfort the common enemy

Although the Jin Dynasty was completely out of control locally, news involving the military was still transmitted quickly.

But thanks to the excellent matching mechanism of China in the 12th century, things still went wrong at the beginning.

The expenses of the Wuxing Army when it was stationed in Dongping Prefecture were one thing, but once they set out to prepare for battle, the expenses would be another.

In order to gather these food and supplies, the local government once again exploited the land in Dongping Prefecture.

That’s not all. Because this unplanned military expedition exhausted several warehouses originally intended for the southern expedition, Dongping Prefecture naturally reported the deficit to the court and had it levied on the surrounding prefectures.

Bozhou, which received the order from the central government, naturally did not hesitate and sent out the clerks who were as fierce as wolves and tigers.

These clerks adhered to the central idea of "paying enough to the national treasury, leaving enough for the superiors, and keeping the rest for themselves" and began to exploit the land.

Even though the autumn harvest had just been completed in many villages and towns in Bozhou, the price of grain had skyrocketed. The people had no food left for the winter, let alone for the present.

Of course, in this situation, it is impossible to expect the people to remain calm.

Wang Youzhi, a powerful man in Gaoping County, Bozhou, rose up in rebellion, appointed himself the governor of Tianxiong Army, gathered tens of thousands of troops, and formally rebelled.

It was actually a month earlier than the time when he started his rebellion in history.

All I can say is that things in this world are unpredictable.

Of course, Liu Huai still didn't know about all this.

He didn't even know that the successful occupation of Yizhou by the Loyal Army would lead to a major turning point in history.

To be precise, Hesheli Liangbi, the left chancellor of the Jin Dynasty, did not go south with the army as the right commander-in-chief, but led the army north, stationed troops in Linhuang Prefecture, and quelled the Khitan rebellion.

With this capable, strategic and loyal minister in charge outside the Great Wall, it is really hard to say how the world will develop.

Of course, Liu Huai still made some discoveries.

After integrating information from all sides, he finally figured out the causes and consequences of the Yizhou battle, and also sorted out the doubts in his heart.

In real history, Wei Sheng led the Northern Expedition alone without Zhang Rong as his comrade-in-arms, so Wei Sheng's primary goal was to maintain Haizhou and thus support Li Bao's raid on the Jin navy.

Therefore, Wei Sheng had no choice but to assign Dong Cheng to lead his troops to seize Linyi Cangcheng. Although successful, Dong Cheng was severely beaten by Lady Wang's troops while trying to capture Linyi City. Dong Cheng had no choice but to abandon his goal of cutting off the Yishui River and retreated to Haizhou with his supplies.

Yes, there are no Yizhou officials such as Pushandamo, Liu Fen, and Wang Xiongyi in history books, nor are there Yizhou tyrants such as He Boqiu, Zhang Chou, and Cui Hama. The one who led the army to war was a woman, Mrs. Wang, the wife of a Wanhu.

Liu Huai could imagine that if the Loyal Army had arrived half a month later, a large-scale internal conflict would definitely have occurred in Yizhou.

These officials and powerful people who fought to the death with the Zhongyi Army and the Tianping Army will be killed or fled in this internal conflict, and most of them will be gone.

After sorting out the logic, Liu Huai immediately felt a little amused and helpless.

Because if the Loyal Army had arrived half a month later and sent troops as they did in history, they could have occupied Yizhou almost without bloodshed.

But then Liu Huai realized that this incident was actually a wake-up call.

Because of this time traveler's provocations and jumping around, history has changed slightly, but these changes are not necessarily beneficial to the Loyal Army.

After all, the world is a chaotic model, and Liu Huai doesn't know where the huge storm will be generated by the flapping of his wings like a little butterfly.

From now on, you must be extra careful and think twice before doing anything.

After some psychological preparation from a high-level perspective, you still have to continue working on the ground.

After all, reality is not a game. After capturing a city, you can't just set off two fireworks and everything will be fine.

In fact, the trouble has just begun.

Military wars only last a few days, but political wars happen every moment and every second.

For example, Xin Qiji, after paying special attention to visiting Cangcheng, said to Wei Sheng before leaving: We can also negotiate with the Tianping Army, as the Tianping Army is also fighting against the Jin army. Can some of these armors, equipment, and food supplies, which are so numerous that they are difficult to check, be allocated to support the Tianping Army?

These words made the loyal and righteous generals who originally had a good impression of Xin Qiji very disgusted. They all said behind his back that Xin Wulang looked like a decent guy, but was actually a terrible person.

Xin Qiji seemed to realize that his behavior of snatching food from the tiger's mouth was indeed a bit excessive. After agreeing on a meeting time for Geng Jing and Wei Sheng, he left quickly.

Of course, this kind of behavior is understandable after all. There are still hundreds of battles going on every day, not to mention the allies.

According to Liu Huai, Xin Qiji was still too thin-skinned.

As a high-ranking official in the Tianping Army, was there anything wrong with Xin Qiji seeking benefits for his own men?
Just like Liu Huai, after seeing the possible role that the Tianping Army could play, didn't he justifiably take control of the supreme leadership for a period of time as a guest general?
If the situation were reversed, Liu Huai would probably throw a tantrum under the banner of "establishing rules and regulations to help the people" and would not give up until he had taken away several carts of food and fodder.

Xin Qiji's behavior can only mean that he does not have the shamelessness of a politician.

After sending Xin Qiji away, the real challenge came.

Yizhou is different from Haizhou. Here, there is a large river called Yishui that runs through the north and south and merges into the Huaihe River. It is a busy shipping route.

Linyi's location means that the powerful people here are not just landlords or wealthy merchants. After all, in this world, if you are a businessman without some military force, you will only become a meal for bandits.

Therefore, the powerful people in Yizhou were similar to He Boqiu, a mixture of wealthy merchants, military, landlords, and a certain amount of underworld forces. Of course, the strength of these powerful people was not enough in front of the loyal and righteous army that had already won a great victory.

But how can administration rely solely on military power?

These powerful people may have oppressed the people, may have been accomplices of the evil, or may even have been the people Liu Huai hated the most.

The feudal landlord class will sooner or later be swept into the dustbin of history.

But it is undeniable that in this era, landlords and powerful people are an indispensable part of society. To put it more clearly, the Loyal Army can liquidate any powerful people in Yizhou, but it is impossible to kill all of them.

Even if the Loyal Army really shows its power and carries out a purge, how will they fill the grassroots administrative niches left by the powerful?
It should be noted that this was the northern land that had been lost for decades. The Jin government did not care about cultural affairs at all, and relied entirely on the people's self-consciousness. Basic education had almost completely collapsed.

Although it did not reach the level of "Han children all speaking Hu language, but cursing Han people on the city wall", the literacy rate did drop significantly.

Although Liu Huai had a plan to promote literacy, it was obviously not the right time to do so, and it was too late.

Therefore, the powerful people in Yizhou could not use all of their power. They had to execute those who were extremely unpopular with the people, so that the people of Yizhou would return to their hearts and obtain the land that would be distributed next.

But we must not abandon them all.

Don't assume that just because they're all landlords, they're all united on everything. A group of more than three people will inevitably have different interests, and only by rallying one faction against another can things get done.

Among the powerful people in Yizhou, who has the best reputation, the greatest prestige, the highest ability, and the strongest capacity, that is, who is the person that the Loyal Army should win over the most?

It’s He Boqiu.

In fact, after the notice to reassure the people was posted, countless officials who surrendered, elderly people who came to pay homage, elected village chiefs, and people from all walks of life came to plead with Wei Sheng to release He Boqiu.

Everyone in the Loyal Army understood that He Boqiu was so popular that if he surrendered, it would be much easier to reorganize Yizhou, and Yizhou would be pacified in an instant.

But He Boqiu was captured on the battlefield, how could he be released so easily?
Or to put it more clearly, if He Boqiu does not surrender, the higher his prestige, the more quickly he should be killed.

Otherwise, who knows how much trouble this person could cause!

Wei Sheng and He Boqiu were close friends. After personally trying to persuade him to surrender several times but only receiving silence, he decided to give He Boqiu one last chance.

During the military meeting on the night of the 19th, under the watchful eyes of all the officers of the Loyal Army, He Boqiu, Zhang Chou, Cui Hema and a dozen captured small landowners and stewards were brought to the central army.

Wei Sheng looked at He Boqiu with a complicated expression.

He Boqiu also raised his head and looked at Wei Sheng.

However, Liu Huai, who was beside Wei Sheng, suddenly discovered that in addition to self-mockery and grief on He Boqiu's face, there was actually a hint of hope.

What is he hoping for?
Do you want to give birth?
Then why didn't he say a word after being tried to surrender?

There was silence for a moment. Wei Sheng finally stroked his long beard and spoke slowly, "He Sanlang, I'll give you one last chance. Will you surrender to the Song Dynasty?"

He Boqiu's eyes dimmed quickly, he closed his eyes slightly and shook his head slowly.

Zhang Chou and Cui Hema looked at each other and followed suit, shaking their heads to show that they would not surrender.

The small landlords and stewards who came after them were obviously afraid and hesitant, but most of them just lowered their heads and prepared to be killed.

Liu Huai was looking down from above and could see clearly that some of these people were even so frightened that they were crying and trembling, but they still gritted their teeth and were determined to go to the underworld with their lord to fulfill their loyalty.

Wei Sheng was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke: "He Sanlang, why are you unwilling to surrender to me? Are you ashamed to be beneath me?"

He Boqiu raised his eyes and glanced at Wei Sheng. "Marshal Wei, if you had just asked me why I didn't surrender to you, I might have surrendered. But if you ask me again, I really can't surrender to you."

Wei Sheng's face instantly turned extremely ugly.

Lu You, who was standing aside, also looked very unhappy.

He Boqiu's refusal to surrender was not just his own problem. If he refused to surrender, Zhang Chou and Cui Hama would also be willing to die. Killing a few more small village owners would be equivalent to wiping out all the key figures between Yishui and Shuhe.

For example, Ma Jintuo. After a few days of contact, the leaders of the Loyal Army had already discovered that this man was brave, wise, and talented, but now he was willing to follow Zhang Chou to death. No one knew what kind of love potion he was fed. It was really weird.

Even if we don't kill He Boqiu now, how can we use him in the future?
Wei Sheng sighed deeply and was about to wave his hand to have the soldiers take all these people away for execution, but Liu Huai looked at He Boqiu with a painful expression on his face and finally realized something.

Liu Dalang stepped out from the crowd, pointed at He Boqiu and asked, "Master He San, are you willing to surrender to me?"

When He Boqiu heard this, he seemed to become more energetic, like a wheat seedling that has finally received rain after a long drought.

He heaved a long sigh of relief in front of everyone, and despite his upper body still being bound, he knelt and kowtowed, "I wish to be Liu Dalang's personal lover. From now on, I will serve him at his side, even if it means my death."

Seeing this, the owners of the manors behind He Boqiu followed suit and bowed, saying, "We are willing to be Liu Dalang's personal servants."

All the generals present were stunned.

Wei Sheng and Lu You's expressions became even uglier at the same time.

However, as the object of loyalty of the powerful people in Yizhou, Liu Huai's expression was even uglier than Wei Sheng and Lu You combined.

(End of this chapter)